History Fanfic / XCOMSecondContact

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: In Wrex's eyes. Both times Shepard does something Wrex disagrees with, he and Shepard have to throw down. [[spoiler: Shepard wins both times]].

** Same applies to this fic's version of Cerberus. The original was a terrorist organization that wanted to improve humanity's lot in the galaxy. XCOM!Cerberus takes that UpToEleven by [[spoiler: instigating the attack on Mindior so that the galaxy will see that humanity is not to be trifled with. The Illusive Man is upgraded from a shady mastermind to a demagogue when he makes an impassioned speech defending his actions before his trial.]] Though, that's if you don't count Cerberus's actions in Mass Effect 3 and instead focus on their usual MO.

* UpToEleven: [[spoiler: The Thorian. It is now a fully psionic creature that had been tortured by the Ethereals, and it is pissed at humanity.]]

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Due to the cultural impact of the Ethereal War, trying to pin humanity down by 20th century Western values is an unwise notion. This has not stopped complainers from CompletelyMissingThePoint.

* DyingAsYourself: Invoked by [[spoiler: Jondum asking Nilhus]] to MercyKill him.

** On Ilos, Shepard psionically yanks a Geth Prime that took a potshot at him out of a smokescreen, yelling "[[VideoGame/MortalKombat Get over here!]]"

-->Shepard: "Get the fuck over yourself. You want to save your people? Stop bitching and actually do something about it. Demanding pity for being too pathetic to fight for your own survival isn’t going to fix anything!"

* ShadowArchetype: Possibly [[spoiler:the Thorian]] to [[spoiler: the Rachni Queen. Both use are proficient in MindControl, but the Thorain uses its powers to dominate others while the Queen primarily and apologetically uses her powers out of necessity. The Thorian is quick to resort to violence, but the Queen is open to negotiation once it becomes an option]].

* BadAss: As befits the history that they came out of: XCOM, all the way down to the grunts that didn't make it past Eden Prime simply because they ran into a Reaper. As befits anyone remotely influenced by Shepard: the entire ''Normandy'' crew, aliens included, especially Wrex.

** The Turian general responsible for nearly bringing the Citadel and Coaltion to war is affectionately named '[[SpaceMutiny Blast]] [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 Hardcheese]]' by readers.

** Probably best shown by their [[CombatPragmatist extremely pragmatic approach to warfare]]. There ain't no Geneva Convention in their mindset; to them, every battle is about the survival of the Human race, and they will do '''whatever it takes''' to make sure they come out on top. Torture and experimentation on POW's is standard practice, and their research teams will do things that even the Salarians find questionable.

** [[spoiler:Kaidan's brain death from the Thorian's psychic attacks]].
** [[spoiler:Nihlus' death on Virmire]].
** [[spoiler:Chellick's death during the Battle of the Citadel]] ([[and possibly Jacob Taylor's as well, though it remains unconfirmed]]).

** [[spoiler:Chellick's death during the Battle of the Citadel]] (and possibly Jacob Taylor's as well, though it was never confirmed]].

* AllThereInTheManual: While many Mass Effect fics have in-universe codex entries to flesh out details that couldn't fit into the story proper (such as ''FanFic/ProtocultureEffect'' and ''FanFic/MassEffectHumanRevolution''), this story does it in a unique way- by having XCOM "Research Reports," showing both what XCOM's scientists can determine about the enemy by an after-action autopsy, but also what potential upgrades can be created out of them. For example, the Reaper Blackstar weapon is noted for potentially being able to be stuck onto a Blaster Bomb guidence package, vastly increasing the destructive potential.
* AnyoneCanDie: Pretty firmly established once [[spoiler:Kaidan is rendered brain dead by the Thorian's psychic attacks.]]
** Considering that it's a crossover with XCOM, it's pretty obvious that this would have happened eventually.
** [[spoiler:Nihlus was killed on Virmire recently as well.]]
** [[spoiler: Chellick the C-Sec detective died during the Battle of the Citadel as well. Jacob Taylor may have bought it also, but it isn't clear just yet.]]

* ColdBloodedTorture: XCOM are fans of this, as per their roots.

* BadAss: Shepard, Wrex, really the whole crew. Lets just expand that to all of XCOM to be safe, since even the OC XCOM grunts that didn't make it past Eden Prime were badass. They just ran into a Reaper.

*** Justified too. Since the discovery of the Prothean Ruins on Mars, humanity has been convinced that the next alien invasion was just around the corner, and have prepped themselves accordingly. When their research team was wiped out by the Turian force, XCOM ''immediately'' mobilized it's forces and intercepted them before they even got to Shanxi; helped by their warp technology.

** The Turian general responsible for nearly bringing the Citadel and Coaltion to war is affectionately named '[[SpaceMutiny Blast]] [[MysteryScienceTheater3000 Hardcheese]]' by readers.

** Also, a teenaged Shepard's thoughts as he slaughters those same Batarians with his new found psychic powers includes the line [[FirstEncounterAssaultRecon He deserved to die. They all deserved to die.]]