I love the themes of XCOM. For those unfamiliar, it's a strategy game where you lead a force to defend Earth against alien invaders. Not only do you have to fight on the tactics front (the individual battles) but you have to fight the strategy front too. Reverse engineering alien technology, autopsying the powerful invaders, learning how they fight...I love it! So, I decided to turn idle daydreams about two of my favorite games into something greater.

Note that this is not intended to be a fully-fleshed out story. Reading this is like...opening a new book halfway through and reading a few pages.

Revelation spoiler warning.

I make my way to Nyx's laboratory, a sturdy building of stone and dark wood, isolated in the northwest corner of the castle. Nyx doesn't really own the building, but she's in there so often that most of us have taken to considering it hers. Cherry trees, rosemary bushes, sunflowers and other plants line the path to the door. An odd assortment, especially considering the strange and occult happenings within the building they adorn, but Mozume claims it helps cover up the smells. The two guards salute as I approach, opening the door for me. "I'm going to have a talk with Nyx," I say to one. "Alert me before you allow anyone else inside." The two guards give their acknowledgment and I step inside.

The laboratory is a rather large building, yet always manages to feel smaller on the inside. Usually buzzing with activity and experimentation, the ground floor is quiet today. Dozens of heavy wooden tables divide the floor into several rows. The objects resting on top of the tables are ever changing, artifacts of partially complete spellcrafting and potion brewing. The walls are lined with cabinets and counters and racks to store all manner of things. Books, ink, ingredients, bones, scrolls, staves, pots and knives. The job of taking stock of the laboratory's equipment is among the most bemoaned of assignments, dreadfully tedious and unfortunately, necessary.

Thankfully, I'm not here to take stock today. I descend the hewn stone stairs into the laboratory's basement. The basement is smaller than the ground floor, more specialized in its use. Today, the basement is dominated by the presence of a large stone slab in the center of the room, a very old corpse atop it. Surprisingly, it does not smell.

Unlike the floor above, the basement is populated. A short figure in black clothes slowly circles the stone slab, arms folded. "Hello, Nyx," I greet, waving at the small 'child' in dark robes. "How has your investigation gone?"

"Prince Corrin," she replies, bowing politely. "I have yet to determine the method that these wights use to attain invisibility, but I'm ready to offer my findings in other areas. Shall I begin?" I quickly check around the laboratory. Nyx has no assistants-I am unsure if she doesn't want them or if nobody has yet to meet her standards-and the only other people around are the two guards at the front entrance.

"Go ahead."

She clears her throat. "First, regarding the equipment of the wight-it is hundreds of years old, at the least, and it is undoubtedly a Nohrian style-see the heavy plate mail on the table there." Nyx points towards an assorted arrangement of disassembled armor strewn across a heavy wooden table. A rusty platebody, badly dented, a frayed set of hard leather boots and gloves, and a cracked helmet. A large, broken greatsword rests along the table, its poor condition and dulled edge reflecting the age of its owner. Its most obvious damage is more modern, however-it was cut in half yesterday when the corpse puppet tried to block Charlotte's tremendous axeblow.

"Note the sigil on the platebody and helmet," Nyx says. A black moon over rolling waves of water is painted on the armor, cracked and faded. "Compare it with the one in this book." Nyx points to an open book on an adjacent table. I step over and check the title of the book-Noble Houses of Nohr. I glance at her curiously. "Borrowed it from the records hall," she shrugs.

Sure enough, on the open page is displayed the same symbol on the ancient armor. "House Nersten," I read aloud. "A minor nobility located on the southeastern coast of Nohr. Their symbol, a black moon above rough seas, symbolized their affinity with the ocean, particularly that of nighttime naval combat. The Nersten line died out when their last son, Augustus, died without an heir in 117 of the Third Age. That was almost three hundred years ago!" I step back from the book and turn to Nyx.

"Consider that this wight was the leader of the group sent against us. The abyssal condition of its equipment is shared with most of the other items we recovered from the battlefield. I suspect that our enemy considered this group of wights disposable, and dispatched them without expecting them to return." Nyx places her hands on her hips and shakes her head. "Necromancers aren't known for their compassion, but to just throw away two dozen wights...that's a significant amount of magical energy invested."

"That's unusual, then? Do you think all the enemies we fight will be in such poor condition?"

"There's nothing particularly unusual about the corpse itself. It's simply ancient and has not been maintained. But the spell binding it..." Nyx trails off, gathering her thoughts. "Necromancy is a life spell...or rather, an unlife spell," she mutters amusedly. "A life spell draws on the energy of the caster, as opposed to the energy contained in a grimoire or scroll. It will not diminish easily, and since living beings regenerate, it can be sustained for a long time. Individual wights tend to be rather weak, so necromancers compensate by using large swarms of them."

"Even if the individual energy drain is weak, huge numbers of undead will exhaust a necromancer, right?" I don't ask how many wights it would take to exhaust Anankos-I'm terrified of the answer and I doubt Nyx can reasonably guess.

Nyx nods. "Necromancers use a variety of ways to extend their lifespan. Many of which are...morally dubious, to say the least. But in this case, our opponent has used a very simple solution-conduit wights. A magical 'chain of command', so to speak, to delegate the energy costs of the necromancy spell."

Nyx clears her throat. "A necromancer can pour an exceptional amount of energy into a single wight, empowering it, and making it serve as a 'conduit' for other wights. Nearby basic wights will draw energy from the conduit instead of the necromancer. The obvious military application of this is to have the conduit wights serve as lieutenants and captains in an army. This wight," she gestures towards the corpse on the stone slab in the center of the room, "is one such example."

I think for a moment. "Wouldn't the overall energy drain be the same, though? It's still all ultimately drawing from the necromancer, right?"

"It's...more complicated than the basic explanation I gave," Nyx frowns. "Allow me to elaborate further. A conduit wight is not without its downsides. The 'lives' of the basic wights become tied to the conduit, rather than the necromancer. If the conduit is destroyed, all of the basic wights will be unable to receive more energy, becoming much weaker or becoming unable to sustain the necromancy spell. Furthermore, conduits are given a degree of autonomy- they can gather energy on their own, regenerating their own life force. This allows conduits to reduce the overall energy drain on their necromancer. The greatest problem with conduits is that they tend to be inefficient, energy-wise. Only powerful, experienced mages can make efficient conduits." Nyx's eyes leave mine and she stares at the floor for a while.

Nyx shifts on her feet and dusts off her leggings. "Conduits must also be given intelligence," she resumes. "A commander must be able to rationalize and process decisions, so they can think...to varying degrees." Nyx pauses, expecting me to ask a question.

I oblige. "So, if conduits have autonomy and intelligence...would that mean they could break free of their master's control?"

"...possibly. It has happened before," Nyx sighs softly, looking me straight in the eyes. "Prince Corrin. Understand that the odds of this are very low. A good necromancer knows just how much control to give to her conduits. If they struggle against her, she will overwhelm them. Consider the fact that our opponent likely has dozens, if not hundreds, of conduits. Combined with the fact that these ancient wights have almost certainly lost any sense of self by now and the odds of wrestling free from control are astronomically low."

I rub my chin, considering this information. "So if a newly created wight was from a very strong willed individual, those would be the best circumstances for breaking free?"

Nyx's eyes suddenly grow much more serious. "Prince Corrin. I know that you value my advice. Please listen to me fully and know that I do not say this out of malice, but pragmatism."

I swallow and look at Nyx solemnly. I'm afraid that I already know what's coming next.

"If a human necromancer had recently enslaved a strong willed individual...yes, there is a decent chance they could break free, with encouragement and help. In the case of our inhuman opponent...that is impossible. Perhaps there is a chance, but I strongly advise you do not gamble on it. At best, the wight may be able to resist some of their controls, slowing down the reaction speed or weakening their blows. Do not try to free enemy conduits. I have no doubts that they will be capable of faking resistance, luring you into a false sense of confidence. On top of that, it's very possible to disguise the conduit wight from the untrained eye. You might be wasting your breath on a basic wight in elaborate armor."

I've never seen such powerful conviction in Nyx's eyes.

"...you're speaking from experience, aren't you?" I ask softly.

Nyx looks at the floor. She does not speak for nearly a minute. "...I've been in a similar situation. Don't make my mistakes, Prince Corrin."

I nod. "I think I always knew it was a vain hope." I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. "I understand, Nyx. I won't do anything reckless, I promise. And if the time comes...I will not hold back."

Nyx sighs softly. "Thank you, Prince Corrin, that is reassuring."

"Was there anything else?" I ask.

"Yes. I still do not understand why this wight is still intact."

"What do you mean?"

"That was poorly worded, apologies. It is not unusual that the wight left a corpse. It is very unusual that every other wight we have fought so far has disintegrated into purple dust. Unfortunately, I have no way to determine why that is the case. At least, not from this corpse, which has no magical energy remaining."

"...I think I know where you're going with this," I nod.

"I believe that a complete understanding of the spell that animates these corpses will vastly improve our ability to fight them. I also believe that I have learned all I can from this corpse, at least for the time being. In order to progress...I must ask something very dangerous of you."

I nod, signaling her to continue.

"I need to study one of these wights while they are still 'alive'."

A smile of relief crosses my face. "Is that it? Shouldn't be a problem," I take the opportunity to stretch out my arms a bit, careful not to knock over any of Nyx's lab equipment. I focus energy into my hand and turn my fingers into razor-sharp dragon talons. "These things can't bleed out, right? How delicate do I need to be?"

Nyx tsks amusedly. "I think for a moment, I forgot who I was speaking to. No, they cannot bleed. Restrain it however you need. I would advise breaking the limbs. The body itself is unimportant- it is the magic I need to examine. And corpses hold no magic."

"Hmm, actually, slight issue. I don't think we can take a wight to the castle. Not through a whirlpool, anyway."

"Indeed. We shouldn't need to, however. I'd like to request that I accompany you in the next skirmish. I won't require much in the way of additional equipment. Once you've subdued a wight, simply bring it to me and I'll conduct the necessary experiments in the field."

"Alright. Depending on the circumstances, I might have to fly us to a safer location. And I'll either guard you myself, or assign someone else."

"Very good, Prince Corrin. With that, I have nothing else to report today."

"Understood. Good work, Nyx. I'll let you know the-" Suddenly, one of the guards stationed outside the laboratory bursts in.

''Sir! I just received a message for you from Prince Takumi! He says he was forced to abandon his hunting trip when he was ambushed by invisible soldiers!"

"What!? Is he alright?" Takumi has barely finished healing from that arrow in his shoulder, and the idiot goes on a hunting trip?

"He has only minor injuries, milord. He wanted me to inform you that he wants to rally a force to dispatch the ambushers once the healers have tended to his wounds."

I breathe out softly. Anankos wouldn't be content raiding defenseless villages for long. It was only a matter of time until his wights managed to find their way to the castle. At least Takumi didn't get hurt too badly. "Looks like you've got your chance earlier than expected, Nyx. How long do you need to prepare?"

"Less than ten minutes."

"Perfect," I say, silently singing praises for Nyx's competence and preparedness. "I'm going to go rally our response force, then." I turn and begin to ascend the stairs two at a time. The guard quickly hops out of the way, following me up the stairs.

"Where is Takumi now?" I ask.

"He is in a tent just near the southeastern gate. His retainers are both standing guard nearby," the guard replies.

"Understood, good work. I assume they've already volunteered to respond?"

"Yes sir, they have."

"Right. I'll head to the barracks and rally the rest. You go help Nyx with anything she needs and then bring her to the southeastern gate."

"Understood!" he salutes and heads back inside.

I shift more power into my legs, feeling the muscles strengthen and grow larger. Unveiling my wings, I turn and face the guardtower built into the wall next to the laboratory. "Let's go!" I push off the ground with great force, launching myself airborne. With a few powerful flaps of my wings, I bring myself to the top of the wall, shifting power into my arms to easily hoist myself up. From there, I jump again and perch on top of the guard tower, now nearly four stories off the ground. From my vantage point, I can see the commotion that is unfolding. Soldiers are running to and fro, many going to the armory or hospital. Even at this great distance, I can still faintly make out the distinct blue ponytail of Oboro on the opposite side of the castle, keeping watch outside a tent. No doubt she is itching for some revenge against those who dared to attack Takumi.

I push off the guardtower and, with a series of empowered jumps and gliding from the rooftops of castle buildings, I easily make my way to the barracks in record time. If I were still in my childhood castle, I'd face some serious punishment for damaging the roofs of buildings with poorly executed leaps. But I'm no longer a boy that can't control his powers. Besides, this is my castle.

...

I expect getting Takumi to stop hunting alone will be more difficult than subduing one of Anankos' puppet corpses.

Part 2 to follow soon! This is only going to be two, maybe three parts.

This is my first story! Let me know what you think!

Listening to XCOM 2's squad loadout music gave me an adrenaline rush as I edited the finishing touches.