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I thought for sure I was a goner.
We had just finished a successful mission against an alien Abduction vessel that had landed. Captured the thing virtually intact! And then the aliens struck back.
They did something new.
It was a giant...explosion of what I can only assume was psychic energy. It seems to have ripped me into some sort of parallel universe. I woke up in my bed, the day when the summons of the Council first came. When I was first called to be the Commander of X-COM.
And called I was. It was the same...almost. But so many little things are different this time. I can only wonder what it all heralds.
Our base is in Asia this time, rather than Africa. Australia is providing our initial primary funding, as well as some excellent troop training.
As before, there was Bradford with a briefing on the first mission. All sectoids, as expected, and an easy enough victory for the troops. They even captured some Meld!
The world situation is pretty stable. Panic is a bit high in Mexico and Brazil, but otherwise well under control.
Vahlen, of course, wishes
to know what we shall focus our research on firstAnd the base layout is a bit different, as you'd expect. Nice to have a nearby Steam Vent, although it'll mess with the Satellite Uplink block a bit.
I also toured the Barracks and spoke with the soldiers. So many familiar faces, but many new ones as well. I can only wonder at the different threads of their past that either led them here again, or didn't. None of them seem to remember that other world.
What is real? It must have been. How else could I know so many of these people who I have never met before in my life? I remember sending them out, watching them fight, promoting them. Watching some of them die.
I can only hope that with all the changes around me I can use my experience to do better.