Recaps

Halsey showed William Umbrella’s research file on a naturally occurring alloy from Mars that disrupted telekinetic effects and could affect human behavior. After reading its experiments and safeguards, William recognized its resemblance to SCP-148, while Halsey suggested it could help counter mind-affecting or telekinetic anomalies.

• William and Halsey returned to her computer, where she opened the file on Telekinesis Interruption Alloy.
• Halsey explained that Umbrella miners had discovered the natural alloy in Valles Marineris on Mars and that prolonged exposure had temporarily affected their behavior.
• The file described experiments showing that the alloy’s effect on humans reached up to five meters and that hats made from it protected D-Class personnel from FuckoffCult.
• Halsey’s records stated that Umbrella employees who signed the Confidentiality Agreement could work with the alloy, subject to regular psychological examinations.
• William recognized that the alloy resembled SCP-148, and Halsey said it could counter anomalies that affected minds or used telekinesis.

William and Halsey discussed the Telekinesis Interruption Alloy, while Umbrella’s response to the Anubis outbreak and its aftermath was recounted. The story then followed Ivan’s Spartan training on Minos Island, where he encountered Athena after a run.

• William named the Telekinesis Interruption Alloy 148, and Halsey teased him about the designation before they headed to bed.
• Umbrella used Memory Modification to conceal the Egyptian disaster, supported survivors, and told the UNSC that its Spartans had killed Anubis.
• Umbrella distributed 148 equipment to its forces, and no new anomalies were reported during the following three months.
• Ivan completed a fifty-lap run around Minos Island with the Second Batch Spartans.
• After the run, Ivan headed toward the Orbit Station and saw Athena waiting for him.

Athena trained Ivan in staff combat before Kent summoned them to Kenya Base for a containment operation involving a giant man-eating creature near Lake Tana in Ethiopia. Ivan joined the operation to observe and learn, and the chapter ended with the forces advancing toward the anomaly’s sealed-off location.

• Athena sparred with Ivan on the beach, but Ivan redirected her attacks and provoked her by invoking his father’s advice.
• Kent arrived with a team and told Ivan and Athena that a giant man-eating creature had been discovered near Lake Tana in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.
• Kent explained that William had assigned him to command the containment operation so Ivan could observe and learn, and they left for Kenya Base.
• At Kenya Base, Kent and Ivan examined a projection of the area as Spartan-II personnel led by Cortana and USS and UBCS troops advanced toward the sealed-off site.

Kent briefed Ivan on the Immortal Giant Lizard’s deadly abilities and Keter-class status while Umbrella’s forces deployed to Lake Tana. Athena and the Spartans landed in the jungle, and Athena ordered the containment operation to begin.

• Kent explained that the Immortal Giant Lizard had killed four agents and 144 civilians, healed rapidly, resisted pulse rounds, and moved with extraordinary speed.
• Kent told Ivan that the creature was classified as Keter and could not be killed, then instructed him to learn from the operation’s deployment.
• Umbrella’s aircraft carried UBCS, USS, and Spartan-II forces toward Lake Tana, where Athena was assigned to lead the Spartans in immobilizing the creature.
• Cortana urged the Spartans to treat the mission as their coming-of-age battle, and Athena led them in jumping from the aircraft.
• Athena landed in the jungle without a parachute, told the Spartans to gather, and ordered the Command Center to begin the Immortal Giant Lizard’s Containment Operation.

UBCS troops and aerial forces attacked the Immortal Giant Lizard, while Athena and the Second Batch Spartans contained it with a spear and specialized nets. The creature remained alive but immobilized as Kent dispatched a transport formation, and Athena reflected that William still had a long way to go.

• UBCS Beta Team found the Immortal Giant Lizard and drew it toward an open area six hundred meters west of their position.
• Vulture craft and Viking Fighters bombarded the lizard, which regenerated its wounds and grew bone armor.
• Athena pierced the lizard's head with her Golden War Spear, and titanium-fiber hunting nets restrained it.
• Athena ordered the Second Batch Spartans to secure the perimeter while Cortana requested transport from Kent.
• Kent reported that a transport formation would arrive in fifteen minutes, and Athena thought William still had a long way to go.

After Athena’s forces contained the Immortal Giant Lizard, Kent directed its recovery and transport while teaching Ivan how to coordinate specialized units. Days later, William visited the Endless’s research bay to check on the Strike prototype, where Halsey was discussing the project with researchers.

• Kent dispatched transport and recovery units, then explained to Ivan how the forces’ different capabilities had supported the containment operation.
• Kent reported that the Olympus Board approved Spartan-I support, and the Immortal Giant Lizard was transported to the Containment Center beside a black hole.
• The containment procedures restricted access to the creature, and Halsey rejected proposed experiments because of their unknown risks.
• On August 20, 2015, William, Hunk, and the Alphas entered the Endless’s research bay to see the eighteen-meter Strike prototype.
• William approached Halsey, who was discussing the Strike project with researchers, intending to ask about its progress.

William approved a test flight for Umbrella’s MS-X101 Assault prototype, which Cortana piloted successfully from the Infinity. The test results led Umbrella to begin production planning, with the prototype still requiring combat evaluation before mass production was fully confirmed.

• William approved the MS-X101 test flight and told Halsey and the researchers to prepare the prototype.
• Cortana entered the cockpit and launched the Assault from the Infinity after Serena cleared its departure.
• Cortana activated the PS Armor and completed a series of flight tests outside the ship.
• William watched the successful test and decided to ask Halsey to design a specialized unit.
• Umbrella’s report stated that it would begin producing Assault units in September 2015, with an initial order of twenty for General Ostrovsky’s fleet, subject to combat testing.

William reviewed plans for Umbrella to develop Assault-type MS units for the UNSC, then prepared to visit Minos with Halsey and Yelena. Halsey suspected SCP-682 was only a three-dimensional shell of a being whose true body existed in another dimension.

• William read the Assault-type MS archives and considered the UNSC’s past attempts to modify a Thor mecha and Umbrella’s plans to develop exclusive MS units for the UNSC.
• William reviewed SCP-682’s containment file and wondered how his son Ivan was doing after several months away.
• Halsey brought Yelena to see William, and Yelena admitted she missed Ivan and wanted to visit him at Minos.
• William asked Serena to prepare the Phantom for a trip to Earth while Fleet Zero continued its patrol under Serena’s direction.
• Aboard the Phantom, Halsey said she had handed the UNSC MS design work to the research team and suggested that SCP-682’s visible form was a three-dimensional shell of a being in another dimension.

William and Halsey set aside work to plan a family trip to Europe, while Andre visited Ivan on Minos Island. William, Halsey, and Yelena arrived at the island, where Andre greeted William with an accusation about neglecting his son.

• William and Halsey agreed to keep dangerous Containment Objects secured and planned to travel through Europe after picking up Ivan.
• The Phantom returned to Earth, and Andre gave the Second Batch Spartans a lecture on containment before dismissing them for the day.
• Andre privately checked on Ivan, who assured him that he was being well cared for on Minos Island.
• A USS guard informed Andre that William and Halsey were arriving, so Andre took Ivan and Athena to the landing pad.
• William landed with Halsey and Yelena, and Andre greeted him by asking if he had finally remembered he had a son.

William reunited with Andre and brought his family from Minos to Venice for a vacation after promising Ivan would stop the training until he came of age. At St. Mark’s Square, Ivan noticed a girl while the family visited the cathedral.

• Andre confronted William for leaving Ivan in training on Minos, and William promised Ivan would not train again before turning eighteen.
• Yelena charmed Andre into taking her to the beach, while Halsey asked Ivan to stop the training and William announced their trip to Venice.
• Athena thanked William for letting Ivan train with her and Kent, and William’s family left Minos aboard the Phantom.
• William gave Umbrella employees large bonuses and covered travel expenses for the Phantom’s crew in Venice.
• That evening, the family toured St. Mark’s Square and entered the cathedral, where Ivan’s attention settled on a girl.

William took Halsey, Yelena, and Ivan to St. Mark's Basilica, where Ivan noticed a red-haired girl dressed as a nun surrounded by solemn monks. As the monks escorted her toward the Golden Altar, Ivan sensed something was about to happen and urged William to leave for another attraction.

• William bought four tickets to St. Mark's Basilica after the ticket seller pointed out that the children needed tickets too.
• Yelena admired the church's paintings while Halsey told her about Christianity, and William encouraged the gloomy Ivan to smile more.
• Ivan spotted a green-eyed, red-haired girl in a nun's habit surrounded by solemn monks, and she glanced back at him before entering the church.
• William's family admired the basilica's lavish Golden Altar, and Halsey and Yelena asked William to take them shopping for jewelry.
• Ivan watched the monks escort the girl toward the Golden Altar, sensed trouble, and whispered to William that they should choose another attraction.

William used Super Speed to escape St. Mark's Basilica with Halsey and Yelena after armed men attacked, while Ivan stayed behind to protect a mysterious girl. William reached the port and discovered Ivan was missing as Umbrella forces deployed toward Venice.

• Ivan pointed out the monks and red-haired girl, and William ordered his family to leave while alerting Cortana and the Venice agents.
• Armed men attacked St. Mark's Basilica, killing visitors and monks as they moved toward the girl.
• William activated Super Speed, carried Halsey and Yelena out of the basilica, and ran to the port.
• Yelena clung to William in fear, and Halsey asked where Ivan had gone after he failed to appear.
• Ivan recognized the girl as a likely anomalous phenomenon and charged at an armed man to stop her abduction.

Ivan rescued a frightened girl from armed men attacking a church, then Umbrella forces evacuated them to a military base near Athens. During the girl's interrogation, William and Halsey learned that the attackers were linked to an ancient church called the Star of Light.

• Ivan defeated the armed men in the church with his super strength and speed after discovering their titanium-alloy armor resisted rifle fire.
• Ivan comforted the girl, who clung to him when Drop Pods landed outside the church.
• Helljumpers arrived, treated the injured travelers, and escorted Ivan and the girl out of the area.
• At Umbrella's military base near Athens, the girl remained too frightened to answer the researcher's questions.
• Cortana told William and Halsey that the attackers belonged to the Star of Light, a church with records dating back to the twelfth century and immense resources.

William ordered the company to prioritize investigating the Star of Light church after learning it had advanced equipment and surgically modified soldiers. Ivan took over questioning Hia and learned she had grown up in the church and was meant to be sacrificed as a witch.

• Cortana reported that the Star of Light's Armed Cultists had advanced equipment and bodily modifications, prompting William to make the church the company's priority target.
• Halsey told William that the church's modified soldiers were likely a small elite force and that Ivan's victory had cost it dearly.
• Ivan reassured Halsey that he was coping with killing the Armed Cultists and asked to question Hia himself.
• Ivan introduced himself to Hia, who told him that Deacon Barret and the monks had tried to help her escape from the church.
• Hia revealed that she was called a witch and was to be sacrificed to the God of Light.

Ivan questioned Xia about her past and discovered that she could create fire by speaking an incantation. Halsey suspected the Star of Light Church had limited Xia’s power by shaping her beliefs, and William assigned Ivan to protect her.

• Xia demonstrated a fire spell for Ivan and explained that fear had made her forget the incantation when the Armed Cultists tried to capture her.
• Xia told Ivan that she had grown up confined in the church and was meant to be sacrificed, then wept while recalling Deacon Barret, who had encouraged her.
• In the observation room, Halsey speculated that the Star of Light Church had restrained Xia’s imagination and warned that her emotions must not become too agitated.
• Xia told Ivan she had lived in a castle surrounded by forests and escaped with Deacon Barret and other priests by speedboat.
• Xia asked Ivan not to leave her alone, and William entered the Interrogation Room and ordered Ivan to protect her.

William left Ivan and Xia at the Athens Base under guard, then joined Andre and the Blue Team to plan an assault on the Star of Light Church. The force prepared to raid an abandoned castle on Corsica Island, where agents had detected heat sources and armed guards.

• William ordered Ivan to protect Xia at the Athens Base while he and Halsey returned to the Phantom to discuss destroying the church.
• Mylon asked William to let the Blue Team join the assault because the church's attack had frightened Yelena, and William assigned them to lead the airborne troops.
• William met Andre aboard a Containment Carrier, and Tina identified Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily as possible locations where the church held Miko.
• Tina reported that an abandoned castle on Corsica best matched the evidence and that agents had detected heat sources and armed guards there.
• Andre ordered a live-fire exercise to be announced as cover and directed the group to begin an orbital drop in fifteen minutes.

Umbrella launched an orbital assault on a Star of Light Church base inside an ancient castle on Corsica, using Heavy Marines and Blue Team. John and the others cleared the castle and followed Cortana’s marker toward a large underground space where the Church’s modified soldiers and secrets might be hidden.

• Forty-one drop pods carrying Heavy Marines and Blue Team descended toward the castle on Corsica.
• Agents withdrew from the target as Umbrella’s drop pods crashed around and inside the castle.
• John led Blue Team and nine Heavy Marines into the castle, where they killed the armed guards and other defenders.
• Cortana detected a large underground space beneath the castle and sent its location to Blue Team.
• John led the group toward the underground space as Carl suspected the Church’s modified soldiers were hidden below, and Mylon urged them to kill everyone.

John led Blue Team and nine Heavy Soldiers beneath the castle, where they fought the Star of Light Church’s elite troops and discovered a laboratory filled with children undergoing experiments. William ordered them to capture the fleeing researchers and preserve the facility’s data while backup units explored the tunnels.

• John’s team reached the underground gate, and Mylon lifted it so the Spartans and Heavy Soldiers could pass through.
• John led the team around a corner, where they fought and defeated nearly one hundred elite church soldiers.
• Blue Team and the Heavy Soldiers destroyed defensive weapons and reached a large laboratory containing children in cultivation tanks.
• John reported that the church’s base appeared to modify humans and produce superhuman soldiers.
• William ordered John to capture researchers and protect the data, and John directed Blue Team and the Heavy Soldiers to pursue them.

The report described Umbrella and the UNSC’s destruction of the Star of Light Church after its attack on St. Mark’s Basilica. It also detailed Project Miko, a nine-year-old reality warper whom the church had intended to use to summon its God of Light.

• At 19:07 on August 28, 2015, the Star of Light Church attacked St. Mark’s Basilica, killing 63 civilians, and Ivan Russell executed the 24 militants.
• Umbrella and the UNSC uncovered the church’s history, arrested Henry Frederick, and learned that it had abducted youths to create superhuman Executioners.
• Umbrella and the UNSC destroyed the church’s bases, classified its believers and researchers as D-Class personnel, and returned surviving failed candidates to society after memory modification.
• Henry Frederick was executed on September 15, 2015, and his confiscated property was used to help kidnapped children return to society.
• The report identified Project Miko as Xia Stephensdottir Sigurros, a girl whose reality-warping ability appeared when she was four.
• Umbrella classified Project Miko as Keter after determining that the Star of Light Church had adopted her to fulfill its prophecy of summoning the God of Light.

Umbrella tested Xia and confirmed that she could alter reality, had exceptional defenses, and emitted radiation that intensified when she used magic. As the Olympus Board considered whether to execute her, William and Halsey decided that harsh containment could provoke a dangerous reaction, while Xia’s closeness to Ivan made her unusually cooperative.

• Dr. Catherine Russell Halsey obtained Xia’s blood with needles made from 148 Alloy and found that its composition matched ordinary human blood.
• Halsey’s team detected an unknown radiation band from Xia and found that it intensified when she used magic, while Halsey rejected testing the limits of Xia’s abilities.
• Umbrella recovered the Golden Altar from St. Mark’s Church and sealed records about Xia, while the Olympus Board considered whether to execute her.
• William asked Halsey whether Xia should be kept in the Containment Center or executed, and Halsey warned that isolation and prolonged unconsciousness could cause Xia to run amok.
• William agreed that Xia had shown no intent to harm anyone, and he and Halsey recognized that Xia clung to Ivan because he had rescued and comforted her when she was helpless.

William and Halsey decided that Andre would adopt Xia as her grandfather, keeping her safe while planning to recruit her as an Outsider when she turned eighteen. They brought Xia to the Tsar, where she nervously met Andre and began to feel more at ease with him.

• William and Halsey agreed that Andre should adopt Xia and that they would deal with any future relationship between Xia and Ivan later.
• William arranged for the Golden Altar to be transported to the Containment Center and ordered the European agents to keep hunting the Star of Light Church's remnants.
• William, Halsey, Ivan, and Xia traveled from Athens Base to the Tsar aboard the Phantom.
• Andre prepared to adopt Xia and asked his guards to bring William and the others to a conference room.
• William introduced Xia to Andre, who softened his expression when she hid behind William.
• William reassured Xia that Andre was considerate, and Xia began to feel less nervous around him.

Andre adopted Hya and gave her the name Hya Andrena Ostrovskaya, while William and Ivan discussed her care and the children’s plans to return to Haifa for school. The chapter ended with William agreeing to discuss moving Ivan and Yelena back to their seaside villa with Catherine.

• Andre took Hya into his care and suggested that Ivan and Yelena return to Haifa to attend school.
• Hya accepted Andre’s surname, and he named her Hya Andrena Ostrovskaya.
• Ivan waited for William aboard the Phantom and asked how Hya was doing with Andre.
• William praised Ivan for defending passengers from the Armed Cultists and said the deed had raised his standing in the military.
• Ivan agreed that school would suit him and Yelena, and William said he would discuss their move back to Haifa with Catherine.

The files revealed that Xia Andrena Ostrovskaya was a cooperative Keter-class reality warper adopted by General Ostrovsky and enrolled in Umbrella Comprehensive School, where Ivan Russell and Yelena Russell later joined her. They also detailed Umbrella’s Zaku-type MS and the completed Spartan-II program, while the Spartan III program remained in early research at The Hive.

• General Ostrovsky adopted the nine-year-old reality-warping project, renamed her Xia Andrena Ostrovskaya, and arranged for her to attend Umbrella Comprehensive School in Halifax City.
• On October 1, 2015, Ivan Russell and Yelena Russell were assigned to the school in grade K-1.
• Umbrella developed Zaku-type MS variants for the UNSC, which was expected to receive its own mobile weapons in the fourth quarter of 2016.
• On April 1, 2016, all 240 Spartan-II soldiers completed enhancement surgery successfully, and on April 30 their divine bodies passed testing.
• On July 1, 2016, Umbrella launched the Spartan III program under Dr. Catherine Russell and Dr. Rebecca Chambers, moving its research to The Hive in Halifax City.

Umbrella described the Ghost Academy’s reserve and Ghost Agent programs, then recorded the opening of a containment operation for the Weeping Angel in Constantinople. The chapter left Second Lieutenant ■■ Kemur working undercover at a police station near Hagia Sophia as the operation began.

• Umbrella reported that it had adopted 3,214 newborns with psionic potential and divided them into USS reserves and Ghost Agents on Minos Island.
• Doctors Catherine Russell and Rebecca Chambers established four psionic levels, while Umbrella outlined separate training programs for reserves and Ghost Agents.
• Major Hunk became principal of the Ghost Academy, and Alpha Squad transferred there as instructors.
• Umbrella introduced the Weeping Angel, a stone statue discovered at Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople and classified as Euclid.
• On April 2, 2016, Second Lieutenant ■■ Kemur worked undercover as a police chief with six Umbrella agents at a station near Hagia Sophia.

Kemur led Umbrella agents into Saint Sophia Church after reports that living angel statues had killed several security guards. Umbrella contained the twelve statues, but experiments revealed their abilities and the rescued guard transformed into another project thirty-six hours later.

• An officer reported that angel statues had come to life inside Saint Sophia Church and killed security guards, so Kemur mobilized nearby agents and alerted the European regional AI.
• Kemur and thirteen other agents reached the church, secured its entrance, and entered after UNSC forces arrived to seal off the area.
• Kemur's team found twelve grotesque angel statues and several dead guards in the chapel, while a surviving guard warned them not to blink.
• The agents contained the statues and took the surviving guard away for examination.
• Experiments showed that the statues froze whenever any living organism viewed them, could not be physically destroyed, and could assimilate victims or imprint their image on D-class personnel until they transformed.
• The rescued security guard transformed into a project thirty-six hours later and lost all signs of life.