RP X-Com Role-Play Missions

[ZombieSplitter53]

X-COM Mission Parameters
Site Recon Mission

Operatio Terror Strike
St. John's Fishing Village, Newfoundland

Date: November 6th, 2018
Time: 2100 Hours

Briefing:
Our sources report a developing incident in Newfoundland, up the coast from St. John's. A fishing village has gone dark; reports from intel sources suggest alien involvement, however, our falling out with the Council has made said Intel somewhat unreliable. Regardless, we should send in a team to investigate the site and figure out what happened.

The fishing village shows no signs of life. The nature of the aliens' involvement is unknown, as is the type and level of resistance. However, as it is unlikely that an entire village worth of people disappeared on their own, the aliens are our best bet. It is quite possible the village was the victim of a mass abduction, as its remote location would result in news traveling slowly from it, but satellite imagery picks up no signs of the pods the aliens normally use.

Extreme caution is warranted. Do not get reckless, as we have practically no idea what to expect.

Number of Soldiers for this Mission:
Ten (10) Soldiers, accompanied by two (2) Legion Troopers, two (2) SHIVs, and One Recon Android

Soldier Names:
Capt. 5 (MSGT) Papadoupolous, Fedor (Shogun) [MEC]*
LT 4 (GSGT) Eva Aegerter (Infantry) [Iron Skin, Adaptive Bone Marrow, Smart Macrophages, Hyper Reactive Pupils, Adrenal Neurosympathy]**
GSGT Mary Thomas (Gunner) [Dextrous Muscle Fibers, Magnified Bicep Structure, and Secondary Heart] (Green Psionic)
GSGT Welles, Wade (Sniper) [Depth Perception]
GSGT Harnet, John (Support) [Neural Dampening]
GSGT Grey, Dorian (Medic) [Iron Skin]
GSGT Brankino, Pastel (Heavy)
GSGT Temple, Sharron (Rocketeer) [Muscle Fiber Density, Depth Perception]
GSGT Krause, Kieran (Engineer)
GSGT Trapp, David (Gunner) [Magnified Bicep Structure]
Legion XVII (Assault Role)
Legion XVIII (Assault Role)
Hover S.H.I.V. Unit 1: "Jabberwock"
Alloy S.H.I.V. Unit 1: "Bandersnatch"

*Squad Leader
**Second in Command

Gear: Players' characters' will be equipped with the following supplies:

- Primary Weapon: Either a Plasma Stormgun, a Plasma Carbine, a Plasma Rifle, a Heavy Plasma Rifle, a Reflex Cannon (Infantry, Assault, Scout, Medic, Engineer), a Plasma Sniper Rifle (Sniper), a Reflex Rifle (Sniper, Scout), a Plasma Novagun (Gunner, Heavy), or a Plasma Dragon (Gunner, Heavy)

(Blaster Launcher for Heavies and Rocketeers, Particle Cannon for MECs, Superheavy Plasma for SHIVs)

- Armor: Banshee Armor, Aegis Armor, Titan Armor, or Seraph Armor (Four Shadow Armors also available)

- Secondary Weapon: Either a Plasma Pistol, a Plasma Mauler, or a Hand Scatter Plasma Blaster (H.S.P.B.)

- Equipment: Two (2) of the following; a medikit, combat stims, alloy plating, reinforced armor, chitin plating, a battle scanner, an AP grenade, an alien grenade, a psi grenade, a smoke grenade, a chem grenade, a ghost grenade, a high-capacity magazine, a targeting module, a mind shield, or an Arc Thrower.

(Chameleon Suit available for Scouts, Shredder Rocket for Rocketeers)

Details:
Elene Exalt has provided us with two of her Legion androids to fill in the role of assault for this mission, as our own numbers in said soldier class are dwindling, and our separation from the Council makes them hard to replace. Legion is a single autonomous A.I., and the androids can be addressed as one, or as Android 17 and 18.

The village, itself is not very large, and will likely not take you very long to traverse. The largest building in it is a lodge near the drop zone on the east side of town. To the north of it are a number of small shanty buildings and sales booths. The booths are still filled with fish, indicating the owners left in a hurry, and the fish are in advanced stages of decay, indicating they have been gone for a while.

On the west side of the village are the docks. They are littered with discarded fish and rods. A number of large fish, and even some medium sized sharks, are on hooks. All appear to be on the brink of falling apart, and are oddly in a greater state of decay then the fish in the booths.

On the far north end of the village is a large docked ship. It fits the description of the St. Anna, a large fishing barge that disappeared a month ago of the coast of Maine, en route to Newfoundland. Approach with extreme caution.

Tactics will be left to the unit leaders, though sticking together is recommended. Take your time, as the is no rush.

Enemies:
Enemy compliment is unknown at this time.

Conditions for Completion:

(1) Investigate the seemingly abandoned fishing village

and

(2) Locate and eliminate any enemy forces

(Mission Parameters subject to change as more information becomes available)

Civilians:
Unknown.

 

[Frostlich1228]

Operation Terror Strike: Part One

As Big Sky thundered through the sky, the new improvements to the flight system making travel all the more faster, Fedor looked around the cabin at his fellow soldiers, all in various forms of anticipation. “Alright, people, we aren’t exactly sure what we’re dealing with here, so stick close together, and report even the slightest off thing. If need be, we’ll split into two teams, but lets stay close for now. And make sure you hold your fire on any civilians… assuming we find any.” He looked at the computer screen showing various satellite images, focusing on them while the troops talked amongst themselves.

Mary sat near the front of the ship, caressing her new plasma dragon like a child. “Se’, ‘e’re ‘oing inte’ ‘is completely blind? ‘Ave te’ be ‘eady ‘or anythin’ ‘en…” (So, We’re going into this completely blind? Have to be ready for anything then…) Mary said, looking over her weapon once again.

Eva stood right next to Fedor. “Hey, boss man. I don’t like this, and I’m pretty sure everyone else doesn't like it either. I don’t like going in blind, and I don’t like not knowing what we're facing. This whole thing feels wrong.”

Fedor sighed. “I know. But this is the price we pay for our freedom from the Council.” He gave her a smile. “Don’t worry. If there is something I’ve learned really quick, it’s that the soldiers support their COs really well.” She glanced at the drone hovering over Mary’s head. “And we’ll be counting on that drone of yours for the occasional eye in the sky, Ms. Thomas.”

“Dun’t ‘orry, Gadget’ll ‘ake ‘ure noth’in te’ ‘ellish get th’ drop en’ us. We dun’t ‘eed te’ get jumped by an ‘thereal ‘en ‘e’re out ‘ere en’ the dark.” (Don’t worry, Gadget’ll make sure nothing too hellish gets the drop on us. We don’t need to get jumped by an Ethereal when we’re out here in the dark.) As she spoke, Gadget lowered itself to be level with Mary’s head, letting out a few beeps and boops as it looked at her.

“An’ dun’t ‘orry ‘uddy, eh’ on’t ‘et ‘em get te’ you.” (And don’t worry buddy, I won’t let them get to you.) She replied looking at it. It gave a few strange buzzes before returning to it’s original position.

Eva loaded her plasma carbine rifle, ready for whatever situation happens during this mission. “Alright, so I doubt that there will be a big alien force here, though it still feels weird for the aliens to even attack a village in the middle of nowhere."

Big sky landed and opens it’s hatch, allowing the XCOM forces to survey the area.

Eva get’s a chill down her spine “Anyone else feel like there in a middle of a horror movie, or is it just me?”

Gadget flew out and scanned the surroundings, seeing nothing that the satellites hadn’t already as Mary stepped out onto the stone path of the village. “Dark, ‘oggy as shite, flam’in build’ins… Bloodeh’ eerie…” (Dark, Foggy as shit, Flaming buildings… Bloody eerie…)

"Alright people, we have no idea what we're facing, so move cautiously," Eva said as the team moved away from the dropship and slowly made their way to the village. The team saw a large lodge a few feet away from the LZ. “Androids, check out that lodge... slowly. Everyone get your weapons ready, just in case something pops out.”

The mechanical troops approached the door to the lodge, blood covered the door and the entrance around it, still goopy and fresh. Unfazed by the gore around them, the androids slowly opened the door. The cabin was filled with human bodies, small and large, laying in pools of their own blood, eviscerated by some unknown horror. The machines looked through the room. There were a few unopened doors, presumably to the restroom considering the signs on the outside. As they cleared the larger rooms, the androids took cover at the door to the men’s restroom first, preparing to clear it. The door opened as they went inside, the rest of the team following them into the main room after getting the all clear. Mary’s eyes swept over all over the corpses, a feeling of anxious dread filling her. “Bloody ‘ell… what ‘illed ell’ ‘ese ‘eople?”(Bloody hell... What killed all these people…), she asked, unsure if she wanted to know but preparing to deal with it anyway.

Fedor surveyed the massacre “Hmm, no plasma burns. That’s odd. Which means were facing some melee enemy. Judging by the massacre, it could be Berserkers.” As Fedor looked around, he saw one of the corpses standing up, and it lunged at him. “Fuck, Zombies!” Fedor yelled, shooting the zombie. Once Fedor spoke, four more of the corpses stood up.

“Damn, open fire people!” Eva and the two androids open fire at the four zombies. Eva killed two of them, and the androids killed the other two. “Great, fucking zombies. Which means this is a bug hunt, if chryssalids are here, we’re in trouble.” Eva said to Fedor.

Mary’s eyes widen and she stood her ground, sending a hail of plasma towards the reanimated corpses. The rotting humans were either too slow or just weren’t smart enough to dodge as the plasma seared their flesh, filling the room with a pungent, burnt tire like aroma.

Another zombie burst in through the window leading outside, tackling David. It sunk its teeth into his arm, the Gunner screaming in pain as the undead creature was thrown to the side from a hail of fire from the SHIVs. As Dorian ran to his side to heal him, David was wide eyed, looking at the bite mark, then the rest of the team. “Th-they… they don’t… I-I’m not going… to become one, am I?”

Eva walked up to Dorian’s side. “Of course not, that only happens in the movies.” Eva looks at Fedor “Um, that does only happen in the moves, right?”

Fedor slowly nodded. “Yeah… but I’m afraid we all know where these zombies came from…” As if on cue, four of the bodies jerked wildly. One after another, four pale Chryssalids burst from their chests. Wasting little time, they charged forward, two leaping on the MEC soldier. He could barely hold them off as the other two alien bugs charged him.

Mary quickly reacted, using her suppression training to force the Chryssalid to leap off of him, or risk being blasted off by her barrage.The two other Chryssalid made a beeline for her instead, forcing her to choose between her own safety and the MEC trooper. She turned towards the creatures running towards her, blasting them down and trusting her team to save the MEC.

Eva put her gun on her back and started punching every Chryssalid that came to her. Eva finally pulled out her sidearm and aimed for the Chryssalid vital areas, blasting the one coming near her. “Every one fall back, were in their territory right now. Use your sidearms, your primary weapons are no good at this close of range, unless you have a shotgun. Fedor, you’re the main one that needs to get out your too big of a target.” Eva punched the Chryssalid going after Fedor. “Fedor, I will defend you hurry up and get out.”

Fedor nodded, taking after Eva’s example and swinging at the alien bugs at they got near him. The soldiers switched off as the Chryssalids continued to emerge from the bodies, half following Eva’s order and switching to sidearms, particularly those with larger weapons, while the other half fell back, and covered the first half’s retreat. As the neared the front entrance of the lodge, Fedor practically tackled the door open. As the team filled out, he unloaded everything he had on the doorway, and screamed, “Bring it down!” Sharron and Pastel nodded, readying their blaster launchers and firing into the heart of the building. The integrity of the building already suffering from the fighting, the building collapsed, the pained screams of crushed aliens accompanying the sound of splintering wood. A few of the insects escaped through the side windows, but were quickly cleaned up by David and Mary.

Fedor motioned for half the team to check the wreckage while the other half reloaded. He collapsed to the ground, panting heavily as Kieran repaired his suit with a Arc Thrower. “That… was fun. Great work… Aegerter. You and Thomas… really saved my… metal hide…”

“We ‘ouldn’t ‘ave wasted our ‘ockets ‘ere…”(We shouldn’t have wasted our rockets there…) Mary replied, looking over the remains of the burning lodge, “‘Sides… Weh’ in’nt’ e’en know if ell’ ‘ose ‘eople were dead or ‘ot…” (Besides… We didn’t even know if all of those people were dead or not...) Mary said to Fedor, letting her weapon cool down.

Fedor nodded slowly. “I know. I… I shouldn’t have had us all go in at once. And… I don’t there was anyone in there alive, but if there was… their deaths are on my head…” He slowly rose to his feet. “But we couldn’t let that many of those things run amok. If even one escaped… they could have ripped this entire island apart with how quickly they spread.”

Eva looked at Fedor. “Capt, if the Chryssalids are here, then there are most likely no civilians.” Eva reloads her side arm. “Anyway, looks like rockets are going to be our best friends today, now that we know that there are Chryssalids here, who knows how many there are. I mean this was a fishing village, so who knows how many people are...were here, which means that many people are now Zombies and most likely Chryssalids by now.”

“At blood es’ ‘resh ‘ough, an’ ‘ell th’ ‘ombies ‘ould’ve been chryss’lid by ‘ow if ‘ey weren’t new ‘ight? Eh’ll ‘ave Gadget ckeck out th’ ‘odies ‘at dun’t… get upm weh’ ‘on’t ‘eed te’ acci’entely ‘ill ‘ivilians.” (That blood is fresh though, and all the zombies would’ve been chryssalid by now if they weren’t new right? I’ll have Gadget check out the bodies that don’t… get up, we don’t need to accidentally kill civilians.) Mary considered, nodding her head towards her drone as it flew into the air.

 

[Dahlexpert]

Part Two

“Good idea.” As the team regrouped, Fedor looked at the two androids and the SHIVs. “Mary’s droid will look at any bodies we come across. If we find anyone alive, we’ll get them back to the ship. If they’re dead, you four will approach them first and… make sure they don’t get up again. They don’t seem to react against robots.” He smiled at Mary, and motioned for Welles. He turned to Eva, and said, “I’m gonna take Welles to get a higher view from one of those small buildings. She’ll be best watching us from above. Lead the team into those… fish booths, and keep your eyes open. Like you said… we don’t know how many of those bugs are running around.”

“Got it, boss man.” Eva turned towards the squad. “Listen up, we're going into the booths. Be on the look out. It’s a pretty big area with a bit of cover, so I’ll take point. Mary you're with me. Support, medic and, engineers stay behind us, your job is to suppress any enemy you see giving me and Mary time to get to cover. Sniper, it looks like you can climb above those things above the fish booths that should allow you to see most of the area. Is everyone good with this, are there any objections?” Eva waits for any response “Great, then move out and stay close together.”

The squad slowly made their way through the various sales booths, several of them turning their nose up to the smell of rotten fish. John looked over the filled booths, and shook his head. “Too bad the bugs don’t like fish. They could have eaten them instead.”

There were several more bodies along the way, but all were dead. Thanks to Mary’s drone, they were found quickly, and the SHIVs and androids made sure they didn’t hatch anything. Nearby, the sound of clattering claws made everyone freeze, as they could here a group of at least Four Chyrssalids approaching from the direction of the docks.

“It looks like they haven’t noticed us yet. Great, now then. Wade I want you to get the one in the back Mary you and I will open fire once Wade fires her gun if the get to close, Kieran you will grenade them. Alright Wade were waiting on you.”

Wade nodded, and lined up her shot as everyone hid behind cover. As the alien bugs got near, it was obvious their unusual senses were driving them straight towards the soldiers, but for once, this was working against them. As soon as they were within Eva and Mary’s range, Wade fired, the farthest Chryassalid’s head exploding in a flash of green plasma.

“NOW!” Eva and Mary opened fire at the Cryssalids, taking the bugs by surprise. Eva and Mary killed two of the three remaining Chryssalids “Kieran, ‘nade the freak!” Kieran threw a grenade at the remaining Chryssalid, injuring it. “Mary, would you do the honors and kill this thing!”

Mary smirked, “Ye’ ‘ot et’.”(You got it.) Mary raised her left hand forward, a green glow formed around it as Mary pictured the creature’s heart in her mind, shutting it down with a moderate amount of concentration on her part.

The smoke clearing, Fedor jumped up and grabbed Wade, returning her to the rest of the group. “Probably should get that leg mod,” she muttered, and grinned at Mary. “That was… really cool.”

“‘Anks, first ‘ime eh’ve ‘illed ‘omethin’ wit’ ‘at… an’ et’ ‘elt good…”(Thanks. First time I've killed something with that... and it felt good...) Mary responded, watching the aura fade from around her hand.

Fedor smiled, and motioned for the team to continue forward. As the stepped onto the docks, he said, “Watch your footing. This armor isn’t exactly made for the water. Make sure you hit your emergency release if you fall in.” He looked off at the large ship sitting ominously in the distance, and motioned for Eva and Mary to stay back with him for a moment. “Something is wrong here. We’ve found plenty of dead bodies, but other then the ones in the lodge, none of them have had those holes in their chests. So… where did those Chryssalids come from?”

“That’s a good question, I thought that the aliens would have dropped them off in the middle of the village. But since the village is intact, mostly... I have know idea. You think they came from that ship?”

“Maybe. Worth a look.”

As the team moved forward, Wade let out a soft yelp. “M… Mary?”

Mary gave her a serious look, “What…”

“Did… did you see…” She chuckled, motioning towards a badly decayed shark hanging up. “Sorry, this… spooky town is getting to me. I thought I saw…” The shark burst open, a juvenile Chryssalid charging the sniper. She tried to aim, but could do little at close range with a sniper rifle. The alien insect tackled her to the ground, snapping and snarling as she desperately pushed at it with her weapon. “Mary!”

Mary leveled her plasma dragon quickly, but she realized almost as fast that the plasma would cover her. With quick thinking she raised her hand up again, stopping the juvenile’s heart and causing it to crumple on top of wade, lifeless. Mary held her head, using that trick twice in a row taking it’s toll on her.

Fedor ran over, quickly assessing the situation. He quickly fired at two other nearby sharks, one dropping a dead Chryssalid. As the others helped Wade to her feet, he gently placed a hand on Mary’s shoulder. “Good job. Just hold off on that until you get your wind back. Don’t need my literal heart-stopper passing out on me.” He smiled at her encouragingly.

Eva looked at the sniper, and helped her to her feet. “Great, just fucking great. “Infect dead sharks now? Can this mission get an--” Eva stopped herself from saying how can this get any worse, as she realized when someone said that, things typically get worse. “Well, now we got infected to worry about now. I think I’m done with sea food for life. Captain, if I may I suggest we should burn this place to the ground once were done.”

“That might not be a bad idea. But let’s check that ship for survivors first.” He pointed towards the alloy SHIV. “Bandersnatch, stay off the docks. You get knocked off, you’re gone. Just cover our retreat if need be. Wells, in the rear with your sniper rifle, Thomas and Trapp, on suppression duty. Let’s check out the ship and get the hell out of here. And if those hanging fish even twitch, drop ‘em.”

“Yes sir.” Eva and the group head towards the ship “Is the air getting colder or is it just me, that’s usually a bad sign.”

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

The team reached the ship, Fedor motioning for them to check the deck before moving inside. More bodies littered the ship, Mary’s drone again preventing any from turning zombie. Reaching a large hole in the middle, they all stared at a pulsating hunk of flesh near the bottom. “Is… is that a whale?” Dorian asked.

“Mary, I… I don’t know if your powers work this way, but can you sense any… life in the obviously dead thing?” Fedor swallowed hard, afraid he knew what the answer would be.

“Eh’ dun’t ‘ink se’. Beh’... ‘omthing does ‘eel… off.. ‘bout et’...”(I don't think it does. But... something does feel... off... about it...) Mary answered, readying her plasma dragon.

As the spoke, the pulsing corpse spat out a Chryssalid, which was quickly put down in a rain of fire. Another popped out. Then another. Then another. As the team sustained fire, enough Chryssalids got out for a few to dash to the side and jump up. “What the hell is this!” Fedor yelled, hitting a Chryssalid with his kinetic strike and sending it flying.

Eva saw the Chryssalids and started shooting them. “What the hell, where are they coming from? I thought we killed them all.” Eva continued to fire at the Chryssalids in their vital areas, killing them quickly. “Damn! Where are these coming from. Capt what’s going on down there?” Eva got to the railing and saw the whale. “Oh... oooooh... oh shit. Um, Captain, we might want to get out of there, now.”

“Damn it!” He pelted the whale, killing a few of the bugs before they could come out, but still more came. “I-it’s like they have an unlimited incubation pod. Rockets!” Sharron and Pastel fired their shredders, ripping apart part of the whale’s blubber, but it didn’t stop the aliens from coming. “Jesus! You were right about the rockets! Mary, we’ll cover you! Get on the radio to Central Command!”

Mary blasted apart two more Chryssalids before replying, “Gotcha!” She found some cover and held the radio button on the side of her helmet down, ‘Mmander! We’ve ‘ot eh’ ‘ell of eh’mess o’er ‘ere!” (Commander! We've got a hell of a mess over here!)

“I’m watching the video feed, but all I’m seeing is gunfire and Chryssalids,” The Commander answered back. “Where are they coming from?”

“Commander, you wanna know were there coming from? They're coming from a 5 ton hump back whales corpse!”

“Damn it.” There was silence over the radio for a moment before Morrigan asked, “Mary, you’re on the ship, right? Do you see the bridge?”

“Yeh, your plan!?” Mary replied, trying to suppress the constant stream of aliens.

“A, uh… a tactical air strike,” Morrigan answered. “We can’t let that many Chryssalids get out and destroy Newfoundland. Someone needs to get to the bridge, activate the ship’s transponder so we can get an exact lock on the town, and you need to get out so we can blow it to Hell!”

“That will be me. I’ll get to bridge and activate the transponder, should be simple as long as everyone gives me cover.”

“Alright. Androids, go with her and watch her back! Mary, send that drone towards the dropship and scout a path!” Fedor opened up one the whale carcass. “Everyone else, fire in alternating patterns. Half reload while the other fire! Go, Eva!”

“Release restriction to level 3." Eva made a beeline towards the bridge. My level three restriction is perfect for this situation, thanks to the increase in my speed. Eva rushed to the controls. “Alright, so now what do I do, Commander?”

“According to the schematics, there should be a large red switch above the circular radar. Hit that and we… should get a signal.”

“Okay large red switch, Ah here we go,.” Eva pushes the red button and activates the ships signal. “Yes the signal is active.”

“Alright.” Morrigan sent out a loud call to everyone there. “Now fall back! The air strike is on the way!”

Fedor motioned his hands for everyone to open up. The whale body was pelted with plasma, stopping the emerging aliens long enough for everyone to make a run for it. “Mary, what kind of resistance does you drone see on the way to the drop zone?”

Mary took a step out of the ship for a second, looking towards the Evac zone to see at least another dozen chryssalid between them and their goal, the sounds of fighting must’ve lured the ones that left the village back. “Fuck… We’ve ‘ot ‘ore ‘hind us. Eh’m ‘ounting et’ ‘east twelve!”(Fuck... We've got more behing us. I'm counting at least twelve!)

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

“Great, because it can never be easy. Hey were falling back, I’m guessing we have 15 minutes to get back to big sky before this place goes to hell. So unless you want to be burned to a crisp, get moving.” Eva runs out of the bridge and tries to run to the ship “I’ll try to clear a path with the SHIVs everyone get moving or help me, both would be great.”

“You heard the woman, move!” Fedor yelled. “Eva, Mary, Seventeen, Eighteen, and Jabberwock, catch up to Bandersnatch and clear those bugs as best you can. The rest of us will cover your rear! Go, go!”

“Got it!” Eva charges to the dropship, dropping Chryssalids left and right. “God my training makes this to easy, thank you master sergeant training for allowing me to their vital areas. This makes my job a hell of a lot easier. Hey, any shark you see hanging, make sure you shoot it.”

“Eh’ know!” Mary replied, using her gene-mods to full effect by running and firing her plasma dragon at the same time, taking out three as they charged her. The other two in front of her had vanished, running around to try and get a flank, thankfully Gadget fired a energy blast at them, not to kill, but to alert Mary and Eva to their presence. When they realized they were spotted, they rushed Mary from behind. Mary quickly dropped an alien grenade behind her as she ran, catching the instinct driven creatures before they had a chance to steer away from it.

A loud screeching filled the battlefield, clearly originating from the ship. Mary turned her head back while she ran to see a juvenile chryssalid queen leap out of the ship. It focused on Eva and Mary in particular, using it’s powerful hind legs to launch itself over the covering team as it sprinted directly towards them with blinding speed.

As the rest of the Chryssalids were being mopped up, Jaberwocky charged forward, it circled around the queen, using its near invulnerability thanks to being in the air to pin it down, preventing it from moving without being ripped to shreds.

Mary stopped and turned around, realizing that they had to deal with the queen so they could escape. She fired at the creature, but it’s unparalleled speed allowed it to dodge both Mary and Eva’s shots with extreme ease, much like it’s children. As the queen headed for them, Mary decided to use what was more than likely the last trick up her sleeve. She dropped her weapon and put her hands together, aiming at the Chryssalid and using all of her concentration, she didn’t have enough power left from before it stop it’s heart, so she settled for the next best thing as she focused on it’s legs. Using the trick she tried on Jean, Mary locked the muscles in the queen’s four legs, paralyzing them and causing her to tumble over, helpless. The gunner feel back after the display, so weak that even holding up the weight of her own body was too much of a burden as she gasped and heaved, trying to catch her breath.

Fedor and the others caught up, the MEC CO scanning the area, shocked to see how well the two women and four machines had cleared the area. He scooped up Mary, placed her on Bandersnatch, and ran up to the queen, raising his weapon. Seeing it helpless, he instead wrapped a mighty hand around it, the creature to injured to even struggle. He noted the blood trail from the dropship. “Shit, anyone able to pilot that thing?”

Sharron nodded. “I can.”

“Good, Eva… can you run inside and…” Fedor sighed. “And make sure the pilots don’t give us any trouble.”

“Right got it. “Hey Sharron, you pilot this thing? Because I am a pilot. Well I took pilot training so I can take this if you want?”

“Something like this’ll take both of us with our mutual… training.” Sharron stepped into the ship with Eva, the rest of the team firing at the influx of Chryssalids closing in on them, the Commander yelling to get out of there. She sighed, and she and Eva put a hole through the pilot and co-pilot's chests, figuring it would better that than leaving them behind. She sat in one of the chairs, and asked, “You reading any damage to the systems, Eva?”

“No permanent damage, it’s damaged yes, but it’s good enough to fly. Well it’s good enough to get us out of here any way. after were in the sky we might want to stay under a 1000 feet.”

Sharron nodded. The team piled in, blasting everything they had out the back as a small army of alien insects closed in. The ship quickly powered up, and lifted up. One last chryssalid leapt towards them, but a torrent of plasma pistol shots put it down, and the team pulled away. A few moments later, the entire ship rocked as the sounds of explosions could be heard, the monitors displaying the carnage as the airstrike wiped the village off the face of the earth.

Fedor sat down, letting out a sigh of relief, then a sigh of frustration as he realized his decision to take the live queen meant he was going to have to hold it and watch it closely all the way back to base. He smiled at the team. “Great job everyone. I’m sorry about the town, but we probably saved the whole island. You okay, Mary?”

“Yeh’... Je’.... Meh’ limbs are ‘eally ‘umb… An’ eh’...’Eel ‘ike eh’ ‘ould... ‘eep ‘or eh’ week…”(Yeah... Just... My limbs are really numb... And I... Feel like I could... Sleep for a week...) Mary answered slowly and Gadget flew to her side, emitting a low beep.

The rest of the team chuckled, and Fedor smiled at Eva. “Not bad for your first mission as an officer.”

“Yeah. LT Eva Aegerter, it has a good ring to it. Huh... in all my years in the military, I never thought I would be a Lieutenant. And thank you, boss, for the compliment.”

The team settled back, the chaos and share number of enemy forces leaving most of them glad to be alive, or simply wondering how it was possible. Still, the terrifying prospect of what could have happened had they not come along weighed heavy on their minds, and they could only hope the snapping, snarling, crippled queen in Fedor’s hand could give them some answers to preventing this from happening again.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

X-COM Mission Parameters
Ethereal Base Mission

Operation Sincere Benevolentia
Uluru, Northern Territory, Australia

Date: November 13th, 2018
Time: 0800 Hours

Briefing:
Recent upgrades to our monitoring systems, and a lack of restrictions on where we can look, has led to the discovery of an alien base in Australia. It appears the base is actually built within the geological formation known as Uluru.

A large Psionic reading indicates one of the Ethereal Overseers, likely Invidia, is within the base. The readings are even greater than that of Ira, and we can no longer, in good conscious or logic, hold back our top soldiers. As such, we will be sending in one of our top psionic soldiers and her best team, along with a number of other psions.

Invidia has been a thorn in our side for far too long. The Ethereal seems to specialize in green psionics, and has the ability to completely control people, even those with great will power and low level psionics. Mind shields are highly recommended for this mission. Expect an unpredictable battle, and Invidia's usual tricks and attempts at deception.

Number of Soldiers for this Mission:
Ten (10) Soldiers, accompanied by two (2) SHIVs, two Legion Androids, & One (1) Android MEC

Soldier Names:
Colonel 5 (MSGT) Atka Ipiktok (Scout) (Blue Psionic)*
CAPT 5 (MSGT) Adolfsson, Janina (Infantry) [Hyper-Reactive Pupils, Magnified Bicep Structure, Reaction Time Overclocker, Neural Feedback]**
MSGT Wong, Sarah (Sniper) (Blue Psionic) [Depth Perception, Muscle Fiber Density]
MSGT Nash, Kevin (Assault) [Smart Macrophages, Muscle Fiber Density, Bioelectric Skin, Hyper-Reactive Pupils, Secondary Heart]
GSGT Akizuki, Airi (Engineer) (Red Psion)
GSGT Akizuki, Marina (Support) (Green Psion)
GSGT Muthambi, Masambe (Gunner) [Iron Skin, Adaptive Bone Marrow, Bioelectric Skin]
GSGT Inderpal (Heavy)(Red Psionic)
MSGT Wagner, Christine (Rocketeer) (Orange Psionic)
MSGT Ortiz, Amanda (Guardian) [MEC]
Legion VIII (Medic Role)
Legion IX (Assassin)
A.L.I.C.E. [MEC]
Hover S.H.I.V. Unit 1: "Jabberwock"
Alloy S.H.I.V. Unit 2: "Taqukaq"

*Squad Leader
**Second in Command

Gear: Players' characters' will be equipped with the following supplies:

- Primary Weapon: Either a Plasma Stormgun, a Plasma Carbine, a Plasma Rifle, a Heavy Plasma Rifle, a Reflex Cannon (Infantry, Assault, Scout, Medic, Engineer), a Plasma Sniper Rifle (Sniper), a Reflex Rifle (Sniper, Scout), a Plasma Novagun (Gunner, Heavy), or a Plasma Dragon (Gunner, Heavy)

(Blaster Launcher for Heavies and Rocketeers, Particle Cannon for MECs, Superheavy Plasma for SHIVs)

- Armor: Banshee Armor, Aegis Armor, Titan Armor, or Seraph Armor (Four Shadow Armors also available, Archangel Armor available for Atka)

- Secondary Weapon: Either a Plasma Pistol, a Plasma Mauler, or a Hand Scatter Plasma Blaster (H.S.P.B.)

- Equipment: Two (2) of the following; a medikit, combat stims, alloy plating, reinforced armor, chitin plating, a battle scanner, an AP grenade, an alien grenade, a psi grenade, a smoke grenade, a chem grenade, a ghost grenade, a high-capacity magazine, a targeting module, a mind shield, walker servos, or an Arc Thrower.

(Chameleon Suit available for Scouts, Shredder Rocket for Rocketeers)

Details:
The Ethereal base has been built into the 348 meter tall sandstone rock formation known as Uluru. With a circumference of 9.4 km to work with, we expect a sizable base.

Despite the location in the world's smallest Continent, Invidia keeps busy, and has the largest laboratory seen to date, as well as a smaller one near the throne room. Invidia shows a great interest in cloning experiments, and you will find the remnants of human-alien splicing experiments similar to that found in India. However, any humans that were alive recently have been disposed of, though they have been left for us to find, likely on purpose.

Additionally, the base has the second largest Engineering bay seen so far, only Avaritia's being larger. Invidia shows a moderate interest in combining human and alien technology, though much of the research seems to be 'borrowed' from Avaritia. Nearby you'll find an impressive armory.

Beyond a soldier's barracks is an expansive room with a sizable ceiling, almost as large as the Kerberant's room in Gula's base. The various plasma burns and discarded weapon suggest this is a training room, and the number of alien blood stains, some old, some fresh, are a testament to the rigorous training Invidia puts the base's staff through.

The throne room is the most expansive and elaborate yet, decorated in such a manner that would make the noblest of medieval kings blush. The walls are lined with what can only be described as 'trophies', taken from various alien planets, and various aliens themselves.

Enemies:
Two (2) Units of Three (3) Sectoids each
Two (2) Units of Two (2) Sectoids & One (1) Sectoid Commander each
Two (2) Units of One (1) Mectoid & Two (2) Sectoids each
One (1) Unit of Four (4) Thin Men
One (1) Unit of Four (4) Mutons
One (1) Unit of Three (3) Mutons & One (1) Berserker
One (1) Unit of Three (3) Muton Elites & One (1) Berserker
One (1) Unit of One (1) Cyberdisc & Two (2) Drones
One (1) Unit of One (1) Hover Tank & Two (2) Alien Hover SHIVs
Two (2) Units of Two (2) Floaters and Two (2) Heavy Floaters Each
One (1) Unit of Two (2) Ethereals & One (1) Sectopod
Invidia, accompanied by Three (3) Mutons Elites

Special Enemy Notes:
The Hover Tank and SHIVs are poor copies of the same machines from the European Ethereal base, with power replacing maneuverability. The tank is manned by a group of cybernetic Sectoids directly connected to its systems.

The Floaters and Heavy Floaters were created from human subjects rather the Mutons. They are weaker physically, but much more maneuverable.

The pair of Ethereal underlings are both blue psions. The first will use weak versions of mind fray and mind control, strong biokinetic attacks, moderate shields, and a slow but powerful psi lance. Finally, this Ethereal uses an odd kind of hypnosis unlike what we have seen before, though it may have been copied from Acedia.

The second displays a combination of the mind fray and telekinesis, previously unseen in any psion, including the Ethereals, except Colonel Atka. She can also use a regular mind fray, imbuing, psi inspiration, and physical enhancement.

Finally, Invidia uses offensive biokinesis as her main weapon. Our mind shields should block her from instantly killing anyone, but she will still be able to kill anyone she gets a hold on for long enough. She may use psi inspiration on her Elites, but usually holds off her energy to benefit herself. She has a moderate psi lance and a medium strength shield, and can use the latter in place of traditional telekinesis, as well as weak mind fray and imbuing powers. Finally, she has displayed the ability to project her consciousness from her body and 'possess' others. While this does leave her body vulnerable, do not assume this will stop her from using it, even when in the same room as her.

Conditions for Completion:
The death or defeat of the Ethereal Overseer of Australia, Invidia

Civilians:
All civilians located in the labs of the base are dead or beyond help.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Operation Sincere Benevolentia, Prologue

XCOM Headquarters, Somewhere in Siberia
0000 Hours, November 13th, 2018
Room of Atka Ipiktok

A windswept desert floor stretched out before Atka, being arrested by a tall stone monolith leering down at her. Even in the fogginess of the dream, she could tell where this was. To reflect her thinking, her more rambunctious side standing before her began, “Ah yes…” and swept her hands over in the direction of the formation. “The gates of hell await us.”

The Colonel awoke from the dream, feeling the gentle nuzzle of Taqukaq’s nose against her hand. He looked up at her with his gentle blue eyes as if to say, ‘it’s time.’

Atka nodded groggily, rubbing her eyes and getting out of bed. The Inuit woman swapped her sleeping attire for a military suit, her armor and weaponry awaiting her in the hangar. She tapped her foot in thought, unsure if she should wake Ayame or not.

As if she had a sixth sense, or simply had a bad dream, Ayame shot up to a sitting position. She slowly looked at Atka, smiled, laid back down, and a minute later, shot back up, this time fully awake. “Atka, you… it… is it…”

Taqukaq looked down slightly, while Atka nodded. “Zero hour, in more ways than one.” The scout gave the gunner a gentle smile. “I’ll be fine.”

Ayame tried to smile back, but couldn’t. “I… I-I know you will be, but… that won’t stop me from worrying. This Invidia is… just, don’t take any unnecessary risks. He isn’t worth you, and he isn’t worth your life.”

“I’ll be careful. And I’ve got people I can trust to back me up. I wish you could come with them, but…” Atka trailed off, knowing that sometimes things just worked out that way.

Ayame looked down at the hand she was still adjusting to. “I… know know it is cliche and all, but… I’ll be there with you in spirit, for all that’s worth.”

“And I imagine you’ll be watching. That’s reassuring.” Atka glanced at the wolf carving on her desk. “Everyone’ll be looking out for me, so I’ll do my best.” She patted Taqukaq, who gave a small whimper of understanding, and headed for the door.

“Atka, there, uh…” Ayame chuckled. “There is a certain little wimp you should go see before you head out, if you have time. Assuming he isn’t looking for you.”

The Inuit woman chuckled softly. “I hadn’t forgotten. I’ll see you when I get back.” With that, Atka departed from her room, and went in search of Jake.

I didn’t take her long to find him, the guard patrolling the halls between Atka’s room and the main elevator. The puffy, tired look in his eyes said he likely switched with someone to get this shift, though his eyes lit up when he saw the approaching scout. “Atka, I… g-good luck.”

“Thank you. I’m sure I will need a bit of that, though fate seems to be kind to me most of the time. I met you, after all,” Atka replied as she approached him.

“I...I-I was the… the lucky one…” He let out the nervous laugh the had seemed to become his trademark. “But… if luck is truly on your side, then I have nothing to worry about, right?”

“I’ll be safe.” Atka shook her head. “I won’t ask you not to worry, because I know that’s impossible… but I promise I will come back.” Leaning up, she kissed Jake and held him close for awhile.

Jake held onto her tighter than he ever had before, almost as though he was afraid to let her go. When he finally did, he let out a deep sigh. “I’ll be counting the seconds. And I know a short Japanese girl who’ll be even worse then me.”

Atka rubbed the back of her neck. “Well, with any luck, this will be one of the last battles. And then we won’t have to worry about this sort of thing anymore. Then we can worry about more normal things. Namely where we both plan on going after all of this.”

“Anywhere with you is fine by me.” Jake leaned forward, kissing Atka in a forward manner unusual for him. He stepped to the side, and give the officer a salute and a smile.

I’d offer you more, but I have to conserve my strength and all, Atka concluded to Jake, before returning the gesture, and stepping into the elevator. The doors sealed behind her, taking her up to the hangar. Waiting for her was the squad she had assembled. Faces she was very accustomed to like Janina Adolfsson, Kevin Nash, Amanda Ortiz, Sarah Wong, and Alice were waiting for her, as were others she knew to a lesser extent: Masambe Muthambi, Marina Akizuki, Airi Akizuki, Christine Wagner, and Inderpal. The SHIVs Jabberwock and Taqukaq, along with two Legion troopers, completed the full house.

“Everyone ready?” the Inuit Colonel asked in a calm but stately manner.

“As always,” Janina replied with a smile.

“Couldn’t be more ready.” Amanda answered.

“Is that even a question?” Kevin scoffed. Sarah merely gave a slight nod.

Masambe chuckled. “I’m with Kevin. Let’s do this.” Inderpal had a ghost of a smile of agreement.

“I’m looking forward to blowing something up for you,” Christine said.

Marina gave a respectful bow, and Airi punched a fist into her palm. Alice smiled, and muttered, “I’ll do my best.”

Atka nodded in approval. “Then let’s finish this… this is the Ethereal that couldn’t help but interfere in our base, not once, but twice… trying to toy with the Exalts, using a child as a weapon… we have a duty to take Invidia down, and I have a score to settle.” The Colonel scout turned and descended into the Skyranger. More quietly, she added into her comm, “You can count on us, Commander. And count on me to come back alive.”

“There isn’t a doubt in my mind,” Morrigan answered. “Watch everyone’s backs, but don’t forget to let them watch your back. And watch your back. We have it on good authority… and personal experience, that this one is a tricky one. And to possess Central Officer Brea, even in her weakened state. Just… just keep those mind shields on. I hope they’re enough.”

Airi scratched the side of her head. “Damn… things are itchy.” Marina reached over, lightly slapping Airi’s hand and readjusting her helmet.

“Gotta protect you from being possessed. Can’t have a beau-ah! Dammit, Janina!” Kevin cursed, rubbing the back of his head. “For once, can you not…”

“This isn’t the time,” Janina replied stoically.

“I disagree…”

“Be quiet.”

“...yes mame,” Kevin responded meekly. Airi grinned at Kevin, giving him a quick wink, and Marina rolled her eyes.

“Um… Colonel?” Alice pointed a massive MEC finger at her head. “Do… I need one?”

“I don’t think so… psionics usually don’t work on anything synthetic,” Atka responded. “Certainly an advantage of yours,” she added with a slight smile.

“Lucky.” Christina adjusted her chin strap. “I know us psions are more resistant, but not taking any chances.”

Atka tapped her fingers against her chair. “Well… I know that Eve was able to take control of the Sectopods with her possession… because they had a psionic interface. If you have anything like that, might be best if you take a mind shield as well, Alice.”

The android nodded, and popped on an older model, one she had tinkered with just in case.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Operation Sincere Benevolentia, Part 1

With the signature, muted roar of its engines, the Skyranger came to a rest before the Uluru formation, which dwarfed any other rocks in this portion of the outback. “Never thought I’d visit Australia again,” Atka muttered, reminiscing about the first mission she commanded with Ayame and Ryan in the outback. The Colonel ran down the ramp, her squad filing out behind her. Once everyone was out of the dropship, she turned to face them. “Alright, Airi. You have the key on you?”

Airi patted herself down, chuckling nervously until she remembered the side pouch she put all the things she was afraid of forgetting. Pulling out the former outsider, she said, “Right here, boss. Um… how do I door?”

Kevin groaned. “Ah, shit… are we gonna have to look over this entire rock face for the entrance?”

Janina shrugged, though she did let out a small sigh. “We have to do what we have to do. Let’s start looking.” With a nod to Atka, the infantry Captain lead the squad to Uluru and began to move the key close to spots along the formation in hopes of locating the door.

“Captain!” Alice looked over to Janina, her eyes glowing a deep red. “Over here. There is a large amount of thermal energy coming from this spot. Might be a source of energy.”

Janina motioned for Airi to followed and stepped over to the spot, taking the skeleton key and holding it before the area Alice had designated. A large hunk of rock started glowing, and a holographic illusion dropped, revealing an access panel. A moment later, the ground split open, producing an entryway big enough for five MECs to walk in side-by-side. A cool breeze rushed out, revealing that Invidia was likely not a fan of the warm climate outside.

“Alright, you know the drill by now. Amanda, Alice, take point with the SHIVs, and I’ll be there with you. Legion troopers, I want you to hang back this time, since your roles are more that of support,” Atka ordered, and the two automatons gave their acknowledgement with a quick ‘affirmative.’ “Inderpal, you go with Amanda on the left, and Masambe with Alice on the right.”

“Good point, since I am a walking tank and all.” Masambe chuckled.

Atka smiled grimly, and nodded to Kevin. “You’ll be with me.”

Janina looked to the others, and added, “Airi, Marina, Christine, you three stay with me in the center, but make sure to spread out when we make contact. Sarah, you can go on the right, the assassin unit will cover the left of our back ranks, and the medic the center back.”

With the formation laid out, Atka pulled out her reflex rifle, and the others mimicked the movement with their own weapons, and advanced into the belly of Uluru.

Ahead, in the center of a large cargo room, a group of three Sectoids and four Thin Men were already waiting in cover. As the X-COM soldiers took to cover themselves, they were surprised to see one of the Thin Men step out of cover, what appeared to be a white flag in its hand. It appeared to be unarmed, and slowly, cautiously, approached the human soldiers.

Hold your fire… for now. I need to figure out what they’re doing first, Atka told her squad telepathically, keeping her rifle level on cover, though aimed at a different Thin Man. The Colonel glanced over at the approaching alien. “What is your intention? Do you mean to surrender?”

Reaching the halfway point, and knowing it would get no farther, the Thin Man stopped, and placed its hands on its hips. An all too familiar grin spread across its face. “Surrender? Me? Oh, you do make me laugh. I am here to offer you the chance to surrender. Now… I know what you all think of me, but I am a reasonable person when you catch me in a good mood. So, I have a proposition for you. One I am sure you will find most fair.”

Make sure your aim is good on the others, but don’t take potshots at the possessed one, Atka furthered while narrowing her eyes at the Thin Man behind her visor. “And what’s that, Invidia?” the Inuit woman asked, a little tiredly.

“Stay here and fight, and you die. Or… you may simply leave.” The possessed Thin Man pointed at Atka. “Except you. Surrender yourself, and the rest of your people go free. Or we can fight for a while, and when you realize that you can not win, I will offer to let half of your people go. But all of them leaving is a one time thing. I don’t offer the same deal twice.”

Does this idiot really think that after all this time… Atka slowly stood up from her cover, starting to walk forward. “Alright, Invidia…” On my mark… “You have a-” Fire! The XCOM squad unleashed a prepared volley, and chaos ensued on the enemy’s side. A Thin Man behind cover collapsed as Sarah blew a clean hole through the side of its head, while two others were overwhelmed by a spray of plasma from Inderpal and Masambe, unable to move while taking glancing hits over and over until they became life-threatening.

As for the three Sectoids, they fared a bit better due to their lower profile. One of the fell to the Legion marksman, however, and a second lost its cover to one particle beam, and its life to a another. The third squealed in terror, trying to fire off a shot at Atka, but the scout had already prepared to dodge, and the plasma flew by harmlessly as the scout lifted her H.S.P.B. at the Thin Man. “You’re next, Invidia.”

The Thin Man’s grin faltered, as it shuddered in anger. He placed his hands behind his back and sighed. “Such a waste. And to think, all of you could…”

I hear a click, and a moment later, an explosion consumes me and the Thin Man. Atka stepped back, and fired the miniaturized shotgun, sending the Thin Man flying back with a burst of plasma on its front, and an explosion shredding its back. “Sneaky bastard... “ she muttered, hearing the faint squeal of a Sectoid as it was terminated by plasma fire.

The rest of the team ran forward, and Airi scanned the battlefield. “How… did you know it was there?”

Marina rolled her eyes. “She’s been at this for a while, Airi. It’s called a battle sense.”

Atka tapped the side of her helmet. “And the ‘Eye of Chronos’. That is, precognition.” With a sigh at the blasted remains of the possessed Thin Man, the Colonel had her squad regroup, and continue its advance, utilizing whatever cover was available as they marched further into the base.

A large door flew open, revealing an engineering bay beyond. From out of it, four Mutons, along with a Cyberdisc and its drone counterparts, emerged. Their repairing abilities not needed at first, the drones took pot shots at the X-COM soldiers, giving the alien machine time to open up, and the Mutons a chance to get to cover. All but one made it, the unlucky one taken down by a hail of SHIV fire.

“Masambe, put them in the danger zone! Inderpal, pin down the other one!” Janina shouted, sending a shot through one of the drones, not at all pleased at being outlined in a holographic targeting hue. The two soldiers with LMG-class weapons complied, Masambe able to hold two of them at bay with his training.

Atka didn’t even have to ask Sarah to do what came to mind, the Chinese sniper firing off a shot across the cyberdisc’s guns, rendering them ineffective until its auto-repair cycles kicked in. The other three with Janina fired off their own shots at the mechanical terror, but its tough armor precluded them from destroying it as it returned to disk mode for defense.

One of the Mutons pinned down by Masambe gave a bloodcurling roar, and the three fearlessly pulled out grenades. The first one to do so was blasted by Musambe, leaving two left. The one held down by Inderpal took a nonlethal hit, but its aim was off, and the grenade only caught Taqukaq in a glancing hit, the alloy SHIV not seeming too bothered. The third grenade, however, was unimpeded, and soared towards Janina’s core group of four.

Christine threw up her hands, a swirl of energy appearing above them. It caught the grenade, spinning it around in place. Not as controllable and predictable as telekinesis, she couldn’t release it, as it could have been thrown away, or right towards them. Instead, she let it explode in mid-air, punching into the soldiers’ armor, but not doing as much damage as it would have had it landed amongst them.

Amanda lowered her particle cannon, running in front of the four as they got up from blasted covered, and used one of her medsprays to repair their armor. “I prefer the less clever Balmadaar,” the Guardian mumbled.

Kevin ran forward as the cyberdisc let out a few sparks, signalling one of its repair cycles was taking place. As he did so, the remaining Muton on the right tried to back off, only to be nailed in reprisal by Kevin’s plasma shotgun. The assault grinned as the injured Muton counter-suppressing Inderpal went down to another shot from Sarah. “Someone’s on fire today…” He looked back up at the cyberdisc as it snapped open, a little over two meters from him. “Good morning, buddy!” he said gleefully, sending a burst of plasma across the cyberdisc’s optics.

The machine seemed to ‘panic’, unable to process visual information and unsure of where the enemy was. It decided on grabbing its grenade, and begun to spin, only to have its top half torn off by a shot from Alice. Its grenade was detonated by the blast, and the cyberdisc, only about 40% intact, fell to the floor, struggling for a bit before powering down. The only lights left on it were the tongues of flame from the explosion from before.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Operation Sincere Benevolentia, Part 2

A quick regroup, and a quick reloading session followed. Christine apologized she could act quicker, but no one blamed her. Marina glanced towards the doorway, turned to Atka. “What do you think we have in store for us in there?” She asked, her hands glowing green as she massaged her wrists.

“With my experience in alien factories… I’m guessing some Mechtoids, maybe another cyberdisc or two… maybe a Sectopod, a hovertank… and I know they’re fond of copying our SHIVs, even if they can’t understand the value of the heavily armored ones,” the Colonel replied, patting Taqukaq’s chassis.

Marina nodded, and rejoined her sister, looking her over to Airi’s annoyance. Alice stepped forward, lifting her weapon. “I’ll take point. There are some really high energy readings in there, and I don’t want you guys getting hit.”

“Right,” Atka replied. “Kevin, stick behind the forward four mechanized troops with me. We’ll pull some maneuvers up front only if we need to.” With that, Atka ordered the two MECs and SHIVs to lead the way, and advanced with the organic troops behind them.

A quick look around set a familiar scene. For anyone who had been in Germany or seen footage from that base, they could swear this room had been flown here from there. After a few moments of silence, the group taking in the sight, a large plasma shot flew between Alice and Amanda, a hover tank having fired before fully powering up in an attempt to catch them off guard. On either side of it were Jabberwock’s evil clones, and flying in above them were four floaters, two of the upgraded variety. The floaters seemed off, but most of the team was too busy rushing to cover to think why.

Akizuki’s, we need smoke cover! Inderpal, hit those two SHIVs with a shredder, we need to take them down quickly. “Jabberwock, focus fire on one of the SHIVs after the rocket goes off!” Amanda, shoot at the other one. Atka gave a meaningful look at Kevin, and the two split off, running to either side to draw the flurry of fire from the Floaters. Being focused on dodging a shot from one of the SHIVs, Kevin did take a hit to his armor from a plasma carbine, but shrugged it off. Atka emerged unscathed, having activated her jets momentarily to give her an extra boost.

Inderpal lifted his blaster launcher and let the alloy-filled bomb fly, exploding between the two alien SHIVs. HEAT shots from Jabberwock send one of his doppelgangers down in flames, but Amanda’s shot missed the second one, which sent a storm of missiles from its special compartment down at the squad.

Janina’s eyes widened as the missiles came for the team at the same time that the tank was ready for another shot. “Alice, the shield, now!”

“Right!” Alice rushed forward and dropped to her knees. After a quick shift in power output, an energy field projected around her and the squad. It lasted only a few seconds, but long enough to take the barrage. Alice rose to her feet, and stumbled back a bit. “Whoa… little… much…”

“Stay back for a second, then.” Airi held her pistol with one hand, her other hand outstretched. Some rapid fire made one of the Floaters pause in mid air, and Airi snapped her fingers. She wasn’t able to make the flying enemy erupt in flames, but she did consume its thrusters, sending it crashing to the ground with a satisfying thud.

Atka lifted her reflex rifle, now a bit of a distance away from the squad, though this allowed her to attack the enemy from the side. “Sunny, I’ve got an idea. Fire off Taq’s blaster bomb into the barrel of the... tank. That should… good God!” Atka sucked in a breath as she realized what had been bothering her about the Floaters. Looking closer, not only were they human… but they were faces she recognized. “T-they...Ugalik… and… m-mother…”

The alloy SHIV did as it was told, sending a blast straight at the tank’s slow moving barrel. It crashed to the side as its controllers were consumed by the internal explosion. Christine, noting her CO’s dismay, turned her attention to one of the hovering heavy Floaters targeting her. Rushing forward, Christine dropped her ghost grenade, causing her and Atka to disappear from sight. She needed to give Atka time to recover, and used her disappearing act to get a shot off, right into the Heavy Floater’s face.

I… I can’t… Atka thought in dismay.

“Then I will do it for you,” Sarah replied, her usually calm demeanor tinged with hatred directed at Invidia. The sniper lifted her rifle, and two shots cracked out of its barrel, sending the last two Floaters into the blackness of death. Legion IX stood beside her, a careful shot piercing the ruined armor of the other alien hovercraft.

As the dust settled and the sparks died down, the team could hear the faint gurgling cries of one of the Floaters. Airi and Marina rushed forward, finding the one Airi had hit was down but not completely out. Seeing what Atka had seen, Marina held a hand over her mouth, a tear forming in her eye, and Airi had to step away. The former cautiously approached the suffering creature, her hands glowing green. “Oh… oh, God, Qamut, I…” She shook her head, and a few pokes to the neck ended its suffering.

Janina stepped over to Atka, who had taken off her helmet and was leaning against the wall as if it were the only thing keeping her from falling down. “Atka… I know it’s hard, but we have to keep moving. We can’t falter here… we’ll make Invidia pay for this, I swear.”

Atka quietly looked up, the sorrow in her eyes not fading. She’s...right though… but… The scout formed gently swirling blue energy in her hand, and those near her felt their spirits artificially lifted by the psi inspire. Atka picked her helmet back up, reattaching it to the rest of her archangel armor. “Take a minute, and then we’ll continue on,” she said quietly.

Everyone nodded, some wanting to say something, but not sure what. Alice took the time to approach one of the computers, looking for something resembling a map. She pointed out one of the doors. “If we cut through the labs and the barracks, we’ll shave quite a bit of time off our trip to the throne room.”

Atka pushed herself off the wall, and nodded solemnly. “Right. Let’s head that way, and corner that monster.”

The team walked in silence, each feeling their own combination of anticipation and anger. What had likely been a tactic to throw them off only made them want to find the Ethereal that much more. They rushed through a set of energy doors into a lab, catching a room filled with five Sectoids and a Sectoid Commander, all wearing what appeared to be Sectoid-sized lab coats, by surprise. The bulbous headed aliens-froze, unsure how to react.

Atka did not waste the opportunity, lifting her reflex rifle. Her first shot punched through one of the Sectoids, and two more fell in rapid succession. By the time the fourth was dead to her relentless fire, the fifth Sectoid had fallen behind a table in stark terror. The Sectoid Commander took cover a bit more calmly, even if it was not entirely sure of the situation itself. Reaching out a hand giving orders, the potent psionic alien tried to seize control of Janina’s mind. What it got instead was an equally potent barrier, and a searing lance of pain through it’s mind from feedback.

As the Sectoid Commander writhed on the floor, Amanda ran over the table, and send her KSM through the creature’s body. The last one looked up in terror as an Indian in titan armor walked up to it.

“Do not clone my friend,” Inderpal stated in finality, and lifted a hand, immolating the hapless Sectoid.

“Damn…” Airi muttered, looking at the small spark she could produce with envy.

Atka quickly confirmed that all of the Sectoids were dead, and then had the squad quickly reload and continue through the vast laboratories. Her simmering anger began to subside, dealing with the alien scientists responsible for creating the insults in the engineering bay doing much to calm her down, though she was still resolved to enact revenge upon Invidia for all he had done.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Operation Sincere Benevolentia, Part 3

Alice scoffed as she typed on one of the computers. “Not all of the subjects here were dead until a little while ago, and I doubt Invidia would kill them out of fear, consider the whole arrogance thing.”

“Which means the were probably killed and left here to mock us,” Christine muttered.

“That son of a bitch sure knows how to hold a grudge…” Kevin shook his head. “Well, two can play at that game.” He hefted his reflex cannon. “Let’s go kill the fucker.”

Janina nodded. “Nothing else we can do here… are you going to be alright, Atka?”

The Inuit woman turned away from the smoldering bodies. “I’ll be fine… I just want to see him dead as much as the rest of you… if not more.”

“We understand how you feel, Atka… it may not be our own people who are being exploited like this… but we’re friends. Don’t forget that.”

Atka nodded slightly, and motioned for the squad to form up again and continue pushing forward. Passing through the halls and reaching where the barracks were located, they weren’t within ten feet of the door when fire erupted from a heavy plasma weapons. With what few peeks the soldiers could take spotted Mutons and their Elite counterparts, but the aliens wouldn’t let up. Christine looked over at Atka, a shredder in one hand, a swirl of orange energy in the other. “Orders?”

“Alice, get a proximity mine in their midst, then you can toss the rift in, Christine,” Atka replied. “Inderpal, see if you can kill one with a psi lance. The other two Elites that survive… I’ll keep them busy.”

Alice lined up her shot, and launched the proximity mine. As it reached the doorway, a Berserker rushed out, taking the full blast, but blocking the blast from the rest. Despite its heroics, and likely accidental, cover, Christine still threw her rift, pumping a bit more power into it as usual as she tried to fill the entire barracks with a swirling vortex of death. “Can’t… keep this up… for long!”

The walls started to crumble, but Inderpal couldn’t get a clear shot at any Elite, so he did the next best thing. A curved spike of red psoinic energy formed in the Heavy’s hand, and he tossed it at the Berserker. The psi lance ripped through its chest, and the dead Muton fell to the ground, unclogging the entrance.

Atka outstretched both of her hands, her rifle secured on her back, and sent two mindfrays to make Elites hallucinate. Hearing the bellows of dismay from her victims, Atka charged forward, drawing the fire of the enemy as best as she could, using the jets again. One of the regular Mutons got a glancing hit on her, but was out of cover just long enough for Amanda to blow a hole in him.

Legion IX disappeared from view, drawing its H.S.P.B. and sneaking behind the unharmed Elite. It waited patiently for its counterpart to shoot a hole in the armor, and then blasted a deadly hit into the Elite, making it topple to the ground, near death. A roar from behind Legion made the robot turn in surprise to see the other Berserker slam into his frame, and rip it in half.

The remaining five Mutons were spurred on by this act of devastation, and the three regular troopers opened fire with renewed vigor, pinning down a good portion of the XCOM squad. The two mindfrayed Elites had trouble seeing, so they tossed two grenades instead of firing. The first went a bit wide, and was hit before it got too close to harm Inderpal by the heavy himself, but the second slammed into Masambe at point-blank, blasting a chunk of his armor into pieces and damaging Alice standing beside him.

The invigorated Berserker rushed forward with abandon, slamming into Legion VIII, and smashing in its head. The Muton seemed a bit disappointed that it was out of tin cans it could easily crush as smoke billowed from a crushed smoke grenade, and went for a small human that seemed like easy prey instead. “Hey!” Her rage fueling her energy, a fireball shot from Airi’s hand, engulfing the head of the alien that dared to get that close.

“At least her anger is good for something,” Marina mumbled, rushing to Masambe’s side. Examining a convenient hole in his arm’s armor, she used her psinoics to turn off the pain receptors in it long enough for her to spray him with her medspray.

Before the Elites could fully recover, Alice rushed forward. A rapid shot took out one of them, and she took place behind the second, hitting it with a kinetic strike that sent it flying straight at Amanda. “All yours!”

The Guardian drove her own physical weapon through the Elite’s chest, smiling for a moment before looking at the three Mutons in horror. “Dammit, don’t let them-!”

One of the Mutons had picked up a ghost grenade off the ground, and used it on its companions, the three vanishing from sight. They ran into the room ahead and prepared to fire at Masambe, Inderpal, and Marina all at once. That was until a bolt of plasma punched through one of their chests, followed by another to the second’s head.

“The third one is right next to you, Marina!” Atka shouted desperately as she fired, knowing the Muton would fire in three seconds with a fatal strike.

Marina dived to the side, the attack barely wizing by her head. As the alien was exposed, she dived behind it, leaping on its back and driving her fingers into the base of its neck. “Gonna have to thank Ms. Lockheart for those reports later.” She dropped down, collapsing from exertion as the Muton stood perfectly still. “Th… th-thanks, Colonel. You… saved me…”

Atka knelt down beside Marina as Taqukaq poked the Muton with the barrel of its heavy weapon. “Should we… kill it? How long is that going to last?”

Marina looked up at it. After she caught her breath, she muttered, “You… you might want to look away.” She slowly reached up, poking it again. Blood burst from its ears and mouth, and it collapsed in a heap.

A brief look from Kevin made him wish he hadn’t, and he grimaced as he went over to Airi. “Your sister’s scary…”

Airi only grinned. “Scary is what a lot of reading and studying can do, huh?”

“I guess.” Kevin reloaded his weapon and went with Airi to rejoin the others as they headed into the ravaged barracks, the handiwork of Christine.

“Not bad…” Musambe stated as he looked around.

“Could have been better.” Christine searched the fallen androids, retrieving another ghost grenade and a smoke. “Man, the Exalt’s are going to be pissed. I hope Legion can’t feel pain.”

“He can’t, I’m fairly certain,” Atka replied. “Still is a shame though... we could have used them.” The squad continued on, and eventually came to the next engineering bay, where two shielded Mechtoids were waiting. Their providers were hidden behind equipment, but two other Sectoids were barely peeking out from behind cover, and used mindfrays, only to be frustrated by the mind shields that were more than enough to block their feeble attempts.

“We’re going to have to crack those shields the hard way,” Atka decided quickly, raising her reflex rifle. “Focus fire on the one on the right!” She started off with two rapid fire shots, and soon a hail of plasma and particle beams rained down on the shield, shattering it and damaging the Mechtoid underneath with the first volley. The two didn’t seem pleased by this, and the damaged one was reinforced by another shield from one of the Sectoids. The Mechtoids opened fire, damaging cover and pushing their foes back.

“Dammit… Airi, toss a grenade behind the left side,” Atka ordered, pulling out one of her psi grenades and tossing it behind the right side, making the Sectoids highly disoriented. Airi grinned, and tossed her alien grenade, dealing with the two grays in a more permanent fashion. The shields went down, but the Mechtoids got off another volley.

Atka’s eyes widened as she realized that Airi’s cover was melting from the previous round of enemy weapons fire. “Taqukaq! Get infront of Airi!” The alloy SHIV rolled to the front, and just in time, for both of the alien mechs realized this as well, and opened fire on Airi. Taqukaq’s armor was torn apart, and some of the internals were damaged. The SHIV was still functional, but without a means to repair it, probably not fit for further combat.

“Thanks, my metal friend.” Airi looked over her new cover, pelted the previously damaged mechtoid. A few shots were stopped by a new shield, but a volley of missiles from Jabberwock took out the other two supporting Sectoids. A few more blasts, and the mechtoid finally fell, leaving the remaining mechtoid alone. From the next room, a trio of two more Sectoids and a Commander with a cybernetic arm rushed in, but instead of support, the Commander sent the underlings on the defensive, despite how hopeless that was in light of the odds.

Musambe finished off the Mecthoid with his plasma dragon, and then faced the three. “They sure are persistent.”

Inderpal sighed. “They are.” He balanced his novagun against cover and lifted his left hand. Using what telekinesis he had available, the Indian caused the pistol of the Sectoid on the right to point in the direction of his comrade, and fire, leaving one less enemy to deal with.

A fearful looking Commander pointed forward, and the Sectoid blindly rushed forward. Unsure how to react, Marina simply fired at it, and it dropped like the rest. Alone and severely outgunned, the Sectoid Commander dropped its weapon, and hung its head.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Operation Sincere Benevolentia, Part 4

Atka shook her head at the Sectoid. “Don’t exactly feel right killing someone who’s given up. We don’t have an arc thrower, so…” She held out her right palm, and a potent mindfray leapt at the head of the alien Commander, dropping him. Amanda walked over to the prone figure, ripping some metal off the wall and latching the unconscious alien to the wall.

“Some info, at the very least,” the Guardian decided. “Got an interesting arm… reminds me a bit of Isitoq.”

“Maybe it can tell us what to expect from Invidia,” Marina offered. “I mean, Luxuria might have been a fellow Overseer, but this guy probably worked with him directly.” She poked the alien in the temple, and its eyes shot open.

What? Why am I still alive? What do you want?

What sort of powers can we expect from Invidia? And is there anything else we will have to deal with? Atka pressed, though she made no threatening moves.

The oversized Sectoid looked between Atka and her soldiers. If… if I tell you, you will let me live?

I can’t make any long-term promises, but I will spare you if you tell us. I’m not vicious like your former master, Atka replied calmly.

Hmph… I am likely dead anyway. Do not let your guard down at any time. She uses her own kind to throw people off. The battle may not be over when you think, and… The alien seemed to stare at Atka for a moment. And… and beware of her protege. She is… she… is…

“Invidia is female, huh…” And what about her protege? Another Ethereal?

The Sectoid Commander simply stared forward, silent. Airi raised an eyebrow. “Hey! Talk, or the deal’s off!”

I need to know what I’m dealing with… what is it about Invidia’s protege? Is she powerful enough to make you fear speaking of her even more than Invidia? Or is it something else? Atka crossed her arms.

The Sectoid slowly turned its head. S...or… ry… no… more… time… Its head slumped forward, a small amount of blood leaking from its eyes.

“Dammit… what…?” Atka slowly stood up, looking around the room. Was that Invidia’s doing… or…?

With a sigh, Alice walked over to another computer. She hit a few buttons, and one of the doors opened. “Through there is some kind of large room, and the throne room is directly behind it.”

“Good…” Christine reloaded her weapon. “Because just being here is making my stomach churn.”

With a nod of agreement, Atka took a deep breath, and brought the squad back together. Amanda and Alice stood on either side of the door to the large room, their respective gunners nearby. Janina and her three were in cover, Atka and Kevin on either side of their group. Above, Jabberwock floated, ready for action. Sarah held back with her eyes fixed on the door. “Ready when you are, Colonel.”

“Alright everyone… three…” Some of the others took in a deep breath as well. “Two… one!” The MECs opened the door, revealing the room beyond the second engineering bay.

Before them stood a massive chamber, various weapons of all shapes and sizes lining the walls. Bolt marks were strune here and there, and there were numerous scortches and holes around. A few splashes of blood of various colors were noticeable.

In the center of the room, obviously waiting for the X-COM soldiers, was the ever imposing sight of a Sectopod. It was powered up, and taking aim, but for the time being, it held its fire. On either side of it, two figures stood in Ethereal robes, though one was quite a bit shorter than the other. Their masks were quite different as well, with the shorter one’s being quite elaborate, the other quite simple.

Alice looked the two figures over carefully, and carefully stepped forward, bending down next to Atka. “Something… something is wrong. I-I know… this going to sound stupid, but… what they’re wearing…”

“Why is the shorter one wearing the more elaborate mask…?” Atka responded. “We’ve only met one Ethereal that short, and I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t see another like Jia’Tiala here…”

“Th-that’s not even the strangest thing. I… I’m sure Invidia isn’t that short, and the translation Jake taught me could be wrong, but… but I believe that is what the symbol says on the side. A-and… not like an Ethereal name, but Invidia. And the other one’s mask, the symbol where the name is means nothing.”

Marina thought for a moment. “Well, I’m sure if you had time, you could translate it better.”

Alice shook her head. “No, I mean… where the name should be, it says ‘nothing’, or nobody, or nothingness."

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Atka let telekinetic helixes wrap around her arms in readiness. “Who the hell are you? You’re not Invidia… what are you playing at?” the Colonel called out to the shorter Ethereal as she prepared for the inevitability of battle.

A loud chuckle rang out in their minds. In body, no. But this individual makes a surprisingly comfortable vessel for me. The smaller form took a step forward, lifting what appeared to be a human hand and placing it on the Sectopod. Quite comfortable. I can almost see why Luxuria wanted one, and that feeling alone makes me sick!

A human body… what did Invidia… “If you’re using the DNA if another one of my people as a vessel, you’d better prepare yourself for the extra suffering you’re putting yourself through when I get to you,” Atka growled, lifting her reflex rifle.

A deep, maniacal laughter rang out. Oh, my dear, sweet Atka. You have no idea. The shorter Ethereal pointed forward. Kill them, but… try and leave Atka alive. We have plans for her.

As soon as the thought rang out from Invidia, Atka gave the command to open fire. Masambe and Inderpal, along with Jabberwock, rained down HEAT plasma upon the Sectopod, while Christine sent her second anti-armor rocket into the titanic robot. Marina and Airi were instructed to suppress the taller Ethereal, with assistance from Janina, while Kevin, Sarah, and Atka targeted Invidia’s vessel. The MECs took a more defensive stance, Amanda being battered by a fusion blast that heavily damaged her shoulder and side armor.

Kevin pulled out his plasma mauler, sending a burst of plasma that flew by the vessel’s side, meant to distract more than kill. Sarah took aim at the being’s chest, while Atka fired off two rapid-fire shots at her foe. “Let’s see what you can do…!” the Colonel shouted.

The human-Ethereal raised her hands, a shield forming and moving with her as she moved to the side. The few shots hit the shield, and it almost immediately burst, indicating it wasn’t the Ethereal’s strongest move. Another formed in front of her, but despite the usual need to focus, both of her hands glowed green. Weakened but not stopped by the mind shields, the attacked punched into Janina and Marina, waves of nausea washing over them. The latter jabbed herself in the side to relieve the pain, and rushed to her Captain’s aid.

The other Ethereal held out its arms. One glowed yellow, though no effects were immediately apparent. It did shoot a mind fray with two, bringing Airi to her knees but having little effect on Atka. With its fourth arm, it fired a psi lance, the psionic bullet massive but unusually slow.

Alice realized she was in the path of the lance, and moved to compensate, while only Christine was left to fire upon the second Ethereal. The Sectopod, having given up on charging another shot, targeted the area where Marina, Janina, and Airi were, preparing to fire its rockets upon the immobilized two. The gunners gave it their all, but the Sectopod seemed hellbent on accomplishing this before it fell. The barrage launched, and hit, devastating cover and damaging armor.

Amanda moved to shield the two closest to each other, but realized Airi was too far from her frame to receive protection. The Sectopod, sparking and burning, took aim with its still-functioning plasma lance on its back, targeting the uncovered engineer. The shot went off, and connected, but not with Airi. Kevin fell to his knees in agony, the shot having gone deep into his stomach, and was burning further than that quickly.

“Kevin, no!” Airi screamed, tears bursting from her eyes. She flung her hands forward, her entire body engulfed in a deep red aura. With a pained, primal scream, the insides of the Sectopod twisted and bursted, and it crumpled to the ground. Airi collapsed, the exertion way beyond her usual limit, and Marina rushed to Kevin, desperately hoping to do something, regardless of how hopeless it was. Christine shuddered in anger as she tossed a smoke in front of them.

Kevin grit his teeth for a moment, his vision blurring badly. “H-hey...Marina… make sure… your sister… a-and Atka… don’t blame… themselves…” He coughed, adding, “Couldn’t think of… a better way… to die… dad would...understand…” he finished weakly.

Marina nodded, rapidly cutting off circulation, despite it being far too late. “You’re… you’re a true hero, Kevin, please… please don’t… Kevin? Oh, God…”

In barely a whisper, the assault said, “Oh...and...tell Invidia… fuck you… for me…” before falling silent.

Atka glanced over, pausing in her fire, and quickly realized from the expressions of those nearby what had transpired. She clenched her weapon tightly enough that her knuckles were white, and elerium core of the weapon glowed with a blue hue. Her eyes burned with psionic energy like cold flames, and the scout fired off an imbue bolt of plasma at Invidia’s vessel.

“Shit!” A familiar voice yelled out from beneath the mask. As the blast flew towards her, another shield burst, but instead of the human being effected, the other Ethereal hunched over in pain, making it evident that the shields were coming from it. Her protection gone for the moment, the masked human made a mad dash for the Sectopod. As she did so, she reached out and grabbed a spear-like weapon from the ground using telekinetic whips, pumped a load of energy into it, and hurled it at Atka with all her strength.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Operation Sincere Benevolentia, Part 5

Atka only had a split-second to react to the telekinetically-launched spear, even though her precognition still kicked it, if a bit late. How did she… The Colonel ducked, but only went down far enough that the spear slashed across her torso, drawing a significant amount of blood from a harsh wound.

Masambe went to cover Atka with a round of suppressing fire, while Sarah diverted her focus to the other Ethereal. Blue energy surrounded her hand, and she jabbed a mindfray in the direction of the tall figure, putting a good deal of energy she had conserved into it. Surprisingly, it struck home, the tall alien grasping its head. It looked around in confusion before a teal aura made it shudder.

Insolent… can’t have you doing that again. With a nod towards the masked human, the Ethereal suddenly surged forward, taking a blitz tactic never seen by one before. The masked human sent out several mind frays, as well as snatching several weapons and flinging them forward. Rushing forward, the Ethereal stood before Sarah, raising a hand and charging a blast. Sarah dropped her sniper rifle, attempting to reach for her pistol, but it was too late. The Ethereal’s arm shook violently, as if it was hesitating. Suddenly, its hand exploded, a psi lance from another of its hands punching through it. The Ethereal screamed in pain, and the teal glow erupted out of it, a sense of something flying away hitting Sarah.

You contemptible bitch!

The energy flowed out of the room, and the Ethereal lifted one of its hands, a psi lance shooting towards the masked human. It stuck her, the mask flying to the side and the human falling to the ground.

Atka slowly got up, holding a hand over her wound in pain, but she soon forgot it when she saw the face that was previously hidden behind the mask. “You’re…”

Xifeng looked up at Atka, her expression seemingly as surprised as the Colonel. “Who… who are you people? What…” She shrieked, stepping away from the fallen machine. “What is this? Who…” She held her head in pain, a few tears dropping to the ground. “The… the voice! I-it’s gone!”

Atka cautiously took off her helmet. Invidia… cloned me? H-how… “It’s alright… we’re not going to hurt you… if you truly are just a victim in this, we’ll get you out of here.”

Xifeng slowly nodded, and rubbed her arms. “Who are you? You… you look just like me.”

“My name is Atka. We came here to fight those that were controlling you,” the scout replied gently.

“Controlling me…” Xifeng slowly rose to her feet. “The… the voice, it… it told me what to do, and I… I-I did it. I couldn’t stop. It… it messed with my memories, I… can’t remember who I am. “She cautiously approached Atka. “Are you my sister?”

“I… guess you could say that.” Atka lowered her weapon, putting it on her back.

Xifeng jumped back, screaming. “That! That’s one of the things that controlled me!” She shouted, pointing at the now three-handed Ethereal. “Kill it!” The Ethereal only flinched, hold its arms up defensively.

Masambe raised his plasma dragon, but paused. “Why… isn’t it attacking us either? And what happened to it before...”

I… sh-she… wasn’t the one being controlled, I was…

“A… Acedia?” Christine’s eyes widened. She suddenly fell to her knees, and powerful surge of energy filling the room, and everyone dropped to the ground. Everyone, except for Xifeng, who was surrounded by a shield.

“Heheheh… thanks, mother.” She reached behind her, pulling out a knife and slowly, methodically, almost seductively approaching Atka. “You really do look too much like me. Maybe… we can fix that.”

Why… didn’t I realize… Atka tried in vain to push herself up, but could barely move.

“Oh… this is going to be fun.” Xifeng leaned down in front of Atka. “See… there is an awful lot of interference in this room. So your base has no idea what’s going on.” She cackled, placing her knife under Atka’s chin and lifting it. “So, when I return to your dropship, they’ll be none the wiser.

You’re not… the only one… not affected… Acedia flung her hand forward. Xifeng jumped back, but she wasn’t the target. What was left of the Ethereal’s energy flowed into Atka, reversing Invidia’s attack and giving her the energy she needed to fight back.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Atka pushed herself to her feet, ignoring the trickle of blood across her torso. “I guess… Ammelia wasn’t wrong about you not being so bad, Acedia.” The scout reformed her telekinetic helixes, wrapping them around her arms, a third, not sharp like the others, stopped the flow of blood by wrapping over the wound.

“Tch.” Xifeng flipped the knife in her right hand as she formed helixes of her own, hers tinted teal in color. “Big… fucking… deal. You’ve had to fight your way through this whole base. And I’m not just some copy. I have your memories, your skills, and your abilities. The only real difference is I won’t be held back by your… pathetic human sentiment. So come at me, if you really want to die.” Energy surged into the knife, and she threw it at Atka.

Atka crossed the helixes in an ‘x’, imbuing them as she did, and the knife imbedded itself into the hardened energy. “I have a lot of good reasons to fight... right now that’s protecting those here that can’t. All you seem to care about is making others suffer… that won’t get you anywhere.” She tossed the knife out of the helixes, and swung them at Xifeng.

Xifeng quickly knocked two to the side and used Atka’s grace to jump back. “Blah, blah. You should try a bit of suffering. You might be surprised how good it makes you feel.” She jumped forward, swinging her own helixes in a ‘t’ formation. “Just die!”

The two sets of psionic manifestations met with a furious grinding sound not unlike that of a chainsaw. “I’ve suffered enough to know you’re insane if you think that! You’re no better than Invidia!” Atka countered.

Xifeng laughed. “Funny you should say that! Because I just realized that she’s used up so much of her power, she’s probably so weak, I could do whatever I want to her! Once I’m finished with you, maybe I’ll go throw her in a cell until I figure out how to steal her body. This is so perfect, and I have you to thank! It almost makes me not want to force you to watch me slaughter your men!”

“I can’t imagine why you’d want to be like them… and none of that is going to happen. Call it cliche, but I made a promise, and I’m not going to break it.” A faint blue glow surrounded Atka for a moment as she used physical enhancement, a darker blue flashing around her head as it was accompanied by psi inspiration. Her helixes started to crack Xifeng’s from the added force.

Xifeng snarled, trying to mimic Atka’s actions, though her lack of practical experience started to show. “You’re pathetic! Your attachments to these human’s will be your death! You could be so much more, but you’re nothing now! So I will be great, I will be powerful! And you? You’ll be dead like your hollowed out friend over there!”

Atka narrowed her eyes, wisps of light blue coming off of them. “You have no right to speak of him… he died to save someone else… and if that’s how my life ends, I will accept that… but not today!” Xifeng’s helixes splintered all over, even as Atka’s started to crack.

“That… won’t work!” Xifeng’s power surged, sending energy into her helixes as she slowly stepped to the side, making her way to a javelin on the wall. “I have all your powers, and all your skills. I know everything you did when you were in America, and I have more energy than you!” She shoved Atka back, and rushed to the wall, grabbing the javelin.

Trying that again, are we? Atka took a step back rather than going after Xifeng, working to estimate where she would throw the telekinetic javelin.

Xifeng laughed loudly. “Try dodging this one, bitch!” She infused the javelin with a incredible amount of energy, knowing it would kill Atka when it hit. Xifeng let the javelin fly, and as it left her hand, Atka’s form distorted into three as she moved to the side, an afterimage behind her, and a pre-image in front of her. The javelin ripped through the afterimage, causing it to burst into shards of light, but Atka was unharmed.

The Colonel didn’t waste the opportunity, launching one of her helixes at Xifeng’s shoulder. The clone’s eyes widened in confusion and panic as the attack struck home, and she dropped to her knees in pain. She quickly lifted her arm to attack again, but her helix only punched into Atka’s pre-image, and another attack punched into Xifeng’s leg. She fell back, holding her hands up, this time in defense. “Wait! Wait, please, I… how?”

Atka relented in her attack. “Don’t… make me kill you… I don’t care about the insults, the threats… you haven’t killed anyone yet… and you don’t have to.” The Colonel shook her head. “And just like the Incubators, I can see your attacks coming. So trying to trick me isn’t going to work… especially since I know my own abilities better than anyone else’s.”

“No! No, I… I can’t do… those were… that was a yellow ability.” Xifeng shook her head. “I don’t… remember that…”

“That’s something I learned after the most recent mission… you must have come into existence from before that time.” Atka smiled weakly. “Learned it through introspection. Who knows what you could accomplish if you just learned to care about others?”

“Do… do you think you could teach me?” Xifeng smiled back, her uninjured arm slowly sliding behind her. “I… I-I’m sorry. Invidia… m-messed with my head. B-but I could learn to be… like you…”

Atka’s eyes gravitated towards the moving arm. “What are you doing? Don’t...”

Xifeng shook her head. “I… I have to. It is… who I am.” She reached back, producing a plasma pistol and flung it forward. “DIE!”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Operation Sincere Benevolentia, Part 6

Atka flung herself backwards, trying to put her helixes up to defend herself, widening them, but wasn’t so sure it’d be enough. She expended enough power that the wound was reopened, and blood flew out freely. The blast resounded with a thunderclap, spraying a burst of plasma into the air. However, the blast only went in one direction, stopped from going in further towards Atka by a telekinetic field emitted from her blood. Xifeng let out a blood curdling scream, showered with plasma and dying before she hit the ground.

Atka fell to her knees, both in shock by the action Xifeng had taken, and by the new power she had used. “Why… did you have to…” A few tears streamed down her face. “All… you had to do… was try…” she whispered.

“B-because… she wasn’t you…” Marina stepped to her side, spray her healing item over Atka’s wound. “And you can’t forget that. She may have looked like you, sounded like you, and had your powers. I don’t know about the others, but I never lost sight of who was who. You tried. And it was her fault you didn’t get through.”

Atka slowly stood up, still a bit shaky, and did her best to avoid looking at the body. “I...can’t really face Invidia like this…”

“I don’t think she can face us right now either, after all of that trouble she was causing…” Janina offered. “We… may have to wait awhile to face her.” The infantry captain sighed. “In the end that should help us more than it will our enemy, so there’s that. Marina, when you’re done with Atka, check on Acedia.”

Marina looked to the side. “The… the Ethereal?”

“I’m pretty sure… we’d all be dead if not for her. I doubt she’s going to hurt any of us,” Atka reassured the support, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Anyone that’s not too exhausted and not a psion, keep watch. Everyone else… we should try to give ourselves time to recover.”

Everyone nodded. Not familiar enough with Ethereals to know presure points, Marina helped Acedia stop the bleeding the old fashioned way. Masambe and Christine covered the doors while Amanda helped Alice out of her inoperable suit, pulling her spare limbs from the back of it and helping her insert them. Alice then carried Kevin’s body to the side of the room, much to awoken and grieving Airi’s dismay. Once Marina was finished with Acedia, she helped Alice do the same with Xifeng’s body, and she proceed to use what energy she had to assure everyone was relatively pain free.

Atka, Inderpal, Janina, and Sarah went to the corner of the room to try and relax, even if taking a nap in a place like this seemed impossible. Though, as Atka found, once the adrenaline of battle wore off… she drifted off rather quickly.

Several hours later, the injured Ethereal carefully reached out, touching Atka’s arm. Colonel… you… you must wake now. It is important that you go now.

The nearly inoperable Taqukaq nudged the psion as well, bringing her back to consciousness. Atka sat up, and then stood up, realizing everyone else was ready and waiting. “Alright.” The Colonel went over to where she had left her helmet, securing it and putting it back on. “There’s only eleven of us now… but we can do this. We have to… both for the sake of Australia, and in reprisal for everything Invidia has done.” With that short speech, Atka lead the squad towards the door to Invidia’s throne room, and pushed it open.

Invidia slowly looked up from her seat, her stance making her look bored above everything else. Her guards took aim, slowly moving to the side for cover.

You know… I kinda liked her. Even if she had your face. But… I suppose the fact that you had to kill yourself makes it worth it. Sure puts a damper on my plans once I deal with you.

“You’re going to pay for turning someone born from my blood into a monster…” Atka growled, lifting her reflex rifle as telekinetic helixes wound themselves around her arms. Janina and her three, accustomed to this drill by now, took cover in the center with Alice, while Masambe and Inderpal hunkered behind trophy stands on either side of the room. Jabberwock used its remaining fuel to hover in the air, while Amanda stood in the center as cover for anyone that moved up.

Atka took the opportunity to move forward. “Inderpal, now’s the time to blow a rocket or two!” The Indian nodded his assent, and fired off a blaster bomb at the three Muton Elites, everyone else preparing to fire at them as soon as their cover was destroyed.

Invidia floated to the side, throwing up a shield. Any of the damage she would have received was stopped, though she didn’t seem too concerned with the Elites. Exposed and partially injured, the Mutons fell back while firing in the room made more for luxury then combat.

“We’ll keep the Ethereal busy while you get rid of the small fry!” Christine shouted, preparing her last shredder as Airi offered covering fire, shooting with one hand while pulling out her last alien grenade with the other. Invidia thrust forward a tendril of green energy, hitting Alice as she prepared a shot with her arm cannon. Her internal design was just human enough for her shot to be thrown off, slamming helplessly in the wall near a retreating Elite.

Inderpal and Masambe both set up suppressing fire to pin the aliens down, while Amanda launched a proximity mine into their midst. The Balmadaar didn’t seem to like this, and fired at the biggest target they could while suppressed: Amanda herself. The Guardian’s tactical sensors kicked in as she was fired upon. The first shot missed to her right, the second flying above her, but the third collided, the anti-armor shot ripped through her right shoulder. The mechanical appendage was torn off, and plasma seared her side, making her fall to the ground in pain.

Atka’s eyes widened. “Someone, get her back!” she warned, knowing Amanda was a sitting duck like this. To ensure that Invidia didn’t take advantage of this opportunity, the scout opened fire with a bolt of plasma, followed by two more in rapid succession. Janina added to this barrage with three shots of her own.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Such… annoying… pests! Invidia thrust shield after shield forward, focusing more on blocking individual strikes then everything at once. She fell back as she was thrusting her arms forward. Airi collapsed in pain, the loss of her psionic energy no longer assisting her resistance. Christine took aim with the blaster launcher, but the Ethereal disappeared behind a pillar.

And slight tinge of energy flowed through the room, and one of the hiding Balmadaar’s rushed out over cover. It seemed to ignore the plasma blasts that punched into and through its armor, and it pulled out a pair of grenades, rushing Janina. “Watch your friend die!” It shouted as it ran.

Atka grimaced, forcing one of her telekinetic helixes to cut the side of her arm. The blood created a weak telekinetic field in front of Janina, while Atka fired off her rifle at one of the grenades, detonating it.

A howl of pain rang through everyone’s minds as Invidia’s possessed Elite was consumed. A few moments later, the Ethereal reemerged from behind the pillar. She searched the room, and noted her last victim was still recovering. Boil and bubble from the inside! She held her hand out, and Airi screamed, writhing in pain on the floor as her insides were twisted.

“You bitch!” Atka imbued her helixes, and ran towards Invidia, her form distorting into three. The Inuit Colonel sent the telekinetic projections rushing towards the Overseer of Australia with murderous intent. Invidia backed away, blocking Atka’s attack but forced to pull back on her own.

Christine helped Airi to the side, the engineer violently vomiting blood and screaming in pain. As her sister did what she could, Christine stepped out of cover, furious. Holding out her hand, a vortex of energy swirled amongst the two Elites, the forces of the rocketeers rage tearing at their bodies. As her energy waned, the aliens crashed to the ground, one being impaled in the side by one of Invidia’s trophy weapons. The alien uselessly pulled at it before Sarah put a plasma bolt through its head.

Atka continued to advance, and smiled grimly when she saw a trophy hanging on the wall nearby. One of her helixes wrapped around the alien-looking spear, placing it in the Inuit woman’s hand. “I think this would be a fitting way to kill you,” Atka thought aloud, using the combo of psi inspiration and physical enhancement again with a blue flicker around her body and head.

You… stay away! Invidia flung her arms forward, shield after shield appearing in front of Atka, but the enraged Colonel simply crashed through them. She shot tendrils of green energy at Atka, but if they had any effect, Atka ignored them. The Ethereal looked to the side for help, only to see Jabberwock kamakazy into the last of her guards. She desperately infused herself with her own psi inspiration, and attempted to mimic Atka, forming a imbued psi lance, though much slower than she needed it.

Atka’s eyes began to burn with psionic energy as her spear did the same, and she punctured shield after shield. “You were the one that possessed Keiko, and tried to use her to murder Emma and Lily… you were the one that tried to corrupt Elene… you used the DNA of my tribe to create monsters… and used MY DNA to create a sister I was forced to kill…” Atka’s arms trembled with fury, and she drew the telekinetic javelin back.

“I hope you enjoy hell, Invidia!” Atka thrust the javelin forward with all her might, psionic energy licking it like tongues of cold flame.

No, you can’t… stop, I won’t let you! Invidia thrust her arms forward, all her strength pumping into a shield. The weapon punched through it like cardboard, striking Invidia and pinning her to the wall. N… no…

Atka stepped back for a moment, looking at the Overseer of Australia coldly, and then turned around, not looking back as she walked away to rejoin her squad.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Operation Sincere Benevolentia, Part 7

The others collapsed in relief, grateful to be alive, grateful it was finally over. Marina sighed with relief, having stopped Airi’s internal bleeding. The pint-sized engineer smiled up at Atka. “You… were right… about these… itchy things,” she muttered, pulling off her helmet. “Sure saved my bacon. And that… was really badass… um, sir.”

Atak smiled, the gentleness returning to her expression as the aura of power around her faded. She looked down at her arms, and laughed. “And for once it didn’t require me to be put on death’s door. Are you sure this isn’t a complex dream?”

Airi chuckled. She started to answer, before her expression went momentarily blank. After a moment, she smiled again, and got a wide grin from ear to ear. “Do you mind… helping me up, Atka?”

The Colonel quickly did so, putting an arm over Airi’s shoulder. “I’m sure he’s laughing with us. That’s just the sort of person he is,” Atka said quietly.

Airi only chuckled. “Yeah… I bet he is…” She slowly reached for her belt.

Do not let your guard down at any time. She uses her own kind to throw people off. The battle may not be over when you think…

Atka’s eyes widened as a cold feeling wrapped around her heart, and she tackled Airi to the ground. “Get… out… or I’ll make you leave…”

Marina gasped. “Colonel, w-what are you doing!”

“Invidia… doesn’t know when to take a hike,” Atka replied. “Was planning on blowing both of us up. What the hell is it with you people and grenades?!”

Marina glared in fury. “G… Get out of my sister, kuso meinu!” Marina dropped next to them, jabbing at Airi’s body. Temporarily paralyzed, the possessed girl couldn’t resist as Atka placed a hand on her head. Reluctantly hitting her with a mind fray, a flow of energy escaped the woman. Opening her ESP in full, Atka sensed it as it retreated back towards and under the throne.

“Where the hell is she going…?” Atka muttered, running back up towards the throne. “Don’t tell me she has more vessels down there…!”

“Move!” Atka stepped to the side, and Alice fired a massive pulse blast from her palm, disintegrating the throne. In its place was a set of stairs, the humming of an alien ship powering up below.

“I… hope we can stop that.” Atka ran down the stairs, followed by the nine troopers that could still follow.

As they reached the bottom, a pair of outsiders turned to greet them, but were cut down before they could fire a shot. An Ethereal slowly, painfully, moved towards the ship, but the soldiers unloaded on the engines, blowing the thrusters in a shower of sparks with plasma bolts and the last of Amanda’s proximity mines. The Ethereal was blown to the side, crumpling to the floor. It slowly tried to sit up, its entire body shaking.

Atka lifted her reflex rifle, charging the core with imbuing, and the other soldiers followed suit, minus the charge. “This better be the last time I have to end this vendetta, Invidia… you can’t run from retribution, you know.”

As they approached the Ethereal, there was little doubt that this was her true body. Withered and atrophied from very little use, it had a body that made Luxuria’s former shell look like Tiala’s by comparison. Invidia raised a hand. No, please… please, I… beg for mercy…

“Even for you, controlling one of your own kind, expunging their personality… just for another body seems low. And after EVERYTHING you’ve done, even I have my limits to mercy…” Atka stared down at Invidia coldly. Fire. Atka let the charged bolt fly, and the rest of the squad opened fire like an execution squad.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Operation Sincere Benevolentia, Epilogue

XCOM Headquarters, Somewhere in Siberia
1730 Hours, November 13th, 2018
Main Hangar

The Skyranger touched down on the ground floor, its landing gears giving a tired hiss as they spread out to accommodate the landing. The bay door opened, and Amanda exited, carrying two bodybags with her. Following were some of the others hauling the wrecks of the two SHIVs and Legion Troopers, assisted by some of Legions other selves in the task of hauling. Acedia was escorted out of the Skyranger by Janina and Christine. Atka was the last one out, stretching her tired limbs before walking down the ramp onto solid ground.

Before she could put her arms down, Jake wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her tightly. “Atka, I… when the footage cut out when you went into that room, I-I… I…”

Atka returned the embrace. “Sorry… if I had realized, I would have got Taqukaq to relay a message. Didn’t want to repeat the whole ‘Acedia’ incident.” The Inuit woman waved slightly at the departing Ethereal.

Jake looked over at Acedia as she waved back, and Jake’s widened. “You… y-you didn’t… that isn’t…”

“Well, she saved us all from dying… so I don’t think she’s bad news. Even if she was mind controlled before…” Atka sighed. “It’s a long story.”

“Oh… oh, good, I was afraid that… was…” Jake chuckled, realizing how ridiculous that idea was. He frowned, and hesitantly asked, “Who… did we lose?”

“Kevin,” Atka said quietly. “He gave his life to save Airi... and the other… that’s…” Atka paused, realizing the clone never gave her a name. But… there was one that fit. “Xifeng.”

“Who?” Jake scratched his head. “The only person I know with that name is…” Noting Atka’s expression, he shook his head. “You… you’re tired. We can talk about it after you’ve had a chance to rest.” He tried his hand at a smile. “But… at least you got Invidia, right?”

“Yeah, though I had to kill her twice…” Atka mumbled. “Second time was a lot easier than the first, at least.”

Jake shook his head, making another mental note of something he’d have to ask about later. He smiled as Chandra stepped off the plane with the pilots. “She need to do a lot of work on you?”

Chandra threw her hands up in the air. “Surprisingly, no. This one got off with only a cut to the torso from a telekinetic javelin this time. All fixed up now.”

Jake nodded. “I know it must be hard to have to be on twenty-four/seven call to accompany these mission, but it is a god-send knowing you’re there to keep our critically injured alive.”

“Better than people having to wait a bumpy plane ride to get healed,” Chandra replied, yawning. “Now, she’s healed, but try not to be too rough. I shouldn’t have to heal her twice.” The green psion walked off, leaving Atka a bit red in the face.

Jake chuckled, at wrapped an arm around Atka’s shoulder. “Come on. Let’s get you in bed. Want me to carry you?”

“I can walk just fine, thank you…” Atka muttered, though she did lean on Jake. Which… bed are we talking about here? she asked silently.

Jake’s eyes widened. “Oh, I… I didn’t… mean… u-unless you… ahem, want to…”

W-well… I do need something to help me relax...

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

X-COM Mission Parameters
Ally Defense Mission

Operation En Passant
Cross Technologies HQ, NYC, NY, USA

Date: November 16th, 2018
Time: 1100 Hours

Briefing:
The aliens have launched an attack on the headquarters of X-COM supporter Cross Tech. After the frequent attacks on the U.S. in general, and New York in particular, and the apparent drop in support from the U.S. Council members after the death of their representative, the Council has deemed Crops Tech. to be an acceptable loss.

We disagree. Cross Tech. is one of our biggest and most loyal backers, both financially and technologically. What's more, to allow such a strong backer to be destroyed without at least attempting a rescue would be unacceptable.

Make your way to Cross Tech and show the aliens that we support those who support us.

Number of Soldiers for this Mission:
Ten (10) Soldiers, accompanied by two (2) Hover SHIVs.

Soldiers Name:
Major 4 (MSGT) Arturo, Maximillian (Heavy) [Muscle Fiber Density, Iron Skin]*
GSGT Henderson, Fay (Sniper) (Yellow Psionic)
MSGT Cross, Ammelia (Sniper) {Shadow}
GSGT Sutherland, Colin (Assault) [Iron Skin, Adaptive Bone Marrow, Aerobic Respiration Boost]
GSGT Christel, Sylvia (Scout) (Yellow Psionic)
GSGT Summers, Holly (Engineer)
MSGT Muthambi, Masambe (Gunner) [Iron Skin, Adaptive Bone Marrow, Bioelectric Skin]
GSGT Townsend, Devin (Support) [Adaptive Bone Marrow]
GSGT Brown, Rembrandt (Medic)
GSGT Lopez, Alicia (Infantry) (Purple Psionic)
Hover S.H.I.V. Unit 1: "Jabberwock"
Hover S.H.I.V. Unit 2: "Jubjub"

*Squad Leader

Gear: Players' characters' will be equipped with the following supplies:

- Primary Weapon: Either a Plasma Stormgun, a Plasma Carbine, a Plasma Rifle, a Heavy Plasma Rifle, a Reflex Cannon (Infantry, Assault, Scout, Medic, Engineer), a Plasma Sniper Rifle (Sniper), a Reflex Rifle (Sniper, Scout), a Plasma Novagun (Gunner, Heavy), or a Plasma Dragon (Gunner, Heavy)

(Blaster Launcher for Heavies and Rocketeers, Particle Cannon for MECs, Superheavy Plasma for SHIVs)

- Armor: Banshee Armor, Aegis Armor, Titan Armor, or Seraph Armor (Four Shadow Armors also available)

- Secondary Weapon: Either a Plasma Pistol, a Plasma Mauler, or a Hand Scatter Plasma Blaster (H.S.P.B.)

- Equipment: Two (2) of the following; a medikit, combat stims, alloy plating, reinforced armor, chitin plating, a battle scanner, an AP grenade, an alien grenade, a psi grenade, a smoke grenade, a chem grenade, a ghost grenade, a high-capacity magazine, a targeting module, a mind shield, or an Arc Thrower.

(Chameleon Suit available for Scouts, Shredder Rocket for Rocketeers and Heavies)

Details:
Legion troopers left behind at Cross Tech are currently engaging with the aliens, both in the building and in the air. Our interceptors will join the air fight, though this means a rooftop landing will not be possible.

Your main goal for this mission will be the rescue of David Cross, founder and CEO of the company. Unfortunately, Cross things as floor plans and building schematics are unavailable, even to Cross' allies. It is for this reason, despite the conflict of interest, that the team will include Ammelia Cross, daughter to David Cross. Ms. Cross has intimate knowledge of the building's layout and, unless they have been changed recently, should have the access passwords and be registered in the building's palm and retinal scanners.

You will be dropped off a block from the building. Make your way through the streets and into the building, and start you accent towards the upper floor where Cross' office would be, as the sudden attack likely left him little time to flee. The elevator systems likely have the capacity to operate on back up generators, but you should not expect them to take you the entire way. For security reasons, certain elevators only take you to certain floors. Expect to have to fight your way from one elevator to another a third of the way up, and again two-thirds of the way up.

Extract Cross if need be, but we are hoping to completely repel the aliens if at all possible. Therefore, if you can fight, then fight, until our aerial combatants succeed in retaking the sky and cutting of enemy reinforcements.

Enemies:
Two (2) Units containing One (1) Sectoids Commander and Two (2) Sectoids
Two (2) Units containing Three (3) Thin Men
Two (2) Units containing One (1) Berserker and Three (3) Mutons
One (1) Unit containing One (1) Cyberdisc, One (1) Drone, and Two (2) Heavy Floaters
One (1) Unit containing One (1) Mectoid, One (1) Drone, and Two (2) Sectoids Commanders
One (1) Ethereal, accompanied by One (1) Muton Elite

Special Enemy Note:
Vepar is a Blue Ethereal. Unlike most Ethereal, Vepar will act unusually timid, seemingly out of her league and unsure of her actions, implying in experience. She will primarily use mind-fray to attack enemies and physical enhancement on nearby troops. In a pinch, she'll use weak biokinesis to cause disorientation and nausea in her opponents, and mind-merging to enhance her personal Muton Elite guard. She also has mind-control, but is inexperienced with it, can only use it on one opponent at a time, and will likely fail against other psions, anyone with a mind shield, or anyone with high will.

Conditions for Completion:
(1) The successful rescue of Cross Technologies CEO David Cross
&
(2a) The successful elimination of all aliens for the combat zone
or
(2b) The successful extraction of David Cross from the combat zone

Civilians:
Direct any staff you encounter towards any floors you have already cleared. While not the safest choice, there is no time to escort each and every person to the dropship, and it is safer then bringing them into further battles.

 

[Frostlich1228]

Operation En Passant: Prologue.

Cross Technologies Tower, New York City, New York.
Date: November 16th, 2018
Time: 900 Hours

David stood above his desk, looking down at a small white flash drive plugged into his computer. He smiled as she removed it, ready to download this information to his project. He slid it into his pocket as he stepped out of the door to his office, smiling at the assistant that was seated near it, "Morning Betty, I'm going to be taking a stroll for a while, hold my calls until I return, alright?"

The pink haired assistant nodded sweetly, "Of course Mr. Cross."

"Thanks." He replied. "Oh..." He said, reaching back into his room and grabbing a cup of coffee of the table closest to the door, "Almost forgot."

He kept walking, giving a friendly wave at his scientists as they passed, until he reached the elevator. He pressed his executive keycard into the scanner, and it unlocked the option to take him straight to the first floor. David had put that feature in place soon after the aliens came to earth, in case of emergency, people with cards could quickly get up and down the tower with ease, while the attackers, whomever they might be, would be slowed significantly as they tried to ascend.

As he rode the elevator down, he took sips of his coffee every few floors, finishing almost half by the time he reached the bottom. He stepped out, waving to another few employees as they walked by. After a few more minutes of walking, David stopped in an odd location, the peak of a corner. He looked around to make sure no one was watch as he pressed his keycard flat onto an unremarkable part of the wall, revealing a secret keypad. He punched in a long sequence of numbers and the display turned green. The wall pulled back and slid to the side to reveal a secret elevator. As David stepped inside, the hidden door closed, leaving no trace of it left to see. The CEO of Cross Tech pressed one more button on a console inside the elevator, an arrow point down, it was the only direction this elevator took after all. With the info stored on this drive, he would be able to update his special project so that it is ready to be activated instantly... If the worst were ever to happen…