RP X-Com Role-Play Missions

[ZombieSplitter53]

X-COM Mission Parameters
Terror Mission

Operation: Hatching Chrysalis, April 27th, 2018

Location: Moscow, Russia

Time: 2000 Hours

Mission Details:
It is obvious now that the series of attacks over the last week were meant to weaken us. More then anything else, the aliens wanted to break us down, offensively and defensively, in order to leave us unprepared for now. In the future, we may have to make the tough decision to pass over smaller missions in order to prepare for missions like this, but that is for later. For now, we have another crisis to avert.

The aliens have launched an attack in the heart of Moscow. The purpose seems to be for little more then spreading chaos and confusion, and striking fear in our hearts. The Russian Council members our outraged by our inability to prevent this from happening in the first place, and I don't think it needs to be said how bad it would be if they were to withdraw from the X-COM project.

The alien forces are ripping Moscow apart. While the alien ships have withdrawn for now, alien ground units are still in the area. The beings we now refer to as 'Floaters' are known to be amongst the attackers, as well as a new alien. We don't know much about it. The few eye witnesses that have lived long enough to talk about them describe creatures that resemble arachnids made of crystal. Use extreme caution, we don't know what they're capable of.

There have also been reports that the panic has spread so much, there are humans viciously attacking one another, so be wary of this, as your primary duty will be the rescuing of civilians. You must succeed in your mission. Failure is absolutely not an option.

Number of Soldiers for this mission: Sixteen (16) soldiers and four (4) SHIVs, divided into four units

Soldiers Names:
Unit 1:
L.Corp. Shimizu, Megumi (Scout) (1)
PFC. Christel, Sylvia
PFC. Walker, Desmond
PFC. Brankino, Pastel
SHIV Unit 1: "Jabberwock"

Unit 2:
SPC. Yamazaki, Ryan (Gunner) (2)
SPC. Imahara, Grant (Assault)
SPC. Cross, Ammelia (Sniper)
PFC. Andrews, John
SHIV Unit 2: "Bandersnatch"

Unit 3:
SPC. Clark, Issac (Sniper) (2)
SPC. Jacobs, Scarlet (Rocketeer)
SPC. Harnet, John (Support)
SPC. Summer, Holly (Engineer)
SHIV Unit 3: "Jubjub"

Unit 4:
SPC. Townsend, Devin (Support) (2)
SPC. Volodarskii, Heavy (Infantry)
SPC. Palmer, Erman (Assault)
SPC. Shake, Letz (Rocketeer)
SHIV Unit 4: "Taqukaq"

(1) Squad Leader
(2) Unit Leader

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

- Primary weapon: Either a Laser Shatterray, Laser Carbine, Laser Rifle, or a Heavy Laser Rifle. Cross may also choose a Laser Sniper Rifle.

- Armor: Phalanx Armor

- Secondary Weapon: Either a Laser Pistol, a Heater, or a sawed-off shotgun.

- Equipment: Two (2) of the following; a medikit, Alloy plating, Reinforced Armor, a battle scanner, an AP grenade, a HE grenade, a flash-bang grenade, a smoke grenade, a chem grenade, a high-capacity magazine, a targeting module, or an Arc Thrower.

Special Equipment Note: If one of players' characters does not take an Arc Thrower, assume one of the NPCs have one.

Terrain:
Unit One Will be dropped within the Kremlin walls. Overlooking the Moskva River to the south, it contains the Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square to the east, and the Alexander Garden to the west, as well as five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Kremlin Wall with Kremlin towers.

The fortified structure has kept most of the alien forces out, but as some of the aliens can fly, don't expect it to be completely empty of alien forces. There are are plenty of structures to act as cover, as well as those strange pods. Search thoroughly for any hidden civilians.

Unit 2 will be sent to one of the cities poorer residential areas. With the civilians in this area having had a hard time evacuating, the aliens hit them pretty hard. Cover will come in the way of overturned vehicles and more of the pods.

For all areas, announcements will be given out from the dropships as they fly over the city, as well as over all emergency stations. Civilians will be instructed to be on the look out for flares and sound beacons your team will periodically use. This will lead to most of the civilians evacuating from the buildings as you approach, but you may still need to search some of the buildings.

Do not worry about sending civilians back to the dropships. They will all have a an accompaniment of heavily armed soldiers and automatic turrets to keep them safe.

Enemies:
Unit One:
Two (2) Units Containing three (3) Chryssalids
Two (2) Units Containing three (3) Floaters
One (1) Unit Containing four (4) Floaters
Three (3) Lone Zombies, wondering about.

Unit Two:
Two (2) Units Containing three (3) Chryssalids
One (1) Unit Containing four (4) Chryssalids
Two (2) Units Containing three (3) Floaters
Two (2) Lone Zombies, wondering about.
One (1) Lone Zombie from which a chryssalid erupts.

Special Enemy Note: Failure to quickly dispose of a zombie quickly will result in the birth of more chryssalids, so quick disposal is recommended.

Conditions for Completing the Mission:

(1) Successful elimination of all alien forces

and

(2) Evacuation of as many citizens as possible

or

(3) Successful evacuation from the combat zone

Special Completion note: Regardless of how the mission is completed, the success or failure of this mission will have as much to do with how many civilians you rescue as with how aliens you take out.

Civilians: It is estimated at least 99.99% of the citizens have evacuated the city on their own (or have fallen to the aliens). These leaves an estimated 1,150 civilians left. With the remaining civilians spread across the city, it is estimated around 200 civilians will be in each section of the city you will be sent to. We doubt, with the constant threat of the aliens, you will be able to save all of these civilians. As many as half of them could be lost by the time you land. What will be judged by the Council is not necessarily how many people are saved, but the vigor you show in your efforts to save them. Work hard but safely, and do what you can to rescue as many people as possible.

Notes from Central:
As the last of Dropships took off, four holding the few soldiers the base could spare, the Commander slumped into a chair, her face the perfect picture of anxiety. She looked in despair at the names of the soldiers above their vitals on the screen before her, and slowly reached forward, pressing her finger against Ammelia's picture. Speaking softly into her earpiece, she said, "Ms. Cross, it's Comman... it's Morrigan. I'm speaking to you privately. I just want you to know, I'll be counting on those special eyes of yours, but I don't need to lose you. I can't afford to lose any of you. I know the limits of those eyes of yours, so I want you to stick close to the others if you find an unknown person. With the reports of humans attacking other humans, I don't want you to be taken out by someone you're trying to save. Just... just be careful."

She switched off Ammelia's comm, and hit Desmond's. "Mr. Walker, this is Morrigan. Listen to me, we both have our... opinions of one another. We both have our trust issues. So I hope you can appreciate what I'm about to say; I need your help. The alien's constant attacks have left us unprepared for this. I stuck L.Corp. Shimizu with three rookies because she is the best suited to keep you all alive. And I believe she can do so. But I also put you on that squad for a reason. With your... unique abilities, I'm counting on you to watch everyone's backs. And as much faith as I have in Mrs. Shimizu, she's not infallible. If... i-if she should fall, I'll be counting on you to get those rookies home. I know it's unfair, putting that much pressure on your shoulders, but... I have no choice. I... trust you won't let me down, Mr. Walker. Good luck."

Bradford stepped up behind the Commander, who quickly turned off the comm. "Are you okay, Commander?"

Her voice cracking a bit, Morrigan said, "I... should be the one leading them. This was my fault. I shouldn't have tried to go on every mission, to stop every attack. I'm responsible for every soldier we lose, and the least I could do is be out there, putting myself in danger with them."

Bradford placed his hand on her shoulder. "Your place is here, Commander. The troops are counting on you to lead them from here. And the soldiers have faith in the unit leaders you chose, so you should to."

"I do... but..." The Commander shook her head, and simply watched the video feed, completely silent until the first plane reached Moscow airspace.

 

[MarineAvenger]

Operation: Hatching Chrysalis, April 27th, 2018
Location: Moscow, Russia
Time: 2000 Hours

Desmond had been walking the halls of the base when the alarm had sounded. This one had been different from the rest because instead of heading straight to the armory the squads had been asked to meet in the Situation Room. When Desmond heard his name he sprinted past the other people in the halls going to see what the urgency was for his mission.

When Desmond arrived he had appeared to be one of the last ones as Bradford and the Commander were standing in front of the jumbo screen which contained the map of the world. "Squads, I am not going to lie, the situation is dire. The aliens have switched up their attack pattern and have started assaulting the Russian capital of Moscow. Reports on the ground suggest heavy alien activity and even some new foes of which we haven't seen before, so be on the lookout. This is not an attack mission but rather to extract the remaining civilians that have not been already evacuated. These people are panicking so try not to be aggressive when you approach. I want to say that we will get everyone but that won't be the case. Save who can be saved. Woman and children take top priority, the men are secondary extracts. Further mission details will be relayed as you are en route to the drop zones, so get ready and good luck."

On mission there were 16 people total with a number of 4 Shivs. There were 4 fire teams that would dropped of all over Moscow. Desmond saw the worried face of Ammelia Cross and he said to her, "Don't worry we will be home in no time, just focus on getting the Civs out of there." She nodded her head and went back to getting her gear as did Desmond. He had chosen a load-out of a Heavy Laser Rifle, a Heater SMG, Phalanx Armor, an AP grenade, and a S.C.O.P.E for his rifle. Once he was loaded he got on to the first Skyranger and he and his squad lifted off as the heavy cargo door squeezed shut. Like Bradford had said they had been relayed their orders. They were to be dropped off on the west side of the Kremlin Wall near the Trinity Tower and were to push towards Red Square where they would be extracted with any civilians they managed to save.

What Bradford hadn't said was that he was getting a special broadcast just intended for his ears. "Mr. Walker, this is Morrigan. Listen to me, we both have our... opinions of one another. We both have our trust issues. So I hope you can appreciate what I'm about to say; I need your help. The alien's constant attacks have left us unprepared for this. I stuck L.Corp. Shimizu with three rookies because she is the best suited to keep you all alive. And I believe she can do so. But I also put you on that squad for a reason. With your... unique abilities, I'm counting on you to watch everyone's backs. And as much faith as I have in Mrs. Shimizu, she's not infallible. If... i-if she should fall, I'll be counting on you to get those rookies home. I know it's unfair, putting that much pressure on your shoulders, but... I have no choice. I... trust you won't let me down, Mr. Walker. Good luck."

After about an hours flight the fire team leader, Megumi Shimizu called for us to get ready. The Skyranger banked hard left and landed with a jolt. Moments later the cargo door swung down and the team unloaded. On point was Pastel Brankino, followed by Sylvia Christel, the Shiv "Jabberwock", Desmond, and finally Shimizu. It had been around 2100 hours so it was dark outside but you could still see the fires and smoke all over the city. The screams of civilians could be heard half way across the city and some close to where the squad was positioned. Desmond took a deep breath as the squad was given the go ahead from Central and they moved.

The Skyranger had landed in the Alexander Gardens near the tower so it was a short run away. When they arrived, they had discovered that the stairwell leading into the tower had been collapsed so there was only one choice. Shimizu had spoken up, "Brankino, use an explosive and make us a hole in that wall." Brankino nodded and got up to the wall while the squad backed up. He pulled the pin and made a run for it. Five seconds later the grenade went off making a hole large enough for one person to move through at a time, and barely enough room for the Shiv. Each person made their way through the hole but what they found on the other side was nothing less than horrifying.

On the ground was what appeared to had been a corpse at one point but the entire torso was blown open as if a bomb had gone off inside the man. Desmond looked at the corpse, "What the hell happened here?" Nobody responded but Sylvia hurled up what she must of had for dinner. After a minute and a scream off in the distance the squad leader finally spoke up. "We... we have to move people, we have a mission to do." Everyone nodded and the team pressed on. They moved south past the State Kremlin Palace and under an archway that lead towards the front of The Armory Chamber. It was there when in the darkness that they saw a lone figure. The teamed moved slowly and Brankino called out to it. "Hey, we are special forces, we are here to get you out of here." The figure turned towards them but what they saw was not human.

The face had been disfigured and there was blood pouring from its' mouth. It looked the same as the man that had been on the ground before. It slowly shuffled towards them and Sylvia started to panic a little. Shimizu spoke up, "Calm down Christel, this will be easy." The woman lifted her Laser Strike Rifle and shot one laser at the thing's head and it went down like a sack. Desmond spoke towards the squad leader, "We should report this to Central."

She nodded her head and placed her hand on her ear. "Central this is Strike One, we have confirmation of...well...well undead..." After some chatter she responded back, "Yes Central I am serious, this...thing was definitely dead. Roger." She turned to the squad. "We have our orders and we are to see them through." Christel was about to speak up but a leer from the leader shut her up before she said a word.

Before they headed back east along the slope of grass leading to the river there was a map showing a medical station near by and they went to check for civilians. They had passed a broken ATM, which had probably been smashed in by looters and a bathroom a little ways after. "Walker, I want you to check the bathroom, see if anyone or anything is inside. We will move up to the medical station so meet us there." Desmond nodded and the squad ran down the road. Desmond adjusted the cap he was wearing and slowly entered the bathroom.

He had entered the woman's bathroom on the right first. The light was on but it was empty so Desmond moved into the men's room. Of course the lights didn't work so he had to use the flashlight that he brought along. He slung the rifle over his shoulder and pulled out his knife holding it over the flashlight. When he shone it forwards he saw another undead on the end of the bathroom. It turned towards him and started shuffling towards him. He approached it cautiously but his concentration was broken when he heard a blood curdling scream not to far away.

Instead of the slow approach he slammed his foot into the undead man and slammed his knife into the thing's head. He un-slung his rifle and ran outside and to the right. When he arrived at the station, time seemed to slow. The first thing he noticed was a four legged, purple alien with two of it's legs shoved into the squad leader along with two others approaching fast. Then he noticed the other two squad members in front of a small family in the front of the station with the Shiv in between the soldiers turning to aim at the fast approaching aliens. Desmond readied himself and broke into a sprint.

 

[MarineAvenger]

Desmond acted on instinct sliding to the ground, bringing up his rifle and starring down his S.C.O.P.E and firing at one of the approaching aliens, hitting it in the torso and bringing it down. The one that had killed the squad leader had dropped her and was promptly riddled with lasers from the Shiv's gun. The other members of the squad fired at the alien but both missed as it jumped out of the way, moving on the family ever so closer. Desmond came back into a full run, slinging the rifle over his shoulder, pulling out the knife strapped to his right leg, and threw it at the alien. The knife nearly hit it but flew above it, causing a distraction as the other members fired at it, killing the monster.

After the firing had stopped Desmond slowed down walking up to the people. "What the hell happened?" Desmond asked a pained look on his face. Christel was in half a panic attack so Brankino spoke up. "We had found the family hiding out inside the station, and we proceeded to let them know who we are. After we got them to come along, the leader was taken by surprise by that...thing and that is when the little girl screamed." He nudged his head to the little girl cowering with her father. Desmond sighed, "Well then who is next in command?" Brankino nodded his head and said, "You." Desmond was taken back for a second but looked at the little girl. I'll be counting on you to get those rookies home. I know it's unfair, putting that much pressure on your shoulders, but... I have no choice. I... trust you won't let me down, Mr. Walker.

Desmond swore under his breath and spoke up. "Alright then, reload, regroup and get ready to move out." Desmond walked over to the Shiv and knelt down. "Sunny if you can hear us, I just want to say thanks for the assist. We need you to move forward and scout up ahead. Can you do that?" Desmond saw the Shiv nod it's gun up and down and it rolled off in the other direction. Desmond walked to his knife and picked it up of the ground and proceeded to the late squad leader. He took her ear piece and switched it out for his own. "Central, this is Strike One. L.Corp. Shimizu is down, repeat, man down. PFC Walker is taking command. We have engaged these purple, four legged, aliens that use their legs as weapons. We have also made contact with a family of three, a father, mother, and little girl. Do you copy Central?" Desmond waited on static for a second when Bradford's voice came up. "Copy Strike One, continue the mission as planned and get any civilians to the designated safe zone."

When Central finished a gurgle from behind Desmond caused him to turn around as the dead squad leader tackled Desmond to the ground. Desmond fought to keep it from taking off a chunk of him when Brankino kicked it off, curb stomping in it's head until it finally stopped moving. He held out his hand and Desmond took it. "Thanks." He nodded his head, but they were cut short by the sound of engines flying towards them. "These must be the Floaters we were told about."

Over the wall came a group of four Floaters, aliens that appeared to be half alien, half machines. They started firing down of them and Desmond yelled for everyone to get inside the First Aid Post. After about a couple of minutes of ducking in cover the aliens stopped firing on the to reload. That was when the squad took their turn to attack. Desmond provided covering fire as Brankino threw and AP grenade, instantaneously killing two floaters and damaging a third causing the two to scatter. Christel took the one who was damaged and Desmond shot up the one who tried to fly over the wall. The damaged one died but the undamaged one get a shot off at Brankino, wounding his arm and escaping over the wall.

"Ah! That hurts like hell!" Christel was about to panic but Desmond grabbed her shoulders. "Christel! Enough with the panic attacks. They are not doing us any good. Brankino is wounded and he needs your Medkit. So put on a tough face and I will lead you out of this alive." The girl looked on the edge of tears but she stopped shaking at that moment wiping her eyes. She replaced the scared look she had with determination and applied the spray to the man's arm. Desmond walked back out side and pulled out the flare gun he had been carrying in his back pocket. He pointed his head down and sent up the flare. It was a bright green, letting any nearby XCOM squad know the mission was on track and letting any civilians know that help was on the way. When Brankino was better, he spoke to the family in Russian telling them the location of the extraction point. They nodded but were seldom to move without escort. The Shiv returned not to long after and Desmond ordered it to escort the family. Now it was time to move out once more towards Red Square.

The three man squad pushed on towards the Cathedrals. They met a couple of people along the way letting the ones who would cooperate know where the extraction zone was but there was a couple who had attacked the squad because they had been looting around the area and wanted what they had. Any attempt to 'suade them failed and when they shot first, they had been put down. Desmond reported it and moved on. It took a good ten minutes for them to reach the cathedrals because of the slow pace they were moving but they didn't want to pass anyone up. It took another two hours to scour the cathedrals and a sizable amount of people were rescued but the sounds of terror and death still rang, near and far. Desmond looked up and saw a green flare off in the distance so he knew that a squad was somewhere near by.

It was when the squad started to move once more when all hell broke out. Out towards the direction of Red Square, a huge mass of gunfire had erupted and the squad hauled tail towards the square. The squad exited the Kremlin Walls via the St. Nicholas Tower and the sight was one of chaos.

 

[MarineAvenger]

Surrounded on all sides by alien forces it appeared as if what was left of the Russian military and police force were protecting a large group of civilians in the center of the square. From the west side of the square, the squad move up taking out a group of three Floaters that had been harassing the resistance force. The moved up and some guns were pointed at them when a grizzled man, who appeared to be the leader told them to stand down. He said in a heavy Russian accent, "Welcome to Red Square comrades. Have you come to help us liberate our city?" Desmond walked forward making it clear that he was the squad leader. "No sir, our mission is to extract any remaining people in the area and send them to a forward operating base we have set up for the evacuees." The old man just shook his head. "I do not think so, this is our city. It has survived countless wars and we refuse to see it fall. So no we will not go with you."

A look of anger came on to Desmond's face. "Look here, we have our orders. Now you may think you can beat these things back with AKs and small arms but you can't. These are not conventional enemies and you can't beat them with conventional means! That is why we are here." The old man looked at Desmond with a look colder than the winds that were blowing. "I refuse." Desmond shook his head and signaled for Brankino to try. He walked forward and began talking to the man in fast Russian. "Christel let's help hold these guys back while they talk it out." She nodded and they took either side of the square. Whenever a single Floater would pop out the Russians would fire, miss or not do damage, get shot at and lose more people each time. It was hard trying to keep them all safe, especially whenever there was a sneak attack or he was trying to conserve ammo. After an hour of quiet, Brankino walked up to Desmond. "Sir, I got them to cooperate but it comes with a price."

Desmond nodded his head for him to continue. "The leader wants us to hold Red Square until the Evac arrives. But sir things are not looking good, they are low on ammo, most don't have heavy clothes, and there is almost no morale. These people can't fight anymore, worse yet were are low on ammo ourselves." Desmond took in the report in strides, and finally Desmond walked to the old man and told him. "Translate everything I say, exactly as I say it." The old man whistled and all eyes were on Desmond, who stood in the center of the square.

"Comrades of Russia, I am PFC Desmond Walker of the Extraterrestrial Combat Initiative. Let me tell you that you are not alone in this war. We have been fighting since the beginning and we will continue to fight till we win, or we lose everything. Now some of you are cold, low on ammo and alone. Look around you though. Look at the men, woman, and children around you and tell me that you don't have something to fight for. This is all you need to continue fight on. I may not be from Russia but trust me when I say it has been hard seeing our cities fall. So look around you, raise your heads high, and fight. Fight for a new world were we don't have to live in fear. Fight for your home. Fight...For...Our...Home."

When the old man finished a roar of voices called out. All the soldiers, police, civilians all rose up, fists high as their morale had come back to them. The old man walked up to Desmond and put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Now call in the cavalry, we have a square to hold. Desmond nodded and put his hand to his ear. "Central this is Strike One calling in a secondary evac at Red Square. We have a large group of resistance fighters helping to hold of alien forces and we need Skyrangers in route ready to pick them up, last head count called for around 30 Civs a third of them armed. Do you copy?"

A few seconds later Central responded, "Strike One we read you load and clear. Diverting all available Skyrangers to your position. Send up a flare and deploy smoke so they know where to go, Central Out." Desmond reached back and grabbed the flare gun, launching a bright yellow flare into the sky. Next, Christel popped smoke and the Skyrangers arrived several minute later. "Okay load up the Civs and we will leave when everyone is loaded."

The whole operation took around 15 minutes but the aliens were coming in force from the north side of the square. From a rough count, three of the purple aliens, seven Floaters, and a legion of undead were advancing. Desmond took up position with his squad and anyone who had ammo and started to fend off the incoming blitzkrieg. Desmond didn't aim, he just fired into the crowd as did the rest. When they halted the advance and all the non-combatants were loaded on and away, the resistance fighters loaded on to the last Skyranger. One by one they covered the retreat of the fighters until only Desmond and his squad were left. They were all out of ammo except for Desmond's Heater and even that was low.

As they started to pull out Desmond heard a familiar hum of the Shiv treads and he looked over to see it advancing with the same little girl they had rescued before. When the Shiv reached the squad Desmond asked, "Where are the parents?" The Shiv only needed to lower it's turret for Desmond to piece things together. "Then the primary extract has fallen..." Desmond turned at the regrouped alien force and told the squad and girl. "Move out." They ran to the Skyranger but when they arrived they found out the worst thing that could have happened. "Sir, there isn't enough room for everyone. Even if we left the Shiv behind." Desmond cursed as loud as he could. He only had a split second to decide the course of the mission. It was then that the little girl shrieked "Look out!"

Desmond turned around just as the alien's legs sunk into his lower body and lifted him off the ground. The pain was excruciating and it had become hard to breath as blood flowed from his mouth as he coughed. Everyone was in the Skyranger panicked not knowing what to do. Desmond turned his head to the people and all he could do was wheezily make out, "...go...", as Desmond pulled out his single AP grenade.

Christel screamed "No!" but Brankino held her back as he closed the cargo door. The alien kept him suspended in hopes of killing him faster but Desmond just smiled as the Skyranger flew away. "...check...mate..." He pulled the pin on the grenade and waited. He closed his eyes and concentrated, imagining a shield enveloping his body before the explosive went off. Unfortunately, the shield didn't surround him completely and the force of the explosive sent him flinging backwards and killing the alien. Desmond laid on the ground and oddly felt no pain. He could no longer feel his left arm, so he just assumed it had been blown off completely. He reached with what little fleeting strength he had left and raised the flare gun up high. He fired off a bright red flare as he slowly lost consciousness, two holes in his lower abdomen, a missing arm, and blood pouring from his mouth and ears. His last thought before he blacked out was of the girl he had left back at base, not even saying goodbye.

The Shiv that was left behind rolled up to Desmond's body. It waited a few seconds to lower the intensity of it's laser and aimed at his arm. The Shiv slowly moved along his shoulder, cauterizing the wound. After it finished up it did the same to the two holes in his abdomen. The last of it's power faded as it finished, so the Shiv just waited next to Desmond, holding out for a rescue.

 

[Frostlich1228]

Operation: Hatching Chrysalis, April 27th, 2018
Location: Moscow, Russia
Time: 2000 Hours

After the debrief by Bradford, I quickly jogged over to the end of the room, lifting a Laser Sniper Rifle up off one of the weapon racks and swinging it onto my back. After that I looked over all of the side-arms that were laid out; choosing a Laser Pistol and attaching it to the side of my belt. Finally, I had reached the end of the row of tables, picking up some Reinforced Plating for my armor and a Medi-Kit, for all the injured civilians that I would likely find out in the field. Afterwards, I followed the line of soldiers towards the Skyranger, I was in Unit Two, so I would be in the second unit to hit the field.

It took a few hours, but the Skyranger had finally reached it's destination over the capitol of Russia. Our squad leader, Ryan Yamazaki, ordered us to get ready, he said that we would deploy as soon as we could find a suitable landing spot in the poor part of the city. While we were waiting, one of my squad members, PFC. John Andrews, looked over to me and said, " Don't worry pretty lady, we'll get you and these civvies home safe! " I ignored him, I was more worried about getting him home safe, this was first Op after all. The Skyranger landed softly, and the doors opened outwards with a whir. We rushed outside and I took my first look at my surroundings, small buildings lined both sides of a street filled with fire and the silhouettes of human bodies, each varying greatly in size.

Our squad leader ordered us to fire our flare to let the civilians know where we are. The flare shot up into the sky and we moved forward down the street, the SHIV taking point. I turned the SAaIDA's sound Amp on as we passed more and more bodies, some had huge slash marks in them, others were completely torn in half. I gagged when we walked past the corpse of a child who looked like he had been flayed open by something, his organs and intestines just laying on the ground in front of him, cooling in the night air. I thought I heard someone behind me throw up, but I was too focused on watching my surroundings for any potential threats or civilians to pay it any mind.

Gunshots and screams filled the air as we searched each and every house, looking for any sign of survivors, but after searching twelve or thirteen houses we'd only found one woman hiding under a bed in her room. Yamazaki told her that we were friendly and that she needed to evacuate to the Skyranger that was waiting a few yards back down the street. She nodded slowly, tears in her eyes, as she picked herself up off the ground and headed down the street towards the Skyranger. I wanted to send someone back with her, but Yamazaki told us that we just didn't have the squad size to personally escort every survivor we came across. I grudgingly agreed, I just wished we could've done more for the poor girl.

After we searched a few more house, SPC. Grant Imahara said that he saw something dashing out of the corner of his eye. Thinking that it was a civilian, we readied our weapons to deal with whatever he was running from. What we saw next was, horrifying... There was a single, slender, four legged bug creature, holding a civilian up in the air with its spiked legs. The civilian's eyes were glazed over and he was gurgling loudly, as blood poured out of his mouth. We quickly readied our weapons and brought the creature down in a hail of bright lasers. But as we were about to lower our weapons, five more of them leaped over a wall in front of us, moving faster than anything I had ever seen before.

The squad opened fire into them and I took aim at the closest one with my sniper rifle. It was extremely hard to get a bead on the creature as I fired off two shots, missing completely. As the lasers flew by it's head, it switched it's attention to me, charging at me with lightning speed. I tried to quickly switch to my pistol as the creature got closer and closer to me, but I fumbled, dropping my sniper rifle on the ground. I unlatched the pistol from my belt and took a few shots at it, the only one that managed to connect hit it in it's front leg, causing it to stumble over and slide across the ground, stopping about four feet in front of me. I instinctively took a few steps back and fired at the alien while it tried to regain it's footing, one of my shots hitting it's head, and the other slamming into it's side. The blasts knocked the creature to its back where it flailed around for a seconds before going limp.

Being sure that the creature was dead, I looked over to my squad members, I saw three of the creatures surrounding PFC. John Andrews as he laid motionless on the ground; The fourth was in a heap, not too far from the wall. Yamazaki and the SHIV were next to me, with Grant between us and the three aliens. " Grant! Get over here now! " The squad leader yelled in a commanding voice, as we fired past him into the group of Aliens. Grant started backing up, all the while firing his Scatter Laser at the creatures with us. One of the creatures went down as the other two sprinted in our direction, weaving in and out of our gunfire. Yamazaki reached down, pulling a flashbang grenade off of his belt and throwing it at the creatures, "Flash Out! " he said loudly. When heard him say that I tried to quickly turn off the SAaIDA before the flashbang went off, but I was too slow and it was overloaded by the grenade's detonation, effectively blinding me.

When the SAaIDA was done processing the blast I could finally see what had happened. Both of the creatures were dead, but so was PFC. Andrews. Yamazaki walked over to him, taking the H.E. Grenade and Medi-Kit he had strapped to his belt, and closing his eyes with the tips of his fingers. " Poor kid, " he said somberly, " Things all went for the same person... Nothing we coulda done... ". I lowered my head, picking up my sniper rifle and brushing the dirt off with my hand, feeling bad about what happened, there was nothing we could've done to save him... r-right?

Yamazaki pressed the Medi-kit against my chest, " Here, doesn't hurt to have two. ". I nodded at him, there was nothing much to say anyway, he was right; because of my Reinforced plating I had a spot on my belt for a second Medi-kit. I clipped it onto my side, walking with the rest of my group, the SHIV still taking point, as we searched for more civilians.

As we walked we passed a few more buildings with nothing in them until we came across what looked to be a store. A fallen and badly damaged sign in the front of the store had words carved into it, it read, Stone Woodworking. I thought that was a little funny at the time, not enough to make me forget about Andrew's death and the bodies all over the road, but it cheered me up a bit. I didn't know if Stone was a type of woodworking or the name of the family running the place, but it didn't matter anymore, the building was in ruins.

Yamazaki and I took cover at both sides of the shattered glass door in the front of the shop. He opened it slowly, and the SHIV took point, scanning the building for any hostiles while we followed closely behind. The front of the building didn't have anything of value, just broken glass and rubble. However when we reached the back of the building, we saw another four of those bug creatures trying to claw their way into what looked like a solid metal trapdoor. They hadn't noticed us yet and Yamazaki told us to get ready as he pulled the pin on the H.E grenade that he took from Andrews, throwing the grenade into the room as I turned my SAaIDA off.

I flipped the SAaIDA back on as splintered wood and rubble went everywhere; our squad poured into the room, finishing off any of the creatures that weren't immediately killed by the blast. We cleared away the debris from the explosion so we could open the trapdoor that those things were trying so hard to get into. When we reached it, Yamazaki pulled the handle on the door up but jumped back immediately when a rifle shot barely missed his head, leaving a hole in the ceiling above him.

We all readied our weapons when a thick Russian voice came from out of the trapdoor, " You know, you could've killed us with that grenade! ". " You're Alive aren't you? " Grant replied, walking towards the hole. " Heh, " He said as he climbed up the latter, " Americans? Should've guessed that Americans would be so careless with the lives of the people they're trying to save.". The man reached the top of the latter and leaned on some large debris next to him, he was a average sized man with a pretty average hair style and goatee. Then I saw someone's hand pass a walking stick up to the man from the bottom of the latter, " Thank you, Anna," he said, taking the walking stick and placing it under his right arm. A girl climbed up the latter behind him, she was also about a average size, but she had a short ponytail swinging behind her head as she climbed.

 

[Frostlich1228]

" Thank god you all found us, those things have been trying to claw their way in for hours. " Anna said, reaching the top of the latter. Yamazaki walked up to the man, " Do you think you can make it back to the Evac on your own? ". " I doubt it, " the Russian said, looking at his crutch, " I'm not nearly fast enough to outrun these things... ", " And I'm not leaving my dad! " Anna quickly cut in. I walked over to Yamazaki and asked him what he thought we should do. Looking back at me, he said, " There are too many of these bastards prowling around and I'm not sure if we could afford to send someone back, we're already down a man... " The Russian man looked over to Anna, who reached down into the hole, pulling out the rifle he had almost took Yamazaki's head off with. " Maybe we could follow behind you until you get to your Evac then, those aliens should be more interested in you than us. " Anna said, loading a new bullet into the chamber of the rifle.

" You don't need to, " I gently placed my hand on the top of the rifle, pointing it to the floor, " We'll Send the SHIV back with you, your lives are more important than our safety, " I said, looking over to Yamazaki, who just nodded slowly. " Well then, maybe some of you Americans aren't so bad, " The man said, looking me straight in the eyes. I crouched down next to the SHIV, looking it straight in its camera, " Keep them safe, alright Sunny? " The Machine nodded it's gun up and down as it turned and exited the building, the Man and Woman following closely behind.

As we left the store, Yamazaki looked up into the sky, clearly seeing something that I wasn't. He pulled the flare gun off of his belt and shot it into the sky, that must've been the one that meant the mission was on track. When we moved further down the street we saw a young man run out of one of the buildings and hide behind a overturned truck just ahead of us. Before we could get his attention three of those floater aliens flew out of the building that he had come from, scanning the area, obviously looking for him.

Yamazaki ordered us to get down and I took cover by the remains of a flaming sedan, watching plasma fly past Grant as he went to take cover ahead of us. I carefully aimed my sniper rifle through one of the windows in the car, trying to line up a good shot. The floaters were weaving left and right in the air to avoid my team's shots, much like the other creatures that we had run into. I aimed at where I thought the floater would dodge next, taking a shot. The laser hit the creature in it's shoulder, completely blowing it's arm off and causing it to spiral down, slamming into a dumpster behind one of the destroyed homes. The rest of my team took their shots, Yamazaki hit his mark as one of his lasers slammed into the creature's body, sending it hurdling into the ground. Grant had switched to his laser pistol, firing shot after shot, but missing the creature each time. However Yamazaki took aim again, firing off two shots, one, hitting the floater in it's jetpack, causing it to explode in a shower of blood and machinery.

The fight wasn't over however as three more floaters were alerted by the explosion. Flying up behind us, the creatures has us completely flanked, they took their shots, most of them missing as we circled around our cover, however one of them stuck Grant in his arm just before he could get to the other side. Grant let out a bloodcurdling scream as the plasma had melted a huge chunk of flesh off of his arm. I took aim, hitting a floater in the chest with my sniper rifle and launching it back, sending it hurdling into it's friend, knocking both of them to the ground where a few quick shots from Yamazaki finished them off.

The last floater kept us pinned down under a hail of burning plasma. I looked over to Grant, who had stopped moving, I hoped that he'd just passed out from the pain, but I didn't know for sure. Yamazaki tapped the ground with the butt of his rifle to get my attention, I turned around and saw him pointing his rifle towards Grant, but more specifically, Grant's belt. I looked over to Grant and saw that, there, attached to his side, was his smoke grenade. I was lucky that I had memorized the unique shapes of the different grenades in training, I knew it would come in handy eventually. Yamazaki stood up and fired at the floater while I went for Grant's grenade. While I was running I heard someone groan behind me, I had hoped that it wasn't the sound of Yamazaki getting hit.

I reached Grant, taking the grenade off of his belt and applying a Medi-kit to his wound. I pulled the pin on the grenade, throwing it at the floater, after it exploded I took my laser pistol and fired at it, hitting it twice in it's body and sending it to the ground. After it was dead, I ran back to Yamazaki, wanting to make sure he wasn't injured. When I got to him, I saw that the car he was hiding behind was covered in plasma and his leg had been burned by the splatter. He struggled to stand, patting me on my shoulder, " I'm Alright... I don't want you to waste a med-kit on such a measly wound... I can still walk...", he looked over at Grant, " Grant, is he alive? " I instantly realized that I had forgotten to check Grant's pulse in the heat of the moment, I ran back towards him and placed two of my fingers on his neck, feeling a faint heartbeat. I turned back towards Yamazaki and nodded at him. " Good, " Yamazaki said, looking around for the man who had been running from the floaters, " Ah... That civilian must've took off during the firefight... We should probably go and look for him. "

A voice spoke loud in my ear, " All Units, All Units, We are pulling the Skyrangers to the Square for Final Evac marked by the green smoke, you have ten minutes. Repeat, we are pulling all available Skyrangers to the square for Final Evac you have ten minutes. " I looked over at Grant, who was still slumped over on the ground, then I looked back at Yamazaki's leg. Yamazaki gave me a look of dread, there was no way we could get to the square in time.

I struggled to pick Grant up, so instead, I just hooked my arms through his and drug him across the ground. Yamazaki stuck a finger to his ear, " Command, this is Unit two, my leg is injured and SPC. Grant is out cold, we don't think we can make the Evac, over. ". " I hear you Unit two, we are saving space for you but you need to get down here ASAP, we can only hold out for so long, over. ". I drug Grant as Yamazaki limped next to me, " Cross, I'll hold the gun, you just make sure to tell me if there is anything behind us. " he said, readying his laser rifle. " Yeah, Alright... " I said, scanning the area behind us for any sign of alien activity.

After a few minutes of walking we stumbled across what looked like two civilians standing in the road, I didn't see them at first, but Yamazaki tapped me on the shoulder to let me know they were there. I laid Grant down gently as I looked at the civilians in the distance, they started limping slowly towards us and making disturbing moaning noises, at first I thought they were just injured. All of a sudden, Yamazaki jumped back and readied his gun, firing at one of the silhouettes and causing it to crumple forward, dead. I raised my voice at him, " What are you doing!? Those are civvies! " He quickly glanced over and barked at me, " Those aren't civvies! They're some kind of walking corpses! " he said as he blasted the second one with most of his rifle's clip, dropping him to the floor.

I thought he was insane at first, but when we got closer I could see that one of them had a massive hole from his neck to his waist and the other had his neck sliced so deep, his head was flapping in the wind. I wanted to think Yamazaki was crazy, but truth was crazier than fiction... What these aliens were doing was horrible... They obviously had no remorse for the suffering of other sentient species, but that was the moment that I truly realized what we were fighting. True Monsters...

After three more minutes of walking we came across another zombie, but this time, one of those bug creatures exploded out from it's chest. It was, nightmarish, to say the least... The alien itself wasn't too hard to deal with, they're not as scary when there's only one of them. But the implications of what we saw was the scariest part, people, attacked by these creatures, turn into more of them. I had only one thought when this realization dawned on me, Andrews, was now one of those things.

 

[Frostlich1228]

Finally, the Square was in sight, but we were moments too late as we saw the Skyrangers lifting off without us. Yamazaki looked up into the sky and fired his flare, presumably the one the means someone was left behind. After a few seconds a voice on the comms talks to us, " Unit Two? Is that you still down there? ". " Yeah, it is, we need you to pick us up!", he said as we moved as fast as we could towards the square. The radio blared at us again, " Alright Unit Two, we can come back around for another pick up after we get these civvies someplace safe. We left a SHIV behind to clear some space in the back, it should be able to hold the position until you arrive, over. ".

On our way to the square, Yamazaki brought down six or seven more of those zombies while I drug Grant to the Evac, making sure to steer clear of any of the corpses just in case they weren't really dead. As soon as we reached the square we saw that it was surrounded by the bodies of various aliens, the smell of charred flesh assaulted our noses. When we reached the center I saw what looked like Desmond laying still on the ground, his arm completely missing and surrounded by chunks of flesh. A lone SHIV watched over him, it was broken and battered, entire sections of it were melted by plasma blasts, but it was somehow still barely operational.

When I realized it was him, I called out his name and rushed to his side, pulling the second Medi-Kit off of my belt and spraying it on his arm, making sure to check for a pulse; after a few seconds, I managed to find a heartbeat. " It's alright Desmond, you're going to make it, the Skyranger's coming back okay?. ", I said as the Skyranger flew over our heads, whipping up the dirt and debris around me as it landed. A team of medics rushed out, picking up Grant and Desmond and carrying them inside. Yamazaki wrapped his arm around my neck as I helped him stand up in the front of the cramped vehicle. " Good work Cross, couldn't have done it without ya... ", he said, chuckling a little bit, as the Skyranger lifted off and set course for X-Com HQ.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

X-COM Mission Parameters
Target Extraction Missions

Operations:
Shattered Wings
Paradise Lost
Fallen Angel

Date: May 5th, 2018 (SW, PL), May 6th, 2018 (FA)

Location:
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA (SW)
Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico (PL)
Paris, France (FA)

Time:
1800 Hours (SW)
1900 Hours (PL)
0200 Hours (FA)

Mission Details:
After over two months of fighting, the aliens have taken on another new tactic. We believe the aliens have become aware of the existence of the Council of Nations, and it's influence on this project, and have taken to targeting individuals that have important influence on the Council.

The Council has begun to show more and more approval of the X-COM project, but that could easily change over night should we fail to save the individuals in question. What's more, the aliens have once again employed the tactic of assaulting multiple targets at once.

Show the aliens that we won't be pushed around by such tactics, and show the Council that we return the favors of others.

Number of Soldiers for this mission: Seven (7) soldiers & One (1) SHIV per mission,

Soldiers Names:
(Shattered Wings)
SPC. Stewart, Jack (Assault)*
SPC. Cambell, William (Heavy)
SPC. Amelia Fischer (Support)
SPC. Lovikov, Randall (Scout)
SPC. Wong, Sarah (Sniper)
SPC. Adolfsson, Janina (Infantry)
PFC. Orlov, Nika
SHIV Unit 1: "Jabberwock"

(Paradise Lost)
SPC. Wayne, Damian (Scout)*
SPC. Murphy, Kelly (Sniper)
SPC. Nash, Kevin (Assault)
SPC. Roosevelt, Jonathan (Engineer)
SPC. Driver, Karen (Medic)
SPC. Trapp, David (Gunner)
PFC. Black, Raiden
SHIV Unit 2: "Bandersnatch"

(Fallen Angel)
SPC. Griffith, Nicolas (Medic)*
SPC. Beckett, Maggie (Infantry)
SPC. Fujioka, Airi (Engineer)
SPC. Camilo, Victor (Scout)
SPC. Lopez, Steve (Gunner)
SPC. Smith, Francis (Heavy)
PFC. Eva Aegerter
SHIV Unit 3: "Jubjub"

*Squad Leader

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

- Primary weapon: Either a Laser Shatterray, Laser Carbine, Laser Rifle, or a Heavy Laser Rifle. Fischer may also choose a Scatter Laser.

- Armor: Carapace Armor or Kestrel Armor

- Secondary Weapon: Either a Laser Pistol, a Heater, or Mini-Scatter Laser.

- Equipment: Two (2) of the following; a medikit, Alloy plating, Reinforced Armor, Chitin Plating, a battle scanner, an AP grenade, a HE grenade, a flash-bang grenade, a smoke grenade, a chem grenade, a high-capacity magazine, a targeting module, or an Arc Thrower.

Special Equipment Note: If one of players' characters does not take an Arc Thrower, assume one of the NPCs have one.

Terrain:
Operation Shattered Wings takes place on the shattered remains of a large bridge. Reports indicate General Peter Van Doorn, an UN official, and his associates were caught in the middle of an alien attack in the U.S. If this official is killed or abducted by the aliens, it would undoubtedly spread panic and reduce the effectiveness of XCOM. You find an assortment of vehicles in various states of disrepair to act as cover. We will drop you off as close to the target as possible, but we believe the target is located in partially caved in section of the bridge. As the very least, this will give you a chance to clear out the aliens for the trip back, but make haste; not only do we need to extract Van Doorn before the aliens get to him, we are worried about the stability of the bridge itself.

Operation Paradise Lost takes place on the streets outside of a medium sized museum. A friend of our Mexican Council members has come under attack by aliens. It would reflect poorly on our efforts if we were to allow our ally to be captured by hostile forces. You'll have a a large stretch of side walk outside of the drop ship that will have little in the way of cover, aside from a pair of large statues. The target, Thomas Hutch, is somewhere on the street, located down a large flight of stairs a few yards from where the dropship will land. A bridge to the south and a flight of stairs on the other side of the street will lead to the museum's main interest, though we doubt you'll need to enter the building. With few obstructions, this area will have a large area of view for all parties.

Operation Fallen Angel will take place in a small fountain square surrounded by streets. We've intercepted a signal indicating that an abductee by the name of Anna Sing was able to escape alien captivity, and there is a limited window of opportunity to attempt an extraction. My Council is extremely interested in taking advantage of such a rear opportunity. The streets around the square only have a few cars and a single bus, so your best bet for cover will be to cut through the square and use the benches, large plants, and the fountain itself. We believe the target is hiding amongst some abandoned cars and road signs on the opposite side where you will be dropped off. The target is not a combatant and will likely be too traumatized to defend herself, so try to clear out the area before attempting extraction.

Enemies:
(SW)
One unit containing three (3) Sectoids
One unit containing three (3) Thin Men
One unit containing three (3) Floaters
One unit containing two (2) Seekers
Two (2) Thin Men that drop in every five minutes after finding the target until they are safely escorted to the dropship

(PL)
Two units containing three (2) Thin Men and one (1) Sectoid each
One unit containing three (3) Floaters
One unit containing two (2) Seekers
Two (2) Thin Men that drop in every five minutes after finding the target until they are safely escorted to the dropship

(FA)
Two unit scontaining three (1) Thin Men and three (3) Sectiods each
One unit containing three (3) Floaters
One unit containing two (2) Seekers
Two (2) Thin Men that drop in every five minutes after finding the target until they are safely escorted to the dropship

Conditions for Completing the Mission:

(1) Successful location and extraction of the targets

and

(2) The elimination of all remaining aliens or retreat from the mission zone

or

(3) Successful escape from the combat zone should the target fall

Special Completion note: Regardless of how many alien forces are taken out, the death of the target will result in a failed mission.

Civilians: In addition to the target's, SW will have two U.S. soldiers, and PL will have two personal guards, all near their mission's respective targets. Their extraction is not required, but as usual, it would look good for us with the Council.

 

[Adrammalech]

Emily Fischer
X-COM Headquarters – Common Area
Siberia, Russian Federation
May 5th, 2018 – 5:25 PM

Nika leaned over the table like a jungle cat ready to strike, hitting the cue into three balls and sinking them all. Emily shook her head.

“How the hell did you do that?”

“Lots of practice,” Nika said with a smile.

“How is it that I’m the only person in our barracks not becoming a billiards champion?”

“Maybe you’re spending too much time with men in closets,” she replied with a wink.

“Wait, wha–”

The doors to the common area opened and everyone instantly straightened up as Bradford walked in. He held a clipboard to his breast and looked over the soldiers.

“Campbell, Stewart, Orlov, Fischer. Mission control, now.”

He walked out smooth as he came in. The rest of the soldiers looked at them nervously as they put down their pool cues and drinks, heading towards the door. A couple of them shouted words of encouragement towards them as they left, but it was mostly silence.

The squad walked into mission control where three other soldiers waited, looking over the hologram of North America. He briefly introduced the two groups to each other, and explained that Cross would be getting this deployment off after her mission in Moscow.

“Soldiers, this next mission will be in Salt Lake City, the capital of Utah in the United States. A U.N. official, Gen. Peter van Doorn, has had his U.S. Military escort ambushed by alien forces on a large bridge near the city. There are several casualties on the scene and we’re told the escort force is all but defeated. If Van Doorn is killed, it will severely hamper the Council’s newfound faith in the X-COM Project. You will be provided with upgraded weapons and armor, and be allowed to choose your tertiary equipment on the weapon benches in the hangar. Good luck.”

They went to the hangar where they were given their gear before getting into the Skyranger. Two of the other soldiers, Randall Lovikov and Sarah Wong, were both snipers and got light armor and long, collapsible rifles. Emily and Dallas both got light armor like them. Billy, Nika, and the other new girl, Janine Adolfsson, all got heavier carapace armor. They all got guns of varying sizes, but the point for most of them was the same: automatic laser rifles. Emily got a laser carbine, a middle ground between Nika’s short-form “shatterray” and Billy’s hulking heavy rifle. Dallas was naturally ecstatic that there was a shotgun variant.

Nika grabbed a flashbang and a smoke grenade while Billy stocked up on high explosives. The others grabbed various gun modules and grenades. Emily felt the squad had enough grenades, so she skipped them to get alloy plating for her arms and shoulders, feeling that the Kestrel vest a little light. She also grabbed a medkit for healing the squad. Dallas got his battle scanner again and an arc thrower, a high-tech stun gun for aliens. With the arming out of the way, they jumped into the plane, and it took only seconds before it began to ascend out of the base.


Emily Fischer
Operation Shattered Wings Staging Ground
Salt Lake City, Utah
May 5th, 2018 – 6:01 PM

The feeling of turbulence shook the plane more than usual, a sure signal that they were getting close. The low quality speakers cracked as the pilot came over the comms.

“Touchdown in 60 seconds. The landing zone will be hot, there is limited landing space on the bridge.”

“Intel suggests the attack in the hot zone has killed all civilians that might be in the area. There are three armed combatants, one of them being Van Doorn. All other humanoids should be met with caution and considered hostile if unresponsive. Extraction of Van Doorn is mission critical, but extracting all three soldiers would be helpful to the project.”

“Emily, you’re from Salt Lake, right?” Nika asked. “How was it?”

“I was stationed near there. When the first attack came, it wasn’t so bad. It was chaos at the attack point, but barely affected the whole city. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

The Skyranger touched down, the door swinging open and crashing onto the road. The sky was red and black from hours worth of smoke and fire, plumes of it bursting from dozens of cars down the bridge. Part of the bridge was completely broken, sunken beneath the normal height of the rest of it. The smell of death and burning gasoline instantly filled the cargo bay.

“Jesus…” Wong whispered.

“I don't…this isn’t how I remembered it…” Emily said nervously.

Dallas hopped to his feet and slapped his gear. “Doesn’t matter how it looks now, we’re here to make it better. Move out!”

The squad filtered out into the bridge, a group of sectoids immediately noticing them and firing from the hip as they scurried into cover. The skirmish was brief, the people with the three heaviest weapons – Billy, Janina, and the SHIV – easily hosing them down. They all fanned out across any vehicles that weren’t volatile, as well as traffic barriers that had shifted into advantageous positions. Dallas and Emily walked up to a large truck where the two U.S. soldiers were sitting, one of them with a pretty obvious wound that the other was attending to.

“You’re the team here to get Van Doorn, right? He ran up to get one of the team out of a wreck when those freaks hit the bridge. We’re in no shape to fight them, but if you can get Van Doorn, we’ll get back to your aircraft.”

“Sounds like a plan. Do you know what condition the general is in?”

“Healthy last we saw him, but he was on the pavement when the bridge got brought down like that. He might be wounded.”

“Copy that,” he said, turning back towards the rest. “Our snipers will stay on this portion of the bridge and protect the soldiers. Everyone else is following me into the damaged portion of the bridge to retrieve the general. Let’s move.”

The snipers ran over and took each end of the truck, covering the rest as they ran forward. The forward team moved ahead from cover to cover across the remainder of the raised portion of the bridge, not meeting any resistance. They looked down at the sunken portion of the bridge, a landing at least a dozen feet down. The only thing to land on in between the fall was a large tanker that was sitting still at edge of the falling point.

“Come on, let’s go,” Nika said, pointing at it.

“That’s a gas tanker, Nika, I’m not jumping on that,” Billy said.

“You don’t know it’s a gas tanker. It could be water or orange juice!”

“It says ‘Utah Gas’ on it.”

“Just…stop being a baby! Gas doesn’t just blow up from random bumps outside of it. If it didn’t explode when the bridge fell, it’s not going to explode now.”

“Then you go first, if you’re so optimistic,” Billy replied.

Nika jumped down, her feet banging against the roof of the tanker, causing her to flinch. She looked down to see the tanker completely unaffected.

“Ha.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said, following suit.

As each of them climbed down one by one, they spread out into the most readily available cover. The sunken portion had only a couple dozen cars worth for length and four lanes for width, the ground much darker from the lack of sunlight and headlights. It did hold a large tractor trailer, the tanker, and a few vans for much sturdier cover, however.

Billy saw something in the sky hovering above one of the cars, a brief burst of purple looking smoke. It was gone in the span of a blink.

“What was that?”

“What was what?” Dallas replied.

“I thought I saw something on top of one of those cars…ah, it’s probably nerves.”

“Alright, listen up, we’ll be susceptible to grenades in this enclosed section. I say we spread out and secure a perimeter around Van Doorn’s last position, flank anyone who pops up.”

“Sounds good,” Emily said, “where do I go?”

“Take the S.H.I.V. and secure the far side over there. Billy and Janina will handle the right side, and Nika and I will sweep the middle.”

“Alright.”

Emily rushed from car to car, or whatever burnt out husk used to be one, as she crossed the lanes of the bridge. She came to the far side where a decent strip of road could be walked across in between the guard rails and a large, white trailer. One of the barriers had somehow gotten to this side as well and smashed through a bit of the guard rail. She crept along the trailer slowly, gun raised, looking for anyone nearby as she moved. The S.H.I.V. followed on the other side of the trailer, pivoting up and away to look across and up the bridge.

Meanwhile, in the back ranks, the scout and sniper watched over them to the best of their abilities. Suddenly, a metallic octopus-looking drone appeared behind one of the soldiers, swinging large whip-like tentacles around his neck and waist as he turned around. He struggled and gasped for breath, kicking the car to get the attention of the others. The two snipers suddenly whipped around, training their rifles on it.

“Jesus, what the shit is that?” Lovikov said.

“Stand still, soldier!” Wong commanded.

The hapless soldier wiggled around for a moment before going limp in its grasp, Wong blasting a rifle shot straight into its body as it stopped fidgeting. It fell backwards, releasing its grip as it wound back up. Lovikov quickly shot it again, causing it to fall to the ground and burst open in a shower of sparks. The soldier stumbled back against the car, gasping for breath.

“Th-thank you!” he blurted out.

“Forward units, do not split up, they have some kind of stealth drone that just tried to jump us.”

“Shit,” Dallas said, “everyone, report in.”

“We’re fine now,” Wong said.

“All clear so far,” Billy replied.

…

“Emily?”

…

“Get to Emily’s position, now!”

 

[Adrammalech]

Emily grasped desperately at the tentacles around her neck, trying to pry an inch between their grips, but to no avail. She shook her head as she gasped for breath, noticing how it kept fidgeting to try to stay behind her. She dropped her gun and pulled towards the trailer on her side. She slipped her knees between the tentacles, her feet landing on the large whips that were once holding her body in place. She fired her feet against the trailer, taking three large steps up the side as she flung her foot towards the machine, bashing it in its face with an unceremonious bicycle kick.

The tentacles broke free around her neck just before it snapped, the squid like machine bouncing against the pavement like a basketball as Emily landed flat on her back, the contours of her armor bashing into her body roughly. The seeker reared back into its hover position, its metal mandibles spreading as its mouth glowed with a familiar green energy. A shower of scarlet beams flew in from beyond Emily, drilling around its front until it fell down and exploded. Nika ran up to her side quickly, pulling her behind the stone barrier before helping her to her knees. Emily coughed and panted, rubbing her neck as she tried to keep it still.

“Are you ok?” Nika asked.

“Yeah, mostly…thanks. It hurts like hell though…I was an inch from snapping my own neck. What the fuck was that?”

Emily groaned as she stretched out, her entire body sore from the rough landing. Nika’s hand grasped onto her and tried to pull her back down behind the barrier.

“Emily, wait!”

She turned around to see a floater looking at her from beyond another car, beams of plasma already slinging towards her. It flung by her head, around her arm, and finally, a large beam of it striking into her chest. The plasma almost instantly burned through to her skin, sending her falling back down with a scream of pain. Her ears rang loudly over the noise and her vision blurred as she fell back, barely feeling her body hit the ground roughly as she blacked out. Her last sight was Dallas’ boots rushing by her face.

“Emily!”

…

“You’re not authorized to use that!”

“Help her!”

“You the ops team? Get ova here!”

Emily’s eyes opened up to see Dallas leaning over her, spraying her own medkit over her. She looked down at her wound, a film of glittering blue holding her skin together, and soothing the burn as well. She tilted her head and yelped, the mist not having any effect on her strained neck. Nika was crouched beside him, firing at the floaters from behind the cover. She could barely recognize an explosion from afar, and she barely made out from the radio chatter that Nika had killed one and Lovikov killed one as it launched upwards.

“You ok?” Dallas asked, lifting her arm to help her.

“Thanks to you…”

“Grenade!” Nika shouted.

A green and purple sphere clinked towards them. Just as fast, the S.H.I.V. rushed forwards and captured it in the front panel between its treads, rushing it forwards while firing at the floaters. It killed the last right before switching to reverse, not nearly soon enough to escape the alien grenade though. With a shower of sparks and smoke, Jabberwock crumpled over.

“All floaters down,” Nika stated. “Think our S.H.I.V. is done though.”

“Good work, Strike One,” the earpiece said.

Dallas turned his head to respond, growling at mission control. “After this mission is over, we’re going to talk about this whole ‘your spec can’t possibly point a plastic gun and spray it’ thing.”

“Get ova here! Not fair if I have all the fun!” another voice interrupted.

“We’re on our way, General,” Dallas replied, “Stay put. Campbell, where you at?”

Billy hid behind a broken down station wagon, staying low to the ground as plasma crackled against the ground and sniper shots flew over his head.

“Janina and I are alright, couple thin men took some shots at me when we were running to you.”

“I’m trying to take them out, bastards are quick though,” Wong continued.

Nika and Dallas both helped Emily to her feet, grabbing her gun and putting it back in her hands. Despite being burned, bruised, and broken, she felt the rush of adrenaline in her body washing away her concerns of pain and pushing her forwards. She took off with the others, running behind a couple more cars before arriving at an SUV that Van Doorn was hiding behind. Billy and Wong killed the thin men that were besieging them before turning to talk to the general.

The general had a bleeding wound on his arm that was wrapped up in a scrap of cloth, and light armor on his chest and legs. He had no armor for his arms or head, though, and looked sternly at them from beyond his white mustache.

“Thank God you’re here,” he said raggedly, “I’m still breathing, but I can’t say the same for a lot of my boys. Let’s get out of here before any more of those…things…show up.”

“Now that we’re here, we won’t lose any more,” Dallas replied, “Stay close to me and we’ll get out of here.”

“I don’t know what outfit you’re from, but I haven’t seen gear like that before.”

“Best not to worry about it,” he said cryptically.

“Everything’s clear up here. Straight shot back to the Skyranger,” Wong said.

Wong and Lovikov continued aiming down the bridge, watching over the moving pieces of the battlefield as they retreated back to the stable portion of the bridge. The two U.S. soldiers also had patched themselves up from their previous engagement.

“S-soldiers, help me…” a voice whispered from behind a bus on the upper bridge.

One of the U.S. soldiers hopped up and went to investigate it. He got closer to it, the snipers behind him still focused on covering Van Doorn.

“Pleasse, come help…”

The soldier looked back towards the snipers.

“Guys, there’s a civilian back he–”

A thin man popped out between the cars, quickly blasting the soldier in the back with several shots, killing him. He pointed his light rifle towards the others.

 

[Adrammalech]

“Son of a bitch, kill it!”

Wong fired her sniper quickly at the thin man, the shot going into a car nearby. Lovikov snapped around just as quickly, nailing it straight in the head and sending a shower of yellow mist in all directions.

“…Lucky shot,” Wong said.

“Not all of us can be snap-shooters,” Lovikov replied with a shrug.

Janina, Billy, Nika, Dallas, and Emily all helped Van Doorn up the makeshift steps to the upper bridge, Van Doorn doing no small amount of complaining about climbing a gas tanker. As they got back to the safer part of the bridge, more thin men dropped down on the far side, taking wild shots across the bridge at them.

Emily cried in pain again as she stumbled to her knees, some degree of her movement worsening her wound. Dallas went back and grabbed hold of her, pulling her towards the Skyranger. Van Doorn and the surviving soldier got helped into the cargo bay by Nika and Janina, the snipers soon dropping their perches and retreating as well. Billy backed up much slower, trying to keep their zone of control as long as possible as more thin men popped out from the sides of the bridge.

“Billy, come on!”

“Just get everyone back. I’ve got these clowns.”

Dallas continued to carry Emily back as fast as possible, Emily grunting desperately in his grip as she tried to join in the shooting. A thin man dropped down in front of them, but one close blast from Dallas’ laser shotgun tore it to pieces.

Billy reached behind his back, pulling out the huge launcher he carried. He pulled it to its normal length and put his fingers into the safeties, jumping up and letting the rocket fly. The car he aimed at exploded, sending two of the thin men fluttering through the air. Two more of them on the other side of the bridge fired their poisonous gas behind him, funneling him towards the edge of his cover.

“Ah, shit…”

Dallas got into the cargo bay door, setting Emily beside Nika and taking his own seat.

“Come on, Billy! Everyone’s in!”

He popped his head up momentarily, instantly being shot at by the suppressing aliens. He looked back at the only possible route back. He tossed one of his grenades at the remaining thin men and sprinted back towards the Skyranger, hoping it would distract them. The plasma ripped through the air, hitting him in his leg, and then in his back. He fell hard to the ground, trying to pull his wounded leg forwards to no avail. He looked backwards at the thin men advancing, more of them slipping out from between the cars to bolster their ranks. He groaned in pain as he whispered into the comm.

“Get out of here.”

“What?” Dallas replied.

“I’m not…gonna make it. Just go,” he shouted firmly.

Dallas cursed and banged on the wall between them and the pilot. Nika ran towards the cargo bay door, Emily barely grabbing onto her arm.

“You go out there…it’s a one-way trip,” Emily whispered to her drowsily.

Nika tossed her hand away, scowling at her. She looked out at half a dozen thin men closing in on the landing zone, most of them already past Billy. Her legs froze as the Skyranger lifted an inch off the ground, the cargo door closing.

“Billy...! Will!” she shouted impotently.

Another one of the thin men ran by Billy, chasing after the Skyranger as its engines wound up. Two more of the thin men hopped towards him, looking down on him.

“Human. Closse to expiration,” one of them mentioned. “Take?”

“Could be usseful sspecimen.”

Billy chuckled to himself, dragging himself to his hands and knees. He pulled off his helmet and tossed it to the side, barely hearing Nika shouting on the comm.

“You think you’re taking me, fellas?”

He jumped forward with grenade in hand, pulling the pin and cocking his arm.

“I’m taking you!”

The thin men quickly readied their weapons and shot him again, but not before he launched the grenade far over their heads.

“Human could not aim.”

“Pity, perhapss a poor sspecimen after all.”

The grenade hurdled past the broken barriers and smoking cars, bouncing across the pavement as it landed just at the edge of the upper bridge, tumbling onto the top of the gas tanker below. With a deafening explosion, the tanker ignited and pillars of heat, shock, and shrapnel blast across the lower road and underneath the higher. The already strained supports of the bridge cracked and split, the road above it rumbling and tilting. Cars and scrap heaps began to fall towards the water, crushing several thin men beneath their tumble. More of the vehicles exploded from the movement and shockwaves, adding to the chaos.

Nika bashed her hands against the door, hearing the explosions rock through the entire bridge around their location as the Skyranger took off. She rushed to a window and watched as the bridge crumbled, several large segments breaking apart and falling into the water, drowning anything left standing. She slid down the wall, clutching her fists to her eyes and sobbing.

Van Doorn looked around solemnly, consoling his own soldier that also lost a friend. Emily slumped down in her seat and clutched at her chest, the adrenaline wearing off completely and the pain from her wound returning. Before she could say anything, she passed out in her seat, the agony of an entire plane ride being too much to bear. The speakers crackled with Central’s voice.

“Operational objectives complete. Good work.”


Emily Fischer
X-COM Headquarters – Mission Control
Siberia, Russian Federation
May 5th, 2018 – 9:42 PM

The Skyranger landed back at the base, the soldiers filing out. Lovikov and Wong immediately brought Van Doorn to Bradford who was waiting at the hangar, all of them rushing off together. Dallas hooked his arm behind Emily, helping her to her feet. She noticed Nika staring at her, looking angrily as Dallas helped her up. They walked out into the situation room, where the employees looked much less excited than last mission. Medical staff rushed forward towards Emily as Nika stomped away.

Before she left, Nika looked back at Emily, her eyes filled with directionless rage.

“It should’ve been you,” she said coldly.

Emily looked surprised as she stormed out of the room, but had little time to consider it between the pangs of pain from her chest. The medical staff helped Emily onto a stretcher, and Dallas held her hand protectively.

“She didn’t mean that. She’s in shock,” he said.

“Yeah. I know,” Emily said sadly.

“He was a crazy old bastard,” he said with a reassuring smile, “if he had a will, I’d be surprised if killing a dozen aliens in a massive explosion wasn’t his preferred burial choice.”

Emily smiled weakly towards him, though it quickly turned to a frown. “I miss him already.”

“You just focus on getting better. I’ll visit you when I can.”

“Thanks, Jack. Try to console her for me.”

Dallas smiled a bit at her using his real name before the stretcher started moving forward, forcing him to let go. Nameless doctors and nurses wheeled her away, taking her far away from anywhere she was familiar with. She groaned and writhed in the cot as they pushed her towards the medical wing, days of bland jello and needles awaiting her.

 

[Euan]

I was just heading out of the gym when I was approached by this guy with a clipboard.

"Wayne. Black. Follow me," he said.
"What's going on?" I was confused.
"Aww, is it your first time?" Damian asked.
"First time for what?" he'd already been pissing me off, but now he was just being annoying.
"We've been called out," Damian explained, "We're going on a mission."

We were escorted to mission control, and I was introduced to a group of five - I'm awful at names, but I think I caught a Kevin and Karen in there somewhere.

Our mission was to be in Mexico - I couldn't pronounce the name of the city - outside a museum. Nearby, there would be a Council Member (of what council I wasn't told) who would be protected by two personal guards. We had to infiltrate, rescue and retreat the area.
"So no showing off!" Damian laughed, and winked at me.

Damian was our squad leader - thank God? - and we were swiftly escorted to the armory.
"Have a look," Damian gestured to the weapons rack. "Pretty high tech, huh?"

It was. There were laser weapons - frickin LASER WEAPONS - covering an entire wall. And not just assault rifles - there were laser shotguns, laser pistols... God, if we had one of these in South Africa we could've lasted for months!
"Uhh, Raiden?" Damian looked at me, a little concerned. "We're kinda on the clock here. Do you wanna choose something?"

I grabbed a laser "shatterray" (basically a laser SMG) and was given a heavy armored suit.
"I don't want this," I said. "I want something lighter."
"You can't have something lighter," I was told by an engineer nearby.
"Why not?" I snapped, looking round at him. He swallowed, and rolled his shoulders.
"Oh, let him have one," said one of my teammates.
"Well, alright." The guy didn't look too happy about it, but went off and grabbed me a sort of armor vest. It fitted well, and was lighter than my old jacket. I loved it.

"Alright men, let's go."
Damian lead us to the dropship - kind of a cross between a plane and a helicopter and a battleship - and inside we "met" our eighth teammate - a little robot with a minigun on its back. We were told its name was "Bandersnatch," although none of us would be giving it orders bar Damian.

The flight was relatively uneventful, although we were given a few pre-mission orders.
"Don't separate from the group," Damian warned, "Don't lose your head and always, ALWAYS..." he looked right into me eyes. "do exactly as I say."

We landed in a wide street outside a big, impressive building - presumably the museum. We got a message through our earpieces - "Alright men, move out. You know what you have to do. Wayne, it's down to you."

"Who was that?"
"Bradford, from HQ. He's the Commander's right-hand man," Damian explained.
"Alright."

"Okay," Damian started using his earpiece to communicate - easier and safer for all of us. "Our target is through there."
I looked round and saw a staircase a few yards from where we were.
"Looks simple enough, but keep your wits about you. These aliens are clever."

Kevin and Damian moved up to a large pair of statues outside the museum, but otherwise there was little cover. Bandersnatch was sent to scout ahead, and the rest of us stayed where we were, more or less, keeping an eye out for flanks.
"There's very little cover here," Damian reported looking at the SHIV's camera feed. It was too dark to see everything properly - hence why we sent the SHIV to check ahead. "Keep an eye out. They could come from anywhere.

Damian and Kevin moved up, and me and Karen took their position. The others moved up, but out of cover. Risky, but better to stay as a group, apparently. Me and Karen were about to move up again, but I heard something.

"SHH! Do you hear that?" Karen looked at me oddly.
"... No... do you?"
"Yeah, there's... something..." I was about to point towards the museum when a green bolt of energy shot from the museum and hit her in the upper right arm.
"SHIT! Alright, Black! Move up towards them, take cover on the steps! Nash, support him! Roosevelt, with the SHIV! It's coming back here! Murphy, take cover in that cafe! Trapp, take Black's position!"
We moved as we were ordered, but as Damian moved another shot came from inside the doors. They'd been waiting for us to move.
"AGH!" Damian clutched his leg and went down.
"DAMIAN!" I yelled.
"BLACK," Murphy yelled back. "Hold your position."
"I exhaled sharply, and held place. Nash grabbed a medkit from Karen after assisting her and went to help Damian.
"Alright, Black, I want you to push up to the back door. Trapp, with him." Murphy was deputy leader. I guess she gave orders now.

I ran towards the door, ready to take cover behind the wall and peek in. As I did so, I saw this... man? It wore a suit, and looked human, although it held this green, glowing pistol-like weapon in one hand, and it was incredibly tall.
"Straight line. Behind storage rack," I reported.
"Got it." Murphy balanced her sniper on her elbow and took aim. It seemed to take forever, but eventually she fired. Solid in the chest, although the man didn't fall.
"Shit, enemy is still alive! Nash, you got a shot?"
"I think I..." Nash fired a few rounds but nothing close.
"Trapp?" He hoisted his huge machine gun round and sprayed 5 or 6 shots, clipping the thing on its head with the fourth. As it fell, it exploded in a cloud of green and purple gas.
"Great, out route is blocked."
"Black, move up!"
"I can't, the gas is in the way!"
"Fine, toss out your scanner!"
I got one as standard - this little ball thing with a laser. It checked around for enemies in the vicinity.
"Another Thin Man and a Sectoid."
"A who and a what now?"
"Black, you should be safe with Trapp and the SHIV. Move it!"
I kicked down the door, and checked on the left - the battle scanner told no lies. Another... thing like we just killed, and a little alien. Looked like out of the movies - classic 'little green man' deal. Met plenty in Africa - every one was a death sentence. Well, for civilians anyway.

 

[Euan]

As I entered, the Thin Man took a shot. I managed to duck my head just fast enough, but I swear he got some hair. "Shit, too close!"
I took cover behind a pillar and took a shot at the second man - he went down.
"Nice," Damian ran in next to me. "See why they picked you up."
"Damian?"
"Didn't think I'd go down that easily, did you?" He broke cover and shot at the Sectoid - and took that down too.
"Murphy, we're not supposed to be moving into the museum. We were ordered to stay out as much as possible. you understand that?"
"Yes, Wayne."
"Alright, keep an eye out."
We waited a second for something to happen. Nash reloaded. As he primed his gun, this mass of tentacles appeared behind him.
"They're INVISIBLE?!?"
"Black, rookie, you better adapt fast."
Murphy took a reaction shot, and killed the thing, and then one appeared behind her, and starting choking her with gas and tentacles.
"AAAGH!" she screamed.
"Trapp, your shot!"
Trapp took aim - carefully, as Murphy's head was very much in the mass of smoke and tentacles, and put his gun away.
"Going for a pistol shot!" He aimed down his sights, lined it up perfectly, and fired. Laser straight through the head, Murphy was (relatively) unharmed.
"Black, let's get down those steps."

We ran back to where the Council Member was reported to be hiding. We gathered the team and kept an eye out behind us.
"I'll go first."
"Black, we have a SHIV for a..."
"I. Will. Go. First."
"Alright. I'll be right behind you."
I dashed down the steps, getting into the second street. There were another three Thin Men and a Sectoid. I took the short one, and Damian and the SHIV took down a Thin Man each. Murphy got halfway down the steps and took out the third. We took a second to wait for the gas to clear, and made sure to reload and look out behind us. Nothing too exciting - well, compared to what had already happened to me. We moved along the street, hugging the buildings - again, there was very little cover. I can’t imagine how much easier this would’ve been with some nice walls through the street.

We eventually made it to the front of the museum, and there, in the parking lot, was our target and his guard. They were shooting up at something - or somethings. I looked up, and there were three… things. I use that word too much. They were part alien, part machine, with a kind of jetpack on their backs. They were hovering about a story up, with a vantage point anyone would be jealous of. They had green glowing eyes and green body armor.

“What the fuck are they?”
“Floaters,” Damian warned, grimly. “Murphy, we need you up here. NOW.”
We took it slow, being careful not to be noticed, while trying to get there quickly enough to save the entire group. Murphy took the first shot, and caught a jet. The Floater fell to the ground and exploded, and I saw Murphy take a cheeky little fist pump. Karen took the second shot, but missed - can’t blame her. She was still in pain. Trapp sprayed with his LMG and caught one full in the chest. It all happened so fast, the third only noticed when the second fell in front of it. It looked round at us, enraged.
“Black! Your shot!” I took it. I missed.
“Fuck! Sorry!” I looked round at Damian, seeing him line up his shot and hit the final Floater three times in the head.
“Better luck next time, rookie!”
The SHIV whizzed over to the target, and lead him back to us.
“Thank you!” the man exclaimed. “If it wasn’t for you…”
“We could’ve held up sir. But thanks for coming when you did.” The personal guard looked grumpy, as if we’d robbed him of an opportunity.
“We have a dropship for extraction if you follow us…” Kevin lead the way with the SHIV and a guard. The rest of us followed close behind.

We almost made it back without incident, but as we made it back to the pair of statues two more Thin Men appeared in our way.
“Frag out!” Roosevelt called, and caught them both. They were hurt, but not dead.
One of the guards panicked. He ran towards the men and shot one full in the face. He died, spraying his putrid gas everywhere. The guard choked, fell to his knees and clasped his face in his hands. “MY EEEYES!” he screamed.

Karen shot the second man, and we pushed through to the extraction point, grabbing the guard on the way.
“We have medical supplies to help at base,” Roosevelt said, trying to comfort the man. As we took off, I saw out the corner of my eye another Thin Man watching us leave. The door wasn’t up yet, and one was aiming down his sights…
“GET DOWN!” I yelled, but too late. The target was hit by the energy just below his left shoulder. He fell to the floor, clearly in agony.
“Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck FUCK!” Karen cried as she tried to use her remaining medkit.
“Pilot, get us to HQ NOW!” Damian yelled.

We all tried. So hard. I’m not a first aid expert, but I made sure to do as I was told - fetch this from here, that from there. Karen tried to seal the wound, Roosevelt tried to keep him calm. the guard was still suffering but he kept quiet. He knew he was lucky.

We got back to base and both the target and the guard were taken straight to the med-bay. Karen and Damian were to be told when they could be checked over.

I was told to report to the barracks at 0900 hours. When I arrived, Damian was there to welcome me. His leg was bandaged, and his face a little pale, but he looked ok.

“First off,” he started, “Congratulations on your first mission. You did well for a newbie.”
“Uh… thanks?”
“Hey, it’s a compliment!” He patted me on the shoulder, but winced and touched his leg. “Anyway, that’s not why you’re here. Promotions are down to higher-ups. I commanded you and suggested a Scout or Assault class, but that’s not down to me. I was sent to tell you what happened to the target.”

Thomas Hutch had died after three hours in intensive care. The shot had burnt his stomach, melted one lung and partially collapsed the other. There was nothing they could do.

He got up and limped off, using a crutch. I watched him go. “Welcome to X-COM,” Damian Called behind him. “You’ll do well here, Raiden.”

 

[Dahlexpert]

3 hours before Operation Fallen angel
X-COM Genetics Lab
As Eva's pod slowly drains, Jessica gives her a worried look, her eyes darting between the pod and Bradford standing near the door. The pod opens, and Eva slowly stumbles out. Jessica rushes forward, wrapping a large towel around the woman's shoulders. "Easy, now, easy. How are you feeling?"

Eva Gets a big smile on her face, I fell fantastic I lost aches I thought I never had before, Eva starts to punch and kick the air. And it seems I gotten stronger to.
"T-Take it easy, Eva." Jessica holds up her hands. "How are your eyes. Can you see okay?"
Eva opens her Eyes and Jessica sees that there yellow. What do I have something on my face and I see yellow stuff around you.

Jessica shakes her head. "Just a side effect, not the first time." She reaches for a syringe on the table. Bradford, still standing at the door, clears his throat. "She's... she's not ready, sir. Give me a minute."

Eva's Eyes return to blue and she says. Bradford to what do I ou the pleasure, of seeing the commanders second and command here.

"He expects you to just pop out of the oven and serve a family of four with out cooling off first," Jessica says as she examines Eva's eyes, a frustrated tone in her voice.
"She have her time to cool down on the dropship." Bradford gives Eva a frank look. "We have a mission, one we're prepping for as we speak. Possible escaped abductee we want to bring in before the aliens can reabduct her. I'm sure you're aware of how short we are on soldiers that aren't fatigue or in the infirmary after the series of missions last month."

Eva smiles. Well before I go to the mission, we have one last test to run and it's a big one. Jessica can you bring me the thin mans poison so we can see if I'm immune to it.

"A-are you sure." Jessica asks, glancing at the second syringe on the desk. "B-because the last guy I tested it on..." She shakes her head, and grabs the syringe. "Just hold out your arm and... don't get violent."
Jessica injects Eva with the poison, and Eva drops to her knees and looks like she is in pain and agony AHHHH WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME.
"I-I... it's the poison, like I said." Jessie drops down and grasps Eva's hand. "Just give it a few moments. The macrophages have to get used to it, so the first time is going to be painful. But if you take care of it now, it won't be as bad if you're hit with it on the field."

Eva still Screams in agony I have one question for you Jessica, Eva stops yelling how was my acting was it good or did I do to much.

Jessica shoves Eva. "Y-you... you scared me half to death!" She sounds upset, but has a smile on her face.
Bradford kneels down in front of them. "If that's all settled, then, we can get you prepped." Jessica sends him an irritated look, and he adds, "If, of course, you are up to it. In this circumstance, Ms. Lockheart is acting as your doctor of sorts, which means she out ranks me. You only have to go if you feel like you can."

Great my own personal doctor don't I feel special, any way Bradford what is this mission that is so important that you need me so badly.

"As I said, many of our soldiers are still recovering. Otherwise I wouldn't be coming to you right after the gene mods." Bradford sighs. "But the Council really wants to bring this woman in, in case she has information we can use. And even if they didn't, the Commander refuses to leave her alone out there to be taken back by the aliens."

Great like I always say the best test is a field test and believe me I caint wait to test out my new skills, and as a present for you Jessica I'm going to bring you a live alien, Hay Bradford is the alien containment cell open for business.
"Always." Bradford nods and stands up.
Jessica grabs Eva's cloths and hands them to her. "Good luck out there."

Don't worry I'll be carful out there like I always am, and if I'm lucky I will capture an alien and if I'm extremely lucky maybe two of them but asking for two alive aliens is asking for two much, but let me see if I can make the impossible happen.
Eva grabs her gear and get's dressed right time to go alien hunting I'll be sure to tell you how the augmentations came out once I'm back.

 

[Dahlexpert]

Operation: Fallen Angel May 6 2018
Location: Paris France
Time:0200 hours

After the debriefing from Bradford I awaited orders from Griffin, since the place were in is a small park like area there will be little high cover, so and the only place for decent cover is the statues in front of the Sky ranger or the cars around us whish the aliens have proven that they will blow up just to kill us, there is also the one bus which can only be used from the front or the back and the right side, so this can get real ugly real quick, So we better get this over with and hopefully not lose any one.

As we move forward and ready our weapons, we spotted two aliens that I never seen before the look like an octopuses and once we saw them they diapered, like it had a clocking system, Great aliens that turn invisible that's just bloody perfect we had no time to wait for the aliens to attack us, because now it's a waiting game between us and those cloak buggers, we moved forward to the middle of the fountain and that's when the hornets woke up.

We found a thin man and two sectoids coming from the sides, and god only knows were those two cloak bastards are, Lopez kept the thin man pined down, keeping it surprised while Camilo goes for the steroids when it looks like we have them pined down on of those cloak aliens showed up behind our heavy and wrapped it self around him. Our infiltrator panicked and shot his weapon at the mysterious alien, unfortunately because of his state he was scared shit less and placed bullet squarely in Francis head.

Thankfully our medic shot the damn alien and took it down, and just when we think were in the clear three new aliens came out and these aliens were nasty looking they look like a flying robot torso.

What the hell do these guys ever stop coming, Fuck will you bastards just die said victor as the aliens come closer and constantly surprises us I see another one of those cloak aliens going for Nicolas, and I pointed my heavy leaser rifle and it right through it's robot head, for some reason seeing a laser go through a robots head kind of brings me back to my Teenage self and reading all kinds of comic books and science fiction moves, that felt great, but I had no time to celebrate because the aliens keep charging us and there getting cocky.

Victor took out the then man with a shot in the chest and Lopez shot one of the sectoids that tried to flank us now all we have is a sectoid and three flying aliens Nicolas ordered me to go up to the sectoid and a tempted to capture it, Nicolas ordered the others to suppress the flying aliens as I go for the sectoid.

As I go for the sectoid the little bastard shot me in the chest thank god for the upgrades to our armor I barely felt the plasma I loaded up the arc thrower and shocked the sectoid knocking it out. I go back into cover and see Airi Maggie and the S.H.I.V.E take out the flying aliens, and with them taken out we can move forward.

We finally found our target and as expected she is terrified. Please you have to get me out of here those things there every were we have to leave, Airi talks to the civilian to calm her down just a little enough for her to trust that we can get her to safety once we start moving then man just start falling out of the sky and shooting us thank fully they had no time to run since the second they landed the S.H.I.V.E and Maggie took them out with no problem, Nicolas ordered me and Victor to go to the each side of the road he also told Airi and Steve to join us which left Lopez Nickoles and the S.H.I.V.E in the middle with the civilian well at least she is in the middle of two turrets and a medic. As we make our way half way to the ship two more then man drop down on top of us, I heard Victor and Airi took out there target, I told Maggie to cove me as I go after the thin man as Maggie keeps the thin man pined down and actually getting some shots in I came behind it and punch it in the back of the head.

Maggie I got this one you go to the ship.

Right be carful Eva those things are dangerous Maggie runs to the others.

Eva starts beating the this man Aw what's wrong is this all you got, I thought you aliens were suppose to be strong, the thin man spits poison in Eva's face and Eva just laughs ou boy was that your best shot because if it was that's a shame Eva kicks the thin man in the jaw.

You damn human how dare you treat me like a weaker species like I'm your lower.

Well so you do talk, Eva holds the thin man by the collar and says. So alien pig what gives you the right to invade my planet and kill my people.

You can not comprehend our methods you pathetic human the thin man looks at Eva's Eyes you have the same eyes as the demon.

Demon What daemon are you talking about?

There is a human who like you hunt's us down and kill us, but unlike you she tortures us burns us alive and put our heads on a stick and hangs them to scar us and she looks to put fear into us and destroy us.

hum cool story bro and guess what you can tell it to my commander. Eva points the arc thrower at the thin man and shoks it to the point were it's unconscious.

Demon I wonder if it means that psycho path that we fired it has to be, Eva get's a big smile on her face so that psycho Scarlet is still alive and seems do be doing what the commander expected she would do great hope fully the commander does not find a way to bring her back.
Eva returns to the sky ranger and sees that Every body got on board even the captured aliens, two aliens on one mission great work every body the commander will be happy with our catches, she neded some good news at least.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Shanghai Covert Operation, Day 1 (May 10th)

XCOM HQ Hanger, 7:30 A.M. in Shanghai:

Atka arrived in the hanger on time with her gear ready. In her backpack was a scatter laser pistol, and tucked into her black coat was a smoke grenade. The scout was dressed appropriately for her mission, wearing a shirt with Chinese symbols and alloy plating underneath for moderate protection. It’s better than nothing, at least, Atka thought to herself as she was met by a pilot.

He looked the Inuit woman over for a moment. “I remember you, I flew you here from Canada, right?”

Atka nodded. “Are you the one flying me to Shanghai?”

“You got it,” the pilot replied. “Follow me.”

The covert operative was lead to a small jet with only two seats, one for the pilot and one for Atka. “Much faster and less conspicuous than the Skyranger,” he said proudly.

Atka nodded. “Right,” she replied simply, sitting down in her chair and stowing her backpack away.

“Nervous?”

The scout met his gaze. “It would be crazy not to be.”

“Fair enough,” the pilot replied. He sat down, and after checking to make sure everything was working, he called up the ramp. The plane started moving up it, until it was angled properly and permission had been given. The jet’s engines flared up, and with a burst of speed it shot up out of the underground hanger, taking to the skies.

Shanghai Pudong International Airport, 9:30 A.M., Local Time:

Atka stepped out into the late morning sunlight, gazing around at the area. “The city’s not too far from here, huh...I bet the pictures don’t do it justice.” She walked towards the side of the street, and got a chūzū chē, or taxi, to drive her into the city.

As she approached the city, Atka gazed around at the orderly looking buildings and the tall skyscrapers scattered around the center of the city. Wow… It’s even more impressive than I thought. To be fair, I haven’t been out of that base for weeks up until now.

“Not from around here?” the driver asked in Chinese.

Atka received the correct response from Ayame. “You are correct. I’m from Guangzhou.”

The driver nodded, though he kept his eyes on the road. “Welcome to Shanghai, then. I hope you enjoy your stay.”

I hope so too…

The taxi stopped at the Seagull on the Bund hotel, which was situated next to the Huangpu river that ran through the city. Atka paid the driver and got out, claiming the room that had been bought in advance for her. She unloaded her unessential items, breathing a sigh of relief that XCOM had got her past customs despite her more...interesting possessions.

Atka pulled out her scatter laser pistol and her smoke grenade, looking the two items over. “I can’t help but feel like I could have used a little more than this…” If worst comes to worst, I can always grab a pistol off the guy I blast into next week with this thing.

Atka laid on her bed, enjoying the comfy feel for a few minutes. After enjoying the brief relaxation, she hopped to her feet, and stretched her arms out in the air. “Okay...agenda for day one. Get to know the city; scouting.”

Feeling satisfied with her civilian attire, Atka headed back out into the streets of Shanghai. The scout went on foot, preferring to see the city for herself and not arouse suspicion by taking several taxis. However, as she explored the central city, she soon understood the vast scope of the Chinese city. Here it was pristine and clean, a truly modern city with lights everywhere that must look beautiful at night. At noon she ate lunch in one of the streetside restaurants. To get to the middle sections and outskirts, she took a chūzū chē.

The middle of the city was strikingly like a suburban community you would expect to find in the United States, while the outskirts were very sparse. So many warehouses and buildings...there has to be a better way to find what I’m looking for.

“Something wrong?” the driver asked.

“Do you know anywhere I could learn about going ons here? Somewhere that people know what’s happening, rather than typical news.”

The driver rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s an interesting question...though it’s something that might get you into trouble with the military...I’m not so sure…”

Atka grinned. “Don’t worry, I can handle myself. How’s a thousand Yuan sound for some advice?”

The driver sighed. “You can probably find something in one or the clubs...somewhere in the city at night. It’s not so peaceful though…”

“I’m a big girl, I can handle myself, don’t you worry,” Atka said with the same mischievous smile.

The man shook his head. “That’s added to the pay for driving you around, right?”

6:00 P.M., Central Shanghai:

After gathering more information in a similar fashion, though perhaps not burning through as much money, Atka returned to her hotel, eating dinner there. She sat on the bed eating ramen, and thinking. “Hmmm...I suppose if I’m going to get along with that crowd I’ll need to dress appropriately...something black, probably. They probably know more than most of the people here, though. Tomorrow night.”

She finished her food, went to take a warm shower, for the first time in a while not having to share it with anyone else. Finally, she hopped into bed to get some rest, and prepare for the long night tomorrow.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Shanghai Covert Operation, Day 2 (May 11th)

Atka spent the day buying suitable clothing and making herself feel more comfortable with the pronunciation of Chinese. She also fell into a persona she had practically abandoned. The rebellious Inuit girl with the sarcastic wit and a quick temper returned in full force, meshing with the mask of “Xifeng Li” to create a cover that would work perfectly for what Atka intended to do.

During the afternoon and evening, she took a nap, making sure she was fully rested for what was going to be an interesting night.

10:15 P.M., Streets of Shanghai:

Atka walked down the streets lit by multicolored lights in a corner of the city proper, some of them flashing. Perhaps it was not accurate to say that it was Atka, for she was certainly not recognizable to those who knew her. Atka had truly become the persona of Xifeng Li, the rebellious phoenix.

Xifeng wore black leather clothing with traces of dark red, orange, and yellow, as well as a similar jacket that gave her that rebellious look. Only her gray shirt was not that leather, and was fairly tight. Her black hair was tied back in a ponytail, held in place by spiky looking black pins. She had some dark eyeshadow over her eyes, and an expression that seemed to invite danger with abandon.

She walked into a club where a Mandarin rap group was singing, leaning against a wall and watching the crowd as they danced to flashing lights. Xifeng tapped her fingers against the wall, knowing it would only be a matter of time before someone approached her.

Sure enough, a man in his mid-twenties with two friends approached her. One of his friends was a tall man, and the other was a woman leaning against his side. All three of them were dressed similar to Xifeng.

The one in front glanced over at his friend and his girlfriend, and then walked over to Xifeng. “Hello there, beautiful. Enjoying the show tonight?” he said suavely.

Xifeng smiled widely. “You bet I am.” she took a sip of her drink, though it was not alcoholic. The only sign that Atka was still herself. “Looking for someone to dance with, handsome?”

He smiled. “That sounds wonderful. I’m Huojin, by the way.”

He seems trustworthy enough, Xifeng thought to herself. Giving me his name, provided it isn’t fake. “Fire metal huh? Suits you. I’m Xifeng.”

Huojin took her hand and lead her out onto the dance floor. The two danced together as the room flashed with red, moving lights and projectors, the rappers singing their hearts out onstage. It was on a quick tempo, and the two cared little for style or tradition, going freestyle.

Xifeng found herself smiling widely in spite of herself, forgetting why she was here until after the third song, when fifteen minutes had passed. She motioned for Huojin and his friends to sit down, and took a sip of her cold drink to cool off.

“Anything interesting happen around here lately?” Xifeng asked, twirling her ice with a spoon. “Wasn’t there some rumor of some nuts blowing up a military convoy?”

Huojin nodded. “I heard about that too, though it sounded like the convoy had no markings whatsoever. Not that our military doesn’t do things behind our back all the time.”

Xifeng grinned. “Careful, you’ll get sent into dark prisons for saying stuff like that.”

Huojin returned her mischevious grin. “What can I say, I like living on the edge. Don’t tell me you don’t.”

“I wouldn’t,” Xifeng responded. “Anything else you know about that? I find it intriguing...especially considering the fact that it happened in a city like this, of all places.”

Huojin shrugged. “I’ve heard theories. Government coverup of a rebellion or something, some sort of criminal syndicate, aliens...that one’s not so unreasonable these days.” He gestured as his friend. “Keung here says he saw one, but he’s full of shit.”

Keung slammed his fist on the table. “I did! Saw something skulking around in the shadows at night!”

“Lots of things skulk around in the shadows at night. Thieves...dogs...cats…” Huojin shot back sarcastically.

The girl next to Keung giggled, making him sigh in frustration and look down. “I can’t win…”

Xifeng laughed. “Come on, you have to be more descriptive if you want us to believe you.”

“...I swear, I saw a guy with a glowing red weapon the night after the convoy was supposedly attacked...I think he was one of those thin dudes…” Keung muttered.

Xifeng stopped. Red...weapon?

“I told you, the aliens use green plasma crap, not anything red,” Huojin said with a shake of his head. “You don’t listen. For all we know it was some Japanese cosplayer or something.”

“I don’t know, this actually has me curious. Do you remember where you saw that?” Xifeng asked.

Keung nodded vehemently. “I can show you, it wasn’t too far from here. It was near the people’s square.”

Huojin sighed. “Fine, if the lady is interested, we can go…”

11:00 P.M., People’s Square:

Keung pointed to an alleyway. “It was right here. Scared the hell out of me.”

Xifeng went over to the alleyway, looking around for any clues. She sighed, seeing nothing. “Well, it might mean they operate somewhere around here.”

Huojin shrugged. “I’d rather not stick my nose into it. No sense in getting it cut off, you know?”

Xifeng chuckled. “Fair enough. I think I’m going to head back to my room, but I might come back to the club again. That was fun, I just don’t have the energy for too much more tonight.”

Huojin smiled. “You’re always welcome. Tomorrow night?”

Xifeng shrugged. “Maybe not, I think I’ll be busy.”

“The night after that?” He asked as Xifeng was yawning.

“Sure,” she said, only having heard half of what he was saying.

Houjin nodded, and walked off with his two friends, trusting that Xifeng would find her way back.

Midnight:

Atka retuned to her room, removing her ‘Xifeng’ attire. “That was...interesting." And fun, not going to lie. I feel like an actual human being again, not some sort of sorceress or fighting machine.

The Inuit woman hopped down onto her bed. She wasn’t that tired, though, and opted to do some further carving, as she had brought the knife and wolf with her. She began to add deeper features and intricacies to it, shaping the wolf into the courageous yet ferocious style in which she pictured Desmond Walker.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Shanghai Covert Operation, Day 3 (May 12th)

Noon, Local Time:

Atka stood on the sidewalk of people’s square, ignoring the flashy billboards and signs everywhere. “Somewhere around here…” She muttered to herself. She was back to wearing her normal civilian attire, complete with a white shirt displaying a series red Chinese symbols naming an Olympic team.

Based on what Keung had told the scout, it would appear that the EXALT troops had at least gone through this area after attacking the convoy. It remained to be seen if this was merely along their path, but Atka had to hope they were nearby.

It’s unlikely they’re in the governmental district, right? There’s no way they’re that confident… Atka mused. So somewhere nearby is most likely.

The Inuit woman headed into a café, sat down and ordered some lunch. As she ate, she asked some of the patrons if they had seen anything that night.

“No,” seemed to be the response from the majority of them, though one young girl did approach Atka. “Hey…I did see what I thought was some sort of gang moving near the Opera house…I don’t know if that helps…” she said timidly.

Atka smiled. “It does. Thank you,”

The little girl smiled happily. “Thanks, mother wouldn’t believe me when I pointed and they were gone so quickly.”

Atka finished her food, and handed the girl twenty yuan. “Expression of my gratitude.”

The girl looked at Atka, tilting her head a little. “You’re not…some sort of government person, are you?”

The scout shook her head. “Just someone who’s curious as to what is going on right now. If I were with the government I wouldn’t pay you,” she said with a gentle grin.

The child nodded. “Y-yeah.” She held the money for a moment, and then ran back to her table.

Atka smiled for a few seconds longer, then realized how silly she must look. Taking on a brief, indignant expression, she finished her glass of water off, put down money on the bar, and walked out.

She headed to the Opera House, taking a look at the exterior and then the interior. There’s no way they could be hiding out in a place like this. The structure was large and impressive, but it didn’t have anywhere for a military organization to hide.

The covert operative sighed as she walked outside the building. “Another dead end…” she muttered, glancing up at the skyline behind the Opera House. Her eyes started to widen as her gaze locked on the structure behind it. It was a tall skyscraper, with twin pointed spires on the room and a small light orb in the center. Isn’t that…the Marriott hotel in the structure called the “Tomorrow Square?” It looks like the Tower of Sauron…no way. They couldn’t be hiding there…

Atka approached the building, inconspicuous in the crowds of people. She entered the ‘Tomorrow Square’, and took a fancy elevator up to floor 4, the lobby. She quickly approached the front desk. “Could I ask you something?”

The man sitting there, looking at his computer with a rather bored expression looked up. “What is it? I’m a busy man.”

You don’t look like you are. “Have there been a lot of rooms and executive offices rented out lately?”

The man sighed. “There are always rooms being…”

“Please answer the question…” Atka said, sighing.

The man gave her the same bored expression, not apparently able to feel the emotion of anger with his dull personality. “We had some businessmen rent out rooms and executive offices awhile back. They didn’t really say too much about for what, but that’s ‘capitalism’ isn’t it?” he said.

Atka nodded. “Thank you for your time. I was just curious about that, I saw them when they were coming in.” Bingo.

“Yeah, yeah,” the man replied. “Next…”

10:00 P.M., the Tomorrow Square:

Atka walked into the building, dressed in her clothing that made her appear like her Xifeng cover. She took in the layout of the building, the parts she could access. There was an indoor pool and outdoor ones on the roof, countless rooms for guests, and several other special floors, such as the highest library in the world on the 60th floor.

The covert operative returned to the outside at 1 A.M. She looked up at the mighty tower again. “Climbing it is definitely out of the question. I can’t just leave it off here, though…I need to confirm that it’s them, and hopefully find out something. I’ll have to sneak in tomorrow night, when I have a plan…”

Atka turned around and starting looking for a taxi. She glanced back up at the “Tower of Sauron.” Soon.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Shanghai Covert Operation, Day 4 (May 13th)

12:00 P.M., Midnight, Local Time - Tomorrow Square Building:

Atka looked up at the foreboding structure, rising high into the sky, fitting of the title of a skyscraper. At its peak there was twin pointed spires, with a light that was currently glowing a soft blue. “The Tower of Sauron indeed...and this is probably the end of my journey in Mordor,” Atka mused. “Funny, that almost sounds poetic.”

The covert operative had borrowed most of the black clothing from her Xifeng outfit for this occasion, including the jacket. She had opted for a black shirt instead, though, to maximize difficulty in seeing her in the night. Slipped under the jacket on her right hip was the deadly scatter laser pistol, and on her left was a less-deadly smoke grenade. She had her alloy plating on beneath her shirt, just in case.

The Inuit woman took a deep breath, closing her eyes. She exhaled, and then her eyes opened. “Let’s do this.”

Atka went inside, heading to the lobby. Once there, she showed the night receptionist a forged I.D. card and he nodded, letting her use the elevators without a second thought. Thanks for that one, Alice. And Chester. She tapped her foot impatiently as she rose through several floors, anxiety coursing through her veins.

Finally, there was a ‘ting’, and the doors opened. Fluorescent lights dimly illuminated the hallway in which the elevator exited into. One side hugged the wall, and the other was lined with windows to the outside. Atka walked over to them, and looked out into the city. Despite the fact that the sun was down, it was still illuminated by different colors of lights. Buildings cast light onto the dark streets like monolithic lamps. The city’s warm glow was contrasted by the black sky, the moon hidden by clouds.

Atka smiled, letting her anxiety drain out. “When this is all over, I may have to visit Shanghai again. It is a beautiful city, after all.” And I won’t let these guys stay here any longer. With determination, she headed down the hallway, coming across a meeting room that she was informed had been claimed by the recent guests.

The covert operative gingerly pushed the door open. The room was dark, with no one present at this late hour. Atka closed the door and then walked over to the computer at a desk at the far end of the long meeting table. She sat down, wincing at the slight squeak the chair made. Please let there be something on here. She turned on the computer, her eyes taking a minute to adjust to the bright light the screen gave off.

“Hey, cat. Can you get me in?” Atka asked, plugging in a flashdrive to download the information.

“You have so little faith,” the Cheshire cat replied, seeming bored. “Let’s see here...”

With the ease only possible for this particular A.I., he helped Atka crack the passcodes. The information there listed plans for the attack on the convoy, and the supplies gathered from it. “So this is them…” Atka muttered. She checked further, and found a video log. She moved the cursor over to the video and clicked on it, sitting down on her knees to get face first with the laptop.

A face appeared on the screen, but it was darkened so nothing could be made out. “Listen closely because I will only say this once…” Of course the voice would be altered. “Your mission is to set up in the city and continue to undermine XCOM operations. We have made great strides to move around but our operations in the city are crucial to continue major operations in the Asian mainland. Do not fail me.” The face was gone as the video ended.

“So they’re not just limited to here...do they seriously have international influence like we do?” Atka muttered. “And it sounds like this may not even be their main base.”

The scout perused the computer a bit further, gathering what scraps of data she could, but it seemed like the operatives here were kept in the dark about a strangely high amount of information. There was little else of value to be found.

As she typed, a man in black military fatigues walked into the room. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Atka. “Who are you?”

Atka’s eyes widened, her gaze meeting his. Oh, shit. “J-just a clerk, I was making sure your computer was running fi-”

“No one but the executive staff and us are supposed to be up here,” the man said dispassionately. “Do not move,” he warned icily, reaching down for a weapon.

Atka was faster, and pulled out her S.L.P. The truncated laser shotgun made a blasting noise as it shot a spray of lasers into the EXALT operative’s body, killing him instantly. “Crap…” Atka said, and pulled out the flash drive quickly, pushing it into her pocket frantically. I have to get out of here.

As she walked near the body of the deceased man, another walked around the corner, his eyes widening in surprise. The face...was exactly the same as the other one.

Atka froze in confusion, long enough for the clone to draw his laser rifle off his back. The scout only had enough time to roll to the side as a laser streaked through the room, blasting a hole the window with a crash of glass.

Atka’s scatter laser pistol was still recharging. Damnit. She ducked behind the body as the enemy soldier fired again, his shot blasting next to her, through the corpse of his fallen comrade. He did not seem to care about damaging the body in the slightest.

She grabbed the laser pistol off the dead clone’s belt, and after the fighting seemed to pause, she leapt up and pointed her sidearm at him.

The clone clicked a button on his wrist in that moment, and the ‘watch’ set off an alarm throughout the floor. The elevators locked up, and every EXALT operative in the building was alerted to the presence of an intruder.

The scout repaid him with a blast to the face, but it was too late. She ran to the elevator, which wasn’t far, and discovered firsthand she couldn’t crack it. This isn’t something the cat can help me with..I’d have to do this myself, and I have no idea how…

Atka ran off in the opposite direction of the meeting room. She flipped out a phone. “This is Specialist Atka Ipiktok. I am in the Tomorrow Square building, on the 50th floor. I need immediate extraction, the enemy has discovered my presence. I repeat, the enemy has discovered my presence and has prevented my escape.”

The time was 1 A.M., on May 14th.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

X-COM Mission Parameters
Covert Extraction Mission
Operation Caged Hero

Location: Shanghai, China
Date: May 14th, 2018
Time: 300 Hours upon arrival

Mission Details:

On May 10th we sent Scout Specialist Atka Ipiktok on a covert mission. Her objective was to learn more about the organization calling itself EXALT that attacked a convoy in Shanghai. She narrowed down the list of possibilities until she was able to determine that the EXALT cell was operating out of the “Tomorrow Square” building.

Unfortunately, upon acquiring EXALT data, she encountered enemy troops and the entire cell was alerted to her presence. They have broken the elevator controls, and thus Atka is trapped on the top six floors of the building, 50-55.

Civilian presence is an issue around the building and in the lower floors. If we choose to breach the building from below, fixing the elevators, we will have to deal with civilians and it may take more time to get everything up and running again. However, landing on the roof poses a higher risk of the Skyranger itself being shot at, and the structure of the roof provides a narrow avenue for touching down. If they have anti-aircraft defenses, it may be deadly.

If we choose to come in from the bottom, there is a risk we will not make it in time. If we choose to come in from the top, despite the Skyranger’s alien alloy coating, we may lose the strike team if they have prepared for our aircraft.

Our options are limited. We cannot spend too much time planning our response, as every minute we delay brings EXALT one step closer to finding the covert operative. We must act quickly, and rescue Atka before it is too late.

Number of Soldiers for this Mission: 9 (8 Soldiers and 1 SHIV)

Soldier’s Names:
SPC Walker, Desmond (Engineer)*
SPC Christel, Sylvia (Scout)
SPC Wong, Sarah (Sniper)
SPC. Adolfsson, Janina (Infantry)
SPC Kevin, Nash (Assault)
SPC Grey, Dorian (Medic)
SPC Smith, Kris (Gunner)
SPC Dragomirov, Modya (Rocketeer)
SHIV “Taqukaq”

*Squad Leader

Italics are player characters.

Gear - Player’s Characters will be equipped with the following items:

- Primary Weapon: Either a Laser Shatterray, Laser Carbine, Laser Rifle, or a Heavy Laser Rifle. Walker may also use a Scatter Laser

- Secondary Weapon: Either a Laser Pistol, a Heater, or a S.L.P. (Scatter Laser Pistol)

- Armor: Kestrel Armor or Carapace Armor

- Equipment: Two (2) of the following; a medikit, Alloy plating, Reinforced Armor, Chitin Plating, a battle scanner, an AP grenade, a HE grenade, a flash-bang grenade, a smoke grenade, a chem grenade, a high-capacity magazine, a targeting module, or an Arc Thrower.

Terrain:

The mission takes place in the “Tomorrow Square” building, which is part offices and part JW Mariott hotel. It has undergone renovations to the top floor in recent years.

Entrance and Lobby: The lobby is on the fourth floor.

Main Building: The majority of the structure is part of the JW Marriott hotel. There are civilians within, in moderate danger should EXALT come looking for them, but without alerting the entire building to the danger (which is an option) we cannot help them. Hopefully, EXALT’s attention will be focused on us.

X

Floor 50: This floor consists mainly of offices and meeting rooms. This is where Atka found her data and was discovered by the enemy forces.

Floor 51: The next floor up from 51 has recreational rooms for pool, lounging, and meditation.

Floor 52: This level is meant for athletic purposes. It has a track along the rim with a railing in front of the glass, some gym rooms, and an indoor pool in the center.

Floor 53: The fifty-third floor has a vast library, making it the highest library in the world, a major step up from the one on a lower floor in previous years.

Floor 54: The personal rooms are found here, separated by walls and hallways. They are empty, as their occupants are on the prowl.

Floor 55: There are three rings here, and it is somewhat smaller than the other floors.. The first is a hallway hugging the windows. The second is filled with machinery and other utilities, and is only accessible through side doors. The next is accessible through hallways from the outer one. This central ring is a large conference room, repurposed by EXALT to be a command hub, but data here has already been wiped.

Spires and Roof: The roof has a small garden, outdoor pool, and spa, as well as a large helicopter pad where the Skyranger could land. Additionally, there is a glowing sphere that can display different images, jokingly called the “Eye of Sauron” by tourists.

Enemies:

Four (4) sets of three (3) EXALT Operatives, and two (2) sets of four (4) EXALT Operatives. The classes are unknown, but no squad has two of the same class. There would only be a rocketeer and sniper on the roof.

Conditions for Completing the Mission:

- Elimination of all EXALT forces is NOT a primary objective.

1. Successful location and extraction of the covert operative, Atka Ipiktok.

1. Successful location and retrieval of the covert operative’s flash-drive.

1. Successful retreat should both items be lost to the enemy.

Civilians: There are civilians on the ground and in lower floors. EXALT may attempt to take hostages. If we land on the ground, we can take defensive measures. If not, we may have to get local law enforcement involved.

In addition, our Covert Operative was followed by a man named Huojin. She seems to know him. Ideally, he is to be extracted as well, as we have no means of helping him escape the building except with us.