The Stories of Earth's Defenders and Their Struggle for Freedom.
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RP XCOM: The Story of Defiance.
- Thread starter MarineAvenger
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PrismaCube
Well-Known Member
(Might still be edited.)
EXALT SUBJECT ZERO
Name: Lüsett Exalt
Gender: Female
Age: 32
Nationality: American
Occupation: EXALT Leader
Rank: Commander
Hair Color: Brunette
Eye Color: Genetically Enhanced (Lizard Eyed Yellow)
Height: 5,8 ft
Weight: 56.8 kg
"Commander this is all the information we could find out about Subject Zero also known by the name of "Lüsett (Lucette) Exalt and the Origin of her family. After the raid on the Exalt Base. Even though we did not capture or eliminate the Leader of Exalt, it will take a long time for them to recover and come out of hiding again, however we have foiled their Foul plans for now and they shouldn't be a problem anymore, so we should get back to the Alien attack's. It might be that Exalt will take year's to recover. We also have several Journals and Video Tapes of Subject Zero send to your room that you can go over anytime you wish. The other artifacts from Exalt are yours to do as you wish Commander, I would recommend selling them, the records could be worth a fortune."
EXALT FAMILY TIMELINE:
"He who dares to teach must never cease to learn." -Septimus Visellius Exalt 634BC-599BC
634BC-599BC: Septimus Visellius Exalt
Septimus Exalt was the start of the Exalt family, so to say the Alpha, we have little information about his family, other than the origin of the Exalt family, which started in Ancient Athens. Back then Septimus's family was poor and lived on the street's. However Septimus was a smart man and through his invention's he moved up in society. His most famous invention would be the creation of the Roman Democracy, which he invented three year's after moving to Rome and living the luxury life. He died five year's later forgotten and only to be remembered through lost scrolls. His family however continued, not all living up to his name.
351BC-274BC: Statia Luccia Exalt
Young and smart girl, she lived a long and successful life. Traveling with her lover Demetrius Phalereus and only to be remembered by scrolls in the Ancient Library of Alexandria. After Demetrius was exiled to Upper Egypt he died shortly. Statia lived the next couple of years alone bearing one son. Upon his birth she died, leaving the son to be adopted by the Inn keeper who owned the Inn where she gave birth. But what did she even achieve in her life? Demetrius was the inventor and founder of the Ancient Library of Alexandria, or so it was said. We have records from the Exalt's that Ancient Journals from Statia indicate sketches and notes about the Library and even the first records of the idea of a Bank System, it could be that she was the original founder of the Library, yet being a woman in that time, there was no real glory to her for those inventions.
149BC-500AD: Exalt Family
Here we have Exalt family member records of only normal people life. Merchants, thief, smith's and travelers. None of the members did anything great to leave a huge mark in the Exalt family history.
502AD-548AD:Jane Elisabeth Exalt
Jane Exalt who was born around the 5th Century in the city of Vienna, she was said to have played a great role in the invention of many early medieval weapons, which weapons exactly are unknown, but later on around the late 14th Century many of her idea's were improved and created which later on became to be known as the Zweihänder and crossbow, even something similar to the trebuchet and the idea of the first hand arm fire arms were all written/sketched down, some records indicate that Leonardo da Vinci later on came to pick up many of these ideas and improve them.
550AD-1500AD: Exalt Family
Here the Exalt family was a huge cap missing, possibly important scriptures that the leader managed to save before escaping, However we do know that the family was part of the French Revolution, Founding of the Holy Roman Empire, Voyage to the New World and much more.
1585AD-1624AD: Cathrine Elisabeth II Exalt
Journals indicate many drawing and theories on the stars and the universe, about planet earth and the moon and sun. These markings show us that Cathrine was a smart girl from a very young age, although she lived on the streets ever since she was a child, through the years she survived many long and cold winters and fought many flu's, eventually a young man named Galileo took her in and began to teach her. From here on out the notes end. What ever happened to her after that we do not know.
1901AD-1943AD: Mark Daniel Exalt
Helping founder of the Manhattan Project with his close friend who later on became to create Cross Technology after the war, Mark worked close together with some of the top scientist in that age, even teaching Professor Einstein a few things about Atomic theory. Sadly little has been recorded of Mark Exalt.
1964AD- Unknown: Naomi Gertrude Exalt:
Naomi mother of Subject Zero, seemed to be a more passive Exalt member, she helped fund Cross Technologies in order for them to expand. Not only that but she also helped a great part with the idea of the United Nations and the Globalization programs. Where she is right now we do not know. Again about this member there is little information given.
Subject Zero (Lüsett Franzine Exalt): 1983-20**
Subject Zero's birth name is Lüsett, she is the latest member born into the Rich Exalt family. The Exalt family always carried smart and ambitious members mostly on the female side. Lüsett was one of the most ambitious once we have know so far. She helped in the advancement of cloning animals, thanks to her it was possible to clone human organs which helped the medical educational system and health care across the world by a leap of several years advancement, her technology is even used in our lab's this very moment. Rumors say she possesses plans for the cure of Cancer, but then again they are just rumors, in the base raid we did not manage to find any proof to those rumors. Lüsett also created the first self learning Virtual Intelligence, which have helped human advancement for robotics by several years, although the VI is still new and slow, it is here and now which we could have only dreamed about until a thousand years later. Even the 3D holographic were invented by her, which we our self are using for our 3D holographic Globe that keeps us informed of the Aliens attack's. So it was not a surprise to see her use the same technology as us. Some call her the "da Vinci" of our time. We have tried to make contact with her before the attack, asked her to help us against the alien invasion, she was to be the Lead Scientist, yet we did not even know where she was, ever since the attack it seems like she disappeared from the face of earth. We have however got Dr. Vahlen now who should be a suitable and loyal replacement for Lüsett. It seems that Lüsett and the rest of the Exalt family have always reached for the stars and tried to communicate with Aliens, now that they are here who knows what her plans with them are, we do have records of her being called insane sometimes, she appeared to be always talks about the weak and easily manipulation of the human mind and body, we believe she possible seeks to enhance the Human to great strengths with the technology of these aliens, we might want to consider taking this plan and use it for our soldiers, if we manage to find something that increases the Human's mind and flesh without giving up their own humanity. I should also inform you Commander that old scientific Reports also say that Lüsett preformed experiments on many volunteers who have died and turned into abominations by her failure to genetically enhance the human, it seems although she has a great mind she lacked the material to use. Fact is she is still out there somewhere.
-Biography-
At a young age Lüsett was smart for her age, it did not take long for her to pass school and head straight for high school where even there she passed in months what others take two to three years to learn. By the age of 15 Lüsett passed Collage going down in history as youngest college grad. that ever was. People saw potential in her, yet Lüsett preferred to work alone. A mastermind like her got plenty of job offers from all over the world. She however would declined all of them and privately work home alone.
In her teenage years Lüsett started to invent, most of her inventions were made public, like the 3D Hologram, but other like the self learning VI was never released to public. Records indicate that her first VI test were tested on teddy bears. Although she never continues this, her successful VI proves that she was successful in it. Shortly after her 16. Birthday Lüsset vanished off of the face of the earth.
It is unknown where she lived. Many have tried to find her only to turn up with failure. It is believed that Lüsett has technology that can hide her location unless you have technology of a similar device it is almost impossible to fine her. True to that is took us ages finding her HQ but we could not have done so without technology of her.
Lüsett is believed to know more than 16 languages, of course all international languages are included such as English, French, German, Chinese, and even Latin. Now at the age of 32 Lüsett took the alien encounter into her favor, taking their technology to her own advantage, changing the human race in hope to soon overthrow them with the help of this alien Invasion. At least that is what we thought, like I said Commander take a look at the vid. logs and Journals to find out more about our enemy.
EXALT SUBJECT ZERO
Name: Lüsett Exalt
Gender: Female
Age: 32
Nationality: American
Occupation: EXALT Leader
Rank: Commander
Hair Color: Brunette
Eye Color: Genetically Enhanced (Lizard Eyed Yellow)
Height: 5,8 ft
Weight: 56.8 kg
"Commander this is all the information we could find out about Subject Zero also known by the name of "Lüsett (Lucette) Exalt and the Origin of her family. After the raid on the Exalt Base. Even though we did not capture or eliminate the Leader of Exalt, it will take a long time for them to recover and come out of hiding again, however we have foiled their Foul plans for now and they shouldn't be a problem anymore, so we should get back to the Alien attack's. It might be that Exalt will take year's to recover. We also have several Journals and Video Tapes of Subject Zero send to your room that you can go over anytime you wish. The other artifacts from Exalt are yours to do as you wish Commander, I would recommend selling them, the records could be worth a fortune."
EXALT FAMILY TIMELINE:
"He who dares to teach must never cease to learn." -Septimus Visellius Exalt 634BC-599BC
634BC-599BC: Septimus Visellius Exalt
Septimus Exalt was the start of the Exalt family, so to say the Alpha, we have little information about his family, other than the origin of the Exalt family, which started in Ancient Athens. Back then Septimus's family was poor and lived on the street's. However Septimus was a smart man and through his invention's he moved up in society. His most famous invention would be the creation of the Roman Democracy, which he invented three year's after moving to Rome and living the luxury life. He died five year's later forgotten and only to be remembered through lost scrolls. His family however continued, not all living up to his name.
351BC-274BC: Statia Luccia Exalt
Young and smart girl, she lived a long and successful life. Traveling with her lover Demetrius Phalereus and only to be remembered by scrolls in the Ancient Library of Alexandria. After Demetrius was exiled to Upper Egypt he died shortly. Statia lived the next couple of years alone bearing one son. Upon his birth she died, leaving the son to be adopted by the Inn keeper who owned the Inn where she gave birth. But what did she even achieve in her life? Demetrius was the inventor and founder of the Ancient Library of Alexandria, or so it was said. We have records from the Exalt's that Ancient Journals from Statia indicate sketches and notes about the Library and even the first records of the idea of a Bank System, it could be that she was the original founder of the Library, yet being a woman in that time, there was no real glory to her for those inventions.
149BC-500AD: Exalt Family
Here we have Exalt family member records of only normal people life. Merchants, thief, smith's and travelers. None of the members did anything great to leave a huge mark in the Exalt family history.
502AD-548AD:Jane Elisabeth Exalt
Jane Exalt who was born around the 5th Century in the city of Vienna, she was said to have played a great role in the invention of many early medieval weapons, which weapons exactly are unknown, but later on around the late 14th Century many of her idea's were improved and created which later on became to be known as the Zweihänder and crossbow, even something similar to the trebuchet and the idea of the first hand arm fire arms were all written/sketched down, some records indicate that Leonardo da Vinci later on came to pick up many of these ideas and improve them.
550AD-1500AD: Exalt Family
Here the Exalt family was a huge cap missing, possibly important scriptures that the leader managed to save before escaping, However we do know that the family was part of the French Revolution, Founding of the Holy Roman Empire, Voyage to the New World and much more.
1585AD-1624AD: Cathrine Elisabeth II Exalt
Journals indicate many drawing and theories on the stars and the universe, about planet earth and the moon and sun. These markings show us that Cathrine was a smart girl from a very young age, although she lived on the streets ever since she was a child, through the years she survived many long and cold winters and fought many flu's, eventually a young man named Galileo took her in and began to teach her. From here on out the notes end. What ever happened to her after that we do not know.
1901AD-1943AD: Mark Daniel Exalt
Helping founder of the Manhattan Project with his close friend who later on became to create Cross Technology after the war, Mark worked close together with some of the top scientist in that age, even teaching Professor Einstein a few things about Atomic theory. Sadly little has been recorded of Mark Exalt.
1964AD- Unknown: Naomi Gertrude Exalt:
Naomi mother of Subject Zero, seemed to be a more passive Exalt member, she helped fund Cross Technologies in order for them to expand. Not only that but she also helped a great part with the idea of the United Nations and the Globalization programs. Where she is right now we do not know. Again about this member there is little information given.
Subject Zero (Lüsett Franzine Exalt): 1983-20**
Subject Zero's birth name is Lüsett, she is the latest member born into the Rich Exalt family. The Exalt family always carried smart and ambitious members mostly on the female side. Lüsett was one of the most ambitious once we have know so far. She helped in the advancement of cloning animals, thanks to her it was possible to clone human organs which helped the medical educational system and health care across the world by a leap of several years advancement, her technology is even used in our lab's this very moment. Rumors say she possesses plans for the cure of Cancer, but then again they are just rumors, in the base raid we did not manage to find any proof to those rumors. Lüsett also created the first self learning Virtual Intelligence, which have helped human advancement for robotics by several years, although the VI is still new and slow, it is here and now which we could have only dreamed about until a thousand years later. Even the 3D holographic were invented by her, which we our self are using for our 3D holographic Globe that keeps us informed of the Aliens attack's. So it was not a surprise to see her use the same technology as us. Some call her the "da Vinci" of our time. We have tried to make contact with her before the attack, asked her to help us against the alien invasion, she was to be the Lead Scientist, yet we did not even know where she was, ever since the attack it seems like she disappeared from the face of earth. We have however got Dr. Vahlen now who should be a suitable and loyal replacement for Lüsett. It seems that Lüsett and the rest of the Exalt family have always reached for the stars and tried to communicate with Aliens, now that they are here who knows what her plans with them are, we do have records of her being called insane sometimes, she appeared to be always talks about the weak and easily manipulation of the human mind and body, we believe she possible seeks to enhance the Human to great strengths with the technology of these aliens, we might want to consider taking this plan and use it for our soldiers, if we manage to find something that increases the Human's mind and flesh without giving up their own humanity. I should also inform you Commander that old scientific Reports also say that Lüsett preformed experiments on many volunteers who have died and turned into abominations by her failure to genetically enhance the human, it seems although she has a great mind she lacked the material to use. Fact is she is still out there somewhere.
-Biography-
At a young age Lüsett was smart for her age, it did not take long for her to pass school and head straight for high school where even there she passed in months what others take two to three years to learn. By the age of 15 Lüsett passed Collage going down in history as youngest college grad. that ever was. People saw potential in her, yet Lüsett preferred to work alone. A mastermind like her got plenty of job offers from all over the world. She however would declined all of them and privately work home alone.
In her teenage years Lüsett started to invent, most of her inventions were made public, like the 3D Hologram, but other like the self learning VI was never released to public. Records indicate that her first VI test were tested on teddy bears. Although she never continues this, her successful VI proves that she was successful in it. Shortly after her 16. Birthday Lüsset vanished off of the face of the earth.
It is unknown where she lived. Many have tried to find her only to turn up with failure. It is believed that Lüsett has technology that can hide her location unless you have technology of a similar device it is almost impossible to fine her. True to that is took us ages finding her HQ but we could not have done so without technology of her.
Lüsett is believed to know more than 16 languages, of course all international languages are included such as English, French, German, Chinese, and even Latin. Now at the age of 32 Lüsett took the alien encounter into her favor, taking their technology to her own advantage, changing the human race in hope to soon overthrow them with the help of this alien Invasion. At least that is what we thought, like I said Commander take a look at the vid. logs and Journals to find out more about our enemy.
The Druken Hare, Cork, Ireland
February 22nd, 2018
2130 Hours, local time
Morrigan fidgets slightly in her seat, the bar air somewhat cold against her bare feet, legs and hips. Glacing at the cards spread across the table, two of spades, three of diamonds, four of diamonds, four of clubs, king of diamonds. She peaks down at her own two of hearts and queen of hearts, and grin widely. "All right, how 'bout me shirt? Ya got the stones?"
The soldier in front of her returns her smirk tenfold and nods. "I'm in," he says, revealing a four of hearts and a king of spades.
Morrigan throws he cards down, mumbling, "Shite," ander her breath as she stands up.
As the soldiers and patrons around the bar cheer and let out cat calls, Morrigan's opponent laughs and says, "I keep trying to warn you. Try too hard to bluff and it just makes it that much more obvious you're doing so."
"Shut it!" Morrigan snaps as she unbuttons her shirt. "And explain to me again why I have to do this, and if you say because I lost the hand, I'll smack ya one upside your empty head."
One of the other officers answers, "Come, Lieutenant General. You said if any of us beat you in the game of drink, then you play any game we wanted today."
"I only said that because I could beat any of ya daft children." Morrigan slips off her shirt to reveal a lacy black bra, then points an angry finger at a rather portly officer across the room. "But ya dinit tell me porky here was back from leave."
The accused soldier pouts, and between bites of his sandwich says. "Oh, come now, that hurts me feelings."
"Shove it, you overstuffed hog, and stop eating for five fuckin' minutes!" Morrigan plops back into her seat as the next hand is dealt. "The things I put up with."
As the cards are laid out, Moreigan fights to hide her excitement. With the final cards granting her a straight, she replicates her previous smile to trick the others into thinking she is still bluffing. "I'm in. So what do you want, top or bottom?"
The other soldier thinks for a moment, then answers, "How about all or nothing?"
"Ha! You're on!" Morrigan slaps down her straight and smugly sits back.
The other soldier slowly reveals his straight flush, calmly saying, "Nothing it is," as the crowd around him break into cheers of glory.
Morrigan's eyes burn, her rage barely contained. She leaps across the table, grabbing the soldier by the collar and holding her fist up for several seconds. Breathing deeply, she lets him go, stands up straight, and slowly reaches back, unlatching her bra.
"What the HELL is goin on here!?" An officer wearing a Lt.Gen badge storms into the bar.
"Oh, Kelly!" Morrigan glances down at herself, and quickly relatches her bra. "Nothin', really. Just a wee little fun."
Kelly sweeps his hand across the room. "Is this the way proper soldiers are supposed to act. Taking advantage of a simple minded woman like this?"
"Hey!" Morrigan puts her hands on her hips. "Who ye callin' simpleminded , ya son of a..."
Kelly suddenly points his finger at Morrigan, making her jump back. "And you! Have you no shame. I swear, when we get back to base..." He looks around the room and snears. "WHY AREY OU ALL STILL HERE!" The soldiers pour out of the bar like it's on fire, and Kelly continues, "When I get you back on base I'm going to make sure you spend the rest of your military career cleaning toilets with your own tooth..." The last of the soldiers depart, leaving only Kelly, Morrigan, the bartender, and a single passed-out busboy. Kelly drops his hand and lets out a deep sigh.
Morrigan gives Kelly a hard slug to the arm. "What took ya so long, ye slow bastard! I almost had to show the men the goods."
Kelly glances down and asks, "What goods," and receives another slug. Holding his arm in pain, he says, "Everytime, the same spot. And I swear, you're already known as the base drunk. Do ya want to be known as the base striapach?"
Morrigan shakes her head. "These men all know the don't stand a chance." She leans against Kelly. "There's only one man on base I'd let get into me skirt."
"I'll ask my wife about it tomorrow," Kelly responds in a flat tone.
Morrigan smiles. "Good. She can hold the camera."
Kelly rolls his eyes. "Somehow I don't think she'll..."
"Fine, fine." Morrigan pushes off of Kelly and walks over to the bar. "You two can go at it, and I'll hold the camera." She takes a seat and smiles at the bartender, who pours her a beer without having to be asked.
Gathering Morrigan's clothes, Kelly asks, "Did ya a least get what you came for."
Morrigan nods. "That I did. The spiky-headed one, O'Donnell, I believe. He's your man, though I don't know where he's keeping it."
"With a stash that large, there are only are few places he could. We'll be preparing his court martial by this time tomorrow."
"Good," Morigann says sterny. "I want that shit off this base."
Kelly momentarily considers pointing out the irony of complaining about drugs while drunk, but instead rubs his arm and keeps his mouth shut. Glancing at an alien invasion movie on the television, he asks, "Can you turn on the evening report?"
"It is on," the bartender answers, starring at the screen. Morrigan and Kelly exchange a confused look, at turn to the TV as the bartender turns up the volume.
February 22nd, 2018
2130 Hours, local time
Morrigan fidgets slightly in her seat, the bar air somewhat cold against her bare feet, legs and hips. Glacing at the cards spread across the table, two of spades, three of diamonds, four of diamonds, four of clubs, king of diamonds. She peaks down at her own two of hearts and queen of hearts, and grin widely. "All right, how 'bout me shirt? Ya got the stones?"
The soldier in front of her returns her smirk tenfold and nods. "I'm in," he says, revealing a four of hearts and a king of spades.
Morrigan throws he cards down, mumbling, "Shite," ander her breath as she stands up.
As the soldiers and patrons around the bar cheer and let out cat calls, Morrigan's opponent laughs and says, "I keep trying to warn you. Try too hard to bluff and it just makes it that much more obvious you're doing so."
"Shut it!" Morrigan snaps as she unbuttons her shirt. "And explain to me again why I have to do this, and if you say because I lost the hand, I'll smack ya one upside your empty head."
One of the other officers answers, "Come, Lieutenant General. You said if any of us beat you in the game of drink, then you play any game we wanted today."
"I only said that because I could beat any of ya daft children." Morrigan slips off her shirt to reveal a lacy black bra, then points an angry finger at a rather portly officer across the room. "But ya dinit tell me porky here was back from leave."
The accused soldier pouts, and between bites of his sandwich says. "Oh, come now, that hurts me feelings."
"Shove it, you overstuffed hog, and stop eating for five fuckin' minutes!" Morrigan plops back into her seat as the next hand is dealt. "The things I put up with."
As the cards are laid out, Moreigan fights to hide her excitement. With the final cards granting her a straight, she replicates her previous smile to trick the others into thinking she is still bluffing. "I'm in. So what do you want, top or bottom?"
The other soldier thinks for a moment, then answers, "How about all or nothing?"
"Ha! You're on!" Morrigan slaps down her straight and smugly sits back.
The other soldier slowly reveals his straight flush, calmly saying, "Nothing it is," as the crowd around him break into cheers of glory.
Morrigan's eyes burn, her rage barely contained. She leaps across the table, grabbing the soldier by the collar and holding her fist up for several seconds. Breathing deeply, she lets him go, stands up straight, and slowly reaches back, unlatching her bra.
"What the HELL is goin on here!?" An officer wearing a Lt.Gen badge storms into the bar.
"Oh, Kelly!" Morrigan glances down at herself, and quickly relatches her bra. "Nothin', really. Just a wee little fun."
Kelly sweeps his hand across the room. "Is this the way proper soldiers are supposed to act. Taking advantage of a simple minded woman like this?"
"Hey!" Morrigan puts her hands on her hips. "Who ye callin' simpleminded , ya son of a..."
Kelly suddenly points his finger at Morrigan, making her jump back. "And you! Have you no shame. I swear, when we get back to base..." He looks around the room and snears. "WHY AREY OU ALL STILL HERE!" The soldiers pour out of the bar like it's on fire, and Kelly continues, "When I get you back on base I'm going to make sure you spend the rest of your military career cleaning toilets with your own tooth..." The last of the soldiers depart, leaving only Kelly, Morrigan, the bartender, and a single passed-out busboy. Kelly drops his hand and lets out a deep sigh.
Morrigan gives Kelly a hard slug to the arm. "What took ya so long, ye slow bastard! I almost had to show the men the goods."
Kelly glances down and asks, "What goods," and receives another slug. Holding his arm in pain, he says, "Everytime, the same spot. And I swear, you're already known as the base drunk. Do ya want to be known as the base striapach?"
Morrigan shakes her head. "These men all know the don't stand a chance." She leans against Kelly. "There's only one man on base I'd let get into me skirt."
"I'll ask my wife about it tomorrow," Kelly responds in a flat tone.
Morrigan smiles. "Good. She can hold the camera."
Kelly rolls his eyes. "Somehow I don't think she'll..."
"Fine, fine." Morrigan pushes off of Kelly and walks over to the bar. "You two can go at it, and I'll hold the camera." She takes a seat and smiles at the bartender, who pours her a beer without having to be asked.
Gathering Morrigan's clothes, Kelly asks, "Did ya a least get what you came for."
Morrigan nods. "That I did. The spiky-headed one, O'Donnell, I believe. He's your man, though I don't know where he's keeping it."
"With a stash that large, there are only are few places he could. We'll be preparing his court martial by this time tomorrow."
"Good," Morigann says sterny. "I want that shit off this base."
Kelly momentarily considers pointing out the irony of complaining about drugs while drunk, but instead rubs his arm and keeps his mouth shut. Glancing at an alien invasion movie on the television, he asks, "Can you turn on the evening report?"
"It is on," the bartender answers, starring at the screen. Morrigan and Kelly exchange a confused look, at turn to the TV as the bartender turns up the volume.
Last edited:
Location Classified
February 22nd, 2018
2200 Hours, Local Time
"Whoa!"
Sunny stares intently at the screen, her nose inches away from it. From the other side of the hotel, Zero glances over his newspaper and says, "You'll go blind, even with your eyes."
"But it's sos interesting," Sunny responds, but backs away from the television. "It's about to an attack h-happening all over the world. W-we should be tapping it for future viewing. It could be important."
Zero shakes his head. "Is it possible to be precocious and childish at the same time. It's just a movie."
"But it's on the news, a-and it says it's happening here, too!"
Zero puts the paper to the side. "Turn the volume off." Sunny does so, and Zero closes his eyes and listens. A moment later, he walks over to a window and opens the blinds. "Get dressed and get ready to leave," he says grimly.
"Great," Sunny mutters under her breath as she slips on her socks and shoes. "F-first vacation in n-nearly two years, and this h-happens." Zero quickly holsters a pair of 9mm and puts a smg on his back holster, then walks over to the door, peaking out. As he and Sunny step out, he hands her a high-powered directed-energy pistol. "When do I get something with bullets?"
"When you're old enough to drive." Zero crouches down, and Sunny climbs on to his back. He quickly runs through the hallway, down the stairs, and into the parking garage. A few minutes later, the pair are rocketing down the streets on Zero's motorcycle.
Sunny looks around at the carnage on the streets as they zoom past. People running and screaming, sounds of explosions here and there. They drive past several large metallic objects partially punched into the ground. A the sight of the people trapped near them in some kind of organic, green ooze, Sunny squeezes her eyes shut and buries her face into Zero's back.
A block away from the airport, Zero pulls into an alley. As the pair jump off it and make their way through the darkness, Sunny asks, "Why did we get off here?"
"Someone was blocking the main entrance." As they reach the end of the alley, he points to the three suited men he had referred to.
"They look strange," Sunny whispers.
"Clones," Zero mutters, and noticing Sunny's curious look, continues, "Look at how they're almost identical, like triplets, but with slightly different imperfections. And those marks on the skin of their wrists and the bases of their necks are likely the result of their aging being accelerated. Whoever is responsible for these attacks is well funded."
Sunny shrugs. "Must have b-blown all their money on the attack and those f-fancy guns, 'cause these guys look like something an alien would make."
Zero fiddles with his watch for a few moments. Down the alley, his bike starts firing its machine guns. Two of the men run off to investigate. Once they are out of sight, Zero takes the Sunny's weapon and runs towards the remaining guard. He fires just as the man turns to him, and the suit drops like a rock. Sora runs to Zero's side, and he hands her the weapon, smiling and saying, "Who needs bullets, kid."
The two quickly but carefully run through the airport. Reaching their private hanger, Sunny lets out a sigh of relief at the sight of their plane, the pilot in the cockpit, ready to take off. Jumping in, Sunny says, "Get us out of here."
The pilot shoots Zero a questioning look, and he tells him, "You heard the lady."
Sunny stares down at the city in chaos as they fly away. She doesn't even notice Zero answer a phone call until he etends the phone to her. "It's, um...for you."
Confused, Sunny takes the phone. "H-hello."
February 22nd, 2018
2200 Hours, Local Time
"Whoa!"
Sunny stares intently at the screen, her nose inches away from it. From the other side of the hotel, Zero glances over his newspaper and says, "You'll go blind, even with your eyes."
"But it's sos interesting," Sunny responds, but backs away from the television. "It's about to an attack h-happening all over the world. W-we should be tapping it for future viewing. It could be important."
Zero shakes his head. "Is it possible to be precocious and childish at the same time. It's just a movie."
"But it's on the news, a-and it says it's happening here, too!"
Zero puts the paper to the side. "Turn the volume off." Sunny does so, and Zero closes his eyes and listens. A moment later, he walks over to a window and opens the blinds. "Get dressed and get ready to leave," he says grimly.
"Great," Sunny mutters under her breath as she slips on her socks and shoes. "F-first vacation in n-nearly two years, and this h-happens." Zero quickly holsters a pair of 9mm and puts a smg on his back holster, then walks over to the door, peaking out. As he and Sunny step out, he hands her a high-powered directed-energy pistol. "When do I get something with bullets?"
"When you're old enough to drive." Zero crouches down, and Sunny climbs on to his back. He quickly runs through the hallway, down the stairs, and into the parking garage. A few minutes later, the pair are rocketing down the streets on Zero's motorcycle.
Sunny looks around at the carnage on the streets as they zoom past. People running and screaming, sounds of explosions here and there. They drive past several large metallic objects partially punched into the ground. A the sight of the people trapped near them in some kind of organic, green ooze, Sunny squeezes her eyes shut and buries her face into Zero's back.
A block away from the airport, Zero pulls into an alley. As the pair jump off it and make their way through the darkness, Sunny asks, "Why did we get off here?"
"Someone was blocking the main entrance." As they reach the end of the alley, he points to the three suited men he had referred to.
"They look strange," Sunny whispers.
"Clones," Zero mutters, and noticing Sunny's curious look, continues, "Look at how they're almost identical, like triplets, but with slightly different imperfections. And those marks on the skin of their wrists and the bases of their necks are likely the result of their aging being accelerated. Whoever is responsible for these attacks is well funded."
Sunny shrugs. "Must have b-blown all their money on the attack and those f-fancy guns, 'cause these guys look like something an alien would make."
Zero fiddles with his watch for a few moments. Down the alley, his bike starts firing its machine guns. Two of the men run off to investigate. Once they are out of sight, Zero takes the Sunny's weapon and runs towards the remaining guard. He fires just as the man turns to him, and the suit drops like a rock. Sora runs to Zero's side, and he hands her the weapon, smiling and saying, "Who needs bullets, kid."
The two quickly but carefully run through the airport. Reaching their private hanger, Sunny lets out a sigh of relief at the sight of their plane, the pilot in the cockpit, ready to take off. Jumping in, Sunny says, "Get us out of here."
The pilot shoots Zero a questioning look, and he tells him, "You heard the lady."
Sunny stares down at the city in chaos as they fly away. She doesn't even notice Zero answer a phone call until he etends the phone to her. "It's, um...for you."
Confused, Sunny takes the phone. "H-hello."
Last edited:
Chicago, Illinois, USA
February 23rd, 2018
1100 Hours, Local Time
Jessica sits quietly with a cautious smile, her eyes darting around the small, windowless room. It is nearly empty, with only a table in the center and the chairs she and the man in front of her sit in. The man is tall and well built, with short black hair and a face that looks like it has never smiled. He wears a jet-black buisness suit with a white dress shirt, jet-black shoes, and a plain, black tie. Against the wall behind him stand two more men, dressed the same.
As the minutes tick by in silence, the man slowly looking through the pages of a manila folder, Jessica feels like she is back in school, waiting for the principle to start lecturing her.
"Um," she starts cautiously, "You guys didn't, like, lose my folder, did you? 'Cause I already did this, uh, interview thing. It was with a guy that kinda looked like you, except he was shorter, and a little less bulky, and his nose was bigger, and he had this beard, so I guess he didn't look like you. But anyway, he kept saying how special I am, and how he needs me, and I was afraid he was gonna ask me to model for him at some super secret location in a back alley, and he was gonna end up chopping me up like..."
"You're annoying me."
Jessica blinks in surprise. "E-excuse me?"
"Your voice," the man says bluntly, "Your incessant babbling, it's annoying."
"Oh," Jessica says flatly. "Well, hi, I'm Jessie, and I'm the one whi's not judging you based on the way you talk."
The man closes the folder and looks Jessica in the eyes. "Ms. Lockheart, the man you talked to before is paid to look at your credentials, get excited, and recommend you. My job is to make sure he didn't get overzealous. I'm paid to think you don't have what it takes."
Jessica laughs. "So I'm about to be cut from the team before I even start? You guys are strict, huh?"
"We prefer thorough," the man responds, his expression never changing. "We need the best of the best, and we need to know that our best of the best are going to give their best."
Jessica glances at the folder in front of her interviewer. "The last guy made it sound like you guys know a lot about me."
"Yes, yes." The man reopens the folder and thumbs through it. "Graduated with honors with a triple major from UIC, versed in seven languages, genius IQ, eidetic memory, etcetera, etcetera."
"So what's the prob?" Jessica leans forward, smiling. "I'm never one to brag, believe me, but it sounds like..."
"I wasn't finished," the man interrupts, raising his voice slightly. "We don't know a lot about you, we know everything."
Jessica gives him a questioning look. "Such as?"
"We know everything about your parents, every friend you've ever had, and every boy you ever slapped for touching you without permission."
The smile fades from Jessica's face. "S-so...so I'm saving myself for...what, are you so kinda stalking perv?"
The man continues as though Jessica hadn't spoken. "We know the result of every test you ever took, and every class you ever skipped. We have all of your medical records, and we know about that little voice upstairs, that those bracelets you always wear are for more then just show, and that all I have to do to keep you in this room is to put a mirror in front of the door. As I said, Ms. Lockheart, we are thorough."
Jessica stares at the man blankly for several moments. She slowly crosses her arms, and trying to hide the shaking in her voice, asks, "So you're afraid I don't have what it takes because of those...medical reasons, huh?"
The man nods his head. "This is a big project, one meant for the betterment of all mankind, and we need to be sure you'll give it your all, never let us down, and even be willing to risk your life. Can you do that?"
"Yes," Jessica says without hesitation, startling her interviewer. "All my life, I've had to put up with people like you, insisting that I can't handle something. Well let me tell you, I've devoted my life to proving you people wrong, to turning my disadvantage into my advantage, and to showing the world that even someone like me can succeed. And if I have to give my life for that, then so be it."
The man leans forward, narrowing his gaze. That was a lovely little speech, and I'm glad you're so devoted, but how do I know you won't suddenly lose control, ans 'she' won't be as devoted?"
"Lose control?" Jessica asks, her tone and expression suddenly growing colder. She stretches her arms out, looking around the room like she's seeing it for the first time. She casually crosses her legs and undoes the top two buttons of her shirt. She smirks at the man, saying, "You obviously don't understand the nature of our relationship. Trust me, we're in sync."
The man raises an eyebrow, asking, "So you're...how do I know you're not...?"
"Faking it?" Jessica casually leans forward, stifling a chuckle when she notices the man's eyes momentarily dart down. "How about this? You can try that little mirror trick, and I'll prove who I am by picking it up, fixing my makeup in it, and calmly smashing it on that pretty little head of yours."
The man lets out an irritated grunt, but says nothing. Jessica's smile broadens as she leans back. "Jessica speaks for the both of us. Trust me, you sign her up, and you won't regret it. Don't sign her up, and we have a few other prospects we could look into, if you catch my drift."
The man studies her expression for several moments. Then, smiling for the first time, he reaches to his side and places a second folder on the table. He pulls out a contract and, after signing his name in a few places and checking a few boxes, slides it towards Jessica with a pen.
Jessica's soft expression returns, and she looks over the contract before signing it. As the man examines her signature, Jessica glances down at her shirt. With a frustrated sigh, she rebuttons it. "Tramp," she mutters under her breath.
The man places the contract into the first folder and hands the second on to Jessica. "Your direct supervisor will be Dr. Vahlen. Your flight leaves in two days. This contains the information for where you'll need to be and what you'll need to bring. Don't be late." Jessica nods, taking the folder and standing. The man extends his hand. "Welcome to X-COM, Ms. Lockheart." Jessica smiles, grasping his hand firmly before taking her leave.
February 23rd, 2018
1100 Hours, Local Time
Jessica sits quietly with a cautious smile, her eyes darting around the small, windowless room. It is nearly empty, with only a table in the center and the chairs she and the man in front of her sit in. The man is tall and well built, with short black hair and a face that looks like it has never smiled. He wears a jet-black buisness suit with a white dress shirt, jet-black shoes, and a plain, black tie. Against the wall behind him stand two more men, dressed the same.
As the minutes tick by in silence, the man slowly looking through the pages of a manila folder, Jessica feels like she is back in school, waiting for the principle to start lecturing her.
"Um," she starts cautiously, "You guys didn't, like, lose my folder, did you? 'Cause I already did this, uh, interview thing. It was with a guy that kinda looked like you, except he was shorter, and a little less bulky, and his nose was bigger, and he had this beard, so I guess he didn't look like you. But anyway, he kept saying how special I am, and how he needs me, and I was afraid he was gonna ask me to model for him at some super secret location in a back alley, and he was gonna end up chopping me up like..."
"You're annoying me."
Jessica blinks in surprise. "E-excuse me?"
"Your voice," the man says bluntly, "Your incessant babbling, it's annoying."
"Oh," Jessica says flatly. "Well, hi, I'm Jessie, and I'm the one whi's not judging you based on the way you talk."
The man closes the folder and looks Jessica in the eyes. "Ms. Lockheart, the man you talked to before is paid to look at your credentials, get excited, and recommend you. My job is to make sure he didn't get overzealous. I'm paid to think you don't have what it takes."
Jessica laughs. "So I'm about to be cut from the team before I even start? You guys are strict, huh?"
"We prefer thorough," the man responds, his expression never changing. "We need the best of the best, and we need to know that our best of the best are going to give their best."
Jessica glances at the folder in front of her interviewer. "The last guy made it sound like you guys know a lot about me."
"Yes, yes." The man reopens the folder and thumbs through it. "Graduated with honors with a triple major from UIC, versed in seven languages, genius IQ, eidetic memory, etcetera, etcetera."
"So what's the prob?" Jessica leans forward, smiling. "I'm never one to brag, believe me, but it sounds like..."
"I wasn't finished," the man interrupts, raising his voice slightly. "We don't know a lot about you, we know everything."
Jessica gives him a questioning look. "Such as?"
"We know everything about your parents, every friend you've ever had, and every boy you ever slapped for touching you without permission."
The smile fades from Jessica's face. "S-so...so I'm saving myself for...what, are you so kinda stalking perv?"
The man continues as though Jessica hadn't spoken. "We know the result of every test you ever took, and every class you ever skipped. We have all of your medical records, and we know about that little voice upstairs, that those bracelets you always wear are for more then just show, and that all I have to do to keep you in this room is to put a mirror in front of the door. As I said, Ms. Lockheart, we are thorough."
Jessica stares at the man blankly for several moments. She slowly crosses her arms, and trying to hide the shaking in her voice, asks, "So you're afraid I don't have what it takes because of those...medical reasons, huh?"
The man nods his head. "This is a big project, one meant for the betterment of all mankind, and we need to be sure you'll give it your all, never let us down, and even be willing to risk your life. Can you do that?"
"Yes," Jessica says without hesitation, startling her interviewer. "All my life, I've had to put up with people like you, insisting that I can't handle something. Well let me tell you, I've devoted my life to proving you people wrong, to turning my disadvantage into my advantage, and to showing the world that even someone like me can succeed. And if I have to give my life for that, then so be it."
The man leans forward, narrowing his gaze. That was a lovely little speech, and I'm glad you're so devoted, but how do I know you won't suddenly lose control, ans 'she' won't be as devoted?"
"Lose control?" Jessica asks, her tone and expression suddenly growing colder. She stretches her arms out, looking around the room like she's seeing it for the first time. She casually crosses her legs and undoes the top two buttons of her shirt. She smirks at the man, saying, "You obviously don't understand the nature of our relationship. Trust me, we're in sync."
The man raises an eyebrow, asking, "So you're...how do I know you're not...?"
"Faking it?" Jessica casually leans forward, stifling a chuckle when she notices the man's eyes momentarily dart down. "How about this? You can try that little mirror trick, and I'll prove who I am by picking it up, fixing my makeup in it, and calmly smashing it on that pretty little head of yours."
The man lets out an irritated grunt, but says nothing. Jessica's smile broadens as she leans back. "Jessica speaks for the both of us. Trust me, you sign her up, and you won't regret it. Don't sign her up, and we have a few other prospects we could look into, if you catch my drift."
The man studies her expression for several moments. Then, smiling for the first time, he reaches to his side and places a second folder on the table. He pulls out a contract and, after signing his name in a few places and checking a few boxes, slides it towards Jessica with a pen.
Jessica's soft expression returns, and she looks over the contract before signing it. As the man examines her signature, Jessica glances down at her shirt. With a frustrated sigh, she rebuttons it. "Tramp," she mutters under her breath.
The man places the contract into the first folder and hands the second on to Jessica. "Your direct supervisor will be Dr. Vahlen. Your flight leaves in two days. This contains the information for where you'll need to be and what you'll need to bring. Don't be late." Jessica nods, taking the folder and standing. The man extends his hand. "Welcome to X-COM, Ms. Lockheart." Jessica smiles, grasping his hand firmly before taking her leave.
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Zain Shah
Well-Known Member
Cologne Regional Court
1500 hours
"With the evidence presented to me by the prosecutor, I declare the defendant not guilty against the claim he was conducting unethical experiments."
"Danke, Your Honour." Leon rose from his seat with an evil smirk.
"Court dismissed." Leon shook hands with his lawyers and was the first one to leave the room. As he left the building, he simply returned to his daily routine as he has been in the same building about a dozen times for similar charges. He picked up some groceries and got in his car. He drove for around 15 mins before reaching a small alley where he had his quaint lab filled with working class "test subjects."
He took one of the syringes and filled it with this pale green serum and he pulled out one of the test subjects, a 15 year old boy. He carefully injected it in his arms and simply watched the boy for half an hour. By the end of the 30 minutes, the boy was on the floor in an armadillo position shouting German words which Leon could not understand. He dragged the boy, barely alive, and into an unmarked room with a simple wooden door. He walked out of the room after a few minutes without the body.
"Das ist alles fur die Abend."
He grabbed one of the grocery bags and gave each of the waiting subjects a few slices of bread as if they were animals and walked up some stairs in his lab where he walked up into his elegant house and removed his gloves and labcoat. Leon's dad always sent cheques in the mail and understood that Leon wanted be on his own but he didn't know anything about the experiments. Leon picked up the latest cheque and put it in his wallet.
Leon grabbed a can of Pepsi and turned on his TV. The first thing he saw on the news were people crowding around these mysterious pods in Berlin, so naturally, he leaned forward towards the TV and listened attentively:
"The origin of these pods is currently unknown however many witnesses do recall them falling from the sky. Many witnesses also..."
Leon switches off the TV and puts on his jacket and grabs his car keys. He rapidly gets into his car and slams his accelerator pedal, quickly changing gears and going 80 mph in a 30 mph zone. He gets about three quarters of the way to the crash site before being intercepted by an unmarked vehicle. He angrily gets out of the car and pulls open the door to the other car to find two individuals, one of them was Russian and the other was German.
The Russian one utters "Leon?"
Leon reluctantly nods and is instructed by the two individuals to get in the car.
"I suppose you are going to see about those pods, well we can give you the whole story...Those are alien pods and soon, the aliens themselves will descend onto Earth; we ask for your help against them."
"You mean studying their tech, right? I've never held a gun"
"You will be provided with a lab and be required to test any alien technology the soldiers find out in the field."
Leon rubs his chin for a while but soon replies with "OK, where is it?"
The German one replies "Pack your clothes because you will be stationed in the Headquarters in Siberia."
1500 hours
"With the evidence presented to me by the prosecutor, I declare the defendant not guilty against the claim he was conducting unethical experiments."
"Danke, Your Honour." Leon rose from his seat with an evil smirk.
"Court dismissed." Leon shook hands with his lawyers and was the first one to leave the room. As he left the building, he simply returned to his daily routine as he has been in the same building about a dozen times for similar charges. He picked up some groceries and got in his car. He drove for around 15 mins before reaching a small alley where he had his quaint lab filled with working class "test subjects."
He took one of the syringes and filled it with this pale green serum and he pulled out one of the test subjects, a 15 year old boy. He carefully injected it in his arms and simply watched the boy for half an hour. By the end of the 30 minutes, the boy was on the floor in an armadillo position shouting German words which Leon could not understand. He dragged the boy, barely alive, and into an unmarked room with a simple wooden door. He walked out of the room after a few minutes without the body.
"Das ist alles fur die Abend."
He grabbed one of the grocery bags and gave each of the waiting subjects a few slices of bread as if they were animals and walked up some stairs in his lab where he walked up into his elegant house and removed his gloves and labcoat. Leon's dad always sent cheques in the mail and understood that Leon wanted be on his own but he didn't know anything about the experiments. Leon picked up the latest cheque and put it in his wallet.
Leon grabbed a can of Pepsi and turned on his TV. The first thing he saw on the news were people crowding around these mysterious pods in Berlin, so naturally, he leaned forward towards the TV and listened attentively:
"The origin of these pods is currently unknown however many witnesses do recall them falling from the sky. Many witnesses also..."
Leon switches off the TV and puts on his jacket and grabs his car keys. He rapidly gets into his car and slams his accelerator pedal, quickly changing gears and going 80 mph in a 30 mph zone. He gets about three quarters of the way to the crash site before being intercepted by an unmarked vehicle. He angrily gets out of the car and pulls open the door to the other car to find two individuals, one of them was Russian and the other was German.
The Russian one utters "Leon?"
Leon reluctantly nods and is instructed by the two individuals to get in the car.
"I suppose you are going to see about those pods, well we can give you the whole story...Those are alien pods and soon, the aliens themselves will descend onto Earth; we ask for your help against them."
"You mean studying their tech, right? I've never held a gun"
"You will be provided with a lab and be required to test any alien technology the soldiers find out in the field."
Leon rubs his chin for a while but soon replies with "OK, where is it?"
The German one replies "Pack your clothes because you will be stationed in the Headquarters in Siberia."
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Dahlexpert
Well-Known Member
Northern Alaska
February 22, 2018
0500hours, local time
41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 "(What are you doing, why are you trying to be normal what society wants you to be. You will never be like them, you will never be honorable or noble, you despise humans your own race.)"
79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 (Your a killer, a murder a bandit. You love the smell of blood and decay to burn people alive and cut there limbs off you enjoy torturing people and skinning them alive and you.)"
Scarlet gets off the pull up bar " Are you done.(what) Are you done, because your right, I do love killing people the fact that get sexual pleasure off of the smell of blood and burning corpses, the fact that I love killing and murdering people and doing all of those things people does make me a monster. but there is one thing you don't get about me.
(and what is that.)
"I do not hate humans, I pimps, drug dealers human traffickers the scum of the earth. And the fact that I get to hunt them down and kill them makes me extremely happy, now will you shut up and leave me be."
Axton comes down the stares Hay scare your still training huh.
"Yea, I need to get stronger but I need to work on my hand to hand combat skills. Other then that I feel great."
"Yea, you've come a long way from that prostitute that was covered in her mothers pimps and body guards blood.
"why did you have to bring that up, I don't want any reminder of my past ax or my family. As fare as I'm concern there dead, and they can burn in hell for all I care.
"That's a little harsh isn't it, now they were terrible people but there still your parents.
"My parents." Scarlet starts punching a punching bag. "Ax let me remind you that my "parents" gave me a hit of coke when I was fifteen.
"OU it's something that will make you energetic lily, you'll have energy for hours it's completely safe. Scarlet starts punching the punching bag rapidly like she is trying to punch through it.
OU WE NEED MONEY LILY YOU CAN DO WHAT MOMMY DOES, ITLL BE FUN MOM AND DAUGTHER WORLING TOGETHER, NO LILY YOU NOT A PROSTATUTE YOU A WORKING GIRL....A FUCKING WORKING GIRL.
Scarlet punch the punching bag off it's chain, and gets on top of the punching bag and continue to punch it.
I'M GONNA KILL YOU YOU FUCKING BIMBO,HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO YOUR OWN CHILD,YOU FUCKING SLUT.
Axton grabs scarlet's arm. Scarlet tries to punch axton, Axton grabs Scarlet arm and knees her in the gut.
"God damnit Ax why did you do that."
"Scar you destroyed the punching bag, look I will never understand your pain, but your your own person now and you do have family, you have me ash and all the others were with you scarlet."
"Thanks I needed to hear that." scarlet gets up put's on her coat and head up steers I'm going to get a drink ill see you later Ax
'Keep you gun in your pocket ok."
"Right" Scarlet heads out the door and goes to the local bar.
February 22, 2018
0500hours, local time
41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 "(What are you doing, why are you trying to be normal what society wants you to be. You will never be like them, you will never be honorable or noble, you despise humans your own race.)"
79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 (Your a killer, a murder a bandit. You love the smell of blood and decay to burn people alive and cut there limbs off you enjoy torturing people and skinning them alive and you.)"
Scarlet gets off the pull up bar " Are you done.(what) Are you done, because your right, I do love killing people the fact that get sexual pleasure off of the smell of blood and burning corpses, the fact that I love killing and murdering people and doing all of those things people does make me a monster. but there is one thing you don't get about me.
(and what is that.)
"I do not hate humans, I pimps, drug dealers human traffickers the scum of the earth. And the fact that I get to hunt them down and kill them makes me extremely happy, now will you shut up and leave me be."
Axton comes down the stares Hay scare your still training huh.
"Yea, I need to get stronger but I need to work on my hand to hand combat skills. Other then that I feel great."
"Yea, you've come a long way from that prostitute that was covered in her mothers pimps and body guards blood.
"why did you have to bring that up, I don't want any reminder of my past ax or my family. As fare as I'm concern there dead, and they can burn in hell for all I care.
"That's a little harsh isn't it, now they were terrible people but there still your parents.
"My parents." Scarlet starts punching a punching bag. "Ax let me remind you that my "parents" gave me a hit of coke when I was fifteen.
"OU it's something that will make you energetic lily, you'll have energy for hours it's completely safe. Scarlet starts punching the punching bag rapidly like she is trying to punch through it.
OU WE NEED MONEY LILY YOU CAN DO WHAT MOMMY DOES, ITLL BE FUN MOM AND DAUGTHER WORLING TOGETHER, NO LILY YOU NOT A PROSTATUTE YOU A WORKING GIRL....A FUCKING WORKING GIRL.
Scarlet punch the punching bag off it's chain, and gets on top of the punching bag and continue to punch it.
I'M GONNA KILL YOU YOU FUCKING BIMBO,HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO YOUR OWN CHILD,YOU FUCKING SLUT.
Axton grabs scarlet's arm. Scarlet tries to punch axton, Axton grabs Scarlet arm and knees her in the gut.
"God damnit Ax why did you do that."
"Scar you destroyed the punching bag, look I will never understand your pain, but your your own person now and you do have family, you have me ash and all the others were with you scarlet."
"Thanks I needed to hear that." scarlet gets up put's on her coat and head up steers I'm going to get a drink ill see you later Ax
'Keep you gun in your pocket ok."
"Right" Scarlet heads out the door and goes to the local bar.
Last edited:
Hidden EXALT base
2345 hours
It had been two days since Patient 42's last meal and it was his second month of psionic testing straight. No matter how many times the scientists experimented they couldn't get his abilities to improve beyond telepathy and small feats of telekinesis. Patient 42 was in his cell near midnight after the testing was done but it was very rare that he would have a good night's sleep. He was plagued with dreams of horrible experiments and days of grueling agony as a guinea pig, so instead he spent his nights reading or playing chess with his shadows. It was very recently that he had actually gotten a T.V. but that was only a reward that could be taken away at a moments notice so he used it sparingly. It was around midnight when he decided it was a good an opportunity as any to flip it on and see what he could at this hour. Flipping through multiple channels he lands on a news broadcast that was coming from a city somewhere in North America that something was attacking the metropolitan area. It was then that men walked into his cell and shut off the T.V. like parents catching their kid up late. In behind the two men came a woman who he had never seen before. She had blonde hair, piercing green eyes, and looked in her late forties. "Patient 42, I believe it is time that we put your abilities to the test." He looked at her with his red eyes and didn't say a word, he knew she had more to say so he waited for her to say more. "I will assume your silence means you understand then, you will move out at once along with another one of my agents and you will infiltrate a top secret military organization and relay us what they know. From now on you will be known as Desmond Walker a boy genius who grew up in America, you will have time to read up on your way out. The other agent is codenamed Eva and she will be your partner from here on out, understood?" Patient 42 gave a slow nod and a look that showed no emotion. The woman looking satisfied spoke to the man to her left in what appeared to be German and the man took him to get him prepared. It was time for Patient 42 to go on his biggest and most important mission for EXALT, win the war.
2345 hours
It had been two days since Patient 42's last meal and it was his second month of psionic testing straight. No matter how many times the scientists experimented they couldn't get his abilities to improve beyond telepathy and small feats of telekinesis. Patient 42 was in his cell near midnight after the testing was done but it was very rare that he would have a good night's sleep. He was plagued with dreams of horrible experiments and days of grueling agony as a guinea pig, so instead he spent his nights reading or playing chess with his shadows. It was very recently that he had actually gotten a T.V. but that was only a reward that could be taken away at a moments notice so he used it sparingly. It was around midnight when he decided it was a good an opportunity as any to flip it on and see what he could at this hour. Flipping through multiple channels he lands on a news broadcast that was coming from a city somewhere in North America that something was attacking the metropolitan area. It was then that men walked into his cell and shut off the T.V. like parents catching their kid up late. In behind the two men came a woman who he had never seen before. She had blonde hair, piercing green eyes, and looked in her late forties. "Patient 42, I believe it is time that we put your abilities to the test." He looked at her with his red eyes and didn't say a word, he knew she had more to say so he waited for her to say more. "I will assume your silence means you understand then, you will move out at once along with another one of my agents and you will infiltrate a top secret military organization and relay us what they know. From now on you will be known as Desmond Walker a boy genius who grew up in America, you will have time to read up on your way out. The other agent is codenamed Eva and she will be your partner from here on out, understood?" Patient 42 gave a slow nod and a look that showed no emotion. The woman looking satisfied spoke to the man to her left in what appeared to be German and the man took him to get him prepared. It was time for Patient 42 to go on his biggest and most important mission for EXALT, win the war.
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Frostlich1228
Well-Known Member
Cross Technologies Tower
February 24rd, 2018
0800 Hours Local Time.
Ammelia wakes up to her father's Calming voice, "Ammelia, Wake up... ," She Stretches her arms above her head,
"Dad? What's going on? Why are you waking me up so early? " she replies in a sweet and soft but subtly mechanical tone of voice. Ammelia's father replies in a anxious tone, "Something Happened last night, I saw it on the news this morning, Chicago... ," he says with a pause, "They say it was attacked by... Creatures from another world... " Ammelia scoots herself up in her bed before placing her finger in her ear canal and holding down the SAaIDA's Power button, she can see him now, sitting in a chair next to her bed, looking down on her.
She grins at him a bit but his solemn expression remains unchanged, "So Aliens? " She says in a mocking tone of voice, "Real Funny Dad, you're messing with me aren't you? Who put you up to this, was it Kenneth? I Didn't think he could- " Ammelia's father stops her before she can finish, "No, Honey this is serious... Chicago was attacked by real life Extraterrestrials... "
Ammelia's eyes widen, "So... That increase in Ufo sightings the reporters were talking about... they just go from
studying us to attack a major metropolis? That makes no sense! " Amellia's father sighs, " I don't understand it either... I thought that if any sapient species discovered space travel they would have to be peaceful... With that kind of technology at their disposal Aggressiveness like they showed here should not exist, they should've blown their own civilization up a thousand times by now... "
Amellia has a look of nervousness in her eyes, " I already sent in my Application to join X-com... " Amellia's father clenches his hands, " I know sweetie... of all the times those bastards could've picked... Maybe you could still change your mind... Maybe we could intercept it somehow... I don't know... " There is a tone of desperation in his voice.
Amellia takes a deep breath, " Dad... X-Com needs me more than ever now! I have to do this! " she says confidently, " I can't just back out now! " Ammelia's Father looks at her with a hint of regret in his eyes, " I shouldn't have given you that training... You're just a little girl... you can't go out there are fight those monsters... " "Dad please... " She says with a determined look in her eyes,
" I can do this... I'm not a little girl anymore... You've given me everything I need... You've just got to give me a chance... "
A Dark skinned man steps into the doorway of Amellia's bedroom, he is thin but wearing a stylish black suit and tie, " David... You have to trust she can do this... I taught her everything I could... " He says in a deep voice, with a hint of a French accent. She looks over to him, " Thank you Dorian, thanks for believing in me... " David Cross turns his head to the door as well, " Are you sure Dorian? Are you sure she is ready for this? You did train her after all... " Dorian's blank expression doesn't change, " No one can be sure about anything, Especially with these Aliens running amok, but you have to let her live her own life, she's 23 now... you've helped her more than she could ever hope, you gave her a voice, you invented a way for her to see the world she lives in... At least let her defend it... "
The room is silent, Amellia sits there, waiting for her father to say something... He finally speaks, " I'm so proud of you... My little girl is so brave, " Tears begin to well up in his eyes, " If this is what you really want... Promise me you'll keep in touch with me... With both of us... " Amellia pulls her father in for a hug, " I promise dad... I promise... "
February 24rd, 2018
0800 Hours Local Time.
Ammelia wakes up to her father's Calming voice, "Ammelia, Wake up... ," She Stretches her arms above her head,
"Dad? What's going on? Why are you waking me up so early? " she replies in a sweet and soft but subtly mechanical tone of voice. Ammelia's father replies in a anxious tone, "Something Happened last night, I saw it on the news this morning, Chicago... ," he says with a pause, "They say it was attacked by... Creatures from another world... " Ammelia scoots herself up in her bed before placing her finger in her ear canal and holding down the SAaIDA's Power button, she can see him now, sitting in a chair next to her bed, looking down on her.
She grins at him a bit but his solemn expression remains unchanged, "So Aliens? " She says in a mocking tone of voice, "Real Funny Dad, you're messing with me aren't you? Who put you up to this, was it Kenneth? I Didn't think he could- " Ammelia's father stops her before she can finish, "No, Honey this is serious... Chicago was attacked by real life Extraterrestrials... "
Ammelia's eyes widen, "So... That increase in Ufo sightings the reporters were talking about... they just go from
studying us to attack a major metropolis? That makes no sense! " Amellia's father sighs, " I don't understand it either... I thought that if any sapient species discovered space travel they would have to be peaceful... With that kind of technology at their disposal Aggressiveness like they showed here should not exist, they should've blown their own civilization up a thousand times by now... "
Amellia has a look of nervousness in her eyes, " I already sent in my Application to join X-com... " Amellia's father clenches his hands, " I know sweetie... of all the times those bastards could've picked... Maybe you could still change your mind... Maybe we could intercept it somehow... I don't know... " There is a tone of desperation in his voice.
Amellia takes a deep breath, " Dad... X-Com needs me more than ever now! I have to do this! " she says confidently, " I can't just back out now! " Ammelia's Father looks at her with a hint of regret in his eyes, " I shouldn't have given you that training... You're just a little girl... you can't go out there are fight those monsters... " "Dad please... " She says with a determined look in her eyes,
" I can do this... I'm not a little girl anymore... You've given me everything I need... You've just got to give me a chance... "
A Dark skinned man steps into the doorway of Amellia's bedroom, he is thin but wearing a stylish black suit and tie, " David... You have to trust she can do this... I taught her everything I could... " He says in a deep voice, with a hint of a French accent. She looks over to him, " Thank you Dorian, thanks for believing in me... " David Cross turns his head to the door as well, " Are you sure Dorian? Are you sure she is ready for this? You did train her after all... " Dorian's blank expression doesn't change, " No one can be sure about anything, Especially with these Aliens running amok, but you have to let her live her own life, she's 23 now... you've helped her more than she could ever hope, you gave her a voice, you invented a way for her to see the world she lives in... At least let her defend it... "
The room is silent, Amellia sits there, waiting for her father to say something... He finally speaks, " I'm so proud of you... My little girl is so brave, " Tears begin to well up in his eyes, " If this is what you really want... Promise me you'll keep in touch with me... With both of us... " Amellia pulls her father in for a hug, " I promise dad... I promise... "
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Zain Shah
Well-Known Member
London, England
1400 hours
Madison's youngest sister and her mother wait at London Heathrow Airport, eager for the arrival of Madison, who is coming back to England almost 2 years since she left the last time. Sergeant Wheeler has been shot up the ranks in the army, becoming a sergeant in 5 years when it takes an average soldier up to 12 years of active duty to reach the same rank. As Madison emerges from the arrivals lounge, she is wearing army camouflage and carrying a medium-sized blue suitcase. Her mother almost doesn't recognise her at first but soon she identifies her and gives her a hug.
"Oh, Maddy! How've you been?" Her mother almost in tears.
"I've been fine; some cuts and gunshot in the shoulder but nothing serious." Madison has a constant smile across her face.
"Did you shoot anyone?" says her 17 year old sister.
"Some but your trying to not get shot most of the time."
The trio then proceeded to leaving the airport and getting into their car. Madison was in the passenger's seat and decided to turn on the radio.
"...pods have reportedly fallen from the sky in seemingly random places around the world. Their origin is not yet known but stick to BBC Radio 1 for the latest updates on this astonishing news."
Madison turns off the radio and says "What's that all about?"
"Don't worry about that. Some idiots are claiming that aliens are coming to Earth and that this is the apocalypse." Her mother replied.
All three of them arrived home shortly after and were greeted by Madison's brother, other sister and her father. After their group hug as a family, Madison was texted by an unknown number, asking her to go alone to a road about 5 blocks from her house. She told her family about the text and told them to call the police if she didn't come back in a few hours.
As she reached the road, at first there was just one person smoking a cigarette there. Assuming that that was the guy she was looking for, she initiated a conversation:
"Hello, are you the person I'm meeting today?"
"I am now. So, what is a little girl like you doing here?" The man caressed her face with the back of his hand
"I um...I'm not a little girl!" Madison had spent her adult years in an army base and was not used to men treating her like that.
"What time are your parents picking you up? You sure we can't sneak a quickie in?" The man replied with his hand around her waist and slowly gliding downwards.
Madison started to stutter and couldn't speak properly. As the man started to undress her, all of her strength vanished and she started to shake as if she was nervous. He rips her shirt off and is in the process of taking her D cup bra off however Madison's real contact comes in the nick of time. He gets out of the car and beats the molester to the floor before grabbing her shirt.
As the two get in the car, he says "So you've met the locals?"
Madison still shaking, replies with "What do you want?"
The man then proceeds to talk about the X-COM project and soon convinces Madison to join. She comes back home only to leave the next day. She tells her parents she has to go back to duty and arrives at the X-COM facility in Siberia.
1400 hours
Madison's youngest sister and her mother wait at London Heathrow Airport, eager for the arrival of Madison, who is coming back to England almost 2 years since she left the last time. Sergeant Wheeler has been shot up the ranks in the army, becoming a sergeant in 5 years when it takes an average soldier up to 12 years of active duty to reach the same rank. As Madison emerges from the arrivals lounge, she is wearing army camouflage and carrying a medium-sized blue suitcase. Her mother almost doesn't recognise her at first but soon she identifies her and gives her a hug.
"Oh, Maddy! How've you been?" Her mother almost in tears.
"I've been fine; some cuts and gunshot in the shoulder but nothing serious." Madison has a constant smile across her face.
"Did you shoot anyone?" says her 17 year old sister.
"Some but your trying to not get shot most of the time."
The trio then proceeded to leaving the airport and getting into their car. Madison was in the passenger's seat and decided to turn on the radio.
"...pods have reportedly fallen from the sky in seemingly random places around the world. Their origin is not yet known but stick to BBC Radio 1 for the latest updates on this astonishing news."
Madison turns off the radio and says "What's that all about?"
"Don't worry about that. Some idiots are claiming that aliens are coming to Earth and that this is the apocalypse." Her mother replied.
All three of them arrived home shortly after and were greeted by Madison's brother, other sister and her father. After their group hug as a family, Madison was texted by an unknown number, asking her to go alone to a road about 5 blocks from her house. She told her family about the text and told them to call the police if she didn't come back in a few hours.
As she reached the road, at first there was just one person smoking a cigarette there. Assuming that that was the guy she was looking for, she initiated a conversation:
"Hello, are you the person I'm meeting today?"
"I am now. So, what is a little girl like you doing here?" The man caressed her face with the back of his hand
"I um...I'm not a little girl!" Madison had spent her adult years in an army base and was not used to men treating her like that.
"What time are your parents picking you up? You sure we can't sneak a quickie in?" The man replied with his hand around her waist and slowly gliding downwards.
Madison started to stutter and couldn't speak properly. As the man started to undress her, all of her strength vanished and she started to shake as if she was nervous. He rips her shirt off and is in the process of taking her D cup bra off however Madison's real contact comes in the nick of time. He gets out of the car and beats the molester to the floor before grabbing her shirt.
As the two get in the car, he says "So you've met the locals?"
Madison still shaking, replies with "What do you want?"
The man then proceeds to talk about the X-COM project and soon convinces Madison to join. She comes back home only to leave the next day. She tells her parents she has to go back to duty and arrives at the X-COM facility in Siberia.
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DarkGemini24601
Well-Known Member
8:30 A.M., Ellesmere Island:
“Yep, everything looks good here, I would say,” Private Jacobs said to Atka as he finished inspecting the Skull Point relay.
Atka nodded. “Let’s pack up and head to the next one, boys.”
Pvt. Brisbois sighed. “Only seven more to go…”
“Get over it,” Atka replied, shaking her head. “I’ve lived in worse with nothing but a parka, you’ll be fine.” She stepped into the helicopter, helping the others up into it.
“Alright…but I’ll be glad when I’m back in Montreal, this place sucks…”
Atka had to suppress an amused smile. This is how things usually went the past 3 times her team had been assigned to Operation Nevus, working on maintenance for the set of relays on Ellesmere Island in the upper arctic, The High Arctic Data Communication Systems (HADCS). Ethan Brisbois and Matthew Porter would always complain about the cold, though it was mostly in jest to pass the time. She was sobered by the fact that some of the people that used to do this with them were no longer alive, killed in more combat-oriented operations under her command.
Jacobs sat by her as the helicopter doors closed and it returned to the air. “Thinking about that again, huh?”
Atka sighed. “Sometimes, I think you scare us David. You’re able to read our thoughts too easily; I don’t suppose you’ve got mind powers huh?”
“If I did I wouldn’t have to open my mouth to communicate with you, now would I? Jacobs replied with a relaxed smile, but then got serious. “Look, what happened wasn’t your fault…”
“You can always do better. Father always told me that, and he wasn’t wrong. Sure, we got unlucky, but could I have handled things in a way that saved more lives? Yes.”
“Give yourself some credit; you’re only human, after all.”
Atka looked up at the gray ceiling of the helicopter, sighing. “I’m not that hung up…you just find yourself lost in thought with nothing but rock and ice to look at all day.”
“Just making sure you’re not getting depressed. That’s what friends do, Atka,” David replied, crossing his arms behind his head and closing his eyes.
“Mhmm. I appreciate it, David. Thanks.” Atka sighed, and pulled out a carving knife, working on a piece of ivory, a half-sculpted humpback whale as they headed to the next relay, and the other six after that.
The rest of the operation went as it always did, and by the late evening they returned to the nearby town of Taloyoak.
“Yep, everything looks good here, I would say,” Private Jacobs said to Atka as he finished inspecting the Skull Point relay.
Atka nodded. “Let’s pack up and head to the next one, boys.”
Pvt. Brisbois sighed. “Only seven more to go…”
“Get over it,” Atka replied, shaking her head. “I’ve lived in worse with nothing but a parka, you’ll be fine.” She stepped into the helicopter, helping the others up into it.
“Alright…but I’ll be glad when I’m back in Montreal, this place sucks…”
Atka had to suppress an amused smile. This is how things usually went the past 3 times her team had been assigned to Operation Nevus, working on maintenance for the set of relays on Ellesmere Island in the upper arctic, The High Arctic Data Communication Systems (HADCS). Ethan Brisbois and Matthew Porter would always complain about the cold, though it was mostly in jest to pass the time. She was sobered by the fact that some of the people that used to do this with them were no longer alive, killed in more combat-oriented operations under her command.
Jacobs sat by her as the helicopter doors closed and it returned to the air. “Thinking about that again, huh?”
Atka sighed. “Sometimes, I think you scare us David. You’re able to read our thoughts too easily; I don’t suppose you’ve got mind powers huh?”
“If I did I wouldn’t have to open my mouth to communicate with you, now would I? Jacobs replied with a relaxed smile, but then got serious. “Look, what happened wasn’t your fault…”
“You can always do better. Father always told me that, and he wasn’t wrong. Sure, we got unlucky, but could I have handled things in a way that saved more lives? Yes.”
“Give yourself some credit; you’re only human, after all.”
Atka looked up at the gray ceiling of the helicopter, sighing. “I’m not that hung up…you just find yourself lost in thought with nothing but rock and ice to look at all day.”
“Just making sure you’re not getting depressed. That’s what friends do, Atka,” David replied, crossing his arms behind his head and closing his eyes.
“Mhmm. I appreciate it, David. Thanks.” Atka sighed, and pulled out a carving knife, working on a piece of ivory, a half-sculpted humpback whale as they headed to the next relay, and the other six after that.
The rest of the operation went as it always did, and by the late evening they returned to the nearby town of Taloyoak.
DarkGemini24601
Well-Known Member
The next morning, 9:30 A.M., Taloyoak
As Atka walked through the market to get some local food to take for the flight back to Ontario, she was stopped by a familiar person.
“Hello, Atka,” a traditionally dressed Inuit man in his forties said to the soldier, having his parka wrapped around himself.
“Father…” Atka said, surprise on her face. “What brings you out of the village down to here?”
“Someone from Taloyoak informed me you’d be in town; I thought we might do a bit of catching up…it’s been three years since you last visited, after all.”
The young Inuit soldier smiled. “Sure, let’s talk over breakfast, I have time.”
…
“Sounds like you’ve been through a lot in the past three years…” Ipiktok mused, rubbing his chin.
Atka nodded a bit solemnly. “Yeah, though it’s not all bad of course. I still have good friends that I’ve protected, and we’ve enjoyed our time in the army without a doubt, despite the sacrifices that come with it.”
He nods. “Not too different from the difficult but invigorating life we Inuit live, I suppose.”
“What have you been up to, father?”
“The usual…we caught a hefty seal the other day, so we’ll have food for awhile. That sort of thing.”
“And the family?”
“Your mother’s doing well, though her hip is giving her trouble these days. Your younger sister has herself a husband now, of course.”
“Is he a worthy one though?” Atka asked with a playful grin.
“Well, he got the killing blow on that slippery seal, that answer your question?”
Atka laughed. “Not you?”
Ipiktok returned a chuckle. “No, I think I’m losing my touch, honestly, I’m just an old man.” He looked at the whale carving peeking out of Atka’s pocket. “Glad to see you still carve with ivory, it means a lot to see our traditions echoed despite you moving to larger horizons.”
Atka nodded. “We Inuit that live among the larger community shouldn’t ever forget our roots, and I know I certainly won’t.”
“Well,” Ipiktok said, standing to his feet, and patting his daughter on the back. “You’ve got a flight to catch, and I have a family to take care of. I wish you well Atka, though don’t forget to visit more often.”
Atka smiled. “I won’t, thanks for stopping by, father.”
“Anytime,” Ipiktok said, waving as he started to walk off.
As Atka walked through the market to get some local food to take for the flight back to Ontario, she was stopped by a familiar person.
“Hello, Atka,” a traditionally dressed Inuit man in his forties said to the soldier, having his parka wrapped around himself.
“Father…” Atka said, surprise on her face. “What brings you out of the village down to here?”
“Someone from Taloyoak informed me you’d be in town; I thought we might do a bit of catching up…it’s been three years since you last visited, after all.”
The young Inuit soldier smiled. “Sure, let’s talk over breakfast, I have time.”
…
“Sounds like you’ve been through a lot in the past three years…” Ipiktok mused, rubbing his chin.
Atka nodded a bit solemnly. “Yeah, though it’s not all bad of course. I still have good friends that I’ve protected, and we’ve enjoyed our time in the army without a doubt, despite the sacrifices that come with it.”
He nods. “Not too different from the difficult but invigorating life we Inuit live, I suppose.”
“What have you been up to, father?”
“The usual…we caught a hefty seal the other day, so we’ll have food for awhile. That sort of thing.”
“And the family?”
“Your mother’s doing well, though her hip is giving her trouble these days. Your younger sister has herself a husband now, of course.”
“Is he a worthy one though?” Atka asked with a playful grin.
“Well, he got the killing blow on that slippery seal, that answer your question?”
Atka laughed. “Not you?”
Ipiktok returned a chuckle. “No, I think I’m losing my touch, honestly, I’m just an old man.” He looked at the whale carving peeking out of Atka’s pocket. “Glad to see you still carve with ivory, it means a lot to see our traditions echoed despite you moving to larger horizons.”
Atka nodded. “We Inuit that live among the larger community shouldn’t ever forget our roots, and I know I certainly won’t.”
“Well,” Ipiktok said, standing to his feet, and patting his daughter on the back. “You’ve got a flight to catch, and I have a family to take care of. I wish you well Atka, though don’t forget to visit more often.”
Atka smiled. “I won’t, thanks for stopping by, father.”
“Anytime,” Ipiktok said, waving as he started to walk off.
DarkGemini24601
Well-Known Member
3 days later, the city of Toronto, 1:30 P.M.
After saying her farewells to the others as they headed home for their weeklong leave, Atka returned to the Toronto. As she walked through the airport, she couldn’t help but sigh in sadness, memories clinging to this place that she wished she could forgot. The young soldier wasted no time in returning to her apartment overlooking Lake Ontario. She was greeted by her husky, Taqukaq, who nearly tackled her as walked into her living room. Atka stroke his fur, laughing softly. “You remind me every time I come home of why I named you ‘Grizzly Bear.’ Did Melissa treat you well…she didn’t spoil you, did she?” Atka said in jest, having him roll over and rubbing his belly.
Atka eventually satisfied the attention-monger, and went over to her balcony to overlook the lake. “It’s good to be home…I think I’ll go visit that outdoor café sometime this week, and relax a bit...”
As it turned out, she did exactly that the next day, and spent the rest of it enjoying her city and catching up with her friend Melissa in the barber’s shop.
Melissa was a woman of more exotic, urban tastes than Atka, who typically dressed simply and wasn’t one for fashion. She had hair dyed purple, and arranged into a flowing ponytail, as well as wearing bright clothing with numerous contours and stylized colors splashed in. Despite this, she was a gentle person, and was often Atka’s source of information for the local happenings in Toronto.
“Atka!” she greeted brightly, inviting her to sit down. “Anything special for today? Maybe writing of some sort, or-”
“Just the usual, Melissa,” Atka protested, waving her hands in an ‘x’.
“Someday…I’ll get you to try something new…” the hair-stylist replied, disappointed.
Melissa begun to shorten Atka’s hair down to its normal length at the base of her neck, not that it was desperately in need of being cut. Rather, Atka just used it as an excuse to visit her busy friend.
“How have things been going?” Atka asked, sitting calmly in the chair as Melissa got to work.
“Oh, good…probably even better than usual, it’s warm for once and people are out and about, enjoying the weather while it lasts, some are out on the lake…”
As Melissa begin to catch Atka up, she closed her eyes, listening but also feeling at peace, calm after the reassurance from Jacobs and the talk with her father, as well as being in her home city and off duty for the time being.
After saying her farewells to the others as they headed home for their weeklong leave, Atka returned to the Toronto. As she walked through the airport, she couldn’t help but sigh in sadness, memories clinging to this place that she wished she could forgot. The young soldier wasted no time in returning to her apartment overlooking Lake Ontario. She was greeted by her husky, Taqukaq, who nearly tackled her as walked into her living room. Atka stroke his fur, laughing softly. “You remind me every time I come home of why I named you ‘Grizzly Bear.’ Did Melissa treat you well…she didn’t spoil you, did she?” Atka said in jest, having him roll over and rubbing his belly.
Atka eventually satisfied the attention-monger, and went over to her balcony to overlook the lake. “It’s good to be home…I think I’ll go visit that outdoor café sometime this week, and relax a bit...”
As it turned out, she did exactly that the next day, and spent the rest of it enjoying her city and catching up with her friend Melissa in the barber’s shop.
Melissa was a woman of more exotic, urban tastes than Atka, who typically dressed simply and wasn’t one for fashion. She had hair dyed purple, and arranged into a flowing ponytail, as well as wearing bright clothing with numerous contours and stylized colors splashed in. Despite this, she was a gentle person, and was often Atka’s source of information for the local happenings in Toronto.
“Atka!” she greeted brightly, inviting her to sit down. “Anything special for today? Maybe writing of some sort, or-”
“Just the usual, Melissa,” Atka protested, waving her hands in an ‘x’.
“Someday…I’ll get you to try something new…” the hair-stylist replied, disappointed.
Melissa begun to shorten Atka’s hair down to its normal length at the base of her neck, not that it was desperately in need of being cut. Rather, Atka just used it as an excuse to visit her busy friend.
“How have things been going?” Atka asked, sitting calmly in the chair as Melissa got to work.
“Oh, good…probably even better than usual, it’s warm for once and people are out and about, enjoying the weather while it lasts, some are out on the lake…”
As Melissa begin to catch Atka up, she closed her eyes, listening but also feeling at peace, calm after the reassurance from Jacobs and the talk with her father, as well as being in her home city and off duty for the time being.
DarkGemini24601
Well-Known Member
2 days later, the fateful day, 5:00 P.M.
Atka sat down at her couch, having been out in the city most of the day, unlike the previous one in which she had lounged around all day long. Taqukaq sat down by her, though he was discouraged from taking Atka’s dinner with a simple look from the woman. She turned on the TV, checking the news to see what was new. On the evening news were reports that would change the world.
Male Reporter: “And we’re going live to military footage of Chicago in the United States…it appears the city is under siege by what is believed to be extraterrestrial life forms. This is not some sort of prank, I assure you. Reports are coming in from around the world of similar sightings, and what people believe to be alien abductions…”
Atka paled. “This can’t be real…and so close…” She clasped her hands together, listening further.
Male Reporter: “It’s coming up now…” The screen showed a group of American troops deploying into the city, and trying to set up a perimeter. Gray aliens with large, bulbous heads and yellow-brown, oval eyes came onto screen, holding some sort of hand-attached pistol that glowed eerily green in some portions. One of the soldiers shook his head. “There’s no way these things could be…” The aliens made strange noises in their native language, and opened fire, plasma screaming from their pistols and burning through the chests of the soldiers before the broadcaster cut off the footage.
Atka shut off the TV, no longer caring what was being said. “We have to do something about this…but what in the world could we possibly do… anirnialuk sapummivaa nunasiuriijaqtuq…” she muttered. After only a few minutes, her cell phone began to buzz, and she picked it up. The screen said simply: Unknown Caller. Atka moved to click “Decline” but then stopped, something telling her she should answer the call, and she clicked “Accept” instead. “Hello?”
A stern, older voice spoke to her. (Think Jon Bailey, the Council Spokesperson, though this isn’t necessarily him.) “Miss Ipiktok, we have a…proposition for you. Have you seen the news recently?”
“If you’re referring to the aliens, I have…”
“I imagine you are…concerned for the fate of the world, to say the least.”
“I think we all are…who is this?” Atka said suspiciously. “You aren’t some weird conspiracy theorist, are you?”
“No…we seek soldiers that can fight these creatures...and we believe you are…sufficient for the job. Your government will verify the validity of our offer, if you do not believe us.”
“I…” Atka though back to her father, living his peaceful but difficult life in the arctic, to her friends in the military, to Melissa. “I would be interested. What do I have to do?”
“Come to Ottowa, we will send you a location to meet our operative…follow him to the flight, and submit to any searches he may require of your baggage. You will not need much, I will say that much, but you are free to bring some luggage, should you require anything from home.”
11:00 P.M., the Capital City of Ottawa, a back alley.
Atka came in her normal clothing, having verified with the higher-ups that the offer was valid, but kept a few weapons in her backpack should she need them, and was tensed to fight if need be. A man with a black coat and dark sunglasses met her at the specified location. “Atka Ipiktok?”
“That would be me,” Atka replied, standing next to her dog.
“Uh…miss…”
“He won’t be a problem.”
“I really don’t think-“
“If they don’t like it I can send him home…but I’d rather not be gone for months, he’d get worried…”
He sighed, looking up to the sky in exasperation. “…Very well, follow me,” the mysterious man lead her to a small passenger airplane, fast but not impressive-looking, and went through her baggage, removing the military equipment. “You won’t need this; we have supplies at the base that are more advanced…why are there chunks of bone in this pocket?”
“Ivory crafting…passes the time, you know.”
“I do wood crafting sometimes…that’s fine,” he smiled a bit, easing Atka’s suspicions and helping her relax a bit. He made sure any location devices Atka had were confiscated or turned off, to which she agreed a bit hesitantly, not that she used them often. The two climbed aboard the aircraft, Atka having her dog sit in a cage and securing it to the ground while the messenger went up ahead and tapped the pilot on the shoulder, who was listening to “Hey Jude” on some headphones. “Hey, we’re ready to go…you can listen to that later.”
“Alright, alright,” the pilot responded, putting on his headset for flight, and having the messenger sit down. “Everyone buckled up?”
“Yes,” both of his passengers answered. “Let’s go then, front’s closed for security reasons, but if you need anything, ask over intercom. I’m not as formal as Big Sky.”
“Who?” Atka said with a confused expression.
“You’ll see…” replied the messenger, taking off his sunglasses and closing his plain brown eyes.
Morning in an unspecified location in Siberia, 8+ hours ahead of the time in Ottawa/Toronto:
The pilot’s somewhat tired voice came in from the intercom as they touched down in a hanger, the physical feeling being the only way Atka could tell in the plane that had no passenger windows. “Alright, we’re here, get your stuff and you can step back onto solid ground again, Miss Ipiktok.”
Atka did just that, followed by her faithful companion and the messenger, no longer seeming so mysterious with his glasses off. “Might be best if I lead,” he said, yawning.
“Long shift, huh?”
“You have no idea.” The messenger lead Atka through a room filled with computers and personnel. In the center was a holographic map, and a man in a green shirt with cleanly cut brown hair stood in front of it, looking at several different icons placed on this ‘hologlobe.’ The messenger lead her out of this central room, through some maintenance halls, and finally into the barracks and some bunks, showing her to her room. “You will be having a roommate, so don’t think this is all to yourself.”
“I’m used to it. Will that be all?” Atka asked.
“Mhmm, we have your information on file so we’ll update you once everything is in order. Welcome to XCOM, Miss Ipiktok.”
Atka saluted, and then sat down on her bunk, Taqukaq lying down next to it. She unpacked her things and laid down for now, her thoughts abuzz with questions. “XCOM, huh…”
Atka sat down at her couch, having been out in the city most of the day, unlike the previous one in which she had lounged around all day long. Taqukaq sat down by her, though he was discouraged from taking Atka’s dinner with a simple look from the woman. She turned on the TV, checking the news to see what was new. On the evening news were reports that would change the world.
Male Reporter: “And we’re going live to military footage of Chicago in the United States…it appears the city is under siege by what is believed to be extraterrestrial life forms. This is not some sort of prank, I assure you. Reports are coming in from around the world of similar sightings, and what people believe to be alien abductions…”
Atka paled. “This can’t be real…and so close…” She clasped her hands together, listening further.
Male Reporter: “It’s coming up now…” The screen showed a group of American troops deploying into the city, and trying to set up a perimeter. Gray aliens with large, bulbous heads and yellow-brown, oval eyes came onto screen, holding some sort of hand-attached pistol that glowed eerily green in some portions. One of the soldiers shook his head. “There’s no way these things could be…” The aliens made strange noises in their native language, and opened fire, plasma screaming from their pistols and burning through the chests of the soldiers before the broadcaster cut off the footage.
Atka shut off the TV, no longer caring what was being said. “We have to do something about this…but what in the world could we possibly do… anirnialuk sapummivaa nunasiuriijaqtuq…” she muttered. After only a few minutes, her cell phone began to buzz, and she picked it up. The screen said simply: Unknown Caller. Atka moved to click “Decline” but then stopped, something telling her she should answer the call, and she clicked “Accept” instead. “Hello?”
A stern, older voice spoke to her. (Think Jon Bailey, the Council Spokesperson, though this isn’t necessarily him.) “Miss Ipiktok, we have a…proposition for you. Have you seen the news recently?”
“If you’re referring to the aliens, I have…”
“I imagine you are…concerned for the fate of the world, to say the least.”
“I think we all are…who is this?” Atka said suspiciously. “You aren’t some weird conspiracy theorist, are you?”
“No…we seek soldiers that can fight these creatures...and we believe you are…sufficient for the job. Your government will verify the validity of our offer, if you do not believe us.”
“I…” Atka though back to her father, living his peaceful but difficult life in the arctic, to her friends in the military, to Melissa. “I would be interested. What do I have to do?”
“Come to Ottowa, we will send you a location to meet our operative…follow him to the flight, and submit to any searches he may require of your baggage. You will not need much, I will say that much, but you are free to bring some luggage, should you require anything from home.”
11:00 P.M., the Capital City of Ottawa, a back alley.
Atka came in her normal clothing, having verified with the higher-ups that the offer was valid, but kept a few weapons in her backpack should she need them, and was tensed to fight if need be. A man with a black coat and dark sunglasses met her at the specified location. “Atka Ipiktok?”
“That would be me,” Atka replied, standing next to her dog.
“Uh…miss…”
“He won’t be a problem.”
“I really don’t think-“
“If they don’t like it I can send him home…but I’d rather not be gone for months, he’d get worried…”
He sighed, looking up to the sky in exasperation. “…Very well, follow me,” the mysterious man lead her to a small passenger airplane, fast but not impressive-looking, and went through her baggage, removing the military equipment. “You won’t need this; we have supplies at the base that are more advanced…why are there chunks of bone in this pocket?”
“Ivory crafting…passes the time, you know.”
“I do wood crafting sometimes…that’s fine,” he smiled a bit, easing Atka’s suspicions and helping her relax a bit. He made sure any location devices Atka had were confiscated or turned off, to which she agreed a bit hesitantly, not that she used them often. The two climbed aboard the aircraft, Atka having her dog sit in a cage and securing it to the ground while the messenger went up ahead and tapped the pilot on the shoulder, who was listening to “Hey Jude” on some headphones. “Hey, we’re ready to go…you can listen to that later.”
“Alright, alright,” the pilot responded, putting on his headset for flight, and having the messenger sit down. “Everyone buckled up?”
“Yes,” both of his passengers answered. “Let’s go then, front’s closed for security reasons, but if you need anything, ask over intercom. I’m not as formal as Big Sky.”
“Who?” Atka said with a confused expression.
“You’ll see…” replied the messenger, taking off his sunglasses and closing his plain brown eyes.
Morning in an unspecified location in Siberia, 8+ hours ahead of the time in Ottawa/Toronto:
The pilot’s somewhat tired voice came in from the intercom as they touched down in a hanger, the physical feeling being the only way Atka could tell in the plane that had no passenger windows. “Alright, we’re here, get your stuff and you can step back onto solid ground again, Miss Ipiktok.”
Atka did just that, followed by her faithful companion and the messenger, no longer seeming so mysterious with his glasses off. “Might be best if I lead,” he said, yawning.
“Long shift, huh?”
“You have no idea.” The messenger lead Atka through a room filled with computers and personnel. In the center was a holographic map, and a man in a green shirt with cleanly cut brown hair stood in front of it, looking at several different icons placed on this ‘hologlobe.’ The messenger lead her out of this central room, through some maintenance halls, and finally into the barracks and some bunks, showing her to her room. “You will be having a roommate, so don’t think this is all to yourself.”
“I’m used to it. Will that be all?” Atka asked.
“Mhmm, we have your information on file so we’ll update you once everything is in order. Welcome to XCOM, Miss Ipiktok.”
Atka saluted, and then sat down on her bunk, Taqukaq lying down next to it. She unpacked her things and laid down for now, her thoughts abuzz with questions. “XCOM, huh…”
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DarkGemini24601
Well-Known Member
St. Petersburg, Russia, 9:15 A.M.
It’s not enough. This though stuck in Modya Dragomirov’s mind as he walked down the streets of St. Petersburg. He had helped the city fight back a crime syndicate that was responsible for corruption and numerous murders a year back, working alongside local police. Calling themselves ‘the best’ in Russian, they were certainly not a force to be reckoned with, armed with military-grade equipment. It had been hard, but they had hunted down the criminals and either killed or captured the majority of them in a series of raids and occasionally even a battle on the streets. Modya was proud to have been a part of that op, Operatsiya Vygoraniya, or Operation Burnout.
It’s not enough, though, Modya thought again as he walked past a reopened jewelry that had closed down after one of his rockets and blown through the shop, empty at the time except for a group of syndicate members trying to set off pipe bombs to blow police vehicles sky-high. The store owner had been surprisingly fine with it; she did not seem that upset, and had actually become a friend of Modya’s. Apparently the syndicate had been harassing her for money and gems, and she considered it a fair price to pay, especially with the government paying her back as much as they could. Some diamonds had also survived the blast, some of which being ones in the syndicate had on them, which made her even happier with the results.
It’s still not enough! Modya thought in frustration, kicking a rock along the street.
“Something the matter, my friend?” a woman’s voice called out from the shop’s door, which was now open.
He looked over in surprise, due to her presence and being snapped out of his revere. “You’re here early, Nina…”
“I was getting set up. Why don’t you come in for a moment, Modya?”
He sighed. “You say that as if you would give me a choice.”
Nina put a hand of her mouth, suppressing a laugh. “You’re right, now get out of the early morning cold for a bit.”
Modya sat down in a chair across from Nina, in front of the display cases that acted as a desk. He briefly glanced at the silver and gold items there, with some diamond as well, but didn’t really have a particular interest in any of them. He laid his Ushanka down on the counter, and laid his coat out on the back of the chair, the interior of the shop being fairly warm to ward off the cold, as even in early summer, this far north it remained chilly half of the time.
“So what’s bothering you, Modya?” Nina asked, standing on the opposite side of the display case from him.
The Russian soldier said nothing, sighing in a bit of frustration and not really wanting to talk about it. Nina pressed her hands down on the glass in frustration. “Come on, Modya, I don’t have time for this crap, you are going to tell me whether you like it or not.”
“Damn woman…” Modya muttered under his breath.
Nina grabbed the soldier by the collar of his shirt. “I’m thirty-two, by no means am I deaf.”
Modya held his hands up in surrender. “Fine, fine, I’ll tell you.”
Nina let go of him, brushing down her ruffled red hair with a sweep of her hand. “That’s better.”
Modya straightened his shirt. “I was thinking about Ukraine, that’s all.” Seeing that was certainly not enough to satisfy Nina, he continued, “I don’t feel like I’ve done enough to redeem that failure.”
“Oookkaaayy Modaya. Give me a break, you helped clean up this fine city and you still think you haven’t done enough?”
Modya ran his right hand through his hair in frustration. “I’m still afraid to put myself in harm’s way, though…”
Nina held up her hands in mock astonishment. “Dear God, Modya, are you a human being?!”
“I feel like you’re not taking me seriously here…”
Nina returned to a more-normal posture. “I’m telling you to judge yourself with more mercy, my friend. There’s no sense in being gloomy all the time.”
Modya was quiet for a few moments, and then nodded. “You’re right...sorry if I wasted any of your time, Nina.”
“Not at all. I live to serve, comrade,” Nina replied, joking tracing the old hammer-and-sickle in the air with her finger.
Modya put his hat and coat back on, and chuckled, shaking his head. “So I was being stiff like a Soviet, huh?”
Nina smiled broadly, glad that he was picking up on her unusual manner of communicating her points.
The soldier walked out of the shop, and continued his walk with a “farewell” to Nina, his step significantly lighter than before.
It’s not enough. This though stuck in Modya Dragomirov’s mind as he walked down the streets of St. Petersburg. He had helped the city fight back a crime syndicate that was responsible for corruption and numerous murders a year back, working alongside local police. Calling themselves ‘the best’ in Russian, they were certainly not a force to be reckoned with, armed with military-grade equipment. It had been hard, but they had hunted down the criminals and either killed or captured the majority of them in a series of raids and occasionally even a battle on the streets. Modya was proud to have been a part of that op, Operatsiya Vygoraniya, or Operation Burnout.
It’s not enough, though, Modya thought again as he walked past a reopened jewelry that had closed down after one of his rockets and blown through the shop, empty at the time except for a group of syndicate members trying to set off pipe bombs to blow police vehicles sky-high. The store owner had been surprisingly fine with it; she did not seem that upset, and had actually become a friend of Modya’s. Apparently the syndicate had been harassing her for money and gems, and she considered it a fair price to pay, especially with the government paying her back as much as they could. Some diamonds had also survived the blast, some of which being ones in the syndicate had on them, which made her even happier with the results.
It’s still not enough! Modya thought in frustration, kicking a rock along the street.
“Something the matter, my friend?” a woman’s voice called out from the shop’s door, which was now open.
He looked over in surprise, due to her presence and being snapped out of his revere. “You’re here early, Nina…”
“I was getting set up. Why don’t you come in for a moment, Modya?”
He sighed. “You say that as if you would give me a choice.”
Nina put a hand of her mouth, suppressing a laugh. “You’re right, now get out of the early morning cold for a bit.”
Modya sat down in a chair across from Nina, in front of the display cases that acted as a desk. He briefly glanced at the silver and gold items there, with some diamond as well, but didn’t really have a particular interest in any of them. He laid his Ushanka down on the counter, and laid his coat out on the back of the chair, the interior of the shop being fairly warm to ward off the cold, as even in early summer, this far north it remained chilly half of the time.
“So what’s bothering you, Modya?” Nina asked, standing on the opposite side of the display case from him.
The Russian soldier said nothing, sighing in a bit of frustration and not really wanting to talk about it. Nina pressed her hands down on the glass in frustration. “Come on, Modya, I don’t have time for this crap, you are going to tell me whether you like it or not.”
“Damn woman…” Modya muttered under his breath.
Nina grabbed the soldier by the collar of his shirt. “I’m thirty-two, by no means am I deaf.”
Modya held his hands up in surrender. “Fine, fine, I’ll tell you.”
Nina let go of him, brushing down her ruffled red hair with a sweep of her hand. “That’s better.”
Modya straightened his shirt. “I was thinking about Ukraine, that’s all.” Seeing that was certainly not enough to satisfy Nina, he continued, “I don’t feel like I’ve done enough to redeem that failure.”
“Oookkaaayy Modaya. Give me a break, you helped clean up this fine city and you still think you haven’t done enough?”
Modya ran his right hand through his hair in frustration. “I’m still afraid to put myself in harm’s way, though…”
Nina held up her hands in mock astonishment. “Dear God, Modya, are you a human being?!”
“I feel like you’re not taking me seriously here…”
Nina returned to a more-normal posture. “I’m telling you to judge yourself with more mercy, my friend. There’s no sense in being gloomy all the time.”
Modya was quiet for a few moments, and then nodded. “You’re right...sorry if I wasted any of your time, Nina.”
“Not at all. I live to serve, comrade,” Nina replied, joking tracing the old hammer-and-sickle in the air with her finger.
Modya put his hat and coat back on, and chuckled, shaking his head. “So I was being stiff like a Soviet, huh?”
Nina smiled broadly, glad that he was picking up on her unusual manner of communicating her points.
The soldier walked out of the shop, and continued his walk with a “farewell” to Nina, his step significantly lighter than before.
DarkGemini24601
Well-Known Member
The fateful day, several days later, Moscow, 5:00 P.M.
Life certainly isn’t bad, Modya thought as he downed a shot of vodka in the bar of the lower sections of the base he was posted in. He was with friends, playing pool, with television sets hanging from the walls, though he paid little attention to them. He hit the white ball with his pole, sending it crashing into one the striped ‘4’, sending it and ‘5’ clattering into the goal.
“Damn you Modya, if I lose twenty rubles to you again I won’t forgive you…” Viktor grumbled, having only scored 1 and 2 of his own solid colors.
The tall soldier chuckled. “Not my fault if you have a bad aim when it comes to shooting or pool.”
“Careful, Modya, he might give you a very vicious verbal thrashing…” Nikolai said mockingly, patting Viktor on the back, being 5 inches taller than the 5’9 soldier he stood beside.
Viktor looked off to the corner of the room in frustration. “I swear, you’re all…Kakogo cherta?!”
Modya looked over to where Viktor was staring in surprising, pointing with his right hand. On the TV screen, turned to the news, was a report entitled: “Alien attacks and abductions in Berlin, Germany as well as around the world.”
“It’s a joke, Viktor…there’s no way…” Nikolai said, shaking his head confidently.
Onscreen came an image of German soldiers rounding a corner, and coming face to face with a road filled with burning cars, and strange pods that had ejected a green, web-like substance that was encasing numerous people. Along with this were two groups of three small robots, having four stubby projections and a central eye/beam gun. They immediately opened fire on the soldiers, identifying them as threats. Burning hot, yellow blasts melted through the armor of the soldiers, bringing many of them to their knees, only to be killed by the next round of shots. For their part, the soldiers that could still fight shot back, but the drone’s armor bought them enough time to turn to one another and use a different feature of their beam to repair the damage done, and resume fire, wiping out the German squad. Behind them bulbous-headed, gray creatures skittered to the bodies, retrieving them for purposes unknown before the cameras on the soldier’s headsets died.
Unbelievable. Ludicrous. Insane. These adjectives only began to describe what Modya was thinking in denial, despite the image and the repeated warnings that this was no joke from the reporters, speaking frantically about the attacks and the inability of government forces from around the world to fight this threat. As Nikolai and Viktor looked on in horror, Modya stepped out of the room. “I need a minute…”
He went into the hallway, deep in thought, racking his brain to see if there was anything he could do, but after about an hour he felt absolutely helpless, knowing there was nothing he could do if the Germans and other military groups stood no chance, no matter how good Russia’s military was, he was just a cog in the machine, nothing more.
The Russian shakily reached into his pocket, hesitation gripping him for a moment, but then he pulled out a cigarette and a black lighter. He flipped the top open, and lit the flame, holding his cigarette over it to set it alight, and pushing it into his mouth. Modya sat there for what felt like another long period of time, before heading to his bunk, though he barely got any sleep.
Life certainly isn’t bad, Modya thought as he downed a shot of vodka in the bar of the lower sections of the base he was posted in. He was with friends, playing pool, with television sets hanging from the walls, though he paid little attention to them. He hit the white ball with his pole, sending it crashing into one the striped ‘4’, sending it and ‘5’ clattering into the goal.
“Damn you Modya, if I lose twenty rubles to you again I won’t forgive you…” Viktor grumbled, having only scored 1 and 2 of his own solid colors.
The tall soldier chuckled. “Not my fault if you have a bad aim when it comes to shooting or pool.”
“Careful, Modya, he might give you a very vicious verbal thrashing…” Nikolai said mockingly, patting Viktor on the back, being 5 inches taller than the 5’9 soldier he stood beside.
Viktor looked off to the corner of the room in frustration. “I swear, you’re all…Kakogo cherta?!”
Modya looked over to where Viktor was staring in surprising, pointing with his right hand. On the TV screen, turned to the news, was a report entitled: “Alien attacks and abductions in Berlin, Germany as well as around the world.”
“It’s a joke, Viktor…there’s no way…” Nikolai said, shaking his head confidently.
Onscreen came an image of German soldiers rounding a corner, and coming face to face with a road filled with burning cars, and strange pods that had ejected a green, web-like substance that was encasing numerous people. Along with this were two groups of three small robots, having four stubby projections and a central eye/beam gun. They immediately opened fire on the soldiers, identifying them as threats. Burning hot, yellow blasts melted through the armor of the soldiers, bringing many of them to their knees, only to be killed by the next round of shots. For their part, the soldiers that could still fight shot back, but the drone’s armor bought them enough time to turn to one another and use a different feature of their beam to repair the damage done, and resume fire, wiping out the German squad. Behind them bulbous-headed, gray creatures skittered to the bodies, retrieving them for purposes unknown before the cameras on the soldier’s headsets died.
Unbelievable. Ludicrous. Insane. These adjectives only began to describe what Modya was thinking in denial, despite the image and the repeated warnings that this was no joke from the reporters, speaking frantically about the attacks and the inability of government forces from around the world to fight this threat. As Nikolai and Viktor looked on in horror, Modya stepped out of the room. “I need a minute…”
He went into the hallway, deep in thought, racking his brain to see if there was anything he could do, but after about an hour he felt absolutely helpless, knowing there was nothing he could do if the Germans and other military groups stood no chance, no matter how good Russia’s military was, he was just a cog in the machine, nothing more.
The Russian shakily reached into his pocket, hesitation gripping him for a moment, but then he pulled out a cigarette and a black lighter. He flipped the top open, and lit the flame, holding his cigarette over it to set it alight, and pushing it into his mouth. Modya sat there for what felt like another long period of time, before heading to his bunk, though he barely got any sleep.
DarkGemini24601
Well-Known Member
10:30 A.M., streets of Moscow, the next day.
Modya went for a walk in the brisk mid-morning air, hoping to clear his mind of his fears for the world. For the first several minutes he walked along the streets in peace, but then a man with black hair and slightly tan skin dressed in a business suit and dark glasses approached him. “Modya Dragomirov?” he inquired with a distinctly American accent.
“That would be me…” Modya replied in mostly smooth English, though he wasn’t completely fluent by any means.
“I thought you might want to hear an offer I have for you, since I’m aware you’re concerned for the future of the world.”
Modya narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “How do you…”
“We’ve been keeping an eye on you, since you’re a viable candidate for an initiative of ours to fight this alien menace…”
“And who might “we” be?”
“The eXtraterrestrial COMbat unit, or X-COM,” the messenger replied smoothly, showing him a slip from his superior officers that showed their consent and approval of this meeting.
Modya though back to Nina, and imagined her standing beside him, prodding him. “What are you waiting for, you gloomy bastard? This is your chance to redeem yourself and get rid of your helplessness, why WOULDN’T you accept this offer? You’re not going to be scared and back off, are you?”
“…you make an interesting proposition, mister…” Modya began, inquiring the man’s name.
“Thomas Burrick, X-Com recruiter.”
“Very will, mister Burrick, say I accept your offer, what then?”
“Then…you will follow me,” Tom replied, and showed Modya to the same aircraft that had ferried Atka to the base. He walked inside and tapped the pilot, who was listening to “Here comes the Sun.” “Alright, time to head to base.”
The pilot yawned without trying to hold it in. “After this, I’m hitting my bunk.”
“Don’t feel bad, I’m doing the same,” Tom replied, and closed the cockpit doors, sitting down across from Modya. The Russian did not speak during their flight to the base, and Thomas respectfully did not bother him, leaving him to his thoughts.
One or two hours later, XCOM HQ in Siberia.
Once they touched down Thomas lead Modya to the men’s barracks, showing him to his top bunk. “You’ll be sharing this, but with whom I don’t know yet. The commander’s going to brief everyone soon, so be ready when the call comes.”
“Understood. Will that be all?”
Tom nodded, and yawned. “I’m going to hit my bunk, but if you need anything, I work the night shift so you can catch me in the evening or maybe the mornings.”
“Very well, thank you, Mister Burrick.”
Thomas nodded once more, and walked off, his coffee no longer offering him any respite from the yearning to sleep, leaving Modya to prepare for the introduction, looking at the card Burrick had gave him labeled “X-COM” in the top right.
Modya went for a walk in the brisk mid-morning air, hoping to clear his mind of his fears for the world. For the first several minutes he walked along the streets in peace, but then a man with black hair and slightly tan skin dressed in a business suit and dark glasses approached him. “Modya Dragomirov?” he inquired with a distinctly American accent.
“That would be me…” Modya replied in mostly smooth English, though he wasn’t completely fluent by any means.
“I thought you might want to hear an offer I have for you, since I’m aware you’re concerned for the future of the world.”
Modya narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “How do you…”
“We’ve been keeping an eye on you, since you’re a viable candidate for an initiative of ours to fight this alien menace…”
“And who might “we” be?”
“The eXtraterrestrial COMbat unit, or X-COM,” the messenger replied smoothly, showing him a slip from his superior officers that showed their consent and approval of this meeting.
Modya though back to Nina, and imagined her standing beside him, prodding him. “What are you waiting for, you gloomy bastard? This is your chance to redeem yourself and get rid of your helplessness, why WOULDN’T you accept this offer? You’re not going to be scared and back off, are you?”
“…you make an interesting proposition, mister…” Modya began, inquiring the man’s name.
“Thomas Burrick, X-Com recruiter.”
“Very will, mister Burrick, say I accept your offer, what then?”
“Then…you will follow me,” Tom replied, and showed Modya to the same aircraft that had ferried Atka to the base. He walked inside and tapped the pilot, who was listening to “Here comes the Sun.” “Alright, time to head to base.”
The pilot yawned without trying to hold it in. “After this, I’m hitting my bunk.”
“Don’t feel bad, I’m doing the same,” Tom replied, and closed the cockpit doors, sitting down across from Modya. The Russian did not speak during their flight to the base, and Thomas respectfully did not bother him, leaving him to his thoughts.
One or two hours later, XCOM HQ in Siberia.
Once they touched down Thomas lead Modya to the men’s barracks, showing him to his top bunk. “You’ll be sharing this, but with whom I don’t know yet. The commander’s going to brief everyone soon, so be ready when the call comes.”
“Understood. Will that be all?”
Tom nodded, and yawned. “I’m going to hit my bunk, but if you need anything, I work the night shift so you can catch me in the evening or maybe the mornings.”
“Very well, thank you, Mister Burrick.”
Thomas nodded once more, and walked off, his coffee no longer offering him any respite from the yearning to sleep, leaving Modya to prepare for the introduction, looking at the card Burrick had gave him labeled “X-COM” in the top right.
Dahlexpert
Well-Known Member
12:29pm, in a local bar in Alaska
We interrupt your regular schedule programing, for a special news bulletin. the world has been under attack by Extraterrestrials, the places that have been attack are. Chicago Utah Egypt china and Russia. We advice people to find shelter and gather your loved ones.
The bartender turns off the TV. Damn the world is going to hell, Hay scarlet you intend to pay for these drinks.
"When do I ever not pay for these drinks you bastard, speaking of which you mine filling up my drink."
Two men enter the bar, there both wearing suits and are wearing dark shade glasses.
Excuse me, are you Scarlet van dam.
who the hell's asking. Scarlet looks at the two men. the fuck are you two the men in black.
We are not the men in black.
Really, because off of the movies, you two mother fuckers fit the description perfectly, any way Yes I'm scarlet what do you want.
It's a little early to be drinking don't you think.
I'm a grown ass woman I can drink when ever I damn well want. Plus the world is ending, I as well be drunk while the world is going to hell.
Mrs van dam, we are here to give you an opportunity, We work for an organization called X-com.
And, I give a shit because why.
Were an organization specifically made, to kill the alien threat.
Scarlet get out of the bar stool, and get's an evil smile on her face.
So what's the name of this project of yours again, X-com And you want me to kill those aliens for you.
Yes yes and yes, and by the look on your face you very excited to hear this.
Heh heh heh, I would looooove to kill these alien basters for you.
The two men nod at each other and escort scarlet to there vehicle.
We interrupt your regular schedule programing, for a special news bulletin. the world has been under attack by Extraterrestrials, the places that have been attack are. Chicago Utah Egypt china and Russia. We advice people to find shelter and gather your loved ones.
The bartender turns off the TV. Damn the world is going to hell, Hay scarlet you intend to pay for these drinks.
"When do I ever not pay for these drinks you bastard, speaking of which you mine filling up my drink."
Two men enter the bar, there both wearing suits and are wearing dark shade glasses.
Excuse me, are you Scarlet van dam.
who the hell's asking. Scarlet looks at the two men. the fuck are you two the men in black.
We are not the men in black.
Really, because off of the movies, you two mother fuckers fit the description perfectly, any way Yes I'm scarlet what do you want.
It's a little early to be drinking don't you think.
I'm a grown ass woman I can drink when ever I damn well want. Plus the world is ending, I as well be drunk while the world is going to hell.
Mrs van dam, we are here to give you an opportunity, We work for an organization called X-com.
And, I give a shit because why.
Were an organization specifically made, to kill the alien threat.
Scarlet get out of the bar stool, and get's an evil smile on her face.
So what's the name of this project of yours again, X-com And you want me to kill those aliens for you.
Yes yes and yes, and by the look on your face you very excited to hear this.
Heh heh heh, I would looooove to kill these alien basters for you.
The two men nod at each other and escort scarlet to there vehicle.
Adrammalech
Well-Known Member
Amelia "Emily" Fischer
Leifglass Shopping Plaza
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
3:41 PM
Emily walked to her car, bags of various shopping trips in hand. She had just finished getting groceries and random supplies, little things you can't get easily on a military base, even during downtime. On her way, she watched a man punch his car door angrily, swinging his feet wildly and generally looking grim.
“Come on...come on!” he shouted, loud enough for most of the parking lot to hear.
Emily approached the man cautiously, and the man looked over at her with directionless anger.
“Hey, something wrong?” she asked.
“Yeah, I'm a damned idiot. I locked my damn car keys in here and my daughter has some school play thing in like 20 minutes.”
“I think I can help.”
Emily put down her bags next to the car door and rifled through one of them, where she kept various tools for whatever situation may arise. She pulled out her lockpicks and crouched down at the door, pushing them through the hole. She focused keenly on the task for a good minute until the lock popped open. She got up and opened the door, gesturing happily towards the man.
“Wow, you just saved my ass,” he said. “So uh, where'd you get those? Walmart?”
“No,” she said with a smile, “I'm with the military, doing...well, military things.”
“Oh, uh...” the man straightened his back a little, “thank you then, soldier.”
Emily chuckled lightly and offered her hand.
“Emily's fine,” she said.
He shook her hand, looking a little relieved.
“Thank you, Emily. My name's Thomas, if I can repay the favor in any way...”
“It's alright, you just make that play, huh?”
“Oh, right!”
As the goofy gentleman started to get into his car, Emily looked over the trunk, watching a funny looking shadow glide across the parking lot towards the car. She looked up to see a rather large metal box falling from the sky.
“Uh...Tom...?”
The shadow crossed the pavement, slowly reaching over the trunk of the car. Even from this distance, Emily could tell that the box must be huge.
“Just a second,” he mumbled.
“Tom!”
Emily grabbed the man's arm and dug her fingers in, yanking him out of the car and backwards as fast as she could. The metal box slammed straight through the engine, crunching hard into the pavement underneath. Half of the car and Emily's bags were gone, charred pancakes beneath the box. Pieces of asphalt, metal, and glass showered in all directions.
“Jesus!” Thomas yelled, “How the...! What the...!”
Before Emily could reply, several more of the boxes smashed into the parking lot. Random screams and cries rang out from all over.
“What's happening? Emily? Are we being attacked?”
“I don't know, maybe a cargo plane had a shitty door or something,” she stated.
Emily and Thomas looked at the box that was lodged in the car carefully, the strange curves and unsettling green details all over it. A hatch opened on the top that let out a noxious green gas.
“Get away from that,” Emily said authoritatively, backing away.
“But...what is it,” Thomas inquired.
Emily's fingers dug into Thomas's arm again as she forcefully pulled him away. She noticed a bunch of other people gathering around it as well.
“Everyone, get away from that thing!”
Various murmurs chimed out. “What is it?” “What's that smell?” “Where'd it come from?”
Suddenly, arms burst out from the box. A green substance shot out like lashes, wrapping up several peoples' legs. Thomas suddenly stopped resisting.
“Tom, come with me!”
Emily dashed across the parking lot with her civilian in tow, looking for anyone else that she could help. Almost everyone had been trapped by these boxes, but she had no idea how to help them. She came to a small bistro on the other end and pushed against the door, locked for god-knows-what-reason. She pulled out her lockpicks momentarily.
“Ah, fuck it,” she grunted.
With a big wind-up, she kicked the door full force, smashing the wood into the other end, pieces of wood and glass jetting across the floor. Thomas quickly scurried in, followed by his escort.
“What's happening, Emily? Is it the Russians?”
“I don't know what it is, but we can't help anyone if we get trapped ourselves. We have to find a way to a car and get to the base.”
“The base? I don't have that kind of...I'm just a normal person, I can't go on any army bases!”
“We'll worry about that later, now--”
A low gurgle came from the back of the restaurant. Emily pointed towards a table and glared at Thomas, who quickly hid. Suddenly, a short little man with gray skin and big bulbous eyes popped out from the back room.
“A-a-al-ali-al-a-aliens!” Tom bumbled.
Emily pulled her hand away, whipping out her pistol. She looked down the sights with perfect focus.
“Don't move,” she commanded.
The little gray man pulled out a strange white and green device. Emily wasn't committed to finding out what it was. Her gun rang out, two shots going straight into the alien's temple. The alien looked mildly perturbed.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” she growled.
The alien quickly shot the device to the side, a light green lance of some kind of liquid going straight through the table in the corner. Thomas yelled out in pain. Emily fired every bullet left, the alien falling by the 4th shot and being still by the 8th. She dropped the empty magazine onto the floor and seethed angrily at the corpse.
“E...Emily...!”
Emily quickly ran over and grabbed the bistro's table and tossed it aside, Thomas shakily clutching a deep burn on his arm.
“It hurts...”
“It's ok, Tom, you're going to be fine,” she said shakily.
She pulled off her overshirt, wrapping it tightly around the bleeding wound. She wasn't sure what to do about the burn marks, but she knew one thing, Thomas needed a hospital. She quickly looked around the bistro, grabbing one of the turned up metal chairs and smashing it against the floor. She crushed the same leg three or four times, until the leg was finally weakened. With a leveraged pull, she ripped off the metal rod.
“Ok, look, Tom, we're going to a hospital,” Emily stated.
“I ha-hate hospitals...”
“Me too,” she said, “but we have to. I want you to follow me. Don't make any noise, don't look at anything, and do NOT walk away from me. We'll make it out of this.”
“Ok...I trust you...”
Amelia pulled Thomas into the sidewalk, walking quietly around the building. She peaked towards the main parking lot, where the civilians had been entirely mired in the strange green substance. She shook her head worriedly.
Emily got around the building where someone had left their car. An outdated and boring model, but a car nonetheless. She smashed the rod into the window, clearing the spare glass quickly. She unlocked the doors and they both jumped inside. Emily jammed the rod into the steering column, cracking it open, and quickly grabbing the wires within.
“Emily...”
“Shhh.”
She pulled out various wires and touched them together, repeating the process until something worked. One of the aliens inquisitively poked his head out from around the corner.
“E-Emily...!”
“Shhhhhhh!”
The car jolted awake. Loud static crackled from the speakers and every light flickered to life. Emily pulled the gears into drive.
“E-E-Emily!!”
“Get down!”
Both of them ducked beneath the dashboard as the car revved forwards, two more hot lances of green slicing through the windshield and the roof. A loud thunk and a shrill squeak popped out from the front of the car. Emily raised back up. She pushed the car to its limits, whipping out of the plaza and into the street.
For at least two miles, it was silent. Radio static, dead streets, and Thomas's shivering. As they got out of the town, some pop music inkled out of the speakers, slowly coming to life.
“Emily,” Thomas whispered, “are we safe...?”
“Yeah. We're safe.”
Emily popped open the glove compartment and rifled through useless manuals and papers. She found a little orange bottle labelled to a Muriel. She couldn't pronounce the word for the pills, but she knew they were painkillers.
“You haven't been drinking or anything, have you, Tom?”
“What? No, no, I haven't.”
“Here,” she said, handing over the bottle. “Take two.”
“That's...dangerous.”
“Well, so is getting shot by aliens. You want the pain to stop, right?”
Tom fumbled with the pill bottle, trying to get inside of it. Emily continued driving down the main roads, and soon, the cars and traffic returned. It was like nothing had ever happened but five miles away. A few miles more and she pulled into a hospital walking distance from her base.
Leifglass Shopping Plaza
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
3:41 PM
Emily walked to her car, bags of various shopping trips in hand. She had just finished getting groceries and random supplies, little things you can't get easily on a military base, even during downtime. On her way, she watched a man punch his car door angrily, swinging his feet wildly and generally looking grim.
“Come on...come on!” he shouted, loud enough for most of the parking lot to hear.
Emily approached the man cautiously, and the man looked over at her with directionless anger.
“Hey, something wrong?” she asked.
“Yeah, I'm a damned idiot. I locked my damn car keys in here and my daughter has some school play thing in like 20 minutes.”
“I think I can help.”
Emily put down her bags next to the car door and rifled through one of them, where she kept various tools for whatever situation may arise. She pulled out her lockpicks and crouched down at the door, pushing them through the hole. She focused keenly on the task for a good minute until the lock popped open. She got up and opened the door, gesturing happily towards the man.
“Wow, you just saved my ass,” he said. “So uh, where'd you get those? Walmart?”
“No,” she said with a smile, “I'm with the military, doing...well, military things.”
“Oh, uh...” the man straightened his back a little, “thank you then, soldier.”
Emily chuckled lightly and offered her hand.
“Emily's fine,” she said.
He shook her hand, looking a little relieved.
“Thank you, Emily. My name's Thomas, if I can repay the favor in any way...”
“It's alright, you just make that play, huh?”
“Oh, right!”
As the goofy gentleman started to get into his car, Emily looked over the trunk, watching a funny looking shadow glide across the parking lot towards the car. She looked up to see a rather large metal box falling from the sky.
“Uh...Tom...?”
The shadow crossed the pavement, slowly reaching over the trunk of the car. Even from this distance, Emily could tell that the box must be huge.
“Just a second,” he mumbled.
“Tom!”
Emily grabbed the man's arm and dug her fingers in, yanking him out of the car and backwards as fast as she could. The metal box slammed straight through the engine, crunching hard into the pavement underneath. Half of the car and Emily's bags were gone, charred pancakes beneath the box. Pieces of asphalt, metal, and glass showered in all directions.
“Jesus!” Thomas yelled, “How the...! What the...!”
Before Emily could reply, several more of the boxes smashed into the parking lot. Random screams and cries rang out from all over.
“What's happening? Emily? Are we being attacked?”
“I don't know, maybe a cargo plane had a shitty door or something,” she stated.
Emily and Thomas looked at the box that was lodged in the car carefully, the strange curves and unsettling green details all over it. A hatch opened on the top that let out a noxious green gas.
“Get away from that,” Emily said authoritatively, backing away.
“But...what is it,” Thomas inquired.
Emily's fingers dug into Thomas's arm again as she forcefully pulled him away. She noticed a bunch of other people gathering around it as well.
“Everyone, get away from that thing!”
Various murmurs chimed out. “What is it?” “What's that smell?” “Where'd it come from?”
Suddenly, arms burst out from the box. A green substance shot out like lashes, wrapping up several peoples' legs. Thomas suddenly stopped resisting.
“Tom, come with me!”
Emily dashed across the parking lot with her civilian in tow, looking for anyone else that she could help. Almost everyone had been trapped by these boxes, but she had no idea how to help them. She came to a small bistro on the other end and pushed against the door, locked for god-knows-what-reason. She pulled out her lockpicks momentarily.
“Ah, fuck it,” she grunted.
With a big wind-up, she kicked the door full force, smashing the wood into the other end, pieces of wood and glass jetting across the floor. Thomas quickly scurried in, followed by his escort.
“What's happening, Emily? Is it the Russians?”
“I don't know what it is, but we can't help anyone if we get trapped ourselves. We have to find a way to a car and get to the base.”
“The base? I don't have that kind of...I'm just a normal person, I can't go on any army bases!”
“We'll worry about that later, now--”
A low gurgle came from the back of the restaurant. Emily pointed towards a table and glared at Thomas, who quickly hid. Suddenly, a short little man with gray skin and big bulbous eyes popped out from the back room.
“A-a-al-ali-al-a-aliens!” Tom bumbled.
Emily pulled her hand away, whipping out her pistol. She looked down the sights with perfect focus.
“Don't move,” she commanded.
The little gray man pulled out a strange white and green device. Emily wasn't committed to finding out what it was. Her gun rang out, two shots going straight into the alien's temple. The alien looked mildly perturbed.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” she growled.
The alien quickly shot the device to the side, a light green lance of some kind of liquid going straight through the table in the corner. Thomas yelled out in pain. Emily fired every bullet left, the alien falling by the 4th shot and being still by the 8th. She dropped the empty magazine onto the floor and seethed angrily at the corpse.
“E...Emily...!”
Emily quickly ran over and grabbed the bistro's table and tossed it aside, Thomas shakily clutching a deep burn on his arm.
“It hurts...”
“It's ok, Tom, you're going to be fine,” she said shakily.
She pulled off her overshirt, wrapping it tightly around the bleeding wound. She wasn't sure what to do about the burn marks, but she knew one thing, Thomas needed a hospital. She quickly looked around the bistro, grabbing one of the turned up metal chairs and smashing it against the floor. She crushed the same leg three or four times, until the leg was finally weakened. With a leveraged pull, she ripped off the metal rod.
“Ok, look, Tom, we're going to a hospital,” Emily stated.
“I ha-hate hospitals...”
“Me too,” she said, “but we have to. I want you to follow me. Don't make any noise, don't look at anything, and do NOT walk away from me. We'll make it out of this.”
“Ok...I trust you...”
Amelia pulled Thomas into the sidewalk, walking quietly around the building. She peaked towards the main parking lot, where the civilians had been entirely mired in the strange green substance. She shook her head worriedly.
Emily got around the building where someone had left their car. An outdated and boring model, but a car nonetheless. She smashed the rod into the window, clearing the spare glass quickly. She unlocked the doors and they both jumped inside. Emily jammed the rod into the steering column, cracking it open, and quickly grabbing the wires within.
“Emily...”
“Shhh.”
She pulled out various wires and touched them together, repeating the process until something worked. One of the aliens inquisitively poked his head out from around the corner.
“E-Emily...!”
“Shhhhhhh!”
The car jolted awake. Loud static crackled from the speakers and every light flickered to life. Emily pulled the gears into drive.
“E-E-Emily!!”
“Get down!”
Both of them ducked beneath the dashboard as the car revved forwards, two more hot lances of green slicing through the windshield and the roof. A loud thunk and a shrill squeak popped out from the front of the car. Emily raised back up. She pushed the car to its limits, whipping out of the plaza and into the street.
For at least two miles, it was silent. Radio static, dead streets, and Thomas's shivering. As they got out of the town, some pop music inkled out of the speakers, slowly coming to life.
“Emily,” Thomas whispered, “are we safe...?”
“Yeah. We're safe.”
Emily popped open the glove compartment and rifled through useless manuals and papers. She found a little orange bottle labelled to a Muriel. She couldn't pronounce the word for the pills, but she knew they were painkillers.
“You haven't been drinking or anything, have you, Tom?”
“What? No, no, I haven't.”
“Here,” she said, handing over the bottle. “Take two.”
“That's...dangerous.”
“Well, so is getting shot by aliens. You want the pain to stop, right?”
Tom fumbled with the pill bottle, trying to get inside of it. Emily continued driving down the main roads, and soon, the cars and traffic returned. It was like nothing had ever happened but five miles away. A few miles more and she pulled into a hospital walking distance from her base.
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