Apocalypse Fanfiction

Instalment by Ego Terrorist The jets shot across the evening sky of Mega Primus, the Senate Building - one of the grandest buildings, and most important to X-Com funding stood out against the red light of sunset. "Okay people! Listen up" Shouted Doc. Ego Terrorist was sat next to him. "We've got unknown hostiles in the senate building, Warlord has mentioned that Brainsuckers have been seen, currently they've been contained on the lower, service levels, but no telling how long they'll stay there" Ego Terrorist leaned forward and then spoke through the Comm so that he wouldn't have to shout over the sound of the engines. "Delta Team! Standard Alien containment, secure perimeter! then move to enter and clear, copy, snipers! you'll be covering exits! Questions?" "Okay Sports fans! We'll landing out side, in 5" Said Mouse as the Jet began to slow down. The teams made their final equipment checks, plus their neck rings. The jets reared back and came to a hover, before they decended onto the ground. "Okay lets move! move! move" The point troops got out first, LZ secure, they were then followed out by the rest of the teams, who then broke off into 2's and started to sercure the perimeter, the snipers set up, using the plans to locate possible exits. Perimeter secure, all exits covered. Further to south of the building a mass of onlookers watched as X-Com perpared to enter, amongst them were Senators, Civilians and Security and Maintainence crews, Ego noted the News crew setting up, with a perfect of the Senate front door, and he hoped, that the Aliens weren't watching Channel 12! Alpha and Delta Teams met up out side the main enterance. "Okay, Squads, Breach and Clear, Warlord is still in the building along with possible civilians so watch you're target id." "Copy" The teams lined up against the wall and moved towards the door, Doc pushed the door and the teams entered, what would soon become known as the Battle of Senate Building had begun...

Instalment by The Veteran "Alpha squad! Delta squad! We need you boarded now! Beta and Gamma return to your... whatever it is you do" finished the head tactician uncertainly. Doc and Ego approached the tactician. "Are you sure we can handle this with two squads?" asked Doc. "Yeah we have absolutely no idea what kind of forces are down there." added Ego. "Well besides the fact that Beta and Gamma squads are both about two men short, Alpha bases Valkyrie is out of action due to that raid they had recently." "They had a raid?" asked Ego. "Just small so it was dealt with internally but yes they did have a raid. They headed straight for the hangars and let the vehicles there take every kind of ammo they had. Looks like they were just trying to knock out our transport there. It worked a treat," the tactician paused briefly. "Anyway, yes you do have to go alone so get on that Valkyrie ok? I have no rank therefore I am not below you. Get moving." "You can't tell us what to do," began Doc, "you have no rank" With this the three men laughed and parted. Doc and Ego ran over to the Valkyrie and jumped onboard. "Hey! Who's in my seat" shouted Ego as the two squad leaders boarded the aircraft. "Oh sorry," replied Tammy sarcastically. "We didn't think you were coming" "Yeah right," said Ego sulkily sitting in the extra passenger module of the Valkyrie with three other soldiers. "Clear the ramp back there! We're on our way" called mouse over the internal comm system in the Valkyrie. The ramp lifted behind the troops and the Valkyrie's engines roared into life. "Let's get this show on the road," Mouse said to himself quietly as the Valkyrie lifted off the ground.

Instalment by Warlord Warlord had just left Senator Harding's office when the alarm sounded. This was followed by a brief announcement over the public address system for everyone to exit the building in an orderly fashion. Warlord grabbed the closest guard. "What's going on?" "Sir, if you'll just please exit the building, everything will be explained." "My name is Warlord. I'm the base commander for X-Com Bravo Base. Now what the hell is going on?" The guard stiffened a bit. "Sorry, Sir, I didn't know-" "Save it. What's going on?" "Sir, there was an alien spotted at basement level of the building." "What kind? How many?" "Only one reported, but they said it was little and tried to jump at people." "Brainsucker. Get everyone out now. None of this polite crap. Get them out now! Also, where is your arms room?" "We draw weapons from the police station before we come on duty. There's not an arms room in the building." "Where's the command center?" "At the police station. They monitor all the security cameras and stay in contact with the security commander here. That way the monitoring can't be tampered with." "Damn it. I guess I'll have to make do with my pistol until the cavalry arrives..."

Instalment by The Veteran In the security room above the Engineering bay several guards were patrolling the room out of sheer boredom and most of the higher ranking officers had left completely. The low ranking, operating personnel all remained at their consoles monitoring the city, the senate and the Megapol broadcasting and security systems. "What is going on out there?" one of the guards asked his superior. "Have these aliens just decided we're not worth it or something?" "I know it's slow but we really shouldn't be ungrateful. At least while there are no aliens here there's noone getting killed by them," replied the officer in a somber tone. "Yeah I suppose so. But still it would be nice to be able to earn our pay wouldn't it?" asked the guard. "Speak for yourself! I'm happy enough as it is." "Yeah well, you get paid more than I do anyway," began the guard. Just as his officer was about to reply the alarm above them sounded and the operators at the monitors began working quickly. "You just had to didn't you?" said the officer standing away from the wall. "What?" asked the guard knowing exactly what he meant. "What's going on?" he asked one of the operators. "There's been an alien sighting in the West sector of the city. We think it's the senate but we have to patch it through to tactical command," replied the operator opening a comm channel. In the room above Bravo base's main hangar, the screen blinked into life and the operator appeared. "What can I do you for?" asked the Officer in the command center who was, at the moment, as relaxed as the security personnel had been five minutes previously. "Alert the base personnel and Alpha command, we have an alien spotted in city west. Sector 7G. We need confirmed location but it looks like the senate building." "Shit" called the operator springing to his feet. "Ok thanks," he said severing the link. "Ok people look lively! We've got a spotting in sector 7G, westside. Mack, get a location on this thing as close as possible. The building is reported as the senate. Check for the level and the zone. Do what you can to narrow it down for the tactical squads. You, over there. I don't know you but send out a base alert. All soldiers, hangar three, live alien spotted, got that?" The tactical command center was suddenly full of activity and flashing computer screens. Red lights lit the room and the Officer turned back to the screen. He turned to one of the operators next to him. "Open me a channel to Alpha base tactical command. They're going to want to know about this."

Instalment by Ki-tat Chung "Yo bro, what you doing?" Ki-tat turned around just as he was about to exit the quarters with all his gearing. "I'm taking a long vacation." Ki-tat said with an emphasis on the 'long'. "Why? "Leave?" "I've got some.........business to resolve." "Oh, ok. You've cleared it out with the Commander, right?" CAP asked as he got his PT gear on. "He'll understand. And besides, he's in a meeting with the Senator ." Ki-tat said as he turned around again, and headed towards the door. "But what about the Major?" "I've got some one to cover for me." Ki-tat said as he hoped that Terror can cope with the load. He turned around, and left the room. As he walked along, Jason Hoofman smiled. Today, he was going to retire. No more security jobs. No more orders. Just sweet, sweet living in his government luxury home. Just then he heard a scraping, sucking noise behind him. As he turned around and drew his Law Pistol, he saw a Brainsucker in mid-air, aiming straight for his head.

Instalment by The Veteran "This is the most recent model that was tested successfully. It improves long and short distance viewing and it has night vision and infra red capabilities. Try it on." Trigger glanced up from the helmet at Nebo, the newest head engineer. "It's ok, thanks I'll check it out later. Do you have another one?" he asked. "No I'm afraid that was the only one made. The project was scrapped so..." Nebo paused. "Is there anything else we can do..." "No, thankyou. This should be all I need. Thanks again." "No problem..." replied Nebo as Trigger turned to leave the development lab. Trigger turned the helmet over in his hands as he walked. It wasn't too bulky but it's not something he'd want to wear for a twenty-four hour day. "Time for some modifications," he said to himself as he walked to the workshop. As Terror walked into the rec room everything stopped and the soldiers turned to him. "Ok already! It's a horrible shirt! Can people please stop looking at me like that?" There was some laughter about the room and the soldiers turned back to what they were doing. Terror walked over to the billiards table to speak with his squad leader, Kitat. "Um, sir?" he asked cautiously. "I don't answer to that when I'm in here soldier," said Kitat turning to face him. "Terror isn't it? You were one of the new rookies right?" "Yes sir... Kitat," he corrected himself on meeting with Kitats stare. "You look like good soldier material. You've made a mission and survived. I think that means you'll probably be moved soon. We're restucturing the squads a little." "That's what I wanted to ask about. I was just told to report to my squad because we were recieving new recruits," said Terror uncertainly. "No! No, not new recruits. Hell no. The rookies are all going straight to Alpha base from what I hear. We're cutting down on the squads, not stocking up. I can't tell you much because we don't really know much but from what I hear in security we're getting a visit from the Major later today..." "We... are?" said Terror feeling very bemused. The Major? Who in the he|| was that? "Mm. I suggest you take a rest for a while and I'll tell you what's happening when I know! Are you a betting man Terror?" asked Kitat. "Yes sir, on ocassion." "What about this occasion? You any good at billiards?" "No, I never took to the game." he replied. Good thought Kitat to himself. A chance to win back some credits! "You break," he said throwing Terror a cue. "I need a new exciter chamber for a sniper rifle," Trigger told the engineer who had greeted him. "A laser sniper rifle?" "Well I've never seen any other kind of rifle that needs an exciter have you?" replied Trigger impatiently. "I'll go get one," said the engineer sulkily. The soldiers knew that the engineers pay was by far the lowest in the base but it still exceeded by far any civilian jobs. As Trigger waited he picked at the black crust on Ultio and peeled off the hardened soot and embers. Just poking through the dirt he could see the red lettering that made the gun so special to him. Warlord had told him to take the gun everywhere and treat it with respect. That was what he was doing. Warlord would happily of given Trigger a new rifle but Trigger knew he hadn't tried because of how stubborn Trigger was. "There, an exciter sir. Have a nice day," said the engineer sarcastically placing a small package on the worktop and walking off. Trigger put the package inside his new helmet and blew a raspberry at the engineer as he walked off. Then he smiled to himself and walked off, heading for his quarters once again.

Instalment by Doc France Back at Snafu Lounge, the base rec room, Doc tossed a few darts angrily at a board. Behind him, Tammy and Kitat were enjoying a game of billiards. Behind them, Kilam was holding an ice bag to his temple where Tammy kicked him after offering to teach her "how to hold the cue stick." To his left, Duke had already lost 3 credits to an ancient pinball machine, and next to him Carlos was screaming like a mad man at him: "Hiit the bumper! Get the bonus round! Now FLIP! FLIP, dammit" "We've been holed up in here forever." With a resonating thwack, Doc missed the board and hit the metal wall. "And I still haven't improved my throw." "Eight ball, corner pocket..." Tammy sunk her final ball. Kitat winced and forked over another credit. She grinned and flipped the piece over to Duke, who caught it without turning around and immediately stuck it in the pinball machine's slot. Everyone turned to see the squaddie back from vacation, dressed in Hawaiian gear. They all shared a short chuckle as Kitat went out to ridicule him. "Hey, Doc, you heard anything about another Sirius raid coming up?" Doc missed the board once again. He turned around. "Yeah, but it's all just a rumor. Besides, I'm not going anywhere without my Tactics job back." Kilam shrugged and poured himself another mug. He tried not to let Doc see he got it from the Budmeister tap, the "mass-produced swill." Carlos grabbed a handul of jalapeno popcorn from the machine. "I guess Commander's having some trouble with the Government. Right now, we're just playing the waiting game." He slumped into an easy chair and starting munching on his snack. "By the way, you might wanna check yourself for a concussion." He gave a quick wink to Tammy.

Instalment by tftd fan 'Phew, Finally back,' thought Terror after passing the security at Bravo base's main entrance. He'd taken a few days leave granted by the commander after healing the wounds in his leg. Terror was feeling strange somehow walking through the corridors, technicians and scientists everywhere, soldiers rushing around and the administration team hard at work. 'Damn, it looks like a completely different place!' Terror began thinking about the past few days. The beautiful girls, the wonderful weather, the beach... "Hello? Is there anybody in there?" Screamed the day officer. "What?" said Terror stirred from his daydreams. "Sir! Sorry sir, soldier Terror ready for duty" he rallied as best he could. "Report to your squad immediately. There's going to be new assignments soon and your squad leader will not want to see you like this," said the officer. Terror realised he was still wearing flowered shorts and a t-shirt. He also realised that everybody was staring at him trying not to laugh... 'Oh man,' he thought, 'this is going to be a long day...!'

Instalment by The Veteran Trigger slowly began to open his eyes and then woke with a start as he recognised his surroundings. He was in his quarters and Ultio lay on the floor beside him. His vision was blurry from sleep but he could just make out the rest of the contents of his room just the way he left them. Basically, all over the floor. He pulled himself out of bed and began to wonder about how he had come to be in his quarters. He moved to the door and entered his pass code. The door slid open. 'What is going on here?' he thought to himself. He shut the door and sat at his desk still littered with tools from restoring his gun the first time. He cleared them to the side and placed Ultio on the table for the second time that week. "Jesus Christ," he said aloud. "What a mess" Trigger sat for a while thinking what to do with the mass of twisted metal in front of him. Once again he was being controlled by his pride. He couldn't get a new gun, it went against everything he had taught himself these last few months. Gently he removed the rifle's modified scope and set it to one side. Working quickly he stripped the gun down to the barrel, exciter and the actual firing mechanism. It wasn't as bad as it had looked superficially. The scope, handle and parts of the casing of the gun had been virtually undamaged and they would be his first job as they would take little time. 'First though,' he thought standing, 'I need a new exciter chamber. This one is way beyond fried.' Then he had another thought. He left his quarters and headed for research and development in the bases lower levels. He would see again. And now he knew how.

Instalment by Ego Terrorist Ego walked the base corridor he hadn't had much chances to get out on combat missions, reseach plus several injuried rookies and officers had to be dealt with, the alien autospys had gone well and so far everything was okay, Delta team was now under tempory command of somebody else while Ego attended to the wounded. "Sir." Said a passing Squaddie. Ego nodded and then entereed Warlord's office, there was nobody in so Ego just put the letter on the CO's desk, he checked the letter to make sure that everything was correct and then turned down the coridoor towards medi bay Nurse Hammlesmith smiled at Ego when he entered the medical bay. "Doctor Freud has arrived, and is in your office waiting." "Thanks" Replied Ego. He opened the door to his office, Freud was sat on Ego's desk. Freud, was Ego's replacement, a good man, had no interest in combat, but he knew how to perform autopsies, and medical treatment. "Gut day Dr Terrorist, you ist well?" Ego chuckled, his English wasn't the best but he was a good man. "Fine you?" "Ya, so you ist off?" "Yup, I'm off, my Taxi should be here now." Ego picked up a bag and waved bye, and walked down the final route to the main elevator, he got in and was then taken into the garage level of the slum, the Taxi now visible Ego got into it and was then taken off to the Transtellar Space Port. "Ah, 3 weeks of sun sea and sand! Hawaii, here I come! Let the holiday begin"

Instalment by Warlord Warlord eased the Phoenix into the underground parking area of the Senate Building. As he stepped out, a pair of young security guards approached him. "Commander Warlord?" "What." "Sir, the Senator asked us to escort you to his office." "I know the way to his office, why don't you two just go on back to your posts." "Sir, we have orders." "I could really care less. Leave me alone. I don't need an escort." "Sir, we have orders to escort you to the Senator's office, and we will follow our orders. We also have orders to secure your sidearm." With that, the guard reached for Warlord's pistol. In a flash the pistol was out and pressed firmly against the guard's neck. "I don't think so, boy. Now unless you are in the mood for a shootout, get out of my sight." "But we have-" "I already told you, I don't care what orders you have, or who gave them to you. I also have orders, and mine supercede anything you can even imagine." The two guards backed off, looking worried. Keeping an eye on the two of them, Warlord headed for the grav-lift. On his way up, he slipped the pistol back into his waistband. He straightened his jacket and headed for the senator's office. Before he could even knock, the door opened. "Come in, Commander. The senator is waiting." As Warlord stepped into the senator's office he heard the aid close the door behind him. "I'm pissed, so I'll cut to the chase. What the hell kind of stunt was that last night?" "What do you mean? I went to get a drink, and some thug jumped me. It was purely self defense." "Your 'self defense' caused over $750,000 in damage to this city" "Take it up with Diablo. I'm sure they can afford the bill." "Watch your tone, Commander. Until further notice, you, and all X-Com personnel under your command, are forbidden to carry any form of weapon with the sole exception of combat missions. Furthermore, no armed craft are to leave the building unless they are engaging a UFO. Is that clear?" "What about intelligence gathering and raid activity?" "Any mission that is not a direct action against the alien invaders must be cleared through me personally." "In that case, I have a raid pending against a Cult of Sirius weapons stockpile. Intel has confirmed that the weapons are enough to send about 50 armed personnel on a mission. This staging area is located less than two blocks from my base." "Permission denied." "What?! You can't be serious. The cult is getting ready to attack my base and you won't let me put a stop to it?" "You don't know for sure that they are going to attack your base." "No, I suppose they might be throwing a f**king parade!" "One more outburst like that, and I'll have you relieved of your command and thrown in jail" "You know as well as I do that the cult is going to hit us in retaliation for our strike on their breeding ground. You also know how many non-combat personnel are at my base. When they attack, casualties are going to be high, and the blood will be on your hands..."

Instalment by The Veteran Almost as soon as Warlord hung up on the lieutenant, the phone in security signalled an incoming call. "Bring it up," said Lieutenant Jackson to one of the operators. "Yes sir," they replied bringing up a face on the screen in front of them. The man on the screen looked elderly but something about him suggested he could not be judged by appearance alone. "I need to speak to Commander Warlord," said the screen. "I'm sorry I can't allow that. What business do you have with the Commander?" replied Jackson. The man on the screen was obviously a government official of some sort as he was able to refer to Warlord by name. The names of XCom operatives were known to very few people outside of the organisation. "I need to discuss an important matter with him concerning the operations of Bravo base." "What?" said the Lieutenant shocked. Who was this person and how did they know so much about XCom? "What is your position?" he asked the stranger. "I am Major Haggith of Alpha base. I need to meet with Warlord immediately. Do you have a problem with that soldier?" he replied. "No sir. Absolutely not," Jackson replied immediately. "Well then boy, go get him! I can't wait here all day. In case you didn't hear me I said it was important," said the Major sharply. "I'm sorry sir but Warlord isn't currently at the base," he started and decided to stop. If the Major wanted to know any details he could ask. The Lieutenant wasn't going to volunteer the information willingly. "Where is he?" said the Major impatiently. "He has an appointment with Senator Harding sir. He is expected back before evening." "Tell him I called," said the Major. The line went dead, the call ended by the Major. The security room was filled with silence and then the next minute it was filled with noise. The Lieutenant stood in silence staring at the blank screen. Thinking. 'Trigger...' he finally thought. The Lieutenant sat down at a monitor and accessed the security files. "I hope he's grateful for this," he said to himself. "I'm missing lunch now..."

Instalment by Warlord After Trigger had moved away, Tammy turned to Warlord. "Can they really do what you said they can?" The concern in her voice was evident. "Yes. I wouldn't have told Trigger about it otherwise. I'm a cold-hearted bastard, but I'm not going to build up a soldier's hopes when I know there's no chance for him. The techies down in R&D have a direct order from me to do whatever is in their power to help Trigger out." "Thank you for helping him, sir. A lot of commanders would just cut a soldier like him loose." "I'm not a lot of commanders, and he's not just some soldier. He's one of my soldiers. And I don't cut anybody loose." Tammy looked back at Warlord, studying his eyes to see if they told the same story. His eyes blazed with determination, but there was also compassion behind them. Tammy spoke again with a tone of respect in her voice that went beyond simple respect for rank. "Thank you, sir." She then turned and walked away. Warlord watched her go. Trigger was very lucky to have a soldier, and a person, of her caliber watching over him. He flipped out his communicator and dialed base security. "Security, Lieutanant Jackson speaking." "Lieutenant Jackson, Commander Warlord." "Sir" "At ease, I want Trigger fully reinstated to his former security clearances. That includes his access codes for his quarters, the training room, armory, etc. Got it?" "Yes, sir. I thought he was going to be leaving us." "Not anytime soon, and if he does, we'll handle it then. For now, reinstate all his access codes." "Yes, sir. His codes will be reactivated in about 10 minutes." "Thank you Lieutenant." "Just doing my job, sir." "Warlord out." Warlord hung up and climbed into the closest Phoenix and cranked up the engine. The hovercar roared to life. Warlord checked all systems and gently eased out of the hangar on his way to the Senator's office.

Instalment by The Veteran "Thankyou sir. I just may do that," said Trigger with some enthusiasm. "Sir?" he called as Warlord turned away. "Yeah?" "Where's my gun?" Warlord looked to the ground, and there was silence. "Go to engineering... They should have it there," he replied after some time. Trigger understood exactly what he meant. He himself had lost his heart and his eyes. The gun would have been like paper. He said nothing and turned to leave. "Where are you going?" asked Tammy. "Research and development I guess," he replied glumly. She let him go. He was ok on his own now. Trigger recognised very few faces while he walked but now he could at least see just enough to know he didn't recognise them. As he approached R&D he wondered what he would do if they could do what Warlord had said they could. Trigger slowed to a stop and began thinking. He turned away from R&D and headed for the workshop a little further down the hall. Here he found his gun. "We haven't had any time to look at it yet but..." "Forget about it," said Trigger as he was approached by one of the mechanics. "I'll take it. I'm good with this sort of thing." "Yes sir," said the mechanic turning back to his work. Trigger slung Ultio over his shoulder and left for his quarters. He was in no mood for chit-chat and was in even less of a mood for conflicts. As he reached his quarters he remembered something. He tapped in the access code hopefully but the door stayed locked and Trigger slumped against the wall, exausted and depressed. He slid down the wall and Ultio fell to the floor beside him. In the corridor outside his quarters Trigger slept well for the first time in days.

Instalment by Warlord As Warlord emerged from the shower, he could hear the insistent pulsating tone from his phone. "Screw it. Let the machine pick it up, I don't feel like talking to reporters," he mumbled as he started pulling on his uniform. But just before the machine would pick up, the person on the other end would hang up and call back. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore, and picked up the receiver. "What" "Do you always address your superiors like that, Commander?" "When they bother me at six in the morning, yes, Senator." "I want you in my office in 30 minutes, Commander." "That's really sweet of you, Senator, but I'm not interested in a relationship right now. I'm still exploring other possibilities. Not to mention the fact that I'm not attracted to other men." "Cut the crap, Commander! 30 minutes. Do you understand me?" "Gotcha. See you when I get there." Warlord hung up grinning, just as the Senator really started to go off. "This day just keeps getting better and better." As he walked through the base, he could feel the depression in the air. The soldiers were feeling down, and it was obvious. Suddenly, and idea struck him. He flipped open his portable communicator and punched up the speed dial for Tankman. "Tank, Warlord." "Sir." "Our friends, the Cult, have set up a propaganda shop. Intel tells us that it looks more like a safe house for raiding teams. Lots of equipment, not a lot of security. Apparently they don't want to be too obvious." "What are we gonna do about it?" "I think that those weapons and that equipment would better serve the city of Mega Primus in the hands of X-Com soldiers. Don't you agree?" "Absolutely, Sir. What's the plan?" "That's your department. Start plotting the basics, and I'll go over it with you this afternoon after I get back from the senate." "You got it. Tankman out." Warlord already felt better. Historically nothing raised a unit's morale than a successful battle. This raid on the Cult should be exactly what the doctor ordered. "As long as we don't find another breeding ground..." He entered the vehicle bay just as Tammy and Trigger were coming back in. "Trigger, how are you?" "Not much better, sir." Warlord could hear the depression in his voice. He knew it had to be tough for a sniper to lose his sight. "Listen, I know you don't want implants, but I think you should give them another look. "Another look? Real funny sir." "You know exactly what I mean, and I am still your commanding officer, so watch your tone, soldier. Anyway, I've been looking around, and there may be another option for you, besides implants." Trigger's head snapped up at this news. He had a hopeful, but guarded look on his face. "What kind of option?" "R&D had been working on an improvement for the standard combat helmet. It included a ton of modifications. One of those modifications was a vision enhancer. It was originally intended to allow soldiers to see clearly in any environment, but the engineers had trouble making it work for soldiers with normal vision. It was too difficult to improve on that, so the project was scrapped. However, with your vision being degraded, They might be able to make one for you, custom built." "So I get to walk around for the rest of my life wearing a helmet?" "No, the technology was built into the lens of the helmet, so it might be possible to build a pair of, say, sunglasses with the same capability. Talk to the tech geniuses down there when you get a chance. They just might be able to help you out."