UFO FanFic - Chapter 2

[Snikers]

This area was far too bright...this entire planet was far too bright. The alien blinked painfully in the sunlight. Far too close too the sun. Inferior beings for an inferior planet, the creative alien thought wryly.

Taking care to stay in the shade, it carefully moved along the trees, plasma rifle in its hand. Every step was plodding, the planet's gravity far too marsh for the alien's liking.

It saw movement. Readying its rifle, the grey being moved forward to crouch behind a tree.

A short distance away, a grouping of the inferior beings. A large one - large, even for a human - was standing with its back to him. He knew they couldn't see him - they were in the bright light, and he was in the dark under cover. Silently, it raised its rifle, pointing it at an inferior being for the second time that day.

Aiming at the large inferior, the alien squeezed the trigger.

[The Veteran]

Fireteam green consisted of three soldiers, Shuwei Chen, John O'Malley and Donovan. They had been moving slowly Northward along the easternmost limit of their containment perimeter. Now with Warlord's contact Shuwei was even more alert and the soldiers checked and double checked every plant thy passed. Shuwei was a short soldier and this was her first mission. This was also O'Malley's first mission for XCom and he was beginning to feel the pressure. Donovan was acting as a rearguard and was a good ten meters behind John and Shuwei leaving a large gap between them.

Now as the two forward soldiers moved into a clearing they heard a sound close behind them and both stopped immediately. Shuwei and John both raised their rifles and turned to see what was following them. John just managed to suppress his instinct to fire when he saw a small creature dart out from behind a bush. Both soldiers lowered their weapons and gave a sigh of relief.

Shuwei was not at ease however, something felt disturbed in the air around them... As she turned back to the way they had been heading she saw a glint in the shadows ahead of her. Despite her training she froze. Just for a second she couldn't respond to what she saw...

A small grey child-like creature was squatted in the shadows, barely visible at all. But Shuwei could see the sunlight glinting off it's huge eyes... And she could see the muzzle of a large purple rifle, aimed at the small of John's back.

For that second everything froze for Shuwei. The sound of the wind in the leaves was silenced by the beating of her own heart and the shadows cast by the swaying trees played over the small creature as he readied his weapon. She saw John out of the corner of her eye with his back to the creature. She saw him turn slightly but not by much... He was still facing away from the creature...

Then he spoke, he said to Shuwei, "There's probably nothing here at all..."

Shuwei felt the tears begin to well in her eyes and her mouth widened silently as she saw the creature begin to squeeze his trigger. There was a flash of brilliant green light just as Donovan appeared in the clearing and yelled "John"

All too late...

[JellyfishGreen]

Doc stood alone by the Skyranger, feeling a little uncomfortable being alone in an alien-infested jungle, but safer than cooped up in the cockpit. He'd seen "Predator". No training could stop that thing. And didn't the dropship pilot in "Aliens" get eaten as well?

 

There was a rustle in the bushes. To the right? Straight ahead? Sh*t - here he was fifteen feet from even his comlink. He fumbled for his sidearm. "I-is someone there?", he asked, shakily pointing the pistol at his best guess.

"Over here." He whipped around.

"It's me, Doc. Don't shoot." Ed emerged from the brush to his right, rifle held above his head. "Got a cigarette?"

 

The two of them leaned against the landing gear.

"It's a far cry from routine cargo humping, I'll give it that. Does the thrill make up for the threat of sudden death and dismemberment?"

Ed exhaled a dragon curl of smoke from his nostrils before replying. "Hell, Doc, I don't worry about none of that."

 

"Wait -" he touched his suddenly squawking headset to press it closer to his ear. "Someone just got hit."

 

***

 

John O'Malley looked down. His arm was missing below the shoulder. Most of it was lying on the ground along with his rifle. He could smell the acrid ozone and the smell of his own burnt flesh, but strangely not the horrible pain. I must be in shock, he belatedly concluded.

 

The other squad members were faster to react. Shuwei sprang into action and fired off a burst, hitting nothing but forcing the alien to retreat from its position to a few fallen logs.

 

Donovan caught up from his trailing position and sent another three-shot burst into the cover around the alien's position, keeping its bulbous grey head down. The fallen logs made good cover, but there was no way the alien could have poked its head up without being right in his sights.

 

A knobbly brown object sailed over their heads and landed in the grass. John was the only one to spot it. It was like a brown potato - but given their current situation, it could only be one thing. There were glowing concentric circles on one side of it, and those circles were getting smaller.

 

"I knew I shouldn't have signed up for X-COM... " he muttered to himself.

 

He threw himself onto the grenade.

 

The other two reacted to his action, realized what had happened, and ran for cover.

 

They almost made it. The alien grenade went off with the impact of twice it's size of C4 explosive, burning away a 10m circle of vegetation instantly and striking both Shuwei and Donovan with numerous fragments. Donovan's wounds didn't seem serious enough to impair movement; he sized up the situation quickly and threw a M25 standard fragmentation grenade in response. Shuwei recovered next. Of John O'Malley there was no sign.

 

Shuwei indicated a thicket from which she could flank the alien. Donovan indicated he'd head to the right. He shouted, "I'll flush him your way." The grenade went off, not where he expected, but it was enough to make the alien leave its position.

 

She ran around to the left of the impassable thicket - and the alien was already there. She brought up her rifle as the alien, startled, fired its weapon.

 

Shuwei took the plasma bolt in her chest but remained standing, and let rip a burst of lead at the grey figure. The assault rifle bullets struck the alien and tumbled it screaming to the ground. Immediately she stopped firing and swung the barrel to point at the sky. She panted to catch her breath. Flinders of wood blown off the nearby trees sounded like rain as they finally fell through the leaves to earth.

 

Donovan looked around for other movement, then caught up to the alien body. He kneeled down to inspect it. It looked dead, all right. The glossy black eyes had fogged over and a green sort of blood was pooling on the dead leaves. He looked up at Shuwei. There appeared to be a large scorch mark on her uniform and bloody rents from the shrapnel. "Are you all right?" he asked.

 

She started walking forward. "I'm...a little tired." She suddenly sagged, then collapsed.

 

Donovan started towards her unmoving body, but a flash of plasma from the next thicket forced him to dive back under cover. The blood trickling into his eyes kept him from spotting exactly where the shot had come from.

 

Warlord's voice came out of Shuwei's comlink. "Green-1, status"

Donovan wiped the blood out of his eyebrows and shouted into his own comlink.

"Green-2 here! Green-1 and Green-3 are down! One of the geeks had a grenade!

We got him, but I'm being watched by a sniper"

While talking, he broke cover and ran, rolling back into cover behind the cluster of fallen vine-entangled logs. Plasma fire lanced harmlessly into the foliage over his head. He was hyperventilating.

 

***

 

Warlord whirled around. "Terrick! You get down there and give Green-2 some covering fire"

Terrick faltered. "I don't know where any of those aliens are, uh, sir"

"Look, that guy's down there alone, and scared, and the only way we're going to get him out if is you go and help him! Now use your map, check his position, and get going" He turned to his squad. "The rest of you! Blue Team is moving forward 50 meters to give support fire! Have that AC-HE ammo ready so I can kick some grey arse"

Terrick moved off east, picking his way down the tangled roots on the side of the ravine. Warlord keyed his comlink. "Red-1, Blue team is advancing north 50 meters. Sweep your team north and around us. Green-2, stay put and observe. We're sending Blue-4 to dig you out."

 

***

 

Donovan felt better after hearing Blue-1's words. He took a peek around the end of the log, exposing as little of his body as he could. "I see a small creekbed that might be hiding him. Beyond that...Hey! I think I see the UFO" It was an unmistakable metallic glimmer through the trees. His training cut in. "Um, 100 meters, bearing 015" The operators back at headquarters caught that, as they were trained to do, and the active map displays were updated with the position of the crashed UFO.

[Snikers]

Donovan tried to tuck himself back behind cover, but wasn't fast enough. The alien spotted him and lanced green death in his direction. Donovan was already moving, though, and the shot missed him by centimetres, hitting a tree behind him and causing it to burst into flames.

Some flaming bark fell on the back of Donovan's uniform, uncomfortably close to his neck. Donovan slapped at the searing pain frantically, hoping to get it off him before his clothes caught alight. He suceeded, but the flurry of movement gave the alien another clue as to his position. It opened fire again, plasma soaring over Donovan's prone form.

Terrick did his best to hurry through the thick jungle. It was difficult. He wished that he had taken a machete, or better yet a flamethrower. He tripped and nearly fell, making sure to keep his grip on his rifle.

He spotted bright lancing green and instantly threw himself to a tree. Bracing himself against it's strong trunk, Terrick raised the rifle to his shoudler, aimed for a split second and fired.

Chattering, semi-jacketed death zipped through the air at the alien. The first bullet missed, splattering bark chips from a tree just to the side of the creature. It was only registering in his mind as the second bullet hit his hand, shattering bone. It dropped the rifle as the third round hit its abdomen, knocking it to the ground. It wasn't dead, but it was badly wounded. Terrick moved forward to get a clear shot on the creature. Donovan was already crawling to cheack the downed Shuwei.

[The Veteran]

As Terrick advanced on the downed alien he levelled his rifle at it's head, right where the brain should be. He stepped within feet of the creature and looked it up and down giving one of it's frail legs a nudge with his foot.

"You really aren't all that different to us are you..." he mused to himself.

There was green blood driping from the wound in the creatures abdomen and it's right hand was clearly useless. Staring into the creatures wide lidded eyes Terrick began to feel something... Pity perhaps but it didn't feel like pity. Martin had no pity for any creature, human or not...

He knelt infront of the creature and felt compeled to reach out to it, to touch it. He lowered his rifle and took one hand from the trigger to satisfy his urge. He was relaxed, almost at home with this creature. It felt much like nursing a sick child to him.

Terrick reached his hand towards the aliens face and felt his heart rate increase ten fold and then he touched it... It was so cold, so lifeless... But he felt no pity, he never did. Suddenly as he stared at the creatures childlike face it's eyes snapped open and Martin was overcome by a screaming sensation in the depths of his mind, almost losing control of himself to it. With a final effort he swung at the creature with his rifle slamming it hard into it's skull. He heard a satisfying snap and fell backwards with exhaustion.

He had no idea what had happened but he was terrified by it. He didn't know what to do. Whether to tell someone, or shout for someone. Should he get the creatures weapon or the corpse? No, he just forgot about it, and he sat motionless...

Meanwhile not far away from Terrick, Donovan had rushed to the side of Shwei Chen, her red hair made her easy to spot. She was lying on her front with no sign of injury. He slipped the barrel of his gun under her chest and used it to roll her over onto her back. Almost instantly he coiled back from the sight before him. Shuwei's right arm and chest were pocked with shrapnel and the trickle of blood from each carved a pattern across her grey jumpsuit. The shrapnel was not deep and the blood was not flowing heavily but Donovan had first noticed Shuwei's more severe injury. Above her right eye, Shuwei had been impaled by a plate of metal that now dug deeply into her temple. The blood from the wound mingled with the red of her hair and had already stained her face. Donovan stared in horror as the blood trickled behind Shuwei's ear but as he did, he noticed something... The plate was embossed... He knelt to examine it and gently tipped Shuwei's head towards him.

Donovan sat for a second in disbelief before he could believe what it said... "O'Malley..."

[Ki-tat Chung]

As Ki-tat reached a clearing, all he could see was Donovan and Shuwei. Donovan was just sitting on the ground, clearly shocked, with Shuwei lying on the ground, also clearly injured. He started towards the couple but something caught his eye. It was only at the corner of his eye, but it was very obvious what it was and was made even more obvoius as he turned his head. About 25 meters away, were the very messy remains of John O'Malley.

[Snikers]

Ki-tat tensed as the sound of movement came from the tall grass to his left. He swiveled, gun coming to ready - and saw that it was Terrick, a rifle in each hand. Ki-tat noticed that one of these rifles was stubby, purple, shiny, and in short very inhuman.

Terrick motioned over his shoulder with the alien rifle. He spoke, businesslike as usual. "Bogey's back there. Alive, I think, but not getting up soon. I took its rifle just in case." With that he lightly tossed the gun at Ki-tat, who caught it easily and stuffed as much as he could into his backpack in an over the shoulder motion.

Donovan was barking into his radio. "Medic, I repeat we need a medic NOW, Shuwei has been shot and there's a head injury, she's got a weak pulse and no breathing."

Terrick was immediately at Donovan's side. "What happened?" He inguried, quickly, as Ki-tat moved forward to make sure they didn't have yet more company. The burning tree was spewing black smoke into the air like a beacon. All we need is a klaxon to let the blind know we're here! he thought angrily.

Donovan picked up his rifle, colour flsuhing into his features. "Some alien bugger shot O'Malley, then tossed us a grenade. John jumped on it. Then he shot Shuwei. We got him, then the sniper showed up, then you."

"Is she going to make it?"

"I don't know," said Donovan, looking down, sagging, "I don't know. She's sure not getting up for a while." His voice was shaky, quavering. He looked up at Terrick, an angry expression coming over his features. "They shot her, Terrick, the alien sons of b*tches shot her. I think they've killed her."

"Donovan, we have to wait for the medic to be sure - "

"Yeah. Yeah. Wait for the medic," growled Donovan, knuckles going white on his gun. "Then we kill them."

"All of them." Added Terrick, voice cold.

[The Veteran]

"Ki-tat! Where the hell is he..." Rick and Jennings continued moving North Eastwards to where the UFO had been spotted but Ki-tat had disappeared a while ago and ghadn't returned. The two remaining members of fireteam Red knew he was with Terrick and Donovan so they hadn't turned back for him but he was seriously jeopardising the team by leaving at all.

"Warlord you busy over there?"

*No we've got the quiet part of the field by the sounds of it. What's your problem?*

"The squads are falling apart Jack. Jennings and I have just lost Ki-tat and fireteam Green are in complete disarray. We've got two men down over there already and everyone's just doing whatever the hell they like."

*I know Rick it's not going the way it should be, but these guys are rookies. They're probably having a hard time coming to grips with what they're fighting. The important thing is that we stick with them until they can fend for themselves.*

"I guess, it just worries me that these guys have peeled off so much. They aren't even headed for the crash site anymore."

*Well where are you and Jennings?*

"We're less than fifty meters southwest of the vehicle. We're going to clear outside and then wait for an assist on storming the ship."

*We're one hundred south of it ourselves but the foliage is dense here. You clear outside but stay in cover. Tammy, Tim and I will be up to help you as soon as we can. Don't go inside until we get there!*

"Don't worry, I'm not planning to. Give us ten minutes. Until then, give us radio silence, I'm switching off..."

*Ok, if I need you I'll just shout really loud.*

"See you when we get there."

"Well?" said Jennings from behind Rick.

"We go by the plan we had. Stay in cover and clear the area around the ship. Red group should be here in about twenty. Until then we just need to stay alive and kill anything that isn't us."

"Sounds good to me. I just hope I get the little bastard that shot me..."

Rick laughed, "We've been following it since we got here. I think you'll get it"

"Hey look," said Jennings, "I think I see it now. I'll head off that way and clear the rear of the site. That bug-eyed creep is going to pay..."

[JellyfishGreen]

The tiny alien disappeared into the dense brush west of the UFO just as Jennings got into a firing position. Rick moved up to provide cover fire for Jennings' next move. But just as Rick moved, plasma blasts lashed out of the gloom. He hit the deck as Jennings fired a loose burst back down the line of fire. He swung quickly back behind a tree as return fire lashed his position. The two soldiers looked at each other and decided not to move. The tree trunk was burnt nearly through.

 

Meanwhile, the Blue team had pushed through the remaining thicket. They were only slightly south of the UFO and within sight of Donovan. Tammy ran to his side where Shuwei lay, checking her vital signs and wounds quickly. She pulled open the armored vest - and immediately saw the plasma bolt wound that had been hidden by the twisted vest and tangled clothing. It looked bad.

 

"Is she -" asked Donovan. Tammy looked up, then seized a dressing from her pack. "Put this on her forehead, press it there to stop the bleeding," she instructed. As Donovan busied himself, Tammy explored the wound with one hand and held two fingers against Shuwei's throat with the other. Her pulse was faint and fading. And then it was gone.

 

She said softly to Donovan, "She's gone. There's nothing we could have done for her with that wound. It would have taken a surgical team." She said the last for her own benefit as well as his. She asked Ki-tat to show her where John O'Malley's body had fallen, but immediately she could tell there wasn't even enough of a body to bother with.

 

Rick sized up his situation and realized the tree trunks wouldn't protect them from another barrage of plasma. It was time to set up a crossfire - and according to his map, Warlord was in the perfect position.

 

"Blue-1, this is Red-1. We need some fire support! We have an alien in the thicket at grid 65,80! Can you spare some HE?"

"Affirmative, Red-1," rumbled Warlord, turning to face the grid reference. From south of the UFO he could see most of the thicket. "Hold still." The autocannon barrel motor spun up to a snarling whine. Tim ran to the near corner of the UFO to catch any aliens that might poke their heads up to see what the noise was. The rest of the squad straightened up and took positions as well.

 

Warlord glanced again at the map, checked his aim, and pulled the trigger, raking the thicket with 20mm explosive rounds. The dense organic greenery erupted into a cataclysm of flashes, flames, flying splinters, toppling stalks, and falling branches, filled with a cloud of smoke and smell of cordite. Six rounds later, there was hardly any more thicket. Warlord ceased fire.

 

Rick risked another look. As the smoke cleared from the thicket, all he could see was smouldering wreckage. Then movement caught his eye, and he sent three shots into the grey figure even as it dazedly staggered to its feet. "Red-1! Hostile down" he cheered. Jennings reached over and gave him a high-five.

 

Rick and Jennings quickly moved into the remains of the thicket and took cover again, watching the ground to the north and the door of the UFO. Warlord and Tim held position at the south side while Ki-tat, Donovan, Terrick, and Tammy moved up the flank of the stormy grey monstrosity.

 

Ki-tat was the first to reach the door. The team hunkered down and waited, but nothing emerged. Neither could anyone see a control for the door. Ki-tat stood up to search the door more closely - and it flew open, sliding upwards into the hull. The two aliens standing on the other side of the door were nearly as surprised as Ki-tat, but their weapons were already aimed at the door, and the team surrounding the UFO saw a bright flash as Ki-tat got off a few wild shots before being blown backwards from the door by two plasma shots. Tammy cried out and made to run to him but Terrick held her back. Rick fired at what he could see of the aliens to no effect. From his prone position, Jennings lobbed a grenade through the open door. The aliens turned to it and the door slammed closed again. A very muffled explosion went off inside.

 

Jennings and Rick got ready to move on the door but Donovan held them back with a look. He and Terrick flanked the door, making sure not to touch it, while Tammy pulled her pistol and crouched by Ki-tat. She looked him over, bit her lip, and lay the pistol in the grass beside her so she could administer first aid. "I can pull this guy through, if no-one else," she said.

 

Nothing continued to happen. The four men waited, guns pointed at the door, while Tammy did her work. Finally Warlord and Tim returned from their scouting trip and pronounced the rest of the area secure. Tim moved up to lead position and with Terrick right behind him, opened the door again. The only sights that greeted him were the two grey little aliens collapsed on the floor.

 

The rest of the disk-shaped UFO was empty and intact, including the softly glowing orange pillar surrounded by instrumentation in the core of the ship.

 

One of the aliens moaned softly. Tim aimed his pistol at the grey head, then recanted. Instead he bound the arms and legs and whipped up a blindfold using Tammy's surgical dressing. A little interrogation might be useful to the investigative team - this was the first real contact he'd had with the ghosts he'd been chasing since Darwin.

Edited December 17, 2003 by JellyfishGreen

[Alitorious]

Day sighed as he watched the Skyranger taking off from its concealed position within the bush. It was going back to base with Jennings and Ki-tat to get them to the med bay ASAP. Also, it was carrying all of the captured weaponry found near the aliens, and the bug that's knocked out. They wanted to get it into the brig as soon as possible.

 

He looked back on the UFO. It looked to be about the same size as the ground impression found at that farm's house. Probably the same type, he figured. Hell, it might even be the same one. They didn't find much inside it, however, except a strange blue ball a couple feet across. All the heads back at base would probably be debating why the craft was out here in the first place.

 

At any rate, blue and gold fireteams were to stay at the site until, in five and one half hours, the recovery team arrives with squad two. The Skyranger would probably also make it back around then to help with the cleanup.

 

Meanwhile, the squad had to wait. Good thing someone has a pack of cards, he thought drily.

 

---------------------------------

 

A few hours later, they began to hear the low, steady whine of the skyranger's engines. Then, in a matter of seconds, the sound escalated in volume to an almost unbearable level. Tim looked up to see the bright lights of the Skyranger pinned down on them. They couldn't hear the Ranger until it was almost on top of them because it travelled near the speed of sound. A short minute later Doc settled the plane down on a perfect landing in the clearing made in front of the UFO, pointed away from the alien ship. The ramp lowered and out walked Doc.

 

"Hey, what mean person would leave all you guys out here like this?" he smirked.

 

"You're back fast. Don't tell me the recovery team's Ospreys broke?" Warlord said.

 

"Nah, I just passed them. They should be here any minute now."

 

As if on cue, the sound of the V-22 Osprey's motors rose above the threshold of human hearing, and the dot of the tilt rotor helicopter could be seen. It took much longer for this craft to get to the landing site.

 

 

Upon it landing, the members of squad two and the couple teckheads disembarked. The latter group were awestruck with the sight of the UFO.

 

"Yeah, it's a real honest-to-god fukkin UFO," Doc jeered at them. The two scientists, Gomez and Zager, gave Doc a look that would kill, then resumed their discussion.

 

"Then how do you suggest that we take it back to base? Neither the Osprey or the Skyranger are equipped to transport the thing whole. We'd need a specialized helicopter to do that."

 

"Then order in an S-64 from Russia! You're not cutting it up".

 

"Dr. Zager, please. Cutting it apart's the only way." The use of the formal Doctor showed how agitated Photon was.

 

"I suggest we let the Commander decide it."

 

Gomez agreed, then they back into the Osprey again. Contacting Base on the long-wave radio, the question was asked as to which of the two options should be taken."

 

"Cut it up," Genega agreed, much to the horror of Zager. "As much as I'd like to grab these things back in one piece, I'd rather get it back as soon as possible. It probably won't be the only one we'll pick up, much as we all hope we won't need to. We'll grab the next one whole, I promise." That settled the matter. The crew fired up some acetylene torches and began working on the UFO hull. At first it didn't look like they the alien material couldn't even be cut, but after a while the first section of metal started to parse.

 

"Hey, doc," Warlord asked. "Our squad's getting sleepy. Any chance we could leave now?"

 

"No," Gomez replied. "The osprey won't be able to carry all the stuff inside. We need to transport some stuff in the skyranger back, or else we'll need to take two trips."

 

"All right," Jack gruffed. "Just be quick about it."

 

Promptly, Zager yelled, "Wait! Don't cut it up until we're sure there's nothing in the hull itself we need to save" He dashed inside the door. A minute later he came out with a small, orange, glowing chunk of crystal.

 

"You sure that's not radioactive?" Gomez inquired. Zager responded by tapping the geiger counter on his wrist, which was silent.

"I'll carry this back personally. Inside there's two units, and some chairs. I suggest loading everything onto the Skyranger except for the alien hull, which we'll take back.

 

Warlord interrupted. "It's gonna be awfully cramped up in our plane, doc."

 

"Same as in ours. We have to do this."

 

Most of squad one slept in the skyranger after a small meal of military rations. It took half an hour for the techs to cut up the units inside the ufo. Except for the chairs, the strange orange device and the computer-like unit were still attached to the alien metal floor, with the floor being cut up instead. Then the cramped skyranger took off and headed back to base, leaving the rest of the team to cut up the UFO hull.

 

----------------------------------------------------

 

UFO-1 TACTICAL DEBRIEFING

 

Friendly craft present ;

Skyranger One

 

Hostile craft present ;

One unidentified alien craft

 

Friendly troops present ;

Pine Gap Tactical Squad 1

 

Soldiers present ;

Jack Thomas "Warlord"

Tamara Hilliard "Tammy"

Tim Day

Ed Dodge

Martin Terrick "Strike"

Robert Jennings

Rick Chez "Ping"

Ki-Tat Chung

Shuwei Chen

Jack Donovan

John O'Malley

 

Casualties ;

Robert Jennings - plasma burns to shoulder

Ki-tat Chung - plasma burns to chest

 

Fatalaties ;

Shuwei Chen - Shrapnel damage

John O'Malley - HE alien device

 

Hostiles present ;

Unidentified alien lifeform

 

Outcome of mission ;

Aliens Killed by X-COM Operatives:..........4

X-COM Operatives Killed by Aliens:..........2

X-COM Operatives Wounded in Action:.........2

Live Aliens Recovered:......................1

 

"Not bad for a first mission..." said Genega as he read over the printout of XCom's first official mission.

"Yeah they all did pretty well out there," rumbled Warlord from next to the Commander. "I was especially impressed with Jennings... I think he may have a few issues but once they're ironed out I think he could be a valuable asset to our operation."

"I heard he did well from Rick. He was equally impressed... I'll be sure to mention it to Robert in his debriefing for the mission. I have something I'd rather tell you in person though. While I have you here..."

"Commander?"

"You've always been one of the best soldiers in this operation Jack and you've always known that. The squad seems to have taken to you as their leader and I'd like to make you the offer officially. It's your choice of course and you're free to say no, but I'd like you to lead the squad indefinitely."

"Thankyou sir, I'll certainly consider it. I'll have to get back to you though, the life of a soldiers always been mine. I don't know if I'm meant to be in command..."

"Like I said, you're free to say no, I just wanted to make you the offer first."

"Yes sir thankyou. I'll let you know as soon as I've thought it over. I'd better let you get to writing those debriefings."

"Always the thoughtful one," said Genega grinning. "You're dismissed soldier."

"Yes sir." Warlord saluted and left the Commanders office, heading to his own more modest quarters. He remembered seeing the plans for an XCom funded living quarters module. Twenty people crammed into one room... He was just glad that Pine Gap was occupied as the first base of operations for XCom.

 

In his office, Commander Genega closed the door after Warlord and sat at his desk to begin work on the numerous paperwork that accompanied a misson like this. He sighed as he began to sift through the many personnel files that had been left for him. Sitting back in his chair, Genega sighed to himself again and said to himself "They don't know how lucky they are to be out there fighting..."

[Snikers]

"Ah - ow," came the whisper. Jennings grimaced as the doctor - he didn't have the privelege of knowing her name - prodded at the burn on his torso. She offered no apology, gray eyes inspecting for more serious damage. She had been a military doctor for over twenty years and could not be brought to care, anymore, for the pain of others.

In combat he had been high on adrenaline and hadn't noticed, but Jennings' burn actually reached from just right of his sternum all the way to a patch spilling into his left shoulder area. Jennings could still remember the moment clearly though.

He had looked to his right, the jungle's humidity forming sweat on his forehead and coming close to entering his eyes. He had seen light sheening off a purple metal for only the breifest of split seconds, but he was already on hairpin alert. He hadn't even thought; his feet dug into the dirt and propelled him away from whatever it was even as his arms swung the rifle to bear. Had he not been moving, he knew he would have taken the hit straight in the chest - and from what he'd seen of the effects of the alien tech, it would have gone right out the other side. As it were, he estimated he had caught the edge of the shot, and knew he was lucky. But he could still feeling the Kevlar bubbling, that memory was as clear as a photograph in his head...

Lucky. Yes. A deep feeling settled in the pit of Jennings' gut. He had a sense of foreboding that he wouldn't be so lucky next time.

"No problem," said the doctor, finally. "Looks nasty, but nothing serious here. You can return to duty in a couple of days, tops."

Jennings nodded at another table, where another lay. "What about him? How's he?"

The only sign of movement on Ki-Tat was the steady rise and fall of his chest. He had been conscious when they brought him in, and while he had even been able to grin and give a shaky thumbs up, Tammy had been familiar enough with combat injuries (and perhaps bravado) to know to give him a shot of some rather formidable painkillers. Ki-Tat was sleeping off some potent drugs at the moment.

"Him? Oh, he'll be fine. Golden hour rule. He'll probably even be able to return to service." The doctor frowned. "Can't say how long, though. That was quite a hit he took. Hey, just look after yourself, okay?"

With this last sentence the doctor gave Jennings a hearty slap on the shoudler - the left shoulder. Jennings gasped, then choked it off. Behind him, the doctor grinned. She far from dsliked the power she had over the no-neck no-brain men she firmly believed the military was made up of. She gave his shoulder an extra squeeze and continued off to check on Ki-Tat, expression innocent.

[Hankosha]

Hankosha was sitting in the lounge, hearing people talk about the aliens. He reached down to rub the charm, and not feeling it remembered it wasn't there. He sighed. The situation was not looking good. He headed for his room. It was empty, devoid of the little luggage O'Malley had possesed.The battle records were open to everyone, so Hankosha had looked at the tactics of the aliens. They spread out, trying to hide, but yet trying to cover the area surrounding the ufo. Their tactics were similar to a guerilla group in the jungle that he had fought with once, for a thrill, but the tactics weren't all that difficult. He looked of the battle again, noting that the aliens dropped easy when they were shot. They didn't have human ingenuity, so they didn't play possum. Hankosha checked the records again and noted the absense of ingenuity. It seemed as though they were all in control of one mind. Hankosha let that thought die. He also noticed the aliens were well trained in the usage of the weapons. As though they had done this type of combat before. Hankosha left. He needed a drink.

[The Veteran]

"Hey there trooper"

Jennings groaned and rolled over as best he could to face the door.

"Hey sorry, I didn't know you were sleeping," said Rick as he approached the bed.

"Don't worry about it. It's just all there is to do in here. I'm glad for the company."

"So how are you doing? That was a pretty bad hit you took out there."

"I'm not doing so bad," replied Jennings as Rick sat down beside him. "The nurse says it's mostly flesh damage. The muscles underneath aren't too bad."

"That's good to hear, I just hope you're back in action before squad 1 needs to act again. You did a great job out there."

"Thanks but my shoulder begs to differ."

"You're shoulder's lucky to still be attached to your body from what I hear of O'Malley's demise."

"I heard... It doesn't stop the burning though. I've been told that'll take about a week."

"A week? Hell, let's just hope these aliens aren't feeling all that active for a while..."

"Well we must've given them a good scare last night. If they're really all that smart then they should take some time to change their tactics. But I doubt they are..."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, look at me. Would you say I'm smart? Of course you wouldn't, I'm not! But that's why I'm a soldier. I do what I'm told, no matter what the odds. I think they're the same..."

"Well you may have a point there. If I'd have taken the hit that you did I'd have been down for good! Bigger is better I guess huh?"

"Not when it means you're always the first one to get shot at! Easier to hit you know?"

Jennings smiled and pulled himself up the bed a bit, sitting for the first time since he'd arrived in the Med-lab.

"One question," he said as he got comfortable.

Rick nodded, "fire away."

"We won the battle, I remember the area being confirmed as secure... So how come I don't remember getting back to base?"

Rick chuckled softly. "Soon after the action was over you passed out due to loss of blood. Apparently you'd been bleeding heavily the whole time without noticing! Tammy wrapped you up for the airlift out and they stuck you straight in here when we got back."

"Is that a fact? I guess I'm even dumber than I thought" Jennings laughed and Rick accompanied him.

"Hey" called a voice from across the room. "Do you mind keeping it down over there? Some of us are trying to slip into a coma..."

Jennings turned to see Ki-tat wide awake and sitting up in his bed. "Hey it's the human blast shield! How are you feeling?"

"About the same as you I'd guess... where are the nurses around here?"

"Trust me you don't want to know. Our field medic's one in a million, not like the base staff." Jennings pulled a contorted face in mockery of the nurse who had seen to him since his arrival in the med-lab.

Ki-tat sighed, "things just don't let up do they?"

"You'd better believe it," said an unwelcoming female voice as the nurse returned to check on her patients. "It's about time you woke up. Now let's see how you're healing up. You guys may want to look away." She drew a curtain around Ki-tat's bed and they both vanished from sight.

Rick and Jennings looked at each other silently for a moment before allowing themselves some muffled laughter.

"I was going to wait for Ki-tat too but since he's going to be tied up for a while I guess I'll just give you yours." Rick extended his hand to Jennings and handed him a sealed envelope.

"Oh joy, debriefings. My most favourite part of a mission..." Jennings frowned softly as he opened the envelope.

Rick had brought his own debriefing with him unopened, and now he read it.

"So what did you get?" he asked Jennings when he'd reached the bottom of the document.

"A callsign apparently..." replied Jennings obviously still reading.

Rick grinned. "We had a talk about you on the way home. What do you think?"

"Stump," said Jennings with a raised eyebrow. "Why am I Stump?"

"You know near the end of the battle we hid behind that tree?" Jennings nodded. "Well that was burnt right through, I honestly don't know how it was still standing. But it was. Even when we left it was still standing. But just after you passed out, it fell down. Took out a wall of the UFO, the techs aren't too happy about it." Rick chuckled as he spoke and Jennings seemed to finally understand.

"That's not right man... It's like voodoo or something... I mean, what happens if that tree ever gets chipped?"

Rick laughed. "I guess we just have to hope that doesn't happen huh? Besides we carved a memorial for Shuwei and John into the stump so unless you have some unexplained tattoos then you'll be fine."

Jennings looked down the front of his medical gown, "if I roll over can you check my back?"

"If you roll over I'm leaving. Those things are open backed you know"

Jennings laughed as a muffled cry rose from the curtained bed beside him. "Of course it hurts it's a fourth degree burn! Now stop touching it"

Rick and Jennings both laughed out loud as they listened to Ki-tat's tortured cries and soon the nurse emerged and drew back the curtain.

Rick rose and started over to Ki-tat, his debriefing in hand. "Here, I brought you some light reading. I hope you enjoy it... Looks like you won't have another one for quite some time"

"Tell me about it," replied Ki-tat taking the envelope. "I'm going to be here for at least a week... And that's if it's a quick recovery"

"Ouch"

"Don't worry about it. I'm here for about that long too. We can play I-spy or something."

"Hey everybody! What's going on here? Is this a red fireteam reunion or something?"

"Hey T nice of you to drop in." said Rick turning away from where Ki-tat was reading to see Trigger enter the med-lab.

"What so I'm just a letter now? What happened to a name?"

"Think yourself lucky..." said Jennings rolling his eyes.

"Quiet Stumpy, you'll get used to it." laughed Rick.

"Oh hey I just read that bit," chuckled Ki-tat. "How come I don't have a callsign?"

"They probably didn't think you'd like Whiney," said Jennings smiling openly.

"Stumpy hey? I like it. You look kind of like a Stumpy..." said Trigger still in the doorway.

"Technically it's just Stump. It doesn't sound so friendly though." said Rick walking over to Trigger. "So what brings you here anyway?"

"Not pleased to see me Richard?"

"Hey, unless you want that T to become Timothy you'd better be careful"

Jennings laughed, "that's worse than Stump"

Trigger frowned. "Just call me Tim. You know like you have for the last five years"

Rick chuckled "So what's up?"

"I was looking for you and Warlord said you'd be here."

"Yeah he gave me the debriefing reports for these two cripples. I was just dropping them off. I'm done now." Rick turned to the two bed-ridden casualties, "I'll come back and visit you guys I promise! Try not to kill each other though huh?"

Jennings and Ki-tat shooed Rick who left with a smile and started heading for the rec-room with Trigger.

"So do the pilots get debriefings?"

"Gia did, she shot it down. Technically I was off-duty so I didn't get one. I just recieved the mission report." The two men entered the lift next to the med-lab and headed down. "Messy end to one of the guys I hear?"

"Yeah that was John, the poor guy was torn to pieces. The worst thing is that the shrapnel that killed Shuwei was part of John's uniform..."

"Damn... How did you get on? Chalk up any kills?"

"You better believe it. Got one of them to the end of the battle. Jack flushed it out for me and I got it right between the shoulders"

Rick grinned proudly as the lift doors opened again.

"So how was your battle report then?" Trigger asked Rick.

"Interesting... Apparently the Commander has offered control of Squad 1 to Warlord. If he says no then I'm next in line... We'll have to wait and see though. I have no idea whether Jack has a taste for command or not..."

"But you'd take up the post if he didn't?"

"I'd certainly give it a go. It might be nice to be the top of the chain for once..."

Trigger laughed as they entered the Rec-room, bustling with soldiers as usual.

"Hey it's nice to see the rec-room free from nerds for once" said Rick laughing.

"I guess they're busy with the UFO and stuff huh?"

Rick grunted an acknowledgement as he scanned the room for familiar faces. He was surrounded by them.

"Hey there's the leader to be," said Rick glancing over to where Warlord was with the rest of his fireteam from the last mission.

"Oh please tell me you're not going to trade war stories..."

"Why I'm sure if Gia was here you'd be doing just the same"

"No, we've already done that..." Trigger sighed, "come on then, let's get it over with..."

[Rasicar]

*THWAP*

 

The punching bag moved slightly.

 

*THWAP THWAP*

 

It moved even more.

 

Donovan was stripped to his chest and glistening with sweat from the workout he was putting himself though. Other then gloves for the bag, the only other thing he was wearing was the loosest fitting training pants he could find. They weren't exactly 'gi-pants' but he figured they would do.

 

 

"Nice form," a voice said behind him.

 

He stopped in the middle of a kick and spun around in ready stance, looking directly at Martin Terrick.

 

Terrick moved over and held the bag and motioned for Donovan to continue. Donovan dropped into ready stance and started hitting the bag again, switching between intricate kicks, punches, elbows and hand-strikes.

 

"Any reason why your working yourself into exhaustion?" Terrick asked, through gritted teeth trying to brace the bag. Thinking 'this guy is good,' at the same time.

 

Donovan's punch floundered and that statement, impacting the bag with little effectm, glancing off the side. He shook his head slightly and then came up out of his stance and put his hands on his hips.

 

Breathing heavily, he looked Terrick straight in the eyes, "Have you ever seen some die in front of you?"

 

Terrick blinked a few times and let go of the bag, "So that's what's bugging you? Seeing your comrades drop? Kid, it happens."

 

Donovan shook his head, "It wasn't O'Malley that bothered me; he sacrificed himself to save us. I respect that and won't waste my time mourning over him for it. It was the way she died. After the blast she just took off, but she was already dying. And I think she knew it; so she figured she'd take it down with her. At least I guess.

"I don't know, I guess I never expected to see someone go down like that."

 

Terrick nodded slightly, "Well, we didn't expect to ever have to fight aliens now did we?"

 

This remark caused Donovan to chuckle slightly, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

 

Terrick clapped him on the back, "Now go hit the showers and go to the rec. room. I'd wouldn't be surprised to find a couple people willing to raise a toast to our fallin comrades."

 

With that he turned around head out of the room leaving Donovan there just shaking his head. The man was right. Donovan couldn't let himself get get hung up over fallen soldiers.

 

'Better to celebrate then pity the dead, after all, they are free of this burden we now carry." he said quietly to himself.

 

He looked at the punching bag one last time and envisioned the alien that threw the grenade that vaporized O'Malley and started Shuwei's death sentence. The punch he threw was the most perfect punch he'd even thrown. All muscles in his body focused into a single lancing point that almost made the bag soar ninety degrees. He looked down at his hand and saw he cracked open his knuckles from from that one shot and looked back at the bag. Their was still an impression of his fist in it.

 

Twenty minutes later he was out of the shower and in the rec. room with Terrick, raising a glass in cheers with his now bandaged hand.

 

********************************************************************

The next day

********************************************************************

 

All people who weren't on guard duty were assembled in two rows before the entrance of transport. Everyone was dressed in the closest thing to a 'dress uniform,' that X-Com had. Genega was at the head of the group, an ornate coffin was in the center with a soldier at each corner.

 

Warlord called out, "Atten-HUT" Everyone came to attention.

 

Genega started to speak, "We are gathered here to pay respects to our fallen comrades. Private's Shuwei and O'Malley gave their lives in the defense of our planet, of our race. While we can not announce the true circumstances of their untimely departure to the rest of the world, their actions shall be remembered throughout all of X-Com and in time everyone on this planet. Death comes for us all; the only question is when and how. The only decision we get to make is how we decide to meet it. These made a decision that not many choose to... they met it on their feet, fighting to the end."

 

"Private John O'Malley, Private Shuwei Chen: You will be missed," Genega finished.

 

The four soldiers knelt down and lifted the coffin and carried in silence into the transport. From their the body would be shipped back to Shuwei Chen's family to be treated to as according to their beliefs. When the soldiers came back out of the transport and filed in, Warlord turn towards a hill in the distance.

 

"About-Face" he belted out, and everyone else turned in his direction. At Genega's signal, all soldiers gave the hill a salute.

 

On top of the hill two white specks could be seen. They were in the shape of a cross. On one cross was written 'Private John O'Malley. X-Com: Squad 1, Green Leader.' The other read 'Private Shuwei Chen. X-Com: Squad 1, Green 2.'

 

********************************************************************

Later that day

********************************************************************

 

Genega was in his office going over some paper work and trying to keep the thoughts of the soldiers that had fallen in the assault out of his mind when he heard a knock on the door.

 

"Come in," he said.

 

The door opened and in came a man in a white lab coat. The General put down the current file he was looking at and looked up at the man.

 

"Do I know you?" the General asked.

 

"No sir, I don't believe we've met, I'm Seamus O'Riork," the man said in a thick Irish accent, "Biogeneticist. Sir, I came in to report an update of the... the..., well the alien sir," he said trying to collect himself.

 

"Go on," Genega said, hoping for some good news.

 

"Well sir, nearest as we can tell, it's ummm... well it is dead sir."

 

Genega got up out of his chair, "Why wasn't I informed of this until now?"

 

"Sir, it died when the burial ceremony was being conducted, we thought that it would best to not intrude, after all, once something is dead, it can't exactly be brought back." Seamus said, timidly.

 

Genega took a deep breath and nodded. The man was right.

 

"Very well, in that case, how did it die?"

 

"Well General, an autopsy is being performed on it now, but from the initial data that we've gathered, it appears to have died from suffocation. In short, it couldn't breathe sir."

 

"But I thought that they were out of their ship and walking around just fine," the General said.

 

"Yes, that is puzzling us sir, however I think it might be that they can survive for a limited time in our atmosphere before returning to their own. Sir, I came also to ask your permission to have engineering follow through on their development of a containment facility. I think after the autopsy is finished we will be able to tell exactly what type of chemicals it breaths and how to safely introduce it to them. However we need the facility schematics in order to do that."

 

Genega nodded, "I'll make sure you get it as soon as possible. And Dr, I wan't a full report on that autopsy on my desk in two days, is that understood?"

 

The man faltered a little bit before regaining his composure, "Ye... Yes General."

 

Genega waved a hand, gesturing that they were done.

 

The scientist quickly ducked out of the room, glad to be heading back to the lab where he wouldn't have to deal with people.

 

Genega looked back down at the paper on his desk; more specifically at the fatality paperwork he had been filling out and then looked out the window. "What I wouldn't give to be back on the front lines," he said to the empty room.

[Bomb Bloke]

A shortish young man carrying a duffel bag over his shoulder strolled down the corridor from the hanger. As usual, he felt a bit lost; well you did, on your first assignment at a new base. And this one was like nothing he'd ever seen, most of them he could at least look up somewhere on the web. Whether or not he was supposed to.

 

But this was where the drop ship had left him, and little as he knew of his new assignment this was it. After a few years in the military, carefully avoiding promotion, he'd been approached by some shady blokes in uniform with badges like he'd never seen before. Ah well, ours is not to reason why...

 

He stopped walking and looked around. He'd passed a few rooms and offices, and one over there looked occupied. It had a plaque on it reading "General Genega". He went to stick his head around the door, thought better of it and knocked.

 

"Ah? Hello? Uh, I'm reporting for soldier duty... the demolition expert?"

[Spaceman42]

Dherzhin was looking over the landed Skyranger and shaking his head. The maintenance people had done a fair job of hosing down the cargo hold, but... The whole hold would have to be disinfected, all exposed surfaces scrubbed - on the off chance that the alien carried some latent bacterial or viral disease. He sighed, heavily.

 

There were specks of dried blood - human and alien - still clinging to the walls. He hadn't known either of the soldiers well - maybe shared a drink or two with them in the canteen - but their loss still weighed somewhat heavy on his mind. The other day, Johann had told him he'd be applying for a transfer to combat duty. "I am not made to be a mechanic," he said. "I came to X-COM not to build, but to fight. I do not feel right, sitting at base when I could be out there, fighting the enemy. I will apply to replace the casualties." It didn't come as a surprise, but it was a bit depressing, all the same. Gilbert, on the other hand... Gilbert had been hanging around with the scientists all day, helping with the unloading of captured alien weapons from the Skyranger and Osprey.

 

Dherzhin checked his watch. "Time for a break - and a drink," he said to himself...

[Alitorious]

For the second time in her stay at this base, Dana was in heaven. Why wouldn't she be, anyway? The research team finally got their hands on the captured alien equipment, after it spending more than a day in the intelligence division. She was incredibly anxious to get her hands on whatever the soldiers had captured for the past two days. (Damn bluesuits, she thought), but Dana understood the reason behind the initial secrecy... or at least thought she knew. It probably wasn't because of security between X-COM and the outside, but because of internal security problems - as already demonstrated, it was rather lax right now. (She grimaced at the memory of Ki-tat blowing up a biocell.) It probably took the two days to document every find, every alien hull panel, and describe and take photos to make sure that nothing was stolen.

 

After the sombre funeral service, Dana had returned to the lab to find that all the alien finds have been cleared for initial inspection and analysis by the tech department. All the items were currently being stored at the hangar level workshop. All scientists, engineers, and other members of the R&D department were requested to be present. She had torn out of there to try to be one of the first people to get a hold of the stuff. Unfortunately for her (albiet fortunately for the other scientists and engineers) Photon and Zager were already there, meaning Dana couldn't get free reign on taking everything apart.

 

"Look but don't touch," Photon cautioned. "We're waiting for the whole tech department to arrive to give the briefing."

 

Dana nodded, although she didn't know exactly what they needed a briefiing for. Probably allocation of who's researching what, she thought, but she wasn't going to complain yet. She perused the items. Almost every one of them was a weapon of some sorts, or the obvious accessory to the weapon. Only a couple of the handheld items obviously weren't weapons in the standard sense, however, in addition to the components salvaged from the UFO itself. She immersed herself while the rest of the R&D filed in.

 

Once everyone was inside, Photon began.

"Well, I'm sure, from the looks of some of you, you must be dying to get your hands on our new... 'acquisitions.' " He glanced at Dana as he said this. "Unfortunately we can't dive in headfirst without organization.

"I've been briefed by the commander. We don't need to change our research priorities, however we can do a small bit of shuffling right now.

"Here's the plan: Those currently working on the Heavy Weapon Platforms are to finish up the prototypes to be battle ready as soon as possible. I believe it shouldn't take more than a day." Dana's heart sank, although she realised the value of being patient. It's only a short while, she told herself.

Photon continued, "I believe we are making headway in our laser research. It may still be a matter of weeks before we can produce a prototype, yet we do not need all of our physics staff on the subject. The laser research group will be split up into a few smaller groups. We will still have the laser group, in addition to the analyzation groups and another 'special projects.' group." Photon's gaze touched on Daniel for a second. "Our biologists will be able to go over the captured aliens.

"Once the Tank team has finished the prototype, we'd like to focus priority on the alien power source, their crystal, and the hull materials they use."

"For specific teams, consult the postings in the back of the room. That is all."

As the rest of the staff dispersed towards the research team listings, Photon made his way directly to Daniel.

"Psawhn, I think you have something with that motion scanner idea of yours. I'd like you to lead a small group to persue it."

"M-me?" Daniel stammered.

Photon smiled. "Of course. -Now, don't give me any complaints about it being less than theory," he added, seing Daniel's face. "You should take this."

"I'll do my best."

"Good man." Photon moved on.

"Nice job with the MS team," Dana joined in.

"How'd you know?"

"It's listed in the assignment. I'm going to be both hull analysis and part of the motion trackers."

"I don't know about this thing-" he started.

She interrupted him. "You'll do fine. Both Photon and I have trust in you."

Dana then disappeared to the HWP's shoved in the corner of the workshop. She was going to try to finish them as soon as possible, so she could finally get her hands on the alien goodies.

[Rasicar]

Dana wiped the sweat from her brow. She was no programmer, she never claimed to be one, but for some reason she felt as though she were doing two MIT computer wiz-genius' jobs at once. She wanted to go over and help Daniel with his motion scanner progress but this Weapons Platform that she was working on was pissing her off.

 

The Artificial Intelligence was starting to malfunction for the fifth time today and the voice input device for manual control still didn't recognize half the commands that she had given it. Tapping a computer console next to her she went back over the code again and read through various sections that the computer was telling weren't compiling correctly and then reading what was prior to it. No matter how many times she looked at it, it still looked like a bunch of jibberish.

 

She realized that the 'boss', Photon, only wanted blueprints, but because she had always been an overachiever, she decided to also include a tactical simultion, which was almost done, and an actual visual of the chasis. The visual was done the quickest, only taking her a day and a half to design and render, mostly in her off time. The thing that was bothering her though, was the integration of the A.I. into the simulation. It just wouldn't work.

 

"The hell with it," she muttered and cleared the screen and pulled up a personnel list and scanned for a particular department. When she found what she was looking for, she picked up a comm-phone and tapped in the extension.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The music was blasting in his room as work was busy trying to crack a code that he had been given. He was so enthralled in his work and the music that he almost didn't hear the phone ring. Annoyed that he had to pull away from his computer, he turned down the volume and picked up the comm-phone.

 

"Worm here,"

 

"Worm, it's Dana."

 

"Dana.... dana, dana...." he said, trying to remember the name.

 

"From the HWP project?"

 

"Oh right, sorry. I've been kind of busy with some side work. What do you need."

 

"I need to you come here and look at the A.I. code you wrote earlier for the project."

 

"But I've already got some code I'm working on. Can't Slice do it?"

 

"Worm, come on. You wrote most of the damn thing, you know it better then any of us. Now could you please come here and help me, I've already had Photon bugging me once for results, I don't want him in here again until I'm finished."

 

The last part was a lie, but she figured a little guilt trip probably help.

 

Worm looked up at his ceiling and flipped some mental quarters in his head. They all landed heads.

 

"Yeah sure, I'll be down in a minute."

 

 

When he arrived he saw Dana waiting for him and she beckoned him over to a terminal.

 

"I'm having trouble integrating this A.I. code into this simulation, I was wondering if you could tell me what was wrong, if anything? I mean, do you think maybe there could be an error or a mistyping or something?"

 

Worm glared at her. He thought about commenting on how his code is never incorrect, but thought against it. Instead he pulled up a seat without speaking and immediately started to go through the code. An hour later he finally spoke.

 

"Got it, here it is. This line of code is incorrect. I'm surprised that you're little toy didn't start shooting at things left and right."

 

"Actually, that is what was going on in the simulation. Will this also fix the voice software as well?" Dana asked.

 

Worm cocked his head, "Eeehh... it's possible. Here, let's see what happens."

 

Worm corrected the code and then compiled it. Within fifteen minutes they then integrated it into the computer simulation and Dana picked up the mic. and spoke into it.

 

"Forward, five meters," the simulation responded by the showing the chasis moving forward the designated distance.

 

In the simulation were five targets clustered around the area, some looked like buildings, others looked like soldiers. Some in groups, some singular.

 

"Target, thirty degrees." The gun swivelled around to the nearest target within that degree designation. It was a bulding.

 

"Fire."

 

The gun fired a rocket out of it's main cannon. The building blew inward and then crumbled forward.

 

"Ouch," Worm said, "I'd hate to be whoever lived there."

 

"Engage auto-fire sequence, move and engage as necessary." Dana spoke into the mic.

 

The 'tank' in response started to move around, using debris as cover and systematically destroyed the remaining targets in quick succession. Dana looked at the simulation and smiled.

 

"I think Photon is going to be very pleased," she thought to herself, "and maybe a little jealous," she added with a smirk.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Seamus was hunched over the operating table, looking down at their dead grey 'guest.'

 

"Autopsy of Subject Zero-Zero-One finished. Further examination of individual organs underway.

 

"First of note is that there doesn't appear to be any definite reproductive organs. Or at least non that appear to be familiar with any species that is on this planet. How do they reproduce? Further study will be required.

 

"All organs appear to be of a simple structure and rather vestigial digestive system. It appears similar to that of a fetal infant, requiring, and only able to digest, simple nutrients. No vocal chords appeared to be present in trachial disection. As to how this creature communicates is still a mystery."

 

Seamus paused and thought for a little bit on what he just said into the recording device.

 

"Hypothesis: Due to the enlarged cranial capacity, could it be possible for telepathic capabilities? It would certainly explain the lack of vocal chords and atrophy tongue muscles used primarily for talking. Some organs in the body remain unidentified at this time, however from the looks of them, they appear to serve no use what so ever in that they appear to have been dead tissue even while the creature was still alive.

 

"Extraction of the eye has revealed a highly sophisticated biological organ, far surpassing our own capabilities. It would be surprising if these creatures didn't see better then humans in the day time, and more then likely even better at night seeing as how there are signs of biological filtering layer on the far outer layer of the eye.

 

"Extraction of the brain has been met with mixed results. We have successfully extracted the brain, however it is obvious it is highly advanced and we definitely have much research to do in figuring out what certain new sectors of the brain do. Only time and effort will be able to unlock the secrets held in this creatures brain."

 

He reahed up and switched off the recording device and looked around at the empty lab.

 

"And now to put that all down on paper," he said aloud to himself.

[JellyfishGreen]

"No vocal chords?" asked "Photon" Gomez,leaning back in his leather chair while he glancing over Seamus's report on EBE-001 (Extraterrestrial Biological Entity, not yet classified). "It was chattering away when we ungagged it."

Seamus had moved his chair close to the chief scientist's desk. "It was clicking and buzzing with its mouth and tongue, sir. I suppose it could get by speaking insectoid language [1] but I would think a spacefaring race would have a more complex means of communication - wouldn't they?"

"Well, they weren't carrying radios. So what does that leave? Telepathy?"

"That's what I'm thinking myself, sir." He indicated the bottom of the report.

"Mmm-hmm." Photon nodded. "Whups - the General's here for his update."

 

Seamus excused himself from the office and hurried past Genega, who let himself in and sat on the edge of the desk. "So, Gomez, what's a day of research got us?"

 

"We haven't been able to activate any of the alien weapons yet, but we've cut a few apart. Zager's found the energy collimating systems very interesting and feels they may be important in the laser weapon development."

"That's good. But so far these aliens seem to go down pretty easy with standard armament."

"Right, well, also we've got the HWP nearly repaired, and we've got a team analyzing the alien hull material, which seems to be piezomagnetic."

"Piezoelectric?"

"No, piezomagnetic. We had to invent the word. Basically it seems to produce a stronger magnetic field under pressure."

 

Genega nodded. "And what's that report?"

"Seamus's autopsy report. Basically we think the aliens may have telepathic communication but also some form of clicking insectoid language."

"In Sectoid language, hmm?"

Photon didn't notice the slip. "We're analyzing our recordings, but there's not much. Obviously if we could have kept it alive..."

"Well, I'm just as interested in finding more about their motivation and command structure. The Bechtel contractors tell me the alien containment and observation room on Level 4 will be airtight in ten days. When that's finished, capturing one of these Sectoids alive will be our top priority."

 

***

 

Ricky "Worm" van der Wall let himself back into the computer room where they had set up the HWP control centre. HIs best friend Pios "Slice" Alparada was quick to tease him.

"Spending all that time with a chick like Dana, man, you're so lucky. I'm quite frankly jealous."

"I was so involved with my code, I didn't notice her. Although she did put her hand on my shoulder." He blushed.

"Aww, man, you could have played her right into a little private rendezvous. Opportunities like that don't knock very often. Now, if I had been there..." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Yeah, yeah, I can guess, Mr. Cool. You've only had one more girlfriend than I have anyway. Now what are you doing with the Cannon HWP?"

"Just getting it serviced for the next test run. Come over here - that cute redhead is working on it, and you can totally ogle her through the vision system."

"Isn't that kind of rude?"

"Yeah, whatever. I've got to take a bathroom break. Can you mind the 'cockpit' for a while?"

Slice got up out of the semicircle of screens and control panels showing the HWP status.

"No problem, 'Mr. Cool'." Worm slid into the chair. He checked that the joysticks were dead and the systems nominal as Slice left the room. The monitors showed a pair of coveralled legs sticking out from under the HWP. He put on the headset, and heard the muffled grunts of the owner of the legs as they worked on the undercarriage. Next he knew, the attractive Heather O'Reilley crawled out and got to her feet, her hands dirty and her hair dishevelled.

 

"Whew! That's warmed me up." She unbuttoned the top of her coverall to let the heat out. "Now, next on the list, reseating the cannon shock adsorbers." She put one leg up on the HWP chassis and leaned over the turret, fitting her socket wrench to the hydraulic mounts, unwittingly giving the turret camera a good eyeful of her cleavage, which shook in a most distracting fashion as she swung the wrench back and forth.

 

Slice wandered back into the computer room with his cup of coffee. He saw Worm with his hands gripping the armrests, making strangled noises. "Did I miss something?"

 

 

[1] An example WAV: https://cmave.usda.ufl.edu/%7Ermankin/sound...ml#stridulation

[Spaceman42]

Dherzhin hadn't liked releasing what amounted to half of his mechanical groundcrew for work on the HWP project, but the urgency of the project - and the terseness of Genega's written directive - was too great to ignore. Ibsen's transfer was still being processed, but it seemed likely to go through - and so he'd been busy packing for the past day or so. Still, the craft had checked out - both Hurricanes and the Skyranger were signed off as fully mission-capable - so Dherzhin couldn't really complain. At least it's quiet...

 

----

 

Gilbert was thoroughly happy with his assignment to the HWP project. Whenever he had a break, he could freely wander around the labs where the alien technology was being studied. It was amazing, all the technology! He'd had a strange dream about the UFO, the other night - after they'd brought back the alien. He couldn't remember it, though, and shook the thought out of his head. For now, he was happy just to look at all the interesting stuff, all over... It was hard, though, to keep from touching the shiny-looking metal, the glowing crystals - and most especially, the gleaming alien weapons... Gilbert shook his head to clear it, and went back to work.

[Rasicar]

01:00 Hours Pine Gap.

 

 

Night time at the base was fairly spooky if you thought about it. When one is down in the main area of the base, namely underground you can't really tell if it is day or night if you aren't careful. Some of the scientists like Seamus O'Riork, Zager and Photon, took little notice of the passage of time. If one were to walk down the lengthy passages in the base, they would find each one of them in varying labs hunched over some kind of project or another.

 

Seamus would be seen as busy; still carving away the new specimen that they got and looking at things under microscope. Zager could be observed watching technical readouts of laser testing and prying into secrets that would probably best be kept out of human hands. Photon with a little luck would probably be found in an office, going through reports and paperwork wishing for some time for some 'hands-on' work.

 

Up a few levels, the Chief Watch Commander will be seen finishing up his first cup of coffee as he and his squad of soldiers get ready guard the base for another night. If an officer were to walk in on some of them, they would see that they in fact aren't really doing their duties which are described as looking at motion sensors and short-range radar screens; rather more immersed in the nightly game of poker they set up to pass the time. After all, what are the chances of the perimeter alarm going dead?

 

Walking down the crew quarters, you can hear the sounds of snoring. Closer examination at the doors would show their to be lights coming from underneath, dimly lightling the hallway. Sounds of muffled voice are also heard behind closed doors as roommates get to know one another in those rare all night talking sessions that leave one feeling strangly refreshed upon waking in the morning. Rooms that hold various computer wizzes that keep odd hours by nature; one would hear the firing of weapons going on in a last ditch effort to rescue some hostage from a group of terrorists for the fifth round in a row.

 

The canteen and recreation area are empty. The only sign of human life left there would the personnel asigned to cleaning detail just finishing up their nightly rounds looking forward to the time when their heads meet their comfortable pillows.

 

Ground crew for the hangers are all asleep by now. The only rason anyone would be out flying at this hour is if their was an emergency. Besides, they all slept in shifts near the hanger anyway, ready to prep an intereptor and have it ready for combat at a moments notice.

 

Yes, Pine Gap is a very terrifying place if one thinks about it. Home of slightly lackadaisical guards. Ammoral scientists who are busy trying to invent new kinds of weapons and armor so that we may kill extra-terrestrials and possibly ourselves more efficiently. And the most scary thought of all is that is it home to the biggest squad of elite trained killers on the planet. Pine Gap is very terrifying indeed.

[The Veteran]

By the time Rick and Warlord had finished exchanging their successes in the rec-room almost everyone else in the base had turned in for the night. Squad two had been sleeping for hours before the two had even started talking, what with their active shift coming up in the morning. It wasn't until well after midnight that Rick had returned to a snoring talking roommate and almost passed out with exhaustion. Since then he'd slept like a log, as had the rest of the base, except the oddities in the lower levels at least...

 

At half past two halfway across the base Gia stirred in her sleep. She hadn't rested well since that last UFO took a shot at her. She couldn't help but wonder how long her luck would hold out or when it would hit... Now she woke suddenly from a deep slumber, still tired from the night before. As she looked over at her roommate she noticed the light in the corridor go out, but that light was supposed to be permanently active. Gia puzzled over it for a second and then noticed a new light sifting into the room as the corridor was filled with red.

 

Rick and Trigger still fast asleep didn't see the lights change but they heard the siren sound as clear as day. Even muffled by Rick's sweatshirt he couldn't help but think it was far too close to their beds. As he woke in a hurry he sat up straight into a lamp hanging above his bed.

 

"Ach Goddammit" he cried painfully allowing his Scottish accent freedom to roam.

 

At the same time Trigger woke up next to him with a flailing motion that rolled him out of bed and onto the floor with a thump.

"I'm up! I'm up" he cried as he struggled to his feet, repeatedly tripping over his blanket.

 

"What the hell is going on?" said Rick rubbing his head. "Squad 2 is on active duty, why are they waking me up" He swung himself out of bed and watched as Trigger fell over again, surrendering to the persistence of his bedsheets... Rick walked to the door and unlocked it, watching it slide open. Looking both ways down the corridor he saw a number of rooms both with and without a red light flashing above the doors.

 

"What's going on?" said Trigger as he pushed a sheet off his leg.

 

"I've no idea, noone else in Squad 1 seems to have an alarm sounding, only Squad 2..." Rick replied.

 

Trigger stopped squirming and looked up at where Rick was standing scratching himself. "Is Gia's light on? And Davies?"

 

Rick looked for a second and then nodded out at noone in particular.

 

"Holy crap! It's an intercept! They want the pilots" Trigger jumped up and tripped once again on the same sheet, falling over a small bedside cabinet. "Get off me goddammit" he yelled kicking his leg furiously until the sheet came loose. Picking it up he bundled it into a ball and threw it out of the door.

 

"Does that mean I can go back to bed?" said Rick turning his gaze from the flashing hallway.

 

Trigger didn't reply, too bhis morning routine to find time to think of a response. Pulling on his jacket he scanned around the room for his boots. "Dammit why can I never find them? It's like when I was at home, the dog always used to carry them off into the garden..."

 

"What?" said Rick raising an eyebrow and moving away from the door, which slid shut behind him.

 

"Where are your boots?" asked Trigger once again ignoring Rick.

 

"Are you serious? They're two sizes too big for you..."

 

Trigger spotted the black steel toecaps sitting by Rick's bed and quickly pulled them on, tying the laces as tight as he could. "What does it matter?" he said lifting one foot and shaking it around in Ricks boot. "It's not like I'm on parade, I'm in a hurry here..."

 

Rick let out a pained sigh and curled back up into his bed trying to regain some of his lost sleep. He pushed away the lamp he had hit earlier just in case and then covered his head with his sheets.

 

Without a word Trigger moved to the door which opened automatically. He saw much of Squad 2 already moving to the briefing room in full kit. His eyes were drawn to their boots in shame as he plodded out of his room.

 

He saw Davies emerging from his room a little way down the corridor and watched with a smile as he stumbled towards him. Just then a shadow appeared in front of him with a smile that caught him quite off guard.

 

"Nice boots," said Gia with a grin then she turned to follow Trigger's gaze towards where Davies was approaching them fast.

 

"First come first served you know" he yelled as he passed the two pilots at some speed.

 

"Huh?" said Trigger groggily.

 

"Three pilots, two planes," said Gia turning after Davies. "I'll tell you what it was like"

 

"Oh no! I did not bruise myself that many times just to watch from tactical" Trigger called after the two of them and began running after them, his oversized boots making an amusing slapping sound as they flopped about his actual size 8 feet! "Damn boots..."

[Alitorious]

Barely minutes after the siren started, the hangars went from a state of complete idleness to a hive-like flurry of activity. Flight crews swarmed over the three craft, preparing them for flight and performing last-minute checks on its systems.

 

However, a small portion of the engineering team was also up and inside the workshop on the hangar floor. Normally they would have slept in during a squad launch, but this time they had to make sure that their Heavy Weapon Platform, the tank/cannon, was fit for combat. Fortunately the tank seemed to be just fine, with the final adjustments and fine-tuning being completed a matter of hours before. Soon the operational lights turned on, as the controller/supervisor in the command room took his station. The motors on the HWP started and it trundled out of the workshop door, escorted by the engineers. It would wait by the transport until squad 2 was aboard, then it would be loaded last to be closest to the doors.

[Snikers]

The piercing siren tore through Keller's mind like a flash of lightning. She bolted upright to a sitting position, very nearly pulled a muscle in her neck and looked about wildly, her black tank top wet with sweat.

"What the fff...what the devil?" She inquired rhetorically, although Gia - who was already halfway through putting on her uniform, as if she could tell the future and had started before the alarm even went off - answered. "Alarm. Better get going."

That was true. Keller threw the bed covers off her and rushed to her uniform.

[JellyfishGreen]

"Fifteen minutes ago we confirmed an inbound UFO track over Laos and Thailand," said Lt. Forrester to the hastily assembled Second Squad in the ready room. "We estimate landfall in the Indian subcontinent. We're going to try to vector the Skyranger directly there and use our interceptors north and south of its flight path to box it in. If it does land, you are to carry out a ground assault as before to detain the pilots and prevent it from taking off." He turned to Hiroshi Escalante, whose good standing in the JSDF made him the natural choice for squad leader. "Acting Corporal Escalante has the squad assignments."

 

Hiro pulled a folded piece of paper from his breast pocket and read from it as he stood.

"Keller, you'll lead Wexford and Wethers in Red team. Gaston and Kilam, you're with Dujardin and I in Blue team as squad support."

"Green team will consist of Andrews, Ross, and Green. Weapon assignments are as in Wednesday's training."

He looked up with big brown eyes. "Now we know it's tough out there, remember Shuwei and O'Malley. Remember your training. Out-think these bugs. Come back alive."

"That's it. Squad - Move out"

 

The squad got to their feet without saluting and filed out, stopping at the armory to collect their gear.

Green unlocked and lifted his lucky rifle from the armory rack, still marked with duct tape, and pocketed two grenades and a flare in his battle vest. He strode across the hangar to the 'Ranger as the ground crew were stowing the refueling equipment. As he passed the HWP, he gave a quick pat to the armor plating that he hoped would take some of the damage and protect the soldiers. Gaston noticed his gesture and did the same, for good luck. So did the soldier following.

 

Hiroshi was the last to enter. He remained standing and spoke into his headset while the HWP performed a few quick maneuvers that backed it up the ramp, parking it in the back of the Skyranger less than a foot from the nearest of the soldiers buckled into their jump-seats. With the help of Dujardin, Hiro fastened the clamps to secure the miniature tank for transport even as the assault ramp powered closed. He made his way to the front of the craft and took his position by the cabin door. Minutes later the two Interceptors and the Ranger were launched into the night sky like shots from a defensive barrage.

 

*****

 

Trigger and Grizzly had won the race to the briefing room when Gia collapsed with whoops of laughter. She managed to splutter something about Trigger's run in oversized footwear reminding her of a duck. She accepted the loss with good grace and now the two male pilots were roaring northwest over Indonesia.

 

She looked over the control room. The operators had tagged this one UFO-2. Its track on the big screen indicated a vector southwest from Vietnam towards the Indian subcontinent. Forrester's plan was to attempt boxing the UFO in, by sending Grizzly in 02 to its north and Trigger to its south.

 

Both pilots had clear night skies at their altitude but below them the ocean was slowly giving rise to a tropical storm. Before they got to visual range, the UFO veered away from Grizzly towards Trigger. He closed the range and just got the small blip on his gun camera when it dropped like a rock through the cloud layer over Sri Lanka. He sent the Interceptor into a downwards spiral after it trying to re-acquire. Meanwhile the control room brooded over the image. This one looked small, remarkably similar to the Apollo program re-entry capsules.

 

On his third pass over the island, Trigger was no nearer figuring out where the UFO had gone to ground. He was still searching when his compass started oscillating wildly and then the air seemed to ripple as the UFO shot up past him. It was no more than half a kilometer away and it filled the air with an eerie warbling sound.

 

Cheeseman was pushing the 'Ranger at it's maximum closing speed. He was still five minutes away when Trigger shouted "It just took off! U-2 is airborne"

"After it! After it" shouted Gia, caught up in the moment.

Grizzly was on it's vector. "I've got it on the radar. Range 200 kilometers."

"The UFO is bearing 183, bearing 183. That's southbound into the Indian Ocean." he followed up, as Trigger tried to regain altitude in a steep climb on afterburner.

"Follow it in case it turns inland." ordered

Grizzly watched his radar as the climbing UFO, freeing itself from atmospheric friction, accelerated to what could only be interplanetary speed.

"It's useless. He's heading for space." replied Grizzly.

 

All units were given the RTB (return to base) order. The squad in the Skyranger were bitching about rattling around in the hold for an hour on a wild goose chase, but privately many would admit they were glad not to be facing the strange combatants reported by Squad 1. With the adrenaline rush worn off, a number of the soldiers fell asleep in their harnesses on the trip back. When the Ranger landed, the troops shook themselves awake and lugged their equipment back to the armory racks before dispersing to quarters.

"Two UFO's in two days?" remarked Trigger.

"What are the odds we won't see another one for a week?" mused Grizzly.

Two days later the scramble alarm sounded again.

Edited November 21, 2003 by JellyfishGreen