Apocalypse Fanfic

[Apocalypse Fanfiction]

Instalment by Warlord

"Then I guess our meeting is at an end, unless there's anything else you feel I should know..."

"No, sir, I think that about covers everything."

"Carlos, in the future, you might consider telling me things that might make me worry if I find out about them myself."

Carlos nodded, understanding exactly what was meant. He couldn't blame Warlord, Hell he'd probably react the same way if it were one of his soldiers.

"If you don't have anything else for me, sir..."

"No, that's it. Dismissed. Oh, and by the way,"

"Yes?"

"Stop scaring the shit out of Megapol with that damned car of yours," Warlord said with a grin.

Carlos laughed, "Yes sir."

As Carlos left, Warlord turned to the stack of papers on his desk. A large number of them were resignation letters from rookies who changed their minds. Oh well, this life definitely isn't for everyone.

As he dug through the paperwork, red lights started flashing, and a warning siren shattered the silence.

Warlord grabbed the phone and hit the speed dial for Surveillance.

"What's going on?"

"Sir! 3 UFO's just came through the gates! One of them is a type we haven't seen before! The other two are Type 2's"

"Affirmative, keep an eye on them, and get those pilots scrambled."

Warlord dropped the phone, and hit the intercom button.

"Attention Bravo Base. All combat personnel are to report to hangar 1 in 10 minutes. Full gear. This is not a drill."

Here we go again....

********

END OF CHAPTER 2

[Apocalypse Fanfiction]

CHAPTER 3

********

Instalment by Carlos the Jackal

Carlos was walking back to his quarters when the klaxon alarm began to sound and Warlord's announcement went over the base speakers. He turned and ran to the armoury. The agents behind the steel counter had already begun to open lockers and crates and stack all manner of weaponry on trolleys to run down to the hanger.

"Hey, can I grab my personal weapons?"

"Bit busy here, how about you just grab something else?"

"I'll run on of the trolleys down if you just grab my stuff. An android just handed it in, a Berretta 9mm, two spare clips, and a combat knife"

The agent paused for a second, nodded his head and pointed to the corner of the counter where his weapons had been sitting, waiting to be signed in. Carlos grabbed his gun, clips and knife, and then grasped the handles of one of the trolleys and began to sprint down to the hanger as more agents poured into the armoury, too itchy for a weapon to wait in the hanger.

As Carlos ran, personnel ran back and forth around the base, it looked disorganized but people probably knew what they were doing.

"Hey, the dropship's taking off unloaded"

"Ki-tat you idiot, they're going to try to intercept the aliens first, they don't to risk us being on board for that, what if it gets shot down?"

Ki-tat glared at his brother. As if a dropship could be destroyed that easily. So far the alien ships were small, with rather weak, but strange purple ray guns. Ki-tat glanced around, so far most of the soldiers on active duty had assembled, some already armed with rifles and cannons, but most still with only their personal sidearm, some pulling on the last parts of their armour.

Carlos burst in through one of the access doors, the auto door almost not opening quickly enough. He was pushing a trolley loaded with everything from law pistols to sniper rifles. More agents with trolleys followed him, and people began to crowd around, officers and sergeants handing out weapons and ammo.

Ki-tat waded into the crowd and saw Warlord around one of the trolleys, looking very annoyed.

"Sloppy, too damn sloppy"

Warlord looked up and noticed Ki-tat.

"Squaddie Chung. Take an autocannon and spare clips of each type. This time DON'T cook your ammunition off, use controlled bursts"

"Yes sir"

Further across, Doc was annoying Carlos.

"Doc, just give me a rifle, carbine or pulse, I don't care"

"Just take the motion tracker Carlos, you're tracking for my squad"

"I don't mind tracking, but what about a rifle mounted tracker?"

"The range is not as good, just take the damn thing, and take a Glock too"

Carlos took the tracker that Doc gave him with a scowl. He also reached into the trolley and snagged a T-43 and two spare plasma clips.

"Now, get yourself suited up, you've got time"

One of the overworked armoury agents had brought out the few suits of armour still unclaimed. There was his shiny new set of Megapol armour, even with the smiley face painted on the chest plate. Carlos grinned and began to put it on.

A Police hovercar was the first to encounter the ship, cruising on patrol past the gate as the circular, purple ship eased itself out of whatever bizarre universe it came from. A brief firefight and the hovercar retreated, low to the ground and dodging the dangerously accurate purple beams, small flecks of armour trailing from the scorch marks crisscrossing it. One small, charred spot on the purple disc was the result of a direct hit by a military laser beam. Mostly untouched, the craft continued to drift across the city, flanked by smaller, unmanned scouts.

Still out of range, X-Com craft poured out from a slum, and another group emerged from a warehouse in the city's northwest, a black phoenix among them, both groups zeroing in on the intruders.

[Apocalypse Fanfiction]

Instalment by Ego Terrorist

The klaxon sounded and Ego immediately got up, he picked up his Lawpistol and Stungrapple and ran down to the hanger, he saw Carlos handing out equipment, to the others as one of the Craft launched.

"Carlos! What you got?"

"Rifles, Carbines, Pulse. What do you want?"

"Anything"

Carlos pulled out a Reminton automatic shotgun, double barrelled, clip feed, it has several types of ammo varying from buckshot, to solid balls which can go clean through a car engine, Carlos chucked him some clips. Buckshot, Explosive and breaching rounds.

"Thanks Carlos"

"No problem"

Ego geared up and double-checked his kit once more.

Warlord moved to the centre of the group.

"Okay people! Here's the situation..."

"Control to all units to not engage UFO, maintain safe distance." Came over the Hovercar's Comm

"Well should we check it out?" Asked the driver.

"f**k that, we are not going to engage a UFO"

"I'll take that as a yes." The Hover car came about and set on an intercept course.

"Alpha leader to flight, form up on me, set weapons to hot, and maintain terrain hugging, we want to pop up and engage as close as possible." The lead transport sped off followed by the other craft, it activated its weapons and the Missile rack came out of the side of the craft, they were 30 meters off the ground as they flashed along the main roads.

"What the..." Shouted one of the pedestrians as the craft shot past, blowing him back slightly.

"Alpha Flight to X-Com Bravo-12-Romeo Control ETA to target 3 minutes, we are weapons hot."

"Control to Alpha Leader, we acknowledge, good luck." The comm crackled and switched to standby.

[Apocalypse Fanfiction]

Instalment by The Veteran

"Perfect," said Trigger putting the final brushstroke to the newly polished barrel of his rifle.

"Oh shit." He said immediately as the Klaxon alarm sounded in his quarters. He snatched up his rifle and headed straight for the hangar that they had been ordered to over the base's comm.

"Doc, ammo for a sniper rifle, one clip." Said Trigger as he entered the hangar and ran to the weapons trolley.

"One clip? Are you sure?" replied Doc throwing Trigger an ammunition pack for his rifle. "That won't give you many shots."

"I don't plan on needing many." Replied Trigger loading his rifle and walking across the hanger. "Warlord? Sir?" Trigger corrected himself.

"Trigger?" Warlord turned around looking less than happy with the way the team was coming together. The rookies in particular seemed to be trying his patience, as the higher-ranking soldiers were getting ready for a tactical mission. "Where in the hell did you get that gun? The one I gave you was a piece of crap we stole from a toasted rookie in the Sirius temple. I was going to give you a nice shiny one if you proved yourself but I guess there's no need now."

"Ultio sir," said Trigger disregarding Warlord's enquiry.

"I beg your pardon?" replied Warlord running his eyes over the weapon that had changed more in the last few hours than it had probably in the last few years.

"The gun is Ultio. It's from the Latin word ultor. It means revenge. Sir." Trigger held the gun at an angle at which Warlord could see the full word in red paint against the polished black metal gun. "And it's the same gun sir. I... modified it slightly. The laser sight is gone, I don't like relying too heavily on technology. Human error is one tenth of that found in machines today sir. I trust statistics way more than I trust people. They're more reliable."

"Nice job, I'll see you in my office when we get back from this one Trigger. I want a word with you." Warlord turned to a rack behind him. "Here," he said tossing Trigger a bundle of clothes, "put these on. It's brand new Megapol armour. Consider yourself promoted." And with this Warlord turned and left.

"Ok come on guys lets get these last birds flying" came a shout from the next hangar. The last of XCom's pilots were flocking to their vehicles and disappearing into the city.

The owner of the voice ran through to the hanger with the dropship in it and said something to Warlord then he left. Non-combatant troop thought Trigger as he watched the dropship leave the hanger for the interception attempt.

Remembering the situation, he quickly pulled on the Megapol armour and slung his rifle over his shoulder.

Then they waited. In the hanger there was silence except for the hovercar transmissions. All over the base the comm. Systems had been patched into the hovercar battle computers and there was a kind of commentary coming from the pilots.

There was nothing left to do but wait.

[Apocalypse Fanfiction]

Instalment by Alan

Tinboy grabbed an auto cannon and some ammo from one of the armoury trolleys. He then proceeded to grab two Lawpistols, a stungrapple, and an assortment of grenades. These were quickly stowed in the equipment compartments in his Megapol armour.

Having grabbed equipment Tinboy looked around for Gamma squad. Alpha squad was already mostly assembled, as was the newly reformed Beta squad. His gaze fell on a rookie who was looking around, with a bemused expression. "Rookie! What's your squad assignment?"

"Gamma squad! Sir" the rookie replied nervously. Tinboy shook his head, newbies such as this one were not a good thing to have in a combat situation. Regardless, Tinboy pointed to where most of gamma squad where waiting and shouted "Well get over there! Now".

Tinboy followed after the rookie, while looking around for any more strays. As he neared gamma squad, he could hear Tankman briefing the assembled agents. "... you know what that means? You got it, UFO recovery detail. Remember, our scientists want these things in one piece, so try to keep the collateral damage to a minimum..."

[Apocalypse Fanfiction]

Instalment by The Veteran

"Alpha squad" came a call from somewhere in the hangar as the squad leader held up their weapon.

"Beta squad" Came the sound from another corner under a raised gun.

The other squads called in and the teams formed all around the hangar. Slowly and reluctantly the squad leaders picked up the straggling rookies and troops and the hangar divided into its squads.

"Oh shit... Where the hell is my squad?" said Trigger. He began walking to the nearest squad leader and asked "Sir. Squaddie Trigger sir, I don't know my squad assignment."

The squad leader spoke into his comm and pointed over to the opposite corner of the hangar.

"Go with them. One of the rookies just chickened out. Smart move..."

On the way to his assigned squad Trigger passed Warlord who was conversing with one of the tactical 'upstairs' personnel.

"All squads are ready to launch sir. As soon as the Valkyrie returns we're good to go. One of the scouts is already down and the others taking a beating but the new saucer seems to be significantly tougher than the ones we've already encountered. We think the new one may be manned sir."

"Shit..." was all Trigger heard of Warlords reply to the tactician as he walked past the conversation.

"Sir, Squaddie Trigger. I've been assigned to this squad." said Trigger as he came face to face with his squad leader for the first time.

"Squaddie now is it? Welcome aboard Trigger." the squad leader flicked up their visor.

"You're a squad leader? Wow. Ok so what is this squad then?" asked Trigger.

"I believe, Squaddie" said Ki-Tat flicking down his visor, "you missed a few 'sir's."

[Apocalypse Fanfiction]

Instalment by Ego Terrorist

"Alpha Leader to Alpha 2, form up on my wing, Rest of Alpha Flight target Scout vessel." The comm crackled for a moment then Alpha 2 came up and flew along side his leader, the two craft then accelerated and started to weave in and out between the buildings.

"Alpha 2 arm your Justice."

"Copy, arming Justice."

Alpha leader or 'Mach' as he was known, looked to his Leader, the new detection system was 97% more effective than Radar and had a full 3d, IFF and Geosync Navigation systems built into it as well as many others which could detect and track most ground targets. The Leader showed the location of the enemy vessel and the smaller scout started to slow down rapidly and then descend. The sensor readings showed where it landed and he heard the pilots celebrate at the fact they had brought down the scout. Alpha 1 and 2 were now ahead of the UFO.

"Alpha 2, stick with me and lock your weapons on the UFO."

"Alpha Leader I have a lock"

"FIRE"

"Fox 1"

The Launching systems for the Justice popped up and fired the missile in a split second, the two missiles one from the Leader and the other from two bore down on their target.

"Break high! Break high" The two Val's shot up as the missiles hit the UFO, the explosions shattered nearby windows, the UFO was knocked spinning to the ground it came down with a heavy thud.

"Alpha leader to Bravo-12-Romeo Control, UFO has been downed, and has crashed at the following coords..."

The Police Hover car got visual contact just as the UFO was hit and sent down.

"Lets set her down and take a look?"

"No way! You know the orders, leave all downed UFOs to X-Com"

"Bull, that thing probably doesn't even have any aliens onboard" He lowered the Hover car near to the UFO and pulled out his Lawpistol while his partner took out his Remmi Shotgun.

His partner looked to him and said "We are so screwed..." The two men got out and started to advance on the UFO taking cover wherever possible.

Warlord listened to his comm that was built into his helmet.

"Okay." He turned to the squads. "Okay people, UFO has been downed, we're assuming that it has hostile forces within it, let's load up"

He finished just as one of the Valkyries landed and opened its Compartment doors. The squads started to enter the Valkyrie.

Ego turned to his squad. "Okay Delta! Shall we depart?"

[Apocalypse Fanfiction]

Instalment by The Veteran

The hangar was still full of cheering while Bravo base's Valkyrie was being loaded for the mission. Warlord still remained in the centre of the hangar and was still talking to the tactical personnel. The tactician raised his hand to the side of his head and spoke into his radio.

"Sir," he said as he turned to Warlord, "Alpha base's Valkyrie has detected movement near the third UFO while on its way to collect the scouts. They're operating on a skeleton crew so they can't check it out but the life signs are still in the open, away from the UFO. Alpha Base commander wants to launch an aerial strike but he needs the authorisation of all XCom Commanders for carrying out a strike so near to an occupied area. What shall we tell him?"

"Damn... Are there any personnel near the crash site that could account for the life signs?" asked Warlord.

"No sir, all Bravo base operatives are waiting to board the dropships and the Alpha base operatives are all accounted for." replied the tactician.

"Tell him go for it. I don't see why not. But tell him low-level evasive strikes. We don't want any stray missiles to damage the city. After all, it comes out of our budget"

"Yes sir." he replied and turned to return to the tactical centre above the hangar.

"Wait." said Warlord as the tactician was walking off. "What's your name?"

"Um. Steven sir. But I prefer Steve." he replied shyly.

"Ok Steve. That's all. But now if I see you again I'll know who you are. Keep up the good work up there." and Warlord turned and walked towards the Valkyrie.

"We've got authorisation," said Steve as he ran into the tactical chamber. "Get Alpha base on the comm." with this he sat down in front of a large screen which blinked into life.

"Alpha base." came the acknowledgement of the linkup as a man's face flashed onto the screen in front of Steve.

"Hey Mike how you doing? We got the authorisation for your boss." said Steve.

"What are the security restrictions?" asked Mike from the other end of the city.

"Your Valkyrie is to keep to low level evasive attacks. Warlord doesn't want any damage to the city or the Valkyrie. Just do your best to clear up the outside forces before Alpha base's Valkyrie comes back here. They're loading up Valkyrie Two now."

"Good. I'll let the boss know, just a sec..." The display went black for a few minutes then blinked back on. "So what you been up to then?"

*Alpha base tactical command to Valkyrie One, you are cleared for tactical strike at the requested coordinates. Flight is to be maintained at low level and computer is to be set to evasive defence targeting. When you reach the target be sure to use manual weaponry only. Alpha base out*

"You heard 'em. Get us down to ten metres. And yes I do mean ten. Lock weapons on all life forms in this area," said the Squad Leader on board Alpha base's Valkyrie indicating a square of terrain on the ship's tactical display. "Take us in as close as we can get. Set the computer to automatic and set targetting to humanoid. If the sweep doesn't pick anything up then set it on a wider frequency but try that first."

The pilot who had been desperately trying to keep up with these orders simply replied with "Yes sir. Automatic sir?"

"Yes automatic, I know what they said, set it to automatic."

"Yes sir. Commencing sensor sweep... Got 'em. There's a large number inside the craft but the organic hull is interfering with the scans so I can't determine numbers. There are two humanoid aliens the other side of the UFO. Sir, I have a lock, what are your orders?"

"Fire..."

"Oh shit!!! What the fu..." a massive explosion tore up the ground where the two officers were standing and the Valkyrie pilot saw a Megapol squad car thrown onto the street like a twig. The second missile landed within meters of the first and tore up more grass and mud around the base of the UFO but the signatures were gone and the Valkyrie turned to leave.

*Valkyrie One to all XCom bases. UFO is secure. Repeat, UFO is secure. * came the booming voice of Alpha base's Valkyrie pilot over the hanger's intercom. Another cheer rose up from the assembled squads and Warlord stepped into the centre of the hangar to address the troops.

"Right, well that broadcast means that Alpha bases Valkyrie is now on its way to the base to carry Gamma and Delta squads to the crash site." said Warlord to the assembled soldiers. "Everybody prepare yourselves for this one. Especially the rookies. This is the first manned UFO we've assaulted. Good luck out there. We'll need it..." The last sentence he spoke to himself as he turned and walked across the hangar to wait for the second Valkyrie.

[Apocalypse Fanfiction]

Instalment by Warlord

As the second Valkyrie entered the hangar, Warlord began issuing load orders.

"Alpha and Beta squads, Valkyrie 2! Delta and Gamma squads, Valkyrie 1"

As the squads loaded into their ships, Warlord moved towards the Wolfhound APC that had been configured as a mobile command centre. Stepping onboard, he began looking over all the tactical maps, displays, and readouts.

"Valkyrie One, Valkyrie Two, this is command, over."

"This is One. This is Two."

"When you get over the crash site, I want you to hold position covering any visible exits to the craft. Once I'm 30 seconds out, begin drop procedures. Do you copy?"

"Roger command, hold covering positions until you're 30 seconds out."

"Affirmative. Remember to be careful up there. This is the first manned craft we've gone up against, and we don't know what kind of weapons capability it may still have, not to mention what the bugs are packing."

"Roger, sir."

"Command out." And then to the driver, "Let's get this show on the road."

As the wolfhound left the hangar, the noise of the Valkyries taking off became deafening. The crash site was less than a kilometre from the shopping mall. Hopefully X-Com could keep the fight contained. Warlord shuddered at the thought of Anthropods loose in a shopping mall with brainsucker launchers...

As the command APC neared the crash site, Warlord got back on the radio.

"Valkyries One and Two, I am 30 seconds out. Begin drop procedures."

"Roger, commencing drop run."

"There they-"

The driver was cut off mid sentence by a crushing explosion. Choking on the smoke from the electrical fires, Warlord fought through to get his driver out. Just as he pulled his driver from the APC, the ammo started to cook off, destroying what remained of the vehicle.

"Jones! Talk to me! What the hell happened?"

Rookie Jones was in bad shape. Warlord didn't think he'd last the next two minutes, but he needed information.

"I - I don't know, sir. It looked like -"

"Like what? Missile? Beam?"

"No, sir. An animal. Kind of like a blue chicken on steroids..."

With that, the rookie started to go into convulsions, then went limp. Warlord, ever the professional soldier, grabbed the driver's Lawpistol and extra ammo, and tucked it into a pocket. He then took his sniper rifle and began moving to a position where he could cover the landing troops.

"Valkyries 1 and 2, the LZ is hot. I say again, the LZ is hot."

Inside the drop ships, the pilots relayed the information about a hot LZ to the troopers.

Tankman took the initiative.

"Ok men, lock and load. We are coming out weapons hot."

The sounds of rounds being chambered and lasers warming up filled the transport. Within seconds, the light near the ramp went from red to green. As the ramp began coming down, you could hear the squad leaders screaming. "Go! Go! Go"

[Apocalypse Fanfiction]

Instalment by Alan

The light by the ramp went green seconds before the Valkyrie's exits slammed open. With a shout of "Go! Go! Go" Tankman leapt out of the Valkyrie, with Tinboy hot on his heels.

"Gamma Squad has the left" Tankman shouted as he took out his scanner. The scanner showed the bright white dots of gamma and delta squads near the Valkyrie, but there were also signs of movement coming from the UFO.

It was a type of UFO that Tinboy hadn't seen before. It was larger than the unmanned scouts and probes that he was used to retrieving. Those missions were just simple clean up jobs, but he had a feeling that this was going to be much different. He took up position on top of a small rise, and set up to cover the entrance to the UFO...

[Apocalypse Fanfiction]

Instalment by The Veteran

Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta squads were all deployed and they began receiving their deployment commands over the comm.

"Alpha squad, this is squad leader! Break left and cover left of rear entrance"

"Beta squad, this is squad leader! Fade right and cover North of the rear entrance"

"Gamma squad, this is squad leader! Spread out and acquire defensive positions"

"Delta squad, this is squad leader! Press on and secure the front entrance"

The squad orders were relayed over the public XCom intercom system so that the other squad leaders knew what was happening and as soon as the squad leaders had finished issuing them Warlord spoke over the comm to all of the squad leaders. "Squad leaders, this is Bravo Commander! My transport's down! I'm joining the tactical mission! Delta squad hold position at front entrance I'll rendezvous there! Warlord out"

The four squads reached their positions and performed whatever orders they had been given. Knowing that a direct order from Warlord was final, Delta squad held their position at the UFOs front entrance long enough to see their commander come running up behind them.

Ego turned to Warlord and began to speak "Delta squad closed frequency is set on thirteen-two- five-"

But Warlord cut him off, "I'm a commander not a squad leader. I'll tell you what to do, not the soldiers. You're to keep control of Delta squad, just give me the public squad frequency."

Once Warlord was capable of public communication within Delta squad the squad he spoke to the squad leaders again.

"Squad leaders, this is Bravo Commander," he called into his comm, showing obvious signs that the monotonous etiquette requested by XTC when using the comm system was really starting to bug him. "All squads are to move forward, I want the autocannons covering the rest of the squad and I want the Beta squad and Delta squad snipers to hold the rear of the heavy troops. Alpha and Gamma's sappers are to move in as soon as possible but assign at least two rookies to cover them. Understood?"

"Yes sir," came the chorus of all four squad leaders.

"Let's move," said Warlord to the world at large as the squad leaders began issuing Warlords orders to their squads.

XCom was entering a manned UFO for the first time since the war started with twenty-four troopers, twenty-five including Warlord who was wondering how many of the rookies would make it home.

[Apocalypse Fanfiction]

Instalment by Cold Apple Pie

"Clatter, clatter, clatter." went the sound of alpha squad's armour as they were slowly jogging to cover the left rear entrance of the UFO. When they got there they stopped to wait for their orders.

"... Hey, do you smell something Doc?" CAP asked Doc.

Doc answered, "No, what do you smell?"

"I can smell piss." CAP answered.

They both turned around and looked at the rookie who was standing a few metres behind them, whose knees were shaking very badly.

"Uh," Doc said. "What's your name boy?"

"A-A-Andy S-sir..." the rookie answered.

"Well, Andy," Doc said. "I want you to stop pissing your pants. Because if some aliens get you cornered and they smell that piss, they going to capture you and eat you alive. Do you hear me boy?"

"And stop shaking like that" added CAP

The rookie immediately stopped shaking, but the stench of the urine stayed.

"You think that scared him?" asked Doc.

"Yeah." CAP answered

suddenly the big double doors in the rear of the UFO opened...

This is where it was going to start getting messy...

[Apocalypse Fanfiction]

Instalment by The Veteran

As the squads acquired their final positions there was a massive explosion to the left of the UFOs main entrance where Alpha squad was situated. The explosion was heard all around the map and radio messages started coming in thick and fast.

"MEDIC" was the most recognisable and was issued by Doc who was lying on the floor hugging the terrain as closely as he could. "Ego! Get over here we got a rookie hit"

"Carlos" Ego called out to his second in command. "Take this squad forward, but stay defensive! Warlord, you come with me and radio Tankman, we need Gamma squad to cover my boys"

Ego immediately realised his mistake in addressing his commander in this way but to his surprise the only response he got was "Yes sir" as Warlord opened a private commlink to Gamma squad's leader, Tankman.

"Move forward? Gotcha," said Tankman as he signalled his squad to move up. "Come on you guys Delta squad needs some muscle! Tammy, you stay back and cover the entrance" he called to Delta's sniper as they ran to cover Delta squad.

As the drama was unfolding to the left of Beta squads position Ki-tat had been quick to start issuing orders. Immediately after the explosion he shouted to the rookies, "You two, go cover Alpha squad while they deal with the wounded! Pete? Volmen?" Ki-tat glanced behind him to check he had their attention. "You come with me, we're moving in. Trigger, stay there and cover the door. Get on the comm to Tammy and make sure you know what is happening inside this pink piece of crap ok?"

"Yes sir" he replied excitedly.

"Shit... I'm bleeding bad," said CAP as Doc scanned the doorway for any aliens.

"You'll live won't you?" called Ego desperately as he saw movement in the doorway and let off a shot veering way off to the left. "Damn"

"Calm down Doc, you're way too nervous," said Kilam aiming at the shadow and gunning down whatever had been standing there with his autocannon. "See it's easy"

"Oh no, I wouldn't say that" replied Doc raising his gun and opening fire on the newly hatched Hyperworms crawling quickly towards them.

"Fire" called Ki-tat to Pete and Volmen who knelt down and opened up on the Hyperworms. "Trigger? Are you getting this? Shoot goddammit" he shouted into a private comm channel. A laser beam struck the floor just short of the two Hyperworms approaching Beta squad and then another one saw one of the worms burst it's back. Volmen cleared up the second worm with his M4000 and Beta squad scanned the area for the remaining two.

"Shit" cried out Doc as he and Kilam edged away from the other two Hyperworms. They were too close for an autocannon and Doc was still too shaky!

Suddenly one of the worms rolled over as a laser hit it in the gut and another was burst when Warlord rounded the corner with his own sniper rifle.

'I never lose on a hunch' thought Warlord. Squinting into the distance he could just make out the outline of Trigger on the hill and there was Beta squad. 'I never lose on a hunch...'

Ego set himself down by the rookie Andy and setting up his med kit he wondered where the rest of Alpha squad was.

[Apocalypse Fanfiction]

Instalment by Alan

"Gamma squad! Cover the entrance" Tankman ordered as they approached Delta squad's location. Tinboy crouched behind some rubble and trained his auto cannon on the entrance, as the rest of gamma squad got into cover and followed suit.

Tankman flipped his radio over to Delta squad's private frequency, "Squaddie Carlos, where is Ego?" he said. "He's with Alpha squad, sir. They've got wounded." came the reply.

Having finished the post landing sequence, Mouse retrieved the M4000 he'd grabbed and settled in to wait. As the pilot of Valkyrie One he'd had his fair share of scrapes with death, however not all of them had been due to air combat... it was because of this he always tried to carry a weapon...

[Apocalypse Fanfiction]

Instalment by The Veteran

"We've got at least one multiworm and four hyperworms down. There's nothing else coming out yet but there's definitely movement in there. What about your side?" called Trigger into the private comm. channel he'd opened with the Delta squad sniper, Tammy.

"There's nothing over here at all. Gamma squad is covering Delta squad and they're just guarding the doors. I've got a good view on the entrance over here so I'll know if something happens." Tammy replied to Beta squad's sniper. "Ego and Warlord are gone..." said Tammy quizzically.

"They're with Alpha squad dealing with the wounded. I thought you said you could see everything?" replied Trigger sarcastically.

"I can see you from here you know." Said Tammy turning slightly to the right.

As Trigger turned to his left to see where the other sniper was he noticed she was aiming straight at him. "Yeah ok, point taken" he said jokingly as he turned his attention back to the craft.

Tammy chuckled to herself as she turned back to the door she was covering just as it began to slide open. She quickly raised the scope to her eye and levelled her sights on the door.

There was a barely audible scream from below as she saw several purple rays streak out of the door. "Tammy" Carlos shouted into Gamma squad's public comm channel. "Cover us"

Tankman rose to his feet and fired off a High Explosive round from his autocannon. An explosion tore through the entrance of the UFO and Delta squad's closest soldiers were thrown backwards by the blast.

Tammy lowered her weapon to get a better view of the entire scene below her and then raised it again as she saw a shape in the dust. "I am" she replied into her headset as she trained her rifle on the shadowy creature and fired twice. Both hits, she thought. The creature fell backwards into the UFO and Gamma squad stopped firing.

"Delta squad" Carlos called to his newly acquired squad. "Move away from the doors! Dante! You ok?" he asked dragging the Squaddie away from the doorway to the UFO.

"Yeah fine. Just a bit dazed. Where's the rookie? The blast got him too," replied Dante rising to his feet and dusting himself off.

"You are what?" Trigger asked Tammy over the comm.

"What? Oh, nothing. The front door is open and we've gunned up at least one kill I'd say more. Now lets try and keep this comm clear ok? We don't want to jam it up too much." She replied.

"Yeah sure. Just let me know when there's movement ok? It works both ways. Out," said Trigger.

"Rookie" shouted Carlos, not knowing the name of the new recruits. He got two answers, one from behind him one from in front. "Where are you?" he said walking towards the voice. He grabbed hold of an arm and led the rookie back to the rest of Gamma squad. "You ok?" said Carlos checking the rookie for blood.

"Yes sir, I'm fine. Thank you..." replied the rookie.

"No need for thanks it's my job" said Carlos turning back towards the door and raising his gun. "What's your name?"

"Mine sir? I'm Duke Young." He replied.

"Duke huh? That's what we'll call you then" said Carlos without removing his gaze from the door. "Delta squad" he said speaking into his comm. "We're moving in. I'll lead. Tammy! Get down off that hill and get somewhere you can see more of the interior of this... thing." He said pausing to think of a suitable way to refer to the new saucer.

"Acknowledged," said Tammy moving to get a clear shot into the saucer. "Trigger, I'm relocated check your HUD," she said into the private link while she levelled her sights on the door again.

"I got it. Thanks for the update," he replied.

"Ki-tat, sir? Do I have move orders? Delta squad's sniper has moved to cover the inside of the saucer. Suggest I follow suit sir," said Trigger speaking into a private commlink to his squad leader.

"Affirmative, move to provide cover for Beta squad's entry but maintain distance. Confirm orders," replied Ki-tat.

"Confirmed," replied Trigger and began moving to his new position.

"They'll all be fine but you seem to be missing a Squaddie and a rookie Doc," said Ego as he finished examining Kilam's bleeding.

"What? Ah hell... Well I'll deal with them when I find them. They were both new recruits. What about CAP and the pisspot over there? How are they doing?" asked Doc.

"Kilam's fine, just a bit of blood, nothing substantial. Andy has a bit of shrapnel damage from whatever exploded due to the lack of armour but he'll be ok."

"Right great, cheers. Well you'd better get back to Delta squad then. I'll look for my elusive soldiers before I take my squad in." Doc told Ego.

"We'll wait with Alpha for now. Until you find those other guys you're two men down. We can't put off this assault any longer than we have to." Replied Ego. "Now let's get moving before they fix that thing and fly out of here" he said laughing.

"Ok, lock and load boys! We're going in." said Doc standing. "Everyone move up to cover Beta squads assault, don't block the sniper. We'll move in after Beta is secure. Let's move" and with that Alpha began to move towards the rear entrance.

[Apocalypse Fanfiction]

Instalment by Warlord

As beta squad moved into position to begin their assault of the UFO, Warlord's voice came over the comm channel.

"All squad leaders listen up. We just had an order come down from command. No explosives are to be used inside the UFO-"

"No HE? Have they lost their f**king minds"

"Tank! Shut up until I finish, alright?"

"Yes, sir"

"Apparently one of the squads from Alpha Base thought they saw an alien in a type two they were recovering, fired an HE round, and hit some critical component. A power supply possibly. Two of the 6 survived the resulting explosion.

"All squad leaders, have your AC troops lock and load AP ammo, and ensure that only stun grenades are used. Is everyone clear on this?"

"Alpha, roger"

"Beta, roger."

"Delta, roger."

"Tank, do you copy?"

"I heard you sir, but I don't like it"

"That's why it was an order, not a suggestion. No HE inside the ship.

"Gamma, roger."

"Ok, let's get this over with."

As the squad leaders relayed the orders to their troops, several blips showed on the motion sensors. Ki-tat's squad was just inside the door.

"Ki-tat, sir, I've got movement but I don't see anything"

"Hold position, keep your eyes open."

"What the-"

The rookie was cut off mid sentence and made a strange gurgling sound.

"Shit! Brainsuckers"

[Apocalypse Fanfiction]

Instalment by The Veteran

"No HE huh? Incendiary it is then" Tankman said to himself quietly as he reloaded his autocannon. "Carlos? You're covered, go for it," said Tankman into a private channel with Gamma squad's second in command.

"Right," Carlos switched his comm to address the whole of Gamma squad. "Dante, Duke and... You, rookie? What's your name?"

"James sir," he replied. "My callsign's Rambo."

"You're not scared are you?" Carlos asked the rookie.

"No sir," he replied

"I like that but it's a bad attitude. You should be scared. If you get too confident you'll end up making a stupid mistake," Carlos said turning away from the rookie. "Keep one eye open soldier. And the other one wide! Let's go" he called to the rest of the squad as he pushed forward through the huge fleshy, pink doorway.

Carlos knelt down as soon as he was far enough inside to let the rest of the team get in and he immediately spotted an anthropod in the opposite doorway of the UFO. Just as Carlos raised his gun to fire at the alien, three bullets tore out of its back and it fell over backwards. There in the smoke Carlos saw Ki-tat and Beta squad filing through the doorway. There was a trooper lying on the floor with a cracked helmet visor. Hopefully he was only unconscious but there was a dead brainsucker lying next to his body. Carlos could only wonder...

"Right," said Carlos turning again to his squad, "let's secure this thing." He scanned the surrounding room and saw what seemed to be a grav lift in the centre of the chamber. On two sides of the lift there were pink fleshy walls that hid parts of the room.

"Carlos?" came Ki-tat's voice over Carlos' commlink.

"Yeah."

"Beta squad has the lift covered and we've already checked the rest of this floor you secure that side of the shaft and we can call in Alpha and Delta squads. Agreed?"

"Agreed," replied Carlos. "Ok men, we're taking this side of the grav lift. Eyes up and dig in"

"Ok Alpha squad, I've just got word from Carlos. Delta squad is already in position along with Beta squad we're moving in and so is Gamma squad. Everybody ready?" There were a few muttered replies from the squad as Doc prepared to move in on the UFO. "Ok then, let's go guys"

At the same time as Doc finished mobilising Alpha squad, Tankman and Gamma squad were already on their way to the doorway of the UFO.

"Take up positions behind Delta squad," said Tankman to his squad as they entered the saucer. "We are to take their position down here and they're moving in."

Acknowledgements floated up from Gamma squad as Tammy and Trigger approached their own squads from opposite sides of the UFO. The snipers were to accompany the scouting parties into the heart of the UFO and find somewhere to provide cover from.

"Welcome to the party Trigger," said Ki-tat as the sniper barged past Alpha squad who were now assembled behind his own. "Got some good news for you. And some bad..."

"What? Bad? What bad news?" stammered Trigger as he approached his squad leader.

"Good news is you have a new job in the squad. Bad news is, it's as a scout." Said Ki-tat desperately trying not to laugh.

"What? A scout? Bastards! Why do I have to do it? What about the rookies?" asked Trigger erratically.

"Well let's ask them shall we?" said Ki-tat. "Brook do you want to do it?" he asked one of the rookies.

"No sir"

"Terror what about you? Fancy a little exploration?"

"f**k no" he replied.

"Sorry Trigger the mob has spoken" said Ki-tat beginning to grin. "I believe the door..." he began turning to the grav lift, "is that way"

"...shit" said Trigger as he shouldered his rifle.

[Apocalypse Fanfiction]

Instalment by Ki-tat Chung

Trigger stepped into the strange alien gravity field and began thinking 'how do I get up there now? There's no controls.' But as soon as he began thinking he began to travel vertically up the shaft.

Trigger reached the top of the shaft and looked around at his surroundings. He was in a corridor running from front to back of the UFO. At one end not too far away was a small room and at the other end it opened out into another bigger room. He shouldered his rifle and opened a comm channel to his squad leader. Just before he began to speak he saw a small, cross-shaped object floating towards him down the corridor. It was a bit larger than palm sized and was closing in on him quickly.

"Um sir? There's this pinkish yellowish cross floating my way. What do I do?" he said into his commlink.

"Does it pick up on the motion scanner?" Ki-tat said.

"Nope."

"SHOOT IT"

And just at that moment, it reached him.

Just as Warlord lifted up his TacVisor, he heard a massive explosion from around the other side of the UFO.

[Apocalypse Fanfiction]

Instalment by The Veteran

"What in the hell was that?" cried Warlord into a public comm. The lesser soldiers dared not reply and said nothing and the squad leaders were little more help.

"It was Trigger," said Ki-tat finally.

"What do you mean it was Trigger?" shouted Warlord. "He's a sniper he doesn't have that sort of firepower"

"No, he reported an object before the explosion... It must have attacked him or something." For the first time Ki-tat seemed to be concerned about the Squaddie.

"Why the hell is our best sniper on a scouting mission! Goddammit Ki-tat, get your squad up there and secure the area. See if he's stable." Warlord was still shouting but he seemed to be regaining his composure.

"We'll cover," said Carlos, rising. The whole team had monitored the heated conversation between Ki-tat and Warlord as it had taken place over a public comm channel.

"Affirmative. Thanks Carlos," said Ki-tat turning to address Beta squad. He opened a closed comm channel within his squad and then spoke. "Ok men, we have to assume that whatever did that is still up there so run your weapons hot ok?"

Beta squad quickly figured out how to operate the alien lift with mere will power and they soon began pouring out onto the floor above. They scanned the floor for any activity but saw no hostiles in the corridor in which they found themselves.

Ki-tat began to move to the room at the front of the UFO with Beta squad while Carlos and Delta squad covered the other end of the hallway.

Dante left Delta squad and knelt down by Trigger's body, which was slumped against a wall and covered in organic shrapnel torn from the UFOs fleshy wall.

"Ego? We're going to need you up here and quick" Dante called into a private comm channel with Delta squad's squad leader and medic, Ego who was currently serving with Alpha squad. "I can't even tell if he's breathing! His chestplate's been torn to pieces and I think I see intestines... And lots of blood" he said all at once.

"Copy that I'm on my way up there with warlord now," replied Ego.

As the medic pushed past Alpha squad in the base of the UFO, Delta squad reached what liked like a control room. "The front of this thing's clear," called Ki-tat into a public comm channel, hoping to raise the troops morale.

"That's great" Carlos replied calmly as he began shooting. "The back's not"

[Apocalypse Fanfiction]

Instalment by tftd fan

As soon as Ki-tat closed the comm channel, he turned to see Delta squad behind him firing into the room at the back of the UFO.

"Damn, what am I doing here? " said Terror wondering if this was the real rush that they'd told him about when he had joined XCom. He couldn't stop thinking.

"Carlos, give me a status" screamed Ki-tat into the commlink. There was too much interference in the communication. Volmen wondered if it was the sound of the guns that prevented the message reaching Carlos and his squad.

"Shit, terror come with me" called Ki-tat. "Pete, you take command of the rest of the squad. You hold your position and alert Alpha and Gamma squads of the situation".

Ki-tat ran out into the hallway with terror close behind. They headed straight for Carlos and Delta squad.

"Oh man, this is my first mission and the boss is already taking me into hell... I don't think he likes me. Not at all", terror mumbled to himself. He was already feeling pain in his stomach, a result of the massive amount of adrenaline being injected by the brain.

"Wake up rookie! This is no time for your pray, get close to me and watch yourself" Said Ki tat sharply, while running into the hallway.

Ki-tat and Terror ran past Trigger and approached Delta squad at the end of the hallway. On hearing them approach several of the soldiers knelt down and Ki-tat began firing into the room.

[Apocalypse Fanfiction]

Instalment by Warlord

Warlord slung his rifle across his back as he neared the unconscious form of Trigger.

"How bad?"

"He's lost a lot of blood, and he's got a lot of shrapnel in him. If we get him evacuated in the next few minutes, I put his chances at 50/50."

"I need two volunteers! Now" shouted Warlord to the swarm of troops behind him.

Two rookies raced over, looking very scared.

"Yes, sir?" they said to Warlord in unison.

"Do either of you have any medical training?" asked Warlord.

"I-I do sir. I was a paramedic before I en-" started one of the rookies.

"That's enough, I don't need your life story. You have one minute to have this soldier to Valkyrie 2. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir"

"Get moving then"

As the two rookies picked up Trigger, Warlord grabbed Ultio, Trigger's rifle, and slung it across his back. Drawing his heavily customized Lawpistol, he moved toward Ki-tat and Terror.

"Ki-tat, report."

"Sir, we have a few Anthropods around this corner, and I think a Spitter or two."

"A couple?! You think?! Give me a report I can use" Warlord was starting to get mad. He had his best sniper blown up on a scouting mission, a rookie possibly brainsucked, his driver was dead, and his brand new APC had been destroyed. Perhaps it was fate that it was Monday...

Warlord accessed the public channel.

"All squads, I want one man covering each door, one covering the brainsucked rookie, and everybody else up here. Now"

As the soldiers moved down the hallway, Warlord started barking orders to the squad leaders.

"Delta and Gamma squads. When I give the command you are to storm the left side of the back room. Alpha and Beta you have the right side. When we go in, we go in hard. Shoot everything! Moving or not, I don't care, kill it! And remember, no HE."

"Yes, sir" The squad leaders echoed.

Warlord switched over to a private channel.

"Kitat, 30 minutes from the time we get back to base, you will be in my office. Dress uniform. Got it?"

"Yes, sir." Replied Ki-tat. He knew he was in trouble but he figured he had better worry about the aliens right now. He'd have to be alive for Warlord to yell at him...

[Apocalypse Fanfiction]

Instalment by tftd fan

"Well at least there someone wants me alive after all this," thought Ki-tat glumly.

"Beta squad this is Ki-tat. Your room's clear, get over here on the double" Ki-tat shouted into his squad frequency.

"Roger that." Replied Pete.

"Let's get moving Volmen. I think Ki-tat has something for us" Said Pete in a private channel.

"Good. finally we're getting some more action here" laughed Volmen sarcastically.

"Terror, are out of your mind again?" called out Ki-tat. "Stop your oyster acting shit and shoot goddammit! This is war, son! Kill or die" Shouted Ki-tat still shooting.

"Yes sir" Replied almost instantly opening fire on any movement he saw.

"Look, don't take this personally, but you are my cover and I need you to be reliable, alright? Now, Alpha and Gamma squads will be with us shortly. We just have to hold up for a few more minutes."

"Yes sir," replied Terror. His feelings about his boss were starting to change.

[Apocalypse Fanfiction]

Instalment by The Veteran

"Alpha! Beta! Break right now" screamed Warlord. "Gamma! Delta! Left"

The four squads began flooding into the room and as soon as the first man was out the gunfire began. At least three men went straight down, thought Warlord. And he couldn't help thinking that one of them was a squad leader.

More and more troops flooded past Warlord almost knocking him to the ground and then the hallway was empty. Listening to the human screams in the other room made Warlords blood run warm and after checking the clip in his Lawpistol he charged around the corner and followed Alpha and Beta squad to the right.

The fighting slowly got quieter as the two rookies dragged Trigger to the Valkyrie that was to take him to base. "What the! Who the hell's there?" shouted Mouse jumping up and spinning around as he heard a bang on the Valkyrie's hull.

"We're on your side! We got wounded you need to take to base," replied one of the rookies.

The landing hatch dropped down and Mouse helped the rookies get Trigger onboard. "Ok, I've got him. You two get back in there, it sounds like they need you."

Until Mouse said this the rookies thought their senses were impaired by all of the gunfire they'd been subjected to but as Mouse turned to listen to the craft's radio they noticed that the gunfire in their heads wasn't actually in their heads at all. Mouse had been monitoring the whole battle from his cockpit and the gunfire coming from the radio was deafening.

The rookies reluctantly returned to battle and Mouse shut the rear hatch of the Valkyrie, though it was some time before he actually left.

Back inside, most of the fallen soldiers were back on their feet and were only mildly injured in most cases. The battle raged on but noone could tell what was happening. Tankman guessed there were twenty XCom troops in there but the aliens didn't seem to stop coming. Tank was holding his position rather than fighting because something this wild is far to dangerous to risk a squad leader with. But when he heard a gurgle behind him Tankman instinctively whirled around and fired at the Spitter standing there.

There was a massive rush of flame around Tankman as his incendiary ammunition buried itself in the spitter's torso. The smell was unbearable and the fire was on everything. Tankman struggled with the flames that had engulfed him and almost half of his squad but the inferno raged on.

[Apocalypse Fanfiction]

Instalment by Alan

Tinboy caught a glimpse of the spitter and spun round to see Tankman firing his autocannon. As he Turned he brought up his own 'Cannon and tried to line up a shot.

"Damn," He cursed quietly. Tankman was blocking his line of fire. A second later the area was a raging inferno.

Tinboy grabbed Tankman and dragged him away from the flames. Other members of gamma squad were rolling on the floor trying to put themselves out.

BombBloke crouched, and aimed towards the four columns in front of the squad, there was definitely movement behind them, but he couldn't quite see...

Tinboy switched his radio to the public channel, "This is Tinboy. Gamma squad has been cut off. We'll try to hold here until the flames die down but we could really do with some backup."

Tankman's armour was charred and burnt, but fortunately he was unhurt. 'Damn! I should have know better than that,' he thought, 'I'm making rookie mistakes'. He ejected his clip and replaced it with an AP.

"Lucky BombBloke was caught in that... If he had been the whole ship would have gone up with the stuff he's carrying" he mused. Tankman shook himself and surveyed the scene.

"Tinboy! BombBloke! Take up position by those pillars! You two," he indicated two of the rookies, "go with them".

[Apocalypse Fanfiction]

Instalment by Warlord

"Ok, people, let's mop 'em up" shouted Warlord as the rounds from his modified Lawpistol tore a spitter's funnel nearly almost completely off of its body.

The XCom troopers picked up the rate of fire, and one by one the remaining aliens started to drop. The roar of machine gun and autocannon fire was deafening. You could smell the burnt gunpowder in the air, and underlying that, the smell of burning alien flesh.

As one of the remaining Anthropods made a break for the grav lift, it was torn in half by rounds from no less than 4 M4K's. Slowly, the troopers began to advance. Several of the more experienced troopers were "double tapping" as they moved, putting 2 extra shots into the heads of already dead aliens.

As the smoke from Tankman's incendiary round cleared, Warlord could make out the forms of 3 of the rookie soldiers. They were lying motionless.

"Ego, get over here! We've got soldiers down"

As Warlord rolled one of them over, he could see a Brainsucker still latched on to the rookie's head. As he watched, the Brainsucker shuddered and then fell away dead. Quickly, as the former rookie reached for his weapon with a blank stare in his eyes, Warlord put 2 rounds in his forehead. He hated doing that, but as far as he was concerned, the soldier was already dead.

Ego moved and checked the other two, carefully looking for signs that a brainsucker had been at them. One was clearly dead, most of his helmet and his head melted by a spitter. The other turned out to only be wounded. It was the rookie Terror.

His armour was pretty badly melted on his left leg, but once Ego got it peeled away, the wound was much less severe than he had thought. The armour had absorbed most of the acid launched by a Spitter. The little that had got through took off a layer of skin, but not much beyond that. It was painful, and would definitely leave a scar, but by no means was it life-threatening.

"Hang in there soldier. You're going to be fine. If anything comes near you, other than one of us, kill it."

Terror nodded. He couldn't believe it. His very first mission, and already he was a casualty. His leg felt like someone was holding a blowtorch against it. He took a look at the wound.

'It must look a lot worst than it is...'

All around him, Terror could see the XCom soldiers finishing off the last pockets of alien resistance. He clutched his M4K close to him, and kept his eyes wide open. Those damned Brainsuckers could be anywhere...