SENATOR FRANK BEACHAM FOUND ASSASSINATED IN HIS VACATION HOME AFTER WEEK-LONG TOUR RECRUITING FOR THE ARMED FORCES. GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS REFUSED TO COMMENT ON THE NATURE OF HIS DEATH BUT LOCAL SECURITY CAMERAS NEAR HIS RESIDENCE SHOW A HELICOPTER HOVERING OVER THE ESTATE AT THE ESTIMATED TIME OF DEATH.
WIKILEAKS CONTINUES TO BE THE FOCAL POINT OF CONTROVERSY AS MULTIPLE GOVERNMENTS WORLDWIDE THREATEN TO BLOCK THE WHISTLEBLOWER WEBSITE AFTER MEMOS ABOUT ‘EXTRATERRESTRIAL COMBAT UNIT’ ARE LEAKED. JULIAN ASSANGE WAS UNAVAILABLE FOR COMMENT.
------
23:52, 05/20/2015, SKYRANGER BIG SKY
The more things change, the more they stay the same, Matt thought to himself as he surveyed the other members of Strike One. Just add the background noise of a Black Hawk and I might have thought I was back in the Army again. The brief feeling of nostalgia was gone in an instant, but Matt allowed himself to enjoy it nonetheless.
Lieutenant Dryzimski was scrolling through pages of information on a tablet computer, no doubt checking and double checking the the force estimates for what the soldiers would be facing once they reached the alien base. He also spared glances toward his conventional light machine gun and the heavy laser that Jack Finch held beside him.
The British soldier was completely oblivious to the attention, and was apparently doing his best to lose his shirt to the little pocket poker game he had brought with him. He had been muttering an almost unbroken string of what Matt could only assume was profanity as he continued to lose more and more virtual money to the electronic time waster.
Robert Sachs, however, was the picture of serenity as he demonstrated the time-honored soldier's tradition of sleeping at the drop of a hat. His arms were crossed and his chin rested on his chest, which rose and fell slowly. The only other noteworthy features of the seasoned campaigner was the worn but well-cared for G36 beside him and a knife strapped to his chest. The sergeant tried not to think of having to resort to using such methods to fight the aliens as he turned to the two Japanese recruits.
Kaito Yamazaki and Kaori Suzuki were at first glance having a conversation with very short and clipped sentences in their native language. Their expressions during the course of the conversation ranged from consternation to triumph from the very start. It had taken Matt nearly half an hour to realize that when one spoke they matched the syllable of their word to the last syllable the other had spoken. Judging by how often Kaori was abusing the syllable 'ko', she was quite the old hand at whatever game they were playing.
Zhang sat towards the front of the Skyranger doing what Lana had dubbed as his 'statue impression.' His eyes were closed and his hands were clasped serenely in his lap. His chest rose and fell just as slowly as Sachs but unlike the Australian his posture was ramrod straight even in repose. A scoped LANC sat at his side instead of his usual sniper rifle in light of where the operation was going to be taking them.
Speaking of Lana... Matt thought as he brought his eyes around to survey the last member of Strike One. Lana somehow managed to appear relaxed despite the cramped quarters of the Skyranger with her legs stretched out. In her hands was a beaten paperback book with near microscopic text from what Matt could see. The torn cover read Structural Engineering Methods by R Shen.
“What?” Lana asked with a smirk when she noticed Matt's attention. “Going to make a joke about how you're surprised I can read?” Her smirk grew just a bit when Matt recoiled from the supposed accusation. “I didn't sign as infantry like you when you joined up, Matt. I built things prior to joining XCOM. Once we finish up this little alien mess I'll have to find meaningful employment. Oh, sure, I could sign on with a PMC but I'd rather get into something less dangerous.”
Before the discussion could continue any further, the crew chief entered the troop compartment and held one hand up. “Five minutes until landing! Message from Command is inbound.” The crew chief turned and tapped the monitor towards the front of the compartment.
Bradford appeared with a somewhat harried expression which immediately set Strike One on edge. “Strike Teams, you will be entering the airspace near the alien base shortly. Our satellite scans have revealed a heat bloom at the base of the mountains in the target zone, but further scans were unable to penetrate the mountain to get a layout of the base. Enemy forces at the base are unknown, so your primary objective is to infiltrate the base and gather any intelligence you can without being detected. If it's feasible to neutralize the enemy personnel on site to capture the base, then you have the green light to proceed. If it's not possible, then it's believed sabotage of the base's power systems will result in the facility's destruction.”
The commander's expression hardened as he leaned forward, “In the event of mission failure, Interceptor squadrons will deploy Fragarach weapon systems to destroy the base. The aliens are also jamming all communications near the base, so you will not have long range comms until the base is captured or destroyed,” The implication was clear, they would be on their own. “Good luck. Command Ou--” The screen burst into static before the crew chief turned it off.
“Well, that's ominous,” Lana said with a smirk as she began to load the gun on her lap. It bore a superficial resemblance to the LANC but was somewhat larger. A slot for an Ea power cell could be found in the butt stock much like the rifle, but forward of the trigger guard rested another slot. Matt's unspoken question was answered when Lana slid an equally oversized magazine into the forward slot before loading an Ea power cell into the rear.
“Now, now, kids,” Dryzimski spoke up, “Just because Command isn't here to watch over us doesn't mean anything. Some good old fashioned soldiering is what will get things done today.”
Matt caught the lieutenant's eye and asked a question without saying a word. Dryzimski's glance away was all the answer the sergeant needed. No comms means Bradford won't be able to help with that freaky power of his, Matt winced as he finished thought. Commander Bradford's always been good at his job, but if he uses... whatever he does too much then the soldiers will elevate him to omnipotent status.
“Thirty seconds!” The crew chief announced as he walked toward the ramp at the back of the Skyranger. “Closest landing zone is a small valley approximately half a mile from the suspected enemy installation. You'll have to leg it from the landing zone to the base.”
“Why aren't we landing closer? I was under the impression the new Chameleon systems would block detection,” Dryzimski asked as he pocketed his tablet and brought his LMG onto his lap.
“Stealth systems are currently engaged, but enemy surface patrols were detected around the perimeter. If we deliver you to the base's doorstep then the Chameleon system won't have enough power to cover us as we leave and the op would be blown,” The crew chief answered quickly before turning back to the passenger compartment. “Ten seconds! Good luck and give them hell!” One hand slapped the ramp controls to reveal the pre-dawn gloom.
The soldiers of Strike One released their harnesses and reached for their handholds as they turned to face the ramp. They stumbled slightly as the Skyranger set down before flooding down the ramp in a rush and crouching behind the myriad of rocks that littered the terrain.
“Big Sky, Strike One. We’re on the ground,” Dryzimski reported as he glanced over to the looming shape of another Skyranger deploying troops.
“Crimson, Strike Six. We’re clear,” the report came from Fujikawa, and both craft began to rise back into the sky.
“Solid copy, Strike teams,” Matt heard Big Sky reply and even at such a short distance he could hear static and interference on the line. “We’ll await your signal for recovery. Good luck.” And with that farewell the two aircraft disappeared into the night. The low light amplification in Matt’s helmet allowed him to watch the Skyrangers ascent as well as the approach of Strike Six.
Without a word between them the two teams formed up and headed east.
------
00:10, 05/21/2015, Hörgársveit
The early morning air carried a chill that, while unpleasant, wasn’t unwelcome.
Anything to maintain focus, Zhang thought as he surveyed the mostly barren terrain of the valley around him. The route the Strike teams had taken from the landing zone had been purposefully meandering to stay within the low depressions and shallow valleys to avoid the patrols that the Skyrangers had reported. The potential for aliens to be lurking in the dark without the Skyrangers’ overwatch was causing no small amount of tension in the group.
Zhang, however, was a pillar of calm at the head of the group. His position as point man assumed a great deal of risk and his unshaken composure was rubbing off on the men and women behind him. He hoped it was, at least.
Despite Zhang’s attempts to maintain his laser-like focus, the complete lack of action was giving his mind room to wander. Have I been misunderstanding the situation? He thought as his mind drifted back to the last conversation he had with Twilight. I had thought the worst of her for what I thought was her choice. I always thought I was an excellent judge of character, but this mistake… Zhang bit down on that train of thought. Doubt is the enemy, but denial is no better. When we return, I shall speak with the others to resolve this conflict.
Any further internal debate was cut off when he caught sight of two hunched shapes at the mouth of a cave entrance. Zhang froze and raised his fist to halt the other soldiers, but before he could give any more hand signals he blinked and found a rocky outcropping directly ahead. With practiced ease he crept up to the outcropping and glanced around the corner.
Two sectoids lurked amongst the rocks outside of a sizeable cave entrance. Zhang’s initial incredulity at the thought of openly posting such guards was quickly smothered by the realization that the diminutive alien’s death-like stillness combined with their gray skins resulted in almost perfect camouflage to an untrained eye in the rocky terrain. Zhang’s eyes were far from untrained, and any thoughts he might have spent wondering how he had originally seen the two sentries were better invested in preparing for blood to be shed.
A flash of hand signs relayed the news back to the soldiers behind him. A few moments later he heard two move out of position and stalk into the hills. Several more minutes passed before Zhang caught sight of the two soldiers as they crept up to the two sentries from opposite sides.
The first yanked his target off the ground with one arm around the neck while his other arm brought a combat knife precisely into one of the sectoid’s massive eyes. The blade sank in to the hilt and the alien died with hardly a struggle. The second soldier’s attack caused Zhang to raise an eyebrow.
The soldier’s left arm came up before chopping down like an axe onto the crown of the second alien. The alien dropped to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. The soldier kept a pistol trained on the incapacitated alien before giving the all clear signal so the others could approach.
With the sentries taken care of, the Strike teams bolted up the hill and into the shelter of the cave the aliens were guarding. Zhang couldn’t help but notice the ‘incapacitated’ alien now sported what was most certainly a fatal indentation where the soldier had struck it.
“Ugh, I knew I should have worn a glove,” Zhang heard a rather annoyed whisper from the depths of the cave. “Seemed like such a good idea at the time, but now I’ve got alien bits mixed into the joints. Blegh, that stinks.” The owner of the voice was quickly revealed to be Lana as she trained her weapon on what appeared to be a doorway set into the end of the cave.
“It’s your own bloody fault. You were given a knife for a reason,” Sachs, the other soldier, grumbled back before taking note of the new arrivals. “Sentries were taken down without a peep and no sirens either. I think we still have surprise on our side.”
“Excellent,” Captain Fujikawa replied with a nod. “Once we get inside, Strike Six will handle the power plant. Strike One will handle the capture assignment. I'm feeling keen for an abduction of my own.” The helmets masked any facial expressions but Zhang didn’t have to strain himself to imagine feral grins on most of the soldiers present. “I’m also interested in any computers they have here, as well. If this is the aliens base of operations then they’ve got to have information on where they’re taking all the abductees at the very least. But first things first, we need to open that door.”
The soldiers assembled near the door and Fujikawa reached out with one hand to brush against it. Unlike the doorways found in the alien ships which were shimmering energy fields that dissipated when approached, this was for all intents and purposes a metal wall built into the stone with a small indentation within the wall to mark the entrance. No buttons or control mechanisms were present anywhere in sight, and Zhang found himself reaching for his demolition charges before the door whooshed open of its own accord.
Fujikawa hopped backward and trained her rifle on the open doorway while letting loose a burst of sotto-voce profanity. Ten long seconds passed before the captain or any of the soldiers relaxed enough to speak. “Well, that was easy. We’ll regroup here in thirty minutes. Radio silence until power can be shut down. Good luck, gentlemen.” With that, Fujikawa raised her rifle and led Strike Six into the unknown.
“You heard the lady, we have a job to do,” Dryzimski said, and Strike One formed up to follow them in. Zhang was in the tail position this time, and he kept a wary eye on the door before the group rounded a corner and it fell out of sight.
------
Strike One swept through the base like a murderous ghost. Alien encounters were few and far between and were almost entirely Sectoids. A significant portion of them weren’t even armed or paying any attention to anything other than the wildly complex computer screens at their work stations. The operation was going just a bit too well for Matt to be comfortable with it.
Where are their heavies? Or thin men at least? The longer we go with just fighting Sectoids the more convinced I am that this is all a setup, Matt couldn’t help but worry as he watched Lana and Sachs perform their fifth consecutive double takedown of unsuspecting Sectoids. They aren’t even using Chameleon equipment and the aliens are just letting themselves get slaughtered.
As the last Sectoid corpse fell to the floor, Strike One formed up and headed towards the next room. Matt and Lana took their positions on either side of the door before quickstepping around the corner with their weapons raised. The room was larger than the corridors and kiosks that they had swept through previously with an elevated platform in the center. Four Sectoids occupied the platform but didn’t spare so much as a glance towards the approaching humans. Their eyes were fixated on the device in the center of the platform and the myriad of colors that filled the air above it.
Not one to miss the opportunity, Matt began to creep up behind one of the aliens with his pistol and knife in hand. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Lana, Sachs and Zhang mirroring his steps. And like a well-oiled machine all four dispatched their targets. Sachs and Zhang performed the eye stab takedown while Matt elected to slip his own knife into his target’s back.
Lana dispatched her target with what was becoming a rather infamous maneuver. As before her left arm raised above her head before whipping down to strike the back of the Sectoid’s head. A crunch not unlike the sound of a pumpkin being smashed was the only sound the alien made before slumping to the floor with a skull fracture shaped like the edge of Lana’s metal hand.
With all four aliens dead, the soldiers switched back to their rifles and began to make their way to the next door, but not before Finch took a moment to study the alien light show. “Is this what the aliens do for fun?”
“At least they’re not reading bad fanfiction on the internet,” Kaito remarked off-handedly as he walked past, and Finch turned and made a gesture at the Japanese man’s back.
“Are you going to just stand there and argue that there aren’t any--” The Englishman started to argue until he caught sight of Dryzimski pointing one finger at him. “Right, sir. Sorry, sir,” he mumbled before falling into line.
The next room appeared to be storage or a loading area packed full crates, and the sheer incongruity of it struck Matt like a blow to the face. The crates were wood, and covered with numerals and English lettering and wouldn’t look out of place in any of the countless shipping warehouses that littered the Earth. At least three dozen identical crates filled the room, with the majority lining the walls while others sat on palettes on the floor. The question on everyone’s mind remained unspoken until Strike One reached the end of the warehouse to confirm they were alone.
“Finch, Suzuki, Yamazaki, Sachs, secure the entrances,” Dryzimski ordered before turning to the nearest crate on the floor. “Jenkins, pry one of these open. I want to know just what they are shipping.”
“Aye aye,” Jenkins said as she let her weapon dangle from its strap. She drove her left hand into the wood just beneath the lid and lifted. The lid came loose with a squeal of protest from the nails, and Lana didn’t hesitate to look inside. “What do you think? Bomb? Power source?”
“I have no idea. Matt, get over here,” Dryzimski said, and Matt joined the pair in gazing into the crate. Nestled inside the crate’s packing material was what appeared to be a metal container shaped vaguely like a cube. Seams ran along the top and outer edges of the cube and wafts of golden light could be seen leaking out of them.
“Sounds like a job for Vahlen,” Matt said with a helpless shrug, “I have no idea what they could be.”
“Right then, form up and on to the next room,” Dryzimski ordered and the team quickly suited action to words. The next room was much like the first but rather than a wall at the far end the room opened up into a far larger chamber. Strike One filtered through the boxes until they had line of sight into the larger room. “What the fuck?” Dryzimski asked with a great amount of feeling, and Matt could only agree with the sentiment.
The larger room was a hangar, and the floor was littered with all sorts of debris and devices that Matt had come to expect from such facilities. The hangar itself wasn’t the source of confusion; the single craft that rested on the far side of the hangar was. The familiar shape of a Skyranger sat with its wings folded and loading ramp down. Several figures could be seen pushing crates into the cargo bay… several human shapes. Around a dozen and a half could be seen, men and women in their late twenties to early thirties with most wearing slacks, ties and vests. The remaining few were wearing an outfit that anyone in the Strike teams could recognize instantly: XCOM first generation tactical armor and helmets. Just over half were armed with weapons Matt had never seen before.
“Strike One, Strike Six Actual, do you copy?” Matt heard through the radio, and he nearly jumped out of surprise. Why is Fujikawa transmitting? I thought we agreed radio silence…
Dryzimski signaled for Strike One to take cover before responding, “Strike One copies.”
“We’ve found what they’re doing to the abductees. Some of them anyway,” Another warning flag rose in Matt’s head as he took note of the captain’s tone. Something had scared her, badly. “There’s bodies; hundreds of them. Mutilated after some kind of surgical operation. We found where they’re doing it, too.”
“Six Actual, do you need backup?” The lieutenant asked patiently.
He’s hearing exactly what I’m hearing but he wants to know why she’s using the damned radio, Matt thought as he peaked over the crates at the humans on the other side of the hangar. They were continuing their work but one had stopped and pressed a hand to his ear in the classic position of someone receiving a radio message.
“Negative, One. We found a survivor. He… he ripped Rodriguez’s head off with his bare hands,” Fujikawa blurted out in a rush, “If you see humans, keep your guard up. They might look like us but they aren’t human anymore! They are not--”
Anything else the captain might have said was lost as two things happened. Dryzimski took the opportunity to look over the box at the humans on the other side of the hangar, and one of the humans on the other side of the hangar took the opportunity to open fire. A blood red beam of coherent light crossed the distance instantly and connected squarely with Dryzimski’s faceplate. Time seemed to slow as the beam vaporized everything that it hit, and Matt could only watch in horror as Dryzimski’s corpse fell backward onto the floor.
“Weapons free, open fire!” Matt shouted as he brought his LANC up and fired a quick snap shot at the closest enemy he could see. The rest of Strike One opened up as well in a frenzied rush to score a kill.
The moment the sniper’s shot rang out, a similar shout could be heard on the other end of the hangar, “Intruders in the loading bay! Flank them!” The humans on the other side of the hangar immediately snapped into action and dispersed with an enviable degree of professionalism. For the first five seconds both sides traded fire before the enemy humans made their move.
The volume of fire increased from the other side of the hangar, and Matt had to duck down to avoid being incinerated under the torrent of laser fire but not before he caught sight of two humans sprinting out from cover and leaping thirty feet upwards and onto the catwalks above the hangar. How the hell did they do that? Matt gaped before having to press himself further into cover to avoid fire from this new angle.
“Finch! Rocket the catwalks! Covering fire!” Matt shouted as he suited action to words and began to pepper the unloaded crates with LANC fire before falling back into cover to reload. The satisfying sound of an explosion followed by screams was the only indication that Matt needed to know the Englishman had hit home.
Less welcoming was the reply he heard shouted from the opposition. “Rocket their position, now!”
Matt couldn’t restrain himself from letting loose a string of profanity as he rose to try and shoot whoever was going to rocket their position. Unfortunately the enemy was faster and Matt could only watch helplessly as the missile flew from its launcher towards Strike One’s position.
No. No no no no no NO, Matt screamed in his mind as he watched the rocket cross the distance. They’re all going to die again and there’s NOTHING I CAN DO.
Do not think of what can’t be. Think of what you want to happen and it will be.
STOP!
The faintest of golden auras caught the rocket and it stopped dead in its tracks as though it had hit a brick wall. It crumpled and detonated prematurely, but the searing spike of pain in Matt’s head prevented him from doing anything other than falling back into cover. “Jenkins, Sachs; flank them using your Chameleon gear. We’ll cover you!” He growled through clenched teeth while he suited action to words.
A chorus of affirmatives greeted him though he winced when Kaori stepped out from cover and caught a blast in the face just as Dryzimski had. Zhang jerked to the side at the last moment and a line of laser fire creased the right side of his helmet. A surprisingly thorough string of Chinese epithets could be heard as he ripped his helmet off, closed his eyes and fired his LANC.
Zhang’s connected with a piece of cover on the opposite end of the hangar and was immediately followed by one of the humans falling over with a neat hole drilled in his head. Again Zhang fired with similar results before being forced back into cover.
Did he just… Matt started to ask himself but was brought out of his thoughts by a laser shot square in the chest. The chest plate held, but was cherry red as he fell back into cover. Priorities, genius, priorities!
“Strike Six, this is One Actual! I have assumed command and we are engaging with hostile human forces! We need reinforcement now!” Matt shouted into the radio as he rose to take shots at the hostile humans. The IFF tag for Lana was bolting towards the right flank of the enemies while Sachs had taken cover behind the Skyranger just as the power supply for his Chameleon gear ran dry.
The grizzled veteran began to take single shots from his new position but quickly found himself in danger of being flanked himself. Two of the suit-wearing humans leapt atop the Skyranger from the opposite side and dropped down behind Sachs. The man’s instincts were keen as he ducked and stepped backward to avoid the swipe of one soldier while bringing his rifle to bear. His G36 opened up on full auto and unloaded into the second soldier’s chest and stomach. Unfortunately Sachs’ luck ran out as the second soldier was on him. One gloved fist connected with the soldier’s helmeted head and sent him into the side of the Skyranger where he dropped like a puppet with its strings cut. The enemy human raised one boot and brought it over Sachs’ head, but the killing blow was halted by a flurry of heavy laser fire from Finch.
The second enemy, the one that had taken a two second full auto burst in the chest from Sachs, slowly began to rise despite the massive amount of blood coating his chest. Stay dead! Matt thought as he lined up a head shot on the recovering enemy, and he put three shots into the stubborn enemy before he was certain he’d stay down.
Matt caught sight of two more things farther in the hangar. Time slowed as he caught sight of a sniper leveling a long rifle directly at him. His helmet lacked any sort of zoom function but in his mind he could almost see the sniper’s eye in the scope as he lined up the perfect shot. That shot would never come as the second thing that Matt saw was Lana’s IFF tackling the man to the ground.
“One Actual, Strike Six is nearby. I think we’ll be coming into the hangar from your right, watch your fire,” Fujikawa said, and Matt could only grin in response.
“Copy that, Strike Six. Be advised that the enemy has lasers and explosives!” Matt quickly updated the other strike team as he saw them enter the hangar. Two soldiers were immediately cut down by a torrent of laser fire before they could get into cover and Matt cursed before shouting, “Strike One, advance!”
Matt burst out of cover and made a bee line for the Skyranger. Several others fell in beside him, and he glanced over his shoulder to confirm just who had made it. Finch, Zhang… Where’s Kaito? Matt’s gaze retraced their steps before settling on a mangled corpse halfway between their starting point and the Skyranger. Oh. “Finch, I want you on this corner providing covering fire. Do not let them flank Strike Six. Zhang, you’re with me.”
A pair of confirmations came from the two as Matt rounded the corner with his LANC raised and with Zhang close on his heels. The high pitched pulsing whine of the heavy laser drowned out all other noise as the pair advanced into the miniature maze of crates and moving equipment at the base of the Skyranger’s ramp.
The pair came across a full squad of the enemy humans that were in the process of suppressing and flanking the newly arrived Strike Six. Matt and Zhang were quick to return the favor. Their first two shots were perfect crowns on the two rearmost soldiers. The second and third enemies fell to double taps in the back. Matt was just about to move onto his third target when a hidden enemy leapt the box beside him and landed within arm’s reach to his side.
Matt’s mind snapped back to his close combat training as he saw his enemy draw a knife and swing it at him.
Option one, step back and shoot the target.
Matt quickstepped backwards to avoid the first knife blow while raising his LANC. He got one shot off before the rifle was ripped from his hands by a viciously fast swing.
Option two, use secondary weapons to gain the advantage.
Without missing a beat he snatched the ARC grenade from his belt and hurled it at his enemy while smoothly drawing his pistol. The human caught the grenade in midair and tossed it aside even as it discharged into him, all the while continuing his advance on Matt in spite of the pistol fire.
Option three, advance and gain control.
Just as his pistol clicked empty Matt ducked under another wild knife swing and leapt forward in an impromptu shoulder check on the now off-balance enemy. He staggered backward, his once pristine vest and slacks now pockmarked with bullet holes and blood. In spite of all his injuries he stood and charged right into the ARC thrower Matt drew at point blank range which caused him to stumble again.
The human screamed in outrage and slowly got to his feet again while Matt hastily reloaded his pistol, only for the upper half of the man’s body to disappear in a spray of gore and a BANG.
Always remember, the person who wins hand to hand combat is generally the one who has friends with guns.
Lana stepped over the remains as she swept the remaining bodies for any sign of movement. “Check the bodies,” she said grimly, “They don’t stay dead for long unless you’re… thorough.”
Matt watched her go before letting out a long ragged breath he didn’t know he had been holding. Bodies, human bodies littered the hangar. While most were wearing the curious business formal suits that the enemies wore, a great deal too many were wearing XCOM Carapace and Chameleon armor.
It didn’t take long for Matt to find the rifle he lost during his hand to hand fight, though the hit that had knocked it out of his hands apparently had enough force to crack the case around the Elerium Circuitry of the barrel. Just as he was about to lament the loss of his weapon, the familiar sound of Australian-accented profanity drew his attention.
“Ugh, son of a bitch,” Sachs said with as much enthusiasm as could be expected. He rolled over and slipped his helmet off of his head. The face plate of his helmet was cracked down the center and his nose was broken and bleeding profusely. Sachs rolled over again and tried to rise but slipped and fell back to the deck.
“Don’t try to get up, you’ve probably had a concussion,” Matt said as he hustled over to the injured soldier. He gave the older soldier a hand propping himself up against the Skyranger before asking, “Do you think you can supervise the wounded while we secure the base?”
“Don’t you patronize me, sergeant,” Sachs growled, “I might not be able to walk I can still shoot a gun. Drag me in the direction you want and I’ll keep anything from getting through.”
“I’ve no doubts,” Matt forced a smile before his eyes settled on the G36. “I may need to borrow your rifle. Mine was damaged in the fight.”
“Damned Americans don’t know how to keep your kit,” The Australian muttered even as he fished through his pockets and offered up two full magazines while drawing his sidearm. “You bend that rifle and I’ll bend you.”
Matt maintained his forced smile as he ejected the spent magazine and replaced it with one of the full ones. “It’s a promise, then.” He gave the other soldier a tap on the shoulder and rose to join the others but a shout caught his attention.
“Got a live one!” Lana shouted, and Matt wasn’t the only one who ran towards the shout. Finch and Zhang were hot on his heels as well as Fujikawa and a giant that could only be Yuri. They found Lana standing about ten feet away from a man who was dragging himself towards the closest exit in the hangar. A blood trail marked his path, and a significant amount of blood continued to leak from what remained of his legs.
Matt was a heartbeat away from performing a battlefield interrogation when the wounded man finally noticed the attention he was receiving. One hand pulled a syringe from his belt and held it high before jabbing it into his neck. Matt hadn’t been the only one who tried to rush forward to stop the suicide, and he wasn’t the only one to notice the grenade in the wounded man’s hand that fell free as the last bits of life left him. The blast was deafening and reduced any recognizable part of the man’s body to little more than a stain on the floor.
“Any injuries?” Matt asked before making his way to Fujikawa. The captain had sunk to the ground with blood seeping out from under the armor of her leg. “Don’t move! I think the shrapnel is still in your leg.”
“Just my luck, that’s what this is. Get me over to the other wounded and I’ll keep things going here. It’s up to you now to secure the base, kid,” Fujikawa ordered, and Matt had to resist the urge to scoff instinctually about being called a kid by someone shorter than his little sister. “Yuri will join you, but I’m afraid that’s all I can offer. Good luck.”
------
The sweep of the base was mercifully short as the remaining uninjured soldiers steamrolled the opposition. A paltry half dozen sectoids and only three plasma pistols between them were the only enemies they found, and they did little to curb the bloodlust that the survivors had. Only one room remained and all the soldiers took the time to reload.
Lana’s Excalibur gave a pleasant hum as she fitted a new Elerium battery into the butt stock, and she switched the magazine out for one that was topped off. Zhang’s LANC hummed in harmony with Lana’s weapon. Finch’s heavy laser beeped as he loaded his last power pack and powered the assault weapon up. Yuri’s and Matt’s conventional rifles both gave satisfying clicks as fresh magazines were loaded.
“All right, we haven’t run into a control room yet so by process of elimination I think this is it. If there are command assets inside I want suppressing fire only while Lana and I close to ARC thrower range. I’m not leaving without a head for my wall,” Matt explained grimly, and each of the soldiers nodded as he gave each a meaningful look.
As one they charged through the door, now that any chance at stealth had flown.
The room was indeed the control center for the base, with the walls lined with computer consoles and various holographic displays. And at the far side of the room was a Sectoid standing in front of a massive beacon. It whipped around to face the humans and they were assaulted with feelings of trespass, of invasion. The word was screamed in their minds: INTERLOPERS!
Matt, Lana and Zhang continued their charge, but Finch and Yuri staggered and fell behind before taking cover and laying down suppression fire. Zhang took up a firing position at a console towards the center of the room and began to take precise shots towards the Sectoid commander with the intent of forcing it out of cover. Lana broke left and drew her ARC thrower as Matt broke right and drew his own.
Finch’s heavy laser opened up on their target’s last position and Matt rushed around the corner and brought his ARC thrower to bear in a practiced motion. His finger began to squeeze the trigger just as those horrid alien eyes fell upon him. Instantly a million voices began to scream at him and it took every ounce of his will to hold onto his sanity.
No no no no no! How could your kind have progressed so far? You can’t, you can’t, you can’t! Impossible! Understanding of Elerium comes from exposure but the Design has limited such exposure! Makes no sense, no sense, no sense! And this one, this one, it shows signs of the gift! The gift! THE GIFT! The species shows signs of developing the gift but none should be this strong yet. The Design allows for all contingencies but this is not anticipated! Not anticipated! Wait… this Gift isn’t true, it is the echo of another. Another, another with the Gift! Tell us who it is. Tell us, tell us, TELL US!
Matt struggled with all his might but it took the invaders less than a fraction of a second to pluck from his mind what he wanted to keep secret. The image of a little lavender unicorn was brought to the front of his mind, and it was devoured by the voices.
It is…the Apex. The Apex! THE APEX! This one has access to it, this one could secure it. It will serve us well—
And just like a light being switched off, the voices stopped and Matt fell backward as he franticly backpedaled. His eyes locked onto the now-twitching Sectoid and he had to force himself not to draw his sidearm and shoot it until he ran out of ammo. He nearly lashed out violently when he felt a tap on his shoulder, and he turned to see Lana staring at him with a concerned expression.
“You alright?” She asked, and her voice sounded as though it were at the end of a tunnel.
“No, not now,” Matt said shakily. They know about Twilight now for certain. Dear God, I hope I didn’t just get her killed.
------
OPERATION VIKING: COMPLETE
ALIEN BASE OF OPERATION CAPTURED
ALIEN COMMAND ASSET CAPTURED
ALIEN BEACON CAPTURED
STRIKE-1 REPORTS 3 KIA, 2 WIA
STRIKE-6 REPORTS 4 KIA, 3 WIA
RECOVERY TEAM INVENTORY:
(Documented by Lt Weiss)
PLASMA PISTOL (1 total)
SECTOID COMMANDER LIVE CAPTURE (1 total)
PLASMA WEAPON FRAGMENTS
SECTOID CORPSES (22 total)
MODIFIED HUMAN CORPSES (24 total)
LASER RIFLES (X/lt pattern) (4 total)
HEAVY LASERS (X/lt pattern) (1 total)
LASER SNIPER RIFLE (X/lt pattern) (2 total)
SKYRANGER (1 total)
MELD CONTAINERS (20 total)
ALIEN SURGERY (10 total)
ALIEN STASIS TANK (30 total)
ALIEN ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM (1 total)
UFO ELECTRONICS (Various)
Happy Thanksgiving folks!
A thousand apologies for the delay in this chapter but I finally got it done.
Folks who are fans of the canon game will notice a rather massive divergence from the canon base assault. I had a number of reasons for doing this. (For folks who don't want to be spoiled as to the game itself, skip the yellow text. For those who have already completed the game, highlight it. :D)
The first was, believe it or not, that I had planned for this fight from the start of the story, except instead of EXALT it was the Cult from Ye Olde XCOM. As for what this means for Stardust XCOM, you'll have to wait and see!
The second is actually from ingame dialog from Doctor Vahlen. Remember when you go through the base assault and Vahlen comments on the alien surgeries but is quickly forgotten for the rest of the game? Fast forward to EXALT's first appearance. Vahlen makes an offhand comment about how they must have access to advanced surgical facilities to enhance their troops the way they have. I merely linked the two comments.
The third is the nature of the EXALT agents themselves. I know I wasn't the only person who was a bit underwhelmed by them when they first appeared in EW so I decided to give them a bit of a boost. Enhanced speed and reflexes, strength and regeneration...this is what I wanted EXALT to be. And speaking of what I wanted, when I first heard of a shadow organization meant to counter XCOM my -first- thought was terror missions where EXALT would be killing civilians while wearing XCOM gear. Fail the mission and panic spreads across the continent.
And fourth, the aliens in the base. These are not the aliens you see in the field or on the ships. These aliens are glorified secretaries and maintenance folks, the invader equivalent to civilians in terms of danger posed. This was very much a covert base designed to enhance EXALT operatives, not the FOB that XCOM was expecting.
Well, I think that's just about everything. Let me know what you think!
ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ
HOLY TURKEY
Nice bit of head canoneering going on, and uh oh, they know about Twilight now. I foresee base incursions. I also foresee Twi being a Badass during said incursion.
Also, Hörgársveit. Nice (I have relatives living near there)
3549551
Thanks for stopping by! I'm always glad to hear from new readers! :D
3549664
I hope you stick around until the end! Things only get better from here!
3549711
I wanted to try and capture the research/engineering portion of XCOM through such written reports. While the first written report is primarily from Vahlen and Shen, the other written reports will be written by various minor characters that come into contact with Twilight. I actually got turned on to SCP and its various materials because of the stylistic similarities in the reports.
Intriguing chapter! You combined the MELD tutorial, the base assault and arguably the Exalt base mission into one chapter. Not bad.
The Apex hmm? Intriguing...
Keep it up!
Cheers
GM
3550238
Turkey day!
3550252
Thanks for the compliment sir! Also loving that speculation!
As for why I chose that particular area of Iceland, it looked like it had mountains in google maps and a total population of 600. Seemed like a good place for aliens to set up shop.
3550195 AGHYHFSGZTEYXURYJRTD AHHHH THE YELLOW IT BUUUUURRRNNNSSS!!!! AAAAAAAAHGHGHG!*holds his head while his eyes melt in their sockets*
Just bought the game yesterday, finally. Sadly won't be able to start till Tuesday, visiting family, but this should either hold me over till then or drive me crazy wanting to play it already.
I think twilight is in a lot of trouble and they lost a lot more than they gained with this mission.
This is why you do not send out people with knowledge of your ace in the hole to places with enemy telepaths.
gah spoilers... i was halfway through Unknown when i bought Within, and i'm still only halfway through that... i seriously need to finish those!
More fuel for my speculation that the aliens were ejected, rather forcefully, from Equestria aeons ago... And yet they somehow can still recognize the element of Magic... Unless its just that they recognize a unicorn.
...
3550195
In other words, they probably were reading bad fanfiction on the internet.
Well shit, that was one hell oh a phyrric victory. I mean, look at all that LOOT, but at the same time, damn, the casualty reports...
Looking forward to the aftermath now! Those Ethereals are going to find Twilight to be a lot more powerful than they bargained for...
Now THIS is something worth celebrating, a new chapter of stardust!
This will most definitely help me get through work today. Many thanks Arad.
“At least they’re not reading bad fanfiction on the internet,”
I see what you did there
Base-assault:
Alliens corner Twilight, she`s fighting back to save Shen. All hope lost untill a bright blue flash bludgeons its way in the room and uses a sonicbased attack:
"UNHAND OUR SUBJECT THY VILE CRETINS!"
All I can really say is- Awesome.
So many dead but taking this out..best way to show this isn't a normal means of prevention..and nice with the 'Gift'..hehehe.
How can I say it? I really do think that This could end up pulling more of Equestria's own population to Earth..
3550265
Smack dab in the middle of the land has even fewer people. There is literally nothing there.
However, the ingame cutscene when you discover the base displays some terrain suspiciously exactly like the one up north there. Hills and ridges heavily carved by glaciers and streams. I've flown over the area.
3550374
and thus, enemy within makes it's presence known... interesting.
This sentence sounds weird:
It's from the 4th paragraph in the "Hörgársveit" section.
Wonderful, they found out about purple horse. What's the point of a secret when everyone knows about it?
I gotta get me Enemy Within sometime.
I hope you guys have a happy Thanksgiving.
The commander understood a bit too quick that Twi was the "apex", imho. Just figuring that the humans had access to the gift was a huge find. Now what i wonder is if he had time to send this discovery with his boss (hopefully not).
If yes, (alien boss is now aware of Twi) well, sooner or later the aliens will attack the base to capture her. And considering that he aliens have more or less unlimited resources.. i don't see how Xcom could stop them if they really want her. The other option being that the boss is aware of Twi and just let Xcom be to see how it develops, endgame spoilers and all that.
The "exalts" already had full laser gear and chameleon stuff.. wich is fresh out of the production line from Xcom. So its obvious that this is a (huge) leak from either the council or the base itself. Hopefully they will try to solve that problem.
Good chapter, all in all. The integration of "exalt" and the base together was a nice twist.
The question on my mind is whether the Sectoid Commander actually had the chance to transmit any of that through the Hyperwave Relay before getting zapped. He kinda got cut off mid-thought there, so maybe Twilight's still safe.
Well, okay, there's another question on my mind too; when is someone going to tell Twilight that it was perfectly fine to crush that Chryssalid (no not the changeling) into chunky guacamole because they're violent, vile vermin who voraciously vivisect their victims? (and also immune to being stunned, the jerks)
...THE APEX.
I think "it" should be removed?
Nice unintentional pun. Still, *though.
Good thing I'm not wasting time on bad fanfics either. Only the best!
3550433 You, not thy. Thy = your, and thou is for second person singular only. Sorry, couldn't resist.
Happy Thanksgiving! Keep being awesome.
3550541
Trust me, enemy within is 100% worth it. If you hade a copy of xcom enemy unknown, and a copy of enemy within, you should play enemy within.
is this bass taking the place of the FOB you take in the game or are we going to see that one too?
... Oh SH*T!
Well, that was a fun chapter (although how could I not like a chapter named after me?). With some nice twists to the storyline as well, but I like the direction it's taking. Something tells me we're getting close to the end of this adventure: with the sectoid commander found, things are definitely going to heat up.
And hopefully Lana remembers to wear a glove next time. Alien bits in your cybernetics is never fun.
Ah man, at least something good came out today, I was hoping I wouldn't have to go face the crowds with nothing to cheer me up.
Also, two things. That thing... I'm working on it. The other thing... XCOM base invasion! I wonder if Twilight will stay in place for that one. Can't wait to see the interrogation of the Sectoid there. Sectoid Commander, I would assume, given his strength?
ROLF
3550433
Eeyup I can clearly see this to happen
That would be soo badass
3550259
Thanks! I have more planned. Oh yes I do.
3550268
3550275
Get to it! It's well worth it!
3550323
A very good point, but in XCOM's defense they didn't know WHAT exactly they would encounter there.
3550327
Get to it!
3550332
Very good speculation, sir!
3550353
If cascading lights count as an entertainment system for the aliens then would that make Celestia an idol? I could just see hordes of Sectoids following her around while staring at her mane.
3550374
Can neither confirm nor deny. >_>
3550380
This is XCOM, any victory is a good victory!
3550385
Glad I can help!
3550395
I know. With comms down there's no way for Shen to deliver his snarky line to the readers/players.
3550433
Perhaps! Keep speculating!
3550472
More interesting speculation! Keep it up!
3550487
Well, I'm glad I didn't unintentionally choose a major population center. >_<
3550488
Indeedy. How will things develop from here I wonder?
3550541
Yeah, I'll be going through again to clean things up just a bit. I'll admit I wanted to get this posted so I didn't miss ANOTHER deadline. Thanks for the catch! And get EW! It's totally worth it!
Going to split up this reply. It's about turkey time for me.
Wow, that was rough, not quite as bad as the battleship, but it was close, and now the aliens will be coming for Twilight... I guess it is about time for X-COM to see what Twilight can really do, and the aliens to learn exactly why they should fear her. If a base defense mission dose not occur, or Twilight dose not go fire mane/tail rage mode when they hurt someone she cares about in said mission, I will be disappointed.
3550195
An update? I definitely figured out that EXALT got a boost, and damn! I'd enjoy facing THESE guys over the ones in game. And being able to have my base assaulted more than just the once.
@Yellow text: You raise some very good points, and I agree with how underwhelming EXALT happened to be. In my second game of Enemy Within, I'm now farming EXALT Covert Ops Missions, just to level up squaddies and such to a decent rank. You never know what you'll get with Training Roulette enabled.
On a side note, a sniper or assault with suppression, via Training Roulette, is hilarious.
STARDUST UPDATE?!?!?! *injects HULK g-mod"
i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj580/charlieg1999/SPARTANS/tumblr_m9zj24S9bZ1qcakl4o1_r1_500.gif
Well this chapter certainly brings a few fucktons of awesome.
I really like what you did with EXALT and how you did that minor change in the story canon with the base and all.
Personally, I expected more from EXALT aswell in-game. I was in constant fear that they might turn up and do something really bad but them again I was constantly selling Sectoid and Thin Man corpses on the Grey Market so I could finance my search. They never had any chance.
The cov ops and "scripted" missions where fun. Especially that one mission where...
SPOILERS: WHITE TEXT:
That one mission where Chrysallids spawn without end and of course the incursion that happend exactly right after I had put three of my best soldiers to G-modding.
SPOILER ENDS HERE
Man I had my fun with EW. Current Prime squad consists of a MEC-3 Paladine, four G-mod soldiers (three of which are telepaths, a Heavy (Zhang), a Sniper and an Assault) and one regular. Still need to use the "Gollop chamber" thou.
On a more somber note. This is for Lt. Dryzimski and all the others from Strike One and Six. May you rest in piece.
(Yes, I will link that every single time someone important dies in this fic, because its the way of XCOM)
Btw,, at this time XCOM shouldn't be aware of what MELD is so it also shouldn't appear in the aftereport. Maybe as "unidentified substance" or something.
images.wikia.com/xcom/images/archive/6/68/20130201075337!XCOM_Shield_Logo.gif
3550374 How do you do that Black Stripe/censor thing?
Very nice chapter.
I hope XCOM gets a really big price cut during the Steam Fall Sale so I can get first-hand experience with the terror you've been dealing with.
Now I'm wondering if there's a way to mod Twilight into XCOM.
Some typos for whole story:
"capitol" means "building" (The Capitol(ium)) where you should be using one meaning "city" (capital).
Needs fixing in chapters: 2, 3, 6, 10 and 23
4
From what you’ve told Charles and I it sounds like magic is everywhere and in everything so your bodies and systems are likely accustomed to its presence.
- From what you’ve told Charles and me
6
“Does the nearly irresistible impulse to hug the alien count?” Lana asked, and if Matt greatly regretted his lack of a camera at that moment.
-Lana asked, and Matt
“Now there’s one of each of these cards for every symbol in the deck.
-there are one of each of these cards
7
There’s times where this job erodes the soul. I get young men and women coming into my office and they tell me about how their best friend was burned alive, or they had to shoot him to pieces because one of those damned monsters got inside his head or implanted by the bugs.
- There are times
- or he was implanted by the bugs.
There’s times where this job erodes the soul, and for once I’m pleasantly surprised that this isn’t one of them.
- There are times
I was initially intrigued since the vast majority of my visitors are soldiers returning from missions or from recurring issues, but I was also well aware that asking too many questions might put me in a terrible predicament.
-with recurring issues
The subject chooses an object or location for the ability to target, and activates the ability. If the object or location is outside the scope of steps 2 or 1, then the intended effect may not occur or may have significantly increased effect.
-decrased effect.
LG generates neither heat nor any other detectable effect other than the corresponding increase in candles.
- FFF system? Scientist would use "Candela"
The mixing of metric and imperial in scientific reports is also a little jarring, I would stick to metric only in reports and remove those few that got mixed in ex.
in 23: Using previous footage as examples, the anticipated velocity of this was going to be 2ft per second.
8
To see him wearng anything but a smile on his face was jarring.
-wearing
I know there’s TONS of books back at the library about how to act when somepony says they like somepony else but I don’t have them here!
- I know there are TONS of books
11
“There’s no obvious injuries, though his slurred speech and lack of balance might be due to concussion,”
- There are
15
“I’m not volunteering because I’m ‘chasing a hot piece of tail’, and as far as I know there’s no rules on fraternization so long as it doesn’t affect security or the effectiveness of the base and its personnel,”
-there are no rules
17
I will need to ask Charles some questions the next time I see him though… there’s a lot of things that the tablet won’t let me see, she thought to herself.
-there are a lot of things
If you were to ask ten different people you would likely get ten different answers. That’s probably why there’s so many.
-there are so many.
20
I said it before and I meant it, if you don’t think you’re up for this then there’s no hard feelings.”
- there are no hard feelings
23
Could this also affect the people that are on the base itself?
-in the base
27
The female soldier wore a hooded sweatshirt and gloves that obscured the prosthetic, and if Matt had to remind himself that it wasn’t her flesh and blood arm.
- and Matt had to
28
MEDAL OF HONOR AWARDED POSTHUMUSLY
-POSTHUMOUSLY
The radio in Bradford’s ear reported, and several screens activate around the projected globe showing the nose cameras of the interceptors.
-activated
“I don’t know this is happening, but I know someone who might.”
- I don’t know why
29
“Great! The material I was able to access was limited to several common elements like carbon and iron but there’s several ones that are completely new to me and I can’t seem to get much information on the others,”
-there are several ones
30
“There’s bodies; hundreds of them.
-There are bodies
You mentioned near the beginning of the chapter that wikileaks had reports of XCOM, any chance of wikileaks getting their hands on reports related to Stardust?
3550735 Put spoiler /spoiler inside [ ] like so:[ spoiler] Yay![/spoiler ] without the extra spaces will become Yay!
There was something bugging me after reading this chapter and I only just realized what it is. How did the aliens get the plans for laser sniper rifles?
The answer to that question is probably not good.
3550735 this is how
]spoiler[ ]/spoiler[
Eeee, you updated! Best. Thanksgiving. Ever!
As for the chapter... it's official, I need to pick up EW. Zhang's realizing that his little X-ray trick can be useful, Lana's being creative with her new arm (seriously, best use of that ever. Simple head thump :3), Matt's TK can fend off fucking ROCKETS, which is awesome (can't wait to see him redirect those!), and now Things Are Going To Get Interesting. I think Matt's going to be getting yelled at by Bradford, even though Matt didn't expect to get a little bit of mind-raped there.
I'm with other commenters here. Twi's going to take a few levels in badass when the XCOM base assault happens. Nobody messes with her friends!
Soooo... what's next? and when's the next chapter? *looks innocent* Oh! Would it be possible to write a 'what if?' theoretical side-chapter to this? Something fairly light-hearted, is the plan...
3550195 Glad to see you are incorporating elements from Enemy Within. I have been playing the game nonstop since your last chapter update, hence why I didn't make a comment last chapter.
Now I just cannot wait to see what new tech will come from the Meld mixing with any inventions Twilight might make. Hope to see some MEC troopers and G-Mod units running around blasting combat magic.
3550843>>3550795
Thx guys!!!
Hmm... is that Hanafuda that they're playing?
3550195
are we talking 20 of these cdn.escapistmagazine.com/media/global/images/library/deriv/599/599557.jpg or what you get from 2 of them?
holy crap shit just got real! Loved this chapter, balls to the walls action and well written as ever
I like that you've found a way to raise the stakes yet again. Just when I thought things were gonna turn around for humans this happens. Exalt is in, glad they are and well done introducing them. Interesting to see them already fully gene spliced and working with aliens too? Interesting.
But now the aliens know about Twilight. Calling it now, base defense when the aliens attack xcom to get at Twilight. Just saying.
And "At least they're not sitting around reading bad fanfiction" laughed my ass off when I read that line.
Excellent as always
3550735
Alien artifacts seem to be instantly named based on what they look like and what soldiers feel like at the time, so it's probably not a case of knowing what things are beforehand
Everyone wants Twilight.