XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Part 1 (Operation Cursed God)
Dear Council of NationsWe thank you for your reply. The overwhelming response to Asia was wise and worthy. Upon telling Asia that we would set up a base of operations in their area they couldn't have been happier. They felt protected already. They decided to pay for this extra protection by paying the upkeep of our labs and workshops. This should help with our income. There is one thing it doesn't help with though. The aliens. With our base set up after some time, our new satellite launched detected a hostile force that had landed in Melbourne, Australia. We sent out soldiers immediately, and we had no idea what to expect...
The soldiers diaries - Hostergaard KozlovI swear, if I ever have to see what I saw that night again... I might just lose it. Those things... were just awful. We could have tried to be friends, and perhaps established a bond greater than any bond in the galaxy. If only we spoke the same language. There was no way to communicate, and I suppose running in with guns pointed at their faces wasn't exactly a warm welcome either...
Our commander had told us that 4 of us were going out. I was one of them. He had named our mission "Operation Cursed God." I thought he must of been crazy, after all that illness really has been getting to him recently. Turns out he knew far more than any of us did...
So me and my 3 best friends were dumped in the middle of the zone, told to fire at anything that moved. I didn't want to, but knew it was probably best for my own good. I didn't want my friends to get killed because I was a coward and refused to shoot them. Augustine, now recently calling himself Genghis Kirk, said he had heard a weird voice. He suggested it was an alien, I said it was blasphemy. He figured that we should set up anyway, so we took cover and watched over. We decided that 4 of us would get ready to shoot on sight. It seemed like a good chance that we would hit a lone target if it ever came. Yet, it seems the aliens beat us to the idea. They were already there.
It was the strangest encounter. Those... things looked at us with their big open eyes and proceeded to get into cover and prepare to fire. It didn't look like there was going to be any negotiations. They backed off though, out of sight so nobody could see them. One guy on the high ground did spot them, but was afraid of getting shot so he hunkered down. It was all happening so fast I didn't even know who was who and who was going where. But I did know one man at the time... Bob Kozlov, my brother.
Bob set up with Augustine (Genghis) and they both prepared to fire. I did as well... after all it only seemed appropriate in the situation. There was no way diplomacy was ever going to happen, but sometimes I wish it did. So with our one man on the high ground and the rest of us ready to fire, sure enough a target came into sight and all 3 of us fired at the same time. There was no way we could fail!
...Except we did. We thought that maybe it had something to do with that odd blue aura that the alien came out with this time, but we noticed that the aura was trailing back into the shadows. I thought maybe it was connected to another alien. But there was no time to think about that, even more aliens arrived! We found 3 and saw 3 more come from the other staircase to the right, boy were they scared when they saw us; they ran straight back down those stairs again. Well, all but one, who took cover close to Genghis so he could take a shot at them. But they could take a shot at us, and they did. One shot hit Bob cleanly, but didn't kill him. They had great tactics and use of cover as well, almost as if they knew the area before they even got here...
... but it didn't matter. What did matter was that we dealt with them as harshly as possible. We thought that flanking would work effectively. So I took cover where I had clear shot of the aliens backside near the left staircase while Genghis took cover near the alien on the right hand side of the staircase. We had both flanked successfully. We both missed. Cursed God was an understatement right now.
There was 4 of them and 4 of us. We knew there was an additional 2 hiding somewhere like the cowards they were, one was last seen on the bridge. I had to do something, and I did. I chucked a grenade. BOOM! The alien behind the statue and the alien behind the pot plant were instantly killed! Turns out our grenades were effective but our weapons not so much. The scientist informed us that killing aliens with grenades was not a good way of recovering artifacts like their guns, so we were told to not use them as much. She never knew what it was like to shoot at these guys. You just couldn't hit them. Except Bob. Genghis may have missed his target, but there was no way that he was giving up. He shot the alien right between the eyes like a true soldier, despite that cover in front of the alien.
Of course, the aliens responded to this. It wasn't what I was hoping for though. One fired at Daniel Green and missed him. Thank god. Another alien that we had met earlier came up the right hand staircase and looked at Bob dead in the eye. I yelled at the alien to stop, but it wasn't enough. The alien raised his gun. I yelled even louder "Get down my brother!" but their weaponry was just beyond ours.
He laid on the floor motionless. I heard Genghis swearing trying to revive him, but there is no way you can revive a shot to the chest. I lost it right there. I ran as far away from that stupid alien as I could in blind panic, and there was no stopping me. I just wanted to kill every alien in sight, but I was too frightened. I wanted peace, not strife, yet there was my brother on the cold floor. I could see Ash though, he just stood there with bloodshot eyes staring at that alien who just committed murder. He was known to be aggressive, but I didn't realize it was so aggressive as he was that moment. He ran, screaming "YOU BASTARD" at the top of his lungs and stood right next to the alien and executed it. Rest in pieces... you fucking alien.
It wasn't over yet though. The aliens couldn't see us, so they moved into different positions before seeing us. We had to take action now. I had stopped panicking and noticed that my earlier assumption about the aura was right. One alien used his powers to make an aura appear between their two brains. Daniel threw a grenade, the grenade hit the alien who created the aura, and I noticed that the other alien was zapped and also killed. I couldn't believe it! This aura allowed us to kill the aliens easier!
There was one left, rest assured it was quickly seen and Ash moved into position to fire at it. He didn't want to risk sharing fates with Bob, so he chucked a grenade as well. BOOM!
Command informed us that no more aliens were on the radar.
I stood there, the only two things in my sight were Bob and the alien who killed him. I wasn't about to let the aliens get away with this. They just had to be stopped for good. I thought of a name for these mind melding creatures... and called them sectoids.
...our soldiers returned with cuts, bruises and pale faces. It turns out these aliens were out for blood and nobody was going to stop them. Except for us. Hostergaard returned to us and said that these aliens killed his brother... said they were sectoids. The name seemed fitting, so we decided to refer to them as sectoids from now on. In addition, we started construction of a satellite for deployment, and which country it is deployed in is up to you as the council. We also got a medkit, inscribed with Bob's name in memory of him. He was always good at keeping his friends lively. Hostergaard wanted it, so we thought he might be a good choice for it. He was promoted to support.
Ash Starfall also found that his aggression was best spent on heavy weaponry, and he found that the rocket was just his type. We thought he would make a better assault, but as the suggestion was about to be handed over to him we noticed how he had become very competent with explosives. It just seemed to suit him. He was very strong as well, and this made him great when he was training with the LMG. We decided to let him use one of the few rocket launchers we had stored away and promoted him to a Heavy.
With some time to specialize and make themselves distinguished from each other so they could recognize one another on the battlefield much better, they were able to find suits that fitted them well.
Not much else happened until after just one day of training, it happened. Alien abductions were reported. Not just in one place, but three. We don't know which one to respond to, and we are hoping that you the Council may be able to make a good decision. Help us!
Yours truly
The XCOM Team
P.S. Like the look of the soldiers? Think they could change anything up?
Author
Topic: XCOM: Enemy Unknown - Part 1 (Operation Cursed God) (Read 2100 times)