The Skyranger quickly descended into Tehran and landed in a clearing across the street from a small shopping center. The sound of gunfire and plasma discharge was roaring outside as the rear ramp fell open.
The team was ready to move as Myroc started moving down the ramp to scout. He quickly spotted one of the snake like aliens the team had seen before.
"Spotted an alien to the west, just inside the building across the street." Myroc reported as he continued to turn his turret camera. "A second one is located at the south eastern corner of the building."
"I'll set up some cover so they don't gun us down right away." Whispered Neil Stranek as he pulled a smoke grenade from his belt. With a quick move of his hands he activated the grenade and tossed it out the back of the Skyranger.
The team gave their equipment a last check before moving towards the back of the cramped drop-ship. Everyone eagerly awaited the smoke grenade's deployment.
With a loud pop, followed by the sound of the thick smoke spewing out of the grenade in all directions, a cloud of cover appeared at the back of the Skyranger.
"Ok team, let's move out and show them who's boss on this planet!" Cheered Sarah Newman.
While the team moved into the smoke, the aliens to the west appeared to be more interested in the fighting further on than the aircraft that had just landed.
Neil Stranek was first out of the Skyranger. He lined up a shot on the first snake like alien.
He paused to aim carefully before he pulled the trigger. A burst of super concentrated light flew through the air in an instant, striking the creature in the back. The alien screeched loudly, standing up rigidly as the pain from the burn sunk in.
Lucsly followed Neil and lined up his own shot. His laser bolt struck the same spot in the alien's back, burning straight through it's torso.
"Hey this isn't as hard as you guys made it sound!" Lucsly laughed.
"Quiet you idiot! Just because they are not human doesn't mean they cant hear you. Don't tempt fate." Tamunshin replied as she followed behind, taking aim with her heavy cannon.
She pulled the trigger and a high explosive round tore out of the heavy cannon's barrel. In a flash the area behind the snake like creature exploded in a ball of fire, spreading debris and smoke everywhere. The snake creature however managed to avoid the explosion completely.
Anne Maxwell was next out of the drop-ship. She calmly raised her laser rifle and fired a bolt of highly concentrated light at her target. The air around the trail of light waved from the intense heat, ending once it had struck and burned a vicious gash into the snake creature's neck. The creature tried to scream as it collapsed to the ground.
"Take that you ugly piece of shit!" Anne yelled, seething in pent up anger as her target writhed on the ground.
"Immediate area is clear of targets, assemble in the smoke and keep a defensive line while Myroc scouts ahead." Tamunshin ordered.
The team quickly emptied out of the drop-ship and formed a protective circle inside the confines of the thick gray smoke.
As Myroc moved southwards along the street he spotted another of the snake like aliens moving into a building.
"I don't know if it's storming that place or taking cover from us, but it's not sticking around." Myroc commented.
It didn't matter what the alien was up to though, the team opened fire in an attempt to take down the creature before it made it into the building.
Several bolts of light flew down the street towards the alien but it managed to slip past the wall and into safety before anyone could land a solid hit.
Myroc continued to pursue the snake like alien, catching sight of it again. It had taken cover and was waiting in ambush! It opened fire on Myroc's tank but it's plasma bolts fizzled against the thick, unreactive metal plates that composed the mini tank's armor.
"It's right around the corner guys, can anyone get a shot?" Asked Myroc as he updated the creature's location.
Shu Bei and Anne Maxwell moved south to the front of the drop-ship to get a better angle but neither of them managed to land a shot. Tamunshin lined up a shot with her heavy cannon, aiming to hit the alien with the explosion of her shot. The explosive round struck the ground near the alien's hiding place but the shot fell short and the wall protected the alien once again.
To the north of the team, Neil Stranek and Sigvard quietly began to cross the street. Aiming to search the nearby shopping center for hostiles and civilians.
Myroc doubled back, attempting to continue scouting while keeping his tank between hostiles and friendlies. On his way back he spotted another of the snake like aliens heading toward it's downed ally.
He quickly updated the team with it's location while it spotted him, opening fire! It's plasma bolt was hastily aimed however and it left a smoldering crater in the sidewalk to the south.
Anne Maxwell and Shu Bei advance a little further to the south. With a direct line of sight open, Anne opened fire at the alien attacking Myroc's tank.
Anne's aim is off however and hits the corner pillar of the shopping center. The pillar was left a smoldering stump but the building seemed to unaffected by the loss of support.
The alien continued to fire rapidly at Myroc's tank. Finally Jack ordered Myroc to take the alien out before it could manage to do his tank or the team any harm. Myroc quickly lined up his launcher and fired. The rocket soared through the air and slammed directly into the alien's chest-plate. The resulting explosion rocked the street and filled the area with fire and carnage. Once the explosion receded all that was left was debris, smoke and one more alien corpse.
While the ground was still shaking, Tamunshin was lining up another shot at the troublesome alien to the south. "You wont escape me this time..." She said to herself while focused her glare through her iron sights.
She pulled the trigger and the explosive round screamed out of the barrel of her heavy cannon. The recoil forcing the massive gun against Tamunshin's scarred frame. The explosive round struck the alien in the midsection, penetrating it's scaly flesh. A split second after it's impact, the explosive round detonated inside the creature causing the explosive cloud to take on distinctive green tint. once the explosion subsided the alien lay in a chunky heap on the ground.
Myroc continued westward on the street, searching for more targets. Team moral was high as they had already dispatched four aliens with relative ease. It was another very successful mission so far. Myroc stopped his tank suddenly, back at the base he leaned forward to look at the creature he had spotted down the street. The alien was far different than the snake like creatures, it was tall, jet black and purple. It appeared to be a large bipedal insect with huge claws and a huge, almost comical grin.
Myroc moved a little closer as the new alien focused on him, it began chittering loudly, it sounded like a low pitched rattle snake. Myroc quickly spotted a second alien, this time it was a snake man creature like the others.
"Spotted two more targets to the west. One is a new bug thing while the other is a snake thing, a handler I think." Myroc reported.
"While the team moves into position to attack these new targets, I want you to check out that shopping center before we send in Neil Stranek and Sigvard." Jack ordered as he looked closely at the footage of the new alien, stroking his chin softly.
Myroc moved towards the wide entrance to the building, hoping to use the smoke from his rocket as cover. Before he could make it to the obscuring smoke however the snake like creature fired it's weapon rapidly. Three bolts struck the tracks and turret of the remote tank, blasting craters into the thick armor.
"Hold on..." Myroc said as he tried to coerce the tank into responding. His screen and speakers emitting harsh static. "Damn it! I cant get the backups running, they must have been damaged as well. I'll keep trying but the tank is out for now."
"Alright, lets show the commander that we don't need to be babysat by a remote tank." Tamunshin said as she rallied the ground team. She moved south and took aim for the two western targets.
Tamunshin pulled the trigger and launched another high explosive round towards the aliens. Her projectile missed it's mark however and an explosion could be heard far down the street.
The rest of the team moved into position, mostly around Tamunshin. They set up a firing line and began firing a barrage of laser bolts. The two aliens were quite far away however and only Anne Maxwell managed to land a blow. Her laser bolt struck the snake creature in the shoulder plate but the alien seemed mostly unaffected.
The snake creature let out a raspy howl and pointed towards the ground team. The chittering insect like creature took off into a sprint towards the group. It's speed was inhuman, covering a great distance in a short time.
Sarah Newman and Tamunshin Crouched on the street, taking their time to aim their shots. They decided that due to the target's proximity to the damaged tank, Tamunshin should take it down.
Tamunshin took aim and waited for the best moment to fire.
With a pull of the trigger, Tamunshin fired a high explosive round at the alien. Traveling faster than the eye could follow, the round struck the creature in the head. The angle was bad however and the shot deflected upwards and exploded above the alien. The bug like alien paused, it's head cocked back from the blow. It straightened it's head back and leaned forward, giving an eerie, chittering cackle.
"That should have taken anything out... Sarah, kill it." Tamunshin looked a bit startled.
"Sorry Myroc, it's easier to hit this thing while it's not running at a breakneck speed..." Sarah Newman commented as she lined up her rocket launcher's sight on the stunned target. She quickly fired her heavy rocket, watching it speed through the air towards a soon to be blasted bug. The rocket slammed into the creature's chest and exploded, rocking the area with a shock-wave. Fire and debris cascade in a sphere from the impact point, slowly being replaced by a plume of thick smoke. Once the smoke dispersed a bit the team was speechless. Half of Myroc's tank was annihilated but the bug creature remained standing, shuddering but alive and chittering loudly.
"That's... not good. Line up people, I want every gun we have on that thing now!" Sarah commanded, her mind trying to cope with what she was witnessing. This creature was incredibly well protected.
Sigvard dashed into the shopping center and took up position behind one of it's interior windows. He quickly raised his laser pistol and opened fire, striking the left side of the black bug creature.
The rest of the team began firing at the bug creature but no one managed to harm it. The team's moral began to waiver as the creature shrugged off hit after hit. but then another of the bug like creatures walked across Sigvard's vision towards quibble.
Quibble had entered the shopping center without mentioning it to anyone. Perhaps he had tried but everyone had learned to just ignore him for lack of being able to understand him. For reasons unknown to everyone, Quibble had a live, pin-less grenade in his hand. Normally this would not have been such a bad thing but Lucsly made a very rookie mistake and used the co-ordinates of the alien to fire instead of his eyes.
A laser bolt erupted from Lucsly's rifle and traveled directly towards the black insect like creature, striking Quibble between the shoulder blades.
"Quibble!" He screamed as he fell to the ground in immense pain. The grenade he was holding rolled along the ground and tapped him in the face as he lay writhing in pain. He stopped his moans of pain for a moment to examine the beloved grenade. Quibble analyzed the grenade's structure, the hard outer shell covering the inert explosive material inside. The fuse that was beginning the destructive chain reaction that would cause a quaking explosion, inches from his face. He pondered and wondered what would kill him first, the shrapnel from the shell or the concussive force of the explosives.
Quibble's ponderings were cut short however as the grenade promptly exploded, faster than Quibble could have possibly noticed, he was sent to a place where everyone would understand his complex thoughts and curious spoken language.
Lucsly looked up from his rifle's digital scope to witness the carnage he put into motion. As the explosion billowed out and scorched the area around the grenade, the bug like creature faded from view. With the central hallway of the building filled with the smoke from the grenade, Sigvard was cut off from the rest of the team, a hidden alien between him and a distraught Lucsly.
"Fuck! No shit no! Arrgh I did not just do that!" Groaned Lucsly as his mind began to come to terms with killing his team mate. He worried immediately about what awaited him once the mission is over, he felt his stomach tighten up and the muscles in his neck stiffen.
"Forget about it for now Lucsly, you have a mission to worry about. When you come back we'll figure out what happened." Jack tried to calm Lucsly down long enough to get this mission over with.
"AHHH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF MY NECK!" Shigeo Okabe screamed as he fell to the ground, desperately trying to pat out the plasma fire. No one had noticed Shigeo's attacker but a plasma bolt had come from the building to the south west. Before anyone could react, the plasma fire spread through Shigeo's neck and onto his hand. The plasma melted his flesh as if it were nothing but warm butter. Shigeo Okabe managed one last pained scream before the plasma spread to his vocal cords and extinguished his life.
Moral started to take a sharp plunge as the ground team began to panic. "Keep it together people! We have a fight to finish, don't let them stop us!" Sarah Newman bellowed out as she took a heavy rocket from her back and stood it up on the ground. Lifting her empty rocket launcher and turning it around, she slammed it over the rocket. Hearing the rocket click into place she lifted the heavy weapon back up quickly and twisted it onto her shoulder, ready to fire again. "Now get your guns up and let's finish this!
The team shook off their apprehension and steadied their aim. No one would let their fears have them today, there was fighting to be done.
Dash Gunmetal, thinking quickly, activated a smoke grenade and tossed it between himself, Anne Maxwell and the hidden attacker.
"Incoming!" Shouted Neil Stranek as he spotted the first black bug alien moving out of the smoke.
"Let's see it survive another of my presents!" Grinned Sarah Newman as she quickly lined up her rocket launcher's sight on the fast moving alien.
With a pull of her trigger, Sarah's rocket took off and slammed into the alien's chest. The explosion was grand, flaming debris flew towards the team as a great ball of fire expanded from the rocket's impact site. The area was filled with a fresh burst of smoke as the fireball subsided. Still standing defiantly within the smoke was the insect like creature, dazed from the carnage of the explosion.
"Th-That's just unbelievable!" Sarah Newman stammered as she watched the alien creature shake off another massive explosion.
"I have one more shot with this thing's name on it." Replied Tamunshin as she finished lining up a shot with her heavy cannon. She pulled the trigger and sent her last high explosive round into the chest of the black creature. The round impacted against the creature, smoke and fire exploded from it's location. But when the smoke cleared enough for the team to see the black creature, it remained standing and as agitated as ever.
Could nothing kill this thing? Had the aliens developed an indestructible monster with which to dominate all humans? The team was certainly begging to think so.
The team refused to give up and continued to fire at the creature. Shu Bei and Neil Stranek manage to land a couple shots but nothing seemed to injure the insect juggernaut.
While most of the team focused on insect creature on the street, Sigvard quickly pulled out his high explosive charge and set it to 5 seconds. He carefully peaked out of cover to spot the second black bug that he knew was only a few meters away. He did not have to move far to spot it.
Arming the explosive Sigvard tossed it out the window and turned to run. The high explosive landed on the ground in-front of the creature and slid through it's legs, coming to a stop behind it.
5
The black Juggernaut began to bee-line for Neil Stranek, it's long legs and unending endurance pushing it closer and closer to it's target. While the second insect turned to look at the beeping device, curiosity grabbing it's attention for a moment.
4
The smoke grenade Dash Gunmetal had thrown in haste deployed incorrectly, throwing up only half a smoke screen. Anne Maxwell is hidden from the buildings but Dash Gunmetal is completely exposed.
Neil Stranek decided to close the distance with the fearsome beast and stepped a few paces forward to meet it face to horrible face.
3
A snake like alien moved forward into Dash Gunmetal's view, brandishing it's fearsome plasma weapon. It spotted Dash and growled as it took aim.
Tamunshin acted quickly, ejecting her empty clip and grabbing a full clip of armor peircing rounds from her belt, shoving it into her heavy cannon with practiced speed.
The black abomination opened it's wide, tooth filled grin and screeched as it extended it's large clawed limb towards Neil Stranek. Neil stepped aside and slammed the butt of his rifle into the abdomen of the alien, shoving it off balance.
2
Sigvard reached the first few steps of the staircase at the back of the store, pausing there for a moment to shield himself from the impending explosion.
Dash Gunmetal raised his laser pistol faster than they eye could follow and pulled the trigger hard, firing several deadly bolts of concentrated light towards the snake creature.
Neil Stranek dodged the swipe of his foe's intimidatingly sharp claw. Tamunshin finishes loading her spare clip while the team follows the fight just ahead of them with their weapons ready. Anne Maxwell spots an opening and fires rapidly, striking the alien in it's exposed arm joint, The first sign of the creature's blood spills onto the pavement.
1
Several of Dash Gunmetal's laser bolts strike the alien snake creature, it screeched loudly as it fell back from the pain of it's wounds. It's blood pooled on the ground as it's life faded from it's body.
Neil Stranek took advantage of the pain the alien appeared to be experiencing and pushed his laser rifle up against it's dark purple throat. Neil squeezed the trigger and burned a hole straight through the invincible creature's neck. It's screeching and chittering finally silenced.
0
Neil Stranek moved away from the alien as it collapsed to the ground, taking cover behind the shopping center's wall. Neil took a well earned breath as he just earned the most impressive first kill a rookie could ask for.
The high explosive laying on the ground inside the shopping center chimed loudly as it's counter hit zero. In an instant the inside of the shopping center turned into an earth shattering sphere of death. The alien next to the explosive fell to pieces while it was roasted within it's own chitinous shell. The earth shook violently as the explosion ripped through the building's walls as if they were made of paper. Every member of the ground team could feel the ground shake violently as every window of the shopping center burst out in a cascade of broken tin and glass. Half a second later fire spewed from each of the building's orifices, the heat the team felt was immense. Almost as fast as it happened, the fire extinguished and smoke billowed out of the building in all directions. All that was left of the building's innards was pure and utter carnage.
Neil's accolade did not last very long at all, there was a new best "Rookie's first kill".
Somehow the shopping center remained structurally intact. Sigvard moved into the second floor to check for newly trapped civilians and for any more hostiles. He found the room above to be a dead end, nothing but crates and missing sections of the floor to greet him.
He moved towards the west wall and raised his laser pistol. He quickly fired his pistol, cutting a hole in the wall to check the next room. Checking the adjacent room quickly, he appeared to be too late to help a local woman. He took cover in the previous room in-case the woman's killer was still around.
Moving back into the room Sigvard gave the room a second check before moving into the next room. Inside what appeared to be the main room of the second floor, Sigvard had to squint to see through the smoke. The room was destroyed, most of the floor was missing and several chairs and tables hung precariously over the void. As far as Sigvard could tell there was no-one in the room.
Lucsly began to move into the smoking ruins while Neil Stranek peered back around the side of the building. He spotted another of the snake like aliens moving towards the building's southern entrance.
Barely a moment after Neil reports the alien's position, can a loud gunfire shot be heard from the rear of the team. The snake creature screeches as a fist sized hole is punched through it's torso, through it's chest armor.
"Another fucker down." Tamunshin reported.
Sigvard moved carefully up to a window on the western side of the building. Peering out he spotted another snake like alien moving through a garden below. He quietly reported it's position to the rest of the team.
The alien was completely cut off from sight by the smoking shopping center but Sarah Newman was up to the challenge. Having already reloaded her rocket launcher, She took aim towards the garden.
Aiming for a tree visible to her, she pulled the trigger and launched her third heavy rocket. The rocket flew gracefully through the air towards it's target and connected solidly. The rocket exploded forcefully, sending deadly, molten shrapnel in all directions. Sigvard looked out the window to confirm Sarah's kill.
Finally the area grew quiet. Any civilians in the area were hiding silently and any aliens were waiting in ambush. The ground team began moving forward to sweep the area, hoping that the worst of the mission was over.
"Hey what is that?" Asked Tamunshin suddenly. The ground team stopped it's advancement through the city block. Down the street, wandering slowly was a civilian.
"I think that's a survivor." replied Sarah Newman.
"Neil, you're closest, get a good look at that person..." Tamunshin ordered. "Something here is fishy, civilians shouldn't be heading towards the explosions."
"You're right Tamunshin, he's human but he's leaking... Fluorescent green ooze? He appears to be shifting inside his own skin." Commented Neil Stranek. The civilian turned to look at him and began chittering at him, pieces of the civilian's flesh came loose and fell to the ground.
"That's not right... I don't think we should chance this one. Open fire!" Tamunshin commanded. She managed to get off the first shot, blowing a chunk out of the creature's shoulder. The wound did not seem to slow it down at all.
Sarah Newman took aim with her last remaining rocket. "Just what we need, more tough crap to fight." She fired the rocket and it connected with the shambling civilian. A large explosion tore out from the rocket's impact location but once the smoke faded, the civilian still stood.
"Everyone get shooting! That's not human!" Shouted Tamunshin. Everyone who had line of sight raised their weapons and began firing. Lucsly managed to land a few solid hits with his rifle and caused the flesh of the civilian to tear and fall away. Underneath the human flesh as another of the heavily armored black bugs!
Just the sight of another of these things sends shivers down most of the team's spines. The team began firing at the creature desperately as it broke into a full sprint towards them. Without any rockets left Sarah Newman set down her rocket launcher and pulled out her laser pistol to continue fighting. The black alien endured a torrent of laser fire and gained meter after meter towards the group. The alien started to bee-line for Anne Maxwell when she managed to strike it in the shoulder joint. She followed up her successful hit with a couple more and managed to take the monster down. "God damn that was scary, If I never see one of those things again I'll be very happy." She commented aloud.
All the while, Dash Gunmetal and Shu Bei had been moving west through a gas station. Dash took the south side while Shu Bei followed up through the center. Dash had made it halfway through the gas station when Shu Bei spotted a snake like alien that Dash had not spotted.
Shu Bei felt ice ran through his veins as the alien growled at him, raising it's weapon slowly. Shu Bei managed to shake his fear from his hands and raise his laser pistol faster, firing rapidly. The alien takes multiple blasts from the pistol and collapses silently to the ground.
Finally Shu Bei managed to do something productive!
Dash Gunmetal looked back to see what Shu Bei was up to and nodded in approval before turning back towards the west. He spotted movement out of the corner of his eye. Without a chance to react he saw a small purple ball strike the ground a few feet away. Dash Gunmetal was enveloped in a burst of thick smoke. Dash felt his fingers and toes go numb and his body unresponsive. Before he could black out however, the smoke cleared. Sprinting towards him was one of the black insect like aliens!
Dash reacted quickly, shoving the alien away from himself he, with difficulty, brought up his laser pistol and fired several rounds at the creature. A few of the laser bolts struck the alien's joints and quickly reduced it to a blood soaked husk on the ground.
With nothing but adrenalin keeping Dash going, he quickly ran westward into the nearby house for some cover.
Meanwhile Sigvard moved out of the shopping center to the west. Quickly clearing the gardens he turned his attention to the south. Spotting the alien that had fired the strange ball at Dash, he quickly took aim.
Sigvard fired off a shot but managed only to graze the alien's shoulder armor.
The alien continued on, either oblivious to Sigvard's attack or more interested in hunting down Dash. Dash could feel his strength failing when the alien rounded the corner. It raised it's strange ball launching weapon and fired. The ball connected with Dash's face and in an instant Dash's world turned black.
"Dash? Dash respond!" Commanded Jack as he watched Dash's vitals dip suddenly. Fortunately he was still alive.
The ground team descends on the small house, Anne Maxwell arrives first and peers through a window on the north side. Spotting the alien quickly, she raised her weapon and fires her laser rifle. The alien fails to shrug off this one and screeches loudly as a deep wound is burned into it's spine. The alien quickly falls to the ground and silence returns to the battle field.
Lucsly continues to sift through the damaged shopping center. Checking a back room he is surprised to find one terrified civilian who managed to survive the ordeal!
The team finishes checking the area. They check Dash and the living civilian for wounds but when they find none they call in the clean up crew. Looking back over the crater filled street, the cleaning crew would have a hell of a job ahead of them. All that remained of the remote tank was the shell of it's turret, probably not enough for a quick repair job.
Shigeo Okabe's body is recovered but there is nothing larger than a finger left of Quibble. He probably would have wanted to go that way anyways.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stat Changes:
Anne Maxwell:
Rank UP! - Squaddie
Kills + 3
TU's + 2
Health + 1
Firing Accuracy + 1
Tamunshin:
Kills + 2
Stamina + 2
Health + 1
Firing Accuracy + 4
Dash Gunmetal:
Kills + 2
TU's + 1
Stamina + 2
Health + 1
Firing Accuracy + 1
Throwing Accuracy + 1
Strength + 4
Shu Bei:
Rank UP! - Squaddie
Kills + 1
TU's + 1
Stamina + 1
Health + 4
Strength + 4
Sarah Newman:
Kills + 1
TU's + 1
Stamina + 4
Firing Accuracy + 3
Shigeo Okabe:
DEAD
Quibble:
DEAD
Sigvard:
Rank UP! - Squaddie
Kills + 1
TU's + 2
Stamina + 5
Health + 1
Firing Accuracy + 2
Throwing Accuracy + 1
Strength + 3
Lucsly:
Rank UP! - Squaddie
Kills + 1
Health + 2
Reactions + 2
Strength + 3
Neil Stranek:
Rank UP! - Squaddie
Kills + 1
TU's + 4
Health + 3
Firing Accuracy + 3
Throwing Accuracy + 1
Strength + 6
-------------------
Accolades:
Positive:
Bad-Ass Initiation: Neil Stranek and Sigvard - Made their first kills sufficiently awesome
Death Proof: Dash Gunmetal - Fate conspired to kill you but you refused to let it
Negative:
Premature Explosion: Quibble - Now how do you put that pin back in again?
Friendly Fire Is Never Friendly: Lucsly - Friendlies make better walls than windows
Victim Of The Random Number Generator: Sarah Newman - Sometimes it doesn't matter how little the odds are
Author
Topic: Anya's x-com LP - UPDATED! Augest 17th (Read 90695 times)