I returned to my quarters and to my bed. So many problems to face. Tamunshin was supposed to come back and raise the team moral. now even the air team is feeling the sting of failure. I pictured the world in my mind and plotted the bases on it. We could now see vast swaths of the air space around the globe but our Interceptors didn't have the fuel capacity to reach all over the world. These new large ships that could move faster than we ever thought possible. These UFO's were huge and non-aerodynamic yet they could fly through the air at almost mach 9! I got up and had a look at the program's funds.
Not as bad as I had thought. I decided that we would need at least one Interceptor at each listening post. I got my lead construction contractor on the phone and asked him how much it would roughly cost. "$200,000 each to build. About $25,000 each a month to keep maintained." He replied as he looked over his blueprints that he had on file from when the main base was constructed.
"I want one at both listening posts. how long till it's ready?" I asked as I penned down the costs.
"They will each take 25 days to fully construct." He replied.
"25 days?! We don't have that kind of time!" I replied in shock. By the time they would be built, I'd be staring at a very empty meeting room. "Is there any way to build it faster?" I asked desperately.
"Lady, you try digging an area that large out of the ground and putting a retractable roof over it in under 6 months. You have my number because me and my crew are the very best, of the very best. I can have it done in 25 days and not a second sooner." He replied. He was sincere and prideful of his team. They were always in extremely high demand but the funding nations were paying them a king's bounty so that they would be on call at a moment's notice.
"Alright. Please get started asap or you might not have this contract by next month." I replied and closed my eyes, rubbing my forehead firmly. I sent the estimate to Auraluna to be entered into the base accounts.
Lets hope the aliens forget how to fly this month.
The next day I was roused from sweet merciful sleep at 2:30am. Apparently the aliens decided to get an early start this month. I quickly dressed and was fully awake by the time I met the radar tech's assistant at the door to the command center.
"A small UFO has been detected along the border of Canada's prairies and the US. It's traveling at 2400 kt/s and heading south." She read from her clipboard.
One thing I found so amazing about this girl is that she always seemed to have the same chipper attitude when making a report. I noted it for a moment before thanking her and entering the commander center. I took my position at my command console. Opening up the computer I centered my view on the UFO's location.
"OK guys, you know the drill. Lets get Mac up after the flying sauce pan!" I ordered and zoomed in on the area. Mac was already sitting in his Interceptor and waiting for the lift to take him up. The UFO, meanwhile, had maneuvered around the base and was now heading up the west coast of Canada. Mac took off in pursuit and chased it. The UFO would not relent and Mac followed it to Alaska, then across the ocean to Chukot where the UFO began moving south through Russia. Mac pushed his Interceptor to it's limits and followed the UFO south through China and into the ocean once again. Mac's flight director began to warn him, as he was following the UFO across the ocean towards India, that he was dangerously close to not having the fuel to make it back to base. Mac cursed at the UFO angrily but agreed and turned back.
"Not again... Scramble Interceptor 2!" I commanded. I waited patiently for an hour while the UFO made it's way back towards India and north into Russia where it decided to make a u-turn and head towards Africa. The Interceptor made it almost all the way to Africa from the east but was again called back because of lack of fuel. How I wished I had those hangers already.
I contemplated what to do as our enemy taunted me with it's archaic movements. All of a sudden the UFO landed, in Iran, 100 miles west of a city called As Sulaymānīyah.
"OK, I have an idea. Load up the Skyranger with a ground team. I want a breach team and an over-watch team. Lets send them in and try to catch it on the ground." I ordered. Minutes later RAM 1 and Darkwind had assembled their teams. Roll Fizzlebeef, Dash Gunmetal, Tiberius Seius Cato and Steve would follow RAM 1 as breach. Argatson, Gogandantess, Sarah Newman and Hugh Mann would follow Darkwind as over-watch.
Before the Skyranger could fully cross the Atlantic ocean, the UFO had taken off again.
Mac had some time to rest while his Interceptor had been refueled. I ordered him out of bed and back into the sky. Before Mac could make it all the way however the UFO landed again. This time in Uzbekistan.
The Skyranger was only a short distance away. "Got them!" I cheered as the Skyranger closed in. "And this time they don't have the dark to hide in." I grinned as the pilot touched down in an arid farm. The pilot managed to park his drop-ship between the UFO and a small farm house. The UFO was north west of the Skyranger while the farm house was directly to the south.
Myroc Started up his tank remotely while the Skyranger's ramp fell to the ground. The team had no comments to make, I silently wished that their mission would go off without a hitch. The team needed this victory and so did the X-Com program. Myroc rolled down the ramp. He checked his flanks quickly and continued. "Everything looks quiet out here... wait. Commander, do you see what I see?" Asked Myroc.
"That's definitely not a local... Take it down quickly team!" I ordered. The alien looked like a man with orange skin. It like the floating pink aliens wore a garment of some sort, this time instead of a cape it work armor on it's chest and shoulders.
"I'll take a crack at it." Called out Argatson as he carefully crept down the ramp with his auto cannon.
He took a snap shot at the creature in the wheat field. The explosive round tore through the shifting plants and fell short of it's mark. The explosion shook the ground and Argatson took cover on the ground.
Steve stepped out behind Argatson and took aim at the rising smoke cloud. As the smoke began to clear enough to see through it he spotted the alien. "It's got some sort of worm like body... maybe a snake?" He commented for a moment as he watched the alien try to brush the smoke out it's way. Steve took his chance and fired off a few rounds at the alien. Two of his laser blasts caught it across the chest and it fell to the ground in a bloody heap.
RAM 1 orders the team to assemble outside the Skyranger. "Get a smoke screen up, were out in the open!" He called out.
"Got it!" Replied Hugh Mann. Hugh Mann takes a smoke grenade off his belt and arms it.
Dropping it at his feet he can hear it's internals whir and click. As he waits for it to deploy, the rest of the team files out of the drop-ship. Only Darkwind stays at the top of the ramp to keep an eye out for ambushers from afar.
"Tiberius, I want you to clear out that farm house. We don't need another an alien aiming at our backs." RAM 1 ordered. Tiberius smiles at the thought of having the entire X-Com ground team in his own sights and agrees to take the farm house.
The smoke grenade deploys and in a matter of seconds the ground team is enveloped in thick, obscuring smoke.
Suddenly the UFO's door pops open! Another orange alien comes through the door and fires at Myroc's tank. The green fire bolt dissipates upon connecting with his thick armor. The alien see's it's dead ally and panics, retreating back into the UFO.
"Roll Fizzlebeef, I want you to assist Tiberius. Setup a flanking position." Commanded Darkwind. Tiberius' smile faded. He would have to wait for another chance to prove himself to his shady leader.
"Breach team! Take cover behind that hedge, I want you to get beside that UFO while over-watch secures the immediate area." Directed RAM 1.
"Over-watch, set up a perimeter and keep your eyes open! Anything that comes out of that door I want holes in!" Shouted Darkwind.
Another orange alien pops out of the UFO to take a shot at Myroc. The green projectile connects but deflects off harmlessly. "This is a lot better than being there in person." Laughs Myroc as he wiggles his tank treads, trying to keep the alien's attention away from the obscured ground team. His tactic works and the Alien raises it's weapon in anger rather than ducking back inside for safety.
"Time to shine. This is for Tamunshin..." Gogandantess says quietly as he lines up his auto cannon.
Gogandantess fires off a round straight at the alien, catching it on it's large, armored, shoulder pad. "Woo! Direct hit!" He called out in excitement. He was answered with a green blast flying through the smoke back towards him. The bolt flew over his head and shut him up quickly, The alien remained standing.
"Oh no you didn't!" He grumbles and fires off another deadly high explosive round. The round catches it in the chest. Once the smoke clears from the explosion, the alien lays motionless on the ground.
The UFO door pops open again and another alien comes out. Hugh Mann line's up a quick couple of shots and constructs an alien pile with his laser rifle.
Through the open door a flash of green is spotted. A glob of green fiery death slams into Myroc's tank. Myroc's screen fizzes out and he loses control of his tank. "Shit commander, My tank is out!" He exclaimed.
"Damn it! not again! Heads down ground team, tank is out!" I shouted over the radio as I brought up a screen displaying the tank's status. "Damn things are expensive and we don't have such a loose budget this month..."
"Commander hold on..." Myroc called out as his screen flickers on. The backup camera comes to life and his tank begins to respond to his controls. "It's a real mess commander but I can still move it. I'm getting out of the line of fire but maintaining my position between the UFO and the ground team." He commented as he coaxed his tank back to life.
Another orange skinned alien came through the door with it's alien weapon drawn and smoking. Hugh Mann sends it a well aimed laser beam but fails to take it down. Myroc's tank locks onto the alien and his console beeps wildly. "Do not fire Myroc! The blast might wreck your tank." I warned.
"I don't know wha-" A rocket flies out of Myroc's tank and smacks into the alien's head. The resulting explosion fills the area and sends shrapnel into the tank.
"I told you not to shoot Myroc!!" I exclaimed angrily.
"I didn't commander. It locked target on it's own and when I told it to break it's lock it fired." He explained wide eyed. "At least the tank survived the explosion." He explained as he attempted to change subject.
"Hmm... We can't have a malfunctioning tank on our hands. Disable your weapon and move it into the Skyranger and power down." I commanded.
Tiberius and Roll Fizzlebeef storm the farm house but find nothing of interest, except that no one was there. Ram 1 and the breach team stormed the UFO after a few minutes of inactivity, the inside was clear of any alien hostiles. The over-watch team finished sweeping the surrounding area without the aid of a heavy weapons platform and found nothing. The team called in the clean up crew.
"Except for a few close calls, this mission is a resounding success team! Give yourselves a pat on the back and head home."
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
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Stat Changes:
Hugh Mann:
Kills + 1
Stamina + 5
Health + 1
Firing Accuracy + 1
Strength + 3
Gogandantess:
Kills + 1
TU's + 1
Stamina + 2
Health + 4
Firing Accuracy + 1
Strength + 1
Steve's Clone 1:
Kills + 1
TU's + 1
Stamina + 1
Strength + 3
Argatson:
TU's + 3
Stamina + 1
Strength + 2
Darkwind:
Stamina + 1
Reactions + 1
Firing Accuracy + 1
Strength + 4
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Accolades:
Negative:
Nya nya you can't hurt m-blargh! - Myroc - shrugged off multiple hits before being owned by a single shot
Now available in 3D! - Argatson - provided an explosion so real it singed the alien's whiskers
Positive:
Finally! - Darkwind - Finally got an increase in accuracy
All you need is faith - Myroc - Survived an explosion at low health
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Here you all go. A nice big story update. Up next is a behind the scenes story post where I get to
show off let you in on the little things I do to keep the story organized and fairly accurate/cohesive.
Author
Topic: Anya's x-com LP - UPDATED! Augest 17th (Read 92771 times)