I sat up in my bed and rubbed my eyes. I felt mentally exhausted but only a little stiff. I looked around quietly, had I dreamed that entire long day? I heard soft snoring and turned quickly to see what it was. Auraluna was sleeping at my desk with her chair turned towards me.
"Aura? What are you awake?" I asked quietly
"Wha? Ah! I feel asleep, what time is it?" She snapped up in her chair and looked around.
I groggily looked to my alarm clock. "Mmm... It's 4am. What are you doing in my room anyways?"
Auraluna sat and stared at me for a second. "Commander, you passed out at your console. I thought I told you to take better care of yourself!" She glared at me.
I felt like a child who'd been caught by their mother, blushing with red paint on their hands. "I had to stay and make sure the mission went smoothly." I responded quietly.
"You can't keep doing this Anya. You're hurting yourself, even boot camp soldiers get some sleep. I've been looking through some of your command manuals and they keep referring to your second in command. Specifically how they are required to relieve you of duty if you put yourself in harm's way. Why haven't you selected a second in command? She grilled me softly. She was right, a commander required a second in command to help take on the work load and to be available when I couldn't be.
"I had a second in command once... We had a falling out and I decided I could handle command on my own." I replied grimly.
"What happened? Er... If it's ok to ask commander." Auraluna inquired.
"One of my earlier assignments that had me in the position of commander. We were in South Africa doing mostly peace work with the odd secret mission to snuff out aggressive militants in the area. We received notice that some small villages were becoming overrun by a contagious and deadly illness, the dead were piling up and it was spreading. I decided to call in medical experts to combat the illness and find a cure but my second in command had little faith in their ability to get the job done quickly. He convinced my men that the illness needed to be stopped as quickly as possible. When I told him to respect my authority he took control of the situation and ordered the group to purge the villages that were afflicted." I stopped and shook my head. "So many dead people, I never forgot what it smelled like."
Auraluna watched and listened with a look of horror. "What happened after that?" She inquired, wanting to know how such a dark tale could end.
"I called in my superior and they took him away. He was never dismissed but he has never been reassigned to the field. He is either behind a desk somewhere or off on some undercover or black op. The thing that continues to bug me is that I'm not sure if he was wrong. He had a different way of thinking than I did, but not a wrong way of thinking. Other than that incident, he had been an excellent second in command who's cunning and strategic thinking rivaled my own. I could not have another person as my second, I only trust his judgment. I responded with a sigh.
"You cannot keep doing this on your own though Anya. You'll burn out. She stated firmly.
"You are right Aura, as much as I hate to admit, I'm not a divine entity that has limitless endurance. Let me get some rest and I will make some phone calls when I wake up." I replied, deep in thought.
As Auraluna left my room, I wondered about my old second in command, did he hold resentment for my actions? Did he still think he was right? Was I the one who was wrong, for holding onto hope in the face of tragedy? Who knew, but there was only one person worthy of competing with me and it was him.
I slept fitfully, the conversation with Auraluna filled my dreams with the suffering of innocents, The turmoil of having their protectors turn on them in the night.
In the morning I checked my messages. The psionics laboratory was complete and would be ready for it's first batch of soldiers by the end of the month.
I picked up the phone and sighed. I dialed a number and waited for a response. "This is commander Anya Snow. Get me Jack Bladestar.
I tried to limit myself and get as much rest as possible fir the rest of the day but I received a summons from the PA system. I was needed in the command center again. Upon Arriving I was greeted by the radar technician's assistant as always. "A very small UFO was detected over Europe traveling west at 600kt/h." She reported professionally.
I received some concerned looks as I entered the room and sat in my chair. I dismissed them and opened up my console to see exactly where my new target was.
I ordered for Mac to scramble his jet and pursue the alien craft. A couple hours pass as Mac makes his way across the Atlantic ocean. As he nears the United Kingdom the alien touches down near London.
Mac quickly approached the area. "Commander, that UFO was only large enough to carry one creature. Permission to land and show it who's boss on this planet?" He requested with a snarky attitude.
"Granted, only because I like the way you put it and I need to watch my sleep schedule, give it hell Mac." I replied, I got a couple snickers around the room which were quickly quieted.
Mac found a clear spot in the area the UFO had landed. It was a small farm in the countryside near London. He managed to fit his interceptor into a very small opening. Outside the lights of his aircraft illuminated a small patch of ground amidst a sea of black.
Mac adjusts his equipment, he did not realize how heavy it was after the long flight. He drops his spare high explosive clip and readies a flare. Once down the ramp he takes a quick look around and tosses the flare into a nearby plot of land.
"Woah! where did that house come from?" He commented in amazement. The moon was new and without it's light he was nearly blind on his own.
"Mac, aliens seem to favor small houses like these to setup ambush points. I would suggest clearing it first. I suggested.
"Rodger commander." He replied as he moved towards the house. As he nears the corner of the fence however he hears a plasma weapon's discharge. He ducks and turns around but can see nothing.
He pulls out another flare and tosses it into the nearby orchard and hears an alien shriek.
Mac dashes for the door of the house and takes cover inside.
"I didn't see anything but I think I blinded it." Mac reported once he had a chance to catch his breath.
"It won't be blinded for long, try and get some high ground and see if you can catch it by surprise." I commanded.
"I agree commander." Mac replied. "It's so much different being on the ground than in the air. I feel so much more exposed."
Mac made his way across the room to the staircase. As he ascended it another plasma discharge could be heard. A section of wall to the south that once held a window blows inwards and covers the floor in splinters.
"Crap, it spotted me." He reported.
"Advance carefully Mac, use the cover to your advantage. Remember that these things don't seem to think tactically. I instructed as I tapped into the Interceptor's cameras, finding no useful angles.
Mac follows my instructions and advances to the edge of the hole in the wall.
He peers out the hole and spots the alien near the orchard.
"Of course, orchards, the other favorite hiding spot." Mac said quietly through the radio. He took aim and fired on the alien, scoring a Direct hit but failing to take down the floating freak.
The alien recoils from the explosion but manages to return fire! It's shots miss their mark and pummel the wall next to Mac.
Mac attempts to fire off another quick shot but it travels too far.
He ducks behind cover again to collect his strength and nerves. When he slips out of cover again he spots the alien. It had moved much closer to the house and appeared to be charging the front door despite it's ability to fly. Perhaps it's flotation device had been damaged?
Mac cared little though as he lined up a quick easy shot. He fired and sent the alien back to it's makers.
"Good shot Mac! now just clear the area and call in the clean up crew" I cheered and smiled, everyone in the command room joined me in celebration. It took Mac an hour to carefully scout the area but he found no additional hostiles. The clean up crew quickly arrived from London and took over. Mac entered his Interceptor and took to the sky to return home. I took this opportunity to call it a night and get some rest.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
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Stat Changes:
Mac:
Rank UP! - Squaddie
Kills + 1
TU's + 3
Stamina + 5
Health + 3
Throwing Accuracy + 1
Strength + 3
Mr. Apple:
Rank UP! - Sergeant
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Accolades:
Positive:
Army of One - Mac - Solo'd a mission, all by himself
Negative:
Eyes larger than arms - Mac - Brought too much stuff to a mission and had to drop some of it to reduce encumbrance
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Just a little quickly post. Hope you all enjoyed it ^.^ Sadly we cannot begin training our soldiers in psionics until the end of the month (blargh) however that does give us a bit more time to work on the personal armor project. This mission almost failed entirely so I think I will be doubling up Interceptor pilots with an escort soldier to help out on the ground.
-edit- upon re-reading this post, I come to a question. should i break up conversations with a space between speakers? it looks too bunched up together the way I do it.
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Topic: Anya's x-com LP - UPDATED! Augest 17th (Read 90968 times)