On April 29th Mac's Interceptor returned to base with everyone it had left with. The mission was an amazing success and I was filled with pride when I welcomed the team back to base personally. Once everyone was off the Jet I addressed the group.
"I know you all just got back from your mission but I want to address all the ground forces and pilots as a group. In one hour I want to see all of you in the meeting room." I commanded. No one had any complaints, The trip had been far less tiring than their usual trip across the globe.
An hour passed and every soldier and pilot on base, save Cerapa and Ashley Smith, were assembled before me. I could tell many of those who were present were wondering why they were assembled here, I had the room's undivided attention.
"First of all I would like to hand out a few promotions before I address the matter at hand. Archangel, Roll Fizzlebeef, you have both been excellent soldiers and have been at the rank of squaddie too long. You both have been promoted to the rank of sergeant for your continuing efforts and now you will find yourselves in charge of your own squads on the ground, congratulations!" I revealed two sergeant's badges and offered them to both Archangel and Roll Fizzlebeef while their teammates applauded them. "You'll also enjoy the pay increase." I smiled and laughed, the rest of the team laughed as well. I'm not sure if anyone was worried about their income during this conflict.
"Next I would like Sarah Newman to accept this..." I held out a Captain's badge. "You tracked down this project with ruthless determination after your brother's injury and went out into the battlefield despite his wishes. You took on this challenging job with defiance and earnest, and have proven yourself more than capable. As captain, you will be expected to lead by example and to push your team towards excellence." I paused for a moment, allowing the new captain's team to applaud her before adding: "You will also be expected to continue delivering explosives to the enemy." The crowd giggled quietly as Sarah responded.
"Of course commander. I will not disappoint." She smiled as she examined her new badge.
"Next is a promotion for Captain Ashley Smith. The good Captain was originally sent here by accident but upon testing her we decided to give her a chance to serve us and humanity. Captain Ashley Smith proceeded to break every expectation we had set for her. Without any formal military training and with a humble background of janitorial work, the captain fought hard to get where she is now. Shoulder to shoulder with the world's finest she focused on the tasks at hand and proved that she had what it took to lead her fellow troops into battle. Over a month ago Captain Smith took a bad injury in battle. Rather than falter at the sight of your injured teammate, you jumped into action and preserved her life so that she could live to fight another day. And again the good captain has not let us down. She has been in constant contact with myself, Dr. Zilvara or Urist McGyver, discussing plans, ideas and strategies. It is for these reasons that Captain Ashley Smith has been promoted to Colonel Ashley Smith. When she returns to duty I want you all to see her and know that no matter your background, your efforts will always be respected and rewarded at X-Com." I took a moment to gather my thoughts while the soldiers applauded their absent teammate.
"Finally, I would like Colonel Darkwind to come forward." Darkwind had been calm and collected during the entire assembly. She came forward and looked onwards, her self discipline showing. "When you first came to X-Com you wanted the taste of revenge. You trained every day, were early for every mission and were the first to fire your weapon every time because you wanted blood to be spilled over Razorwire's death. And for a time you were content with that goal. As time went by however, those around you would fall to your enemies while you continued to fight. You lead by example however and when one falls, you don't allow it to stop you from your fighting. Those who remain on the field of battle see your courage and anger and are bolstered by it. Your enemies learn to fear your visage and to hide from your gaze. As you have climbed in rank, you have put the team under your wings. For every team member that falls to the bite of our enemy, you retaliate as if they had struck at your own flesh and blood. It is for this reason I wish to promote you to the highest rank I can give, so that you may answer to no one but myself in your efforts to care for and avenge your charges. I promote you to Ground Commander Darkwind." I held out a commander's badge for Darkwind while the room was filled with applause and cheers. "I know you will make me proud in your continued pursuit of our enemy's demise." I looked her right in the eye as the badge exchanged hands. Darkwind's eyes were filled with determination, she was a woman who's mission would never be over until the last alien creature was purged from our world.
"Now there is a second reason why I have you all here tonight. As you are all aware, the alien threat is not focused on just one or two world nations. They strike any country in any part of the world at any time of the day. X-Com needs to be there to stop them, that is our mission. So far, despite our advanced technology, we have been in a weak position to protect anywhere other than North America. We setup radar listening posts in both Europe and Asia to spread our UFO detecting ability. Being able to see our enemy at work is useful, but if our Interceptors cannot reach them and our Skyranger takes nearly two days to reach them on the ground, our new-found sight might as well be worthless. It is because of this that I have had the listening posts expanded into small bases. I have decided to send some of you to these new locations so that we can more effectively do our jobs. I think that South Africa has been a sobering example of why we cannot wait to expand." I looked around the room, dozens of eyes looked back at me.
"Commander Darkwind, you will be taking Sergeant Hugh Mann along with squaddies Neil Stranek, Argatson, and Samuel Grover to the European base. Your pilot will be Sergi Danilev. Your ground team will be supplemented with several new recruits at your time of arrival. Colonel Ashley Smith will take Sergeant Ram One along with squaddies Shigeo Okabe and Dash Gunmetal to the Asian base. Colonel Smith's team will also include rookie Shu Bei and pilot Mac." Mac perked up upon hearing his name.
"Commander, you want me to go to Asia?" Mac asked, confused. Mac was born and raised in Texas and knew about as much about Asia as he did about building igloos.
"Yes Mac, we received nothing but praise from Japan and China regarding your aerial exploits over their countries. The creators of the Interceptors actually want to meet with you and talk about how you have been using their masterpiece." I smiled and laughed a bit. "Besides, we don't have any Asian pilots yet but once we get one you'll be transferred back here."
"Y-Yes commander, I'll pack my things..." Mac replied, lost in thought. At least Colonel Ashley Smith would be there.
"Now for some bad news, at least for the new recruits that will be supplementing the new bases of operations. Our engineers are working around the clock, to build the laser rifles and pistols we have grown to love, but they will be shifting focus to personal armor after the current build order. The new rookies will have to make do with our selection of conventional weapons." I looked over to Shu Bei. "Your a lucky rookie Shu, you're the last one to get to use a laser weapon for awhile. Now that's all for today, go get some rest until the next mission."
For the rest of the morning we had relative peace and quiet. Interrupted suddenly at 4pm when we received word from my operatives in Asia. Tehran was being attacked by alien forces!
Tehran was in a bit of a blind spot for radar coverage and local cooperation was minimal.
The ground team moved quickly. Sergeant Tamunshin and Captain Sarah Newman were selected to lead the ground team While Myroc would pilot the heavy weapons platform. The ground team would consist of Quibble, Shigeo Okabe, Anne Maxwell, Niel Stranek, Dash Gunmetal, Shu Bei, and Sigvard. Lucsly would pilot the Skyranger and join the ground team.
Minutes later the team was ready and loaded onto the drop-ship, the coordinates were set and the Skyranger began rising into the sky. It's destination was on the other side of the world, typical damned aliens, in two weeks tops we would show them that no place was safe for them.
The Skyranger would not arrive for an amazing ten and a half hours. I had to sign off before the team could make it and give up command for my rest. Jack Bladestar would have to handle this one.
TO BE CONTINUED!
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Sorry, no explosions in this post like I had promised. Don't worry they WILL be in the next one. I'm probably going to stick to the geoscape one post, battle scape next, post formula.
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Topic: Anya's x-com LP - UPDATED! Augest 17th (Read 92967 times)