Story HourPost your ongoing tales from your campaigns, and read those from others for inspiration. Lots of other RPG boards post "Story Hours", but this is where it started!
On the afternoon of the second day after the Canadian Rockies mission, several e-mail messages circulated through the X-COM network.
Quote:
FROM: Special Agent Inise Drake
TO: All X-COM Personnel
RE: New Security Measures
Due to recent computer breaches and subsequent questions about the effectiveness of X-COM security protocols, all alien weapons technology in X-COM custody shall be turned over to United States Homeland Security Personnel immediately. United Nations Liaison Garret has cosigned this order, which is available in file HV-K452 for your examination.
This order is mandatory for all personnel.
Quote:
FROM: DR. KIMBERLY WAGNER, X-COM RESEARCH LEAD
TO: MEMBERS, ALPHA TEAM
CC: MICHAEL GARRET, JOAN BEAUVOIS
RE: New Priorities
Per your recent suggestions, X-COM has embarked upon new research and manufacturing projects. Research Lab 1 has begun advanced work on the alien medical technology, while Lab 2 has commenced the autopsy on the Sectoid specimens you brought back from Utah.
Half of Chief Engineer Thelon Beluca's team has been assigned to assist in the preparation of a missile defense battery atop the X-COM base. Twenty MIM-104 "Patriot" missiles have been ordered and are en route. The remaining engineers have begun the construction of laser pistols in Workshop 1.
Next week I hope to have additional options available for research. Your capture of a mostly intact alien vessel, along with a live member of its crew, should open up new avenues of research for X-COM. I will report back to you as soon as our preliminary work on these projects is complete.
It had come to him in the shower: a clear image of the alien navigation control panel. Buzz sat in his bunk dripping wet, a towel loosely laying over his lap.
He was enthralled with the alien symbols he saw before him that felt like a pattern, like a new code that needed to be hacked. The adrenaline of the realization that he could decipher the symbols made his mind sharpen to a level of focus that not many could achieve.
He tapped the buttons on the on his xPhone. The little device had considerable power, and he’d been hacking it since a few minutes after he’d first gotten it. Over that time he’d improved its function considerably. He hoped it would be enough to run the three algorithms he had in mind simultaneously. He knew that the alien language could be deciphered, but he couldn’t guess how many hours it would take. It was a risk to overclock a device as small as the handheld, but he was used to taking risks, and he didn’t want to expose his work to the X-COM network, not yet.
As soon as the program was running, he got a tone indicating that he had a new e-mail. Switching the language program to the background, he opened it up to see a message from Joan Beauvois. It was addressed to the entire team, not just to him.
Quote:
I hope this missive finds you well. The last mission was a rough one, I heard. I know that the whole X-COM team is doing all that it can to support you.
The recent declaration from Agent Drake is upsetting to everyone, but I urge calm. There are political issues behind this order that make for a very delicate situation. In the month that X-COM has been operational, there have been seventeen alien incursions worldwide. Our encounters with the Sectoid race have been the only ones that have actually resulted in the capture of alien specimens and technology. But despite those successes, a number of our coalition partners have begun to doubt the wisdom of spending a great deal of money and other resources on our organization, when the results have been so localized, and have not helped to protect the rest of the world.
Director Garret is trying to quickly scale up X-COM operations, but we are under multiple constraints of funding, time, staffing, and support. Do not share this around, but we are currently engaged in high-level meetings with the government of France to establish a second X-COM base that can provide coverage of the European theatre of operations. It is likely that I will be absent for some time to deal with these delicate negotiations.
In my absence, I hope that you will talk to Doctor Baron about any issues or concerns regarding your missions or other issues. Tense times lay ahead for us all, I fear.
Which brings us back to Agent Drake's new directive. In these circumstances, we cannot afford to alienate our primary sponsor and largest contributor, the United States government, and thus Director Garret was forced to comply with the new order, at least for now. Director Garret has asked me to tell you that he will protect X-COM's interests and do his best to guarantee the viability of our mission, going forward.
-JB
He shook his head. Maybe he shouldn’t have hacked Inise Drake’s account, or used her information from the Social Security Database to open up a credit card in her name. X-COM’s network had supposedly been secure, with a potent firewall limiting access to the World Wide Web, but he’d gotten around that by the end of his second day here. Once he had Drake’s personal information, he’d opened up one of his old hacks from back in the day, a backdoor into Vicky’s Online Adult Novelties. Five thousand dollars of purchases, overnight delivery of course, a quick wipe to cover his tracks…
If she’d put some of the things he’d sent her to use, maybe she wouldn’t be such a… Ah well, in hindsight, maybe it had been juvenile. After seeing Drake’s messages about security breaches, it looked like she hadn’t taken the joke very well. Still, there was no chance—almost no chance—that they’d trace anything back to him. This wasn’t his first time he’d used the Internet and his hacking abilities to deliver a comeuppance to someone who deserved it.
The two feds had found the alien device he’d kept in his locker, but it didn’t matter. He’d already stored the important data he’d need in a few places. And there was one database they’d never raid, no matter how many head-shrinkers they turned on him. With a smirk, he turned over and went to sleep, letting his xPhone do his work for now.
* * * * *
A few days passed. First Catalina returned to the duty rotation, then Vasily, still a bit tentative in the way he moved. Buzz was wary of the Russian at first, for he’d heard that he’d been treated using the new medical techniques derived from the alien biological technology. His own scars had healed completely, but he still rubbed at them sometimes, a gesture that had become almost subconscious.
Buzz’s optimism was always short-lived, and multiple failures in decoding the language had depleted the best of his most useful algorithms. But he tossed and turned in his sleep every night since viewing the alien control panel. It had gotten so bad that Cat had threatened to strap him to the bed to keep him still so she could sleep. That unnerved him. The woman slept on the other side of the room, so he knew his thrashing must be disturbing them all.
He went to bed that night trying to think of anything else but aliens and code, hoping he would not disturb the others. But yet again, around midnight he awoke with a start. Images had pulled together in his head and he just knew why he had been unable to crack the language.
He jumped out of bed and flew, not so quietly, out of the room and headed for the computer in the community room. After agent Drake's email he hadn’t dared tamper with the network settings on his xPhone. He pulled up all the pictures everyone had taken of the alien interior focusing on the different views of the control panel he had so voraciously tried to decipher…it is not words at all!
"It can't be." he said aloud. His mind sharpened and his fingers flew across the keyboard typing unnaturally fast. "Who would have thought that Google Earth would help in battling aliens!" He typed in the pattern he’d derived from the symbols depicted on the alien display, and zoomed to the points he had entered. He clicked back to the images of the alien control panel again, somewhat befuddled. Then he looked back to where Google Earth had stopped. "Shasta County, California. What in the hell is there?" His overlay on Google Earth pointed out critical sites, power stations, infrastructure, military bases. The rural part of northern California did not seem to have anything important, as far as he could determine. But he was sure that his instincts were right. He ran to wake up his companions.
Entering the barracks, he yelled, "Hey guys! Guys! It's not language! It’s numbers!" He shook the bunk beds, "It’s numbers! Numbers, guys! Coordinates!" He smiled, pleased with himself.
A topographical map depicting northern California glowed on the huge viewscreen on the wall. The members of Alpha Team sat along with the X-COM department heads around the long conference table.
“Buzz’s discovery regarding the alien navigational coordinates will help us in ultimately deciphering the alien language,” Kim Wagner said.
“We’re still not sure why the aliens are interested in Shasta County,” Garret said. “There’s not much there. Very rural area, a few farms, very small towns. Redding is the largest city in the region, and the coordinates are over a hundred miles from there. We’ve been in contact with the United States government, and they’ve confirmed that they don’t have any covert facilities or other operations in the area.”
“Would they tell us if they did?” Catalina mused.
“I don’t know,” Garret said. “But you are going to find out, Alpha.”
“We have some new technologies for you this time,” Wagner said. “The first laser pistol is ready. This is a test model, yes? Be careful with it.”
“You break, you buy, huh,” Vasily said.
“No, it gets confiscated,” Cat said.
“Doctor Sandesh has also finished his prototype motion sensor,” Wagner went on. “He expects a full report on its use in the field.”
“I hope I don’t have to say anything regarding letting these items out of your sight,” Garret said. He turned to his left. “Doctor White, you have something to say about the new medical kit?”
Stan White looked up from the papers he was shuffling in front of him. “Hmm? Oh, yes. We have a prototype of the new field kit that I’d like you guys to field test. It uses the new technologies we’ve derived from the alien bio sample you recovered from Utah. It won’t work miracles, but it should bring you back, provided you’re treated in time.”
“I can do that,” James said.
Buzz leaned forward, his fingers white on the grips of his chair’s armrests. “How did the lab rats fare?”
“Well, hopefully you won’t grow another head, like the rats,” Wagner said.
There was a shared look around the table. Buzz turned white.
“That was a joke,” Wagner said, after a moment. There was a nervous chuckle around the table.
“Sehr komisch,” James said.
“The new tech is in the secure storage facility off the alien containment lab. You should speak to Musa as well, refresh any damaged gear you might have. Stock up; we may be short on supplies for a while.”
That got their attention. “Why short?” Vasily asked.
Garret’s jaw tightened. “China is not the only consortium member that has been slow with payments. We are not producing results quickly enough for some of our members.”
“Gya,” Vasily said.
“It’s not your job to worry about the budget. Just keep in mind, any alien tech you bring back, it helps our bottom line.”
Wagner was even more blunt. “More dead aliens. Less incursions.”
“What they want, gorviayiche famous movie?” Vasily asked. “Win war in week?”
“People are scared,” Grace said. “And when they get scared…”
Garret nodded at her. “They do foolish things. We’ll do our best to avoid that. If there’s nothing else…”
“Just one last thing, Director,” Cat said. “When will communications be opened up again?”
“I’ll see what I can do, miss De Farrago. I am sorry that I cannot give you a more firm commitment.”
“As long as we are not all sorry, Director.”
Garret took a quick look around the table. “Dismissed.”
Their destination wasn’t very far from X-COM’s Nevada base, but it was dark by the time that the Skyranger began its descent over the rugged northern California landscape. The coordinates Buzz had isolated were in a fairly isolated area, with maybe a dozen small farms within fifty miles of the target site. Unfortunately, the aliens hadn’t provided a time to go with the coordinates, or at least they hadn’t been able to decipher one from the data they’d collected from the alien ship.
They’d established a search pattern that would take them in an expanding circle around the target coordinates, but before they even got within fifty miles of their intended landing zone, Ken’s excited voice came over the intercom. “Just got the latest sat feed from base, guys. We have a bogey.”
As the members of Alpha Team exclaimed in surprise, the pilot continued, “Don’t know how it got there, didn’t pick anything up on the radar net, but there’s definitely something there, an alien ship, at one of the local farmhouses. Setting a course.”
“Any sign of individual aliens?” Cat asked, as Vasily checked his rifle.
There was a slight pause. “Nothing on the feed,” Ken reported. “But it’s not a very big ship, barely larger than the Ranger, maybe the same class as the ones you guys found in Canada.”
The team members shared a look. None of them had forgotten how that mission had turned out.
Another voice came over the communications net. “This is Doctor Wagner. I know you’ve seen the feed; capture of an intact alien ship is top priority. Good luck.”
Ken’s voice came back. “Okay, there’s no way they’re not going to see us coming in, but I’ll give them as little warning as I can. Be ready, down in sixty seconds, but you won’t want to get up until I give the signal. Yushi out.”
The Skyranger’s engines screamed, and the ship banked hard as Ken approached the target. He cut out the main engines and shifted to VTOL at the same time, and they each felt their stomachs rise into their throats as the ship plummeted hard, only to be slammed back as the landing jets kicked in.
Catalina looked over at Buzz, who was holding the motion scanner in his lap. “How close does that thing need to be to detect anything?” she asked.
“Don’t really know. Maybe you should play with it. I think you would be better suited than me, especially since you have to be out front to use it.” He smiled, but swallowed hard and closed his eyes as the Skyranger leveled out, and dropped the last few feet, land hard enough to jolt his teeth together.
“Let’s go!” James said, moving into place behind Vasily as the Russian sprang out of his seat and moved with fluid motion to the rear hatch. Buzz got free with a bit more effort, with Jane stopping to help him pull free of his seat harness. He handed the motion sensor to Catalina, who looked it over curiously.
Vasily was out before the hatch had opened fully. Ken had put them down in the middle of a pasture about fifty meters away from the farmhouse. It was a two-story house done in the chalet style, almost like a rustic hunting lodge, with an unpaved road connecting the house to the world beyond. There was a large white SUV parked in front of the house, but no lights or other indicators that there were people at home. In the moonlight they could just make out an orchard beyond the house to the right, and a hill rising up beyond it to the left.
Before they could do more than take that first look around, however, they heard the sounds of the alien energy weapons coming from the orchard, and streaks of white fire as plasma bolts started flashing past them. Buzz, just coming out of the hatch in the rear of the Skyranger, was almost hit in the face, and he staggered back, dazed, as a second bolt hit the craft, sending up a blast of fiery sparks from the point of impact.
“Aliens!” James yelled, diving for cover. There wasn’t much to be had, but at least the thick grass of the pasture offered some concealment from the unseen alien snipers.
“Shoot back!” Vasily yelled. “Buzz! Get back in ship!” The Russian ran forward, firing from his hip as he ran. A plasma bolt narrowly missed him as he darted in front of the SUV and up against the front wall of the farmhouse.
Jane squeezed out of the hatch as Buzz tried to force his way back in. She ran around to the front of the Skyranger, where Ken was frantically gesturing behind the armored glass of the cockpit. A plasma bolt struck the ship’s hull, punching a hole six inches across in its skin. Jane ducked under the nose and fired the laser pistol in the direction of the muzzle flashes. The red beam tore a bright streak across the landscape for a moment, but it wasn’t clear if she’d hit anything. She did draw counterfire, as one shot narrow missed both her and the ship, while another struck the cockpit with a glancing hit, splashing energy across the glass with a black smear that obscured half of the canopy.
Vasily glanced around the edge of the house toward the orchard. He couldn’t see the aliens, but they could apparently see him; a shot lanced out, and blasted away a hunk of stone the size of his head from the foundation. He quickly dropped back into cover, and reached for his belt, taking up a grenade.
His only warning was a faint skittering sound. He turned just in time to see another alien come around the far edge of the house. Before Vasily could so much as shout a warning, it turned and pointed its plasma pistol straight at his heart.
In response to the earlier request, here are some pics:
Pic 1: A sectoid in front of a crashed small scout ship.
Pic 2: Snakemen tearing apart a field team.
Pic 3: Briefing room at X-COM Headquarters.
Pic 4: Beta Team ready for a mission.
The alien had him dead to rights, Vasily knew, but he still reached for his rifle, hoping for a miracle that would cause the alien to miss at point-blank range.
The alien staggered back, dark smears of blood appearing from holes that appeared almost magically across its chest. Vasily looked up to see James running around the back of the SUV, his rifle flashing in his hand. The sectoid fell back out of view as the medic ran up to join Vasily against the wall, breathing heavily.
“Good job,” Vasily said. “Keep an eye out there,” he said, lifting the grenade. He waited for James’s nod before he leaned out and tossed the grenade into the orchard, ducking back into cover before the device exploded.
The explosion rocked the orchard, and bits of dirt and wood rained out from amongst the trees. Vasily peered out around the corner again, his rifle ready, but didn’t see any targets, until a squat gray form meandered forward out of the trees, moving awkwardly, as if drunk.
Vasily lifted his rifle, but a red beam bisected the alien’s skull, and it crumpled.
Catalina circled around the edge of the pasture toward the far side of the orchard, her pistol at the ready. After making sure that James was ready to cover him, Vasily moved to join her, coming around the side of the house to approach from the other direction.
They found only two dead sectoids, the one that Jane had lasered, and another perforated by shrapnel from Vasily’s grenade.
The Russian waved the others forward, while Catalina took out the motion sensor. The device made a quick clicking noise as she activated it, white pulses radiating outward on its small LCD screen.
“You detect anything?” Vasily asked quietly.
“Scanning,” Cat replied, circling slowly. She hesitated as she faced the northwest, where they could make out the outline of the hill beyond the farm.
“You hear that?” Jane asked, as she rejoined them. Buzz and James were a step behind her. “The one behind the house is dead,” James confirmed. “I didn’t see any others.”
“Quiet,” Vasily said. They all listened, and all heard what Jane had detected; a high-pitched whirl, a noise that sounded unlike anything that might have belonged in this desolate place. It came from atop the hill.
“Come on,” Vasily said, leading the way.
The hill was only about thirty feet high, its gently-sloping sides covered in thick grass that clung to their pants as they ascended. They saw the alien ship before they reached the summit, a familiar-looking oblong that was shrouded in shadow, its hull absorbing the faint moonlight.
There was a hatch in the rear of the vessel, which was slowly closing.
Vasily cursed in Russian. “Go, go!” He ran for the hatch, the others close behind. Vasily jammed his rifle into the mechanism of the hatch, arresting it half-open. He squeezed into the opening beyond, whipping out the stun rod as he went. Catalina was just a step behind him, her gun at the ready.
The inside of the ship might have been identical to the one they’d boarded in the Rockies mission, down to the complex alien machinery that subdivided the interior space. The two operatives saw what looked like a hint of movement up ahead, but they couldn’t clearly make out the alien.
“I not see—” Vasily began, but he was cut off as the entire ship began to trmble.
“What—” Cat hissed, stumbling against the adjacent wall.
“It taking off!” Vasily said, looking back at James, who was helping Buzz through the hatch. “Stop it taking off!” The Russian ran forward into the front compartment. He and the alien pilot spotted each other in the same instant, but Vasily was faster, stabbing the end of the stun rod into its face. With an electrical hiss, the alien staggered back and collapsed in a limp heat. Vasily gave it another poke for good measure, then started looking around at the controls, which were utterly unfamiliar. Whatever sequence the pilot had indicated continued, for the entire ship began to shake, and bright lights began to shine out of one bank of machines, filling the compartment with a red glow.
Buzz came forward, looked over the control panel. “Can you work the system, shut it down?” James asked. The hacker was already at work, crouching and using a small tool to insert a probe into the alien control panel. He hooked it up to his xPhone, and started tapping at it as the display came to life.
“Buzz, do something, please,” Jane said nervously, as they felt the ship surge under them.
“Um, is this supposed to be doing that?” Catalina asked, pointing to a glittering fluid that was seeping from one of the machines, forming a puddle that began to spread across the floor.
“This can’t be good,” James said.
Catalina hurried behind the machine that was leaking fluid, looking for some sort of mechanism to turn it off. “Whoah,” she said, coming to a niche where a blue crystal, resting in some sort of armored cradle, was starting to shine with a bright glow. She held out her xPhone. “The power readings on this are off the charts,” she said.
“Maybe we’d better leave it alone,” James said.
Sparks flared from a panel on the far side of the ship. A dense and unpleasant fog started to fill the interior of the compartment.
“Buzz!” Vasily shouted.
“I’m working on it,” he said, without looking up.
Giving the crystal a wide berth, Catalina was scanning the controls that ran along a bank of machinery on the left side of the niche. She paused at a prominent lever that was recessed into the panel near the floor. “I think this is a fuel dump,” she said, pointing to the lever. “I can lose the fuel!”
“We’re off the ground!” Jane yelled from the hatchway. “We’re going up!”
“Buzz!” Vasily repeated.
Buzz’s brow was furrowed as he entered commands on his xPhone. Red lights flashed across it. “Damn!”
“Sod it!” Catalina yelled, slamming the lever down.
The vibrations shaking the shift abruptly stopped, and it plummeted down fifteen feet. The impact of striking the hilltop knocked them all off their feet. Jane cried out as her ankle twisted, and Buzz knocked his forehead on the main control panel as he fell, stunning him.
“Everyone all right?” Vasily asked, groaning as his body resisted his commands to get back up.
“Look!” Catalina hissed. They all turned to where the glowing blue crystal had begun to quiver in its nook. As they watched, it crumpled in upon itself, vanishing in a micro-implosion with a faint huffing noise.
“What the hell?” James asked of no one in particular.
“All out, all out,” Vasily said. The five of them made their way out of the ship, which now lay at a slightly crooked angle atop the hillside, the ground crushed under the ship by its sudden descent.
Ken’s voice sounded in their ears. “How are you guys doing?”
Vasily touched his earpiece. “Everything secure. We got the ship.”
“We should do a through search of the area, the house,” Cat suggested.
Vasily nodded. “Ken, we searching perimeter. Looking for survivors, or clues about aliens.”
“Roger that, Alpha. I sent word to base, the salvage crew is en route to your position. Fortunately none of the Ranger’s critical systems were hit by the sectoids, but she’ll definitely need a fresh pain job. I’ll continue to monitor and let you know if we pick up anything on the radar.”
The members of Alpha Team made their way back down the hill, Catalina sweeping with the motion sensor, James supporting Jane with her bruised ankle. Vasily paused and glanced back at the ship, which sat their quiescent, faint wisps of smoke rising from the hatch. It was their third, now. He shook his head, then followed after the others.
Those pics came from NWN? Wow, they look nothing like what I remember from the original NWN. Although I never looked much beyond the first incarnation or at any of the online play.
__________________ It may only be two cents, but at least it's MY two cents.
Yeah, Neverwinter Nights has come a long way since 2002, due in part to the spectacular efforts of the custom content community. There's more info about the module in the first post of this thread, including a link to where it can be downloaded.
* * * * *
Session 6 (May 19, 2008)
Chapter 18
They were tired, dirty, and all around worn when they exited the Skyranger into the cavernous interior of the base’s underground hangar. Crews of technicians and scientists hurried forward to take custody of the alien technology they’d stashed in the aircraft’s storage lockers. Most of it was coming back with the recovery crew, which was also working on securing the alien ship for transit.
They would also be bringing back bodies. They’d found the farm family in their search of the house, a middle-aged couple who’d been killed with plasma bolts at close range.
They were so exhausted that they didn’t even complain about the decontamination sequence, a process which involved steam, radiation, and general unpleasantness for everyone involved.
As they were making their way back into the base proper, they encountered Agent Drake, coming out of the main lift.
“Look what the cat dragged in,” the FBI agent said. “If it isn’t Team Banzai.”
“Agent Drake,” James said.
“So, I heard you captured an alien ship. Impressive. A pity you couldn’t stop the aliens from shooting up a farm family.”
Vasily came forward, and stood in front of her, looming like a silent monolith. But if the American agent was intimidated, she didn’t show it. “Well, I thought I smelled Russian,” she said.
“Funny, I think I smell cow,” Vasily replied. He pushed past her, heading back toward the base quarters. The others followed, but as they made their way through the lounge, they saw Garret waiting for them in the doorway to the briefing room. “Ah, good,” he said, when he saw Vasily. “I know you’re tired, but there’s a few things we need to talk about. Come in, please.”
Alpha Team followed him into the room. Doctor Wagner and Grace were already there, chatting over one of the control consoles. Both turned as the field operatives entered. Behind them, Agent Drake followed. “I hope your team will remember the terms of our agreement, mister Garret,” she said, as the members of Alpha Team took their seats.
“We will honor our agreement, as long as the United States government holds up its end, Agent Drake,” Garret replied. He turned to Alpha. “You got the alien bird. Good work, team.”
“We’ve received a preliminary report from the field salvage team,” Doctor Wagner said. “It had multiple compartments built into the hull. We suspect that the alien ship was a probe vessel of some sort. The compartments, they seemed designed to preserve biological samples.”
“They are really abducting people?” Catalina asked. She didn’t see Jane shudder next to her, or the suddenly intent look that appeared on the other woman’s face.
“Cows, too,” James said. “We found several dead cows on the property, shot by the alien plasma guns.”
“Is exactly what we do, no?” Vasily added.
“I don’t know why they would kill everything, rather than take captives,” Garret said.
“They are alien,” Doctor Wagner said. “Their motives may not make sense to us.”
“Maybe,” Vasily said, frowning.
“Well, you’ve given us an alien power system to study,” Grace said. “Shame about the fuel, though.”
“Sorry, I think it was that or have it blow, with us inside,” Cat said.
“It is clear that they are studying us as intently as we are studying them,” Agent Drake said. “We need to do better.”
“We could, if we weren’t being disarmed, fighting the aliens with one hand tied behind our backs,” Cat shot back.
Drake crossed her arms and stared levelly at Catalina. “You’re not being disarmed, but my superiors believe it is a bad idea for one organization—with limited accountability—having a monopoly on access to alien technology.”
“What are you afraid of?” Vasily interjected. “You think X-COM going to declare war on U.S. or something? Bah!”
“We have to protect our interests, no matter the cost,” Drake shot back. “Don’t think this operation is the only one of its kind.”
Several members of the team leaned forward in their chairs, but Garret interrupted them. “Please, we gain nothing but squabbling,” Garret said, holding out his hands reassuringly. “We are all ultimately on the same side here.”
“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” Catalina said.
Garret ignored her interruption. “And we’ve won a victory here,” he said.
“Victory,” Vasily said, letting out a deep breath. “I have question.”
“Yes, Vasily?” Garret said.
“Any sign of new coordinates like Buzz find in other ship? Any clue?”
“We haven’t had a chance to study their navigational systems yet,” Wagner said. “Buzz, we’d appreciate your help working with the decrypt team, after you recent success in that area.”
“We’ll be looking for your help with all of our ongoing projects,” Garret said. “But that, and the rest of the debriefing, can wait until morning, I think.”
Doctor Sandesh was in one of the research laboratories when Catalina found him. Assuming the lantern smile and her most affable air, she tugged down the neckline of her uniform for good measure and approached him. She placed the motion sensor on the bench in front of him and spoke brightly. Other than a slight twist of his lips when she entered the room, he did not react, looking down at the incomprehensible spread of machine parts covering the expanse of the worktable in front of him.
"Hi Doc, here's the motion sensor. Lucky me got to use it and, double the luck, to come and report to you." She stroked the fingers of one hand over the motion sensor, almost lovingly. "It seems to work wonderfully. We were fired upon as soon as we arrived, so I didn't get to test it as much as I'd have liked to."
A finger twined her own ponytail and the sheepish smile returned. "I probably need more practice to use it properly, and I'd love for you to explain to me how it works sometime, but do you want me to leave it here for now?"
Without looking up, he replies, "Yes, leave it there." Then the Egyptian scientist turned and left her standing there alone, walking into the supply room adjoining the lab.
“Huh,” Catalina says, after a moment.
Interlude: Base Priorities (May 20, 2008)
Quote:
FROM: DR. KIMBERLY WAGNER, X-COM RESEARCH LEAD
TO: MEMBERS, ALPHA TEAM
CC: MICHAEL GARRET, GRACE THELON BELUCA
RE: Research/Manufacturing Priorities
Per your recent suggestions, X-COM has embarked upon new research and manufacturing projects. Research Lab 1 has begun advanced work on the Alien Alloys, while Lab 2 has shifted to focus on Laser Rifles, pending reassignment if we elect to shift priorities in that area. Dr. Sandesh has requested that he be added to the Heavy Weapons Platform project, which has puttered along under minimum staffing levels for some time. He feels that he can add some new perspective to that project, and move the research forward.
The construction of the missile defense battery atop the X-COM base is nearly completed; the battery will be operational by the end of the week. The rest of Chief Engineer Thelon Beluca's team continues work on the Laser Pistols project and reports that they will have a second production model completed by the end of the week.
(May 21, 2008)
Catalina sat in the recreation room, checking to see if her recent emails had left the outbox, when Dr Wagner's arrived. While reading it, Catalina's fingers drummed casually on the arm of her chair. Her head tilted thoughtfully for a moment, then she spoke so that anyone around could hear.
"..until we capture some of the alien power source, research in this area will yield limited results," she quoted. “Does that mean they need the power source to complete the work in the first place, or that any technology gained wouldn't be as it could be if we have some?" She tapped her finger on the later comment about the power source and sighed. "They want some of the fuel I managed to let go I suppose, the stuff that vanished as soon as I pulled that lever?"
She paused again and frowned. "I imagine that I must have lowered whatever magnetic field was holding it, that would make sense. The trouble is, aren't we going to need something that echoes the containment field, even if on a smaller scale, in order to bring some back? It doesn't like like it would fit in one of those poly bag things, but I'm no scientist."
"In which case, I suppose we'd better ask one." Catalina grinned, "Only this time maybe by email." Saying that, she composed a brief email to Dr Wagner on the two topics, using the xPhone, and sent it.
The response came quickly; it seemed that Dr. Wagner was working at her computer.
Quote:
FROM: DR. KIMBERLY WAGNER, X-COM RESEARCH LEAD
TO: CATALINA DE FARRAGO
CC: MEMBERS, ALPHA TEAM
RE: Alien Power Source
Very good questions, Ms. De Farrago. Regarding the alien weapons, our preliminary examinations have indicated that they use a small amount of the alien fuel that has been embedded in some sort of crystalline lattice. Our experiments have indicated that this material is both incredibly powerful and incredibly unstable; we need a supply of the raw fuel before we can understand how they work, and implement the proper safety protocols. Otherwise, an operative is as likely to blow his or her arm off as to blast an alien, through simple ignorance.
As for securing the fuel. Yes, you are right, in that the alien material appears to be contained in a magnetic bubble within the alien ships. The blue crystal you encountered appears to maintain the containment field around the fuel. When you deactivated the engine, the fuel imploded. Dr. Okwelume has theorized that this is a safety mechanism, to prevent an explosion that would destroy the ship. He also believes that the material may be a new element, one that cannot exist naturally within our universe. Be very careful discharging weapons near these magnetic containers!
If possible, try to capture an alien storage unit intact. We are already working on constructing our own storage unit for the clean-up team, which should allow us to transport the alien fuel to X-COM. However, until the material is fully researched, Class 5 safety protocols will be observed in all interactions with the alien material.
The campaign was so much fun to be in and I'm enjoying this as much. It brings back great memories of scenarios in the campaign and I find myself giggling all over again at the remarks made. Plus I just love how the characters are coming to life, even more than I'd imagined possible. I find the interpretation of the characters utter perfection. The one man war-machine that was (is) Vasily, Buzz and that hacking us into a whole mess of trouble, Catalina ... well I'm not going to say anything there!
Great job LB. Just hope you do XCOM2 after this is done!
~ VM
((Alias Catalina De Farrago, MI5 agent and party animal.))
If you ever do decide to give NWN another shot, RR, this module and all the haks needed to run it are on the Neverwinter Vault. Unfortunately, a DM is required (it's not scripted for single-player games).
* * * * *
Interlude: Base Operations (May 25, 2008)
A couple of days after handing in the motion detector, Catalina headed back down to see Doctor Sandesh. This time she adopted a casual smile and approached him at work in one of the machine shops, where he was watching an engineer grinding metal in a lathe. "Hi Doctor, I just popped down to ask a couple of questions about the detector, if I can. We really should know how to optimise its use in the field."
Without waiting for him to say anything, she went on, "Can you tell me what kind of a range you think it will have? I imagine that checking through barriers will have an impact but I wondered how close we'd need to be to pick up anything at all."
Sandesh did not look happy, and for a moment, Catalina thought he’d leave the room again. But after a brief pause, he answered her question. His accent was familiar, Oxford, maybe. “In tests it functioned clearly out to about 30 meters. After that, you start to get... duplicate feedback, ghosts, you would say? Barriers affect its function depending on the density of the material. It can detect through a wood or drywall barrier without difficulty, but a moderately thick layer of metal will block its function.”
"The other thing is, is there some way it will be able to tell what it's sensing? I'm not sure how it works but would we be able to tell the difference between a human and a sectoid? Would the display be any different? If it is then we can test it on one another and try to work out how." She smiled wryly. "That's if you haven't already calibrated it to do so of course."
“Yes, I have already made improvements based on your report. It is all in the technical file. Size calibration is integrated in the production model, if not precisely. It should be able to tell a child—or one of the gray aliens—from a human adult, however.”
The engineer finished his work, handing Sandesh a large, round mechanical assembly that looked like part of a turret. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have some tests to conduct." Without waiting for a reply, he headed back to his lab.
Mission Briefing: May 26, 2008
The briefing is fast and to the point. The members of Alpha Team were still a bit groggy, having been woken from a deep sleep at four in the morning.
Present were Liaison/Director Garret, Doctor Wagner, and Chief Engineer Thelon Beluca. When asked about Doctor White and Ken Yushi, Garret said that they were already prepping the Skyranger. There's no sign of Agent Drake; Catalina whispered a comment about her needing her beauty sleep.
"Okay, here's the situation," Garret said, looking the same as always, like a man who's never needed sleep in his life. "We've got an intervention mission at a research site in Australia. The Aussies are full consortium members, but this place... well, it's pretty 'off the radar'. We know they've been involved in some alien-related research, and they've shared some useful data with us on the alien operations in the Southern Hemisphere, but the Australian government has been reluctant in sharing details about exactly what they're working on at the site. We do know that it's a Class 5 rated biological containment facility; in plain English, that's the sort of place where work on Ebola or smallpox is carried out."
Doctor Wagner picks up the narrative. "There have been three known alien incursions into Australian territory since the start of the alien troubles. Three hours ago, we intercepted a coded burst from the site of the research base, some sort of distress call. All attempts to contact the base or respond to the message have failed. At first, the Australians were reluctant to elaborate about what was happening, but after some... diplomatic pressure, they've agreed that X-COM should be the ones to intervene, given our expertise in this area."
"Ken's prepping the Ranger with drop tanks; this is going to be an extreme-altitude boost, so dress warmly. Even with the tanks, it's going to be a one-way trip; we're already making arrangements for refuel and getting a hazard containment team on site, but they'll be a good six hours behind you. The Australian military has cordoned off the area, but they have orders not to move in unless the situation grows... dire."
"Questions? This is a high-profile mission, and if successful, we might be able to impress our consortium members that X-COM can help out beyond U.S. borders. Get your gear and get ready to boost."
“Everyone get a gas mask from the lockers,” Stan White said. “Word is that this is a potential biohazard site.”
The five members of Alpha Team were strapped into their jump seats in the Skyranger, wrapped in heavy coats over their armored X-COM uniforms. They wore oxygen masks; the Skyranger was taking a high-altitude approach over the globe to Australia, the craft brushing the edge of space as the planet rotated underneath it.
Stan was seated at the computer station nestled into the front of the Skyranger’s passenger compartment. He turned in his seat to face the members of the insertion team. “The message we received wasn’t one hundred percent clear, but this is a secure site, Class 5. Your uniforms are resistant to contagions and airborne agents; try not to get cut through, if you can help it.” He hit a button on his console. “Ken, what’s our ETA?”
The pilot’s voice came over the communications system. “We’re just crossing over New Zealand now. ETA 35 minutes.”
“I have a few of the new medkits,” James said. “If anyone gets a serious wound, this may be able to keep you going.”
“I will stay on board and measure your bio signs and the base outputs from here,” Stan added, turning back to his console. “Try not to get into trouble. The containment team is six hours behind us.”
“Is worrying,” Vasily said. “Aliens not seem any kind of poisonous so far.”
“I don’t know what you could find, we’re just being careful here, Vasily,” Stan said.
“If you see anyone in trouble, Stan, let me know over the com so I can use the medikit,” James said.
“Will do, Doctor Allen.” He nodded to the stun rods, which now had their own rack near the door. “Remember, we still want to try to get another one alive, if we can.”
“Would be interesting to try, yes,” Catalina said, loading her pistol.
“Try not to gun down last survivor in firefight,” Vasily said.
Stan ran through a test of his instruments. “Sensors… check. External detectors… check. X-COM team readouts… check.”
The ship’s engines roared, and it rattled as it shifted to VTOL mode. They were used to the fast descents by now, but it still felt more than a little uneasy to be plummeting almost straight down like a rock toward the ground below.
“Gah, I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to that shaking,” Cat said.
“Cripes, it’s really in the middle of nowhere,” Ken said. After a pause of a few seconds, he added, “The Base is silent and non-responsive to hails. ’m going to put down a few hundred yards outside the security perimeter. Hang on…”
The Skyranger tilted to the side, and after a few more seconds of fast descent, its pace slowed, and the whine of the engines intensified. “And we’re down!” Ken said, as the ship jolted slightly and the engines eased off.
They left the aircraft and entered a landscape that made the area around X-COM headquarters look verdant by comparison. There was a dirt road, but it was so faded that they had to look carefully to distinguish it from the surrounding landscape. They could see the squat form of the base in the distance, maybe a few hundred meters away, so they started in that direction.
They came to a security fence, but its function was somewhat superfluous as the rolling gate stood slightly open. They moved through it carefully in any case, unsure if the perimeter was electrified.
The structure itself was not unlike the one in Nevada; low, massive, recessed into the ground. The hatch in the front looked very thick, and it was slightly open.
“Someone get out?” Vasily asked, his voice someone muted under his gas mask.
“Or in?” Buzz asked. Catalina bent to examine the ground near the hatch. “Nothing,” she said. “Want me to check inside?”
“Let’s go together, Catalina,” Jane said.
“Good idea, best not all of us charge in,” Buzz muttered.
The hatch opened onto a steep set of stairs, almost a ladder, that deposited them in a long chamber with walls of steel plate. It appeared to take up the entirety of the structure, with what looked like an elevator set into the far wall.
The others followed Catalina and Jane down. “Lift. It work?” Vasily asked.
Catalina was already checking the control panel next to the heavy sliding doors. There was nothing as simple as a “down” button, just a numeric keypad. “Looks like it’s coded,” she said.
“Do you hear that?” Jane said. “Sounds like machinery, through the floor. Faint, though.”
Buzz said, “I can hack it, maybe.” At Vasily’s nod, he knelt beside it, looking for a point of access. There were a few screws on one side of the casing. A screwdriver appeared almost magically in his hand, and he started humming to himself as he went to work.
After a minute, he grunted. “I think I got it,” he said, as the steel doors slid open. A small elevator compartment, big enough to fit all five of them comfortably, was behind them. The panel on the inside indicated only one other floor, presumably somewhere below. Vasily waited until they were all clear, then pressed it. The doors slid shut, and after a long moment, the elevator started down. It descended for quite a ways, maybe a hundred feet, before the doors slid open to reveal another dimly lit steel corridor.
Catalina lifted the motion sensor, and did a sweep. Frowning, she looked down at the display. “Nothing. The walls might be too thick.”
Vasily headed forward, the others close behind. The corridor ended at another door, set with a large wheel in the center. Catalina leaned against the door, pressing her ear to the metal.
“Just machinery. Open it?”
Vasily nodded. James shifted his rifle. “Sure,” he said.
“Well, it’s that or turn back,” Buzz said, but Catalina was already turning the wheel. Gears in the door drew back, and the door opened. As she pulled on it, they could see that it was easily four inches thick.
The space beyond looked like a office at first glance, until the floors of steel plate and bare pipes in the ceiling gave it away. Faux wooden paneling had been affixed to the walls, and they could see a number of translucent doors, of glass or plastic, to either side. Another heavy steel door was recessed into the far wall. Three of the five light fixtures were dark, with one flickering, casting an unreal tinge to the scene.
Wary, they moved inside. Papers were scattered around the floor, as if hastily dropped by someone to preoccupied to pick them up. “Uh… that blood?” Buzz asked, pointing to a corner. James headed over to the splotch on the floor.
“Human blood, fresh,” he said.
Vasily pointed at a faint trail of droplets that ran across the room to one of the side doors. Lifting his rifle, he headed in that direction. The glass doors were clouded, so they couldn’t see the room beyond, other than a vague shadow that could have been a desk, or just about anything. After glancing back to make sure the others were ready, he grabbed the catch where the door met the threshold. There was a faint hiss as the door slid open, revealing another office. The dark shadow resolved into a desk, covered with papers, with more spilled onto the floor next to it. But their attention was drawn to the limp form in the corner. The dead man was dressed like a guard, wearing a uniform generic enough to have been either military or private security.
James bent over the dead man. “He’s been dead a while, maybe a day.”
“Did he crawl here, or was he dragged?” Buzz asked.
James was examining his wounds more closely. “Gunshot wounds—doesn’t look like a laser or plasma weapon.”
Catalina sat on the edge of the desk, examining some of the papers. She paged through about a dozen, taking a few and folding them, putting them into the pouch at her belt.
They continued their search. The next room looked like some sort of medical lab, with various equipment and machinery scattered around its perimeter. In its center were a pair of metal tables, on which two corpses had been laid. These two had the look of administrative personnel; after a quick examination, James reported that one had had his neck broken, while the other had been stabbed six times by a sharp, unevenly shaped object.
“What was this place?” Jane asked no one in particular. “What were they doing here?”
“Is no good theorize,” Vasily said. “We move. Do job.”
They went to the last glass door, leaving the steel hatch for now. This one resisted Vasily’s touch at the handle. “Locked,” he said.
Catalina knelt beside it, and pulled out a few small tools. After a few seconds of poking at the mechanism, there was an electronic pop, and the mechanism clicked. The door slid open, revealing a wavering, bloody mess of a man holding a knife, which he used to lunge at the surprised Catalina.
Vasily kicked Catalina hard, knocking her out of the open doorway. The attacker’s knife narrowly missed her, nearly coming out of the man’s hand as it glanced hard off the threshold of the door.
The Russian slammed the butt of his rifle into the man’s face, knocking him roughly back. The man fell back against a table a short distance into the room, and nearly fell.
The rest of the room appeared to be another lab, but it was difficult to make it out clearly, for an unpleasant fog of green smoke hung thick in the air, obscuring their view. But it wasn’t enough to hide a second man who shambled forward. Like the first, he was in terrible shape; gory wounds covered his body, and a chunk of flesh the size of a deck of cards hung from a terrible gash along his jaw. He carried a metal wrench the size of a club, which he lifted as he approached.
“What the hell are they!” Catalina yelled, as Jane helped her to her feet.
“Humans?” James asked.
“Move!” Vasily yelled, thrusting them back behind them, away from the two men and the gas that was starting to swirl out through the open door. “MOVE!”
The first man had recovered, and started forward again, his knife still ready in his hand. Vasily lifted his rifle, and fired a burst into his chest. The bullets drove him back, and again he nearly fell, propped up tentatively against the desk. But he did not go down.
The second man reached the doorway, and now Vasily wasn’t the only one firing. A dozen bullets and streams of coherent light from the laser pistols that Jane and Buzz carried smashed into him, turning his face into a gory mess of crimson. Even as he crumpled, the one Vasily had shot started forward again, stepping clumsily over his fallen companion, the knife twitching in his hand. Vasily grunted and slammed a fresh clip into his rifle, but before he could shoot again, Catalina stepped forward and leveled her pistol squarely at the center of the man’s head. The gun barked, and the back of his head shot out over the wall next to the door. That finally seemed to be enough for him, and he collapsed in a messy heap.
“That… that was freaking creepy,” Buzz said, while James bent to examine the bodies.
“Careful, doctor,” Jane said.
Vasily grunted as he kicked the wreckage of the dead man in the doorway out of the way, then pushed the door shut again. It sealed with a click.
“Hope we don’t need to get in there again,” Jane said.
“I did not see other door,” Vasily said. He touched his finger to his earpiece, trying to raise the Skyranger above. “Static,” he said. “No contact.”
“We’re pretty far down,” Jane said.
“Are we safe here?” Buzz asked. “I mean if those guys… whatever did that to them, what if it gets us?”
“Hopefully our suits and masks are protecting us,” James said, as he straightened from examining the nearer of the two bodies. “And if not, we’ve already been exposed.”
Giving the body of the man she’d shot a wide berth, Catalina listened at the steel door that was the only unexplored route left to them. She put a finger to her lips. “Someone’s there, I think,” she said after a moment.
They set up a perimeter around the door. Once they were ready, Vasily nodded to Catalina, who operated the door mechanism and pulled it open.
The response was immediate, as a half-dozen shambling forms, men in just as bad shape as the ones they’d put down earlier, staggered through the open door. They were clad in varied outfits, two in workman’s coveralls, to a pair dressed in lab coats, and finally another soldier, his rifle dangling uselessly from a long strap. All of them bore obvious wounds, and one of the workmen had his head bent at a nasty angle, as if his neck had been broken. They charged into the barrage of fire from Alpha Team, crumpling from hits that would have killed most men immediately, only to struggle to get back up.
“Go for the heads!” Catalina yelled, as she fell back to reload.
Buzz paused to adjust the settings on the laser pistol. He didn’t even see the soldier who broke free of the pack and stepped toward him, ignoring the bullets that slammed into his torso, or the bright streak of energy from Jane’s pistol that tore a long black gouge along the side of his skull.
“Buzz! Move!” Vasily shouted.
Buzz looked up just in time to take a solid smack across the face. He fell, his gun clattering from his hand, but tethered to him via the pistol’s power cable. The soldier nearly fell onto him, but James drove him back with a blow from his rifle, and both he and Vasily pumped rounds into his head until he stopped moving. The others were tangled up around the doorway, blasted into almost unrecognizable mounds of flesh.
“What is wrong with you!” James yelled, helping Buzz to his feet. The hacker’s mask had been knocked ajar by the force of the blow, and a purplish bruise was already forming on the side of his head. “Anything moving that slow, just move back while the rest of us fire away.”
After carefully scanning the area beyond the door, Vasily stepped over the dead men into the room beyond. They found themselves in another laboratory, this one with medical diagrams affixed to the walls, showing details of human anatomy. There were more papers on the desks and scattered across the floor. Catalina picked up few sheets, and started scanning them. James used his xPhone to take pictures.
Catalina paused with an open folio that she pulled open. “Project Lazarus,” she said, drawing the attention of the others.
“Laz-a-rus,” Vasily said.
“Name mentioned a few times in these documents,” she said. “I’m not religious, but didn’t he get up and walk after dying?”
“That’s...” James began, but he trailed off, leaving it unsaid.
“Definitely a bad moniker with walking dead guys about,” Buzz said. He’d found a laptop computer in one of the desks, and was trying to get it working.
“X-COM been studying aliens for medical research,” Vasily said. “Maybe we not only ones.”
“I wonder if these guys got hold of some of the alien medical stuff and made a bollocks of it?” Cat asked.
“Huh,” Buzz said, looking at the computer. “Hey, gang!” he said. “It appears that there is something going on here.”
“Biggest understatement of the year,” Jane said.
“You want to be more specific?” James said.
“Don’t tell me, some major medical project?” Catalina said.
“They were definitely working on aliens here,” Buzz said. “It looks like they brought in three sectoids, held them for research… Anyway, there’s a log file here… it seems that the seals on the containment unit were opened recently from a remote location.”
“So the aliens escaped because someone from the outside took over the computer?” James asked.
“Bit odd, don’t you think?” Buzz replied.
“We need more answers,” Vasily said, his voice grim.
Interlude: Mission Aftermath and Base Priorities (May 27, 2008)
Project Lazarus.
When Alpha Team finally emerged from the Australian facility, there were still two hours to kill before the containment team and refueling tanker were scheduled to arrive. They spent most of that time in the decontamination unit erected by Stan White in the rear of the Skyranger. Buzz spent the rest of the time, and most of the nine-hour flight back to base, jacked into the computer, working on the Australian base logs. Most of them were damaged or encrypted, but by the time they returned to Nevada, he’d reconstructed a pretty good overview of what was going on at the base.
Project Lazarus was a project being conducted by a team of scientists, headed by the brilliant cell geneticist Doctor Ernst Lieber. The Australians captured a team of sectoid scouts during an early alien incursion, and brought them to an old World War II-era storage facility that had been converted into a nuclear research site in the waning days of the Cold War. The Project Lazarus scientists, in their work on the captive sectoids, discovered the remarkable regenerative powers of the alien species, and the similarities between alien and human DNA. Lieber believed that the alien biology could be used to give humans the ability to regrow damaged organs, and possibly even to reverse the progress of natural aging.
The project began modestly, with several key discoveries about the alien physiology. However, human applications proved elusive. Some of the scientists recommended sharing their information with other researchers, including the newly-established X-COM. However, a disturbing incident where a technician was caught trying to leave the base with a sample hidden in his boot led to a security crackdown. Recognizing the deadly potential of the research, Lieber began to institute more and more draconian security measures. The technician, held as a prisoner, was "volunteered" to serve as the first human test subject of the project. Using some alien technology taken from the captured alien ship, the scientists started growing a hybrid clone based on a sheep embryo, injecting it with alien and human DNA. The hybrid creature thus created was never intended to live, and in fact lacked any higher brain functions whatsoever. The researchers intended to induce the clone to produce hormones that could stimulate latent regenerative properties in human cells.
It was not clear from the records what went wrong. There were reports of scientists growing ill, and hints that there might have been some sort of security breach in the latter days of the project. Lieber's reports became less frequent, and some of the other scientists commented in e-mails that he was becoming more and more erratic in his behavior. The technician test subject sickened and died, and there was a brief fragment of a report, the words on the screen dripping panic, about the "dead man" breaking out of the morgue and attacking two guards, strangling one with his own rifle strap before he was literally shot to pieces.
The last days of the base existed only in fragments of damaged files. Apparently some of the researchers tried to escape, only to be foiled by Lieber's lockdown protocols. Eventually one of the last surviving scientists managed to hack into a minor system, using it to get a message out into the communications array. The bypassing of the security protocols is what allowed X-COM to intercept the message.
That’s where Alpha Team came into the picture.
* * *
Quote:
FROM: DR. KIMBERLY WAGNER, X-COM RESEARCH LEAD
TO: MEMBERS, ALPHA TEAM
CC: MICHAEL GARRET, GRACE THELON BELUCA
RE: New Research/Manufacturing Priorities
Research Lab 1 reports that work on the Alien Alloys is nearing completion. Lab 2 is continuing its work on Laser Rifles.
Chief Engineer Grace Thelon Beluca's team has begun construction of a new workshop in the East Wing of the base. Director Garret reports that he has used the influx of new funds from the captured alien weapons (per our agreement with the U.S. Government) to pay for the added infrastructure in the East wing, including a new barracks that will allow us to grow our staff as new facilities become available. However, this will result in some belt-tightening, as the X-COM budget is being strained by current geopolitical issues beyond our control.
The training exercise had involved a lot of sweat, hiking over the nearby mountains under the hot Nevada sun. The members of Alpha Team returned to their base tired and eager to get cleaned up, but as they made their way through the lounge they encountered three men clad in X-COM uniforms. One was familiar; Jürgen Ritter nodded to them as they entered. One of the others was a tall, good-looking man with Spanish features and deeply tanned skin, while the last was a veritable giant of a man, a huge blond whose uniform looked to be straining a bit around his thick biceps. “Well now. What do we have here?” the tan one asked. He poked the big man with an elbow. “Hey, Sveinn, they don’t look so tough, eh?”
“Not so big, anyway,” the giant rumbled. He had a thick accent, something Nordic.
Vasily blinked. “We help you?”
“We’re Model B, new and improved,” the tanned fellow said with a smirk.
“Ah, hey there, guys,” Jürgen said. He made the introductions, identifying the tanned soldier as Eleazar Perez, the big Nord as Sveinn Ögmundsson. “We’re the second unit, apparently. Beta Team.”
“Second letter in the alphabet,” Catalina noted.
“Congratulations,” James said. “You’re all in for a treat.”
Eleazar saw Vasily looking up at Sveinn. “They grow ‘em big up in Iceland,” he laughed.
“Ha,” Sveinn said. “They need big man. I help.” He made a cracking noise with his fingers that sounded a little bit like bones snapping.
“So,” Eleazar said. “I hear that you guys are keeping a hundred Chinese workers busy at a bandage factory in Shanghai.”
“Yeah, I’m surprised we’re all still alive,” James said.
Catalina looked Sveinn up and down. Her eyes lingered on the pistol strapped to his hip. “Gosh, he has a big… weapon,” she said.
“Har, you like big guns?”
Cat smiled and waggled her eyebrows. “Me like,” she said.
“We’re here to show you old timers how it’s done,” Eleazar was saying.
“We’re supposed to get berths in the East Wing,” Jürgen said. “I’ve been off-base for a few weeks, they’ve done a lot of changes since then.”
Vasily jerked his thumb at the east door. “New barracks, down by firing range,” he said.
“Much obliged,” Eleazar said, facing Vasily. The two men looked at each other, neither flinching from the hard stares.
“Ah, have you seen two women?” Jürgen asked. “One African, the other… well, she was on American television, you might have seen her. At least, that’s all she told me. Seemed to think I should have known who she was…”
“Oh, what’s her name?” James asked.
“Alyssa.”
“Alyssa Milano?”
“No, not that one. She was on that show, where the people try not to get booted off? They do athletics, and the like?”
“So now we’re hiring actors?” James asked.
“I guess she was a soldier before. At least, she knew how to handle a gun.”
“Have you all met Agent Drake yet?” Buzz asked.
Eleazar shrugged. “All I met was some creepy guy in a suit and dark glasses. And some giant robots with attitude.”
“Ha, big metal man, he smash up good. Real good,” Sveinn said.
“Didn’t he just?” Catalina said with a laugh.
“Anyway, I guess you guys need to take a shower or something,” Eleazar said with a laugh. “Come on lads, let’s go find our bunks. Nice meeting you, Alpha. You see the ladies, send them our way. I’m sure they’ll ask about me.” With a grin, he led Sveinn into the corridor that led to the East Wing.
Jürgen lingered a moment. “Don’t mind them. Perez is okay, and Sveinn isn’t as dumb as he looks, or sounds.”
“No problem,” James said. “I think you need an attitude to handle the pressure. Good luck with the new squad.”
Their communicators buzzed quietly, and Director Garret’s voice came over their earpieces. “Alpha, I know you’ve put in a long day, but we have a few matters that require attention. Please report to Briefing Room 1 in five minutes.”
“Gah, I need a shower,” Catalina said, pushing past the others, who were quick to follow.
The mood in the briefing room was serious, and there was a clear tension between the members of Alpha Team on one side of the long conference room table, and Agent Drake, who sat alone near Garret’s spot at the head of the table, with two empty spaces between her and the X-COM department heads. The initial reports were delivered perfunctorily, with Kim and Grace giving updates on the base’s ongoing research and manufacturing programs. The base was growing, with plans for new labs and workshops to expand capacity, while Stan talked about creating a new medical bay separate from the research facilities.
“We can only do so much with our current resources,” Garret said. “Whatever we work on, something will inevitably be a low priority. We have to trust in our decisions.”
“Organizational funds are tight,” Kim said.
“As I recall, the United States government has been very generous of late,” Agent Drake said.
“Bought with alien tech,” Buzz muttered.
“Yes, and we’re very appreciative, Agent Drake,” Garret said.
Catalina leaned forward. “I thought we had a whole global coalition behind us? I am sure that if you inform the partners fully of what is being developed here, the funds will be there.”
“Well, we’ve had some problems there, Agent De Farrago.”
“Oh? What, may I ask?”
“The global political picture is complicated. China is still being cagey with our allocation. They’re now behind on two monthly payments. They haven’t left the consortium, but they are being stubborn.”
“Maybe they’re concerned that the United States is using X-COM to increase their own arsenal,” Catalina suggested.
“We’ve also had reductions from India and Russia,” Garret continued. “They feel that X-COM is not doing enough in Asia.”
“They should be grateful that we’re the only ones who are actually doing anything,” Drake said.
“What they want us to do,” Vasily asked “Get on bike, ride over? They need better radar men.”
“Maybe if we could help out there?” Jane asked. “Not like our Australia mission could be considered a riveting success story.”
“We are working with our partners,” Garret said. “Our negotiations with the EU have proven fruitful. We've signed an agreement to allow us to establish a second X-COM base in France.”
“Pfft,” Catalina said.
“Base in France, huh,” Vasily said. “Beta Team live there?”
“We’re still working on assignments. Once Beta is finished, they may be redeployed. For now, they will be your backup.”
“We’ll have another Skyranger entering service shortly,” Grace said. “Might save you some work.”
‘Yeah, maybe get a regular night’s sleep now and again,” Stan added.
“Will the big one fit in it?” Catalina asked.
Grace laughed. “Yeah, definitely going to have to put in a few boosters for him.”
“The down side is that these initiatives have strained our budget,” Garret said. “For the moment, we’re going to put some austerity measures into place here.”
“What?” Catalina asked.
“No more movie DVDs?” James added.
“Break out the Costco cards,” Drake said.
“We’re going to put everything we can into the field teams, of course. You will get first priority on all resources.”
“We not want weaken base security!” Vasily said.
“No, Vasily, we’re not going to stint on our defenses either. I am talking about non-essential supplies, limits on non-core research and manufacturing priorites, and cutbacks on extra gear.”
“The United States government will continue to pay for any alien technology that you recover, of course,” Drake said. “So think of that as an incentive program.”
“I’m sure they will,” Catalina said.
“On another topic,” Garret said, “I’ve read your reports on the Australia mission. You did a good job under tough circumstances. Doctor White?”
Stan looked up from his notes. “I was saying earlier, that the data they had on the aliens was… remarkable.”
“Didn’t help them much,” Catalina pointed out.
“I was thinking,” Stan continued, “working with Doctor Wagner's team. That if we researched our Sectoid prisoners, I might be able to develop a scanner that reads alien brain waves.”
Vasily blinked. “And… what that do?”
Drake, however, snorted. “Brain waves? That’s beyond science fiction, now you’re talking fantasy, Doctor.”
“I know it sounds crazy,” Stan persisted, “but it might help us to identify aliens we encounter, or their ships.”
“We are working on plans for a device that we are calling a ‘Hyperwave Decoder,’” Kim said. “We will keep you posted on our results.”
“Are you suggesting adding it to the handheld scanners?” Catalina asked.
“I think we might be able to do better, Miss De Farrago,” Stan replied, “and integrate the tech into the new battle suits.”
“Great,” Grace said. “More feature creep. You’re killing me Stan, you know that?”
There were a few tentative smiles around the table, but they died quickly as an indicator flashed brightly on the main command console. Kim was there in a flash, opening the communications channel. The face of one of the communications technicians appeared on the screen. “Report,” she said.
“We’ve just gotten a feed that you’ll want to see, Doctor Wagner,” the technician said. “On channel one.”
Kim flicked a switch, and a moving cityscape appeared. The video looked like it was being shot from a helicopter, and the text in the corner indicated that the city shown was Phoenix. Multiple streams of smoke rose from the streets below.
“ALIEN ATTACK IN PROGRESS,” appeared across the bottom of the screen in bright yellow letters.
“Oh, my god,” Grace said.
“This is Caroline Thompson of KNXV-15,” a woman’s voice came over the speaker. “What you’re seeing is the site of the alien attack in south Phoenix, where a little more than ten minutes ago, an alien ship descended from the sky and started dropping pods along several streets… We’re getting confirmation of aliens on the ground, but we’re…”
The visual suddenly shifted hard, as if the helicopter had banked suddenly. The announcer’s voice grew more flustered. “What is it, John? Are you under attack? We…” There was a pause of about five seconds, as the video was replaced with a studio scene, the newscaster sitting at a desk with a look of barely-contained panic on her face. “We’re getting word that the military has ordered all air traffic out of the area. We’ll keep you appraised as the situation develops…”
Agent Drake had shot out of her chair, and retreated into a corner of the room, speaking into a cellular phone she’d whipped off her belt.
Kim muted the audio, and looked down at the secondary screens on the console, which were now filling with data. “It appears that local authorities are surrounding the are. The United States military is responding.”
““Why didn’t we have any warning of this attack?” Catalina asked.
“I don’t know,” Garret said. “Kim, get Ranger 1 prepped.”
“Already working on it, Director,” she said, tapping buttons on her screen.
“It’s going to be hard for the government to deny this,” Jane said. “Phoenix is the fifth-largest city in the country.”
“Change in alien tactics,” Vasily said. “I not like this.”
“We’ll worry about that later,” Garret said. “Get suited up, and into Ranger 1. We’ll work out the jurisdictional aspects while you’re en route.” He glanced over at Drake, who was talking quietly rapid-fire into the receiver of her phone.
“This one could get bloody,” Stan said. No one offered any disagreement.
Alien Terror site or something like that right? Those were nasty before everyone had laser weapons or better. Really looking forward to reading what happens next, although I imagine that will be some massive write ups over the next week or two.
__________________ It may only be two cents, but at least it's MY two cents.
I remember playing X-COM, walking my first squaddie down the Skyranger ramp to see a chryssalid standing just a few squares away. Alien terror indeed.
* * * * *
Session 8 (June 2, 2008)
Chapter 22
The Skyranger’s engines roared as Ken shifted the craft from horizontal to vertical flight. “Approaching the target area,” the pilot’s voice came over their communicators.
“I still say we should have come down outside the security cordon,” James said.
“Time is of the essence,” Catalina said. “And this saves us having to work out the jurisdictional aspects with the local constabulary.”
“Don’t forget our orders, we’re to minimize civilian casualties,” Jane said, checking again to make sure that the cord connecting her laser pistol to the power unit in the small of her back was secure.
The engines gave that change of pitch that announced that they were about to touch down. “I’m reading gunfire on the external pickups,” Ken said. “Could be alien energy weapons fire as well, I’m not certain.”
“This just get better and better,” Vasily said. He was up seconds after the jolt indicated that they’d landed, and he was beside the hatch as it crept open.
The street looked like any business or industrial district in any American city, with perhaps a touch of distinctiveness from the Southwestern style evident in the trim on the buildings and the decorative motifs evident in the street signs and business names. The two-land street was fairly narrow, although the Skyranger had plenty of room to land astride the double yellow line running down its center. It was hot, the dry, penetrating heat common to Phoenix for most of the year. There was a helicopter in the street about half a block ahead, surrounded by the limp forms of what had to be bodies, but the street was otherwise devoid of both vehicles and people.
Scanning the street, Vasily waited until the entire squad had cleared the Skyranger, then he gestured them forward toward the copter. Once they were clear, the X-COM craft rose up into the air to take up an overwatch position; it was still too vulnerable to ground fire to risk here in the open. They hadn’t gotten more than twenty paces, however, when a man appeared from further down the road ahead, running toward them.
“Help! Help!” he yelled.
Catalina had been glancing down at the motion sensor, but she looked up as the man drew nearer. None of them saw the hovering disk until a sizzling bolt of plasma energy blasted from a recessed driveway beyond the helicopter, striking the man in the side. He screamed once and collapsed.
“More of them!” Catalina yelled, taking cover in a doorway. Another plasma bolt followed her, blasting out a head-sized chunk of masonry. The second cyberdisk drifted down from a rooftop, sending out more blasts as it came.
“Cat! Get back!” Vasily yelled, as the doorway concealing Catalina dissolved into a fog of pulverized concrete. Jane and James had taken cover on the far side of the street behind a stone planter box, and they’d opened up, but their initial shots either missed or glanced harmlessly off the alien drones. Vasily headed toward Catalina’s position, firing controlled bursts from his rifle as he went.
A high-pitched whine sounded from the nearer disk as Buzz drew a bright white line across its upper half with his laser pistol. It shifted toward him, but Jane pounded it with a direct hit with her laser a moment later, and it flipped over, exploding before it hit the ground. Debris rained down all around them, peppering the entire street and the surrounding buildings in a wide radius.
Catalina appeared out of the ruins of the doorway, coughing as she emerged from the eddying cloud of debris. Vasily grabbed her arm and drew her back with him further down the street, where an alleyway between two storefronts offered better cover.
Behind him the second cyberdisk appeared through the cloud of smoke rising from the wreckage of the first. Jane and James fired at it, but their shots missed. “Vasily, look out!” Jane yelled.
The Russian turned, but he couldn’t do anything to avoid the plasma bolt that caught him the chest, knocking him back off his feet, landing hard in the gutter of the street.
Linear Mode
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