X-COM (updated M-W-F)

[Innocent Bystander]

Awesome updates LB. I'm going to miss them when you're done, which looks like you're getting very close.

 

[Lazybones]

Two missions left.

I've published my novel Of Spells and Demons as an e-book at Smashwords.com. The novel is in the same setting as my earlier novella, The Labyrinth. The novel is two dollars, and you can read up to 50% of it as a free sample. The book is available at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/22151.

* * * * *

Session 27 (November 3, 2008)
Chapter 118


The Alphas arrived at Briefing Room 1 as a group, and once again found the department heads waiting for them. James Allen was the last to arrive; he’d only just been released from sick bay that morning, and he still looked a bit tired, his shoulder still in a protective sheath in the aftermath of his surgery. Stan White had cleared him for duty, however, and he nodded at Garret as he came in and closed the door behind him. Agent Drake sat with her jaw clenched, looking down at her lap.

“We have a mission for you,” Garret said, as the team members took their seats.
“Doctor Wagner?”

The German scientist brought up a schematic on the big screen that was already familiar to them. “The Avenger craft has passed flight tests and is en route. It should be here within a few hours.”

“Man, I can’t wait to get my hands on that baby,” Ken Yushi said, smiling.

“That is good news,” Catalina said.

Wagner pursed her lips. “However, we have a serious problem. Our Elerium-115 supplies have dropped to a dangerously low amount.”

Grace looked down at the datapad on the table in front of her. “We have enough to power our reactor, and maintain basic operations, but not even close to enough to get to Mars and back.”

“So we need to go on a smash and grab?” Catalina asked.

“The problem,” Garret interjected, “Is that alien activity on Earth has dropped to almost nil in recent weeks. No ships, not even the little scouts.”

“Makes you wonder what they are waiting for,” Catalina said.

“It would appear that they’ve drawn back in anticipation of that big new ship they’re building,” Joan Beauvais suggested.

“Maybe they just starving us on purpose,” Vasily said.

“Based on the information gleaned from the alien base commander,” Garret told them, “Our best estimate is that the aliens will have their new battle fleet ready in a matter of weeks.”

“So where do we get the Elerium?” James asked.

“So glad you asked,” Wagner said. She tapped keys on her console, and an image popped up, a little grainy. It showed a pair of mutons and two humans in armor and masks, in front of a stone wall. The edge of the picture showed some sort of conveyance, apparently floating over the ground. They could just make out a pair of glowing blue crystals mounted on the bed of the lift-truck.

Wagner said, “This image was taken a few days ago, in southern France.”

“This is some sort of storage facility?” Catalina asked.

“Bank and Trust of Elerium Deposits of Alien Express?” Jane added.

“It’s at the site of an old castle in the Alps,” Wagner continued. “Apparently it’s been… refurbished.”

“We know that the aliens have been working with their human clients, mostly in France and China,” Garret said.

“Gotta feed the allies,” Hadrian noted.

“Cheese-eating surrender monkeys,” James said. Joan turned a bit crimson, and looked away, while Vasily shook his head.

“Our best guess is that the aliens are establishing a stockpile of fuel for use once their fleet arrives,” Grace said. “The stuff is hard to transport, and larger quantities become unstable, require progressively greater shielding. I imagine that they wouldn’t want to load up their big ships with too much of it.”

Mary raised her hand. “Yes, Mary?” Garret asked.

“How do we know this isn’t a trap, like Australia?”

“That’s a good question,” Garret said.

“The Alps are beautiful this time of year, so we’d lose nothing for paying a visit,” Catalina said.

Wagner glanced at Drake for a moment. “We have reason to believe that this source is a good one.” Drake looked up, and for a moment seemed about to speak, but then tightened her jaw and looked back down at the table.

“The source is someone… with whom you’ve had dealings in the past,” Garret said.

“Your sister?” Jane said, looking across at Drake.

Drake looked up at her in surprise. “You knew about this?”

“I guessed.”

“Wonderful,” Hadrian said.

“We all remember her,” Catalina said.

“Look,” Garret said. “Just because she’s not with a government doesn’t mean that she’s not trustworthy. Her… organization has given us good data in the past.”

“Who is this woman?” Mary asked.

Drake abruptly stood up. “If you’ll excuse me, Director Garret,” she said, and turned and walked out of the room before anyone could react. Garret looked after her and shook his head before turning back to the Alphas.

“Vala knight works for a consortium of business interests that initially formed to exploit the new opportunities presented by the alien contact. Once it became clear that the aliens’ interests were more… comprehensive, they shifted their efforts to learning more about the alien threat.”

“And now are good guys?” Catalina asked, rolling her eyes.

“What’s the name of the organization?” Jane asked. “We have a right to know that, at least.”

“Let me guess,” James said. “CHAOS?”

“Nothing so prosaic,” Garret replied. “Their official name is Global Earth Enterprises.”

“Some have suggested they are even older,” Joan added.

“Augh, not this business again, doctor Beauvais,” Wagner said.

Catalina glanced between the two women. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

“Older?” James asked. “Like the Freemasons, that kind of older?”

“Can we focus on the matter at hand?” Garret said, cutting them all off. “Grace? The new unit?”

Reaching under the table, Grace hefted a bulky cylindrical contraption and put it on the table, straining to do so. “This is one of our latest creations,” she said, as the others leaned forward to get a better look. “We call it the Portable Elerium Containment Unit. It’s heavy, but the Elerium itself is virtually weightless.”

“Oh, so you got that to work?” Catalina said. “Neat.”

“Kind of… small,” Vasily said. “How many of those crystals we going to fit in one?”

“One for sure,” Grace said. “Maybe two. We’re still working on some of the software for the containment matrix.” She dragged the thing back; by the effort she put into it, it looked to weigh about fifty pounds.

“There are three of them in the secure lab,” Wagner said. “Right, this is just the prototype,” Grace added.

“Okay,” Garret said. “The mission. Kim?”

Wagner brought up a new set of schematics. “The castle itself dates back to the early Renaissance, but it’s been rebuilt twice, and expanded. We have determined a landing spot in the nearby mountains. If our research is correct, Ken can bring the Lightning in from Switzerland undetected.”

“Flying in mountains is easy,” Ken said. “If you’re as good as me.”

“Take it up the Mont Blanc Tunnel,” Catalina said, with a grin at Ken.

“There is a major military installation about sixty kilometers away. This will be a stealth mission. Get in, grab the Elerium, get out.”

“As stealth as we get, anyway,” Vasily said.

“How is the site defended?” James asked.

Wagner brought the surveillance photo back up. “Looks like armored commandos and mutons, at least,” she said.

“Great, mutons again,” James replied.

“Expect the human forces to be using alien tech,” Grace said.

“We’ve got the mission set up for an early morning insertion,” Garret said. “You have four hours until takeoff; I’d recommend using that time to get ready. Any more questions?” After meeting the eyes of each of them in turn, he said, “All right. Good luck, Alpha.”

 

[Richard Rawen]

Two missions left.

I've published my novel Of Spells and Demons as an e-book at Smashwords.com. The novel is in the same setting as my earlier novella, The Labyrinth. The novel is two dollars, and you can read up to 50% of it as a free sample. The book is available at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/22151.

MINE!
And yes, I bought enough to share

as to the Alphas... sooooo ambushed

 

[Lazybones]

MINE!
And yes, I bought enough to share

Thanks for the purchases, Richard! I appreciate it.

* * * * *

Session 27 (November 3, 2008)
Chapter 119


“We’re coming up on our final approach,” Ken reported. “Down in five minutes. LZ looks clean, and I haven’t picked up any radar pings.”

The Alphas stood in a row, ready for deployment, hanging onto the straps that descended from the roof of the compartment. They’d already had quite a ride, as Ken had taken the Lightning in low from Switzerland, darting the ship nimbly back and forth through the high peaks and tight canyons of the Alps.

Vasily shifted as the aircraft banked hard, and nearly knocked James down. “Hey, watch it, chief,” the doctor said.

Vasily muttered something and righted himself. In the new experimental armor, with two of the portable Elerium containment unit fixed to his back, he looked like some sort of bulky insect. But with his strength augmented by the boost systems in the armor, he was the one best able to deal with the heavy cylinders. Hadrian carried the third one, riding above the bulge in his back that carried his suit’s power systems.

The Lightning’s momentum shifted as Ken engaged the VTOL systems, and within thirty seconds they felt the craft’s landing struts touch down. The rear hatch opened, and they filed out to find themselves in a rocky meadow sandwiched between two dark, tall peaks. The Alphas exited and spread out as Ken launched the Lightning back into the air; he would await their signal from a more secure location deeper in the mountains.

Mary walked over to the edge of the meadow, where a cluster of stone buildings could be seen in a dell situated down a sharp slope about a half-kilometer below them. “What lovely country,” she said.

“Mary, you should stay behind the front line,” Hadrian told her.

“I just wanted to look around.”

“This is not a tour,” the Marine said. Activating the magnifier in his VDU, he scanned the area below.

“Cliffs too steep, need to go around,” Catalina said, indicating a path that appeared to lead down into the village below.

Vasily looked down into the dell, which appeared to be deserted. There was no sign of occupancy, no vehicles, no power signatures strong enough to show up on their sensors. He nodded for Catalina to investigate, while he gestured for the others to move into positions where they could monitor without being seen from below.

Catalina made her way slowly down the trail, keeping to cover as much as possible. She reached the dell without incident, and was able to move faster as the path leveled out, and she approached the nearest of the buildings. They looked old and neglected, but their windows and doors were all intact.

She was still about fifty meters off when a voice interrupted her. “Hsst! Hold up!” She turned to see Vala Night emerge from a position of concealment among the rocks. The agent was clad in a dark body suit that was bulky enough to conceal armor or any manner of equipment under it. Her bright red hair was tied up under a beret that tilted at a rakish angle across her brow. “I have to admit, you’re good, Agent DeFarrago,” she said. “I almost didn’t see you.” She gestured toward the buildings. “The entire village is rigged. We’re safe here, but we shouldn’t linger.”

Catalina waved up to the others. They’d agreed to keep radio silence as much as possible, even with the tightband units their suits used. It took about ten minutes for the others to make their way down.

“Hello, I’m Mary,” Mary said.

“Charmed,” Vala said, already turning toward a faint path that they could just see rising out of the dell. “Watch your step,” she said. “They’ve put in sonic mines all over the approaches. There’s one right there, can you see it.”

Vasily turned up his visual scanners, and did see the faint telltale, an almost imperceptible energy signature. Without having it pointed out, he suspected he never would have seen it until he’d stepped close enough to activate its proximity sensor.

“Wonderful,” Hadrian said.

“They seem to be relying more on sensors and remotes rather than patrols,” Vala told them, “But that could change.”

“Can you mark their locations?” Jane asked.

“That would save us time and bother,” Hadrian said.

“Believe me, I’ve tried,” Vala said. “For every one I see… well, let’s just say we should all be very, very careful. I believe I’ve found a way through the mountains that can bring us up onto the castle undetected. This way. And no noise if you can help it. Put your phones on ‘vibrate’.”

“Lead on,” Hadrian said.

She led them up the trail, which grew rougher as they left the abandoned village behind them. They ascended to a ridge that they quickly passed along to another path that led to a wooded vale below. Vala paused there. “This is an old game trail,” she told them. “Who knows what sort of games one might find around here, eh, Kasprjak?”

“I defer to your experience,” the Russian said.

“This looks like the easiest route,” she continued, indicating the trail. “But there are motion sensors all along the base of this ridge. There’s another way, not quite as easy. But it might be less trouble.”

“At X-COM, we all about the hard way,” Vasily commented.

“Glad I’m not afraid of heights,” James commented. The path that Vala had led them to ran along the edge of a cliff, with a nearly-sheer mountain to one side and a fifty-meter drop to the other. The agent was in the lead, moving with perfect balance along the ledge, which ranged from two meters across to as little as half that in a few places. Vasily and Hadrian had the hardest time, their bulky suits and the heavy burdens they carried throwing off their center of gravity enough to make negotiating tight spaces a dicey business. But they all made it across safely, and soon they were making their way back down into the vale they’d seen earlier. There was no path here, not even a hint of a trail, but they were able to make it to a jutting outcrop that overlooked a straight drop of maybe twenty meters to the valley floor below. To their left there was a cleft that seemed to offer a more navigable route down, but Vala shook her head as Hadrian took a look in that direction.

“Motion sensor down there,” she said. “Scouted it earlier. No way to get close enough without setting it off.”

Catalina took a rope from one of the compartments built into her armor. “Ah, good,” Vala said. “I was worried about our ankles there for a moment. Here. Tie it to the rock, or to the Russian, and lower me down.”

Catalina secured the end of the rope, rigging it to facilitate a quick abseil down the line. Vala slipped over the edge and shimmied down the rope without apparent effort.

Jane followed Vala down with equal ease. Hadrian followed, but Mary hesitated at the rope. “Come on, Vas, you could carry Mary down.”

“I can make it,” the Indian doctor said. “I passed physical training, like everyone else.”

Catalina handed her the line. “Look, just pass it around behind your backside and wrap it around your arm for control.”

Mary dropped down and slid awkwardly down the line. She was going fast when she landed, but Hadrian and Jane were there to catch her and help her down.

“Is like I say,” Vasily said, taking the rope. “We all about the hard way.”

Catalina was the last to go, and she shifted the rigging of the rope to allow her to unravel it with a sharp tug once she was down. But as she started down, she slipped on the edge. Her legs shot out from under her, and her desperate grab for the rope missed, the line jerking out of her grasp as her faceplate scraped against the outcrop and then she was falling, plummeting down toward the ground twenty meters below.

Author’s Note: Vanya Mia had a gift for rolling “1”s on skill checks, I think she managed 3 or 4 of them over the course of the campaign.

 

[Vanya Mia]

I'm pretty sure it was more than that! What was it you said? When it comes to bad rolls at critical points I deliver?

Of course that's always more fun for a DM than rolling 20s.

 

[Ceramic Weasel]

I'd like to add my thanks for this story, LB. It brings back a lot of memories playing this game as a kid. Myself and 2-3 friends would all gather around the computer and take turns controlling troops within the missions. We'd take ownership of particular soldiers, choosing their equipment with great care. It was always sad to see them get gunned down or torn apart by Crysalids.

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned it yet, but there is an open source remake of this game called UFO: Alien Invasion that you can download from sourceforge.

Also, a question for the author...

Author’s Note: Vanya Mia had a gift for rolling “1”s on skill checks, I think she managed 3 or 4 of them over the course of the campaign.

I've seen this a few times in your story hour and it always strikes me as odd. Natural 1s on skill checks aren't normally automatic failures, either in D&D or D20 Modern. Is this a particular quirk of the NWN engine or a house rule?

 

[Lazybones]

Also, a question for the author...
I've seen this a few times in your story hour and it always strikes me as odd. Natural 1s on skill checks aren't normally automatic failures, either in D&D or D20 Modern. Is this a particular quirk of the NWN engine or a house rule?

Well, NWN is a 2D-only engine, so things like climbing and swimming in the like were handled by widgets we had that allow you to roll a skill check and send the result to the DM for adjudication. In cases like this I'd hit the player with a knockdown and a few dice of damage. For really bad fails like a 1 I'd sometimes insert an added "oomph" effect that was mostly descriptor. In this case I may have hit Cat with a temporary slow effect (don't remember), but often I just leave it to the player to roleplay out the effects, this group was really good at that.

* * * * *


Session 27 (November 3, 2008)
Chapter 120

Vasily turned and tried to catch the falling agent, but he was a shade too slow. Catalina landed feet first and crumpled, falling into Vasily’s grasp and nearly knocking him down. He held her up as her face twisted in pain.

“For crying out loud,” James said, hurrying over to her. He took out his first aid kit, and helped Vasily lay her up against the closest rocks.

“Gah, damn surface,” Catalina said, smacking the rocks with her fist as James examined her leg.

“You okay, Cat?” Jane asked.

“That hurt… my ankle…”

James tested her right foot, easing as Catalina flinched. “It’s not broken, but it’s a very bad sprain.” He eased her boot off, and took out one of the X-COM medikits. He injected that and a syringe of more conventional painkiller into the injury, then quickly put a pressure wrap on it before carefully putting the swelling foot back into her boot. “It’s going to smart later, but you should be able to put weight on it now.”

“Man, they might as well have sent a bunch of circus clowns,” Vala muttered under her breath. “Come on, we’ve got to get moving.”

“I’m starting to dislike her,” Mary said to Jane, as they picked up their gear and started out again. Vasily helped Catalina back to her feet. “You learn lesson now, yes? If in doubt, always tie rope to Russian.”

Vala led them into the woods, and within twenty paces the trees swallowed up the Alphas, leaving no trace of their passing.

* * *

“Look up top,” Vala whispered. “Battlements, near the right.”

Vasily shifted his gaze, his optics zooming the view until he was focused on the spot that the agent had indicated. “Plasma cannon?” he asked.

“It’s not manned, runs off of the sensor array,” Vala said. “But the sensors run along the entire base of this hill.”

“I might be able to disable one, open a gap,” Catalina said. She looked up as Hadrian and Jane reappeared, hurrying quickly to the vantage where the others were watching the castle below. “The tank is still there,” Hadrian reported. “Five guards, four humans, one muton.” Vasily updated them on what they’d seen here, facing the rear of the castle.

“We set off the alarms, we’ve got a world of trouble,” Vala said.

“Your choice, do I make the try?” Catalina asked.

Vala shrugged. “You’re the heroes. I just work here.”

“Go for it,” Hadrian said.

“Is what we bring you for, hah,” Vasily said.

Catalina nodded and made her way down the slope. She paused just out of the range of the line of sensors, then knelt and carefully shimmied down to a low rise where a boulder jutted up under the roots of an ancient tree. A sensor lay below the barrier, a tiny metallic flange that was just visible sticking out of the soil. Catalina crawled up onto the boulder, stared at the thing for a moment, then slowly began to lean out toward the exposed sensor.

“If she’s detected, that cannon will crisp her before we can do anything,” Jane said.

Catalina had reached the sensor, and she was delicately prodding at it with a tiny tool held in her fully-extended fingers. “Nasty little sod,” she whispered, ignoring the twitching of her ankle as she held herself precariously balanced on the edge of the boulder.

There was an audible click.

“Got you,” she whispered.

The Alphas made their way cautiously down the slope, staying in the narrow band of space that Catalina indicated. “I’ve bypassed the feed, but they’ll probably figure it out eventually,” she told the others.

“Nice work,” Vala granted.

“She no ordinary circus clown,” Vasily said.

“Careful,” Hadrian said. “Could be a secondary or even tertiary one.”

Vala nodded at the Marine. “Suspicious, even a bit paranoid. I like him.”

They made their way forward, until the bulk of the castle loomed over them. There were no doors on the ground level on this side of the structure, and the windows were all high, narrow, and protected by bars, but there was a narrow balcony six meters up, with a recessed door just visible. The Alphas started toward it, moving slowly in single file, but they’d only just gotten into the shadow of the wall when they heard a deep *CLICK* that froze them.

They turned back toward Vala, who was looking down at the metallic plate just visible under her right foot.

“Oh, damn it all,” the agent said.

 

[Lazybones]

Traveling this weekend, so early post.

* * * * *

Session 27 (November 3, 2008)
Chapter 121


“Keep still,” Catalina said, kneeling beside the immobilized Vala Night.

“Um… yeah?” the agent replied, although there was an obvious strain in her voice. The sonic mine had been set with a pressure trigger rather than a proximity sensor, so at least it hadn’t detonated, but that had also meant that their sensors hadn’t detected it until Vala had literally stepped on it and armed the device.

“Can’t get at the mechanism,” Catalina said.

“Well, I didn’t really like that leg anyway,” Vala said dryly.

“Think you might have to stay there for a while,” Catalina said. “Maybe we can dig around it, expose more of—”

“The mission is more important,” Vala said. She pointed toward the balcony. “The door up there’s going to be rigged, but it’s a better shot than the front door by a long shot. If you can get up there… well, it’s up to you heroes from here on out.”

Catalina nodded and carefully stepped back toward the others, who’d watched from a few meters away. “We’ll be back when we can afford to take time to move it carefully.”

“As soon as I hear shooting, I’m making a jump for it,” Vala said.

They made their way along the wall until they were under the balcony, which jutted out only slightly from the wall, maybe a half-meter. There were no merlons, ironwork, or other features visible, and Catalina frowned as she looked up at it. “I can try a throw,” she said. “Nothing I can see to hook onto, though. Maybe if I can loop the rope over, draw it down the far side.”

“Might have better idea. Hand me rope,” Vasily said. The Russian took the coil, flipped a dial on his cuff, and sprang into the air. Jets of hyper-compressed air shot from the vents in the small of his back and along the back of his thighs, and his leap carried him straight up six meters, landing him on the edge of the balcony with inches to spare.

“It works!” Jane said, remembering at the last moment to keep her voice low.

“That wasn’t exactly quiet,” Hadrian said, glancing around the edges of the castle while Vasily lowered the rope. “Our burglar should go first,” he said, nodding Catalina toward the line.

Climbing up a rope was always more challenging than rappelling down, but with Vasily’s strength-augmented help from above, the transfer of the team from the ground to the balcony was completed without incident. By the time that Hadrian was pulled over the edge the space on the balcony was quite crowded, but Catalina had found and disarmed the sensor on the steel door that led inside. “They might have detected the broken circuit, we need speed,” she said, overriding the electric lock and pushing the door open.

They made their way inside, doing their best to remain quiet, which was more than a little difficult in sixty kilos of powered armor, weapons, and gear. Catalina took the lead, scouting ahead down the corridor behind the door.

The interior of the castle was an odd juxtaposition of old and modern, the ancient stone blocks of the walls marked both with sconces for torches and fixtures for electric lights. Catalina saw that all of the interior doors had electric locking mechanisms, with keycard ports set into the wall next to the handles. She made her way down the hall, pausing at the first intersection. She heard voices, and waved to the others to stay back.

Easing forward, her plasma pistol in her hand, she subtly twisted the gain on her audio pickups. They were speaking French, but she was fluent, and didn’t need the translation software installed in her suit computer to decipher what they were saying.

“So, you see that new alien?”

“Man, ugly as sin.” The second speaker laughed, a hard guttural sound. “Don’t know what rock they dragged that one out from under.”

“I wonder if they’re going to give us leave this time. I swear, I think I’ve been on shift for a month now.”

Catalina leaned slowly forward, looked around the corner. The side passage ended in an open doorway about ten paces ahead, with a small foyer beyond. She couldn’t see the speakers, but as she watched a cloud of smoke trailed into view, dissipating in the air. She raised a hand and held up two fingers, then gestured toward the corridor ahead. The Alphas came forward slowly, and for the most part quietly, although to Catalina’s ears, the faint whine of their suits’ servos and the crunch of their feet on the floor sounded like shouts. She leaned back and took out her motion sensor, shutting off the speaker. By the time that the others had reached her, she had a fairly good picture.

She slipped forward to verify that the guards were still there; they were talking more in low voices, and the occasional puffs of smoke suggested that they hadn’t changed position. Vasily lifted his gun, and James moved his finger across his throat, but she shook her head and gestured toward the corridor ahead. Vasily nodded and sent Jane across, the former CIA agent creeping slowly forward. The others followed one by one, until all of them save for Catalina and Vasily were past. The Russian tapped Catalina on the shoulder and started forward, but froze in mid-step as Catalina pressed her hand to his chest. She was right at the edge of the corner, listening.

“Did you hear something?”

 

[Abciximab]

Just started reading a few days ago and you've got me hooked. I loved Playing the PC game. I wish I could play it "for the first time" again. You can't beat the first time through that game when you had no idea what was coming. Now you've got me researching d20 Modern to make this into a pen and paper game for my group. Curse you!

 

[Lazybones]

Just started reading a few days ago and you've got me hooked. I loved Playing the PC game. I wish I could play it "for the first time" again. You can't beat the first time through that game when you had no idea what was coming. Now you've got me researching d20 Modern to make this into a pen and paper game for my group. Curse you!

Heh, happy to oblige. There's an Excel file attached to the download at the Vault, it has d20 stats for the aliens I used in my campaign.

* * * * *


Session 27 (November 3, 2008)
Chapter 122


Catalina didn’t dare take a look around the corner, but the voice had been closer; she could imagine the French guard standing in the doorway of the foyer, looking down the hallway. She saw Hadrian a short distance down the corridor on the far side of the intersection, hefting his plasma cannon. He started to move back toward her, but she froze him with a small gesture.

“Nah. Sensors would let us know if there was trouble.”

“Yeah, right.”

“So you see that new cherie down in Accounting?”

The voices moved off, but Catalina waited a full minute before risking a look. The hallway and room beyond were clear. She motioned Vasily forward, and followed him, rejoining the others further down the corridor.

“You have any way of sensing the stuff we’re looking for?” Hadrian asked.

Catalina shook her head. “No, but I’ve got a solitary signal on this floor, twenty-three meters northwest, looks like the corner of the building. In addition to those guards we just missed, I picked up another group, maybe nine meters ahead and five down. I think some of the ones downstairs may be aliens.”

“The one guy, down this way.” Vasily asked. “You think we can take him silent?”

Catalina nodded, drew her vibroblade, and started forward.

The corridor continued along the back wall of the castle, the wall to her left broken by the occasional slit window paned with armored glass and protected by steel bars to boot. After about twenty steps the hallway turned to the right, but at the turn an arched entry opened onto a large chamber that was obviously some sort of library or records-room. She caught a hint of movement in the stacks along the left side of the room, and headed that way, silent despite the considerable bulk and weight of her armor. I owe Grace dinner for those stealth-mods, she thought, creeping up past one row of freestanding shelves, then slowly up to the next.

The man had his back to her, poking through a shelf crowded with white file boxes with hand-lettered index markings in French and English. He was dressed in plain blue coveralls, and did not appear to be armed. One of the boxes was open in front of him, and he was taking out ledger books, looking through them briefly, and putting them back. “Now, where did I leave that book?” he muttered to himself. The first indication he had that he wasn’t alone came when Catalina reached around him and pressed the blade of her knife to his throat.

“Quiet,” she hissed, in French.

“Aaah,” the man said. “What do you want?” He started to turn as the other Alphas came in, but Catalina held him close, and pressed him against the wall. “Look, I’m not a soldier,” he managed. “I’m just a technician!”

“Information is what technicians have,” Catalina returned. James came forward and lifted the barrel of his plasma rifle to the man’s head. He swallowed, and Catalina saw that he recognized the weapon.

“You… you’re not aliens, are you?”

“Checked last time I took a shower, and no,” Catalina said.

Vasily came forward so that the man could see him, and removed his helmet. “Oh, this is not my day,” the technician said. He closed his eyes. “Don’t hurt me, I don’t know anything!” he said.

“Fastest route to the Elerium store,” Catalina said.

The technician blinked. “Elerium? Ah… um, what’s that?”

Catalina narrowed her eyes. “Crystals, blue ones, where are they?”

“Um, yeah, I don’t know anything about those.”

“He’s lying,” Mary said.

They turned to her. “I can tell,” she said. Out of the technician’s view, Catalina tapped her head with a finger, and Mary nodded.

“You know where they are, or suddenly you’re not very useful any more,” Catalina said.

“You want to live, right, we just want information,” Jane added. Her French wasn’t quite up to Catalina’s but the man got the message. “Please, just let me go,” he moaned. “I haven’t hurt anyone.”

Catalina nodded to Mary. “She says you’re lying, and she would know. Last chance, fella.”

James activated the power feed on his rifle; the weapon hummed, and a faint glow flickered along the weapon’s conduits.

“All right, all right! I’ll tell you. Just… just put that down.” When neither the knife nor the rifle budged, he quickly added, “The alien power source is in the secret base. Underground, underneath us.”

“And we get there how?” Catalina prodded.

“It’s accessed by a lift in the cellar. I don’t know the access code for the lift, though.”

“Lie,” Mary said. “He knows the code.”

Catalina translated what she’d said, and moved the knife a bit, scraping his flesh. “I’m getting irritable, and my hands shake when I’m irritable,” she told him.

“Aah, all right!” he said. “The code is six three six two six.”

Jane looked at Mary. “Is that correct?”

“That is the code.”

The technician blinked at her. “How… how do you know?”

“She’s gifted,” Catalina said. “And the lift is where?”

The technician visibly deflated. “The stairs down to the ground floor are just off the south corridor. The stairs to the cellar are on the far side of the castle, there’s a long corridor that connects them.”

“Any traps to warn us about?” Jane asked.

“Well… there are security systems, yes.”

“Is there an override?” Catalina asked him.

“Umm…” he opened his mouth, looked at Mary. “Here, take it,” he said, handing over a keycard. “What… what are you going to do to me?”

“Anything else we need to know that could save your life?” Jane asked.

“I told you everything! I’m not an alien! I hate them! I had to do what they said, I was just following orders!”

Vasily shrugged and clonked the technician on the back of the head with a metal-clad fist. He crumpled, and would have fallen had Catalina not held him up. Catalina tied him up and stuffed a wad torn from his shirt into his mouth, then stashed him behind one of the shelving units where he wouldn’t easily be seen.

“Let’s go,” Vasily said.

DM’s Note: we broke for the night at that point, and picked up the infiltration mission the following week.