Innocent Bystander
First Post
Nice to have a powerful psychic along. Has Cat fully accepted that her psy skills just aren't there or did this tweak a bit of a nerve?
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X-COM (updated M-W-F)
- Thread starter Lazybones
- Start date
Lazybones
Adventurer
Yeah, I tried to include subtle out-of-game hints for high-PSI characters, including James sussing out the muton ambush earlier and this exchange here.
* * * * *
Session 28 (November 10, 2008)
Chapter 123
The ambiance of the room contrasted with what transpired inside. The décor was decidedly nineteenth-century, with walls of seasoned wood paneling and accoutrements of wrought iron, including a decorative chandelier that dangled from the ceiling. The floor was covered with decorative carpets, some of which had been hastily pulled aside to make way for the more modern elements that had been installed, including several tables loaded with computer components and other electronic machinery born out of the cleverness of humankind.
But the oblong device in the center of the room, roughly the size of a wheelbarrow, was obviously not man-made. A bright glow radiated from the center of the alien object, and in the air above, a translucent holographic figure, enigmatic and unidentifiable in a brown robe that shrouded its form, hovered and addressed those gathered. Those included five humans, three dressed in lab coats, one in a military-style uniform, and one in a technician’s coverall, and two mutons, who stood immobile and implacable, heavy plasma cannons cradled in their beefy arms.
“It is not sufficient,” the hologram said, its voice filling the room from the projector’s speakers. “All must be in readiness for the Return.”
“We have done everything that you have asked,” one of the scientists replied, his brow glistening with sweat.
“The human forces will be crushed,” the alien said. “This X-COM that has been such a thorn will be purged from your planet. Serve us well, and you shall be spared.”
One of the military-types stepped forward. “Look, all we want is peace.”
“Peace… yes. You shall have that. Once the Return is complete, a new order, a new stability, will come to this planet.”
The lead scientist stepped forward. “I think we can all agree…”
The alien cut him off. “Your consent is not necessary. Only compliance.” The glow faded, and the hologram disappeared.
“The signal’s ended, sir,” the technician said.
“Yes, yes, I can see that,” the military man said. “Come on,” he said to the scientists. “We need to go back to Paris, at once.”
The mutons fell in behind the humans as they departed, leaving on the technician, who resumed working at his computer station. He didn’t notice the shadow that drew back from the open archway at the far side of the room, which led to the hall that accessed the rest of the castle.
Catalina was silent until she’d rounded the corner and retreated down the hall to where the rest of Alpha Team waited. She kept her voice to a whisper as she quickly related what she’d seen and heard.
“I think we can get to the lift room,” she told them, when she’d finished. “There’s only one technician left in the great hall, and he doesn’t seem that focused on the corridor. I didn’t see any more guards between here and the stairs to the cellar.”
“We’ll need to move quickly, before they find that guy we left upstairs,” Hadrian said.
“Or Vala,” Jane added.
Catalina nodded, and looked at Vasily. “Did not expect to get this far without fight,” the Russian admitted. He gestured for Catalina to lead them on.
Once again Catalina thought the heavy clod of the armored soldiers sounded deafening in the confines of the passage, but she watched the technician closely as her companions filed past, and the Frenchman didn’t so much as look up. Once they were all through she hurried back to the front of the group, where they’d paused before another door at the end of the hallway. There was another small card reader recessed into the jam. Catalina smiled and took out the keycard she’d lifted off the technician earlier, and slid it through the reader. Beyond was the staircase leading down to the cellar, exactly as the technician had described.
They made their way down, Catalina still in the lead. “Clear,” she said softly, once she’d scanned the landing at the base of the stairs. She quickly checked both of the doors there; both led to storerooms, but the one on the left had another corridor exiting from its far side. Catalina led them in that direction, and saw that the new passage bent to the right after about ten paces. She was almost at the bend before she heard voices, and froze. She leaned up against the wall, and turned the gain on her helmet’s audio sensors to maximum.
“Hey, all I do is follow orders,” someone was saying.
“Wait, did you hear something?” another asked. Catalina held up a hand, showing two fingers, and James forwarded the signal to the rest of the group behind him. She listened intently for the sound of footsteps, of someone approaching, but there was only a long silence.
“Hmm, thought I heard something.”
“It’s those aliens, they have you jumping at shadows.”
“Weird stuff. You have any… side effects, from those injections?”
“We weren’t supposed to talk about that.”
“Bah. They want to pump us full of alien gunk, that’s bad enough.”
“Look, we need to get up there. We can talk about this later.”
“Right.”
Catalina signaled as the footsteps she’d been awaiting sounded, very close, approaching the bend. She knew better than to try to retreat, and simply crouched low, giving her companions a good angle of fire. But as she slowly lifted her plasma pistol, she realized something was wrong.
The bootsteps of the approaching guards wasn’t a solid clip, but a heavy, plodding thod.
There was no time to offer a warning, as the two French agents appeared around the bend in the corridor--clad not in uniforms or even human-made body armor, but in powered suits, suits very similar to those they’d encountered once before, in the Russian base. The guards carried plasma guns, but they were in holsters at their hips.
The armored troopers had just an instant to recognize the danger, and one yelled, “Ambush!” before the air was filled with the brilliant flash of plasma explosions. Both guards were blasted back into the wall, but instead of going down, both recovered quickly, and drew out their weapons.
“Go for help!” one of the troopers yelled, firing a blast from his gun that struck James on the shoulder. The doctor staggered and fell into a pile of crates that collapsed under his weight. The trooper shifted his aim toward Catalina, who was crouched just a few steps ahead of him, but before he could get off another shot two heavy bolts from Vasily’s and Hadrian’s cannons bored into his chest, and he fell, smoke rising from the charred holes in his breastplate.
Catalina was already up and running, chasing after the fleeing agent. She could hear him shouting into a communications device as he darted around the next bend in the passage. “We are under attack! Executing order Alpha!”
Catalina yelled into her own comlink, the need for radio silence gone now. “Stop him! Fast, before they blow it!” She could hear the other Alphas behind her, but she was alone as she rounded the bend after the enemy trooper.
Around the corner the passage continued straight ahead for a good thirty meters, culminating in a large door. There was another door about halfway down the hall to the right, and the enemy agent was there, trying to operate the security lock. Even from where she was standing Catalina could see the LED indicator flash red; probably an automatic lockdown from the alert. He cursed, smacking the sensor with enough force to knock its mounting.
The trooper either heard her or sensed her, for he suddenly spun to face her, lifting the barrel of his plasma gun. “To the hells with you!” he yelled, as he opened fire. Catalina dove to the side, but the bolt caught her on the hip, and the force of the impact knocked her down.
She looked up to see that the door at the end of the corridor had opened, and a half-dozen guards had appeared, rushing forward. The newcomers were clad in more traditional body armor, but their guns were obviously of alien make, as they unleashed a barrage of plasma bolts at the fallen Alpha.
* * * * *
Session 28 (November 10, 2008)
Chapter 123
The ambiance of the room contrasted with what transpired inside. The décor was decidedly nineteenth-century, with walls of seasoned wood paneling and accoutrements of wrought iron, including a decorative chandelier that dangled from the ceiling. The floor was covered with decorative carpets, some of which had been hastily pulled aside to make way for the more modern elements that had been installed, including several tables loaded with computer components and other electronic machinery born out of the cleverness of humankind.
But the oblong device in the center of the room, roughly the size of a wheelbarrow, was obviously not man-made. A bright glow radiated from the center of the alien object, and in the air above, a translucent holographic figure, enigmatic and unidentifiable in a brown robe that shrouded its form, hovered and addressed those gathered. Those included five humans, three dressed in lab coats, one in a military-style uniform, and one in a technician’s coverall, and two mutons, who stood immobile and implacable, heavy plasma cannons cradled in their beefy arms.
“It is not sufficient,” the hologram said, its voice filling the room from the projector’s speakers. “All must be in readiness for the Return.”
“We have done everything that you have asked,” one of the scientists replied, his brow glistening with sweat.
“The human forces will be crushed,” the alien said. “This X-COM that has been such a thorn will be purged from your planet. Serve us well, and you shall be spared.”
One of the military-types stepped forward. “Look, all we want is peace.”
“Peace… yes. You shall have that. Once the Return is complete, a new order, a new stability, will come to this planet.”
The lead scientist stepped forward. “I think we can all agree…”
The alien cut him off. “Your consent is not necessary. Only compliance.” The glow faded, and the hologram disappeared.
“The signal’s ended, sir,” the technician said.
“Yes, yes, I can see that,” the military man said. “Come on,” he said to the scientists. “We need to go back to Paris, at once.”
The mutons fell in behind the humans as they departed, leaving on the technician, who resumed working at his computer station. He didn’t notice the shadow that drew back from the open archway at the far side of the room, which led to the hall that accessed the rest of the castle.
Catalina was silent until she’d rounded the corner and retreated down the hall to where the rest of Alpha Team waited. She kept her voice to a whisper as she quickly related what she’d seen and heard.
“I think we can get to the lift room,” she told them, when she’d finished. “There’s only one technician left in the great hall, and he doesn’t seem that focused on the corridor. I didn’t see any more guards between here and the stairs to the cellar.”
“We’ll need to move quickly, before they find that guy we left upstairs,” Hadrian said.
“Or Vala,” Jane added.
Catalina nodded, and looked at Vasily. “Did not expect to get this far without fight,” the Russian admitted. He gestured for Catalina to lead them on.
Once again Catalina thought the heavy clod of the armored soldiers sounded deafening in the confines of the passage, but she watched the technician closely as her companions filed past, and the Frenchman didn’t so much as look up. Once they were all through she hurried back to the front of the group, where they’d paused before another door at the end of the hallway. There was another small card reader recessed into the jam. Catalina smiled and took out the keycard she’d lifted off the technician earlier, and slid it through the reader. Beyond was the staircase leading down to the cellar, exactly as the technician had described.
They made their way down, Catalina still in the lead. “Clear,” she said softly, once she’d scanned the landing at the base of the stairs. She quickly checked both of the doors there; both led to storerooms, but the one on the left had another corridor exiting from its far side. Catalina led them in that direction, and saw that the new passage bent to the right after about ten paces. She was almost at the bend before she heard voices, and froze. She leaned up against the wall, and turned the gain on her helmet’s audio sensors to maximum.
“Hey, all I do is follow orders,” someone was saying.
“Wait, did you hear something?” another asked. Catalina held up a hand, showing two fingers, and James forwarded the signal to the rest of the group behind him. She listened intently for the sound of footsteps, of someone approaching, but there was only a long silence.
“Hmm, thought I heard something.”
“It’s those aliens, they have you jumping at shadows.”
“Weird stuff. You have any… side effects, from those injections?”
“We weren’t supposed to talk about that.”
“Bah. They want to pump us full of alien gunk, that’s bad enough.”
“Look, we need to get up there. We can talk about this later.”
“Right.”
Catalina signaled as the footsteps she’d been awaiting sounded, very close, approaching the bend. She knew better than to try to retreat, and simply crouched low, giving her companions a good angle of fire. But as she slowly lifted her plasma pistol, she realized something was wrong.
The bootsteps of the approaching guards wasn’t a solid clip, but a heavy, plodding thod.
There was no time to offer a warning, as the two French agents appeared around the bend in the corridor--clad not in uniforms or even human-made body armor, but in powered suits, suits very similar to those they’d encountered once before, in the Russian base. The guards carried plasma guns, but they were in holsters at their hips.
The armored troopers had just an instant to recognize the danger, and one yelled, “Ambush!” before the air was filled with the brilliant flash of plasma explosions. Both guards were blasted back into the wall, but instead of going down, both recovered quickly, and drew out their weapons.
“Go for help!” one of the troopers yelled, firing a blast from his gun that struck James on the shoulder. The doctor staggered and fell into a pile of crates that collapsed under his weight. The trooper shifted his aim toward Catalina, who was crouched just a few steps ahead of him, but before he could get off another shot two heavy bolts from Vasily’s and Hadrian’s cannons bored into his chest, and he fell, smoke rising from the charred holes in his breastplate.
Catalina was already up and running, chasing after the fleeing agent. She could hear him shouting into a communications device as he darted around the next bend in the passage. “We are under attack! Executing order Alpha!”
Catalina yelled into her own comlink, the need for radio silence gone now. “Stop him! Fast, before they blow it!” She could hear the other Alphas behind her, but she was alone as she rounded the bend after the enemy trooper.
Around the corner the passage continued straight ahead for a good thirty meters, culminating in a large door. There was another door about halfway down the hall to the right, and the enemy agent was there, trying to operate the security lock. Even from where she was standing Catalina could see the LED indicator flash red; probably an automatic lockdown from the alert. He cursed, smacking the sensor with enough force to knock its mounting.
The trooper either heard her or sensed her, for he suddenly spun to face her, lifting the barrel of his plasma gun. “To the hells with you!” he yelled, as he opened fire. Catalina dove to the side, but the bolt caught her on the hip, and the force of the impact knocked her down.
She looked up to see that the door at the end of the corridor had opened, and a half-dozen guards had appeared, rushing forward. The newcomers were clad in more traditional body armor, but their guns were obviously of alien make, as they unleashed a barrage of plasma bolts at the fallen Alpha.
The DM sending tells for PCs to relate is a useful little tool for NWN based games, kind of like passing a piece of paper but it doesn't break the flow. LB used it a lot, and to great effect, in XCOM to pass information after certain actions which the PC then relayed as if they had discovered something. This was one way, plus I kept him busy with things like the motion sensor and pulling the technology we found apart on top of the usual Listen, Search, etc. It really helped the immersion of the game.
As for Cat and psychic powers? Well it really was down to the luck of the dice each week, and I can't say what came of those as it would spoil things, but it would take more than someone having super mind powers that she doesn't to dent Catalina's either way. "Okay, you can read my mind. Now you know exactly how big your arse looks in that dress, honey."
As for Cat and psychic powers? Well it really was down to the luck of the dice each week, and I can't say what came of those as it would spoil things, but it would take more than someone having super mind powers that she doesn't to dent Catalina's either way. "Okay, you can read my mind. Now you know exactly how big your arse looks in that dress, honey."
Lazybones
Adventurer
Session 28 (November 10, 2008)
Chapter 124
Catalina’s hand shot forward, and a grenade slid down the floor of the passage, spinning past the armored trooper before exploding in a cloud of greasy green smoke. The stun gas, designed to incapacitate aliens, wouldn’t do much to hurt the French agents, but it would distract them, and block their line of sight, at least for a few seconds.
She rolled to the side even as plasma blasts started exploding all around her, as the French fire struck the wall behind her and the floor in front of her. She managed to get up into a crouch before the armored trooper shot her in the chest. Her armor held, but the force of the blast knocked her roughly back into the wall, and she gasped as searing flickers of white flame pulsed against the helmet seal protecting her neck.
The French agent’s lips twisted into a grim smile, but it was quickly erased as Jane leaned around the corner and fired a bolt from her plasma rifle that exploded against the agent’s shoulder, spinning him half around. He held onto his gun, but as he lifted it to fire again Vasily and Hadrian barreled around the corner, firing as they came. Vasily’s shot narrowly missed, exploding against the sealed door, but Hadrian shot the trooper in the forehead, punching a hole in his reflective visor that dropped him like a bag of rocks.
More fire was coming up the corridor as the French reinforcements kept shooting through the cloud of gas from Catalina’s grenade. The dense green mists were already dissipating, and both Vasily and Hadrian were hit, glancing impacts that briefly wreathed the men in halos of white flame. But their return fire, in turn, was devastating. The lighter armor worn by the French agents couldn’t withstand the powerful bolts from the Alphas’ cannons, and within a few seconds, four men were lying on the floor, their bodies charred by blackened wounds. The last two guards tried to fall back, but Hadrian threw a grenade after them, and in the aftermath of the explosion, no more shots came toward them.
Jane followed Hadrian and Vasily down the corridor, while James tended to Catalina, who was more stunned than seriously hurt, thanks to her armor. He injected her with the contents of an X-COM medikit, then they hurried to catch up with the others.
The room at the end of the passage was an office of some sort, much of it a wreck now in the aftermath of the brief firefight. Hadrian was checking the bodies of the French agents, while Vasily checked out an adjoining room that appeared to be empty. Jane had found a working console, and she gestured for Catalina to join her as she tried to access it.
“Looks like it needs an encrypted login,” Jane said.
“Not sure what I’ll be able to get,” Catalina said, but she took out her xPhone and jacked it into the console. “Locked down” she said, as a message in French appeared on the screen.
Vasily reappeared. “Lift in here!” he said. “Need someone to get door open!”
“Going,” Catalina said, turning on an automatic decryption program on her xPhone, and gesturing for Jane to keep an eye on it. She followed Vasily into the back room, ignoring the few pieces of mundane furniture in favor of the armored doors. There was an access panel there, but Catalina wasn’t surprised when the technician’s access card failed to activate it.
“Damn,” she said. She got out a tool and got to work on the panel, but it quickly became obvious that she was being locked out from another location. “Tough, really tough,” she said. “Explosives?”
Vasily looked at the lift. “Will lift work if we blow door?”
Hadrian popped back into the room from the corridor. “Need to hurry, we’ll have more company soon,” he said, taking up a position in the doorway leading back out.
Vasily took out several small demolition charges from the compartments in his armor, placing them along the edges of the lift doors as Catalina directed. “Back!” the Russian said. They drew back hastily before the charges exploded, briefly filling the room with a gout of smoke. James lingered too close, and let out a cry of pain as a shard of metal struck him in the arm, piercing the flexible coupling protecting his elbow. Mary went to help him.
“Not say I not warn you,” Vasily said, shaking his head.
“I’m fine,” James said, grimacing as Mary pulled the bloody piece of metal out of his arm.
The doors were still closed, but Vasily applied his augmented strength to them. The door on the left refused to budge, but the one on the right groaned as the mechanisms holding it gave way, and the door finally slid open to reveal an eight-by-eight chamber within.
“Can you get it?” Vasily asked, as the Alphas filed inside. Catalina looked at the numeric keypad inside the door, which had a five-digit LED readout above it.
“Coded,” she said.
“Six-three-six-two-six,” Vasily said.
“Hopefully that isn’t the self-destruct code,” James said.
Catalina entered the code, and to her surprise, the lift started to descend. They stood cramped into the interior of the lift, waiting. Jane handed Catalina her xPhone; the agent nodded in thanks and tucked it back into her pocket.
Another set of doors appeared as the lift reached the end of its journey. There was a hiss and they slid open, revealing a broad corridor ahead of them. The strident pulses of an alarm klaxon filled the air.
Also waiting was a remote-operated plasma cannon, its barrel glowing. Even as the doors clanged fully open it fired, unleashing a stream of blazing energy at the surprised Alphas.
Chapter 124
Catalina’s hand shot forward, and a grenade slid down the floor of the passage, spinning past the armored trooper before exploding in a cloud of greasy green smoke. The stun gas, designed to incapacitate aliens, wouldn’t do much to hurt the French agents, but it would distract them, and block their line of sight, at least for a few seconds.
She rolled to the side even as plasma blasts started exploding all around her, as the French fire struck the wall behind her and the floor in front of her. She managed to get up into a crouch before the armored trooper shot her in the chest. Her armor held, but the force of the blast knocked her roughly back into the wall, and she gasped as searing flickers of white flame pulsed against the helmet seal protecting her neck.
The French agent’s lips twisted into a grim smile, but it was quickly erased as Jane leaned around the corner and fired a bolt from her plasma rifle that exploded against the agent’s shoulder, spinning him half around. He held onto his gun, but as he lifted it to fire again Vasily and Hadrian barreled around the corner, firing as they came. Vasily’s shot narrowly missed, exploding against the sealed door, but Hadrian shot the trooper in the forehead, punching a hole in his reflective visor that dropped him like a bag of rocks.
More fire was coming up the corridor as the French reinforcements kept shooting through the cloud of gas from Catalina’s grenade. The dense green mists were already dissipating, and both Vasily and Hadrian were hit, glancing impacts that briefly wreathed the men in halos of white flame. But their return fire, in turn, was devastating. The lighter armor worn by the French agents couldn’t withstand the powerful bolts from the Alphas’ cannons, and within a few seconds, four men were lying on the floor, their bodies charred by blackened wounds. The last two guards tried to fall back, but Hadrian threw a grenade after them, and in the aftermath of the explosion, no more shots came toward them.
Jane followed Hadrian and Vasily down the corridor, while James tended to Catalina, who was more stunned than seriously hurt, thanks to her armor. He injected her with the contents of an X-COM medikit, then they hurried to catch up with the others.
The room at the end of the passage was an office of some sort, much of it a wreck now in the aftermath of the brief firefight. Hadrian was checking the bodies of the French agents, while Vasily checked out an adjoining room that appeared to be empty. Jane had found a working console, and she gestured for Catalina to join her as she tried to access it.
“Looks like it needs an encrypted login,” Jane said.
“Not sure what I’ll be able to get,” Catalina said, but she took out her xPhone and jacked it into the console. “Locked down” she said, as a message in French appeared on the screen.
Vasily reappeared. “Lift in here!” he said. “Need someone to get door open!”
“Going,” Catalina said, turning on an automatic decryption program on her xPhone, and gesturing for Jane to keep an eye on it. She followed Vasily into the back room, ignoring the few pieces of mundane furniture in favor of the armored doors. There was an access panel there, but Catalina wasn’t surprised when the technician’s access card failed to activate it.
“Damn,” she said. She got out a tool and got to work on the panel, but it quickly became obvious that she was being locked out from another location. “Tough, really tough,” she said. “Explosives?”
Vasily looked at the lift. “Will lift work if we blow door?”
Hadrian popped back into the room from the corridor. “Need to hurry, we’ll have more company soon,” he said, taking up a position in the doorway leading back out.
Vasily took out several small demolition charges from the compartments in his armor, placing them along the edges of the lift doors as Catalina directed. “Back!” the Russian said. They drew back hastily before the charges exploded, briefly filling the room with a gout of smoke. James lingered too close, and let out a cry of pain as a shard of metal struck him in the arm, piercing the flexible coupling protecting his elbow. Mary went to help him.
“Not say I not warn you,” Vasily said, shaking his head.
“I’m fine,” James said, grimacing as Mary pulled the bloody piece of metal out of his arm.
The doors were still closed, but Vasily applied his augmented strength to them. The door on the left refused to budge, but the one on the right groaned as the mechanisms holding it gave way, and the door finally slid open to reveal an eight-by-eight chamber within.
“Can you get it?” Vasily asked, as the Alphas filed inside. Catalina looked at the numeric keypad inside the door, which had a five-digit LED readout above it.
“Coded,” she said.
“Six-three-six-two-six,” Vasily said.
“Hopefully that isn’t the self-destruct code,” James said.
Catalina entered the code, and to her surprise, the lift started to descend. They stood cramped into the interior of the lift, waiting. Jane handed Catalina her xPhone; the agent nodded in thanks and tucked it back into her pocket.
Another set of doors appeared as the lift reached the end of its journey. There was a hiss and they slid open, revealing a broad corridor ahead of them. The strident pulses of an alarm klaxon filled the air.
Also waiting was a remote-operated plasma cannon, its barrel glowing. Even as the doors clanged fully open it fired, unleashing a stream of blazing energy at the surprised Alphas.
Lazybones
Adventurer
Session 28 (November 10, 2008)
Chapter 125
Catalina hurled herself forward and aside, clearing the lift and rolling as she hit the floor. Behind her, the bolt from the plasma cannon exploded in a white inferno, filling the lift compartment. The British agent could hear her companions’ cries of pain over her comlink, but she focused on the cannon, which was already starting to glow again as it charged up for another shot. She drew a bead on the tiny LEDs on its control console, and fired.
The remote cannon exploded, streams of plasma filling the passage as bits of metal pinged angrily off the walls. Catalina got up as the Alphas emerged from the lift, their armor blackened but otherwise intact. Hadrian was being helped by Mary and James; the Marine had been directly in the path of the cannon’s shot. A medikit restored him enough for them to move out; all were cognizant of the passing seconds now that the enemy knew they were here.
They pressed on, moving quickly. They came to another door, this one a more typical construction of tempered aluminum. It was secured by another electronic lock, but this time they didn’t bother stopping to place charges; a pair of heavy plasma bolts blew it off its hinges. They were greeted by weapons fire, but the three Frenchmen inside couldn’t withstand the firepower of the Alphas.
“Ammo check, anyone need some?” Jane asked, while Hadrian bent to check the bodies.
“Am good,” Vasily said, as he loaded a fresh power cell into his cannon. Catalina slid behind a console where one of the dead men, an officer of some sort by his uniform, had been working when they’d blasted the door.
“You in?” Vasily asked, coming over to her.
Catalina’s hands flew over the computer keyboard. A map of the complex appeared on the screen. “Hangar here,” she told him. “Looks like a big power signature here.”
“Door here,” Vasily said, pointing to the grid. “You open it?”
“I’ll try to override the lockdown,” she said, sticking her tongue between her teeth as she went to work.
* * *
The heavy pressure doors let out a ponderous hiss as the locking mechanisms retracted, and they parted, the heavy steel slabs sliding on their hidden rails into the surrounding walls. The hangar beyond the doors was spacious enough to accommodate two aircraft the size of the Lightning with room to spare, although part of it was taken up by a bulky apparatus of tubes and cylinders that was obviously of alien origin. A single alien scout ship sat on the landing pad, a sleek elliptoid resting on a triad of extended struts.
The hangar was also occupied by aliens, three mutons that opened fire with their plasma cannons as soon as the doors opened. The Alphas returned fire from the cover of the doorway, and with the mutons just standing there, not even bothering to move behind the cover of the alien scout, they took several hits in the initial exchange. The mutons proved as tough as ever, though, and continued their barrage. James was clipped on the shoulder as he leaned out from cover to take a shot, and he fell to the floor, fumbling before Hadrian grabbed hold of his arm and dragged him out of the line of fire. But with the humans in a good position and the mutons exposed, it seemed like there could only be one outcome.
Vasily heard it first, a jarring mechanical noise, like heavy machinery, drawing closer. It was accompanied by a rhythmic thumping that he could feel through the steel plates covering the floor, like the tread of an approaching giant.
Catalina, across from him on the far side of the doorway, felt it too. “What is that?” she yelled, the shout all but lost over the sound of exploding plasma bursts.
5
Vasily leaned out for a look, just in time to see a robotic monstrosity stride into the room. It looked like something out of a movie, a bipedal construct that strode forward on nine-foot-long, bird-like limbs that jutted from the sides of its body. The ground shook at its coming, and Vasily guessed that it had to weigh thousands of pounds, the thick floor plates groaning from the strain of its passage. Its body was segmented and every inch of it seemed to be covered in overlapping layers of armor, including the turret that jutted out from under the front of its body, from which a pair of ugly barrels protruded.
There was a flash as a plasma bolt exploded against the side of the alien walking tank, but the shot had no effect, as far as Vasily could see. What he did see was a bright green glow that erupted from within the mech’s turret.
“Down!” he yelled, ducking back behind the dense steel threshold of the hangar door. The flare that followed nearly blinded him, but he recovered in time to see a bright green beam cutting through the wall just above his head. It drew a line across Jane’s torso, and Vasily could see it penetrating through the thick armor of her breastplate like a stream of boiling water through a block of ice. Reflexively he lunged and tackled her. His suit’s warning systems blared an alarm as the alien laser sliced across his back, then both were down. Looking up over his shoulder, he saw the beam keep going another foot before it died, leaving an ugly glowing slash in the wall. The foot thick, reinforced plate steel-over-concrete wall.
He expected it, but even so, when he felt the thud of the alien mech’s steps again, his heart sank.
It was coming for them.
Chapter 125
Catalina hurled herself forward and aside, clearing the lift and rolling as she hit the floor. Behind her, the bolt from the plasma cannon exploded in a white inferno, filling the lift compartment. The British agent could hear her companions’ cries of pain over her comlink, but she focused on the cannon, which was already starting to glow again as it charged up for another shot. She drew a bead on the tiny LEDs on its control console, and fired.
The remote cannon exploded, streams of plasma filling the passage as bits of metal pinged angrily off the walls. Catalina got up as the Alphas emerged from the lift, their armor blackened but otherwise intact. Hadrian was being helped by Mary and James; the Marine had been directly in the path of the cannon’s shot. A medikit restored him enough for them to move out; all were cognizant of the passing seconds now that the enemy knew they were here.
They pressed on, moving quickly. They came to another door, this one a more typical construction of tempered aluminum. It was secured by another electronic lock, but this time they didn’t bother stopping to place charges; a pair of heavy plasma bolts blew it off its hinges. They were greeted by weapons fire, but the three Frenchmen inside couldn’t withstand the firepower of the Alphas.
“Ammo check, anyone need some?” Jane asked, while Hadrian bent to check the bodies.
“Am good,” Vasily said, as he loaded a fresh power cell into his cannon. Catalina slid behind a console where one of the dead men, an officer of some sort by his uniform, had been working when they’d blasted the door.
“You in?” Vasily asked, coming over to her.
Catalina’s hands flew over the computer keyboard. A map of the complex appeared on the screen. “Hangar here,” she told him. “Looks like a big power signature here.”
“Door here,” Vasily said, pointing to the grid. “You open it?”
“I’ll try to override the lockdown,” she said, sticking her tongue between her teeth as she went to work.
* * *
The heavy pressure doors let out a ponderous hiss as the locking mechanisms retracted, and they parted, the heavy steel slabs sliding on their hidden rails into the surrounding walls. The hangar beyond the doors was spacious enough to accommodate two aircraft the size of the Lightning with room to spare, although part of it was taken up by a bulky apparatus of tubes and cylinders that was obviously of alien origin. A single alien scout ship sat on the landing pad, a sleek elliptoid resting on a triad of extended struts.
The hangar was also occupied by aliens, three mutons that opened fire with their plasma cannons as soon as the doors opened. The Alphas returned fire from the cover of the doorway, and with the mutons just standing there, not even bothering to move behind the cover of the alien scout, they took several hits in the initial exchange. The mutons proved as tough as ever, though, and continued their barrage. James was clipped on the shoulder as he leaned out from cover to take a shot, and he fell to the floor, fumbling before Hadrian grabbed hold of his arm and dragged him out of the line of fire. But with the humans in a good position and the mutons exposed, it seemed like there could only be one outcome.
Vasily heard it first, a jarring mechanical noise, like heavy machinery, drawing closer. It was accompanied by a rhythmic thumping that he could feel through the steel plates covering the floor, like the tread of an approaching giant.
Catalina, across from him on the far side of the doorway, felt it too. “What is that?” she yelled, the shout all but lost over the sound of exploding plasma bursts.
5
Vasily leaned out for a look, just in time to see a robotic monstrosity stride into the room. It looked like something out of a movie, a bipedal construct that strode forward on nine-foot-long, bird-like limbs that jutted from the sides of its body. The ground shook at its coming, and Vasily guessed that it had to weigh thousands of pounds, the thick floor plates groaning from the strain of its passage. Its body was segmented and every inch of it seemed to be covered in overlapping layers of armor, including the turret that jutted out from under the front of its body, from which a pair of ugly barrels protruded.
There was a flash as a plasma bolt exploded against the side of the alien walking tank, but the shot had no effect, as far as Vasily could see. What he did see was a bright green glow that erupted from within the mech’s turret.
“Down!” he yelled, ducking back behind the dense steel threshold of the hangar door. The flare that followed nearly blinded him, but he recovered in time to see a bright green beam cutting through the wall just above his head. It drew a line across Jane’s torso, and Vasily could see it penetrating through the thick armor of her breastplate like a stream of boiling water through a block of ice. Reflexively he lunged and tackled her. His suit’s warning systems blared an alarm as the alien laser sliced across his back, then both were down. Looking up over his shoulder, he saw the beam keep going another foot before it died, leaving an ugly glowing slash in the wall. The foot thick, reinforced plate steel-over-concrete wall.
He expected it, but even so, when he felt the thud of the alien mech’s steps again, his heart sank.
It was coming for them.
Richard Rawen
First Post
*gulp*
don't suppose they have another shot left for that shoulder mount canon?
don't suppose they have another shot left for that shoulder mount canon?
Lazybones
Adventurer
I think they were out at that point, but even if they'd had some shots left, they were close enough so that a blast would have killed a PC or two along with the alien.
* * * * *
Session 28 (November 10, 2008)
Chapter 126
Vasily grabbed Jane’s arm, grunted as he tried to pull her up. He couldn’t see how far through her armor the laser had cut, and for a moment he feared that he was trying to heft a dead woman. But then her helmet shifted, and she reached out with her other arm and took hold of his, and together they were able to get her back on her feet.
Then they both almost went down again as something slammed into Vasily’s back. He felt as though he’d been kicked by a mule, and he glanced over his shoulder to see the muton who’d shot him coming through the hangar door. The barrel of its plasma cannon began to glow as it powered up for another shot.
It never got a chance to fire, as Hadrian blasted it with a point-blank shot from his own cannon. The muton, its armored suit already heavily damaged from the pounding it had absorbed, staggered back a step and fell to the ground.
A second muton followed almost immediately on the heels of the first, and Hadrian had to dodge back as it fired a streaking bolt past his head that exploded against the wall of the room. Vasily reached for his gun, but Catalina and James bracketed it with a pair of shots that knocked it off its feet. The alien continued to struggle, but it was clear that for now at least, it was out of the fight.
But over the sounds of the gunfire Vasily could still hear the heavy THUMP of the alien mech’s approach. Wafting swirls of smoke from the multiple plasma explosions obscured the hangar, but he knew that the thing was close, and getting closer.
“Fall back!” he yelled, all but dragging Jane after him as he retreated along the wall of the room toward the small control room where Catalina had overridden the door controls just a few minutes before. Mary took her and helped her into that dubious shelter. On the far side of the room, Hadrian, James and Catalina likewise made their way back, toward the doorway of a storeroom they’d cleared earlier. That side of the room was cluttered with a few loose objects: storage drums, a few wheeled toolbenches, and a powered lift truck burdened with a pallet of black steel canisters.
Vasily saw the green glow before he saw the alien, and saw where it was aiming. “Down, Cat!” he yelled, even as the mech cut loose with its laser.
The beam sliced across the room as Catalina dove behind the lift truck. Vasily saw it clip her arm, just for an instant, and then she was clear. The laser tracked after her, slicing across the contents of the lift truck, and for a moment he felt a cold fear that the canisters held explosive material.. But there was no explosion, only a heavy thud as the top of one of the canisters dropped to the floor, sheared off by the laser beam. Catalina crept back into view behind the lift truck, scrabbling desperately across the floor. Vasily could see that she’d dropped her pistol, and was favoring her injured arm, which hung limply at her side.
“Over here!” Vasily yelled, as he blasted the alien mech with his cannon. He scored a direct hit; he’d been aiming for the juncture where its leg met its body, but the shot merely exploded against a sheet of armor plating. The alien responded, its turret swinging around toward him, the green glow already visible in the mouths of the recessed barrels.
He didn’t wait around to see what would happen; he turned and dove into the control room. Mary and Jane were already there, and they ducked behind the control console as he came in, landing hard and awkwardly on the floor. A green light filled his visor as the alien laser blasted through the armored plastic of the control booth, slicing through the console as though it was made of paper. Sparks flashed and vaporized streamers of material erupted over the heads of Jane and Vasily, who very quickly separated as the beam sliced down to the level of the floor between them. Mary screamed and threw herself to the floor, narrowly avoiding the deadly path of the beam. In its wake, the metal it had cut glowed cherry red.
The beam finally flickered out, and Vasily could hear more plasma explosions from the room beyond. He rose up to see the alien mech pivoting back toward the others. It stepped forward, crushing the hapless wounded muton under it. Hadrian and James each fired one more time from the doorway of the storeroom, both scoring hits, but without any apparent effect.
Then Catalina reared up from behind a row of storage drums, her laser pistol in her hand. The beam looked puny indeed as she flashed it across the front of the alien machine, but while it clearly hadn’t penetrated anything vital, the alien jerked as it took aim at the British agent. Catalina ducked, but she needn’t have, as the beam sliced a good four feet above her head, cutting a long diagonal slash across the far wall of the room.
Vasily got a sudden intuition, and leaned out from the doorway of the control room. “Hit it hard!” he yelled into his comm unit, putting his own words into action as he fired again, aiming for the same joint in the alien machine’s body. Again he hit the body but missed his specific target, but a moment later the alien twitched as Hadrian blasted it just behind and above the turret, causing a secondary eruption of sparks and smoke as the white-hot plasma seared the alien’s internal components.
The Alphas kept on shooting, and the alien fired back, the brilliant green rays slicing across the room. Its shots were wild, though, cutting almost random gashes in the walls. Hadrian and James were forced back into cover as the alien sliced a wide line across the threshold of the storeroom, but that was the closest it got to another hit, and meanwhile Vasily and Jane were pummeling its left side with precise fire. Vasily’s third shot finally hit the joint he’d been targeting, and as the alien turned back toward them it moved stiffly, its left leg dragging. It got off one more wild shot that barely missed Jane’s head, then Hadrian and James bracketed it with a fresh barrage that penetrated into the thing’s interior, and with a final wild eruption of light, smoke, and fire it toppled over with a massive thud.
Lazybones
Adventurer
Session 28 (November 10, 2008)
Chapter 127
They found the Elerium storage crystals in a small room just off the hangar. The place looked almost like a segment of an alien base that had been grafted onto the human facility, but the main interest of the Alphas was the four brightly glowing crystals that rested in recessed niches along the walls. Vasily and Hadrian went right to work hooking up Grace’s containment units.
Out in the hangar, Jane was trying to figure out the intricacies of the alien scout ship. They’d all had extensive experience with the alien control systems, and Jane was a trained pilot, but they’d never actually flown one of the alien vessels, if you didn’t count the brief and less-than-successful Wisconsin flight that had ended with the spectacular farmhouse crash.
Their supplies of medikits exhausted, they’d had to rely on more traditional first aid for Jane and Catalina. Jane’s armor had absorbed most of the alien laser beam, although she had second-degree burns across a big swath of her torso, and she would be in a world of hurt once the painkillers Mary had given her wore off. Catalina was still mobile, but her right arm was bound against her body, and she was having a tough time trying to override the console controlling the outer doors with just one hand.
She was so concentrated on the task, that she didn’t notice the familiar chirrup at first. But when she finally registered the sound, she looked down with horror at the motion sensor clipped to her hip. The device’s screen was full of bright white indicators, which started to spread out as they drew closer.
“Incoming!” she yelled. She turned and ran to the inner doors, the one that connected the hangar to the rest of the complex. She tried to activate the controls, but the doors, heavily damaged in the fight with the alien mech, failed to close. Glancing down at the motion sensor, she saw that the device’s computer had updated the screen with an estimate of the approaching force.
Seventeen aliens, class muton. Twenty-two humans, class armored soldier.
“Oh crap…”
Vasily and Hadrian appeared, carrying the heavy cylinders, their charge indicator LEDs glowing brightly. “A small army,” she said.
“Let’s use the ship,” James said. They had to take care to fit through the small hatch, and were even more crowded inside, but ultimately all were inside the alien scout. The ship shuddered as Jane powered the main engines.
“What about the hangar doors?” James asked.
“I couldn’t get them open!” Catalina said. She moved forward until she was almost perched atop Jane’s shoulder, scanning the alien controls. “There must be an override in here somewhere…” Her eyes lingered on a familiar symbol above a small button on the panel.
“I get it,” Vasily said, reaching for the compartment in his armor that held his demolitions supplies.
The entire ship wobbled as Catalina stabbed the button. Through the viewscreen they saw a bright flash and felt a concussive blast that jolted the ship roughly back; Jane was barely able to keep it from slamming into the rear wall of the hangar. A cloud of smoke swirled ahead of them, and when it cleared, they could see a broad gap where the doors had stood.
“Blast cannon,” Catalina said.
They were greeted by another familiar sound, as plasma explosions started pinging off the hull of the ship. “Go go go!” James yelled, echoed by Hadrian’s, “Get us out of here!” Jane pushed down on the controls, and the ship glided forward. It ascended at a steep arc, and then they saw empty sky above, as they erupted into the open air.
“Hey hey hey, we’re flying!” Jane exclaimed, but they didn’t get much of a chance to celebrate their escape, as the entire ship suddenly jerked wildly to the side, and their sharp ascent suddenly became a just-as-sharp descent, as the view of the sky was replaced by an image of the rapidly-approaching ground below.
Chapter 127
They found the Elerium storage crystals in a small room just off the hangar. The place looked almost like a segment of an alien base that had been grafted onto the human facility, but the main interest of the Alphas was the four brightly glowing crystals that rested in recessed niches along the walls. Vasily and Hadrian went right to work hooking up Grace’s containment units.
Out in the hangar, Jane was trying to figure out the intricacies of the alien scout ship. They’d all had extensive experience with the alien control systems, and Jane was a trained pilot, but they’d never actually flown one of the alien vessels, if you didn’t count the brief and less-than-successful Wisconsin flight that had ended with the spectacular farmhouse crash.
Their supplies of medikits exhausted, they’d had to rely on more traditional first aid for Jane and Catalina. Jane’s armor had absorbed most of the alien laser beam, although she had second-degree burns across a big swath of her torso, and she would be in a world of hurt once the painkillers Mary had given her wore off. Catalina was still mobile, but her right arm was bound against her body, and she was having a tough time trying to override the console controlling the outer doors with just one hand.
She was so concentrated on the task, that she didn’t notice the familiar chirrup at first. But when she finally registered the sound, she looked down with horror at the motion sensor clipped to her hip. The device’s screen was full of bright white indicators, which started to spread out as they drew closer.
“Incoming!” she yelled. She turned and ran to the inner doors, the one that connected the hangar to the rest of the complex. She tried to activate the controls, but the doors, heavily damaged in the fight with the alien mech, failed to close. Glancing down at the motion sensor, she saw that the device’s computer had updated the screen with an estimate of the approaching force.
Seventeen aliens, class muton. Twenty-two humans, class armored soldier.
“Oh crap…”
Vasily and Hadrian appeared, carrying the heavy cylinders, their charge indicator LEDs glowing brightly. “A small army,” she said.
“Let’s use the ship,” James said. They had to take care to fit through the small hatch, and were even more crowded inside, but ultimately all were inside the alien scout. The ship shuddered as Jane powered the main engines.
“What about the hangar doors?” James asked.
“I couldn’t get them open!” Catalina said. She moved forward until she was almost perched atop Jane’s shoulder, scanning the alien controls. “There must be an override in here somewhere…” Her eyes lingered on a familiar symbol above a small button on the panel.
“I get it,” Vasily said, reaching for the compartment in his armor that held his demolitions supplies.
The entire ship wobbled as Catalina stabbed the button. Through the viewscreen they saw a bright flash and felt a concussive blast that jolted the ship roughly back; Jane was barely able to keep it from slamming into the rear wall of the hangar. A cloud of smoke swirled ahead of them, and when it cleared, they could see a broad gap where the doors had stood.
“Blast cannon,” Catalina said.
They were greeted by another familiar sound, as plasma explosions started pinging off the hull of the ship. “Go go go!” James yelled, echoed by Hadrian’s, “Get us out of here!” Jane pushed down on the controls, and the ship glided forward. It ascended at a steep arc, and then they saw empty sky above, as they erupted into the open air.
“Hey hey hey, we’re flying!” Jane exclaimed, but they didn’t get much of a chance to celebrate their escape, as the entire ship suddenly jerked wildly to the side, and their sharp ascent suddenly became a just-as-sharp descent, as the view of the sky was replaced by an image of the rapidly-approaching ground below.
Innocent Bystander
First Post
What a wild ride. And it looks like their piloting skills haven't changed much either
But aren't they forgetting about a certain agent with her foot planted on a landmine?
But aren't they forgetting about a certain agent with her foot planted on a landmine?
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