Innocent Bystander
First Post
Talk about a splitting headache. 
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X-COM (updated M-W-F)
- Thread starter Lazybones
- Start date
Lazybones
Adventurer
Heh, this was a very chaotic mission.
* * * * *
Session 15 (July 21, 2008)
Chapter 53
“Hold on… wait!” Catalina said, but it was clear that Moshe hadn’t heard her, as he followed the guard Derek under the protruding beam at the back of the cellar. Stifling a curse, she finished pulling Jane free of the tight passage through the rubbled staircase. “Help James and Vas through,” she said, then hurried after the pair.
The space under the fallen beam was a tight fit, but easy after the truly confined crawlspace she’d just navigated a few minutes ago. She got through just as the steel door at the top of the cellar steps creaked open, and Derek and Moshe emerged into the daylight above.
She headed up the steps, a slight nagging feeling of unease tickling in the back of her mind. It became a cold pit in her gut as Derek was shot down, and then, a scant heartbeat later, Moshe was hit, his head exploding like a ripe melon hit by a sledgehammer. Catalina could only watch as the headless body stood there for a moment, before collapsing into a limp heap.
Another plasma bolt struck the doorframe, exploding in a coruscating fountain of bright energy. Catalina cursed and ducked down, drawing out her laser pistol. “Attack!” she yelled. She could hear Jane and the others behind, on the far side of the fallen beam, but for the moment, she was alone.
Keeping her head low, she crept forward and peeked a look over the threshold of the doorway. She caught a glimpse of the small, familiar gray forms coming down over the hills on the far side of the dell, but her gaze was drawn to the small oblong object that was rolling to a stop just a few feet ahead, between the bodies of the dead guard and X-COM scientist.
Catalina let out a strangled sound and dropped off the stairs, pressing up against the cellar wall, her arms clenched over her head like a shield. The explosion followed an instant later, shaking the building as a surge of hot plasma slammed down through the open doorway, close enough so that she could feel the scorching heat on her arms and down the back of her neck. Bits of masonry and shards of wood glanced off her arms and onto her back, but the remnants of the building, mercifully, held up, although the tangle of ruined beams groaned loudly as they shifted from the force of the blast.
Jane popped through the tight opening under that wreckage, followed a second later by Vasily. “Doctor Yahav up there?” he yelled, pointing to the open doorway, which was wreathed now in swirling smoke.
“Up there, everyone is down and aliens all over!” Catalina returned, shaking the debris clear from her body as she stood.
“What kind of alien?” Vasily asked.
“Sectoid. I only saw a few, but they have grenades…”
“We stay here, they drop building on us,” the Russian said. He made his way to the base of the stairs, checking the charge on his pistol. Behind him, Jane did the same with her rifle, a grim look on her face. “All at once?” she asked.
Vasily nodded. He glanced back at James, who was just coming through the opening under the beam, which seemed slightly smaller, now. Catalina coughed as she tried to work the dust free from her lungs.
“Ready?” Vasily asked, looking around at them. He barely waited for their nods before he yelled, “Go!” and charged up the stairs, the others close behind.
They emerged in the midst of a deadly crossfire. The wreckage of the cottage behind them barely offered cover, with most of the building’s structure either scattered around the clearing or collapsed onto itself, sagging into the cellar below. Sectoids were visible all around, on the low hills to the west, north, and east, and they fired, bright bolts of plasma streaking through the air toward the humans. “Spread out!” Vasily yelled, darting forward as plasma bolts exploded around his feet. He lifted his pistol and lasered the nearest alien, drawing a black line across its torso. The alien staggered back but was able to return fire, hitting Vasily with a blast that hit him hard on the arm, spinning him around and knocking him to the ground.
“Vas!” Catalina yelled. She started toward him, but the Russian gestured her to stay back, crawling forward to the remnants of the low stone wall that surrounded the property. She looked at the burning APC, but one glance was enough to tell her that the overturned vehicle was going nowhere ever again. She dove into a dip in the blackened ground next to the road, chased by bolts that shot up geysers of earth around the lip of the hole, all around her.
Jane ducked into the lee of the wrecked building, firing off blasts from her laser rifle. She shot an alien that was taking aim at James, and as the sectoid fell she followed him as he ran across the road, the two of them taking cover behind a mound of earth dominated by an old tree stump, dead roots sticking out in every direction around its base. The doctor nearly had his head taken off by a plasma bolt, and he returned fire, forcing the sectoid back into cover amongst the rocks along one of the adjacent hilltops.
“We’re going to get annihilated if we stay here!” he yelled, trying to make himself smaller as another bolt impacted the stump, vaporizing a good hunk of it. Jane fired, dropping her second sectoid, but there were still several more visible on that flank. With the aliens all around them, there was no place they could hide that would give them cover against all of the alien attacks.
A sectoid came around the end of the wall, but was shot in the head by Vasily before it could take aim. The Russian covered his ear with his other hand, trying to listen over the sounds of the battle. “Ken!” he yelled into his communicator. “You receiving?” He snarled as static came over the connection, then heard a faint voice that faded in and out through the distortion. “…some sort of jammi… I …der attack! …try to set down to the east…”
“Ken!” Vasily yelled, but the static deepened, and the pilot’s voice did not return. But the others had heard him as well. “Regroup!” Catalina yelled, jumping up from her tenuous shelter and dashing toward Jane and James’s position. Several aliens shot at her, but the bolts narrowly missed, in one case streaking by close enough to incinerate several strands of her hair.
Vasily sprang up and followed her, staying as low as he could to gain what limited protection he could get from the wall. Ahead of him a segment as long as his arm exploded, but he kept going, vanishing for a second into the swirling cloud of pulverized stone dust. James and Catalina were charging down the road, while Jane remained behind, providing covering fire. An alien fell to Vasily’s right and slid down the tangled slope of the hill, while up ahead, another threw a grenade that dropped well short of the two fleeing Alphas, but still had enough power to knock both of them prone as it detonated. For a moment Vasily lost them in the shower of debris caused by the plasma explosion, then it cleared enough for him to see James helping Catalina to her feet, both of them more than a little dazed from the force of the blast.
Vasily ran after them, not looking back. Clods of earth continued to land all around him, as he ran past the crater that had been created by the alien grenade. He could hear the sound of Jane’s laser behind, the noise overshadowed by the constant barrage of plasma bolts. “Jane!” he yelled over his shoulder. “We moving out!”
The road wound ahead, through the low hills that formed berms to either side of them. Vasily saw a sectoid crest one of the hills to the right, and even as he shouted a warning, another appeared to the left, while shots continued to streak after them from behind.
This is a damned shooting gallery, he thought, firing on the run, knowing he had almost no chance of hitting anything. To his surprise, the alien to the right suddenly exploded in a bright flash of light. Ahead, James and Catalina stopped and spun in surprise, weapons at the ready. That alien was no longer a threat, but before the two of them could starting running again, the alien on the far side of the road fired. The plasma bolt hit James in the small of his back, and he cried out as the force of the impact knocked him roughly to the ground. Catalina caught his arm and dragged him off to the side of the road, toward a cluster of rocks at the base of the hill that offered at least some possibility of cover. She fired at the alien, but the laser beam didn’t come anywhere close to the alien. Vasily’s shot came closer, close enough to send the sectoid scurrying into cover.
Vasily ran up and helped Catalina manhandle James over the last ten feet, pulling the medic into the shelter of the rocks. The Russian crouched behind them and looked for more targets while Catalina dug into James’s satchel, looking for something to treat his wound. The doctor groaned weakly, only partially conscious, but his hand closed reflexively over the pouch holding the medikit. Catalina pulled his hand free and took out the tri-pronged device. “Damned if this doesn’t look worse than those blasters,” she said, gently rolling the doctor onto his side. The blast had struck the power unit to his laser pistol, and she had to gingerly pull free the smoking wreckage free to inject him with the contents of the medikit. Some of his flesh came away with the hot metal. At least it didn’t explode, she thought, stabbing the injectors into his back.
“Where is Jane?” Vasily growled, firing at an alien coming up the road behind them. He tried to raise her on his com unit, but the tiny speakers still only fed static. He started to get up, but the alien on the far hill shot the rocks directly ahead of him. He fell back onto Catalina, blinded by dust and stinging shards of rock. “Gaaa!”
“Watch it!” Catalina yelled, trying to shelter James as she fell forward, off balance. She reached back to stabilize the Russian, who blinked, trying to clear his vision enough to see. The debris from the shattered rocks swirled around them for a moment, then dissipated. When it cleared, Vasily and Catalina could see the sectoid, which had closed to within forty meters of their position. They were close enough to see its gray eyes under its clear helmet, and definitely close enough to see it take a grenade from its belt, activate it, and raise its arm to throw.
* * * * *
Session 15 (July 21, 2008)
Chapter 53
“Hold on… wait!” Catalina said, but it was clear that Moshe hadn’t heard her, as he followed the guard Derek under the protruding beam at the back of the cellar. Stifling a curse, she finished pulling Jane free of the tight passage through the rubbled staircase. “Help James and Vas through,” she said, then hurried after the pair.
The space under the fallen beam was a tight fit, but easy after the truly confined crawlspace she’d just navigated a few minutes ago. She got through just as the steel door at the top of the cellar steps creaked open, and Derek and Moshe emerged into the daylight above.
She headed up the steps, a slight nagging feeling of unease tickling in the back of her mind. It became a cold pit in her gut as Derek was shot down, and then, a scant heartbeat later, Moshe was hit, his head exploding like a ripe melon hit by a sledgehammer. Catalina could only watch as the headless body stood there for a moment, before collapsing into a limp heap.
Another plasma bolt struck the doorframe, exploding in a coruscating fountain of bright energy. Catalina cursed and ducked down, drawing out her laser pistol. “Attack!” she yelled. She could hear Jane and the others behind, on the far side of the fallen beam, but for the moment, she was alone.
Keeping her head low, she crept forward and peeked a look over the threshold of the doorway. She caught a glimpse of the small, familiar gray forms coming down over the hills on the far side of the dell, but her gaze was drawn to the small oblong object that was rolling to a stop just a few feet ahead, between the bodies of the dead guard and X-COM scientist.
Catalina let out a strangled sound and dropped off the stairs, pressing up against the cellar wall, her arms clenched over her head like a shield. The explosion followed an instant later, shaking the building as a surge of hot plasma slammed down through the open doorway, close enough so that she could feel the scorching heat on her arms and down the back of her neck. Bits of masonry and shards of wood glanced off her arms and onto her back, but the remnants of the building, mercifully, held up, although the tangle of ruined beams groaned loudly as they shifted from the force of the blast.
Jane popped through the tight opening under that wreckage, followed a second later by Vasily. “Doctor Yahav up there?” he yelled, pointing to the open doorway, which was wreathed now in swirling smoke.
“Up there, everyone is down and aliens all over!” Catalina returned, shaking the debris clear from her body as she stood.
“What kind of alien?” Vasily asked.
“Sectoid. I only saw a few, but they have grenades…”
“We stay here, they drop building on us,” the Russian said. He made his way to the base of the stairs, checking the charge on his pistol. Behind him, Jane did the same with her rifle, a grim look on her face. “All at once?” she asked.
Vasily nodded. He glanced back at James, who was just coming through the opening under the beam, which seemed slightly smaller, now. Catalina coughed as she tried to work the dust free from her lungs.
“Ready?” Vasily asked, looking around at them. He barely waited for their nods before he yelled, “Go!” and charged up the stairs, the others close behind.
They emerged in the midst of a deadly crossfire. The wreckage of the cottage behind them barely offered cover, with most of the building’s structure either scattered around the clearing or collapsed onto itself, sagging into the cellar below. Sectoids were visible all around, on the low hills to the west, north, and east, and they fired, bright bolts of plasma streaking through the air toward the humans. “Spread out!” Vasily yelled, darting forward as plasma bolts exploded around his feet. He lifted his pistol and lasered the nearest alien, drawing a black line across its torso. The alien staggered back but was able to return fire, hitting Vasily with a blast that hit him hard on the arm, spinning him around and knocking him to the ground.
“Vas!” Catalina yelled. She started toward him, but the Russian gestured her to stay back, crawling forward to the remnants of the low stone wall that surrounded the property. She looked at the burning APC, but one glance was enough to tell her that the overturned vehicle was going nowhere ever again. She dove into a dip in the blackened ground next to the road, chased by bolts that shot up geysers of earth around the lip of the hole, all around her.
Jane ducked into the lee of the wrecked building, firing off blasts from her laser rifle. She shot an alien that was taking aim at James, and as the sectoid fell she followed him as he ran across the road, the two of them taking cover behind a mound of earth dominated by an old tree stump, dead roots sticking out in every direction around its base. The doctor nearly had his head taken off by a plasma bolt, and he returned fire, forcing the sectoid back into cover amongst the rocks along one of the adjacent hilltops.
“We’re going to get annihilated if we stay here!” he yelled, trying to make himself smaller as another bolt impacted the stump, vaporizing a good hunk of it. Jane fired, dropping her second sectoid, but there were still several more visible on that flank. With the aliens all around them, there was no place they could hide that would give them cover against all of the alien attacks.
A sectoid came around the end of the wall, but was shot in the head by Vasily before it could take aim. The Russian covered his ear with his other hand, trying to listen over the sounds of the battle. “Ken!” he yelled into his communicator. “You receiving?” He snarled as static came over the connection, then heard a faint voice that faded in and out through the distortion. “…some sort of jammi… I …der attack! …try to set down to the east…”
“Ken!” Vasily yelled, but the static deepened, and the pilot’s voice did not return. But the others had heard him as well. “Regroup!” Catalina yelled, jumping up from her tenuous shelter and dashing toward Jane and James’s position. Several aliens shot at her, but the bolts narrowly missed, in one case streaking by close enough to incinerate several strands of her hair.
Vasily sprang up and followed her, staying as low as he could to gain what limited protection he could get from the wall. Ahead of him a segment as long as his arm exploded, but he kept going, vanishing for a second into the swirling cloud of pulverized stone dust. James and Catalina were charging down the road, while Jane remained behind, providing covering fire. An alien fell to Vasily’s right and slid down the tangled slope of the hill, while up ahead, another threw a grenade that dropped well short of the two fleeing Alphas, but still had enough power to knock both of them prone as it detonated. For a moment Vasily lost them in the shower of debris caused by the plasma explosion, then it cleared enough for him to see James helping Catalina to her feet, both of them more than a little dazed from the force of the blast.
Vasily ran after them, not looking back. Clods of earth continued to land all around him, as he ran past the crater that had been created by the alien grenade. He could hear the sound of Jane’s laser behind, the noise overshadowed by the constant barrage of plasma bolts. “Jane!” he yelled over his shoulder. “We moving out!”
The road wound ahead, through the low hills that formed berms to either side of them. Vasily saw a sectoid crest one of the hills to the right, and even as he shouted a warning, another appeared to the left, while shots continued to streak after them from behind.
This is a damned shooting gallery, he thought, firing on the run, knowing he had almost no chance of hitting anything. To his surprise, the alien to the right suddenly exploded in a bright flash of light. Ahead, James and Catalina stopped and spun in surprise, weapons at the ready. That alien was no longer a threat, but before the two of them could starting running again, the alien on the far side of the road fired. The plasma bolt hit James in the small of his back, and he cried out as the force of the impact knocked him roughly to the ground. Catalina caught his arm and dragged him off to the side of the road, toward a cluster of rocks at the base of the hill that offered at least some possibility of cover. She fired at the alien, but the laser beam didn’t come anywhere close to the alien. Vasily’s shot came closer, close enough to send the sectoid scurrying into cover.
Vasily ran up and helped Catalina manhandle James over the last ten feet, pulling the medic into the shelter of the rocks. The Russian crouched behind them and looked for more targets while Catalina dug into James’s satchel, looking for something to treat his wound. The doctor groaned weakly, only partially conscious, but his hand closed reflexively over the pouch holding the medikit. Catalina pulled his hand free and took out the tri-pronged device. “Damned if this doesn’t look worse than those blasters,” she said, gently rolling the doctor onto his side. The blast had struck the power unit to his laser pistol, and she had to gingerly pull free the smoking wreckage free to inject him with the contents of the medikit. Some of his flesh came away with the hot metal. At least it didn’t explode, she thought, stabbing the injectors into his back.
“Where is Jane?” Vasily growled, firing at an alien coming up the road behind them. He tried to raise her on his com unit, but the tiny speakers still only fed static. He started to get up, but the alien on the far hill shot the rocks directly ahead of him. He fell back onto Catalina, blinded by dust and stinging shards of rock. “Gaaa!”
“Watch it!” Catalina yelled, trying to shelter James as she fell forward, off balance. She reached back to stabilize the Russian, who blinked, trying to clear his vision enough to see. The debris from the shattered rocks swirled around them for a moment, then dissipated. When it cleared, Vasily and Catalina could see the sectoid, which had closed to within forty meters of their position. They were close enough to see its gray eyes under its clear helmet, and definitely close enough to see it take a grenade from its belt, activate it, and raise its arm to throw.
Innocent Bystander
First Post
Next time the Alphas go on a trip they'll have to make sure the travel agent books them at a 4 star resort, not 4 plasma bolt one. Sounds like they've got one heck of a recreational program going on though.
Lazybones
Adventurer
Session 15 (July 21, 2008)
Chapter 54
Vasily tried to get his laser up, knowing it was too late.
But even as the sectoid began its throwing motion, a bright line flared across its body, starting in the middle of its torso and sliding down until it ended at its right hip. The alien’s body came apart and it crumpled, the grenade falling to the ground next to it. Vasily and Catalina turned away, ducking to cover James before the grenade exploded in a shower of white-hot plasma. The Alphas could feel the surge of heat, followed by a clatter of burning earth that sizzled as it landed around them.
“We have to get out of here,” Catalina said. “Help me with the doc.”
“I’m all right,” James said, fully conscious now as the alien medicines in the medikit worked their way through his body. He grimaced as he rose, but he could stand on his own.
Jane arrived, limping noticeably. “The sectoids in the immediate vicinity of the house are either dead or they’ve fallen back into the hills,” she reported.
“Are you okay?” James asked.
“I can walk, let’s get out of here,” she replied.
“Ken say he landing to east,” Vasily said. “We keep moving.”
“Wait!” Catalina said. “Let me check the lay of the land, for god’s sake.”
Vasily nodded. “Then hurry.”
While the other three moved down the road, slowly due to the beating they’d taken, Catalina went on ahead. The road bent to the left, slipping around the base of a squat ridge that jutted from the landscape like a row of knuckles. The agent veered off the track toward a low point between two of those protrusions, scamping up to get a vantage over the road ahead.
It took her about a minute to reach the top, after nearly losing her footing twice on the steep, crumbling ascent. But from the crest, she got a decent view of the dirt road, which met a two-lane, paved highway that headed off to the left and right as far as she could see.
She could also see the barricade that had been set up where the dirt track met the paved road. Two large SUVs had parked across the intersection, and Catalina could see at least a half-dozen armed men in dark uniforms gathered there, keeping a close watch out.
“Oh, crap,” she said.
A noise drew her attention up, and she saw a familiar shape streak over the hills from the north, turning over the road before slowing and descending into a copse of woods to the east, on the far side of the road. Smoke trailed from the rear of the Skyranger, and lingered in the air as the vehicle disappeared from view. Looking down, Catalina saw the men below pointing and gesturing; several of them started in that direction.
Grimacing, Catalina headed back down to join the others. They hastened as they saw her approaching. “That Skyranger I hear?” Vasily asked.
“The Ranger is in trouble, and it’s humans, there’s a roadblock around the bend.”
“Can we go around?” James asked. But before Catalina say more, they all heard the sounds of gunfire ahead.
“Come on,” Vasily said, heading forward.
“I’ll provide cover,” Jane said, heading up to the position that Catalina had vacated. Her movements were more jerky, now, but she slung her rifle across her back and attacked the slope, all but dragging her injured leg behind her.
Vasily had already moved to the edge of the bend in the road. He slid into the brush alongside the way, staying close to the cliff and the shelter it offered. Catalina and James followed behind. “Better stay back, doc,” Catalina said, gesturing to his empty hands. “Unless you’re planning on throwing rocks.”
James’s expression bristled, but he nodded.
Vasily’s route of approach gave him good cover, but the men behind the barricaded SUVs either had good eyes or detection gear, for they opened fire as soon as he came clear around the curve, peppering the rocks with bullets. The Russian fired his laser and then ducked back into cover, a moment before a ‘whump’ of a grenade launcher fired, and a segment of cliff face exploded out in a shower of debris. The grenadier ducked back behind his vehicle to reload, but the moment he stood again to aim a bright beam intersected his helmet, and he crumpled.
Catalina darted across the road, drawing fire. She dove behind a clump of boulders moments before they rattled with the impact of a dozen armor-piercing bullets. Vasily took advantage of the distraction to lean out and fire. His laser beam tore across the back hatch of one of the SUVs, drawing a red line down the vehicle before it found his intended target.
The black vehicle exploded as its fuel tank was hit, rising up a few feet off the ground before it slammed hard back into the roadway. The men who’d been sheltering behind it were either caught in the blast or thrown roughly back; those still moving were not quick to get up. One of the men behind the other vehicle leaned out from around the front bumper to fire, but Jane’s laser beam pierced his shoulder, cutting through his armored vest and slicing deep into the flesh beneath. He fell, screaming.
Catalina got up, biting her lip; one of the bullets had hit her in the side. But even the automatic rifles of their opponents were far less deadly than the alien blasters, and the armored fabric of her X-COM uniform had held up, spreading the impact energy of the bullet and keeping it from penetrating. She scanned for a target and glanced over at Vasily; he pointed to the remaining SUV and held up one finger. She nodded and started forward, but the man broke from cover, dashing down the road toward the woods. He didn’t make it very far, as Jane’s laser sliced down his back. The man staggered forward a few steps, and fell limply to the hard pavement.
Vasily stood from cover. “Either someone not been reading their X-COM training manual, or these guys really stupid,” he said. He headed forward, giving the still-burning SUV a wide berth. He paused at one of the fallen men, and picked up his weapon. “M4 Spectre. Laser sight. They not messing around.” He tossed the weapon to James, who caught it and held it at the ready.
“A few of them went into that forest,” Catalina said.
“Then we—” Vasily began, but he stopped as a high-pitched whine sounded in their ears. “Alpha! Come in!”
“We’re here, Ken, but we’ve got trouble!” Catalina said.
“They’re jamming the signal all to hell and back, but I’ve got it, for now! I’ve landed east of your position… but be advised, sectoids are approaching your position from the north!”
“Move!” Catalina yelled, heading across the road to the woods. There was no barrier there, but the ground sloped up slightly, slowing her. James ran after her, but Vasily lingered behind, looking back to the west, where Jane was sliding down the steep slope from the ridge.
Catalina plunged into the woods. She’d gone barely fifty yards when the trees thinned out, and she could make out the shape of the Skyranger in a clearing up ahead. “Vas!” Catalina yelled, into her comlink.
The Russian held his position until Jane passed him; only then did he follow behind. One of the burned enemy agents, down but still alive, tried to draw a pistol; Vasily killed him with a quick pulse from his laser. Jane started to turn, but he yelled, “I do rearguard, not you, now get in Skyranger!”
Catalina reached the Skyranger, just as the hatch was starting to open. There was no sign of the French agents. “Ken!” she yelled. “Fire her up!” She turned to help James, who was going on sheer adrenaline now, and faltering. She heard the discharge of plasma guns back from the direction of the road, and cursed. She took a few steps in that direction, but halted as Ken’s voice came over the comlink again.
“We’ve got fighters coming in and I doubt they’re friendly,” he said. “Let’s go!”
There was an explosion in the trees, and Catalina almost ran back, but then she saw Vasily, running toward her, Jane’s arm across his shoulders, the Russian all but carrying her. The engines of the Skyranger fired, rising in pitch as the aircraft shuddered. Back toward the road, Catalina thought she caught sight of a small green form moving in the woods, coming closer.
“Get in!” Vasily yelled, all but throwing Jane into the ship as he reached it. Grabbing hold of the closing hatch, he pulled himself in after it, slumping onto the floor of the passenger compartment. All he could do was lie there as the Skyranger surged into the sky, almost immediately banking into a high-velocity turn that was followed by a full blast of the aft engines, driving them back into the rear bulkhead.
“Fighters,” Vasily said. “How the hell they know?” He helped Jane into the nearest seat, then pulled himself to the next vacant one, grunting as he sank into it.
“They were human, humans!” Catalina exclaimed, doing the same across from him.
“Yes!” Vasily retorted. “We notice!”
“Damn the bloody French,” Catalina muttered.
“Better get strapped in,” Ken said over the intercom. “I’m going to try to avoid those fighters.” They barely had a chance to buckle the straps of the seat harnesses before the Skyranger jerked to the side, rocking up in a steep angle that had their hearts driving down into their guts.
“Who they?” Vasily asked. “Bastards in black?”
“I didn’t stop for polite con—” Catalina began, only to cut off as the ship rolled and banked again, slamming their heads roughly into the rests. “Hang on, we got a missile lock!” Ken announced, before another roll even more violent than the first.
“Geeeh,” Vasily said. The Skyranger bucked, as if kicked from behind, then smoothed out.
“That seems to have done it,” Ken told them. “They’re not following. Everybody okay back there?”
“Okay,” James muttered. “Well, depends on how you define, ‘okay.’”
Vasily touched his communicator. “Just about. What Ranger status?”
“We’re good,” Ken replied. Hang on, Kim is calling from HQ. I’ll patch her through... Go ahead, Doc.”
Doctor Wagner’s voice came in clearly over the intercom. “Hope you’re all okay. Interceptors Five and Six were destroyed on the ground.”
Vasily looked up. “It was trap.”
“Any assessment so far?” James asked.
“The French ambassador to the UN is on right now, announcing that his country has signed a separate accord with the aliens.”
“We have traitors,” Catalina said.
“Accord?” James asked. “What kind of accord?”
Wagner’s voice continued; it was clear she was reading something. “’French airspace and territory are now closed to all belligerent craft.’ It’s bedlam in the General Session right now.”
“History repeats itself,” Catalina said.
“Ken,” Vasily said. “Tell me got enough fuel to get somewhere.”
“We can get to Britain, refuel there,” the pilot said.
Wagner spoke again. “Come back to base, team. This… this changes a great deal.”
The members of Alpha shared a look, but none of them offered any disagreement.
Chapter 54
Vasily tried to get his laser up, knowing it was too late.
But even as the sectoid began its throwing motion, a bright line flared across its body, starting in the middle of its torso and sliding down until it ended at its right hip. The alien’s body came apart and it crumpled, the grenade falling to the ground next to it. Vasily and Catalina turned away, ducking to cover James before the grenade exploded in a shower of white-hot plasma. The Alphas could feel the surge of heat, followed by a clatter of burning earth that sizzled as it landed around them.
“We have to get out of here,” Catalina said. “Help me with the doc.”
“I’m all right,” James said, fully conscious now as the alien medicines in the medikit worked their way through his body. He grimaced as he rose, but he could stand on his own.
Jane arrived, limping noticeably. “The sectoids in the immediate vicinity of the house are either dead or they’ve fallen back into the hills,” she reported.
“Are you okay?” James asked.
“I can walk, let’s get out of here,” she replied.
“Ken say he landing to east,” Vasily said. “We keep moving.”
“Wait!” Catalina said. “Let me check the lay of the land, for god’s sake.”
Vasily nodded. “Then hurry.”
While the other three moved down the road, slowly due to the beating they’d taken, Catalina went on ahead. The road bent to the left, slipping around the base of a squat ridge that jutted from the landscape like a row of knuckles. The agent veered off the track toward a low point between two of those protrusions, scamping up to get a vantage over the road ahead.
It took her about a minute to reach the top, after nearly losing her footing twice on the steep, crumbling ascent. But from the crest, she got a decent view of the dirt road, which met a two-lane, paved highway that headed off to the left and right as far as she could see.
She could also see the barricade that had been set up where the dirt track met the paved road. Two large SUVs had parked across the intersection, and Catalina could see at least a half-dozen armed men in dark uniforms gathered there, keeping a close watch out.
“Oh, crap,” she said.
A noise drew her attention up, and she saw a familiar shape streak over the hills from the north, turning over the road before slowing and descending into a copse of woods to the east, on the far side of the road. Smoke trailed from the rear of the Skyranger, and lingered in the air as the vehicle disappeared from view. Looking down, Catalina saw the men below pointing and gesturing; several of them started in that direction.
Grimacing, Catalina headed back down to join the others. They hastened as they saw her approaching. “That Skyranger I hear?” Vasily asked.
“The Ranger is in trouble, and it’s humans, there’s a roadblock around the bend.”
“Can we go around?” James asked. But before Catalina say more, they all heard the sounds of gunfire ahead.
“Come on,” Vasily said, heading forward.
“I’ll provide cover,” Jane said, heading up to the position that Catalina had vacated. Her movements were more jerky, now, but she slung her rifle across her back and attacked the slope, all but dragging her injured leg behind her.
Vasily had already moved to the edge of the bend in the road. He slid into the brush alongside the way, staying close to the cliff and the shelter it offered. Catalina and James followed behind. “Better stay back, doc,” Catalina said, gesturing to his empty hands. “Unless you’re planning on throwing rocks.”
James’s expression bristled, but he nodded.
Vasily’s route of approach gave him good cover, but the men behind the barricaded SUVs either had good eyes or detection gear, for they opened fire as soon as he came clear around the curve, peppering the rocks with bullets. The Russian fired his laser and then ducked back into cover, a moment before a ‘whump’ of a grenade launcher fired, and a segment of cliff face exploded out in a shower of debris. The grenadier ducked back behind his vehicle to reload, but the moment he stood again to aim a bright beam intersected his helmet, and he crumpled.
Catalina darted across the road, drawing fire. She dove behind a clump of boulders moments before they rattled with the impact of a dozen armor-piercing bullets. Vasily took advantage of the distraction to lean out and fire. His laser beam tore across the back hatch of one of the SUVs, drawing a red line down the vehicle before it found his intended target.
The black vehicle exploded as its fuel tank was hit, rising up a few feet off the ground before it slammed hard back into the roadway. The men who’d been sheltering behind it were either caught in the blast or thrown roughly back; those still moving were not quick to get up. One of the men behind the other vehicle leaned out from around the front bumper to fire, but Jane’s laser beam pierced his shoulder, cutting through his armored vest and slicing deep into the flesh beneath. He fell, screaming.
Catalina got up, biting her lip; one of the bullets had hit her in the side. But even the automatic rifles of their opponents were far less deadly than the alien blasters, and the armored fabric of her X-COM uniform had held up, spreading the impact energy of the bullet and keeping it from penetrating. She scanned for a target and glanced over at Vasily; he pointed to the remaining SUV and held up one finger. She nodded and started forward, but the man broke from cover, dashing down the road toward the woods. He didn’t make it very far, as Jane’s laser sliced down his back. The man staggered forward a few steps, and fell limply to the hard pavement.
Vasily stood from cover. “Either someone not been reading their X-COM training manual, or these guys really stupid,” he said. He headed forward, giving the still-burning SUV a wide berth. He paused at one of the fallen men, and picked up his weapon. “M4 Spectre. Laser sight. They not messing around.” He tossed the weapon to James, who caught it and held it at the ready.
“A few of them went into that forest,” Catalina said.
“Then we—” Vasily began, but he stopped as a high-pitched whine sounded in their ears. “Alpha! Come in!”
“We’re here, Ken, but we’ve got trouble!” Catalina said.
“They’re jamming the signal all to hell and back, but I’ve got it, for now! I’ve landed east of your position… but be advised, sectoids are approaching your position from the north!”
“Move!” Catalina yelled, heading across the road to the woods. There was no barrier there, but the ground sloped up slightly, slowing her. James ran after her, but Vasily lingered behind, looking back to the west, where Jane was sliding down the steep slope from the ridge.
Catalina plunged into the woods. She’d gone barely fifty yards when the trees thinned out, and she could make out the shape of the Skyranger in a clearing up ahead. “Vas!” Catalina yelled, into her comlink.
The Russian held his position until Jane passed him; only then did he follow behind. One of the burned enemy agents, down but still alive, tried to draw a pistol; Vasily killed him with a quick pulse from his laser. Jane started to turn, but he yelled, “I do rearguard, not you, now get in Skyranger!”
Catalina reached the Skyranger, just as the hatch was starting to open. There was no sign of the French agents. “Ken!” she yelled. “Fire her up!” She turned to help James, who was going on sheer adrenaline now, and faltering. She heard the discharge of plasma guns back from the direction of the road, and cursed. She took a few steps in that direction, but halted as Ken’s voice came over the comlink again.
“We’ve got fighters coming in and I doubt they’re friendly,” he said. “Let’s go!”
There was an explosion in the trees, and Catalina almost ran back, but then she saw Vasily, running toward her, Jane’s arm across his shoulders, the Russian all but carrying her. The engines of the Skyranger fired, rising in pitch as the aircraft shuddered. Back toward the road, Catalina thought she caught sight of a small green form moving in the woods, coming closer.
“Get in!” Vasily yelled, all but throwing Jane into the ship as he reached it. Grabbing hold of the closing hatch, he pulled himself in after it, slumping onto the floor of the passenger compartment. All he could do was lie there as the Skyranger surged into the sky, almost immediately banking into a high-velocity turn that was followed by a full blast of the aft engines, driving them back into the rear bulkhead.
“Fighters,” Vasily said. “How the hell they know?” He helped Jane into the nearest seat, then pulled himself to the next vacant one, grunting as he sank into it.
“They were human, humans!” Catalina exclaimed, doing the same across from him.
“Yes!” Vasily retorted. “We notice!”
“Damn the bloody French,” Catalina muttered.
“Better get strapped in,” Ken said over the intercom. “I’m going to try to avoid those fighters.” They barely had a chance to buckle the straps of the seat harnesses before the Skyranger jerked to the side, rocking up in a steep angle that had their hearts driving down into their guts.
“Who they?” Vasily asked. “Bastards in black?”
“I didn’t stop for polite con—” Catalina began, only to cut off as the ship rolled and banked again, slamming their heads roughly into the rests. “Hang on, we got a missile lock!” Ken announced, before another roll even more violent than the first.
“Geeeh,” Vasily said. The Skyranger bucked, as if kicked from behind, then smoothed out.
“That seems to have done it,” Ken told them. “They’re not following. Everybody okay back there?”
“Okay,” James muttered. “Well, depends on how you define, ‘okay.’”
Vasily touched his communicator. “Just about. What Ranger status?”
“We’re good,” Ken replied. Hang on, Kim is calling from HQ. I’ll patch her through... Go ahead, Doc.”
Doctor Wagner’s voice came in clearly over the intercom. “Hope you’re all okay. Interceptors Five and Six were destroyed on the ground.”
Vasily looked up. “It was trap.”
“Any assessment so far?” James asked.
“The French ambassador to the UN is on right now, announcing that his country has signed a separate accord with the aliens.”
“We have traitors,” Catalina said.
“Accord?” James asked. “What kind of accord?”
Wagner’s voice continued; it was clear she was reading something. “’French airspace and territory are now closed to all belligerent craft.’ It’s bedlam in the General Session right now.”
“History repeats itself,” Catalina said.
“Ken,” Vasily said. “Tell me got enough fuel to get somewhere.”
“We can get to Britain, refuel there,” the pilot said.
Wagner spoke again. “Come back to base, team. This… this changes a great deal.”
The members of Alpha shared a look, but none of them offered any disagreement.
Richard Rawen
First Post
Can someone tell me why it is always the French? Oh well, better them than the Chinese or Ruskies... I mean, it's not like the frogs have nukes or submarines or partisans in every country, especially one that's bordering the U.S.
... crap
... crap
Can someone tell me why it is always the French? Oh well, better them than the Chinese or Ruskies... I mean, it's not like the frogs have nukes or submarines or partisans in every country, especially one that's bordering the U.S.
... crap
The other two are to obvious and no one would take it seriously had he used Austrailia....
And while the frogs don't have nukes or submarines they do have Canada.
(all in jest of course, no offense to our french or french canadian brothers.)
Smart Alec
First Post
Strange to tell, France does indeed have nuclear weapons and submarines. The aliens pick their allies with care.
Lazybones
Adventurer
Mission Aftermath (July 23, 2008)
"All right, we've got the feed... all right... we're sending you, live, to Gillian St. John, who is at the border crossing in Strasbourg. Gillian? Gillian?"
"I'm here, Olivia. This is... excuse me... yes, Terry, let's get back from the crowd a bit... Olivia, this is Gillian St. John of the BBC World Service, at the border crossing between France and Germany. As you can see, it's a bit chaotic right now, although it's quieter now that it was a few hours ago. Local authorities estimated that a hundred thousand people have left in the last fifteen hours, since the French announcement at the United Nations... The Bundeswehr has set up an armored infantry battalion here around dawn... Terry, show those tanks... as you can see, they're watching, but not doing anything to interrupt the flow of refugees."
"And Gillian, are the French forces trying to stop the exodus?"
"No, no, Olivia, they don't seem to be, but they aren't letting anyone in the other way, no one is being allowed into France."
"That's consistent with what we've heard. Gillian, what about these people, leaving their home country? What are they saying?"
"Well, Olivia, I've talked to a few dozen people, and they are feeling pretty overwhelmed, obviously. One man said that the Free French are already fighting the invaders, but for the most part, it's been pretty muted on all sides. As you know, President Auguste Laval stated this morning that his goal was to, let's see, I have the copy here... 'To quickly bring France back into the community of nations, once the rest of the world learns to embrace peace, as we have...' I don't know, Olivia, but thus far, we haven't heard much else."
"Thank you, Gillian. Stay tuned to the BBC for the latest on this situation."
* * * * *
Catalina was returning from the communications center, trying to get the latest on the overseas situation, when she overheard an argument. Only later, after she’d recounted the exchange to the other members of Alpha, did she wonder if the door to the briefing room had been left open on purpose.
"She's a security risk, Garret, and if you can't see that, you're a fool."
"Counselor Beauvois has already rejected the actions of her home government, as have the other two X-COM staffers who are of French origin."
"That's not good enough..."
"It will have to be, Agent Drake. X-COM is under United Nations sponsorship, and is not an agency of the United States government."
"I don't know if you are just an idealist, or naive, Garret. Jane Swift isn't going to be the only one asking these questions. If you..."
"Agent Drake, tensions are high all around. I don't need you or anyone else inflaming them further by promoting some sort of pogrom within our organization."
"It will come to a head, whether or not I do anything. And my government isn't going to sit around while a major country—a nuclear power, need I remind you—goes over to the aliens."
"Agent Drake, what are you—"
"Just think about what I said."
The door slammed open, and Drake stalked out. She shot Catalina a dark look as she left, but didn’t say anything further.
* * * * *
* * * * *
Shortly after getting Dr. Wagner's e-mail, the members of Alpha Team got another chime from their xPhones.
"All right, we've got the feed... all right... we're sending you, live, to Gillian St. John, who is at the border crossing in Strasbourg. Gillian? Gillian?"
"I'm here, Olivia. This is... excuse me... yes, Terry, let's get back from the crowd a bit... Olivia, this is Gillian St. John of the BBC World Service, at the border crossing between France and Germany. As you can see, it's a bit chaotic right now, although it's quieter now that it was a few hours ago. Local authorities estimated that a hundred thousand people have left in the last fifteen hours, since the French announcement at the United Nations... The Bundeswehr has set up an armored infantry battalion here around dawn... Terry, show those tanks... as you can see, they're watching, but not doing anything to interrupt the flow of refugees."
"And Gillian, are the French forces trying to stop the exodus?"
"No, no, Olivia, they don't seem to be, but they aren't letting anyone in the other way, no one is being allowed into France."
"That's consistent with what we've heard. Gillian, what about these people, leaving their home country? What are they saying?"
"Well, Olivia, I've talked to a few dozen people, and they are feeling pretty overwhelmed, obviously. One man said that the Free French are already fighting the invaders, but for the most part, it's been pretty muted on all sides. As you know, President Auguste Laval stated this morning that his goal was to, let's see, I have the copy here... 'To quickly bring France back into the community of nations, once the rest of the world learns to embrace peace, as we have...' I don't know, Olivia, but thus far, we haven't heard much else."
"Thank you, Gillian. Stay tuned to the BBC for the latest on this situation."
* * * * *
Catalina was returning from the communications center, trying to get the latest on the overseas situation, when she overheard an argument. Only later, after she’d recounted the exchange to the other members of Alpha, did she wonder if the door to the briefing room had been left open on purpose.
"She's a security risk, Garret, and if you can't see that, you're a fool."
"Counselor Beauvois has already rejected the actions of her home government, as have the other two X-COM staffers who are of French origin."
"That's not good enough..."
"It will have to be, Agent Drake. X-COM is under United Nations sponsorship, and is not an agency of the United States government."
"I don't know if you are just an idealist, or naive, Garret. Jane Swift isn't going to be the only one asking these questions. If you..."
"Agent Drake, tensions are high all around. I don't need you or anyone else inflaming them further by promoting some sort of pogrom within our organization."
"It will come to a head, whether or not I do anything. And my government isn't going to sit around while a major country—a nuclear power, need I remind you—goes over to the aliens."
"Agent Drake, what are you—"
"Just think about what I said."
The door slammed open, and Drake stalked out. She shot Catalina a dark look as she left, but didn’t say anything further.
* * * * *
* * * * *
Shortly after getting Dr. Wagner's e-mail, the members of Alpha Team got another chime from their xPhones.
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