Session 21 (September 15, 2008)
Chapter 82
The primary hangar deck at HQX had been transformed into an armory, with both Skyrangers lined up facing the huge blast doors that led to the access shaft to the surface. Musa had pulled out all the stops, rolling out racks that held every weapon and piece of technical gear in X-COM’s considerable arsenal. Hadrian and Jane were clad in new stealth-modified Personal Armor that Grace had upgraded to match Catalina’s, while Vasily was looking over a Predator missile launcher, a one-shot weapon armed with a blast warhead.
On the far side of the hangar, the Betas were busy checking their gear as well. “Man, Beta’s locked and loaded and ready to kick some ass!” Eleazar Perez yelled, noisily slamming a clip into his G36 and slapping the chest of his Personal Armor. Alyssa Sanders rolled her eyes as she adjusted the sling holster holding her laser pistol, while Jürgen Ritter, standing across from her, fiddled with the settings on a motion sensor.
“I hope you can secure the Elerium supplies for us,” he said to the Alphas. “The storage unit is down to ten percent.”
Their eyes were drawn to Skyranger 2, where a pair of Grace’s engineers where loading the containment units for the Elerium, long, bulky cylinders that looked almost like steel coffins. It would be Beta’s job to escort the engineering team that would go into the alien ship and extract the Elerium, once Alpha had neutralized the alien defenders.
If everything went according to plan.
Hallorand came into the hangar, nodding to both of the strike teams. “Better get loaded up, Alpha,” he said. “We’re five minutes out.”
The Alphas filed into their aircraft, knowing their roles and their places now, without any need for chatter as they stored their weapons. They could hear the whirring noise under their feet as the doors of the cargo compartment holding their HWP cycled closed. That was followed by the familiar sounds of the Skyranger’s startup sequence.
Ken’s voice came over the intercom as they strapped themselves into their seats. “Here we go, Elerium Express is leaving the station.” The engines on the Skyranger began to pulse, the hull of the aircraft trembling as they rose to full power. “No subtlety this time,” Ken went on, “We’re going to be flying on full burners, and even then Firestorm 1’s going to leave us in the dust. Damn, that ship is fast.”
“So, everyone clear on tactics?” Catalina asked, as the ship headed toward the rendezvous point.
“Why don’t you recap,” James said. “All I remember is that we are trying to stay within overwatch range of each other.”
Catalina nodded at the doctor. “Move fast as a close unit, sweep and clear. Hell, my old Tactics and Maneuvers lecturer would never believe me saying it.”
“Close unit, check,” James said. He started humming “We Are Family” under his breath, but loudly enough to be picked up in their com units. Jane blinked at him then chuckled.
“We not much time for mess about,” Vasily said. “If they sabotage Elerium—and they done that before—mission failed. We got to give them no time to think.”
“Fast, even if we risk losses, eh?” James asked.
“Whatever we do, we risk losses,” the Russian replied. “Be fast. But be smart.”
“If we stay together as a group and not split we can concentrate fire, and be easy for you to find us, too,” Catalina said, nodding meaningfully at the satchel full of X-COM medikits that James carried.
Ken’s voice came in over the intercom. “We’re getting an action report from Firestorm 1,” he reported. “Enemy is in sight.”
“Okay, let see if we just go home now anyway,” Vasily said. They all looked up at the speaker, as if willing it to provide good news.
“Craft is engaging,” Ken reported, followed by a long pause. When he spoke again, his voice was jubilant. “Ha! Direct hit, she’s going down, slowly.”
While the Alphas let out a collective breath, the pilot continued, “Looks like some forest, hills, nothing we can’t handle.”
The Skyranger banked left, and the aircraft began a gradual descent. After another minute, Ken reported, “Getting a sig on the hyperwave…” He let out a held breath, and then laughed. “Boys and girls, we got Sectoids.”
Vasily’s smile was grim. “Lasers?” Jane asked.
“Plasma, still more damage,” Catalina replied.
“It’s almost too easy,” Ken said. “ETA in 3 mins… Hm. That’s odd.”
“Uh oh,” Catalina said.
“What is it, Ken?” Jane asked.
“Thought I had something else on the decoder, but it’s gone now. Probably a glitch.”
The Alphas shared a look. “Ken, we don’t want unexpected company while we’re in there,” James said.
“I hear you, Alpha, but my scope’s clean now, showing only sectoids. If I get anything else, you’ll be the first to know. Setting you down a few hundred yards south of the supply ship. Good hunting.”
“Be wary folks, that sounds like something that we haven’t met might be there,” Catalina warned. The Alphas were getting up even as the Skyranger shifted to VTOL mode, balancing easily even as the aircraft shifted under them, unlocking their weapons from the racks and lining up in a row next to the hatch.
“Okay, be smart, then,” Vasily said. “We see something new, we stun, we not shoot. Okay? We here for Elerium, but if we can get bonus…”
The Skyranger trembled as its landing gear touched down. “Okay, we’re down!” Ken reported. “Careful, I’ve got readings close by, outside the enemy ship.”
The hatch popped and the Alphas filed out, scanning the area. The cargo compartment under the belly of the Skyranger cracked open and the HWP slid out, scanning for targets. They didn’t have to wait long; Vasily and Catalina were attending to the HWP when the first sectoid rose up over a low rise north of their position, its plasma pistol pointed in their direction. It didn’t get a chance to shoot, as Hadrian dropped it with a shot from his rifle, but within ten seconds a half-dozen others came into view, firing as soon as they had cleared the crests of the adjoining hills.
“Hey!” Ken yelled, as a plasma bolt exploded against the front of the Skyranger, blackening the cockpit canopy of the craft. More shots landed in the midst of the Alphas, who quickly returned fire. Despite the advantage of height and position, surrounding the Alphas in a half-crescent, the sectoids could not stand up to the quantity or accuracy of the fire from the human defenders. Less than twenty seconds after the first sectoid had appeared, none were left standing, and only Hadrian had been hit, a blast to his arm that James tended with a medikit.
“Just a flesh wound,” he reported, squeezing the contents of the kit into the Marine’s blackened arm. Hadrian wrapped a cord around the flap of armor that had been torn free from the impact, and hefted his rifle, falling into position behind Catalina and Vasily as they headed north toward the crashed alien ship.
It was big, a fat orb settled into an empty meadow, the crushed forms of several trees lying strewn in its wake. Smoke and dust rose from around it, and they could see the blackened wreckage where the Firestorm had crippled its engines, but the ship was by and large intact. Thus far, everything was going exactly according to plan.
The access hatch in the rear of the ship lay open, and was big enough to accommodate all of them, even the HWP. They made their way forward through one of the familiar entryways, complete with recessed niches, which they carefully scanned for hidden enemies before moving forward. The ship felt deserted, but they knew better than to take anything from granted inside an alien vessel.
Two corridors branched off from the entry, leading deeper into the ship. They flanked a four-panel door that opened as they approached, revealing a long, hourglass-shaped chamber that contained the massive, familiar apparatus of the alien ship’s engines. A miasma of smoky haze filled the room, and the Alphas switched on the breathing filters on their helmets as they moved forward, scanning for movement.
“We need to secure this location, see if the fuel supply is intact,” Jane suggested, pushing on ahead.
“This look… like…” Vasily began, but trailed off an odd sensation swept over them, a brief spell of dizziness that left them staggered and unfocused. Catalina clutched at her head, and muttered, “Oh, christ.” Vasily leaned heavily against a bank of alien machinery, while Hadrian’s eyes darted left and right, looking for targets.
“Everyone okay?” James asked.
“I just… I didn’t know who or where I was for a moment there,” Catalina said.
“Still feeling a bit dizzy,” Hadrian reported.
Jane called from up ahead. “There’s Elerium cells up here, intact,” she reported, “And one of those glowy lifts, it seems to head up to another level of the ship.”
“That good, we…” Vasily began, but he was again cut off as a series of clicks came from the motion detector in Catalina’s hand. She held up the device and looked at its screen, confirming what each of them knew it said.
“Incoming,” she said.
Being caught in a vise in a long chamber with multiple exits that was full of alien machinery was not an ideal tactical situation, but with their need to protect the Elerium, there was nothing to do but set up a hasty defense.
The door behind them opened a moment later and a small pack of sectoids burst through. They were greeted by a bright pulse from the HWP that cut the first alien almost in half. It fell to the ground, twitching, while the others returned fire. Plasma bolts streaked down the length of the room. One hit the HWP, sending up a bright fountain of white fire and flickering sparks, while others hit banks of machinery, flashing brightly in the smoky haze. The Alphas shot back, cutting down the aliens even as they pushed forward, charging ahead with almost suicidal abandon. The last one got almost to the burning tank before Hadrian punched a hole in its chest with his rifle, but even as it fell its hand kept spasming as it tried to get off another shot.
Vasily let out a held breath. The aliens had been coming right toward them, almost as if… He glanced over his shoulder, at the brightly glowing crystalline matrix that held Elerium-115 stored within. “He was going to—”
Catalina nodded. “Defense needed. They were heading in here to take out the Elerium.”
“Is the floor clear now?” Jane asked.
Catalina glanced down at the motion detector. “I’m not picking anything else up, but the hulls of these ships blocks the signals after a relatively short distance.”
“We cannot leave lift unguarded,” Vasily said. “Two people, check rest of this level, fast.”
“Go ahead,” James said to Hadrian and Catalina. “I’ll stay with Vas. Jane, keep an eye on the outer door and warn us if you see someone heading our way.”
Jane nodded. “Signal before you come back, I’ll shoot anything moving that doesn’t signal first.”
Hadrian and Catalina moved back out into the entry, quickly scanning the side corridors before heading into the closer. Behind her, James poked at the HWP, which was still operational if heavily damaged. Vasily kept an eye on the lift, but as he stared at the glowing shaft, he felt his head start to swim again. He staggered, almost falling against the wall. “Whugh?” he said, before he heard a loud, crystal clear voice filling his mind, reverberating against the inside of his skull.
MUST. SHOOT. ELERIUM. it said.
Vasily reached down and drew his plasma pistol. Slowly, as if in a dream, he lifted the weapon, until the barrel pointed directly at the bright core of the alien power source.