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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 4942014" data-attributes="member: 143">Session 4 (May 5, 2008)Chapter 11“Get down!” Catalina yelled, colliding with Jürgen just as the alien gun fired.  Both of them fell to the ground, and the energy bolt sizzled just over them. “Take cover!” Vasily yelled, although there wasn’t much more than scattered brush and a few smaller rocks to offer protection in the immediate vicinity.  Multiple guns fired, and little gouts of dirt flared up around the alien as bullets hit the ground and the boulder next to it.  A string of bullets from Vasily’s rifle formed a track across the stone, ending in a shot that clipped the alien in the shoulder.  It turned and aimed at Vasily, who threw himself aside.  Another energy bolt sizzled through the air, narrowly missing him.  Jane, crouched behind a tangled scrub, lifted her rifle and took quick aim.  The sniper rifle cracked, and the alien stumbled back.  It remained standing for a moment, a trickle of green ooze trailing from the hole in its forehead, then it fell over backward.  Wary, the five members of Alpha Team got back to their feet and approached the alien.  Vasily had his rifle trained on it, but the dead thing didn’t move.  “Damn… these things look like they are from the movies.  Sorta spooky,” Buzz said.  Vasily bent down and pried the weapon out of the alien’s hand.  It felt warm to his touch, and was made out of a material he’d never seen before.  There was no indication of how it worked; he could see no switches or buttons, or even a visible trigger mechanism.  Before they could examine the creature in more detail, a loud noise drew their attention back in the direction of the crash.  A thick black plume was rising into the air, and they could hear the crackle of flames even though they couldn’t see the crash from their position. “Come on,” Vasily said, urging them forward again. It took less than a minute for them to reach the crash site, even moving slowly, wary of another attack.  The alien ship, which resembled the frustum-shaped crew pods from the Apollo missions, lay in a smoking trench that extended a good sixty feet behind the wreck.  Smoke was billowing from rents in its hull, and from a hatch that stood open near the base of the trench ahead of them.  “We need to put out the fires,” Jürgen said.  “The ship is being damaged.”“Everything will be destroyed if we don’t get the fire out in there,” Buzz added. “We don’t have extinguishers,” Catalina said.  “Look out!” Jane warned, as a figure emerged from the hatch.  It was another of the gray aliens.  This one was wounded, green and black streaks covering its bare torso, but it too had a firearm, which it lifted as it caught sight of the humans. Both sides fired at once.  The alien crumpled, hit by several rounds, while its shot clipped Vasily’s leg.  The big Russian crumpled, grimacing in pain, clutching the limb where the energy blast had torn through his uniform and blackened his flesh.  Jürgen and Catalina were at his side in a flash, while Jane and Buzz kept a close eye on the alien and its vessel.  The creature appeared to be dead, or at least it didn’t move as they watched. “Is he okay?” Jane asked, without looking away from her target. “Just a flesh wound, he’ll be all right,” Jürgen said, treating Vasily’s injury with materials from his medical kit.  “We’d better get back from the ship, in case something inside decides to explode,” Catalina said.  She and Jürgen helped Vasily to his feet, and helped carry him away from the burning alien vessel. Vasily touched his communicator.  “Alpha Team to Ranger.  Contact, two hostiles, both dead.  Definite not human.  Have discovered wrecked vessel.  Is on fire.  Too big to transport to Main Base, over.” Ken’s voice sounded in their ears.  “Roger Alpha, I’ve been monitoring your channel.  The recovery team is already en route, with a team of engineers and a helo big enough to lift a house.  Local authorities have been instructed to keep the area clear; they’re selling it as a fragged up missile test.  Your orders are to keep an eye on things until the recovery team arrives.”“You want to go back to the ship?” Catalina asked Vasily.  He shook his head, but picked a nearby rock and settled onto it, grimacing slightly as the movement strained his injured leg.  The companions remained there and watched as the flames consuming the alien ship burned themselves out, while the sun set below the western horizon, and long shadows stretched out behind the watchers as night came to the desert.</blockquote>

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