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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 5023939" data-attributes="member: 143">Session 11 (June 23, 2008)Chapter 34The ship’s engines flared as the Skyranger streaked down out of the sky toward the school.  The alien ship was big and obvious, an oblong bulge sitting on the edge of the schoolyard, a basketball hoop crushed by its landing jutting out from under its edge.  "We can't just go in guns blazing to this one, people,” Catalina said.  “There's the children to think of, and we have both the school and the ship to consider.  We need a better plan of attack."Vasily’s face betrayed his mood.  It was easy to follow his train of thought as he looked down at the weapon locked into its cradle beside him.  The laser rifle prototype had gone back to the workshop for refinement following the field test in the Everglades.  The three-barreled autocannon he’d been issued to replace it was even bulkier, capable of firing armor-piercing or explosive-tipped rounds.  It wasn’t exactly a discriminating weapon, however.  Not to mention the grenades that were affixed to the harness slung across his chest. "Govno," he cursed under his breath, the Russian curse made audible by the speakers built into his helmet. "One plan not cover this; could go lots of ways. If they start killing, we have to move fast. This turn into hostage situation, we screwed. They start using human shields..." "What of civilians?" he'd asked.  The reply had been curt.  "Kalinovskaya is a clear and open target.  Even if there are civilians, there are no civilians. Understood?" What else could he have said? "Understood." For the Motherland. He shook the memory away.  "They start using human shields, we may have to fire anyway," he stated, his voice deep and blank and tinged with horror.  "Not like we getting kids back if they captured.  Maybe they here to kill and hurt, maybe they here because they want herd subjects for new experiment onto ship..." He paused, and shook his head, as if to clear it.  "I am wrong.  Is simple plan.  They attack what we value, we attack what they value.  We cannot attack them in school, maybe we attack ship.  They have no choice but defend it, ignore school."“Man!  What the hell are those?” Ken’s voice came over the speaker, interrupting before anyone could respond to the Russian’s declaration. “Oh, that not good sign,” Vasily said. “What, Ken?” James said into his communicator. “I’ll pope the feed back, give you a look.”  The members of Alpha took out their xPhones, and stared at the image that appeared on the screens of the portable devices.  The thing looked a bit fuzzy, but they could see that it was roughly humanoid, clad in garments that masked the details of its form, with something looking like a cape dropping down over the back of its body.  Its torso culminated in a dark orb that seemed to protrude from its torso; there were no legs that they could see, suggesting that the thing was levitated by some unfamiliar technology.  “Oh my,” Catalina said.  “Looks like a dog-man,” James said.  “With a gun.”“A big gun,” Catalina said.  “That’s what we need,” Buzz said, his voice tinged with a tough of hysteria.  “Capes!  X-Com capes!”“Keep it together, Buzz,” Jane said quietly.  “Scanner picked up a few of them wandering around by the school,” Ken reported.  “There’s a ship parked right by it.  No sign of any kids out, no humans at all.”  The members of Alpha Team took a last look at their xPhones, as the tactical details of the school and its surroundings were fed to them.  The ship lurched and dropped heavily, Ken taking them in fast in an attempt to catch the aliens before they had much time to prepare for an assault.Even so, the sizzle of plasma bolts filled the air as the members of Alpha disembarked in the middle of the avenue that fronted the school, just over a hundred meters from the front of the main building and the adjacent alien ship.  There was a splash of energy as a bolt hit the Skyranger, then the crack of rifle fire and the hiss of lasers as the members of Alpha returned fire.  Vasily, unencumbered by the bulk of the autocannon and its magazine, which he’d left on the ship, squeezed off a shot from his handgun and ran forward, ducking low behind a stone wall that formed a waist-high barrier between the school property and the street.  The others used the Skyranger for cover, sending a steady stream of firepower at the aliens. Three of the floating aliens approached, one from further down the street, another pair coming from the small parking lot in front of the school.  One of the floaters collapsed as two laser beams converged on its chest, and a second jerked as several bullets struck its torso.  That one lifted its plasma rifle and fired a shot that clipped Catalina in the leg, as she started to run after the Russian.   The agent fell to the ground, but as James started toward her she yelled, “I’m all right!  Keep firing!”Vasily ran forward along the wall, ducking low.  Two plasma bolts hit the wall, sending out shards of stone and dust, but both hits came behind him.  The aliens continued to close, keeping up their fire.  A second one went down as a laser burst sliced across its face.  As the last one approached the wall, Vasily leapt up and over, dropping low to avoid the fire from his companions, the stun rod coming into his hand as he rolled under the alien.  It fired, the plasma bolt blasting a geyser of powdered asphalt mere inches from the Russian’s body as he thrust the weapon into the creature’s body.  There was an electrical surge, and the alien jerked back, collapsing to the pavement.  He gave it another dose just to be sure, then gestured for his companions to follow. “Secure position!  I be back!” he said, taking up the stunned alien, dragging it back toward the Skyranger.“Where are the kids?” James said, as they scanned the deserted schoolyard.  The front doors of the building were open, and there were large windows in all the schoolrooms that faced the street, but there were no signs of any humans, living or dead.  “If I were a kid and saw these, I would have hidden,” Buzz said. James treated Catalina’s leg with a medical kit, and she seemed otherwise fit to continue, just limping slightly as she moved forward.  The entire area was strangely quiet; it was easy to forget that they were inside a city, with busy thoroughfares just a few blocks away.  “We should clear the building,” Buzz suggested.  Catalina and Jane had already taken out their motion sensors, and were sweeping the area.  “Nothing at all anywhere,” Catalina said.  “The hull of the ship may be blocking the signal, but it should read inside the school okay.  There’s nothing moving within range.”Vasily returned, having secured the alien in the Skyranger’s cryo-locker.  He’d left the autocannon, but snapped a clip into his G-36, drawing back the action to chamber a round.  “Okay.  Here go,” he said.  They moved on ahead toward the ship, which loomed over them.  This one was easily eight meters tall from its base to the top, the asphalt blacktop cracked from the weight of it.  Buzz pointed out the main hatch, recessed into the ship’s hull facing the school.  There was no indication that the aliens were waiting for them, but the five of them approached warily, alert to any firing port of self-defense mechanism that might have been waiting for them. Vasily took up a covering position while Buzz attended to the hatch’s controls.  With their experience in dealing with alien systems, it only took him a few seconds to operate the hatch.  As the four parts of the door slid back into the ship, they saw a shallow ramp leading up into the interior.  And a floater, which lifted its plasma rifle so that its barrel pointed squarely at the center of Vasily’s forehead.</blockquote>

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