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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 5306114" data-attributes="member: 143">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 123The 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.</blockquote>

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