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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 5324811" data-attributes="member: 143">That's weird, I posted this yesterday, but I guess it didn't take. Well, here's a rare Saturday cliffhanger.* * * * * Session 29 (November 17, 2008)Chapter 130Within the cargo compartment of the Avenger, there was utter silence.  The seven cylinders arranged at a sixty-degree angle in a “U” formation dominated the available space, while every other inch seemed to be taken up with racks of gear and banks of heavy machinery that gave the tiny compartment the look of some mad scientist’s dungeon.  Other than the tiny LEDs that flickered on the sides of the cylinders, the compartment was dark.  A rime of ice crystals covered the small windows of armored glass visible on each of the cylinders, obscuring the faces of the men and women inside.A black display screen flared to life, covered with columns of scrolling data.  A line of white lamps came alive along the ceiling a moment later, accompanied by a faint rumbling noise, like an avalanche heard from a great distance away.  A hiss came from one of the cryonic pods, then another, and then the room was filled with noise, as an alarm klaxon sounded, and the white light was joined by a red strobe that sent violent red pulses through the crowded space. The cylinders slid open, accompanied by plumes of air that flared visibly as they crossed dramatic gradients of temperature.  Added to those were the exhalations of the Alphas, who groaned as they stirred back to consciousness.  Vasily grabbed onto the edge of his pod, ignoring the bits of skin that clung to the icy metal.  “What is wrong?” he asked, as he tried to get up.  “He grabbed his communicator and jabbed it into his ear.   “Ken?  What is status?”“Sitrep?” Hadrian echoed, pulling himself up out of the cryonic chamber.  “Not know yet.”Vasily got up out of the unit, but nearly fell onto his face when his legs buckled under him.  “Take it slow, everyone,” Mary warned them from her own unit.  “Give your muscles a chance to remember what they’re for.”Ken’s voice came from a speaker near the ceiling, drawing their attention.  “Welcome back, sleepyheads.  Better hang on, we’re going to have a bumpy ride in a minute.”“Are we… are we there?” Catalina asked, still groggy. Jane leaned over and touched the controls of the display unit.  An image appeared on the screen, the massive red orb of Mars, looking close enough almost to touch.  “We’re there,” she said. “What’s wrong with James’s pod?” Catalina asked.  They all turned toward the one unit that hadn’t opened, and Mary, still clinging to her cylinder as she gingerly tested her legs, quickly crossed over to it, opening the small display unit built into its side.  She tapped the tiny buttons, and frowned.  Vasily staggered over to her.  “What… he okay?”“I can’t bring him out.  He’s alive, but the controls are frozen.”“That’s not good,” Catalina said.  She joined Hadrian and Jane, who were already slipping into their armored suits, but stumbled and nearly fell as the ship lurched under them.  All of them looked up toward the speaker unit. “The aliens seem to have noticed we’re here,” Ken said.  There was nothing they could do but get ready.  The rumbling continued, as Ken altered his trajectory and the Avenger continued its rapid descent toward the Martian surface.  Two alien cruisers had appeared in far orbit near Phobos, and were moving to intercept, but the X-COM craft was faster, and it tore through the thin Martian atmosphere like a bullet.  Mary was unable to fix the problem with James’s cryo pod, and they had no choice but to leave him inside, and hope that they could recover him later.  She left the onboard computer running a full diagnostic, but it looked like it was going to take more time than they had. The ride got rougher as they descended, and the Alphas were shaken about despite the restraining cords attached to their armor.  They checked each others’ suits as best they could, and waited.  “Not reading any ship activity from the planet’s surface,” Ken said.  “They must be building the dreadnought somewhere underground.”“We coming in a bit fast, yes?” Vasily asked, as the ship continued to buck under them.  “We’ve got those cruisers on our tail,” Ken said.  “It’s fine, she can take it.  Okay, there’s our target.”  They looked at the display screen, which was still set to show what the pilot was seeing; in this case, it was a large cliff mass that rose up from the surface ahead.  “I’ll set you down right on the front doorstep,” Ken said, “Then I’ll draw off those cruisers.”They felt themselves press hard against the restraining cords as Ken fired the braking thrusters.  “Ah, looks like they’ve got a welcoming committee,” the pilot said.  He zoomed the display screen, and the base of the cliff jumped into sharp focus.  They could see the dark opening there now, but also the small gray forms of sectoids, accompanied by the familiar glimmering shapes of cyberdisks.  “Get ready!” the pilot said, as the alien group drew steadily closer.  “Down in thirty seconds, sorry for the drop and run!”Vasily hit the power feed on his cannon.  “We could use warmup,” he said.  The ramp at the back of the ship began to open, and they could see the red sky of Mars, followed by the crumbling red soil below as the ship touched down.  Dust and dirt flared around them as they filed out, fast, and then the Avenger was lifting back into the sky.  Bright flashes flared around it as it ascended.  “We’re under fire!” someone yelled, as the glowing streaks of plasma bolts started to flash past them.  Vasily took one last look up into the sky, just in time to see the weak light from the distant sun flash off a squat oblong missile that shot up after the Earth spacecraft.  He had just enough time to feel a cold feeling clench in his gut before the blaster bomb exploded into a bright fireball that blinded him in the scant instant before the concussive force threw him, along with all of the other Alphas, down to the ground.</blockquote>

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