0 comments/ 2397 views/ 2 favorites Xcom By: sexnovella The intelligent young adult Mr. P didn't look like the average Scandinavian with his nicely cut reddish brown hair, mustache and beard. Patrick's long and slim body was inexperienced but he was a trained marksman. "Major, I'm your sniper Patrick and I'll follow your orders." Nick Temple nodded at him and he listened to what the other soldiers in his team had to say. Mr. P hated the aliens that had damaged the Earth's atmosphere and environment. Patrick looked at Sergeant Angela Spica and smiled at her but he didn't fancy cyborgs. His turquoise eyes were stuck on the beautiful captain McCarthy. Mr. P had a thing for female medics but he never dared to talk to her. The commander Roger Vesser was certain that his army would be successful but he was worried that the first mission would be very difficult since it could develop to a jungle war. Nick silently drank in his teams introductions. He noticed Captain McCarthy's wink to Sergeant Spica, as well Private Patrick's apparent infatuation with the team's medic. "Great, five minutes in and I'm already going to have to deal with fraternization." He thought despairingly. "At least they seem combat ready." He thought standing up. "Alright. Here's the plan. Captain McCarthy and I will be in charge of moving and protecting the civilians. While we escort the civilians to the ship, captain Truke, Sergeant Snow and Sergeant Spica will hold off enemy forces. While we're all moving I want Private Larson to move to a vantage point and cover the team. As I said before, the priority is the civilians. Kill as many aliens as you can but once we have the civilians safely aboard the ship, we're leaving. Now suit up, we'll arrive soon." Nick said before putting on his heavy titan armor and loading his alloy cannon. "Major, point where you want me to go and I shall fly there. I'll love to shoot any enemy and keep you safe. I won't let you down, Sir." Patrick was pleased to know that he would be able to take his revenge on those extraterrestrial monsters while defending the precious McCarthy and her team mates. This operation needed long distance attacks and it was genius by the major to put his crush in the same group because he didn't seem to care about anybody else. Mr. P cleaned and polished his customized plasma rifle and flying suit. Patrick was as prepared and ready he could be without real battle experience. "Good to go, five by five," the medic called out as her ghost armor flicked and faded, preparing for a stealth deployment just as soon as they hit dirt. Tapping a control on her arm she pulled up a holographic map of the area, taken from topological scans performed from orbit before the drop. Pointing to a cluster of tall rock outcroppings to the north of the drop site, as well as an old mining facility to the east she nodded over at Patrick with a friendly smile. "Looks like there's two good vantage points there and there. Both should give good views both ways down the valley, and you shouldn't have too much trouble climbing them with that suit of yours." "Yes Captain, I'll scout the area and find the most secure hiding place." Mr. P smiled and took a good look at McCarthy's body before he took off and flew towards the strategic points. Patrick made sure that he stayed high up in the air to avoid direct contact with any hostile creatures. Mr. P almost got hit by a shot from a plasma pistol when he passed across the valley. The shot came from the opposite side of the city and Patrick suspected that something was going to attack the civilians. Mr. P chose to land on the most unreachable point and found a good place where his weapon got great support between the rocks but he couldn't find any enemies with his laser sight. Snow Sarge couldn't help but whistle on seeing the naked torso of the cybernetic girl called Ironside. Whether she be human or cyborg was of no matter to him. Those tits look real enough and his mouth water from just the thought of mewing on it. Now in earth's atmosphere and with Mr. P detached, the ship descended stealthily towards the rocky ground. Unhooking the charger cable behind his seat, Snow Sarge stood and walked up to Tank. His large hand gripped Tank's shoulder as he beckoned. "C'mon lads, the battle is out there not on your ass." He threw the imaginary cat over his shoulder and walked towards the exit. "I am not going to babysit your asses down there." Standing at the closed shaft, he ran his fingers through his snow white hair again. He chuckled as another heavy joined him. As a heavy, there were going to be the first to taste whatever was cooking down there. That didn't bother him though; he was battle ready as always. Nick respectfully averted his eyes as Ironside got into her mech suit. Bones caught his attention as she injected something into her neck. "I'll have to talk to her about that." Nick thought as the ship entered the atmosphere. He watched as Private Patrick opened the bay doors and flew to a rock outcropping, already drawing fire. Now on the street, the four man unit made their stand at the city's exit. Using giant drums and metal scraps they made a barricade. Using titanium alloy they covered the barricade. As the highest in rank, Eagle took charge of the operation. "Tank, I want you between those walls, Snow stay there, Stuke you and I are behind the barricade." The men huddled to their assigned position, their weapons drawn and alive in their hands. "No one gets killed on my watch." he barked at the two heavy's in ahead of the barricade. "Don't stay there and play hero when the place get too hot." The first enemy seen coming out from the corner was a Sectoid. And then two more, and then their contingent. "Hold your fire, on my mark we send these nuggets to their world above." he said. He noticed the chained connection. "Merge mind!" he alerted his unit. "A 163 yards away, 4 way west and 13 way east. I can take 'em out." Snow said from the corner. "No we'll live that to Mr. P. Our focus should be on those Floaters." For a moment she considered ordering Mr. P to break cover and draw the opponents' fire but she quickly rejected the idea. The sniper was too valuable an asset covering the streets and outskirts of the city where he was to risk losing to such a maverick tactic. Better to just leave him on over watch until the aliens made their move and hope they weren't packing any ordnance heavy enough to simply wipe out the town and be done with it. Bringing her thoughts back to the mission at hand Bones waved down at the map hovering in the air in front of her. "Sir, might I suggest moving Ironside up to help cover the south east? The fire came from that direction and she'd be best suited to help secure Mr. P's position in case the BEMs try to ambush him." With her speed and armor Ironside could probably have held the position all by herself but the site really held no tactical value, other than the lines of sight across the area which the sniper would be best suited to make use of than anyone else on the squad. "Sergeant Spica, clear the area, if it isn't already and cover Private Patrick on the south east approach." Nick said into his com before turning and looked back at Bones. "Captain McCarthy saw a flaw in my plan. This will help you not to get flanked. Temple out." Nick said into his com, hoping Bones understood that Nick acknowledged the good and bad actions of the team, including his own mistakes. The skinny, grey creatures with big black eyes and plasma weapons had surrounded the city and the ground units didn't know this. Mr. P spotted them and was forced to snap shot as fast as possible. The first shots injured two Sectoids, one shot missed and the one that aimed at McCarthy was instantly killed. The surviving aliens fled and hid in the tropical forest. Patrick hoped that they wouldn't call for back up. Mr. P feared that this could be a terror attack that included the powerful flying Cyberdiscs and mighty Sectoid leaders with strong PSI abilities but they seemed to be very poorly armored. "Area cleared, heading to checkpoint," she reported in as she kicked in the mobility enhancements of her suit and rammed her fist into a nearby wall. The quickest route to Mr. P would be a straight line, and with her powered armor there was no need to waste time going around buildings. As she smashed her way through structure after structure Ironside scanned the streets for any sign of alien activity but either due to luck on her part or the fact that the small, physically weak aliens were choosing to keep their distance from the armored behemoth she soon made it to the south east corner of the city without any major delays. Slowing her pace as she stepped into the jungle the MEC trooper scanned the tree line carefully before making her way over the rock formation and signaling up to the sniper high above. "Hey there long gun, how's it hanging?" Patrick was happy to see Ironside and pleased to have saved McCarthy from a certain death. He was grateful for her defense but a naked body attached to a machine wasn't his kink. "Sergeant, I feel great and I am no longer a rookie. One Sectoid ran away to its ship and left. We should save the citizens and leave this place quickly before they come back with a larger army and use heavy weapons." "Don't worry kid," Ironside called up at Mr. P as her eyes scanned the undergrowth nearby for any movement other than the wind. "I'm sure the Major will have us back in plenty of time for you to make another pass at the good doctor." The terrain was beginning to make Ironside a little uncomfortable. The MEC had originally been intended as an urban assault vehicle to work alongside squads working in densely built cities where tank, APC and other armored vehicles wouldn't be able to maneuver safely and as the rumble crumbled beneath her feet the MEC Trooper was all too aware just how unstable her position was right now. "You sure you don't see anything from up there?" The sergeant asked her voice more than a little nervous. "This place is just too damn quiet. It gives me a bad feeling about all of this." "Sergeant, the Captain has disappeared and I haven't seen her for a long time. I am worried that something has happened to McCarthy. You know that explosives are useless against Cyberdiscs and large UFOs, right? I think it would be great if the medic could give me a treatment to make me relax and feel good. Don't you get stressed, nervous and panic when you are on the battlefield, Ironside? Doesn't it hurt a lot to be connected with a machine? I don't want to lose you if we get overrun by an alien horde." Ironside wasn't too worried about the Captain, she was far more concerned that at any minute an alien battleship may appear overhead, raining fire from the skies. Her battle chassis was tough, but there wasn't much she could do against weapons designed to carry out an orbital bombardment. "Isn't disappearing exactly what the Captain is supposed to do?" The MEC Trooper asked, her sensors alternating between watching the forest around them and the cloudless sky above, "With that ghost armor of hers she could be standing right next to you, fingering her tight little pussy and you won't even know it." It was a little mean to play with the boy's affections like that, the entire squad knew about the crush the young man had on their medic, well apart from the medic herself it seemed. Right now though Ironside was beginning to feel a little exposed, even with her body fully encased ion the heavy armor of her MEC. Something was off about this whole operation and she just couldn't stand waiting for the other shoe to drop. Patrick could imagine how a nude McCarthy would have caressed her breasts and nipples while she played with the clit. He liked the idea of having an invisible girlfriend that surprised him by using his naked body. "That sounds too good to be true but I believe you, Sergeant. The Captain can probably take care of herself and handle any situation just like you. I think that you are a nice and kind girl. I like you but I don't love you the way I love Hilary." He had expected the sniper to take out the Sectoid initiator from his vantage point that would have cleared the lines of Sectoid without having them waste ammo. Ironside's way was fine nevertheless, but with the MEC trooper gone they will have to hold alone against the next phase. "Drones!" Snow barked out to the others before they emerged from the corners. "Light 'em up." Eagle yelled back. Bringing his plasma rifle to life, he let loose the fire within him. He could feel Tanks blaster going off, the energy burst delivering massive damage to the enemy. His eyes drifted to the floater ahead, its stance was something he had seen before. "Tank, that floater is going for the jump, it'll try to come over the lines out flanking us. Keep your eyes on it" he said ducking behind the titanium plating as a shot of plasma energy whooshed past. He winced as the weak barricade started falling apart under the incessant fire power. He needed to make it to Tank's corner. "Cover me," he said to his unit. Mr. P noticed the activity on the ground and he shot the monstrous cyborg powered by a pair of twin back mounted jets with an aimed shot before it landed. Patrick wondered if the Seekers would come next. "This is without doubt an ambush. We must evacuate the people right now and retreat to the Avenger before they slaughter us one by one but we are trapped and the city is surrounded by hostile units. I can't kill all of them at once." Turning her attention up to where Mr. P was hiding amongst the rocks above her Ironside quickly switched to the local band. "Are you going to be okay out here on your own?" She asked, her voice tinged with concern for the little lovelorn man. "And don't just say yes in the hopes you'll get injured and the good lady doctor will come kiss your cock better for you." "Sir, what about the second Sectopod?" Snow asked. "We'll leave the first Sectopod to the sniper. Now move it." he shot back. Watching Snow and Tank trot away, he brought up his com and relayed to Mr. P. "Mr. P. Come in, this is Eagle. We have two Sectopods along with a contingent of Mutons heading our direction. I want you to take out the first Sectopod. With a critical shot from your Plasma sniper rifle. You can nail this piece of junk. You have only one chance, son." Patrick splattered the first Sectopod with a perfect headshot and the next shot went through the second Sectopod. "I can take care of myself, Sergeant. You must go and help the others. Don't worry about anything, I will cover you and fly to safety if things become too difficult to handle. My gun is the best and most reliable friend I have. I can't understand why the Mutons are helping the Sectoids." Mr. P was unhappy and this battle made him depressed. Moving ever closer Ironside's next shot was far more focused, aimed right for the hole left by Mr. P's sniper shot and drilling deep into the damaged Sectopod's hull. As she charged towards the second mechanical menace Ironside smiled to herself as she watched the first shaking with a series of secondary, internal explosions before finally collapsing into a heap of spare parts. Patrick shot at a strong and around 7 feet tall Muton soldier but the shot just bounced off the humanoid's powerful armor. "I can't even harm the Mutons! You must find another way to kill them or die!" Patrick could only observe the battle from his position since he had no heavy weapons or explosives. Mr. P wondered if was safe to fly down and take a heavy plasma rifle from an alien corpse without any risk. The Mutons seemed to be busy right now but other species could be hiding in the wilderness and he had to follow his orders by annoying the enemy as much as possible by intimidating them. Several Mutons panicked, others froze and some went berserk when Patrick shot at them. One of the Mutons head's snapped sideways as the high velocity sniper round hit home, piercing its skin and dropping it to the floor in a limp heap. Next to it one of its fellows twisted its head back and forth as if hunting for whoever had just killed its friend before opening its mouth and bellowing loudly, as if enraged by the shifting turn of events. A moment later its head exploded as Ironside's Kinetic impact module smashed into its teeth and continued through the back of its skull. "Good to see you getting your hands dirty, Private," the MEC Trooper called out as she snapped off a grenade into the nearby rubble, keeping the enemy soldiers hunkering down there hunkered down for just a few seconds longer. The two XCOM warriors were back to back in the middle of the alien horde and if the monsters took a moment to assess the situation they'd realize the humans had no hope of surviving the fight, let alone winning it. Luckily the lightning strikes of the sniper support was causing enough of a distraction to keep the enemy bewildered and Ironside was doing her best to take advantage of the momentary lapse of coordination among the beasts. Finally plasma bolts started shooting down the road from the barricade her companions had erected as Snow and Eagle added their contributions to the madness. At this range they weren't likely to hit anything vital but at least the added confusion kept the alien beasts guessing and gave Ironside the opening she needed to shoot another Muton in the mouth as it tried to bark out a battle cry to rally its comrades. "There are Mutons hiding in the bushes and they come from every direction. It looks like we can push them back but watch out for sneak attacks and use your ammo wisely. Try to get some cover from their fire and it is up to the highest ranked officer if we should flee or fight." The ship took off and began to fly towards the team. Nick heard his com crackle as they moved back into range. "Ground team, this is Major Temple. Move to the extraction point, evac ETA is five minutes. Just hold out a little longer and we're home free." Nick said to the entire team. "Yes Major. I will leave my position and go to the extraction point right now." Mr. P flew like an angel of death and used the last rounds on the aliens before he got rid of his rifle. Patrick took a huge plasma weapon from one of the dead Sectoids and used it to send the Mutons back to the hell where they belonged. He really hated the ugly purple bastards with their puke green armor and Mr. P got pissed when the mistress in his dreams got ripped apart by an alien grenade. A Muton aimed at the Avenger with a blaster launcher and killed the entire squad with one rocket when it exploded. Patrick had lost the battle but not the war and he continued to play the computer game in the darkness until the humans defeated the aliens. XCOM: Operation Burning Skull Silver cirrus clouds, thin brushstrokes against the night sky, hung above the darkened forest. Only a few amorous crickets disturbed the quiet. A crescent moon and its attendant stars lit the earth. And then one of the stars began to move, slowly, meanderingly, as though it were looking for something: a peripatetic, periwinkle pinpoint. From beyond the horizon another star appeared, moving quickly, the same yellow-white as the sun itself. It flew straight towards the first star. Briefly, they danced, one pursuing the other. Bright lights volleyed back and forth between them. A sudden burst of orange signaled the end of the hunt. The Interceptor, Raven 4, turned around and flew back to base, while the purple star grew larger and larger. The UFO plummeted out of the sky and made impact, smashing through the trees as though they were toothpicks, leaving a scorched, smoldering corridor through the forest in its wake. It struck the ground, skipping gracefully like a stone thrown across a pond, skidding along the earth, and finally coming to rest near a lake, its leading edge half buried in a small hill, its hull steaming in the cool, spring air. The forest, temporarily silenced by the crash, slowly returned to life. Within mere hours, a Skyranger had taken off from a continent away and arrived at the crash site, littered with embers and debris. The bulbous jet landed with a deft grace that defied its appearance, its turbines roaring as it gently lowered itself onto solid ground. Its rear door yawned open, and four soldiers walked out, weapons drawn, alert to the dangers waiting for them unseen in the woods, the dangers they were here to eliminate. Earth and humanity itself were under attack by a new, unknown enemy. Alien abductions and terror attacks were a fact of life as they aliens struck all over the world. Only XCOM, the Extraterrestrial Combat Initiative, the shield and sword of mankind, sworn to protect humanity and defeat its extraterrestrial attackers, had the potential to stop them. The soldiers emerged in a small clearing. In one direction led the smoldering trail of broken trees left behind by the UFO as it crashed. "Ich denke, dass wir das UFO gefunden haben," Captain Friedrich Jünger, a veteran of the Kommando Spezialkräfte, reported back to base. At XCOM Headquarters, the translation team immediately set to work. A truly international organization, XCOM had been expanded from a small core in urgent haste as the gravity of the alien invasion became apparent to the governments of earth. Unfortunately, this rapid creation had left a number of weaknesses in the organization, including a lack of a common language among the soldiers and staff. With personnel from all over the globe, a way to keep communication flowing was urgently needed, and during missions, when speed and accuracy were of the essence, Esperanto was used as an interlingua to bridge the gap. "Mi pensas, ke ni trovis la nifo," reported Jünger's translator. "I think that we've found the UFO," the other translators reported into their own languages. "Roger that, Strike One," replied Central Officer Bradford from the base. "Major Kim, you're authorized to assault the crash site. Exercise extreme caution and expect heavy resistance: we don't know how many hostiles survived the crash." "Yes, sir," replied Ji Hye Kim. "Raven, cover us," she ordered. Lieutenant Shivani Gavde nodded. She had joined XCOM two months ago, after an alien abduction raid on her hometown of Kanpur. Her home had been razed, her friends and family killed or worse, her city ruined. She was left with nothing but her anger and a burning desire for revenge. XCOM had found her in the rubble and taken her in for medical treatment, and once she recovered, she had volunteered for service. Since that awful day, she had inscribed the name of one of her lost loved ones on every bullet she aimed at the enemy. She had yet to run out. Gavde took up her position behind a felled log and set up her Accuracy International AS50 sniper rifle. The rest of the squad inched forward, moving between cover. Gavde followed them with her sights, looking for any movement. She clenched her teeth and flexed her trigger finger, hungry for battle. The UFO gradually came into view, a fat, squat disk the color of mercury, its force fields shimmering blue. A large hole had been shorn through one side. Equipment lay haphazardly outside the craft. A faint, deep, almost soothing hum filled the air. Kim whistled. "Still in one piece. That thing must be strong." An insectoid chittering broke the calm. "We've got contact!" Sergeant Eric McAllister shouted. "Two ETs, one o'clock!" Two Sectoids looked up from the glowing pod they were examining. Their metallic, burnt orange eyes glistened in the moonlight, their chests glowing gold through an apparent fissure underneath their flesh. Their veins could be seen through their sickly grey skin. They lopped awkwardly behind a piece of wreckage. From behind the wreckage, ghostly purple and indigo tendrils appeared, arcing across the air. One of the Sectoids, his oversized skull glowing violet, lit from the inside, peered out from behind the wreckage and raised his arm, firing a bolt of plasma at Jünger. A brilliant green beam shot towards him, superheated gas smoking off its surface as it just barely missed him, striking the tree behind him and causing it to explode as the plasma vaporized the water inside. "Scheiße! Looks like they're mind-melding," he observed. "Get into cover!" "Raven, do you have a shot on them?" radioed Kim. Gavde aimed her rifle at where the arcs would converge behind the Sectoids' cover. She exhaled slowly, squeezed the trigger, and fired. Her rifle bucked against her shoulder and the bullet burrowed through the thin, metal wall. The Sectoid screeched and collapsed, green ichor leaking from its mouthless face. The second Sectoid screamed, scrabbling furiously at its skull, bent over double in pain until, with a brief flash, it, too, expired, without a single mark upon its body, its mind destroyed from its partner's death. "X-ray down," Gavde informed Kim, chambering a new round, inscribed with the name Urvashi Prakash. "Thanks," she replied. "Boom Boom, look at this," McAllister called to her, looking at the aliens' pod. Kim and Jünger walked over. The upper surface of the pod was transparent, filled with a translucent, dark blue sludge. Through the bubbling ooze could be seen the faint shadow of a human being. "Central, are you receiving this?" "Roger that, Strike One," Bradford replied, watching the live video feed with a pained grimace. "Looks like we found what they're doing with the abductees. God only knows what they're doing to these people. All the more reason to blow 'em to hell. Get moving." "Yes, sir," Kim responded, sizing up the UFO. She removed the FGM-148 Javelin from her back, grinning. Major Kim had nearly been removed from the Daehanminguk Gukgun for an "unhealthy interest" in explosives, but the war had rendered her ability too valuable to discard. Her superiors transferred her to XCOM, neatly solving two problems with a single solution. "Knock knock. Let's see how tough this thing really is. Jünger, McAllister, get ready for a breach. Raven, keep a look out. We don't want anyone coming in after us. Any X-rays show up, take 'em out for us." "Yes, ma'am." "Fire in the hole!" Kim cheered as the rocket took off with a whoosh, floating briefly, almost gracefully, before its engine ignited, yellow flames billowing as it flew towards its destination. The UFO's hull exploded with a thunderous roar. Jünger and McAllister moved up to the ship's new door as the smoke slowly cleared. A neon green flash suddenly illuminated the smoke. A chartreuse bolt plunged forth from the smoke, striking Kim in the chest. The last thing she saw was the hulking silhouette of a Muton behind the swirling clouds of smoke. Her body was thrown backwards, a look of surprise on her face. "Ji Hye!" screamed McAllister, running to the major. "Wait, stop!" warned Jünger. The Muton leveled its plasma rifle. Its thick, clawed, puce finger reached for the trigger, its small, milky-white eyes narrowed. A loud bark threw the Muton staggering back, temporarily dazed. "Take him out," Gavde called out as she hurried to reload. "Jawohl," replied Jünger. He stormed into the breach, up to the apelike Muton, and before the alien could recover, fired his shotgun twice at point-blank range. The first shot broke open the alien's heavy black and green armor, while the second ripped apart its flesh and bones, throwing it against the wall with a bellowing roar. It struggled to lift its plasma rifle for one final shot, growling its last breaths, its arm trembling, but Jünger unleashed another round directly into its forehead. Gold blood splattered onto his face and armor. "Good riddance. How's Major Kim?" "She's alive," McAllister reported, kneeling by her side. At least the aliens' weapons were clean, he thought. None of the messy deaths he had seen in Iraq, watching good men bleed out from an IED that tore off their legs. "The shot just missed her vitals. The medikit sterilized the wound, and she shouldn't feel any pain until after we get back to base, but she's sitting the rest of this mission out. She'll be fine once we get her to the infirmary." He stood up. "You're in charge now, Captain." Jünger sighed. "Hope she enjoys the vacation." Gavde's sniper rifle wouldn't be much use in the tight confines of the alien craft. That left just him and McAllister against whatever remained inside the ship. "Alright, Doc, let's clear out the rest of the UFO. Raven, guard Major Kim." McAllister climbed through the ship's gaping wound and joined Jünger inside. His Geiger counter clicked more and more quickly as he walked deeper inside the ship. They entered the craft's hallways, guns drawn. "We're clear," reported McAllister. The interior of the UFO was in better shape than the exterior, but not by much. One of the elerium reactors had exploded, turning the wall separating the generator from the rest of the UFO into a storm of shrapnel that had lacerated and impaled an especially unlucky Muton to death, his bloated corpse, caked in dried, mustard-yellow gore, left unmoved from where it had fallen in the chaos and confusion since the crash. The burnt out generator still glowed with a dull green light, but it would be worthless for research now. The charred remains of something were burnt into the door's threshold. "Let's try the cockpit," Jünger suggested. "There might still be something holed up in there." "And the flight computers... Trying to bring back a valentine for Doctor Vahlen?" McAllister teased. Jünger smirked. "Well I bet she'd be awfully appreciative if we did. She's been bugging the commander for months about bringing one back intact. Boom Boom usually prevents that from happening, though..." "I think you'd have to bring back a whole UFO to get back on her good side after The Mess Hall Incident." "For her, I'll carry it back myself." They made their way to the rear of the craft. The cockpit had two entrances opposite each other, located at the front corners of the room. Jünger prepared to enter one, while McAllister took the other. "At the count of three, we'll blitz whatever's in there. One. Two," he counted, tightening his grip on his Mossberg 590. "Three." The two soldiers burst into the empty room. Huge consoles filled the room, displaying unintelligible holograms that, if translated, would assuredly bestow the important knowledge that the ship had, in fact, crashed. A bundle of floating shards in the middle of the room incandesced. They rearranged themselves, growing, merging into the rough shape of a man made of some bronze alien metal, its abdomen a gaping hole filled with a fiery, glowing crystal. Before the stunned soldiers could react, the Outsider dived behind the flight computer and fired a salvo of plasma shots wildly. One struck McAllister in his shoulder. He screamed as he returned fire, spraying bullets across the room, striking the monstrosity. Jünger tore a frag grenade from his jacket, ripped out the pin, and hurled it towards the technological terror. He lunged at McAllister, throwing the both of them to the ground behind the safety of the ship's walls just in time to escape the blast. With a haunting moan, the alien expired, evaporating into the air, leaving behind no evidence of its existence. The flight computers were reduced to scrap metal. McAllister coughed. "Vahlen's gonna be pissed, Blitz." Jünger lifted him up and helped him back to the Skyranger. "I'll make it up to her next mission. Don't you worry. "Central, this is Captain Jünger. We're detecting zero enemy movement. The UFO has been secured. Send in the clean-up team." "Roger that, Strike One. Chalk up another one. See you when you get home."