New Blog

Just to let you know I made a new blog. An interior design blog. Yes, I am turning over a new leaf...And this is a perfect place to insert some comment about what color the leaf is, beige or something fancy...except that I don't know anything about that. Huh.
Anyhow, yeah, new blog. Pretty exciting. Maybe I'll post on this one some day...

Book Review 2

So, here I am in the McD's parking lot. It admittedly has been a few days, though in my defense there hasn't been much time that I've just been at home. Running out here is killer and waking up early is killer when you don't eat dinner and get home after 12. Second shift isn't very fun. However, in my undefense, 'Relm of the Mad God' has been sucking out my brain and leaving me with very little time. But I'm almost to my level 20 max with the wizard! Still it's a beast to try and kill any of the big bosses, sometimes the lag tosses you into a fray of like 50 kill-you-in-5-hit enemies all blasting away at you with a 5 pellet shotgun round. Fun game. Google Chrome Apps if you are interested.

So, on to the book review.

"The Hunger Games" This book was a supremely great book. I saw it on the couch on Sunday, read it all day and into Monday to finish it. I couldn't stop thinking about it. It was really really good. It is written in first person, about a post-apocalypse kind of world, where there are 12 cities ruled by the Capitol. In the 12 districts the people live in poverty and have very little, whereas in the capitol they have advanced technology and anything that they want. Each year they have the annual hunger games, where they take a boy and girl between 12 and 18 years old to participate in a battle to the death with the other districts. The book wraps you in with the first person view, you really easilly come to care for the characters and the emotional enviornment is set up very nicely. The about the author pointed out that the author wrote this book and others dealing with the impact of war, especially on children. I think I like the book because it seemed to do that with me. Rather than war seeming to be impersonal, as it usually is on TV or in games, this book brings the ideas to life and really sickens you by them. All the while the story wraps you in and does a great job of interesting you. 5 out of five for sure.

The last book is "Brave New World." This book is a type of intellectual fiction, where there is a story line but a psychologist philosopher wrote it. Along the same lines of 1984, this book has some interesting ideas and models for a horrible future that could come to pass, however, it seems also that there has to be a great fascination with sex, as though it is the answer to all problems. Which it is not. Kinda hard for me to believe that the system in the book could happen, and it didn't raise my opinion of Huxley much by reading it. There is a bit of redemption for him in 'Revisited,' which is not a story but simply an analization of the predictions in the book and the current time (It being 1931 for the first book, 1957 for the second.) 2 out of five.

Well, that's the basics of my book reading. I'm in the car waiting for the drive through line to die down so I can go and get a rolo shake. Then probably get some alcacelcer at the rite aid. We aren't in Utah any more! Or possibly get a job, that would be nice. I'm soaking wet with sweat now, which is lovely...

Trying to fill in some of the story for XCOM, but once I'm there I should be on to the battles in no time! Yay! Assuming Mad God doesn't ruin me.

Book Review

It's 1:13, almost time to head out. You never really know when you are going to leave I usually wait for Jordan to text us to head out. The X-COM team is currently hovering over a UFO in Russia, ready to disembark and embark some pain! It takes a while to write, because I can only write when I feel like it, otherwise it will be crap and I will erase it because it sucks. So yeah, you will have to wait. I didn't want to start the mission until I had caught the story up to that point. But we do have the first addition of Facebook friends joining the squad! What could be better news?

Things have been decent here, we are working in Jacksonville now. A good 45 minute drive away. And the grand ole gas prices have gone back up to $3.55 a gallon, $.20 more than they were just a couple weeks ago. What a pain.

Regardless, sitting in the car you have a good amount of time to read books, and thinking about those books I decided to write a few reviews of the books I've been able to read thus far. The non-churchy ones, well, ones you'd find at the bookstore at least.

First, we've got 'Angels and Deamons.' The precursor but unconnected to DaVinci Code. It was a good book, I pounded it one day waiting under a tree for a job for 7 hours. It has a good amount of action and suspense, mystery combined with history and random bits of trivia inter spaced throughout. I think my writing style in the blog mirrors that style of writing the most, with the third person type of view, and the flashbacks of the characters spaced throughout. The book takes you on a good adventure and does a good job of letting you see the conflict from each point, the good guys and the bad guys then throwing in a final twist at the end. Good style of writing, it pulls you in. Personally I give it 4 out of five points.

Second we have a great book, 'The Shack.' I really really liked this book. The basic premise is a man loses his daughter to a kidnapping murderer. Years later he receives a letter from God asking him to come back to the shack, the place where the murder took place. The book explores the great questions people ask about God, relating to firstly, how can God allow such horrible things to happen, also the questions of justice and mercy, how God feels towards us and things along those lines. I definitely recommend it. I couldn't stop reading it, and I was really touched by it several times. Even though the theology is different, the principles are the same. It certainly is a thought provoking book with some great insights. I give it 5 out of five.

And now it is time to go. I will have to finish it tomorrow...

X-COM 3-Night Vision

Perhaps I should write this now. While it's fresh... But I do have to go shopping and it's already 3:30, time for jobs to be coming in. Which sorta defeats the hope of shopping as well. Don't want to get a job then stand in line waiting forever to buy your stuff then have it cook in the car for the next 6 hours while you are working. But I need the food so I can prepare excellentness for the missionaries. Oh the drama. 


Starting now(after the current mission) I am keeping track of kills/takedowns and missions, MVP and all that jazz. Just for fun. And I will have to make some banners or something like I did last time. Those were gorgeous. So, yeah, that's where we stand. And the people are supposed to be bringing beds today, but by Charlie I bet they bring them as soon as we all leave. Since I'm left here holding down the fort, well, as soon as I leave. 


Maybe I'll just play some Black Ops.

  It was late in the evening. Anataly was watching the moon rise over the mountains to the south east. It's slivery form seemed elongated as it rose over the peaks. Through the cross thatched window by her bed, Anataly could see the rooftops of the houses around her. They were covered with snow, each window emitting a faint yellow glow, blurred by the frost frozen on them. The smoke rising from the chimneys blanketed the town, as it cooled in the freezing air it sunk back to earth, making a type of mist through the packed city streets of Berezhany. The stone buildings were stark in the dimming light of the street lights of the town. Though the city wasn't small, in their parts of town it was rare for many cars to come by. Still, the occasional headlights would light up the streets, driving carefully down the snowy streets.
  Anataly heard her father downstairs, talking on the phone. He was laughing and joking with whoever he was talking with. Even though she was young, just barely eleven on the fourteenth, she knew that big changes were coming. Her father was somewhat secretive about his work, but he shared most of the secrets with her. She and her father were very close.
  She held her stuffed dog, Marko in her arms and stared at the moon. She wondered if the moon looked the same in America as it did in Ukraine. Though her parents never said it, she assumed that someday soon they would be in America. Something about that dream filled her heart with hope. America seemed to be such an incredible place, far different from where she was now.
  She heard her father and mother talking downstairs, then she heard her the front door close. Through her window, she could see her father climb into the car. She waved from the window, but he didn't see. He drove away into the night.
  Anataly sat with her elbows on the window seal, dreaming of what life would be like in America. It seemed the colors would be brighter, the flowers more pretty, everything would be better there. How she longed to be there. It began to snow, and flakes began lazily drifting down from the sky. In the street she saw three sets of headlights, tracing their way down the road. Someone must be having a party for so much traffic on a night like this. That seemed odd though, since it was a Wednesday. The cars sped down the road pulling to a stop right in front of there. Suddenly Anataly was scared, and she ran downstairs to her mother. In the living room, her mother was looking outside.
  "Mama, there's people out there!" Her mother turned and shushed her. Anataly could see the scared look on her mother's face.
 "Anataly I need you to listen to me very carefully. Go up to your room, climb under your bed and hide there."
  "But, mama what..."
 "I need you to be brave, Anatally. Hurry, go and hide!" A fist began banging on the door. "Open up! This is the police!"
  "Hurry, Ana!" her mom ran to the door and slid the chain look into place. Tears were coming to Anataly's eyes. "But, momma..."
 "Go!" her mother hissed. The fist banged again. "Open up!" Anataly ran up the stairs, clutching on to Marko, and quickly climbed under her bed, snuggling in amongst the boxes under there. She put her ear to the floor, listening.
  She heard shouts from the men, then a crash as they broke down the door. Her mother screamed. She pressed her ear in harder, trying to listen.
  "Search the house! Where are the documents?"
 "I don't know what you're talking about." Her mother sounded terrified.
  "The project 115 documents. I know they are here. Where are they?"
 "I don't know what you are talking about!"
  There were footsteps outside the door. Two men ran to the top of the stairs and split up. One opened her door, looked around and then left.
  "Are they upstairs or downstairs? Where does he do his work?" Apparently the men were looking for something of her fathers.
  "I don't know what you want. Why are you doing this to us?" Anataly heard the men outside again. They turned and ran back down the stairs.
  "You worthless woman!" the man downstairs shouted. There was a crash, and her mother was crying. In her mind Anataly heard her father. "We always have to look out for each other. Whatever it takes, we have to take care of each other." She knew what she had to do.
  She crawled out from under the bed, then turned down the hallway to her parents room. When she got there, everything was overturned, drawers were pulled out, and the sheets were off the bed. The men had wrecked it. She jumped to her father's side of the bed, then reached between the bed and the wall. Sticking out from under the mattress was the but of a pistol. She grabbed it.
  Her father had taught her how to use it. And now she was going to use it to do another thing her father had taught her: protect her family.
  She ran back to the stairwell. She could hear shouts from below. The stairway was a straight flight down, which curled to the side rooms when you reached the top. She crept part way down the stairs until she could see into the room.
  "Nothing upstairs," one of the men reported. They were wearing uniforms, but Anataly wasn't sure what they were from. Not from any police she had ever seen.
  The leader turned his eyes on her mother. "Where is his office? Where are the documents?"
  Her mother was crying. "I don't know, I don't know I told you!" He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her.
  "You expect me to believe that? I know he tells you about them! TELL ME WHERE THEY ARE!"
  "We've found them! I've got the folder!" Another man ran the folder to their leader. He opened it and looked it over. "Ahh, good." He turned to her mother. "This could have been much easier..."
  Her mother stared the man in the eyes. "You will pay for what you have done." The man laughed. "Will I? We shall see." He turned as though he was about to leave, then swung around, hitting her mother in the face sending her falling over a chair towards her.
  A gun went off. The pistol in Anataly's hands was larger than the others she had fired. When the man hit her mother, something made her act. All eyes in the room turned to her.
  "Anataly! NO!" Her mother screamed and ran towards her. From behind, she heard a voice.

   Anataly jerked out of sleep, clutching to her side with her hands.
  "Whoa. You alright?"
 She looked around. She was on the Skyranger. To her right was Tyson, she was clutching to his arm.
  Sheepishly, she let go and stared at the floor. "Yeah, I'm fine. Dream, that's all. Sorry."
  Tyson didn't answer. She brushed her hair from her eyes and looked at him. He was staring at her. "Ok." He finally said.
  Anatally hadn't relived that moment for years, she had tried to bury it in the past. But something about that last mission, about watching Rob get shot, had brought those memories to the surface. And that was something she dreaded.

***

  An alarm was sounding somewhere in the distance. Tyson rolled over in his bed. It felt like he had only been asleep for a few hours. After the mission, which felt much longer than it actually was, they spent another 3 hours scouring for equipment and artifacts. Two helicopters had arrived from an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf, and the soldiers helped them load up the extra equipment. Since the 14 soldiers were being exposed to this secret alien project, Tyson wondered why they weren't in this program instead of them. That was a good question.
  The alarm was sounding from the hallway. A yellow light was flashing on the wall in the corner of the living area. They already found another UFO? Tyson wiped the sleep from his eyes.
  "Did they already find another one? Seesh how many of these things have been flying around and yet no one really knows about it?" Kevin was on the bunk above him.
  "I don't know." Tyson felt groggy. What time was it anyway? "You can never tell what time it is when there's no windows in your room."
  "Why is the blue light on?" Tyson looked at the lights in the corner. There were three colors, yellow, red and blue. The yellow one was on when there was an active UFO. As he remembered the blue light lit up when the UFO was on the ground, ready for assault. "I guess we had better get down there. They must have shot it down fast."

  Just then Cory walked in. "Guys, we've got a UFO on the ground. They sighted it a few minutes ago, we are leaving ASAP. Get ready and grab your stuff, see you in the hangar in five." He rushed out of the room.
  "Dang, another one? We've only been back for like...12 hours I guess." It felt a lot shorter. The last mission had left him exhausted. Tyson slid on his clothes sitting at the bottom of the bed. He put on the jumpsuit, then put on his boot. Equipment was in the Skyranger, armor, or what they had, was in the hangar bay where they had took it off. Tyson's bed wasn't made. Certainly not something that would pass in a real military base. He tossed the blankets over the bed, just to put on the appearance of order. Or diligence, one or the other.
  "You ready dude?" Kevin was waiting for him. "Yeah, let's go." They moved down the hallway to the hangar. The team was assembling near the armor. There was a screen on the wall. From the far side of the base one of the interceptors was taking off.
  "So, where is this thing?" Tyson asked as he began strapping armor and kneepads on his legs.
  "It's over by Algeria." Taylor answered. "This one is landed on the ground. It's a golden opportunity to catch them on the ground and with undamaged components. So far the engine has always been destroyed by the crash, but this one we might get something." Tyson looked at the screen. A yellow dot was leaving the location of the base, heading for a small green dot in northern Africa.
  Elden marched into the hangar bay. "We need to move out as soon as possible! Grab your extra gear, you can equip in the Skyranger. Let's go, Alpha squad, you're on first!" Tyson grabbed the shoulder gear and his back pack with his helmet in it. The crew was just finishing prepping the Skyranger as he climbed on board. He made his way back to his seat and sat down. Kevin followed him in, taking a seat across from him.

  "I guess we are going in with just 8 people. There should be 2 more troops coming, but they won't be here for a couple more days." Kevin shook his head. "This still feels crazy man." Tyson glanced up at him. He thought the grogginess was finally wearing off. "Yeah. Well, it kinda is man." The other troops began filing into the Skyranger. Anataly took her seat by Tyson. Part of him wanted to ask her about whatever happened 14 hours ago, but something told him that wasn't a good idea.
   The MAT rolled on board the Skyranger. We should just call it MAT, Tyson thought. He mentioned it to Kevin. The Skyranger's engine flared to life, and the large hangar doors swung open overhead. The rear hatch began closing.
  "Alright guys, ETA about 1:30, we'll be getting there around 2350 local time," the pilot announced. Two alien battles in under a day. Sounded like one of those movies, or a video game. Except you get shot here, you're dead, Tyson reminded himself. Hopefully that wouldn't happen again here.
  "If you look in your backpacks you'll see that we've got new helmets. These ones are equiped with video cameras and visors. You can be connected to your team and see their view." Tyson pulled the helmet out of his back. The camera was integrated into the upper left side of the helmet. He slid it over his head. On the left goggles a small screen appeared. It said 'Alpha 1 Camera Offline.' Now this is some cool stuff.
  "The techs still haven't been able to completely configure these. The camera's have a link you can use to target enemy forces. The triggered enemy will be encased in a red box on everyone's screen, with a small red arrow pointing the direction of the enemy. They are still working on installing the laser pointers, we should have them by next mission." As the Skyranger hurried on, Elden briefed the team on the use of the linking cameras.

In case you were wondering, I've fought with many a camera out here on the alarm installation battlefield.

  "You two get the stun sticks. Everyone grab a flare, we'll be hitting the ground in 2 minutes!" Tyson and Kevin both received a stun rod. Tyson held it apprehensively. It certainly didn't look like the best weapon to be using against flying aliens. Perhaps he could throw it like a spear. He tucked it into his backpack.
  "Why are we using flares? Why not night vision goggles?" Yuri called out to Elden. 'That,'Tyson thought,'is a very good question.'
  "You realize your goggles have light dampeners on them? If you see a flash of plasma with night vision on, your eyes are going to explode." 'And that is a very good answer,' Tyson thought.
  The Skyranger began to slow and bank to the right. Tyson donned his helmet, and checked his shoulder straps where a grenade and electroflare were waiting to be used. Suddenly it dawned on him that his first combat mission ever had started less than a day ago. It felt like a week ago. And now they were about to be tossed into it again. He suddenly felt very tired.
  The radio in the Skyranger cracked on. "This is interceptor one, there's a grassy field you can land in, just to the west of the farm house. We haven't been low enough to get straight infrared readings, but the aliens haven't spread too far outside the farm area it looks like."
  "Roger that Interceptor one, thanks for the update," the Skyranger's pilot responded. "30 seconds to the ground!" Tyson grabbed his laser pistol in his hands.Kevin had already moved up closer to Cory. They only had two people on Bravo squad, there wasn't time to reassign anyone before this mission had started.
  Anataly was looking over her pistol, her eyes had a solid determination that was quite unlike she had been when they were arriving there at first. She was staring towards the back of the Skyranger, a glazed over look in her eye. Her eye caught Tyson's and she smiled slightly at him; which caused him to quickly glance away. He hadn't realized he had been staring! The landing thrusters pounded to life and completely filled the cabin with noise.
  A mini map in the lower left corner of Tyson's visor came to life as the Skyranger's wheels hit the ground. The map formerly placed on his wrist was now part of the headset. In the upper right corner the video feed from MAT came to life as the hatch popped open.
  A 23:52 local time there wasn't much to see. The moon had been narrowing for a week, now waning just past half full. It was a clear night, but regardless the video feed had a very
limited range, until a beam of green energy lit up the ground around the tank.

  "Hostile to the left!" Cory shouted. Tyson focused on the linked camera. Mat rolled off the ramp, and as the camera stabilized he could make out a small humanish form with a large head. Three laser bolts ripped into it, causing it to screech and fall to the ground.

  "The LZ is secure. MAT head south, Carlie and Bravo cover the east." Tyson's MAT suggestion had caught on. "Alpha, we're moving north." Elden was on the ground, holding a large machine gun. Like any good commander should be, Tyson supposed, on the ground with a machine gun.

  As Tyson stepped near the hatch, he saw that the immediate area was lit up by multiple bright lights coming out of the ground. Anataly pulled out her electro flare and pressed it, then threw it to the northwest, where the shiny hull of the UFO sat. It lit in the air, then landed alongside the UFO, revealing nothing. He heard laser fire to the right, where he saw Charlie and Bravo squad lined up along a hedgerow. The laser weapons tore into a barn located near a house, tearing large holes in the sides of the building.

  "What are they shooting at?" Tyson asked into the com, keeping his eyes to the north. Despite being able to see decently well with the flares lighting the ground, he was still leary of what may walk around that UFO.
  "We're checking out the barn, just without going into it," Taylor said. "Looks like it is clear. See how much easier that was?" He turned to Yuri as he said it. Sucks to be that farmer, Tyson thought. Then again, the UFO had been outside his house for about 2 or 3 hours now. Holes in his barn was likely the last thing he would be worried about. If he was even alive to worry about it.

  "Charlie, clear that house. Alpha, we're following MAT around the far side of the UFO, Bravo approach from this side and cover Charlie. Let's do this boys!" The MAT rolled past Tyson and he tagged along behind it. He heard more laser fire, and turned to see a path shot through the thick hedges, and Yuri walking towards the house with his grenade launcher raised. "Keep your eyes on those windows." Taylor told his team.

  The MAT quickly outdistanced him, leaving him feeling exposed. Cory made a break for the UFO, picking up his thrown electroflare and tossing it closer to the UFO's entryway. Noticing MAT's camera growing dark, Tyson primed his flare and threw it into the darkness ahead. Nothing was there. Thankfully, he presumed.

  "We're in the barn. Looks all clear." That was the other Tyson reporting. 'Where are these aliens?' Tyson wondered. Why wonder, they were all hiding in the UFO he was running around! What else would they do hearing an airplane landing outside? Surely they knew they weren't bearing gifts. He paused near the edge of the UFO. MAT had moved farther north, scouting a field. Beyond here it was all dark.

  He held his pistol steady in front of him and swallowed hard. His heart was beating fast, and he really didn't want to go around that corner. "Almost to the entrance." He heard Cory say. They had to meet Bravo! Something inside him was freaking out. "Got your back, Tys," a familiar voice said behind him. It was Anataly. She threw a flare over the far side of the UFO, lighting the area. Tyson walked around the corner, revealing nothing. 'Whew,' he thought.

  "Bravo, hold until-" Elden's voice was cut off following a flash of plasma from the other side of the UFO. Tyson could see it on the side of the 2 story house. "Alien, in the garden! Watch it!" Tyson G. was yelling. There was an explosion, seemingly a grenade, followed by more laser pistol fire. "He's down!" Cory called.

  "Keep your eye's peeled guys. Tyson, head to the house, I'll cover to the north." It was Taylor talking. Other Tyson. "Bravo hold until that house is clear. Alpha wait for me to grab a flare..." Tyson could see Elden, running towards a flare hidden in a thickly weeded area. He glanced at the minimap, seeing Cory and Kevin covering the sides of the barn as the yellow dots indicating Charlie team members entered the house. Too bad the red enemy thing didn't work.

  As MAT rolled past the side of the UFO Tyson and Anataly followed. Elden had grabbed his flare, and lobbed it completely over the UFO. "Wait for MAT to clear that side then prepare to enter the UFO."

  "I'm already here." Cory said. Tyson and Anataly jogged around the corner to see Cory and Kevin waiting at the door. Laser blasts were coming from the house. Tyson had to admit, blowing open the walls were a far better alternative to getting popped walking through the door way. Unfortunately, UFO walls were too strong for anything like that.

  "Tyson, you on the right, Kevin on the left. Just like last time," Cory was saying. Kevin pulled out his stun rod. Tyson gave him a wide eyed look. "What?" Kevin mouthed. "The house is clear over here," Charlie team reported.
  "Ok, wait for me before you enter the UFO," Elden said. "He just want's the glory," Tyson joked. 'Though a glory I would like to give,' he thought a second later. "Hey, just cause we're out here doesn't mean the aliens can't come out, keep focused on that door," Cory reminded them.

  Elden walked around the corner of the UFO. "Miss me?" Cory nodded, then slid the UFO door open. The first room was empty. "We're going left," he said. Tyson and Kevin followed, covering both doors. "We've got the right side. You guys enter first, we'll let you know when we are there." Elden and Anataly walked down the hallway to the door on the right.

  Tyson tapped a button on his wrist, and the shared cam switched from MAT to Elden. He watched as Elden approached the far door. The hallway in front of him narrowed, and he pressed up behind Kevin. Cory slid open the door, and entered a small room. The next door led to the bridge.

  "In position," Elden said. "Ok, we're moving," Cory responded, in a whisper. Tyson could only see from behind Kevin. He saw Cory slide open the door, and walk into the room. He followed as best he could with Kevin in front of him.

  "Got one!" Cory called and began firing. Elden burst open the door. Tyson could see the stunned alien from Elden's viewscreen, looking behind then forward. It was shorter, small and gray-brown, with big eyes. Your typical X-Files alien. Elden fired with explosive rounds, one hitting the wall by the alien and killing it. Anataly ran past Elden, kneeling along the wall across the bridge from Cory.

  Tyson ran alongside Kevin, both of them still around the corner from where Cory and Anataly were. Tyson was staring at Cory's back when a green blaze burnt into his chest. His body fell backwards, his gun flying in the air.

  "Man down!" Kevin reacted fast, jumping over Cory's legs and chasing the alien back into the small room in the center of the UFO. Tyson heard the alien screame from inside the room. Tyson rounded the corner and was looking right into Anataly's face. She looked in shock. "I saw him come out...but Cory was there, I couldn't shoot..." She stammered.

  "All clear in here!" Kevin triumphantly called. Tyson knelt over Cory. The plasma had hit him in his left lung, burning away most of his upper left torso. It was likely he was dead before he hit the ground, the place were his heart should have been was gone. Their armor was useless against this stuff. Anatally was staring at the ground as Elden ran past her. Her hands were shaking as she held the pistol in one hand. Tyson wasn't sure what to do.
  "Stunned this one!" Kevin said. "We've got a live one!" he reported over the com, met with excitement by the other soldiers. He dragged the alien out of the engine room as Elden radioed in to base that the mission was over, and that Cory was KIA.
  "You got him with that?" Tyson said half heartedly. Cool, yes, but the fact that Cory's corpse was sitting behind him dampened his spirits. He could hear considerable excitement coming from the com relating to Kevin's capture as well. Anataly had stood, and walked over to Cory's body. She knelt over him, and appeared to be praying. Then she rolled him to the side.
  "Can you help me with him?" She turned to Tyson. He holstered his pistol, and the two of them carried Cory out and to the waiting Skyranger.

  Meanwhile, inside the UFO, Kevin and Elden were inspecting the odd container in the middle of the UFO. It looked like it was filled with glowing honey.
  "Any idea what it is?" Kevin asked.
 Elden shook his head. "Haven't seen it in any other UFO. But I think it is what make's this thing fly. Nice job with that stick son. You did good."

  "Thanks." Kevin's spine tingled. A live alien. And probably the commander. That, and whatever was in the orange tube seemed to be a key to using the alien weapons against them. Something made him feel it.

So, I started this mission like a month ago. Yeah, I'm really moving along at a great pace. Kevin get's the MVP award for being the first ever to zap an alien with a pointy stick. Very very impressive.

What brought me to finish (at least the typing portion) today? Well, took my computer to the area (an hour drive) and I've been at McD's for 3 ish hours now. Not all on this but a decent amount of time. Let's hope it saves so I can get it up. Then maybe start another one? Maybe...

I thought of some other titles for this one. First was 'Man Down' which wasn't too great because someone has died each time, but it does add some suspense and we know Cory better than the other dead peoples. The second was 'We've got a live one!' which is also a dead give away as to what happens. So I decided on a neutral boring one.

X-COM #17:

Well, that last set of attacks went very well. The only worry is that a battleship will show up on my doorstep. But not that likely.

I have one replacement: Jordan J. C-,G: 53,55,36,40,36,63,69,33-High accuracy, but still rookie stats.
Anyhow, now to wait for the alien scumbags to arrive. I'll attempt this while talking to Kevin over facebook. Meanwhile, some Sectoids land in Russia, and the Skyranger goes out on a mission. Night mission, in the forest. Rolling hills and stuff.

But not many Sectoids. One walks near an electro flare, and our new teamster Jordan kills the punk.



This was typed but never published.

12:47 EST May 23, 2011

Didn't get translated Saturday. What a bummer.


Brief update. Work has been pretty decent. Slow last week but busy the week before. Either way, need to pick up the pace. 14 weeks to go, 140 plus installs needed, so I need at least 10 per week. Let us hope that economic recession isn't going to carry over enough that it stops us from selling. The other night on the way to a job I got stopped at a police checkpoint. The officer asked where I was going, I told him I was going to install an alarm, and he told me to 'be careful out there.' All the sudden I felt like I was in the hood, in my mind I started wondering if I should run stop signs because I could get jumped if I stopped. Or shot. Ok, that's what they do in Puerto Rico, luckily it is a bit more sane here. 


Got zapped by an AC unit today. Always, always check your breakers. I've been zapped 3 times to many out here, and each time it gets worse and worse. Not cool at all. This one went all the way down my arm, way way freaky. But at least I figured out what was wrong with it. Otherwise I've started reading Angels and Demons, a good book, inspires my writing style in here. Also, watching episodes of both Fringe and Chuck in free time adds some good story lines to my head. And hopefully some good storytelling will rub off and merge with X-COM and create something truly epic. Yeah.


Just writing this to tell you I'm alive. And I am going to start working on the next chapter. I really need to do some of that collage stuff I did before. It looks pretty cool. 

X-COM 2-Field Test

As custom let's start with some me. What other point would I have to making a blog anyway if I wasn't including all kinds of random stuff in it? After finishing the last chapter, which did take quite a while and yes, the next ones will definitely require more pictures. Though I sorta thought that the story went well. After completing the story for likely the first time ever I was behind the blog when dealing with X-COM. Since you usually do quite a bit of waiting, I wasn't expecting much. And also wasn't really wanting much, seeing how I had a nice squad, and I could start off our characters with a nice even balance of weapons and work them into the alien techs as the story went along. Quite a nice idea, don't you think?

A few days after the first mission(which was Jan. 1st, incredible how early that was) another UFO is sighted and shot down. Well, you can't just go letting them get away now. I had a tank, just the cannon, as well as a fully loaded crew so why not? Let's say that the aliens certainly reminded me that X-COM is not about things working out nicely or going according to plan. X-COM is hard. And by hard I mean it beats you down. Especially if you think you are gonna kid around. The mission was pretty intense, so I saved at a certain point. Then, things really went south. Way south. But I couldn't accept the truth and so, I confess, as a weakling that I am, I instead cheated my way out of death. Everyone's doing it these days. If you aren't invunerable like you are in a racing game, then you come back to life when you mess up. Which is what I tried to do here. And I did come back to life. Well, Jordan did. And then the plague continued...

You see, in X-COM (and life. And scientology) there is the theory of karma. What an amazing word. Karma, what goes around comes around, you reap what you sow and all that. After saving Jordan and completing the mission quite miraculously, I woke up to find two wounded soldiers and my HWP without ammo. And a suspicious craft landed just to the west. But I was way to scared to attack with only 5 guys. Not to mention guilty of treason. Which didn't leave me feeling good. Later that week, a large UFO is sighted, and I-1 investigates, then gets blown up after trying to prevent a terror mission. I order another one, telling myself I deserve it. I-2 follows a terror ship to just outside the Nigerian capital, until I decide I had better risk attacking rather than risk a terror mission and loss of funding. I-2 get's popped as soon as he looks at the terror ship. And then they do the terror mission. Wonderful.

Luckily for me and my horrible morals, the computer ran out of batteries and reloaded to before I had cheated death. Last night I finished that mission and took my losses, which were still quite severe. Floaters are hard to kill, surprisingly. Then I overshot and stayed up till 2 finishing the mission against the terror ship shot down later. I revamped everything. No more dilly dally in the workshop, get me some laser pistols. I don't care about floater corpses, I need some personal armor. And order some new troops. Well, especially two particular one.

In other words, no more messing around. I mean, not that I was but it's game time. Also, and perhaps I've just been watching too much Fringe, but I was thinking about adapting for the storyline. Easy to do, but that isn't really the purpose here, and it would be cheating the game. As well as the fact that each mission can bring unexpected results, that can really throw quite a few loops into the whole storyline. Which I am really growing fond of. If I can weave my plots in and out and deep enough, I think this could be pretty fun. I'll have to broaden out the main characters, so the swap over isn't sudden in the event of a switch. But I think it could be quite a good storyline. Or it will really stink and everyone will die, I don't know. Regardless, it is about time to start drafting! Yay! I even made a friend list on facebook to denote all those who have honorably joined the service. Your day of greatness is now. Right now all it has is Kevin, but he will be joined by others, just you wait.

I'm going to throw up some mission pics on here. They might not follow the story line, so just go with the captions when you read them, hopefully it is explanitory. Hopefully I remember what was going on, I am writing purely from the screenshots so I am taking screenshots of everything. Also needing to force myself to a limit on here. There's a lot more to life than X-COM. Even though it seems like it should be the only thing.

  "We've got our ETA at the crash site in about half an hour, keep frosty boys." Kevin had always wondered what 'keeping frosty' was really supposed to mean, or at least what the person who came up with it thought it should mean. "Probably an interesting story," he thought.
  Some of the other guys had been napping, though the seats on the Skyranger certainly were of a military grade, not quite the most comfortable for any types of naps. The UFO they were shortly going to engage had been shot down roughly an hour ago at around 0630 that morning. It was originally sighted a few hours earlier, over the Sahara. The fighters had done a somewhat joint attack, one engaging first and the other later. The second fighter had been shot at by plasma blasts from the UFO, but it's missiles took it down before it had sustained any serious damage. When they first boarded the Skyranger an hour ago Kevin's heart had started racing, along with his thoughts. He would twiddle his fingers, check his pockets, even though all the weapons were kept on board the ship and weren't given out until they were closer to combat. But by now his adrenaline had left him with little emotion, and he simply felt somewhat irritated.
  They had been on base for about 3 days now. On the first day they received orientation. Firstly they had been tested, running an obstacle course and aiming at targets with a laser pointer. For some reason they didn't get to shoot, they had said it was something about underground acoustics and ammunition and so on and so forth. Kevin didn't mind, whatever the reason might be, but he had never been much of a gun handler, so some practice would be very welcome and nice. After their physical stats were measured they had been assigned into squadrons. Currently the base had one flight group of soldiers, in squads of Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie. Since there was a capacity for 10 soldiers on the Skyranger, Alpha had a complement of four and Bravo and Charlie only three soldiers. Kevin was assigned as Bravo 3. At the time they didn't tell him what that meant and said he would understand the troop maneuvers and such when he met with the rest of the squad to go over weapon diagnostics. As there were other soldiers arriving on the base that day, they would have to wait until all of them were there and assigned before doing the squadron meeting.
  It had been quite a bit to take in, and Kevin had simply returned to his room, lied in his cot and fell asleep. The easiest way to get rid of stress. And apparently to remember new information. Kevin wished sleep would come as easy for him now. Well, perhaps an hour ago, with a half hour till landing, that wouldn't leave much rest time. Suddenly thinking that he would be hitting the ground in full combat gear and holding a weapon made any thoughts of sleep vanish as Kevin imagined that moment.
  "So, you think you'll do OK out there?" a fellow soldier, Rob asked.
 "Yeah. Well, let's hope so." Kevin stammered out a response.
  "Yeah, I guess that is all that you can do. It's nice we have these laser pistols though. I think they are a lot more potent than our rifles or even the heavy launchers." Laser pistols were a new invention, they only had a limited supply of them built by the engineers at the base. Limitless ammo was a perk.
  "These aliens are very...fire proof. We learned that last time. We would hit them with grenades and firebomb rounds, and they just stood though it. Heck, Luke shot one twice with his launcher before it went down, and that was after we set the house on fire." Rob was in Bravo squadron with Kevin, he had moved from B3 to B2 due to Luke's injuries. "Are we still going to use the grenade launchers?" Kevin asked.

  Rob paused. "Yeah, I'm sure we might. But the thing is, our rifles were working just as well as the explosive rounds. When we saw those Floaters up in the house, Luke tried to blow open the wall, and so did Mike, he was in Charlie squad. I think they used firebomb rounds first, then switched to HE rounds. Either way they couldn't blow the walls. But they set the upstairs on fire. Taylor tossed a grenade up the stairs, and it blew the wall open. That's when the alien shot Luke. I'm glad he survived." Luke had been hit once by a plasma blast, but it hadn't killed him. He had some major trauma, so the team had started moving quickly to kill the aliens so he could have medical support. Three others were killed entering the UFO. "It's crazy man. But, don't worry, we mainly just pick them off once the tank spots them."

  "Fifteen minute's till LZ. Get ready back there!" Elden, the new team leader stood up. He was assigned as Alpha 1. Tyson was Alpha 3 on his squadron.
  "Ok, you all have your equipment. Now, as you already know we are engaging a large UFO. It's been down for about an hour, but it's in the middle of the desert and aliens aren't to accustomed to moving very far away from their UFOs when they are down. Aside from clearing the UFO, one of our goals here is to capture a live alien for study. At base a new alien containment facility has been set up, and part of our entire mission operation is to capture the aliens so we can find out what their purpose for being here is. As such, one from Bravo and Charlie will be getting these stun rods." He handed one rod to Kevin. Kevin held it like a foreign object, not sure whether it would bite him or not. "Now, don't risk your life trying to stun one of these aliens, but when we get closer to interior combat, it is likely there will be circumstances where you will be able to use one of these, so keep it in mind." Rob motioned for Kevin to put the rod in his backpack, and handed him a laser pistol.

  "Don't worry, if you aren't in front you can just pass the rod to one of us, you're just carrying it for the team." Sorta like a flag bearer, Kevin thought. It would be better one of them, the professional soldiers, carry that pointy stick than him. Only he and Tyson were the untrained, undisciplined, and untested soldiers on board.
  "Touchdown in 5! Get ready back there!" Kevin checked his pockets, on his shoulder he had a grenade, with the pointy stick in his backpack. Tyson leaned across the aisle.
  "Makes me think of Jesse always threatening to get a cattle prod out."
 "Yeah, he was always threating with that," Kevin half grinned. A sudden swelling of nervousness seemed to come over him, and despite how much he hated it and knew he needed to focus, it wouldn't go away. He had cleared his mind before cross country races many times. You had to drop out of the circumstance, and let your doubts and fears drop away. That was the only way you could do it right, the only way you could even have a chance at doing well. And then focus on what needed to be done and do it. He wished he could do it right now, but it didn't seem to be working. He was gritting his teeth when Tyson put his hand on his shoulder.
  "Hey, I got your back out there. Keep with the boys that know what there doing. We'll be fine. You got my back?"
  Kevin stared Tyson in the eyes. "Yeah man. I've got your back."
  "Good, let's do this!" The rear thrusters were coming on to slow the ship down. Kevin's fears melted away. He nodded to Tyson and then looked upward to Cory, Bravo squad leader. Cory nodded and Kevin nodded back. He strapped on his helmet and grabbed the small pistol in his hands. "Landing gear down, touchdown in ten...nine..." The craft pitched upward sharply, everyone was still fairly strapped down though. Kevin felt it stop and hover, then drop towards the ground. "three...two...one! Dropping the hatch! Let's go!" The landing gear had hit the ground, hydraulics shot out some steam, and the thrusters died down. Everyone started standing up, Kevin found his seatbelt buckle and hit it, releasing the straps. Tyson seemed to be having trouble with his. Anataly, a female soldier on Alpha squad was helping him. She was carrying a rocket launcher. The back hatch swung down, bursting incredibly bright light into the cabin. Kevin heard the tank roll off, and looked down at the pistol in his hands. 'Hope you've got more kick than it looks like.'

Intermission! Wow writing these stories there is so much I think of putting in but then I just have to go with whatever comes to mind. Especially since I'm trying to limit myself some here. That way I can intersperse the parts through other parts, right? It just means I'll type for a set time each day, and in ten days of typing you'll get a report and a really long chapter. I don't know. But I wanted to throw in a quick part here. About my squads and such.

This is the basic formation that the squads will be taking for our combat here. This idea goes back to the idea of turns and time warps and such. When you are taking turns it is basically making a time warp. Ok, it is definitely a time warp. But then you try to overlap both turns to make it seem like it is happening simultaneously, especially if you are writing a story as though it is real life. And how better to make it realistic than to put your troops into squads and send them off? I think it will work well anyways.

Sorry if everything I'm typing sounds somewhat disjointed. My time between writing portions of this text is what is doing it. I forget what I was writing, or how I was writing, or what I want to say and so I just keep on going from where I'm at. It's hard to write, stop, and then just pick up where you left off and still keep the same cadence. Good thing Joseph Smith was actually translating something. If he wasn't picking up where he left off like that--supergenius.

Anyways, pressing forward. We've got Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie. One thing that helps as far as cheating the game (and bending time) is what I call the no-see no-react principle. If the alien can't see the soldier attacking it, then the alien won't shoot back at him. The idea of the covering squads is supposed to amplify that fact. And I just figured on this setup as being fine for battlefield movement.

The individual squads are set up in a similar way. So, just as Bravo and Charlie are the recon and Alpha is the support squad, it's the same with B1 and B3 being recon, with B2 as support. Basically, your '2' of anything is going to be equipped with a heavier weapon or be a sniper with very high accuracy. Most likely I will put any snipers on Alpha, since they can hang back, take aimed shots and in many circumstances have a guaranteed hit. Thus far '2's have also been higher in the strength category than the others, so they can carry a bigger gun.

So, there you have it. In short anyhow, about how I plan on moving the X-Com Bom Squad around on their wonderful alien slaughtering adventures.



  "You ready for this?"
  Tyson looked up from pulling his pistol from his belt holster. Fumbling it in his hands he answered.
  "Yeah, I'm ready."
  Anataly smiled. "Good. Let's do this!" The hatch swung down and the remote control tank rolled off the ramp.

  "I need to get me one of those." Tyson glanced at Anataly and grinned. The loud shots of plasma broke his concentration, but it still wasn't quite seeming real. "What you need is one of these," Anataly patted the rocket launcher she was holding. Tyson nodded in agreement. The launcher was shaped more like a barrel than a tube. It didn't have a recoil, or a back-blast affect. The design was made to hold all of the force of the rocket within the weapon, which made it useful for firing even when in a squad and without an excessive time firing. Much larger than the small pistol that Tyson was holding in his hands.
  Tyson nodded to Anataly. "You've got my back, right?"
  "Yep, you know it."

  More plasma fire came from outside. "Allright, we're on the ground, I want Bravo to the left, Charlie go right." Elden was calling out orders. The MAT had located an enemy floater, and a burst of plasma hit the side of the Skyranger, shaking the ship. 'Hope this will get us home,' Tyson thought. Outside the laser pistol was receiving it's debut test as Bravo Squad leveled a floater near the top of the hill. Tyson glanced back at his seat, just to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything. Outside he saw a huge wall of metal. "Whoa..." The Skyranger's cockpit was roughly 12 feet off of the ground, the landing gear was built so that it stood higher than the battlefield to avoid most of the ground fire. The wall of metal ascended at least 10 feet higher before it curved off on the top. The UFO was oddly beautiful, yet very mysterious. Perhaps the oddest thing was that it existed at all. Even though he had seen the footage and the bodies, it was still hard for Tyson to believe that aliens and UFOs and all that sci-fy stuff was turning out to be real.

  Tyson turned around. Anataly and the other soldiers had moved towards the exit. Anataly was from Ukraine originally, her family had moved first to New York and then to Philadelphia when she was just a girl, and she had grown up in the United States. With her grandparents in Ukraine, she had gone back to visit them and spent many summers in Ukraine during her high school years. She had dual citizenship, and after two years of school in America she moved to Ukraine. Her parents had moved back by then, and her father's involvement in the military made her want to join as well, which she did. She had been in the military for two years, including the military activities she did as a student in America. Tyson wasn't sure her age, when he would guess she would just say "You're close," but she would say that for every number. He assumed she was around 21-24 judging on the time frame. Riding on the hour and a half flight with her had made him feel loosened up, despite the fact that he was heading into combat having fired a weapon only a handful of times in his life.
  "Tyson! You coming?"
  He broke his trance to see Anataly looking at him. He grinned, nodded, and ran towards the group.

*** ***

  "The floater's down!"
 "What is that huge thing to the east?"
  "Whatever it is kill it."
  Elden took charge of the situation. "Bravo team follow the MAT and approach the UFO around the west. Charlie, kill that big thing like a 29, ya holla-backs! Set your coms to touch communication." The teams moved to the sides of the Skyranger. Tyson was the last to get off.
  "You're gonna back up Bravo, move up to the UFO and provide cover fire whenever they need it." Tyson nodded at Elden then ducked underneath the Skyranger's landing gear. All of a sudden it the situation lost any comedy it had and became real to him. To his right, Rob and   Cory were moving up a sand dune, Kevin was a few meters in front of him standing at the base of the hill. Plasma flew over the top of the tank, hitting the Skyranger's nose. "This is MAT, we're taking fire, damage minimal." MAT stood for mobile artillery, the remote controlled tank was about half the size of your standard sedan, roughly 3x4 meters, with a cannon fitted on top that fired slugs.
  "The big one's down, we've got another one over the hill," Taylor, Charlie team leader, called over the coms. Tyson looked down at the underside of his wrist, where an area map was located on his uniform.

  More plasma fire flew from where the MAT had turned around the hill. It was extremely loud, and burnt holes in whatever it hit. Suddenly the pistol didn't seem like it would compare to what they were about to face. But apparently it was better than the old bullet method.
  "Another big one up here-" Rob was about 35 feet away, but near the top of the sand dune. He opened fire with his laser pistol, shooting off two bursts of three. Cory followed and fired also. "Watch out it's still alive up there. Kevin, move in and take down that floater in front of the tank." Tyson had moved past Kevin, he had started climbing the hill. The UFO looked a lot bigger from the ground. Tyson could scarcely glance at it though, his blood was racing.   As he neared the edge of the hill he dropped to his knee, holding his pistol in front of him just like he had seen countless times on however many shows. Though he had tried to emulate cops the best, granting it was real footage and not Hollywood.

  An explosion sounded right behind him, blasting dust across his back. He turned to see lasers cutting down a floater on the far side of the UFO. "Moving in," Taylor called, and his team, as well as Al, Alpha 2, moved towards the west of the UFO. The explosion had left and odd purple dust that quickly vanished in the wind. Odd...

  "It's running at us!" Tyson heard Anataly's shout from near the top of the hill where she had lined up alongside the rest of Bravo squad. Rob sent a hail of laser fire over the top of the sand dune. Shooting from the hip looked like he was holding a heavy weapon as he blasted away. An image of Han Solo popped into Tyson's mind. Except the lasers they shot were yellow, and much more of a beam than those you saw on star wars.

  "Big boy's down!" Rob called over the com. Cory began firing. "Floater's down too. Heading to the top of the hill."
  "We're taking fire! We've got another floater on the west of the UFO!" The MAT's operator called down. Tyson looked towards Kevin, and they both began running towards the side of the UFO.
  "We've reached the UFO over here. Pulling out a scanner." Yuri, from Charlie, was saying. Tyson had one of the scanners too, they were another invention that was brand new. Though they didn't have much range, they could detect motion through the UFO hulls.

  "Roger Charlie. Let's advance on the UFO, the doors must be on the other side," Elden commanded. For being shot down, the UFO didn't seem to have much damage. Most of the missiles had hit the underbelly though. Lasers flew past the west side of the UFO, coming from Cory and Rob up on the hill. "Took a few shot's but that one's down. This side is clear."
  "Tyson, move up and secure that western side for our advance." Elden was a way's behind him but was running up fast. He and Kevin both took off to the side of the UFO. If anything was around that corner, the MAT would have reported it to them. Or so Tyson hoped. Either way, he cautiously peeked around the corner before kneeling on the ground. Kevin and Elden ran up behind him.

  "I'm hit! Ahhh!"
  The dreaded call came after a burst of plasma from the far side of the UFO.
  "This is Charlie we've got a man down over here! Al's been hit!"
 "Dirty alien ran behind the side of the UFO! We're covering you to." Tyson could tell that was Taylor. "How's Al?"
  "I'm ok. Ahh..."
 "He's got some serious bleeding, he needs medical attention ASAP!"
  "Dirty coward, how do you like this?" Tyson wondered what Al was doing, especially considering he had been shot by plasma fire. "Tossing a frag." That was Yuri's voice.

  "Charlie, what's you'r status?" Elden asked. The rest of Bravo had joined them at the bottom of the hill, the MAT rolled around the side of the UFO, flanking wide from the doors.
  "Al tossed a smoke grenade, but it landed on the roof. Yuri tossed a frag to the doors." The sound of an explosion verified Taylor's report.

  The tank reported another big alien around the corner of the UFO, coming out the doors. Rob pulled a grenade from his shoulder, and as he primed it there was more plasma fire from the far side of the UFO.
  "Al's dead! He's down!" As Rob tossed the grenade over the front of the UFO, laser fire was heard from the far side of the UFO. "View of the floater. He's behind the wall." The MAT had flanked the front of the UFO and had a visual of the alien that killed Al. "Tossing a grenade!" Tyson G. called. The two explosions followed.

  "Get ready to move to that door," Cory said to the six soldiers lined up on the west side. The lumbering form of the big alien lumbered around the corner and into view. 'Man, those things are tough!' Tyson thought. Anataly, breathing hard from hauling the extra weight of the rocket launcher and a spare rocket, was the first to call it.

  "I've got this one!" She knelt and fired a large rocket, hitting the creature square. Despite the blinding sun of the desert, the flash of the rocket left Tyson's eyes a little blurred, as well as his ears ringing. "That got him, advance!" They ran towards the UFO.

  Tyson jumped over the dead floater and ran around the corner of the UFO. The MAT had cleared the far side, so he wasn't worried. His feet hit the ground burnt from Anataly's rocket-it was hard like rock. The blast had glassed the sand. In front of him was a large doorway, comparable to a single car garage. It looked like it would slide to either side, but he couldn't tell.
  "Get that stun rod out, Kevin. This would be the ideal place to catch one of those aliens," Cory said. Kevin pulled it from his backpack, and held it in his left hand, pistol in the other.
  "Charlie, ready to enter?" Elden called over the com. They couldn't see the far side of the UFO, but on the map Tyson could see they were by the entrance. "Yep, we're following the MAT in."

  "Ok, I've got point, follow me in." Cory touched the door and it slid open. The UFO had a layer of smoke along the ceiling. Kevin ran in behind Cory, who looked around the corner of the first room. "Dead one in the corner, not seeing anything else. Tyson ran in behind them. The second room to the right had severe damage. Most of the walls were warped, metal chunks were everywhere. Some internal explosion had blown half the walls apart. Obviously they'd found where the UFO had been hit by the missiles.

  "Looks clear on this side. We're moving around the right side, don't shoot us."
 "Yeah, sure thing Taylor!" They ran into the central room. There was an odd red area in the middle of the room that ascended up into the ceiling. Through the smoke Tyson could make out a floater body crumpled by the wall.

  Cory ran to the red circle in the middle of the room. Tyson and Kevin followed. There were lines of red running upwards from the ground. "What do you guys think this is?" Cory turned and asked. Tyson shrugged and looked up the hole. He couldn't see much of the room above through the red barrier above.

  "Aliens! Above us!" Rob's call was simultaneous with his laser pistol. He was shooting up into the ceiling. Then a bolt of plasma hit him just below the chin, and his face was engulfed in a green flash. From behind down the hallway, Anataly began firing her laser pistol into the holes as Rob's near headless body fell to the floor. Tyson just froze, staring at the burnt remnants of Rob. Two floater bodies fell through the ceiling to the ground below.

  "Looks like that's all of them."
 "Keep your eyes on those holes, Anataly. Charlie, watch your back, aliens through the vents above."
  "Roger that, we're covering this side."
 "Good." Elden closed the com. "Let's get up there boys." He nodded to Cory. Cory nodded back, stood on the red panel, and jumped. He rose up to the ceiling, stopping on the floor above.
  "Grav lift," Kevin whispered. He climbed in and rose up as well. Tyson followed.

  The tingling sensation left him directly above where he had stood below, standing on a thin red barrier. Laser fire sounded from below. "Got another one," Anataly reported. They were in a small room, Cory was listening to the door, trying to hear if anything was out there.
  "Think you're going to use that?" Tyson whispered and motioned to Kevin's stun rod.
 "I guess, if I get the chance. I've got it out here." Kevin shrugged.
  "In these close quarters it will probably be a great place to use it. We could use some intel from these aliens. The sooner we figure out where they are coming from, the sooner we can stop them, the sooner we can go home." Cory looked both of them in the eye, then nodded.   "Alright, let's go." He turned and opened the door.

  All three X-Com operatives seemed to freeze in surprise at the alien standing in front of the door. Or Tyson froze, at least. Cory reacted first, pulling the trigger on his pistol, but hitting the wall nearest him. The alien seemed to be just as shocked and Cory was fast enough that he was able to shoot the alien in the face with another burst of laser fire. 'Good thing we were both napping' Tyson thought. The aliens probably weren't used to combat, considering that there hadn't been many operations against them. And they were covered more in secrecy than full out war.
  Cory ran into a room across the hall, looked both ways, signaled Tyson and Kevin to split down the hallway and then ran farther into the room. "See you on the other side," Tyson said to Kevin as they split to opposite sides of the hallway. Elden followed them up.
  Tyson peeked around the corner. On his left, Cory was peeking out the door to the room where he was, also looking down the hallway. Likely they were at the bridge. He looked back over his shoulder at Kevin. They caught each other's eye, both nodded, and then darted around their respective corners.

***

  "Hold up Kevin." Kevin stopped.
 "What?" he whispered.
  "Just hang tight for a second." Elden wasn't sure how to explain having Kevin stop, but there was something that just gave him a feeling. "Kill whatever's on that bridge." He said over the com. A second later, a burst of laser fire killed the last floater on board.
  "Got one!" Tyson's excited cry came over the com. Kevin followed Elden up to the bridge.

 "Nice shot man. That guy probably would have zapped me."
  "Yeah, I don't feel any guilt about shooting aliens in the back.
 "Bridge is clear, we've got the all clear down here. I'm dialing for dust off. Let's start sorting through this stuff, see what we've got."
  Elden turned down the hallway, passing Cory. "Good mission," Cory said as he walked by. Elden nodded. Two dead wasn't too bad, those losing any wasn't good. But considering they had two rookies on the team...not that they had preformed bad. And the fact that the team was now from diversified militarys. Originally they had just one squadron that they had taken the whole X-COM team. But to replace casualties apparently it was a soldier by soldier basis.
  The team wasn't what was bothering him though. It was the odd feeling he had had. Once to tell Yuri and Charlie team to watch the ceilings, the other to tell Kevin to stop, and let Tyson kill the floater. It seemed like a voice in his head, a prompting of some kind. He didn't know, perhaps just intuition. Either way, it was something he would have to deal with later.
  "HQ, this is X-COM team, requesting dustoff."
  "Affirmative, helos en route."