At the base, there had been a general excitement over the capture of the psionic alien and the soon to be completed base. Not only were the prospects exciting, but the search for the Contributors could continue if the soldiers were able to read minds. She had been talking with Kevin about it.
"What do you think we'll find?" she had asked. "I don't know. I guess anything would be useful. Anything at all."
"We haven't found anything else out about them, have we?"
"No, not really. It's so strange, that this group would be chosen to run the project. Well, not so much chosen, they chose themselves, and the funding nations agreed to it. Whoever they are, they are very persuasive. Other than that, there isn't much else."
"What about this alien? Why were we so excited for that? I mean, how does it help the search?"
"Well, we were watching the research. The alien had an extreme connection to that project, the ACIRIP one. Though they all have a good one. Anyway, Tyson was saying that he remembered something about that, that it sounded familiar. He was having a dream the other night, about the Contributors. He's had others, but this one was different. He said that someone told him the Contributors were not the enemy, but the solution, and some other things. He said it felt similar to the same thing you feel when you get hit by an alien attack. So, we're thinking that the aliens have a connection with the Contributors, or else the Contributors are using ACIRIP remotely somehow."
Reggie and Brianna came up to them then. "You guys ready for this? The last group didn't have a hard time," Reggie said.
"True, great use of smoke grenades. We'll have to do that."
"So, what was the deal with the heavy explosives? I heard they took some, but they didn't work."
"Yeah, well, we were hoping to blow a hole in the outer UFO wall. But that didn't work. They're to strong."
"Well, so much for a sneak attack."
"Yeah, we'll just have to use the doors. Worked out great for Tyson's team, though."
"True. Well, we're almost there, we had better get ready."
As the Skyranger landed, Natalie's displays came on line. Beyond the hatch was a brilliantly lit desert arena, so bright Natalie couldn't anything when she heard the first shots. Two red boxes appeared. She and Kevin eliminated the threats quickly. She jumped out as her eyes adjusted to the outside light. Howard was heading west as the rest of the crew got out. The large UFO was shining brightly only 40 meters away.
Natalie turned to the west, scouting behind the landed craft. As Hillary took the lead, Reggie and Brianna joined her at the base of a dune. "Natalie, clear the back of the UFO, and meet us on the other side. My group is heading for the front," Kevin instructed.
Hillary started moving, and Natalie followed. A red dot appeared, and Natalie opened fire before Hillary could finish saying she had spotted one. They continued advancing. "This is Howard, UFO front is all clear." The sand was very soft, and in the large suits, it was slightly harder to move. Natalie started using the abilities of her flying suit to move, rather than trying to walk on the slippery sand. "Oh, that is so not fair," Brianna said.
An alien shot came out from around the corner of the UFO. Hillary froze. "I've got him," Reggie called. He moved on top of the dune, and shot the beast down. Natalie pulled out her scanner. She was behind the UFO, but since there were only two scanners on the Skyranger, she wanted to spot for the front group. She detected some movement, though in the back corners. The same place they had been in the attack carried out just hours before. Luckily, they wouldn't be ambushed by aliens exiting the craft.
"Natalie, we're in position, waiting for you..." They broke into a run, trying to skirt about the outside of the UFO. Howard had already secured the outer side of the UFO. Around the far edge, they started to get winded. Natalie checked her scanner once again. More motion now that she was on this side of the UFO. They could be right at the door.
The group rounded the bend and aligned themselves at the door, Brianna and Hillary both breathing hard. The other group emerged from hiding places to align directly at the door on the right side. Reggie moved in behind them. "Kevin, I'm picking up motion over here."
"All clear on this side," Hannah responded. "We'll check that door once we move in," Kevin replied. His group began moving. "You two ready?" Natalie asked Brianna and Hillary. "Yep, we're good." "Is clear," came Kim's Asian English. Natalie watched as Kristen moved down the corridor on her map. "Your door looks clear, Natalie," she said. Hillary moved in, and headed for the corner. Around the bend, she found two Snakemen. Using the linked cameras, Natalie could see their backs were turned. Hillary froze, and they didn't notice her. Brianna had pulled out a grenade before entering. She primed it, and they tossed it quietly to Hillary. She picked it up and threw it down the hall. It was so quiet you could hear it clink as it landed. The snakes looked down, then exploded.
Only one fell. The other was still alive. Soon, another snake joined the first, and together they shot Hillary. Her personal armor couldn't hold out against the plasma. "Oh crap!" Reggie called, as a shot flew at him from down the hallway. "Toss a grenade down that hallway, let's get them," She dropped her motion tracer and handed Reggie a grenade. He threw it down the hall, when another shot hit him. "Ahh..." He stepped back, but he wasn't hurt.
The group knelt down in the hallway. Hopefully that grenade would work, and they'd be fine, at least for a while. "We've got to throw a smoke grenade down there as soon as this one goes off," Natalie whispered. The grenade exploded, throwing some broken weapons and debris down the hallway, though they couldn't tell if they had killed anything more than the one snake. Natalie reached for her motion tracker, but it was outside where she had dropped it. She groaned, and led the way around the corner. There were no aliens. "Clear, toss a smoke." On the far side they were doing the same. "Ahhh....." Cami was saying, though it sounded like a wail. As Reggie moved to toss in a smoke, Natalie called over. "What happened?" "Kim was throwing a smoke grenade, but he spotted a snake when he did..." "I didn't even...how..?" Cami had moved around Kim, and attempted to auto the snake. By the time she had stopped shooting, both Kim and the snake collapsed. "Hannah, you and Kaitlyn take point. Cami, head back here." Kevin was trying to solve the situation.
The smoke grenades went off, and they moved for the lifts. No enemies were spotted on either side. Reggie would be the first one up on this side. "I don't see anything..." Natalie wished she had her motion scanner. Both groups moved up at once. "Shooting through." Hannah blew open the far side wall. A snake was standing just beyond. "Eeep! Hannah ducked out of the way, as Kaitlyn shot through the hole to kill the snake. Natalie's group moved into the small room, and waited as Kristen flanked around the outside. They spread out, and quickly cleared the second floor.
"Clear down here. I'm scanning movement, upstairs corridor." "Ok, get back to the lift and let's head up," Kevin said. Natalie headed to the lift, as Kevin started up. At the top he was waiting by the door, and she had a brief flashback. Just like last time. Then the door opened. Both soldiers fired at the snake, killing it before it could raise it's weapon.(natalie got the kill) They moved into the hallway, it was clear. The other soldiers moved up the lift. Kristen crossed into the far room, Cami carried a motion scanner.
They moved down the hall, the scanner found nothing. Kevin rounded the corner to the bridge. Two bolts of plasma flew past, scarring the far wall. Kevin raised his plasma and opened fire. "Got it," he said as he turned back around the corner. That was the last one. "Nice shooting, everyone. Well done."
Back at base there was confusion over the newly found bases. Soon, the psi lab would be finished, and the soldiers could begin training. That was the plan, at least. The month ended directly after, and training begins. There was only space for 10 soldiers to train, Natalie was one of the chosen 10. However, it would be a month before they were finished. No one quite understood the whole process, and it would take the scientists that long before they figured out what progress had been made, and how mentally strong they were.
Another base was located in South America. That made for 3 bases on Earth at a time. The question was when to destroy these bases. Should they wait for the month, to try out their new powers? Or should they attack now, and try to hold off the alien menace? These questions were among the more frequent ones, not relating to any excitement over the Contributors. Tyson and Kevin were hoping that if they could read the alien minds, they could find out who they worked for. If they were aliens, or if somehow the Contributors had created them. They doubted it. But then, if they could read alien minds, perhaps they could read other minds as well...
A multitude of new construction began at the bases. New general stores, as well as a gravity shield, to slow any oncoming craft. With the alien base being so close, the question wasn't so much if they find us, but moreso, let's be ready when they do.
With two bases in South America, it was odd they had not seen so many supply ships. There was another attack on a small UFO, Natalie didn't take part in it though. However, they had decided to load the psi-amps on the ship, just to test them out. Some on the ship had started training, like Courtney J., but others had not. Whether they would even be able to use them was questionable. Either way, there would be the obtaining of Elerium.
Natalie had listened to the comm talk, as the soldiers moved out.
"Dark out here, can't see anything," Howard was usually the first to talk. "Heading up top, you guys know what to do," Courtney wasn't the most traditional leader. Plasma fire. "Howard is hit, can't see the source...located, Sectoid." There were multiple bursts of fire. "Got him," Courtney said. "That thing wouldn't die! We hit it four times!" Ajay exclaimed, "Landing is clear, rookies, come on out here."
"I've got eyes on the UFO." "Gotcha, tossing a flare." "Incoming fire, I can't see it..." It was Howard's operator. There was more fire. "Found him, this side of the hill." "I can get a shot in from up here," Courtney said. Natalie assumed she was on top of the Skyranger. "He's down, keep moving." "Ok, let's get to that UFO. Howard, you have a feed?" Bree was leading towards the UFO. "Yeah, but it's sketchy. Too many trees."
"You want this tracker?" Ajay called as he tossed it at the UFO. "Thanks," Jill said, "I've got something, I think on the UFOs far edge." "Ok, get into position. Jill, you want to lead us in?" "Well....why not?" "I don't see anything else, hoping it's clear out here."
"I'm only detecting one in the UFO. Ok, you guys ready?" "Yep, we've got your back." Jill slid through the door, and there was plasma fire. "That one's dead," she called. "Ok, keep you eyes open for any others." "I was thinking there would be more than just 3" "Nope, this one's the captain, only three crew." "Ok, then, let's head on home."
The psi-amps were a failure. However, at EuroCom, the stores were quickly filling with Elerium. They now had near 450 units of the substance, and from the double factories at the sister base they were producing X-COMs newest transport, based on alien technology. It would still take 22 days, even with 64 engineers.
A terror ship arrived, the one that had been expected for some time. It was decided that it would be best to engage the craft, before it reached its destination. The Firestorm quickly caught up to it as it lowered, and began it's attack with both plasma cannons. The ship crashed shortly after, but command was ordered not to engage. The Firestorm took no damage in the confrontation, and the crash site was left untouched. According to the General, Ethereals were too dangerous, and without Elerium, what was the point of attacking?
The scientists had discovered the use of food pods that were brought in from the supply ships. The pods had been filled with various items, but they couldn't be distinguished. After study, though, it was revealed that captives from earth, mainly animals but sometimes humans, were used as food for the alien species. Everyone at the base was sickened by the consumption of their fellow humans. Natalie thought back to all that the aliens had done. It was time when she thought of their horrible crimes, of how they've killed her friends, that she most wanted vengeance upon them. It was also at these times of fury that she felt the least hope.
Time went on. The bases weren't engaged, but the plan was to do it soon. The psi amps had been useless without training, and so there was no point in taking them. Further study was done, beforehand, however. Alien entertainment, used like drugs for the alien's minds. Odd.
Four new soldiers had arrived, to replace those who had been lost. Even that could be a depressing fact. Soon, the bases would have to be destroyed. There were 40 soldiers stationed at EuroCom, and it was likely nearly all of them would be involved in attacking the alien bases. They weren't worried about capture now. It was all about destroying the bases. Once they were resupplied, there would be a continual raid, until each base was eliminated.
New soldiers:
Johnny Depp D+,MS:60,65,32,20,45,45,53,38-Strength is decently high, for a rookie.
Kami J B-,S:59,64,33,30,56,66,53,35-very good rookie stats all around.
Cheyne J. C-,G:60,69,30,10,48,52,51,24-low averages mainly, higher TUs.
Ashley C. C+,R:56,41,39,40,60,53,78,23-Super reactions, but lower elsewhere.
Ok, that post could have kept going and going. Anyway, thanks for reading, more soon hopefully!
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