Chapter 1: The Invasion Begin
Munich, Germany was a very busy place early on this late February morning. Everywhere one looked they could see people hurrying about on their way to work or school, whatever the case may be. Little did any of these people know that their lives would change drastically in just a few moments.
Without warning several projectiles fell from the sky and impacted at various points throughout the city including the central plaza, train station, bus depot, and other tall skyscrapers. The citizens were shocked to say the least, they had received no warning about any meteor showers in the forecast so they approached the objects with immense curiosity. The objects themselves appeared to be fairly large rectangular boxes made of metal. The objects also held two long cylindrical rods that stuck up from it acting as antennas that were periodically flashing green. After awhile four legs sprouted from the objects and rooted themselves into the ground.
As the civilians continued to observe the objects them immediately opened and revealed several green limb-like objects that reached out and grabbed several onlookers who were too slow to react to the sudden attack. As they were sucked into the machines, panic immediately spread throughout the crowds as they tried to evacuate the areas too their homes and businesses. But, more projectiles fell from the ground and immediately started dwindling the amount of people down to only a few thousand. Those lucky enough to escape witnessed larger ships coming down and several humanoid creatures coming to collect the ensnared victims in the beacons.
== Several Hours Later ==
By this time the military was responding as best they could to the attacks as they had no idea what to expect from these alien invaders. All that they could determine was that these were definitely hostile and could be killed on sight. The recon team sent into the central plaza consisted of four soldiers as well as the helicopter pilots who were escorting them to the initial attack site. Before the helicopter could safely land it was hit with several plasma blasts that took out its tail rotor sending it into a concussion inducing tail-spin. As it rapidly approached the ground the commander sent out an urgent mayday request that was picked up by the command center who prepared to send more reinforcements as the helicopter impacted the ground.
Both pilots were killed upon impact as they suffered numerous broken bones and severe internal injuries. The remaining four squad members left the crash site to try and set up a perimeter to defend against the assailants until reinforcements arrived. The members of the squad were however not ready for the aliens next course of action. Before any could react two were dragged away and viciously attacked while the two remaining soldiers fled to the large warehouse north of the crash site. Upon initial inspection it seemed as if the building was clear but, it was not as it appeared. Without warning a larger humanoid creature with veins appearing around its skull and larger purple eyes gave off a purple wave of energy that assaulted the squad commander who couldn't resist the psionic attack on his mind. Within moments his eyes also turned purple as he raised his assault rifle and gunned down the last remaining member of his squad before he could react.
The command center was in shock at seeing one of its squads taken down so efficiently and quickly after arriving at the attack site. Seeing that it would be highly unlikely that another squad would fare much better against these superior forces the military advisors gathered and decided to immediately notify the XCOM project that they would need their help in defeating this foreign foe.
== At XCOM's Secret Base Location ==
"Commander we have recently been informed of an alien attack on the city of Munich. Several civilians were captured and taken by the aliens before the military could respond to the threat. When they arrived at the scene they were effectively taken down within moments of arriving. Germany has requested that we swiftly respond to this attack with a squad of our most capable soldiers. Don't let us down Commander." Before the Commander could respond to the council's request the connection was severed and he chose to head to central command.
"Central Officer Bradford are the soldiers ready to embark?" asked the Commander.
"Sir, they are loaded up and the skyranger is leaving the hangar as we speak." replied Bradford, a thirty year old Caucasian male hailing from Tampa, Florida. Although he can be headstrong he was a loyal person which is why the Commander chose for him to head up central command.
"Good. Notify me when they reach the target area, I would dearly love to see them in action."
"Understood sir." replied Bradford as he proceeded to stare at the screen tracking their progress across the map.
'I hope they can repel these attacks it appears we have a tough opponent on our hands. Godspeed my men.' thought the commander as he called upon Dr. Vahlen and Dr. Shen from the research lab and engineering labs to come and join him with Bradford.
As he waited, the commander observed the base in its entirety noticing its various areas including the barracks, engineering lab, research lab, central command, and containment facilities. The base's location was only known to a few privileged members of each government that were a part of the council that approved the XCOM project. It was actually located underground in an abandoned cornfield in Omaha, Nebraska. Nobody ever thought to look there for some reason as most citizens were busy watching the College World Series, or the Nebraska Cornhuskers games to pay much attention the abandoned site. The council itself consisted of sixteen nations that believed an extraterrestrial attack was possible and secretly sent its elite soldiers to be trained to combat this threat. The countries involved were the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, China, Japan, India, Australia, Egypt, South Africa, and Nigeria. Other countries sent their soldiers to help the cause, but weren't full members because they didn't have the monetary support to lend to the growing project.
As he finished his retrospective look at the base both Dr. Vahlen and Dr. Shen arrived in the situation room.
Dr. Vahlen was a thirty-five year old brunette woman standing at 5' 8" who hailed from Munich, and was considered the top biological scientist in the world. She was the obvious choice to lead the research department as she completed numerous enhancements to the combat armor the troops now wore.
Dr. Shen was a fifty-five balding Asian man standing at 5' 9" who originally was from Tokyo, but moved to the United States to pursue robotics and engineering. He was appointed the head of the Engineering lab after successfully designing a robotic drone that could assist the soldiers in combat, however his preliminary tests were unsuccessfully and the thing wasn't combat ready.
Dr. Vahlen was the first to speak, "Commander, I have finished decoding the transmission from the helicopter's black box."
"Excellent! Do we have any idea as to what attacked them?"
"Unfortunately no, we were unable to identify the creatures. But we can tell that they were requesting backup before they were attacked by the aliens."
"Thank you doctor. Dr. Shen has there been any progress with the combat drone?"
"Sadly no, the drone still doesn't have enough power to control the weapons we have attached to it. We'll have to find some power source to solve this problem. Also, I just finished building the new upgrades to the combat armor. They'll be distributed to the troops tomorrow."
"Thank you doctor. Let's check on Bradford, the troops should be there shortly."
The group approached Bradford as he finished briefing Delta squad on the situation they were walking into.
"Bradford are the troops ready?" asked the Commander.
"Yes sir, they are about to exit the skyranger now."
"Excellent! Let's see what our soldier can do!" exclaimed the Commander as the troops descended the ramp and looked on at what remained of the earlier attack.
