Forward by AlienPod
Hi potential readers, this is a XCOM fan fiction, it is based on characters I created for my play through of XCOM enemy unknown and XCOM 2. I am a huge fan of the series, so I hope you all enjoy, and please feel free to give any and all criticism, especially any the spellings, grammar mistakes or writing flaws you my find as I am sure it will help me in the future. More chapters will be on the way soon, think of this but a tease to what is to come, and any suggestions will be noted.
Please not the following dose contain some profanity and racial slurs (Against my own race) and are only for humour and solider like banter which I assume would be expected in a para-military organisation of gruff, tough men (and women) so consider this your warning.
SECTION ONE : THE GREAT WAR
Chapter 1: UFO down
Apollo charged forward brushing past the thicket of the deep forest, carving a path through the sharp braches and razor like thorns that cut and lacerated Apollos dark skin, drawing blood to the surface of his arms and legs. He contorted his powerful lower leg muscles, as he wrapped his arm around a tree and spun ninety degrees around it, bringing himself back on course as projected by his heads up display. The Hyperion Helmet, came equipped with squad-link and a heads up display, known as a HUD. The helmet was bulky, but for a fully enclosed module was surprisingly generous with the amount of visibility one had when wherein it. He was however fighting against the helmets in-built team-link, he could hear the other members of Strike One as if they were stood next to him, they were requesting orders, mission updates and confirming kills they had taken, he was only listening to one thing, and that was the faint whistle of a faint transponder, as it flashed red in the HUD, the transponder was for Max Weber the senior officer on this mission, his biometric scanners were reporting dangerously low.
The old man had decided that he attempt a solo flank on the enemy by skirting their perimeter as the rest of the assault team push towards the enemy forces in a fain attack to draw their rear defence away from Webbers approach. A sound tactic but Strike One never played it this dangerous, it would usually be a buddy team of two or three men so they could support each other but XCOM, also known as extraterritorial combat unit, was low on man power after a crushing defeat in Beijing, this ment, we had to adapt to our new circumstances or perish, this was the first piece of training XCOM rookies are pushed to excel as part of their three weak training program before admittance into the organisation. This is a assault squad of four men were being used to rush and distract the enemy, and one member of the team was to act as a supporting sniper, then the flanker was on his own. Despite Apollo protest, to just have an assault team of three, or remove the sniper back up, Webber had final say. His argument was the assault team usually suffered greater casualties than a flanking team, and so removal of any key element of that force would weaking them and could lead to the assault team being overrun and destroy, and without them Webber would be exposed anyway. Apollo pushed past another brush, and leaped over a fallen log, he wish Webber had been right. He remembered how the mission began, all the way from when XCOM had launched an Interceptor to Istanbul to catch a medium sized unidentified flying object, or UFO abductor. The abductor quickly fled, and eventually stopped over Germany, where it attempted to combat the Interceptor. In the skies over Berlin the interceptor was peppered with ionised shots of super-heated plasma, that where guided by magnetic torches on the UFO. The Interceptors missiles where plucked from the air by the abductors defence lasers, and when the Interceptor counter this with its own laser weaponry, the abductor used a gravitational distorter to bring the lasers down and curve them away for the UFO hull. The UFO and it pilots must have been mighty impressed with their display, until a battery form a Russian SAM site brought the UFO crashing to Berlins outskirts, Apollo chuckled under his heavy pants as he fought of what the aliens must have been thinking as their ship came plummeting to earth's surface.
He pushed a branch away from his face and quickly he saw the ship, the alien vessels haul was a pure silver, and it reflected the glowing green energies that emitted form it wreaked areas. He was taken aback by it sheer size and scope, why such a powerful and technologically advance species would waste their time abducting and terrorising Humans made no sense to Apollo. He slid down the embankment he stood upon, and rolled in a fluid dismount after a fair three meter drop. He then crossed a stream, his heavy boots sinking deep into the moss covered mud. Has he came closer to the craft, he crossed over the mutilated and bloodied bodies of several greys, the egg heads called the Sectiod's. Their green blood oozing out from the bullet riddled bodies, their dark eyes emotionless just like they were in life. Near the arched door way to the interior of the alien craft, slumped Webber, the Captain was conscious barley. His torso was blackened with carbon scoring, likely from a direct laser impact. He looked up to Apollo his wary eyes, alert to the pain he was in. He forced a faint smile, he flashed his gritted teeth for a moment at Samuel, his flesh was a pasty pale, like the colour of bone.
"Apollo" winced the old man, "I thought I order you to stay put, and wait for my signal", he gave a slit smirk
"I had to disobey you sir" Apollo smiled back, he placed his powerful hand on the crumbled officer, "I consider it a moral obligation"
"Is that right" chuckled Webber, before he groaned in pain slightly "don't make me laugh, barley holding myself together as it is" he coyed. Samuel dropped to one knee to check Webbers injury, he stroked the sides of his helmet, has if he was stroking the stubble that lay below. Webber looked sharply at Apollo, and blatantly asked "that bad?"
"No, it not just need to get Cooper up hear and you'll be fine sir", Apollo however was unsure, from his observation Webbers armour and skin and fused together due to the extreme heat of the energy discharge that must of struck him. There was something, however, where was the squad? What was their distance.? How long before Weber enters shock? These were another layer of factors to consider, he stepped up to contact Cooper, the teams medical officer and technical expert. He hollered into the mic and got a response of broken radio chatter, and sounds of gunfire. He turned back to the grim looking Weber, knelt back down and said in as calm a voice he could muster, "He's on his way, sir"
"Listen Apollo" sputtered Weber in low tone "I might not make it"
"Don't say that sir" interrupted Apollo "You are going to make it, Tom on his way"
"Knowing Tom, we both be dead of old age before he shows up", he paused, letting out a burst of laughter that transformed into another raspy holler of spittle "But if I don't make it, Apollo" he said in a more stern tone, "You tell my son, and my wife I died a hero's death, I want Junior to remember that about me, and that I…" he coughed up a trickle of blood "that I" then Webbers eyes glazed as he pushed Apollo away. Apollo spun on the ground his head turning back on itself, he saw the being form before it, its crystalline magmatism emitting an orange hue, like a burning fire. It fade for a second, and then brought a plasma weapon to bear, Apollo snapped his body round onto his stomach and reached out for his shotgun. He hear three shots of Weber's pistol ricochet off the magnetic life form, has he wrapped his hand around the grip of the trigger. He spun his body as a green glowed arced over him and lunched to his feet as a crack from a plasma weapon echoed at him, the shot silence the growls of Webber, his hand slumped to the ground and his pistol fell from the palm.
Apollo fired a shot into the glowing torso of the alien, it took the shot in stride it crystal like form revealed as the pellets buried into it. Like a coiled snake they thrilled to life, chattering as Apollo unloaded another shell at the alien life-form. It marched towards him and with the back of its hand struck the weapon from Apollos hands, the shotgun clattered to the ground by the stream, too far for him to reach. The alien left no time for Apollo to think of a counter, it brought it arm up over it shoulders and then snapped it down onto Apollos head, it then whipped its plasma gun at Apollo smacking him hard, his helmet popping off his head due to the blow. Blood drizzled out of his nose, he dodge the aliens second and third blows, rolling back on his feet as he clambered to find distance between him and the alien. When there was enough distance he drew his side arm, and fired a stream of bullets at the magnetic being, who like before chattered with excitement form every shot. He emptied his clip, the alien now again on top of him, he drew a combat talon from it snug hold on his hip, and slashed at the being, it bristled and step back. He trust again, but the alien side stepped and grasped his arm, crushing his fingers and disabling the weapon. It held Apollo there for a second and placed it weapon on its back, it then brought the free arm in view and grasped Apollo neck, his flesh bulged around its hold. He grasped at the strangle hold, his fingers tearing at the aliens hand that clenched tight around his next. Strangling him the alien proceeded to lift him of the ground by two meters. Its cold lifeless eyes looked over him, like a Human looks over an ant. It chucked him into the alien craft, and it bristled as it brought out its weapon, it began to say something, in English it screamed in a synthetic cry, "axios". It began to charge its plasma gun. Apollo blue eyes frantically searched the room for an escape, or a weapon but there was nothing. It was just a loamy room, the walls and the lights seemed to condense around him, the fog shrouded his armour in a thick blanket, and it ghostly echoed the green light building up along the plasma rifles barrel. He started back at the alien, his blue eyes penetrating it soulless holes, he would not die a coward. The alien chattered slightly, as if it was impressed by his boldness.
He then saw the creature burn a bright orange, it arms flew up into the air as a shot from a sniper penetrated its back. The plasma rifle discharged its shot, the green energy wisped into the air and struck the crafts ceiling. Apollo got up, and stepped over the bristling cinders of the now dead alien lifeform. He clambered out of the UFO arched door, and slid to the ground in a hump of first flesh and ragged armour, he wiped away blood from his nose and lips and sat patiently. The sniper descended from the embankment, and lightly stepped over the stream, he came to a stop over at Apollo. He dropped his rifle over his shoulders, and said in his upper-class British accent "You okay their mate" as he passed Apollo his arm.
"Not too bad Johnson, could've used you help a few minutes ago through you old cracker" Apollo gave in response to Henry Johnson, the teams resident sniper, who gave a chuckle to the big man's racial slur, "Where Cooper, Wood and Flynn?"
"Back at the extraction zone, Wood took a hit, nothing serious he'll live to fight another day" answered Henry, "How about you may daring African warrior, you good?"
"You know it Johnson, no alien slows this prime mother fucker down" Samuel responded faintly, a few colourful words added to big himself up.
Henry then looked over at the mass of flesh slumped to the ground, he pulled the tags that hung on old Webbers face, "Looks like Webber bite it today"
"Looks like he did" answered Apollo mutely
"Damned war" Henry gritted as he drew back from the mangled body of their Captain, "At least your still kicking you beautiful bastard"
"I ain't planning on leaving your ugly arse let Johnson, not until I at least see you get laid" Apollo joked trying to lighten the dire mood
"Watch it Apollo, you know I'm a moderately happily married man" Johnson joked back. He and Apollo stepped away from Webbers resting place and came to lean back on the embankment overlooking the UFO, and their they sat slightly for Tom and the others, Apollo couldn't help but take glances at Webbers body, he couldn't help but wonder who would be next, where they all destined to die; him, Cooper, Johnson and everyone else. And what where they fighting for, a free Earth, and was that even a possible goal, or was all this sacrifice worth it. He stuck a cigar in his mouth and lit it, he offered one to Johnson who excepted, the old man would want to be remembered this way the two mused as they looked up to the star struck sky, where once you could find solos, now there was only dreed and hopelessness of another battle and another loss, the old man was always a sentimental pragmatists.