XCOM: DISPOSABLE HEROES
In this blend of both the old XCOM: UFO Defence and the new XCOM: Enemy Unknown, a tale of soldiers and their commander sent tumbling through the ugly mess known as desperate politics is told. As XCOM answers every whim of the Council and are left alone with hard choices, the Unit faces death at every turn. For after all, they are nothing more than disposable heroes.
On 13th March 2015, 1600 hour
So as the sun rose up over the horizon, the orange rays from the slowly moving circle shimmered and bent on the moving surface of the sea, creating distorted line after distorted line at the crest and troughs of the small sea waves. At the same time, like sharp spears of Apollo, the light pierced through the clouds above and, due to the sheer size and scope of the celestial body, the sun was visible above the cloud line as well, casting its gleam and majesty over the otherwise dark and hazy plumes of condensation. And that was how the hulk of an aircraft gave out sheens at its reflection of the light and became dark and almost invisible in the shadows cast by the clouds, untouched by the sun's heavenly arrows.
It was an aircraft that had a body which was bulky beyond belief. Its wings, each just as wide as the main body, seemed too small to be able to provide the craft enough lift and even worse, where the wings connected with the main body, was further enlarged by the attachment of a large sleek quadrant of armor. It could be described as some sort of joint that held each wing in a gap that extended on its quarter-circle circumference, with the extra space facing towards the back of the aircraft. Yet, despite the massive size and unsound aerodynamics, the craft still flew gracefully through the atmosphere, for while it might not have the required proportions that the Wright Brothers established for the basis of flight, it made up for it with sheer power in the four long engines that were located just between where the wing joint and the craft's main body. With two main hexagonal-ended engines that were branded with a logo of a classic alien head in a no-circle, the powerful aircraft provided itself immense amount of power and thrust that enabled it to achieve the super-sonic speeds it needed, allowing it to traverse over the Atlantic Ocean in around 3 hours. These bottom engines were topped off by two more square-ended and smaller engines, which had maneuverable propulsion ends, allowing the bulky and short-winged craft to turn effectively in the air when its short and stubby wing flaps could not provide sufficient torque. Finally, to end the spectacular presentation, the aircraft's wing joints actually had two additional engine thrusters directly below them. These were the propulsion systems, relying on an electric system that prioritized between the forward engines and the joint engines that provided the vehicle with its Vertical Take Off and Landing abilities.
Still, despite the many design problems that came with it, the aircraft's bulk was made with good intentions. As the most armored transport carrier in the world, the SR-0 Sky Ranger, once landed, was essentially a massive, nigh impenetrable bunker that could not be pierced by all but the strongest of tank shells, propelled by the strongest cannon. Even then, it would only go through half of the rolled compact-armored layers, made with multiple sandwiches of thick titanium, ceramic and depleted uranium, leaving much-needed time for a retaliatory attack or a quick take-off.
Its huge weight also made its center of gravity extremely stable, so even high-force explosives would be incapable of sending the craft off-balance. Not only that, in order to provide the adequate fuel and power to the VTOL thrusters to lift up its weight, even more weight had to be added thanks to the required utilization of state-of-the-art prototype engines, which were not as large as the main engines, but in trade-off, were extremely dense, thanks to the required machinery to provide adequate lift. Furthermore, to protect its electrical systems, the craft's hold had interweaved protective lining that blocked out any electromagnetic waves from large spectrum, ensuring the systems' security from external enemy hacking and disruption.
In essence, the Sky Ranger could do something that only its WWII spiritual ancestor the B-17 Flying Fortress and its 1970s older brother the A-10 Thunderbolt II could do: take a hit and still come home.
That aspect of it was a critical part for the Sky Ranger, for while the world has long gone by the damning ages of the World Wars and was comparatively peaceful now, where the Sky Ranger was going was not a place you can consider a war zone, but the unknown dangers that lurked there demanded for the finest of armored crafts. At where it was going, ahead of it, there had been reports of helicopters being shot down from unknown green-colored shots, jeeps melted to their bare frame by the sheer heat emitted by these unusual projectiles. And the men that piloted those vehicles?
MIA. Might as well be KIA.
With its tough hull and composite armor, as well as its VTOL hover ability that removed the need for a landing air-strip, the Sky Ranger was thus called upon to head to a small 100 metre-long corner section of the European town of Andover in Hampshire, bringing the squad that it held inside its air-conditioned womb to investigate the matter. The local police force had been informed ahead of time to evacuate the civilian population away from the area and from what was gathered, there have been witness reports of unknown and unidentified containers that emitted green luminescent tendrils of light, visually similar in the way that you can describe outstretched snot. Not only that, it seemed that these tendrils seem to possess sentience of some sort and to the alarm of everyone in the vicinity, were able to latch onto civilians and pull them in towards the containers. No further details could be agreed upon, for on the instance that this started, a mass panic among surrounding civilians made the possibility of exaggeration too high to ignore.
And thus, to see for themselves, the XCOM Unit has to send their troops to the site.
And so that was how each and every one of the four operatives now sitting in wait within the Sky Ranger's womb got here.
His wood brown eyes, bordered by the wrinkles of approaching age, shifting from person to person, the man sitting nearest to the pilot chamber looked unsure at the people he was surrounded with. Personally, he himself was unsure how he managed to get into this secretive operation in the first place. Hands, gloved in tough and unnecessarily thick leather, smoothed over his greying circle beard as the soldier tried to recall the swift and almost hasty procedures he had been shoved through to get here. It was probably only a day and a half before that he was suddenly relieved of his duties by his CO from his old unit, only to be picked up out of the blue by an awaiting taxi just outside the army base, which proceeded to knock him out and kidnap him, bringing him to a room in an unknown location where he was suddenly faced by secretive and fierce men in black, who then assigned him to this unit in the middle of the night. And all that happened in one day. The next 720 minutes was spent waiting and sleeping almost sparingly in a small temporary bedroom - more like a jail cell- for the reports to finally be consolidated and given the go ahead for the mission. Then he was just ordered to get onto the Sky Ranger, along with three others that he completely did not know.
Even now, after two hours of waiting in flight, many things were still in his head. It did not help that he felt a strange feeling of confusion when gazed at the emblem patch sewed onto the middle of the brown body armor provided to him. The patch had an upside-down-pentagon shield with an 'X' crossing over the center. Not only that, an additional bar was above the shield, spelling out the words 'VIGILO CONFIDO'. It most definitely was Latin, but whatever it meant, he did not know. He has seen many Latin phrases used in the US military before, but this one? He had never even had a glancing memory of it. Furthermore, during his boarding of the SR-0 Sky Ranger, he had heard the words XCOM being traded between the government agents, as well as being specifically told that the name of his new unit was known as the XCOM Unit. Same thing: never heard of it before.
"What does that motto mean?"
"Vigilance." The man lifted his head in surprise at the cheerful and jovial voice just a seat away from him. Sitting on the same side of the ship and leaving a seat's gap between him and the man, was another man, whose features could not be more contrasting from his older compatriot. Where there were wrinkles on the other, there was firm and smooth dark skin on him. Where the other gave tough and stoic frowns, the other had a more confident smirk. Both of them were equally muscular, but the older one had more definition, while the other moved with a bit more energy. Allowing his fingers to brush through the strong strands of his young copper hair, the youthful-looking soldier extended out his hand to his listener, giving out a friendly smile. "More precisely: In vigilance I trust. Good to meet you."
Caught off guard by the sudden gesture of friendliness, the experienced and hardened White American looked awkwardly at the obviously companionable African American. It's not that he is...racist or anything. He had many old friends back in his old unit who were black after all. No problem with that. It's just that, with the harsh and suspicious way that he had been thrown into XCOM by hypocritical government officials, his trusting nerve was just on edge today. 'Keep your mind on the context,' he told himself in his head, 'New unit equals new people equals new companions.'
"Sounds like a fine motto," the middle-aged operative said with a small, almost flat smile as he shook the younger man's hand. Expressions were just not his thing. Poker face was probably the most used facial-muscle-state in his repertoire. Even then, though, he meant what he said. In vigilance I trust. While he could put more trust in the FN40GL-H he had brought with him, being ever watchful and on guard was also something he could at least feel like relying on. "You took lessons in Latin?"
"Two years. Even then, I could be wrong. The grammar of the Latin still gets to me all the time," the other soldier chided himself as he received the hand-shake. "Government agents kidnapped you too?"
"On a taxi. I'll give them credit for practicality but it just sounded like something you would see in the movies. What about you, assaulted by a taxi driver as well?"
"Ooh-Rah. Nearly backfired on them, though. Was halfway beating through the driver before two more agents gang-banged onto me."
"You a Marine?" The older man noticed the familiar expression that is common among the United States Marines. For a moment, he had nearly thought it was 'Hooyah', which was for the Navy SEALS and Deep Sea Divers. But the difference was unmissable and mistakable, even with the thick Southern accent from his counterpart.
"That's right. Took the oath two years ago. Colton Deacon, Sergeant, MO: 0351, Infantry Assaultman, 1st Marine Division. Once a Marine, always a Marine." Colton, done with his introduction, flashed a proud smile at the other soldiers as he showed off to them the patch sewed onto his clothes' right shoulder, the emblem bearing the blue diamond of the 1st Marine Division. The older one just shook his head with a smiling sigh. He could not help himself but feel a bit jealous for this man's strong bond with his old unit. Unlike himself, of course.
"You sure don't lack any sense of attachment and pride, I'll give you that." The man cracked his knuckles in brief silence, as he returned Colton's expectant gaze for his own response. Even though he did not feel like it, he saw no logical way to get out of it. Since they are probably gonna sit here for the next hour, might as well spend the time to break the ice. "Jethro Hindrey, Chief Petty Officer, Navy SEALs." Once he was done with his extremely short reply, Jethro gave a heavy sigh as he expectantly watched Colton for his reaction. For a few seconds, all Colton did was to stare tight-lipped at him with wide eyes. The other two? We will get to them later.
"Woow...that's a-amazing!" As expected. Jethro thought as he absent-mindedly dug his ear. "You are spec ops and a high-ranking one as well! I can't believe it! So how long have you been in there? Which team do you belong in?"
"16 years in SEAL Team 6."
...
...
"Ha...Not again," Jethro sighed under his long and tired breath. Pretty much he hoped that someone would just think SEAL Team 6 was just a normal SEAL Team but noooo, they must know that the term 'SEAL Team 6" refers to the DEVGRU. One of the White House's four counter-terrorism SMUs. Blame it on Disney to try to trademark the name and make the Navy respond with trademark applications of their own.
"Are you...?" Colton paused in hesitation, his brown lips trying to mouth the words his shocked brain failed to articulate. Jethro understood what he was talking about: whether he knew about this operation beforehand.
"No, I don't. Besides, I'm no longer one of that unit. Ex-SEAL, if you may."
"Hell no, man! I feel respect for you. So you really are very high on the special operations aspect, huh? No wonder they decided to take you in."
"I'm assuming you are referring to that XCOM Unit and its government backers, right?"
"Yep." Colton acknowledged with a curt nod, as he turned to the other two soldiers sitting opposite of them, who had been staying silent throughout their conversation, listening instead. "How about you guys? You don't seem like you are from America."
"Shu Kai Ling, Zhongguo Renming Jiefangjun, Si ji jun zhang." Jethro's eyebrows rose at the name, while Colton just stared on, confused by his inability to translate the language. Realizing with a look that the SEAL might have understood, Colton quickly turned to the Older American.
"What did he say?"
"People's Liberation Army, Sergeant First Class. You are from China." The first sentence from Jethro was referred to Colton. The second, however, was referred to the woman sitting in front of him. Bearing the trademark Han Chinese features, Shu Kai Ling had narrow and slitted eyes of a dull grey, almost showing a gesture of hostility through the frown on her face. Her facial structure was not as square-jawed and angular as Colton's and Jethro's, but was slimmer and smoother, with her jaw line slightly less protruded. Her black hair was tied in two short and neat tails tied together by two simple bands, hanging just behind her head and only barely reached the tip of her body armor's back. Looking at least in her twenty-fives, she was not pretty, neither was she ugly. She almost seemed like someone you could forget about in a few minutes. Then again, that's what most Americans say about the common looks of the Chinese and the Japanese.
"Si. I'm surprised that I would be seeing Mei Guo Ren here. And it's Bing Ren." The atmosphere in her accented voice was icy and sarcastic, as if it was cold enough to burn you if you touched it. It was obvious that this was rubbing Colton the wrong way, for when he replied, his tone had switched from open to aggressive with a millimetre of patriotism.
"I don't know about you, lady, but there are three English users and only one Chinese user who can use English in this boat. I very much appreciate it if you can-"
"She was referring to American soldiers, Colton. And I can use Chinese as well," Jethro lightly slapped Colton in the back of the head, as he chided him. When the younger American tried to argue back, Jethro silenced him with a hard Batman look. Once his younger compatriot decided to stay tight-lipped, Jethro turned to the listening Kai Ling and spoke to her in Chinese. "Ke Shi Wo Gen Ta Tong Yi. Ru Guo Wo Men Xi Wang Zai Zhe Ge XCOM Dui Yi Qi He Zhuo, Wo Men Ying Gai Shi Yong Tong Yi Yang De Kou Yu. (But I agree with him. If we want to work together on this XCOM unit, we will need to use the same language.)"
Taking in his words, Kai Ling thought to herself in a moment of silence. As for himself, Jethro did not know whether he shared Colton's dislike of her cold style. It was naturally expected, given the hidden animosity between their two countries, despite what diplomats say on television. Much to his surprise, though, Kai Ling gave him an affirmative nod, her frown still on her face, but her initially fierce lips now edging towards a flat expression. "I can understand that logic. However, I would much like it if you would tell the Marine to respect line. If he does not, I would show not a mercy."
"Don't you mean 'no mercy'?" Colton shot back with a smug smile, somehow boosted by his greater command of the English Language. Whatever help it was to him when Kai Ling released her own volley.
"You asked for English, didn't you? This is best I can do. You do not like it, you suffer with Hua Wen."
"Enough, both of you. Would you please just remove the sticks up your ass? We still have one more guy-"
"Miles Williard, XCOM Unit, No rank."
"Huh?" The other three gasped in unusually cued unison at the sound of the fourth member of the squad speaking up from his seat in nearest to the plane's automatic ramp in the back. Where he sat, shadows were being accumulated in a corner, casting their collective shade over him like a translucent shroud. Even with this dark silhouette on top of him, however, the fourth guy could still be seen and described but with much difficulty. At first, the shadows as well as the dim colour of the Sky Ranger's illuminating lights made his skin look darker than it really was, but a movement in the shadows revealed that he was actually pretty much around the color of khaki. Blonde dreadlocks were tied together into one big bundle behind his big head and thick bushes of eyebrows toughened the look of his hard eyes that looked like shattered aqua glass. Two gold earrings were pierced into his left ear and a scar ran from the bridge of his nose to just under his right earlobe. An almost mature six-o'clock shadow was also on his square wide jaw, giving it a lighter shade than the rest of his face. Out of all of the members, he was also the biggest, with the seat being almost too small for him and the arm muscles that he had left bare from his attire throbbed with dangerous strength, accentuating the black tribal-like tattoos on them.
The moment he allowed his eyes to lay onto Miles, one thought ran through Jethro's head: a criminal. This man possessed many stereotypical looks of a criminal thug and the way he tightly crossed his arms around his chest, as well as his legs with one over the other, gave the burly man a rebellious aura and furthermore, the act of self-isolation from the rest of the team. Whoever he is, this man was not here to be a hero.
"Uh...," Colton was the first to try to break the silence, "I guess, that makes all of us. Since...we are in XCOM as well. I mean, what is your previous occupation, bro? You look somewhat Spanish. Maybe..."
"It's classified." Okay, Jethro did not expect that. He was predicting an aggressive and shoving response but those particular words? He did not consider the possibility that this guy just looks like a criminal and might have been from an actual military organization. Or maybe, Miles was just trying to find the easiest way out of a conversation with other people and used the words as an excuse. If it was for that latter reason, then Jethro had to hand it to him. It was a pretty good response with little possible answers that could prolong the interaction. However, Colton was not going to give up that easily. Out of everyone in here, he was probably the youngest at twenty-five, but he felt compelled to at least try to create some cohesion in the squad. Well, at least with him, Jethro and Miles. He still disliked Kai Ling.
As for Kai Ling, she could only look at everyone around here and give a heavy sigh, biting her lower lip in the process. Surrounded by a bunch of testosterone-filled men. It would be good, they say. It would be serving her country, they say. But they never mentioned that one unbearable Mei Guo Ren sharing the space with her and that more polite but bored-looking Mei Guo Ren, along with that downright tight and totally unsociable stranger sitting in the corner on her side. If they really wanted her to work together with these people, they must have overestimated her abilities. Sure, she is proud of herself, her country and her own skills but international friendship and cooperation just never matched with her.
Finally, with Miles, he did not feel like thinking about the three other human beings in the hull. All he was concerned about was the mission that they are heading out and until the briefing begins, he would rather keep silent, close his eyes and take a nap. Everything else is redundant if it is not relevant to the mission. In fact, he could probably ignore everything around him and take a nap right now. It's not like this big and clumsy-looking aircraft could get them over the Pacific Ocean in two ho-
"ALERT TO ALL XCOM OPERATIVES: WE WILL BE APPROACHING THE DROP ZONE IN 15 MINUTES! GET YOUR GEAR AND YOURSELVES PREPARED FOR BRIEFING IN 120 SECONDS!"
So this is the first chapter of my first work in the XCOM universe. I've been playing both games Enemy Unknown and UFO Defence for a very long time and I love both of them. Therefore, with this mixture of the two's best elements, as well as a re-look at the Council's iron grip, I present to you XCOM: Disposable Heroes. Please review.
Note: Some of the descriptions of the Sky Ranger as well as the recruitment procedure are made up by myself and should not be taken as canon game lore. Furthermore, numbers such as the Sky Ranger's time over the Atlantic Ocean have been confirmed by my own gameplay in Enemy Unknown. Moreover, real-life weapons are used sometimes in the story and details are referred to on Wikipedia.