XCOM: Xenos Excommunicamus
In 1939 a German expedition to Antarctica uncovered the frozen remains of an unidentified extraterrestrial vessel. This resulted in a revolution of military affairs during the course of the Second World War. Nonetheless the German military felled and the secrets of the Antarctic expedition were divided between the East and West. Despite the onset of the Cold War, powerbrokers from both the West and the Soviet Bloc formed the Xenos Excommunicamus Project. The aim was to study the possibility of and to prepare for a war that would inevitably arrive from beyond the Sol System.
Opening Act: We are (Not) alone
[August 14th 2021][08:00 Zulu][East China Seas]
/The Iron Tail Skirmish
There had been a flash of lightning followed by what could only be described as a shrieking elephant dying. It was soon followed with a burst of explosive which had cut his wingman's fighter craft into half. Lieutenant Commander Wei Zhu barely muffled an escape of shock within his pressurized cockpit. Despite being supposedly dampened of sound within his Chengdu J-10 multirole combat aircraft with the engine roaring and what not, this fighter pilot of the People's Republic could feel his ear literally bleeding. Zhu had flown into the area of operations with four others as a part of the 108th Tactical Squadron of the People's Liberation Army Air Force, the Iron Tail. He had thought it to be a routine interception mission of a stray American surveillance craft. It had turned out to be something much more…
It maneuvered through the heavens not so much in terms of flight, but as so in terms of 'phasing'. The unknown contact materialized to the side of Zhu, causing him to bank away with his J-10 almost on instinct. As the g-forces grappled onto the human pilot's thin frame, the Chinese man caught a slight glimpse of the enemy he had been facing. Three times larger than a conventional fighter, asymmetrical circular, vaguely shaped like a cuttlefish, and decked with what must have been camouflage that seemed organic to the touch, this was a foe without humanity.
Yet, despite this, the unknown enemy wasn't so much as fast as it was impossible to lock on. At beyond visual range, the Lieutenant Commander had dispatched his PL-12 air to air missiles. None of them scored a hit; despite the missiles themselves actually appearing faster on Zhu's reading displays. Furthermore, though the fishlike craft flew oddly, it moved in one singular direction and would only attack once behind its chosen prey. This was exactly what was transpiring at that very moment.
Zhu clenched his teeth.
The J-10 fighter quickly deployed its air breaks which had been followed on by an engineless vertical climb. This maneuver which would have been much more easily performed by a Su-27 air superiority fighter tore bits of titanium off the human craft. The Lieutenant Commander now deeply regretted having his 'old' Flanker replaced. It took a hair-raising second for the pilot to reestablish control over his airplane again. But by the time this happened, Zhu found himself positioned behind the inhuman vessel. Almost immediately streams of 23mm rounds were unleashed by his twin barrel cannon.
Oversized ammunition casings were spent flying into the clouds dancing about like dying ballerinas as round after round of airplane killing depleted uranium slugs were smashed into the mysterious flyer. It was to no avail as Zhu could not confirm any damage done visually. As far as readings on his displays were concerned, the enemy had appeared unmolested. Now there was no choice.
He sped forward, firing the afterburners. Metal screamed as sweat begun pouring into Zhu's eyes. 'The bastard' he thought. There would be no escape from the Lieutenant Commander. Before his very pupils his own fighter craft was tearing itself apart, going far faster than sound like a crewed cruise missile. One of the forward fins broke off. He pushed his J-10 beyond deemed operational limits. Warnings had become red. He was losing control. There was still fear. He overshadowed it with a resolved hatred.
It was a hatred that led to a sky breaking collision.
=[X]=
[2015][Six Years Ago…]
/Level One Ruins
One would most definitely agree. It was impressive. There were rotting flags from the Third Reich still being hung. They had made a mess of everything. Nobody must have stepped foot into this part of the chamber for a very long time. Decayed and mummified bodies of darkly clad soldiers had been laid like bad Halloween decorations everywhere. Their overseers were preserved non-human things floating about liquid tanks. The creatures were a strange mix of beings. There were gray naked creatures with large almond-like eyes. One had been a gigantic insect of sorts with many legs. It was a man-shaped lizard thing dressed like a thin man that was the strangest. All of them were now colored green. They had been dead for a much longer time than the Germans.
"I wonder if the Russians got to them."
Doctor Shen might find out eventually, but that's not why he had been attached to the excavation team.
"This way Shen, the radioactive readings are from this direction."
It came from a Germanic woman. Doctor Shen has already forgotten her name. The team had been assembled under extremely auspicious circumstances.
"The Nazis must have made extensive modifications to this place."
They were in front of a vault of sorts. Unlike the rest of the underground vessel, this door was completely different. It was not a mixture of incredibly redundant technologies marred with tribal worship of an unknown Emperor like everything else. This vault door was marked by German words and was manufactured in Berlin. This was a door that could be opened.
"Get ready the explosives."
Shen remained silent.
"Get ready your technicians and detonate this door."
The Germanic woman was becoming obnoxious.
"Your people…."
"Nein!"
She cut him off.
"They are not MY people, Shen."
"Excuse me, I mean the Nazis…. they hid something in here. If they made use of the weapons in the past, and they didn't play with this thing, there must be a reason for it."
She was not amused.
"Shen, the signal is coming from this chamber. We are under orders from the Council. Need I remind you of our duties?"
The Engineer thought briefly of his grandson in France.
"Very well…. "
He turns to a fellow technician.
"Jackson, send for the detonations from the surface."
=[X]=
[August 26th 2021][22:00 Zulu][Hollywood, California]
/Search and Rescue Operation: Hotel Roosevelt
The impact of water stung his face and threatened to rupture his lungs. Everything had been a blur. The last thing he remembered was a survivor falling off of the AH-6X light unmanned helicopter drone. It had been quite a fall as the European-looking victim and his oversized jeans had crashed into a Jaguar F-Type convertible parked in the lot of Hotel Roosevelt. And then he slipped, alongside his fireteam, and that elegantly dressed lady in black they had found earlier. This was not a rescue mission that was going well.
-Splash!
Specialist Rick J. Steinberg pulled himself from a pool. Overturned and overused luxury couches and poolside beds were littered all around him. Besides the random screams of panicking civilians, followed by gunfire, and… unrecognizable noises… Rick was all alone. Coughing out a stream of pool water, the American soldier proceeds to reorient himself. A quick glance around told him that he didn't leave the evacuation site.
"Goddamn it."
He and the soldiers that had been under his command had been a part of a larger National Guard effort in relieving the emergency crisis that was afflicting the Greater Los Angeles area. They were supposed to round up surviving civilians and to get them to safety. Due to various circumstances, their extraction had been an unmanned drone designed to insert Special Forces units. Not that he knew what exactly that emergency crisis was, short of an Alien Invasion. Thus far those things that he had encountered… they were like something out of a bad 1990s video game. Creatures that resembled aquatic creatures trapped behind a pressurized suit with direct energy weapons.
Retrieving his XM8 configured with a grenade launcher, Specialist Steinberg made his way into the hotel, completely relieved that his wet weapon had not been an older less efficient rifle. A quick climb through a flight of stairs led him to an overly decorated lobby with 50s décor and a collapsed Italian restaurant. This time, the Specialist was not alone. A pair of Xeno creatures had instantly turned about at Steinberg's arrival. They had been half the size of a full grown man, with beady crimson eyes hidden behind an atmospheric body covering suit. Not even giving the American soldier a chance to get a drop on them, they took cover.
Steinberg rushed behind an overturned bronze couch as a beam of sizzling blue light crisscrossed into the air besides him. One of the creatures had taken refuge behind a faux-marble pillar. Peering besides the couch, the Specialist takes aim and unleashed a controlled burst of fire at the pillar. Shell casings were sprinkled onto the polished checkerboard etched floor as the targeted creature had been hit. It didn't scream so much as imploded alongside the cracked pillar in a magnificent display of green goo and foul smelling organs. Though thrilled at the kill, the one creature now began to flank the Specialist.
There was no way the American could have adjusted before the thing was upon him. And it was, the unknown creature had been tenacious and driven. Before Steinberg could have even show frustration at the circumstances on his face, the little Xeno creature had taken a wild shot at the Specialist. And it went off course wildly, all but giving a light burn on the man's face while pulverizing a golden elevator door behind him. Steinberg's assault rifle went up, and the XM8's grenade launcher trigger was pulled.
=[X]=
Hollywood Boulevard was under enemy occupation. Wrecked cars had been set up as barricades by human defenders were essentially grinded into dust by floating saucer like vehicles. The little suited creatures that Steinberg had been fighting all night were busy sipping through the remains. Large grey-metallic capsules, stacked like Legos were collected in the middle of the street. Each had a window like clothing dryer with outer space, and each had the face of a man or woman in mid scream… and was one… extremely recognizable… it was Private Tsai, Ken the K-Man. His body obviously mangled from the fall. What did these things want from the dead? And how did they move so fast?
Steinberg examined all from this from the safety of cover. He had hidden behind an overturned M1A2 Main Battle Tank that somehow got lodged into the Hollywood and Highland shopping mall. His wet headset was still buzzing, but the radio that was strapped into one of the pouches of the combat vest the Specialist had on was turned off. It was stilling working. Though military radios were designed to survive the end of the world, he wasn't about to break radio silence in the fear of giving his position away.
Rick had to get evacuated.
The next fall back point for evacuation was located in Silverlake. Somehow, he had to get himself out of this FUBAR mess. Though originally from the East Coast, he had hoped to make it big as a writer in Los Angeles. Things however have a way of never going according to plan. It would be a shame to die in Hollywood of all places without actually breaking into the scene. As such, death was the last thing on Steinberg's mind.
As he broke away from cover to make his next move, something screamed a phase of gibberish towards his direction. It was followed by what would be likely described as an enemy foot patrol closing rapidly onto the Specialist's position.
[August 29th 2021][Unknown][Unknown]
/Inauguration Day
There was no one in the room. All that had and could be visible to the naked eye were five monolithic silhouettes. One by one, they had turned on. Each represented by a flag and a label that read AUDIO ONLY. In the middle of all of this was the screen of a bald man, his face perpetually covered by darkness as if censored by means beyond understanding. No identifiable flag had been brandished on him. Instead, a singular insignia from a military patch of the planet Earth crossed and watched over by a solid 'x' with the words ' VIGILO-CONFIDO' had been displayed.
It is he that begins the meeting.
"Welcome, fellow Council Men. In light of the recent extraterrestrial incursion, we are convening to approve of the reactivation of the XCOM Project."
[End of Transmission]
