Chapter 01: Enemy Unknown
The green fields beneath seemed so peaceful. The sparse woods made the area seem untouched, peaceful and isolated. Gazing upon the landscape through the chopper's window, Nikolai Volkov hoped that it was enough to keep the place secure. Dressed in a black uniform and the hat resting on his lap bearing the symbol of a golden 'X' upon it, he gazed once again at the documents open on his laptop.
"Nikolai Volkov, you have hereby been named Commander for X-Com project, and are to prepare for transfer immediately following the receival of this letter. You are to answer only to this Council's instructions, and make the decisions you find necessary in face of the new enemy we face. Review the material while on-route. Good luck."
The signatures beneath had been from important people, but the most noteworthy ones were those of his superiors that he had served for years. He had began to review the materials soon after, and even now it seemed impossible. At one hand, it proved there was intelligent life out there, but on another hand, it also made it clear that whoever they were, they were not interested in being friends.
It had been hard to believe, but the photographic proof had convinced him, as had the budget this project was assigned. He had lead soldiers to combat before, and managed to impress his superiors several times. Of course, he had also made some enemies in his time that prevented him from rising higher than major in the past, but the documentation made it clear he was now the top of the organization that was receiving funding and recruits from the member nations. That meant he would only answer to the council's directions, and even there, he had the last say. His job was not to worry about politics, but to get the job done.
"X-Com. Extra-terrestrial combat unit, originally established during the fifties after the reported sightings of unidentified crafts starting to become frequent occurrence. While some of these sightings were dismissed, the amount and material acquired from credible sources suggested at least a few of these sightings were real. As the incidents began to wane, and credible sources no longer reported any new material or sightings, the issue was dropped, and X-Com buried as a curiosity. With the recent events, it has become apparent the project needs to be revived, and at a whole new scale."
The starting words of the document said enough already. Sightings over Alaska and an aerial combat over Russia had given both United States and Russian Federation enough reasons to sign in to the project, and with their clear interest on the matter, several other nations had joined in. They were not a public organization but each of the member nations had the right and duty to call for their assistance whenever incidents with these reported extra-terrestrials might occur.
The first base had been placed, no doubt after several heated arguments, into Europe. Secondary bases were under construction in United States, China, Nigeria and Brazil. That would put a base in each area of the world, allowing X-Com to respond to a crisis no matter where it took place. So now he was waiting to see this 'hidden base' in Germany.
"Are we far from our destination?" He asked the pilot after a few more minutes had passed. "Not far, ETA three minutes. Best get ready, sir." The serious looking German woman replied back to him sharply. Silently setting his hat down on his head, he drew a deep breath leaning back and sighing. The chopper continued over a hill, and Nikolai found himself frowning. For a base location, he didn't see much. Some kind of an old cottage not too far from there, but that was all.
Just when he was about to ask about the matter, he saw a section of the field crack open and start to slide to the side. It was a large hatch of some sort. Down below, he could see a large landing bay waiting, with people moving back and forth. So the base was underground, he noted to himself briefly. Smart, if their enemies wanted to find them, they would have to look around for a good while. The files he had did not speak too much of the facility either, instead telling him further information would be provided on site. Operational security was tight on this. The lack of radio-communications also suggested to him that they intended to keep it that way.
Once they had landed, and the hatch doors safely closed above them the pilot did the last check-up on the chopper's panels. Silently opening his belt and stepping out, Nikolai took a few steps into the landing bay casting a look around. Three people were already approaching him, the first of them wearing a black uniform quite like his own, the second one dressed in a white lab-coat, and the third dressed in dark brown slacks and a gray sweater, though with a badge of the golden X resting on his chest.
"Commander Volkov? I am your second in Command, Reiner Rothschild. These are fräulein Hope and herr Mercier. They are the heads of the X-Com research and manufacturing departments."
"It is good to meet all of you. Is there a situation presently on-going? If not, I would like to visit my quarters and get a shower." Reiner nod his head somewhat and gestured towards the nearby door. "This way." Nikolai smiled briefly but looked at Hope again, speaking seriously. "I will visit the laboratory soon." Turning his gaze towards Mercier then in turn, he continued in the same manner. "I look forward to seeing what the engineering here can do as well."
"As you wish." Mercier replied calmly and turned to go, but unlike him, Hope frowned faintly and spoke up. "Mr. Volkov, I have already been waiting for your authorization to begin my research-" She stopped as soon as he raised a hand. "I have been on the move for several hours. I will visit the laboratory once I have showered and dressed, and will not delay it further."
Though he could tell she was far from satisfied, she at least accepted his word and followed after Mercier then. Casting a look at Reiner, he began to walk ahead allowing the German man to lead the way. Past the hangars was a hallway for personnel to move to any of the three hangars located in the base without having to cross through others, but they all lead to the large elevator room and beyond it, a security check-point. That made sense to him, if someone were to try and attack the base they would have only one real entryway, one choke-point to defend.
"This place was built with security in mind." Nikolai Volkov smiled and looked at Reiner as he voiced his approval. The brief nod was followed by a smile in turn. "The place was built to be able to withstand an attack, or even a siege. Hopefully it will not come to that, but its better to be prepared."
Considering the foe they would be facing, it didn't hurt to have a fair share of precautions, but he'd have to talk about some of the things with the German officer later. Perhaps besides a bottle of good vodka. That always got tongues to loosen up a touch, and used with moderation, it could be a good way to work out some stress as well. He had no doubts about whether or not there would be stress involved with this job.
O O O Training Area O O O
Gunshots sounded out in unison as the ten soldiers already present worked on their accuracy. The other ten soldiers were working out in the gym nearby, preparing for whatever tasks may lay ahead of them. All of them were volunteers, eager recruits spotted and sent forth to the program by their respective nations. Since the organization was new, none of them knew much about it, but had quickly adopted English as the conversational language within base area, though some did prefer to talk together and especially curse in their native tongue.
As the loud beep sounded out and the targets began to slide closer, each agent waited quietly to see how they had done. The lightweight assault rifles they had been issued were well made, and surprisingly accurate at single shots and short bursts, though full auto was, as always, mostly useful for covering fire or suppression.
"Well now, looks like we got some future snipers among you sissies here, provided you got the guts and the gruff to make it!" The trainer's voice sounded out loudly as he examined the display at his desk nearby, giving him information on individual soldiers. A few of them kept improving steadily, some had obviously had slow start but were getting there, and a few seemed to be unable to really learn that much by simple firing range use.
"Aki Kettunen!" The trainer called out, watching as a blond-haired, thin man walked up to his desk, the nation flag insignia on his left shoulder marking him as a Finn. "You're tied for the best score with a member from the other group. Practice your shots for two more clips worth, and then turn in your weapon. I'll have a word with you later, but its looking likely you'll be placed in the mission team."
The smile and salute came quickly, along with the polite but brief "Yes Sir!" Returning to the firing lanes, the young man left the trainer to smirk somewhat. The fellow was more than a little strange in some ways, being competent swordsman, wielding knives with fair precision, and having already proven himself one of the best marksmen present. The fact he wasn't even a professional soldier in the past had surprised him, but sometimes the best did find their calling elsewhere. With the world in the state it was now, though, X-Com needed the best, and the best would answer the call. The pay was good enough after all, but it was hazard pay. Unlike with regular military, the X-Com forces truly did not have a clue what kind of a foe there might be on the battlefield, and that made it a bit difficult to attract recruits.
Starting to call out the others though, the trainer's attention focused on the rest of his proteges, the small force already showing improvement, but when the mission time came, they would only pack ten soldiers aboard the VTOL craft to send to the battlefield. The other ten would remain at the base both to protect it in case of possible retaliation, and to serve as a back-up team if the situation got bad enough that the first team would suffer a complete wipe-out during some mission. It was a situation the trainer didn't want to think about, but had to admit to himself was a very real possibility.
O O O Laboratory O O O
"So, these two projects hold promise, and I would like to begin working on them as soon as I have your permission, commander." Hope's voice was calm and collected as she finished explaining to the commander what she needed his signature for. When the organization was put together, the sole authority through whom all the important decisions had to go through was the commander, and that had already delayed Hope's research projects enough. Thankfully the man was worth his word in that he did appear to her laboratory to hear her out in half the time she expected him to take even if he was to rush his shower and get back. Pleasant as the surprise was, his refusal to come right away was still a delay and his insistence that she explained what she had in mind had made her sigh originally. They really should have handed the right to make the final call on research projects to her, this dumb Russian might have a head for strategy, but she doubted he would be able to figure out the significance of her work.
"So combining the earlier research on laser weaponry from different nations and the test-data provided by them we could start working on a miniaturized, hand-held laser weaponry, or alternatively you would like to begin preparing an emergency field first-aid kit which would be lightweight, simple to use and would allow our soldiers to treat their wounds on the battlefield, thus increasing the likelihood of survival and mission success alike."
While it was accurate, she didn't like him dumbing it down like that. If he understood that much, fine, but she didn't see why he had to repeat it to her. Perhaps he wanted her to confirm he had understood it right. "Basically, yes. However, we only have twenty researchers on duty at the base for the time being, so I would think it would be best to begin working solely on one of these projects to see it completed as soon as possible, and then move onto the next in turn. Unless of course you would be willing to request additional scientific staff to aid in the research." Her smile was hopeful, but the brief shake of his head was to be expected. Military men had little understanding for the demands of science, and the bright minds like hers.
"Twenty researchers won't be enough in the long run, we'll be hopefully bringing back several items of unknown design once we start bringing this enemy down from our skies, so we need to have the necessary research and development capabilities. Consider it done, I'll have Reiner make a few calls soon. As for the research, focus first on this 'medikit' idea. Good weapons are important, but I would prefer to have more soldiers return from the missions alive regardless of how many aliens are shot."
Signing the necessary paperwork briefly, Nikolai Volkov walked out of the laboratory and headed on forth towards the engineering then, leaving miss Hope staring after him for a second. "Guess he isn't such a numbskull militant after all." She was willing to go that far for someone willing to at least increase the amount of staff she had working on the projects. So, medikits first.
"Alright people! We have authorization, lets start cracking on this!" Walking among the eagerly waiting scientists, Hope grinned widely for a moment. At least things were looking a little better than they had at the start of the day, back when she first heard their Commander was coming in from Russia.
= = = Alien Base Zanas = = =
Two silvery discs rested on a white-stone floor inside a large hangar area, thin cables attached to the open panels on their side. The short gray men and women moving about in the base were preparing them for launch, working tirelessly. They were Reticulans, and they had been entrusted with overseeing the beginning stages of this operation. While this world was distant from their own, they all knew that this mission was vital for their long-term survival. These humans were a complication, but they would be dealt with, they were certain of that.
"How long till the small scouts are ready for launch?" The base Commander gazed over to one of the engineers working at a nearby desk in the nerve center of their base. "Three tics, they are already re-fueled and restocked from their latest scouting mission. Pilot undergoing medical treatment."
The thought of it was annoying. While their small scout had landed, some human with a weapon had sneaked up close and tried to shoot on the pilot. Luckily, the human had only managed to hit the pilot in the ass but the sheer audacity of it was something to consider. Of course, the pilot had emptied a whole plasma-pistol clip in retaliation on the human's body even after he had stopped breathing a long time ago.
"And the scout?" He hoped he would soon be able to launch the larger craft. The small scouts had helped locate some good places for future harvest and research missions, but the small scouts were far too vulnerable to risk on anything more just yet. Once they had a proper scout craft they'd begin with additional research and harvest tasks however. "Still two planetary rotations away." Two more days and nights on this planet before having at least some firepower. It was a bit unnerving to the young Commander.
Zanas, after whom the base was named, was a promising commander by all theoretical tests, and his mental abilities had proven formidable in the past already, but he knew well that this mission would either secure his position in the Reticulan society, or damn him as a failure despite all previous accomplishments.
"Very well. Give the order to launch in three tics, and carry out further recon on the designated areas." Having given the command, Zanas focused his attention on the holographic projector displaying the outline of the planet and its continents. Tapping the first location to scout out, Zanas then turned his attention an ocean's width away, and after a brief look tapped down the second area to scout out.
"The first scouts reported those areas are designated by humans the names 'Alaska' and 'Norway'." Briefly nodding, Zanas frowned. What sort of names were those? Not that they would matter for long. It helped to know what humans called them, in case they'd have to enter talks at some point, but that might end up just being busy-work while they waited for their heavy-hitters to be ready for work in this planet's atmosphere.
A lot of technology would not work right until it had been adapted to this planet's conditions, and that called for further research. On that note, they'd need additional bio-matter eventually too, so a harvest would be necessary as well. So much to do, and already he'd seen that you couldn't expect these people to just run away in terror when they came.
"Have Mistress Yul join me in the entertainment chamber in five tics." Getting up and off his seat, Zanas walked out to the hallway. He had a lot on his mind. Perhaps Yul could provide some new thoughts, and help him out with this.
OOOOOO
Alright, first chapter is together now. Took me a bit, and I am still not sure if its what I originally envisioned, but eh, its there. So, the story borrows elements from original UFO: Enemy Unknown and the new XCOM Enemy Unknown games, as well as some material from other games that touched the series, like UFO Aftermath and so forth.
Likewise, I am thinking of writing this partially from human angles and partially from alien ones. I am open to comments and criticism, as long as its creative. On that note, tics are basically minutes, and rotations, full days. Just felt a touch silly having Aliens call them exactly the same, but ah well.
I already dropped out the plan to have a running 'calendar' in story tracking how far its gone, but we'll see.