Recruitment

"Are you alright?" Klaus Wagner asked as he pulled Alex to his feet.
Alex White's ears were still ringing from the blast.
"I told you not to get too close to those discs when you shoot them, they tend to blow up." Klaus said as he picked up Alex's rifle and inspected it. "It's toasted, how's your sidearm?"
Alex checked his holster, glad to find the M9 still in place, a quick look told him it was undamaged.
"It's good to go Sarge." Alex said as he removed the safety. "Are there any left?"
Klaus shook his head. "Out there? Most likely billions. Right here, right now? I think we got the last of them." As he said it Alex noticed movement behind his commander.
From the rubble a grey skinned creature rose up and aimed his weapon. Alex shoved Klaus aside as he emptied his pistol. Not waiting to see if he had hit the creature Alex ducked into cover behind the remains of a shed. Fumbling to reload his gun Alex listened for a hint of what was happening.
He heard quick bursts of fire from an automatic rifle and the usual string of curses from Klaus. Then as he listened closer a high pitched screeching that sounded like nothing that belonged on earth.
Daring to glance a look he saw Klaus lying on the ground, somehow managing to fire his rifle in the general direction of the creature while wisps of smoke trailed from his left arm, which seemed to be smoldering.
Alex took a deep breath and counted the time between burst of rifle fire. He then crouched and got his gun ready.
As Klaus opened a new burst of fire Alex sprinted from his cover position towards the screeching.
As he jumped over the rubble he saw the bug-eyed grey creature look up. Before even he himself realized it, Alex had emptied his gun in the creatures head.
Then things seemed to get silent for a moment.
Alex exhaled and sound returned to the world. He could hear Klaus behind him but couldn't make out what he was saying. In the distance fighting seemed to be dying down as well. He didn't look at the creature but turned to Klaus and realized the Sarge had gone silent.
Running over to Klaus he activated his radio. "This is Private Alex White, 45th; my CO is down, request immediate medical assistance."
For a moment Alex listened to the static while checking Klaus' wounds. "This is Private Alex White, 45th; my CO is down, request immediate medical assistance." He repeated.
Again, nothing but static.
"This is Private Alex White, 45th; my CO is down, request immediate medical assistance." Alex was now shouting.
After a moment his radio creaked and a female voice responded.
"Private White, we read you, what is your position?"
Alex looked around, the fighting had kept him occupied that he barely knew where he had ended up.
"Uhm, slightly east from the church on Church road," he began. "We are in the graveyard, near the groundskeeper shed."
A moment of silence before the female voice responded.
"Roger that, private. We are sending a medic now."
Alex let out a sigh of relief, it was going to be alright now. And then a shadow passed over him.
As Alex looked up an armored figure, heavily armed came floating over the church and started to descend upon him.
Alex raised his pistol and pulled the trigger only to hear a click. Panicked he reached for Klaus' rifle when the figure spoke. "Relax private, I am the good guys."
The voice was the one that had spoken to him over the radio.
As the figure landed, it took of its helmet to reveal a young redheaded female.
"Maria Evans, I'm the medic you called for." She said, kneeling beside Klaus, examining his wound.
"Direct hit to the left arm, plasma rifle, he is lucky, normally greys hit dead center. And he would have been a goner." She used a knife to cut the sleeve from the serge's uniform, revealing a blackened arm.
She groaned softly. "That's bad, radiation from the blast. He must have been spinning around when he was hit, because only his arm got hit with it." She opened a compartment on her armor and took out a spray can, several syringes filled with a reddish liquid and a large machete.
"His arm needs to go, before the radiation can spread." She said, while handing Alex the spray can.
"This should keep him stable and slow his heart rate." Evans said as she injected Klaus with the red liquid. "Now for the nasty part, once I take of the arm, you need to spray the foam over the wound. It will seal it and improve the rate of healing."
Before Alex could protest, the woman raised the machete and chopped down on Klaus' arm. As there was nothing else to do then to follow instructions at this point, Alex sprayed the shoulder with the can, sealing the wound in thick brown foam.
"Good job, private." Evans said, giving Alex a quick smile. "This should keep him alive until your people can send down recovery teams."
Alex nodded somewhat dazed. "Yeah, the rest of 45th should be close by."
The smile faded from Evans' face. "I'm sorry private, according to our reports, 45th was wiped out, getting your call was a surprise for us. We were getting ready to do clean-up and head back to base when I got your call."

Doctor Williams looked up from his notes.
"So you say that you don't need any more psych evaluations, you just need to get assigned to a new unit?"
Alex leaned back in his chair. "You and two other shrinks have been over what happened to me in every little detail. One decided I'm fit for duty, one said I might be repressing things, and you don't see a problem with me returning to the force. I don't need a fourth to go over me again."
Doctor Williams nodded. "You appear mentally stable. And at the time of the incident you acted admirably."
"But?"
"You and Sergeant Wagner are the only two survivors from 45th division. And you are the only one that could go back to serve, which you insist upon even though you have been offered a very handsome retirement option." The doctor paused a moment. "The brass is worried that you might be trying to settle some personal vendetta with the invaders, in which case you might endanger your fellow soldiers."
Alex shook his head. "We are barely staving off the attacks, for every critter we take out, they take out at least six of our troops." He leaned forward in his chair. "That town went from 6000 civilians to 2000 that day, of my division only two survived engaging the bastards and you ask me if I take this war personal? Of course I take it personal; this entire planet is taking this personal. Fact remains; we need anyone who can fight the bastards out there fighting them."
Doctor Williams made some notes and then closed the folder.
"I will send my report to your superiors Alex. You should hear from them soon."

Klaus Wagner was lying on his hospital bed when Alex entered.
"How was the session?" he asked.
"Not bad, Sarge. He is sending out his report. Now either they get me back into the field or they kick me out. I'm not leaving on my own."
Klaus sat up, his shoulder ending abruptly where his arm used to be.
"They better let you stay on. They need experienced men, and your reflexes can save many more lives." He said smiling.
"You lost your arm because of my reflexes." Alex said nodding to the stump.
"And it would have hit me right in the torso if you had not shoved me aside."
"Did you accept your honorable discharge? "Alex asked.
Klaus smiled. "Hell no, I convinced them to let me train new recruits. Make damn sure they know the cost of letting your guard down."
"Congratulations Sarge." Alex smiled. "Now they only need to decide what they will do with me."
Wagner looked passed Alex and the smile faded from his face.
"I think they decided, private."
Alex looked around and saw Doctor Williams and two others in the doorway.
"Private White, we need to have a word with you. Please follow us." The doctor said.
Alex nodded, and got up. "I'll let you know what happens next Sarge."
"Good luck kid."
Alex followed the Doctor out into the hallway. As they walked he glanced at the other two, one was a captain, A. Fowler by the name on his uniform. The other was a woman in a business suit.
"Please enter." Doctor Williams said while opening the door to an office.
"Have a seat, son." Captain Fowler said while taking place behind the desk.
When everyone was seated the captain opened a folder and looked through it.
"So you want to return to active duty, private?" He asked looking at Alex.
"Yes, sir."
"Sergeant Wagner's field report says that you took out three or four sectoids before you encountered a cyberdisc. Said cyberdisc killed most of your unit before you and Wagner took it out. Believing the threat to have passed Wagner let his guard down. Only your interference saved Wagner's life, you dispatched the sectoid with your sidearm and radioed for medical assistance for Sergeant Wagner." Captain Fowler looked up. "That about right private?"
"In short, yes, but it makes me sound more heroic when you tell it like that, Sir."
"What would you change in the report then, private?"
"Survival of Sergeant Wagner and me has been more about being lucky to be in cover at the right moments, and I could not have taken out that last grey had Sergeant Wagner not given suppressive fire."
The woman in business suit cleared her throat. "The proper term for that type of alien is Sectoid, private."
Alex looked at her. "Sorry ma'am, I was not aware of that." She nodded.
"Doctor Williams. Is private White fit for renewed duty?" The captain asked.
"In my opinion. Yes."
"Very well." The captain signed some forms in the folder and used a stamp to date them.
Then he looked at Alex.
"Private Alex White I hereby discharge you from the military. I hope that the skills you have gained while in the service will aid you in life outside our nation's military."
Alex head was spinning. "What?"
"You heard me private. The military has to let you go. But I believe Miss Ocean here has an offer for you."
Alex fixed his gaze on the woman. "Yes, Mister White, your combat record proves that you are a capable and efficient soldier for this conflict. And according to Doctor Williams you are willing and able to take this fight to the enemy, without losing track of the bigger picture."
The woman got a stack of papers from her briefcase.
"According to one of our own field operatives, you appear to be a man who can follow orders, even if they appear grisly, in order to save lives." She handed Alex what looked like a contract and a pen.
"If you wish to continue your fight against the invaders, please sign that."
Alex glanced over the text.
"I'm not signing this."
"And why not, Mister White?"
"Because miss Ocean, signing up for something blindly and without reading the files that the contract refers to can never end well for me."
Doctor Williams let out a laugh. "I told you he wouldn't fall for that, miss Ocean."
Miss Ocean smiled. "We had to test if you would blindly rush into this. I'm glad you didn't because then we would have no use for you." From her briefcase she presented Alex with a thick folder.
"This is the real contract. Please take your time and sign if you agree with it."
Alex spend the next four hours going through the files.
After assuring himself that there were no hidden conditions, he put his signature on the agreement.
Miss Ocean smiled. "Welcome to X-Com."