AN: FINALLLY THE NASTY ONE HAS COME BACK TO UPDATE THIS STORY! Hope you guys are enjoying what you've been reading. Any way I'm back with the next update to this story. Hope you guys enjoy it!

Chapter 3: A Brush With Death

== Back at Base ==

The squad returned to base after another successful mission as the base congratulated them on their performance. Fitzpatrick was sent to the still incomplete Medical Center where he had his wound looked at by the on-site physician. The doctor stitched it up and said that the burning pain would linger for a few days, but he'd be able to head back out into the field after about five days of light usage of his arm.

The Commander had pulled aside two members of the squad before they could leave the hangar to award them their new promotions for their individual successes. Tkachenko was promoted to Corporal for her ability to distract the enemy long enough and keep him suppressed until backup arrived to pick up the kill. Tkachenko was thrilled that she was being promoted to a slightly better rank and pay grade, but she felt as if she hadn't truly earned it because she still had yet to make her first kill. The other member of the squad receiving a promotion was Martín as he was now promoted to Sergeant due to his accurate scouting information and kills on the first two missions. Cesar was ecstatic at the news and quickly headed back to his quarters so he could sew his new stripes onto his uniform. The Commander also made sure to change the uniforms so that way the name tags on his and Alexis' uniform read C. Martín and A. Martín respectively.

== Two Days Later ==

The research for the faster and agile new Foxtrot aircraft was completed by the Research team by mid afternoon. With that out of the way, the team began focusing on the Alien Plasma Pistol to try and see how different they were from conventional weaponry. Maybe a better understanding of the weapon would lead into a way to counteract it so it didn't harm as many troops as it had back during the Iceland Incident.

Now with the schematics for the project, the Engineers could begin work on building the new aircraft so it could fill the fourth hangar spot that had remained empty since being built. The large Russian in charge of the team had been extremely happy to hear that his coworkers were finally getting something to do. They were becoming plenty bored of doing nothing but building facilities instead of actual field items/weaponry. With that task now in the capable hands of the grease monkeys, the Commander focused his efforts on finding another pilot to take control of the Foxtrot.

== Two Days Later ==

More good news awaited the Commander as the base personnel had finished constructing a majority of the facilities he'd requested ten days ago. These facilities included another Radar Array to expand the coverage of the current system, a Medical Center to help the soldiers' wounds heal faster, and a Missile Battery to help defend the base should the aliens ever decided to launch an attack on the base. It seemed things were going to remain peaceful for the rest of the day, but that was changed by the sounding of the alarm as a new contact was found.

"What's the skinny Radar?"

"Same as the last two bogeys Commander; Small in size, holding steady at 1600 M altitude, heading in a Eastern direction at 1400 KM/H." listed off Radar as if it was just business as usual.

"Where at?"

"Currently over Western Africa, sir."

'Africa huh. What could they possibly want in Africa?'

"Send out 'Spitfire' and see if we can get another target for the boys to assault."

"Roger that sir." responded Radar as the call went out for Jensen to get airborne.

== Four Hours Later ==

The chase had been on as once Jensen spotted the UFO it took off trying to escape him as it first headed towards Central Africa before making a beeline back towards the western coast. The chase took them out over the Atlantic Ocean as Jensen started to run low on fuel.

"Sir, I'm almost in targeting range. What are your orders because it doesn't appear that this one is heading back to land?" asked Spitfire over the radio.

"Take him down there's no way it'll hang around once you turn back due to fuel concerns."

"Roger that sir, locking on." as he waited for the targeting mechanism to lock on fully, he noticed that the UFO's engines were putting out more flames and fuel as they appeared to be getting ready to take off to parts unknown.

"Sir! It's preparing to make a jump out of the atmosphere if the engine output is anything to go off of!" exclaimed Spitfire as his computer was finally locked.

"TAKE IT DOWN NOW! Don't let it escape!" shouted the Commander as he clenched his right hand until it started to turn white.

Jensen didn't need to be told twice as he flicked open the screen protecting his firing button before launching both of his missiles at the craft.

"FOX 3!" he shouted as the missiles struck the craft as it violently changed paths and headed into the ocean. Once the UFO made contact it exploded into tiny pieces leaving no hope of salvage or survival for its occupants.

"Bogey has been splashed returning to base." said Jensen as his fuel warning light came on.

"Roger that Spitfire. Over and out." acknowledged the Commander as he turned to deliver the news and released the breath he'd been holding.

"The UFO is down with no survivors in the Atlantic Ocean. There is nothing left to salvage so we will not be sending anybody to get the wreckage. Time of confirmed kill 11:06 PM." said the Commander as the rest of the occupants cheered at the good news.

'Another one bites the dust.' thought the Commander as he joined in the celebration as it was difficult to not indulge a little bit.

== Two Days Later ==

The Engineering team reported a successful completion of the Foxtrot construction as the new plane was waiting in the previously empty fourth hangar. The Russian had beamed with pride as everyone took in the site of the new aircraft as it was the best work he'd himself had done in his life. Along with his new aircraft, the new pilot for it had arrived and immersed himself in the simulator to get a feel for how much faster it was compared to the Condors. The pilot's name was one Robert Levandowski from Baltimore MD, USA under the callsign "Flash" which ironically matched his new plane to a t.

== One Day Later ==

The Research team had finished analyzing the alien Plasma Pistol and noted that it was far deadlier than any weapon mankind had in existence as it easily melted clothing and flesh. With a better understanding of how dangerous these weapons really were, the Commander decided to follow the Lead Researcher's suggestion of Improved Combat Armor. With these blueprints, then the Engineering team could start on manufacturing armor that could save many more lives of the brave men and women who'd face down the alien threat.

== Two Days Later ==

The last two facilities the Commander had requested were now done being constructed as he finally had given the Research and Engineering teams a second facility to complete their work. This would allow him to request more members for each team so that their work could be completed much faster.

The Commander was still enjoying his early morning coffee, when the alarm once again went off as he grabbed it and hustled to the Radar Array to see Radar already awaiting him.

'I swear this kid practically lives here. But, it's nice to see such dedication in someone so young. He has a bright future ahead of him.'

"Same as the last three Radar?"

"Yes sir, it's currently over Eastern Europe."

"Send out Flash and Destroyer as backup. I want him to have somebody with him in case something goes wrong."

"Roger that sir." said Radar as he made the call and the two aircraft headed towards the fourth contact.

== Ten Minutes Later ==

The two men were watching the screen when all of a sudden Radar twitched.

"You okay Radar."

"We're about to have another contact sir."

"Are you sure..." the rest of the Commander's response was cut off as the alarm sounded again as another blip appeared on the map over Northwest Africa.

"How the hell do you do that Radar!?" said the Commander who was utterly flabbergasted by the event that just transpired.

"Trade secret sir. This UFO is the same as the other four, orders?"

"Just send up Spitfire since the others won't have enough fuel to combat this threat as well." said the Commander as he shook his head at his colleague's typical answer regarding his gift.

"Right away Commander."

The first contact tried to escape through the Middle East, but the Squadron hunted it down and Flash got his first kill as the UFO crash-landed into the Iranian desert. Not believing that the other UFO would be caught before it escaped, the Commander ordered Charlie-1 to investigate the site. They would arrive at 1:33 PM some four hours after the UFO crashed.

The other UFO looked like it would escape over the Atlantic Ocean, but it suddenly made a u-turn and attempted to gun down Spitfire. But he managed to dodge the incoming missiles and shot the UFO down on the Senegal coast. However, seeing as Charlie-1 was almost to the first crash site, there was no point in having them do two back to back missions, especially since the second one would be at night. With no other choice, the Commander had local military forces airstrike the crash site to destroy any alien opposition as well as destroy the UFO. Their efforts got them rewarded with $15,000 dollars from the Council of Nations.

== On the Ground ==

Harold flew the Skyranger into the industrial area and landed just to the west of a main road. Opening the ramp, the soldiers got a clear view of a small cluster of trees that was a few hundred yards from the aircraft. The road was littered with abandoned cars with their hazards on and doors left ajar as if they'd been abandoned in a hurry. On the other side appeared to be a wooded area that resembled a small forest. The squad wasn't able to view anymore of the battlefield as a Sebillian burst from the forest in front of the ramp and opened fire on the squad.

"EVERYBODY DOWN!" shouted Martín as plasma rounds flew over the squad's heads.

"What's going on guys?" asked Harold as he poked his head through the cockpit door only to have a plasma bolt impact next to head in the wall above Rivera's position.

"Doris close the door and keep your head down!" shouted Aronov as he moved out the left exit of the aircraft.

"You don't have to tell me twice!" exclaimed Harold as he slammed the door and took cover as another bolt punched through the door and hit the ground where he was just standing. Thankfully, he had dove to his right and other than a bruised shoulder from his landing he was unscathed.

"Somebody get some fire on him so we can move!" shouted Alexis as so far only Aronov had gotten out of the ambush trap.

"I'm on it laddy!" shouted Fitzpatrick as he moved out the right exit of the aircraft and took cover against the side of it. Analyzing the distance, Fitzpatrick cranked off a shot with his M16 that struck the lizard in the left shoulder causing him to stop firing.

"You should be freed up to move!" shouted the Irishman as Rivera exited the door and stood next to Fitzpatrick and raised her sniper rifle and unleashed another shot that hit the lizard in the chest and opened a wound that slowly began to close itself.

"He should be distracted enough to move up and kill him." said Rivera.

Tkachenko took the initiative and charged forward to a large rock that was approximately 100 yards from the alien's position and opened fire with her AK-47. The shot struck just at the alien's feet, as the alien returned fire with multiple shots that lit up the area around Tkachencko's rock. She went to fire another round but found that her gun had jammed.

"Shit! Somebody take him out my gun's jammed!"

"Hit the deck Svetlana! I'll knock this bloke down a peg!" exclaimed Dixon as he crouched down at the very end of the Skyranger's ramp. Hearing the shout of the Aussie, Svetlana hit the deck and made herself as small as possible as six shots came whizzing by and impacted the alien in his chest sending him falling back towards the Earth as the life faded from his reptilian eyes.

"Enemy down." said Dixon as Alexis stepped up and motioned for the rest of the squad to move up and investigate the area.

Oliveira moved first and ran to the edge of the tree cluster and took cover behind a power converter and peeked over, spotting two Caesans wearing blue shirts on the opposite side of the road. One was standing next to a set of construction pipes, while the other was standing in the middle of the road. Neither alien could see him thanks to the sheer size of the converter which shielded him entirely from view.

"I've got two contacts in my sight. One's on the other side of the road, and the second is standing right in the center of it."

"Roger that Marcus. Everyone move up carefully, only engage if you have a clear shot. I don't want any unnecessary risks." said Alexis as he moved into the cluster of trees followed by Martín. Ikeda and Brandis both exited behind Aronov and moved behind some concrete barriers that bordered the roadway and both observed the alien across the road, but couldn't hit the one that was in the middle of the street as the converter was blocking their shots.

Brandis balanced his MSG90 on the barrier before rattling off a shot that struck the alien between the eyes as he fell back to the ground lifeless as the other one went on high alert.

The Caesan advanced down the street towards the Xenonauts, but instead of firing at them, someone else caught its eye. Two civilians had advanced into the street after hearing the gunfire and were seeking refuge with the Xenonauts. The alien raised its rifle and fired a shot at them.

Instead of hitting either of the two men that were there, one dove back behind the bus while the other ran towards the Xenonauts and was escorted into the ship where Harold could look after him until the mission was over.

Ikeda fired her M16 and hit the alien in the arm causing him to drop his rifle so he couldn't fire off anymore shots. With that threat taken care of, Aronov and Oliveira fired off short bursts, but couldn't connect with the target. Brandis by this time had moved closer to the fight beside Aronov and lined up his shot which once again connected with the human look-alike's forehead registering his second kill of the mission. Not seeing any more immediate threats, the group split up to cover more ground to find the UFO.

== With Group 1 (Alexis, Martín, Tkachenko, Fitzpatrick, and Rivera) ==

The group of five members had met up in the middle of the tree cluster and began the slow push out of the cover into an open area. From here they could see the UFO that was at the end of the main road blocking any cars from heading into the next town. The UFO had crashed hard and had a wall of flames that were engulfing the area to the UFO's immediate right and its right side. The Caesan that had been spotted earlier saw the Xenonauts setting up behind the concrete barriers on its flank and turned towards the UFO and shouted something in its language as the door opened from the inside revealing a redshirt Caesan. The blue-shirted Caesan ran inside as the door was quickly shut to prevent any incoming fire from the humans. With no other targets the group set up their weapons and got ready to rain down hell on anybody who would try to rush their position.

== With Group 2 (Dixon, Oliveira, Aronov, Brandis, and Ikeda) ==

The second group was moving across the road as they reached the median dividing the two road halves. The median itself was a fenced off sidewalk that had tears in the chain-link fence that were big enough to fit a human through. Ikeda and Aronov both crossed through first and took cover behind the front of the bus the civilian hid behind before. They saw said civilian run deeper into the woods in front of them, clearly spooked by something. What it was they had no idea.

Rafael went next as he took cover behind a salmon colored four door sedan. Oliveira was next as he took cover behind the guardrail immediately past the fence. Dixon was about to step through when a plasma shot hit him in his right shoulder sending him tumbling backwards behind the construction pipes.

"Dixon are you okay!?" asked Oliveira as he and Brandis took reaction shots that missed the creature entirely.

Instead of a response, Oliveira was treated to the sound of ten bullets flying past his head. Most of them missed the target, but one managed to hit the alien in the lower abdomen which caused him to duck down to try and avoid more injuries.

"Yeah it's just a scratch mate. Take him down while I patch myself up." said Dixon as he pulled the medical kit out of his backpack to provide a temporary fix for his injury.

Oliveira moved up behind the front of a second bus as he opened up three rounds that kept the alien pinned in his foliage cover. Brandis followed up with a sniper shot that just missed the alien as it impacted right in front of it sending dirt up into its eyes. This caused the alien to inadvertently stand up and gave Aronov the chance to kill him with a headshot from his AK-47. The sound of an alien shriek was the only sound as the group decided to split up once more with Dixon, Oliveira and Brandis heading towards the UFO, while Ikeda and Aronov moved to clear out the forest.

== Back with Group 1 ==

The group made its way to the concrete barriers and set up an overwatch trap for any aliens that would be dumb enough to come charging at their position. The squad lined themselves up with Rivera, Martín, Fitzpatrick, and Tkachenko all with their guns perched on the wall, while Alexis moved closer to the UFO behind a pallet of tethered oil drums. Alexis then turned his back to the UFO as he addressed his assembled fire team.

"Alright guys don't fire until they're at my position, they have a general idea of where we are but that doesn't mean we still can't surprise them. We..." he suddenly stopped when he heard footsteps and an alien cry coming from behind him.

"It's behind me isn't it?" he asked as the others nodded slowly.

"When should I...?" he was again cut off by a shout from Martín.

"DUCK!" he cried as the alien fired a pistol shot that went over Alexis' head as he dropped to the ground with his hands shielding his head.

Rivera fired first, but she was taking great care to not hit Alexis and her shot was just wide. Fitzpatrick fired next and shot the redshirt Caesan's head in the dead center of its face with his M16. The alien inside the craft then ran forward to shut the door again and was successful as Martín's shots bounced harmlessly off of the door.

"Thank for the heads up guys." said Alexis as he picked himself up and dusted himself off before picking up his fallen M16.

"Now let's capture this UFO in the name of the Xenonauts!" he shouted as the door opened once more as a whole hail of fire erupted from the now eight man group as Dixon, Oliveira, and Brandis had joined them. The Caesan had no chance of surviving as in the end Martín claimed the kill as his bullets hit the alien in the heart area first before the rest of the group made his body into Swiss cheese.

"Well I guess that takes care of that." said Alexis as the group moved towards the UFO to gather up the Datacore from the craft when a shout was heard.

"MEDIC!" a female voice rang out as the others jumped at not only the volume but also the urgency of it.

"Shit that isn't good. Alright Svetlana secure the Datacore. Cian check on Dixon's wound. The rest of you with me! Let's move it people!" shouted Alexis as he led the charge into the wooded area where the two missing Xenonauts were last seen.

== A Few Minutes Earlier with Ikeda and Aronov ==

The twosome had agreed to check on the other civilian from earlier as the others headed off towards the UFO. They had been walking in silence until they came upon the civilian cowering behind a small tree right next to a bigger cluster of larger trees.

"I'll check the woods comrade. See what's wrong with him." said Aronov as he made his way deeper into the woods.

"Sir can you understand me?" asked Ikeda in a soft and angelic voice as the man nodded.

"What's got you so scared?" she asked as he man pointed to where Aronov just disappeared to and spoke in a shaky voice.

"One of those things...was standing over a deer's body with...a knife and it appeared to be...writing notes on a pad of some sort."

Ikeda's face shifted to one of panic as she shouted into the woods.

"Aronov it's a trap!" Her yell was quickly followed with a pistol shot as Aronov grunted in pain and started stumbling back towards her as she shouted at him to duck. It fell on deaf ears as the second shot missed, but the third one struck true as it burst through Aronov's chest and splattered Ikeda's face with his blood as he fell forward and stopped moving. A redshirt Caesan then emerged behind him as it moved to shoot Ikeda but she was faster than it, putting the alien down with a headshot as she rushed forward to check on Aronov. Finding a very weak pulse she pulled out her medical kit and started working on him as she shouted.

"MEDIC!"

The image of her working tirelessly to save him was the site the others arrived to as she looked at Alexis with an urgently serious look.

"He needs immediate medical attention or else he's going to die. I've stabilized him as best I can with this kit."

"Excellent work Miyu! Marcus, Rafael carry Andrey back to the Skyranger we're leaving immediately, the Research team can handle corpse disposal and UFO destruction!"

"Roger that." said the two as they shouldered their weapons and picked up Aronov with a makeshift stretcher as the civilian joined them in their sprint back to the Skyranger so he could get the hell away from here.

"Harold! Get those blades spinning I want an immediate evacuation from this site, we have a critically injured soldier!"

"On it Alexis! Wheels up in two!" shouted the lazy voice of McGrady as the squad reached the craft shortly and they began the urgent trip back to Sandtrap to hopefully save Aronov's life.

AN: And cut! That's a wrap on this chapter as we see another successful mission from the Xenonauts crew despite the unknown state of Aronov. Will he survive? Will the project continue to thrive against the alien forces? Find out next time on "Xenonauts Rise"! Also, I'd like to give a quick shout out to Forte De Tu for favoriting the story. Don't forget to read and review as it encourages me to keep making material for my stories. With nothing else to say, this is "The Nasty One" signing off.

- PRAK #TheNastyOne