UFO Assault: Large Scout

The Citadel, Office of the Commander

"Do you see what I mean?"

Zhang nodded. "I do. It is an anomaly and one that doesn't make sense."

The Commander zoomed toward the European continent. "Which is what makes it suspicious. Panic levels in the surrounding countries are in acceptable states, while Germany is in the orange."

Zhang motioned toward the screen. "There are increased sightings of UFO activity over that region. I suspect there is a correlation."

The Commander frowned. "As far as we know, UFOs don't materialize out of nowhere. It would be difficult for them to appear in Germany without crossing one of the bordering nations."

"Not necessarily," Zhang pointed out. "We are still not entirely sure how they work. Perhaps they can cloak or make a controlled descent from space."

"Perhaps," the Commander admitted. "But it doesn't explain why they would choose Germany. There are far more high-profile targets available, easier ones too."

"You suspect there's more going on." Zhang stated with a frown as he glanced over at him. "What are you thinking?"

The Commander crossed his arms, eyebrows furrowed. "This panic influx is artificial. Someone has chosen to push Germany to the brink of panic."

Zhang got to the heart of it. "You suspect the Council?"

The Commander pursed his lips. "I don't know. As far as I know, Germany is not against me. It also doesn't make sense to terrify the population just to get rid of me. It's counter to everything we want, nor does it benefit them aside from damaging my standing. However, I wouldn't put it past them if they thought it could work."

"I wouldn't rule out the aliens," Zhang pointed out. "They could be using their infiltrators to agitate the populace. And regardless of what countries they passed, they were spotted in Germany, so it would be sensible to assume that something is happening."

The Commander nodded. "Agreed. So consider this your first assignment. Find out what is going on in Germany. I'd prefer that you bring proof. If the Council is behind this, I want there to be no doubt."

Zhang nodded. "Understood, Commander."

"How much progress have you made in starting up?"

"A moderate amount," Zhang answered pulling out his tablet and tapped it a few times. He passed it to the Commander. "I'm compiling a list of potential agents. Some already here, some from Council nations. I also have some contacts I may be able to use."

"Ah," the Commander replied as he scanned the list. "How have they reacted to your new position?"

Zhang shook his head. "I have not approached any yet, though I suspect they will be surprised."

"No doubt," the Commander commented, amused. "Let me know if they give you trouble."

"I doubt that will be necessary," Zhang said. "They seem reasonable enough."

"Central to the Commander, Central to the Commander." Came Bradford's voice urgently from his intercom. The Commander pressed the answer button.

"Bradford, I'm here. Go ahead."

"We're picking up a UFO signature. You'd better get up here."

"Understood," the Commander answered briskly. "I'll be right there."

"I suppose our meeting is concluded," Zhang commented wryly.

"Afraid so," the Commander responded regretfully. "But you know what you have to do. I'd prefer that you don't take too long."

Zhang gave a quick nod. "Understood, Commander. Expect results shortly."

With that said, both men exited the office. Zhang went toward his makeshift office and the Commander headed to Mission Control.

The Citadel, Mission Control

Bradford saluted as the Commander strode up. "Commander."

He nodded as he stopped by Bradford. "At ease. What's the situation?"

Bradford motioned toward the hologlobe which displayed a red flying disk slowly moving over Florida. "Another contact. This UFO has a similar signature to the scout we downed earlier."

The Commander frowned. "What's the difference then?"

Bradford's lips pursed. "It's larger."

The Commander raised an eyebrow at the unhelpful answer. "Understood. How much larger?"

Bradford picked up a tablet and tapped on it several times. "Our initial calculations put it around a quarter larger than a scout."

"Do we know what it's doing?"

"I'm afraid not," Bradford answered hesitantly. "But it's been hovering around Florida, so I'd assume that it's looking for something around there. Perhaps they're planning another abduction?"

The Commander's eyes followed the red UFO. "Have you deployed the Ravens?"

Bradford nodded. "I did. Apologies for not getting permission, but considering that this is time sensitive, I didn't think we should wait."

The Commander nodded in approval. "Good job. You're correct, we can't afford to waste time. How many?"

"One was able to bring down the last one," Bradford answered. "I figured two would be sufficient."

"Send out another one," the Commander ordered. "Until we know their full capabilities, I'm not taking unnecessary chances."

"Understood," Bradford acknowledged. Tapping a button on his headset he continued. "Raven Three, you are clear for deployment."

"Bring up our fighters positions on the hologlobe," the Commander ordered. Bradford nodded and three green fighters were added to the globe. Two were about three quarters of the way to Florida while one was barely past the Citadel.

"Time estimation?" he asked, looking over at Bradford.

"Two minutes for Ravens One and Two," he answered while consulting his tablet. "Five for Raven Three."

The Commander nodded in acknowledgement. "Let's hope our pilots are up to the challenge."

They waited for a tense few minutes until one of the pilot's voices came over the loudspeaker. "This is Raven One. We have a visual."

"Onscreen!" Bradford ordered his analysists, and the hologlobe was replaced by the same holographic screen depicting the Ravens and UFO as last time.

"Raven One and Two, you are cleared to engage," the Commander ordered. "Fire at will."

Both fighters launched their missiles, all of which struck the UFO. "Hit!" Raven One declared. "Coming around for another run."

The UFO responded by launching missiles of it's own. The Ravens avoided them, but barely. Raven One launched another volley, but most of them missed this time. Raven Two also launched another volley that struck the UFO. Pixilated bursts appeared on the screen, indicating the UFO was damaged.

"Got it!" Raven Two stated, though her excitement was quickly dampened. "It's locking onto me. Taking evasive action!"

"Strafing," Raven One informed as he launched several more missiles at the UFO. Several struck but most flew past.

"I can't shake it!" Raven Two yelled as alien missiles flew past her. One clipped her wing. "I'm hit. Damage minimal."

"Coming around for another run," Raven One informed her as his fighter launched another volley. This time all of them struck. The satisfaction was clear in his voice. "Direct hit."

The UFO responded by reversing direction until it faced Raven One, then fired. Clearly unprepared, the missiles struck the body of the plane. "I'm hit!" Raven One yelled, panic in his voice. "Damage is extensive!"

"Pull him back," the Commander told Bradford.

Bradford nodded and opened a channel on his headset. "Raven One, disengage. I repeat, disengage and return to the Citadel."

"Acknowledged," Raven One responded. "Breaking off."

"I've got a clear run," Raven Two informed them. "Going in."

The fighter unleashed another volley and each shot struck true. The UFO shuddered and began dipping. "It's losing altitude," Raven Two stated. "Should I finish it?"

The Commander nodded at Bradford. "Do it, we can't afford to let it escape. Target the engines."

"Affirmative, Raven Two," Bradford ordered her. "Target the engines."

"Acknowledged. Firing."

"This is Raven Three," a new voice interrupted. "I have a visual. Permission to engage?"

"Hold until Raven Two has finished her run," Bradford instructed. "Then engage at will."

"Roger that."

"Engines hit!" Raven Two yelled triumphantly. "It's going down!" Sure enough, a few seconds later, the UFO completely dropped off the holographic screen.

The room burst into applause, similar to the last time a UFO was shot down. "Excellent work, Raven Two," Bradford congratulated. "All fighters return to the Citadel. Well done, everyone."

"Get exact coordinates on that crashed UFO," the Commander instructed him. "I'll put a squad together."

Bradford nodded briskly. "Will do, Commander."

The Citadel, Practice Range

This might be a terrible idea.

But it needed to be done and Luke was pretty sure that Myra wasn't going to be the one to apologize. Since no one else was going to do it, it unofficially fell to him.

Though if he was honest with himself, he couldn't really blame them. Mira was an intimidating woman, so it was natural to be hesitant to approach her. Especially after that incident.

Still, if there was one thing he had learned about her from that exchange, it was that she could restrain herself. Impressive, considering how Myra had insulted her. He'd have been sorely tempted to punch her, but would have likely refrained as she had. Although he wouldn't have stopped her if she had, and certainly not condemned her.

He stopped before opening the door to the range. This was the only place she could be. He'd checked everywhere else; the training area, mission control, even the Commander's office. If she wasn't here, she was either back at the barracks or hiding, and he didn't fancy trying to figure out where she hid.

Luckily, he had nothing to worry about. Wearing the same special forces gear she'd had when she'd left and her hood pulled back up, Mira stood in front of an array of targets, methodically shooting each one.

Luke held back before approaching her and just watched. There was a mix of standard circular targets, and several dummies of the sectoids. Both were set at varying distances and as he watched, noted that Mira only shot at targets that were placed at medium to long range.

One thing that he tended to see quite a lot at ranges was that people had a tendency to treat every single weapon like a sniper rifle. They shot one, and only one, bullet at the target and proceeded to repeat. It didn't matter if it was a handgun or an automatic weapon, people treated them mostly the same. Back in Germany, it made more sense since civilians didn't really need to know how to properly use their weapons. But he'd seen that same trend a disturbing number of times by trained soldiers. Did they not realize that an automatic weapon was not the same as a sniper rifle or that it wasn't designed to be fired as one?

Well, at least Mira didn't have this problem. She was the human equivalent of an automated turret. She'd line up a target, shoot a quick, concentrated burst, then focus on the next target and repeat. Having some experience with firearms, he could appreciate the difficulty and admire how she still kept her accuracy.

She didn't always take the obvious shots either. Sure, she always shot at the center for the circular targets, but she fired some very surgical bursts at the dummies. Mostly in the head and chest, but several times at the arms and legs. One of the dummy's arms had been completely severed by repeated bursts.

She suddenly paused and lowered her rifle. Good a time as any to announce his presence. He clutched his SMG and walked up. "Mind if I join you?" he asked as casually as possible. Her head swung over to him at the sound of his voice.

He wasn't sure if he liked her having the hood up. He couldn't tell what her current mood was from the hood shadowing her face and she always had an advantage when speaking to others. Then again, remembering her horribly mutilated face, it might have been just as well. He didn't like to think he was a shallow person who only cared about what people looked like. But still…could he really be blamed for not wanting to see someone who literally had the skin stripped from their face?

At least Mira didn't seem too upset, at least judging from her tone. "I do not own this range. Shoot if you wish."

Without another word, she returned to aiming at the targets. So either she was delaying talking with him or simply didn't care. Well, he could get some practice on. He raised the SMG and took aim at one of the dummies.

He fired a short burst that lasted a second too long for his liking. He scowled. The recoil from the first shot always surprised him, he really needed to work on that. At least some of the bullets hit their mark, but not the majority.

Better prepared, he steadied the weapon and let loose another burst. This time most of them hit. He smiled, not bad. It usually took three or four tries before he got the majority of bullets where he was aiming. Ok, that was the short range dummy, time to move to medium range. This time he aimed for the chest and several bursts later, hit where he was aiming.

The minutes ticked by and he entered a state of concentration not dissimilar to his hunting expeditions. His breathing became methodical, so focused was he on hitting exactly where he aimed that the original reason he'd come faded into the back of his mind. He didn't know how long the trance lasted, but for whatever reason he suddenly noticed that he was the only one firing.

He looked over to see Mira silently watching him, her rifle held in a relaxed position. She inclined her head as he looked over at her. "You're not a bad shot. I was under the impression that you didn't have previous military training."

He lowered his own weapon and flicked the safety on. "Because I don't. I've never been a soldier before now."

Mira shook her head. "You trained somewhere. Civilians don't have aim like yours without practice."

"I hunted as a hobby after I retired," Luke explained as he turned to face her. "I guess that's where I got the majority of my "training" as you put it."

"Ah," she answered, not sounding overly surprised. "That would explain it. An odd hobby for an olympian."

He shrugged. "I don't really see why. Besides, my wife always enjoyed it when I brought my kills back. She found it romantic for some reason."

He could swear she sounded amused, but it was impossible to tell from her deadpan tone. "It seems fairly clear to me. I suppose she's eagerly awaiting your return?"

A wave on sadness washed him. It wasn't her fault. He hadn't really publicized her death or anything like that, so it would make sense she wouldn't know.

Still, it wasn't pleasant to be reminded she was gone. "I'm afraid not. She's dead."

"Oh," Mira genuinely sounded surprised and apologetic. "My apologies. I didn't know. You have my condolences."

"Appreciated," he replied automatically.

She appraised him further. It was disconcerting, he caught the faintest glint of her eyes under the hood but little else. It was like being under a microscope that had the ability to kill you. He couldn't tell what she was going to do and that bothered him more than he cared to admit.

"Why did you come here?" She asked slowly. "Because despite how it turned out, I don't think you came to practice your shooting. Or did you watch me for several minutes for the fun of it?"

He winced as he fought the urge to blush in embarrassment. "You noticed that?"

"I heard the door open. It wasn't hard to figure out what you were doing."

"Ah," he apologized. "Sorry, didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"I assure you, I've been in situations far worse. Just answer my question."

He took a breath. "To apologize…for what happened in the barracks. You didn't deserve that, regardless of what she thought of your opinion."

Mira was silent for a few moment. Luke waited apprehensively. "While your apology is appreciated," she finally answered. "You have nothing to apologize for. It wasn't you who said anything. In fact, you tried to…defuse…the situation."

Ok, that wasn't so bad. "I just think you should know," he clarified. "I'm sure she didn't mean it. She's not a bad person."

"I'm inclined to disagree," Mira answered flatly. "People often say what they mean in states of heightened emotion. That doesn't make her a bad person, true. But she is a naïve and idealistic woman who has very little concept of how war or the world works."

Luke frowned, not entirely sure how he should respond. "Can you really make that assumption without knowing her a little better?"

Mira appraised him, the light illuminating part of the raw skin on her face. "I respect that you've come to talk with me about this so I'll tell the truth. Most people are liabilities and cannot be relied upon. People are inclined to form connections with others and that makes them unstable on the battlefield. Many times a person will put their friend ahead of their squad or the mission itself. I sincerely doubt Myra is a person to be relied on if the worst happens."

The unspoken assumption that it applied to him as well stung and he struggled not replying in kind. "I suppose that doesn't apply to you." He finally said.

"I assume everyone is unreliable until proven otherwise," she answered neutrally. "But yes, it doesn't apply to me for the simple reason that I can remain unattached and objective."

The thing was, he believed her. If there was one person who he could trust to keep a level head, it was her. "Perhaps," he tentatively agreed. "But I'm not sure that forming attachments necessarily means you can't be objective."

"But can you take that chance?" she questioned. "This is a war for the survival of our species. Mistakes cannot be allowed, nor should they be encouraged. Like it or not, attachments are a weakness and we cannot afford those right now."

He slung his SMG over his back. "So what's your solution then?"

"I don't know," she answered slowly. "Unfortunately, you cannot control human nature. All I can do is observe and prepare."

"That's a rather lonely outlook," he commented.

She shrugged. "But one that is necessary and for the best. You heard what I said, what happened to me. I never want to feel that again. If I must remove all superfluous human interaction, then so be it. I know what my role is and I will fulfill it to the letter."

He understood her reasoning, even if he disagreed with it. Perhaps he could change her mind eventually, but as it stood now, she was firm in her beliefs and he had to respect that. He gave a brief nod. "I understand."

"Not fully," she amended. "And I hope you never will."

Luke motioned towards the door. "Well, regardless, you don't have to seclude yourself forever. You should probably take a break."

"Your concern is appreciated, but unnecessary," she dismissed. "I'll return when-" She paused and listened. Luke could hear the faint sound of something vibrating. Ah, he knew what was happening. Mira looked at her wrist. "Something just happened. I'm being deployed," without looking at him she strode towards the door. "Farewell, Specialist Warner. I'll speak to you later." With that she left, leaving him alone.

The Citadel, Barracks

Shawn couldn't believe it.

The one time he'd actually decided to be productive, something interesting had happened. Not that productivity was completely out of character, but he'd have postponed his fitness run in the gym to see Myra and Mira go at it while observing in the background with some popcorn and the occasional sarcastic comment.

Well, now he had to catch up and was somewhat surprised how badly Myra had screwed up. "Seriously?" he asked her incredulously. "'Is it an Israeli thing?'" He mimed. "In what universe did you think that was a good idea?"

Myra had apparently been told some version of this a few times now and seemed to be sick of it. She scowled in annoyance. "Yes, I get it. I screwed up. Everyone can stop reminding me. Ok? Please?"

"Sorry," Shawn half-apologized. "But really. I can't not comment on it. But really, what were you hoping to achieve?"

Myra sighed. "It was more to break her irritatingly calm composure. And because she was so…stubborn."

"Stubborn," Shawn repeated. "And, ah, 'break her calm composure.' Yes, I too consider it wise to annoy people who are clearly experienced with killing people in their sleep. I see how you could rationally decide that this was the best course of action."

Myra's face tensed and he got the sense that she really wanted to slap him. "You missed your calling as a counsellor," she snapped. "You clearly know how to make people feel better."

He gave a disarming smile. "I just give my observations. Though to be completely honest, I don't know why she didn't just hit you."

Myra sighed. "Objectively, she likely figured that it wouldn't help the situation. But realistically, I have no idea. It's not like I didn't deserve it."

Shawn grew more serious. Resting his crossed arms on the table they were sitting at, he looked her in the eyes. "Ok, you're clearly sorry about this whole thing. That's good. So you want some advice?"

"Not really."

"Well, you're going to get it so the rest of us don't have to deal with the tension for a few weeks. Just apologize to her. She seems like a practical woman, she'd likely nod stoically and forget about it. Then you can go back to your political disagreements with a clear conscience."

Myra glared at him. "'Political disagreements'," she repeated incredulously. "Is that all you think it is? She was literally praising a war criminal. That goes a little beyond 'political disagreements' in my book."

Shawn shrugged. "Whatever. You can debate about who was more ethically justified to kill people during a war that happened a decade or so ago. I really don't care anymore. That time is over and done. I prefer living in the present and looking ahead. Honestly, at this point it is a political disagreement. Heck, I'd call it an ideological disagreement now."

Myra appraised him like she wasn't sure what to think. "I sometimes wish I could do that. But I can't forget so easily."

Shawn waved a hand dismissively. "Fine by me. I don't judge you for your opinions. But my point still stands. Just apologize and act like an adult, otherwise people are going to start taking her side. And it looks bad when someone decides to do it on your behalf."

She frowned. "No one is apologizing for me."

Shawn snorted. "Tell that to the good Mr. Warner. I bumped into him on the way back here and he asked if I'd seen Mira. When I asked why he said he needed "To apologize." Along with some other choice words about the whole situation."

Myra groaned and rested her forehead on her palm. "Alright," she stated, resigned. "Tell me what he said. I know you want to."

Shawn smiled. He really shouldn't be having this much fun. "You sure? It isn't very flattering."

She glared at him, her emerald eyes glittering with irritation. "Just get it over with."

"Ok," he continued. "When I asked him to clarify he answered along the lines of 'To apologize for Myra acting like a racist moron.' Then when I asked why you weren't doing it he answered 'Based on that exchange, I highly doubt she's going to do it herself. Someone has to fix this and it's clearly not going to be her.' Let me tell you, he looked supremely irritated."

Myra sighed. "Wonderful. Now I have two people angry at me."

"Stop the self-pity," Shawn chastised. "You have a very easy solution here. Just take it and get it over with."

She scowled. "I'm not sure she'll actually accept it. You didn't hear how it ended."

"Well, you can tell me," Shawn answered. "But if she does, it's her own fault and you can't be blamed for making the effort. Refusing your apology will only make her look like an immature child."

"You talk in terms of extremes a lot," Myra noted. "Somehow, I don't think people think quite along those lines."

Shawn shrugged. "Perhaps. Anyway, how did it end?"

"Well," Myra continued. "She then-"

She was cut off by the sound of vibration. Shawn looked down to see his wristband shaking. Of course, just when it was getting to the end. He looked at Myra and shrugged. "Sorry, duty calls. We'll finish when I get back."

She nodded. "Alright. Good luck and be careful."

With that he got suited up and grabbing his shotgun, headed toward the hanger.

The Citadel, Hanger Bay

Five minutes later he dashed into the hanger. At least he wasn't the last one, but he was cutting it close. Four others were already ready and waiting. He recognized Carma Hoyle and Roman Mendoza. The third man he hadn't seen before. He assumed it was one of the new soldiers, but he was easily the tallest of the bunch.

The three were engaged in some conversation while Mira stood off to the side. Oh, wonderful. At least this whole incident had been recent so it likely wouldn't be brought up or generate much tension. Not that anyone with half a brain would think it a good idea to actually bring up something non-mission related with Mira.

Well, she seemed her normal stoic self, though it was hard to tell when her face was obscured by her helmet. Her armor had been changed as well. Now it was an ash grey color with some sort of emblem emblazoned on the right shoulder pad. It was a diamond with symmetrical streaks striking up from the bottom. Like a very polite and symmetrical explosion.

Ah, he knew what it was. He had one on his shoulder pad as well. All it depicted was his specialization, which meant that Mira had been promoted recently. From her new piece of equipment, it wasn't hard to figure out what. The rocket launcher that was hooked on her armor nearly dwarfed the small woman.

He smiled at that. It would be nice to have an explosives specialist on the squad. Explosives opened up so many new opportunities. Well, there wasn't any question of who the squad overseer would be this mission. He walked up to her and gave a respectful nod. "Overseer," he greeted. "What's the op?"

Her head turned at the sound of his voice. "Specialist Cage," she responded neutrally. "I've been told that a UFO's been downed. We're going in to clean up. Details are still unknown."

That bit of news was excellent. "They downed another one?" he repeated, enthusiasm tinging his voice. "That's great!"

She gave a small nod. "It's encouraging. But I expect that the aliens will be on the lookout for us this time."

Ah, Mira. Of course she'd have to kill the mood with her inconvenient truths. He gave a dramatic sigh. "Just let me enjoy some good news before shooting it down."

"That isn't my job," she stated flatly. "I need to keep you alive and entertaining your false assumptions is contrary to that goal."

Wow. Ok, she really was tense. Best to keep that in mind. He inwardly sighed, this was going to be fun. Still, he inclined his head respectfully. "Of course, Overseer."

The door hissed behind him and a fully armored and helmeted woman and their pilot walked in. He didn't recognize the woman, probably another new recruit, but he knew he'd seen the pilot before. He scowled, grateful for the helmet. What was his name? Not that it matter that much, he remembered the designation, 'Big Sky.'

Mira walked over to speak to the pilot. "Pilot Olgard, we're ready to depart when you are."

Olgard nodded and donned his aviation helm. "Then let's go. The Commander doesn't want any of the aliens escaping."

Mira nodded and marched over to the trio who were still talking amongst themselves. "Load up!" she ordered, with Shawn and the woman behind her. "We're heading up."

They immediately stopped chatting and saluted her. "Yes, Overseer!" they shouted in unison. In a somewhat-organized fashion, they boarded the skyranger.

Skyranger, En route to the UFO Crash Site

As luck would have it, he found himself seated between the two new soldiers. Well, it was as good a time as any to learn who they actually were. Both wore tan colored armor, so they were essentially rookies in XCOM. Though that certainly didn't preclude experience. To his knowledge, only Luke was the only one who didn't have at least some kind of formal training.

"Ok," he began. "I generally find it a bad idea to fight aliens with complete strangers and I'm pretty sure I've not seen either of you before," he extended a hand to the man sitting on his right. "Shawn Cage, former French Army."

The man took his hand with a strong grip. "Afif Lim, Peoples Liberation Army Special Forces Unit 'Arrow.'"

Interesting. That would make him one of the two Chinese men in the entirety of XCOM, provided of course that Zhang was staying. But given he was still here, Shawn guessed that Zhang had worked out some deal with the Commander. Odd that China was only sending people now. Perhaps they had a stricter screening process? Whatever, he was glad they were contributing now either way.

He nodded. "Pleasure to meet you." He turned to the woman beside him. She wasn't an idiot and preempted his question.

"Carmelita Alba," she answered in a soft, lightly accented voice. "Republic of Korea 707th Special Mission Battalion."

Today was just full of surprises. He was going off the assumption that "Carmelita Alba" was not her real name as it didn't sound even remotely Korean. But if she was from the 707th Battalion, then she just might be the deadliest person here. He'd heard stories about them and they were widely regarded as some of the deadliest soldiers in the world.

Well…he gave a sidelong glance at Mira.

Almost the deadliest.

Mira inclined her head towards them. "Welcome to XCOM."

"Where are you from?" Carmelita asked. "It's fascinating how many different countries are here."

"And even more surprising that everyone gets along." Shawn muttered good-naturedly.

Afif turned to him in apparent surprise. "You speak as if that was a…bad thing?" he asked, sounding dead serious.

Roman chuckled. "There's one thing I forgot to mention, Lim. Shawn is an idiot and don't take him that seriously."

Shawn laughed in response. "Shut up, Mendoza."

Afif shook his head. "This will take some getting used to."

"To answer your question," Mira interrupted, her voice cutting through the air. "I was part of the Mossad Kidon."

Yep, definitely the deadliest one here. That particular Israeli branch of intelligence was so secretive that some questioned its existence. What limited information existed on the alleged Kidon stated that it was a branch initially devoted to the assassination and capture of major terrorists. With terrorism virtually eliminated, no one knew what the Kidon were truly doing now.

"Ah," Carmelita answered, then inclined her head. "It is an honor to meet you. Your people are highly respected by us."

"The feeling is mutual," Mira responded. "We watch your operations with great interest. What your people strive for is respected by us."

That sounded incredibly creepy, but Carmelita apparently considered it a compliment, given how she straightened up slightly after that comment. Although Afif looked at Mira warily and it took him a few seconds to figure out why. Once he remembered, he winced.

A lot had changed after the War on Terror, but one thing that hadn't was the continued hostilities between North and South Korea. To their credit, North Korea had been relatively quiet the past decade and with good reason. The Commander may be dead, but he had no doubt that North Korea was wary of another such figure rising in his place. Their position in the world was already precarious, and open hostilities against any country would likely lead to sanctions against them from the UN or even open war.

Thus, a seemingly endless shadow war in Korea still raged. Theoretically, South Korea had the support of several major nations including America and England. In practice, everyone knew that it was questionable that those countries would do nothing if North Korea decided to actually invade, especially if they retained the support of China. A fact South Korea knew full well.

From what he remembered of China's support, it was an alliance that benefited them more than North Korea. He had no doubt that if North Korea did something stupid, China would break off their alliance and wash their hands of the incident. Of course this was something North Korea knew full well, though if they could justify themselves well enough or manipulate South Korea into striking first, they might keep the support of China.

But in essence, both countries were mostly alone in their fight and they knew it. And until a war was actually declared, the shadow war between the two nations would continue indefinitely. Back to the present, he supposed that Mira's subtle endorsement of the South Korean special forces was highly offensive to Afif, who likely held the views of his superiors in that North Korea was an ally.

He would like to believe that Mira had intended it as a genuine compliment to Carmelita, but knowing this was a woman who was part of an alleged Israeli assassination team and who was more familiar with South Korea's situation than most…Well, he doubted her words had been chosen by accident.

There was silence in the skyranger for a few minutes. Then they all sat up at attention as the voice of the Commander broadcast through their helmets.

"This is the Commander to Dolphin Team. We've pinpointed the crash site of the UFO that was shot down. It's crashed along the coast, on the beaches. Big Sky will drop you on the beach and you can proceed to the crash site from there."

"What forces can we expect?" Mira asked.

"Based on the previous UFO, XCOM Analysis estimates several sectoids, who we believe act as the pilots; several drones which are likely used for repairs; and we suspect an outsider may be on board as well. Please note that we are unable to confirm this, you'll have to adjust your tactics accordingly."

"Copy that, Commander. Orders once we touch down?"

"Secure the site and eliminate any aliens. Beware of any additional security measures the aliens have. This UFO is larger than the last one, it would follow that the systems are more sophisticated and that the crew is larger. Avoid damage to the craft if possible, our science and engineering divisions would appreciate more components. But do not put your lives before that of equipment. Understood?'

"Yes, Commander," Mira answered. "We'll notify you once we touch down."

"Good luck Dolphin Team. Citadel Command, out."

Carma sighed. "I've always wanted to spend a weekend on the beach. Just my luck that when I get the chance, we're also raiding a UFO."

Roman patted her lightly on the back. "There, there. Once we kick the aliens off our planet we'll all be heroes and you can just retire and buy a nice beach house."

She chuckled. "Let's hope we live that long."

"Hey," Shawn protested. "I think we're doing pretty well. We've stopped quite a few abductions and shot down two UFOs. At this rate we'll be kicking the aliens off by the end of the year."

"Temper your expectations," Mira interrupted flatly. "The only reason we've been doing so well is that the aliens have been holding back. This was is far from over."

"Understood, miss killjoy." Shawn quipped sarcastically and several of the soldiers chuckled.

"This is Big Sky to Dolphin Team. We're two minutes out from the LZ, this is gonna be a drop-in. Prepare accordingly."

Shawn grinned. It was lucky he didn't have a fear of heights, otherwise he'd be in trouble. Luckily he found sudden drops and dangerous stunts exhilarating and was a fan of extreme amusement park rides. He checked the grapple clip installed in his armor and it seemed to be fine.

"Copy that, Big Sky." Mira acknowledged.

Shawn felt the skyranger start to dip and shake as they decreased altitude. Mira stood up. "Prepare to deploy," she ordered as she grasped her rifle. With the familiar sound of clicking and hissing as each of them readied their weapon, Shawn joined them and readied his shotgun.

"Lock down vocoders," Mira ordered once they were ready. He complied and almost lost his balance as the skyranger came to a complete stop. The ramp hissed open and grappling lines dropped down from the tail end.

"Deploy!" Mira yelled and charged off the ramp, not bothering to attach her grappling hook. Carmelita followed suit. As impressed as he was, he wasn't that confidant in his ability to do a freeform deployment. The rest of them stuck to the safe reliable way and used their grappling hooks.

He snorted as he grappled down. That would be such an embarrassing way to die.

"This is Squad Overseer Vauner to Citadel Command. We've touched down. Permission to proceed?"

"Permission granted, Overseer Vauner. Good luck."

Under the cover of darkness, they made their way along the beach. The damp sand cling to their boots and armor, while a light drizzle misted their armor. The wind whipped around them, throwing up sand which blasted them repeatedly and obscured their vision.

"Did the Commander forget to mention there was a hurricane or something?" Shawn asked as he looked up at the cloudy night sky. "Because I think that would have been nice to know."

"Storms like this aren't uncommon," Roman replied as they marched along. "Especially on beaches. Personally, I like this weather."

"So do I!" Shawn defended. "But not now."

"Think of it this way," Carmelita interjected in her soft voice. "Think of how much worse it'll be for the aliens."

"Good point," Carma nodded. "Hopefully-"

Mira raised a fist and they froze. She got down on one knee and they followed suit. "Lights," she stated quietly. Shawn looked ahead and saw a weird glow in the distance. Even through the sand and light rain, it didn't look natural.

"Approach?" Carmelita asked as she moved up by Mira.

"Thinking," Mira stated neutrally. "This isn't ideal. The UFO crashed on the beach and there's not going to be much cover. A frontal assault will be suicide."

"Could we move through the water?" Shawn asked.

Mira looked at him. She almost seemed surprised. "Possibly. The suits could probably work for a limited amount of time," she tapped a button on her ear. "Citadel Command, I need an equipment analysis. Can the suits handle an amphibious assault?"

"This is Head Engineer Shen," an older voice answered after a quarter minute. "The suits weren't designed for that type of use. However, they were designed to handle extreme weather including hurricane –level storms. You shouldn't have issues, but I'm afraid we don't know for sure."

"Copy," Mira stated. "Thanks for the information. Squad Overseer Vauner, out."

"We shouldn't risk everyone," Afif interjected. "If the suits don't work, we'll all be dead."

"Not to mention the weapons." Shawn suddenly remembered. "I'm pretty sure that those won't work underwater."

"Damn," Mira cursed. "You're right. We can't risk that."

"Not necessarily," Roman reminded her. "You just couldn't submerge them."

"Ok," with her finger, Mira drew a circle in the sand. "The UFO is here," she drew a line from it and added some lines on one side of it. Shawn assumed that marked the divide between the beach and ocean. She added six X's a decent ways from the drawn UFO. "Here's the plan," she began and drew line from two X's into the ocean. "Shawn and Carmelita will go through the water to the UFO. Go as deep as possible but don't dive unless absolutely necessary."

Shawn looked at Carmelita and she nodded at him. Even if he technically outranked her, he knew when to concede. He had a wild guess that she was better at this than him. "Understood." He told Mira.

Mira nodded and drew lines to the left and towards the UFO and stopped in front of it. "I'll lead everyone else around the UFO. There should be enough cover for us to approach undetected. Once we're in position, I'll give the order to attack. Do not move without orders. Understood?"

"Yes, Overseer!" They answered.

Mira looked at him. "Then head out and wait for my order." With that, she started moving away and everyone except Carmelita followed. Both of them headed towards the ocean. He stopped where the tide was coming in, but Carmelita just walked right in. She looked at him. "Coming?"

"Yeah," he answered and walked into the ocean and immediately gritted his teeth. Of course the water was freezing, even through the armor. Carmelita continued and was now waist deep. "I assume you've never done this before?" she asked as they slogged deeper.

"Nope," he admitted freely as he kept going. "So, I'm just going to follow your lead if that's alright."

She gave a pleasant chuckle. "Alright, don't worry. It's not that bad."

He shrugged as he raised his shotgun above his head. "If you say so."

Neck deep now, he was finding it much harder to move. Being taller than Carmelita, he was able to go a little deeper, but even she was moving slowly. "I hope this thing isn't too far," he muttered.

"Focus on staying upright," was her response. "In this kind of weather, you can get swept away easily."

"Got it." He nodded.

They moved forward for what he estimated to be around five minutes. Now he saw it. Smoke rose from tiny internal fires and about a quarter of it was submerged in the water, but it was nevertheless their UFO.

"Mira," Shawn informed her. "We're in sight of the UFO."

"Copy, Shawn," was her response. "We're getting into position now."

He took a closer look. Several drones were flying above the downed ship, presumably trying to repair it. Three sectoids trotted about, though he couldn't tell if they were directing the drones or looking for hostiles.

"I've got eyes on several sectoids and drones," Shawn continued. "Can't see anything else."

"Copy that, I'm seeing the same thing. What's your status?"

"Uh," he hesitated. "A ways yet. How close should we be?"

"Alongside the UFO is ideal, but-hold on!"

"More are coming." Carmelita nodded towards the UFO. He watched as they kept moving forward. Three of the human doppelgängers walked out of the UFO followed by…he frowned, not sure if he was seeing correctly.

Two giant floating…mechanical…squids?

"Are you seeing the same thing as me?" he asked Carmelita, hoping he was hallucinating.

"Giant floating squids? Yeah," she muttered. "Hold for now." They paused and the waves splashed on his helmet. One of the doppelgängers pointed out to the beach and Shawn imagined he was giving orders. The mechanical squids shimmered with a purple light and…vanished?

"Oh, that's not good," Shawn breathed. "Mira! Did you see that?"

"I did. Be ready, and careful. Those thin men are apparently good shots."

Shawn didn't even smile at the name Mira had given to the human lookalikes.

"We need to move to shallow water," Carmelita told him. "But stay low."

He nodded and unsuccessfully tried to make his heart stop pounding. Not many things worried him, but an invisible mechanical squid just might be one of them. They stopped at waist level, crouched down and waited for a few minutes. Carmelita started backing towards deeper water again.

"Alright," she said while gripping her rifle. "I think-"

She never got to finish as she was pulled underwater with a splash.

"Woah!" he yelled as he frantically aimed at the water with his shotgun. A second later Carmelita burst up, gasping and some tentacles were wrapped around her neck and arms.

"It's got me!" she screamed as she struggled against the strangling appendages. "Shoot it!"

He tried aiming but she was pulled underwater again. But now he saw it. The mechanical squid was pinning her underwater as she thrashed around. The water was thankfully shallow enough that he might be able to kill it. He aimed at the head, or so he hoped.

He fired the shotgun and the thing released it's hold on her and she burst up and the squid followed suit. It hovered a few feet over the water and a little green light began glowing where it's mouth would be. He jumped to the side as a blast of plasma barely missed him.

The thing wrapped it's tentacles around a weakened Carmelita and started spraying some black smoke into her helmet. The sounds of her choking as the air slowly left her and the sight of her weakly trying to pry the tentacles off her galvanized him to rise against the crashing waves. Gritting his teeth, he stood up and took aim with his shotgun. With a scowl, he fired another blast.

The thing smoked and fell into the water with a hiss and crackle.

He splashed over to a kneeling Carmelita who'd torn off her helmet and was panting heavily. "Hey?!" he asked urgently as he put a hand on her shoulder. "You alright?"

She pushed her cropped black hair out of her eyes and nodded frantically. "Yeah, Yeah. I'm fine."

She clearly wasn't. The way she was hyperventilating wasn't healthy or normal, regardless of what she said. "Ok," he placated. "Can you continue?"

She didn't look well, but her amber eyes filled with determination and her breathing steadied a little. "I can," she said as she placed her helm back on. "I can." She repeated.

Gunfire sounded from Mira's position. He looked at Carmelita. "We need to get up there." Both of them observed the trio of thin men and sectoids heading that direction.

"Agreed," she nodded, determined. He motioned at her rifle.

"Does that still work?" He asked. She shook it and a decent amount of water dripped out from various openings.

"Unlikely," she stated in disgust. She tossed it aside and drew two large serrated knives from her belt. "These'll have to do."

"You sure?" He asked dubiously. "You do know the saying about bringing knives to gun fights?"

He imagined her scowl. Yep, she seemed to have recovered. "You deal with the drones and I'll kill anything on the ground. Trust me, I have experience."

No time to debate. He heard plasma fire joining the symphony of automatic weapons. Eschewing cover for speed, they dashed towards the UFO. The drones continued working, apparently unconcerned with the fighting.

Four drones. He lined up a shot and fired. The drone fell from the sky, sparking. The rest noticed him and began flying over to his position, the maddening drone of their engines growing louder. He fired another shot, trying to distract them from Carmelita sneaking towards the side of the UFO.

The shot grazed the drone, but didn't destroy it. Energy gathered from it's appendages and convulsed into a laser blast that sizzled past him. He fired another shot, destroying the flying ball of metal.

"Come on!" He yelled at the remaining two as he reloaded. As long as they were coming for him, he was succeeding. The drones were relatively easy to dodge too. They telegraphed their attacks so obviously that it was trivial to dodge them. The only problem was that he couldn't really line up another good shot since both were firing with increasing frequency.

"Lure them to the UFO." Carmelita instructed. He risked glancing around and frowned when he didn't see her. As more beams raised down on him he decided that it wasn't a major concern at the moment.

"Ah!" One of the beams clipped his arm and he barely dodged another aimed at his head. "Got it!" He yelled to wherever she was.

He fired off several shots in quick succession, some of them partially successful. He was right at the edge of the UFO now and risked being backed into the water, where he was certain he would die.

"Now would be a good time!" He yelled as another shot nearly decapitated him.

"With pleasure." He blinked as he saw Carmelita leap from the UFO. She had somehow managed to climb the thing and was now crashing into one of the drones. The drone couldn't sustain it's weight and hers so it slowly crashed to the ground. The other one turned at the distraction and that was all he needed.

Two shots later the drone fell from the sky. He looked at Carmelita to see her stab the drone in it's "eye" and twist the blade for good measure. She pulled the blade from the sparking wreck and placed it back on her belt.

"Impressive," he commented as he jogged up.

"Thanks," she answered and pointed toward Mira's team. "We need to help them."

He nodded. "Let's go!" They began sprinting and skidded to a stop when a part of the front of the UFO that had been weakened and blackened by the crash burst open and two outsiders stepped out, the crystalline orange creatures exactly as Patricia had described them.

"Not good," Carmelita muttered as she pulled out her blades.

He wanted to laugh and would have if he wasn't borderline panicking. "Not good?" Understatement of the day. The outsiders carried plasma rifles and appraised them with their eyeless faces. Both were over a head taller and would likely physically outmatch them.

"Run?" Shawn asked, not quite able to keep his voice from shaking.

"To where?" she asked as the outsiders raised their rifles. "No," she snarled, venom dripping from her normally soft voice. "We go down fighting!" She reached for the grenade strapped to her belt and tossed it toward the pair. Shawn dived to the right as the outsiders fired at them.

The grenade exploded and he saw the outsiders hadn't been able to dodge the blast. One had cracks on it's chest, head and legs and had lost it's rifle. The other was…well aiming at him! He fired a distracting shot with his shotgun which forced the outsider to abandon his plan of executing him. For the moment.

Carmelita charged the wounded outsider, knives striking the cracks. Her blows didn't seem to do much except make the creature angrier. It tried striking her but she easily dodged and returned with several more lightning strikes. The outsider rose to it's feet and started raining strikes down on her. Strikes she dodged with as much ease as before, showcasing her close combat proficiency.

But she couldn't keep it up forever. Shawn scrambled behind a moderately high rock as the outsider started firing at him. Plasma scorched the sand around him and he risked peeking out. The outsider had taken some cover behind a piece of metal that had fallen off the ship and was effectively suppressing him.

Ok, options:

He could take a shot, but his helmet was telling him fifteen percent and that wasn't worth taking. Not yet. He could charge the outsider's position, but was skeptical if he would survive or even if a point-blank shotgun blast would even kill the thing. Even grenades didn't seem to do the trick.

Or he could forget the outsider trying to kill him.

Carmelita was still locked in a tense close combat battle, but she was going to lose. The cracks were starting to heal and she'd soon be facing a fully functional outsider. Her blades were doing nothing and she would tire soon. Once it got it's hands on her, she was finished. He nodded to himself. Alright. Here went nothing.

He dashed out from cover and towards the outsider bearing down on Carmelita. "Get back!" He yelled, not even know who he was yelling at; the outsider or Carmelita. It really applied to both. The outsider paused in apparent surprise and he used that to unload two shots into the outsider.

It convulsed and began disintegrating, similar to a piece of paper burning up.

"Down!" Carmelita screamed at him, as he turned to see where the outsider was. He was too late and the plasma slammed into his left shoulder.

"Ohh, that stings!" He gasped as the white hot pain spread through his body. He stumbled back, his shoulder feeling like it was being dissolved. The outsider bore down, rifle pointed at him as it prepared to finish him. With his good arm he raised his shotgun and fired off one last shot.

It forced the outsider to move but with only one good arm, the recoil blew the shotgun out of his hand.

"Take cover!" he heard Mira order. His mind already shutting down as the plasma ate into his skin. He frowned, dozens of thoughts blazing through his increasingly wandering mind. Why? He wondered as he struggled to stay conscious. Why is she here? This is my battle?

"Oomph" he grunted as Carmelita tackled him to the ground, then screamed in pain a second later. She'd unfortunately tackled him on the arm that had been shot. Something whizzed over the place he'd been standing and he saw the area the outsider had been standing in go up in a massive explosion.

The head from the blast washed over him and he began succumbing to a blissful unconsciousness.

"Big Sky! We need an emergency evac now! We have a soldier down!"

Carmelita's voice. If he could've, he would have smiled.

He was relieved she was still alive.

It would have sucked to sacrifice himself for nothing.

Everything went black.

After-Action Report

Operation: Raging Gale

Personnel:

Dolphin 1 (Squad Overseer): Specialist Mira Vauner

Status: Active

Recorded Kills: 3

Dolphin 2 – Specialist Shawn Cage

Status: Gravely Wounded (Estimated 18 Days)

Recorded Kills: 5

Dolphin 3 – Private Carma Hoyle

Status: Active

Recorded Kills: 1

Dolphin 4 – Private Roman Mendoza

Status: Wounded (5 Days)

Recorded Kills: 2

Dolphin 5 – Private Carmelita Alba

Status: Active

Recorded Kills: 1

Dolphin 6 – Private Afif Lim

Status: Active

Recorded Kills: 1

Mission Director: The Commander

Pilot: Jason Olgard – Call sign: "Big Sky"

Artifacts Recovered:

-3x Sectoid Corpses (Moderate Damage)

-3x Alien Infiltrator Corpses (Moderate Damage)

-4x Drone Wrecks (Moderate Damage)

-2x Unidentified Mechanical Stealth Units (Moderate Damage)

-2x Alien Flight Computers (Damaged)

-2x Alien Flight Computers

-1x Alien Power Source

-24x Alien Weapon Fragments

-122x Alien Alloys (Stripped from UFO)

-4x Canisters of Unidentified Alien Substance