The United States acknowledged XCOM's claim. Bradford gave the order to intercept LtScout-1. The air transport got a headstart to intercept as it was slower. Minutes later, Corsair-1 began preparations for launch. The Executive Officer informed the Commander. He tried calling him, but no answer came. It was no pressing issue so Bradford simply left a note for him to see once he was available.
The interception was the first of its kind. XCOM had never recovered an intact alien vessel. The ships were designed to be resilient—mainly the hull. The sheets of metal were no doubt of much interest, but the fragile machinery was more sought after. If everything went according to plan, XCOM should be able to recover much wanted, functioning artefacts. Bradford deployed the latest and best tools for the job.
He reviewed the publicised notes on the X-37 Corsair. It was faster than the F-17 Condor. In terms of weaponry, it had to have an autocannon due to the aliens' insistence on getting into dogfights. However, it was every pilot's goal to launch missiles before an alien vessel got close enough to engage. If they failed, the armour plating came into play. Modern fighters were built to withstand heat but not enough to absorb the fire of alien weaponry. XCOM had lost a couple of good pilots to it.
The F-17 was still outdated despite Shen's efforts to retrofit it. No matter what he did, there was little potential for updating or improving the design against a non-human threat. All in all, the new Corsair was designed with fighting the aliens in mind, while recycling the YF-23's design.
Alongside the star of the show was the XCOM hypervelocity missile. Bradford had seen what it was capable of. The staff were trained to operate it, but it had to be tested on the field. Before Shen started manufacturing it, he got the Commander's approval to conduct some hunts. He had his staff fly an unmanned aircraft. During the Corsair's maiden flight, he got some officers to order the missile to strike the drone. The results validated his hard work. Now, it would be tested against an actual alien craft.
Bradford looked at his team in Mission Overview. They were patiently waiting for Corsair-1 to get close enough to the target to initiate launch protocols. The staff reviewed every step involved in a guided missile launch. Bradford felt slightly uneasy about seeing his staff displaying such uncertainty.
"You guys remember the test launches?" he asked.
"Yes, sir. We've practised it many times," an officer reassured. "The Light Scout won't be too different from those drones."
Bradford was satisfied after looking at his officers. Despite their last-minute revisions, they looked confident. If it was like the tests as his senior officer said, he knew his team could pull it off without any issues.
"All right. Guide me through the launch process," he ordered.
"Currently, our satellite has a constant 3D render of LtScout-1," the officer replied. "Preparing for the second step."
A few seconds passed as the satellite focused on the target.
"Satellite has pinged the alien flight computer. . . Satellite has pinged the thrusters. All critical systems are pinged, sir. Your orders?"
"Target the flight computer," Bradford commanded. "Let's hope Vahlen and Shen won't mind us damaging that."
"Good copy."
The officer relayed his orders to his colleagues. Just like during training, they ordered the satellite to focus on the ping of the flight computer and let the math handle itself. They had to ensure that the hypervelocity missile hit the target as soon as the ship hit the ground. Like that, nothing could have been damaged. First, they needed to know where the vessel was going to be when its altitude would reach zero.
"We've got an estimate on the landing site," the tasked officer informed. "Sending adjusted linear flight path to Corsair-1."
The officer waited for the confirmation.
"Mission Control, this is Corsair-1. Course has been readjusted to match determined flight path," the pilot reported.
"Copy that, Corsair-1," the officer tasked with communicating with the pilot acknowledged. "Central, interceptor is on planned course. Preparing for launch planning," he notified.
"You may proceed," Bradford replied.
With Corsair-1 heading straight to the predicted landing site, all that was left was coordinating the missile launch. The window got smaller by the second as the alien vessel was in free fall. Thankfully, the officers were trained to do it quickly. The Light Scout was not too far from XCOM HQ and the officers believed that it could be intercepted during the landing phase. Even so, they had very little time until the ship reached ground level—approximately half an hour. Gravitational acceleration became their enemy, air resistance their ally. But the aliens had planned for everything and made their ships pick up fewer opposing forces during descent. The aliens needed speed to fuel their hit and run tactics. It was the complete opposite for any manmade rocket; they took advantage of air resistance for free deceleration.
"Central, the computer has predicted deceleration phase in twelve minutes. The ship will decelerate for approximately two minutes till smooth landing. Proceeding to find missile launch window." The officer punched in some numbers in the calculator and reported, "The math says the missile launch should be in six minutes! Sending countdown to Corsair-1. Preparing for missile lock, now."
The officers finally relayed all the commands to the missile itself. The satellite was still fixated on the ping it set on the flight computer aboard LtScout-1. It soon received a signal from the missile. All it had to do was generate a path between the two.
"Central, the missile is locked on target. Flightpath is viable as long as all trajectories stay the same. Sending auto-launch sequence to the hypervelocity missile, now."
The officer gave a nod to his colleagues. The officer responsible for communicating with the pilot took on the final step.
"Corsair-1, this is Mission Control. We're sending the automatic launch sequence to the hypervelocity missile. Please authorise and acknowledge."
The staff waited for a response.
"Mission Control, this is Corsair-1. I have approved the automatic missile launch. Timer has been well received."
The officers in Mission Overview slouched in their chairs. For their first launch of a hypervelocity missile, they had done it perfectly to the letter. Now, they had six minutes to wait until the follow-up. Bradford took the time to repeat his briefing to the strike team as he had the habit of doing.
"Patch me to Alpha-2!" he ordered.
The officers tapped and clicked until they gave the thumbs up. Bradford cleared his throat before activating his microphone.
"Listen up, Alpha-2. A Light Scout is executing a landing manoeuver in Vermont. As we speak, our interceptor is preparing for a surgical strike that will leave all but one component of the ship undamaged. Your objective is to wipe the floor of aliens as usual. However, we want the ship unscathed. That means that we expect you to avoid all collateral damage to the ship. This is a rare opportunity and we ask you not to spoil it. That means that you should avoid engaging the enemy near their ship.
"Since the aliens were executing a landing manoeuver, we believe that their goal was to deploy foot soldiers. Perhaps, they will stick to that goal. Ambush them if they do leave their ship. Avoid all explosives. That also means that you should be careful of the Outsider as it will erupt upon elimination. All alien weaponry also detonate so be careful. If you find yourselves to be in a firefight near or inside the ship, use your Arc Throwers. Your Arc Throwers will not cause any collateral damage so prioritise them over lethal ammunition. You've also got incapacitating gas grenades. Central, out!"
Bradford pressed the button on his microphone to deactivate it.
"Thank you, Central. Man, you've given us a very tough mission! But we'll be careful," Colonel Archer's voice replied through the speakers.
Corsair-1 maintained its course towards the predicted landing site. The alien vessel did not deviate in the slightest from what the computer calculated that it would do. The officers made sure that all were accounted for. Now was the time for last-minute readjustments. Corsair-1 could scrap the automated launch and execute it manually; the missiles were meant to be fired manually anyways. The current situation was just too perfect.
An alien vessel would usually be knocked out from the hypervelocity missile and come tumbling down. Because the ship was nearby in Vermont, an X-37 Corsair could reach it in thirty minutes—the time a ship took to traverse Earth's atmosphere and land successfully. It meant that the ship could be punctured at ground level. There was no room for it to tumble and no room for it to fly away. The ship would come out of the engagement in pristine condition with only an entry and exit hole.
The officers looked at the countdown and prepared to get back to the task at hand.
"Sir, the missile will launch soon!" an officer informed.
"Fingers crossed," Bradford replied.
"Missile will launch in. . . 4. . .3. . . 2. . . 1."
The officers waited.
"Mission Control, this is Corsair-1. Hypervelocity missile has launched successfully and there are no deviations from the course. Homing in on target in case of strike failure."
Bradford pressed the button on his microphone to speak.
"Corsair-1, this is Central. We're following the missile," he acknowledged. "Do not engage the target until the payload has been confirmed to not have produced the desired effect. Otherwise, stick around to maintain air support for the strike team."
"Copy that, Central," the pilot responded.
"Sir, missile ETA fifteen seconds!" an officer informed.
The alien ship had already unleashed its main thruster to decelerate from the fall. It had considerably slowed down in just a minute. In a few seconds, it should flip itself horizontally and become parallel to the ground. The screens in Mission Overview showed the ship flip itself to land. The officers stared at the live feed from the satellite, waiting for impact. As the ship gently touched the ground, a small flash erupted at the top of the ship. For a split second, the officers had seen the missile whizz into frame at incredible speeds. They were stunned but quickly went back to examining the 3D render.
"Sir, 3D render and visual feed confirms that the missile hit. It's two centimetres away from the intended target on the dorsal hull," an officer informed. "3D render can make out penetration on the ventral hull. The missile has successfully hit the flight computer!"
The team erupted into applause. They were proud to have pulled off such a calculated strike. The small dot on the ship that the missile was aiming for was two centimetres away from where it actually hit. That was but a small insignificant deviation. No matter how sophisticated XCOM's technology was, there was room for error. But two centimetres off was way too small to be considered one. It was a testament to the work put in by the engineers who had, once again, worked wonders. Bradford went from congratulating his officers to clapping lazily until his hands were silent. He focused himself on what had to be done.
"All right, it ain't over yet!" the Executive Officer reminded. "We've gotta aid Alpha-2!"
Minutes after impact. the Froststrike hovered downwards with its landing gear out. It suddenly met some resistance and the aircraft shook as it flattened its tilt. The bay door opened and the squad of XCOM soldiers burst out, brandishing their rifles.
"Lads, remember, no explosives within the vicinity of the alien ship and no shooting at its general direction," Col Archer stated. "We'll take it slow and easy so the scientists can sleep well tonight."
"Roger, Colonel," the squad replied.
Archer opened a tab in his interface, displaying the downed vessel on top of the nearby hill. The satellite imagery showed the aliens exiting their ship. Once the lifeform scan was active, HQ identified four Sectoids to be guarding the vessel. Another one left the ship with an unknown entity. Colonel Archer was surprised at the news of an unknown alien lifeform.
"Central, have we got anything on that unknown entity?" he asked.
"Negative, FO-1. Satellite imagery ain't helping much, but we believe we're dealing with a Seeker. The lifeform scan has found some traces indicative of them."
"If it is a Seeker, why didn't the lifeform scan mark it as so but as an unknown entity?"
"We think there may be more than meets the eye. The entity resembling the Seeker is much larger and had white armour. Perhaps it's related to them, but it'd be better to hear it from Dr Vahlen."
"What does this mean, Colonel?" Corporal Leon Skorsi asked after listening in.
"It means we've got another new alien and it's related to those damned Seekers! Check your lifeform scans well; it could camouflage like the others."
The squad kept their eyes peeled for hostiles as they approached the enemy aircraft. They crept behind trees to remain unseen by the aliens. Usually, they would assault the ship and eliminate all that resisted. They had secured many alien vessels in the past; the fight should have been easy. A Light Scout did not have the capacity for that many aliens so the enemies were few compared to the norm. It was like being back in the early days of the invasion. But the situation dictated extreme caution. The aliens had deployed a new enemy and Alpha-2 was also restricted by Bradford's orders. They needed to recover an alien ship without damaging it in the slightest. That one Light Scout was worth more than any other ship they had cleared in the past.
An orange marker appeared in the squad's interface, announced by an auditory alert. The squad spread out and knelt behind trees with only their guns sticking out. They ordered their helmets to broadcast the feed from their scopes; it was one of those situations where the added feature came in handy.
"Anyone got a visual?" Sargeant Isla-Grace Carson asked.
"I see one through my scope," the sniper, Elisa Irving, replied. "It's a Sectoid. Wait. . . What the hell is that behind it?"
"What do you see, Irving?" Archer asked.
"It sure as hell looks like a Seeker. Check my feed!"
The squad opened tabs on the scope of their marksman. A flying squid flew around behind trees and bushes. The alien looked like a Seeker but was considerably larger. Unlike its counterpart, it was plated with white-tinted alloys. From what could be seen through the scope, the alien boasted a larger weapon than the Seeker's built-in plasma cannon in its mouth. The most noticeable difference was its tentacles. They were not prosthetic but entirely made of flesh with a tentacular club at the end.
"Whatever that thing is, I sure as hell don't like it," Skorsi commented.
"Get ready to engage, folks," Archer alerted, refocusing his squad. "Irving, got a shot on that Sectoid?"
"Yep. It won't make that hard of a target," she replied.
"Take the shot when you're ready. We'll see what that other thing does."
"Don't need to say it twice, Colonel," the sniper replied.
She went prone on the ground and laid her feet flat. By deploying her bipod, she had an easier time aiming for the moving Sectoid's head. Once it halted for some unknown reason, Elisa took the shot.
A crackle erupted from the trees and the Sectoid squealed in pain. The echo of the shot sounded throughout the forest, followed by a faint cocking of a bolt. The mysterious alien flew around in a panic until it neared its fallen comrade. It wrapped its tentacles around the fresh corpse of the Sectoid and descended onto the ground with it.
"What is it doing?" Corporal Riggs asked.
Archer responded to the odd gesture by firing a burst at the alien pinpointed by an orange marker.
"Hold your fire," he added before his squad followed his move.
The target was obstructed by the inconsistent terrain. Archer's shots had only hit the ground the Seeker-like alien hid behind. He looked through the scope of his rifle until he noticed a Sectoid rise from where the target was hiding. It was the same Sectoid Elisa had shot since it had a fresh wound on its temple. Blood was still flowing out of its head yet the alien was back up on its feet.
"Is that Sectoid a zombie?" Corporal Riggs asked in disbelief.
"Everyone, open fire!" Archer ordered.
The squad fired small bursts at the reanimated Sectoid until it fell on its knees and jerked about. A final round from Specialist Elisa Irving took it out the same way it had initially died. Completely disabling the brain always did the trick. The flying alien abruptly came out of hiding and pointed its cannon at the squad. A small flash of orange came out of its mouth until loud sizzling could be heard next to Irving. She hunkered down behind her tree as a hole was burnt through the ground next to her. The plants had caught on fire after the hit. Another flash of orange erupted from its cannon followed by sizzling and a cry of pain from Sargeant Isla-Grace Carson.
"I'm hit!" she reported through the pain.
"Shit! Everyone, take that thing down," Archer directed.
The squad shot at the alien, but aiming at it was difficult as it zipped around nearby trees. Alpha-2 shot multiple rounds as the alien dashed towards them, but only a few hit and they were not enough to stop it. The alien burst out of a bush and into the middle of Alpha-2's formation. A strong gust of wind disrupted the squad from shooting it down, their bodies flung by the sudden wind, and the alien capitalised by wrapping its tentacles around Isla-Grace Carson. It squeezed her body tightly until it let go. Skorsi recovered quickly and fired a slug with his shotgun into its body, followed by another one as the alien recoiled from the pain.
The squad recovered from the shock as the shots from Skorsi's weapon rang through their external microphones. Specialist Ibarra came back to her senses and went to check on Isla-Grace Carson.
"Sargeant! Sergeant Carson!" she yelled.
"I'm fine," the soldier replied in between her breaths.
"How are you feeling?"
"A little woozy. . . I'm exhausted. . . I can't stand up."
The Sargeant attempted to get back on her feet, but something prevented her. It was as if her body refused to do as she wanted.
"Ibarra, what's wrong with her?" Col Archer demanded.
"I don't know yet. She says she's feeling exhausted."
The medic first went to treat the burn wound to the soldiers flank by applying the stem cell spray. She ripped off the nearby section of her under-armour and covered the wound with gauze by running it under her clothing. A squadmate aided by loosening the Jackal Armour for her to have more space to operate. The wound formed a nasty cavity in her body, surrounded by burnt tissue.
"Ibarra, status?" Archer asked.
"She's in no shape to fight, Colonel," the medic reported. "She's got a way too large wound on her external oblique."
"Then get her out of here. Take her to the Frostrike and protect her," the Colonel ordered.
"What about the operation?" she asked.
"We'll handle it," the colonel reassured. "It's just Sectoids from here onwards. We'll send any more wounded your way."
Fatima Ibarra nodded with her helmet, hoisted her comrade on her shoulders and left. She tensed up her torso and shifted on her side as she started to feel the weight of her comrade and her armour.
"All right. Everyone else, we'll proceed with caution. Once we're near that ship we can't just fire away." Archer stated.
The squad walked around trees while maintaining as low of a profile as possible; they had to retain the element of surprise. The aliens had surely heard all the gunshots against the Seeker-like alien so they had to be in a defensive formation. By looking at his tab displaying the satellite view of the crash site, Col Archer could confirm that his opponents were preparing to defend their ship.
"Colonel, I see the Light Scout ahead," Specialist Patrick Chambers reported.
The vessel's entrance was guarded by the four Sectoids. Hunkered behind trees and the terrain, they anticipated their enemy to close in and board their vessel. They were prepared to lay down their lives against anyone who came near their transport. Colonel Archer could not fathom what persuaded them to maintain such zeal. He debated how he should proceed.
Sectoids tended to bunch up while on the defensive. He could take advantage by throwing a ga grenade and putting them to sleep. Their cutaneous respiration would lead to rapid administration of the agent, but not fast enough to perform a swift takedown. Plus, the agent would become a hazard for his own troops if the wind decided to oppose him. A more traditional approach with bullets was the better option.
"Lads, listen up. Stay hidden for as long as you can," Archer ordered. "We'll attempt to form a semi-circle around the entrance of that craft. We'll pick them off in a coordinated strike. If that doesn't work out, prepare your Arc Throwers and gas grenades."
Using the gas grenades was the best option for a last resort, but Archer doubted he would need to use it. It was only if a direct line of sight for an Arc Thrower round could not be achieved.
"Copy that, Colonel," the squad responded.
"Squad, spread out and begin the encirclement."
Alpha-2 split into fireteams. They gently stepped over roots and shrubbery so that the aliens would not be alerted. The wind helped them by masking their noise. The Sectoids were known to have excellent hearing due to their sensitivity to stimuli. However, their eyes could easily be fooled. Camouflage helped the XCOM soldiers blend in with the forest—not to mention the darkness of the night. Despite their proximity to their nocturnal foe, the troops reached their positions without a hitch. The Sectoids moved around a bit and went back to waiting. The fireteams paused nervously until suspicions were cleared and they finalised the encirclement.
"Lads, pick your targets," Archer ordered.
"I've got the one on the rear. Left," Specialist Irving informed.
"Clear shot on the rear right," Specialist Sam Dodd reported.
"Front left," Karan Shah picked.
"I got front right," Arjun Luna said.
"On my signal, open fire," Archer directed. "3. . . 2. . . 1. . . Fire."
The four soldiers shot a burst or a well-aimed round at the exposed Sectoids. A single or a few shots to the head eliminated all four targets in a flash. Alpha-2 kept their guard up in case any more hostiles came. The door of the alien craft abruptly slid open after the crackle and a large object came flying out. It was a large white disk that opened up revealing multiple prongs at the back and a cannon at the front.
"Colonel, Cyberdisc at the entrance!" Skorsi reported.
The machine scanned for targets and shot its plasma randomly at the treeline.
"Shit! Everyone, pull back and stay down!" Archer ordered.
"Colonel, I've got my heavy machine gun ready!" Specialist Sam Dodd informed. "Permission to engage?"
"Negative, Sam. Your gun will damage the ship at this angle. Pull back and draw it away!"
The squad moved from behind their cover to retreat. The Cyberdisc got a visual on its opponents and chased them. It spun around vertically and threw a green orb at the squad. An explosion burned through multiple trees but missed the soldiers who ran out of the way. Skorsi came out with a few scorch marks on his armour.
The alien machine shot its plasma again. Corporal Riggs ducked behind his elevated terrain displaced by the roots of a tree. He shot a burst at the Cyberdisc as it had moved away from the UFO. The alien robot shifted its attention to Tre Riggs who went back to running away. He sidestepped behind a tree for cover but his vision abruptly went dark and a jolt of pain erupted on his back seconds later. He could feel intense heat on his back but was distracted as he tripped over a root.
"Corporal Riggs is hit!" Irving reported.
"His suits not responding!" Skorsi added.
"Riggs, report!" Archer demanded. "Central, what happened?!"
The colonel turned to ascertain the status of his seemingly fallen soldier. Tre Riggs pulled off his helmet and performed a barrel roll, banging his head on a tree's roots. He dodged the Cyberdisc in time as it was about to jab at him with its barbs. He unholstered his pistol, sprung up and hid behind a tree as the machine fired a plasma bolt past his shoulder; his pauldron glowing brightly due to thermodynamics. He aimed at the Cyberdisk's glowing orange orb—its eye—but it was easier said than done. He shot a few rounds at it and stopped after seeing his squadmates in his line of fire—a bullet hitting a tree near one of his brothers-in-arms.
"Sam, help Riggs! Open fire, now!" Archer yelled.
Sam Dodd lifted her light machine gun but hesitated to pull the trigger as Riggs entered her arc of fire. He ran around as the Cyberdisk pursued, shooting its plasma and jabbing with its barbs. Sam felt her aim get unsteady as hesitation grew stronger, but she regained her focus. If she did not shoot the Cyberdisk now, Riggs might die.
Sam threw off her helmet and shouted as loud as she could, "Riggs, get down!"
The corporal heard the cry and dived down behind a rough patch of terrain, hoping it would protect him. A plasma bolt whizzed past his head which he responded by reflexively burying his face into the ground. He felt a gust of dust coming from the levitation jet of the Cyberdisc. He dug his head deeper into the ground and slapped his hands onto his head as if his hands alone could absorb an entire plasma bolt or metallic barb.
He suddenly heard the thunder of a machine gun. Sam Dodd shot at the Cyberdisc and the bullets punched through the alien alloy plating, causing the machine to stop in its tracks. The squad followed by unloading their magazines at the target. The Cyberdisc's jets stopped maintaining it airborne and it gently dropped to the ground. As soon as he looked up, Corporal Riggs rolled behind better cover to avoid the inevitable explosion after the Elerium discharge. The Cyberdisc erupted and bits of shrapnel from its plating flew all around. Riggs' arm was cut by a small piece of debris that penetrated through the layer of fabric that maintained his Jackal Armour. He inspected the site of the sudden pain after the adrenaline rush had stopped.
Sam ran up to Riggs, past the fresh Cyberdisc wreck.
"Riggs! Corporal Riggs, you okay?" she asked her out-of-breath comrade.
Tre Riggs took long gasps of air to regain his cool. He felt his heart pumping. His blood felt too warm. He felt pain but was not quite sure if he was in pain. He looked up to Specialist Dodd in a daze.
"Good work, soldier," he said with a tired smile.
He leaned on the tree, still recovering from the sudden fight for survival. His back ached but he put pressure on it anyways. Colonel Archer arrived and the rest of the squad formed a perimeter around their shocked comrade.
"Central, this is FO-1. Field Operative-4 is safe. Investigating his wounds," the colonel reported.
Archer took off his helmet which faintly buzzed Bradford's acknowledgement and tossed it to the ground.
"Riggs, how are you holding?"
"I'm good, Colonel. Just a bit tired," Tre Riggs replied.
"Yeah. That's bullocks, soldier. You're sucking up air like a vacuum," Archer jabbed. "Turn around!"
Corporal Riggs frowned but did not think too hard and complied. Archer instantly spotted the hole burnt through the soldier's back. He could not see any blood, but that was not satisfactory enough. Archer looked around to see if his squad had spotted any threats and went to investigating his underling's wounds.
"Sam, help me detach his vest," he ordered
The plasma bolt had hit Corporal Riggs' back. The power supply of his armour was hit. That was why his helmet stopped working and his suit was not broadcasting. The damage was severe so he could not just stick in fresh, undamaged batteries and keep on fighting; the power supply module had a hole burnt through it.
Sam detached the wires and the zippers of the armour. Together, Archer and her removed the plated vest and investigated the under-armour. It was not damaged so the plasma bolt had not made it through to his skin. However, the heat might have been conducted through the insulation, causing some painful burns. Sure enough, that was the case. Riggs' back had a patch of reddened skin and a few blisters could be seen forming. Archer grabbed the small basic medical kits attached to Riggs' armour and bandaged the area to be treated back in the infirmary.
"How's it looking, Colonel? Will I be gone for a while?" Riggs asked.
"The angels in the infirmary call it a partial thickness. You might be out for a few days," Archer responded. "Can you get back up?"
Riggs grabbed onto the nearby tree and pulled himself back on his feet. He stared at the remains of the Cyberdisc before distracting his gaze towards his squadmates. His troops needed their corporal back. He could not let Skorsi take advantage too; his competitor might get promoted first.
"I've still got it in me," he replied with an out of breath laugh.
"Don't worry. Ibarra will handle you once it's over," Archer replied. "Can someone locate Riggs' gun and helmet?" he yelled to his troops.
The squad in the background made a final check before lowering their weapons and looking for their corporal's gear.
"Sam, where's your helmet?" Archer asked.
"I threw it off during the fight," she recalled.
"Go fetch it. We'll need to clear that craft soon."
The squad recovered from the fight. Riggs stayed in the back due to his lack of a helmet and assistance from his suit. His wound occasionally caused him to recoil, but he hid the occasional throbbing by keeping his mouth clenched and his dirtied face stoic. The Light Scout came back into view accompanied by its surrounding deceased garrison. The troops cautiously advanced towards the entrance; every ship had an Outsider to pilot it and was ready to fight.
"Arc Throwers at the ready," Archer ordered.
The troops charged a shot from the stun weapon and prepared for the breach. As Archer gave the order to execute, the squad burst into the compartment of the Light Scout. No Outsiders popped out. The interior was dark so the squad activated their helmet's flashlights. Only a beam of moonlight entered the aircraft from the hole punched through its hull. The door allowed a feeble amount of light in too.
The squad traced the puncture hole to another one on the floor. The exit hole of the missile hit the flight computer and seemed to have hit the Outsider operating it. The squad could see large shards of the machine buried into the ground along with the remains of the missile. The built-in Elerium core seemed to not have discharged due to the sheer force.
"Colonel!" Skorsi called out in shock. "What is this?"
After confirming there were no Outsiders, the squad diverted their attention to the second point of interest. Large capsules were clustered around the interior of the ship. They were empty tubes made out of alien plastic, evenly spread around the circle that composed the single compartment of the Light Scout. The one Skorsi pointed his gun at stood out; it contained a tinted liquid inside. Inside the liquid bathed a dormant live Sectoids with tubes coming down from the top and into its "gills". Faint noises came from the large cylindrical device. The machinery was still working. Small bubbles of air were constantly being produced inside the tank containing the alien.
"Central, you getting this?" Archer asked in awe.
He did not know what the scientists or engineers would make of it, but he knew it was not something to be brushed off.
"FO-1, whatever you do. . . Bring that thing back," Bradford replied, supposedly astonished by the find too.
The squad gathered around the alien device housing the Sectoid. One of the soldiers went forwards to tap on the transparent hard plastic, but a squadmate pulled their hand back. The troops distanced themselves from the device, knowing that the smart people at XCOM were better off touching it than they were. Whatever they touched, they broke. It was the secret to being a soldier. Archer's voice broke the spell of curiosity enchanting the soldiers.
"All right, folks. Our mission isn't over yet," Colonel Archer reminded. "We've still got to protect this area. Clean-Up Teams will arrive to take it in. We have special orders to supervise the retrieval of all 'artefacts' in this area. That means we won't be going back to our cots for a while. We'll have to set up camp."
The soldiers took off their helmets and got to work. They had suspected that they would be on guard duty for the rest of the night and felt some annoyance. Such an important asset had to be recovered at all costs. It was only logical that an XCOM squad would have to stick around to ensure everything went smoothly. Not to mention, the Clean-Up Teams would be hauling a live Sectoid. On the bright side, some more troops in 2nd Company would be sent to reinforce. The soldiers laughed knowing that the rest of their larger unit would not be spared from the separation between them and their beds. It also meant more people to talk to while staying awake all night. They would probably bring some much-coveted meal kits with them. The squad quickly got over their annoyance.
The Frostrike took off with the wounded and would come back with some supplies and some extra boots. Alpha-2 scanned the area thoroughly and looked for some vantage points. The terrain had its bumps, and some were larger and formed hills. The Light Scout had picked one of the said hills to land on. It gave the troops an excellent view of the surrounding area in case of further conflict.
Colonel Archer and his appointed military officers had been trained to deal with any possible scenario. It seemed redundant as his troops had held a point multiple times against waves of aliens. The attacks on the cities were the largest defensive operations that they had ever conducted—not just in XCOM but during their whole military career. The shock came when the Commander clarified that he was not uniquely talking about the aliens.
XCOM soldiers had to be ready to exercise control over local armed forces. The Commander had clearly stated that situations of tension should always be resolved peacefully. He emphasised on his "Second Bullet Rule"; XCOM should never fire the first shot unless the opposing force had been declared hostile. Fighting against a human foe was the last thing expected until Exalt entered the picture. Afterwards, fighting against a nation's military was the last thing expected. The soldiers hoped that the protocol never had to be applied to their allies.
Colonel Archer received his reinforcements. The extra boots allowed him to form a more secure perimeter around the artefacts. They had also brought multiple sheets to cover the UFO. The engineers used the heavy-duty sheets to shield their valuables against any form of damage. Of course, they could not exactly stop a bullet, or absorb the blast and shrapnel from an explosion, but they would protect against most forms of damage. Afterwards, the men and women downed some coffee. Only a few soldiers were allowed in the ship to guard the interior and observe the Sectoid for any signs of its awakening. They stared in awe at the unconscious Sectoid in its pod. They had never seen their foe in such a vulnerable state. They still kept their distance; the alien had its wrist cannon attached but wrapped with what looked like an alien waterproof bag.
Bradford ordered his staff in Mission Overview to maintain surveillance over the area. He personally contacted the XCOM Reclamation Bureau regarding the artefacts. After he conveyed the importance of the recovered alien aircraft, the functionaries under Councilman Solberg dispatched a Clean-Up Team with haste. XCOM had a much easier time now that the responsibility of recovering assets had fallen down to the Reclamation Bureau. Otherwise, it would have been the nation on which the artefact was located that would ship the assets.
Naturally, that system could have been exploited anytime. It took a few forged reports and artefacts would go missing without anyone having the faintest clue. Nothing could have been done since the governments had gotten good at hiding all proof. The lack of control was something the Commander constantly worried about. XCOM needed it most when valuable artefacts were bestowed—like the landed Light Scout.
The Executive Officer dropped the conference and went back to monitoring the situation. The troops on the ground were mostly idling around, but they still maintained a defensive front against any potential threat. With a few more hours, the Clean-Up Teams would arrive and he could bring his troops back home. With the matter dealt with, Bradford took a breather. He indulged in the post-operation silence, debating if he should make himself a coffee or endure the drowsiness further. He opted for the latter. Bradford heard a faint exclamation under the yawn occupying his senses.
"Uh. . . hold on," an officer said out loud, breaking the silence. "Sir, we've got multiple fast-moving contacts tripping the AO's perimeter alert. Lifeform scan can't pick them up."
"What?" Bradford reacted. "Is it an animal or something?"
"At that speed, I doubt it. . . The readings indicate they're not organic too."
"Sir," another officer called out, "satellite imagery's got eyes on them. It's a convoy of wheeled vehicles!"
"What? The United States acknowledged our claim on the artefacts; it can't be them," Bradford retorted. "What do those vehicles look like?"
"Sir, they seem to be armoured vehicles. They're painted black; no discernable camo."
"Maybe it's law enforcement? The Americans have been armouring their police recently," the first officer proposed.
"Even so, the U.S. acknowledged our claims. The police are also to be informed," Bradford stated. "God sake! Patch me to 2nd Company."
Bradford swiftly put on his headset and activated his microphone as soon as the officer gave the thumbs up.
"All forces in the AO, you've got multiple entities closing in on your location. They're a convoy of human forces—unknown affiliation. Prepare for a potential hostile engagement. Do not fire unless fired upon!"
Archer sprung his troops into action. He got his marksmen to identify the targets. They were still far from the Light Scout's position. In a few minutes, they would have to ditch their vehicles to move into the treeline. Once on foot, the unknown contacts could be identified during their trek into the forest. It would give enough time for Bradford to give him orders on how to proceed.
Specialist Irving set herself on the ground and deployed her rifle. Looking through the scope, she could barely see the contacts through all the shrubs. The unknown combatants disembarked their transports and gathered all their gear. The unit was composed of men in black armour. Even their vehicles were painted black. Elisa Irving could make out the markings on the side of one of the transports unobstructed by trees. SWAT. Police.
"Colonel, the vehicles are armoured SWAT transports," she reported.
Other sharpshooters from 2nd Company confirmed her finding as they scouted out the enemy from different angles.
"What's the police doing here?" Archer asked.
He contacted Bradford to inform him. The Executive Officer ordered his officers to contact local law enforcement to investigate the activity.
"What else do you see?" the colonel asked.
"They're well armoured," Elisa Irving observed. "They've got quite the arsenal of guns. Also, they're setting up a turret above their largest APC."
Specialist Irving observed as a man mounted the main APC's turret and slid in a belt of bullets. The gun turret slowly turned and the barrel pointed directly at the XCOM soldier and her comrades. Specialist Irving frowned underneath her helmet, but her eyes widened as soon as she saw death staring at her.
"Shit! Everyone, get down!" Irving yelled.
The silence was broken as a crackle erupted in the distance. Bullets whizzed past the XCOM squads as they hunkered down. The trees threw splinters all around as large holes tore through the bark. Dust created a smokescreen which the unidentified combatants used to run towards XCOM's position.
Irving backed off as a stray round shattered rock and flung debris all around her. She turned around, observing a member of Charlie-2 behind her being hit in the chest by one of the large calibre bullets and fell; the Jackal Armour stained in red as a hole was punched through. Irving felt a jolt of pain come from her left arm and saw a trail of red across her forearm—a round had grazed her.
Archer's voice broke through the thunder of the machine gun unleashing its hail of bullets, "2nd Company, you have permission to engage the enemy. All snipers, focus on taking out that gunner. If anyone's got a rocket, let them have it!"
Now that the enemy had fired first, XCOM could fight back. The thunder of guns echoed all around the Light Scout as the troops returned fire against their foe. The unknown assailants ducked for cover and a few were not quick enough to avoid the first volley. The smoke slowly cleared as the flying particles of dirt were blown away as the wind picked up. The whooshy silence broke when someone was confident enough to shoot then another gunshot rang through the air and a bullet whizzed by. XCOM and their foe carefully exchanged fire, each avoiding being hit by their well-trained counterparts.
Irving looked around before rolling towards a thick bush and fixated her target. She observed the vehicles in the distance and noticed the gunner on the APC reloading. She steadied her aim but momentarily flinched as a stray bullet almost came near her. Regaining her focus, she squeezed the trigger and observed the aftermath. The body of the gunner fell limp behind the idle machine gun.
"The gunner is down! The gunner is down!" she reported through all the gunfire.
"Somebody get a rocket on that damn truck and finish it off!" Archer demanded.
"On it, Colonel!" a rocketeer from Bravo-2 replied.
He slid behind some elevated ground and waited for the barrage of bullets to stop. As soon as the opening came, he dashed towards another patch of hilly terrain and slid into cover just in time to avoid the incoming bullets. He checked his back for any allies and loaded a rocket into his guided rocket launcher. Keeping himself as low to the ground and as hidden as possible, he aimed the guided rocket at the vehicle in the distance. The turret was manned by another gunner who took the place of the deceased one. The machine gun fired blindly into the fray while the new gunner ducked from incoming sniper rounds. The XCOM rocketeer got down to hide from the incoming barrage. The heavy ordinance swept the area with bullets, frantically shooting into XCOM's position in an attempt to cause any casualties.
The rocketeer quickly aimed his rocket launcher from behind his protection, and as soon as the beep was heard, pulled the trigger. The propelled grenade shot in a straight line and occasionally adjusted course to take account for any deviances. The assailants stopped their assault to hide as they noticed the rocket flying towards them. As it zipped past their heads, an explosion erupted from behind and large chunks of metal flew around.
"Nice shot!" Archer complimented whoever did the deed. "Now, focus on the infantry!"
As the enemy recovered from the shock of the explosion behind them, they were met by more gunfire than ever before. The light machine guns moved up and provided suppressing fire for the XCOM riflemen to make a push. The marksmen had their eyes constantly looking through their scopes, looking for any stray body parts belonging to the enemy.
Gunshots erupted from the flank of XCOM's formation. A few of the attackers managed to sneak to the side and get into close quarters. Specialist Shiela Blevins of Bravo-2 shot at the foe, noticing the red silhouettes appearing in her interface as the contacts got in range of her infrared scanners. An attacker armed with an assault rifle gunned down a stunned XCOM sniper as he was retrieving his pistol. The gunner aimed for Sheila, but she blew a hole through the man's chest. Colonel Archer sent troops to contain the breach. The enemy squad ducked for cover as they faced resistance.
Sheila reloaded her shotgun and dropped to the ground for cover against the bullets flying at her. She fell next to a body; he was part of the enemy squad pulling off the flanking manoeuvre. She pointed her shotgun at him in case he was still alive. He was well-armed and armoured. His vest had the word "POLICE" written in white along with a badge on the shoulder. "Automotive capital of the world," she read. "Detroit." She noticed that the man in black armour had a small colourful piece of fabric on his person.
Sheila ducked after a stray bullet hit the ground near her and she replied by firing at a nearby enemy fighter with her shotgun. Her slug blew a hole through the tree, causing the enemy behind it to run for better cover. He fired a burst at Sheila who took the risk of exposing part of herself and fired a slug at one of the man's legs. She felt intense pain coming from her shoulder afterwards.
Sheila popped her gun out again and shot another shell at the enemy who was crawling on the ground from the severe injury to his thigh. The specialist looked around for a medic, but could not locate any. She felt her body go numb and she struggled to keep focus. She had to stop the bleeding. Spc Sheila Blevins grabbed the colourful piece of fabric she had seen on the nearby corpse. Pulling it out, it was an orange-and-red stripped bandana cloth. No blood or dirt was on it. She tapped on her dominant wrist's electronic fabric and tapped the sensor to inject some analgesics to dull down the pain. Mustering all her strength, she took the piece of cloth and packed it into the gunshot wound on her shoulder. She ripped the shoulder segment of her under armour off, grabbed the small pack of gauze that came with her suit and applied it to the best of her abilities with one hand.
She popped her head out slightly to observe the enemy positions. She noticed the foe in full retreat as her squadmates pushed them back. She fired off a final shot at a retreating foe before resting behind her cover and laying down her shotgun. She took off her helmet to catch her breath. She felt herself unconsciously grinding her teeth as she felt a bit of the pain from the gunshot. Using an unsterilised bandana was not the best idea, but she could not go back on that heat-of-the-moment decision.
The enemy numbers were reduced since the start of the engagement. XCOM and the foe had closed the large gap that was between them. Archer ordered his troops to flush his foes out with grenades. The enemy responded by throwing tear gas and smoke grenades to create as much disorganization as possible. The grenades blew shrapnel amongst the enemy while XCOM's troops paused. Their respirators filtered a significant amount of the tear gas, but the troops had to take a break to recover from the small quantity that had made it through. The smoke grenades hindered their ability to shoot back against most of the remaining foes. Only an orange or red marker allowed them to be seen using the help of the lifeform scan. A few were close enough to be silhouetted by the infrared sensors.
The enemy used this opportunity to ascertain the situation. Their commanders looked at their numbers and thought it best to pull back. A retreat was sounded as the smoke still covered them against most of XCOM's returning fire. Their retreat was supported by a wave of flashbangs. The enemy had access to grenade launchers used by police. They loaded in more flashbangs and arced them towards XCOM's position. The troops were momentarily blinded as their helmets adjusted to the sudden spike of brightness and ambient noise. The troops fired at the retreating foe, using the markers of the lifeform scan as reference.
The remaining targets reached a few of their transports. They compacted them as much as they could and drove off while their foe remained at bay. The rocketeers attempted to shoot down the enemy vehicles, but the lack of visibility made it impossible unless they risked hitting something they would not want to hit.
"All XCOM forces, pull back!" Colonel Archer ordered.
The fight was over. Archer needed to reform the perimeter around the Light Scout. But more importantly, he needed to tend to his troops. A large number were wounded during the fight. A few had fallen. The troops went back to their camp battered from the fight. The medics did what they could before sending the wounded off to the transports.
All that was left was to see who survived from the opposing side—if they had not ended their own lives as was their custom. Archer wanted some answers.