Harrison's eyes flickered around the first portion of the bridge that met his gaze when the doors opened. He raised an eyebrow at the familiar Hologlobe resting on a console, seeing how twitchy it was. Clearly there was a malfunction in the systems.
Bradford was talking to someone on the comms. "I heard you, Shen." He sounded annoyed. "When we get the thing, you'll be the first to know."
Not one step further and an alarm blasted in his ears, along with a red light flashing and remarking his position. "ATTENTION. UNAUTHORIZED PRESENCE DETECTED!" The technicians stopped their tasks and blinked at his sight, he stood there awkwardly.
Until Bradford raised a hand. "Commander!" The XO rolled his eyes. "Give me a second, sir. Execute Echelon Protocol."
"ATTENTION: SENIOR COMMAND EXCHANGE CONFIRMED." The colour changed to blue before disappearing.
"Quite the welcoming and exchange of command." The Commander mused, walking to his second in command.
"I had wanted that to be a little more… ceremonious." Bradford put his hands on his hips. "I'm sorry about that, sir."
Harrison shrugged. "Better than a whole banner placed near the Hologlobe spelling: 'WELCOME BACK, COMMANDER!'" He crossed his arms. "That would have been too much ceremonious."
His gaze landed on the personnel attending to the bridge, still watching him. He cleared his throat and placed his hands behind his back. "Commander Andrew Harrison, it's a pleasure to meet you all. And hopefully it'll be the same for working together."
"Sir!" Immediately they snapped to attention and saluted.
At least I'm not despised… not yet. Keep your cool, Andrew, and demonstrate what you're made of.
"At ease, soldiers." When they complied, he turned to Central. "You were talking to Shen, right Central? I want a SITREP."
"We've got something, Commander." Bradford pointed to a nearby screen, which downloaded the image of some sort of alien device. "A local resistance cell just located this hybrid magnetic power converter that Shen's been pushing us to find." The advanced words strangely rolled off Central's tongue, maybe he had developed experience during the years. "They tracked the device to a nearby ADVENT convey and are attempting to take it down."
Harrison rubbed his chin. "I assume this power converter is the key in fixing this place and render it functional?" He gestured to the hologlobe and flashing screens all around the bridge. He even heard a technician cursing as he attempted to debug a page.
Central nodded. "A squad is prepped and ready to launch on your order, Commander." The XO gestured to the Hologlobe. "Also, while the Hologlobe isn't pumped with enough juice yet, we managed to redirect a few functions and can now use it just like the old days for operations. There will be the soldiers' footage and vitals displayed."
He took a deep breath and stepped forward, planting his feet directly in front of the main console.
"Deploy the team, Central."
Jane quickly checked the condition of her gear. Sword sharpened, shotgun loaded, gear ready to tank bullets. She touched her head. And I didn't forget my baseball hat. Lock and loaded!
One of the rookies, Henry Hoskins the tag said, slipped from Firebrand's cockpit and sat. He produced a lighter from the left pocket of his jeans and lighted up the cigarette in his mouth. "We have been officially deployed by the Commander." The American took his time in enjoying a hit of the smoke. "He'll oversee the mission."
"So you better follow his orders or the belt shall be delivered!" The voice of their gracious pilot, Firebrand, echoed.
The four individuals either rolled their eyes or groaned.
"I heard there was an eccentric pilot on board. But this goes beyond my imagination." The penultimate rookie, Victor Vega, groused. The Brasilian clearly wasn't customized to Firebrand's presence.
"I heard you! ETA three minutes."
"Roger that." Owen Brown answered, also checking his gear.
They're all rookies and I'm the only soldier promoted to squaddie and to an official class. She tapped her foot on the floor like she had a tick. Gonna have to make a good first impression as their superior.
A tap on her right shoulder.
"You think the Commander's orders will help us?" Owen asked, leaning in to whisper.
Kelly shrugged. "If half the stuff we've been hearing about him are true, yes. Besides, you said that he wanted to prove himself to us. He'll be highly concentrated."
"Thirty seconds to drop zone!"
They perked their heads up at Firebrand's claim and rose from their seats, waiting anxiously in line for the doors to open.
And they eventually did, with the ropes falling down.
"Menace 1-5, you're clear to go!"
They clutched one rope for person, sliding down the Skyranger and already scanning their surroundings for potential hostiles. They were dropped near a forest, leaning towards the end where a street started stretching out. Firebrand already proceeded to retreat to a safer location until they'd be done.
"No hostiles in sight." Jane announced. She pointed forward. "I see the convoy, or rather the end of it. A few cars, the back of a truck." Behind her, the rookies disengaged the safety of their rifles.
She winced at the smell of Hoskins' smoke. "Let's move."
"Menace 1-5 is clear, sir." Bradford dutely reported. "We have confirmation about the Resistance fighters' status. Code Black, we're on our own."
Harrison nodded, scanning the map generated by the Hologlobe as well as the feed video of the multiple soldiers. "There's a small hill north-east of their position." He pointed at said portion of the map. "I want them to use the high ground for an ambush."
"Sir? We're not gonna split into two groups so we can cover more ground and locate the aliens?"
He shook his head. "I do not know what we're up against, Central. It would be better to concentrate on one pocket of enemies at a time. Keep the team together and watch their six."
"Copy that, sir." Bradford touched his earpiece. "Menace 1-5, the Commander wants you to stick together and climb on that hill, use the vines attached to the walls."
"I hope my earpiece will soon tune to their frequency so I may directly speak to them." He muttered.
He felt the innumerable stares on the back his head. It's time for the truth. He remembered a phrase perfectly suited for his new job. Audentes Fortuna Iuvat.
Harrison swallowed. Audentes Fortuna Iuvat.
"Clear!" Jane lowered her rifle and offered her free arm to Brown, who clasped it and groaned. From her right, Vega and Hoskins had already climbed up the vines and were covering her.
They advanced towards the edge.
"ADVENT forces located!" Hoskins urgently whispered. His companions followed his gaze and spotted an Officer and his grunt near a graveyard. The place was also decorated with a small cabin probably containing shovels and other useful utensils for the job.
"This is Commander Andrew Harrison." Looks like the Commander finally decided to join the party. "We'll be attempting an ambush. Vega, hide behind that angelic statue, it'll give you a perfect line of fire while also conceiling your position; Hoskins, you remain on the hill and prepare to shoot first, use that tree on your right as cover; Kelly and Brown, I also want you two on the ground near that small wall made of bricks. You'll cover Vega's six."
Hoskins looked inside the metal scope when Vega and Owen also prepared themselves. "Permission to engage, sir?"
"Permission granted. Let's drop some lead on those motherfuckers."
He grinned and squeezed the trigger.
The burst only partially satisfied his desired effects. The ADVENT trooper stumbled two steps back as it clutched a deep wound on his chest, but it quickly recovered and scrambled for cover near the cabin's wall.
"Mor Balaten!"
Vega and Brown's aims were off, their bullets only made the Officer duck down and bolt away. They groaned but shut up when magnetic projectiles grazed their shelters. From there it became a game of returning fire before disengaging.
They were stuck. Great, now what?
"Squaddie."
Jane threw herself down and pressed a finger to her comms. "Sir?" She wondered what the Commander wanted.
"I need you to use your sword on that trooper. Brown, provide suppressing fire on it."
My sword? Her eyes widened. Of course!
She looked at Brown, he nodded and she followed suit. Tightly gripping the handle in her hands, she rushed out of her cover as soon as the rookie began shooting at the small window where the alien peeked from. She circled around the cabin and came face to face with her target.
Before it could raise its weapon, she jumped and brought hers down.
ZIUM!
The blade severed the grunt's head, it fell on the ground, blood rushing out of the wound like a storm. The body twitched a few seconds before it slumped.
Brown smiled when Kelly's shape entered his field of view.
Too bad he missed how Vega and Hoskins were reloading their rifles, as well as the Officer aiming down sights.
"Brown!" Hoskins yelled from above. "Watch out!"
KIUM! KIUM!
He was ventilated with bullets, some even connected with his skull, penetrating it.
Owen Brown died before he even touched the ground.
"My God." Harrison gaped. Just how precise and unpredictable could ADVENT's troops be? There were about twenty meters between Brown and the Officer! And Owen had even a hideout at his disposal! The burst had been clean and direct.
He gritted his teeth. "Central?"
"Brown's vitals are down, sir." After a moment Bradford sighed. "He could still be alive and bleeding out. Maybe the bullets hit his tracker. We can transport him on the Skyranger if we're fast enough." He narrowed his eyes. "We have three minutes before the converter blows up."
Harrison touched his earpiece. "Hoskins, check on Brown's condition. Kelly, Vega? Deal with that Officer."
"Affirmative." There was a strange yet recognizable tone in Jane's voice. She was angry, that much he understood. He just wished she wouldn't become reckless.
We've just begun and a rookie is already dead. He rubbed his eyes in frustration. So much for first impressions.
Jane watched as Vega continued to hammer down the Officer's cover with lead, providing a distraction.
She seized the opportunity when it presented and squeezed her trigger.
BOOM!
Her shotgun roared and yellow blood spurted from the Officier's wound, but she didn't kill it. The Ranger ducked down as soon as the Officer realized it was flanked.
CRACK! CRACK!
She dared to peek and sighed in relief. Vega had also flanked the Officer and immediately took it out, gun still smoking.
"Form up!" She called.
Victor closed his eyes when they set on the corpse of his companion, red blood flowing everywhere on the grass. "Is he still alive?" He asked.
Henry shook his head. "Negative." He snatched his strapped gun from his back and growled. "We'll avenge him. Let's reach the objective."
It was strapped with bindings on a truck, ready for transportation, but it was also pulsing with green and menacing energy. If Jane could share her thoughts, she would probably make a joke on it being an atomic bomb.
"Donut!"
"Contact!" She bolted for a nearby tree and opened fire on the trooper and Officer, but they were, as the previous duo, too fast. Jane gritted her teeth and tightly gripped her shotgun when a trail of magnetic projectiles flew past her.
"Fire in the hole!" Victor cried, reaching for his belt.
BOOM!
Along the major injures inducted by the explosion, the Officer's cover followed suit. A perfect angle and flanking shot for Kelly, she aimed and pulled the trigger.
BAM!
The alien released a high pitched scream and was knocked back by the strength.
"Last trooper is hiding behind the converter!" Hoskins announced. "I've got it." The rookie took a deep breath and anticipated its moves. After all he knew it would try to run towards Kelly, it was only a matter of time.
Right on schedule, it sprinted.
He held his breath.
CRRRRR!
"Target eliminated." He took his cigarette and threw it on the ground. He stomped on it. "That was for Owen."
"Menace 1-5, secure the converter! We have only one minute left." Central paused. "Uploading the codes on your datapads."
"Right!" Kelly dried her forehead. "Cover me! I'll hack into it."
She jumped over a crate and kneeled near the device. Jane connected to it and winced when another green pulse washed over her. "Uploading."
"I think it's stabilized." Victor tilted his head as the converter seemed almost to power down. Although still glinting.
"Well done, readings are returning to normal… well, mostly normal." Bradford coughed. "Firebrand is in route but I wouldn't take any chances. Eliminate all remaing hostiles in the area before EVAC."
A hiss. She raised her eyes. It was humanoid in shape, but it was nude and pink, with no skin to cover its teeth and with black pupils. Its chest and head seemed to be glowing with a red aura.
"Sectoid!"
Hoskins reacted first, hitting its chest with a burst of lead. From there everyone scrambled for cover, the Sectoid clutched its wound behind a tree and hissed menacingly.
Kelly peeked from her half tree and noticed a good angle for an ADVENT trooper. She eliminated it easily, another burst sent for the fuckers.
"Hoskins!" The Commander called. "Use your grenade on the Sectoid!"
"The grenade." The rookie nodded. "Right!" Behind his wall, he snatched the weapon and waited. "Grenade!"
The explosion damaged both the Sectoid and its hiding spot, but the alien was still on its feet and apparently had a last trick up its imaginary sleeve. It looked to Vega who was suppressing the last trooper and glowed with a purple aura.
"The hell is it doing?" Hoskins demanded.
The purple wave crashed in Vega, the rookie screamed and screamed. The human even hovered a few feet from the ground. "K-Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Vega opened his eyes… they were purple.
"M-Must o-obey."
"He's mind controlled! Kelly, subdue him!"
The squaddie didn't have to be told twice, she ducked down to avoid the trooper's bullets and crashed on his fellow operative before it could open fire. "S-Stay put, you asshole!" Victor roared in response, trashing around like a wild animal. Either scratching at the squaddie or grabbing her by the throat.
BAM!
Hoskins blinked at the Sectoid, now clear in the open. Of course! The fire ignited by the grenade must have burned the rest of the tree.
"Now Henry!"
He whipped his metal scope up…
CRRRRR!
…and the Sectoid screeched.
Jane groaned and Hoskins noticed the fresh wound on her leg. The sound of my fire and Vega's must have blended together. I didn't hear his rifle. He had to dive and avoid the trooper's red projectiles. He did it at the last second, he quickly found himself pinned down.
"I can take it out with my sword!"
"Negative, Kelly." The Commander answered. "You're injured and in need of medical assistance. Do not engage, I repeat, do not engage."
"But sir!"
"That's an order, squaddie!"
She scowled. It had already worked before, she remembered how the sword cut through the previous grunt. So why was the Commander not trusting her for this move?
Without thinking twice, she bolted and headed straight for her target, ignoring the cries of both her superior officers and squadmates. She buried her sword in the trooper's chest using a swift motion…
…but it didn't succumb to its injures as she wanted. It raised his rifle as it bled and-
CRRRRRR!
She looked behind to stare at Vega, his rifle's barrel smoking.
"Consider it an apology for almost killing you."
Author's note:
I can understand losing a soldier on Commander's difficulty… but I can't understand losing them on the goddamn tutorial mission! As well as the frustration of Rangers doing 3 of damage instead of 4.
That's XCOM, baby!
As you can see I tried to mold together the gameplay mechanics of commanding your troops with the more free approach people like Lighthearter chose.
I hope it was readable.