AN: FINALLY, THE NASTY ONE HAS COME BACK TO FANFICTION! Welcome back everyone to the latest installment here for this story, as last episode we lost another soldier right before the end of the month as one of the younger soldiers fell to the mighty Sebillians. With a monthly report due, how will the project fair and what actions will they take to counteract any lost funding? Tune in to find out as without further ado, let's jump into this shit!
Chapter 9: Bigger UFO Means Bigger Casualties
== The Next Day (10/1/1979) ==
The squad returned without issue from the last mission of their first month of official operation as the team mourned the loss of Abdel, his easy-going personality was one of the few bright spots amongst the team as things were a lot tenser and bleaker than normal as everyone was hit hard by his death.
Not wanting to dwell on his death too long, the Commander was given a needed distraction in the Council of Nations' monthly report on how the project was doing. The report was a good one all things considered, no one nation was overly displeased with the happenings of the first month and the project was awarded $1,634,785 dollars of funding for next month's operation. The Commander did note however that almost $100,000 was lost from the nations based in North America, Central America and South America with South America being the harshest of the three in their budget cuts. To counteract this, the Commander ordered for another Xenonauts base to be constructed near the Columbian and Panamanian borders deep in the heart of untraveled jungle. The base's command center, hereafter dubbed "Jungle Rot", would take approximated ten days to construct before anymore facilities could be constructed around it. The Commander also went about upping the base's air superiority by ordering a third Condor fighter jet to join the fleet at the base. With no other pressing matters at the moment, the Commander saved the rest of the money provided to him for a rainy day in the near future.
== Three Days Later (10/4/1979) ==
The replacement for Abdel arrived the previous day, but began intense training under Col. Blake today as the flight was delayed a few hours due to weather and good night's rest was in order. Knowing they were a replacement for a recently deceased soldier, the FNG kept their head down to avoid ruffling any feathers. In other happenings, the third Condor arrived at the base and was fully kitted out and ready to take to the skies with its pilot, callsign "Iceman". The Commander decided to go all in with the air superiority tactic and ordered a fourth Condor to come join base operations.
Dr. Snidely's team finishes their Stun Weapons research on the alien forces and detailed their findings to the Commander. As far as they could tell, there were three ways to attempt to incapacitate these creatures;
Use a hard, concussive force targeting their brain and/or central nervous system i.e., an explosion. (Inefficient/could kill the target accidentally.)
Oxygen starvation caused by a gas that knocks them unconscious for a short period of time.
Strong electrical current applied via handheld baton (basically a taser).
Dr. Snidely implored capturing an alien during the team's next mission so his team could continue trying to figure out why the alien's had come to our planet in the first place. In the meantime, his team went about researching the Alien Plasma Rifles that had been recovered from the recent ground missions. To try and meet the doctor's demands, the Commander ordered all the soldiers to carry a stun baton in their backpacks, along with stun gas grenades instead of the normal fragmentation grenades they'd been carrying to this point. Most of the squad was uneasy about this order, but they consented with the request nevertheless.
== Three Days Later (10/7/1979) ==
A week had passed since the last contact as the squad was getting anxious again wondering when the next attack would occur. So concerned were they, that they'd failed to notice the arrival of the base's fourth Condor piloted by callsign "Goose".
RADAR CONTACTS DETECTED!
The alarm sounded over the base as two contacts had shown up simultaneously at 0654 hours. One was over the Caspian Sea and the other was over Norway. Spitfire was dispatched to the Caspian Sea contact near the Middle East, while Maverick was sent to Norway. Spitfire reached his target first and discovered that although the radar contact size was the same, this was not the same UFO. The newer one was slightly larger with a thicker hull and more weapons mounted on it. He broke off and informed Sandtrap of the development as Iceman and Goose were dispatched together to take it out. Maverick was also ordered to return to base as they were going to need him and Spitfire together to take out the Norwegian contact together.
A little over an hour and a half later, the UFO was shot down by Iceman and Goose as it crash-landed at 0835 hours over the Western Portion of Turkey near the Adriatic Sea in a small industrial site. Big Sky was dispatched to the site at 0836 hours.
While the Chinook was on the way there, another contact appeared on the radar at 0932 hours over Eastern Africa as the refueled Spitfire and Maverick were sent after it. Before they could engage it, Big Sky reached the landing site and their mission began.
== On the Ground (1010 Hours 10/7/1979) ==
The Chinook landed in a small grassy area on the Eastern Edge of the site. To the squad's right was a small office building that would need to be secured and checked for threats. Directly ahead was a large concrete fence with two openings with roads running through into the industrial complex itself. One team would secure the building and the right entrance before securing the squad's right flank, the other team would secure the left entrance and search for the UFO.
Team 1 was tasked with clearing the building and securing the right entrance through the fence while Team 2 was tasked to secure the left entrance before scouting for the UFO. Here's the team breakdown:
Team 1 – Cpt. Vidrai, Sgt. Rodrigues, Sgt. Vetec, Sgt. Fujita and Cpl. Kurniawan
Team 2 – Lt. Santos, Sgt. Zielinski, Cpl. Prieto, Cpl. Silva and Cpl. Smith
With their orders assigned, the two teams disembark from the Chinook as they go about getting the job done.
== Securing the Right Entrance and Building ==
Team 1 made quick work of closing the gap to the building as they crossed the road without incident. Vetec, Rodrigues and Fujita went to secure the fence opening as Vidrai and Kurniawan went about securing the office building. The two reached the door and looked through the glass windows to see one civilian cowering inside, along with a small room in the back left corner of the building. They entered slowly to not alert anyone, but the civilian inside flagged them down stating one of his co-workers was in the next room also hiding. The second civilian inside the room came out to confirm the first's words and after a quick sweep from Kurniawan, the building was declared clear.
The other three had reached the fence without issue as Vetec and Rodrigues stacked up on the left side of the opening. Fujita made it across the road to the right side of the entrance and spotted a blue-shirted Caesan standing in an open area behind the left side of the fence. Crouching down behind a small barrier next to the right side of the road, he opened fire.
BANG!
Missing wildly, Fujita ducked down behind his cover as the alien charged toward him! As it entered the roadway, the creature unknowingly exposed itself to Rodrigues who was the closest to the corner of the fence.
BANG! SCREECH!
The creature howled in pain as the shot took its' left leg out from under it causing it to tumble down in the middle of the street without cover. Wasting little time, Rodrigues capitalized on the chance to take the creature out before it could recover.
BANG! BANG! BANG! SHRIEK!
All three rounds impacted the creature before it let out its customary death scream alerting the others in the area. Seizing the momentum, Vetec rounded around the fence to the left and spotted another blue-shirt that was posted up against the fence.
BANG! BANG! BANG! SCREECH!
Of his three shots fired, one of them hit the alien in the chest as it yelped in pain before returning fire of its own.
BZZT! OW! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT!
Firing a burst round of three, one of them struck Vetec in his left side causing him to cry out in pain, the fourth shot missed wildly as Fujita rushed up behind Vetec to support him. Opening fire as well once the alien was in his sightline.
BANG! BANG! BANG! SHRIEK!
All three shots from Fujita tore through the alien like a hot knife through butter as it fell cursing their names for all to hear. Vidrai and Kurniawan linked back up with the three after the quick skirmish as Vetec went about healing his minor injury. The group split into two factions as Rodrigues and Fujita secured the rest of the right flank and the site, while Vidrai, Vetec and a lagging behind Kurniawan went to support Team 2.
== Securing the Left Entrance ==
Team 2 advanced cautiously towards the left entrance in the fence following along another small road as they spotted a blue-shirt waiting for them at the opening. Seeing he was outmatched in firepower, the alien disappeared behind the fence on the right side of the opening. Smith and Santos reached the left side of the opening, but can't quite spot where the alien is hiding as Prieto, Silva, and Zielinski stack up on the right side of the opening. Listening closely, Silva hears footsteps on the grass behind the fence.
Thinking quickly, Silva unclipped a stun gas grenade from his belt and lobbed it over the fence as the three prepared to breach.
BOOM! SCREECH! THUD!
The grenade going off was heard as a thick purple cloud was seen coming over the fence as the alien screamed in surprise as it inhaled the toxic fumes. The creature then quickly passed out, as Prieto charged around the corner and spotted the creature collapsed against the fence unconscious. As the smoke dissipated, Prieto secured the creature with flex cuffs and secured its weapon to prevent it from shooting them in the back. With the immediate threat cleared he turned and spotted the UFO crash site at the end of the small road behind small concrete barriers in front of them. Prieto and Zielinski stayed on the right side of the road using small concrete barriers for cover, while Silva, Santos and Smith used shipping containers for cover as they approached from the left side of the UFO's entrance.
== Battle for the UFO ==
Smith and Silva advance forward slowly to a small concrete barrier next to their shipping container, as Santos remained behind them peeking around a second container as he kept his eyes peeled on the UFO. Without warning, the door to the UFO opened suddenly as a blue-shirt charges out of the UFO and burst fires at the trio.
BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! *DEATH RATTLE MOAN*
Silva and Smith hit the deck immediately as two bolts impacted near them, but Santos was not as lucky as the third shot hit him right between the eyes under the rim of his helmet. With a destroyed cranium, he was dead before he hit the ground as Team 2's sniper was felled. The alien started retreating towards the craft where another blue-shirted one was awaiting it. Prieto and Zielinski opened fire on the alien as they tried avenging their squad leader.
BANG! BANG! BANG! SCREECH!
The first two shot from both of them missed their mark, but the second shot from Zielinski nailed the second blue-shirt waiting at the door as it screamed in pain before closing the UFO door tight. Prieto starts advancing to the UFO door, as Zielinski moves to his unoccupied concrete cover as Silva and Smith try to advance as well, the door slides open as one of the blue-shirts charged with his rifle ready to fire at Prieto who was caught out in the open.
BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! *DEATH RATTLE MOAN*
Prieto had no time to react as the three rounds tore through his chest nicking his heart and stopping him in his tracks as he fell backwards to the ground thanks to the impact of the rounds. The second blue-shirt remained in the UFO and burst-fired at Smith and Sliva suppressing them as all three rounds missed their target.
BANG! SHRIEK!
Zielinski returned fire on the blue-shirt that felled Prieto striking it in the forehead as it fell to the earth lifeless.
"Screw this shit I'm out!" exclaimed Silva after that last round of fire as he abandoned his rifle and fled behind the shipping containers where Santos' corpse was as he bled from an open wound on his stomach. Down to only two effective fighters, Smith and Zielinski requested backup as Vidrai and Vetec arrived to support their rear, while Kurniawan lagged behind them due to his short legs. Rodrigues and Fujita had finished securing the right flank of the site and were coming down from the top part of the UFO and would be on the UFO door's flank in a matter of moments.
The UFO door opened again revealing another blue-shirt joined the one that had suppressed Smith and Silva along with two red-shirted Caesans. Zielinski opens up the fighting with a shot at the pack of four.
BANG! SCREECH!
She strikes one of the blue shirts in the chest as it cried out in pain. The other blue shirt throws burst fire at Vidrai and Vetec who were behind two concrete barriers at the roadside.
BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! OW!
All three were sent at Vidrai with one striking him in the side as he was suppressed behind the barrier, he'd called home. Reaction shots from Zielinski and Smith both missed that alien as the UFO door slammed shut.
"I can't do this anymore! I want to go home!" exclaimed Smith suddenly as she dropped her gun as well and retreated to Silva's position. Silva finished healing up and calmed Smith down to get her back in the fight.
Vetec moved up to the barrier to Zielinski's left as the two prepared to advance forward but were stopped by Rodrigues and Fujita who were still out of site of the UFO and volunteered to do it as they hadn't had any action on their little scouting expedition which revealed a dead policeman and nothing else. Kurniawan arrived at the scene as he was behind Vidrai's position seeing that Vidrai's wound was only getting worse, he signaled for Vidrai to come to him to get healed up out of the line of fire.
The UFO door opened as soon as Vidrai moved and there was no time for anyone to react.
BZZT! *DEATH RATTLE MOAN*
The shot ate through the back of Vidrai's helmet and destroyed his brain as he fell forward into the dirt just a few inches from safety. Kurniawan pulled him to his position and felt no pulse before securing the mission briefing documents off of Vidrai's person to keep them out of the alien's hands while Zielinski and Vetec returned fire.
BANG! BANG! SCREECH!
Zielinski missed, but Vetec struck the blue-shirt that had fired at Vidrai in the chest as it screamed out in pain before the door slammed shut once more. Taking command of the mission, Rodrigues popped a stun gas grenade in front of the UFO to buy them some time from a banzai assault. The fog allowed Silva and Smith to reclaim their weapons as Kurniawan moved to the edge of the shipping container to overwatch the door. The door opened and through the fog, Vetec spotted a silhouette to fire upon.
BANG! SHRIEK!
The shot struck home as a blue-shirt was seen on the ground in the mist dead from the gunshot to the temple. When the door shut again, Smith and Silva advanced to the two small concrete barriers directly in front of the UFO door under Kurniawan's covering overwatch while Fujita and Rodrigues were on the right side of the gas cloud under overwatch from Zielinski and Vetec.
Fujita opens the UFO door before retreating back to Rodrigues, revealing a red-shirt cowering behind what appeared to be a giant captain's seat as Kurniawan advances to a position right behind Silva. He along with Silva open fire on the alien.
BANG! BANG! BANG! SCREECH!
Kurniawan misses, but the second of Silva's shots hits home as the alien cried out in pain before returning fire.
BZZT! OW!
Silva is wounded for the second time on the mission as the round nicked his left side while Smith is suppressed from the repeated rounds fired closely to her position. The creature is seen retreating through a door at the rear of the room further into the craft before the door shuts.
Fujita once again opens the door, as Silva throws a stun gas grenade into the craft's right side where the surviving blue shirt and a new purple-shirted Caesan are spotted.
BOOM! SCREECH! THUD!
The grenade's explosion is seen engulfing the blue-shirt as it collapses to the floor of the UFO unconscious, while Kurniawan opens fire on the purple-shirt.
BANG! SCREECH!
He wounds it as it crouches down to assess the damage while the UFO door closes. The team then breaches the UFO as Silva and Smith suppress the purple-shirt after Kurniawan opens the door. Rodrigues and Fujita open fire on the purple-shirt once inside the front door and behind some waist-high metal barriers.
BANG! SCREECH! BANG! SHRIEK!
Rodrigues wounds it once more in the chest, before Fujita finishes it off with another chest shot as the creature falls to the ground lifelessly. With the immediate threat taken care of, Zielinski and Vetec move up to Silva and Smith's position as they prepare to breach on the next go-around.
BZZT! OW!
Without warning, the wounded red-shirt bursts through the door and strikes Fujita in the side with a plasma round as it suicidally charges the squad's position.
BANG! SHRIEK!
In response, Vetec shoots the alien in the forehead as it falls to the ground following a final scream of defiance as death gripped its soul into the oblivion. Fujita heals up while the others move into the craft which accidentally knocks Silva unconscious due to the combination of blood loss and breathing in the remnants of his second stun gas grenade.
Rodrigues opens the door at the rear of the bridge to reveal a hallway leading to a second door. Opening that one, he spots the other red-shirt cowering in the rear left corner of the small room behind the power generator for the ship. Rodrigues charges into the room looking to end the existence of this creature.
BANG! CLANG! BANG! GRUNT!
The first shot impacted the wall behind him, the second shot struck him in the right leg, but it didn't slow him down as he had too much adrenaline coursing through his veins as the memories of his three dead teammates flashed through his mind.
BANG! SHRIEK!
After a quick shot to the face, the final alien combatant fell silent as Rodrigues calmly walked back into the bridge and strolled over to the unconscious blue-shirt.
"We already have one secured right?" he asked as Fujita looked at him and nodded understanding what was about to happen.
BANG!
No one moved to stop him as he coldly executed the unconscious alien with a single shot to the head. He then fell over from the pain shooting through his body as it was finally registering that he'd been shot. Zielinski healed him up as Kurniawan managed to revive Silva and help carry him back to the Chinook. The site had been secured along with a live alien, but at what cost?
== Mission Eight Summary ==
Alien Combatants Killed/Captured: 9/9
Civilians Saved: 2/3 (0/1 Armed, 2/2 Unarmed)
Xenonauts KIA: 3/10 (Cpt. Alten Vidrai, Lt. Fernando Santos and Cpl. Augusto Prieto)
Xenonauts WIA: 4/10 (Sgt. Joaquim Rodrigues, Sgt. Masao Fujita, Sgt. Alan Vetec and Cpl. William Silva)
Kill Tally (Active Soldiers Only): Sgt. Fujita (5), Sgt. Vetec (4), Lt. Meier (3), Sgt. Rodrigues (3), Sgt. Zielinski (3), Cpl. Kurniawan (2*), Sgt. Loharani (2), Sgt. Lefebvre (1), Cpl. Silva (1), Cpl. Smith (1) and Sgt. Danjuma (1)
*Game doesn't count these as they were killed by the UFO explosion not him physically. I'll still tally it anyway.
Promotions:
Andy Kurniawan and William Silva to Sergeant
Medals:
Order of Gallantry awarded to Sgt. Fujita for five confirmed alien kills.
Crimson Heart awarded to Sgt. Silva for being seriously wounded fighting the alien threat.
Active Roster:
Lt. Jens Meier
Sgt. Claire Lefebvre
Sgt. Zee Loharani
Sgt. Mohandas Bhandari
Sgt. Natalia Zielinski
Sgt. Bayomi Danjuma
Sgt. Andy Kurniawan
Cpl. Natalie Smith
One Unknown Soldier
Out of Action Roster:
Sgt. William Silve (7 Days)
Sgt. Masao Fujita (6 Days)
Sgt. Alan Vetec (5 Days)
Sgt. Joaquim Rodrigues (4 Days)
Three Unknown Soldiers (Yet to arrive on base)
Memorial Wall:
Cpl. Benjamin Muller (KIA on Mission One)
Cpl. Delfina Calvo (KIA on Mission Two)
Cpl. Konsta Mattila (KIA on Mission Two)
Cpl. Rameen Bhabra (KIA on Mission Two)
Cpl. Moheem Kurd (KIA on Mission Two)
Cpl. Nour Abdel (KIA on Mission Seven)
Cpt. Alten Vidrai (KIA on Mission Eight)
Lt. Fernando Santos (KIA on Mission Eight)
Cpl. Augusto Prieto (KIA on Mission Eight)
AN: And that's a wrap on this chapter as the larger Scout UFO is first encountered on a crash site and as you can see the aliens are getting deadlier to fight against. Hopefully those armor vests get done soon, but with an air battle already on going back at base the odds of them getting done are highly unlikely. How will the next battle go? Tune in to find out next time on 'A War to End All Wars'! Until then, this is "The Nasty One" signing off!
PRAK aka The Nasty One