X-Com – The Unknown Menace
Chapter Eleven – Broken Shells
July 18th, 1999
X-Com Russian Command, Stalingrad Base, Caucasus, Russian Federation
The officers of the Russian team where at the base's planning room going over maps and troop deployments when Colonel Boronin walked inside and closed the door behind him. Taking a deep breath first, he then spoke: "Our country's government has asked us to try to retain control of the research facility and save the remaining scientific personnel and to secure the laser".
Looking over at the map of Azamas 36, the other two men spat and cursed. Gerasimov spoke first: "They are crazy! The third Skyranger is down on maintenance. We can only deploy two platoons of men and we are facing a horde of killer aliens of unknown strength".
"How far is assistance?" Boronin turned to Likhachev, lifted to his eyes the papers he was holding on his left hand and replied: "Six hours after we touchdown, according to Red Army information. We might have some air support since the Air Force is preparing to bomb the aliens' ships".
"Don't they have regular forces down there? That is a top-secret research facility! Or has someone upstairs been diverting money into his own pockets instead of using it to have his men operational?" Gerasimov just shook is head in disbelief.
"They had one battalion of regular infantry plus Ministry of the Interior paramilitary forces. But the aliens assured that the Command Centre was one of the first places that got hit. They reported being under attack and went off the air almost immediately. At the best they must be putting a disorganized resistance and will be defeated almost for sure".
Gerasimov seemed as if he was going to have a stroke. He was almost shouting as he continued: "Colonel, we can't possibly hold out six hours then, specially if we divide the team. We don't know their strength and Air Defence have reported tracking several alien ships inbound for the complex. The aliens will have destroyed the particle weapon by the time we arrive. God only knows why they haven't done yet, since it would appear it is their primary target, but it isn't sane to go defend something that is undefendable!"
Boronin nodded his head in agreement. "I just have been talking to Commander Illyuschenko, who gave me somewhat different orders. Luckily for us he doesn't share of our government's lack of aptitude for taking military decisions. We are to deploy the full force to secure the research facility. If possible we will try to ascertain of the situation of the laser by sending a reconnaissance mission. We presently don't have any up to date photos. The ones we have were taken two hours ago at the beginning of the attack. Since then the aliens started attacking any planes that come near the area and Air Force doesn't want to risk loosing more planes".
"Six hours trying to hold out and still have to see if their precious toys are intact". Gerasimov cursed, unable to conceive his disgust at the whole situation.
"And I want you to do it, Gerasimov". Boronin looked at the lower officer with a sense of urgency. The Major hit the table with the palm of his hand but looked back with a sense of acceptance of his orders. "I should have known this was coming. I take it that the Captain won't mind", he turned to Likhachev who was smiling. "All right, you got yourself a volunteer".
"Start making your list of whom you want to take".
"Right. Have we received the batch of the new portable heavy lasers from Mother One?"
"The technicians have finished calibrating them. They are yours if you want them".
"I don't think I will need them, specially because of their size. Better if you keep them with you Colonel".
"Very well. Go and brief your platoons. We are leaving in two hours".
Mother One, Black Forest, Germany
Eva Johannes only noticed that something peculiar was going on when she headed out for mess hall to have her breakfast. She had found strange that most of the corridors leading from her quarters to the mess were conspicuously empty at that hour in the morning, but she just shrugged it off, anxious to get her breakfast and go back to examining the possibilities of the new Russian weapon. There wasn't much to work with, since they had kept all the research for themselves, but she suspected the breakthrough they had achieved on particle beam weapons could be applied with the dilemma of understanding how the alien weapons worked.
When she entered the mess hall, she saw a group of people clustering in the recreational area of the base, all looking at the television sets placed there for personnel entertainment. She couldn't understand what it was all about since the room was separated by a sound proof window from the dining area, so she headed out there. When she opened the door, she noticed the cold silence inside. The troopers, technicians and scientists were all mute looking at a news broadcast made by CNN. She spotted Lejeune, the French scientist and moved closer to him, uneasy about what could be happening. When she reached him, she touched him on the shoulder to get his attention and asked: "Pierre what is happening?"
The other scientist almost jumped at her touch and turned to her. Upon seeing who it was he relaxed and replied: "Base command made an announcement some half and hour ago that the aliens had mounted a big assault upon Russia".
"A big assault?"
"Oui. The number of UFOs used by the aliens surpasses everything they have ever used against us".
"Do you mean they are finally invading?" The scientist suddenly felt her blood turn cold. Every X-Com member lived with the grim expectation that some day the aliens would unleash into a full-scale assault on Earth. Only God knew why they hadn't done it so far but everyone had assumed that it would come. The realization had been most disturbing, like a Damocles sword posed over their heads that would eventually drop and cut them down, but it had also galvanized them into action, making sure that time and resources weren't wasted.
"That's what everyone here is trying to see right now, but CNN speaks nothing of it. There are some reports of a terrorist attack on Siberia, apparently the work of religious fanatics. Those lunatics sure have appeared out of nowhere in the past months". The reference to the fanatics was something of an inside joke in X-Com. Most of the alien aggression so far had been labelled as terrorist groups by the governments of the world and the media. But everyone on X-Com knew what really was happening there and shared a dry laugh every time the word came printed on newspapers or spoken in the television sets.
Eva took a deep breath but then another disturbing thought came to her. "Where did they say the attack was?"
The French scientist raised his shoulders. "Some small city in Siberia. At least it's Russian Command area of operations, so we won't be put into a full alert and unable to leave base until the whole situation gets resolved. I was thinking of going out tonight to change a bit our diet of the food we get here. Would you like to come?"
The thought that was lingering inside her suddenly become clear. She didn't reply him, as she wasn't paying attention to him anymore. Instead she was already on his way to talk to Dr. Chevereux and find out where the attack was.
1048 Zulu (Local Time), Siberia, Russian Federation
The two Skyrangers from the Russian team were racing across the Siberian steppe grass to get to their destination and each second was precious. An American satellite had managed to take some photographs of the Area, taking advantage of an opening in the cloud cover but they didn't help much. The UFO's apparently had landed directly on the civilian areas of the city, which was an enigma for all Russian X-Com officers. So far the aliens were acting as if this was just another terrorist attack, not a strike posed to destroy the enemy's assets. The laser bunker, nuclear power plant and the laboratories and engineering workshops seemed pretty much intact, but the destroyed military installations that housed the security detail were burning and releasing a lot of smoke in the early afternoon air.
"Any word from the Japanese or Chinese teams?" Boronin asked Likhachev. The dark haired short officer just shook its head. "Chen, as usual, claims that they don't have resources to help us. And the last communication from Complex YY-18 say that they are readying two platoons, one of the new mobile tanks and another of infantry but they timetable puts their arrival too far away. Most likely we will get assistance from our country's forces first".
"Great. Any word from the defenders at the facility?"
"Still no radio communications after their initial reports of an attack. We can only assume the worst".
"Tell the men to be prepared for anything. At least we won't be fighting at night, although this fucking fog could lift up a little. I hope that the pilot knows what he's doing. Flying this close to the ground in zero visibility is insane!" Ending abruptly the conversation, Boronin went back to his seat.
Area 51, Nevada, US
Johnson was at the base gym working out to help the final recovery of his injured muscles when Forrester walked inside dressed in a combat jumpsuit. He approached the Colonel and said: "Colonel, sorry for disturbing your training but I would like to talk to you".
He nodded back and got out of the machine he was using and grabbed a towel to clean the sweat off his fore brow. "I'm listening".
"Upon Major Patterson's suggestion I've seen the base psychiatric since the mission and it was decided to put me off active missions for the moment. Things haven't been easy Colonel and I am the first one to acknowledge it. I apologise for my mistake and let you know that I will try not to disappoint you again". The man managed to speak it with no pauses although it was clear that some strong emotions were stirring inside him.
Johnson nodded. "For me there are no need for apologies here but I will accept them Forrester. No one could have had imagined that a Sectoid was able to climb up the wall of a barn using only his body".
"Still, I consider it to be my personal fault, sir. And I would like to know if the alert status for the entire ground assault also applies to me sir. I'm ready to any mission that comes up, I really am, Colonel, and I need the new chance, if you think I'm ready to it. I had my own problems but I can do it sir".
Now here's a hard decision, Johnson told to himself. Forrester was one of the officers in base with more combat experience fighting the aliens, besides him. But at the same time all the bitter fighting and the endless casualties had affected him. Asking to be placed on combat missions to prove one another could came up wrong. But at least the man admitted it. "Tell you what. You will be in a semi-active status. If something's up meanwhile I will then take it into consideration".
"Fair enough. Thank you Colonel".
1112 Zulu, Siberia, Russian Federation
Some twenty minutes later, both Skyrangers slowed their speed and quietly descended into the ground, the blast from the engines lifting up loose gravel and burning the steppe small vegetation. When the ramps of the craft came down, the X-Com squads started to pour out, their armour painted on the journey to sport an artic and forest camouflage, and quickly established a safety perimeter around the craft. Occasional gunfire could be heard to the southwest, the direction of the Azamas 36.
Boronin stuck with Second Platoon, while telling Major Gerasimov to start to move out towards the research facility. The Skyrangers had approached the facility from the West and had taken a flight path that resembled a semicircle upon as they approached the complex, to avoid over flying the area. The planes had dropped the team ten kilometres Northeast of it, quickly lift up again to move to a safer location. First Platoon quickly moved and the remaining of the team followed them.
Boronin ordered the trooper carrying the satellite communications radio to keep close to him as they crossed the taiga forest that separated the landing zone from the research facility. There were no friendly units in the area and if something happened to the radio they would be stranded in the middle of a hot zone full of aliens. And although First Platoon had spread itself on a loose line in front, there was always the possibility than an alien patrol would spot them and try to circle the whole company, so everyone was keeping a sharp eye into every direction.
Boronin had a position in the middle of the line and suddenly he saw that all the troopers in front of him were stopping and dropping down to their knees. He did the same and activated the command circuit on his personal short-range radio. "Ivan, what is happening up there?"
Major Gerasimov's replied to him: "The forest has just cleared and we have reached the outer security fence of the city".
"Well, get someone to cut a hole on it"
"Already have Aleksander and Mikhail on it. But the thing is rigged with mines, it will take some time for them to clear it out".
"Tell them to hurry up then. We can't be still here for too long".
"Understood". When Gerasimov stopped talking, Boronin looked in front. He thought he could spot the fence since there was a strange feature at the bottom of the light blue horizon. He then turned around and saw that they were completely vulnerable out there. His men were all down, trying to conceal themselves, but if one of the UFOs flew over their position they would be immediately spotted. He dropped completely to the almost sterile ground, covered with moss and sparse vegetation and waited. Most of the snow had melted by now and there was mud everywhere. He saw that the X-Com members close to him had already started to cover their uniforms with the mud to help out on their camouflage. He decided to do the same while waiting and when he was done he looked at his watch. At the rate of movement they were going it would take them some more hours before reaching their objective. If the aliens didn't spotted them first. Tense minutes passed as he waited.
The radio came alive again. "They are done. The picket on the left side has spotted a group of aliens on patrol on the other side of the fence coming into our direction". Boronin cursed and spoke back:
"Are they done with the fence yet?"
"I was about to get everyone moving again when the alarm come. What you want us to do?" Boronin weighted his options: if the aliens spotted the hole on the fence they for sure would report it back and investigate, which was dangerous for the team since it would put the aliens on alert. On the other hand if they took care of the patrol they most likely wouldn't find out about it until they sent another patrol to check it out and by that time the X-Com team would be close to their target. To help his decision the radio came alive again:
"Picket says the aliens are of a new race that look like snakes". Doubt came into Boronin's mind. A new alien race would mean that they were dealing with an unknown enemy. They needed to know more about these new creatures.
"Get ready to take them down but wait for me if possible. I'm coming there to see them myself. Tell the men to use only lasers to make less sound". He started going through the line of concealed soldiers. When he passed Likhachev the Captain nodded, telling him that he had listened to the whole conversation.
After some more minutes he reached First Platoon's line that was some two hundred meters away from the security fence, which was full of lights, mine warning signs and two parallel rows of three metre tall barbed wire. Most likely there were detection devices in the space in-between both fences, but he dismissed them since they must have been disabled by now or the people who were supposed to be on guard at the alarms were dead. Using hand signals he asked the trooper close to him for the Major's position. The X-Com squaddie pointed left. Good, at least the aliens haven't reached his position yet he thought otherwise the shooting would have started by now. Trying to crawl as quickly as possible he finally reached Gerasimov, who was lying behind one rock, trying to blend himself with the landscape as much as possible. The Major looked at him, gave the Colonel his binoculars and pointed to the left side. Boronin got himself a conceal position and looked.
He saw a group of four brown aliens that seemed as tall as an average human moving on the other side of the fence. He thought their movement was sluggish until he noticed the reason. Instead of legs or any type of bipedal limbs, the creatures were standing up in what seemed to be a massive snake tail as large as the abdomen to which was connected on the body. The reptilian shaped head, with one large fang on each jaw and the grey eyes it possessed added more to the similarly with a serpent standing on its tail. But this serpent had arms and massive ones that ended on hands carrying objects. Boronin identified them as the alien weapons they had seen before. Two plasma rifles and two of their larger plasma cannons. Not good. Just one shot of the rifles could get through the armour the X-Com troopers were wearing.
Boronin then noticed that the aliens were slow, even for a patrol. He saw then that the tail movement, going forward and then pushing the rest of the body made them slow compared to any man on his team. But what about the rest of the abilities of these Snakemen? He gave back the binoculars to Gerasimov and slowly got his laser rifle into position.
The group of four aliens kept advancing until the extraterrestrial that was on point duty suddenly stopped, some meters away from the whole cut into the fences. He was about to turn and warn the others about it when Gerasimov ordered into the radio: "Now!"
A score of laser beams suddenly headed out for the four aliens, some of them reflecting white as the high-energy photons interacted with the oxygen and nitrogen atoms present in the air, instead of the common gold Boronin was used to. The heavy lasers were doing their debut on the Russian team's hands.
The point alien immediately went down, together with another one on the back, but the remaining two stood up. The one next to the point alien took two laser shots on his torso and didn't dropped dead, although green goo started to come out of his body. The other one took a heavy laser hit on the right arm that nearly made him drop his plasma rifle. They immediately turned into the direction of the Russian team and started firing back, although their shots were misguided and missed all the concealed troopers. Boronin put his weapon into autofire and start firing back again at them, but he missed all three shots. It didn't matter since the laser fire of the team cut down the remaining Snakemen and they dropped on the steppe grass.
The X-Com troopers stayed on their positions waiting to see if the confrontation had been heard by other patrols close. Boronin waited in fear that they could be hunted down from this minute. Suddenly he saw movement.
One of the aliens that were laying on the ground was starting to get up again. Another laser shot come from the right, bringing it down again. Don't these things know when to die, Boronin asked himself? More minutes went by until finally Gerasimov told his men to move over the fence and secure the other side. The whole team started to get out of its concealed positions and as Gerasimov was passing Boronin, the Colonel turned to him and said:
"Tell one of the men to get one of those bodies. The scientists back the base need to discover as much as possible from these Snakemen". The Major nodded and after some seconds Boronin went after him in the direction of the hole in the fence.
1240 Zulu
Boronin kept watching the research facility from a distance through a set of binoculars. They hadn't met any other alien patrols on their way and the whole complex of buildings seemed deserted from a distance. He had sent Captain Likhachev and his platoon to check it out and was waiting with Gerasimov, fearing that the radio would announce that the facility was crawling with aliens.
When Likhachev came back on the radio to inform that they had found the laboratories clear he turned to the Major. "Get your men and head out to the bunker. Watch out for the air strike in half an hour. Good luck Vanya and stay out of trouble". The other man nodded and left. Boronin got up and went to join his troops that had now started to came out of the main building's entrance.
1258 Zulu, Vicinity of Azamas 36, Siberia, Russian Federation
Major Anatoly Gregory looked at the radar screen and saw that the large UFO was still hovering Azamas 36, escorted by two smaller ones. The Il-76 Midas Airborne Early Warning plane had detected his lift-off as they begun to approach the area, in doubt as a response to the number of Russian Air Force fighters and bombers that were converging into the area. He was in command of a flight of MiG-29K Fulcrum fighters and his job, together with the other flights of MiG-31 and Su-27 interceptors was to clear a path for the bombers to level the UFOs on the ground.
The air controller had already informed them that the plan would consist for the MiG-31 Foxhounds to launch their long-range R-33 or AA-9 missiles first, depending on the Russian or NATO designation, which could attack targets at nearly one hundred miles. According to the tactical briefing the intruders possessed a weapon that could engage and destroy planes at more than seventy miles away and all the pilots had been ordered to perform evasive manoeuvres upon when they entered that range.
That had draw a serious of questions from all the pilots about what they were facing but the General in charge had merely shrugged them off by telling that it was classified information. Gregory had found it also strange that they would be using tactics normally used at close range and seated on the cockpit of his MiG he hoped that the plane's agility would be enough.
The fighter he was flying was the latest version of the MiG-29 Fulcrum, designed by the Soviet Union to be the counterpart of the US agile F-16 Fighting Falcon. All the Fulcrums on his flight carried four R-27 medium range air-to-air missiles (AAMs) and two smaller range R-73. It was his weapons mix that worried him the most. Unlike the active range radar guided R-33s carried by the Foxhounds or the latest R-77 that were equipping the Sukhois, his missiles needed in-flight guidance from his radar, which severely limited his ability to launch missiles while dodging the enemy's fire. In spite the fact that his Fighter Regiment was a Guard unit and in name one of the best in Russia, they had yet to see any of the latest R-77s.
The call from the air controller came to his headphones. "All flight leaders be advised: we have detected a very large contact taking off the ground and positioning itself in front of the other targets. Primary target is now that contact. MiG-31s start your attack runs". Still at more than 140 kilometres away from the contacts and flying on a clear sky with few clouds at three thousand meter altitude, Gregory engaged the afterburner to use the about to be released missile barrage in order to get closer and the rest of his flight followed.
1305 Zulu, Azamas 36, Siberia, Russian Federation
Almost all of the X-Com personnel not presently on guard duty had gathered on the main's laboratory roof to see the results of the incoming aerial melee. While it was safer to be waiting in a protected position, the Air Force had strict orders not to even overflow the facility to minimize the risks of collateral damage to it.
When the very large UFO took off from the city, all the men looking at it through the binoculars gasped in fear. That was for sure the largest alien craft ever reported and while they couldn't tell the details because of the distance it looked big enough to almost occupy a city block. When it joined the other UFOs hovering the city Boronin could see that it was almost the double of the ship the aliens used for their terror attacks.
Then, all of the sudden it started to vomit what seemed to be miniature suns because of their brightness, which quickly disappeared into the horizon. Boronin turned to Likhachev and asked: "What do you think is that?!" The other officer removed his binoculars from his eyes and replied: "I don't know sir, but I think the Air Force is about to discover".
1308 Zulu, Vicinity of Azamas 36, Siberia, Russian Federation
The sudden acceleration saved the MiG-29 flight. Gregory suddenly saw an orange ball coming in the horizon and his first thought was of how the Sun could be in that position. But as it approached more and more until finally passing through he realized that something very wrong was happening. A shock wave suddenly scattered his flight of planes and two of the MiG-29 would have collided into one another if not for one of the pilot's skills. He moved the control stick between his legs to regain control of his craft and as he levelled it he immediately turned his body to follow whatever type of weapon that was.
He was greeted with a wave of light that made him close his eyes. The alien weapon had detonated close to one of the Su-27s producing a massive fireball that consumed the four fighters in the flight in seconds leaving nothing behind except dark smoke. Other blacks spots in the sky told that several of those missiles had been fired and a look to his radio told him the terrible causalities that they had just suffered. Gregory immediately ordered his flight to break formation and start evasive manoeuvres and demanded explanations from the air controller.
"What is going on? You told us that they would engage at seventy kilometres, not one hundred and twenty!" The officer ignored those and other questions by simply ordering the remaining MiG-31s to fire and all the other fighters to make their intercept runs. Gregory thought of telling him to go to hell and call back the mission but he knew better. Someone had screwed up big time here and if they didn't managed to complete the job he would also be blamed for it. He keyed the radio button on his left side thrust control stick".
"Knife flight we have been ordered to proceed. Good luck and let's hope that we won't meet in hell". Time to go to business".
1312 Zulu, Azamas 36, Siberia, Russian Federation
As the first R-33 long range missiles launched by the remaining MiG-31 flights started to close into their target, the sky over the around the research facility become quickly filled with while trails marking the missiles flight paths. But more terrifying was the vision of the sky over the city.
The guided missiles started to impact upon the UFO, creating big fireballs in the sky and filling the air with smoke that obscured the craft and made it disappear to the X-Com troopers. They all kept looking it hope, but when plasma beams started to penetrate the smoke curtain and head out to the distance, together with the minisuns they had seen before, the team knew that the UFO was still flying had not survived but was waging a powerful counter-attack. The minutes went by as they kept waiting, still thinking that there might be a chance.
1319 Zulu, Vicinity of Azamas 36, Siberia, Russian Federation
The MiG-29 that Major Gregory was flying rocked again as another of the enemy's powerful missiles exploded on the air and took one of the fighters on his flight. Half the planes under his command had been already shot down, with the first one falling through the use of sort of energy weapon.
And pretty soon the bombers would start their attack runs. Would they, Gregory wondered in fear? His radar told him that few fighters remained airborne and so far the missile impacts on the enemy didn't had any visible effect with the four contacts still airborne. Wait! The large plane had just started moving, in no doubt to deal with the remaining planes.
Major Gregory almost went to panic, realizing that they had no chance against both targets. He was sure of what would happen to him when if he managed to return to the base, but at least he would be still alive. Taking his fighter to a heavy-g pull to the left he disengaged and levelled his plane at the opposite direction, performing some dodging manoeuvres as he withdrew at full afterburner. No word come from his wingman, so Gregory assumed that he either was already killed or had decided to follow him.
When he looked on the radar to seek for him a most fearful sight made him shudder on the cockpit. The second UFO was pursuing him and despite that his MiG-29 was flying at more than Mach 1.5 the craft more than doubled it. What are those things, his mind trying to come up with a logical explanation until finally a plasma beam put an end to any more thoughts.
1329 Zulu, Azamas 36, Siberia, Russian Federation
As the minutes went by over the scheduled time for the bombers to make their attack, Gerasimov started wondering what had happened as he was laying upon the ground. The team was waiting until it was finished to prevent being hit by a stray bomb or missile, but there were no explosions or shock waves coming through the ground from the city. He decided that the air strike hadn't been successful some unknown reason and ordered both his squads to start heading again for the weapon bunker. They had already wasted too much time in the same area taking cover from the supposed bombardment.
1403 Zulu, Azamas 36, Siberia, Russian Federation
After the failed aerial attack the team guard the laboratories prepared for the hours long wait until the Russian forces would arrive, if they ever arrive, Boronin had told himself but had hidden these thoughts from the his men and officers. He had immediately set sentry stations when the team had reached the facility to keep an eye on possible alien patrols, and a pair of X-Com troopers were outside the main laboratory's entrance hidden from view and looking for possible hostiles. The facility had a triangular disposition, with a main rectangular building to where the road from the military garrison ended. On both his sides there were two sets of smaller buildings, with testing and manufacturing roles along with the administrative offices. The Russian team couldn't possibly have the manpower to defend the whole complex, so they had concentrated their efforts on the main building. They had combed the whole installation but had found no scientists around. It wasn't logical to expect that many people since the alien attack had been at night when most of the personnel would be sleeping on their homes at the city but there had been hope that there might be survivors inside. The Sun was still high in the Siberian landscape, although clouds were obscuring it more often.
Both troopers had taken position in the remains of a security checkpoint outside the building and one of them was scanning the area around with a pair of binoculars. At least the ground was clear for many miles, with the exception of an area one kilometre to the southeast that had large bushes and small trees. Still, if someone trying to approach the facility from there it would have to go over a large distance of open ground with almost no cover.
The X-Com squaddie suddenly noticed some movement in that area. He saw a dark spot suddenly disappearing and decided to warn his comrade. "Vanya, see if pick anything at 2 o'clock". The other trooper turned on his left side.
"I got it. There's something moving over there and terribly fast at it".
"I'm gonna warn the Colonel. It seems they have found us".
Boronin had set up his command post in one of the larger laboratories inside the building. The aliens didn't have time to blow up the installation or didn't know the value of it, since everything was pretty much intact. Consulting his watch he saw that the first Russian forces would be arriving in a bit less than four hours. Most of the men who were not on watch were there also, looking anxiously around and trying to rest. Gerasimov had reported no trouble on getting to the laser, but he wanted that the Major finally completed sweeping the place and headed back. He hoped that nothing happened but he had the Skyrangers at fifteen minutes distance if necessary.
The radio came up and he felt afraid. "Command, this is Front. There's an alien approaching the perimeter fast!"
Boronin froze for a moment. The Snakemen they had encountered before couldn't move at a big speed. What the hell was approaching then? "What type of alien?"
"Some sort of big insect sir! What do you want us to do?"
"If he gets too close take him down. Let's try to conceal our presence. Maybe it will go away". The voice on the under side didn't seemed too happy about the whole situation. "Very well sir".
1407 Zulu
Major Gerasimov and his men had just reached the laser facility to found it in ruins. They had taken more than an hour and a half to across the three-kilometre distance that separated the research facility to get to the bunker, due to a detour they had to take to avoid getting too close to the city and all of that for nothing he cursed.
The aliens apparently had used some sort of explosive with great destructiveness, since parts of the concrete thick walls had collapsed to the inside of the bunker. And the upper head doors had been also blown and laid mangled on the outside. Going inside they found that the weapon itself had been completely destroyed. Again, no bodies had been found although there were also signs of a struggle, with now dry blood patches on the floor, spent cartridges and burned signs of where the aliens weapon's had hit the walls and equipment.
By luck or whatever the reason they hadn't found any aliens on their way here. But as Gerasimov stood on the middle of the large chamber that once housed the particle beam he felt the urge to get back. One trooper, wearing the triple chevrons under an X sign painted black on his chest's body armour and carrying a Mark IX Heavy Laser come up to him and said:
"We are checking the remaining of the bunker. Should be done in ten minutes or so".
"Get it done Sergeant. Being here is getting me nervous".
"Couldn't the Colonel send one of the 'Rangers to come and pick us up?" The NCO looked nervous and Gerasimov noticed that his heart was also beginning to race.
"Aleksander, he doesn't want to draw attention to his position and he's right. If they get us before the Red Army arrives we are dead meat". The Sergeant shook his head, put the laser on his shoulders behind his head and went back to the process of checking the troops.
1409 Zulu
Both sentinels in the south facing front entrance of the massive building kept watching the alien form. It was bipedal and had a close to black oily colour. It also seemed to have upper limbs but it wasn't carrying any type of weapon that they could see. The troopers had their laser rifles trained at it from more than 500 meters away but they were waiting to see if it would leave them alone.
The alien kept approaching in facility engaging in small bursts and stopping for some seconds. But when it was near two hundred meters from the ruined guard post it suddenly raised itself completely and waved his arms over his head. Both troopers become startled by its massive claws. They took a moment to respond to the fact that it then begun to run directly at their position taking few seconds to cover more than fifty meters of terrain.
Both X-Com troopers immediately started to fire back at him. The alien covered more 50 meters of terrain until the first shots hit him. The two laser bursts hit it, one in the torso and another at the pink flesh where the lower limb connected to the upper part of his body, but they didn't even made it run slower. More golden laser fire came into his direction but still it didn't go down. It keeping running, waving his arms and having his insectoid face, which the soldiers now could see, that was surrounded by two antennae that came emerged from its shoulders.
When it was about ten meters from the X-Com troopers it finally took a hit on his chest that made it stagger. It released a high tone shriek that almost made the soldiers go into panic as it finally fell on the ground dead, with its belly open and releasing a violet and green colour. Neither of the squaddies moved or said anything for a minute. Only the noise of the main lab's doors being opened on their back alerted them. They immediately turned and pointed their rifles.
Colonel Boronin and the rest of the men who come to investigate the source of all the noise took cover and shouted: "It's us you idiots! What is going on here? We heard the shots and tried to raise you on the radio but you didn't answer" One of the troopers composed himself and said: "Colonel, the Devil has arrived!" Boronin got out of cover and went by the guard position, saying: "What do you mean?"
"That!" And the X-Com squaddie pointed towards the dead alien on the ground five meters away from them. "It needed five or six shots to come down. And it made nearly one hundred meters in a few seconds".
Boronin carefully approached the corpse, followed by Captain Likhachev and other troopers. It was releasing a foul stench, worse than sulphur, from its open entrails where violet and white organs or whatever they were could be seen covered with a green liquid. "Get a body bag," Boronin ordered "another thing for the lab rats to analyse". Two of the men immediately went back inside. "And the rest of us let's get out of sight".
As the soldiers were getting inside the entrance hall they stopped on their feet and turned. Across the horizon inhuman shrieks could be heard. Boronin suddenly become extremely afraid. Likhachev turned to him and said. "Colonel, I guess they all know where we are!"
1431 Zulu
On the other side of Azamas 36, at the now-destroyed bunker, Private Maleev and Corporal Belov were finishing their sweep an underground area full of storage rooms, all joined by a central corridor that connected to the laser bunker by a stairwell on one end. The whole cellar was in the dark and they were wearing night vision goggles. Both troopers were walking down in the middle of main corridor when Maleev suddenly saw a green figure in front of him running from one room to the other in front. He raised his laser rifle but was stopped by Belov who put his arm on his shoulder and said: "It's a human". The Corporal moved forwards and said: "Whoever is out there, we are Russian Army rescue soldiers. You can come out we won't harm you".
Maleev saw a head looking out of a metal door, the goggles giving it a greenish hue. It was a civilian young woman with long hair. She shouted in fear: "The monsters are gone?"
"There are no monsters around, madam. This facility has been hit by a terrorist attack". No doubt the woman had seen already too many of them to believe that story but Belov decided to stick to it for the time being. She came out completely into the corridor and the Corporal lit his flashlight and pointed at both troopers to show her that they were human. She run into their direction and hugged Belov who become too startled to respond.
"Thank God you come. They killed everybody!" And she started sobbing on the armour plates on his shoulder. Belov tried to calm her down and brought her close to the stairwell. He turned to Maleev and said: "Go tell the Major we got a survivor here". As the other trooper went up the stair he turned to the woman: "You are safe now. You are you and what has happened?"
"The monsters came in the middle of the night. My husband and me used to work here until they destroyed it, in the optics department. It wasn't my shift so I was at my home sleeping with my children while my husband was working at work. Their machines came and landed and released the demons. The serpents and the crabs that make you one of them. They started killing everyone on sight and searching over the city's buildings. We managed to hide until now but I have never seen my husband again". She lowered her head started crying again. Belov grabbed her on the shoulders and tried to get her back to reality.
"Don't think about him now. Where are you children?" She whispered in the middle of her sobs. "Dead also. Two days I went outside the basement that we were using to hide in the city to try to get us some food. When I came back I saw them carrying my little Victor and Tatyana away on their hands. They were already dead. Since then I come here, waiting to die".
"You won't die now! You are safe with us". She raised her head and asked: "Are the monsters gone? Have you killed them all yet?"
"More forces will be arriving in hours to take care of the aliens. For now we are going to move to a safer location". She turned her head in a negative way and said in despair: "No. We will all die". He just looked at her for a moment and then went to the process of getting his platoon ready to move.
Gerasimov and his men were preparing to leave when his radioman come up to him with a microphone and headset on his hands, connected to his backpack. "A call from the Colonel, Major". He took both devices and put them on. Clicking on the transmit button he spoke: "Gerasimov here, over".
"Major, we are getting reports of movement all over us. The aliens might be surrounding us and preparing for a full assault. Keep your position there. If things get ugly I will call for the Skyrangers and we will pick you up on our way out of here".
"Let's just get out of here Colonel. Call the Skyrangers and let's leave this place. We have retrieved a survivor and she told us some nasty stuff about some new type of alien".
"We have killed one of it. Tell your men to watch out. It doesn't carry weapons, but it's fast and tough".
"Another reason for us to get out of here now before we are trapped". Gerasimov waited for an answer but it didn't come back. He clicked on the button again: "Colonel, did you heard my last message?" Only silence responded. "Colonel, are you there?"
1517 Zulu
Boronin had just heard autocannon fire coming from the West side and was making queries on the short-range radio. "First squad, what is going on there?"
A stressed voice came to him from the one of the troopers who were placed on the roof. "They are coming sir. Dozens of Snakes and the other things!"
"Second Squad give some assistance on that side! Fourth and Fifth get ready for alien attack!"
"Fifth here. We are also picking movement of a large enemy force in front of us". Likhachev voice then added. "By the look of it I don't think also that we can hold out the two remaining hours until the reinforcements arrive. We should go Colonel".
Boronin become confused and not knowing what to do. Help was only two hours away and with it they could properly defend the facility. On the other hand, they had planning on encountering either Sectoids or Floaters, not two new species of aliens more deadly than the previous ones. He thought of the central patio area that the main laboratory building had. The Skyrangers could probably land there and if they couldn't defend the facility they would fall back and get out from there. He spoke in the microphone. "All squads hold out. Keep in touch and open fire at maximum range". Then he got back to the radio: "Gerasimov, I'm calling the Skyrangers. If we fail to stop them we will board them and pick you up. If we stall the attack I will send one afterwards to bring you back to here".
"Very well Colonel, good luck".
The two troopers at the remains of the guard station had pulled up closer to the entrance of the building when the alien wave had started its assault and joined the rest of their squad in firing positions from the ground level doors and windows. Already they had managed to kill the leading black aliens, leaving five burned up carcasses on the ground. But more were coming by the second and was nearly impossible to target all of them.
Corporal Shadrin spoke a prayer and took aim at the nearest alien. The devilish alien had already taken a well-placed hit on his arm that had severed it away from the rest of his body but it still kept coming fast only forty meters away. Two others were behind it. Shadrin put his weapon into full autofire mode and sprayed the leading alien with laser fire, with his partner doing the same on the alien on the right of them. The insectoid thing took three direct hits and finally dropped down.
But Shadrin suddenly saw that the other one on the right had reached their position. As he looked he saw it jumping over the trooper on his side and landing on top of him. The X-Com squaddie jerked from the impact but quickly started clubbing it on the head and shouting: "Get it off me!"
Shadrin was about to help when the trooper suddenly spasmed on the ground and started foaming from his mouth, his eyes open wide and lifeless. "No!" He shouted and got on his knees, trying to bring his rifle into line with the monster, but the remaining alien on the left side finally reached his position. One of its claws come down on the weapon and cleanly cut the barrel of the laser weapon into two pieces, one falling on the ground and the other still on his hand. He dropped it and tried to run but the alien got itself on front of him.
The alien's eyes didn't have any expression Shadrin saw, just two globes staring at him. He looked down and saw what seemed to be an appendage coming out of the alien straight at him. Then there was a great pain on his belly and he stopped thinking for good. His higher brain functions were suddenly overridden and Shadrin ceased to exist as an individual.
1525 Zulu
Captain Likhachev was covering the North side, together with four other troopers, all deployed around the first floor's windows. There were no other constructions between them and the aliens who had been approaching the facility first on an organized fashion, with scores of aliens taking cover while moving in a ragged line against the now pink sky.
Then all hell had broken loose. The black aliens had suddenly started to run towards the lab and the Snakemen had started firing their plasma weapons, using damn effective suppressive fire. All over the defensive positions the X-Com soldiers started to respond with laser, autocannon and rocket launcher fire but the Sun was starting to set down right in front of the X-Com squads and it made their aim difficult. Nevertheless several of the aliens were brought down in the first salvo.
The Russian captain got up and changed his position, taking cover beneath another still intact glass window. Spotting one of the crab aliens two hundred meters away from the building, he aimed his heavy laser at it and fired a two shots, one right after the other. The first one hit it right on the head and the second one missed, but the alien made another of those screams that cooled your soul and went to the ground.
He got back into cover and decided to move to another firing location. But as he was crouching underneath the windows, suddenly he heard a whining noise coming from the distance. It lasted for one second and afterwards he found himself in a world of pain on his back and laying in the ground. His ears were ringing but he couldn't listen to anything else. Looking back he saw the reason.
The area of the corridor where he was standing didn't exist anyone and on its place there was a huge hole on the wall, made by a powerful explosion that had took also the roof and the floor, together with a piece of the room behind the corridor. The fact that he didn't remember hearing the explosion told him how big it was since his ears had stopped sending information to the brain.
He took a look outside to try to see who had fired. At the distance he could see one of the Snakemen carrying some sort of large tube. He frantically tried to get the mike control and when he reached he spoke: "Attention everyone! The aliens have some sort of new weapon highly destructive! Don't stay too long on one spot!" As he spoke alien fired again. Even with the projectile moving at near the speed of sound he saw the glimpse of what seemed to a grey football flying on the air and going to his right. The door at the end of the corridor suddenly exploded in smoke and flame and he still felt the blast although he was twenty meters away. Then he realized that one of his men was there. "Andianov? Do you copy? Answer me!" Only silence responded him.
Likhachev looked by the window again. The Snakemen seemed to be reloading the weapon. He searched in the ground for his heavy laser and found it a few meters away from him. Checking to see if it was functional he then aimed and fired to the direction of the alien. The first shot missed badly to the left of the alien and he corrected his aim, releasing two lines of white light that hit the alien and his weapon. The creature jerked and dropped to the ground. Likhachev saw them that another of the black insectoids had nearly come to the building. He aimed and killed it also, after it had taken three direct hits.
Then another fizzing sound was heard at the distance and Likhachev realized that he had forgot to follow his own advice. "Stupidity kills you", he thought and then he immediately died, his body being torn into millions of tiny pieces by the power of the Elerium blast.
1532 Zulu
In the command post area there was only now Colonel Boronin and the troop carrying the radio. The Colonel was starting to feel desperate. The aliens were attacking from three sides at the same time and even the guard at the West side had reported some alien movement. They were surrounded.
"Skyranger Flight what is your status, over?" The pilot on one of the planes replied him. "ETA seven minutes. We are getting some anti-aircraft fire but we are flying too fast for it to be effective".
"There's a central patio on the main building. You should be able to land there one at the time. Watch out for the aliens attacking…" The noise coming from the south door opening made him stop. An X-Com trooper walked inside or, more correctly stumbled inside, his front armour torn and bleeding from his belly. The squaddie expression was more of a living dead, with the eyes opened as if it was experiencing terrible pain. Boronin and the other trooper become shocked at the sight.
"Petya? What has happened? How is the main entrance?" He approached the trooper, looking for any possible aliens that might be about to burst into the room. The wounded soldier didn't respond. Instead, when he reached his commanding officer he immediately threw him a jab that nearly broke the Colonel's jaw and made him loose several teeth. Boronin almost went down to the ground but managed to keep on his feet. The radioman got his laser pistol out of its holster and fired at the soldier, as he seemed about to press his attack on the Colonel. Three shots hit him and he slowly dropped to his knees.
The trooper had to be dead; Boronin thought but instead his body started jerking. The man threw his head back in agony and opened his mouth as if to scream but no sound came, only a fountain of blood. Instead, his shoulders ripped opened and two small alien claws came from inside the human flesh, followed by alien limbs. The radioman wavered and Boronin almost threw up.
The trooper's torso exploded and Boronin saw the man's rib cage wide open. And from the inside of the now dead body, the head carapace of one of the dark grey aliens begun to emerge, with the claws already outside cutting through the flesh. A series of final slashes released completely the alien, the human flesh and bones falling on the ground and leaving the thing standing up in front of Boronin. It was smaller than the other they had killed before but Boronin swore than it was growing up, that he could see it.
A series of laser shots from the other squaddie in the room hit it and it died, but not without first releasing the death shriek they had heard before. "Colonel….? What has happened? What have I done?" Insanity went over Boronin's head at the gruesome sight but he managed to regain control after some seconds. "Let's get out of here to the central patio now!" The trooper snapped upon hearing the orders, like his training told him to do and both men started running in the direction of the landing zone.
"Everyone fall back! We are being overrun, south section! Regroup at the central patio! The Skyranger is two minutes away! Likhachev do you hear me?" Another voice than the Captain replied him: "Sir, this is Sergeant Zhdanovich, the Captain is dead! The remaining members of my squad are pulling out now!" Boronin winced almost stopped his run upon hearing that. Not Likhachev! Damn!
As the research facility was being overrun by the aliens, Gerasimov and his men, together with the survivor, were waiting in the large area that once housed the firing mechanism of the particle beam weapon and getting more anxious by the minute. He had spotters on the roof to check for the Skyranger's arrival or alien activity nearby the wrecked bunker. The retrieval planes would be here in ten minutes or more, depending on the time they would take to pick up the other team, but it seemed too long. A call on his radio told him that it just might be the case.
"Major, Maleev here. Large alien forces are approaching the bunker from all directions. They seem to know we are here since they are about to charge. What are we going to do sir?" Gerasimov immediately knew their fate. They would never manage to hold out enough to secure a landing zone for the Skyrangers to land and they might even not be able to resist long enough for them to arrive. The Colonel would have to land in the middle of the alien offensive. She turned to the woman who seemed to understand that something terrible was about to happen.
"Madam I'm sorry. We promised to bring you to safety but we failed. Take this". He brought his laser pistol out of his holster and presented it to her. "From what you have told us to fall alive into their hands could be even a worse fate than the one that waits us". She started shaking but took the pistol and grabbed it with both hands.
Getting on the radio again he spoke: "Third and Six squads, this is it. We are trapped here and it is too dangerous for them to try to rescue us, even if they got here on time. Let's just take a few of them down before we go. It was nice knowing all of you and having you under my command". Taking a deep breath he continued: "this is what gives meaning to all our lives. Let's all see one another on the other side. Major Gerasimov out". The rest of the X-Com troopers on the room stood quietly on the room for a moment and then all men went to take defensive positions.
1535 Zulu
After taking a left turn at an intersection Boronin suddenly saw a Snakeman at the East end of the corridor where he was now standing, carrying a strange looking weapon with a large end. He suddenly remembered the warning about the new alien weapon and quickly tried to get some cover, but the alien fired first.
The projective overflew him and hit the roof behind Boronin, but instead of the massive explosion he was expecting a cold wave went by him, almost making him passing out. He shook his head to try to clear it out of the feeling of unconsciousness that threatened to overcome him and fired his laser. The shots killed the alien as it was trying to reload the weapon. Looking behind him, Boronin saw that his radioman was laying on the ground, motionless. He dropped to his knees and checked him, finding out that he had a pulse and no major injuries. Grabbing the unconscious body he placed it over his left shoulder and lift him up, starting again to head back towards the central patio.
After a series of corridors and turns he finally found the glass doors that led into the place. A well-placed kick opened the exit doors and he jumped inside, finding that some of his men had already arrived. The central patio was a perfect square with every side taking about some ninety meters. The whine of the Skyranger's engines could be heard and he shouted out to be hear: "Clear the central area until they land!"
As he waited holding the unconscious trooper he noticed that most men were missing. Out of the original twenty men that had stayed guarding the facility less than a dozen remained, including him. Suddenly the grey sky on top of him became filled with the figure of one of the Skyranger's fuselage. It hang itself there at fifty meters from the ground started slowly to come down, its landing gear already down when Boronin hear a whining sound.
The Skyranger suddenly exploded on the air, spreading burning jet fuel all over this section of the patio and the blast throwing Boronin down to the floor while the wreckage crashed thirty meters away from him.
The shock wave also shook the descent of the other Skyranger but the pilot managed to keep the aircraft from hitting the ground or the walls as it continued descending. Boronin raised himself and saw that the trooper he was carrying was still alive in spite of being hit by some of the burning rocket fuel. The material had also covered his arms and legs but he had managed to put it down before it overheated the armour that covered his limbs. But he seemed to have taken a nasty fall right on his hip because it was hurting as hell.
The surviving Skyranger had managed to land and avoid the fires and wreckage that now littered the patio, with all X-Com men converging on it. Since Boronin was at the other end he was the last to reach it. As he came closer to the ramp, the men kept telling him to hurry up and moved over to get the unconscious soldier off his load. He turned to one of them and asked: "Are we all here?"
"No one from South has appeared. All other surviving men managed to get here".
"Let's get out them, before they figure how to send another of those blasts right inside!" The trooper moved up to the cockpit while Boronin started to bring the Skyranger's ramp up. As he feared another blast hit one of the walls, throwing away concrete and steel and leaving a huge hole on it, exposing an office. He shouted to the front of the craft: "Tell the pilot to hurry up and head out for the laser bunker!"
When the Skyranger suddenly went up he lost his balance and fell on the ground, deciding to keep himself there until the pilot stabilized the craft. He looking around he saw that most his remaining men had managed to get to seats and put on the restraining harnesses. The movement gave him the impression of going up of a very fast elevator. After some seconds it stopped but the inertia continued to pull him up for a second, the gravity making him drop again on the metal floor afterwards. He got up in pain and went forward to the cockpit.
The pilot had stabilised the plane at a low altitude and was going through the alien's lines. A few plasma blasts occasionally thumped the craft but the Skyrangers had fitted with alien alloys protection ever since the Moroccan fight. Boronin grabbed a spare communications gear and connected it. Choosing Gerasimov's frequency he hit the transmit button.
"Gerasimov, are you still there? We are coming for you this minute!" The response came after some seconds, in the middle of heavy static.
"Colonel! I'm glad to hear that one of us will escape. I'm sorry…" static came to the channel "…roblems with the radio…operator has been killed".
"What is your status?"
"We are…..dead. All of us. We can't….much more. Turn back….die coming for us. Goodbye sir"
"Gerasimov! Answer back! Gerasimov!" No one on the other side answered. He waited for some more seconds and tapped the pilot on the shoulder. "What sir?"
"Head out for the nearest Russian Army outpost. Major Gerasimov told me that they are behind any help". And Boronin placed back the headset and went back to the cargo area trying to think about the disaster that he was responsible to and to mourn his men.
1541 Zulu
Major Gerasimov threw away the microphone of the radio to the centre of the bunker's main area. He was close to a wall lying on top of the pack that contained the now dead electronic device, with the other hand trying to contain the bleeding from a plasma hit on the leg, taken while trying to hold the aliens outside. He had crawled back inside and had an armed grenade on his hand hoping to take out an alien with him.
He could still hear laser fire which told him that the aliens didn't get yet all of his men. Suddenly he saw movement and prepared the grenade. The woman who had survived came out behind a wrecked piece of machinery and came near him. "I heard what you said on the radio. But I can't do it myself".
Gerasimov looked up at her and at the laser pistol she was holding out to him. A human scream came from outside. He realized she still didn't want to be taken alive and was asking a favour. I'm a killer, I've been trained all my life to be one, he thought. At least this time I use my skill to do something right. He took the pistol away from her hands and pointed it to her forehead. She nodded and closed her eyes. Another scream at the distance, but this time it prolonged itself for a few more seconds. He pressed the trigger.
He saw her body immediately falling down and he dropped the pistol also. A good shot. One of the aliens entered the large room and he recognized it from the description she had made to them about the dark demons. It saw Gerasimov and after a moment it sensed that the human wasn't a threat, quickly moving on his direction. Upon it reaching him it was about to lower itself, the ovipositor already coming out of his body when the Major smiled, showed it the armed grenade and said: "Next time try to fuck someone else". And then Major Gerasimov, late of the Red Army and commander of Second Platoon, Russian X-Com team died in a flash of light and fire.
1549 Zulu
"Colonel?" Boronin lifted his head and saw one of the surviving troopers of his command handing him a small shot glass full of a clear liquid. "It's time to honour them, sir". He closed his eyes but his hands went for the glass, grabbing it and taking it away from the soldier's hand. "To the dead and to the living" He spoke and afterwards donned the vodka in one gulp, the alcohol burning down his throat. Boronin then smashed the glass into the metal railing of the Skyranger's floor and went back to his thoughts. One by one, the men in the compartment did the same.
André Galvão, 2001