XCOM: The Unknown Menace

by Hobbes

This is my take on the story of the First Alien War (1999-2003), following the plot of UFO Defense. THE STORY IS COMPLETE - Warning: Some of the reviews contain major spoilers!

16. Paradise Lost

X-Com – The Unknown Menace

Chapter Fifteen – Paradise Lost

September 20^th, 1999

Area 51, Nevada, US

After the virtual reality helmets were put on by everyone else present in one of the labs back at the Groom Lake section, Dr. Young proceeded with his presentation. Every one of the scientists and military personnel present was wearing a circular helmet covering their eyes with an electronic visor. But the former USAF officer was also wearing gloves covered with electronic devices and he used his right hand to click a mouse connected to on a computer standing on a table beside him. All the men and the women in the room saw themselves suddenly transported to Earth's orbit and standing in the middle of space looking at the planet. Looking around themselves they noticed how the virtual environment even included a burning Sun that seemed too bright to be looked at and a multitude of stars like they never imagined, since now there wasn't any atmosphere to hide their light.

And suddenly all of them were at shock, seeing what seemed to be an UFO navigating towards them and closing the range until they were looking at a half-size representation of the craft. Dr. Young's voice broke their attention.

"This is where virtual reality can be quite helpful". He motioned the craft, one of the saucer shaped type, to stop and it did at his command. The side door opened after some seconds a two-feet height Sectoid came out of it, his size making it ridicule.

"Analysis of the aliens captured or killed show that there are variations on their intelligence skills, depending on race and position occupied on their societies. Sectoids are smarter than Floaters or Snakemen, for instance, and the leaders also show seem to shown more skills than the ordinary ground troops. But for the most part their mental abilities are close to humans, except in the psionic area, such as mind control, where we have already heard about their terrifying abilities. This range of abilities found plus the studies conducted on the interfaces found among captured UFOs seemed to say that some of the aliens could be pilots that use physical devices to connect their minds to the navigational systems". The alien suddenly had a circular metal helmet with a goggle covering his right eye. His hands were also covered with metal gloves, connected to the back with extensions of an unknown material.

"However we were unable to determine yet what physical process they use to connect to their physical machines. It is highly likely that they use their mental powers to interact with some yet undetected device on the helmets, but we don't know.

But it gave us a clue on how the alien's computers operate. We had already determined that the mainframe consists of a network of highly efficient optical processors all aligned together. The mathematical operations done by the processing unit are transmitted through the use of photons, not electrons as in our machines. But surprisingly, it resembles Earth's own network systems, where all computers are connected through a master terminal".

Johnson tried not to frown. What was he saying? That the aliens invented the PC and that Smith's superiors got the technology from them? He made a mental note to remind Billings not to mention too much the similarities between both technologies.

"However, we still don't have a clue about their operating system that they use to give instructions to the computer on how to operate the craft, for an example. But we know how they must interact with it and may be able to use it to decipher their own machine code". An image of a man seated at a computer appeared close to the alien.

"So far our interaction abilities with the machine were quite limited and time delayed. A computer can only be that fast has it receives the necessary input to perform mathematical operations. But the possible means of mental interaction that the aliens use have led us to believe that the power of their computers to deal with the complexity of physical reactions coming from navigating an UFO must implicate that they have succeeded in removing many barriers between mind and machine.

Artificial intelligence is quite limited and we may never be able for a computer to have the human's capabilities of intuition, imagination and so forth. However, if those abilities are available and directed the computer through the use of the human user, what would happen?" The artificial human representation was suddenly wearing a virtual reality helmet and the whole environment around the seated group suddenly changed.

Instead of being in Earth's orbit they were now navigating through a series of one and zeros coming out of nowhere. "Ladies and gentlemen let me present you the inside of an alien computer. It is actually working right now in another place of the facility and we are seeing a processed view to be able to see the mathematical representations. The computers we are using to allow this are many times more capable than Big Blue, the machine that defeated the former world chess champion Kasparov and still we have problems about being on the edge of their abilities. If we connect directly to the alien mainframe this is what we could see".

The image suddenly transformed itself into a series of strange symbols floating in the air, which were a mixture what seemed to be hieroglyphs and Chinese characters. "These are all suppositions about what we will find when we enter their system. The helmets they wear must be able to interpret their mental commands and transform them into computer instructions similar to these you are seeing. However, since we can't operate the devices we don't know what type of data is transmitted to the operating system. What we are doing is like linguistics trying to decipher a completely unknown language, looking for recognizable patterns". The room again changed into the zeros and ones. "And as you can see it can be quite complicated". The image lasted for a couple more seconds and gradually it dissolved into the room where they were seated. The whole group removed the helmets and some shook their heads and took deep breaths. Dr. Chevereux was in the front row and said:

"Dr. Young, that was a magnifique presentation. I am most impressed by the amount of work you have managed to do in such little time since you joined X-Com. You will receive more means as soon as possible to keep developing your team's research. What is most urgent in your requirements?"

Pharris replied on that one. He was wearing an X-Com uniform instead of his civilian clothes and had gotten closer to Dr. Young.

"Even the computers we have back at the NSA can't possibly deal with the amount of calculations necessary. It could take ages attempting to resolve the code, since we have no way to start. However, if a human operator, like I have exposed before aided them, we could greatly speed the process. It's something never tried so far but it seems that now the technology might allow a shot at it.

"What do you propose?"

The cryptologist added. "What we have here are pentas, even tetrabytes of data that need to be examined to try to detect patterns. A computer can do it, but meanwhile it goes over a lot of unnecessary stuff since they are not intelligent enough to see hidden patterns. However, if we use one of this to enhance the communication between the human operator and the machine, the individual connected to the computer can tell it what are the most interesting pieces of data. The processors will then concentrate on those, hopefully reducing the process. However the operators would have to be highly trained in dealing with operating systems and recognizing patterns".

"We will get the best computer scientists". Pharris shook his head and replied to Dr. Chevereux. "Not scientists. We need a very special type of individuals, indeed".

September 29^th, 1999

MIT, Massachusetts, US

As Jake was getting closer to his dorm building he told himself to quit being so paranoid. He had stepped outside to the nearest convenience store to get himself some soda and food before heading back to his computer at his room. He needed to complete an assignment for one of his Computer Science classes. Although he knew that he could make big time money without a college decree, he felt that if he knew how to walk decently he would run even well later.

Unfortunately the money didn't seemed to be enough for everything, from keeping up with the hardware and paying for the tuition fees, so some of his computer talents were used to get illegal means of financing. But he was a quiet type of hacker, erasing all signs of his presence into the databases that he had broken into to steal credit card numbers. He took every step not to get caught but there always a risk that one investigator might one day get an electronic trail back to him.

He tried not to think of it when the subject came up on his mind, but the dark-haired man he had seen at the convenience store wearing dark glasses and a suit had troubled him. He was reading a magazine at the newsstand but as Jake looked occasionally from the counter line at him he saw that the man looked to be focusing his attention on him. He acted calm and never looked back when he paid and left the store, but dropped the change on purpose outside and away from the store to see if the man would come out.

Nothing had changed, so he kept walking back towards campus but still a bit shaken from the experience. As he was going up the stairs and looking for his keys, he saw that the entrance door suddenly opened and the same man came out from the building, but with his glasses removed and looking directly at him. Noise of cars come from behind him and he turned to see two cars parking in front of the building, with more suited men coming out from them.

A voice made him turn. "Good evening Mr. Landon. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Please don't try to escape". The man had moved closer to him.

"What do you want? I did nothing".

"Really? Well I could bust you right here for violation of several federal laws regarding impersonation, theft and illegal entry into protected computer systems".

The young man looked in despair and said: "I ain't saying nothing anymore until I talk to a lawyer".

"It's your choice kid. But first listen to what I got to say: I can read you your rights and the gentlemen back there will cuff you take you away to serve a long time sentence after the trial. Or you can come with us also and in exchange for your collaboration the US government won't press any charges against you and forget the whole subject".

Jake was suddenly puzzled but still remained cautious. "Yeah? And what is this 'collaboration' all about?"

"You won't know until you accept it. But it will be put into writing by the US Attorney General to guarantee what I have just offered".

"No bull?" Jake was skeptical of the whole matter. He still hoped that he might put this off in a court.

"Your choice. The way I see it and I know you know it also, your ass will end up in a federal prison if you don't accept it. Our experts have already figured out how you entered the Bank of Connecticut system and traced it back to you".

Bank of Connecticut! Jake remembered that it was his hardest successful attempt and he had taken triple care on that one. Even if they only had a hint that it was himself on that one, what would happen if they investigated his other hackering activities. Who told him that they hadn't already? As the question raced through his mind he already knew what to do.

"Well Mr. G-man, where do I sign?" Mark Davis smiled to himself upon hearing those words. Although he wasn't any more part of the Bureau, some things were still the same. He waved back at the other agents and two of them went forward to meet them. "Get a suitcase ready. Pack to be away for a long time. These agents will escort you". Leaving the room he went back to one of the cars that were waiting outside.

October 7^th, 1999

Pacific Coast, Washington State, US

Sitting at the crew compartment of the Skyranger, Markovitch kept fiddling with the motion scanner she had on her hands, wondering if the technical gizmo developed by the lab rats back at Area 51 would be any good in a real fight. It could tell the operator of any unseen movement close by, even behind walls and doors. But in the inside of an UFO there would be hardly any time to use it while dealing with the alien crew.

A light changed from red to green in the plane's inside and she got up, placing her armored helmet on her head on the way and preparing to hit the ground. The pilot already knew that she despised unnecessary talk before deploying into a landing zone so he just landed the UFO and operated the controls that lowered the ramp without making any announcement.

Some hours ago the F-22s had shot down a medium sized UFO as it was on a trajectory that would lead it into Seattle. Alien activity had been picking up since the beginning of the month, with mysterious UFO flyovers over continental US that involved high-speed dashes and landings that only lasted for some hours. The Colonel thought that something was strange so he had left one of the platoons back on base in case something unexpected turned up and had assigned her to investigate the crash site.

The Skyranger suddenly dropped on the air and everyone on board grabbed whatever they could to keep themselves standing up, while the landing gear deployed in preparation for touchdown. The back tires where the first to hit the ground and afterwards the ramp immediately started going down, with her troopers following.

She waited tense seconds in anticipation as the squads in front of her deployed around the landing zone, trying to anticipate the sounds of the plasma and laser rounds. But none came and as the soldiers gave the all-clear shouts, she relaxed a bit before stepping down.

Sergeant Digriz, no Lieutenant Digriz, she corrected herself approached her as she stepped out of the ramp, her eyes already looking over him. The tall and slim man had been promoted after Siberia upon her request. "Cap, the area around the UFO seems clear. Phi squad has already found a covered path down the cliff to the beach".

"Let's have a look at it". She moved to the edge of the cliff where the Skyranger had landed and squat down, getting her binoculars out and taking a look. Down below them, the UFO had crash-landed into the sandy beach, its hull digging a long trail on the sand as it had skirted close to the waterline until it finally stopped. The sea had already invaded the depression caused by the UFO on the sand, filling it with water.

Searching for aliens, she found none in the area around the UFO, which seemed odd, but as she assessed the damage taken by the alien vessel on the crash she wondered how many of the aliens had survived the shoot down and the impact. Although the circular UFO was one of the largest she had ever seen, possessing several levels and being easily four times the diameter of the saucer shaped ones, it showed horrific damage. The Phoenix missiles used by the interceptors had bent the fuselage were they had hit it and in some parts they had even managed to blow feet sized holes, through which smoke could be seen coming out.

"There's a door on the north side, Captain". She moved to that side and spotted the entrance Digriz had just told her about. For the size of the UFO it didn't seem enough. Could it be that there was another door on the side hidden from their view? "Set up two fire teams up here to cover everything that is not human that moves down there. And let's get down. I want to see what's inside that bird". The Lt. nodded and she went to the direction were Phi squad had spotted the trail down, her own unit following her.

As they came down the cliff through a natural trail that covered them from the UFO, the X-Com soldiers heard gunfire exchanges followed by Digriz's warning on the tactical radio that they had managed to take down a couple of Floaters who had just come up from the other side of the craft. When they hit the sand they moved carefully towards the UFO, with each of the two squads taking a different approach around the craft's fuselage.

When Zeta squad come up to a door, Markovitch and her soldiers got ready outside the door. At her command one of the troopers activated the entrance and the metal door slipped up. The other three X-Com soldiers filled the inside with a red and golden shower of laser fire. When no response came, they started moving inside and Markovitch stepped inside right after one of her men. She found herself in the inside of a small chamber where a dead Floater laid, still clutching his large plasma. Trooper Prune, the first one inside gave it a kick in the head to check that it was truly dead. It didn't move.

The entrance chamber opened to the right into a larger area. Another trooper passed beside her and checked a huge blast hole in the door's front; large enough for a men pass through. She joined Prune and both when to check the right. As she went over the corner she dropped her laser a bit when she finally had a good look at the inner area.

It was the largest room she had ever seem on a UFO, more than two stories high and occupying at least one quarter of the craft's area. And on the middle there was a table that resembled the ones used by the aliens to perform their hideous experiments on humans, except that this one was much larger and had some sort of a big device over it. And the room had also man-sized containers of a material that seemed glass. Looking at them, she felt a feeling of revulsion, noticing that there were pieces of meat and organs still blood red, floating on a clear liquid. And looking at the bottom of one of them she saw bones: a pair of horns that looked as if it had came from a cow. And a human femur, gleaning white. She immediately turned her head away and at the same moment she heard the sound of a door being opened. Her mind immediately told her that there was something strange, since all her men were already inside the UFO, but all of the soldiers failed to see the menacing looming over them.

When a plasma suddenly hit Private Malcolm, who had just entered the larger chamber, round and went down to the ground screaming, she started looking for the alien, but failed to see it. Prune was quicker in assessing the situation than her and brought his rifle upwards, firing three precise shots.

She looked at the direction of his aim and saw a Floater dropping off from the air and hitting the metal ground close to her. Only then she noticed the door that was located in the upper floor. "Shit!" She muttered, pissed at herself. While Prune kept a watch she went to check Malcolm. Moving his body she noticed the limpness on him and when she looked at his face she saw the blank expression. Dead, in no doubt. She didn't found a pulse so she lowered his eyelids. "Status report, all squads". She ordered into her mike.

"Phi has dropped a Floater standing outside another door that leads into one of their elevator. One light injury. We are moving to see what's upstairs".

"Cap, Dare here. I've checked the hole. It leads into the engines, which are completely fubar. I've find also another elevator on a room close by". She quickly assessed the situation and spoke back. "Phi, get ready to get upstairs on my command. We will check the other elevator to the East of your position, so take care with what you shoot. Rho, get a team to my location and have them cover a door on the upper floor of the chamber where I'm standing at". Prune's laser went off again and she quickly ducked, only to get up again as she heard the thump of another dead Floater hitting the floor. "Shit! If only we could freaking fly and get to that door!" She told to no one.

They went up the elevators at the same time, which lead into two other rooms connected through another door and finding no aliens inside. Her squad joined Phi in the chamber where they had come up. Three X-Com troopers were waiting there for her, covering two other doors. One of them turned to Markovitch and said, pointing with one of his hands to a device attached to his belt: "Captain, I've tried to use this thing, but it doesn't make any sense. Too many echoes from too many people moving around and some of them in the wrong place". She looked at the motion detector. "Fuck that crap. We do this the way we do it the best".

Sergeant Krenon nodded and motioned with his head for the other men on his squad. They opened both doors at the same time. This time plasma came through one of them, making the soldier quickly step back inside. The other one rushed. Markovitch could only see a metal wall and wondered what the man was up to. After two brief seconds the response came to her on the tactical radio: "Grenade!" A muffled explosion coming from the other door was heard, followed by the clear warning.

They all moved into the next room where they found two Floaters torn into shreds laying in a pool of clear liquid that came from wrecked containers. Again, another door could be seen to the right, together with a corridor. "Sarge take the corridor. We will go this way. We must be close to the bridge so watch out". He nodded and she readied her men.

They found another empty chamber and an elevator. Going upwards into another desert room, they finally went again through another door. Markovitch opened it and took a look. She noticed that the command bridge of the UFO must follow the hull, making it a half circle with a central rectangular section that extended itself to the back of the craft, where Markovitch was now standing. She could see two other doors, one in front of her, in no doubt leading to the corridor they had spotted on the first floor and that Phi Squad was now checking. To her left there was also another door probably to an isolated room, but she spent no time going through it. Her eyesight had already detected movement on her right, in the bridge. And she quickly removed her head out of the way and back into the shaft room, a few moments before plasma rounds hit the wall on her left. She almost stumbled into Private Dare, but he managed to jump out of her way. "Keep an eye on the Floaters there!" She shouted and reached for her communications unit.

"Krenon! Where are you?" The voice of Sergeant in charge of Phi squad betrayed pain as it replied. "We found an alien on the chamber at the end of the corridor and had to assault it to dig him out. Bragg and Camay are already getting up and I'll join them in a second".

She thought of asking how bad his injuries were but if they were too debilitating he would by now have informed her. "We are directly facing you. There's company on the bridge. We are going to smoke them. Tell the ones with the electrical rods to get them ready". The Sergeant acknowledged the order and she turned to her own soldiers. It would be dangerous to try to take the aliens alive but High Command's orders had been very precise at that matter. She would still have preferred to simply throw some old fashioned grenades into the bridge and mop up any remaining aliens, but since they had no place where to go, the orders were to try to capture them.

Putting down her laser rifle, she took a concussion grenade and a laser pistol out of her belt, seeing Dare and Prune getting their stun rods out of their backpacks and holding them with both hands at the same time. The crude weapons were nothing more than a five feet pole with batteries inside and a twin pointed end. She considered the sanity of the order since the Floaters probably would try to charge and break free and the men would have to get at close range to be able to use the rods. But when the call came from Phi that they were ready at the other side she moved to open the door, with her pistol in one hand and the grenade on the other.

The machinery buried inside the gray metal door detected her motion and quickly went upwards. She waited to see if an alien was waiting right outside but she only saw the door directly in front of them also opening and Bragg standing close to it in the other room. They immediately brought their arms outside the openings and fired their laser weapons, without caring to aim and trying to keep the aliens' heads down and their gunfire out of the way.

One of the return fire plasma shots hit the wall close to her hand and the heat and pain on her hand almost made her drop the pistol but she grabbed it even with more strength, while crouching and throwing the grenade rolling across the floor to the middle of the bridge. The other X-Com troopers did the same and afterwards they all stepped back into the elevators rooms that led into the bridge.

The concussion weapons were originally designed to have as little destructive power as possible, with the power of the explosions instead being directed into creating a flash and noise that would blind and incapacitate any occupant of a room, being it alien or a terrorist. But the metal walls of the UFO only let pass small thumps, as the grenades detonated inside. Markovitch thought of using her motion scanner to check if any alien was still moving but she decided to not waste time on that. Opening the door again, she jumped inside the bridge and stood there, trying to look for targets in the middle of all the smoke.

The three X-Com troopers equipped with stun rods meanwhile moved passed her and she slowly moved forward, holding her hand in both hands. A figure suddenly rose up from the smoke to her right and she immediately moved her pistol's aim towards it. However, she refrained from shooting as she saw one of the X-Com troopers quickly move towards it and a zapping sound right afterwards as the metal poles on the top of the rod activated and sent a thousand volts current to the alien, incapacitating him.

But the soldier wasn't so lucky. A plasma shot hit him right afterwards on his back sending him sprawling into one of the walls. Markovitch immediately traced the direction of the shot and fired into that direction, without bothering to take aim. She saw a Floater standing by a pink table armed with a plasma rifle getting hit in the shoulder by one of her red laser shots. It felt on the ground, but it wasn't dead as it tried to reach for the rifle that was about a meter away from him. On a flash she moved over and kicked the weapon away from his reach. Then she looked at him and saw that the alien was also staring at her. She couldn't tell if the thing was afraid or if it had any feelings, for that matter. It didn't matter to her. Fixing her mouth on a evil smile, she just said "Hello asshole", before her leg went backwards to gain balance, and then afterwards on a kick to his head that made it unconscious.

October 21^st, 1999

Mother One, Black Forest, Germany

Dr. Lejeune's excitement was patent as he started his presentation to the group of X-Com's top military and civilian leadership. It had taken them months of hard work but it had paid off. Standing on one of the base's firearm ranges inside one of the firing booths he turned to the rest of the twenty people who were standing in the room. "I'm more than pleased to announce that we have finally understood the firing mechanisms of the alien weapons and are able to rearm and even reproduce them". Grabbing an alien plasma rifle from a table close to him he hold it as if it was a toy on a kid's hands. "The whole question had to do with the way the energy released by Elerium could be controlled and why the weapons wouldn't fire at all after a while. Upon discovery of the anti-gravity field it generates and how to control those waves we took apart the alien weapons and discovered the control mechanisms used, now that we knew what to look for. However, one essential question remained? Why would the weapon still become useless after its capture? The tests showed that, after a while, the gravity fields would be completely out of alignment, preventing it from shooting and even make it extremely useless to the operator, since it the energy spent from the Elerium reaction could actually make the gun to explode in their hands. After some calculations that took us weeks we finally came up with the answer, and it was so obvious that we were actually stupidities at its simplicity: Earth".

That brought interrogative looks at everybody. Lejeune just smiled and continued: "Earth's gravitational field. These weapons must have been designed and built in space, where the gravitic force of a planet is less felt. But when operating in a body with gravity and in the case of Earth there are variations caused by the movement inside the planet's core, the alignment of the anti-gravity field is slowly affected by the gravitational force and after a while the weapon needs to be calibrated again. In fact it's a process so simple that we know recognize some of the artifacts retrieved from UFO crash sites to be tools specifically designed to it, allowing the aliens to do battlefield maintenance, which is needed after some days".

"Excuse-me doctor, but why didn't think of that before? If I was their commander I would want that the scientists developed a way to improve the reliability of my weapons". The whole thing just didn't make sense to Illyuschenko. He was getting tiring of these briefings. Technology was doing marvelous things it seemed but it didn't matter if it had a practical use. Like the presentation he had seen the previous about the examination rooms that had been found in medium UFOs like the one in Alaska.

"We don't know Commander. It would be logical to have a self-adjusting mechanism since they most likely operate in worlds with different gravitational pulls. But either they never considered it or there's an unknown reason behind it".

"Yes, yes, however want I need to know is: can we use those weapons from now on?"

Lejeune almost jumped backwards at the strength of Illyuschenko's. "Well…yes. We will be pulling the technical data into the Black Box and all the scientists will be able to have access to it and inform the armorers how to maintenance them".

"Very well, doctor, excellent work: Anything else?" Lejeune's eyes become suddenly bright and Illyuschenko feared that another hour of technical explanations were about to come. "That is the most admirable part, Commander. We immediately started to consider other applications for the power given by small Elerium engines, after seeing what the weapons could do and we came up with an idea which we think it will please you". He grabbed an Elerium clip from the table and inserted it into the plasma rifle, activating it afterwards. It was Illyuschenko's time to almost jump back as he questioned what did this young fool intended to do.

The scientist simply lifted the screen with his free hand covering the front of the booth and the cement target practice area slowly appeared. At the distance a human fire could be seen at twenty-five feet, but it wasn't a living thing. It looked more of some sort of light gray bipedal insect figure, with a torso that looked more of a football standing up. The head was circular and had two similarly shaped visors at the level of the eyes, one half the size from the other. A single antenna came out at the top pointing diagonally on one of the sides. Large shoulder pads and leg protections stood out, together with the armored boots and light blue metallic fingers that hanged limp. "That, ladies and gentlemen is a Type 25 personal armor, although we are calling it a 'power suit' and you will soon see why. And this" he hold the weapon to his shoulder and pointed it to the figure "is a plasma rifle". As he pressed the trigger in excitement, a green plasma beam quickly traveled from the barrel to the armor, leaving a burned image in everyone's retinas and a trace of ozone in the air. It hit the armor on its left chest, leaving a burnt mark. Illyuschenko looked amazed as when Lejeune pressed a button to get it clear that it seemed to have hold the weapon's power. When it was very close to the scientist he stopped and grabbed a cloth. He then used it to remove the carbon caused by the interaction of the plasma with the oxygen and nitrogen that had precipitated on the front of the armor, making the hit area gray again.

"It can stop plasma gunfire?" Illyuschenko immediately demanded in surprise. Lejeune shook his head sadly. "The frontal armor is the strongest and can deal with no problem with pistol or rifle fire, either laser or plasma. However with bigger stuff, like heavy plasmas or lasers we estimate that it has a fifty percent change of preventing it to do any damage to the soldier inside".

"Much better than the one we have right now. Why haven't you thought of this before?"

"We couldn't Commander. See, that armor uses Elerium to power itself. Otherwise it would take a great effort for the user to even lift an arm due to the weight of the alien alloys layers that compose it. Since Elerium generates the anti-gravity field we simply use it to lessen Earth's gravity, making it extremely light and maneuverable. And with the remaining power we have given it a powered targeting scope, including amplification and night vision and a personal tactical radio, dispensing with the need to carry that equipment separated".

"We will be even better equipped than the aliens now?" Illyuschenko still couldn't believe it. "Well yes. The power suit gives the user the almost the same amount of armor carried by the Cyberdisks. But still I wouldn't recommend fighting one all by yourself since the most likely result would be that both of you would get killed".

"I want this armor immediately Dr. Lejeune. What do you need?"

"We should get enough pre-production models ready in a few weeks. Then we will only need to test it first in combat conditions to detect any flaws that might have escaped our attention".

"Get me enough of these to equip a couple of squads and you will get your evaluation. Anything else?" The scientist smiled. "Why yes. You haven't seen all we got ready here sir". He kept his grin as he went to pick another piece of equipment.

December 1^st, 1999

Military Base outside Beijing, People's Republic of China

Nothing in Primer Zhu's previous experiences in life had ever prepared him for this moment. Escorted by Major Chen, the commander of the X-Com base in China who now had changed back into his People's Liberation Army uniform, and Ching, his country's representative to the Council of Funding Nations, he was standing in the middle of a stand placed in the tarmac of the People's Liberation Army Air Force airfields. He sensed fear and apprehension from everyone else that stood also there waiting, from the members of the Party's Politburo to the military commanders. He knew that the rows of soldiers and sailors that formed the Honor Guard present at the occasion would also be feeling the same and he wished that there wouldn't be any problems.

Without bothering to look at Ching, he contemplated the blue skies, almost empty of clouds and asked: "Any further word from the Secretary General or the Council?" Ching almost jumped in fear, affected by the tension that seemed to be present everywhere but he quickly composed himself and replied. "The fool Bomaka is still trying to talk to you about our decision to leave the X-Com project".

Zhu made a quick smirk. "Pretty soon they will realize the reason yesterday's communication to them".

"We are going to be facing recriminations afterwards, sir. There's no way to tell where this can lead us into, either in the UN or in our bilateral relationships with the rest of the world's countries". Zhu now looked back at the man, who was wearing the official uniform of the Party as all the other civilians present. "Yes, we may just experience isolation, but it will be temporary. We have taken a big step here to place us in front of all others. But pretty soon they will understand their fallacies and follow our example". Ching was about to say anything else but a hard look from Zhu silenced him and both men continued to look at the horizon.

Two minutes before noon all of the men present started to see a shape quickly approaching them from the southeast. As it approached, the figure suddenly seemed to divide itself into three airborne objects, with a larger one in the center and two smaller ones escorting it. As the huge UFO came closer to the runway, all the men took deep breaths of admiration and fear. Zhu also felt himself overwhelmed by the presence of the gray alien craft that the power it imposed on all of them.

It landed some fifty meters away from the place where they were standing, with its four massive metal legs making a barely audible thump as they hit the concrete. The machine had a circular shape and on the bottom of it there was a fifth leg standing on its middle. The two other UFOs had also landed on the sides of the larger craft. Each had a hat form, with a higher section that came up on the middle of the craft. And the extremities had a twin set of large doors, which quickly opened in a hissing sound.

When the aliens started to come out of the opened hatches Zhu watched them in curiosity. He had seen pictures of dead and live specimens that had been captured by X-Com, but the apparent fragility of the Sectoids still filled him with admiration. And also with a primal fear. He watched as squads of aliens started to come out, looking at their frail lean bodies. They skin was as eelish as he had seen in the photographs and videotapes, reminding him of an octopus or squid, an impression even more reinforced by the large lidless black bulges that were their eyes.

Looking at Chen, the leader of the PCC saw that the man was too damn nervous, looking in fear at them and trying to keep his hands still. He hoped for the sake of them all that he wouldn't to anything stupid on their first direct contact with the aliens. Too much was at stake here, at they couldn't risk throwing away months of indirect communications, using the hybrids that were alien agents operating on Earth. All live ammunition had been forbidden upon his command to take away any risk of a confrontation, but still there might be problems.

Chen hadn't agreed with that measure, but his word didn't have any weight since his military skills were minimal. He was nothing more than a political officer, sent by the Party so that they could have a direct control over the Chinese X-Com team. While he had performed that part satisfactory, his men still hadn't managed to bring down any UFO or perform any ground assault in eleven months of operation. Oh well, it didn't had any importance, Zhu considered, since we will gain everything we need now.

The Sectoids had assembled into parade formation, with twin lines on each side of the larger UFO. They were sporting their weapons but they were holding them to their shoulders, ready for inspection. Zhu suddenly felt a fear of betrayal but he dismissed it as the central leg of the larger UFO suddenly opened itself and three unarmed Sectoids came out. Moving forward, he went to greet China's new allies.

December 3^rd, 1999

Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, US

The personnel manning the Mars Polar Lander Mission Control Center were more than joyful. The probe had been launched from Earth at the beginning of the year and had finally reached its destination, the fourth planet in the Sun's orbit. This was another probe of a series of new unmanned space vehicles that would be launched or were in the process of heading towards the Red planet to make a full survey of it. Mars Polar Lander would touch down at the planet's south polar cap and search for water ice with a robotic arm while also performing other scientific experiments.

The deceleration necessary to enter Mars' orbit was on its final steps and so far everything on the probe's journey had been close to perfect, with all the instruments correctly working. But the control crew still waited in anticipation after the failure of Mars Climate Observer two months ago. That probe was aimed to place itself on Mars' orbit and observe the planet's climate, known to have fierce sandstorms that would cover whole continents. However all contact had been lost upon arrival and NASA was still trying to figure out what had happened.

Meanwhile, the technicians could only observe the image of Mars projected on the screens and hope. The Polar Lander had a camera installed that was recording the flight, taking ever-closer pictures of Mars and transmitting them back to Mission Control. Even though they were more than ten minutes old due to the time it took them to travel at light speed back to Earth it gave all the individuals in the room the sight of the approach to a different planet, never stepped on by Man, even after thousands of the ever approaching globe.

The senior NASA officer on watch was just contemplating Mars again on one of the consoles when the image suddenly disappeared. And at the same time in the room every technician controlling every aspect of the mission suddenly seemed surprised.

"What is that? Did the camera go offline?" The technician went into checking the camera's status when suddenly the headpiece that the senior officer wore started speaking. "We lost all communications with the probe. All telemetry, everything"

"This just can't happen again! Try to see if the Lander responds any of our commands through the alternate set. Any idea of what might have happened?"

"No idea. And if the probe doesn't respond in less than twenty minutes I doubt we will ever know for sure".

December 4^th, 1999

Area 51, Nevada, US

Walking into one of the base's huge surface hangars, Johnson knew that he needed to be able to approach the subject on a soft way. China's defection to the aliens had brought all kind of questions and rumors among the men and women under his command and he needed not only to clarify everything but also to make sure that he had the situation controlled. Worse yet had been Chen's decision to follow his countries orders, effectively turning the X-Com base over China. Not for the loss of men and material it represented but by setting a dangerous precedent for the future. Technically all X-Com bases and material were property leased or supplied to the UN for the duration of the conflict. Only X-Com's High Command could return them back, a decision that had to be confirmed by the General Secretary. But the decision of the Chinese team commander had shown that things weren't so simple. Any attack done by a country on a X-Com base would be considered an act of war but the situation didn't seem to apply on this case. The fact that every X-Com command was manned by personnel belonging to that country or continent rose all sort of questions if the same thing could happen again but in this time on the US or Russia. And a reshuffling of the troops would only worsen the situation, bringing down operational effectiveness and a drop on morale.

It was a tough question for everyone he knew. Even the high-ranking officer's conference he had held a couple of hours ago had shown that many of the men and women were having difficulties dealing with the situation. But it also had proven the value of something they had acquired on the battlefield and that was what had motivated their decision, knowing that the enlisted ranks were feeling the same way.

As Johnson went up the wood stand that had been placed in front of the more than a thousand of men and women that now composed the operation, all of the conversation suddenly came to a halt and everyone got seated. He stopped right in front, with Markovitch, Patterson and all the officers above Captain standing behind him, together with Dr. Mantell, who had spoken for the scientific and engineering community. Taking a deep breath he raised his voice to be hear all over the hangar.

"Good afternoon to you all. I trust that base rumor has already told you the news about China. I'm sorry to confirm the news. Two days ago the UN Secretary General received a letter from the Chairman of the People's Republic of China stating their decision to back out of the X-Com project due to their dissatisfaction with the unit. Major Chen was immediately contacted by High Command and his response was that he would be turning his men and the base back to Chinese control, not recognizing Commander Illyuschenko's authority anymore refusing to follow any of his orders.

But that's not the worst. At the same day one the Russians and the Japanese tracked several large UFOs heading towards China. Later photographic reconnaissance showed that the craft had landed in several of China's top military installations. Intelligence has determined that the Chinese must have struck some sort of pact with the aliens. I know what's going on everyone's mind here: what if the same happened to the US?" Some of the personnel moved uncomfortably on the chairs, others simply turned their faces away.

"For the past two days all of the officers you see here have deal with that same question, trying to come up with a solution to it. This morning we gathered and came up with several answers. Number one, we can't expect nothing more from the aliens than either a quick or a painful death". Several of the veterans nodded in reply as he expected. "Number two, we trust President's Winston decisions and we know that he would never sell the US to the aliens". That also brought some approving nods although less and some of the soldiers actually chaffed at it.

That didn't bother Johnson. More important would be the message he would try to send next. "From some of your reactions I can see that Winston doesn't quite correspond to your expectations or your political party. But that's normal, since we like in a democracy and you have the right to publicly express your opinions. However, no matter to which side you lean on, there's one thing we all must take into account. We have all seen what the aliens are up to. To dominate Earth by whatever means necessary for them own uses. And many lives have been lost already to them and many more will be necessary. And the moment our elected officials decide to betray our country by signing an agreement with the aliens is the moment where we should question their authority".

The last sentence brought a deep silence to the room. "That is not betrayal. That is fulfilling the vow you have taken as you all entered military service on which you swore to protect the US Constitution. And if the aliens were free to operate over our country we all know what would happen: more abductions and the slaughtering of innocent citizens. We have the moral right to defend them, even from misguided actions from our government. Therefore I will clearly state here and now that I will never turn this base back to US control in case we sign a pact with the aliens!"

Johnson expected some reaction to his words but none came. Instead all the seated men and women seemed to be considering his speech. "However if your conscience dictates you to choose otherwise you are free to do so. Major Patterson will take care of any requests for transfer to the Appalachian base or back into the regular military if you choose so. But our decision remains. After seeing what they did in Los Angeles and Siberia I won't ever accept entering an agreement with the aliens. This is our planet, not theirs!" Johnson was already starting to feel exhausted from the entire speech. "If anyone desires to speak out please do so. If not at the moment, please feel free to ask an interview with me or any other senior officer". He waited for a few seconds but only silence greeted him. "Very well. For the time being we shall resume our activities". He took a step back and Sergeant Hopkins, after one second shouted. "Attention!" Everyone in the room stood straight and saluted. All the officers replied the greeting and Hopkins dismissed the ranks, with the troopers and scientists slowly getting out of the hangar in pairs or alone.

The Colonel turned to Hopkins as he was going by him and asked: "What do you think Elias?" The Afro-American stopped on his tracks and thought for a second before replying. "I think you gave them all enough to think Colonel. But what you said felt true to me and I believe the majority of them will feel the same. Still it gets disturbing of thinking of the consequences of such a possible action, sir".

That didn't add much but it would have to do for now, Johnson decided. "Thanks Sarge and do me a favor? Keep an eye on what the men are talking about and let me know, will you?"

Hopkins nodded. "Sure, sir".

December 19^th, 1999

Mother One, Black Forest, Germany

As soon as the xenobiologists and intelligence officers had finished questioning the Floater leader captured near Seattle they had sent immediately the results back to Mother One, without even reporting to Johnson. Since then every senior officer back at the Nevada base had been waiting for two long days in anticipation to hear something from High Command. Until now.

Yesterday he had been ordered to report back to HQ for strategic discussions. His queries with Commander Illyuschenko about the reason behind had been dismissed with a simple comment: "Get here Colonel, you will soon know more than you have asked for". That had only raised even higher his level of tension and fear, causing him to stay unable to sleep through the whole transoceanic flight. And when the Skyranger took off again after picking him up at Frankfurt International Airport he was told by one of the ground crew that it was on its way to pick another officer.

Five hours later, all eight X-Com regional commanders were present and seated at the same room, together with the leaders of the Intelligence and Scientific branches and Commander Illyuschenko, reminding Johnson of a similar meeting that had happened close to a year ago. How far things have evolved he considered looking at the dark uniformed men. Chen was gone now, after having decided to stay with China. Yamashita's face had an ugly scar on a cheek giving him a dreadful look. Santos, the jovial Brazilian officer had been killed on the first encounter with the aliens of the newly formed South American team. And others have changed inside, he concluded, before removing those thoughts as Illyuschenko rose from his place on the circular table and started to speak, not without taking a pause first.

"To begin let me apologize to you behind removed from your men. It's also against my better judgment for us all to be together, but recent developments have dictated the need that we redefine our global strategy in dealing with the aliens. As you all know we have captured one of their higher ranks and we have finished its interrogation. We have used other means to confirm the results and this is what we got". The screen behind him lit up and Dr. Chevereux and Colonel Robinson, X-Com's Intelligence Director turned around on his sides to take a better view.

A red globe suddenly filled the screen, hanging against a star filled background and marked with patches of white on its poles. Darker sections could be seen more close to the equator, marking the effects of a sandstorm or ancient basins. Everyone in the room knew immediately what he was looking at: the planet Mars. "Apparently the aliens are not in the Moon as the intelligence services of Earth's countries thought since our satellite is a perfect base of operations. Based on the answers given by the alien, we have been able to determine that they have their manufacturing and cloning operations on a hidden base on the Red Planet. From there they are conducting their take-over of Earth, using the Moon only as a staging point to launch their attacks. Furthermore, we have received confirmation of the alien presence in the planet by other means". He nodded to Dr. Chevereux, who on his turn got up.

"On the seventh of this month, NASA's Mars Polar Lander was about to reach the planet when all communication was suddenly cut off between the probe and mission control. They have attributed it to some sort of technical error, but we suspect something else. That wasn't the first probe ever to be lost upon arrival at Mars, which further enhanced our suspicions. NASA had already lost another probe this year and another seven years back, all upon reaching the Planet. But the real confirmation came from an effort made by the Soviets back in 1989 with the Phobos probes. Phobos One was lost on the journey but its twin, Phobos Two, managed to reach Mars' orbit and stay there for two months transmitting images and information before it also went off the air. Communication problems were advanced to the rest of the world and everyone believed the story, although the data beamed back brought some peculiar images like this one." A section of the planet became amplified and it was replaced with an old black and white image, showing the occasional fuzziness of old television. It showed an ellipsal shadow on the surface of the planet, hanging there for some seconds before the whole image was replaced with black. "First it was thought that the shape was Phobos, a captured asteroid that is one of Mars satellites. However the shape doesn't correspond to the known features of Phobos, especially since it's too smooth on the edges. That wouldn't meant much, except that after the dissolution of the Soviet Union a defector appeared and presented the last image, taken after the one we just saw, that the probe broadcasted back to Earth that the Soviets deliberately refused to disclose. And here it is". A cigar-shaped figure appeared on the middle of the screen, with Phobos standing behind it. "That is not an asteroid, gentlemen. And we have determined that it was the object creating the shadow on the planet's surface, based on the shadow. However, that means that it has close to twenty kilometers in length and one in diameter, making it the largest artificial object to ever be seen on this star system. And for all we know, this alien mothership could still be around".

The shit just hit the fan, Johnson told himself, as he imagined one of those beasts moving over Earth and laying destruction at his path. "This picture was taken in 89. So far our probes and telescopes haven't picked it up again, either on Mars or on the vicinity of Earth. Most likely it is the way they used to move between the stars since the captured craft doesn't have any device that would allow them to travel through speeds faster than light. And maybe now it's back at the aliens home world, we simply don't know". Dr. Chevereux shook its head.

Colonel Robinson, the British put in charge of the Intelligence operations took the cue and added: "In any case, the aliens hadn't bothered to use it so far, for our sake. Or maybe it's hidden on Mars, ready to take care of any intruder in the area. However we need to find out what is going on that planet".

Yamashita turned to Dr. Chevereux and asked: "Dr., if I recall the reports correctly there was a mention of possible breakthroughs in replicating the systems that allow the aliens to fly their aircraft. Would it be possible to built one to take us to Mars?"

The scientist shook his head again and replied: "It will take us many months to even try to achieve the feat of actually building one UFO. And most likely the trip would take even a longer time, not to mention the fact that the spacecraft would need to be fully equipped and armed to deal with whatever defenses the aliens have around".

"Furthermore, we don't have a precise target. But there's a possibility". Illyuschenko added and turned to the doctor for him to continue. "Please explain to them".

Typing a command, the scientist replaced the image behind him with another one, of a Sectoid, Floater and a Snakemen standing up. "We had already determined of the existence of a caste system inside the Sectoid Hierarchy, with several levels, each tasked with a different role. This societal organization also seemed to apply to the other species of aliens encountered, but the question remained of whom was in charge of it all. The Sectoids mental powers seemed to make them our prime suspects but now we have reason to believe that the 'Starspawn', as they all call themselves, has a head, a queen-like figure that directs them all. And this alien is ordering the whole invasion from Mars". An interrogation mark appeared over the three aliens.

Didn't Billings mention something about hearing the voice of the Starspawn, Johnson remembered, quickly adding: "Mental powers?" Chevereux looked at him in curiosity, together with the rest of the officers in the room. "Just guessing", he quickly added.

"And a good guess, Colonel, although there are other probabilities. We don't know what this queen is, if it is a living thing or a computer and how it communicates with the alien forces."

"But if we kill it, will we stop the invasion?" Colonel Boronin demanded out of a sudden. The scientist thought for a second and replied: "Yes. If we eliminate the head of the society the rest of the body should die".

"Then we need to get to bloody Mars as soon as possible!" Colonel MacTaggert's voice sounded like thunder in the middle of the room. "Built one of your gimmicks to take us there!"

"That is not possible yet!" The scientist countermanded as a rain of questions coming from all the regional commanders suddenly overwhelmed him, filling the room with chaos.

"Enough!" Illyuschenko's voice was overheard over the others, causing everyone to shut down. "I share of all of your goals: we must hit the aliens hard and stop this invasion! However rash action won't help us here! There are other things to consider!"

"Sir, if we wait too long we might loose an opportunity here! The aliens have made three terror attacks in two months! If this keeps escalating we might find ourselves out of resources to contain them and keep this force fighting!" Johnson couldn't believe the words but they came naturally.

"Colonel, sit down and listen!" Only then did Johnson notice that he was the only one still standing up. He got down on his seat and waited. "Have you all forgotten to see what it would mean if we failed on such an attempt? Do you think the aliens would sit idly knowing that we had discovered their base of operations? And what if they decided to throw away finesse and use something like that flying monster on us?!" The threat of the alien mothership loomed at everyone in the room.

"Believe me, gentlemen, we are going to Mars and I intend to be on the spaceship that bring us there, but first we need to know more about their little operation over there. Colonel Robinson, please pick up from here and this time all of you better listen first". Dr. Chevereux, who seemed to be waiting with almost no patience left, let go of a deep breath before sitting. Robinson got up, seeming to be completely untouched by the previous discussion and spoke.

"Besides the technical aspects, there are a couple of things we need to know before attempting such a mission: where exactly is the base located and what is exactly this brain. The interrogation of the captured leader failed to give us such information, most likely because of the fact that the alien wasn't required to know such things. But in the middle of all their numbers there's got to be one that knows the information we require. What we need to do is dig him out and question him".

"You can't just wait and expect him to drop out of the skies, bloody literally speaking". Robinson turned to MacTaggert, who had spoken the comment. "Yes you can. Someone mentioned before that the aliens are increasing their actions. That means that we should face more of their higher-ranking officers, thus giving us more chances of capturing one of them. And with the new power suit armor and plasma weapons we are more than capable of handling them on the ground".

Until something new on their part comes up, Johnson immediately told himself. "That won't last, Mr. Robinson. We can't make assumptions about the aliens. Usually when we do we find out about our mistakes when we start receiving the dead bodies of our troopers on the base morgue".

"And we will respond to them, Colonel. Patience is the key here. We now have a solution for this whole thing, as crazy as it might seem. But it will take time and we can only hope that we are able to hang out that long".

"In that case, we should present this evidence to the Council of Funding Nations and ask for more funding or even their technological help. It would speed up things a bit, wouldn't it?" Illyuschenko's reply was completely unexpected. "No!"

As the eyes of everyone in the room turned towards him, he started to explain. "China's defection has shown us that we might have our position compromised in the future. There's little reason to doubt that it will happen again with another country, and if it does I don't want that the aliens know through them about our suspicions over Mars. That would be as disastrous as making a hasty attempt at destroying their base. Therefore, this information is to stay limited to this room!" Everyone looked at him, some in shock, others surprised.

Robinson added: "Commander Illyuschenko and I have discussed this in detail. Not even the troops might know about this until the time they are about to board the ship to go to Mars. This is Earth's hidden hope, gentlemen. We have to protect it at all costs". That brought a death silence in the room, but Johnson actually felt that there might be a chance now.

"I trust you all, gentlemen to keep this secret. You are one of the finest fighting units I've had the honor to lead and I have received personal assurances from all of you after China's defection to continue fighting the aliens. When you go back to your bases, it will be up to up to share some of this hope to your men someway, although you may never mention Mars to them, no matter how they deserve it".

Looking around the room, he waited for any further questions and finding none, Illyuschenko continued. "If there's aren't any more questions now about this, we shall proceed into discussing operational deployment and how we develop a detection network completely independent of any country. I want to know everything the aliens do on this planet".

December 26^th, 1999

Papoose Lake, Nevada, US

The sound and the headlights of the Hummer jeep warned Johnson of its presence while it was still leaving the Groom Lake facility. He was standing on the top of one of the hills that separated both dry lakes after having decided to go outside and have some fresh air. The desert air was very cold and dry, but the almost full Moon was hanging up in the sky, painting the features of the terrain on its white light. Seated close to his jeep he wished that there the Moon light wouldn't be there, so that he could watch more of the stars that filled the horizon. Since Area 51 was literally on the middle of nothing and there was a limited blackout, there was almost no artificial light, making it a prime spot for stargazing. Or to take a look at Mars, who appeared as a blinking red over the desert. The Romans had feared the planet for the menacing color it had, transforming it into their god of war, accompanied by his servants, Phobos and Deimos, Fear and Terror, the names given to its natural satellites later on by astronomers. There seemed to be a reason for them to be fearful of the planet after all, Johnson thought, noticing that the brightest light besides the Moon in Earth's sky, the planet Venus, was also present. He wondered what would be stepping for the first time on a new planet, if they ever managed to go to Mars. That would surely turn into a major Hollywood movie a couple of years later. If Earth survived until then.

The sound of tracks suddenly was heard and Johnson thought he could see one of the new Heavy Weapons Platforms as it automatically went through it's role of perimeter security, looking for possible intruders in the restricted area. He hadn't decided how to use the mechanical beasts in combat. They were too noisy and occupied precious space inside the Skyrangers, so he had assigned them to Theta Company, the base security force. Speaking of which, he looked to his left side to check the construction of the new laser defense system. It had been decided to build a weapon similar to the one destroyed by the aliens in Siberia to give some protection to the base. If any hostile craft approached it could be used to destroy the intruders.

Looking down at the gravel path he saw that the Hummer was heading his way to the top of the hill and he wondered what was going on. He reached for his radio to make sure it was working, in case Major Prescott was trying to contact him, but found it perfectly in order. His curiosity was finally satisfied as the jeep stopped right next to his own and Captain Markovitch stepped out, wearing a gray parka over her black X-Com jumpsuit. "They told me at base that you had decided to take a stroll and I thought I could use one myself, unless you prefer to be alone".

He smiled to her and asked: "I'd tell you to pull up a chair, but there's none. How was Christmas back home?"

Markovitch sat and replied. "Great. I think my dad has too much free time now that he's retired from the Army and he's driving my mother nuts occasionally, but otherwise they are fine and the same with my sister, who is on her second kid. They send you their greetings". Johnson started to imagine the sixty year old now retired Army sergeant into retirement but he just gave up and grinned. "Tell them thanks".

"Sure. I've brought you a gift". She took a bottle of scotch out of one of her long parka pockets and made a devilish smile. "Technically it's against regulations drinking alcohol outside the mess halls but in this case I thought you might open an exception".

"Ha! Very well". He took the bottle from her hand, opened it and took a gulp of the amber liquor, passing it back to her afterwards. She did the same and asked afterwards: "What happened back in Germany?"

He turned stiff, remembering Illyuschenko's warning and gave the formal reply. "What do you mean? We were there to discuss the deployment of more bases and new operational methods".

"Don't give me that Erwin. After China's defection the moral at the base took a deep dive. But in the weeks since you came back from Mother One you are acting exactly the opposite, encouraging everyone around. There's something High Command isn't telling us". As she spoke he noticed that her eyes were constantly probing, looking for some sort of emotional response to her words. "Maybe there is Sheila, but this isn't the first time I have to keep something a secret until the right moment to reveal it. I can only tell you that one day in the future you will know about it".

"I hope it doesn't have anything to do with the latest base gossip". Johnson frowned. What was she talking about? "Excuse me?"

"You know a grunt's mind. When they feel that their commanding officers know something more they get curious about it. I've heard a lot of weird stories from the men in my squad from since I came here, some good, some bad. The latest one and your past days' attitude must have reinforced it more is about the Enforcer. Have you heard that one?"

"The Enforcer? What the hell is that?"

"Supposedly, back when we were in deep financial problems, one of our scientists got sacked and he decided to develop his own research to deal with the aliens. And the result was a seven feet, armored, human shaped robot capable of waging its own war with the aliens".

"Great! Here comes the Rambo robot to the rescue!" Both of them laughed. "Who in Earth would come up with something as absurd as that?"

"Hey, supposedly he helped the Far East team in South Korea during the alien's terrorist attack two months ago. The battle records still show that Yamashita's men were close to being overwhelmed by Cryssalids and they still managed to turn around events".

"Yamashita's men decided to make a suicidal attack and fought hand to hand with them using their samurai swords. That is something even more unbelievable".

She paused and spoke, her voice clearing altered to show that her words had a hidden meaning. "Well, you won't believe what other rumors I've heard. I've had to order it out of one of my men and I think he was pissing on his pants at that moment".

Johnson stared directly at her. "What do you mean?" She met his stare and continued. "Apparently there's a rumor that we have something together going on" He looked at her in disbelief but she simply stayed there, the Moon lighting every trace on her face. "Are we Erwin?"

He made a weak smile. "You already knew the answer before you asked". She moved a little closer. "I can't remember. Why don't you came here and tell me again?" He did and the second before their lips touched a thought flashed by his mind, only to quickly disappear as a feeling of extasis suddenly engulfed all his attention. Fuck Mars. Let's go to Venus instead.

André Galvão, 2001