X-Com – The Unknown Menace
Chapter Seventeen – Counter Point
Millions of years before recorded human History
Zeta Two Reticuli star system, 37 light years from Earth
Like a pair of twins, the two Sun type stars that formed this binary star system looked identical, dancing together at the rhythm of the laws of gravity. Rare in quantity in the galaxy already, this pair had another strange characteristic: when it was being formed the twin stars hadn't absorbed all of the protoplanetary material, leaving enough to condense into planets.
Joining the stars on their motion in the universe there were five planets and all of them locked in circular orbits. The two closest to the twin suns were nothing more than sterile balls of rock and metal constantly being bombarded by radiation and heat. The third planet was still a young planet burning brightly in space, with a very active nucleus, which turned most of the surface into lava. The stars' gravitational force had never allowed it to cool down, so it remained at a primordial state.
However, one of the universe's bizarre and experiments had worked out on the fourth planet. Its position in the star system allowed it to receive the necessary heat to allow for liquid water, one of life's conditions. And fueled by the radiation of the twin stars, life started to appear on the oceans. But, unlike Earth, there were no periodical mass extinctions caused by collisions with meteors or comets, since the formation of the twin star system had used most of the protoplanetary material and the fifth planet was a gas giant that served as a shield against spatial bombardments. Evolution kept a very geometrical growth and soon an intelligent species evolved to dominate the planet. With large eyes coming from an evolutionary need to see underwater in the dark and lean bodies to reduce friction while swimming, the aquatic origins of these beings were evident. And when these aliens finally moved outside of water and to the land, the effect was similar to when men's ancestors learned to walk on two, instead of on four. They were already an intelligent species, capable of forming societies and as they started to venture on land, the new opportunities and challenges finally brought them intelligence.
But the new conditions were also very hard for bodies originally adapted to live underwater, underneath coral-like organisms and inside caverns, where the radiation's effects where lighter than in the surface. The aliens were soon aware of their dilemma through observation of the lesser and lesser numbers of their progeny: by leaving the shores and moving above water they had gained intelligence, but also the high-mutation rates were causing a dangerously weak gene pool, since most of the offspring of most mutations would die at birth. So they had to revert to genetic engineering and cloning to maintain the population necessary to the survival of their civilization.
And one day another factor told them of their need to escape their planet in order to assure their survival. One of the major celebrations and events of their culture consisted of an extremely rare eclipse when one of the stars would pass in front of the other and blaze the sky with light, as the light from the star behind bended over its companion. But as they started to make records of the event and mathematically anticipate it, they became aware that the frequency of this phenomenon was changing. While at first it was attributed to an error, the number of discrepancies forced them to realize that the relationship between both stars was changing and with it other changes would be brought upon them. One day the great green and blue water surfaces of their planet would be nothing more than vast masses of ice, as the interplanetary forces at work were pulling away the planets from the heat of the twin stars. Ironically, it would probably also reduce the radiation to a level naturally bearable to their bodies but in the end the lower temperatures would destroy their civilization.
But their leaders weren't also completely satisfied with their only means of survival. A great menace lurked in the darkness of space, an unsafe invitation that they felt in their collective mind, developed during their aquatic experience. Dissent and opposition had never been a major factor on their society until now and it was threatening to destroy the fabric of their society. The discussion wasn't about if they could develop the necessary interstellar technology, but if they were ready do deal with the unseen forces hiding in space. Eventually a compromise was worked out and specific preparations were made, even if it meant the elimination of the still dissident factions. It was the time to encounter their fate in the cold stars.
April 14th, 2000
Area 51, Nevada, US
"No! No! No! No!" Jake Landon removed the virtual reality goggles he was wearing and threw them to the console he was facing. The plastic and metal device hit the monitor, now showing only dark and felt down, only to be left suspended a few inches from the ground by the wire that attached them to the workstation. On his left, Pharris just placed the pen he was holding on notepad on top of his knees and replied: "That costs money, you know?"
"Get another one and get me also more processing speed. The system is going way too slow in accepting my instructions. The pauses on processing the damn software just drive me nuts!"
Pharris just gave him a mock smile. "Another Cray-7 computer? IBM might take a while to get us another one equipped with the alien processors and you have nearly spent the equivalent of a small country's national product already". Landon rolled his eyes in frustration and countered. "Is that what you did back in the NSA, Pharris? Bean counting?"
The smirk increased on the ex-NSA specialist. "Well, let's just say that if Dr. Mantell hadn't assigned me to supervise this research, the costs could be reaching into astronomical figures".
"Astronomical. Funny. I get the joke. Ha!". He picked up the goggles and placed them over the keyboard in front of him. But Pharris wasn't about to let it go. "Give it another try Jake. You have already figured out most of how the alien system processes information. The guys back at engineering are already going nuts over your findings on how to operate gravitational fields. They are talking about actually putting an Elerium engine on an airframe and start doing some tests".
"Yeah, whatever". He rubbed his eyes. "That was the easy part, actually. The aliens aren't stupid: they have managed to keep the operating system clean and simple as possible. But whomever designed this thing also managed to leave some enigmas inside and those are the ones who are pissing me off".
The former NSA officer raised his eyes in curiosity. The National Security Agency was responsible for securing US communications and also to decode other countries' secrets. "What are you talking about? Have you found out any thing extraordinary?"
"No. Yes, I mean, there are some pieces of the code that don't seem to have any purpose at a first look. Since you people are trying to build a flying saucer I didn't took very notice at them, but a week ago something made me think about their purpose". He put back the goggles. "I'll show you". Pressing a command in the keyboard in front of him, he selected the alien operating system mode. Pharris turned from Landon to the monitor in front of him see what he was doing, as the hacker started to move his arms in the air, giving out virtual commands.
The visual display unit had a relay from the goggles, showing what the operator was seeing and doing in the virtual environment used to run the alien computer. As it started coming to life, a series of strange looking icons appeared, some of them branded together with a brief explanation in English. But Landon wasn't interested in those. Gesticulating in the air, he pushed them aside, until a strange set of six symbols consisting of loops and jagged edges appeared. This time no comments in English appeared.
Pharris wondered at what he was supposed to be looking at. "Equal to many other stuff we've seen so far". Landon's voice responded. "Yeah, I thought so also. But do you remember when we've decided to look into the navigational system of that medium UFO a week ago?" Pharris nodded, but remembered that Jake couldn't see him and added an affirmative response. "Yes, you asked if we had systems belonging to different UFOs to test your hypothesis about how the computer deals with different craft and their masses".
"Exactly. Well, out of a hunch I've decided to take also a look at some series of strange data I had seen in the other operating system. Some of them are already recognizable as numbers, using the alien twelve-digits numeration". He punched his fingers, as if pressing an invisible keyboard, with numbers appearing below a pair of the symbols. Pharris looked at them and didn't seem impressed. But before he could express a comment, Landon spoke back. "Now, watch their equivalents on the other UFO's operating system".
A new set of six symbols appeared below the original one. Three of the symbols were different, but the remaining two were equal to the pair above them. Pharris just shook its head and turned it to him. "Landon, this is useless, it can be anything".
The young man simply kept dialing invisible commands, which annoyed Pharris. When he was done after some seconds time he spoke again, as if he was holding something. "I need more information about the circumstances on where these devices were recovered. I also need access to more alien computers".
Pharris couldn't tell if the college student was joking or crazy. "You are nuts Pharris. Every one here is in a need to know basis about alien data. In your case and with your background that is even more evident. They didn't just put me here to do bean counting, you know?"
The hacker just smiled. "Is that so? Well, in this case I think there's a need for me to understand what the other two symbols might mean, since I've discovered the secret of the third one". Pharris looked and saw that one had different comments in English. "UFO TYPE 1". But the corresponding icon below also was tagged, but as "UFO TYPE 2". Confusion raced to his mind. "What am I supposed to be looking at here?"
"Identification. Those symbols tell the system what sort of craft is it dealing with".
Pharris took a deep look at them and asked: "When did you find out about this?"
"Doesn't matter. The two first are some sort of numerical variables. Now, what might the other three symbols tell us about? You might want to check how these things were recovered to give us some clues".
Pharris recalled the details of the two retrievals. The first one was from the first UFO captured at Florida more than a year ago. The second had been the harvester model secured at the Pacific coast. In front of him were the identifications for both UFO types. What about the others? His first shock appeared when he remembered that one was manned by Sectoids and the other by Floaters. Another of the symbols would probably mention the race. But for what purpose and why there were numerical markers?
The greatest shock came when he realized what might be the purpose of the other symbols. So far they had race and UFO type figured it out. Could the other ones be mission orders or other identification markers? Like a beacon? The aliens used transponder beacons on their UFOs close to the ones on planes? "Shit!" he suddenly let go and went to check the records. Landon smiled, as he saw that his plan to get more processing speed had worked and kept punching commands in the air.
April 29th, 2000
Complex YY-18, Japan
The blazing alarm of an UFO intrusion was nearly deafening as Colonel Yamashita run through the corridors leading into the command center of X-Com's Far East base. He had already passed through many troopers and non-military personnel running around to their emergency positions and that had told him that something big was up, since this level of alert was restricted to alien terrorist attacks. When he heard the warning he was checking the new power suits in the armory and he didn't bother to pick up a phone. Instead, less than two minutes had passed on his run when he entered the control room.
The air defense boards were all lit up with pictorial representations of Japan and parts of the Asian mainland. That told Yamashita that it was a regional threat, which considerately lowered the odds of being something bad. That is, it wasn't anything worse than having aliens killing civilians. Yamashita ignored the irony and went to check for himself what was going on as the officer in charge was barking commands and seemed very occupied at the moment.
One of the boards showed the Sea of Japan, centered on the area between southern Japan and China. Looking closer he saw the reason for the emergency status: four red dots had just crossed into his country's airspace. But something was wrong with the UFOs, although Yamashita couldn't just see what it was. Meanwhile the Major in command, a small man with glasses in black X-Com fatigues came up to him and spoke:
"Colonel, radar only picked up the four UFOs as they were entering the ADIZ already. But something is wrong with the radar tracks we are picking. The flight patterns are wrong for alien activity". Yamashita didn't say a word in reply, telling the Major to continue. "The four intruders used a low-altitude approach to be undetected until now, when they finally pulled up to be seen on the radars. Also, their speed and radar signature tells that these are conventional jets, possibly fighters, not UFOs".
Yamashita realized the statement yet unspoken by the Major. He simply spoke: "Get me a line to Commander Illyuschenko. And also to the Prime-Minister".
May 4th, 2000
Geneva, Switzerland
The map showed most of Asia, with the Japanese Islands defining its right and India and Russia taking up the left. The countries with a seat in the Council of Funding Nations, India, Japan and Russia, were marked on dark blue, whilst the remaining nations had a light blue tone. With one alarming exception: China, which instead had a light red, almost pinkish, color. But more troublesome were the dark dots that where standing close to China's borders with India, Vietnam and Russia. Each of them represented a point of Chinese military activity in the past days, either a base that had gone into high activity or a military unit in tactical deployment. And in China's coastline with the Pacific, things were also heating up, with the Chinese Navy deploying most of its oceanic fleet, while fighters kept making incursions in an area ranging from the Japanese Islands to the Philippines. Taiwan had just announced a full mobilization of its armed forces, fearing that China would make an invasion attempting to establish control over the separated island.
And in the middle of all the political chaos cast by the Chinese military maneuvers, X-Com was trying to fight a war, Illyuschenko felt tempted to say, standing in the middle of the Council of Funding Nations while continuing to explain the situation to the men and women in front of him.
"The type of forces deployed by the Chinese actually don't make them a that dangerous. So far the units involved don't seem to be using more than human technology and in most cases their best wouldn't have a fighting chance against the military of more advanced nations. However it's their numbers that can be quite alarming: more than thirty divisions and several hundred combat planes have been mobilized. If the aliens actually give the Chinese access to plasma technology, the troops involved could actually take all of South-East Asia, before any other outside country could intervene. And the Chinese are also broadening their horizons, in no doubt anxious to use the agreement they made with the aliens to establish themselves as a superpower". He looked upwards to face the new image that had just appeared, showing a picture taken from above of a harbor where ships could be seen standing by peers or on dry docks. The image showed three large figures, all of them standing at dry docks.
"The larger figure is the Variag, an aircraft carrier built for the Soviet Navy but never delivered. The hull was sold to a Chinese consortium a couple of years ago, supposedly to be used as a floating entertainment complex. It seems it had a completely different destiny since the Chinese are now working on making it operational. If they are successful their ability to project long-range power will be greatly increased. Their navy will surely be more aggressive and start threatening the sea lanes of the area". Illyuschenko looked at the Japanese councilman. The man had taken off his hat and put it on the table in front of him, while stroking his mustache and smoking a long cigarette. His cold face showed no emotion but Illyuschenko knew he wasn't pleased.
"Moreover, and this is should be the main aspect discussed at this council, this activity is starting to undermine the efficiency of our forces in the field. Although X-Com is following a policy of not engaging any human craft or ships, the Chinese are not playing by the same rules. Yesterday, a flight of Skyrangers, heading back towards Japan from a mission on Taiwan, was shadowed by Chinese fighters, meaning that pretty soon we will have to start using our fighters to escort the transports. Interceptions are also proving to be tough: the aliens have learned that we don't come too close to Chinese airspace and are using it as a safe haven for their UFOs".
"Commander", Illyuschenko looked and saw that Mr. Tamako, the Japanese councilman had his hand raised to pose a question. "Japan is fully aware of the significance of China's actions and the effect it poses on our economy. We have already put the question up to the UN's Security Council, but progress in the diplomatic front so far is close to nothing. Like you said, we have to put up a fully unified front and stop this acts of aggression".
Silence hang upon the room as every representative considered the words. Finally, the German envoy, a fat man with glasses and a hard face replied. "Mr. Tamako, we can't just declare war over China or have our countries present an ultimatum. This body is not qualified for that. We will simply have to ignore China for now and let each country deal with its own solution".
"Bah!" Illyuschenko turned at the Indian councilman. "Ridiculous! My country's intelligence services show that the Chinese have increased their contacts with Pakistan. If that country also falls under alien influence, enemies will surround India, each of them having nuclear weapons and being influenced by the aliens. Who knows what they may try next? While you westerners can talk and wait, we are about to have to really fight for our survival!"
Illyuschenko had long decided to keep himself out of such futile political discussions and waited until the meeting came to an end, occasionally replying to queries. The end result was about what he expected: X-Com was not a variable taken into account in the Chinese crisis. They would have to do their business alone, as it was getting frequent these days.
May 7th, 2000
Sea of Japan
"Well it seems that we have left all the mess behind. Now it's only a couple of hours before we land on Singapore". The copilot nodded to the captain and relaxed on his chair, situated on the cockpit of a Boeing 757 on its way from Tokyo's international airport to the small state of Singapore. Last week had been particularly tense for all of the crews, as the media had picked up China's aggressive stands. Although no one thought that the Chinese would attack a civilian flight half-loaded with businessman, some precautions had been taken. The flight route had been changed to avoid the areas where the military reported airspace violations. While it would take a little more minutes to the usual arrival time, none of the passengers seemed to be complaining. The occupation rates of all flights in the area had dropped since the crisis had started and the passengers didn't seemed to mind the extra space or the reduced fares offered by JAL in order to attract costumers. Still, he wished that it all would be over soon, since the stock market was taking a dive, which had already been reeling from the economic depression. He had heavily invested on shares on the Tokyo Exchange Market most of his savings. And his wife was now bearing their second son and with him come the need to already start putting money away for the boy's education.
The autopilot was taking care of all matters related to flying the jetliner, so he decided to take a look by the cockpit window. The Sun was already starting to come down on his right, turning the clouds pink and orange, with the dark waters of the Pacific reflecting the dimming light. Then something caught his attention on the right.
He thought first that it might be the reflection of one of the instrument's panel lights on the plexiglas window. But he soon saw that the yellow dot of light seemed to have a life of its own, accelerating and moving more to the center of the window. He thought if it might be another airliner but the altitude was wrong. He decided to call the pilot's attention to it.
"Captain, I think there's another plane out there, but I can't seem to discern any navigational beacons". The pilot looked up from the cup of tea he was savoring. "Contact Manila's tower. See if they can tell us what it is".
The copilot reached for the radio and called for the air traffic controller in English. "Manila, this is JAL 007. I have an aircraft crossing over our flight path. Can you tell us what is it, over?"
The reply came after some seconds. "JAL 007, this is Manila. Our radar shows nothing. We are trying to contact it. Can you give us a bearing and altitude, over?"
"Bearing about one-six-zero. Altitude eight thousand meters. I can't tell the speed, but…"
"Look!" The voice of the pilot suddenly distracted him and he looked forward. Then he was amazed and puzzled at the same time. The light seemed to be gaining altitude fast. But how, since had never learned of any plane that could gain so much altitude in such a short notice? "What do you think it is Captain, a helicopter?"
The pilot kept staring at the yellow light. "Whatever it is, it must be military. It must belong to the Americans or Chinese, maybe some sort of…". He froze in the middle of the sentence and the co-pilot's eyes also widened as both crewman noticed that it seemed to be heading towards them. "Collision course! I'm taking the controls!", the pilot shouted as he moved his hands towards the instruments panel. Then all lights in the cockpit turned into black and the crewmen stopped hearing the jet engines. They stood immobile for a second, before trying to engage the emergency power generators, their arms moving across the control panels, desperately punching buttons and checking the circuits as no response came from the dead electrical system. One call from the chief hostess suddenly brought the pilot's eyes straight forward as he thought of something to calm down all the passengers and crew in the back and the last thing he saw was a green ball of light illuminating the cockpit.
UN Building, New York, US
China's former councilman to X-Com and now the representative to the Security Council just stood on his chair after hearing over the headphone the translation of the allegations made by the Japanese delegate to the United Nations about the destruction of the JAL airplane.
"While the Chinese government deeply regrets the loss of human lives regarding today's crash in the sea of a civilian aircraft, we strongly deny that our military maneuvers were directly or indirectly related to this matter. Japan's allegations are baseless and also no proof has been presented to this body that any Chinese military aircraft was even near the area at the time of this incident. Moreover, we question the pertinence of such matters being brought up here and call for it to be dismissed from the agenda, implying that my country will veto any proposed action". He then looked around as the other representatives heard the translation of his speech, seeking for reactions.
The US, Russia, UK and France delegates gave him back hard looks, but their objections would be useless. He kept his poker face, giving an innocent façade, but more for the other nations who had no knowledge of X-Com's existence and only suspected the existence of the aliens. But on his mind he wondered what was going on. He had been briefed of the nature of the military maneuvers and how they had been designed to place political pressure over the area, to tell to China's neighbors about who they should be listening and following, not to mention to stall X-Com's efforts in the area. However he had never heard that the agreement with the aliens had ever implied the downing of civilian aircraft by their UFOs, with more than one hundred and fifty lives lost. Luckily no radar records of the UFO involved had been recorded nor was any Chinese planes in the area, so any accusations would only bring ridicule on the ones who placed them. But what were the aliens thinking of, when they had destroyed the plane?
He remembered the first time he had ever spoke to one of their leaders, back at the first landings, with one of the Sectoids he had heard before, when the first reports gathered by X-Com had reached the Council of Funding Nations. The conversation had been made through the use of a computer since the things couldn't replicate human speech. The lack of any emotions had been the most striking thing about them, even for a culture where constraint on relationships was highly valuated. But, in the middle of all the offers they had made and requests, this sort of action had never been mentioned. Had plans changed and nobody back at the Party decided to inform him?
May 8th, 2000
Northern New Mexico, United States
"Snakemen! Two on the right!" Hopkins heard the warning of his point man as he moved down the ramp of the Skyranger. Beta squad had been assigned the right flank on the landing to retrieve a medium scout that had been downed some hours before over a desert area in New Mexico. The tank that they had brought had been the first off the plane, but two solid plasma hits from the aliens had reduced it to a charred hulk, when it had moved less than two feet from the ramp. Hopkins just wished that some of the aliens had died in the crash. Or that the Captain had been wiser and brought an extra squad, instead of the piece of junk that now blocked the way, making him to have to jump off the ramp at the height of one foot and hit the ground for cover. Well, at least tanks were easily replaceable, while men were not, he considered for a second. He wondered how the other side was doing, since a plasma bolt had already sizzled over him from that direction, but decided to deal with the Snakemen on this side first.
It was noon and the Sun was blazing overhead, starting to make him sweat on his power suit. The ground before him was mostly dry lands, composed of dust and dirt, with few vegetation or any natural features to give them or the aliens any cover. The remaining man behind him fired off a three salvo from his laser rifle and also went for cover. He saw one of the orange aliens being hit on the torso but not coming down, like a Floater or Sectoid usually would. Time to get the heavier stuff going.
The two aliens were using the wreckage of the UFO for protection, hiding behind the walls that were still standing. The craft had probably hit the ground before coming to a stop, since the side facing Hopkins was completely ripped off, leaving only shards of alien alloys on the top and bottom. A hit from Levine's heavy laser decapitated one of the Snakemen, which went to the ground squirting green blood from what would be the neck of the alien.
The second alien fired back at Sharpe, who was now moving away from the Skyranger, trying to get some cover. The squaddie took it on the arm and went down with a moan. But the second afterwards, two shots from a three-salvo burst from Hopkins's heavy plasma, brought it down, making a gargled hiss as it felt on the metal floor of the UFO.
Ten minutes afterwards it was all over and the two remaining aliens had been killed. As the X-Com team moved inside the UFO, they discovered that the majority of its crew hadn't survived the crash, with the bodies being completely smashed against the metal walls. Unfortunately, that also meant that there was no Elerium or alien machinery to be recovered, since it all had been destroyed when the UFO hit the ground. Hopkins moved away from the UFO and approached Captain Jerrel, who had been reporting the confrontation to Major Patterson back at Area 51. Sharpe and another trooper from Delta who had also been hit were being taken care of by other soldiers. Fortunately the power suits had managed to protect the human bodies inside them and the injuries were light. Hopkins removed his helmet and turned to the officer.
"Captain, the only reptiles left in the area are lizards and snakes. Are we going to hang around and wait for the retrieval team or are we leaving soon?"
The officer nodded to him and replied. "We are getting out of here. Found anything interesting inside that thing?"
The Sarge made some calculations and answered back. "We found inside another three heavy plasmas and ammunition clips for them, plus a couple grenades. There was also another one of that strange weapon that the science boys have yet to find what is it good for". He raised his arm and showed the alien device he had recovered from the UFO. It was some sort of small weapon, since had a trigger and a muzzle. However it had strange green and gray bulges over the barrel and the ammunition seemed to be small purple balls. Since the aliens hardly had used it in battle, no one over the science branch had worried much about finding out what it was used for. There were other projects far more important than going over a gizmo that didn't seem to have any tactical purpose.
"That is one ugly thing piece of hardware. What you think they use it for, Gunny?" Hopkins looked down at the weapon on his armored hands and shrugged, his white metal shoulders slightly moving upwards. "Dunno. It's a launcher of some sort, but for what they use it I couldn't care less, since it doesn't launch grenades. Probably it's as useless in fighting as those metal balls we have recovered before".
"Yeah, my thoughts also". The Captain looked around. "Let's get out of this hole. Second platoon has just been called to retrieve another UFO that has landed close to this area. I hope they are luckier than us". Hopkins nodded and started recalling the troops over the radio.
Virginia, United States
"The Chinese representative to the United Nations has denied yesterday that his country's recent military maneuvers were the cause of the mysterious crash of Japanese Airlines (JAL) flight 007. The Boeing 757 had crashed hours before on the Pacific Ocean due to unknown causes, with the loss of its 157 crew and passengers.
Speaking on an extraordinary session of the UN's Security Council, Mr. Bai strongly rejected the charges brought by Japan's to that body that Chinese fighter patrols had been in the vicinity of the area when the accident occurred. China has also stated its determination to continue with the military maneuvers which started five days ago and that are proving to be a major disestablishing factor in the region.
White House officials have downplayed the consequences of China's actions but have stated that US combat forces in the area will be ready to defend US interests and protect friendly nations in the area. Interrogated if the US would act upon a possible invasion of Taiwan, Secretary of Defense Edward Polk has confirmed that this administration will stand by the treaties signed with Japan and other nations in the area. According to the Pentagon, all US forces in Japan and South Korea have been mobilized, with all leaves cancelled. However, Polk has stated that US aircraft will avoid any unnecessary flights into the area to reduce the risk of an armed incident".
Williams stopped reading the Washington Post and scratched his brow, wondering if the whole situation would defuse itself in the next days or if World War III was about to start. He had been lucky to take a few hours off and drive home to have a shower and a good night sleep, although his cellular phone was connected the whole time, in case any other incident would occur. The Chinese bastard was right though as they could tell. The last radio transmission from the 757 had reported a strange light flying close to the aircraft and X-Com's Japanese Command was monitoring an increase on UFO detections in the area. The aliens had, in almost no doubt downed the civilian aircraft, the only question was if the Chinese knew beforehand of their intentions. But what would they want with this whole matter? Invade Taiwan and sent a message to other countries such as Japan? Simply shown off their new military power to enforce more pressure on the surrounding nations? And what about the aliens? Was this all just to help the Chinese or did they had more sinister motives; such as starting World War III and let the humans kill one another? Already the whole matter had brought a severe restraint upon Complex YY-18's ability to respond to UFO incursions outside Japan. The whole thing about the organization was that it was supposed to be a covert one, and flying unidentified planes over a highly volatile area didn't help matters a bit.
"Daddy! Daddy! Do aliens exist?" Williams lifted his eyes from the paper he was reading and saw that his eight-year old David was looking at him, holding on his hands a toy close to a Sectoid. He wondered how the kid had gotten the toy and looked over to his wife, Betty, who simply shrugged and quickly decided that there was something needed to be done upstairs.
At their age, the kids knew that their dad worked for the federal government and nothing else. They were still too young to understand why he just couldn't talk about work, but in this case it was a very different matter. Telling his son to sit close to him on the sofa, he took the toy from his hands and examined it first. It had clearly the features of a Sectoid, although Williams also saw that the designer most likely had used a crappy photograph or drawing, not likely that he had actually saw a live one and survived.
"Well, do aliens exist?"
"David, where have you heard that?"
"All the kids at school were talking about it the other day. Junior said his dad told him that they came from other planets and that they want to control us".
Oh boy, Williams told to himself, where and how do I start? "David, think of all of the universe. Now there are millions of stars like there, just like the Sun, and some of them there might be planets, and one, just one, might be like Earth and possess intelligent life".
"So there are aliens!"
"There might be aliens, but we might also never know. They might be too far away. We might never get there or they here".
"But Junior says the aliens are already here! And a lot of other kids believe it too. Why are they here dad? What they want from us?" A note of fear appeared on his son's voice.
"David, don't worry. If by any chance they are here I'm sure that we have nothing to fear from them". Williams only hoped that his son couldn't detect the lie.
"But what do they want from us? Junior says they are like Independence Day: they want to conquer us and make us their slaves". Oh boy, Williams sighed as he tried to come up with an explanation, looking by the posture of his son that he wanted an answer.
"David, if the aliens really exist then someone probably is trying to understand them. And, you know, maybe they are peaceful and only want to be friends with us. Maybe they are just watching, trying to find out what we are like". Williams hoped that the lie would take satisfy his son's doubts.
The face of David became clouded with puzzlement. "But they could also be coming here to conquer us, couldn't they?"
"Yes, they might, but we shouldn't worry about that".
Wrong answer. "But if they are, do we use like ray guns on them? Can I have a ray gun too dad?"
"I will have to talk to your mother about that. Meanwhile, have you done your homework yet David?" The youngster quickly made himself invisible, which had been Williams' intention all along to put an end to the discussion.
May 10th, 2000
Complex YY-18, Japan
"What?" Yamashita was sure feeling tired after a whole week full of false alerts, as the Chinese aircraft kept approaching Japanese airspace, only to turn back as the interceptors went after them. The radar technician looked back at him, but wasn't appalled by his superior's attitude. "Sir, the JSDAF detected a single contact approaching the ADIZ some minutes ago".
Yamashita blinked his eyes, trying to ignore that he had only been able to sleep for two hours after being awaken again and apparently for no good reason. "More of those damned Chinese? I'd better have a word with them to discuss air defense protocols after this whole mess has calmed down". The man at the console, a youngster on his twenties, cut him off. "Sir, the single contact has broken up into four different ones! All of them with flight patterns and radar tracks of UFOs, one a large scout, another of their terror ships and two that we never have seen before!"
Yamashita fully awoke. "Sound general alarm. First and Second Platoons ready to deploy. Launch the F-22s at once". He paused, thinking of what the aliens might be up to this time: a terror attack? An aerial confrontation? "What is their heading?" The technician looked now in terror. "Honshu, sir! They are going to be over us in 25 minutes and counting!"
Twenty minutes later, Yamashita was standing in the hangar closest to the command center, looking at the Skyranger who was using its jet engines to elevate itself through the now opened steel doors of the roof. The plane, together with the two other Skyrangers who were lifting from other hangars, was crowded with all the non-combat personnel it could hold. It had been confirmed: all of the UFOs would be over Complex YY-18 in a question of minutes, in no doubt making an assault at the base, since there was no other target around for miles.
A trooper wearing a power suit and with the bars of a Captain approached him, carrying a plasma rifle on his hands and moving through the remaining technicians who were now heading to the southern doors, on their way to the unfinished workshops at the east of the base. "Colonel, First and Second platoons have deployed as you ordered sir". We have the corridor leading to the main airlock secured, with the First standing on the sides and the Second at the central hangar, ready to blast any aliens that came through it". Yamashita reminded himself of the base's disposition: the base had been build underground, around the hangars, four of them making a perfect square, with a fifth one on the center. Four main corridors connected the edges, while an additional number linked the central hangar to the middle of the exterior passageways. The base's entrance consisted of a chamber linked to the surface by elevators, outside the southern side of the square, and connected to the corridor in that section of the base by another one. On the paper it looked good: if any enemy tried to invade the base, the defenders could simply cut them into pieces since the area around the airlock was void of any other facilities that could provide cover for the attackers. They only needed to hold the southern intersection to stop the aliens. "What about the third?"
"They are still in the armory, getting into their power suits". Yamashita grimaced, because he didn't had time to get himself fully equipped. The armory was located in the southwest area, while the command center was on the northeast. He had only time to get to his quarters to put on his personal armor, made of alien alloys, and grab a plasma pistol and his katana. "As soon as they get ready, place individual squads on the hangars to provide a second line of defense, in case we need it". He was about to dismiss the officer and go back to the command center, when something come up his mind. "How many aliens do we have on the containment unit?"
The captain's face, visible because the face visor was still up almost hid completely the confusion on his thoughts. "Eight, sir. Three Sectoids, one Snakemen and four Floaters. I have one of the base security platoons there watching over them".
"Tell them to kill them all. We can't risk that they might take the opportunity to get loose. Dismissed!" Yamashita then dashed to the command center.
Lieutenant Kanawe and the other three men of Second Squad, Second Platoon were in position in the hangar, all around the southern door, whose massive steel doors were now closed. But as soon as Captain Ichiko, who was standing outside the doors with five other troopers, all in cover, gave them the call, they would open the doors and pour fire down the corridor, in the direction of the airlock. He looked at the HWP directly in front of the door: it was equipped with rocket launchers and those would soon wreck havoc on any aliens that dared to cross the corridor between the hangar and the airlock.
When Yamashita reached his command chair, the transparent monitor made of liquid crystals in front of him turned active, hiding the other stations in front of him. The face of Councilman Tamako showed concern, but also a deep calm. "Colonel, I've been briefed already of the situation and I'm in direct contact with the Prime-Minister, in case we can offer you any help. But I shall distract you no more. Good luck".
Yamashita nodded and looked to his side. A lieutenant close by him and wearing a radio set simply spoke. "The HAWK batteries are ready and have tracked the target". The young officer saw the nod and simply spoke: "Firing now!"
Close to the command center, two missile launchers, each holding twin racks rose up from their concealed positions underground, standing in the middle of a small plain, and swiveled to the direction of the UFOs. After a brief second, as the computer supplied the guidance systems inside of them with the necessary information, the first surface to air ignited its engine and shot away towards the UFOs. The remaining three missiles followed thereafter.
"By the seven hells!" Someone in the room spoke what Yamashita was thinking now. The cameras outside had spotted the enemy flight and had zoomed on it. Two of the incoming UFOs were the largest ever recorded by X-Com, dwarfing the large scout that accompanied them. Circular in size, they seemed to have several levels, and on their bottom they had massive pylons, in no doubt to support them while landed. The first missile hit the one on the left, exploding in a fireball that covered the front of the craft. The other three quickly followed, enlarging the explosion, but the second afterwards, all of the UFOs kept in their course, heading towards Complex YY-18. Only the large scout seemed to be experiencing trouble, as it wobbled in the air, instead of keep a straight course. "Alert all troops. Here they come!"
When one of the UFOs landed on the ground in top of the hangar with a thump, Kanawe looked upwards in surprise, but quickly got his mind back into the radio, waiting for the orders from Ichiko. But after some seconds a huge roar from above made him look back again. However, he was unable to see anything as the light and noise from an explosion above him clicked the light and noise suppressors on his helmet, making him blind and deaf for some seconds.
Outside the central hangar, Captain Ichiko also heard the explosion and wondered what had just gone inside. Standing inside a small room on the side of the corridor he raised his arm as he tried to call the other squad on the radio. "Kanawe, what is going on there? Kanawe! Anyone there answer me!"
The only response he had was from one of his own men. "Captain! They are coming!" Grabbing with his free hand the entrance, Ichiko put his head outside the corridor and looked: more than hundred yards away, the doors leading into the elevators to the surface were open. And three humanoid figures, each one taller than the average human, had just stepped out, all carrying plasma weapons. Ichiko stopped bothering with the radio and ordered his men to fire.
The first explosions had put everyone inside the control room in a frantic state, with everyone trying to understand what had just happened. Yamashita and the others were trying to raise anyone on the radio to make a report, but the distant sound of gunfire fire and explosions was the only response that came to them. Suddenly the lieutenant close to Yamashita froze in his place. "Colonel! Better came and see this quick!"
Yamashita rose from his chair and moved to his side. An image, identified as live feed from a camera located on the SE hangar showed light coming through the ceiling and dark humanoid figures moving in the middle of smoke, only pausing to raise their weapons and shoot, presumably at the members of the squad from Third platoon who had been deployed there. "They have broken through the hangar doors!" But what aliens was he seeing?
The doors behind him suddenly opened and Yamashita turned around to look. Standing on the entrance to the control room was an alien he had never seen, his head almost touching the upper edge of the entrance. Massive and well-defined muscles stood out from his chest, arms and legs, the contours visible underneath the tight dark green suit he was wearing. The garment also covered all of his head, except for the face, which was bare. The alien's eyes were dark, with a strange white for an iris and he had no ears or nose to be seen. All in the control room stood looking at the strange figure for a second, as it looked around the room for a brief second, before pointing the heavy plasma it was carrying to their direction.
On the central hangar, as soon as Kanawe regained his consciousness, he found that he was on the ground close to the smoking remains of the HWP. The area was full of smoke and a fuel drum exploded on the opposite side of his position. A green alien was standing with his back turned to him and using a heavy plasma to demolish the walls of a storage room that the remainder of his squad was using to cover. He noticed that his heavy laser had dropped out of his hands and, picking it up in a swift motion, he quickly pointed it to the alien and fired a couple of shots that hit the humanoid on his back. Kanawe's hairs went up as the figure arched itself backwards and released a high pitch, savage scream.
Kanawe thought the green monster thing would drop to the ground. But instead it quickly started to turn to his direction, the black pupils seeking the cause its tormentor in a predatorial gaze. The first plasma shot passed under Kanawe's right arm, missing by a small margin. The second hit the side of the lieutenant, filling the side of his belly with a fierce burning sensation of pain that almost made him black out. He still managed to hold his weapon though and fired it back again in a reflexive action, without worrying about taking aim. A grenade blew to his left at the same time, projecting him back to the metal grating on the floor again, but he still managed to see the alien accompanying him to the ground, where it stayed immobile. Kanawe then looked to his belly. The plasma had cut through the armor, leaving a blackened section where red blood could be seen pouring out. Not good, he considered to himself.
On the control center, the first shot from the strange alien missed Yamashita by a hair. However he heard the sound of the technician close to him crashing down over the console. He immediately threw himself to the side, the second blast hitting the electronic screen and exploding it, but Yamashita didn't bother to look. Holding his katana sword still on his sheath, he rolled over on the floor close to the extraterrestrial, taking advantage that the alien was busy with the two security guards. As the Colonel was moving, the green figure simply took turned to each one in turn and killed them, taking no notice of the full laser salvos that it was receiving on its torso, which left only a couple of burn marks on the green jumpsuit it was wearing. A series of gunshots was also heard. One of the officers had drawn his sidearm and was firing back at the alien, holding a semiautomatic pistol in both his hands. The X-Com's trooper aim was good, but worthless. Yamashita clearly saw the bullets ricocheting off the alien's body and he even felt one hitting his armor, but failing to penetrate it as he got himself upwards after a second ground roll that put him less than three feet from it. As Yamashita finally got up, his right hand moved to the hilt of the sword and, as he draw it out, the blade slashed through the alien's arm that was holding the plasma weapon in an upward movement.
The X-Com Colonel felt the sharpened steel cutting through the arm but the slicing movement was abruptly cut off, taking him out of balance and preventing him from completing the movement. Two things happened in quick succession: the sound of the alien's pain as the blade cut through his forearm and stopped upon reaching the bone, failing to cut through it, and in the moment afterward a rock punch to his side left Yamashita almost out of breath. Staggering backwards he saw the alien closing its pupils while the powerful muscles on its jaws contracted in pain and it clenched its teeth. Trying to breathe at the same time, Yamashita took out the plasma pistol from the holster on his belt and fired immediately. It took half a dozen shots before the alien finally died screaming.
On the main corridor to the airlock, Captain Ichiko's squad was barely holding the invaders at bay. The aliens had already reached the intersection but the squads who were supposed to prevent them from taking cover where notoriously absent. Still, several of the unknown aliens had already been dropped to the ground, but their sheer numbers meant that it was a matter of time before they would be overwhelmed. Ichiko brought his heavy plasma through the door of the room where he was hiding and fired back down the corridor again. Two of his shots hit a humanoid figure that was trying to reach the safety of the intersection, dropping him to the ground. Only the heavy stuff seemed to be able to bring these aliens down. A close by plasma blast made him lower his head but he still kept it pointed down the corridor. Then he started to hear an increasing whining sound and he wondered if the aliens were using some kind of electronic interference on the radio channel. However looking forward, he was amazed as he saw something suddenly flying out of the left corridor on the intersection and make a ninety degree turn on the air, before speeding off at an incredible speed on his direction. His instinct immediately made him take a couple of steps backwards, but the last thing he saw on his life was a silvered ball come to a stop fully suspended on the air by an unseen force and head towards him, before releasing the immense force of the Elerium warhead it carried in a massive explosion that vaporized the X-Com officer and the room where he was standing.
Back on the command center, the sound of that explosion was hardly noticed as another of the green Herculean aliens jumped inside the room. However, this time the personnel in the area was prepared, with Yamashita exchanging his pistol for the heavier plasma that the first alien was carrying and scoring a second kill in a well thought ambush that brought it down five seconds after it entered. Standing by the corpse of the extraterrestrial, he looked down the corridor leading down into the nearest hangar. It seemed empty of enemy troops, so he turned around to check the status of his troops. Several troopers and support personnel had been immediately killed by the plasma blasts, since they didn't had any armor protection. The surviving personnel were busy moving their burned bodies to a corner, underneath a staircase. There was no time to deal with them now and Yamashita tried to check the status of the other sectors on the base. But as soon as he reached the woman on the radio, a deep rumble came from the depths of the base and both of them feared the most for a second.
When the radio on Kanawe's helmet became alive with the voice of the Colonel, he let out a short breath and moved away from the remains of the hangar's southern doors and to a safer position, in spite of the burning on his stomach. The bleeding had been contained through the use of a medikit, but he was only still conscious because he had been applied with heavy doses of stimulants and pain relievers. Looking down the landing pad, with parts lit up from the sunlight coming from the holes the aliens had cut to come through the ceiling, he saw the bodies of the four aliens who had almost succeeded in killing his whole squad, of which he was the only survivor. He also saw one of the troopers that had managed to bring him behind a mangled forklift, from where both of them had managed to defeat the aliens, his limp and dead body seated on the floor against the wall, on where the plasma fire from the final alien had took him down.
"Command, this is Lieutenant Kanawe on the central hangar. Captain Ichiko has been killed and we need reinforcements to prevent them from advancing more in the main corridor. Half the platoon is down, together with the HWP and we have several wounded".
"Kanawe, hold on as much as you can. Any word from the south-west hangar?"
"I had someone check the source of an explosion a while ago. The trooper says the western corridor is completely blocked by rubble in the middle. The aliens must have accidentally hit the ammunition stores on that area, sir". He brought down his head. There was still at least a squad of Third Platoon in the hangar at the time of the explosion.
The news from central hangar weren't pleasing at all to hear, but to Yamashita they gave him hope. The western area had been secured, with the security squad detached there reporting that they had killed all the aliens in the containment facility and that there had been no breaches on the hangar. On both eastern hangars there was reports of heavy fighting but the aliens had failed to reach the hallway that would have placed them right on the backs of the troops defending the central corridor. Grabbing the heavy plasma from the chair he had set it upon, he immediately headed out of the command center, with nearly a dozen men and women following him and wearing every weapon they could place their hands on.
May 16th, 2000
Area 51, Nevada, US
The main runway of Groom Lake was completely dark, covered under the darkness of a night with no Moon and a heavy cloud cover that hid the stars and also the prying eyes of any satellite or UFO that might be passing by the facility at that moment. But the low whining sound of a hangar's doors being opened could be heard, although all the overhead lights of the building had been turned off, leaving only a couple of ground lights that showed only dark shapes inside the hangar.
A small circular silhouette was discernible to Illyuschenko, sitting on top of the back area of a lowered truck, the edges standing out of the sides. He was from the view ports of a reinforced concrete bunker, together with a small group of people, some of them using night vision binoculars for better vision. Human figures were around it, accompanying the small trailer to a clear area outside the hangar, where the mover finally stopped its slow march. After making the final preparations, the technicians quickly departed and left the safety area. If anything went wrong, no one wanted to be close to an Elerium explosion.
A turning red light finally went on, telling everyone that the test would soon be underway and only then Illyuschenko brought to his eyes the binoculars that were hanging from his neck. If this works, the aliens will sure be surprised in a couple of months! And they needed it: the new alien race used on the raid against Complex YY-18 had taken away the advantage X-Com was experiencing on ground combat through the use of the power suits and heavy plasmas. The green monsters had been bred for combat, with a toughened bullet proof skin that even depleted uranium had problems piercing and other surgically implanted devices that made them the strongest and hardest adversaries they had squared with.
X-Com's progress report for this month seemed to be good: the end of the Chinese crisis had cooled off the Council and Japan had already offered financial aid to help rebuild Complex YY-18, which had suffered major damage after the alien attack. A lot of replacements for the heavy casualties were needed, but Colonel Yamashita had immediately set upon bringing has much teams as possible back into operational status. After a low warning beep a female voice started a countdown.
This was X-Com's closest guarded secret until now, but it would have mean nothing without the recently built workshops at the Japanese base that hadn't been touched by the attack. X-Com had now a finally a decent manufacturing capability of their own, allowing them to reduce their dependence on the good will of the funding nations to give them the hardware they needed to fight the alien war. And soon, pretty soon, the assembly lines will be producing a larger model of that. If all the money and research Dr. Chevereux put on this pays off, I actually may start to like the French bastard! The countdown reached zero.
Immediately after that moment, Illyuschenko's focused on the circular shape, but it stayed immobile. Then, slowly, so slowly that at first the movement wasn't discernible, it elevated itself out of the trailer and into the air. Only ten feet in diameter, it moved then to the right of the bunker until finally stopping fifty feet above the runway. Illyuschenko noticed that it had a landing tripod, and it used it to come to a stop on the runway, after a slow descent.
At that moment every scientist present in the bunker started cheering and applauding and Illyuschenko also smiled, although that thing wasn't quite the new fighter craft he had been promised many months ago by the Research Bureau of X-Com. The lights on the bunker went back on and he moved through the happy group until he reached Dr. Chevereux, who was happily talking to Dr. Mantell and another scientist Illyuschenko couldn't identify, but that he noticed it had peculiar facial expressions.
"Doctor, congratulations. I take everything went as you planned?" The chief of X-Com's research turned to Illyuschenko and his smile became smaller, seeing the stern face of the General, but he still kept it on.
"Oui, commander. We have just successfully tested our first craft built using the propulsion and navigation principles the alien UFOs. Now, Drs. Mantell and Young will perform aero dynamical test flights and then we can think of building a craft with actual pilots inside it, instead of being radio controlled like this one". He looked at the other scientists who just nodded while smiling.
Illyuschenko kept a neutral tone. " I take that you have seen the footage of the Battleships the aliens have started using? I need a craft fully capable of going against those things and as soon as possible. Our conventional fighters are no match for them. The Japanese Air Force tried and lost a full squadron of F-15s".
Shaking his head, Dr. Mantell replied. "Commander, I understand the urgency, but it will take time. First we need to develop a small manned fighter and the weapons to equip it, to finish developing and testing this technology. We simply can't step right into building something of that size immediately. I have been part of the team that developed the stealth planes and know what I'm talking about. First something smaller, like the F-117, but reliable. Only then can we go developing the bigger stuff, like the equivalent of a B-2. But I can assure you that everything is on the right track, sir. Already the team back at Mother One has started using their work on plasma weapons to develop a sort of cannon to equip that fighter. And when that happens, few UFOs will be able to stand off against the Firestorm, sir".
"Firestorm?" Illyuschenko hadn't read anything with that name on the briefing.
"Someone proposed the name a couple of days ago and it seems popular. I can show you the concept papers tomorrow and the work we have already put into the blueprints". Illyuschenko still didn't like how much time this whole affair would take, but was less unpleased. He nodded to the scientists and, excusing himself, left the bunker, deciding to conduct an unscheduled base attack exercise to see how well Area 51 was briefed and prepared.
André Galvão, 2001