X-Com: The Unknown Menace
Chapter Twenty-Six – A Simple War
April 23rd, 2001
La Guardia Airport, New Jersey, US
The waiting area of gate nineteen was almost empty of passengers and the ticket desk's lights were off, leaving only the lights of the passageway to illuminate this section. The rows of seats were almost empty except for a couple of youngsters that seemed to be trying to sleep until their flight next morning and a single suited man who was using the available light to read the newspaper. According to the information presented on a blue monitor over the desk the next flight leaving from the gate would leave at seven in the morning, bound for Heathrow, London.
Number Three had moved down the boarding area of the airport, using the mechanic passageways until he had reached gate nineteen. When he arrived, his two bodyguards made a visual check of the area and left him afterwards, positioning themselves in opposite corners of the lounge. Number Three stopped for a minute before heading to the seated man, who was still reading his newspaper.
As he approached him, the seated figure brought down the newspaper and folded it neatly, placing it on the seat nearby close to his briefcase and Grey trench coat. Number Two then finally acknowledged Three's presence by nodding to him. As the other man sat on the available seat close to him, he commented in a mock tone: "Was this really necessary?"
"Why not?" He replied casually. "Since my normal duties made me travel here I thought it best to see how everything is running this side of the Atlantic". Three looked at the ceiling for one second. "Please stop with the holy attitude will you? We both know that you don't need to come here to know how things are going".
Two feigned surprise but he replaced it afterwards with a stern question. "Very well. I've heard rumors about the fate of someone we both know. Apparently he suffered a accident and his car had to be lifted from the bottom of a river".
A wicked smile crossed Three's lips. "What's so special about it? Accidents do happen, specially if you're tired and the weather is lousy".
"So you do know about what has happened?" The tone of the question made it a rhetorical question.
"Of course. I always keep myself an interest about the people I know. Specially about those who have crossed my path too many times". Three's eyes flashed for a moment with satisfaction.
"So you confirm that he's dead?" Two looked at him trying to pierce the other man's mask if he tried to conceal anything from him, defying his certainty.
The gesture surprised Three but he quickly reacted by countering it with a blunt response. "Of course! Someone shot him and his car ran over the protection rails and ended on the river. The police recovered both body and car afterwards. He was buried a couple of days later with no trace of who might have attacked him".
Two kept his reluctance in accept it. "And you're sure that it was him?"
"Ask his wife: she confirmed it. I have obtained photographs taken while he was still at the morgue if you want to see them". Two thought of it for a moment but then declined to pursue the subject any further. "How unfortunate then. But I guess it had to be done".
"Like everything else on our business". Two was gloating and making no effort to hide it.
"Yes". Speaking in a casual tone, he commented afterwards. "Still, there are some things that just won't change, no matter how hard we try". Three nodded in agreement which surprised him. "I know. That's why I stopped worrying about them".
"My dear fellow, you can't be serious. You mean you have given up your quest to deal the final blow on the organization?" Something was up and Two could feel it.
"A waste of effort that could be more efficiently spend on other matters". Looking over the window to see the planes taxiing outside, he continued: "Our friends have made a communication about a week ago".
What? Two was aghast but he surprised his surprise about the news coming from the aliens. He decided it was necessary for him to know everything about this message.
The fact that he hadn't been informed right away told him that One and Three had decided that the rest of the group didn't need to know until next council meeting. Either the subject of the communication was harmless or its implications far exceeded what they were expecting and both men had decided to conceal the knowledge to have an advantage over the rest.
Catching Two's preoccupation, Three boasted. "You shouldn't worry too much. They just informed us that the next steps of the plan are about to be taken". He stopped talking and looked directly at Two.
The bastard was enjoying himself, he realized and he couldn't do anything about it. Padding the other man's ego was the only way to get the information he needed.
He let impatience creep into his voice: "And….?"
"And also that from now on any opposition will not be tolerated anymore but eradicated. Either Earth joins them or we will die".
So that is why you have stopped concerning about X-Com all along. The aliens have taken upon themselves the responsibility to dealing with any force that is a threat to their plans. A bit of information that Two had once learned popped into his mind as he considered the implications.
"That including your own special contingency plan in case anything went wrong in the affairs with our 'friends'?" Three's coldness filled the air around him. "Yes. They are useless for any purpose now. There's no point in keeping something that might enrage our allies". Looking at him carefully, Two replied: "I see".
Three got up from his chair. "I hope you do. Well, if there's nothing more to discuss I should get going because I have a lot of things waiting for me tomorrow". Two didn't answer as he started to walk away.
However, after stopping a few steps ahead he turned and said: "And be careful from now on".
He raised his hand and made a circle with his index finger. "Air travel can be quite hazardous in the future". Taking conscience of the meaning behind his words, Two nodded and grabbed back his newspaper while the other man left the area.
May 10th, 2001
Louisiana coast, US
A pair of tall and muscular figures was moving amongst the banks of mist that littered the swamp, taking steps carefully to try not to get bogged on the mud. Both of them were carrying large, white-plastered weapons, holding them with both hands.
They were completely alert, ready to deal with any surprise that might be hiding out between the fog or amongst the massive trees of the forest that stood close to the Gulf of Mexico.
Seen from the distance they looked nothing more than two hard to spot strange looking individuals all dressed in green colors. If anyone saw them, they would probably be mistaken for hunters returning home in the late hours of the day with some strange looking weapons.
Overhead, the sky was already starting to black out and turning the whole swamp into a sea of shadows. But to the figures it didn't matter as they continued to move towards their objective, oblivious to both pairs of eyes that were watching them from away, using infrared vision to compensate for the fog in the area.
About half a mile a craft looking as if it had came out of a sci-fi movie stood in the middle of an open area on the swamp, with half of its undercarriage disappearing in the dirty waters underneath it. More than twenty feet in diameter and seven feet in height, its shape was similar to a circle painted in blue and Grey tones. There were windows built into its walls but they were small and completely dark.
The entrance to the craft opened noiselessly and two figures became visible against the darkened interior. One jumped from the open door to the ground below, disturbing the still salty waters below, with the other quickly following it.
Although they had a humanoid appearance, with a torso, head and limbs, they also looked more as giant insects that could walk upright. Their body was covered by an exoskeleton that was painted in several tones of green and their heads were asymmetrical, with the area of the right eye being bigger than the left one. They also had an antenna coming from the back of their heads.
One of the figures was taller than the other and as it moved through the opening the appendage got itself stuck into the top of the door, releasing itself afterwards and swinging from one side to the other as they moved away from the craft. They also carried large weapons with both their hands, but they were better concealed by a green tropical camouflage fabric, which covered them.
Aboard the craft another figure stood by the door and watched them moving away. It was also wearing the same exoskeleton as the figures that had just left the craft but the head was smaller, lacking the ball shaped helmet. It was a woman with her brown hair cut in a short fashion.
As soon as they reached the nearest tree, it moved an arm to the side of the door and activated the command to close it. Opposite twin metal plates moved over the entrance, joining themselves at the middle.
She then turned away and said in a disgusted tone: "Phew! What a stench!" She was talking to the other two occupants of the craft who were standing on the center, seated on chairs in front of workstations.
Turning to the pilot, a young man about her age with light hair and wearing an earpiece and microphone, she asked. "Clark, what's the status of the National Guard?"
"Cap, the commander sounds still confused about what they should do. They just weren't expecting that a second UFO would drop on the area and now are waiting for a special team to arrive while they continue to tighten the net around both UFOs".
"Jackson must have sent one of the platoons to deal with the aliens. Otherwise the Mutons would just have eaten alive the Guardsmen if they ran into them. Let me know if anything else comes up". The pilot acknowledged and she turned to the other man, who was also wearing a Grey jumpsuit like him but instead of a P shaped insignia on his right breast had a square without his bottom side.
"Let's get this done doctor. All this waiting is making me nervous". She looked back at the door before starting to seat.
On another location of the swamp, a polished green and brown surface started to emerge slowly out of the mucked waters close to the stump of a dead tree.
As more of it started to be barely visible against the surface of the swamp, anyone close enough to it could see that it had a circular shape, somewhat larger than a man's head.
On one of its sides it had a smaller protuberance. It was directly facing another strange looking craft, but that was smaller and was all made of shining Grey metal. It was hovering inches above the water and it gave a strange blue luminescence that reflected itself upon the watery atmosphere of the location.
After a few seconds, it started to scan the rest of the area, from one side to the other.
As it did, it suddenly stopped while looking to the left, seeing a humanoid figure standing twenty yards away from him in the middle of the puddle and facing his opposite direction.
It was wearing a green tight suit that covered it from legs to head only revealing the facial area. The alien's violet temples contracted itself and it gripped its heavy plasma tighter, the whiteness of the weapon showing splashes of mud.
The Muton was noseless, but it had nostrils built halfway in-between his eyes and mouth, a pair of cavities that it rose in the air, trying to pick a scent.
The X-Com soldier froze into position as the alien searched for the threat that it had detected. With a very precise motion, he supported the weight of his body on his left hand while the right gripped the plasma weapon that was lying besides him on the bottom of the swamp. Trying to move it closer, the soldier found out that it had gotten itself stuck in the decaying tree branches that littered the bottom of the swamp.
Uttering a course inside his helmet, he stopped breathing and his heart took a leap as the alien' senses swept through the location where he was submerged.
But the camouflage and the swamp did a good job in concealing him. Finding nothing, the Muton started to move forwards, making another search with his black glossy eyes where a speck of white could be seen as its iris swept for enemies.
The soldier's thoughts now feared that the alien it might trip his feet in one of the other five submerged troopers but luckily it didn't happen. When the soldier saw that it was far away, he dove his head back into the waters, which obscured his vision, allowing him only to see the inside of his helmet.
The salt in the water coming from the ocean gave him a bigger bouancy but the weight of the suit was supposed to contract it. Nevertheless he grabbed a branch on the bottom to secure himself in case he started to move unexpectedly upwards and reveal his position.
Activating his radio with a movement of his jaw, he spoke. "Sarge, watch out. One of them is moving on your direction". When the acknowledgement came, the soldier went back into the task of waiting until the next phase of the plan.
Inside the Lightning craft, Markovitch looked at Dr. Young, who was standing beside her and checking a metal object that she was carrying in her left hand and was linked to her power suit by a cord on her forearm. "King still has both of them on his sights. We need to hurry if we also want to try to get the UFO".
The scientist nodded his head and moved his fingers along the metal Grey collection of fused tubes that composed the main portion of the psi-amp that she was holding. On the top of one cylinder rested the amplifier, a glass and violet cylinder. Reaching a red switch on the side Young pressed it. "It's active now. Be careful or you might affect us. First, try to lock on King".
She nodded and closing her eyes she used King's voice to direct her concentration. Her left hand turned towards his direction.
Experiencing herself travelling, her consciousness found the X-Com soldier, who was down in a puddle of mud. Fighting through his natural resistance, she told him on the radio to try to relax as much as possible to help her task.
The sniper's psi level was on the low range of the scale and in two heartbeats the blackness of her closed eyes was replaced by the vision of the scope of King's heavy laser, with two Mutons moving away from the trooper. Her arm drifted a little and she projected her conscience towards the alien on the left, who was ahead of the other.
"Are you alright?" Young's voice came suddenly but she ignored him. Instead she tried to fight back the strange and repulsive feeling that came crashing down into her as she managed to mind control the alien. It had happened too faster than she had expected, much quicker than with King. And now she experienced the strength of the alien's arms and legs, heard the strong pulsation of its cardiovascular system that was more akin of a high-pressure pump and felt the alien's thoughts.
Not that she could make much sense of them. The Muton had a primitive mind and amongst the sea of feelings and instincts she discerned fear and rage for what was happening to it. "I got him!" She shouted with a tone of surprise.
"Can you make him move?" Young's question distracted her as she was starting to pay attention to guttural sounds that seemed to be coming from behind the mind controlled alien.
As she started to try, she saw the vision of the swamp changing, as the Muton turned its body to the right on her command. One of its feet tripped on something but she managed to keep it balanced with a jerky motion.
The other Muton was staring at her and she decided that she would never want to be close to one of these aliens in person. Its face was a mask of aggression, with the eyes piercing through her.
Feeling a weight on her hands, she noticed the gun the alien was carrying and started to move its limbs. Then a flash of pain came through her and she jerked back on the chair of the Lightning where she was seated. She was now looking at the human face of Dr. Young who had his face directly in front of her.
"What happened?" Young deactivated the psi-amp while he moved to check her pulse. At the same time, King's voice appeared on the radio channel. "Holy shit! One of the Mutons just shot the other!"
Controlling her breath, she turned to Young. "It worked, but the other Muton must have detected that something was wrong and killed it". The memory still gave her pain. "I need to try to control it now and see what I can do with him".
Young looked a diagnostics board that was monitoring her brain waves and scowled. "I'm getting some strange readings here. Are you sure you want to do it again?" His voice showed concern. "I feel fine", she answered to him.
Giving the dials another look he acquitted. "OK. But the minute you feel any physical indisposition this thing gets called off. And when we get back I'll need to do some tests. Something isn't right here".
Fifteen minutes later Lieutenant Digriz was standing by the entrance of the medium scout together with Sergeant Krenon. They were both watching as a pair of troopers escorted the Muton that was carrying back to the Lightning the plasma weapons that had been retrieved from inside the UFO.
Both of them had been submerged on the swamp waters and had first class tickets for the carnage that Markovitch had wrecked among the aliens.
They had watched as suddenly the aliens outside the UFO had started shooting at one another as the Captain controlled one and another and used it to kill the other Mutons. In the end only one alien had remained alive and now she was using him to speed up the process of the recovery of all useful alien artifacts that could be carried away. "I'd never thought I'd see this". Krenon commented as the alien moved out of sight.
"Same with me Sergeant. Let's finish the job and get back. It shouldn't take too long for the Skyranger to reach this area". Moving inside the opened door of the UFO, he pointed to the engine that occupied the center. "Get the Elerium. I'll deal with the rest".
Bringing his plasma rifle from his back he pointed it to the alien pilot's console. Everything that could be carried by hand would be brought back to Area 51. The rest would just be destroyed so that the American forces would only retrieve a worthless hulk, together with some alien bodies stripped of their equipment and weapons.
Digriz pressed the trigger but to his surprise nothing happened. "What?" He turned his weapon to the side to check for the level of Elerium ammunition and found that the meter showed it to be empty. That struck him as bizarre since the clip was supposed to be fully charged.
Removing the black ammunition clip from the rifle and examining it, he found no anomalies on it that could have damaged the Elerium container inside. Some drips of swamp water fell to the metal ground as he removed the clip but he paid no attention to them. His suit was already covered by moisture from standing in the bottom of the swamp.
"I'm done sir". Krenon's voice distracted him. The Sergeant had cut a hole on the engine and now held a pair of golden crystals on his metal hand than shone brightly. He took a plastic bag and inserted them inside, sealing the bag before putting it on his backpack. Digriz threw away the useless clip and reached for a grenade on his belt. "Let's go then". Holding the grenade on his hand, he pressed with his thumb to release the safety mechanism. "This will take care of the rest". Digriz placed the explosive on top of one of the pilot's consoles and both men quickly left the craft. When the noise of the Elerium detonation reached them they were already ankle deep in the swamp waters, speeding towards the direction of the river where their craft was waiting for them.
May 16th, 2001
Area 19, Nevada, US
The provisional helipad built at Papoose Lake was nothing more than a white circle painted on a patch of flat earth nearby the main facility. It was close to the main security fence that surrounded the location and a pair of Theta security troopers assigned to the defense points was rushing towards a nearby trench for cover. The blast of the Skyranger's engines started a small maelstrom along the landing zone. Only the automated tank deployed to area stood on its position as the plane's engines finished their rotation to an upright position, allowing the pilot to make a vertical landing.
Inside the Skyranger, Johnson and Markovitch were seated in the cargo area; both of them clad in the blue armor. "At least no one tried to shoot back at us this time". She turned her head to him and grumbled something.
"What's the matter with you? You have been so grumpy in the past days". The inside of the plane shook as it hit the ground and she opened her eyes. "Must be having a bad PMS syndrome or something".
He cocked an eyebrow at her. "You don't suppose it has anything to do with the request from Young to see him?" Johnson noticed that her eyes gazed on something for a second, leaving her with a complete blank expression. "Hey! Wake up!" He shook her shoulder.
She looked back at him, her voice showing a tone of anger. "What?!" With a movement of her arm she put away his hand.
"What are you daydreaming about?" Her replying came menacing. "Just gimme a break will you?" He gave up and headed towards the back of the plane, stepping down the ramp of the Skyranger.
Because of the distance separating Groom Lake from Papoose it had been impossible for both facilities to be inside X-Com's defense perimeter. Since Johnson didn't want to use the combat teams for base defense they had established two smaller perimeters around both bases.
President Vaughn had ordered a full blockade of the facilities by US forces and Army troopers had dug themselves right on the other side of the perimeter. As Johnson stepped out of the plane he noticed that he actually could see a patrol of regular troops standing one hundred yards from him, dressed in combat fatigues and holding M-16s.
The encirclement of the X-Com base also applied to the air. The Air Force had a flight of F-16s interceptors in the nearby Nellis Air Force Base, ready to take off in five minutes in case he tried to launch planes. And the Army had deployed armed Apache helicopters to the area.
However so far they had been unable or unwilling to shoot down the Skyranger shuttle flights that where the only link between Areas 51 and 19. There were a number of daily flights that connected the facilities, transporting men and material from one base to the other. Most of the useful equipment from Area 19 that could be carried away had already been shipped to other bases. However, they still needed the labs contained inside.
Johnson thought it to be a waste of resources to use the Skyrangers on such a limited basis but there wasn't much that he could do since they would be easy prey for the American interceptors. The combat missions now flown from Area 51 had all to be done using the Firestorm fighters or the single Lightning transport. The man made UFOs were the only safe transports that could run across the US blockade.
Checking his chronometer he spoke to Markovitch, who had just joined him outside the craft. "There's a flight back in two hours. Let's see if we can catch it". Her response came laconic. "Right".
Some minutes later they were on the subterranean levels of Area 19 inside Young's office. The scientist looked paler than usual as if he hadn't seen the daylight for a long time. They were all seated in chairs, with Markovitch seeming to be skulking. Young turned to her and said: "You are not feeling right are you?"
A poisonous look on her face gave him the reply. "Are you a moron doctor?" Johnson looked at her in disbelief. The scientist nodded to her and looked at both of them before continuing to speak. "I think I know what your problem is".
She frowned at him and Johnson started to feel concern but he said nothing. Morale was dropping in the last couple of days around the base since they were starting to run out of supplies, including food. As a result everyone had now to eat C-rations until High Command could find a way to resupply the base.
A couple of minutes later, Johnson and Markovitch had entered Young's office. The scientist greeted them and asked them to seat down. Johnson looked at her in apprehension as she nearly shoved herself into the chair.
When Young was sure that the door was locked, also got a seat. After a moment of silence on which he seemed to be collecting his thoughts, he said:
"I don't know how to put it, so I'll just say it to you as simple as I can.
Yesterday, one of the high level psis on Mother One went insane during a combat mission and started to control the other soldiers".
"What?!" Johnson's reply was the same as her, but he was surprised by the tone of her voice. It showed more that just shock, but also anger and fear.
Young raised a hand to stop them. "Let me finish please. The soldier involved had been gone through a lot of action in the past days and we suspect that he basically overextended beyond his mental limits.
However, the commanding officer on the scene had to remove the psi-amp from him by force and knock him down unconscious. When they got back, the CAT scan showed irreversible damage to certain areas of his brain".
Both of them were showing complete disbelief. She got up from her chair and pointed her finger at him. "You are telling me that what I'm feeling comes from the damn psionics!? And that I'm turning wacko from it? Why haven't you told me this before?!" Rage filled her voice.
Johnson was also about to get up but Young's voice stopped him. "Captain, calm down. We only discovered this yesterday and we are still in time to prevent permanent damage to your brain".
She started pacing the room, ignoring his words. "Great! Fucking great!"
"What are you going to do about this?" Johnson asked.
"Dr. Chevereux recommended to stop all use of psi-amps until we can research into this problem and Commander Illyuschenko approved of the decision".
Rolling his eyes in frustration, he added. "Doctor, I mean her".
"The tests on the other psis show that the use of the psi-amps modifies the brain's biochemistry. We are sure that we can correct it through medication but after an unknown stage the drugs simply won't work and damage will be irreversible.
We don't know the reason for this happening but probably our brain cortex hasn't evolved enough to fully deal with the psionic energies". Johnson sensed that there was something that Young wasn't telling him and it made him suspicious.
Young looked at Markovitch and back to him. "Most likely a Sectoid's brain is fully prepared to deal with psionics. Probably their experiments with hybrids are an attempt to resolve this problem but we would have to research more in the matter to be sure". Johnson froze, realizing what Young was implying but he couldn't talk more now because of Markovitch's presence.
She had now stopped and had sat down again. Her voice came drained. "Doctor, if I stop using psionics will this condition still affect me?"
His face lightened a bit. "Most likely yes. Almost sure, but I can't make any promises. The medical staff here is already being informed of what they should do. When you go back they will take care of you". She nodded and sank back into her chair. Johnson reached for her hand and squeezed it.
"And Colonel Johnson?" He turned to Young. "I'll do my best to see how this malady can be prevented. But you came with any other decision regarding this matter just inform me". He nodded to him and they both left his office without saying anything else.
June 21st, 2001
Mother One, Black Forest, Germany
"Here it comes Commander". The voice didn't distract Illyuschenko, who was standing in the middle of X-Com's operations center on the European base, clad on his power suit and with his hands placed against the side of his belly. About a month ago Egypt had been the last country to defect to the aliens' side, with massive landings of UFOs carrying the mysterious new extraterrestrials that no one had yet identified.
He had wanted to launch a major operation to capture one of the massive alien craft but it would take too long for the Skyrangers to reach the landing areas and they would need escorts against the Egyptian Air Force's MiGs. The Lightnings would be a better choice but there weren't enough of them available to transport the necessary number of soldiers.
The tragedy of the event had been further visualized as an agent of the MI6, the British intelligence service, had managed to take a number of snapshots of a landing. It showed one of the alien's Battleships parked right next to the Sphinx, with the Gizeh Pyramids on the background.
But now they were as ready as they ever would be, Illyuschenko concluded, trying not to be too overconfident. The red dot on the board overhead him was moving over Syria in a possible path towards Algeria or Libya. Based on the alien's seen tactics, they would try now to infiltrate the countries close to Egypt, like they had done with New Guinea or Mongolia.
And Saudi Arabia was already experiencing domestic problems originating from the UFO intrusions over its airspace. A number of radical Muslim political factions were claiming that the overflights were coming from Israel, leading to claims of action against the Jewish State.
On Israel itself, the close alien activity was straining the politicians and military alike, which could prompt an attack on neighboring Egypt. Which would ignite the whole area into full-scale warfare and probably sending more of the Arab nations to the alien's camp.
Too much political implications all together. Illyuschenko concluded abruptly as the processor built into the hyperwave detector finished translating the beacon signals from the alien craft. The space underneath the dot became filled with red lines: BATTLES/UNKNOWN/ABDTION/CNTASIA.
"It's the same that Stalingrad base detected sir". Again he didn't reply to the voice. The craft had been detected a little more than an hour ago by the Russian base, until it had moved over the detector's operational range over the Persian Gulf. The contingency plan for such an occurrence had been sprung into action the minute the UFO had been spotted. Three Lightnings would carry a company of X-Com's combat troops, drawn from the German and the Russian base, all chosen for a single factor: their high levels of resistance to psi-attacks. And they would also shown some new tactics to the aliens, designed by him and the rest of his staff to surprise the aliens.
He gave one last look to the board before speaking to the officer who was talking to him. "Tell the Lightnings to be ready to launch when I join them". Turning away he headed towards the hangar section.
Anatolia Plateau, Turkey
The alien Battleship had landed in farmland, after overflying the Middle East for a number of hours. It stood in an open area, its massive legs crushing a wheat field underneath it. Illyuschenko was monitoring the UFO, standing being the pilot as the Lightning craft stop in the air and started to make its descent into the landing zone.
The three X-Com planes that were descending from the skies into the golden colored fields in a loose triangular formation, each craft at one vortex, with the alien UFO roughly at the middle of the triangle. When they landed, each platoon would clear its landing area of any aliens that might be posted outside and them move to link with the other platoons and establish a perimeter around the Battleship.
The Lightning carrying Illyuschenko landed in between haystacks, a few meters away from a disabled tractor upon its landing struts. X-Com troopers immediately started to come out of the brown and light grey colored craft, through the side door. Some of them were equipped with flying suits and they took advantage of the anti-gravity device built into the suits to take long leaps out from the door and place themselves in better positions to cover the landing.
Illyuschenko grabbed his heavy plasma and headed towards the door of the Lightning. Following him was a trooper carrying the massive bulk of a blaster launcher on his hands. Both of them were the last to exit the craft. The platoon aboard had already deployed and was engaging the aliens outside the UFO.
A quick look around the landing zone showed him that so far they had few problems dealing with the new aliens. One of the capped creatures was lying on the ground, with smoke coming from the spots on the rope that had been hit by plasma and laser fire. Illyuschenko couldn't see much of the alien behind the cape, besides a yellowish arm that was poking out of the blackened clothing, still clutching a heavy plasma on its hand.
"What is that?!" A surprised voice suddenly came on the radio with a heavy Russian accent. "All squads, the aliens have some sort of armored…. thing!"
As he jumped out of the last two steps and into the ground, Illyuschenko tried to see the direction of the soldier who had just called. He could see that one of the squads was using the side of a barn to take cover and he started racing in that direction. As he looked upwards, he saw that the UFO towered over the building.
"Fox two, get some cover! That tank is just too tough!" The mention of a tank worried Illyuschenko, who wondered if the aliens might have any other surprise for them waiting inside the craft. X-Com had never boarded any of the Battleships and they had no idea of what they might be facing inside. Based on the few reports concerning the vessel, its massive hulk carried more than two dozens of aliens and they were deployed through twin massive doors built into the central leg of the craft.
The doors were large enough for Cyberdisks to use them and Illyuschenko thought if the troops had encountered one of the flying machines as he sped towards the barn. The squad in front of him started retreated from the side of the building towards the back of the barn. Illyuschenko was now moving a small orchard of apple trees. Then a strange machine moved in his line of view at the other end of the barn.
Calling the alien thing a tank was probably just a way to give it some sort of name, Illyuschenko concluded, since it moved using twin armored legs, the size of tree trunks. On the top of them there was an egg shaped white body. Two red circles on its front gave it the impression of being some sort of eyes, giving it the impression of some sort of live metal beast. And underneath them, two large barrels sprout out of the body, glowing green as they discharged plasma rounds.
The tree next to Illyuschenko's side burst into splinters as one of the green hellish balls hit it. He tried to point his plasma weapon at it to fire back but the alien machine quickly moved out of his sight, using the other end of the barn as cover.
Cursing, Illyuschenko and the other soldier joined the squad that had dug next to the barn. Two troopers were standing a watch on the sides of the barn while another one was on his knees, tending with a medikit an unconscious figure on the ground. Searching for the officer in the charge he asked to the soldiers. "Where's the squad leader?"
The kneeled figure raised his helmet on his direction and replied in a voice thick with tension and fear. "Lieutenant injured. Me leader now, Corporal Malenkov".
Illyuschenko reverted to Russian to make talking to the nervous soldier easier and pointed with his armored hand at the fallen figure. "Malenkov, how's the officer doing?"
The other soldiers looked at him as they heard their mother tongue on the squad channel. "The lieutenant will live, but for now he's out of the fight. That tank is making us impossible to advance, sir!" He pointed towards Illyuschenko's escort and to the blaster launcher it was carrying. "He was asking for heavy support against it, sir!"
"Well, he will have it now. Sergeant, target the enemy's machine". The non-commissioned officer quickly moved towards one of the edges of the barn. Looking around the corner he made a mental calculation of the length of the building. The trooper then started to calculate and enter the necessary waypoints for the trajectory of the guided missile. Entering the information on the controls on the side of the dark blue barrel of the bazooka like weapon, the soldier finished the preparations to fire.
Checking his work on the small computer's visor attached to the top of the launcher he turned to Illyuschenko. "Ready to fire Commander, but the blast will probably take out the entire building. We should take cover". Illyuschenko nodded.
There was only a small stone fence three feet tall that defined the orchard next to the barn and he decided that it would have to be sufficient. Moving towards the fallen figure, he placed his hands under its armpits. "Corporal, give me a help with the legs. All of the others, retreat to the fence and give the ground a bear hug".
The soldier quickly helped Illyuschenko bring the injured officer to the protection of the stone wall as the other soldiers carefully followed them. When they were all crouching against the dark earth terrain underneath the trees, he ordered the sergeant to fire.
A low fizzling noise was all he heard for a couple of seconds as the bomb left the barrel and made its way around the barn. Then the earth shook, followed by the noise of the Elerium blast, muffled by his power's suit noise suppressors.
The low stone wall collapsed in top of the soldiers and the mortar that composed it dropped all over the men, half-burying them in debris.
When the commotion was done, Illyuschenko rose his head and looked. The whole barn was had been completely leveled out by the shock wave of the explosion, with the remaining wood still standing on the side next to him burning fiercely. The rest of the building had been sublimated by the blast, leaving only a cloud of smoke that quickly disappeared as the ashes precipitated into the ground.
As he didn't saw the seven feet tall machine anymore, Illyuschenko got up and noticed that the only remains left from the alien tank were the massive legs that had been scattered by the explosion.
A loud sound to his right made him turn just in time to watch a small tool shed fifty yards away crashing into the ground. "Move out!" He shouted, with his mind already on the alien UFO whose figure loomed on the horizon.
When Illyuschenko and the rest of the X-Com soldiers got close to the Battleship, he wasn't satisfied. The troopers were trying to reach the entrance, located in the central pillar that supported of the craft but the Ethereals were making it impossible.
He saw soldiers in power suits standing against the outside pillars waiting to go around the metal legs of the UFO and reach the doors, but the aliens inside were making it impossible. Looking for Colonel MacTaggert, he followed the directions of the concealed troopers until he reached the officer who was standing behind the remains of a tractor.
"Colonel, why aren't you giving cover to the men ahead?" His voice demanded for an explanation.
"Already tried sir. The aliens just use their mind tricks on the soldiers who try to give suppressive fire and disappeared inside! And I've seen the bloody things fly also! They're like spirits!" His voice became excited and frustrated. "Bloody ethereal ghosts! And there's one of their tanks inside!"
"Get me a squad with flying suits!" Turning to the sergeant close to him, still holding the blaster launcher, he ordered: "Piotr, try to blow a hole on the top level!"
As MacTaggert started to shout orders on the radio and the sergeant prepared his weapon, Illyuschenko checked the flight controls of his suit. He had never used it before in combat but he had performed as many training flights as he could spare time to.
Close to the craft, the soldiers nearby one of the pillars suddenly ran for cover as the operator of the blaster launcher ordered for clearance. Again, when he was satisfied he pressed the trigger, sending one of the guided missiles on a pre-established flight that sent it against the fuselage of the craft.
The side and top of the UFO were suddenly covered with an inferno of flames as the bomb exploded but Illyuschenko ignored it. Activating the controls of the anti-gravity engine strapped on the back of his armor, he took off the ground in a brusque movement.
Correcting the upward motion, he gave himself a forward movement towards the impact area of the bomb. He saw one of the troopers who had raced for cover also ascending while around him and three other soldiers coming from the X-Com lines joined him on the air.
The side of the UFO was releasing dark smoke making it impossible to judge how great had been the hole that the missile had carved on the fuselage. However, a green bolt coming out of the dark mist told Illyuschenko that it was big enough for the aliens to fire from it. It hit the soldier who was nearby and the man suddenly dropped to the ground like a stone.
"Hold movement! Piotr! Fire a second round at the same location!"
Ten seconds later, as the call from the Sergeant came announcing that he was opening fire, Illyuschenko and the three other soldiers gripped their control panels in their chest tighter, waiting for the blast wave that would sure hit them at this distance.
It was as worse as Illyuschenko had imagined but he was ready for it. He felt as if a giant invisible hand suddenly slapped him as if he was nothing more than a mosquito. It sent him and the other troopers backwards but they all managed to control their flight paths in a matter of seconds.
But, more important, the force of the explosion hadn't damaged their armor and they moved quickly to the now enlarged hole. A number of secondary explosions were heard coming from the inside of the UFO as they approached it and Illyuschenko saw debris spinning off from the hole.
None hit the soldiers and, clearing the smoke, they found a hole seven feet in diameter cut into the fuselage, with the alien metal bent inwards at the rim of the circle. "MacTaggert, move the rest of the men!" The order came as he was negotiating the edges to land, with one of the men already inside helping him.
He found himself in one small corridor, in front of a compartment whose wall facing them had been completely ruined by the force of the explosion. On the inside he could see a bluish smoke, coming from ruined red containers. According to Dr. Chevereux those contained some sort of recreational drug for the aliens. Gripping his heavy plasma he followed one of the soldiers as he prepared to turn around one corner.
With a quick movement, they sprang out with their weapons, filling the corridor in front of them with plasma fire. At the distance, their shots hit one of the orange capped aliens but it quickly responded before disappearing from view.
"Ethereal indeed". Illyuschenko muttered to himself as he moved out of the corridor. He stopped when he saw that the soldier trooper was still standing there. "Hey! What are you doing here you stupid!" The answer to his question jumped into his mind as the soldier started to turn towards him slowly.
Illyuschenko raised his plasma weapon in reaction, with the butt of the cannon hitting the weapon the X-Com soldier was now pointing at his direction.
Illyuschenko had thrown the blow without thinking and more in a movement to deflect the shot that the mind controlled trooper was about to fire at him. It succeeded and it also had the bonus effect of making snatching the plasma rifle from the soldiers' hands and into the wall.
The X-Com commander found himself facing one unarmed man that was being mind-controlled by the aliens ahead. He tightened his finger around the trigger of his weapon but something prevented him from firing.
It was a laughter that he could hear deep inside him. Do it!
When he heard the voice it made him hesitate and he felt his strength disappearing. You'll be killing him anyway later! Do it or it will be you!
However, before he could anything, the unarmed trooper broke into a run down the corridor, apparently running away from him. Illyuschenko took one second to respond: he started chasing the soldier, who was blocking the alien's vision of him.
When he reached the intersection ahead he found the soldier standing nearby it, next to one of the aliens, who seemed to be weary.
The hood of its cape had fallen off his head, showing the scarred pale skin of its thin neck. It was looking at one door that was closely in apprehension but its attention quickly turned to Illyuschenko as it detected his presence. He gave it no chance to respond, killing the alien with two plasma shots to its torso that send the alien spinning against the metal floor.
Moving the weapon towards the soldier, Illyuschenko felt dread coming over him again but a voice took off the burden of having to decide to shoot or not. "I'm free!" The soldier in front of him raised his arms to the air.
The fighting was over in five minutes. Colonel MacTaggert's men had managed to approach the elevator coming from a direction that obscured the alien's line of fire and had used grenades to blow the aliens inside into pieces. They had then taken out the aliens that dared to come near the large lift inside, while Illyuschenko had received reinforcements and had managed to locate and destroy the bridge of the craft.
Afterwards, the remaining alien seemed to have lost their moral and had been killed more easily, although the psi-attacks continued to wreck havoc amongst X-Com personnel.
Illyuschenko was standing in the middle of the control room, leaning against an alien violet console that had stopped functioning when MacTaggert entered it. Taking out his helmet, the Scotsman scrubbed his brown hair before speaking.
"Commander, this whole thing is a treasure of alien gadgets. The techs are saying that we have here enough materials to built two or three craft of our own, not to mention the Elerium to power them".
Illyuschenko didn't look back at him. "At the price of one platoon killed or injured".
His voice made MacTaggert preoccupied. "Sir, I know. But we know we can kill them now. You knew how morale was when the troops heard about what happened in Spitzbergen".
Closing his eyes, Illyuschenko decided to change subject. "Any prisoners?"
"No Commander. We have retrieved a number of bodies, including a nearly intact alien tank that went down after we started to use laser fire on it from a long distance". He nearly stopped when he saw that Illyuschenko was simply staring at the alien monitors built into the walls of the bridge.
June 24th, 2001
Area 51, Nevada, US
The darkened hangar's overhead lights had been turned off, and the Moon glow that entered from the windows bathed the parked planes inside with a bluish light. Moving nervously into the building and towards the craft, Williams tried not to look suspicious as he approached a pair of security troopers who were walking inside with their laser rifles hung from their shoulders and holding flashlights on their hands.
For a moment the guards eyed him very carefully, scanning his figure until they sight centered on the badge identifying him as a member of the intelligence branch.
"Good evening". Williams said, almost casually.
The guards saluted him as he moved into a more lightened portion of the hangar, revealing his officer's insignia on the shoulder patches of his suit. But they quickly reverted into an alert status and one of them asked: "Good evening sir. May I ask what you are doing here?"
"Well," he started thinking for an excuse for his presence. "The soda machine on F section has run out of coffee and I heard that there was still some left on the one close to the pilot's ready room".
The guard kept a stern look at him. "And I also wanted to take a chance into seeing one of those things, soldier". He pointed at the parked Lightning at the distance. "Down there you talk a lot about them but we hardly have the chance to see one. I won't touch anything".
Both men looked at one another and they grinned afterwards. "Go right ahead sir. The techs are done with it for today and have locked it, so it's quite harmless". Williams nodded and thanked both guards.
As he started to move away from them one of them suddenly said: "Sir!" He quietly turned around.
"Please, don't hoard all the soda. Sometimes we also go there". Flashing a thumbs-up he resumed his pace and the guards kept their patrol.
However, as he moved down the row of parked craft, he stopped by a Skyranger and checked to see if the guards were away. Satisfied he walked along the fuselage until he reached the door that gave the pilots access to the inside. It immediately opened when he came next to it and a pair of arms helped him get inside.
"We're all here". Davis' voice came from his left, telling him that it had been the former FBI subdirector had been the one who had helped him. Looking of the cargo area of the plane, he saw Johnson waiting and seated.
"We could just have this meeting in my office, you know?" The Colonel's voice showed displeasure. "And we should have waited for Robinson's arrival from Mother One. Whatever you want to talk about he would need to know".
"I don't want Robinson to know about what we are going to talk here".
"The conspirators responsible for Area 19 and the alien base on New Mexico and that tried to kill you".
"Exactly. I've been thinking about the past events that brought me here".
"You're not the only one. Robinson has asked me a whole of questions also about what happened to you". Davis interposed. "I told him that most likely you were on the wrong location at the wrong time but he didn't believe me".
"I wouldn't either, unless I had seen some very disturbing things myself from the beginning". Johnson added to the other man's thoughts. "Still you must have a pretty good reason to require he isn't informed on the whole scheme. You don't trust him?"
That made Williams thought for one second although he already knew the answer. "I do and the same goes for Illyuschenko. Without both of them the organization would have fallen apart by now".
"And the Secretary-General?"
"Most likely yes, but in his case it's different. Bomaka has no real power besides the one the Council and the UN allow him".
"So why can't our leaders be informed of this threat?"
"Right now my actions have made me a liability to the people who are secretly aiding the aliens. I suspect that X-Com was always seen as an organization that could be manipulated by those same individuals. The attacks on our bases that you we are seeing could have been done two years ago, when we didn't had any proper defenses".
"I fail to see your point Williams".
"If Robinson or Illyuschenko or even Bomaka knew about this, they would most surely act or think accordingly. For instance, the Council now seems as the more logical place to be infiltrated. A change of political or military approach regarding a number of nations would surely be noticed".
"Williams, wake up, this is a fight to the death already. Doesn't matter at this point if they discover that there's another enemy still hidden".
"Wrong Colonel. We are fighting for time right now. The necessary time to find and strike at the alien base and destroy their leadership. And it's crucial that we pretend to keep playing to their tunes like we have done since the beginning".
The statement puzzled Johnson. "Excuse me? You are telling me we have been manipulated the whole time? If they are acting with the aliens what interest could we possibly have?"
"I don't know, but ask yourself. Why would someone get me out of that sinking car and replace me with a clone? Or why would they give Dr. Mantell the plans for the laser weapons when we needed them the most to have a chance against the aliens?"
"Holy Jesus". Johnson closed his eyes. "You really conspire too much Williams. I think the whole matter of your attempted murder has gotten you paranoid. Next you are going to tell me that Vaughn is also a part of this".
His silence momentarily replied to Johnson's query but then he shook his head. "I don't know. Either he's just being manipulated like the rest of us or it's what you just said. In any case his actions have surely damaged us".
"You're a full case of contradictions".
"I don't think this alien invasion is as simple as any previous war".
"War is never simple". Johnson countered back.
"Point granted. In any case my advice to us all is to keep playing along".
"What if they try to kill you or me again?" Davis asked. "We are both liabilities now".
"Not yet Davis. Somebody is still watching us, using us for its own hidden purpose. And we should be more careful now more than ever. Besides the three of us, I really don't trust anyone else inside X-Com. This whole organization has more security holes on it than a Swiss cheese. The only thing we don't know yet is how deep they fully know our plans".
André Galvão, 2002