X-Com – The Unknown Menace
Chapter Twenty-Eight – Fire and Ice
November 4th, 2001
Area 51, Nevada, US
Reaching for the clamp on his chin that secured his helmet to his head, Lt. Colonel Harris unlocked it with a quick movement. He was standing next to a circular sized craft that stood upon its deployed retractable pylons on the fighter hangar of the base.
Removing the helmet, he passed his available hand over his hair then scratched his chin but refrained from touching the scar on the side of his face.
"She will be as good as ready by the afternoon sir". Harris grumbled thanks to the Sergeant who was supervising the repairs and rearming of his Firestorm fighter. Still wearing his flight suit and holding the helmet on his left hand, he passed his other hand through the smooth gray skin of the craft over the area where the cockpit was located.
His eyes gave a brief moment of attention to the rows of small Sectoid heads that marked the number of his kills. Another one would be added later today by the non-commissioned officer, marking the Abductor ship that he had just downed half an hour ago over the jungle of El Salvador.
He had only used the plasma weapon on the engagement, withholding from using the fusion ball launcher, in the tradition of the fighter pilots, which preferred gun to missile kills. A small cart rolled by, carrying the Elerium necessary to refuel and rearm the Firestorm being pushed by a pair of technicians. He disregarded them and gave one last look at the plane, this time to the words painted in red over the small Sectoid heads: "The X-Terminator".
That had been a recent addition to the plane, although he hadn't been the one behind the idea. It was a fashion shared by most of the combat and maintenance crews, who had started to wear logos in their machines.
Moving away from the craft with a near indiscernible smile, he started to head towards the pilot's quarters. "Harris!" A voice made him turn towards his left. He saw Clark approaching him, also wearing his flight suit. "Weren't you supposed to be hauling the troops to assault the UFO I've just downed?" He asked the younger pilot went he reached his position.
"The roster had me to check out the Challenger. The Major decided to sent one of the other pilots to log more time on the Avengers".
"You mean the big fat whales". Harris voice showed contempt for the new craft.
"Come on, Harris, they are not like that as all. You're just sore because they are only being used for transport missions for the time being, otherwise you'd be gunning for a place on their cockpits".
"I ain't no cab driver". Harris didn't want to admit it but Clark's comment was true. He had dismissed being assigned to the new Avengers because they were only being used for ground assault missions.
And they needed a new fighter to take on the Battleships who were still buzzing undisturbed, because High Command had forbid the use of Firestorms against them. That gave Harris an itch on the scar on the side of his face that made him want to scratch it. Clark still gave another try. "You don't know what you're missing".
"I know what I ain't missing". His voice made the other pilot quit as they both walked to the pilot's ready room.
November 7th, 2001
Mother One, Germany
Every time we seem to beat them, we only discover that they have already moved forward in their invasion, Illyuschenko was considering as he waited for the communications network to connect to all X-Com bases throughout the world. The same in Afeganistan, he remembered, where the bombings and the mass killings only seemed to increase the will of the locals to fight Soviet rule. And this time we are fighting in our home! He became amazed to see how little different it was from being called a guerrilla or a freedom fighter. Only this case he was fighting for the guerrillas. And loosing again, he concluded in disgust. Have we started the road to our final act of desperation, our collective suicide to avoid capture? He wondered as the computer finished the connections and all of X-Com's regional commanders where facing him, Dr. Chevereux and Colonel Robinson on the electronic wall.
"Good day to all of you gentlemen. Our breakthrough has emerged, it seems and it's the reason for this emergency meeting. Today Colonel Robinson has informed me of the latest intelligence developments and I will ask him now to give to you the same report as he did to me". He nodded to the intelligence chief of X-Com, who turned his white haired head to the screen and started speaking.
"Two weeks ago we started gathering some strange gossips and rumors coming from an US base in Antarctica. We tried to confirm it through several sources, both official and unofficial and have found out that an entire military research team has disappeared in the middle of the continent but not before sending a transmission for help.
Due to the state of our relations with the US it's impossible to know exactly what has happened out there and the American counterintelligence services are acting particularly efficient in suppressing any evidence. We had no idea of what they might be doing out there, that being until we started to do our own research in Antarctica and found out some most interesting things". The X-Com insignia on the center of the screen was replaced by a black and white image of Antarctica.
"This is a radar image from the continent taken by one of our reconnaissance satellites. And this is what we think the US team was looking for". A smaller portion of Antarctica with the shape of a banana turned blue, standing close to the middle of the continent, slightly off to the right side. "It is an liquid lake trapped under hundreds of feet of ice. For how long it is up to the scientists to decide. The more important is that it was discovered by the Soviets in the 1970's, who built a base close to it. We wondered if the Americans were doing something connected to that base, so we decided to take a magnetic survey to detect the base. But we came up with something even more astounding".
A portion at the southern part of the lake suddenly became lit in red. "A huge magnetic anomaly was discovered covering the southern portion of the lake. The anomaly is so great that there aren't any natural explanations for it, meaning that it can only be an artificial concentration of metals. And it isn't the Russian base, which can only mean that probably the Americans were looking for an alien base. And they found it but lost their lives on the way".
The images of the military men in the computer-generated images suddenly expressed their looks of surprised awe and terror. Illyuschenko knew it also quite well. The sheer size of the base and its location made it into the aliens' primary area of operations on Earth in the event of an invasion. Such a facility could easily resupply and reinforce the alien's forces on the planet, giving them a major tactical advantage and a bridgehead to the planet's invasion. Once it unleashed the deadly power it contained inside the survival of man's civilization could probably be counted in a few weeks time.
The few wrinkles beginning to show on Robinson's eyes and cheeks didn't even moved a millimeter as he kept going on his briefing, apparently untouched by the magnitude of the threat. "As you can see it expands itself for several thousand square miles. Its sheer size has made us wonder if this isn't their ancient forward post on Earth, from where they monitored its condition and development, until a catastrophic climate change locked it and Antarctica in a permanent sheet of ice".
Some of the officers mumbled and one simply asked in disbelief: "A what?!" Robinson looked at Chevereux, who acknowledged it and replied to the question. "There are scientific theories that hold that the magnetic poles of the planet go through periodic shifts, leaving some continents in the midst of ice or deserts, while others thrive with vegetation. Basically this base could be laying in Antarctica for possibly millions of years, since you all have seen the reports about the alien harvest theory".
And yet another thing to probably bounce some religions off their pedestals, Illyuschenko added. The alien harvest theory was developed after the interrogation of some captured alien pilots. They had claimed that their influence had been crucial in the evolution of life on Earth and ultimately on Man itself. The aliens had managed to do in a few seconds what the Communist Party hadn't been able in decades: to prove that God didn't exist.
The X-Com Commander remembered then some of the teachings of Marx and Engels and wondered how would they fit the aliens into their material dialecticism and the struggle of the working class. But he was suddenly taken back by the voice of Robinson who continued to use the same tone, exactly the one when the Intelligence Chief of X-Com had personally presented him with this briefing two hours ago.
"Most likely it can house thousands of aliens and hundreds of UFOs, not to mention the supplies and repair facilities necessary to support such a force. However, some indications have leaded us to assume that it is only partially operational. A radiation scan for tachyon emissions shows that only a fraction of the base's fusion reactors are activated and further data analysis provided by Dr. Chevereux confirmed that the alien activity is restricted to a section of the base.
Still we would be hard pressed to try to mount a major ground assault on it. Nuclear weapons are a two edged sword: the heat caused by the massive detonations needed and upcoming radiation would melt the polar ice cap, bringing disastrous consequences to Earth's climate and would lead into a massive cooling of the planet, due to the amount of water in the atmosphere and the flooding of heavily populated littoral areas. We would be hard-pressed to survive even if we eliminated the alien menace and we're not even sure if the blast could penetrate the ice enough to reach the base".
Johnson's voice was heard: "Colonel, please wait a minute. We had been told before that the alien's base on the solar system was on Mars. Is this the same base?" Robinson made an almost unseen negative expression and replied: "We don't think so. The inquiries made into captured alien officers had confirmed the Martian lead. We are still unsure of its location, but we can say for sure that it is located there".
"So what's the bloody point of trying to deal with that monster?" MacTaggert interjected in as soon as he finished. "We should be thinking' of an freakin' way to find out where to strike in the wee planet". Hundreds, probably thousands of ground troops trained and armed would be necessary from a frontal assault on Antarctica, not to mention the attack craft necessary to overcome whatever aerial defenses it might have and that had just been a quick mental calculation made by Illyuschenko.
"Colonel," Robinson made a short pause until MacTaggert had finished. "A strike there to gain control of the base and disable it would put a serious delay into the aliens' timetable, giving us more time to prepare the forces necessary for the Martian attack you are referring to.
And another argument could be made into the necessity the Japanese factory has of raw materials for the Avenger assembly line, not to mention the Elerium needed to power the spacecraft to Mars. However, the most pressing argument is the information we need for the Mars attack is somewhere walking around on this base. It is the most logical place for us to find one of their high-ranking officers".
And one of the meanest bastards that ever had set foot on Earth, a monster that never felt any remorse or guilt for his actions. Illyuschenko cringed at the thought. Looks of disbelief and hidden hope where thrown at Robinson, who looked again at Chevereux as several voices expressed questions. The French scientist just continued.
"Until the discovery of the Ethereals we thought that the Sectoids were the predominant species inside the Starspawn, due to their intelligence and mental powers. However, genetic analysis and the battle reports of this new alien race have shown it otherwise. One of the most amazing discoveries was of the similarities between Sectoid and Ethereal DNA. Either one created the other or another species was responsible for their presence in the universe. But more important is the fact that the Ethereals have even a higher status than the Sectoids. Captured aliens shown what seems to be the alien equivalent of terror when interrogated about them and they have been seen to directly control the actions of Mutons, in the way we had theorized that the Brain would generally do over all of the aliens.
However, Ethereals do not control directly all races: someone is responsible for those other aliens and for the Ethereals themselves".
"The Brain, like Dr. Chevereux just said". Illyuschenko interrupted eager to move on. "And if we capture an Ethereal of the high-ranking leadership, it will know where this intelligence is located on Mars. And then we go after it and end this war". Silence greeted him as the other commanders digested his words.
November 12th, 2001
UNSS Avenger, south of the Hawaiian Islands, Pacific
The air onboard the Avenger craft had a strange scent to Private Jones. The atmosphere was being constantly recycled and it had an artificial smell, much different from the oily and cold air of the crew compartments of the old Skyrangers. There was even a small restroom in a cabinet where one could relieve himself before the battle, which had come much as a surprise to all of the troopers embarked.
But the weirdest sensation was that it didn't seem that they were flying several times the speed of sound. Jones had been on the Super Valkyrie when they had used the experimental plane and whole flight to Siberia plus the drop had scared him to death. Now they couldn't even tell if the craft was moving, except when the small circular windows were uncovered.
Although the Avenger was carrying a full complement of twenty-six fully armed and equipped men and women plus the crew there was enough space for them to actually feel comfortable. Moving on his seat, Jones tried to cross his armored legs but found that the suit's flexibility didn't go that far. After a number of tries, he gave up and his boot made a heavy sound as it hit the floor of the craft.
Next to him, Pershing opened his eyes and looked at him. "Do you mind? I'm trying to get some sleep".
"Ray, we're gonna drop in less than an hour. What difference does it make?" A warning look from the other trooper told Jones to keep his mouth shut or he would be thrown into the waters of the Pacific. Turning to the other side, he saw Rodriguez giving a curious look at the back of the Avenger.
"What's so interesting to watch? Don't tell me you wanna try to have your luck at Jill again and get squashed".
"I'll leave that to you Jones. I'm more interested in those two guys of Psi squad back there?" Turning towards the direction that he had just mentioned he saw two men, who were only carrying sidearms and personal armor. They weren't talking to anyone, not even between themselves and had placed themselves on the seats closest to the cockpit.
"You mean psycho squad? These guys give me the creeps, man. I wonder from what hole did the Colonel dug them out"
"One of them used to be a Theta security trooper. I've recognized him".
"He must be even more nuts in that case. Why would someone volunteer to have his brains fried?"
A spark of realization crossed Rodriguez's eyes. "You're right Jones. Why don't you volunteer since you have no brains to worry about?" The comment brought a grin to Pershing's sleepy face while Jones told the other trooper to shove his plasma weapon into a nasty place.
Vostok Base, Antarctica
When the X-Com team arrived at the abandoned Russian base they found that most of the buildings had been completely covered by snow. After a quick scan of the area to detect for any possible aliens had turned negative, they were moving to clear some of the structures for their own use.
Johnson and the other officers had all gathered inside one of the buildings, an old fuel depot that now only contained empty barrels and canisters of diesel and heating oil. Opening his faceplate and taking a breath he found that the cold air hurt his throat and lungs and numbed his tongue. Around him, the space in front of the other officer's mouths was being filled periodically with condensed water vapor and their faces were turning red.
"Jesus, what a hell of a place to be". Markovitch's comment brought a nod from Hunt, who brought his hand to the mouth and coughed afterwards. Moving in the darkened room, she brought an electro-flare from her belt and lit it up, using it to check the place. "Where are the aliens anyway?"
Hunt's reply was brief. "Only two miles away. That is, under us".
"There must be an entrance to the base. The Challenger and the Avenger will search for it by air while we do it on the ground". Johnson's voice made both of them turn towards him and the other officers.
"We'll be lucky if we find anything in this weather. I can't even imagine what it would be like to be outside without a power suit. The inside of my nose has already turned into goo ice cream". She considered unlocking her gloves to rub her face but decided against it after realized that her hands would also freeze.
"Once we find it, we'll split by platoons and try to find the command center. Our target must be there".
"Shouldn't we stick together Colonel? We have no idea of how many aliens might be underground".
"The base is huge but Mother One has determined that only a small portion must be active. By the time we find the entrance the Skyrangers carrying the tanks and the fire support platoon must have arrived. We'll split them up".
"At least Hopkins won't be running around in the snow like the rest of us".
"You wouldn't like to be in their position also. They are running into some nasty weather over the South Pacific".
***********
They were falling.
They had been descending for more than five minutes, falling into a red light underneath their feet. One of the patrols had found the base camp of the dead scientific team, standing next a ridge and, after a quick inspection of the area, they had discovered a small cavern.
The entry of the cavern was made out of rock but as they progressed inside it became replaced by the dull metal of the alloys used by the aliens. And at the bottom of the cave a square-shaped hole on the ground burned red, marking it as one of the alien's elevators. To Johnson it seemed as one of the dreams where one would be falling into a bottomless pit for seconds, only to wake up in your bed scared shit.
When the hovertank leading the way reported to have reached the bottom of the lift and found it to be a chamber empty of any aliens, she became more calm but the feeling still made her uneasy.
Twenty minutes later all of the teams had gathered at the level of the subterranean lake and had split up, each one in a different direction. Moving around through large corridors and endless empty chambers, Johnson was appalled by the size of the alien installation. It seemed to occupy an area of several thousand square miles and its immense size was making communications difficult.
There was a lot of static in the radio channels, either the result of being two miles underneath the surface or something on the walls that interfered with the signal. And the GPS wasn't working also, forcing them to rely on their own orientation. Fortunately, the hybrids left behind at the Avengers were managing to keep mental contact with all the platoon commanders. They were the most reliable source of keeping in contact with the rest of the team who had deployed in a circle around Johnson's position. He had ordered the command platoon to remain in a certain area while the others went searching for the alien leaders. Now they only had to wait.
**********
As First Platoon was moving across a large storage area the thought on Jones' head was only one: Jurassic Park.
He had seen the metal canisters before, right on the base that they had smoked in New Mexico. Yellow and green and red, the aliens used them to store all sorts of dead creatures that they wanted, including humans. However, this time it was different.
Standing in front of a glass cylinder that was nearly three times his height, Jones was looking at what seemed to be a dead Tyrannosaurus Rex. The orange and brown beast was suspended in the liquid inside, with the head hovering just over Jones. Its eyes were closed but the mouth was opened, revealing rows of white sharped teeth.
Coming from behind him, Rodriguez looked at the thing and said: "Allosaurus. Now this and the rest that is here sure beats all of those bone collections every museum has".
Jones turned to Rodriguez. "Alosaurus? Man, this is a T-Rex".
"Allosaurus, Jones. Trust me. Very similar but different species".
"Yeah? How would you tell the difference?" Rodriguez pointed to the bottom of the cylinder. "Can' you read?"
As Jones looked down searching for a plaque that would indicate the name of the thing Rodriguez pushed him forwards making him stumble. "Stupid. Do you think this is the Smithsonian or something? I used to dig dinosaurs when I was a kid".
Mad that the other trooper had gotten him, Jones was about to give a reply, preferably of the physical kind, when Sergeant Baker's voice stopped him. "Well, well. Since you first graders are so hot in your diapers, I'll give you something to waste your energy at". His voice was condescending, as if giving a reprimand to schoolboys.
Jones looked around to see where the Sergeant was at but he could find it. "Both of you have point". Baker's voice then took a more menacing tone. "Move it!"
Grumbling to himself, Jones moved behind Rodriguez as both troopers moved forward towards the front of the line.
As they walked carefully, they approached one observation tower that stood in the middle of the chamber. After a quick examination they found it to be empty of any aliens. After two troopers from Alpha had reached it and placed themselves on the top of the platform, Jones and Rodriguez kept walking, fifteen yards away from each other.
Most of the metal containers that Jones passed now where smaller in size but he dismissed them after a quick inspection. Until he saw a humanoid shape inside one right to his side. It struck him as bizarre since all that he had seen yet were reptiles and dinosaurs inside the pods. Approaching it, he saw that it had green skin and a bulgy body with yellow eyes that seemed locked in an endless void.
Seeing that Rodriguez had already moved forwards, he dismissed it and kept his own advance. At the end of the storage area, a strange form made Rodriguez motion Jones and both sought cover behind one of the empty glass canisters. "Captain. There's something out there".
"What is it Rodriguez?" As the inquiry came, Rodriguez was looking carefully; he could see it moving in the dim light and to his amazement it seemed like a flying sack full of air. It disappeared out of view quickly after stopping for one moment. "I don't know. Jones?" The other trooper waved his head to indicate that he hadn't seen anything. Everything seemed quiet.
"Whatever it was, I guess it hasn't spotted…" A high pitch sound cut him off in the middle of the sentence. Something splashed against the side of his arm and he saw fumes coming out from right over his elbow and felt something burning his skin. "What the fuck!?"
The comment felt out of his mouth as he saw the flying sack standing on the air right next to him and spitting something at him from an orifice on his top. It was kidney shaped and had no appendages.
Ignoring the pain on his injured arm, Rodriguez dropped his heavy plasma towards it and fire. The shot hit it at close range making it drop to the ground in a clump and making a sound of air being released.
Jones had moved by and was pointing his laser rifle at the motionless thing. "What it that?" Poking it with the barrel of his heavy plasma, Rodriguez replied. "Dunno but it looks dead".
Looking around the big canister in the direction from which it had came, Jones froze. "You gotta be joking!" In response to the comment, Rodriguez watched and shared the other trooper's opinion.
Another of the things was coming into their direction but it was only half the size of the dead one. But as it moved they saw it growing in the air. They both discharged their weapons at the same time, killing it before it would get the same size as the other.
*********
"What is this?" The comment crossed also Markovitch's mind as she stepped out of the corridor and through the door. Zeta squad had moved into a large room where the left wall was nothing more than glass windows with metal two feet in width separating them. The windows stretched from the bottom to the top and on the other side only pitch dark could be seen.
Stepping away from the sliding door, she approached the glass surface and activated an electro-flare with a push of her thumb while she motioned the other members of her squad to move forward.
The yellow light turned the inside of the chamber into a kaleidoscope of shadows, as the shapes of the other soldiers moved in the opposite metal wall. The room was almost eighty yards in length and at its end there was another door, barely lighted by the flare's glow.
Waving the light, Markovitch discovered that the glass was several inches thick and that the other side was filled with a green tainted liquid where particles could be seen suspended. Suddenly a pair of bright eyes appeared, attached by the light on her hand but the aquatic creature quickly disappeared as it realized that the flare wasn't either a meal or a mate.
"The underground lake". She concluded, trying to discern the shape of the fish she had just seen. She hadn't realized that they had walked so far to the west until reaching the edge of the alien base.
Moving away from the window, she followed the cautious pace of the other soldiers as they crossed the room. Dare and Yu had already reached the middle of the lounge. Then all of a sudden both troopers dropped to their knees and she mimicked their motions a second afterwards.
The door at the other end had just opened to reveal the large shape of Muton, whose massive arms and chest almost occupied the whole width of the entrance, leaving little space between it and the entrance. The contours of the square barrel of the heavy plasma it was carrying could also be visible.
It started to react to the presence of humans but before the alien could respond, a couple of plasma shots hit its body, one of them throwing its shoulder backwards. The weapon discharged its salvo a moment after as the pain of the injuries made it contract the fingers on its hand and press the trigger. However the body motion spoiled its aim, sending the plasma ball to the left of Yu and into the glass.
Releasing a shriek from its mouth that echoed through the entire lounge, the alien charged forward, hurting from its injuries but still not dead. A laser shot scratched his right hip, cutting through the green uniform and burning the violet skin underneath.
In response a number of plasma balls sizzled from behind the Muton, one of them hitting Dare on his knee, with the trooper letting go of a muffled moan but still shooting.
Pulling a grenade from her belt, Markovitch triggered it and sent it in a rolling pin fashion towards the door over the polished floor. The cylinder rolled down the metal surface, barely avoiding one edge of the door before detonating on the other side.
The Muton was already falling down when the fireball from the blast engulfed him. The explosion also ruined the sliding door, with the smooth edges becoming jagged lines of alien alloys. Markovitch was about to order her squad to move out when she noticed something.
A pool of liquid was growing on the ground next to Yu, right on his back.
Looking to the glass she that a stray shot from the firefight had melted the polished surface and now it had a circular rugged hole. From which cracks were slowing expanding over the rest of the window.
A cracking sound caught the other soldiers' attention. "Fall back!" She ordered and Yu moved to help Dare getting up, putting his free arm over the waist of the injured soldier.
They quickly passed by her and Prune and she was almost starting to move when a thundering sound was heard, followed by a stream of lake water that gushed from the area hit by the plasma and hit the opposite wall. The alien glass had finally gave in to the pressure of millions of gallons from the lake that covered the alien base.
When she reached the door the water was already by her ankles. As she watched the sliding plates closing after everyone was on the other side, she wondered for how long it would hold out.
**********
When all of the radio transmissions become suddenly cut off and a white light filled the area where Third Platoon had used as a forward command post, Johnson knew that something had happened. On his side, Crossett looked by both directions as if he was sniffing the air for a scent, although it was impossible since they were on their power suits. "I don't like this Colonel".
A few moments later, a sound of running steps was heard, followed by the appearance of Sergeant Hopkins, who came from one of the corridors. "Colonel!" He called. "A blast door just came out of nowhere near my position and closed shut".
But Johnson wasn't paying attention to either of them. His mind was filled with reports being forward to him by the psis that now were the only means to stay in contact with the other platoons. "Second Platoon has exchanged fire and reports that the lake is flooding the base". "Captain Hunt is engaging a group of heavily armed Mutons". "Fourth is cut-off by a blast door".
"Colonel?" Hopkins' voice finally cut through the hypnotic state he was experiencing and brought him back to reality. Two miles above, the psis detected his irritation at the loss of sense of reality that he had just experienced. They immediately started to communicate with White instead, who found his head suddenly nearly overwhelmed with their thoughts.
"Hopkins, keep the escape route to the lift clear. White, tell everybody that we need to find that alien as soon as possible".
**********
In another section of the base, Captain Jerrel and his platoon were starting to wish that they hadn't encountered the aliens. The hovertank, who was an automated flying tank armed with a plasma cannon, had been assigned point when they had stepped into a huge room. It was the size of several football fields and it was filled with Elerium engines more than twelve feet tall with power conduits spread around the floor. The power plants were similar to the ones the soldiers had seen before onboard UFOs but their scale was much bigger and they weren't emitting the characteristically orange glow from their upper parts.
The white and blue tank had bought it halfway across the room, after the artificial intelligence onboard had reported a spotting a group of aliens who had just fired at him. A second later, the sound of the tank crashing down the ground was the only thing that Jerrel had heard afterwards. The second salvo from the aliens had burned through the armor and hit the electronic systems inside the HWP, transforming it into a dead metal hulk, which now rested next to one of the engines.
That wasn't good but worse for Jerrel and his soldiers was refraining from shooting the Ethereals until the psi had checked them with a mind probe to see if it was the alien that they were searching for. As Jerrel tracked a running Ethereal who was crossing the empty space between two deactivated engines up ahead, his finger edged impatiently at the trigger. The psi assigned to his platoon was taking too long, he thought.
It made the hunt very dangerous. As the clearance finally came to kill the alien, it was too late. The three shots from his heavy plasma missed the Ethereal, who had managed to reach the cover of the engine.
All across the room, the rest of First Platoon troops were having identical problems. When the clearance finally came for Private Bradley to kill the Ethereal who was on a mad rush towards his position, he found out that he couldn't move.
Bearpaw, his fireteam mate, sensed something wrong and turned to him, after he had discharged a series of plasma blasts who caught another Ethereal but didn't kill it. "Bradley, take the shot!"
The soldier wished that he could do that but a strange force was preventing him although it didn't felt like the mind control exerted by the Sectoids. Instead, his arms moved away from the orange capped figure that was now only a few yards from him, with its hood covering the head. The alien was moving his limbs and he felt like a dummy on the Ethereal's hands. To his surprise he discovered that he could still speak despite being told that psionics gave full control over the being that was targeted. "I'm being mind-controlled!" His voice was filled with panic.
Hearing his words, Bearpaw looked back to him after killing the Ethereal that he had injured before. However he was knocked backwards as if he had hit an invisible wall. Stumbling, he tried to catch his balance but instead his body was lifted in the air and thrown towards the metal surface of one engine.
As he watched Bearpaw's flight in horror, Bradley suddenly discovered that the iron grip that was holding him had vanished. But before he could do anything to help his mate, another alien that he had missed brought up its own plasma gun and killed him instantly with automatic fire.
Moments afterwards, Jerrel discovered that his line had been breached when a plasma shot carved a hole on the massive engine that he was using for cover, next to his head. He followed the unexpected direction of the shot and found an Ethereal on his right, where two X-Com troopers should have been. With a quick movement he threw the barrel of his heavy plasma into that direction and filled the space with green fire. However, the speed of movement didn't gave him time to aim and the bolts missed the alien, who run for cover with smoke coming out from a spot on its cape that had been burned by Jerrel's shots. To hell with clearance, he thought.
*********
The infiltration from the underground lake into the base was getting serious, Markovitch realized as her squad entered a corridor where the water was already knee deep. The rest of her platoon had run into resistance from several groups of Mutons, which were keeping them occupied, but nothing that would require her assistance, according to the psi that was making communications with them possible. They hadn't found yet any alien officer but for now they were evacuating this section of the base. All of the squads were converging to into a location whose blast doors that had been blown by blaster bombs to prevent the X-Com troopers from being completely trapped by the waters.
Dare's injury to his leg had been treated but he was having trouble keeping up with the pace of the rest of them. Moving down the corridor, she stopped and looked back at both troopers as she reached an intersection. Beyond them, Prune was covering their back.
When she turned forwards again something caught her attention. A mist started to come from the side corridor, flowing over the surface of the water. It increased until suddenly the liquid next to the intersection started to boil, releasing a column of white vapor that quickly condensed on the ceiling and walls, falling back afterwards.
As the strange phenomena surprised everyone she raised her hand to order a halt. A second water column also appeared from the other side of the corridor and placed itself being the moving first, who was now five feet away from Markovitch.
She had started to retrace her steps, as it kept approaching her.
A darker mass started to be visible to her, submerged under the water, glowing angry red amongst the bubbles that quickly raised to the surface. Keeping the sight of her plasma rifle trained on the creature she decided it would be better to have more room between her squad and those things who had to be extremely hot to provoke such a reaction.
"Let's get some room". She called the rest of her squad and she paced backwards until unexpectedly her back bumped into Yu, who apparently had stopped.
"Captain!" Prune's voice and the hissing sound coming from his position told her that there was trouble. As she gave it a quick glance she saw that there was steam completely obscuring the part of the corridor from which they had came. And it was moving towards them.
Her senses called it a trap, although the submersible things had yet to make a move at them. "Let's get us some room". She pressed the trigger on her weapon and Yu followed it with a blast from his own laser rifle.
The green plasma bolt evaporated the surface but the water underneath dissipated most of the energy, adding it to the thick smoke that already was starting to engulf them. However it did hit the dark surface of the creature, which stopped for one moment before resuming its advance. Yu's shot had no effect at all, with the amplified photons of the laser being harmlessly dispersed into a million different directions as they interacted and bounced off the hydrogen and oxygen atoms of the water.
The private looked hopelessly at his weapon while she was unsure if it was worth to fire another round. "Let's go". She called and started stepping forwards on the intent of clearing the creatures with the rest of her squad following her.
A couple of strides brought her next to the vapor column, with the steam condensing on the view port on her helmet and filling it with thick drops that turned into rivulets. But as her left foot stepped down next to the creature, she suddenly felt a wave of heat burning through her limb
A flush of pain made it impossible for her to gain support on the leg and she splashed down the water. As view of the gray walls of the corridor on her eyes was replaced by the greenness of the infiltrated water she tried to grab something but her hand simply slipped over the smoothness of the metal walls.
As tried to find the creature, she discovered that she was in a complete different environment. A sense of uncomfortable warmth in her waist told her where to look for.
The sight of the alien lifeform was growing and almost filled the vision provided by her faceplate as it kept moving towards her. It was something akin of a sea sponge or a closed anemone, a mount of dark violet mass and with orange protuberances over its skin where large air bubbles would form quickly.
On the side facing Markovitch a hole suddenly opened in the surface of the creature revealing its burning red bowels for one second. Then, a stream of boiling liquid spurted forwards, in an aquatic slow motion that hit her on the chest.
The same feeling of warmth that she had felt before in the leg invaded her chest and she screamed and tried to kick the thing away from her. But when the pain that she was expecting didn't materialize, Markovitch realized that her chest armor must have hold the boiling liquid.
Then, in a sudden movement a pair of armored hands gripped her by her armpits and pulled her out of the water. When she was standing upright again she tried to place weight on her leg but a slicing pain made her quit. Meanwhile Yu threw his arm over her waist to help her, while the two other troopers fired plasma rounds at the thing that had attacked her until finally a gurgling sound was heard coming from under the water and it stopped to move.
***********
Captain Jerrel was by now trying to think of a way to extract his platoon from the fight with the Ethereals on the engine room. One of the alien Sectopod tanks had decided to appear and it had killed Lt. Hanley with his plasma cannons as the soldier was trying to fall back. But the only exit remaining to them was the large corridor from which they had stepped into this cave containing the base's power generators. And a stream of water had started to come from that direction, meaning that the flood was starting to reach this section of the base. If they tried to go that way they could found themselves completely submerged.
Close to him and also using the towering engine for cover, a trooper holding a blaster launcher fired the weapon. The guided projectile sped around the metal tower, flying for a few seconds before detonating against the Sectopod that had killed Hanley. Poking his head for a look Jerrel saw that the alien tank that was charging into their positions had been finally turned into scrap by the blast.
However, an armored leg stepped down on its remains, and the contours of the tall mechanical beast to which it started to be visible over the smoke. "That was the last one Captain!" The trooper called, dropping his launcher to the ground and going for his belt for the grenades he had there. "We need laser weapons on the center!" Jerrel called as he raised his heavy plasma and started to shoot at the alien monster.
To their right Jones hesitated for a moment as he heard the call since he had a laser rifle. But the sight half-dozen Ethereals who were attacking the right flank made him stay put, rejoining Pershing as he tried to stop the aliens with his weapon.
Rodriguez was already down on the ground and against a power conduit after taking a hit to his arm after tossing a grenade at them. He had managed to crawl there and was fidgeting with his medikit to try to contain the bleeding that had dyed his suit's arm red.
The group of Ethereals seemed set on killing the humans in this area, moving down the corridor between the engines in a precise and motion. Jones realized that their assurance must be so great that they didn't even bother to take cover as the capped figures walked down the space separating them from the humans.
"One!" Pershing's call came and both soldiers stepped out of the engine's cover at the same time, both firing at the lead Ethereal. The alien screamed in pain as both shots hit it but the sound was barely heard by them in the middle of the gunfire and explosions that filled the chamber with noise. It felt to the floor with its cape smoking and stood there immobile, with the barrel of his heavy plasma poking out of the cloth.
Both troopers then moved to avoid becoming targets for the other alien's reaction but Pershing was a second too late. Jones heard a 'humpf' and saw in horror Pershing as he was thrown spinning after taking two hits on his side, falling to the ground a moment also.
"Great! Pershing, are you alright?" Movement on the fallen armored figure told him that he wasn't dead yet. Checking Rodriguez, he saw that the trooper was trying to insert a banana shaped clip on his heavy plasma with his left hand while holding the gun between his knees.
Jones was on the edge of panicking when something upward caught his attention and made him look on that direction. He raised his arms in an impulse as something big dropped from the ceiling.
A blue and gray figure landed next to him, bending his knees to absorb the impact with the ground. As it raised afterwards, Jones's head followed it until he found himself looking upwards at a figure that seemed to be more than eight feet in height.
The newly arrived figure turned to face Jones and he became petrified as the sight. It had a humanoid appearance but the chest and shoulders seemed too large. It was all covered on armor, with metal around the neck and other places, with the head covered by a sleek helmet. Jones wondered if he was seeing some sort of power armor being worn by a Muton or another alien. However, the visor on the helmet didn't reveal the face of the alien, since it only reflected Jones' own figure.
It also had two strange and massive weapons on his hands, one of which having nearly the weight of Jones in length. Dropping his arms, he waited for the shot that would most likely kill him but at that moment he noticed an insignia that the alien had on his chest. It was a golden X superimposed over a circle. "What the…"
But in the next moment he couldn't see it anymore as the thing turned away from him, revealing a back covered with rectangular shapes of unknown electronic controls. It was now facing the Ethereals, who had started to fire at it.
It moved with a speed that Jones found impossible for its size, although the movements seemed too mechanical for a man to actually be inside.
The figure fired his right weapon towards the front aliens, releasing a stream of yellow fire from the barrel that caught the leading Ethereals and set ablaze their capes. It then directed the torrent of flame towards the two aliens behind as the first pair started to run and put down the fires that were burning them.
By then the last alien was had started to fire at the thing and Jones raised his laser rifle to help the newly arrival but he didn't had a chance to fire.
Watching in marvel, he saw a flight of light darts come out of the figure's second weapon and hit the aliens, the shots cutting the leading creatures into ribbons before bouncing forwards to do the same with the remaining ones. The head of one of the Ethereals rolled down the floor towards Jones foot. In one second the five Ethereals were reduced to piles of scraps of clothing and alien flesh.
"Hey…." He started to call the guy who had just saved his life but the metal warrior was already striding down the corridor, towards the direction from which the aliens had came. It disappeared on the darkness of the engine room.
Barely managing to hold the weight of his heavy plasma on his left hand, Rodriguez got up from beyond the conduit and readied himself to fire but stood down after seeing the dead aliens. "You killed them all Jones?" His voice showed bafflement mixed with admiration.
"Rodriguez, you're not going to believe what I just saw". Then he moved to help Pershing.
**********
Where are we? While waiting for the psi's response Markovitch called for Krenon and Digriz to set up a defense perimeter and meet her at the upper level of the alien barracks that they had occupied. She looked down the corridor that seemed to lead into nowhere and proceeded through the door into the small room where the lift to overhead was located.
After several minutes of frantic rushing to run away from the flooding her platoon had gathered at a base section that seemed clear of the waters. The alien barracks had been found before in the New Mexico base and they consisted of four smaller rooms that would cover each a different direction while lifts on all of them allowed access to an upper level that connected the four defense stations. They had found the suspension chambers on the level above empty of any aliens or equipment and were using them to regroup and treat the injured.
Captain. The voice of the psi appeared on her mind as she stepped out of the lift. Your position is estimated two klicks to the northeast of the Colonel's. Digriz and Krenon appeared and moved towards her but she motioned them to wait.
What's the status of the other teams? Have they found the alien yet? The response came negative a moment afterwards.
Turning back to her officers, she then asked. "What's the status?"
"The fire team has disappeared. They were last seen ten minutes ago and have not responded to any of our calls. And we have two injured, that's besides you, Captain". She stepped on her leg. Most of the pain was gone although she had a large blister right below her knee, where something very hot had burned her skin. "Well the aliens can't count me out yet".
"And there's something on the eastern corridor. Bragg has spotted aliens moving down a side corridor thirty yards away".
"More Mutons?" Krenon shook his helmet. "No, Ethereals".
Another alien nest to check. And this time they would have to be careful with whom they would be shooting at. "Tell everybody to lock and load. We need to get moving".
Less than a minute afterwards she was watching as a trooper raced down the corridor Krenon had mentioned, followed by another. The passage ended in a chamber where the walls of a room could be seen. Her heart nearly stopped as she saw both troopers stopped at a corridor right before the chamber and checked it for aliens.
After a moment the clear sound was heard and they moved to guard the entrance to the chamber. "Digriz reports the same at his corridor". Krenon spoke in a whisper. "Let's move out". She ordered and together with Krenon and another soldier they started to slowly approach the position of the other troopers.
Step by step they came nearer and looking to her left as they reached the location she could see armored figures on the parallel corridor that also gave access to the chamber. When she looked at the inside of the chamber her heart raced. A command center!
She had seen the arrangement before at the New Mexico and for a moment was happy that the aliens didn't innovative as they designed their bases. On the middle of the black walled chamber and occupying most of the space there was a metal bunker with a large door on its middle with a corridor encircled it. The problem was that they had approached it by the wrong side: they were facing the opposite side of the door, meaning that they would have to go around.
One of the leading troopers moved inside and rushed towards a recess on a corner of the chamber that shielded him from the side corridor that encircled the bunker. A moment later a plasma shot flew down and hit the wall to the right of Markovitch. "There's a Sectopod up ahead!" Someone warned on the radio.
"Franks, bring that heavy laser there!" Krenon ordered one of the troopers who were on the back. The alien tanks that had been designated Sectopods by the scientists, had been found to have a vulnerability on their alien electronic systems to the lasers used by X-Com.
Stepping into the corridor, the soldier pumped a pair of golden laser shots into the legged tank that was at the other end of the chamber. The first beam missed altogether, hitting the black wall behind it but the second hit it squarely on the red 'nose' it had.
The machine lumped forwards, with its front hitting the metal floor. However the soldier didn't had time to enjoy his kill since an Ethereal popped out of cover and blasted him backwards with a full automatic plasma blast from the weapon it was carrying. Clear! Markovitch barely noticed the psi's message as she fired back at the alien, hitting it on the shoulder.
Using both his hands Krenon pulled the fallen soldier out of the corridor while she continued to provide cover for him. After inspecting him from a moment he shook his head.
"Digriz, what's the situation there?" The short-range radios were working again, much to her relief. "Full of Ethereals. None of the ones we spotted is our target, according to the psi. A.."
A loud blast came from that direction and both she and Krenon felt the ground shook.
It told them that the aliens were using blaster launchers. When Digriz's voice came a second later she felt relief. "A joker just detonated a beebee up ahead. We're alright but we can't break through".
"We need ideas people" She watched in almost desperation until her eyes stopped on the outside wall of the bunker. "Krenon! Burn a hole there!" She pointed at an area on the middle of the corridor. "Digriz! I need two people here: one with a heavy plasma and another with a stun launcher ready! Yu, get your stun launcher ready also!"
The Sergeant nodded and moved down the corridor towards the location that she had pointed, Yu followed him, putting his laser rifle slung over his shoulder and taking out the launcher from his backpack.
Looking at the body of Franks, she saw the grip of a launcher coming from his backpack. Gripping it, she pulled the large muzzle of the stubby weapon free and turned to the remaining troopers before racing to join Krenon and Yu. "Keep your heads down!"
When she reached the area a nearly brightening green light suddenly illuminated the four gathered soldiers. After one second it suddenly went off and both Krenon and the other soldier with a heavy plasma kicked a portion of the wall who suddenly gave in, revealing the inside of the bunker.
A series of deadly plasma shots came from the inside fired at close range but only one hit Krenon. They were followed by a strange whining sound of as both Yu and Bartfast fired their launchers at the capped figure that was now visible standing inside the bunker and holding a heavy plasma. When the stun balls detonated they released a shock wave that gave Markovitch a feeling of dizziness but she quickly regained her balance.
Krenon had been hit and had one hand placed over his stomach but with the other he grabbed one jagged edge of the hole and pulled, further enlarging the hole that they had just carved. As Sharkey moved inside, she quickly followed him through the hole passing through Yu and Bartfast, who were reloading their launchers.
Stepping inside, Markovitch found herself in front of a large door, in the middle of a corridor where two capped figures could be seen laying on the ground, one with its ghostly face revealed but with the eyes closed. No other aliens could be seen. Are any of these the one we are looking for? The response came negative a minute later from the psi. By then Yu and Bartfast had also moved inside. Krenon was also trying to move his bulk over the five feet hole carved on the wall. She motioned Sharkey to stay and guard the corridor and pointed to the door with her thumb to Yu and Bartfast. Both troopers nodded.
With a hand motion Yu activated the motion sensor that activated the large door and it slid upwards, revealing the inner chamber of the bunker. Yellow light illuminated the three soldiers, who stood with the launchers ready on both hands, coming from the floor, where a large alien lift could also be seen, emitting in a reddish glow.
The room was empty of aliens and there were only circular gold cylinders placed upon the walls. She raised her index finger and dropped it a number of times and both troopers moved inside.
The three of them were carefully approaching the lift, step by step. Then, halfway a plasma shot flew from the upper level of the chamber, through the empty hole of the lift and nearly hit Yu. The trooper raised his weapon in response and fired. Again a muffled sound was heard coming from the higher level as both she and Bartfast raced forwards.
Reaching the lift in a couple of large paces she started to ascend, together with Bartfast
Their ascension lasted less than a second and they found themselves on the upper level. She had seen the wrecked command center at New Mexico and now she felt a bit of amazement as she stood in the middle of this one. It was larger than what she could remember, with walls filled with large electronic displays were strange green symbols were glowing against a dark background, beyond violet several violet consoles.
But she had no time to notice anything as a plasma shot flew past her and hit Sharkey, sending the trooper crashing into the ground. In response she directed her launcher at the red capped figure that stood next to one of the consoles holding a heavy plasma.
Just before she fired a voice itched on her mind. Captain! That's the one!
The stun ball missed it by an inch and detonated against the side of the console.
She saw the alien staggering as the shock wave hit him but still stood up, apparently not completely stunned.
Reaching for a reload on her belt, she discovered in horror that she hadn't brought any ammunition for the launcher when she removed it from the fallen trooper.
The alien's hood had fallen backwards revealing a skeletal face who now looked at her with dead eyes. She sensed that it had figured how the problem with her weapon and felt a sick satisfaction emanating from it through her psi senses.
The rifle! She remembered that she still had her plasma weapon hanging from her shoulder but before she could react, a cold invisible hand engulfed her right arm from taking out the weapon.
The Ethereal was using his psionic powers on her, she realized as she painfully struggled against the force, both physically and mentally. Her arm started to move and the alien shrieked, apparently completely surprised at her own psionic abilities. But as she moved her rifle into position it decided to use its heavy plasma against her.
However, a sizzling round flew past Markovitch and hit the Ethereal squarely on its chest. The round exploded, sending a flash that sent a wave of dizziness through her while the alien staggered on his feet before dropping the weapon from his hands and falling to the brightly-lit ground.
As Yu came near Markovitch she told motioned him towards the unconscious alien. "Get him. He's the one we want". The trooper moved and grabbed the creature by its robe, pulling it up to his shoulder as if carrying a sack of potatoes. At the same time she pulled out her medikit and started attending to Bartfast, who was trying to get up. Tell the Colonel that we have him!
Then, when the other trooper had recovered they started spreading grenades across the room. The sound of the explosives going off and destroying the alien control center reached them as they were crossing the hole on the wall.
André Galvão, 2001