X-Com - The Unknown Menace
Chapter Thirty-Two – Crimson Death
March 9th, 2002
The City, Cydonia, Mars
The three Avengers of Tiger Force swept in low from the south with the pilots directly bringing the craft into the middle of the cluster of pyramidal formations and mounds that was called the "City" because of their number and disposition. Instead of performing an airdrop using the flying suits worn by all the members of Johnson's team like it had been first planned, the Avengers would bring them directly close to one of the five-pointed pyramids in the area. They couldn't lose time regrouping after the landing.
The sandstorm blowing on the upper northern atmosphere had started to engulf the whole Cydonia area in orange blackness although in the Martian day's 24 hours it was only about noon. It was close to a heavily overcast and blown by the wind day on Earth. But instead of the gray, the sky had been engulfed in a deep orange tone and its whole seemed to swirl in every direction. On the surface, the sand lifted by the gutsy surface winds gave the impression that the landscape being alive, as it formed small circles and flew through over the hard clay terrain.
The swirling wind played with the dunes, only visible for their features as they were also of the same color of the orange and crimson sand, occasionally with the addition of green lighting that contrasted heavily with the background, flashing briefly.
As the formation of Avengers flew over the center of the City in a reconnaissance run, a number of plasma shots came from the ground, fired by the aliens. However, the sporadic anti-aircraft fire from the alien's weapons was ineffective against the thick armored hulls of the craft, with the green energy of the few hits quickly dissipating harmlessly over their fuselage.
As Clark lead the Avenger in a circle around the area, he tried to find the most possible location for the building that might house the Brain. On the back of the craft Markovitch was trying to detect which formation was housing it also using her psionic powers but so far she hadn't said anything on the channel.
As the Avengers finished their aerial sweep of the City, Markovitch finally gave up, saying to Clark that its mental presence was on every building. Clark then decided to head towards the largest pyramid on the area. The other two Avengers broke to the left following him, with the three craft flying a few feet over the tips of the quasi-geometrical buildings.
"Colonel, I'm bringing her down. Initiating decompression procedures". The door on the hatch behind him started to shut down to ensure the tightness of the cockpit while the main portion of the craft was decompressed. In matching the inside atmospheric pressure to the thin level of the Martian one it would be possible to disembark from the Avengers' rear ramp instead of only through the airlock on the craft's starboard flank.
"I've counted more than thirty Sectoids on the ground. And there's Disks also". Seymour said as he finished the scan he had been performing. "Gonna be a hot LZ this time".
"Every LZ is hot until we get out of it!" Both men grinned and shook their heads in mock disbelief.
On the passenger area the twenty soldiers of Second and Third Platoons immediately locked the faceplates on their helmets and sealed their armored suits. A red light came live on the ceiling, although because of the orange light coming from the view ports it burned in yellow-white. After a couple of seconds it switched off and below a green lit up. The X-Com soldiers started positioning themselves facing the rear ramp as the hissing of the decompression began to be heard. All of the junk that had fallen into the floor grating during the weeks' journey to Mars suddenly were sucked of its places and flew towards the back of the craft as made a short, final turn.
A thump and a feeling on their boots told the soldiers that the Avenger had touched down. The rear ramp immediately lowered itself down from its upward position to the ground, giving the two lead troopers of Kappa squad their first glimpse of Cydonia, in the form of a massive pyramid. "Touch and go people, let's go! We aren't paid by the hour!" The voice of Sergeant Krenon prompted them forwards.
As the soldiers started stepping down the ramp of the Avenger, the cockpit of the Challenger could had already be seen as the craft was setting down twenty feet behind and with its rear facing the right side. The Majestic also completed his touchdown on the left side.
It was visible that the pyramid chosen by Clark had suffered massive erosion on its surface that had turned most of the sides into dust-covered rubble. However, the straight geometric configuration was still plainly visible, with the triangular side raising several hundred feet above the ground.
The top of the pyramid was missing and instead there was only an irregular platform more than three hundred feet high. As Lt. Digriz finally stepped on the ground immediately after the point troopers he saw plasma fire coming from the top of the pyramid. He brought his plasma rifle to reply to it but Markovitch's voice stopped his motion.
"Digriz, Clark says there are Sectoids at the front firing at the cockpit. Take your squad and clear them out!" Turning to the opposite direction he moved underneath the Avenger's armored belly towards the cockpit of the craft.
At first he could only see darkness but a flare thrown by a soldier suddenly lit the features of the Majestic to his right. The X-Com troopers over there were busy responding to shots coming from his front but he couldn't see the aliens yet. Until a flare thrown by one of his men went skidding over the sand and landed a few feet in front of the craft.
As Digriz was racing to one of the landing pads of the craft he saw the large head of a Sectoid firing its heavy plasma at cockpit of the Majestic. He didn't need to warn his soldiers about it since Bartfast had already raised his heavy plasma. A single round hit the alien on the side of its body making it drop the weapon. As the alien felt to the ground the greenish blood that was coming from its wound quickly disappeared since the atmospheric pressure was too small for the water on it to remain on a liquid state.
But before it hit the ground the blast of a close by grenade made the alien disappear in a flash. The X-Com soldier closer to it was shaken as it went off ten feet away from him. His voice came a second later. "I'm losing air!"
"Sharkey, get it fixed and stay down!" Digriz tried to find the alien who had thrown the grenade but he could only see rocks and the rims of small meteoric craters. At the distance more pyramids could be seen against the darkened sky.
Another flare thrown by Bartfast resolved the situation.
It landed close to one of the impact craters, revealing a Sectoid as it raised himself of another crater. Its dark eyes become yellow from the reflection of the flare's light as it turned his heavy plasma to Digriz. But a laser shot took the alien with its shape disappearing as it felt back to the inside of the crater.
As Digriz and Turner approached the alien's position, Bartfast went over to Sharkey and took out a blue plastic cylinder from his belt ten inches long. The trooper had been hit on the leg and although it hadn't made any serious injury, the suit was losing heat and air through the hole. Breaking the cylinder with both his hands, Bartfast dropped the viscous content over the two inches hole until it was completely covered. The canister contained a plastic substance that had been designed to temporarily seal any breaches and it quickly hardened itself. X-Com's scientists had developed it for the fighting on Mars, based on an idea proposed before for manned missions to the planet.
Meanwhile, on the front of the Avengers the troopers who were assaulting the front pyramid were encountering sniper fire coming from the top of the alien structure. As King and Rumpole had exited the Avenger they had immediately dropped into a firing position to cover Second Platoon's advance. But they were finding out that the aliens were using a chamber that was apparently inside the pyramid from which the aliens were firing using window sized openings.
Finding it hard to track the aliens inside due to the darkness both switch to IR view but found out that the dust in the air was also clouding the infrared channel. Both of their golden salvos from their heavy lasers missed the aliens altogether, with the heat of the amplified light turning the sand into glass.
A blast bolt that came a moment later from the top of the pyramid hit one of the running X-Com soldiers below. He plunged into the ground with another soldier of his squad immediately coming towards him.
King tried to hit the alien who had fired the deathly shot but as he scanned the window he could only see darkness again.
"Where the fuck is Eta?" Rumpole swore as she also scanned nervously into the same direction looking for the hidden alien to pop up again. King was about to answer when he quickly detected a distinctive sound.
He wasn't sure if his peripheral vision had caught a glimpse of movement from the "bee bee". But as he was considering the possibility, the blaster bomb had already blasted away the top of the pyramid. He had already taken his sight from the scope built into the heavy laser as the explosion sent small avalanche of sand and metallic debris down the side of the pyramid. "These guys have the finesse of a hammer". Rumpole's comment made him reply. "As long as it works".
**********
When Johnson finally stepped down on the Martian clay soil after clearing the ramp of the Avenger a plasma bolt made him and Crossett duck as it hit the wing of the craft. But neither bothered to go for their weapons and run away as the human ship started to ascend. As they crossed the landing zone Johnson looked upwards towards the direction of the Fort and noticed with dread the yellow lights that seemed to resemble the Sun's disk, hidden under the cloud overhead.
The fighting had already moved away from the landing zone as the X-Com troopers were trying to establish a safety perimeter. Still he could still see a Cyberdisk hovering about at a distance, a small figure against the side of one of the orange buildings. As it lowered itself it disappeared behind one of the ground mounds that were close to the landing area.
Crossett moved to cover him from any straight shots coming from there as they walked towards Patterson and White, who were both right by a set of big rocks that offered some protection. In the area there were also Hopkins and some of his soldiers of fire support platoon, most of them sporting blaster launchers ready to fire and waiting to insert coordinates into the weapons.
Inside the pyramid whose tip had just been clipped Markovitch looked upwards the lift where she was standing by. She had sent two soldiers up there to check if there was any hidden chamber on the upper levels of the building. The ground level of the pyramid had proven nothing but five corridors leading into every face with a central room where the lift was located. She couldn't see the troopers but a moment afterwards a call came to her telling what she already suspected.
"2nd Platoon reports that the central pyramid isn't what we were looking for". White's indication almost caused no response in Patterson or Johnson who were already busy scanning the battlefield. As he scanned across the landscape taking note of the other buildings nearby he saw the immobile figures of 1st Platoon as they waited in their positions for orders to deploy. Then a rumble made him look upwards.
Onboard the Avenger, Clark could only wish that he had Harris flying by him since the man used to get alive of such impossible odds. The three Avengers had broken up their formation as the flotilla of alien Battleships descended on them coming from the Face. They were trying to get as many as possible away from the landing area since it would be suicide to try to defend it.
The three craft had headed for the hilly terrain near the city to the southwest in the hope of throwing off its pursuers but Clark was having a bad time doing it. According to Seymour they still had three Battleships on their tail as he suddenly cut the craft to the right into a brown canyon. "Tell me when!"
As Clark kept jerking around the craft to prevent the alien pilots from getting a weapons lock into them, Seymour kept checking the rearview projection. "Shit!" When the curse came Clark immediately increased his altitude and reached the UFO's level as they sped five hundred meters beyond him and just over the canyon.
The discharges of the alien plasma weapons went below the Avenger and missed it. Large portions of the canyon's sandy soil erupted as the blasts hit the ground. Then as Clark brought the craft again in the relative safety of the canyon the radio went active. "This is the Challenger! I've been hit! Requesting assistance!" Clark gave one look to Seymour and the co-pilot started to check the other craft's position.
***********
The first attack run of the Battleships that had remained behind in the City filled the avenue where Johnson and the others were racing with destruction. They had abandoned all of their positions and had warned the other platoons about the imminent aerial bombardment. Now the X-Com soldiers had all abandoned the clear terrain of the main streets inside the ancient city and were trying to find shelter inside the pyramid buildings and artificial mounds that littered the area.
In the orange lit world where the human troopers only a complete darkness meant life for them as it usually revealed the positions of the openings to the buildings. Unfortunately in some cases their former alien owners were still around.
As the Elerium weapon of the first ship detonated after being discharged from the side of the craft it produced a quick dissipating fireball. It crossed across the entire length of the street as it burned into a flash the few oxygen atoms present in the Martian atmosphere. As it moved over the armored suits of the humans its effect was negligible. However the Sectoids fared far worse since their bare skin offered no protection to the flames.
The hit craved a large crater on the brownish soil nearby a pyramid. The blast wave from the Elerium explosion hit the sand covered side of the building and it provoked an avalanche that partially covered the newly formed depression. It failed to hit any of the X-Com soldiers but the ones still racing for cover were tossed around like toys.
When Johnson was suddenly turned to the ground as he raced on the side of a pyramid close to the impact area the next thing he felt was Crossett's bulk landing on his back. Then the firewall passed by him and kept moving until it caught two Sectoids that were standing by a close mound. Their orange pale skin suddenly turned into a dark brown. The creatures started screaming and started to run as the pain from the burns turned into intolerable. Johnson issued a warning to Crossett. "One coming our way!" The trooper quickly got of his back with his heavy plasma ready.
When both of the aliens had been killed he turned to check for the other soldiers. One had suffered a leak on his suit and was busy sealing it back with the blue gel while others were bruised but fortunately no bones were broken. Shaking the sand off his blue plasma rifle Patterson came up to him and said: "We need to find the Brain fast!"
But Johnson was seeing something else that made him wonder. Another Battleship had just completely blown off mound where he had seen a squad taking cover. The salvo had buried itself first deep inside the building before going off.
Sand and portions of the inner metal structure flew in every direction and the remains of the pyramid collapsed after two seconds, sending upwards a cloud of smoke and dust.
Johnson was dismayed as nothing could be alive after that even inside a flying suit. But something else shocked him. "This doesn't make any sense". He turned and grabbed Patterson's shoulder, giving it a push and making the other man stumble of his foot. "Why would the aliens be risking aerial bombardment if the Brain is inside one of the buildings?" He demanded into the air, since Patterson was still trying to understand what had just happened.
With a blaster launcher over his left shoulder Sergeant Hopkins had also approached both men and was looking at the wrecked building. "It gotta be someplace else then".
**********
As Kappa squad was moving inside one of the Pyramids the lead elements blasted through the door and found a vast lift leading underground. The entire central part of the chamber where it was located in the middle of the building glowed a vivid green. As both Digriz and jumped through the door behind Sharkey lead he realized what they had just discovered.
Unfortunately he never had a chance to tell. The Sectoid inside the chamber had pressed itself against the wall of the door to be unnoticed. Sharkey had shifted first his laser rifle to the left. The alien was on the right and the time it took him to react was enough for Digriz to step inside and place himself between the alien and Sharkey.
They actually both fired at almost the same time with Digriz discharge of his heavy plasma a bit later. The Sectoid was projected by the blast against the wall and died right afterwards. But its shot had also breached the white armor with the plasma bursting into his lungs. His respiratory system ceased to work properly since most of the chest muscles were burned and unable to make in to inhale or exhale properly. But Digriz finally death cause was the shock done to its heart by the burn.
***********
The reassemble order issued by Colonel Johnson at the easternmost Pyramid had sent all of the combat platoons speeding towards the specified location of the lift. However, the troopers were still encountering small pockets of aliens on their way to the building that had been found and secured by Kappa squad.
The aliens on the surface were constantly harassing the retreating squads and delaying them while the Battleships overhead kept their low-level indiscriminate bombardment. King and Rumpole had stayed beyond to cover one of the major routes for squads who were disengaging and heading for the lift.
Split up into two teams divided between both sides of a large street they were defending the major route for the incoming X-Com. Each one had set themselves with their weapons standing against the triangular wall. From there they were protecting every X-Com trooper that entered the street against its pursuers.
As a group of three soldiers moved into view from one of the wide streets, King centered his scope on area from where they had just came and waited. Above him on the top and leaning against the side Deschamps also readied again his plasma rifle.
One of the troopers was injured and was being helped by another soldier with the third one standing behind to cover them. The leading pair tried to move as fast as possible in the dusty pavement between the pyramids but the injured leg made it difficult. They had only made it halfway when the first alien moved swiftly over the corner of the building, hovering seven feet above the ground.
The Cyberdisk's plasma cannon thundered before any of Sigma squad could react. It hit the rear soldier on the torso of his power suit and sent him reeling backwards. When he finally managed to correct his movement enough so that he could point the weapon at the mini-UFO and hit it before falling it was already late.
Two golden light beams emerged on opposite buildings and connected themselves at the central body of the Cyberdisk. The alien hovering tank ceased to function as its artificial intelligence was destroyed and felt into the side of the pyramid. The blast from the soldier's heavy plasma would have hit the Cyberdisk if it weren't already falling so it passed above the dead hulk by inches.
When the soldier felt to the ground King wondered what he should do to try to help him. The first pair was already reaching the relative safety of their position but the fallen trooper was at least about two hundred feet away from them.
To his relief the soldier managed to get back on his foot and start walking again towards their position across the light orange surface. "What a lucky sob". King commented on the radio and three clicks coming from the other three positioned soldiers expressed their agreement.
King kept its watch on the street all the time as the trooper reached their position and took cover behind the boulder that he and Deschamps were using for cover. He then spoke on the radio. "Thanks for the help. I'm Logan, Epsilon".
"4th Platoon?" King was surprised. "You guys are supposed to be on the other side".
Logan was busy checking the ammunition level on his heavy plasma. Unsatisfied he removed the gray banana shaped clip and reached for a belt that was loaded with similar clips. "You guys need ammo? I scavenged a couple of the aliens bodies".
"Got any grenades?" Deschamps asked and Logan reached for two on his belt and passed it to the Canadian. As he grabbed them he added. "Thanks. Nice stunt back there. Almost got you killed".
"You just need to survive the first blast. And if you don't…. well then you don't have to worry about the second". The man's casual tone made King look seriously at him, unsure if it was a joke or if he actually meant it. "We got separated from the rest of the platoon during one of the aerial strikes. Lost one of us on that one".
"Movement!" King's call sent the other two men scrambling to get their weapons in position. However they didn't found any thing on the location from which Logan had entered the street. "The bug got back into cover". King said in frustration.
"They are only waiting for reinforcements before they continue to pursue. They weren't expecting for their disk to die so quickly". Logan looked beyond their position and watched the pair of soldiers disappearing over a left turn that the street made. "We should head back. My squad was on rear duty. I'll doubt anymore of our guys are coming from that direction".
King nodded and called the Colonel to notify him of his intention. He found that the majority of the platoons had already assembled on the chamber containing the lift and received orders from Major Patterson to head back.
"Rumpole and Woodley we're bailing out. Start heading towards the lift. We'll cover you". Her response was immediate: "You sure know how to hold until the last minute King". The other members didn't understand but King's cheeks burned. "Get moving. This time we will cover for you".
He wanted to countermand her orders and he could do it since he was the squad leader and a corporal. However, he just shook his head in acceptance and decided it would be better to start walking since she had already bested him with that comment. Both three soldiers started to move down the street.
Then as they were about to reach the position where the ancient avenue bent around a irregular shaped mound a growing rumbling sound made them turn and watch. A Battleship had just swept in low from the direction from which they had just come. The aliens were waiting for some assistance all right, King realized.
"Rumpole, get out of there!" As his call came on the radio the blast of the alien weapon crossed over her position, sweeping through the side of the pyramid after caving a crater on the middle of the street. He only had time to dive for the ground with the other two troopers following him.
The shock wave of the explosion made them to roll uncontrolled over the sand. When they finally stopped moving King was the first to try to stand up, using his arms to look to Rumpole and Woodley's position.
The area had been razed and burned and only the shape of the pyramid gave any recognition. "Rumpole! Answer me!" He started to get up facing the direction until Deschamps stopped him, throwing himself into King and grabbed him. "She's dead! They are dead! We have to go!" King shook him off. "They could have survived. We have to go back and check!"
Logan had finished standing together and retrieving his heavy plasma which had landed a few feet away from him. "He's right, let's go. Nobody could have survived that blast!"
Disregarding Logan, King also bent and grabbed his heavy laser off the ground. "Get back to the lift. I'm going after them!"
"And I thought I was the one stubbornly stupid". Logan's comment was short as he shook his head and turned to Deschamps. "Get us some cover. We are getting back there!"
**********
The chamber where the lift was located had turned itself into a provisional staging area for Tiger force. Johnson and the rest of his command squad passed by one of the squads defending the eastern entrance and into the small corridor that led them into the central area. He saw wounded soldiers standing against the walls with portions of their suits dyed in blue, marking the special suit sealant. The ubiquitous Martian dust was also present, mixing itself with the gel and turning it into a darkened substance splashed over the armor.
Sentries had been placed on the lift to guard against any alien that might come from the underground. Johnson picked Markovitch standing next to the lift and staring at it with her plasma rifle held casually on her arms. He approached her, with Crossett next to him and keeping a keen eye on the lift.
"It's down there, I can feel it". She simply stated.
"How's your platoon?" She didn't reply to him for a second. Then she simply said. "Digriz, Bragg and Yu are dead". Holding her hand tighter she continued. "Let's get down there. We don't have much time left, I can feel it".
"I'm sorry". After an awkward moment on which he didn't knew what else to say he turned to Patterson who had also listened to her. "Contact all platoon commanders. We need to know how we are doing".
Half a minute afterward he knew the situation. The aliens were converging towards the pyramid that contained the lift from every direction. The Battleships were still blasting the streets and apparently some had landed and deployed fresh troops since they had started to see Mutons and other aliens besides Sectoids. And they had sustained casualties during the landing and reassemble of the force.
4th Platoon had lost more than half its soldiers, including Captain Hawn. The Fire Support team had lost full squad, including the lieutenant commanding it plus the hovercraft that had been brought up instead of the psi soldiers who had been assigned to Bear. Sergeant Hopkins was now in charge of the remaining two squads. The other three platoons had also suffered losses and Johnson ordered the remains of the Fourth to fill empty positions on them.
And there were also the soldiers critically injured. In most cases they would die if they weren't evacuated to receive proper medical treatment. However that was impossible at the moment since they had received no further communication from the Avengers. They would have to be left behind, Johnson decided since they would slow the company underground.
When the flux of incoming soldiers finally seemed to stop arriving to the rally point Johnson started to order them down. One by one the platoons positioned themselves on the lift and the soldiers started to activate the control to move downwards by movement of their arms.
Waiting for their turn on the drop list Johnson stood next to Markovitch, who had turned completely silent and had left Sergeant Krenon with the duty of organize her platoon's deployment. They would come down after him and Sigma squad with Markovitch's platoon being the last and providing rear guard. The other platoons would try to make a safety perimeter before they started a major push into where she thought the Brain was hiding. Johnson and the other officers were all hoping that she would still be able to somehow guess its location.
They stood waiting when one of the defenders stationed at one of the doors suddenly called with a relieved voice. "There's a squad coming through!" The warning made the soldiers look to the corridors to see who had managed to survive.
Two troopers emerged from the corridor into the lit area of the chamber. One was bearing the W symbol of Omega squad on the left chest of his armor and holding a heavy laser on his right arm. His other arm was stretched over the other soldier's back, with the forearm locked under the armpit to prevent her from falling down. The hardened dark substance form by the combination of the sealant and the Martian sand covered the power suit.
"King?!" Johnson asked as two more soldiers walked into the room while Camay headed to check the injured trooper. In reluctance, King then turned to the Colonel. "Rumpole is dead sir. We managed to bring Woodley back but I don't think she will be able to fight for now".
Camay nodded her agreement to Johnson. He quickly concluded that it was the only possible decision, although it would most likely mean their death. Turning to King he replied. "I'm sorry King. We will have to leave behind the critically wound or that can't move. We'll leave them weapons. They will try to have to survive as they can".
"Colonel, I request permission to stay behind with the injured". King's response came immediately. Deschamps's voice came next. "The corporal is speaking for the rest of the squad sir. Remaining members of Omega requesting permission to protect them and slow down the alien reinforcements, including Private Deschamps".
Johnson didn't know what to reply. He looked at Logan, the last soldier who shook his head. "I'll prefer go get back to my squad if you don't mind Colonel, but it's your decision".
"Alpha is still short on one after their casualties. You'll round them up, move up since they're already….".
"Holy shit!" White's voice made them all quiet. He had been monitoring the channels of the platoons that had already gone below. "There's some major fighting going down there!"
**********
"Men, did we really had to be the first also on this?!" Jones question went unanswered as the Chryssalid moved into the room where he and Pershing were. First Platoon had engaged the enemy from the minute they had stepped on the underground level after a lift trip that took some seconds.
The whole area seemed to be crawling with aliens ready for them. Soldiers had died the second they had stepped into the lift, cut by plasma fire from Ethereals who were guarding it. Others had been mind-controlled and had to be killed by hesitant companions as they started to shoot upon their teammates.
And the minute they had killed the Ethereals, one of the two-legged furry Reapers had dashed from the chamber where he and Pershing were now standing. Its eyes were bloodshot beneath the metal bands it had covering its head.
It had died on the corridor that linked the lift to the room where they were now, with its death wails barely audible as it was met with a wall of plasma and laser fire. But it seemed that it wasn't alone.
The Chryssalid moved around one cylinder whose glassy inside was lit in red. There were four of them spread on the corners of the room's square inner configuration.
The moment it became visible to both soldiers they immediately reacted. But as Jones' laser rifle fired the alien creature jumped to the right and took cover beyond the cylinder. The beam of light briefly lit the long corridor from which the thing had come.
Pershing managed to correct his aim at the fleeing figure but the burst from his heavy plasma simply hit the cylinder. The material evaporated at the contact with the ionized particles leaving a cloud of quick dissipating smoke.
From which the Chryssalid came running at both of them, its gray dark body gleaming from the moisture still on the thing atmosphere.
Pershing tried but he wasn't fast enough to hit the creature again. Nearly sidestepping every movement he made with his arm the Chryssalid raised its clawed upper limbs in anticipation for the strike.
Desperately firing his laser rifle at the creature Jones was so close that he couldn't miss. The red beam burned the alien's tough carapace at its torso but it failed to stop its movement.
Turning at the last possible moment to avoid the blast from Pershing's heavy plasma it stepped into range of him. Throwing its limbs around Pershing it seemed to actually being giving the human a hug. However it was a deadly one. The sharp end of ovipositor it carried on its torso's middle section breached into Pershing's chest armor and through the muscle tissue of his chest. The soldier gave a scream that chilled Jones and it released itself from the Chryssalids embrace a moment later.
As the alien stepped back it was caught by the beam coming from Jones laser rifle, which panic had started to fire at everything in panic.
The Chryssalid turned in pain to face its human opponent with a claw ready to strike but it was too late. As Jones kept his finger on the trigger the weapon went into auto mode releasing more than a dozen shots into the alien. As it dropped to the ground, Jones' rifle also went dead after the uncontrolled firing had burned the conductive material inside the barrel of the weapon.
He stood there watching the dead creature until he felt a Pershing moving on his left and turned towards the soldier.
The midsection of Pershing's armor now had a hole that burned crimson from the blood that was leaking from it. The bleeding was getting bad as the flow of blood turned brown at the sides but kept going down and coloring the armored legs in red. "Pershing! Jesus!" Jones reached to grab a canister of sealant on his belt. But when the other trooper started to walk towards him moving his arms and legs as if he was a puppet he realized that the alien had impregnated the soldier.
Something refrained Jones from firing and instead he threw the canister that he was holding on his left hand. The container broke against the helmet of the zombie and released its content.
As the gel solidified it made the zombie blind. Frantically the human figure tried ineffectively to scrap it off the visor of the helmet until finally it managed to lift the faceplate. The bloated and dead look of Pershing's eyes stared at Jones and he finally found the courage to press the trigger on his laser rifle's handle.
**********
By the time Johnson and the rest of his squad got down, the chamber of the lift was bathed in dim green. Light coming from of plasma weapon's fire came from the corridors. The bodies of three X-Com soldiers could be seen in the room, one so close that its white arm was placed over the lightened floor of the lift. Alien bodies could be seen on most of the corridor's four entrances: red robbed Ethereals, the purple uniform mass of a Celatid as it rested dead against the metal floor and even a scorched hide of a Reaper.
As he stepped to the corridor to try to understand how the situation was he spotted a figure standing away and holding the long tube of a blaster launcher. However, unlike the ovoid carapace of a power suit a lean silhouette could be seen. Crossett issued a warning as jumped from behind Johnson and brought up his heavy plasma. Unfortunately the Ethereal moved away as the green bolt flew down the corridor into it and disappeared into the darkness. "We need to evacuate this place!"
Markovitch immediately started ordering the soldiers towards another corridor. When she stopped at entrance of it Johnson turned to her coming from behind and said: "Keep going!"
"There are still troopers coming down the lift!" She protested as he pushed her.
"Krenon, stay behind!" He ordered to the Sergeant as she finally started also to move. "You're much too valuable and you have to lead the way!" He explained a moment later, right before they had stepped into a dark cave. As they looked around they saw tall mounds looking like dark earth. A fluorescence was up in the air providing the few available light.
There were strange plants on the ground, brightly colored of several colors and also at the top of the mounds, with weird branches coming down from the eight feet tall tops of the elevations. It seemed to Johnson that they had just stepped into the entrance of a maze. Soldiers of First Platoon could be seen slowly moving between. He asked on the radio. "Jerrel, what's your status?"
"Lots of aliens here sir….Ethereals and some sliding hard creature that seems more a plant". A tremor told Johnson that something big had just exploded near him. Crossett had also started to react to something and he got down and sought cover with everybody else doing the same or firing. Turning to Markovitch he said. "Get moving!"
She stood next to him holding her plasma rifle upwards to what Johnson had now seemed to be an Ethereal on the top of one mound. "But to where? And you have to come also!"
"For now please don't worry about me, Sheila. Just get to the Brain". The radio channel went open but Johnson heard no sound for one second. Then she called. "Krenon fall up on me, let's go!"
**********
Where are you? As the question run through Markovitch's mind she felt a strange commotion, as if the creature that they were looking had just stirred.
She was sure that they were approaching it even if it seemed that they were walking without a fixed direction. As the remains of her platoon moved across the labyrinth of corridors and chambers that was buried below the City she could tell that they were getting closer.
Even the Ethereals and the other monsters that were defending the underground seemed be fighting more fiercely in their attempts to stop the X-Com troopers. They had gotten out of the maze garden after a vicious fight with the aliens on it but had finally cleared it into reaching again a metal wall corridor. From there they had run in what seemed even to her to be turns with no sense. She just hoped that the soldiers couldn't feel her confusion as she noticed in mistakes she was making.
She had taken again the lead of the group of soldiers that now had started to move across a large white corridor. Sergeant Krenon and Bragg were right behind her and occasionally she would fell their fear and apprehension. But it didn't distract her. While being on a base filled with aliens the human feelings gave her an anchor that allowed her to clearly filter the rest of the sensations that her psionic abilities detected.
"Captain, I'm staying behind with Dare". Camay's voice came through the helmet's headphones. Stopping her march she turned towards the back of the small group and found the paramedic holding the injured soldier against one of the walls. "He's slowing us down".
"Can't get a better excuse to be alone with me Zeera? This is getting into a habit". Dare's comment revealed the exhaustion of the soldier. Markovitch shook her head. "No one stays…."
"Contact!" The warning came as the light of Krenon's heavy laser filled the section of the corridor where they were standing. As she turned, the dreadful figure of a skeletal Chryssalid running towards their direction made her cringe.
Krenon's first shot had missed and hit the wall at the end of the corridor. However, the alien was too far away to be able to clear the distance that separate it from the soldiers and perform one of its obscene attacks. The confined space of the passageway soon was filled with energized photons and ionized particles as the soldiers fired nearly blindly towards the creature. It didn't even managed to clear half the distance to the humans before it several shots hit it. The Chryssalid's head bumped into one of the walls as the ghastly figure felt to the side.
"That solves the issue. Move out!" The group kept advancing and as they reached the corner Markovitch's heart leaped as she looked into the new corridor. It was about as long as the one that they had just transverse but now there were a set of doors built into its middle. The entrance seemed wide enough to allow the Sectopod on was in front of it to pass through.
With a movement of her hand she ordered everybody to stay put. The machine had its back turned towards them and wasn't aware of their presence since it stood motionless in front of the door.
She motioned to Krenon to come up to the front and made also a gesture with the index and the middle finger bent to represent the presence of one of the alien tanks. Camay also stepped up since she had a laser rifle. Even that would make more damage on the Sectopod than her plasma rifle.
When both troopers got themselves into position, Krenon called after mentally counting three seconds. "Three!" The trace left in the retina by the twin laser shots shown it to be the first but by the time they appeared they had already hit the back of the machine. The Sectopod's legs immediately froze upwards as if the machine had taken an electric shock. A moment later it felt forwards, with the torso hitting the metal floor.
Krenon and Camay waited for a moment to see if the alien was obscuring any aliens standing close. When no motion appeared they started to cautiously move step by step. Markovitch followed them until they all reached the location of the dead machine, which was blocking most of the corridor.
Including the distinct rectangular shape of an alien door, with a thick line defining its edges. The entrance was about ten feet wide and wide enough for the alien tank to sweep through. And, fortunately it hadn't activated it on its fall. As Markovitch looked to the door a strange commotion went through her. "It's here". She said without thinking it.
**********
"We got company!" Johnson and his squad had just stepped out of the maze of subterranean gardens and into a corridor. They were getting close to the area marked by Markovitch as the Brain's chamber and they had to take the right perpendicular corridor to this one. But as Crossett had first stepped into the passageway he had immediately turned his heavy plasma to the left side and fired a blast.
At the end of the corridor a couple of Ethereals were plainly visible and holding heavy plasmas. He stopped to fire but Patterson immediately pushed him towards the side corridor that would lead him to the position she had marked.
Before the wall hid his vision of the three soldiers he saw White also standing up and using his laser rifle to supplement the other trooper's fire. A couple of seconds later both Patterson and White disengaged while Crossett stood behind.
As they moved to join him at the middle section Patterson said with satisfaction. "Got one of the bas…." A sizzling sound made him stop on the middle of the sentence and turn backwards.
Johnson also saw Crossett freezing into place and holding his heavy plasma by the barrel as if it was a baseball stick. His swing with the weapon hit the blaster bomb as it stopped a couple of feet in front of him to negotiate the corner.
The detonation made Crossett's body to disintegrate in the air, sending metal and flesh everywhere. It also projected Patterson and White against Johnson and the three troopers felt on the ground.
When he managed to get out from below the Major's armored figure he saw that the blast had killed him. The air of the power suit was coming in a haze from a hole in Patterson's helmet that revealed dead eyes. Crossett seemed to have sublimated on the air with no trace of him left except for the dark matter that littered the walls of the corridor and the few remaining pieces of armor. Only White seemed to be left alive as he stirred while laying against his stomach on the ground.
As he used his arms to lift himself up from the floor, he called on the radio. "This is Sigma. We need assistance to the west of the garden structure".
**********
The three remaining members of Alpha squad had finally reached the clear back of a storage room after passing through a dark garden more akin to a deadly maze. However as they started to check their position movement across the other room's end flared up their adrenaline again. But as they spotted the turtle sight of a dirty power suit they brought their weapons down. "Logan, Epsilon".
Captain Jerrel replied. "Where's the rest of Alpha?"
"We got ambushed by two Sectopods and some Chryssalids. They didn't make it". The soldier's armor showed a number of plasma hits that had burned the metal alloys. In some cases blue sealant had been poured over them. It had also some dark organic liquid that had been spilled over it. It some cases the blotches were superimposed and it revealed it to be of a violet color.
"The Sarge's is dead?" Jones quickly asked as he turned to Logan. "Tenga sus almas". Rodriguez said softly afterwards in a prayer. Johnson's called erupted on the general radio channel. Jerrel started to determine their position as Johnson described his location. But Logan figured it out a moment before. "I got an Ethereal close that was standing in a corridor holding a blaster launcher. And it's inside their possible locations".
Some minutes later they had arrived at the portion of the corridor that had been gutted by the blast and had found Johnson on his knees but holding a heavy plasma at them. One body was at the ground while White was seated against a wall but holding his weapon. "Sir!" Jerrel approached him. "How are you?"
"Patterson and Crossett are dead". He was tired of all the deaths but he knew he had to continue, no matter the cost. "White's leg still has a large piece of metal inside both the muscle and the gel". The Captain looked to the sides in search of the missing body. "He's gone. I was waiting for you to appear. Get someone to help White. I think I where Captain Markovitch is. She has just broadcast me something strange that might what we're here to look for".
********
The thunderous sound kept increasing in volume, coming from a side corridor as Hopkins ordered Levine and Sharpe to stay put. Something big was running towards the direction of the corridor where they were walking. They stopped after a plasma dart had flowed in front of them, in no doubt aimed at an unlucky soldier to their right. It was big and armed.
In the chaos of the descent into the subterranean level they had simply rushed away from the lift chamber into an area where they could use their blaster launchers. Joey had died on the attempt as the plasma bolt fired from one Ethereal had hit him on the back as he tried to reach the exit corridor. From there they had tried to link up with First Platoon and the Colonel but either they were completely lost or it simply didn't made sense.
Looking down at his blaster launcher Hopkins felt frustration. Whatever was coming down from the left it would be too close for him to use the weapon without serious risk for the three of them. Levine had a heavy plasma but Sharpe had also a launcher leaving both of them only with their sidearms. Dropping the launcher into the ground, Hopkins took his laser pistol from the holster on his belt and held it with both hands. Next to him Sharpe did the same and took out a plasma pistol and a grenade.
As the armored pads finally moved into sight Hopkins wished that they still had Joey and his heavy laser. The legs of a Sectopod appeared first and the red visor of tall ovoid body followed quickly.
As the barrel of Levine's weapon was set ablaze by the green lightning coming out from it, the white side of the alien's torso became filled a second later with plasma. Sharpe's grenade followed a moment later hitting its leg and detonating with a noiseless flash as Hopkins fired his pistol.
The discharges made the alien tank falter its forward movement but they didn't kill it. It swiveled its body towards the troopers to bring its twin plasma cannons into line with the humans' direction, firing before they could even move an inch.
Either by chance or deliberate purpose Levine caught both shots, one on his left arm and the other oh his chest. The soldier felt backwards from his kneeled position with his heavy plasma still on his right arm.
Both Hopkins and Sharpe continued to fire their pistols at the armored monster. Hopkins desperately sought to hit the red visor, where even the weak power of his laser pistol could cause critical damage to the machine's circuitry. Instead both soldiers only managed to score more hits against the Sectopods thick armor but which didn't seem to cause visible damage besides scorching in several different locations.
The green flash of its cannons was visible again, and this time Sharpe had been its target. One bolt hit the wall on their back but the second caught the trooper's shoulder and send him spinning backwards before he also felt down.
Finding himself alone against the Sectopod Hopkins felt a strange feeling of déjà vu. But it quickly vanished as he fired his laser pistol again, followed by Levine who somehow had managed to survive and was firing his heavy plasma from the ground with only one hand.
This time his aim was right. The red visor shattered as the laser beam from his pistol hit it squarely, with fragments raining down into the metal floor. Levine's plasma fire also added to the destruction, managing to hit the machine in the area the body connected to the legs where its armor was thinnest. The Sectopod tumbled to the left side, with the oval body hitting the wall as it felt downwards.
**********
Johnson's and Alpha reunion with Markovitch's platoon at the doors took occurred some time later. She had deployed two troopers at both ends of the corridor while the rest were guarding the doors. As they passed by and approached her position he asked. "Any movement?"
She didn't reply for a second as she had only wished to go and pick him up when she heard his distress call on the radio. The decision to stay had been hard to take. "The inside is quiet but we've detected some movement inside. And Krenon has seen movement of Sectopods to the south".
"I think we slipped through their defense line. They must be looking for us".
"We kept out of the door like you ordered".
"White has helped me in tracking or path. I believe we are below that large formation for the northeast of the city. The one that looks as a Fort but it's completely ruined?"
"You think they did it on purpose? Putting on a place that they knew we'd overlook?"
"Let's go and find out. How many people you got left?"
"Me and six. Dare is hurt. He can fight but he can't realty move".
"That makes us twelve who can move. White is in the same condition as Dare. They'll stay behind to cover us". She nodded both in acceptance of the orders to get ready as for reluctance to leave the soldiers beyond. At least King had bought them some more time by blowing the corridors and blocking them with tons of rock and rubble. Would they all be able to survive?
"The hovertank would have been handy to go through these doors if we hadn't lost it! They're about the size". His comment seemed absurd in the situation to her. "Right! We'd only have to figure how to squeeze it through the doors upstairs!" He looked at her shocked for an instant but then let go of a small laugh.
As he passed her she butted her plasma rifle against his suit's back. "Knock it off!" He called before ordering Jerrel to assemble the soldiers.
When both doors opened they found them to lead into a long dark corridor fifty yards long.
It ended in a T for there was a pair of opposite light sources at the end, whose reddish glow was illuminating the end of the corridor. No aliens were visible on sight.
A pair of X-Com soldiers started to cover the distance, followed by another identical set of soldiers. Jones hadn't understood why he had also volunteered to go first as Logan had stepped in the front. His laser plasma looked puny when compared to the heavy plasma Logan was carrying on both hands.
They both went off at the same time as a pair of Ethereals appeared in front of them, nearly mimicking the human pair with their weapons on their arms.
However, the aliens weren't ready for the soldiers for their response was not immediate. In any case they scored better that either Logan or Jones, whose shots didn't looked as if they had touched the aliens for no result was visible.
The first plasma blast hit Logan while the second barely missed Jones again. Their motion started to stop but both troopers knew that they had to continue.
Pulling a grenade from his belt Logan started racing down the corridor while Jones looked in shock. "You crazy…."
"See if I survive the second!" Jones looked at a mist trailing off from Logan as the soldier kept approaching the aliens. His suit must be having another leak meaning that probably he had been injured.
Ahead a second blast caught Logan on his chest, again burning through his armor. But he grinned to himself despite the pain he was feeling and the shots that grazed off him as he was in a zigzag that made it hard for the aliens to target him.
A few seconds later an explosion rocked the end of the corridor with debris flowing over the entire team
When Johnson reached the T-junction he found Logan's power suit on the ground together with the figures of two dead Ethereals. The corridor ended at two smaller ones, both with a lift that was capable of bringing up person upwards. As they kept the top under complete surveillance, the soldiers started to get upwards.
Johnson and Markovitch finally reached the Brain's chamber, after both took the lifts at the same time, their first sight was of Bartfast running in front of them before being gutted by plasma fire coming from the depths of the room.
The walls of the room were dark and were covered with organic matter that gave a dimmed blue glow. In front of them they saw endless rows of blue chairs, all disposed in a semi-circular fashion and facing something terrible at the end of the room.
Markovitch froze into position as she contemplated the alien Brain, a monstrosity that was resting on top of a large platform almost a hundred years away. It consisted of a mass of sweaty leathery flesh nearly the size of a station wagon. Next to it a variety of alien equipment rested against the wall behind and around the giant alien. Branches from which strange leaves sprouted came from the ground and the walls. The organic mass seemed to be connected to the machinery, making it almost impossible to tell the difference between both.
Her next vision was of the metal ground as Johnson pushed her away from the elevators to the closest line of chairs. Her plasma rifle dropped to the ground with the sudden movement but she was too absorbed by the inhuman figure to notice.
More X-Com troopers poured out of the lifts and moved to join them, some firing back at the Ethereals who were fiercely defending the room. Next to her, Johnson rose from his position and shot an auto burst from his heavy plasma that hit one of the aliens standing five rows away from them.
The creature let go of a high-tone scream but returned his fire, blowing one of the seats close to Markovitch. Getting back next to her Johnson called: "There's too many of them. We have to suppress them if we want to get closer to the Brain". Stepping back into the open he discharged a round against the back wall, punching through one of the metal structures on the left.
It only made a pair of Ethereals to change their aim towards him and he as he dove back they both braced against the ground as the chairs were blown apart. Clearing her head she replied: "That thing is calling for reinforcements Erwin. I can feel it. We need to kill it otherwise we are going to be trapped here".
Activating the general channel, Johnson called. "Hopkins where's your platoon? We need some help up here".
First only static replied to him but it was soon followed by the sound of someone taking deep breaths. "Colonel, we have been cut off from your position by a number of Sectopods that irrupted on the eastern flank. Sorry but we can't reach you".
"Anyone can reach our position and give us support?" His voice came between a plea and an order. Nobody answered, either they were too busy or they were either dead.
They needed to get closer to be able to hit it on the correct spot before the men that had been left behind to guard the corridor where overwhelmed. Markovitch reached for her backpack and removed a cylindrical object with a metal hand on one end and jagged edges on the other one. It was a psi-amp.
"Sheila what are you going to do???" He asked as he noticed it, surprised that she had brought one of the devices with her. They had only been assigned to the members of Psi squad, who were twenty miles away on the Pyramid trying to survive with the rest of Bear team or already dead. They sure could use them down here to try to coordinate the platoons.
"These Ethereals are killing us". She barely paused to reply to him as she connected the power cord to her suit and the neural transmitter to the sock built into her arm. "We need some advantage".
Getting up quickly, she pointed the jagged end of the psi-amp towards an area were a group of Ethereals were clustered and projected her mind.
As she pressed her attack, one of the aliens seemed to be caught by surprise by the mind attack and she concentrated on that singular Ethereal. Its mental defenses collapsed and she quickly found herself in control of its body, using the heavy plasma it was carrying to cut down the aliens close to it.
Through the eyes of the alien she saw the X-Com troopers taking advantage of her initiative to move towards her and started to turn to face more of the tall aliens.
When suddenly an unexpected presence stepped inside the Ethereal's mind, overwhelming her control and almost breaking the mental connection. Her forehead started to ache with a thundering pain, almost bringing her down to her knees as she looked forward and realized in horror what had just happened.
The Brain must have detected her attack and had moved to overcome it. A buzz started to be hear on her ears and as she tried to take a step forward she noticed that she had lost nearly all sense of balance, making her walk like if she was in a drunken stupor.
"Sheila, what's wrong?!" Johnson had stopped his advance and was looking back at her. She managed to find the strength to shout and point the psi-amp at another Ethereal who was standing in halfway between the lifts and the Brain. "Keep moving!"
Pressing the trigger on the psi-amp she sent another mental attack that was successful but this time she had problems feeling the alien's body making it difficult for her to fully control it. Closing her eyes she gave it another try.
Around her, the X-Com troopers that had also managed to get to the chamber had crossed one third of the room. But even with Markovitch's help they were taking tremendous casualties. Gamma squad, reduced to Captain Jerrel, Jones and Rodriguez, after the death of Pershing at the claws of a Chryssalid, was trying to move closer to Johnson and Markovitch's position.
Suddenly, a stray plasma blast hit Captain's Jerrel's helmet as he was racing towards Jones and Rodriguez's cover beneath a row of the blue chairs. His head was projected to one side but the damage didn't seem to be that great. Jones watched as he regained his balance and thought that he would keep his path towards them.
Then a pleading cry startled him: "Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"
The scream was suddenly heard over the squad's channel. Then it was suddenly cut off as the officer's suit decompressed after the breach suffered by the helmet. The faceplate exploded outwards, spreading the dry bloody remains of Jerrel's face together with broken plastic fragments from his visor.
"Captain!" Jones started to get up and rush towards the fallen body but Rodriguez's grip prevented him.
Meanwhile, as the Brain's overwhelming presence started to be felt away by Markovitch, she desperately tried to do something as her neural cells started to scream and ache from the tremendous pressure applied to them.
The touch of a circular object on the creature's waist gave her a last effort chance. Concentrating instead on the free arm of the Ethereal, she finally felt it perform the motion she was attempting.
A beeping sound from Johnson's heavy plasma told him that he had just run out of ammunition. Using his right hand he unclipped the empty cartridge from its place at the butt of the cannon and reached for a fresh one on his belt.
In horror he remembered that he had no more banana shaped clips left. Looking around to see if he could retrieve a weapon from a fallen alien, he saw that an Ethereal in the front was readying a grenade to toss at them with its left hand.
The alien raised its roped arm to throw the explosive but as it was halfway through the motion, a blinding flash activated the light suppressors on his helmet, leaving him blind for half a second.
When his visor depolarized, his eyes were still full of dancing circles and geometrical figures. Blinking his eyelids he dropped again to the precarious cover of the seats while he recovered. As he pressed his power suit against the row, he saw Markovitch on the one directly beneath him. "Was that you?"
His question went unnoticed by Markovitch. She was looking directly at the Brain. It was still too far away to use grenades to kill it and the aliens were fiercely taking down anyone that attempted to fire directly at him. On her right, Sergeant Krenon had just taken a number of hits after he had discharged a salvo from his heavy laser at the monstrous thing. Again, they had hit the machinery close to it but they hadn't touched the Brain.
Then a thought came to her mind as the recollection of how Mutons died if their mental link with the Ethereals was cut down. Pointing her psi-amp directly at the Brain, she hoped that it would work.
Before she pressed the trigger, Johnson raised his hand to her as if to stop her and asked: "What are you doing now?"
"The Brain is the whole key, you said it. If we can control it…..". She didn't finish the sentence as she activated the psi-amp, projecting her mental image in the mass of flesh.
Only to hit the mental equivalent of a wall made of stone and recoil back, filling her with unbearable pain. She clumsy fell limp to the floor, as all of the nerves in her body stopped to transmit synapses for a second. The Brain seemed too strong.
"Sheila!" She ignored his call and raised her arm once more. "Stop!"
Drawing an imaginary line on the mental wall that she had just encountered, she concentrated all of her effort into cracking the immense power of the Brain and cutting an opening.
A flood of new sensations invaded her senses, making her ignore the pain. They were too alien to be understood but for a brief moment she felt every alien and ship that there was present on the Solar System. And she also sensed more, sending her dozens of light years away, to a place filled with other presences Brain like, including one closer but which seemed dormant.
In horror she realized where she was and tried to speak: "There's…."
Now, fully alert to her the alien Brain reacted to her presence, with his mental powers sending repulsion and fear vibrated all across the room. As it hit her she nearly panicked but kept trying to contain its response. Until she found it impossible as a bright light filled her eyes and seemed to cut through her own brain cells, causing both to shut down permanently.
"Sheila! Sheila!" Johnson had just drawn his plasma pistol from his belt when she suddenly felt down to the ground. Turning her, he used his left hand to lift her torso from the ground and looked at her helmet.
The eyes behind the visor were open but dead and her mouth was expressionless. With a metallic sound, the psi-amp dropped from her hand and hit the ground. Drawing his medikit he placed it upon her and checked her vital signals. Zero pulse, zero respiration, and minimal brain activity with signs of massive trauma.
"Somebody help me!" Tears came rolling down his face and neck, disappearing on the inside of his suit.
Markovitch's attack had momentarily distracted the Ethereals in the room. Jones and Rodriguez, together with the few remaining X-Com soldiers, had taken the opportunity and killed a number of them as they stopped fighting.
Racing from the right side Camay covered space to Johnson with a powered slide over the ground with her flying suit. They were starting to move forward to finally try to kill the Brain. But a cry of pain on the general radio made them look to the center of their line and see as the Colonel rose from the ground. Camay stood nearby shaking her head as she removed the medikit from Markovitch's body.
Something was buzzing on Johnson's mind but he ignored it, together with the Ethereals that were still in the room firing at the X-Com troopers. Activating the anti-gravity device on his flying suit, he used it to take a giant leap to the front of the chamber, over the seats.
A plasma shot hit him on his right arm as he flew, but he ignored it. The vision of the machinery and organic flesh suddenly enlarged as he crossed the more than one hundred feet still separating him from the Brain in a number of seconds.
Landing in the empty space between the Brain's platform and the machinery that supported it, he immediately started to raise his plasma pistol the alien. The mass of leathery pink flesh had dark glossy eyes spread all over its surface, in the middle of large blue veins. One of them was facing Johnson directly and he knew that it was watching him.
But as he was about to press the trigger, images started to flash through his eyes.
He saw himself standing near one of the pyramids overhead that was gleaming with a silverish tone. Instead of its pinkish tone, the Martian sky was now of a friendly blue, crisscrossed with clouds and the landscape was covered with green vegetation.
It spoke briefly of the grandeur of the civilization that had built Cydonia millions of years ago and how the aliens had been responsible for it. It told Johnson that it was also Earth's destiny to join now their alien fathers.
He saw images of alien scouts landing on Earth and of primitive humans being used in genetic experiments by the aliens. Each time they would appear more developed, as they started to walk more upright and use their hands. Fire appeared and the aliens also showed the humans how to grow cereals and domesticate cattle. Until finally, he saw humans and aliens together in the bridge of an alien ship, working together.
The voice spoke of the great powers and skills that Earth would benefit from their cooperation from with the aliens. Hunger, strife, disease, war, pollution and overpopulation would all be eradicated and mankind would take a major technological leap as they would benefit from the technology and resources of the alien empire, which stretch itself across the galaxy.
The more the words from the Brain sounded on his mind, the more Johnson found them suggestive, appealing, as if he had heard the voice before. In a flash he recognized where he had heard it: Sheila!
The green bolt cut through the alien flesh like a hot knife on warm butter making the organic mass shutter. A brownish goo started to flow from the feet long wound that the plasma pistol had just cut through the leathery skin, revealing the insides of the alien Brain. The end of the barrel of the weapon glowed green as more shots came out of it and sliced through the creature, revealing electronic components and internal organs on the inside.
The voice finally stopped after releasing a scream of pain that echoed the one he was feeling. But as Johnson was about to fire again at the thing, his back started to burn with pain and he felt it difficult to breath. Time seemed to stop as he tried to turn around to face the alien who had just wounded him.
A hissing noise told him that the suit had been breached by the plasma and the coldness he was feeling from his back could only meant that the injury was exposed to the Martian atmosphere. He realized that he would die unless he could stop the oxygen leak and the bleeding. Reaching for his belt he brought out one of the canisters of the sealing gel to close the hole on his suit.
But he never had a chance to use it. A second shot twisted his guts as he completed the motion and saw an Ethereal ten feet away from him, still holding its heavy plasma. The coldness started to expand to his chest and he stopped feeling his legs. The canister felt from his hands and into the floor, breaking as it hit the metal surface and the contents quickly turned into solid across the surface.
Falling to his left, he used his arms to soften the landing. He expected the caped figure to fire the weapon again, but instead it raced across him as both his hands touched the ground with his body following afterwards.
Looking at the alien direction while he was on the ground, he saw it over a control panel close to the dead Brain. The hood of the cape was down, allowing him to see the bald gray back of the alien's head. The creature was apparently doing something and before Johnson could stop it, a red light started to blink on the instrument board.
The Ethereal turned to Johnson with his mouth open, revealing his fangs. It looked at him briefly before a plasma shot took it on the chest making it land on the board. The machinery threw electrical sparks from the impact but it kept emanating the red light.
"Colonel!" Jones and Rodriguez moved some seconds afterwards near Johnson and started to help him. "Camay get here on the double!"
As his legs faltered both of them gently set him against the metal floor. White's voice was heard on the radio. "Colonel, Clark is still alive and airborne over us. He says that there are massive lights starting to glow from the Face a couple of seconds ago! And the hyperwave detector is going nuts!"
Gathering the remains of his strength, he replied: "Tell him to destroy it!" He coughed afterwards and felt a salty metallic taste on his mouth. Not good, he told himself.
Hearing White's affirmative, he turned to Jones and Rodriguez who were trying to help Camay contain his wounds. His voice came out ragged over the radio. "The….., the Captain?"
Rodriguez looked back at him: "Lie down sir. You are badly injured". The coldness had spread all over his body and he tried to grip the other trooper's shoulder but failed. "I'm… dying Rodriguez". He looked at the fallen figure of Markovitch where a trooper had kneeled next to her. "How is she?"
Rodriguez closed his eyes for a moment before replying. "She's gone sir". No, we are going to be together again in a few moments. And with those last words Johnson died, leaving the three soldiers hopeless as they tried to do everything to revive him.
The Pyramid, Cydonia, Mars
The death of the alien Brain had thrown the alien forces besieging Bear team inside the crater next to the massive pyramid into disarray. The aliens had stopped attacking and it seemed that there was wide panic inside their lines since groups of aliens would just run blindly into any direction. Illyuschenko was also assuming that the same was happing on the inside of the Pyramid although they couldn't tell now.
As soon as Tiger had reported that the Brain was instead at the City he had ordered the demolition of ground opening to the base by blaster launchers. That way they didn't had to worry about the base defenders while trying to survive the aliens that had been deployed by the UFOs.
Overhead, the air battle between the remaining Avengers and the UFOs had also been won by the human side, as the alien crafts stopped to perform maneuvers and turned into sitting ducks or failed to correct their trajectories, making them to plunge like a rock to the ground.
Initially, Illyuschenko had been surprised by the break up of the alien ranks but the call from Tiger had come informing them that the Brain had been killed. Major Patterson had also reported that the aliens had apparently managed to make a last transmission from the Face before the transmitter was destroyed by an aerial attack made performed by the remaining Avenger of Tiger team.
The less than fifty men and women who had survived the attack on the Pyramid had let go of a tremendous cheer when the announcement came of over the general channel. Illyuschenko had quickly put a stop to it and had everyone focus on their jobs, since there was still a vast group of aliens nearby their position.
Three days afterwards the fighting was all over on Mars. The remaining UFOs had either been shot out of the skies or crashed into the surface and the only aliens alive were the few ones who had run away from Cydonia. But they had no place to go to, since the base had been disabled by the X-Com soldiers who had removed all of the material that could be brought back to Earth and destroyed the rest.
Without any food or means to survive the aliens would just eventually die on the harsh Martian environment.
The news from Mother One confirmed that the death of the Brain had thrown the alien forces into disarray like it had been predicted. However, it also meant that the survivors of the Cydonia operation had to head back home and help the X-Com forces left beyond on Earth in defeating the remaining aliens.
March 10th, 2002
Earth
For the millions of human beings that could see the Moon, which was coming close to full, either on night or daylight, the news from the death of the alien Brain were noticeable about a day later.
The ones that by chance were looking directly at the Moon when the alien Mothership hit the surface of the asteroid witnessed a major eruption of light at the its surface. X-Com had been tracking the alien craft since it had just cleared into the near side of the satellite following the Moon's curvature. The soldiers left back on Earth had guessed the worse until they saw the craft failing to correct its path and being caught by the Moon's gravity. When it finally hit the Moon's surface the kinetic energy and the catastrophic release of the fuel contained on its massive Elerium engines was more than sufficient to obliterate the craft.
Although only few people on Earth could actually guess what had happened, the sight of the intense flare over a major section of its southern hemisphere that lasted for seconds was nothing something to be dismissed.
In a matter of hours the major and national networks had picked up the story on special news emissions. They were more than hunger to exploit more the matter of "alien activity" since almost all governments still avoided giving any specific information about what was going on. The incident quickly became tagged as "The Alien Disturbance on the Moon".
On the next weeks speculation went rampant as government officials tried to hide the fact that they also didn't had any idea of what had just happened, in order to try to prevent widespread panic. As they faced a full assault of enquiries their response would be: "The matter is still being considered" and abstain from any additional comments.
Which lead to only two other groups capable of trying to forward an explanation: the scientists and the public's opinion. And neither both groups managed to get a generally accepted theory. Discussion about if it was an asteroid or some sort of artificially provoked explosion moved to dominate all discussions, either on the television or between people. If it was an asteroid and if it had hit Earth it would probably have caused a cataclysm like the one that provoked the extinction of the dinosaurs. If it was artificial…well, then it was either a nuclear bomb set off against them or it was their way of expressing their power.
Only Mother One, X-Com's main base on Earth, knew the real truth, a little afterwards the explosion. But there were still alien forces on the planet that needed to be destroyed before they could cause more damage and unnecessary deaths to civilians.
These operations went go along well right from its start leading into the defeat of the remaining aliens on Earth. The alien fleet on the far side of the Moon had turned into chaos as several of the craft lost their positions on the satellite's orbit. The telescopes were tracking a number of them drifting away from Earth, and it seemed that there was nothing alive inside to guide them. Other UFOs had plunged into the Moon's surface including the mammoth ship, whose explosion from the impact had made a new crater on the satellite dozens of miles wide.
By the end of the month it had been decided by X-Com's High Command to inform the stunned national representatives of the Council of Funding Nations at the next monthly meeting for the organization's budget about the defeat inflicted to the aliens by X-Com on both Mars and Earth.
Six months later the Secretary General called for an extraordinary assembly of the United Nations and delivered a stunning speech that was broadcast live broadcast. He was accompanied by an X-Com officer in a dark gray dress uniform with thick dark hair and a youth that still could be seen behind the several scars on his face. On his collar he carried the golden skull on an X pin that identified him as the force's commander. Secretary General Bomaka first announced the existence of X-Com and explained briefly the duties and motives for which it had been created more than three years ago.
He then introduced the man next to him as Commander Boronin, the officer in charge of X-Com. Bomaka then gave the podium to Boronin who explained in brief phrases the Cydonia mission and how they had defeated the aliens on Earth and the Moon by killing the Brain on Mars. The Alien War was over.
André Galvão, 2002