September 21st 2037
The sky glistened with a beautiful blue colour; the sun shining down across the landscape of green with distanced trees dotted around in the tundra grasslands. Birds chirped in their melodies, projecting an image of beauty and tranquillity throughout the landscape. The sunny rays brightening the surroundings with an incredible shine, showcasing such illusion all was right with the world.
The loud humming of a vehicle in motion shot across the gravel road, driving towards the tree line ahead of it. The old-world green van's tyres bumping over the odd pothole or pebbles as it fumed forward across the outdated path. Atop of its roof a small antenna came to life, rotating facing its dish left-way, and hummed a buzzing noise. It held for a couple of moments before a red light lit up before the van's front wheels tilted left, driving off the path onto the grass, driving into the trees.
It skirted around many of the pine-coated trees in the surrounding forest, minding to avoid hitting. The antenna hummed as it folded down onto the roof; stick squeezed down onto the circular dish as it folded in half, flattening on the roof of the van. The vehicle streamed out of the trees, coming up on an encampment of short old-world buildings, some like houses of old-world villages made of brick. Some were covered with vines of green and leaves in the cracks of brick.
Humans inhabiting the site spotted the van and the sentries on top carrying ballistic assault rifles jumped to alert, gripping their weapons ready in case they would be needed. Although assumed friendly, they had no way of knowing for sure until they saw whoever was inside the vehicle. The van slowed its speed as it came upon a half broken wall of brick on the edge of the encampment, grinding to a halt as it swung left, bringing the wall against its right side. Its engine hummed for a couple more seconds before silencing as the ignition switched off. The two sentries observed the driver door opening along with the double door on the back of the van as humans jumped out of the vehicle, all wearing green light body armour armed with ballistic rifles and backpacks. The man exiting the driver's seat looked up to the sentry guard, observing him peering through the black sunglasses and saluted, flicking his hand and the two acknowledged each other.
Closing the doors, they locked the van up as the driver took possession of a silver briefcase and trotted away, followed by the other four humans accompanying him. Walking past the outer buildings heading into the resistance camp. Around them, humans dotted around the camp engaging in activities ensuring a sense of freedom from their situation. Two ladies wearing hooves in blue and greed hanging up clothes on the washing line to bask in the sunlight to dry. Two humans walked together down a path between the buildings, casually chatting away with each other. The leader shifted a smile across his face when he saw two young children running towards them, laughing at each other as the lead child taunted in a game of tag. The group twisted their bodies, allowing the children to run past.
A woman part of the group gently gripped her rifle into her right arm, holding the gun barrel in her hand, and patted the man next to her. "Hey Mathew, I forgot to thank you. You saved my bacon earlier! I thought for sure that Muton was the end of me."
"Don't sweat it, We got pretty lucky today, there weren't many of those alien freaks! Still…" Paused Mathew peering down towards the ground ahead of his feet as they walked on, curling his lips and glaring his eyes "I wonder what that thing was out there we saw. That object?"
The rest of the squad tilted their heads to his question. They all wondered the same of what they saw until the leader intervened. "Who knows what that thing was? All that psionic energy in its centre surrounded by all that purple vegetation. I would have liked to, but the area was so hot with alien activity, there was no chance of getting any closer for a better look."
The man walking beside the leader chirped up cheerfully, "Oh well! We've done our job and investigated. Isn't that right, sir?"
"Right you are, Daniels!" acknowledged the leader nodding "We're not equipped to take on advent troops so well armed. We've done what we can. Now it is up to X-COM to finish the job… Mathew, come with me to the op's centre! Everyone else! Go get some rest, you have all earned a good kip!"
The three members of the squad flicked a salute or nod, offering their thanks and split off, heading their own ways into the encampment. The leader and Mathew marched onward, proceeding towards the house ahead of them. One of the few buildings sporting over one floor.
As they walked, Mathew looked around him, seeing the worn out buildings behind on material and repairs. Some looked like they needed a good cutting with all the vegetation growing on them. He fixed his hands tighter on his rifle, squeezing his grip near the trigger and barrel. The muscles in his arms tensed up as he released a rigid sigh out of his mouth. His thoughts wondered into his mind, allowing it all to run wild. He felt stressed underneath. The leader caught on, twitching his eyes towards the soldier. "Hey! You alright, Mathew?"
Mathew jumped out of his moment back to reality and his eyes repeatedly blinked as he collected himself. His gun hummed when he tapped his hand against it to regain his grip and looked to his leader. "Yes, sir… I'm just. I guess I'm just wondering if this will ever end. It's nearly been twenty-one years. And we don't look any closer to kicking those alien bastards off our world."
The leader curled his lips, understanding the feelings Mathew experienced. The feeling of hopelessness. No matter what you do, it felt like it would carry on forever with no difference made by their actions. He patted his hand on Mathews shoulder and reassured, "I know lad, it feels impossible! We kill one of them and two more take its place. It feels like it will never end."
The words spoken slowly deprived Mathew of any sense of hope. His eyes narrowed into slits and his head dropped as his eyes peered to the ground, watching his feet as they lifted and dropped back to the ground while they walked on. The leader continued, "But we are better off than we were this time last year."
Mathew bobbed his head up, taken by surprise by the sudden burst as his lips laid open separated by an inch as the leader continued, "Since X-COM returned to a global resistance, the aliens have suffered on a global level for a change. Everywhere we can go, we make life unbearable for those aliens and sympathisers. They have destroyed many facilities and their presence has suffered."
"Do you think they can finish the job, sir?" questioned Mathew, containing a level of skepticism at the ability of the X-COM force.
"If they don't… well, they will make Advent feel it," praised the leader, removing his hand from Mathews shoulder and looking forward towards their destination. "I've seen first-hand the commitment and discipline of X-COM. They are the best and they have my faith. They will do whatever it takes to…"
"BIG BROTHER!" called a voice squeaking loudly, interrupting the leader.
The two men stopped in their tracks, peering to their left to see a young boy running towards them dressed in a white t-shirt and blue casual trousers. Mathews face lit up with a big smile and gently laid his rifle to the floor after clicking the safety and knelt down "Hey little bro!"
The young boy ran up, throwing his arms around Mathews, embracing him as the older brother returned the gesture, gripping the boy into a hug. The leader chuckled a smile at the sight as he lightened up inside.
The two separated a way and Mathew raised a hand and ruffled his younger brother's short black hair and messing up the fringe. "You okay? Been behaving yourself today?"
"Oh yeah, I've been with doctor Nelson today. He was teaching me how to stitch up an open wound." Cheered the younger brother.
"Really? That is outstanding, little bro. You'll be better than the medics at this rate." praised Mathew, patting his younger sibling on the shoulder.
"Yeah, and Dom was showing me a lot of parts he put together into a laptop. He took it apart before letting me do it and it worked!"
"Seriously?" Matt asked, even showing a glint of surprise in his expression that can only be shock, but quickly turned into pride. "Wow, you're learning to stitch people up and put things together? You sure are becoming a genius fast. It won't be long before you're smarter than me, bro."
"Let's go home, Mat. I'll show you!" The little boy exclaimed excitedly. He felt red as his brother ruffled his hair with his free hand, feeling excited by the praise of his elder brother.
"Tell you what, bro. I need to pop to the op's centre quickly. Why don't you play with Thomas for a bit and you can show me later? I promise I won't be long," Mathew proposed. The young boy's spirits dropped as he released his brother's hand, becoming slightly saddened and his arms swelled up and his lower lip trembled.
"Oh… Okay then Mathew… but you promise?"
"I promise! You can show me your fancy new skills when I get back, Okay?" Suggested Mathew, waggling his eyebrows, further prompting his little brother who remained silent, giving his brother a gutted look. The young boy tilted his head as he hummed through his throat, pondering the suggestion.
"Okay. But you promise when you finish at the op centre," The boy demanded, dropping his posture into a more strict one ready to give his brother a good telling off.
Mathew chuckled at the young lad's display, patting him on the shoulder, and stood back on his feet. "I promise, little bro. Now go play for a bit and I'll come find you!"
The black-haired boy chirped a big grin at his older brother and threw his hand up, giving a thumb's up gesture to the adult before spinning around and ran away, heading to the left corner. Mathew watched with glee at the joy his brother displayed as he disappeared around the corner screaming 'Thomas' in search of his friend. Mathew chuckled and shook his head in amusement. It pleased him to know the only family he had left found so much positivity in the world they live in.
He glanced to his leader and lowered his head in a slow nod, apologising "Sorry sir… kids! Never make life easy".
"It's okay, Mathew. To tell you the truth, I find hope in such sights that we can save humanity," answered the leader, approving Mathew of his situation. As they two continued their short walk towards the op centre, the leader glanced at Mathew again. "How old is he now?"
"Ten! He's growing up so fast and learning so much," Mathew imparted, hoisting his weapon tightly in his grip.
"Ten? christ and he's learned so much about first aid and care and mechanical. He sure is one smart kid," praised the leader, expressing his surprise through his tone, but one of delight.
"Yeah, it's crazy, sir. He can already do so much, he sometimes looks out for me more than I do for him, luckily he doesn't seem fond of cooking, that one area of expertise I can at least be the better at." Mathew observed with a sly grin. He couldn't help but express great pride over his younger brother. It was never a dull day and for a young ten-year-old boy he had high aspirations for himself "He wants to become a doctor and help people… but the way he's going I wouldn't be surprised if one day he makes an arm with a flamethrower for one of his patients."
The two men chuckled at the joke. "Who knows with the way technology is going, I wouldn't rule out such an idea."
The leader eye's let a big grin take shape across his exterior. It has been so long since he got to sit down and learn of what the younger generation wanted to do when they grow up and getting to listen in brought a sense of nostalgia to his heart. For too long, they had kept little hope to cling onto at night ever since their lives were all ruined and turned upside down by the invaders. But hearing of such stories filled him with such to carry on and hopefully make all their sacrifices worth it.
"Good kid, hopefully soon we can win our future so he can make that dream come true," The leader resounded with a whiff of pride.
"Damn right, sir! It's what motivates me to fight. So he can have a future." retorted Mathew, expressing a heightened confidence and making a fist with his free hand. The leader's words expressed a relief of hope into the soldier at their predicament. When he thinks about it, their situation is much better than it has been for the last few years. They have made a home for themselves in their most desperate times, and with the global resistance fighting for every victory to frustrate Advent, the situation definitely looking up for the better.
"It's what I hope for, sir. That we can win and he doesn't grow up to be a soldier like me. Free to make his own choices and know what it's like not to have to wake up afraid everyday something terrible will happen!" Mathew pondered, expressing a hint of sorrow in his voice, which the leader noticed.
They arrived outside the op's centre. A fabric curtain covered the entrance, making it effortless to pass as the leader lifted it to the left, allowing himself and Mathew to pass through into the outdated structure. The centre of the room housed a large wooden table covered in maps and texts with smaller tables spawning laptops with personnel assigned to them with a woman dressed in a body warmer jacket and a woolly hat covering her silver hair. The woman peered, noticing the two men approach and faced them. "Jackson, Mathew! Welcome home!"
The two men saluted the woman at their attention before approaching as Jackson stated, "Good to be back. A few days out, avoiding Advent gets harder these days."
"Hmm… I bet. So, did those coordinates X-COM send us pay off?" questioned the female human leader.
"Oh, we found something alright!" Jackson answered. He walked up to the table and placed the briefcase on top before unlocking the two straps and opening the case, removing a device onto the table. "It wasn't your typical advent facility this time. We found some strange construction."
Booting up the tablet, he pressed the screen, clicking into a folder, showing many picture tabs. Pressing the key, the folder opened, and an image took over the entire screen. The resistance boss leaned toward the table, looking over the image. She studied the details over the strange construct. Purple vines laid across its arches, with machinery underneath.
She pointed to the centre of the picture of the concentration in the middle of the construct. "Look at all the psionic energy buildup in the centre. It's massive. That is not like anything I have seen before."
"If I had to guess all of that psionic concentration, all forms together to make something… like a portal," suggested Mathew, phasing guesses at the image as he rubbed the bottom of his chin.
"Hmm… it could be anything. Whatever the case, if that many advent forces are guarding this object in such a remote location, it must be important to the aliens. X-COM will definitely love this," The leader quipped, intrigued by the image she looked upon and sharply echoed to Jackson, "We need to send this to them right away. Give the green light!"
"Already done ma'am, I sent the recon data to them as we were on our way back. They should hit the site within the hour," confirmed Jackson, tightening his palms into fists and pressing them against his hips.
"Very Good! Hopefully, they can figure out what it is. I assume there was nothing you could have done to get closer."
"No Chance, ma'am!" Mathew blurted loudly as he dropped his hand onto the table, grabbing everyone's attention. "The amount of Advent forces there, we wouldn't have lasted five seconds if they spotted us. This thing is more heavily guarded than most avatar facilities."
The woolly hat woman leaned up off the table, crossing her arms together as her facial digits tensed up slightly. "A fair assessment. All the better for when it gets taken down. Oh well, it's not our problem anymore. Hopefully X-COM can…!"
The leader silenced herself, and her eyes darted left and right by the sudden pings of what sounded like distant bangs. Everyone in the room halted their actions to concentrate on listening. Mathew looked to the ceiling, watching the sunlight peer in through the cracks as the bangs got louder.
They stood still as the muscles in their bodies hardened up, squeezing around their limbs. Their thoughts ran wild, trying to comprehend what could be the cause, as a technician stood up from her chair and yelled, "What is that?"
Slowly, Mathew twisted his body around, following his eyes across the ceiling as suddenly a humming noise shuddered through the air, going on endlessly. It was so loud if it was any closer, it would be ear-piercing. Mathew's eyes widened in horror when he recognised the noise as some kind of engine or a thruster. The snaps and bangs became louder as Mathew echoed two words "Oh no!"
A Shockwave blew through the curtained entrance, knocking everyone off their balance with gasps and screams following. Dust fell from the ceiling and rumbling from the old brick plastered pieces across the floor. Mathew's senses were overloaded from the brief burst as his ears were ringing. He had to blink a few times, followed by shaking his head to regain himself. Jackson helped the boss up to her feet as Mathew did the same with a technician, who asked, "What's going on?"
Mathew gasped in horror as he the snaps and bangs of what sounded like weapons firing became louder and he uttered, "They've found us!"
Mathew and Jackson grabbed their rifles, checking the pins and switching off the safeties running toward the curtain, and charged through, brushing it aside. Their initial gusto faded with the sight of smoke and fire fuming from the eastern buildings. Screaming echoed the surroundings, coming from unmistakably women and children running for their lives, coming from every direction, bouncing their sounds off the buildings.
The rumbling of the engines pierced the sound around them as a black transport carrier brushed through the air above them, opening its side doors to reveal Advent troopers and a MEC on board. Aiming their weapons and pulling the triggers, the advent forces fired magnetic red blasts from their guns, raining down onto the buildings, blasting chunks out of roof brick and wood raining across the surroundings.
"Advent found us! HOW DID THEY FIND US!" Mathew screamed as he looked to Jackson displaying the same look of fear watching the transport as the MEC stepped forward to the edge of the transport and buckled its legs down, bending its back as it's mounted launcher powered up. It bucked and fired missiles, shooting down into a nearby building, exploding into a torrent of red, ripping it apart as chunks blew in every direction of brick and wood.
"I don't know how they found us. But we need to hold them off and evacuate the non-combatants," Jackson ordered with a sharp snap, peering back to the boss peering out from the curtain "ALERT X-COM! WE NEED THEIR HELP NOW!"
The leader nodded and charged back into the op centre to carry out such a task disappearing behind the curtain. Jackson clicked the pin on his rifle and lifted the barrel up, griping it and curled his lips tightly, and looked to Mathew "Let's go, our people need us!"
"I gotta find my brother, sir! He's out there in this!" Mathew argued, gritting his teeth, fuelled with a sharp sting of fear for the safety of his kid brother. Jackson hesitated for a brief few seconds as another building to their left lit up in fire and blasted a Shockwave as it erupted into destruction, pieces of it flying in every direction. Both men grunted and covered their faces as they struggled to stay on their feet. Their breathing became heavier and sweat ran down their brows as the light settled down for them to see all that remained was a puff of smoke funnelling into the air of the destroyed house.
"GO! Find him and organise the evacuation. I'll find the others and buy you as much time as I can!" Jackson commanded, explaining the plan and Mathew nodded as the two shared a hand palm together, smacking their free hand together in a moment of respect. "Good luck".
"You too sir, It's been an honour!" Mathew answered, almost bowing to Jackson as the two men rushed off heading in separate directions. Mathew to search for the survivors of the initial attack and Jackson to where the action of the loudest skirmish.
An advent transport loomed overhead as two troopers unpinned plasma grenades and lobbed them with a powerful throw over a building, with resistance troopers firing their rifles at the transport. The roof erupted into a green mist of plasma energy riveting in every direction, followed by the screams of the soldiers suffering the excruciating fate of burning and blowing up.
An advent transport proceeded to the outer rim of the encampment, hovering down to the roof level, and opened its doors for advent units to leap out to the ground. Another followed suit, deploying multiple red MEC units and marched towards the buildings, unleashing a torrent of magnetic round on the buildings and any humans to cross into their sights. Resistance soldiers ran out of the building line towards the cover of trees or half destroyed walls, most equipped with ballistic human weaponry and only a few with magnetic rifles returning fire to the attacking force. A MEC spotted two humans behind a wall, taking aim, unleashing its weapon on them. Red magnetic rounds pinged towards them as the woman screeched in agony, taking a couple of rounds to the chest and dropping on her back, already dead, before she touched the floor.
The other human yelled her name in shock before taking aim, looking down the sights of his rifle and pulling the trigger. Bullets whizzed from the flashes at the end of the barrel shot into the MEC. The metal pieces battered into its mechanical arm, fizzing and circuiting as it pierced its armour under the endless barrage. Another human joined with a sharp bang firing his sniper rifle aiming for the head of the mechanical robot snapping between the armour and the MEC went out of control dropping its magnetic rifle to the ground before going out of control and shutting down falling to the ground.
The sniper turned his attention, firing another round into the head of an Advent trooper piercing through the helmet into the flesh, instantly killing the hybrid as its body flung from the sharp blowback, yellow liquid burst out of the hole in the trooper splattering across the dirt and grass. Another MEC spotting the sniper fired its rifle, forcing the sniper to duck into cover as the red magnetic blasts shredded pieces of the brick he hid behind.
A third MEC holstered and fired a volley of missiles from its launcher raining down on the resistance fighters behind their cover crashing into the ground with loud bangs killing soldiers as their corpses blew from the blast as nearby humans got caught in the blast falling to the floor from the blow and a couple dropping their weapons.
Another Advent transport flew over head of the troopers and revealing the troopers inside to empty their rounds of magnetic slugs, raining death and destruction onto the resistance soldiers. Coming around the corner of one ruined building, Two humans snuck up on the right one holstering a rocket launcher and took aim. With a bang, the rocket fired from the weapon with a trail of smoke shooting towards the transport. It exploded into the front left engine, obliterating it and the entire wing to pieces in a bright flash of an explosion as the transport fell out of control dipping, its nose falling into a decline as its remaining engines fumed louder the pilot desperately trying to regain control.
The two resistance troopers lowered their weapons as they watched the transport rocket into the ground. As the front of it erupted into flames on impact before the rest of it erupted in a massive explosion of fire and smoke covered it. The resistance trooper with the rocket launcher threw a fist up in the air and cheered, "YEAH! Take that, you alien scum!"
His celebration was short-lived as a pair of arms wrapped around his neck and chest, holding him down in a lock. The human gasped loudly as small drips of saliva coughed out of his mouth from the shock, He wriggled attempting to free himself but found he wasn't strong enough to dent the grasp he found himself stuck in "Get off… ah… Let me go!"
A click sounded off of what sounded like a pin being pulled. His breathing became heavy as veered his head in any direction he could, looking for the source noticing the surrounding arms looked human adding to his confusion as he calmed a tad before he looked to his left and his eyes widened in fear as he gasped loudly spotting a live grenade in the other hand. He twisted his head back, seeing the face of his aggressor, who was his teammate "KATE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
He hesitated when he noticed something off about her eyes curling his lips, seeing the irises in her eyes gone, with a purple haze of power flowing around her head. All signs of expression disappeared from her. He heaved in horror, realising what had happened before the grenade's fuse went off, blowing the two humans up in a torrent of explosive energy. Pieces of flesh and blood rained across, staining the grass and walls around the blast following the shrapnel.
The resistance soldiers nearby felt the breeze of the explosion and stopped firing to look to their right, noticing the carnage unfolding as one shouted in horror, "KATE! DOUGLAS!"
The smoke cleared quickly as a pale white palm grasped onto the corner of the building, catching the two humans' attention. Jolts of purple energy lit up across the hand as the being stepped out, revealing itself to be a sectoid. Its chest glowed orange, gritting its teeth as it pointed to the two humans and crunching its hand into a fist, insinuating it has marked its target. The alien pointed its wrist-mounted blaster towards the resistance soldiers as green plasma energy spooled up.
One human stood up from his cover, aiming down the sights toward the sectoid, placing his finger over the trigger. His head suddenly exploded as a plasma round bolted through the left side of his head blasting out instantly killing the human and the body fell downward crashing onto the grass with the rifle clattering into the gravel.
The other human looked left at the source of the shot revealing another sectoid followed by advent troops and MECS as their numbers overwhelmed the resistance soldiers as one by one more soldiers died where they stood as the barrages of gunfire swept at them desperately biding to hold off the onslaught.
The soldier angrily took aim with his magnetic pistol aiming at the sectoid who killed his friend only to have it ripped from his fingers as the pistol yanked out his grip by a tongue like rope flying as it arrived into the grasp of a black-armoured Viper clinging against the roof of a half destroyed house. The yellow and black striped snake bucked its body before throwing its tongue out and hissing menacingly at the human.
The human recoiled in horror and breathed erratically before spotting the rifle of his deceased teammate. and looked back at the Viper, appearing ready to pounce at him. He focused his eyes back at the rifle and took the risk of leaping for the rifle. The Viper lunged at the human who had reached one hand to the rifle but stopped just short as the snake dropped into him knocking them both over as they rolled over before the snake shifted itself and spun around the humans body locking him up within its tail constricting him in place.
The human groaned and yelled grunting as he struggled in the gripe of the Vipers tail who brought her face to meet his and hissed into his eyes before tightening the muscles in her tail squeezing against the human in her gripe screaming loudly from the strike of pain as the vipers tail crushed him. His body convulsed, and the veins in his neck came out. He gritted his teeth, leaning his head back as he already struggled for breath with his screams silencing.
His bones felt like they were crushing under the immense pressure of the muscular tail, as if his body was going to pop any second. Another jolt of agony and the human gasped for a breath screamed like he was hissing under the excruciating pain as his lungs deflated and silenced. The viper hissed, baring its fangs as the human stared into her eyes, gasping for any breath he could find as his body crunched from the sound of bones bending and breaking.
A last gasp erupted from the human's bloodshot eyes as trails of blood leaked from his mouth and nose before expiring. His head fell back as his body went limp. The Viper squeezed harder on her grip, making sure the human had truly died and grabbed his neck in her hand, flicking his head to face her. She inspected and bobbed her tongue at the human until she was sure the human's fate was confirmed and loosened her death grip, unwrapping herself from the human letting the body drop to the ground.
"FALL BACK! FALL BACK NOW!" shouted a soldier as the few number that remained of the resistance personnel abandoned their cover running into the alleys between the buildings leaving the dead where they laid as the Advent MEC's reached the destroyed walls and tree lines firing their rifles at the buildings and any human coming into their sights. More advent transports hovered down, opening their hatches and deploying more soldiers and an Advent officer jumped down draped in the red armour with semi cape.
The officer raised its hand shouting orders in the alien language "Sek nor lor… shirik"
Pointing towards the buildings, the officer ordered the soldiers, and they all ran towards the cover of the buildings to reinforce the MEC's proceeding in overwhelming the defences. A viper slid off the transport and griped its plasma rifle in her hands, bringing her tail around to balance. She hissed loudly, baring her fangs at any humans who failed to retreat before lifting her rifle and opening fire on them. Beams of engulfing plasma shot from the barrel, burning anything it came into contact with as screams of terror from the humans overlapped, only being surpassed by the fury of explosions.
Present day; Year 2050 April 4th.
A sudden buzzing of an alarm ruptured the tranquillity of the peaceful embrace of sleep. Light entered the room as a man around from his sleep slowly opening his eyes. He inhaled a breath and then fumed a heavy groan as he laid onto his side, trying to make him comfortable sleeping in blue shorts on top of his bed, leaving his chest exposed, looking like he never got in there at all. His eyes blinked repeatedly to undo the blurriness taking hold of his sight.
He reached a hand out, slamming on the glass table with a bang next to the screen clock playing a loud tune being stood up by a display with a bright blue light pulsating underneath the clock. The man lifted his hand and held it across the device as his fingers ran over the red light. It cycled in mechanical pips before one last pip and the light turned green as the tune silenced, switching the alarm off. The display flickered before reverting to the clock.
The man dropped his arm off the bed, letting it dangle limply. He exhaled a heavy breath as a yawn built up, stretching his jaw open for him to bellow the outflux. His face creased as he contemplated forcing himself up to begin the morning. He squeezed his eyelids shut and crunched his teeth together, relieving himself of any discomfort he felt across his face.
He opened his eyes, taking in the small glimpses of light that funnelled into the room through the gaps in the blinds. He used his right arm laid under his body to push himself over and looked at the clock on his glass bedside table. The time on the clock read 8:15am. He groaned before collapsing onto his back and took the time to breathe leisurely, mentally preparing himself for the day ahead of him. It was so quiet in the bedroom he could hear himself when he made the slightest of movement.
Slowly, he pushed himself up to the side, sitting on the edge, and twisted his head and neck, relieving himself of the cramp he felt. He ruffled his black short hair, reaching an itch near his forehead. Puffing out a sigh from his cheeks, he reached over to the bedside table, tapping a small device with a wrist strap and the screen lit up. Pressing a couple of keys, a mechanical buzz set off against the blinds at the window as they turned, letting sunlight feed in through the openings, illuminating the room. The sunlight dazed the man, prompting him to stand up and made his bed, although only required a straightening as he didn't sleep in it.
After going for a shower to freshen up for the day, he dressed up in a white-shirt with a grey striped jumper over it, putting blue jeans and socks on, readying himself for the day ahead of him. He took the small device and slipped it onto his left wrist and buckled the strap on. It cycled on and the screen lit up with a morning message saying 'Good morning Sam!' They called the device a c-pad which functioned as a clock, phone, calendar and web surfer, all in one and easily strapped onto the user's wrist. The device keyed to the individual wearing it unless scrubbed.
The automatic door slotted open from the bedroom, taking Sam into a primary room of the apartment with a creamy grey, making up the bulk of the paint job across the walls. The kitchen, dining and living room all combined into one for large space with a large living room screen of two poles on either side attached and a flat glass screen in between with a comfy grey sofa in front of it. A small metallic glass table sat in the centre with slots for a remote and cups.
He leaned down and tapped the red button on the flat remote before the screen lit up. A line cut across as it cycled up. The view flipped, and the screen changed to the channel last played as a studio with a sectoid dressed in a suit in front of a big screen appeared "So we expect no rain for the next couple of days with these clouds dissipating into the north. Leaving everyone with a gorgeous sky of sun and maybe you humans can catch up on your tans."
Sam rolled his eyes, finding it amusing watching a sectoid attempt human humour. Just the way they said it made it all so cringe, and all he could do was smirk at the sectoid for at least trying. But he took comfort in the fact the next few days were looking good where the weather was concerned.
"I'm Snafu Wockleton, and that's the weather for today. We will be back at six o'clock for all your updates. And now back to the studio to Celio Dash for the rest of this morning's news! Goodbye!" The sectoid reported making a wave at the cameras. Sam shrugged his shoulders and sighed before he turned away as the camera moved back around to the main news desk.
Walking into the kitchen area, he manoeuvred around the central table passing by the fridge. He took out a carton of milk before stepping in front of a kitchen-side drink machine with a holographic interface lighting on when Sam pressed the button labelled across the top. He looked over the options on the screen before tapping the holographic buttons, making pings each time. The machine started up, making a mechanical buzzing as it primed. Sam grabbed a mug from the cabinets above, placing it in the drink booth.
He waited as the machine cycled, releasing black tea into the mug. Sam pressed two more buttons on the holo-screen. Following that, a small white tablet sweetener dropped into the hot water, followed by milk pouring out and turning the drink into a milky white cup of tea. Once it finished and switched to the holo-screen messaging, 'Drink is ready' with a short chime. Sam grabbed a small spoon as he took out the drink, stirring it up the way he liked it, blowing into it when he was done. All the while he was making his drink, the news lit up.
"And now to the breaking news of the morning!" showed Celio, as the sectoid pointed towards the north-western sector on the city map behind him. Sam gently blew into the mug of tea he held, trying to cool it before taking a sip.
"A few hours ago, a mysterious explosion shocked downtown, suspected to be of elerium origin, detonated and destroyed a factory in the sector!" worded out through the tv catching Sam's attention as his eyes widened in surprise. Removing the mug from his mouth he turned to face the tv walking out of the kitchen towards it as the picture changed showing a series of futuristic buildings with one having had its roof blown off with a large trail of smoke and green illuminating the surrounding area.
He sat down on the couch and tapped his wrist pad, turning up the volume on the tv as Celio dash reported the picture switched to the street showing many emergency vehicles on sight "Many residents to the area have been shook up from the explosion the shock wave hitting at least three blocks in diameter. They estimate around the site and we understand at least ten residents, including factory workers, have unfortunately and tragically lost their lives to this devastating explosion."
The human echoed a silent gasp, tapping his chin with two fingertips at the breaking news of such a tragedy. "We have Delia Moon live at the scene interviewing a witness."
The screen phased across to a scene outside the destroyed building still hours after continuing to go up in green flames. A hybrid dressed in a suit with glowing blue eyes touched her ear piece "Thank you Celio, I'm here as you can see many emergency vehicles and their crews continue to tackle the fires hoping to prevent it from spreading to any of the nearby shops and offices. While it is still unclear what triggered such an explosion, the ramifications have been quite staggering."
The hybrid walked, following the holographic line of the police perimeter, not allowing any citizens to pass. The reporter stood up next to two citizens, a sectoid dressed in a black tracksuit and a Viper wearing a blue jumper and a sock called a viper sock stretching from the vipers waist half a meter down from the base of the vipers tail "Here we have two citizens who live nearby, awoken by the rocking shockwave in the early hours of the morning. If I may, sir, what did you witness when you first heard the explosion?"
Sam watching the tv sipped more of his cup of tea as he watched closely at the scene before him on the screen as the sectoid spoke into a mic pad the reporter held up to him.
"This sudden quake woke me rocking everything in my home. And when I looked outside, it was panic. Fires erupting over the street, People running for their lives or helping someone up, even a few sets on fire themselves. It was a horrible thing to witness. I rushed out to help, but by the time I got there, the authorities had already arrived." Described the sectoid, his voice expressing indifference mixed with a sense of dread.
"And you, ma'am. I understand you was on the street on your way home from a late night shift when this calamity occurred," said Delia moon passing over to the Viper holding her hands together, looking tense as her serpent tongue bobbed.
The viper huffed a breath through her nostrils at the end of her almost flat snout as she began in a gentle voice, almost an ominous sign of hissing in the back of her throat barely noticeable, "The explosion knocked me over. It took me a while to come to as bits of rubble splattered over me. I helped carry a few hybrids to safety as the flames were everywhere. It was crazy as one moment I was on my way home and the next everything descended into chaos."
The human male sat back onto the couch uttering a 'hmm' under his throat as he watched the news unfold before him, drinking more of his tea. Suddenly, his C-pad vibrated on his wrist in repeated buzzes as a musical chime started playing. He looked, and it showed a phone shaking symbol with incoming call plastered underneath. He looked to the table and grabbed his ear piece, attaching it to his left ear, and clicked the answer button.
"Hello?" He called out into the earpiece.
"Good morning, Samulini! You got your butt out of bed yet?" a male voice joked into the receiver.
Sam squeezed his eyes shut, forcing a smile to take shape as he shook his head. "Using that weird name, as always, Robert. Yeah, I've been up for a while now. How about you?"
"Why, of course, Sam! I'm always up and ready for the day. But hey, you heard about this explosion on the news?" Robert bellowed through the call, going from a joking tone to one of slight alarm.
"Funny you say that. I'm watching it now!" Sam answered, turning his eyes towards the screen as it came back onto the reporter after interviewing the two alien witnesses.
"Thank you both for you time! Coming back onto the scene itself, while we are yet to be sure what caused this explosion, we understand of the ten citizens who have unfortunately lost their lives to this tragedy. All were of alien species; Sectoid, Muton and at least an Andromedon were among the victims. While we have yet to confirm any human, hybrid or any other species involved," Delia moon described. The hybrid turned, pointing to the crews consisting mainly of human, muton and hybrids fighting the fires with the advanced firefighting gear.
Sam hummed through his throat, taking in everything he had witnessed on the screen. "It's crazy how massive those fires are! There must have been tons of elerium in that building!"
"Yeah, no kidding. I got an alert on my pad and switched the telly on," Robert informed through the call. Sam leaned back against the sofa, trying to make himself comfortable by twisting his back and lifting his shoulders. He felt fortunate he was faraway from where the explosion took place, although the state of everything at the moment made him slightly uneasy.
"Oh, by the way, mister Samuel. Was just calling if you wanted to meet for some breakfast at Grenn's cafe before work?" asked Robert, voicing hunger easily picked up by Sam. Narrowing his eyes, and curled the lip on his cheek, amused.
"It's Mr Colten if you're going to get technical, ha. And yeah, sure! I haven't eaten yet. Definitely could do with a full English with this long shift ahead of us," Sam admitted, at first chuckling to correct Robert before puffing out a long sigh at the thought of working most of today on this Friday.
"Hey, I don't want any moaning from you. At least you get the weekend off. I'm working all of it!" Robert mocked through the receiver, sounding like he bobbed his tongue.
"Well, maybe you shouldn't have had Monday and Tuesday off, then you'd have the weekend off too, Robert. I told you. You'd regret it, haha." Sam retorted, pointing forward as if Robert was there and produced a chuckle at his friend's expense.
"Yeah-yeah, whatever Samulini!" Robert rebuked. Sam heard the obvious disappointment through the ear piece, only making it feel so much sweeter crossing his arms with a huge grin on his face. "Anyway, it's quarter to nine now! So shall we say half-past nine meet at Grenn's?"
Sam peered onto his c-pad across his wrist, checking the time was accurate to Robert, and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good. Oh, don't forget your study paper this time. Unless you want the gaffer to tear you a new one again."
He listened for a nervous chuckle from the earpiece, telling him everything he already knew. "God, don't remind me, Sam. That is not something I will be in a hurry to repeat ever again… Yes, I've packed it in my bag ready."
"Good! Because you still owe me from saving your ass last time!" said Sam, chuckling into the earpiece, having to remember his workmate receiving the worst of shouting's from their boss. He stood up off the couch and moved right towards a glass door with large windows. It's right. "Okay then, Robbo, I'll start getting ready soon to come and meet you."
"Sounds good. Yeah, I'll start getting myself ready. I'll see you in a bit," answered Robert.
Sam held up a finger against a button on the earpiece as he approached the door and gently grasped the round metal handle. "Okay then, see you soon. Bye!"
He pressed the button, ending the call with a beep. He opened the door and walked outside, stepping onto an incredible balcony with a metallic floor with stone added on the layer top with glass panels running across with a smooth wooden rail atop and pillars with small gaps and a tiny pillar running through the gaps of the panels. Sam approached the edge, resting a hand on the railing to look over the busy streets ahead and below with a river running parallel from his building left and right with small metal bridges allowing the cross and on the other side more apartment blocks of the futuristic alien designs blended with a touch of old world human culture putting a new spin on the post advent world in the symbol that is City 31 and living in the old town district.
Old town was once run down and covered in exposed sewage when City 31 was first established many years ago but time and labour slowly transformed it over the years into another habitable district of jobs, housing and quality starting in the year twenty-forty three running all the way to twenty-forty eight having been the priority of resources by the city council alongside the Angler point district restoring both into liveable space and prosperous zones for citizens to live, more expensive and better quality than the likes of the fringe district but no where near highland square. Renova heights remaining the symbol of the wealthy in city-31.
Sam puffed a sigh of content with a gentle breeze rushing across him, flicking the edges of his fringe as he watched the activity below and around aliens of many species dressed more casual or smart, heading off on their ventures with humans or hybrids among the crowd. City 31 has been his home a few years since he made the trip over from England wishing for a fresh start in a world he had no family or friends to speak of, and so far, it seemed to be the right decision for him. The symbol of co-existence between humanity and all the alien species left purposeless after the defeat of the elders.
Even now, in the year 2050, thirteen years after the liberation war ended, the city and the nearby settlements remained the only place on Earth any alien species could inhabit outside of the detention centres. Sometimes it was difficult to comprehend for Sam how life went this way after the twenty-two years of advent rule the world would look like how it is now. Humanity, now at the helm, having adapted to a world advanced with alien technology mixed with their own, made it easier. When X-COM re-emerged, the liberation war lasted for two years before they defeated the elders and destroyed the psionic network.
Compared to thirteen years ago, working as a medical assistant was all the more invigorating for Sam with the advanced technology to use, especially with learning the many physiologies of the alien species he has been learning to work with made learning so much difficult. Sam looked down on the river. Watching boats stream was always a pleasant sight when he needed to unwind and have a moment of thinking to himself. Only Twenty-four years of age and he felt like there was so much yet for him to discover, especially diving into this still fresh world of post advent and he wanted to learn.
Well hey all, I'm sure people reading may recognise this story. Yes I had write this before and I took it down. Well lets say so much happened and I never got back to it. But after some time to myself I'm gonna give that X-COM story I want to write a proper go and see if I can actually get somewhere with it this time. So I've gone back through what I originally write up, polished it up, cleaned up the grammar, added some new detail, removed some unnecessary stuff. So hopefully overall it will seem better and I can start to portray what I want to. I'm taking my time to get it right so I hope you can all enjoy. Be sure to leave some feedback for me a review or such. Give me some thoughts I would really appreciate that.
I'm glad to be back in the XCOM community and going to be staying. Thanks all.