Chapter 3: One by one, they fall
North America, Raccoon City
"Not done with the briefing yet," the intelligence officer growled." We're getting a newsreport from within the city. I'll show the video so you guys know what's going on."
Johnson sat back down. The screen switched from the Geoscape to a young, tired blonde man holding a microphone just below his chin. The man faced directly ahead. His tan jacket had holes and was tattered. He appeared to be standing on a balcony overlooking the city.
In the background laid Raccoon City. Columns of smoke rose while fires leaped from building to building. Anti-aircraft guns boomed in the distance trying to down circular, silver-blue disks that responded with hail after hail of green plasma fire. Human and alien gunfire rattled off, followed by the occasional scream. However, the camera was trained on the person and Johnson couldn't tell what else was going on.
"We are here, live and reporting, at Raccoon City where just hours ago, the aliens suddenly, and brutally, attacked indiscriminately. Military and police forces stationed here are attempting to fight back, but as you can see behind me, the fight is not going well. Any and all attempts to communicate with the aliens have failed. Their only intent seems to be that of murder and mayhem. With the military's hands tied, the people of Raccoon City are suffering because much of the city's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed. Relief efforts have been hampered by aliens attacks causing further suffering. Similar scenes are taking place across the globe and the militaries of the world are attempting to halt their advance. This is Mark Campbell, reporting for Foxnews, and we'll keep you updated as the situation develops."
The screen changed back to the Geoscrape. The officer was looking down at something off-screen. Maybe a computer?
"Not much, but hope it gives you an idea of what's going on. I'm also receiving Intel that City Hall is under attack. Information is limited, but expect Mutons, both regular and elite, Sectoids, maybe a Commander, Light and Heavy Floaters, and Mectoid. All are being lead by an Ethereal. Watch yourselves down there and don't be heroes. You have the light for deployment Strikes Diamond and Red. Operation New Era is a go!"
The screen disappeared and the pilot's voice boomed on the overheads.
"Hang on to ya butts! I'm going in deep!"
"Uhh, I'm not fine with that!" Zhou whimpered and held onto the edges of his seat as the Skyranger made a speedy descent.
"I'm dropping you as close as I can, but the aliens have their darn AA guns are taking potshots at anything that isn't theirs. Though, it should just be a stroll down the street. God's speed!"
Johnson's nostrils flared upon smelling burnt, rotten flesh. Even through the thick walls of the Skyranger, the smell clogged the air. When the ramp dropped, the smell intensified. It smelled like somebody piled corpses, poured gasoline on them, and lit it.
The scene that stretched out before Johnson just as he and his team flooded down the ramp, however, was far worse than the smell. All down the street they landed on was covered in a sea of corpses, debris, blood pools, or miscellaneous things. The crisp, mutilated bodies of humans strewn about would haunt him. Great pillars of flames leaped out from the husks of vehicles or buildings. Personal belongings littered the ground, left behind in panic.
But the scene wasn't all gloomy. Johnson smiled for the military gave the aliens a run for their money.
Sectoids blown to bits by grenades or gunfire. Floaters piled into small body heaps and Mutons riddled with so many bullet holes they looked like Swiss cheese. Sparking piles of Cyberdisks and drones on the ground. There was even a Sectopod crumbled on the ground, its blue-orange fuel leaking out.
"Watch out below comrades!" A thick Russian accent boomed. Johnson looked up to see another Skyranger hovering above with its ramp opened wide. Rappel lines were tossed out followed by the members of Strike Red.
Among them was a MEC. The hulking machine leaped, grabbing a line, and rappelled down. Johnson stumbled backwards, trying not to get squished by the metal giant. It landed with a thud. When Johnson got back up, he got a good look at it.
It towered over them by at least a good meter. Its sleek, black armor was a stark contrast against the burning gold and bloody street. Its fat fingers held fast to a laser minigun. Pinned on top was a helmed head whose gaze swept the street for X-Rays.
"First time seeing a MEC, comrade? Glorious isn't it?"
Johnson turned around to see the Russian from the Cafeteria. He had a plasma sniper slung over his back and Johnson could see himself in the golden visor that took up most of the helmet.
"Heard about them, just never thought I actually see one in battle," Johnson said in amazement.
"Soon you shall!" The Russian's heavy hands gently patted Johnson's back. He must remember what happened with him earlier.
"Listen up!"
Johnson felt the computerized words vibrate in his head. At first he thought it was the MEC, but it was looking in the general direction of everyone else. Johnson followed their stares to see a small man, only coming up to his own chin, facing towards them. Any of the man's features were covered by his glossy, black armor and helm so Johnson couldn't determine what nationality the man was.
"Strike Diamond, you are to provide supporting fire for Mack."
"Who's Mack?" Johnson rubbed his helmet.
"Are you kidding me? Is your HUD on?"
"HUD?"
"Damn engineering team," the man muttered, "The HUD is your 'Heads up Display'. Normally it activates as soon as the op starts, but occasionally mistakes slip pass the engineers. Try whacking it, worked for me once."
Johnson raised an eyebrow, wondering how whacking it would rectify the problem. He whacked it, however, and amazingly it worked. The HUD fuzzed to life outlining his allies in blue. Names and nation's flags hovered over them along with a featureless human-shape with a blue filling. On either bottom corner was another human-shape and his rifle filled in with green. Below it was his sidearm and just a little off to the side was his grenades. In the top right was a black circle with a center blue dot surrounded by more blue dots.
Johnson looked over each of the names and found 'Mack' who was the MEC. Then he looked back at the leader. The Chinese Flag was hovering above him and the name Hui Xi.
"Works?"
Johnson nodded.
"Good. We've already wasted enough time, let us get going. Intelligence just gave us a waypoint and just told us that forces on station are suffering heavy losses. Let's move out!"
The teams responded with a hail of 'yes sir' and began making their way to the city hall. They passed by scenes where the military made a last stand, often damaged equipment and bodies littered the area. They passed by fires raging inside buildings or vehicles or a group of shellshocked humans. Alien box-like devices had lodged themselves into the ground, a green mist swirling around it. They came across alien packs as well and they put them down like cattle. Easy, but messy. Sectoids lead them to a Thin Man or Floater pack, occasionally a Muton pack.
Johnson had underestimated the new rifle thinking it wouldn't do anything given how much more effective lasers and plasma were. He even taken a liking to it because when the bullets penetrated skin or armor it somehow melted the soft insides. Just like now as he pumped a downed Floater full of 'lead'.
"You know, I can get use to this gun!" Johnson held up the rifles examining the smoking barrel. Unlike the older version that had transparent, grey smoke that went up, the newer rifle had a green mist that swirled down.
"Just more ways to cause a painful death," Cynthia muttered as she whipped her knife against her shoulder pads. Green blood dripped off of the knife onto the pads which then trickled down. Behind her a Sectoid was limp on the asphalt.
"Yet the aliens use plasma to melt our fellow humans," Aleph responded. Shortly after, a loud boom echoed throughout the street as the last remaining Floater dropped from the sky like a stone.
"They're still living things for crying out loud!"
"Things that use and discard life as they see fit."
"Cut the chatter! Just because you were civs in your pervious lives doesn't mean you can sit around and chat! We have a mission to do!" Hui barked over the comms.
"Sir, I see the City Wall. I count seventeen regular Mutons shooting up fourteen defenders," One of Red team's members reported.
"Copy, do you see the VIP?"
"No, probably fled inside."
"Copy. Everyone, here's the plan. Mack moves up covered by Diamond through the middle. We go to the sides and flank them."
A chorus of acknowledgments rippled throughout the teams.
Johnson felt the ground rumble a bit as Mack thumped over to his position. Johnson looked at his ammo count and upon seeing that the black had nearly engulfed all of the blue, he unclipped the magazine and popped in a new one. He then jumped inside a burnt out USV and took aim. He saw Zhou, grinning madly, crawl up behind a flipped over red car. He lifted his grenade launcher and propped it ontop of the car. Cynthia slid behind a still standing Bus Stop and peeped her head around, her rifle at the ready. The others took cover on either side of them. Ahead of them was what appeared to be a smaller version of the Capital Building. Sandbags closed the gaps between the pillars yet did little against the plasma. It ate through the bags and the person behind it. However, Johnson noticed Aleph and the Russian, Yuri, weren't in his field of view. Likely hanging out in the rear.
"Snipes, what's the distance?"
"Two hundred meters, each Muton taking cover at eight to twenty-seven feet intervals. Defenders are taking cover behind the pillars or sandbags, but it's doing little," Yuri reported.
"Three Cyberdisks just entered the fray. Two to three drones per one," Aleph's said.
"Copy, paint it green."
Immediately upon hearing the words, Johnson heard two distinct shots slice through the air. One was a traditional sniper shot while the other sounded akin to gas exhaust. The trails of the bullets remained as the bullets flew through the air, both hitting the back of a Muton. Johnson couldn't see if it went down, but that didn't matter since it would only be seconds before the aliens realized what happened. He pressed the rifle against his shoulder, stared down the sights, and pulled the trigger. The rifle kicked back in response as it sent a trio of bullets. The others began firing and the aliens were quick to retaliate. Some still fired on the defenders of the City Hall while the rest focused their attention on the XCOM operatives.
"Darn it! I can't make boom-boom at this distance!" Zhou complained. Johnson saw him crawling on the ground, plasma flying overhead.
Johnson's eyes widen when he heard the sizzling heat of plasma just above him. He glanced up seeing that the plasma had just hit part of the top window. A few inches closer and his helm would be blacker than it already was. In response, though, he fired at Mutons forcing them to take cover or risk getting hit. He got a few hits, either by skill or sheer luck, splattering their blood on the ground. The wounds didn't faze them. Instead they roared in fury and pounded their chests with bullets and plasma following often resulting in a gory death.
Mack charged forward, shrugging off plasma that slammed into it and only stopping to fire or maneuver around an obstacle. As the MEC charged, Johnson and the others moved up taking cover behind various objects. Be it broken lapposts or street lights, vehicles, and anything else that gave decent protection against the superheated plasma.
Johnson dashed and slid behind a concrete jersey barrier near the Mutons. Johnson breathed heavily, blood rushing and felt lightheaded. He had faced against Mutons before and they were always a pain to take down because of their armor. Yet they won because Mutons just loved boosting. The remaining Mutons, however, didn't even attempt to do that. They fought fiercer as their numbers were cut down, as if they were fanatically trying to protect something.
"Duh," Johnson slapped his forehead."An Ethereal is leading the charge, but where is it? It could be inside which would be bad. I'll have to worry about that later."
Johnson then jumped out from behind cover firing at a nearby Muton. The bullets sparked as they ate through armor and into the tissue. The Muton leaped to its feet, pointing its rifle at Johnson. However, before it could pull the trigger, mushy flesh oozed out of the holes. The Muton dropped its rifle and onto a knee. A hand gripped its chest trying to stop the flesh from pouring out. It roared in pain as Johnson lined up another shot at its head.
Just as he fired, another Muton leaped between the bullets and the target. Johnson heard the bullets bounce off its armor. It then made a half-growl, half-roar as if to say "You can't touch this!"
Johnson quickly readjusted his sights and aimed for the Muton's head. Time seem to slow down allowing Johnson to get a good look at it.
The Muton's face was covered in an ornate, green-red helmet. Two 'horns' rose up vertically and two fins jutted sideways. It was also covered in armor. Much more armor than the regular Muton. It held a heavier, bulkier version of what appeared to be a plasma rifle. A colorful grenade with a golden top button dangled from its hip. It was probably a Muton Elite, the guards of the Ethereals.
The Elite charged forward instead of firing its weapon. Johnson fired, but the bullets ricocheted off the armor. As the Elite closed in, Johnson began to panic. He heard of Mutons' superhuman strength and many operatives who met a Muton's fist.
Not wanting to be a pancake, Johnson pressed the trigger and didn't let go until he heard clicks. No more bullets came out after that while all of the bullets fired had bounced off. Johnson's hand quickly reached for his ammo belt and snitched a new clip. Before he could slip it in, however, the Elite's fingers curled into a fist. The fist smashed into Johnson's chest and he felt his ribs bend inward, crushing his lungs.
He was sent flying and time once again slowed allowing him to see the battle upside down.
The aliens weren't doing so well; most either lay on the ground dead or bleed profusely. The humans had either flanked them or were sending waves of fire keeping the Mutons in cover. Mack was busy throwing a USV at a Muton who fled in terror. The Cyberdisks and drones were all destroyed, sparking husks that were scattered. Then time sped up and Johnson landed onto the ground with an oaf.
Johnson groaned. It felt like a sledgehammer had hit him. His muscles were on fire and he was breathing heavily. Still, he slowly rose only to be met with a massive fist to the face.
He fell down onto his bum gripping his helm in pain. He looked up to see the Elite reloading its weapon and Johnson screamed" 'HELP!"
The Elite pointed its weapon at Johnson whose hand padded the ground for a weapon. Anything that would distract it long enough so he could find his rifle. Then Johnson saw someone jump onto the Elite's back, surprising it. A knife was shoved through a nick in its neck armor. The Elite bellowed. A hand went over its shoulder grabbing its assailant and threw it over.
Johnson saw that the assailant was a marine. He couldn't be more than in his early twenties, around his age.
The Elite brought up a foot and Johnson scrambled for a weapon. He found his rifle just a few inches from where he landed. He picked it up just in time to hear the marine's agonized scream batting his ears. Johnson spun around and saw the Elite slowly pressing a boot into the marine's face. The marine desperately pounded the boot. Johnson acted instantly and pressed the trigger.
CLICK
Fuck. He forgot it was empty!
Johnson snitched a new clip and shoved it into the rifle. However, the click from the rifle must have alerted the Elite because it reared its boot up and brought it down smashing in the marine's face. His fist went limp, dropping off to the side. The Muton dragged the boot off the smashed in face, blood trailing behind.
" Fuck you!" Johnson howled in fury. He popped off a few rounds that bounced off the Muton's seemingly impenetrable armor.
Then loud thumping made them both turn.
The MEC's giant hand shot forth like lightening. It grabbed the Elite's head and squished it before it could even react. The hand withdrew itself allowing the corpse to fall to the ground. Johnson saw the head smashed like a pumpkin.
"Are you alright?" Mack asked.
Johnson nodded. Mack then turned around to face the Muton injured by Johnson. It was still on one knee, but it shakily held a pistol in its grip. The weapon flared green as it discharged plasma that flew to the MEC. However, the shakiness must have hindered its aim because it missed by a few feet. Mack retaliated by pulling back its fist and punching it. The result was a spectacular splatter as it exploded. Blood, guts, and armor shards were sent flying and an unfortunate Muton caught the bunt of it. It went limp and fell down. Johnson could see that a large, sharp piece of armor had embedded itself into the alien's head.
"Well, that takes care of that," Johnson said.
The remaining aliens were dispatched quickly by Mack after that.
Johnson and the rest of the operatives gathered at the foot of the steps. Johnson expected the marines and National Guard to thank them and let them in. Instead, they all pointed their weapons at them and in return, XCOM aimed their weapons.
"Who the fuck, are you?" A marine, presumably the leader, yelled.
"EXALT!" Zhou answered.
A murmur of confusion rose from the defenders.
"Ignore him. We've been sent to get Jack Smith and get him out," Hui said. He had lowered his rifle and the rest of Strike Red followed suit.
"We didn't get word that anyone was coming! The damn aliens blasted through the fucking back walls. Overran the poor bastards that didn't get killed. We were forced to run like bitches out here where a nice little ambush was set up. Lost most of my boys and girls to those fuckers."
"My sympathies. However, we need to find Jack Smith. Do you know where he is?"
"Of course we fucking do. The guy managed to drag one of ours to a hallway where a platform was just before one of those assholes blew it skyhigh. The hall led to a panic room so he'll go there unless the fuckers overran that place to."
"You guys cuss a lot," Zhou said.
"We just lost most of our company and we haven't had any sleep for the past twenty four hours. Wink here and there, but the aliens keep fucking with us so forgive us if our fucking manners aren't top priority."
"Do you want revenge?"
"Of fucking course we do! Isn't that right?"
"Oh-rah!"
"Then make way," Mack said. He ran up the steps and the defenders rolled out of its way."Scans show multiple injuries sustained by fighting. Administering Feelgood Fart."
Once again, murmurs of confusion rose from the defenders while most of Strike Red was chuckling. Hui, through, was shaking his head. Johnson and the rest of Diamond were just as confused as the marines and National Guard.
"Are these guys for real?" A marine asked as a purple mist formed around them, accompanied by farting sounds.
"Challenge accepted. Stand back."
They took a few steps back allowing Mack to position itself in front of the double doors. It pulled back its fist and hit the doors. The force sent both doors and bricks flying into a group of Sectoids lead by a Muton. The smaller aliens were flattened by the debris while the Muton held its arm to its face to block the debris. When it lowered its arm and saw the MEC pulling its fist back again, the Muton made something akin to a puppy whimper before the fist connected with its body.
"MEC smash," Mack said as the Muton flew into a wall breaking it down.
"Ok, I take back what I said! You guys are sweet asskicking alien killers!"
"Was that really necessary?" The marine leader asked.
"Of course! It was likely that those X-Rays were coming to reinforce their buddies!" A member of Red team answered just as a plasma bolt came out of nowhere and vaporized his chest.
The operative made a raspy gasp before faceplanting to the ground.
"Take cover!" Hui screamed just as a wave of plasma came through the hole.
Johnson ducked behind a table on its side and popped his head out to see what was going on.
Aleph was climbing up a flight of stairs to the second level, stopping only to fire into the hole where a steady stream of Mutons, Floaters, and Sectoids flooded through. Zhou had taken refuge behind the Receipt Counter. He placed his grenade launcher and fired round after round of grenades into groups of X-Rays. Cynthia was tending to the wounded, possibly dead, operative. She had rolled him over and was dragging him off to hide behind a downed statue. Hui was barking commands behind Mack who used itself as a tank. The MEC ruthlessly tore apart any alien not in cover with his minigun. The rest were scattered about behind cover and trading fire with the aliens.
Johnson aimed his rifle and pressed the trigger sending bullets into a Sectoid who exploded in green. He moved on to a Floater that was suppressing a marine. He fired, the bullets smashing into the propulsion jet that kept the Floater afloat. The jet sparked and made a whirring noise before denoting the Floater into a million pieces.
"Keep up the pressure boys!" The marine leader laughed.
"This is for Kenny you bastards!"
"I'll rip your fucking fingers off and beat you with them!"
"For the Emperor!"
Johnson heard war cries, taunts, and insults thrown at the aliens. It didn't matter since the aliens couldn't understand human speech, but it did motivate the troops.
"Where the hell are the Mectoid and the Ethereal?" Hui asked over the radio.
Johnson quickly surveyed the room. However, they weren't among the aliens.
"I got nothing sir!" Johnson reported.
The others reported the same. Johnson assumed they turned tail upon hearing that the mighty XCOM was coming!
That quickly changed when something very large dropped through the ceiling. It landed in the middle of the room where the Receipt Counter was earning a high-pitched scream from Zhou. The Chinese man ran like a bat out of hell and dove behind Mack before it realized that it was near the alien MEC.
Johnson shifted his weapon from a Sectoid to the giant newcomer. It stood the same height as the MEC, but could would be taller if it didn't stand on hunched legs. Its sliver-blue armor glittered around a Sectoid's face, mouth covered by a mask for whatever reason. The duel cannons snapped up and pointed at Mack.
"LIGHT UP THE MECTOID!" Hui roared. The outline of the Mectoid became bright red with an upside down arrow on top of it.
Everyone fired upon the Mectoid. The storm of bullets and plasma smashed into it yet it refused to go down. The alien MEC fired the cannons and its plasma hit Mack who fell down from the blast. However, it rose up and charged.
Both Mack and the Mectoid became entangled in melee combat. Johnson knew that the Mectoid wouldn't last very longer because the aliens didn't give it any of melee weapons of its own. So he was surprised when the Mectoid managed to jammed a cannon into a leg joint and fired. The plasma melted the joint allowing the alien to whack it and a loud pop followed. The leg was pushed aside, Mack fell down, the Mectoid placed a foot on Mack's body, and raised its cannons. Plasma discharged into Mack's face, melting away the helm. It fired again. As the plasma melted the operator, Mack let out a blood-curdling scream while the Mectoid made a metal grinding as if it was laughing.
"You motherfucker!" A Red team operative yelled and bolted out from cover. The Mectoid just swatted away the annoyance. The operative hit a wall and fell down never to rise again.
"We're being slaughtered!" Another Red team operative panicked and tried running out of City Hall. Some of the marines followed suit. Hui barked for them to return and Johnson was about to go get them when a floating robed figure that hovered into the building.
"Fuck me! Ethereal!" The operative shouted just before the newcomer's four arms came out of the robes and came together to form a purple sphere. The being then threw it into the operative's head which was sliced clean through. The headless body fell to the ground earning furious gunfire from the retreating marines.
"Take that!" One of the marines shouted.
The Eternal's four hands snapped together forming a solid barrier of energy. Each bullet was caught and the being lightly pushed the barrier with a hand. The bullets then were reflected back to their owners with mixed success. Some fell to the ground, some were merely gazed, and others weren't hit at all. The alien, however, didn't stop there. It held up a hand and a small, black-purple rift engulfed the marines tearing their bodies apart.
Johnson watched it all in horror. Their screams as their limbs were torn from their sockets, their skin being ripped off, and their organs were thrown about. When it faded away, the remains were scattered in all directions.
"Goddamn it! Somebody keep the Ethereal busy while we take care of the Mectoid!"
Johnson closed his eyes and breathed. He had never fought an Ethereal before and given just how easily it tore apart those troops, he was likely going to die. However, it would give the others time to take care of the Mectoid and then focus on it. If no one else was going to handle it, he might as well go down a hero.
When Johnson opened his eyes, it was staring at something. Johnson followed its gaze to Cynthia still tending to the operative.
Johnson let a warning out just as the Ethereal formed a purple sphere in its hands and threw it. Cynthia just had enough time to scramble out of the way. However, the operative wasn't so lucky. The sphere smacked dead center on his chest vaporizing the lungs and the heart. He bellowed in pain, rolling over as he bleed out. After a few raspy breaths, the man laid still as stone. No more noise came from him.
"Nobody messes with my patients!" Cynthia growled. The being trained its gaze on her and formed another sphere. When it launched the sphere, she ducked and fired. The alien quickly erected a disk capturing every bullet. Using the distraction, Cynthia sprinted forward and somersaulted over it. When she landed, she raised her rifle and pulled the trigger sending bullets into the back of its head.
The Ethereal bent slightly over from the bullets impacting the helm, but otherwise looked unharmed. It made a low, angry growl and turned to face Cynthia who fired into its face. The Ethereal took each bullet, still looking unharmed and before she could fire again, the alien held up a hand. A purple outline encased Cynthia and she was lifted off the ground. She struggled against the invisible force, but to no avail.
Johnson tried to aim his weapon without risking hitting his teammate. How useless he felt when Cynthia was fighting the Ethereal. Now because of his incompetence, she was trapped.
"Let her go!" Johnson raised his rifle. Well, that just came out. He should have just fired.
The Ethereal's head rotated to face Johnson. He could feel a sinister smile grow underneath the helmet, but whatever it was about to do didn't happen. Somehow, Cynthia managed to break free from the Ethereal's grip and slid a knife into its bottom neck. The Ethereal roared in pain and threw its hand at Johnson, with Cynthia flying at him.
Johnson didn't react fast enough and Cynthia slammed into his chest sending them both flying. Johnson then felt himself hit Zhou forcing them both down onto the ground.
"Ohh," Johnson groaned in pain. Dull pain rippled throughout his chest.
"Get your butt off of me!" Zhou said.
"Ow, that's going to hurt," Cynthia groaned.
Johnson rose on wobbly legs. He glanced at the Ethereal who remain motionless as if it wanted them to get up. It didn't do anything until Johnson scrambled for his rifle that landed near them. Once the rifle was obtained, the alien placed two fingers on its temple while its lower hands shot forth sending a stream of menacing, dark purple to him. It quickly wrapped around his head before fading.
Johnson suddenly felt like something was crawling inside his head, japing his brain. He heard a sinister voice speak to him,
"Kill them."
"What?"
Johnson turned to his teammates to see they were replaced by aliens. A Muton had taken the place of Zhou and a Floater had replaced Cynthia. Both of them were climbing back up. The urge to kill them was like the need for water. He just couldn't help it.
He raised his rifle at the Muton and was ready to pull the trigger.
"NO!" A small voice at the back of his head screamed.
"Kill them," The other voice growled.
"This.. this is a… I don't…" Johnson didn't know what to do. It was like parents giving a child two contradicting commands. Johnson didn't know which parent to please.
The two voices bickered while Johnson lowered his rifle. He watched as the Muton rose up and turned to him. Johnson flinched slightly when the Muton spoke in Zhou's voice.
"Earth to Johnson! An Ethereal is right behind you and-"
The Muton stopped speaking suddenly, but it also seemed that it didn't know it stopped.
"Do not listen to them. They are the enemy!"
"No! They're friends!"
"Shut up, both of you," Johnson mentally growled.
The Muton and the Floater both aimed their weapons behind Johnson. That was when the sinister voice began to panic.
"KILL THEM! KILL THEM!"
"I said shut the fuck up!" Johnson whipped around to face whatever the two aliens were about to shoot at. In front of him, a blinding golden light shone where the Ethereal should be. It felt… peaceful, welcoming. So how come he felt an evil presence in the light?
"KILL THEM!"
"I said keep quiet!" Johnson shouted at the voice. Suddenly the crawling feeling was replaced by a throbbing headache. The light receded into the form of an Ethereal and he saw that the aliens were replaced by his friends.
"How?" The Ethereal sounded distant.
Johnson didn't respond. Instead he let loose a furious wave of bullets alongside his teammates. The Ethereal was quick to form a barrier, but unlike the pervious time when it reflected the projectiles back, the barrier dissipated. The projectiles fell to the ground harmlessly. Then before they could fire again, the Mectoid leaped over their heads and planted its feet between them.
"Everyone fall back into the halls! There's too many to handle!" Hui shouted, "I'm setting up a waypoint where we will fall back to!"
Johnson and the rest beat a hastily retreat joining the remains of Strike Red and the defenders. All that was left was Hui and Yuri. The rest had met a terrible fate by plasma, mind rape, or were smashed into bits by a Muton Berserker. Strike Diamond, however, managed to escape mostly uninjured. Johnson was still reeling from the effects of what he presumed to be an attempted mind control. Aleph was limping along from when he had to jump from the second level to escape with them. Zhou and Cynthia, aside from some pain when the Ethereal threw them, were fine.
The humans fled into one of the halls all together. Hui had decided to place Johnson and his team up front because they had suffered only cuts and bruises. The marines and National Guard troops in the middle since they still had plenty of guys left and could reinforce either side. Strike Red at the rear because Hui wanted the best chance at revenge for what the aliens did.
The group eventually ran into a dead end. A steel door had blocked them from going in deeper.
"Alright, anyone know how we can open this?" Hui asked.
"Simple! Explode it!" Zhou chuckled. He raised his weapon at the door, but Aleph rested a hand on it.
Zhou cocked his head at him and raised an eyebrow.
"Zhou, blasting your way through a reinforced steel door will do nothing, but alert the aliens to us. However, I know how we can open this."
"How?"
"Hacking."
"Wait, you can hack? Did you hack into my personal computer and post all those pictures?!"
"Focus Zhou!"
"And how do you know hacking?" Hui asked.
"That is not important at the moment," Aleph answered. He walked over to a keypad next to the door and lifted his left arm.
Johnson had never noticed that a device was strapped to Aleph's wrist. It appeared to be one of those tiny devices in spy movies one could just wear on the wrist and it pretended to be a watch or something alike that. Expect this device was square in shape.
Aleph examined the keypad carefully. After a few moments he used his fingers to feel around it and it opened shortly after. He then grabbed the keypad and pushed it aside revealing the hardware underneath. Johnson just saw a bunch of wires and motherboards while Aleph looked for a place to hook his hacking device.
The heavy footfalls echoed throughout the hall.
"Guys, I think the aliens just found us!" Johnson said. He looked around for cover, but aside from a few crates there was nothing to provide cover.
"Aleph, hurry it up!" Hui barked.
Aleph didn't respond. Instead, he looked down at his device and unhooked two wires. He inserted them into the keypad where the screen on his wrist fuzzed to life. Numbers began to randomly select themselves for what Johnson assumed to be the password.
"Got it!" Aleph yelled.
The doors grind slowly opened. Aleph was the first one in followed by the rest of Strike Diamond. Two marines slid through the doors and Hui was about to enter when Yuri stood still.
"Yuri! We have to go!" Hui grabbed Yuri's shoulder.
Yuri spun around and using the momentum, hit Hui in the head with the butt of his sniper. The Red team leader fell to the ground. Before he could rise, Yuri placed a boot on Hui's chest and placed the sniper onto of Hui's helmet right between the eyes. The others were caught by surprised and the marines that hadn't entered yet raised their own rifles.
"Hold it or he and all of you die," Yuri said. The soldiers were just about to shot him when Johnson saw something metalize out of thin air. He could only compare it to a steely shark with tentacles and somehow learned to float. They latched onto the men and women wrapping their tentacles around them. The soldiers struggled against their grip, but the shark-squids seemed to only tighten their grip.
"Surrender and no one gets hurt. Don't make this anymore harder, you know all of you will just lose."
"Yuri, why?"
"For EXALT. Now surrender, all of you!"
Johnson's muscles tensed, ready to raise his rifle. He weighed the options presented to him. On one hand they could fire at him and possibly die. On the other they could surrender and still die. Neither was great.
"No," Aleph hands grabbed something. It looked like a camera with a handgun handle stick out from the bottom and when Aleph pressed the button, a stream of electricity jumped from it to the keypad on their side. The doors began to close. The flying squids released their grip and zoomed towards the doors before they could shut closed.
A/N: Another chapter done! Red Team got mauled and Yuri is a traitor. Also, some reviews have pointed out some flaws and I intent to correct those mistakes. Thanks Reviewers! Now, unto the reviews!
Guest: Well, thanks for saying there's some issues with my writing, but what are these mistakes?
Liimbo: Thanks for checking out the story and pointing out the flaws. I'll redo the chapter names and revise the summary. I also noticed that the Fandom isn't very large here with the stories, counting crossovers, somewhere around 300. If you know a place where the Fandom is larger please tell me!
chinaglaze: Thanks for the review! I'll correct those problems so they're not a eyesore.
The following review is from my last story.
VolcanicPizza: Thank you for reading the story Pizza.