Alien Abduction: South Korea

Skyranger, En Route to Abduction Zone

The armor fit him surprisingly well. Snug and solid, it afforded him a surprising degree of flexibility. He hadn't had the opportunity to fully test it out yet, but was fairly certain he would be able to perform as well as in the 1st Airborne Brigade

Soran Kakusa was still a little shocked that he'd been sent at all to XCOM. The organization had been widely discussed within the Japanese military, especially after some of the air force had assisted in the downing of the alien dreadnaught. The organization was of particular interest to him and his friends, especially since the future of Earth would likely lie in their hands.

But as far as he'd known, no Japanese soldier had been recruited into the illusive organization, though that wasn't saying much since if it had happened anyway, he probably wouldn't have known about it. He wasn't sure why he'd been selected out of everyone in the Brigade. True, he'd made some inquiries and expressed an interest, but honestly hadn't expected much to happen so quickly. Yet soon after he'd been informed that he was to be transferred to the division.

Everything had happened fast after that. Within a few days, he'd been shipped off to someplace called the Citadel, which he'd been told was in America. He hadn't been the only one to arrive either, the rest of the newly recruited soldiers riding with him were also from different countries across the world.

But none of them were on this particular flight, the men and women beside him were all veterans of this war.

He'd barely settled in when he'd been assigned to a squad with instructions to investigate alien activity. He had no clue where they were headed or what to expect beyond a fight. He knew what kinds of aliens existed, thanks to a handbook XCOM had provided in addition to their archives. It was going to be vastly different to actually face them in an XCOM uniform.

The secrecy was apparently normal, according to Marten, a man who'd been sort of his unofficial guide when he arrived. The young Iranian struck him as somewhat arrogant, but he'd been helpful all the same. Apparently, the exact nature and location of the mission was kept secret until the team was on their way with only a few exceptions.

A rather clever security precaution if that was its intended purpose. Keeping information like that from all but a select few reduced the risk of the mission being compromised dramatically. Of course, it wouldn't completely remove the risk, but the reduction couldn't be ignored.

Still, doing something like this without proper preparation was foreign to him. Typically missions for him often consisted of a few days warning and briefing before they even made preparations to move out. He was somewhat surprised that no one had ever complained or even discussed the lack of preparation, but no one seemed to care that much.

An odd bunch, for sure.

"What time do you usually get the orders?" Soran asked, hoping that was the correct order of words. The English language was one he wasn't completely fluent in yet, though he expected he would be within a few weeks given that it seemed to be the primary language spoken within XCOM.

"Depends," Marten shrugged, tapping his laser rifle. "It's usually a few minutes before we actually deploy, it really depends on the mission area."

"Quite honestly, I think it's whenever the Commander wants it to be," the Australian who called herself Eden Rayna answered, lacing her fingers together. "But since we've been in here almost a half-hour with nothing, I'm going to guess that it's not urgent and on the other side of the world."

"Speculation is an alien abduction," the hulking man across from him, Anius Creed, added. "And because Kakusa, Wong and Carmelita are all here together, I suspect that we're heading towards either Japan or China."

That would be an odd move. Soran doubted that the aliens would move on China so soon after what had happened, the Chinese military would be on extremely high alert, making any abduction operations extremely risky at best. Japan, possible, but its proximity to China also made it a dangerous target.

Soran glanced over at the woman apparently called Carmelita. She hadn't uttered a word through the entire flight, only clasping her hands together and resting her forearms on her knees. Something about her immediately put him on guard, and despite the casual posture, he could tell she was dangerous.

Hm. She was from South Korea, which suggested she'd been part of the many special forces units operating there. Carmelita….given what he'd learned about the country, that was an odd name for that part of the world. Which implied that wasn't her real name. At first he wondered if it was some unofficial rule for soldiers to "westernize" their names upon entry.

Something he dismissed once he noted the names of several of the other soldiers. Cai Wong, the Chinese Jinan on this mission didn't appear to have changed his name, and several others bearing names matching their ethnicity and country. So yes, he doubted that was her real name and if so, raised a number of questions.

Questions he'd try to answer if he had the time. Though between fighting the aliens, he suspected that there'd be little time to answer rather low-profile questions such as that. She was without a doubt the most intriguing of all of them here. Cai Wong was another one he was watching. He wasn't particularly fond of the Chinese, but the Jinan operative hadn't done anything against him. Yet, at any rate.

He did admit that he was curious to see the SEAL in action. Creed had been designated Squad Overseer, though the reason for which hadn't been disclosed to the squad. The entire title of "Squad Overseer" was…confusing to him. Soran was used to very clear hierarchies and ranks. A private stayed a private until he advanced or was demoted, titles and designations weren't handed out at random.

Yet that seemed to be the case with this particular designation. From what Marten had explained, it could be given to any soldier at the Commander's discretion. It apparently was temporary as well; previous squad overseers could operate together without incident and it wasn't even considered a demotion either.

"It's less of a rank," Marten had explained. "More of a…let's say temporary directorial position. The Squad Overseer is the undisputed leader, but it's not a rank as you understand it."

This Commander had very odd procedures to say the least.

"Kakusa, right?" Eden asked, leaning towards him.

"Soran," he amended. People generally were more comfortable using first names and he didn't see a reason not to share his, especially since they'd be serving together for a while.

"First time fighting aliens?" She asked. From her tone, she suspected she was smiling even if the helmet hid it.

He gave a curt nod. "Yes, it is."

"Nervous?"

He shook his head. "No."

That answer didn't seem to be what she was expecting judging from the way she sharply sat back up. It also attracted the attention of Carmelita who turned her head towards him and held his gaze for a few seconds. "You should be," she stated, he voice much softer and melodic than he'd expected.

"Perhaps," he shrugged. "But I've seen enough that facing a few sectoids and drones doesn't scare me."

"Pray that's all we face," Wong muttered, mostly to himself. "I doubt the aliens are bothering with such paltry forces anymore."

"Agreed," Creed nodded firmly. "The days of sectoid and drone teams are over."

"Remember that the aliens have to have limited resources," Soran reminded them. "At least from what I've seen, every army, no matter how large, has a finite number of resources. XCOM dealt them a serious blow when you destroyed the dreadnought and it will take time to replace. They might need to conserve what forces they have until they can get more."

Carmelita cocked her head at him skeptically. "For some reason, I have trouble believing that. We dealt a blow to the aliens, yes. But I highly doubt killing one crew of a dreadnought is going to set them back in terms of manpower not to mention their "finite" resources are probably more than all the countries of the world combined."

"I guess we'll find out." Eden shrugged.

"That is a question I'm interested in as well," a new voice interrupted, coming from his helmet. "This is the Commander to Spur Team, stand by for briefing."

All of the soldiers immediately sat up straighter and several clutched their weapons tighter. Finally, the voice of the illusive Commander he'd heard so much about when he arrived. By all accounts he was an excellent tactician and leader, not to mention actually respected by the soldiers. He'd also apparently involved himself in the actual war itself much more than was typical.

Hopefully he'd meet him at some point.

"What's the op, Commander?" Creed asked.

"We've received report of an entire town gone dark in South Korea," the Commander answered. Soran noted Carmelita tense up at that. Unsurprising, given it was her homeland. "This is a larger town than they've hit before. Possibly up to ten thousand have been taken."

"How did no one notice?" Carmelita demanded, her tone incredulous. "Someone had to notice."

"I suspect that the aliens want to make a statement after their loss," the Commander continued grimly. "I can think of several reasons why this didn't elicit a quicker response. The most likely being the aliens devoted more resources or advanced units to increase their speed in subduing the town."

"Or using more advanced technology," Wong guessed, clasping his hands together.

"Possible," the Commander agreed. "In any case, expect heavy contact once you touch down. I would expect the usual; sectoids, drones, thin men, mutons or possibly cyberdisks."

Soran frowned. One of those names hadn't been in the handbook.

"Has the South Korean government been informed?" Creed asked.

"They were the ones who contacted us," the Commander answered. "They saved us an hour or two. So yes, they are aware and have dispatched several teams of the 707th to the town."

"Are they aware of our arrival?" Creed asked warily.

"No," the Commander answered reluctantly. "The units are on radio silence until they arrive on-site and prepare to engage. You may encounter them before they've received word of your presence. Solder Alba, if necessary you might need to intervene."

"Understood," Carmelita nodded. "I probably know several operatives deployed. They won't be a problem."

"Excellent. Find out what happened and execute any aliens you encounter. If possible, secure the site before the South Korean military arrives. I'd prefer they not acquire any alien tech."

"We'll do our best," Creed answered. "However, what should we do if they insist?"

"Allow them several of the corpses left, and only the corpses," the Commander instructed. "Any alien technology should be secured by our team. Make sure this is conveyed to the South Koreans. I'll begin contacting the President immediately."

"We'll do our best," Creed assured him. "Should we restrain our usage of explosives to preserve the tech?"

"Vahlen would no doubt appreciate it," the Commander answered, sounding somewhat amused. "But no. Do whatever you need to survive. More alien technology will come, soldiers are harder to replace."

"Understood," Creed answered.

"You know what to do. Citadel Command, out."

Huh. The rumors he'd heard about the Commander restricting the recovery of alien tech appeared to be true. It made sense in a way, no other country had begun using alien tech openly. He'd heard that Germany was beginning to incorporate some, probably as a consequence of an alliance with XCOM.

Israel supposedly was allied with them as well, though that was speculation he'd heard within the ranks, not from anyone with any official authority. He honestly hoped it was just a rumor. Israel with alien technology was extremely disturbing. Reading up on history, recent and ancient, he had no doubt that Israel would seek retribution on the Middle East if they had the means.

Quite honestly, they might be able to cause enough damage to cripple the region for generations, but the United Nations kept them in line. But he suspected it was only a matter of time before that organization fell, that would open the door for the possibility of an Israeli conquest.

Scratch that, it would open the door for any country to take advantage. From his point of view, the United Nations was the only thing keeping the more radical countries like Israel and North Korea in line, not to mention the other superpowers like China and America. He was extremely curious to find out if the rumors he'd heard about tension between the United Nations and XCOM were true as well.

Given what he'd just heard, he wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.

"This is Burning Sky to Spur Team," their pilot informed them as the white lights in the skyranger flashed and turned a solid red. "We're five minutes for the LZ. I'll maneuver you over the most populated area. If anyone's still alive, they'll probably be there."

"Understood, Burning Sky," Creed answered, rolling his shoulders. "We'll be ready."

Soran looked around. "Quick question," he interrupted, raising a hand. "What's a muton?"

The soldiers looked between each other. "Ah, right," Eden answered, letting out a low chuckle. "You've seen them before. I believe the handbook refers to them as "Alien shock troopers" or something like that. Hulking bipeds clad in green armor, very strong and dangerous. We got tired of referring to them as the "Green aliens" and someone called them mutons once," she shrugged. "The name stuck, and no one had anything better. I suspect whoever writes those handbooks will update in a week or so?"

"Just like that?" Soran questioned, frowning. "You actually use the nicknames you come up with as official designations?"

The soldiers clearly hadn't thought much about that before as they looked between each other. "Huh, guess not," Marten answered, somewhat amused. "Although, I'm kind of surprised it took you this long to figure out. You think the name thin man was invented by some scientist in a lab?"

"At least some of them were," Soran noted. "I'm pretty sure none of you came up with chryssalid."

"Nope, all Vahlen's doing," Eden answered. "I rather like it."

Carmelita shot her a stern look. "There is nothing to like about those creatures."

Eden actually sounded apologetic. "Ah, sorry. Didn't think."

Soran looked between them. He was clearly missing something, but he had to agree with Carmelita. The chryssalids were unsettling and unnatural to him. He didn't know whether their…unique reproduction system was natural or a result of genetic tampering.

Either way, that species should have been eradicated long ago. No good could come from using them, even as weapons.

"Prepare to deploy," Creed ordered as he stood and grabbed her rifle. Soran grabbed the laser variant of an SMG firmly in his hands. Amazing how light it was, much different than the weapons he was used to using.

He felt the skyranger slowing down until it was hovering over the town. With a hiss the ramp opened with a hiss and squeal. Ropes fell from hidden hatches above the tail to the ground. He looked around and saw several of the soldiers pulling out grappling equipment and had to snort.

At this height? Please, he'd jumped off cliffs higher than this. Moving swiftly, he grasped the rope and leapt off, descending into the silent town.

Soran hit the ground hard, though his legs absorbed the initial impact while the armor absorbed the rest. He grinned, he was liking this armor more and more. A lot more than what he normally wore. Though to be fair, what he'd wore was to emphasize agility and quickness and not much else. Assassination and stealth, those were key. If he ever got into a firefight, something had gone very wrong.

So it was going to certainly be interesting for sure.

The rest of the squad landed behind him, though not nearly as gracefully.

"Risky," Creed commented as he unhooked himself and the rope ascended back into the skyranger which flew off. "Good thing you didn't let go."

Soran threw a sidelong glance at him, which was probably lost from the helmet. "I completed higher jumps in training. This was trivial."

"Fair enough," Creed muttered. "But if you break your leg I'm pinning it all on you."

"Fine by me," Soran agreed as the rest of them dropped behind and beside them.

With everyone on the ground, Soran looked around the area for the first time. They'd landed in the middle of a street, run down apartments and houses on each side. The road was cracked, broken and tore up. All inexcusable driving conditions in most civilized countries, though Soran guessed this was normal here.

Old, abandoned cars sat empty alongside the road. Soran did a quick look and didn't recognize a car newer than 2003, an indication of this town's economic state. He walked over and took a closer look at the buildings. Mold, rot and decay had set in and the buildings were slowly, but surely falling apart. It wouldn't take much to reduce this place to dust.

He pursed his lips as he raised his weapon, ready for any aliens heading his way. He'd heard about the conditions some of the South Koreans lived in, but had never seen firsthand. The shadow wars between the countries didn't come without a cost and the citizens of South Korea were paying dearly for the mostly symbolic victories against the tyrannical state.

He apparently wasn't the only one with that thought. "People have it tough here, it seems," Cai noted as Carmelita readied her laser shotgun.

"It's rather hard to have a prosperous economy when the nation above you wants your death," she retorted icily. "The people have never had it easy here. This is nothing new."

But probably better if South Korea didn't wage a pointless war against their neighbor. However, Soran knew now was not the time for that and suspected that any argument not brought up in her favor would likely end badly for him. He'd have to know how far to push before even broaching that topic.

But that was a thought for another time.

Creed motioned forward with his rifle. "This is Squad Overseer Creed to Citadel Command. We've touched down and ready to proceed."

"Acknowledged," the Commander responded. "Proceed."

"Central, anything ahead?" Marten asked.

"Working," came the voice of Central Officer Bradford, a man that had struck Soran as a rather by-the-book soldier. Reliable, but lacked creativity. Excellent for administrative purposes, but useless in nearly everything else. But the man seemed competent at his job as long as he stuck to it.

"Head signatures ahead," Bradford finally answered. "Can't tell if they're friendlies or not. No electronic signatures, but I'd be ready for anything."

"Onscreen," Creed asked and the small map of the area in the top left corner of his HUD was replaced with the map displaying the heat signatures. They appeared a short distance ahead, a good number of the signatures appeared clustered in one of the buildings. It seemed roughly about a forth of the force detected.

"Excellent Central, thanks," Creed nodded and motioned them forward.

"We could blow the building," Carmelita suggested. "I can't be the only one who noticed them clustered."

Soran was surprised that was the first solution suggested. "They might be civilians," he pointed out instantly. "We need to be sure before blowing it up."

Carmelita snorted. "You're new, so I'll tell you what's happened," she waved her hand around the abandoned town. "No one is here. Everyone is gone. Everyone except the aliens."

"Soran has a point," Eden pointed out, walking up beside him. "We should at least make sure before reducing a building to ash."

"Enough." Creed raised a fist so they immediately stopped chatting.

Once he lowered it he continued. "Here's what we'll do." He pointed at Soran. "You have a background in agility and scouting. Recon the area and report what you see. We'll move into position around the building."

An acceptable compromise. "Yes, sir." He nodded and dashed off, sticking to the side of the buildings which threw shadows obscuring his movements. He was careful to make as little noise as possible, not as easy as he was used to with the armor, but he managed.

Height. He needed to get on the roof. As he reached the wall he contemplated saving some time but decided against it, not worth the risk. Instead he simply found handholds and footholds and scaled the wall, a relatively easy task given its decrepit state.

Once on the roof, he began sneaking on the ground until he had a good look on the building where the aliens or civilians were hiding. He took a breath, closed his eyes and concentrated. There was no way he would be able to get a visual without blowing his cover so he did the next best thing.

He listened.

It took a few minutes, but a low chittering and growling slowly became audible. He pursed his lips. The grunting he had an idea of, but didn't know for sure. But he'd recognize the chatter of the mouthless sectoids any day. "Aliens in the building," he reported to Creed. "Sectoids, possibly some mutons."

"Copy." He looked over to see Creed and the rest of the soldiers on the ground, hiding behind abandoned cars and apartment walls. "Wong, Rayna, level this building. Kakusa, Carmelita, be ready for anything."

"Will do," Cai pulled the rocket launcher from behind his back and aimed at the base of the building. "Ladies first."

"How sweet," Eden replied lightly as she pulled several frag grenades from her belt and tossed them into the building in quick succession. "Frags out!"

"Firing rocket," Cai stated and a few seconds later a massive explosion erupted from the building which crumbled to the ground with a thunderous crash.

"Here they come!" Carmelita shouted as she began firing behind the building. Soran looked beyond the smoke to see six of the mutons converging on their position. Just as large and intimidating as he remembered. Their normally pristine green armor was caked with dirt and mud.

The aliens took positions inside more abandoned buildings and cars. Within seconds the battlefield was filled with green bolts of plasma and red lasers lighting up the night. Soran aimed at one of the mutons hiding behind a car. Instead of shooting at the moving alien, he shot the stationary car instead.

The alien reacted exactly as he expected and began bolting for new cover once he saw what Soran intended to do. "Get the retreating one!" he called as the alien raced away. Luckily Eden noticed and her laser beam cut through the alien armor, forcing it to the ground where it crawled away, leaving a trail of yellow blood.

Soran nodded in resignation. A mortal wound. He'd have preferred a clean death, but such was war. He turned his attention towards two mutons shooting out the window of an abandoned home. A home that was quickly being torn apart from the lasers cutting into the sides.

The rest of the squad's cover fared little better. Plasma appeared to be doing more damage to the buildings than the lasers and if they kept up the assault, more buildings were going to collapse.

Creed seemed to notice the same thing. "Wong! Rocket on those two!"

"Cover me!" Cai shouted and Eden and Creed provided enough suppressive fire, lasers fired off in shorts bursts which allowed Cai to lower himself to one knee and line up a rocket.

"Rocket's away!" He shouted as the missile screamed towards the building where it exploded into a burst of flame and shrapnel. The mutons screamed and roared as the shrapnel shredded their armor and the fire scored their exposed skin, blinding them. Their suffering was literally short-lived as they were killed by the falling rubble as the building collapsed on them.

Soran didn't believe the mutons were particularly intelligent, but down half their force against an XCOM squad, they knew when they were outmatched. The muton furthest away turned and ran. Soran fired off some ineffective shots, but his laser SMG was useless as such long range.

"One ran off!" He shouted as the squad advanced slowly. "He's probably bringing friends!"

"Copy that," Creed replied wearily as he began pinning down a muton behind an old truck. "Carmelita! Get the one by the truck. Reyna! Finish up with the last one."

"Copy!" Both women acknowledged and began moving. Eden tossed another grenade towards the muton hiding behind a crumbling building. The explosion didn't hurt the alien, but it did provide a clean shot to Marten who melted the alien's face off with the burning laser.

Carmelita dashed around the car with speed the surprised Soran. He hadn't suspected she would be as fast as him. The muton hadn't expected it either and clumsily attempted to turn only to receive the full force of her laser shotgun tearing through his armor and reducing his innards to liquid. Not quite dead and in a pool of blood, the muton attempted to crawl back as Carmelita stood over him.

Holstering her weapon, she pulled out one of the knives she had strapped to her chest and taking a reverse grip, knelt down and stabbed the muton in the eye. But not in one quick motion, very slowly and deliberately she sank the blade, ensuring the alien be in as much pain as possible before death. When the alien finally stopped thrashing and roaring, she stood and strode back over.

Soran shook his head and leapt off the roof. Once on the ground, he began walking to where the squad was regrouping. Carmelita was cleaning the yellow blood off her blade and once done, slid it back into its sheath.

"That was unnecessary," he told her, unable to keep the disapproval out of his voice.

She simply looked up at him, the helmet blocking any insight into her mind. Her voice was just as emotionless. "They deserved it," she answered, as if that explained everything. "Each of them deserve far worse."

He contemplated probing further but was interrupted when a hand grasped his forearm. Frowning, he turned to see Marten who shook his head silently. More questions for later, and he was liking Carmelita less and less.

"One escaped," Creed recalled as he reloaded his laser rifle with a fresh pack. "I don't think it'll be difficult to find."

Soran shook his head. "More are out there. He went to get reinforcements."

"Then we hunt them down," Carmelita stated, reaching for her shotgun. "Let's-" She abruptly stopped when the sound of automatic fire filled the air off in the distance.

"The South Korean soldiers," Marten muttered already running off in that direction. "We need to get up there."

"Let's go!" Creed ordered and they began running towards the gunfire.

To their credit, the South Koreans were putting up a good fight.

But against four mutons and three sectoids, not even the best of the 707th could last forever. At least three human corpses lay on the ground, their bodies torn open from plasma bolts.

They'd managed to get one of the mutons somehow, the body with a bullet hole through the eye indicated the cause of death. A lucky shot most likely. Bullets washed off the alien armor like water, barely making dents in the alloy. Even the shots that hit the heads of the mutons were doing barely more than irritating it. Conventional weaponry simply was ineffective against alien tech.

The sectoids were keeping to the back, as they could actually be hurt from the bullet. But instead they employed their psionic abilities, and judging from the screams, cries and curses, sounds not expected from an elite special forces unit, it was working.

Unfortunately for them, the squad stormed onto the sectoids flank and were quickly shot up by Carmelita in quick succession. The mutons heard the commotion and quickly scrambled to cover, which they had eschewed when facing the South Korean operatives. The burning lasers from the rifles instantly killed one and left smoldering gashes weeping with yellow blood on the rest.

The South Korean operatives took advantage of the opening XCOM provided and let loose with their own weapons on the aliens when their backs were turned. Even in their weakened state, the muton weren't bothered by the hail of lead tearing into them. Roaring in pain and anger, the ignored the XCOM squad and began a last effort to kill the South Korean operatives.

Marten and Creed fired two scalding beams into the back of one muton and it collapsed to the ground, a sizzling hole in its chest. The remaining muton was targeted by Carmelita who fired two quick laser blasts from her shotgun, both at the knees. The lasers tore through the weakened armor and flesh.

The legless alien fell to the ground, bleeding from a dozen small wounds as he tried in vain to crawl away from the woman approaching whose armor was stained with the blood of his comrades, of whatever the aliens referred to them as. Carmelita showed the same amount of compassion and empathy as she had to the last one.

Without nearly as much ceremony, she pulled out her knife and calmly slit the throat of the alien and stood back up and let it choke on it's own blood. An agonizing death, even if it could happen quickly. She apparently put that out of her mind as soon as she finished because she immediately began shouting out to the South Korean operatives who cautiously approached her in their own language.

She took off her helmet and Soran was once again surprised with what he saw. Cropped black hair framed a round brown-skinned face. She definitely retained Asian characteristics and also had a light scar on her cheek. Definitely a face most men would consider attractive, but definitely not the face of the cold-blooded killer he'd seen today.

Her pleasantly melodic voice carried throughout the silent battlefield and the remains of the South Korean operatives came down and joined the squad. Eight were still alive, a number that was either very good or very bad depending on how many units were sent. It seemed that at least some of them knew Carmelita, which confirmed his suspicion that she'd been part of the South Korean special forces.

After a lengthy conversation he sadly wasn't able to translate, she walked over to Creed. "They've agreed to help us. They'll follow your lead for now, if you have any specific orders, I'll relay them."

Creed thought for a moment. "Tell them the alien tech is dangerous and should only be handled by our people. Then tell them to have their weapons ready. I don't think that was the reinforcements that muton ran back for."

Carmelita nodded. "I'll do that."

Another interesting thing. She'd agreed to deny her country assets rather easily. Provided that was what she was doing. For all he knew, she was sharing vital information. No. She wouldn't do that. The helmet cams recorded everything and he had no doubt the Commander was going to have someone translate this entire exchange word for word.

Creed motioned them forward, into the heart of the town. The XCOM squad took point while the South Korean operatives stayed closely behind. Soran was starting to wonder if they'd killed the muton after all. No. He remembered that the muton running away had dirty and soiled armor. The group they'd just fought had been the normal pristine green.

Before they'd ruined it, that is.

One of the Korean operatives suddenly stopped and raised a hand, saying something intensely. "Listen," Carmelita translated, raising her weapon. "Something is out there."

Everyone went silent and then Soran heard it; the faint sound of what could be mistaken for a miniature engine. Bradford had said no electronic signatures were detected, so either he was wrong…or…

Marten apparently arrived at the same conclusion. "Floaters!" He yelled ducking off to the side. "Take cover!"

Everyone ran for cover, just in time to as floaters burst through weakened roofs and windows. The mutilated creatures shrieked when they saw the soldiers and wasted no time opening fire. XCOM and the Korean soldiers returned with laser and automatic fire. Creating a laser trap was the best strategy for dealing with floaters and it worked beautifully here as well.

Driven only by rage and pain, the aliens were quick, fast and focused. But they were also easily tricked and were able to be pushed into traps set easily by an experienced XCOM squad. Within a few minute they'd pushed and tricked the floaters into flying into laser after deadly laser. The unarmored aliens provided virtually no resistance as the laser cut a clean line through them.

The corpses littering the ground, the last muton finally charged out, roaring. In pain or terror, Soran didn't know and at the moment, didn't care. It fired off a few bolts from the plasma rifle it wielded, but it was thoroughly and completely outmatched. Throughout the rain of lasers and bullets, Soran didn't see who actually claimed the final kill, only that it was not him.

Silence fell over the town.

"Tell them I appreciate their assistance," Creed told Carmelita. "Our teams will begin to collect the artifacts shortly."

While Carmelita translated, Cai came up. "Good job," he congratulated. "You did well for your first time."

"I thank you," Soran answered, looking around the abandoned town. "Though I wish we could have saved the people here."

"So do I," Cai agreed, nodding. "But until then we'll just keep doing the same thing we've been doing since they made the mistake of coming to our world." His tone turned cold. "And once we drive them off, we've follow them and hunt them to extinction."

With that he turned and walked away, leaving Soran more concerned than ever before.

After-Action Report

Operation: Upper Egypt

Personnel:

Spur 1 (Squad Overseer): Specialist Anius Creed

Status: Active

Kills: 3

Spur 2: Specialist Carmelita Alba

Status: Active

Kills: 7

Spur 3: Specialist Marten El-Amin

Status: Active

Kills: 3

Spur 4: Specialist Cai Wong

Status: Active

Kills: 8

Spur 5: Specialist Eden Rayna

Status: Active

Kills: 4

Spur 6: Specialist Soran Kakusa

Status: Active

Kills: 0

Mission Director: The Commander

Pilot: Riley Ignis: Call sign – "Burning Sky"

Artifacts Recovered:

-2x Sectoid Corpses (Severe Damage)

-3x Sectoid Corpses (Moderate Damage)

-4x Muton Corpses (Severe Damage)

-8x Muton Corpses (Moderate Damage)

-3x Floater Corpses (Severe Damage)

-3x Floater Corpses (Moderate Damage)

-22x Alien Alloys

-40x Alien Weapon Fragments