UM-Full X-Com Story

X-Com: The Unknown Menace
André Galvão
DISCLAIMER: This fan fiction story is based on elements from the X-Com computer
games series, which is a trademark belonging to Infogames (or Firaxis, according to the
latest rumors on the Internet). Although it has been written for recreational purposes and
it’s being publicly distributed for free, the author retains all other rights over X-Com: The
Unknown Menace. Please do not change the text in any way without the author’s
permission or use any of the elements and characters contained in the text.
CONTACT: I can be reached through the following email: aadlg@rocketmail.com or
through ICQ (10332434) or MSN Messenger (chemsmi@hotmail.com). Please feel free
to contact me regarding any comments on the story. Either being positive or negative,
they’ll be much appreciated and they’re the only reward I’m getting out of all this work.
THANKS: To all the people that have supported me while I was writing this book and to
the readers that emailed me their comments. And also Julian and Nick Gollop and the rest
of the team that designed games like Rebelstar, Laser Squad and X-Com, because of all
the enjoyment I received over the years by playing them. And please keep up the good
work.
2
Table of Content
PROLOGUE ............................................................................................................................................... 16
DECEMBER 17TH, 1946 .............................................................................................................................. 16
USS Philippine Sea, South Atlantic..................................................................................................... 16
FEBRUARY 25TH, 1947............................................................................................................................... 17
Ross Sea, Antarctica ........................................................................................................................... 17
CHAPTER ONE – THE FIRST TUNES.................................................................................................. 22
DECEMBER 9TH, 1998 ................................................................................................................................ 22
Swiss military air base outside Geneva, Switzerland.......................................................................... 22
DECEMBER 10TH, 1998 .............................................................................................................................. 22
Governmental facility outside Geneva, Switzerland ........................................................................... 22
Unknown location, North America ..................................................................................................... 26
Geneva, Switzerland ........................................................................................................................... 28
CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia................................................................................................. 29
DECEMBER 11TH, 1998 .............................................................................................................................. 32
NORAD Headquarters, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States.............................................. 34
Area 51, Nevada, United States .......................................................................................................... 35
Air Force One, Military Airbase outside Geneva, Switzerland........................................................... 36
Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States.................................................................................... 37
Area 51, Nevada, United States .......................................................................................................... 37
Air Force One, Geneva, Switzerland .................................................................................................. 37
Northern California, United States ..................................................................................................... 38
CHAPTER TWO – OPENINGS ............................................................................................................... 46
DECEMBER 13TH, 1998 .............................................................................................................................. 46
Russian Army Compound outside St. Petersburg, Russian Federation .............................................. 46
The Pentagon, Washington D.C., United States ................................................................................. 48
Imperial Palace, Tokyo, Japan ........................................................................................................... 49
Pentagon, Washington D.C................................................................................................................. 50
DECEMBER 14TH, 1999 .............................................................................................................................. 54
Yakolev Aircraft Company test range, outside Moscow, Russian Federation .................................... 54
DECEMBER 15TH, 1998 .............................................................................................................................. 56
Forbidden City, Beijing, People’s Republic of China......................................................................... 56
DECEMBER 23RD, 1998 .............................................................................................................................. 56
Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, US..................................................................................................... 56
DECEMBER 26TH, 1998 .............................................................................................................................. 62
CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia, US .......................................................................................... 62
DECEMBER 27TH, 1998 .............................................................................................................................. 63
Toyota Test Field, Central Japan ....................................................................................................... 63
DECEMBER 28TH, 1998 .............................................................................................................................. 64
Kremlin, Moscow, Russian Federation............................................................................................... 64
4
DECEMBER 31ST, 1998 .............................................................................................................................. 66
JANUARY 1ST, 1999 ................................................................................................................................... 68
Area 51, Nevada, US........................................................................................................................... 68
CHAPTER THREE – SKIRMISHING.................................................................................................... 70
JANUARY 3RD, 1999................................................................................................................................... 70
Caribbean Sea..................................................................................................................................... 70
NORAD, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, US ..................................................................................... 70
Area 51, Nevada, US........................................................................................................................... 70
Security Center, KSC, Florida ............................................................................................................ 70
Command and Communications Center, Area 51, Nevada................................................................. 71
Low Orbit, Earth................................................................................................................................. 72
Area 51, Nevada, US........................................................................................................................... 72
Security Center, KSC, Florida ............................................................................................................ 72
Skyranger 1, over Louisiana, US ........................................................................................................ 73
KSC, Florida, US ................................................................................................................................ 73
New York City, US .............................................................................................................................. 77
London, United Kingdom.................................................................................................................... 77
JANUARY 10TH, 1999................................................................................................................................. 78
Area 51, Nevada, US........................................................................................................................... 78
JANUARY 12TH, 1999................................................................................................................................. 83
Far Side, Moon ................................................................................................................................... 84
JANUARY 21ST, 1999 ................................................................................................................................. 85
Border of Texas and Mexico, US ........................................................................................................ 85
JANUARY 22ND, 1999................................................................................................................................. 86
Sea of Japan........................................................................................................................................ 86
JANUARY 27TH, 1999................................................................................................................................. 87
Operations Center, Area 51, Nevada, US ........................................................................................... 87
JANUARY 30TH, 1999................................................................................................................................. 88
Far Side of the Moon .......................................................................................................................... 88
CHAPTER FOUR – THE COLD WEATHER FRONT......................................................................... 90
FEBRUARY 2ND, 1999 ................................................................................................................................ 90
Rocky Mountains, Colorado, US......................................................................................................... 90
Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, US .................................................................................................... 90
Near Catalina Island, Pacific Ocean .................................................................................................. 90
Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, US .................................................................................................... 91
White House, Washington D.C., US.................................................................................................... 91
Skyranger 1, over Washington State, US ............................................................................................ 91
Los Angeles, California, US................................................................................................................ 92
White House, Washington D.C., US.................................................................................................... 93
South Central, LA, California, US ...................................................................................................... 93
FEBRUARY 3RD, 1999 .............................................................................................................................. 104
The White House, Washington D.C., US........................................................................................... 104
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 106
FEBRUARY 4TH, 1999............................................................................................................................... 108
Mother One, Black Forest, Germany................................................................................................ 108
FEBRUARY 5TH, 1999............................................................................................................................... 110
London, United Kingdom.................................................................................................................. 110
FEBRUARY 10TH, 1999............................................................................................................................. 110
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 110
CHAPTER FIVE – SMALL CAT, BUG MICE .................................................................................... 114
FEBRUARY 12TH, 1999............................................................................................................................. 114
5
New York City, US ............................................................................................................................ 114
FEBRUARY 17TH, 1999............................................................................................................................. 116
FEBRUARY 19TH, 1999............................................................................................................................. 117
CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia, US ........................................................................................ 117
FEBRUARY 22ND, 1999 ............................................................................................................................ 122
Vicinity of Marrakech, Morocco ....................................................................................................... 122
FEBRUARY 25TH, 1999............................................................................................................................. 124
FEBRUARY 28TH, 1999............................................................................................................................. 126
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 126
Forbidden City, Beijing, People’s Republic of China....................................................................... 130
CHAPTER SIX – BAD MOON RISING................................................................................................ 132
MARCH 3RD, 1999 ................................................................................................................................... 132
Azamas 36, Siberia, Russian Federation .......................................................................................... 132
White House, Washington DC, US.................................................................................................... 133
MARCH 5TH, 1999.................................................................................................................................... 135
Mansion outside Paris, France......................................................................................................... 135
MARCH 6TH, 1999.................................................................................................................................... 136
Manhattan, New York City, US......................................................................................................... 136
Middle of the Indian Ocean, Earth ................................................................................................... 137
MARCH 8TH, 1999.................................................................................................................................... 137
MARCH 9TH, 1999.................................................................................................................................... 138
Middle of Alaska, United States ........................................................................................................ 138
British Columbia, Canada ................................................................................................................ 139
MARCH 11TH, 1999.................................................................................................................................. 145
Las Vegas International Airport, Nevada, US .................................................................................. 145
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 147
CHAPTER SEVEN – REVIVAL............................................................................................................ 154
MARCH 17TH, 1999.................................................................................................................................. 154
MARCH 18TH, 1999.................................................................................................................................. 158
The Kremlin, Moscow, Russian Federation ...................................................................................... 158
MARCH 20TH, 1999.................................................................................................................................. 160
Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico............................................................................................................... 160
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 166
MARCH 23RD, 1999 ................................................................................................................................. 171
Headquarters Strike Command, RAF High Wycombe, UK............................................................... 171
Coventry, United Kingdom ............................................................................................................... 172
CHAPTER EIGHT – THE GRIM HORIZON...................................................................................... 178
MARCH 25TH, 1999.................................................................................................................................. 178
APRIL 1ST, 1999 ...................................................................................................................................... 179
APRIL 7TH, 1999 ...................................................................................................................................... 181
Pacific Ocean.................................................................................................................................... 181
Santa Cruz, California ...................................................................................................................... 182
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 183
Over Central California, US............................................................................................................. 185
Pacific Ocean.................................................................................................................................... 185
6
California-Nevada border, US.......................................................................................................... 186
Central California, US...................................................................................................................... 186
Pacific Ocean.................................................................................................................................... 187
California Coast ............................................................................................................................... 188
Situation Room, White House, Washington DC, US ......................................................................... 190
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 190
APRIL 15TH, 1999 .................................................................................................................................... 193
Highway 50, Maryland, US............................................................................................................... 193
APRIL 20TH, 1999 .................................................................................................................................... 194
Unknown facility, unknown location, US.......................................................................................... 194
APRIL 22ND, 1999 .................................................................................................................................... 195
Times Square, New York City, US..................................................................................................... 195
APRIL 25TH, 1999 .................................................................................................................................... 196
CHAPTER NINE – FORTUNE REVERSALS ..................................................................................... 200
APRIL 29TH, 1999 .................................................................................................................................... 200
New York City, US ............................................................................................................................ 200
APRIL 30TH, 1999 .................................................................................................................................... 201
Geneva, Switzerland ......................................................................................................................... 201
MAY 4TH, 1999........................................................................................................................................ 202
MAY 5TH, 1999........................................................................................................................................ 204
Central Iowa, US .............................................................................................................................. 204
MAY 9TH, 1999........................................................................................................................................ 209
Press Room, White House, Washington DC, US............................................................................... 209
MAY 19TH, 1999...................................................................................................................................... 210
X-Com’s Far East Command Base, Complex YY-18, Japan............................................................. 210
MAY 20TH, 1999...................................................................................................................................... 211
Motel Trucker’s Paradise, Maryland, US......................................................................................... 211
MAY 25TH, 1999...................................................................................................................................... 215
Swiss Banque of Credit Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland ........................................................... 215
MAY 27TH, 1999...................................................................................................................................... 217
Area 51, Nevada, United States ........................................................................................................ 217
CHAPTER TEN – LIGHT SPRING BREEZE ..................................................................................... 220
JULY 12TH, 1999...................................................................................................................................... 220
VVS (Russian Air Force) HQ, outside Moscow, Russian Federation ............................................... 220
Over the Volga River, Caucasus, Russian Federation...................................................................... 222
New York City, US ............................................................................................................................ 223
Close to the Ural Mountains, Russian Federation............................................................................ 224
Earth’s Orbit..................................................................................................................................... 226
JULY 15TH, 1999...................................................................................................................................... 227
JULY 16TH, 1999...................................................................................................................................... 230
Air Force One, Over Illinois, US ...................................................................................................... 230
JULY 17TH, 1999...................................................................................................................................... 232
Azamas 36, Russian Federation........................................................................................................ 232
Far Side of the Moon ........................................................................................................................ 233
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JULY 18TH, 1999...................................................................................................................................... 234
X-Com Russian Command, Stalingrad Base, Caucasus, Russian Federation .................................. 234
Earth’s Orbit..................................................................................................................................... 236
Kremlin, Moscow, Russian Federation............................................................................................. 237
CHAPTER ELEVEN – BROKEN SHELLS ......................................................................................... 238
JULY 18TH, 1999...................................................................................................................................... 238
X-Com Russian Command, Stalingrad Base, Caucasus, Russian Federation .................................. 238
1048 Zulu (Local Time), Siberia, Russian Federation...................................................................... 240
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 241
1112 Zulu, Siberia, Russian Federation ........................................................................................... 241
1240 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 244
1258 Zulu, Vicinity of Azamas 36, Siberia, Russian Federation....................................................... 244
1305 Zulu, Azamas 36, Siberia, Russian Federation ........................................................................ 245
1407 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 248
1409 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 249
1431 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 250
1517 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 251
1525 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 252
1532 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 253
1535 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 255
1541 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 257
1549 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 257
CHAPTER TWELVE – THE EYE OF THE STORM ......................................................................... 258
JULY 19TH, 1999...................................................................................................................................... 258
JULY 26TH, 1999...................................................................................................................................... 260
Outside Azamas 36, Russian Federation .......................................................................................... 260
Underground Command Facility outside Moscow, Russian Federation .......................................... 262
JULY 27TH, 1999...................................................................................................................................... 264
White House Situation Room, Washington DC, US .......................................................................... 264
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 265
Hotel in the center of Moscow, Russia.............................................................................................. 268
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 268
Unknown location, Earth .................................................................................................................. 271
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 272
Engels Air Base, Russian Federation................................................................................................ 274
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 275
CHAPTER THIRTEEN – DIVINE WIND ............................................................................................ 278
JULY 27TH, 1999...................................................................................................................................... 278
Sea of Japan, Pacific Ocean ............................................................................................................. 278
2257 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 281
Engels Air Base, Russian Federation................................................................................................ 282
JULY 28TH, 1999...................................................................................................................................... 282
0057 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 283
8
National Security Agency, Ft. Meade, Virginia, US ......................................................................... 283
0058 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 283
0236 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 284
0307 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 285
0359 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 285
0432 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 286
0432 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 287
0434 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 287
0435 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 287
0438 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 288
0439 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 288
0627 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 289
0628 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 290
0629 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 290
0643 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 290
0937 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 295
0954 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 296
1129 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 296
1141 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 296
1150 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 297
1606 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 297
1625 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 298
2049 Zulu .......................................................................................................................................... 299
CHAPTER FOURTEEN – MISTY EVENING..................................................................................... 300
JULY 29TH, 1999...................................................................................................................................... 300
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 300
AUGUST 4TH, 1999 .................................................................................................................................. 308
AUGUST 6TH, 1999 .................................................................................................................................. 310
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 310
AUGUST 7TH, 1999 .................................................................................................................................. 312
Kremlin, Moscow, Russian Federation............................................................................................. 312
AUGUST 26TH, 1999 ................................................................................................................................ 316
AUGUST 30TH, 1999 ................................................................................................................................ 318
Unknown location, Earth .................................................................................................................. 318
CHAPTER FIFTEEN – PARADISE LOST ......................................................................................... 320
SEPTEMBER 20TH, 1999 ........................................................................................................................... 320
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 320
SEPTEMBER 29TH, 1999 ........................................................................................................................... 322
MIT, Massachusetts, US ................................................................................................................... 322
OCTOBER 7TH, 1999................................................................................................................................. 323
Pacific Coast, Washington State, US ................................................................................................ 323
OCTOBER 21ST, 1999............................................................................................................................... 328
DECEMBER 1ST, 1999 .............................................................................................................................. 330
Military Base outside Beijing, People’s Republic of China.............................................................. 330
DECEMBER 3RD, 1999 .............................................................................................................................. 331
Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, US ..................................................................................... 331
DECEMBER 4TH, 1999 .............................................................................................................................. 332
9
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 332
DECEMBER 19TH, 1999 ............................................................................................................................ 334
DECEMBER 26TH, 1999 ............................................................................................................................ 339
Papoose Lake, Nevada, US ............................................................................................................... 339
CHAPTER SIXTEEN – ROCKY ROAD............................................................................................... 342
MARCH 14TH, 2000.................................................................................................................................. 342
New York City, US ............................................................................................................................ 342
MARCH 18TH, 2000.................................................................................................................................. 345
Appallachian Mountains, West Virginia, US .................................................................................... 345
MARCH 21ST, 2000.................................................................................................................................. 346
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 346
New York City, US ............................................................................................................................ 347
Over Central Kansas, US.................................................................................................................. 347
Close to Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado, US .............................................................................. 348
Denver, Colorado, US....................................................................................................................... 349
Fort Collins, Colorado, US............................................................................................................... 351
Downtown Denver, Colorado ........................................................................................................... 354
APRIL 5TH, 2000 ...................................................................................................................................... 359
Capitol Hill, Washington D.C., US ................................................................................................... 359
APRIL 7TH, 2000 ...................................................................................................................................... 361
Central London, United Kingdom..................................................................................................... 361
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN – COUNTER POINT .................................................................................. 362
MILLIONS OF YEARS BEFORE RECORDED HUMAN HISTORY .................................................................... 362
Zeta Two Reticuli star system, 37 light years from Earth ................................................................. 362
APRIL 14TH, 2000 .................................................................................................................................... 363
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 363
APRIL 29TH, 2000 .................................................................................................................................... 365
Complex YY-18, Japan...................................................................................................................... 365
MAY 4TH, 2000........................................................................................................................................ 366
MAY 7TH, 2000........................................................................................................................................ 368
Sea of Japan...................................................................................................................................... 368
UN Building, New York, US.............................................................................................................. 369
MAY 8TH, 2000........................................................................................................................................ 370
Northern New Mexico, United States................................................................................................ 370
Virginia, United States...................................................................................................................... 371
MAY 10TH, 2000...................................................................................................................................... 373
Complex YY-18, Japan...................................................................................................................... 373
MAY 16TH, 2000...................................................................................................................................... 378
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 378
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN – PREMONITIONS....................................................................................... 382
JUNE 6TH, 2000........................................................................................................................................ 383
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 383
JULY 9TH, 1947........................................................................................................................................ 385
Roswell Army Air Field, New Mexico, United States........................................................................ 385
JUNE 11TH, 2000...................................................................................................................................... 388
New York Times Building, NY, US.................................................................................................... 388
JUNE 12TH, 2000...................................................................................................................................... 389
Langley, Virginia, US ....................................................................................................................... 390
JUNE 18TH, 2000...................................................................................................................................... 393
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 393
10
JULY 10TH, 1947...................................................................................................................................... 394
Close to Roswell AAF, New Mexico, US........................................................................................... 394
JUNE 22ND, 2000...................................................................................................................................... 395
NORAD, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, US ................................................................................... 395
Close to Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, US ................................................................................................ 398
Over Colorado, US ........................................................................................................................... 398
Close to Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, US ................................................................................................ 398
Over Colorado, US ........................................................................................................................... 399
NOVEMBER 5TH, 1947.............................................................................................................................. 401
Wright Army Air Field, Ohio, US ..................................................................................................... 401
CHAPTER NINETEEN – STAR CHARIOT ........................................................................................ 404
JUNE 23RD, 2000...................................................................................................................................... 404
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 404
New Mexico-Colorado border, US ................................................................................................... 407
JULY 6TH, 2000........................................................................................................................................ 415
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 415
JULY 10TH, 2000...................................................................................................................................... 417
Charlottesville, Virginia, US............................................................................................................. 417
JULY 12TH, 2000...................................................................................................................................... 419
CHAPTER TWENTY – A DARK SHADOW ....................................................................................... 422
JULY 26TH, 2000...................................................................................................................................... 422
Unknown location, Geneva, Switzerland .......................................................................................... 422
AUGUST 3RD, 2000 .................................................................................................................................. 423
SEPTEMBER 4TH, 2001 ............................................................................................................................. 425
Complex YY-18, Japan...................................................................................................................... 425
Over the Sea of Japan, hundred miles south of Okinawa ................................................................. 426
Complex YY-18, Japan...................................................................................................................... 428
Over the Sea of Japan ....................................................................................................................... 429
SEPTEMBER 10TH, 2000 ........................................................................................................................... 430
Lhassa, Tibet Autonomous Region, People’s Republic of China ...................................................... 430
SEPTEMBER 31ST, 2000 ........................................................................................................................... 432
DECEMBER 17TH, 2000 ............................................................................................................................ 439
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE – MESSENGERS FROM THE STARS ................................................ 442
MILLIONS OF YEARS BEFORE RECORDED HUMAN HISTORY .................................................................... 442
Zeta Two Reticuli star system, 37 light years from Earth ................................................................. 442
JANUARY 24TH, 2001............................................................................................................................... 444
JANUARY 28TH, 2001............................................................................................................................... 447
FEBRUARY 6TH, 2001............................................................................................................................... 449
Albuquerque, New Mexico, US ......................................................................................................... 449
FEBRUARY 7TH, 2001............................................................................................................................... 450
Nearby Dulce, Jicarilla Apache Reservation, New Mexico, US ....................................................... 450
Santa Fe, New Mexico, US................................................................................................................ 459
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO – GHOSTS OF THE PAST ................................................................... 460
FEBRUARY 8TH, 2001............................................................................................................................... 460
UN Building, New York City, US ...................................................................................................... 460
11
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 461
Archuletta Mesa, New Mexico, US ................................................................................................... 464
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE – HELL’S KEEP ................................................................................ 480
FEBRUARY 8TH, 2001............................................................................................................................... 480
Archuletta Plateau, New Mexico, US................................................................................................ 480
FEBRUARY 9TH, 2001............................................................................................................................... 488
Archuletta Plateau, New Mexico, Earth ........................................................................................... 489
Archuletta Mesa, New Mexico, US ................................................................................................... 492
Close to the New Mexico – Arizona border, US ............................................................................... 493
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 494
Over Arizona, US .............................................................................................................................. 495
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR – THE ENEMY WITHIN ................................................................... 497
FEBRUARY 12TH, 2001............................................................................................................................. 497
Unknown location, Geneve, Switzerland .......................................................................................... 497
FEBRUARY 15TH, 2001............................................................................................................................. 499
Pollock ANGB, West Virginia, US .................................................................................................... 499
FEBRUARY 23RD, 2001 ............................................................................................................................ 504
FEBRUARY 21ST, 2001............................................................................................................................. 505
Spitzbergen Island, North Atlantic.................................................................................................... 505
MARCH 3RD, 2001 ................................................................................................................................... 508
Area 19, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 508
MARCH 15TH, 2001.................................................................................................................................. 511
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE –DEFECTION ........................................................................................ 516
MARCH 26TH, 2001.................................................................................................................................. 516
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 516
MARCH 28TH, 2001.................................................................................................................................. 518
Manhattan, New York City, US......................................................................................................... 518
MARCH 30TH, 2001.................................................................................................................................. 519
Virginia, US ...................................................................................................................................... 519
MARCH 31ST, 2001.................................................................................................................................. 520
Swiss government facility outside Geneve, Switzerland.................................................................... 520
The Pentagon, Washington D.C., US................................................................................................ 523
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 525
Military Penitentiary, Maryland, US ................................................................................................ 526
APRIL 1ST, 2001 ...................................................................................................................................... 527
Geneve, Switzerland.......................................................................................................................... 527
Military Penitentiary, Maryland, US ................................................................................................ 528
APRIL 3RD, 2001 ...................................................................................................................................... 535
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 535
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX – A SIMPLE WAR .................................................................................... 538
APRIL 23RD, 2001 .................................................................................................................................... 538
La Guardia Airport, New Jersey, US ................................................................................................ 538
MAY 10TH, 2001...................................................................................................................................... 540
Louisiana coast, US .......................................................................................................................... 540
MAY 16TH, 2001...................................................................................................................................... 544
12
Area 19, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 544
JUNE 21ST, 2001 ...................................................................................................................................... 547
Anatolia Plateau, Turkey .................................................................................................................. 548
JUNE 24TH, 2001...................................................................................................................................... 553
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 553
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN – CHAOS ............................................................................................. 556
JULY 21ST, 2001 ...................................................................................................................................... 556
AUGUST 15TH, 2001 ................................................................................................................................ 558
Alameda, California, US................................................................................................................... 558
Golden Gate Bridge .......................................................................................................................... 559
Alameda ............................................................................................................................................ 559
AUGUST 18TH, 2001 ................................................................................................................................ 562
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 562
SEPTEMBER 25TH, 2001 ........................................................................................................................... 564
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 564
SEPTEMBER 30TH, 2001 ........................................................................................................................... 571
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 571
OCTOBER 25TH, 2001............................................................................................................................... 573
Mars’s Orbit ..................................................................................................................................... 573
OCTOBER 29TH, 2001............................................................................................................................... 574
MacMurdo Station, Antartica ........................................................................................................... 574
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT – FIRE AND ICE ................................................................................ 576
NOVEMBER 4TH, 2001.............................................................................................................................. 576
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 576
NOVEMBER 7TH, 2001.............................................................................................................................. 577
Mother One, Germany ...................................................................................................................... 577
NOVEMBER 12TH, 2001............................................................................................................................ 580
UNSS Avenger, south of the Hawaiian Islands, Pacific.................................................................... 580
Vostok Base, Antarctica .................................................................................................................... 581
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE – “IT’S FULL OF THEM!” .................................................................. 596
NOVEMBER 13TH, 2001............................................................................................................................ 596
Central America................................................................................................................................ 596
Over the Andes Mountains, South America ...................................................................................... 597
Earth’s orbit...................................................................................................................................... 600
Moon’s Far Side ............................................................................................................................... 601
Moon’s orbit ..................................................................................................................................... 601
Upper Atmosphere, Earth ................................................................................................................. 602
NOVEMBER 21ST, 2001............................................................................................................................ 603
Unknown location, North America ................................................................................................... 603
NOVEMBER 24TH, 2001............................................................................................................................ 605
NOVEMBER 25TH, 2001............................................................................................................................ 606
DECEMBER 7TH, 2001 .............................................................................................................................. 611
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 611
CHAPTER THIRTY – AMBER BLUE ................................................................................................. 614
DECEMBER 9TH, 2001 .............................................................................................................................. 614
Unknown location ............................................................................................................................. 614
13
DECEMBER 11TH, 2002 ............................................................................................................................ 615
Sea of Japan...................................................................................................................................... 615
DECEMBER 16TH, 2001 ............................................................................................................................ 615
Unknown location ............................................................................................................................. 615
DECEMBER 19TH, 2001 ............................................................................................................................ 618
Frankfurt-Berlin IDE, Germany ....................................................................................................... 618
DECEMBER 21ST, 2001 ............................................................................................................................ 627
DECEMBER 22ND, 2001............................................................................................................................ 628
Moon ................................................................................................................................................. 628
JANUARY 1ST, 2002 ................................................................................................................................. 630
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE – HERE IT ENDS...................................................................................... 634
MARCH 7TH, 2002.................................................................................................................................... 635
Valles Marineris, Mars ..................................................................................................................... 635
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 636
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 639
MARCH 9TH, 2002.................................................................................................................................... 647
Xanthe Terra, Mars........................................................................................................................... 647
The Pyramid, Cydonia Mensae, Mars............................................................................................... 649
Acidalia Planitia, Mars..................................................................................................................... 650
Close to the City, Cydonia Mensae, Mars......................................................................................... 655
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO – CRIMSON DEATH .............................................................................. 658
MARCH 9TH, 2002.................................................................................................................................... 658
The City, Cydonia, Mars................................................................................................................... 658
The Pyramid, Cydonia, Mars............................................................................................................ 680
MARCH 10TH, 2002.................................................................................................................................. 681
Earth ................................................................................................................................................. 681
EPILOGUE............................................................................................................................................... 684
OCTOBER 12TH, 1952............................................................................................................................... 684
Area 51, Nevada, US......................................................................................................................... 684
MARCH 9TH, 2002.................................................................................................................................... 685
Arecibo, Puerto Rico, Earth.............................................................................................................. 685
MARCH 17TH, 2002 ................................................................................................................................ 687
Chryse Planitia, Mars....................................................................................................................... 687
MARCH 9TH, 2012.................................................................................................................................... 689
Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, United States...................................................................... 689
14
Prologue
December 17th, 1946
USS Philippine Sea, South Atlantic
Although it was summer on the southern hemisphere, the United States Army Air Force
officer that was near one of the elevators on the flight deck of the Essex class aircraft
carrier had chosen to wear his flight jacket since the temperatures had been dropping as
the fleet moved south towards its destination.
The man, who seemed to be in his early thirties, had a smooth face and light eyes, with
his nose and ears starting to turn reddish from the cold air outside. The weather was a bit
cloudy and it was the first sign to the fleet of gray ships that things were about to get
rougher in their mission. The Philippine Sea was the largest ship of the sixteen vessels
that made up the task force. Besides the combat escorts it included tenders for seaplanes
and tankers, together with a Coast Guard icebreaker that had been rushed from California
to be included in the force.
Looking at the deck of the carrier and seeing his own plane, he shook his head in
frustration. He couldn’t understand the reasoning behind the Navy’s decision to send a
dedicated task force of nearly five thousand men to such an extreme place. And it
annoyed him even more that his superior officers hadn’t deemed him to be important
enough for him to know the reasons of the mission. He had fought a number of
operations in the war as a part of the OSS, the more general name for the Office of
Strategic Services that had been retired last year. But now that the war was over it
seemed as if the politicians were bent on getting rid of all things military. The inter-
military branch agency that had been responsible for espionage and secret military
missions through the war had been dismantled last year and he had barely managed to
stay attached to what remained of it. However nowadays the Army seemed to be in a
hurry to get rid of every soldier and officer in its ranks.
He wore golden seven-sided leaves on the collars of his shirt that had almost disappeared
completely into the inside of his thick flying jacket. Normally, he’d be considered a bit
too young for the rank of major but the war had given him several chances for promotion.
However he hadn’t missed any of the action since the Battle of Britain in 1940 where he
had volunteered to fight for the Royal Air Force. By the time of the United States’ entry
into the war at the end of 1941 he was one of the top US fighter pilots. And the Pentagon
had been really quick about assigning him to the newly formed OSS, which badly needed
veteran combat pilots. To his surprise he had found out that the other half of his work
there, which was related to intelligence, started to be the one which attracted him the
most. The information, that had been revealed to him, gave him a view of how military
decisions where made based upon intelligence along with his realization of just how
fallible the system could be also.
And in the case of operation High Jump, he was still wondering what the people at the
Pentagon and the White House were thinking about when they called the mission. They
were had been ordered to conduct a survey of Antarctica and perform military exercises
16
to provide information about combat in those conditions. It simply didn’t make any sense
to him to be here.
His attention turned to one of the planes parked at one of the ends of the deck, which was
completely clear of personnel and stood attached by cables to the floor. The converted
DC-3 cargo planes hadn’t been originally designed to be flown off carriers but from long
runways on land. However since the Navy’s seaplanes didn’t have the necessary range to
reach the inner areas of the pole safely, the DC-3s had been equipped with rocket pods
strapped to their wings in addition to their engines, in order to allow taking-off from the
short deck. And they were also equipped with large skis to land on the airstrip that would
be built on the land by the Navy Seabee construction crews that had been brought for the
mission. Underneath the flight deck there were six brand new ‘helicopters’ or whatever
the new rotating flying machines were called, together with a small force of Navy
fighters and dive-bombers.
The officer suspected that there were unofficial reasons for the inclusion of combat
aircraft and vessels in the force. At the end of the war in Europe strange reports had
started coming in from the South Atlantic concerning large movements of German
submarines heading for an unknown destination. And after Germany’s surrender further
support for the sightings had been found in the Kriegsmarine’s logs that failed to report a
number of U-Boats. Also there were rumors in the OSS that a number of high-ranking
Nazi officers had evaded capture by the Allies at the end of the war and were still at
large. He tried enquiring the personnel of the Office of Naval Intelligence that was
present at the task force, but to no avail. The officers had simply refused to answer any of
his questions and had refused to further comment on the matter citing secrecy laws. But
the worst part had been the arrogance and pettiness in their tone of voice. Although both
the ONI and the OSS had worked together during the war it hadn’t been without points of
conflict between the two organizations, with much jealousy and egoism present on both
sides. And now the Navy officers were simply ignoring him and the dead OSS, in no
doubt getting revenge for old grudges.
As he started walking down the flight deck and heading towards the mess hall, the officer
looked at the setting Sun that was giving mixed color tones to the white clouds overhead.
The Moon was also starting to appear on the horizon, glowing white. A mix of
excitement and fear passed through him. Well, soon we’ll all discover what’s the real
reason behind all of this.
February 25th, 1947

Ross Sea, Antarctica
Leisurely cruising at 250 knots per hour the converted cargo plane was flying over the
Antarctic coastline at a height of four thousand feet. The ski-equipped DC-3 had been
painted in a new white and gray artic camouflage and was now standing over the packs of
icebergs that littered the waters close to the massive white and blue glaciers. Its cargo
section, forming the main body of the plane, had been adapted to carry photographic and
other survey equipment, leaving just enough room left for a number of technicians to
operate the machines.
17
The Major and the co-pilot completed the rest of the crew for this mission. They had
taken off from the improvised landing strip at first light and now were following the
coastline until the point at which they would turn inland into inner Antarctica. Both men
were seated inside the cockpit of the craft, still dressed into winter parkas since the plane
wasn’t pressurized.
So far operation ‘High Jump’ had been a success. The naval task force was able to enter
the Ross Sea and land a party at the continent that had later established a provisional
base. Then the DC-3s had successfully taken off from the deck of the carrier and land
there on the airstrip without incidents. Both them and the seaplanes had now been
operating for more than three weeks conducting photographic and weather surveys. And
while it was summer, the cold Antarctic weather still took its toil on men and equipment
but that was what they had come here for. However there were still some questions that
the major hadn’t been able to find answers for.
A number of incidents had taken place since the task force had arrived: Strange lights in
the skies that had at first been attributed to boreal auroras. But more unexplainable events
had occurred in the past week as one of the destroyer escorts detected the sound of an
unidentified submersible object in the proximity of one of the groups. No official
explanation had been advanced to explain the contact, which had disappeared as the
destroyer was moving to engage it. And whatever is happening no one at the top seems to
have an idea about what it is or how to deal with it!
It was more than obvious to him that someone was keeping a keen eye on the task force’s
actions without revealing their identity. The obvious choice would be to give credit to the
rumors that a number of Nazi officers had fled from the crumbling German empire at the
last stages of the war and had taken refuge on the ice-covered continent. But another
alternative was possible: the Soviets.
There were already a number of disturbing reports about Stalin’s intentions about the
countries that had been liberated from the Axis powers. Unlike the US Russia wasn’t
demobilizing its war machine and instead had left its armies in Eastern Europe. And there
were reports that the Soviets had used the war to put a network of intelligence officers in
the western countries and that Stalin was desperately seeking to develop atomic weapons
by every means necessary, including spying on their allies during the war. The dropping
of the bombs on the Japanese towns of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the previous year had
destroyed the cities and killed hundreds of thousands of civilians, but it had brought
Japan to its knees and forced its unconditional surrender. Another effect of their use had
been to reveal to the stunned world that it was possible to built atomic weapons and
although the US now had the monopoly there was a high possibility that other nations
would be able to replicate its effort. But why would Stalin also be interested in an
operation to Antarctica? No, there’s something missing here that all of us involved aren’t
able to discover. He wished that he could talk to some of the people that he knew at the
former Research and Analysis branch of the OSS but most of them had either left the
intelligence field or now worked in the State Department. However, he doubted that even
they had an idea of what was going on.
As the Major shook his head to try to clear it, his co-pilot looked to him from his chair at
the right of the cockpit. “Tired Major?”
18
He let go of a breath of frustration before replying. “Yeah. You got any smokes there?”
As the co-pilot fished a pack out of his flying jacket the Major took the controls of the
DC-3, keeping it on a straight course towards the south, which was hard since they had to
use a sun compass to determine their bearing. Magnetic compasses were nearly useless
this close to the south pole and the landscape didn’t help much either, since most of it
was composed out of endless plains of white that stretched into the horizon.
The co-pilot dug out two cigarettes along with a Zippo lighter and was about to light
them up when his eyebrows fringed for a moment as he was looking at the Major’s
direction. “What’s the problem?”
Taking out the cigarettes from his mouth with one of his hands, the co-pilot pointed
across the Major’s face in a puzzled voice. “Is that a reflection?”
When the Major looked through the plexiglass window on his left side in response to the
co-pilot’s query his own eyes grew wide as he picked it up.
A small green dot of light could be seen in the vivid blue sky. First the Major dismissed it
as a light effect of the Sun’s rays on the window, but as he rocked his head from one side
to the other he discovered that it wouldn’t go away. Moreover it seemed to have a solid
appearance, as he noticed that he seemed could make out the contours on the green ball
as it slowly started to change its form.
“It’s keeping formation with us! What is that thing?!” The co-pilot was now nearly all
over the Major as he was bending his body to have a better look at it. Shoving him back
to his seat the officer barked an order: “Get back there and have someone take a shot at it
with a camera!” Whatever that is we’ll need some sort of proof that it wasn’t just the
Antarctic sky playing light tricks with two pilots.
As the co-pilot unhooked himself from his chair, the Major checked the plane’s altitude
and speed to make sure that they were still on a steady course. He thought of radioing the
carrier to report the contact, but as his fingers moved to the transmit button they stopped
their motion and instead he gripped the control wheel tighter.
The ball had resolved itself into what seemed to be an inverted cup. He still couldn’t tell
how far away or how big it was but those aspects ceased to matter as it suddenly crossed
the entire sky in front of him and placed itself on the other side of the plane. A foo
fighter?
During the war there had been numerous reports of strange flying machines made by the
crews of the Allied bombers and fighters on missions over Nazi occupied Europe that
could perform impossible maneuvers and fly at unheard of speeds. It had been initially
thought that they were advanced German planes, such as the jet fighters that they had
deployed at the last stages of the war. However the “lights” had never taken any
aggressive actions towards the Allied planes and the OSS and the other intelligence
agencies didn’t have time to spare in order to investigate what seemed to be weird natural
effects.
“It was gone before we could take a picture!” The disappointment in the co-pilot’s voice
was obvious as he came back from the cargo section.
19
“You idiot! It’s on the other side of the plane!” The major barked in reply, still keeping
his eyes on the green form. He was now sure that it had to be an artificial object as he had
watched it transverse the sky from one side of the cockpit to the other. It kept changing
its flight path and performing impossible maneuvers. It must be watching us also. It was
time that he reported the contact to the Philippine Sea. The carrier had a pair of Wildcat
fighters on alert status and they could be launched in five minutes after the order was
issued. However he doubted that the Navy fighters would be able to do much against the
craft that he was seeing.
A sense of dread came to him as he pressed the transmit button. “Home, this is Seagull
Four. I have an unidentified contact…” A loud cracking sound made him stop in the
middle of the sentence and his eyes widened in horror as something suddenly flashed and
bathed the inside of the plane in a burning light. As the DC-3 suddenly jerked to one side
the co-pilot crashed against the hull of the plane, violently banging with his head on a
container built into the wall. The Major’s restrains kept him in his seat though and he
tried to regain control of the plane but the stiffness of the controls told him that they had
lost all hydraulic power and couldn’t move any of the plane’s control surfaces built into
its wings and tail.
“Get the emergency hydraulics going!” The plane was falling in an uncontrolled spiral
towards the surface and he watched as the altitude gauge kept dropping from eighteen
thousand feet at which they had been flying, to sixteen thousand in a matter of seconds.
When no response came from the other man he looked and saw that the co-pilot was
lying on the floor, probably unconscious from hitting the wall of the plane. Another
glance at the outside told him what had happened to the DC-3. One of its wings had been
completely ripped off from whatever had hit them. The Major realized that there was no
way they could make an emergency landing, the Major realized and they would hit the
ground in less than a minute.
Unhooking himself from his seat he tried to stabilize himself as he raced to the co-pilot’s
and checked his condition. Crouched against the wall that separated the cockpit from the
cargo area he saw that the man was dead. “What is happening? What hit us?” A voice
asked in panic as one of the three technicians managed to reach the door.
“Get out of here fast!” He hoped that his parachute was still functional as he raced down
the length of the cargo section towards the door at the end. As he entered the area holding
the photographic equipment the stench of burned flesh briefly caught his attention but he
ignored the badly burned cadaver that was against a mass of destroyed equipment near a
large hole on where the now lost wing had been attached to the main body. Going over
the gap he saw to his surprise that the metal edge of the hole wasn’t carved like he had
expected but instead it seemed melted instead. The metal was still incredibly hot as he
grabbed the sides with both hands and it started burning through his thick gloves though
he ignored it.
Lunging his body forward across the opening he hoped that he still had time to safely
deploy his parachute.
The mangled inside of the plane was quickly replaced by the openness of free falling as
he quickly got away from the falling craft. The white ground quickly approached as his
20
hands tried to find the cord to deploy the chute and his mind raced in confusion. What
was that thing?
21
Chapter One – The First Tunes
December 9th, 1998
Swiss military air base outside Geneva, Switzerland
The invitations to the sixteen most developed nations of the world had arrived about a
month ago after a long closed discussion between the Secretary General and the Security
Council of the UN. They simply proposed the realization of a secret meeting, with the
purpose of discussing the extraordinary events that had been taking place on Earth for
more than a year now.
During that time the major economic powers had tried to respond to them, bringing up
the alert levels of their armed forces and trying to get scientific explanations, but so far
the results were less than zero. And the word was already out on the streets, despite the
efforts of the various governments to impose a black out on the subject. For most of the
invited countries the response to the conference was immediate. The others took some
more days in even acknowledging the reception of the message but all countries accepted
the invitation.
On the day before the proposed date, military and governmental passenger planes from
all the invited nations started arriving at a Swiss airfield near Geneva. The air traffic
controllers first noticed the unusual nature of the flights as they saw the origin of the
incoming place was spread out throughout the planet and from the few information
available to them they started to realized who the passengers might be. Then, as they
landed, the ground personnel also took notice of the international nature of the flights
arriving and even recognized some of the planes. Both the tower and ground crews
wondered what was going on, but they kept quiet as they were all bound to strict security
rules and verbal warnings that prohibited them from discussing the matter with anyone.
The ground crewmen, who saw the officials arriving by car to greet the visitors, where
even more surprised to see the light blue of the United Nations flag on the some of the
limousines and that no less than the Secretary General of the UN was present. They were
quickly also to recognize both the Swiss President and Prime-Minister, which were also
present, greeting the world’s leaders as they stepped off their individual planes.
Although Switzerland was keeping its neutral profile, they had agreed on hosting the UN
summit. After each leader greeted the UN’s General Secretary and the Swiss leaders,
each of the chiefs of State and Government attending the summit quickly headed to one
of the available limousines with his entourage and sped off to a facility outside the city.
December 10th, 1998

Governmental facility outside Geneva, Switzerland
The sixteen delegations were seated in a large meeting room in a circle, each country and
the UN occupying a table, with more chairs available to the lesser officials behind the
tables. The Chiefs of State and Government of all the countries were present, together
with their military leadership and selected officials.
22
Outside the room a full staff of UN translators was working around the clock to provide
simultaneous translation for the summit. But even though they were well-trained
professionals, surprised and interrogative looks were exchanged at times between
themselves when they realized the importance of the exchanges of conversation being
made in the room next to them.
All the attention of the people in the larger room was focused on a screen in one of the
walls. The first image that appeared consisted of radar data, superimposed over a map of
Siberia. The most surprisingly to the delegations was the date and time displayed in one
of the corners. It showed that the records were from just about a week before.
Several flights were identified and catalogued as either civilian or military aircraft, but
suddenly a blip coming out of the Arctic pole appeared on screen. It was marked as
“Unknown” and data scrolling showed his speed to be over Mach five and to be quickly
descending. It headed southwards until finally stopping some 20 miles from the Russian-
Chinese border. The map showed it close to a circular icon that apparently designated a
either facility or settlement.
The screen when black and a phrase come up, written in Russian but with an English
translation underneath. It stated: “Visual report on the investigation of the distress signal
received from Outpost Zbrynia 41”.
After some seconds the screen transformed itself into an image of the Siberian tundra,
with a military compound in the back. As the camera operator moved towards the
buildings, heavily armed Russian soldiers could be seen in the background along with
assault and transport helicopters as the camera slowly moved to the sides to give a
general view of the installation.
As it approached the entrance it could be clearly seen that the front gate and the watch
post had been blown into pieces. Some military snow vehicles could also be seen,
reduced to their metallic skeletons after being charred by flames. The operator then
switched the view of the camera to the floor. An AK-74 assault rifle was sitting there
along a pool of blood and spent cartridges. The rest of the images showed big blast holes
on the buildings and the same amount of chaos. As it progressed along the inside of the
installation it paused in the radio room. The communications equipment was trashed and
another pool of dried blood was on the floor along with a sidearm and empty casing
shells.
The screen flickered a bit again and the following phrases appeared being written on it:
“Transcript of the first radio report sent by the relief forces that arrived at the scene ten
hours after the reception of the distress signal.
All 152 members of the garrison stationed at Outpost Zbrynia 41 are missing, presumed
dead. Evidence of heavy combat in the area, but no bodies found, either of the garrison or
of the attacking forces. We also have no indication or tracks of the means of
transportation used by the attackers to leave the area. Air Rifle Battalion 271 will
continue to investigate and secure the surroundings”.
After the image disappeared and the lights came on an uneasy silence was set upon the
room. It was however quickly replaced by a distressed comment.
23
“This can’t just happen anymore!” The Russian President was quite upset, striking the
palm of his hands into the wooden table where the Russian delegation sat. The other
representatives of the world’s biggest economic powers just sat in silence on their own
tables, contemplating what they had just seen as the electronic screen was starting to
recede back into one of the walls.
Behind one of the tables the US President turned to a man next to him and asked: “How
come our intelligence agencies hasn’t picked this up?” The other man was the Director of
Central Intelligence, or DCI, the individual responsible for the entire intelligence
community in the US that is also the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA.
He half turned his head before replying. “Mr. President, so far our resources have been
more oriented into assessing how this unknown forces may pose a threat to our national
security. The amounts of reports from our sources worldwide have been backlogged so
that we can deal with the information that we have regarding our national territory. We
have maintained contact with our allies and are regularly exchanging information with
them, but in this case we didn’t have enough time to sort and analyze the reports coming
from the former Soviet Union. Besides that we have also other operations in progress
regarding this matter that had priority. Also the Russians must have been keeping a tight
lid on their security”.
“Is there a probability of something like this happening over one of our military
installations?”
“I would say very likely sir. We are one of the major powers on Earth and we can’t pass
unnoticed by them. Of course their intentions are still unknown, which makes any
prediction of their future actions an educated guess. But from the interference we have
already experienced over some of our military bases around the world this action can
certainly be seen as an act of escalation”.
“Ladies and gentlemen. I think we all agree about the need to take a concerted action on
this subject”. The Secretary General of the United Nations rose from his seat and looked
around, addressing each of the statesmen present. “So far all reports that were brought to
the meeting of the Security Council and now to this conference indicate that the strange
and unexplainable phenomena that the world has seen in the past years cannot be the
action of any terrestrial power.”
“Unexplainable? Try telling that to my dead servicemen!” The Russian President
suddenly rose. “Let me tell you all what you have just seen right now: a pure act of war!
Simply speaking there could be no other explanation for this!”
When the translation was finished another voice replied. “Mr. Larianov, just for the sake
of asking: couldn’t your troops have taken actions that could have been considered as
aggressive to these aliens, thus provoking some sort of retaliation by them?”. The
Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party didn’t move or even look directly at the
Russian president while asking the question or afterwards while waiting for the
translation.
“Mr. Zhu, my armed forces have been on alert since the first corroborated reports came in
of these strange craft flying over the skies. They are under orders not to fire unless fired
upon. And that outpost didn’t have any aggressive role”. What the Russian president
24
didn’t admit was that it was in fact a listening station for Chinese radio transmissions.
The Chinese Premier was aware of that fact but he chose not to pursue it, yet. “Still, there
are no survivors that can tell us of what really happened in Siberia, are there?”
“That is besides the point. The last transmission received from the base was an
emergency call, stating that they were under attack by unknown forces. And believe me
that if we had wanted to attack these extraterrestrial craft we would have used all of our
military capabilities, not just the garrison of an outpost in the middle of the Siberian
tundra”.
“You would not have achieved anything if you did”. The Japanese Defense Minister cut
in.
“What? How would you know?” The Russian Chief of State turned his stare towards the
Japanese delegation. Looking to the side the minister saw the nod of his Prime Minister
and continued. “Some months ago our country established a force to investigate these
phenomena. We equipped them with the latest technologies our defense forces have
available and tried to intercept the crafts. The results were zero. We disbanded the unit
last month because we simply couldn’t justify its costs anymore”
“And how come you haven’t informed us before of that?”
“So far any nation present here hasn’t bothered to inform the others about what is
happening and preferred to consider it as an internal affair. We saw no advantage of
doing that, especially until we had proven that this threat didn’t come from any terrestrial
nation”
The Chinese Premier quickly picked the implication on the Japanese argument. “And
who can really prove that these craft are truly extraterrestrial in origin? Couldn’t this be
the work of, for instance, the Americans having discovered some advanced technology?”
“Mr. Chairman, I can assure you that my country isn’t involved into any of these attacks.
I sincerely wish that we had the advanced capabilities possessed by those craft, but the
truth is that we don’t”. The US President had been having a tough time with China from
ever since Zhu had risen to the head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Already a
full war had nearly erupted between China and Taiwan about two years before, with the
US intervening to keep the island’s independence.
“Gentlemen, this is leading to nowhere”. Bomaka, the Secretary General interrupted.
“The reports so far have been staggering: cattle mutilations and individual abductions
happening all over the world. Sightings of those….” He hesitated before saying the word
“UFOs, which possess capabilities unheard of over population centers and military bases.
If they aren’t made on Earth there cannot be any other explanation than that some alien
life form is behind all these events!”
The Secretary General of the UN was trying to establish some control and direction to the
discussion. But his power in the world was close to nothing and so was his ability to be
listened by the participants in the room. The several delegations that comprised the
conference were busy talking, but for the most part conferring between themselves and
ignoring the words his words. .
25
President Winston turned to his DCI and asked: “This couldn’t be right, could it? Could
Iraq or North Korea have developed this sort of technology?”
“Impossible sir. This would require a level of technological development that we would
have noticed by now. The same applies to the Russians, Chinese or any other nation in
this room. If you remember we have discussed this before when the sightings appeared
and the conclusion both the National Security Agency and the CIA came up with was that
there wasn’t any nation capable of developing and deploying such craft”.
“So we consider them as having an extraterrestrial origin then like Bomaka is saying?”
The DCI just slumped his shoulders and said: “Yes sir. Although as before this is still
quite unbelievable”.
Across the room and behind another table the Chairman of the CCP turned to his deputy
and said: “We now watch and go along with the events. There is still this question about
American involvement to explore”.
“Comrade Secretary, to explore? The general feeling seems to be that there is the need for
have some action. If not collective at least individually.”
“And there probably will be. And we will participate…for now”
Unknown location, North America

On the other side of the world a group of men watched the conference on a large screen
with all their attention. Images of all of the delegations were present on the screen, with
subtitles provided in every case that the language used wasn’t familiar to the men. The
software program did quite a good job in every case. Of course it would take years, if not
decades, until it’s capabilities were available to the general public and the same with the
technology that was providing the group of men with the eavesdropping of the
conference.
They were all seated on chairs disposed in a half-circle in the middle of a small
amphitheater. None looked to be less than forty years old and their age increased from the
sides to the center of the half-circle. The one on the middle of them all was the eldest and
the lines over his hawkish eyes and white hair struck a sharp contrast between him and
the younger men. Keeping his eyes on the screen the man known in the group as Number
One simply spoke. “Looks like our friends just advanced the schedule a little ahead of
what was planned”.
There was no immediate reply from him to the comment that had come from the blonde
man seated on his left. “Yes, but this was not unconsidered by us before”. On the right
side of One, Number Two gave the reply he was expecting with his low bass voice.
Anyone ignorant about the group could assume that by his position he was his right-side
arm but that was not the case, although in this situation he had proven quite skillful in
carrying out his plans.
“What actions should we take now? Should we undermine any possible cooperation that
comes out of this gathering? There are a lot of mistrusts that can easily be exploited in
that room”. Still silent, One waited to see the end of the discussion.
26
“No, that would be compromising the whole plan. At this stage we can’t risk that national
intelligence services discover our existence or any of our operatives”,
A third figure seated on the left of One but far from the trio added his comments: “But if
we already have top positions in the intelligence services, couldn’t we cover-up our
activities like we have been doing all these years?” One cleared his throat as a warning
and made a mental note to himself. Like others on the room, Nine held a high-ranking
public position and he didn’t agree with that amount of exposure.
Two shook his head. “They could, but with the political, social and intelligence turmoil
that this will provoke any attempt to prolong the cover-up will be sure to fail after a
while, when the reports of several sources start to arrive. Then they will be asking: who is
concealing the information? We simply cannot keep this whole thing in the bag anymore
and have public and government opinion attribute it to a bunch of mental cases or social
paranoia. No, like a chess game we wait for their next move. And then we act
accordingly to it”.
“And whose move will that be, Two? The Earth nations or our friends?” asked number
Four, in an English that had a high-pitched accent.
“Both, it seems. Our ‘friends’ duplicity is well known to us. From now on we will not
assume anything about them. And we will think of ways of turning events so that our
plan goes forward.”
“Then, if this conference turns into international cooperation, I suggest that we infiltrate
whatever comes out of it”. Number Three’s suggestion was the right course of action and
the man seemed to take pleasure in knowing it.
“That has been already taken care of”. Number One’s first statement into the discussion
brought well-concealed looks of surprise from those in the room who had not been made
privy to his previous work.
Quickly recovering from the surprise, Three asked. “What? You have taken action
without consulting with the rest of us?”
“This is an emergency situation. The attack on Siberia and the news of the resulting
conference in Geneva would require us to take measures, so I simply anticipated what
would be our response, acting on the prerrogative of my position as One. But, like you
have said, this demands a ratification of my actions by the remaining eleven. We shall
finish debating it and afterwards you will vote to decide if my actions were correct or
not”
The decision was taken after two hours of cold, rational debate. The position of Number
One only allowed him to vote as a tiebreaker. While he was the major coordinator of this
group of men, all of them with the same goal, but each one representing different
interests and possessing different ambitions, he needed to convince the others of his
actions. But these events had been long predicted and discussed, so his decisions were
ratified. By a majority.
27
Geneva, Switzerland
Despite the fact that the conference room had been checked for bugs by each of the
counter-intelligence services of the seven countries whose leaders were present, the
sweeps failed to detect the devices that were transmitting it to the other side of the ocean.
The seven Chiefs of State and Government at the meeting were the leaders of the NATO
countries that were attaining the conference. They had decided previously to gather
during the event, due to the previous exchanges of information.
“Gentlemen, first of all, let me guarantee you that the US does not possess such aerial
craft which we have all reported right now”. Winston started and the French president
nodded to him.
“Mr. Winston, the French Government had its top scientists investigating since it started
to see if it could be man made. The results were negative and they were verified by
information from other resources”.
The US President raised an eyebrow at that statement, but then logic took over him. He
had personally signed the executive order authorizing Operation Close Friend some
months ago. Basically speaking, everyone had apparently spied on each other trying to
discover the origin of the craft.
“Yes, I believe we all had our own investigations and all of them agree that the statement
of the Chinese Chairman is incorrect”. The British Prime-Minister added and nods from
the other leaders present confirmed his opinion.
“So what should we do now? Should NATO take its own measures, according to the
Alliance’s Charter?” asked the Italian Prime-Minister.
“That might not be the best case. If the US were to act on its own in this matter, others
could see it as some individualistic effort aimed at getting an advantage over the others.
The same might happen if NATO decides to respond alone to this threat”. The French
leader replied.
“But can we trust the other nations? Japan, for instance, hid from the rest of the world the
creation of a force to deal with the aliens”. The German Chanceler’s argument brought
worried nods.
“I think that by now we all have come to realize that this isn’t anything originating from
this planet. And if we want to have success we need to act together”. Winston was
growing restless and anxious to get to the point.
“Planning a multinational operation? That would be a nightmare! We had almost fifty
years of experience with NATO and we still have problems coordinating our armed
forces after all that time. How can we expect to fight this collectively if the whole world
is involved? We can’t just throw in troops and expect that they fight like a unit, side by
side. And who gets to provide leadership by the way? Les Americains again? Now how
would Russia or China feel for Russia?” A hint of sarcasm filled the French President’s
voice.
Great, not the French attitude again! Winston thought as he thought of a diplomatic reply.
“But Mr. Latour if this operation is undertaken by NATO, it makes sense to use the
present command structures existent”
28
“And who will be the first country protected by the NATO military then? You expect us
to believe that it will be a European country if an American stays in command?”
“Gentlemen, we are getting besides the point here. We already know that worldwide
cooperation will be essential. What we need to discuss is how we will use our military
force on this matter and establish some coordination and command over global efforts”.
William Holt, the British Prime-Minister, was more than used to the task of trying to
reconcile both the American’s and the European’s positions in NATO reunions after the
intervention on Kosovo.
“Well, the Japanese efforts seem to shed some light on that matter. We need our best
pilots and troops equipped with the latest equipment available. I propose using special
forces units such as my country’s SEAL and Delta teams, or England’s SAS Regiment or
France’s elite paratroop regiments”.
“Oui. My military staff has also come up with the same conclusions before”. Well, at
least the French bastard can be reasonable sometimes, thought Winston.
“That sounds agreeable but again, what structure will we use? Our own survival may be
at stake here”. The German Chancellor still had childhood memories of the devastation
brought on his country by the Second World War. The heated discussion occupied one
more hour until the leaders decided to adjourn and wait for next day’s conference results.
CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia

“Well MacAllister, what’s the story on the Project Blue Book files?” Major John
MacAllister made a frown on his face before answering to his superior. At the same time
as the international conference was taking place in Geneva, a similar meeting was taking
place early in the morning, at the CIA headquarters at Langley Virginia. “Strange to say
the least”.
Terry Williams, member of the National Intelligence Committee, looked at his
subordinate with an interrogating look. Some time had gone since he had been assigned
to a multi agency effort, formed through an Executive Order from the President, to assess
the threat of the UFOs to national security. They were dealing mainly with reports from
other organizations like the FBI, CIA and local and state law enforcement agencies.
But they were also going through other pieces of information coming from strange
sources, such as Project Blue Book. From the late 1940’s the Air Force had decided to
investigate the general reports of UFOs through a number of projects. The latest one was
called Blue Book and was closed in the 60s, after the analysis concluded that such objects
could be explained by nature or man-made action. But there were still some events that
remained unaccounted for.
Williams turned to MacAllister as a puff of disbelief came from the other side of the
table. It was hard at times to deal with the several elements that composed his multi-
agency team like him or Mark Davis, the FBI representative attached who was less than
thrilled. The previous tasks of the subdirector included dealing with counter-espionage
and counter-subversion and those were the roles that he was representing on this meeting.
For his part, Williams was a member of the National Intelligence Commission, which
advised the Director of Central Intelligence, who overall coordinated the efforts of
29
several federal agencies. And as such, Williams’s job was to provide his superior, the
Chairman of the Commission, with information that would go again up the ladder,
through the Director of Central Intelligence to the President himself. However Davis had
been a field agent and he disdained desk analysts like himself and MacAllister.
“Strange? Well there are reports of abductions and experimentations on American
citizens over and over. What could be more strange than some files dealing with alleged
UFOs?” The official of the Defense Intelligence Agency moved on his chair. MacAllister
was a major on the intelligence arm of the US armed forces and he had been assigned to
review all UFO information gathered by the military on the past.
“Well let’s put it this way. Most of the files are junk. A light seen someplace, a buzz
heard… things like that. They are either a misinterpretation of military planes or natural
phenomena or even hoaxes. But some remain unexplained to this day. Of course now it
seems that they are accounted for, taking into light the events of the past months.”
Williams pressed for more. “So?”
“While I was looking at some of the files I recognized the name of one of the
investigators. He worked on Blue Book for some years right before the thing got axed
and he later went on to teach in the Air Force Academy. That’s from where I know him
‘cause he was one of my instructors when I joined the DIA.”
“Maybe you should arrange for a class reunion with him then” Mark Davis retorted.
McAllister didn’t even bother to look at the FBI man. “In any case, I gave him a call the
other day and asked him what he could remember of Blue Book, now that it has been
declassified. He mentioned some files that really puzzled him, because there was no
logical explanation for them”.
“Have you checked them?”
“I would if I could. The thing is that are absent from the records”.
“What? Are you sure? Couldn’t they have been misplaced?” Bureaucratic errors were not
uncommon Williams immediately thought but MacAllister shook his head. “No, because
all the files are there”.
“What the hell are you talking about then?”
“Well, for instance he mentions the case of an airline pilot that saw a big UFO escorted
by two smaller ones back in the 60’s and that one of the small ones had harassed the 707
that he was flying, making his engines flame out. I went to look for that file and it isn’t
there”
“Maybe he’s just old and his memories aren’t that good anymore. I don’t know,
Alzheimer or something”. Williams gave a hard look at Davies because of the comment
but the other man didn’t bulge and stared back.
“I thought that he might be making a mistake and I asked him if he remembered anything
else. Apparently this guy’s memory is still impressive. He could recall the name of the
pilot, so I found out if he still was alive and called him on his place in Florida. The old
timer could still remember every detail and confirmed everything”.
30
Confusion made Williams wince. “Who the hell took that file out of Blue Book then?”
“That’s the thing. It wasn’t taken out, not officially. According to the logs existent all the
files are there. But this one incident is absent from the central records”.
“Wait a minute. Are you saying somebody changed the logs and replaced the file?” Davis
attention was suddenly caught on the conversation. “Before you go on giving any other
explanation just remember that this could well have been a bureaucratic error instead”.
MacAllister shrugged his shoulders. “Well, either way I can’t think of any other
explanation. But you might be right, of course”.
“Let’s get back to the possibility someone might have changed the records. Who could do
it? Parker, any ideas?”
Brian Parker, the CIA liaison with the team was a very quiet man, rarely speaking unless
he had something to say or ask. Officially he had come from the Agency’s Directorate of
Analysis but Williams had never heard of him when he had been on the employ of the
CIA. The fact wouldn’t be surprising considering that the Agency had thousands of
workers but he had worked under the Directorate of Analysis before being assigned to
the NIC. He suspected that the man really worked for the Directorate of Operations, the
section responsible for conducting clandestine actions and that his present role was
simply a cover. “None. I can’t see the point of any foreign nation wanting to cover-up
this. Unless they ready had knowledge of the UFO affair and decided to keep the rest of
the world in the dark. But this is really something for the Bureau to check out in any
case”.
“What about the forces involved in all of these incidents, presuming that they are not
from Earth?” Williams was unsure that Parker was right. “Nonsense. How could they
either have knowledge of such a project or even manage to infiltrate our military bases to
gain access to the project?” The idea made Davis think but the man refrained from
sharing anything. Williams attributed it to the mistrust between both the FBI and the
CIA: no one wanted to admit a foul-up to the other and both didn’t like much to
cooperate with one another.
But the list of questions kept growing and Williams wasn’t sure that they would find the
answers, even if he got both agencies to work together. “Well, something strange has
happened with Blue Book and somebody did it. The question is who since we now
acknowledge the existence of UFOs, the files missing are hardly important now”.
“That’s true, I found nothing in the remaining files that could give us an indication of
their intentions or their methods”, added MacAllister.
“Well, that door let to nothing then. Davis, what do you got for us?”
“So far law enforcement agencies throughout the country have reported a growing
number of cattle mutilation incidents, along with abductions and claims of alien
experimentation on them and even missing people. Related to that there’s a general
feeling of insecurity with all of those reports that are leaking to the media. But the FBI
has never found any evidence that there might be extra-terrestrial activity being all this.
Some weird cuts on cattle and some kidnappings, but that’s it.”
31
“For crying out loud! You have seen the NORAD reports about UFO activity in those
areas during the time of those incidents. There is a relation between things!” shouted
MacAllister. NORAD was the North American Air Defense, a command created in the
Cold War to monitor the airspace of the United States and Canada against aerial and
nuclear attacks.
Davis dismissed his objections. “I prefer to take more believable explanations about
what’s happening, MacAllister.”
”Enough of this”. Williams cut in. “Parker, what’s the international situation?”
“Pretty much the same as here. The information that we are getting of our allies and our
sources report the same type of incidents. We are still considering the possibility that this
might be the work of some nation, in order to generate worldwide panic for some reason,
but so far that trail has lead to nothing”.
“Maybe the CIA should go to an eye doctor”. Davis snap comment even made Parker
look at him with an annoyed look.
“Davis, that’s enough from you! You got your orders and if we want to succeed we all
need to collaborate together. I’m not saying you might not have a point there, but as of
this moment we are considering all possibilities, is that clear?” Williams asked himself
why the FBI man was so hard on his head. Maybe he just can’t deal with the fact that ET
has come.
Davis responded laconically. “Yes”.
When the tension began to drop a little bit MacAllister asked. “And what is the NSA
getting?”
“Zip”, started Pharris, the last person in the room. “So far we have failed every attempt to
detect any transmissions from the craft. We also don’t have a clue about their intentions.
Either they are using some transmission devices that our technology can’t detect or they
are operating in some total electronic blackout”.
“That doesn’t leave us much to work on”. Frustration was patent in MacAllister’s voice.
Williams looked at his watch to check the date. Only two more days before he would
have to report to Washington. “Well in any case, I got orders from the upper office: we
wrap up what we know about them and present a report in a few days. I suggest that we
start with an estimate of the number of craft that are behind these events and their
possible intentions, whatever they might be. Parker, want do the honors?”
December 11th, 1998

Geneva, Switzerland
The Russian President was furious. A week had pasted over the attack on Siberia and the
reports from military commands all over the Federation kept mentioning the presence of
unidentified craft. In all the cases interceptors were sent to deal with the intruders and the
air defense systems were on full alert, ready for action. But every attempt made at
intercepting the craft had blatantly failed, because of their agility and speed. Nuclear
forces were being kept around the clock in full alert, but there wasn’t any target available
32
and blasting pieces of the country into atomic oblivion just to get some planes, or
spaceships or whatever they were would be a waste. “So Marshal Boganovitch, you are
telling me that our armed forces are incapable of defending the Motherland?”
The high-ranking officer responsible for the Russian Federation’s armed forces was very
uncomfortable. “Yes sir. We simply don’t have the technological resources to match
those of the intruders. And even if we had the resources of the Soviet Union the results
would be the same”.
Piotr Larianov looked at the uneaten part of his breakfast. He wasn’t hungry anymore,
stopping when he got the full measure of the crisis. “Suggestions to prevent further
attacks then, Marshal. There simply has to be something we could do”.
“Sir, to give you an example, our MiG-31 fighters are one of the fastest in the world, not
even considering that the previous model, the MiG-25, is even faster. However, both of
them move like snails, compared to the speed of the craft we encounter. We have
recorded speeds of plus Mach Six with these invaders. That even beats our fastest surface
to air missiles. The same applies with the MiG-29 and Sukhoi-35 fighters. They are some
of the most agile in the world but they don’t match the enemy’s capabilities”.
“We can’t intercept them? How about reacting to further attacks on military
installations?”
“Either these forces strike bases right next to available reaction forces or the problem is
that by the time we get there the attackers are gone. I deployed a full airborne rifle
battalion to assist the Siberian outpost, but by the time they got there the enemy had
already departed. I’m sorry sir, but the Motherland is a big country”.
“I see”. Larianov lowered his head in frustration.
“But I would like your permission to implement the Skyranger program sir. We might get
enough time to react that way”.
“The what?” At least was something positive, Larianov thought. ”Skyranger program. Do
you remember the Yak-141 Freestyle program sir?”
Searching through his mind he remembered something about that plane. “Didn’t we
cancel it some years ago?”
“Yes sir. It was originally developed during the communist regime and was a supersonic
fighter with vertical take-off capabilities. But although the program was abandoned, the
Yakolev manufacturers continued to develop and implement the VTOL technology. A
couple of years ago they presented the Yak-155 model, called the Skyranger, as a parallel
to the American Osprey Vertical Take-Off and Landing transport program, only that is
much faster than its American counterpart.”
”I see, and what do you propose then Marshal?”
“In spite of heavy government cuts they have continued to develop the program even
with scarce private funding. They have some prototypes in flying condition. I suggest we
give the plane top priority and deploy it as fast as possible”.
33
“And how would we use it?” Maybe Boganovitch wasn’t as useless as he sounded. “To
transport Spetsnaz elite commandos to react to further attacks. With the Skyranger it
might be possible for them to get there on time”.
“Your plan has merit Marshal. Well done. You are hereby ordered to implement it as fast
as possible, using all resources available”.
“Thank you sir. And may I propose something else?”
“What?” All of the sudden the Marshal was starting to perform his job, Larianov thought.
“The Anti Ballistic Missiles deployed around Moskva. I believe we should re-equip them
for anti-satellite use. It would give us a weapon in case these invaders are truly not from
Earth”
“And leave the capital defenseless?”
“It already is sir. If one of those craft decided to drop a hydrogen bomb today on Moskva,
the early warning we would get would be of the image of the nuclear blast on television”.
“I’m still not convinced Marshal. Make the necessary arrangements, but wait for my
command to perform the change”
“Right sir. And finally, I believe we should militarize the Mir space station”.
Boganovitch knew he was going a bit too far on that one, but he also believed it justified
what it would cost in political terms.
“And throw into the garbage the Non-Militarization of Space Agreement? Are you mad
Boganovitch?”
“Sir, Mir was designed also to have military functions as well. We do not need to deploy
spatial weapons into it right now, but we can man it with personnel and equipment to
extend our detection and intelligence capabilities”.
“You seem to have the arguments for everything, don’t you?”
“I’m paid to serve the country sir. We might be a shadow of our former might but we still
have some assets available. The General Staff and me spent all night analyzing what we
have through videoconference so that we could have some options. On your order we can
start the preparations to launch a Soyuz capsule carrying personnel in a few weeks. Later
we will send a Progress rocket with the necessary equipment as soon as we prepare it for
zero-gravity environment”.
He actually had liked the military man’s attitude at the end. “Well done. Now go and
have some rest. There’s a lot that still needs to be decided and that might be the toughest
fight of all so far”.
NORAD Headquarters, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States

The underground command facility responsible for the defense of North America had
been on Defcon Two alert for months, in full preparation for war. General Bigelow, the
commanding officer of NORAD, looked at the window of his office to the Board that was
the heart of the Air Defense Center. A large image of the CONUS, or Continental United
States was being displayed in a full three-dimensional mode. Another “fast mover” had
34
been tracked, entering the American Air Defense Zone some 100 miles north of San
Francisco, flying 30 thousand feet over the Pacific at Mach Six. He looked at his desk
and saw the amount of reports from this month alone. The pile already seemed to be of
the same height as that of November, with two weeks still left until New Year’s Eve.
Bigelow felt extremely tired like the rest of the men he commanded.
On the floor a systems operator had just ordered a flight of F-16 Air National Guard
fighters to intercept the intruder. Again the same drama unfolded: the planes just weren’t
fast enough or didn’t have the enough fuel to catch up with the intruder. Other airbases
went into full alert along the predicted path of the fast mover. Bigelow started wondering
what was the point using the same worthless tactics over and over.
Area 51, Nevada, United States

Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Harris finished his pre-flight preparations and grabbed his
helmet. It wasn’t a regular helmet. In fact it looked more like one that might be used by
astronauts rather than a jet pilot. But he was used to them. Having flown the SR-71
Blackbird reconnaissance bird for more than a decade he knew the necessity of wearing
the bulky flight equipment necessary for flying a plane at tremendous heights and speeds.
And, after the retirement of the SR-71 in the 1989 he continued flying the same way as
before.
Only now his ride was a different one. When plans were announced for the dismissal of
the Blackbird, Harris was readying himself to work as a test pilot for NASA or some
technical department. That thought quickly disappeared when some of the top brass asked
him if he would be interested in participating in some special project under top security.
He knew what it meant: not being able to talk about it with anyone and being posted to a
location lost in the middle of nowhere. But he jumped right at it after two seconds of
thought and had never regretted it.
The plane Harris now flew was responsible for some of the Earth shakes felt by Southern
California citizens in the last years. It was still a “black” project, officially denied by the
government but that was operative for some years now.
It was called the Aurora and it looked more like a machine straight out of Buck Rogers
than a plane.
Its short wings stretched back and connected with its twin tails, making it look like a
stretched triangle when looked at from above. And there was no “bubble” canopy for the
pilot. From the nose to the tail the fuselage made an ellipse where the pilot and the rear
electronics officer where located together with the reconnaissance equipment and the
huge fuel tanks. The intakes for the advanced ramjet engines where situated on the belly
of the plane. The reason for that was that the plane needed to spread the air over the
entire length of its body in order to be able to reach Mach 6 speeds. The aero-
thermodynamic ducts, or ramjets, located there used the whole underside of the plane to
compress the air before it went to the engines. The engineers that built the Aurora also
realized that they would have to control the heat made by the friction with air of a craft
going over six times the speed of sound. The heat would have to be evenly distributed
over all parts of the craft and disposed of. Thus the liquid methane fuel used was heated
35
before it went to the engine and then the excess heat would be expelled through the
exhaust situated in the rear underside of the plane.
The Aurora was a technological marvel. It could cruise at speeds so far only reached by
test planes and for short periods of time. Although it only had limited stealth abilities, its
strength wasn’t deception but speed. It would be extremely difficult for a surface to air
missile or an interceptor to reach a plane that moved miles per second.
The mission scheduled for tonight was extremely different from what the plane had been
developed for though. Harris hardly believed it when he was briefed some hours later. As
the General had put it: “it’s hard to believe Colonel, but we need to get some information
on the abilities of those machines up in the air. And there might be some danger involved.
We don’t know how they will react to the Aurora’s presence”. At the same time it was a
challenge that Harris knew would take him to the extreme. And that’s why he accepted it.
The plane was already on the tarmac, fully equipped, hardly illuminated in the middle of
the black night. Some hours before technicians had equipped its cargo bay with
reconnaissance and electronic surveillance equipment. Harris looked at the sight and
smiled. Tonight we are going for a wild ride baby.
Air Force One, Military Airbase outside Geneva, Switzerland

The Air Force One was the name of the Boeing 747 specially modified to transport the
US President. It also allowed the Commander in Chief of the American military to direct
a nuclear war from there, due to the communications and electronic equipment it carried.
President Winston had decided to spend the night at the plane, declining the use of the
facilities provided by the Swiss government.
Not that the comfort of his room on the 747 was better though. Operation Hawk had been
authorized some months ago. Although the date set would put it in the middle of the
conference, the Go order was given in order for its results to be used in the conference.
And in the early dawn the American leadership was up, cramming themselves into the
communications room of the airplane.
“Mr. President, the Aurora is ready on the runway. We are already informing NORAD of
the mission profile. Pretty soon they will have a target for the Aurora.” The image of the
Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff flickered on the computer screen for a second.
“Very well General. Gentlemen, further recommendations?” The Secretary of Defense
and the DCI shook their heads.
“Let’s get this show running then. Execute Operation Hawk when ready”.
“Yes sir. Transferring command to Cheyenne Mountain this minute”.
“God’s speed, General”. President Winston turned to the Defense Secretary. “Are we on
communication with our allies?” He looked at one of the Air Force officers who nodded
to him before replying. “Yes sir, we are informing them of every step we take”.
“Good, Mark, what’s the status of my National Security Adviser?”
“Candace is doing great sir. I just talked to her on the secure line. The tumor removal
operation was successful and she’s constantly arguing with the hospital staff to let her go
36
to her work”. The DCI frowned: “Unfortunately it will take a few more weeks for her to
even be able to leave the hospital”.
“Keep her informed about things”. The DCI then looked at another officer. “Yes sir”.
Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States

Deep inside the mountain General Bigelow smiled when he read his new orders signed by
the President. Tonight things would work out a little different, he considered as he called
the communications officer and informed him of how things would go tonight.
He looked at the Board. The fast mover had taken a southeasterly route after reaching
land and reducing speed to Mach 3. Still too fast for the F-16 interceptors, but now he
had an ace up his sleeve. “Notify the Nest. Tell them to release the Hawk and give him an
approach vector to the fast mover”.
“Yes sir.” The communications officer also smiled. Tonight things would be different.

Lt. Colonel Andrew Harris got his final instructions from the tower and pushed the
throttle lever to full and nearly 80,000 pounds of aircraft and fuel started to move down
the runway. After take-off he quickly reached the altitude of angels twelve, or twelve
thousand feet. Then he engaged the afterburner and the Aurora started going hypersonic.
Usually aircraft would be forbidden to reach that speeds at such a low altitude over land,
but tonight three air traffic corridors had been cleared by NORAD just for Operation
Hawk. The passengers would just have to take a few more hours to get to their
destination, Harris thought and smiled at the excuse the airports would making up for the
delay. Looking down his display unit, filled with information being beamed directly to
his craft from NORAD, he saw that the target was 500 miles away, only some minutes
away from him.
Air Force One, Geneva, Switzerland

“Sir, I got word from NORAD. The Hawk is hunting.” The JCS couldn’t hide his
satisfaction as he reported to President Winston.
“Good. Keep the reports coming General, I want to be informed about everything in the
minute. If there’s even the slightest possibility of danger tell the pilot to back off, is that
understood?”
“Fully, sir”

The whole floor of Strategic Air Defense became mesmerized when the icon for Hawk
appeared on the Board heading out towards the fast mover. Usually, the operator that
picked up an Aurora on the radar had orders to dismiss it and not even make it visualize
on the board, due to its classified nature. But tonight things were different and everyone
had their eyes on the screen. “Hawk is approaching target sir, range 47 miles”.
37
“Tell Hawk to make a pass about one mile in front of the target. And for his rear
electronics officer to start preparing his equipment”.
Northern California, United States

Harris slowly moved the plane to the direction plotted on his Head’s Up Display. The
computer had the mission parameters and was relaying him of the course that he should
take. He keyed his mike. “John, how are we doing back there?”
The voice of the officer on the back cabin that operated the Aurora’s reconnaissance
equipment replied on his headphones. “Great Andy. I think I’m gonna puke again, the
way you are pushing this beast”. The velocity at which they were moving made for some
hard pressures on the human body and John was always complaining about it. .
“Stop horsing around like the beast you just mentioned. Is the equipment set?”
“Yup. As of some dozen miles ago we started picking up the bogey on the IR camera and
the data is being transmitted back to base. Just get us a little closer for the other sensors
and our job will be done”.

“Mr. President we are starting to receive data from Hawk. Range to target is thirty miles”.
The tension inside the 747 was rising as reports kept increasing coming from NORAD
kept increasing. “All right, General”

Twenty more miles to target, Harris thought. Although it was a black night out there, he
had his night vision goggles on and was looking at the target’s direction, every now and
then checking his instruments. He had managed to place himself on the fast mover’s six
and was closing the distance.

”Hmm, Sir”. The voice of the controller showed surprise and shock. “Target is changing
speed and decelerating fast”. The excited comment made Bigelow head for one of the
consoles. Staring at the monitor he tried to understand what was happening.
“What? What’s the target’s speed right now?”
“Well, radar shows it has dropped speed to zero sir!” As the Air Force technician looked
at Bigelow he saw him shaking his head in disbelief. “From Mach three to zero in a few
seconds? That’s impossible!”
“Sir, at that speed the Hawk will intercept it in ten seconds. Also he will come in much
closer to the target”. Another technician warned from another station.
“Notify the Hawk immediately!”
38
Harris suddenly saw the UFO through his night vision goggles as the plane pursued its
target. First it was only a spot in the night sky that quickly become larger.
Then he realized that something was wrong: the target wasn’t supposed to be in that
quadrant of his vision and he had kept to the route being relayed to him by NORAD.
A quick check on the radar confirmed told him what John was starting to warn over the
intercom. He checked his instruments again, as he refused to believe that the UFO had
literally stopped in the sky since its speed was zero and it was hovering.
By the time he thought of reacting a blue flash of light had already swept over the plane.
The NORAD warning came a few seconds later but Hawk wasn’t there anymore to
receive it.

The eyes of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff suddenly went wide as he held a
phone to his ear. A second later he simply said. “Mr. President we lost contact with
Hawk!”
Winston couldn’t believe the words. “What? What do you mean?”
“The Hawk dropped off our radars and we don’t have radio communication anymore.
Also, its data link has been severed”.
“Just what on Earth happened?”
“I don’t know sir. The target simply ceased it’s speed to zero and seconds later we lost
contact with our plane”.
“Is the UFO still being picked up by our radars?”
“Yes, it has regained it’s original speed and is heading towards the Midwest”.
“Keep tracking the UFO and start finding out what happened to our plane and men,
General”.
“Yes sir”. Winston turned to his advisers. “Mark, Edward, what do you think it has just
happened?”
“Until we retrieve what’s left of the bird and analyze the data sent, it’s too early to say
Mr. President, but I believe the Russians are right: their intentions are clearly hostile”
responded the DCI. “Well, that’s agreed for sure. Suggestions?”
“We should be talking to the whole Cabinet, sir. We already have to take measures to
deal with a situation that is akin to being in war. The press is already making noise about
it and while we can for the time being say that we are investigating it, we can also
attribute it to some internal or external threat. That is, to say it’s an earthly threat, sir. But,
eventually we will have to inform the Congress and the public. There’s already talk
amongst congressmen about forming a joint Committee to investigate this matter”
“Ask for my Chief of Staff to arrange a meeting with both House and Senate majority and
minority leaders as soon as we get back. Is the Vice-President also informed?”
39
“Yes sir. He’s been receiving reports ever since we got here for the meeting”.
“Good. Edward, raise the level of all of our armed forces to Defcon Two and inform the
Russians, Chinese and our allies of our decision and the reasons behind it. While me and
Mark go back to the meeting I want you to convene with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and
start thinking of ways of dealing with this threat more effectively using the information
gathered by the Hawk.”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
“Where’s the State Secretary?” Winston had assigned him to keep a permanent contact
with the other leaders during the conference. “Still having breakfast with the Japanese
delegation”.
“Get a full report to him and tell him to join me when I arrive back at the conference
building. Also, get all of this information available to the General Secretary of the UN
and the other delegations beside our allies”.
Although Mark Casper was a reasonable man his long years in the CIA and the habits
picked on immediately reacted: “Sir, we will be revealing some of our defense abilities
and a top secret military program if we do that ”.
“I know Mark, but at this time we have no choice. Either we get everyone working
together or we will all fall to the forces that were behind what happened this dawn”.

The first team to arrive at the wreckage site was a Blue Beret Air Force security team,
flown out of Nellis in an MV-22 Osprey VTOL aircraft. The flight took some hours to
reach its destination, but the pilot had been given precise information on the area when
the crash had occurred. After a quick search they soon spotted smoke rising in the air
from the ground and the plane quickly flew into its direction.
It was a good thing that the crash had happened over mostly uninhabited country, the
captain in charge of the team was thinking. At least we won’t have problems with
civilians popping around and seeing what they shouldn’t. The plane landed nearby the
wreckage that was still burning. They started forming a perimeter around the remains and
waited for the recovery teams to arrive.
Geneva, Switzerland
The mood in the meeting room had turned very somber after all the delegations saw the
radar, infrared and visual images of the attack of the UFO on the Aurora again. The
Secretary General of the UN took the floor afterwards. Apparently Bomaka had more
taken courage from the video to express his opinions on the subject. “Are there anymore
doubts? We need to combine the world’s efforts to deal with this threat. The Russians
were struck without a chance to react; the Americans used the best of their technology
and were also swept away by these forces. There isn’t any nation that can face them
alone”.
“Mr. Secretary, I think the rest of us stand convinced of your words after what we just
saw. I’ve just convened with the rest of my government and Japan is ready to place its
40
armed forces under UN control to deal with this threat”. Looks of surprise turned to the
Japanese Prime-Minister. “We urge all the other nations to do the same”
“And under whose command I might ask? The UN? They are just a bunch of diplomats!
You must be crazy” shouted the deputy of the Chinese Chairman. “We will not place our
forces under UN control, since that would be placing them under American command for
sure. You have all seen what the American actions have taken us for. Who knows if they
didn’t just forger this incident and had attacked the Siberian outpost just to make us take
that decision!”
Winston thought of himself as a patient, but yet determined man, when the circumstances
demanded it. But right now he could only think of throwing some punches at the Chinese
deputy, which had just sat again under the approvingly, yet subtle, look of the Chairman.
But the Indian Prime-Minister stepped in first. “After all I’ve seen in the past months and
now this, I can only think that this could not be work of man. But I must say, and I feel I
speak for others in this room, that the American action of this morning was rash and
precipitated. Who knows if the aliens didn’t understand it as an act of aggression on our
part and their actions were just self-defense? Therefore I also support the Chinese
restrictions against placing my armed forces under UN or US control.”
“If I might address the conference, Mr Secretary”. A man in the center of the French
delegation rose to his feet at the hopeless look of Bomaka. “Please, President Latour”.
“Last night the seven nations that belong to the defensive alliance called NATO, that are
here present, had a meeting and decided upon a number of things. We first thought of
calling our defense agreements to form a force capable of facing this out of this world
threat but we decided that this shouldn’t be simply NATO formed. The question of
American leadership was also mentioned on that reunion and we couldn’t reach a
consensus about it then. After much thought last night, which I suppose all the
delegations did since we all look very tired,” A number of grins formed at the ends of
several mouths of the officers present in the conference. “I believe our delegation came
up with a solution”.
“And what do you propose then Mr. President?”
“In spite of what the Indian and Chinese delegations said, my country believes that the
UN should be the rallying place for our efforts. Firstly it will give our forces a sense of
union, and it will also show to the public, when they are informed of our work here, that
we are doing something together about it. We can divide it into regional commands, each
responsible for a world area and each country will be required to contribute with troops
and equipment. But control should remain under the hands of a UN Commander in Chief,
although the organization can request assistance from national military forces and vice-
versa. The countries involved can judge its work by the funding they provide. The more
satisfactory results, the more money the force will get from each country”. He paused for
a minute to let the other delegations to consider the idea before continuing. “However, we
must name leaders for that covert force that will be both consensual and satisfactory for
the mission, which will involve coordinating the military and research efforts into this
threat”.
41
Bomaka nodded, clearly impressed. “To be talking so convincing I take it that you
already have the names for both, Mr. Latour.”
“Yes I do, Mr. Secretary, although they are only possibilities at this moment and others
can be discussed. For military command of the operation, I propose Lieutenant-General
Dmitri S. Illyuschenko of the Russian Federation’s Armed Forces”.
A silence descended into the room for a second. “A Russian ?!?” Several voices
exclaimed at the same time. Piotr Larianov looked puzzled at the French President, not
knowing how this stroke of luck had come for him.
“I’m sure that you will all verify later his credentials with your own intelligence services,
but I will present a brief profile of him and I asked the Russian delegation to correct me if
I make any mistakes”. Latour then started speaking.

The American delegation had used a break during the conference to get back to the plane
and discuss the new situation. “Well those sneaky French really did their homework, that
I can say. And we didn’t have a clue that they were also acting towards it”. Casper was
simply appalled at their boldness.
“Get to the point Mark. The conference is convening again later in the afternoon to vote
on this subject and I need all the information I can get before I make a decision”.
“For starters they picked a Russian. And he’s quite a leftover from the former communist
regime. That will surely please both the Chinese and also the Indians, since some of their
military know quite well the man since he has liaisoned with them. For us it presents us a
dilemma: if we go against him we will be accused of thinking only of ourselves as in
trying to impose our views all over the others. And, while a lot of countries would follow
our lead, France and probably some other NATO members would bail out which means
the Alliance would be broken, at least in spirit”. It made sense although he still did not
like it. “I’m still listening”.
“On the other hand” the Secretary of Defense picked up, “this guy is a tough bastard,
from what Latour told us and the Pentagon confirmed. Presently he’s at the head of the
Russian Spetznaz forces. He has climbed through the ranks through hard work and is
seen as one of Russia’s, if not one of the world’s top strategic and tactical minds
regarding Special Forces”.
Casper continued. “Which, as we had seen before in the meeting with NATO, would be
the main focus of our defense actions, supported with aircraft and light vehicles and
supplemented with a scientific and technological staff. The reasons behind it are that we
need the best men around and also because it doesn’t involve large forces, which might
bring the media’s attention and alarm the population. Finally it will make them harder to
detect by the enemy and the research and manufacturing efforts can be coordinated and
not be dependent of any country”.
“Exactly. No one gets too much control over this and Bomaka is the overseer of that”.
Winston wasn’t sure of Defense’s last conclusion. “But what about political control or
influence over the force? Isn’t there a risk?”
42
“I doubt it sir. This guy was one of the youngest officers to become general. He served in
Afghanistan and we suspect that in some liberation movements in Africa and Latin
America. He’s loyal to his duty and his troops. When the Soviet Union broke apart he
managed to keep most of the Spetznaz forces still active and well equipped, in contrast
with the rest of the Russian Armed Forces”. The DCI concluded his arguments. He had
already been convinced that it was the only possible solution.
“I second the Mark’s opinion, sir”. The Secretary of Defense also nodded in resignation.
“Congress will skin me alive for this you know?”
“Not really sir. Our participation on this is voluntary. We can always step out of the
project when we want, as the French proposal states. And whatever information this force
gathers will be distributed to all the countries involved. And US troops assigned to it and
our regional command will have an American general in front of them for sure”.
“And how do I deal with Congress then?”
”We will just ask them how they would like to be replaced in their seats at the Capitol
Building by aliens”. Winston nearly laughed if not for the gravity of the situation.
“What?”
“If the progression of their activities increases at rate we are seeing, this will come out to
public opinion, sooner or later sir. And by then we could expect more serious incidents if
not….total war. We will need to rally our people behind a cause by then and it could
verywell be this new force. And if they fail, then we fail.” The President looked hard at
his DCI’s words. After all he was paid not only for spying but to give the best advice
possible to him before he took any national security decisions. And his subordinate’s
words were getting to him.
Geneva, Switzerland
Most of the French plan was accepted right away in the afternoon by all of the countries,
leaving only the small details to be adjusted in the debates that followed. When overall
consensus was found, the General Secretary and his staff were chosen to write the final
document that would be signed by the signatory nations, defining the future combat
force.
Its prologue stated the following:
“On the day of the 11th of December, 1999 of the Christian calendar, We, Sovereign
States of the Planet Earth, therefore compromise ourselves to investigating and
responding to the extra-terrestrial threat to our planet under the guidance of the
Organization of the United Nations and with the goal of achieving human survival and
advancement. For that, we shall contribute to create a force for this purpose called the
Extraterrestrial Combat Unit, or X-Com, to be placed under United Nations command to
defend us all”.
When the delegations dispersed and proceeded to return to their respective countries, the
deputy approached the Chinese Chairman.
“Forgive me Comrade Chairman, but that wasn’t logical. I seek guidance”.
43
“You question my orders?”
“Yes, Comrade Chairman. Because of my duty to the PCC and to you, if you want me to
keep giving you worthy advice, I would like to know that you have not gone mad”.
“Very well. Tit is your right to ask and to learn”. Although not too much, he considered
in private. “The French won the upper hand when they presented that proposal. They
knew that neither us or the Americans or the Indians couldn’t refuse for the sake of losing
face and being seen as individualistic, while the Russians must have become thrilled and
the Europeans were assured of some balance. The Japanese will also gain more control
overall without the Americans giving all the orders. The remaining nations also saw most
of it and decided that they also had to approve it, being afraid that they would be left
out”.
“But are we going to collaborate with this X-Com force?”
“Be patient. We soon will start working our way around them”. In a similar way, the
Russian President turned to his Chief of General Staff, grabbed softly his uniform jacket,
the medals biting at his fingers, but without paying attention to the pain and said:
“Order Colonel General Illyuschenko to fly and report to Moscow this instant! Also
activate all the defence plans we had discussed before and that where pending of my
authorization. Mobilize all available resources into them. And I want a full report for
tomorrow afternoon”.
“Yes, Mr. President”.
However, without anyone present at the conference knowing, a location in the Rocky
Mountains in the United States started transmitting several messages to individuals
around the world. Who soon received them and started complying with the orders that
they had received some days ago.
44
Chapter Two – Openings
December 13th, 1998
Russian Army Compound outside St. Petersburg, Russian Federation
Lieutenant-General Dmitri S. Illyuschenko realized that he was extremely drunk when
the rational part of his brain took notice of the cold and metallic taste of the pistol barrel
that was inside his mouth. With a sigh he slowly released the pressure his right hand
thumb was putting on the trigger and placed the weapon on the table in front of him, after
slowly securing the weapon. Not again, he thought looking at the written piece of paper
lying on the plastic top of the table in Kremlin stationary.
Turning his head to the left he came up with his reflection on the mirror inside the open
door of metal cabinet that hold his belongings, its surface revealing a white-haired figure
slumped in a chair and beneath his gray eyes he could start to see dark strains caused by
the lack of sleep. Although a scar marred his jawbone his face usually bellied his 56 years
since he had always kept a lean body and still could outrun any of his recruits in the
marathon. But without his self-confidence on his physical and martial skills little left now
remained inside him although on one on the base, or even on his life knew what stood
underneath it. Several particular ghosts had haunting him that night with one right next to
the letter on the table, a silver framed photograph of a blonde-haired woman smiling.
He had met Irina on southern Ukraine in 1967, freshly commissioned as a junior
lieutenant while his parachute unit was conducting airborne training on the countryside.
The farmers of the local kolkhoz were harvesting the fields nearby the training facility
and one night the officers of the battalion had been invited to a reception at the farming
community. On that late summer night he had been introduced to Irina, three years
younger than him and so delicate that she had been startled a number of times by his
somewhat exalted enthusiasm as both of them talked through the evening meal. But both
had felt in love by one another on that night and for the next weeks he had had to put up
with the jokes from the senior officers about the ‘enloved fool’ of their unit as they
completed their training. They married on his second leave after that, with Illyuschenko
finding out that it had been easier to jump off a plane at night than making the proposal to
her.
But Irina had died twelve years ago on St. Petersburg’s military hospital while he had
been serving in Afghanistan on the elite Spetznaz Special Forces after a coronary stroke.
Their few friends who attended the funeral told him later that it had been brief, with not
much attendance since both of them were single children and their parents had died on
the Great Patriotic War against Hitler. They never had any children since medical tests
had shown that Irina was sterile but until then they were happy. She’s gone.
He had been gone on a mission, leading a two-helicopter flight to conduct raids on the
mountainous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan in order to disrupt the supply
routes of the guerrilla movement that was fighting Soviet rule on the country at the order
of the American CIA. But their transport Mi-8 Hip helicopter had been hit by one of the
American Stinger portable anti-aircraft missiles that had become a large threat to Soviet
planes and helicopters, the same ones that he had been ordered to shut down their supply.
46
Ordering the other craft away for fearing that it might suffer the same fate if it tried to
rescue the survivors of the crash, Illyuschenko then led his unit back to Soviet lines until
they linked with an armored column sent to retrieve then. The crossing of the mountain
passes had been brutal with the guerrillas in hot pursuit of the small group of men that
had survived the attack but when he had finally returned to his base on the outskirts of
Kabul he had discovered that Irina had died. He had saved his men from death but he had
been unable to save her.
Images of a little village lost in the middle of mountains in Afghanistan that he had been
ordered to investigate for terrorist activity burned on his mind. And the bloody carnage
that occurred afterwards when one of his men overreacted to one of the villager’s actions
and started shooting. When he finally got his men under control the bodies of the
civilians were spread out on the main street and inside their houses, gunned down by the
precision of his elite team. He later saw that his safety on his assault rifle had been taken
off and his clip was empty but he couldn’t remember firing the weapon. It didn’t matter
at the moment as they continued conducting raids against all enemy forces on the border,
under secret High Command orders to raze the land. Now it matters?
The same memories that had taken over him again came back and he fought them off. It
must be of this of receiving the orders to report myself to the Kremlin later in the
morning. Who knows what I will be assigned now by High Command.
There was complete darkness in the base where the elite Spetznaz commandos were
housed. Almost no sound could be heard in spite of the war condition, which had been
ordered by the Russian President himself. But one special squad was always on full alert,
ready to deal with any further intrusions or attacks, although Illyuschenko knew that their
efforts would be worthless. Already they had tried numerous times to reach the craft
when they landed, but the speed and the distances involved had always worked against
them. And each time he felt more frustrated and feeling more helpless.
He never told anyone about his memories and nightmares. He knew that if the Army
knew about them he would probably be discharged for medical purposes. And he had a
very important job at hands, making sure that his elite teams were ready for anything and
that mistakes like that wouldn’t happen again. For more than a decade duty had been a
helpful medicine in keeping away the bad dreams. Duty would also have to suffice now
as he picked up the frame and placed it on the drawer of his bedside table, closing it
afterwards.
He looked at the watch upon the table and cursed, noticing that it was already three in the
morning. Looking down to the ground he found what he was looking for. An empty
bottle of vodka was on the concrete floor, still intact and right next to the table, where it
had fallen from his limp right hand. The dizziness as he tried to pick it reminded him
that he had also taken a couple of too much shots. He was used to sleeping few hours due
to his training and his duties, but as he got up and went to bed he knew that the hangover
would be a bitch. Sleep came almost instantly, but his dreams were still troubled.

In another location on Earth a man thought about the current events and how they would
affect it personally.
47
Number One’s position was very precarious and he knew it. He was nothing more than a
first among equals, on everyone’s perception of the leader. And while the choices for
replacing him were dim, this sort of event could just provide sufficient arguments to
convince the majority to take such an action.
The Group’s strict hierarchy was organized like a ladder. When someone was elected to
the first step, the former number One would be then demoted to number Two and so forth
with the remaining elements. Which meant that conquering leadership was a long,
arduous process. Number One’s last position was Seven and he had managed to convince
enough lower “steps” to give him their votes. Usually Number One would be elected
from the top “steps”, which had the closest chances of being elected. But the real factor
of the equation would be the “middle” steps: if someone below them got elected their
positions would go down. It would be real easy to get demoted due to someone’s
ambition, which through this way would be put in check.
The only other way of ascending, besides being elected to Number One would be through
the death of one of them. If Six died all the others below would ascend, with Seven
occupying its place. While that could have brought political assassination as a tool to
ascend, in this case it was different. The resources available to these men ensure that any
strange demise of one of its members would be investigated and if crime was behind the
cause of death the punishment would be swift. Death. Or something much worse.
Seniority and experience would play a big role on internal politics. And due to a precise
reason: the knowledge and means those men possessed made them more powerful than
most nations in the world. Patience and careful planning was essential for them to reach
their goals undetected by the remainder of society. Number One knew this was a crucial
time, the one they had been preparing for years. Although the timetable had been
advanced, they would have to be able to seize the initiative and take control over the
development of events in the future. He considered what he should do with a piece of
data his agents had just sent him: the recordings of the Hawk flight.
The Aurora was considered already obsolete, but he had been involved at some point
before with its conception and still remembered the pride he had felt years later when it
took its maiden flight. But his personal feelings were not relevant here. More important
would be the use that could be gotten from the data, especially if it found its way to the
media. The Group had already decided that mass upheaval and distrust on the
government would play a significant part in their plans. But not yet, he thought. When the
time came this particular chess piece would be placed on the board and perform his role.
The same was happening now with X-Com: it would give his friends something to worry
about for the next months.
The Pentagon, Washington D.C., United States

As Terry Williams passed the last and inner ring of the Pentagon he was feeling a bit
nervous. While he had been working for the CIA and the NIC for twenty years he had
never been to such a high-ranking meeting. He had dealt with Congressman, Committees
and Administration officers, occasionally with a Secretary, but never with the Joint
Chiefs of Staff or the whole Administration.
48
And now he was getting both and more. He was about to present his group’s report for
the top military and civilian leaders of the country and still felt unsure of what he was
going to say. At one point, during the early discussions, MacAllister had suggested, half-
jokingly, that we should greet the aliens as our saviors. After everyone expressed their
heated reactions about such a comment, he then added: “Since we are considering here
theories about ET that until now would classify anyone who believes in them as nuts,
why don’t think of all possibilities then?” That phrase had rung a bell into Williams’
mind, but he had no clue of what it meant.
It came also from the assignment. Until the last year his work had been related to
unconventional forces and future threats of the new millennium. When the whole ‘alien’
group was formed no one knew what they were supposed to do. He looked at a mirror as
his marine escort stopped by a checkpoint and presented his ID to the other soldier. He
exhaled in relief as he looked at the perfect knot on his blue tie made by his wife at his
request. His wavy dark blonde wasn’t that bad either.
Of course when news arrived to the team of the attack on Siberia and the incident with
the Hawk, most of the theories that they had discussed were discarded. They now knew
that they were dealing with some alien life form that would react aggressively when it
entered contact with humans. Which also posed a lot of terrifying questions about what
they were and, most importantly, what they wanted from Earth.
When he reached the War Room entry he paused for a minute and checked himself while
the military police checked again his identification. When the clearance was given he
proceeded into the heart of the US military.
Unbeknownst to him at about the same time that he was on his way to the War Room,
calls were being made to several military installations all over the United States, ordering
the listeners to present themselves to Pentagon.
Imperial Palace, Tokyo, Japan

Takashi Ishibari felt he was making the most extraordinary speech in his life. He was
presenting the reports elaborated by his Cabinet, Military Command and intelligence
service to the Emperor about the results of the summit and the overall situation. While he
had an almost ceremonial role in the society of Japan and had lost his figure as a divinity
after World War II, tradition still overwhelmed the Japanese Prime-Minister.
Kneeling in front of the seated Emperor they were both alone and standing inside a large
room with walls of white paper. The monarch was listening carefully to his words and
asking questions. “So, we can assume that their intentions are hostile?”
“Yes, Emperor. They apparently seek something out of Earth. We are speculating,
however, if their presence here is temporary or permanent, and if their appearances and
hostile actions are provoked by our attempts of interfering with them”.
“Meaning that if we do not try to get in their way they might reduce their activity?”
“That was considered by the conference but their appearances spread throughout known
history. Stories from ships in the sky were recorded by many cultures. Until now we had
seen such allegations as ridiculous and mad, but now it seems that we will have to
reconsider them. The past year‘s activity has no parallel with what had happened before.
49
This can only mean that they have a goal now and are acting towards it with every means
necessary”.
Nodding slightly he commented. “We must increase our actions then. You were right in
establishing the Kiryu-Kai”.
“Yes, your Highness. We now know that we can’t dismiss their real goal here and must
stop them, because they are invading and attacking our country to reach it. And the only
lead we have are the cattle mutilations and the abductions”.
“War again then”. The Emperor’s objections had been stated before to Ishibari about
engaging in offensive operations. “There seems no doubt about it, Emperor”. The sound
afterwards was the only response Ishibari got.
The man’s voice came slightly changed as the monarch changed the subject of the
conversation. “What else can you tell me? Who are they?”
“They are most likely from outside the Sun system, because there is no place to support
such an advanced civilization except Earth in our solar system and if it was possible we
would have detected it by now. Which means that they developed a way to travel
between stars, something that was considered almost impossible by the modern laws of
science until now. The time necessary for traveling with technology similar to ours would
have no purpose. About what they look like we might have some indications but no
ideas.”
“And their craft? Can we match them?”
“No, we do not have the technology so we will attempt to capture one and hope we can
understand its technological wonders.”
“And we have tried every possible means of communicating with them?”
“We are still trying, your Highness. They just refuse to respond”
“Very well. Japan shall then prepare for defending itself. You shall use every means
available to do this and report to me on a regular basis. And if the Emperor can do
anything else for his subjects please ask him”.
“Thank you very much your Highness”
“One last thing. When you have chosen the Japanese members of this team, inform me. I
have something I want to present them”.
Pentagon, Washington D.C.

The constellation of epaulets carrying stars in front of him made Williams think for a
minute about how now this had really turned into a stellar war. He was presenting his
report to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the body of military advisors to the President and
Secretary of Defense that was composed of the Chiefs of Staff of the Army, Air Force,
Chief of Naval Operations and Commander of the Marine Corps, along with the
Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the JCS.
The generals and admirals in front of all the US’ combat commands where also present,
along with the Secretaries of State, Interior, the National Security Advisor, who looked a
50
lot better than expected after being through a cancer removal operation, and the
President’s Scientific Advisor. Absent were the Vice-President and the leaders of both
parties of the House and Senate. The President, who now had just motioned Williams to
continue, would brief them later.
“Most likely the aliens have a profound knowledge of human constitution and behavior
by observing us for so long. They must also know our society and technological level
deeply. That is a major advantage over us, since we have no information about them,
their strengths and weaknesses.
They could have managed this using two ways: passively, by monitoring our
transmissions or other such methods than don’t involve direct physical contact with
humans, and the other one, the” Williams paused, uncomfortable with the words
“abductions and flyovers”. One disturbing possibility also exists that those actions might
also be psychological warfare on the aliens’ part, with them trying to disrupt our societies
through mass fear and hysteria”.
“How do you predict they will react with the occurrence of unexpected encounters with
humans?” The General in charge of the Special Operations Command, a special mixed
organization with elite units from the Army and Air Force asked Williams with a look
that gave him the impression that the man had his total attention focused on his words.
Actually they all looked like that, besides the President and the Cabinet members that
were already informed of all of the events.
“Aggressively, sir. After the Hawk incident we know this for sure. And the Siberian
attack can also be seen as a way of testing our forces”.
“But so far they haven’t really met us in combat?”
“Even the Japanese haven’t been successful in intercepting them but they were using
limited resources”.
“That might have a tactical advantage there if we can exploit it”. His comment made
Williams think for a minute before replying.
“Yes, if our technology permits us to strike at the aliens, using tactics on them, then they
most likely will be unprepared. They will be committing the classic mistake of
underestimating the enemy. But that could also mean that the conflict might escalate
several levels as we learn more about the aliens and use that knowledge against them”.
“By escalation, you mean that we or they might have to resort to mass destruction
weapons?” The Commander of the Strategic Command slipped a trace of concern
although he was performing his duty as the responsible for the nation’s nuclear weapons.
“That is a possibility sir. It depends on how the conflict will evolve and ultimately if the
means to victory for either side reside in the deployment of such weapons”.
“And do our nuclear weapons possess any capability against them?”
“Unknown sir. They most likely will know we have them and what is their potential, but
we can’t tell if their technological level could withstand such power”.
“How about their own strategic weapons?”
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“It would depend on how their technology progressed. They seem to have an advanced
knowledge of engineering, along with physics and chemistry. The incident with the Hawk
showed us that they have high-energy weapons and we can reasonably expect more
powerful weapons and applications of their concepts to hand-held equipment.”
“And do we have any advantage on them? Chemical or biological warfare for instance?”
“The question is if they evolved as much in other areas, like biology, computers, and
others. Can we expect that we have any field were we are equal or even more advanced?
That could also be an advantage over them that we can exploit”.
Another general addressed him, as the questions continued. “In what scenario would you
predict hostile encounters?”
“At every time we actively interact with them. Their activity is being reported all over the
planet, in every different landscape and day hour”.
“Including heavily populated environments?”
“I am afraid the answer is yes”. All of the generals shook their heads nervously. Urban
fighting was one of the most brutal, especially if the enemy was a superior force invading
your territory.
“And what are their objectives?”
“Undetermined. The parts removed from cattle don’t give us any clue if they are using
them for food or for some medical purpose. On the other hand the abductions,
experiments and disappearances indicate that they have some purpose for us besides
specimens for analysis. Their interest in us is not only scientific for analysis. The general
disappearances indicated that the missing are having some final destination, whatever that
might be”.
“Sons of bitches!” None of the assembled men looked at the general that said the heated
comment. They all realized what it could mean and anger was running wild in the room.
Although Williams had stopped feeling about what we was writing when he was
finishing the report and presenting it, he couldn’t hold it anymore behind a neutral voice.
“Yes”.
The President raised himself and walked to the stand where Williams had made his
presentation. “Very well, Mr. Williams. In spite of our almost complete lack of
information, your team managed to determine some very enlightening hypothesis about
them and their intentions that will make us think a lot. You are dismissed and keep up the
good work”.
“Thank you sir”. He moved away and went to sit by the DCI. The Secretary of Defense
got up and took his position behind the stand. “Well, gentlemen, that’s about all that we
know of the aliens so far. General Thompson, could you please present the plan for
dealing with them now?”
The Chairman of the JCS left his seat and joined him at the bench. “Yes, Mr. Secretary.
Basically, what came out of the conference was the creation of an elite strike and
investigation group that will be called the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit or X-COM. The
world has been divided into geographical commands, whose defense will be guaranteed
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by it’s own X-Com team. Unfortunately the composition of many of the teams will be
delayed, due to a lack of equipment and of funding for the bases necessary. While this
will be a multi-national effort, with the supreme command in the hands of General
Illyuschenko of the Russian armed forces, each area will have a reasonable degree of
autonomy.
In our case we have assigned Colonel Johnson, the executive officer of the Army’s 160th
Special Operations Aviation Regiment to lead the North American command. His group
of elite men and advanced planes will be responsible for an area of operations that will
extend initially from the Arctic to Patagonia. As you can imagine there are major
operational problems with such a mission, such as the distances that might be involved.
We are currently developing some answers to that, but until the Brazilians manage to
activate their own X-Com team to cover South America and we establish teams on each
coast, we will be severely handicapped”.
The admiral in command of the Navy asked: “From what it seems the team will
essentially be made up of aerial and ground forces. What role will the Navy and the rest
of the armed forces play in this conflict? Is X-Com to act independently of our chain of
command?”
“About that matter, the President has signed an Executive Order ordering all federal, state
and local agencies to cooperate with X-Com. We can request X-Com’s assistance if that
is necessary also. But to avoid questions of jurisdiction, each country will retain its
sovereignty. Which means that X-Com will still legally be a part of our armed forces, but
their overall command will belong to the UN, similar to the formula used in
peacekeeping missions before.
While we don’t have any control or responsibility over their activities, the North
American team will be led by a U.S. officer, which will guarantee some consideration for
our interests. With missions in other countries X-Com will have to require the
authorization of the local authorities before intervening, especially in the case of the non-
signatory nations of the agreement.”
“But what will be the means by which we will have to cede to X-Com?” The commander
of the Air Force didn’t like a bit to give away his most advanced aircraft.
“After a general assessment of each country’s capabilities we will basically form the
team out of the best men from several formations: Delta, Special Operations and Rangers
from the Army, SEALs from the Navy and Force Recon teams from the Marines. When it
comes to the craft we will put the F-22 fighter program into active status as soon as
possible, using the available pre-production aircraft.”
“All of them?” The general’s worse dreams had just turned into a reality.
“Yes and some will be leased to other X-Com teams”
“What? It is our most advanced fighter! We can’t just allow other nations to have access
to it”. The military men started moving nervously in their seats, also shocked at the
decision”.
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“General, like it was said before, this is a world effort. In here what is at stake is our
survival. And the Russians, Europeans and Japanese will also do the same as us with their
top-secret projects”
“We already lost one Aurora, sir. All means we have are crucial for the defense of the
US. We can’t just be Santa Claus and start giving away what we might need in the future
for our survival”.
“And we will not give everything, General. The Aurora and other black projects still
remain in our hands. While X-Com will coordinate a worldwide research effort, we will
also develop our own projects, based on what we have now and the data retrieved from
the aliens”.
“Sir, and what about our space based assets? How will they be used?” Space Command
didn’t want to be left out of the action, no matter how it could turn out.
“As of the moment undecided and as such they will retain a routine state of operations.”
“That’s irrational sir. Just because their ships have all those capabilities we should try to
keep the offense in space, just as we are going to do in the atmosphere and in land”.
“Mr. Williams, could you please answer that argument?”
“Yes sir” Williams got up, not too sure of what he would say. “Well, from our basic
premises that we’ve established about the aliens they will most definitely attack any
attempts that we make of interfering with their activities in space. In fact our satellite
network will surely be targeted when they start realizing their strategic value to us.
Which lead us to the fact that we should keep our assets pretty much on a low profile
status so as not to draw attention to them and also to be able to use them if an opportunity
presents itself”.
“Mr. Williams, does that apply also to Strategic Command?”
“No, general. My advice would be for the Strategic Forces to be placed into a high level
of alert, like we had done in the Cold War. If we ever need to use them in response to an
attack, every second will count.”
December 14th, 1999

Yakolev Aircraft Company test range, outside Moscow, Russian
Federation
The day after his briefing with President Larianov, Illyuschenko immediately went to
check the state of the Yak-141 program. The director of the now privatized bureau was
more than pleased to see him, and personally welcomed him to the research and
manufacturing complex when Illyuschenko got there. Such cooperation and friendliness
would be unusual back in the Soviet Union’s time, the leader of X-Com thought. But now
the Russian government and X-Com were putting large amounts of money into a nearly
bankrupt company, which made everyone that worked at it happy.
He was standing in the tower at the middle of the runway, holding a pair of binoculars
and watching a demonstration run of the Freestyle aircraft.
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“Where am I supposed to look at, Mr. Vassilev?”
“At the right end of the runway General. The craft will come from that side at almost
Mach 1 speed and 100 meters high, decelerate when it reaches the center of the runway
and then land vertically.”
Illyuschenko waited until he saw a spot in the air that rapidly increased in size. The plane
looked like some monstrosity, a fighter that had been drastically enlarged with the two
movable jet engines attached to his side. As it approached the center of the runway its
engines moved upwards until they locked into the vertical position. A few seconds later
the craft stopped its horizontal movement and just hung in the air, like a helicopter. Then
it slowly descended until it landed on the runway. “Impressive, Mr. Vassilev”
“Thank you sir.”
He kept looking at the craft as it completed its landing. “Does it have rough field
capacity?”
“Yes. It was developed taking into account Search and Rescue, Infiltration, Extraction
and Rapid Deployment missions, taking 14 fully equipped troops. Basically it can operate
as a helicopter and land on hard terrain.
“And what’s the availability of them?”
“Well, the one you are seeing right now is the demonstration craft, used to show its
capabilities to potential customers. It’s the only one which is operational at the moment,
but we have some half-completed models that can be quickly refitted and delivered.”
“Very well then. We will need all available craft that your company can manufacture.
How many crews do you have certified for operating the plane?”
“Only three”.
“Do they have any military experience?”
“All of them have served in the armed forces as helicopter pilots”.
“I will want to see their personal files and talk to them. We will also want to hire them
from you for training and operational purposes.”
The managers’ eyes went wide open. “All of them?”
“Yes and we might also be interested in some of your top engineers”
“General, those are the only assets this company has right now. It has been hell to keep
them working for us in the middle of all the financial troubles we have been
experiencing.”
“Mr. Vassilev, this is a very important project...” Illyuschenko had years of dealing with
such problems. “And I can assure you that funds won’t be much of a problem”. He made
a pause. “Or we could seize these assets claiming national security interests or even pay
those engineers better to get them working for us. But we want your cooperation.”
The manager quickly realized that he had no choice. “In that case General, my bureau is
at your entire disposal”.
55
December 15th, 1998
Forbidden City, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
One of Chairman Zhu’s first measures when he reached the top of the Communist Party‘s
leadership was to move the seat of the Chinese government back to the Forbidden City.
One of its sections had been completely equipped for the effect, while retaining the
ancient look. Some voices were critical; especially noisy had been the faction of the Party
that still fully believed in Marxism, claiming that the Forbidden City was a symbol of
oppression. But Zhu had a different view on the subject and on Marxism, like his
predecessor did when he took measures to open the economy. In spite of decades of
communist indoctrination, all of the Chinese cultural heritage couldn’t be just negated.
The same about China’s role in the world. More important than the implementation of
world socialism, the Chairman thought, was assuring China’s survival and predominance
over the other nations of the planet.
Already there had been a failure before, when the incidents with Taiwan failed to provide
the motive to invade the rebel island. The intervention of the Americans had made his
government stop the plan, since international opinion had rallied over the cause of
Taiwan and threatened to make his country isolated. Not only that, but the threat of the
damn American forces that had massed in Japan and in the Yellow Sea would render a
military operation almost impossible. China didn’t have the power to openly defy the US
yet, but that would change with this alien threat. Attention worldwide would be focused
on other events.
He had committed, in paper, to supporting the X-Com with a Chinese team of its own. At
the moment he had claimed that he didn’t have enough resources for equipping such
force, so he would contribute to the Japanese one. While his deputy had protested about
it, he knew that the rewards would more than justify it. Not only would his country have
access to vital information, but they would also gain knowledge of the aliens‘ and X-
Com’s tactics and composition.
But what about the aliens themselves? How could he assure the survival of his country
against such a superior force? He walked to the doors that led to the courtyard and
surveyed the night sky. A flicker of light moving against the stars caught his attention and
as he contemplated it for some time a thought crossed his mind. Yes, we may just be able
to use them also.
December 23rd, 1998

Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, US
Harris woke up on his hospital bed and grabbed the mirror that was resting on the table to
his left. He checked again the scars made by the liquid methane’s coolness on his face.
The doctors had told him that he had been extremely lucky because the night vision
goggles and his breathing apparatus had prevented the burning of both his eyes and nose
by the spillage of liquid fuel that occurred after his craft was split in two by the UFO’s
beam. When the ray struck the Aurora it hit the rear cabin, where his rear electronics
officer sat. Major John Cleaver probably never knew what hit him since he died instantly,
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his body disintegrated by the power of the beam, along with the mid section of the craft.
Harris had turned his head at that moment, after feeling some intense heat on his back, to
assess the damage and check for the status of his flight partner. But the compressed high-
pressure liquid fuel had been released by the hit and flew in to occupy the free space in
front of him.
He only saw the air for a second instead of his partner. And an intense burning on his
face afterwards that almost drove him insane while he was descending with his parachute.
It continued as the Blue Berets found him. They immediately called for medical attention.
If he had been flying as high as the craft could go he would be with his faceplate down
and probably nothing of the burned flesh would be there. But the mission called for a low
altitude approach and visual reconnaissance also. No, you did what you had to do, he said
to himself.
A knock on the door distracted him from his thoughts and he put the mirror down. After a
second an Army Colonel stepped into the room and removed his cap. His nametag read
E. Johnson and he was carrying a full range of decorations, including parachute wings.
Harris began by throwing a salute, but the higher-ranking officer waved him off.
“That can wait until you are fully recovered Colonel. Right now this is more of a…., let’s
just say, of an unofficial matter that I’ve come here to discuss with you”.
“Very well sir. What can I do for you?”
“I am fully briefed on your flight and its tragic results. I also bring a message from the
President saying that he regrets the death of your flight companion”
“Thank you sir”. Harris didn’t feel anything when hearing those words. “Anything else?”
“Yes, Harris. Right now we are mounting an operation to deal with this, let’s say, hostile
threat to our country. It’s completely outside our armed forces structure and it will be an
elite thing”.
“What does it have to do with me sir?” Suddenly his heart race and he knew what he
wanted.
“Well, I’m in charge of the US part of it and we will be needing good pilots to fly some
of the most advanced planes we got”.
“Count me in”. His response came automatically.
The Colonel kept his neutral pose. “I haven’t invited you yet Harris”.
“Sir, if you came here, the only reason for that is wanting me in that force. I have flown
the Aurora for years and have one of the highest security clearances in this country. I also
have an idea of what those craft are capable of and how we might develop tactics to
counter them. And while my combat abilities haven’t been practiced for years I can
quickly pick them up”.
“There are more things here at stake than revenge, Harris”.
“Yes sir, there’s a mission to accomplish. And to fulfill it I will use all the means I have.
Including the motivation of revenge”. It seemed to Harris that his last sentence finally
seemed to get to the Colonel who changed the subject of the conversation.
57
About half an hour later Colonel Johnson stepped off the hospital building and boarded a
Humvee jeep that was waiting for him in the parking lot. The vehicle then headed off to
the base gate and took the road to Area 51.
When the jeep reached the secret complex a locked steel mesh gate first greeted it with no
guards at it. Johnson stepped out of the jeep and produced an identity card that he showed
to one of the video cameras mounted on the poles of the gate. A few miles later they
reached another checkpoint, this time manned by fully armed Blue Berets Air Force
security teams. They signaled Johnson to step out of the Humvee and after he complied
with their orders the driver of the jeep moved out of his seat, unloaded Johnson’s luggage
from the trunk and threw a nervous salute, under the eyes of the security troopers who
here holding their arms. Johnson’s replied similarly and he then went back to his seat,
engaged the engine and headed back to Nellis. After rechecking his identity again, using
a hand held scanner to certify for the card’s authenticity and searching his luggage bag,
he then boarded another vehicle and headed to the main complex.
The commanding general of Area 51 was waiting for him at the front door of a two level
building made of gray concrete. He had been informed of Johnson’s arrival ever since the
first checkpoint and his apprehension had been growing since then.
Johnson stepped out of the Humvee and saluted him. He answered it and, without
bothering to hide his hostility, said: “Welcome to Area 51, Colonel Johnson”.
“Thank you sir. I’m honored to be here”. He had finally made it to the base after a frantic
week during which he had flown nearly everyday from one place to another. First to
Washington where he had been briefed on the aliens and was asked to command the first
US X-Com team. After he had accepted it, he had gone back to Tennessee to get his
personal belongings ready to be taken to Area 51, the most secret facility in the US that
was used to test advanced craft and technologies. He had arrived yesterday to Nellis Air
Force Base, a facility in the middle of the Nevada desert close to Las Vegas and also to
Area 51.
“Johnson, let’s go to my office to have a talk”. His voice made it clear that he wasn’t
pleased.
The General entered the building and started to pick his way through a maze of corridors,
passing through another series of security checks. The soldiers responsible didn’t even
bother to check the general’s identity card that he carried on his chest. They knew it was
best as to stay out of the base’s commanding officer‘s way when he was in such a mood,
no matter what the security rules are. Johnson tried to keep up with him, the troopers
stopping him in his case to check his clearance.
As he turned around a corner he saw the General waiting for a lift on the opposite end of
the corridor. He joined him and after some seconds followed the general as he entered the
lift. The ride to the upper floor was speechless. When they reached the top he followed
the base commander until he entered a door with a sign saying: General K. Smith. “Get in
and close the door Colonel Johnson”
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“Yes sir” As the lock of the door was sliding into the notch on the wall, Smith started
talking: “I don’t like you and your orders a bit”
“Sir?” The Chairman of the JCS had warned him that some military commanders had
expressed their reservations towards the project. He simply wasn’t expecting that the
officer in charge of the installation where his team would be based would also be one of
them.
“I know what they say. I also know about who signed them and why he did it. I also don’t
know almost anything about you. But this is my base and around you there’s an operation
of the highest security clearance that could ever exist with almost all of our country’s
secrets. And I want everything to be kept that way, including the secret part”.
At least the General seemed to be trying to protect his own turf, not actually dismissing
him completely. “Sir, this is one of the highest security operations ever also”. He said,
trying to inflate Smith’s ego.
“You are damn wrong about that. In a few hours a Russian plane will land here. I already
have foreign military officers here present. Who knows what hidden cameras or
recording equipment that plane might have? And how many of those officers aren’t
spies?”
Johnson realized that he had touched a sore point on his attempt. “They are commanders
of combat troops, sir. With positions similar to mine”.
“I don’t care about your position. You will have quarters and working facilities assigned
to you, your soldiers and the scientific and engineering personnel, although I don’t like it.
And I also don’t like to have some of my best scientists assigned to this. The same with
whatever base facilities are necessary. About the rest, you and your, what’s their name
again?”
“X-Com, sir”.
“X-Commie force will be strictly forbidden to enter them, especially that Russian and his
spy entourage. General base operations are still under my command, including security
and communications, understood? You might command this Commie force of yours, but
I’m in charge here”.
“Very well sir. I have just one question”. Johnson realized it was better to bring up the
issue right away to know what he could expect.
“Say it and be short”. Smith looked at him in annoyance.
“I can request more assets from this base if I decide so. What will happen then?”
“Yes you can, and most likely the President will authorize it, taking into account what
you have already gotten from me. Which means that my mood won’t get any better in the
future. And it isn’t getting now”.
Although his attitude was on the border of the unacceptable, Johnson decider to try to
smooth things out right now. “May I propose an agreement then?”
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The General’s heavy eyebrows came together but they moved back afterwards. “I’m not
totally unreasonable Colonel”.
“I shall consult you before I make such a requirement, sir”. He didn’t have to and the
General knew it but it was a gesture of good will. “Like you said, this is your base and
you have been running it for years. Your experience with this environment should be
quite remarkable and although I have some more than able personnel to deal with flight
operations, we could use your experience with planning such operations”.
“It will be taken into consideration. Dismissed”.
“Thank you sir”. Johnson smiled to himself when he left. Base generals were all the
same. If you manage to inflate their ego a bit they will be more than cooperative.
Later in the morning Johnson had noticed that the General required his presence at the
tower. He went through a series of corridors, his sense of orientation guiding him. After
taking a lift he walked into a room filled with sunlight that hurt his eyes. “Black ops
people can’t deal with the Sun, Colonel?”
“We can deal with everything sir”.
“Well, in any case, your commanding Commie officer is arriving in some minutes. I sure
hope you can deal with him”.
The Skyranger arrived after some minutes, with the pilot landing the craft the same way
as he did at the demonstration at the Yakolev test field. When Johnson and Smith went to
greet the passengers his hostility to strangers was back, but in a more discreet way,
Johnson thought. After the official welcome to Area 51, the General excused himself.
Johnson then led the group of men to the barracks occupied by X-Com.
Commander Illyuschenko had called for all the regional commanders for a meeting the
same day. Time was already running out and the proposed force was taking a lot of
scarce resources to arrange and deploy. The result was delays that did not fare good. UFO
activity was constantly increasing, as predicted. Pretty soon it could escalate into low-
intensity war, although no more aggressive encounters had been reported so far.
The dining room was full of military uniforms what were all distinct of one another, with
some exceptions. They were the leaders of the several X-Com teams that were being
assembled all over the world. The world had been divided into several geographical
commands: North America, South America, Europe, Russia, India, Far East, Africa and
Australia. Intelligence didn’t have an idea about the alien’s activities in the North and
South Pole and due to the almost inexistence of population those areas had not been
assigned with X-Com bases.
“Gentlemen,” Illyuschenko raised his glass “…to success”. All nine men drank and then
sat down again. Illyuschenko smashed his glass into one corner with the astonished looks
of all his officials and started talking.
“I’m afraid the good times are over for now, and hopefully for just some time. The days
we spend here will probably be the only ones where all of us will be together, since
operational constrains will limit your availability to leave your command. Nevertheless,
we have a mission to accomplish: to defend our planet from alien aggression. We are in
all of this together, gentlemen. The human race will require everything we got and more.
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And while they might have an advantage on equipment and a clear objective unknown to
us, we will have to surprise them and learn enough to defeat them. Your commands will
be pretty independent in day-to-day operations, while most of the strategic planning will
be done with me present. I will also be in charge of the scientific research and equipment
requirements of the bases. And finally I will be the connection between us and the several
nations and armed forces, through the Secretary General if necessary. Of course all of
you already have the authorizations and direct connections to your country’s leadership
so use them also, but inform me of such operations”.
A hand rose immediately. “Yes, Colonel Santos, want do you want to ask?” The
Brazilian officer raised himself. “What about intelligence sir?”
“Free to use the means available. In case of any need notify me stating your
requirements. Several countries have already put at our disposition manpower and
equipment. My command staff will centralize all the information and make it available to
all of you. Our facilities will all be linked through a computer system that will allow us to
share all data available”.
As the Brazilian officer sat, the Chinese liaison to the Japanese team got up. “General,
what about rules of engagement?”
“You have already received your orders defined by the political leadership of the UN,
major Chen”.
“But they mean pure aggression on our part. We won’t even offer the aliens the chance to
back down and surrender on our first engagement”. Johnson looked at Chen, who was the
lower officer present in the room, wondering what this was all about.
“We have all seen what they are capable of, Major. They attacked a plane without any
warning and destroyed it. If they really have any intentions of wanting to dialogue they
would have done it by now”.
“Sir, still my country strongly protests this course of action”.
“Major” Illuyschenko slowly brought himself up “I don’t care about what your country
thinks. In all my life as a soldier I learned that one thing that doesn’t work well with the
military is political interference. Here you are part of a military organization under my
command. If you feel morally obliged to refuse to participate in our operation you can
ask to be replaced your High Command. But while you are under my orders you will
follow by them and the rules of engagement established by all our countries. Is that
understood?”
Chen nodded in reluctance. “I didn’t hear you Major”.
“Yes,” he then added “sir” with disgust.
Looking around the officer to see if there were any further objections Illyuschenko found
none to his satisfaction. “Very well. We shall now go over the status of all the teams.
Colonel Johnson, from what I have understood your team is almost ready to initiate
operations?”
“Yes sir. We presently have two F-22 interceptor craft that are operational. For weapons
we are waiting for AIM-54 Phoenix missiles that have a range of almost 100 miles and
should give us the ability to shoot down a UFO before it has the ability to strike back
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with one of those ray guns. Pretty soon we will adapt our craft to them, but in the
meantime we will have to use the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile with a smaller range. To
pilot those craft we have already recruited some experienced crews”.
“And your ground team?”
“I have four squads of three men each available, drawn from the elite forces of all of my
country’s military. We are waiting for more men to arrive, with some also coming from
Canada and Brazil. To transport them I have an MV-22 Osprey aircraft available. If we
need to deploy them to places far away we will have to use standard military aircraft”.
“Not anymore Colonel”.
“Sir?” Those were important news to him.
“I got word from the Secretary General and my President. The Skyranger aircraft that I
have flown in is to be assigned to this area of operations, since your team is the most
advanced. While I would have preferred it to be with my own Spetznaz teams, the truth is
that your splendid preparations make it more logical to assign it to someone who could
use it straight away. When do you think you can start operations?”
Illyuschenko’s honesty made Johnson realize that he was going to like the man. And the
new aircraft would also be much appreciated. “At the beginning of the next year,
General. There really isn’t that much training that we need to do. These men are all
trained professionals and they know it. They just need to develop some team work.”
“Very well then. My country will also supply you briefly with other weapons, as soon as
I can get my military to give them off”.
December 26th, 1998

CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia, US
Something in all the intelligence estimates made by the team just didn’t work out right,
Williams thought. Looking at the papers spread over his desk he considered what it could
be, feeling that it might be something crucial. Again he went over the results of more than
50 years of work done on the subject by the US intelligence and military since the end of
World War II. Besides Blue Book there were all sorts of reports: NORAD detections that
extended over decades. A CIA study of the threat of UFOs to national security that was
discontinued after more than a decade of investigations because no danger was detected,
the whole affair being considered mass hallucination, misinterpretations and hoaxes.
Incidents over Air Force bases had also been ignored after the initial reports. Something
just wasn’t quite right in here, he thought. Human stupidity is known to affect everyone,
but in this case it just didn’t seem natural. In fact, it looked that if the aliens hadn’t
stepped up their activity the whole thing would still continue to be ignored. Until when?
The next Pearl Harbor? That gave a cold feeling to his stomach.
The analysis group had spent a portion of their last meeting trying to come up with some
answers for that lack of foresight. While it was decided to establish an investigation on
possible alien infiltration or influence, conducted under the FBI and the Defense
Investigation Service, the military agency responsible for counter-espionage, some things
just didn’t fit the puzzle. If the intelligence services had been compromised then it would
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be reasonable to expect an alien first strike before the Earth’s response was ready. Basic
military tactic: take your enemy when he’s unprepared. But their apparent inaction
towards the establishment of X-Com didn’t make any sense. Unless they saw it as
irrelevant, which brought a chill to Williams’ spine, since it could mean that all their
efforts would be worthless. Maybe the X-Com teams would be swept away without a
chance during their first engagements.
He went to the window and looked outside. Snow was starting to fall again, covering the
area around the CIA headquarters with a blanket of white. A blanket he thought, covering
all their activity until recently. But how?
December 27th, 1998

Toyota Test Field, Central Japan
The tanks moved rapidly through the middle of the grassy field, zigzagging as they
negotiated the somewhat hilly terrain on their way to a bunker some hundred feet away.
Suddenly one of them stopped, pointed its main weapon towards a trench located nearby
the hut and let loose a volley that opened a hole in the bunker with an armor piercing
round. Automatic fire came out of other sections of the trench targeting the tank
responsible, which stopped firing and drove to a small group of trees to get some cover
while the bullets were hitting the ground around it. The other tank meanwhile used the
distraction to position itself closer to the source of enemy fire. As it brought its massive
gun to lock on the trench, the fire suddenly started to redirect towards it. Too late. A
rocket flew out of the barrel, hitting the front of the trench and throwing tons of earth into
the air in an explosion that could be heard by the Japanese Prime-Minister in the control
room of the test field, located not too far from where the action was going. The other tank
moved up, meanwhile, and both of them annihilated the remaining opposition.
“That concludes the demonstration of the Type 107 tank, your excellency”
The Prime Minister looked at the commander of Japan’s Self-Defense Force. “Very well.
I never had military training, but it sure looks impressive”
“Thank the Toyota engineers and project designers. They are the ones who developed it
under our specifications”
“But I don’t understand one thing. From what I remember about tanks they are big,
massive weapons. Yet the ones deployed in this exercise seem to be small. How can that
be? And what about the pilot? He must be cramped inside that vehicle”
“There is no pilot, sir. These machines are automated, using the latest developments in
Artificial Intelligence. The computers on them will follow the orders of the ranking
officer in the scene like any ordinary trooper.”
Colonel Yamashita, the Japanese leader of the Far Eastern X-Com team asked in
disbelief: “You mean they can think?”
“Actually no. Well, it depends on the matter of what Intelligence is. They basically can
distinguish between a friend and a foe in their programming and act accordingly to
opposition if they are left into that mode. They are basically like big computers
developed to play chess, like Big Blue, the one that defeated Kasparov some years ago.
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But in their case the chess pieces are real, although they can’t go against a human order,
no matter how strategically unsound it might be”.
“I see, and why are they so small?” added the Prime Minister.
“Modern warfare. Nowadays the emphasis is on the ability to transport such weapons as
easily and quickly as possible without taking too much transportation effort. We had
planned on equipping our paratrooper brigade with these weapons. And the
miniaturization of our electronics industry allowed the tank to be so small, which is quite
an advantage. It also can be deployed to places where tanks normally would have severe
problems, such as mountains, forests and urban environments, because of its size and the
ability to deal with difficult terrain”
“I look forward into receiving such a machine in my command then General. We need to
study tactics to use these tanks”
“Unfortunately Colonel, that will take some months still.”
“What?” The PM looked in dismay “We need them as soon as possible!”
“What you have seen out there is just a demonstration, your excellency, with the tanks
being conducted by terminals far away. This project is away from being able to be
deployed. The engineers report that they need to iron out the bugs in the software, so that
the computer doesn’t decide to start destroying everything around them.”
“But why does it take that long?”
“A problem has risen recently. The design team lost our main software engineer in a car
accident, who was responsible for the initial software code. They are working feverously
to pick up his work, but it also means that they have to rethink a lot of the system since
they don’t have the general picture.”
“Tell them then to be quick General. For that is the will of the Emperor and the faith of
the Earth”. The manager bowed his head. “Hai!”
December 28th, 1998

Kremlin, Moscow, Russian Federation
Larianov thought for a minute that the whole world was against him. Not just the whole
world, he corrected himself, but also the aliens. How could he have made such a naïve
mistake? Could his ego have influenced his reasoning? What had he missed? The French
proposal had first presented itself as a marvelous opportunity for protection. A Russian in
front of the force that would protect the Motherland and the world. And an assurance that
Russia would have the best protection. What could have been better?
His doubts began to rise the next day when he flew back to Moscow and talked to
Illyuschenko, that unwilling, blind idiot! He seemed to think on the matter and shared
many of his impressions on the first occasion, but he quickly realized that he was wrong
about the man! Duty always! Duty that the Americans would have the first ready
command! Not Russia! And he even gives them one of our few resources! How much
time will have passed until they could defend themselves if this goes on like this? And his
requests to the military! The latest infantry cannons to be distributed all over the world!
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The best special forces people! The building of two separate bases instead of using our
own installations and allowing us to have direct access to X-Com operations and
intelligence! And his refusal to allow their own intelligence agents to those bases! What
were they getting from all this? Nothing, besides giving men and equipment! It seemed
that they were nothing else than manpower and resources to draw from.
He had considered if this hadn’t been a trap from the first time. If the CIA and all western
espionage agencies wouldn’t have known for the first time what would be Illyuschenko’s
reaction. And the French, those arrogant cowards must have planned this with the
Americans for a big piece of what will be discovered. And so he had been deceived. He
wondered whom else in that room knew about this deal? Was Russia the only one?
Because it turned out that the son of a bitch wasn’t fanatically loyal to the Motherland
like my Chief of Staff had said, he was fucking loyal to duty. The idiot should be
dismissed of his position as commander of the military if he doesn’t know the differences
between the meaning of duty and nation!
He had summoned the Defense Council in the Kremlin for addressing those mistakes.
“Gentlemen, these are hard times that need hard measures. I expect that you all
performed as planned in the last days, otherwise your positions in this room will be in
doubt, since your competency wouldn’t seem adequate. And like they accuse us in the
Western media, not everything of communist ways have been thrown away, have they?”
He let the threat hanging in the air, while looking at the Chairman of the Federal Security
Bureau, the agency that had replaced the KGB in the role of counter-espionage and
internal affairs. After some seconds of silence after the tall bald man at the other side of
the circular table had nodded, he then proceeded.
“Irinov, we can start with you, what’s the status on the Mir and missiles?”
The Minister of Defense started speaking, apprehensive about what he would say.
“In two days time a Soyuz capsule will take = off, carrying three cosmonauts to
supplement the other three we usually have there. The Progress ship will take off about 5
days later with the necessary equipment”.
“The so called mirrors?”.
“Yes, and their necessary control and targeting equipment. We will also install more
visual and reconnaissance equipment to allow it to be used as an observation point in
space. It will give us a strategic advantage”
“And the missiles?”
“The first ABM missile has been retrofitted with an Anti Satellite ASAT warhead. Tests
are being made to check the condition of both the missile and the weapon. This is not
well maintained equipment President and it might take some more days until we can use
it.”
“And the others?”
“For the moment we don’t have any more ASAT warheads available. However we can
arm the missiles with small yield nuclear weapons that would destroy anything in their
range or wreak havoc with the radiation”
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“Do it”
“Yesss….sir”
“Mr. Verchenko, SVK report?”
The Chief of Foreign Espionage raised himself.
“We have successfully infiltrated the American X-Com support personnel. We should
start getting reports from them”.
“Very well Mr. Verchenko, I’m quite impressed, those are unexpected good news”.
“Thank you sir”.
“I don’t want to know any details. Your secret operations remain a secret. Just be the eyes
for Mother Russia and let us know of everything. And what has your counter-intelligence
counterpart have to say?”
Alexander Balyev had a public image of a sinister looking figure. He did nothing to
repute that image and his voice at the Council sure reinforced it. “The media has been
more than cooperative, Mr. President. Especially the press’ managers. I think that the
Government’s position was made clear with those leaders. I put myself personally to that
task. Abducted victims are taken off to isolated centers. And any remains of mutilations
or strange phenomena are attributed to lunatics or terrorists or our own military craft”.
“The trend of good news continues then. Finally you, Dr. Ziguanine. Most of my cabinet
probably doesn’t know you so please introduce yourself.
A gray mustached man lifted himself up and started speaking: “Thank you Mr. President.
Gentlemen, what I will present you, more than talking about me, is one of the biggest
weapons programs that the late Soviet Union had left us with and the reason why the Mir
plays such a big importance in our plans”.
December 31st, 1998

Number One remembered that once there were elected officials or political leaders in the
group. People for whom someone had voted and recognized them as their leaders. The
same ones that had started his organization. When the last one died they realized that
would never happen again. They just couldn’t be trusted and their power would be
temporary. Feelings could arise that would go against the group’s interests. And their
agenda could never go public at all.
As he looked on the television screens to see the various New Year’s messages from
around the world’s leaders he felt that their power was inferior to his. And that they had
no idea of who really determined how things were. They all sent messages of union
against all threats that are amongst them. That it was a time of changes. Sloppy made
propaganda. To convince people of lies you have to make them look the other way, not
prepare them for bad news.
“What a façade.” Number Nine moved in his chair.
“Yes” One replied. “Paradoxically, you seemed to maintain yours pretty well until now”
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Eleven pairs of eyes turned themselves towards Number Nine.
“If I didn’t report the latest failures of infiltration on X-Com Russia it was because we
still have some opportunities left”
“And if they succeed then you would present all the reports together, hiding your initial
failures. Very well. Unfortunately for you my own sources reported this matter.”
“It will just be a matter of time”
“Time is sparse. And management of information is crucial”
“Yes, we need the information”
“No, again you have missed the point”
Number One pointed at one of the monitors. A news program was showing some
coverage where Number Nine was getting into a government building of some sort.
“That is management of information, which you seem to be lacking right now. First that
you would so recklessly use your replica meant to substitute you in such an open way”.
“My men all have orders not to disturb me when I told them I’m not feeling well. There
are also men of trust who know how to help out the clone.”
“But imagine he makes an open blunder? Your whole position will be compromised”
The other ten pair of eyes quietly assented. Number Nine’s position just had taken a dive.
His word would be taken into less account and his resources would shrink until he could
prove himself. But he was lucky. The Group well understood the need of deception even
amongst themselves. And trying to cover up mistakes and blunders was a common error
made by beginners. Not a fatal one, but a serious one nevertheless.
Number Nine waited for a sentence. When Number One turned his eyes away from him
after some minutes and addressed Number Three, he knew he would still be able to leave
the room alive. All the other members of the Group had sent a strong warning to him.
They knew the value of patience and the dangers of rash action.
“It seems the interference in the Japanese operation was more successful?”
Number Three immediately took the chance to raise his status a bit and replied.
“Yes. We have acquired the plans of their new tank. And after getting the cooperation
from the man responsible for the project we assured his removal from the project. It
would be impossible to completely erase the research made without causing suspicions,
but at least now X-Com will have to wait some more time before having access to the
Japanese design”.
“And why did we miss the development of such a technological breakthrough?” Number
One knew better than to let Number Three’s ego and ambition go unchecked. He had
given him some leverage to satisfy the man, but he couldn’t allow him to go unleashed.
“The Toyota Company had the project at a top secret level. Even the military wasn’t
informed until they had built the first prototypes. And you know how dedicated and loyal
the Japanese can be”
“True, but besides the point. This development was a miscalculation”
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“No, a general strategic surprise. We knew there is always the possibility of something
like this going undetected by our operatives.”
“You should have predicted it”
“The same way your entire previsions for drug consumption were completely off the
mark, ruining our profit margin?”
So, the battlefield has changed, One thought. Very good. “We haven’t really applied our
mass hysteria plans yet. I’m sure the situation will change then”
“Really? So far there isn’t even the slightest indication of such a trend. The flyovers and
general uncertainty should have increased the use of opiates and cocaine by the general
population, like you predicted, but we haven’t seen that”.
“And we are at the process of sustaining debts, due to the expenses we are making based
on your financial projections, which is quite unacceptable”, Number Four added. Number
One didn’t like the situation a bit. This could mean an alliance between two upper
members of the ladder, which didn’t fare well for the prospects of keeping his position in
the near future. He looked at number Two who just nodded to him and spoke:
“The plan is set. We should not care now about financial matters. Pretty soon all money
will have no value”. Two’s position would be threatened if Three and Four had made an
alliance for one of them to reach power. One knew that the only solution for Two would
be to support him, if we wanted to keep his position. “Exactly”.
January 1st, 1999

Area 51, Nevada, US
The North American team was up early and they had all presented themselves in the
auditory of the base. All the men from the four squads were present and seated in their
chairs, with Johnson and his executive officer, Captain Hunt, standing up in front of them
with a covered table behind them. “All right, I hope you are all fresh this morning after
last night”
That comment drew some bitter smiles from the assembled troopers. Johnson had
allowed them to celebrate New Year’s Eve for some hours. “We have some new toys to
play with and I also will be changing each squad’s assignments”. That caught the
soldiers’ attention and Johnson carried on, uncovering the table. He picked up with effort
a massive gun that looked like a small cannon, with six rotating barrels.
“Meet the AGS-19 portable Autocannon, courtesy of the Russian military. So far we have
been using M249 Squad Automatic Weapons and M240 machineguns, but now we will
replace them for these”.
“That is a big gun, sir. Won’t it hinder our movements?” A Hispanic looking trooper with
a mustache asked. He was one of the biggest men of the team and usually carried heavy
weapons, but his strength enabled him to use them as if they were almost weightless.
“That’s why you are being reassigned, Garcia. To keep the squads mobile Delta will now
be tasked with providing suppressive fire and armed with this weapon and” He paused to
place the weapon back and lifting another cannon with only one barrel, but bigger. “This:
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the OT-17 Heavy Cannon. While not being capable of automatic fire one shot of armor
piercing from this weapon can penetrate almost all body armor, including Kevlar. Besides
AP these cannons can also shoot HE and incendiary rounds”.
Gunnery Sergeant Hopkins, an Afro-American six feet tall and possessing a massive
chest, interrupted. “Sir, does that mean I won’t get to keep Big Momma?” Mild laughter
erupted from the enlisted men, only to be cut off when the black ex-marine started giving
hard looks. The Gunny’s affection for his LAW-2 rocket launcher was well known. Some
even said the man slept with the damn thing.
“Sarge, don’t worry. You will keep Big Momma. What would be of us without her?”
More laughter followed. After some moments Johnson cut off the laughter.
“All right, as of this moment the North American team is on active status. We will go
through the final team assignments and afterwards Delta heads out to the shooting range
to get proficiency on the new weapons, while the others start exercising together.
Captain, carry on”.
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Chapter Three – Skirmishing
January 3rd, 1999
Caribbean Sea
As the sun began to set, a fire streak could be seem across the sky over the island of St.
Lucia as an alien craft entered the Earth’s atmosphere and decelerated to more than five
thousand kilometers per hour. The UFO then corrected its course and moved towards
southern Florida while maintaining the same speed, the 24-foot diameter disc slowly
descending as it approached land.
NORAD, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, US

Space Command had picked up the “fast mover” through the radar that had been set to
cover possible missile launches against the United States and had informed Air Defence.
The craft’s estimated course was preoccupying General Bigelow, since its trajectory
showed it to be heading awfully close to Kennedy Space Center. He decided to take
action against it, but as orders were being sent for the Air National Guard and Air
Combat Command interceptors to take off and go after it, the UFO had disappeared off
the radar screens. Which only could mean one thing: it had landed nearby the facility.
Bigelow caught the phone that connected him directly to the War Room in the Pentagon
and when there was an answer on the other side he started speaking.
Area 51, Nevada, US

Colonel Johnson was conducting another training exercise outside the facility when base
communications requested his presence immediately on his intercom. He acknowledged
and started running for the nearest jeep around. Some of the troops around him noticied
his rush and started to wonder what was going on.
Security Center, KSC, Florida

The commander of the combined USAF/NASA security team assigned to the space
facility was feeling very nervous. The whole center had just been ordered into condition
Red by the Pentagon, without any further explanation, and he had stepped up security,
but didn’t had a clue about what was happening. He was in charge of the America’s
number one space facility and didn’t have a clue about what was going on.
Some minutes afterwards the whole southern section of the security fence alarm systems
went off. Apparently the electrical power in that part of the centre had failed, although it
had its own generator. He had sent one of his teams to investigate and was considering
the whole situation when the radio went active:
“Base, this is team Echo, over”
“Echo, what do you have, over?”
“Sir, we are hearing a strange humming noise coming out of a section near the south
eastern perimeter, in a swamp”
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“What kind of a noise?”
“Uhh, well it’s continuous, like a giant fridge or something”
“Any other activity?”
“Well, about some 15 minutes ago we saw a light in the sky”
“A light in the sky? What sort of light?”
“A white one, almost the size of the moon. It headed towards the swamp where we are
hearing the noise right now. What shall we do sir?”
“Team Echo, deploy and investigate the marsh. Keep me informed”
There had been reports of strange events in the sky for a long time, but he had paid them
no deed. This was NASA and they knew anything about the existence of extra-terrestrial
craft they would have detected it by now. Or would they? He shook his head in disbelief.
No, this must be a terrorist action or some espionage or sabotage done by some nation or
group. He decided to wait before reporting Washington, until he had a clear picture of
what was going on and not just report strange noises and lights in the sky, or they would
think he was getting nuts.
Command and Communications Center, Area 51, Nevada

When Johnson arrived at the command, communications and control room of the X-Com
facilities at the base he found General Smith already standing there. “Looks like your
Commies will have some action today, Colonel”. His mild tone displayed some curiosity
mixed with skepticism.
Johnson acknowledged his presence and then nodded to the technician that was running
communications. A monitor that had a dark blue background with a red X superimposed
on a circle on its middle suddenly lit up with the face of the Chairman of the JCS.
“Colonel, some 15 minutes ago, NORAD picked up a fast mover heading towards
Florida. When it reached land it dropped off radar but from its last trajectory we presume
that it was heading towards Kennedy Space Center”.
“What’s the word on them?”
“They have been ordered into maximum security, but with orders not to interfere. No
further reports have arrived from them”.
“Good. My team will be leaving in ten minutes”.
“Very well. Air Combat Command has fighter planes looking for the aircraft. We are also
moving an E-3 Airborne Warning plane up, to see if its radar can pick the UFO and are
deploying other reconnaissance assets so we might have more information by the time
you get there”
“Understood. Area 51 out”. Johnson turned to the technician. “Inform all ground team
members to report to the hangar fully equipped. Tell flight operations to prepare the
Skyranger for immediate take-off. And notify Commander Illyuschenko”.
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General Smith turned to him and said: “Well Colonel, now we shall see how good your
force thinks it is”. Johnson thought of answering to him, but in the next minute he was
already on its way to the Armory to get equipped.
Low Orbit, Earth

A KH-11 “Big Bird” reconnaissance satellite started using its correction jets to position
his cameras to a location hundreds of kilometers below him. As it slowly changed his
position, the electronic and visual eyes it possessed locked into Florida and started
searching. Although a weather front was passing through the State, with heavy cloud
cover, Space Command had decided to give it a try, hoping that a hole in the clouds
would allow them to spot the UFO in the satellite’s visual and infrared cameras.
Area 51, Nevada, US

As Johnson reached the armory all of North American team was already there, waiting
for orders. They had been divided into four squads, each with three men. Johnson and his
executive officer, Captain Hunt, filled up the remaining capacity of the Skyranger. As he
entered the room, Gunnery Sergeant Hopkins shouted:
“Attention! Officer in the deck!” Although they were not on a ship and not even in the
Navy or the Marines, the Gunny still hasn’t been able to get rid of the Marine
expressions. Or maybe he doesn’t want to, Johnson thought, smiling to himself. They all
stood up in attention but after a second eased up after Johnson waved off the salutes.
“Everybody listen up really careful. An UFO has been detected heading towards Florida.
The Pentagon thinks it has landed nearby, or at the perimeter of Kennedy launch
facilities. Our mission will be to investigate for possible alien activity and neutralize it.
But everyone will proceed with extreme caution, is that understood? Now go equip
yourselves and board the Skyranger. We will leave in five minutes time. Any questions?”
After a brief moment of silence all men broke ranks and started collecting weapons and
equipment.
Security Center, KSC, Florida

“Base, this is Echo, we are being attacked! We need help right now!”
“Echo, what’s your position?”
“We had just left our vehicle and entered the marsh when we started receiving incoming
fire” Silence “Shit! That was close! ”
“Nature of the attackers?”
“Unknown sir. Albert, get some cover right now! Tyson, don’t stand there. Fuck!” More
silence on the radio “Sir! Tyson is dead, some green ray just opened a hole in his chest
the size of a toaster”
“Fall back at once”
“Trying sir, there’s just too many of…” The transmission was suddenly cut off.
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“Echo, repeat the last sentence please”. Only static greeted him. “What is going on
there?”
Skyranger 1, over Louisiana, US

Johnson was going over his team’s assignments and deployment when his radio cracked
up. “Colonel, Harris here. We have just left the vicinity of New Orleans and the top hats
want to talk to you”
Johnson had decided that for now Harris would fly the Skyranger, until he had proven
himself proficient at air combat missions. He had more than enough experience flying
experimental aircraft. “Patch them through”.
“Yes sir. And thank you for flying with X-Air, the only airline that is out of this world”.
Johnson dismissed the joke and raised his hand to his earpiece to try to listen better in the
middle of the noise inside the Skyranger’s cargo section. “X-Com, this is NORAD, over”
“This is Colonel Johnson, I’m reading you, over”
“Be advised. KSC sent a team to investigate and their last communications reported that
they were under attack and were taking heavy casualties. No word from them has been
received in the last 15 minutes. A base map with the possible location of the UFO is
being uploaded to your system. We are trying to get some real time data, but the weather
conditions over Florida aren’t helping”.
“Roger and out”. Johnson got a laptop from out of his seat, turned it on and connected it
to a data line that would allow him to have access to the X-Com computer system. Then
he started examining the tactical situation.
KSC, Florida, US
The Skyranger landed about an hour later, nearby the abandoned vehicle of the security
team, which was standing in a road that went around the Center’s perimeter. As it was
touching down, its rear door opened and the North American team begun to swarm from
it, covering all sides of the aircraft. After the Landing Zone was secured, Johnson
immediately started giving orders.
“Alpha squad, take right flank. Beta, move to the left. Gamma, take point. Delta, cover
our asses and be ready to give support”. All the men moved then without a word to the
location of the UFO.
They were wearing night vision goggles to increment the available light from the moon
and the stars. The whole area looked deserted of any artificial construction, besides the
lights of the security fence far away and the service road. But a humming noise, that
reminded Johnson of a hive of angry bees, could be heard from a swamp that was near
the southeast, inside the base perimeter. He got his binoculars and looked into that
direction. Nothing could be seen besides the tall trees and a pool of stagnant water, not
even the slightest movement. He touched spoke into his mike.
“Everyone watch out. They must be alert of our presence, so look out for ambushes”.
The team started to move slowly, When they got about halfway of the distance between
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the road and the line of trees, some 100 feet, a green jolt suddenly came out from the
swamp. Johnson tried to shout a warning but it was too late. The point men of Gamma
squad didn’t even have time to scream. The light hit him squarely in the head,
decapitating him. The rest of his body continued his motion for less than a second, then
dropped to the ground.
“Take cover! Delta squad, lay a pattern of suppressive fire in the direction from where
that shot came!”
Andrews was the first to shot. After getting on the soft ground with his massive body he
pointed his Russian AGS-19 portable auto-cannon to the area where the sniper was
concealed and started pouring high explosive rounds into it. In spite of the distance, the
noise of the blasts was still quite deafening. Guided by the explosions that destroyed
vegetation and splintered trees, all remaining members of the team started firing with
their weapons. After ten seconds of a barrage of death, Johnson ordered them to cease-
fire and had a look with his binoculars. Nothing could be seen.
“OK, it looks as if the sniper has been neutralized. Let’s carry on”.
As they approached more carefully the line that separated the swamp from dry land, its
stench was turning out to be even worse. The rotten waters had calmed down and the fog
had lifted a bit, but besides the humming noise, nothing else could be seen or heard. They
entered the waters and started moving more slowly, not only because of the terrain but
also to avoid making noise that would give their position away. The three forward squads
had expanded the line to the sides, to allow them to avoid possible flanking manoeuvres
by the aliens, searching with their weapons all the time for possible hostiles.
Johnson’s intercom came alive and he ordered his squad with a gesture to stop. “Alpha
here. We found one of the security team’s bodies. It took a shot in the head from behind.
Brain and face are all gone”
“Any vestiges of the aliens?”
The trooper’s reply was quick. “Zero”
“Beta, any sight of the sniper?”
“We just reached the area. It is completely wrecked by gunfire. No bodies found. There’s
some green ooze in some leaves though. It looks like alien blood or their equivalent.”
Shit, Johnson thought. That would mean the alien would still be out there, although
probably injured. “Beta and Alpha, keep moving. Beta, keep an eye on his trail”
“Roger”
The team continued to move, with Johnson speeding up a bit to join Gamma team. The
humming noise could be heard more strongly know, and pretty soon Johnson spotted a
weird form that was standing in the middle of a small clearing in the swamp.
“Movement!” called a voice “Ten o’clock, thirty feet away”. That would be Trooper
King, of Alpha, Johnson thought, while ordering its team to stop.
“King, talk to me”
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“I can see him hiding behind a red tree. I picked him up because of the disturbance he
made in the still waters”
“Did he spot you?”
“No, because most likely he would have reacted”
“Alpha, try to circle him. King, if he even sneezes take him out. Beta, what’s the status
on your flank?”
“We have discovered a strange looking weapon that was lying in the water” Suddenly an
alien shriek filled the air. “What was that?!” Johnson demanded on the radio. Gunfire
from his left side was the only answer. “Alpha team, report your status!”
“Sir, this is King. The sound didn’t come from here but when the alien heard it, it started
moving. I took him down as ordered. Alpha team reports no other activity.”
“Beta, what happened?”
“The scream came from the front of us. We stayed put and are waiting for orders sir”
“Alpha and Beta cover both flanks. Gamma, let’s move out towards the alien craft. Delta
dug in and prepare to give us some cover.”
Johnson and his two men started to move towards the puddle where the craft had rested.
No, not rested, Johnson corrected himself when he came closer. It was hovering just
inches over the water. Maybe the aliens don’t like to get their feet wet, he thought. As
they carefully reached it he could see the gray metal color of it. The craft was completely
circular and totally smooth, with no equipment or openings discernible. When they
reached it, Johnson touched it. It was cold and it looked as if it had been molded or made
out of one piece.
“Let’s try to find an opening. Alpha and Beta, start circling the craft. Gamma, when they
reach their positions we move. Rodriguez, you take the right side, Jones the left. Delta,
split and give both sides some cover”
When both side teams started to move, all hell broke out. First some strange sounds here
heard by everyone and a greenish hue could be seen on both sides of the craft, then the
human screams started to fill out the radio, followed by gunfire.
“What’s going on?” Johnson had to scream to make sure he was being listened because
of the cries of pain on the radio channel.
“Sir, Hopkins here. There are hostiles nearby the UFO, on the opposite side of the craft.
One of my men got hit and it looks pretty badly. It has burned his left chest”
“King here. We also got hit and are firing back. The Lieutenant is dead. They are
invisible, we can’t just see them from this distance”
“Shit”. Johnson contemplated his options. He needed to spot the threats and direct more
suppressive fire to that side of the craft, before both teams would be eliminated. But for
Delta to get into position it might take too long, unless...
“Rodriguez and Jones, charge the other side of the UFO!”
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Both troopers didn’t even hesitate to comply with the order. Johnson followed Rodriguez
as he dashed around the craft. When he completed turning around it, he saw three
bigheaded figures that were crouched on the ground, turned sideways, with one shooting
at Alpha team and the other two at Beta. They suddenly moved as if they had detected
Gamma’s presence, but failed to turn and respond to it quickly enough. Johnson and his
troopers were already pulling automatic fire into them from their M4A1 automatic
carbines. The M4 had been developed from the M16 rifle as a submachine gun and the
version X-Com was using was a Special Forces adaptation, with the option of full
automatic fire. The one alone on the right died almost instantly as both Johnson and
Rodriguez unleashed their weapons power on him. Rivers of green gore came out of
places where the bigheaded alien got it. On the other side Jones had killed one of them
and the other was almost firing at him when Rodriguez did a small correction of his rifle
and killed him with a direct hit on its head. The alien dropped to the swamp, lifeless.
“Jesus Christ, what a mess!” Jones cried out.
“This isn’t over yet. There might be some more inside the craft. Delta, get your Heavy
Cannons up here and load them up with armor piercing rounds. These guys are hard to
take down”. The two men armed with the other contribution from Russia, the OT-17
heavy cannon moved quickly. The weapons were designed to provide long-range heavy
stopping power, but during their training the North American team had discovered that
they could also be useful in close combat, when you had to take your enemy down
quickly. They all started inspecting the side of the craft until one of them said: “I think I
found an opening”.
Johnson took off his night vision goggles and looked. There was an almost
undistinguishable rectangle that seemed to form a door. “And how do we opened it
now?” he asked.
“Well, what if we give it a push?” The Delta squad man pushed the door and it suddenly
moved upwards, disappearing into the fuselage of the craft. The motion surprised him
and he never had time to reach to the energy discharges that came out from the opening.
Johnson only saw his torso disappear under a green light. The trooper’s arms, shoulders,
neck and head fell down on the water, still holding the heavy cannon. After a moment his
legs, which were still standing up, dropped on the swamp and joined them. Johnson
immediately reached for a grenade, pulled the pin and threw it to the inside of craft
before the door had completely closed. A muffled explosion was heard minutes later
coming from the inside of the UFO.
“Rodriguez, Jones, Garcia, come up here. On my mark I will open the door again and we
will take down everything still moving inside”. Johnson pushed the door again as they
joined him on the sides of the opening. They pointed their guns inside and kept their
bodies out of the door, but no enemy fire came out this time. The Colonel then, very
carefully, took a look inside. A metal cylinder was standing in the middle of the room,
giving out an orange light. Two seats were fused to the floor on the left side, in front of
some monitors. And four aliens were lying on the ground along with their weapons, their
bodies cut by the shrapnel of the grenade.
“UFO secure. Check out the bodies to see if they are really dead and let’s clear the
perimeter, troops”.
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After ten minutes checking the swamp, they found no other aliens alive. Apparently the
shriek heard before come from an alien found a hundred feet away from the craft that
must have been the initial sniper. It must have been severely hit while trying to get away
from the suppressive fire and it then had bled to death. Johnson didn’t feel any remorse.
Four of his men were dead, the trooper from Beta dying from the massive shock of his
injury, before medical attention arrived from the Space Center. The discovery of the
remaining corpses from the KSC’s security force increased his anger. The aliens had cut
up some of them and they had parts of their bodies missing, as if they were cattle. But
they had succeeded on their first mission. And more important, they knew the aliens
could be killed on the ground. A CH-53E Super Stallion heavy transport helicopter
borrowed from the Marines was already on its way to help move the UFO to an airfield
where it would then be flown back to Nevada. They know had a door to the alien’s
technological secrets, if they knew how to open it.
New York City, US

Hours after the encounter, Number Three was seated in a chair facing a desk where a
communications terminal had been set in. The 86th floor penthouse had a magnificent
view to the Hudson River as well as Wall Street. He joined being up there, because it
gave him the impression of power, looking over the glass windows down to the street
below and seeing all the little people going through their lives, not knowing anything
about what hovered over them. But he was starting to feel that his same power was
becoming threatened and, he might end up back among the ordinary humans below him.
The report he had just got from Number Seven had accentuated that fear. X-Com’s first
mission had been a success. A phyrric one, with the loss of almost one third of the men
involved, but they still had been able to kill all the aliens and capture a working craft.
That was bad. It meant that the Group was losing control over things, over technology
they had been the only ones on Earth to acquire and that had took many work to keep it
secret. And their actions would prompt more alien activity, with the result escalation of
events and general world knowledge of the UFO situation. And if the Group’s intentions
ever were revealed he knew they would be convicted for treason to the human race.
Control was being lost over the aliens also. Not that they had ever been capable of really
knowing what they were up to, but they knew about their interest on Earth and generally
predict their actions. But he sometimes wondered about the opposite, if they weren’t
deceiving the Group itself.
He had been the first one to be informed by Number Seven, which had his own sources
inside KSC and shared the same doubts about humanity in general having access to alien
technology. And they had also a strong belief about themselves and the power and
necessity of an elite in these dark times. He knew something had to be done about this X-
Com force, so he isolated himself in silence until he had came up with a plan.
London, United Kingdom

On the other side of the Atlantic, Number Two was considering the same question also
while having breakfast. He had a troubled night after being awakened to receive the
report. There would be a meeting in a few days to discuss the new events and he knew
that deviations were already happening to the plan. Other possibilities were presenting
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themselves and he was afraid that the Group was too stubborn of years of routine to see
them. Not all of the twelve men and woman, of course, but that the majority, including
Number One, hadn’t really taken many things into account. Like the reaction of the
nations of Earth and also about the potential of the X-Com team. Although all those men
were elite professionals, their success with dealing with the aliens had surprised Number
Two. Others had tried going into combat with the aliens. And while on most cases it had
been the matter of being at the wrong time and place for the humans since they got
chewed to pieces, in others the Group had sent his men to test the aliens, disguised as
ordinary military of the nations of Earth. Few ever survived these encounters and after
their briefing they would be disposed of. The Group had never been interested into
forming a combat force to deal with the aliens. They knew it would be a waste of effort
and resources. The aliens had proven themselves superiorly in numbers and in combat.
Until now. It looked as if humans could military defeat the aliens, if properly led and
using the right tactics. Earth’s technology had advanced on its own in the last years and
while it looked awfully primitive when compared to the aliens it could hurt them.
Two suddenly started to realize what would happen if X-Com had access to more
advanced technology. Then they would be a military force to be reckoned even by the
aliens. And while diminishing their influence and pressure over the Group, it would allow
also to guarantee some safeguards about the aliens. Yes, this X-Com had to been seen as
a most desirable asset, not like a threat at all.
January 10th, 1999

Area 51, Nevada, US
Colonel Johnson was waiting for General Illyuschenko to leave the Skyranger. A cold
wind was coming from the North and he buttoned his service coat a little higher. The
days after the raid had been frenetic on the base’s research teams.
While Johnson shared some of their excitement, another feeling was stronger. The deaths
of his men. It had been hard for all of the team. While those men had been working
together for a few time and relationships hadn’t yet been formed it had been a hard blow
for all of them. Still, the training sessions had helped them cast aside their thoughts. Now
they knew the enemy and what he was capable of and, more important, that it could be
killed.
General Illyuschenko left the Skyranger that had brought him all the day from Russia,
with stopovers of a few hours in Paris and Washington. Although it would be expected
for anyone to be showing the effects of jet lag, the General looked as if he had just
woken, completely alert. Behind him came some civilians and, after them, some
reinforcement troops. The attack had left them a bit unmanned and Johnson was afraid to
having to commit the under strength team in the last days.
He looked at the eight uniformed men and they lined up and stood up. He was relieved.
Now their losses would be filled up and he also could form a replacement squad to cover
for future casualties. The latest to leave were a group of men in suits. He knew exactly
who they were and what was their mission. But he still hated intelligence officers. They
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always made him nervous. He moved to join with Illyuschenko and the two men saluted
when they met. “Welcome back to Area 51, sir”.
“Thank you Colonel. I am most pleased to see you again and I wish to congratulate you
for your success. Well done”.
“Thank you sir, although I wouldn’t call it exactly a complete success”.
“I know Johnson. Believe me, I would do anything I could to bring those men back. But
they made a courageous sacrifice and for the most noble cause”.
“Well, I would prefer not to talk to much about the subject now, sir”.
“I understand” The turned to the leading civilian that had stopped some feet behind him.
“Dr. Chevereux, could you please come over and meet Colonel Johnson?” The white
haired men approached the Colonel with some fear.
“Doctor, this is Colonel Johnson, commander of the North American team of X-Com,
based at Area 51”
“Colonel Johnson, this is Dr. Chevereux, our scientific leader”. They exchanged
handshakes but didn’t say anything. Then the scientist turned to Illyuschenko and said:
“That we will still have to see General. I agreed to come with you here just because you
actually threatened me if I didn’t come here to see it with my own eyes”. Johnson looked
puzzled at the General.
“It’s all right Johnson, the Doctor here refused the UN offer calling it a nonsense, but
now it seems he will join us”.
“It is a nonsense! UFOs? Aliens? The things you are talking about are un-scientific and
are proved to not exist. This thing here is a complete waste of time”.
“See what I mean, Colonel? So I told him, err, convinced him to come and see the proof
for his own eyes”.
Johnson managed to suppress a shiver. The aliens still made him to have that reaction.
“Very well sir.”
“I want us to be shown the evidence now, Colonel, if you please”.
“Very well, sir. Just let me welcome the rest of your passengers and dismiss my new
men, General”.
“Please do it”.
Johnson turned to them all and said: “Welcome to Area 51, gentlemen. My name is
Colonel E. Johnson and I am the commander of the North American X-Com team. You
now don’t belong to your services or countries anymore. Now you fight for Earth and
against the greatest menace of all. The things you will learn from this day on will come as
a shock but they are real, gentlemen. And remember your duty always in those times and
let it guide you.” He turned them to his troops “Sergeant Hopkins will guide you to your
quarters and later you will receive a full brief and meet the rest of the team. Sergeant,
lead them on”.
“Yes sir. Platoon, attention!”
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While Hopkins started to make the new recruits life as much miserable as possible,
although those men all belonged to elite units and couldn’t be easily pushed, Illyuschenko
turned to Johnson: “A most impressive speech Colonel”.
“Thank you sir, but I just made it up on the occasion”.
“More impressive even. Now, show us the aliens”.
“This way please sir”.
The cryogenic storage unit was situated into the depths of the base, giving it the most
appropriate mood, Johnson thought. The monsters’ laboratory. The stench the things gave
off when they died was terrible, Johnson remembered. And while it was gone now, just
the look of the dead alien in front of him reminded him of that smell. But another feeling
was also more prominent. The one of biological repulsion. The thing there wasn’t
anything of this planet and his body reacted with disgust to it. Illyuschenko and the
scientific staff of Chevereux had that same reaction also when the cold storage drawer
where the body was kept had been opened, although in the scientific groups case it should
be more the feeling felt by scholars in the late Middle Ages when someone proved to
them that the world was round, instead of flat as it had been said before for centuries.
“C’est incroyable!” The other scientists uttered expressions of pure disbelief. “Mon
Dieu.”
“Silence.” Dr. Chevereux said firmly. All the excitement stopped and he turned to the
General and spoke: “Sir, I appear to have been wrong. I ask you to apologize me for my
blindness. I will gladly and dutifully accept the UN invitation as Scientific Leader of X-
Com and will fulfill my role to the best of my abilities”.
“Thank you doctor for accepting the job”. Johnson realized that either way the general
would have made the scientist to take the position, whatever he liked it or not.
“I am happy to have you fighting with us. Colonel, what have your scientific team found
out the aliens so far?” Johnson turned to his chief scientist, who he had asked to be
present. “Dr. Mantell, could you please answer Dr. Chevereux’s question?”
“Gladly. Well for a start, we recovered some nine alien bodies from the area, in several
levels of damage. From what we had pictured, from autopsies and all full type of
biological exams, these creatures have some interesting traits. For instance, our initial
genetic studies show that they are all clones”.
“Clones?” Chereveux asked in disbelief. “How can it be? A society of clones would be
always at peril of genetic errors and grave mutations”.
“We don’t know doctor, but that’s what we are trying to find out. About their anatomy,
they show greatly a greatly atrophied digestive system and traces of what have been
sexual organs. They basically have no natural way to surviving and reproducing
themselves”.
“They are greatly advanced in genetic engineering then”.
“Yes. And their head is out of proportion to their body when compared to the human
anatomy, which would suggest a greater intelligence because of the bigger brain. Their
eyes are also much bigger and it seems they are capable of seeing in the dark better than
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us. That has been also verified in the encounter. Finally, and this is a remote hypothesis,
they may have evolved from marine animals”.
“How did you come up to that conclusion?”
“Their skin is similar to dolphins and such like mammals, although I wouldn’t call this
aliens mammals since they remind me more of an insectoid species. They also have
vestiges of what looks to be webbing between their fingers, which would suggest that
their limbs were used to swim in the past”.
“Interesting. What else do you have?”
“Well, they don’t have vocal cords. The most probable theory to explain how they
communicate can be quite unbelievable, but we are considering all possibilities”.
“After what I saw today I shall take few truths for granted, Dr. What is it?”
“Some sort of telepathy. Their ears appear less developed than ours and can listen to
sounds audible to humans. However they where never seen to make any sound, unless
when dying and while not wearing of communication devices where capable of
coordinating their operations together, while away of visual sight of one another”.
“You think the larger brain could be something to do with this?”
“We are still running a lot of tests, but I will be able to give you a full report from
biology in two days, sir. The other departments will take longer”.
“What other departments?” Mantell looked at Johnson who just nodded. “He’s your
superior now, doctor, go ahead”. It actually wasn’t quite true since Johnson was in
command of the entire personnel assigned to the X-Com portion of Area 51 but he had no
voice over scientific issues. Luckily General Smith wasn’t around to hear the comment or
he would most likely have a heart stroke. “Physics, Aerodynamics, Computers and
Engineering”
“What?!” Chereveux couldn’t believe what he was hearing “Mon Dieu! What else have
you captured?” Johnson stepped in. “A flying saucer that we captured last week. A UFO.
And a lot of alien toys also for you scientists to play with. Please follow me and you will
see it now”.
After showing to the scientists the captured UFO he excused himself to make his own
presentation to the intelligence spooks and General Illyuschenko. He met with them
about some two hours later and the proper presentations then took place. Illyuschenko
begun speaking to Johnson: “We have all seen the biological analysis to the aliens,
Colonel, so please give us now your military evaluation of them.”
“Yes, sir. Well, these things, while fragile looking, can be very dangerous. For starters
they are extremely intelligent. They knew they were outnumbered and acted accordingly,
with the use of snipers and trying to ambush us by using their superior night vision.
Fortunately for us, they probably were expecting that we would panic in the middle of
their attacks, like the KSC’s security team probably did, so they weren’t really expecting
such a reaction from our part. While this is an advantage now, it can quickly change as
they learn of our success. Still, most of our tactics worked out which is a blessing. Our
weapons are also capable of killing them, although it seems they are more resistant than
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their appearance would suggest. For instance, sometimes they would need several bullets
before going down. But their head appears to be their weak spot”.
Illyuschenko nodded in approval. “And what about their weapons?”
“They were using two types of weapons sir that would correspond to a pistol and a rifle.
They release some green energy bolt that has tremendous power. Our Kevlar body armor
is almost ineffective against it.” Johnson didn’t like that thought at all “For some
unknown reason, the weapons weren’t working anymore when we picked them up, but
the scientists are going like mad hungry dogs over them”.
Williams turned to Johnson and asked: “Very well Colonel. You have done an excellent
job and it will help us on ours. Now we need to ask you some questions. Just give us
straight answers please, what you really believe and not what you think we would like to
hear”.
Well the spook seems reasonable, Johnson thought and nodded “Please ask”
“In your opinion, how can we correct our tactics to go against the aliens?”
“Sir, I would say avoiding fighting them at night for a start. And develop better weaponry
and protection for my men. And finally discovering what they are up to”.
“Very well. Would you characterize their actions at KSC as aggressive or of a defensive
posture?” Johnson nearly exploded on that question and tried to keep his anger away
from his voice. “Aggressive for sure! This things, this insectoids, like Dr. Mantell called
them, you should have seen what they done to the Center’s security team’s bodies. They
even shot one from behind on his head, never giving the guy a chance. And then they cut
them up. The inside of the UFO looked like a slaughterhouse! They have something bad
coming up for us, gentlemen, of that I am completely sure of.” He breathed and relaxed a
bit. “I apologize for my reaction”.
“It’s quite natural, Colonel. Don’t worry. Now we are interested in one more matter,
more delicate, we may say. What I am about to say may never be discussed or even
mentioned out of this room, gentleman”. Both military men nodded to him in compliance.
“What is it?”
Williams paused for a moment then he simply stated out. “We suspect of alien infiltration
into our societies”
“What?!” The colonel and the general looked in astonishment.
“Not even Mr. Davis, here on my side, who is of the FBI counter-subversion department,
agrees completely with that claim, but there’s something logical to it. The aliens possess
a lot of intelligence about us. While most of it came from observation and the abductions,
they also seem to know more intrinsic aspects of our society. Take, for instance, the
intrusion on KSC. Or many other incidents dealing with military bases in the past. We
also suspect that the flyovers are a form of psychological warfare by their part. Therefore,
they must have their own agents living among us. How far our society maybe
compromised is still to find out, but we need to take steps to avoid that happening to X-
Com. Both of you are receiving this report because you have been checked and, quite
frankly we believe that the odds of you being double agents are quite low. But we don’t
know if this infiltration has already begun in your force.” Johnson couldn’t believe what
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he was hearing. If it ever got known it would break the morale and cohesion of the team
apart. They would be looking at one another, thinking about it.
“That’s grave news, Mr. Williams”.
“And gossip is already out about your force, fortunately only in military and intelligence
circles. While they are almost gossip and general speculation, those sort of rumors would
be one of the things that such an agent would investigate. Which mean that we will have
to triple-check the life of every X-Com member, because if we don’t we will be heading
into serious trouble”.
Johnson wasn’t pleased but he understood the need. “Very well, I shall provide you with
the files of all my men. But please be extremely discreet. My team would cease to exist
as a combat unit if word leaked out to them”.
“I understand. One last thing: have you noticed any unusual difficulties in implementing
your work? From individuals or organizations?” Both military men replied negatively.
“Very well, we shall leave you now gentlemen. How about if we meet later in the
evening?” After the intelligence team left, both Johnson and Illyuschenko stayed in the
Colonel’s office.
“I always hated intelligence officers. Although they are not as so egotistical and getting
their noses into everything here, there’s still some thing about them I can’t stand”.
“Me too sir. But what if they are saying can really occur? We need to take precautions”.
“I know. The first one will be to confine this information to this room, like he said. I can
imagine only they and your President and his intelligence directors, besides us now,
know the last part of the report. The less people who know it, the less chances it will have
to reach an infiltrator. He will be slacking a bit after a while, and that will give us an
opportunity to catch him”.
“But what if acts to disrupt us?”
“We may never know if indeed there is one. So we will continue to act as if nothing is
different. But we will keep an eye on things”.
January 12th, 1999

Geneva, Switzerland
As he looked over the window to see the lake, Number One reminded that this was the
same city that had seen the birth of X-Com. Coincidentally, the same matter that had
brought him here now, the discussion of their recent activities. He was annoyed. Too
many bickering was taking place in the Group and they had to remain focused if they
want to keep control. Some were arguing that I was a grave mistake to allow the Earth’s
nations access to modern technology. Others that the X-Com force could play a bigger
role in their plans. He then turned to again regain his attention to the center of the table
and start demolishing his opponent’s arguments.
“This is pointless”. He started. “Your claims are close to ridicule”.
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“We hadn’t properly considered the potential of this X-Com outfit. We need to reassess
our plans now and taking them into account”. Number Eight was arguing.
Number Three responded: “They have to be destroyed. They are threatening us because
they will make the aliens advance their timetable. Which could mean that we won’t be
ready on time”.
“This isn’t like your crude attempts to build your own controlled force”. Three gave a
murderous look at Eight at that mention. The other man paused but continued presenting
his arguments. “So far our skirmishes with the aliens have always resulted into disaster.
We had assumed that building and maintaining a ready force to engage in warfare with
the aliens was pointless, because the operation would be too big to be concealed and we
would show the aliens our real intentions”. Number Eight looked surreptitiously at Two,
who just lowered his eyelids. “This X-Com force is a strategic asset that we can’t deny”.
“Bah! They have managed some success so far, but that won’t last when the aliens start
to react to them. They will be simply squashed”.
One decided that the discussion was enough and that it should end. “Both of you have
never considered properly the new dimension this X-Com force would bring into the
conflict, even now”. He let a sinister voice out. “But I have, since the first moment of its
creation. You claim that mankind in general cannot have access to this technology. It
would severely change the balances of power on our society. It is correct. But also the
fact that it is in X-Com’s hands only help us more. So far they are running a concealed
operation, trying to avoid interference from the government when possible. Which means
that if we take over the organization, little will have come out to the public or even the
world’s governments.” He paused and continued: “And for the fact that we haven’t look
into their potential, well we have knowledge of the aliens. We know what they are
capable of and also what humans are capable of. We have a natural tendency to adapt to
new situations. Theirs is not as developed as ours, because of their dependence on
technology to even live. It isn’t hard to see that they will have some successes and some
failures. But, while they are doing that, they will provide us with necessary information.
And also the aliens will have to divert resources to this threat to their plans. But we have
spoken too much. Let’s call a vote and see what is the decision of the majority”.
His faction still was the biggest, although not the majority, and the other two would never
compromise so the result was known from the start. They approved the continuation of
his plan, although some abstained or even voted against it.
Far Side, Moon

A massive alien fleet was orbiting the Moon, using it as a shield against detection by
Earth’s telescopes and other detection means. More ships were arriving every week,
reinforcing it. Pretty soon, the Sectoid Commander on the command bridge of one of the
larger ships thought, operations would be stepped up in Sol Three. He had already sent
recce ships to find places suitable for the missions that had been ordered by High
Command, in addiction to the scientific missions and fleet supply runs to the surface of
the planet. But a disturbing factor had come up a few days before. One of his ships had
sent a report of defeating a band of armed humans that were approaching it. Then, a few
hours later their psychic link had been severed, which could only mean that they were
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dead. He had informed High Command of the occurrence and was waiting for an analysis
and answer. It could take days to arrive, so he decided to keep up with the plan.
January 21st, 1999

Border of Texas and Mexico, US
“Tally Ho!” Harris shouted when he picked up the UFO on the long-range television
camera situated on the top of the nose of his plane. The device was capable of picking up
a target at more than 60 miles away. He was piloting one brand new F-22 Lightning 2
interceptor jet and was chasing an alien craft that had entered the US through the Gulf of
Mexico, and was in their way to the Four Corners area.
It was good to be flying against a supersonic jet, doing combat missions, Harris thought.
Colonel Johnson hasn’t really pleased when he announced to him that his flight status
was being upgraded because of a sudden flu that hit both the certified pilots for the F-22s
sitting at the hangars on Area 51. “Command, I have one UFO on my screen, range 43
miles, at angels six, speed Mach 1.5. Type is Apollo like capsule. Request permission to
engage. Over”.
“Comanche, this is Command. You have permission to engage. Good hunting”.
“Roger that. Preparing to launch Phoenix.” His hands went over the buttons that
transferred information from his radar to the weapon. After one second, a warning tone
came to his headphones. “ Missile locked into target. I got a good tone. I’m taking the
shot now!” He released the master safety switch and pressed the trigger button on his
control stick between his legs “Fox Three! Missile away!”
The missile dropped for a second then lighted up his engine and started going at
hypersonic speed towards to UFO, guided by the aircraft’s radar. When it got close to the
craft the missile’s own radar went active, looking for the UFO and making a final
correction before going into the craft. It didn’t even try to perform an evasive maneuver
or anything as it approached it. When it approached the craft close enough the proximity
fuse of the warhead was triggered and kilos of explosive detonated. The blast almost
completely destroyed the UFO, its remains falling quickly out of the sky.
“Damn! Those things are made out of tissue paper! Command, this is Comanche. The
UFO completely blew up when it was hit by the Phoenix. I don’t think the ground team
will find much to pick up, over”.
“Roger that. Return To Base, Comanche, and good work”. Harris smiled. This was his
second kill in about a week. The first one had been a circular UFO that had been detected
over Northern Canada. He had hit it with another Phoenix and it had felt down out of the
sky and crash-landed it. Johnson and his people had gone up there to retrieve the UFO
and they managed to kill the alien survivors of the crash while only loosing two more
people, one dead and one with a serious burn on his side, while killing the four survivors.
And while the first ever UFO kill had belonged to the European team on the day right
after the KSC’s ground assault, he still was damn proud. Two UFO kills, he thought. Just
keep the bastards coming.
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January 22nd, 1999
Sea of Japan
The MC-130H Combat Talon II transport craft flew so close to the stormy seas that
Colonel Yamashita sometimes thought that pretty soon they would have to swim back to
land. His X-Com Far East team was at the cargo bay of the aircraft, each wearing jump
uniforms, with parachutes attached to them and doing the final checks on them. An UFO
had been detected over the Sea of Japan, heading for the Korean Peninsula. Although the
interceptors couldn’t get enough speed to catch it and the team hadn’t a Skyranger yet
and wasn’t declared fully operational yet because of that, a contingency had been
developed by the team, who were eager to enter action. Yamashita and his executive
officer had devised one plan to deal with UFOs using classic transportation that
immediately presented to General Illyuschenko. It had risks but the go order was given.
The Far Eastern team had then requested the assistance of an American C-130 which had
been special built for infiltration. The plane had took off from Kadena Air Base and had
picked them up at Complex YY-18, the Far East X-Com’s base situated at the island of
Hokkaido in Japan.
By then the UFO’s flight plan had led him to a location over North Korea, where it had
disappeared off the radars. Since the North Koreans had been considered as an unstable
nation by the national representatives to the X-Com council, they couldn’t let them know
about the threat ask for permission to fly and engage the enemy on their territory. But the
remote area on which it had landed made it a perfect target for a covert operation. But if
they were caught there would be hell to pay.
So they had flew into the sea and them turned almost ninety degrees to the west to enter
North Korea. He hoped that their air defense system didn’t go into alert with the UFO,
but chances of that happening were considered low, since they didn’t know what they
were looking after and their radar technology still dated back to the 70’s.
They would make a low altitude drop over the area after having located the UFO. Then
they would advance and eliminate all opposition, making way for the MH-53J Pave Low
III multi-mission helicopter that would arrive two hours later to pick them and bring as
much as possible from the UFO.
His team was ready, Yamashita thought. They had been eager to fight ever since the
secret ceremony at the Imperial Palace, headed by no loss than the Emperor himself.
Until now he had been a diffuse but worthy of high prestige and devotion to Yamashita,
but after meeting him and hearing his words, he really understood his path. In an
evocation of Japan’s martial past a samurai’s swords had been given to all Japanese
warriors of the X-Com team. He had called them men with a sacred mission, for whom
Japan should pay his respect to warriors who would defend it and Earth. While it
remembered the nation’s recent bloody path it would also mean that the Empire of the
Rising Sun needed all of his soul to survive this threat.
Looking at his men, he noticed that all of them had the Emperor’s swords attached to
them as part of their equipment. The use of the katana hasn’t new to Japanese special
forces, who went to various courses of martial arts in their training, neither was ignored
their potential in close combat. But he saw that this would be the first time that the
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weapon would be unsheathed by them. Their trust in their capabilities of the swords was
total, because of their provenience.
Major Chen had mocked their consideration for the katanas and he was glad that the
insidious man wasn’t here or its sarcasm would be worse to bear when he noticed that
they were bringing the swords to combat. He was a real annoyance. Although Yamashita
was technically a superior to him, his role in the FE team was more of a liaison, so he
wasn’t in command of Chen. Which meant that his attitude was more destructive than
constructive in meetings and around the base. Yamashita remembered in relief that the
Major didn’t have parachute wings, so he wasn’t qualified to accompany them to the
mission. An officer of an elite combat without jump qualifications was something that the
Colonel had never seen before, but he silently just accepted the fact. “Five minutes to
reach North Korea”, his radio informed him. He prepared for finding the UFO and getting
into action.
January 27th, 1999

Operations Center, Area 51, Nevada, US
Johnson and his executive officer were looking through the last reports sent by General
Illyuschenko and the X-Com Command, which was on the process of moving to the
European team’s base, located in an airfield at the Black Forest, Germany.
“The full report from the Japanese team’s raid in North Korea just arrived” Hunt started.
“They managed to capture the UFO, although they had to strip it for parts afterwards and
leave a carcass to the North Koreans. It was too heavy for the helicopter to lift.”
“How many casualties?”
“Three killed and another two in the hospital, one badly injured and the other got off
lightly. And by the way, the one who got lightly was Colonel Yamashita”.
“How did that happened?”
“They sent a grenade inside the craft before storming it. It didn’t kill all the aliens, so he
just burst inside with his sword. There was still a live alien holding one of their pistols
and fired it. However his firing skill must have been shaken because of the grenade, since
he pressed the trigger a bit too early. Yamashita got a scratch on his thigh and the alien
lost his head”.
“Jesus! I hope they aren’t seeing too much ninja movies”.
“Me too”
“What else?”
“Dr. Chevereux’s team in the European base have started their investigations, but it’s too
soon to expect anything from them”.
“Let’s hope they don’t take too long”.
“Our two pilots should be fully recovered next week. What do you want to do with
Harris?”
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“Let’s keep the three of them proficient for Transport and Interceptor roles. That way we
can prevent more situations like this to happen. And Harris has been going very well so
far. Doing everything by the book, acting with his reason. I can’t think of a possible
reason to keep him away from the F-22s”.
“Yeah, I agree with you Colonel”.
“Good. And Hunt?”
“Yes sir?”
“How are the men doing?”
“Losses have been big sir. They are all having a tough time, like we all are accepting that,
but I think all of them will go over it”.
“Let’s hope so. And what about squad assignments? I was thinking of putting King solo
as a sniper. He has proven himself twice in that role”.
“We could replace him on Gamma with Parkerson. The lieutenant is just itching for a
shot at the aliens”.
“Very well. Just make sure he understands that his first preoccupation is to get his men
safe. We have to avoid losses as much as we can, otherwise our operational ability will be
undermined, and I don’t want to get into combat undermanned”.
January 30th, 1999

Far Side of the Moon
The Sectoid Commander had just received orders from High Command considering the
latest attacks on his ships by Sol Three’s forces. Although they were nuisances, with
missions being postponed because of the loss of craft, casualties were expected. And the
message received at the bridge of the huge ship was the programmed response to it.
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Chapter Four – The Cold Weather Front
February 2nd, 1999
Rocky Mountains, Colorado, US
Another UFO had been forced to land by the second interceptor F-22. After the initial
detection by NORAD, Captain Tyrell had scrambled and managed to get a couple of
solid hits into the craft, using Phoenix and AMRAAM missiles, until it had been forced
to land in the middle of the Oregon wood forest. Again, satellite reconnaissance was
down, although Johnson had good maps on the location, and the Washington National
Guard, who had established a one-mile perimeter around the UFO to prevent any aliens
from escaping, was cordoning off the area. But what worried more Johnson was the craft
itself. Instead of being the classic flying saucer or the smaller Apollo type capsule, the
type of this UFO had never been encountered before. According to gun-camera photos
taken by the F-22, this one had the shape of a Celtic cross and was larger. Which
probably mean for a larger crew. God, how many men will die this time, Johnson
wandered. While their two previous missions had been a success, with all the aliens killed
and the UFOs retrieved, so far casualties had been very high. The best armour available
to Earth’s forces was like paper tissue to the alien’s weapons.
He looked around his seat in the Skyranger. All of the team was wearing standard issue
forest uniforms, although it wasn’t really known if the aliens saw in the same wavelength
as humans, which could make the camouflage useless. His men were apprehensive but by
now most of them could be called seasoned after having survived two missions against
the aliens. The team was arranged into the usual four squads, with himself and King
filling up the last remaining slots. Hunt had been left back at the base. The high rate of
casualties had forced the team to leave one of its senior members behind and safe, so that
in the even of a bad mission the North American team wouldn’t become leaderless.
The raid up north to the crash site at Washington State, near Mount Shasta would take
them one hour more. Until that time Johnson tried to relax and rest a bit. They would
need all their energies in the incoming fight.
Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, US

“Where did that came from?” General Bigelow asked the officer in charge of the Air
Defense board.
“Sir, it probably dropped from space in the Pacific and now it must be heading towards
some target near the Mexican border. See its speed? They usually start to reduce their
speed as they come near their intended area of operations, so if we ready an F-22 out of
Dreamland, it should get it still in California, before it crosses the international border”.
“Very well. Alert Area 51”.
Near Catalina Island, Pacific Ocean

A recreational sailing boat was on its way to the archipelago of islands situated in the Los
Angeles bay, hoping to get to the port before sunset and the weather front that was about
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to hit Southern California soon arrived. Suddenly a noise started to be heard by the crew,
coming from the west. They looked at that direction but they never managed to see the
UFO, only the condensation trail it left on the air. Moving at Mach 5 speed, the craft
continued on its intended path to its target.
Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, US

“General? We might have a situation here!” The voice of the controller was
apprehensive.
Bigelow approached the technician. “What is happening?” The appearance of the second
UFO had already increased the level of tension in the room.
“Well the UFO simply disappeared off radar coverage over the Los Angeles metropolitan
area.”
“What? It didn’t reduce its speed?” Something was wrong and everyone on the room
“No, and we have just compared the radar tracks of it with the other ones we have
recorded. This fast mover is bigger than anything we ever saw before”.
“Oh my God!” Bigelow reached for the direct line that would connect him directly to the
National Command Authorities.
White House, Washington D.C., US

President Winston was sleeping when the phone on the side table next to his table started
ringing. His wife turned to the other side and tried to fall into sleep again. After the third
ring he picked it up and answered. He listened to two minutes, and then gave some orders
before rushing out of bed.
Skyranger 1, over Washington State, US

Johnson was going through the last minutes instructions and checklist when his radio
cracked alive. “Colonel Johnson, please acknowledge, over”.
The voice wasn’t from the pilot or Area 51, which puzzled the Colonel. “This is Johnson.
Who is speaking?”
“Just a moment sir. Patching you through to the President”. The President? What was
going on? After some sounds in the channel a voice came on.
“Colonel Johnson, this is President Winston. I’m afraid we’re having a big problem right
now that will require X-Com’s assistance”.
“What is it, sir?”
“We picked up an UFO that rushed to the Los Angeles area, stayed there for some 15
minutes and afterwards immediately took off again to outer space. We immediately
alerted the local authorities. Then, after some minutes, the Los Angeles Police
Department started to report some serious gunfight then in downtown LA”.
“The aliens?”
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“Yes, from what we are receiving they are attacking and killing all people in the area,
policemen or not. They have to be stopped Colonel. I’ve put into federal service the
California National Guard and ordered it to try to contain the aliens to the area. We will
also try to keep the media out of this, although some television reports of the massacre
are starting to came out”.
“Very well sir. My team will proceed to LA at once”
“Thank you Colonel and good luck. All forces available at the location are at your
disposal. Just stop the aliens. Out”
The radio came dead and he called the pilot. “Harris, turn this thing towards the direction
of LA and get us there as fast as possible. Also call Area 51 and have them connect to me
with General Smith and Captain Hunt”.
The pilot acknowledged and after two minutes the radio become alive again. “Hunt here
Colonel. The General is also listening”.
“Gentlemen, we are facing a serious situation. The aliens have launched an attack against
downtown LA. I’m turning the Skyranger around to respond to it, but I will need
reinforcements. General, I need to borrow your fastest plane so that the members of the
team left at the base can link with us at LA”.
“Colonel, are you nuts? Except for Captain Hunt the other two team members are all
rookies. They will be bait for the aliens and you remember the discussions we had about
you deploying your full force”
“General I won’t discuss this any further. Right now it seems that LA is a war zone and I
will need any available asset at my disposal. If you don’t like my orders complain to the
President”
“Colonel, you will get your plane and your men, but I can assure you that we are going to
have a long talk when you get back. Smith out.”
“Hunt, load up the troops with the heaviest equipment they can carry. Also bring some of
those flares we had decided to use and some spare ammo. We don’t know what we will
need to take them this time”
“On the double. Hunt out”
Los Angeles, California, US

After a mad rush down the Pacific coast the Skyranger landed on a driveway in the
middle of a suburban neighborhood in the middle of the night. The landing had been
rough, because of the rain clouds that had just hit Los Angeles and were dropping their
water load over the city. Johnson had decided to find out first what they were dealing
with and coordinate his efforts with the local authorities. When they left the craft fully
armed they were met by the Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department and the Major
in charge of the National Guard unit that had been deployed to the scene. Since X-Com
was a covert operation they couldn’t identify themselves as such, but they had a number
of options to choose. Johnson moved forward.
“I’m Colonel Field of the Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force.”
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”Glad you arrived. We just didn’t knew what else to do” The Chief looked exhausted.
“What is the situation?”
“Well, the terrorists have been confined to the area in front of us. My men are trying to
patrol the roads surrounding them, but it’s a dangerous duty since they have to get cover
to avoid being killed the whole time. Colonel, what are those things? I’ve been hearing
some strange reports from my troops”.
Johnson knew this was coming. “Gentlemen, I can only tell you that this will have to
remain as a secret for matters of national security. We are taking over the situation now,
so just fall back your men to safe positions and avoid confrontation. If we require your
assistance I will ask for it, meanwhile, please stay out of the way”.
“We are already doing that Colonel. The gunfire you are hearing is not from them”. The
sound of automatic weapons being discharged could be heard at the distance. “What is
going on then?”
The Major looked at the Chief, who answered the question: “Have you ever heard of
South Central, LA, Colonel? Well, I couldn’t ever think of any reason why a terrorist
would attack such a neighborhood, but that’s what they are doing. They just stepped into
the territory of some of the nastier gangs that exist in the whole freakin country. And the
homeboys sure don’t like strangers into their territory”.
White House, Washington D.C., US

CNN was one of the first networks to report from LA. Winston and his staff were
listening to the live coverage. A female reporter was nearby the scene, talking to the
camera. “So far authorities have called it a terrorist attack. The media and everyone else
is being forbidden to enter the area and all survivors are being transported to hospitals as
quickly as they reach a military control checkpoint, with the police keeping the reporters
away from them. But some telephone calls have been received from inhabitants of the
area claiming that monsters from outer space are killing everyone. This information has
not been yet confirmed by other sources. And, meanwhile, an unknown plane has landed
nearby the area, in a sealed off road. Polices sources say that federal forces are taking
over the matter, but have refused to provide more information…”
“Let’s wish them luck gentlemen,” Winston whispered with a sigh.
South Central, LA, California, US

Hunt and the two rookies had been divided into the other squads, reinforcing them. As
the team approached the National Guard checkpoint in the middle of the road, they could
see a blown up military truck that was being used as a barricade, in the middle of a large
avenue. Other wrecked and abandoned cars littered the asphalt, completely blocking the
way of any vehicles in or out of the perimeter. As he reached the trooper’s line Johnson
asked: “I’m Colonel Field. Who is in charge here?”
A Captain approached them, navigating through the makeshift barricade and careful to
keep his head down. “That would be me sir, Captain Novalis of the California National
Guard”
“What’s the situation?”
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“Well, we have them contained, more or less. Sometimes one of the gang members
comes running down the avenue, even shooting at us but we take him down with no
problem. The trouble starts when the things appear. They have ray guns or whatever they
are, that blow everything in their path”.
“Are you talking about 5 or 4 feet tall men?”
“I wouldn’t call them exactly “men” sir. But no, those ones are easy to take down if we
can spot them on time and concentrate our firepower on them while taking cover. The
problem is the machines”.
The mention made Johnson worried. “What machines are you talking about?” The
Captain suddenly become alarmed and looked to the direction of the shootings, his face
in terror. “Those ones!”
A sound could be heard from the north, the direction to where the avenue led. As Johnson
turned to his right to see what the Captain was talking about, he blinked make sure his
eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. A low dome had appeared and was slowly coming
towards them. He first thought it was some sort of tank, but then as he looked better he
saw that it was disk shaped and floated in the air. It looked as if it was an UFO in
miniature. Completely polished and smooth, with only a red band on the middle of it.
“Take cover!” The Captain called. The North American team needed no further
encouragement. One second afterwards, the machine started to spit balls of green fire that
punched big holes in the houses and blew up the cars jammed in front of them.
“Squads, everyone fire at the thing!” Johnson ordered.
“It’s useless” The Major replied. “The bullets from our rifles and machine guns have no
effect on them”.
“Let’s try something different then. All men equipped with Cannons switch to HE rounds
and fire at the thing!” After two seconds, on which the cartridges on the weapons were
exchanged, a stream of high explosive fire started to come out of the human line. The
rounds made big holes in the street and its surroundings. When the first one hit the disk it
looked as if it hadn’t affected it. The machine kept on firing back, dispersing his
firepower towards the different attackers. Then, after some more rounds had hit it, it
begun to move backwards.
”It must be damaged. Everyone keep on firing at the thing!”
The remaining members of the team and the National Guardsmen added their weapons
firepower. The disk kept on replying, when suddenly, after being hit by an auto cannon
round, it stopped spinning. It then dropped like a rock to the asphalt and, after a second,
blew into pieces, the noise deafening all humans.
“Jesus Christ! What was that?” Someone asked.
“I don’t know, but I hope it was the last one. Sergeant Hopkins, get Big Momma ready. I
think we might have some use for her”. Although the name of the heavy weapon made it
technically a he, everyone on the team had by now adopted the name given by the
Sarge. A more advanced M3 Carl Gustav launcher had replaced his M72 LAW anti-tank
weapon. Unlike the LAW, which was a one shot only weapon, the M3 could be reloaded.
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“Captain, get on the radio and call for some heavy firepower to be brought down here.
All squads move out! Let’s get this thing over with”.
After clearing the barricade, the team advanced down the avenue carefully on its sides,
looking out for possible snipers. After walking one block down they reached an
intersection with another major street. Johnson activated the team’s radio circuit and
talked into his mike.
“Gamma, take the East road. Alpha, the West. Beta take point. Delta and I will follow
Beta. If something serious shows up, call for backup. Try to protect any civilians but if
they refuse to follow your instructions and fire at you use all necessary force to protect
yourselves. King, get yourself to some high place and start reporting what you see. I need
eyes”. After hearing the instructions the team quickly split into squads and began
patrolling their assigned areas.
**********
Captain Hunt and the rest of Alpha team had been moving for some five minutes until
they reached an area of low buildings which looked deserted, with only dark coming out
of the shop’s windows. He made the team stop and checked the situation. Apparently
there was no activity so he had the squad moving again, only to make them stop after
some seconds when they started smelling a strange scent on the air.
“Captain” Trooper Dennis called “There’s a dropped bug up in the front. I’m going to
check him”. The Sectoid was lying against a phone booth on the right side of the street,
bleeding profusely of bullet wounds all over his body. The rain was washing, a green trail
coming off the alien and traveling over the sidewalk, and moving towards a drain. A gun
was lying next to him, the ozone smell still patent, mixing with the foul stench of the
alien’s inside. “Looks like we might have some help dealing with these creeps”.
“Dennis, take cover! We have some movement up front!” Hunt heard the warning from
one of his men and rushed to one of the shops on the left side of the street. When he
reached it he kicked the door open and checked for possible hostiles while dropping to
his knees and turning to face the new arrivals. All over the street the men of Alpha were
imitating him at the same moment, taking positions in both sides. “Kowalski here.
Humans approaching. I repeat, humans, not aliens”.
“Everyone hold your fire but stay alert” Who were these people up ahead, Hunt thought.
A group of men slowly appeared under the rain. They were all carrying firearms. Hunt
did a quick survey and recognized AK-47 assault rifles, Uzi submachine guns, M-16s and
a lot of other rifles and automatic weapons. He recognized them all from his training,
realizing that they were packing some serious firepower. After the large group
approached X-Com’s position a bit more, one of them in the center, that was carrying an
MP-5 submachine gun, made them all stop and then shouted: “You know where you are,
motherfuckers?”
Hunt replied: “Federal agents! Drop your weapons and leave this location now!”
Their leader, who was only using a tank top, in spite of the rain, and had his arms covered
with tattoos. He probably was on the edge of overdosing from whatever drug, Hunt
thought, because his eyes and face looked as if possessed by some unnatural strength. He
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took a step forward and answered: “Kiss my ass, motherfucker! This is our territory! You
get in here, you gotta pay. You got something to pay pig? See this is not a place for toy
Army soldiers to be at! Ask the little asshole over there. He now knows not to screw with
us!”
“You are in danger! Leave this place at once!”
“Did you get me wrong you fucker?”A new voice interrupted over the radio circuit.
“Captain, King here. I’m at the top of the seven-floor parking building in your two
o’clock position. I can see some alien movement towards your direction.
Shit, Hunt thought. Not only I have to deal with these idiots but also the bad guys are
coming. He turned to warn the gang members “Listen to me! Terrorists are approaching
this location. Get outta here now!”
“Say what motherfucker? You think you can give us orders? Why don’t you try a taste of
this?” He turned the MP-5 into Hunt’s direction but never fired. The blast from the alien
weapon coming from behind that hit his back answered him, while his face contortioned
with pain. He was dead before he crashed into the street. The rest of the gang quickly
started firing back in all directions, including X-Com’s. The squad held back their fire
and just took cover. More bolts cut some more gang members down, but they just kept
firing, the drugs in their metabolisms making them ignore any fear.
Then something unexpected attempted. Hunt watched as one of the gang bangers froze
for one second, standing motionless, his eyes staring at a void. He then turned and started
firing at his companions. He took down many of them until the remaining ones noticied
him and shot back, managing to kill him. The green fire also added to the carnage, cutting
down further the members of the gang. “Alpha, move out! Let’s try to find them while
they deal with the gangsters”.
“Captain, this is Johnson”. The colonel’s voice cut in. “Hold our positions. I’m sending
Delta to hit the aliens from the flank. Prepare to move when they hit”.
All of the squad waited in impatience while the rest of the gang still kept trying to fight
the aliens. Hunt looked. Not only most of them didn’t bothered to take cover, but they
also were unable to concentrate fire on the locations of the aliens. By now he could see
that there were some four aliens, two on each side of the street. He couldn’t guess where
the ones on his side were, but they must be some five buildings away, he calculated,
looking at their fire. More green bolts came, one of them going through the remains of
the expositor and melting some of the remaining glass. He ducked back into the wall and
tuned into Delta’s radio frequency. “Delta, this is Captain Hunt”.
“Garcia here sir, we are approaching your position”.
“There are some four aliens, two on each side of the street. Not many gang members left.
The ones in your side are in the first floor of a warehouse, shooting through the windows.
Take them. Me and Kowalski will try to keep them occupied.”
“Roger”. Hunt moved closer to the window and raised his M4A1 to his shoulder, aiming
for the windows of the warehouse.
“Dennis, you and Evans try to find out where the other two aliens are located. Keep your
heads low”. Hunt then selected full auto fire mode into his weapon and started shooting.
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After a second Kowalski joined him. They both fired several bursts until the aliens started
to change their fire from the remaining gang members to them. A green ball of fire hit the
wall right next to Hunt’s position and he felt a jolt of heat on his face. “Delta, where are
you?”
Garcia and the other members of Delta where approaching the department store from its
rear section. After locating a fire exit, a kick on the door opened it wide open, the squad
members pointing their heavy weapons at the entrance. The explosions and gunfire
coming from the parallel street where the confrontation was occurring muffled the noise
of the kick. They proceeded into the store carefully, checking all corners. After securing
the ground floor, the squad found a set of lifts and a stair.
“Lee, cover the lifts. Anything comes down them you take it down”. The new addition to
the squad positioned over one counter. “The rest of us, let’s get upstairs to give a hand to
Alpha”
“How about if we give ourselves a diversion?” Andrews asked. He went to the lifts and
pressed the button to the first floor on one of them. Garcia understood his intentions. By
the time the automatic doors were closing, they were already running up the stairs, their
cannons ready.
Hunt had to get into cover again. The two aliens were concentrating their fire on him and
Kowalski. The other trooper had been already had a scratch wound on its shoulder. He
was cursing when suddenly the alien gunfire coming from the store ceased, followed by
explosions that could have only come from Delta’s cannons.
When Garcia and the other troopers from Delta got to the first floor, the aliens were
starting to respond to the movement of the elevator. He saw them moving away from the
shattered glass windows and taking cover behind some clothes stand, their weapons
trained to the doors of the lift that were opening. Garcia’s first shot from his heavy
cannon missed the stand and went through the window, exploding to the other side of the
street. He corrected his aim and shot at the counter where the aliens were hiding. The
explosive round hit the plastic furniture straight on its center and exploded it. Both aliens
were thrown backwards without having a chance to react. One of them still managed to
get up but a series of AP rounds from Andrews auto cannon brought him down before it
even had a change to discharge its rifle. Hunt’s radio cracked: “Garcia here. Two hostiles
down in the store”.
“Very well, but just don’t sit on your butts. There’s still another two on the other side of
the street”. Hunt looked over the street. All the gang members had been killed or injured.
His troopers on the other side were taking cover.
“Dennis, Evans. Have you located them?”
“One of them seems to be in a convenience store fifty yards away from your position.
The other one has stopped firing”.
“Captain. Garcia here. We have located both buggers. Our fire must have hit one of them.
The other has taken cover on the store. I don’t think we can hit it”.
“Kowalski, get a grenade ready. On my mark we dash in and take it out of its cover. The
rest of you give us cover. If the ET pokes its head out take him”.
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“Roger”.
“Three, two, one. Go!”
Both soldiers got up of their concealed positions and started running down the street, on
the direction of the convenience store where the alien was hidden. When they were
reaching the entrance gunfire suddenly started coming on their direction and they had to
take cover on another store. “What the fuck?! Who is firing? Delta, hold your fire
dammit!”
“Garcia here. None of us in the first floor have fired, but Lee is not responding to my
calls”. Something very strange was happening, Hunt realized.
“Get someone down there to see what is happening and to make him quit firing!” Hunt
screamed. “Lee what’s your status?!” Hunt kept on barking queries on the radio until a
human scream was heard on the channel. He froze for a second, then his training kicked
in. “Anyone, what is happening there?”
“Andrews here. Garcia took three bullets and he’s down, still alive because the Kevlar
vest stopped the bullets, but he’s going to need some medical attention. Lee shot him
when we were coming down. He didn’t respond to our demands to put down his weapon
so we took him down”.
“Did he go nuts? What happened with him?” Hunt then got his answer. He felt a presence
on his mind, a foreign consciousness that started to creep him, giving him a cold shiver
down his spine. As he was trying to make any sense of it he felt it trying to command his
body. He fought the presence, but it kept getting stronger.
“Aarrrrgghhhhhhhhh!” Kowalski looked at him dazzled by what was happening. Hunt
could see its arm beginning to move by its own. He then realized who was inside his
mind, trying to control his body. Making a over human effort he tried to speak:
“Kowalski. Kill. Alien. Now!” The trooper looked at him for a second and pulled the pin
off the grenade he was holding. He jumped out of the broken window, approached the
door in the next building with caution and threw the grenade into the convenience store.
Hunt immediately felt the presence go away. The grenade bounced for some seconds then
went off with a bang. Hunt didn’t pay attention. He started to feel back his body, to be in
touch with the outside world. Then a voice interrupted him.
”Captain, are you all right?” Kowalski was looking at him, his rifle pointing on his
direction. “Yes Kowalsky, I think that now I am, thank you”.
“Sir, then could you please then put the pin back into the grenade you are holding?” Hunt
looked at his hands. He hadn’t noticed that the force that had taken over him had made
him pull the pin. Fortunately, the alien had been killed before it had forced Hunt to drop
the explosive.
“Yes Kowalski.” He disarmed the grenade and then he remembered: “The alien?”
Underneath the camouflage paint applied over his face the troopers’ eyes seemed to relax.
“Blown into pieces sir”.
“Very well” He turned into his mike. “Delta and Alpha, let’s regroup. Andrews, how is
Garcia?”
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“He’s a little banged up. Might have bruised something he needs to be checked out”.
“Can he walk?”
“Yes, he’s conscious and swearing as hell. I think I would prefer if he stayed out”.
“And Lee?”
“Dead. We had to take him down, since he refused to lay down his weapon and
surrender”.
“Ok, Andrews, bring Garcia down. Kowalski, you and Garcia head back into the police
perimeter to get some medical attention. All the others let’s check the gang members to
see if there’s any survivors”.
Kowalski turned to Hunt, still unsure of that his superior was completely recovered from
the ordeal: “Captain, what in Earth happened to you, Lee and the gang member that we
saw cutting down his comrades?”
“I think the aliens might possess some form of mind control, Kowalski. We need to alert
the other squads”. He keyed his mike. “Colonel are you there? Over”.
*********
While Alpha and Delta where fighting the gang and the group of aliens, Gunny Hopkins
was considering the options for his squad. King had given a warning on the radio that he
had spotted two of the alien’s flying disks approaching Beta’s position. He quickly gave
orders to the remaining members of the squad to set an ambush on the enemy forces that
where approaching.
Beta squad was in an area of low-income houses, in a typical street of the area, with wire
fences separating the houses, broken phone booths and walls full of graffiti. Some lights
could be seen in the inside of the houses, but overall the place looked deserted and
trashed. A lot of vacant parking space told Hopkins that the majority of the people who
lived on the street had probably been able to flee the area when the fighting begun.
Others weren’t so lucky and their bodies still laid on the sidewalk, hit from behind by the
alien’s weapons as they tried to escape. The stench of burned human flesh was terrible
and some abandoned dogs were already feeding themselves on the bodies. Hopkins
wanted to drive them away, the repulsion getting to him, but the aliens were just too
close. From the indications King had given him, the logical route for the alien machine to
enter this urbanized area would be through a side street that connected it to a major
avenue on the left. He had set himself and another member of Beta on a front yard where
the bushes that made the fence would give them some cover. The other two members of
Beta had dashed along the street to set themselves on the other end, with the side street
between both teams. When the disk entered the street they would get its attention by
shooting at it, at King’s signal. Then he would bring Big Momma into action and those
damn aliens would see how harsh she spoke when angry.
**********
“Talk to me Jones, what to do you see?”
“Colonel, the gas station looks as good as dead. I can’t see any movement”.
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Johnson had sent Delta to support Alpha some five minutes ago. For now he had no
reserve firepower available and while the gas station in front of him looked deserted, he
had a creepy feeling going inside him that told him that something might be hidden in
there. The aliens must have hit some power lines in this area, because the streetlights
were completely out, he thought. And their superior night vision would only give them an
advantage that Johnson disliked very much. In front of them, the street they had been
walking on for some time ended in a T crossroad some ninety yards away, with a gas
station on the top left side of the T. The area again showed signs of urban decay and
behind the station he could see what looked like abandoned warehouses. Some cars were
still burning on the street, in spite of the rain that now had turned into a small shower, and
that was the only light available. He was reluctant to sent a scout ahead because he knew
how good the aliens were at picking up the point men. Or worse, they could wait for all
of Beta’s squad to be out in the open and drop them without any effort or warning to his
squad. He was considering if he should call Gamma and Hopkins’ Big Momma to give
them some real fire support.
“Colonel, I’ve just picked alien movement at 2 o’clock” King’s voice was almost
imperceptible. Johnson became tense. They could be heading into a major confrontation
and he knew that he was lacking firepower to deal with the situation.
“How many and what’s their direction?”
“Two disks. I’ve lost them now, but they were heading towards Gamma position”. That
was bad news, Johnson considered. “Warn Hopkins to get ready”
“Yes sir”
“Colonel?” Johnson recognized Rodriguez’s accent to the squad’s radio channel. “Yes
Rodriguez?”
“Sir, me and Jones just had an idea to see what’s hiding over there”.
“Tell me about it”
“Well, I could get into one of the cars on the street, start it running and sent it over on that
direction. The aliens would sure react to it if some one of them is hiding over there”
“And where would you get the keys?”
“No need for that sir. I’ll manage without them”. Johnson wondered exactly what would
he do then decided that he really didn’t care. “Very well, you and Jones start working on
that. Me and Parkerson will give you cover.”
Both troopers approached a 1970’s Cadillac that was parked on the right side of the
street. Rodriguez tried the passenger’s door and, after seeing it was locked, used the butt
of his M4A1 to smash the glass. He then unlocked the door and rushed inside the vehicle,
while Jones waited outside, using the door as cover. After some seconds where Johnson
couldn’t what was happening inside, he began to hear Rodriguez starting up the engine.
Johnson worried that the noise would alert the aliens, but no reaction came from the gas
station. Rodriguez exited the car and both troopers began to push it to the middle of the
street, pointed towards the station. The Hispanic trooper then ripped a long piece of cloth
from his uniform and used it to secure the driving wheel, while Jones brought a big rock
that was standing in a lawn.
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“All ready sir and I’ve rigged the car with a grenade. When it hits something, the thing
will go boom and hopefully take some of them with it”.
“Do it then Rodriguez”.
“Roger that”. He engaged the gear and put the rock on the accelerator pedal while he and
Jones begun to move alongside the car, using the open door to give them some cover.
Johnson and Parkerson waited with their weapons ready. As the Cadillac was halfway a
green light suddenly erupted from one of the windows in the gas station heading towards
the Cadillac. It hit the vehicle on the front, close to the driver’s door, but didn’t alter his
course or speed.
“Get out of there both of you! Take cover!” Johnson screamed as he and Parkerson begun
pouring automatic fire from their weapons. The bullets flew the distance between their
position and the alien’s and started pocketing the walls and inside of the store with holes.
More hellish green fire began to come out of the area, now from other places in the
station.
“King here. I’ve just taken down one of them that was on the roof hidden and that started
to move when he saw the car. There must be two or three more inside the station”.
Johnston barely paid him any attention as he was trying to direct his fire in response to
the alien’s. Another green bolt hit the car on the windscreen and another in the driver’s
door, now ripping it out of the car. The Cadillac’s trajectory begun to change after some
seconds it hit a immobile minivan that was near the station and had been burning since
they arrived at the scene. The grenade went off some moments later, completely ripping
the inside of the car. Johnson was about to start giving orders when he sensed Parkerson
on his side suddenly get up and start firing in every direction. He looked at the lieutenant.
The man had a livid expression on his face as if he was panicking. “Parkerson, hold your
fire dammit! You will hit Jones and Rodriguez if you continue like that!”
The lieutenant simply ignored him and Johnson threw himself on his figure, knocking
him down and making him drop his weapon. “What’s the matter with you?” We
wondered what could have made Parkerson panicking like that, especially since the man
had combat experience and never had shown an inclination of losing his control.
“Are you better now?”
“Y….yes s…sir”. The junior officer’s voice was shaky.
“Good. Get your weapon and give me a hand here then!” Johnson then turned into the
station’s direction and was looked at the situation. The aliens were pretty much trapped
into the building, unless it had a back door. He needed to get his men close and use some
grenades to dislodge the aliens. He almost disregarded the click of a pistol being armed
right next to him. As he turned to look back into the Lieutenant he only saw the barrel of
the junior officer’s M9 pistol pointed directly at him.
*********
Hopkins only had to wait for some tense seconds until the first alien disk appeared
coming off the side street as he had expected it to. The second disk was nowhere to be
seen and he decided to wait. “Everyone hold your fire and stay put!” The disk had
stopped in the middle of the street and Hopkins could imagine it to be assessing the
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situation. After some tense seconds it started to move again, this time in his direction.
“Shit!” He thought. In a few more seconds it would get too close to him and Taylor, who
were hidden behind a passenger car. He only had one option.
He clicked his squad’s channel. “Deck, Miller, get his attention”. Both troopers started
firing at the disk from their concealed positions at the Sarge’s order. When the first
bullets hit the machine it stopped moving, as if it was assessing the threat. Hopkins could
see it through the aiming sight of Big Momma, simply ignoring Beta’s automatic fire as if
it had no effect on it. He trained the weapon into it and checked the range: 60 yards. A bit
too close for what he would have liked, but still inside the minimum safety range. He
pressed the trigger while shouting to Taylor to duck.
The 84-milimeter rocket ignited and flew out of the M3 launcher taking less than a
second to hit the disk. When the shaped charged warhead it the alien machine it moulded
itself for a millisecond on its surface before igniting. The explosion whooshed over the
area and for one second the disk looked as if it was still operating, before it suddenly
dropped off the air and hit the asphalt making a clank sound. Hopkins raised his head to
see it better. It looked the rocket had penetrated the inside of the disk and wrecked it. But
what about the second one?
**********
Johnson thought that he was going to die when suddenly Parkerson’s head exploded as a
7.62 caliber bullet crossed his skull from one ear to another, with blood and pieces of his
brain coming out the exit wound. The lieutenant’s body dropped to the ground, lifeless.
Johnson was speechless for one second, the shock of seeing the pistol’s barrel so close
paralyzing him. Until he was brought back to reality by a voice on his radio. “Colonel,
are you all right? What happened?”
King, he recognized the voice. “King, did you dropped the lieutenant?”
“Yes sir. I had noticed the scuffle when he went bezerk and started firing everywhere.
When you decked him I kept paying attention and as I saw him taking his pistol out of the
holster and starting to point it at you I took him down as fast as I could”.
“Thank you King. I don’t know what happened to him, but you saved my life”. A new
voice came into the channel: “Rodriguez here! Jones just dropped his weapon and started
running away!”
“What the fuck is going on?” Johnson swore, feeling that the situation was getting out of
his control. A blast nearby his position told him what he needed to do, to get his priorities
straight. First the damned aliens on the gas station. Then they would discover about the
rest. He looked at the place. There were still aliens inside, and while they must be trapped
he also now couldn’t just storm the place because half of Gamma squad was dead or
missing. If Hopkins was here they could just send him a rocket and blew the place apart.
But he hadn’t communicated since when the disks had been seen approaching his
position so he assumed that he could be also in trouble or with his hands too occupied.
Then Johnson had an idea. He started ordering his men as he pointed his rifle.
“King, Rodriguez, start firing on the gas hoses. Make them blew up!” The string of
automatic fire from X-Com changed from the inside of the station to the gas meters
outside. After a few seconds one of them began spitting gas. A spark from one of the
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bullets hitting the pavement did the rest. The fire quickly spread in the gasoline that was
pouring out of the meters. When the flames hit the underground deposit tank the whole
place went up in a massive explosion, with the shockwave throwing cars around and
making Rodriguez fall into the ground. While Johnson was wait enough to not be
affected by it, he still could feel the heat of the explosion as it expanded across the air,
despite the light mist that was still in the area.
“Jesus Christ!” King had left his mike opened. “Anyone cares for some roasted alien for
supper?”
“I sincerely hope none of them managed to get out of that inferno alive” Johnson added.
“Rodriguez link up with me. Let’s try to find Jones or its remains”.
**********
The second disk suddenly appeared on the air out of nowhere, near Deck and Miller’s
concealed position, and positioned itself over the house where both troopers had taken
cover. Hopkins tried to give a warning in the radio but it was too late. He couldn’t either
use Big Momma since the thing didn’t had any rocket loaded into it and the thing was too
close to his men. He saw a green fireball coming out of a concealed weapon on his
surface and hitting the area behind the fence where both troops were hidden. Gunfire
started coming from that position and hitting the disk but it had no effect on it. After a
second fireball had left the machine and hit the same area, the firing stopped. Hopkins
didn’t waste time mourning the loss of his men. He picked up another rocket and
reloaded Big Momma.
Meanwhile the second disk was already moving in the air, heading towards their position.
Taylor suddenly got up, dropped his weapon and started running in panic towards the
door of the house behind them. “Taylor, get back here dammit!” Hopkins barked.
He never made it into the porch. The disk stopped its motion and let loose another ball of
green death that hit him in the back. The energy of the beam consumed the Kevlar vest of
Taylor and his back, killing him instantly.
Hopkins looked at the thing, feeling that he was losing his control also. He took a deep
breath and his motions went into automatic mode. Looking through the gun sight he
checked the range, 35 yards and closing. His fingers released the safety and he gave a last
look at the distance: 12 yards, almost inside minimum range. He then pressed the trigger,
the blasts of the alien machine rocketing the car and almost making him miss his target.
The rocket barely had time to arm itself before it hit the disk. Hopkins tried to duck, but a
world of light, heat and noise took him over and he passed out into the darkness.
By the time Johnson and Rodriguez had linked up they saw Jones coming out behind a
garage building. Johnson ordered him to halt with his weapon trained on him before he
arrived. “What’s the matter Colonel? It’s me for Christ sake!”
“What happened back there trooper?”
“I don’t know sir. I suddenly felt this panic that I couldn’t control. Never in my years of
service have I felt something like that”.
“Are you all right now?”
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“Well yes, I think so”.
“We will talk about this later at the base then. Get your weapon and help out Garcia
going through the remains of the station to see what we can salvage”.
“Yessir”. As Jones was walking back to his position to retrieve his weapon, Johnson’s
earphone become alive with a radio transmission. “Colonel are you there? Over”.
“I’m here Hunt. What’s going on there?”
“All the aliens here are dead. And a lot of gang bangers also. We also lost Lee and
Kowalski and Garcia are injured”.
“Three casualties? What happened?”
“Sir, this will sound strange, and I hardly believe it myself, but the aliens seemed to be
able to exert mind control on us. Lee just suddenly starting firing at us with no apparent
reason. Garcia was luckily but his bullet proof vest absorbed most of the energy of the
shots. Still he got hurt badly and was bitching as hell when I sent him back”.
Johnson thought about it for a second and answered back. “After Parkerson tried to kill
me here with no apparent reason also I’m a bit more open to that explanation than I
would normally be, Hunt. But this will have to be discussed in debriefing, now we still
have a job to do”.
“Very well, sir. What’s your orders?”
“Do a final sweep of the area and then fall back to the Guard perimeter line”.
“Yes sir. Colonel, any word from Gamma?”
“No”. He chose the squad’s frequency on his radio. “Hopkins are you there?” The only
answer to Johnson’s call was silence.
February 3rd, 1999

The White House, Washington D.C., US
It had taken near ten hours of fighting to clear South Central of the aliens. But after X-
Com’s intervention, the Army had finally be able to deal with the few remaining aliens.
A full brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division had been emergently deployed to the area
and was now finishing the clean up, together with the LAPD and the National Guard
units already deployed to the scene. The X-Com North American team was on its way
back to Area 51 and Winston had already given his gratefulness to Colonel Johnson’s
actions and help, and his regrets for his lost men and women.
But the problems weren’t by any chance near their end. Besides the military and police
casualties there were the deaths of civilians. Hundreds, possibly thousands of inhabitants
of the area had been killed, the majority of them simply gunned down by the aliens while
trying to escape. The others had tried to put up some resistance, but their efforts had been
unsuccessful. As he was looking through the television scenes together with its staff,
Winston was numb, incapable of showing any reaction. A female reporter, her hair and
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makeup showing the number of hours that she must have been awaken up, was making a
live transmission just outside the containment perimeter.
“So far the number of casualties is growing. We got word that all hospitals in the LA and
Orange County area have been warned to receive large numbers of injured. Military
authorities in the area are calling it the worst terrorist attack in the United States. But
some of the survivors claim that this was an extraterrestrial invasion, no matter how
absurd that claim might sound.” After a second, the image of a survivor replaced the one
of the female reporter. He was a man on his middle thirties that was wearing a rag around
his head to cover an injury. The blood had run down the side of this head and had made a
large stain on his shirt at his shoulder. He was still in a state of shock and was speaking
very fast.
“They just started coming down the street and shooting at everybody! They would go
from house to house and kill everyone! And when we tried to run they just kept
shooting!”
“Sir who were they?” The reporter’s voice asked.
“Monsters! Extraterrestrials! Like the pictures of the ones who come on National
Enquirer! Small with big black eyes! And their UFOs were also there shooting at
people!” Winston decided he had enough and turned the television set off.
“Sir, I just talked to the Army Commander at the scene” The Chairman of the JCS cut
through the silence “He reports all the aliens have been terminated. Cleanup operations
are starting right now”.
“Casualties?”
“Too early to know for sure. They estimate hundreds, possibly thousands”.
“And things will only get worse from here” The voice of the Adviser for National
Security cut in. “We all know that Candace, but we had no choice”
“In any case sir, we need to take measures to deal with the threat this represents. We need
to distract the media from it”.
“And who do we do that?”
“We offer them a logical explanation for what people think they saw. Link this to the end
of the millennium and how people are getting anxious about it. Blame it to some extreme
Arab group. It will be easier for the ordinary people to accept that than to acknowledge
that aliens exist and that they are a threat to us. See the mention he made to the tabloid
press? Normal folks will look at him thinking that he just got too addicted into conspiracy
theories”.
“And what when other events like this happen?”
“Sir, you know my opinion on the course of action that the UN decided to undertake. Not
only this escalation could get into out of control proportions but we are also endangering
our national security, by allowing X-Com to have so much access to our resources”.
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“I already know your opinion Candace, and quite frankly, I would still make the same
choice of signing the X-Com pact today. Our regular forces aren’t prepared to deal with
such a situation”.
“Nothing that couldn’t be changed Mr. President”.
“This discussion is meaningless. Right now we have a very political and emergency
situation to deal with”.
Area 51, Nevada, US

Johnson was still extremely tired. He had barely managed to get a few hours of sleep in
the time after the arrival of the team at the base. He had been ordered by Commander
Illyuschenko to present afterwards a full report on the engagement and he was about to
do it right now by videoconference on the reunions room, together with Hunt. The
electronic wall of the conference became lit and the half body figure of Illyuschenko
appeared. They now all were X-Com uniforms, composed of black pants and jacket.
Illyuschenko looked more somber than ever on that suit. His salt and pepper hair gave
him the look of experience and someone who looked at him from behind might have been
fooled into thinking he was starting to be off his prime. But his blue Slavic eyes told
exactly the opposite, carrying an immense will and power. On neck collar a simple
insignia denoted his rank in X-Com. A mixture of a skull and the letter X, it had been
personally designed by Illyuschenko and marked him as supreme military commander of
the force.
“Colonel, I know this is hard to do right now and I’m sorry for the loss of your men, but
your initial report said some disturbing things”.
“Yes General, pardon me, Commander. Captain Hunt and me strongly believe that the
aliens have powers that allow them to panic our forces and even take mind control of
humans. We had to kill two of our men because they suddenly started firing at us. And if
they were previous infiltrators they could have done it in more suitable conditions that
would probably make their actions undiscovered and blame it to alien action”.
“I see”.
“Captain Hunt says that he was affected to, but that when the only alien still alive on the
scene was killed the interference he felt on his head disappeared. I’ve talked to Dr.
Mantell about it. He will look at the remains of the aliens we brought back to see if
there’s some biological proof to that”.
“But not all the aliens seem to present that ability it would seem them. It was the first
time X-Com ever encountered anything like that”.
“That is true sir”.
“Very well, I shall issue warnings to all the teams. What about your losses?”
Johnson looked at Hunt, who was the responsible for the operations. The Captain sighted
and started speaking. “We had five men killed in action and three others injured. Gamma
team was almost wiped out, with Sergeant Hopkins being the only survivor, although he
has suffered burns and blacked out because he discharged his rocket launcher a bit too
close. They still managed to kill two of the alien’s cybernetic disks. Lieutenant Parkerson
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and Trooper Lee had to be put down by our own forces”. He paused a bit. “And two other
men got injured, although one of them will be able to come back to active duty in a few
days. Overall we only have ten men available right now, and that’s including the Colonel
and myself. I’ve started the recruitment procedures to fill up the losses, but it might take a
full week before we are operational”.
“What will you need from me?”
“Sir, we need better protection for our troops. Otherwise we are just sending cannon
fodder on missions”.
“I got a report from Dr. Chevereux a couple of days ago. Apparently his team has
managed to figure out the composition of the materials that the aliens use. He said that he
might be able to develop metallurgical methods to work the alloys into some form of
body protection”.
“That would be excellent sir. If those metals allow them to travel into space, they might
also give us more protection against the weapons they use”.
“That reminds me of the second part of his report. They have disassembled some of their
weapons and are trying to figure them out, but so far they have no clue of how or where
they should start”.
“Protection for now will do fine sir. The Sectoids and the flying disks can be killed by
Earth weapons.” The Colonel added. “But we don’t know what surprises they still have
so we need to be prepared to deal with them”.
“Very well. Captain, now I have an assignment for you. After you are done with that I
want you to present yourself to the new North American base. I just got off the phone
with the UN Secretary who had before been talking to your President. Mr. Winston
expressed him the need to activate the second North American team. And, quite frankly I
agree with him, since the installations at the Appalachian Mountains are near complete”.
Johnson was hearing it and didn’t like that they hadn’t asked for his opinion on that. “Sir,
if I might ask, who will command that base? I don’t think Captain Hunt has enough
experience for it, no offence meant there Hunt, even if he’s a fine executive officer”.
“I agree with that judgment, Colonel, that’s why your government proposed another
officer to be responsible for it. They want it to be as fully operational as possible. The
attack on LA scared a lot of people”.
“And who is he?”
“Colonel Jackson of the your 101st Air Assault Division”. Shit, Johnson thought. While
he had heard of Jackson’s reputation during the Gulf War when he was still a Captain, he
also thought the men’s actions were a bit reckless. And on this war they didn’t have a
military advantage like against the Iraqis.
“Sir, I don’t know if he has the necessary attitude for this type of assignment”.
“Colonel, as you know it’s up to the national governments to propose military officers for
the command of each base. While I can and will refuse the offers, if I strongly object the
quality of the men sent to me, there’s no reason to get ourselves involved into political
arguments with our sponsors”.
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“But in his case his reputation precedes him, sir, if you’re not aware”.
“My reputation preceded me when I got picked for this job. I’ve seen Colonel Jackson’s
file and he seems to have all the necessary skills”.
“Still, I wish to make an objection, sir”.
“It will be taken into account. Anything else?”
“Sir, please consider it”.
“Let me tell you what I’m considering right now, Colonel. About three days ago the
Russian X-Com team successfully recovered its first UFO. You have seen the report.
What you don’t know is that the team of Colonel Boronin almost got itself into an armed
confrontation with the forces of my country that were sent to help out the operation. As
he told me, they were adamant in keeping possession of the UFO and tried to move it to
another place. He only managed to resolve the situation, by, like you Americans say,
making a bluff and telling my nation’s forces that the craft was highly unstable and could
explode if there weren’t taken necessary precaution measures”.
“Sir, I didn’t knew that”.
“I’m telling you this to let both of you know that political interference is already going
over the limit of what I would have wished. Every damn country has its own demands
and agenda, and some of them conflict ours. Now, although this man is a Cold War
hardliner and with no doubt was chosen because of that, he is capable of the mission. If
we start bickering about it, pretty soon you will find out that your armed forces may not
be as cooperative as they were before”.
“I apologize then, sir”. However Johnson was still not convinced.
“Don’t. It isn’t necessary. My job is to deal with this sort of situation. Yours is getting
your team ready and to help win this war”.
February 4th, 1999

Mother One, Black Forest, Germany
The German government had given to the European X-Com’s team complete control over
a secret research facility located in the middle of the Black Forest. It had taken more than
two months to equip it with the necessary accommodations for the military team, but the
scientific elements of the unit where already in place and feverously working on the
pieces of equipment retrieved from the initial crash sites in North America. The arrival of
Dr. Chevereux had merely galvanized them more, if not for his work methods, which Eva
Johannes thought they were almost tyrannical. Still he could listen to arguments and
agree on them.
She had been invited to be a part of the team right after the Geneva summit, which she
had immediately accepted. She didn’t have yet much research experience because she
had only finished her doctorate a couple of years ago in Particle Physics on the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Still, she had been the number one student at her
class in University and had finished her doctorate with one of the highest grades. They
probably had picked her up also because she was young and open to new ideas. Which
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she desperately needed at the moment, because the alien technology didn’t make any
sense to human science.
The general consensus in the team about the role of the metal cylinders found on the
UFOs was that they should be the propulsion system. But after disassembling one of
them they discovered that there weren’t any mechanical devices like the ones found on
engines on Earth. Which mean that the energy generated by them should be some sort of
anti-gravity system. They even had a clue about what was the source of the power: the
golden crystals found in one of the sections of the engine. They had been also found
inside what seemed to be the ammunition containers for each alien weapon. Still, they
were waiting for the results of the examples sent to several research physics and
chemistry labs all over the world to determine what were the crystals made of.
And that’s what all the team was now doing. Dr. Chevereux had just received the results
and had call of them for a presentation in one of the base’s laboratories.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it seems that the golden material has been identified by our
colleagues at the Los Alamos Research Lab in America and CERN at Switzerland. They
were most anxious to know where it had came from but I managed to convince them it
had been found in a natural status, which as you will see might be a bit unreal but its
better than the real explanation” He paused. “As we had suspected but didn’t have here
the necessary equipment to prove it, it is a super heavy element, not found naturally on
Earth and, to be even more strange, it is in a pure form, with no other elements”.
“That is impossible!” Someone cried out.
“If you recall it, the theory predicts that after a certain point in the periodic table these
elements become stable and not decay immediately into lighter elements”.
“Yes, but so far we have only managed to make a few atoms of those in lab conditions
and it is months of work. It would have to be something completely heavier than we
know right now”.
“Actually no. The element present here is Ununpentium, that occupies the 115th position
on the periodic table of elements”.
“But scientists have already fabricated atoms of it and it quickly decays into lighter
elements”. The scientist argued.
“Yes, true. But in this case the atomic mass, or the number of neutrons it possesses, is
different from the one that we artificially manufactured at a lab on Earth. And it has some
chemical qualities that make it akin to carbon, which explains its ability to form perfect
crystals”.
“Do they have any indication on how it does release energy to move the craft or to fire
weapons?” Eva asked.
“None. That’s for you to discover. Somewhere on Ununpentium lays the key to the
human race survival and the conquest of the stars”.
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February 5th, 1999
Number Two looked at the Thames River from the window at his office for a brief
moment then considered his plan. While the X-Com’s operation against the alien terrorist
raid had seemed to please the faction that was against the force because of the heavy
casualties it had suffered he saw things different. They had only proven to him again the
validity of his plan, although they were too blind to see. If the problems with the quality
of X-Com’s equipment not matching up with the aliens could be resolved, or at least a bit
minimized, the team could stand up better against the aliens and not suffer so much
attrition.
But it would have to be done in such a way that could never be discovered by the Group.
If they knew of X-Com receiving foreign assistance all eyes would be turned on him and
he would be discovered immediately and killed.
February 10th, 1999

Area 51, Nevada, US
While waiting for Williams to disembark the jet plane that had brought him from
Washington at his request, Johnson thought if the intelligence officer could be trusted.
Although he still disliked the man’s presence and his functions he tried to refrain from
showing them and not letting them disturb his best judgment. He felt the man could be
trusted, even if he might kept things a secret from Johnson as he pleased. Williams
unbounded the craft and joined Johnson on the tarmac.
“Good to see you Colonel” He extended his right hand.
“Welcome back to Area 51 Mr. Williams” Johnson took it, still unsure of his decision to
inform Williams of what had happened the day before. “This way please and let’s get this
done with”. .
Five minutes later they were into one of the underground cargo stores of the base.
Johnson being careful to check if anyone was following their path. They were joined by
Dr. Mantell a couple of minutes later. Williams was puzzled about the place for the
meeting for a second but then he realized that something important had come up and
Johnson wanted to make sure no one was listening.
“Mr. Williams, yesterday Dr. Mantell was approached by a stranger as he took a trip to
the town of Nellis”
“Didn’t he had a security escort?!”
“Yes he had, but he never actually saw the stranger, only took knowledge of his
messages”.
“What do you mean?”
“If I might,” Mantell started “When me and the two escorts went to have lunch at a
restaurant I noticed something written on my menu that intrigued me. It said, written in
almost imperceptible letters, with every phrase written between items on the menu:
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“Package under your seat with valuable data. Don’t tell anyone of how you got it. If you
want to stay safe”.
“What did you do?”
“I ignored it, thinking it was some sort of prank. We ordered and the food came, with
nothing extraordinary happening. But when I got to see the bottom of the plate, after
eating it off the food, there was another writing on it. It said: “It is not a joke!” When I
saw that I dropped my arm and pretended to pick up something off the floor. But I instead
reached underneath my chair. There was a package there”.
“Jesus Christ, and you have no idea of who gave it to you?”
“No, I doubt the waitress had anything to do with it”.
“What did you do?”
“I pulled it off and dropped it into a bag full of things I had been shopping in the town. I
only opened it when I later reached my quarters”.
“What did it contained?”
“A set of papers relating to laser technology”.
“That’s nothing extraordinary, we can make lasers for decades”.
“Not this type of laser. If the theoretical assumptions are correct on the documents I
received, we can make a laser powerful enough to be discharged in Earth’s atmosphere
and carry its destructive energy for miles”.
“That was the one concept of the concepts looked over by the defunct Star Wars program.
The Russians have already managed to do that”.
“But by having to use major installations and an immense use of electrical power. What
this papers point out is solutions on how to built a laser that could be portable”.
“That is unbelievable”. Williams’s mind was getting into full gear with what he was
listening. “Like I said, we are still checking the theory”
“We?”
“My scientific staff”.
“They know about it already?”
“Only the technical aspects of it. I presented them with the basic theory and nothing else.
Told them I had another one of my mad ideas. Some were thrilled; the majority thought it
was the more usual wild goose chase. They are actually recreating all the work being
done for those papers, but without knowing. It is a bit like to be teaching. When they are
in doubt or error, you make then think again without telling the answer. They usually find
the mistake in their logic and correct it”.
“I still think that you should have waited. Who is this mysterious friend that suddenly has
appeared? For whom does he or she work for?”
“Mr. Williams”, Johnson interrupted, “Dr. Mantell consulted with me first and I agreed
with his suggestions. So far only the three of us know about this, plus Commander
Illyuschenko. And if this works my troopers will be better equipped to deal with the
aliens. Besides, if someone is helping us, why should we question it? I have better things
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to do than to play spy games, like winning a war for instance!” He was starting to feel a
bit angry.
“Colonel, I too wish to win this war, but there’s more here than appears to the eye, even
for us spies. We might one day be at the brink of winning the war military only to
discover later that they have won it in a scale what we didn’t imagine. Why would
someone in Earth possess such important information and it had never come out to public
before?” And then it hit Williams straight on the head. Because someone had a deep
interest in keeping Earth away from that technology the same way I tried to conceal the
alien’s operations for decades! Which meant that they had established contact with
human society before and probably both sides still are interacting. But why releasing such
information now?
“Mr. Williams are you all right?”
“I just came up with a most disturbing thought gentlemen. Unfortunately I can’t share it
with you for now. Like you said, you have better things to do than to play spy games.
Those are for me”.
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Chapter Five – Small Cat, Bug Mice
February 12th, 1999
New York City, US
The redaction room of the New York Times was almost deserted at two oclock in the
morning, but Evan Blake didn’t care too much about company or how late it was. He had
been assigned to cover the terrorist attack on Los Angeles the week before, but so far he
had come up with almost a complete blank relating to the subject. The whole area was
still being cordoned off by the military, on the basis of the possible existence of chemical
weapons being left over by the terrorists. While the justification seemed to please most
people around, Blake wasn’t fully satisfied by it. He had flow the day after the attack to
the city and talked to inhabitants of the area who had given him terrifying stories about
extraterrestrials and their war machines, in a way that reminded Blake of the descriptions
made by H.G. Wells on his novel War of the Worlds. While the victims he interrogated
were still in a state of shock and their accounts could be easily dismissed, others were
more disturbing. A couple of connections on the LAPD and the California National
Guard had admitted, off the record, that there had been some strange events that night but
declined to further comment on the issue, claiming matters of national security. He had
also been informed that a special anti-terrorist task team had deal with the attackers and
that the aircraft were they arrived and their weapons where something never been seen by
the government officials involved. Later inquiries with the Department of Defence, FBI,
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and DEA had come to zero, with all
agencies denying the existence of such a force. From where was that team then, he asked.
And where did they go afterwards?
He adjusted his glasses and looked at the computer monitor in front of him. Two military
officers could be seen outside a jet aircraft the likes of which Blake had never seen on his
career. Other images showed men helping out wounded comrades board the aircraft,
which was parked on a regular street, carrying some strange looking weapons. He had
their existence confirmed on film. Although there wasn’t any pictures or footage of the
attackers, since all had been confiscated by the military or the folks in the area had been
too busy surviving than having the time to take a photo, a news crew from a local
television station had filmed the departure of the team. It had been aired, but in the
middle of all the confusion surrounding the attack, the media and the public had simply
looked at it with no greater significance. Even his editor had dismissed the images, telling
Blake to worry more about next day’s paper and not to pay attention to crackpot alien
stories.
But there was more to the eye here than it seemed, Blake had decided. The news agencies
and the media in general hadn’t really picked up the subject yet, but the Web was full of
reports of UFOs all over the world. The subject had been deemed with a mere curiosity
from the media, as a last resort measure to fill up the remaining spot in a news program
or a small article in the last page of the paper. But they were pilling up and this just
seemed like more than tabloid press stuff.
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When his computer beeped, letting him know that he had just received an email, Blake let
go of a comment: “It was about time!” None of the few reporters in the huge room care to
take notice of it. At that hour in the night if you were in the room it meant a huge amount
of work to be done and everyone was well familiar with the occasional moments of
desperation.
He had sent the images to a friend he had on the Department of Defense in order to get an
identification of the military and weapons involved. Now the reply had arrived, it
seemed. He used the mouse to open the email and took a deep look at the monitor. It
read:
“From:magicdragon@rocketmail.com
Date:Friday, February 12th, 1999
To:eblake@nytimes.com
Subject:Take a look at our web pages – Completely free!
Evan,
I’ve checked the items you have sent me against available records. I could have gotten
myself into a lot of trouble, so next time don’t even ask for it. The craft present in the
pictures have been identified as a Yak-155 Skyranger, the latest Russian transport
aircraft, capable of vertical take-off and landing. It isn’t supposed to be in service yet.
And both the large weapons are latest Russian personal infantry cannons. The white
circle with a red X that was visible on the craft painted on its side wasn’t been identified
as any known insignia of any army or unit.
One of the two officers in the images has been positively identified as Colonel Erwin
Johnson, of the US Army. He is a Green Beret Special Forces operative, with a tour of
duty that includes Grenada, Panama, the Gulf War, Somalia and Bosnia. Last information
available reported him as being the executive officer of the 160th Special Operations
Aviation Regiment, presently based at Fort Campbell in Kentucky. The other officer is
Lieutenant Leonard Hunt, of the Navy SEALs, assigned to the unit based on San Diego
Naval Base. His insignia of Captain on the photo suggests he’s been attached to an Army
or Air Force unit and have been given the correspondent rank on those services.
K.”
Well, well, well, what have we got here, Blake asked. Two elite American officers
leading into combat an unknown military force equipped with Russian equipment? How
and why did that happened? After a moment of thought Blake picked up the phone. He
made one call; got the number he wanted from the operator and then made another to Fort
Campbell. After some seconds the connection was established an a female voice
appeared on the other side of the line:
“Fort Campbell main desk, how can I help you?”
“Good evening, I was trying to reach Colonel Johnson. We have did service together a
couple of years ago, and I just arrived at Memphis. I would like to try to see him again”
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“Colonel Johnson is not at the base right now, sir”
“I see, well will he be back tomorrow or is there a way to contact him? I’m staying for
the weekend”
“Sir, Colonel Johnson is on extended leave. I’m sorry but I can’t provide you with more
details about his location at the moment. But I can take a message for him if you want”
“Well, in that case, don’t worry. I will try to get in contact with him later. Thank you very
much, good night” Blake then hang up the phone, after knowing all he wanted.
“What is going on here? Where are you Colonel and what are you up to? An unofficial
operation using Russian hardware on US soil? That will sure need some serious
explanation tomorrow. Better yet, on Monday”. Blake then turned off his computer and
went home to get some deserved sleep.
February 17th, 1999

Commander Illyuschenko remembered some of the old Communist party officials and for
a moment, wished that they were here. Dealing with Dr. Chevereux had proven to be a
task a little harder than impossible. Although he was willing to bend his ideas sometimes
and admit he was wrong, that only happened through a very detailed, precise logic, or at
nearly gunpoint. While Illyuschenko didn’t have to bring out his handgun anymore after
his recruitment of Chevereux for the team, he sure had felt the need a couple of times
since the Doctor had moved to Mother One.
“I’m telling you Commander, my engineers and scientists can’t be working at three
projects at the same time!”
“Dr. Chevereux, we desperately need both the advanced armor and the new laser
weapons at the same time! You have seen the casualty rate of the Los Angeles mission.
We can’t sustain more heavy losses like that!”
The doctor simply shook his head. “We need to maintain the Elerium research. This
element can revolutionize Earth’s science! It can close the gap between our and theirs
technology!”
“That won’t do us a good damn thing if we only learn how to use it at the moment of our
defeat sir!”
“You have seen the evaluation and progress reports. The next planned experiment will
sure allow us to test our theories.”
“And how many more reports will it take until you finally know for what good is that
thing? And after that, how many more reports until it has some practical use?”
”Science is slow bringing answers, Commander”
“Yes, but in some areas the advances can come quickly. You have almost actually
recreated the alien alloys, but suddenly you removed most of the scientists and assigned
them to Elerium research. And when the first laser papers came from Area 51 you hardly
paid attention to them.”
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“The basic research is done. We only need now to test it and start building prototypes”
“Which you hadn’t so far, leaving our troopers under gunned!”
“Commander, from what I know, our weapons can kill the aliens”
“And theirs can also kill us, but more easily!”
They both paused, Illyuschenko taking a pause to look around on his office, and hoping
for the discussion to have an end.
“General?”
“Yes, Doctor?”
“I know about the men who are on the base infirmary still, after their first mission, with
burned limbs. If you agree I will augment the research of protection, and afterwards
direct the scientists to weapons. But I will also retain a valuable part of our resources
directed to physics and Elerium”. Although an agnostic, Illyuschenko thought about
heaven and said a blessing.
February 19th, 1999

Williams was having a bad time knowing who to trust with the information he had just
learned about the existence of an Earth undercover movement that had been hiding the
aliens existence for decades, if not more. The whole thing looked to him as the perfect
surprise attack. Before moving your military units you took over of the enemy’s
intelligence services, confusing them to hide your real intentions. In the intelligence
business that was a well-known tactic. You slip false information to confuse the enemys
assessments and evaluation of your own plans.
In this case it was much worse. The existence of such a wide cover-up could only mean
that all of the intelligence and military agencies were infiltrated at a very high level.
While the leadership of the CIA or the NSA or even the Pentagon might not be directly
involved, the men in charge relied on their subordinate’s work to make decisions. Which
meant that this could not be dealt with in the official and proper channels. The power of
the conspirators would be more than enough to eliminate any threat to them and silence
the dilators before they could even prove anything. Williams suddenly realized that his
life, and the ones of the men assembled in front of him, was already in danger just for
knowing the existence of the traitors. But his assessment team would not know for now
the full implications of his discovery. Their work would still be based on the assumption
that there was an alien infiltration of human society. They just wouldn’t know that a
group of humans were actively dealing with the aliens for decades, possibly centuries,
with a secret agenda to the rest of mankind.
But the release of the laser technology showed also one thing: there must be different
factions inside this secret group and that one of them had decided to give X-Com’s a
hand. But for what purpose? Williams couldn’t just believe that they had turned suddenly
sympathetic towards their fellow humans. A conspiracy of such an order would have
mean that those men were ruthless, possessing a cold logic and not letting such feelings
interfere. But the incident also assured him that the aliens weren’t in charge of the group
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through their mind control powers. Although there might be some influence by them, if
they had full control it was highly unlikely that such an event would pass undiscovered
and the traitors punished. Unless, of course, there was also different factions between the
aliens, some opposed to the war. Stop! This speculation is meaningless unless it can be
supported with evidence, he thought.
He had decided that first he needed to spot out any infiltrators in the evaluation team.
And also that he couldn’t trust his superiors. The book said that he should have informed
his superior, the Chairman of the National Intelligence Council, but the implications of
his discovery had pointed him as one of the most likely suspects since he reported to the
Director of Central Intelligence and thus, to the President itself. The other members of the
committee were also considered by Williams as untrustworthy. The entire team gathered
all the intelligence work of the several agencies into several research areas. They decided
what information was important and what could be dismissed. Which put them as most
likely suspects, but the list was already too big.
The idea of alien infiltration had been mainly dismissed by his superiors, claiming that
they didn’t saw ET’s walking down the street and taking pictures of Capitol Hill. But the
recent data from Los Angeles regarding the aliens’ psionic powers had suddenly given it
a lot of credibility. The footage taken from the X-Com’s team helmet cameras had more
than impressed everyone who saw it. The first measure taken had been to deploy a fully
equipped armoured brigade to the outskirts of Washington, along with an F-15C Eagle
fighter squadron to Andrews AFB and full time protection for all major governmental
officials. It had been decided that the danger of alien abduction and brain washing had
suddenly become too real.
MacAllister’s face showed just that. They were both in Williams’ office at the CIA
headquarters and he had just finished seeing the footage of Colonel Johnson’s camera, the
image of Lt. Parkenson’s face impressing the DIA men with its void eyes at the moment
he was attacking the Colonel. And the bullet from Jones that stopped it.
“Yikes. This isn’t good Williams”.
“I know. The DCI and the Chairman are already informed, and a full briefing is
scheduled for tomorrow with the President and other superior officers”.
“We could be in serious trouble. The abduction reports we have received show that the
aliens must have some sort of suppression memory for the abductees. With both of them
combined, they could order any man to do their commands and afterwards have the
memory erased.”
“Well, it actually isn’t that problematic. The debriefing from the LA engagement shows
that they need to be close in order to actually control anyone. That doesn’t bode well for
espionage operations. If they wanted to control anyone inside Langley they would
actually have to get inside and it seems highly unlikely, at least since the conflict has
started, that they would be able to do that”.
“Yes, but still we have to take it into account this factor”.
“Yes, that’s why I fully supported the recommendation of the National Security Adviser,
when she was informed of the problem, for an investigation into our intelligence and
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military circles. The President should authorize the decision when he is briefed on the
subject”.
“Very well” MacAllister paused for a minute and then asked: “Why isn’t the rest of the
team here Williams?”
“I will be meeting each one of them separately on the afternoon to show them what you
just seen and to give them their instructions about the investigation”.
“Their instructions about the investigation? Shouldn’t this be assigned to the FBI in the
civil investigations and to the Defense Security Service in the military?”
“My recommendation is that each agency conduct its own enquiries about the other.”.
“You are nuts man!”
“From what we know, we could have mole agents lurking around these same corridors,
with them not knowing that they are working for the aliens agenda. If they have been
undetected for years, it means that they know our investigation procedures and that they
will be useless on this case. Which means we will have to bypass the normal channels
and procedures”.
“But this is impossible to achieve. Interagency rivalry will only hamper the
investigations. Everyone hates internal affairs folks, and if they are from another
organization, the feelings get even worse”.
“They will just have to understand”.
“And you think Congress will understand? The CIA Act passed by the Hill specifically
states that the Agency is forbidden to undertake espionage operations on US soil. And the
NSA officially doesn’t tap communications on American citizens or entities”.
“Both Houses majority and minority leaders, along with the Supreme Court will be
consulted before the President taking such a decision. If necessary, the Congress will be
asked to pass legislation accordingly. But from what I have heard the legislators who are
informed of the alien menace have been deeply shocked by the attack on LA. I think the
public outcry would be more if it was known that we are not doing all we can”.
“Williams, this is bad, in any case”. And you don’t know the full extent of it. Williams
thought. Or do you? He dismissed his own paranoia.
“The investigations will be focused and directed. Your job will be to advise the DIA’s,
and specially the DSS efforts. They will receive orders to check the NSA. Since they
have a double military/civilian role, the repercussions should be less”.
“Very well. What should we look for?”
“Evidence of a cover-up. The aliens must have distracted in one way or another our
intelligence community. You will need to research who could have forged or destroyed
records of their existence”.
“More easily said than done. Most folks won’t be that cooperative”.
“This will be a very secret operation, officially it will even be done under some other
motive, so that we don’t spook our pray into hiding. But if you need, well stick the
Presidential order on their face if you have to. From the moment he signs it, it will place
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the counter-intelligence efforts into national security area. If someone deliberately
hampers the investigations they can be put into trial for treason”.
“Jesus! Isn’t that a bit excessive?”
“Well, if you ever have the chance, please ask the aliens if they don’t think their attack on
Earth is a bit excessive”.
“Ok, ok. By the way, who will check me and the DIA?”
“The FBI”.
“Jesssus! Not that pain in the butt. Who will check them, by the way?”
“The NSA. They will also verify the CIA, so your job in checking them is most
important”.
“The boys up in Ft. Meade will have a blast on that one, after decades of being placed
into a secondary role to the CIA”.
“Necessity is the mother of invention”, Williams added with a grim smile.
Later in the day his smile turned into a frown when Assistant Director of the FBI Mark
Davis walked into his office. This was probably one of the hardest decisions he had to
make to his entire life and he felt that the destiny of Earth could be decided right here.
Davis and him exchanged greetings, but the look on each man’s face was a bit less than
cordial. The FBI man sat on a chair and instantly said: “Ok Williams, cut the crap. Why
aren’t the other team members were? What is going on, because I don’t like driving for
hours from Washington to here for nothing. I already received the investigation orders
before from my boss and we are ready for when the President signs them”
“I have a special job for you. Far more important than your orders. The one you are
trained to do”
Davis expression suddenly became crossed with a mix of curiosity and skepticism.
“Yeah? Let’s hope you are not asking me to create something like the X-Files on my
department?”
“Actually no. I’m asking you to search for humans. That must stand for trial one day for
treason”
“We will be doing that in no time, Christ!”
“No. These ones actually know that they committed treason. In fact, they are still doing
it, interacting with the aliens for their own purposes”.
Davis became shocked. And angry. “This better not be a joke or a big blunder from you
intelligence boys!”
“Unfortunately know. I will tell you what has happened for me to come up with such
conclusion. I haven’t shared my thoughts about it with anyone yet. And afterwards you
will judge if I’m right or if I’ve been thinking too much in conspiracy terms”.
Williams started talking, telling the whole laser incident and how he related it to the
arrival of the aliens. We was stopped by Davis a couple of times, who asked for some
more explanation in some of the details. When he finished everything, including the
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reasons why he had not told anyone else, the FBI man asked: “Then why are you telling
me all of this? How come you believe I’m not actually one of that alien fifth column?”
“Because you are a big pain. You have questioned everything from the first place. You
drove nearly everyone on the team nuts with your skeptical observations. If you were one
of them you wouldn’t do that. You would remain in passive stance, but secretly working
to gain more influence over things”
“But what if I did it just to confuse more the research? To keep the deception?”
“Unlikely again. After one year of recorded intense UFO activity, the group knew they
just couldn’t keep the lid opened”.
“True. But if it eliminated anyone that had came up with your conclusion, they would
remain anonymous. What if I pulled my gun out this moment and killed you? If I have
such power I could probably walk out of here with nothing happening to me” He reached
for his holster and drew out his service pistol, pointing it at Williams. “Would you have
anticipated this?” He then asked.
Williams turned cold for a second. He breathed and said: “If that happened, then I would
be the most terrible mistake I had ever made”.
Davis looked straight at him and Williams just gave up for one second, suddenly aware of
the great darkness that would involve him in the next second.
The FBI man put his gun away and sat back down.
“You got yourself a believer now. For you to be so afraid it means you actually believe in
that shit. And it sounds true to me also. What you want me to do?”
“Fuck. You got a way of doing things!” Williams’s legs were shaking, with the chair
keeping him from falling into the floor.
“Sorry, but I needed to be sure this wasn’t a spy game and that I was just a pawn”.
“Well, please don’t do that again” He regained his thoughts.
“ No one besides us must tell this to anyone. I know no one else I can fully trust.”
“Me neither. The Bureau must be like an old house full of mice just wondering around”.
“The FBI will be involved anyways in every investigation, so I want you to see how your
men do things. Observe them without them knowing. See if they report back everything
or act like they should. See what the folks from the other agencies do also. If you find
one, let me know”.
“We follow it?”
“Yes. We track everything about him”.
“My line of work. You got yourself a deal”.
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February 22nd, 1999
Vicinity of Marrakech, Morocco
The UFO had been detected by the Spanish Air Defense Command as it crossed the
Iberian Peninsula, entering it through the northwest and crossing the whole of Spain. The
Ejercito del Aire, or Spanish Air Force, had been asked to stand down by Mother One
and not try to intercept the craft as it crossed Spanish territory. The reason for
Commander’s Illyuschenko decision was simple, Colonel MacTaggert thought. The
research and engineering team had both asked for a bit more contention with the
interceptions, to allow the recovery of all the alien materials present on the craft. And
also, the European Command wasn’t yet equipped with an F-22 Interceptor, since the
funding available had been used into equipping the base and to pay for the brand new
Skyranger that the X-Com team was now using to race to their target before it took off.
The midday sun was striking the plane’s, going through the windows and making
everyone on the craft hot, since the Black Forest at this time of the year was cold, wet and
cloudy. As the Skyranger moved across the Atlas Mountains, MacTaggert looked by the
window and saw a city of white buildings and blue roofs standing in the middle of a
small elevation. All around the village the terrain was dry and arid, with rock and sand
mixing up.
“Why would anyone live here, Pearson? At least the Highlands have plenty water,” he
asked to the second in command at the mission. Captain Pearson, formally a Lieutenant
in the Special Air Service, who had been promoted because of casualties in the last
mission, looked and sighed.
“Well sir, I’m not used to such terrain, but I can sympathize with the water concept.
Things here are just too dry”.
The rest of the team said nothing, trying to relax or doing a final check on their weapons.
MacTaggert still had its doubts about the whole thing. The fourteen men embarked on the
Skyranger had come up from five different countries, each speaking a different language
and with a different culture. His executive officer at Mother One was German. His
superior was Russian. And the damn science chief was a pain in the arse Frog. They all
spoke English, of course, but some of them with an accent that made MacTaggert almost
cringe every time he heard it. European Union, my arse! He thought. Look at what they
are doing with the bloody language!
“Colonel, two minutes till target” his radio came alive, the Dutch pilot showing no trace
of emotion. “The Americans have spotted it on their reconnaissance satellites and have
pointed us the location. It is a…Celtic cross type”.
“About bloody time! Everyone load up your little firecrackers and prepare to deploy.”
The Skyranger approached the UFO from the Northeast. The craft was standing in the top
of an arid small plateau, without making any attempt to disguise itself. As the plane was
moving close to the elevation and turning to circle it, MacTaggert could see figures
suddenly stopping whatever they were doing in this God forsaken place and moving. He
didn’t like that, specially since they were not Sectoids, but a different alien race.
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The Skyranger suddenly jerked to one side and everyone in the passenger compartment
was thrown to the right.
“Bloody idiot! De Wuijers, what are you doing!”
“Colonel, the aliens are firing and have hit us with one of their weapons. Right side
engine has ceased working. I’m still on control of the plane, but I will have to land it
away from those things”
MacTaggert barked into the radio “Just get us down into one piece”. “Attention everyone,
the Landing Zone is damn hot! All teams prepare yourselves for deployment.”
The Skyranger landed outside the plateau, in a valley formed by a long dried river that
bordered it. Its left side landed first and for a minute the landing gear looked as if it
wouldn’t be able to support the full weight of the craft. The other wheels finally touched
the ground and afterwards the loading ramp came down, the men of Blue team already
running its length and deploying to cover possible hostiles nearby.
Gunfire erupted instantly as the troopers started to respond to aliens on the border of the
plateau who kept a murderous rate of fire from their Elerium weapons at the team. While
MacTaggert was waiting to deploy, the team’s radio circuit become active.
“I’m hit! Medic!”
“Take the left one!”
“Where, I can’t see it!”
“One of them is flying!”
“They got us pinned down!”
“Etienne is dead!”
“Bloody hell!” MacTaggert cursed. “Gold, Blue and Red teams take cover! Grey team
remain on the craft! De Wuijers, bring this bastard up and land us on the other side of
them!”
“Colonel, we have taken a lot of damage”
“If we don’t take care of them we will all be dead! Do it now!”
The whining of the Skyranger’s engines became heard again and it lifted itself with
difficulty. MacTaggert went up to the pilot’s cabin to have a better look. De Wuijers was
immobile on his seat, concentrating on keeping a stable flight path. He looked through
the windows. The aliens on the ground and air were about two meters tall had a red and
pink color. They had a humanoid appearance with head and upper limbs, but instead of
legs they had some sort of gray circular mechanical device like if it was a cyborg. The red
cape they were and the pink horns that started on its temples but pointed downwards gave
them a menacing look, like demons from the stars. And the eyes were black, almost
expressionless, in opposition to the mouth, which showed some grey teeth and almost had
no upper lip, the nostrils opening directly into it.
“De Wuijers, ram that bloody idiot who is on the air spotting and directing fire into our
troops!”
“Pardon, Colonel?!”
“Ram it! Point this thing at it and go over it!”
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The pilot looked at his commander unsure of what to do. As the craft was getting close to
the floating alien, MacTaggert grabbed the control stick and suddenly jerked it to the
side. The cockpit in front of De Wuijers suddenly become filled with the pink face of a
surprised alien, his eyes open wide. Then a thump suddenly removed him out of sight and
the Skyranger shook a bit. Alien blood spilled to the Plexiglas, dotting it with green spots.
“Now land this thing on the other side of the UFO and lets get this over with!”
MacTaggert screamed, while he went back to the exit of the aircraft, getting a
machinegun on the way.
February 25th, 1999

Eva Johannes was feeling miserable. While she had been more than thrilled when she
was assigned to Ununpentium research, the initial excitement had been quickly changed
into frustration. The element was just too exotic on its nature for Earth science to
understand it, with certain qualities never heard of in physics. They were starting to
unravel its secrets, but progress was painstakingly slow. And also dangerous.
A whole lab chamber had been reduced to ashes during one of the experiments. Initial
research of the weapons retrieved from the recovery sites showed the existence of a
particle accelerator. Which led to the theorization that the device was some sort of a
trigger for the discharge of the weapon. Based on that, the scientific team in charge of the
Ununpentium had decided to bombard the element on laboratory with charged particles to
test their theory. After extracting a small part of the element it had been placed on a
special vacuum chamber and hit with charged particles beamed from an accelerator. It
had produced the reaction they expected, a release of energy. But far greater then they
would have imagined. The explosion had completely destroyed the test chamber, taking
with it the monitoring equipment and the lives of the two scientists who were testing it.
Since then strict rules over the use of Elerium, as the team was now calling it, after
someone had mentioned the initial electricity present in the group, in experiments had
been implanted.
And with good reason, since the data that had been salvaged indicated that the element
contained more energy per square inch of mass than plutonium. Which gave it an
immense destruction potential. But they still didn’t know what was responsible for such a
reaction. No radiation had been detected, which meant that there was not a fusion or
nuclear reaction involved.
But what caused the burst? Eva and the whole team were still discussing the subject.
Some claimed the explosion had all the characteristics of a positive-negative matter
reaction, but it still hadn’t been tested. They where waiting for a special chamber to be
built using alien alloys, which would be more secure and would allow to perform more
experiences.
She decided to take a pause, her eyes already tired of looking at all the calculations she
had been making on her laptop. After a moment of thought she decided to go and get
herself a cup of coffee at the automatic machine that was on the corridor. She looked
around. No one else was at the laboratory, so she decided to check the time. One in the
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morning, great another night of four hours of sleep. She got up and went to the door.
When she was getting a cup a voice came up.
“Mademoiselle, can you get me one also please?” She looked and saw Lejeune, one of
the French scientists that were on the team.
“Sure, François. What are you doing up this late?”
“We are finishing the first field armor prototype. Tomorrow it will go to the ballistic
range to be tested”.
“Be sure to hurry up with that project. We are sure needing the special alloys to start
doing our own experimentations on the Elerium”. Since Ununpentium was such an
unpronounceable name, one of the scientists had come up with the other name. No one
really knew from where it had came from but it was easier to say than its actual scientific
name.
“We will. Do you care to take a look?”
“Of course. I sure needed the distraction”. Both of them got their coffee and when to a
laboratory situated further down the corridor. As they entered, Johannes thought that her
brother’s room was even more organized. The whole place was filled with broken pieces
of UFO’s structure, with materials disassembled over research desks. She got down an
picked up a piece of the alloy. It had a nearly rectangular form, with almost one feet of
length and it was gray, with a bluish tone on it.
Lejeune turned to her and said: “Try to bend it”. She grabbed it with both hands and
applied strength to it. The material gave in and she become surprised as how easily she
could mould it into a U.
“Now release it, but slowly, otherwise you might get hurt by its movement”. She relaxed
her right hand and as she gave away the strength, the material went back to its original
position.
“We tried about everything on then. First diamond cutters, then the lasers that are used to
cut crystals. Pretty soon Dr. Chevereux wanted to convince Commander Illyuschenko to
conduct experiments with radiation on it. We discovered that under certain circumstances
it would give in, namely the angle of entry of the cutter and so on, but we still couldn’t
mould it”.
“What did you do then?”
“We almost gave up until the lab results arrived. They showed that, although it was a
fabrication process never heard of, it could be repeated here on Earth using available
materials”.
“How do you give shape to it?”
“We use a electro-magnetic process on certain plastic and metal alloys combined
together. Its unique capabilities came the mix of qualities present on both materials”.
“Very well”.
“Would you like to see the prototype?”
“Please, yes”.
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He led her into the back of the lab, where what looked like a mannequin was covered
with a cloth. Lejeune then removed the white coverall to show a blue armor that had been
placed on a test dummy model. It had a faint resemblance to the armors saw in the books
and films about medieval times, but it didn’t look as cumbersome. It was basically a
section that covered the entire upper body, being designed to resemble a human torso.
Some material that resembled plastic or rubber was used to the connection points for the
plates that covered the arms and legs and also at the knee, elbow, ankle and wrist joints to
allow for mobility. At least it didn’t have nipples designed on it, Johannes thought, like
the uniform they used for Batman at the movies.
“It looks impressive. When will it be available to be used?”
“The tests should take about more of a week.”
“Why so much time?”
“Well right now we will test the resistance to penetration. If all works we shall then adapt
the armor to allow it to be used in combat. We still haven’t worked on the way of
allowing the user movement. And we are still deciding on the helmet shape.”
“And this would stop a discharge from one of their weapons?”
“We don’t know. We will test it with lasers, but from what we have seen in the combat
reports, it looks as if it will be more durable than any Earth material, but it will still have
its limitations.”
“Very well”
“Well, thank you. We were hoping that Dr. Chevereux would volunteer to use the armor
on the first trials, but unfortunately it doesn’t seem so”. They both laughed at the
suggestion. The Scientific Leader of X-Com had quickly built himself a reputation as an
unforgiving and demanding character, nearly driving everyone nuts or into exhaustion.
Eva thought about the North American scientific them and how lucky they were.
February 28th, 1999

Area 51, Nevada, US
The conference room was crowded of X-Com troopers, all wearing their dark gray
uniforms uniforms. The group of military men was picking up their places to sit, the
veterans naturally getting together and being more at ease, while the recent newcomers
still refrained a bit, unsure of what to do. Johnson took a look at them and wondered how
many of the rookies would die, if they would be able to survive more than their
predecessors. More than half of the North American team members had, by now, been
killed or injured. But the number of volunteers for X-Com had continued to rise, to a
point where the number of new admissions had to be halted because there wasn’t a need
or means to deploy that much men. Apparently there were rumors about the existence of
X-Com had spread around the Special Forces community and it was seen as an worthy
assignment. It seemed that the talk inside the military circles didn’t include the casualties
though. Johnson by now knew he was in command of one of the best units ever on his
life, with all the men acting like professionals, on a team manner. Each new recruit, upon
his assignment to a squad, would receive a crash but severe training course about the
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aliens and how to defeat them by its own section members. Usually, if he didn’t learn
enough quickly, specially on how to use the tactics on the battlefield, or if he was too
stubborn or had a high opinion of himself, he would die. Survival of the fittest at its final,
the human race against the alien race. Even Harris had quickly stepped into line, never
questioning any command and being one hell of a fighter pilot. He looked over the
scientific reports, analysing the data to look for possible weaknesses of their craft. He had
been the pioneer of most of the aerial tactics they were using now. Although in many of
the cases they involved high-speed suicidal chases lasting until the interceptor could get
into range to use all of its missiles on the target before it had time to run away, it worked.
That is, if you ignored the occasional damage suffered by the F-22s while dodging alien
fire on the their attack runs.
The team was splitting. Next day the other half would flew to their new base in the
Appalachian Mountains and would become active the next day. The new recruits had
been divided into each team and all of them had been training together for the past days,
taking advantage of the almost zero UFO activity over the North American continent in
the past weeks. They had devised a new organization based on the lessons learnt at the
Los Angeles attack. Now there were four men by each squad, one of them carrying a
heavy weapon, three sections in the Skyranger plus the sniper two-man team. And other
changes were also coming along, this time some real advances in the war with the aliens.
After all men were seated, he and Colonel Jackson got up along with their respective
executive officers. To replace Hunt he had chosen one of his former subordinate officers
when he was placed at Fort Campbell, Captain Forrester. The man still looked a bit out of
his place, but he was getting better after the initial shock of knowing about the alien
invasion. But once he learned everything he would be the finest for this position.
He looked at the group of men in front of him, a multitude of darkened figures all looking
for him. The dark color reminded him of what would be the cost of defeat. Sometimes it
made him scared shitless, but most of the time it would give him motivation. And while
reading the reports from Mother One he had received the night before, he had felt both
feelings also.
He picked out Hopkins in the crowd. The black man seemed to be fully recovered,
although some scars wouldn’t disappear. The blast of the destruction of the rocket
launcher had left his hands and face with burns and they now showed the effects of it.
“Scars are reminders of our own stupidity”, he had said the first time he saw himself after
the attack. Or at least that was the rumor on the base, since no one had the balls to ask
him directly. Johnson suddenly realized that many of the veterans also had disfiguring
physical scars, molded by the blast of the alien weapons. Some like Tyrell’s and
Hopkins’s were at plain sight, but others kept them hidden under their uniforms and flesh.
He wondered about how good he was doing his job and if he would get a scar or a grave.
Despite the serious tone of the meeting, he noticed again that some of the men were
wearing unofficial patches on their uniforms. Colonel Jackson had supported the idea, but
Johnson was still unsure about it. Identification with their unit gave the men some sort of
belonging and motivation but it also could lead them into crazy acts. And he wasn’t sure
of liking the insignia the East Coast team had chosen when he looked at Jackson and saw
the circular blue patch on his left shoulder. It depicted a white headed eagle looking for
prey, with the words “North American” on top and “Wild Hunters” at the bottom of the
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circle. The design had been Jackson’s suggestion, with no doubt, since he came from an
airborne division. Somebody had come up with the West team’s counterpart, which
showed a wolverine with its claws and fangs filled with green alien blood, together with
the words “Take Me To Your Leader”.
At least the West team had a sense of humor, and didn’t display the wild bravado of the
other one. He didn’t knew how had drew it, but Garcia, Jones, King and some others had
quickly adopted it. He noticed than none of the rookies were using the insignias. He
guessed it was some sort of showing yourself: if you could do the job and survived the
first encounter with the aliens you would earn the right to wear the badge. But,
dismissing his thoughts, Johnson addressed the audience:
“Good morning all. This will be the final briefing before the day’s exercises and the
departure of half of you tomorrow. But before you all haul your asses to the training
range and do as miserably as you can before the goodbye party scheduled for tonight,”
that brought grins on most of the men, “I have bad news, worse than bad news, could be
better news and good news”. The smiling faces were replaced by looks of attention.
“First, the really bad news” He signaled Forrester and lit up a laser pointer. An image of a
large alien gun came up, together with the already known Elerium rifle. The white
weapon was about five feet meters long, when compared to the four feet length of the
rifle. The last third of the barrel had a rectangular bulge, probably the muzzle of the
weapon since what seemed to be the trigger was on the other side. The substance from
which the weapon was made gleamed white and a small blue clip was situated right at the
end of the stock.
“This his the weapon responsible for the recent losses of the European team. In the
Moroccan operation just one alien was armed with it and still it managed to severely
damage the Skyranger aircraft and was responsible for the death of many fellow troopers.
Like the rifle it is capable of sustaining auto fire and it is much powerful than it. If you
seen an alien carrying one of this things, drop him. This is a very heavy and dangerous
cannon, or whatever they call it”. The mood of the room suddenly become more somber.
“But the Science and Engineering Departments have good news”. The images on the
projector had been replaced by the one of a strange pistol. The barrel had an ellipsoidal
shape and the whole weapon looked more as something taken from a science fiction
movie.
“This is the Mark I laser pistol. One single shot from this weapon has a little more of the
penetrating power of a 5.56 caliber round. It is capable of auto fire, although unlimited
use of it will drain out the batteries after a while”.
“Sir”, Garcia interrupted, “we are going to use pistols that aren’t that much better from
our current weapons against those cannons? Doesn’t look like even odds to me”.
“I know, Garcia, and the magical science wizards fortunately saw that also, in a brief
moment of inspiration and sense of reality. That’s why they also developed this”. The
image of the pistol was replaced by what looked like a red cylinder with metals parts
attached to it, forming a gunstock, hand support and a trigger.
“The Mark III laser rifle. This thing is almost as potent as anti-personnel round from one
of our cannons, again with auto fire. From what I’ve been told, they have experimenting a
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lot of concepts with the laser technology they have just discovered, and this one is about
to enter production”.
“It sure as hell looks ugly sir. I still prefer my autocannon, Russian or not”.
“And you will keep it for now. Apparently they are developing a heavier version, but
power requirements deem that it will be without auto fire capability, which means that we
will stick to the tactical versatility of the cannons for fire support”.
“And when will this new zap gun be available to us sir?”
“Today you will all have the chance to test it at the range. We already have one unit
available here at the base and Dr. Mantell and his men are calibrating and making the
final checks on it at the moment”. Several of the uniformed troopers grinned. “Now we
kick ass!” Jackson shouted and the room was suddenly filled with roars. Johnson looked
at Jackson with disapproval. Although they both held the same rank and Jackson was
actually older and had more time in the service over Johnson, the West Coast commander
had seniority on X-Com over Jackson.
“This might help, but remember to keep your ugly heads down and not jumping into
heroics, you idiots! I would prefer to get back here in one piece, than having a medal on
my chest replacing by burned out arm or having to share a ride to hell with the dead
aliens!” Hopkins’s voice shouted out the troops. Even Jackson kept his mouth quiet.
“Thank you Sergeant.” Nothing like a senior non-commission officer to bring some sense
into the troops, even the officers, Johnson thought. “Getting along, the development of
body armor, as we have been requesting for ages, is almost done”. Another image
showed up, of a dummy wearing some sort of blue body armor. Metal pads covered the
limbs and torso, connected together by what seemed to be dark plastic. It even offered the
head some sort of protection, with a curved plate covering the forehead and sides of the
skull. This time shouts of cheer were more timid, fearful of the Gunny’s reaction.
“This is the Type 17 body armor, built using alien techniques”.
“Type 17?” Garcia asked, “how come we didn’t got to use the other sixteen types before
they come up with this one?”
“It took them a lot of experimentations before they come up with this. I think it’s an ugly
name also Garcia, so feel free to give any suggestions. In any case, there are still some
glitches on the movement parts but Dr. Chevereux says that they will be ironed out pretty
soon”.
“So we will use them pretty soon?”
“Unfortunately not. In order to allow for maneuverability, each of these things has to be
built specifically for each soldier. Which means that they will all take our measures and
then start fabricating the suits. The end result is that we will have to wait some more
time, since they weren’t expecting the manpower that is necessary to build these things”.
“Meanwhile our asses keep getting fried up by the alien weapons”.
“Nobody pays you to be sitting at the sun, marine, although the Corps have a long
tradition of horsing around at the beach”. Again uneasy laughter filled the room at King’s
comment.
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Major Chen passed through the security guards posted at the door that lead to the
Politburo’s reunion office without even caring to salute them. His presence was waited
and he couldn’t spend time with trivial formalities. As he stopped by the massive
elaborated bronze door, one of them opened it and he moved inside, holding his briefcase
even tighter.
Chairman Zhu was waiting inside, together with the Marshal that was the commander of
the People’s Liberation Army and one deputy that Chen never cared to remember his
name. He saluted all of them and then spoke:
“Comrade Major Chen reporting, comrades”.
“Yes Major, if you please tell us now what seems so important for you to fly over here
and risk the political consequences of the X-Com council finding out about this meeting”
The Marshall tone implied that he was stating an order, not making a request.
“Information just arrived through the X-Com information network that I believe of the
severe importance comrades”. He thought the Chairman might have risen and eyebrow.
Since they were all silent, he continued: “There is another race of aliens involved. They
have been named Floaters, apparently due to their ability to hover unassisted on the air”.
“Another race? Acting together with the so called Sectoids?” The Deputy queried.
“Yes. They use the same equipment which supposes that there’s an alliance of some sorts
between them”.
“Is that your assessment also, comrade Major?”
Chen froze. One thing was to pass on the available information, the other was to make
judgments for which he would become liable.
“I would say that there might be an agreement between both of them” he paused, unsure
of if he should take the next step. “And the Party might find some use later on the future
of that alliance, specially if there are divergences between both races”.
This time, the Chairman looked at him directly, probing him but keeping in silence.
“The alien biochemistries are similar, but different. Analysis shows that the Floaters have
been subject to massive surgery techniques, while the Sectoids are cloned. It could be
assumed that one is the minor element of such an alliance, and as such, unhappy about its
overall participation”.
Zhu took some seconds before answering back. This was indeed an important
development. He looked directly at the Major and finally spoke: “very well comrade
Major. You have done well and your assessment, if right, might lead you well in the
future. Anything else to report”.
Chen stifled but decided to tell the other unpleasant news. “I have been unsuccessful so
far on taking possession of any of the laser weapons X-Com has developed. Since the
Chinese team is not yet operational, as by Party’s orders, X-Com High Command has put
the re-equipment of my men into a low priority. And they are keeping a tight lid on the
scientific information which is only available to scientists and top military leaders. All
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access to the computer net is heavily monitorized and our own laser technology is far less
developed than the Russians or the Americans, which means that they apply the
principles far more easily. We just don’t have skilled professionals yet, comrades”.
“Keep liaising with the Japanese and learn all their secrets. And finally upgrade our team
to operational status. We will take care of the rest”.
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Chapter Six – Bad Moon Rising
March 3rd, 1999
Azamas 36, Siberia, Russian Federation
The industrial and scientific complex dated back from the 1970’s, when the Soviet Space
Program was at its full height, supported by the Communist regime as a way of
proclaiming Socialist superiority in the space. The other function it served was less
glamorous and propagandistic. It had been also built for the development of space
weapons, which made it an above top-secret facility. Its own existence had only been
revealed after the breakdown of the Soviet Union in 1991 and since then the military
aspects had been cast aside until now, due to a change in the political and economical
situation of the new Russian Federation.
The grey concrete buildings that once served as homes for thousands of scientists and
engineers were now mainly deserted due to the cutbacks on the program and the job
proposals that had been made to the skilled personnel to work in the civilian sector and in
other countries. But the few remaining inhabitants had noticed some changes in the past
months. The security had been stepped up recently and all roads that lead to the city now
had military checkpoints, manned by Ministry of the Interior troops. Inside the complex it
was even tighter, with constant FSB patrols and a monitorization of all phone calls. But
the people who worked there hardly took any annoyance of the changes. They meant that
Moscow was interested again in their work, which meant better pay and conditions than
generally found in other towns in Russia. Some wondered what had happened in the
world for those changes to happen, but none cared to open their mouths since it was not
wise to bite the hand that fed you.
The city was powered up by a nuclear reactor. While it allowed all buildings to have
heating in the long Siberian summer, it had been installed specifically for the purpose of
supplying power to the high-energy weapons that were being developed. And today its
power would be unreleased again after a lapse of years.
About a kilometre to the west of the residential buildings, a massive bunker had been
built and now the dozen meters wide opening on its ceiling was open. Mechanical
engines slowly and carefully pointed the device inside the bunker to its target. It looked
nothing more than a cylinder almost two meters wide in diameter, but the power it
released could easily destroy the star at the horizon to where it was pointed.
In an underground facility close to the laser, a group of scientists and military men were
gathered in a control room. The final ground and space checks were made and after the
green light was given from all stations, the chief scientist of the project asked the military
commander of the facility for permission to fire which was given. The scientist then
ordered one of his subordinates to execute the test.
The fluoride laser didn’t have any natural colour. But when it was inside the barrel of the
weapon located inside the massive hangar the high-energy photons it contained interacted
with the argon inside, energizing it and releasing energy in a blue wavelength. The
inhabitants of the city and the security patrols who happened to be looking at its direction
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when it was discharged retained the image on their retinas for some minutes, disturbing
their vision.
The crew at the Mir Space Station knew the safety procedures. If by any change they
were nearby one of the windows and caught the blast they would turn blind instantly and
they would die shortly afterwards, their internal fluids boiling and giving them a painful
dismissal. But the calculations had been precise. The beam hit the mirror brought by the
Progress supply ship that had been installed and calibrated over the last weeks by the
extra crewmembers that had came on the Soyuz spaceship.
The mirror itself was a wonder of optical design. It concentrated and reflected nearly all
of the energy the laser had released, directing to another point in space. The high-energy
photons, after having regained the destructive power that was lost in atmosphere
dispersion travelled at light speed to its intended target. The whole action took less than a
millisecond. But by then the deactivated Cosmos satellite, originally launched by the
Soviet Union as a communications satellite had suffered the full effects of the blast. Its
internal electronics were fried the same instant and the outer hull melted. The few
remaining manoeuvring fuel inside exploded, adding to the damage already caused by the
laser.
On Earth a group of scientists congratulated themselves. Despite of the technical
difficulties and the crash program that had been implemented in such a short notice,
Project Umbrella had just become operational. The military commander smiled and went
to his office to write a full report to be sent to the Kremlin.
At the same time, alarms started to sound in locations on Earth and elsewhere.
White House, Washington DC, US

Ten hours after the Russian test there was an emergency meeting at the Situation Room
in the White House. One of the satellites that hovered in low orbit looking for possible
Intercontinental Ballistic Missile launches had detected the huge energy blast and sent a
warning to NORAD. The technicians had analysed it and breathed in relief as they
eliminated the possibility that a nuclear warhead had just been launched and detonated by
the Russians. But the test had sent other disturbing signals to the US hierarchy.
“Gentlemen, I’ve just got off the Red Line phone after having a conversation with
President Larianov. He assured me that the weapon won’t be used for Anti-Satellite
purposes and that Russia has the right to defend itself from the alien menace with
whatever means they chose to. I want to know your opinion about this matter”. Winston
wasn’t appreciating the attitude of his Russian counterpart at all. The thing that they did
not need now was a loose Russia, acting on its own.
The Secretary of Defence and the National Security Advisor started talking at the same
time, but then both stopped and the secretary said: “Go ahead Mrs. May”.
“Thank you Edward. Mr. President, this represents a serious threat to the US. They just
acquired the ability to hit any of our space assets and also they most likely can hit targets
on the ground”.
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“Not only that sir, but they just violated the ABM treaty and the Non-Militarization of
Space agreement, when they placed that mirror in the Mir Space Station”, the Secretary
of Defence added.
“Hmm. Doctor Millard, what is your opinion of the capabilities of this weapon?”
The Special Scientific Advisor responded: “I doubt it can hit targets on land, due to the
dispersion of the laser beam on the atmosphere. The use of the mirror allows then to
recharge the destructiveness of the beam after it travelled over the atmosphere to space,
but I doubt it can still have the same potential if reflected back to Earth”.
“But if they gain access to the laser technologies that X-Com has developed it would
mean serious trouble, Doctor”. Candace May added.
“That why to minimize that risk that the X-Com Charter has a clause that keeps the
release of all alien technology breakthroughs under the supervision of the UN
leadership.” The Secretary of State added.
“A wonderful clause that now leaves us out on the cold”. Defense snapped. “If we had
automatic access to such technology we could devise a counter to it”.
“We and who else, I might ask? The Iraqis? The North Koreans? The Libyans? Castro?”
May countered. “I continue to fully support that clause, like I did when the treaty was
signed. If the technology gets out on the street we will be in serious problem. Just
imagine if the Russians knew that secret now: we would be under a continuous threat”
“Very well” Winston cut through the discussion, “I recognize all this arguments from
before and I retain the decision I made then, that was ratified by the Senate later in a
special secret session. What I want to know is if we can resolve this through diplomatic
means”
“Unlikely sir” State responded. “We could bring it to the attention of the UN Security
Council, but it would bring it out to the public. And if we place it on the agenda of the
next meeting of the X-Com Council, I doubt that we will get any support. After all, the
treaty says that every nation has the right to defend itself, using whatever means it seems
fit, as long as they respect the secrecy of the invasion”.
“But can this be used against the aliens? Dr. Willard, what to do think?”
“If they located a stable target, they might be able to hit it. It was designed for killing
ICBM missiles that have a predictable flight pattern and are slow, as compared to a fast
moving UFO. While it is a technological breakthrough, the practical effects against the
alien menace are quite limited”.
“Do we have anything similar?”
“No sir. The freeze out of the Star Wars program put into a halt almost all of our beam
weapons programs. It would take months, even years for us to develop something similar
at our present technological level. The only thing similar that we have is the kinetic
weapons program, but even that one is far away from deployment and it was built to
destroy single missile launches, not a fleet of spaceships”.
“I think I heard enough gentlemen then. From now on, the US will develop such weapons
and a strong message will be sent to the Russian government acknowledging their right to
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protect themselves but also that the weapon is seen with great concern by the US. Any
use of it against American assets or military sources on the world and in space and also
against our territory will be seen as an attack that will be responded in similar terms”.
March 5th, 1999

Mansion outside Paris, France
Number Three had just arrived from a long flight and was feeling the effects of the jet
lag. Still he tried not to be affected by them. Too much was at stake already. First the
damn X-Com force and this latest communication from the aliens. They weren’t pleased
with the opposition encountered from the Earth’s governments and it sounded as if they
were questioning the whole deal.
The bastards!
How dared they, after decades of mischief and deception from them? The original
intention of the creation of the group had been to develop ways to communicate and
acquire alien technology. After the first contacts it seemed as they had a purely scientific
interest on the planet and would pretty much leave it alone. When their real plans become
known through the group’s investigations, they became shocked and felling powerless,
not knowing what to do. A deal was suggested and the members who opposed it were
eliminated, others appearing to take their places. But even when an arrangement had been
made, for several times the aliens forced it, or acted against the terms they had specified.
How ironical that this is finally happening now, he thought. Then he cut through the
ongoing discussion saying:
“Do they think we did it on purpose or do they assume we don’t have the control we told
them?” Curious looks around the room focused on him. Number One spoke, after a
second:
“Why would that be important? We have to be seen as blameless on this”.
“It centers about it. If we negate any knowledge they will think lesser of us and make us
irrelevant to their plans. On the contrary, if we make them think that we planned the
whole event, they will be more careful and have to respect our power and us. The
difference between death and survival”.
An unspoken agreement flew around the room.
“We can make them wonder if we really did terminate the SDI program, as they ordered,
after they discovering that we were behind it”. Number Three knew that his position in
the Group had just been raised, but probably not enough, as he wanted. It was time to
make another climb.
“And we can help our services if they wanted to act to destroy the Russian laser. That
way, not only we tell them that we still want to collaborate but we keep a control over
things”.
“But what about X-Com?” Number Two interrupted.
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“We reduce its capability by arranging damaging encounters with the aliens. Their new
laser technology is good, but not enough for all that is to come. And we start to
manipulate certain social and political players”.
“Reveal our existence?” One interrupted, suddenly angry for the way things were turning.
“Offer our assistance. But leaving no evidence, hiding our history and talking only to
selected, high ranking officials, who can be easily eliminated if they betray us. Or, better
yet, posing as aliens”.
“And I believe you already have determined some candidates?” One’s voice sounded of
defeat.
“Indeed I do”. Then Number Three proceeded to explain his variation to the plan.
March 6th, 1999

Manhattan, New York City, US
Evan Blake pressed clicked his mouse to give the command to see the video again. When
he had arrived at his desk on the Times and started off his desktop, he noticed that his
email program was downloading an awful lot of big messages, which was unusual. He
become suspicious when he saw the size of two megabytes of the first email, and that the
following nine emails still downloading also had the same amount of data. Most
disturbing was the fact that it didn’t have a sender identified nor a direction to reply to.
When he clicked to play the file it showed footage from a gun camera on an aircraft. The
waiting period for the rest of the video files was well worth it. It was a recording taken by
a military aircraft of an encounter with an UFO that looked as if had ended sourly for the
plane. There was no indication of the date or place where it occurred or what plane was
involved, but he had some clues from the footage. The background showed that it must
have happened over the West and the apparent speed of the aircraft seemed to be more
than supersonic, if not hypersonic. Which could only mean that it was a black-budget
highly classified project. He needed to do some checks on the images, to see if they could
be a forgery and to verify the speed of the plane, but he knew that this was a major story.
Someone inside the military must be tired of the secrecy about this whole UFO situation,
he thought, and how the establishment is dealing with it. This didn’t prove that there were
aliens out there, but it would raise some questions as to what was the craft involved and
what happened on that incident. The Pentagon would be forced to give some answers to
the whole thing. And it also told him where to look for Colonel Johnson. There was only
one place where to look for highly classified research projects and that was Nevada. It
was known that the U-2, SR-71, F-117 and B-2 advanced planes had been developed
there. There were also rumors of that the secret replacement for the SR-71 plane was
based there and that had supersonic capability. Or that the US government had acquired
Soviet military aircraft since the sixties and had tested them on Area 51. Most likely the
Colonel would be placed on one of those bases, he thought. The problem was that they
were highly classified facilities. If you took just a few steps inside the area around the
facility you could be arrested and sentenced to jail. Worse than that, the Federal
Government refused to acknowledge the existence of Area 51, which meant that his
queries would be dismissed.
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And he knew he needed some hard evidence for his editor to believe in the story. He had
already been rebutted because of his interest on the subject. “Get me a little green men
from Mars and you can write about aliens”, his boss had said, “if not, stick to reality”.
In any case, if he could prove the authenticy of the video it would be a fantastic
newsbreak, whenever it was really an UFO that had shot the craft out of the skies. And if
he could trace the whereabouts of Colonel Johnson and link the base to the Los Angeles
attack and the shot down of the plane it could even be Pulitzer Prize material.
Middle of the Indian Ocean, Earth

The massive alien craft had just entered Earth’s atmosphere some 200 miles south of the
Maldives islands and was on a south-westerly course, heading for one of Sol Three’s
continents. No significant indigenous activity had been detected on the sector, which
pleased and annoyed at the same time the Sectoid Commander on board. While he
wanted to hit back the Sol Three’s forces he knew that his mission called for discretion,
since it was needed to advance the forward deployment of the fleet’s forces. The natural
satellite that orbited Sol Three’s helped conceal the invasion fleet from detection, but it
was also too inhospitable for the deployment of forces. And the supply lines were already
too stretched out, which prevented fast reaction to hostile opposition.
The other ships that comprised the detachment had also successfully entered the
atmosphere and were travelling to the target area on schedule. But his ship would be the
one who would secure the landing zone. The war machines it contained would prevent
any Terran interference and allow for the next step of the invasion.
March 8th, 1999

Commander Illyuschenko moved his arms to his chest to check for the maneuverability
of the body armor he was trying. He found it amazing that he hardly noticed that he was
wearing it, since it didn’t hamper any of his movements. He had been the first to wear to
be issued the new Type 17 body protection, strengthened by the use of alien alloys, by
Dr. Chevereux’s orders. He had counter ordered it and told that the ground troops should
be the first equipped, since he wasn’t going to do any combat operations soon, but the
scientific chief had just started another discussion, saying that more important was to
assure the survival of the military leadership. The whole question ended up at the UN’s
Secretary General desk, which had supported the doctor’s decision.
Looking at himself at the mirror on his quarters at Mother One, he thought that he was
still in a prime shape to do some fighting on his armor, to take it to the field and test it.
The years and the battles he had seen had brought him a lot of gray hairs, wrinkles and
scars to show for, but he considered himself still quite fit for a man on his middle fifties.
And by the way of it, he wasn’t sure if he wouldn’t have to occupy one of the seats in the
Skyranger in the next missions. “Could I do it?” He asked to himself. Then he
remembered Afghanistan again and the reports from the Los Angeles attack. It had been a
civilian massacre. The clean up crews had reported that entire families had been gunned
down in their houses, and in some cases human organs and blood had been removed from
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them, with the victims still conscious. It was happening all over again and he couldn’t do
anything to stop it, just send more men to be killed while they tried to defend the civilian
population.
He looked at his desk, which was pilled up with personnel files of possible new recruits
to replace the soldiers lost in the Morocco operation. While he had given a public
reprimand to Colonel MacTaggert about the order he had given to ram the alien,
considering it reckless use of equipment and putting his men into danger, he had also
congratulated him for taking an action that probably had saved the entire team. The
Skyranger was still on the repair shop, but they didn’t have a full team ready to deploy
anyways. But it would take some time before it could be repaired. The spare parts hadn’t
arrived from Russia yet and his conversations with his government were turning sourer
day after day, with President Larianov being short of calling him a traitor. The latest
discussion had involved the demands of the release of the laser technology but
Illyuschenko had been firmly against it, after seeing the reports of the development of the
orbital laser. The weapon had no tactical use whatsoever and if both advances could be
integrated it opened the possibility for the development of a new mass destruction
weapon. The Russian appeal for a reversal of his decision to the X-Com’s Council of
Representatives had been dismissed and he thanked that not all politicians could be so
short sighted. Of course, he knew that he had only bought some time, since the
information would eventually be disseminated without his approval, through the use of
intelligence operatives inside X-Com. The political aspects were just taking too much
time and the damn intelligence agencies are just doing what they know best, he thought,
which was complicating everything instead of helping, he thought.
But things were looking up in general, he thought, as he looked at his new laser sidearm.
It was durable and reliable in the test field and the new version of the pistol that was
being planned would incorporate alien alloys that would make it even more resistant.
Do they really are getting better or are they only going to get worse? The voice inside
him brought painful memories, of soldiers being torn apart in ambushes in the Afghani
mountains, of the troopers who were captured by the enemy to be found cut into pieces.
There were just too many things in common, he thought, too much casualties, too much
blood. He looked at the cabinet where he had stashed his bottle of vodka, unsure of what
to do.
March 9th, 1999

Middle of Alaska, United States
The first thing that John Dulmer thought when he woke up was that he had fallen asleep
and was late for duty. He worked as a technician for the Ballistic Defense Missile
Warning System site that had been built by the US government in northern Alaska in the
middle of the Cold War for detect possible Soviet nuclear strikes. Although he wasn’t a
part of the military that owned the place he had a very specific contract with them for the
radar maintenance and they had activated a clause that obligated him to work overtime,
although at a very convenient compensation. He didn’t know what was the reason,
although he suspected of trouble with China or Russia or something like that. The last
weeks had been tough, with him having to pull a lot of extra shifts with no absence from
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base allowed. Until yesterday. Although it had taken him several hours, he considered the
ride to the nearest town quite agreeable. It was nice to be back into civilization, although
the town could hardly boost a thousand inhabitants. Memories of the day begun to come
to his mind and he started to remember how tough the jeep ride back had been, for him to
be still so tired that he couldn’t hardly move. Then he realized that he wasn’t on his bed
and, worse still, he was naked with no sheets on.
He opened his eyes and tried to get up from wherever he was but there was a strange
force tying him down. After a brief moment of confusion as he stared on a gray metal
ceiling unlike anything he had seen before, his brain picked up another presence in the
room. He turned his head to his right side and become speechless as he looked into alien
eyes that looked back at him, emotionless. As he opened his mouth to scream, his
thoughts remembered the crackpot base rumors that said that NORAD had taken a
peculiar interest into Unidentified Flying Objects.
British Columbia, Canada

The Skyranger was racing across the Pacific Northwest once again and Johnson looked at
the familiar mountains and forests that made this part of the continent. It was the first
mission of his team after the near disastrous raid at Los Angeles. He hoped that
everything worked out as planned, since he hadn’t time to finish training the West Coast
team, as he would have wished before engaging in a new confrontation with the aliens.
Especially when the UFO detected was one of medium size, which didn’t pose well for
the success of the operation, when considering that it was similar on size to the one that
had brought the terrorists to the Los Angeles attack. Although it had landed on a pretty
remote area, which excluded the possibility of another such strike by the aliens, the area
where it had chosen to come down to Earth was another bigger concern. The request for
assistance had come up once again from the highest authorities, because of the possibility
that it was a raid destined to destroy the missile warning radar site situated in Alaska. The
radar sometimes also gave some forward warning against UFO incursions, which made it
a very important strategic asset. That had to be defended at any cost.
The minus temperatures and the bad weather at this time of the year in the area had
precluded an aviation strike against the craft, as it would have been desirable if they were
in a search and destruction mission. So his team would have to sneak up on the aliens and
take control of the craft in one swift strike. And there were other worries. He and
Hopkins were the only ones who were wearing the new Type 17 armor underneath their
cold weather garments. The other twelve members of the team had to rely on the old
Kevlar body protection, which was close to nothing.
Johnson checked again the power on his Mk III laser rifle, which had been painted white
and gray, matching the camouflage that they were wearing. The weapon just looked too
fragile and nimble for the power it could release. During the initial tests it had proven
itself as being very efficient and, better yet, silent, which made it a perfect Special Forces
weapon. At least the engineering department had managed to build enough rifles to equip
completely the entire squad with them. Although the things hadn’t been tested yet for
cold weather operations, the scientists had theorized that they would work. Yeah right,
my ass, he thought. That’s why every team member had been issued a personal sidearm,
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consisting of either a Mark I laser pistol of a M9 nine-millimeter pistol that they all were
underneath their clothes to keep them away from the heat. He looked at the team and felt
a shiver, considering that most of them were rookies, although he had managed to keep
some of his best men on the team. Hopkins had fully recovered and still stayed in
command of Beta, making life miserably in general to the three new members that had
arrived to fill the losses. Dennis, Garcia and Andrews were gone, moving to the base on
the Appalachian Mountains to give some combat experience to the new team that had
been formed, along with Captain Hunt.
Tyrell’s voice cracked on the combat radio, filling it with his Californian almost
annoying accent. He had come from the Navy and was a Golden State native, based on
San Diego.
“Colonel, sir, just got the latest indications from NORAD about the fast mover’s position.
I could land the craft away from it to prevent us from getting detected.”
“Roger that Captain”. He then tried to get some sleep.
Some hours afterwards they closed nearby the UFO’s position. The Sun was beginning to
come up, which was good for the attack, although the heavy cloud cover limited its light.
That is, if the aliens were affected by the same sleep patterns than most animals on Earth,
including humans, they would be either tired at this hour of the morning or starting to
wake up, with their attention lower than usual. The Skyranger landed in the middle of a
tundra field, the exhaust from its jet engines throwing snow and rocks everything and
blasting the sparse vegetation. It had been attached with ice skates instead of wheels, one
of the advantages of it being built and designed by Russians.
The three squads quickly exited the plane, taking cover on the nearby snow elevations
and looking for possible hostiles that might be in the area. Once the all clear had been
given for the landing zone, Johnson and King exited the craft and joined the other men.
The dark haired sniper looked nervous as if being out in the open was an unnatural
condition to him.
Without a word being spoken, the assembled on a line and started moving towards their
target, with Kowalsky being assigned point. The short man just acknowledged the order
and started moving.
After they had walked some distance Kowalsky suddenly made the all stop sign and squat
down, with everyone following his warning after advancing. Johnson and Forrester
moved up to see what had come up. Moving through the line of his men as they took
cover on the available nearby snow and ice mounts, he reached the trooper’s position.
Kowalsky was lying down and as he saw his commander’s arrival, he pointed to a
direction in front while making afterwards the sign for hostiles. Johnson crawled on the
ground until he could get a better look.
Some two hundreds yards away the alien ship could be seen, laying on the ground. It was
an unrecorded type. It was bigger than anything they had ever raided and its shape, while
remembering the classic saucer, had sections that came out of it, remembering petals of a
flower. And an alien was standing between them and the UFO, assuming a sentinel
position with its Elerium rifle. It was patrolling the area, moving around with an almost
choreographed rhythm and scanning through its dark eyes, but it had failed so far to
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detect the X-Com’s troopers. And the dumb idiot was standing directly between them and
the craft. He signaled Kowalsky to stay put and motioned the rest of the team to deploy.
The plan called for the team to circle the UFO and detect all aliens that were standing
outside to take them all out at the same time. That was the easy part. The hardest would
be afterwards the assault on the UFO itself. Moving slowly, Alpha, Beta and Gamma
squads circled the craft, while Jones moved closed to him and stayed put, keeping a close
look at the alien guard. Johnson wondered how it could be just standing there in the
middle of the cold wind that was blasting through the landscape. The snow had stopped
to fall but the sky was still heavy on clouds. He trailed Gamma as they moved over the
right side of the craft. The door was visible, with two other Sectoids guarding it.
Looking over he also saw that Alpha was guarding the opposite end from where they had
arrived and were placing themselves into position. Beta was out of sight, but he trusted
that they had already assumed their places on the left side. They would be responsible for
taking down any stragglers that were far away and would race back to the craft after the
shooting started. His radio came active with a single click, followed by two others. Alpha
had detected two aliens and was ready to take them out. Two other clicks cracked on the
channel, followed by the same number of sounds and finally three clicks come up,
followed by a single one. Counting the one King was keeping under his sights, that made
six aliens outside, Johnson thought. How many more inside? He pointed his own laser
rifle at the nearest alien. Then he talked to his microphone a single word: “Go!”
All the men from the team that had been assigned laser rifles fired them one second later
at their targets. Since the weapons were almost soundless it had been decided to use them
instead of the cannons to avoid making any noise. The laser beams traveled at the speed
of light towards their targets. All the aliens outside the UFO died the next instant, their
gray bodies cut down by the invisible beams.
“Gamma go! Alpha cover the door!” Johnson shouted while looking around for any
possible aliens that might be on their way back to the ship.
The second Corporal Pershing heard the Colonel’s voice he got up and started running.
Trailing behind him, Rodriguez and Jones were a bit slower to respond to the order, the
same with Jerrell, the new Lieutenant in command of the squad. He knew that they would
eventually pick up on him, but for now his reactions had the upper hand. Carrying his
Russian heavy cannon was no big feature for him. He weighted almost two hundreds
pounds, the mass sculpted into a tall figure of straight muscle. As he was close to the
craft, the door suddenly opened and a Sectoid moved out, searching for the fate of his
now dead companions. Pershing didn’t even bother to respond. A second, later laser
beams from the other squad cut down the alien, his body instantly dropping on the ground
and keeping the door opened. Pershing reached it and took a look, trailing his gun at the
same time. An entry room greeted him, with a door on the other end. Jones reached him
and he said: “Go!” while kicking the alien corpse out of the way. The trooper quickly
moved and reached the door on the other side. The rest of his squad arrived and he and
Jones then moved closer to the other door, the other Gamma members covering it with
their laser rifles.
When both X-Com’s troopers arrived they took position on both sides of the door and
Jones them moved his hand to open it. The alien device detected the motion and moved
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the metal surface up. Two rounds of automatic laser fire from the soldiers on the back
followed into the room and Pershing and Jones then pointed their own weapons.
A dead alien laid on the floor with their back pointed at him hit by the laser salvo in
several locations. The room reminded Pershing of some kind of hospital room, he
thought, as he noticed the two tables on both sides with what looked like surgical
instruments on the tops and a table at the middle, where the dead alien now laid in front
of. And a patient. A human one. And another life form present in the room.
Jones fired first, but the three laser bursts that come out of his weapon all missed, hitting
the walls and the table where the alien was close to. The Sectoid tried to take cover but
while turning hit the table and the collision took out his balance, making him fell to the
ground. Pershing pressed the finger on his trigger but a second afterward a new feeling
come up to him. He moved up to the alien, who was trying to get up, raised his weapon
and clubbed the alien on the head with the stock. The Sectoid immediately dropped to the
ground again, but this time it stayed there, motionless. Payback time, you bastard.
Meanwhile the rest of the squad had just entered that room, covering another door that
was on the other side. Pershing saw that the Lieutenant was giving him a hard look, but
he decided to tell to him to shove later if he brought the subject up. He assumed his
position and, a second later a trooper opened the door. This time the laser salvo failed to
hit anyone and Rodriguez took a look. He told Pershing to cover the left side and dashed
afterwards to the left side, the Corporal following him across the door. The room led into
a corridor that whose walls were bare but showed the geometrical inside of the flower
like design of the UFO. He looked on front and saw that it ended with a turn to the left
and he continued walking, taking a close look at the corner. A plasma round was
suddenly heard, followed but the hum of a laser rifle in operation. The thump on the
ground heard afterwards reassured him that his buddies still had the upper hand on that
side. When he reached he took a quick look at the continuation. It led to a dead end, with
two cylinders found like the ones inside the smaller UFOs attached to the right side and
giving an orange light. Looking closer he saw that there looked to be an opening on the
ceiling, leading to another door with an orange light coming out of it and lightening the
floor underneath the opening with a strange red.
When Rodriguez joined them both men started approaching carefully the light. He
clicked on his radio. “Lt. I got an opening here on the ceiling”. The lieutenant voice
replied. “Cover it and hold. Will join you in two seconds. Dead end here”.
When all men of Gamma squad reassembled they approached the opening with great
care. Pershing looked to the Lieutenant and got the okay from his look. He moved
directly underneath the light and looked up. Nothing. He took out his combat glove and
tried to see if the light had some effect on the air. As he suddenly moved his arm upwards
he felt himself going up, moved by some invisible force. His first reaction was to try to
escape from it, but the velocity of his ascent prevented him from having the time to step
out of the lift.
He met himself on the upper floor of the craft, directly over the opening, with the same
invisible force preventing him from falling down. In a brief moment of panic he looked
around. His eyes caught a corridor on his front that seemed to have no end. And on his
left there was another corridor. And a figure had just stepped into it. Pershing threw
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himself to the empty corridor, the green bolts going through the same position that his
body had just left. As he hit the ground he concentrated on holding his gun near him and
getting a grenade out of his belt. He took the cap out and pressed the trigger, rigging it
with a three second delay. He then stretched his arm and threw it afterwards in the
direction of the alien. A squeak was heard afterwards, followed but an explosion. The
other members of Gamma figured out the lift and started it, joining him on the upper
floor. He saw them move in front of him as he got up his feet and then followed them.
Johnson’s radio cracked: “Forrester here. We have secured the UFO. Gamma met some
tough resistance on the upper floor, but have no casualties, besides some minor burns.
And we have rescued an abductee”.
“Say that again, Alpha?”
“The aliens apparently abducted a worker in the radar facility. He was extremely lucky
not to get hit by our own weapons in the shootout, with an alien taking a lot of shots that
would have hit him instead”.
“How is he?”
“Shaken, but stable. We are getting him some clothes and are giving him the US military
team story, but not saying a word about the aliens. Speaking of which, we have captured
a prisoner of war”.
“A live alien?”
“It has a bruise on his head the size of a shoe, thanks to Pershing’s hitting him with the
butt of his heavy cannon, but he’s still alive”.
“Restrain him. Any reports of mental interference?”
“Negative. Gamma’s boys say they felt something weird on their minds when they were
storming the upper floor, but it ended shortly afterwards when they got the last alien”.
“Have a guard close to the alien and have all men on sight of the guard. The moment the
guard sees any of them point the gun at one another he is to kill the alien instantly”
Forrester voice replied: “Roger”.
Johnson suddenly detected a presence on his left side and he dropped to his knees while
turning and pointing his laser rifle at the figure. His training prevented him from
squeezing the trigger as he saw a human figure dressed in cold weather clothes looking
directly at him. The individual froze on his tracks when he noticed Johnson and a second
later hid himself behind one of the snow elevations that had formed over high spots on
the cold terrain. Johnson released the pressure on his trigger and shouted: “Sir, this is the
US military. This is an quarantined area, please leave this second”. He tried to spot the
figure, looking at the direction to where it had moved. Five seconds passed and no
answer came.
“Sir, have you heard me? Please show yourself”. Johnson started moving into that
direction. Great, just what I need, a frightened civilian.
This one will take some time to convince that this was just a military exercise, he
thought. He ran towards the elevation, climbing over it to get a better picture of where he
was. When he reached the top he saw that the men was almost reaching the other
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elevation, turning back to check on him and regaining his pace afterwards. They had been
running for minutes now and Johnson wondered about the physical abilities of the man. If
not for his own combat training it would be nearly impossible to catch up with him. He
kept running as fast as he could and activated his radio to talk to Tyrell.
“Tyrell, a civilian is going on your way from the southeast, some two hundred years from
your position. I’m after him. Detain him”.
“Roger that, Colonel”.
He kept running across the ice and snowfield, catching occasional glimpses of the man as
he moved between the elevations, unknowingly going on the way of the Skyranger. As he
circulated the final ice boulder, he heard an alien weapon shot. He first considered that
one of the Sectoids had been away outside the craft and was now returning, alerted by the
previous gunfire. Suddenly all those thoughts stopped.
Tyrell was lying on the ground bleeding profusely of his abdomen, tainting the white
landscape with the crimson red. He wasn’t moving. The figure had stopped and was
turned into Tyrell’s direction. He heard Johnson’s muffled steps in the snow and turned.
Johnson stop on his tracks, mesmerized by the eyes that faced him. The figure in front of
him was human in appearance and was wearing human clothes, with a protective mask
worn to protect against the snow and the minus temperatures that were being felt. His
snow goggles were up on his forehead revealing the only part of his face that wasn’t
covered, which was his eyes. Human and expressing fear. But with a violet color. And a
cat like pupil.
The Colonel become petrified, his brain unable for a few seconds to respond to the vision
that was now concentrating on him, pointing the Elerium pistol it had on his hand to
Johnson’s direction.
A blast was shot and suddenly Johnson was projected back, but as he was hitting the
ground his training clicked and he moved in the air to soften the effects of the fall and
prepare to respond to the threat. As he landed on the snow he was already turning to lay
down on his ground and point his weapon at the man. But the cringing pain that come
from his chest disabled him to point and fire as he saw the figure start running away
again. He looked down at his chest that was pinning his weapon arm to the ground and
saw that it was littered with small holes, with blood coming out of them. The armor had
worked to prevent him from getting killed from the alien blast, but barely. If he had taken
such hit on the back or head he probably wouldn’t be alive anymore. Seeing that the man
was getting further away he laid on his back and used his free hand to key his
microphone.
“Johnson here. I need some assistance. There’s still a hostile in the area and he almost got
me”. Hopkins immediately acknowledged the order. As he waited for his men to arrive he
got his medical pack off his emergency medical pack off his belt and started to stop the
bleeding. While taking care of himself he started thinking about this new apparition and
how hell was getting loose again.
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March 11th, 1999
Las Vegas International Airport, Nevada, US
Eva Johannes didn’t even noticed the 747 hitting on the tarmac during its landing. She
was used to getting sleep wherever possible, thanks to long nights of study and
assignments at college and she only woke up when the passenger next to her bumped into
her leg on the way out. She looked around and saw that almost all of the passengers of
the flight had already gotten up and were waiting to leave the craft. Until a recent time
such travels made by X-Com personnel were made using planes available to the force,
but budget and operational constrains had limited their availability. So she had to take a
commercial flight from Frankfurt to New York, and then another to Las Vegas were she
would be picked up by a ride from Area 51. She checked her watch and it marked four
o’clock in the afternoon. No, wait, eight hours less here, so it should be around eight in
the morning. And a pretty damn jet lag to go with it, she noticed as she also got up and
collected her jacket from the storage compartment on top of her seat.
The recent capture of a live alien by the Area 51 team had brought quite a stir to the
scientific community of X-Com. While most of the research involving extraterrestrial
biological entities were made at the American base, she had petitioned to be present in
the interrogations that were being conducted on the creature, in hope to understand more
of the Elerium physics. And she also wanted to take a look at the equipment captured in
the larger UFO, hoping that it might bring light into its propulsion system. She also
would liaison with the scientists at the American facility to try to coordinate better the
research efforts.
The basic qualities of Elerium had by now been determined. Apparently the
extraterrestrial element possessed the ability of turning itself into antimatter when
bombarded with accelerated particles. The initial tests had shown it to contain more
energy on his mass than plutonium, without possessing the radioactive qualities of the
former. But it still gave them no clue of how it was used to power the alien’s weapons
and UFO propulsion systems. Theoretically it was possible to use it for military purposes,
placing a small quantity on top of a missile together with an accelerator programmed to
hit it with particles when the rocket reached its target. But the scientific staff had decided
to discard the idea, also because of the implications it would have if a terrorist or a
dictator got a piece of the material and also how to use it.
When she left the plane she proceeded to the luggage retrieval area where she got her
bags. She wasn’t allowed to take with her any of her notes because of security so her stuff
was minimal. As she got all of the cases two police officers came up to her. One of them
was huge and had blonde hair while the other was the exact opposite, short and dark
haired. The smaller one opened his mouth to speak to her, while the other one kept a
watch on everyone near them.
“Excuse me madam, is your name Eva Johannes?” His look was emotionless. Looking at
him, she noticed there was something strange about the uniformed man in front of her.
“Ja, I mean yes. Why?”
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“Can I see your identification please?” She handed him her German passport which he
looked briefly before giving it back to her.
“Is there a problem?”
“I am afraid so madam. Please come with us”
“Why? Where are we going?”
“Madam, please, this is only temporary and will be quickly explained. There’s nothing to
worry about. My partner will take your bags”
She looked at both of them and realized that resistance would be futile. “Very well, let’s
get this over with”. They both placed themselves on her side and the three of them
headed for a door that had a Restricted Area sign. Going through it, they guided her
through a maze of corridors and rooms, without saying anything, until they finally went
through a door leading to a parking lot where a black sedan with darkened windows was
parked. The taller one opened the rear door and motioned her to enter, which she did. A
man dressed in a civilian suit was inside and after she sat down and the door was closed
he gave her a device that looked like a pair of binoculars. “Please look through this”
“What is going on?”
“Please look. I won’t ask again” He produced a pistol from an armpit holster and pointed
it at her. She took the strange device and looked. Only darkness greeted her eyes. “I see
nothing”.
“There’s a button on the right side. Press it”. She did and her eyes saw a brief flash that
left her blind for some seconds making her drop the device. The man picked it and looked
at it. He then let go a sigh of relief and put away his pistol.
“Captain Forrester, West North American X-Com Command. Welcome to Nevada Miss
Johannes”
She took his hand and gave it a small shake. “What was that all about Captain?”
“I’m sorry about the deception. It is a part of the security measures we have installed for
all X-Com personnel. We needed to be sure you were who claimed to be and this
machine right here just did a retinal scan to check for your identity. You passed”. He
pointed at the front of the car. “Those two policeman seated in the front are, in fact,
Corporal Pershing and Trooper Kowalsky, also of the team based at Area 51”.
“A full security detachment just for me? What is going on here?”
“Let’s just say we don’t want any guest to be harmed, Dr. Johannes. I’m sorry but I can’t
say anymore and we should get in our way”.
“Very well”. The driver started the car and made it roll, heading for the highway.
On the other side of the parking lot, Evan Blake came out from behind a trash canister
and saw the limousine drive away. Now what was that all about, he thought? As he was
waiting to pick his luggage upon arriving at Las Vegas, his boss consenting to the trip
after he had finally convinced him that he wasn’t on a wild goose chase.
He had noticed the two policemen the moment they had entered the area. He saw them
approaching a blonde woman and talking to her. But their actions were strange. First, one
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of them was more interested in the people around them, as if they were looking for
threats. And both of them looked more like military people the way the walked and acted.
When all of them left through an exit restricted to airport personnel, he knew something
was up. He grabbed his bag and looked for the farthest parking lot, running as fast as he
could. His instinct was right it seemed. It could even be that Colonel Johnson was inside
the car, but he didn’t managed to look inside. “Well, I will see ya at Area 51, count on it”,
he said, before heading out back to the terminal to get a taxi.
On the other end of the terminal, an eye stopped looking through a magnification lenses
and put the camera down as Blake turned away. The person then placed all his material
on a travel bag and headed out to another parking lot.
Area 51, Nevada, US

Williams had followed Johnson to the storage area where they had talked before. The
Colonel didn’t said what he wanted to discuss, but he could guess that it should be
serious, according to the man’s expression.
When they reached the room, Johnson closed the door and locked it. Afterwards he
produced a small device from his pocket and turned it on.
“Anti-listening device. I asked Dr. Mantell to come up with one, so that we could assure
that our conversations remain private”.
“You could have asked me for one of those. The scientific personnel back at the Agency
has devised a lot of them, I’m sure”.
“Yes, but what I wonder is what else they have conceived” His voice took a sombre tone.
“Colonel, I’m supposed to be the devious person here. Please keep that role up to me and
say what’s on your mind”.
“You heard about the Alaska assault?”
“Yes and let me congratulate you for your exit in stopping the alien’s actions. I’m sorry
for your wounds”.
“Well, you are the second person to know, besides Commander Illyuschenko. They
weren’t made by the aliens but by a human using one of their weapons”.
“One of your men being mind controlled like it happened on LA?”
“No. Someone who was approaching the UFO at the time of the assault, unaware of our
presence. Who was carrying one of their weapons”.
“A human working for the aliens as an operative?”
“You tell me. What I want to know is how did they get anyone helping them, besides that
mind control thing. He wasn’t under their influence, since we had killed all the aliens by
the time he arrived at the scene, which means that he was about to meet them and had a
gun with him, which means that he didn’t fully trust them”.
Williams thought of his own conclusions about the conspirators but he refrained from
saying a thing.
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“There are things you don’t need to know Colonel and that could endanger your life if
you did”.
“Let me tell you what’s endangering my life! What is jeopardizing this whole operation is
the amount of secrets you intelligence people keep to yourselves! Did you knew about
this already?!” Williams took a step back. The Colonel looked as if he was about to
strangle him.
“Colonel Johnson, all the indications I have so far would point that such collaborators
would remain hidden to preserve their identities. You meeting with him was an unlucky
coincidence”.
“Tell that to Tyrell, the pilot who got killed! And I got one last thing for you to know
about that human. He had the stature of an ordinary man but his eyes where alien like. I
don’t know what that means, but somebody must be playing Dr. Frankenstein up there on
the stars!” Or down here on Earth, Williams concluded.
“Very well, Colonel. I trust that you haven’t said that to anyone else?”
“You bet I didn’t. The story is that the alien who hit me ran away and died in the middle
of the snow storm that hit the place hours later. But from this day on, my men have orders
to keep their guard up even when there’s only humans around”.
“Most likely you won’t have another incident like that again Colonel. But please do take
all necessary precautions. And you have my word. When I can talk about it you will be
fully briefed. But for now some information has to be contained or the danger of it
coming out to the open would be much bigger”.
“You bet you will tell me. ‘Cause if you don’t, I will personally give you to the aliens for
them to make experiments on you Mr. Williams”. He wasn’t joking.
On the other side of the base, Eva Johannes had just finished her early lunch on the base
mess hall, escorted by Dr. Mantell. They had discussed several aspects of the research
that was being done on alien technology over the meal and as they were leaving the room
she noticed a paper sheet posted near the door announcing today’s film session.
“’The Day The Earth Stood Still’? What film is that, Dr?” Dr. Mantell let go of a short
laugh and said:
“Well, some of the troops decided to start playing films using the base projection room.
We are not allowed to go to the nearest town so sometimes life here can be boring. But
they decided that they needed stuff about their job to motivate them, so they bought a lot
of scientific fiction movies, with the plot of all of them being extraterrestrials”.
“You mean movies like that one I saw in my childhood, what was his name, ‘ET’?”
“Actually no, although I would have liked to see it again. That one and ‘Close Encounters
of the Third Kind’ are actually censored and banned, due to them being, as Sergeant
Hopkins put it, ‘alien propaganda to take away our will to fight them’. No, last week it
was ‘Independence Day’, this one is a classic from the 50’s”.
“You Americans are crazy”.
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“Why, just because we here believe in aliens?” Dr. Mantell smiled. He was much
different from her superior back at Mother One, she thought.
“Speaking of which, when can I see him? Or is it a her?”
“It’s an it actually. They are asexual, although we have found some biological traces of
sexual organs in some of the bodies”.
“Well, I think there’s an interrogation session going on at the minute. You could assist it
if you wanted”.
“I would like that”.
“Very well, but prepare yourself”. He led her outside of a mess hall and through a series
of scientific laboratories where she saw other scientists going over pieces of strange alien
equipment, some of it combined with more Earth like materials. She greeted them, but
few of them bothered to answer back, which she understood. It also happened to her to
find time a rare commodity lately.
They finally reached a door and the doctor punched in a code on the numeric keypad
outside it. The sign on the door was quite explicit: “WARNING: BIOLOGICAL
HAZARD. DO NOT ENTER WITHOUT FULL AUTHORIZATION”. When they
crossed she saw that the entrance was guarded on the inside by two X-Com troopers, both
carrying M4 automatic rifles and wearing full body armor. They didn’t pay any attention
to her. On the room there were two military men together with a collection of scientists
and civilian personnel. She looked carefully at the neck collar of the officers. The closest
one had an insignia there with three circles with an X on the middle of them, which made
him a Captain. The other one wore what she called the tenticular X insignia, the same
worn by Colonel MacTaggert at Mother One. That made him Colonel Johnson.
They were all seated on chairs, looking at a big glass window that occupied an entire wall
of the room. When she turned her head on that direction she saw what they were looking
at and she felt a need to vomit. She barely constrained herself while looking at the alien.
It was sitting on a chair in the middle of a room that contained only a table and a bed. A
civilian and a military man were also together with the alien, trying to communicate with
him through the use of a computer that was built into one of the walls, but having no
success for it simply made no reaction. She turned to Doctor Mantell.
“Can he understand English?”
“We simply don’t know. They must be able to understand our languages but that skill
could be restricted to only some of them. In any case we doubt it would be able to
replicate human sounds. Right now we are trying to use mathematics but it still won’t
respond. We don’t know if it’s because it simply doesn’t understand or if it refuses to
communicate”.
The alien turned his head and looked at the one-way window. Although Eva knew he
couldn’t see it, she felt that it was sensing the presence of all the people on the subjacent
room.
“He somehow knows that we are here watching him. They must be able to detect
thoughts even though this specimen right here doesn’t have the ability to mind control
like we have detected on some of the others”. The Colonel noticed their presence and
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made an interrogating look. Mantell lead Johannes closer to him and made the proper
presentations.
“This alien seems to be giving you a hard time Colonel, how can we communicate with
it?”
“You don’t want to know, Miss Johannes” His voice turned cold and professional.
“I just got orders from Commander Illyuschenko telling me to use every possible mean to
extract information from the alien that doesn’t endanger his life. That’s why some of this
civilians are here”.
“What?!”
“They show no mercy to us, Doctor. And we need for it to start speaking as soon as
possible for us to learn more about them before it’s too late”.
“That’s barbaric!”
“Your work is very important Doctor in the fight against the aliens. And the nature of it
shields you from being in the frontline and seeing their atrocities. Believe me, if you had
seen what I did, you would want to kill them yourself personally”.
“The ends don’t justify the means, Colonel!”
“Moral is a curious and weird concept, Doctor, even for humans. While it has kept some
of us from killing our neighbor, the aliens just ignore them. And why shouldn’t they? We
are no better than cattle for them. And one thing I learned is that if you want to win you
have to be as vicious as your enemy or he will ever have an psychological advantage over
you”.
“And what if you had to kill a human instead Colonel?” She started clenching her hands.
“I have had, madam. And believe me, with them I can feel remorse. With the thing over
there, there’s nothing to be sorry for”.
“Well thinking like that could just be the reason why we are on this mess!” Her heart
racing, she ignored the looks of everyone else in the room and left it through the door,
furious at the Colonel. Even the alien seemed to sense some emotional distress in the
hidden room next to him and he turned his head towards the direction of the door.
Mantell turned to go after her, but Johnson stopped him grabbing his arm. “This is
between me and her Doctor, and I prefer to resolve such matters myself, if you please”.
The scientist relaxed and stepped away, nodding. Johnson headed out for the door.
Picking up his pace, he eventually found her in the mess hall. The soldiers that were
starting to have lunch looked at both of them, in curiosity. She still was breathing heavily
while turning to him and saying: “I’m sorry for my reaction back there Colonel, but I still
object against the prospect of using torture in another life form”.
“Doctor…Johannes, isn’t it?” She nodded. “Apologies accepted. An I wish to assure you
that we won’t resort to physical torture unless we really have to. We will first try other
softer means”
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“I don’t want to know, Colonel. Do your job. I will do mine. If you excuse me”. She
turned her back on him and left, towards the scientific area. Johnson scratched is head in
hopelessness, looked at this watch and headed out through one of the corridors into the
direction of his office. King, Jones and Garcia watched him leave and then went back to
eating their meal. After a second Jones said, almost casually:
“Looks like the CO might get lucky”.
“Can it Jones. Nothing of our business and you’re getting the wrong picture as usual”.
King kept his voice low and continued eating, disregarding the comments of the Afro-
American trooper.
“Man, nothing of our business you say? We’ve been on a one-gender base for months
were women are harder to find than UFOs and the Colonel already tries to score on the
first lady that I ever saw here? Even when I was back on Special Forces we would see
women and occasionally they would even wear a uniform! Officer’s privilege, my ass!”
“The Colonel is OK. Even the big man needs to relieve himself once in a while”. Garcia
kept putting huge doses of the daily chow into his mouth while making the comment,
having trouble saying some of the words.
King raised his head and said: “Well, welcome to X-Com, troopers! Against aliens, under
budgets and sexual abstinence we fight”. Jones just dismissed him with a wave of his
hand. Garcia also stopped eating and smiling from one ear to the other added: “maybe we
should get hombre Jones a date with the critter that they have locked on C Section”.
“You mean, like those looneys they show occasionally on the night news making rallies
to show their welcome for the extraterrestrial brothers and ask them to show themselves
to Earth? Man, is that was those meetings are all about? They have a hard-on and want to
have galactic intercourse?” Both him and King by then couldn’t control their laughing
anymore and the remaining trooper annoyed and deciding to go over his lunch with his
mouth shut.

Once again, Illyuschenko felt the need to shoot the face that was in front of him. The rat
faced man acted exactly like a weasel and talked like one also. The General Secretary had
told him about the atmosphere in the latest meetings of the Council of Funding Nations
and now the rumors were on plain sight.
“Councilman Likov, I don’t need to tell you how disastrous our country’s decision is! Cut
back funding for X-Com is an error at this point!”
The damn politician took a deep breath, taking the posture of a schoolmaster that was
putting the student in place and giving a lecture.
“Commander, the Charter allows us to change our funding, based on the general
performance of X-Com every month. And we are most displeased for the results the
Russian team has shown in these months, therefore our decision is final. Unless there are
some changes in overall performance, we will cut back on our funding at the end of this
month.”
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“But if you reduce it, then it will be much harder for the teams to hunt the UFOs, you
idiot! We need the funds to build the second Russian base! And to buy the planes
necessary to equip it!” Illyuschenko was making a huge effort not to raise his hands from
where their rested on the chair’s arms and smack the monitor in front of him.
“Then I suggest you pay more attention to the needs of your country, Commander! You
have denied everyone of our requests! And other nations are having more success, even
smaller ones than us, humiliating our country!”
“Don’t blame me for the politicians having messed around Russia for decades Mr. Likov!
Those nations have resources that we once possessed and their military cooperate more
than ours!”
“Your X-Com troopers have no respect for the chain of command! They refuse to follow
the orders of Red Army officials that are superior from them! And you refuse to allow
them access to a military installation in our own country!”
At least I’m not the only one angry here now, Illyuschenko thought. “Mr. Councilman,
they are not a part of Russia’s military forces anymore. And they receive their orders just
from one person and that’s me! And under the Charter the bases are UN territory that can
be entered only under the authorization of the commander of the installation!” This is
pointless, he thought. The bastard won’t even try to cooperate. Looking at his watch
while Likov was firing another round of accusations he saw that he was already late for
his other meeting. He cut through the angry speech the man was firing.
“Mr. Likov I need to tend to other matters now, but be sure that this isn’t over! Good
afternoon sir!”. Moving his hand towards the communications terminal he reached a
button on the side of the screen and touched it, ignoring the weasel’s words to remain on
the channel. The image was suddenly replaced by the red X on a white circle, both
standing in the middle of a blue background. He pressed another button and a light blue
flag with a representation of Earth on white traces suddenly raised itself and disappeared
on a box close to the roof. An electronic wall suddenly appeared, showing Earth in three
dimensions. Moving with the controls built into his armchair, he made it rotate. It
received all information available from radar sites on the ground and satellites. Most of
the globe, like the Pacific and the Poles had a gray tone into it remembering that there
were no assets monitoring the area for UFO activity. He sometimes monitored
interceptions from here but now it was going to be used for a war council. Moving the
pointer with a small joystick he clicked on a menu and chose the Communications button.
Another submenu replaced the other one on the screen and he chose another icon.
Immediately the image of Earth started to turn and afterwards it centered and zoomed on
Japan. A blue square icon appeared together with the words “Complex YY-18”. A
window popped up and suddenly Colonel Yamashita’s face commander of the Far East
team appeared. His face had cuts on it that hadn’t completely healed and Illyuschenko
wondered if the man had taken into sword training for his team. Looking another window
that had come up over China he saw the now Lieutenant Colonel Chen staring at him. He
seemed most displeased and the leader of X-Com decided that it must still have to do
with the FE command being led by Yamashita, and putting the still almost inexistent
Chinese team taking orders from a Japanese. That would probably change, he thought, at
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the next Council meeting since Japan was also being fed up of dealing with the Chinese,
accusing them of stepping on their way constantly.
Another square and a word this time in another continent: “Depot S-4”. It had been built
in the middle of Kenya and it was being used for storage of many of the alien artifacts.
Colonel Waartens, a South African was in charge of it, although he hated what he called
“caretaker duty” and was constantly requesting resources to allow him to start performing
interceptions and ground attacks. That was even a weirder mix, Illyuschenko thought,
considering that there were also Egyptians and Nigerians on the team, all led by an full
blood Afrikaner. At least he didn’t show any signs of believing in apartheid.
The computer continued connecting to the different bases and when all field commanders
were online, Illyuschenko spoke “Hello again, gentlemen. To be short, I’ve just had a
word with my country’s councilman. Together with China, Australia and Nigeria, they
will also be cutting their contributions in the next monthly budget if we don’t improve at
their eyes”. He looked at everyone, looking for reactions.
“My government was highly impressed with the Alaskan operation, sir. They most likely
will increase their contribution”
“Yes, Colonel Johnson. But, unfortunately it probably won’t be enough to cover the
money we will loose. Worse still, base maintenance is really eating into our budget now,
which will limit our ability to equip more bases and expand our area of operations and
also to replace lost equipment”.
“What about the bloody UN? Can’ the Secretary General give us more fund?” The
Scottish accent of MacTaggert made it hard to be understood.
“They would if they could, but they are even in a tighter situation than us”.
“Can’t we just borrow money then? This is insane! We are fighting to defend Earth and
we still have to do it with a low budget?!” Colonel Jackson seemed distressed, to the
point of moving his hands a lot.
“Jackson,” Johnson cut in, “we are not a ‘legal’ organization. We officially don’t exist
and I doubt any bank on Earth would give the funding we need unless it had some
guarantee about us. We can’t just mortgage our bases and get our Skyrangers through a
lease system”.
“Furthermore, we can’t reveal our existence, under the penalty of being hunt down by the
aliens and civilization breaking into a chaos. No, we need another answer here”. But
which one? Illyuschenko thought. Finding no sudden answer, he turned to soften the
problem as much as he could.
“All base construction will have to be halved by now. But we will continue with the
expansion and re-equipment of the teams. And we will have to cut into scientific
investigation also. Dr. Chevereux won’t be pleased, but right now we need more bullets
than lab rats fiddling with toys. We are better armed and protected right now and the
latest encounters have shown us that we have closed the technological gap between us
and the aliens on the ground. And that’s where this war will be won”.
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Chapter Seven – Revival
March 17th, 1999
It was almost amazing to see that the Sectoid constrained to the chair had at least one
feeling in common with humans. Pain. The restrained alien’s eyes and whatever few
muscles it had on his face showed tension and stress from time to time under the effects
of whatever the unseen men on the room were doing to him. The cameraman had shot the
interrogation well, Williams thought, at least he was sparing the audience the view of
whatever tortures the CIA questioners were inflicting on the alien.
An unseen human voice kept asking the same questions, making it sounds like a mantra.
In English, then in French, German, Chinese, Russian, Spanish and every major language
that existed on the planet. Think of the Babel Tower that would connect men to the skies,
what a coincidence.
The horrific spectacle lasted for a ten more seconds until finally, the alien opened his
mouth and tried to speak. It had actually taken many hours of such equal treatment,
Williams considered, but there was no point to see it all and there were other more
important things to discuss. He was then moved by faceless figures next to a monitor and
a keyboard and his arm was set free. The human voice asked merciless:
“Do you understand English?” The Sectoid looked at the keyboard and, after some
moments of hesitation, punched a few keys. The answer appeared white in the black
screen: YES.
“Who are you?” THE STARSPAWN.
“What is the star spawn?” ALL THE LIVING BEINGS COMBINED TOGETHER BY
THE WILL.
“And what is that will?” THE WILL THAT RULES US, THAT WILL ALSO MAKE
YOU A PART OF US.
“Are you here to dominate Earth?” YES THE THIRD PLANET FROM THE SYSTEM
YOU CALL SOL IS OURS.
Even though Williams had already seen the video, he still felt a chill down his spine
whenever this part came up. And the rest of the assessment team that were watching the
projection also went cold, suddenly realizing that Armageddon was more closer than they
ever could have imagined. The interrogator’s confusion was apparent as he tried to
remember another question. He tried another line of approach:
“What is your species? Who do you call yourselves?” WE ARE THE HIERARCHY WE
ARE THE STARSPAWN THAT IS OUR NAME.
You are a fine mess we have on our hands.
Williams thought as the rest of the interrogation went on until the recording finished. The
lights went back up and a graveyard silence stepped into the room. There were no more
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doubts, only one certain: Mankind faced extinction, slavery or something worse. “Let’s
start by going through the resume of all the information the two-day non-stop
interrogation took”.
“Are they still questioning him?” MacAllister asked, afraid about what other horrors
might come out.
“He died during interrogation. From what the scientific staff could determine during the
autopsy, the reason was fatigue”.
“Jesus!” MacAllister coughed, or pretended to, taking his hand to his mouth at the same
time to hide the shock.
“They didn’t want to risk that it wouldn’t be cooperative next time, so they took multiple
rechecks of its answers”. That still made Williams sick every time he thought about it.
Pretty soon, we might be getting back to barbarism because of the aliens. “It was
necessary”. Yes, but was it justifiable? “In any case, we now know that this Hierarchy, as
these Sectoids call themselves are part of a larger invasion force designed as the
‘Starspawn’”.
“How do the other aliens fit into that picture?” For the first time on the meetings,
Williams could see Parker actually showing any kind of interest on the subjects being
discussed.
“Apparently the Sectoids and the other race thus far discovered on Earth, the so-called
‘Floaters’ are working in common under this ‘Starspawn’. Whatever the term exactly
means is completely unknown”.
“An alliance or coalition of extraterrestrial races?” MacAllister volunteered.
“Or that the Sectoids, or some other species, have defeated and put into submission the
other extraterrestrials. The autopsies of the Floaters show that they have been massively
changed by genetic engineering and surgery. Their ability to hover in the air comes
actually from a cybernetic implant”. Interesting, Williams thought while assessing the
possibility thrown by Parker.
“Which would also explain the tone used by the Sectoid on his replies to our queries
regarding the Floaters. Although it is an error assigning human emotions to the aliens, the
interrogators’ conclusions pointed to the fact that he sees them as inferior life-forms, the
same way as he sometimes talked about humans, displaying what seemed like contempt”.
“A possibility to exploit, perhaps, the existence of power relations between the aliens?”
Parker suddenly turned into a Machiavellian tone, but more jokingly as if it was a
rhetorical question.
“If we ever come up with a plan that would assure success. But it’s doubtful that the
Floaters could see us as allies and that they would even risk going against their masters.
We are nothing more than an insect to be crushed in order for them to achieve their goals.
Why would you change sides into the weaker part?” Why would the conspirators care
about humanity if they had achieved an agreement with the aliens that would guarantee
their survival on an alien dominated Earth, Williams concluded for himself. He continued
with his briefing.
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“The information he gave about his home star allowed NASA to identify it as Zeta
Reticuli, a double-star system situated on the Orion Constellation. That doesn’t tell us
much, but he also mentioned the Hierarchy’s motives behind the invasion: to improve
their structured society. And through the development of hybrids between them and the
human species”. Another gasp filled the room. “Wait, there’s more. Apparently they are
organized like a hive, with Soldiers and Workers being the lower castes, then up to the
leadership. Which the alien confirmed that possess psionic powers capable of controlling
or demoralizing humans. They are also behind the cattle slaughtering and the human
abductions, realized for the purpose of obtaining nutrients and genetic materials for cross-
breeding of the species and also to make clones capable of infiltrating human society”.
All men in the room stood on shock. Williams knew that he needed to get them working.
They would all have to find ways to deal with the terrible truth that they had just learned.
He had to live with an even bigger burden. At least the interrogation had confirmed many
of his assumptions so far. Colonel Johnson had undoubtedly met with a hybrid during the
Alaska raid. But what he wouldn’t know was that probably the hybrid might be working
with the conspirators.
“What about the composition of their forces? Their tactical plans? He didn’t mention
anything about it?” MacAllister seemed almost desperate.
“He was just a drone, one of their lower castes, what we would call a basic infantry
soldier. Why would he know? And they can be not telling their lower ranks what their
real plans are, in order to keep them a secret from us”. Parker countered. “We need to
check this information with data coming from other methods. And we need to capture
one of their higher castes to know more about their plans”.
“Also, one thing that can be assumed from their answers is that they must have a base on
our solar system, since it can be assumed that it would be nearly impossible to control
such an operation from that far, even with their technological resources. From the
numbers of UFOs we have been tracking over Earth’s atmosphere this isn’t a limited
operation. They must have huge amounts of resources, probably of entire planets and
solar systems”. More bad news on the way. “The most logical conclusion is that we can’t
stop them military. We need to find out more about them, otherwise it would be like
trying to stop the sea with a sand castle”.
“Can’t NASA use their resources to find the alien base?” Williams already knew the
answers for that query. “No. It’s like looking for a needle on a haystack. The solar system
might be small, when compared to the galaxy, but there’s still a lot of space for them to
be hidden. And even if we found it we probably couldn’t do anything about it. We
couldn’t just arm and launch a Shuttle against it”. More consternation fell into the room.
“However there are other pressing matters that we need to act upon. As we had predicted
gentlemen, alien infiltration is a serious risk in our societies and might even be spreading
through other ways that we had never imagined”. He pressed a button on the video
remote control and the machine started playing the tape again.
This time the recording was of a live news clip. The recording of one of the major
networks showed a manifestation being held next to Congress of several hundred people
holding banners and shouting words. The female reporter on the scene was interviewing
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one of the protesters, a bearded male that had a huge sign where a Sectoid’s head, painted
in black with almond shaped eyes could be seen.
“Sir, why are you were?” She pointed the microphone at her. He unexpectedly grabbed it
and started answering loud: “We are here to demand that the US government recognizes
and welcomes our extraterrestrial brothers! The truth cannot be hidden anymore! It’s out
there on the skies!”
“You believe that the recent unexplained phenomena seen is the work of aliens life
forms?”
“Yes! Enough of the propaganda and lies that the government is saying! Let’s welcome
our saviors! It’s the second coming of the Lord!” Another click of the button and the
image disappeared into blank while Johnson paused to recollect his thoughts.
“The FBI has confirmed that local and state police report manifestations like this
happening all over the major cities in the country. And the NSA has also checked,
through their interception of foreign transmissions that this is happening worldwide. If it
keeps growing like it was for the past months, pretty soon people will be starting asking
questions to their elected officials and so will the media about what is the government
doing about this”. And the intelligence and military will also be under constant scrutiny,
which will only make things worse. More bad news on the way, Williams thought and
then cursed it. “We need answers to deal with this”.
Parker was so quick to respond that Williams was surprise. The CIA man simply said,
keeping his eyes down: “Spread rumors”.
“Excuse me Parker?” What was the man talking about, Williams thought?
“A few unidentified phone calls. With phony, almost unbelievable stories that also can
explain what is going on. Pretty soon everyone gets confused because of the contradiction
between all versions and decide to forget the whole story, thinking that the government
must be correct. Of course, this is public and media manipulation and, if it ever gets find
out we will be spending the rest of our lives in jail”.
“Out of the question! That goes against all that we believe in!” After speaking, Williams
still kept his mouth opened in surprise of what had just been proposed.
“All work in the intelligence business, besides Davis over there, whose job is to hunt
down our foreign counterparts. So, we all know what this is all about. Rules get broken
on this business, so let’s not have a futile discussion now about morale or ethics and let’s
consider the alternatives: one, we do nothing about this and until eventually the whole
truth comes out like a bomb, that the government has been hiding the truth from
everybody; two, we admit it and chaos sets in, national panic that will only hinder our
efforts; three, we come up with a temporary excuse that will only delay and worsen the
problem; or four, we act to do our role, which is to protect the public, which doesn’t
know that they are being manipulated by the aliens. What is at stake here is how far we
are willing to go to fight these aliens, but we, the ones in this room and our superiors. If
we win our actions will be eventually discovered but they will be morally justified. If we
loose there will be no country, no media, no courts to judge us!”
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Suddenly the words of the alien during the interrogation came to Johnson’s mind and he
knew already the action to take. Only one thing left to decide. He looked at Davis, the
FBI man showing to be going through the same dilemma, made even worse for he, unlike
the rest of them, was a policeman. Sworn to uphold the law, and on this case it stated that
the government was prohibited of spreading disinformation. Both their eyes crossed and
after two seconds Davis lowered his eyes, in concession. All the other members kept
quiet, already coming up with the same conclusion.
Is that how they started? Williams considered, a cold darkness filling his heart. By
coming to the logical conclusion that they needed to give away all they values, their
feelings, their humanity in order to survive? How all the secrecy begun, how the
conspiracy started, years and decades ago. Are we going to come up with the same
conclusions as them, deciding that collaborating with the aliens is our only way to stay
alive? “Very well, but this will go up to the DCI for final authorization. If we have it we
will then start making up a plan”. The silence in the room indicated the consensus of all
men. At least when the shit hit the fan they could always allege that they were following
superior orders.
March 18th, 1999

The Kremlin, Moscow, Russian Federation
Larianov was getting bored with the technological briefing he was receiving. He had
studied to be a party bureaucrat and had managed to rise to the Central Committee of the
old Communist Party of the Soviet Union until the break-up of 1991. The last time he had
any sort of scientific interest had been long lost in the memories of his childhood, back to
the days passed on the CPSU’s Youth Pioneers when everyone had their fair share of
enthusiasm about the space conquests of the Soviet Union. But upon passing the teenage
years other dreams had come, fostered by a father that had the right connections and a
strong will to succeed. And finally his dreams had come through, when the old Yeltsin
fool body’s had finally succumbed to a lifetime of abuse, allowing for him, then vice-
president to assume his proper place. The following elections the year after had been easy
to win. And this is what I need to keep things as they are right now, he thought.
“Dr. Ziguanine, please stop this awful presentation! What I need to know is how we can
properly use the laser to kill these invaders!” His tongue startled the scientist who then
recomposed himself and talking with a hurt dignity then spoke:
“The targeting system is as much as we can do. The computers simply can’t deal yet with
the amount of calculations necessary to hit an UFO at it’s full speed. Or at least keep the
beam locked into target long enough to assure it’s destruction. That is also because of the
deterioration of the beam power by a series of events, such as clouds, air diffusion and so.
That also makes it impossible to hit anything on our atmosphere.”
“So we spend a big portion of our meager resources for nothing?!” Larianov felt like
about to explode.
“No sir.” Larianov looked at the man carefully, warning him to watch out for his next
words. The scientist just plainly ignored him, giving an almost imperceptible look of
content for someone so stupid. “We have done a lot of work before on particle beam
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weapons, which are more powerful than lasers. We can apply that work to the Umbrella
project and then, we will have a weapon capable of hitting anything on space or Earth. If
any craft lands on our territory it will be immediately destroyed.”
“And how long will it take?”
“A couple of months sir, at the best estimate”.
“I expect to see practical results as soon as possible Dr. Ziguanine and this time don’t
disappoint me!” The scientist looked appalled but collected his presentation material,
excused himself and left the room. When the door closed, Larianov turned to the head of
the foreign intelligence service, which had kept quiet until now and asked:
“Mr. Verchenko, what is the evaluation of the SVK over the worldwide repercussions of
this weapon?”
“At national level the initial test has surprised a lot of Western governments. And their
decision not to bring this up to the UN or into public view shows that they don’t want to
risk the effects of public opinion knowing about our new weapon, because of it’s
disestablishing factor. Our estimate regarding other world players aware of the laser also
shows that, while making discreet warnings, they won’t do anything about it”.
“And the aliens?”
“They either don’t perceive it as a threat, which is understandable, or otherwise they
would have attacked against it. Another possibility is that they failed to detect it, which is
also likely due to the absence of alien craft during the test”.
“So, if we manage to bring Umbrella into his full potential we would be able to surprise
them?”
“Yes, and get an upper hand. They would have to react to it and the weapon would make
that very costly in terms of military losses. Better yet, we might offer our assistance to
other countries, in exchange of commercial or monetary assets. That way we could
circumvent the actual necessity of X-Com and build our own defense network, directly
responsible to us”.
“Very well. What else is to report about the bastard Illyuschenko’s force?”
“They are into deep financial problems. They have overextended their deployment and
right now a lot of bases are undermanned and under equipped. Other nations, besides us,
are also complaining about their lack of success over their territory. In specific terms,
they have about five bases that can be described as operational, with the others being
handled by skeleton crews. The two in North America, the one in Germany, the other in
the Caucasus area and the final one in Japan. More grumbling will come from that fact,
especially since they are all located in the northern hemisphere. Which might allow for
the necessary majority required to take the changes we have been asking, specially in the
Charter aspects regarding chain of command and release of weapons data”.
“Data you have failed to supply so far”.
“The security mechanisms built into their information network make it impossible for my
operatives to access it without compromising themselves. Weapons research data is only
available to the senior military commanders and specific scientific personnel. My
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services need more time. We should ask our Defense Minister why our glorious armed
forces haven’t succeeded so far in recovering an UFO instead!” When on being attacked
better to deflect the fire into someone else, Verchenko thought.
The final men on the room kept silenced for a couple of seconds until he finally tried to
come up with an explanation. “The Charter gives X-Com complete priority upon the
assault and recovery of alien craft, in order to restrain public knowledge. And our forces
simply don’t have the amount of preparation and material necessary to intercept or raid
UFOs. Furthermore, every time X-Com manages to defeat the crew of an UFO they limit
the access to the area, preventing our forces to get access to it. Besides engaging on a full
confrontation with them there’s no other way. That unless we had command over the
Russian team”.
“And Illyuschenko would prefer to die than allowing that”. No wonder the old CPSU had
so much political control over the Soviet Union’s Armed Forces. Military just couldn’t
grasp the politics behind warfare, Larianov thought while cursing again the commander
of X-Com.
March 20th, 1999

Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
Another UFO had been detected as it approached the North American continent through
the Pacific Ocean, but this time it headed out for Mexico. After consultations with the
Mexican authorities, the team had been given the go to assault the craft after it had
landed. The Skyranger had then flown a course that had led it crossing the border over
the Rio Grande, before heading south into the Yucatan Peninsula.
The satellite reconnaissance had provided sketchy details. It seemed that the fast mover
had landed on a deep-forested area that contained unusual natural elevations. But this
time they wouldn’t alert the aliens of their presence by landing close to the craft. The
men on his team were paid to develop infiltration skills and this time they would sneak on
the aliens.
Jones moved again on his seat again, trying to get to find a better position. Failing, he
then spoke: “Man, we needed to take the change and drop by at Cancun, you know what I
mean? I could use some days off this crap since my butt is getting squared by these damn
Russian seats”.
King was seated in front of him and looked as if he was sleeping, his head hanging
against the hull of the Skyranger and his arms locked in front of him, holding his laser
rifle. He half opened his eyes and spoke: “Why don’t you suggest that to the Big Lady?”
“The what? What are you talking about King?”
“You never heard of her? I thought her reputation went over the Army, but I guess you
Navy boys tend to keep your ears full of water”.
“King, what the fuck are you talking about?”
“Base rumor has it that Captain Sheila Markovitch, the Gulf War hero of the 82nd
Airborne Division is about to sign in with X-Com”.
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“Wait a minute. You are talking about ‘the’ Markovitch that during Somalia single
handily managed to save an entire platoon that had been ambushed?” Jones gasped.
“None but her. But like I said: base rumor. Still, from all of the sudden the Colonel has
ordered the construction of separate living quarters for women”.
“Markovitch is a woman? Holy shit!”
“Just get a hold on your hormones while near her Jones. Otherwise she will cut your balls
and force you to eat them for breakfast, from what I’ve been heard”.
A couple of hours later, the Skyranger landed in the middle of a clearing in the tropical
forest. Orders from Colonel Johnson had dictated that operational doctrine for the West
team would be of stealthy maneuvers, in opposition of the frontal attacks that were being
used by the East team and Captain Forrester was more than willing to comply with the
order. After having secured the LZ, all the squads assembled themselves and started
moving for their target, which laid some kilometers away keeping a complete silence.
King was acting, as usual, detached from the main squads, this time accompanied with a
rookie from Quebec that had arrived two days before from the Canadian military. The
trooper looked anxious but had been well trained into sniper assistance role, so King
didn’t mind the chance of things although his role in this deep forest greatly negated the
range of which he could spot an enemy.
When they had arrived at thee vicinity of the UFO the teams had deployed and King had
been assigned the left flank since it had some elevations that could be used to pour fire
down at the aliens. Moving carefully with Deschamps behind he stopped when he heard
the muffled sound of laser fire, almost imperceptible to one that wasn’t used to it, on the
distance followed by alien weapon’s discharges.
“Gamma flank the snipers between us and the UFO”. The radio cracked with the voice of
the Captain. King proceed as planned. Epsilon come up front and give us a hand
suppressing these idiots in front of us!”
Looking back to check on Deschamps he saw that the private looked back at him with a
questioning look. “They can handle themselves. Let’s get moving”. They continued
through the thick deep forest, now all-quiet from the usual bird and other animals’ noises.
The place looks too quiet, King thought, too damn quiet. Then he looked at one of the
mounts and saw the reason.
Two Floaters were coming in from inside the deeply forested hill that was in front of
them, through some opening that was completely with illumination. They probably had
also heard the gunfire at the distance and were coming out to check the origin of the
noise. King immediately got them and Deschamps quickly followed his motions. The
trooper then crawled at the sniper’s indication joined with behind the large fallen down
tree they were using for cover. King made a two sign and then pointed to the left. Both
men took position and aimed for their targets.
Looking through the sight he had installed in his laser rifle, King focused on the chest of
the pink alien. Satisfied he then pressed the trigger on his weapon twice. Deschamps did
the same thing a second afterwards and both aliens fell to the ground, releasing a
gruesome death scream as they died. King immediately moved to the opening of the hill,
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while his partner kept the darkened hole covered. Upon reaching it, his hand went to his
belt and grabbed a flare. He broke it to light it up and them threw it into the opening,
taking a peek right afterwards. No movement or aliens inside. He gestured Deschamps to
come forward and started going inside the cave, checking every shadow. The tunnel was
about eight feet high and thirteen wide. He took small steps until he noticed something
strange. King looked down and saw the reason: the ground had changed into stone.
“What the hell?” he asked. And then he looked downwards and become even more
surprised.
Trooper Jones wasn’t having a good afternoon. Gamma team had flankered the snipers
that were dropping fire into Alpha and Epsilon and had managed to surprise them, killing
three in a few seconds of laser fire. Pershing had been hit, but the new armor had kept
him alive, although if barely. But other aliens had attacked them at the same time, forcing
them to dug in. He looked at the Lieutenant who was trying to contain the bleeding
coming from Pershing’s stomach. Great, no help there.
He and Rodriguez were trying to see the direction of the shots but the dense foliage
prevented them from spotting the aliens. But after some attempts that were greeted by
alien fire both of them decided it was a dangerous business. Fuck this shit, Jones thought.
Rodriguez crawled up to him and, a few seconds later, a grenade went on the spot he was
just laying at. “Shit! Pinche idiot cabrón!”
“Would you mind swearing on a language comprehensible to the rest of us, Rodriguez?”
“They are closing on us Jones. No time for Spanish classes now. Pretty soon more
grenades will follow. We need some support here and fast!”
“No can do. The LT just talked to the Capt. Epsilon is storming the UFO and Alpha also
got hit by wondering aliens coming back from their jungle stroll and have taken
casualties. Dexter bought his six foot”.
“Shit! Why do they accept guys who look like if they drink their milk every morning, by
mum’s orders?”
“Shut up and let’s save our asses instead. Cover me and I will make a run for that
elevation there on the right. Maybe I can get a better position to shoot back at them”.
Rodriguez looked. A good fifty yards separated them from the small hill. “You will only
waste your miserable life”.
“Hey. I played running back at the Navy football team. Now just cover my ass”. Raising
himself on a leap, he grabbed his laser rifle with both arms, as if holding a football and
started running. He heard Rodriguez calling him an idiot, before the green bolts begun to
fizzle their way to the point where his body was just one second ago, burning through the
tropical vegetation and carving big chunks of the bushes.
Rodriguez took opportunity and, getting up, brought his autocannon into play and fired
high explosive rounds in the direction of the shots. “Rodriguez, get the fuck down!” The
lieutenant was still trying to patch Pershing while taking notice of the situation. “Sorry
sir. Too many crazy people on this squad. Just keep Pershing alive”. And he continued
firing his cannon, blowing fair shares of the forest that hid the aliens.
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Jones thought that he had just broken a world record when he threw himself to the side of
the hill, the last Elerium bolt making a scratch on his back armor and slightly burning
him. As he turned to point his laser he noticed that the terrain was unstable, having
nothing to do with what he expected. Ignoring it for the moment, he trailed his weapon. A
Floater, his pink color now clearly visible behind a huge flowered bush in the distance
was fondling with a grenade.
“Oh no, you don’t!” He instantly sent a volley of laser fire and missed completely.
“Shit!” Correcting his aim he managed to kill the alien before it could end the motion of
throwing the grenade into his direction. The explosive felt on the ground and another
Floater who was also hiding nearby got up and tried to escape. Rodriguez shots blew his
back; covering the nearby vegetation with pieces of his red cloak, pink alien flesh and
green blood. The explosion of the grenade help to further wreck the scene, completing the
desecration of both bodies behind recognition and showing the metal implants they were.
“About time!” Jones spat and then remembered to look down. Instead of earth he saw
mortar bricks. “What the fuck?”
On another place of the battlefield, trooper Manning was also feeling a different kind of
surprise, although because of a completely different situation. It was his first time inside
an UFO and although he had been briefed on what to expect and the general layout he
still couldn’t keep his amazement. In spite of the illumination inside that illuminated the
metal walls and the magenta instruments inside there was no lights to justify for it. He
looked ahead. The other members of Epsilon had first thrown in a concussion grenade
inside the Celtic cross type UFO and then stormed the room. The Floater that was inside
was too stumbled to respond to their entry and had been killed instantly. They had
entered through one of the craft’s arms and now there were two rooms on both side arms.
Sergeant Grisham and Trooper Manning were moving towards the left one, while him
approached the right one, with Pickering on cover.
When he reached the door it suddenly went up and a Floater carrying one of the black
Elerium rifles appeared. He thrust his own weapon forward and shot him at point blank
range. Another Floater stepped in and he had only time to move away from the barrel of
the weapon when it discharged. A human scream was heard. Logan saw the blast hitting
the Pickering directly on his shoulder and shearing the arm off neatly, showing a
blackened collarbone and the up of his rib cage and a stream of blood that painted it
quickly red.
Logan went crazy on the sight, his mind seeing too much to handle. He grabbed his laser
rifle with both hands and started pouring fire on the alien. The Floater spasmed after
being hit for the first time on the abdomen, and them dropped to the floor as the next
shots took him on the chest. The X-Com trooper then charged into the next room, without
paying any regard to his attention.
Two blue chairs rested on what he assumed was the front arm of the UFO, with a door
that led to the engine room on the center. Other lights were visible from monitors and
machinery placed in front of the seats, but Logan was too absorbed to pay attention to
them. He saw two Floaters that were looking to the way that the other half of the team
had chosen to enter the control room and immediately opened fire at their sight. The shots
hit the monitors, short circuiting them and making them go off as the stream of laser fire
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moved from right to left, finally catching the aliens and making them drop with death
shrieks that clicked Logan out of his bezerker condition. Shaking his head to clear it off
and regain control of himself, he failed to notice that the door to the central room had just
opened and that another Floater had just stepped out. He only had time to see the big
mouth of the barrel of the alien’s weapon before it all went to dark.
Captain Forrester removed his alien alloy helmet and passed his hand on his forehead to
clear it of the sweat it was swarmed in. Crap, why did I have to pull such a scratchy
mission on my first time on command, he asked. Everything had went according to plan
until the aliens had also flanked them and putting the whole team into a lot of trouble
until they were defeated. He had already checked with Gamma and find out about
Pershing. The Lieutenant had managed to secure his condition although the man needed
some urgent medical assistance to survive. Activating Epsilon’s command circuit he them
went to check on the other squads.
“Grisham, what’s your status?”
“UFO secured, we killed a lot of aliens inside and lost Pickering. That is, Logan killed a
lot of aliens inside after seeing him went down and going bezerk on the middle of the
craft. Thank God no other team members were with him at that time or they also would
get squashed.”
“How is he?”
“Unconscious. The guy was lucky that the Floater who got him used a stun type weapon.
I’ve never seen a bastard with such luck. We got the alien afterwards.”
“Very well, clear out the UFO of all transportable items. Let’s leave the rest for the
recovery crew”. Meanwhile Gamma squad had joined his own squad outside the craft,
with Jerrel and Rodriguez carrying the wounded trooper on a makeshift stretcher made
out of branches and foliage. Jones was carrying the other trooper’s weapons and he
turned to the Captain and said:
“Capt, there’s some strange shit around. The mounts and small hills are of an artificial
origin. I stumbled into one in the middle of the battle and found out it was made of
carved stone”.
“Just leave it Jones”.
“Sir, this is strange. Why did the aliens land here?”
“Let’s leave that to the clean-up crew. We are just paid to kill them”. The radio went
active suddenly with King’s voice.
“Sir, this is Omega squad. We have found something you might want to check. We are to
the north nearby a small hill”.
“Hold on King. I’m coming”. Turning to the rest of his men he said: “Finish mopping up
this place and take Pershing back to the Skyranger. I want to get out of here before sun
dawn”. He then moved in the direction of Omega’s position.
He found King and Deschamps waiting for him on the side of one of the small hills, their
weapons on their hands but keeping a relaxed position. Two aliens were on the ground,
dead, their weaponry already assembled at a pile by the two troopers. When he got near
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them King spoke: “The area is clear for almost half a klick sir. But what we found isn’t
aliens”. Forrester felt tired and wanted this to be over. But he also knew the valor of the
sniper and weight of his word. King had already saved his butt once.
”What is it then King?”
“Just follow me sir, and you will see. It beats any description I can make”. He turned and
went inside the hill through an opening that Forrester had disregarded until then.
Electrical flares were on the ground lighting up the place. The Captain then noticed that,
some yards after the entrance the tunnel looked more like a built corridor, with the
ground made of flat stones. The jungle hadn’t completely invaded the inside and, after a
while the whole tunnel looked as if it had to be artificial.
“What the hell is this King?”
“Sir, from what I know, this area is full of pre-Colombian old cities that have been taken
over by the jungle”.
“Pre-Colombian?” Forrester asked as they kept going through the deeps of the hill,
turning left and right in what seemed to be a maze. But King looked as if he knew where
he was going.
“The ancient American civilizations sir. Here I think it was the Mayans or the Aztecs I’m
not sure. And this hill sure looks like one of their pyramids but long abandoned and left
to the jungle”.
“King, we have better things to do than archaeology. If this is what you wanted me to see,
let’s head back now”.
“Just hold on a second sir, we are almost getting there”. They made a final turn and
suddenly the two of them found themselves on a big chamber, about some twenty feet
high, inside and under the pyramid. More flares lit it up, giving it a yellow light that
forged shadows into the walls. A big shape was visible inside the room.
“What the hell is that and how did it got here?!” Forrester couldn’t believe it. A flying
saucer type UFO rested itself on the middle of the chamber, the gray craft reflecting the
yellow lights.
“Your guess is as good as mine. But I guess the folks down here had better relations with
them than we presently do”. Jones pointed to wall that was covering with what looked to
be language of some sort. Forrester knew that he wouldn’t be able to understand it, but as
he looked at it he saw some familiar representations. Of a multi-staged pyramid and a
UFO landed on top of it. And of a Sectoid, recognizable by the black eyes, with human
figures standing next to him, but at a lower level.
“Holy shit!”
“Damn right sir. My guess is that these dumb idiots adored the bugs as Gods or
something”.
“But how did this thing get inside the pyramid?”
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“The ship is pretty much wrecked inside, with signs that the engine might have exploded.
Probably this thing crashed centuries ago and some of them might have survived and
contacted the natives”.
“If you come up with that much King, maybe you should be together with the lab rats
instead of eating dirt like the rest of us”.
“I don’t think so, sir. Killing bugs is more fun than trying to understand them. And a lot
easier”.
Area 51, Nevada, US

A lot of agitation had been going on the X-Com base, due to the recovery of the UFO, but
Eva Johannes just ignored it while she looked at the captured flying saucer that rested on
one corner of the hangar. The Colonel was over there looking for the retrieval operation
and she wanted to keep clear of him, after knowing what had been the final destiny of the
captured alien. He reminded her of her grandfather and the terrible stories that had been
told about his actions on Second World War while fighting in the Russian front. It
puzzled her at the same time how could a man so civilized to show such a barbaric
behavior but she stopped thinking about it and kept her attention at her work.
Dr. Mantell was also present and they had just activated the engine inside the UFO, while
taking particle readings from it. After a couple of seconds she become frustrated with the
results and Mantell, noticing her reaction shut down the engine.
“Absolutely no results. This is incredible”. She found one of the blue seats, ignored the
laser burn on it and sat down, exhausted.
“Like I told you, the energy it releases is undetectable. The Elerium gets consumed but
with no visible results. And our work on the control elements to try to get different
reactions has also led to nothing. We can’t understand the basic principles of the system”.
“And we have found out that it releases antimatter when bombarded with high-speed
particles but we are unable to control the process. The energy from the reaction just
releases itself in a massive explosion. Something is missing us here”.
“Yes. We have theorized that they must be using something close to the magnetic fields
used by the Soviets during their fusion reactors development program, but we are unable
to replicate it.”
“Could we try to apply their research on it?” The frustration was making her too tired.
“The concept was still far a long way to go when it was first announced back on the
eighties. I doubt if they managed to go any further or we would have seen the results by
now”.
“Leaving us with a growing amount of trash that can’t be used because we don’t
understand how it works”.
“They can be used, Doctor, they just aren’t reliable on combat, since one never knows
when it eventually stops firing for good, first after the first blast or the tenth and that why
High Command has banned their use”. Johnson stepped into the UFO.
“Good afternoon, Colonel”. Her tone got cold at the same moment.
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“Good afternoon, miss, Dr. Mantell. Sorry for interrupting but I just finished directing the
recovery operations and wanted both of you to look at some if the items retrieved”.
“What do you mean they can be fired Colonel?”
“Just got a report meanwhile from Mother One, Doctor. Apparently they discovered a
security mechanism on the weapons that prevented from being discharged from anyone
but their owner. It had to do with DNA detection from what I remember. It apparently
checked the user’s genetic code and if a negative answer was given the weapon would
unpower down by itself”.
“Why haven’t you told this to me before? I need to get back there to study the beam it
releases”. She got out of the craft running for the door that led into the communications
room and nearly knocking Johnson on her way.
“Hey! Watch out!” But she was already too away to hear him. “Crazy woman”, Johnson
said to herself.
“If you don’t mind Colonel, I must be going also”. Johnson acknowledged and Mantell
also left following the direction she took. “Crazy lunatic scientists” he said with a laugh.
The lights and siren that warned of an incoming light started to be heard on the hangar
and Johnson thought what could be scheduled for landing. He had seen the flight rooster
for today and the recovery team was only due for some more hours. Looking up, he saw
the massive roof doors begun to open and the blast protections raising themselves on the
floor of the hangar. Light from the outside come up and against it Johnson saw a V-22
Osprey VTOL aircraft slowly descending itself into the depths of the X-Com base. It kept
lowering, filling the inside of the hangar with noise and a wind that made Johnson take
cover inside the UFO. He only come out after it had landed and the engines were off, the
fans on the sides of the hangar already working to eliminate all the fumes released by its
engines. Johnson looked to the body of the plane to try to identify who might be arriving.
He saw that by the almost imperceptible “AP” that was painted on its side to make it
appear as an US Air Force plane that it had come from the Appalachian X-Com base,
probably on a non-stop flight until here. A door opened on its side and a group of soldiers
came out dressed in X-Com black jumpsuits and carrying bags. He started to recognize
some of the faces from his personnel logs. They were the new recruits that had just been
hired to allow for the expansion of the X-Com’s West team. But why were they here
already? Major Prescott, the responsible for flight operations suddenly appeared on
hangar, surrounded by a fully armed team of security personnel and an enraged General
Smith.
When both of them saw Johnson they changed their course into his direction. General
Smith got to him first and started firing, his eyes blood-shot red: “You can bet that you
will never pull another stunt like that before Mister! You might control this here but you
just can’t disregard security protocols like you did!”
Johnson momentarily puzzled looked back at Prescott for an explanation.
“Sir, that aircraft right there just appeared out of nowhere, unscheduled, without proper
clearance and demanded to be let access into the facility through the X-Com’s
frequencies and codes”. He took a dire look and completed: “I allowed them to land,
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otherwise we could bring unnecessary attention into ourselves. I take responsibility for
that, but there will also hell to pay for the guy on charge of that plane!”
“What Mr. Stupid did right here was to ignore every safety protocol of Area 51! And
while we don’t need to give you authorization we have the right to be informed of every
upcoming flight in advance!”
“General, I apologize for this event and can only assure you that will never happen again.
Now, if you don’t mind we will discuss this later for I have some explanations to
receive”.
“You can bet all your money on it!” He turned his back and stomped out of the hangar,
pushing aside the security troops that were waiting for orders.
“I don’t think we’ll need them Major. I have an idea of who might have arrived. Please
get back to Command Center and I will deal with this. And please ask Hopkins to join me
here”. Johnson went over to the craft. The latest results of the ground teams had enabled
them to lessen down a bit the physical and mental requirements and had allowed for more
recruits. Pretty soon West base would have available eight four-man squads which would
allow the others some well deserved rest after near two full months of a great deal of
activity over the North American continent. He already knew the identity of all these
soldiers and their provenience. Most of them had come from the Marines or Army, some
even from the Air Force like Johnson himself and the Major in the group of three officers
that awaited him. He had worked before with the female officer in front of him also and
he decided to get things started by her, with no doubt the cause of all this mess. Just her
appearance smelled of confrontation as he approached her. The woman was the walking
definition of a female storm trooper. Almost matching his six-foot, eight-inches height,
her forehead stood at his eyes level, the brown curly hair cut in a purely military fashion,
but when he looked down to see her directly as he approached her, she lift her head as if
challenging him while saluting. The same attitude again, it seems. He had known her
when they both served together in the same unit, right before he had went to his old 160th
Special Operations Aviation Regiment and her to the 82nd Airborne Division.
“Captain Sheila Markovitch reporting for duty, sir!” And now it seemed that she was
back. What was troubling him wasn’t the fact that there would be women now in the
combat squads since he had no problem with that.
He returned the salute with a quick one of his own and started speaking: “Captain
Markovitch, might I ask what have you just done? I take it this to be your work, since
Major Patterson and Captain Clark here would never try anything like that from what I
know of their profile?” Johnson gave her a stern look. As always she needed to know
who was in charge.
“Sir, reinforcements presenting, sir! I decided that we weren’t doing much waiting for the
final paperwork to be done at the Appalachian Base so I arranged for proper
transportation to here, sir!” She kept firm, without showing any regret.
“Captain, we will discuss this later on my quarters. Let me say that you just got yourself
suspended from combat duties for now for an undetermined period!” Her eyes flashed
briefly with rage but she quickly composed herself and with grim determination replied:
“Yes sir!” Turning away from her, she moved to the next officer in line.
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“As for you Major Patterson, before I welcome my new Executive Officer and the rest of
you into Area 51 can you please tell me if the Air Force hasn’t learned anything from the
training exercises between the 16th Special Operations Group and the 82nd?”
“Just to not get on their way Colonel. And I think that is lesson number one”. The Afro-
American man made a quick smirk, before its mustached mouth went back into a
emotionless position.
“I see”. Turning to the final officer, the replacement of Tyrell after the Californian pilot
had been killed by the hybrid, he said: “You got yourself into a pool full of sharks here,
Captain Clark. Sure you want to continue with us?” The Texan former Air Force F-15C
Eagle fighter jockey just nodded and said, with a clear smile: “I always loved a good
brawl… sir!”
Everyone is getting too cocky, Johnson said to himself. Sure the new armors and laser
weapons had put the fight on the battlefield more balanced for the humans, but we can’t
allow to build any slack into ourselves or we might get some nasty surprises in the future.
He looked at the grunts that were waiting in full attention. They looked as aggressive as
the first members of the team had been until the first confrontation.
“As for the rest of you, my name is Colonel Johnson and I am the commanding officer of
the West North American X-Com team. You have been chosen and asked to volunteer for
this assignment because of your skills and combat experience. I congratulate you on your
decision to jump into such a dangerous assignment and welcome you to the team”.
Hopkins had suddenly crept by his side and he decided to let the Sergeant start whipping
them.
“This here is Sergeant Hopkins, he will be your guide from now on since other, expected,
duties wait me. Carry on Sergeant!” They all saluted again and, after responding, Johnson
left, giving a last glance at Markovitch. The woman maintained her pose. “And if you
please, Captain, let’s talk about this whole incident in my office”.
“All right, you rookies, stop looking like that at my face! If you’re dumb enough you
won’t be this lucky to only come out will small scratches like this and will leave this base
on a body bag! Get your gear and let’s start moving!”
Johnson headed out for his office, with Markovitch on tow. When they reached it he
opened the door and headed straight forward, leaving the female Captain the task of
closing the entrance. When she finished doing that, he started speaking:
“What the hell of a stunt was that Captain? Failure to comply with safety and security
procedures! Unauthorized requisition of military equipment! And a gung-ho attitude that
we don’t need here!” He kept himself standing up, while waiting for her answer, eyeing
her furiously.
“Sir, permission to speak freely, sir!”
“Go right ahead Captain!”
“Erwin, don’t tell me that all of this is because you’re still pissed off that I left you.”
Shit, there it goes, Johnson thought. I knew it was a mistake allowing her into the team.
“Captain, we have resolved those matters a long time ago. What I’m questioning right
here is your failure to follow rules and procedures!”
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“Don’t give me that crap Erwin! I know that you were always sore that I refused to
follow you into special ops after you decided to leave the 82nd. When I accepted X-Com‘s
proposal I had no idea that you were running this stint and I become surprised. Either you
had let it go into the past or you had something else in mind”.
“First, that’s Colonel Johnson to you, Captain. Second, X-Com Commander in Chief
asked me for my personal evaluation of your combat abilities since you served under my
command. I told him what I knew: that you were a crack officer at tactical level and
pushed your troops to their limit and far beyond. And also that you had a problem with
discipline and that was the reason why you are still a Captain”.
“I take it that you failed to mention this thing we had going on between both of us while
we served together. Tell me Colonel, was that because you didn’t want to stain your
record? Because since we kept it hidden so well before from the hierarchy that you still
wanted to maintain your perfect image of following orders with no question? Of course, a
relationship like this takes a lot more to maintain a secret when both of us are distant,
doesn’t it?”
“That is enough Captain! My personal feelings have nothing to do with this situation!
You acted your own stubborn way like you always did! Keep it that way here and you
will be getting into a lot of trouble, mister!”
“Very well then Colonel, sir! I will try to follow operational procedures from this day
on…sir!”
”And you will, Captain, you will. Until I’m sure of it you are off combat operations! We
don’t need the cavalry storming around here; in fact I’m surprised you didn’t ask to be
assigned for Colonel Jackson’s command. His style is more like yours!”
“Very well sir. Permission to leave then”
“Granted!” Johnson was beginning to calm down when she turned to him on her way out
and spoke while closing the door: “And Erwin, I know you are wondering why the hell
did I decide to come here instead of staying at the Appalachian base. One reason is that
your team is the best in the business. The other is that I miss those long shower debriefing
sessions after a mission”.
“Get the hell out of my office!” He shouted at her as she closed the door. I knew this was
a mistake, he thought. Shit! Someone knocked on the door. Her again? He barked: “Enter
and be brief!”
Major Patterson’s head appeared on the side of the door cautiously and the officer asked:
“Sorry for bothering, Colonel, but I heard some noise down the corridor and I saw
Captain Markovitch leaving your office afterwards and I was just checking if everything
was alright”.
“Everything is dandy, Patterson! Just lovely, thanks. Now if you please, I got work to
do”. The Major relaxed and answered back: “Sure sir. Sorry for the inconvenience”. As
he closed the door, Patterson said to himself that things were already starting to be like
back on the old days.
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March 23rd, 1999
Headquarters Strike Command, RAF High Wycombe, UK
Another cry came out on the communications radio, “I’m hit! The primary hydraulic
system is gone! I can’t get the plane to respond any of my commands!”
“Tiger Three, this is Lair. Eject! Eject!” The controller looked helpless as another of the
Tornado F.3 interceptors had just been hit by one of the UFO’s weapons. The Royal Air
Force had committed four interceptors to shooting down the large UFO that had been
detected approaching the British Isles from the northwest and was heading for central
England. The radar signature of the craft had made it possible that it was one of the kind
used in the LA raid and the Air Vice-Marshal in command of UK Air Defense didn’t
want it to get close to the Home Islands.
“Tiger Three, do you copy?” Silence only greeted the air interception officer. “Tiger
Three eject now!” Looking at the board he saw that the friendly icon that identity the
remaining Tornado on the formation had disappeared and that the UFO was continuing
its course.
He turned to the Air Marshall. “Sir all the planes on Tiger flight have been shot down.
We could scramble some Hawk training fighters equipped with Sidewinder missiles to try
to shoot it down”.
“They would only manage to commit suicide, son. The Tornados had to launch at the
maximum range allowed for the AMRAAM missiles and still couldn’t get any hits. And
that thing is equipped with a weapon that has a greater range than ours. No, get me to the
Minister of Defense. They are coming and we need to get prepared”.

On the other side of the Channel, Colonel MacTaggert and General Illyuschenko were
also receiving the same radar information back at Mother One base on the German Black
Forest.
“Commander we need to deploy this minute! They are going to hit some target on the
UK!”
“How many men do you have, Colonel?” Illyuschenko already knew the answer.
“I have two complete squads sir. Third is down to fifty per cent strength after the mission
on Iceland a couple of days ago. And nearly all men of the Fourth are on the medical
facility with all types of injuries. We simply had no idea that the aliens had the equivalent
of a grenade and that it was much more powerful than ours”.
“That leaves you with only eleven combat capable troops, Colonel. Do you think that is
enough? The LA raid showed that the aliens deploy a big amount of troops on these
incursions”.
“Sir, I can’t just let my countrymen get killed by the aliens with me doing nothing. You
will have to throw me in the brig if you want to stop me!”
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Illyuschenko looked at his officer and coldly realized that there wasn’t any option. About
MacTaggert or anything. Things weren’t getting better. The amount of reported UFO
incursions had increased and X-Com simply didn’t have the resources to deal with most
of them. A lot of countries were growing dissatisfied at their performance, which only
meant more financial bad news next month. And they couldn’t allow that the British had
motives to cut back on their funding, a possibility most likely to happen if the UFO was
about to conduct a terror raid and if it X-Com didn’t respond to it.
“Very well. Get your men ready this second. But I’m coming also. I can’t sent all of you
to get killed and sit here watching”.
“Commander, that is bloody insane, sir! You are the responsible for all of this and are too
precious to risk your life going against the aliens!”
“If you think I’m not ready for combat, Colonel, let’s both of us quickly head out for the
gym and settle this on a fight. Otherwise, the choice is yours: either we all go or we stay
here and watch the killings”.
“You have personal orders from the UN’s Secretary General and the Council of Founding
Nations not to expose yourself into dangerous situations sir!”
“All of them are on their luxurious offices, doing whatever useless things they can find to
fill their time. I’m in charge of military matters. And I decide that the risk of not dealing
with this threat is much greater than any personal security matters. Let’s go Colonel”.
And the hell with all the rest!
Coventry, United Kingdom

Two hours after it had taken off, the Skyranger landed on a neighborhood near the center
of Coventry. The last radar report of the UFO showed it stopping its course over the city
and landing somewhere inside the city limits. The British Army units assigned to deal
with the attack were still hours away and the X-Com commanders, after receiving the
sparse reports existent from the British Ministry of Defense had decided to deploy
without support, to hold back the aliens until reinforcements could arrive.
Illyuschenko had the Skyranger pilot make a flyby over the city for reconnaissance and
they had found the UFO landed in the middle of a park before a near miss from a blast of
the craft’s weapons had forced them to turn back. Smoke was starting to come out from
areas near the flying saucer’s landing zone, starting to form a dark cloud over the city in
the afternoon sky. While retreating they had been fired from one of the Floaters that were
running amok on the streets, firing at everything that moved.
As soon as the first trooper got out of the Skyranger he was greeted by alien fire that
come from the right side of the landing door. The squaddie fired back and moved to clear
the ramp, other men already racing out to deploy. As a concession to the Colonel,
Illyuschenko was the last soldier to leave the Skyranger, waiting impatiently as the men
in front of him quickly got out, took cover and started firing back.
When he finally deployed he saw that they had already cleared the landing zone and were
moving forward to consolidate a perimeter around the plane. Not at some cost. One of the
sergeants was lying on the ground near the ramp with his back turned to Illyuschenko and
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smoke coming out of his chest. He when to the trooper and turned him around to see his
condition. Blank eyes greeted him, together with a silent bloody mouth.
It came back. The ambushes on the Afghani Mountains that took many of his
subordinates, the findings of their death captured countrymen, their bodies disfigured by
the guerrillas. “Commander, are you all right?” MacTaggert’s voice brought him back to
reality. “We gotta leave. The Skyranger is taking off to go to a more secure location”.
“What’s the situation?”
“The local police forces report on the radio of being overrun. I don’t think we can expect
any help from them. But the British’s Army 16th Air Assault Brigade is getting ready to
deploy here, although they are still getting ready”.
“We need to strike. Make them react to gain more time”. MacTaggert thought for a
second and then asked: “The UFO?”
“Yes. For some reason it hasn’t taken off yet and it must be the place where they are
coordinating their attacks. If he hit it there we may disrupt their plans”
“What about the civilians sir?”
“We don’t have enough troops to try to hold them back all over the city. If we come
forward any situation were civilians are threatened we will help them. But our main
objective is taking control of that monstrosity”.
“Very well”. You bastard, MacTaggert thought, I would like to see if you reacted that
way back if this was happening in Russia. “Blue Squad, take point and get us to the park
where the UFO is landed. Red and Gold Squads follow them on the flanks. Move out!”
Halfway between the landing zone and the park, the team entered an area of working-
class housing, the old brick building standing on the sides of the street. So far everything
looked desert. Either the evacuation warning had been on time or too late. Besides
sporadic gunfire nothing else could be heard until a shriek suddenly greeted them. The
European team stopped on their tracks. The noise was heard again and again, coming out
from several directions.
“There!” The shout of one of the man made everyone else suddenly turn on his direction.
Coming from a side street, one massive alien had just entered the small avenue and was
turning to their direction, running. It looked like a huge brown furred frog in appearance,
although it only had two massive legs with claws on the feet, which were pumping his
body fast. Metal appendages covered parts of his limbs and back, giving him also a pair
of gray horns on the side of his head. Red eyes added to the terror of the sight, together
with a mouth full of sharp teeth.
Gold Squad was the first to react, firing their laser rifles and autocannons at the beast.
Most of the shots went wide, but a few of them hit, leaving the creature with blackened
spots and smoke coming out of them. But it kept running. And other aliens joined him,
coming from the opposite side and from streets that the team had already passed.
Illyuschenko targeted the first large toad with his laser rifle and taking aim, fired two
shots in the direction of its head, hoping to hit whatever thing it had for brain. The laser
discharges all hit the monster in the forehead and drilled through his tough fur but failed
to stop it.
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A human cry came from close to Illyuschenko and he turned suddenly on the direction.
Blood splashed all over his face as one of the giant frogs that had circled the team, kept
shredding the corpse of a X-Com trooper he had taken by surprise, his teeth cutting
through muscle and bone as if it was wet paper. Illyuschenko pressed the trigger and kept
his finger on it. When the first shots hit the alien it turned and got ready to attack. But the
X-Com commander never hesitated while the alien approached him; the laser cutting
through the fur until the monster finally dropped dead to the floor and continuing
afterwards, to assure it was dead.
“Commander, stop firing! The alien is dead already! We have to go!” Coming out of a
trance, Illyuschenko looked at MacTaggert. One of the frogs had bitten him on the leg,
the armor baring resisting to be completely snatched off, and taking a piece of his limb
with it.
“How are we?”
“Two dead. And five of these things killed. Recce Squad has found the UFO meanwhile
to the northeast. They report no enemy activity in the area. The way to the craft is bloody
clear sir. And British Army units are already starting to arrive. I’m trying to contact their
commander but it’s still an overall mess”.
“Contact Mother One and have them inform the UK Ministry of Defense informing of
our presence and giving information about this new type of alien we have just
encountered. And let’s move!”
The run to the park where the UFO had landed happened without further incidents,
although they passed on their way by civilians that had been killed by the aliens weapons,
leaving charred bodies behind, or by the claws and teeth of the larger aliens. The Grim
Reaper had arrived, Illyuschenko thought, just like in the American movies it has come
into this town and took the lives of everyone who stood on its path. He automatically
restrained of looking to the corpses, afraid of his own reaction.
The UFO rested in the middle of the grass, showing no activity. Although it had been
seen before by the unlucky British pilots who had tried to stop it, it was the first time X-
Com had ever encountered such a craft. It was a large ship, with a circular central body
that was two stories high. It had two shorter extensions on the sides from which large
closed doors could be seen.
Illyuschenko joined MacTaggert beneath the cover of some bushes where the team had
hid themselves. Suddenly engine noise started to be heard and, after some seconds, a
Gazelle recce helicopter flew over some meters above their position and approached the
UFO. A blast coming from an unseen weapon mount in the flying saucer hit the chopper,
exploding it into a firewall. The burning wreckage landed noisily against the ground, the
fire spreading to the nearby trees. “Bloody hell!” MacTaggert exclaimed as he saw the
destruction.
“Another reason for us to assault that thing, Colonel. We need to give your countrymen a
chance to deploy and use their weapons on the aliens. Let’s throw some smoke screen to
cover our advance and divide the team between both doors”.
“What if the outside aliens try to regain control of the craft?”
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“Let them try. We can them ask for assistance and eliminate all of them while they try to
dug us out of there”.
“Sounds like a plan to me Commander. But I’m still wondering what the hell they are
doing. The plan just looks too much deserted”.
“Whatever it is, we will get them unexpectely while they are at the middle of it”.
MacTaggert clicked on his radio and spoke: “Assault, take the left door. Support, get
your weapons ready for close combat and take the right one. The rest follow in behind.
Anyone with smoke use it to cover our approach. Target is getting control of that thing
and holding it. Kill every alien on sight”.
A couple of squaddies threw in phosphorus grenades and they started burning when they
hit the grass, burning it into ashes and spreading a smoke cover that pretty soon engulfed
all the area between them and the UFO.
The team then started to move, trying to keep an eye on the doors through the smoke to
see if any alien decided to take a look outside. Illyuschenko took a short run following
the Assault team and joined them as they reached the opening. Giving the trooper closest
to it an OK nod, he saw him pressing the door with his hand. It immediately went up with
a whoosh and the team members jumped inside. A surprised Floater tried to respond but
he was too slow and when down as a Corporal unleashed the fury of his autocannon into
him, filling his body with armor-piercing rounds.
Gunfire noise could also be heard from the other side of the craft. Illyuschenko pushed
inside the UFO in front of all others. He was inside a room where a large red canister was
standing on a corner, supported by blue pipes that connected it to the ground. It was
connected to the main body of the craft through a passageway that divided itself into two
directions, circling what seemed to be a smaller room in the middle of the UFO.
The Commander started to move forward but he stopped when he approached the central
body astonished by what he was seeing. Men and women were restrained to the walls by
some invisible force, their silent but conscious faces trying to call for help. Now there
was an explanation for the delay on the departure of the UFO: leave one cargo of
terrorists behind and board another.
As he started to try to help the civilians that had been imprisoned by the aliens, a noise of
an opening door could suddenly be heard. Illyuschenko looked up and saw that right in
the junction the corridor extended upwards to make a small alcove where a platform
could be seen, together with a door that was now opened, showing a Floater. The alien
pointed his rifle at Illyuschenko and fired, but missed, the Elerium leaving black marks in
the floor of the craft. The X-Com commander dashed to the side trying to get some cover.
Other team members reached the alcove and tried to respond to the alien’s fire, but he got
back inside, and their shots hit the door while it was closing.
“Find a way to get these civilians out of here! And one of you keep an eye on that door!”
Illyuschenko then reached for his tactical radio and activated it: “Colonel there are
civilians inside and watch out for an opening at the junction that leads into the upper
level”.
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“Already know about the civilians commander. We got into a nasty firefight on this side
and some of them got hit. We got an alien that tried to take a peak from that door and
tried to reach it, but it’s too dangerous. I have someone covering it right now. It seems
that there’s a door in this middle room. I suggest we join there since there must be an
elevator upstairs inside”. Illyuschenko left a man back and took the rest of the team in
both directions.
They found MacTaggert and Gold squad waiting for them by a door facing the same
direction that they had entered the UFO. “What happened back there Colonel?”
“Two Floaters were finishing restraining some civilians when we got in. They fired back
and in the gunfire some civilians got hit. I left two men behind, one of them covering the
upper door and the other trying to help the wounded, but they need medical assistance
badly”.
“Let’s take control of this thing and call in for the helicopters. On your mark, Colonel”.
MacTaggert nodded and pointed to the trooper near the door, telling him to go forward.
The squaddie opened the door and all remaining men looked inside with their weapons
ready. The circular room was deserted of any aliens. Dispersed over the room, the X-
Com soldiers could see four Elerium engines giving an orange glow, circling a red spot
right in the middle of the craft that was also illuminated orange, fitting perfectly the
North American team’s description of an alien elevator.
The soldiers moved carefully inside, checking every inch of the compartment until they
suddenly stopped on their tracks when the glow coming out from the engines started to
become stronger and a humming noise began to be heard. “What in the bloody hell is
that?” interrogated MacTaggert. Illyuschenko was already running for the lift before he
replied: “They must be trying to get away! We need to get to the control room before
they can lift this thing up!”
Checking to see that no aliens were waiting for him in the upper level, he positioned
himself then under the opening and raised his arm as the North American team had
reported. He immediately started to be moved upwards by some strange, unseen, force.
When he reached the upper floor he found himself in a smaller room, completely clear
unless for a door directly facing him. Another X-Com trooper joined him, carrying an
autocannon after some seconds. Illyuschenko opened the door and looked carefully. The
opening led into the middle of a corridor that extended to both sides of the door. He
immediately got back inside as, when he looked to the right side, saw the muzzle of an
alien pistol coming around the corner. He got out a grenade from his armor belt, pulled
out the plastic cover from the trigger and pressed it, throwing it afterwards in the
direction of the alien. Both troopers were more or less shielded by the blast and noise of
the explosion from the door that started to down again. Other team members had
meanwhile entered the upper level. “Where is the Colonel?” Illyuschenko asked quickly.
“He’s trying to disable the engines before this thing takes off…shit!” The trooper stopped
in the middle of the sentence as they all sensed that the craft was moving. But one second
later they felt that the ascent was going erratic as if the UFO was having trouble lifting
off the ground.
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“I guess he partially managed that. Both of you take the right side, blow up every
instrument and alien you saw. Go!” Illyuschenko followed the troopers as the exited the
room through the door, but turned left. Running down the corridor he come up to a T-
junction. He looked right and saw another small door. But when he saw the other
direction he noticed that it opened to a much larger room, where there could be seen a
seated alien at the controls of the craft. He pointed his rifle and started shooting, one of
the three Floaters suddenly going into panic and firing at every direction. When he hit the
pilot, the last one dropped his weapon and froze into place. Gunfire coming from the
other team member blew him into pieces, the high-explosive rounds smashing his body
and all the machinery around it. But the trooper carrying the autocannon didn’t notice his
commander on the other side of the room until it was too late. A round hit the wall right
close to Illyuschenko and he was thrown into the ground, projected by the blast. Then the
UFO suddenly hit the ground and Illyuschenko was thrown up in the air, as the dead
engines were helpless now to counteract the effects of gravity and the inertia it brought to
the craft. When he finally hit the ground Illyuschenko blackened out from the crash.
Illyuschenko regained consciousness slowly and noticed he was laying on the grass
outside the UFO, being tended by a British Army corpsman. The remaining members of
the European team were close by, some of them also receiving medical attention while
the others rested while seated on the ground, their weapons nearby. Transport helicopters
flew in the air, together with armed gunships. An explosion could be heard occasionally
at the distance. He checked himself and saw that he had no major injuries. After that he
tried to get up but the soldier cut him off saying: “Please lay down, you have suffered an
concussion and need to rest”.
“I’m OK for the moment. There are civilians over there that need help more than me. Go
and help them now!” The corpsmen jumped away, surprised by the strength of his voice.
He decided it would useless to argue and start to collect his medical gear. Illyuschenko
got up and saw Captain Pearson seated on the ground with a red stained while bandage
wrapped around his head. He turned to him and asked:
“Captain, where is the Colonel?”
“He’s giving tactical assistance to the Army’s forces on scene. Most of the opposition has
been swept away, especially after they saw the UFO going down”.
“Very well”. He then remembered the other thing that was disturbing him. “What about
the captured civilians inside the UFO?”
“We managed to save the majority of them”. Illyuschenko froze. “The majority? What
about the rest?” Pearson pointed to a line of covered corpses. “They got hit in the
confrontation”, he paused before adding, “some by friendly fire”.
The Commander of X-Com managed to get up, in spite of the huge headache that was
starting to hit him. He got to one of the plastic tarps that covered the bodies and pulled
him back. The face of a dead woman greeted him. God, it never ends, does it? No matter
how much we try, they still keep dying although they have nothing to do with this. And
now we have become again killers, instead of soldiers. We are nothing better than the
aliens, are we? We have failed. You have failed, the voice kept pondering on him until he
finally couldn’t take it anymore and went back into unconsciousness.
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Chapter Eight – The Grim Horizon
March 25th, 1999
As usual, Chairman Zhu’s first chore of the day consisted of a session of tai chi in order
to prepare for the days’ ordeal. He had taken into not falling under the excesses of his
predecessors, whose life after obtaining high positions had taken a path of what he
considered debauchery and sloth. One’s mind can be only clear in a fit body he thought,
as he went through a series of exercises, clearing his attention.
He had chosen one of the restored Imperial gardens that rested in the middle of small
plaza surrounded by buildings dating from the Manchus, the last dynasty of China. The
area was deserted, save for himself, with specific orders having been given not to disturb
him. The crank of the old wood beneath him was only registered on his mind for a
second, and the anger of being interrupted quickly dissolved itself into a feeling that
something important must have happened. To deal with it, he decided to first complete
the exercise he was performing at the moment. Another series of movements was
completed, his arms dancing in the air in front of him, moving through the rhythm of his
body. He then stopped before the tension on his body dissipated he ordered: “Speak!”
He felt his deputy indecision about how to approach him, sudden freezing into place and
after a second of hesitation the man nervously said: “Comrade Chairman, I’m sorry to
disturb you but I’ve come to inform that contact has been made”. That caught Zhu’s full
attention and he opened his eyes to look directly at his subordinate. The deputy waited
that the Chinese leader made any question, but seeing that his silence continued, he then
carried on. “An offer has been made, of collaboration”
Keeping his calm he considered the junior officer’s words before inquiring. “An offer as
allies or forced assistance?” Let’s see who wants to be the puppeteer here, Chu thought.
“They didn’t specify details but merely pointed that they are open to discussion”. The
deputy had become first exuberant when he was notified but now as he noticed his
leader’s reaction he wasn’t sure of what to think. He continued, afraid of provoking a
negative reaction on his part. “If true, it will allow us to dispense with X-Com this minute
and start looking for our own interests”.
Chu eyes drifted through the ancient setting where both of them were standing,
considering his subordinate’s words. “How and when did it happen?”
“Last night. One of the Politburo’s members loyal to us was approached by one of their
agents. He certified his identity in a such a way that we can be sure that he is one of
them”. Zhu listened to the last words of his deputy and then restarted his training, saying
nothing. After some seconds of confusion, but knowing better to disturb his superior
again, the deputy quietly left. As his body went through another set of trained exercises,
Zhu started meditating about what he had just been told.
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April 1st, 1999
Eva Johannes was looking beneath a large reinforced window at an alien weapon that was
mounted on a support in test range. The brown and red pistol suddenly fired itself,
releasing a green bolt that hit a blackened wall, adding another dark hole to the ones
already present. She then turned to one of the monitors who were displaying the
information received from the detectors that counted the amount of energized particles.
She just shook her head in disbelief. Turning to Doctor Chevereux, who was also present,
she said still in disbelief: “Plasma. All of this just to get some plasma!”
“It merely confirmed our suspicions that were based on the description of the beam the
weapons emitted and the physical results of the discharges, Doctor”.
“How could we have over missed it, Doctor Chevereux? It was that simple!”
“In reality it still isn’t. We now have an idea of how the weapons use the Elerium to
generate the plasma or how they manage to contain it and direct it. Or even how they use
it to move their craft. On the first aspect they most likely are a result of the matter-
antimatter mutual annihilation reaction but in the second we are still left in a blank”.
“Meaning more months of experiments”. And more frustration to come, she added
mentally as she looked again at the alien weapon, now silent on its mount.
Dr. Chevereux paused as he looked at its own reflected on the mirror and used his right
hand to comb his mane white hair to its side. “Yes, results just don’t materialize
themselves on thin air and land at to our desks”.
Air? Traveling? Something connected at her head. “What did you said Doctor?”
“That we must continue our efforts, let’s just hope they don’t decide to cut the funding
for this also”.
She shook her head at him with the short blonde curls swinging. “No, something about
air”
“Mon cheri, results don’t appear out of nowhere and land were we wanted them, or
something like that”.
“That’s it!” The missing piece that was eluding them!
Chevereux looked down at her. “Excusez-moi, doctor? Can you please explain what are
you saying?”
“During my stay at Area 51 I contacted with several of the troopers involved in the
assault of a two-story UFO near the North Pole. I asked him about the things he had seen
working inside the UFO and if there was anything peculiar, but he couldn’t remember at
the moment anything. But one day I heard him commenting about the lifts the aliens used
and his surprise about it. They had no moving parts and that an invisible force elevated
the passenger. The trooper said that he simply moved in the air and stopped afterwards”.
“What is your point, Doctor?”
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“Moving, landing. What’s the name of the force on Earth that attracts everything to the
ground?”
“Gravity?” Dr. Chevereux thought for a minute and added: “You mean the elevator was
an anti-gravity device?”
“And now think about the raid on Coventry. Commander Illyuschenko reported that
when the UFO’s engines stopped he suddenly could feel the inertia of the craft,
something that did not happen while it was moving airborne, because the anti-gravity
effect counteracted Newton’s laws of movement, that state that for every reaction there’s
a counter-reaction”.
“An anti-gravity device? The Elerium can generate an anti-gravity field? That would
explain how the craft moves or how their weapons control the plasma discharge, but
how?”
She shrugged her shoulders. That was the question that they had been trying to resolve
but at least now it seemed that they had gotten a bit forward. “Like you said, Dr.
Chevereux, we need to do some more testing”.
“Yes, unfortunately the research priorities have been changed”. He took a resigned look,
of someone who had dealt with such situations for many times.
“What? What do you mean? We can’t have gone this far to stop everything now!”
“The report from the Council of Funding Nations came this morning and I wished it was
an April’ Fools Day joke. Many nations are complaining of UFO activity within or close
to their borders with no response from X-Com’s forces. As a result, they have decided to
reduce their contributions and the money we have is simply not enough to cover all our
expenses. Scientific programs have been put into a low-priority with the majority of the
funds going to cover military deployment costs”.
“The Secretary General and the Commander must be insane! You can’t allow this to
happen Doctor!”
“I supported their decision. The troops are well prepared now to deal with the aliens. We
need to deploy them or the cuts will affect us more next month and might even lead to
this whole operation being cancelled. I have lived through hundreds of budget constrains
and know that if we don’t present results, the Council will cut more. Legislators are a
funny kind of people doctor, I’ve done with them before. They tend to think more in
practical matters than in the long-term”.
“What are we to do then?” She felt defeated.
“You will continue with the Elerium research, but at a minimal funding. But most of the
staff on the project will be redirected to other areas. We need know to find more about
the aliens in order for the military to be able to decipher their intentions and plans”.
“But we are this close, Doctor. Remember your words when we started? Elerium is the
key to the stars”. The older scientist looked absent for a minute and then he replied.
“That might not be so, Dr. We still don’t know how or if it’s used to transport to travel
through speeds faster than light. Zeta Reticuli, the system where the alien claims its
species was born, is a long way from here and, most likely the craft we have seen can
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travel through planets but not out of our solar system. It would take them took long
although some recent archeological discoveries suggest that they might be watching us
for a long time”.
“The theory that the aliens must have a base inside our solar system to support their
operations. Yes, I have seen the conclusions of the…. interrogation made to the alien
also.”
“Yes. Interesting how we are seen as guinea pigs by them, but not pleasant at all”. He
checked his watch and said afterwards: “I need to be going Dr. Please continue with your
testing and notify me immediately if you come up with any interesting report”.
“Of course, Dr. Chevereux”. And I will get them, she ordered herself.
April 7th, 1999

Pacific Ocean
The nuclear powered Los Angeles class attack submarine USS La Jolla was traveling at a
speed of six knots on her three-day trip from the Hawaii Islands to her pier at San Diego
Naval Base. Most of the journey had been uneventful so far, and, besides a group of
whales migrating and some merchant ships they hadn’t had any contact in the first two
days of the trip. Since they were close to the US coast, the sub skipper had decided to go
to the surface and allow his men to get some fresh air and sun, taking advantage to the
rather unusual weather conditions. The captain had also decided to go outside and had
been on the top of the submarine’s sail for nearly half an hour when the intercom started
working.
“Captain, Sonar. We require your presence down here sir. We have just picked a strange
sonar echo on the passive sonar”.
“Nature of the contact?”
“Unidentified sir. It is underwater and moving at an impossible speed”.
“I’m coming down”. He dropped on the hatch built on the floor of the tower that was
built on the top of the submarine, grabbed one of the rails and started going down. After
less than a minute he reached the sonar room where two technicians were very occupied.
“Ensign Rollins, what’s the range to the target?”
“43 nautical miles sir. But we first detected it more than sixty miles away”.
The captain did some mental calculations and frown his face. For the contact to have
closed that distance it meant that it was navigating at a speed never seen on a submarine.
Unless it was not a sub. He recalled the top security orders he had received months ago.
“Is the sonar signature completely unknown to our databank?”
“Yes, I’ve triple-checked it already. And the noise we are picking up is very strange; it
doesn’t quite fit the usual transistent signal. It doesn’t sound like mechanical parts
working but more as if it’s a whale, but in this case it would be a whale with a metallic
skin”. The senior sonar technician looked completely puzzled and shrank its shoulders.
Something on the earphones caught his attention and he looked at the data monitors in
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front of him, even more astonished with what he saw. “Sir it just suddenly stopped, but I
mean a full stop. And it’s moving again right now but changed its course. It’s not heading
toward us anymore but going on a course zero-four-seven. Have you ever heard of
anything like it captain?”
The Captain remembered his instructions. They were very precise on this point. “It must
one of the Russian new submarines that they are testing right now, according to the CIA”.
If the technician even detected that his commander was telling a lie, he didn’t even
showed it also when he replied: “This close to our shore?!”
“Keep tracking it. And if you have not figured it out yet, gentlemen, what you are seeing
is classified. You may never discuss this with anyone else or you will spend the rest of
your careers on a federal prison!”
Both non-commissioned officers immediately turned stiff and replied: “Yessir!”
“Inform me of any changes on his present course, I will be in the communications room”.
He didn’t even bother to hear their reply as he was already thinking of a way to put the
incident into words.
Santa Cruz, California

Going on night shift at the local radio was always hell for the disk jockey on was
assigned to it. And Terry was just starting to feel what it was like, in his first night. First
he thought that it would be good to not have anyone else looking at you to see if the
newbie made any blunder. He almost wanted that someone would be shouting at him
right now. Besides the technician on charge on the transmission gear of the station there
was no one else on the top floor of a three-story office building where K-NUT
transmitted. And there was nothing to do also, besides occasionally mumbling something
into the mike just to wake up whoever would be up at this hour in the night trying to no
fall at sleep at the wheel of the car and choosing the tracks that were being broadcasted.
At least the studio had a soundproof window in front of him that opened to the outside
and provided a view of the shore and the Pacific Ocean. That helped out to not feeling
also claustrophobic. But it didn’t do much in helping the boredom of the place. Terry
considered going over the technician to chat a little to see if it helped the time passed but
when he looked to the booth where he usually sat, there was no one there. Probably went
for a couple of coffee at the vendor on the corridor or to take a piss he figured. He looked
at the monitor and noticed that the last song on the list was being played. Time to go to
work again for some more minutes he thought, while starting to think what it would be
broadcasted next. While he was going over the songs stored on the informatics system,
his side view begun tracking something.
He first thought it was the Moon on her way across the sky, but his brain remembered
that it didn’t the Moon didn’t travel that quick and also that its shape was never oval. He
looked to the window and became absorbed in what he saw. Something bright was flying
offshore in front of his eyes. He quickly jumped out of his chair and ran to the window.
He wanted to open it but it didn’t have a handle so after some seconds of search for one
he just quitted and looked again. The oval thing or disk or whatever it was still kept
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moving from the left to the right, close to the shore. What the fuck was that, he asked? A
voice asked behind of him.
“Hey! What are you doing? There’s nothing playing on the air right now you moron!”
The technician shouted at him from the door that connected the studio to his booth.
“There’s something flying out there! It’s a UFO or something!” Terry kept looking at the
craft.
“What? A fucking UFO? ” He moved to the window, and took a peek, but the UFO had
already disappeared on the horizon. “Are you nuts or something? There’s nothing out
there! You must have been smoking some serious shit before coming to work!”
“I’m serious, it was big! We need to call the police! We need to report this on the air!”
“Christ! Wake up! Hello, wake up! What you need to do is to get some music playing
right now, you idiot or you can be sure that I will report you tomorrow! Fucking rookie
assholes!” The technician turned and went back to his booth, leaving Terry still searching
for the now gone UFO.
Area 51, Nevada, US

The hangar where the F-22 interceptor was parked was full of agitation, with technicians
going over the craft and warning klaxons sounded in the dark metal walls. The organized
chaos that had been installed was repeating itself on the other hangar next to it, where X-
Com personnel was also preparing the second advanced fighter that the West team Base
possessed.
On a room situated on the facility, Lt. Colonel Harris was finishing the final preparations
on his flight gear, together with Captain Clark, both pilots having been called in by
Colonel Johnson. When they both did the last checks they both turned to the West
commander and waited in silence.
Johnson then started talking: “Ten minutes ago the US Navy detected an UFO
underwater in the Pacific heading towards the US shore. It disappeared and the NORAD
picked it up afterwards on a course that led it to San Diego. The radar track showed it to
be one of their ships used for terrorist attacks”.
“What? Jesus!” Before both officers started bombarding him with questions, Johnson
raised a hand to stop them. “It over flew San Diego and never launched any attack. Local
authorities report no strange events in the area. The UFO just continued its course and is
lurking around in the area. Current information puts him 10 miles off the city on Santa
Cruz, California. To prevent any possible attacks, the Air Force is putting together a
major operation to shoot it down. And you will be the spearhead of that offensive. The
Alpha, Delta, Epsilon, Omega, Phi, Zeta and Kappa squads are already getting ready and
boarding the Skyrangers, in case you fail”.
Harris fought the urge to touch his face and almost raised his hand to do it. Revenge. Just
show me the fuckers, every last one of them, he said to himself. Johnson seemed to pick
something on the pilot, because he turned to Harris and said: “I share of your fears about
that thing that is flying out there, but remember that this is a military operation! You will
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do as you are told or when you came back here you will be spending the rest of this
operation cleaning up the toilets!”
“Yessir!”
“Just remember it! Now board your planes, you will get briefed on the plan when you’re
airborne. And good luck!”
Both pilots grabbed their flight helmets and left the room. When they entered the hangar,
Clark turned to Harris and asked him and they were on their way to the planes. “Harris,
you know what that last shit that the Colonel said was all about”. The other pilot stopped
and turned to Clark, moving his index finger to the scars on his temple. He then moved it
over the other burned locations on his forehead, slowly rubbing them, to make sure that
the younger pilot knew his point.
“Gosh! I’m sorry sir. I didn’t mean to intrude…”
“Don’t worry about it. Just remember to not get on my way when we’re on the air”. He
then turned to his plane and started walking again, picking his pace. When he reached it
he climbed the stairwell in the cockpit and jumped inside, locking himself to the ejection
seat and putting his helmet. A couple of jacks coming out from it quickly found
themselves into locations in the cabin, connecting him to the radio. He then connected is
breathing apparatus and did the final checks. A technician came to the front of his craft
waving a hand carrying red little flags and he nodded. His plane was ready. He keyed on
his radio:
“Command, this is Comanche One. Ready to take-off. Over”
“Comanche, commenting launch procedures now”. Suddenly the floor beneath the craft
begun to raise it itself towards the top of the hangar. The overhead doors started opening
and the lift slowly brought the craft up to the surface. Light greeted Harris, but he ignored
it as he was starting his engines. When the elevator stopped the F-22 was standing in the
middle of a sand-painted runway, with rotating lights coming out of their concealed
locations to help him see it. Behind him the F-22 piloted by Clark had also come out of
its hiding and was maneuvering to get himself being Harris.
“Comanche flight, clear to take off. Climb up to angels twelve and maintain formation.
Your heading is 294. Wait for Air Force instructions from the E-3C Sentry on the area”.
“Comanche One, roger. Commencing take-off”. Harris let go of the air brakes and
applied almost full power to the engine. The F-22 slowly started to move in the hot
tarmac and started to gain speed. When his airspeed showed it to be going over 150 miles
per hour, Harris began pushing the control stick to him and the plane took-off, closely
followed by Clark’s. Both planes then reached their assigned altitude and started heading
towards their target.
Johnson and Major Patterson were also prepared to take-off, seated on a C-130 Hercules
aircraft, together with the remaining Beta and Gamma squads. The thing wasn’t as good
as the EC-130E plane they were used to, but there was no way they could afford to buy it
or even request it from the Air Force.
“Colonel, Captain Markovitch reports her Skyranger is ready to lift-off. Forrester hasn’t
finished their preparations but should be done any second.
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“What’s the status of Comanche and the other flights?”
“Comanche One and Two are already on their way to California. There’s also a flight of
F/A-18C Hornets on their way from Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, besides the flights
of Air Force and National Guard’s F-16s and F-15s fighters on their way coming from
bases all over the West Coast. Northwestern Air Defense Sector at McChord AFB in
Washington State is coordinating the counterattack”.
“Do they have more air resources available?”
“The carrier Carl Vinson and his battle group had started two day ago their trip to their
deployment to the Southern Pacific, but they are too far away to help. The Air Force will
have more fighters available in some hours, but it might be too late”.
“And on the ground?”
“One battalion of Marines ready at San Diego. And some California National Guard units
can also assist us”.
“Let’s hurry up the preparations then. We need this thing on the air in case the fighters
fail to stop the UFO. He when in the direction of the Hercules’ back ramp door to help
carrying the last remaining equipment inside the plane.
Over Central California, US

Harris was remembering his first contact. The excitement and fear of approaching the
alien craft. And the surprise and pain afterwards, the sudden rush of air into the cut
cockpit of the Aurora, the frantic moments searching for the ejection handles before
passing out. A voice brought him back: “Comanche Flight, this is Sentinel. Target is still
airborne, near San Francisco. Keep your present vector. You are to fire at it at maximum
weapon’s range and then clear the area. The other flights will then engage, taking
advantage of your discharges”.
Harris looked at his weapons display. He was carrying four AIM-54 Phoenix missiles and
Clark was loaded with two other Phoenixes and three AIM-120 Amraams, each group of
weapons split between his two weapons’ bays, right in the intersection between the F-
22’s body and wings. Usually it would take two or three Phoenixes or Amraam’s to take
one of the Celtic cross type but the craft that was over the Pacific was much larger.
Although it would have been better to load a full AIM-54 Phoenix set on both wings,
there simply hadn’t been enough time. But he preferred that way. Better to keep things
close and personal.
Pacific Ocean
Further up north, a flight of four F-15A Eagle interceptors from the 123rd Fighter
Squadron of the Oregon Air National Guard were circling, waiting for Comanche flight
to make their attack run. The leader, Major Armstrong, was afraid. So far he hadn’t ever
heard of any exercise that consisted of scrambling all the fully armed, alert-status planes
at the base and have them wait off the American Coast. Another thing that told him that
something big was up was the amount of air traffic he could hear on the military and
civilian channels. He recognized some of the call signs. They belonged to air defense
fighter units all over the Pacific states. And even more disturbing was the regular air
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traffic channels. All civilian flight operations had been cancelled on the Bay Area and the
airline pilots were giving hell to the controllers, being forced to find alternate airports.
That could only mean that there was some immediate danger, most likely in the form of a
hostile attack. But who would be nuts enough to make an air strike against the continent
US or even have the resources to do it? The threat looked as if it was coming from the
Pacific, which meant that either they would have an aircraft carrier lurking around or it
had long-range bombers. The Russians? The Chinese? Has World War III started all of a
sudden?
California-Nevada border, US
The noise of the C-130 almost made it impossible for Johnson to hear the radio or
Patterson’s voice. He waved for him to stop and said: “Say that again?”
His executive officer raised his voice to be heard. “Both Skyrangers are halfway to the
Bay Area. Air Force is about to attack the UFO”.
“Think they are going to make it?”
“Your guess is as good as mine, Colonel. It depends on the offensive and defensives
capabilities of that thing. We know it also carries plasma beams like the smaller UFOs.
We just don’t know what they are capable of”.
“And we on the ground, are we ready?”
“The whole company is ready sir. Army and Marine forces are ready to deploy, but the
location of the possible attack will determine for long we will have to wait for
assistance”.
“Let’s hope we don’t need them and that this all ends on a deployment drill”.
Central California, US
The UFO was going steady, some 110 miles away from Comanche Flight. Harris noticed
that it seemed to be just cruising, maintaining the same course and a low speed. The
APG-71 radar situated on the nose of the F-22 suddenly started picking the craft and it
started tracking it. Checking with Clark to certify that he had also a lock, he then
contacted the E-3C Sentry that was monitoring the situation.
“Sentinel. This is Comanche Flight, we have the bandit locked”.
“Comanche flight acknowledging your status. Weapons are free, engage at your
discretion”.
“Sentinel, this is Comanche One. I got a tone on the target. Phoenix is locked and ready.
Firing now! Fox Three!” The left weapons bay opened and the missile dropped out of its
releasing mechanism, dropping for a bit more than a second before its engine blasted. The
guidance system received the information from the F-22’s radar and started guiding it
towards the UFO. After the second Phoenix was launched the hydraulic doors closed
again and both missiles were soon racing over Mach five to their target.
“Sentinel, Comanche One. Both missiles are on their way!”
“Sentinel, Comanche Two, I got a malfunction on my left bay. Only fired two missiles”.
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“Comanche Flight, get clear and remain close to the area until further orders”.
As Harris push the stick towards him and to the right to clear the area, he looked at his
radar screen, focusing on the echo’s sent by the four missiles and the UFO and ignoring
the swarms of fighters that were trying to take advantage of his salvo to get into range to
also release their missiles. One of the dots started going slowly off target, and after it lost
target lock it self-destructed, the blip disappearing off the scope.
The other three Phoenixes hit the UFO. Harris monitored its speed and bearing, but it
seemed that it hadn’t been enough to bring it down. Then he started noticing the other
blips approaching the craft. Four flights of F-15As, F-16Cs and F/A-18Cs were
approaching the UFO from all different locations. Since the planes couldn’t carry the
Phoenix missile, they would have to come closer than 50 miles to be able to launch their
AIM-120A Amraam and AIM-7M missiles. Harris knew it could be a dangerous trick.
Inside that distance he had been several times been shot at by the UFOs.
Checking the altitude, course and airspeed, he then turned its eyes back into the radar
screen and changed the radio into the general channel.
“Sentinel, Cobra Flight, twenty more miles to weapon’s range. Target is slowing down.”
“Air Flight, engage at maximum range. If bandit opens fire start taking an evasive
approach to the target”
“Sentinel, an evasive what? This isn’t Second World War anymore where you zigzagged
while on an attack run! Repeat last order please”.
“Sentinel…”
“Oh my God! Jesus Christ! Cobra Three is hit! I repeat, Cobra Three is hit! I just saw a
flash and his F-15 exploded afterwards!”
“Bear Two is also down! He managed to eject! Request search and rescue immediately!”
“How are they tracking us? There’s nothing on my threat detector!”
“Commencing evasive maneuvers! Wildcat One is down!”
“Sentinel, Cobra Two, I got a lock and I’m firing now! Fox Two!”
Harris looked at the screen and ignored the calls made by the pilots while launching their
missiles. Nearly half of the attacking fighters had been downed already. It seemed that
the plasma beam it carried had more range and was more powerful than the ones of the
smaller UFOs.
Pacific Ocean
Major Armstrong couldn’t believe what was going on. Before Sentinel had given them
the order to fire on the bandit, the damn plane they were chasing had already downed two
F-15s of his flight. Both pilots had been immediately killed in the explosion that engulfed
their planes, with no chance of bailing out. What was that thing on the air and what was it
shooting? Nothing could be seen, not even the smoke trail of the enemy’s missiles or
whatever he used while they headed out for his flight’s planes.
He had launched his four AIM-7M Sparrow missiles and was keeping a steady course to
the bogey, since the missiles required guidance from his APG-63 radar until they reached
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their target. Which made the whole situation extremely risky, since he basically couldn’t
maneuver or break away, unless he wanted to loose control over the weapons.
Another plasma bolt blew his wingman’s plane, transforming it in a mass of fire, metal
and plastic. He almost went into panic but he then saw that his missiles were about to hit
the bandit. Take that you fucker. Then another blast from the UFO consumed the cockpit
of the F-15 and his body, before his mind could even take notice.
California Coast
Harris also saw the impact of the missiles on his radar screen. The four Sparrows
converged on the larger blip and hit it, their radar echo’s disappearing at the same time.
But the UFO continued its flight, as if it were an elephant being stung by mosquitoes. As
the last missiles launched from the surviving fighters hit the craft, Harris swore in
frustration, seeing that almost a score of pilots and planes had been sacrificed for nothing.
In spite of multiple missile hits, the UFO was still flying on the air, some seventy
kilometers to the northwest of his position. And the last remaining fighter planes were
trying to close in, this time taking evasive maneuvers to avoid the plasma beam
destructiveness and long-range. They only had their short-range Sidewinder missiles and
cannons now and most likely they would achieve nothing. Harris looked at his weapon’s
board. He still had three AIM-120Cs on the other weapon bay. Keying the radio button
on the control stick with his index finger, he already knew what he had to do. “Sentinel,
this is Comanche One. Requesting permission to re-engage and fire my remaining
missiles”.
“Comanche, negative on that. We are recalling the remaining fighters. We can’t afford to
lose more men and aircraft”.
“Damn it Sentinel, if that thing lands a lot of civilians will be killed!”
“Orders came from National Command Authority and Wolverine Command. Combat
troops are already deploying to possible attack locations. Your orders are to return to
base”.
So, Colonel Johnson and the President are ordering us to retreat, while that thing is still
flying and preparing to launch a terrorist strike at a city. Making some mental
calculations he estimated that the UFO had been hit by at least a dozen missiles. It
probably had been hurt, since it had reduced more its speed and had made now a couple
of erratic turns.
“Sentinel, this is Comanche One. Your last transmission was garbled. I repeat, I failed to
receive your last transmission. I don’t know if you are hearing this, but I’m reengaging
the craft”. His mind made up, Harris turned the F-22 until it was pointed to the direction
of the UFO.
“Comanche One, negative! Break off this minute!”
“I still can’t understand you Sentinel. My radio receiver must be malfunctioning.
Engaging now”. Ignoring the angry voices on the channel, he turned the volume down
and concentrated on the Terror craft in front of him. The Television Camera Set, a device
developed for the F-14 Tomcat long-range interceptor that allowed the pilot to track at
large distances and display a television image of a large contact in the pilot’s monitor,
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picked up the craft in front of him and displayed its image for a few seconds, until Harris
threw the plane into a sharp turn out of instinct. A couple of seconds later, a plasma bolt
flew by him, missing his plane by narrow yards. “Shit!” Harris cursed. He made another
turn to put the F-22 back into attack position and checked the distance to the UFO. Sixty
more miles to go, and the thing seemed to have put all of its defense system against him,
forcing him to take some more high-g turns while the green bolts flew across the sky, the
plasma disappearing itself after some more miles after the charged particles dispersed
themselves and interacted with the oxygen on Earth’s atmosphere, turning it into ozone.
Harris kept checking the decreasing distance between his F-22 and the UFO and when he
was inside the Amraam’s range, he took some more maneuvers to get him closer. He was
already under the 35 mile mark and wanted to get closer to assure a kill, but something on
his screen changed his plans. The UFO was increasing speed and pretty soon it would
outpace his F-22. “Oh, no you don’t!” he spouted, and aligned the plane to launch his
missiles. The radar switched modes from searching to tracking and pretty soon the
computer was feeding the necessary data to the missiles’ guidance systems. A low whine
come over his headphones telling him that the weapons were locked on target. Not
bothering to issue a warning he simply fired his remaining missiles, which dropped in a
synchronized sequence from his open weapons bay and quickly made a left roll after the
last one was on its way to the UFO.
The Terror Ship in front of him was trying to leave the area, by increasing power to its
anti-gravity propulsion system, but the previous missiles already injured it. It fired a
couple of shots at the incoming missiles as a last-resort measure to stop them, but it
failed. Harris aligned the F-22 as the Amraam’s were close to reach the UFO and
watched it through the TCS system mounted on his plane.
The gray fuselage of the circular UFO had been already blackened in some places, as
result of previous hits. And smoke was coming out of one of the compartments attached
to the main body where the doors where located.
The first Amraam hit the UFO on the section that connected the circular body to the
“wings”. The explosion obscured the video image being displayed on Harris central
monitor and prevented him from seeing where the other missiles hit the target. But the
end result was pretty obvious. The UFO started spinning on the air, due to the failure of
one of its engines that left the whole craft with too many power on one of its sides. The
alien crew tried to correct it, but the power plant that was unbalancing the craft suddenly
overloaded as the amount of power it released was being elevated to compensate for the
failure of the engine on the opposite end of the craft. Harris saw a sudden explosion on
the main body that shook the entire craft, with the matter-antimatter reaction carving a
hole on the bottom of the craft, while simultaneously wrecking the two remaining engines
and leaving the UFO powerless. Without the power of Elerium to counteract the effects
of Earth’s gravity it simply dropped down on the air like a rock. Harris kept tracking it
until the radar blip finally disappeared on the waters of the Pacific. He then turned on his
radio again and spoke.
“Sentinel, this is Comanche One. Bandit is down. I repeat bandit is down. Gimme a
course to get back home”. While he waited for the surveillance plane to reply he took
pleasure on the turning down of the fire that was raging inside him just minutes before.
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Situation Room, White House, Washington DC, US
General Thompson put down the phone and turned to President Winston. “I just
contacted the Navy commander in charge of the Search and Rescue operations. So far
they only managed to retrieve three of the shot down pilots”.
“How many still missing?” Winston felt sorrow for the lost of so many men, but the
alternative could have been much worse.
“Only two. Of the twelve fighters shot down by the UFO, Sentinel registered that five
had managed to bail out of their planes. They will continue their search operations. And
they have also recovered one Sectoid body that was floating on the water”.
“Better if they retrieve also all wreckage belonging to the UFO crash. We can’t afford
that fishermen or someone at the beach discovers an alien body floating on the ocean”.
The DCI commented. Winston nodded in comply and asked to his Press Secretary: “What
is the media saying?”
“We have pictured it as an exercise to test our air defense force capabilities over the
Pacific Coast”.
“Word has also been leaked to the papers through unknown military sources that it was
also a test of a advanced plane. We are officially denying it, of course. I suggest we keep
some planes up on the air for the past days, exercising and also inviting the media to
attend the exercises, sir”. Mark Casper had approved the Intelligence’s team’s proposal of
disinformation and had forwarded it to the President for final approval. While Winston
wasn’t fully briefed on the plan, to protect him in case the whole thing went public, he
knew and understood the necessity of keeping a tight lid on the existence of the aliens.
“Very well. Has X-Com been able to determine why the craft stood that long offshore?”
“The assessment team thinks it might be making some reconnaissance before attacking.
However, the approach method it used is usually made on a surprise attack, going
underwater where our detection abilities are far lower than on the air. No one simply
knows what where the alien’s intentions, sir”. The President looked at the Chairman of
the JCS, his top military adviser.
“General Thompson, what do you propose?”
“Mr. President, the Navy could start a 24 hour surveillance of our seaboard. While they
suffered cutbacks on the area of submarine warfare, we still have assets that can be
deployed, such as attack submarines and surveillance ships”.
“I will sign the orders immediately then”. He finally moved into the American
Representative to the X-Com Council. “I would like to know also the name of the pilot
that shot down the UFO. He needs some sort of award for it”.
Area 51, Nevada, US

When Johnson had learned about Harris actions’ and how he had directly ignored a
superior order, he immediately called the pilot to his office to have a small chat with him.
Harris more than likely knew why he had been ordered to attend to the Colonel’s office,
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but as he opened the door and entered, the pilot showed no sign of being bothered for it.
He stood up in attention and said: “Lt. Colonel Harris reporting as ordered, sir”.
“At ease! I suppose you know the reason for this meeting?”
“I take it to be directly related to my actions this morning”.
“Mr. Harris, let me tell you what I got here in front of me on my desk”. He pointed with
his hands to the papers in front of him. “I have a transcript of the communications
between you and the Sentry. And I also have a letter for the US President thanking X-
Com for its efforts in protection of American lives and expressing his sincere admiration
at the X-Com who shot down the UFO”. Tell me, should I be pleased or should I be
pissed off?!”
“I did my duty, sir. That thing flying over there was a menace”
“That thing over there was a menace all right, but this is not the place where you can
fight your own little war! You had orders, mister and you chose to ignore them over some
personal vendetta! Can you imagine what he would suffer if we lost half of our
interception capabilities if you plane was shot!?”
“Sir, I ignored the chain of command because my superior officers were making a wrong
decision!”
“The wrong decision was yours mister! In fact, I even doubt you thought about it!”
“Colonel, I knew exactly its capabilities and exactly how to strike. All of my moves were
planned and I knew the enemy’s tactics and forces available. And as you can see, I was
successful”.
“Indeed Colonel, and that’s why you are not being canned for this little trick of yours.
The letter also says that they are considering you for the Silver Star for your actions and
you will certainly receive it later although I oppose it. Meanwhile, I want a full report by
tomorrow of your actions and the UFO’s capabilities and also a complete rethinking of
our aerial tactics according to this information. Is that clear?” Harris knew he would have
to spend the whole night awake doing it, but at least the Colonel wasn’t grounding him.
He replied affirmatively and was dismissed by Johnson. When he got outside and was on
his way to his quarters he almost bumped into Captain Markovitch as he turned a corner.
He immediately recoiled back and apologized.
“Sorry Captain. I wasn’t thinking in what I was doing”
Markovitch dropped from her position of full alert and replied: “Don’t worry about it
Colonel, no harm was done. By the way, congratulations for your actions today!”
Harris winced and adding some irony to his voice while he said: “Thank you.
Unfortunately the commander doesn’t feel that way. Let me ask you something Captain:
you have served with the Colonel before. Did he always have this attitude of being the
guy that does everything by the book?”
Markovitch made a little smirk to him and answered back: “I know what you are saying
Colonel. I will have a little talk to him.
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“Good luck. From what I’ve seen so far, you will need it, Captain”. He nodded and
started to walk again. Markovitch replied and thought for some seconds. She then turned
to the direction of Johnson’s office and headed towards it. Upon reaching it, she knocked
and Johnson replied: “Enter”.
She got in and saluted. Johnson raised its eyes from the amount of paperwork he had in
front of him and said: “What is it Captain? I’m very busy at the moment and I have
already congratulated you on the readiness of your team”.
“I know Captain, but I need to talk about something else, Johnson”. He stopped what he
was doing and made a face of being terribly annoyed. “Let’s not bring this matter again,
shall we Markovitch?!”
“I’m not talking about that, Colonel. I’m talking about your attitude of giving the hell
over Harris because of what he did today. He’s a damn hero and you condemned him
because of his actions!”
“The guy acted irrationally and didn’t measure the possible consequences!”
“He took a risk Johnson! But a calculated risk! He didn’t wait for the tacticians down
here to analyze it over weeks, he made a combat decision! You should be thanking him
for President Winston not be cutting right now to X-Com’s funding, which could be
happening right now if they had launched an attack”.
“He ignored the chain of command and risked his dumb ass and a plane worth millions of
dollars that we can’t afford to loose!”
“And saved the life of thousands of civilians! Who, if everything had gone over the book
or caution would be dead by now!”
“What’s your point Captain?”
“You are when you say that the only thing that we have on the same level as this aliens is
intelligence and we should use it. Otherwise we are nothing more than hairless apes
going against them. But you are also forgetting that you can’t predict everything. And
that sometimes is better to charge if you feel the sudden urge to do it”.
“If there’s a rule then it’s because there’s a damn good reason for it!”
“But if what no one ever thought about it? Or if it made you act against everything you
thought and believed, Johnson? What would you do then?” He was about to speak but
stopped at her last words.
“See what I mean, Johnson? Sometimes you forget to let go, to ignore all the questions
and just do. And you condemn other people for doing it. That’s why we had all those
discussions before over military matters when I was under your command. And that’s
why you never understood and accepted that I wanted to join the 82nd. Think about it”.
She turned and left and Johnson wanted to say something but couldn’t possibly think
about what to say. He decided to turn back to his paperwork and leave it for later when he
recovered.
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April 15th, 1999
Highway 50, Maryland, US
Williams was just finishing his coffee at the diner located at the highway that connected
Washington to Maryland when Davis entered the establishment. Looking at his watch, he
saw that Davis was half an hour late on their meeting. The FBI agent looked all over the
place at the few customers that had to be up for whatever reason at this hour in the
morning. Detecting no danger, he then walked over to Williams’s table and sat down on a
chair. “Good morning” he said.
“Good morning? Where have you been? You are half an hour late”.
“I stayed outside hidden to see if anyone had followed us. Nothing like triple checking to
be safe”.
Williams was surprised and continued: “OK. Next time just warn me so that I can bring
the paper or something to kill the time. Any progress?”
Continuously looking at everyone who was in the dinner, with his eyes changing
direction every few seconds, he replied: “I got about half a dozen suspects, but I doubt it,
although I have them on surveillance just to be sure”.
“Someone important?”
“No big names. Almost all of them are regular investigators. No, they are small fish”.
“But still be careful. You heard about the possibility of hybrids infiltrating our society?”
“Yes. Are my men looking for hybrids?” He fixed his stare on Williams.
“I have reason to believe that the conspirators might be using them. Be very careful, from
what I’ve been reported they can be quite fast”.
“I will tell that to my men. I have already informed them about the alien situation
although I’ve kept myself quiet about all the rest”.
“Good. Watch out for yourselves”.
“We will”. He looked again at Williams and said: “I take it that the brain washing
deception factory is going quite well. From what I’ve heard, the delegations of the
Bureau all over the country are starting to receive calls from concerned citizens about
how a Neo Nazi conspiracy is about to try to throw the country through the use of stolen
advanced weapons. That’s one of the craziest things I ever heard on my life but I used to
thought the same about UFOs”.
“We just took advantage of the television focusing on the incidents up in California and
the extreme-right militias and patriot groups that appeared making warnings about the
alien menace”.
“And now you have the Secret Service going nuts every day because of the fights in front
of the White House between them and the idiots who hold rallies supporting the aliens”.
“Two bunches of lunatics fighting one another on the evening news makes everyone else
think that this whole matter is just crazy stuff”. The media was having a field day with
the confrontations between both groups in Washington and other cities and a set of
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rumors disseminated by the intelligence team had sparked all kind of weird rumors,
distracting attention from the aerial fight over the Pacific.
“Yeah, whatever. Just remember me never to give my vote to you on any election if all of
this works”.
April 20th, 1999

Unknown facility, unknown location, US
Every time Number One came to the secret installations of the Group at the United States
he felt a natural repulsion about the place. Too many things here stank of the alien
presence and he had never become accustomed to the place. Still he knew that the future
of mankind and of his position laid here, although the thought wasn’t too comforting. He
wondered if Three knew about that and had specifically called for the reunion at those
facilities, in order to put himself on a strained position. The young fool must be too clever
or too stupid to do that, he considered, but then he realized that he couldn’t tell from both
choices. It didn’t matter, he concluded to himself, since everything was already set up in
motion and nothing could stop it.
The desk on Three’s office buried deep inside the underground facility was empty as both
men had chosen instead to stand up as they talked. “The Americans are acting to counter
your own deception. Their intelligence group has proven itself to be quite resourceful”.
So this is from where the hostilities begun, Three said to himself, before answering back.
“Those are close to desperate attempts to regain control of public opinion. In the end they
will only contribute more to their own discredit. What is necessary is that we can control
the team. I would assume it would have been already done by your part, since they would
be fine material for recruitment, since those men are the ones who have the better, if
grossly incomplete picture of everything”.
Number One recoiled, furious that the other man had the nerve to question his own
actions. Regaining control, he shot back: “That would pose as a very dangerous risk.
They don’t yet have the power necessary to be of importance to us and they are unreliable
on terms of allegiance, since most of them don’t appear to share of our motives”
“In that case, why aren’t they being kept under a strict watch and control? If they are not
with us, then they belong to the enemy”. Don’t escalate this anymore, or I will promise
you that you don’t know yet how far you can sink.
“They have too much independence from a chain of command. Ultimately, they are
becoming analogous to us, starting to act on their own. We need to think of other ways to
contain them, since they might suspect something if we keep a strict control over them”.
“As we know, that can be arranged. But they are not dangerous to us yet. And if they
become, we will provoke their fall and take care of any survivors that might exist. One
way or the other they are ours to crush”.
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April 22nd, 1999
Times Square, New York City, US
What a shitty job I got, Blake thought as he was looking at the crowd gathered at Times
Square on their way of making a rally against the alien invasion. Nevada had turned up
into nothing and since he had took the journey on its own, he wouldn’t get any
reimbursement for his expenses. Worse yet, his next vacancies would be way too long
now, since he had taken a week off to personally investigate Area 51.
His queries had left to nothing. First it had taken him days just to get a phone number of
the base, with all federal and state agencies denying even the existence of the installation.
He finally got through it by telling some innocent lies but even that had left into a dead
end. The person who had answered the phone on the other end ignored his request to talk
to Colonel Johnson and asked before saying or acknowledging anything for his
identification. He eventually hang up upon seeing that Blake was just trying to fish for
information. And a few minutes afterwards a police car stopped at the gas station where
Blake had made the call. When he noticed them from the diner’s where he was having
breakfast he realized he had hit the jackpot, but that I was useless since there still was no
confirmation for Johnson’s presence at the base.
But something was going on Area 51 for sure. He had driven his rented car into the
base’s limits, eventually finding the road used by the military personnel. But after some
minutes of hanging around in the area to see if he could detect any movement an
unmarked jeep had appeared down the highway. They had parked close to him and two
soldiers wearing Air Force insignias had come out of the vehicle. They asked him about
his business in the area while keeping an aggressive pose. Blake made up an innocuous
story to explain for his presence there, but they proceeded to warn him against staying in
a classified area. Still he had managed to see a lot of night activity with jets being
scrambled, although he only saw their lights far away. The place was too damn guarded
to give away any of its secrets, he concluded after a week and decided to get back to NY.
Upon getting back at the newspaper, his editor had assigned him the task of covering the
manifestations that where being held for and against the aliens. “Since you are already
familiar to the matter”, the bastard had said upon telling him his job for the next days,
smiling. And one of the lamest things I’ve ever done he thought.
The crowd was being restrained by police barriers in one of the sidewalks on Times
Square and was making a lot of noise. The state troopers didn’t know exactly what to do
so they just stood around trying to make a pose as calm as possible while the protesters
waved signs against Nazism and a Police State and defending Personal Freedom. Fishing
out a notebook out from the inside pocket of his leather jacket he moved towards the
crowd, which he noticed was about to turn itself into an angry mob. Looking up he saw
the reason for the commotion: in one of the electronic billboards on Times Square an ad
was just going through about the new movie Hollywood had decided to put up by 4th of
July. Independence Day, or how ET had decided to take Earth on the Nation’s Founding
Day. Ironical, he thought before noticing the leader of the protesters, a well-built man
with brown hair cut in a military style. Pushing through the crowd he approached the
individual.
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“Hi. I’m working for the NY Times. Could you please tell me what this is all about?” The
man looked at him with suspicion and was about to ignore him until Blake added, while
going for his wallet: “I can show you some ID to prove who I am”.
“Don’t bother”. He said in an icy voice. “It doesn’t matter if you are who you claim. You
are nothing but a puppet at their hands”.
“I’m sorry, whose hands are those?” He immediately took the cap off his pen and started
writing.
“The ones who are trying to install the New World Order. The ones who are trying to
limit our freedom and manipulate our minds through the use of propaganda like that”. He
pointed at the screen that was now giving out some other commercial.
“You don’t believe in UFOs?”
“By the contrary, we quite believe on them. But the government knows what they are
about. They made them and are using them to blind our perception. The new millennium
is coming and they are getting ready to install their new order”.
Blake immediately saw the whole picture: another group of people that had decided after
the Waco massacre that the Federal government was after them. That and the hype
surrounding the coming of 2000. “And what is that new order you are constantly talking
about?”
“The one imposed by the new fascists, that are hiding right now on these towers of
oppression and in the government under the disguise of Republicans or Democrats. They
will take away all our freedoms and make us slaves, but we won’t even notice it. There
are no aliens. There is only a deception to make us believe they exist and that they are
threatening us, so that we abdicate of our liberties under the pretense of false war”. He
grabbed his speaker and started shouting: “Say no to the false prophets! Say no to the
New World Order and their lackeys!” The crowd imitated him and kept shouting at the
NYPD personnel in the area who where know looking at one another without knowing
exactly what to do. The mob begun gesturing aggressively at the policemen and Blake
decided to leave the area, or at least watch the predictable confrontations from a safer
place. When he detached himself from the protesters he saw police vans already
appearing and unloading agents equipped for riot control. As he watched them deploy he
was already starting to compose his article for next day’s edition. But something kept
troubling him.
April 25th, 1999

The briefings at the White House were starting to scare Williams, the hairs on the back of
his head raising up as he went through the corridors that led into the Situation Room.
Everything pointed out that the infiltrators should be men occupying considerable power
positions in US government and most likely at least one of the military and civilian
officers present at the meetings was related to the whole cover-up. And most likely that
person was watching him closely to see how far he got to the truth. Even if he hadn’t
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discovered that a conspiracy was in progress he would be in danger, he concluded, which
sent shivers down his spine.
But who? Going through the painting of past US presidents he considered if any of them
knew about the whole alien situation. Hell, even Winston is not out of the whole possible
lot, he thought. That would make it one of the most cynical and cruel bastards ever born
on this planet if that was the case. But in any case he was going to leave the White House
after next year’s elections, being on his second term of office. Could any of the most
likely Republican and Democrat candidates be it? Vice-President Longstreet had the
better chances of being nominated by the Democratic Party, while on the GOP chances
seemed that it would the present Governor of New York State, Charles Vaughn. None of
then had a really long career in politics or intelligence affairs. Longstreet had been one of
the Senators from Georgia before being elected with Winston right on his first term,
while Vaughn had climbed up the steps in NY’s State legislature until successfully
running for Governor some years ago. The VP was constantly informed of the whole
alien situation while Vaughn only had been told the minimum about the aliens, not
knowing the full dimension of their actions or their intentions. If the guy gets elected he
will probably think again if it was a good idea to run now for the presidency, for sure.
When he reached the door to the Situation Room he decided to concentrate again to the
job now on his hands. The two Marine sentinels escorting the entrance opened it and he
got inside. When he entered several civilians and military chiefs were already inside
talking to themselves or sat at their places, going through some last minute information.
He greeted several of them on his way to his place by the center table and sat, choosing
not to talk to anyone but looking at them instead.
A voice came from behind him “Anything new Williams?” The CIA man almost jumped
on his chair but kept his calm as he got up to see the person who had talked to him. He
saw his boss, the DCI looking back at him, waiting for an answer.
“No, sir. I have no new data to present besides the information you have already seen”.
“Very well”. Dropping his voice so that only Williams could hear him, he whispered:
“The President knows not to ask about too much about the situation on the alien
infiltration thing. He knows we are acting on it”.
“Already taken that into consideration, sir”.
“Good. And see you start lightening up on this meeting. By this time you should have
been accustomed to them”. Williams tried to appear relaxed. “Yes sir. Thanks for the
advice”.
“Don’t mention it. You are doing a hell of a job. Keep it that way”.
Thoughts screamed at Williams’s head upon hearing that last sentence. Stop it! You are
becoming paranoid and cannot think or act properly on that state. Then the President
entered the room and the other officers took their places for the meeting to begin.
Winston then said: “Let’s be brief, gentlemen, since I have a meeting this afternoon to
discuss this year’s budget and the alien menace could look a piece of cake compared to it.
Mr. Williams, if you please?”
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Williams got his notes and the control remote for the video projector and replied:
“Starting right now, sir. Starting with the shoot out at the California Coast, the Navy has
begun underwater salvage operations of the UFO that was brought down in the Pacific.
Initial findings have shown it to be manned by Sectoids and carrying also a cargo of their
battle tanks and the usual type of weaponry they used. It is therefore reasonable to
conclude that they were equipped to mount one of their terrorist strikes. The question
remains of why they didn’t do it and that interrogation can’t be answered right now”.
Clicking on one of the buttons in the remote control, a picture of the UFO appeared in the
wall left of Williams. “This is a television picture taken by the system’s of the X-Com F-
22 that shot it down. Although the whole incident was a military disaster, we have taken
some lessons on how to approach and take down these craft. It can be done, but the
question is if they have something even more potent, which in that case would mean that
ours fighters wouldn’t have a chance against it”.
The four-star General that was Chief of Staff of the Air Force raised his hand and asked:
“What’s X-Com’s situation on research of UFO propulsion and flying technology? Can
they replicate it and make an UFO capable of fighting those things?”
“Not at the present moment sir. Research has discovered some things about how to
replicate the materials used and the physics of the propulsion system but nothing on how
the aliens navigate or control the craft”.
“That is not good, we need to stop them before we land, while they are on their ships to
cut down their numbers”.
“That leads me into the another problem I was going to pose, General”. The military man
motioned him to continue with his head and Williams went on. “In spite of our victories
we haven’t managed so far to slow down the activities of the aliens. So far, X-Com has
monitored more that one hundred UFOs on these first months, with possibly many more
going undetected. And the rate of growth of alien activity keeps going up. If it keeps
going up pretty soon we wouldn’t be able to deal with all their incursions and can only
expect to hinder them as much as possible”.
“Mr. Williams are you saying that we are doomed?” President Winston asked.
“No sir. The scientific personnel have speculated that the aliens must have a base on our
solar system from which they are maintaining and controlling their attacks. We know that
the Sectoids originally came from Zeta Reticuli although they later abandoned the
system, so they now must be living in some other part of the galaxy. The point of all this
is that, even at faster that light speeds a military command would have a tough time
coordinating and maintaining such an attack. The supply lines would just be too long and
the craft we’ve seen only appear to be capable of moving inside a star system. Otherwise
it would take them too long even if they are in the nearest star system who is four light-
years away from us. The question right now is of what exactly is that base: an
installation on a planet or a huge mothership? In any case, for Earth to survive we need to
find the location of that base and destroy it”.
“That might be easy to say, Mr. Williams, but how do you know where it is and, more
important, how do we get there and how we destroy it”. The National Security Adviser,
was on one of her days, Williams sighted to himself before concluding.
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“Well, madam, although we have proven alien interaction with human societies through
known History and probably going far back behind, it isn’t here on Earth or we would
have detected it because of its size. As for our nearest companion, the Moon, the
Clementine probe did a sweep of his surface some years ago and it found no unusual
ground formations. However, analysis of the UFO’s trajectories in space shows it that the
majority comes from the dark side of the Moon. Most likely they have a fleet operating
there, but the question if there’s Mothership remains to be answered. Also, the UFOs
appear to be coming from other locations in the Solar System, although the
astrophysicists are only making guesses right now”.
“That hardly answers my question Mr. Williams. Even if we discover it, what are we
going to do?”
“I don’t know then Mrs. May. That’s up for the military planners to decide. But what we
need right now is to get more information, either by continuing research or by keep on
interrogating captured aliens”.
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Chapter Nine – Fortune Reversals
April 29th, 1999
New York City, US
When Blake put down the phone and made a final remark on his notebook, he thought of
a way to make the whole thing presentable for his editor. So far he had the statements of
ten witnesses and he could get more if he wanted but those should be enough. He had
been right on following the story he had been told from a friend of his that had gone into
a two week vacation to Cancun. While at first Blake was skeptical, since it could be first
attributed to the amount of alcohol he had consumed that night, the friend had admitted
he had taken a little too much tequila that night, but he swore that what he had seen was
real. A few phone calls to Mexican UFO organizations and to other people who had been
at the area when it happened confirmed that several lights had been seen over flying the
tourist city. One of the witnesses, who was driving on the countryside, close to the city,
even claimed to have seen a small gray creature in the middle of the highway before it
ran away and disappeared. Blake wouldn’t mention it to his editor or write about it
though since there was no way to confirm it and sounded too unbelievable.
He got up and went to the desk where his editor was seated taking a call. When he put
down the phone he asked to Blake: “What do you got Evan?”
“Phil, I have ten people with no relation between them and living all across the country
telling me that they saw a group of UFOs at night two weeks ago in Cancun”.
The man exhaled. “Another one of your ET stories? Give me a break and get me
something more real, like a scandal or anything like it. Ever since the Kosovo war ended
we haven’t got any major news”.
“I know. That’s why I’m bringing this up to you. The military must be involved big time
into this. There’s something here they aren’t telling us”.
His editor’s face suddenly became all lit up but he suddenly winced and said: “You better
had some proof of this or I’m going to get really pissed now!”
“Come to my computer, I’m gonna show you something”. Both men walked to Blake’s
table. The reporter sat down and started using his computer. Launching his browser, he
started navigating on the Internet. “What are you doing?” His editor asked.
“Due to the nature of this material, I’ve kept it hidden over a dozen different locations on
the Web. That way if someone tries to take it away they will have to do a lot of digging”.
He made a final click and said: “Where we go. Watch the screen!”. He punched a
command and the computer begun downloading and playing the file that contained the
movie of the destruction of the Aurora. His boss become mesmerized and at the end
asked: “Are you sure this isn’t image manipulation?”
“I’ve shown it to a couple people who work at computer graphics and photography. They
said this isn’t a fake and that the object is really there. Moreover there’s also an infrared
and radar tapes on the event that came together. The Air Force had these taken by one of
its reconnaissance birds and a fast one, never seen of”.
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“So you believe that this is military footage? Where this came from? Someone of your
acquaintances down the Pentagon?”
“There’s no trace of the sender in the paper’s server logs. It simply arrived at my email
box”.
“How can you be sure of this footage here, Blake? This can just be a prank!”.
“This is were my ‘acquaintances at the Pentagon’, like you put it, work for something.
I’ve shown a clip of it to one of them. He went numb and immediately asked me where I
got it”.
“Seemed impressed?”
“Let’s just say he advised me not to show it to anyone else or I might be in trouble later.
Me and the Department of Defense, for allowing such top-security material to be hanging
around in the Internet”.
“Why do you think you got it? Someone pissed at something at the DoD?”
“Most likely. There will be hell to explain at Washington about how this got out and that
there might be unidentified craft over flying our country”.
“OK. We’ll do a half-page on this. Nothing too flashy on headlines or the paper’s board
will have my head”.
“I can do my ET story after all?” Blake was surprised.
“Yeah, but center it on the movie. Let’s see what the Air Force says about this. Show it to
me by Monday”. Watching his editor leave, Blake wanted to tell him to take a hike, since
it would mean work on the weekend, but he kept his mouth shut.
April 30th, 1999

Geneva, Switzerland
“And thus gentlemen, the South African government upon appreciation of the reports
brought to this council’s attention and review has decided to cut back it’s funding to the
Extraterrestrial Combat Unit”. Illyuschenko threw back his head in despair as the African
councilmen made the final announcement in a long list of cutbacks already made by the
other countries that supported X-Com. Nigeria had been the first, followed by China and
some other countries mostly in the Southern hemisphere of the planet. And Illyuschenko
already knew that this was coming, upon reading the provisional report made by his staff
a couple of days ago about reported alien activity on Earth.
His men and planes had taken more than one hundred and fifty combat missions only in
the first four months since the first base had been activated. They had succeeded in
killing hundreds of aliens and dozens of UFOs while losing near one hundred troops,
either killed or injured. And still it hasn’t enough to convince most of the national
representatives seated that they needed more funding. Some of the countries had
expressed the idea of releasing X-Com’s technological secrets, but the majority now
seemed to against it. Hell, the majority was against every damn thing!
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“What about the proposal advanced by the General Secretary to allow more countries into
the Council?” In a last effort to raise their funding, both Illyuschenko and the leader of
the UN had proposed allowing more nations into X-Com in order to allow them with
more resources and money. The Indian representative turned and said:
“Yes. My country doesn’t think that would be necessary or advisable”.
“What are you talking about? We could use the help of some countries who are stable. I
provided you all with a list. Asiatic nations like Thailand ou South Korea, the
Scandinavian countries, others in South America. X-Com could really use their help”.
Another dead end, Illyuschenko thought.
“You have failed so far to properly protect some of the nations who are seated here today
Commander. It would not be wise to try to defend more of the planet now. If they bring
down the nations who are seated on this room right now, the rest won’t be able to do very
much. X-Com should pay more effort to the ones who first invested on it”.
“Mr. Councilman, my men are doing the best they can and dying at it while you sit here
on your offices and do nothing else than to shuffle a paper occasionally so don’t give me
that talk!” Illyuschenko was already getting up to throw himself on the Indian
councilman when the American councilman intervened.
“General! If I may?” His voice was strong and well placed, making Illyuschenko stop and
sit back down again. “Please do”. He threw himself backwards on frustration.
“While my country recognizes X-Com’s efforts and has even agreed to raise the funding,
we don’t appreciate one thing on this whole matter. The project seems to have turned
itself into a large bottomless pit of money, sir. This month’s report is highly
unsatisfactory on that matter”.
“Mr. Councilman, what do you expect me to do? I can’t tell my men that they won’t get
the weapons they need because of some bureaucrat more concerned with numbers than
their lives!”
“Commander, we all here understand your position. Try to understand ours. So far my
country’s contribution to this whole project has come close to more than six billion US
dollars. That’s a lot of money sir. If we want to keep this whole operation still a secret
you need to get your finances back together. Otherwise we will terminate this whole
project”.
May 4th, 1999

“UFOs: Tax dollars at work or something else?” As soon as Winston finished reading the
title and seeing the picture taken from the Aurora’s disastrous reconnaissance run he
knew that someone had screwed up big time. He completely ignored breakfast and kept
reading. The story was not on the front pages of the paper fortunately, but what was there
meant real trouble already.
“The Federal government might have a deeper interest than the official policy about
Unidentified Flying Objects, according to the footage obtained by the New York Times.
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The footage, taken by one US reconnaissance plane at a contemporary date clearly
reveals the existence of a strange craft flying on the air at amazing speeds. The date of
this occurrence isn’t revealed neither the identity of the plane involved, but aeronautical
experts have concluded that it must be one of the ‘black budget’ projects, probably the
famous Aurora, whose existence as also been denied by the USAF. However, the
question prevails, what is the object filmed? Neither of the experts could come up with a
plausible explanation, besides it being either another ‘black project’ or a real UFO.
In any case, the craft is clearly the same as reported in another so called ‘UFO
observations’, the latest of which apparently over flew the Mexican city of Cancun,
prompting to many reports by American citizens who were on the area who identified it
upon seeing the footage.
The main question is, then: what are the intentions behind the pilots of such advanced
craft? What does the US Government know about it? Enquiries to official sources at the
Pentagon denied any present involvement or research into this area, but the footage seems
to show otherwise”.
Winston had stopped reading then, having enough, and one hour later he headed towards
the Situation Room. Looking at the National Security Council seated in front of him, he
saw that some of them were still being informed of the whole crisis and were reading the
paper’s story. This was a major political disaster that would need a lot of explanations to
do and a lot of work to still keep the whole thing a secret. They had to be able to do that.
If word ever came out of the aliens’ existence chaos would emerge and fighting the aliens
would become even more difficult.
“We need to control this disaster before it spreads. I have had already phone calls from
Capitol Hill wanting to know what is going on in our skies. If this keeps going pretty
soon Congress will start making enquiries about the subject. Gentlemen, I’m open to
suggestions”.
The National Security Adviser asked to speak. “Sir, first I would say that we need the
Bureau’s Counter Espionage Division and the National Security Agency to see how was
it possible for such a leak to have occurred. This material was Sensitive Contained
Information, even more confidential than Top Secret”.
“Very well, Mrs. May. Where do you think we should start?”
“The information is even more secret than our Stealth planes research. We need to see
who had access to it on our side but it won’t be easy since the individual will know that
we are looking for him and covering his tracks. But, of course there’s also the possibility
that the leak didn’t occur on our side”. Several of the military present in the room nodded
their heads in consent.
Edward Polk, the Defense Secretary turned to her and questioned: “You suspect the leak
was on X-Com?”
Her voice turned a bit colder. “That organization has no internal security. Although they
ask us to run security clearances for prospect members that are US citizens there’s no
control whatsoever in the inside”.
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“They are a military force, not an intelligence agency or even the Red Army. You can’t
have controllers inside such a unit. The suspicion would drive them apart”.
“Nevertheless, I believe that we ask for a reunion of the Council to specifically discuss
the problem of internal security inside X-Com. This is something I would say the
majority of the countries present would consider most adequate to discuss”.
“Commander Illyuschenko won’t be pleased to have intelligence and security personnel
going around. Even visits from the Representatives have to be arranged in advance”.
“We present it with something they can’t refuse and propose that they form an
Intelligence branch of their own. That way they will have more autonomy, although in
practical matters we still will control what information we decide to pass into them so
that we can prevent more incidents like these”. She pointed at the paper and turned to the
President, to see his reaction to the proposal.
The President turned to the DCI to see his opinion. Mark Casper scratched his head and
replied: “Well, the idea makes sense and would avoid coordination problems like we
have been experiencing. They would be able to deal with the alien situation a lot more
efficiently and independent in intelligence terms”. Winston looked around to see if there
were more ideas but, since no one replied, he finished the topic. “Very well. Mark, I want
you to discuss with the rest of the Intelligence to see what we could provide them. Now
back to the NY Times situation. What are we going to do about it?”
May 5th, 1999

Central Iowa, US
The two Skyrangers were flying in a loose formation, several hundred feet apart from one
another. No matter what High Command said about sparing resources, Johnson still
thought that they just couldn’t cut back on operational deployment. Besides, it would be a
complete waste to leave a platoon back on base sitting idly while the other one was
risking itself to storm an UFO. Besides, it was a pleasure to have the old team, him,
Markovitch and Patterson acting back together. The old team. That sure brought a lot of
memories back. Johnson had met Markovitch on his old Army Aviation Regiment when
she was assigned under his command. Patterson had come along on the way, in so many
operational missions done together with the Air Force and he was the finest executive
officer Johnson had ever served with. But then Sheila decided to leave after some time
and I got inside the Green Berets, he remembered. I did what I had to do, he concluded.
Yes, but was it the right thing to do? The thought troubled him for some minutes, until
Major Patterson’s voice cut in the radio. “Two minutes for touchdown. I say we keep the
second Skyranger airborne and ready to give back up if we need it. Markovitch here
doesn’t’ look too pleased at that thought”.
“Copy that. Alpha, Epsilon and Beta squads prepare do deploy”. After checking the
power level of his laser rifle and found it fully charged, Johnson then put the safety off
and got ready for the incoming fight, getting up from his seat and grabbing one of the
harnesses attached to the sides of the plane.
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The Celtic cross type saucer had been detected already over the Midwest, where it had
stood for some minutes before setting down. The radar track showed it to have landed in
a farm and the first Skyranger headed directly to the place, setting down in a small
vegetable plantation. Two seconds before it hit the ground the rear ramp started to
descend, the servo-hydraulic engines giving out a small whine.
Corporal Logan stood ready in front of the other men, ready to take point and be the first
trooper to hit the ground. Trooper Sharpe of Beta Squad, who would cover the left side,
while he had the duty of securing the right, was flanking him. Not a duty but more of a
pleasure actually since he had volunteered for it. Manning and Deckard, the other
troopers on Epsilon, were calling him nuts because of his suicidal instincts but he didn’t
care. Letting go of his rage was the only thing that kept him away the fear and revulsion
he had of the monsters.
Not had the ramp fully descended and he was already running over it, much to the
chagrin of Sergeant Grisham who barked at him a warning. Sharpe was trying to follow,
surprised by the motion, but he touched the ground much faster than the other squaddie.
He saw that the Skyranger had landed right next to one barn probably hoping to give
some cover for the platoon. But there was something there.
A shape moved on the upper floor of the wooden building and slowly appeared behind a
window, in no doubt trying to locate the human attackers. Logan immediately fired a
round of automatic laser fire into the direction of the alien, but all the shots missed,
burning through the wooden walls and leaving scorched marks on them.
The alien inside replied and two of the plasma burns hit the Skyranger’s left engine but
the armored shielding protected the turbojet inside. The third shot hit the cultivated floor
right next to Logan, making him recoil backwards and spoiling his aim for his next salvo.
The laser rifle discharges went harmlessly over the barn making him swear as he saw a
large bulbous head carefully aim a plasma rifle at him.
The sound of an autocannon going on full auto suddenly erupted near him and his
reaction instincts kicked in and he instantly projected himself to the ground. One high-
explosive projectile flew and hit the window, wrecking the glass and splintering the wood
around it. The blast was also sufficient to make the alien stumble backwards, but before
the Sectoid hit the ground a second shot hit it square in the chest. The round exploded on
impact and the alien was dismembered, the remains of the head and arms falling into the
barn floor a moment after the rest of the body.
Logan looked around, but the remainder of the X-Com squad had already started to
deploy phosphorous grenades that were covering the LZ with heavy, white smoke. He
found himself without a sense of direction and unable to find the rest of his squad.
“Logan, get the fuck up! You are point man and this isn’t a picnic!” Sarge Grisham’s
figure appeared in the middle of the smoke curtain. “Get your ass in the front and
remember to leave some of the fun to us!”
The Corporal got up in haste and headed towards the direction where Grisham was
pointing at, trying not to inhale the smoke but still coughing some times. Taking a quick
dash he reached the other members of his squad who were by now standing against the
wall of the barn. A grenade suddenly exploded in the middle of the confusion and smoke
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that had become the landing zone and one of the soldiers who were still disembarking
suddenly screamed in pain, before shutting his mouth. The sound was muffled on
Logan’s ears, which were still recovering from the sound wave caused by the explosion.
“Bug in the middle of the orchard!” Manning suddenly called after taking a look around
the barn and started pulling autocannon fire into the middle of the fruit trees.
“Logan, Deckard! Flush him out with the same treatment!” Both troopers reached for
their belt and took out grenades. Setting them up for a short fuse they both nodded to one
another before negotiating the corner.
The alien was using the trees to get some cover but the heavy fire from Manning’s
weapon was forcing him to be constantly on the move and not being able to fight back.
The two grenades landed on both sides of the tree he was using for protection and a loud
shriek was heard before they went off. The blast wrecked the base of the tree, making the
upper section come down on the ground.
Johnson appeared by the team, together with Major Patterson. “Let’s get moving! The
UFO should be after the field!” Logan looked and started running towards the nearest
tree. When he reached it he took cover behind it and looked around. The entrance to the
barn was on his right side and on the left he could see the top floor of another farmhouse.
No aliens lurking around in the windows though. Seeing that Deckard was moving
around to his position and had the barn covered, he moved to the bush fence that was
nearly as tall as a man and waited by the entrance in front of him, taking a brief look. The
UFO had landed in a similar farmed field to the one where the Skyranger had landed and
they were now directly facing the door. The remaining troopers joined him after some
seconds and he was about to make the final run to get to the craft when the Colonel
motioned him to stop.
“Beta and Alpha what’s your status?” So far everything had been too easy, Johnson
thought. Hopkins was the first to reply. “We have approached the farmhouse and are
about to start checking it out”. Then came Captain Forrester’s voice. “Barn is clear. We
have spotted two Sectoids to the East and are moving to suppress their fire”. It would
taken both squads quite some more minutes before being able to move. Four, possibly
five aliens had been encountered so far. Too few for his liking and experience of how
many aliens that type of craft could carry. Where were the others? Inside the UFO and
getting ready to blast every trooper who tried to step inside? Or still lurking outside
around and hoping to use their murderous sniper fire on them? Either way it was time to
play his high trump card and take initiative. “Second Platoon, deploy opposite from us
and start fanning any aliens towards our direction. Alpha, Epsilon, watch out for
incoming aliens. Let’s give them a lesson on who to perform ambushes this time”.
Logan was trying to wait as calm as possibly but the adrenaline he had already taken
from the previous gunfight was leaving him nervous and impatient. “Beta move out and
watch out the UFO’s door!” The Colonel’s order quickly sprung him into action. He
cleared the bushes and started to move towards the UFO, keeping his head low and his
eyes alert. The remainder of the squad quickly followed him, Manning finding himself a
position to cover the door with his large cannon and the other four X-Com troopers
following him.
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The distance between the fence and the UFO was a bit less than fifty yards away and
even at a cautious pace he got halfway in a quick manner. In fact he didn’t noticed how
fast he was going until he heard Sarge Grisham’s voice. “Logan, slow down”. He
dropped with one knee on the earth and turned around to check on the rest of the squad.
The summer Sun was burning up high in the sky, baking the whole Midwest like an oven.
He saw that they had all advanced but not as further as him. Behind them stood the barn
they had just passed. And a large headed creature that had just come into view right at the
roof. “Alien! Get down!” Logan shouted while trying to bear his weapon to the threat. An
intense pain from his right shoulder suddenly turned everything into a whirl of constant
pain and he passed out.
Johnson’s attention from the door was first distracted by the alert and then by the plasma
fire coming from the farmhouse. They were out in the open, in the middle of a field that
offered little in protection and the aliens seemed to hold the high ground. He checked to
see where the alien on their backs was and saw a figure in the roof. Damn! The barn was
supposed to be clear! Major fuckup. The plasma rounds where already flying and his men
were trying to respond but the alien’s position made it damn difficult to root them out.
They need to do something before the grenades would start to rain down of the sky and
cut them into pieces.
“Beta, there are aliens on the roof of the farmhouse and barn, clear them out now!” He
was about to start responding when a whoosh sound coming from the UFO made him
stop on his motion.
Hopkins’ squad had just checked the ground level of the farmhouse and where about to
proceed to the upper floor. So far they hadn’t found a trace of any creature, either human
or alien, either dead or alive and the Sergeant had wondered what happened to the people
who lived at this farm. Everything looked quite in order in the kitchen and living room,
without the sort of chaos expected from a recent visit from extraterrestrial beings. Did
they managed to escape as they saw the UFO approaching? Or where they killed or
abducted? He was afraid of what they might find upstairs in the bedrooms. The call from
Johnson made him jump in the middle of the living room. One of the troopers quickly
started to head for the stairs but he looked up and had an idea. A quite mad one, but a
faster one to take out the alien in the ceiling.
The first Sectoid to come out of the UFO had one of their large plasma weapons on their
hands. It was amazing that it could manage to use a gun of almost his own height, but
Johnson’s attention was more focused on taking him down. Two well-placed laser rifles
made in go down releasing a shriek that turned his blood cold. Last piece of the trap set
into place. The situation looked as if all hell had broken loose, with two of his troopers
already on ground, either dead or severely injured.
With no escape possible from either side, they could only try to hold out until the
reinforcements took care of the aliens who were ambushing them. And taking heavy
casualties in the process, he realized while keeping the UFO covered. Or they could try to
get some cover, preferably on a place where the alien’s weapons and explosives wouldn’t
obliterate them.
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“Let’s get a place to hide! Follow me!” He dashed towards the closed door. The UFO
most likely was crowded with aliens. But it also would protect them from the plasma fire
and was the place less logical for an attempt to escape the ambush. Screw caution.
“Cut me a large hole up there with the lasers!” Hopkins pointed to a place on the ceiling
in the north section of the house. The soldiers from his squad paused for a moment,
surprised at the orders but quickly brought their laser weapons upwards, the beams
slicing through the wood and plaster and making the ceiling turn red and releasing dark
fumes. One of the cuts intersected another and when the third one crossed both the whole
section came down. Hopkins paid no attention when it crashed to the ground, spreading
plaster all over the room. He had taken the time to get Big Momma ready and now was
pointing it to the hole on the ceiling. The rest of his squad realized in amazement of what
the Gunnery Sergeant was about to do and quickly moved to the sides.
He was well inside the rocket launcher’s minimum range but he hoped that the first floor
would give him enough cover. This isn’t heroics, you idiot, this is pure stupidity, he
heard a voice inside warning him, but ignored it. When he lined up the M3 with the hole
he pressed the trigger. When he felt the rocket leaving the tube he immediately jumped to
the side. The unguided rocket exploded against the roof, the blast still hitting the side of
Hopkins, but the protection given by the body armor hang out. Not the same happened
with the floor of the upper level and roof. The blast made the top of the farmhouse
literally disintegrate in the air and caved downwards in the area around the cut hole,
making wooden beams collapse and throwing around a cloud of dust that obscured the
area.
Hopkins found himself on the ground, covered with powder and the remains of the
furniture and floor of the first level, but with no major injuries. And laying close to him
was the Sectoid from that was sniping on the roof, still alive but looking completely
dazzled and with cuts colored green from the alien’s blood. Hopkins realized that the
thing probably had also broken a few bones by the position one of his arms had taken.
His weapon was also close to him and he looked as if he was about to try to go for it.
Hopkins took out a combat knife from one of his legs and said: “Oh, no you don’t”.
The second Sectoid that exited the craft managed to get loose a pair of plasma bolts
before he was also killed at nearly point blank, his gray body falling over the alien that
had suffered the same fate before. Johnson quickly reached the door and moved closer to
activate the opening mechanism. The gray fuselage slided upwards again and he threw
himself on a roll inside. The two Sectoids who where close by the door immediately
turned towards him. A reaction shot from one of them nearly hit him but the energy
instead dissipated itself in the floor of the UFO, leaving nothing but a black mark. He
fired his laser rifle at him while still down at the ground, at the same time as the other
Sectoid also discharged his plasma rifle. The first alien took a hit on the leg that
amputated it, the pain making him join Johnson down.
But the Colonel immediately felt his arm on fire and a deep pain forced him to release his
weapon and cringe his mouth. Raising his head he saw second Sectoid correct his aim
and fire another shot at him.
When Markovitch and Patterson reached the UFO they saw that the area seemed to have
been just cleared of any hostiles, with two troopers helping a wounded comrade coming
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out of the craft. “What happened? Where is the Colonel? We heard it on the radio. Is he
OK?” She immediately demanded to Captain Forrester as he saw them and approached
their position. The X-Com officer sighted and closed his eyes for a moment before
replying.
“The area and the UFO are secure. But Epsilon got ambushed and the Colonel took a
nasty hit when storming the UFO for them to retreat and get some cover on the craft. He
is holding barely alive and has been already moved to the Skyranger but I doubt that he
will make it back to base. Logan and White were hit badly but we got both of them
stabilized. Plus Chester and Tawney. Found the civvies also. The whole family was cut
into pieces”.
The Captain sighted hoping that the whole situation was just a bad dream. Markovitch
suddenly pushed him, making him drop to the grass on his back. “What the fuck
happened!? Your squad was supposed to have checked that barn! I heard you on the
radio!” She was about to jump herself on him but Patterson, sensing what she was about
to do, quick grabbed her shoulders and prevented it. Forrester stood in resignation on the
ground. “There was no stairs to the roof. Somehow the alien managed to climb up there”.
“And getting to the perfect place for an ambush you shit brains!” Forrester said nothing at
the accusation. She released herself of Patterson’s hold and kicked the UFO’s fuselage.
Patterson added: “We will discuss this later. Right now let’s finish boarding the wounded
and get the Skyranger to dust off. Maybe if we get to the nearest military base the
Colonel might have a chance”.
“I’m going with him”. Her tone gave no voice for discussion. Patterson only nodded at
her and she started sprinting off into the Skyranger’s direction.
May 9th, 1999

Press Room, White House, Washington DC, US
Every journalist present in the auditorium had adopted one of two stances. They either
didn’t believe any part of the story and looked at him sideways or they had expressed to
him that they wanted to see what the Government would do about it. When the Defense
Secretary came into the room and stood behind the podium he put away all those
questions.
“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Today it is my pleasure to announce you one of
the latest achievements by our aerospace industry. There were rumors about it before, but
so far the program has been highly classified, for matters of national security”.
Blake waited in anticipation. Did he really pushed them against the wall so that they
needed to come out like this?
“With the retirement of the SR-71 strategic reconnaissance plane in the beginning of the
90’s there was the development of a substitute, much more capable than the old
‘Blackbird’. So, let me present you the SR-75 Black Ghost, designed by the world
famous Lockheed Skunk Works, following the tradition of such planes as the U-2 and the
SR-71”. He uncovered a panel placed close to him and a large picture of the Aurora was
revealed. “We have been operating them for some time and right now there is a squadron
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based at Tonopah Test Range in Nevada. If you recall that is the facility where the F-117
was also initially based”.
Tonopah! Blake suddenly realized. What is going on at Area 51 then, since the place sure
doesn’t look deserted now? He brought his attention back to the press conference. The
Secretary was finishing his presentation.
“But I’ve talked too much already. Please, shoot me with your questions, but not literally,
of course”. All the journalists started at the same time to ask questions and Polk took
extra delight in picking up individuals.
“Mr. Secretary, John Stevens of ABC News. Is that the plane known as the Aurora?”
“Yes. This is the craft famous for the sonic booms produced a couple of years ago over
Southern California”. Another journalist posed a question.
“Is it a spy plane?”
“We prefer to call it a reconnaissance asset. Please feel free to bombard me with your
questions, but some aspects of the Black Ghost are still classified for the time being”.
Blake’s voice imposed over the others. “Is it responsible for the wave of UFO apparitions
we have been seeing for the past months”. Polk didn’t even waver at the enquiry.
“Now that is a most interesting question, Mr…. Blake if I’m not wrong? Let me tell you
that quite some people at the Pentagon took good laughs at your article. Regrettably, the
footage you refer to is nothing more than a hoax”.
“Can I tell from your answer that the White House denies the existence of UFOs?”
“To clarify the whole question, I will make a public statement regarding that matter right
here. The US policy towards the so-called UFOs is still the same: our investigations over
the phenomena have led us to believe that they all have a natural background. And
neither are our Armed Forces trying to develop such a type of craft at the moment. I’m
sorry if that isn’t want you wanted to hear, Mr. Blake, but that’s the truth”.
“And the plane in the footage? Is that the Aurora?”
“I’ve already given that answer when I mentioned that the images you refer to are
nothing more than manipulation. A well constructed one, but still manipulation. Next
time check your sources better, Mr. Blake. Now back to the Aurora. Any more
questions?”
As the battalion of journalists went over again to their work, Blake stood silent in the
room, thinking. The truth, my ass! There’s something here that you aren’t telling us. And
I’m going to find out about it.
May 19th, 1999

X-Com’s Far East Command Base, Complex YY-18, Japan
Colonel Yamashita and Councilman Tamako were standing close to a Skyranger at the
tarmac of X-Com’s base in the island of Hokkaido in northern Japan. The rear door of the
plane was opened and small vehicle was coming down the ramp. While it had the distinct
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look of a tank with a circular turret riding on the top, the size immediately told that this
was no ordinary armoured vehicle. It measured less than eight feet in length and four feet
in width, making it look that even if it the crew consisted of only one member, the
individual inside it would be completely encased in a metal container. It slowly moved
down the ramp until it reached the cement ground. The machine then turned around but at
a more quickly speed, before both men. The military official spoke.
“X-Com’s first Toyota Type 107A automated heavy weapons platform, Mr. Councilman.
It took months to rebuild the research on the artificial intelligence but it has passed with
high marks the tests on its ability to deal with military warfare environments. We now
will start programming it with the tactics we have developed meanwhile and see how it
proved itself on simulated tests. If all goes well it will be operational shortly”.
“Please afterwards send me the results. I must say the size isn’t impressive, but if it works
as the Council was informed we will soon have a powerful new weapon at our disposal.
When do you expect to receive more of those?”
“In a week. We should receive the preproduction HWP of the fire-support version
equipped with an unguided rocket launcher instead of the 60 millimeter cannon this one
is carrying. We tried to put guided missiles on it but they the missiles and the guidance
system was just too bulky. However, the engineers here at the base will try to devise a
turret equipped with one heavy laser to give them more firepower”.
“Preproduction? Hasn’t it started already?”
“That is the other reason I wanted to discuss with you Mr. Tamako. In spite of the fact
that our country has been most generous with X-Com, the Toyota Company has
suspended deliveries or the production until we have cleared the present debt we own to
them. And my force is starting to feel operational constraints. We had already to limit the
use of Phoenix missiles on our interceptors and use instead the Amraams with shorter
range that endanger more our planes”.
“X-Com’s forces stationed to defend Japan will never have problems about lack of
funding or necessary equipment. It is a direct order from the Emperor and you heard it
yourself from his Majesty’s, Colonel. Tell us what you need and you will receive it,
counting that is not too excessive”.
“Yes Councilman, but I also tried to fight the aliens before in the Kiryu-Kai and we had
all the resources available. And it proved us that no country alone, not even Japan, Russia
or the United States can ever hope to defeat the aliens”.
May 20th, 1999

Motel Trucker’s Paradise, Maryland, US
Waiting at the combined location for the meeting, Williams kept thinking about the
memo the DCI had sent him a couple of days ago. The team was going to be separated
and he didn’t like it a bit. His opinion had been asked about it but he couldn’t state the
worries that went over his mind. For some reason he wasn’t included in the list of the
names proposed by the different heads of the US intelligence services to join X-Com.
And it made him nervous to feel that he could be kept back at Washington where he
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could better monitorized. Worse yet, the inclusion of such members could mean the
possibility of further leaks into each country’s intelligence services and the infiltration of
X-Com by the conspirators.
It bothered him to loose Davis and other members from the alien team. Technically they
were about to suffer problems in efficiency since the replacements wouldn’t be up to date
with the whole situation. It all stank of some clever maneuvering behind the scenes and
he thought if the National Security Adviser was also just a pawn in proposing the idea or
something far more dangerous. After all, resentment against X-Com was slowly
increasing over the US military and intelligence services, most of it unjustified or pure
jealously, but it was increasing.
Three knocks on the motel room’s door brought his attention back to reality. There was a
pause, then another identical set of knocks. Like it had been arranged. Such security
measures were more to impress the person who was about to come in, since Davis was
outside and would react to any sign of trouble. Williams told the man to enter.
Blake opened the door, looked around and found Williams seated by a table, with the
lights deliberately low. He closed the door and got inside, grabbing another chair placing
himself facing Williams. The CIA man spoke.
“Before anything, it is necessary to clarify some aspects. I won’t tell you my name and
I’m not another Deep Throat and neither what I have to tell you represents official policy.
This conversation never took place and I will deny every word of it. Is that clear?”
“Sure, but please tell the goon outside to give me back my tape recorder when I go out. I
can’t work with that thing”.
“Don’t worry. What you should be more concerned about is your work exactly. You have
been drawing a lot of attention with some of your articles”.
“Are you talking about the UFO situation?”
“I’m saying that some things are kept away from the public’s opinion for some reason,
specially in a time of crisis. Our government did the same on World War II, since there
was a grave necessity of controlling Nazi and Japanese propaganda”.
Blake’s face became grim. “Are you telling me that we are at war?”
“I didn’t say that. But there are many nations that would desire us harm. And some things
have good reasons to be considered national security”.
“Look, I got hundreds of reports about UFOs going around in the skies, together with
more disturbing stories about extraterrestrial beings. Are you going to tell me that all
those people are nuts or wrong? Something is going on here and the Government has the
duty to inform the citizens”.
“In this particular case, there are greater needs to be first fulfilled. Can you imagine what
would happen if those reports were confirmed? There would be massive implications and
that is just what the forces behind them want”.
“The forces behind them? You mean you know what is going on?”
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“Before I go on, I must stress the fact that this will all eventually come out one day to the
public. It is too much important to be kept a secret, specially when deals with events that
changed this century”.
Good, Williams say to himself as he noticed the journalist becoming more and more
interested. However, the question was to make him understand the necessity of secrecy
without telling him too much or confirming other suspects that he might have. “Please
carry on. And let me tell you I will take all of that into consideration”. Blake asked.
Now, it’s time for the big lie, let’s see if the axiom that fiction is more believable than
reality actually applies. “This whole matter goes back to 1945 and Nazi Germany. Years
back Hitler had ordered the development of special projects, such as the world’s first jet
fighters and the V-bombs. But many more where on their final steps of development,
with matters of months before they could be mass-produced to turn events and making
Germany win the war. The Allied troops captured the majority of them as they conquered
Germany, but of some there was nothing more than vague references without any
blueprints or scientists left that could explain the concepts”.
“Hold it! Just what does it have to do with the whole UFO situation?”
“I was about to get there. Some of the papers gave out the description of the Heinabu, a
saucer type craft with technological abilities that are still a mystery. The prototype was
destroyed before Allied troops could capture it and there was no sign of the scientists
who had developed it”.
“Those things in the air were developed by the Nazis? By who? The Soviet Union?”
“That would make things more simple, but unfortunately the truth is more disturbing than
that. As Hitler’s empire was crumbling there were U-boats that left Germany full of men
and material and headed for some unknown location. Their destination was never known
and even now we are at a loss to dig them out, although we have indications that they
might have headed for the South Hemisphere. And a lot of strange events have been
taking place in the world and more especially in Europe at the moment. Nationalism at an
unheard scale all over Europe and disaffection, especially in countries with large ethnic
minorities. Neonazi groups increasing their presence and numbers. And the beginnings of
general discredit over our democratic system, reflected on low voter turnout and so forth.
Now go back to the 1920’s and see the parallel. Can you imagine what could have
happen if suddenly there was an economic recession, together with the fact that there are
UFOs out there in the skies?”
“Holy shit! Someone might just use the opportunity to make himself a grab for power!”
“Or be working behind the scenes in one hell of an evil plan, using advanced technology
to scare the general populace and increase the sense of insecurity. I’m pleased to see that
you share of the same concerns. Until we have fully detected the threat and how to
counteract it there are things that are better if they remain silent”. And now it’s time for
the tougher questions, Williams added, that will decide how this meeting will turn out.
“Hold on. You told me a great story, but you haven’t given to me any means to confirm
it. How can I confirm anything? This could all be a lot of bull”.
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“You can’t. Like I told you, the things I’ve said don’t represent any official position. And
there’s more but for the moment just being in possession of such information may
represent a danger to the person”.
“By whom?”
“The very same forces acting behind all this. And no one might be safe from them”.
Williams told himself to be careful and not reveal his secret. The whole idea had been
discussed on the team and had more holes on it than any intelligence plan that they could
consider, but it would give them time and might refrain this journalist from posing too
many questions.
“You mean I might be in danger?”
“I don’t know where you got that footage, but the person behind it breached a security
level even greater than the Manhattan Project or the Stealth fighter program. Think about
it”.
Blake did for some seconds. “Well, I don’t know who sent it to me and probably I
wouldn’t reveal his identity if I did”. Just like they had thought, Williams sighed. There
was still no indication on who had been responsible for the leak and next time it could be
something more damaging, like the recent pictures taken by the Hubble space telescope
clearly showing alien ships moving in and out of the dark side of the Moon. At least some
of their activities were clearly being conducted from there, since Earth’s natural satellite
was the perfect spot to for an excellent base of operations to conduct attacks on the
planet. There had been some talk for a reconnaissance run by a satellite or even about
equipping the Shuttle fleet to conduct an attack on the alien forces based there, but even
the probe idea had only a small chance of success. With no doubt the aliens would detect
the vehicle and destroy it. No, Earth’s space technology was no match for the alien’s.
Yet, he corrected himself, trying to feel a bit more hopeful, although on his line of work
they had to stick to the facts present and make rational decisions about them. Still, they
hadn’t yet bothered to strike at the satellites in orbit, which was a blessing but also a
complete puzzlement. Could it be that they weren’t aware of the strategic importance of
the reconnaissance, navigation and communications satellites placed on orbit for
mankind’s military forces? Or did they just have other unknown plans?
“You known, this Neonazi stuff you are telling could just be a lot of crap. I need some
evidence of it”. The journalist in front of him distracted Williams from his thoughts.
“I can’t help you on there. Find your own evidence and think in global terms”.
“Why are you doing this? Whom do you work for?”
“You will probably find out if you investigate. But don’t ever try to contact me. And I
work for people concerned about this planet’s future”. Williams quietly wondered how
many times that line must have been used to convince people of committing acts of high
treason. There’s a thin line here he warned himself, before telling Blake that he wouldn’t
respond to anymore questions and that the meeting was over.
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May 25th, 1999
Swiss Banque of Credit Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland
Tugging at the cuffs of his civilian suit, Illyuschenko wondered about the orders that had
come two days ago from the Secretary General of the UN telling him to be present at a
meeting in the Swiss financial capital. He had presented himself at the corporate bank’s
headquarters and had been taken to the last floor of the building, to a large conference
room here he found the Secretary General himself. The former Prime Minister of an
African nation looked as if he had grown older quite some years, the Commander of X-
Com thought. He hadn’t been able to tell him much more that he had been invited for a
reunion regarding X-Com’s financial problems and Illyuschenko knew that the thing was
about to become complicated. After last month’s cuts in funding from some countries the
economic situation of the force was of complete desperation. Their available funds were
close to zero and they couldn’t buy the necessary ammunition and spare parts anymore.
Worse, scientific research in some projects had already been halved for lack of available
funding. And the combat attrition the teams suffered only made it worse. If things didn’t
improve by the end of the month Illyuschenko already knew that they were going
bankrupt, probably losing the support of the Council of Funding Nations, which would
doom X-Com. The requests for more funding had come unanswered and either they
would have to let go of some of the research to some nations to get more money or the
whole project was doomed. Which was something that didn’t sounded very well to both
men. It was clear that some nations were severely penalizing the force for its resolution in
controlling access to alien technology and this whole situation, while showing the
problems in dealing with just the reported incursions also stank of political maneuvering.
Pretty soon they would start demanding other things, like control of the teams based on
their territory and that would also dictate the end of X-Com, without a centralized
command and with every nation fighting for itself.
Eight old men suddenly entered the room and presentations were made. As he greeted
every executive, Illyuschenko noticed that these were the leaders of Switzerland’s biggest
private financial institutions. All of them sat themselves on chair disposed around a large
black circular table, with the bankers sitting together in front of both UN men. The one in
the middle started to speak:
“As you know some of us are the presidents of the banks through which your operation is
run, as defined on your charter, the initial encounters mediated by the Swiss
government”. Both Illyuschenko and the General Secretary nodded. Maintain secrecy and
neutrality, the Council had decided to deal the financial details through Swiss bank
accounts.
“That means a large amount of bureaucracy, which by its turn leaves a rather large paper
trail. And our conclusions, based on that same documents, indicate that your organization
is doomed financially in the end of his month”. Illyuschenko got alarmed, but he decided
to listen to more.
“From your reactions I take it that you also share of my thoughts. Even the efforts from
your field commanders to selling in black markets the latest Earth weapons, which we
take it that are being replaced for better, unheard of so far, material, aren’t enough to save
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you from bankruptcy”. Seeing the surprise on both men’s eyes he added: “That can be
discussed later if you want. For now let’s continue. Suffice to say, that would leave us as
your owners, since we will take over the necessary assets to cover our own losses. But
that would be highly unlikely, since the Council would cover our losses, to allow
themselves to your material and research”. He paused and had a sip of water from a glass
in front of him. “We are not managers, gentlemen. We wouldn’t be interested in running
your organization. But we are investors and a big chance has appeared on the horizon.
The whole stock market depends on the results of a company. If it fails the market goes
into a recession, or even completely crashes. What do you do, invest on it, hoping that it
will eventually get its results up again? Or see what it happens and keep the funds in case
the bad times are about to come? You see the parallel, I suppose?”
Stop this capitalistic talk and tell us want you want, you old idiot or I will be wishing that
I had been allow to bring my gun, Illyuschenko thought, almost reaching for his absent
holster.
“It’s simply a high-risk choice, but we would like to prefer to be prepared for worse
times”. We’re dead, Illyuschenko thought. We are going to be massacred by the aliens
while a minority of men has all those fortunes sitting idly or spending them in futile
things. And the rest of the world suffers from it again. No wonder communism could be
sometimes so attractive.
“The paperwork indicates that you must be getting your bases full of captured alien
material. I don’t know if you have ever learned about the leasing or, better yet, a pawning
system gentlemen but we have decided that it could be most useful on this matter”. What
is he talking about, Illyuschenko thought? What does that mean?
The UN Secretary understood and replied: “We would lease to you some of the surplus
equipment in return for payment?”
“Yes. And afterwards, if you wanted to reclaim it you would have to pay back the amount
received, plus a small interest. If you didn’t wanted to pay the object would pass to our
possession and all matters would be resolved”.
They wanted to buy the garbage that was filling his bases? Illyuschenko shook his head.
Even building a base with a large storage area hadn’t been enough to deal with the cargo
problem. There was just too many junk that just couldnt be thrown away into a trash
landfill. Because of that, the corridors back on Mother One were becoming filled with
crates containing alien alloys, alien weapons and equipment and other things that hadn’t
been identified yet. Some areas had even started to be called the freak house or the horror
corridor because the dead aliens were preserved there in plain sight of all base
inhabitants. If they wanted it they could have it, but for what? “Excuse me, but what
would it happen to the material? You couldn’t just use it or do scientific research on it.
The reason why we have it stored at our bases is exactly because of secrecy”.
“And why would we want to do that? If you fail no one can save us. On the other hand, if
you win the secrecy will be lifted and that material will be worth its weight on gold for
scientific research. And we share of your concerns to keep the world a safe place if
victory is achieved by not allowing that the technology falls into the wrong hands. Of
course, if you decide to sell some of it, we have knowledge of some corporations and
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entrepreneurs that are very much interested on it. And we could act as intermediaries,
leaving your identity concealed. There are other organizations out there, legal ones, of
course, that would also pay dearly to get their hands on ‘foreign’ technology”. He paused
to see if any of the X-Com’s civilian and military commanders wanted to make any
questions. Seeing that they were waiting for him to finish, he continued:
“What we will gain then? Well, even if you buy it back we will make a very large profit.
As for the where we would keep it, look around when you go out gentlemen. Switzerland
is a place of mountains, of tunnels, of caves. There are many Second World War bunkers
and shelters that have been abandoned by the military and how are used by civilian
enterprises. And you can seal off the crates and watch them being guarded”.
The UN Secretary looked at Illyuschenko and he nodded back. There really wasn’t much
choice, taking into consideration the financial state of X-Com. He then turned to the
bankers and said: “How do we work out the details? This has to be done with the greatest
discretion. I can’t imagine the Council’s reaction if they know about it”. Illyuschenko
added: “And with the greatest speed also. I can’t afford losing men and equipment for
lack of money!”
“Spoken like a true economist, General. How about if you provide us with a list of
existing equipment for us to make an evaluation of their price as quickly as possible?”
May 27th, 1999

Captain Markovitch had been informed that the Colonel had finally regained
consciousness the night before after the injuries he had sustained in Iowa. She had spent
most of her free time near his bed, watching his recovery from the heavy plasma blast he
had taken on his left chest. The alien alloy armor had been all but consumed by the
weapon’s destructive power and the shock had collapsed his lung and started a deadly
hemorrhage. Nobody knew how Johnson had managed to survive the alien shot. X-Com’s
doctors had told that her decision to bring him to the nearest hospital available in the area
had been a crucial decision. Otherwise he wouldn’t have made the journey back into Area
51, but even how Johnson had managed to survive the small trip to the hospital was a
mystery. Civilian authorities were going nuts over the fact that she had taken top secret
aircraft and men engaged in a covert mission to a civilian medical facility and exposed
them, but she had told them to shove it up their asses. Or something in that way of
thinking.
She wanted to see him that same day but an UFO warning had been issued and she had
been involved the whole day in the recovery of the crash site. They had managed to kill
five Sectoids in return for one dead trooper and pretty bashed Celtic cross type UFO. The
damn bugs were just using too much of their heavy weaponry nowadays, specially that
fucking large plasma weapon.
When the Skyranger had landed back she had removed her armor, taken a shower and
headed out for the base infirmary, not bothering to do the debriefing first. When she
entered his hospital room she saw that he was sleeping. The first thing that she noticed
was the large white bandage covering his left chest. And the machines that monitored his
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vital signs along with the blood and serum containers placed on the side of his bed,
connected to him through a needle on his arm. He suddenly half-opened his eyes and
tried to focus on her. Mumbling he then said: “How….how did it go?”
“We made it. Don’t worry about it now”.
He closed his eyes and tried to raise his arm but the gave it up in the middle of the
motion, the limb dropping to his side. She said, half-jokingly: “Talking about a stubborn
attitude”. He tried to move on his bed as if recollecting his thoughts, his face frowning.
“And the other operation?”
“Major Patterson took over command and successfully defeated the aliens. He has been
running the show since”.
“Did….did anyone didn’t make it?” He opened his eyes again.
She decided to wait before giving him the body count. “They fought like devils. I guess
you really inspired them when you decided to jump in the middle of that plasma fire
inside the UFO. That and the fact that you’ve been hit twice in the chest and managed to
make it both times. It seems the troops are starting to call you ‘Ironheart’, and I must say
that is a name that suits you in many manners, Erwin”.
He looked at her in silence for some seconds. “The doctors told me you came here every
day”.
“Just checking to see how you were doing”.
“And that you spend hours seated by my side”.
She moved closer to the bed and spoke: “You know why I did it Erwin”.
He kept looking at her, fixing on his eyes. “Yes, I know. I…”. She reached and grabbed
his hand. “Don’t say anymore Erwin. Just rest. There will be time later for this”. He gave
her one last look and closed his tired eyes, almost immediately going to a peaceful sleep.
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Chapter Ten – Light Spring Breeze
July 12th, 1999
VVS (Russian Air Force) HQ, outside Moscow, Russian Federation
President Larianov was feeling very anxious. He was standing in the middle of the
complex that controlled all of Russia’s airspace and air defence resources, together with
Dr. Ziguanine. After months of almost desperate waiting and spending a huge amount of
money and resources, it finally seemed that Project Umbrella was about to reveal its full
potential. Although Doctor Ziguanine had supported testing the new blaster technology
first on an old satellite, Larianov had specifically ordered that it was used against the
aliens as quickly as possible. Ziguanine had complained about the fact that it wouldn’t
permit a full controlled trial of the weapon, but he had been dismissed and ordered to
prepare to bring the weapon into operational status.
Larianov still couldn’t understand completely the technological wonders that were behind
the whole project. But Ziguanine had made a good effort to put it into layman’s terms.
The laser that had been originally test-fired didn’t have enough power to destroy targets
back on land so they had replaced it with a particle beam accelerator. Basically it was like
swapping the ammunition and the barrel of a huge-sized cannon, the scientist had
explained, since the targeting system was already working. Now they just needed a silver
bullet that made the most damage. And what sort of a bullet, Larianov thought. He had
personally authorized all the requirements, noting that many were research projects that
had been frozen or canned with the demise of the Soviet Union. Although the weapon
was powered by the nuclear reactor inside the facility, to assure that it had its own
independent source of energy that could feed the enormous amount of power it
consumed, it also used parts of technology first developed in the research of fusion
reaction. A controlled fusion reaction was still one of men’s dreams, a clean source of
power that could be fed using the water of the oceans. The process was close to
reproducing the reactions that gave the Sun and stars its energy, but in a controlled
fashion. While nuclear fission consists on the splintering of U-235 uranium or Pu-239
Plutonium isotopes through bombardment with neutrons, fusion worked in the opposite
way. Two atoms of hydrogen, the simplest element present in nature, consisting of only
one proton and one electron were combined together using huge temperatures to form
one atom of helium, releasing massive doses of energy in the process. A heavier form of
hydrogen, which added one neutron to the proton and was called deuterium, could be
better used. The Soviet Union had tried to produce it, but the pressure and heat required
were just too advanced for the present technology, since they would have to duplicate the
conditions at the Sun. Still, all of the work had left them with a great deal of research on
the area of how to contain and direct the deuterium particles used in a fusion reaction,
through the use of electromagnetic fields. And those investigations were now having their
practical use, being installed in the weapon to control the huge flux of ionised particles it
released.
“Dr. Ziguanine, is the beam ready?”
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“Yes, sir. I flew from there from Azamas 36 this morning after concluding the final
calibrations on the weapon. All we need now is that Marshal Boganovitch find us a target
to fire it. But I must say I still would like it to be first shot at another target, preferably
one of our dead satellites in orbit”.
“The answer is no, Doctor. I want the aliens to feel as soon as possible that they cannot
over fly us with impunity anymore”.
“You realize you will only be able to hit targets that are slow moving or that have
landed? Craft moving at faster speeds won’t be affected, since the movement required on
the beam would take out most of its destructiveness”.
“But still they will not be able to land anymore”
Marshal Boganovitch moved through the consoles where technicians were busily talking
into radio speakers and pressing buttons and approached both men. “Sir, the X-Com base
at the Caucasus reports that their radar have detected an UFO close to the Ural Mountains
that seems about to touch down, according to its flight profile. They are about to
scramble one of their Skyrangers to assault it. What shall we do about it sir?”
“Do we have the UFO’s location?”
“Yes sir. We have also moved one of our remaining reconnaissance satellite to the area to
keep an watch on it”.
“Don’t tell them about the energy beam, soon they will discover for themselves that we
don’t need their assistance anymore. When they get there they won’t find anything
besides the remains of the craft”.
Turning to Dr. Ziguanine he asked: “When can we hit it?”
“Mir is coming around in the horizon. Without their mirror the range would be shortened
to targets over the line of the facility’s horizon. Judging from the size of the UFO and its
flight profile, we will be ready to fire it in a few minutes, but I would prefer to wait until
it lands”.
“This isn’t the time for failure Dr.”
“As I am well aware, sir. If you excuse me, Mr. President, I must make some more final
calculations since we most likely will have to introduce corrections into the targeting
computers afterwards”. The physicist left and went over to a group of other scientific
personnel.
Larianov noticed nervously the board where the alien craft, marked with a red dot, was
over flying the Ural Mountains and now was heading west towards the more populated
areas of European Russia. After long minutes of waiting, Ziguanine come up to him and
the Marshal again. “We are ready, sir”.
Larianov nodded, feeling that a great power had just been put on his hands, more
powerful than even the control codes for the launch of the nuclear missiles his country
possessed. “This is will be the day were Russia will raise up again, gentlemen! Prepare to
fire the beam!” Both men excused themselves and when each to his own way to make the
final preparations. Larianov contemplated the agitation around him. Each man, either
being civilian or military looked sharp and motivated. This is the beginning of the end, he
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thought. Like the Teutonic Knights, the Mongols, Napoleon or Hitler, these
extraterrestrials are now going to feel the power of Mother Russia and how it hurts to
invade her.
Over the Volga River, Caucasus, Russian Federation

Colonel Boronin was seriously considering taking a nap on the flight to get some rest
before the action. If that was ever possible, since the noise coming from the various
mechanical parts of the Skyranger where he was inside made it near to impossible to have
a conversation. To worsen the situation, one of the troopers had put on American rock
music on a tape player taped to the wall of the plane. Although Boronin knew how to
spoke English, the noise coming out of the stereo device was impossible to decipher.
He thought of telling the trooper to shut it off, but decided he had slept in far much worse
conditions than this one. He was about to give it a try but Major Gerasimov suddenly
appeared, moving forward on the Skyranger crew compartment until he met the Colonel.
His face was happy as he turned to say to Boronin: “Hey Piotr, nice day to hunting
monsters with my platoon, Da? We were getting anxious down here of you spending too
much time with the other team”. He made a sarcastical grin and took out a cigarette pack
from his weapons belt. Taking one out he brought it to his mouth and lit it up with a small
burst from his laser sidearm.
Shaking his head, Boronin smiled back and replied: “Vanya, at least Captain’s Likhachev
men bathe. Or bother to hose their craft occasionally. This piece of junk here stinks of
alien shit and of bad Russian tobacco. Not to mention the proofs of violation of the
regulations that forbid the presence of alcoholic beverages”.
Gerasimov’s grin went even larger. Every Russian Skyranger carried a bottle of vodka
and glasses to toast to the alive and the dead after each mission. Although strictly
forbidden by X-Com’s regulations, so far no word had ever arrived to the High
Command or the Council of Funding Nations. “Well Colonel, it’s a tradition down here.
We don’t clean up whatever goo their recovered stinky bodies let go on the way back. It’s
great also to welcome the rookies. They usually puke themselves out after two or three
hours putting up with the perfume”.
“The same tradition that makes your men cut out ‘souvenirs’ from the dead alien corpses
after a battle? You men are surely becoming truly of the traditional type”. The Colonel
added in an ironical tone.
Gerasimov made a wicked smile before answering. “To make them terrorized sir. They
need to know whom they are fighting. I want them to piss on their pants every time they
face my team”.
Boronin shook his head. “Vanya, that would be logical if the aliens ever went back to the
crash sites and saw the disfigured bodies of their companions, but I even doubt they
would care. Keep getting your dirty souvenirs, just leave something for the scientists
afterwards and don’t let the habit get too out of hand”.
“Affirmative, Colonel!” He threw a mock salute. Afterwards he sat down closer to his
superior officer and said. “Actually I wanted to talk to you about this mission. Something
is strange here. For the first time Russian High Command isn’t on our backs right from
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the minute we informed them that we had detected the UFO. Any thing we should know
about Colonel?”
“I noticed it also, Major. And I’m also clueless about what it might mean”. Not that
Boronin actually was worried. After months of his country’s interference into X-Com’s
operations, this was actually a blessing out of the skies. Well, at least something out of
the skies. In any case a bit more than two hours they would find out what was so special
about this UFO.
New York City, US

Number Three was seated on his chair, behind a large oak desk, looking at a monitor
placed on top of it. Everything was coming together, he thought, now we gain the upper
hand. Looking over his office he looked at the Picasso that he had on the wall directly in
front of him. What would the artist paint of all this, he asked himself. With each step
mankind’s destiny would be more and more woven into the fabric of their plans. This is
the beginning of a new era, the final revolution that man has to go through. He turned the
chair around to take a glimpse of the skyscrapers behind him, with the Hudson River on
the background as for the last time.
After some more seconds of contemplation, a beep interrupted him. He turned again
slowly to face the monitor. Number Nine was standing on the image, also seated.
“Is it confirmed?” Number Three asked, already knowing the answer.
“Yes. And their first firing test will be in some minutes from now, against a live target”.
“As we assumed. You have done well this time”. Taking full flavour of the moment, he
continued: “Inform the others. Prepare your operatives in the field. Now it’s our turn to
be ready, to move our piece on the board to place both our opponents in check”. He then
turned off the communication and glanced around him one more time. “Yes, the world is
about to change. But to where it’s going they don’t even have a clue”.

Azamas 36 had been built in the middle of Siberia, in a plain close to the Jenisej River for
the dual purpose of being able to cover the whole northern border of the Soviet Union
and defend against any missiles that would have come over the North Pole, the most
likely route for a nuclear attack. The other intent of building and maintaining such a
research project in a desolate area was secrecy. All the roads leading towards Azamas 36
were constantly guarded and a saboteur or spy would have to cross hundreds of miles of
taiga to reach the location. Furthermore, a whole area of the evergreen forest had been cut
down around the facility to prevent detection.
The massive bunker holding the particle projector laser weapon stood silent in the middle
of the desolate landscape, its form standing in the middle of the flat terrain. It was more
than five stories high and the circular dome placed on his top was now open, making it
resemble more of a telescope than the instrument of destruction that it was. Inside the gun
barrel of the particle projector weapon and the equipment placed close to it dominated a
large room. It had taken the scientists a great deal of work and imagination for the whole
thing to work properly and only know would they know if the years of research would
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pay off. A mechanical glitch that provoked a loss of power deactivated one of the
electromagnetic fields being used to contain and direct the ionised particles that were the
basis of the weapon’s destructive power. However, the personnel present at the facility
quickly detected the problem and moved to resolve it, without the need of contacting
Moscow to report the occurrence.
Then the order to deploy the barrel came and the base on which the whole gun assembly
rested started slowly into the westward direction. While it completed its movement power
levels and the targeting system were again checked, and word was sent back to Moscow
that it was prepared.
Close to the Ural Mountains, Russian Federation

More than a thousand miles to the east of Moscow and almost the same distance that
separated the Urals from the facility at Azamas 36, the Celtic cross type UFO finished
crossing the mountain range that separated Europe from Asia. The silver colour reflected
with the Sun and it slowed its speed, drawing the attention of the driver of a truck that
was travelling in one secondary road miles away.
It finally came to a stop in the vicinity of a collective farm village and landed in a
clearing on a forest. The door on its side opened and a Floater came out carrying a plasma
rifle. The alien checked the area for any possible Terran activity and after some seconds
more Floaters started to come out but this time carrying different types of an unknown
type of equipment.

The waiting period inside the facility had filled the atmosphere with tension. The silence
was almost unbearable to stand and the sound of Dr. Ziguanine’s voice brought an
anticlimax to the whole situation.
“The invader’s vessel has landed, Mr. President”. Larianov had been feeling a bit nervous
until now. Upon hearing the information he smiled and asked: “Are we ready?”
Dr. Ziguanine hesitated for one moment and said: “I can’t tell that this is the best way to
test the weapon since I can’t guarantee one hundred percent possibly that we will destroy
it, but yes, we are ready upon your command”.
“Fire at will then Dr. Let the aliens see the strength of our wrath and warn them about the
error of dealing with us!”
The scientist nodded and gave the command to the officers standing at the consoles.

When the order was given to the computers that controlled the projected particle weapon
they didn’t immediately discharge it. Instead, first the more than a thousand megawatt
output of the nuclear power plant that fed the bunker’s huge energy slowly increased its
power. The energy requirements were tremendous, almost draining the full capacity of
the nuclear reactor and making the civilian sections suffer a short blackout in power. One
of the main problems had been in controlling the dispersion caused by Earth’s
atmosphere as the beam travelled into space and went back to the planet upon reflection
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on the Mir’s mirror that would have rended the weapon useless. But since the target was
stationary the solution found by the scientists had been to apply more and more power to
surpass the atmospheric attrition. The first particles would react with the atmosphere to
create an ionised corridor for the remainder of the beam to travel, but in a more
condensed form, allowing it to have destructive abilities. The whole process would last
only a few seconds, but the energies required had been until now impossible to achieve.
Only the perfectioning of the power supply and advances in optics, together with the
skills of the designers, had made it possible for the whole system to become an weapon.
Close to the projector, a newly installed special containment chamber held deuterium gas,
a heavier form of hydrogen. Enormous electric charges were suddenly applied into the
deuterium, transforming it into a mass of negatively ions, i.e., atoms that possess extra
electrons. Using electromagnetic fields the gas was then accelerated through other
equipment just recently installed in the outside of the bunker: a long vacuum tunnel. In
physics the opposites attract one another, so the negatively charged particles become
contained and projected through the use of a combination of positive and negative intense
electromagnetic fields.
The atoms travelled for a long extension until finally reaching an appropriate speed and
being made to release their extra electrons and transformed into neutral particles. The
reason for this last process was to avoid that the charged particles trajectory would be
affected by Earth’s magnetic field, ruining their accuracy and making the beam harmless.
When the first high-energy particles left the barrel they immediately interacted with the
oxygen and nitrogen present in Earth’s atmosphere, breaking down the molecules and
transforming them into ozone and other rare products. The beam went upwards until it
reached the mirror on the Mir Space Station. While it before had been used as a way to
reflect the laser beam, now the equipment installed on board of the spaceship had been
upgraded with special devices designed by Dr. Ziguanine’s team and couldn’t be properly
called a mirror anymore. Instead of a reflective surface, the mirror now consisted of a
circular receptor that captured the beam and forced it into a magnetic field where the
dispersion from Earth’s atmosphere was corrected. The particles regained their power by
being concentrated into a smaller beam and were reaccelerated and sent back to Earth
again on their way to their target.
When the first high-speed atoms it the UFO they barely had any destructive power left,
after all the atmospheric interaction. Still, more and more particles kept coming through
the corridor until suddenly alarms inside the operator’s console inside the craft started to
come off. The Floater navigator was surprised to see the level of heat and radiation on the
fuselage of the UFO starting to come up but he had no time to respond properly to the
threat. In a few seconds the level of particles rose to a level that made the grey alien
alloys came red and then yellow and finally white as the metal’s temperature come close
to the ones on the Sun’s surface. The beam also had another effect on the UFO,
disrupting the navigational systems used to propel the craft as the atoms crossed the
fuselage and wrecked havoc with the components inside. The Floater tried to respond by
taking off the UFO but he discovered that the controls wouldn’t work. His last action
before the heat inside made him pass out was to send a warning to the rest of the fleet.
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Meanwhile the craft’s fuselage had already started to melt and burn. Crossing that
obstacle, the particles then proceeded directly into the inside of the UFO. When they hit
the Elerium reactor they disrupted the containment fields used to control the matter-
antimatter reaction used to generate power. The final result was a huge explosion as all
the Elerium stored inside suddenly went hypercritical, releasing all of its antimatter
particles, which annihilated themselves upon contact with matter.

Five minutes until touchdown, Boronin reminded himself as he was getting up his seat to
prepare to deploy. All around him, the members of Gerasimov’s platoon were doing the
same as they all received the warning from the Skyranger’s pilot. “There’s a strange light
on the sky, Colonel!” Then, all of a sudden a bright light filled the crew compartment and
a shock wave rattled the plane, making everyone fall on the metal floor.
Boronin found himself lying down, aware that something very wrong had happened.
Slowly his hearing came back and he realized that there must have been a massive
explosion since his brain he couldn’t remember the noise. He got up and run to the
cockpit where he found the pilot struggling with the controls and trying to land down the
Skyranger. “What happened there?”
The pilot didn’t bother to look back but replied: “Sir, there was a huge explosion on the
direction of the UFO. I only recall seeing first a beam of light in the sky and afterwards
something as bright as a nuclear explosion. We got lucky that we were circling the UFO’s
position otherwise the blast would have made me blind”.
“A nuclear explosion?!” Boronin was aghast. “They used a nuclear weapon to take care
of the UFO?”
Earth’s Orbit
The DSP (Defence Support Program) satellite that was flying in a geosynchronous orbit
over the equator had been placed in orbit over the Equator to detect missile launches
against the United States. It was equipped with a infrared detector to spot the plume of
any incoming ballistic missile and there was a number of them placed over the Euroasia
continent at any time. When the particle projector at Azamas 36 detonated the Elerium
power source a set of detection devices in the satellite immediatly went off, transmitting a
warning back to NORAD which immediatly put the U.S. war machine ready for a
possible nuclear attack.

Every Russian present at the Air Defence facility felt pride as the results of the first firing
of the particle beam were announced. Dr. Ziguanine approached President’s Larianov and
the Russian Commander in Chief immediately shook his hand.
“Well done Doctor. You shall receive our country’s greatest reward for this
achievement”. The scientist looked surprised and replied in an unsure way.
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“Sir, while this proves that the beam can be successfully used as a weapon, the results
also prove that we can’t just use it indiscriminately. According to the satellite, the blast
radius caused by the weapon was more than a kilometre. We will need to be careful upon
using it close to civilian facilities”.
“But we still can use it against slow moving targets approaching the weapon can’t we?”
“Theoretically yes and with the results of this discharge it is most likely we can shoot
down UFOs as they would approach the weapon kilometres away. Still, we have failed to
take into account that such an explosion could occur. Most likely the beam interacted
with the aliens’ propulsion systems”.
“Those are small matters now, Doctor. Right now what I want you to do is to start
looking of how we can deploy this weapon throughout our country to protect it”.
“The power requirements are immense. Most likely we will have to base them close to
our nuclear plants in order to have the sufficient energy to fire them”.
“Well, start making an estimate Doctor. I want this weapon ready to deal with any alien
intrusions as soon as possible. Dismissed”. The scientist was about to say something but
excused himself and went away. Larianov turned to the Foreign Affairs Ministry standing
close to him and say: “Inform the UN’s Security Council and the Council of Funding
Nations of what has just happened. Russia’s just become a superpower again!”

Upon receiving information about the motive behind the explosion and knowing that a
nuclear explosion hadn’t caused it, Colonel Boronin had immediately ordered the
Skyranger to go to the location of the UFO. They had landed in what seemed to be the
centre of the blast, a dozens of meters wide crater with all the trees around it projected
into the ground. The troopers examining the scene had to take care on where they put
their feet since the heat coming from the burnt terrain was nearly unbearable.
Major Gerasimov came near Boronin and said: “That’s it. The troops have finished their
sweep of the area and have found no remains of the aliens or even the UFO. Whatever
they used here completely obliterated the craft and all the area around it. Now we know
the reason behind Russian High Command’s indifference towards this contact”.
“What do you think Gerasimov? Could this be that laser we had heard about? Could they
have made it to work to defend our country?”
“I don’t know Colonel. I’m glad if it is that way but I also feel that this can take us out of
work”.
July 15th, 1999

Geneva, Switzerland
The special session of the Council of Funding Nations had been summoned at the request
of several of the Representatives and of the UN’s Secretary General upon the news of the
UFO’s destruction in Russia. Besides the civilian delegates, Commander Illyuschenko
and Doctor Chevereux were also present in representation of X-Com’s military and
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scientific branches. The meeting was taking place in one amphitheatre located in one of
the Swiss’s secret facilities, with all the representatives seated in the half-circle while the
Secretary General and X-Com’s officers stood in a table on the middle. A large aerial
photograph of the area where the explosion had taken place was being projected while
Dr. Chevereux was making a presentation.
“While we are unable to exactly determine the amount of power used by the Russian
beam weapon, there’s reasonably evidence to assume that the weapon can concentrate
enough power to take out any landed UFO if the beam stays locked enough time into
target. And from our own research into Elerium it seems that the beam interfered with the
containment devices used by the aliens’ propulsion systems that control the matter-
antimatter reaction. The readings taken by my scientific staff confirm that the resulting
explosion can have far more destructive power than the detonation of a similar amount of
plutonium, and without the radiation hazards posed by the use of such a weapon, which
lead into more grave matters as to what Elerium uncontrolled proliferation could bring us
to. One can wonder what would have happened if the weapon destroyed one of their
larger UFOs over one of our populated areas. In fact we might just have an idea about the
amount of such an explosion”. The image was suddenly replaced by an old black and
white picture showing a snow-covered field littered with fallen trees.
“This is a picture taken in the beginning of the century at Tunguska in Siberia where
there was an explosion so massive that so far science has been unable to positively
explain it. Due to the isolation of the place it actually took months before word came out
to civilized areas and the first expedition to it recorded reports of the natives about a huge
fireball that engulfed the sky and knocked down trees as if they were toothpicks. Science
so far has been unable to explain it. Theories were presented of a huge meteorite, a piece
of a comet or even a miniature black hole entering Earth’s atmosphere, but so far none of
them has correctly explained it. However with the information we have now about the
alien’s presence on Earth it seems that one of their craft might have developed a
malfunction that caused the Elerium power plant to explode in the upper atmosphere.
The Tunguska explosion devastated dozens of square kilometres. If this would have
happened over one of our large cities the death toll could ascent to the hundred
thousands. Moreover if the beam was used against fixed civilian targets, such as
manufacturing facilities or oil refineries the consequences would also be incalculable,
specially if one considers how many times the beam can be used”. The white circle
containing the blood red X on the middle replaced the image. “That is all ladies and
gentlemen and I wish you have fully measured with what we are dealing here”. He sat
down and the UN Secretary General got up.
“Thank you Dr. Chevereux for explaining to us what has happened since Russia won’t
reveal any details”. He turned to the Russian delegate. “Mr. Representative, I can only
plea: tell you President to share this knowledge with the rest of mankind. We need to
place this achievement available to all of us here so that it can be used and controlled in
the benefit of mankind”.
The Russian representative got up and replied: “Mr. Secretary, this has already been
discussed into the Security Council. And let me repeat my country’s position right here
again: Russia will not disclose any technical details concerning this weapon. Furthermore
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we reserve the right to use it in any way we seem fit. The X-Com Charter allows us to do
that”.
“You have a moral obligation to do it so, Mr. Klimov”. The American representative
suddenly got up on the other side of the half-circle. The Russian kept a cold face and
replied: “Really? Interesting how you Americans have also kept to yourselves the secret
of the atomic bomb for years after World War II and refused to reveal it, trying to use it
to enhance your position. I laugh at what you call ‘moral obligations’. Somehow they
only seem to apply if your country just found himself in a position of strategic
disadvantage”.
“This thing goes against every treaty ever signed between the US and the Soviet Union in
terms of strategic weapons that Russia also pledged to fulfil”.
“I won’t even discuss that, Mr. Portdown. We have it and we are going to use it. But I’m
sure my country could discuss with others the possibility that we assume also the defence
of their own territory from the alien’s incursions. That is, depending on the
compensations offered to Russia”.
Illyuschenko moved uncomfortably on his chair. If any of the countries seated here
decided to take Russia’s offer they would most bail out of X-Com, diminishing the
support for the force and posing a lot of troubles.
“That is blackmail and you know it! How can you be thinking only of your country at this
hour?”
“Don’t you Americans are so hypocrites sometimes? I would like to see what would
happened if the situation was inversed?”
“Gentlemen, please stop!” Illyuschenko looked at the Secretary General in surprise. “It
quite obvious that possession of such knowledge can alter the world’s balance of power
among nations, due to the abilities of the particle beam weapon to attack targets in
another country, that including the nuclear missiles that so far have kept a deterrent in
using nuclear weapons. However those questions should be addressed at the Security
Council where they belong”.
“And they have as we all know, Mr. Bomaka. And in a most unsatisfactory way, my
country considers. But as you say those matters don’t really matter to the discussion here
now”. The Japanese Representative sounded as enigmatic as always, making
Illyuschenko wonder what was going on at that country, especially in terms of X-Com
performance. The Far East team had one of the most impressive results but also had
suffered severe casualties. Still the team had never called an inactive status, which was
extraordinary to say the least, considering the ordeals that the other active teams had gone
into.
“What we need to do is to discuss the release of such information to X-Com, according to
the Charter that states that every country should contribute as much as possible”. The
leader of the UN had just finished his argumentation. The Russian representative was not
impressed. He merely spoke in a flat tone.
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“And at a country’s discretion, you forgot to add. And also, the availability of funds or
other military or civilian assets can be controlled by each country according to their
evaluation of the unit’s performance”.
“We can discuss this to the letter of the law if you want Mr. Klimov. However it won’t
get us nowhere”.
“Mr. Secretary, so far this organization has become completely egotistical. X-Com High
Command treats the troops and material assigned to it as if they belong to them, where
the Charter clearly states that those military units are still a part of each country’s armed
forces. I wouldn’t be surprised if this whole situation can’t even lead into confrontations
between X-Com and my nation’s forces, for instance, due to the pursue of distinct
objectives and strategies”. Illyuschenko suddenly raised himself and asked: “Was that a
threat?”
“Commander, I order you to please sit down…now!” Illyuschenko had never seen the
UN Secretary this distressed.
“Keep him on a leash, will you please, Mr. Bomaka?” It was Illyuschenko’s time to
nearly go ballistic but this time he managed to constrain himself. “As I was saying, we
consider that the release of such technology to X-Com would give no significant gains to
Russia and, quite on the contrary would make us gain nothing in return for all the
investment we have put into it. However we are ready to discuss with other countries the
possibility of using those weapons to shoot down UFOs over the territory of any nation
interested on buying such protection or even installing defence facilities, providing that
they are manned and guarded by Russian personnel at the whole time”.
Illyuschenko looked around and saw that many of the minor countries seated of the
amphitheatre were carefully judging the proposal. On the contrary, many of the major
powers seemed disgusted but their leaders would in no doubt consider the proposal twice.
And he felt a great fear inside, realizing the most likely result of this whole situation.
July 16th, 1999

Air Force One, Over Illinois, US
The whole situation was beginning to put a strain on Winston. He hadn’t stepped on land
ever since the Russians had fired their new weapon, to prevent the Russians from making
a first strike with the beam to eliminate American leadership and preventing a nuclear
counterattack. All of the US major officials were also in protected locations, either
aboard National Command Posts were they could all be contacted and kept safe in case
the Russians decided to go completely mad.
But worse than that was to accept the fact that they had just lost an arms race, with major
political implications to the world. Against all possible chances or better judgement the
US had been beaten by a nation on his throes. Worse still would be to explain to
Congress and the American people why that had happened. So far no word had been
leaked into the press but that could change really quickly, especially if the journalists
started to notice his and other officials missing appointments and the fact that he was
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always aboard the Air Force One. No, something had to be done about the whole fact and
he was connected to the whole National Security Council to decide.
“I’ve just talked to the Mr. Portdown. As with the Security Council they refuse to
disclose their technology to X-Com. And they are trying to sell their defence abilities to
any nation interested”. Everyone on the plane and in the monitors grimaced. “You all
realize what this means. Our allies can desert us and place themselves under Russian
protection. And unless we pay we will be left out in the cold against the aliens. Even X-
Com’s need is questioned by this turn of events”.
The National Security Adviser spoke on one of the monitors, her voice heavily distressed.
“We could request the release of all the data gained by X-Com, but the Russians will
outmanoeuvre us and threaten enough countries to block the initiative”.
“Exactly what Mr. Portdown feels, Mrs. May. I’m opened to more suggestions”.
“We move to disband the force and take over X-Com’s facilities and personnel in the US.
We need that data sir, otherwise we are dead. Colonel Johnson isn’t stupid and he will see
the organization falling apart, together with the need to preserve the information to our
country”.
“If we do that, the whole coalition will dissolve. Our allies wouldn’t trust us anymore”.
The DCI cut in another monitor and her eyes turned to the right and up all of a sudden.
“You can bet they are already discussing to place themselves on the Russian’s boat”.
“Stop, both of you. I will take all suggestions under consideration, but so far I’m not
happy with what I’ve heard and I need to know more”. The Chairman of the JCS jumped
in at the suggestion, but not very much convinced.
“We could stage an attack with our Stealth bombers, but air detection abilities have been
improved in that area and there’s a risk that the attack planes will be discovered and shot
down”.
“Even the A-17s?” The DCI asked.
“The A-17s are only know about to reach operational status and the crews aren’t yet
familiar enough with the attack plane. And a sabotage mission is also out of the question.
The crew would most likely be discovered on their way to the target. Besides using
nuclear weapons there’s no other way to destroy the facility and even then we could only
expect a nuclear response by the Russians. That also applies if they discover we are
behind the attack”.
Winston shook its head. “We need more time. We shall start by seeing how we can catch
up with the Russians and in how many months or years. Then I will decide”.
Vice-President Longstreet spoke in a matter of urgency as he was about to dismiss them.
“Mr. President, this can’t last for very long. I’m starting to organize my campaign to be
your replacement and I can’t do things from aboard a plane”.
“I completely agree with you in the point of being airborne”. He turned to the director of
the Secret Service who was closing next to him. “Make a timetable so that two Cabinet
members are at safe locations the whole time. Include the House Speaker on that list
since he gets the job in case something happens to me or the VP”.
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“You know how many years it has been from I last came here?” Two looked at the
Thames from the third floor of a building facing the River, addressing a man well into his
late forties.
“I can imagine but there’s no time for that. Your communication was quite unexpected I
must say”.
“Desperate times take desperate measures. In our line of work that can be a risk but also
there can be no alternative”.
“I’ve been informed of what is happening in Siberia with the Russians. Anything to do
with that?”
“Yes, but much more also. You will find out when it’s time, either through me or some
other means”.
“Loyalties are hard-earned here. You still trust me?”
“You understand certain needs. Pretty soon you might find yourself in a place to act upon
them. And I have a particular interest on who occupies that position”.
“I won’t ask where since I know that I wouldn’t give me any answer. However I take that
this request for a meeting says that I might be required something later on the future”.
“You are correct. You might”.
“A sleeper then?”
“A last resort card if you want to really know. But if the time comes you will understand
why”.
“As I always did. That’s why neither of us never really considered bringing down the
other. Too many secrets to tell”.
“And even darker ones to stay hidden between both”.
“Knowledge is a blade with two edges. It can strike both ways. I learned that much from
you”.
“Indeed. That is why we both will have to be particularly careful on this one. A lot here is
at stake and failure can make us loose everything”.
“In that case I shall be ready. Just be prudent in what you ask”.
“For the time being I only ask you to do what you do best. The rest will come much later
in the future, if it comes at all”.
July 17th, 1999

Azamas 36, Russian Federation
The sentinels outside of the main entrance to the Security Command Centre were trying
to stay alert, although being on watch for almost six hours now was taking a toll on their
attention. The base had been on full alert for some days now and everyone knew about
the weapon that was being housed and the terrifying power it possessed. But at the same
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time, the sentinels didn’t pay much attention to the orders. Who would be crazy enough
to attack a heavily guarded facility in the middle of Russia? They just had shrugged as
they had heard the orders. At least they would still be able to go into the city and see a
movie at the local theater or get some more decent food.
The bunker and the barracks that housed the military personnel marked the end of the
civilian area of the city and stood on the middle of one of the sides of the triangle formed
by the research facility, laser bunker and nuclear reactor. To the right of the guards a
fenced road lead into the facility that housed the weapon and the highway continued to
the East where it met the research facility. Some five hundred meters in front of them was
the barbed wire gate that lead into the civilian areas.
A set of lights could be seeing coming on the road from the city and approaching the
guard post at the gate. The sentinels relaxed as they saw the jeep with the two uniformed
men seating up front. Relief came over them as both realized that the shift was over and
that they could finally get some sleep. The gate opened and the vehicle drove through,
covering the space between the fence and the Centre, until finally stopping at a spot on
the garrison’s parking lot in the garrison’s motor poll. Both troopers jumped outside and
started heading for the sentinels, making sure that their parkas were well worn. One of
the guards turned to the soldiers approaching, unable to tell their faces because of the dim
light.
“Hey Oleg, you are actually on time tonight. What happened? The night went wrong in
the city?” None of the soldiers responded and kept walking towards them. When they
were almost reaching the circular light project by the lamp on top of the sentinels, the one
who talked started speaking again.
“Oleg? You drunk too much already and you can’t speak?” He smiled but when both men
stepped into the light, he became puzzled. “Who are you? Why has Oleg not come back
from the city?” Both men suddenly raised their right hands and the last thing the guards
noticed were two strange looking barrels coming from the cuffs of the military jackets.
Two green flashes suddenly appeared and both men were projected backwards, their dead
bodies landing on the floor. At the same time the guards at the gate dropped suddenly to
the floor, both hit in their heads by heavy calibre rounds that had been shot by hidden
snipers. The two soldiers grabbed them and hid their bodies behind one truck and then
assumed their positions by the door.

The Sectoid Commander was seated in the command chair in one of the alien’s bigger
UFOs on the fleet that was hidden behind the Moon to avoid Terran detection. The alien
leadership had been surprised at the destruction of one of their smaller scout ships by the
energy beam weapon, but measures had already been taken to deal with this nuisance.
The humans had been interfering for too long with their plans, he considered as he looked
at the three dimensional screen in front of him. As the alien watched the graphic
representation of Sol Three and its natural satellite, his attention changed from the cluster
of dots that represented his fleet, hidden behind the natural satellite, to a smaller one, that
was now about to enter the planet’s atmosphere.
233
July 18th, 1999
X-Com Russian Command, Stalingrad Base, Caucasus, Russian
Federation
Colonel Boronin started noticing that something was wrong on the dream he was having.
He was dreaming of monsters that came and pursued him in the dark, while he could only
run away, until he started to pay attention to a rhythmical sound. Looking around him, he
couldn’t perceive the origin of the sound and as he tried to focus more on it he suddenly
become more conscious. He was on his bed he finally noticed but the room had a strange
pulsating colour. And the alarm on his desk was going on, giving a large beep every two
seconds while pulsing red.
He jumped out of his bed and went to the desk, pressing the intercom button and
connecting to the Command room. Taking a moment to clear his head he then spoke:
“Boronin here. What is going on?”
“Colonel, this is Captain Likhachev. The Air Force has just detected an alien fleet
entering the atmosphere and going to Russian airspace”.
“How many UFOs?”
“Unsure sir, since they are flying close together and masking their radar signatures. But
some have radar tracks equivalent to their Terror Ships”.
“Get all the men ready. I will be right there in five minutes”. He went to the closet in his
room, opened it and got out an X-Com combat jumpsuit. After getting inside it he closed
the zippers and got out the combat boots. He sat on his bed while putting them on, his
hands checking the strength of the alien alloys that had been placed over them. Going
over to the closet again he grabbed his Type 17 armour, put it over his back and headed
out for the door.
When Boronin reached the Command Room the whole place was in an organized chaos.
He spotted Likhachev and went up to him. The Captain noticed him and said:
“Sir, Russian High Command is not requesting our assistance”.
“Hum?” Boronin had gotten himself a chair and had started to put on his armour while
Likhachev was talking. He stopped adjusting his leg plates and looked at him.
“They are going to use the laser on them as soon as they land. Mir Space Station is
already in place and ready. They say that our presence isn’t necessary”.
“Let’s hope they are right then Captain. We have both seen what that weapon can do, but
I have a really bad feeling about all this”.

In spite of the late hours in the night, the underground laser control facility was being
fully manned 24 hours a day to deal with any further UFO intrusions into Russian
territory. And the Colonel in charge of the night shift was struggling to keep himself
awake when one of the soldiers manning the communications console suddenly nearly
jumped out of his chair and turned to him.
234
“Sir! Air Defence Command reports a fleet of alien vessels coming through over the
Artic. And their re-entry vector shows them to be heading towards our location!” The
young enlisted private seemed in panic, having only entered service at the facility some
weeks ago.
The officer rubbed his eyes to make sure that he was completely awake and start shouting
orders in the room. He had been present at the shoot down of the first UFO and knew the
capabilities of the weapon that was above him. Feeling confident, he started giving orders
to the technicians in the room.
“Sound general alarm. Prepare the particle weapon and start feeding it the telemetry and
radar data from Air Defence. And contact General Yurinov at headquarters and require is
presence here”. He watched as the other occupants in the chamber followed his orders.
While he noticed them, he saw that they had a bit of apprehension in their motions. Pretty
soon all of that will be over, he thought. Now we can fight back.
The technician who had driven him out of his nearly sleeping state turned to him again,
puzzled. “Sir. I can’t reach the military garrison barracks. That area doesn’t answer to
any of my calls”.
“Are you sure? Try again but use the phone. Probably there’s a problem with the base
radio”.
“Already did sir. Nobody there picks up the phone”. The Colonel reached his chin with
his hand and started thinking. He applied immediately his first idea: “Try the other
buildings!” But he knew of nothing else to do at the moment. He considered the
possibility of an attack, but discarded it. If the aliens had come, their craft would have
been detected. Or would it not?
“The research facility reports nothing out of the ordinary. The nuclear power plant says
the same. And the military checkpoints are all into full alert status, although their voices
sounded a bit asleep”. There, he considered. Any attack or approach would have been
noticed by now. “Status of the ships and the particle cannon?”
Another technician also at a console two seats to the left answered him: “We are targeting
one of the bigger ships that are approaching us and are ready to fire when it reaches
range. Due to the size of the craft and the fact that it is on the weapon’s horizon, it is
better if we don’t use the Mir dish in order to don’t lose an exaggerated amount of power
to atmosphere bleeding. We will be engaging them at a shorter range, but one way or the
other we will make them drop out of the skies”. The Colonel nodded and turning to a
lieutenant he ordered: “Get a patrol and a car and go check the phone lines. There must
be a problem with them”. The officer nodded and headed towards the exit doors.
All men in the room had their attention focused on the aliens ships and so, they did not
pay attention anymore to the younger officer has he opened the security doors. But
sudden gunfire made them all turn. Doing a half-turn, the Colonel saw that a group of
Russian troopers were entering the room through the opened doors, carefully avoiding the
lieutenant’s body on the floor and firing their AK-74 assault rifles. “What is going on?
What do you think you are doing!?” He shouted when speechless as one of the
technicians on his side took a full burst in his torso and his body jerked with the incoming
projectiles on the chair were he was seated. The console became red with blood as he
235
finally collapsed into it. Across the room the other operators were starting to run and the
Colonel took cover behind another console. On his side he heard the private in charge of
communications screaming: “..Command we are under attack! Repeat! We
are…arrrgggh!” His voice was replaced by the sound of an assault rifle being
discharged at full automatic mode. The officer went for his sidearm and brought it out of
his holster, but as he was trying to get the safety off he felt someone was approaching his
position. Turning his body to face the threat he saw that one of the invaders had come
close to him carrying a smoking AK-74. He raised his arms in an attempt to surrender,
but the figure simply pointed the weapon at his head and pressed the trigger. The
Colonel’s head exploded and painted the area nearby him with encephalic mass. The men
dressed in Russian military fatigues stopped for a moment over his body and then
proceed on eliminating the last remains of resistance in the control room.
Earth’s Orbit
As the flotilla of alien vessels was approaching the Azamas 36 complex, one of the craft
suddenly detached itself from the formation and started heading out back to space. Within
minutes the Russian aerospace controllers back at Air Force HQ had determined his new
destiny and froze into place upon the realization of the large UFO’s destiny. They
immediately sent an alert transmission but they knew already that Mir Space Station was
doomed as long as all the crewmembers inside.
Without the protection dispensed by the particle weapon, the largest man made object in
Earth’s orbit was nothing more than a big target hanging on space. Upon receival of the
notification alerting for the incoming craft, the crewmembers immediately went to the
work of preparing the Soyuz lifeboat attached to the Space Station that would enable
them to flee. Unfortunately it was too late for either them or the space facility.
The first blast discharged by the Terror Ship upon reaching maximum range for its
weapons travelled freely upon space, unhampered by the restrictions posed by Earth’s
atmosphere and hit the Spektr module, immediately cutting through the fuselage. The
force of the plasma beam then found the air present inside the compartment and reacted
with it, with the end result being an explosion that completely obliterated the module.
Despite the blast all the inside hatches were locked which prevented the loss of the entire
station.
There was no air in space to allow for the propagation of sounds but the crewmembers
were immediately projected to one side as the loss of module threw the station into an
uncontrolled spin. Bones were broken as their bodies hit the bulkheads and equipment
placed on the walls of the station. The navigational computers still operating immediately
started to use nitrogen jets to control the station but the damage had been too extensive.
Pressed to one side of the Mir by the inertia provoked by the inertial movement the
crewmembers tried to get to the Soyuz rescue boat and detached it from the station in a
last attempt to survive.
A series of blasts from the alien craft then hit again the station, one of them obliterating
the escape module and the others indiscriminately hitting the solar panels and other parts
attached to the main core of the station. Satisfied with its work, the UFO then stopped
and headed back into Earth to join the alien wave that was about to assault Azamas 36.
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On board the main core of the Mir, the six Russian cosmonauts inside were still alive but
not for long. The life-support systems had ceased to function and they were starting to
fall back into Earth’s atmosphere.

President Larianov knew that something was wrong as he heard the steps again on his
bedroom. He had been awaken before because of the alien flotilla headed towards
Azamas 36 but had decided on going back to his sleep when his military commanders
had told him that the weapon would be more than capable of dealing with the invaders
and keeping them away from the particle weapon. Now, still sleepy he turned in anger to
the person that was entering the room again and saw that it was the same aide as before:
“What is it now? Can’t the military buffoons do anything about me? Haven’t they shot
down the flotilla yet?” The aide stopped on his tracks, looking as if he desperately wanted
in that moment a hole to hide himself. “Azamas 36 reported being under attack ten
minutes ago, sir…”
“Weren’t they already under attack some half an hour ago? Why haven’t the particle
beam weapon destroyed their ships yet?!” Larianov went out of his bed and stood up,
looking at the aide and demanding a quick answer.
“They were getting ready to fire it when suddenly they reported an attack and went off
the air. We can’t raise them on the radio them since then and the UFOs are getting close”.
The full realization of what was happening hit Larianov straight like a slap on the face
and he managed not to drop to the floor by seating himself on the bed.
“The weapon hadn’t fired…? They….are going to destroy the weapon…our last hope is
gone…” The aide tried to see if he was all right but for the next five minutes Larianov
stayed mute on the bed, his eyes fixated on the ceiling.
237
Chapter Eleven – Broken Shells
July 18th, 1999
X-Com Russian Command, Stalingrad Base, Caucasus, Russian
Federation
The officers of the Russian team were at the base’s planning room going over maps and
troop deployments when Colonel Boronin walked inside and closed the door behind him.
Taking a deep breath first, he then spoke: “Our country’s government has asked us to try
to retain control of the research facility and save the remaining scientific personnel and to
secure the laser”.
Looking over at the map of Azamas 36, the other two men spat and cursed. Gerasimov
spoke first: “They are crazy! The third Skyranger is down for maintenance work. We can
only deploy two platoons of men and we are facing a horde of killer aliens of unknown
strength”.
“How far is assistance?” Boronin turned to Likhachev, lifted to his eyes the papers he
was holding on his left hand and replied: “Six hours after we touchdown, according to
Red Army information. We might have some air support since the Air Force is preparing
to bomb the aliens’ ships”.
“Don’t they have regular forces down there? That is a top-secret research facility! Or has
someone upstairs been diverting money into his own pockets instead of using it to have
his men operational?” Gerasimov just shook is head in disbelief.
“They had one battalion of regular infantry plus Ministry of the Interior paramilitary
forces. But the aliens assured that the Command Center was one of the first places that
got hit. They reported being under attack and went off the air almost immediately. At the
best they must be putting a disorganized resistance and will be defeated almost for sure”.
Gerasimov seemed as if he was going to have a stroke. He was almost shouting as he
continued: “Colonel, we can’t possibly hold out six hours then, specially if we divide the
team. We don’t know their strength and Air Defense have reported tracking several alien
ships inbound for the complex. The aliens will have destroyed the particle weapon by the
time we arrive. God only knows why they haven’t done yet, since it would appear it is
their primary target, but it isn’t sane to go defend something that is undefendable!”
Boronin nodded his head in agreement. “I just have been talking to Commander
Illyuschenko, who gave me somewhat different orders. Luckily for us he doesn’t share of
our government’s lack of aptitude for taking military decisions. We are to deploy the full
force to secure the research facility. If possible we will try to ascertain of the situation of
the laser by sending a reconnaissance mission. We presently don’t have any up to date
photos. The ones we have were taken two hours ago at the beginning of the attack. Since
then the aliens started attacking any planes that come near the area and Air Force doesn’t
want to risk loosing more planes”.
“Six hours trying to hold out and still have to see if their precious toys are intact”.
Gerasimov cursed, unable to conceive his disgust at the whole situation.
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“And I want you to do it, Gerasimov”. Boronin looked at the lower officer with a sense of
urgency. The Major hit the table with the palm of his hand but nodded back in acceptance
of his orders. “I should have known this was coming. I take it that the Captain won’t
mind”, he turned to Likhachev who was smiling. “All right, you got yourself a
volunteer”.
“Start making your list of whom you want to take”.
“Right. Have we received the batch of the new portable heavy lasers from Mother One?”
“The technicians have finished calibrating them. They are yours if you want them”.
“I don’t think I will need them all, specially because of their size. Better if you keep them
with you Colonel”.
“Very well. Go and brief your platoons. We are leaving in two hours”.

Eva Johannes only noticed that something peculiar was going on when she headed out for
mess hall to have her breakfast. She had found strange that most of the corridors leading
from her quarters to the mess were conspicuously empty at that hour in the morning, but
she just shrugged it off, anxious to get her breakfast and go back to examining the
possibilities of the new Russian weapon. There wasn’t much to work with, since they had
kept all the research for themselves, but she suspected the breakthrough they had
achieved on particle beam weapons could be applied with the dilemma of understanding
how the alien weapons worked.
When she entered the mess hall, she saw a group of people clustering in the recreational
area of the base, all looking at the television sets placed there for personnel
entertainment. She couldn’t understand what it was all about since the room was
separated by a sound proof window from the dining area, so she headed out there. When
she opened the door, she noticed the cold silence inside. The troopers, technicians and
scientists were all mute looking at a news broadcast made by CNN. She spotted Lejeune,
the French scientist and moved closer to him, uneasy about what could be happening.
When she reached him, she touched him on the shoulder to get his attention and asked:
“Pierre what is happening?”
The other scientist almost jumped at her touch and turned to her. Upon seeing who it was
he relaxed and replied: “Base command made an announcement some half and hour ago
that the aliens had mounted a big assault upon Russia”.
“A big assault?”
“Oui”. The scientist shrugged his shoulders. “The number of UFOs used by the aliens
surpasses everything they have ever used against us”.
“Do you mean they are finally invading?” The scientist suddenly felt her blood turn cold.
Every X-Com member lived with the grim expectation that some day the aliens would
unleash into a full-scale assault on Earth. Only God knew why they hadn’t done it so far
but everyone had assumed that it would come. The realization had been most disturbing,
like a Damocles sword posed over their heads that would eventually drop and cut them
down, but it had also galvanized them into action, making sure that time and resources
weren’t wasted.
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Lejeune wasn’t seeing things that way to her relief. “That’s what everyone here is trying
to see right now, but CNN speaks nothing of it. There are some reports of a terrorist
attack on Siberia, apparently the work of religious fanatics. Those lunatics sure have
appeared out of nowhere in the past months”. The reference to the fanatics was
something of an inside joke in X-Com. Most of the alien aggression so far had been
labeled as terrorist groups by the governments of the world and the media. But everyone
on X-Com knew what really was happening there and shared a dry laugh every time the
word came printed on newspapers or spoken in the television sets.
Eva took a deep breath but then another disturbing thought came to her. “Where did they
say the attack was?”
The French scientist raised his shoulders. “Some small city in Siberia. At least it’s
Russian Command area of operations, so we won’t be put into a full alert and unable to
leave base until the whole situation gets resolved. I was thinking of going out tonight to
change a bit our diet of the food we get here. Would you like to come?”
The thought that was lingering inside her suddenly become clear. She didn’t reply him, as
she wasn’t paying attention to him anymore. Instead she was already on his way to talk to
Dr. Chevereux and find out where the attack was.
1048 Zulu (Local Time), Siberia, Russian Federation

The two Skyrangers from the Russian team were racing across the sparsly grass and moss
covered Siberian steppe to get to their destination and each second was precious. An
American satellite had managed to take some photographs of the area, taking advantage
of an opening in the cloud cover but they didn’t help much. The UFO’s apparently had
landed directly on the civilian areas of the city, which was an enigma for all Russian X-
Com officers. So far the aliens were acting as if this was just another terrorist attack, not
a strike posed to destroy the enemy’s assets. The laser bunker, nuclear power plant and
the laboratories and engineering workshops seemed pretty much intact, but the destroyed
military installations that housed the security detail were burning and releasing a lot of
smoke in the early afternoon air that was still visible to the Skyrangers’ pilots
“Any word from the Japanese or Chinese teams?” Boronin asked Likhachev on the inside
of one of the planes. The dark haired short officer just shook its head in disgust. “Chen,
as usual, claims that they don’t have resources to help us. And the last communication
from Complex YY-18 say that they are readying two platoons, one of the new mobile
tanks and another of infantry but they timetable puts their arrival too far away. Most
likely we will get assistance from our country’s forces first”.
“Great”. Boronin slapped the blue metal plate covering his thigh. “Any word from the
defenders at the facility?”
“Still no radio communications after their initial reports of an attack. We can only assume
the worst”.
“Tell the men to be prepared for anything. At least we won’t be fighting at night,
although this fucking fog could lift up a little. I hope that the pilot knows what he’s
doing. Flying this close to the ground with this visibility is insane!” Ending abruptly the
conversation, Boronin went back to his seat.
240
Area 51, Nevada, US
Johnson was at the base gym working out to help the final recovery of his injured
muscles when Forrester walked inside dressed in a combat jumpsuit. He approached the
Colonel and said: “Colonel, sorry for disturbing your training but I would like to talk to
you”.
He nodded back and got out of the weight lifting machine he was using and grabbed a
towel to clean the sweat off his fore brow. “I’m listening”.
The officer hesitated for a moment before starting to speak. “Upon Major Patterson’s
suggestion I’ve seen the base psychiatric since the mission and it was decided to put me
off active missions for the moment. Things haven’t been easy Colonel and I am the first
one to acknowledge it. I apologize for my mistake and let you know that I will try not to
disappoint you again”. The man managed to speak it with no pauses although it was clear
that some strong emotions were stirring inside him.
Johnson nodded. “For me there are no need for apologies here but I will accept them
Forrester. No one could have had imagined that a Sectoid was able to climb up the wall
of a barn using only his body”.
“Still, I consider it to be my personal fault, sir. And I would like to know if the alert
status for the entire ground assault also applies to me sir. I’m ready to any mission that
comes up, I really am, Colonel, and I need the new chance, if you think I’m ready to it. I
had my own problems but I can do it sir”.
Now here’s a hard decision. Johnson told to himself. Forrester was one of the officers in
base with more combat experience fighting the aliens beside himself. But at the same
time all the bitter fighting and the endless casualties had affected him. Asking to be
placed on combat missions to prove one another could came up wrong. But at least the
man admitted it. “Tell you what. You will be in a semi-active status. If something’s up
meanwhile I will then take it into consideration”.
“Fair enough. Thank you Colonel”.
1112 Zulu, Siberia, Russian Federation

Some twenty minutes later, both Skyrangers slowed their speed and quietly descended
into the ground, the blast from the engines lifting up loose gravel and burning the steppe
small vegetation. When the ramps of the craft came down, the X-Com squads started to
pour out, with their blue armor painted on the journey to sport an artic and forest
camouflage, and quickly established a safety perimeter around the craft. Occasional
gunfire could be heard to the southwest, the direction of the Azamas 36.
Boronin stuck with Second Platoon, while telling Major Gerasimov to start to move out
towards the research facility. The Skyrangers had approached the facility from the West
and had taken a flight path that resembled a semicircle upon as they approached the
complex, to avoid over flying the area. The planes had dropped the team ten kilometers
northeast of the city and had quickly lifted off again to move to a safer location. First
Platoon quickly moved to take the lead and the remaining of the team was following
them.
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Boronin ordered the trooper carrying the satellite communications radio to keep close to
him as they crossed the taiga forest that separated the landing zone from the research
facility. There were no friendly units in the area and if something happened to the radio
they would be stranded in the middle of a hot zone full of aliens. And although First
Platoon had spread itself on a loose line in front, there was always the possibility than an
alien patrol would spot them and try to circle the whole company, so everyone was
keeping a sharp eye into every direction.
Boronin had a position in the middle of the line and suddenly he saw that all the troopers
in front of him were stopping and dropping down to their knees. He did the same and
activated the command circuit on his personal short-range radio. “Ivan, what is happening
up there?”
Major Gerasimov’s replied to him: “The forest has just cleared and we have reached the
outer security fence of the city”.
“Well, get someone to cut a hole on it”
“Already have Aleksander and Mikhail on it. But the thing is rigged with mines, it will
take some time for them to clear it out”.
“Tell them to hurry up then. We can’t be still here for too long”.
“Understood”. When Gerasimov stopped talking, Boronin looked in front. He thought he
could spot the fence since there was a strange feature at the bottom of the light blue
horizon. He then turned around and saw that they were completely vulnerable out there.
His men were all down, trying to conceal themselves, but if one of the UFOs flew over
their position they would be immediately spotted. He dropped completely to the almost
sterile ground, covered with moss and sparse vegetation and waited. Most of the snow
had melted by now and there was mud everywhere. He saw that the X-Com members
close to him had already started to cover their uniforms with the mud to help out on their
camouflage. He decided to do the same while waiting and when he was done he looked at
his watch. At the rate of movement they were going it would take them some more hours
before reaching their objective. If the aliens didn’t spotted them first. Tense minutes
passed as he waited.
The radio came alive again. “They are done. The picket on the left side has spotted a
group of aliens on patrol on the other side of the fence coming into our direction”.
Boronin cursed and spoke back:
“Are they done with the fence yet?”
“I was about to get everyone moving again when the alarm come. What you want us to
do?” Boronin weighted his options: if the aliens spotted the hole on the fence they for
sure would report it back and investigate, which was dangerous for the team since it
would put the aliens on alert. On the other hand if they took care of the patrol they most
likely wouldn’t find out about it until they sent another patrol to check it out and by that
time the X-Com team would be close to their target. To help his decision the radio came
alive again:
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“Picket says the aliens are of a new race that look like snakes”. Doubt came into
Boronin’s mind. A new alien race would mean that they were dealing with an unknown
enemy. They needed to know more about these new creatures.
“Get ready to take them down but wait for me if possible. I’m coming there to see them
myself. Tell the men to use only lasers to make less sound”. He started going through the
line of concealed soldiers. When he passed Likhachev the Captain nodded, telling him
that he had listened to the whole conversation.
After some more minutes he reached First Platoon’s line that was some two hundred
meters away from the security fence, which was full of lights, mine warning signs and
two parallel rows of three metre tall barbed wire. Most likely there were detection
devices in the space in-between both fences, but he dismissed them since they must have
been disabled by now or the people who were supposed to be on guard at the alarms were
dead. Using hand signals he asked the trooper close to him for the Major’s position. The
X-Com squaddie pointed left. Good, at least the aliens haven’t reached his position yet he
thought otherwise the shooting would have started by now. Trying to crawl as quickly as
possible he finally reached Gerasimov, who was lying behind one rock, trying to blend
himself with the landscape as much as possible. The Major looked at him, gave the
Colonel his binoculars and pointed to the left side. Boronin got himself a conceal position
and looked.
He saw a group of four brown aliens that seemed as tall as an average human moving on
the other side of the fence. He thought their movement was sluggish until he noticed the
reason. Instead of legs or any type of bipedal limbs, the creatures were standing up in
what seemed to be a massive snake tail as large as the abdomen to which was connected
on the body. The reptilian shaped head, with one large fang on each jaw and the gray
eyes it possessed added more to the similarly with a serpent standing on its tail. But this
serpent had arms and massive ones that ended on hands carrying objects. Boronin
identified them as the alien weapons they had seen before. Two plasma rifles and two of
their larger plasma cannons. Not good. Just one shot of the rifles could get through the
armor the X-Com troopers were wearing.
Boronin then noticed that the aliens were slow, even for a patrol. He saw then that the tail
movement, going forward and then pushing the rest of the body made them slow
compared to any man on his team.
But what about the rest of the abilities of these Snakemen? He gave back the binoculars
to Gerasimov and slowly got his laser rifle into position.
The group of four aliens kept advancing until the extraterrestrial that was on point duty
suddenly stopped, some meters away from the whole cut into the fences. He was about to
turn and warn the others about it when Gerasimov ordered into the radio: “Now!”
A score of laser beams suddenly headed out for the four aliens, some of them reflecting
white as the high-energy photons interacted with the oxygen and nitrogen atoms present
in the air, instead of the common gold Boronin was used to. The heavy lasers were doing
their debut on the Russian team’s hands.
The point alien immediately went down, together with another one on the back, but the
remaining two stood up. The one next to the point alien took two laser shots on his torso
243
and didn’t dropped dead, although green goo started to come out of his body. The other
one took a heavy laser hit on the right arm that nearly made him drop his plasma rifle.
They immediately turned into the direction of the Russian team and started firing back,
although their shots were misguided and missed all the concealed troopers. Boronin put
his weapon into autofire and start firing back again at them, but he missed all three shots.
It didn’t matter since the laser fire of the team cut down the remaining Snakemen and
they dropped on the steppe grass.
The X-Com troopers stayed on their positions waiting to see if the confrontation had been
heard by other patrols close. Boronin waited in fear that they could be hunted down from
this minute. Suddenly he saw movement.
One of the aliens that were lying on the ground was starting to get up again. Another laser
shot come from the right, bringing it down again. Don’t these things know when to die,
Boronin asked himself? More minutes went by until finally Gerasimov told his men to
move over the fence and secure the other side. The whole team started to get out of its
concealed positions and as Gerasimov was passing Boronin, the Colonel turned to him
and said:
“Tell one of the men to get one of those bodies. The scientists back the base need to
discover as much as possible from these Snakemen”. The Major nodded and after some
seconds Boronin went after him in the direction of the hole in the fence.
1240 Zulu
Boronin kept watching the research facility from a distance through a set of binoculars.
They hadn’t met any other alien patrols on their way and the whole complex of buildings
seemed deserted from a distance. He had sent Captain Likhachev and his platoon to
check it out and was waiting with Gerasimov, fearing that the radio would announce that
the facility was crawling with aliens.
When Likhachev came back on the radio to inform that they had found the laboratories
clear he turned to the Major. “Get your men and head out to the bunker. Watch out for the
air strike in half an hour. Good luck Vanya and stay out of trouble”. The other man
nodded and left. Boronin got up and went to join his troops that had now started to came
out of the main building’s entrance.
1258 Zulu, Vicinity of Azamas 36, Siberia, Russian Federation

Major Anatoly Gregory looked at the radar screen and saw that the large UFO was still
hovering Azamas 36, escorted by two smaller ones. The Il-76 Midas Airborne Early
Warning plane had detected his lift-off as they begun to approach the area, in doubt as a
response to the number of Russian Air Force fighters and bombers that were converging
into the area. He was in command of a flight of MiG-29K Fulcrum fighters and his job,
together with the other flights of MiG-31 and Su-27 interceptors was to clear a path for
the bombers to level the UFOs on the ground.
The air controller had already informed them that the plan would consist for the MiG-31
Foxhounds to launch their long-range R-33 or AA-9 missiles first, depending on the
Russian or NATO designation, which could attack targets at nearly one hundred miles.
According to the tactical briefing the intruders possessed a weapon that could engage and
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destroy planes at more than seventy miles away and all the pilots had been ordered to
perform evasive manoeuvres upon when they entered that range.
That had draw a serious of questions from all the pilots about what they were facing but
the General in charge had merely shrugged them off by telling that it was classified
information. Gregory had found it also strange that they would be using tactics normally
used at close range and seated on the cockpit of his MiG he hoped that the plane’s agility
would be enough.
The fighter he was flying was the latest version of the MiG-29 Fulcrum, designed by the
Soviet Union to be the counterpart of the US agile F-16 Fighting Falcon. All the
Fulcrums on his flight carried four R-27 medium range air-to-air missiles (AAMs) and
two smaller range R-73. It was his weapons mix that worried him the most. Unlike the
active range radar guided R-33s carried by the Foxhounds or the latest R-77 that were
equipping the Sukhois, his missiles needed in-flight guidance from his radar, which
severely limited his ability to launch missiles while dodging the enemy’s fire. In spite the
fact that his Fighter Regiment was a Guard unit and in name one of the best in Russia,
they had yet to see any of the latest R-77s.
The call from the air controller came to his headphones. “All flight leaders be advised:
we have detected a very large contact taking off the ground and positioning itself in front
of the other targets. Primary target is now that contact. MiG-31s start your attack runs”.
Still at more than 140 kilometers away from the contacts and flying on a clear sky with
few clouds at three thousand meter altitude, Gregory engaged the afterburner to use the
about to be released missile barrage in order to get closer and the rest of his flight
followed.
1305 Zulu, Azamas 36, Siberia, Russian Federation

Almost all of the X-Com personnel not presently on guard duty had gathered on the
main’s laboratory roof to see the results of the incoming aerial melee. While it was safer
to be waiting in a protected position, the Air Force had strict orders not to even overflow
the facility to minimize the risks of collateral damage to it.
When the very large UFO took off from the city, all the men looking at it through the
binoculars gasped in fear. That was for sure the largest alien craft ever reported and while
they couldn’t tell the details because of the distance it looked big enough to almost
occupy a city block. When it joined the other UFOs hovering the city Boronin could see
that it was almost the double of the ship the aliens used for their terror attacks.
Then, all of the sudden it started to vomit what seemed to be miniature suns because of
their brightness, which quickly disappeared into the horizon. Boronin turned to
Likhachev and asked: “What do you think is that?!” The other officer removed his
binoculars from his eyes and replied: “I don’t know sir, but I think the Air Force is about
to discover”.

The sudden acceleration saved the MiG-29 flight. Gregory suddenly saw an orange ball
coming in the horizon and his first thought was of how the Sun could be in that position.
But as it approached more and more until finally passing through he realized that
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something very wrong was happening. A shock wave suddenly scattered his flight of
planes and two of the MiG-29 would have collided into one another if not for one of the
pilot’s skills. He moved the control stick between his legs to regain control of his craft
and as he leveled it he immediately turned his body to follow whatever type of weapon
that was.
He was greeted with a wave of light that made him close his eyes. The alien weapon had
detonated close to one of the Su-27s producing a massive fireball that consumed the four
fighters in the flight in seconds leaving nothing behind except dark smoke. Other blacks
spots in the sky told that several of those missiles had been fired and a look to his radio
told him the terrible causalities that they had just suffered. Gregory immediately ordered
his flight to break formation and start evasive maneuvers and demanded explanations
from the air controller.
“What is going on? You told us that they would engage at seventy kilometers, not one
hundred and twenty!” The officer ignored those and other questions by simply ordering
the remaining MiG-31s to fire and all the other fighters to make their intercept runs.
Gregory thought of telling him to go to hell and call back the mission but he knew better.
Someone had screwed up big time here and if they didn’t managed to complete the job he
would also be blamed for it. He keyed the radio button on his left side thrust control
stick”.
“Knife flight we have been ordered to proceed. Good luck and let’s hope that we won’t
meet in hell”. Time to go to business”.

As the first R-33 long range missiles launched by the remaining MiG-31 flights started to
close into their target, the sky over the around the research facility become quickly filled
with while trails marking the missiles flight paths. But more terrifying was the vision of
the sky over the city.
The guided missiles started to impact upon the UFO, creating big fireballs in the sky and
filling the air with smoke that obscured the craft and made it disappear to the X-Com
troopers. They all kept looking it hope, but when plasma beams started to penetrate the
smoke curtain and head out to the distance, together with the mini suns they had seen
before, the team knew that the UFO was still flying had not survived but was waging a
powerful counter-attack. The minutes went by as they kept waiting, still thinking that
there might be a chance.

The MiG-29 that Major Gregory was flying rocked again as another of the enemy’s
powerful missiles exploded on the air and took one of the fighters on his flight. Half the
planes under his command had been already shot down, with the first one falling through
the use of sort of energy weapon.
And pretty soon the bombers would start their attack runs. Would they, Gregory
wondered in fear? His radar told him that few fighters remained airborne and so far the
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missile impacts on the enemy didn’t had any visible effect with the four contacts still
airborne. Wait! The large plane had just started moving, in no doubt to deal with the
remaining planes.
Major Gregory almost went to panic, realizing that they had no chance against both
targets. He was sure of what would happen to him when if he managed to return to the
base, but at least he would be still alive. Taking his fighter to a heavy-g pull to the left he
disengaged and straightened his plane at the opposite direction, performing some dodging
turns as he withdrew at full afterburner. No word come from his wingman, so Gregory
assumed that he either was already killed or had decided to follow him.
When he looked on the radar to seek for him a most fearful sight made him shudder on
the cockpit. The second UFO was pursuing him and despite that his MiG-29 was flying at
more than Mach 1.5 the craft more than doubled it. What are those things, his mind trying
to come up with a logical explanation until finally a plasma beam put an end to any more
thoughts.

As the minutes went by over the scheduled time for the bombers to make their attack,
Gerasimov started wondering what had happened as he was lying upon the ground. The
team was waiting until it was finished to prevent being hit by a stray bomb or missile, but
there were no explosions or shock waves coming through the ground from the city. He
decided that the air strike hadn’t been successful some unknown reason and ordered both
his squads to start heading again for the weapon bunker. They had already wasted too
much time in the same area taking cover from the supposed bombardment.

After the failed aerial attack the team guard the laboratories prepared for the hours long
wait until the Russian forces would arrive, if they ever arrive, Boronin had told himself
but had hidden these thoughts from the his men and officers. He had immediately set
sentry stations when the team had reached the facility to keep an eye on possible alien
patrols, and a pair of X-Com troopers were outside the main laboratory’s entrance hidden
from view and looking for possible hostiles. The facility had a triangular disposition, with
a main rectangular building to where the road from the military garrison ended. On both
his sides there were two sets of smaller buildings, with testing and manufacturing roles
along with the administrative offices. The Russian team couldn’t possibly have the
manpower to defend the whole complex, so they had concentrated their efforts on the
main building. They had combed the whole installation but had found no scientists
around. It wasn’t logical to expect that many people since the alien attack had been at
night when most of the personnel would be sleeping on their homes at the city but there
had been hope that there might be survivors inside. The Sun was still high in the Siberian
landscape, although clouds were obscuring it more often.
Both troopers had taken position in the remains of a security checkpoint outside the
building and one of them was scanning the area around with a pair of binoculars. At least
the ground was clear for many miles, with the exception of an area one kilometer to the
southeast that had large bushes and small trees. Still, if someone trying to approach the
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facility from there it would have to go over a large distance of open ground with almost
no cover.
The X-Com squaddie suddenly noticed some movement in that area. He saw a dark spot
suddenly disappearing and decided to warn his comrade. “Vanya, see if pick anything at
2 o’clock”. The other trooper turned on his left side.
“I got it. There’s something moving over there and terribly fast at it”.
“I’m gonna warn the Colonel. It seems they have found us”.
Boronin had set up his command post in one of the larger laboratories inside the building.
The aliens didn’t have time to blow up the installation or didn’t know the value of it,
since everything was pretty much intact. Consulting his watch he saw that the first
Russian forces would be arriving in a bit less than four hours. Most of the men who were
not on watch were there also, looking anxiously around and trying to rest. Gerasimov had
reported no trouble on getting to the laser, but he wanted that the Major finally completed
sweeping the place and headed back. He hoped that nothing happened but he had the
Skyrangers at fifteen minutes distance if necessary.
The radio came up and he felt afraid. “Command, this is Front. There’s an alien
approaching the perimeter fast!”
Boronin froze for a moment. The Snakemen they had encountered before couldn’t move
at a big speed. What the hell was approaching then? “What type of alien?”
“Some sort of big insect sir! What do you want us to do?”
“If he gets too close take him down. Let’s try to conceal our presence. Maybe it will go
away”. The voice on the under side didn’t seemed too happy about the whole situation.
“Very well sir”.
1407 Zulu
Major Gerasimov and his men had just reached the laser facility to found it in ruins. They
had taken more than an hour and a half to across the three-kilometer distance that
separated the research facility to get to the bunker, due to a detour they had to take to
avoid getting too close to the city and all of that for nothing he cursed.
The aliens apparently had used some sort of explosive with great destructiveness, since
parts of the concrete thick walls had collapsed to the inside of the bunker. And the upper
head doors had been also blown and laid mangled on the outside. Going inside they found
that the weapon itself had been completely destroyed. Again, no bodies had been found
although there were also signs of a struggle, with now dry blood patches on the floor,
spent cartridges and burned signs of where the aliens weapon’s had hit the walls and
equipment.
By luck or whatever the reason they hadn’t found any aliens on their way here. But as
Gerasimov stood on the middle of the large chamber that once housed the particle beam
he felt the urge to get back. One trooper, wearing the triple chevrons under an X sign
painted black on his chest’s body armor and carrying a Mark IX Heavy Laser come up to
him and said:
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“We are checking the remaining of the bunker. Should be done in ten minutes or so”.
“Get it done Sergeant. Being here is getting me nervous”.
“Couldn’t the Colonel send one of the ‘Rangers to come and pick us up?” The NCO
looked nervous and Gerasimov noticed that his heart was also beginning to race.
“Aleksander, he doesn’t want to draw attention to his position and he’s right. If they get
us before the Red Army arrives we are dead meat”. The Sergeant shook his head, put the
laser on his shoulders behind his head and went back to the process of checking the
troops.
1409 Zulu
Both sentinels in the south facing front entrance of the massive building kept watching
the alien form. It was bipedal and had a close to black oily color. It also seemed to have
upper limbs but it wasn’t carrying any type of weapon that they could see. The troopers
had their laser rifles trained at it from more than 500 meters away but they were waiting
to see if it would leave them alone.
The alien kept approaching in facility engaging in small bursts and stopping for some
seconds. But when it was near two hundred meters from the ruined guard post it suddenly
raised itself completely and waved his arms over his head. Both troopers become startled
by the sight of its massive claws. They took a moment to respond to the fact that it then
begun to run directly at their position taking few seconds to cover more than fifty meters
of terrain.
Both X-Com troopers immediately started to fire back at him. The alien covered more 50
meters of terrain until the first shots hit him. The two laser bursts hit it, one in the torso
and another at the pink flesh where the lower limb connected to the upper part of his
body, but they didn’t even made it run slower. More golden laser fire came into his
direction but still it didn’t go down. It keeping running, waving his arms and having his
insectoid face, which the soldiers now could see, that was surrounded by two antennae
that came emerged from its shoulders.
When it was about ten meters from the X-Com troopers it finally took a hit on his chest
that made it stagger. It released a high tone shriek that almost made the soldiers go into
panic as it finally fell on the ground dead, with its belly open and releasing violet and
green entrails. Neither of the squaddies moved or said anything for a minute. Only the
noise of the main lab’s doors being opened on their back alerted them. They immediately
turned and pointed their rifles.
Colonel Boronin and the rest of the men who come to investigate the source of all the
noise took cover and shouted: “It’s us you idiots! What is going on here? We heard the
shots and tried to raise you on the radio but you didn’t answer” One of the troopers
composed himself and said: “Colonel, the Devil has arrived!” Boronin got out of cover
and went by the guard position, saying: “What do you mean?”
“That!” And the X-Com squaddie pointed towards the dead alien on the ground five
meters away from them. “It needed five or six shots to come down. And it made nearly
one hundred meters in a few seconds”.
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Boronin carefully approached the corpse, followed by Captain Likhachev and other
troopers. It was releasing a foul stench, worse than sulphur, from its open entrails where
violet and white organs or whatever they were could be seen covered with a green liquid.
“Get a body bag,” Boronin ordered “another thing for the lab rats to analyze”. Two of the
men immediately went back inside. “And the rest of us let’s get out of sight”.
As the soldiers were getting inside the entrance hall they stopped on their feet and turned.
Across the horizon inhuman shrieks could be heard. Boronin suddenly become extremely
afraid. Likhachev turned to him and said. “Colonel, I guess they all know where we are!”
1431 Zulu
On the other side of Azamas 36, at the now-destroyed bunker, Private Maleev and
Corporal Belov were finishing their sweep an underground area full of storage rooms, all
joined by a central corridor that connected to the laser bunker by a stairwell on one end.
The whole cellar was in the dark and they were wearing night vision goggles. Both
troopers were walking down in the middle of main corridor when Maleev suddenly saw a
green figure in front of him running from one room to the other in front. He raised his
laser rifle but was stopped by Belov who put his arm on his shoulder and said: “It’s a
human”. The Corporal moved forwards and said: “Whoever is out there, we are Russian
Army rescue soldiers. You can come out we won’t harm you”.
Maleev saw a head looking out of a metal door, the goggles giving it a greenish hue. It
was a civilian young woman with long hair. She shouted in fear: “The monsters are
gone?”
“There are no monsters around, madam. This facility has been hit by a terrorist attack”.
No doubt the woman had seen already too many of them to believe that story but Belov
decided to stick to it for the time being. She came out completely into the corridor and the
Corporal lit his flashlight and pointed at both troopers to show her that they were human.
She run into their direction and hugged Belov who become too startled to respond.
“Thank God you come. They killed everybody!” And she started sobbing on the armour
plates on his shoulder. Belov tried to calm her down and brought her close to the
stairwell. He turned to Maleev and said: “Go tell the Major we got a survivor here”. As
the other trooper went up the stair he turned to the woman: “You are safe now. You are
you and what has happened?”
“The monsters came in the middle of the night. My husband and me used to work here
until they destroyed it, in the optics department. It wasn’t my shift so I was at my home
sleeping with my children while my husband was working at work. Their machines came
and landed and released the demons. The serpents and the crabs that make you one of
them. They started killing everyone on sight and searching over the city’s buildings. We
managed to hide until now but I have never seen my husband again”. She lowered her
head started crying again. Belov grabbed her on the shoulders and tried to get her back to
reality.
“Don’t think about him now. Where are you children?” She whispered in the middle of
her sobs. “Dead also. Two days I went outside the basement that we were using to hide in
the city to try to get us some food. When I came back I saw them carrying my little
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Victor and Tatyana away on their hands. They were already dead. Since then I come here,
waiting to die”.
“You won’t die now! You are safe with us”. She raised her head and asked: “Are the
monsters gone? Have you killed them all yet?”
“More forces will be arriving in hours to take care of the aliens. For now we are going to
move to a safer location”. She turned her head in a negative way and said in despair: “No.
We will all die”. He just looked at her for a moment and then went to the process of
getting his platoon ready to move.
Gerasimov and his men were preparing to leave when his radioman come up to him with
a microphone and headset on his hands, connected to his backpack. “A call from the
Colonel, Major”. He took both devices and put them on. Clicking on the transmit button
he spoke: “Gerasimov here, over”.
“Major, we are getting reports of movement all over us. The aliens might be surrounding
us and preparing for a full assault. Keep your position there. If things get ugly I will call
for the Skyrangers and we will pick you up on our way out of here”.
“Let’s just get out of here Colonel. Call the Skyrangers and let’s leave this place. We
have retrieved a survivor and she told us some nasty stuff about some new type of alien”.
“We have killed one of it. Tell your men to watch out. It doesn’t carry weapons, but it’s
fast and tough”.
“Another reason for us to get out of here now before we are trapped”. Gerasimov waited
for an answer but it didn’t come back. He clicked on the button again: “Colonel, did you
heard my last message?” Only silence responded. “Colonel, are you there?”
1517 Zulu
Boronin had just heard autocannon fire coming from the West side and was making
queries on the short-range radio. “First squad, what is going on there?”
A stressed voice came to him from the one of the troopers who were placed on the roof.
“They are coming sir. Dozens of Snakes and the other things!”
“Second Squad give some assistance on that side! Fourth and Fifth get ready for alien
attack!”
“Fifth here. We are also picking movement of a large enemy force in front of us”.
Likhachev voice then added. “By the look of it I don’t think also that we can hold out the
two remaining hours until the reinforcements arrive. We should go Colonel”.
Boronin become confused and not knowing what to do. Help was only two hours away
and with it they could properly defend the facility. On the other hand, they had planning
on encountering either Sectoids or Floaters, not two new species of aliens more deadly
than the previous ones. He thought of the central patio area that the main laboratory
building had. The Skyrangers could probably land there and if they couldn’t defend the
facility they would fall back and get out from there. He spoke in the microphone. “All
squads hold out. Keep in touch and open fire at maximum range”. Then he got back to
the radio: “Gerasimov, I’m calling the Skyrangers. If we fail to stop them we will board
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them and pick you up. If we stall the attack I will send one afterwards to bring you back
to here”.
“Very well Colonel, good luck”.
The two troopers at the remains of the guard station had pulled up closer to the entrance
of the building when the alien wave had started its assault and joined the rest of their
squad in firing positions from the ground level doors and windows. Already they had
managed to kill the leading black aliens, leaving five burned up carcasses on the ground.
But more were coming by the second and was nearly impossible to target all of them.
Corporal Shadrin spoke a prayer and took aim at the nearest alien. The devilish alien had
already taken a well-placed hit on his arm that had severed it away from the rest of his
body but it still kept coming fast only forty meters away. Two others were behind it.
Shadrin put his weapon into full autofire mode and sprayed the leading alien with laser
fire, with his partner doing the same on the alien on the right of them. The insectoid thing
took three direct hits and finally dropped down.
But Shadrin suddenly saw that the other one on the right had reached their position. As he
looked he saw it jumping over the trooper on his side and landing on top of him. The X-
Com squaddie jerked from the impact but quickly started clubbing it on the head and
shouting: “Get it off me!”
Shadrin was about to help when the trooper suddenly spasmed on the ground and started
foaming from his mouth, his eyes open wide and lifeless. “No!” He shouted and got on
his knees, trying to bring his rifle into line with the monster, but the remaining alien on
the left side finally reached his position. One of its claws come down on the weapon and
cleanly cut the barrel of the laser weapon into two pieces, one falling on the ground and
the other still on his hand. He dropped it and tried to run but the alien got itself on front
of him.
The alien’s eyes didn’t have any expression Shadrin saw, just two globes staring at him.
He looked down and saw what seemed to be an appendage coming out of the alien
straight at him. Then there was a great pain on his belly and he stopped thinking for good.
His higher brain functions were suddenly overridden and Shadrin ceased to exist as an
individual.
1525 Zulu
Captain Likhachev was covering the North side, together with four other troopers, all
deployed around the first floor’s windows. There were no other constructions between
them and the aliens who had been approaching the facility first on an organized fashion,
with scores of aliens taking cover while moving in a ragged line against the now pink
sky.
Then all hell had broken loose. The black aliens had suddenly started to run towards the
lab and the Snakemen had started firing their plasma weapons, using damn effective
suppressive fire. All over the defensive positions the X-Com soldiers started to respond
with laser, autocannon and rocket launcher fire but the Sun was starting to set down right
in front of the X-Com squads and it made their aim difficult. Nevertheless several of the
aliens were brought down in the first salvo.
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The Russian captain got up and changed his position, taking cover beneath another still
intact glass window. Spotting one of the crab aliens two hundred meters away from the
building, he aimed his heavy laser at it and fired a two shots, one right after the other.
The first one hit it right on the head and the second one missed, but the alien made
another of those screams that cooled your soul and went to the ground.
He got back into cover and decided to move to another firing location. But as he was
crouching underneath the windows, suddenly he heard a whining noise coming from the
distance. It lasted for one second and afterwards he found himself in a world of pain on
his back and laying in the ground. His ears were ringing but he couldn’t listen to anything
else. Looking back he saw the reason.
The area of the corridor where he was standing didn’t exist anyone and on its place there
was a huge hole on the wall, made by a powerful explosion that had took also the roof
and the floor, together with a piece of the room behind the corridor. The fact that he
didn’t remember hearing the explosion told him how big it was since his ears had stopped
sending information to the brain.
He took a look outside to try to see who had fired. At the distance he could see one of the
Snakemen carrying some sort of large tube. He frantically tried to get the mike control
and when he reached he spoke: “Attention everyone! The aliens have some sort of new
weapon highly destructive! Don’t stay too long on one spot!” As he spoke alien fired
again. Even with the projectile moving at near the speed of sound he saw the glimpse of
what seemed to a gray football flying on the air and going to his right. The door at the
end of the corridor suddenly exploded in smoke and flame and he still felt the blast
although he was twenty meters away. Then he realized that one of his men was there.
“Andianov? Do you copy? Answer me!” Only silence responded him.
Likhachev looked by the window again. The Snakemen seemed to be reloading the
weapon. He searched in the ground for his heavy laser and found it a few meters away
from him. Checking to see if it was functional he then aimed and fired to the direction of
the alien. The first shot missed badly to the left of the alien and he corrected his aim,
releasing two lines of white light that hit the alien and his weapon. The creature jerked
and dropped to the ground. Likhachev saw them that another of the black insectoids had
nearly come to the building. He aimed and killed it also, after it had taken three direct
hits.
Then another fizzing sound was heard at the distance and Likhachev realized that he had
forgot to follow his own advice. “Stupidity kills you”, he thought and then he
immediately died, his body being torn into millions of tiny pieces by the power of the
Elerium blast.
1532 Zulu
In the command post area there was only now Colonel Boronin and the troop carrying the
radio. The Colonel was starting to feel desperate. The aliens were attacking from three
sides at the same time and even the guard at the West side had reported some alien
movement. They were surrounded.
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“Skyranger Flight what is your status, over?” The pilot on one of the planes replied him.
“ETA seven minutes. We are getting some anti-aircraft fire but we are flying too fast for
it to be effective”.
“There’s a central patio on the main building. You should be able to land there one at the
time. Watch out for the aliens attacking…” The noise coming from the south door
opening made him stop. An X-Com trooper walked inside or, more correctly stumbled
inside, his front armor torn and bleeding from his belly. The squaddie expression was
more of a living dead, with the eyes opened as if it was experiencing terrible pain.
Boronin and the other trooper become shocked at the sight.
“Petya? What has happened? How is the main entrance?” He approached the trooper,
looking for any possible aliens that might be about to burst into the room. The wounded
soldier didn’t respond. Instead, when he reached his commanding officer he immediately
threw him a jab that nearly broke the Colonel’s jaw and made him loose several teeth.
Boronin almost went down to the ground but managed to keep on his feet. The radioman
got his laser pistol out of its holster and fired at the soldier, as he seemed about to press
his attack on the Colonel. Three shots hit him and he slowly dropped to his knees.
The trooper had to be dead; Boronin thought but instead his body started jerking. The
man threw his head back in agony and opened his mouth as if to scream but no sound
came, only a fountain of blood. Instead, his shoulders ripped opened and two small alien
claws came from inside the human flesh, followed by alien limbs. The radioman wavered
and Boronin almost threw up.
The trooper’s torso exploded and Boronin saw the man’s rib cage wide open. And from
the inside of the now dead body, the head carapace of one of the dark gray aliens begun
to emerge, with the claws already outside cutting through the flesh. A series of final
slashes released completely the alien, the human flesh and bones falling on the ground
and leaving the thing standing up in front of Boronin. It was smaller than the other they
had killed before but Boronin swore than it was growing up, that he could see it.
A series of laser shots from the other squaddie in the room hit it and it died, but not
without first releasing the death shriek they had heard before. “Colonel….? What has
happened? What have I done?” Insanity went over Boronin’s head at the gruesome sight
but he managed to regain control after some seconds. “Let’s get out of here to the central
patio now!” The trooper snapped upon hearing the orders, like his training told him to do
and both men started running in the direction of the landing zone.
“Everyone fall back! We are being overrun, south section! Regroup at the central patio!
The Skyranger is two minutes away! Likhachev do you hear me?” Another voice than the
Captain replied him: “Sir, this is Sergeant Zhdanovich, the Captain is dead! The
remaining members of my squad are pulling out now!” Boronin winced almost stopped
his run upon hearing that. Not Likhachev! Damn!
As the research facility was being overrun by the aliens, Gerasimov and his men, together
with the survivor, were waiting in the large area that once housed the firing mechanism of
the particle beam weapon and getting more anxious by the minute. He had spotters on the
roof to check for the Skyranger’s arrival or alien activity nearby the wrecked bunker. The
retrieval planes would be here in ten minutes or more, depending on the time they would
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take to pick up the other team, but it seemed too long. A call on his radio told him that it
just might be the case.
“Major, Maleev here. Large alien forces are approaching the bunker from all directions.
They seem to know we are here since they are about to charge. What are we going to do
sir?” Gerasimov immediately knew their fate. They would never manage to hold out
enough to secure a landing zone for the Skyrangers to land and they might even not be
able to resist long enough for them to arrive. The Colonel would have to land in the
middle of the alien offensive. She turned to the woman who seemed to understand that
something terrible was about to happen.
“Madam I’m sorry. We promised to bring you to safety but we failed. Take this”. He
brought his laser pistol out of his holster and presented it to her. “From what you have
told us to fall alive into their hands could be even a worse fate than the one that waits us”.
She started shaking but took the pistol and grabbed it with both hands.
Getting on the radio again he spoke: “Third and Six squads, this is it. We are trapped here
and it is too dangerous for them to try to rescue us, even if they got here on time. Let’s
just take a few of them down before we go. It was nice knowing all of you and having
you under my command”. Taking a deep breath he continued: “this is what gives
meaning to all our lives. Let’s all see one another on the other side. Major Gerasimov
out”. The rest of the X-Com troopers on the room stood quietly on the room for a
moment and then all men went to take defensive positions.
1535 Zulu
After taking a left turn at an intersection Boronin suddenly saw a Snakeman at the East
end of the corridor where he was now standing, carrying a strange looking weapon with a
large end. He suddenly remembered the warning about the new alien weapon and quickly
tried to get some cover, but the alien fired first.
The projective overflew him and hit the roof behind Boronin, but instead of the massive
explosion he was expecting a cold wave went by him, almost making him passing out. He
shook his head to try to clear it out of the feeling of unconsciousness that threatened to
overcome him and fired his laser. The shots killed the alien as it was trying to reload the
weapon. Looking behind him, Boronin saw that his radioman was lying on the ground,
motionless. He dropped to his knees and checked him, finding out that he had a pulse and
no major injuries. Grabbing the unconscious body he placed it over his left shoulder and
lift him up, starting again to head back towards the central patio.
After a series of corridors and turns he finally found the glass doors that led into the
place. A well-placed kick opened the exit doors and he jumped inside, finding that some
of his men had already arrived. The central patio was a perfect square with every side
taking about some ninety meters. The whine of the Skyranger’s engines was deafening
and he shouted out for his orders to be heard: “Clear the central area until they land!”
As he waited holding the unconscious trooper he noticed that most men were missing.
Out of the original twenty men that had stayed guarding the facility less than a dozen
remained, including him. Suddenly the gray sky on top of him became filled with the
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figure of one of the Skyranger’s fuselage. It hang itself there at fifty meters from the
ground started slowly to come down, its landing gear already down when Boronin hear a
whining sound.
The Skyranger suddenly exploded on the air, spreading burning jet fuel all over this
section of the patio and the blast throwing Boronin down to the floor while the wreckage
crashed thirty meters away from him.
The shock wave also shook the descent of the other Skyranger but the pilot managed to
keep the aircraft from hitting the ground or the walls as it continued descending. Boronin
raised himself and saw that the trooper he was carrying was still alive in spite of being hit
by some of the burning rocket fuel. The material had also covered his arms and legs but
he had managed to put it down before it overheated the armor that covered his limbs. But
he seemed to have taken a nasty fall right on his hip because it was hurting as hell.
The surviving Skyranger had managed to land and avoid the fires and wreckage that now
littered the patio, with all X-Com men converging on it. Since Boronin was at the other
end he was the last to reach it. As he came closer to the ramp, the men kept telling him to
hurry up and moved over to get the unconscious soldier off his load. He turned to one of
them and asked: “Are we all here?”
“No one from South has appeared. All other surviving men managed to get here”.
“Let’s get out them, before they figure how to send another of those blasts right inside!”
The trooper moved up to the cockpit while Boronin started to bring the Skyranger’s ramp
up. As he feared another blast hit one of the walls, throwing away concrete and steel and
leaving a huge hole on it, exposing an office. He shouted to the front of the craft: “Tell
the pilot to hurry up and head out for the laser bunker!”
When the Skyranger suddenly went up he lost his balance and fell on the ground,
deciding to keep himself there until the pilot stabilized the craft. He looking around he
saw that most his remaining men had managed to get to seats and put on the restraining
harnesses. The movement gave him the impression of going up of a very fast elevator.
After some seconds it stopped but the inertia continued to pull him up for a second, the
gravity making him drop again on the metal floor afterwards. He got up in pain and went
forward to the cockpit.
The pilot had stabilized the plane at a low altitude and was going through the alien’s
lines. A few plasma blasts occasionally thumped the craft but the Skyrangers had fitted
with alien alloys protection ever since the Moroccan fight. Boronin grabbed a spare
communications gear and connected it. Choosing Gerasimov’s frequency he hit the
transmit button.
“Gerasimov, are you still there? We are coming for you this minute!” The response came
after some seconds, in the middle of heavy static.
“Colonel! I’m glad to hear that one of us will escape. I’m sorry…” static came to the
channel “…roblems with the radio…operator has been killed”.
“What is your status?”
“We are…..dead. All of us. We can’t….much more. Turn back….die coming for us.
Goodbye sir”
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“Gerasimov! Answer back! Gerasimov!” No one on the other side answered. He waited
for some more seconds and tapped the pilot on the shoulder. “What sir?”
“Head out for the nearest Russian Army outpost. Major Gerasimov told me that they are
behind any help”. And Boronin placed back the headset and went back to the cargo area
trying to think about the disaster that he was responsible to and to mourn his men.
1541 Zulu
Major Gerasimov threw away the microphone of the radio to the center of the bunker’s
main area. He was close to a wall lying on top of the pack that contained the now dead
electronic device, with the other hand trying to contain the bleeding from a plasma hit on
the leg, taken while trying to hold the aliens outside. He had crawled back inside and had
an armed grenade on his hand hoping to take out an alien with him.
He could still hear laser fire which told him that the aliens didn’t get yet all of his men.
Suddenly he saw movement and prepared the grenade. The woman who had survived
came out behind a wrecked piece of machinery and came near him. “I heard what you
said on the radio. But I can’t do it myself”.
Gerasimov looked up at her and at the laser pistol she was holding out to him. A human
scream came from outside. He realized she still didn’t want to be taken alive and was
asking a favour. I’m a killer, I’ve been trained all my life to be one, he thought. At least
this time I use my skill to do something right. He took the pistol away from her hands and
pointed it to her forehead. She nodded and closed her eyes. Another scream at the
distance, but this time it prolonged itself for a few more seconds. He pressed the trigger.
He saw her body immediately falling down and he dropped the pistol also. A good shot.
One of the aliens entered the large room and he recognized it from the description she
had made to them about the dark demons. It saw Gerasimov and after a moment it sensed
that the human wasn’t a threat, quickly moving on his direction. Upon it reaching him it
was about to lower itself, the ovipositor already coming out of his body when the Major
smiled, showed it the armed grenade and said: “Next time try to fuck someone else”. And
then Major Gerasimov, late of the Red Army and commander of Second Platoon, Russian
X-Com team died in a flash of light and fire.
1549 Zulu
“Colonel?” Boronin lifted his head and saw one of the surviving troopers of his command
handing him a small shot glass full of a clear liquid. “It’s time to honor them, sir”. He
closed his eyes but his hands went for the glass, grabbing it and taking it away from the
soldier’s hand. “To the dead and to the living” He spoke and afterwards donned the
vodka in one gulp, the alcohol burning down his throat. Boronin then smashed the glass
into the metal railing of the Skyranger’s floor and went back to his thoughts. One by one,
the men in the compartment did the same.
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Chapter Twelve – The Eye of the Storm
July 19th, 1999
News of the attack on Azamas 36 was already starting to come out to X-Com’s
headquarters and they weren’t comforting to hear to the leaders of the force.
After the failed attempt by the Russian X-Com team to defend the research facilities, the
Red Army was now preparing to take things into its own hands and make a full frontal
assault using several armored divisions. All across Russia military units were racing to
position themselves along with fleets of bombers and fighters. And meanwhile the whole
High Command of X-Com had been assembled online, together with Dr. Chevereux, to
discuss the gravity of the situation.
The image of the white haired French scientist scowled a second in disbelief as he
finished hearing the presentation that was being made. “Finally, the other races of aliens
involved, previously unseen. This Snakemen are formidable fighters and are more
resistant and better protected than either the Sectoids or the Floaters, although they seem
to be slower than humans. Our scientists have just finished dissecting one of the bodies
we managed retrieve and bring back. From what I’m told, they carry up to fifty eggs
inside of them and it appears their metabolism and reproductive system is very efficient
and fast”.
Illyuschenko was also present in the same room as the scientist but instead of looking at
him he was facing the computer-generated image of Colonel Boronin at the electronic
screen and picturing the horrors that the Russian team had encountered. Hearing this, I
wonder how Gennadi and the other survivors managed to get back alive. Colonel’s
Boronin mouth was a gruesome sight. Several front teeth were missing from the hit he
had taken from the zombie trooper and his face was covered with band-aids for the small
injuries he had taken when the Skyranger had exploded. His armor had protected his head
from most of the falling debris but the plates couldn’t cover everything.
“And the second type of aliens that you have encountered? Your initial communications
were quite unbelievable, I must say”. The scientific commander of X-Com had
immediately waved off the idea that a living organism could have such a quick
metabolism but his sense told him otherwise when it came to the biological abilities of
the aliens.
“Dr. Chevereux, I’ve seen them with my own eyes, those slick dark beasts, as they
attacked my team and civilians. They are parasites or whatever you choose to call them.
They infect humans with some sort of egg that takes over the unlucky individual and
quickly grows and transforms itself into another monster”.
“And destroying its human cocoon on the process, like a chrysalis that transforms itself
into a butterfly, if I recall the first report correctly”.
“Yes I do believe that is the word in English. I will have the specimens we managed to
collect shipped to you as fast as I can, for you to do a more detailed scan”.
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“Very well”. The scientist finally conceded. “All textbooks say that such cell
multiplication rate that is impossible but I’ve learned better. We’ll be waiting for them”.
“Very well, Colonel Boronin. What’s your team status?” Illyuschenko didn’t know what
to do with the feeling of hopelessness that he was feeling.
Boronin’s face had still dry blood on it. “Four squads completely decimated sir. We even
had to shoot some of our own men after they transformed themselves into monsters.
These things are terrible and fast sir. Somehow by the work of the Devil they either cut us
to pieces or transform whomever meets their embrace into one of them!”
“You told us that the Red Army has taken control of the situation. Have you told them of
our availability to provide with more forces to deal with this attack?”
“Sir, I just got word from President Larianov. He is furious about our failure and has
refused any further help from us. He even warned that any X-Com forces near the area
will not be allowed to get into combat and made a disguised threat that we might be shot
at. I guess we didn’t make a good impression, General”. He sank his head in defeat.
“Not your fault, Boronin”. Whose, then? “No one could have predicted this or the
decisions our country has taken or the aliens’ response. Question now is what we do”.
Yes, what other exit is there?
“Commander, I must demand that something is done at once!” Dr. Chevereux had both
the touch of urgency and assertiveness on his voice.
“Doctor, my country’s forces are preparing to deal with this. We can’t do anything else
right now!”
“You don’t understand, so I will try to explain it simply. My staff have been going
through the few data available from the capabilities of that weapon and, more important,
over the technology it uses. Bottom line is, like the Americans say, we need to save the
research made by the now dead scientists there. To make sure that their work wasn’t in
vain!”
Illyuschenko and the other officers present in the room looked at the scientist in
confusion. “What are you speaking of?”
“We have come to the conclusion that their work on the ionized particle weapon, and
more specifically on the electromagnetic fields necessary to contain and direct the beam
is the missing part on our weapons research. It took us too long to come up with that
conclusion and to verify it, unfortunately. But we now know that if it’s lost we might
never know how to build plasma weapons and use Elerium power until it’s too late!”
“But the laser and the research facility has been already destroyed by the aliens and the
scientists killed. You have seen the battlefield report from Colonel Boronin and the
satellite pictures taken afterwards. It’s already lost!”
“No it isn’t. Usual research procedures say that there must be always back-up files,
regularly updated and stored at a different location to prevent for accidental loss of data
on the main computer. We need to go there and get the research they have done.
Afterwards we can interpret it and use it to start using Elerium as an energy source. I
can’t even speculate with the amount of things that will be possible!”
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“In any case, I can’t do anything, Doctor. The Russian government has told that the area
is off-limits to our personnel. We can only hope that the Red Army is successful in
defeating the aliens on the ground and the data won’t be lost. For now we can only wait
and hope that they will recover it”.
July 26th, 1999

Outside Azamas 36, Russian Federation
Igor Stavkov, Senior Sergeant in command of a T-90 tank platoon couldn’t believe what
was happening. In the last days the entire division had been ordered to move as quickly
as possible to Siberia. They had mounted the available tanks and vehicles up rail cargo
transporters and had ridden on them for thousands of miles until finally disembarking
into a huge military camp that had kept growing larger everyday as more men, vehicles
and attack helicopters arrived Stavkov and his men couldn’t imagine what sort of
exercise was this. Then they become concerned that it might not be an exercise and on
that case, what sort of threat could it be that required that much firepower?
The answer had came up some hours ago in the morning as the captain in charge of the
company had returned from a staff meeting, badly shaken. They were about to attack and
regain control of the city that was some twenty kilometers away and had been taken over
by hostile forces. All the men had expected this to be the work of Chechen terrorists. But
the true nature of the enemy came to all as a shock: extraterrestrials. Some of the men had
prayed upon hearing that word and even his tank’s gunner had kept a grim silence when
making the final preparations for battle.
Now, two of the Division’s brigades had massed together and started attacking the
outskirts of the city with the last brigade waiting to exploit a breakthrough in the aliens’
lines. But more than a kilometer away from the city the aliens had started to snipe at the
company’s tanks, their deadly weapons releasing green bolts of fire that opened large
holes in the frontal armor of the tanks and killing the occupants inside or blowing off
tracks and stopping the tank.
The Captain in charge of the company had been one of the first to die, some of the
crewmen managing to get off the tank screaming of the burns they had suffered until a
plasma bolt or machine gun fire would mercifully cut them down. With him gone,
command stepped down to the Lieutenant, who Stavkov knew to be too damn young and
inexperienced for the role. However he tended to ask and rely on Stavkov’s advice. At
least the young officer knew its limitations.
The BMP-3 Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicles and BTR-80 Armored Personnel
Carriers that transported the foot soldiers attached to his brigade weren’t doing also much
better. They just blew up whenever hit by one of the enemy’s weapons, the plasma
cutting through the light armor and igniting the ammunition and fuel inside at the same
time that killed all the men on board. And it was hard to hit the monsters with the 125-
milimeter cannon the tank carried. They were always on the move and the turret couldn’t
track them fast enough to fire. However the company was giving almost as much as it
was receiving, and the battlefield there were also the bodies of orange colored aliens with
a shape that reminded the Sergeant of serpents. But the advance was being too costly.
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Stavkov was considering his tactical options when his radio stared speaking: “Battalion
command here. We have a breach on enemy lines! All units charge to enlarge it!” That’s
it, Stavkov thought and reached for his unit’s radio channel. “Platoon, charge out at full
speed! We have a breach!” The driver of the tank immediately pressed the accelerator
and the metal tracks started to move faster, driving the crew into a series of bumps as it
went over the terrain.
The monster’s fire is slowing down, Stavkov noticed. Good, they are on the run. If we
can just now move the reserve troops on time to exploit the breach…The wind had
changed and they were now going into the middle of the battle fog, in part created by the
smoke launchers mounted on the turrets of the Russian tanks, moving towards a group of
small hills. Looking around the turret through the portholes he could see that what
remained of his armored company was charging into the alien’s positions, which seemed
to be in full retreat, together with the mechanized infantry.
Then he started noticing black figures moving through the fog in front, almost too fast to
be noticed. “What the hell? Full stop! We are being counterattacked! Gunner, open fire at
once!” The man in charge of the tank’s main weapon started looking for a possible target
and found one. Seeing a group of Snakemen on top of the hill, he lined up the barrel at
their direction and pressed the trigger. Unfortunately, the movement took too long and
the aliens had already left the position when the High Explosive charge hit the ground,
blasting and throwing earth and pebbles in a radius of several meters.
After the weapon had fired, filling the crew compartment with noise and smoke, Stavkov
suddenly noticed that the APC that was accompanying the tank on his left was being
surrounded by the black crab figures coming out of the fog. A machine-gun burst from
one of the personnel carriers hit one of them but it merely shrugged it off and kept
advancing. When it reached the APC it raised one of its oily black limbs. It had a massive
claw on it and when he slashed it over the side vehicle, it cut through the armor and the
tire like if it was a knife going through warm butter.
Time seemed to stop for Stavkov as he saw through the viewport the APC stopping as the
thing kept striking at it, hitting the occupants inside, each time the claw drawing more
blood on it. The back doors opened and some of the soldiers managed to get out. One of
them raised its AK-74 assault rifle at the aliens and let go of a full burst. The black
monster didn’t even bother to notice the hail of bullets that ricocheted off his body. He
turned and charged the soldier immediately. And Stavkov saw something that made
vomit come to his mouth. An appendage came out of the thing when it was on top of the
soldier and the monster impaled the human with it. As it removed it, the trooper eyes
become white and greenish vomit begun to come out of his mouth.
The alien attacked the remaining soldiers and the zombie trooper also turned and started
to smash them, throwing vicious jabs that broke jaws and crushed arms. The last
remaining soldier managed to fire a full lot into the zombie. It staggered but instead of
going down, his body started shaking and he started screaming. His flesh begun to rip off
and his neck exploded, throwing the head back and facing Stavkov, who saw that it was
still attached to the body by some strings of tendons and muscle. And a small monster’s
head started to come out of his neck, together with claws that ripped his arms from where
they appeared. What is this?! Stavkov said in panic: “Driver, start the tank and get us out
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of here! This is an ambush!” The engine immediately increased its rotations but the sound
of a clank against the tank armor was what took the sergeant’s attention.
A metal noise, of something landing on the top of the tank was suddenly heard and all
crew looked upwards.
Stavkov started looking through the portholes to find the alien, but suddenly his ears were
filled of a sharp noise of metal going against metal and a warm sticky substance on his
face. As he looked left he saw the claw of the monster piercing through the top armor on
an angle and cutting through his gunner’s neck, spewing red blood from the carotidal
arteries that covered him. The claw suddenly removed itself and Stavkov looked up. He
never saw it coming back again.
Underground Command Facility outside Moscow, Russian Federation

The massive underground bunker built by the Soviet Government to maintain command
and communications in case of a nuclear attack was fully manned and all of Russia’s top
leaders had moved into the place after the first reports of the attack on Azamas 36. The
Emergency Room of the complex was crowded with people, with almost all individuals
deeply afraid and somber. Only Larianov had a different attitude and it was hard to tell if
the military and civilian personnel were more afraid of the aliens or of his President. .
“We have just received information from the Military District Commander”, the Ministry
of Defense started, unsure of how to say it. “The attack of our forces has failed. The
aliens managed to ambush a full tank division leaving few survivors and severely hurt the
other formations through the means of an unexpected counter-attack. They retreated
afterwards to their positions and are still in control of the city and military facility”.
“Find me a responsible for this or you will be it!” Larianov was enraged, he looked
around his council waiting for someone to speak. Another general started to speak.
“Sir, the intelligence estimates made on the reports provided to us by X-Com and our
assessment of the aliens crews from the UFOs reported were found to be completely
inaccurate. We just had no idea that they had deployed so many of those Snakemen and
their monsters”.
“You mean that you failed twice on your duties. First in properly evaluating the threat,
second on being misled by X-Com!” The general quickly decided to shut up.
Verchenko moved on his chair and decided that it was enough, if they wanted to have
some things done. “If I may interrupt, there’s something more, Mr. President, before we
start looking for the persons responsible for this grave error”. The director of the SVK
saw that he got Larianov’s attention and he continued: “We have received the preliminary
report on the aliens from X-Com. Both types of aliens are capable of quickly
reproducing, with no need for artificial facilities. This was unexpected and is no one’s
fault. But even worse is that this can be the beginning of an invasion!”
Larianov’s eyes slowly closed, the man not believing what he was hearing. “You mean
they have started to make a ground invasion?”
“Look for yourself, Mr. President. They aren’t leaving after all this time and they have
already destroyed the weapons facility, so why are they still there? They must be
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preparing to expand their bridgehead but multiplying themselves. Those Snakemen carry
eggs. And we heard of what the other monsters do to persons! That simply takes care of a
lot of supply and replacement questions for a force equipped with that sort of
combatants”.
“We will have to expel them at once!”
“Yes, but with what? The best divisions of our Army have tried and failed. And I also
doubt that they are able to restrain an alien attack”.
“What do you mean?” Larianov was slowly starting to understand the implied message.
Irinov, the Defense Ministry, also come up with the same conclusion and added: “Due to
the circumstances I also agree with Mr. Verchenko sir. We have tried with conventional
means and our men and tanks were killed and the fighters and bombers were shot out of
the skies by their air defenses”.
“A nuclear strike? In our own country?”
“If we are to save the rest, we need to make sacrifices. The remaining civilians in the area
are as good as food or reproductive material for the aliens. We are only saving them from
that fate by a quicker one”.
“I see”. Kill some so that the remaining can survive. “Marshal Boganovitch, I assume our
Strategic Rocket Forces are able to perform the task, in the contrary of our troops”. The
Russian President wasn’t making a question.
“Sir, they are available and at your orders. Just give us the command and we will
eliminate the aliens from our land”
“If I may, sir,” Verchenko cut in, “what we are looking here isn’t one of our ICBMs. First
they wouldn’t have time to deploy and arm, since they were built to hit targets thousands
of miles away. Second, their precision isn’t enough for the type of strike we need. That
excludes also battlefield missiles such as the Scud or FROG unguided rockets. No, the
better alternative would be to drop directly a bomb by the use of a plane in the middle of
the parked alien craft. But since the bomber would be shot down in the approach, in this
we need to use our cruise missiles, armed with an enhanced radiation warhead”.
“A what, Mr. Verchenko?” The Defense Minister answered instead.
“Enhanced radiation is a type of thermonuclear weapon that releases massive amounts of
neutrons sir. That sort of radiation can penetrate specially hardened targets, while being a
more ‘clean’ weapon than the normal atomic weapons”.
“Exactly like Mr. Irinov said. What we need here is precision, in order to hit their craft
that are landed on the ground and effectively destroy them. Of course that depending on
the already miserable state of our armed forces”. The President took the bait and turned to
the Defense Minister. “Do we have such weapons available? Do not give me a negative
answer or you might find yourself quickly away from your position and on the way to
Azamas 36”.
The man looked at the Chief of General Staff who nodded and replied. “It might take
some time to prepare the mission, but I we have still some of those weapons stockpiled
along with the means to deploy them”.
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Larianov turned to the Marshall and the Defense Minister: “Make all necessary
arrangements. I want this option to be completely at our disposal when we have to resort
to it”.
I just offered both of these fools a way out of this mess, Verchenko thought. Let’s see
how they deal with it, he said to himself while smiling.
July 27th, 1999

White House Situation Room, Washington DC, US
The board was lit up with a map of Siberia, showing the latest satellite pictures of
Azamas 36. President Winston remembered the message he had just received from the
Russian President and started thinking. He had been too young to take notice of the
atomic bombs that were dropped on the end of World War II in Japan, but he had been
grown up in the middle of nuclear attack preparations. He still remembered the fear he
felt during those days and it was coming back to him now. Turning to the rest of the
National Security Council in front of him he started saying:
“I got a message for Mr. Larianov about half and hour ago. The Russians don’t think that
they can control the aliens and prevent them to expand their lines through conventional
forces”. He paused to add a grave tone to his next sentence. “If they consider it necessary,
they are willing to use nuclear weapons to permanently eradicate the aliens out of their
soil”.
Looks of surprise and terror came across the room. “They are informing all other Charter
nations to prevent any mistaken evaluations of the explosion and to avoid the possibility
of a World War III right now”. Wouldn’t that be ironic, Winston thought, adding that we
may just deserve it. “I have regretted the necessity of going with such means but
Larianov just cut me off, complaining about Russia’s overall treatment by the other
nations and how it is behind their current situation. I offered our military’s help also but
he declined and warned us to stay off their land”.
“In other words, they will deal with it as they see it fit and they don’t care for the rest of
the world”, concluded the US Secretary of Defense.
“Exactly what he made a big deal of pointing out to me. I need options, gentlemen and
ladies. I have already contacted X-Com’s High Command and let them know that our
forces are fully at their disposal in case they need them to their operations”.
“Let the Russians bomb themselves back to the Stone Age. Why should we given our
resources to them if they don’t want it?”
“General Thompson, I will try to do anything to prevent the use of nuclear weapons, is
that understood? Either by them or us!”
Before the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff could respond, the Candace May said on
his defense: “Mr. President. General Thompson stated what everyone shares on this
room. If they had collaborated more with X-Com, they probably wouldn’t be on this
mess…or would they?”
“What do you mean Candace?”
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“They have deployed and used a weapon that threatened the aliens. They reacted by
destroying it. One should consider if the aliens shouldn’t simply be left alone”.
The Director of the CIA took the challenge. “Your point is moot, Mrs. May, the aliens
have attacked other nations that don’t belong to the X-Com Council”.
“Yes, but only after X-Com itself was created. We can be throwing away all efforts of a
compromise with them if we proceed through this course of action”.
“They never answered back any of our attempts to communicate, Mrs. May, it’s foolish
to think otherwise”.
“That might not be true, Mr. Casper. The reports from the analysis team are quite clear on
saying that the aliens might be trying to establish contact through unofficial means to the
leaders of the world”.
“Don’t play with the words, Mrs. May, they said that, but they also added that since we
can’t really verify the aliens claims other than through interrogation, the uncertainty and
their psionic powers make it a very high risk. We could be selling ourselves to the Devil”.
“But what if another nation signed a pact with the aliens that gave them access to their
high technology? Shouldn’t we consider then if it’s wise to maintain our present affairs
with them?”
The President cut in the discussion: “To solve it all out, I will repeat what I’ve said. This
administration’s policy is not to engage in any deal regarding the aliens, is that
understood? They have proven themselves to have no respect for human life and to be
ruthless enough to wage war on civilian populations”. All the men in the room remained
silent. “I have urged X-Com to deal with the situation. Now what I want to hear is how to
prevent anything like this ever going on in the US”.
Area 51, Nevada, US

Johnson was on his office, going over the unit’s rooster, both X-Com and US Military to
try to come up with a plan that the Russians would accept and eliminate the aliens. All X-
Com teams had been placed into high alert and while he was waiting for more news from
Mother One he had decided to come up with a possible solution for the problem. He had
been given information on the most top-secret projects that were being tested at Area 51,
but unless they could get authorization by the Russian government to act on their country,
it would be useless.
An icon suddenly appeared on the computer monitor where he was going through the
unit’s readiness and strength figures, telling him that he had an incoming communication
coming from High Command. He moved the mouse on his hand until the pointer was
over the icon and clicked on it. An image of Commander Illyuschenko appeared some
seconds later on a window and the faces of the other geographical command leaders and
Dr. Chevereux appeared later to join it.
“Good morning, sir. Is there a problem?”
“Yes there is Colonel. My government has just informed the Secretary General of the UN
and the Council of Funding Nations that they are going to use a thermonuclear weapon
against the city to permanently eliminate all the aliens”. Johnson’s heart sank. “The
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Secretary tried to dissuade him and obtain permission for us to intervene, but with no
avail”.
“They can’t do it! We need the research like Dr. Chevereux has pointed out!”
“The Secretary General tried to explain it to President Larianov, but he simply cut him
off. He told him that the reason Russia was in such a dire situation was exactly the
secrecy we have been keeping about our weapons’ research. And that more important
than the research is to assure that the aliens didn’t gain a foothold and used it to expand
themselves. They want to cut away an infected limb to prevent contamination of the
remaining body”.
“So we don’t have another try?”
“No, he specifically refused it”.
“You Russians are so stubborn!” Dr. Chevereux cursed.
“Commander, what if we set up a covert operation to retrieve the data?” Colonel Boronin
asked. “We have already an idea of the complex. We could hit it, retrieve what is
necessary and get out before the attack”.
“Colonel, the only teams close enough to make such a raid is yours or Mother One’s but
both are in no condition to set up an attack. Sending you and the few men available
would just get all of you killed”.
“We could be reinforced by any of the other teams”.
“But how Colonel since there wouldn’t be enough time? Although I want also nothing
more than to retrieve the data and piss on the decisions taken by the leaders of our
countries, any Skyranger and transport plane that approached Russia would be found and
shot down. There would be hell to pay with my country if they ever found out about it”.
Johnson remembered something he had just seen on the files and interrupted the
exchange. From ever since he had been assigned to X-Com he had been given full
security clearance to US military data, including the black budget projects. The National
Security Council had recommended it, since the regional US X-Com commander would
need to know with what North American resources it could count on. He had also been
warned not to share that information with the rest of X-Com, but in this case he had
decided that there were other things at stake than security of one project.
“But if we had the mean to get ourselves there covertly and on time to extract the data,
would you consider it?” Illyuschenko immediately understood that something was up, his
expression becoming very intrigued. “If there was a way to conceal X-Com’s activities,
yes I might consider it”.
“Have you ever heard of a plane called the Super Valkyrie program Colonel?”
“One US top secret project, I presume, Colonel? I don’t remember if I saw about it in the
list that I got from your military when X-Com was being formed.”
“It’s still top secret but I’ve been let privy into it. It’s a program that was started right
after the Challenger space shuttle disaster as an alternative measure to put a craft into
space. It consists of a huge mothership, based on the former XB-70 supersonic bomber
program. They changed the project into a research plane in the sixties and developed the
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Super Valkyrie based on the results. It carries a launch vehicle that can enter low earth
orbit. It can be also used for other roles and they have an operational prototype here”.
Illyuschenko’s image on the monitor winced. “I’m not understanding Colonel. What is it
of use to us?”
“The motherplane can reach speeds of more than Mach Three and one of the
configurations includes carrying a personnel pod for special ops underneath the craft
instead of the usual transatmospheric plane that is carried piggyback”.
Illyuschenko opened his eyes: “Are you suggesting that we use it to transport your crew
to Siberia? That is insane, the Russian Air Defense Command would detect you
immediately and shoot you down”.
“No they wouldn’t Commander, because we would be flying too fast and high for their
interceptors or missiles to get us. And because of our flight profile we would be mistaken
for another UFO. The Super Valkyrie would drop the pod over the area were it would
immediately open its parachutes and slow down, enabling us to leave it and make a high
altitude jump. The pod is equipped with Radar Absorbent Material and even if your
country’s air defenses detected it, they would be more concerned about other things to
even start thinking of what it could be”.
“But the plane would have to leave. You would have no way to come back”.
“We use the Skyrangers of the Russian teams to get to a safe location. Since they still
have authorization to fly over the rest of Russia, they can approach the area and secure a
retrieval point for us to rally when we are done. Your country’s forces will have other
things to worry about on that moment like getting into cover from the nuclear explosion
than to be directly looking at it. Or we hide as close as possible to the Russian lines and
when they move after the blast to mop it up we escape the area”.
“And I could officially request to Russian High Command to observe the clean-up
operations. We have that right under the Charter and on the middle of the whole
operation who will bother to start counting the number of X-Com troopers in the area?”
Boronin added in support of Johnson’s plan.
Illyuschenko thought for long seconds and then replied: “Very well. I want a full-detailed
plan in one hour, together with the necessary authorizations. Colonel Johnson, I take it
that you believe you will get your government’s approval for the use of this Super
Valkyrie?”
“Some military and civilian leadership will oppose themselves into it, but President
Winston has been more than pleased with our work lately. He would even have approved
a bigger raise in their contribution to our budget, but he didn’t have success in convincing
the congressional leaders who know about it. This was done before sir, and most likely
they will take advantage and install some cameras to also take a couple pictures of
Russia. If something happens they can always claim that they had no knowledge for
which they had lent the plane to us and say that they were only trying to help X-Com as
much as they can, without getting on our way. Besides the risk of losing the plane they
have more to win”.
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Illyuschenko didn’t like the prospect of having another country taking advantage of
Russia, but he knew that there were other things that surpassed that annoying thought.
“Let’s hope you keep on having all the answers then Colonel”.
Hotel in the center of Moscow, Russia

The Group had been gathered together since the first news of the attack on the facility
had came to their attention, like it had been planned. Too many things could go out of
control in the whole situation and they needed to be on top of the events in order to
influence them. Number Nine walked into the room where they were all seated or
standing up, but none talking to one another, preferring instead to look at the television
set in one corner or to look at each other.
“I have news. The Russians will launch their nuclear attack the next day to stop the
aliens. They are moving the remains of their forces meanwhile to a safe location and
waiting for reinforcements for the cleanup”.
Everyone’s attention in the room turned up to him at the same time, all considering the
same thought at the same time. It was going as planned.
“Have our friends been warned about it?” Number One was still very skeptical of this
whole idea.
Number Nine replied: “They are making no preparations to leave the area. They seemed
not to be worried about the use of atomic weapons as we had always assumed”.
“Which makes their intentions as I predicted” Number Three cut through the dialogue to
bring his point. “And so are the Russians. This will only bring more disturbances. The
Russians will be seen as crazy by the other nations and that definitely close the ties
between them and X-Com. And a lot of the others will be scared and starting to think
about themselves, being more open to any offer we make”.
Area 51, Nevada, US

Area 51 had been built on a valley right at the base of a mountain right next to a dry lake
basin called Groom Lake. The geological formation gave its name to the facilities
belonging to the Air Force and part of the several thousand feet runway was indeed built
over the dry flat lake. While X-Com planes and personnel was being housed at Area 51,
the access of its personnel to the Groom Lake installations was restricted to the research
facilities located there and to the command center, which was better than the one installed
at the X-Com part of Area 51.
On the other side of the mountain and connected through a dirt road there was another
dry lake, Lake Papoose. The installations that X-Com had occupied there to house its
combat operations didn’t appear on any civilian map or photographs. The reason was that
everything had been built underground to hide its presence from prying Soviet satellites.
Even the runway had been painted with the color of sand and had a coat made of special
materials to hide it from an infrared photograph.
Johnson and Major Patterson were both looking at the massive gray plane situated at
Hangar 18 on the Groom Lake installations. The structure itself was amazing to look at,
with a length of more than 250 feet and eight stories tall but the main star was the plane
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housed there. The lights that suspended from the ceiling and flooded the inside of the
building with bright revealed his sleekness and futuristic appearance. On a first look an
observer would recognize the similarities between it and the French-British Concorde
jetliners. It was bigger than a B-1 or B-52 bomber, with a total length of more than 190
feet and a height of a bit more than ten feet with its landing gear in place. The wings were
designed in a delta configuration and when at more than Mach 1.6 the tips would fold
down 65 degrees to permit for stability during hypersonic flight. It also had triangular
canards at the nose to maintain stability while on flight. The assembly on which the space
plane was carried prior to its release was empty and the bomb doors were open with
technicians going over the airplane. The six engines air intakes were situated directly in
front the weapons bay and a man could walk inside them. The infiltration pod,
resembling a massive bomb, measuring more than thirty feet in length, was also being
readied close to the plane.
Looking at the Super Valkyrie, Johnson thought about what else was hidden inside the
other hangars that formed the complex. He knew that the stealth planes, such as the F-117
and B-2 had been tested there and that he probably would find the Aurora planes around.
His mind went over other top-secret research projects and he wondered which ones
would he find over there.
Patterson shook its head and said: “We are going to get a lift from that monster?”
“Seems like it. It took some quite some arguments from Williams for the President to
authorize it but the order from the Secretary of Defense made it clear that it’s ours to
use”.
“I hope that the CIA man keeps himself on our side, otherwise we might be into some
serious trouble”. Johnson looked back at the Afro-American major, wondering if the man
had read his thoughts. “Yeah, but if anything ever happens to me you listen to him. I
don’t trust him completely, but he knows some things”. The Major raised an eye, but
Johnson didn’t say anymore so he decided to bring another subject.
“Speaking of which, how is that wound of yours,” he thought for a moment, smiled and
added: “Ironheart?”
“Shit! No you too Mike. I wonder who got that nickname going on the troops. It must
have been Jones. Tell Hopkins that from now on whoever uses that name gets
permanently assigned to point duty”. Patterson gave out a little laugh but stopped right
afterwards and added: “I can do the job if you feel you’re not yet recovered for it
Colonel”.
Johnson moved his shoulder to check for the mobility of his arm. The heavy plasma blast
that had hit him on the chest had burned a lot of muscle and he hadn’t fully recovered
from the burn. The base physician had complained when he knew that Johnson had
already doing physical exercise to restore mobility and strength. But he had ignored him,
conscious of the need to be besides the troops in the field and not back at headquarters.
The chest still gave him some paints but at least it was on the left side and it didn’t affect
his ability to carry his rifle on the right arm. “I will do OK, Mike. It’s not that I don’t
trust you, but this one is really important”.
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“Just checking to see if you know your limits Colonel. This whole mission already seems
too much hastily planned. I still have my doubts about being dropped like a bomb inside
enemy territory with no means for retrieval”.
“Well the guys who are going over the pod and the plane are the ones who originally
designed it and built it. It has been already tested, although with no troopers inside”.
“I hope so Colonel”. As he finished talking both soldiers saw Captain Markovitch coming
out of the pod and going towards them. As she reached them she shook her head. “You
know, I never imagined that you would pull something like this Colonel. I have never
heard of a mission that was the definition of suicide”.
Johnson ignored the punt on her statement: “How many troopers can it take?”
“Eight squads. We can’t take everyone”.
“We will take both yours and Forrester’s Platoon plus Omega and Sigma squads”.
Markovitch nodded and replied: “Your personal squad? I hope Crossett does his job well.
Otherwise I will have his hide. And the same with Forrester, I hope he learned something
back at Iowa”.
“I know that Crossett has no military combat training, but I expect he will do well. He
only needs to watch my back. Forrester got a bit shaken, but seeing my recovery must
have lifted his spirit a bit. I’ve cleared things out with him and trust him”.
“The only final mistake you make is the one that gets you dead”. She countered.
No time for this now. He deliberately ignored the comment and moved on the
conversation. “Forrester and the rest of the junior officers and NCOs should be done
briefing the rest of the men and getting themselves ready. Let’s join them and make the
final assignments. We should be leaving in an hour or so”.
“I’m not too comfortable about that flying piece of can. And neither I like not knowing
exactly where our objective is”.
“When they finished equipping it we are ready to go. The pilots have been already
briefed and they seen to have penetrated Russian airspace before since they didn’t react
as if it was a big dangerous thing”.
“But we still have to found where the damn back up files are! For all we know they could
right by the aliens ships. I know it’s logical to assume they would be in the barracks area
since it is the most protected place on that facility, but who knows how Russians think?!”
“I know Markovitch, but we can’t just ask the Russian government about the location of
it. Just do your job”. She was about to answer when the sound of a jeep hitting the brakes
outside the hangar made them all turn. General Smith came across the half opened doors
and looked around. When his stare caught Johnson it locked into target and he came
towards him, taking few time to cross the fifty yards that separated both men.
“That plane ain’t going anywhere! You can’t just walk around while I’m not on base and
giving orders to men under my command!”
“General”, Johnson started to respond, “This is an emergency situation. I don’t wanted to
step over you, but we need the plane”.
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“You are not understanding. That plane is under my command and my security! What are
these two officers doing here!?” He pointed at Markovitch and Patterson who were now
on the sides of the Colonel. “They have no security clearance to be here or to know about
the existence of that project! Remove them this instant!”
“Captain Markovitch and Major Patterson have been authorized to have access to the
Super Valkyrie program under Presidential Directive 85/99, sir! Furthermore the same
order from the US Commander in Chief states that the US Air Force should put the plane
and every necessary means to X-Com’s assistance, sir!” General Smith went livid and
replied on a menacing tone:
“Are you trying to see who is the big dog around here, Colonel? You have gone over the
line over and over. You can rest assure that it won’t happen again”. He turned his back on
him and left. Markovitch whispered. “The good General sure seems pissed”.
“Get Prescott to come here while we are finishing readying the team and supervise the
final preparations of the craft. Takeoff is scheduled in half and hour and we will land at
approximately 2230 Zulu, with the explosion scheduled for 0630 Zulu in the next day.
We can’t loose time because of him. Let’s go”. All three men left the hangar and went to
board a jeep to head towards the X-Com installations.
Unknown location, Earth

The last report coming from the forces assigned to destroy the Terran weapon had been
more than satisfactory for the Sectoid Commander. Not only had they managed to destroy
the energy weapon but also they were preparing to take the next step of the plan after
having defeated two major Terran counter attacks.
Seated in a blue chair around a large pink console in the middle of the new base that had
been set on Sol Three, the Commander looked at the lesser castes directing all aspects of
the craft and the fleet. The Starspawn united them all and he could know what everything
he wanted about his forces by just concentrating. All the physical power present on the
base and at his disposal was nothing compared to it. The location of the facility made it
perfect to coordinate the operations, although the extreme weather conditions put a strain
on both his subordinates and material.
He suddenly detected a thought that distracted his attention. Images of a world lost
forgotten in the passage of time, with two suns burning on the sky and vast surfaces of
water. He immediately recognized his ancestors’ planet. He considered that the memory
might have risen from the fact that he now had set foot upon a planet after a long time
boarded in a spaceship, the natural gravity making him remember past events. But he
quickly dismissed it. No one of his kind in the entire fleet had ever touched the surface of
what once had been their home world. Concentrating he discovered the source. One of his
subordinates was daydreaming and they all shared that collective memory through the
Starspawn. He immediately dismissed it and gave a mental command for the technician,
ordering him to stay in focus. It was time to be prepared for the next phase, not to be
dreaming of now a now dead past.
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Area 51, Nevada, US
Johnson was on his office putting on his body armour when Markovitch got in and said:
“Colonel, a minute please?”
He decided to take care of this now than to be listening to it the whole mission. “Give me
a hand attaching the back plates while you talk”. He held out to her the rear section,
which she grabbed and started to put into position.
“Don’t you think you are going over your head into this one, Colonel?” He turned around
and she stopped. “What do you got on your mind Markovitch? Speak it”
“This whole mission is insane. This is something Colonel Jackson would have come up
with, not you. We are going to use a deployment system never fully tested, going to face
superior numbers and we are not sure of our objective’s location or means to escape. This
sounds like one of those cases they teach back about the academy on how not to plan a
mission! And every trooper back there thought it also as they heard you doing the final
briefing. Even Patterson isn’t too convinced but like the rest of them they trust that you
know what you are doing. Are you Erwin?”
He lowered his head in defeat: “No”. But he turned back and motioned her to continue
her work while saying: “But I got an idea that just might work out”.
“The Russian team had a better plan and they got squashed. What makes you think you
are different?”
“We will do this my way. Get in, get what we want, get out without anyone seeing us”.
“But what if we take more time? The whole place is going to be fried eight hours after we
hit the ground”.
“As long as we save the files it doesn’t matter. Besides, it should take us about two hours
to get there and locate what we want inside the wrecked command center, two more
hours to retrieve it and the rest to get outside the blast radius. We will make it”.
“Of course it matters! There you go again!” She finishing locking the back plate into the
other ones with a heavy push that made him jump. “You have been too strange from ever
since almost died. You are already a damn hero, you don’t have to worry about
performing more heroics during the rest of this war!”
He moved his shoulders to check for mobility. “Thanks for the help. As for what you are
saying, the matter is pretty simple and has been discussed with High Command. The
appearance of the new aliens makes it impervious that we get better weapons. It’s a
technological race. We got lasers to deal with the Sectoids and the Floaters; they then got
tougher weapons and aliens. If we don’t get back the initiative and discover how to use
their plasma technology we are as good as dead”.
“Crap! Forget about that! It sounds really strange to be saying this but you are pulling a
major stunt here Johnson and you are getting everyone following you into it!”
“We will be all dead one way or the other Captain”. He stopped. “His that what this is all
about Sheila? You are afraid of dying?” She looked away. “You bet. Just know what you
are doing. I’m going to do the final preps and I’ll meet you back at the plane”. He tried to
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say something as she was leaving the room but couldn’t come up with any words.
Johnson shook his head to clear it out of any thoughts and continued with his preparation.
Laser rifle, check. Electro-flares, check. Night vision goggles check. Someone knocked
on the door. “Who is it?” Grenades check. The voice replied: “Agent…err…I mean
Corporal Crossett sir. You told me to present in fifteen minutes here”. Tactical radio
check. “Yeah, get in, I’m almost done”. What am I going to do with this man, Johnson
asked. The Council of Funding Nations had finally approved a resolution for the
development of X-Com’s Intelligence and Security Branch. Many of the military leaders
and a few of the scientists had disapproved such a matter, but Illyuschenko’s threats and
arguments had at least managed to see that the hired spooks would be directly under his
command. Still, it was troubling to see the ever-increasing former spies and law
enforcement agents back at the base. And another unexpected addition had been the
soldier now entering the room.
A medium-sized muscled man with a military cut on his black hair got inside the room.
He was already fully equipped for the mission, carrying the high altitude maneuverable
chute on his back, together with the spare on his front. In one of his hands he had the
suspended bag that would carry his equipment. On the other he hold in a loose grip the
helmet and oxygen mask necessary for the jump. He was carrying a M79 grenade
launcher on a bandolier over his large chest and he also had a Remington 12-gauge
shotgun on his back.
Johnson was surprised by all the firepower the men was carrying. “Jesus Christ, why do
you need all that stuff?”
“Long and short range stopping power sir. Those laser rifles you use only make a single
entry point and won’t stop the motion of the most attackers. I prefer to have something
that hurts a lot anyone who tries to come near you”.
Pointing with his head, Johnson warned: “That shotgun might not be any good against the
Snakemen”.
“For your sake let’s hope it is”. He replied with a yellow smile.
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, Crossett. Your role on the team. Just keep
yourself out of my way while you are guarding me and we will get along fine”.
“Sir, please let me correct you. You keep yourself out of my way and do as I told if you
want me to perform to the best of my abilities”.
“Crossett you came from the Secret Service. You know what’s a chain of command so I
don’t need to explain it to you”.
“Colonel, the President was my Commander in Chief and in some situations he had no
power or control over me. You will have just to learn to trust me. Depending how quickly
you manage that is the amount of time you have left on this life”.
“I could send you back to the Secret Service you know? It was generous from President
Winston to provide me with an escort but I didn’t had to accept this offer from him if I
wanted”.
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“You could, but after what happened to you on your last mission when you decided to go
kamikaze, I’m not sure if General Illyuschenko wouldn’t assign me to take care of you
permanently. And I was on your shoes I’d prefer that the men didn’t call me ‘Ironheart’,
like I heard among the ranks. It would mean that I’m not getting hit by the enemy”.
“OK, you made your point. Anything else?”
“Just relax Colonel. I will be your shadow from now on. Just try to ignore we when I’m
not needed and do what I say when I tell something”. He saluted. “I will be waiting
outside, sir to escort you to the plane”. Johnson saw him leave without knowing what to
do with him. He shrugged and decided to see what happened and not worry more about it.
More important things were at stake.
Engels Air Base, Russian Federation

The technicians dressed in white lab coats carefully moved one of the attack missiles out
of its storage compartment inside the nuclear weapons depot using a specially designed
forklift. The old Soviet denomination for it was Kh-17 but NATO had designated it AS-
16 Kickback. The name didn’t actually matter for its purpose. It had been built to be
carried by a bomber and attack a 500-kiloton warhead at Mach 5 speeds and attack a
target at a 100 kilometers distance. The firepower it would release would be equivalent to
500 times the energy unleashed by the first atomic bomb in Hiroshima. After removing it
from storage the engineers slowly and carefully placed it over a workbench and
proceeded on removing the warhead cover.
Carefully they then checked all the components of the nuclear warhead with electronic
equipment, making sure that every element was working properly. It was a long process,
since after the warhead they would have to verify the solid fuel engine system, which
could be even more dangerous than the actual thermonuclear bomb placed in front of the
missile. In order for the nuclear reaction to go off it was necessary to have present a
certain amount of Pu-239 plutonium present for the material to achieve critical mass. As
with all nuclear weapons it had two parts: a main section composed of plutonium
modeled as a globe, but with the center missing; and a smaller ball also composed by the
same material but outside the globe. When the weapon was triggered an massive
conventional explosion would propel the ball inside the globe and both parts would
achieve critical mass, initiating a nuclear fission reaction. The resulting explosion would
be already terrifying, but thermonuclear weapons used the blast to compress hydrogen
and deuterium molecules with helium atoms. The process was what stars used to energize
themselves and was called a fusion reaction, the inverse of a fission reaction. But it
released far more energy; greatly extending the destruction potential of the warhead and
transforming the bomb into one of the most destructive weapons mankind had ever seen.
Or at least until the arrival of the aliens.
The missile wasn’t armed yet, with the section containing the ball still outside the
compartment where it would fit later. But the weapon still contained a lot of explosives
necessary to detonate the nuclear reaction and rocket fuel that could easily ignite. In the
days of the Soviet Union these missiles would be kept ready around the clock, in case it
was necessary to quickly equip aircraft bounded to respond to a US nuclear attack.
Nowadays maintenance was down and improving in response of the recent alert exercises
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but they still had their share of problems. And they still had another three missiles to
ready after this one.
Area 51, Nevada, US

The Super Valkyrie was ready to take-off, with all the crew already inside the cockpit and
the final X-Com troopers were boarding the pod right below the weapons bay. Johnson
and Crossett got out of the Humvee they used to get to Groom Lake from Papoose and
crossed the now open huge doors in the direction of the craft. Suddenly Crossett put his
hand on Johnson’s arm and he stopped. What did the man wanted now, he thought?
Looking to his left he saw General Smith walking fast towards him. He looked at
Crossett. The man was completely concentrated on the military officer approaching them,
as if assessing a threat. Shit, won’t this guy relax a bit? He will eventually start getting on
my nerves with this crap. The General came near them and Crossett grabbed his shotgun
with both hand, griping it tighter.
“Colonel, a word please regarding this whole affair”
“General, be quick I got a mission waiting for me right now”.
“Yes, your mission. I need to talk to you about it”. He seemed about to give Johnson
another verbal assault because of the way he had been overstepped.
“There’s nothing more to discuss about it, sir. I got my orders, you have yours”.
“That’s not what I’m talking about. I got right now a call from the President who gave me
some important information destined for you. You had already left the barracks when it
arrived”.
“Well what is it?” Smith looked at Crossett before answering.
“He shouldn’t be present”. The soldier stiffened but the General continued. “It’s Top
Secret and it’s too much of a risk to tell you this here. Let’s get to a less crowded place”.
Looking at the General, Johnson thought what could possibly have happened. Had the
Russians anticipated their attack? Had the aliens moved first? He started going with the
General but Crossett spoke: “I should go with you sir”
“Get to the pod, I will join you in a minute, I will only need you later”. The trooper
looked pissed off but turned around and started headed for the plane. Johnson and Smith
left the hangar, heading out for one of the offices in the hangars section of the base.
When they reached it Smith closed the door after they had entered. He then moved
behind a desk and sat down on a chair.
“Be quick please General, time is running out”. The other officer suddenly moved and on
his hands he had an alien plasma rifle pointed at him. “Don’t move. You are not getting
anywhere!”
Johnson started heading back and Smith barked: “I know what that armour can take and I
can fire a couple of shots that will stop any stupid attempt on your part. Now tell your
men to head back into their quarters”.
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“What do you think…”. The door suddenly opened with a large thump and both men
inside the room looked in surprise. Smith tried to react but his shot when wide, the green
bolt fizzling in the space between Johnson and the door and hitting the wall to his left.
“Down!” Johnson heard as Crossett fired the laser pistol he was holding with both hands.
Three bolts of light crossed the air between them and the General, with Johnson
immediately smelling the ozone they produced. The first one missed, but the other two hit
Smith right on the chest, one of them burning the chest bone until it reached his heart,
effectively killing the General. Crossett quickly walked into the room still pointing the
weapon at the corpse. He kicked the rifle away from it and gave it a kick to make sure the
body was truly dead. Only then did he speak.
“Did you got you hurt?” Johnson shook his head.
“Well Colonel, next time I tell you to get down, you get down or I will shoot you in the
knees!”
Johnson was too shocked from what he had just seen. “The… the General was trying to
kill me”.
“Yeah, I could sense immediately that he wasn’t up to anything good, so I dropped my
gear at the plane and went back to follow you”.
“Where did you got that pistol from?”
“I borrowed it from one of the officers back at the pod. When fighting at close quarters
better if you do not use weaponry that can also hit whom you are expected to protect.
Standard procedure ”.
“And where did the General got that alien weapon? And why did he tried to kill me?”
“Good question. But the one who could clarify all that is already dead. From what I’ve
heard you have checked for alien infiltration before and came up with nothing. Maybe he
was who the intelligence people missed on their queries”.
Johnson moved to the body and started to pick it up. “Gimme a hand here”.
“What you want to do Colonel?”
“Let’s hide his body in some closet or anything for now. If he was working for the aliens,
the whole portion of the base that is occupied by the USAF could be also part of the fifth
column. We need to get this mission underway and hide the Colonel’s death the longer
we can until we came back to deal with this situation”.
“After some time someone will be sure to notice the smell”. Crossett moved over and
grabbed the legs of the dead body.
“I will tell our personnel to pick it up when we are gone. They also have to be warned
about this treachery. We don’t know who else on this freaking base might be also
involved”. Both of them lifted the body and when outside to find a closet that didn’t show
signs of use. After finding one they put the body inside and covered it.
“Now let’s go. We have a mission to accomplish”.
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Chapter Thirteen – Divine Wind
July 27th, 1999
Sea of Japan, Pacific Ocean
To every member of the West team who was seated on the infiltration pod housed in the
belly of the Super Valkyrie the trip seemed to be endless, although the flight from
Nevada to Siberia would only take a few hours due to the plus Mach Six speed the plane
could attain. But the thrust of the Super Valkyrie’s six Pulse Detonation Wave Engines
was felt in the bomb bay, adding vibration to the pod. On the contrary of other planes,
which burnt jet fuel to perform a reaction that propelled the plane, the Super Valkyrie’s
PDWE engines performed continuous controlled detonations of liquid methane to move
the aircraft over hypersonic speeds. Both the pilot and the navigator on cockpit were
isolated from the noise, but the insertion pod was not, since it had been only tested with
dummies inside. Worse yet, the bay was situated in the rear section of the plane, with the
long air intakes at its front and the bay located between the engines. And the X-Com
troopers had to wear oxygen masks close also since because of the possibility of a lack of
pressurization on the bay. At that altitude the lack of oxygen would kill any human being.
Another handicap in the experimental pod was also the absence of any communication or
radio devices. The tactical radio had been changed to be able to listen to transmit on
military aircraft channels and that had been the only way to talk to the President and tell
him what had happened with General Smith back at the base. He had found it
unbelievable but had agreed to Johnson’s request that X-Com placed the USAF section of
Area 51 at discrete surveillance and to conceal the General’s death from the personnel
there until they got back. The X-Com personnel back at Papoose had been already
forbidden to enter Groom without his authorization.
He looked around inside the pod, with the blue armor worn by the team’s members
turning into black in the red light provided by the few bulbs around the capsule. At an
altitude of more than 140 thousand feet the cold would kill any man, if the lack of oxygen
didn’t. But the heat created by the friction of the plane on the atmosphere, while doing its
cruise speed of 8.7 Mach was nearly impossible to stand. The pod was isolated, but still
everyone looked as if they were standing in the middle of a desert at noon.
A tap on the shoulder made him turn and he saw Corporal White handing him the tactical
radio headgear. He put it and said: “Johnson here”. The voice of the pilot answered him.
“Five minutes Colonel. You still can quit you know?”
“Get us there. Tell when”. Johnson gave the radio back to White and got up, Crossett
immediately following him. “Everybody get ready. Be sure to check your equipment
triple time and when you are done have someone do it for you. Five minutes”. They all
went through their parachutes and gear, with each member checking the load he was
carrying before turning to the side and doing the same to the soldier next to him.
White brought his hand with the index finger hand to Colonel. “One minute to start
depressurization! Hurry it up!” As they finished they all stood up, grabbing a strap
278
connected to the roof with one hand and another one connected to the floor on their left.
Johnson finished checking Crossett’s gear and did the same.
As the bay came to a complete depressurization the bay doors started to open. All X-Com
members suddenly felt the cold coming from the gelid atmosphere and it was nearly a
thermal shock after two hours of continuous sweating. Johnson ignored it and
concentrated on the drop. The mother of all rides was about to begin.
The Super Valkyrie had lowered its speed to a bit more than Mach One and had gone
down a bit in order to launch the pod. The crew container had been designed with a bomb
format because its flight path would be similar to one and for better aerodynamics. They
actually would still have to travel nearly some 40 miles to the target but this time it would
be done falling and at an even increasing speed, due to gravity.
The targeting computer inside made its final calculations, judging the wind and other
factors. The algorisms built into its software determined the best position to launch that
would place the pod as closest to Azamas 36 as possible. Then it released it when the
plane reached the position.
Every X-Com soldier on the pod started to fell a grip on their stomach close to the one
when riding a roller coaster and afterwards they were raised upwards due to the inertia.
Grabbing the straps attached to metal pins on the floor they hold out to counteract the
movement but two of them reacted too slow and were throw into the ceiling. Johnson
looked at them and noticed that they seemed a bit shaken but didn’t have any major
injuries. Then he saw around him and saw that the other men and himself were floating in
the air like astronauts going around in a spaceship on Earth’s orbit. Will we ever have to
fight in such an environment, he asked, suddenly realizing that no one yet back at High
Command had ever considered that possibility.
They would be experiencing a false loss of gravity, the scientists had explained to him,
originated from the fact that the pod and its inhabitants were falling too fast for Earth’s
gravitational pull to bring them downwards. Every one was trying to hold still but
occasionally a motion would carry someone’s boot again another’s mask. Johnson at his
altitude meter and saw it dropping behind one hundred thousands. About time to go. He
motioned the men at the ceiling.
They went to the center of the pod pulling themselves with their arms and grabbing rungs
attached to the metal ceiling. In the middle there was a hatch and with a press of a button
one of the soldiers made the small explosive charges went off, throwing it away from the
pod and exposing the night sky. One by one the X-Com troopers threw in the direction of
the hatch and were caught by the two waiting men close to it. Then they were placed
facing the open hole and were pushed outside.
Johnson saw Markovitch over along with the remaining members of her platoon.
Forrester’s men went afterwards and his turn then arrived. He used the straps to push
himself forward and crossed the distance that separated him from the opening. The X-
Com squaddies caught him and placed him over the hole. He gave them a thumb up sign
and they carefully pushed him outside the pod.
As soon as his head was out in the open he felt himself being sucked by the air moving
around the pod and his body immediately followed. He quickly found himself moving
279
away from the pod and out of the turbulence it caused going through the atmosphere.
Spreading out his legs and arms, he slowed the speed at which he was falling, enabling
him to join the altitude level of several of his men. It was pitch dark, with only the stars
lighting their descent, but they all carried a pulsating flashlight to not being lost. If any X-
Com trooper became separated from the rest he would touch down miles away from his
buddies on hostile territory. If Snakemen didn’t found them the Russians eventually
would.
The lights started converging and Johnson checked the GPS attached to his pulse. All the
squads had already reported on his headset and they still were at a thousand. Time to get
close to their target.

The West North American team had already deployed their chutes and was doing the
final approach. So far everything had gone according to the plan but now come a tricky
part, landing without the enemy seeing you. Every team member had by now taken off
his high-altitude oxygen mask and put his night vision goggles but no one knew if an
alien patrol would be right below them.
Captain Markovitch had glimpsed what he thought were the alien ships, landed in the
middle of the city almost three kilometers to the south, which seemed to be the focus of
the alien activity according to the latest satellite pictures. But those were already hours
old and everything could have changed by now. Looking on the other side, he could see
the nuclear power plant lights glowing at the distance, together with the imposing form of
the huge vent chimneys used to expel the excess heat and water vapor coming from the
cooling of the nuclear reactions boiling inside. She suddenly realized that the plant was
still operating and that the aliens hadn’t bothered to shut it down after taking over the
whole facility. Another fucking hole in the plan, great! She remembered the Chernobyl
disaster and her gut turned cold. Maybe it had automatic controls, she told herself. In any
case, they were about to hit ground and if the place hung together while they were in the
vicinity it wouldn’t matter.
Scanning the ever-closing ground below her, she found that it appeared to be free of any
hostile forces. She looked at the Global Positioning System visor she had on her wrist.
They were touching down about one kilometer to the northeast of the location of the
former command center. Pulling the cords that came out of the chute, she reduced her
airspeed and prepared herself for hitting the ground.
On the other size of the landing zone, Trooper Jones was seeing the ground fast
approaching. His armored boots hit the Siberian tundra and he quickly bended his knees
to absorb the impact. As his body started to come down he immediately rolled over to his
left. Unfortunately his parachute refused to make the landing perfect and it felt all over
him, covering the soldier with the artificial material.
Jones got up and immediately tried to get himself loose of the fabric sheet that was
covering him. Not good he thought, the Lt. will sure get me on this. His radio started to
go off with calls for his name and he just told them that he was ok and turned it off for it
not to distract him. Going for his leg he removed a combat knife from there and started
cutting himself free. Suddenly he felt that another trooper was doing the same from the
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outside, cutting through the fabric and helping him out of the prison the chute had turned
itself into. One final thrust finally uncovered him and he turned to thank the other
trooper: “Hey, thanks for the…”
He didn’t finish the sentence. As he completed his motion he saw a big black oily
Chryssalid gesturing its sharp claws and about to jump on him. As it crossed the space
between them, Jones’ training was the only thing that avoided its deadly embrace. He
moved his body to the left while making a thrust with the tip of the knife at the creature
while it passed him. The blade hit and slightly penetrated the exoskeleton of the
Chryssallid but it didn’t penetrate it. Instead as the alien moved it broke, leaving only a
shattered knife on his hands, while the alien landed on where he was standing just a
minute before.
The bug’s antenna on the side of its head flickered and the thing got itself standing up
again, but Jones had already dropped the knife and started to run away, screaming for
help.
“Down Jones!” As soon as he heard the shout he threw himself to the front, flying a
couple meters on the air before hitting the ground again, but this time hurting his arms in
spite of the armour built there. He felt the heat of a laser beam that had just passed too
close while he was falling and waited in expectation on the ground, almost pissing on his
pants from the fear he was feeling. After some seconds terrified by the wait to see if the
alien would get him, he suddenly felt the another presence close to him. He looked up
and recognize the figure of Sarge Hopkins holding a heavy laser on his arms and looking
actually amused and pissed at the whole situation.
“Did…did you got it Sarge?” He asked as he grabbed the hand the non-commissioned
officer was offering him.
“Yeah, some of us caught it dashing towards you as soon as you hit the ground. You are
damn lucky for that shitty landing of your since it saved your ass!” He then pulled Jones
up to his feet. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that was one of the worse landings I’ve ever saw but since you got yourself all
wrapped up in the chute the alien couldn’t get to you immediately which gave us time to
go for our weapons meanwhile”.
Jones’ mouth went open and the Sarge gave him a hard push on the shoulder. “Close that
stupid mouth of yours and get that radio working again. We sure tried to warn you to lay
low but no one managed to raise you on the tac radio!”
2257 Zulu
As soon as all the X-Com troopers had finished hiding their parachutes, the team
assembled at a small taiga bush forest to the northwest of Azamas 36. Fortunately no
casualties had been suffered on their descent, which was a blessing, considering that they
had deployed on a most unorthodox way.
After setting sentries to watch for alien activity, Johnson was having a tactical meeting
with his officers. Major Patterson was the first of the crouched group to speak, almost in
a whisper, just a little higher than the necessary for everyone close to him to hear. “We
have landed inside the perimeter according to the GPS indications and the satellite
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pictures. All squads are go. The barracks are one mile on that direction”. He pointed
towards the south. Johnson calculated that they need about an hour and a half to get there.
Time was going to be critical on this mission.
“Markovitch your platoon leads the way. Forrester, cover our back. Be aware of the alien
troops we have spotted to the southwest. Move out”. The three other officers got up and
went passing the orders to their platoons and squads. In less than half a minute the team
was already on their way to the command center with Markovitch’s squad up front and
scouting the way.
Engels Air Base, Russian Federation

On the other side of Russia the two Tu-160 Blackjacks assigned to perform the nuclear
attack on the aliens were being serviced for the mission. One of the supersonic bombers
had already been replaced by another plane as one of his four jet engines had developed a
malfunction, but no other glitches were found after that. The Tu-160s were already being
refueled and the vehicle carryalls transporting the Kh-15 Short Range Attack Missiles
(SRAM) were waiting to be placed in the planes’ weapons bays.
The Blackjack was Russia’s more advanced bomber, having being designed as a close
replica of the American B-1, with swept back geometry wings, which would be
controlled into several positions to help the plane’s aerodynamics. But more important
was the ability to perform hypersonic attack runs that would enable him to quickly enter
and exit the area after having launched his K-15 missiles. When the crews appeared fully
equipped on the hangars to board their aircraft, they had already been equipped with the
nuclear weapons. After the last preparations the pilots fired up their engines and started
moving their planes towards the kilometers long runway.
July 28th, 1999

The Command Center and adjacent barracks located in the entrance to the civilian
sections had been completely trashed by the aliens. Large portions of the security fence
were missing and the gates had been thrown out of their hinges by explosions that had
contortioned the metal. The front of the concrete building had collapsed, exposing the
rooms inside and blocking the main entrance with broken concrete and steel beams. And
all the vehicles in the parking lot had been hit by alien fire, leaving only scarred
blackened skeletons of trucks and armored personnel carriers.
After the forward platoon had given the all clear sign on the radio, the rest of the X-Com
troopers approached the facility with Johnson looking at it in dismay. How could
something be intact in the middle of that destruction, he wondered. Patterson came near
him and expressed the same idea. “Let’s hope High Command didn’t made us get into
this hole for nothing”.
“Yeah, I know what you are saying. Send pairs to find out the location of the backup data
banks. And get the remaining men on watch. At the first sign that the aliens have detected
us we get out of here”. Johnson started moving towards the ruins, hoping that the reserve
data center would be there.
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0057 Zulu
Corporal White finished connecting the laptop that one of the men had carried all the way
through the jump. Somehow in the middle of the indiscriminated destruction the aliens
had ignored the closed doors that lead into the backup computers containing all the
research made by the now dead Russian scientists. Since the front entrance was being
blocked by all the rubble, they had to use a side entrance to get inside. The command
center’s room had been heavily attacked, with signs of gunfire and blood marks all over
the consoles and offices but the levels below ground had been found to be pretty much
intact. Most likely the aliens had only bothered to eliminate the humans defending the
place and didn’t had yet time to make a proper search of the facility. Who cares, White
told himself, focusing on the computer in front of him. A spare satellite radio was
standing on the top of the table where the laptop rested in one corner of a room occupied
with rows and rows of cabinets containing data storage electronic units. They had to blow
the locked steel doors to gain access but at least they had found that the emergency power
generator was still running. A group of troopers had already finished installing the
antenna at the top of the building while he had finished connecting the databanks in front
of him to the laptop.
When everything was ready he opened the link between both computers and waited. A
window immediately popped up with all sorts of different symbols appearing. He spoke
to the microphone he was wearing: “Ultra, the link is up. Start doing your show, over”.
National Security Agency, Ft. Meade, Virginia, US

On the other side of the globe another man seated by a terminal received the call and
acknowledged it. The NSA’s function was to protect and secure the US’s
communications. But it also had a technological system called Echelon, used some of the
most powerful computers available in the world to monitor every transmission being
done in the world and to crack the security codes used by them. Although the speed of the
satellite data link connecting him to Azamas 36 was terribly slow for the technician’s
normal speeds, his first analysis of the security system that controlled access to the data
made him shrug his shoulders. The NSA had been established with the Soviet Union as
their most powerful enemy and its computers had spent years analyzing their code
systems. The one the Russians were using was a variation of the systems used by the
Communist regime. One of their best, but still not enough. Not only had the NSA spent
years around it but also one defector had given them the complete algorithms used to
cipher the information and generate the access passwords. It took the Cray computers less
than fifteen seconds to penetrate the security, which annoyed the operator since he was
looking for a better challenge. Pushing the transmit button he sent the access codes back
to Corporal White’s laptop.
0058 Zulu
Cyrillic characters had replaced the non-sense symbols on White’s computer already as
the operating system started to apply a Russian alphabet font. When the sequence code
came from Ultra the whole screen went blank for a second and afterwards a list of files
started to emerge. White then applied another piece of software, an automatic translator
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that replaced the Russian with English. Turning on again the satellite radio he called this
time X-Com’s HQ back in Germany.
“Goose, this is Dancer. We have gained access to the system. I’m sending over the list of
files available. Don’t take too long to choose your present, over”. He copy-pasted the
information into a simple text file and sent it up the satellite. One of the problems with
the retrieval of the information was that the satellite uplink was no better than a normal
telephone modem. Maximum data transmission was limited to 28 Kilobytes per second
and he had seen that most of the files were several megabytes-sized. With the prospect of
a nuclear explosion on their heads in a few hours, they had to carefully choose what
information was more important and to reduce its size as much as possible before sending
it back to Mother One.
Right now the scientists back at the base would be looking over the list of files to try to
determine what information would be most critical in attempting to reproduce the
Russian particle weapon. White fished a cigarette out of one of his pocket and lit it up.
He was half-way done with the smoke as the reply came after some minutes as an
electronic message came back, showing a list of files.
White transferred them from the databanks to the laptop and used a compression program
to reduce their size before sending them upwards. When the sending status appeared on
the screen he saw that the first batch of fifty-five megabytes would take 36 minutes until
transmission of all the files was finished. And meanwhile the scientists back would start
to examine the received files and figure out what else they would need. Too much damn
work, White thought. He called the Colonel. “Sir, data transmission has just started”.
The reply came immediately: “Try to hurry up. Any estimates upon the necessary time?”
“Depends on what more Mother asks”. Looking for an ashtray and founding none, he
threw the cigarette to the floor and put it out with his combat boot.
“Let’s hope they don’t get good excited. At 0430 we get out of here. Keep monitoring the
transmission and let me know if something comes up. Out”. White looked at the laptop
and got himself prepared for a long wait.
0236 Zulu
The two sniper teams that formed Omega squad had both placed themselves on the roof
on alert for alien activity. Five minutes ago King had issued an order to cease all activity
after they had detected the movement of enemy troops. Looking through the high-
amplification night-vision scope installed in top if his heavy laser rifle, he and
Deschamps were pressed against the ground and concealed, keeping a close tab to the
road almost half a mile in front of them. The aliens were using it to deploy their troops
around and a column of Snakemen was marching in a double line heading right and in no
doubt to prepare for the alien offensive. When the squad had first spotted them on the
horizon and determined their numbers they had exchanged worried looks. Just this
column was composed of more than eighty aliens, according to King’s count, more than
the double of the size of the X-Com troops. Still, the two teams were doing their jobs,
with the spotter locating the alien leaders in command and pointing them out to the
snipers. Some old thumb rules still applied when dealing with the aliens: take the
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enemy’s officers at the beginning of a confrontation and they will fight less effectively
afterwards.
0307 Zulu
Concealed in several positions in the rubble overlooking the road, Jones and the rest of
Gamma squad were finding the waiting close to unbearable. Captain Forrester had
forbidden any movement on their part and all they could do was to watch as the aliens
less than a kilometer away from them passed by and hoping that none would remember to
move into the direction of the ruins. Alpha and Beta squads were also close by but that
thought gave Jones no rest as the twelve men facing the scores of aliens could hope no
better than to delay their approach before having to fall back. And while the Sectoids and
Floaters were unmenacing by now to the veteran soldiers of the platoon, these new aliens
sent shivers down the spine of every men. The Snakemen reminded him of a sidewinder
standing on its tail and readying for an attack, with their lean bodies and reptilian heads
that sported wide fangs coming out of their mouths. And the gray things were even
worse. When the pre-mission briefing had focused on that matter, the orders stated were
clear: to shoot down every man impregnated by one of those monsters. The reason that
justified it was even more terrifying. It remembered Jones of the Alien movies that he had
seen on his teens, where the alien would also grow into the victim’s body until finally
bursting out. Only on this case the thing would be even more quicker to grow. And he
could swore that he had seen through the Lieutenant’s binoculars some of the gray
monsters focusing their attention into their direction. The yellow figures in the night
vision binoculars had suddenly stopped and turned looking at his direction, with their
antennas raised. He had passed that information to the Lt. but no one else had reported
that type of movement on the part of the aliens. He hoped that it wasn’t just his paranoia
and xenophobia affecting his perception. Looking again at the ugly crabs, he wondered
what sort of planet could had created such a living nightmare like it had came out of a
terrifying Sci-Fi movie. What would be next, the Alien Terminator?
0359 Zulu
Looking at his watch, Johnson was slowly getting more relentless in the data storage
chamber. In a bit more than thirty minutes they had to start moving or otherwise when the
explosion occurred they would be still in a high-risk area. “Can’t you just leave it there
now on automatic?” He asked White, whose look both reflected a professional but also
hopeless feeling. “We had already two broken connections with the satellite, we just can’t
risk it again at this moment. Batch number six is on its way and should take more 36
minutes. Mother thinks they have gotten most of the basic data by now but that there are
still some concepts missing to them. After this one I can put it on automatic and queue up
enough files for it to be uploading until the explosion. But now we have to wait.
“Putting us over the schedule. Isn’t there any way to speed up the process?” White just
shook his head. “Only by using US military communications satellites. But they would
soon decipher the code we are using and have access to the information”.
“Impossible. I’ve received particularly specific orders from High Command on that
matter. If any Earth country, including our own, possesses that information the world’s
balance of power would be completely altered, probably disrupting the effort towards
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fighting the aliens”. White moved uncomfortably on the chair upon hearing again that
explanation. Some of the troops had shouted interrogations and complains as when they
had been informed of it and Johnson understood their patriotism. But he believed that the
reasons that supported Commander Illyuschenko decision were even more right at this
time. And the fact that the man had chosen X-Com over his countries seemed to strike a
note on the troops, although he knew that some of them still had their doubts. Still, he
wanted to make them all understand. But as the clock continued ticking his own doubts
appeared. They had rented a commercially run communications satellite and installed
both ends with a ciphering device hastily built that used the first alien algorisms
discovered on their computers. Their mathematics at first defied any known calculus and
it had taken months to understand their concepts. Whoever once it was done, the X-
Com’s radio transmissions had been coded using them to secure them from being listened
by any nation on Earth. The security placed on this operation was so much that the unit
had a team at the moment in France to monitor and secure that no traces of the
information would ever be left into the company’s computers. And as a final measure, the
satellite would be brought down into the atmosphere and destroyed. That would make a
huge dent on X-Com’s finances but Johnson had waken up to discover that Illyuschenko
had managed a way to get more money. When he asked him where all he got told was not
to ask and not to discuss it with anyone. That was strange and probably something illegal
was going on, but Johnson didn’t bother since his troops were getting what they needed
now. Still, looking at the minutes going by, he wondered what good was money if you
couldn’t buy time with it.
0432 Zulu
“Shit!” The fourteen men overlooking the highway said at the same time. Up ahead
another company of aliens had just came from the city. But on the contrary of the others
they had seen before, it didn’t turn into the right or the left, instead moving forward
towards the ruins of the command center. Captain Forrester got quickly his radio working
and spoke: “Attention everyone. A group of aliens has turned into our direction, ETA
seven or less”. Johnson’s voice came immediately back. “Markovitch, status?”
Her voice came immediately: “Zeta, Kappa and Phi report no alien movement. We have a
wide open escape route”. Patterson looked at him and spoke what he was thinking. “We
either go now or risk a confrontation”.
“I know damn it! White, what’s the status?” The communications technician looked at
the monitor on the laptop and replied: “Four minutes”. Johnson stood silent for a
moment, doing mental calculations.
Patterson guessed exactly what his commander was thinking and replied even before the
idea was stated: “A very risky one. Markovitch can start clearing the escape route and
covering our withdrawal while we wait to be sure. But we gotta watch out for the aliens”.
Johnson thought for a second, looked at Crossett, who seemed resigned with the situation
and then nodded. Patterson grabbed his mike and spoke: “Markovitch get us an escape
route. Forrester and Omega hold your positions and prepare to buy us some time but only
fire at my command”. The acknowledgments came back and all four men in the room
placed down their helmets again and grabbed their weapons.
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0432 Zulu
It was a matter of time, King had already felt it and now like always in sniper assignment,
time had proven him correct. The alien horde that was approaching the military
compound had gotten close to half away when suddenly several of the crab monsters had
started mad dashes towards their direction. King didn’t even waited for the call on the
radio. Focusing on the serpent figure on his scope he let go of a breath of air before
squeezing the trigger on the grip of his heavy laser. The barrel emitted a golden ray of
light that hit the creature square in the head, immediately killing the alien leader. On the
other side of the roof, he heard the humming sound of Private Rumpole’s heavy laser, but
he didn’t even bothered to look if it had hit. She was the first female sniper he had ever
seem but she was as good as him. Searching with his scope and using the directions being
told to him by Deschamps he prepared for last shot before moving to another position
before the enemy detected his presence and used suppressive fire against him.
0434 Zulu
Several of the Chryssalids laid dead in the ground already as Captain Forrester had
ordered his platoon to first that down the running monsters before they got to their
defensive positions. But now the Snakemen were starting to react, although in a
disorganized way and the X-Com troops had to be constantly on the move, taking cover
behind the wrecked walls and broken concrete to avoid being pinned down by plasma
shots or the alien’s guided missiles. Jones got out of his concealed position behind a large
cement block and fired three bursts of laser fire after getting his target. A group of aliens
carrying more of those missile launchers had been spotted on the left flank and he knew
that they needed to taken down otherwise they would blast his troops into a million
pieces. He hit one of them, but a rocket, in no doubt launched by Big Momma, did the
most damage, cutting their scaled bodies into pieces. The alien troops had figured by now
that they needed to use suppressive fire and were slowing their advance. Still, as Jones
came out again of his hiding place and supported the rifle’s muzzle on the cement he
considered if that was a good thing as he saw Private Bryant from Alpha ahead of him
getting killed by several plasma shots as he tried to move into another position.
0435 Zulu
As the timer on the upload status window reached zero, Johnson quickly spoke into the
tactical radio to all his men. “It’s done! Go!” Right, afterwards all four men of Sigma
squad immediately headed out for the ground level.
Close to the front entrance of the center, Forrester considered for a minute what he should
do. Bryant and Holloman had been killed already, someone at Beta also badly injured and
two other light causalities. Not adding to that list the burn at his ankle that he had
managed to stop the bleeding with his medikit but still restricted his movement. That was
an amazing piece of equipment he realized as he saw he remembered how the X-Com
designed personal diagnosis and medical treatment unit had immediately released drugs
into his bloodstream that sped up the healing process and painkillers upon placement of it
over his wound. However, it simply wasn’t enough to enable him to even walk again at a
normal pace. The other two men’s injuries were light and wouldn’t impair them but his
and Wright’s would slow down the team. Slow realization of what was requested of him
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came to his mind. The duty of slowing the aliens while not doing that to the team. And he
would die in peace, knowing he had came up to the Colonel’s expectations.
“Alpha, Beta and Gamma, pull out. Hopkins, how’s Sharpe doing?”
“He’s as good as dead if he doesn’t receive medical attention and he knows it. We can’t
stop the hemorrhage that the missile blast caused on his chest”.
“Me and him are staying behind to give you a bit more time. I’m disabled also. Sharpe
and I will be a dead weight on the team. Good luck”.
The voice on the other side paused for a second before trying to conceal the emotion on
his response. “Understood sir. It…it was a pleasure serving under your command. Good
luck and goodbye Captain Forrester and don’t worry, we will make it”. A few seconds
later Pershing came up but instead of carrying his autocannon he was helping Wright.
The man’s face looked bleached white to him as he put him behind the concrete block.
Pershing did a short salute and nodded to him before leaving crouched until he reached
deeper inside the ruins. Wright was laying with his back on the ground and spoke in a
ghastly voice. “If you don’t mind Major, could you please put me facing the aliens since
the pain to do so by myself is too great?” He looked at the medikit attached to his arm
and wondered what sort of pain Wright could be feeling that even the medical device
wouldn’t be able to lessen it. Moving to the soldier’s side he rolled him over until he was
next to the end of the block. Getting to the other end, he resumed his weapon’s fire.
0438 Zulu
Looking at some hundred meters distance from the main facility Johnson saw that Omega
squad had nearly descended from the roof using ropes and that Forrester’s men were
starting to evacuate the facility through the rear section, which consisted of burnt and
destroyed barracks and warehouses. His own squad had already joined Markovitch’s
Zeta, with the other two squads under the Captain’s command already scouting more
territory ahead.
He counted troopers coming out of the facility and painfully realized that the other ones
would never come back. He called on the radio: “Captain, what’s the status?”
Instead another voice came to him, of Lieutenant Jerrel. “The Captain stayed behind
together with Wright sir. Both were too injured to walk”. Jesus all mighty, Johnson told
to himself while trying to reach Forrester. He gave up after three unanswered calls, spoke
a silent prayer and started organizing the retreat of his team. “You have proven me right
Captain”, he said to no one.
0439 Zulu
Up on the other end of the security center, Forrester noticed how the aliens had resumed
their suicidal attacks with the Chrysallids in no doubt after realizing that the defensive
fire had lessened in volume. While the monsters charged the Snakemen appeared to have
halted their fire and moving forwards, in no doubt realizing that the humans facing them
would have to deal with the death wave in front of them.
He and Wright kept firing and succeeded in bringing down a couple more of the
terrifying aliens but the Chrysallids quickly covered the last hundred meters that
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separated them from the concrete block. The one in front of the horde made a terrifying
jump as Forrester showered him with laser fire at close range. The thing flew in the air
and over the gray block until it finally landed behind the concrete ruin and both X-Com
troopers. Wright tried to turn in the ground but in his condition he only managed to let go
of a shout of pain. Forrester moved his rifle to deal with the threat, but his three shots
missed as the Chryssalid ran into Wright’s direction and landed upon him. “Nooooooo!”
He shouted and pointed his rifle at the thing quickly firing it. One of the red beams hit the
crouched alien on the head and it dropped to the ground. But it was too late.
Amazement came to the Captain’s mind as he saw the gravely injured trooper came up
slowly to his feet but then flashes of warning came to his mind, reminding him of what
Wright had just turned into and of what he should. But his finger on the trigger of the
laser was a second too slow as a large claw suddenly cut the rifle’s barrel into two. Then
something run into his left side and he felt himself falling. Until he found himself inside a
dark, painful hell.

All scientific personnel currently engaged in Elerium research had been recruited for this
mission to help determine what information would be more essential in reproducing the
Russian weapon and, more important, the electromagnetic fields used to contain and
direct its power. At first they had picked the files whose names were too obvious to miss,
but even then they had came up into some dead ends later upon conferring the
information upon them. While it would take them many weeks of hard work to compile
together all the data and then fully understanding it, right now they could only hope that
they had everything they need as they couldn’t order any specific file anymore. The
system would be sending information until the explosion or a loss of connection, but if
they found later out that they need anything else it would be too late. Dr. Chevereux
turned to Commander Illyuschenko and reported: “We have everything we think we
need. Will they make it on time?” Looking at the time display in one of the command
center walls, Illyuschenko simply asked: “Are you a religious man, doctor?”
0627 Zulu
After crossing most of Russia in a flight that included an aerial refuel, the flight of Tu-
160 Blackjacks finally prepared their attack run. The second bomber was kept as a
reserve in case something happened that prevented the first one to release its missiles and
it was circling the area. Meanwhile the first bomber moved in and the power engaged the
afterburners for full speed in the attack. When first bomber managed to finally reach the
Kh-15 missile maximum range it had already to dodge several plasma volleys shot by the
UFO who had gotten up in no doubt to face the plane. When the targeting computer
confirmed at lock on Azamas 36, the weapons systems officer alerted the pilot. The
attacking Tu-160 opened then his twin weapon bays and fired both missiles. Then, the
pilot rolled his plane until they were almost flying the opposite direction, going away for
sanctuary in the form of distance and the flights of Russian Air Force fighters waiting for
it in the blue sky.
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0628 Zulu
Running like madman in the barren ground, the X-Com tried to put as much distance as
possible from the city. They had lost visual contact with the aliens after a series of
rearguard confrontations that had been costly to the extraterrestrials. But they had even
further delayed the team although now even the faster Chrysallids were to be seen
anywhere. Since the Snakemen were too slow to accompany the other aliens or even the
humans pace, they were being left behind, allowing the squads to take down the
Chryssalids with unopposed long-range fire, since the things didn’t carry any plasma
weapons.
The team since then had went through a steeper pace trying to get away from the nuclear
blast that was eminent upon them. Johnson kept checking this watch to see how many
time they had left. Every military safety procedure was being violated on this escape but
that didn’t bother all the men and women on the team. Finally when there was only half a
minute he shouted: “Time’s up! Get some cover!” Everyone immediately dove for any
depression on the ground that could cover them from the radiation, shock wave and the
heat that was about to come. Johnson looked back and saw that an UFO was getting
airborne, in no doubt trying to escape the area. They all tried to dig themselves to the
ground as deeper as possible, closing their eyes and keeping their faces turned to away
from the city.
0629 Zulu
Both SRAMs dropped several dozens of meters below the Tu-160 after being launched,
right before their solid fuel engines started propelling them at a supersonic speed. It
would take the missiles less than four seconds to cover the ninety-kilometer distance to
Azamas 36 and detonate together in a nuclear blast.
However, a bit more than a second after their launch, the two missiles encountered a wall
of plasma shots and the alien’s own missiles. Then one of the mini-suns used by the
aliens exploded close to the missiles and threw them off course, sending one of them to
crash harmlessly to the ground and throwing the other one into the middle of a plasma
beam that cut into two parts.
0643 Zulu
After some minutes of waiting that more seemed like a lifetime, Johnson signaled
Corporal White who was covering in the ground close to him: “Something is wrong here.
Get HQ online to see what has happened”. The trooper took out the communications pack
off his back and immediately begun the task of preparing it for a satellite connection. He
produced a foldable antenna and opened it, afterwards connecting and preparing the
radio. He finally gave Johnson a headpiece. He grabbed it and spoke:
“Magic, Magic, this is Dancer, over”. After some seconds the reply from Area 51 came.
“Dancer, Magic up and listening to you. What’s your status?”
“Didn’t manage to clear the area on time but the explosion didn’t go. You know what
happened?”
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“Word is getting to us from Mother that the enemy managed to take out the attack
missiles as they approached the site”.
“They what!?!”
“They used antiaircraft fire. What is the enemy up to?”
“We are seeing large movements of aliens leaving the city. Will the Russians try again?”
“Can’t tell right now. Are you clear?”
“We are ten clicks northwestern of the city. Will the Russians still try to advance?”
“Unlikely since they were counting that the blast decimated the aliens’ ranks”
“Shit!”
“Yeah, get some cover and stay put. We are still deciding how to retrieve you since we
can’t use the Skyrangers”.
Johnson replied and went to gather the senior officers on his command. They all grouped
in the middle of the defense perimeter set by the X-Com troops, with Lt. Jerrel as a
substitute of the deceased Captain Forrester.
“This is the situation: the aliens shot down the nukes. Most likely the Russians won’t
make another attempt at this time and will try to hold out the alien offensive, leaving us
stranded here since the Rangers would be shot down trying to cross their lines. High
Command is trying to sort out this mess, but right now we are right behind enemy lines
with no prospects for extraction. Any ideas?” All the other officers looked down in
resignation while Johnson tried also to think of a possible way out. After some tense
minutes where everyone kept trying not to get on despair, Markovitch raised her head and
spoke: “Why don’t we blow the fucking nuclear reactor?”
Everyone looked at her as if she was crazy. Patterson replied: “Blow the reactor?”
“I don’t know how, I’ve just remembered. The thing is also nuclear right? If we set some
explosives on it or mess up the controls and get out of there on the double, the whole
thing could go off and do the role the nukes were supposed to”. She threw her hands up
and Johnson faced her. “And how are we going to do that Miss Rocket Scientist?”
“Get on the radio and talk to HQ. The nerds over there will sure come up with a solution.
Otherwise we are screwed and Russia will never contain this toilet who is about to
overflow with shit”.
“That’s insane Markovitch”. Patterson replied shaking his head.
“Piss off Mike. Do any of you have any better ideas?” No one answered her question.
Johnson looked at them and spoke: “OK, we will pass that idea and see what they tell us.
Meanwhile keep your eyes sharp for alien movement. We can’t risk being discovered at
this time”. He got up and, still crouched moved towards White’s position.

Eva Johannes was still wondering what could be the emergency situation that required
her immediate presence when she entered the operations room. Commander Illyuschenko
was there, along with Colonel MacTaggert, Dr. Chevereux and other senior officers, all
grouped around one table filled with maps and sheets of paper. The X-Com commander
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raised his head and spoke. “We need quickly some technical information on nuclear
reactors Doctor and Dr. Chevereux told us you are the person here more familiar with the
subject”.
“Well I did some work on the area before, Commander. What do you need to know?”
“To put it simple: can a nuclear reactor be rigged to explode as an atomic bomb?”
“Impossible. In a bomb you have a concentrated amount of nuclear fuel that is quickly
joined together and bombarded with neutrons at the same time so that the reaction
consumes the available uranium and releases all the energy contained on it on less than a
millisecond. In nuclear reactors the fuel is separated into rods isolated from one another
and the process is closely controlled through the use of neutron absorbent materials. Even
when those are removed the heat will blow the plant first before it explodes”. Every
officer shook its head and Chevereux said: “I told you so Commander”. Illyuschenko
looked hopeless and but still asked, out of curiosity: “But what if the control mechanisms
were removed? What would happen?”
“There on each rod the fuel isn’t concentrated enough like a bomb, so the neutrons have
to fly further which due to the neutron physics won’t be enough for an explosion”. The
scientist started stating what he had just said before, to make sure Illyuschenko had
understood it. “The most that you could achieve would be an overheating of the fission
materials that would lead into the melting of the reactor’s core and the release of huge
amounts of radiation. Essentially the same that happened in the disaster at Chernobyl”.
The reference to mankind’s worst nuclear accident in history brought a strange look to
Illyuschenko’s face and Johannes realized that the Commander probably had been
personally affected in some way by it. “Chernobyl….” He started mumbling but turned to
the French scientist after some seconds of reflection. “Dr. Chevereux, if something like
that happened in Siberia, what would be the effects on the aliens?”
The scientist looked puzzled but started recalling the information he had on the aliens
biology and metabolism. “Well, most likely the radiation would cause mutations upon the
alien’s genetic structure. In the case of the Chryssalids those changes would even be
more important due to the fact that they have a fast cell division rate. In humans radiation
greatly affects the marrow and reproductive tissues, due to the fact that both of them are
quickly generated and the cells don’t have enough time to conduct repairs upon the DNA
before they divide, with the genetic errors being carried to the next generation of cells. It
would also greatly affect the Snakemen, since they carry a lot of eggs. Most likely their
ability to self-reproduce would be severely constrained, not to mention other side effects
from short and long-term exposure to radiation since the alien’s bodies doesn’t seem
more shielded than ours”.
“Commander, you can’t just order the destruction of a nuclear power plant! The
environmental damage would be horrendous, not to mention the possibility that the
radiation would be carried into civilized areas!” Johannes was shocked at the possibility.
Illyuschenko cut her off.
“Miss Johannes, I’ve had family and friends affected by Chernobyl so I know that are the
effects of such a disaster. However, the situation here can turn out into something far
worse and I need to consider all the possibilities we have got left. If the aliens push their
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attack my country’s forces will be unable to restrain them to a confined area and judging
from their rate of multiplication and the possibility of receiving reinforcements, the
whole of Asia and Europe could be lost to them in months or even weeks”.
“You military are all the same, aren’t you Commander? Life is just like a bullet.
Something to be expended if there’s a need to it and all with the justification that without
the sacrifice further losses would occur”. She shook her head.
“I won’t get into this discussion now, Miss Johannes. What I need is that you and Dr.
Chevereux tell me how it can be done. If your conscience forbids you to do so, you can
always resign the unit. In any case I expect that this matter doesn’t get out of this room”.

All of the commanding officers had gathered again upon Johnson summon. He still felt
uneasy about the orders received from Commander Illyuschenko, but there was nothing
he could do since they seemed the last hope available. “In five minutes we head back to
the facility and approach the nuclear reactor to make it blow. Looks like your idea was
useful after all Markovitch”. She looked back at him, shocked. “I didn’t know it was
possible!”
“From what I’ve been told, it isn’t. But when we get there we will tinker with the
reactor’s controls to hopefully create another Chernobyl, although we will be long away
from it before it happens”. He still felt very uncomfortable at the whole prospect of
making what could be the worst nuclear contamination in history but had decided to leave
those thoughts for after, when they all managed to get back to safety.
Lt. Jerrel showed his fear on his voice: “But even if we are far away from the reactor
when it happens, what about the radiation? Tactical nukes are far ‘cleaner’. On this case
we are going to release massive doses through an large area around the reactor”.
“This whole mission had taken that into consideration. The body armor we are carrying is
made out of alien materials and we could only get better protection if we were wearing a
lead suit. We will have to make a complete clean up of any radioactive particles when we
reach the Russian lines but they will have the necessary equipment. The Red Army has
been equipping the forces around Azamas 36 for NBC (Nuclear, Biological and
Chemical) warfare for the past days so that they can fight in such environments. As long
as we keep in cover while the wind carries the particles around we should come out with
no problems”.
“Shit, we all will be glowing in the dark for the remainder of our lives”. Markovitch spat.
“You’re not coming to the reactor with the rest of us, Markovitch”. She looked at him in
surprise as he continued. “The scientists have taken all the necessary information from
the backup computers. But we can’t leave any trace of our presence here or allow that the
Russians access again that information. I want you to go back and retrieve our
communications gear and destroy the data stored there”. All officers threw interrogatorial
looks at him.
“I know what you are thinking. The Russian team also divided themselves and they were
crushed. But if we want to savage the entire operation and don’t turn into worthless all
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the deaths that have already happened, we need to do this”. She shook her head in
concern. “Are you sure you want to do this Colonel?”
She’s afraid? Johnson asked himself, not believing that she ever would have admitted it
in combat. But as he realized of what she was afraid of he become speechless. She and
her men could be trapped and killed like it had happened with Gerasimov’s platoon. And
if that happened Johnson would never be able to forgive himself and Markovitch would
be dying knowing that. He looked at her eyes and said: “I’m sure Sheila. But I trust you
and I hope that you feel the same about me”. She closed her eyes for a moment and
afterwards got up. “There might be some sort of explosives left in the barracks. Two
squads, one to take guard while the second rigs the place. I won’t need more men”. He
nodded to her “go” and faced the other officers “Let’s start moving”.

Dr. Chevereux unfolded a large blueprint over a lit table for all the scientists around the
table to see. Printed on white lines and letters, the technical schematics of a nuclear
reactor were recognized by all after some seconds. “This is the Soviet built RMBK
nuclear plant. Science should serve mankind, but in this case we need to discover how we
can make it wage destruction. Basically what we need is to provoke a short, massive
release of radiation from its core.
One of the scientists, a former East German, turned to him and said: “That’s the same
type of reactor responsible for Chernobyl, Dr. Chevereux. I did studies on those in my
youth and even worked in one as part of scientific personnel exchanges. If you open the
hell contained inside one of them, it will take a lot of work to close it”.
“Your warning is noted, Dr. Schmidt. Unfortunately there are more things at stake here
right now. If you know of a way who, please tell us so?”
The man thought for a second and then pointed to a group of conducts on the left and
right sides of the reactor. “There’s one way to do it. First you increase the power level
until the coolant water becomes so hot so that even the high pressure can’t help it from
turning into steam, dramatically increasing the heat inside the reactor since there’s no
coolant anymore and provoking an explosion. Even though this type of reactors suffered
security modifications, we can bypass the automatic safeguards. We then program the
control computers to slowly raise the power and at a point to cut down the heat transfer
mechanisms. The central core will melt in seconds due to the excessive heat”.
“Can the team do it?” The German scientist thought for a second and replied: “I doubt it.
Too many things can go wrong and you would need a trained specialist that knows the
system. Not to mention the fact that everything should be in Russian and it would take
anyone who doesn’t know the language too long for it”. Dr. Chevereux looked in dismay.
“However there might just be another way. If we destroy the control system and provoke
leaks on the cooling conducts the reaction should increase enough to provoke an
explosion. Basically one of the flaws in this reaction system is the positive void
coefficient. That means that if some refrigeration water is lost the nuclear reactions will
actually increase, on the contrary of the majority of the reactors where they automatically
stop. That’s one of the design flaws that caused Chernobyl and if the system that deploys
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the control rods automatically to reduce the fission reaction is down the whole thing will
go up”.
“The team still has some demolition explosives left. Let’s start looking over these prints
to where to place them”. As Dr. Chevereux finished talking all the scientists gathered
more around the table.
0937 Zulu
The nuclear reactor’s compartment was a large building attached a larger but lower
rectangular one. On its top a cooling tower released the excess water vapor caused by the
heat exchange mechanism that refrigerated the reactor and provided heat to be
transformed into electricity. High-tension power lines connected the electrical generator
to the rest of the facility. The X-Com team had found it to be once again deserted of any
people, which sent brought uneasy thoughts to all the troopers after they had finished
their sweeps under the still illuminated rooms and corridors. So far Azamas 36 had
proven to be completely empty of any former inhabitants, although it was reported to
have a population of several thousand military and scientific personnel plus their families
and other inhabitants. The thought of what had happened to all those people troubled
Johnson and he wished that they all would be dead by now.
Using the indications given by Mother he had sent demolition teams to several points in
the reaction. Since the spare radio had been left out at the backup database to beam the
research to the satellite they had to use the only one they had left. But it didn’t matter.
Nothing else mattered. His men were setting up the detonation system, using wire taken
from the walls to connect the bombs to the explosives that were being set in different
places of the facility.
What have I done, Johnson asked himself. Everyone on the team was starting to show
signs of fatigue after hours of running around. How much further can I push them?
He decided to step outside the room and get some air. Moving out the door he paused to
see the morning Sun and decided to find out a near toilet to take a piss and water his face.
Crossett started following him but he dismissed the soldier after finding a public toilet
down the corridor. As he was pissing he immediately felt more relieved. When he
finished he went to the sinks and tried the taps while looking at his face in the mirror and
noticing how tired it looked. Water immediately flew out of them and he washed his
hands and afterwards brought his head down and watered his face. As he got up again he
stopped in the middle as he saw a black thing coming from the corridor behind him.
Jumping to his left side, he barely managed to dodge the charging Chryssalid, who tried
to hit him with its claws right before it crashed into the sink, breaking it and the mirror in
the process and falling down on the ground. Johnson was already there and was trying to
get up, but the fountain of water coming of the broken taps was making his combat boots
skittle in the floor. He reached for his laser pistol but as the alien got up there was a crack
sound. The Chrysallid’s body immediately became full of small holes, making it stumble
backwards. However it quickly regained its balance and lunged forwards again.
Meanwhile Crossett reloaded his shotgun and fired another shot at it while Johnson also
discharged his laser pistol several times.
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A strange liquid started to came out of the locations where it had gotten hit again and it
dropped face forward to the ground. Crossett quickly reloaded and filled its gray body
with several more shots until he felt assured that the thing was dead. After that he went to
see the toilet cabinets in the corridor from where the alien had appeared when he came
back Johnson had already gotten to his feet and several other X-Com troopers had
appeared. He merely spoke: “Found some human remains back there and an open
ventilation grill. The guy must have been impregnated and when the alien popped up it
must have decided to nest inside the ventilation system”.
Johnson thought it strange but left it to the xenobiologists back at the base to think of
what it meant. Despite being shaken from what had happened he remembered however to
bark a warning to any trooper regarding enemy stragglers.
0954 Zulu
As Markovitch and her men were exiting the backup system she let go of a deep breath,
considering that they had managed to clean up X-Com’s tracks and destroy the data
contained without a glitch. They had used the lasers first to cut through the information
banks and afterwards placed grenades into them before setting the whole place on fire
using whatever combustible materials they could find. Sergeant Krenon had found a
couple of intact half-full petrol barrels in the remains of the wrecked motor pool and
those had been moved inside and their contents spilled over everything. After they had
set fire into it and cleared the underground room, a couple of explosions greeted them.
They then moved away, before the aliens decided to send a team there to investigate and
headed towards the rendezvous point with the rest of the team.
1129 Zulu
Johnson kept looking at his watch. They were waiting for Markovitch for ten minutes
now and she still hadn’t appeared at the rally point and they couldn’t wait any longer. No
further incidents had occurred at the reactor station and they had successfully rigged the
place. However they had no way to contact Markovitch after leaving the radio back. She
had used the spare to inform them that she had been successful and was heading
backwards but that had been thirty minutes ago. He looked at Patterson and spoke:
“Mike, they can’t be that far”. The other officer simply closed his eyes.
1141 Zulu
The reason behind Markovitch’s delay had been that her squads had stumbled upon a
Snakemen patrol as they were close to their destiny. As she gave the order for everyone
to hide she realized that it would be useless as the plasma fire was starting already to
come from the aliens, together with grenades. Holding her laser rifle tighter she saw as
her point man, Corporal Shaw was suddenly cut down by heavy plasma fire, falling dead
to the ground as he was trying to get more cover. She immediately spotted the alien
responsible for it and sent it reeling to the ground with two well-placed shots into its head
and torso.
However, the situation wasn’t getting any better. She had estimated more than fifteen
Snakemen and she now was reduced to seven men, which didn’t make for terrific odds.
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In any case they needed to pull back or do something else, since they couldn’t call in for
help.
1150 Zulu
As the final Snakemen was cut down by a round of armor piercing shots fired from
Pershing’s heavy cannon, the men of Gamma and Sigma squads quickly moved forwards,
followed on the flanks by Alpha and Beta and covered by Omega’s snipers. When they
reached the alien’s line they went to check that everyone of them was dead. By then the
survivors of Zeta and Phi squads had started to come out of their cover positions among
the ground. Looking for Markovitch’s figure, Johnson didn’t spot her in the three soldiers
who were know approaching him and feared the worst. He recognized Sergeant Krenon
and went over to him, asking almost in a panic: “Where’s the Captain?”
The trooper made a weak smile and pointed with his thumb backwards. “Over there. She
suffered a concussion from an alien grenade that exploded too closely but she will be all
right in a little while. Prune also got injured and Camay is back there taking care of both.
Too bad Shaw and Freyuth didn’t made it but thanks for the save, Colonel”. Johnson
immediately placed a hand over the non-commissioned officer’s shoulder and the man
nodded to him. He stayed there for a minute until he headed towards the group of injured
troopers.
Markovitch was lying on the ground with a medikit close to her side but trying to get up,
in spite of the objections being made by Private Camay, the female soldier strictly
ordering her officer to lie down. As she suddenly noticed him, she immediately said:
“About time you decided to show up!” Looking at her commander, Camay decided to let
him deal with her and went to check on Prune’s status.
He moved closer and replied: “Thanks for keeping them into a straight line. You made
them exactly into place for us to ambush them as we were approaching”. He offered her a
hand to get up. She grabbed it and answered back: “Well, next time don’t wait too long”.
As she was almost up he used the momentum to push her closer to him and hold her in an
embrace. “I won’t,” he said. Markovitch become surprised but didn’t step away, the
feeling of him suddenly justifying everything.
While both officers stood there the two privates on the ground had dropped their mouths
to the ground in complete surprise, looking at the entire situation for some seconds until
they wisely decided in silence to ignore it and act as if they hadn’t seen it. She started
moved away from him and spoke. “Before anything else, you still have to get us out of
here”. Taking conscience again of the situation he said: “I will. Can you walk?”
She smiled. “I can run if I have to. Wanna race me?” He shook his head. “Get your troops
running. We are leaving this wasteland this minute”. He looked at the sky. Even in the
middle its short summer Siberia looked as desolate as ever.
1606 Zulu
The X-Com team had finally managed to reach the vicinity of the Russian lines and
contacted Colonel Boronin on the spare radio retrieved by Markovitch. When radio
contact was finally made he gathered his team and went to pick up Johnson and his men
and lead them through the Russian lines. When finally both teams encountered
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themselves in the no man’s land between the Red Army and the aliens, Johnson simply
nodded to Boronin when both men encountered and the Russian officer gave an ordered
to his radioman. No word was spoken afterwards as they went back and crossed the lines
at a different point than the one Boronin had left so that the Russian troopers wouldn’t
notice that he was returning with far more soldiers. They immediately headed for the
Skyrangers, with Johnson noticing how all the Russian camp had turned into a hectic
confusion as the radiation cloud coming from the now blown power plant was detected
by the radiation meters. He looked at Azamas 36 at saw that the early afternoon sky now
seemed to have a pinkish hue coming from the city. Johnson wondered if the radiation
would be actually visible, but then decided not to think anymore about it. Now it was the
Russians time to deal with all the mess they nearly had gotten everyone into it. Getting
into line for the decontamination showers he got ready for the chemical shower that
would clean his armor of any radioactive particles attached to it before boarding the
planes.
1625 Zulu
The X-Com Russian trooper carrying the radio merely took it down and deployed its
antenna, selected an unused frequency and pushed the transmit button. The small
electronic umbrella sent a short radio burst up the sky, towards the communications
satellite that then beamed it back to Siberia. The satellite engines then made a short burst,
making it starting to fall back to Earth. But before it re-entered the planet atmosphere and
burned up into pieces the artificial machine executed its orders in space completely
unaware of the damage they had caused or what would happen to its own fate.
Many kilometers below the satellite, three sets of explosives all rigged together to the
radio receiver went off at the same time inside the nuclear reactor as their detonators
were triggered by the transmission. One of them was placed against the conducts that
transported cooling water to inside the reactor, cutting them and immediately flooding the
room with water so hot that when it came outside the ruptured tubes it immediately went
to steam. The temperature rose immediately but in a few seconds it was quickly
surpassed by the one of the reactor. The loss of the cooling liquid had immediately raised
the temperature of the fuel rods several thousand degrees and increasing the number of
nuclear fission reactions taking place inside them. The automatic control system would
detect such an event and immediately deploy control rods, which absorbed neutrons and
stopped the nuclear reactions, avoiding a disaster. But the second and third explosions
had taken out both the system and the electrical power to the engines that operated the
rods. Without any force left to constrain its growing power the number of fission
reactions increased quickly until the heat generated was too great for the water still
circling in the refrigeration tubes, making it explode and take out the cover of the reactor
and also the roof of the building that housed it.
The blast ejected into the outside a cloud of highly radioactive materials from the now
melted fuel rods and the reactor itself, including uranium, cesium, strontium and the
highly toxic plutonium. The level of radiation in the vicinity of the reactor immediately
went up several thousand times, making it dangerous for a human to stand in the area for
even minutes wearing a protection. And the reactor wasn’t dead yet, still spilling out his
deadly entrails away to the wind. It would continue to do so for many more days.
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2049 Zulu
Some hours after the explosion the Red Army soldiers begun to see groups of aliens
trying to break their lines but in a disorganized fashion. The Snakemen and the
Chryssalids seemed more preoccupied in escaping the area than to actually perform an
attack, which made easier the job for the tanks and the soldiers. The wind had spread the
death area now so that it included most of Azamas 36 perimeter, including large sections
of the city. For thousands even millions of years the city would become inaccessible to
any human, due to the radiation emitted by the radioactive fallout. The Russian High
Command had already determined the cause of the explosion and was moving more men
and equipment to stop the release of radiation of the reactor core as soon as all alien
opposition was defeated.
They didn’t had to wait too long as six hours after the explosion the UFOs took off their
positions near the city and headed permanently for space. But Earth’s victory was a
phyrric one. It would take the Russians many months to contain and seal the open
radiation core, even with assistance from all of X-Com’s funding nations and the
technical assistance of the organization. But unlike Chernobyl the casualties from the
clean-up crews that built the coffin to contain the radiation were lower than in that
incident, due to the usage of anti-radiation suits made by X-Com and using the alien
alloys. Still, the whole explosion created huge public health problems as the airborne
radiation cloud traveled through Siberia and Russia.
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Chapter Fourteen – Misty Evening
July 29th, 1999
Area 51, Nevada, US
As the C-130H Hercules transport plane finished its landing back at Groom Lake after the
mission in Russia, Johnson wondered what other surprises might be forthcoming back
home. They had boarded the plane at the Japanese X-Com base, after flying there from
the Russian base. The Super Valkyrie had also landed there and had waited for them per
Johnson’s instructions, which didn’t want to risk the plane by flying it again to Area 51
yet. Instead the flying beast had been ordered to fly back and land at Tonopah Test
Range, an high security military base situated also in Nevada, some 65 miles northwest of
Groom, until the whole matter of General Smith’s attempt to sabotage their mission was
resolved.
When the plane stopped completely, the cargo doors suddenly opened and the North
American West team deployed, although most of them were in a rugged condition after
the vicious fighting at Azamas 36. They escorted the C-130H while it was taxiing to the
front of his designated hangar There they were greeted by Major Prescott and a group of
X-Com security personnel. Their sight was a relief for Johnson’s eyes. As the rest of the
team deployed and secured the location around the experimental craft Prescott come up
to Johnson and asked, in complete puzzlement:
”Colonel, what is going on here? We have found the body of General Smith after your
departure where you indicated, as you indicated together with your order to keep an eye
on the USAF’s facilities and their personnel, with the full authorization of President
Winston”.
“Have you entered the facilities?” Johnson kept looking around searching for possible
Xenos coming out of the darkness, still shocked by their abilities. Many good men had
been lost to them.
“No. I kept an eye on their activities but in complete discretion, as ordered”.
“Good. Gather your security force and follow us. We have orders to take control of the
whole base”.
Prescott’s eyes opened wide. “What? You mean the Groom Lake installation? You can’t
just take over a government facility! That would be considered an act of aggression. We
have no authority to do so!”
“Major, I have the order of President Winston himself. It’s a long story, but it appears
that we have been nesting the aliens right next to us. We don’t know what we will find
inside, but we are to take control of it and secure all personnel”.
“Holy shit!”
“Yeah. General Smith was working for the aliens. I don’t know what else he kept in there
but we are sure going to find out”. Then he started heading for the command section of
the facility, the remaining of the team following him.
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They found the ground floors to be only occupied with humans, mostly security
personnel, test pilots, scientists and technicians. After some hot incidents on which two
guards were injured by X-Com fire while resisting arrest, all of the upper floors were
cleared. When they arrived at operations center they found the doors locked.
“I guess they must be inside trying to talk to their masters, whenever those are the
Pentagon or the Starspawn”. Johnson commented while testing the strength of the metal
doors. “Some one come over here and blow up this door,” he ordered and afterwards
when to get some cover. A X-Com trooper come up to the door and removed a package
from his backpack. Looking at the door he took some seconds analyzing it and,
afterwards unwrapped the explosives out of their plastic cover and started attaching them
to well thought places in the door. He then got some detonators, and the red pins were
placed on the C-4 explosive around the entrance. Giving his work a final look of approval
he when for cover and removed a device from his belt. Opening the safety he shouted:
“All clear! Going in Three... Two…. One!” When he pressed the trigger the detonator
sent a radio signal in a very specific and unused frequently and gave the order for the
chip inside the pins to explode the C-4.
The reinforced steel blew out of its metal hinges slamming against the floor of the
corridor with a large metallic sound. The first X-Com trooper that reached it immediately
brought out a concussion grenade and pushed the pin, throwing it inside. It made a loud
bang two seconds later, and Johnson immediately jumped inside the room after it went
off.
The control room was a mess, the smoke for the explosion still present in the air despite
of the air conditioning that was pulling it up. The bodies of the military men made
unconscious by the grenade rested on the floor, some of them still clutching weapons on
their hands. Johnson saw Colonel Billings, the second on command and approached him.
The man had his service revolver drawn and was pointing it to the X-Com Colonel.
“Billings, drop that weapon now and tell the rest of your men to surrender! We are taking
over this base!”
“The General was damned right about you!” He shouted back and looked as if ready to
press the trigger. Sensing the response of his men he raised an arm to stop them.
“Billings, your pistol can’t kill me unless you hit me right between the eyes because of
the armour I’m wearing and you know that. The President ordered this base to be
surrendered to X-Com because of confirmed alien infiltration. If you’re not involved on
it, drop the weapon. Otherwise, I will have to kill my second traitor on the war, General
Smith being the first”.
“The General is dead?” He looked deeply shocked.
“Yes. Drop the weapon now!”
He lowered the pistol and, after a second placed it on the ground. “Surrender your
weapons men. The President just ordered X-Com to take over, whatever we like it or
not”. Johnson took a deep breath and thanked whoever had created humans with a
safeguard called reason.
After securing the control center, Billings ordered in the intercom for the entire Groom
military inhabitants to gather on one huge, unoccupied hangar. The process of rounding
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them up took some time, since the facility had more than two thousand people. They
were all rounded up and after confirmation that every name present on the rooster was
there. When the process was done, he turned to Billings and asked: “Is that it?”
The USAF officer closed his eyes, as if he was taking a grave decision. Opening them
again, he spoke: “No. There’s another facility close by that you know nothing about.
There’s few men based there, but it also falls into Area 51’s command”.
“Take us there”.
“I can’t do that Colonel. Those are classified installations!” Johnson pointed his laser rifle
at his head and calmly said: “General Smith just tried to kill me before we went off on
our mission. I don’t know why he did it, but I’ve just been fighting the most vicious
things that I’ve ever seen on my life and I’m still pissed at this whole thing. I have a
presidential order that gives me access to every corner of this base and if you try to stop
me, I’ll have to assume that you are also under the alien’s influence and have to kill you.”
The other officer kept his stare at him and replied: “Don’t try to bluff me Colonel, I know
you won’t kill me”.
“Maybe not, but consider this. Everyone on this base is under suspicion of collaboration
with the enemy. In case you don’t know, the penalty for treason is death. You can either
show it to me or wait in the brig for the federals to take you in custody. Your choice”.
Billings swallowed hard and said after a minute. “Very well. The place is some miles
from here. We shall need transportation”.
“Patterson!” The Major limped to Johnson’s side. “Get us some Humvees to carry a full
platoon plus me and the Colonel”.
Thirty minutes later the motorized column had already left Groom Lake. At the junction
where the road intersected the gravel path to Papoose, Billings said that they should
continue going straight into the West. “Where are we going?” Johnson inquired.
“Area 19. Have you ever heard of it? It’s still in the Nevada Test Range but is ran by the
Department of Energy”. Johnson reminded seeing some references to it on the maps but
gave up trying to remember after a while. The whole US military occupied more than one
forth of Nevada’s State area and it was close to impossible to know all about it, especially
since many of those areas were classified and under heavy surveillance.
They kept going through paved roads until finally Billings told them to turn into a gravel
and dirt road heading northwest. Finally he said them to stop in the middle of a plain. The
only structure visible was a power line that ended on a substation up to the north.
Looking around and checking on the map, Johnson saw that they were in the middle of
Dead Horse Flat but there was nothing here to see. “Where have you taken us Billings?”
“Wait and you will see. Come with me”. He looked around, moved over to a location on
the basin and dropped on his knees. Johnson immediately started to react but he then saw
that the man had started to remove some camouflage tarps. At the distance they were
undistinguishable from the terrain. And underneath them Johnson saw sand painted metal
doors, buried on the ground.
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“Now Colonel. Please let me go in front. There are men down there that be surprised at
your appearance. Once I tell them that there’s no problem they will follow your
instructions, but until then they might overreact to your presence”.
“Go right ahead. That way you will be the one shot at if they fire back at us”.
“I wish to prevent that Colonel, that’s why I’m taking the lead”. He opened both doors
and started to come inside using a metal ladder that ended on a corridor, with the X-Com
troopers quickly following him but taking a look first. The passageway ended on another
door.
With the help of Billings they cleared out the facility from all the upper level occupants,
found to be only manned by technicians and security personnel. Johnson couldn’t tell
what they were doing down here, but he knew that he would have to find out later about
it. Right now they needed to clear out the whole installation. He took one squad to check
the lower levels, together with Colonel Billings and left the other two squads to guard the
prisoners.
When they reached the elevator for the subterranean floors Billings stopped and said:
“You are unauthorized to see this Colonel”. Johnson tapped his laser rifle and said: “This
is all the authorization I need”.
“Very well”. He passed his card on a magnetic reader on the wall and tapped in a code in
a numeric pad on the device. A light suddenly turned green on the reader and the elevator
doors opened. It was small and gray with some buttons pressed on it. “Colonel, the
elevator won’t take all of your men and I’m the only one here with an authorization. I
would prefer if it were only you to come down to keep this restricted to as few people as
possible. You have my word that nothing will happen to you down there”.
Crossett immediately become stiff and Johnson was almost ordering Billings to override
the security system when he saw something on his eyes. An impression that told him that
the man has saying the truth.
“All of you hold over here and pay attention to the radio. If I don’t say anything in fifteen
minutes blow this door and storm the place”. Crossett turn to him and said: “Are you nuts
sir? You know I have to go with you!”
“Crossett stay here. You have already proven your worth but I feel that there might be
something down there that’s best if few people know it”. The ex Secret Service agent
begun to protest, but Billings spoke: “I offer that your bodyguard can come also down but
he will have to wait by the lift. Under no circumstance may he leave that area”.
Johnson looked at the soldier. He didn’t seem too happy with the idea but shrugged. He
nodded then to Billings who looked on his eyes before they all entered the lift. He chose
the bottom level button and pressed it. Johnson asked:
“What’s on the others?”
“Research laboratories and machine shops but presently unused. We can stop by those
later if you like but I think what you want to see is on that level”. Sensing still no threat,
Johnson kept trying to relax a bit. After some never ending seconds, the elevator stopped
and the doors opened showing three corridors: one in front and the others on the sides of
the lift.
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“Your bodyguard stays here”.
“I trust him completely”.
“This is not about trust Colonel. What you are going to see is something that was kept
hidden for many years. If some people knew that you have that information they would
stop at nothing to hunt you down”.
“OK then. Let’s get this over with. But be warned that you won’t leave the sight of my
weapon”.
“This way please, Colonel”. He pointed ahead “I will show you how all of this begun”.
He then proceeded in front and Johnson followed, keeping his rifle ready. Crossett waited
reluctantly by the lift giving Johnson the hand sign to keep his head down. The corridor
ended up on a massive dark hangar where few things could be seen. “Let me get the
lights Colonel. Billing hit a button on the wall and the ceiling projectors immediately
started going on. The bright white pointed to a location on the middle of a hangar. And a
saucer shaped UFO was on the middle of it. Johnson immediately started to react to the
threat but Billings cut in:
“We recovered it on a crash a long time ago! There are no aliens around!” Johnson then
noticed that one of the sides of it was smashed. Finding no threats he lowered the laser
and asked:
“When? Why weren’t we informed?”
“It’s a long story and we haven’t finished the introduction yet. There’s still something
else for you to see”. He led Johnson back the corridor and turned into the left hallway,
passing Crossett on the way who looked in anxiety but Johnson told him that everything
was OK. They led to a door and when the turned on the lights of that room Johnson was
amazed.
Sectoids. With their big bulgy black eyes staring back at him with the same gaze they
have when they are alive. Four dead Sectoids rested on huge glass cylinders, with half of
them wrecked by the crash, others pretty much intact. And the machinery. It was new but
at the same time it looked old.
“For how long do you keep all of this down here?” He kept his eyes on the dead Sectoids.
“That’s where our story begins. There’s an office on the end of the other corridor. I
suggest you tell your men that everything is OK when we reach it and sit down there to
have a talk”. They went back, all sorts of questions coming through Johnson’s mind.
After the remaining corridor turned out OK he told his men to stand down and sat on an
office chair in front of a desk. Billings sat directly opposite him.
“I wondered for how much they would keep the secrecy”.
“Who? The Pentagon?”
“Doesn’t matter yet. Tell me Johnson, have you ever heard of a place called Roswell, in
New Mexico?” Seeing his negative answer he continued.
“Well, back on 1947 there were reports that a flying disk had crashed over there on the
desert and that the Army Air Force had retrieved it. The newspapers of the day made a
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big fuss about it but by the end of the day the military had denied it saying it was a
weather balloon. But actually it was true, although there were two craft that crashed, after
a midday collision between both”.
“You knew about the aliens since 1947 and didn’t warn the world even when they started
attacking us?”
“No one on his base knows why it was done or the whole truth. I doubt even General
Smith knew. We knew parts and were warned not to discuss them with anyone or even
ask for information we weren’t supposed to know. The penalty for it would be instant
death”.
“Who told you that? From whom do you receive your orders?”
“From Smith. From upwards on I have no idea of who gave him the orders. I always
thought I had to be someone on the top hierarchy but I never knew. I was waiting for
their orders when you burst into the command center, but they never came. Something
serious must have happened”.
Johnson couldn’t believe the man’s words. He felt completely hopeless.
“Continuing with our story, one was an unoccupied Apollo-type UFO and was
unmanned. That was the one the press talked about and that was brought to Wright-
Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio by the Army personnel. The other craft is the one you
have just seen. And one of the four aliens who were inside managed to survive the crash.
I doubt if the number of people that know what come out of his interrogation but
whatever he told them before dying, those same persons took immediate efforts to hide
their existence at every level and to contact them”.
“That’s treason to the human race you are talking about. The responsibles are worse than
Hitler or Stalin!”
“Colonel, besides them and the aliens no one knows whatever they agreed on when they
eventually established contact. I’m not trying to justify their actions, but think what
would have happened if things had leaked out and the government was caught in the
open, not knowing how to explain it”.
“How come we haven’t prepared since then for their invasion?”
“Probably they were deceived by the aliens, who knows? Something that is missing on
this whole story is the truth. Many of us on this base who knew the secret thought that we
were doing something to help the world. This is our planet also. Only when we heard of
the formation of X-Com was that we started wondering what had been going on, but we
could never say anything against it”.
“You are not humans anymore! Have you considered what you might have done? You
sold us all to the aliens!”
“You are right on that part, Colonel, although a bit incorrect. We are not totally humans
but we still prefer mankind over the aliens”.
“What are you talking about?”
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“This. The last part of my story”. And he brought his head down and raised his hands to
his eyes. They moved around a bit and Johnson couldn’t understand what the man was
doing. Then he raised his head and looked at the X-Com Colonel. Violet, cat like eyes
almost mirrored Johnson’s face. His first reaction was to get his rifle, which he had laid
against the chair. His arm hit the rifle and dropped it to the floor. Thinking fast he took
his laser pistol out of his holster while Billings was shouting and raising his hands in a
hurry: “I’m unarmed Colonel and I kept my promise I made up there!”
Johnson stopped and saw that the hybrid had taken cover under the table, his arms
covering his head. “OK. You can get back up but really slowly”. Getting his rifle back
while keeping the pistol pointed at him he said: “Now keep talking but with your hands
on the top of the table”.
“Try to relax Colonel. You will understand when I finished. The aliens gave to certain
men knowledge on cloning technology and they decided to try to combine alien and
human DNA to create a hybrid. After some initial failures they eventually succeeded. I’m
the result of that experimentation, being the first hybrid ever created on Earth. My alien
father is one of the bodies you saw in there. They took DNA from it and combined it with
human ova, artificially inserting it afterwards on my human mother’s womb. I don’t think
she ever knew she was pregnant since she most likely was abducted and I never met her”.
“You are the first? Where are the others?”
“Most of us were assigned to this base as we were conceived, receiving a human identity.
Besides the ones here at Area 19 there’s still some assigned to Groom Lake. The others I
never asked, knowing what the penalty would be like to pose too many questions.
Eventually, through the death of the humans who knew this secret or their reassignment
to other places we become the only ones on the base who knew of the existence of all
this, besides General Smith. We become also the ones who had access to the underground
facilities. Other US secret projects, like the Aurora and the Super Valkyrie, were more
like a cover. We originally occupied Papoose but we had to move to here when X-Com
was assigned to that place. And we could never tell it also to anyone else, because if we
revealed our existence we would be hunt down and imprisoned as aberrations”.
“You most likely would be plainly sentenced to death or life-imprisonment by any court
on Earth”.
“Yes. And while we are hybrids, we inherited from mankind some of its distinctive traits,
including human feelings and a desire for freedom. We don’t support the aliens Colonel,
we have seen that our fate will be similar to yours if they take over Earth”.
“But if you stay here you will most likely die. At least with them you have a chance of
living”.
“Yes, but at what price? We also have, like humans and aliens, psionic ability, although
we are naturally born to be more conscious of ours. We have heard the voice of the
Starspawn, their collective mind or whatever it is, giving its commands. That’s slavery
for us also, Colonel. And we instinctively fight it the same way you do”.
“You have psionic abilities?!” Johnson tightened his grip again on the pistol.
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“And humans also. You are just not trained to use them and so aren’t we. Not that
surprisingly we where never trained on them, otherwise the puppeteers might end up
being the puppets. But we don’t need them to be free now”.
“What do you mean? I have to put you into custody! I can’t just let you wonder around”
“You and me, Colonel, we both know what will happen if this comes out. Your troops up
there would more likely kill me on sight if they knew about it. And the rest of the world
would have the same reaction. But what have we done to deserve such punishment? We
were slaves, Colonel, with no control over our lives. We are not directly responsible for
our actions, because we done them at gunpoint. I saw many of my companions get
punished for questioning even the slightest order”.
“That doesn’t justify or make up for what you have done!”
“You are right. And to show you that we just want to be able to live without ever harming
the human race again we will give Earth something it desperately needs now to survive”.
“What could that be?”
“Helping on how to use the alien technology to build UFOs. That was our mission down
here to service such craft. We understand their secrets”.
“That’s a gift too good to accept. What do you want in return?”
“That only you, Colonel, know about our existence here at the base. And if Earth wins,
that we are allowed by you to leave and live the rest of our lives in a remote place, but
free”.
“How do you expect me to trust you? It would be like carrying a scorpion close to my
body, knowing that one day it would strike”.
“Colonel Johnson, have you ever wondered why General Smith wasn’t right away
informed of the President’s orders when they came and only had time to do a desperate
action when he arrived? Could you imagine what he would have done if he had been
informed on time by his Executive officer?” Billings kept looking and Johnson suddenly
understood that the hybrid had already helped X-Com once. But he kept questioning.
“Even then, how do you know I will keep my part of the deal? How do I know about
you?”
“You will have both answers when I start talking to your scientific personnel and
working with them on UFO construction. One way or the other we will reveal what we
know for mankind. It’s called choosing the lesser evil out of two ones. And if mankind
wins, it’s up to you then to decide what will mankind do about us Colonel. If you want I
will give you the names of all one hundred and sixty-three hybrids here, including
myself. I just asked for your discretion meanwhile”.
Damn! Johnson cursed everyone and everything.
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August 4th, 1999
Geneva, Switzerland
Number Three realized that he needed a lot of maneuvering in order to maintain his status
on the group. General Smith’s death had been a terrible blow to his plans and the meeting
had been specifically called to discuss the results of the Siberian attack. The defeat of the
aliens when the nuclear reactor had meltdown and exploded was irrelevant for the whole
matter, but the fact that one of his agents had been killed and possibly exposed put a grim
future on his horizon.
“Seems that things didn’t went exactly as planned. Yes, we have managed to inflict
terrible casualties on X-Com and Russia’s military capabilities, giving us also move
leverage as you planned, but other things weren’t taken into account”. Number One was
still a trained hunter. He knew when his prey was injured and loosing blood. “However,
your actions have compromised the security of the group. X-Com have searched Area 51
and found out our little toys. Further if we had been informed on time of this situation we
might have been able to prevent it or minor its damage”.
The ten other men in the room waited for him to speak. He knew that this was more than
his position on the group. If negative judgment was passed his own life was at stake.
“What they found there is of no significance. General Smith was the link that connected it
to us and now he’s gone and took all the secrets he knew to the grave”.
Number Two added quickly: “But how will they explain the presence of the artifacts?
Worse yet, what if they detect our collaborators? That would make them ask a lot of
questions”.
“A major confrontation erupted right after X-Com took control of our facilities. Some of
base personnel resisted imprisonment and in the middle of the confusion about thirty of
our agents got killed. The others know that they can only run and try to join us again or
keep themselves quiet. If X-Com or any nation ever learned of their presence they would
be immediately killed”.
“How can you be sure of that?”
“They are half-humans, their instinct to survive will surpass anything else”.
“But there’s still the actions of General Smith to justify for! There will be investigations
to find with who he was conspiring with!”
Number Three knew that he had managed to get the challenge set so that he could play
his trump card: “And that’s the beauty of it”. One and Two both looked at each other
suddenly realizing that there were other factors in motion. The leader of them all asked:
“Explain”.
“My plan involves a deeper destabilization of the Earth’s nations. The attack on Russia
was the first step. Not only it has brought the Russian to an extremely weak condition but
it also drove a wedge between them and X-Com. The failure of Smith to prevent X-Com
from retrieving the plasma data was unexpected but it gives us a window of opportunity
to exploit”.
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Pushing one button in the table in front of him, a map of the United States appeared on
the wall behind him. “We already had long-time plans concerning the US and those are
still in operation. There’s time though to make use of rumors concerning a general feeling
going through the military high ranks concerning the priority being given to X-Com
when dealing with the aliens, something that the late General Smith helped to reinforce.
Every X-Com officer of the North American Command is aware of this and quite frankly,
if the US President hadn’t personally endorsed collaboration with the unit, things would
be much different”.
“We all know about this before”.
“Yes and X-Com also. Remember Eisenhower’s words in 1960 when on his farewell
speech from the Presidency he warned about the dangers of the military-industrial
complex? What X-Com has uncovered is that the presence of the aliens was known
before to people on Earth and one general was keeping the secret. He couldn’t possibly
do it for himself so were are the rest of his associates?”
“In the military”. One spoke and Three could see that the rest of the group suddenly
realized where he was getting at. Good, Three thought, but not sufficient. He added:
“X-Com will start to have their own suspicions about the loyalty of the high-ranking
hierarchies of the US. Worse yet, they will have trouble whom to trust in the US
government about it. If you want to hunt, you do not warn your prey in advance. And
while they are looking inside the Pentagon we do our own bidding”. The trump card was
played, it was now time for Number Three to eliminate any further resistance.
“How? General Smith’s death was a major disaster for our intelligence!” One replied.
Three smiled to himself. “He wasn’t the only one inside their North American operation”.
With that sentence and the reaction it provoked on the room, he knew he was again riding
the wave. That his value and position had suddenly rose almost back to where it was
before the whole fiasco as they paused to consider this new information.
“But by your previous statements at the meetings, their access to the technological
information is a major disaster”. Still, One kept trying, the old fool.
“That technology has its own limitations as they will find out about. Yes, I would prefer
that they didn’t have access to it, but they eventually would. Let them have it. It won’t do
anything than slowing down the aliens’ forces. And it will keep the aliens dealing with a
lot of other things than us”.
“All the previsions about X-Com have turned wrong. By now the whole project should
have been terminated on financial basis. Instead, from what is reported, the Russian base
will soon be operational again with new recruitment and more purchases of war
material”. “That money can only be coming in through unofficial ways. If the Council of
Funding Nations knew about it they will quickly launch an investigation. All we have to
do is find out from where it’s coming and let the proof reach the Council”.
“And what if they find another way to expand their activities? Pretty soon their actions
could be close to disestablishing the whole plan and making the aliens unpredictable”.
“In that case, we tell exactly the aliens how to crush them. There’s one rule in warfare:
destroy the enemy’s ability to wage a war and you will win the war”.
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August 6th, 1999
Area 51, Nevada, US
“I take it that you read the official report?” Johnson swiveled on his chair, while looking
at Williams. The NSC member had flown to Nevada as soon as he had received the
briefing describing the whole operation and the treachery committed by General Smith.
He came forward and replied: “Yes. A whole bunch of crap, if you ask me but the
President bought it and I pretended to also”.
“Why pretended?” Johnson wanted to put him just in the right position before the strike.
Williams looked shocked and countered: “There’s more to it than the words you have
chosen for the report. One high-ranking US officer doesn’t suddenly went nuts and tries
to assassinate someone, for Christ’s sake!”
“Dr. Mantell did a full autopsy on him and found abduction marks. We have deduced that
he must be under alien influence when he did that, although we have no idea of how”.
After he was done talking, Williams took a deep look at him and replied: “Something
stinks here Johnson and you better tell me what it is. A lot of people down at Langley and
the Pentagon find the whole concept unbelievable. A high-ranking US military officer
running his own operation and dealing with aliens? Nonsense! I feel that you or someone
must be hiding something!”
“Really? Maybe they should think about their own skeletons in the closet before starting
to point accusations at us”. Johnson barked back in anger. Williams stopped, feeling a
great fear. “What do you mean? Tell me the truth Colonel and I will do the same. I told
you before that there were things that you better not know about but you might have
come with the same conclusions that I did”.
“If I told you what really happened here you would do the same? About the hybrids, the
laser technology, etc.?” Johnson waited patiently for an answer.
Williams shook his head. “No, I couldn’t tell you everything. But I could confirm or deny
what you think that goes around us, ‘unseen’”.
God damn it, Johnson cursed. The idiot knew about this right along! He tried to contain
his anger. “Well Mr. Williams, what if I tell you that General Smith had his own
operation right here on his side of Nevada? And that he had kept a crashed UFO and four
dead Sectoids hidden in a secret basement?”
“What?”
“And that he didn’t do it for himself for sure. You might have heard about the
confrontation that occurred while we were investigating for alien presence. We suspect
that it was done by his own agents”.
“I read about it. Thirty or something people killed”.
“It was self-defense. When we stormed into Smith’s little secret in the middle of the
desert, they refused to listen to our calls to disarm themselves and resisted. In the middle
of the confrontation they all got killed, along with Billings. The official history is
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different, of course. But so is the part stating that Smith acted on his own. I know that he
had help on the outside”.
Two persons already know about the terrible secret I carry, Williams thought. Is it time to
bring a third one into it? “Colonel, you are right. I have thought about the events you told
before and come up with the conclusion that there is a major conspiracy going on for
years to hide the alien presence. I don’t know why or who they are but I’m definitely sure
that there is one and I’m trying to unravel it”.
“Is X-Com infiltrated?”
“I don’t know”.
“You don’t know or you don’t want to tell me the answer?”
“Believe me Colonel, there are things that I will only tell you on a need-to-know basis,
but in this case I haven’t ascertained for sure that possibility”
“Very well”. He paused for a minute. Williams broke through the silence.
“Now what’s this story about the confrontation? Weren’t there any survivors? We need to
make a full interrogation into them”.
“Go and dig up their bones then Williams. We have sent you the official report done by
the Branch. Your team can interrogate the rest of the USAF personnel at Groom if you
want but I doubt you will ever get any answer. That Davies character you sent to us sure
can be intimidating in interrogations, let me tell you”.
Williams shook his head. “Remember when you asked me if I was holding information?
It appears you are doing the same, Johnson. Maybe Davis should use all his talents on
you Colonel”. A dry grin appeared on the X-Com Colonel’s face. “It might be.
Remember what you told me about need to know basis? It works both ways. If you need
to worry about it I will tell you”.
The nerve of the man! Williams was about to complain but decided to keep his mouth
shut. “Touché Colonel. Let’s just hope that both of us know what we are doing”.
After the conversation was finished and Williams had left his office, Johnson was doing
some paperwork when there was a knock on the door. “Come in”, he said.
Billings entered the room but instead of wearing his Air Force uniform he was dressed in
civilian clothes, wearing a fake beard and glasses, and behind him came Dr. Mantell.
“Good afternoon Colonel”.
“The same to you Dr. Young”. Both of them had decided to fake Billings’s death, along
with some of the other hybrids and hide their presence inside Papoose Lake complex as
X-Com technicians or scientists. All of the other military personnel and the research
planes were being transferred up north to the Tonopah Test Range and X-Com would
take control of the entire base, both Papoose and Groom Lakes.
“Dr. Mantell and I have just gone over the research you have already done. I must say I
am impressed”.
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“Well, I must add that we are the ones impressed with you, Dr. Young. For someone out
of this project, you seemed to be a quick learner about the basic concepts behind the alien
technology”. Dr. Mantell added, smiling.
“Dr. Young will be of help then, Dr. Mantell?”
“Colonel, do you remember I had discussed with you before the problems that the X-
Com scientific community was having with understanding the navigational systems
behind the UFOs?”
“Sorry doctor, but I sometimes get lost in the middle of the technical terms”.
“Well, from what I’ve heard of Mr. Young’s ideas, I believe we are about to reach a
breakthrough in our research”. The scientist was completely smiling.
“Recruiting him was a good idea then?” Johnson looked at Billings, who looked back but
said nothing.
“You bet Colonel, this men is worth his weight in gold to our research. I don’t know
where you found him, but we couldn’t be more pleased with him”.
“Very well Dr., I’m glad to hear that. Now if you could excuse us, we still need to take
care of some things about his transfer to X-Com”.
“Very well, I will be at the main lab if you need me”. The scientist gave a long handshake
to Billings and left. After that, the hybrid turned to Johnson and asked:
“Is the bargain still up?” He raised an eyelid.
“Yeah, don’t worry about it, your identity is still a secret. I won’t say anything to anyone
else right now”.
“Good. Will we be transferred to Germany?”
“I don’t know yet. It would be better, so that none of the men at Groom recognizes you,
but I need to fabricate solid background checks on you first”.
“And on the other hand you still don’t know for sure if you can trust us”.
Johnson frowned. The hybrid seemed to be exactly what he was thinking. “It’s logical
Colonel and I don’t have any bad feelings about it. I would do the same in your shoes”.
“Scientists and military personnel usually don’t mix here. Keep it that way. I’ve already
had a chat with all my soldiers who went to Area 19 and told them to keep their mouths
shut”.
“Was having enough of military life already. Thank you Colonel”.
“Just try to get out of sight from anyone that might recognize you. And remember I’m
watching you”.
August 7th, 1999

On this way to see President Larianov, Illyuschenko had noticed the preparations being
put into place by the Russian government to prepare for war. He was accompanied with
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Colonel Boronin and both men had flown from Stalingrad base in the Caucasus to
Moscow using a military flight. The Commander noticed how under the disguise of an
escalation of the conflict in Chechnya and the radioactive cloud released by the reactor in
Siberia, Moscow and all major cities had been put into almost martial law, with the
authorities claiming it to be due to possible “terrorist attacks from fanatics”. The radiation
released had spread itself largely in unpopulated areas, but those would still need years of
cleansing. It was a major ecological disaster but at least the aliens had been contained
although few people back at X-Com liked to discuss the matter. Even Dr. Chevereux had
privately expressed to him his doubts about if the retrieval of the information had really
been worth the disaster they had caused over Siberia.
The X-Com Commander had before heard of such actions, specially the ones dealing
with press censorship but now on the way from the airport to the Kremlin he finally saw a
nation preparing itself for war although his citizens didn’t knew it yet. There seemed to
be roadblocks everywhere and he had seen columns of mechanized vehicles and
antiaircraft missiles posted close to the highway. His grandfather had participated on the
defense of Moscow from the Fascists hordes and he thought if it was the same, back then
and now. Every soldier they passed acted as if there was an under siege mentality
although he could see that many seem to care less at the order and a few even scowled at
it. However some looked seriously worried and Illyuschenko wondered what rumors
might be coming out from the survivors of the Red Army units that had fought the aliens
at Azamas 36. Larianov is a fool if he thinks he can keep the lid on that one through press
censorship, Illyuschenko said to himself, not even the Communist Party managed to
control gossip.
Idiots, haven’t they learned that they cannot defeat the aliens this way, that even with all
the tanks and guns we are outnumbered? He said to himself while going through the
Kremlin’s reinforced security checkpoints. When he reached the outside of the
President’s office he looked over at this uniform. For concealment reasons he could never
hear his X-Com’s dress uniform, so he had dug up his old Russian Army clothes and put
them on. It had been a strange experience at that moment back on Mother One, he
remembered as he looked himself at the mirror before boarding the flight to Moscow.
What seemed to be an entire lifetime had pasted before his eyes, from the moment he had
been chosen to the Kiev Academy and later when he had finally received the General’s
star. A whole lifetime! Was it worth it? Is it worth right now? Clearing his thoughts he
entered the room. He was curious to know the reason of such a request from the Russian
President to have a meeting personally.
When he and Boronin entered the room he saw Larianov, together with several other
government officials. Oddly he saw that there had been some changes in the Russian
Cabinet lately. Irinov, the Defense Minister, was no longer among them so he considered
that the man had been dismissed from his job due to the Siberian fiasco. Something
strange was also present and Illyuschenko noticed why in a flash. Now there was a huge
Russian flag unwrapped on the wall behind the standing-up men, where before it was
standing on a pole. Are there men trying to impose patriotism on me? He asked himself
and started noticing other subtle hints. The fact that they had invited him to the Kremlin,
making him to have to leave his X-Com uniform behind and wear his Russian one. And
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where’s that master spy Verchenko? Dismissed or hiding behind the scenes,
manipulating? He decided to not let them have an advantage on him.
He didn’t bother to give a salute and spoke out “Commander Dmitri S. Illyuschenko
presenting, sirs!”. Boronin seemed was puzzled at the General’s presentation and saluted
afterwards, apparently not noticing the emotional trap laid by the other men.
President Larianov seemed a little frustrated but greeted them back and told them to take
places at the meeting table. After everyone was seated, with the Russian government
facing both X-Com officers he spoke again: “Thank you for your short time in granting
us with a meeting, General. I want to clarify some things out after the shameful incident
at Azamas 36”.
Trying to act as normal as possible Illyuschenko threw a disguised barb. “Our country
was extremely lucky that the reactor had gone critical at that point, sir. Of course we will
have to deal with the radiation released for decades but the aliens left the area”.
Larianov stiffed. Stupid General. I don’t need to be reminded of my failures. “Yes,
extremely lucky. Of course we were sure that our next counterattack would be
successful”.
“Of course sir. But this conversation is meaningless. What do you wanted to discuss
about, sir?”. Boronin caught the meaning behind the tone and his eyes turned briefly to
the General’s attention.
“I…we…this whole matter made us rethink of our recent rifts with X-Com. After all your
are Russia’s prime fighting force when facing the aliens and the help you provided during
this month’s confrontation although unable to stop the destruction of the research facility
showed your resolve and courage”. He wants something, Illyuschenko immediately
considered, but what?
“It was our duty sir”
“Yes and you have done it to the best of your capabilities while we have not try to do so
in our duty, which was to assist you”.
“Sir, you have your duties and rights stated in the X-Com Charter. There seen to be a
certain latitude on every nation to interpret what says there”.
“Well General, in this case we want to go a bit further than that. One thing that the attack
has shown us was the fallacy of keeping away technology from X-Com. Let’s face it, the
Americans are willing to lease their latest Stealth fighters. Why don’t we do the same?
After all none of Earth’s technology seem to be able to throw a major punch at the aliens.
And only X-Com can develop weapons that will benefit us all one day”. Illyuschenko had
to keep himself from jumping at the man.
You mean, now that the perspective is so great that the council will dissolve X-Com due
to its financial problems, you bastard. If the project were terminated, all of you vultures
would quickly land to pick its pieces. Well, I know two things that you don’t. First, our
money situation is not getting worse, at least and it might even get better. Second, my
people have recovered the laser technology that would have been lost because of your
jealousy. It would give me no more pleasure than to tell you the truth but I would be
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putting X-Com’s and Earth’s future at stake. “Thank you very much for your
cooperation, sir”. He replied, trying to put as much enthusiasm in his voice as possible.
The meeting ended after two hours of discussing several matters regarding coordination
with Russia’s military and the cajoling almost drove him nuts meanwhile. He and
Boronin then left the Kremlin and boarded two different VIP cars that had brought him
there from the airport. The vehicle carrying Illyuschenko then proceeded to one hotel in
the center of Moscow while the other returned to the airport.
The official reason for his prolonged stay in the Russian capital was the excuse of visiting
his sister and some old-time military friends. But the real motive that had brought him
here appeared as he reached the hotel and was about to enter his room.
When he spotted the two men coming down the corridor he stopped the motion of
inserting his bedroom key into the hole and looked at them. They were the latest Western
suits but they physique told him that they were no businessman. When they approached
him one of them spoke: “General Illyuschenko?”
“Yes, who are you?”
“We are here to escort you to the meeting you requested”. He looked at the door. “Are
you alone?”
“All by myself”.
“Very well, this way please then, sir”
“I’ve met your type before and they weren’t this polite usually. How do I know you are
who you claim to be?”
“Sir, even out of the Red Army I will always respect you as an officer”.
Illyuschenko blinked and realization came to him right afterwards. “Where?”
“Afghanistan, a whole lifetime ago. You went to retrieve my company after the guerrillas
had trapped us. To the dead and to the living”.
Illyuschenko kept a hard face and nodded. “To the dead and to the living. Please lead the
way gentlemen”. They took him to a hotel suite in the last floor. Three other men were
waiting inside, two of them more henchmen. But the third one was different, having a
more casual look, with his fingers full of gold rings and a well-trimmed beard. When
Illyuschenko entered he turned the swiveling chair he was seated at and said: “General,
it’s been a long time. You disappeared without a trace last year”.
“Yes indeed, Mr. Arbatov. And business keeps to prosper I see”.
The man shrugged. “What can I say? It’s a shame that people keep fighting one another,
but if I don’t supply them with what they need somebody else will. Even NATO’s
involvement in Kosovo didn’t change anything. We just had to change into supplying the
other side”.
“Business as always, indeed”.
“And the way the government is acting, pretty soon they will be starting to buy things
from me also. What is going on, General? Russia’s looks as if it is getting ready to go to
war”.
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“Before we go on, is this room secure?” The man nodded. “I can’t tell you anything about
it. However, I can tell you of some interesting surplus war material I’ve got”.
“I see. The same type of material that was ‘destroyed’ in Chechnya?”
“Even more advanced”. The phrase drew a look of interest into the arms dealer’s face. “I
can arrange for a demonstration and them we can discuss prices. But no one else besides
us in this room knows about its precedence”. He looked at the security men.
“I trust these men with my life and pay well for it. And if they ever spilled their guts they
know that they would die shortly and very, very slowly. The same restrictions as with the
other batches?”
“You will find that this sort of material demands a different customer”. Illyuschenko
basically didn’t care of where the alien weapons would end up. A few plasma weapons
all over the world wouldn’t make much difference, especially due to their reliance upon
Elerium for fuel. Tests at various research facilities had proven the impracticability of
artificially manufacturing it and it was not a natural element on the planet. That reduced
the military use that could be given to the weapons. Most likely they would end up in
other organized crime bands all over the world and be used into special actions. In either
case the appearance of a plasma weapon in the black market could always be attributed
someone stepping into a crashed UFO.
“There are all sorts of weird stories in the street about what’s going on. That material
wouldn’t have anything to do with it, would they?”
“Draw your own conclusions Mr. Arbatov. But I would say that is some knowledge that
would be best kept silent”. He tapped his belt where his sidearm would be if he was
carrying and the guards nearly jumped at the threat.
“Relax! All of you! The problem is that they are young heh? They don’t go as far as I and
haven’t seen before how you deal business General. But that’s what I like about you:
straight to the point. Don’t worry. You know that I’m loyal to both costumers and
suppliers”. He pointed at the ex-soldier that knew worked for him. “After seeing him I
got convinced that if I ever killed you I would be hunted down by your men when they
found out”.
Illyuschenko took the hand off his belt. Exactly you low-bunch criminal. Interesting how
even scum can be important in times of need. Our financial situation has gotten a lot
better in the past months but even still the expenses are still increasing. If the whole
Swiss deal goes off we would be even worse than before it. And Chechnya told me that
black market deals can be sometimes the most reliable source of money, to hell with the
law or moral. You are about to become a safeguard to X-Com, Mr. Arbatov. Looking at
the arms dealer he didn’t felt too assured but many more would be willing to step into his
place, if the man needed to be replaced.
August 26th, 1999

When the door of his office suddenly opened, Dr. Chevereux raised his head from the
paperwork he was working on and looked in anger at the intruder.
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“Qu’est-ce passe?” He grimaced as he recognized the person in front of him. “Dr.
Johannes, what’s the meaning of this?!”
The scientist took deep gulfs of air and tried to calm herself before speaking: “Dr.
Chevereux. It works!” The Frenchman looked at her in puzzlement until realization came
to him. “The test engine?!”
“Yes! The first results have just come out. It’s amazing! Come and see!” Both of them
headed out for the test facility on a run. When they reached the armored room they
entered and saw that the blast windows in the control area that opened into the
experimentation chamber were opened, with an orange light coming out of them. Dr.
Chevereux immediately stopped and shouted while pointing at the windows: “What is
that? Do you want us all to die?”
Johannes grabbed his arm and pushed: “There’s no problem anymore, we have the
reaction perfectly controlled”. She led him into a computer and pointed at the numbers
that were scrolling at the monitor. Chevereux looked into them and started enunciating:
“Elerium decaying at a consistent rate. Electron release also, wait! These values can’t be
right! Mon Dieu! Particle flux going into the reactor at two hundred percent over the
safety levels!” He turned to the scientist in charge of the experiment. “Electromagnetic
field status?”
The man seated grinned: “Reactor giving more than enough energy output to maintain the
containment field. We are actually powering this portion of the base with the remaining
energy since we don’t have way to store it. The trick was to coordinate between raising
the particle accelerator’s output and increasing the power of the electromagnetic
containment filled, but we have already come out with an equation. Watch the monitor
Dr. Chevereux”.
The scientist did and saw that the amount of particles bombarding the Elerium increased,
corresponding also to a high emission of energy from the matter-antimatter reaction. The
particles were hitting the Elerium and making it release antimatter. The antimatter
annihilated with contact with matter and energy was created. But this time they were
controlling the reaction and the energy so that the Elerium wouldn’t detonate out of a
sudden.
A thousand technical words came to his mind about what he was just seeing but he settled
with a single one: “Amazing”. His mind was already racing and trying to picture what
applications this source of power would allow, besides being able to understand the
alien’s weapons.
The chief scientist turned to him and said: “And it looks that the outcoming energy flux
needs no further suppy of power to electromagnetic containment, which could make even
more power available. I suspect it has to do with the creation of the gravity field.
Dr. Chevereux frowned in surprise. The scientist noticed and then realized what was
happening: “She didn’t told you about the rest?”
“What rest?”
“Watch the reactor Dr. Chevereux. I couldn’t believe it myself the first time I noticed it in
the camera, so I had to lift the blaster windows to see it with my own eyes”. He slowly
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increased the test reactor’s level. Then, slowly, but in a constant ascent the almost two
meters high started to lift from the ground as if it was being suspended by the cables still
attached to it. Chevereux went livid at the sight.
“Anti-gravity….?”
“We will have confirmation in about a week, as the measure equipment I’ve just required
will take about that long to arrive and to be installed. But the visual results are there to
prove it”.
Dr. Chevereux stood speechless, looking at the first man made Elerium reactor. This
would earn a Nobel Prize in Physics for everyone on the team. Hell, they were about to
rewrite physics as it was. But even something more important would come up from this
discovery. He took a breath and spoke: “All of you mark this day. Mankind is about to
conquer the stars”.
August 30th, 1999

Unknown location, Earth
The Sectoid Commander finished transmitting his last report. Everything was going
according to the plan so far although they hadn’t expected that the Terrans would be able
to fight so well the Starspawn’s forces. Still, they had managed to fulfill every major part
of the plan until now and his superiors were pleased, although a bit concerned about the
losses of troops and equipment.
There were still some things to explain though. Although the atomic weapons used by the
Terrans had been destroyed before they reached the spaceships, one of them must was
able to penetrate their defenses and release lethal doses of radiation in the area. His ships
were shielded against such explosions but the forces on the ground were not and they had
been caught on the open, without any protection as they were about to press their attack.
The only option had been to retreat the remaining assets but it didn’t matter. They had
already fulfilled their objective, the destruction of the Terran weapon.
But by now they had another foothold on the planet. The ancient base set up by the
exploratory teams a long time ago had been found intact, with no signs of Terran
interference, like planned. The Starspawn had by now extended the original facilities and
it was ready to be used in the next steps. Due to its location, they would most likely never
find it. And if they did…
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Chapter Fifteen – Paradise Lost
September 20th, 1999
Area 51, Nevada, US
After the virtual reality helmets were put on by everyone else present in one of the labs
back at the Groom Lake section, Dr. Young proceeded with his presentation. Every one
of the scientists and military personnel present was wearing a circular helmet covering
their eyes with an electronic visor. But the former USAF officer was also wearing gloves
covered with electronic devices and he used his right hand to click a mouse connected to
on a computer standing on a table beside him. All the men and the women in the room
saw themselves suddenly transported to Earth’s orbit and standing in the middle of the
space surrounding the planet. Looking around themselves they noticed how the virtual
environment even included a burning Sun, too bright to be looked at and a multitude of
stars like they never imagined, since now there wasn’t any atmosphere to hide their light.
And suddenly all of them were at shock, seeing what seemed to be an UFO navigating
towards them and closing the range until they were looking at a half-size representation
of the craft. Dr. Young’s voice broke their attention.
“This is where virtual reality can be quite helpful”. He motioned the craft, one of the
saucer shaped type, to stop and it did at his command. The side door opened after some
seconds a two-feet height Sectoid came out of it, his size making it ridicule.
“Analysis of the aliens captured or killed show that there are variations on their
intelligence skills, depending on race and position occupied on their societies. Sectoids
are smarter than Floaters or Snakemen, for instance, and the leaders also show seem to
shown more skills than the ordinary ground troops. But for the most part their mental
abilities are close to humans, except in the psionic area, such as mind control, where we
have already heard about their terrifying abilities. This range of abilities found plus the
studies conducted on the interfaces found among captured UFOs seemed to say that some
of the aliens could be pilots that use physical devices to connect their minds to the
navigational systems”. The alien suddenly had a circular metal helmet with a goggle
covering his right eye. His hands were also covered with metal gloves, connected to the
back with extensions of an unknown material.
“However we were unable to determine yet what physical process they use to connect to
their physical machines. It is highly likely that they use their mental powers to interact
with some yet undetected device on the helmets, but we don’t know.
But it gave us a clue on how the alien’s computers operate. We had already determined
that the mainframe consists of a network of highly efficient optical processors all aligned
together. The mathematical operations done by the processing unit are transmitted
through the use of photons, not electrons as in our machines. But surprisingly, it
resembles Earth’s own network systems, where all computers are connected through a
master terminal”.
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Johnson tried not to frown. What was he saying? That the aliens invented the PC and that
Smith’s superiors got the technology from them? He made a mental note to remind
Billings not to mention too much the similarities between both technologies.
“However, we still don’t have a clue about their operating system that they use to give
instructions to the computer on how to operate the craft, for an example. But we know
how they must interact with it and may be able to use it to decipher their own machine
code”. An image of a man seated at a computer appeared close to the alien.
“So far our interaction abilities with the machine were quite limited and time delayed. A
computer can only be that fast has it receives the necessary input to perform
mathematical operations. But the possible means of mental interaction that the aliens use
have led us to believe that the power of their computers to deal with the complexity of
physical reactions coming from navigating an UFO must implicate that they have
succeeded in removing many barriers between mind and machine.
Artificial intelligence is quite limited and we may never be able for a computer to have
the human’s capabilities of intuition, imagination and so forth. However, if those abilities
are available and directed the computer through the use of the human user, what would
happen?” The artificial human representation was suddenly wearing a virtual reality
helmet and the whole environment around the seated group suddenly changed.
Instead of being in Earth’s orbit they were now navigating through a series of one and
zeros coming out of nowhere. “Ladies and gentlemen let me present you the inside of an
alien computer. It is actually working right now in another place of the facility and we are
seeing a processed view to be able to see the mathematical representations. The
computers we are using to allow this are many times more capable than Big Blue, the
machine that defeated the former world chess champion Kasparov and still we have
problems about being on the edge of their abilities. If we connect directly to the alien
mainframe this is what we could see”.
The image suddenly transformed itself into a series of strange symbols floating in the air,
which were a mixture what seemed to be hieroglyphs and Chinese characters. “These are
all suppositions about what we will find when we enter their system. The helmets they
wear must be able to interpret their mental commands and transform them into computer
instructions similar to these you are seeing. However, since we can’t operate the devices
we don’t know what type of data is transmitted to the operating system. What we are
doing is like linguistics trying to decipher a completely unknown language, looking for
recognizable patterns”. The room again changed into the zeros and ones. “And as you can
see it can be quite complicated”. The image lasted for a couple more seconds and
gradually it dissolved into the room where they were seated. The whole group removed
the helmets and some shook their heads and took deep breaths. Dr. Chevereux was in the
front row and said:
“Dr. Young, that was a magnifique presentation. I am most impressed by the amount of
work you have managed to do in such little time since you joined X-COM. You will
receive more means as soon as possible to keep developing your team’s research. What is
most urgent in your requirements?”
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Pharris replied on that one. He was wearing an X-COM uniform instead of his civilian
clothes and had gotten closer to Dr. Young.
“Even the computers we have back at the NSA can’t possibly deal with the amount of
calculations necessary. It could take ages attempting to resolve the code, since we have
no way to start. However, if a human operator, like I have exposed before aided them, we
could greatly speed the process. It’s something never tried so far but it seems that now
the technology might allow a shot at it.
“What do you propose?”
The cryptologist added. “What we have here are pentas, even tetrabytes of data that need
to be examined to try to detect patterns. A computer can do it, but meanwhile it goes over
a lot of unnecessary stuff since they are not intelligent enough to see hidden patterns.
However, if we use one of this to enhance the communication between the human
operator and the machine, the individual connected to the computer can tell it what are
the most interesting pieces of data. The processors will then concentrate on those,
hopefully reducing the process. However the operators would have to be highly trained in
dealing with operating systems and recognizing patterns”.
“We will get the best computer scientists”. Pharris shook his head and replied to Dr.
Chevereux. “Not scientists. We need a very special type of individuals, indeed”.

MIT, Massachusetts, US
As Jake was getting closer to his dorm building he told himself to quit being so paranoid.
He had stepped outside to the nearest convenience store to get himself some soda and
food before heading back to his computer at his room. He needed to complete an
assignment for one of his Computer Science classes. Although he knew that he could
make big time money without a college decree, he felt that if he knew how to walk
decently he would run even well later.
Unfortunately the money didn’t seemed to be enough for everything, from keeping up
with the hardware and paying for the tuition fees, so some of his computer talents were
used to get illegal means of financing. But he was a quiet type of hacker, erasing all signs
of his presence into the databases that he had broken into to steal credit card numbers. He
took every step not to get caught but there always a risk that one investigator might one
day get an electronic trail back to him.
He tried not to think of it when the subject came up on his mind, but the dark-haired man
he had seen at the convenience store wearing dark glasses and a suit had troubled him. He
was reading a magazine at the newsstand but as Jake looked occasionally from the
counter line at him he saw that the man looked to be focusing his attention on him. He
acted calm and never looked back when he paid and left the store, but dropped the change
on purpose outside and away from the store to see if the man would come out.
Nothing had changed, so he kept walking back towards campus but still a bit shaken from
the experience. As he was going up the stairs and looking for his keys, he saw that the
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entrance door suddenly opened and the same man came out from the building, but with
his glasses removed and looking directly at him. Noise of cars come from behind him and
he turned to see two cars parking in front of the building, with more suited men coming
out from them.
A voice made him turn. “Good evening Mr. Landon. Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Please don’t try to escape”. The man had moved closer to him.
“What do you want? I did nothing”.
“Really? Well I could bust you right here for violation of several federal laws regarding
impersonation, theft and illegal entry into protected computer systems”.
The young man looked in despair and said: “I ain’t saying nothing anymore until I talk to
a lawyer”.
“It’s your choice kid. But first listen to what I got to say: I can read you your rights and
the gentlemen back there will cuff you take you away to serve a long time sentence after
the trial. Or you can come with us also and in exchange for your collaboration the US
government won’t press any charges against you and forget the whole subject”.
Jake was suddenly puzzled but still remained cautious. “Yeah? And what is this
‘collaboration’ all about?”
“You won’t know until you accept it. But it will be put into writing by the US Attorney
General to guarantee what I have just offered”.
“No bull?” Jake was skeptical of the whole matter. He still hoped that he might put this
off in a court.
“Your choice. The way I see it and I know you know it also, your ass will end up in a
federal prison if you don’t accept it. Our experts have already figured out how you
entered the Bank of Connecticut system and traced it back to you”.
Bank of Connecticut! Jake remembered that it was his hardest successful attempt and he
had taken triple care on that one. Even if they only had a hint that it was himself on that
one, what would happen if they investigated his other hackering activities. Who told him
that they hadn’t already? As the question raced through his mind he already knew what to
do.
“Well Mr. G-man, where do I sign?” Mark Davis smiled to himself upon hearing those
words. Although he wasn’t any more part of the Bureau, some things were still the same.
He waved back at the other agents and two of them went forward to meet them. “Get a
suitcase ready. Pack to be away for a long time. These agents will escort you”. Leaving
the room he went back to one of the cars that were waiting outside.
October 7th, 1999

Pacific Coast, Washington State, US
Sitting at the crew compartment of the Skyranger, Markovitch kept fiddling with the
motion scanner she had on her hands, wondering if the technical gizmo developed by the
lab rats back at Area 51 would be any good in a real fight. It could tell the operator of any
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unseen movement close by, even behind walls and doors. But in the inside of an UFO
there would be hardly any time to use it while dealing with the alien crew.
A light changed from red to green in the plane’s inside and she got up, placing her
armored helmet on her head on the way and preparing to hit the ground. The pilot already
knew that she despised unnecessary talk before deploying into a landing zone so he just
landed the UFO and operated the controls that lowered the ramp without making any
announcement.
Some hours ago the F-22s had shot down a medium sized UFO as it was on a trajectory
that would lead it into Seattle. Alien activity had been picking up since the beginning of
the month, with mysterious UFO flyovers over continental US that involved high-speed
dashes and landings that only lasted for some hours. The Colonel thought that something
was strange so he had left one of the platoons back on base in case something unexpected
turned up and had assigned her to investigate the crash site.
The Skyranger suddenly dropped on the air and everyone on board grabbed whatever
they could to keep themselves standing up, while the landing gear deployed in
preparation for touchdown. The back tires where the first to hit the ground and afterwards
the ramp immediately started going down, with her troopers following.
She waited tense seconds in anticipation as the squads in front of her deployed around the
landing zone, trying to anticipate the sounds of the plasma and laser rounds. But none
came and as the soldiers gave the all-clear shouts, she relaxed a bit before stepping down.
Sergeant Digriz, no Lieutenant Digriz, she corrected herself approached her as she
stepped out of the ramp, her eyes already looking over him. The tall and slim man had
been promoted after Siberia upon her request. “Cap, the area around the UFO seems
clear. Phi squad has already found a covered path down the cliff to the beach”.
“Let’s have a look at it”. She moved to the edge of the cliff where the Skyranger had
landed and squat down, getting her binoculars out and taking a look. Down below them,
the UFO had crash-landed into the sandy beach, its hull digging a long trail on the sand as
it had skirted close to the waterline until it finally stopped. The sea had already invaded
the depression caused by the UFO on the sand, filling it with water.
Searching for aliens, she found none in the area around the UFO, which seemed odd, but
as she assessed the damage taken by the alien vessel on the crash she wondered how
many of the aliens had survived the shoot down and the impact. Although the circular
UFO was one of the largest she had ever seen, possessing several levels and being easily
four times the diameter of the saucer shaped ones, it showed horrific damage. The
Phoenix missiles used by the interceptors had bent the fuselage were they had hit it and in
some parts they had even managed to blow feet sized holes, through which smoke could
be seen coming out.
“There’s a door on the north side, Captain”. She moved to that side and spotted the
entrance Digriz had just told her about. For the size of the UFO it didn’t seem enough.
Could it be that there was another door on the side hidden from their view? “Set up two
fire teams up here to cover everything that is not human that moves down there. And let’s
get down. I want to see what’s inside that bird”. The Lt. nodded and she went to the
direction were Phi squad had spotted the trail down, her own unit following her.
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As they came down the cliff through a natural trail that covered them from the UFO, the
X-COM soldiers heard gunfire exchanges followed by Digriz’s warning on the tactical
radio that they had managed to take down a couple of Floaters who had just come up
from the other side of the craft. When they hit the sand they moved carefully towards the
UFO, with each of the two squads taking a different approach around the craft’s fuselage.
When Zeta squad come up to a door, Markovitch and her soldiers got ready outside the
door. At her command one of the troopers activated the entrance and the metal door
slipped up. The other three X-COM soldiers filled the inside with a red and golden
shower of laser fire. When no response came, they started moving inside and Markovitch
stepped inside right after one of her men. She found herself in the inside of a small
chamber where a dead Floater laid, still clutching his large plasma. Trooper Prune, the
first one inside gave it a kick in the head to check that it was truly dead. It didn’t move.
The entrance chamber opened to the right into a larger area. Another trooper passed
beside her and checked a huge blast hole in the door’s front; large enough for a men pass
through. She joined Prune and both when to check the right. As she went over the corner
she dropped her laser a bit when she finally had a good look at the inner area.
It was the largest room she had ever seem on a UFO, more than two stories high and
occupying at least one quarter of the craft’s area. And on the middle there was a table that
resembled the ones used by the aliens to perform their hideous experiments on humans,
except that this one was much larger and had some sort of a big device over it. And the
room had also man-sized containers of a material that seemed glass. Looking at them, she
felt a feeling of revulsion, noticing that there were pieces of meat and organs still blood
red, floating on a clear liquid. And looking at the bottom of one of them she saw bones: a
pair of horns that looked as if it had came from a cow. And a human femur, gleaning
white. She immediately turned her head away and at the same moment she heard the
sound of a door being opened. Her mind immediately told her that there was something
strange, since all her men were already inside the UFO, but all of the soldiers failed to see
the menacing looming over them.
When a plasma suddenly hit Private Malcolm, who had just entered the larger chamber,
round and went down to the ground screaming, she started looking for the alien, but
failed to see it. Prune was quicker in assessing the situation than her and brought his rifle
upwards, firing three precise shots.
She looked at the direction of his aim and saw a Floater dropping off from the air and
hitting the metal ground close to her. Only then she noticed the door that was located in
the upper floor. “Shit!” She muttered, pissed at herself. While Prune kept a watch she
went to check Malcolm. Moving his body she noticed the limpness on him and when she
looked at his face she saw the blank expression. Dead, in no doubt. She didn’t found a
pulse so she lowered his eyelids. “Status report, all squads”. She ordered into her mike.
“Phi has dropped a Floater standing outside another door that leads into one of their
elevator. One light injury. We are moving to see what’s upstairs”.
“Cap, Dare here. I’ve checked the hole. It leads into the engines, which are completely
fubar. I’ve find also another elevator on a room close by”. She quickly assessed the
situation and spoke back. “Phi, get ready to get upstairs on my command. We will check
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the other elevator to the East of your position, so take care with what you shoot. Rho, get
a team to my location and have them cover a door on the upper floor of the chamber
where I’m standing at”. Prune’s laser went off again and she quickly ducked, only to get
up again as she heard the thump of another dead Floater hitting the floor. “Shit! If only
we could freaking fly and get to that door!” She said to no one in particular.
They went up the elevators at the same time, which lead into two other rooms connected
through another door and finding no aliens inside. Her squad joined Phi in the chamber
where they had come up. Three X-COM troopers were waiting there for her, covering
two other doors. One of them turned to Markovitch and said, pointing with one of his
hands to a device attached to his belt: “Captain, I’ve tried to use this thing, but it doesn’t
make any sense. Too many echoes from too many people moving around and some of
them in the wrong place”. She looked at the motion detector. “Fuck that crap. We do this
the way we do it the best”.
Sergeant Krenon nodded and motioned with his head for the other men on his squad.
They opened both doors at the same time. This time plasma came through one of them,
making the soldier quickly step back inside. The other one rushed. Markovitch could only
see a metal wall and wondered what the man was up to. After two brief seconds the
response came to her on the tactical radio: “Grenade!” A muffled explosion coming from
the other door was heard, followed by the clear warning.
They all moved into the next room where they found two Floaters torn into shreds laying
in a pool of clear liquid that came from wrecked containers. Again, another door could be
seen to the right, together with a corridor. “Sarge take the corridor. We will go this way.
We must be close to the bridge so watch out”. He nodded and she readied her men.
They found another empty chamber and an elevator. Going upwards into another desert
room, they finally went again through another door. Markovitch opened it and took a
look. She noticed that the command bridge of the UFO must follow the hull, making it a
half circle with a central rectangular section that extended itself to the back of the craft,
where Markovitch was now standing. She could see two other doors, one in front of her,
in no doubt leading to the corridor they had spotted on the first floor and that Phi Squad
was now checking. To her left there was also another door probably to an isolated room,
but she spent no time going through it. Her eyesight had already detected movement on
her right, in the bridge. And she quickly removed her head out of the way and back into
the shaft room, a few moments before plasma rounds hit the wall on her left. She almost
stumbled into Private Dare, but he managed to jump out of her way. “Keep an eye on the
Floaters there!” She shouted and reached for her communications unit.
“Krenon! Where are you?” The voice of Sergeant in charge of Phi squad betrayed pain as
he replied in stress. “We found an alien on the chamber at the end of the corridor and had
to assault it to dig him out. Bragg and Camay are already getting up and I’ll join them in
a second”.
She thought of asking how bad his injuries were but if they were too debilitating he
would by now have informed her. “We are directly facing you. There’s company on the
bridge. We are going to smoke them. Tell the ones with the electrical rods to get them
ready”. The Sergeant acknowledged the order and she turned to her own soldiers. It
would be dangerous to try to take the aliens alive but High Command’s orders had been
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very precise at that matter. She would still have preferred to simply throw some old
fashioned grenades into the bridge and mop up any remaining aliens, but since they had
no place where to go, the orders were to try to capture them.
Putting down her laser rifle, she took a concussion grenade and a laser pistol out of her
belt, seeing Dare and Prune getting their stun rods out of their backpacks and holding
them with both hands at the same time. The crude weapons were nothing more than a five
feet pole with batteries inside and a twin pointed end. She considered the sanity of the
order since the Floaters probably would try to charge and break free and the men would
have to get at close range to be able to use the rods. But when the call came from Phi that
they were ready at the other side she moved to open the door, with her pistol in one hand
and the grenade on the other.
The machinery buried inside the gray metal door detected her motion and quickly went
upwards. She waited to see if an alien was waiting right outside but she only saw the door
directly in front of them also opening and Bragg standing close to it in the other room.
They immediately brought their arms outside the openings and fired their laser weapons,
without caring to aim and trying to keep the aliens’ heads down and their gunfire out of
the way.
One of the return fire plasma shots hit the wall close to her hand and the heat and pain on
her hand almost made her drop the pistol but she grabbed it even with more strength,
while crouching and throwing the grenade rolling across the floor to the middle of the
bridge. The other X-COM troopers did the same and afterwards they all stepped back into
the elevators rooms that led into the bridge.
The concussion weapons were originally designed to have as little destructive power as
possible, with the power of the explosions instead being directed into creating a flash and
noise that would blind and incapacitate any occupant of a room, being it alien or a
terrorist. But the metal walls of the UFO only let pass the sound of small thumps, as the
grenades detonated inside. Markovitch thought of using her motion scanner to check if
any alien was still moving but she decided to not waste time on that. Opening the door
again, she jumped inside the bridge and stood there, trying to look for targets in the
middle of all the smoke.
The three X-COM troopers equipped with stun rods meanwhile moved passed her and
she slowly moved forward, holding her hand in both hands. A figure suddenly rose up
from the smoke to her right and she immediately moved her pistol’s aim towards it.
However, she refrained from shooting as she saw one of the X-COM troopers quickly
move towards it and a zapping sound right afterwards as the metal poles on the top of the
rod activated and sent a thousand volts current to the alien, incapacitating him.
But the soldier wasn’t so lucky. A plasma shot hit him right afterwards on his back
sending him sprawling into one of the walls. Markovitch immediately traced the direction
of the shot and fired into that direction, without bothering to take aim. She saw a Floater
standing by a pink table armed with a plasma rifle getting hit in the shoulder by one of
her red laser shots. It felt on the ground, but it wasn’t dead as it tried to reach for the rifle
that was about a meter away from him. On a flash she moved over and kicked the weapon
away from his reach. Then she looked at him and saw that the alien was also staring at
her. She couldn’t tell if the thing was afraid or if it had any feelings, for that matter. It
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didn’t matter to her. Fixing her mouth on a evil smile, she just said “Hello asshole”,
before her leg went backwards to gain balance, and then afterwards on a kick to his head
that turned it unconscious.
October 21st, 1999

Dr. Lejeune’s excitement was patent as he started his presentation to the group of X-
COM’s top military and civilian leadership. It had taken them months of hard work but it
had paid off. Standing on one of the base’s firearm ranges inside one of the firing booths
he turned to the rest of the twenty people who were standing in the room. “I’m more than
pleased to announce that we have finally understood the firing mechanisms of the alien
weapons and are able to rearm and even reproduce them”. Grabbing an alien plasma rifle
from a table close to him he hold it as if it was a toy on a kid’s hands. “The whole
question had to do with the way the energy released by Elerium could be controlled and
why the weapons wouldn’t fire at all after a while. Upon discovery of the anti-gravity
field it generates and how to control those waves we took apart the alien weapons and
discovered the control mechanisms used, now that we knew what to look for. However,
one essential question remained? Why would the weapon still become useless after its
capture? The tests showed that, after a while, the gravity fields would be completely out
of alignment, preventing it from shooting and even make it extremely useless to the
operator, since it the energy spent from the Elerium reaction could actually make the gun
to explode in their hands. After some calculations that took us weeks we finally came up
with the answer, and it was so obvious that we were actually stupidities at its simplicity:
Earth”.
That brought interrogative looks at everybody. Lejeune just smiled and continued:
“Earth’s gravitational field. These weapons must have been designed and built in space,
where the gravitic force of a planet is less felt. But when operating in a body with gravity
and in the case of Earth there are variations caused by the movement inside the planet’s
core, the alignment of the anti-gravity field is slowly affected by the gravitational force
and after a while the weapon needs to be calibrated again. In fact it’s a process so simple
that we know recognize some of the artifacts retrieved from UFO crash sites to be tools
specifically designed to it, allowing the aliens to do battlefield maintenance, which is
needed after some days”.
“Excuse-me doctor, but why didn’t think of that before? If I was their commander I
would want that the scientists developed a way to improve the reliability of my
weapons”. The whole thing just didn’t make sense to Illyuschenko. He was getting tiring
of these briefings. Technology was doing marvelous things it seemed but it didn’t matter
if it had a practical use. Like the presentation he had seen the previous about the
examination rooms that had been found in medium UFOs like the one in Alaska.
“We don’t know Commander. It would be logical to have a self-adjusting mechanism
since they most likely operate in worlds with different gravitational pulls. But either they
never considered it or there’s an unknown reason behind it”.
“Yes, yes, however want I need to know is: can we use those weapons from now on?”
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Lejeune almost jumped backwards at the strength of Illyuschenko’s. “Well…yes. We will
be pulling the technical data into the Black Box and all the scientists will be able to have
access to it and inform the armorers how to maintenance them”.
“Very well, doctor, excellent work: Anything else?” Lejeune’s eyes become suddenly
bright and Illyuschenko feared that another hour of technical explanations were about to
come. “That is the most admirable part, Commander. We immediately started to consider
other applications for the power given by small Elerium engines, after seeing what the
weapons could do and we came up with an idea which we think it will please you”. He
grabbed an Elerium clip from the table and inserted it into the plasma rifle, activating it
afterwards. It was Illyuschenko’s time to almost jump back as he questioned what did this
young fool intended to do.
The scientist simply lifted the screen with his free hand covering the front of the booth
and the cement target practice area slowly appeared. At the distance a human fire could
be seen at twenty-five feet, but it wasn’t a living thing. It looked more of some sort of
light gray bipedal insect figure, with a torso that looked more of a football standing up.
The head was circular and had two similarly shaped visors at the level of the eyes, one
half the size from the other. A single antenna came out at the top pointing diagonally on
one of the sides. Large shoulder pads and leg protections stood out, together with the
armored boots and light blue metallic fingers that hanged limp. “That, ladies and
gentlemen is a Type 25 personal armor, although we are calling it a ‘power suit’ and you
will soon see why. And this” he hold the weapon to his shoulder and pointed it to the
figure “is a plasma rifle”. As he pressed the trigger in excitement, a green plasma beam
quickly traveled from the barrel to the armor, leaving a burned image in everyone’s
retinas and a trace of ozone in the air. It hit the armor on its left chest, leaving a burnt
mark. Illyuschenko looked amazed as when Lejeune pressed a button to get it clear that it
seemed to have hold the weapon’s power. When it was very close to the scientist he
stopped and grabbed a cloth. He then used it to remove the carbon caused by the
interaction of the plasma with the oxygen and nitrogen that had precipitated on the front
of the armor, making the hit area gray again.
“It can stop plasma gunfire?” Illyuschenko immediately demanded in surprise. Lejeune
shook his head sadly. “The frontal armor is the strongest and can deal with no problem
with pistol or rifle fire, either laser or plasma. However with bigger stuff, like heavy
plasmas or lasers we estimate that it has a fifty percent change of preventing it to do any
damage to the soldier inside”.
“Fifty percent? Well at least it’s much better than the one we have right now. Why
haven’t you thought of this before?”
“We couldn’t Commander. See, that armor uses Elerium to power itself. Otherwise it
would take a great effort for the user to even lift an arm due to the weight of the alien
alloys layers that compose it. Since Elerium generates the anti-gravity field we simply
use it to lessen Earth’s gravity, making it extremely light and maneuverable. And with the
remaining power we have given it a powered targeting scope, including amplification and
night vision and a personal tactical radio, dispensing with the need to carry that
equipment separated”.
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“We will be even better equipped than the aliens now?” Illyuschenko still couldn’t
believe it. “Well yes. The power suit gives the user the almost the same amount of armor
carried by the Cyberdisks that the aliens deploy. But still I wouldn’t recommend fighting
one all by yourself since the most likely result would be that both of you would get
killed”.
“I want this armor immediately Dr. Lejeune. What do you need?”
“We should get enough pre-production models ready in a few weeks. Then we will only
need to test it first in combat conditions to detect any flaws that might have escaped our
attention”.
“Get me enough of these to equip a couple of squads and you will get your evaluation.
Anything else?” The scientist smiled. “Why yes. You haven’t seen all we got ready here
sir”. He kept his grin as he went to pick another piece of equipment.
December 1st, 1999

Military Base outside Beijing, People’s Republic of China
Nothing in Primer Zhu’s previous experiences in life had ever prepared him for this
moment. Escorted by Major Chen, the commander of the X-COM base in China who
now had changed back into his People’s Liberation Army uniform, and Ching, his
country’s representative to the Council of Funding Nations, he was standing in the middle
of a stand placed in the tarmac of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force airfields. He
sensed fear and apprehension from everyone else that stood also there waiting, from the
members of the Party’s Politburo to the military commanders. He knew that the rows of
soldiers and sailors that formed the Honor Guard present at the occasion would also be
feeling the same and he wished that there wouldn’t be any problems.
Without bothering to look at Ching, he contemplated the blue skies, almost empty of
clouds and asked: “Any further word from the Secretary General or the Council?” Ching
almost jumped in fear, affected by the tension that seemed to be present everywhere but
he quickly composed himself and replied. “The fool Bomaka is still trying to talk to you
about our decision to leave the X-COM project”.
Zhu made a quick smirk. “Pretty soon they will realize the reason yesterday’s
communication to them”.
“We are going to be facing recriminations afterwards, sir. There’s no way to tell where
this can lead us into, either in the UN or in our bilateral relationships with the rest of the
world’s countries”. Zhu now looked back at the man, who was wearing the official
uniform of the Party as all the other civilians present. “Yes, we may just experience
isolation, but it will be temporary. We have taken a big step here to place us in front of all
others. But pretty soon they will understand their fallacies and follow our example”.
Ching was about to say anything else but a hard look from Zhu silenced him and both
men continued to look at the horizon.
Two minutes before noon all of the men present started to see a shape quickly
approaching them from the southeast. As it approached, the figure suddenly seemed to
divide itself into three airborne objects, with a larger one in the center and two smaller
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ones escorting it. As the huge UFO came closer to the runway, all the men took deep
breaths of admiration and fear. Zhu also felt himself overwhelmed by the presence of the
gray alien craft that the power it imposed on all of them.
It landed some fifty meters away from the place where they were standing, with its four
massive metal legs making a barely audible thump as they hit the concrete. The machine
had a circular shape and on the bottom of it there was a fifth leg standing on its middle.
The two other UFOs had also landed on the sides of the larger craft. Each had a hat form,
with a higher section that came up on the middle of the craft. And the extremities had a
twin set of large doors, which quickly opened in a hissing sound.
When the aliens started to come out of the opened hatches Zhu watched them in curiosity.
He had seen pictures of dead and live specimens that had been captured by X-COM, but
the apparent fragility of the Sectoids still filled him with admiration. And also with a
primal fear. He watched as squads of aliens started to come out, looking at their frail lean
bodies. They skin was as eelish as he had seen in the photographs and videotapes,
reminding him of an octopus or squid, an impression even more reinforced by the large
lidless black bulges that were their eyes.
Looking at Chen, the leader of the PCC saw that the man was too damn nervous, looking
in fear at them and trying to keep his hands still. He hoped for the sake of them all that he
wouldn’t to anything stupid on their first direct contact with the aliens. Too much was at
stake here, at they couldn’t risk throwing away months of indirect communications, using
the hybrids that were alien agents operating on Earth. All live ammunition had been
forbidden upon his command to take away any risk of a confrontation, but still there
might be problems.
Chen hadn’t agreed with that measure, but his word didn’t have any weight since his
military skills were minimal. He was nothing more than a political officer, sent by the
Party so that they could have a direct control over the Chinese X-COM team. While he
had performed that part satisfactory, his men still hadn’t managed to bring down any
UFO or perform any ground assault in eleven months of operation. Oh well, it didn’t had
any importance, Zhu considered, since we will gain everything we need now.
The Sectoids had assembled into parade formation, with twin lines on each side of the
larger UFO. They were sporting their weapons but they were holding them to their
shoulders, ready for inspection. Zhu suddenly felt a fear of betrayal but he dismissed it as
the central leg of the larger UFO suddenly opened itself and three unarmed Sectoids came
out. Moving forward, he went to greet China’s new allies.
December 3rd, 1999

Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, US
The personnel manning the Mars Polar Lander Mission Control Center were more than
joyful. The probe had been launched from Earth at the beginning of the year and had
finally reached its destination, the fourth planet in the Sun’s orbit. This was another probe
of a series of new unmanned space vehicles that would be launched or were in the
process of heading towards the Red planet to make a full survey of it. Mars Polar Lander
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would touch down at the planet’s south polar cap and search for water ice with a robotic
arm while also performing other scientific experiments.
The deceleration necessary to enter Mars’ orbit was on its final steps and so far
everything on the probe’s journey had been close to perfect, with all the instruments
correctly working. But the control crew still waited in anticipation after the failure of
Mars Climate Observer two months ago. That probe was aimed to place itself on Mars’
orbit and observe the planet’s climate, known to have fierce sandstorms that would cover
whole continents. However all contact had been lost upon arrival and NASA was still
trying to figure out what had happened.
Meanwhile, the technicians could only observe the image of Mars projected on the
screens and hope. The Polar Lander had a camera installed that was recording the flight,
taking ever-closer pictures of Mars and transmitting them back to Mission Control. Even
though they were more than ten minutes old due to the time it took them to travel at light
speed back to Earth it gave all the individuals in the room the sight of the approach to a
different planet, never stepped on by Man, even after thousands of the ever approaching
globe.
The senior NASA officer on watch was just contemplating Mars again on one of the
consoles when the image suddenly disappeared. And at the same time in the room every
technician controlling every aspect of the mission suddenly seemed surprised.
“What is that? Did the camera go offline?” The technician went into checking the
camera’s status when suddenly the headpiece that the senior officer wore started
speaking. “We lost all communications with the probe. All telemetry, everything”
“This just can’t happen again! Try to see if the Lander responds any of our commands
through the alternate set. Any idea of what might have happened?”
“No idea. And if the probe doesn’t respond in less than twenty minutes I doubt we will
ever know for sure”.
December 4th, 1999

Area 51, Nevada, US
Walking into one of the base’s huge surface hangars, Johnson knew that he needed to be
able to approach the subject on a soft way. China’s defection to the aliens had brought all
kind of questions and rumors among the men and women under his command and he
needed not only to clarify everything but also to make sure that he had the situation
controlled. Worse yet had been Chen’s decision to follow his countries orders, effectively
turning the X-COM base over China. Not for the loss of men and material it represented
but by setting a dangerous precedent for the future. Technically all X-COM bases and
material were property leased or supplied to the UN for the duration of the conflict. Only
X-COM’s High Command could return them back, a decision that had to be confirmed
by the General Secretary. But the decision of the Chinese team commander had shown
that things weren’t so simple. Any attack done by a country on a X-COM base would be
considered an act of war but the situation didn’t seem to apply on this case. The fact that
every X-COM command was manned by personnel belonging to that country or continent
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rose all sort of questions if the same thing could happen again but in this time on the US
or Russia. And a reshuffling of the troops would only worsen the situation, bringing
down operational effectiveness and a drop on morale.
It was a tough question for everyone he knew. Even the high-ranking officer’s conference
he had held a couple of hours ago had shown that many of the men and women were
having difficulties dealing with the situation. But it also had proven the value of
something they had acquired on the battlefield and that was what had motivated their
decision, knowing that the enlisted ranks were feeling the same way.
As Johnson went up the wood stand that had been placed in front of the more than a
thousand of men and women that now composed the operation, all of the conversation
suddenly came to a halt and everyone got seated. He stopped right in front, with
Markovitch, Patterson and all the officers above Captain standing behind him, together
with Dr. Mantell, who had spoken for the scientific and engineering community. Taking a
deep breath he raised his voice to be hear all over the hangar.
“Good afternoon to you all. I trust that base rumor has already told you the news about
China. I’m sorry to confirm the news. Two days ago the UN Secretary General received a
letter from the Chairman of the People’s Republic of China stating their decision to back
out of the X-COM project due to their dissatisfaction with the force. Major Chen was
immediately contacted by High Command and his response was that he would be turning
his men and the base back to Chinese control, not recognizing Commander
Illyuschenko’s authority anymore and refusing to follow any of his orders”. Sour looks
and a couple of curses came from the group of soldiers and technicians but Johnson
didn’t allow for the response to grow too much.
“But that’s not the worst. At the same day one the Russians and the Japanese tracked
several large UFOs heading towards China. Later photographic reconnaissance showed
that the crafts landed on several of China’s top military installations. Intelligence has
determined that the Chinese must have struck some sort of pact with the aliens. Now, I
know what’s going on everyone’s mind here: what if the same happened to the US?”
Some of the personnel moved uncomfortably on the chairs, others simply turned their
faces away.
“For the past two days all of the officers that are here have worried about that question,
trying to come up with a solution to it. This morning we gathered and came up with
several answers”. He raised his index finger. “Number one, we can’t expect nothing more
from the aliens than either a quick or a painful death”. Several of the veterans nodded in
reply as he expected as he raised his middle finger. “Number two, we trust President’s
Winston decisions and we know that he would never sell the US to the aliens despite your
personal opinion towards him”. That also brought some approving nods although less and
some of the soldiers actually chaffed at it.
That didn’t bother Johnson. More important would be the message he would try to send
next. “From some of your reactions I can see that Winston doesn’t quite correspond to
your expectations or your political party. But that’s normal, since we like in a democracy
and you have the right to publicly express your opinions. However, no matter to which
side you lean on, there’s one thing we all must take into account. We have all seen what
the aliens are up to. To dominate Earth by whatever means necessary for them own uses,
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with no regard for our individuality or our freedom. And many lives have been lost
already to them and many more will be necessary. And the moment our elected officials
decide to betray our country by signing an agreement with the aliens is the moment
where we should question their authority, for some values are not open to compromise”.
The last sentence brought a deep silence to the room. “That is not betrayal. That is
fulfilling the vow you have taken as you all entered military service on which you swore
to protect the US Constitution from all its enemies. And if the aliens were free to operate
over our country we all know what would happen: more abductions and the slaughtering
of innocent citizens. We have the moral right to defend Earth against them, even from
misguided actions from our government. Therefore I will clearly state here and now that I
will never turn this base back to US control in case we sign a pact with the aliens!”
Johnson expected some reaction to his words but none came. Instead all the seated men
and women seemed to be considering his speech. “However if your conscience dictates
you to choose otherwise you are free to do so. Major Patterson will take care of any
requests for transfer to the Appalachian base or back into the regular military if you’re
not comfortable with the decision we took. But it shall remain! After seeing what they did
in Los Angeles and Siberia I won’t ever accept entering an agreement with the aliens.
This is our planet, not theirs!” Johnson was already starting to feel exhausted from the
entire speech. “If anyone desires to speak out please do so. If not at the moment, please
feel free to ask an interview with me or any other senior officer”. He waited for a few
seconds but only silence greeted him. “Very well. For the time being we shall resume our
activities”. He took a step back and Sergeant Hopkins, after one second shouted.
“Attention!” Everyone in the room stood straight and saluted. All the officers replied the
greeting and Hopkins dismissed the ranks, with the troopers and scientists slowly getting
out of the hangar in pairs or alone.
The Colonel turned to Hopkins as he was going by him and asked: “What do you think
Elias?” The Afro-American stopped on his tracks and thought for a second before
replying. “I think you gave them all enough to think Colonel. But what you said felt true
to me and I believe the majority of them will feel the same. Still it gets disturbing of
thinking of the consequences of such a possible action, sir”.
That didn’t add much but it would have to do for now, Johnson decided. “Thanks Sarge
and do me a favor? Keep an eye on what the men are talking about and let me know, will
you?”
Hopkins nodded. “Sure, sir”.
December 19th, 1999

As soon as the xenobiologists and intelligence officers had finished questioning the
Floater leader captured near Seattle they had sent immediately the results back to Mother
One, without even reporting to Johnson. Since then every senior officer back at the
Nevada base had been waiting for two long days in anticipation to hear something from
High Command. Until now.
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Yesterday he had been ordered to report back to HQ for strategic discussions. His queries
with Commander Illyuschenko about the reason behind had been dismissed with a simple
comment: “Get here Colonel, you will soon know more than you have asked for”. That
had only raised even higher his level of tension and fear, causing him to stay unable to
sleep through the whole transoceanic flight. And when the Skyranger took off again after
picking him up at Frankfurt International Airport he was told by one of the ground crew
that it was on its way to pick another officer.
Five hours later, all eight X-COM regional commanders were present and seated at the
same room, together with the leaders of the Intelligence and Scientific branches and
Commander Illyuschenko, reminding Johnson of a similar meeting that had happened
close to a year ago. How far things have evolved he considered looking at the dark
uniformed men. Chen was gone now, after having decided to stay with China.
Yamashita’s face had an ugly scar on a cheek giving him a dreadful look. Santos, the
jovial Brazilian officer had been killed on the first encounter with the aliens of the newly
formed South American team. And others have changed inside, he concluded, before
removing those thoughts as Illyuschenko rose from his place on the circular table and
started to speak, not without taking a pause first.
“To begin let me apologize to you being removed from your men, Colonel. It’s also
against my better judgment for us all to be together, but recent developments have
dictated the need that we redefine our global strategy in dealing with the aliens. As you
all know we have captured one of their higher ranks and we have finished its
interrogation. We have used other means to confirm the results and this is what we got”.
The screen behind him lit up and Dr. Chevereux and Colonel Robinson, X-COM’s
Intelligence Director turned around on his sides to take a better view.
A red globe suddenly filled the screen, hanging against a star filled background and
marked with patches of white on its poles. Darker sections could be seen more close to
the equator, marking the effects of sandstorms or ancient basins. Everyone in the room
knew immediately what he was looking at: the planet Mars. “Apparently the aliens are
not in the Moon as the intelligence services of Earth’s countries thought since our
satellite is a perfect base of operations. Based on the answers given by the alien, we have
been able to determine that they have their manufacturing and cloning operations on a
hidden base on the Red Planet. From there they are conducting their take-over of Earth,
using the Moon only as a staging point for their fleet to launch their attacks. Furthermore,
we have received confirmation of the alien presence in the planet by other means”. He
nodded to Dr. Chevereux, who on his turn got up.
“On the seventh of this month, NASA’s Mars Polar Lander was about to reach the planet
when all communications was suddenly cut off between the probe and mission control.
They have officially attributed it to some sort of technical error, but we suspect
something else considering that this wasn’t the first probe ever to be lost upon arrival at
Mars, which further enhanced our suspicions. NASA had already lost another probe this
year and another seven years back, all upon reaching the planet. But the real confirmation
came from an effort made by the Soviets back in 1989 with the Phobos probes. Phobos
One was lost on the journey but its twin, Phobos Two, managed to reach Mars’ orbit and
stay there for two months transmitting images and information before it also went off the
air. Communication problems were advanced to the rest of the world and everyone
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believed the story, although the data beamed back brought some peculiar images like this
one.” A section of the planet became amplified and it was replaced with an old black and
white image, showing the occasional fuzziness of old television. It showed an ellipsal
shadow on the surface of the planet, hanging there for some seconds before the whole
image was replaced with black.
“First it was thought that the shape was Phobos, a captured asteroid that is one of Mars
satellites. However the shape doesn’t correspond to the known features of Phobos,
especially since it’s too smooth on the edges. That wouldn’t meant much, except that
after the dissolution of the Soviet Union a defector appeared and presented the last image,
taken after the one we just saw, that the probe broadcasted back to Earth that the Soviets
deliberately refused to disclose. And here it is”. A cigar-shaped figure appeared on the
middle of the screen, with Phobos standing behind it. “That is not an asteroid, gentlemen.
And we have determined that it was the object creating the shadow on the planet’s
surface, based on the shadow. However, that means that it has close to twenty kilometers
in length and one in diameter, making it the largest artificial object, human or alien, to
ever be seen on this star system. And for all we know, this alien mothership could still be
around”.
The shit just hit the fan, Johnson told himself, as he imagined one of those beasts moving
over Earth and laying destruction at his path. “This picture was taken in 89. So far our
probes and telescopes haven’t picked it up again, either on Mars or on the vicinity of
Earth. Most likely it is the way they used to move between the stars since the captured
craft doesn’t have any device that would allow them to travel through speeds faster than
light. And maybe now it’s back at the aliens home world, we simply don’t know”. Dr.
Chevereux shook its head.
Colonel Robinson, the British put in charge of the Intelligence operations took the cue
and added: “In any case, the aliens hadn’t bothered to use it so far, for our sake. Or
maybe it’s hidden on Mars, ready to take care of any intruder in the area. However we
need to find out what is going on that planet”.
Yamashita turned to Dr. Chevereux and asked: “Dr., if I recall the reports correctly there
was a mention of possible breakthroughs in replicating the systems that allow the aliens
to fly their aircraft. Would it be possible to built one to take us to Mars?”
The scientist shook his head again and replied: “It will take us many months to even try
to achieve the feat of actually building one UFO. And most likely the trip would take
even a longer time, not to mention the fact that the spacecraft would need to be fully
equipped and armed to deal with whatever defenses the aliens have around”.
“Furthermore, we don’t have a precise target. But there’s a possibility”. Illyuschenko
added and turned to the doctor for him to continue. “Please explain to them”.
Typing a command, the scientist replaced the image behind him with another one, of a
Sectoid, Floater and a Snakemen standing up. “We had already determined of the
existence of a caste system inside the Sectoid Hierarchy, with several levels, each tasked
with a different role. This societal organization also seemed to apply to the other species
of aliens encountered, but the question remained of whom was in charge of it all. The
Sectoids mental powers seemed to make them our prime suspects but now we have
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reason to believe that the ‘Starspawn’, as they all call themselves, has a head, a queen-
like figure that directs them all. And this alien is ordering the whole invasion from Mars”.
An interrogation mark appeared over the three aliens.
Didn’t Billings mention something about hearing the voice of the Starspawn, Johnson
remembered, quickly adding: “Mental powers?” Chevereux looked at him in curiosity,
together with the rest of the officers in the room. “Just guessing”, he quickly added.
“And a good guess, Colonel, although there are other probabilities. We don’t know what
this queen is, if it is a living thing or a computer and how it communicates with the alien
forces.”
“But if we kill it, will we stop the invasion?” Colonel Boronin demanded out of a sudden.
The scientist thought for a second and replied: “Yes. If we eliminate the head of the
society the rest of the body should die”.
“Then we need to get to bloody Mars as soon as possible!” Colonel MacTaggert’s voice
sounded like thunder in the middle of the room. “Built one of your gimmicks to take us
there!”
“That is not possible yet!” The scientist countermanded as a rain of questions coming
from all the regional commanders suddenly overwhelmed him, filling the room with
chaos.
“Enough!” Illyuschenko’s voice was overheard over the others, causing everyone to shut
down. “I share of all of your goals: we must hit the aliens hard and stop this invasion!
However rash action won’t help us here! There are other things to consider!”
“Sir, if we wait too long we might loose an opportunity here! The aliens have made three
terror attacks in two months! If this keeps escalating we might find ourselves out of
resources to contain them and keep this force fighting!” Johnson couldn’t believe the
words but they came naturally.
“Colonel, sit down and listen!” Only then did Johnson notice that he was the only one
still standing up. He got down on his seat and waited. “Have you all forgotten to see what
it would mean if we failed on such an attempt? Do you think the aliens would sit idly
knowing that we had discovered their base of operations? And what if they decided to
throw away finesse and use something like that flying monster on us?!” The threat of the
alien mothership loomed at everyone in the room.
“Believe me, gentlemen, we are going to Mars and I intend to be on the spaceship that
bring us there, but first we need to know more about their little operation over there.
Colonel Robinson, please pick up from here and this time all of you better listen first”.
Dr. Chevereux, who seemed to be waiting with almost no patience left, let go of a deep
breath before sitting. Robinson got up, seeming to be completely untouched by the
previous discussion and spoke.
“Besides the technical aspects, there are a couple of things we need to know before
attempting such a mission: where exactly is the base located and what is exactly this
brain. The interrogation of the captured leader failed to give us such information, most
likely because of the fact that the alien wasn’t required to know such things. But in the
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middle of all their numbers there’s got to be one that knows the information we require.
What we need to do is dig him out and question him”.
“You can’t just wait and expect him to drop out of the skies, bloody literally speaking”.
Robinson turned to MacTaggert, who had spoken the comment. “Yes you can. Someone
mentioned before that the aliens are increasing their actions. That means that we should
face more of their higher-ranking officers, thus giving us more chances of capturing one
of them. And with the new power suit armor and plasma weapons we are more than
capable of handling them on the ground”.
Until something new on their part comes up, Johnson immediately told himself. “That
won’t last, Mr. Robinson. We can’t make assumptions about the aliens. Usually when we
do we find out about our mistakes when we start receiving the dead bodies of our
troopers on the base morgue”.
“And we will respond to them, Colonel. Patience is the key here. We now have a solution
for this whole thing, as crazy as it might seem. But it will take time and we can only hope
that we are able to hang out that long”.
“In that case, we should present this evidence to the Council of Funding Nations and ask
for more funding or even their technological help. It would speed up things a bit,
wouldn’t it?” Illyuschenko’s reply was completely unexpected. “No!”
As the eyes of everyone in the room turned towards him, he started to explain. “China’s
defection has shown us that we might have our position compromised in the future.
There’s little reason to doubt that it will happen again with another country, and if it does
I don’t want that the aliens know through them about our suspicions over Mars. That
would be as disastrous as making a hasty attempt at destroying their base. Therefore, this
information is to stay limited to this room!” Everyone looked at him, some in shock,
others surprised.
Robinson added: “Commander Illyuschenko and I have discussed this in detail. Not even
the troops might know about this until the time they are about to board the ship to go to
Mars. This is Earth’s hidden hope, gentlemen. We have to protect it at all costs”. That
brought a death silence in the room, but Johnson actually felt that there might be a chance
now.
“I trust you all, gentlemen to keep this secret. You are one of the finest fighting units I’ve
had the honor to lead and I have received personal assurances from all of you after
China’s defection to continue fighting the aliens. When you go back to your bases, it will
be up to up to share some of this hope to your men someway, although you may never
mention Mars to them, no matter how they deserve it”.
Looking around the room, he waited for any further questions and finding none,
Illyuschenko continued. “If there’s aren’t any more questions now about this, we shall
proceed into discussing operational deployment and how we develop a detection network
completely independent of any country. I want to know everything the aliens do on this
planet”.
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December 26th, 1999
Papoose Lake, Nevada, US
The sound and the headlights of the Hummer jeep warned Johnson of its presence while
it was still leaving the Groom Lake facility. He was standing on the top of one of the hills
that separated both dry lakes after having decided to go outside and have some fresh air.
The desert air was very cold and dry, but the almost full Moon was hanging up in the sky,
painting the features of the terrain on its white light. Seated close to his jeep he wished
that there the Moon light wouldn’t be there, so that he could watch more of the stars that
filled the horizon. Since Area 51 was literally on the middle of nothing and there was a
limited blackout, there was almost no artificial light, making it a prime spot for
stargazing. Or to take a look at Mars, who appeared as a blinking red over the desert. The
Romans had feared the planet for the menacing color it had, transforming it into their god
of war, accompanied by his servants, Phobos and Deimos, Fear and Terror, the names
given to its natural satellites later on by astronomers. There seemed to be a reason for
them to be fearful of the planet after all, Johnson thought, noticing that the brightest light
besides the Moon in Earth’s sky, the planet Venus, was also present. He wondered what
would be stepping for the first time on a new planet, if they ever managed to go to Mars.
That would surely turn into a major Hollywood movie a couple of years later. If Earth
survived until then.
The sound of tracks suddenly was heard and Johnson thought he could see one of the new
Heavy Weapons Platforms as it automatically went through it’s role of perimeter
security, looking for possible intruders in the restricted area. He hadn’t decided how to
use the mechanical beasts in combat. They were too noisy and occupied precious space
inside the Skyrangers, so he had assigned them to Theta Company, the base security
force. Speaking of which, he looked to his left side to check the construction of the new
laser defense system. It had been decided to build a weapon similar to the one destroyed
by the aliens in Siberia to give some protection to the base. If any hostile craft
approached it could be used to destroy the intruders.
Looking down at the gravel path he saw that the Hummer was heading his way to the top
of the hill and he wondered what was going on. He reached for his radio to make sure it
was working, in case Major Prescott was trying to contact him, but found it perfectly in
order. His curiosity was finally satisfied as the jeep stopped right next to his own and
Captain Markovitch stepped out, wearing a gray parka over her black X-COM jumpsuit.
“They told me at base that you had decided to take a stroll and I thought I could use one
myself, unless you prefer to be alone”.
He smiled to her and asked: “I’d tell you to pull up a chair, but there’s none. How was
Christmas back home?”
Markovitch sat and replied. “Great. I think my dad has too much free time now that he’s
retired from the Army and he’s driving my mother nuts occasionally, but otherwise they
are fine and the same with my sister, who is on her second kid. They send you their
greetings”. Johnson started to imagine the sixty year old now retired Army sergeant into
retirement but he just gave up and grinned. “Tell them thanks”.
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“Sure. I’ve brought you a gift”. She took a bottle of scotch out of one of her long parka
pockets and made a devilish smile. “Technically it’s against regulations drinking alcohol
outside the mess halls but in this case I thought you might open an exception”.
“Ha! Very well”. He took the bottle from her hand, opened it and took a gulp of the
amber liquor, passing it back to her afterwards. She did the same and asked afterwards:
“What happened back in Germany?”
He turned stiff, remembering Illyuschenko’s warning and gave the formal reply. “What
do you mean? We were there to discuss the deployment of more bases and new
operational methods”.
“Don’t give me that Erwin. After China’s defection the moral at the base took a deep
dive. But in the weeks since you came back from Mother One you are acting exactly the
opposite, encouraging everyone around. There’s something High Command isn’t telling
us”. As she spoke he noticed that her eyes were constantly probing, looking for some sort
of emotional response to her words. “Maybe there is Sheila, but this isn’t the first time I
have to keep something a secret until the right moment to reveal it. I can only tell you
that one day in the future you will know about it”.
“I hope it doesn’t have anything to do with the latest base gossip”. Johnson frowned.
What was she talking about? “Excuse me?”
“You know a grunt’s mind. When they feel that their commanding officers know
something more they get curious about it. I’ve heard a lot of weird stories from the men
in my squad from since I came here, some good, some bad. The latest one and your past
days’ attitude must have reinforced it more is about the Enforcer. Have you heard that
one?”
“The Enforcer? What the hell is that?”
“Supposedly, back when we were in deep financial problems, one of our scientists got
sacked and he decided to develop his own research to deal with the aliens. And the result
was a seven feet, armored, human shaped robot capable of waging its own war with the
aliens”.
“Great! Here comes the Rambo robot to the rescue!” Both of them laughed. “Who in
Earth would come up with something as absurd as that?”
“Hey, supposedly he helped the Far East team in South Korea during the alien’s terrorist
attack two months ago. The battle records show that Yamashita’s men were close to
being overwhelmed by Cryssalids and they still managed to turn around the tide”.
“Yamashita’s men decided to make a suicidal attack and fought hand to hand with them
using their samurai swords. That is something even more unbelievable”.
She paused and spoke, her voice clearing altered to show that her words had a hidden
meaning. “Well, you won’t believe what other rumors I’ve heard. I’ve had to order it out
of one of my men and I think he was pissing on his pants at that moment”.
Johnson stared directly at her. “What do you mean?” She met his stare and continued.
“Apparently there’s a rumor that we have something together going on” He looked at her
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in disbelief but she simply stayed there, the Moon lighting every trace on her face. “Are
we Erwin?”
He made a weak smile. “You already knew the answer before you asked”. She moved a
little closer. “I can’t remember. Why don’t you came here and tell me again?” He did and
the second before their lips touched a thought flashed by his mind, only to quickly
disappear as a feeling of extasis suddenly engulfed all his attention. Fuck Mars. Let’s go
to Venus instead.
This is the end of Volume 1 of X-COM: The Unknown Menace. If you had the patience
to read this far I hope that you are enjoying it, in spite of the occasional typo or
gramatical error (not enough time to edit when writing – but I will come to it). And in
case you’re wondering if the story will continue, well, yes! Although it will take some
more chapters and patience before the grand finale :)
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Chapter Sixteen – Rocky Road
I was writing the beginning of this chapter when the tragedy of September 11th occurred,
and it turned out to be a most disturbing coincidence, as you will read. This chapter is
dedicated to all the victims of the attacks.
March 14th, 2000

New York City, US
The Big Apple laid gutted by a mayhem of fire and terror. UFOs of different sizes were
airborne, performing attack runs with their plasma weapons taking down buildings and
any human vehicle that dared to move. One of the overhead craft targeted an attack
helicopter that was approaching the area and destroyed it with a single blast, the
wreckage falling down on the street into several parked cars and causing a second
explosion. The soldiers and policemen present did their best to try to get into cover but
several were hit by the shock wave and the flames of the explosion and their bodies were
thrown away like bloody rag dolls. The others tried to contain the advance of the aliens,
mounting a disorganized resistance from wherever they could get cover and filling the air
with bullets. But when the aliens pressed their attack, the sheer size of their firepower
sent many of the human defenders either to their deaths or in a full retreat.
Markovitch watched them leave in dismay but then she looked up from the window and
saw that the whole sky was dark. She wondered how could it be, if it was of all the smoke
coming from the burnt parts of the city but he felt it terrifyingly natural. The aliens finally
approached her position and she went for her laser pistol but she found that it wasn’t
there. Only then did she noticed that she was among civilians, all terrified and standing
also in the ruined dinner where she was, in no doubt trying to get some protection from
the battle. A sound turned her attention again to the outside. A group of orange and
brown Snakemen had just come to the front of the window, holding their plasma weapons
at their waist and pointing them to the humans inside.
One man made a movement, Markovitch couldn’t tell if he was trying to escape or just
plea for mercy. It didn’t matter as the aliens cut him down a second afterwards with a
couple of green blasts. Reluctantly she put her arms behind her head as the Snakemen
made hissing sounds with their stilted tongues and beckoned them to come outside with
their weapons. Everyone else also saw that resistance was futile and did the same.
The group of humans slowly started to come out, some crying, others simply in shock.
When Markovitch stepped outside he immediately noticed that one of the UFOs had
landed on the middle of the street and that Sectoids were close to it, looking like they
were in command of the aliens operations. But amongst them she could also see the
silouette of a tall figure, wrapped in some sort of hooded garment that obscured the
alien’s appearance. A sound of metal being bent and snapping suddenly distracted her
attention, followed by the noise of steel, glass and concrete hitting the ground from a
distance. She turned to look out to the source of the noise. It didn’t take her that much to
notice what had happened. Looking at the direction of the World Trade Center towers,
she saw that one was completely gone and the other one didn’t have any more its half top,
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with only a scar of crushed steel and concrete at its top, releasing smoke as if it was
nothing more than a gigantic chimney.
Cyberdisks could also be seen on the air, patrolling the area and taking care of the last
remains of human resistance. And Chryssalids. One of them approached the group, which
now the aliens had taken into organizing into a compact line. The dark gray oily figure
came close to a young woman and seemed to be looking at her with interest, its antennae
on its head swirling into her direction. Markovitch started coughing, tasting a horrible
stench in the air that burned her lungs but trying to keep her eyes on the alien.
Still unable to stop coughing because of the vicious atmosphere, the X-Com Captain
looked in horror as it she just saw the woman lurching backwards out of a sudden. All the
other humans backed away immediately in fear. The woman felt on the ground, in the
middle of all the broken glass that littered the avenue and started having spasms as if she
was on the middle of an epileptic seizure. Markovitch immediately knew what was
happening, but found out that she didn’t couldn’t do anything, just stare at the
impregnation like the rest of the assembled humans. She turned away her head to not to
look at the birthing of the Chryssalid and looked at a man standing to her. Immediately,
she preferred that she hadn’t looked at him. The face in front of her was deformed, with
strange bumps covering his forehead, cheeks and jaw, as if someone had implanted
marbles underneath his skin. Worse, in some spots there were large wounds, some still
red, others already starting to scar. The man opened his twisted mouth, where several
teeth were missing and the other ones completely out of line. But instead of any words,
he only managed to say guttural sounds. She looked around to see if any one else was
noticing. The other people around were even worse. A small child with only patches of
hair on his skull, and a deformation that covered the entire right size of his face with
twisted skin and muscle, giving him a monstrous look. Another man with a bent posture
and a third arm coming out of his back through a hole on his shirt. And others with
genetic deformations even worse stood all around her. But the greatest shock came as she
looked to a piece of broken glass that was still standing in the broken front of the
restaurant. She recognized the short hair and the short but bulky figure that belonged to
her. But the eyes were different and only then did she noticed the reason why her vision
was so perfect, so accurate, even in the middle of all the darkness in the sky and in the
streets, whose lights had long ceased working. Instead of the hazelnut that she had grown
used to every since she was a child, the iris were violet and they had an Oriental shape,
too angular. “No, no, no”, she started shaking and mumbling, until a voice coming from
everywhere around her suddenly engulfed all her thoughts, taking her conscience away
and throwing her into a completely new reality.
“Hey, hey. It’s OK”. Johnson’s voice came from behind her and she felt his hand on her
back. “It was just a dream”. Perception of Johnson’s quarters came to her immediately
and it brought her a great feeling of relief. She found herself seated on the bed with him
standing beside her. She dropped her head to his chest immediately and he started
caressing her hair. “Must have been a nasty one”, he asked. Images of Earth’s destruction
came to her mind. She closed her eyes and nudged closer: “Yeah, the bad guys won
again”.
He replied, half-jokingly. “In their dreams”. She stood silent and he added: “You sure
you don’t want to see the base psychiatric to check out those dreams? Everyone else has
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been through a lot of action recently”. Markovitch got her head up and moved to the
empty side of the bed. “Already did yesterday. Told me that they could do a whole
battery of medical exams, X-rays, cat scans and so on. But I doubt it would do any good
so I told him no thanks.”
“Still you gotta do something about those dreams. Maybe they could get you some pills
or something.” She turned to see him and gave a depreciating look. “No thanks. I won’t
get myself killed in combat because I was too stoned from the pills and made a mistake.”
She got out of the bed and Johnson heard her moving around, occasionally bumping into
a chair or the bed.
He turned on the light and saw that she had started to collect her clothes from the places
where they had landed in his quarters. “What are you doing? Come back to bed. It’s still
too damn early to get up.” She didn’t bother to look at him while answering. “I’ve had
enough sleep already. Besides, better to leave now while there’s almost no one going
around in the corridors that can see me getting out of the commander’s quarters.”
He smiled, the tips of his mouth becoming clearly accentuated. “It wouldn’t add much to
the rumor mill already going around in the base, according to Prescott and Hopkins. Call
it benefit of rank”. Finishing putting on her bra, she grabbed the upper part of her
jumpsuit. “Rank benefits my ass. We are pulling this off because you are the big shot
around here. If Commander Illyuschenko or the Council knew about it they wouldn’t be
pleased.”
“Hey, you’re the one who nearly got us caught once some years ago. Remember when
that General nearly caught us on his office? That was your idea.”
“Which you didn’t raise too many objections when I proposed it”.
“Whatever! The whole point is that we are being too overconfident here. Things are not
what we expect of them to be”. Done dressing her uniform, Markovitch jumped out of
bed and went to the mirror, while Johnson tried to grab her arm and keep her there.
“Hey, things have cooled down a bit. And the new equipment has sure brought up morale
in the last months. This war can last for God knows how long and we might as well take
the time to recover a bit”. He gave up trying to stop her and sat also on the bed.
“Everyone is sporting their new plasma weapons as if they were new toys to play with.
Pretty soon the troops will feel that they are invincible and start performing some
dangerous shit. And us, the officers who are supposed to lead them, are too dumb to
notice that or that something is missing here because we are concerned more about
getting into each other’s quarters”.
She started to head out the door and stopped briefly while Johnson countered: “What’s
your point Sheila?” She turned around and replied: “I don’t know, but we are missing
something here and I don’t like it, whatever it might be”. Afterwards she opened the door
and left, leaving a dumbstruck Johnson in the room behind.
During the day he saw her a couple of times but never managed to find an excuse to talk
to her. The new automated tanks had turned out with a major software bug in last day’s
exercise, which had nearly turned into a disaster, as one of the vehicles suddenly started
to fire laser rounds from its turret into the direction of a nearby X-Com squad. Only the
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new power armour had saved the life of one of the troopers as it caught a full laser blast
on his chest.
March 18th, 2000

Appallachian Mountains, West Virginia, US
As Williams looked at Davis he wondered for how much he could keep up with the
man’s pace. Both of them had “accidentally” bumped into one another as they were both
doing a morning jogging at the base perimeter. The ex-FBI sub director, now working for
X-Com’s Intelligence Bureau had suggested the meeting when one of his messages
mentioned that he was about to make a regular inspection to the East Coast base. The
idea of the jogging was also meant to distract any suspicions from the meeting. It would
natural for both men to talk together, since they had been working in the same team
before, but they would have to do it in a way that wouldn’t allow for eavesdropping.
They kept running until they finally reached a heavily forested area and stopped in a
clearing in the middle of the trees and bushes, both panting. “Very good for a desk jock”
Davis remarked, starting to do some calisthenics. “Hiding secrets can be quite a
workout”, Williams replied.
Davis stopped for a moment, trying to detect anyone that could be hidden among the
forest for a moment. Afterwards he added: “Yeah and quite a physical burden it can be. It
might even kill you”.
Williams opened his eyes at the other man as he reached into the strap bag he was
wearing to carry his Discman and remove a couple of photos. As he took them from
Davis’s hands and watched him he saw that they were pictures taken from a dead body at
a morgue, showing the face white male on his thirties severely mangled. Williams gave
them back, disgusted at what he had seen. “Anyone I should knew?”
“Not really. This is the latest Mr. Sam Owens, which two months ago was working for
DARPA and had a SAP clearance”. Williams recognized both acronyms. The DARPA
was the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency responsible for conducting some of
the most secret research into new technologies and hardware. And the Special Access
Program was the security classification given to anyone working in the ‘black budget’
projects. Technically it was one of the highest clearances an individual could get and the
number of existing SAPs was an even better guarded secret, only known to a handful of
individuals. “What happened to him?”
“The emergency services dug his body out of his car, which had crashed into a pole and
killed him in the process. The autopsy showed that he was completely drunk and wasn’t
even wearing a seatbelt”.
“A damn tragedy, it seems. Why do you think this man is important?”
“I had a hunch. After Smith’s affair at Area 51 was known it came to me that whomever
was running Smith would cover their tracks after the whole thing had cooled down. So I
managed to make some searches in the DoD’s about any recent deaths of anyone with a
high security clearance. Mr. Owen here had a temporary assignment to Smith’s command
four years ago. The officer responsible for the attribution of his security clearance called
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him: ‘a very educated and highly motivated individual, with no questionable flaws
anywhere on his background’. He had a wife and two kids and a nice house by the beach
in California. Then he kills himself for no apparent reason”.
“There could be a lot of reasons. Who knows? Maybe the guy had some dark secret who
was about to be discovered or something”.
“Only that Mr. Owens doesn’t exist”. At the look of bewilderment on Williams’ face he
continued. “This whole thing stank to me, so I started making phone calls to check out
the references on his files. Before joining DARPA he worked for Lockheed and although
there are mention of him on his records no one there remembers him. His wife and kids
have suddenly disappeared and there isn’t a proof that they ever lived”.
“Davis, that doesn’t say that he was one of them. It doesn’t prove anything”.
“What if I tell you that two other men, all having possessed high-security clearances in
their lives had been found also killed by the local authorities but dismissed as suicide?
And there’s something lacking on their backgrounds also”.
“And they also had temporary assignments to Area 51?” Williams was starting to see
something fishy also in the whole story. “But where does that lead us into? Since they are
dead there’s nothing we can know now from them”.
Davis face turned cold. “Now we know where to look at. There might be more of them
still infiltrated that have been considered as trustworthy so far. All we need to know is
who had temporary or permanent duty at Nevada and start sorting out through them. And
that’s where I need your help. I can’t have access to SAP personnel lists”.
“Are you nuts Davis? I can’t even have access to that information also, not to mention
releasing it and making a breach on security procedures. If it were discovered I would be
living the rest of my days in total isolation on a federal penitentiary”.
“I know, I spent my time on the Bureau chasing guys like you”. He made a cold smile.
Williams answered with an icy stare and he turned back in his normal composure. “But
the truth is that my investigations are at a dead-end right now. Unless you get that list we
can as well forget the whole matter”.
Williams took some deep breaths before answering. “You will get what you need”.
“Fair enough to me”. He started moving his legs. “Shall we get back?”
March 21st, 2000

Area 51, Nevada, US
Beep. The alarm of the base intercom system woke up Johnson in the middle of the night.
He immediately tried to get awake while his arm moved to the small table close to the
bed and turned the communications button on. At his side he sensed Markovitch moving
while he acknowledged the call: “Johnson, what’s up?”
A young voice that he couldn’t place answered him. “Err, Colonel, National Command
Authority just sent a distress signal calling for our assistance. The aliens are attacking
Denver sir”.
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Johnson froze, thinking that something horrible had just happened. “What? Who are you?
Where is Captain Chaffee?”
“Sir, I’m Lieutenant Carpenter of Xi. Captain Chaffee had flu symptoms and the doctor
sent him back to his quarters to sleep it off. I’ve already called for Major Prescott and all
the other senior commanders but they were also asleep”.
A disturbance on the other side of the bed told Johnson that Markovitch had already
awaken and had jumped out of bed. A lot of questions come to his head. “Why haven’t
we been informed when the UFOs entered US airspace? Have you confirmed that order?”
The young officer at the other side tried to hide his nervousness but he trembled as he
figured out the answers. “Sir, there have been no incoming warnings from NORAD all
night. The source of the order has been confirmed: US Army, First Command HQ”.
At the end of the phrase the voice of Markovitch was heard. “Just the Army? First time
something like this has ever happened. What’s going on?”
“Carpenter, tell all squad and platoon leaders to get their troopers ready for action. Send
an emergency message to Mother One informing them of what is happening here. And
alert the East team of what is happening if they haven’t received the same alert. Tell
Colonel Jackson that I will contact him in one-five minutes”. He flicked off the device. “I
don’t know but pretty soon we are going to find out”. Then he went to wash his face in
the sink on the bathroom.
New York City, US

The signs at JFK’s flight departures all told Evan Blake a grim picture about what was
going on at Colorado. All flights to Denver had been cancelled and the airport was
closed, apparently due to bad weather, according to the explanations provided by all the
major airlines. Which put a setback upon Blake’s plans to personally investigate what
was going on at Denver. But he wasn’t about to let that get into his way. He had already
convinced the editorial board of the paper to assign him to cover what was going on in
Denver, after the local networks had started pouring out reports of major gunfire
confrontation in the city. That had been earlier in the morning and now he was standing
at JFK airport and trying to get a flight that would bring him close to whatever was going
on around there. On his way to the airport he had heard on the taxi’s radio that the
Governor of Colorado had just imposed martial law in the city and had called for the
National Guard to intervene, while requesting federal assistance to deal with the armed
confrontations. So far the identity of the attackers haven’t been disclosed but there were
reports of hundreds of deaths downtown and several television news crews were reported
missing. Blake just had a hunch about what was going on there. Now it was the time to
try to prove it.
Over Central Kansas, US

“Sir, Colonel Johnson just informed us that he hasn’t been able to get in touch with the
President so far. However the NCA order has been confirmed. We are ordered to land at
Buckley AFB and assess the situation there while waiting for the West team to arrive”.
Jackson acknowledged the radio call and ordered the Skyrangers under his command to
head to the military installation in Colorado.
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However something was bothering him. Buckley AFB had given them an approach
vector but they hadn’t replied to his answer for permission to land. Further calls into
contacting whoever was in charge were unanswered. He decided to ignore it and go
check the status of the tanks embarked on board the Skyrangers.
Some time later the planes had finally landed in a zone reserved for helicopters, close to a
couple of hangars. As the X-Com troopers down the ramp and begun unloading the crates
containing their weapons and equipment, Jackson started to look for the location of the
base command center. He saw that a group of military vehicles had moved down the
runway and were about to come near the Skyrangers. “About time!” He shouted and
moved forward to meet them.
As he moved his body, the power suit detected the motions and amplified them through
the servomotors installed on his legs, moving them. When each armored feet hit the
concrete a small metallic clank could be heard. But the noise of Jackson’s pace was
suddenly curtailed as he saw the soldiers inside the trucks and the Humvees suddenly
came out fully armed and trailing their M-16s at him while dodging for any available
cover. He stopped and demanded: “What are you doing? Put down those weapons and get
me your commander”.
A Captain, still holding his assault rifle pointed at him and looking puzzled at the metal
figure in front of him replied. “Don’t move and surrender your weapons now or we will
open fire!”
Jackson didn’t know if he would laugh or get angry at the comment. The bullets on those
M-16 wouldn’t even scratch the power armor that he was wearing. “We are a US special
forces team that has been ordered to deploy here. Check your orders for our clearance”.
“Already did. You are not on it. Surrender now!” Jackson saw that his men had stop the
unloading and some of them had moved closer to the crates containing the laser and
plasma weapons, in no doubt getting ready to act upon his command. Bloody hell.
Close to Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado, US

About one hour later, Harris was just been reminded of one thing he definitely hated
about air traffic controllers. Sometimes the bird watchers got too much illusions of power
just from having to direct planes around. Such was the case with the one that he had just
contacted as the X-Com’s Skyrangers were about to land on the base that served as the
center for the US military reaction against the attack.
“Flight Whiskey India Seven, I’ve already told you that you do not possess a valid
security clearance for approaching the runway. You are approaching restricted airspace
and you will turn into a zero-three-five bearing now!” Harris sighed and called up
Johnson. “Colonel they keep saying us to piss off. Shall we tell them that also?”
“Just get us there Harris. There is still no response from Colonel Jackson?” That was
worrying Johnson. The other team had landed at the same base a couple of hours ago, but
so far had failed to further communicate.
“Negative sir” The Skyranger’s ground terrain radar suddenly brought the craft up to
avoid an obstacle that Harris had forgotten to notice in the middle of the radio talk. He
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grabbed the stick back and moved the plane to a safer altitude. “Whisky Flight, this is
Leader. We are going to land and show this ground pounders what they can tell us to do”.
As the final distance between the airfield and the Skyrangers came to a short Harris
started to notice the runway at the horizon. It seemed to have a lot of aerial activity, with
many moving dots of light moving in the skies overhead it. Another voice was suddenly
heard in the emergency radio channel.
“Whiskey India Seven-One flight, this is the security commander. You will turn away
from this base now or you will be shot down. You have half a minute to comply with my
order!” Harris wondered at what the man was talking about when he suddenly noticed
that some of the bright dots were now racing towards the Skyrangers. As one of them
suddenly fired, Harris came close to panicking as he realized that attack helicopters were
shooting them. He immediately banked right his aircraft to avoid the incoming red fire,
each salvo containing tracer rounds to illuminate the firing path of the weapon. “Colonel!
This idiots are shooting back at us! I’m taking us out of here!”
“Whiskey India Seven-One. That was a warning shot. You have ten seconds to
acknowledge the order or you will be shot down!” Harris signaled the other Skyrangers
and then maneuvered his own plane before answering. “OK! Whiskey-India taking zero-
three-five bearing now”. Harris promised to find out who was the cocky son of a bitch
running that show and get revenged later.
On the back of the Skyranger the fourteen heavily loaded X-Com troopers that it was
carrying were just finishing getting back to their seats and locking away back all the
equipment after the abrupt turn had sent them all to one side of the craft. Fortunately the
armored suits had prevented any injuries besides a couple of bruises. Johnson’s metal
glove grabbed a trooper’s shoulder and he said: “Patterson, what the fuck is this? Get to
White start getting some answers on the radio about why we were shot at! And raise
Jackson will you?”
“I will try to sir, but I doubt that we can raise the proper channels through the equipment
we have here. I suggest we found another landing spot and try to work out this whole
mess. The military frequencies are either encrypted and we don’t have the codes or they
are full of traffic. White and I have already identified nearly a dozen units who are
deploying forces to the area. But it appears to be all uncoordinated sir”. Things were not
working out, Johnson thought, trying to come up with alternatives. “Very well. Any
suggestions?”
Patterson’s voice reassured him. “On the northeast of Denver there is a small facility that
houses the Special Forces Group attached to the Colorado National Guard. I have served
together with their commander before Colonel. We will have a much better welcome
there”. Johnson thought for a second and replied. “Give the details to Harris and let’s get
this whole mess resolved then”.
Denver, Colorado, US
”Gezz Tony get down!” Linda Evans was hiding behind a parked car that had been ruined
by an explosion. On her side her cameramen, Anthony Mazzaro, was up and trying to get
the terrorists on tape once again. They had both been doing the night shift back at their
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local television network when the news had arrived of major gunfire confrontation. She
had been thrilled upon being the first reporter to reach the scene but that only lasted until
she saw the aliens.
And now that the night was beginning to be replaced by the day, they were finally
coming down on all the adrenalin, after hours of frantic running and hiding. Tony went
back to her side. “We need to get footage of this Linda, otherwise no one will believe
us!” She looked at him. “You think I don’t know that? This is the biggest story ever since
the atomic bomb or the fall of the Berlin Wall, but we need to stay alive also!” They had
managed barely alive to survive as the aliens moved towards their van, destroying it with
a couple of plasma shots as they approached. They were alive only because she had
panicked and started running away with Tony right behind, still carrying his camera.
“OK, OK”. He took a peek over the wrecked station wagon. “Well, it seems that the
groups of ETs I was trying to get on tape are gone. What are we going to do?”
“Can you see the network building?” They were trying to get back to the station to report
what they had just experienced and to warn the authorities.
“Yeah, but I wouldn’t count too much on it. There’s smoke coming out of the second
floor and I can see figures laying around on the ground”.
“Shit!” She cursed as Tony moved back on his hiding position and spoke. “We can swear
as much as we want but it won’t lead us nowhere. We need to get out of this area”. He
took another sweep around with his head. “I haven’t seen any of them coming from that
street there”. He pointed towards an intersection to their right some two hundred meters
away. The whole area was nothing more than a big series of fenced buildings that housed
Denver’s business district and the intersection was standing in the middle of a small
group of stores .
Linda knew that she was at the point of snapping out. “Let’s just go away from these
devils”. He nodded, took another look. “Let’s go then. The coast seems clear”.
As they were both half-way to the intersection a sudden noise behind made them stop and
turn over. A lumbering figure had just come through the glass doors of the network
building, shattering them into a million pieces. To Linda it seemed as some kind of giant
brown frog but having only two legs. And a mouth full of teeth, she could see also, as he
turned its head into their direction to stare directly at the pair. The thing immediately
started running towards them.
Both of them started running as fast as they could but soon Linda started having a head,
with the camera slowing his run. He tried to get rid of it but had to come closely to walk
as he was desperatly struggling with the belt that carried the batteries. She looked
backwards to tell him to hurry up but she regretted it later.
The Reaper had covered the distance between them in a flash and has he approached the
cameraman it simply took a jump on his powerful legs and landed on his back, pinning
him down to the ground. Tony tried to struggle out but the weight of the alien kept him
underneath it. Next the Reaper just lunged forwards and used his metal teeth to rip the
back of Tony’s head, slicing through the cranium as if the bone was paper tissue and
immediately killing him.
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Linda panicked, looking at the furred beast in front of her, who now seemed distracted at
the dead human in front on the middle of the road. She started to run even faster and
finally upon reaching the intersection she turned south around one building. Only to
found herself facing three devils fifty yards away, with their red capes and fangs on their
heads. She just stood motionless, uncapable of responding as one of them lifted the large
weapon is was holding and fired at her.
Fort Collins, Colorado, US

It was already early morning as the three Skyrangers of the East team landed on the
helipad of the ANG base which was the staging point for the X-Com’s forces. The planes
had come flying under heavy clouds that where threatning to pour down rain. A light
drizzle was already starting over Johnson as he moved forward to meet the Skyrangers,
already standing down in their parking positions. The whole mess was beginning to be
sort out after some very angry calls being made to the Pentagon and complains had been
forwarded to the White House. NORAD didn’t detect the UFOs for some unknown
reason as they entered Earth’s atmosphere. Intelligence would have to sort it out later, but
for now there were other pressing matters.
The Colorado National Guard had sent the initial reports about alien activity. But after
their command center in Denver was attacked and their commander killed, the
information coming from the city was sparse. All other high-ranking officers were on
leave, which had turned the command chain into chaos. And when the information went
finally up to the Army’s brass some general had decided to act immediately without
going through the next step of National Command Authority, which would be contacting
the Secretary of Defense and ultimately the President. But President Winston was out of
the country aboard the Air Force One and heading for a state visit to South America,
which had further complicated matters and the VP’s whereabouts were unknown at this
moment.
Meanwhile units were rushing from all over the US to Denver in a major effort to prevent
further bloodshed by the aliens. The initial estimate showed that nearly all type of units
were present, although Johnson wondered what good some would do. It appeared that
every major combat organization in the US was engaged in a contest to bring as many
forces as possible, in no doubt wanting to get a piece of the action and the glory. The US
V Corps had a military convoy on their way from Texas composed of tanks, armored
personnel carriers and artillery. All of that hardware ill-fitted to deal with the alien
weapons, which could penetrate their armour easily. Not to mention the civilian
casualties such firepower would bring in the middle of urban fighting. The XVIII
Airborne Corps, the US’s rapid reaction force, had also mobilized and was sending troops
through aerial means. Even the Marines were sending some of their units. But overall
there seemed to be no strategy, other than to send as many troops as possible.
One of the armored figures that where disembarking fully armed from the Skyrangers
suddenly turned towards Johnson and started to walk in his direction. When he reached
him he put his plasma rifle hanging from its bandolier, but still holding it while the other
hand detached a helmet matching Johnson’s, both of them sporting the X-Com’s insignia
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for colonel, the black X envolving a globe perfectly clear against the gray alien metal of
the armour.
Jackson made no effort at hiding his displeasure. “Well Johnson, what a freaking mess
this is turning out to be! Me and my men have just been detained by the US military for
hours with no access to our weapons or radio equipment!” The face of Jackson showed
deep anger. “And while we were waiting because of some major fuck-up the aliens are
still in Denver! Would you mind telling me what the fuck is going on now!?”
“Cool off Colonel. The whole situation has been straightened out now. Or at least the
Army brass is trying to now, after having realized the amount of errors they have made.
My own forces were shot at while approaching Buckley”.
“We saw it! That’s when the bozos guarding us suddenly become more paranoid than
ever. The officer in charge even demanded to inspect our equipment. I adamantly refused
and for a moment it seemed that a confrontation would break out. Fortunately someone
right afterwards told him to cool it off on the radio and he managed to do so until we
where allowed to departure”. He looked around to the base and replied. “How did you
manage to get clearance to land here anyway? Our power suits and the fact that we don’t
belong to the US military must have also raised some questions on this Green Berets
minds”.
“Patterson knows the commanding officer. We simply told him that we are a special team
and that confirmation of our status would come shortly, which it did”.
“You finally managed to talk to someone who knows what he is doing around here?
Good! Now just tell me what we have gotten ourselves into! That is, beside the fact that
there are aliens running around over there”, he moved his metal arm in the direction of
Denver, “and that they are killing people” Johnson decided that he didn’t like the tone of
Jackson. Although both men had the same rank inside X-Com, Johnson had been put in
charge of the North American command because of his experience dealing with the
aliens. Something that Jackson didn’t like at all since he had seniority of Johnson.
“Colonel,” He made an emphasis on that word, “first I need to know your team status.
Only then we shall discuss the rest”. He stopped there and gave a hard look to Jackson to
reassure his position. The other officer was displeased but he replied in a low but formal
tone.
“Second North American Combat Group ready, consisting of three platoons. First and
Second platoons are fully manned, third Platoon has been reformed into an armored
configuration”.
“Armored configuration?!” Only then Johnson noticed the sound of the tanks, as they
were getting ready to move still inside the Skyrangers. “You are bringing such heavy
firepower into a civilian area?!”
“Your order stated to deploy with all assets available. I just interpreted your orders that
way, Colonel”. Jackson was running close to the edge of disrespect but Johnson ignored
it. “Very well. However if anyone dies because of these robots you will be held
responsible to it, is that understood Jackson? So just don’t go blitz with them around the
city”. The other officer didn’t bother to reply.
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“Very well. The situation is this: the aliens are holding some neighborhoods, the majority
of them residential areas. The Air Force has sent one of their birds to take some pictures.
They haven’t released them yet but the pilot reported on his debriefing that the aliens
landed their UFOs in the sports fields of a high school. After landing they immediately
moved to strike at several targets, including police stations and public buildings. The
Colorado National Guardsmen who were at their posts tried to mount a defense but it was
unsuccessful. And the situation haven’t been contained yet, even though more than
twelve hours have passed since they have landed”.
“Doesn’t surprise me. While we were back at that Air Force base we could see a
complete disorganization. Troops would arrive and be left out in the cold since there is no
one at that base trying to coordinate anything. Hell, I don’t even know what they can do
with the gear they have there. They have helicopters, some of them even Apaches, but
they have no idea on how to use them. We need to get them now, before they can
improve their defenses”.
“That’s exactly my opinion, but the initial estimates for their numbers are on the
hundreds, all of them Floaters and Reapers. Together with your team we can only field a
little more than sixty combat troops, although the few Berets present here will surely give
us a hand”.
“But what about the forces back at Buckley? We can’t just discard them!”
“It will take several hours to appoint someone who knows what he is doing to command
them. We don’t have that time. But Major Patterson has contacted a unit from the 101st
Air Assault Division this is about to arrive. They will help us out”.
Upon hearing that his old unit was involved Jackson seemed to relax a bit. “Screaming
Eagles all the way, let’s see if they fare better than my Wild Hunters. What’s the plan?”
“We are going to use a feint. One of our combat groups will make a frontal assault to
distract them, while the other circles around to hit the UFOs in the least defended flank.
The guys from the 101st have their own helicopters so we can use them as a mobile
tactical reserve to exploit any breakthrough or help out in case any complications came
up. Since you brought along the tanks you are assigned to distract the bugs while we go
for the UFOs”.
Jackson thought for a second and nodded in reluctance. “I don’t like the fact that we are
attacking without knowing the strenght of our enemy, but it will have to do”.
“I’m going to radio Buckley and tell them of our plans. Maybe they can get their shit
together and give you some help. I wouldn’t count on it though”.
“For me, just tell them to piss off. I’m going to get my team ready, I will talk to you
later”. He abruptly turned and left leaving Johnson close to calling him back and giving a
lesson on how to behave in front of a commanding officer. But he decided to put it away.
Jackson was infamous for this type of behaviour and he needed that the other Colonel
was one-hundred percent focused on wreaking havoc on the aliens’ frontline.
Another armoured figure came from the direction of the East team’s Skyrangers and
approached Johnson. He wore the triple chevrons of a Captain and as he came up him
they removed their helmets and stood smiling at him.
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Johnson immediately recognized them. “Hunt” He moved to greet him with a strong
metal handshake. “How are you doing Douglas?”
The other officer smiled and replied. “Good sir. I’m still on command of first platoon and
I’ve got Garcia and Andrews on my team. They have now been both bumped to
Sargeants and will come to talk to you later after they are finished whooping the
rookies’s asses on their squads”.
Johnson let go of a short laugh since usually it would be the other way around, with both
troopers having to put up with Gunny Hopkins. “What about Dennis? How’s he doing?”
Hunt made a cold face and just added. “Didn’t have a chance. Got hit straight in the face
by a heavy plasma shot in a UFO retrieval mission. No armour could have stopped that”.
Johnson felt his stomach go colder. “Sorry to hear that. He was a good man”.
“Yeah, you are right, sir”. He stopped and raised his hand up to his ear, listening and
afterwards “Gotta go sir. Jackson is calling for me. Nice talking to you”. Johnson nodded
and after a quick shake and salute they both went back to their business. Time to finally
hit the aliens.
Downtown Denver, Colorado

King just shook his head, both in relief and as if not believing in the alien’s stupidity.
Every race they had encountered so far was intelligent and cunning, capable of pulling
out a deadly bag of tricks. But sometimes they would just do basic military mistakes that
every non-com or officer with a half a brain would know. Floaters were the worse, of
course, their ugliness in no doubt reflecting on their intelligence. And probably they had
the same problem that going up in the command ladder only seemed to made people even
more stupid, in King’s opinion. With some exceptions, of course but this Floater
commander didn’t seem to be one of them, moving around in a combat zone without a
proper escort and not worrying about staying out of enemy snipers. Dumb. Or maybe
they just don’t care about who is pulling rank over them. It didn’t matter. For King war
represented the ultimate razor through which natural selection occurred, since anyone
involved on it would have to survive stupidity. His own stupidity and the one of the
leadership above him.
When King and Duschamps had spotten the trio he could see that they could only be
having some sort of tactical discussion, in no doubt provoked by Colonel Jackson’s attack
to the south that had started a little while ago. Sigma squad had been deployed as
pathfinders, ahead of Johnson’s main formation, with each team positioned at one flank.
They were going as higher on the buildings as possible to detect any Floater patrol in the
way of the team. And now they were watching through a third floor window at the
beginning of a park, with a road ending there in a T junction. Besides the aliens there was
no other living thing around. Only a couple of puddles of human blood in the sidewalk
said of what had happened to the people who lived in the residential area ahead of them.
“Colonel, King here, I got what seems to be the leader on my scope, accompanied by two
other aliens that might be officers also. What do you want me to do?” While he waited
for the response he took another look through the sight mounted on top of his adapted
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plasma rifle. On his side Deschamps was concealed and looking through binoculars at the
trio, his laser rifle close to him.
“King stay put and wait. We are moving on the double to reach your position. Keep them
in sight over and out”. More waiting. Still he didn’t mind. Better to be all nicely
concealed up here than right on the frontline. He looked again at the trio of Floaters.
To the south of King’s position, one of X-Com’s automated tanks was slowly moving
down a street approaching one large supermarket. Small figures moved behind him, using
the Heavy Weapons Platform as cover and trying to gain as much advance as possible.
The Second Combat Group had easily managed a breakthrough of the alien’s frontline
and now the troopers and tanks were trying to consolidate their gains. The grey HWP,
already with scarred burns of plasma shots on its armour made of alien alloys suddenly
stopped while its turret started to turn to the right. The troopers close to it immedialy
dodged away for the machine, knowing that it had detected opposition and was about to
respond to the enemy.
The computer that ran the HWP had just recognized several of the aliens with its visual
and infrared sensors, hiding in the mess of wrecked cars that was the parking lot of the
chain supermarket. The heavy laser it carried was about to fire into their direction when
the Floaters reacted first and unleashed a barrage of heavy plasma into the hull of the
HWP. One shot hit it directly on the turret, immediately destroying it and leaving the
computer inside the tank almost blind. The next one carved a hole through the already
mangled armour and kept burning inside until it reached the engine. As the machine came
to a full stop, dead on its tracks, the remaining plasma energy finally reached the fuel
tanks, causing an internal explosion that imploded the HWP.
Inside his power suit, Jackson looked in anger as the tank expelled a metallic death cry,
no longer able to receive commands. Not only the advance was painstakingly slow but
also the aliens were pressing his flanks, causing him more than enough problems. Hunt
was just warning him of another Reaper charge into his left position that they were
having trouble to deal with, even with the new plasma weaponry which included a
portable flame thrower. All around his men were hiding under cover, only occasionally
looking over and firing back their plasma and laser weapons.
Looking around he decided that he had enough of being boggled in this place. Time to
call in the artillery. “Hammer Three forward. Pattern of supressive fire, target main
building at northwest. Third Platoon right behind. Take out who ever is hiding into that
damn building”. A mechanical noise coming from behind him immediately followed as
another HWP started advancing. But, instead of a barrel on the center of the turret it had
two long metal tubes attached. Suddenly their rear become filled with smoke and fire as it
launched two rockets into the direction of the parking lot. One hit a car already turned
upside down, lifting it several feet into the air while the blast of the explosion incinerated
all things around it. The second explosive projectile went through the entrance of the
supermarket, only exploding in the inside. A cloud of smoke and debris immediately
came. The Floaters there stopped firing back. “Third Platoon move out!” Jackson spoke
on the radio.
Fear. Pain. Coldness. Conscience. With a brief realization Linda woke up, suddently
realizing that she should be dead but she wasn’t. She was afraid to open her eyelids, to
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face what they would reveal. And the numbness that was in control of her body made it
hard to think. After some time, which she couldn’t quantify in minutes or seconds she
become aware that her body was laying on a cold metal floor as if it was a pile of dirty
clothes. She started to feel very unconfortable at the position where the aliens had
dropped her but was also afraid to move, to attract their presence to her.
She had felt them already, moving around and making hissing sounds. That noise had
been the final waking up to reality, only to discover that it was much worse than your
typical nightmare. However, as more time passed curiosity started to grow on her, to see
what the beasts were doing, of what would become of her.
So she opened her eyelids a bit to see where she was at. It was a room all made up of
what seemed some sort of metal, with two big columns to both sides of her. A white light
behind her supplemented the other unseen illumination that allowed her to see clearly.
Apparently there was another room in front of her, since there were two corridors on its
sides and a lot of noise inside could be heard. It seemed to be some sort of electrical
device working but she couldn’t be sure.
Suddenly, a whooshing sound made her close her eyes a bit but she still was able to see
as a Floater came from the right corridor. In spite of all the instinctal fear and repulsion
she wondered from where these things were and what did they wanted to do. This would
the story of the decade…. provided that she would survive it. She kept watching as the
alien reached forward and grabbed a silent human shape that she hadn’t noticied yet. The
dark pink arms of the extraterrestrial picked it up with no effort and put it over its
shoulders as if it was a bag full of potatoes. Linda couldn’t tell if the man was dead or
alive since it made no movement while the alien carried him back to the room where it
had just came from. She wondered what she should do and decided to see more of the
room. Moving her head she noticied that the light behind her came from a glass cylinder.
It contained an almost clear liquid inside the strong glass cylinder, but on in the middle it
was starting to turn into a reddish colour. Looking at the top she saw the reason from
slowly changing of colour. An upper human torso was floating on the surface of the
liquid, with the blood coming out of a shoulder socket from where the arm was missing
and from his chest. But injuries seemed to be cauterized but there was still blood coming
out from them. It was Tony or what seemed to be the left of him, she realized in horror.
A human scream coming from the room in front of her told her what was going on inside.
She immediately jumped into her feet, or tried to, still feeling groggy but moving around
to try to run away from this horror. Running around she only found more glass cylinders
and stunned people on the floor. Until suddenly, when she finally gave up, the wall on
her back opened up as she was laying against one of the big metal square column. As she
was starting to fell she took some steps backwards and moved her arms, trying get back
into balance. Until she saw that she was bathed in a voilet light and all of the sudden she
found herself on the floor of another room. Two Floaters where on the same level,
looking at her. One of them simply grabbed her, not bothering about her screams and
kicking and used the elevator to take her upwards.
Close to the high school grounds where the aliens had parked their UFOs, Gamma squad
was standing immobile against the remains of a gas station. The area had been subject of
a massive explosion, in no doubt caused by the result of plasma fire against volatile fuel.
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Only the remains of the shop and debris remained. Johnson’s team had just picked up
some major alien resistance. The four members where laying against the ground, pinned
down by two or three enemy foxholes in front of them where the aliens had established
heavy plasma fireteams.
A shot from the houses where the aliens where entrenched came too close to Jones’s head
and he decided to burrow himself more to the ground. “Damn! I would wish we could
hide our heads, like those damn turtles!” Neither of any other men of Gamma’s bothered
to answer but they all knew the story he was talking about. When the new power suits
first started to be fitted to the combat squads one of the technical personnel had looked at
them and mentioned that it made the troops look like turtles, since the heavily armoured
torso section looked like the oval carapace of the amphibean. The name had stuck.
Another shot brushed over his shoulder, but the armour hold out, giving him only a small
feeling of warmth on the area.
Johnson’s voice could clearly be heard in the middle of the laser and plasma fire, as the
amplifiers inside his helmet carried his commands to the figure of Hopkins. “Hopkins,
take your squad and Epsilon and clear those holes. Careful with the firepower. Other
squads have reported civilians running around in the area!” The Sargeant simply nodded
and moved away from Johnson, who turned to White then. The communications
specialist was responsible for listening to all of the battle reports and to filter them, in
order to to flood Johnson with all of the information. “White, what’s the status on
Jackson? How are they doing?”
The Corporal didn’t bother to face Johnson, still too absorted into what he was listening,
but giving a report. “Second group encountering heavy alien resistance. Progress is slow.
I have also monitored US military channels and the other forces operating seemed to be
trying to take advantage of our attack. Trying to get more right now Colonel”. Johnson
looked around, knowing that Markovitch and Jerrel’s platoons where also being slowed
down on his flanks and wondering what to do. Then he remembered King and reached for
his radio.
On the other side of the battlefield, the three aliens had already started to move when
King immediately responded to Johnson’s order by taking a second to verify the aim on
his scope, and afterwards, after letting go of a short breath, squeezed the plastic trigger. A
green bolt was released from the barrel of his plasma rifle but he didn’t bother to check if
he had hit and turned instead his aim to the other two, and fired at them in succession.
“All three down, let’s get out of here before they spot us out!” Deschamps was already
moving after speaking the words. King removed itself also, wondering how many kills
had taken Rumpole, the other sniper on the team.
When Hopkins finally reached his squad, after moving low between a series of burned
cars that the X-Com team was using for protection, he found all of them trying to
exchange fire with the aliens. He had already discussed the matter with Grisham. His
squad was more heavily armed and would cover Epsilon as they moved to dug out the
enemy. “Levine, get that heavy plasma ready! We are moving to keep the ugly s.o.b.s.
with what pass as their heads down and now!”. He then unloaded passed his own heavy
plasma to Sharpe and unloaded his rocket launcher from his back.
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Sargeant Grisham’s voice pumped Logan into action. Two holes in front of them, with
the aliens hiding their ugly faces inside two suburban houses close one to another. And
behind them was the open space that would lead into the UFOs. He had a primed grenade
in one of his hands and his plasma rifle on the other. The Sarge had told him not to get
into any personal heroics otherwise he would get him back at the base, if the aliens didn’t
do that first.
With Beta covering their move, the four men of Epsilon all came out of their hiding
places all of a sudden, taking quick turns to make it harder for the aliens to aim at them.
One step left, two right, one right, two left, as them all continued to make their way
towards the relative safety of the bush fences between them and the houses. On Logan’s
left and in his left, Manning suddenly screamed and dropped on a knee, holding his leg.
A rocket suddenly flew as a response from the X-Com lines and went over one of the
broken windows of the house, exploding inside. But the incoming fire was about as
intense as Logan moved forward and finally dove behind the bushes’ cover. He finally
looked around to check: the Sarge and Deckard had made it, Manning was down but still
trying to get into cover. All of them primed their grenades and waited as the aliens took
an interval on their fire. Them they all jumped out of their positions, Grisham
immediately taking a shot on his frontal armour than almost knocked him off his feet. But
he still managed to throw the alien grenade through the space where there used to be a
front door. Logan did the same, but on the contrary of the other two members of his
squad he moved forwards, instead of getting back into cover.
The grenades went off with a powerful explosion. They had been designed after the ones
used by the aliens, but they where much more powerful than the terrestrial ones since
they used Elerium as explosive. As a result the blast swept over the entire ground floor of
the house, taking out the inside and most of the outside walls in the process. And the
other house literally was demolished, unable to withstand the force of two grenades, with
the upper level crashing down. Logan felt the concussion of the blast through the wall
that he was laying against. He then turned to a hole on his right and started to pick out
any alien survivors.
Over him, Johnson saw the heavily armed Apaches of the 101st Air Assault where
moving over his advance, helping to pick away any pockets of resistance. The aliens were
pulling back and they were finally moving forward, towards the UFOs. King’s voice
came up, with a hint of hurry on her. “Colonel, King here. We have moved forwards and
are directly looking at the alien craft. They are getting ready to move sir! They are
finishing boarding the UFOs and they are taking civilians with them!” Johnson
immediately told his men to rush forward but it was too late.
“NO!” Markovitch screamed and dropped her knees to the ground, as she watched the
departing UFOs burned their way across the atmosphere and away from Denver. She
started to raise her arms, but stopped halfway for lack of strenght, her plasma rifle
dropping from her hands out of a sudden and falling to the grass. Standing there, in the
middle of all the confusion as the X-Com troopers from her platoon moved past her, she
closed her eyes and felt the presence of the humans entrapped on the alien ships. Fear,
pain and horror invaded her and for a moment she felt her own reason lost amongst all of
the feelings she was experiencing.
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Until finally, after seconds which seemed to last for hours a voice outside brought her
back to reality. “Captain, are you hurt?” She recognized it as being Private Camay of Phi,
the blonde paramedic of her unit who was already started to bring out her medi-kit, a
device that, when attached to an injured, allowed a skilled operator to assess the injuries
and stop any bleeding and perform other emergency procedures. “I’m alright Camay”,
she mumbled as the trooper stood there, unsure of what to do. Markovitch just dismissed
her with a hand and kept looking at the diminishing lights at the distance.
April 5th, 2000

Capitol Hill, Washington D.C., US
The House and Senate Select Committees on Intelligence were the Congress’ means of
supervising and controlling the work of the US intelligence community. Due to the fact
that most information released to them by the CIA and other agencies was classified, the
findings of their meetings was itself top secret and in most cases they would be the only
members of Congress fully briefed on intelligence operations, or threats, such as the
going on war with the extraterrestrials.
For a long time Williams could count by the fingers of a hand the number of occasions
that he had been summoned to the hearings. That had quickly changed after the first
encounters with the aliens and now Congress demanded to know what had happened
back in Denver and how it did come possible. On Williams opinion the joint hearings he
had been attending for days were basically useless and only a hysterical act from some of
the congressmen, specially the pair from Colorado who sat at the Committees. The
message to be taken from the whole terrorist attack was quite clear: things would only get
hotter as time would go by. The thousands of civilian and military victims, either dead or
missing, told that as much.
As he stayed seated and faced the congressmen in front of him at the joint meeting he
seriously thought that in this case the legislature was getting a bit on the way of
intelligence and military operations. Already the press was having a field day putting on a
cross the Federal Government because of their failure to allow that a terrorist group so
large would be able to enter the US and perform such an operation. That had been again
the cover story supplied and luckily no one had been able to capture a perfect image of a
Floater on a camera. Although the major networks and papers were putting a lot of their
airtime dedicated to the claims of murdering extraterrestrials, the whole thing just looked
too much surreal for a lot of people. The footage of the carnage and the survivors had
already been too much for the audiences who seemed that only wanted that life moved
along now.
That was in the outside. Here in this building some senators had taken a criticizing tone
of the whole X-Com operation and how it was being run and had been close to demand
that the US forces attached to it be placed back under US control. Worse yet, most of
them didn’t want to see the gravity of the situation, being more concerned to guarantee
the votes of the electors in their states or districts. The military had already taken quite a
beating on this room about their inability to prevent the casualties suffered by Denver’s
population during the attack. No one had been spared: NORAD for the failure to detect
the UFOs, the Army for the disorganization that plagued the US response to it and for
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keeping to itself the information about the attack for too long. Already a few general’s
heads had already been chopped off into forced early retirement. And now it seemed it
was the time of the intelligence machine.
“Mr. Williams”, one of the Senators from Colorado began, a man over his fifties. “You
have given us your statement on the intelligence recovered so far from the aliens. On
their possible motives to conduct such attacks upon civilian population. And, like others
heard in this hearings before, have claimed that actually the genocide perpetrated upon
Denver’s residents was actually a military success, due to the efficiency of X-Com in
eliminating the aliens after being deployed. I differ on your conclusions sir, after all what
I heard during this days. This whole event has only shown that the intelligence
community isn’t being successful on their analysis of the threat upon the US. And
although this joint committee recognizes that X-Com managed to prevent the aliens
actions, during the time it took them to react our own local and federal forces had no
resources available to them to deal with the threat. What I ask you is: why is that? How
come our own regular forces aren’t armed with those lasers and plasmas that had been so
successfully used by X-Com?” His voice had taken an icy tone, close to irony but closer
to disgust.
“Senator, the conditions on which the Charter was signed by the US President and further
ratified by the Senate are well-known. X-Com simply can’t release any information
dealing with weapons research. The whole project would most likely come to an end if
that happened”.
“Mr. Williams, we all heard that before but now thousands of Americans are dead right
now because our armed and police forces have to fight back the aliens using weapons
designed for the Vietnam War. The situation has changed: we can’t just allow ourselves
to be put away from the technology we need for our own survival”. Some nods around
the rest of the congressmen told Williams that many other members shared his opinion,
probably the chairman itself. Not good.
“Senator, what are you suggesting?” Time to defuse the whole situation. “We can’t just
demand to Colonel Johnson that he releases the technical data behind the plasma and
laser weapons. Or can we use the CIA to try to infiltrate X-Com and capture one of them
or steal the blueprints. In the past Congress has taken steps to avoid that the CIA
conducts operations on US territory. Are you ready to suggest repealing that sir, knowing
that it’s one of the ways by which Congress controls the intelligence community?” The
look on the senator’s face brought horror to Williams mind.
“We wouldn’t be needing such a measure, since, as you have mentioned before, the X-
Com bases upon US territory belong now to the United Nations, avoiding such legal
matters. Just a matter of interpretation of the law. However, as for your last question, in
my case the answer is yes. But that only if we have the right people in front of our
intelligence agencies, who are able to properly exploit such power and not to abuse it”.
The stupidity of the human mind and the threat patent upon his words shocked Williams.
He silently wished that the whole matter would come to an end with no major changes
done by Congress. Not that the CIA hadn’t performed illegal operations before in the US
since they had been caught red-handed a couple times. The problem was in legalizing
such operations and if there would be any person responsible enough to wage such a
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power. But worse yet for Williams was the implication present in his voice about “the
right people”.
April 7th, 2000

Central London, United Kingdom
When Number Nine had finished talking, Two stayed silent for a while, standing
immobile on his chair. After some seconds Two mildly asked: “Sir?”
The blue eyes of Two focused back on the other group member. “The subject you have
brought to my attention is very interesting. I take it that you have not engaged in further
action?”
“I decided that this was a matter that affected all of us. Liabilities can be turned into
assets”.
“Wisely done. We are in difficult times and we can’t just simply throw away everything
that doesn’t fit with our plans. Have you ever heard of the One-Man Factor?”
“The One-Man factor? I don’t recall having discussed it with you ever”.
“Most likely you wouldn’t, since it’s a theory the majority of us tends to overlook,
although we have given it several discussion in the past. You see, History is made out of
the will of the masses and that’s what we act upon, molding society in the whole. But
sometimes, by what some call luck or destiny an individual obtains a position where he
can single handily change the nature of things”.
“It seems to me that your appliance of that vector into this question has also some other
meaning involved regarding our own nature”.
“Clever, aren’t you? But our own association nullifies this factor since the others keep the
individual’s actions under check. No one is to gain too much power that would allow him
to impose his own visions with the agreement of the majority. We are not prophets
aiming to create a new religion or society. No, the risks involved are too great and too
much would quickly go out of our control. Like someone said, the revolution eats its own
sons”.
Number Nine smiled, upon realizing what the other man was talking about. Number Two
looked back at him and continued. “Like Arquimedes once said: give me the right lever
and I can lift the world. The same happens inside any man. Find out what is his drive, his
passion and you can steer it and direct it to serve your own goals”.
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Chapter Seventeen – Counter Point
Millions of years before recorded human History
Zeta Two Reticuli star system, 37 light years from Earth
Like a pair of twins, the two Sun type stars that formed this binary star system looked
identical, dancing together at the rhythm of the laws of gravity. Rare in quantity in the
galaxy already, this pair had another strange characteristic: when it was being formed the
twin stars hadn’t absorbed all of the protoplanetary material, leaving enough to condense
into planets.
Joining the stars on their motion in the universe there were five planets and all of them
locked in circular orbits. The two closest to the twin suns were nothing more than sterile
balls of rock and metal constantly being bombarded by radiation and heat. The third
planet was still a young planet burning brightly in space, with a very active nucleus,
which turned most of the surface into lava. The stars’ gravitational force had never
allowed it to cool down, so it remained at a primordial state.
However, one of the universe’s bizarre and experiments had worked out on the fourth
planet. Its position in the star system allowed it to receive the necessary heat to allow for
liquid water, one of life’s conditions. And fueled by the radiation of the twin stars, life
started to appear on the oceans. But, unlike Earth, there were no periodical mass
extinctions caused by collisions with meteors or comets, since the formation of the twin
star system had used most of the protoplanetary material and the fifth planet was a gas
giant that served as a shield against spatial bombardments. Evolution kept a very
geometrical growth and soon an intelligent species evolved to dominate the planet. With
large eyes coming from an evolutionary need to see underwater in the dark and lean
bodies to reduce friction while swimming, the aquatic origins of these beings were
evident. And when these aliens finally moved outside of water and to the land, the effect
was similar to when men’s ancestors learned to walk on two, instead of on four. They
were already an intelligent species, capable of forming organized societies and as they
started to venture on land, the new opportunities and challenges finally brought them
intelligence.
But the new conditions were also very hard for bodies originally adapted to live
underwater, underneath coral-like organisms and inside caverns, where the radiation’s
effects where lighter than in the surface. The aliens were soon aware of their dilemma
through observation of the lesser and lesser numbers of their progeny: by leaving the
shores and moving above water they had gained intelligence, but also the high-mutation
rates were causing a dangerously weak gene pool, since most of the offspring of most
mutations would die at birth. So they had to revert to genetic engineering and cloning to
maintain the population necessary to the survival of their civilization.
And one day another factor told them of their need to escape their planet in order to
assure their survival. One of the major celebrations and events of their culture consisted
of an extremely rare eclipse when one of the stars would pass in front of the other and
blaze the sky with light, as the light from the star behind bended over its companion. But
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as they started to make records of the event and mathematically anticipate it, they became
aware that the frequency of this phenomenon was changing. While at first it was
attributed to an error, the number of discrepancies forced them to realize that the
relationship between both stars was changing and with it other changes would be brought
upon them. One day the great green and blue water surfaces of their planet would be
nothing more than vast masses of ice, as the interplanetary forces at work were pulling
away the planets from the heat of the twin stars. Ironically, it would probably also reduce
the radiation to a level naturally bearable to their bodies but in the end the lower
temperatures would destroy their civilization.
But their leaders weren’t also completely satisfied with their only means of survival. A
great menace lurked in the darkness of space, an unsafe invitation that they felt in their
collective mind, developed during their aquatic experience. Dissent and opposition had
never been a major factor on their society until now and it was threatening to destroy the
fabric of their society. The discussion wasn’t about if they could develop the necessary
interstellar technology, but if they were ready do deal with the unseen forces hiding in
space. Eventually a compromise was worked out and specific preparations were made,
even if it meant the elimination of the still dissident factions. It was the time to encounter
their fate in the cold stars.
April 14th, 2000

Area 51, Nevada, US
“No! No! No! No!” Jake Landon removed the virtual reality goggles he was wearing and
threw them to the console he was facing. The plastic and metal device hit the monitor,
now showing only dark and felt down, only to be left suspended a few inches from the
ground by the wire that attached them to the workstation. On his left, Pharris just placed
the pen he was holding on notepad on top of his knees and replied: “That costs money,
you know?”
“Get another one and get me also more processing speed. The system is going way too
slow in accepting my instructions. The pauses on processing the damn software just drive
me nuts!”
Pharris just gave him a mock smile. “Another Cray-7 computer? IBM might take a while
to get us another one equipped with the alien processors and you have nearly spent the
equivalent of a small country’s national product already”. Landon rolled his eyes in
frustration and countered. “Is that what you did back in the NSA, Pharris? Bean
counting?”
The smirk increased on the ex-NSA specialist. “Well, let’s just say that if Dr. Mantell
hadn’t assigned me to supervise this research, the costs could be reaching into
astronomical figures”.
“Astronomical. Funny. I get the joke. Ha!”. He picked up the goggles and placed them
over the keyboard in front of him. But Pharris wasn’t about to let it go. “Give it another
try Jake. You have already figured out most of how the alien system processes
information. The guys back at engineering are already going nuts over your findings on
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how to operate gravitational fields. They are talking about actually putting an Elerium
engine on an airframe and start doing some tests”.
“Yeah, whatever”. He rubbed his eyes. “That was the easy part, actually. The aliens
aren’t stupid: they have managed to keep the operating system clean and simple as
possible. But whomever designed this thing also managed to leave some enigmas inside
and those are the ones who are pissing me off”.
The former NSA officer raised his eyes in curiosity. The National Security Agency was
responsible for securing US communications and also to decode other countries’ secrets.
“What are you talking about? Have you found out any thing extraordinary?”
“No. Yes, I mean, there are some pieces of the code that don’t seem to have any purpose
at a first look. Since you people are trying to build a flying saucer I didn’t took very
notice at them, but a week ago something made me think about their purpose”. He put
back the goggles. “I’ll show you”. Pressing a command in the keyboard in front of him,
he selected the alien operating system mode. Pharris turned from Landon to the monitor
in front of him see what he was doing, as the hacker started to move his arms in the air,
giving out virtual commands.
The visual display unit had a relay from the goggles, showing what the operator was
seeing and doing in the virtual environment used to run the alien computer. As it started
coming to life, a series of strange looking icons appeared, some of them branded together
with a brief explanation in English. But Landon wasn’t interested in those. Gesticulating
in the air, he pushed them aside, until a strange set of six symbols consisting of loops and
jagged edges appeared. This time no comments in English appeared.
Pharris wondered at what he was supposed to be looking at. “Equal to many other stuff
we’ve seen so far”. Landon’s voice responded. “Yeah, I thought so also. But do you
remember when we’ve decided to look into the navigational system of that medium UFO
a week ago?” Pharris nodded, but remembered that Jake couldn’t see him and added an
affirmative response. “Yes, you asked if we had systems belonging to different UFOs to
test your hypothesis about how the computer deals with different craft and their masses”.
“Exactly. Well, out of a hunch I’ve decided to take also a look at some series of strange
data I had seen in the other operating system. Some of them are already recognizable as
numbers, using the alien twelve-digits numeration”. He punched his fingers, as if
pressing an invisible keyboard, with numbers appearing below a pair of the symbols.
Pharris looked at them and didn’t seem impressed. But before he could express a
comment, Landon spoke back. “Now, watch their equivalents on the other UFO’s
operating system”.
A new set of six symbols appeared below the original one. Three of the symbols were
different, but the remaining two were equal to the pair above them. Pharris just shook its
head and turned it to him. “Landon, this is useless, it can be anything”.
The young man simply kept dialing invisible commands, which annoyed Pharris. When
he was done after some seconds time he spoke again, as if he was holding something. “I
need more information about the circumstances on where these devices were recovered. I
also need access to more alien computers”.
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Pharris couldn’t tell if the college student was joking or crazy. “You are nuts Pharris.
Every one here is in a need to know basis about alien data. In your case and with your
background that is even more evident. They didn’t just put me here to do bean counting,
you know?”
The hacker just smiled. “Is that so? Well, in this case I think there’s a need for me to
understand what the other two symbols might mean, since I’ve discovered the secret of
the third one”. Pharris looked and saw that one had different comments in English. “UFO
TYPE 1”. But the corresponding icon below also was tagged, but as “UFO TYPE 2”.
Confusion raced to his mind. “What am I supposed to be looking at here?”
“Identification. Those symbols tell the system what sort of craft is it dealing with”.
Pharris took a deep look at them and asked: “When did you find out about this?”
“Doesn’t matter. The two first are some sort of numerical variables. Now, what might the
other three symbols tell us about? You might want to check how these things were
recovered to give us some clues”.
Pharris recalled the details of the two retrievals. The first one was from the first UFO
captured at Florida more than a year ago. The second had been the harvester model
secured at the Pacific coast. In front of him were the identifications for both UFO types.
What about the others? His first shock appeared when he remembered that one was
manned by Sectoids and the other by Floaters. Another of the symbols would probably
mention the race. But for what purpose and why there were numerical markers?
The greatest shock came when he realized what might be the purpose of the other
symbols. So far they had race and UFO type figured it out. Could the other ones be
mission orders or other identification markers? Like a beacon? The aliens used
transponder beacons on their UFOs close to the ones on planes? “Shit!” he suddenly let
go and went to check the records. Landon smiled, as he saw that his plan to get more
processing speed had worked and kept punching commands in the air.
April 29th, 2000

Complex YY-18, Japan
The blazing alarm of an UFO intrusion was nearly deafening as Colonel Yamashita run
through the corridors leading into the command center of X-Com’s Far East base. He had
already passed through many troopers and non-military personnel running around to their
emergency positions and that had told him that something big was up, since this level of
alert was restricted to alien terrorist attacks. When he heard the warning he was checking
the new power suits in the armory and he didn’t bother to pick up a phone. Instead, less
than two minutes had passed on his run when he entered the control room.
The air defense boards were all lit up with pictorial representations of Japan and parts of
the Asian mainland. That told Yamashita that it was a regional threat, which
considerately lowered the odds of being something bad. That is, it wasn’t anything worse
than having aliens killing civilians. Yamashita ignored the irony and went to check for
himself what was going on as the officer in charge was barking commands and seemed
very occupied at the moment.
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One of the boards showed the Sea of Japan, centered on the area between southern Japan
and China. Looking closer he saw the reason for the emergency status: four red dots had
just crossed into his country’s airspace. But something was wrong with the UFOs,
although Yamashita couldn’t just see what it was. Meanwhile the Major in command, a
small man with glasses in black X-Com fatigues came up to him and spoke:
“Colonel, radar only picked up the four UFOs as they were entering the ADIZ already.
But something is wrong with the radar tracks we are picking. The flight patterns are
wrong for alien activity”. Yamashita didn’t say a word in reply, telling the Major to
continue. “The four intruders used a low-altitude approach to be undetected until now,
when they finally pulled up to be seen on the radars. Also, their speed and radar signature
tells that these are conventional jets, possibly fighters, not UFOs”.
Yamashita realized the statement yet unspoken by the Major. He simply spoke: “Get me
a line to Commander Illyuschenko. And also to the Prime-Minister”.
May 4th, 2000

Geneva, Switzerland
The map showed most of Asia, with the Japanese Islands defining its right and India and
Russia taking up the left. The countries with a seat in the Council of Funding Nations,
India, Japan and Russia, were marked on dark blue, whilst the remaining nations had a
light blue tone. With one alarming exception: China, which instead had a light red,
almost pinkish, color. But more troublesome were the dark dots that where standing close
to China’s borders with India, Vietnam and Russia. Each of them represented a point of
Chinese military activity in the past days, either a base that had gone into high activity or
a military unit in tactical deployment. And in China’s coastline with the Pacific, things
were also heating up, with the Chinese Navy deploying most of its oceanic fleet, while
fighters kept making incursions in an area ranging from the Japanese Islands to the
Philippines. Taiwan had just announced a full mobilization of its armed forces, fearing
that China would make an invasion attempting to establish control over the separated
island.
And in the middle of all the political chaos cast by the Chinese military maneuvers, X-
Com was trying to fight a war, Illyuschenko felt tempted to say, standing in the middle of
the Council of Funding Nations while continuing to explain the situation to the men and
women in front of him.
“The type of forces deployed by the Chinese actually don’t make them a that dangerous.
So far the units involved don’t seem to be using more than human technology and in most
cases their best wouldn’t have a fighting chance against the military of more advanced
nations. However it’s their numbers that can be quite alarming: more than thirty divisions
and several hundred combat planes have been mobilized. If the aliens actually give the
Chinese access to plasma technology, the troops involved could actually take all of
South-East Asia, before any other outside country could intervene. And the Chinese are
also broadening their horizons, in no doubt anxious to use the agreement they made with
the aliens to establish themselves as a superpower”. He looked upwards to face the new
image that had just appeared, showing a picture taken from above of a harbor where ships
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could be seen standing by peers or on dry docks. The image showed three large figures,
all of them standing at dry docks.
“The larger figure is the Variag, an aircraft carrier built for the Soviet Navy but never
delivered. The hull was sold to a Chinese consortium a couple of years ago, supposedly
to be used as a floating entertainment complex. It seems it had a completely different
destiny since the Chinese are now working on making it operational. If they are
successful their ability to project long-range power will be greatly increased. Their navy
will surely be more aggressive and start threatening the sea lanes of the area”.
Illyuschenko looked at the Japanese councilman. The man had taken off his hat and put it
on the table in front of him, while stroking his mustache and smoking a long cigarette.
His cold face showed no emotion but Illyuschenko knew he wasn’t pleased.
“Moreover, and this is should be the main aspect discussed at this council, this activity is
starting to undermine the efficiency of our forces in the field. Although X-Com is
following a policy of not engaging any human craft or ships, the Chinese are not playing
by the same rules. Yesterday, a flight of Skyrangers, heading back towards Japan from a
mission on Taiwan, was shadowed by Chinese fighters, meaning that pretty soon we will
have to start using our fighters to escort the transports. Interceptions are also proving to
be tough: the aliens have learned that we don’t come too close to Chinese airspace and
are using it as a safe haven for their UFOs”.
“Commander”, Illyuschenko looked and saw that Mr. Tamako, the Japanese councilman
had his hand raised to pose a question. “Japan is fully aware of the significance of
China’s actions and the effect it poses on our economy. We have already put the question
up to the UN’s Security Council, but progress in the diplomatic front so far is close to
nothing. Like you said, we have to put up a fully unified front and stop this acts of
aggression”.
Silence hang upon the room as every representative considered the words. Finally, the
German envoy, a fat man with glasses and a hard face replied. “Mr. Tamako, we can’t
just declare war over China or have our countries present an ultimatum. This body is not
qualified for that. We will simply have to ignore China for now and let each country deal
with its own solution”.
“Bah!” Illyuschenko turned at the Indian councilman. “Ridiculous! My country’s
intelligence services show that the Chinese have increased their contacts with Pakistan. If
that country also falls under alien influence, enemies will surround India, each of them
having nuclear weapons and being influenced by the aliens. Who knows what they may
try next? While you westerners can talk and wait, we are about to have to really fight for
our survival!”
Illyuschenko had long decided to keep himself out of such futile political discussions and
waited until the meeting came to an end, occasionally replying to queries. The end result
was about what he expected: X-Com was not a variable taken into account in the Chinese
crisis. They would have to do their business alone, as it was getting frequent these days.
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May 7th, 2000
Sea of Japan
“Well it seems that we have left all the mess behind. Now it’s only a couple of hours
before we land on Singapore”. The copilot nodded to the captain and relaxed on his chair,
situated on the cockpit of a Boeing 757 on its way from Tokyo’s international airport to
the small state of Singapore. Last week had been particularly tense for all of the crews, as
the media had picked up China’s aggressive stands. Although no one thought that the
Chinese would attack a civilian flight half-loaded with businessman, some precautions
had been taken. The flight route had been changed to avoid the areas where the military
reported airspace violations. While it would take a little more minutes to the usual arrival
time, none of the passengers seemed to be complaining. The occupation rates of all
flights in the area had dropped since the crisis had started and the passengers didn’t
seemed to mind the extra space or the reduced fares offered by JAL in order to attract
costumers. Still, he wished that it all would be over soon, since the stock market was
taking a dive, which had already been reeling from the economic depression. He had
heavily invested on shares on the Tokyo Exchange Market most of his savings. And his
wife was now bearing their second son and with him come the need to already start
putting money away for the boy’s education.
The autopilot was taking care of all matters related to flying the jetliner, so he decided to
take a look by the cockpit window. The Sun was already starting to come down on his
right, turning the clouds pink and orange, with the dark waters of the Pacific reflecting
the dimming light. Then something caught his attention on the right.
He thought first that it might be the reflection of one of the instrument’s panel lights on
the plexiglas window. But he soon saw that the yellow dot of light seemed to have a life
of its own, accelerating and moving more to the center of the window. He thought if it
might be another airliner but the altitude was wrong. He decided to call the pilot’s
attention to it.
“Captain, I think there’s another plane out there, but I can’t seem to discern any
navigational beacons”. The pilot looked up from the cup of tea he was savoring. “Contact
Manila’s tower. See if they can tell us what it is”.
The copilot reached for the radio and called for the air traffic controller in English.
“Manila, this is JAL 007. I have an aircraft crossing over our flight path. Can you tell us
what is it, over?”
The reply came after some seconds. “JAL 007, this is Manila. Our radar shows nothing.
We are trying to contact it. Can you give us a bearing and altitude, over?”
“Bearing about one-six-zero. Altitude eight thousand meters. I can’t tell the speed, but…”
“Look!” The voice of the pilot suddenly distracted him and he looked forward. Then he
was amazed and puzzled at the same time. The light seemed to be gaining altitude fast.
But how, since had never learned of any plane that could gain so much altitude in such a
short notice? “What do you think it is Captain, a helicopter?”
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The pilot kept staring at the yellow light. “Whatever it is, it must be military. It must
belong to the Americans or Chinese, maybe some sort of…”. He froze in the middle of
the sentence and the co-pilot’s eyes also widened as both crewman noticed that it seemed
to be heading towards them. “Collision course! I’m taking the controls!”, the pilot
shouted as he moved his hands towards the instruments panel. Then all lights in the
cockpit turned into black and the crewmen stopped hearing the jet engines. They stood
immobile for a second, before trying to engage the emergency power generators, their
arms moving across the control panels, desperately punching buttons and checking the
circuits as no response came from the dead electrical system. One call from the chief
hostess suddenly brought the pilot’s eyes straight forward as he thought of something to
calm down all the passengers and crew in the back and the last thing he saw was a green
ball of light illuminating the cockpit.
UN Building, New York, US

China’s former councilman to X-Com and now the representative to the Security Council
just stood on his chair after hearing over the headphone the translation of the allegations
made by the Japanese delegate to the United Nations about the destruction of the JAL
airplane.
“While the Chinese government deeply regrets the loss of human lives regarding today’s
crash in the sea of a civilian aircraft, we strongly deny that our military maneuvers were
directly or indirectly related to this matter. Japan’s allegations are baseless and also no
proof has been presented to this body that any Chinese military aircraft was even near the
area at the time of this incident. Moreover, we question the pertinence of such matters
being brought up here and call for it to be dismissed from the agenda, implying that my
country will veto any proposed action”. He then looked around as the other
representatives heard the translation of his speech, seeking for reactions.
The US, Russia, UK and France delegates gave him back hard looks, but their objections
would be useless. He kept his poker face, giving an innocent façade, but more for the
other nations who had no knowledge of X-Com’s existence and only suspected the
existence of the aliens. But on his mind he wondered what was going on. He had been
briefed of the nature of the military maneuvers and how they had been designed to place
political pressure over the area, to tell to China’s neighbors about who they should be
listening and following, not to mention to stall X-Com’s efforts in the area. However he
had never heard that the agreement with the aliens had ever implied the downing of
civilian aircraft by their UFOs, with more than one hundred and fifty lives lost. Luckily
no radar records of the UFO involved had been recorded nor was any Chinese planes in
the area, so any accusations would only bring ridicule on the ones who placed them. But
what were the aliens thinking of, when they had destroyed the plane?
He remembered the first time he had ever spoke to one of their leaders, back at the first
landings, with one of the Sectoids he had heard before, when the first reports gathered by
X-Com had reached the Council of Funding Nations. The conversation had been made
through the use of a computer since the things couldn’t replicate human speech. The lack
of any emotions had been the most striking thing about them, even for a culture where
constraint on relationships was highly valuated. But, in the middle of all the offers they
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had made and requests, this sort of action had never been mentioned. Had plans changed
and nobody back at the Party decided to inform him?
May 8th, 2000

Northern New Mexico, United States
“Snakemen! Two on the right!” Hopkins heard the warning of his point man as he moved
down the ramp of the Skyranger. Beta squad had been assigned the right flank on the
landing to retrieve a medium scout that had been downed some hours before over a desert
area in New Mexico. The tank that they had brought had been the first off the plane, but
two solid plasma hits from the aliens had reduced it to a charred hulk, when it had moved
less than two feet from the ramp. Hopkins just wished that some of the aliens had died in
the crash. Or that the Captain had been wiser and brought an extra squad, instead of the
piece of junk that now blocked the way, making him to have to jump off the ramp at the
height of one foot and hit the ground for cover. Well, at least tanks were easily
replaceable, while men were not, he considered for a second. He wondered how the other
side was doing, since a plasma bolt had already sizzled over him from that direction, but
decided to deal with the Snakemen on this side first.
It was noon and the Sun was blazing overhead, starting to make him sweat on his power
suit. The ground before him was mostly dry lands, composed of dust and dirt, with few
vegetation or any natural features to give them or the aliens any cover. The remaining
man behind him fired off a three salvo from his laser rifle and also went for cover. He
saw one of the orange aliens being hit on the torso but not coming down, like a Floater or
Sectoid usually would. Time to get the heavier stuff going.
The two aliens were using the wreckage of the UFO for protection, hiding behind the
walls that were still standing. The craft had probably hit the ground before coming to a
stop, since the side facing Hopkins was completely ripped off, leaving only shards of
alien alloys on the top and bottom. A hit from Levine’s heavy laser decapitated one of the
Snakemen, which went to the ground squirting green blood from what would be the neck
of the alien.
The second alien fired back at Sharpe, who was now moving away from the Skyranger,
trying to get some cover. The squaddie took it on the arm and went down with a moan.
But the second afterwards, two shots from a three-salvo burst from Hopkins’s heavy
plasma, brought it down, making a gargled hiss as it felt on the metal floor of the UFO.
Ten minutes afterwards it was all over and the two remaining aliens had been killed. As
the X-Com team moved inside the UFO, they discovered that the majority of its crew
hadn’t survived the crash, with the bodies being completely smashed against the metal
walls. Unfortunately, that also meant that there was no Elerium or alien machinery to be
recovered, since it all had been destroyed when the UFO hit the ground. Hopkins moved
away from the UFO and approached Captain Jerrel, who had been reporting the
confrontation to Major Patterson back at Area 51. Sharpe and another trooper from Delta
who had also been hit were being taken care of by other soldiers. Fortunately the power
suits had managed to protect the human bodies inside them and the injuries were light.
Hopkins removed his helmet and turned to the officer.
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“Captain, the only reptiles left in the area are lizards and snakes. Are we going to hang
around and wait for the retrieval team or are we leaving soon?”
The officer nodded to him and replied. “We are getting out of here. Found anything
interesting inside that thing?”
The Sarge made some calculations and answered back. “We found inside another three
heavy plasmas and ammunition clips for them, plus a couple grenades. There was also
another one of that strange weapon that the science boys have yet to find what is it good
for”. He raised his arm and showed the alien device he had recovered from the UFO. It
was some sort of small weapon, since had a trigger and a muzzle. However it had strange
green and gray bulges over the barrel and the ammunition seemed to be small purple
balls. Since the aliens hardly had used it in battle, no one over the science branch had
worried much about finding out what it was used for. There were other projects far more
important than going over a gizmo that didn’t seem to have any tactical purpose.
“That is one ugly thing piece of hardware. What you think they use it for, Gunny?”
Hopkins looked down at the weapon on his armored hands and shrugged, his white metal
shoulders slightly moving upwards. “Dunno. It’s a launcher of some sort, but for what
they use it I couldn’t care less, since it doesn’t launch grenades. Probably it’s as useless
in fighting as those metal balls we have recovered before”.
“Yeah, my thoughts also”. The Captain looked around. “Let’s get out of this hole. Second
platoon has just been called to retrieve another UFO that has landed close to this area. I
hope they are luckier than us”. Hopkins nodded and started recalling the troops over the
radio.
Virginia, United States

“The Chinese representative to the United Nations has denied yesterday that his country’s
recent military maneuvers were the cause of the mysterious crash of Japanese Airlines
(JAL) flight 007. The Boeing 757 had crashed hours before on the Pacific Ocean due to
unknown causes, with the loss of its 157 crew and passengers.
Speaking on an extraordinary session of the UN’s Security Council, Mr. Bai strongly
rejected the charges brought by Japan’s to that body that Chinese fighter patrols had been
in the vicinity of the area when the accident occurred. China has also stated its
determination to continue with the military maneuvers which started five days ago and
that are proving to be a major disestablishing factor in the region.
White House officials have downplayed the consequences of China’s actions but have
stated that US combat forces in the area will be ready to defend US interests and protect
friendly nations in the area. Interrogated if the US would act upon a possible invasion of
Taiwan, Secretary of Defense Edward Polk has confirmed that this administration will
stand by the treaties signed with Japan and other nations in the area. According to the
Pentagon, all US forces in Japan and South Korea have been mobilized, with all leaves
cancelled. However, Polk has stated that US aircraft will avoid any unnecessary flights
into the area to reduce the risk of an armed incident”.
Williams stopped reading the Washington Post and scratched his brow, wondering if the
whole situation would defuse itself in the next days or if World War III was about to
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start. He had been lucky to take a few hours off and drive home to have a shower and a
good night sleep, although his cellular phone was connected the whole time, in case any
other incident would occur. The Chinese bastard was right though as they could tell. The
last radio transmission from the 757 had reported a strange light flying close to the
aircraft and X-Com’s Japanese Command was monitoring an increase on UFO detections
in the area. The aliens had, in almost no doubt downed the civilian aircraft, the only
question was if the Chinese knew beforehand of their intentions. But what would they
want with this whole matter? Invade Taiwan and sent a message to other countries such
as Japan? Simply shown off their new military power to enforce more pressure on the
surrounding nations? And what about the aliens? Was this all just to help the Chinese or
did they had more sinister motives; such as starting World War III and let the humans kill
one another? Already the whole matter had brought a severe restraint upon Complex YY-
18’s ability to respond to UFO incursions outside Japan. The whole thing about the
organization was that it was supposed to be a covert one, and flying unidentified planes
over a highly volatile area didn’t help matters a bit.
“Daddy! Daddy! Do aliens exist?” Williams lifted his eyes from the paper he was reading
and saw that his eight-year old David was looking at him, holding on his hands a toy
close to a Sectoid. He wondered how the kid had gotten the toy and looked over to his
wife, Betty, who simply shrugged and quickly decided that there was something needed
to be done upstairs.
At their age, the kids knew that their dad worked for the federal government and nothing
else. They were still too young to understand why he just couldn’t talk about work, but in
this case it was a very different matter. Telling his son to sit close to him on the sofa, he
took the toy from his hands and examined it first. It had clearly the features of a Sectoid,
although Williams also saw that the designer most likely had used a crappy photograph or
drawing, not likely that he had actually saw a live one and survived.
“Well, do aliens exist?”
“David, where have you heard that?”
“All the kids at school were talking about it the other day. Junior said his dad told him
that they came from other planets and that they want to control us”.
Oh boy, Williams told to himself, where and how do I start? “David, think of all of the
universe. Now there are millions of stars like there, just like the Sun, and some of them
there might be planets, and one, just one, might be like Earth and possess intelligent life”.
“So there are aliens!”
“There might be aliens, but we might also never know. They might be too far away. We
might never get there or they here”.
“But Junior says the aliens are already here! And a lot of other kids believe it too. Why
are they here dad? What they want from us?” A note of fear appeared on his son’s voice.
“David, don’t worry. If by any chance they are here I’m sure that we have nothing to fear
from them”. Williams only hoped that his son couldn’t detect the lie.
“But what do they want from us? Junior says they are like Independence Day: they want
to conquer us and make us their slaves”. Oh boy, Williams sighed as he tried to come up
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with an explanation, looking by the posture of his son that he wanted an answer.
“David, if the aliens really exist then someone probably is trying to understand them.
And, you know, maybe they are peaceful and only want to be friends with us. Maybe
they are just watching, trying to find out what we are like”. Williams hoped that the lie
would take satisfy his son’s doubts.
The face of David became clouded with puzzlement. “But they could also be coming here
to conquer us, couldn’t they?”
“Yes, they might, but we shouldn’t worry about that”.
Wrong answer. “But if they are, do we use like ray guns on them? Can I have a ray gun
too dad?”
“I will have to talk to your mother about that. Meanwhile, have you done your homework
yet David?” The youngster quickly made himself invisible, which had been Williams’
intention all along to put an end to the discussion.
May 10th, 2000

“What?” Yamashita was sure feeling tired after a whole week full of false alerts, as the
Chinese aircraft kept approaching Japanese airspace, only to turn back as the interceptors
went after them. The radar technician looked back at him, but wasn’t appalled by his
superior’s attitude. “Sir, the JSDAF detected a single contact approaching the ADIZ some
minutes ago”.
Yamashita blinked his eyes, trying to ignore that he had only been able to sleep for two
hours after being awaken again and apparently for no good reason. “More of those
damned Chinese? I’d better have a word with them to discuss air defense protocols after
this whole mess has calmed down”. The man at the console, a youngster on his twenties,
cut him off. “Sir, the single contact has broken up into four different ones! All of them
with flight patterns and radar tracks of UFOs, one a large scout, another of their terror
ships and two that we never have seen before!”
Yamashita fully awoke. “Sound general alarm. First and Second Platoons ready to
deploy. Launch the F-22s at once”. He paused, thinking of what the aliens might be up to
this time: a terror attack? An aerial confrontation? “What is their heading?” The
technician looked now in terror. “Honshu, sir! They are going to be over us in 25 minutes
and counting!”
Twenty minutes later, Yamashita was standing in the hangar closest to the command
center, looking at the Skyranger who was using its jet engines to elevate itself through the
now opened steel doors of the roof. The plane, together with the two other Skyrangers
who were lifting from other hangars, was crowded with all the non-combat personnel it
could hold. It had been confirmed: all of the UFOs would be over Complex YY-18 in a
question of minutes, in no doubt making an assault at the base, since there was no other
target around for miles.
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A trooper wearing a power suit and with the bars of a Captain approached him, carrying a
plasma rifle on his hands and moving through the remaining technicians who were now
heading to the southern doors, on their way to the unfinished workshops at the east of the
base. “Colonel, First and Second platoons have deployed as you ordered sir”. We have
the corridor leading to the main airlock secured, with the First standing on the sides and
the Second at the central hangar, ready to blast any aliens that came through it”.
Yamashita reminded himself of the base’s disposition: the base had been build
underground, around the hangars, four of them making a perfect square, with a fifth one
on the center. Four main corridors connected the edges, while an additional number
linked the central hangar to the middle of the exterior passageways. The base’s entrance
consisted of a chamber linked to the surface by elevators, outside the southern side of the
square, and connected to the corridor in that section of the base by another one. On the
paper it looked good: if any enemy tried to invade the base, the defenders could simply
cut them into pieces since the area around the airlock was void of any other facilities that
could provide cover for the attackers. They only needed to hold the southern intersection
to stop the aliens. “What about the third?”
“They are still in the armory, getting into their power suits”. Yamashita grimaced,
because he didn’t had time to get himself fully equipped. The armory was located in the
southwest area, while the command center was on the northeast. He had only time to get
to his quarters to put on his personal armor, made of alien alloys, and grab a plasma pistol
and his katana. “As soon as they get ready, place individual squads on the hangars to
provide a second line of defense, in case we need it”. He was about to dismiss the officer
and go back to the command center, when something come up his mind. “How many
aliens do we have on the containment unit?”
The captain’s face, visible because the face visor was still up almost hid completely the
confusion on his thoughts. “Eight, sir. Three Sectoids, one Snakemen and four Floaters. I
have one of the base security platoons there watching over them”.
“Tell them to kill them all. We can’t risk that they might take the opportunity to get
loose. Dismissed!” Yamashita then dashed to the command center.
Lieutenant Kanawe and the other three men of Second Squad, Second Platoon were in
position in the hangar, all around the southern door, whose massive steel doors were now
closed. But as soon as Captain Ichiko, who was standing outside the doors with five other
troopers, all in cover, gave them the call, they would open the doors and pour fire down
the corridor, in the direction of the airlock. He looked at the HWP directly in front of the
door: it was equipped with rocket launchers and those would soon wreck havoc on any
aliens that dared to cross the corridor between the hangar and the airlock.
When Yamashita reached his command chair, the transparent monitor made of liquid
crystals in front of him turned active, hiding the other stations in front of him. The face of
Councilman Tamako showed concern, but also a deep calm. “Colonel, I’ve been briefed
already of the situation and I’m in direct contact with the Prime-Minister, in case we can
offer you any help. But I shall distract you no more. Good luck”.
Yamashita nodded and looked to his side. A lieutenant close by him and wearing a radio
set simply spoke. “The HAWK batteries are ready and have tracked the target”. The
young officer saw the nod and simply spoke: “Firing now!”
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Close to the command center, two missile launchers, each holding twin racks rose up
from their concealed positions underground, standing in the middle of a small plain, and
swiveled to the direction of the UFOs. After a brief second, as the computer supplied the
guidance systems inside of them with the necessary information, the first surface to air
ignited its engine and shot away towards the UFOs. The remaining three missiles
followed thereafter.
“By the seven hells!” Someone in the room spoke what Yamashita was thinking now.
The cameras outside had spotted the enemy flight and had zoomed on it. Two of the
incoming UFOs were the largest ever recorded by X-Com, dwarfing the large scout that
accompanied them. Circular in size, they seemed to have several levels, and on their
bottom they had massive pylons, in no doubt to support them while landed. The first
missile hit the one on the left, exploding in a fireball that covered the front of the craft.
The other three quickly followed, enlarging the explosion, but the second afterwards, all
of the UFOs kept in their course, heading towards Complex YY-18. Only the large scout
seemed to be experiencing trouble, as it wobbled in the air, instead of keep a straight
course. “Alert all troops. Here they come!”
When one of the UFOs landed on the ground in top of the hangar with a thump, Kanawe
looked upwards in surprise, but quickly got his mind back into the radio, waiting for the
orders from Ichiko. But after some seconds a huge roar from above made him look back
again. However, he was unable to see anything as the light and noise from an explosion
above him clicked the light and noise suppressors on his helmet, making him blind and
deaf for some seconds.
Outside the central hangar, Captain Ichiko also heard the explosion and wondered what
had just gone inside. Standing inside a small room on the side of the corridor he raised his
arm as he tried to call the other squad on the radio. “Kanawe, what is going on there?
Kanawe! Anyone there answer me!”
The only response he had was from one of his own men. “Captain! They are coming!”
Grabbing with his free hand the entrance, Ichiko put his head outside the corridor and
looked: more than hundred yards away, the doors leading into the elevators to the surface
were open. And three humanoid figures, each one taller than the average human, had just
stepped out, all carrying plasma weapons. Ichiko stopped bothering with the radio and
ordered his men to fire.
The first explosions had put everyone inside the control room in a frantic state, with
everyone trying to understand what had just happened. Yamashita and the others were
trying to raise anyone on the radio to make a report, but the distant sound of gunfire fire
and explosions was the only response that came to them. Suddenly the lieutenant close to
Yamashita froze in his place. “Colonel! Better came and see this quick!”
Yamashita rose from his chair and moved to his side. An image, identified as live feed
from a camera located on the SE hangar showed light coming through the ceiling and
dark humanoid figures moving in the middle of smoke, only pausing to raise their
weapons and shoot, presumably at the members of the squad from Third platoon who had
been deployed there. “They have broken through the hangar doors!” But what aliens was
he seeing?
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The doors behind him suddenly opened and Yamashita turned around to look. Standing
on the entrance to the control room was an alien he had never seen, his head almost
touching the upper edge of the entrance. Massive and well-defined muscles stood out
from his chest, arms and legs, the contours visible underneath the tight dark green suit he
was wearing. The garment also covered all of his head, except for the face, which was
bare. The alien’s eyes were dark, with a strange white for an iris and he had no ears or
nose to be seen. All in the control room stood looking at the strange figure for a second,
as it looked around the room for a brief second, before pointing the heavy plasma it was
carrying to their direction.
On the central hangar, as soon as Kanawe regained his consciousness, he found that he
was on the ground close to the smoking remains of the HWP. The area was full of smoke
and a fuel drum exploded on the opposite side of his position. A green alien was standing
with his back turned to him and using a heavy plasma to demolish the walls of a storage
room that the remainder of his squad was using to cover. He noticed that his heavy laser
had dropped out of his hands and, picking it up in a swift motion, he quickly pointed it to
the alien and fired a couple of shots that hit the humanoid on his back. Kanawe’s hairs
went up as the figure arched itself backwards and released a high pitch, savage scream.
Kanawe thought the green monster thing would drop to the ground. But instead it quickly
started to turn to his direction, the black pupils seeking the cause its tormentor in a
predatorial gaze. The first plasma shot passed under Kanawe’s right arm, missing by a
small margin. The second hit the side of the lieutenant, filling the side of his belly with a
fierce burning sensation of pain that almost made him black out. He still managed to hold
his weapon though and fired it back again in a reflexive action, without worrying about
taking aim. A grenade blew to his left at the same time, projecting him back to the metal
grating on the floor again, but he still managed to see the alien accompanying him to the
ground, where it stayed immobile. Kanawe then looked to his belly. The plasma had cut
through the armor, leaving a blackened section where red blood could be seen pouring
out. Not good, he considered to himself.
On the control center, the first shot from the strange alien missed Yamashita by a hair.
However he heard the sound of the technician close to him crashing down over the
console. He immediately threw himself to the side, the second blast hitting the electronic
screen and exploding it, but Yamashita didn’t bother to look. Holding his katana sword
still on his sheath, he rolled over on the floor close to the extraterrestrial, taking
advantage that the alien was busy with the two security guards. As the Colonel was
moving, the green figure simply took turned to each one in turn and killed them, taking
no notice of the full laser salvos that it was receiving on its torso, which left only a couple
of burn marks on the green jumpsuit it was wearing. A series of gunshots was also heard.
One of the officers had drawn his sidearm and was firing back at the alien, holding a
semiautomatic pistol in both his hands. The X-Com’s trooper aim was good, but
worthless. Yamashita clearly saw the bullets ricocheting off the alien’s body and he even
felt one hitting his armor, but failing to penetrate it as he got himself upwards after a
second ground roll that put him less than three feet from it. As Yamashita finally got up,
his right hand moved to the hilt of the sword and, as he draw it out, the blade slashed
through the alien’s arm that was holding the plasma weapon in an upward movement.
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The X-Com Colonel felt the sharpened steel cutting through the arm but the slicing
movement was abruptly cut off, taking him out of balance and preventing him from
completing the movement. Two things happened in quick succession: the sound of the
alien’s pain as the blade cut through his forearm and stopped upon reaching the bone,
failing to cut through it, and in the moment afterward a rock punch to his side left
Yamashita almost out of breath. Staggering backwards he saw the alien closing its pupils
while the powerful muscles on its jaws contracted in pain and it clenched its teeth. Trying
to breathe at the same time, Yamashita took out the plasma pistol from the holster on his
belt and fired immediately. It took half a dozen shots before the alien finally died
screaming.
On the main corridor to the airlock, Captain Ichiko’s squad was barely holding the
invaders at bay. The aliens had already reached the intersection but the squads who were
supposed to prevent them from taking cover where notoriously absent. Still, several of
the unknown aliens had already been dropped to the ground, but their sheer numbers
meant that it was a matter of time before they would be overwhelmed. Ichiko brought his
heavy plasma through the door of the room where he was hiding and fired back down the
corridor again. Two of his shots hit a humanoid figure that was trying to reach the safety
of the intersection, dropping him to the ground. Only the heavy stuff seemed to be able to
bring these aliens down. A close by plasma blast made him lower his head but he still
kept it pointed down the corridor. Then he started to hear an increasing whining sound
and he wondered if the aliens were using some kind of electronic interference on the
radio channel. However looking forward, he was amazed as he saw something suddenly
flying out of the left corridor on the intersection and make a ninety degree turn on the air,
before speeding off at an incredible speed on his direction. His instinct immediately made
him take a couple of steps backwards, but the last thing he saw on his life was a silvered
ball come to a stop fully suspended on the air by an unseen force and head towards him,
before releasing the immense force of the Elerium warhead it carried in a massive
explosion that vaporized the X-Com officer and the room where he was standing.
Back on the command center, the sound of that explosion was hardly noticed as another
of the green Herculean aliens jumped inside the room. However, this time the personnel
in the area was prepared, with Yamashita exchanging his pistol for the heavier plasma
that the first alien was carrying and scoring a second kill in a well thought ambush that
brought it down five seconds after it entered. Standing by the corpse of the
extraterrestrial, he looked down the corridor leading down into the nearest hangar. It
seemed empty of enemy troops, so he turned around to check the status of his troops.
Several troopers and support personnel had been immediately killed by the plasma blasts,
since they didn’t had any armor protection. The surviving personnel were busy moving
their burned bodies to a corner, underneath a staircase. There was no time to deal with
them now and Yamashita tried to check the status of the other sectors on the base. But as
soon as he reached the woman on the radio, a deep rumble came from the depths of the
base and both of them feared the most for a second.
When the radio on Kanawe’s helmet became alive with the voice of the Colonel, he let
out a short breath and moved away from the remains of the hangar’s southern doors and
to a safer position, in spite of the burning on his stomach. The bleeding had been
contained through the use of a medikit, but he was only still conscious because he had
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been applied with heavy doses of stimulants and pain relievers. Looking down the
landing pad, with parts lit up from the sunlight coming from the holes the aliens had cut
to come through the ceiling, he saw the bodies of the four aliens who had almost
succeeded in killing his whole squad, of which he was the only survivor. He also saw one
of the troopers that had managed to bring him behind a mangled forklift, from where both
of them had managed to defeat the aliens, his limp and dead body seated on the floor
against the wall, on where the plasma fire from the final alien had took him down.
“Command, this is Lieutenant Kanawe on the central hangar. Captain Ichiko has been
killed and we need reinforcements to prevent them from advancing more in the main
corridor. Half the platoon is down, together with the HWP and we have several
wounded”.
“Kanawe, hold on as much as you can. Any word from the south-west hangar?”
“I had someone check the source of an explosion a while ago. The trooper says the
western corridor is completely blocked by rubble in the middle. The aliens must have
accidentally hit the ammunition stores on that area, sir”. He brought down his head.
There was still at least a squad of Third Platoon in the hangar at the time of the explosion.
The news from central hangar weren’t pleasing at all to hear, but to Yamashita they gave
him hope. The western area had been secured, with the security squad detached there
reporting that they had killed all the aliens in the containment facility and that there had
been no breaches on the hangar. On both eastern hangars there was reports of heavy
fighting but the aliens had failed to reach the hallway that would have placed them right
on the backs of the troops defending the central corridor. Grabbing the heavy plasma
from the chair he had set it upon, he immediately headed out of the command center, with
nearly a dozen men and women following him and wearing every weapon they could
place their hands on.
May 16th, 2000

Area 51, Nevada, US
The main runway of Groom Lake was completely dark, covered under the darkness of a
night with no Moon and a heavy cloud cover that hid the stars and also the prying eyes of
any satellite or UFO that might be passing by the facility at that moment. But the low
whining sound of a hangar’s doors being opened could be heard, although all the
overhead lights of the building had been turned off, leaving only a couple of ground
lights that showed only dark shapes inside the hangar.
A small circular silhouette was discernible to Illyuschenko, sitting on top of the back area
of a lowered truck, the edges standing out of the sides. He was from the view ports of a
reinforced concrete bunker, together with a small group of people, some of them using
night vision binoculars for better vision. Human figures were around it, accompanying
the small trailer to a clear area outside the hangar, where the mover finally stopped its
slow march. After making the final preparations, the technicians quickly departed and left
the safety area. If anything went wrong, no one wanted to be close to an Elerium
explosion.
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A turning red light finally went on, telling everyone that the test would soon be underway
and only then Illyuschenko brought to his eyes the binoculars that were hanging from his
neck. If this works, the aliens will sure be surprised in a couple of months! And they
needed it: the new alien race used on the raid against Complex YY-18 had taken away the
advantage X-Com was experiencing on ground combat through the use of the power suits
and heavy plasmas. The green monsters had been bred for combat, with a toughened
bullet proof skin that even depleted uranium had problems piercing and other surgically
implanted devices that made them the strongest and hardest adversaries they had squared
with.
X-Com’s progress report for this month seemed to be good: the end of the Chinese crisis
had cooled off the Council and Japan had already offered financial aid to help rebuild
Complex YY-18, which had suffered major damage after the alien attack. A lot of
replacements for the heavy casualties were needed, but Colonel Yamashita had
immediately set upon bringing has much teams as possible back into operational status.
After a low warning beep a female voice started a countdown.
This was X-Com’s closest guarded secret until now, but it would have mean nothing
without the recently built workshops at the Japanese base that hadn’t been touched by the
attack. X-Com had now a finally a decent manufacturing capability of their own,
allowing them to reduce their dependence on the good will of the funding nations to give
them the hardware they needed to fight the alien war. And soon, pretty soon, the
assembly lines will be producing a larger model of that. If all the money and research Dr.
Chevereux put on this pays off, I actually may start to like the French bastard! The
countdown reached zero.
Immediately after that moment, Illyuschenko’s focused on the circular shape, but it
stayed immobile. Then, slowly, so slowly that at first the movement wasn’t discernible, it
elevated itself out of the trailer and into the air. Only ten feet in diameter, it moved then
to the right of the bunker until finally stopping fifty feet above the runway. Illyuschenko
noticed that it had a landing tripod, and it used it to come to a stop on the runway, after a
slow descent.
At that moment every scientist present in the bunker started cheering and applauding and
Illyuschenko also smiled, although that thing wasn’t quite the new fighter craft he had
been promised many months ago by the Research Bureau of X-Com. The lights on the
bunker went back on and he moved through the happy group until he reached Dr.
Chevereux, who was happily talking to Dr. Mantell and another scientist Illyuschenko
couldn’t identify, but that he noticed it had peculiar facial expressions.
“Doctor, congratulations. I take everything went as you planned?” The chief of X-Com’s
research turned to Illyuschenko and his smile became smaller, seeing the stern face of the
General, but he still kept it on.
“Oui, commander. We have just successfully tested our first craft built using the
propulsion and navigation principles the alien UFOs. Now, Drs. Mantell and Young will
perform aero dynamical test flights and then we can think of building a craft with actual
pilots inside it, instead of being radio controlled like this one”. He looked at the other
scientists who just nodded while smiling.
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Illyuschenko kept a neutral tone. “ I take that you have seen the footage of the Battleships
the aliens have started using? I need a craft fully capable of going against those things
and as soon as possible. Our conventional fighters are no match for them. The Japanese
Air Force tried and lost a full squadron of F-15s”.
Shaking his head, Dr. Mantell replied. “Commander, I understand the urgency, but it will
take time. First we need to develop a small manned fighter and the weapons to equip it, to
finish developing and testing this technology. We simply can’t step right into building
something of that size immediately. I have been part of the team that developed the
stealth planes and know what I’m talking about. First something smaller, like the F-117,
but reliable. Only then can we go developing the bigger stuff, like the equivalent of a B-
2. But I can assure you that everything is on the right track, sir. Already the team back at
Mother One has started using their work on plasma weapons to develop a sort of cannon
to equip that fighter. And when that happens, few UFOs will be able to stand off against
the Firestorm, sir”.
“Firestorm?” Illyuschenko hadn’t read anything with that name on the briefing.
“Someone proposed the name a couple of days ago and it seems popular. I can show you
the concept papers tomorrow and the work we have already put into the blueprints”.
Illyuschenko still didn’t like how much time this whole affair would take, but was less
unpleased. He nodded to the scientists and, excusing himself, left the bunker, deciding to
conduct an unscheduled base attack exercise to see how well Area 51 was briefed and
prepared.
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Chapter Eighteen – Premonitions
RAAF Captures Flying Saucer On Ranch in Roswell Region
No Details of Flying Disk Are Revealed
Roswell Hardware Man and Wife Report Disk Seen
The intelligence office of the 509th Bombardment group at Roswell Army Field
announced at noon today, that the field has come into possession of a flying saucer.
According to information released by the department, over authority of Maj. J. A. Marcel,
intelligence officer, the disk was recovered on a ranch in the Roswell vicinity, after an
unidentified rancher had notified Sheriff Geo. Wilcox, here, that he had found the
instrument on his premises.
Major Marcel and a detail from his department went to the ranch and recovered the disk,
it was stated.
After the intelligence officer here had inspected the instrument it was flown to higher
headquarters.
The intelligence office stated that no details of the saucers construction or its appearance
had been revealed.
Mr. and Mrs. Dan Wilmot apparently were the only persons in Roswell who seen what
they thought was a flying disk.
They were sitting on their porch at 105 South Penn. last Wednesday night at about ten
oclock when a large glowing object zoomed out of the sky from the southeast, going in a
northwesterly direction at a high rate of speed.
Wilmot called Mrs. Wilmots attention to it and both ran down into the yard to watch. It
was in sight less then a minute, perhaps 40 or 50 seconds, Wilmot estimated.
Wilmot said that it appeared to him to be about 1,500 feet high and going fast. He
estimated between 400 and 500 miles per hour.
In appearance it looked oval in shape like two inverted saucers, faced mouth to mouth, or
like two old type washbowls placed, together in the same fashion. The entire body
glowed as though light were showing through from inside, though not like it would
inside, though not like it would be if a light were merely underneath.
From where he stood Wilmot said that the object looked to be about 5 feet in size, and
making allowance for the distance it was from town he figured that it must have been 15
to 20 feet in diameter, though this was just a guess.
Wilmot said that he heard no sound but that Mrs. Wilmot said she heard a swishing sound
for a very short time.
The object came into view from the southeast and disappeared over the treetops in the
general vicinity of six-mile hill.
Wilmot, who is one of the most respected and reliable citizens in town, kept the story to
himself hoping that someone else would come out and tell about having seen one, but
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finally today decided that he would go ahead and tell about it. The announcement that the
RAAF was in possession of one came only a few minutes after he decided to release the
details of what he had seen.
• Roswell Daily Record, July 8th, 1947
June 6th, 2000

Area 51, Nevada, US
As Lt. Colonel Harris had finished stepping down the ladder the technicians had placed
near the cockpit of his F-22, he looked at the plane to check the damage of the dogfight
he had just been in. The left wingtip of the advanced fighter had been brushed off by a
plasma round fired by the alien large scout he had just downed over Idaho, but besides
the nasty look of the wing there seemed to be no other damage.
One of the sergeants assigned to the base’s combat support group, wearing a Chi Greek
letter on the left breast of his coveralls was also assessing the damage. He cocked his
head from one side to the other and simply spoke in a mixture of relief and frustration:
“At least there’s no damage to the main body, sir. We should be able to get it fixed in no
time”. Harris turned to him, but the man had already gotten to his work, moving to the
offices located in one corner of the massive hangar where the F-22 was standing.
Close to him, Captain Clark had just parked his F-22 and had also gotten off his plane,
still holding his helmet on one hand and raking his curly hair with the other. He had
managed to hit the UFO with a Phoenix before Harris had stepped in and finished off the
alien craft with Amraam missiles. By tomorrow both their planes would sport another
half-UFO painted on the fuselage under the cockpit, as both pilots would share the credit
for the kill. But Harris didn’t really care about personal tallies, although he had already
made ace several times and had the highest UFO kill list inside X-Com, and in the world
for that matter.
Clark come up to him and spoke. “Fancy flying up there, Harris. I never had seen anyone
launch an Amraam on such a tight turn and actually hit the bogey. You should tell it to
the Air Force and the manufacturers of the missile, although I’m not sure they would
quite believe it”. Harris simply shrugged his shoulders and replied: “I wouldn’t allow that
bastard to gain speed and outrun us”. Clark just looked at him, waiting for more, but as he
saw the other pilot head out the hangar towards the pilot’s area he just joined him and
said nothing else.
As both pilots got out of the hangar, they blinked their eyes because of the high desert
sun and unzipped their flight suits. Clark stopped and checked his pockets for his dark
glasses. Finding them, he put them on and noticed that Harris had also stopped his march.
But, unlike him, he was just looking to another direction, completely immobile. Turning
his head to the right he saw what Harris was staring at. On the hangar next to them, a
black nose tip was visible through the half-closed doors, in no doubt belonging to a plane.
Then, as the other pilot started heading towards it, Clark wondered what was so special
about it and decided to follow him, trying to keep with his pace. They both stopped by
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the doors and Clark was astonished. A large plane painted in glossy black stood in the
middle of the building, but nothing that he had ever seen on his life. It had a sleek
fuselage, with an elliptical main body where a delta wing was attached. Twin tails stood
out at his end, and the engine nacelles were located on the belly of the aircraft, in the
back. It was apparently going through some maintenance procedure. The cockpit was
open; with fiber optic cables going inside, and several plates on the body had been
removed, revealing electronic equipment and empty space.
“Whoa! What is that?” The words immediately came out of his mouth before he realized
his amazement. This plane had to be the ultimate flying machine, capable of going to
space and back. Harris’ dry voice came with a heavy-filled reply: “The Aurora”.
“You mean “the” Aurora? The secret plane that was shot down by a UFO?” When
realization of the whole incident came to Clark’s mind his attention was immediately
turned into the other pilot’s expression. The face was completely cold and the scars that
marked Harris face and neck looked bluer, as if it had suddenly been drained out of
blood. And on the contrary, his eyes seemed locked into some deep anger inside, making
Clark step back. “Gezz, sorry! I wasn’t meaning to….” Harris deep but now relaxed gaze,
made him stop in the middle of the sentence.
Hearing footsteps close to them, both men turned and saw a civilian woman approaching
them. She had the white coveralls and the security card she was wearing marked her as a
member of the Scientific Bureau, but Clark didn’t recognize her. In fact, he knew that for
certain since he had long taken a deep inspection of all the base’s available female
personnel. And this blonde woman, a little shorter than him, had never been on his
gunfights. But Clark’s initial hopes to get on a date with her were shattered by the
annoyed look on her blue eyes.
“Can I help you officers? If not I will ask you to leave” She had quite an interesting
accent, German, he wondered? Harris simply asked: “Are you testing the installation of
weapons on it?” Her somewhat neutral expression suddenly went into full afterburner.
“Wunderbar! Good security protocols here! Tell me, does the base already know,
mister…”
“Harris, Lt. Colonel Andrew Harris, m’am”. Clark hastily added: “And Captain Clark,
here, miss…” She didn’t even bothered to look at him as her next words came out in
shock. “Doctor…. Johannes. Lt. Colonel, I think Colonel Johnson is better to inform you
on why we have the Aurora here. I’m…just….”
“Thank you Doctor. I will not take anymore of your time”. He gave her a short salute and
left and, after standing there for a second she also left leaving Clark looking from one
side to the other, without knowing here to turn. He saw the scientist getting back to work
on some bench table while Harris seemed to be heading towards the command section of
the base, instead of the aircrew area. Clark decided that the day had been too rough
already and went back to his quarters to first get a hot shower before debriefing.
Five minutes later, Johnson was on his office, taking no casualties in his daily conflict
with paperwork and red tape. Since the whole X-Com operation was classified above top
secret, he had to find ways to have the base up and running, which fake companies to
order the most basic supplies, from the mess chow the toilet paper. Fortunately, he had a
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couple of former CIA officers that performed miracles on that area, but he still had to
check and sign the forms. When the knock on the door came he was actually relieved for
a minute to get away from all the bureaucracy, but his satisfaction quickly disappeared as
he saw Harris walking inside and requesting to speak to him.
Most likely he already knew about the new bird in the nest, so he decided to deal with the
whole thing right away. “Sure Harris. Why don’t you take a seat?” The other officer
stood in attention, not bothering to take one of the chairs Johnson had in front of him.
“No thank you sir. Colonel, if you forgive my straightness, I’ve seen an Aurora on one of
the hangars. Do you mind telling me what is it doing here?” Johnson shifted uneasily on
the chair. He had seen the latest psychological assessment made on Harris, and the base
shrinks couldn’t be sure if the man was stable or could go down the ropes at any minor
incident.
“Field tests, Harris. The Scientific Bureau is developing laser and plasma weapons for
fighter planes, but they want to try them out specifically on the Aurora. The military had
one of the prototypes laying around so they let us have it”. Harris nodded. “And where do
I fit in that picture?”
Johnson hadn’t had time to figure that one out yet. “Well, I don’t know yet. You are the
only one here who has ever flown that thing and you are the logical choice for test pilot.
On the other hand, you are a damn good fighter pilot and this job means no combat for
you for a while. President Winston had to put up with a lot of opposition from the
Pentagon for lending us. I’m going to return it to them without much of a scratch”.
Harris thought for a second. “You are leaving it to me to decide, sir?”
Johnson exhaled. “I have already decided, Harris, if you agree with it. You will be
assigned for the next week to fly the Aurora, unless you choose not to. But remember
this: if you accept being a test pilot again, that means no going after any alien ship that
you encounter. The data from the flights is crucial for us to develop advanced air-to-air
weapons. That is your mission”.
He simply nodded. “Fair enough, I’ll see you later, sir”. After throwing a quick salute,
Harris left and Johnson decided not to think more about it, as he looked at the pile of
paperwork in front of him.
July 9th, 1947

Roswell Army Air Field, New Mexico, United States
The C-47 Dakota transport plane had just came to a full stop on the tarmac as the rear
passenger door opened and the brightness of the lights inside contrasted with the darkness
of the late hour of the night. A private got out a small metal ladder and, as he stepped to
the side two men, one in uniform and another in civilian clothing went down the stairs
and boarded a jeep that was waiting for them.
The driver immediately started the engine and drove down a flight line of darkened
planes, all having four engines and a myriad of bumps over and under the fuselage. Each
plane had its own dispersal area, surrounded by walls of sand bags and in some cases
heavy armed troopers were deployed around the plane. The civilian looked at them in
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curiosity and turned to his companion to ask in deeply accentuated English: “B-29s? The
same type that dropped the bombs over Japan? If we had this, you would never be able to
defeat us in Europe”.
The other man, a young Major that had the left side of his coat filled with campaign and
medal ribbons, didn’t bother to answer. In fact he couldn’t even say anything about the
base where they had just landed, since it was the U.S.’ top military asset: the 509th
Bombardment Group, the only outfit in the world to be equipped with atomic weapons.
And it was the center of all the mess that had just appeared and that they both had been
sent to resolve.
The civilian realized his unwillingness to talk about the matter or the facility, so he just
shot back. “Don’t worry Major. After all I live in a golden prison isn’t that right? Where
could I go and reveal all that I’ve seen and gave you so far? The Soviet Union?”
The Major gave him a stern look, his hand casually dropping to the belt and the sidearm
he carried there. “Doctor, you are only here on an advisory basis, is that understood? You
are not allowed to go wondering without escort or discuss anything that you might think
you saw with anyone”. The scientist simply looked back and went to his coat pockets to
find a cigarette. Finding one and after asking the driver for a light, he sat back on his seat
as the jeep moved towards a low sand painted building.
The meeting took place on the base commander’s office, although his presence wasn’t
required or even desirable for any of the four men who were present on it. The two recent
arrivals were led until the room, where they met two other officers, an Army Colonel
with slick dark hair and a mustache and a Navy Commander, but who was wearing a light
colored civilian suit and black tie. They all sat down at the meeting table present.
“Gentlemen, we have one, possibly two, ‘fallen angels’ in the area”. The Colonel started,
with his forehead slightly shinning from the overhead lights. “The situation seems to be
out of control and the Commander also agrees with my….”.
“Stop!” The voice of the Major made the German wonder of what was really going
around here. But he wasn’t supposed to make any questions, so he decided to listen to
what the military had to say. “Colonel, this situation has gone out of control already, it
seems, otherwise I wouldn’t have flown to this desert stinking place. You and Naval
Intelligence are only here to help out as much as you can. Because, from now, I will be
running this show. Is that understood?”
The Colonel seemed happy to comply with the order, but the Navy officer gave him a
hard look. “You can’t just keep us out of this. We are the ones with most experience in
investigating such cases! Although this has happened over land, we must take control of
the operation….”
“Commander,” He paused as if giving a lecture. “You will assist in the recovery
operations and I will greatly appreciate whatever more information the Navy can provide
us. But this has gotten too much sensitive, so we need to start concentrating our efforts in
dealing with this matter and not have all the services doing their own investigations”.
“Meaning the CIA? You must be joking! No one will let something this big go over an
agency that has just been created!” Looking at the whole situation, the German doctor
suddenly reminded himself of similar meetings, taken several years ago. The Party, the
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SS, the Gestapo, the High Command, all fighting for the same. Pitiful how the Americans
are falling into the same error, no matter what they might be talking about.
“I will say this only once: the President is about to set directives on the matter defining
clearly everyone’s position. You can be a part of the team or be out: your choice”. The
Major simply crossed his arms in front of him and waited for an answer. The other officer
shook its head in frustration but conceded. “OK, OK, I’m not going against superior
orders. But we have already facilities set in Virginia to deal with the wreckage we have
been retrieving from the first crash site…”
“These are all to be transported into Wright Army Air Field at once, using all available
planes. And the Navy isn’t the only one who has ever recovered one of this things, if you
are wondering”. The other officer simply nodded, more in shock than in compliance, and
he turned to the Colonel. “Now that we have settled this, why did this all got picked up
by the media? You were told to have complete discretion over the matter”.
“The base intelligence officer was the first to get on the site of the crash. Although he
didn’t see any bodies, he saw the wreckage and thought it would be better for the public
if there were an announcement that the military had finally taken control of one of the
strange disks anyone has been seeing around. The story hit the local paper yesterday and
since then we have been flooded by requests of information from news agencies and
papers”.
The German scientist started to wonder what was the whole matter over a simple aircraft
crash. He wondered if the Soviets had developed an advanced aircraft capable of over
flying the US and if one had crashed. “We will have to deny those claims immediately”.
The Major thought for a second. “We are close to Alamogordo, aren’t we?”
“The Army Airfield? Well yes…”. The Colonel became puzzled, but the Major stopped
him with a hand. “There are a number of top secret projects over there using balloons.
That is what we have recovered here, is that understood? And that’s why the intelligence
officer will admit to the press that he had made a mistake”.
“He will be suspicious of what’s going on”.
“He will follow his orders, even if they mean he will be discredited. And if someone digs
too much into this they will find a classified project using weather balloons, nothing
else”.
“What about the bodies? What if someone talks about them?”
“We’ll have an answer ready for that, don’t worry. Now tell me more about what you
have found today and that has brought me here”.
As the Navy officer and the Colonel looked at one another, the scientist had his attention
fully focused on them. The Commander started speaking. “I already had sent a team
there. They have found a craft, with four bodies and have secured the location. We will
start the retrieval operations tomorrow”.
“Very well. Gentlemen, I will need your full collaboration on this if we are to support our
countries interests on this matter, which shall never be discussed with anyone…” As the
Major kept talking, the German scientist simply stopped listening and decided to wait.
He, together with his wife and only son, had been flown into the US upon his capture on
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the last days of World War II in Nazi Germany. In all appearances he was a guest of the
US Government, but he knew that the only thing the Americans wanted was access to the
technical data he knew about the advanced aircraft projects that Germany had been
developing. He wasn’t too enthusiastic about his situation, but he knew that the Russians
had also captured a number of scientists and were using them to develop their own
special projects. And although he didn’t like the Americans much better than Stalin, it
was better to be on the winning side or at least on the side that possessed nuclear
weapons.
June 11th, 2000

New York Times Building, NY, US
“Blake!” It was on the middle of the morning and Evan Blake had just arrived to the
paper after a late night, but the call of the meeting room told him he would just have to
completely wake up without coffee. “Get here immediately! He stopped the movement
towards his desk and started walking towards the meeting room in one corner of the
redaction. When he walked in there, he saw that almost editors where present, which was
odd since it wasn’t the day for their weekly meeting. Which meant that something big
had just came up.
His editor, Phil, who had called him immediately asked him as soon as he had stepped
inside: “Have you seen the Post today?”
“Well I just checked in and didn’t really had time….”. Seeing Phil just pointing a hand
towards an edition of the Washington Post that was lying with others on top of the table,
he picked up. “Front pages. You seemed to be right all along”.
Blake wondered what did he meant by that and quickly flipped through the initial pages,
until coming up with a news article whose title made his mouth drop open. “UFO: They
are out there. Government studies classifies them as ‘probably the manifestations of
extraterrestrial intelligence”. He kept reading. “According to classified papers obtained
by the Post, the Unidentified Flying Objects that have been a part of our imagination for
the last fifty years do actually exist. One top secret report, dated from 1998, specifically
states that the latest round of UFO sightings can only be attributed to ‘some power
outside Earth’ whose intentions are ‘not clear at this moment, due to all the failures to
communicate with the occupants of those craft, although all possibilities can be
considered at this date”. Blake kept reading the rest of the article, but there seemed to be
no reference to current operations on the reports they had managed to get their hands on.
“A whistle blower. Too bad he didn’t decide to leak the information to us”.
“I have spoken to someone at the Post who said they will pass copies of the ‘ET Papers’,
as the matter was mentioned on the major networks today, to all of who wants it to check
them out. As for their veracity, I’ve talked to the Under Secretary of Defense today: he
didn’t confirm it or deny it. The cat is out of the bag and they know it. They are only
trying to find a way to get out of this unharmed”.
Blake nodded. “What do you want me to do?”
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“Forget all other stories. Your top priority goes into this matter. I want to know what else
they are keeping away from the public”. After ten more minutes, Blake left the room and
headed out for his desk, completely awake. He only remembered that he didn’t have a
coffee yet three hours later, but by that time he hunger inside his bowels made him decide
that he should head outside to grab a bite somewhere.
June 12th, 2000

Dismissing all of his aides, President Winston closed the door of the Oval Office, to be
left alone with Vice-President Longstreet and the National Security Advisor, Candace
May. Winston and Casper had spent all night thinking of what he was going to say to the
US and the world about the situation and how to lessen the effects of it. Besides a local
rally or even a riot there wasn’t much of a social breakdown as it had been feared, but
they all knew that the release of the papers at least showed that the government was doing
something about it. There was still some trust into old Uncle Sam, but they knew that
wouldn’t last long, since they couldn’t just deny the veracity of the documents. And if
they didn’t anything, Congress would and on that moment everything could be on the
loose.
But there were other matters to attend as well, regarding the political situation. The VP
had just flown in after a pre-campaign travel to the Western states and needed to be
informed of the situation. He had the most to loose than all of the men here, since he
would be the party’s candidate to run for the presidency.
“John, I don’t need this at the moment! You have seen the polls, me and Vaughn are
closely matched”.
“George, we are trying to find the leak, but the best is to not worry too much about the
situation. We are going to acknowledge the existence of the reports, but we are only
going to reveal that they exist but seem to be only observing us. We will deny the
existence of X-Com and only recognize our own military and research efforts in the
matter. I have already talked to the other leaders of the Council and they agree on this.
We need to keep the panic down”.
“But what about Vaughn? He has been informed of the situation also before, but has been
kept out of most information. And he has already spoken today of the need to investigate
this whole situation fully. This has just turned into an election issue!”
“You need to keep this out as more as you can”. The National Security Advisor
concluded. “Right now we have everything contained and can even present evidence that
we are working in the situation, but we can’t have Congress or the press digging too
much. We and our allies have already taken measures to contain the release of dangerous
information but we need to keep the lid contained”.
“That includes X-Com? Why don’t we reveal the existence of the organization also? We
could use it to show that we are doing something”.
May simply shook her head. “You would be recognizing that: first, they are hostile;
second, that there’s an UN operation running on our territory that we don’t have any
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military control over it; and third, that you knew about all this and took part in keeping it
a secret. We already have the whole press going after us. And who knows what the aliens
think about all of this. Now you think if it will be good for your campaign to press this
matter too much”.
Longstreet couldn’t think of an answer. He turned to Winston and queried. “Is that what
you are going to say later on?”
“I already have the speech written. I also will be announcing that Mark has just turned in
his letter of resignation for the Director of Central Intelligence”.
“You are turning him into a scapegoat? We know that he isn’t responsible for the leak”.
May jumped in. “His position right now is unattainable. This has turned into what can be
a major scandal and he will recognize on the letter that he had made serious under
judgements about the situation which could have lead into a major disaster regarding the
situation”.
“How can you say that? Mark Casper has been one of the major players on our team
during this whole thing. How can we just dismiss him now?”
Winston voice showed his tiredness of the whole thing. “We all here know that George.
But, believe we need to present something to the altar of public opinion or they will came
after all of us. Mark knows that, yesterday at the end of the meeting he presented his
resignation of free will. And we don’t need to worry about what he will say to the press.
He understands it better than any of us”.
Longstreet still couldn’t believe it. “So you go out there and give the speech and
afterwards we downplay the thing?” Winston simply looked at him. “That’s how it goes.
We need to let the subject die. We can’t risk any more discredit into the government”.
Langley, Virginia, US
The mood inside the Agency’s headquarters struck Williams as unusual, but he could
understand well the feelings. He didn’t knew exactly to feel at the leak: for one side it
slightly amused him that some of the papers had actually been written by him, although
the version that had arrived at the Post had been censored of all names, either by the
paper or by the informer. On the other side the whole matter could easily bring social
chaos, although there had been no reports of violence and a lot of people seemed to be
turning into religion in the last days.
When he had stopped in a gas station to fill up the tank on his way to work, he had
listened a couple of college students discussing the situation over the line to pay. One of
them, barely looking as if he had just stepped out of high school had simply commented:
“So what? Everyone’s been listening stories about them for too long. No wonder they do
exist!”
Another of the costumers had interjected at the middle of the discussion, a man on his
fifties on his way to play golf. “Well son, but what if you actually have to fight ET?
Would you do it like I had to in Nam?” The youngsters kept their mouths quiet and
Williams could see that everyone was waiting to hear something about the aliens’
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intentions. And the answers he knew were too far dark and heavy for everyone standing
with him on the line to pay for gas.
When he arrived at his office the secretary told him right away that the Director had
asked him to meet before the President’ speech about the situation. Now, as he walked
inside he wondered what they had decided to publicly tell. He had advocated that the
majority of the facts relating to the aliens and their intentions to be released, so that all of
Earth could be prepared for the storm that one day would come if they didn’t unite. No
one knew for how long the fight with the aliens would go and government credibility was
already at a low, so it would be better to assume the whole thing. And the existence of X-
Com also, since it was the only force that had successfully battled the aliens and managed
to have achieved some major victories. This had been a covert operation for too long and
the difficulties coming from that concealment were more than the advantages now, since
the aliens knew now for sure of X-Com’s existence after the failed attack on the Japanese
base. But he had been kept out of the last night’s decision.
Mark Casper had a tired face like the man hadn’t slept all night, but he still managed to
smile at Williams as he got inside. “Came in, Williams and take a seat please”. Both
shook hands and Williams wondered what had happened.
“How did it go last night sir? What has the President decided?”
“I passed along your ideas but they didn’t pay much attention to them. To be honest,
everyone from the military to the other agencies and departments think that the Agency
had been having too much predominance on the whole question. The fact that the leak
came from our side didn’t help us much”.
“Sir, that’s bs, if you will forgive me. We have been the central point in the whole matter
since it started then. They just can’t remove us from being at the helm”.
“Williams, I was in no position to argue. For a number of reasons I have turned in my
letter of resignation for the post of Director of the CIA last night”. Seeing Williams’
shocked face he continued. “I can’t be precise but believe it will be less damaging if I
take this step, even though you shouldn’t believe everything you will hear about me. We
have to regain the public’s trust or otherwise our whole government will crumble down
and all that we have done so far becomes meaningless”.
Despite Williams’ inability to understand, he simply nodded. “I see. Are they going to
reveal the existence of X-Com?”
The DCI brought his eyes down and shook his head. “No. To be honest they want to
show that they have some control over the situation, not that we needed the UN’s help on
this one. And some nations at the Council had stated that the political situation in their
own countries could turn into far worse if that secret was revealed”.
“But what is Winston going to say?” The Director looked at his watch and picked up the
remote on top of his desk. “It has already started. Hear it for yourself”. Pressing a button,
a TV set on the other side of the room come live and both men moved to seat on a sofa
close to it. The image showed the President standing in the middle of the Press Room,
standing behind the blue seal of the United States. He had his reading glasses put on
while reading a speech.
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“…bringing me here to talk to the American people is most serious. As you might have
heard, in the past days a number of government documents have came out to the public
concerning the so called ‘UFO phenomenon’ that have been reported all over the nation.
For decades the discussion of extraterrestrial life has gone through our society, as our
reason told us it is logical to assume that the same conditions that allow life to bloom on
Earth could happen all over the universe. But until now we had no scientific proof, just
hints that we might not be alone out there.
But, for some years now we have received confirmation that there are advanced
civilizations that at this moment are watching us. This might come as a shock to all of
you and some might even argue that we should have kept the information public as soon
as we knew. We had our own reasons regarding national security for doing so, but we
have acted at all time with the acceptance of the leaders of Congress, your elected
representatives.
Like I said before, we know now that some of the unexplained phenomena over our skies
are the manifestations of a civilization that can travel through the stars and have taken an
interest over our planet over decades. We don’t know yet their motives behind it but we
are taking the necessary measures to investigate them. They are refraining from
establishing communications with us and have done their activities on the planet with
discretion.
For the time being I ask you all to maintain your normal lives, since there is no reason to
panic. We are constantly tracking their activities over the US and are in close contact
with our allies around the world concerning this matter. Our intelligence services and
military have been working hard, trying to assess if the aliens are actually a threat. This
information leak is a serious crime and the responsible will be brought to a court of law
but it has also made this Administration decide that something of this magnitude couldn’t
be kept in secret anymore.
Ultimately the public has the right to know and it is important that all of you know, since
this is the greatest test we might have to pass a nation yet. We are working to resolve this
enigma and all of us should be united now so that we can overcome this contact.
Thank you, good morning and God bless us all”.
Although Williams already knew most of the ideas contained on the speech, it still gave
him a strange feeling inside that he couldn’t describe. The whole thing seemed to be more
and more out of control, moved by strange forces that he couldn’t grasp. And he knew
that there was more here that meets the eye on this whole leak business.
“So where do this alien business go from here?” He still didn’t know what all of this
would mean. The former DCI tried to make things look better than they sounded. “There
wasn’t much discussion into that matter last night since everybody was more focused on
getting out of this political mess. Bottom line is that everyone’s neck, including the
Republicans, is too deep into this for it to be used as a political weapon. The story being
sold to the media is that the government is working and that the alien question should be
contained as possible and no rash action taken until we know more about them”.
“A gross understatement of what is going on. It will only last until the next terrorist
attack on an American city”.
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“Perhaps but if that turns out a solution will be found. Until then all of the intelligence
and military efforts are to continue as planned. They will be only replacing me, the team
will still be in place”.
Something crucial passed through Williams’s mind. “But what about your replacement,
sir? Has that been brought up on the meeting?”
Casper made a sour face before replying. “It hasn’t, but from what I have seen and heard
yesterday, Candace May is the best candidate for the position. I know how you feel about
her opinions Williams, but she will tackle the job fine”.
“I hope you are right sir, I sincerely do”.
June 18th, 2000

Area 51, Nevada, US
The two pilots standing close to the Aurora were getting on Eva Johannes’ nerves and she
was making a great effort to put up with them. She wondered if the Colonel had
deliberately assigned both of them as test pilots to annoy her. Harris seemed more a
killing machine than a human, listening to the explanations about the abilities of the laser
and plasma cannons her team had just installed into the plane, instead of the
reconnaissance gear it would normally carry. The man was exactly what made her get
chicken skin about the military: they seemed incapable of feeling any remorse when they
were taking lives when they pressed a trigger. Fighter pilots were even worse, it seemed,
no matter if Harris had seen his co-pilot die when an UFO had attacked and destroyed an
unarmed plane.
And the Captain was even worse. He simply acted, and talked, like damn John Wayne, no
to mention he could quite obnoxious with his advances on her. She just couldn’t stand the
macho attitude, reminding her of some really bad idiots who had tried to go on a date
with her on university, although they hadn’t been as worse as this one. “So doctor, are
you enjoying the United States? Is this your first time here?”, he asked from the chair he
was sitting, trying again to start a conversation.
“And it might be the last”, brushing him off and going back to the specifics of the gear
they would be testing later on the afternoon. “We have installed two types of weapons
inside the SR-75. The one that we will be testing this afternoon is the laser cannon,
developed from our own research. It has a range of about 15 miles and outside that
distance you can shoot it as much as you can but the only results you might achieve are
blinding a Sectoid’s eyes”.
Clark wondered if there was a joke there over the things. Harris thought of it for a second
and replied: “What’s the firing rate and potency of it?”
Johannes’ voice seemed as if it raised one tone. “Low, about eight seconds with an
energy release on the target a little superior than the one contained inside an Amraam
missile. Before you start complaining, these are tests and the Aurora can’t generate
quickly enough the energy necessary to increase…”
“I get it. What about the other cannon?” Looking at Harris and Johannes. Clark started to
wonder what was going between these two.
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She replied with a mechanical voice. “High energy plasma release, capable of taking
down a Large Scout with a single well placed shot. Close to forty miles of range, firing
rate of twelve seconds, for the same reasons as above. Anything else?”
Harris stood quiet and she picked up the speech again. “The test today is pretty simple:
both of you will take the Aurora to the test range where we’ll check the aerodynamics
and, if everything is OK we will try to engage a drone fighter and destroy it. As for…”
Clark kept listening, paying attention to the parts where he would be involved, but
otherwise thinking of ways to get this ice queen’s attention.
July 10th, 1947

Close to Roswell AAF, New Mexico, US
Picking up a canteen that was on the ground of the back seat, the German scientist
unscrewed the top and brought it to his lips. He then almost choke on the water as the
jeep where he was traveling hit a hole on the dirt road they were traveling. The whole
place was just getting to him, too dry and hot for someone who had spent all his life in
Central Europe. But he just was too curious about what he would find in the mesa where
he, the Major and the Colonel were traveling.
They passed by a number of military checkpoints on the way and he also saw a couple of
observation planes up on the air, together with trucks which came from where they were
going and seemed to be fully loaded. He had already inspected some of the debris that
had come from the first crash site and had found it impossible to determine what the
material was. He thought first it was some sort of aluminum alloy, specially developed
for aircraft, but the few tests he had performed in the morning completely puzzled him.
Although it was as light as aluminum, the metal had unheard of before strength and
flexibility.
After asking for some tools, he had tried using a welder and a sledgehammer on a small
piece, only to see that the heat and the strength didn’t leave a mark on it. And all of it on
a small sheet of metal not thicker than a paper sheet that could be bended by one’s hand
and afterwards return to its previous form by itself. What sort of technology was that?
The Colonel in the seat in front of him interrupted him. “It’s over that small hill. We have
already removed the bodies to better preserve them since some already showed the marks
of small predators and scavengers. But the craft’s main body is still there”. The Major
grunted an acknowledgement and the scientist kept quiet.
When they finally drove to the top of the small elevation and stopped in front of a
massive Army tent that had been erected, the Colonel disembarked the jeep and motioned
both men to follow him, moving straight through the tent to the other side of it. The
scientist followed him closely and when he arrived at the other side he tried hard to keep
his shock hidden.
A circular shaped craft rested on the ground below the elevation, clearly the reason why it
had stopped there, after traveling for a couple hundred meters on the ground, since there
was a large trail behind it. The color of it was gray, the same of the debris he had handled
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in the morning and he thought he could see view ports on the fuselage. And there were
military men all over it, as if they were ants swarming over a dead creature’s carcass.
He thought he knew what he was seeing, but he wondered of how it could be here since
Germany had lost and all prototypes of the plane had reportedly been destroyed to avoid
capture by the enemy. The Hannabu. One of the Fuhrer’s special projects to develop a
saucer shaped craft capable of going into space. Or threaten any location or country on
Earth because of its planned range. This could only mean that the Soviets had managed to
capture a Hannabu intact or…. He had avoided taking seriously any of the rumors that
said that a number of U-Boats and personnel had left Germany right before its fall,
heading for some unknown location where they could continue the fight.
The Major had already stepped down the slope and the scientist went hurriedly behind
him. “Doctor, this is why I brought you all along. You are to make a preliminary report
on this craft regarding everything you see: fuselage, apparent propulsion system and the
flying controls. And I want to know every peculiarity or impossibility it has and any ideas
you might have on how this technology works. Are we clear?” He simply nodded and,
looking at what seemed to be a door, went through it, too anxious to see the inside of the
craft and look for any clues to where it had been built.
Stepping inside and with the Major following him, he immediately was almost
overwhelmed by the stench inside, of something impossible to recognize but that had
been rottening for a while. Fighting it, he saw portable generators brought by the military
that lighted the inside and that there was also a blown up hole on the roof directly over
the center. It had close to seven meters in diameter below the hole there was a scorched
mark on the ground metal. Something had exploded here and, taking notice of a large
slag of metal standing close to one wall, he wondered if that might be the engine. To the
left there was what seemed to be the pilot’s seats but they seemed too small for a man to
sit there. That struck him as curious and he looked for any indications of what the
occupants might be but the military seemed to have already removed all traces of them.
The Colonel suddenly walked inside the craft and the Major looked back at him. “I have
received word from the base. One of them is still alive!” That phrase brought the
scientist’s attention and he turned, managing to catch the last words of the Major to the
Colonel as both men were hastily leaving the craft. “At least we will know where they
came from”. The German scientist decided to be patient and not show much attention to
that matter. Much was to learn first from here, the rest would come in time.
June 22nd, 2000

NORAD, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, US
The late afternoon alert caught everyone’s attention on the Air Defense Room and almost
made General Bigelow spill his coffee all over his aide. He put down the mug he was
holding and looked to see what had the radar systems detected. First he felt a little fear as
he picked up the red square moving towards the US and about to cross the North Pole.
Then he decided to confront his fears and asked: “Source of the attack?”
His aide had already picked up a phone and put a hand over the microphone as he replied.
“Not Russia, sir. This isn’t a rogue ICBM. Our northern radars are tracking the target and
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it fits the radar pattern of an UFO”. Bigelow felt relief. The whole facility had been built
to detect any aerial attack on the US and, more precisely, Intercontinental Ballistic
Missiles launched by Soviet Union or any other nation against the US. The majority of its
air defense radar grid covered the Artic, the most likely route for any missile aimed at
American cities. And the aliens seemed to know it somehow, since the majority of their
raids took other routes.
“Sir, our radars are showing it to be a large craft, possibly one of their Terror Ships!” The
aide was still holding the white phone. Bigelow turned to another officer manning one
console and ordered: “Show me a projection of possible targets, based on present flight
path and their estimated hour of arrival. Only the major cities”. The man started keying
instructions and, a couple of seconds later, a map of the north American continent
appeared on the monitor, with blue lines marking states and countries borders. “Denver,
four hours; Houston-Ft. Worth, five; Mexico City, six and a half”. The General turned to
his aide who handed him the phone. “Sir, I have the Secretary of Defense on the line”.
Before grabbing the phone he turned to the aide and asked: “Scramble all available
interceptors and get X-Com online and see if they have picked it up on their net already”.
“General, it’s going too fast. Our fighters will never be able to caught up with it”.

On the men’s showers, Captain Clark was close to finishing scrubbing off all of the sweat
and sand he had picked today. He had had worse days than this one, but as the days
passed it seemed as if the heat was getting more and more oppressive. And worse yet, the
hot weather was having the exact opposite effect on the ice queen, making her more and
more picky with things all the time. They had taken the Aurora airborne today again and
yet she was constantly asking for data over the radio. It had gotten to a point where Harris
had simply told to him: “You deal with her, I’ll do the flying”, leaving him not only in
charge of supervising the tests and keeping a look of things in general but also to having
to answer her solicitations.
He was now rinsing off all the soap, standing immobile right below the shower and
relaxing as a voice tried to call him back to reality. “Clark! Are you here?” He half-
blinked his eyes, unsure if the voice was a dream, until the door of the shower cabinet
where he was opened, making his skin tingle from the fresh air that come inside. Looking
behind his shoulder he saw Harris holding the door, still on his flight suit. “Clark, haven’t
you heard me?”
“Do you mind?!” Harris stepped back and he turned off the hot water and asked. “What’s
going on? Thought we had finished for today”. Going out of the cabinet he picked a
washed towel from a pile of clean ones. “Get yourself ready as fast as you can. A large
UFO has been detected heading towards the south. It’s going too fast for our F-22s or the
Air Force birds to intercept it. We have been ordered to take the Aurora and try to
intercept it”.
“Holy shit”. He stopped scrubbing. “I have brought your flight suit. Get ready me and
meet me at the hangar. We are taking off in fifteen minutes”. He then left Clark and the
Texan spent the next ten minutes trying to put on the space suit he had just worn the
whole day and swearing every time he ran into a problem.
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At the same time the hangar to where the Aurora had been towed after the morning flight
was swarming with activity as the technicians made the final preparations on the
electronic systems and fueled the craft with liquid hydrogen. Colonel Johnson and Dr.
Johannes were close to the airplane and the faces of both of them showed tiredness and
exasperation.
“Doctor, your recommendation that the Aurora shouldn’t be used has been noted. But the
fact is that we have detected a possible Terror Ship heading toward us and we need to
take it down before it lands in one of our cities”.
“Colonel, the weapons mounted upon the Aurora are here on experimental tests. The use
of such equipment in combat is full of risks. This project is under my supervision and I
can’t possibly authorize such a hazardous mission!”
“You don’t seem to understand, Doctor. That aircraft is under my command while I’m on
charge of this base and I’m taking full responsibility into authorizing such a mission.
That plane is getting up. It’s the only chance we have to take down the Terror Ship before
it strikes”.
“Colonel, I don’t care about if you are the dictator of this place. The weapons inside that
plane aren’t going anywhere and specially with that mental case flying it”. Johnson shook
his head. He had gone through the same thoughts also before deciding to assign Harris to
the mission. But the man had handled the Aurora with the same confidence and skill than
flying one of the F-22’s and he had seen lots of combat after being shot down.
“I had my reservations about Harris, Miss Johannes, but I trust him to do the mission like
he has done since he joined X-Com”.
“From what I’ve heard since I arrived here he takes unnecessary risks. I can’t allow him
to take unnecessary risks while trying to kill the UFO. If we lose these prototypes it will
delay the development of these weapons and then you won’t have new toys to play with.
How would that feel Colonel?”
“He will do his job. I’m trying to save lives here Doctor and yes, I know that there’s a
risk but I prefer to take it than to hear in the news about how many civilians got killed by
the terrorists. Now are you going to check the weapons or do I need to call some guards
from Theta to put you into custody?”
Johannes nearly jumped in shock and disbelief. “What?! Are you threatening to put me
into prison?” Johnson nodded right afterwards. “Yes. Like you said I’m the dictator
around here, in charge of all assets and personnel assigned to this base, even on a
temporary basis. Which means that if you persist on that attitude I’ll interpret it as a
refusal to follow orders and will act accordingly”. He kept a stern look to make her see
that he was serious about it.
To Johnson, Johannes looked as if she was trying really hard to constrain her. “I’m a
member of the Scientific Branch! On my work I report back to Dr. Chevereux not the
military!”
Taking notice of Harris, who had just entered the hangar, he decided to call the
discussion to an end. “You can discuss the legal technicalities as long as you stay on the
brig, Doctor or you can do your work. All I’m asking is for some collaboration and don’t
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worry about Harris”. The scientist lowered her head, trying not to look back at him. He
decided to give her some moments alone to decide and went by Harris to give him the
last details of the mission.
“I’ve dig up Clark and he’s on its way here”. Johnson looked at the pilot’s eyes, trying
again to see if the inner fire that burned inside them was still raging. “Very well. As soon
as you’re airborne contact the Air Force. They have diverted a Sentry from a training
mission and it’s about to get the UFO on its radar. And Colonel”, he made a pause, “get it
down, but bring the Aurora back to the base. If the Pentagon decides to fry me because
I’ve lost their plane your flying days here are over. Understood?” Harris nodded and after
wishing good luck to him, Johnson sped towards the base armory.
Close to Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, US

The radar dome placed upon the back of the fuselage of the E-3C Sentry aircraft was
slowly turning while the plane kept a northern course, propelled by its four jet engines.
The Boeing 707 had been converted to be an airborne platform for the detection of enemy
aircraft and to command fighters to intercept them.
Inside, a skeleton training crew had been just stirred by the recent orders to perform an
unscheduled exercise just as they had reached operational altitude. The training officer
had been too laconic, just mentioning that the base had just ordered them to conduct an
interception. That had brought many raised eyes and exchanges of glances from the
junior officers for they all had heard the President’s announcement concerning the
existence of UFOs. But most of their excitement turned into disappointment as the
instructors sat on unoccupied consoles and began managing the interception, keeping
them away out of the action. Still, some made excuses to get up from their seats and try to
steal a glance from what was going on the air.
Over Colorado, US
“Harris, we just got word from the Sentry. The bogey has dropped its height from fifty to
forty-five thousand and seems to be going even lower. Speed remains at Mach 4.2”. The
voice on his headphones made Harris slightly move his eyes to recheck his speed on the
glass panel in front of him were his Heads Up Display was projected. The display
brought up information at the level of the pilot’s eyes, so that he wouldn’t need to drop
his attention from flying to check for altitude or other data.
“Distance from target at 156 miles, ETA for the target…” Harris interrupted the other
pilot who was riding backseat on the Aurora. “I know the ETA. Just make sure that the
weapons are ready”. A pause came through the intercom but Clark decided to keep his
mouth shut, although he wasn’t too happy with being strapped to a supersonic plane and
being driven around by Harris.
Close to Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, US

The training officer in charge of training flight Sentry Zero Two – Zero Seven didn’t
know what was worse, keeping the trainees quiet and off the whole affair or dealing with
the pilot who was flying the interceptor plane. So far all of his orders to the fighter had
been anticipated by the pilot: every time he issued a course or altitude change, the plane
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had performed as it had been told, only a second too early. It seemed that the pilot
already knew what he was about to say and knew exactly what the intruder was
performing. How the training officer didn’t knew, since he had been informed that
Hammer flight didn’t had any air interception radar and he doubted that the pilot was
receiving any other information besides from him.
The whole matter puzzled him but he had heard a lot of rumors before about the flying
disks and US dark aircraft but he decided that it would be best if he just kept a check on
the whole operation and tried to keep out of the way. His experience was about directing
F-15s against MiGs, not using top-secret airplanes to fight UFOs.
Looking over the radar data displayed on the dark screen in front of him, he saw how the
small plane symbol representing Hammer had just completed a long turn clockwise
directed to put it on the UFO’s six o’ clock. The speeds of both craft were incredible to
behold: the interceptor was flying at more than Mach five, the UFO a bit slower. Pretty
soon it would all be over.
“Hammer, maintain heading at 172. Your target is at 123 miles. Good hunting”. As he
finished giving the coordinates, the instructor glanced over his shoulders and saw the
small group of students quickly moving their attention off him. He gave them a hard
look, considering how they should all have a lecture from the base security officer then
proceed to direct the pilot of the Sentry about the new heading he should be taking.
Over Colorado, US
Time seemed to be awfully slow for Clark, as he went again through the makeshift panel
in front of him that controlled the Aurora’s weapons. He didn’t want to look at his watch
to see how many seconds had passed since the last communication from the Sentry.
Harris was constantly giving him data about the UFO’s altitude and range, but the radio
was the only contact he had with the outside world. The SR-75 backseat that was usually
occupied by the photo officer had two small view ports but it had already turned into
dark. During the test flights the feeling of being encapsulated hadn’t bothered him, but
now he wished he was on the cockpit of a fighter, where he could be in control and aware
of everything. And another thing that was worrying him was that the Aurora was big and
fast but not that maneuverable, meaning that Harris wouldn’t be able to throw an roll to
evade a shot from the UFO as quickly as he would have from an F-22. Clark was
wondered if Harris had remembered that or worse, if he had but still would try to push the
plane over the limit.
“Clark, sixty miles. Get the plasma ready”. The voice startled him for a second, but his
hands moved to the instruments board in front of him, clicking switches and bringing the
charge on the weapon up to one hundred percent. “Plasma cannon is live and safety off”.
He spoke at the end to tell Harris that he could fire the weapon now at will from the
trigger located on the top of the control lever.
“Aye. Fifty miles, reducing speed for interception”. At that same moment Harris pulled
back the left throttle stick to keep a safe distance between him and the UFO. The cannon
operation procedures required him to visually locate the alien craft and he was wearing
night vision goggles over his helmet to help on the task. And he also had the help of the
Sentry’s radar, which was informing him of any changes on its speed and altitude. The
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thing had kept a steady direction from ever since it had been first detected, as if it was in
a hurry to get somewhere. And it was his job to prevent that from happening.
The small dot of light had been slowly increasing on the horizon, too low to be a star.
And Harris was keeping the circular sight on the center of his HUD right upon it. The
cannons line of firing had been aligned with the aircraft’s flight path, making the
discharge of the weapons a bore sight shoot. The Aurora simply had to be flying right
towards the UFO for it to hit.
The range slowly decreased until the Sentry told him that he was at less than forty miles
from the contact. At that moment Harris simultaneously cut more power from the engine
with his left hand and released the safety switch from the red trigger with an upward
move from his right thumb. “Fox Zero”, he called on the radio to warn that he was firing.
When he pressed the trigger with his right index finger he was already closing his eyes to
protect his night vision from the green flare of the superheated plasma. When he opened
them a second later, the light that came from the goggles still made him blink and then
scowl as he saw the bolt going over the UFO. “Miss. Speed it up, Clark”.
On the back section of the cabin, Clark was permanently monitoring the status of the
weapon and going over and over the firing procedures. He wondered for how long this
would go on, since Harris had already fired the cannon ten times, managing to score four
solid hits by now while the UFO hadn’t even fired back yet. Seeing that the light that
indicated the status of the plasma cannon had gone green again, he passed back control to
Harris.
As the radio started to clatter again, Harris already knew what the Sentry had detected on
its radar and was about to inform him. The UFO seemed to be reducing its altitude, but to
what purpose Harris couldn’t fathom at all. The thing had to be damaged and the wisest
would be to try to shake off his pursuer, but it was still holding a parallel course with
him. Unless it was preparing to set itself down on earth…. “Clark, get that laser cannon
ready. This thing goes down now one way or the other”.
Hearing his words, Clark just tried to ignore whatever the other man meant. He just
wanted to complete the damn mission and get out of the tin can he was flying in and take
a damn shower and grab a good night’s sleep and debriefing could wait until the next
day. He also made a mental note to remind himself that no woman was worth this amount
of trouble.
The UFO continued to drop down in the sky, moving towards a white cloud cover lit by
the moonlight and where occasionally a mountain peak would sneak up. It was shaped as
an ellipse but it was curved inwards at the center and it was more than eighteen feet tall.
The plasma blast that finally brought it down hit it at the uppermost section of its rear,
making the whole craft shiver on middle air for a brief second, until the UFO started to
drive off his intended flight path to the right and plunge towards the ground on an
uncontrolled dive towards New Mexico.
400
November 5th, 1947
Wright Army Air Field, Ohio, US
The recovered UFO was standing in the middle of a hangar, after having being brought to
air base through a heavy guarded train all the way from New Mexico. Some of the less
damaged equipment found in the inside had already been dissassembled, although the
scientists moving around the fuselage could do nothing but guess at their purpose or even
how they worked. But the German scientist wasn’t too worried about that at the moment.
He had managed to be assigned to group researching the fuselage and their team had
done the most progress so far. He had kept secret the fact that he had worked on such
craft before, back in Germany, while using the knowledge he had learned from working
on the Hannabu project to advance his team’s research. His team, in fact, since one month
after the work had started, he had been promoted to lead all of the members of the
scientific group. The Major was pleased with his work, he had personally made a point of
saying it so and the majority of the other scientists were either too dumbstruck at the
finding or were uninterested to leading the research efforts. It had been too easy to
advance his position, to the point where he was able to start hearing things.
Actually they were more of confirmations to what he had learned from the craft. The
initial upon which the Hannubu had been based were bizarre and extremely advanced,
leaving Germany unable of mass producing and deploying such craft. But the machine
the Americans had captured was even more technologically developed! The Reich had
used a highly modified jet engine to power the Hannabu, but this craft seemed to use
something so powerful, that he first had considered that it used some of that new atomic
energy. But when some of the American scientists assigned to the atomic facilities had
seen it, there were at a loss to explain it with the current laws of physics. Even Einstein’s
Relativity theory couldn’t make any sense of it.
He knew neither that the Russians or the English could have developed something so
advanced as the craft who had been brought to here. And the origin of the data behind the
Hannabu had never been clarified by the high Nazy Party officials responsible for the
project. The references he had picked up from the bodies picked up had completed the
puzzle for him. Something greater than all the powers of this world was out there on the
skies and for quite some time it seemed. He looked up at the catwalk standing right above
the craft and saw the Major and the Navy Commander discussing in a small office
connected to the aerial corridor. The Major had been made the top boss on the whole
matter, but it still amused the scientist to know things that even him had never shown any
sign of being informed. That would be useful later.
He headed towards a flight of stairs to go and meet the Major. As he reached the small
windowed office, the Commander stepped out, clearly distressed, passing by him without
saying a word. When he stepped into the small enclosured area, the military man was
lighting a cigarette with a zippo lighter, the yellow and blue flame lighting his darkened
face. “Come on in, doc and close the door please”.
He did so and asked: “Is everything good?” The Major didn’t reply for a second, giving
him a hard stare. “I just informed the Commander that his services and those of the
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Office of Naval Intelligence are no longer required and told him to turn every bit of
information they have. He was not pleased”.
“Am I being left out of the program also?” The Major took a deep drag of his cigarette.
“You might. The President has issued special orders to deal with this subject, following
the recommendations of several key personnel, both military and scientific. A special
group is going to be created to investigate this matter”.
“And you managed to keep a rival to your own power out of it. Is this a test, Major? Are
you testing my loyalty to the US? Or is my loyalty to you that it’s being tested?”
A small smirk came of the Major’s mouth but he quickly surpressed it. “You are smart
Doctor, just don’t get too smart or we might dispense with your services, either way”.
The scientist tried to ignore the implict threat. He had dealt with this sort of persons
before and knew when to back off.
“Major, to resolve this matter I will offer you a token of my good faith”. The officer
seemed between amused and serious, as if not believing any of the scientist’s false
naivete. “I know about the ocupants of this craft, although I never saw their bodies. And I
had already seen similar craft to this one”.
The Major’s face turned serious and he threw his cigarrete to the floor. “I see. And what
am I supposed to offer that for that information?” The scientist simply smiled. “Why
nothing at all, Major. I have no desire of going anywhere else in the world, or Earth for
that matter. My family is here with me in America. I wish only that we can live a happy
life here”. The Major studied him carefully for seconds. Then he simply asked. “Got any
kids?” The scientist relaxed and nodded. “One. He is starting to go to elementary school
in Massachussets. He is liking to be here”.
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Chapter Nineteen – Star Chariot
June 23rd, 2000
Area 51, Nevada, US
Standing immobile while the technician finished checking his power suit, Johnson was
looking at the other troopers on their preparations for the upcoming fight. They were
standing in the Ready room under the hangars that housed the Skyranger transports,
where the teams would get ready for a mission. Before X-Com had moved into the base,
it had been used before for storage of fuel and lubrificants. Now the technicians had
placed gantries from where the armored suits were hanging limp a few feet above the
ground, suspended by metal chains that connected the electronic cocoons where the suits
where housed to the ceiling. The lights were dim and yellow: no one had bothered to
replace the overhead lamps that hung from the ceiling with more potent ones.
All around the technicians were busy, trying to avoid the oil pools on the floor and fixing
the white suits into the soldiers and making sure that there wouldn’t be any glitch that
could go against the trooper in battle and provoke his death. Already they had to bring
down two other suits to replace faulty ones that had failed the diagnostic tests that they
were running on them. Others were bringing in weapons racks in carts from the base
armory, holding a variety of laser and plasma weapons, together with the special crates
designed to store the Elerium ammunition clips. As each soldier finished up getting into
his power suit and powering it, he or she would pick up the necessary equipment and
leave for the assembly area.
Looking around for the members of his squad, he saw that White had already went up to
start manning the communications console. Patterson was also on his way upwards and
Crossett was nearby and almost ready also, flexing his arms to look for quirks in the
exoskeleton. Two strong taps on his Johnson from the technician told him that the suit
was fully operational. He increased the power of the small Elerium engine that powered it
and took a step forward. The electric tension-actuators located underneath the armor on
the legs multiplied his effort a microsecond later and the limb performed the movement
with the same speed and balance as a natural step.
Moving to the weapons racks he picked a heavy plasma weapon that was resting
upwards. Everyone seemed to be having a liking for the heavy plasma lately, since the
extra weight of the weapons was encountered by the additional strength provided by the
power suits. It was the deadliest weapon they possessed for now, at least until the
scientists had finished researching the portable missile launcher used by the aliens on the
attack on Complex YY-18. Experience had taught everyone the value of downing an
alien with just one shot. If you needed two, the alien might fire back. And the amount of
clips recovered from crashed UFOs meant that they could use the weapons without
ammunition problems, because unfortunately the aliens also seemed lately to be
equipping all their troops with the heavy plasmas. He checked it to see if there were any
exterior signs that might indicate any possible unreliability but besides a dent on the grip,
the weapon seemed to be on its proper condition. Moving to a close armored box, he
retrieved a banana shaped blue ammunition clip for it and jacked it into the opening on
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the body of the weapon were it was meant to fit. A small vibration told him that the clip
had been properly inserted and the weapon was now energized. Johnson looked at the
small diode panel that the X-Com technicians had installed on all plasma weapons to
show the available charge on the clips: it marked 99 per cent. Satisfied he picked up
another clip and checked it also, afterwards grabbing also a couple of grenades and a
medikit. Closing his helmet, he then moved towards the elevator that would lead him into
the above hangar, with the sounds of his steps on the concrete floor being echoed by the
ones made by last remaining troopers who had only now gotten ready. Crossett was
nearby and had just finished getting his gear ready and was waiting for Johnson, but the
Colonel whisked the bodyguard off and upstairs.
Johnson and another trooper were the last ones as he had gotten to the grated door of the
cargo lift. Seeing that there wasn’t enough room for he waved the troopers inside to go
ahead, leaving him and another soldier waiting side by side for the next elevator ride. He
had also his helmet down and was holding a plasma rifle instead, pressed against his
chest. When the lift finally came back after a slow ascent and descent, the trooper moved
and opened the metal grid and Johnson entered, followed afterwards by the other soldier
who then closed the door. He slapped a big red button on the sidewall and they started
going upwards.
The trooper then moved his hand to his helmet and unlocked it, bringing the faceplate to
an upward position and turning then to Johnson. Seeing Markovitch’s face, he brought
his own faceplate upwards, making a devilish grin and saying: “The suit nearly fooled
me, but I was almost damn sure it had to be you”.
She put her armored gloves on his shoulders and moved her mouth to his. Johnson held
her on the waist while both their lips were connected in a kiss for a couple of seconds
before parting. “Yeah? How come?” She spoke to his left ear or tried to, since it was
inside the helmet and both of their faceplates collided in the process. “Although that
replacement suit doesn’t have a Captains double bars, it still has the markings for Second
platoon. Your platoon is always the first to get ready”.
She replied his smile but suddenly looked upward in frustration as she saw that pretty
soon the elevator would be arriving at the hangar as the floor of the hangar appeared
upwards. “Speaking of which…”. She removed herself from her arms and picked up her
plasma rifle. As she was lowering her faceplate back down her eyes sought his and
finding them she spoke on a whisper: “Love you”, before closing shut the helmet and
sealing it.
The entire team was aligned in the front of a Skyranger, with each squad making a
column leaded by the commander. As Johnson and Markovitch stepped out of the
elevator, they moved towards the formation, which looked as an army of giant monsters.
The suit’s typical carapace protected the front torso with shoulder and breast section,
together with a lower section that connected the abdomen to the legs. On its the back, the
armor offered less protection and it was also where the power system, air purifier and
electronic equipment that allowed the X-Com troopers to carry several times their weight
in weapons and armor was installed. The front of the suit was strong enough to take a
heavy plasma shot on specific conditions, but was also responsible for some bad base
jokes related to the troopers wearing them and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
405
Markovitch moved to her position as commander of Zeta squad and Second Platoon
while Johnson went to the front of the formation where Major Patterson, White and
Crossett were waiting for him on attention, together with a smaller figure clad in the older
blue personal armor. That puzzled Johnson, since the older suits were only issued to the
training squads and the security forces. The Major saluted him and reported: “Sir, all
combat squads present and ready. The team is ready for your orders, sir!” The noise of all
the troopers standing in attention almost came close to the sound of the Skyranger’s
engines being warmed up.
Johnson snapped off a salute in reply before turning to the smaller figure, which he now
had recognized as being Dr. Johannes, the German scientist from Mother One. “What’s
the meaning of this?” He asked to both of them. Patterson’s eyes flicked back towards the
Colonel and he started. “Sir, the Doctor says that she has the right to come with us on the
mission, I tried to explain to her that…”
She flatly spoke: “General Order One-Zero-Five, Colonel. I have every right to be here”.
Trying to hide his puzzlement and irritation, he kept staring at her. “Excuse me, doctor?”
She crossed her arms in front of her and shot back. “According to the regulation, Colonel,
a member of the scientific branch may accompany a combat mission, in order to serve as
a technical consultant and as to immediately start preparing the research of any alien
craft, life forms or artifacts recovered”.
Johnson opened his eyes. “You have to be insane, doctor. There’s no way I’m going to
bring a civilian in a combat zone”. Her coldness struck him as she ignored him and kept
talking. “The presence of the scientific personnel is dependent upon the authorization of
the senior military commander in charge of the mission”.
He placed his arms on his sides, as if giving her a lecture, while several of the troops tried
to hide their grins. On the ranks, Jones leaned forward towards Rodriguez, who was
standing in front on him and spoke in a whisper. “Gezz, the lady must have Floater
brains”. Rodriguez let go of a small laugh and Jones continued: “or maybe she just likes
to be into that tight armor”. That brought grins on all the male soldiers around who heard
it, but somehow Sergeant Baker, who was in the front ranks overheard the whispered
comments and let go of a low grumble that made them both shut up.
“However, in specific situations, such as the possibility of recovery of new artifacts that
might enhance research regarding alien weapons, propulsion or other vital research areas,
the decision of the commander can be overridden through the next level of the chain of
command”. Suddenly Johnson wasn’t so amused anymore and White moved closer to
him, almost afraid to speak. “Sir, I got the call when you were arriving. Commander
Illyuschenko has approved her inclusion into the mission”.
Johnson felt he was getting nearly close to burst like a grenade. “You mean you just
decided to went over my head?!?!” The scientist tugged her lips, clearly taking pleasure
on the situation. “Like you said to me before, there’s a Terror Ship out there on the
ground, a type of craft that we have never examined in close detail before. I just took the
necessary steps to make sure that we are able to recover all the data we can from it, so
that you can have all the nice weapons you like”.
406
Johnson turned his head towards everyone else around him. Patterson wisely kept his
mouth quiet, Crossett simply shrugged his shoulders and White looked as if he wanted to
say something, but decided otherwise.
“Very well. But you are going to keep yourself right back at the landing zone until we
clear the place out of aliens”. He turned to the Major. “What’s the status of Skyranger
Four?” Patterson shook his head. “Two, possibly three more hours. They still haven’t
fixed the hydraulic leak”.
“We can’t wait. Fourth Platoon stays behind and follows after us when it’s ready”. The
Major nodded since he had already arrived to the same conclusion minutes before. He
turned to the troops and ordered them to start boarding the Skyrangers. “All teams board
their craft. We are leaving!”
New Mexico-Colorado border, US

When the flight of X-Com craft was performing their descent through a clouded section
of the sky into their target area, a sudden turbulence shaking everyone inside the cargo
area of Skyranger One. The troops handled it quite well: the majority of them quickly got
hold of the handlers next to their seats the plane and used them to steady themselves.
However for Johannes the event didn’t go so smoothly since she was unused to the
Skyrangers. She tried to grab the arm of the soldier closest to her but her hand slipped
over the metal surface of the suit and she found herself being projected to the other side
of the ‘Ranger as the plane suddenly jerked on the air to the other direction.
The trooper seated in front of her dropped his heavy plasma on his lap and grabbed her
shoulders with both his hands, stopping her motion. She found herself looking directly at
his helmet, which was roughly shaped as a skull. It was round on the top where it had
large dark viewports, one larger than the other, while at the thinner mouth area there were
two metallic pertrusions. “Danke”, she muttered and quickly let go of his grip to get back
to his seat. The X-Com soldier used one of his now available hands to hold himself again
but reached for something on his neck with the other. A hiss followed after the faceplate
went upwards and Hopkins looked carefully at her, replying. “You’re welcome”. She
turned her face from him and waited for the landing.
Later, Private Jones was looking at the crashed UFO through the magnifying visor on his
helmet and couldn’t stop wincing as he thought what might be lurking on its inside. The
craft had landed close to a ridge, on a dry riverbank. The Skyrangers had first performed
a flyover over the craft to determine its exact position and afterwards had landed the
other side of the elevation to avoid detection by the aliens. Since Johnson didn’t know on
which side the doors of the craft were located, he had the three platoons forming a line
and moved towards the UFO in a direction parallel to the craft’s length.
After moving for a quarter of a mile with no aliens spotted yet, the scouts had finally
found the UFO and determined the side on where the doors were located. The craft had a
circular tall middle section from where two lower sections where connected. The team
had reached the UFO at the one of those smaller parts, where the doors had been found
out. He ordered Second Platoon to dug in and watch over those entrances, while the First
would circle around through the back of the craft to sweep for any lurking aliens and
reach to the doors that presumably where at the other end. His own platoon would swing
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around the Second’s position and move over the ridge to cover both doors while the First
got itself on position to storm the UFO.
The first encounter with the aliens occurred when Hopkins’ squad point man got
suddenly fired upon as they approached the ridge. Two of the plasma shots missed him
and the third hit the Beta trooper fully on the chest but the suit protection saved him from
serious damage. Third Platoon immediately dove for cover while trying to discover the
unseen alien responsible for the shots. It didn’t took too long: the moment the alien
moved to fire again, the snipers of Omega squad immediately detected him and King
killed it with a well placed shot from his heavy laser weapon.
While the Third was getting slowed down, Jones and the rest of Gamma squad at the
extreme left of the formation, the closest to the alien craft. Despite the distance, they had
come quickly by the right side of the UFO, rushing to mount a guard over the twin doors
on the left ‘wing’ of the craft. His platoon hadn’t found any aliens yet as they were
moving through the plains, but the Third had bumped into a couple of Snakemen as they
moved through a series of gullies, on their way to the top of the ridge that overlooked
both wings. The news about the identity of the aliens they were facing made everyone
shiver: Snakemen were known to use Chrysallids when performing terror attacks. That
made everyone particularly cautious as they advanced across the dry land, making sure
that none of the devilish aliens could be hiding by the small parches of bushes and small
trees. The number of troopers assigned to rear and flank guard had been increased but
even still everyone showed nervousness, especially if they felt something touching their
backs, even if it was just another soldier.
They finally spotted the other smaller section of the UFO, standing right close to where
they expected, more than fifty yards away from the base of the small plateau, gleaming
orange as the slow moving Sun rose on the horizon, right over the craft. The Captain had
just ordered the whole platoon to dug in and wait, while the remainder of the team got
into their positions to the right. No one spoke a word as the troopers rushed to find any
available cover.
On the center, Third Platoon had just now finished clearing a large patch of thorny bushes
almost impossible to pass until they used lowered discharges of the plasma weapons,
which cut the tangled branches like a razor going through paper. The delays were
troubling Johnson, who wanted to raid the UFO as quickly as possible, before the
Snakemen inside got too heavily entrenched inside their craft. Then suddenly a call came
on the tactical radio. “They are coming!”
The doors on the section of the UFO that Markovitch’s squad was facing suddenly
opened without a sound. However the first alien didn’t even managed to put his tail out
on the dry terrain before a heavy plasma blast fired by Sergeant Krenon took it down.
The Snakeman stopped on its tracks for a second before falling on the ground and
keeping the door open. The next alien to step into visibility made Markovitch’s neck hair
go upwards, as a black oily shape jumped out of the UFO and started heading towards
their position at a speed impossible for a human to attain. “Chrysallids! Shit!” The only
response she had was Krenon’s answer: “Heavy plasma on their way Cap!”
To Jones it seemed that the situation was getting too freaking close: the platoon was still
moving towards their positions as three Chrysallids burst out of his side of the UFO and
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start to race towards them. He hit one of them with his laser rifle but it seemed to have no
effect on the monster. Kneeled-down next to him, Pershing tried to aim at the fast moving
figure, who seemed to be taking leaps towards their position and had already closed half
the distance but his snap shot went wide, hitting the side of the UFO. His squad had been
taken by surprise by the aliens’ kamikaze attack and only a couple of soldiers had
managed to take a couple of shots at the ghostly figures who now were getting too damn
close to their position. He swore and pointed again at the aliens.
Letting go of a full automatic laser and plasma burst from their weapons, Jones and
Pershing finally killed the dark gray Chrysallid while it was only ten yards from their
position. But they didn’t have time to fell any relief. A human scream from their right
iced Jones’ blood and made him turn to that direction.
A Chrysallid had reached Delta’s position and was standing right before Private Martin,
with one of his claws hooked on the chin of his helmet and using it to lift him to his feet.
The soldier dropped had dropped his weapon and was trying to dislodge the sharp limb
with his metal arms, with no success. In a swift movement of his other limb, the alien
slashed the front of his armor with its other claw, ripping through the reinforced alien
alloys and the flesh inside, drawing an even louder scream from the soldier it cut through
his muscle and the sternum.
Jones thought that the trooper had bought his six feet under, but the alien had other
intentions. The ovipositor in his abdomen unwrapped itself and shot through the human’s
chest, piercing the flesh while it moved to drop its obscene cargo. Martin immediately
released himself from the alien’s limb and brought his hands to his head, taking out the
helmet. His mouth became wide opened as if he was screaming but no sound came and
his eyes seemed to be almost jumping out of their sockets.
“Take it out Jones!” The call came from behind him, but he hesitated before shooting a
fellow trooper. Confusion broke into the X-Com’s ranks as the aliens suddenly breached
their formation. The now zombie trooper grabbed the nearest soldier and started to use
his own armored arms as clubs to beat him, regardless of the damage he was inflicting to
itself. Satisfied with his work, the Chrysallid moved towards Delta’s commander, Lt.
Hanley, who was trying to use its own plasma rifle to disentangle the trooper.
Using his left hand, Pershing shoved Jones out of his way and to the side, trying to shoot
at both the Chrysallid and the now zombie trooper, holding his heavy plasma with only
his right hand. The blackened muzzle of the weapon flashed three times in a quick
succession, with mixed results. Two of the shots hit the Chrysallid directly on its back,
burning through its tough hide and showing its green and purple entrails. The other one
hit the Lieutenant on its leg, the superheated atoms cleaving towards the armor and nearly
chopping off his right limb.
The scream of the injured officer snapped Jones back into reality. Searching on the
ground for his laser rifle, he found it laying close to him, but as he was aligning it
towards the zombie, the Captain and Rodriguez came by his sides and shot the zombie at
point blank range, scorching the now dented and burned power suit it was still wearing.
Jones saw the human figure-dropping limp to the ground as he was getting himself up to
his feet, looking for the remaining Chrysallid. An all clear sign from Alpha squad told
him that it had been already taken care of and he stood watching as trooper Kyle brought
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out his medikit and started to contain the massive bleeding on the Lieutenant’s leg.
Suddenly he detected movement coming from the body that used to be private Martin.
Two pointed spikes thrust themselves of the armored back of the zombie, cutting through
the metal. A quickly enlarging gash appeared, together with the small and still immature
head of a newborn Chrysallid. “Fuck!!!!!” Jones screamed as he drew his laser rifle
towards the alien that was hatching out of the X-Com trooper’s body, continuously firing
on its head until it was nothing more than a smoking lump, coming out upwards from the
shell of the power suit.
“Jones! That’s enough!” The voice of the Captain made him stop, still standing over the
dead remains of both alien and human. Kyle was close to him, with his power suit all
covered in crimson blood coming out of the sliced femoral artery on the Lieutenant’s leg.
He pressuring the nasty wound with his hands to avoid that the X-Com officer would
bleed into dead, while Pershing was trying to carefully remove the armor from the leg of
the Lieutenant, so that the other trooper could properly apply a tourniquet. Bradley was
lying close, his helmet already removed but his eyes closed. Jones couldn’t tell if he was
dead or just unconscious. He felt the Captain’s arm on his shoulder and turned to him, his
arms shaking slightly. “You killed it. Let’s go. Pershing and Kyle are staying behind to
take care of the injured. We need to get inside the UFO and give a hand to Second
Platoon”. Giving a last look at his X-Com comrades, he moved towards the twin doors of
the UFO.
On the other side of the UFO, when the Chrysallid started to rush towards their position it
was immediately killed halfway by three well placed shots by Zeta and Phi squads.
Markovitch felt a little of satisfaction on the reaction of her soldiers, but an orange figure
on the doorway of the UFO suddenly made a swing of its arm too familiar to her.
“Grenade!” She immediately called on the radio but the call came too slow. An egg-sized
object flew through the air, landing on the middle of Kappa’s squad and exploding a
second later. The sound wave from the explosion made Markovitch wince, while a large
fireball engulfed the location of the squad right afterwards, throwing human figures
around and burning the few patches of vegetation. Two other X-Com soldiers responded
in the same fashion: taking profit of the dead alien who was preventing the twin doors
from closing, each of them readied an alien grenade and threw it towards the UFO. One
sailed over the dead Snakeman while the other hit the wall on the side of the door with a
metal clank and rebounded backwards. Markovitch and the rest of her platoon didn’t
bother to look for the blast and all of them dove to the ground.
The twin explosion sent smoke and debris coming out of the opening in the UFO, while
the pure power of the Elerium detonation simply obliterated the body of the alien on the
doorway, leaving only on the ground the heavy plasma it was carrying. With the removal
of the obstacle that was activating the entrance’s mechanism, the doors closed themselves
a second afterwards with a low sound.
Getting upwards, Markovitch readied her plasma rifle for any alien on the inside that
didn’t had enough yet. Her squad and Phi did the same also, covering the door, but there
were no signs of Kappa. “Digriz!” She called on the platoon channel. “Are you alright?”
A human figure rose on the location of Kappa and started to move in a low position
towards her, walking as if he was still shaken.
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Reaching her, she noticed that the helmet’s radio antenna had been destroyed while the
Lt. raised the visor. “Captain, Donnaly bought it. He jumped right on top of the grenade
as it landed. There’s nothing much of him left to bury. Bartfast and Sharkley have some
minor injuries, but they still can fight”. She raised her visor also and replied: “You are
going to stay here. Watch out for any alien stragglers that decide to get back to the UFO.
We are going inside”.
As White finished telling him reports from both confrontations, Johnson simply
suppressed the wish that things had gone better so far. They had dropped two Snakemen
while moving around in a semi-circle designed to cover the ground close to the UFO. But
that had lagged them and he wondered if he could have done differently, so that his own
platoon could have given some assistance and avoided the number of casualties. There
were two dead troopers already, Hanley would die unless they flew him immediately
back to base and three others were injured. He still had more than enough men and
women to finish the job but two squads would be out of action for a while. Putting out
such thoughts, he started issuing orders to White: “First and Second Platoons secure the
UFO. Epsilon squad, link with Second Platoon and assist them. Hopkins, the same with
First. Patterson, contact the Rangers and tell one of them to come back here to
immediately fly the injured back to the nearest military medical facility”.
As he finished, he looked around. Crossett was close to him, keeping a watch over any
possible threat. The troopers from Omega were doing the same, hidden in concealed
positions. No Snakemen or Chrysallid would be able to miss the snipers and sneak on
them. Patterson moved closer. “Colonel, the Skyranger is about to lift off and join us, but
the pilot says that the scientist has boarded the plane and is insisting to come along and
refusing to leave”. Suppressing a chill of rage, he wanted to tell her to piss off but he
thought otherwise after a second. “Tell him that she can come but at her own
responsibility and drop her off at the location of the First. It’s time she sees what we do
here”.
As soon as the order came, Zeta and Phi squads had already closed with the twin doors on
their ‘wing’ and were standing close by the entrance, the troopers and their weapons
ready to get inside. Markovitch gave a nod to Krenon, who was on the other side of the
doors, and the platoon sergeant used his metal hand to activate the doors of the UFO.
With a whooshing sound, they disappeared upwards, revealing a small chamber filled
with reddish smoke. Three dead Snakemen were lying on the ground, their bodies
wrecked by the grenade explosions, together with the remains of some sort of alien
equipment on the side opposed to the doors. Looking closer, Markovitch saw that the
wing was connected to the main body through a large corridor, in no doubt the arm that
linked both sections. With a hand sign, she ordered the rest of her squad to move inside
and cover the passageway. The X-Com soldiers quickly rushed and when they reached
their positions, Markovitch followed them.
Looking over the corridor to the main body, Prune signaled her that it looked clear. She
nodded and he quickly dashed to the other side of the chamber, keeping a crouched
position as he crossed the entrance. The X-Com Captain moved over to his former
position and looked. The lower middle section of the UFO had apparently suffered
extensive damage on the crash, since the whole area showed signs of massive explosions.
There were few remaining walls that where standing up, while there was no sign of the
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propulsion systems. The only piece of equipment that seemed to be intact was the
elevator to the upper level, whose violet light was burning brightly on the middle of the
craft, indicating the location that the aliens used to move through the levels of the UFO.
No Snakeman or Chrysallids were visible and she ordered Krenon to move inside as she
and the remainder of her squad joined Prune, one by one on the other side of the
chamber. Resting her back on the UFO’s wall, she activated her radio. “Jerrel, where are
you?” The response came immediately: “Coming through the other doors, no aliens on
this chamber”.
“There’s an elevator on the middle. We are going to move toward it. Watch your fire”.
Padding Prune on the shoulder, she pointed him to move forward with her thumb. The
squaddie moved carefully into the corridor, holding his laser rifle on both hands, step by
step, followed by Dare and herself. She was halfway when she suddenly saw a green
plasma bolt coming from the ceiling and hitting Prune’s left shoulder. The soldier’s legs
faltered but he managed to keep standing up while bringing his laser rifle on the direction
of the shot. Dare immediately looked upwards and saw that there was an upper chamber,
where a Snakeman was standing on a platform ten feet above them. Both soldiers fired
their weapons at the same time and the alien crashed to the ground level right in front of
them.
Markovitch rushed forward and saw that there was a door on the higher chamber, in no
doubt linking it to the rest of the upper level. It seemed to have been designed to ambush
any intruders or at least it served that purpose perfectly. “Jerrel, watch out for the end of
the corridor!”
Rodriguez was almost reaching the end of the corridor when Markovitch’s warning came.
He brought his laser rifle upwards and saw what the Captain meant. However, the
platform on this side seemed empty. He relaxed his shoulders for a second, but the sound
of something hitting the floor on his back made him shiver. He quickly turned, but the
only thing he saw was a Chrysallid being hit on his side by a shot from the Captain’s
plasma rifle. The alien trembled and dropped the pointed arm that was about to cut
through Rodriguez’s back. Another shot killed it and the alien gave a terrifying shriek.
Looking over to the other side of the UFO, Markovitch had seen the Chrysallid leaping
down, but before she could shout a warning the monster had already been hit. She tried to
point her own weapon but refrained from shooting for fear that she might hit somebody
from the other platoon. As the alien was finally killed, she looked upwards he saw that
there was another upper platform on the other side, but only this one had no door. “How
the hell did that thing got there?” The platforms were too high for a human to reach, so
there was only one way upwards. “Krenon, join Captain Jerrel on the elevator. We are
staying here to take care of Prune and watch those doors”.
When the Sergeant reached the middle of the UFO, Captain Jerrel, Jones and Rodriguez
were already standing close to it, with Alpha squad also remaining behind. One by one
they placed themselves on the violet light and moved their arms upwards, and the
antigravity device brought each of them upwards in a quick movement. When Jones
reached the upper level he was on guard but he saw that they were in a small chamber,
directly facing a door. He cleared the violet light and joined Rodriguez by the side of the
entrance. Both soldiers then opened it and brought their weapons while taking a peak.
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Jones saw that there was a door standing directly in front of them, while they were
standing in the middle of a small corridor, each side ending on a T. They started moving,
leaving the door to the team members that were right behind them. When Jones reached
its end, he ignored the right as the call came. “Chamber in front of lift clear. Door on
each side”.
Standing against the wall and looking over his shoulder, he saw the door that connected
to the platform that they had seen on the lower level. He also saw the front chamber of
the craft, with pink consoles and blue seats. And a couple of figures standing on their tails
and holding weapons. A plasma shot grazed the wall of the corridor close to him. “Aliens
on the front chamber!” He shouted.
“No kidding!” Rodriguez’ voice was followed by sound of plasma fire coming from the
other side of the corridor and he guessed the other trooper had also spotted aliens on that
end. “Fire in the hole!” The Hispanic called and an explosion followed it.
Taking another look, Jones saw that the chamber was now filled with smoke and there
was a figure rushing on his direction down the small corridor. He drew his laser rifle and
fired a single shot. The Snakeman dropped to the ground with a garbled sound and the
alien lay there, releasing a green fluid from several injuries on his body and with its
slithered tongue coming out of his opened mouth. Jones moved forward the corridor and
saw that Rodriguez’s grenade had killed the remaining aliens on the bridge of the UFO.
Two of them were standing on the ground among the wrecked consoles, together with
three heavy plasmas. “Bridge clear!” He called and a feeling of relief came over him. As
Captain Jerrel down the corridor to join him, the officer’s armored feet stepped on the tail
of the alien that Jones had killed. The Snakemen emitted a small sound and Jones pointed
his weapon back at him, but the Captain ordered him to stand down. “Easy soldier. We
just got ourselves a prisoner here”. Jones dropped down the weapon and looked around;
trying to calm down in spite of the adrenaline rush he was feeling.
A few minutes later, as the Skyranger landed right next to the UFO’s left wing was
opening its ramp, Sergeant Hopkins was right beside it, waiting to have the injured as
quickly inside as possible. His squad was keeping a watch but he also didn’t like to have
civilians running around, although the UFO had already been secured. When the ramp
was fully deployed, he saw the figure in blue onboard looking in shock as the X-Com
troopers paid no attention to her and rushed their injured comrades to the inside.
He called to her. “Doctor, if you want to stay please disembark the plane. We are in a
hurry to take those men to the nearest hospital”. Eva Johannes moved down the ramp and
as she approached the Sergeant he moved her to a clear position for the Skyranger’s
takeoff. As soon as the plane lifted itself and the engine’s noise begun to disappear in the
distance she turned to the Hopkins and asked, still in a state of dismay: “What has
happened?”
The Sergeant gave her a careful look before replying: “War, doctor. We kill them, they
kill us. It’s as simply as that. Makes you think when you get this close, hum?”
She didn’t reply to him and looked around at the direction of the UFO. He spoke to her.
“It’s clear already, but I’m afraid there’s nothing much for you to see inside. See, m’am
the crash kinda bounced the inside a bit and our troopers pretty much shot the inside to
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get rid of all the snakes inside”. He gently grabbed her armored arm and brought her
close to two forms covered by black plastic sheets. “However, as a scientist you might be
interested on this”. Grabbing one of the tarps he pulled it to reveal the remains of private
Martin’s remains, with the dead Chrysallid still sticking out of its back from where it was
starting to emerge.
Nausea swept over her and she turned her head around in disgust. “Why are you doing
this, soldier?” Hopkins put the cover back into the body and replied to her. “It’s Sergeant
Hopkins m’am. You are here because you wanted to. I’m only giving you a full tour of
the show”.
“Sergeant Hopkins, I’m only trying to do my work around here. If you and the Colonel
don’t appreciate it….” Hopkins stopped her in the middle of her speech. “You get the
whole thing wrong, m’am. Every damn soldier on this outfit knows how important your
work is. You gotta us the nice power suits and the plasma weapons and all the nice other
little things that sure gave us more chances went facing this bastards. However, I’ve been
listening to the complaints coming from the Colonel and other officers about you. We are
not killing machines or mercenaries, miss Johannes. Like every man and woman on this
base, I would prefer to sit back on my couch back at my home in Chicago and watch all
of this on TV with a six-pack, instead of being here risking my behind fighting these
things. We don’t do this for fun but someone has to do it, even though it might mean that
I can end up like poor private Martin here, let his soul rest now on wherever it might be”.
She looked back at him, thinking. “I think I understand what you are trying to say,
Sergeant”. He grinned back at her. “You probably are, m’am. Dumbness doesn’t affect
just grunts, but at least rocket scientists have more practice in using their brains”.
Johannes didn’t understood immediately his verbal jab, looking back at him in
puzzlement until a thin smile appeared on her lips. “Now, the boys inside the tin can have
captured a prisoner and are bringing it out. Do you care to take a look at him? Don’t
worry, it’s only one of the Snakes”. She looked at the side, towards the doors of the UFO.
A couple of minutes later they opened, revealing several human figures clad in power
armor and the captured alien.
She had never seen before an alien, except the dead ones frozen in the containment vats
back at Mother One. Her specialty wasn’t xenobiology so she never had to do any work
with extraterrestrial life forms, either live or dead. The orange and beige Snakeman that
was coming out seemed to be big. Most of the soldiers on the base were taller than her
and this alien was about the average height of the humans that were keeping it under
restrain. She could clearly see from where the name had come. The alien kept an upright
position through the lower part of his body, which seemed to consist of a very tough and
muscular tail, sweeping the ground as it moved forward. However, it would tremble from
time to time and slow its pace, indicating that it was probably injured.
The X-Com troopers had applied some sort of bondage across its chest to keep the arms
restrained and where directing it through threatening movements of their weapons. The
alien would occasionally turn its nearly triangular head and hiss back at them, showing its
fangs and bringing out its slithered tongue. “Lord….” That comment made Hopkins turn
back to her. “Nasty, aren’t they? But don’t worry. Any trained man in a power suit can
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physically overwhelm one of these. Mutons are another story, of course, from what we’ve
heard on the attack on the Japanese base”.
The X-Com troopers pushed the alien past her and she took notice of a disgusting, musky
smell that almost overwhelmed her, making her frown. She turned to Hopkins: “Sergeant,
can I now see the inside of the UFO?” He looked back at her. “Better if you get some
respiratory equipment first. A piece of alien equipment near one of the entrances has
released some sort of fumes after getting hit by a stray plasma blast. Our suits are
environmentally sealed, but that old armor you’re wearing won’t do you any good in case
the aliens were carrying nerve gas or some other nasty stuff inside those cylinders”.
She shook her head in disbelief, since it would mean that she would have to wait for the
arrival of the disposal team. Hopkins gave one last look at her and excused himself to get
the squads ready to fly back to the base.
July 6th, 2000

Area 51, Nevada, US
The corridors near the section of the base that housed the alien containment were usually
deserted of X-Com personnel, who preferred to take a longer route to their destinations
than to come nearby the place. Occasionally a technician or soldier would pass by the
armored doors and wonder in curiosity of what might be going on inside that section of
the base, but since the entry it was restricted to the scientists or anyone possessing an
special authorization from the base commander, he or she would simply look at the bored
sentry sitting on a glass booth next to the doors and go on to where he was heading.
If someone possessed a clearance, the security trooper clad in black fatigues and wearing
the Theta Greek letter that identified him as belonging to the base security company
would carefully inspect it and confirm it through a series of calls. If the authorization was
correct, the visitor would find on the other side of the heavily reinforced security doors
two fully armed troopers in power suits to prevent that any of the enclosured aliens might
escape. The section had been recently built and was completely isolated and it possessed
its own power and air regeneration system. Its doors couldn’t be opened from the inside
and the personnel who worked inside had to contact the booth outside for clearance.
Presently there were a number of visitors inside, looking at one of the restrainingh areas
where the captured Snakeman was being held through a thick glass panel. Dr. Mantell
was giving a detailed explanation of their findings so far to the group, that included
Johnson, Dr. Young, Pharris, Davis and Colonel Robinson, the X-Com’s chief
intelligence officer, and they were quietly listening to the explanation.
“Gentlemen, I’ve asked for your presence here because there seems to be more to this
particular alien that is visible to our eyes”, Mantell started. “Our initial findings merely
confirmed what we knew about this alien species. It has a strong complexion, enabling it
to resist extreme heat and cold. Most likely it evolved in an extremely tough habitat,
where the reptiles, not the mammals came to develop intelligence. But of that we can’t be
sure, due to the fact that we have determined that these species are under the control of
some sort of Intelligence. In other words, we can’t be sure that their intelligence has
come through a natural process or if it is the result of some sort of experimentation made
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by the aliens. Some of them have been found to have been surgically altered, such as the
Floaters or the Mutons, whose relation between the mass of the brain and the body
doesn’t seem to allow them to have cognitive thinking”.
The men present nodded but kept silent and Mantell kept on with his explanation.
“Regardless of that, our initial tests with this alien have shown some surprising results.
Our biological and behavior tests have already determined that this species is somewhat
intelligent in general, although it doesn’t seem to match an average human. But this
particular alien, however, is of a special breed. It has shown impressive mathematical
skills and general reactions. We first thought it was one of their technicians, like the
Sectoid captured by the Japanese team last that provided us with many of the data we
know about the scout ships the aliens use. However, we are now inclined to think
otherwise and that’s why I asked for your presence here”.
Robinson turned his head from the alien to the doctor and raised an eyebrow. “A
commanding officer of some sort?” Mantell thought about that new possibility for a
second and replied. “Unlikely. We made an extrapolation of a Snakeman officer physical
and intelligence skills, based on the differences recorded in the case of the Floater officer
captured and this specimen falls short in some areas. I concede these are more educated
guesses than actual firm scientific evidence, but I’m still more inclined into other
possibilities such as a pilot”.
“One of their fighter jocks?” Johnson asked but the reply came from Dr. Young. “I think
the more accurate term would be navigator”. The two Colonels and Pharris now switched
their attention to the other scientist and Robinson asked. “I thought your work was related
to the Firestorm project, Doctor. How come you are involved into this research?”
That question brought concern to Johnson’s mind. Beside himself and the hybrids, no
other human knew about the secret that General Smith was hiding at Area 51 until his
betrayal concerning Dr. Young and a number of the research personnel. He wasn’t sorry
for his decision since the hybrids had struck to their part of the deal and had proven their
worth dozens of times in the research projects going on at the base. But it was all
dependant on the fact that no one else knew of their existence and Robinson had been
hired because of his ability to uncover secrets.
Young replied in a casual tone. “I have been involved because of my work regarding
alien UFO systems. Dr. Mantell asked for my cooperation to develop tests capable of
determining the skill of a particular alien since I fairly know the abilities necessary to run
such systems”. Robinson nodded and he continued. “We have determined that this alien
has all the skills for a pilot, or a fighter jock, as the Colonel put it, but we believe that he
is responsible for more than just flying an UFO around. Dr. Mantell and I then decided to
request the service of someone experiment at conducting interrogations and we called for
Mr. Davis help, since this was getting more into your department’s area, Colonel
Robinson”.
“I haven’t presented the full report yet sir because we only finished the interrogation last
night Colonel. The briefing will be on your desk this afternoon”. Davis added at
Robinson’s not very pleased look. “The information the alien gave us have merely
confirmed what we already knew about the purpose of the terror attacks: they are being
done to put political pressure upon Earth’s nations and to convince them that any
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resistance is futile. We have seen already its results in the case of Nigeria: their
withdrawal from X-Com resulted from the massacre the alien committed in Lagos when
the Sectoids attacked that city. Not something that we didn’t knew already”.
Young picked up from Davis. “But what is more curious is that this alien had precise
information about their target: the UFO had been ordered to strike at Dallas, according to
the coordinates supplied by the alien. Now, the coordinates given to us are roughly
correspondent to our own latitude/longitude but they must be using their own scale”.
Pharris slowly exhaled in admiration. “Then they might be also in the alien’s operating
system and we now know what to look for. Pretty impressive doctor”. The scientist
smiled. “There’s more: the alien also confirmed the existence of the transponder that your
whiz kid Landon has hinted at. According to him the UFOs are in constant
communication with one another, identifying one another and transmitting data”.
“But where? No one has ever picked any alien transmissions! When this whole thing
started, we at the NSA put the ECHELON system trying to listen to any noise made from
them”. Pharris was referring the US global surveillance system that had been originally
designed and deployed in the Cold War to intercept Eastern Bloc communications.
Dr. Young shook his head. “I don’t think they could. The system is designed to intercept
and decode human communications, which are based upon the electromagnetic spectrum
such as radio waves and laser bursts”.
“And not to mention SETI”, Mantell added. “The several groups involved have been
listening for quite a white, trying to pick signals coming from an extraterrestrial
civilization. If the aliens were using conventional wavelengths their transmissions would
be picked up”.
“Wait a minute”, Johnson interrupted, “we know that the UFOs talk to one another. Why
don’t you just disassemble one of the UFOs and find out how they are doing it?”
“We have Colonel and there isn’t anything like an emitter or receiver. This whole matter
has puzzled us from ever since we captured the first UFO”. Both Mantell and Young
seemed frustrated.
“And even with Landon’s help we haven’t been able to find it out also. There are still a
lot of things that we have no idea of what is their purpose. Hell, some of the stuff we can
replicate by reverse engineering, but we don’t know of how it works!” Pharris shook his
head.
Robinson concluded the discussion. “These findings need to go into the UFOpedia at
once. I will endorse that we shift more of our research efforts into discovering how their
communication systems operate. We need that information”.
July 10th, 2000

Charlottesville, Virginia, US
The City Hall of the town of Charlottesville had a special visitor, Charles Vaughn, the
governor of NY who had won the Republican Party’s ticket to the upcoming presidential
election. In front of the colonial building the US flag was standing in a pole, waving as a
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light summer breeze eased the noon’s heat, flanked by the flags of the state of Virginia
and of the city. The event had been presented to the press as a political rally meeting and
also that the Governor would make an important statement about his future security
policies when he won the election.
A podium had been set on the top of the stairs that led into the building, in the front of a
banner placed upon the classic columns that made the front of the city hall. Local police
and members of the Secret Service were standing around, keeping an eye on the crowd
that filled the parking lot, waving flags and holding support posters with Vaughn’s face.
The Republican candidate political career had already been quite impressive. He had
managed to get himself elected as governor of New York, a state traditionally more
inclined to go for the Democrats. But a financial scandal had ruined his predecessor in the
office and he had defeated his lieutenant in the elections a few months afterwards. More
impressively than that, he had managed to get himself re-elected for a second mandate as
Governor. And now it seemed that Vaughn had his eyes set upon the White House: he
had won the Republican primaries without much effort, easily defeating the other
candidates.
Visually, his physical appearance was striking: the governor was tall and well built, with
most of his hair already turned into white on the sides and back. His nose was straight
and well defined and his eyes dark, with heavy eyebrows. Blake thought that he sure was
appealing to the cameras, but that also applied to the Democratic candidate, the current
Vice-President. He hadn’t applied to cover this event, but the woman journalism assigned
had called in sick this morning, leaving him to drive all the way to Virginia. He was
standing in the front of the crowd, in the space reserved to the press that had been
separated from the cheering spectators by lines.
When Vaughn finally appeared on the stage, after being presented by the local mayor, the
whole crowd went wild and Blake wished that the whole thing would be over quick. The
photographer from the Post who had come with him immediately went to work taking
pictures, while the camera crews started rolling.
The Governor had chosen to dress casually for the occasion; a smart decision in Blake’s
opinion since the heat was making his life miserably, already his shirt was sticking with
sweat to his chest and back. He waved backwards until reaching the small podium where
he stood smiling and waiting for the noise to subside.
The most of his speech regarded declarations about the nation’s economy, federal
government and family values, and in Blake’s opinion they added nothing new to what he
had already stated several times in the past. Noting that Vaughn was reading from a typed
speech he only made sure that his tape recorder was working properly, not bothering to
take any notes since the campaign organizers would provide the press copies of the
speech afterwards.
After half an hour, Blake wished that he had brought some refreshments because he was
too thirsty. However his thoughts of getting some water or a soda dissipated as Vaughn
stopped looking from the speech on the podium and turned to look directly at the
assembly downstairs. “Now I must say some words about the insecurity that we are
feeling as a nation. We have for long harbored the thought of extraterrestrial life may
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exist. The government since the fifties has spent millions of tax dollars. First to determine
if the so-called UFO phenomenon did exist and later to see if we could be able to pick
space signals from distant alien civilizations. Such past investigations have proven
themselves inconclusive. But now there has been an official recognition of that there are
unknown craft in our skies, of which we know nothing of their intentions or occupants.
This description could apply to a lot of situations my fellow Americans, from
reconnaissance flights from a hostile country, like the days of the Cold War or to the
government line that extraterrestrial beings exist and are happily flying around over us.
This can’t go on anymore, I say. Our government should fully explain this situation and
what steps are being made to resolve it, without covering it in a cloud of secrecy. In no
doubt there are national security interests involved, but this situation must be resolved so
that we can go on with our lives, taking care of our families and improving our country.
Thank you very much for being here today and for your support. God bless you all!”
The band on the side immediately started playing a merry music and everyone in the
crowd turned to cheering, while the press members tried to pose questions to Vaughn,
who simply ignored them and kept smiling and wavering back. Blake finally stopped
shouting when he left the stage after a couple of minutes. What does Vaughn know?
Could this mean that there really are no aliens involved? That it might be something like
that government infomer told me, that the UFOs are the work of some country? He asked
to himself and them started walking back to his car, wondering what was really going on.
July 12th, 2000

To say that Longstreet was furious was to make an obvious understatement: when the
Vice-President finally arrived at the Oval Office, Winston and May knew that the man
had probably spend the last days keeping a steady and happy face for the cameras during
his trip to the Western states as Vaughn’s speech had been played over the major
networks. But now he could finally get it all out and he did:
“That dirty sonofabitch! Who does he think he his?!”
“George, calm down”, the President started, trying to do the impossible. “That was nasty
for him to do, I completely agree with you, but….”
“No buts, John! He is saying that we aren’t doing anything, when it’s exactly the opposite
and he knows it, he has been briefed! You need to go public on the existence of X-Com
and what has happened so far! It’s the only way that we can clear my campaign of those
allegations!”
“Now, wait right there, Mr. Vice-President, this has nothing to do with politics”. May cut
him. “There are security and national needs for this course of action and we can’t just
throw them away to insure your victory in the election”.
Longstreet threw a look at her that would have blasted through a rock wall. “I need
something! I just can’t brush off the reporters’ questions anymore with your ‘national
security’ excuses anymore!”
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Winston let out of a deep breath. “George, I understand how you may be feeling and I
share also of your indignation. In my entire career this has been of the lowest political
tricks I’ve seen but I’m sure that you will be able to overcome it. You are a fighter
George and you won’t let this get you down”.
Longstreet waved him off. “Oh, just cut it out John! You don’t have anything to worry
about because after January you will be able to nicely retire from politics after your two
successful mandates. For me, it’s either trying to get back to the Senate or I’m done also.
It’s all the same to you”. He started heading towards the door.
“George, what are you going to do?” Winston asked him, as he was about to reach the
door. “Don’t’ worry John, I know my duty first. And I sure hope that the bastard knows
his also, because if he gets elected on the account of this, he will surely regret the whole
mess he has gotten himself into”. He left, leaving Winston with his thoughts.
After a second May turned to him and said. “You did the right thing Mr. President. You
can help in later on the campaign but right now, there’s nothing to do about this whole
matter”. Turning to her, Winston still tried to put his consciousness at ease. “But why
can’t we do like that CIA analyst said, to start revealing more information about the war
and the aliens?”
“Mr. Williams’ opinions are biased. He was spent too much time involved with X-Com
and is unable to separate our own national interests from the ones of that force. Actually,
I believe Governor Vaughn just bought us more time: sure, this affair has made it to creep
back into the political agenda, but like now it has become more open at the same time and
that will satisfy some of the voices that oppose our opinions. Everyone know will be
waiting for the next President to be more involved on the subject and that will put the
political pressure off us. There will be few incidents that get to the press but pretty soon
people will start to pay less attention to them and get more into their lives, specially if the
economy keeps on slowing down”.
Winston sighed and nodded. She was right telling that in a few months time he would
haven’t to worry with the whole thing anymore. He only wished that he could enjoy his
retirement from office afterwards.
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Chapter Twenty – A Dark Shadow
July 26th, 2000
Unknown location, Geneva, Switzerland
The meeting had been scheduled for many months in advance and the agenda already
decided by unspoken consensus, defined by the time and events that had occurred
meanwhile. The major part of the plan was starting to unfold itself and the lack of
necessity for the reunion to take place before was a sign to number Two that everyone
seated on the large room thought that things were going as planned, with the minor
deviancies allowed. That was not his personal belief though. The aliens, as always, were
too elusive, too dark in their own purposes and how they persued the installment of their
plans. Their will was to conquer, to absorve, the Earth’s nations to survive or die fighting.
In spite of all they had learned about them there simply had never discovered any way to
put pressure on the aliens. Some things worked in one occasion or the other, only to be
completely discarded afterwards after they proved ineffectual. But two years after its
inception, X-Com was still a thorn on the alien’s side, even prompting them to make a
retaliatory raid against one of their bases. The after battle reports showed that the teams
based there had taken quite a beating and the base facilities had also suffered extensive
damage. But to number Two they had also meant that the aliens had considered necessary
to use some of their crack troops for the attack, not to mention that the majority of the
aliens had been killed on that attack. This was something unheard for him until now. But
it wasn’t the time to press such concerns or ideas and he kept listening to number Nine’s
account of the US’ political situation.
“The leak also allowed us to perform another task in dealing with the US intelligence
machine: the Director of the CIA resigned right afterwards, both for personal reasons and
also the blunder of the leak. What it isn’t known is that apparently had he some dark
secrets, regarding nude pictures of children found on his computer. We just let him and
President Winston knew about his dirty vices”.
Number Two interjected. “That is hardly enough. As you know their key personnel
related to intelligence gathering and evaluation are still at their positions. And the
counterintelligence machine will be seeking for the perpetrator of the leak”.
Number Seven kept the ugly smile on his face. “They will never find it. We actually tried
to devise a way so that the leak and consequent blame would be traced to X-Com, but
there was a minimal risk of detection which made us discard it”.
“The question is moot”. Three had apparently taken the task of moderating the
discussion, something usually reserved for One. “The changes will happen too gradually
for anyone to take notice. And when they do either it will be too late or they will have to
be terminated. We have the key personnel under watch or control. This discussion is
related to another item on the agenda and I propose we move to it now, the effects of the
official acknowledgement of UFOs. This has been planned in advance and the
consequences seem to be what we were expecting. The conditions are set so that we put a
greater pressure into the world governments and show their inability to deal with the
situation to the public”.
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“I concur with that assessment”, Number Four continued picking up a pause on the other
man’s speech. “There is growing unrest over the major Russian cities, especially with the
insecurity being felt with the announcement of UFOs plus the Chinese crisis and the
latest kidnappings and bombings made by Chechen terrorists”.
“The Chinese situation nearly got out of our hands”. Number Four, a lean Asian with
slick white hair countered. “Our friends’”, he put emphasis on that word, “and their
actions nearly started a war between China and all of the major powers in the area. And
their attack on the Japanese base made no sense, except for the explanation that they are
testing us. They wanted to see how all of us operate to be better prepared for the take-
over”.
“They were only interpreting their part of the plan as they seem fit. They have done this
before”. Nine seemed annoyed at Four’s interruption of his close to perfect report. As if it
had been rehearsed before, Three also contributed to his speech. “Overall things are
proceeding as planned: things in the Middle East are starting to heat up, which will bring
into further increases on the oil prices. In Africa the situation is as we have kept it for
years: their corrupt leaders are either powerless to deal with the crisis in their own
countries or too greedy to think other than themselves. South America will also be hit
hard in the future, as soon the credit to sustain their economies dry up”.
“That only leaves the Western countries and the Asian regional powers. So far we
haven’t seen them yet attain the level of destabilization foreseen”. A lesser member asked
and Three was quick to answer him, giving him a glance of warning. “Yes. But that soon
will change. The plans are already being implemented: we have all the time available
before the deadline”.
Seeing the rest of the meeting went by, Two kept quiet because he had already assessed
that no substantial decisions would came out and decided to speak only when required
and listen. Only time would bring any changes and he already knew that you couldn’t
hasten the passage of the days, only be alert to recognize and act on the decisive moment.
August 3rd, 2000

“Pierre, what are you up to now?” Eva Johannes was feeling tired from her work on the
weapons department. The trip to Area 51 had calmed her consciousness about developing
the advanced weapons that would equip the new fighters being developed at that facility,
but that didn’t do much in reducing her workload. She had come to the Elerium test
reactor to perform some experiments regarding the regulation of plasma fluxes, only to
find out that the French scientist had taken into monopolizing the use of the engine.
Lejeune didn’t even look up from the monitors that showed the state of the matter-
antimatter taking place inside the large cylinder located on an adjacent room. “This might
take a while before I finish Eva”.
She moved from the door to his side. “I know! I’ve checked the assignments: there isn’t a
single day available this week or the next for anyone else besides you to perform any
experiments. Does Dr. Chevereux know about this?”
423
He dropped his head and swiveled on his chair to face her. “He’s too busy to take notice
of such matters. How much time do you need?”
“One or two hours to make some verifications”. He got up from his chair and went to a
water machine at a corner of the room. She sat down on the chair. “What are you doing
that is so important?”
He filled a paper cup and swallowed its contents in a single gulp and passed his left hand
over his hair. “I’m trying to find out how the Elerium is used for faster than light travel
by the aliens”. She stopped. “Don’t tell me you are going for the Nobel or something like
that. That research has been postponed indefinitely by Dr. Chevereux, although he regrets
it. First we need to defeat the aliens here”.
“Relax Eva, I’m not trying to discover it all at once. But I’ve come up with some
interesting results that might indicate the basic principles, although how they are doing
it’s a completely different matter”. She kept looking at him, waiting for him to continue.
“OK, how much do you still believe in Einstein’s relativity theory?”
She became puzzled. The question was a sort of a joke between every X-Com scientists,
since the research they had done so far had shown a lot of practical holes into what was
considered one of mankind’s best scientists. “Why are you asking?”
“We have determined that the Elerium reactors release Cherenkov radiation, from ever
since that incident”. She nodded. The Elerium engines placed on the UFOs were shielded
to contain radiation, but the shielding of the one at Mother One had less containment. The
matter-antimatter reaction released various forms of radiation, including the plasma used
for the alien weapons. But during one of the experiments a flask containing a liquid had
been forgotten inside the chamber, standing close to the uncovered blast window. As
soon as the reactor was activated it had started to glow blue, indicating Cherenkov
radiation. The phenomenon was common in with used uranium and plutonium
conventional nuclear rods. After the fuel on the rods had been spent, they would be taken
out of the reactor core and left in a water pool to literally ‘cool down’ its powerful and
deathly radiation and heat. The rods emitted high-energy particles such as neutrons and as
they passed through the water they would release some of their energy, resulting in a blue
glow coming from the cooling pools. The radiation was named Cherenkov, in the name
of its discoverer. It also made everyone present in the lab almost panic, since it meant that
they were also being bombarded by nuclear radiation. Fortunately the medical
examinations had shown that their bodies hadn’t absorbed any harmful doses.
“A few months afterwards I found myself wondering from where that radiation was
coming from. The breakdown of E-115 isn’t a fission reaction, as we know. However, the
levels of emission of known nuclear particles allow us to use it to generate and contain
plasma. But the most part breaks down into the generation of the gravitic fields. Could
the Cherenkov be coming from them?”
She thought for a second but the answer came quickly to her. “The old question about the
graviton. We simply don’t have a way to determine if gravity is composed of particles”.
“Right. We know how to manipulate the gravity fields and use them to lift a craft, but we
just don’t know what exactly makes it. What I’ve tried to do is to see if the unknown
force behind the Cherenkov could be a concrete proof of the existence of gravitons”.
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“But what does that have to do with faster than light travel? You think the aliens key to
interstellar travel relies on the gravitic particles?”
“I don’t know yet, but my results have shown that there is something out there emitting
that reaction. There’s a supercooled liquid hydrogen unit on one of the labs, and I’ve
found out that when the reactor is operating, something travels all the way from this
section of the base to there and as it crosses it, there’s a residual release of Cherenkov
radiation”.
Johannes looked at the reactor: between here and the other labs there was enough
shielding to prevent that any known particles traveled that distance without being stopped
or absorbed. “I think I’m starting to see what you are talking about”, she said in a
whisper.
“However, I don’t know for sure yet, but I think it might not be the gravitons or
something else, like neutrinos. Of the developments of Einstein’s special relativity theory
theorizes about the possibility of a particle that could move over light speed in the
vacuum and that as it increases its speed it actually releases more energy, the same that
we are seeing here with the Cherenkov being emitted”.
“You’re talking about tachyons”. She concluded, thinking about the implications of such
a discovery. “You might be into something here Pierre. You better get this online the
Ufopedia”.
“I will, as soon as you finish over there. What are you up to these days?”
She kept tapping commands into the computer. “Finishing something. The aliens are
going to have quite a surprise in the next weeks”.
September 4th, 2001

Colonel Yamashita and Councilman Tamako were standing on the middle of the
command room from where all UFO intrusions were monitored and subsequent
interceptions launched from the inside of the X-Com base. They had been waiting for
some hours now until a proper contact would be made for the first operational
deployment into combat of their new weapon.
The blueprints for the new craft had been received from Area 51 a month ago, after the
X-Com research personnel at that facility had finished testing the crude prototype that
they had been built. From since then the engineers had been working almost non-stop
into putting the plans into reality, using the materials being flown to Complex YY-18
from a major airlift coming from a number of X-Com bases around the world. The former
Sony and Toyota engineers had been successful: a circular shaped craft now rested in
one’s of the base’s hangar, with its pilot inside, ready for an interception. But they didn’t
want to take one of the slower UFOs. Instead, Commander Illyuschenko had ordered that
the interceptor should be used in trying to bring down the elusive alien craft that flew too
high and too fast for the F-22s to catch.
Two contacts had already been detected that morning, one of a scout sized craft heading
for the Korean Peninsula and now a larger UFO on its way to the Yangtzee river valley in
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China. Yamashita had scrambled one of the interceptors against the smaller contact but
had to let the larger UFO reach its destination, since he had strict orders for his planes to
avoid Chinese airspace to prevent any incidents from happening.
Then suddenly a red contact made itself visible on the upper section of the massive
computer generated image that they were looking at, showing parts of Mainland China,
the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese Islands. “Colonel, radar shows a large scout type
UFO, speed over Mach Five, altitude fifty thousand plus, probably heading for the
Philippines or Indonesia. They will overfly Okinawa in ten minutes”. The officer in
charge of the air defense center shouted.
Yamashita looked at Tamako but the man simply reached for a pocket in the front of his
suit and took out a golden cigarette case. “Feed the coordinates to Firestorm One and
order it to launch immediately”. The officer nodded and reached for the nearest radio.
“Now we shall see if all the money and effort we put into this thing will work out”. He
spoke to the councilman, who seemed to be busier trying to get his lighter to function.
When he finally got it working he lighted the completely white cigarette and took a deep
drag, only bothering to answer afterwards. “You have doubts Colonel?”
“No councilman, but if I was the aliens this would sure get my attention if we succeed”.
Over the Sea of Japan, hundred miles south of Okinawa

Captain Yanida was having the ride of his life, some thirty thousand feet above sea level
and still ascending at what looked to him an impossible climbing rate. His speed was over
Mach five and still increasing, something that went against any notions he had learned
about manned flight. In a conventional flight that speed would have pressed him against
the pilot’s seat by the multiple g’s we would be pushing, but no effect of the acceleration
was felt on the inside of the craft.
Yanida was seated a conventional pilot chair, fully equipped with an emergency
parachute that would sent him downwards and through a opening on the bottom of the
craft that would open if he had to bail out. But that was the only thing in common with
the F-22s he was used to pilot. He had entered the Firestorm through a ladder on the
bottom of the craft and went he looked around he wondered what the people who had
designed the cockpit were thinking of. The Firestorm had about some ten feet in diameter
and its interior was divided into two sections, a smaller one that housed the pilot and the
navigational equipment, while the Elerium engine and plasma beam weapons where on
the back. Besides the seat, there was only a console in front of him, from where a liquid
crystal display unit came, large enough to fill the pilot’s visual camp. That was the only
contact with the reality outside that he had. The advanced computer in front of him would
project a compressed image of the view in front of the craft, or of any direction the pilot
required, through the push of a button on the console.
And there were no control and speed sticks, something that made Yanida feel very weird.
He had a helmet placed upon his head that would detect the movements made by his
hands and arms and correspondingly direct the craft. A push forward with his left hand
close and he would accelerate the Firestorm. The same motion backwards with the hand
balled into a fist and he would reduce the motion. Movements to the sides and up and
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down would move the craft into that direction. And for firing he only would have to point
to the target with his eyes and ball his right hand into a fist, while pressing the thumb.
The flight engineers had explained that the Firestorms would act more like a spacecraft,
since Earth’s gravity would be nullified by the anti-gravity waved generated by the
Elerium engine as it responded to the pilot’s commands. The only operational restrains
were caused by Earth’s atmosphere since the interaction of the oxygen and nitrogen
molecules in the air with the gravitic field would increase in a geometric proportion with
the speed and after a while be enough to cause a massive turbulence that could sent the
craft out of control.
Someone at the briefings had asked about the possibility of taking the Firestorm out of
the atmosphere and how it would react over there, since the vacuum of space would take
out that restrain. At that point the Colonel had merely jumped into the briefing and
explained, that while it was theoretically possible, the craft’s limited range could leave
the pilot stranded in Earth’s orbit. “And if you ever get back, when me and Commander
Illyuschenko are done with you, you will wish you haven’t gotten back”.
But that wasn’t on Yanida’s intentions. Being the top fighter pilot at Complex YY-18 and
showing the most promising results in the computer simulations he had went through in
his training about the man-built UFO, he had been the one chosen for this interception.
The first aerospatial interception! And using an UFO similar to the aliens!
His radio cracked open. “Firestorm Zero-One, your range to the target is seventy miles.
Weapons are free. I repeat weapons are free. You’re authorized to engage the target. The
Colonel wishes you good luck”.
“Transmission received, beginning attack”. The computer-generated image in front of
him changed itself to give him more information about the target. A number of possible
attack patterns suggested by the machine appeared on the left side of the display, together
with estimations of the probability of success to hit with the plasma cannons using each
maneuver. Yanida went for the straight course for its target, since the UFO was lightly
armed and the Firestorm was well out of range of its weapons.
More than a seventy kilometers away from the location of the Firestorm, a flight of F-8II
Finback Chinese fighter planes was on their way to head back to their base after being
deployed to cover the approach of the UFO who was now about to land in Western
China. The leader of the formation had wondered why the air controller had ordered them
to stand in their stations as long as possible. That was until he had seen the luminous path
carved on Earth’s atmosphere as the Firestorm streaked towards its target, a small bright
light set upon the light blue horizon made by the ionized atoms as they collided with the
anti-gravity field that seemed to be moving at an impossible speed for the planes under
his formation to follow.
He wondered what was High Command’s interest in the flight path of this particular
UFO, since it seemed that the craft was bound to space. But knowing it better not to ask
many questions, he just hung there as much as possible although the status of his fuel
tanks was almost bingo, meaning that soon he would have to turn back.
Unaware of the Chinese planes, the Firestorm kept racing upwards, with Yanida making
small corrections on its flight path to match the UFO’s course. When the range
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approached 52 kilometers, a small whining noise suddenly started to be heard in his ear
receivers, telling him that he had reached maximum range for the plasma beam cannons.
Putting both his hands into fists, he pointed forward with his index fingers to arm the
cannons. On both sides of the craft and above him, the openings on the fuselage for the
weapons opened, revealing the nozzle of the barrels fed by the Elerium engine. He was
unconsciously waiting that it would increase his atmospheric drag and reduce his speed,
but the anti-gravity field kept most of the air from contacting with the fuselage, which
surprised him as the Firestorm kept smoothly on its path.
Locking the gun sight projected on the display, he pressed with his right thumb on his
hand and then waited three seconds before doing the same with his left one. Above him,
the a flux of ionized particles coming from the matter-antimatter reaction on Elerium
engine was compressed by electromagnetic fields and projected forwards by the right
plasma cannon at several times the speed of sound, followed by a similar blast. “Banzai!
Banzai!” He shouted into the radio.
As the tight ions traveled through atmosphere in a ball of fire, the ions on the outside
collided with the atoms present on the atmosphere and a part of the small energy lost in
that reaction consisted of excited photons in a wavelength that gave the plasma its green
color. For the Celtic cross type UFO it didn’t matter if the beam was green or any color.
The first blast shot closely, missing the craft, but the second one hit it right on the behind
arm, close to where it linked to the engine room.
As Yanida watched the results of his double volley, he grimaced as he watched his first
shot miss but when the second hit, he nearly jumped on his chair. “Base, I’ve hit it!
Getting ready for a second shot!” His eyes flickered to the counter on the left which
shown his weapon status waiting for the red “CHARGING” sign to turn into the more
friendlier green “READY”. But something caught his attention and he quickly turned his
vision back to the UFO.
The second plasma blast had cut through the bottom of the Scout and reached the engine,
detonating the Elerium that powered the craft and engulfing the UFO on a massive
explosion. The aliens inside the room were simply vaporized, unaware of what had
happened to them. The force of the detonation overcome the tensional limits of the alien
alloys that made the fuselage and the craft broke in the middle, sending each arm
spinning to different directions as they fell down towards the Pacific Ocean.

Colonel Yamashita and Councilman Tamako had their eyes completely fixed on the main
display, trying to understand what was going on, when a call came that was heard into the
entire room through the main speakers. “Base, this is Firestorm Zero-One. UFO is down!
I repeat: UFO is down!”
The two troopers standing outside the command center’s doors suddenly heard loud
cheering and hands clapping and looked at one another, wondering what had just
happened. On the inside, the Councilman fished another cigarette, but before lightening it
turned to Yamashita and bowed. “Colonel, on the behalf of the Council please send my
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congratulations for the pilot and also to Commander Illyuschenko and all of his research
personnel. I must say I am most pleased with these results”.
Yamashita gave him a short bow. “I shall do so. We will start full production of these
craft as soon as possible. The aliens will now pay dearly if they try to overfly our
country”.
“I shall require estimates of the output of the production line here to present to the
Council. They will be satisfied but they will also demand that the Firestorms be deployed
as possible to protect their own airspace. There will be some major fighting inside the
Council but we have spent our energies well. While all the research might be done in the
West, we now have something priceless in Japanese soil: the factory that is building the
craft to take the UFOs in equal terms”. Tamako paused and looked at the ceiling, lost in a
sea of thoughts.
“Exactly what the Kiryu-Kai needed but we couldn’t give them. Japan has greatly
enhanced his position by joining X-Com”. The councilman looked back at Yamashita
with a grave expression. “Defend this base and the islands well Colonel. Use any possible
means to prevent that the aliens ever manage to hinder our efforts here or all will be lost”.
“Like before, now it’s only a question of money Councilman. Between the new base
defenses we have planned and the Firestorm, any alien craft will be destroyed if they try
to strike at us. We only need the necessary funds”.
“Indeed and Commander Illyuschenko now has an extra bargaining chip to present in the
next Council meeting. He will use it well, I expect, like always”. He paused for a minute
before taking a step closer to Illyuschenko and bringing his voice down. “In any case,
you shall continue our own arrangement. There’s no doubt that this will benefit both of
us”. Yamashita nodded. “Hai”.
Over the Sea of Japan

Beside Yanida’s, another pair of human eyes had witnessed the shoot down of the alien
craft. The leader of the flight of Chinese fighters had ordered the other planes on his
formation to return back to the base after having decided that there must be something
special about this UFO that made High Command so interested on it. He had kept his F-8
Finback fighter in station as long as he could, disregarding fuel safety margins. If he was
wrong in asserting the importance of what he had just filmed, the decision would cost
him his career and most likely his life. A court martial would surely follow together with
a death sentence. However, his gun camera had captured the flight of the mysterious UFO
and the moment when it had discharged its weapons. He was now trying to get to the
Chinese mainland and asking the radio controller for an alternate-landing runway before
his fuel run out and he would be forced to eject from his jet plane. He had no intention of
bailing out in a parachute over the Pacific where there was a good chance that he would
never be found.
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Lhassa, Tibet Autonomous Region, People’s Republic of China
The former Buddhist monastery on the outskirts of Lhassa had been taken over by the
Chinese Army for more than forty years, during the time of the occupation of Tibet. The
military hadn’t bothered to change the outside of the building, only taking the effort to do
some small maintenance. It wasn’t one of the largest monasteries that used to house the
monks that composed Tibet’s theocracy. However, its six stories made an impression on
who saw them, standing erect with pointed towers against the bright blue sky, the yellow
and the red of its walls still retaining some of the strong colors it once possessed.
But Colonel Chen wasn’t impressed neither by the monastery nor by Lhassa itself. He
had flown all the way from Beijing to the provincial capital to meet with the alien liaison
to the People’s Republic. He wished that the man, or to be more correct, that the alien had
decided to settle in Beijing instead, like any normal ambassador would do so. Instead he
had specifically required to be installed in a remote area and more specifically in Tibet.
Unwilling to antagonize their new allies, the Politburo had agreed with the request,
making Chen to travel all the way to Lhassa once in a while since he also required that all
contacts be made personal.
The limousine crossed the military checkpoint at the monastery’s perimeter after the
soldiers checked Chen’s credentials. It was hardly necessary since no one else was
allowed inside the old building. And that included any humans: the alien had claimed that
it needed no support personnel and only a regular set of food and other normal supplies to
be delivered on a personal basis. That also irritated Chen since it meant that he couldn’t
fill the house with undercover agents disguised as servants to determine what the
ambassador was up to.
The car stopped at the front of the building, next to a stairway that led into a covered
balcony. After Chen had gotten off, the driver closed the passenger door and went back to
his seat, driving the limousine away. A figure robed in yellow and red tunics was waiting
for him and Chen froze in puzzlement and irritation wondering how the idiots in the gate
had ever allowed one of the damn monks to get inside the place. Only he noticed then
that it was the ambassador, dressed as one of those Tibetans that was waiting for him. He
moved up the steps.
“Good afternoon General. I hope your flight was pleasant”. The envoy greeted him with a
bow and extended one of his sickly white hands from the covers of the tunic he was
wearing. Chen only grabbed it for a second before taking his own hand away. He only
spoke “Ambassador” trying to avoid the alien’s violet eyes that seemed to pierce him. For
Chen the creature in front of him was a perverty, a mixture of alien and human DNA that
made him sick. While overall it could be seen as human, it had a color that made it look
more like an albino and had no facial hair at all. He looked instead at the ropes he was
wearing.
“Do you like my new garments? I thought it might draw less attention to me here if I
dressed as one of the former occupants of this holy place”. Chen tried to hide his disgust
and wondered if the alien knew something about recent Tibetan history. “A bit archaic
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perhaps, but my superiors have matters of great concern that they wish to transmit to your
masters”.
“Very well. Please do come inside”. He took out his arm from the tunic and waved Chen
inside. After refusing an offer of tea they both seated in a large room, where ceramic
bowls were spread around, holding incense burning. There were no chairs, so they both
had to seat cross-legged on cushions placed on the wooden floor.
“Ambassador, my superiors are concerned. They are thinking that the Hierarchy is taking
too long to fulfill their part of the agreement, specially relating to the sharing of data
between our two nations”. The alien sipped some tea before answering. “We aren’t aware
that there was a precise time table to fulfill. Have we not started the transmission of that
some data to your scientists?”
“Yes, but the information is extremely scarce and difficult to understand, according to
them. Moreover it deals with subjects related to food production or genetics. There is
nothing about….” Chen tried to not mention the subject directly. “…your energy sources
or the materials used on the construction of your craft”.
The envoy set down his bowl of tea. “We understood that your nation would have more
urgent needs to deal with, namely food production and controlling your population.
Moreover, your scientists understanding of our science is still very incomplete and the
matters you have brought up upon us are very demanding. You can’t run until you’ve
learned to walk General”.
“Ambassador, we are surrounded by common enemies. I have brought with me images
taken by one of our planes of a new type of craft developed by X-Com. It’s similar to the
ones your people use and we are defenseless against it. We need that information”. Chen
tried to keep his anger from showing.
“You are defenseless you say? So far your nation’s boundaries haven’t been crossed by
any of your enemies. Our craft has helped your military forces. Do you call that
defenseless?”
“My superiors consider that they have given a great assistance to the Hierarchy. You
have been given permission to overfly our territory and perform your activities
unhindered”.
The hybrid stirred on his position. “Are you saying to us that you want to forgave our
agreement?”
“Call it a matter of trust, Ambassador. Allies should trust one another without anything
that might cast a shadow of doubt between them”. Here let him eat that one, Chen told to
himself.
By the response of the hybrid it didn’t seemed as if he worried a single bit. “Indeed. I
shall relay the concerns of your government to my kind. However there is something that
might be done to improve the current situation and clear the shadows that are troubling
your government, since you seem so worried about being left defenseless…”. When the
conversation was over and Chen left the building he wasn’t sure of who had benefited
more with the outcome. However, the Politburo now had to make some serious decisions
on matters that they had managed to avoid so far.
431
September 31st, 2000
Geneva, Switzerland
In his role as the acting chairman of the Council of Funding Nations, the UN’s Secretary-
General had the role of defining the agenda for the monthly sessions, which would be
later voted and approved by the members, leading the discussions and ensuring that the
voting procedure was conducted properly. It also made him nothing more than a mere
secretary in any discussion regarding X-Com’s performance. His influence was restrained
to outside the doors of the amphitheater, were he would talk and negotiate with each
nation individually, besides endorsing or reproving Commander Illyuschenko’s actions.
But even in that matters he would try to look as neutral as possible since he was
sometimes the only bridge existent between the military force’s commanders and the
Council.
Today’s session was only proving to Bomaka how small his role was in the whole affair.
By the nature of his position he was constrained in the statements that he could possibly
make, under the threat of being completely dismissed by the councilmen inside. And in
this particular meeting it seemed that every one of them was more and more egotistical
into their particular demands. And as usual, Illyuschenko’s personality and attitude
wasn’t helping.
The day had been long but it seemed to be about to end, with only two more nations to go
before they could finish the session. Right now X-Com’s subcommander for air
operations, a French Colonel named Paqua was replying to the queries made by the
Canadian councilman regarding the new X-Com craft that was being developed. The
success of the Firestorm had brought many interventions of praise by the part of the
Council but some of the nations were questioning the necessity of the new craft that
Illyuschenko had proposed to them.
“To conclude, the new Fighter-Transporter will allow us to supplement our current
Skyranger capabilities. We will be able to use it to shoot down up to medium-sized UFOs
and to deploy immediately a platoon of troops to assault it. The speed of this craft will
also allow us to quickly respond to any attack that the aliens decide to perform”. Bomaka
laid down on his chair, only barely paying attention to the discussion. He was not capable
of fully understanding X-Com’s operational needs and left that to Illyuschenko and his
staff. “As for the Heavy Fighter, we are seriously doubting the abilities of the Firestorm
to deal with the very large types of UFOs. The new Fusion missiles, developed after a
similar alien weapon, will further enhance the capabilities of Firestorms. However, they
will still dwarves compared to the alien Battleships. Finally, both that craft and the Heavy
Transport will allow us to have fully aerospatial ability, allowing us to engage UFOs in
Earth’s orbit. We presently don’t possess such a capability, because of the Firestorm’s
operational constraints. This last craft will also allow us to deploy a short company of
troops very quickly anywhere on Earth”.
“We still maintain our reservations about the last two projects, Colonel: they seem a
waste of money that would be more wisely spent in Firestorm production. From your
reports it seems that the aliens hardly use any of their Battleships in their activities on
Earth, while we don’t understand the use of the Heavy Transport. X-Com’s regional
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commands were designed to ensure that each geographical area could properly defend
itself against the alien threat. Your concerns should be more local, not in how to engage
the UFOs in space were they don’t threaten anyone”.
That brought somewhat hot response from Illyuschenko and Bomaka agreed with him.
However the facts were that every one of the fourteen councilmen would be more
interested in taking care of their own defense first. When the whole argument was
finished, and the Canadian councilman finished speaking and sat down, Bomaka merely
nodded as the next speaker on the list looked at him. “In concordance to what has been
stated by my South African colleague, Egypt also wants to make a strong case on the
failure of X-Com to reduce the number of UFO activity emanating from Nigeria. One
should think if the Congo base’s commander isn’t simply incompetent for this position.
His order for his team to dust-off when they tried to assault one UFO two weeks ago in
Sudan merely shows is cowardliness”.
Looking at Illyuschenko, Bomaka already knew his reaction. “Mr. Councilman, as I
pointed to the South Africa representative, besides staging a coup d’etat in Nigeria or
mounting a full invasion there isn’t much more we can do about the fact that they have
joined the alien’s side. We are running a number of covert operations to retrieve UFO
crashes inside their borders but that’s about what we can do. And for Colonel Waartens’s
decision, he fully has my support: the UFO type that they encountered was a Harvester,
with more than twenty fully armed Mutons. We were only expecting one of their large
scouts, according to the radar information you gave to us. Moreover, the X-Com team on
the scene consisted only of a combat platoon. The fact that Waartens realized that to
remain in the area was suicide, after losing more than half of his soldiers showed that he
took the right decision, otherwise we would have lost the entire team!”
The Egyptian councilman merely replied. “Commander, our objections still remain. As
such, we won’t further increase our contribution, like South Africa, until we see more
positive gestures on X-Com’s part to upgrade Africa’s defenses”.
“Mr. Aziz”, Bomaka intervened, “what do you propose?” The short stubby Egyptian
wanted something, he could tell.
“We have examined the current Firestorm production and deployment proposal submitted
by Commander Illyuschenko’s staff. It is completely unacceptable that Congo base shall
only receive the first craft after the end of the present year while Europe will have a full
flight available by that time”. Back to leaving Illyuschenko to decide on the matter.
The Russian looked at a sheet that an aide quickly presented to him. “Mr. Councilman,
you must have misunderstood our proposal. Mother One will only be housing a full flight
by the second quarter of next year”.
“I mean Mother One and Stalingrad bases together, Commander! Europe already has a
sophisticated air defense network while Africa simply doesn’t have the financial
resources after decades of Western colonization. And we are seeing the same happening
here: The so-called first world is getting the best out of the money everyone is putting
into this force”. Bomaka wished that the Egyptian hadn’t brought into discussion that
sensible point. He could see that the argument had struck a point in some of the other
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nations while the majority of the European countries seemed to look in suspicion. Things
were looking ugly.
Illyuschenko looked adamant on his pose. “My operational plans stand. In case you
haven’t noticed Mr. Aziz, the Firestorm’s range and speed more than assures that any
UFO threat over your country can be dealt rapidly”.
The Egyptian councilman turned his attention from him and looked at Bomaka. “Mr.
Chairman I would like to ask for a vote of no-confidence on Commander Illyuschenko”.
The Secretary-General could see it coming before he had spoken. The day had been long
and it would end after the voting process was done. Better to finish it quick. “Very well.
Since there’s no more interventions scheduled and each country has already announced
his financial contributions for next month, shall we call the vote and end this session?”
To his surprise, the Indian councilman got up from his chair and asked permission to
speak. Bomaka conceded it and he started. “Before we vote, there’s another matter that
should be discussed that might have some influence”. That raised a couple of eyebrows in
the room and shifting on the chairs but Bomaka could see that they were all in the table
that he and the X-Com party were occupying. “Councilman Singh, this isn’t in the
agenda”.
“I know, Mr. Secretary, but the information I’m about to present couldn’t be presented
sooner. However, I’m sure that all of my colleagues will approve of the inclusion in
today’s session”. Seeing how no one raised any objection, Bomaka now knew that it
hadn’t been proposed before on purpose. Illyuschenko looked at him with a questioning
look but he had to approve it.
Singh then presented a CD-ROM disk to the table with information relevant to the
question. The disk was introduced and soon appeared the sign of India’s counter-
intelligence agency. “As you know, during the past year there has been a number of
border incidents in my country’s Kashmir area, which borders Pakistan, together with a
number of guerrilla groups that are operating in the area”.
“We are working to surpress the terrorist activity developed by these fanatics but a
number of small-scale engagements and bombings have occurred, together with the
assassination of local politicians in the area. While all of this is hardly new, we have
detected a number of indications that show that the terrorists are using some sort of high
technology weapon. Our indications showed that they might had somewhat gained access
to a downed UFO. But until now we only had circunstancial evidence”.
He ordered for the CD’s contents to be presented. “Until now”. A photograph of a rifle
appeared projected on the wall. It was all of a metal gray, with a large circular barrel.
There was a power cable coming out from the stock that attached itself to a small
rectangular unit.
Bomaka felt that Illyuschenko had nearly jumped on his chair but as he looked to check,
the X-Com commander kept his eyes square on the picture.
Looking at everyone in the room, he continued. “In one of our operation we finally
captured this. This seems to be a laser weapon, gentlemen. A laser weapon made on
Earth!” Singh turned to Illyuschenko now and Bomaka could see that they were about to
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entrap him. “We were told that X-Com’s data regarding weapons was put under a tight
security. Would you care to explain this to us Commander?”
Illyuschenko looked back at him very carefully studying his answer before replying. “X-
Com’s scientific data is secure”. The answer puzzled Bomaka: unless any nation had
developed laser weapons by itself, there was no other way for the rifle in the back of him
to have been manufactured unless there had been an unauthorized access to X-Com’s
data files. Unless there was someone inside X-Com supplying them!
Singh and Illyuschenko had locked themselves into some sort of mental fight. “Yes, we
don’t believe that such an intrusion had occurred. However, we have exchanged
information with other nation’s intelligence services: it seems that a number of devices
like this one have been seen in a number of worldwide conflicts. Apparently there is
someone in the possession of a cache of such weapons and selling them in the illegal
arms trade market”.
“Are you suggesting it is X-Com, Councilman? We don’t use that kind of junk: just by
the look of it, anyone familiar with our weapons can tell that, technically, they are much
more advanced. Just look at the size of that power unit!” Singh just smiled and looked
back at Bomaka. “Mr. Secretary, may I propose that we adjourn the rest of this meeting
for tomorrow? It’s very late already and I believe this whole matter should have enough
time to be fully investigated”.
Another councilman seconded the motion and Bomaka made the preposition. Like the
unexpected statement by Singh, it was approved unanimously. He dismissed the
councilmen and seeing them leave, couldn’t stop thinking what they had in mind.
Later in the evening, after they all had had dinner and were about to retire for the night,
Bomaka watched as a member of the Indian delegation approached Illyuschenko, who
seemed about to fulminate him with his glare and spoke to him for a couple of minutes.
Watching both men departure from the dining room afterwards, he couldn’t stop wonder
what surprises would tomorrow bring to him.
The meeting room chosen by the Indian councilman was sparse in furniture, having
barely more than two chairs and a low level table where a crystal flask was set upon,
containing a gold liquid inside and two glasses, together with a bowl of ice and a bottle of
mineral water.
When the X-Com Commander entered the room he paused to look around and check the
surroundings before sitting in front of Singh. The Indian man offered him a drink, which
he was quick to refuse, having already tasted the other man’s poison. Helping himself of
a whisky on the rocks, Singh started the conversation afterwards.
“You must be wondering the whole motive behind all of this Commander. Well, the
whole matter of the retrieved laser weapons is a cause of great concern to some nations in
the Council. They have chosen me to present our point to you, so that you can understand
your position”.
Illyuschenko kept his mouth quiet and Singh took it as a sign to continue.
“Now Commander, you don’t have to be a fully trainer accountant to know that X-Com
can’t possibly obtain all the financing it needs from the Council’s contributions. You
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have seven bases spread all over the globe, plus a number of secondary facilities
deployed to detect any signs of alien activity.
NASA and the European Space Agency are making a huge profit out of your contracts to
launch your own fleet of satellites. Overall your forces employ directly several thousands
of men and women, all of them fully skilled and trained: soldiers, scientists, engineers,
physicians, intelligence personnel, all of them well paid and with a lot of benefits.
And to that number one should also add the costs of running a large fleet of advanced
aircraft such as the Skyrangers and the F-22’s and the money you pay each month for
their lease. Plus the quantities paid to use scientific facilities, etc. Shall I continue?”
“What’s your point Councilman? Aren’t I doing the job that I was assigned to?”
“Yes, but from my country’s own calculations, more than half of the funding required to
maintain your force is coming from unknown sources, if not more since we don’t know
the full scope of your operations since it’s classified”.
Putting down his glass, he leaned forward. “General, if this was a public operation you
would have been arrested by now for suspicions of money laundering, illegal arms
dealing and a number of other offenses that would warrant you a lifetime in jail. It would
unacceptable that the commander of Earth’s defenses would be also be engaged in
criminal activities to support it”.
Illyuschenko wasn’t impressed. “Do you have proof of anything that you are saying?”
“Nothing in concrete, besides the recovered laser weapon that we have managed to
retrieve. But I’d guess that if someone conducted a full audit into X-Com’s finances that
some very peculiar book-keeping would be found”.
“You can’t do that. The Charter specifically states that to maintain operational security all
of our records, including the financial ones, can’t be accessed without a unanimous
decision from the Council. If that information were ever compromised, the enemy’s
would know everything about the operation. It is what saved us when China and Nigeria
defected”.
Singh shook his baldhead. “Do you think we aren’t considering it back there? Wake up
Commander! Right now a lot of countries are feeling nervous that laser weaponry has
found its way into the black market. Although there isn’t anything to trace it back to X-
Com besides the fact that you’re the only known force to develop and manufacture such
weapons, we all know from where it has come from, even if it isn’t one of your latest
designs. However, a lot of us is worried that if these weapons are out in the open, who
knows what else you might be selling around to finance this war”.
“So why are we talking here? Why don’t you arrest me?” He leaned back on the chair.
“And find someone who can keep the force together at the level I’ve managed to replace
me”.
“You are missing the point Commander. But I guess that’s because you are from the
military: it’s no wonder that you should stay away from politics, since you perceive
anything against you as threats”.
436
“We both agree with that, Councilman. I have no patience for this sort of games. If you
had given me the money I need all instead of bickering the whole time about the
insufficient protection you are getting, I could concentrate more in the war”.
“As for that matter, I’m sorry to say that X-Com won’t get a penny more on this
meeting”.
He jumped out of his chair and pointed at the man. “What’s this then? You’re not happy
with having me; you all want X-Com also? You might as well get a gun and shoot
yourselves in the head!”
“Commander, please seat down!” For some seconds both men stood staring each other in
the eyes, not daring to back off before the other one did.
Without unlocking his gaze, the Indian councilman simply spoke: “I’ve been here to find
a solution for all of this, without the need of a vote of no-confidence or a change in the
charter, believe me or not.
In any case, like I said before, you think too much in military terms, where there’s a
victor and a defeated. If you keep going on like that, it’s clear who will suffer defeat.
However, in politics there are other ways”.
That struck a chord inside Illyuschenko and he realized how hot-tempered he was. Taking
a deep breath he sat down again on the chair. “I’m listening”.
“Good”. He took out a handkerchief from the chest pocket of his suit and used it to clean
the sweat off his forehead. “To be honest, we are not interested in disbanding X-Com. At
least for now. With the announcement made some months ago recognizing the existence
of the aliens there is pressure for us to present solutions for the matter. If you all went
back into normal society the word would leak out about you and we might be risking a
situation of hysteria if it was known that such a crisis we had failed to coordinate efforts
and to deal with the crisis. It would be bad enough if it was known about China and
Nigeria”.
“So you can’t live without us. What else has changed from the beginning?”
“The descriptions of the data that you have recovered from investigating the aliens are
quite disturbing. First of all, have you ever sold any data or Elerium powered
equipment?”
“No. I would have been foolish and insane. Laser weapons are no much different from
the general weaponry now available. They have a bit more power and range but they
don’t make such a difference on the battlefield”.
“That is precisely the conclusion that we have come up to. And some of your research is
perfectly innocuous and won’t change the world from one day to the other if it’s released:
laser weapons, motion scanners, even alien alloys. But the Elerium is a completely
different matter”.
Puzzlement went through Illyuschenko’s mind. “Where are you trying to get at?”
“Right now it isn’t possible for change a single dot in the Charter so that X-Com could
open its research upon these subjects. We have already discussed it between ourselves in
closed doors and we found out that we can’t reach an agreement on even how to word it.
437
It would have to be something too vague to allow for further harmless investigation to be
released and even so some of it could be used into weapons of mass destruction, such as
the biological aspects”.
“There is no good and bad science: there are only good and bad men who employ it”.
“A crude analogy but a correct one. No one here is truly willing to trust the other in that
matter. We have seen what happened with the development of nuclear power after World
War II. And we see the Elerium as posing exactly the same problem: no one is willing to
part with it but each country wouldn’t want for its neighbor to have it while they don’t”.
“For us military it’s better if you keep it simple, Councilman. What are you proposing?”
“Basically that you keep your own arms deal that you are conducting but that now you
also make it available to each country individually, excluding the ones that aren’t a part
of the Council. It’s bad already that we are being left behind in technological terms
concerning the aliens: we can’t also be inferior to your buyers. That will also allow us to
train forces with the laser weapons and, if necessary present them to the public to assure
them that we are working on the matter”.
“Wouldn’t it be simpler to just announce the existence of X-Com?”
“No. It would be a hell of a political mess right now. One that you’d find yourself stuck
up to your neck”.
“We keep all the research still with us?”
“Yes. Each country is still free to conduct their own scientific investigations as it was
before”.
“And what about the research on Elerium?”
“You will be the only one allowed, as long as you are able to maintain the secret, while
the rest of us are banned. We might make an amendment to the Charter specifically
stating it, since it won’t be in contradiction with the spirit of the treaty. The knowledge
you have is too disestablishing right now and you’re the only organization that we can
trust, since you have managed to contain it for more than two years now. We are willing
to maintain the confidence in X-Com”.
“This sounds like a deal made out of hell, Councilman. Do you realize that your countries
are about to secretly do the same illegal business that you have accused me in the open?”
The man gave a short laugh. “Keep yourself in the military world Commander. You are
too naïve to be a politician”.
“Agreed. But I don’t understand why the reason of all of this”.
“More than anyone else in the world, in the end we care about our own survival. Right
now, from what you’ve shown we are more than convinced that you’re the only one that
can assure us of that. But don’t fail us Commander or you will be quickly found left hung
out to dry in the open. The whole purpose of my meeting with you was to make sure that
you understood it”.
438
December 17th, 2000
As Major MacAllister walked into his office, Williams got up from his desk to greet him,
both men shaking their hands before seating down. It had been a while since he had seen
the DIA officer and apparently some changes had happened: MacAllister seemed to be
more reserved, still tucked into his uniform but not showing the same openness that they
had shared before. The initial assessment group put together by the former Director of
Central Intelligence had long split, shortly after X-Com had been formed. Pharris and
Davis had left to join X-Com while he remained in Langley and MacAllister was
assigned to the Pentagon to Planning and Operations. To Williams knowledge they were
busy gathering all available information regarding the aliens and X-Com’s tactics to
prepare the US military in case they ever had to deal directly with the extraterrestrials.
Looking around the office, MacAllister smiled afterwards. “It’s been a while since I’ve
been here”. Looking at the picture of Williams with his wife, Betty and their two kids he
smiled and asked: “How are they doing?”
“Great. David keeps on asking me a lot of questions about the aliens while Anne is now
at kindergarten. And Betty has gone back to college: she’s working for a Masters now”.
Seeing his friend nod back in approval, he asked: “And how are you doing Mac? You
haven’t returned any of my calls for a while until two days ago. Is this just to wish me a
merry Christmas?”
MacAllister made an uncomfortable face, which made Williams concerned. The other
man clearly wasn’t at ease with something. “Yeah, let’s just say that I felt it better if I
could have a word with you to let you know of some things”.
“I’m all hears Mac. Is it something about Paula? Are you guys OK?”
“No, we’re fine also but thanks for asking”. He looked up in the air. “How can I put it?
Let’s just say that this is more of a professional matter”.
“I see…Something to do with our work?”
“Something that could affect your work. It has already changed mine”.
“Mac, stop beating around the bush”. The Major tried to smile. “Well I take that you have
listened to the main topic of the news lately”.
Williams thought for a moment, mentally sorting through the stories that had caught the
media’s attention lately. “You mean the presidential election?” Seeing in nodding in
agreement, he felt curious of why he was mentioning it. “What’s so special? Longstreet
conceded to Vaughn after the federal court stopped the vote recount. I think he did the
right thing so that the nation doesn’t think that Vaughn was the wrong winner. I’d prefer
Longstreet to replace Winston but now it’s past and we need to focus on the alien threat.
The rest is all technicalities of our election system to be discussed along the political
scientists. Why did you wanted to talk to me about this?”
“Well, as you know my function right now is up at the Pentagon. And when I got there I
saw some things that I wasn’t expecting. A lot of the officers with whom I’m working
right now are turning more and more critical of the whole strategy designed to deal with
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the aliens, particularly when we seen all of the blaming on the television that the military
isn’t doing anything to help”.
“We’ve seen that kind of criticism before, Mac. I’d be also complaining if I was forced to
sit and watch and not being able to speak while others do our work”.
“Terry, I know what you are saying but things are changing”. He made a serious face and
looked around. “Some time ago we were ordered to dust off and review the main
operations plan that was conceived before X-Com’s creating. Now this is something
regularly done, in order to update it with the latest information gathered by the CIA and
X-Com”.
Williams scratched his chin. “So?”
“I can’t tell you any details but it seems that there might be a major change of policy.
And now with the confirmation that Vaughn will be the next boss to sit on the chair, the
whole matter is being more discussed at our meetings. I wanted to know if you are aware
of the situation. Things are going to change and I don’t know of how to feel”.
Looking at his friend’s concern, Williams thought that he was making too much of a
normal situation. “Relax will you? I haven’t been notified yet but that’s not something I
wasn’t expecting. This will be a new administration: they will want to do things
differently. But just do your job as good as I know you are and don’t get too involved
into discussing the general policy. We are all working on the same team and as long as
everyone is aware of it we will overcome this”.
MacAllister seemed to be still uncomfortable with the situation but he dropped the
subject. “Yeah. Well it must be me: I think I would have preferred to stay out of the
Pentagon if not for the boost in my career”. Williams laughed at the comment and both
men stood there, taking the opportunity afterwards to discuss their personal plans for next
year.
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Chapter Twenty-One – Messengers from the Stars
Millions of years before recorded human History
Zeta Two Reticuli star system, 37 light years from Earth
The alien species had fared well in their quest to prevent their extermination, already
scheduled for when the astromechanics of the binary star system would cover their home
planet to a mass of locked ice.
Seeking to avoid their extinction, they had developed interplanetary travel in what would
be called a blink of an eye in cosmic terms. It allowed them to set their foot upon the
majority of the other planets and moons that composed their star system. Their
technological skills had already advanced greatly: not content with the limitations of their
fragile physical bodies and their weak genetic pool, they turned also their attention to the
unlocking of the very own secret of life itself.
In the middle of their planetary and scientific expansion, a discovery of great significante
occurred: it seemed that the same physics behind their pendant doom had given them the
key to their own survival. A rare mineral was found in the second planet and, upon
examination of its characteristics the alien race discovered that it could be used to enable
interstellar flight. That was a major boom to the Reticulans’ hope of survival. They had
already sent ships to colonize the most promising stars systems nearby, but the vessels
would take millions of years to reach their destinations and most likely would never
known if the effort was successful, since the distances involved meant that any message
beamed back would only find their home planet long dead.
With this new discovery, the alien civilization bloomed, setting forth now in a cosmic
journey of exploration, now that their concerns about survival had been lifted. Survey
ships were immediately sent to the closest star systems and the aliens discovered that
some of the planets were thriving with their own life. Generally they would be simple life
forms, more concerned in reproducing themselves and surviving, sometimes even trying
to eat or attack the Reticulans as they studied them. But in a few cases the aliens found
out intelligent species, which were aware of the visitors’ presence. Although their
primitive cultures were not match for the aliens’ technological and mental achievements,
the Reticulans made no effort to conquer the, preferring to watch the newly found species
with curiosity….and fear.
The discovery of life outside their own solar system had been long mentioned in old
prophecies that had been long considered useless. But as their ships moved from one star
system to another and reports came of other intelligent beings, a long-forgotten fear
begun to emerge again into their collective mind. No one clearly understood the reasons
behind it and no one dared to assume it, but lurking into their conscience there was the
feeling that the blessings the universe had given them could be a bane. The Reticulans
started to avoid any contact with other intelligent species. They started to visit them only
to check for their technological advances and to stop any potential threat from ever
emerging.
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However, their exploration vessels continued to expand their empire when a most
disturbing discovery happened. As they moved along into exploring star systems and
colonizing the most promising planets, one of their expeditions reported back intriguing
discoveries in a binary star system. Nine planets circled around one of the stars, the
majority of them gas giants or lifeless rock balls, but in one of them there seen to have
been a major cataclysm. The planet had been inhabited once by intelligent life, but
something terrible had happened to them. The exploration vessel report that was beamed
back showed images of blasted cities and ruins of massive monuments, destroyed by
some sort of radioactive weapons. There was also evidence that dead civilization had
once also tried to reach the stars, since there were also artifacts on the planet’s moon
surface.
There were no records of what had happened to them and the planet’s environmental
conditions made it clear that while it once was able to support a variety of life forms, it
now was only marginally inhabitable. The examination of the expedition’s findings
brought few answers about what had happened to the alien civilization or what was its
culture. The only firm conclusions were that the species that lived there had once placed
all of their effort upon reaching the stars: the constructions still more or less intact
replicated on the ground the patterns of the stars above, in the form of massive drawings
made of carved rock. Other than it, they had destroyed themselves in a war whose
reasons behind were unclear.
The discovery sent a shiver through the Reticulans’ society, bringing back the great
debate about what danger might be lurking around. Reluctantly, for the first time in their
history they started to prepare for organized warfare, equipping their spacefaring vessels
with weapons and using their genetic skills to bring major modifications into their own
race.
Meanwhile the expedition had finished their sweep of the planets surrounding the main
star of the twin system. The only unexplored feature left was its circling companion, a
brown dwarf, a spatial object several hundred times the mass of the biggest gas giant
planets. In comparison with the majority of stars in the galaxy, it had about one quarter of
their size and less than half their temperature. It was a failed star, too small to develop the
pressures that enabled hydrogen fusion to happen. But the brown dwarf wasn’t
completely dead: it was still emanating residual infrared light and heat, the energy that it
still had left from its formation, when the initial pressures had enabled a different type of
fusion.
So far such astronomical objects had been looked over by the aliens. In some cases it had
been found that they had possessed satellites and that the heat and radiation warmed them
enough to permit the development of life. But the abundance of more life abiding planets
around normal stars had kept the aliens wait from those brown dwarfs. That had been the
norm, until now.
Without being ordered or giving any explanation, the expedition traveled to the brown
dwarf. Upon their arrival they reported several moons circling the failed star, some of
them possessing an atmosphere and life-bearing conditions. They also announced their
decision of descending into the most promising satellite. The message didn’t stir much
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attention back on their homeworlds until time passed and the only thing heard from them
was silence, inspite of the frequent hails.
In conjunction with other events, the Reticulans’ leadership became deeply concerned. A
strange presence was detected inside their collective mind at the same time that the
expedition stopped reporting back. Another vessel was sent to the system to investigate,
but contact was also lost with it. News of the occurrence soon spread to every colony and
spaceship, resulting in social upheaval and soon outright rebellion, as their society
became more and more divided about their course of action. Strife and civil war
followed, the last concept until then unheard in their society, until finally the most
powerful group emerged, the genetic pinnacle that had been specially developed for such
a situation. Confident on their own mental powers and on their technology, they now
assembled a large expedition was sent to destroy the unknown menace to their power that
hid in the brown dwarf’s moon.
January 24th, 2001

On the way to brief the new sworn-in President on the alien situation, Williams still
wondered what sort of man he would turn out to be like. The new president had been
sworn into office four days ago, definitely ending the controversy over the vote count: the
whole thing would now be something for historians to study, it seemed and that was also
Williams’ wish. The whole matter had brought concerns to him that the US didn’t need to
be involved in the middle of such a controversy while trying to fight the aliens.
For what he could see of the White House staff something was definitely different: new
aides moving around the corridors, taking curious looks at him and even the Marine and
Secret Service security guards seemed to be looked more alert. They had taken their time
to check his ID, although after two years coming to see the President they already knew
his face by now. It looked as if Vaughn’s message upon being sworn in as President was
true, that he wanted to quickly get on to business, after the political mess that the
presidential election had turned out to be, with the recounts called by both candidates in
several states. Which was fine with Williams, since New Year had only brought the
defection of Indonesia to the aliens’ camp. While the country didn’t belong to the
Council of Funding Nations, the effects of their turning into the aliens’ side were causing
a lot of instability in the area.. Indonesia was one of the most populous countries in the
world and the defection had put Australia into a tight spot, since they had now an enemy
sitting by their doorstep. X-Com was managing to keep the increasing alien incursions at
bay but…barely and now it was extremely important to assure that the new
Administration would be fully aware of the dramatic situation being fought on Earth’s
continents and atmosphere. But he was reassured because Vaughn had been briefed about
the situation from the days of the presidential campaign and now it would be the time for
him to act upon realities, not the needs to gain more votes.
When he finally entered the Situation Room and took a look at the people present,
Williams realized in shock that the majority were strangers to him, although he
recognized some of the faces from the congressional hearings that took place to appoint
the new Cabinet. General Thompson and his new boss, Candace May, the new Director
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of Central Intelligence, were present, but everyone else who had been on the last meeting
was gone, being replaced by new faces.
President Vaughn noticed his entry in the room and moved to greet him. As he
approached Williams quickly recognized the look on his face that was the same stamped
on all the banners, posters, television ads and so forth. Vaughn was on his mid fifties and
his black hair was already starting to turn white at his sides. He also had a square chin
and his eyebrows connected with one another over his small nose. “Mr. Williams, good
morning and thank you for driving up here all the way from Langley on this terrible
weather”, he said smiling as both men shook hands. He then introduced him to the rest of
his Cabinet and after proper greetings were exchanged, the meeting started.
“Mr. Williams, upon reading the reports you have brought to our attention before, we
have wondered of the former Administration was not very lax on giving away money. In
more than two years close to twenty-five billion dollars were given to X-Com and with
what results? Are American troops more prepared and equipped to deal with the aliens,
using X-Com’s research? And I wouldn’t exactly consider our country safe, when their
activity is increasing every month.”
“Sir, access to research data gathered by X-Com’s scientists is limited due to security
measures. And X-Com is doing the best they can in fighting the aliens. Those same
reports also point out how the force has been extremely successful in dealing with any
new tactics or weaponry developed by the aliens”.
“Yes, but would they fight China, if they decide to invade the whole of Asia with legions
of soldiers armed with the alien’s weapons?”
“That could easily backfire into the aliens, sir. They would have to deal with these same
troops later when they decide to take over Earth”.
Vaughn got back on his chair and smiled, as if waiting for that argument. “The so-called
argument about how the aliens will come down from the skies, like one of those science
fiction movies. Mr. Williams, two years have passed from the first contact with the
extraterrestrials and so far their activities have been quite limited in scope, wouldn’t you
say?”
“It depends on the perspective sir. They haven’t performed any mass landings, if we look
at the Siberian attack as a mere operation to ensure that the Russians and their laser were
being kept out of the fight. However the numbers show that their activities….”
“You say it right. It depends on the perspective and so far I believe we have been taking
the wrong perspective into this whole matter”.
Williams realized that something had dramatically changed and looked at May. She
replied his gaze with a beginning of a smile in her lips but kept silent. Vaughn continued:
“Can’t it be that they simply don’t have the resources to take us all by force and instead
need the help of other nations more sympathetic to their cause?”
“Sir, our estimates for the alien’s forces based on the Solar system….”
“Your estimates! Like you said, educated guesses with few information to actually
support them and that make no military sense at all, if you listen to the experts on the
matter”. He looked at General Smith, who started to speak as if it had been rehearsed.
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“Mr. Williams, the Pentagon has been reviewing its war plans towards the aliens, taking a
more conservative matter. The alien threat more and more seems to be of a local, not
global issue. As an example, we have looked into the fact of why don’t they use more of
their forces in the attacks or even strike back at our ability to wage war, which would be
the more logical thing to ensure a victory”.
“General Smith, this discussion involves more than that. The aliens have their own
political agenda and their military actions are dictated by it”.
“Yes, their agenda” Vaughn continued. “One that has brought them many times in the
past in contact with Earth, according to your own investigations. And yet, not a single
time did they take over us in that period, when our weapons would be like children’s
toys, unable to hurt them. They have contacted other nations before in the past and they
are doing it now. They are acting with the permission and help of countries like China
and so on, nations with their own agendas. In fact, so similar that one might not think if
those same countries haven’t been talking to the aliens for a long time and setting up their
plans since then. After all, historically speaking the Chinese and other ‘social’ societies
have the form of government that most resembles the aliens: a multi-caste system, where
the upper classes looked at the ruled as mere tools to be used, with no respect for human
rights. This isn’t an interplanetary war, Mr. Williams. No, this is a fight over different
ways of life and some of our fellow humans are directly behind it. And to win it, we need
first to isolate and contain these same nations before they destroy us”.
Williams was aghast, seeing how the whole strategy that he had helped to define was
being thrown out into the trash. “Mr. President, I see the logic behind your thinking but I
can’t possibly agree with it. The aliens want to dominate us. It hasn’t happened yet and I
cannot bring forward any proof.
But after dealing with them for such a long time, I’ll bet all my money that will be a
matter of time before they completely dominate us, either by a massive offensive or by
turning us all into puppet states”.
“Your thoughts have been deeply discussed and will be recorded, Mr. Williams. I thank
you for your personal effort on this matter but this Administration doesn’t think it will be
necessary anymore”.
Williams looked around in the room. All the faces seemed unsympathetic with his
position, looking as if the yet unspoken decision had already been taken previous to the
meeting. “Sir, does this means I’m being fired?”
Candace May replied for the President. “Mr. Williams, like the President said we
appreciate your devotion to duty but right now it has been considered as misguided”. She
stopped, looking sympathetic at him. “I’m afraid your position at the National
Intelligence Council is going through a review at the moment. However you will retain
your former position at the CIA, in a matter deemed appropriate for your unique skills”.
The whole world felt like it has turning into Williams and he looked upwards towards the
sky, starting to feel scared about what might be coming. Vaughn simply looked at him,
rubbing his hands. He was about to get up and leave when a final question came to his
head.
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“Sir, if I may ask, what will be the status of X-Com?” Vaughn shifted uncomfortably on
his chair but the answer came from Smith. “The Joint Chiefs of Staff are still reviewing
our position on that force and if the resources allocated wouldn’t be better used on
regular US forces”.
Vaughn nodded to Smith. “Thank you General. To tell you the truth, I haven’t really
decided, Mr. Williams. I can’t say I was pleased to hear two days ago that X-Com took
down one of their large UFOs and that they hoarded its contents without waiting for the
arrival of US forces. I was equally distressed when Mrs. May told me about X-Com’s
policy of restricting the information given to us. You don’t treat your allies that way”.
Williams shook his head. “That same policy prevented that the Chinese had access to any
sensitive data before they decided to join the aliens’ side, sir. It works either way”.
“Maybe, but the Chinese now have direct access to that data through the aliens, while we
are still being left in the dark. Don’t think I don’ appreciate the effort they are putting
against defending our cities, but in the end line it’s our civilians that are being targeted by
the aliens. However, American forces should be defending them, not some multinational
force that is outside our command and that might decide against our own interests”.
“The leaders of North American Command, Colonels Johnson and Jackson are more than
loyal to the US, sir”.
“I’m not questioning their loyalty. What I’m questioning is our participation on a force
where some of the participating nations have turned into the enemy’s side. One might
think of when that collaboration started and if the creation of this force wasn’t a part of
their plans. Furthermore, if that proves to be right we might be housing into our own soil
a fifth column, even if their military leaders aren’t aware of it. A fifth column to which
we are giving money and our best minds and bases”.
“X-Com is fully devoted into stopping the aliens sir!” The remark brought a frown into
Vaughn’s face and Williams knew that the discussion was over. “That might be.
However, we are not in command and right now we need to focus our efforts. By
spreading them through the use of this force we might as well be surrendering to the
enemy’s tactics. But that will be for this administration to decide, not you. Good day Mr.
Williams and thank you for your presence here”.
January 28th, 2001

Williams just had lunch at the cafeteria after a long prolonged meeting going over the
projections regarding the estimates of current Chinese forces, something that was boring
him to dead. But before heading back to his office, he made a stop to the restroom to take
a leak. Like the rest of the building there wasn’t anyone around, with the majority of the
workers having already left to go to their homes. He made a mental note to remind his
wife that he would be late today as the other occupant of the restroom left.
Ten seconds afterwards he heard the door swivel open again but he didn’t bother to look.
He only heard the sound of decisive steps on the floor and the door of one of the toilet
cabinets behind him being opened. Then the noise repeated itself, as another door was
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slammed opened and another. He turned his head and saw Davis, wearing a civilian suit
and opening all of the cabinets in a quick motion. “Davis! What are you doing? What are
you doing here?”
The X-Com operative simply raised his finger to his lips and finished his sweep, after
which he went to stand by the door. Meanwhile Williams had to stay right where he was
since he wasn’t done urinating yet. “Managed to come up with an excuse to fly over here
and discuss the latest information on the aliens retrieved by X-Com. A bunch of non-
sense and useless information, if you ask, but I need to talk to you about the UFO we shot
down and recovered last week”.
“You mean the intruder who got squashed by the new Firestorm? What’s so special about
it? You got it shot down and defeated the crew afterwards, didn’t we?” The other man
looked back at him, slightly turning his attention away from the entrance. “That’s what
the report we gave to CIA spooks say. However, there are some things that I’ve manage
to convince X-Com to hold back for now until we have confirmation of them, due to their
implications”. He moved his index finger in a circle, meaning that he was talking about
their ‘special issue’”.
By now Williams had lost all will to urinate and he zipped his fly back up. “What have
you found inside it?” He moved to the sink to wash his hands.
“You don’t want to know half about what we found inside that flying can. Besides a lot
of supplies it carried a lot of equipment meant to process food onroute. And the aliens
made sure that the fridge was full: for the human remains we recovered they must have
stopped over somewhere in Asia to go shopping for groceries, if you get what I mean”.
Williams felt lucky that he was right in front of the sink, in case his stomach would fail
him. “Is that what it was? A Harvester? The radar tracks made available to us by
NORAD picked up showed it to be a larger craft though”.
Davis looked through the door to make sure no one eavesdropped into their conversation.
“Doubtful. This thing was big and, besides food, it carried over twenty aliens, most of
them combat troops and enough weapons and ammunition to equip a full company. And
not to mention that it was also carrying a several assortment of other equipment,
including several alien reproduction chambers. However, it was only lightly armored and
it didn’t carry that much weapons for its size. From what the intelligence exports back at
the base say, it seems more of a transporter than an assault ship. Doesn’t that make you
think? ”.
“A transport ship? But for what? When they perform attacks they use their Terror Ships
and if this was an invasion there would be hundreds of landing craft, not just one”. Davis
nodded. “Remember our late Mr. Owens? Most of the government personnel files
regarding him have been mysteriously deleted or lost in a number of computer
malfunctions. However, I’ve called American Express and using a number of excuses
managed to have a copy of the expenses he placed upon his credit card for the year before
he died. He was several times close to the area where the UFO was shot down, namely in
northern New Mexico. And the craft was flying a straight course as if it had a destiny.
Now what can it be so important over there that the aliens are shipping stuff to there with
Mr. Owens also stopping by to say hello?”
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The realization nearly made Williams drop the paper he was using to rinse his hands. He
looked at Davis: “We have to get to New Mexico at once. There must be some sort of
alien operation going over there”.
“Get ready to travel at my notice during the next week. I’ll let you know later to where
and when”. Before Davis could say anything else, the former FBI agent simply left the
restroom, leaving him alone. He threw the paper into the waste bin, realigned his tie knot
and went back to his office.
February 6th, 2001

Albuquerque, New Mexico, US
The small diner where Davis and Williams where having breakfast was close to the motel
where they had checked in the night before, both men using fake identifications and
paying in cash. The retrieval of the large UFO had been completed by X-Com personnel
a week ago and the direction of its intention flight path and the other information
available pointed that the presumable alien base would be located more to the north.
Before heading there, however, both men wanted to check the lead of Mr. Sam Owens
and his whereabouts in New Mexico before his death. The trouble had been that, so far,
they had scarce information.
Finishing his eggs with pancakes, Williams took a sip of his coffee and asked Davis. “So,
where do we start now that we are here?” The X-Com operative took out a manila file
from a briefcase he was carrying and handed it to Williams. He opened and saw a map of
New Mexico, divided by counties and with each one having a number on them. “What is
this?”
Davis went back to finishing his breakfast but talked in the middle of the bites into his
French toast. “I did some queries into local law enforcement agencies regarding if they
had reported any strange lights in the sky in the past six months, from ever since the
government recognized the existence of UFOs. These are the results”.
“You have to be kidding me. Nearly each one shows dozens of reports, which isn’t
surprising if you consider that everyone in the whole country is now discussing about the
flying saucers. I wouldn’t consider the majority of this reports reliable and we don’t have
time to go through all of them”.
“Dead right on that one. But have you mentioned that some places don’t report any UFOs
at all? Don’t you think it’s strange, considering all the fuss the ET Papers made?” That
sounded to Williams as bizarre, but it was better than visiting all of the local police
forces. “So you are suggesting that we go to these other places, where no UFO incidents
have been reported?”
“Or probably that the folks around there are so used to them that they have never
bothered to mention them”. The logic still didn’t appeal too much for Williams, but he
decided that it was better than nothing. He put the paper back to the others on the manila
folder and handed it back to him.
But as he moved his arm, the folder hit Davis’ coffee cup, with the whole hot content
spilling over the table and making the other man jump back on his chair and drop his
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silverware on the plate. “Careful!” Williams put the folder on the side of the table and
immediately picked up a napkin and started to clean the mess. A waitress came by two
minutes later and helped him out, afterwards asking if Davis would like another cup of
coffee. He politely refused and excused himself to the restroom to clean the coffee stains
on his pants.
Finally, when they arrive they asked for the check and left some dollar bills to pay for it.
But as Williams was getting up his hip hit one corner of the folder and it dropped noisily,
spreading its contents all over the floor. “Seemed to have awaken with the wrong foot
today” He mumbled towards Davis as he crouched to pick up all the papers and
afterwards follow the other man on their way out.
On the table next to Williams and Davis, Evan Blake was still wondering about what he
had just seen. Vaughn had been sworn in already, but it would take some time before any
announcement to be made by the government about the UFO situation, if ever. Blake
knew that the Federal Government was suspicious enough to try to keep a lid on every
secret. He had flown to Indian Springs to do research into the Roswell incident and about
a supposed UFO that had been tracked by NORAD over the area, according to one of his
sources. He was considering on how to make a boring story interesting, especially when
he hadn’t been too enthusiastical about a wild goose chase ordered by his editor just
because the matter was hot right now, when all of the action now was at Washington.
But that had all changed the minute he took notice of the commotion regarding both men
in front of him. And of the symbol he had seen on one of the documents when one had
dropped a folder on the ground by accident. He had only cached a glimpse of it, but the
white circle with a red X he had seen on the header of it made him remind of a something
he had seen more than a year ago. The same symbol of the strange aircraft spotted on the
terrorist attack on LA, which remained as elusive as the whereabouts of Colonel Johnson.
It was obvious to him by now that the force must be responsible for investigating the ET
incidents. And if he got to them, who knows what information about the aliens he could
get? He tried to see how both men were but during the time it took him to remind of
where he had seen the symbol they were already on their way to the exit.
Leaving a twenty-dollar bill over his table, he grabbed his notes and quickly stuffed them
inside his bag. Heading the door, he searched for the two men that had just left, hoping to
follow them. He nearly bumped on the way out into one of the locals, sporting a Texas
Cowboys cap and some really worn out jeans and shirt. He failed to notice that the man
also mimicked his actions, getting into a pick-up where another individual had already
the engine running and taking down the same route that Blake had just taken on his
pursuit.
February 7th, 2001

Nearby Dulce, Jicarilla Apache Reservation, New Mexico, US
The last town they had passed on their way to here could be already considered the end of
the world but the city after looked even worse. There the local police chief had dismissed
the claims of alien craft, telling that if there really were aliens they would be more
interested into other places than his town.
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As they were leaving the city a most disturbing occurrence happened: Davis kept
checking is rear-view mirror for a long time and, after a while took a turn into the wrong
direction. Feeling puzzled, Williams picked up the map to check and said to Davis: “You
just took the wrong turn. You’re supposed to have gone straight on the highway we were
going”.
The other man still kept his eyes on the mirror. “We are being followed”. The first
reaction of Williams was to turn around and look to the back, thinking that he would see
a car on their tail, but nothing was on sight on the road. “How can you tell? I see nothing
out there”.
“I’ve spotted it only this morning when we left the motel. It’s a simple passenger car with
one man inside, but he was on our tail when we go out of the last city and it turned the
same way as we did. There!”
Looking at the distance, Williams only saw a silhouette of a vehicle. He couldn’t even
say what type of car it was. “Aren’t you just getting a little paranoid?”
Davis looked at him. “I’ve done this for years chasing KGB agents. I should know
something about this otherwise they wouldn’t have made me subdirector on the FBI”.
Giving up to press the argument, Williams said. “OK, it’s your call. What should we do
about it?”
“We head out for our next destination, pretending that we just took a wrong turn and go
our own business. Let’s wait and see what he and his friends are up to”. That worried
Williams. “You think there’s more?”
Keeping his eyes forward, he replied. “Unless he’s a complete amateur, there has to be
more people assigned to following us. One man simply cannot keep surveillance for
hours without loosing his target. Whatever you do, don’t ever show that you are aware of
him. He might react to that”.
“React?” Williams started to have a bad feeling. “Yeah. Open the glove compartment and
take out the gun that’s there”. He did and found a Beretta 9mm pistol inside, underneath
the driving manual of the car. As Williams took it out by its barrel Davis asked. “Have
you ever used one?”
“No. I’m just a CIA analyst, not an operative”.
“Well, Mr. Analyst, on the right there’s the safety. To fire it, just take the safety off, pull
back the top into you to load a round, point it and press the trigger. The clip contains
fifteen bullets”. Williams grabbed it by the holster. “I supposed you have one already”.
His shoulders shrugged. “One never knows what might show up. Better to be prepared
for all circumstances”.
“Who do you think it might be back there?”
“Who knows? Maybe someone back at the Agency decided that you are a security risk,
now that you have been put off the alien situation. Probably they asked the Bureau to
keep an eye to see what you are doing taking off from Washington in such a rush. Or
maybe it’s the other thing that we have discussed before…”
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Williams’ voice was scared. “How will we know?”
“Depends on what they might try. But try to look relaxed when we get to our next
destination”. He went back to driving and Williams tried to put away the thought as they
made a turn back into the main road. After a while they reached a sign that marked the
beginning of a Native American reservation.
When they reached the town in the middle of the reservation, it looked nothing more than
a agglomeration of houses and trailers all cluttered up on the sides of the highway, with
children playing on the side of the street. As Davis drove towards the reservation police
office Williams looked at the local folks and wondered why would anyone live in such an
inhospid location.
The ex-FBI operative parked the car on front of a white prefabricated building in the
parking lot, which was nothing more than a section of dry flat earth with sparse
vegetation. They both got out of the rented Chevrolet at the same time as the reservation
police chief had gotten out of the small building and moved in their direction. He wore
blue denim jeans tucked inside black cowboy boot, together with a dark gray shirt and a
black tie. Only the cowboy hat and the insignia pinned to his chest pointed his position as
a policeman. “Can I help you gentlemen?”
Davis produced his wallet from his pocket while answering, “Sheriff Lonewolf? I’m
Michael Kaminsky of the FBI. I tried to contact you before but you didn’t respond…”
The Apache looked carefully at the fake id that Davis was showing him, before
answering the unspoken question. “You want to know about the flying craft, the UFOs as
you call them. Who is this other man?”
Davis seemed to be lost for a minute with the man’s bluntness. “This is Mr. Franks, he is
here on an advisory position to the Bureau. Sheriff, why do you think we are here to
investigate such a matter?”
“Mr. Kaminsky, just because we live in a reservation that doesn’t mean that I don’t pay
attention to the news outside. The work I have around here is either petty crime or minor
offenses. And occasionally someone might got injured or killed in a brawl, but even that
wouldn’t be enough to bring the attention of the FBI”.
“Excuse me sheriff, but why would we came here then? You have been one of the few
counties in the state that hasn’t made any reports about them”. The Apache took his eyes
off both men to look at the distant mountain shapes on the horizon. “No one here has
bothered to make such report, because some between us have kept the knowledge about
know what they are and are used to seeing them. Those are not police matters but of the
spiritual world”.
The explanations of the man defied any logic to Williams. “Spiritual matters? Chief
Lonewolf, it’s essential to every human being on this planet that we learn more about
them. What information can you give us regarding the UFOs?” The Native American
looked back at him, giving him a twisting sensation on his stomach. “You ask for more of
what I can tell you”. He headed back towards the office. “You can leave now. There’s
nothing here for you”.
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“Sheriff, hold on a minute! We are here on official business and we are requiring your
collaboration. We need to know if any UFOs have been seen or reported in the area”. The
Apache stopped by the door. “I am telling you that here you won’t find what you seek”.
As he went back into the building, Williams turned to Davis. “Great. Now what we do?”
The X-Com official stood there, thinking for a minute before replying to Williams. “We
look for what we want without his help. We can’t force him to be cooperative”. Williams
looked up and down the street. “Yeah, any ideas on how to start?”
Davis was about to respond as a figure came around the pre-fabricated building and
approached them both. It was a woman well into his forties, with a skin tone that
identified her also as an Apache. She had an aquiline nose that looked familiar to
Williams, although he had no idea why. “You are from Washington aren’t you?” She
asked both.
“Why, yes, madam. We are here on official mission to the FBI”. Davis presented his
credential looked at her in attention. “We have been sent here to investigate a strange
phenomenon and we could use any…”
“I know why you are here. My name is Gloria and I help out my brother with the
paperwork and the calls sometimes. I saw when your request for information came and
my brother told me not to answer back”. Davis raised an eyebrow. “Sheriff Lonewolf is
your brother? Madam, if you don’t mind me telling you this he could be a little more
helpful”.
“He has always looked at the UFOs with fear and awe. We lived all our childhood
hearing stories about the beings from the sky and seeing the lights. He and most of the
folks prefer not to think about the subject, specially since we started to see them almost
every week”.
“Every week? For how long?” Williams started to wonder for how long the possible base
had been operating.
“I don’t know, months, could be years. We hardly pay attention to them anymore.
Sometimes they fly over the camp, others we just see them at a distance. I always thought
that you had something to do with them and seeing you here asking for them struck me as
strange”.
“And you never thought of telling this to anyone?”
“Why should we? Anyone would just think it to be a story made-up by some drunken
Indian who had mistaken a street light for a UFO. And this has been going on for many
generations. They came, do their business and they go, leaving us alone”.
“Just how do you know that madam?” Williams was dumbstruck.
“The tales told by our elders. And the paintings on the caves close to the mesa”.
“Can you take us there? It’s important that we see them”. She looked at the sedan they
were driving with reprovation. “Yes, but we need to get authorization from the tribal
council and we can’t drive there on your car. There’s a dirt road that will get us close but
we will have to make some miles through hard terrain. We will have to take my jeep”.
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She pointed at a red jeep parked a little away from them and Davis nodded. “Then if you
won’t mind, please let’s get the authorization necessary to see the caves”.
Some time later they were riding on the Sheriff’s sister Grand Cherokee jeep on their way
to the natural caverns that she had mentioned. Before they had been introduced to the
shaman of the tribe as she had introduced him, who simply looked at them as they
approached the porch where he was seated on and nodded. Williams and Davis looked as
she talked to him but they couldn’t hear her words. When she came back she told him
that they had permission since she was already expecting them. That brought looks of
suspicion from them to her, but she dismissed them, saying. “He says that to most of the
people who came here and ask the same thing, to visit some part of the reservation. My
brother is also into that same mystical thing. I prefer to keep myself in both worlds at the
same time”.
The dirt track ended on the top of a small elevation that was standing in the middle of all
the gullies that made the terrain of most of the reservation. The whole time Davis had
kept an eye on the road behind them, trying to look for the presence of their tail but
finding nothing. “Now we walk from here”, she said before taking a backpack and
looking at their shoes. “I hope these are good for walking. We still have to hike for
almost mile before we get there”.
Both men followed her, with Williams in the middle and Davis closing the rear. After
looking at the brown and red landscape over them started to bother the CIA analyst, he
started to ask questions at the woman. “Miss Lonewolf, how do you know about this
place?”
She didn’t even bother to look back while picking the trail and answering them. “Me and
my brother used to come here a lot when we were kids. My grandfather told us about the
paintings, telling that our ancestors made them to represent the messengers from the
stars”.
Williams almost slipped as he stepped upon a rock that was loose. “What else did he say
about them?”
“I can’t remember: I was a while and he died soon afterwards. And until I started seeing
the lights in the sky hovering around the mesa I didn’t believe him much on that story”.
They had now entered a deeper gully, with its sides towering the trio. As they walked
inside it, Williams felt entrapped as if the earth walls would engulf them. “What mesa are
you talking about?”
“The Archuletta Mesa. It’s over that hill”. She pointed into her right indicating an
elevation that Williams was only able to barely see the top. “The lights go there?”
They had now entered a large area on the small canyon where they were walking. “Yes. I
only saw them there once many years ago. I thought it was the military since there was a
time that their helicopters were all around the sky. But they have gone there a number of
times”. She stopped in the middle of the area.
Davis had finally reached their position and Williams was breathing while Gloria didn’t
seem troubled by the hike at all. “It’s there”. She pointed to a darker area of the small
enclosured space where they were standing.
454
Following her, Williams and Davis soon found out that it led into a natural cave, dug by
an ancient underground river. She took out two flashlights out of her backpack, gave one
to Davis and entered. As she started to lighten the way ahead she warned them. “Watch
your feet! The whole ground is littered with stones”.
Williams tried to take care on his step by he bumped into a couple of heavy rocks that
hurt his toes. Finally the movement of the light indicated that she had stopped. Both men
moved to join her, in the middle of an underground cave, pointing her flashlight to a
portion of the wall above.
In the orange almost flat wall Williams started to notice figures painted into a variety of
colors. Some were animals like snakes and foxes, while others consisted of birds, all
having some sort of a symmetrical configuration. The other drawings were geometrical
shapes, but finally he saw what he was looking for.
The figure was of a large head, its external contours in black while the face itself was in
white, with two dark slanted eyes with the shape of teardrops. As the CIA analyst
recognized one and his brain took notice of what he should be looking for, he quickly
spotted others drawn in the walls. Pointing them to Davis he asked him: “Recognize
something?”
“Yeah, I guess we found the people from the stars. But we still need…”. A gunshot noise
followed by a human scream made him quickly turn into the direction of the entrance.
Two human figures could be seen standing against the faint light coming out from it.
Without thinking, Davis threw his flashlight at the direction of both men while reaching
for his belt. The lamp spun on the air still on, illuminating portions of the wall for a
second until another gunshot was heard. Sparks suddenly came out of it and the light
died, followed by the sound of it crashing on the ground.
Williams’s vision was then filled by the bright light of a laser being fired in the dark
confines of the cave. Finding himself blind he moved towards one of the walls, hitting his
head against it on the process. “Kill the light! Don’t move!” He heard Davis say a
moment later. Gloria shut down the remaining flashlight, leaving them all into a sea of
pitch black.
Only then did he remind himself of the pistol that he had left back at their car. He wished
that he had remembered to bring it along. Moments passed and nothing could be seen
from the entrance and he could only hear the sound of the humans breathing inside. There
was no indication of where Davis or Gloria might be, although he had an idea of their
positions.
Deciding to shift his position he started to come out from the recess on the wall where he
was hiding. But as soon as his arm started to move, a gunshot was again heard, followed
by extreme pain above his left elbow that made him scream and close his eyes.
He didn’t saw what happened afterwards and only the glow of the laser going through his
closed eyelids told him that Davis had fired his laser pistol again. Some time later, which
to him seemed to be countless minutes, he heard the X-Com agent shout: “All clear”.
The light went back on again and looking at his arm Williams saw that a bullet had hit it
over the elbow. Gloria came by and taking a look said: “It’s bleeding but you’re lucky. It
455
didn’t hit any major artery or bone, just went through the flesh and got out by the other
side”. Going back to her backpack, she took out a first aid kit from her back and started to
help him.
When she was done, both of them moved outside. Two figures were standing by the
entrance, apparently dead, with their guns pushed away from them. To Williams they
seemed more like locals but he couldn’t be sure. As they both reached the clear area
outside he saw Davis still holding his pistol and pointing it at another figure who was
moving towards him slowly.
“For Christ’s sake! I’ve just been shot! What do you think you are doin’?” The voice
was familiar to Williams. Evan Blake had his hands both up and had now stopped upon
Davis’ indication. The X-Com agent then dropped him with a kick to the back of his
knees that made him hit the ground heavily. “What the hell is going on here?” Blake
demanded as Davis made a quick search on him, looking for any concealed weapons.
Satisfied with his search, Davis then backed away and motioned him to get up, still
keeping his laser pistol trailed on the figure. When Blake got up he started dusting off his
clothes before he noticed Williams and Gloria standing at the entrance of the cave.
“You!” He pointed angrily at him. “You are into some serious trouble mister! You’re a
liar who just tried to kill me. I will have your head over this! Neonazi groups my ass!
You are going to tell me what is really going on concerning the aliens!”
Ignoring him, Williams looked at Davis who spoke: “I don’t think he’s with them. My
bet is that they were about to jump on us when he appeared and ruined their plans”.
Taking his aim slightly off Blake, he added: “The question remains though: what are you
doing here and why were you following us?”
“Why should I answer that?” Davis pointed back the pistol at him. “Why should you not?
I’ve just been shot twice by these dead fellows back there and I had to kill them”. The
next lines make Williams nearly jump before he reasoned that it might be a bluff. “Makes
me no difference if you join them”.
Blake seemed as if he was still extremely angry. “I saw you yesterday on Albuquerque. I
was about to head out for Roswell to make a story about the supposed crash there but I
decided that you should be here for some reason regarding the aliens”.
Davis still wasn’t satisfied. “Go on”
“When you left the reservation on the jeep my car had some problems with the terrain
and I was delayed. I eventually came to the place where you parked, only to find a pick-
up truck next to yours. I took me some guessing but I finally discovered where you
headed out. But when I arrived here someone took a shot at me and I hid until you forced
me out. Satisfied now?”
Davis looked back at him but was interrupted by Gloria, who had stood silent until now
but had finally decided to make some questions of her own. “Mr. Franks, who were those
people back there? What is happening?”
“Mr. Franks?!” Blake’s tone of voice showed his disbelief. “Is that how you go now, Mr.
Williams?” Seeing his astonished face, the journalism continued. “Yeah, I know your real
name alright. I’d only wish that I could have a recording of what you told me. My readers
456
and Congress would just love to know that a member of the CIA is performing some sort
of illegal operation in the US”.
She moved away from Williams. “CIA? I thought you told my brother that you were
working for the FBI!”
As Williams started to think of a plausible explanation, Davis moved closer to him, now
with his pistol pointed downwards and started scanning the area. “We need to get to safer
location. They might have back-up”. Looking back at the entrance of the cave, he
lowered his voice and concluded: “And they are not humans. I guess we can say that we
found what we were looking for”.
The CIA analyst nodded and carefully moving his uninjured arm reached for one pocket
and took out his identification. Opening the wallet he presented his identification for both
Gloria and Blake to see. “He’s right. I do belong to the CIA and my name is Williams.
And this gentlemen here is Mr. Davis, a Subdirector of the FBI”.
The journalist took great care to examine the card. “OK, now that we know who you are,
why don’t you mind telling us what is happening here and who were those men? I still
don’t trust someone who has lied to me before”.
A million explanations rushed through Williams’ mind. He wanted to simply tell them
the whole story since he was getting tired of the lies. He decided to tell only part of it.
“We are a part of a secret investigation regarding the presence of an unknown force on
the US. My reasons for lying to you before are quite simple: we are trying to find out
what their intentions are and we don’t want to alarm the public. Furthermore, we have
found that they can be aggressive when we interfere in their activities. I decided it would
be best for your own health if you didn’t pursue the matter too much”.
Blake’s face turned into a scowl of suspicion while Gloria simply looked at the sky and
seemed distant. The journalist wasn’t satisfied and kept pursuing the subject. “Why
should I believe you? You have lied to me before”.
His arm hurting, Williams decided that they should follow Davis’ advice. He pointed to
the entrance of the cave. “Go back there and check the bodies: they are not human. Look
at their eyes and tell me afterwards what’s the feeling of knowing that they walk among
us undetected”.
As soon as they had hit the dirt road again, Davis put down his sidearm and took out a
cellular phone from one of his coat’s jackets. Williams took his eyes off the road for an
instant to look through the rear mirror at Davis “Is that thing secure?” He also looked at
Gloria, as asking if Davis should say anything in front of her.
“Yes. The antenna can actually tap into one of our satellites. And the encryption codes it
uses were developed using alien algoritms, from what they told me. Even the NSA can’t
break into this stuff”. He dialed a number and waiting for the phone to be picked up on
the other side. “This is Davis, clearance Iota-Red-Seven, password Seven-Six-Delta-
Zero-Beta-Eleven. I want you to secure this line and connect me to the Colonel”. A
female computer generated voice replied to him. “Verifing voice print of clearance and
password… accepted….transferring call to Colonel Robinson’s desk….please stand by”.
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After a couple of minutes waiting and afterwards dealing with the Colonel’s personal
secretary, Robinson’s voice finally came, slightly troubled. “Major Davis, first where are
you and second what are you doing? You have failed to report for two days. I was not
sure what motive I would give the FBI to start searching for you: treason or a pure case of
a missing person and I’m hoping you could enlighten me Major”.
“Colonel, I can explain all later but for now there are more pressing matters. We…” He
looked at Blake and Williams, who seemed to have the bleeding from his arm contained
for now. Gloria had removed a revolver from the front glove compartment and was
constantly checking the mirror. They had decided to leave Blake’s car behind so that they
could move fast. The journalism had gone inside the cave to check the hybrid’s bodies
and had come out speechless but more willing to cooperate.
Looking through his rearview mirror Davis saw nothing behind them. Keeping his voice
low and wishing that Robinson would be able to make out his words, he continued: “We
have managed to locate the place to where the alien transport was heading. They have a
base here sir! Right on the middle of the US! And we need to act right now before they
can prepare their defenses for an attack”.
Silence only greeted him for some seconds, before the Colonel replied. “Major, where
and with whom are you?”
“Sir, the base is located in New Mexico, close to the town of Dulce. There’s a mesa there
and the aliens have built it on a natural cave system. It’s well-concealed but it show
appear on a detailed scan of the area”. Noticing that Williams had moved forwards to
eavesdrop on the conversation he looked at the rearview mirror and saw him looking in
apprehension and he remembered the bodies they had left there, besides the fact that they
were carrying two other unauthorized persons. He dismissed it for now, considering that
would be time to deal with both later and locked his gaze into Williams, telling him to
trust him and keep his mouth quiet for now.
“Major, I hope that you are right. I will put every asset we have looking into it and you
call you back as soon as we have some results. Meanwhile stay clear of the area and
ready to hear from us. Robinson out”. Davis hung up the phone and Williams asked.
“What did they say?”
“They are going to make some scans and have told us to stay put. I’m going to drive us
back to the camp so that we can retrieve our cars and then we will all head for some
motel a little away from here. We can check your arm there. Just try not to move it for
now”.
The analyst, still holding his arm, wasn’t completely successful in trying to ignore the
pain as he answered. “Gloria thinks that the bullet came through it. I think for now it’s
fine”.
Blake had listened to the exchange of words silent. He then casually asked: “Now tell me,
is the nowhere to be found Colonel Johnson coming at the scene? I heard one mention a
Colonel and I presume that you just talked to him and I’d sure like to ask him some
questions about what has been going on since he disappeared from the regular US
military”.
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Both Davis and Williams avoided responding to Blake’s question, preferring to keep their
faces straightforward. Gloria sensed something peculiar at the whole question, but wisely
decided to keep herself out of the whole business.
“Mr. Blake, we can discuss all that happened later, when we reach a safe position. I must
also contact my….” Williams looked at the other occupants and corrected himself, “the
office at Washington”. Davis shook his head and looked also at them, the meaning of his
gesture saying to Williams: they have seen and heard too much already and we can’t risk
any leaks on this type of information. Williams thought for it a second and kept his eyes
on the road afterwards. This people can’t be more involved into this. And they cannot
find out anything about X-Com, no matter what it costs.
“We will Mr. Williams. We will. And I’m most anxious to hear some of your
explanations to this whole matter”.
Santa Fe, New Mexico, US

“Why is it taking so long?” Williams kept pacing around the motel room that they had
just rented with his arm restrained by a piece of white gauze that hung from his neck.
Seated on a chair close to the window, Davis thought for a moment. “I dunno. Maybe
they are trying to check the information first”. Using his hand he moved aside the curtain
and looked outside. The Sun was already setting on the horizon.
“Who is they?” The other voice made both men look at Blake who was still with them,
seated on one of the beds. “The military organization to whom you work?”
They refrained to any reply, which made Blake only to continue. “Deny it if you prefer. I
know about how Williams and a number of other military key personnel all of the sudden
disappeared from sight a couple of years ago. I also have indications that something
strange is going around Area 51 in Nevada. Isn’t that enough to prove that the
government is doing something secret for a while on the subject”.
He had pressed the subject all the way on the trip from the caves. Unable to take the
verbal barbs of the man anymore Williams exploded. “Mr. Blake, what do you wish?!”
Evan faced him square on. “I know that the government knows much more than it has
admitted into public. Supposedly you should be investigating their intentions. Well after
what I’ve seen today you already knew about that. What else are you hiding and why?”
“This whole matter will come out one day Mr. Blake. Believe me it will”.
“Sir, I’m not your enemy damn it! Don’t you think I can’t keep a secret?” Looking
straight at him Williams replied: “Some secrets might come back and kill you”.
“You mean him?” Blake pointed at Davis. “No. You are free to go if you so desire. But
trust me on this: there are hidden forces of which you have no idea of their power and
reach. If you want an advice, keep yourself away from them or next time the aliens might
fire at you with the specific propose of removing you out of the scene”.
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Chapter Twenty-Two – Ghosts of the Past
February 8th, 2001
UN Building, New York City, US
“X-COM AGENTS HAVE DETECTED AN ALIEN BASE IN NORTH AMERICA”.
The message had arrived to Bomaka’s special coded pager that put him in direct contact
with Commander Illyuschenko. As he finish reading it, he immediately dismissed his
aides and secretary who where present at his office without an excuse and made sure that
the door was locked after they left.
Proceeding to his desk, he unlocked a drawer and took out a small rectangular object
from it. Clearing his desk, he turned to a wall covered by an Earth map that showed all of
the political boundaries and pressed a large red button on the remote control he was
holding. The large map opened on its middle to reveal a blank display screen and he
punched his own personal authorization code in the numeric keypad. The image first
resolved itself into the twin symbols of the UN and X-Com, before they disappeared into
a view of Illyuschenko’s own private office at Mother One in Germany.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Secretary. We have a problem: Colonel Robinson just informed me
that one of his staff and a CIA operative have discovered strong evidence leading to a
presence of an alien base on the United States. This was nothing new for the intelligence
Bureau, who already had indications of such a possibility, but now they seem confirmed”.
“What are you planning to do about it General?”
“Colonel Johnson is already working on a base assault. However, we need your
assistance sir. The US leadership hasn’t been informed about it yet”.
“I see. But didn’t you tell me that a CIA operative was involved? Hasn’t he reported
yet?” From the look on Illyuschenko’s face Bomaka knew that the reason that made the
general call him had to do with that matter.
“No. Until recently he was one of their top analysts on the alien situation but Vaughn
removed him from his position immediately after taking power. He got involved into this
whole matter because one of Robinson’s people had already worked with him before and
decided to request for his assistance in tracking down the alien base”.
“I don’t like this Commander. We can’t risk alienating one of X-Com’s top contributors
but sponsoring the actions of someone who has been considered as incapable by Vaughn
do deal with the alien situation”.
“Sir, I know I think about the whole matter in general. However the operative has worked
with us before: a lot of people at Area 51 have attested to his integrity, including
Robinson himself. Moreover, what he told us is that Vaughn is already considering a
chance of policy concerning the aliens and X-Com. Seems that the American president is
about to go the same way that the fool Larianov and trying to act independently of X-
Com”.
460
A feeling of dread went through Bomaka’s stomach. “Is that bad? I heard the campaign
speeches but I never took them much attention”.
“Johnson can’t confirm it, but he says that in some of the latest UFO recoveries a number
of interference from federal agents have been reported. He wants to act fast but he felt it
better to leave the decision about how and when to inform Vaughn to us”.
“Does you think that Vaughn will try to interfere?”
“Most likely he could demand that the whole operation is placed under US control, since
it’s in their soil like Larianov tried to do in Siberia. Johnson concurs with this opinion”.
“So what do you require from me Commander?”
“According to the plan, the operation should start as soon as before the aliens can be fully
ready to deal with the strike team. But we would like that you bring the news directly to
Vaughn as soon as the team is about to hit them. That way if he decides to intervene, the
US forces will arrive too late for any thing than help our own soldiers, in case they run
into trouble. In any case, there’s a strong need to maintain secrecy about this whole
matter”.
“From what you told me, he won’t be pleased”.
“Mr. Secretary, I don’t care about what Vaughn thinks about it and I would be more than
happy to scrub it on his face. The US signed the X-COM Charter and is obliged to its
dispositions. Even if his attitude turns out to be different, we probably would have to do
the same to catch the aliens as fast as possible to guarantee tactical surprise. Or at least to
avoid then knowing when we would attack since there is already evidence enough that
points to alien infiltrators on Earth”.
Bomaka scratched his mustache in thought and stood there facing the screen, with
Illyuschenko waiting for an answer. “Inform me when we are about to hit the base and
the coordinates of its location. And wish Colonel Johnson good luck”.
The military commander of X-Com nodded in appreciation. “He will sure need it. Mother
One out”.
Area 51, Nevada, US

When Markovitch entered the officer’s briefing room she wondered what the troops
might be thinking of all the agitation that was going around the base in the past hours. All
of the senior officers had simply disappeared from plain sight and all leaves and exercises
had been cancelled or either postponed. Something big was on the air, they all knew it
from the morning when a Skyranger had brought back Davis and a civilian from an
unknown location and the base had been placed into full alert. Base gossip seemed to be
at his best since she had noticed that on her way to the briefing room all of the troopers
she had passed had carefully watched her to try to understand what was going on.
She immediately noticed that Williams was already standing in front of the group of
assembled soldiers, together with Robinson and Johnson. The intelligence officer had his
injured arm locked tight against his chest. There wasn’t much space in the room left: all
of the officers and non-coms of the combat squads were present, together with a number
of staff officers that included Major Prescott of base ops. Moving forward she saw that
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Sergeant Krenon and Lieutenant Digriz had saved her a seat in-between them on the front
row. Both of them were trying to relax, although they shared the waiting look of all that
had no idea of the mission that the Colonel was about to brief them. They both looked at
her but she simply sat down. When all officers were accounted and present, the doors
were closed by armored guards who stood outside and Johnson begun, bringing into
action a display of the US on the electronic wall behind him.
“Good morning all. As you might have guessed, we have a major situation. An alien base
has been detected on US soil, more precisely in New Mexico. According to the
information brought to us by Mr. Williams of the CIA, who is present here and Major
Davies of our own intelligence bureau, it is located in the eastern part of the state, more
precisely on this small plateau here”. A satellite picture of the Archulleta Mesa appeared,
focused on one section of the plateau that stood closer to a plainer area. “Our job is to
take it out of commission”.
Noise of conversation and shifting on the chairs was heard as everyone started to consider
the operation. Then one lieutenant from the Fourth stood up and asked: “Colonel, I might
be a boot lieutenant, but isn’t that sketchy intelligence? And how can you tell that there’s
something inside that piece of rock?” Even Johnson smirked at the remark as the majority
of the people in the room smiled but were also agreeing with the junior officer’s
comment.
Williams asked to reply to that one. “I know it might seem harmless, gentlemen but me
and Major Davis have been close to it and nearly lost our lives. This is the place to where
the Supply Ship you shot down weeks ago was heading”.
Digriz turned to Markovitch. “So it was a Supply Ship?” She nodded. “Figures”. Krenon
added. “Why would someone be driving all of that stuff into battle?” Williams was
exactly explaining that point. Another question arose from the audience. “That doesn’t
change a thing Colonel. We are still going to attack an enemy facility of which we have
no idea of the layout or the number of defenders. At least with UFOs we have an idea of
both”.
Markovitch grumbled as the doubts she had expressed when planning the thing with
Johnson appeared. The Russians of Stalingrad base had gotten themselves beaten into a
corner in Siberia in a situation that had too much liking with this one for her taste. They
could be finding themselves in the middle of hundreds of armed Mutons or some other
aliens more nasty and tough.
Johnson raised his arms. “Those points have also been considered. We don’t know how
many aliens might there be or of what kind. Therefore we are going to drop over a squad
before to do some reconnaissance work”.
That seemed to bring to calm the discussion. Sergeant Baker rose from his seat. “Sir, will
that be with the new flying suits?” The new powered armor had been developed using the
anti-gravity ability supplied by the Elerium engines that powered them in conjunction
with a miniature version of the guidance systems used in the new Firestorm craft. One of
the rocket scientists back at Mother One had come up with the idea after seeing a video
of the flying chair that the astronauts used on the Shuttle missions.
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They were basically looked like a power suit with some small modifications and they
literally allowed the X-Com trooper inside to hover in the air or take really long jumps.
However, the complexity of the control mechanism reduced their combat use. A soldier
had more things to worry in a battlefield such as taking cover and firing his weapon at the
enemy than making himself a big airborne target for the enemy. But it was also very
difficult to control a descent to the ground, even with long jumps. If the soldier wasn’t
proficient enough he could seriously hurt himself since he was flying several pounds
worth of armor and equipment. The suit also used a large amount of Elerium to power
itself, which was also in short supply since the only source was intact engines recovered
from the alien’s UFOs. For all of those reasons only a number of squads at each
command had been equipped with the new suits. It offered a bit more protection against a
plasma round but they took too much training and Elerium to justify issuing them to all
the squads.
“Sergeant, I know Alpha and Zeta are eager to try them out, but this will involve a high
altitude infiltration over the target area. Both your squad and Zeta have been training as
much as you can but we have decided against it. I’m not going to risk your lives in a drop
for which you aren’t fully qualified yet”. Baker nodded, agreeing but still not one
hundred percent happy and Markovitch understood him, since she was also aching to
make such a drop. They would however be wearing them during the main assault.
“That leaves the job to Omega”. He looked at King, who simply nodded. “They will drop
using a Hercules posing as a commercial plane. The Company will follow afterwards and
will deploy to the target area considering what Omega tells us about the opposition and
its outside defenses. We think that there should be a hangar or at least some sort of
opening here”. He pointed to the side overlooking the flatter area. “Depending on which
Omega tells us, we can either stage an assault or we try to find some other way inside and
catch them unguarded. Colonel Jackson’s company will be our tactical reserve: in case
we run into trouble they either reinforce us or help in withdrawing”.
Another hand rose in the air. “What aliens are going to be facing sir?” Johnson looked at
Williams and it reminded Markovitch of the discussion that she had during the planning
meeting. Both intelligence officers seemed to be holding something and Johnson looked
also to be a part of the whole scheme. The matter had appeared when they were arguing
about the alertness of the aliens for such an attack after they had detected the officers had
been attacked so close to their base. Williams had brought the point that they might not
suspect any attack since he and Davies were posing as tourists. He had claimed that they
had left the area after being replying to the attack and killing the aliens and most likely
they haven’t found out about the missing guards yet. That idea had struck Markovitch as
ludicrous, since any decent commander would be aware of such a thing as base personnel
disappearing. That’s when the hammer came down. “Captain, we were attacked by
hostiles that were human in appearance, most likely assigned to pose as a part of the local
population and drive prevent anyway from getting too close. They might only have to
report only in specific dates”. That had gotten her firing off a lot of questions to her,
which they either tried to respond or just kept their mouths silently. Finally Johnson had
brought an end to the question by proposing to send the recon team. She wasn’t satisfied
totally but she decided to forget it for the moment and focus on the mission.
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Johnson hesitated before answering. “We…aren’t quite sure yet. The Supply Ship was
crewed by Sectoids, but we have indications that there might be alien-human hybrids
inside that base”.
“What?!” The cry came immediately either spoken or not from the majority of the
soldiers present. Johnson calmed them down. “Intelligence has data indicating that the
aliens are developing hybrids based upon both races. According to them, these aliens are
almost impossible to detect from normal humans at sight, but there are some things to
look for, like the color of their eyes and skin who is close to an albino. Bottom line: if he
or she is carrying any weapons then the humanoid is to be considered as hostile. But you
encounter any unarmed humans on that base be extremely careful when approaching
them”. That seemed to have assured the troops, although Markovitch still heard some low
complaints.
“Any questions?” Hopkins raised his big bulk from the chair. “You haven’t mentioned
Beta’s new toys, Colonel. Are we allowed to bring them along?” Johnson smiled at him.
“You will Sergeant, since it might be good to have some extra firepower inside that base.
However you will only use them if and when I give the order”. Hopkins seemed satisfied
and sat back. “No more questions? This briefing is over then. Go to your troops and let’s
get ready for the action”.
Archuletta Mesa, New Mexico, US

As the members of Zeta squad moved along the fourth level of the base, Markovitch
couldn’t keep a dreadful feeling over the whereabouts of the humans that had occupied
the higher levels of the facility.
Omega had found the location of the base after their drop, right where William and
Davies had reported but hadn’t found any sign of aliens outside. They had searched the
area around the plateau but there were no indications that there might be a base inside.
Looking for the supposed hangar at the base of the hangar had also proven to be a wild
goose chase for them.
However, as the Skyrangers carrying the rest of the team were about to land in an area
nearby to hide their approach, King had reported that they had discovered a concealed
entrance on the top of the mesa but that is seemed deserted. All of the platoons had
moved into the location after touching down on the ground and they had found an old dirt
road that led them directly to the location where Omega was waiting.
They had found the entrance was empty of aliens. It was inside a ruined hut that was
surrounded by an aged rusty fence with a sign that said in near gone letters: “U.S.
Geological Survey – Meteorological Studies – No Trespassing”.
However, inside the ruined small building, they had found a locked door on its basement
that, after being opened, gave the way to a large facility inside through a series of
staircases.
The X-Com team was now on the process of going through a facility that was deserted
until now, spreading over what seemed to be four levels inside the plateau. They had
found no aliens; only the signs that this seemed to have been a secret government facility.
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Markovitch had wondered if Williams and Davis had actually bothered to ask the
government if they had used this place and then abandoned it long ago.
But that was until they first started to find the signs that some sort of confrontation had
been taken place inside and that its occupants seemed to have left the base in a hurry.
Personal belongings were scattered everywhere on the personnel area and the kitchens
were full of rotten food, long turned into unrecognizable darkened lumps attached to the
plates and pans. And alongside, in some corridors and rooms there were spent cartridges
as if some intense fighting had occurred. And the identity of the attackers was plain for
everyone to see in the spent plasma clips that occasionally would be standing on the
ground, together with the holes made by the fire of the alien weapons.
The passageway where Zeta was now moving was also full of bad omens regarding the
past events of the base: there were paper sheets spread out on the floor, with a dark mark
on the white plastic tiles of the floor. Markovitch had already stepped upon a pair of
glasses, crunching it into a million pieces. And there were large holes burned on the walls
by plasma weapons, revealing broken plastic wires and tubing. The whole place was
bathed in darkness and they had to use their suits’s IR equipment and flashlights attached
to the barrel of their weapons. Dare was constantly keeping an eye on his motion detector
while the remaining squad members hold their weapons with both arms, keeping them
ready for any foe that might jump from the side corridors.
They kept moving down the corridor, carefully checking every intersection in a time
consuming process, until Prune, who was at the front, stopped by a pair of heavy metal
doors that had been blown off their hinges and looked inside the entrance. With a gesture
he ordered everyone to stop and the rest of the squad did so, bringing their weapons up to
full readiness. “Cap”, he called, “come here. I think we just found ETs ride”.
Markovitch turned towards Dare, who looked again at the motion detector and confirmed
her that there wasn’t any movement nearby besides them. She then moved forward to join
Prune who had now crossed to the other side and pointed towards the end of the side
corridor. Markovitch took a look and saw a bright violet glow coming out of its end. She
recognized the light as the one coming from the lifts the aliens used at their UFOs.
Nodding to him, she then ordered the remainder of her squad to keep an eye on the
corridor while she contacted the Colonel.
The image came flashing through her eyes and she was turning away from Prune. Deep,
sleek alien eyes peering out from every corner of the corridor she was in, until finally
they all meshed together on a Sectoid face gleaming white at the end of the corridor
where they had just came from. A sudden fear took every inch of her and her reflexes
kicked in, making her lift her plasma rifle and fire down at the ghostly appearance.
But as the super-heated plasma traveled the way towards its intended target, giving the
white passageway a greenish hue as it disappeared on the depths of the corridor, she
realized that the image simply vanished before her eyes. Markovitch blinked them, while
the other squad members were turning positions to deal with the new threat. “Cease fire!”
She ordered the same second; leaving them a little puzzled about what had just happened.
“Markovitch what’s going on over there?” The call from Johnson came up afterwards.
“Colonel, we found an alien lift leading down. I overreacted to it”.
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He seemed relieved by the explanation but his voice was slightly accentuated from the
stress that was also building on him. “Hell of a way to put it. One of the rookies on Tau
almost pissed on his suit as the shot went two feet in front of him. Keep your heads cool
and watch that lift while we finish sweeping over here”. She acknowledged and passed
along the orders, wishing that they could finish the job fast. To her, the damn base looked
more full of ghosts than aliens.
*****
Johnson couldn’t stop wondering who had built the base and why. The first four levels of
the underground facility were markedly designed to be used by humans: in the first level
they had found security checkpoints and an underground garage that opened into hidden
doors on the top of the mesa. The second was designed for housing personnel, containing
individual and group accommodations, together with a mess hall and recreational
facilities while the third and fourth levels seemed to be related to some sort of scientific
research.
As he and the rest of Sigma passed through another room full of abandoned workshops,
he paused by one of the tables. The whole place was reminding him of Area 19, the top-
secret facility close to Area 51 where he had discovered Billings’ true identity and also
the secrets that General Smith had hidden there, right under X-Com’s nose. He wondered
if the late general had anything to do with this facility also. If not, then who might
responsible? It was evident that millions of dollars had been spend in digging up the
plateau to construct the facility and its sheer size meant that it couldn’t just have passed
the scrutiny of the higher chain of command. Billings, or now Dr. Young, apparently
knew nothing of the place and if his story was correct it didn’t surprise Johnson at all. He
had slowly learned to trust the hybrid and his word: without the help that they had given
X-Com, the design and building of the new Firestorm fighter aircraft had probably been
impossible for them to achieve on their own. And they also had gone beyond the
agreement established between him and Billings: their scientific contribution in a number
of areas had been highly praised by Dr. Mantell.
Williams on the other hand might knew something about the identity of the humans
behind this but the circumstances had made it impossible for Johnson to try to find out
more about how they had discovered the place. The intelligence officer seemed too much
concerned about his own personal quest, whatever it might be and that troubled Johnson.
The fact that Vaughn had dismissed him from his position as being the top analyst on the
CIA for the extraterrestrial menace didn’t help in favoring Williams on his own eyes. He
would have to answer for some things when he got back to the base.
Major Patterson moved closer to him. “The squads had finished their sweep of this level.
Again, zero for aliens found but Lambda says they found out another of the alien lifts
close to our position”.
“What’s your opinion Mike?”
“I feel that something strange has gone here and the rest of the troops also are talking
about it. I mean this is a typical US classified facility and it seems as if the aliens have
overrun the place long ago. How come we never heard of this before or when we signed
up for X-Com?”
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“My thoughts precisely. Probably the whole place might be deserted, but we need to find
out more about what happened here”. Moving towards one of the doors in the large dark
room. “Notify the platoon commanders: we are getting down to find out what’s below
us”.
*****
The first thing Private Greaves thought as his feet stepped on the metal floor was that the
aliens had simply buried one of their spaceships inside the hill. Going down through the
elevators that they had found, his squad had first reached a massive cave carved into the
natural rock. The Captain had told them that it probably was a hangar since they seemed
to be at ground level according to their Global Positioning System attached to the motion
scanners that they were using. However the doors couldn’t be discerned, just walls of
polished granite that sparkled if anyone pointed a light at them. After a quick search, the
fifth level was also determined to be deserted of any aliens like the four preceding it.
Moving on as point squad, they had found that the level before was nothing more than a
large chamber, only this time lighted by some green fluorescence that came out of the
floor, in contrast with the darkness found above. Everyone looked at one another before
positioning themselves to go further down and Greaves took the northwestern position. It
seemed that something at the base was still working after all. The four troopers stood
ready, each one in the corners of the square lift.
As all of them moved further into the pits below, Greaves found himself facing the
intersection of two blank gray walls, made of the same material that the aliens used on
their UFOs. He heard no warnings from his squadmates, so he left the lift to leave room
for Epsilon, who should be coming right behind them. Only then did he noticed that they
had arrived at a chamber about the same size as the one above, but this time there were
passageways on three sides of it, with the eastern part ending on natural rock. The
Lieutenant and Werrett were already moving towards the southern entrance, only
stopping to look at the western one before crossing it in a quick dash. Greaves wondered
if the aliens could hear the sound of their steps on the metal floor as he positioned himself
to cover the west side. Reaching the position he took a peak: a large chamber that seemed
much bigger than the one that they were standing was right next to the lift, sprouting
eight foot cylinders. Some of them glowed with a yellow light that seemed to be coming
out from their interior but others were filled with some semi-transparent liquid, where
fuzzy shapes could be seen floating inside. No sign of any aliens though. Feeling a tap on
his shoulder, he turned and saw that Epsilon had already arrived. But where were the
aliens?
*****
On another location at the alien base, Jones and the remainder of Gamma had already
moved into an adjacent chamber south of the lift and had found it also empty of aliens.
But they seemed to have reached the base’s southern limit, since now the chamber only
had passageways west and east. Pairing up with Garcia they both started moving towards
their right, trying to keep as much possible to the walls as possible. Jones wanted to put a
plasma round up the arse of the alien who had designed the place. These empty chambers
didn’t had much for cover, and if you approached one of the small corridors that
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connected them you risked taking a shot on your back or sides if the other passageways
weren’t clear of hostiles.
The corridor linked this room to a darker one, it seemed and both men had trouble seeing
what was on its inside, even with their passive IR scopes. Then both of them saw a figure
moving on the shadows inside and they dropped to their knees. An armed Sectoid was
moving away from them on the other chamber, apparently oblivious to their presence,
going further into the depths of the darkness.
Jones heard Rodriguez whispering to his mike. “Captain, we have….Coño!” Jones had
seen it also. A Cyberdisk had moved into their view, hovering two feet above the ground
and following the Sectoid’s path. But the smaller alien had stopped on his tracks to look
upwards and it made the alien machine stop right by the entrance to the chamber, where it
started to turn into the X-Com’s troopers direction to choose another path.
He set his plasma rifle into autofire and discharged a burst, but only his first shot hit the
target. The rest of them went wild into the ceiling as Rodriguez threw his metal bulk over
him, sending both men crashing into the walls of the room where they were standing.
The maneuver probably had saved Jones’s life since the Cyberdisk immediately
completed its turn and fired back at its attacker, filling the space where the troopers was
with heavy plasma fire. Then both men were filled with a shock wave, followed by heat
and the wailing sound of a dying Sectoid. The two other troopers on the other side of the
room had heard the warning but had refrained from shooting until their comrades were
clear. But the moment Rodriguez pushed Jones they had fired their weapons at the body
of alien war machine, breaching its armor in several locations. As the energy of their
plasma bolts bled to the engine that powered the Cyberdisk, it detonated the Elerium
inside in an explosion that left no trace of the machine and killed the alien behind it.
Meanwhile the rest of First Platoon had also established contact with the aliens on the
north as they tried to link with the Fourth. As soon as Lt. Hanley was leading Delta into a
chamber close to the main storage area they had been greeted by shots coming from their
left. Looking in that direction he saw a Sectoid standing at the end of a small corridor,
that afterwards went back through a door on its far end, in no doubt the place from where
it had came from originally.
He waved Kyle and Bearpaw forwards to flush the alien out of its hiding. But as both
men started to approach the door, walking close to the walls of the corridor, Bearpaw
suddenly came to an abrupt stop and jumped towards Kyle’s direction. A plasma shot hit
the location where he had just been standing coming from the wall in front of the door.
“Sir, there’s a window there!”
“Get back!” He looked in the direction of the storage area, in time to see Bradley also
recoiling to avoid a series of green bolts that darted from that direction. “Captain, we’re
in trouble here!” But no response came over the radio.
*****
“How’s it going?” Johnson called to White and Patterson as soon as he cleared the lift
and placed himself against one of the walls, with Crossett right next to him. The sound of
battle could be already heard through his suit built-in microphones when he had reached
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the Seventh and last level. Looking around he saw that Fourth Platoon had already
moving and only his squad and Beta remained from the Third.
“Colonel”, White started, “we have became separated. First and Second are some
distance to the southwest, according to the GPS. Captain Jerrel has found some strong
opposition and they are trying to surpress it. The Second is trying to link with us but
progressing slowly since they have encountered some sort of bunkers. So far they have
only found Sectoids and Cyberdisks”. Patterson’s voice came next. “The Fourth is to the
north, getting ready to move into a huge chamber that is directly next to us. Lt. Cruz is
leading Omicron and Omega and trying to link with the Second”.
Johnson looked at the other end of the chamber. Sergeant Hopkins and Levine had
already taken their heavy weapons from their backs and were busy loading them with
football shaped projectiles, while the rest of Beta took a watch at the storage area next to
them. “Let’s hope we don’t need that”.
*****
Moving eastwards, Markovitch found that it would take time before joining with the
Third and clearing this portion the base from aliens. Kappa had first reported the
existence of what they called ‘bunkers’, enclosured rooms that at least seemed designed
to them as fortifications although there seemed to be no aliens inside them.
She had also came up into one. It stood in the middle of the chamber, some eight feet
away from the walls, with windows facing all directions that allowed seeing what was
going on the other side of the bunker. It seemed empty but as they were approaching it
from the north a Sectoid popped in one of the windows that took a series of shots at them,
taking cover afterwards.
“Get that window covered!” Dare and Yu stayed put and waiting for the alien to show its
ugly face again while she and Prune moved low and forward, each one taking opposite
directions as they went around the bunker to find the entrance to the place. On her side
she only found another window and she placed herself out it’s vision while considering if
she should throw a grenade inside. Then her radio went active: “Captain! I’ve found the
door. I…” Prune’s voice went silent and a bad feeling swept through her.
She stepped backwards to see what had happened to him. “Prune! Are you alright?” She
looked into the direction of the trooper but saw nothing for a second until all of a sudden
he jumped back into her line of view, moving so fast that she wondered from what he was
running. Confusion clicked inside her as her warrior’s instincts told her that he was
attacking, as he lifted his laser rifle and fired a three-shot salvo at her. They all hit on her
chest and arms and for a moment she faltered, too dumbstruck from the shock of the
critical injuries that she had just suffered.
Only after a brief moment did she realized what was happening and why that her armor
hadn’t been breached. She was wearing the new suits and their protection made the laser
rifles almost useless against them. But before she could warn the other squad members
she felt an electric shock going through her head while Prune suddenly stopped his
attack.
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For the first time in her life she felt her body was the host of two minds, and one of them
was trying to overcome the other and gain control of her arms. She realized in
astonishment that her index finger was already gripping the trigger of her plasma rifle
while her left hand was reaching for a grenade on her belt. Closing her eyes to try to
shake off the alien presence, she suddenly saw the face of a Sectoid in orange and green
colors, floating in the middle of dark geometric patterns that were constantly shifting.
The alien was looking straight at her and grinning and she saw that its arms were slowly
expanding themselves and reaching towards her. But as they were about to touch her, a
feeling of nausea and repulsion overcome her and she opened her eyes.
She found herself looking at Prune as if he was at the end of a tunnel and she wondered
how long it had passed since he was still in the same position. Slowly the dark edges of
the tunnel started to resolve themselves into the features of the alien base. But Prune was
already starting to grip his rifle again. “Prune is mind-controlled! Get him!” She moved
away from his aim and back to the other side of the bunker.
The alien controlling him probably had a good idea of her position so she crouched as
low as possible as she passed below the window, on her way to circle the room. When
she reached the other side and looked past the metal corner she knew it for certain. A shot
came flying on her direction but it missed hitting the wall on her right. But instead of the
heat of a plasma shot, she felt vertigo and a little bit of nausea. “Let’s see how fast you
can reload that thing”.
She broke into a run to the direction of the alien. Passing through another window she
saw by the corner of her eye that there seemed to be some commotion at where she had
left the rest of her squad but she ignored it. Reaching the other side she turned and saw
two Sectoids by the bunker’s door, one of them holding a heavy plasma but with its back
to her while the other was facing her with a launcher. It had been swift in reloading. She
tried to fire at him but one of her feet skidded on the metal pavement and she lost her
balance as the alien fired its weapon. She saw the shot, a violet ball, hitting her helmet
and ricocheting backwards before detonating, overwhelming her senses and plunging her
into darkness.
*****
The call from Delta nearly hadn’t been noticed by the rest of the First Platoon. They had
entered an open and wide darkened chamber on the west of the base that was filled with
luxuriant alien vegetation. The plants looked more as if they belonged to a marine life
documentary. Most of them had no leaves or something that could be characterized as
such. Instead they sprouted orange, blue and violet tubes coming from a central pulpous
mass on the ground.
The whole cave was more of a short maze: it was two stories high and it was divided into
smaller areas that were linked one to another by tight corridors that marked the higher
areas about. The alien vegetation was present everywhere, together with another type of
extraterrestrial life, that one more deathly and dangerous. Alpha and Gamma were trying
to move along the place, but the Sectoids were entrenched, transforming the task of
negotiating the corridors very dangerous.
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Jones had just thrown a grenade into the direction of one of the aliens that was preventing
them of moving to the next clear area. It went off setting ablaze the vegetation around it
but he couldn’t tell if the alien had been killed. Looking around he saw that the Captain
was also busy: a Cyberdisk had just popped up in the higher ground and hit Pershing with
a plasma shot that brought the X-Com soldier to his knees. He tried to help the officer in
bringing the alien down but to no avail since the alien simply took a couple of steps
backwards and moved out of their weapons line of sight.
On the other side of the room, Sergeant Baker dodged for one of the corridors as a
grenade dropped out of nowhere. The explosion filled the area where he was with smoke
and injured one of the troopers. Evans joined him in the relative protection of the corridor
as he took out a banana shaped clip from his belt and locked it into the ammunition
compartment of his heavy plasma. There was some green fluorescence inside the room
that came out of the plants and the contours of both men’s suits were marked by the hue.
“This can’t go on for very long. Gamma is in trouble on the other side of this elevation”.
The soldier nodded as he reached for his chest with his left hand and brought his heavy
plasma to his waist level with his right hand. “Alpha squad! Let’s show them how we do
things!” He activated the control mechanism of his flying suit and Evans mimicked his
motion. Using the anti-gravity device, he gave himself an upward motion to elevate
himself to the level of the higher area above. In a second he found himself looking at a
Sectoid and a Cyberdisk standing in the above platform and he killed off the motion but
remained standing on the air. The alien was closer to him and tried to react but Baker
simply moved his weapon into his direction and fired at it. One of his shots hit the heavy
plasma it was carrying while another neatly clove off its leg with the precision of a
surgeon, cutting completely through the muscle and bone. The alien shrieked and fell off
to the ground below.
On his left, Evans tried to replicate his movement but something went wrong. He gave
too much upward thrust and his head hit the ceiling. At that moment he cut the motion
but it made him to start to fall down. “Evans! Get it under control!” Baker shouted but it
was too late: the Cyberdisk was on the process of turning its attention to both troopers.
The X-Com sergeant was finishing his landing when he spotted the motion of the flying
disk and could only use one hand to point at the alien. His shots missed wide to the left,
carving themselves into the dark walls of the chamber but the machine was more
successful. Stopping its movement, it let go of its own plasma weapon at the other soldier
who was only now getting his airborne movement under control. But it was too late for
Evans: several green bolts hit him and his hand dropped from the flying controls,
deactivating the Elerium device and putting him again under the influence of gravity.
Baker watched in horror as he felt down to the ground below and hit it with his head
straight. The helmet stood in a strange angle afterwards in relation to the body: even if he
had survived the injuries of the plasma shots he had broken his neck on the crash.
“God damn it Evans!” Another shot burst a purple plant close to him and his white armor
became peppered by colored fragments from it. “Time to die asshole!” He located the
Cyberdisk and the rest of his squad joined him in bringing down the alien. It simply
disintegrated himself after taking a number of plasma and laser shots, transforming itself
into a fireball that engulfed the upper platform.
471
*****
At the order of the Captain, Epsilon and Tau squads began moving into the big storage
area. They had spotted already a couple of Sectoids but they had been dropped by the
squad’s long range fire. Corporal Logan was one of the first inside, dashing towards one
the big containers that filled the room as his squad mates covered him from any alien that
dared to poke his head from cover.
Reaching the one to his left he turned his body while still racing and leaned heavily with
his back against the cylinder. The other soldiers were starting to move, so he brought his
own heavy plasma around the circular glass surface to cover for their advance and took a
look on the right side. In the corridor formed by the alien metal and glass containers no
motion was discernible, but the noise of laser fire coming from the other direction told
him that Tau had just found some alien targets.
Suddenly he felt something moving inside the cylinder next to him and he took a step
forwards and turned, pointing his weapon at it. A big brown and orange crab like creature
sporting massive claws and a tail was floating inside the dense liquid. Its eyes seemed
open but Logan saw that it was dead. The motion was provoked by when he hit the
container with the bulk of his power suit. Looking around he saw that some of the other
cylinders were filled of other strange bodies, although one had something quite familiar.
A human skeleton was placed inside, standing on its feet and facing him. The skull had
its mouth opened and it looked to him that it was grinning back at him. “What’s so
funny?” He whispered but catching a glimpse of movement through the corner of his eye
he pumped himself back to cover.
A Cyberdisk was moving along the containers and fired a shot at him that missed and hit
the side of the container instead. The alien glass vaporized and the liquid inside started to
pour out into the floor. “My turn”. He pointed his heavy plasma into the direction of the
alien machine but found out that it was gone. Looking around the area he tried to figure
out to where it had escaped but a cry from behind told him that something was wrong.
Manning was moving to reach his position but as soon as he came out of hiding a full
plasma blast caught him squarely on his chest. “Where..?!”
Looking upwards he saw to where the Cyberdisk had gone. The machine had used its
anti-gravity drive to propel itself to the ceiling away from his view and was standing now
close to one of the towers that were standing on the middle of the room, standing higher
than the containers. Another shot came by from that direction and hit him on the
shoulder. He felt a sudden wave of heat on that part of his body but the absence of pain
told him that the armor had resisted the attack. Getting behind the cylinder again he
extended his hand to try to reach for Manning, who had tried to get up by inside, only to
crash into the ground again and stay there immobile. However another shot to brace
himself as closer as possible to the few cover that he had. He saw the Sergeant and
Deckard looking at him and Manning from their backward position but waved them off.
“There’s one of them inside that damn tower!”
*****
On the side of Epsilon, Greaves’ squad was also having its share of problems. They had
smoked two Sectoids that had tried to hinder their advance but now the alien snipers
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inside the two towers in front of him were being too efficient in pinning everyone down
with heavy plasma rounds. Looking backwards he saw the Lieutenant with his hand to his
ear as if trying to talk on the radio, a futile movement that came out of habit, since the
suits were soundproof. They were all trying to surpress the aliens inside both towers, but
to no avail. The whole thing was turning into a game of shoot and hide that was bogging
them down.
The alien plant inside the room was a monstrosity that seemed to dwell in darkness on the
contrary of normal plants. All of the members of Omega squad avoided getting closer to
the colored tangle of vines and cones that stood in the middle of the room since it would
stir occasionally by itself as if it was aware of the presence of intruders inside the room.
But the humans paid it little attention, as they used the garden room on the side of the
storage area to support the advance of the main force. Rumpole had already managed to
hit a Cyberdisk that was on the far side of the room and advancing to bring more
firepower into the already beleaguered X-Com troops. It had exploded airborne,
spreading debris all over the back area and started a number of small fires but its
destruction hadn’t helped the main problem. There were four towers in the middle of the
room, disposed in a square, and the aliens inside had learned to avoid the windows that
lead into their direction after one of them had been downed by Omega’s accurate fire. But
there were still Sectoids inside that were pinning the other troops down and approaching
the towers seemed impossible because of the amount of cross fire that the aliens were
able to place.
Leaving the rest of his squad members, King moved towards the western entrance to see
if they could cross into the next room and get a better firing position. He moved around
the alien plant in the middle and saw that the next room was the one were Delta had been
stopped on their tracks by fire coming down of a corridor.
The alien that popped out again of the door at the far end told him just how risky it would
be to try to advance. A triple shot from his weapon hit the wall of the corridor close to
him, with two shots passing by him. “No luck here!” He moved back to reach his squad
and saw that the alien fire had hit the plant. It was now releasing some sort of greenish
smoke from the holes carved by the plasma.
That brought an idea to King’s mind and as he went by the soldiers he started to issue
orders.
A few seconds later, Omega squad was about to get into action. King was standing down
with his right knee on the ground, with Deschamps standing right behind him and holding
his heavy plasma ready. They had retracted to a chamber eastward that contained one of
the bunkers like the ones found by Second Platoon, leaving the other team on the alien
garden.
“Get that can opener working. I’m ready”. Deschamps took aim at the side of the nearest
elevated structure and started putting heavy plasma fire into it. The alloys the aliens used
in the walls of the base and the inside of UFOs were tough, several times stronger that
Kevlar armor and capable of resisting even the most heavy plasma or laser fire. However
if hit from an angle their crystalline structure would stress and eventually give in. The
effect had first been noticed by X-Com troops in the middle of UFO assaults. Sometimes
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a stray heavy plasma shot would cave big holes in the interior walls of the UFO that had
previously withstood several frontal shots.
Two shots of Deschamps’s first salvo made hits against the wall but only his second try
opened a breach on the tower’s side right close to the window. It quickly became
enlarged as the Canadian soldier poured more plasma fire. It was the literal opening that
King was waiting for. Looking through the scope of his heavy laser, he saw the upper
torso and large head of a Sectoid appearing through the hole that Deschamps had cut. He
put the sight right on it and, letting go of a small breath pressed the trigger. A golden
beam crossed the space between the barrel of his gun and the hole at the speed of light,
leaving a burning image on his retina. After a quick blink of his eyes to clear the side
effect on his vision he saw the Sectoid falling into the ground. “Left tower clear!” He
then moved his aim to the far structure while on the other room was Rumpole also
clearing the other two towers from the aliens inside.
*****
“Go!” Logan immediately sprung into action and started to run for the base of the tower
as the call came in the squad’s radio channel. He didn’t bother to shoot; instead he
wanted to get the Cyberdisk’s attention without getting killed in the process. The machine
didn’t disappoint him: a shot dizzied past his right shoulder and hit the side of a cylinder
full of a greenish fluid.
Correcting its aim, the flying machine let go of another shot as Logan was almost
reaching the tower that hit him on his left knee. This time the armor failed to protect him
and he came crashing into the ground, his forward motion sending him sliding to the side
of the tower. But the mini-UFO paid a heavy price for its success. Sergeant Grisham and
Deckard had left their cover at the time of the Cyberdisk’s first shot and now fired their
own rifles at the machine. Looking upwards, Logan saw a number of red laser shot hit it
and making it falter on the air, right above him.
He realized what was about to happen. “Shit!” Ignoring the pain from his wounded knee
he rolled himself around the corner, barely avoiding that the now dead Cyberdisk hulk
crushed him as it felt and hit the location where he was standing two seconds before. His
radio immediately started cracking: “Logan! Are you alright?”
He was already bringing out his medi-kit while looking for any Sectoids that might be
still lurking around this tower. “Yeah”.
The Sergeant voice made it quite clearly how pissed he was at the Corporal. “You were
supposed to have gone the other way! Don’t you know these things go off when they
die!?” Logan grinned to himself, thinking that the machine’s computer probably also had
thought the same, since the other side was less open. However, Cyberdisks only went off
when they got hit by plasma fire and besides him, the only one who was using plasma
weapons on the squad was the Sergeant, who had the lowest marksmanship of the four
men team. He looked backwards and saw that Deckard had reached his position while the
Sergeant was helping out Manning, who stood sprawled close to the container that had
the human skeleton inside. The skull still looked to him as if it was grinning.
*****
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The “farm” had finally been cleared of the remaining aliens but at a tough price: besides
the death of Evans, Rodriguez had caught a plasma blast below his left knee that severely
limited his movement. He could still fight but they had been forced to leave him behind.
Gamma was now trying to flank the alien stronghold that was pinning Delta while Alpha
had reached the west end of the base and was keeping an watch in a long corridor that
linked several empty chambers and that ended at a single door.
Captain Jerrel looked at the corridor in front of him: it was equal to the description the
Lieutenant had given him, with a door at the left side and a window on the right. Both of
them seemed to form a perfect ninety-degree angle and, according to Delta there was an
alien on the small right chamber. Jones was carefully approaching the window of the
room. When he reached it, he took a careful look inside and saw the alien that Delta had
mentioned, standing with its back turned to him. He simply brought up his laser rifle and
killed it, with the alien having no notice of who had been its executioner. “The door is
clear!” He heard and saw the Captain and Rodriguez, who were following him, had
already gone inside the entrance behind him and were starting to use a small lift inside.
Following them, he found himself in another corridor, this time pointed westwards that
turned on its end to the right, with another small lift at the intersection. “Grenade!”
Pershing called and, looking around for cover and finding none he pressed himself into
the end of the corridor, with the other troopers nearly crushing him against the wall.
The noise of the explosion was followed by the death cry of a Sectoid that was in the
hiding in the side corridor ahead. Jones opened his eyes to see that the walls in front of
him were filled of small man sized chambers built into the metal surface. The one in front
of him gleamed with ice inside a glass window that accounted for half of the chamber,
briefly lighted by the red and orange small lights blinking on top of it.
They all seemed empty but inside the one in front of Jones he could see the shape of a
Sectoid standing immobile inside the small compartment. Its lidless eyes seemed dead
but its mouth suddenly opened itself and the door of the chamber started to open.
“Captain!” He shouted as the barrel of his laser rifle begun to glow in reddish tones.
*****
A grenade came skidding down the metal floor, in the direction of Tau squad who now
had passed the nearest towers and had cleared more than half the room. Greaves and the
other soldiers took cover behind the cylinders, of whom now there wasn’t any intact until
it went off harmlessly. The whole place was now still a shooting alley, where standing in
the open was close to jump from a plane with a parachute. However, the squads on the
chambers on the left flank were making the difference as they flanked the aliens and
either flush them out into the direction of Fourth Platoon or took them from their side.
As he resumed his advance, a Sectoid suddenly came out of the ground level door of one
of the second line of towers that they were approaching. But the alien was unarmed and,
waiving his upper thin limbs on the air, it started to try to run away in panic. He was cut
down by a shot from Tau’s solders.
“The aliens seem to be caving in”. Someone commented on the radio and Greaves
thought it also. They could now see the metal walls that marked the end of the storage
area.
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Then it came. A sound so small that nearly passed his attention and that looked funny to
him as something too fast for him to discern raced by his right side, almost running into
the side of one of the towers that were already behind him. The channel was suddenly
active and someone had recognized what it was and tried to issue a warning, but it was
too late.
Turning his head and looking backwards, he saw in horror as the other side of the area
suddenly became lit in near blinding while light. The silhouette of the still cylinders
standing up and one of the towers disappeared for one brief moment under the flare,
which was followed by a shock wave that made him take a step forwards to steady
himself on his feet. His suit’s suppressor cut in most of the noise but the rumble was still
loud enough to make him rattle. The light was soon replaced by a thick dark smoke
coming out from the containers right behind him, several of which had caught fire and
from the liquid inside them that had simply been vaporized by the heat released by the
explosion.
A second later someone started to scream into the platoon’s circuit, filling it with cries of
pain: “My legs! My legs! Help me!” He turned to the direction of the blast but a call cut
over the wailing voice and stopped him. “This is Major Patterson. Epsilon and Tau keep
your positions and don’t show yourselves. Lambda’s position has been hit by a blaster
bomb! We are moving to help them. Lieutenant you’re in charge now”.
*****
Moving into location that had been targeted by the alien’s bomb, Johnson found the
whole area had been completely leveled by the power of the explosion. The only remains
left of the cylinders were the supports that attached them to the ground and one of the
towers had been reduced to pieces of its walls standing from the ground, torn and gutted
by the blast. Lambda’s fate wasn’t less gruesome. The Captain and two of the soldiers
had been transformed into piles of blood and metal that had been thrown against the walls
by the force of the explosion. The remaining soldier had been somewhat away from the
explosion and only the armor of his power suit hadn’t killed him right away, but his legs
had been sliced from the rest of his body right by the hips. A soldier had moved to help
him but found out that it was already dead, probably from the bleeding and the shock of
having both his legs amputated. Johnson saw the trooper indication that the downed
soldier was already dead and shook his head in frustration and anger. “Alpha reports they
might have found the origin of the shot”. White spoke to Johnson. “Let’s get back into
the other chamber and feed the coordinates to Hopkins right away!”
Moving backwards they passed by Beta’s Sergeant, which was in the entry of the lift’s
room, getting his blaster launcher ready. It was a big blue-gray tube that opened at one
end looking like a bazooka. On its side Hopkins had painted in white letters: Big Momma
II. Inside it contained the most powerful weapon that Johnson had ever seem used by
individual soldiers on a battlefield, besides the Army’s experiments with jeeps equipped
wit David Crockett tactical nuclear missiles in the fifties.
The weapon was loaded by its barrel and the projectiles were the shape and size of a
football. They were packed with explosive Elerium and carried a fuse that would detonate
the matter-antimatter inside upon contact. Each one was powerful enough to level a
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whole city block and it was X-Com’s new weapon, after the engineers had managed to
replicate the one retrieved on the aftermath of the alien attack on Complex YY-18.
Hopkins had listened to White’s and Alpha instructions and was busy introducing the
data on the weapon through a small keypad set on the side of the weapon. Each bomb
carried a small Elerium engine and guidance system that powered it through the way to
its target. The weapon had two modes available: free-flight, were after its launch from the
barrel the bomb could be directly guided by the launcher’s operator to its target through a
small control joystick; and pre-programmed, where the operator would introduced a
series of navigational way points into the computer each one indicating for how it should
travel in a particular direction before turning into the next way point. The first mode was
better used in an open battlefield and on far away moving targets; the second one allowed
it to be used in enclosured spaces, as long as the operator had a precise idea of the
obstacles standing in the path to the targets. Any mistake could prove deadly for the
soldier using the weapon and for any friendly troops nearby. But if the coordinates were
correctly judged and introduced, the combination of the guidance mechanism and of the
anti-gravity engine allowed the bomb to make ninety degree turns around corners or for it
to stop over an enemy trench and come down directly on the enemy soldiers standing
inside it.
When he was finished, Hopkins checked the coordinates again before issuing a warning.
“All clear! One…two….three!” He then pressed the trigger.
Although it traveled at half the speed of sound, he saw the football clearly stopping in the
storage area in front of him and moving upwards to use the clear space close to the
ceiling, avoiding any obstacles as it sped towards its target area.
*****
Slowly, a feeling of warmth started to fill her body, pulling her away from
unconsciousness as the chemicals inside her blood stream rose her pulsation. Slowly
moving her arms she found them still inside the metal exoskeleton of her suit, but they
seemed cold. Opening her eyes, Markovitch found herself leaning against the wall of the
bunker, with Prune lying on the ground close to her and being attended by Camay. The
young trooper still had a dazzled look on his eyes as he noticed that she had awaken and
turned his neck to face her. “Hey Cap. Sorry for what happened back there”.
She winced, trying to clear away the last of the stun round that she had taken squarely on
the face. Her cheeks and nose were burning but she didn’t seem to have any other
injuries. “No problem”. She replied in a light tone. “But when we’re back please report
yourself to Sergeant Krenon for latrine scrubbing duty. What happened to you?”
“Dare and Yu had some trouble restraining me. Apparently I started applying my head as
a hammer on them when they tried to grab me. But when they finally did, the alien
simply gave away from me and controlled one of them”. He shivered as if recalling
something scary and painful. She looked away from him and to the figures of two
Sectoids lying at a corner. She pointed with her head. “Is that the bastard?”
“Yeah Cap, Omicron found the two of them and you laying around on the floor. It looks
like the shot that stun you also brought these two down. I’d wish I could kill both of them
slowly but the Lt. said he’s more worth to us alive”. He tried to raise himself but gave up
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with a cry of pain. Camay was checking on the Captain now but quick turned to him.
“Lay down your thick head shit for brains! If the blood clot I think you have on your head
gets dislodged from its position you’ll either die of a heart attack or the aliens better turn
vegetarian if they want to use you for food!” He simply winced.
“Camay, where’s the Lt.?” The female private removed the medi-kit that was attached to
her arm. “They are finishing clearing the south, Cap. The other platoons are still trying to
figure out the location of the command center and are moving towards the area that we
haven’t checked, but it’s being heavily defended by the aliens”. As to reinforce her
statement the heavy thump of an explosion was suddenly heard. “That must be Beta at
work. Am I OK?”
“Yeah. Think you need more stimulant Cap?” She asked before placing the medi-kit
away. “I’m awake now”. Getting up she saw the stun launcher that had brought her down,
lying around the floor with a number of ammunition rounds close to it. “Keep an eye on
those aliens. Use this at the minimum sign of trouble”. She pointed at the launcher with
her feet and Camay nodded. Locking her helmet back on, she grabbed her gun and
checked for the position of her platoon.
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Chapter Twenty-Three – Hell’s Keep
February 8th, 2001
Archuletta Plateau, New Mexico, US
Captain Markovitch was speeding her way across the base, looking into her GPS and
noticing that Lieutenant Digriz’s position marked him and the rest of her platoon on one
of the alien base’s corners. She pumped her legs into a jog until their locating; passing
through a number of chambers until she finally reached them. He sounded relief upon
seeing her moving into his side. “Glad to see you up, Cap. As soon as we finish here this
whole area will be clear and we can join the Colonel. We waited for you as soon as I
knew you were coming”.
“How did things go at our end?” She still had no idea of what had happened while she
had blackout. “Some trouble, but we’ve come off light. But…we’ve found
some…prisoners”.
“Are they alright?” The Lieutenant’s voice seemed uneasy as he spoke. “Well Cap, they
are safe for now, but it’s better that you and the Colonel see them as quickly as possible
and decide what to do with them after all of this is over”. She was about to question him
about what he meant but the sound of distant battle told her that it was not the time now.
She looked at the last bunker: her troops were already covering its inside, posted at all the
windows. Taking a lot, she saw that there was some sort of alien equipment leaning
against the walls, but otherwise the place was empty of any bugs. However the red square
on the center on the floor and the violet glow indicated that there was still a room upstairs
to check. “Let’s get it done”. He nodded and moved around the bunker with her on his
tail, to where two troopers were waiting by the door that led into the enclosured area.
Digriz waved them forward.
One of the soldiers activated the entry control inside the metal wall and the other one
immediately jumped inside as soon as the door opened with his red laser rifle ready. Both
soldiers moved swiftly through the entrance and, after taking a moment to look upwards
to the hole on the ceiling. Markovitch followed Digriz as he went swiftly on their path.
Suddenly a commotion made her look upwards. “Cease-fire! It’s unarmed!”
Both of them got up and when she cleared the lift one of the soldier turned to them and
said. “All clear! We found a civilian Lieutenant. He attacked me as soon as I came up
and I had to threw him away from me”. Looking over his shoulder she saw him: a figure
crouched in one corner of the room, in no doubt scared to death. A bent plastic chair was
on the floor, probably he had tried to use it with no success against the soldier clad in the
power suit.
“He looks normal”. The lieutenant commented. “Already checked. Neither one of the
others or a hybrid. He’s human alright”. Markovitch wondered what that was about as she
approached the figure. She could now see that it was a frail-looking old man who started
to tremble as she came near. His hair was all white and his eyes were small and dark,
concealed under thick eyebrows as dirty as his scruffy beard. Getting close she moved a
hand to help him get up. “It’s OK”, she spoke to him but he recoiled backwards against
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the wall. She then remembered that they were using the armored suits and took off her
helmet to show him that they were human. “Take your helmets off”, she ordered the rest
of the soldiers.
The man looked first in suspicion then in amazement as she uncovered her head,
followed by the others. Gathering his strength, he finally spoke, in a groggy voice, before
reaching for her hand “Who…who are you?”
She helped him get up. “You’re safe now and that’s all that matters. Lieutenant, send
someone to relieve Camay from watching the aliens and get her here to assist him”. She
remembered the battle. “And sent Krenon with the rest of men to help the Colonel”.
“Finally”. He nearly dropped to the ground if Markovitch hadn’t moved to grab him.
With extreme caution she positioned him against one of the walls and brought up her own
medi-kit. Applying it over his chest she saw that his life-signs seemed to be weak but
stable but she left that decision to Camay when she arrived.
*****
They had finally discovered what seemed to be the location of the alien base’s command
center and Johnson’s face contorted inside the helmet of his power suit. He tried to forget
the tiredness that he was already starting to feel as the result of the intense battle they had
been fighting. The remaining aliens seemed to be in a corner of the base not yet taken by
his forces and First Platoon had reported that they found a large chamber made of raw
rock with a smaller armored subchamber inside. Its location put it west, next to the
storage area that they had already secured.
He had ordered it to be completely surrounded but even that process had been done at a
cost. In moving around the center, the soldiers had moved into the power plant that
housed the Elerium engines that feed the base with energy. But as they were moving
down to the lift that led into the engine room, a blaster bomb had come down the hole on
the ceiling and hit the point soldier in the middle of the corridor where he was moving.
He had simply disappeared under the immense energy liberated by the detonation of the
explosive Elerium in such an enclosured space. There would nothing left to bring back to
the base and bury than some melted scraps of the power suit that he was wearing. But the
troopers behind him had quickly recovered and pressed forwards, killing all Sectoids
above before they had time to fire their blaster launchers again.
Now the only place that remained to be swept was the command center itself. Johnson
was standing in a room adjacent to it, standing close to one of the red cylinders that
occupied every corner of the chamber, placed on top of blue supports. From his position
he could see the armored room, where a window was placed on the center of the wall that
allowed him to see a small corridor inside. His own motion scanner showed him that
there were at least five aliens inside the complex, all spread around the place. Satisfied
with his scan he went back into cover, while Crossett, who was standing in front of him,
also moved backwards. “Five of them inside. Let’s finish this”.
The entrance to the command center was located on its west side, a large door that was of
a darker gray tone that the walls around it. Two pairs of X-Com troopers were standing
by it; each placed on one side of the door as the call came. At that moment Pershing and
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another trooper carrying the E letter on his right breastplate moved forward carrying their
heavy plasmas. Placing themselves beside the door, they hold their weapons with both
hands at their waist and waited. Jones was moving behind Pershing and as he reached the
door he placed his hand over a metal panel attached to the wall.
Inside the strong alloy surface an alien device detected the disturbance on the small
invisible gravity field it was projecting outside. It then automatically created and
expanded a larger anti-gravity field that engulfed every inch of the heavy blast door and
the gravity waves impelled it upwards.
Both soldiers immediately fired their weapons in the opposite direction of their position
as soon as they heard the sloshing sound of the door being activated. The plasma bolts
missed the quickly moving door by a fraction of an inch. Inside it a Cyberdisk was
waiting some six feet way, its bulk nearly occupying all of the width of the corridor were
it was standing. Jones only saw a glimpse of it before it suddenly exploded after taking
one of the heavy plasma shots, taking a Sectoid that was standing directly in the front of
the doors with him. The inhumane cry it made as it died from the explosion was joined by
Pershing exclamation as the blast wave also caught him and threw him backwards. Jones
gave a look at him, who was now trying go get back on his feet, before rushing inside and
to the right. The other trooper from Epsilon had taken the left route, in a corridor that
seemed to surround the inside of the command center.
Apparently there was an inner chamber and Jones was walking on a corridor made of
metal walls and away from the entrance. Passing along a window; he saw an X-Com
trooper standing outside and by the opening, covering his advance, who nodded at him.
But at that moment he heard a loud blast coming from the other side of the chamber that
made him stop.
Johnson had just spotted the trooper from Epsilon passing along the window on his side
when the detonation shook him in surprise. Looking at the chamber his brain raced into
confusion as he suddenly found himself facing the inside of the corridor as the metal
walls disappeared into thin air. The only thing left to mark their existence was torn and
sharpened fangs of metal coming out from the ground. “I’m down. Need assistance”. The
voice of Sergeant Grisham from Epsilon made him jump into action.
He had already realized what had happened: the aliens had tried to use one of the blaster
launchers to hit the soldiers who were moving inside the corridor but had missed.
Avoiding the remains of the walls, he got inside the corridor through the large hole that
had just been opened, with Crossett right on his tail and complaining about his reckless
attitude. He negotiated the tight confines of the corridor quickly, taking a number of zig
and zag turns through the midst of thick smoke, until he reached his goal.
Standing on the corridor that had just straightened itself, he saw a blast door directly on
the opposite side of the one his soldiers had just used. He also discerned among the mist
that a Sectoid standing outside. Both him and Crossett immediately fired their plasma
weapons, bringing down the small thin creature to its maker.
Some seconds afterwards another figure appeared in front of them, but this time they
didn’t shoot, recognizing the oval shape of a power suit. Jones looked at them before
taking notice of the downed Sectoid in front of him. With one foot he kicked the heavy
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plasma the alien was carrying away from the body and then kicked the Sectoid to make
sure it was dead.
Meanwhile Johnson was bringing his motion scanner from his belt and activating it,
while Crossett kept an eye on the door. “Three still inside”.
The bodyguard spoke to him without taking his attention to the door: “You should get
back. No point in risking yourself assaulting this room”.
“That isn’t my intention. Someone inside is playing with a blaster launcher. Well, two
can also play that game!” Johnson moved away from the door and was about to call
Hopkins when another nearby explosion was heard, only this time it seemed to be coming
from overhead their position. It was followed by a number of secondary blasts that
seemed to make the inner chamber and the soldier tremble at each one.
“What was that?!” Jones grabbed his rifle tighter while Johnson looked upwards in
puzzlement. “Guess someone inside had a very stupid idea again”. The comment came
from Crossett while Johnson again activated his motion scanner. This time the display
unit didn’t show any light dots that indicated the origin of the movement as also its
direction from the scanner. The only thing that he could see was that his troopers were
joining him. As soon as reinforcements got to the front of the room he ordered them
inside. “There seems to be no one left but be careful”, he told the assembled troopers.
He was right. Inside the chamber, the X-Com soldiers found its floor lightened by a
gleaming yellow light, together with electronic displays built into the walls and a central
large lift that pointed to the existence of another upper chamber. As they moved to the
alien’s final refuge they found that the command center had been gutted by the force of
the explosives that the aliens had detonated. They saw the purple bases of alien
monitoring stations still attached to the ground, together with the bodies of three
Sectoids, one of them with a empty blaster launcher close to it.
When he and Crossett moved to join the soldiers above, Johnson was dismayed at the
level of destruction he found. There was nothing left still standing in the room. On one of
its sides, the metal had been ripped from the wall by the force of the blast, showing the
natural rock underneath. Johnson realized that it probably had been the point where the
bomb had detonated upon contact.
Activating the general radio circuit, he spoke the words that everyone was eagerly
waiting to hear: “Attention all squads: the command center has been taken over”.
*****
Digriz had already sent for Camay and was gone himself to lend a hand to the other
squads and Markovitch was looking around the large room. Its basic architecture made it
alien in design but there were some things that lent it a little bit of humanity, besides the
stench that she now started to notice. There was a small sleeping cot made of several
pieces of clothing that seemed all sewn together. Next to it there was a jumpsuit as old
and dirty as the one the man was wearing, hung upon a protrusion coming from a pole
that was scotch taped to the metal wall. Moving closer she noticed in disgust of a plastic
bucket half-full of human feces and urine in another corner.
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On the other side of the room there was a workstation of some sort, made of a broken
plastic board placed upon two metal containers. Pieces of disassembled machinery
littered it, together with notebooks and some tools. Markovitch opened one of the
notebooks: the paper inside was already starting to turn yellow and the edges were
curving. It was filled with some sort of technical annotations that she couldn’t make any
sense. She put it down.
Digriz came close. “Captain, the Colonel is calling. They have taken over the command
center and killed all the aliens inside. The base seems to be ours”. She had completely
forgotten of the fighting. “Tell him of what we found here and about the other prisoners.
Get the injured ready to be evacuated and take care of things for a while Jim”. He nodded
and led the two troopers still in the room down. Camay got in the room right afterwards
and she immediately went by the figure and checked the man.
“He’s all right, I guess he just had too much for one day. He will be up in no time”.
Camay went to work on him and after some seconds, Markovitch saw him stirring and
coughing. Regaining his consciousness he turned to them. “Thank you. I never thought
I’d see a human face again. These alien bastards! I hope that Attila died slowly”.
She turned away from the table. “Who?”
“The alien who was in charge of all research on humans. I used to called him Attila
because although they can’t express or feel emotions he seemed to take pleasure in what
he did to me, specially when he mind controlled me for no apparent purpose”. She
recalled the sensation and nodded. “I know what you were saying. He tried to do the
same to me but now he’s unconscious and guarded”.
The man nearly jumped to his feet, taking Camay by surprise. “Be very careful! He
should never, but never be allowed to awake unless he’s in total isolation! He only needs
to feel a human presence to try to attack it!” She nearly recoiled. “What should we do?”
“For now have some one applying him heavy doses of sleeping drugs. They will work on
their metabolism and should be enough for now. But afterwards place him on a facility
completely isolated from the outside. He must never be aware of where he is or of any
human, by sound or sight”. He came to her and examined Markovitch. “You say he tried
to control you?”
“Yeah, I guess. I felt his presence inside me but I managed to make it go away
somehow”. His eyes went open wide with joy. “Excellent! That means that I was right!
Soldier, I’ll need to make some tests on you to confirm it, but you must be the proof of
what I’ve suspected for long!” He moved his hands in the direction of her head but she
took a step backwards.
“Now wait a minute there! First it’s Captain, Captain Markovitch mister! Second, no one
is going to run tests on me!” He was puzzled for a second but quickly smiled, trying to
reassure her. “Why Captain you don’t need to be afraid. They will be quite harmless and
simple, only to determine your level of psionics”.
She surely wasn’t convinced. “Psi what?”
“Psionic power Captain. The thing that Attila tried to use on you. What I’ve been
researching here for more than twenty years even after the aliens took me prisoner to help
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in their other nasty work. You might be the next step on human evolution”. Camay was
standing on the room and at that last sentence she looked at Markovitch in puzzlement.
“Tell me, can you feel It also?”
“It? What are you talking about now?”
“The alien collective mind. See, they are all connected to it you know. I can feel it
sometimes because of all the time that I’ve been mind-controlled by them”. He brought
his hand to his chin. “Maybe you haven’t just been close enough to them to start feeling
it”.
That sent a shiver down Markovitch’s spine as she recalled some of her dreams in the
past year. “Mister…”. He interrupted her. “It’s Doctor Finkel, Captain and very much
pleasured to meet you”. She felt as if he was looking at her like she was a lab rat.
“Doctor, start over all of that from the beginning, will you please?”
*****
It was already late evening and the fighting had ended for hours with the breaking of the
aliens’ will to fight after the destruction of the command center. The few remaining
Sectoids had either panicked and ducked into hiding or were easy prey for the squads
assigned to hunt them using motion scanners.
But to Johnson it seem that it was still a long way to go before they could pack things up
and head for home. In fact, it would be the packing that would take a long time. The
captured base was a treasure of supplies and information and most of his remaining men
had been assigned to start collecting the material and take it up to the hangar level. The
Skyrangers that had brought his team here had already left, carrying the wounded and the
unconscious alien that was capable of mental powers, escorted by a fully armed squad.
He had alerted the scientists back at the base about how to contain it, based on the
information given to him by Markovitch. He would be kept back at Papoose, where there
were fewer personnel and less chances for it to try to use its mental powers.
Jackson’s force had also arrived and a few hours later White informed him that an Army
major in charge of a battalion was trying to contact him from outside the base. He had
ordered the other Colonel to turn back to Pollock base with most of his forces, since there
were no aliens left to fight on the base. Jackson hadn’t been too much pleased but with
his men occupied here, there was the need to have the other team available in case the
aliens made an attack on the US. In the case of the Army major he had to be more
adamant: the officer insisted that he had orders from the Secretary of Defense to enter the
back, despite Johnson telling him that his help was no longer necessary. By the end he
was forced to pull rank over the major and order a squad to keep an eye on the small
camp that housed the US troops and their vehicles close to the landing pad.
He was alone in the ruined command center, trying to understand what had happened
here. It seemed that the alien carrying the blaster launcher had deliberately killed himself
and taken all of the aliens and equipment inside the room as well. Their bodies were still
lying around close to the walls to where they had been thrown by the shock wave of the
explosion. Was it just an accident, a wrong coordinate set into the guidance mechanism in
the rush of the attack or did he really do it to prevent his capture and of the information
that this room was sure to held inside the ruined control tables?
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Moving towards the large central lift, he realized that it didn’t matter at the end. The base
had been taken over with acceptable casualties. He still felt troubled by that word,
‘acceptable’, from the moment he had used it to make his first report to Major Prescott
and Mother One.
Six men had died and an equal number had been injured out of the plus fifty he had
brought here. A full platoon had been taken out of commission in a fight that didn’t last
for more than an hour. It would take a while to replace them but the worse was for the
ones who had been left behind. For some they had been fighting a major war for more
than two years, with few chances of getting back home to see their loved ones or even
take a leave. In some cases they had managed to bring their spouses and children closer
to the base, taking jobs in Vegas or other city nearby, but he had heard that some simply
had received letters from attorneys informing them of divorce suits being filled or simple
phone calls.
That left most of the people at the base left only with their comrades, the ones with whom
they fought, trained and lived under the same roof. When they got back at Area 51 the
mood would be somber and dark for some time, as their deaths would be hard to come
over.
Reaching the level below, he was startled to see the large doors in front of him opening
but tried to relax as a figure in power armor came through and saluted him.
He replied almost casually and Lt. Digriz started to speak. “Sir, the major told me that I’d
find you here”.
“What’s the problem, lieutenant?” He had given Patterson orders not to be disturbed for
some time and he didn’t felt particularly happy of having to get back to deal with the
whole base.
The young officer simply paced uneasily on his feet. “I’m sorry sir. You should just came
with me and see for yourself. It’s….”
Johnson felt complied to work him to simply speak it out, but noticed how distressed he
was. Too much stress was going over everyone, not just him. “Lead the way then”.
They left the command complex and headed out without saying a word for the direction
of the lab area, with Crossett following them. They finally reached a chamber that had a
small lift located in a small space surrounded by metal walls on three sides. Digriz looked
upwards before getting into the red and violet light, clearly fearing something and
Johnson wondered what it might be. On his back Crossett gripped his heavy plasma
tighter.
Waving their arms upward inside the lift, it propelled them to another alien room. Its
general disposition was the same of most of the ones found in the base but this time the
walls had long rows of glass containers rimmed with a metal supporting structure.
Johnson nearly recoiled and he felt his stomach tightening as he noticed what was inside,
while Crossett uttered a small curse. The containers were caves and most of them seemed
occupied. Living things, moving and wailing and occasionally hitting the glass, and most
of them seemed….human.
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There was a man that had six arms, the two extra pairs coming out from underneath his
armpits, together with another extra set of legs. He was using them to bang on the glass in
a mad rage and screaming. Another was a woman with her body and skull full of scales
and a tail coming out of the end of her back, making her look as if she was a walking
lizard. She was looking at them with attention but occasionally would hiss and open her
mouth to show long canines. In a cage next to hers, a moving mass of flesh colored
tentacles could be seen, some of which seemed to be grossly deformed legs and arms. On
its top a human head stood out, staring at them.
The room was filled with the deafening noise from the alien’s generic experiments: some
were making guttural, animal sounds, while others were sobbing and crying while hidden
in one dark corner of the cages were they were standing. It stuck Johnson that they
probably were still perfectly conscious of what the aliens had done to them. But the
majority would be plainly aggressive at the X-Com soldiers.
“Oh my God…” It was too much for him to hold and he headed back down, with the two
other men following him. When they reaching the lower level he took a deep breath and
tried to calm himself. Digriz waited for some seconds before asking: “What are we going
to do with them sir?”
Johnson found himself too shocked to clearly think, after seeing the horrors above. “I….I
don’t know”. He listened to his voice and it surprised him how weak he had sounded.
“Sir, we gotta help these people”. Crossett simply shook his head. “Lt., they are way
beyond our help”.
Johnson saw Digriz look back at the soldier with surprise and anger. “We have to take
them back! We just can’t leave them here!”
“Yeah? To where? I’ve seen them once and they will plague my nightmares now for the
rest of my life. They have just made me decide that I’d prefer to kill myself than to be
captured and turned into one of those poor bastards above”.
That last remark made Johnson realized what was to be done. “You’re right Crossett. The
aliens have taken these people away from us for good. They have either lost their
humanity or their will to live and will never be accepted back into society. They are
already dead”.
“Sir! We have labs back at the base. There must be something they can do to help them,
to reverse what the aliens have done to them”.
The Colonel shook his head. “I understand your feelings Digriz, but I seriously doubt it’s
possible with our present technology. And even if we could, would you want to go
through the same thing again that the aliens did it to you, without knowing if it would
work?”
Digriz thought about it for a second, then suddenly hit the metal wall with his hand.
“Shit!” He started banging on the surface with both his arms, using all his force. “Shit!
Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!” It lasted for two seconds before Johnson and Crossett grabbed his
power suit and pulled him back from the wall. He simply stood there, closing his eyes to
clear the tears while the other two men had to hold him to prevent Digriz from falling
into the ground since his legs seemed to have gone limp.
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“What are we going to do sir?” He spoke in a meekly voice as both of them pulled him
up. Seeing that he had gained his strength, Johnson let go of him and dropped his hand to
the holster on his belt, taking out his plasma pistol from it. “The only humane thing left”.
Digriz looked in shock as he realized what the Colonel meant.
“I’m not going to order you to help me. I leave it to your conscience to decide. Either
way I’ll take full responsibility afterwards when I report this to Commander
Illyuschenko”. Both Crossett and Digriz looked at each other before answering. And God
have mercy on my soul, he spoke to himself.
February 9th, 2001

The Large Scout was travelling high above the surface, moving through a number of
stationary alien ships of all sorts and sizes keeping a loose formation while on the
Moon’s orbit. The inside of the craft was crowded with two Sectoids manning the
piloting stations, while the Commander and two other high-ranking officers stayed on the
background, watching the space.
Although their gaze was lost upon the view ports full of bright stars, their minds were in a
hurried frenzy, an indefinable state unattainable for any human, which mixed logic with
primeval instincts, together with a number of telepathic links between them and the rest
of their crew. But the most disturbing one was a new presence that started to be felt as the
smaller craft had approached a UFO that seemed to dwarf them. As they moved closer
and closer the Sectoids inside got more restless, although their expressionless faces were
the same and the black eyes were as lifeless as before.
The craft finally docked and the trio moved to the airlock on the back of the UFO, which
had been connected by the lower castes into a similar opening on the larger craft. The
workers had already left the area in a hurry. The three Sectoids moved through the sealed
connection and, inside the other craft, moved through a series of corridors and elevators.
On their way they passed through a number of aliens of all sorts of races, who didn’t even
seemed to notice them.
Inside each one of them, the tension was rising as they approached their destination.
When they finally arrived at the doors leading into the bridge of the UFO, one of the
Sectoid officers panicked, letting go of a small shriek and starting to retrace his steps.
The other two hesitated as they saw him moving away from him but stood motionless,
simply giving him a placid look before turning to face the door.
The Sectoid had already covered some distance and started to turn backwards, when the
bridge doors suddenly opened themselves with a whooshing sound. The two other
Sectoids immediately took a step to the side as a loud roar was heard coming from inside
the room, followed by the sound of a plasma pistol being fired. The green discharge hit
the fleeing Sectoid on its back, and threw him to the floor, were it stood tainting the metal
floor with greenish blood. However, the alien still kept moving and tried to get himself
back up again.
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He didn’t go too far. A Muton dressed in a scarlet suit came out of the door, still holding
a smoking plasma pistol on his massive hand and looked at the body. Its shoulder and
neck muscles were completely tensed, looking more like steel cables that stood clearly
against the tight fabric of his uniform. He saw as the injured Sectoid finally got up and,
still trembling, tried to run away.
Using his powerful legs and hips the Muton got close to the running alien with three
steps. One of his large hands grabbed the Sectoid’s head as if it was a basketball and
pulled it close to him, stopping the other alien’s motion. The other hand slowly placed the
pistol back to the holster on the Muton’s suit. Then he placed it on the Sectoid’s neck
and, with a sharp push followed by a cracking sound, the Muton separated the other
alien’s head from its body. Looking at the disentangled pieces of the Sectoid for a
second, he dropped them afterwards to the ground.
The Sectoid Commander and the other officer didn’t saw any of this happen. Instead,
their attention was fixed on the newcomer who had just appeared on the doors to watch
the demise of the smaller alien. If there had been humans present, they would never
forget the sight of the other creature. The alien towered over the Sectoids and wearing an
orange cape that hid his body. His head was partially covered by the vests the alien was
wearing, which had an upraised tall collar on the sides and back. But the front of the
collar narrowly opened itself to reveal a bald and ghostly face. The extraterrestrial looked
at the now dead Sectoid and opened his mouth, revealing sharp fangs inside. Releasing a
small hissing sound, he then turned to the two Sectoids but didn’t make a sound as he
faced them, with their minds connecting instead. Meanwhile, the gray flesh around the
Sectoids black gloss eyes slightly contracted a movement so subtle that only they took
notice of it. It meant that they were afraid, very afraid.
Some time later one of the ships of the alien flotilla detached itself from the position it
was occupying and started to move over the Moon. When it cleared the natural satellite it
accelerate into a high-speed dash into Earth’s atmosphere.
Archuletta Plateau, New Mexico, Earth

The process of clearing the alien’s base from useful components or equipment was going
into full scale now after it had been cleared of the remaining aliens. Johnson had ordered
a full company of Theta security personnel to help in the process and also to maintain a
safety perimeter.
The regular Army troops were still in the area, keeping an eye on their activities. The
officer in charge of them had tried to call Johnson on the radio a number of times, but he
had managed to keep them outside, claiming that the base wasn’t fully secured and that
the major should contact his X-Com’s superiors.
They had found a way to open the facility’s massive hangar doors and now forklifts
where being used to transport heavily laden crates to the Skyrangers who where parked
outside and waiting to bring the cargo back to Area 51. It would take a couple more days
before the whole process was complete but things were going smoothly.
Johnson and Patterson were supervising the whole process from outside, close to the
hangar, still clad on their power suits. A trooper that was holding a pair of electro-flares
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on his hands and waving them up about to lift up from the ground guided a Skyranger
that was about to take-off. Below the cockpit, someone had painted a brunette pin-up,
wearing too few clothes for her body’s voluptuous curves. She had been drawn laying her
back over a representation of Earth, her spine fully curved around the sphere, while
underneath it was written on white letters: “The X-Lady”. Some of the squads were over
there, trying to rest before the call would came for them to leave back to the base, their
job already finished. They both felt terribly dirty inside but there were some things more
important to before heading back to base.
Patterson spoke with a voice tired. “Hopkins has finished setting up the explosives on the
lab you have ordered demolished. I told him not to discuss the matter with anyone
afterwards. Both of us didn’t understand the reason why you asked us that but after
seeing what I saw there…”
Johnson put a hand on his shoulders. “I know. Thanks”. The Major looked down.
“You’ve done a terrific job Mike. You should get some sleep and food on the small camp
they have made. Seems that things are running smoothly now”. Johnson also wanted to
lie down as well.
“I might. However there’s something else for you to deal with: the rescued scientist. He’s
still down there and is refusing to leave the labs until all the necessary information has
been retrieved from them. He claims that it’s more important that all of the Elerium or the
weapons we are salvaging”.
Johnson winced. “Markovitch is still with him? Tell her to get the guy moving”.
“I did but it she told me that you should get down there and see it for yourself”. He
shrugged his shoulders.
Johnson picked up his plasma rifle. “Very well. And get some sleep Mike”. He dismissed
the Major and headed back to the lift that would take him to the seventh level.
After getting down to the lowest level he moved across the base’s chambers in his way to
the lab where the scientist had been kept captive by the aliens for years. The whole place
still gave him the creeps, especially when he came up upon the bodies, either Sectoid or
human covered in tarps. A column of about a dozen captured Sectoids passed by him,
heavily guarded by two squads in power suits. He moved to the side and watched the
restrained aliens, who had their arms tied on the back. The entire column seemed to
ignore him but the Lieutenant in charge saluted him as both men passed by one another.
He sped up to his destination and came upon one of the enclosured rooms that were the
entry to the labs. Opening the door he came inside and used the alien lift to get to the
upper level.
Markovitch was there, together with a couple of other troopers who had put down their
weapons and were occupied following the scientist’s orders. “Be careful with that you
idiot!” The man shouted as one of the troopers nearly dropped a strange looking device
from his hands. He then noticed Johnson and spoke: “Get those crates upwards. And
where’s the damn commander?”
490
Johnson crossed his arms in front of him and stood there. “Sir, I am the damn
commander”. He then looked back at Markovitch who simply made an expression of
hopelessness.
The scientist didn’t waiver. “Very well. You should get this out of here as soon as
possible. This took years to research and the lives of countless research subjects”.
Judging the man impossible to deal with both their present moods, he ignored him and
turned to Markovitch. “What’s going on here Captain?”
“Well the doctor here claims that he has been working in understanding the alien’s
mental powers while he was imprisoned here. He says that it’s possible for humans to use
them using his research”.
“It is you fool! Haven’t you learned anything from what I told you?” He took from the
soldier’s hands the object that he had nearly dropped. “See this? This is the prototype of a
device that allows psi conscious humans to replicate the alien’s control powers”. Johnson
looked at the thing. It was a large tube about the size of a forearm that had a violet globe
in one end and spikes at the other.
He wasn’t impressed. “So why haven’t you used it to get out of here?”
“We had to work in secret to avoid that the aliens discovered that we were working on
this. But by the time we completed it there wasn’t anyone of us captives left that had
enough psi capabilities to use it. The aliens had for long used them on their experiments”.
Johnson was shocked at the impersonal tone that he used in speaking of the people that
the aliens had used for genetic experiments. The same captives that they had just killed
for mercy, placing plasma shots into their heads. “Doctor, first, how did you get here?
I’m trying to understand how an alien base this large has sprouted here out of nothing,
specially when there’s a war going on between us and them for two years now”.
“I was recruited for this project in 1973 and brought to this base. The government told us
that they had known about the alien’s existence for a while and that the base had been
built as a place for both races to interact and learn from one another”.
Johnson and Markovitch looked at one another. “The government? Now who in the
government did that?”
The scientist looked puzzled. “Our superiors, I don’t know if they are still the same now.
Why haven’t you came before to rescue us when the aliens took over the human part of
the base and killed most of the people there, taking the rest of us as captives? Why did
you had to wait for the hostilities to start?” Seeing Johnson’s face he continued. “You
don’t know what I’m talking about? Who are you? For whom do you work?” He started
to bring the device closer to him.
Markovitch replied. “We belong to X-Com doctor. That’s a force that is dedicated into
investigating and fighting the aliens. And until now we never thought that the aliens had
ever established a base on Earth or that anyone here had been working with them”. The
man looked back at them in suspicion but kept his mouth shut.
Johnson came closer to her and whispered. “Don’t say anything more. Something is very
wrong here. We need to get him back to Area 51 so that Robinson can conduct a full
interrogation and find out what was really going on here”. She nodded and he turned back
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to him. “Doctor, there seems to be some misunderstanding here. I would like you to get
back to our base as soon as possible so that you can clear this out with my superiors”.
His voice had turned hostile. “I’m not leaving until I know what’s going on and not
without my data!” He took a step backwards.
“Very well doctor. I’m sorry it will have to be this way. Captain, restrain him and get him
onboard a flight to Area 51 as soon as possible with an escort”. She nodded and the two
troopers dropped what they were doing and grabbed the man who was about to make a
run for the lift on the middle of the room.
Ignoring his protests and threats, Markovitch ordered the men to bring him up. “And
Sheila, I’ll send some of our scientific personnel available over here. Try to salvage as
much as possible because we’ll need it if we want to understand what was going on”.

The air defense klaxon suddenly brought Major Prescott out of his small nap that he was
taking in the middle of the control room. “What’s happening?” He demanded, before
looking at the war board and seeing a red dot that indicated a threat approaching the
continental US.
“Radar has detected an incoming bogey entering the upper atmosphere, right over
Greenland…speed over Mach Ten!” The operator’s voice became troubled. “How is this
possible?” Prescott moved over to his side to check for himself. “Check the radar
signature against known UFO profiles”.
After a while a surprised response came. “Sir! It’s one of their very large craft!” Prescott
started to worry, remembering the scarce information they had about those UFOs. “Can
the Firestorm at Pollock intercept it?”. The technician started to punch up commands and
trying to come up with a viable intercept vector. “At its present speed, negative. The
bogey is just going too fast!”
There goes the change to get it airborne before it lands and makes damage, Prescott
concluded. They would have to fight it on the ground and it was better if Jackson’s team
left as soon as possible. He looked at the board again, trying to see where it was heading
and something made him concerned. “What’s its target area?”
“Makes no sense: it’s not heading for any military base, either ours or regular military or
to any large urban settlements”. He looked back at the non-commissioned officer. “Show
me a projection of its flight path!” A thin line started to come from the red dot until it had
crossed over the whole US. Prescotts jaw dropped as he saw that it intercepted an area
where a large number of X-Com flights were either destined or leaving the location.
“Jesus! Get me the Colonel this minute!”
Archuletta Mesa, New Mexico, US

Johnson was seated down on the floor resting, still inside his power suit and using a
rolled-up blanket from one of the Skyrangers as a pillow for his head who was leaning
against a crate. He suddenly heard armored steps going in a hurry until they came closer
to him making him open his eyes. Corporal White was standing over him, speaking with
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a dazzled voice. Sensing incoming trouble, Crossett had gotten up from his position
where he was guarding Johnson.
“Colonel, Area 51 just informed us that an alien Battleship is heading towards our
position!” Johnson jumped to his feet. Already, he thought, wondering if they had hit the
aliens hard enough that they would retaliate that soon. “What’s the status of base clean-
up?”
“There’s still a lot of things that we will have to leave behind, sir if we departure now. In
any case, right now we don’t have any transports available. The last one just departed a
few minutes ago”. White anxiously waited for orders.
“Tell it to clear this location as soon as possible. All non-combat personnel is to take
cover in the lower base levels. And tell all available squads to get ready for action. And
get Major Patterson to warn the Army commander outside: the aliens seemed to want this
place back and it’s better if his men get clear of this area”. He got up and started locking
the helmet of his power suit into position.
Close to the New Mexico – Arizona border, US

Skyranger Four was on its way back to Area 51 after having loaded a full complement of
alien equipment retrieved from the alien base. It also was carrying the rescued doctor,
who was standing with his hands handcuffed on his front in the cargo section, together
with two guards from Theta security company. The man and woman had been ordered to
deliver him to the intelligence bureau as soon as they hit the runway at the base.
The scientist looked sullen during the take-off and the initial part of their flight but the
guards could also see that he was fully aware of them, making them redouble their
attention. After a while he changed his mood and started to look at the plane and his
surroundings with some interest.
“I thought we had become more advanced in all of this time. Tell me, to where am I
being taken prisoner?” The Theta soldier looked at him for a second before answering.
“Area 51 in Nevada”.
Dr. Finkel raised his white thick eyebrows for a second, before casually asking. “Area 51
it is hum? Now please tell me, is General Smith still in charge?” Both guards look at each
other in puzzlement but decided to keep their mouths shut at the mention of the base’s
former commander.
“I think it still have some recollections of the place. I remember the Soviet MiGs that
they had secretly recovered and stashed a hangar. By the way, what’s the Soviet Union
up to nowadays?” That made the guards even more surprised. The woman replied: “Don’t
you know? The Soviet Union is dead for years now after Reagan defeated them”.
Finkel’s eyes looked at her in discredit, but his curiosity begun to arouse. “Reagan? Who
is he? The current President?” The woman looked at him in disbelief. “You don’t know
how Reagan was? He and Bush made us him the Cold War and the Soviet Union
disintegrated afterwards. It’s in every history book”.
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Believing more of the story now, he pressed on. “So we won the Cold War after all? How
many millions died in the nuclear exchanges?” The woman looked back at the man who
shook his head. Let the intelligence spooks in Iota deal with him and don’t talk anymore.
Seeing their faces, the scientist realized that they had decided to keep him in the dark and
not tell them anything else. Too many changes seemed to have happened. Who is that
arrogant Colonel? How can someone like him be placed into charge of such an important
operation? Someone back at the place were we are heading will understand the news I’m
bringing. But not that Johnson, he’s merely a soldier, being told to fight the aliens even if
he can’t fully understand them.
The Skyranger slightly shook and he looked through the window. They were crossing the
cloud level, the pilot moving them upward to avoid the winds of the storm underneath it.
This X-Com, they are merely toys to be played with and discarded, like I once was. The
real danger is not here, now I know that, I’ve learned it after all the time with the aliens.
His mind became filled of memories, of a dark a sinister chamber were he had gone too
many times, of a specter that now seemed to be all around him again. It never ceased to
amaze him how mankind could be so blind.

Patterson moved closer to Johnson who was now watching the huge hangar doors of the
alien base close themselves again. “Area 51 just informed us that both Firestorms are on
their way here Colonel. But they will arrive too late: in four minutes the alien Battleship
will overfly us. All positions are manned and ready. We have sealed the entrances on the
first level and there are squads in position to deal with any intrusions from that end. The
non-combatants are all on the seventh level”.
Johnson nodded. “Let’s all of us get to the back of this place. I the aliens might try to
blow these doors with the weapons on that ship to get inside. At least the rest of this place
was built as if to hold a tactical nuke”. Both men started heading backwards calling all
the personnel who was still around to get some cover.
Area 51, Nevada, US

Prescott could only look in horror and helplessness at the board that displayed what was
about to unfold. The alien Battleship had finally reached the position of the base and
whispered a prayer for everyone who was still inside. The atmosphere inside the control
center was more akin to a funeral: no one spoke and if one dropped a pin on the floor it
would most likely be heard.
Then, to the puzzlement of everyone in the room it didn’t stop as it reached the position
of the base, instead it kept moving into a westward course. All of the men and women
stared at the lit board in a mixture of relief for the ones who where back at New Mexico
and wonder. But a dreadful feeling come over Prescott and he tapped the non-com’s
soldier next to his side.
“Sergeant, is that my impression or the UFO is heading towards us?!” The red dot had
passed the area of New Mexico and now the projections for its course put its flight path
directly over Area 51’s location. The man nearly jumped on his chair as he realized what
the Major was saying.
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“Sound the general alarm! All combat personnel report to their battle positions!” Prescott
knew that there was hardly any troops left at base besides a few squads worth of rookies
and the wounded who had been flown back from New Mexico. The aliens had caught
them completely undefended and unprepared. He doubted that the base defenses would
be able to stop the attack of the battlewagon that was heading towards them. Or that the
Firestorm airborne would be able to intercept the UFO before it hit the base.
There was no time to launch any other interception craft. However, looking at the dot
again he saw that there was another blue dot besides the one that designated the
Firestorm, indicating that there was another X-Com craft in the area. “Who’s over there?”
“Skyranger Four. They are on their way from New Mexico to here”. The answer came
back to Prescott. “Tell them to back away to a secure location. This area his going to get
hot!”
Over Arizona, US
The pilot’s voice was suddenly heard on the cargo bay of Skyranger Four by the
intercom. “Everyone hold yourselves back there! There’s a UFO heading for Area 51 and
we are right on its path! We are proceeding to a secondary runway”
Both security guards immediately moved to get safety restrains on the scientist but he
kept himself quiet, in cold realization of what was about to happen. “There’s no need to
that. It’s pointless”. He simply spoke as they finished putting a safety belt on him as the
plane jerked to a left turn. The movement threw them to the other side making them hit
the stored crates, where they stood cursing and trying to hold themselves.
He look upwards and started speaking in a mumbled voice, not caring if the guards or
anyone else understood. “It always knew about me, there was never any way to hide
myself. And now It just can’t let me go because of what I know”. The plane suddenly
jinxed into another side and everyone in the cargo bay suddenly felt as if it was dropping
on the air as their stomachs pressed upwards. The pilot’s voice came again but this time
almost in panic: “Shit! Control just told us that the UFO is chasing us! I’m trying to get
the plane down to the ground!”
The scientist smiled, knowing that at least it would all be over quick. A few seconds
afterwards a fireball hit the Skyranger on the top of its fuselage, penetrating it as if it was
wet tissue and burning the plane into a airborne pyre of millions of fragments and finally
releasing him of his mental thralldom.

The hangar doors were now opened again, since Prescott had told them that the UFO’s
destination was not their location. Johnson and some of the officers stood outside, trying
to understand what was going on and waiting for news from Area 51 about the attack.
The minutes passed slowly as everyone looked at one another in anxiety, trying to
understand what was going on.
A crack on his radio made Johnson listen for a couple of seconds and all officers gathered
around him, waiting for news. After he finished receiving the transmission, he
acknowledged it and turned to the waiting men and women around him. “White has
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gotten a communication from Area 51. The UFO wasn’t also heading for them. It
attacked and destroyed one of our Skyrangers before heading back into outer space. They
had no time to bail one. There are no survivors”. He closed his eyes. It could be worse
but it still hurt to see the aliens kill his people, more so if they were flying an unarmed
craft. Markovitch came closer and asked. “Johnson, what Skyranger was it?”
“Number Four. Five casualties confirmed”. She opened her mouth in horror and
motioned him to get to a place away from the rest of the soldiers. They stopped in the
middle of the landing field. “The scientist was on that flight!”
“What?!?! And his research?” She pointed her armored hand at the base. “Still inside. We
didn’t had time to board it in the same flight and you wanted him to be flown back as
soon as possible”.
“Not everything is lost then. But we needed to fully interrogate him to understand what
they were doing here and who was behind it. Something stinks here and someone will
have to be held responsible for the horrors we have seen inside this place”.
She nodded. “You’re right, but there’s something even more important. The destruction
of that Skyranger was intentional. The aliens knew who was inside and how important he
was”. His voice turned more grave. “How do you know?”
“He told me things before you arrived. I didn’t believe them at first but now I’m not so
sure. About a great alien consciousness that knows everything. And seeing what has just
happened I’m getting shit scared, Erwin”. He looked at her and saw it also. He wanted to
embrace her but he couldn’t in the front of all the troops. Instead he placed his hand on
her armored shoulder and looked in her eyes to reassure her. “Don’t worry Sheila. When
we get back we’ll get to the bottom of this. Now let’s finish our job here and head home”.
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Chapter Twenty-Four – The Enemy Within
February 12th, 2001
Unknown location, Geneve, Switzerland
As Number Two looked at the faces around the table, he was secretly bemused by
everyone’s reactions to the latest events, which went from complete astonishment to full
rage. That was much evident from the effort that most of the individuals in the room were
trying to do in conceal such emotions.
The news of the detection and take-over by X-Com troops of the alien base in New
Mexico had made quite an impression over everyone. Some showed pure shock, others
seemed as if they were about to explode in anger. Number One was the most neutral of
them all, in no doubt trying to assume the fatherly figure, who corrects the children’s
mistakes, so that we could use the advantage to retrieve the latter protagonism of Three.
“I take that you all have heard from the situation on New Mexico. Why have we failed to
detect that possibility and how did X-Com find out about the base are my questions.
Would anyone care to answer them?” The words weren’t actually a question but a simple
test. Failing it could mean the loss of power and prestige or something even worse.
Number Seven made an attempt to start. “The day before the attack our agents reported
that a high-ranking CIA officer traveled to New Mexico and met a former FBI
subdirector there, who is presently working for X-Com. They were under orders to keep
them under surveillance and act if it was necessary….”
“Stop making excuses for yourself you fool!” Three’s voice cut through the speech.
“They got ahead of us on this one and that’s a fact! Our agents have been unable to
prevent them from finding the base, which means that they are as good as dead. Their
strike team left on the early hours of the following day and we were only informed on the
attack while it was in progress! They were just too fast for us to react on time”. Another
thought came to One’s mind and he considered for a second the possible consequences if
he had taken a different course of action. It came to him that while Three talked, some
did what was necessary around here.
“You were supposed to have them under watch, you guaranteed that they wouldn’t be a
threat to our plans. The aliens will sure react to this like they attacked the Japanese base.
And where might their next target be? Just imagine if they decide to eliminate all of the
human opposition and take out this location killing all of us at the same time?” The
accusation and fear on Number Eight’s voice was clear for everyone to hear.
“The aliens will do nothing!” Two decided it was enough and was time to intervene. “We
said nothing to them when they decided to take control of that facility several years ago
without asking for our opinion. And X-Com had a fluke of luck. Or they are not as stupid
as some of ones claim and must have somehow plotted the possible course of the Supply
Ship they shot down and figured out to where it was heading.
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They might actually have done us a favor. We all know what was going on the base and
X-Com probably discovered that the secrets it contained were probably better if they
stayed buried forever”.
Three threw a quizzical look at Two, wondering what he was about, but he continued.
“The only mistake we are committing here is of not considering X-Com as an important
part to our plans so we constantly underestimate them. On the contrary, the aliens seem to
take them very seriously now. We have information that they shot down of one of X-
Com’s planes shortly after the takeover. Most likely it’s the beginning of retaliatory raids,
something that they have shown to be perfectly capable of, when they feel directly
threatened as we saw in Siberia. And their use of Mutons on the attack on the Japanese
base shows that they are taking the measures that seem fit to them to deal with X-Com. I
say we act accordingly”.
“What are you proposing?” Three was suspicious at this turn of events.
“Our friends have taken upon them the task of dealing with X-Com. We have already
seen that the nature of the organization and its secrecy precludes any direct interference
on them. But we can influence them through other ways, namely the countries on the
Council. Time will soon run out for them, either taken by the aliens or us or both!” Two
looked at One and Three, who nodded as expected by him. In a time of crisis showing a
solution was always appreciated and by the rest of the leadership, particularly when
things went out of control. Even though that support was more akin to trusting to take a
step into quick sands and still keep your head afloat.
However, some of the other members weren’t fully convinced and Four’s forehead
became wrinkled. Nine and Seven didn’t also try to hide their own suspicions. “Like you
said, X-Com has become powerful, if misguided and missing the whole picture of the
events. And this CIA agent, this Williams has turned into a liability. How do we know
that they won’t track this whole event back to us?”
One took the turn to respond. “As we all know, power has no rival to match its own. I’m
sure our associate has already foreseen that possibility about Mr. Williams”. Two nodded
to One’s underlying statement, knowing that one day or the other everyone would come
to his same conclusion over Williams. Competition for the numbers was the strength of
the group, either from the inside or the outside. Pity and protection only made the ones
who gave it weaker. The CIA analyst would soon find out about that, even if he didn’t
know about it.
One kept talking, but now turned to number Seven. “Furthermore, I take it that all
necessary safety procedures were taken by the agents involved?” He trailed at the end of
the sentence, to make sure that Seven understood that it wasn’t a question, but a matter of
fact. If any blunder had been made he would pay with his life for it.
“Of course. The two operatives had no indications on them that might lead to us. In any
case, they are more likely to be considered base sentries, since they were hybrids. That
will also be a confirmation of their theory about an alien ‘fifth column’ already
established. Since there were none of our personnel left at that base for years since the
confrontation there will be no trace to us. And we can always make new clones to replace
the ones we lost”. Seven looked around to the top numbers, wishing to be considered
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again as reliable. One and Two didn’t say anything, in concordance, but Three had
stopped paying attention. He was already making future plans on how to deal with both
old and new players in the game.
February 15th, 2001

Pollock ANGB, West Virginia, US
As the Skyranger landed on the wet tarmac of X-Com North American Eastern Base
main runway, Colonel Johnson looked at the rest of the staff that he had chosen to
accompany him to the Eastern X-Com base, all like him dressed in parade uniform, still
unsure of what to do. One of the first presidential orders issued by President Vaughn on
his first day of office had been a request made to visit the X-Com’s US facilities
responsible for dealing with the extraterrestrial situation and hear a personalized report
from the US commander. Only apparently Vaughn hadn’t been properly briefed about the
legal status of X-Com or any of its bases: it wasn’t a part of the US military and the base
was now under the administration of the United Nations. The captured Sectoid officer
that was being held at Papoose Lake was too much of a security risk. Since its capture at
New Mexico, the alien had managed to mind influence in a few occasions the biologists
that were investigating him. There was no way that Johnson could allow for the
possibility that the US President might be Psionic influenced by the alien. The resolution
of the whole matter had required the intervention of the UN’s Secretary General, who
managed to conciliate both parts with a bit of common sense using his diplomacy skills.
The visit and meeting had been set instead at the other X-Com base in the US, an
initiative that had been deemed as ‘acceptable’ by the presidential staff.
He had decided to take with him Markovitch, Hopkins and Crossett, leaving the other
senior officers back at Area 51 in case the aliens decided to take some action while he
was gone. Markovitch was sitting by him while the other two soldiers were on the other
side of the Skyranger, taking use of the available space. The Sergeant had decided to take
off his suit and spread his bulk around several seats to take a nap during the flight, while
Crossett seemed to be relaxed although Johnson knew that the man would be quick to
react to any event.
The Skyranger taxied on the runway and headed for the area reserved for parked aircraft,
passing by the blue and white 747 that was the President’s official airplane, the Air Force
One. That struck Johnson as odd, since Vaughn was supposed to arrive after him,
according to the schedule, not before. Markovitch picked up his surprise and put her hand
over his. “I know what you are thinking: don’t worry, things will be fine”. He looked
back at her and at that moment the Skyranger’s ramp begun to lower itself, making
everyone inside the plane to get up and check their uniforms.
When the officers begun to get off the aircraft another surprise came up to Johnson. He
was expecting Colonel Jackson or some other high-ranking X-Com officer to greet them
upon their arrival but instead he found a group of Secret Service agents all dressed in
black suits and sporting MP-5 Heller and Koch submachine guns in plain display. When
they approached the group, the agent in charge stepped forward and said: “Colonel
Johnson?”
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“Yes, what’s the meaning of this? Where’s Colonel Jackson?” The agent ignored his
query and kept speaking. “You will have to leave your sidearms with us, sir. No one is
allowed to carry weapons near the President”.
Markovitch nearly jumped at the demand, while Johnson frowned. Hopkins took a step
forward and spoke. “The Colonel is the commander of this base. You cannot tell him
what to do, son”. That brought an automatic reaction from the agents who tightened their
grip on their weapons. Looking at the corner of his eye, Johnson saw that Crossett and
Markovitch were getting ready to draw their sidearms.
“Everyone cool off!” He ordered. “Mister, we haven’t been informed of this and like the
Sergeant said, I’m on charge of this base”. The agent didn’t soften a bit. “Security
procedures. We will have to take hold of your sidearms while you remain at the base, one
way or the other” he pointed the submachine gun directly at the group, leaving his
intentions quite clear.
Markovitch came closer to him with her arms raised, trying not to make any move that
might be classified as hostile and spoke to his ear. “We are all carrying plasma pistols.
There’s no way we can allow them access to the weapons”. Johnson nodded and made a
decision.
“Mister, for your own security I can’t allow you to guard the weapons since they can be a
threat to anyone not trained in dealing with them. May I suggest that we leave them on
our plane while we stay here?” The agent looked hard on him for a second and nodded.
A few minutes afterwards the group of X-Com soldiers was storming to the main
building of the base, with everyone furious about being searched by the agents for
concealed weapons after they had left the plasma pistols onboard the Skyranger. The
building looked more like a bunker, but in front of it three flagpoles carried the flags of
the UN, US and the official X-Com patch, full black with a red cross on a white circle on
its middle. The US flag was on the middle, standing two feet higher than the others,
something that made Johnson think also.
The doors in the front opened and he felt more relieved, seeing Captain Hunt coming
through them to greet the visitors and saluting as he approached them. “Colonel Johnson.
Welcome to Pollock. Pleased to see you sir!” He smiled but it was obvious to everyone
that he wasn’t also enjoying the situation.
They all returned the saluted and the compliment, shaking hands with him afterwards.
“Thank you Captain. Now can you tell me what is going on around here?” The smile on
his lips quickly disappeared and was replaced by a face of apprehension. “Beats the hell
out of me Colonel. When the President arrived, two hours before what was scheduled, the
Secret Service immediately started issuing orders. All the weapons and armor have been
placed into storage and there are two armed agents guarding them”. Johnson frowned and
Hunt quickly added: “Don’t worry, I have a couple of troopers seeing that the dumb
heads don’t try to do anything funny like retrieving a couple of heavy plasmas”.
“And Colonel Jackson authorized all of this to happen?” Markovitch asked.
“The Colonel wasn’t too pleased at the beginning but when he met the President he
simply ordered us to do as the Secret Service told. He has been talking to the President on
his office from ever since”. He stopped. “What is going on Colonel? I mean I don’t know
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much about protocol but these guys are acting like if they run the place. And I never
heard of anything like this happening on a regular military base”.
Johnson shook his head. “I don’t know Leo. How are the troops seeing it?”
“Well, some of them got pissed at their arrogance, specially the ones detached for
security. You don’t just get here and disrespect who’s doing their job. To tell you the
truth a confrontation nearly broke out between some of the men and the agents”. That got
everyone looking back at him in astonishment. “Don’t worry, it got defused really quick.
The nom-coms and junior officers are taking an eye on the hotheads, and they are few
since it seems the majority of the troops seem to like Vaughn”.
“I see. Well it’s time that I finally meet Vaughn and get some things straight out of this
mess”. The other officer took out his black beret and raked his fingers through his hair. “I
hope you do Colonel. This way please”. He pointed towards the doors and the X-Com
troops started to follow in to the inside of the building.
When they finally reached the Jackson’s office they found it closely guarded by a number
of more Security Service agents. Only Johnson was allowed inside and he had to submit
to a body search for concealed weapons, something that he only acquitted after deciding
not to enter more clashes with the President. When he walked inside he saw Vaughn and
Jackson already standing up and waiting for them. He saluted both men and Vaughn
immediately approached him and smiling, offered his hand. “Colonel Johnson, finally
what a pleasure”.
While shaking it, Johnson kept staring at Vaughn, trying to decide if the compliment was
sincere. “Thank you sir. I was also expecting this meeting”.
“I apologize for it not happening sooner but my other duties have occupied my time.
However, now we can start talking about all of this situation”. He pointed to an equal
number of chairs and the three men sat down on them. When Vaughn sat down he started
speaking. “I’m here by myself because I want to have my own opinion of the leaders of
our forces that are dealing with the alien problem. General Thompson and several other
key personnel already told me their opinion about both of you. I also prefer not to have a
group of aides buzzing around me the whole time”.
The sentence made Johnson think and he gave a side look at Jackson. The other officer
seemed completely absorbed into the President’s words. Vaughn didn’t miss it and he
added. “I can assure you that there’s nothing to worry about Colonel. I’ve already talked
to Colonel Jackson and I’ve seen that he’s the excellent officer that they told be that I
would find here. And I have complete confidence that you will not disappoint me either”.
“I’m doing the best I can at my job to defend North America from the alien threat, Mr.
President”.
Vaughn stopped for a second, thinking of something. “Now we can start by there. You’re
not protecting North America, Colonel. I believe that your job is to defend the US and,
naturally the countries that border it, our neighbors and allies”.
“I will have to disagree with you on that sir since we are not a US force. In fact, we are
X-Com’s North American force, in the true meaning of the word since we also have some
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Canadians among us”. Vaughn’s voice dropped a tone and his demeanor was less cordial,
as if he had been offended “Colonel, I don’t need a lesson on semantics please.
“I apologize, sir. However I must insist on one point: as soon as all of us joined X-Com,
we stopped to respond to the US chain of command”. Vaughn raised a finger. “Point well
taken, Colonel. But it’s also true that you are on…” He looked in the air for one second.
“…temporary leave for assignment to a multinational force, if I recall the charter
correctly. You still belong to our military”. Johnson saw Jackson nodding and came to
the conclusion that the other officer seemed to sympathize with Vaughn’s ideas.
“And our current status will remain so, unless the force is dissolved by decision of the
Council or if the officer decides to rescind his commission or if he is found to be unfit for
the duties to him assigned. I also know the Charter, sir”.
Vaughn stared at him. “Legal technicalities Colonel. The Charter doesn’t mention a lot of
things also, namely the fact that you have been chosen by us to the position that you now
occupy because of your loyalty. In fact, that document is missing on a lot of other
things”. Something on the tone of his last phrase disturbed Johnson but he couldn’t say
what it was. “Sir, what’s the point of all of this is?”
Locking his fingers on his lap, Vaughn replied. “Colonel, you know what has been
happening around our country in the last months. To be sincere I believe that our political
and military strategy to deal with the alien situation is completely wrong. Yes, I’ve read
your reports about how X-Com believes that there’s an alien base out there in the solar
system and that we need to destroy it to stop their attacks. But in my opinion that’s a
complete waste of time and effort”. Johnson only wished to tell him what they had
already found out about Mars and the base somewhere located there that controlled the
whole invasion. Taking a deep breath he restrained from speaking since the information
was X-Com’s greatest secret and probably the only way for the victory since the rate of
UFO activity only seemed to increase every month.
Pointing his finger down, Vaughn continued. “The problem is here, Colonel, on this
planet. Not in the middle of space. There is no massive alien invasion that is going to
happen. If it was, they would have made it years ago and wouldn’t have allowed that we
developed weapons based on their technology. That’s what the aliens want us to think
and that we make wrong decisions based on that preposition. If they have the resources to
conquer us, why haven’t they done it yet? Can you answer that question?”
“I don’t know sir. However their activities are increasing every day. They have started to
perform terror attacks on cities on a monthly basis…”
“Of course! As the time passes we became more strangled into a strategy that is outdated
and poorly conceived! And meanwhile, they gain more strength from our weakness. I see
this as the same situation as Vietnam, Colonel. They are using the same type of guerilla
warfare that has brought us to our knees before. Even if we find that base and destroy it
the effect will be that same as if we had invaded and conquered Hanoi. The enemy will
just keep fighting until we loose the will to fight. Each time the aliens gain more support
to their cause while we have to work with not so secure allies. The enemy is also within
us Colonel and that’s where we must begin to fight it. That’s why I made the
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announcement on the campaign, for the Americans to be informed that they should start
questioning things. The same way that you should be”.
“And what should I question sir?”
The next words came down as a hammer. “The future of this force. Two of its funding
countries are already gone and there’s no assurance that more wouldn’t follow the same
path. If X-Com gets disbanded one should ask what would happen if the work of the last
two years wouldn’t suffer the same fate. Most likely Earth would suffer a major set back
giving the aliens more time to secure their position until it’s too late”. Until that moment
Johnson had never seriously considered that possibility but he immediately rejected it,
shaking his head off.
Vaughn reached over and placed his hand on his shoulder. “Colonel, I don’t like that
hypothesis also but one must prepare for the worst. Like everything in life X-Com has
good things and bad ones. I consider you one of the best soldiers this nation has but we
risk that Vietnam repeats itself: we have the men and the equipment but our general
strategy is wrong. Two years ago we created a multinational force out of bad
compromises. There’s no effective leadership to it: the US was the most logical choice to
be place ahead but for the sake of consent it was placed upon the UN. And because of it
General Illyuschenko spends more time squabbling over Council meetings making him
unable to recognize the errors on X-Com’s strategy. The scientists have done a terrific
job analyzing and replicating the alien technology but for what? Right now your force is
too dependent on Elerium, a material that they tell me it isn’t available on Earth. Take it
away and we will have no weapons to defend ourselves against the aliens. We should
have concentrated more into developing Earth’s technologies allowing us to equip large
forces capable of defeating any alien intrusion. Instead we have less than a hundred
soldiers equipped and trained to defend the US”.
Confusion was racing through Johnson’s mind. He heard Jackson’s voice on the
background. “We should be placing battalions of troopers on the alien’s probable targets.
Then we would see if they even tried to attack us”. Looking back at Vaughn, Johnson
asked. “So what are you exactly proposing Mr. President?”
“Right now I think that the most urgent matter is to restore the confidence between the
US elements of your force and the Pentagon. You simply can’t be running operations on
our country without the necessary authorization”. Johnson looked at him realizing how
Vaughn had managed to go all the way through to the presidential office. The man’s
arguments sounded good, he concluded, but were they solid enough? “I came here also
wanting to solve that, sir. But I must insist that we are under UN command”.
“I can assure you that I am completely aware of that Colonel. Don’t worry and keep on
doing your job as good as you have done so far. Things might seem complicated at the
moment but I trust that in the future they will be resolved. Just remember where your
loyalties are Colonel”. After discussing some minor issues the meeting ended. After
Vaughn had left Johnson and Jackson also talked for a while, taking the opportunity to
discuss operational issues until that finally was over. He then headed for the cafeteria
where they told him that the rest of his entourage was waiting.
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He found Markovitch and the rest over there, seated on metal chairs with coffee mugs on
the table in front of them. As he approached them, they rose and she moved towards him.
She asked with a concerned. “How did it go?”
“I’m not sure. He has got me thinking into a lot of stuff. But right now it’s not the time to
worry about them. Let’s grab our ride and head out for the base”. They trailed him,
throwing concerned glances at one another.
February 23rd, 2001

When both physicians finally came out of the infirmary Illyuschenko and Colonel
MacTaggert were eagerly waiting for them outside, standing in the base’s medical center
lobby. Turning to them, he asked immediately. “So?”
Both psychiatrists looked at one another before the one on the left replied in a low voice.
“This is one of the worst psychiatric cases we’ve ever seen Commander. He simply has
all of the major clinical symptoms: esquizofrenia, paranoia. This man is hopelessly insane
and has lost all touch with reality. I doubt he even will be able to remember who he is”.
Both doctors shook their heads. “Doctor, can we ask the lad some questions anyway?”
MacTaggert asked but their expressions were disapproving.
“He has a completely unreliable behavior. We had to examine him completely tied down
to a bed because he has had violent seizures before. And any question about what he
experienced will only trigger such attacks. I doubt that any medication will have any
effect on him, because the problem. It seems to be more psychological than physical,
although the encephalograms and CAT scans show some irreparable damage to the brain
cortex. In any case it’s hopeless Colonel”.
“Doctor, we need to know what happened with him and his platoon. We just lost eleven
men, not to mention a tank and a Skyranger. And he is one of the best platoon
commanders on this base. I can’t accept what has happened to incompetence”.
A tortured scream came from the room that the doctors had just left. The other physician
shook his head again. “He was one of the best, Commander. I’m sorry to say this but
medicine can’t help him now. He’s living in a nightmare now that he’ll never wake up
from. I’m afraid that only death will bring him any comfort now. Now please excuse us
because we have other patients to attend to”. Excusing themselves both doctors left the
two officers who stood looking at the door from where sounds of a fight could be heard.
Watching the other men leave, both officers stood there at the front of the door. “I don’t
bloody understand”. MacTaggert seemed filled with rage. “A platoon should been able to
deal with that large scout even if they had lost the tank”. Illyuschenko seemed deeply
concentrated. “I’m more concerned about the identity of the aliens Colonel. Your report
says that you found no trace of them, only the bodies and the wreckage of the
Skyranger”.
“Aye. Besides the landing marks of the UFO there was no other physical evidence of
them. But the rain must have washed everything because we didn’t even find a trace of
their blood or footprints”. A series of loud screams cut him off. “We only found him
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hiding in a hole and the remains of the men that the aliens left behind after cutting them
up”. Illyuschenko looked upwards towards the sky. “Issue a warning to all teams: a new
species of aliens seems to have appeared”. He looked at the front doors for the medical
center and checked his watch. “We should go back to the command center. We are
already late and I only wish that the damn machine was operational two days ago”.
February 21st, 2001

Spitzbergen Island, North Atlantic
The Skyranger was about to land close to the Large Scout that had been detected hours
earlier by the radars of European Command. Making its way through a cold weather front
that was crossing the Atlantic, the plane had now gone ‘dry feet’, meaning that it was
now overflying dry land. Not it mattered much to the soldiers inside. The windows of the
plane were covered with drops of heavy rain glowing with the interior red lights. And the
lousy weather that was characteristic of the North Atlantic at this time of the year was
constantly jerking the aircraft, as the pilot tried to get them to their destiny.
The commander of the platoon, a Spaniard called Fuentes was growing restless as the
drop call already came. He had orders by Colonel MacTaggert to retrieve the Elerium
engine from the landed UFO intact, something that was bothering him. Large scouts
could be deadly inside since they had small rooms where the aliens could simply wait for
a soldier to step in and take him out with a heavy plasma blast. And at close quarters the
armor of the power suits would be hard pressed to resist such power. The most logical
thing to do would be to step inside the craft and use their own heavy plasmas to cut holes
through the walls and surprise the waiting crew. But the need for Elerium dictated
otherwise, meaning that they could also only use explosives in case of an emergency.
Looking to the back ramp he saw that the Heavy Weapons Platform that they had brought
along for the operation was already operational, with its laser turret swinging from one
side to another. The artificial intelligence inside the machine’s thick chassis was
monitoring the radio channels used by the pilot to announce imminent touch down. It had
already reacted to the warning and had powered itself automatically and performed a
check-up of its systems. The rest of his platoon seemed to be also ready: the troopers
were finishing locking down the helmets on their power suits and inserting ammunition
clips into their plasma weapons. Passing his eyes through his laser rifle, Fuentes also saw
that it fully energized and ready to fire.
A more severe shook of the plane, accompanied with a thud on one of the walls told him
that the aliens seemed to be ready also. The pilot’s voice followed afterwards in a
Germanic accent: “Lowering the ramp…. The landing zone is very hot Kapten! Good
luck”. Another thump accentuated his warning. He activated the platoon channel. “Black
squad, left flank. Green squad, right. UFO is to the northeast. Tank is pathfinder”.
The lowering ramp started to come down and everyone assumed their positions behind it.
Fuentes was on the last row, together with Private Morelli, an Italian that was his
fireteam mate and the platoon’s heavy weapons specialist for the mission. He was
carrying a heavy Carl Gustav 84mm rocket launcher and his backpack was loaded with
extra rounds. Fuentes didn’t think that the weapon would be useful because of the terrain.
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Located on the middle of the Atlantic, Spitzbergen Islands were nothing more than the
above water top of long extinct submarine volcanoes. Most of their terrain was made out
of granite, basalt and other rocks formed from the hot lava as it cooled down by the
Arctic climate. In some areas there was actually soil, allowing for plant life to grow and
the islands were actually inhabited by a small fishing community but there was nothing
else out there. The UFO had landed on a clear spot in the middle of an area covered by
medium size boulders. The rocks would make it hard for Morelli to actually hit a target
hidden behind it.
After a couple of seconds the back door of the Skyranger finally came down and the tank
rolled outside into the rock and ice terrain. Immediately it became bathed with heavy
plasma fire, that colored the view of the gray landscape with green. “Targets”. The
mechanical voice started to report, without a trace of concern for being under heavy fire.
“Nine, one and six o’clock”.
The troopers started also to descent the ramp as the tank moved to acquire and engage the
major threat. “First contact targeted: unable to identify. Firing”. That made Fuentes
puzzled since the electronic systems should be able to recognize the race of the alien that
it had just encountering. He wanted to leap out as soon as possible to have an idea to the
battlefield but two more rows of troopers were still in front of him, dropping off the ramp
to the sides and taking cover.
The noise of the confrontation started to increase, as laser and plasma rounds were
exchanged, together with the loud explosions of grenades being tossed around. A louder
sound was suddenly heard coming from ahead, followed by the sound of metal being
twisted. Realizing what might it be, Fuentes started to worry. When he finally jumped off
the ramp he saw what he feared: the wreckage of the tank stood ten meters away from the
craft, releasing smoke into the middle of the storm that was pouring rain down on the
battlefield. The body of the HWP showed heavy craters from plasma fire, together with
peppered holes that could only come from a grenade.
Other screams followed, only these time more human in nature. Looking around he saw
that his platoon was getting under cover amongst the larger rocks that filled the flat
terrain around him. Trying to see the direction of the aliens he noticed that they seemed
to be everywhere, pinning them to the ground. “Joder! What are we facing?”
The sergeant of Black squad replied to him. “No idea sir. I haven’t seen one of them yet
but Bjorn has some major injuries from their fire and Andreas is dead”. The voice of
another troopers replied to his questions. “Floaters. I’ve seen the caped figure of one on
the air. Took me three plasma shots to bring it”.
Floaters? Fuentes asked himself, thinking that he had never heard of one taking three
plasma shots to finally came down besides the fact that the aliens seemed more smart and
aggressive than before. Looking around he saw that he was down to two squads plus
himself. Considering that they were facing the crew of a large scout he figured that they
had even odds against them.
The X-Com team was arranged in a semi-circle around the Skyranger, whose bulk
covered one of their sides. They needed to break out and head for the UFO, whose
dimmed shape could be seen to the northwest of the Skyranger. “Morelli! Make use of
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your launcher to clear the path towards the UFO. Black squad move out. Green squad
surpress fire”.
Fuentes watched Morelli move out of the rock where he was standing and direct the
heavy weapon at the direction of the UFO. Resting the barrel of the launcher on his
armored shoulder, the soldier pointed the weapon and fired.
The recoilless launcher contained the energy of the launch of the launch and the only
indication that Fuentes had of the discharge was when the high explosive projectile hit its
target, some hundred meters away from them. The blast hit a medium boulder where the
officer had just seen a shape taking cover and shattered it into several smaller pieces that
came flying out of the expanding fireball. And a roaring sound was heard, something that
none of the X-Com soldiers had ever heard until that moment and that made some of the
men in Black squad hesitate for a moment before they started their advance.
Moving into the direction of the UFO, the gray figures of the X-Com soldiers were
covered by the heavy rain that had already set down the fires from the rocket blast. A
number of plasma shots coming from both sides rose as well but Green squad
immediately replied to the alien fire, scoring a number of hits among the darkened figures
that rose from behind the rocks that littered the battlefield. The ice on the rocks and
ground became melted by the heat of the exchanges, the water joining the puddles and
small streams that where present everywhere.
Moving quickly and firing as they advanced Black squad finally managed to reach the
cross shaped UFO, using the both arms of the craft for protection. Another trooper had
been brought down in their effort and he laid halfway in-between Fuentes’ position and
the UFO. But soon the fighting outside would be over and they could assist him. Black
squad’s position meant that the aliens would be forced to leave their positions and start
heading back to the craft, unless they wanted to allow that the X-Com team assaulted
their way of getting off Earth.
“Green move out!” The remaining troopers started to move out of their positions, covered
by the other squad’s fire. Advancing in the middle of the squad, Fuentes noticed a caped
figure about to fire at them on his right. Slowing his pace, he turned his laser rifle and
fired first at the alien. He wasn’t expecting to hit it, since he had hardly taken aim and he
was moving but one of the three-shot salvos that came out of the barrel hit the alien
bringing him a smile on his lips.
However, his mood quickly changed as he saw that the laser hit didn’t had any effect on
the alien, who simply ignored it and fired its heavy plasma back at the lead running
trooper. Fuentes watched in horror as the corporal raised both his arms before falling into
the ground. One of Green’s two remaining privates slowed as he approached the fallen
soldier’s position but Fuentes ordered him to continue his march. “Nikolas! Keep on
moving! You’re only making a target of yourself. We’ll pick him later!”
Reaching him he pushed him forwards and they both kept their pace, finally approaching
the UFO. Black squad kept firing to cover their approach, standing close to one of the
craft’s arms. On the other arm Fuentes could see the rectangular outline of the UFO’s
door through the amplified scope on his right eye. There were only seven X-Com
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troopers left and one of them was injured but they still had enough numbers to take care
that the aliens wouldn’t be going anywhere.
Then, all of the sudden, Fuentes saw Morelli stop in the middle of his run, twenty meters
still away from the UFO. He was about to order the soldier to move forward but instead
what happened next made his speechless.
Without even bothering to point or Morelli simply brought up his rocket launcher and
fired at the UFO. The Carl Gustav rocket flew the space between the soldier and the craft
in less than a second, detonating afterwards. Right in the middle of the three X-Com
soldiers of Black squad who where using the fuselage of the craft for cover.
Fuentes simply didn’t hear the explosion. He stopped his pace and watched as the
explosion ripped through the troopers’ armor and sent them sprawling into the ground
where they laid down without moving. “Morelli!” He screamed on the microphone.
The other trooper’s response was to turn at him and drop his weapon. When his voice
was heard the words came out in stress and in the middle of heavy breathing. “Captain! I
can’t control myself! Something is making my arms move by their own!” Fuentes didn’t
have time to consider his words. The door in front of him suddenly slided upwards and a
caped figure stepped outside brandishing a heavy plasma on its limbs.
Turning his laser rifle towards it, Fuentes unleashed a salvo of amplified light towards it.
To his amazement one of the red streaks of light simply stopped a few centimeters from
its target, while the other two hit but having no apparent effect on the creature. They cut
circular holes on the gold and orange garments that covered completely the alien but it
had been hurt underneath it didn’t show.
It simply fired back; killing Morelli with a shot on his head that left a dark and bloody
hole on the side of the helmet that was hit. As it turn towards Fuentes, the officer saw two
bright eyes burning at him in the middle of darkness that filled the dark opening of the
hood that covered the alien’s head. He felt his inside freeze, a glacial feeling that seemed
to crush his chest and fill it with dread. Inside of him, a fear behind everything he had
ever experience erupted. Panic overwhelmed him and his rationality ceased to exist. He
dropped his weapon and started to run towards the direction of the Skyranger, trying to
escape the monsters that were all around him.
March 3rd, 2001

Area 19, Nevada, US
The Papoose Lake facility still gave Johnson a bad feeling every time he went there,
remembering him of the late General Smith. In fact, in the debacle of the New Mexico
base he knew now for certain that something very wrong was affecting the US, eating at
it like a hidden cancer. Someone had poured millions of dollars into building and
sustaining these secret research facilities and no one in Washington seemed even aware
of them. He had forwarded requests to everyone regarding any information to base
occupied by aliens: Department of Defense, CIA, FBI, NSA, no one seemed to ever know
about their existence. For more than thirty years it had stood right in the middle of the US
but no one had noticed its presence or even acknowledged having entered into previous
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contact with the aliens. It was one of the reasons that made Johnson extremely distrustful
to the US chain of command: either someone was lying or they were simply being
manipulated. Taking in consideration all things, some of Vaughn’s ideas seemed logical
and right. However he still wasn’t too sure about them because he felt it was just wrong
to throw away the international cooperation developed in X-Com. Even if it was the work
of the powers that were siding with the aliens on the conflict. And what troubled him
more was that he couldn’t discuss the situation with anybody because of the security level
of certain aspects of it. Only the regional commanders, Dr. Chevereux and Colonel
Robinson were aware of the full information about Mars and the alien base there. They
had all made an oath stating that they would only reveal the secret by common agreement
or if X-Com was disbanded. He was waiting for a chance to talk back to Williams about a
lot of things and set the record straight between them but the opportunity hadn’t arrived.
Johnson trusted the CIA man more now, after the information he had given to them was
correct. But his actions also showed that he had decided to follow a path different from
the one President’s Vaughn was defending and Johnson couldn’t tell yet if it was
coincident with X-Com’s.
The lift that linked the ground floor to the underground levels stopped and he got out.
Taking the corridor that lead into the office where he and Young had the conversation
that changed most of what he thought of the world. Moving down the lightened
passageway, he wondered where the captured Sectoid leader was being held.
Young looked very tired when Johnson entered the office. “Colonel. Thank you for
coming. Have a seat please”. Sitting on the same chair of their last meeting, he paused for
a second before setting down. The hybrid smiled. “Still afraid that I will mind-control
you Colonel?” Johnson jerked backwards but he controlled the reaction immediately.
“Bad joke Doctor”. The hybrid raised his arms and apologized. “Sorry. But I don’t know
how you will react to what I’m going to tell you concerning the captured alien”.
“Are Robinson’s people done with him?” As soon as their initial investigations had
revealed how the Sectoid could be more securely contained, the intelligence personnel
had moved forwards to perform their own interrogations. The results had merely
confirmed the existence of the alien base on Mars, although they had been unable to
retrieve any further information concerning its location or the general alien plans. “They
are. In fact...” he brought up his wrist and looked at his watch. “…our guest has left us
permanently fifteen minutes ago since we have extracted everything we could from him”.
“And that includes the mind control research”. The whole matter had thrown shakes
through X-Com. No one was expecting that humans could be able to use the Psionic
powers that certain Sectoids had demonstrated. Young had stated that to his knowledge it
would be impossible. However after they had analyzed the information that the retrieved
scientist at the New Mexico had left behind or told to Markovitch it showed that humans
could do it.
“We were lucky to have captured Attila, as the late Dr. Finkel called him. Otherwise the
findings he left behind would be nothing more that theoretical speculation and almost
impossible to believe or even to prove”. It was exactly what Johnson feared. The whole
matter would be one of the most disturbing things ever discovered, leading to worldwide
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fears of manipulation and control. Images of Hitler and Nazi Germany went through his
head, only this time a better method of mass control seemed to have been developed.
Young looked stressed with his shoulders sagged. “I share your feelings Colonel: this is
something that will probably change our world when its secrets are revealed. However,
for now I propose that we consider on how we can use it against the aliens. And let the
future generations decide if we did the right thing on uncovering this. But there’s a factor
that will prevent and control its application”.
“I can’t possibly imagine what it might be Doctor, since I feel that its application for
harmful proposes will only be dependent on the will of the one who decides to use it. But
tell me”.
“I’ve tested over fifty persons right now to determine their level of Psionic strength, a
biological indicator that shows the level of resistance or ability to use the powers. They
all where selected randomly from the base personnel and without knowing what was it
for. Based on the results I’ve come up with a zero to one hundred scale, the maximum
reading that I’ve encountered. For you to have an idea of the scale, the captured Sectoid
had a value of forty”. The number didn’t seem too big for Johnson. “And the humans?”
“In average they score a twenty, with some notable exceptions. In some cases it’s simply
zero, while in Captain Markovitch’s case she’s over ninety”. That surprised and scared
Johnson. “She can read the minds of anyone? Control people?”
The scientist realized the reason for his apprehension. “Not exactly Colonel. I realize
your preoccupations. I do listen to base rumor”. He smiled. “However, you would be able
to feel if she tried to fool you. The person using these powers can read and even perceive
the other person’s sensations. He can encourage some feelings present or, on its full
power, even take full control of his target. But the more the subject is forced to do
something against his will the more he will suffer psychological damage”. Johnson
started laughing. “So in either case I’m nuts for being in love with her. I had already
figured that one out”.
“Women do exert some sort of control over men in any case”. Young shared his grin but
after a moment his expression turned serious. “However, you might not like to hear the
rest”. Johnson stopped and looked at him. “What else have you found?”
“I’ve included some of us in the same tests also without them knowing the reasons why.
They have all came up in the range of sixty”. That made Johnson completely change his
mood and he started to get up from the chair. “Colonel please sit down!” He raised his
arms with his arms wide open. “I had to do it Colonel. And you needed to know also so
that you can judge if we are still trustworthy or not”.
Johnson shook his head. “I want to be tested”. The scientist shook his head in agreement.
“The same to all base commanders, combat troops and security personnel also. And the
results should be revealed to everyone so that each one knows with what he can count
on”.
“I’ve already notified Dr. Chereveux about the results of the research. I’m sure he and
Commander Illyuschenko will think the same way”.
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“Good”. Johnson tried to control his briefing. “Doctor?” The scientist lowered his hands.
“Thank you for your effort and sorry if I offended you”.
“No harm done Colonel. I started to suspect, since the Sectoids seemed to have reason of
their own for leaving us hybrids in the dark about the psionics. I considered if I should do
it for some time until I decided that it would be better if you knew about it than leaving it
to one of us discovering by accident. And to further assure you, Psi energy leaves a trace
behind in one’ brain that can be checked to see if the person has been tampered with”.
“Good to hear”. The scientist paused for one second and Johnson frowned. “Anything
else that I should know about?” Passing his hand through his chin, Young contorted his
mouth before answering. “Are you a religious man Colonel?” Johnson found the question
bizarre. “Not really. Why?”
“There are some extremely controversial conclusions that can be taken from all this
research. As I ran the tests I also checked a number of mammals for psi levels, such as
pigs, dogs, cats and monkeys. They all turned to zero and the same happened to the
Snakemen and Floaters we have locked in the containment area. They can be controlled
since psi energy acts upon the sensations felt by any living being. However, this power
only occurs on humans, Sectoids and hybrids”. The whole thing didn’t make any sense to
Johnson. “What does it has to do with religion?”
“The preliminary results of the Human Genome have been made available to X-Com. It’s
propose is to type the entire group of genes that define man. I’ve compared it with some
of the genotyping we’ve made out of the aliens and the hybrids. Again you, me and the
Sectoids share about a thousand genes, a smaller number if compared to the overall but
still meaning that it can’t be a coincidence”.
“I don’t understand. We belong to the same species?”
“No. Too many different genes. But you and I share genes that don’t exist on Earth. The
only way that they can have come here is because the aliens interfered on mankind’s
evolution, most likely when you were still primates”.
“Jesus!” The world seemed as if it was about to change for Johnson. “He was wrong in
some things also, Colonel”. Looking above as contemplating the stars, he continued.
“Now I don’t think intelligent life developed on this planet by accident. Or that it was a
coincidence that the alien activity started to increase to visible levels after World War II.
When we blew the first atomic bomb they must have seen that we had become too
intelligent and since then they decided to take care of their own animal farm and put
things into order. Throw both God’s creationism and Darwin’s theory of evolution into
the trash: we are here because the aliens made us”.
March 15th, 2001

After months of hard research Commander Illyuschenko and the officers of X-Com’s
European Command were now all gathered to see their newest device in the war against
the aliens. The idea had sounded absurd at first to the Russian who refused to believe that
they had broke into the extraterrestrials code and detect and listen to the alien’s ships.
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Nevertheless he had demanded results before authorizing the construction of the first
device and upon seeing them authorized the project.
A large new section of the base had been dug up to house the hyperwave detector. The
whole concept had been developed from both the concepts of the UFO navigational
system, discovered at Area 51 and the discovery of the tachyon particles made at Mother
One. Apparently the aliens used tachyons for their UFOs to identify themselves and
transmit information. The code-breakers had only been able to decipher a few parts of the
code but they had figured out which information related to navigational data.
On one corner of the base a highly specialized liquid rested in a metal chamber large the
size of a school bus. The material inside didn’t actually consisted of a liquid, but
something that the scientists were calling a new state of the matter. Illyuschenko couldn’t
remember the name of the state or the liquid inside but it didn’t matter to him. The only
thing that mattered was that as the tachyons transmitted by the Elerium engines moved
through it special detectors built into the chamber would record their passage. And taking
measure of certain variables they could determine the position of the UFO to the receiver
as well as the tiny variations that contained the alien messages. Those changes would
then be processed by a supercomputer that would translate them into human measures.
Looking at the board in front of him and leaning on the rail, Illyuschenko noticed that a
UFO had been tracked over the Baltic. Another one was high-speed racing over Eastern
Europe, too high and fast for even the Firestorms to intercept it. Turning to Colonel
Paqua, the dark-haired French responsible for Air Operations, he shouted: “Time to
engage the machine. Let’s see what it tells us about these UFOs”. The Colonel nodded
and passed the order to the technicians operating the consoles.
At first the red dots moving over the map of Europe suffered no change but the color of
the background turned from black into a gray, indicating the range of detection. It
stretched in a circle that compassed the Azores Islands in the middle Atlantic to European
Russia from west to east, with the middle portion of Libya and Egypt the Arctic Circle
defining its southern and northern borders.
The two red dots that marked the UFO’s positions were identified simply as “LRG SCT”
and “LARGUFO”, denoting a Large Scout and a craft of large size, its type still
undetermined. Below the designations, boxed series of numbers gave information on
their speed, altitude and bearing. However, a few seconds later the computer redefined
the information based on the readings from the hyperwave detector. The first one still had
the same ship tag but now underneath it read several more codes, indicating the race,
mission and area of operations of the craft: MUTON/RTLIATN/EUROPE. The second
on its turn had changed into SUPPLYS/SECTOID/SUPPLY/FEASIA.
“Bloody hell!” MacTaggert’s voice came from behind Illyuschenko who found himself
also aghast by the change. “Commander!” Paqua called from one the console that he was
watching. “The first UFO is looking for us! The second is on a supply run for an alien
base on Asia! This can’t be right!”
Dr Chevereux moved closer and said. “I will have them check the detector. It can be a
glitch”. Illyuschenko’s grabbed his arm to stop him. “China. The aliens must have built a
base there. Can we detect it?” Chevereux thought for one second. “Not using this system.
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However we can put a tachyon detector on board one of the Skyranger and, if the aliens
are using Elerium to power the base, we can detect it and triangulate its position. It won’t
be much for accuracy but it will give us an idea of its location. The plane will have to
came closer then”.
“We’ll use Stalingrad base’s planes. Please start working on that immediately”. As the
scientist left he shouted. “Colonel Paqua, scramble a fighter before that scout pick us up
to shoot it down”. The French officer nodded. “And also alert Stalingrad about the supply
ship. See if they can track its landing on their radars”. As the Colonel turned to the
console, he stood looking in astonishment at the board quiet. “Mon dieu!” Illyuschenko
turned to look at the board.
Where before only two enemy contacts were present, now the screen was blinking with
six other targets that had been undetected by the base’s radars. Two were increasing their
altitude and speed and read: BATTLES/???????/INFLTRN/EUROPE. Another one was
completely its entry in Earth’s atmosphere, too high to be intercepted:
SUPPLYS/SNAKMEN/ALIENB/STHAMER. And the fourth was proceeding the
opposite direction, heading into the depths of space:
TERRORS/???????/INFLTRN/EUROPE.
“Commander! We have an ‘OVNI’ on its way to South America to deliver supplies to the
construction of an alien base. The other three ‘OVNI’s are on an infiltration mission and
appear to be departing”.
“Paqua! What’s the race inside these Battleships”. The Colonel went back to the
technician, pointing the finger at the console and firing up questions that the man
operating it tried to respond as much as possible. After some threatening gestures to both
the console and the operator, Paqua turned back to Illyuschenko. “Undetermined
Commander. He says that our computer can’t translate the race signal of these UFOs”.
“Paqua! Send one of our conventional fighters against the scout. Both Firestorms are
going against one of those Battleships, you decide which but I want it brought down at all
costs! MacTaggert! Get all of the platoons ready! We will bring all of them down to
retrieve the wreckage of that Battleship”. A few seconds later, the full military personnel
complement was put into full alert, with the soldiers running to the armory while the
pilots and support personnel got their craft ready.
Thirty minutes later the aerial battle was over with mixed results. The scout had been
easily brought down by the conventional fighters and had crashed in the North Sea, its
remains sinking under the dark waters. But the Battleship had destroyed one of the
attacking X-Com’s Firestorms and had successfully exited the area afterwards. The X-
Com pilots had hit the UFO with their Fusion Missiles, a weapon whose warhead
consisted of Elerium surrounded by a reflective carbon coating to increase its destructive
power. But it had been insufficient and as they approached into range of their plasma
cannons, the UFO had retaliated, inflicting critical damage into one of the Firestorm and
vaporizing the other out of the skies. Its pilot didn’t even have time to eject the craft.
Still standing at the monitor in front of him, Illyuschenko felt miserable. What have you
done you idiot? If you wanted to commit suicide why did you asked others to perform
what you can’t accomplish? Why didn’t you order the second Firestorm to abort its attack
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with plasma cannons when the UFO had already shown to the first the power of its
weapons? I should be court-martialed because of this and relieved of my position.
Paqua’s voice interrupted his rumblings. “Commander, we almost did it. That UFO
destroyed one of our craft but it paid hard for it. If our fighters had stayed into battle and
scored more hits it would have been brought down. We need the Avenger sir”. Opening
his eyes again he turned his head and focused them on the officer. “What was the name of
the pilot?”
The Colonel thought for one second. “Watts. He joined from the RAF almost one year
ago after flying air-defense Tornados for years. His family was killed on the alien
terrorist attack on Coventry”. Watts. Now a whole family has been destroyed. Watts. “He
was good sir. You have to take this to the Council to prove them our need for the
Avenger. We have no defense against these Battleships otherwise”.
Still speechless, Illyuschenko slowly nodded his head, his gaze looking lost in front of
him. Paqua looked at him in apprehension but as he was about to speak Illyuschenko
merely stated. “We need it”. Turning around he walked towards the exit, without even
dismissing Paqua. We need to finish this once and for all. No more listening to the
politics, they will never really understand what is going around here. We need to do all
we must to finish this war before it’s too late for the rest of us. No more conditioned
decisions, no more remorse, only victory matters now. And the rest, I’ll deal with it
afterwards.
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Chapter Twenty-Five –Defection
March 26th, 2001
Area 51, Nevada, US
Well, can you read my thoughts? Johnson was staring at Markovitch’s face, resting on his
left side with his head standing over one of his arms. They were both lying naked on his
bed but she was on his back, shifting her gaze between him and the ceiling. After some
seconds she noticed how he was looking at her and dropped her head to her right. “I
know what you are thinking. You are thinking if I know what is going on your mind”.
His eyes opened wide with amazement and she laughed at his reaction, knowing that she
had hit the mark. “Don’t worry Erwin, I’m just teasing you. Everyone who has looked at
me today probably made doing that same question to themselves”.
He looked the other way and slowly exhaled. “Yeah. Well sorry for staring but I guess
the rest of us that don’t have that skill will take some time to get accustomed to the idea”.
He stroked her cheek. “You’re just being human”. She replied before locking her fingers
into his. “Curiosity isn’t wrong but it will take time before you stop looking at us as if we
were freaks. I’ve talked to some of the others who also checked high on psionics and we
also don’t know what to think or do about the whole situation”.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right”. He decided to change the subject. “How did it go today at
the lab?” She looked at her left arm and checked the electrodes implanted on her skin
halfway between her wrist and her elbow. Feeling tempted to scratch on them; she tried
to control the impulse knowing that she might start a rash on the spot. “I’m still
uncomfortable about this things stuck in me. Dr. Young says they are needed to connect
the psionics amplifier to my nerve system but I wished that there were no need for them.
He started to caress her arm but she moved it away. “Don’t. They tickle. I prefer not to
remember that I’m wearing them”. Nodding, Johnson set his head down on the pillow.
“Shall we get some sleep now?”
The tone on his voice made her preoccupied with him. She had sensed that something
was wrong with him from ever since he had talked to Vaughn. First she had thought that
it might had something to do with the discovery of her Psionic skills but noticing how he
had been acting in the previous week, she wasn’t sure anymore. There was something
that he wasn’t telling her and the mere thought of it was gnawing at her. It was as
suddenly his confidence had been brought down. Or it could just be her nightmares that
were troubling her and making her project her own loss of self-confidence into others.
She remembered the words of Dr. Young as she had started to train with the device that
had been originally developed by the rescued scientist at New Mexico. “More than
control, Psionics is a projection of your own self into the others. The more you are able to
do so, the more successful you will be into forcing your will into others”. She wondered
if she wasn’t doing it also with Johnson unconsciously, allowing her own fears to grow
into him. After all, Dr. Young had also told them that the more they practiced the more
proficient they would become into their use. Like riding a bicycle or performing any task,
training was one of the essential aspects of them.
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Feeling coldness growing inside of her, she closed her eyes and tried to control it but she
failed. Images of a dark room, where something was lurking on the darkness, an
irresistible attraction that also made her fearful invaded her. She felt completely naked
inside, sending shivers down her spine, as if a million alien eyes were watching her in the
shadows. Feeling her head going dizzy, the room slowly changed and the presence was
suddenly closer, almost touching her body, as if she was inside a dark pool of a murky
substance that took all the strength away from her. Almost jumping on the bed, she
screamed loud. “No!”
Johnson recoiled from her in surprise. “Gosh! What’s the matter? You don’t want to
sleep?” The presence and warmness of his body started to flow again through her senses,
taking away the last residues of her vision. Moving closer to him, she replied. “Sorry it’s
just that…..” She came at a loss of words. “I can’t explain”. Feeling that she was shaking
he moved to closer to her and put the blankets on top of both. “You’re freezing”.
“Yeah and I feel that way also inside”. Using his hand to lift her cheek he kissed her on
the lips. “I’m here. Don’t worry about the nightmares. They are only bad dreams”. His
words struck something inside her. “But that’s the point Erwin. More and more I feel that
they are real!”
“Hey, everybody has had nightmares with one or two aliens before. I had also my share
of being chased by Chrysallids without any weapons. They are normal”.
“But that it Erwin! With one or two aliens! Not with all of them!” Johnson got himself up
until he was seated on the bed. “All of them? What do you mean?”
“Sometimes I fell a presence as if something is watching over me, controlling what I do
or trying to. It scares the hell out of me because I remember when the alien back at New
Mexico tried to mind control me. But at the same time it’s less intense, as if it is far
away”. He started to look seriously at her. “Are you sure of what you’re saying”
“Yes…no dammit! I keep thinking that I’m becoming paranoid, I’m afraid that I might be
using these damn psionics to see aliens everywhere. Like that scientist back at New
Mexico. He told me about this great alien presence while we’re alone but I juts thought
that he had gone wacko after spending all of those years imprisoned by the aliens”.
“Why haven’t you told me this before?”
Uncertainty started to grasp at her. “I don’t know. I don’t know how you would react or
anyone else on this base if I told them of these dreams. I suspect that the base shrink must
already think that I have a couple of screws lose inside my head”. Surprisingly to her the
vulnerability started to disappear as soon as the last words came out from her mouth.
Looking back at him, she noticed that he had gone into some deep thinking but, on
contrary to what she expected, the matter seemed to be growing strength into him.
“Sheila, what if I tell you that you might be right?” Her eyes opened wide with wonder.
“I can’t explain and even if I could I probably couldn’t tell you. Not right now at least.
But what you said made sense to me. And I trust that what you are saying is right but
don’t discuss it with anyone else besides me at the moment, OK?”
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The tips of her lips moved upward in a small grin as she felt overwhelmed with a feeling
of comprehension and joy that came unexpected. “You really trust me on this?”
He moved closer to kiss her and replied. “As long as you trust that I love you”.
March 28th, 2001

Manhattan, New York City, US
Officers Smith and Wallis of the New York Police Department had just pulled up their
squad car into a deserted Wall Street whose sidewalks and tall buildings were only lit up
by the streetlights. They had been assigned to the graveyard shift and they still had four
hours left before they could pack things up and head back to their precinct. The patrol car
cruised gently and slow down the main street of NY’s financial district. Wallis, a
policeman that looked barely out of high school, with a clean face and red hair was
driving and trying to get focused on his job while Smith rode shotgun and yawned most
of the time. The older officer had a large but trimmed mustache and his head was already
starting to show signs of baldness.
“What’s that?” Wallis called as he lowered the speed of the car and pointed towards a
figure that was standing still away from them on the opposite side of the street. Smith
didn’t even barely bothered to watch. “Is he doing something illegal?”
“He’s pointing something at the Stock Exchange building”. Looking back at the rookie
freshly graduated from the Academy, Smith decided that Wallis still needed to learn a lot
of things about patrols, specially on how not to bother his partner with stupid things.
“Pointing something?”
“Yeah, just look”. Smith turned his face to the figure as they approached him. It seemed
more to be one of the homeless, with a blanket placed over his head. Probably he was just
on a drunken stupor and the thing was nothing more than a bottle of booze. “You mean
that fella there? Don’t they teach you out on the Academy to distinguish between real
criminals from homeless?” The patronizing tone made Wallis furious but he kept it to
himself and drove away from the figure.
As they kept driving he took a look at the rear mirror and what he saw made him hit the
breaks, sending Smith’s face crashing down the glove compartment. Getting back on his
seat he rubbed the side of his head that was hurting and demanded. “What was that about
you idiot?!”
“There’s a violet light in the middle of the street behind us!” That’s it. Smith decided that
the kid needed one hell of a lecture from the Captain. Still keeping his eyes on the mirror
he suddenly warned. “There’s a large thing standing on the middle of the street!” Smith
also decided that he had been paying too much attention to the briefing that had been
made the month before about the UFOs. “Wallis, are you just stupid or are have you been
drinking from the same bottle as the bum?”
“Just look!” The sound of his voice made Smith wonder what was going on. Turning his
body, his vision came upon the middle of Wall Street. But instead of being deserted like
it usually was at this time of the night he found a large thing on the middle of it of a dark
color. “What is that!?” Looking closely he saw that it occupied all of the road and that it
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was hovering five foot above the ground. From the distance it looked saucer shaped but
he couldn’t make any more features on it.
Suddenly a noise started to be heard, coming from the direction of the saucer and
sounding like a nest of angry bees. Smith reached for the radio but discovered that it
wasn’t working. At the same time Wallis shouted while turning several times the keys on
the ignition: “The car is dead. It won’t start!”
The pitch of the sound increased until Smith and Wallis had to put his hands to his ears.
His eardrums seemed as if they were about to rupture when finally a blue light beam
emerged from the craft and hit the closest building. The high pitch noise stopped all of
the sudden but it was quickly replaced by the crack of lightning that was coming from the
object. Swirling through the air, the rays of electricity divided themselves and hit all of
the area surrounding the craft, exploding traffic lights and lamp poles and carving
blackened lines on the fronts of the buildings. One of the lightning beams suddenly hit
the back of the police car and both officers immediately ducked and closed their eyes.
A few seconds later, as they opened them back again they found that the thing was gone.
But it had left its mark since Wall Street was now completely covered with darkness.
Wallis and Smith looked at one another but before anyone said anything the radio went
active, filled with request calls.
March 30th, 2001

Virginia, US
“And on today’s news, President Vaughn is scheduled to attend to a joint session of
Congress tomorrow regarding the recent incident on NY’s Stock Exchange that led to its
total incapacitation. A Treasury Department spokesman has stated today that the collapse
of the transaction equipment and records that occurred on strange circumstances two
nights ago ‘cannot be attributed to a single computer failure because of the safeguards
built into the system’. Later on, the Pentagon has admitted that it had tracked a craft of
unknown origin over Manhattan, as the initial reports of witnesses on the area claimed
but it was premature to link it to the incident. However the cause, its effects are already
starting to affect the economy: a record number of bankruptcy suits have been filed into
courts according to today’s edition of the Wall Street Journal. The paper, whose
computer system has also suffered a severe malfunction, cites inside sources from a
number of companies such as…”
Williams slowly breathed and decided not to pay any more attention to his car radio. He
switched it off and tried to think of something else but the whole matter had been on his
mind from ever since yesterday. It all pointed that the aliens were the responsible for the
whole case but he was off the case now. And he couldn’t know more about the situation
than by what was being leaked into the press, since the people he knew to be
investigating the matter would simply not pick up the phone or refuse to comment the
situation with them.
Keeping his eyes on the freeway, he checked his watch and saw that he would get late for
dinner again. The rush hour was already gone and with it most of the commuter traffic
that left Washington into the suburbs around. This part of the highway had three lanes
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and he was on the right one waiting for his exit to appear. The Sun had already set and
there was a light rain that was covering the road.
The car behind him flickered its high beams to signal that it would pass him but he barely
took notice since there was more than enough space on the highway who was now clear
of vehicles. As the other car pulled alongside him he decided at its direction to check the
driver out of curiosity.
The black sedan moved slowly until he saw the passenger’s window. Looking from the
corner of his eyes, Williams noticed that it was open, which struck him as bizarre because
of the rain that was falling. Turning his head, he saw a man dressed in a black suit, white
shirt and tie also black that seemed to be looking back at him although with the dark
glasses he was wearing he couldn’t tell. That was even more strange since it was already
night but as he looked again his heart stopped as he noticed the muzzle of a gun coming
out from other car’s window.
March 31st, 2001

Swiss government facility outside Geneve, Switzerland
The meeting of the Council of Funding Nations had already started the worst way
possible. Instead of the fourteen nations that had been present on the last reunion, now
the chair reserved for the Italian representative was empty. Contacted by the Secretary-
General the night before, the response of Italy’s Prime Minister had been that they had
decided to leave X-Com.
The news had thrown the capitals of the other European nations in turmoil as the
governments that were still a part of X-Com were trying to deal with the new crisis. From
what Illyuschenko had heard and from the detection of the Battleships over Europe a
couple of weeks ago, it seemed that Italy had just joined the alien’s side. There was
already a lot of talk by the UK, France, Germany and Spain to consider taking measures
against Italy for their treason but no one was sure of what to do. The European Union had
also been put at stake by what had just happened. The EU was also starting to suffer the
effects of the Stock Market crash on NY provoked by the loss of all the transaction data.
Everyone was already cringing from its side effects and although there was no direct
proof of it yet, the overfly made in that night by the UFO of New York could well mean
that the aliens had something to do with the matter. But if Italy also decided to leave the
EU or if the other nations applied any pressure on the country, it would most likely
accentuate the economic and financial crisis that was starting to be felt all over the world.
Although Illyuschenko was worried, he also didn’t try to pay to it much attention. The
contributions from each individual country to X-Com would surely drop, but the most of
his finance was coming from other means so he would just have to increase the number
of laser weapons available to the black market. And while they couldn’t overfly Italy’s
airspace anymore, the Firestorms allowed that any UFO that tried to land there would be
shot down well before it reached Italy’s borders.
He felt the hand of Colonel Robinson touching him and he turned his head towards him
as they both moved back inside after the recess. “What’s the matter?”
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The X-Com’s intelligence officer’s gaze flickered for a second to the assembly of
councilmen in front of them before replying. “The US is now the next speaker on the
list”. Illyuschenko shrugged his shoulders. “They will probably just prove more of their
evidence regarding the NY incident. There was nothing that we could have done”.
“Maybe, but I’ve sent you the reports of what Johnson told me about their meeting. They
could also push for more control of X-Com and in the current situation their request will
distract this meeting from more pressing matters”. Illyuschenko’s head nodded in
reluctance. “I know. The Avenger project has already suffered too much criticism but it
has to go on no matter what the cost. Is everything set with the Odyssey?”
“Dr. Mantell is personally overseeing the preparations back at Florida. I pray that this
should work”. Illyuschenko looked at him. “I did not imagine you to rely on praying”.
Robinson’s blank face almost seemed as if he was smiling but, after a second he turned
his attention to the start of the meeting.
After the formal introductory steps were taken for the reunion of the Council to restart,
the US councilman asked for the word and Bomaka conceded it. As he lift himself from
his seat and asked for the data that he had brought to be shown, Illyuschenko rotated his
chair backwards to see what the big fuss was all about. The electronic screen behind them
flashed and resolved into a satellite picture.
The image showed an airfield, with twin runways parallel one to another, the black
concrete standing against the lighter terrain. The US councilman started to speak: “This is
a picture taken by our reconnaissance satellites of the Trang Hao airbase in China.
Following the discovery of the alien base made on New Mexico and the failure of X-Com
to previously notify my government about the finding, we started to make surveillance
runs of the countries known to be associated with the aliens. And we found this”.
One of the areas on the picture enlarged itself until it came to an image about its real size.
It was one of the medium scout types used by the aliens, resting in the tarmac of the
airbase. And close to it two figures seemed to be engaged in conversation. Looking closer
Illyuschenko didn’t know if to feel marveled at the resolution of the satellite or to be
worried. A human pilot wearing a helmet could be seen, but the other figure was a
Sectoid, its bulging head clearly making it distinguishable. After some seconds the image
was removed and replace by another one, of a Supply Ship parked on the runway.
Illyuschenko moved closer to Robinson and spoke in a whisper. “The base we
suspected”. Robinson nodded. “I’m more worried about that pilot there”.
“Apparently China has decided to allow the aliens access to their bases”. The American
councilman started. “We find this extremely disturbing. God only knows what they might
be doing over there, but we are concerned more about this”. The view of the airbase now
settled himself upon a Large Scout. The picture had been taken this time from a more
oblique position, revealing one of the sides of the craft instead of only proving a view
from the top. In one of its arms it displayed Chinese characters and one another a red star
in the center of a red rectangle, all defined in gold.
“This is a threat gentlemen. Our radar tracks of the UFO in New York that we suspect
was responsible for the Stock Market Exchange seems to have never left Earth’s
atmosphere. If that’s so, then its most likely point of origin is from this airbase”. A drop
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of murmurs went through the room. Illyuschenko asked to speak and Bomaka nodded to
himself, trying to control the noise.
“Mr. Councilman, you have no proof of that. You are just guessing!” The American
replied. “Really Commander? In that case can X-Com show us their own evidence? Have
you detected the craft on your own radars? If so, why didn’t you acted?” Illyuschenko
growled, wishing that the hyperwave detector at Area 51 had gone operational sooner.
“No. We had no warning also”.
“Are you sure of that Commander? And please tell me how you also missed spotting that
alien base, when China was one of the most likely candidates to house such a facility. Or
is it that you just decide to spy on the countries present on this Council?”
Robinson got from his chair to prevent Illyuschenko’s sure outburst. “Mr. Councilman,
we had suspicions of its existence but we hadn’t been able to effectively pin it. If we had
had access to your satellites…:”
He lifted one finger. “Ah yes, access. Even if you had access with them, what would have
you done, Colonel, to act upon this information? Let me tell you: nothing!”
Restraining himself, Illyuschenko looked at Bomaka who understood the request and
tried to defuse the situation. “Mr. Councilman, X-Com’s performance will never be one
hundred percent satisfactory to everyone. They would have detected this later for sure…”
“Mr. Secretary-General, from what I’ve seen for my own eyes and for what I’ve read on
the records of all the sessions, X-Com’s performance can quite falter, can’t it? I concede
that they have achieved some victories but it seems to me that they are only able to react
to the aliens and not develop a strategy to force the aliens instead to react to us”. Bomaka
nodded, thinking that the other man had stopped his tirade. “Your protest is recorded, Mr.
Councilman”.
“Yes, well the US wishes to make a final announcement, in the light of all of this. Our
monthly review of the X-Com project this month has shown it to be highly
unsatisfactory. And if the rumors about Italy turn out to be truth, the defection of that
country only reinforces our position on this matter. X-Com should be able to protect us
against these subversion threats but, instead there are a number of factors that plague it
with chronic instability. Furthermore, it has clearly decided to stick to a wrong strategy,
one that now has allowed for the global economy to be greatly hurt and which goes
against the US’s interests. China’s access to alien technology shouldn’t be taken lightly”.
“What is your point?” Singh, the Indian ambassador had rose from his chair, tired of the
US rumbling. “We are all being affected by this, not only the US so please move on”.
The other man paused for a moment and smiled. “I was just getting there. According to
President’s Vaughn decision, the US will abandon the X-Com project from today and
pursue a different strategy regarding the alien situation, one who also deals with the
countries that are supporting the aliens on Earth.
This message is also being relayed to your governments through our ambassadors spread
out through the world. My country wishes also to make clear that we are not in any sort
of negotiations with the Sectoid Hierarchy at the moment nor are we planning to in the
future. Finally we are inviting all the nations here on this council and a number of
selected others to join us on this effort to effectively deal with the menace”.
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The room stood in silence for a second as the gravity of his words set upon all the men
and women present. It then erupted in a full discussion as some delegates shouted out
accusations at the US councilman while others kept quiet, watching them and reflecting
on what had just been said. Illyuschenko also got up from his chair and started to move
towards the councilman but Bomaka and Robinson stopped him on his way.
“There is no point in that” Robinson voice was cold. “We have more important things to
attend to before any attempt to solve this confusion”. Bomaka and Illyuschenko both
looked at Robinson who explained. “We need to know where Colonel Johnson stands in
the middle of all of this”.
Illyuschenko looked at him. “X-Com is about to fall apart, in case you haven’t noticed.
Why is that the most important thing right now?”
“The Ufopedia research data and the facilities back at Nevada. If the US regains
possession of those we are as good as dead but if we maintain them the other countries
will think twice before following them”.
The Pentagon, Washington D.C., US

Johnson had chosen to wear his old US uniform so that his presence in the Pentagon
would pass unnoticed. He had pinned of the military decorations that had been attributed
to him over a decade long of conflicts: the Silver Star won in Iraq, the Distinguished
Service Cross of Panama and his Purple Hearts, issued after injuries taken in Bosnia
while on X-Com’s service. But he had removed his former unit patch from his left
shoulder and had it replaced by the one depicting a Wolverine worn by the members of
First Company, X-Com’s North America Command.
As he walked inside General Thompson’s office, the four-star general was on his feet and
he saluted him. Returning the salute, Thompson then heartily took his hand on a shake
and asked him to take off his service cap and sit down in two comfortable sofas in one
corner of the room. As they did, an aide came by and offered them cigars, which Johnson
politely refused. Thompson took out one and before he cut the end and lit it up he
commented. “I know these things are terrible for you but in certain occasions you simply
can’t dispense them, if you don’t mind”.
Johnson signaled him to move forward and lit it up. “Please General”. The higher officer
took a number of deep breaths from it and looked at the cigar afterwards with
satisfaction. Johnson waited for a moment, before speaking. “General, if I might ask, why
have I been asked to come here? President Vaughn’s request only mentioned something
of an award, although it didn’t specify which and I’m not sure….”
“Relax Johnson”. He put down the cigar on a crystal ashtray. “President Vaughn asked
me to present his apologies but he wasn’t able to come here because of an unexpected
business for him to attend as urgently as possible.
But as for the reason for you being here, let’s just say that he thinks that there might have
been some difficulties lately between you and him. He wishes to clear all things up so
that you can keep on doing the terrific job you have performed until now, defending our
country of the aliens”.
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Nodding his head, Johnson replied. “I see. Well it’s my wish also that things could be
better between my force and the US leadership”.
Thompson extended a hand making him stop. “They will, don’t worry”. Reaching for his
uniform’s inside pocket he dug out a white envelope. “Let’s stop talking and go to what
brought you here shall we?” Pointing it out at him, Johnson reached and grabbed it.
Examining it, he saw that it was locked and had the presidential seal on its face. Looking
back at Thompson, the General nodded to him with an exuberant face. “Open it up.
You’ve damn earned it”.
Finding an open space along the seam of the envelope, he put his index finger and flipped
it open, breaking the seal. Looking inside, he saw a paper and some insignia on the
bottom. He fished both of them out and looked at the pins: they were brigadier general’s
stars, gleaming in silver and five-pointed. Johnson looked back at Thompson who simply
told him to read the paper.
Scanning through his contents, the document was is promotion as a brigadier general, in
recognition of his efforts in the current conflict and of his leadership capabilities. It also
appointed him a combat command, consisting of the 11th Air Assault Division, US Army.
Johnson became surprised, as he had never heard of that unit but the bigger shock when
was when he saw the home base of the division: Area 51, Nevada. The paper ended with
Vaughn’s signature.
Looking back at the paper on his right hand and the insignia on his left, he didn’t know
what to do. Thompson got up and extended his hand to him, saying: “Congratulations
General”.
Johnson didn’t reach for his hand. He merely stood there still seated and asked: “I’m not
understanding the meaning of all of this, sir”. Thompson feigned a reaction of surprise
but he quickly covered it. “Of course you aren’t. Well it’s President Vaughn’s way of
welcoming you back to us”. A dreadful feeling come over Johnson’s mind. “What do you
mean sir? I’m still on X-Com”.
Thompson smiled. “Not anymore general. Our councilman by now must have already
announced the decision on X-Com’s Council: as of today, the US is no longer a
participant in X-Com. We now will fight the aliens on our own”.
Blinking his eyes, Johnson couldn’t believe the words that he had just heard. “Excuse me
General? He can’t just do that”.
“Well, he did and to tell you the truth I had my reservations against X-Com right from the
beginning. But as you recall, I strongly supported your nomination for it, knowing that
you would do a great job. And now we want you to continue that work, only this time we
are placing you a bigger responsibility”. He winked at Johnson. “The word is that the
President might afterwards create a new combat command, with forces taken from all the
services to deal with the alien situation. In that case we will sure need a competent
general to lead it, which probably means that you will be one of the youngest two-star
general ever. But don’t worry about that for now, because first we want you to raise and
train a full division to fight the aliens and their allies using the latest technology and
tactics”. That last part made Johnson decide his mind. “Latest technology and tactics?”
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“Why yes. You have years of experience on how to use the laser and plasma weapons to
their best. We need someone that can fully understand how to use the weapons stored at
Area 51 and Pollock”.
Putting the envelope down on the table in front of him, Johnson got up. “I’m sorry
general but please tell the President that I will have to refuse his offer. And please tell
him also that I won’t surrender either Area 51 or Pollock back to US control”.
Thompson’s mood quickly turned from cordiality to one more of concern. “General, I
will ignore that. This is a request but also an order”.
“My position remains. Area 51 and Pollock belong to the UN, not the US and I follow
orders from Commander Illyuschenko now. If my country decides to leave X-Com then I
will regret that decision but I won’t join it on your folly”.
“Johnson, you can’t do that. Those bases are ours and this is not an offer. The President,
your Commander in Chief is giving you a direct order. Don’t be a fool and follow it”.
Thompson’s tone had gone more threatening. “His orders have no effect over me. And
even if they did I most likely would have to refuse them somewhere in the future. I will
not fight any other human beings on this war. That is pure madness and God knows
where it might lead us to”.
He started to turn to leave but Thompson’s voice made him stop. “You’re not going
anywhere Colonel”. Making a hand sign, a quartet of armored military police entered the
room. “Take the Colonel into custody”.
Johnson looked at the men then back at Thompson. “You can’t do this. You have no
jurisdiction over me under military law!” One of the MPs drew his sidearm and armed it.
Seizing the opposition he decided that it would be foolish to try anything. Even if he
managed to pass through this group there would be more security outside.
Conceding defeat, he didn’t offer any resistance as they approached and cuffed him.
“Now we have Colonel. And I’m sorry to say but I will doubt if the court martial will pay
any attention to your arguments. After all, these are times of wars and they usually are
not condescend with deserters and officers who neglect their responsibilities and the
chain of command”. Pushing him, they brought him out of Thompson’s office, who
reached for a phone.
Area 51, Nevada, US

“What is going on?” Markovitch’s head was still fuzzy from being awake early on the
morning and from a swing that a Muton had given to her helmet the day before. Her
platoon was supposed to be free of duty for today but Patterson had ordered her presence
in the Colonel’s office.
Also moving down the corridor, Captain Jerrel had a scruffy appearance with his beard
grown. The man hadn’t had time to shave and the jumpsuit he was wearing was all
rumpled. “I dunno. Isn’t the Colonel supposed to be in Washington? Why are we meeting
at his office?”
Seeing that he was in dark the same as her, she shook her head and opened the door.
Majors’ Patterson and Prescott were already inside, standing together with Captain Cruz,
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who had just been recently promoted to command Fourth Platoon. “Major, what is going
on?” She demanded.
“Sit all Captain. Colonel Jackson has ordered me to assemble all of you here for an
announcement”.
“Jackson? What does he want? And where is the Colonel?” Her tone seemed to be
annoying Patterson. “I don’t know. But the Colonel Jackson said that it concerns him”.
Markovitch gave him a look of bewilderment but she decided to sit down in one of the
chairs. Patterson then turned on the communications screen on Johnson’s desk, who
flicked on with the sign of X-Com. After some seconds Jackson appeared on the screen.
“Good morning all. I have important orders regarding the base. About an hour ago I
received orders from National Command Authority, through the Secretary of Defense.
According to Executive Order 72/02 the US has now left X-Com. The same order states
that Colonel Johnson has been relieved of command of Area 51. It also places me over
command of all the US military personnel and equipment that were assigned to X-Com.
We are still to continue the fighting against the aliens and any Earth country allied with
them but now we will be assigned to a newly created US combat unit”.
The five officers looked at the screen in disbelief. Markovitch cut in immediately.
“What? Where is Johnson?”
“Colonel Johnson has been placed into custody following charges of disobeying a direct,
superior order. He is presently at Washington and behind transported to a military prison
where he will remain until he’s presented to a court martial”. Markovitch wanted to ask
what the hell was going on but Jackson started again to speak commands. “Major
Patterson!” Following his training the other officer nearly jumped into attention. “Yes
sir!”
“For now you will be the temporary commander of Area 51. My orders are as follows:
All radio and hyperwave communications with X-Com are to be ceased immediately. The
base’s research facilities and databanks containing the Ufopedia are now classified. You
will deploy a security force to protect them and no one is even allowed to come near
them without my personal permission. Access to the base armory and Elerium depot is
also to be restricted to the security personnel. All aircraft is to be grounded and no flights
with the outside are allowed. Finally, all non-US combat personnel and civilians are to be
restrained to their quarters. Failure to comply with any of these orders will be considered
an act of treason and the offenders are to be placed into custody. Do all of you understand
and acknowledge this?”
The assembled officers complied but Markovitch affirmative was barely heard. “Good.
Colonel Johnson made a mistake that he will regret for the rest of his life. Just play smart
and follow your orders and pretty soon we will resume the fighting. Colonel Jackson”.
The five officers stood for a while looking at the blank monitor until they left the room
without speaking a word.
Military Penitentiary, Maryland, US

The prison guards had for long put the lights out but Johnson hadn’t even bothered to try
to sleep. He was seated on the bed of his prison cell, a stone rectangle standing on the
526
ground against one of the walls and covered which a mattress blankets. To his left a small
grated window provided him with a glimpse of the outside but it would provide no
escape. Its bars were of thick solid steel and his cell was located on the fifth floor,
meaning that he would at least break his legs if he tried to jump to the patio below. The
other contents of his cell were a toilet placed in a square of concrete in one of the corners
and a sink right beside it.
Hearing the footsteps of one of the military guards passing by, he looked at the door to
his right. It was also made of solid steel and it had two openings, one at the level of the
eyes and another at the waist, but they were closed so he couldn’t see the MP walking
down the corridor.
Well, everything is really fucked-up now. Raising his legs, he put his head on the top of
his knees and stood there thinking. I sure hope that Vaughn didn’t manage to get his
hands on Area 51. But why shouldn’t he? I wonder if X-Com even still exists anymore
now that we are out of it. At least it would be better if we had access to the secrets of X-
Com: Sheila and the others could continue the fighting in even terms with the aliens. The
memories of her came down on him and he grimaced. I guess that this is goodbye for
both of us also. I’ll be facing the firing squad or the gallows when they finish the trial.
Either that or a life sentence in a federal penitentiary. Recollections of Mars and the
information that only he and the other top X-Com commanders knew came to him.
Maybe it doesn’t matter, ‘cause if we discovered is all right, there’s hardly any hope of
defeating the aliens besides going to Mars. I might be as well dead if we fail to defeat the
aliens than to fall to their hands.
The despair threatened to overcome him and he got up from his position, trying to make
out a way of all of this. He started pacing on the confines of his cell in a circle. On the
outside corridor he heard the boots of the MPs taking yet another stroll. He tried to ignore
them as he concentrated on his thinking. If X-Com really is dead than there’s no point in
maintaining the information I know all for myself. I need to tell the others about it,
probably I could even reveal it to the Joint Chiefs and Vaughn so that they try to make
the effort. Probably that’s the only thing left for me to do although I doubt it will make
any good since they all seem so determined in defeating the aliens here first on Earth.
Moving to the window he looked outside. The whole prison complex seemed deserted,
with no guards moving outside. The patio and the twin fences in front of him were
covered on white light but there was nothing else. Yeah right. Vaughn will just tell me to
piss off and send me back to here. Looking above to the few stars on the sparsely clouded
night sky he wondered if he could see Mars. He knew that it had a reddish glow and that
it would spark an uneven light but after some seconds he quitted. Doesn’t really matter. I
should get some sleep instead of wondering.
April 1st, 2001

Geneve, Switzerland
A sense of gloom was present on the room where Bomaka, Robinson and Illyuschenko
were meeting. The UN’s Secretary General had just entered the division and he looked
extremely tired. “What’s the count?” Illyuschenko asked without a delay.
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“Bad. Most of the Europeans are willing to back the US’s position. The French
government is calling for them to organize their own fighting but with the defection of
Italy they have became deeply divided. The UK supports joining the US’s war effort and
Spain and Germany seem that they will just follow whomever is in charge. The rest of the
other nations are more or less divided the same way. Some, as Brazil and Australia have
stated their intentions of joining the US. Japan has given some indications that it will also
remain on the fight but that they will pursue their own policy. India and Egypt are clearly
hostile but I doubt if there’s much that they can do by their own”.
Illyuschenko nodded. “I’ve just talked to Larianov on the phone. My country is too
weakened also to make any sort of independent effort. He is also very concerned about
the new information brought about China and will support the US although he isn’t happy
about it”.
Bomaka’s showed defeat. “They have set the meeting for the afternoon, in no doubt
because they will want to split the spoils between themselves first. X-Com is dead”.
Slamming his hands on his hips, Illyuschenko’s face burned red with rage. “This can’t
be! There has to be something else we can do!” He looked at Robinson who simply spoke
as in matter of fact. “I’ve been trying to get in contact with Area 51 for hours. They won’t
respond to any of my hails or from Mother One”.
“I don’t believe that Johnson is a part of this!” Robinson concurred but added. “Even if
he isn’t, I think it’s clear to say by now that he has been removed of the general picture.
Even if he’s still in charge, I doubt that there’s anything that he can. The same goes for
the Ufopedia: if I had access to my personnel I could tell them to clean the system of the
files but this blackout on communications prevents that we take that measure”.
“Making us lose the only bargaining chip we had. In a few hours when the rest of the
other countries know about the US’ access to the research data they will all join since
they can’t afford to be left out of the information”. Bomaka concluded. “Most likely they
will all decide to split the research between all of them”.
“The idiots will be just burying themselves. Dr. Chevereux told me that if the research
team members and facilities stop to collaborate as closely as they have been that the
current investigations will suffer major setbacks. And what about the factories at
Complex YY-18? Even if Japan gains access of them they won’t have either the materials
or the Elerium to supply it”.
Bomaka shrugged. “We can try to make a point of all of that tomorrow but frankly…”. A
knock on the door interrupted him.
Military Penitentiary, Maryland, US

Johnson had been trying to get some sleep for two hours but his anxiety and hopelessness
wouldn’t allow him. He was constantly thinking of his life, of what he had achieved and
of the many things that he now wouldn’t be able to. I wonder if Sheila and me actually
managed to have children how they would turn out? That would be something to see
actually, to hear a kid calling her mommy. He put that on the list of things that were now
impossible even if the war would end.
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Again he heard the sound of the MP s thick boots as the soldier moved outside They had
taken his clock away from him but he had determined that they passed every fifteen
minutes. Maybe Vaughn told the commanding officer of this facility how important I am
or either it’s just normal proceedings. At least it distracts me from once in a while.
A different sound made him open his eyes, of something large and soft that had just hit
the ground on the corridor while the rhymed clicking of the boots stopped. Raising
himself from the bed in curiosity he approached the door but he couldn’t hear anything
more coming from the corridor. He wished that the door wasn’t completely closed so that
he could see so he pressed his ear against it.
Another sound of someone walking on the passageway was heard but only this time the
noise was of something heavy and metallic making its way. He thought the sound was
familiar as it approached the door. A short rasp on the door made him pull his head out
from the contact of the metal. “Colonel!” A soft voice came from the other side. “Are you
there?”
He immediately recognized the voice. “Hopkins!?”
“Please stand away from the door sir”. He did and waited, watching as the area around
the lock started to glow in red as something outside cut through the heavy steel. Working
its way on a square around the lock the red turned into white, making him look the other
side. As the trace of the white light finally joined the point from which it had started it
came suddenly off. He started to approach the door but Hopkins’s voice made him stop.
“Please stand back sir. It’s not done yet”.
He saw then that the light had moved to the top right of the door, on the area that stood
against the shoulder while a similar light appeared on the same side but at the bottom.
After a few seconds they both stopped and the door suddenly opened with the sound of
twisted metal.
As he looked Johnson saw the figure on a power suit entering the cell. It was still holding
the plasma pistol that he had used to cut the heavy steel of the locks and had a stun
launcher underslung on his left shoulder. Lifting the faceplate, Johnson saw the familiar
face of Hopkins who seemed extremely pleased and was wearing a grin from ear to ear.
“Colonel! We were in the neighborhood and heard that you needed a ride home!”
Johnson dropped his arms to his sides. “Hopkins, what are you doing here?! This is
insane! You are assaulting a military installation! That’s an act of war!” Another trooper
on a power suit looked inside the cell and spoke. “Colonel, the motion scanner is picking
more guards on the level below. He have to go now!”
“Crossett?” Johnson stood speechless as the other soldier complimented him. “What is
going on here?” Looking outside the door, Hopkins spoke. “A bunch of us sir. We all
heard about Vaughn’s decision of how he put you on the brig for refusing to comply with
his orders. But Captain Markovitch can explain it better to you. She’s waiting for us to
join with her on the Lightning”. The reference to the prototype of X-Com newest advance
craft made Johnson realized that explanations would have to be left for later. Following
Hopkins he moved outside the cell. The figure of the guard was on the ground,
motionless. Johnson stopped by it to check the status of the man but Hopkins rushed him
forward to a staircase where Crossett was waiting. “They are all stunned. They will wake
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in a couple of hours with no idea of what happened to them and without any proof that
we were responsible for your escape”.
Johnson didn’t make any comment as they joined Crossett by the staircase. “What’s the
plan for getting out of here?” Hopkins pointed upwards. “We get to the roof. The
Lightning will pick us up there. We took out all of the guards in the watchtowers with the
stun launchers. If we’re quick no one will see us”. As if in a response an alarm started to
be heard inside the facility as they raced upwards. “Damn! They must have found the
unconscious guards already. We need to hurry up!” All three men sprinted over the
stairwell, with Crossett opening any locked doors with his plasma pistol or the sheer
strength of his power suit.
When they finally reached the ceiling they found it empty of guards. Johnson looked
around and upwards but there was also no sign of the escape craft. Hopkins raised his
hand to an ear and afterwards spoke for the other two men. “Captain Markovitch is telling
me that a couple of F-16s are racing towards their position. NORAD must have detected
them. Too risky for them to land now”. Reaching for the back of his suit, Hopkins took
out a harness used for mountain climbing. Please put this on sir. We will have to use plan
B”. Johnson grabbed the safety belt and placed it on the floor. Placing both his legs on
the openings for them, he pulled the belt upwards and locked it at his waist level.
“What is Plan B?” He asked knowing that probably it would be risky. “Me and Crossett
are wearing flying suits. Just hook up the harness on my belt to my suit and I’ll lift you to
the craft”. Shaking off the fear of taking such a flight he pressed himself against the metal
of Hopkins’s suit and found its belt full of locking places for the safety harnesses. “Just
don’t drop me Sarge or it will be a hell of a free fall!” Hopkins laughed and placed his
plasma gun back to the holster. Placing his left arm to hold Johnson he then used his right
hand to active the anti-gravity control on his chest.
A feeling of vertigo came by Johnson as the ceiling started to move away and in a few
seconds he found himself looking at the whole prison facility from above. A number of
guards were racing on the patio but no one seemed to be looking upwards. As they gained
more altitude he turned his attention from the ground to the sky. He couldn’t see anything
in the middle of the darkness besides the stars, but suddenly a red beacon blinked above
him and to the right.
Hopkins corrected their flight towards the direction of the beacon and, after some
seconds, the fuselage of the Lightning started to be visible in the night sky. The craft had
been developed as a fast transport capable of carrying a platoon of troops. It had the
classic saucer shape of the UFOs but on its top it sported a plasma cannon that could be
used either for aerial fighting or for ground fire support. The first prototype had been
built at Area 51 and it had just finished the last development tests before operational
deployment.
A square of light on the side of the craft suddenly appeared and Hopkins stabilized their
vertical movement and directed their flying path towards it. As they approached the door
of the Lightning Johnson saw human figures inside it wearing also flying suits. When
they finally reached the entrance they moved their arms to grab him and Hopkins. With
him killing off all suit motion, the soldiers pulled them inside, taking use of the
weightless of the anti-gravity device.
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As both of them cleared the entrance to allow for Crossett to board the craft, Johnson
unhooked himself from Hopkins. A familiar voice made him lift his head and say to the
figure that approached him: “Only you to come up with a stunt like this”. Markovitch
embraced him and he returned the gesture. “You were not getting away from me from
that easy!” He laughed and looked around him. The interior of the Lightning was
crowded with a dozen X-Com troopers all clad in power suits with their helmets off, who
were smiling at him. “Thanks”. He muttered to all of them, nodding to each one.
“Captain we need to go now or the F-16s will lock their weapons on us!” Clark’s voice
came from the pilot’s console, which was located right next to the Elerium engine that
occupied the center of the craft. The door had just been closed by one of the soldiers.
“Get us out of here”. Clark simply nodded to her and refocused his attention back at the
console he was manning. Johnson unconsciously expected to feel the Lightning moving
but instead he felt nothing due to the effects of the anti-gravity drive.
She released him and grabbed his hand to conduct him to a couple of seats that had been
left empty on purpose by the X-Com troopers for them. As they sat down he immediately
started to ask questions. “What are all of you doing here? This is insane”.
She started to explain. “Jackson called us yesterday, saying that you had been arrested
and that we were back into US command. No one of the officers present was happy with
the situation and we were all thinking about what to do, since we found the whole matter
dirty and questionable, to say the least. And all of us trust you more than we would
follow Vaughn’s orders. We started talking between ourselves and we wanted to also talk
with you but it was impossible since Jackson told us that you were locked away. So we
decided to get into contact with Commander Illyuschenko, although Jackson had
expressly forbid us”.
He shook his head. “You are all going to be arrested for this you know? A case could be
made for me disobeying Vaughn’s orders but Jackson was your commanding officer
inside X-Com’s hierarchy”.
She smiled to him. “We’ll see about that. The General told us of what is going on at the
Council. Basically if Vaughn gets access to the Ufopedia it’s the death of X-Com. He
also said that he was still our commanding officer until we made the decision of leaving
or if X-Com was disbanded so Vaughn had no right to put you behind bars. So we
decided to get things straight”.
“Sheila, like I said, the whole matter is questionable. I made the decision of refusing
Vaughn’s orders to rejoin the US military because I felt that my place is with X-Com. I
never expected Vaughn to do what he did but you should have learned from what
happened to who he thinks is betraying him. You made the same error as I did and if X-
Com gets disbanded getting me out of that prison will serve you no good”.
“You’re wrong Erwin. Vaughn hasn’t gained access yet to Area 51. Patterson has put the
base on alert and secured the data files. Jackson has no idea of this operation since the
only persons who know about it are here onboard besides Patterson and Prescott and
some of the scientific staff. X-Com can still survive if you believe on it and the men back
at base will follow you. We already established contact with Hunt back at Pollock and he
also says that a number of men there will join us”. She made a stern look to him.
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“Sheila, you’re nuts! This action will just drive Vaughn furious. What do you think it will
happen afterwards when he finds out about it? Jesus, I’m surprised that Illyuschenko even
authorized this operation!” Her next words surprised him. “He hasn’t”. Looking at her
with his eyes wide open he asked. “What?!”
“When we proposed it to Commander Illyuschenko he forbid us saying that we wouldn’t
authorize such a course of action. I told him to put up with it: we are sticking to X-Com
but only if you are here to lead us. And if he didn’t like it he could go screw himself”.
Puzzlement came through his eyes until he started laughing. “What’s the funny”, she
asked.
“Well, I disobeyed Vaughn but all of you here made a mistake even worst. You acted
against two direct orders. I’ll be damned if I understand”.
“Hey!” Her call made him look her directly on the eyes. “Get this straight Erwin: we are
all here because we believe in this damn outfit and its mission. And we just saved your
butt because we believe that you should be the one leading us, not Jackson who seems
more willing to be following the orders of the damn idiot who is sitting at the White
House at the moment!”
Her voice showed a touch of anger. “Now you can stay there and complain about our
actions as much as you want. But without you knowing, we made all our decision after
hearing of how you disobeyed Vaughn’s orders. We all remembered what you told us
when China defected: this isn’t a time where each country should act upon its best
interests and that includes the US. For all I care Vaughn might be selling us to the aliens
this minute! That means that the only ones that we trust is you and the Commander”.
Her words stung into him and nodded. “You’re right, I’m sorry”. Grabbing her hand and
squeezing it he smiled. “Thanks. Thanks to all of you for doing this”. Looking around he
remembered something. “But how did you knew where I was?”
Digging inside one of the pockets sewn into her jumpsuit’s ankle she produced a silver
ball. “I used this. It’s a mind probe used by the aliens to get basic information for
abductees. We made a number of flyovers until I detected your presence on that facility”.
“Glad you’ve been practicing”. She squeezed his hand harder. “Yeah. What are we going
to do now?” He got up and went to the pilot’s stations. “Now it’s up to me and
Commander Illyuschenko to decide”. Grabbing a radio headset, he placed it on his head
and started talking to the microphone. Markovitch watched him talk until suddenly he
turned to Clark. “Turn this craft the other way”.
She got up from his seat and approached both men. “Colonel, NORAD will pick us up
and call back those F-16s!” Clark argumented. “Get below radar level and away from any
populated areas as much as you can. Do whatever you have to do to avoid detection.
We’ve seen the UFOs do it before and they won’t be expecting us to come back”. Clark
shook his head at Johnson’s reply but went back to his job.
The order surprised Markovitch. “We’re getting back?! For what?” He pointed to one
pocket in her jumpsuit. “Get that thing ready. Area 51 just informed me than we need to
make an extra pick-up”.
532
Vaughn and a number of Cabinet members and advisors were seated at the Oval Office,
waiting for the video call from Nevada to be completed. It seemed to him that the whole
situation had just gone out of control. When he had awaken he had been informed that
Colonel Johnson had mysteriously evaded the federal penitentiary where he was being
held into custody. NORAD had also tracked a UFO over the area but they had failed to
intercept it or even determine from where it had came.
Thompson had called Colonel Jackson to know what was going on and from where the
flight had originated using the hyperwave detector. But his reply a half hour later had
been that he had lost contact with Area 51 and that a number of his Skyrangers were
missing, together with the single Firestorm housed at the base. Vaughn would have fired
the man on the spot if yet another call hadn’t arrived from the American councilman in
Geneve, saying that the other thirteen countries still remaining on the X-Com’s Council
seemed to be changing their minds about joining the US.
At that moment, May pointed out that it might be possible that members of X-Com loyal
to Johnson had staged a prison break. At that moment he had ordered Thompson to
deploy a full battalion of troops to take back control of the base. But when the notice
from the incoming call reached him he smiled, realizing that the mutiny would soon be
placed back under control. One way or the other.
As the screen flickered and Johnson’s face appeared he turned his face immediately to
show a deep concern but also resolution. “Colonel Johnson. I wonder if you and your
men are aware of your actions. You are all about to spend your lives in prison in case you
don’t surrender immediately!”
Johnson just sighed. “Mr. President, like I told General Thompson before, we’re out of
the US hierarchy and now of your command. I’m talking to you only to inform you that
I’ve informed the men and women assigned to this base of my decision not to surrender it
back to the US while the alien war lasts. I’ve told them that they don’t have to follow our
own misguided leaders if they don’t want to since it is possible for them to remain in X-
Com”.
Thompson spat back at him. “Colonel, you will address your superiors properly!”
Johnson’s eyes moved to one side then refocused back at Vaughn. “Is that General
Thompson, sir? Please tell him that I respect his and your office but that I’m not
obligated to follow your orders nor have I been even when President Winston was on
charge. The X-Com Charter, among with a number of things clearly stated it to prevent
any national interference with the force”.
Smiling devilish at him, Vaughn spoke as if presenting a fact. “X-Com does not exist
anymore Colonel”. He saw Johnson closing his eyes before replying. “Commander
Illyuschenko informed me minutes ago that the meeting of the Council is about to restart,
without the presence of your envoy”.
“You’re lying! Without Area 51 they won’t do anything. And you’re about to lose your
base!” Johnson turned to his side, to someone not visible before replying. “Major Prescott
tells me that your troops are still two hours away from us. I would suggest if you call
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them back sir. It would be extremely difficult to explain images of American troops
assaulting a UN base being played on the major networks”.
“Oh really? And how would they know? Your phone lines have been cut or jammed and
there’s no way to inform the media. In fact the only way that you have to communicate
with the outside is through that hyperwave detector of yours. And even if you did contact
them, how would you bring them there? Area 51 is in the middle of a controlled access
military zone and the Air Force has already established a no-flying zone over the area.
Try to move any of your planes and they will be shot down! It’s time to fold your hand
Colonel”
“I haven’t shown all my cards Mr. President”. The image expanded and a man using
glasses appeared beside Johnson. “Please meet Mr. Evan Blake of the New York Times.
He’s their field reporter on UFO matters and has quite made an infamous reputation out
of himself investigating the subject. I’ve picked him up and explained the whole situation
to him, something that he found very interesting and newsworthy. We also had time to
contact a number of Congress members: they told me that they would follow the whole
situation carefully”.
Vaughn went up with rage. “You don’t know with whom you are dealing Colonel!”
On the screen, Johnson’s face turned into determination. “No. You’re the one who
doesn’t understand what is going on. If any of your troops any trespass the perimeter of
this base I have given orders for all of the research facilities and data to be immediately
destroyed and for all military equipment and stores to be rendered useless. I expect that
the men and women that have decided not to stay with us to be treated fairly without any
charges to be pressed on them. Pollock is to return to US control but this base will only
return to US possession when X-Com decides so and when all UN material is removed
from it. We will continue to fight the aliens until their defeat but we won’t involve
ourselves into the US foreign policy”.
“You have just sunk yourself into a hole so deep that you will never crawl back again
from it, Colonel. That I swear to you”.
“It might be sir, but me and the rest of the men and women who decided to follow me, we
don’t care. We are here to fight the aliens, using a unified strategy, not one that only
serves one country, even if it’s ours. If we win this war then we’ll see what happens
afterwards. But if we lose it….well in that case even you will be able to do nothing. Good
afternoon sir. Area 51 out”.
The image went blank and Vaughn stared at the monitor, the rest of his staff speechless.
Finally Thompson approached him and asked. “What shall we do, Mr. President?”
Closing his eyes, Vaughn replied. “Call off the strike force. I want that place completely
surrounded by land and air. It used to be the place where no one could get in now no one
will be allowed out of it. We’ll make them starve to death”.
534
April 3rd, 2001
Area 51, Nevada, US
“Good morning”. Blinking his eyes to adjust them to the overhead light, Williams saw
Colonel Johnson standing by his bed, together with Davis. His head still fell fuzzy from
the general anesthesia that they had applied to him before the operation. Trying to
remember what had just happened in the last hours he raised his hand to his head. A thick
bandage was covering the side of it. He also felt pain coming from his left shoulder if he
tried to move it. “How…how did it go?”
“The doctors say that you will be fine. They have taken out the bullet that was lodged
inside your arm and the second shot only grazed your skull. The loss of blood is what is
worrying them the most at the moment but you’re past danger now”. Johnson moved
closer to the bed. “Of course, now the only thing that remains to solve is what happened
to you”.
Feeling more awake now, Williams made an effort to try to remember. “I….I was driving
home when a car came by my side and shot at me. I think I lost control of the wheel and
must have hit the rails of the highway, I don’t remember”. Images flashed on his head but
he couldn’t make sense of them. “When I woke up I found myself covered with blood
and still inside my car but it was rapidly filling with water. I managed to get out of it and
swim to the shore of a river, I guess it was the Potomac. From there I dragged myself to a
motel and checked a room, scrapping off the blood the best I could. The clerk looked at
me in suspicion but I told him it was nothing and gave him an extra fifty to cover for any
additional expenses. After that I finally managed to get in touch with Davis for a whole
day, only to discover that his number here wasn’t working”.
Johnson looked at Davis at the end of the explanation, who rolled his eyes. “I know this
sound crazy”, Williams added, “but someone tried to kill me and missed, I guess. And I
preferred not to go to the police since it would mean to the perpetrators that I survived”.
Pointing back at Davis, Johnson made him stop. He looked behind in and saw that the
infirmary was empty of any medical personnel. “He already told me a part of what both
of you suspect when he informed me that you were gravely injured at the motel”.
Looking in horror at Davis the other man nearly shrugged his shoulders. “It was the only
way to convince the Colonel to make a detour after they rescued him from prison”.
“Williams, we will discuss more of this later. Meanwhile there’s something else that you
should know that Davis has found out”. The ex-FBI man nodded and spoke. “You’re
dead”.
“Excuse me?” Williams thought that the other man was making some sort of a joke. “I’ve
called the local police department: they have found your car on the bottom on the river.
But yesterday they have also found a body ten miles down stream which they have
identified as you!”
“That can’t be right. I’m here ain’t I?”
“Yes, but for all effects you are dead. Your wife has identified your body at the morgue.
Apparently she had no doubt that it was you. According to the police report, the cause of
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your death was drowning. They concluded that you lost control of your car because of the
rain and sank into the river. You drowned while trying to exit the vehicle”.
“Jesus! My wife thinks I’m dead?” Davis nodded. “I’ve called her and she sounded a
wreck. The service will be held later today. I was unsure of what it would be better to do
so I gave her my condolences”. Williams tried to get up on the bed but the pain coming
from his shoulder and his dizziness made him falter. Quitting the effort, he dropped back
to his pillow. “What is going on?”
With a blunt voice, Davis replied. “Someone made an effort to try to kill you. And at the
same time they covered it up both the attempt and the failure. Most likely the same ones
that were responsible for the support that General Smith was receiving here and for the
base at New Mexico”.
“And one might also ask if they hadn’t anything to do with the recent affairs on the
Council”. Johnson added. “After what happened to me I even wonder if Vaughn hasn’t
anything to do with the matter”.
“Vaughn…..” Williams thought deeply for some seconds and looked around. “I take it
that the Commander managed to keep X-Com away from him?”
Johnson nodded. “He did. The US is out but this base still belongs to X-Com and so do
we. Of course we haven’t decided yet what to do since we are surrounded on all sides by
a security net but that’s another matter. By the way, thanks for the idea of making another
stop and picking up Blake. That reporter is a big pain since he’s constantly asking me for
an interview but it was a good idea to use him to threaten Vaughn”.
“Yeah, but now we’ll have to decide what we are going to do. Both with him and all the
rest”. Johnson nodded and started to move away. “That can way for a couple of days. For
now get better, then we’ll see”.
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Chapter Twenty-Six – A Simple War
April 23rd, 2001
La Guardia Airport, New Jersey, US
The waiting area of gate nineteen was almost empty of passengers and the ticket desk’s
lights were off, leaving only the lights of the passageway to illuminate this section. The
rows of seats were almost empty except for a couple of youngsters that seemed to be
trying to sleep until their flight next morning and a single suited man who was using the
available light to read the newspaper. According to the information presented on a blue
monitor over the desk the next flight leaving from the gate would leave at seven in the
morning, bound for Heathrow, London.
Number Three had moved down the boarding area of the airport, using the mechanic
passageways until he had reached gate nineteen. When he arrived, his two bodyguards
made a visual check of the area and left him afterwards, positioning themselves in
opposite corners of the lounge. Number Three stopped for a minute before heading to the
seated man, who was still reading his newspaper.
As he approached him, the seated figure brought down the newspaper and folded it
neatly, placing it on the seat nearby close to his briefcase and Grey trench coat. Number
Two then finally acknowledged Three’s presence by nodding to him. As the other man
sat on the available seat close to him, he commented in a mock tone: “Was this really
necessary?”
“Why not?” He replied casually. “Since my normal duties made me travel here I thought
it best to see how everything is running this side of the Atlantic”. Three looked at the
ceiling for one second. “Please stop with the holy attitude will you? We both know that
you don’t need to come here to know how things are going”.
Two feigned surprise but he replaced it afterwards with a stern question. “Very well. I’ve
heard rumors about the fate of someone we both know. Apparently he suffered a
accident and his car had to be lifted from the bottom of a river”.
A wicked smile crossed Three’s lips. “What’s so special about it? Accidents do happen,
specially if you’re tired and the weather is lousy”.
“So you do know about what has happened?” The tone of the question made it a
rhetorical question.
“Of course. I always keep myself an interest about the people I know. Specially about
those who have crossed my path too many times”. Three’s eyes flashed for a moment
with satisfaction.
“So you confirm that he’s dead?” Two looked at him trying to pierce the other man’s
mask if he tried to conceal anything from him, defying his certainty.
The gesture surprised Three but he quickly reacted by countering it with a blunt response.
“Of course! Someone shot him and his car ran over the protection rails and ended on the
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river. The police recovered both body and car afterwards. He was buried a couple of days
later with no trace of who might have attacked him”.
Two kept his reluctance in accept it. “And you’re sure that it was him?”
“Ask his wife: she confirmed it. I have obtained photographs taken while he was still at
the morgue if you want to see them”. Two thought of it for a moment but then declined to
pursue the subject any further. “How unfortunate then. But I guess it had to be done”.
“Like everything else on our business”. Two was gloating and making no effort to hide it.
“Yes”. Speaking in a casual tone, he commented afterwards. “Still, there are some things
that just won’t change, no matter how hard we try”. Three nodded in agreement which
surprised him. “I know. That’s why I stopped worrying about them”.
“My dear fellow, you can’t be serious. You mean you have given up your quest to deal
the final blow on the organization?” Something was up and Two could feel it.
“A waste of effort that could be more efficiently spend on other matters”. Looking over
the window to see the planes taxiing outside, he continued: “Our friends have made a
communication about a week ago”.
What? Two was aghast but he surprised his surprise about the news coming from the
aliens. He decided it was necessary for him to know everything about this message.
The fact that he hadn’t been informed right away told him that One and Three had
decided that the rest of the group didn’t need to know until next council meeting. Either
the subject of the communication was harmless or its implications far exceeded what they
were expecting and both men had decided to conceal the knowledge to have an advantage
over the rest.
Catching Two’s preoccupation, Three boasted. “You shouldn’t worry too much. They
just informed us that the next steps of the plan are about to be taken”. He stopped talking
and looked directly at Two.
The bastard was enjoying himself, he realized and he couldn’t do anything about it.
Padding the other man’s ego was the only way to get the information he needed.
He let impatience creep into his voice: “And….?”
“And also that from now on any opposition will not be tolerated anymore but eradicated.
Either Earth joins them or we will die”.
So that is why you have stopped concerning about X-Com all along. The aliens have
taken upon themselves the responsibility to dealing with any force that is a threat to their
plans. A bit of information that Two had once learned popped into his mind as he
considered the implications.
“That including your own special contingency plan in case anything went wrong in the
affairs with our ‘friends’?” Three’s coldness filled the air around him. “Yes. They are
useless for any purpose now. There’s no point in keeping something that might enrage
our allies”. Looking at him carefully, Two replied: “I see”.
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Three got up from his chair. “I hope you do. Well, if there’s nothing more to discuss I
should get going because I have a lot of things waiting for me tomorrow”. Two didn’t
answer as he started to walk away.
However, after stopping a few steps ahead he turned and said: “And be careful from now
on”.
He raised his hand and made a circle with his index finger. “Air travel can be quite
hazardous in the future”. Taking conscience of the meaning behind his words, Two
nodded and grabbed back his newspaper while the other man left the area.
May 10th, 2001

Louisiana coast, US
A pair of tall and muscular figures was moving amongst the banks of mist that littered the
swamp, taking steps carefully to try not to get bogged on the mud. Both of them were
carrying large, white-plastered weapons, holding them with both hands.
They were completely alert, ready to deal with any surprise that might be hiding out
between the fog or amongst the massive trees of the forest that stood close to the Gulf of
Mexico.
Seen from the distance they looked nothing more than two hard to spot strange looking
individuals all dressed in green colors. If anyone saw them, they would probably be
mistaken for hunters returning home in the late hours of the day with some strange
looking weapons.
Overhead, the sky was already starting to black out and turning the whole swamp into a
sea of shadows. But to the figures it didn’t matter as they continued to move towards
their objective, oblivious to both pairs of eyes that were watching them from away, using
infrared vision to compensate for the fog in the area.
About half a mile a craft looking as if it had came out of a sci-fi movie stood in the
middle of an open area on the swamp, with half of its undercarriage disappearing in the
dirty waters underneath it. More than twenty feet in diameter and seven feet in height, its
shape was similar to a circle painted in blue and Grey tones. There were windows built
into its walls but they were small and completely dark.
The entrance to the craft opened noiselessly and two figures became visible against the
darkened interior. One jumped from the open door to the ground below, disturbing the
still salty waters below, with the other quickly following it.
Although they had a humanoid appearance, with a torso, head and limbs, they also looked
more as giant insects that could walk upright. Their body was covered by an exoskeleton
that was painted in several tones of green and their heads were asymmetrical, with the
area of the right eye being bigger than the left one. They also had an antenna coming
from the back of their heads.
One of the figures was taller than the other and as it moved through the opening the
appendage got itself stuck into the top of the door, releasing itself afterwards and
swinging from one side to the other as they moved away from the craft. They also
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carried large weapons with both their hands, but they were better concealed by a green
tropical camouflage fabric, which covered them.
Aboard the craft another figure stood by the door and watched them moving away. It was
also wearing the same exoskeleton as the figures that had just left the craft but the head
was smaller, lacking the ball shaped helmet. It was a woman with her brown hair cut in a
short fashion.
As soon as they reached the nearest tree, it moved an arm to the side of the door and
activated the command to close it. Opposite twin metal plates moved over the entrance,
joining themselves at the middle.
She then turned away and said in a disgusted tone: “Phew! What a stench!” She was
talking to the other two occupants of the craft who were standing on the center, seated on
chairs in front of workstations.
Turning to the pilot, a young man about her age with light hair and wearing an earpiece
and microphone, she asked. “Clark, what’s the status of the National Guard?”
“Cap, the commander sounds still confused about what they should do. They just weren’t
expecting that a second UFO would drop on the area and now are waiting for a special
team to arrive while they continue to tighten the net around both UFOs”.
“Jackson must have sent one of the platoons to deal with the aliens. Otherwise the
Mutons would just have eaten alive the Guardsmen if they ran into them. Let me know if
anything else comes up”. The pilot acknowledged and she turned to the other man, who
was also wearing a Grey jumpsuit like him but instead of a P shaped insignia on his right
breast had a square without his bottom side.
“Let’s get this done doctor. All this waiting is making me nervous”. She looked back at
the door before starting to seat.
On another location of the swamp, a polished green and brown surface started to emerge
slowly out of the mucked waters close to the stump of a dead tree.
As more of it started to be barely visible against the surface of the swamp, anyone close
enough to it could see that it had a circular shape, somewhat larger than a man’s head.
On one of its sides it had a smaller protuberance. It was directly facing another strange
looking craft, but that was smaller and was all made of shining Grey metal. It was
hovering inches above the water and it gave a strange blue luminescence that reflected
itself upon the watery atmosphere of the location.
After a few seconds, it started to scan the rest of the area, from one side to the other.
As it did, it suddenly stopped while looking to the left, seeing a humanoid figure standing
twenty yards away from him in the middle of the puddle and facing his opposite
direction.
It was wearing a green tight suit that covered it from legs to head only revealing the facial
area. The alien’s violet temples contracted itself and it gripped its heavy plasma tighter,
the whiteness of the weapon showing splashes of mud.
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The Muton was noseless, but it had nostrils built halfway in-between his eyes and mouth,
a pair of cavities that it rose in the air, trying to pick a scent.
The X-Com soldier froze into position as the alien searched for the threat that it had
detected. With a very precise motion, he supported the weight of his body on his left hand
while the right gripped the plasma weapon that was lying besides him on the bottom of
the swamp. Trying to move it closer, the soldier found out that it had gotten itself stuck in
the decaying tree branches that littered the bottom of the swamp.
Uttering a course inside his helmet, he stopped breathing and his heart took a leap as the
alien’ senses swept through the location where he was submerged.
But the camouflage and the swamp did a good job in concealing him. Finding nothing,
the Muton started to move forwards, making another search with his black glossy eyes
where a speck of white could be seen as its iris swept for enemies.
The soldier’s thoughts now feared that the alien it might trip his feet in one of the other
five submerged troopers but luckily it didn’t happen. When the soldier saw that it was far
away, he dove his head back into the waters, which obscured his vision, allowing him
only to see the inside of his helmet.
The salt in the water coming from the ocean gave him a bigger bouancy but the weight of
the suit was supposed to contract it. Nevertheless he grabbed a branch on the bottom to
secure himself in case he started to move unexpectedly upwards and reveal his position.
Activating his radio with a movement of his jaw, he spoke. “Sarge, watch out. One of
them is moving on your direction”. When the acknowledgement came, the soldier went
back into the task of waiting until the next phase of the plan.
Inside the Lightning craft, Markovitch looked at Dr. Young, who was standing beside her
and checking a metal object that she was carrying in her left hand and was linked to her
power suit by a cord on her forearm. “King still has both of them on his sights. We need
to hurry if we also want to try to get the UFO”.
The scientist nodded his head and moved his fingers along the metal Grey collection of
fused tubes that composed the main portion of the psi-amp that she was holding. On the
top of one cylinder rested the amplifier, a glass and violet cylinder. Reaching a red switch
on the side Young pressed it. “It’s active now. Be careful or you might affect us. First, try
to lock on King”.
She nodded and closing her eyes she used King’s voice to direct her concentration. Her
left hand turned towards his direction.
Experiencing herself travelling, her consciousness found the X-Com soldier, who was
down in a puddle of mud. Fighting through his natural resistance, she told him on the
radio to try to relax as much as possible to help her task.
The sniper’s psi level was on the low range of the scale and in two heartbeats the
blackness of her closed eyes was replaced by the vision of the scope of King’s heavy
laser, with two Mutons moving away from the trooper. Her arm drifted a little and she
projected her conscience towards the alien on the left, who was ahead of the other.
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“Are you alright?” Young’s voice came suddenly but she ignored him. Instead she tried
to fight back the strange and repulsive feeling that came crashing down into her as she
managed to mind control the alien. It had happened too faster than she had expected,
much quicker than with King. And now she experienced the strength of the alien’s arms
and legs, heard the strong pulsation of its cardiovascular system that was more akin of a
high-pressure pump and felt the alien’s thoughts.
Not that she could make much sense of them. The Muton had a primitive mind and
amongst the sea of feelings and instincts she discerned fear and rage for what was
happening to it. “I got him!” She shouted with a tone of surprise.
“Can you make him move?” Young’s question distracted her as she was starting to pay
attention to guttural sounds that seemed to be coming from behind the mind controlled
alien.
As she started to try, she saw the vision of the swamp changing, as the Muton turned its
body to the right on her command. One of its feet tripped on something but she managed
to keep it balanced with a jerky motion.
The other Muton was staring at her and she decided that she would never want to be close
to one of these aliens in person. Its face was a mask of aggression, with the eyes piercing
through her.
Feeling a weight on her hands, she noticed the gun the alien was carrying and started to
move its limbs. Then a flash of pain came through her and she jerked back on the chair of
the Lightning where she was seated. She was now looking at the human face of Dr.
Young who had his face directly in front of her.
“What happened?” Young deactivated the psi-amp while he moved to check her pulse. At
the same time, King’s voice appeared on the radio channel. “Holy shit! One of the
Mutons just shot the other!”
Controlling her breath, she turned to Young. “It worked, but the other Muton must have
detected that something was wrong and killed it”. The memory still gave her pain. “I
need to try to control it now and see what I can do with him”.
Young looked a diagnostics board that was monitoring her brain waves and scowled.
“I’m getting some strange readings here. Are you sure you want to do it again?” His
voice showed concern. “I feel fine”, she answered to him.
Giving the dials another look he acquitted. “OK. But the minute you feel any physical
indisposition this thing gets called off. And when we get back I’ll need to do some tests.
Something isn’t right here”.
Fifteen minutes later Lieutenant Digriz was standing by the entrance of the medium scout
together with Sergeant Krenon. They were both watching as a pair of troopers escorted
the Muton that was carrying back to the Lightning the plasma weapons that had been
retrieved from inside the UFO.
Both of them had been submerged on the swamp waters and had first class tickets for the
carnage that Markovitch had wrecked among the aliens.
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They had watched as suddenly the aliens outside the UFO had started shooting at one
another as the Captain controlled one and another and used it to kill the other Mutons. In
the end only one alien had remained alive and now she was using him to speed up the
process of the recovery of all useful alien artifacts that could be carried away. “I’d never
thought I’d see this”. Krenon commented as the alien moved out of sight.
“Same with me Sergeant. Let’s finish the job and get back. It shouldn’t take too long for
the Skyranger to reach this area”. Moving inside the opened door of the UFO, he pointed
to the engine that occupied the center. “Get the Elerium. I’ll deal with the rest”.
Bringing his plasma rifle from his back he pointed it to the alien pilot’s console.
Everything that could be carried by hand would be brought back to Area 51. The rest
would just be destroyed so that the American forces would only retrieve a worthless hulk,
together with some alien bodies stripped of their equipment and weapons.
Digriz pressed the trigger but to his surprise nothing happened. “What?” He turned his
weapon to the side to check for the level of Elerium ammunition and found that the meter
showed it to be empty. That struck him as bizarre since the clip was supposed to be fully
charged.
Removing the black ammunition clip from the rifle and examining it, he found no
anomalies on it that could have damaged the Elerium container inside. Some drips of
swamp water fell to the metal ground as he removed the clip but he paid no attention to
them. His suit was already covered by moisture from standing in the bottom of the
swamp.
“I’m done sir”. Krenon’s voice distracted him. The Sergeant had cut a hole on the engine
and now held a pair of golden crystals on his metal hand than shone brightly. He took a
plastic bag and inserted them inside, sealing the bag before putting it on his backpack.
Digriz threw away the useless clip and reached for a grenade on his belt. “Let’s go then”.
Holding the grenade on his hand, he pressed with his thumb to release the safety
mechanism. “This will take care of the rest”. Digriz placed the explosive on top of one of
the pilot’s consoles and both men quickly left the craft. When the noise of the Elerium
detonation reached them they were already ankle deep in the swamp waters, speeding
towards the direction of the river where their craft was waiting for them.
May 16th, 2001

Area 19, Nevada, US
The provisional helipad built at Papoose Lake was nothing more than a white circle
painted on a patch of flat earth nearby the main facility. It was close to the main security
fence that surrounded the location and a pair of Theta security troopers assigned to the
defense points was rushing towards a nearby trench for cover. The blast of the
Skyranger’s engines started a small maelstrom along the landing zone. Only the
automated tank deployed to area stood on its position as the plane’s engines finished their
rotation to an upright position, allowing the pilot to make a vertical landing.
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Inside the Skyranger, Johnson and Markovitch were seated in the cargo area; both of
them clad in the blue armor. “At least no one tried to shoot back at us this time”. She
turned her head to him and grumbled something.
“What’s the matter with you? You have been so grumpy in the past days”. The inside of
the plane shook as it hit the ground and she opened her eyes. “Must be having a bad PMS
syndrome or something”.
He cocked an eyebrow at her. “You don’t suppose it has anything to do with the request
from Young to see him?” Johnson noticed that her eyes gazed on something for a second,
leaving her with a complete blank expression. “Hey! Wake up!” He shook her shoulder.
She looked back at him, her voice showing a tone of anger. “What?!” With a movement
of her arm she put away his hand.
“What are you daydreaming about?” Her replying came menacing. “Just gimme a break
will you?” He gave up and headed towards the back of the plane, stepping down the ramp
of the Skyranger.
Because of the distance separating Groom Lake from Papoose it had been impossible for
both facilities to be inside X-Com’s defense perimeter. Since Johnson didn’t want to use
the combat teams for base defense they had established two smaller perimeters around
both bases.
President Vaughn had ordered a full blockade of the facilities by US forces and Army
troopers had dug themselves right on the other side of the perimeter. As Johnson stepped
out of the plane he noticed that he actually could see a patrol of regular troops standing
one hundred yards from him, dressed in combat fatigues and holding M-16s.
The encirclement of the X-Com base also applied to the air. The Air Force had a flight of
F-16s interceptors in the nearby Nellis Air Force Base, ready to take off in five minutes
in case he tried to launch planes. And the Army had deployed armed Apache helicopters
to the area.
However so far they had been unable or unwilling to shoot down the Skyranger shuttle
flights that where the only link between Areas 51 and 19. There were a number of daily
flights that connected the facilities, transporting men and material from one base to the
other. Most of the useful equipment from Area 19 that could be carried away had already
been shipped to other bases. However, they still needed the labs contained inside.
Johnson thought it to be a waste of resources to use the Skyrangers on such a limited
basis but there wasn’t much that he could do since they would be easy prey for the
American interceptors. The combat missions now flown from Area 51 had all to be done
using the Firestorm fighters or the single Lightning transport. The man made UFOs were
the only safe transports that could run across the US blockade.
Checking his chronometer he spoke to Markovitch, who had just joined him outside the
craft. “There’s a flight back in two hours. Let’s see if we can catch it”. Her response
came laconic. “Right”.
Some minutes later they were on the subterranean levels of Area 19 inside Young’s
office. The scientist looked paler than usual as if he hadn’t seen the daylight for a long
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time. They were all seated in chairs, with Markovitch seeming to be skulking. Young
turned to her and said: “You are not feeling right are you?”
A poisonous look on her face gave him the reply. “Are you a moron doctor?” Johnson
looked at her in disbelief. The scientist nodded to her and looked at both of them before
continuing to speak. “I think I know what your problem is”.
She frowned at him and Johnson started to feel concern but he said nothing. Morale was
dropping in the last couple of days around the base since they were starting to run out of
supplies, including food. As a result everyone had now to eat C-rations until High
Command could find a way to resupply the base.
A couple of minutes later, Johnson and Markovitch had entered Young’s office. The
scientist greeted them and asked them to seat down. Johnson looked at her in
apprehension as she nearly shoved herself into the chair.
When Young was sure that the door was locked, also got a seat. After a moment of
silence on which he seemed to be collecting his thoughts, he said:
“I don’t know how to put it, so I’ll just say it to you as simple as I can.
Yesterday, one of the high level psis on Mother One went insane during a combat
mission and started to control the other soldiers”.
“What?!” Johnson’s reply was the same as her, but he was surprised by the tone of her
voice. It showed more that just shock, but also anger and fear.
Young raised a hand to stop them. “Let me finish please. The soldier involved had been
gone through a lot of action in the past days and we suspect that he basically
overextended beyond his mental limits.
However, the commanding officer on the scene had to remove the psi-amp from him by
force and knock him down unconscious. When they got back, the CAT scan showed
irreversible damage to certain areas of his brain”.
Both of them were showing complete disbelief. She got up from her chair and pointed her
finger at him. “You are telling me that what I’m feeling comes from the damn psionics!?
And that I’m turning wacko from it? Why haven’t you told me this before?!” Rage filled
her voice.
Johnson was also about to get up but Young’s voice stopped him. “Captain, calm down.
We only discovered this yesterday and we are still in time to prevent permanent damage
to your brain”.
She started pacing the room, ignoring his words. “Great! Fucking great!”
“What are you going to do about this?” Johnson asked.
“Dr. Chevereux recommended to stop all use of psi-amps until we can research into this
problem and Commander Illyuschenko approved of the decision”.
Rolling his eyes in frustration, he added. “Doctor, I mean her”.
“The tests on the other psis show that the use of the psi-amps modifies the brain’s
biochemistry. We are sure that we can correct it through medication but after an unknown
stage the drugs simply won’t work and damage will be irreversible.
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We don’t know the reason for this happening but probably our brain cortex hasn’t
evolved enough to fully deal with the psionic energies”. Johnson sensed that there was
something that Young wasn’t telling him and it made him suspicious.
Young looked at Markovitch and back to him. “Most likely a Sectoid’s brain is fully
prepared to deal with psionics. Probably their experiments with hybrids are an attempt to
resolve this problem but we would have to research more in the matter to be sure”.
Johnson froze, realizing what Young was implying but he couldn’t talk more now
because of Markovitch’s presence.
She had now stopped and had sat down again. Her voice came drained. “Doctor, if I stop
using psionics will this condition still affect me?”
His face lightened a bit. “Most likely yes. Almost sure, but I can’t make any promises.
The medical staff here is already being informed of what they should do. When you go
back they will take care of you”. She nodded and sank back into her chair. Johnson
reached for her hand and squeezed it.
“And Colonel Johnson?” He turned to Young. “I’ll do my best to see how this malady
can be prevented. But you came with any other decision regarding this matter just inform
me”. He nodded to him and they both left his office without saying anything else.
June 21st, 2001

“Here it comes Commander”. The voice didn’t distract Illyuschenko, who was standing
in the middle of X-Com’s operations center on the European base, clad on his power suit
and with his hands placed against the side of his belly. About a month ago Egypt had
been the last country to defect to the aliens’ side, with massive landings of UFOs carrying
the mysterious new extraterrestrials that no one had yet identified.
He had wanted to launch a major operation to capture one of the massive alien craft but it
would take too long for the Skyrangers to reach the landing areas and they would need
escorts against the Egyptian Air Force’s MiGs. The Lightnings would be a better choice
but there weren’t enough of them available to transport the necessary number of soldiers.
The tragedy of the event had been further visualized as an agent of the MI6, the British
intelligence service, had managed to take a number of snapshots of a landing. It showed
one of the alien’s Battleships parked right next to the Sphinx, with the Gizeh Pyramids on
the background.
But now they were as ready as they ever would be, Illyuschenko concluded, trying not to
be too overconfident. The red dot on the board overhead him was moving over Syria in a
possible path towards Algeria or Libya. Based on the alien’s seen tactics, they would try
now to infiltrate the countries close to Egypt, like they had done with New Guinea or
Mongolia.
And Saudi Arabia was already experiencing domestic problems originating from the
UFO intrusions over its airspace. A number of radical Muslim political factions were
claiming that the overflights were coming from Israel, leading to claims of action against
the Jewish State.
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On Israel itself, the close alien activity was straining the politicians and military alike,
which could prompt an attack on neighboring Egypt. Which would ignite the whole area
into full-scale warfare and probably sending more of the Arab nations to the alien’s
camp.
Too much political implications all together. Illyuschenko concluded abruptly as the
processor built into the hyperwave detector finished translating the beacon signals from
the alien craft. The space underneath the dot became filled with red lines:
BATTLES/UNKNOWN/ABDTION/CNTASIA.
“It’s the same that Stalingrad base detected sir”. Again he didn’t reply to the voice. The
craft had been detected a little more than an hour ago by the Russian base, until it had
moved over the detector’s operational range over the Persian Gulf. The contingency plan
for such an occurrence had been sprung into action the minute the UFO had been spotted.
Three Lightnings would carry a company of X-Com’s combat troops, drawn from the
German and the Russian base, all chosen for a single factor: their high levels of resistance
to psi-attacks. And they would also shown some new tactics to the aliens, designed by
him and the rest of his staff to surprise the aliens.
He gave one last look to the board before speaking to the officer who was talking to him.
“Tell the Lightnings to be ready to launch when I join them”. Turning away he headed
towards the hangar section.
Anatolia Plateau, Turkey

The alien Battleship had landed in farmland, after overflying the Middle East for a
number of hours. It stood in an open area, its massive legs crushing a wheat field
underneath it. Illyuschenko was monitoring the UFO, standing being the pilot as the
Lightning craft stop in the air and started to make its descent into the landing zone.
The three X-Com planes that were descending from the skies into the golden colored
fields in a loose triangular formation, each craft at one vortex, with the alien UFO
roughly at the middle of the triangle. When they landed, each platoon would clear its
landing area of any aliens that might be posted outside and them move to link with the
other platoons and establish a perimeter around the Battleship.
The Lightning carrying Illyuschenko landed in between haystacks, a few meters away
from a disabled tractor upon its landing struts. X-Com troopers immediately started to
come out of the brown and light grey colored craft, through the side door. Some of them
were equipped with flying suits and they took advantage of the anti-gravity device built
into the suits to take long leaps out from the door and place themselves in better positions
to cover the landing.
Illyuschenko grabbed his heavy plasma and headed towards the door of the Lightning.
Following him was a trooper carrying the massive bulk of a blaster launcher on his hands.
Both of them were the last to exit the craft. The platoon aboard had already deployed and
was engaging the aliens outside the UFO.
A quick look around the landing zone showed him that so far they had few problems
dealing with the new aliens. One of the capped creatures was lying on the ground, with
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smoke coming from the spots on the rope that had been hit by plasma and laser fire.
Illyuschenko couldn’t see much of the alien behind the cape, besides a yellowish arm that
was poking out of the blackened clothing, still clutching a heavy plasma on its hand.
“What is that?!” A surprised voice suddenly came on the radio with a heavy Russian
accent. “All squads, the aliens have some sort of armored…. thing!”
As he jumped out of the last two steps and into the ground, Illyuschenko tried to see the
direction of the soldier who had just called. He could see that one of the squads was using
the side of a barn to take cover and he started racing in that direction. As he looked
upwards, he saw that the UFO towered over the building.
“Fox two, get some cover! That tank is just too tough!” The mention of a tank worried
Illyuschenko, who wondered if the aliens might have any other surprise for them waiting
inside the craft. X-Com had never boarded any of the Battleships and they had no idea of
what they might be facing inside. Based on the few reports concerning the vessel, its
massive hulk carried more than two dozens of aliens and they were deployed through
twin massive doors built into the central leg of the craft.
The doors were large enough for Cyberdisks to use them and Illyuschenko thought if the
troops had encountered one of the flying machines as he sped towards the barn. The
squad in front of him started retreated from the side of the building towards the back of
the barn. Illyuschenko was now moving a small orchard of apple trees. Then a strange
machine moved in his line of view at the other end of the barn.
Calling the alien thing a tank was probably just a way to give it some sort of name,
Illyuschenko concluded, since it moved using twin armored legs, the size of tree trunks.
On the top of them there was an egg shaped white body. Two red circles on its front gave
it the impression of being some sort of eyes, giving it the impression of some sort of live
metal beast. And underneath them, two large barrels sprout out of the body, glowing
green as they discharged plasma rounds.
The tree next to Illyuschenko’s side burst into splinters as one of the green hellish balls
hit it. He tried to point his plasma weapon at it to fire back but the alien machine quickly
moved out of his sight, using the other end of the barn as cover.
Cursing, Illyuschenko and the other soldier joined the squad that had dug next to the
barn. Two troopers were standing a watch on the sides of the barn while another one was
on his knees, tending with a medikit an unconscious figure on the ground. Searching for
the officer in the charge he asked to the soldiers. “Where’s the squad leader?”
The kneeled figure raised his helmet on his direction and replied in a voice thick with
tension and fear. “Lieutenant injured. Me leader now, Corporal Malenkov”.
Illyuschenko reverted to Russian to make talking to the nervous soldier easier and
pointed with his armored hand at the fallen figure. “Malenkov, how’s the officer doing?”
The other soldiers looked at him as they heard their mother tongue on the squad channel.
“The lieutenant will live, but for now he’s out of the fight. That tank is making us
impossible to advance, sir!” He pointed towards Illyuschenko’s escort and to the blaster
launcher it was carrying. “He was asking for heavy support against it, sir!
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“Well, he will have it now. Sergeant, target the enemy’s machine”. The non-
commissioned officer quickly moved towards one of the edges of the barn. Looking
around the corner he made a mental calculation of the length of the building. The trooper
then started to calculate and enter the necessary waypoints for the trajectory of the guided
missile. Entering the information on the controls on the side of the dark blue barrel of the
bazooka like weapon, the soldier finished the preparations to fire.
Checking his work on the small computer’s visor attached to the top of the launcher he
turned to Illyuschenko. “Ready to fire Commander, but the blast will probably take out
the entire building. We should take cover”. Illyuschenko nodded.
There was only a small stone fence three feet tall that defined the orchard next to the barn
and he decided that it would have to be sufficient. Moving towards the fallen figure, he
placed his hands under its armpits. “Corporal, give me a help with the legs. All of the
others, retreat to the fence and give the ground a bear hug”.
The soldier quickly helped Illyuschenko bring the injured officer to the protection of the
stone wall as the other soldiers carefully followed them. When they were all crouching
against the dark earth terrain underneath the trees, he ordered the sergeant to fire.
A low fizzling noise was all he heard for a couple of seconds as the bomb left the barrel
and made its way around the barn. Then the earth shook, followed by the noise of the
Elerium blast, muffled by his power’s suit noise suppressors.
The low stone wall collapsed in top of the soldiers and the mortar that composed it
dropped all over the men, half-burying them in debris.
When the commotion was done, Illyuschenko rose his head and looked. The whole barn
was had been completely leveled out by the shock wave of the explosion, with the
remaining wood still standing on the side next to him burning fiercely. The rest of the
building had been sublimated by the blast, leaving only a cloud of smoke that quickly
disappeared as the ashes precipitated into the ground.
As he didn’t saw the seven feet tall machine anymore, Illyuschenko got up and noticed
that the only remains left from the alien tank were the massive legs that had been
scattered by the explosion.
A loud sound to his right made him turn just in time to watch a small tool shed fifty yards
away crashing into the ground. “Move out!” He shouted, with his mind already on the
alien UFO whose figure loomed on the horizon.
When Illyuschenko and the rest of the X-Com soldiers got close to the Battleship, he
wasn’t satisfied. The troopers were trying to reach the entrance, located in the central
pillar that supported of the craft but the Ethereals were making it impossible.
He saw soldiers in power suits standing against the outside pillars waiting to go around
the metal legs of the UFO and reach the doors, but the aliens inside were making it
impossible. Looking for Colonel MacTaggert, he followed the directions of the concealed
troopers until he reached the officer who was standing behind the remains of a tractor.
“Colonel, why aren’t you giving cover to the men ahead?” His voice demanded for an
explanation.
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“Already tried sir. The aliens just use their mind tricks on the soldiers who try to give
suppressive fire and disappeared inside! And I’ve seen the bloody things fly also!
They’re like spirits!” His voice became excited and frustrated. “Bloody ethereal ghosts!
And there’s one of their tanks inside!”
“Get me a squad with flying suits!” Turning to the sergeant close to him, still holding the
blaster launcher, he ordered: “Piotr, try to blow a hole on the top level!”
As MacTaggert started to shout orders on the radio and the sergeant prepared his weapon,
Illyuschenko checked the flight controls of his suit. He had never used it before in combat
but he had performed as many training flights as he could spare time to.
Close to the craft, the soldiers nearby one of the pillars suddenly ran for cover as the
operator of the blaster launcher ordered for clearance. Again, when he was satisfied he
pressed the trigger, sending one of the guided missiles on a pre-established flight that sent
it against the fuselage of the craft.
The side and top of the UFO were suddenly covered with an inferno of flames as the
bomb exploded but Illyuschenko ignored it. Activating the controls of the anti-gravity
engine strapped on the back of his armor, he took off the ground in a brusque movement.
Correcting the upward motion, he gave himself a forward movement towards the impact
area of the bomb. He saw one of the troopers who had raced for cover also ascending
while around him and three other soldiers coming from the X-Com lines joined him on
the air.
The side of the UFO was releasing dark smoke making it impossible to judge how great
had been the hole that the missile had carved on the fuselage. However, a green bolt
coming out of the dark mist told Illyuschenko that it was big enough for the aliens to fire
from it. It hit the soldier who was nearby and the man suddenly dropped to the ground
like a stone.
“Hold movement! Piotr! Fire a second round at the same location!”
Ten seconds later, as the call from the Sergeant came announcing that he was opening
fire, Illyuschenko and the three other soldiers gripped their control panels in their chest
tighter, waiting for the blast wave that would sure hit them at this distance.
It was as worse as Illyuschenko had imagined but he was ready for it. He felt as if a giant
invisible hand suddenly slapped him as if he was nothing more than a mosquito. It sent
him and the other troopers backwards but they all managed to control their flight paths in
a matter of seconds.
But, more important, the force of the explosion hadn’t damaged their armor and they
moved quickly to the now enlarged hole. A number of secondary explosions were heard
coming from the inside of the UFO as they approached it and Illyuschenko saw debris
spinning off from the hole.
None hit the soldiers and, clearing the smoke, they found a hole seven feet in diameter
cut into the fuselage, with the alien metal bent inwards at the rim of the circle.
“MacTaggert, move the rest of the men!” The order came as he was negotiating the edges
to land, with one of the men already inside helping him.
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He found himself in one small corridor, in front of a compartment whose wall facing
them had been completely ruined by the force of the explosion. On the inside he could
see a bluish smoke, coming from ruined red containers. According to Dr. Chevereux
those contained some sort of recreational drug for the aliens. Gripping his heavy plasma
he followed one of the soldiers as he prepared to turn around one corner.
With a quick movement, they sprang out with their weapons, filling the corridor in front
of them with plasma fire. At the distance, their shots hit one of the orange capped aliens
but it quickly responded before disappearing from view.
“Ethereal indeed”. Illyuschenko muttered to himself as he moved out of the corridor. He
stopped when he saw that the soldier trooper was still standing there. “Hey! What are you
doing here you stupid!” The answer to his question jumped into his mind as the soldier
started to turn towards him slowly.
Illyuschenko raised his plasma weapon in reaction, with the butt of the cannon hitting the
weapon the X-Com soldier was now pointing at his direction.
Illyuschenko had thrown the blow without thinking and more in a movement to deflect
the shot that the mind controlled trooper was about to fire at him. It succeeded and it also
had the bonus effect of making snatching the plasma rifle from the soldiers’ hands and
into the wall.
The X-Com commander found himself facing one unarmed man that was being mind-
controlled by the aliens ahead. He tightened his finger around the trigger of his weapon
but something prevented him from firing.
It was a laughter that he could hear deep inside him. Do it!
When he heard the voice it made him hesitate and he felt his strength disappearing.
You’ll be killing him anyway later! Do it or it will be you!
However, before he could anything, the unarmed trooper broke into a run down the
corridor, apparently running away from him. Illyuschenko took one second to respond: he
started chasing the soldier, who was blocking the alien’s vision of him.
When he reached the intersection ahead he found the soldier standing nearby it, next to
one of the aliens, who seemed to be weary.
The hood of its cape had fallen off his head, showing the scarred pale skin of its thin
neck. It was looking at one door that was closely in apprehension but its attention quickly
turned to Illyuschenko as it detected his presence. He gave it no chance to respond,
killing the alien with two plasma shots to its torso that send the alien spinning against the
metal floor.
Moving the weapon towards the soldier, Illyuschenko felt dread coming over him again
but a voice took off the burden of having to decide to shoot or not. “I’m free!” The
soldier in front of him raised his arms to the air.
The fighting was over in five minutes. Colonel MacTaggert’s men had managed to
approach the elevator coming from a direction that obscured the alien’s line of fire and
had used grenades to blow the aliens inside into pieces. They had then taken out the
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aliens that dared to come near the large lift inside, while Illyuschenko had received
reinforcements and had managed to locate and destroy the bridge of the craft.
Afterwards, the remaining alien seemed to have lost their moral and had been killed more
easily, although the psi-attacks continued to wreck havoc amongst X-Com personnel.
Illyuschenko was standing in the middle of the control room, leaning against an alien
violet console that had stopped functioning when MacTaggert entered it. Taking out his
helmet, the Scotsman scrubbed his brown hair before speaking.
“Commander, this whole thing is a treasure of alien gadgets. The techs are saying that we
have here enough materials to built two or three craft of our own, not to mention the
Elerium to power them”.
Illyuschenko didn’t look back at him. “At the price of one platoon killed or injured”.
His voice made MacTaggert preoccupied. “Sir, I know. But we know we can kill them
now. You knew how morale was when the troops heard about what happened in
Spitzbergen”.
Closing his eyes, Illyuschenko decided to change subject. “Any prisoners?”
“No Commander. We have retrieved a number of bodies, including a nearly intact alien
tank that went down after we started to use laser fire on it from a long distance”. He
nearly stopped when he saw that Illyuschenko was simply staring at the alien monitors
built into the walls of the bridge.
June 24th, 2001

Area 51, Nevada, US
The darkened hangar’s overhead lights had been turned off, and the Moon glow that
entered from the windows bathed the parked planes inside with a bluish light. Moving
nervously into the building and towards the craft, Williams tried not to look suspicious as
he approached a pair of security troopers who were walking inside with their laser rifles
hung from their shoulders and holding flashlights on their hands.
For a moment the guards eyed him very carefully, scanning his figure until they sight
centered on the badge identifying him as a member of the intelligence branch.
“Good evening”. Williams said, almost casually.
The guards saluted him as he moved into a more lightened portion of the hangar,
revealing his officer’s insignia on the shoulder patches of his suit. But they quickly
reverted into an alert status and one of them asked: “Good evening sir. May I ask what
you are doing here?”
“Well,” he started thinking for an excuse for his presence. “The soda machine on F
section has run out of coffee and I heard that there was still some left on the one close to
the pilot’s ready room”.
The guard kept a stern look at him. “And I also wanted to take a chance into seeing one
of those things, soldier”. He pointed at the parked Lightning at the distance. “Down there
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you talk a lot about them but we hardly have the chance to see one. I won’t touch
anything”.
Both men looked at one another and they grinned afterwards. “Go right ahead sir. The
techs are done with it for today and have locked it, so it’s quite harmless”. Williams
nodded and thanked both guards.
As he started to move away from them one of them suddenly said: “Sir!” He quietly
turned around.
“Please, don’t hoard all the soda. Sometimes we also go there”. Flashing a thumbs-up he
resumed his pace and the guards kept their patrol.
However, as he moved down the row of parked craft, he stopped by a Skyranger and
checked to see if the guards were away. Satisfied he walked along the fuselage until he
reached the door that gave the pilots access to the inside. It immediately opened when he
came next to it and a pair of arms helped him get inside.
“We’re all here”. Davis’ voice came from his left, telling him that it had been the former
FBI subdirector had been the one who had helped him. Looking of the cargo area of the
plane, he saw Johnson waiting and seated.
“We could just have this meeting in my office, you know?” The Colonel’s voice showed
displeasure. “And we should have waited for Robinson’s arrival from Mother One.
Whatever you want to talk about he would need to know”.
“I don’t want Robinson to know about what we are going to talk here”.
“The conspirators responsible for Area 19 and the alien base on New Mexico and that
tried to kill you”.
“Exactly. I’ve been thinking about the past events that brought me here”.
“You’re not the only one. Robinson has asked me a whole of questions also about what
happened to you”. Davis interposed. “I told him that most likely you were on the wrong
location at the wrong time but he didn’t believe me”.
“I wouldn’t either, unless I had seen some very disturbing things myself from the
beginning”. Johnson added to the other man’s thoughts. “Still you must have a pretty
good reason to require he isn’t informed on the whole scheme. You don’t trust him?”
That made Williams thought for one second although he already knew the answer. “I do
and the same goes for Illyuschenko. Without both of them the organization would have
fallen apart by now”.
“And the Secretary-General?”
“Most likely yes, but in his case it’s different. Bomaka has no real power besides the one
the Council and the UN allow him”.
“So why can’t our leaders be informed of this threat?”
“Right now my actions have made me a liability to the people who are secretly aiding the
aliens. I suspect that X-Com was always seen as an organization that could be
manipulated by those same individuals. The attacks on our bases that you we are seeing
could have been done two years ago, when we didn’t had any proper defenses”.
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“I fail to see your point Williams”.
“If Robinson or Illyuschenko or even Bomaka knew about this, they would most surely
act or think accordingly. For instance, the Council now seems as the more logical place to
be infiltrated. A change of political or military approach regarding a number of nations
would surely be noticed”.
“Williams, wake up, this is a fight to the death already. Doesn’t matter at this point if
they discover that there’s another enemy still hidden”.
“Wrong Colonel. We are fighting for time right now. The necessary time to find and
strike at the alien base and destroy their leadership. And it’s crucial that we pretend to
keep playing to their tunes like we have done since the beginning”.
The statement puzzled Johnson. “Excuse me? You are telling me we have been
manipulated the whole time? If they are acting with the aliens what interest could we
possibly have?”
“I don’t know, but ask yourself. Why would someone get me out of that sinking car and
replace me with a clone? Or why would they give Dr. Mantell the plans for the laser
weapons when we needed them the most to have a chance against the aliens?”
“Holy Jesus”. Johnson closed his eyes. “You really conspire too much Williams. I think
the whole matter of your attempted murder has gotten you paranoid. Next you are going
to tell me that Vaughn is also a part of this”.
His silence momentarily replied to Johnson’s query but then he shook his head. “I don’t
know. Either he’s just being manipulated like the rest of us or its what you just said. In
any case his actions have surely damaged us”.
“You’re a full case of contradictions”.
“I don’t think this alien invasion is as simple as any previous war”.
“War is never simple”. Johnson countered back.
“Point granted. In any case my advice to us all is to keep playing along”.
“What if they try to kill you or me again?” Davis asked. “We are both liabilities now”.
“Not yet Davis. Somebody is still watching us, using us for its own hidden purpose. And
we should be more careful now more than ever. Besides the three of us, I really don’t
trust anyone else inside X-Com. This whole organization has more security holes on it
than a Swiss cheese. The only thing we don’t know yet is how deep they fully know our
plans”.
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Chapter Twenty-Seven – Chaos
July 21st, 2001
“What do you think Eva?” Pierre Lejeune’s voice distracted Eva Johannes from the sight
of the black painted craft that she was seeing in the main hangar of the European base.
Turning away from it, she looked at the French scientist and thought that he looked as a
child that just had got a new toy to play.
But there was nothing innocent about the plane next to them that had two thirds of the
length of a Boeing 737. It had been spawned from the production line at the weapons and
aircraft factory at Complex YY-18, X-Com’s base in Japan. And it had just taken less
than two hours to cover nearly halfway across the world on its way to Mother One, in a
journey that most people would consider as impossible with the current technology. That
is, if one refused to believe that extraterrestrial life forms existed and that they were
already on Earth.
To all members of the Scientific Bureau of X-Com based at Mother One, the craft that
now was landed on the subterranean hangar was more of a legend that had became true.
Their boss, the also French Dr. Chevereux, had fed them all impossible dreams of a
human-built spacecraft based on the findings that they had extracted from the retrieved
alien technology.
At the beginning most people had the same reaction as the physicians recruited to built
the A-bomb on the Manhattan Project probably had: skepticism about the feasibility of
the idea. If then they had heard of the time scale that the project would take, they would
probably have pure and simply laughed, dismissing it.
However, Chevereux’s vision now unfolded before their eyes. It had taken more than two
years of full-time research and some serious teamwork involving nearly twenty research
facilities scattered by the globe. And not to mention the dozens of troopers that had died
as they fought to capture downed and landed UFOs.
Whoever had designed it had tried to give a deadly appearance to a boxy shape. Its main
body, a rectangular shaped section, nearly one hundred and fifty feet in length, rested
upon a landing gear that was retractable for atmospheric operations. Inside, a specially
designed Elerium engine powered the craft to a maximum of fifty-four hundred miles per
hour in the Earth’s atmosphere. It could also be used to maneuver the craft in Earth’s
atmosphere but details for that flight profile were classified. And its cargo bay could hold
twenty-six fully armored and equipped troopers, allowing it to deploy two platoons of X-
Com’s infantry to anywhere in the world in less than two hours.
Connected to it there was a smaller cockpit area capable of housing comfortably the two-
man crew that piloted the craft through the use of the control systems developed using
alien technology. And from the front of the craft antennae and sensor pods stood out,
giving it a sleek appearance. Finally, from both sides of the central body two small wings
sprouted out currently empty.
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She had been looking at those and she now turned to Pierre, pointing at them. “Are you
sure that you gave the right data to the engineers? Those things look too frail to stand the
weight of the launchers”.
“Probably it’s from the reinforced armor that they used all over the rest of the plane. But
we should know when they start the evaluation and firing tests”. She still wasn’t
convinced. The scientist team at Mother One had been tasked months ago to develop a
weapon system similar to the personal blaster launchers to mount on advanced X-Com
aircraft. Combining the basic principles of nuclear weapons and Elerium detonation.
After running a number of experiences they had discovered that the E-115 could be used
to create a massive gravity wave by coating it with pure carbon, in the form of artificial
diamond. The material would contain the matter-antimatter reaction for a fraction of a
microsecond, before its crystalline structure would collapse under the immense force that
it had concentrated for that time.
The front of the ball-shaped projectile would then release the wave, which would crush
anything. Or at least anything that man had built. In one of the firing tests a Firestorm had
been equipped with the fusion ball launcher and launched a round at an old cruiser vessel
of the British Navy that had been towed to the North Sea. When the submarine robot
reached the sunken wreck its cameras showed that the vessel had simply been
sandwiched into a five thousand tons plate that had quickly sunk into the bottom of the
ocean.
The weapon worked, but they had developed it to be placed inside a craft, not on weapon
pods outside. They would still need to work in that area since the original specifications
had stated that it would be carried by a craft specially designed for it. It had turned the
other way around. “Here comes Dr. Chevereux and the Commander”. Both Johannes and
Lejeune watched as a small group of men approached the craft and stood fifty feet away
from it.
“So this is the half-breed we all have been eagerly expecting”. Illyuschenko was looking
at the craft with a mist of achievement and caution. He and his staff had wanted two
separate crafts, a heavy fighter capable of engaging the alien Battleships, something that
the current Firestorms lacked, and a heavy transport that would allow X-Com respond
quickly to any threat in the world.
Instead, the Council had only agreed with the development of a new craft that would
combine both functions, which lead into some serious doubts if the new Avenger could
properly perform both. But, unknown to the Council, the most important capability of the
craft was still present: it could operate in deep space and transport troops to Mars.
“Our Avenger, oui Commander”. Chevereux just stood in gaze at the craft, with the look
of a proud father. “But this is only the beginning of real space travel to mankind. Soon
we will travel to another stars”. Illyuschenko dismissed the other man’s amazement and
pride. “Congratulations Doctor. However, I don’t know if this beast will do its work.
And, unlike the fat cows we had at the kolkhoze back in Russia, I don’t think this one
will give out any milk”.
“Commander!” Illyuschenko ignored the other man’s indignation with the remark.
Moving closer to the craft he looked at X-Com’s white circle with a red X insignia
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painted on the main fuselage. He couldn’t understand why they had painted the craft
glossy black, since it would make it highly visible on daylight operations.
Pacing towards the front of the craft, he noticed some lettering underneath the pilot’s
viewport at the cockpit. When he reached it, he realized that the Japanese engineers had
also taken the care of painting the name of the craft: The Avenger.
The Black Angel of Death, Illyuschenko suddenly realized. It sounded like something
mysterious. A bad omen for the aliens since he had learned to trust the mechanical
concoctions developed by Chevereux and his people. If the thing worked, then his pilots
and soldiers would practice until exhaustion ‘til they learned how to use it properly. But
he also had the feeling that something bad in general was going to happen.
“Superstitious non-sense”. He mumbled to himself before turning to Dr. Chevereux.
“Doctor, start the tests at once”. Giving it a last look, he felt and surpressed a shiver down
his spine. “And try to hurry as much as possible. Area 51 needs to be relieved as soon as
possible and I’m going to send it to them as a present”. He didn’t realize that
unconsciously he also wanted to be as far away from the Avenger as possible.
August 15th, 2001

Alameda, California, US
“That’s it!” Major Patterson nearly ripped the earset off his head in frustration. “That
tight-up ass Army commander in Alcatraz just forbade us from flying downtown and
warned us to leave these facilities or they will send someone to lock us up”.
Johnson sighed as he heard the news. They were both inside the Avenger, the craft that
had been deployed to Area 51 days ago and had just been immediately pressed into
service as the aliens had launched a terrorist attack on San Francisco. The hyperwave
detector on the base had tracked the flotilla of UFOs as they moved towards the city and
they sent a transmission warning Jackson at the West Virginia base but it had been too
late for anyone to mount a proper defense.
Their messages to the US leadership offering aid to contain the aliens hadnt been even
acknowledged. Nevertheless Johnson had decided to deploy to the area to an abandoned
Air Force facility to try to give assistance to the US forces. The Avenger and the two
Lightnings were now parked close, surrounded by a perimeter of X-Com troops in power
armor to guard them against any interference.
Standing close to it, White also turned to Johnson and added: “I know why he warned us
against moving to the city. Major Prescott just called from Area 51 informing that
Landon has cracked their latest communications. They just lost control of downtown San
Francisco and right now are just trying to contain them in the peninsula”.
Moving close to one of the windows built into the fuselage of the craft, Johnson pressed a
button and the reinforced armor covering it slid away, showing him the San Francisco
Bay. On the other side of the bay, the skyscrapers of the city could be seen, with a
reddish glow marking them against the night. “The Golden Gate and Bay bridges have
been blocked by Army barricades”, White continued speaking, “and Jackson and his team
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seem to have been cut off somewhere in the Castro neighborhood and are moving to
rejoin US forces”.
A pair of Army helicopters moved over the bay, their silhouettes briefly lighted from the
fireball of an explosion coming from San Francisco International. It was quickly followed
by other blasts and Johnson realized that the planes parked at the airport must have been
hit by gunfire.
His impatience and frustration were nearly impossible to endure. “Patterson, White, start
monitoring all of the police and military channels to see if we can find us a fight”.
Golden Gate Bridge

“Move!” Captain Halloway of the 7th Regiment, USMC, couldn’t believe that there were
still civilians alive and trying to cross the bridge into the safety of his lines. Placing the
megaphone next to his mouth he kept on shouting commands: “Everyone hold your fire!
Civilians are coming our way!” His company had been tasked to hold out at the northern
end to serve as a tactical reserve while the two other companies from the battalion that
had traveled with him from south had entered the city. He hadn’t heard from the Major in
one hour and he was starting to worry.
He wondered how they had managed to survive the aliens, as he watched them now
racing between the jammed packed cars that had been abandoned and now littered the
entire bridge.
As the first reached his position, he saw that most of them were injured and bleeding
from their arms and heads. A young woman reached one of his soldiers and threw a
crying child into the troopers’ arms. She then collapsed on the ground as the marine
dropped his M-16 to catch the infant.
A man on his fifties that seemed to be in shell shock simply kept running past the lines
and down the highway, without even stopping at the provisional medical facility that had
been deployed hours ago. Looking back at the woman, a corpsman was on his knees
simply shaking his head.
An explosion coming from the other side of the bridge brought his attention back to the
conflict. The marine carrying the radio that was standing next to him was trembling as he
passed on the receiver to him.
Picking it up, he heard on the other side. “Golf Bravo, are you still there, over? I repeat,
this is Romeo Fifteen. The aliens have started to move across the bridge. We are being
fired upon and are….”.
Static suddenly filled the channel and an airborne fireball told Halloway that the
helicopter that was watching the other end of the bridge had been shot down. “Everyone
assume your positions! The aliens are coming!”
Alameda
When the television crews started to arrive to the main entrance of the abandoned fence
and join the policemen already present, Markovitch simply tried to ignore them. Someone
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in the small crowd that was curiously watching them must have called one of the major
networks and she had to worry about the reporters.
For a moment she wished she had brought one of the psi-amps so that she could use them
to make the police disperse the crowd. Four of her troopers were standing by at the
entrance carrying stun launchers in case they got too close but the Colonel had given
orders to avoid a confrontation at any cost. Already the sight of their power suits had
caused angry shouts from the crowd, branding them as aliens, until she had ordered one
of her men to remove its helmet and reveal to them that they were human. The local cops
also weren’t sure to what to do. The sergeant in charge had radioed back the precinct
asking for instructions but it seemed that they had other things to worry about.
For the time they seemed happy to make a security line to contain the civilians, as
Markovitch had suggested to the Sergeant.
One man was standing in front of her talking to one of the law enforcement officers.
After a couple of minutes he turned his back on the policeman, who turned his attention
to another side.
Suddenly, she saw the figure speeding past the officer and making a dash towards the
entrance. One of her man raised his stun launcher in response. “Captain….” He spoke,
waiting for an order. “Hold your fire!” She suddenly called, recognizing the man. Blake!
The soldier kept his weapon as the journalist moved next to them. His face was unshaven
and his dark hair a mess, with bloodshot eyes visible behind the glasses that he was
wearing. “Who’s in charge here? I need to talk to the Colonel!”
“What are you doing here Blake?” Markovitch asked, waving off the soldier.
He looked surprised for one second that the armored figure in front of him who know his
name. “Captain? Captain Markovitch? What’s going on around here?”
She wanted to kick his ass out of the place since the only thing the man would do was to
get on their way. “Blake, beat it. We are extremely busy down here”.
“Hey, I’m on your side!” More likely his own side, she thought. “I just flew from
Washington to LA and drove for hours to get here. Nobody knows what’s really going on
inside since there’s a major news blackout”.
“What do you think? Instead of taking flowers in their hats, the aliens decided to bring
plasma weapons in their hands and destroy San Francisco”.
“But why are you still here? You haven’t been clearance by the military?” She was about
to answer but she realized that she should keep her mouth shut and leave any answers to
Johnson.
He pressed on, seeing her refusal to respond, nearly grabbing her. “Captain, get me to the
Colonel please! I need some answers!” Don’t we all? Markovitch told herself.
“Fire at will!” Captain Halloway had been before under attack by enemy armor in Iraq on
1991 but he never had faced the mechanical beasts that were attacking his end of the
bridge. Two tanks on legs were walking into his position across the bridge, crushing the
jammed cars under their armored feet.
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The things were firing indiscriminately at his direction from barrels located under their
red ovoid front. Each green blast would either transform one of the vehicles on the bridge
span into a fireball or completely burn a man into cinders. A machine gun emplacement
to his right started to cover one of the tanks with heavy-caliber bullets. The rounds failed
completely to penetrate the hull of the mechanical monsters and they either felt flat to the
floor of the bridge or were deflected.
Stopping its movement, the alien tank turned its plasma cannons to the emplacement and
fired back. A moment later an explosion sent sandbags and pieces of the weapons and the
marines manning it flying through the air, followed by the discharge of the ammunition.
Halloway dropped to the ground as bullets started to fly everywhere, some of them
hitting the other marines on the barricade.
When the shower of lead ended, he turned to a team of marines that was beneath them,
crouched by a Humvee jeep that was still intact. “Get that TOW firing right now!” The
soldiers looked upward but hesitated, unwilling to step into the fire.
“Move it Marines!” The anger of the shout sent both troopers to the back of the Humvee,
where a tube launcher stood, its barrel parallel with the top of the vehicle. It was quickly
loaded by one of the soldiers while the other manned the guidance position.
When the missile left the tube, Halloway thought that he could see the guidance wires
that controlled the projectile over his head, as it covered the space between them and one
of the tanks. But the mirage only lasted for one second, before he dropped into the cover
of the abandoned car that they were using in the barricades.
The TOW guided missile had been developed to penetrate the armor of Soviet battle
tanks. Its head consisted of a shaped explosive charge that, upon contact with the tank
would spread itself over the surface of the armor before being detonated. The resulting
explosion had been designed to crush the plating and allow for some of the blast to
penetrate the inner compartments.
The missile hit one of alien tank’s legs before detonating. When the smoke of the blast
dissipated, Halloway saw that the machine seemed to have been damaged, since it
seemed to be limping. But it was still as deadly as before.
Turning its plasma cannons in the direction of the weapon that had just hurt it, the alien
Sectopod promptly cut down the launcher and one of the Marines manning it with two
plasma blasts. The second Marine tried to exit the Humvee but another round of plasma
hit him on the side, igniting his combat fatigues. The man simply dropped to the ground
from the top of the jeep, giving away a smell of burned flesh and clothing.
Things were starting to go out of control, Markovitch thought, as she saw an Army truck
driving down the road toward their direction. She informed Johnson of their presence and
waved off Blake.
“You better get out of here. We might be about to get evicted and my armor stops bullets
better than your body”.
His eyes rolled over but suddenly they opened wide. “I think you won’t be lonely when
leaving!”. He pointed to somewhere behind her. “Look!”
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She turned into the direction of the city and saw what he meant. A number of white and
yellow large lights could be seen slowly ascending close to the skyscrapers. Graciously
they hovered in the air, until suddenly they shot off upwards, quickly becoming nothing
more than moving stars against the dark sky. “Johnson!” She called but he had been
already alerted and was on the back ramp of the Skyranger, looking at the distant lights in
the sky
August 18th, 2001

Area 51, Nevada, US
“Good evening. Today, both Houses of Congress have approved the Kieloff-Ashbury
Act, authorizing President Vaughn to take all of the necessary steps regarding the
protection of US citizens and interests against any acts of aggression by extraterrestrials
or their human allies.
This measure is one of the latest developments regarding the attack on San Francisco
three nights ago. The attack resulted in thousands of casualties and the destruction of the
city’s downtown and of the Golden Gate Bridge, which was deliberatly blown in order to
prevent the aliens to cross to the other side of the peninsula.
However, even before the voting the measure has already been deeply criticized. To talk
about this matter we have here Representatives Roger Wilkes of Colorado, who voted
against the act, and Linda Kierloff of Virginia. Honorable Wilkes, we will start with your
views on the subject
“Thank you Riley. I believe that Congress should have declared a state of war
immediately against those ‘aliens’ and their allies here on Earth. The reports from the
witnesses and the news footage are quite clear: their intentions are clearly hostile. We
need to act fast and fully mobilize the country for a war that is looming on the horizon”.
“With all of the respect for my esteemed colleague, I can’t possibly agree with those
ideas. The White House and NASA have stated a number of times that the aliens are
refusing to establish any communications with our government. We can’t either know
their true intentions or the amount of cooperation that they are receiving from their
‘allies’. So far we have only seen isolated incidents and we should not take any
aggressive steps that can endanger any attempts of establishing peace between our
country and these visitors”
“Mrs. Kierloff, the President has said that our intelligence community has determined
that a number of countries are collaborating with the aliens. We can’t simply wait for the
aliens to extend an olive branch to us. We need to think of the lessons from the past and
remember Europe and Hitler in the Munich Peace Talks in 1938”.
“This Act takes that into consideration Mr. Wilkes. President Vaughn now has full
authority to deter any further aggressive actions by the extraterrestrials or any nation who
wants to have us harmed”.
“But what has the White House done so far since Vaughn announced the existence of
aliens? Nothing! Besides criticizing the previous administration’s policy, we haven’t seen
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any practical results. And the top-secret unit whose existence was revealed yesterday by
the Secretary of Defense did not seemed to do anything in San Francisco”.
“Mr. Wilkes, you mean the Joint Alien Task Force whose departure was recorded by one
of our associate stations in California?”
“Exactly Riley. According to the available reports they were kept out of the main
fighting. What good is for us that we have such a unit we are not going to use it?”
“They seemed to have some rather impressive hardware: according to military analysts
that saw the footage, the armor, weapons and planes were never seen before. Mrs.
Ashbury, do you care to comment on that?”
“Not at this time Riley”.
The television image suddenly turned into black as Williams touched the off button on
the remote control he was holding on his hand. Next to him, Colonel Robinson looked
thoughtful for a second, before swiveling his chair towards Williams. “You know, I
always thought that Americans had a touch of both ingenuity and madness on them.
Seeing this makes me think that I have made an underestimate”.
Williams’ mouth contorted before agreeing. “Wilkes got elected into Congress because of
his anti-alien rhetoric and after his district suffered a significant number of cow
mutilations. He probably haven’t been informed about X-Com yet”.
“There are some weird ironies in life. According to them, we are a part of the US
military. They just plainly ignored the fact that several witnesses saw that Johnson’s team
was clearly evicted from the installation were they had landed”.
“Yes, but at least as long as we are mistaken by the official alien team headed by Jackson
can serve to hide our identities”.
“Another one of your black and white cover-ups, although this one was quiet unplanned”.
Williams nodded to the comment. In the US military machine there had been a number of
top secret planes that had been designed using a mix of white and black projects. The
white project would be the public face of the technology, usually an experimental plane
operated by NASA or a less conspicuous agency. But at the same time a hidden “black”
project would also be running under total secrecy to put the same military technology into
practical use.
“We’ll Jackson get all of the credit, although I think some might be sore about it. Still, we
are still better off without any publicity”.
“I’m curious: what does your journalist friend think about all of this?”
“Nothing. He has agreed to keep his mouth shut for the moment about X-Com or Area
51”.
“How did you managed that?”
“Johnson promised to him on San Francisco that he would give a full interview when the
time was right”.
“Which might not be too far away. I do not believe either your President or we can keep
our existence a secret for much longer. Everyone else already knows about it”.
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“There would be a lot of political and military careers at stake in Washington if the truth
came out. I think for now it’s in everyone’s best interest to maintain it this way”.
“And in ours also. You do know we have been declared an illegal organization in a
number of countries and that our personnel are to be considered armed and dangerous?
Their law enforcement agencies and military have orders to use deadly force in case they
encounter us”.
“I guess I will just have to tell my wife that the trip we wanted to make to Italy is out of
the question now”.

Area 51, Nevada, US
Moving over the intelligence estimates piled up upon his desk, Williams wished that the
bad news wouldn’t end. There were strong indications that Canada was about to join the
alien’s side since a number of suspicious flyovers had been recently detected. He was
dreading for the next Council meeting, scheduled to begin in five days, since it seemed
that it might confirm the prediction written on the piece of paper in front of him.
His computer beeped once, distracting him from his work and making him turn to the
monitor. He found an invoice symbol indicating that he had just received an email and he
double clicked on it to read it.
When the message popped up on his monitor, he found it strange that it didn’t had the
identity of the sender. It made him immediately thought that it was something coming out
of Mother One or any other base but what he read next froze him into place.
It consisted of a single line: “Please take steps to assure your physical integrity today. A
friend”.
“What?” His question made everyone else in the room turn back and look at him.
At the same time, on another side of the base, another message was also being typed.
“X-COM – TOP SECRET
Report Number: ______________________
Author: Dr. Young, Xenobiology Dpt., Area 19
To:Cmdr. Illyuschenko, Commanding Officer
Col. Robinson, Intelligence Bureau Chief
Dr. Chevereux Scientific Bureau Chief
Subject:Analysis of Alien Reproduction and possible uses of the technology
The analysis of the cloning chambers retrieved from the captured alien Supply Ships
confirm the suspicions already formulated in Dr. Mantell’s original report on the Sectoid
species. The presence of undeveloped alien fetuses on the chambers confirm that the
sustainability of their species rely on laboratory assisted reproduction.
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DNA samples taken from a number of Sectoid bodies give further proof of this claim. As
it is possible to see in the appropriate appendix, the DNA is restricted to about twenty
genoprints, pointing that the Sectoids that we have encountered seem to be all clones of
that number of original members of the species.
Those twenty genetic lines range from the most basic trooper to the leader captured in
New Mexico and there are some particular lines that we haven’t been able to match with
their social position inside the Hierarchy. Most likely they correspond to social niches not
yet determined upon their hive-like society.
Our testing process here at Area 51 has also proven that the new race encountered, the so-
called ‘Ethereals’, since they haven’t been assigned yet a proper scientific name, also use
this process for their own reproduction. However, the DNA samples taken from the
available bodies have surprisingly shown that the genetic lines are less diversified than
the ones of the Sectoids.
While this can be attributed to our general lack of knowledge towards these species and
the few bodies recovered, it is also possible that their DNA has become more stable,
allowing them to focus on the growth of a selected number of ‘safe’ genetic lines.
We have found no indication yet that the technology is behind used for the cloning of the
species called ‘Muton’, ‘Snakemen’ or ‘Floater’. However, the process could certainly be
used in large scale reproduction of these species, allowing the aliens to field an
impressive army in short notice.
Moreover, there are clear indications that the chambers can be used to grow humans or”
Young stopped for one second as he realized the implications for himself of what he was
about to write. alien-human hybrids. On the former case it seems the most logical choice
for reproduction, due to our biological assumptions regarding mating between different
species. Most of the offspring born from such crossings are infertile and are thus unable
to propagate the new specie, although our research work on the alien’s biology has shown
results that defy some of the major biological paradigms.
But in relation to Homo sapiens, our preliminary work using human ova has shown that
the multiplying rates of cell division experience during the initial weeks on the uterus can
be maintained through the use of such chambers. Which has leaded us to speculate that it
might be possible to grown a full-sized individual in weeks using human DNA.
Such an experiment brings up ethical questions that can only be decided upon by the
Council or any high-ranking leadership. However, this possibility can’t simply be
ignored.
With the high attrition rates being experienced by our combat forces and the time it takes
to replace them with properly trained personnel, this technology could give us a way to
face personnel shortages.
The increase of alien activity and the possibility of an alien invasion should give us
enough reasons to continue our work on this area. But in that event, there are also a
number of possibilities that must be considered, namely the time that would take for the
training and the possible emotional unbalances coming from such an upbringing, since
human growth is based upon societal experiences.
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My most immediate recommendation would be for DNA samples be taken from our best
combat personnel and stored…”
A loud warning klaxon made Young turn his head away from the monitor. Moving his
right hand to pick the phone, he dialed the number of the desk officer. When the call
came through he asked on the receiver. “Lieutenant, what’s going on?”
“Doctor, please stay in your office and wait for further instructions”. His voice showed
apprehension. “The Colonel just informed us that the aliens are about to attack the base”.
The UFOs flight paths were marked on red on Area 51’s control headquarters, looking
like the spokes of a wheel, with the center right on Nevada. They all showed the same
marker: “ETHREAL/RETALTN/NAMERCA”.
When Johnson saw the air defense board again, after a quick trip to get on his power suit,
he grimaced as he noticed the additional red dots that had been detected while he was
away. They now had three confirmed alien Battleships plus the same number of smaller
ships all heading towards Area 51. A timer in front of him showed the time before the
aliens would arrive: less than five minutes now remained.
“Major, what’s the status?” Prescott turned from talking to a technician at the sound of
his voice and moved to join him. He was clad in full blue armor and wearing a laser
pistol as a sidearm. “All of the planes and men here have been moved underground. We
managed to get two Skyrangers out of Papoose before we had to shut down the
evacuation flights”.
“Who’s still there?”
“Two platoons of security troops and a number of personnel that we just didn’t had time
to evacuate”. With nothing more than body armor and laser weapons to defend
themselves, Johnson concluded with a shiver. “Any HWPs in the area?”
“Two, but they are of the old type, only equipped with lasers. The plasma hovercrafts are
here and ready. They are overhead with the combat troops”. A flashing sound told both of
them that there wasn’t much time left. Looking at the board, Prescott said. “Base
defenses are about to be activated”.
Sliding doors had opened the hill overlooking the dry lakebed on which Area 51’s
runway and buildings had been constructed. Close to the top of the elevation, they
revealed three chambers built on its side, from where gun barrels were poking out at the
sky.
Moving on their mounts the weapons started to search for their targets on the dark
horizon, patiently waiting until the alien crafts had reached optimal range. Finally, when
the UFOs were at a distance of fifteen miles, a pair of plasma cannons discharged their
destructive power. The high-energy particles traveled swiftly over the hangars of the
base, briefly revealing the concealed troopers dug out between the buildings.
Leaning against one hangar’s wall, Major Patterson traced their path with the sight on his
helmet as the round hit one of the two Battleships that were approaching the base. The
energy of the plasma engulfed the side of the UFO and made the craft visible in the night
sky. The craft faltered for one second but it kept its course.
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And flying right into the course of the rounds fired by the two remaining base defenses.
Another pair of plasma balls three feet in diameter hit the Battleship, carving through one
of its legs and breaching the armor. As some of the high-energy particles reached the
inside of the UFO they vaporized one unlucky alien that was standing next to one of the
craft’s engines. They also reached the Elerium stored inside the engine, igniting it on an
uncontrolled reaction that nearly blew off the compartment from the main section.
But it was the fusion ball launchers that made the worst damage. A larger version of the
ones developed for the Avenger spacecraft by the scientists at Mother One, they traded
range for firepower. The two carbon-laced Elerium balls glowed fiercely in the dark as
the diamond cover reflected the light of the previous explosions, before they added doom
to the alien craft.
The force of the gravity wave created by their detonation crushed the hull of the
Battleship and some of its internal structures. One of those was the bridge and all of the
aliens inside. Devoid of any control, the craft started spiraling down towards the ground,
as the loss of one engine and no subsequent compensation by the others made it
unbalanced.
The closest squad of X-Com troopers found themselves a bit heavier for one moment as
the gravity wave from the fusion balls’ detonation moved past them. It also sent tremors
across the buildings, making windows tremble and opening a couple of fissures on the
hardened parts of the runway. A loud blast was heard a few seconds afterwards, as the
Battleship crashed into the ground and exploded. Cheers followed it from the troops in
the general channel.
“Command, one UFO down”. Patterson reported, still seeing the shapes of another
Battleship plus two other large craft approaching the base. They were already less than
five miles from the base and there wouldn’t be any time for the weapons to recharge and
fire again.
“Tell everybody to get into cover”. The voice of Johnson replied. “The aliens are about to
get a surprise”.
As the three remaining alien ships got to one mile of the base they started slowing down
and making their descents to deploy the troops inside them. The troopers braced
themselves for the assault that was about to come.
Suddenly Patterson felt as if a major weight had been put upon him, an invisible hand
that made it impossible to stand, despite of the additional strength provided by the power
suit that he was wearing. He found it impossible to withstand and felt to the ground, with
the rest of the troopers nearby him.
Thinking that the aliens must be deploying a new type of weapon, he looked upwards into
the direction of the UFOs. Only to see something that made every human present on the
surface to open their mouths in amazement. The three crafts all of the sudden simply
bounced upwards as if they had hit a safety net on their descent.
They climbed more than a hundred of feet before the alien pilots got the motion
corrected. Then, as they started to race down again, the base defenses fired again,
destroying one of the smaller craft and crippling the other.
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The airborne explosion sent metal fragments raining down the base, filling the area with
crashing noises as they hit the buildings and the troops close by. Patterson found that the
increased weight had disappeared. “Command what was that?!!” He was dumbfounded
by what he had just seen.
Everyone inside the operations center of the base was closely watching the results of the
second volley fired by the weapons. Turning away from the screen that was displaying
the images caught by the outside cameras, Johnson felt relief. The gravity shield had
worked in repulsing the alien craft for the seconds necessary for the base’s defenses to
reload and fire back. Buried close to the main runway, .it created a gravity ‘bubble’ on
the area above the ground that couldn’t be breached by vessels above a certain mass for a
brief period of time.
“Papoose reports that their UFOs have landed and are deploying their troops. They are
encountering a mix of Mutons and of the alien tanks, the ‘Sectopods’. The Army forces
in the area are providing assistance”. Johnson looked back at Prescott.
That struck Johnson as odd, since alien species had never performed joint operations.
“Any Ethereals in the area?”
Prescott’s face turned grim for one second. “They have just gone off the air”.
Corporal King and the rest of Omega squad had occupied the observation level of the
deserted control tower that stood in the close to the western main runway. One of the
alien craft, a Terror Ship, had landed between that runway and its parallel eastern one.
They could see now the access doors on each end of the craft illuminated as light from
the ship’ inside.
Below them, the men and women of Fourth and Sixth Platoons were starting to engage
the aliens as they rushed out of the UFO and fired back. So far four Sectopods had
deployed from the ship, along with nearly the triple of that number of Mutons. And there
were also some Ethereals, although it seemed that they preferred to stay inside the ship.
King and Omega had been tasked into bringing them down, but the aliens only popped
into sight but a brief number of seconds before vanishing again.
The fire of the X-Com soldiers was slowing down the green aliens’ advance but the
Sectopods were proving themselves impossible to stop. Their speed made them difficult
to target even by the soldiers holding blaster launchers, the only weapon that seemed to
make a dent into their thick hull. Looking through the corner of his eye, King saw one of
them taking several heavy plasma hits into its ovoid shape but moving scathed as if they
had no effect.
The alien tank simply raced on its massive legs and approached the position of the
soldiers who were trying to take it down. One of them tried to move away on his flying
suit but he was too late: the Sectopod’ shots found him as he had started to leave the
ground, killing him. The second trooper managed to keep his courage and fired back at
the metal monster with his laser rifle, the red bolts hitting in a number of locations.
The machine staggered, to King’s surprise and he turned to see better the tragedy below
him. The soldier was on his knees, still pointing the laser rifle at the Sectopod who had
now turned to face him. They fired at the same time.
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King grimaced as he saw the soldier dropping to the ground. Then, much to his
astonishment, the alien tank also came crashing down, hitting the hardened surface of the
runway with the front of his armored carapace.
Next to him, Rumpole shouted. “King!” She turned to him and her voice showed
consternation. “What are you doing? You had a clear shot at that Ethereal!”
“Hold on. Just checking something”. Slowly moving his Mk VI improved heavy laser
along the edge of the open glass window, he caught one of the Sectopods on his sight.
Aiming towards the back of the alien machine, he fired a single laser shot at the junction
between its body and leg.
When the golden light hit the Sectopod precisely at the place that he had targeted, the leg
of the machine stiffened. The speed of the tank considerably slowed as it started limping
towards the X-Com line. However it’s attention was elsewhere than the troopers on their
hastily dug foxholes. Scanning for the origin of the shot that had just hurt it, the plasma
cannons of the Sectopod moved upwards in the direction of the control tower.
Switching the heavy laser into full automatic mode, King quickly fired again at the tank
before it could respond. The first shot hit it squarely on one of the red eyes, burning its
inside and ruining the machine’s aim. The plasma round that it fired in response went
wide off the tower, the energy bleeding harmlessly into the atmosphere after it had
illuminated the inside of the room where the members of Omega were standing.
The Sectopod never had a chance of trying to correct its aim since the following shots
from King managed to burn through the armor, destroying the circuits that controlled it
and leaving only an dead mass of alien metal on the runway.
Up in the northern hangar area, First Platoon was on the process of retreating from their
positions after the aliens from the Battleship had launched a vicious attack. Rodriguez
and Jones were racing down the space between two hangars, as they had been ordered by
Major Patterson to fall back to the second line of defense.
One of the new hovertanks had been posted to them to provide fire support. The machine
used an Elerium engine to be able to move faster that by threads and it also could fly,
with a plasma cannon mounted on its top. None of that had mattered in stopping the alien
horde, and its burned hulk was now releasing smoke as it tried to cover their retreat.
As they reached halfway of the distance both of them stopped and dropped to the ground,
covering the retreat of Pershing and the Captain, who now had left their positions and
were running into their direction. A pair of Mutons appeared seconds afterwards, only to
be greeted by plasma fire.
Firing his plasma rifle to keep the aliens under cover, Rodriguez saw Pershing suddenly
stopping on his stride towards him and start to point his heavy plasma upwards.
The warning only came afterward he had jumped to his side. An Ethereal had just popped
on the roof of the hangar, in no doubt using its flying ability to surprise the X-Com
soldiers. A black spot suddenly appeared on the ground where Rodriguez had just been
standing, as the alien fired its plasma weapon, missing the trooper by inches. The shots
from Pershing made the Ethereal scream in pain before it dropped off the edge of the
roof.
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Alpha must have already completely withdrawn from our flank, Rodriguez realized.
Then, the four men all started running down towards the end of the hangars before the
aliens could encircle them.
“This is it”. The lieutenant in charge of the last line of defense had a bloody rag around
his left arm and his hair looked burned. The aliens had already overrun the upper levels
of Area 19, crushing through the security troopers. The remaining humans had barricaded
themselves in the subterranean levels.
Young looked around to the impromptu barricade that had been made using metal desks
and chairs. Less than a dozen of Theta security troopers remained, armed with laser
pistols and rifles. The rest of the guards were posted on the emergency stairs, which had
been blocked although that would just slow down the aliens a couple of minutes. All of
the three corridors that lead into the elevators had been blocked and they were now
waiting for the aliens to got down the shaft into their direction. Holding a laser rifle on
one hand, the officer reached Young. “Either we hold them out here or we’re as good as
dead”.
Young realized that the bravado that the officer was putting was more meant for the
others to hear. There was no way that they could hold out the aliens after they had already
failed to hold one in the upper levels. Reaching for the holster on his belt, the officer
drew out a laser pistol and passed it to Young. “Wait until I give the order”. Then he
moved towards another corridor to check the remaining barricades.
Omega squad had managed to take two other Sectopods down using King’s discovery
about the effects of laser weapons upon the aliens. King was on the process of targeting
the third alien tank when the floor between him suddenly shook, spoiling his aim. A loud
wrecking sound started to be heard and Deschamps voice was heard. “Merde! They just
hit the tower with a blaster. They know where we are!”
That sent the four-squad members racing towards the stairs that lead into the ground. But
as Rumpole opened the door, she immediately stopped her race. Ahead of her the
explosion had wrecked the side of the tower underneath and also the flight of stairs. “The
balcony! Quickly!” King called.
The tower was already starting to collapse as they reached the door on the side of the
tower that faced the buildings. With a punch of his metal glove Deschamps broke the
reinforced glass of the door and they all rushed outwards.
Climbing over the metal railing, one by one the X-Com soldiers threw themselves into
the air, activating the flight controls on their suits to control their falls. King barely had
cleared the balcony when the tower finally collapsed from the damage it had suffered
from the blaster round with the upper levels falling into the ground, including the room
where they had just been.
The soldiers of First Platoon had just cleared the area of the hangars, with the aliens on
hot pursuit. Looking around as he continued to run towards the main administration
buildings, Rodriguez saw that some of his comrades had been hit and were being helped
by other soldiers.
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All of them were racing across two hundred yards of open ground; most of it filled with
dirt and sparse vegetation. Then Rodriguez noticed something that shocked him. “Where
are Second and Third Platoons?” His call went unanswered and he realized that the
situation must have gone sour if their backup was missing. They found fallback line
unmanned as they reached the buildings. “Something is fucked up here, man!” Jones
voice was his only reply.
The aliens had begun to move across the open space, with two Sectopods as spearheads,
followed by Mutons brandishing heavy plasmas and Ethereals holding blaster launchers.
Their numbers and firepower overwhelmed the platoon of X-Com soldiers now posed
between them and the entrance to the subterranean levels.
Then a radio call was suddenly heard on the radio. “Fire at will!” Rodriguez realized that
moment where Second and Third platoons were as plasma and laser fire started to hit the
aliens coming from his left and right sides. Major Patterson had set an ambush, using the
First as bait and moving the other two platoons to the sides of the route the aliens would
take. Smiling to himself, Rodriguez started firing.

Area 51, Nevada, US
The base infirmary was overfilled with the smell of antiseptic and the silent pain of the
men and women that had been injured in the aliens’ attack. Moving down a row of beds
all full Johnson stopped by one, whose occupant was awake. “How are you doing Mike?”
Major Patterson had been gravely injured in the attack. He raised one hand to him but
quickly put it down. “Great sir, although I can’t pretty much move myself in this bed. But
the nurses are nice and the food isn’t that bad”.
A white bandage was wrapped around right side of his head. Johnson had been told that
Hunt had lost one of his ears when shrapnel from a blaster bomb had ripped through his
helmet.
“I’m sorry about what happened, Mike. The doctors told me that as soon as your face
heals they will conduct reconstructive surgery to give you back an new ear”.
“I don’t think I will have time for it now. Maybe when this whole thing is over”. Johnson
felt uncomfortable but Patterson raised a hand to stop it. “Colonel…Erwin, I appreciate
the concern but please don’t worry about me. For the moment I can live with this”.
Changing the subject, he asked: “I heard that Papoose got hit hard”.
Johnson winced. “You better say that the area is now a complete loss. The aliens wrecked
most of the facilities after they broke through the defense perimeter. There were no
survivors”.
“Ouch. But we are still OK to fight aren’t we?”
“Yeah, they didn’t do much damage here on Groom. And we were on the process of
transferring most of the equipment from Papoose to here”.
“How many died there?”
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“Close to eighty men and women. Mostly from Theta security but some also from the
Scientific Bureau”. Hunt closed his eyes. “And here?”
“We got off light. The ground level buildings and hangars took some damage but the
aliens were crushed before they could get to the levels before the surface”.
“Good”. Looking around on his bed he seemed assured. “You know, I can’t think of any
other place where I would feel more secure on this planet, if that is possible. Let the
aliens or the Army try to get us again here”.
Johnson shook his head. “Just get some rest”. Dismissing himself he headed back
towards the main operations exit. But as he was about to reach the door, one of the
medical staff approached him. “Colonel, can I have a word with you please?”
The nametag on the chest of man’s green vest read: “Porter”.
“Anything wrong Doctor?” The man’s expression grew more anxious and his voice grew
into a whisper. “I was one of Billings, I mean Young’s ‘friends’ here at the base”.
One of the hybrids. Looking better at the man he noticed the scant on his eyes and also
the rim of the contact lenses that covered his violet irises. He hadn’t had time yet to deal
with the hybrids after Young had been presumably killed in Papoose. Like many others,
his body hadn’t been identified but there a number of burned remains had been
recovered.
“We better probably talk somewhere else”. The hybrid nodded and led him into a supply
room. After they entered and the door was locked, Porter begun. “Colonel, I don’t know
if you are aware but the majority of us was killed in the attack”.
Of course, Johnson thought. The hybrids had been deliberately placed on Papoose from
the time of their discovery to prevent that any human detected their true nature. “I’m
sorry to hear that. I’ve learn to respect Dr. Young and your contributions, no matter how
strange this whole matter seemed”.
“I believe you Colonel. Young also told us that we could trust you to fulfill your part of
the agreement. There are only six of us left now here on the base but we will still help as
much as we possibly can. The ones who died were part of the only family I’ve ever had
on Earth”.
Johnson could understand it. The hybrids had no place in human society if they ever were
discovered and their nature made them avoid social contact with humans to avoid any
possibility of their presence ever being perceived. “What do you wanted to talk to me
about?”
“Two days ago the remainder of us got together to remember the ones that died. We then
decided that we want to do more against the aliens”. His voice was determined.
“Just keep on doing your work to the best of your abilities”.
Porter moved uneasy. “But we suspect that we can do more Colonel. There were rumors
among us of our mental abilities when Young tested some of us. He always dismissed
then but he never showed us the results”.
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“Use of psionics has been discarded by High Command because of the damage done to
the brain. Their use now highly restricted”. Johnson dismissed the possibility.
“To the human brain, Colonel”. Making a pause he then continued. “And the
commanding officer can allow for psis to be used if there are volunteers for the mission.
We have all taken the same decision: we are all willing to undertake psi training and
participate in combat missions if you need us”. Johnson looked at him, without knowing
what to do.
October 25th, 2001

Mars’s Orbit
Small as a grain of sand against the orange and brown globe that now filled most of the
navigational camera, the car sized man-made probe had finally reached its destination. It
had taken months to cross the 78 million kilometers that separated Earth from Mars, after
being launched by the NASA facility at Cape Canaveral.
NASA had given it the name of Mars Odyssey, the same of the Greek epic written by
Homer almost three thousand years ago narrating the journeys of Ulysses on his plight to
return home after the conquest of Troy. Its mission was to study the radiation of Mars and
perform a survey of any possible water signs, using a multitude of instruments placed
onboard the probe.
It had also been designed to test a new form of braking when approaching a planet.
Called aerobraking, the technique consisted of using the Martian atmosphere to slow the
probe’s approach speed, allowing it to be captured by the planet’s gravity. The process
had been designed with an eye on saving the Odyssey’s precious fuel supply, allowing it
to stay more time in Mars’ orbit.
However, despite of all of the theoretical calculations made by the flight engineers, the
flight control personnel back at Earth still had to fear two possibilities that could
endanger the mission. One was that the craft wouldn’t slow down enough and would fly
past Mars into the void of space. The second was that the approach vector would be too
steep, making it burn into cinders as the result of too much friction of the probe with the
planet’s atmosphere.
The Odyssey had just reached Mars the day before and flight control was now busy in
giving the instructions for it to successfully perform its aerobraking. Since it took eight
minutes for the radio commands to reach the probe, they had to plan carefully each
maneuver by the Odyssey, since any mistake would be too late to correct.
However, although they had taken every possible failsafe to avoid any of the two
possibilities mentioned earlier, they could do nothing about a third one that they never
had considered. So, when the probe failed to respond to any radio instructions from flight
control a lot of minds went into complete puzzlement and spent the next days trying to
determine what had went wrong. Like Ulysses on the epic that was its namesake, the
Odyssey had simply disappeared.
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October 29th, 2001
MacMurdo Station, Antartica
The young officer in charge of communications during the night shift at the control center
of the largest American facility in the polar continent of Antartica was bored to death. He
had wondered several times during the past weeks of what had gotten into him to accept
being posted at what was called ‘the bottom of the world’, as one poster in the habitation
area said it.
There simply wasn’t anything to do, besides receiving the regular check transmission
back from the States and replying that everything was fine. Yeah, we are stuck on our
butts on ice, snow and gusty winds that would kill you out in the open. How about you
back there?
Some of the other personnel had told him that summer or what passed as it on this place
was about to come. He had wondered if it was a joke or if it actually would be any
improvement on the atmospheric conditions. Hell, even Siberia had to be nicer than this.
The temperature would be constantly several dozen degrees below the water icing point.
And to even get to work he would have to put on several layers of garments, designed to
keep hypothermia away.
The boredom could be attenuated if there were any ladies around but even there he had
struck out of luck. All the women at the station either were married to somebody else or
they would confine themselves to a few exchange of words. Well at least I remembered
to bring TDC3 along, he sighed and decided to go back to the computer screen and play a
little to kill a bit of more time. It was his favorite computer game, the latest on a series of
strategy games where the player was supposed to be leading the Terran Defense
Command, an organization built to defend humanity and Earth from an alien invasion.
He had first started to play the first game of the series in college and quickly had gotten
himself addicted to it, which almost had wrecked havoc on his grades. The third game of
the series had just been released and he had managed to purchase a copy, in spite of the
computer craze regarding it. The first edition had been sold out in hours, in no doubt due
to the fact that it had started to be distributed two days after the alleged alien attack on
San Francisco. But he had managed to purchase one before he caught the plane to the
Station where he would spend most of his free time playing it. Some of the other
personnel had commented that he should join the mysterious force that was supposedly
fighting the ‘little men from Mars’ but he had told them to fuck off.
He had heard the stories about the mysterious lights in the sky that were going over in the
media before he left, together with the state of emergency declared by Vaughn but he
didn’t believe them to be extraterrestrials for one second. All of that crap only exists here
in my computer, he told to himself, as he watched on the screen an alien attack on his
troops that caught his full attention.
A number of mouse clicks activated a number of his reserve units to respond to the new
battlefield threat and we anxiously waited for the result of the confrontation.
Then a large red light started to blink on the radio in front of him. He ignored it for a
second until realization of its meaning came to him. The emergency channel?
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Who could possibly be using the emergency channel? He ignored the game running on
the laptop in front of him and flicked on the radio, choosing the frequency reserved for it.
“MacMurdo here, over”.
Static filled the room with noise and nearly got him deaf until he remembered to
disconnect the computer from the audio system and turn down the volume.
“….Eagle….help us”.
Eagle? He thought for a second, trying to remember to which outpost the callsign
corresponded. After a second he came to a blank and he decided that it could only be one
of the scientific teams out there in the open. He opened the logbook and checked: Eagle
mission, a group of scientists somewhere in the middle of the continent doing their
gimmicks. He looked at the weather report and saw that the conditions were fairly stable
at their location. What was going on?
“Eagle, this is MacMurdo. I’m having problems receiving you. What’s the emergency?”
The static came back again. “…need help……were there!…..dead….escape….my
head….i can feel….no!….inside me!”
“Eagle, I’m not understanding you, please repeat over”. There was nothing more than
silence on the channel and the officer started to wonder what was going on. Then he
remembered the emergency procedure rules received months ago and called for his
superior officer.
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Chapter Twenty-Eight – Fire and Ice
November 4th, 2001
Area 51, Nevada, US
Reaching for the clamp on his chin that secured his helmet to his head, Lt. Colonel Harris
unlocked it with a quick movement. He was standing next to a circular sized craft that
stood upon its deployed retractable pylons on the fighter hangar of the base.
Removing the helmet, he passed his available hand over his hair then scratched his chin
but refrained from touching the scar on the side of his face.
“She will be as good as ready by the afternoon sir”. Harris grumbled thanks to the
Sergeant who was supervising the repairs and rearming of his Firestorm fighter. Still
wearing his flight suit and holding the helmet on his left hand, he passed his other hand
through the smooth gray skin of the craft over the area where the cockpit was located.
His eyes gave a brief moment of attention to the rows of small Sectoid heads that marked
the number of his kills. Another one would be added later today by the non-
commissioned officer, marking the Abductor ship that he had just downed half an hour
ago over the jungle of El Salvador.
He had only used the plasma weapon on the engagement, withholding from using the
fusion ball launcher, in the tradition of the fighter pilots, which preferred gun to missile
kills. A small cart rolled by, carrying the Elerium necessary to refuel and rearm the
Firestorm being pushed by a pair of technicians. He disregarded them and gave one last
look at the plane, this time to the words painted in red over the small Sectoid heads: “The
X-Terminator”.
That had been a recent addition to the plane, although he hadn’t been the one behind the
idea. It was a fashion shared by most of the combat and maintenance crews, who had
started to wear logos in their machines.
Moving away from the craft with a near indiscernible smile, he started to head towards
the pilot’s quarters. “Harris!” A voice made him turn towards his left. He saw Clark
approaching him, also wearing his flight suit. “Weren’t you supposed to be hauling the
troops to assault the UFO I’ve just downed?” He asked the younger pilot went he reached
his position.
“The roster had me to check out the Challenger. The Major decided to sent one of the
other pilots to log more time on the Avengers”.
“You mean the big fat whales”. Harris voice showed contempt for the new craft.
“Come on, Harris, they are not like that as all. You’re just sore because they are only
being used for transport missions for the time being, otherwise you’d be gunning for a
place on their cockpits”.
“I ain’t no cab driver”. Harris didn’t want to admit it but Clark’s comment was true. He
had dismissed being assigned to the new Avengers because they were only being used for
ground assault missions.
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And they needed a new fighter to take on the Battleships who were still buzzing
undisturbed, because High Command had forbid the use of Firestorms against them. That
gave Harris an itch on the scar on the side of his face that made him want to scratch it.
Clark still gave another try. “You don’t know what you’re missing”.
“I know what I ain’t missing”. His voice made the other pilot quit as they both walked to
the pilot’s ready room.
November 7th, 2001

Mother One, Germany
Every time we seem to beat them, we only discover that they have already moved
forward in their invasion, Illyuschenko was considering as he waited for the
communications network to connect to all X-Com bases throughout the world. The same
in Afeganistan, he remembered, where the bombings and the mass killings only seemed
to increase the will of the locals to fight Soviet rule. And this time we are fighting in our
home! He became amazed to see how little different it was from being called a guerrilla
or a freedom fighter. Only this case he was fighting for the guerrillas. And loosing again,
he concluded in disgust. Have we started the road to our final act of desperation, our
collective suicide to avoid capture? He wondered as the computer finished the
connections and all of X-Com’s regional commanders where facing him, Dr. Chevereux
and Colonel Robinson on the electronic wall.
“Good day to all of you gentlemen. Our breakthrough has emerged, it seems and it’s the
reason for this emergency meeting. Today Colonel Robinson has informed me of the
latest intelligence developments and I will ask him now to give to you the same report as
he did to me”. He nodded to the intelligence chief of X-Com, who turned his white haired
head to the screen and started speaking.
“Two weeks ago we started gathering some strange gossips and rumors coming from an
US base in Antarctica. We tried to confirm it through several sources, both official and
unofficial and have found out that an entire military research team has disappeared in the
middle of the continent but not before sending a transmission for help.
Due to the state of our relations with the US it’s impossible to know exactly what has
happened out there and the American counterintelligence services are acting particularly
efficient in suppressing any evidence. We had no idea of what they might be doing out
there, that being until we started to do our own research in Antarctica and found out some
most interesting things”. The X-Com insignia on the center of the screen was replaced by
a black and white image of Antarctica.
“This is a radar image from the continent taken by one of our reconnaissance satellites.
And this is what we think the US team was looking for”. A smaller portion of Antarctica
with the shape of a banana turned blue, standing close to the middle of the continent,
slightly off to the right side. “It is an liquid lake trapped under hundreds of feet of ice. For
how long it is up to the scientists to decide. The more important is that it was discovered
by the Soviets in the 1970’s, who built a base close to it. We wondered if the Americans
were doing something connected to that base, so we decided to take a magnetic survey to
detect the base. But we came up with something even more astounding”.
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A portion at the southern part of the lake suddenly became lit in red. “A huge magnetic
anomaly was discovered covering the southern portion of the lake. The anomaly is so
great that there aren’t any natural explanations for it, meaning that it can only be an
artificial concentration of metals. And it isn’t the Russian base, which can only mean that
probably the Americans were looking for an alien base. And they found it but lost their
lives on the way”.
The images of the military men in the computer-generated images suddenly expressed
their looks of surprised awe and terror. Illyuschenko knew it also quite well. The sheer
size of the base and its location made it into the aliens’ primary area of operations on
Earth in the event of an invasion. Such a facility could easily resupply and reinforce the
alien’s forces on the planet, giving them a major tactical advantage and a bridgehead to
the planet’s invasion. Once it unleashed the deadly power it contained inside the survival
of man’s civilization could probably be counted in a few weeks time.
The few wrinkles beginning to show on Robinson’s eyes and cheeks didn’t even moved a
millimeter as he kept going on his briefing, apparently untouched by the magnitude of the
threat. “As you can see it expands itself for several thousand square miles. Its sheer size
has made us wonder if this isn’t their ancient forward post on Earth, from where they
monitored its condition and development, until a catastrophic climate change locked it
and Antarctica in a permanent sheet of ice”.
Some of the officers mumbled and one simply asked in disbelief: “A what?!” Robinson
looked at Chevereux, who acknowledged it and replied to the question. “There are
scientific theories that hold that the magnetic poles of the planet go through periodic
shifts, leaving some continents in the midst of ice or deserts, while others thrive with
vegetation. Basically this base could be laying in Antarctica for possibly millions of
years, since you all have seen the reports about the alien harvest theory”.
And yet another thing to probably bounce some religions off their pedestals, Illyuschenko
added. The alien harvest theory was developed after the interrogation of some captured
alien pilots. They had claimed that their influence had been crucial in the evolution of life
on Earth and ultimately on Man itself. The aliens had managed to do in a few seconds
what the Communist Party hadn’t been able in decades: to prove that God didn’t exist.
The X-Com Commander remembered then some of the teachings of Marx and Engels
and wondered how would they fit the aliens into their material dialecticism and the
struggle of the working class. But he was suddenly taken back by the voice of Robinson
who continued to use the same tone, exactly the one when the Intelligence Chief of X-
Com had personally presented him with this briefing two hours ago.
“Most likely it can house thousands of aliens and hundreds of UFOs, not to mention the
supplies and repair facilities necessary to support such a force. However, some
indications have leaded us to assume that it is only partially operational. A radiation scan
for tachyon emissions shows that only a fraction of the base’s fusion reactors are
activated and further data analysis provided by Dr. Chevereux confirmed that the alien
activity is restricted to a section of the base.
Still we would be hard pressed to try to mount a major ground assault on it. Nuclear
weapons are a two edged sword: the heat caused by the massive detonations needed and
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upcoming radiation would melt the polar ice cap, bringing disastrous consequences to
Earth’s climate and would lead into a massive cooling of the planet, due to the amount of
water in the atmosphere and the flooding of heavily populated littoral areas. We would be
hard-pressed to survive even if we eliminated the alien menace and we’re not even sure if
the blast could penetrate the ice enough to reach the base”.
Johnson’s voice was heard: “Colonel, please wait a minute. We had been told before that
the alien’s base on the solar system was on Mars. Is this the same base?” Robinson made
an almost unseen negative expression and replied: “We don’t think so. The inquiries
made into captured alien officers had confirmed the Martian lead. We are still unsure of
its location, but we can say for sure that it is located there”.
“So what’s the bloody point of trying to deal with that monster?” MacTaggert interjected
in as soon as he finished. “We should be thinking’ of an freakin’ way to find out where to
strike in the wee planet”. Hundreds, probably thousands of ground troops trained and
armed would be necessary from a frontal assault on Antarctica, not to mention the attack
craft necessary to overcome whatever aerial defenses it might have and that had just been
a quick mental calculation made by Illyuschenko.
“Colonel,” Robinson made a short pause until MacTaggert had finished. “A strike there
to gain control of the base and disable it would put a serious delay into the aliens’
timetable, giving us more time to prepare the forces necessary for the Martian attack you
are referring to.
And another argument could be made into the necessity the Japanese factory has of raw
materials for the Avenger assembly line, not to mention the Elerium needed to power the
spacecraft to Mars. However, the most pressing argument is the information we need for
the Mars attack is somewhere walking around on this base. It is the most logical place for
us to find one of their high-ranking officers”.
And one of the meanest bastards that ever had set foot on Earth, a monster that never felt
any remorse or guilt for his actions. Illyuschenko cringed at the thought. Looks of
disbelief and hidden hope where thrown at Robinson, who looked again at Chevereux as
several voices expressed questions. The French scientist just continued.
“Until the discovery of the Ethereals we thought that the Sectoids were the predominant
species inside the Starspawn, due to their intelligence and mental powers. However,
genetic analysis and the battle reports of this new alien race have shown it otherwise. One
of the most amazing discoveries was of the similarities between Sectoid and Ethereal
DNA. Either one created the other or another species was responsible for their presence
in the universe. But more important is the fact that the Ethereals have even a higher status
than the Sectoids. Captured aliens shown what seems to be the alien equivalent of terror
when interrogated about them and they have been seen to directly control the actions of
Mutons, in the way we had theorized that the Brain would generally do over all of the
aliens.
However, Ethereals do not control directly all races: someone is responsible for those
other aliens and for the Ethereals themselves”.
“The Brain, like Dr. Chevereux just said”. Illyuschenko interrupted eager to move on.
“And if we capture an Ethereal of the high-ranking leadership, it will know where this
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intelligence is located on Mars. And then we go after it and end this war”. Silence greeted
him as the other commanders digested his words.
November 12th, 2001

UNSS Avenger, south of the Hawaiian Islands, Pacific
The air onboard the Avenger craft had a strange scent to Private Jones. The atmosphere
was being constantly recycled and it had an artificial smell, much different from the oily
and cold air of the crew compartments of the old Skyrangers. There was even a small
restroom in a cabinet where one could relieve himself before the battle, which had come
much as a surprise to all of the troopers embarked.
But the weirdest sensation was that it didn’t seem that they were flying several times the
speed of sound. Jones had been on the Super Valkyrie when they had used the
experimental plane and whole flight to Siberia plus the drop had scared him to death.
Now they couldn’t even tell if the craft was moving, except when the small circular
windows were uncovered.
Although the Avenger was carrying a full complement of twenty-six fully armed and
equipped men and women plus the crew there was enough space for them to actually feel
comfortable. Moving on his seat, Jones tried to cross his armored legs but found that the
suit’s flexibility didn’t go that far. After a number of tries, he gave up and his boot made
a heavy sound as it hit the floor of the craft.
Next to him, Pershing opened his eyes and looked at him. “Do you mind? I’m trying to
get some sleep”.
“Ray, we’re gonna drop in less than an hour. What difference does it make?” A warning
look from the other trooper told Jones to keep his mouth shut or he would be thrown into
the waters of the Pacific. Turning to the other side, he saw Rodriguez giving a curious
look at the back of the Avenger.
“What’s so interesting to watch? Don’t tell me you wanna try to have your luck at Jill
again and get squashed”.
“I’ll leave that to you Jones. I’m more interested in those two guys of Psi squad back
there?” Turning towards the direction that he had just mentioned he saw two men, who
were only carrying sidearms and personal armor. They weren’t talking to anyone, not
even between themselves and had placed themselves on the seats closest to the cockpit.
“You mean psycho squad? These guys give me the creeps, man. I wonder from what hole
did the Colonel dug them out”
“One of them used to be a Theta security trooper. I’ve recognized him”.
“He must be even more nuts in that case. Why would someone volunteer to have his
brains fried?”
A spark of realization crossed Rodriguez’s eyes. “You’re right Jones. Why don’t you
volunteer since you have no brains to worry about?” The comment brought a grin to
Pershing’s sleepy face while Jones told the other trooper to shove his plasma weapon into
a nasty place.
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Vostok Base, Antarctica
When the X-Com team arrived at the abandoned Russian base they found that most of the
buildings had been completely covered by snow. After a quick scan of the area to detect
for any possible aliens had turned negative, they were moving to clear some of the
structures for their own use.
Johnson and the other officers had all gathered inside one of the buildings, an old fuel
depot that now only contained empty barrels and canisters of diesel and heating oil.
Opening his faceplate and taking a breath he found that the cold air hurt his throat and
lungs and numbed his tongue. Around him, the space in front of the other officer’s
mouths was being filled periodically with condensed water vapor and their faces were
turning red.
“Jesus, what a hell of a place to be”. Markovitch’s comment brought a nod from Hunt,
who brought his hand to the mouth and coughed afterwards. Moving in the darkened
room, she brought an electro-flare from her belt and lit it up, using it to check the place.
“Where are the aliens anyway?”
Hunt’s reply was brief. “Only two miles away. That is, under us”.
“There must be an entrance to the base. The Challenger and the Avenger will search for it
by air while we do it on the ground”. Johnson’s voice made both of them turn towards
him and the other officers.
“We’ll be lucky if we find anything in this weather. I can’t even imagine what it would
be like to be outside without a power suit. The inside of my nose has already turned into
goo ice cream”. She considered unlocking her gloves to rub her face but decided against
it after realized that her hands would also freeze.
“Once we find it, we’ll split by platoons and try to find the command center. Our target
must be there”.
“Shouldn’t we stick together Colonel? We have no idea of how many aliens might be
underground”.
“The base is huge but Mother One has determined that only a small portion must be
active. By the time we find the entrance the Skyrangers carrying the tanks and the fire
support platoon must have arrived. We’ll split them up”.
“At least Hopkins won’t be running around in the snow like the rest of us”.
“You wouldn’t like to be in their position also. They are running into some nasty weather
over the South Pacific”.
They were falling.
They had been descending for more than five minutes, falling into a red light underneath
their feet. One of the patrols had found the base camp of the dead scientific team,
standing next a ridge and, after a quick inspection of the area, they had discovered a small
cavern.
The entry of the cavern was made out of rock but as they progressed inside it became
replaced by the dull metal of the alloys used by the aliens. And at the bottom of the cave
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a square-shaped hole on the ground burned red, marking it as one of the alien’s elevators.
To Johnson it seemed as one of the dreams where one would be falling into a bottomless
pit for seconds, only to wake up in your bed scared shit.
When the hovertank leading the way reported to have reached the bottom of the lift and
found it to be a chamber empty of any aliens, she became more calm but the feeling still
made her uneasy.
Twenty minutes later all of the teams had gathered at the level of the subterranean lake
and had split up, each one in a different direction. Moving around through large corridors
and endless empty chambers, Johnson was appalled by the size of the alien installation. It
seemed to occupy an area of several thousand square miles and its immense size was
making communications difficult.
There was a lot of static in the radio channels, either the result of being two miles
underneath the surface or something on the walls that interfered with the signal. And the
GPS wasn’t working also, forcing them to rely on their own orientation. Fortunately, the
hybrids left behind at the Avengers were managing to keep mental contact with all the
platoon commanders. They were the most reliable source of keeping in contact with the
rest of the team who had deployed in a circle around Johnson’s position. He had ordered
the command platoon to remain in a certain area while the others went searching for the
alien leaders. Now they only had to wait.
As First Platoon was moving across a large storage area the thought on Jones’ head was
only one: Jurassic Park.
He had seen the metal canisters before, right on the base that they had smoked in New
Mexico. Yellow and green and red, the aliens used them to store all sorts of dead
creatures that they wanted, including humans. However, this time it was different.
Standing in front of a glass cylinder that was nearly three times his height, Jones was
looking at what seemed to be a dead Tyrannosaurus Rex. The orange and brown beast
was suspended in the liquid inside, with the head hovering just over Jones. Its eyes were
closed but the mouth was opened, revealing rows of white sharped teeth.
Coming from behind him, Rodriguez looked at the thing and said: “Allosaurus. Now this
and the rest that is here sure beats all of those bone collections every museum has”.
Jones turned to Rodriguez. “Alosaurus? Man, this is a T-Rex”.
“Allosaurus, Jones. Trust me. Very similar but different species”.
“Yeah? How would you tell the difference?” Rodriguez pointed to the bottom of the
cylinder. “Can’ you read?”
As Jones looked down searching for a plaque that would indicate the name of the thing
Rodriguez pushed him forwards making him stumble. “Stupid. Do you think this is the
Smithsonian or something? I used to dig dinosaurs when I was a kid”.
Mad that the other trooper had gotten him, Jones was about to give a reply, preferably of
the physical kind, when Sergeant Baker’s voice stopped him. “Well, well. Since you first
graders are so hot in your diapers, I’ll give you something to waste your energy at”. His
voice was condescending, as if giving a reprimand to schoolboys.
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Jones looked around to see where the Sergeant was at but he could find it. “Both of you
have point”. Baker’s voice then took a more menacing tone. “Move it!”
Grumbling to himself, Jones moved behind Rodriguez as both troopers moved forward
towards the front of the line.
As they walked carefully, they approached one observation tower that stood in the middle
of the chamber. After a quick examination they found it to be empty of any aliens. After
two troopers from Alpha had reached it and placed themselves on the top of the platform,
Jones and Rodriguez kept walking, fifteen yards away from each other.
Most of the metal containers that Jones passed now where smaller in size but he
dismissed them after a quick inspection. Until he saw a humanoid shape inside one right
to his side. It struck him as bizarre since all that he had seen yet were reptiles and
dinosaurs inside the pods. Approaching it, he saw that it had green skin and a bulgy body
with yellow eyes that seemed locked in an endless void.
Seeing that Rodriguez had already moved forwards, he dismissed it and kept his own
advance. At the end of the storage area, a strange form made Rodriguez motion Jones and
both sought cover behind one of the empty glass canisters. “Captain. There’s something
out there”.
“What is it Rodriguez?” As the inquiry came, Rodriguez was looking carefully; he could
see it moving in the dim light and to his amazement it seemed like a flying sack full of
air. It disappeared out of view quickly after stopping for one moment. “I don’t know.
Jones?” The other trooper waved his head to indicate that he hadn’t seen anything.
Everything seemed quiet.
“Whatever it was, I guess it hasn’t spotted…” A high pitch sound cut him off in the
middle of the sentence. Something splashed against the side of his arm and he saw fumes
coming out from right over his elbow and felt something burning his skin. “What the
fuck!?”
The comment felt out of his mouth as he saw the flying sack standing on the air right next
to him and spitting something at him from an orifice on his top. It was kidney shaped and
had no appendages.
Ignoring the pain on his injured arm, Rodriguez dropped his heavy plasma towards it and
fire. The shot hit it at close range making it drop to the ground in a clump and making a
sound of air being released.
Jones had moved by and was pointing his laser rifle at the motionless thing. “What it
that?” Poking it with the barrel of his heavy plasma, Rodriguez replied. “Dunno but it
looks dead”.
Looking around the big canister in the direction from which it had came, Jones froze.
“You gotta be joking!” In response to the comment, Rodriguez watched and shared the
other trooper’s opinion.
Another of the things was coming into their direction but it was only half the size of the
dead one. But as it moved they saw it growing in the air. They both discharged their
weapons at the same time, killing it before it would get the same size as the other.
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“What is this?” The comment crossed also Markovitch’s mind as she stepped out of the
corridor and through the door. Zeta squad had moved into a large room where the left
wall was nothing more than glass windows with metal two feet in width separating them.
The windows stretched from the bottom to the top and on the other side only pitch dark
could be seen.
Stepping away from the sliding door, she approached the glass surface and activated an
electro-flare with a push of her thumb while she motioned the other members of her
squad to move forward.
The yellow light turned the inside of the chamber into a kaleidoscope of shadows, as the
shapes of the other soldiers moved in the opposite metal wall. The room was almost
eighty yards in length and at its end there was another door, barely lighted by the flare’s
glow.
Waving the light, Markovitch discovered that the glass was several inches thick and that
the other side was filled with a green tainted liquid where particles could be seen
suspended. Suddenly a pair of bright eyes appeared, attached by the light on her hand but
the aquatic creature quickly disappeared as it realized that the flare wasn’t either a meal
or a mate.
“The underground lake”. She concluded, trying to discern the shape of the fish she had
just seen. She hadn’t realized that they had walked so far to the west until reaching the
edge of the alien base.
Moving away from the window, she followed the cautious pace of the other soldiers as
they crossed the room. Dare and Yu had already reached the middle of the lounge. Then
all of a sudden both troopers dropped to their knees and she mimicked their motions a
second afterwards.
The door at the other end had just opened to reveal the large shape of Muton, whose
massive arms and chest almost occupied the whole width of the entrance, leaving little
space between it and the entrance. The contours of the square barrel of the heavy plasma
it was carrying could also be visible.
It started to react to the presence of humans but before the alien could respond, a couple
of plasma shots hit its body, one of them throwing its shoulder backwards. The weapon
discharged its salvo a moment after as the pain of the injuries made it contract the fingers
on its hand and press the trigger. However the body motion spoiled its aim, sending the
plasma ball to the left of Yu and into the glass.
Releasing a shriek from its mouth that echoed through the entire lounge, the alien
charged forward, hurting from its injuries but still not dead. A laser shot scratched his
right hip, cutting through the green uniform and burning the violet skin underneath.
In response a number of plasma balls sizzled from behind the Muton, one of them hitting
Dare on his knee, with the trooper letting go of a muffled moan but still shooting.
Pulling a grenade from her belt, Markovitch triggered it and sent it in a rolling pin
fashion towards the door over the polished floor. The cylinder rolled down the metal
surface, barely avoiding one edge of the door before detonating on the other side.
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The Muton was already falling down when the fireball from the blast engulfed him. The
explosion also ruined the sliding door, with the smooth edges becoming jagged lines of
alien alloys. Markovitch was about to order her squad to move out when she noticed
something.
A pool of liquid was growing on the ground next to Yu, right on his back.
Looking to the glass she that a stray shot from the firefight had melted the polished
surface and now it had a circular rugged hole. From which cracks were slowing
expanding over the rest of the window.
A cracking sound caught the other soldiers’ attention. “Fall back!” She ordered and Yu
moved to help Dare getting up, putting his free arm over the waist of the injured soldier.
They quickly passed by her and Prune and she was almost starting to move when a
thundering sound was heard, followed by a stream of lake water that gushed from the
area hit by the plasma and hit the opposite wall. The alien glass had finally gave in to the
pressure of millions of gallons from the lake that covered the alien base.
When she reached the door the water was already by her ankles. As she watched the
sliding plates closing after everyone was on the other side, she wondered for how long it
would hold out.
When all of the radio transmissions become suddenly cut off and a white light filled the
area where Third Platoon had used as a forward command post, Johnson knew that
something had happened. On his side, Crossett looked by both directions as if he was
sniffing the air for a scent, although it was impossible since they were on their power
suits. “I don’t like this Colonel”.
A few moments later, a sound of running steps was heard, followed by the appearance of
Sergeant Hopkins, who came from one of the corridors. “Colonel!” He called. “A blast
door just came out of nowhere near my position and closed shut”.
But Johnson wasn’t paying attention to either of them. His mind was filled with reports
being forward to him by the psis that now were the only means to stay in contact with the
other platoons. “Second Platoon has exchanged fire and reports that the lake is flooding
the base”. “Captain Hunt is engaging a group of heavily armed Mutons”. “Fourth is cut-
off by a blast door”.
“Colonel?” Hopkins’ voice finally cut through the hypnotic state he was experiencing and
brought him back to reality. Two miles above, the psis detected his irritation at the loss of
sense of reality that he had just experienced. They immediately started to communicate
with White instead, who found his head suddenly nearly overwhelmed with their
thoughts.
“Hopkins, keep the escape route to the lift clear. White, tell everybody that we need to
find that alien as soon as possible”.
In another section of the base, Captain Jerrel and his platoon were starting to wish that
they hadn’t encountered the aliens. The hovertank, who was an automated flying tank
armed with a plasma cannon, had been assigned point when they had stepped into a huge
room. It was the size of several football fields and it was filled with Elerium engines
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more than twelve feet tall with power conduits spread around the floor. The power plants
were similar to the ones the soldiers had seen before onboard UFOs but their scale was
much bigger and they weren’t emitting the characteristically orange glow from their
upper parts.
The white and blue tank had bought it halfway across the room, after the artificial
intelligence onboard had reported a spotting a group of aliens who had just fired at him.
A second later, the sound of the tank crashing down the ground was the only thing that
Jerrel had heard afterwards. The second salvo from the aliens had burned through the
armor and hit the electronic systems inside the HWP, transforming it into a dead metal
hulk, which now rested next to one of the engines.
That wasn’t good but worse for Jerrel and his soldiers was refraining from shooting the
Ethereals until the psi had checked them with a mind probe to see if it was the alien that
they were searching for. As Jerrel tracked a running Ethereal who was crossing the empty
space between two deactivated engines up ahead, his finger edged impatiently at the
trigger. The psi assigned to his platoon was taking too long, he thought.
It made the hunt very dangerous. As the clearance finally came to kill the alien, it was too
late. The three shots from his heavy plasma missed the Ethereal, who had managed to
reach the cover of the engine.
All across the room, the rest of First Platoon troops were having identical problems.
When the clearance finally came for Private Bradley to kill the Ethereal who was on a
mad rush towards his position, he found out that he couldn’t move.
Bearpaw, his fireteam mate, sensed something wrong and turned to him, after he had
discharged a series of plasma blasts who caught another Ethereal but didn’t kill it.
“Bradley, take the shot!”
The soldier wished that he could do that but a strange force was preventing him although
it didn’t felt like the mind control exerted by the Sectoids. Instead, his arms moved away
from the orange capped figure that was now only a few yards from him, with its hood
covering the head. The alien was moving his limbs and he felt like a dummy on the
Ethereal’s hands. To his surprise he discovered that he could still speak despite being told
that psionics gave full control over the being that was targeted. “I’m being mind-
controlled!” His voice was filled with panic.
Hearing his words, Bearpaw looked back to him after killing the Ethereal that he had
injured before. However he was knocked backwards as if he had hit an invisible wall.
Stumbling, he tried to catch his balance but instead his body was lifted in the air and
thrown towards the metal surface of one engine.
As he watched Bearpaw’s flight in horror, Bradley suddenly discovered that the iron grip
that was holding him had vanished. But before he could do anything to help his mate,
another alien that he had missed brought up its own plasma gun and killed him instantly
with automatic fire.
Moments afterwards, Jerrel discovered that his line had been breached when a plasma
shot carved a hole on the massive engine that he was using for cover, next to his head. He
followed the unexpected direction of the shot and found an Ethereal on his right, where
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two X-Com troopers should have been. With a quick movement he threw the barrel of his
heavy plasma into that direction and filled the space with green fire. However, the speed
of movement didn’t gave him time to aim and the bolts missed the alien, who run for
cover with smoke coming out from a spot on its cape that had been burned by Jerrel’s
shots. To hell with clearance, he thought.
The infiltration from the underground lake into the base was getting serious, Markovitch
realized as her squad entered a corridor where the water was already knee deep. The rest
of her platoon had run into resistance from several groups of Mutons, which were
keeping them occupied, but nothing that would require her assistance, according to the
psi that was making communications with them possible. They hadn’t found yet any alien
officer but for now they were evacuating this section of the base. All of the squads were
converging to into a location whose blast doors that had been blown by blaster bombs to
prevent the X-Com troopers from being completely trapped by the waters.
Dare’s injury to his leg had been treated but he was having trouble keeping up with the
pace of the rest of them. Moving down the corridor, she stopped and looked back at both
troopers as she reached an intersection. Beyond them, Prune was covering their back.
When she turned forwards again something caught her attention. A mist started to come
from the side corridor, flowing over the surface of the water. It increased until suddenly
the liquid next to the intersection started to boil, releasing a column of white vapor that
quickly condensed on the ceiling and walls, falling back afterwards.
As the strange phenomena surprised everyone she raised her hand to order a halt. A
second water column also appeared from the other side of the corridor and placed itself
being the moving first, who was now five feet away from Markovitch.
She had started to retrace her steps, as it kept approaching her.
A darker mass started to be visible to her, submerged under the water, glowing angry red
amongst the bubbles that quickly raised to the surface. Keeping the sight of her plasma
rifle trained on the creature she decided it would be better to have more room between
her squad and those things who had to be extremely hot to provoke such a reaction.
“Let’s get some room”. She called the rest of her squad and she paced backwards until
unexpectedly her back bumped into Yu, who apparently had stopped.
“Captain!” Prune’s voice and the hissing sound coming from his position told her that
there was trouble. As she gave it a quick glance she saw that there was steam completely
obscuring the part of the corridor from which they had came. And it was moving towards
them.
Her senses called it a trap, although the submersible things had yet to make a move at
them. “Let’s get us some room”. She pressed the trigger on her weapon and Yu followed
it with a blast from his own laser rifle.
The green plasma bolt evaporated the surface but the water underneath dissipated most of
the energy, adding it to the thick smoke that already was starting to engulf them.
However it did hit the dark surface of the creature, which stopped for one moment before
resuming its advance. Yu’s shot had no effect at all, with the amplified photons of the
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laser being harmlessly dispersed into a million different directions as they interacted and
bounced off the hydrogen and oxygen atoms of the water.
The private looked hopelessly at his weapon while she was unsure if it was worth to fire
another round. “Let’s go”. She called and started stepping forwards on the intent of
clearing the creatures with the rest of her squad following her.
A couple of strides brought her next to the vapor column, with the steam condensing on
the view port on her helmet and filling it with thick drops that turned into rivulets. But as
her left foot stepped down next to the creature, she suddenly felt a wave of heat burning
through her limb
A flush of pain made it impossible for her to gain support on the leg and she splashed
down the water. As view of the gray walls of the corridor on her eyes was replaced by the
greenness of the infiltrated water she tried to grab something but her hand simply slipped
over the smoothness of the metal walls.
As tried to find the creature, she discovered that she was in a complete different
environment. A sense of uncomfortable warmth in her waist told her where to look for.
The sight of the alien lifeform was growing and almost filled the vision provided by her
faceplate as it kept moving towards her. It was something akin of a sea sponge or a closed
anemone, a mount of dark violet mass and with orange protuberances over its skin where
large air bubbles would form quickly.
On the side facing Markovitch a hole suddenly opened in the surface of the creature
revealing its burning red bowels for one second. Then, a stream of boiling liquid spurted
forwards, in an aquatic slow motion that hit her on the chest.
The same feeling of warmth that she had felt before in the leg invaded her chest and she
screamed and tried to kick the thing away from her. But when the pain that she was
expecting didn’t materialize, Markovitch realized that her chest armor must have hold the
boiling liquid.
Then, in a sudden movement a pair of armored hands gripped her by her armpits and
pulled her out of the water. When she was standing upright again she tried to place
weight on her leg but a slicing pain made her quit. Meanwhile Yu threw his arm over her
waist to help her, while the two other troopers fired plasma rounds at the thing that had
attacked her until finally a gurgling sound was heard coming from under the water and it
stopped to move.
Captain Jerrel was by now trying to think of a way to extract his platoon from the fight
with the Ethereals on the engine room. One of the alien Sectopod tanks had decided to
appear and it had killed Lt. Hanley with his plasma cannons as the soldier was trying to
fall back. But the only exit remaining to them was the large corridor from which they had
stepped into this cave containing the base’s power generators. And a stream of water had
started to come from that direction, meaning that the flood was starting to reach this
section of the base. If they tried to go that way they could found themselves completely
submerged.
Close to him and also using the towering engine for cover, a trooper holding a blaster
launcher fired the weapon. The guided projectile sped around the metal tower, flying for
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a few seconds before detonating against the Sectopod that had killed Hanley. Poking his
head for a look Jerrel saw that the alien tank that was charging into their positions had
been finally turned into scrap by the blast.
However, an armored leg stepped down on its remains, and the contours of the tall
mechanical beast to which it started to be visible over the smoke. “That was the last one
Captain!” The trooper called, dropping his launcher to the ground and going for his belt
for the grenades he had there. “We need laser weapons on the center!” Jerrel called as he
raised his heavy plasma and started to shoot at the alien monster.
To their right Jones hesitated for a moment as he heard the call since he had a laser rifle.
But the sight half-dozen Ethereals who were attacking the right flank made him stay put,
rejoining Pershing as he tried to stop the aliens with his weapon.
Rodriguez was already down on the ground and against a power conduit after taking a hit
to his arm after tossing a grenade at them. He had managed to crawl there and was
fidgeting with his medikit to try to contain the bleeding that had dyed his suit’s arm red.
The group of Ethereals seemed set on killing the humans in this area, moving down the
corridor between the engines in a precise and motion. Jones realized that their assurance
must be so great that they didn’t even bother to take cover as the capped figures walked
down the space separating them from the humans.
“One!” Pershing’s call came and both soldiers stepped out of the engine’s cover at the
same time, both firing at the lead Ethereal. The alien screamed in pain as both shots hit it
but the sound was barely heard by them in the middle of the gunfire and explosions that
filled the chamber with noise. It felt to the floor with its cape smoking and stood there
immobile, with the barrel of his heavy plasma poking out of the cloth.
Both troopers then moved to avoid becoming targets for the other alien’s reaction but
Pershing was a second too late. Jones heard a ‘humpf’ and saw in horror Pershing as he
was thrown spinning after taking two hits on his side, falling to the ground a moment
also.
“Great! Pershing, are you alright?” Movement on the fallen armored figure told him that
he wasn’t dead yet. Checking Rodriguez, he saw that the trooper was trying to insert a
banana shaped clip on his heavy plasma with his left hand while holding the gun between
his knees.
Jones was on the edge of panicking when something upward caught his attention and
made him look on that direction. He raised his arms in an impulse as something big
dropped from the ceiling.
A blue and gray figure landed next to him, bending his knees to absorb the impact with
the ground. As it raised afterwards, Jones’s head followed it until he found himself
looking upwards at a figure that seemed to be more than eight feet in height.
The newly arrived figure turned to face Jones and he became petrified as the sight. It had
a humanoid appearance but the chest and shoulders seemed too large. It was all covered
on armor, with metal around the neck and other places, with the head covered by a sleek
helmet. Jones wondered if he was seeing some sort of power armor being worn by a
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Muton or another alien. However, the visor on the helmet didn’t reveal the face of the
alien, since it only reflected Jones’ own figure.
It also had two strange and massive weapons on his hands, one of which having nearly
the weight of Jones in length. Dropping his arms, he waited for the shot that would most
likely kill him but at that moment he noticed an insignia that the alien had on his chest. It
was a golden X superimposed over a circle. “What the…”
But in the next moment he couldn’t see it anymore as the thing turned away from him,
revealing a back covered with rectangular shapes of unknown electronic controls. It was
now facing the Ethereals, who had started to fire at it.
It moved with a speed that Jones found impossible for its size, although the movements
seemed too mechanical for a man to actually be inside.
The figure fired his right weapon towards the front aliens, releasing a stream of yellow
fire from the barrel that caught the leading Ethereals and set ablaze their capes. It then
directed the torrent of flame towards the two aliens behind as the first pair started to run
and put down the fires that were burning them.
By then the last alien was had started to fire at the thing and Jones raised his laser rifle to
help the newly arrival but he didn’t had a chance to fire.
Watching in marvel, he saw a flight of light darts come out of the figure’s second weapon
and hit the aliens, the shots cutting the leading creatures into ribbons before bouncing
forwards to do the same with the remaining ones. The head of one of the Ethereals rolled
down the floor towards Jones foot. In one second the five Ethereals were reduced to piles
of scraps of clothing and alien flesh.
“Hey….” He started to call the guy who had just saved his life but the metal warrior was
already striding down the corridor, towards the direction from which the aliens had came.
It disappeared on the darkness of the engine room.
Barely managing to hold the weight of his heavy plasma on his left hand, Rodriguez got
up from beyond the conduit and readied himself to fire but stood down after seeing the
dead aliens. “You killed them all Jones?” His voice showed bafflement mixed with
admiration.
“Rodriguez, you’re not going to believe what I just saw”. Then he moved to help
Pershing.
Where are we? While waiting for the psi’s response Markovitch called for Krenon and
Digriz to set up a defense perimeter and meet her at the upper level of the alien barracks
that they had occupied. She looked down the corridor that seemed to lead into nowhere
and proceeded through the door into the small room where the lift to overhead was
located.
After several minutes of frantic rushing to run away from the flooding her platoon had
gathered at a base section that seemed clear of the waters. The alien barracks had been
found before in the New Mexico base and they consisted of four smaller rooms that
would cover each a different direction while lifts on all of them allowed access to an
upper level that connected the four defense stations. They had found the suspension
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chambers on the level above empty of any aliens or equipment and were using them to
regroup and treat the injured.
Captain. The voice of the psi appeared on her mind as she stepped out of the lift. Your
position is estimated two klicks to the northeast of the Colonel’s. Digriz and Krenon
appeared and moved towards her but she motioned them to wait.
What’s the status of the other teams? Have they found the alien yet? The response came
negative a moment afterwards.
Turning back to her officers, she then asked. “What’s the status?”
“The fire team has disappeared. They were last seen ten minutes ago and have not
responded to any of our calls. And we have two injured, that’s besides you, Captain”. She
stepped on her leg. Most of the pain was gone although she had a large blister right below
her knee, where something very hot had burned her skin. “Well the aliens can’t count me
out yet”.
“And there’s something on the eastern corridor. Bragg has spotted aliens moving down a
side corridor thirty yards away”.
“More Mutons?” Krenon shook his helmet. “No, Ethereals”.
Another alien nest to check. And this time they would have to be careful with whom they
would be shooting at. “Tell everybody to lock and load. We need to get moving”.
Less than a minute afterwards she was watching as a trooper raced down the corridor
Krenon had mentioned, followed by another. The passage ended in a chamber where the
walls of a room could be seen. Her heart nearly stopped as she saw both troopers stopped
at a corridor right before the chamber and checked it for aliens.
After a moment the clear sound was heard and they moved to guard the entrance to the
chamber. “Digriz reports the same at his corridor”. Krenon spoke in a whisper. “Let’s
move out”. She ordered and together with Krenon and another soldier they started to
slowly approach the position of the other troopers.
Step by step they came nearer and looking to her left as they reached the location she
could see armored figures on the parallel corridor that also gave access to the chamber.
When she looked at the inside of the chamber her heart raced. A command center!
She had seen the arrangement before at the New Mexico and for a moment was happy
that the aliens didn’t innovative as they designed their bases. On the middle of the black
walled chamber and occupying most of the space there was a metal bunker with a large
door on its middle with a corridor encircled it. The problem was that they had approached
it by the wrong side: they were facing the opposite side of the door, meaning that they
would have to go around.
One of the leading troopers moved inside and rushed towards a recess on a corner of the
chamber that shielded him from the side corridor that encircled the bunker. A moment
later a plasma shot flew down and hit the wall to the right of Markovitch. “There’s a
Sectopod up ahead!” Someone warned on the radio.
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“Franks, bring that heavy laser there!” Krenon ordered one of the troopers who were on
the back. The alien tanks that had been designated Sectopods by the scientists, had been
found to have a vulnerability on their alien electronic systems to the lasers used by X-
Com.
Stepping into the corridor, the soldier pumped a pair of golden laser shots into the legged
tank that was at the other end of the chamber. The first beam missed altogether, hitting
the black wall behind it but the second hit it squarely on the red ‘nose’ it had.
The machine lumped forwards, with its front hitting the metal floor. However the soldier
didn’t had time to enjoy his kill since an Ethereal popped out of cover and blasted him
backwards with a full automatic plasma blast from the weapon it was carrying. Clear!
Markovitch barely noticed the psi’s message as she fired back at the alien, hitting it on
the shoulder.
Using both his hands Krenon pulled the fallen soldier out of the corridor while she
continued to provide cover for him. After inspecting him from a moment he shook his
head.
“Digriz, what’s the situation there?” The short-range radios were working again, much to
her relief. “Full of Ethereals. None of the ones we spotted is our target, according to the
psi. A..”
A loud blast came from that direction and both she and Krenon felt the ground shook.
It told them that the aliens were using blaster launchers. When Digriz’s voice came a
second later she felt relief. “A joker just detonated a beebee up ahead. We’re alright but
we can’t break through”.
“We need ideas people” She watched in almost desperation until her eyes stopped on the
outside wall of the bunker. “Krenon! Burn a hole there!” She pointed at an area on the
middle of the corridor. “Digriz! I need two people here: one with a heavy plasma and
another with a stun launcher ready! Yu, get your stun launcher ready also!”
The Sergeant nodded and moved down the corridor towards the location that she had
pointed, Yu followed him, putting his laser rifle slung over his shoulder and taking out
the launcher from his backpack.
Looking at the body of Franks, she saw the grip of a launcher coming from his backpack.
Gripping it, she pulled the large muzzle of the stubby weapon free and turned to the
remaining troopers before racing to join Krenon and Yu. “Keep your heads down!”
When she reached the area a nearly brightening green light suddenly illuminated the four
gathered soldiers. After one second it suddenly went off and both Krenon and the other
soldier with a heavy plasma kicked a portion of the wall who suddenly gave in, revealing
the inside of the bunker.
A series of deadly plasma shots came from the inside fired at close range but only one hit
Krenon. They were followed by a strange whining sound of as both Yu and Bartfast fired
their launchers at the capped figure that was now visible standing inside the bunker and
holding a heavy plasma. When the stun balls detonated they released a shock wave that
gave Markovitch a feeling of dizziness but she quickly regained her balance.
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Krenon had been hit and had one hand placed over his stomach but with the other he
grabbed one jagged edge of the hole and pulled, further enlarging the hole that they had
just carved. As Sharkey moved inside, she quickly followed him through the hole passing
through Yu and Bartfast, who were reloading their launchers.
Stepping inside, Markovitch found herself in front of a large door, in the middle of a
corridor where two capped figures could be seen laying on the ground, one with its
ghostly face revealed but with the eyes closed. No other aliens could be seen. Are any of
these the one we are looking for? The response came negative a minute later from the psi.
By then Yu and Bartfast had also moved inside. Krenon was also trying to move his bulk
over the five feet hole carved on the wall. She motioned Sharkey to stay and guard the
corridor and pointed to the door with her thumb to Yu and Bartfast. Both troopers
nodded.
With a hand motion Yu activated the motion sensor that activated the large door and it
slid upwards, revealing the inner chamber of the bunker. Yellow light illuminated the
three soldiers, who stood with the launchers ready on both hands, coming from the floor,
where a large alien lift could also be seen, emitting in a reddish glow.
The room was empty of aliens and there were only circular gold cylinders placed upon
the walls. She raised her index finger and dropped it a number of times and both troopers
moved inside.
The three of them were carefully approaching the lift, step by step. Then, halfway a
plasma shot flew from the upper level of the chamber, through the empty hole of the lift
and nearly hit Yu. The trooper raised his weapon in response and fired. Again a muffled
sound was heard coming from the higher level as both she and Bartfast raced forwards.
Reaching the lift in a couple of large paces she started to ascend, together with Bartfast
Their ascension lasted less than a second and they found themselves on the upper level.
She had seen the wrecked command center at New Mexico and now she felt a bit of
amazement as she stood in the middle of this one. It was larger than what she could
remember, with walls filled with large electronic displays were strange green symbols
were glowing against a dark background, beyond violet several violet consoles.
But she had no time to notice anything as a plasma shot flew past her and hit Sharkey,
sending the trooper crashing into the ground. In response she directed her launcher at the
red capped figure that stood next to one of the consoles holding a heavy plasma.
Just before she fired a voice itched on her mind. Captain! That’s the one!
The stun ball missed it by an inch and detonated against the side of the console.
She saw the alien staggering as the shock wave hit him but still stood up, apparently not
completely stunned.
Reaching for a reload on her belt, she discovered in horror that she hadn’t brought any
ammunition for the launcher when she removed it from the fallen trooper.
The alien’s hood had fallen backwards revealing a skeletal face who now looked at her
with dead eyes. She sensed that it had figured how the problem with her weapon and felt
a sick satisfaction emanating from it through her psi senses.
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The rifle! She remembered that she still had her plasma weapon hanging from her
shoulder but before she could react, a cold invisible hand engulfed her right arm from
taking out the weapon.
The Ethereal was using his psionic powers on her, she realized as she painfully struggled
against the force, both physically and mentally. Her arm started to move and the alien
shrieked, apparently completely surprised at her own psionic abilities. But as she moved
her rifle into position it decided to use its heavy plasma against her.
However, a sizzling round flew past Markovitch and hit the Ethereal squarely on its
chest. The round exploded, sending a flash that sent a wave of dizziness through her
while the alien staggered on his feet before dropping the weapon from his hands and
falling to the brightly-lit ground.
As Yu came near Markovitch she told motioned him towards the unconscious alien. “Get
him. He’s the one we want”. The trooper moved and grabbed the creature by its robe,
pulling it up to his shoulder as if carrying a sack of potatoes. At the same time she pulled
out her medikit and started attending to Bartfast, who was trying to get up. Tell the
Colonel that we have him!
Then, when the other trooper had recovered they started spreading grenades across the
room. The sound of the explosives going off and destroying the alien control center
reached them as they were crossing the hole on the wall.
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Chapter Twenty-Nine – “It’s full of them!”
November 13th, 2001
Central America
The X-Com base at South America had detected an alien infiltration mission heading
towards Colombia. It consisted of half a dozen of UFOs crewed by Sectoids, with most of
the craft being smaller and medium craft with two Battleships on the mix. The base had
immediately scrambled its lone Firestorm interceptor and two conventional fighters to
deal with the smaller craft and had called Mother One for reinforcements.
Sitting on the pilot’s seat, Harris was trying to get a picture of the aerial battle that was
raging hundreds of miles away from him. Major Prescott had immediately launched him
to assist in the confrontation but he was wondering what good would the X-Terminator
do when he arrived. One alien Large Scout and a Supply Ship had already been downed.
However, a conventional fighter had been shot down by a large UFO with the pilot
failing to bail out.
The artificial image that he was seeing displayed in front of his eyes only showed the
darkness of night, with the cloud cover glowing white below the X-Terminator. He was
speeding towards his target at the craft’s maximum speed, more than four thousand miles
per hour. Switching his attention to the sides of the display unit he saw that his plasma
cannon blinked a green “READY” while the words of the fusion ball launcher showed
instead a yellow “STAND BY”.
He was about to engage the Terror Ship that had earlier shot down the F-22. From his
previous experience he knew that a number of solid hits would be enough to bring down
the craft. And he was thinking of better uses for the powerful fusion missiles anyhow.
“Firestorm Two-One. Target has slowed down and is hovering. Engage at will”. Good,
Harris thought as he moved arms to adjust his approach vector towards the coordinates of
the first UFO.

To Johnson, the clean up of the alien base buried two miles underneath was over. The
Challenger had already took off towards Area 51, carrying the injured soldiers and the
captured Ethereal Commander, who was still unconscious. The plane was due to arrive in
a little more than half an hour and Dr. Mantell was getting ready the special containment
facility that had been built and used for the Sectoid leader.
All of the platoons had managed to reach the lift towards the safety of surface, although
in one case they had to use blaster bombs to blow the containment doors that the aliens
had dropped to contain the flooding. Most likely there were still live aliens at the massive
base, in sections that hadn’t been filled by water but they hardly mattered any more. The
control section of the base had been destroyed and the troops guarding the lift had
reported that it had stopped to function an hour ago, becoming only a pit two miles deep
that even the aliens would have trouble to climb its empty walls.
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Standing next to the Avenger, Johnson watched as the troops and the hovertanks who had
survived the assault boarded it and the Skyrangers. Crossett was also standing next to
him, still holding his heavy plasma. “I could order you to relax and put down that thing”,
he told him.
The armored shoulders of Crossett’s power suit almost lift an inch as the man dismissed
the comment. However he turned away but still kept the weapon ready. Johnson gave him
one last look before facing towards Captain Jerrel, who was approaching him with tired
steps.
“Colonel, the squad guarding the lift could use a replacement but I have no men
available”.
“They will have to wait. We’re almost done here and we can use one of the Skyrangers to
pick them up”. Jerrel rocked backward and forward and Johnson realized that he must be
on the edge of mental and physical exhaustion. “Yes sir”. Raising his head he looked
back at him. “Colonel, can I ask you something?”
When Johnson nodded in affirmative, he looked hesitantly, unsure of how to say it.
“After this mission I’m starting to loose count of the number of men and women that I’ve
lost since I’ve started fighting the aliens”. He looked towards the distance, to the frozen
white landscape. “I just don’t know..:.”.
“What Jerrel?”
“Was this whole thing worth it sir? I mean, capturing that son of a bitch down there?
We’ve lost an entire platoon worth of soldiers doing it. Henley, Bradley and Bearpaw are
dead, with Pershing having fifty- percent chances of making it. And more and more it
seems that we are going nowhere and the aliens only get bigger no matter what we do”.
Johnson wanted to tell him about Mars and the importance of the alien that they had just
captured but he couldn’t. “It will be Jerrel. Trust me”.
Over the Andes Mountains, South America

Locking his hand into a fist and pressing on it with his thumb Harris fired another plasma
volley at the already battered Terror Ship that was showing on the display. The craft was
more than thirty miles away but he had increased the magnification so that he could see it
falling down the sky towards the terrain five thousand feet below.
The UFO shook again when the energized particles hit its main body, with metal
fragments releasing from the fuselage. Harris knew that it was good as dead and if there
were still any live aliens inside, the fall into the mountains below would kill him.
Pushing backwards his left hand, the sensors built into the gloves detected the motion and
ordered the Elerium engine to bring the craft into a halt. The fingers on his other hand
started dancing over the control panel at his waist level as he checked the remaining
Elerium on his craft with his eyes. He was still at more than seventy per cent fuel left, he
realized with satisfaction, as his hand called up the data on his next target from the
central base.
But as he searched for the arrow that would indicate him the direction of another UFO, he
found that he could only see the indicators for speed, altitude and direction projected
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upon the liquid crystal display. “This is Firestorm Two-One, I’ve downed the Terror Ship
and require another target”. He called on the radio and waited for an answer.
The voice of the operator replied to him afterwards. “Firestorm Two-One, return to base.
The area has been cleared of hostiles”.
“What??” He couldn’t believe what he had just heard since he knew that there were still
two Battleships in the area. Controlling his anger, Harris tried again. “Base, there are still
two UFOs in the area. Have they been intercepted?”
“Negative Firestorm Two-One. All of the remaining fighters have been recalled also”.
Banging his right hand into the metal surface of the Firestorm, Harris swore. He had to
quickly bring it back since the craft started to move sideways as the control mechanism
interpreted the motion and translated it to be a command for the engine.
They weren’t even going to try to bring down the Battleships! The commander of the
interception was sticking to the damn stupid rules and ordering the fighters to get back
and leave the UFOs unscathed.
Violently shaking his head, Harris considered his options. The controller would never
transmit him the information he needed to engage one of the Battleships. The Firestorms
had been equipped with simple radar systems since there wasn’t much space available on
the craft, unlike the Avengers, which had state of the art detection systems. And even
those were only used for navigational purposes. The pilot depended on ground centers to
give him the information he needed.
However, there was something that he could try to do. Bringing up an overhead display
of the area he recalled the last indications of the Battleships that he had heard over the
radio. It would be a long shot, especially if the UFOs had made changes on their bearings
but it could be possible.
Minutes passed, as he cleared the Andes Mountains and moved in a northwestern course.
A number of times he moved down up the cloud cover to seek there for the alien craft.
Once he misidentified a civilian 737 for it but fortunately he decided to zoom before he
fire any of his weapons.
Finally he found what he was looking in Venezuela. The UFO apparently had just
finished disgorging his belly of aliens and was starting to return back after having
accomplished its mission. The radar picked the huge craft at more than a 110 miles range,
with its speed slightly increasing and gaining altitude. Both the Firestorm and the UFO
were already above the cloud cover and heading towards the deep light blue when Harris
fired one of his fusion missiles at the alien craft.
With the help of the tracking devices carried by the Firestorm, his aim was good and the
fusion ball detonated only twenty yards away of the craft. The following explosion made
the impossible to happen. The huge five footed craft actually shook in the skies.
Something that Harris had never seen been done on the few reported engagements before
the prohibition. These craft only had the plasma cannons to strike at the craft. And it put
them at a great hazard, since the UFO had a combination of plasma weapons and
something similar to X-Com’s fusion missile, making it capable of the destroy the
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smaller craft with a couple of its shots. In any of the two confrontations the Firestorm
ever managed to seriously damage the craft before being destroyed.
And now, as he pressed his thumb into his locked fist again, he knew that he could bring
the alien craft down.
The second round also hit true, however it only detonated more than a hundred yards to
its still intact side. As a result of the spread of the blast of the fusion missile, the
destructive shock wave that hit the Battleship was considerately less than the results of
the previous shot. The armor plating designed by the aliens endured most of the blast
although there were reported hull breaches. The aliens quickly sealed them before the
openings could make more damage to the insides of the ship.
Meanwhile their counterattack had already reached Harris’ Firestorm, in the form of a
double explosion of plasma beam and E-115 explosion that blanked momentarily the
entire length of his virtual display unit. Leaving him in the utter dark as he motioned his
arms in the air, trying to control the spinning motion that the blast gave to the craft.
A couple of moments later he was finally capable to assess the damage suffered by his
craft. The sensors were reporting major malfunctions, especially on the detection sensors
and transmission equipment: he found it that he could still hear the X-Com’s combat
channel. However he found out that he couldn’t transmit anymore before using the
normal frequencies: his hyperwave radio was disabled. The fusion cannon also was
offline but that didn’t matter to Harris too much since he had run out of rounds for it.
That only left his plasma cannon to finish the craft, providing that he could dodge the
craft’s next counterattack. Harris knew that the next shot would kill him: he would never
be able to bail out in safety if the next shot only damaged the Firestorm more and not kill
him right away.
He found the UFO by a visual scan of the horizon, already starting to look as if it was in
the edge of the black that started to mark the exit from the atmosphere to the cold void
that surrounds all planets on the Solar System. However, to his dismay, the craft seemed
to be gaining distance at him, even though he had the Elerium drive at full power to try to
place the large disk back into his remaining weapons’ range. As his determination rose,
he failed to notice when a loose paper flew from one of his flightsuit pockets. And it
wandered off in the zero gravity that was slowing being felt and reflected the outside
environment.

“Colonel, Captain Clark is asking you to join him at the front”. Johnson was surprised by
the request forward by the co-pilot who was shivering in front of him, standing with only
his flight suit in the middle of the extreme cold weather.
Following him, he climbed the ramp of the Avenger and crossed the main section of the
craft until he finally reached the hatch door that connected it to the craft’s cockpit.
“Thanks for coming Colonel”. He pointed to the co-pilot’s chair next to him. “Please
have a seat. Mother One wants to talk to you”. Clark passed him an earset after Johnson
managed to put the bulk of his power suit on the seat and put it over his head. “Johnson
here”.
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“Colonel, this is Colonel Paqua. We have a situation here. One of your fighter pilots has
just gone rogue and has performed an unauthorized attack on a Battleship”. The name of
the pilot came immediately to Johnson’s mind. “It is Harris?”
“Yes. He was assisting the South American base at fending off an infiltration made by the
aliens and had been ordered to return to base. Instead, he managed to discover the
location of one of the Battleships deployed by the aliens and has engaged it”.
“I’m going to bust his head the minute he lands back at the base. Where is he now?”
“That’s the problem Colonel. Apparently he wasn’t pleased enough to damage the UFO.
A radar station on Italy has picked both craft exiting the Earth’s atmosphere and going
into space!”
Earth’s orbit
When Harris finally noticed the zero gravity inside the Firestorm, his left hand fingers
flashed on the keyboard in front of him. He had never been instructed that these files
even exist and the higher commands would never have allowed that he was looking now
at the instructions that popped on his view. Somebody at the software development must
have made a major screw-up: typing some commands in succession, he diverted a
fraction of the reactor’s output into the creation of a miniature gravity field around his
craft, centered on his feet. He immediately felt back the height of them. The instruction
had been specifically designed in case the Firestorms went outside of the Earth’s
atmosphere. Only then Harris realized what sort of pressure must have been made by the
Council for Illyuschenko to forbid their use against Battleships. The dates on these files
predated on more than three months the order set the ban. The General was probably
dying that he couldn’t use the Firestorms against the Battleships. But he also had heard
that the Russian was strange, of the kind that actually cared about their men. That had
gone against the stereotypes of Soviet officers that Harris had listened to more than
twenty years. Sometimes he would prefer that that impression from him was false and he
was nothing more like a butcher like himself.
Johnson, on the other hand was more natural, the kind of officer that was only trying to
do his job and that sounded a lot weaker attitude. However, Johnson’s actions had taken
Harris to respect him, although he preferred a more aggressive attitude. Pity that the
Colonel couldn’t decide to be more hostile in military actions like he was being at the
radio transmissions that he was hearing from them.
He had ignored the first call, the Firestorm and the UFO already in space, with the craft
looking as if it wanted to circle Earth. An extra display showed Harris the view
underneath and he recalled the first thrill he had the first he had ever taken the controls of
a plane and flied. Continents and seas would pass by, sometimes covered by clouds.
When he flicked the radio on again he heard Johnson’s voice again. “Harris! Get back to
base! That is an order!”
He chose to ignore him and kept his concentration into the point of light ahead of him. As
both of them passed the Middle East he realized what was the UFO’s destination: it was
flying straight to the Moon. Checking his fuel reserves he became amazed of how the rate
of consumption of Elerium on the engine had dropped.
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Automatically he decided to check the airspeed, or now his space speed. He found it
amazing that he was traveling at more than a hundred million miles per hour with the
speed still increasing as there was none of the air attrition of the Earth’s atmosphere. Still
he couldn’t tell if he had E-115 enough to go to the Moon and get back. I didn’t matter:
he only needed to get there and close enough to that UFO.
Moon’s Far Side

Inside the alien fleet’s commanding ship, an Ethereal Commander looked at the Muton
next to him on the command bridge. The massive and muscular alien was clad in red
clothing, instead of the green that they used. They were both standing at the middle of the
craft’s bridge and the Muton looked in surprise at the other being.
The Ethereal had been warned directly by other members of its species of the Sol Three’s
craft that was on a path directly to the location of the fleet. When the general quarters
warning was transmitted to all crewmembers he was already aware and designing a
formula to reply to the action. But the fact that it was something that he never had
expected confused him momentarily. The same sensation that had only come once: when
he had heard the news about the loss of the base in Antarctica.
It was something that the creature dismissed quick, however. And in response, four
Battleships that were parked in several locations on the Moon’s orbit started to move
from their positions on the fleet.
Moon’s orbit
The first warning that Harris had about the presence of the four additional craft was a
blast from a Battleship’s weapons that detonated just barely outside of the damaging
range. The Firestorm shook to one side but he easily controlled it and kept his chase of
the damaged UFO. At the same time he activated other views of space surrounding the
craft and discovered two of the attackers. They had passed his position and now were
racing to catch him on the range of their weapons.
He still had some seconds left before they could gain enough distance to fire.
And, much to his surprise he saw that the injured Battleship was slowing down. In three
seconds between both craft diminish enough so that he fired his plasma cannon. The
green round cut through the damaged section of the UFO like a razor sharp blade. One
Elerium engine was completely destroyed and the upper level suffered a critical structure
stress as the vacuum of space wrecked havoc inside the ship. The aliens on that level
were completely sucked into space and the pilots who died would quite powerless to
prevent the catastrophe that happened. The rest of the Elerium engines suffered an
overload. Powerless and devoid of any control, the Battleship started to follow towards
the Moon as the gravity of the satellite was already exerting its attraction here.
Sure of his kill, Harris finally broke the chase leaving him now more room to avoid the
blasts of the four pursuing Battleships. He brought his craft closer to the surface of the
room in a series of tight turns. Flying less than a hundred feet above a cratered landscape
that was barren of any oxygen he managed to get some room between him and the
Battleships as he dodged the walls of gigantic craters. After some seconds he noticed that
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he had flown into the far side of the satellite. Most of the features on the ground turned
black as the Moon’s body obscured the light coming from the Sun.
When he finally looked up to check for a possible change of course back to Earth,
providing that he could gain some more distance of the Battleships, he became paralyzed.
“My God, it’s full of them!” The comment came from his open mouth, as he was
dumbstruck by the sight of the alien fleet parked on the Moon’s orbit. Hundreds, maybe
thousands of artificial lights could be seen, adding to the stars already visible and turning
it into a view of a packed dense star field. And, on the middle of it a large shape could be
seen just if as the Moon had gained a satellite shaped like a cigar that was several
kilometers in length.
He realized that he was seeing the alien Mothership, probably the first human to do so
although he had no knowledge of the thousands of abductees that had been already been
brought onboard. Then a blast from one of the UFOs detonated next to the Firestorm and
destroying most of the internal systems of the fighter, turning his whole world into
darkness as the craft went down crashing towards the Moon’s cratered surface.
Upper Atmosphere, Earth

“I don’t care if I’m taking also an unnecessary risk Col. Paqua! Right now there’s one of
my men fighting out there on the Moon. The least I can do is give him some backup. And
I don’t intent to get in the middle of the alien fleet, even if I’m flying an Avenger craft!”
That phrase of the Colonel relieved Clark, who shared the same opinion of the Colonel.
He wanted to get there and help Harris, but the man had done it to himself and clearly
wasn’t expecting to get back. Even he had tried to call him on the radio. Whatever Harris
wanted to do it was completely the man’s business, even a personal matter.
“Park us on Earth’s orbit!” Clark and the co-pilot both looked at the Colonel, who stood
behind and in the middle of them.
“Sir, what do mean by Earth’s orbit? It could be anywhere from here to a million more
minds. It even includes the Moon”.
“Park it here then!” The snap came quick from Johnson and made both pilots turn
forwards and comply with his orders. “As long as we stay here Paqua won’t complain
anymore. We have decided both not to even bring this discussion to Illyuschenko
although he will undoubtedly know about the whole affair afterwards”. Acting upon the
commands given by Clark, the Avenger stopped its motion towards the blackness of
space, with the anti-gravity Elerium engine holding the craft pointed towards the large
white disk of the satellite. They stood waiting in the cockpit. “Mother one is calling
again. A telescope has spotted the Firestorm approaching the Moon for a couple of
seconds before losing it”.
A couple of minutes later Harris last transmission was heard by Johnson, after a
communications satellite had picked it up coming from the far side. It was a streak of
luck that the satellite had been in position to receive any transmissions from that area.
Johnson decided to wait to see if anymore was heard.
They stood in station for two hours but never saw any craft coming from the Moon or
heard any transmission back from the X-Terminator, as it said the insignia painted on the
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saucer-shaped fighter. After that period had passed Johnson ordered the Avenger to fly
back to Area 51. As Clark complied with the order he said goodbye to Harris, hoping that
the other pilot had finally now found some peace.
November 21st, 2001

The air of the underground secret facility seemed to have turned down a couple of
degrees although it would be impossible due to the closed ventilation system. Still, as
number Seven moved down its darkened corridors he felt that the temperature inside the
secret facility had quite cooled since the last time he was there.
Moving along the facility, he hoped that he wouldn’t face any of the hybrids that
composed its crew complement or, even worse, one of the aliens that sometimes would
be assigned as liaisons. Although they were supposed to be restricted to certain areas, the
creatures just couldn’t be trusted to do exactly as they were supposed. For that matter
every inch of the base was under constant surveillance by thousands of security cameras
and motion detectors. Too much inside needed to be hidden from the prying eyes of any
intruders or of any alien that decided to ignore the agreement.
However, as he stopped by a heavy blast door he reached the only place inside the facility
that wasn’t under any type of surveillance. The motion of his legs hadn’t fully stopped
when the electromagnetic mechanism that controlled the door silently opened it to let him
inside. Looking upwards he saw the rectangular shape of a camera, pointing directly at
him with a steady red light close to the lens.
Stepping inside, a small corridor in front of him became suddenly lit by neon lights built
into its sides, floor and ceiling. As he moved across it he felt a small tingle on his skin all
over his body. There was another smaller door at the end of the corridor but this time it
didn’t open immediately.
A minute passed and his impatiently and tension started to increase. He looked for any
knob or bell but the metal wall was completely smooth. Looking around at the walls he
found them also empty of any buttons so he decided to step outwards and gesture at the
camera. Only to find that the outer door had already closed silently, leaving him trapped.
A touch of panic started to frighten him caused by the fact that he had never been told of
what had happened to his predecessors on the group. Well, at least it wasn’t plain spoken,
but everyone with two inches of a forehead could figure it out. But he dismissed those
thoughts. He had very important information to present to number Two; he spoke to
himself as a reassurance.
But a stroke of doubt made his fears grow even worse. Could it be that his information
was already late? That he had been deemed as a liability for the project and had willingly
placed himself into the wolf’s mouth by coming to this location?
His face turned serious as he dropped any attempt to try to hide his fear. He considered
trying to open the outer door in front of him and attempt to reach one of the entrances.
But his logic told him that it would be a waste of effort although he couldn’t resign to
death in the next minutes.
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Seven started to wonder how he would die.
Suddenly the interior neons went out, leaving him on a sea of darkness that made him
turn his head on all directions in panic. But as he looked a second time to the inner door,
he saw a thin light defining its shape that slowly increased as it opened. Approaching it
carefully he took a step into the inner room.
The chamber was large; all covered with red and gold drape curtains that hid the
bluntness of the rock walls. Number Two was standing on its middle, examining an
object on his hands close to glass display cases that hung on the air, suspended by anti-
gravity Elerium devices. He looked at Seven’s direction and smiled but the younger man
didn’t felt any true sympathy on the grin. Still, it somehow gave him a sign of
reassurance that he might not be killed today.
Pointing a statue-like object towards Seven, Two spoke as if he was holding a treasure:
“Isn’t it a beauty?”
Looking at it, Seven noticed that it represented a human figure with a snake’s head,
painted in white, orange and ochre tones. Its arms were crossed over its chest, holding
baton like objects. Instead of legs it had a long tail, coiled underneath a massive torso and
it was wearing a white and gold intricate headdress. Some of its edges of the statue had
been worn out, including an arm that that been broken at the elbow. “Egyptian?” He
asked casually, trying to relax.
“Close but no”. Two placed it back into the weightless display case, where it stood
straight on the air. “Actually predates the clumsy Pharaonic civilization”. Giving him a
stare he spoke in an almost harmlessly fashion. “But we’re not here to talk of archeology
are we?”
Almost jumping backwards, Seven tried to control himself and think of an appropriate
answer. He failed miserably in both and hesitated several times before starting to
articulate any words.
As he begun to mumble, Two spoke, with his voice elevated one tone. “Speak out! If I
wanted you killed I would have done it by now!”
“There’s unusual activity at the X-Com base”. His response came hesitantly.
Two’s attitude was one of nuisance. “Such as?”
“Over the past month there has been a number of indications that a top secret mission is
being planned. Apparently only Johnson is privy to the nature of such a mission. None of
the other officers seems to know anything about it”.
“What does that matter? Soon, they will be crushed. Anything else?” Taking a deep
breath, Seven murmured what could be the words that doomed him. “And Williams is
alive”.
Silence only greeted him as Two’s eyes showed a blink of surprise. “I trust that you are
sure about that information or you will joining him soon”.
“I have confirmation from my own sources inside Area 51. Apparently since the attempt
he managed to stay out of sight but he was spotted during the attack that destroyed a
portion of the X-Com base in Nevada”.
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He started to move towards his desk with determination. “You have done well to inform
this to me personally. Tell your men never to let Williams out of their sight or both you
and them will pay for it. Wait for further instructions”.
Nodding towards Three, Seven still felt compelled to ask a question. “And what about
this mission? I heard our friends have been hit hard on Antarctica and that one of X-
Com’s craft even tried to attack their main fleet on the Moon”.
“Inconsequential. They can’t distract us. Now it’s the time to cut all loose ends. And the
ones that are out of our reach…. Well, our friends are already dealing with those…”. His
voice went trailing, leaving the threat unspoken. “We should concern ourselves more
about our own affairs. I’ve received a communication from one of our associates: it
seems that China is about to make their move”.
“This soon?” Seven’s voice showed concerned. “According to the plan this is two months
before the scheduled. Four should know that”.
“The Chinese leaders are growing impatient. In no doubt our friends are beyond this turn
of events and have pushed them into action. But don’t fear: we will be ready”.
November 24th, 2001

Standing at his office Number Two witnessed the smoke that still raced upwards from the
parts of the city that were still burning from the alien attack five days ago. The whole
town had been covered with a smog cloud since then and the heat of the fires was
preventing any clouds to pass over by and help with their rain in the fire fighting that was
going along.
In spite of a vigorous effort put by the Royal Air Force and X-Com two of the alien
Battleships had managed to break through the aerial defenses and deployed their cargo of
heavily armed Mutons. They were stopped in a couple of hours after the base on Mother
One had deployed all of its available troops but they had enough time to wreck havoc on
the city. The television sets were constantly passing images of the burning of Parliament
building who now was nothing more that a smoking wreck.
Looking through the window, Two recalled a discussion that he once had concerning free
will. Even if he had the means to avoid the attack on his city would he do it? The sound
of the incoming call distracted him and he moved back to his desk, seating down before
accepting the transmission.
The wall on front of his desk turned active and showed the face of Number Eight from a
location on the United States. He seemed concerned and proceeded to the matter that was
bothering him without further delay. “There’s something strange going on Area 51.
Johnson, Robinson and a number of other high-ranking officers are scheduled to leave the
base for a meeting with Illyuschenko”.
Two already knew what it was. He knew about the capture of the Ethereal Commander at
Antarctica and its subsequent interrogation. And he also knew that the alien had revealed
a great secret to X-Com. “I’m aware of it”. He replied.
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“X-Com seems to be planning a major operation from the indications I have. We should
call an emergency meeting to discuss this”.
He shook his head as he had already taken a decision about what should be done. This
would be the right opportunity he had seen it the moment he was informed. The situation
couldn’t be better for it. As Eight heard what he wanted to do, the other man’s face
showed a little puzzlement.
After he finished hearing it, he asked, trying to hide his skepticism. “Are you sure of
what you want to do?”
“Yes”. He said it certain of fact. Some decisions would have to be taken, no matter the
cost. He had been informed previously of the raid on London but had decided to remain
in the city, knowing that there might be a chance that he got in the middle of the fighting
by accident. One way or the other the attack was going to happen. It was better to be at
the front to try to steer what came afterwards. “Bring him in”.
November 25th, 2001

The UNSS Challenger Avenger craft was slowing descending into an artificial opening
into the ground set in a clearing in the middle of the trees. The landing gear had already
been deployed and the green and red beacons built into the wings of the Avenger were
flashing, filling the area with an aerie light. Using its anti-gravity drive, the pilot carefully
guided the plane down, with the weapon pods housing the plasma and fusion weapons
built into the wings of the Avenger a good feet away from the metal doors.
When it finally cleared the entrance, the pilot carefully moved the Challenger inside the
massive underground hangar. Following the instructions that were given to him by a
flight controller that was on the ground; he landed the craft at the end of a flight line of
eight Avengers and Skyrangers.
The Avengers were the most impressive, their size nearly the double of the venerable
Skyrangers. The older transport planes could only be differentiated by the insignia they
sported, telling from which base they had came from. But the spacecraft’s origin could be
told by their official names: Protector, Valiant, Defender and the Challenger.
The Skyrangers had a more streamlined appearance than the one of their advanced
cousins, which had a more bulky fuselage, with the wings, central body and bridge
simply connected between themselves. But the size of the Avengers, which nearly
doubled the length of the Skyrangers and the alieness given by the circular bulge on the
middle of their main body made them more impressive to see.
All of the planes and spacecraft had made the travel between their home base and Mother
One, carrying X-Com’s regional commanders for their most important meeting since the
unit had been formed.
Both the pilot and the ground crew were unaware of that. They could tell that something
big was about to happen, since they had never witnessed such a concentration of military
craft and of the top brass but the rumors were scarce. Some were correct in linking it to
the recent success in Antarctica, claiming that X-Com was about to launch operations
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against the alien bases that had been detected elsewhere on Earth on the countries that
had already been infiltrated. Another story said that a massive fleet was being readied to
attack the aliens’ craft stationed in orbit on the far side of the Moon. Both of them were
wrong, of course.
However, two hours after the last Avenger had landed on the base, coming from Complex
YY-18, all of the high ranking X-Com officers were watching the video beamed back
from the Moon by Harris’ Firestorm before its destruction. The fighter was high enough
so that the men and women could see the Moon’s curvature against a black sea of stars.
But the majority of the bright dots shone larger and gave an unsteady light, dismissing
any thoughts of them being stars.
As the flight path of the Firestorm brought the craft over the airless surface of the ships,
some of the small blinks of light grew larger in size and their aspect resolved itself into
the known types of UFO yet encountered by X-Com. With a notable exception: on the
center of the formation a tube-shaped ship could clearly be visible, dwarfing even the
largest Battleships stationed nearby it.
The image caught by Harris’ Firestorm suddenly banked upwards, reflecting the pilot’s
attempt to avoid the UFOs that were racing to shoot him down. A few seconds the screen
went blank as no further data was received from the craft and the lights in the room came
up, with some of the officers blinking their eyes in response to the appearance of
illumination. “As you might have heard in the last days, the Firestorm was shot down
afterwards, killing the pilot. He paid with his life for his insubordination but his sacrifice
wasn’t completely worthless, since it brought us this disturbing image”. Illyuschenko
raised himself from the padded sofa where he was seated.
“We have compared the monster UFO with the images beamed back by the Soviet
Phobos probe more than ten years ago: it’s the same one, unless the aliens have a fleet of
them parked in the Solar system”. The comment brought worried looks from the senior
officers in the room. If aliens had a fleet of the mammoth craft on Mars’ orbit that had
pass unnoticed to Earth’s telescopes they could might as well use it and crush all human
opposition.
“But there’s more and it confirms our deepest fears. Colonel Johnson brought us the
results of the interrogation made on the Ethereal Commander on Area 51. Amongst other
things that we will discuss soon, it revealed that the aliens plan to stage their invasion
somewhere in the next year. We are lucky if we have six months before they came down
on us”.
Shock filled the officers present in the room. Colonel Paqua, the French responsible for
aerospace operations stood up and said. “Commandant, if the aliens use that ship, there
isn’t much that we can do about it, besides trying to use nuclear weapons, which I
seriously doubt that we could do successfully. Even our Avengers would be crushed like
insects trying to engage it”.
“I don’t think that there’s even a point in trying”. Illyuschenko added. “The Ethereal gave
us the information we want”. He took a deep breath before speaking. “The alien Brain is
indeed located on Mars, on an area called Cydonia Mensae, on the Northern Hemisphere
of the planet”.
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Seated next to Illyuschenko, Johnson felt relieved when he heard the Russian speak the
words. He had already known about the confirmation since they had used Landon, the
former hacker to break into NASA’s computers and use the Surveyor probe currently in
orbit on Mars to confirm the claim of the alien. But the matter had also brought more
confirmation of the suspicions that someone in a higher level had been covering the alien
evidence. Upon examination of the pictures released some years ago to resurvey the area
after the Viking probes had photographed it in the 1970’s, it had been found that they had
been deliberately altered to mask any signs of artificial structures in the area.
“The area mentioned by the alien there are a number of strange formations that most
likely compose the base. The Ethereal didn’t give us much information about the number
of troops and UFOs based there or the actual place where the central Brain is located. But
NASA is about to insert a probe in the end of last month that will give us more
intelligence as soon as it completes its insertion upon the planet’s orbit. However, we
need to decide on certain difficult matters first and I would like to hear your thoughts
first”.
The officers stood into an uneasy silence. Until, standing two chairs away from him,
Yamashita stroke his mustache before asking. “Commander, the Council hasn’t been
informed of this?” The tone made the question rhetorical.
Illyuschenko shook his head. “I’ve decided that we need to present a military plan to
them to deal with the threat of the alien fleet, otherwise they will just panic or refuse to
believe such a possibility”.
“Making them more inclined to leave X-Com and join my country or conduct their own
negotiations with the aliens”. Johnson sighed as he spoke the final conclusion of the
General’s logic.
Illyuschenko turned to him and nodded. “Exactly what I fear Colonel. We need to try to
stay in control of the general operations regarding the effort to deal with this new threat.
What I’m going to propose is that the Elerium and laser technology to be freely
distributed to each country’s armed forces”.
“Commander, with due respect, that will be worthless”. Yamashita added. “It would take
years to build a large enough force capable of defeating the aliens that way. Even if we
tried to double or triple the number of soldiers X-Com has on his ranks we would be left
only with a couple thousand soldiers to face the alien invasion and they choose from
thousands of places to land and establish a foothold on the planet. And the aliens’ attacks
on our bases show that they know about us. Most likely we will be the first targets to
them”.
“And no question of staging a bloody guerrilla warfare. We would have to abandon our
bases and support. Most likely the buggers would simply wipe out and entire area full of
civilians than trying to figure out who was our troops”. MacTaggert’s glibber made it
hard to be understood. “We need to strike at Cydonia now!”
Not guerrillas! Not fighting in our own home again! Turning to all of the officers present,
Illyuschenko looked at everyone. “I agree with all of your ideas, but we also need to gain
time before the Council. Most likely we could give some information about the strike to
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some of the councilmen that would be more sympathetic to our ideas to gain their
support, but without mentioning Mars”.
“The alien fleet!” Paqua mentioned. “The images beamed to us by the pilot of Area 51
will make quite an impression on them”. .
MacTaggert turned to him and asked. “Haven’t you told us that it would be impossible to
try?”
The Frenchman gave a devious smile to him. “We know that but they don’t Colonel”.
Johnson considered it for a moment and then he spoke. “I believe the word for what you
propose is ingenious, Colonel. It gives us an excuse to build as many Avengers as
possible to take the maximum number of troops possible to Mars.
Indeed. Illyuschenko also started to see the possibility. “And meanwhile if we agree on
the release of the technology, it will make them very satisfied”. Some good came up from
their decision of building the Avenger as a fighter-transporter after all, instead of building
two different planes for each role.
Johnson added: “But how many time do we have? We need to strike before they invade
otherwise we will be destroyed before we can take off for the mission. And how many
troops will we need? If I recall correctly we only have six or seven Avengers operational
at the moment. How much more will we need?”
“A very important question Colonel. Colonel Paqua, could you inform us more on this?”
“According to the original specs of the Avenger it should be able to make the Earth –
Mars journey in two or three weeks, depending on the position of both planets at the time
of the launch. However we can’t simply pack the craft with troops. We will need to make
space to bring along some supplies and life support equipment for the journey and for our
duration on Mars”.
“How long then before we can launch?”
“I will need to talk to Dr. Chevereux and his staff on this. We will also need to turn the
factory on Complex YY-18 to full production of Avengers and equipment necessary for
the attack”. Running some mental calculations through his mind, he added afterwards.
“We could probably keep the factory turning out two, maybe three Avengers each month.
If we have twenty Avengers ready by the end of April we could probably send two
hundred and fifty combat troops in the mission plus a number of armor”.
“Two hundred and fifty combat troops!? What are we going to leave behind to defend
Earth if we fail and sustain heavy casualties?!” Outrage filled the voice of Colonel
Waartens, the South African commander. “And what about the Battleships? Right now
our Avengers have trouble dealing one to one with them. What will happen if we sent
away all of our Avengers and have to fight them with Firestorms and conventional
planes?!?!” Some of the other officers also cringed at the thought.
“Is that even going to be enough?” Yamashita’s question showed restrain. “Even if the
aliens are massing their forces on the Moon they surely will leave a considerable force
behind to act as a reserve”.
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The response to the objections and inquiries being made was already on Illyuschenko’s
mind. A gamble. To be played with Earth’s survival. But if we fail it won’t make a
difference to those who are left back here. Or will it? What if the Soviet High Command
had brought more men to fight the damn Afghanis? Or could we have recruited more men
in the beginning so that now we would have armies ready to fight the aliens? Wouldn’t it
be just sending them to the slaughter like cattle since they didn’t had the physical
requirements that we impose now upon our troops? Will there be an end to this?
Shaking his head out of the gaze of his thoughts, he raised his hand and made the
discussion rampaging on the room stop. “Like we have said before, if these soldiers and
planes are here on Earth where they won’t make a difference”. He scanned each officer to
see if anyone would make any objection. It’s as simple as that. “We have discussed a
plan. A military unit is not a democracy but on this case if we are to go along I will need
you to make a compromise with this plan. You are free to refuse it. It that case the troops
and planes assigned to you will remain here on Earth while I will personally take the
others to Mars”.
A number of gazes were exchanged between the men present before each one of them
was asked to raise his hand if he agreed with the plan. After the same was done for the
ones who objected it, Illyuschenko stood up again. “Thank you all for your confidence in
me”. He paused before speaking what he had already decided after studying the reports
from every base on available troops and ships plus the state of the production line. “The
attack date will be set to the end of February”.
Chevereux nearly jumped on his chair. “Commander, that’s too early! We are talking
about sending a two hundred men and women in a space travel to a planet that we have
never landed. We still need to do a lot of preparations!”
“And we will only be able to get twelve craft ready then, if we are lucky”. Paqua was
running mental calculations on his mind. “We have only six Avengers ready now,
another three in several stages of production, and work has yet to begin on the tenth one,
the Majestic”.
“I beg to differ Colonel Paqua. The Majestic is the twelfth craft”. Yamashita’s short
comment made Paqua turn to him. “Tenth, Colonel, in case you haven’t read the latest
report”.
“Twelfth. There are other two Avengers ready for our use in the flight to Mars. But their
existence isn’t recorded anywhere”. Now he had caught everyone’s attention on the
room, who was eagerly waiting for an explanation.
Moving uncomfortably on his chair, Yamashita exchanged a look with Colonel Oshika,
the officer responsible for X-Com’s manufacturing and deployment before proceeding.
“My country has been diverting some of the output from the production plan for its own
defense in case X-Com was disbanded. We have kept a number of craft stored in a
separate hangar of our base as an assurance”.
“What!?!” The room became full of cries of outrage and anger from the other officers.
Some even stood up and waved fists at both Japanese Colonels. “This is just the excuse
that the Council needs to disband us!” One called.
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“Quiet all!” Illyuschenko’s voice made everyone stood silent. “I’m not surprised a bit
since I was the one who sponsored selling surplus equipment when we were running out
of money. You didn’t seem to complain too much when I did it”. Some of the officers
made embarrassed faces at the accusation”.
“I can sympathize with Colonel Yamashita’s reasons for what he did. And all of you
would probably do the same to defend your own damn countries! But what matters now
is that we have to prepare ourselves for the attack. And,” he paused.
“We will just have to be ready by them and these extra craft can well make the
difference. I’m not going to risk that the aliens advance their timetable and get us in the
middle of our preparations”. No one answered back for a moment then Waartens made
one last question.
“What if the force that we are going to take to Mars isn’t enough to defeat the aliens on
planet and kill the Brain, no matter how large it is? What will be the point of sending
them then?”
A flare went up on Illyuschenko’s eyes as his brows contracted. “We’re all going to die
soon or later. I don’t question that. And I sure don’t question myself on what is going to
happen if we stay here on Earth”. Waartens didn’t reply to his answer and sank back to
his chair.
Turning to all of the officers, Illyuschenko tried to put as much hope and determination as
possible on his voice. “This meeting is dismissed gentlemen. Please go back to your
commands: we have to prepare for a battle that we need to win”. But what if the war is
already lost even before we set for Mars?
December 7th, 2001

Area 51, Nevada, US
“Well, the only thing I can say is that the origin of this message is from inside our
network”. Landon was seated at Williams’ desk and typing commands in the keyboard in
front of him. Behind him, Davis and Williams were looking with attention, trying to
figure out most of the computer jargon he was using.
“But the return path is wrong: it lists an address that is non-existent”. Landon stopped
typing and pointed at a line of alphanumeric text that seemed like all others to the two
other men. “See?” He turned towards them.
“Landon, pretend that we are a five year old kid. What does that mean?” The computer
expert suddenly took a professorial air and Davis moved on his chair on annoyance.
“It’s impossible to determine the physical origin where this email originated. It could
have been sent from any of your bases”. Satisfied, he then leaned back on his chair,
which cranked a little in response to the movement.
“Could someone have broken into our computer system and placed the message there?”
“Yes”. His reply came up immediately, but after a moment of thought he added. “If I was
aware of the existence of such a network I wouldn’t stop it I broke through”.
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“We’re not talking about your illegal exploits Landon”. Davis was getting very pissed at
the arrogance of the college kid. “This message isn’t just a hacker’s way of saying hi!”
The young man looked at both, unsure of what to do”.
After a moment Williams added. “Landon, the email was sent to me by a purpose and this
is not the first time that I have received such a communication. Could he do it from the
outside?”
“Like I said before, yes. But the guy would have either to make a direct connection by
gaining physical access to the mainframe computer or he would need to crack through the
security codes. And that would be a tough cookie. And I believe that they are light years
away from the ones used by the Pentagon since they use alien algorithms for encryption”.
He knew that for a fact since one of his tasks at Area 51 was to try find security holes in
the network. And he had only managed to break once.
“What’s the big thing about his message anyway?” He gave another look at the
information printed in the screen. It only revealed the header of the email and the body
was missing.
“Landon, I think that it will be all”. Davis replied. “And keep your mouth shut about
this”. The last phrase made him want to tell the FBI asshole to shove it. Getting up, he
decided that it was about try to make another attempt at breaking into the system. If
somebody else from the outside had managed it, it was starting to feel as a personal
challenge to repeat the feat.
As he got out of the office Davis looked at Williams, who was lost in thoughts. The rest
of the message had been deleted by him before showing the email to Landon and was
robbing his sleep in the last two nights. He now was only two days to flying to Mother
One, as he had been called to participate in the top-level strategic planning that was going
there.
The timing of the receptance of the email and his presence in Germany were too great for
all of this to be a coincidence. The deleted part had proposed a meeting in less than two
weeks in the high-speed train that connected Frankfurt to Berlin. It was signed: A friend.
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Chapter Thirty – Amber Blue
December 9th, 2001
Unknown location
The first thing that Harris realized when he woke up was that he was still alive. That
didn’t surprise him much as memories started to come to his mind of long periods of time
where he felt only dazziness and could only see blurry shapes moving around him against
a everfilling white light.
It was a sharp contrast with the darkness of his cockpit after the plasma shot from the
alien Battleships had fried all of the electronic systems onboard. And after a couple of
seconds the Firestorm had hit the ground, sending him and the chair crashing into the
electronic display in front of him. The last thing he could remember was a hissing sound
coming from somewhere in the cockpit which told him that the fuselage had been
probably breached. But afterwards there was only darkness to remember.
Opening his eyes he found himself looking at a nurse wearing a light blue and white
uniform with her blonde hair caught in a tight fitting cap from which gold locks sprung
out. She was pushing a metal troley full of cirurgical equipment and large glass flasks in
front of him. As he started to move on his bed, she caught the motion on the corner of her
eye. At first she seemed surprised but immediately called in German: “Doktor!”
Somehow X-Com had retrieved him after his crash and had brought him back to Mother
One, he thought. Feeling the scar on his face itch again he tried to move his hand to
assess the physical damage this time. His chest hurt and he could also feel that some
surgery had been done to his belly. But his body also felt lighter, which struck him as
strange.
But as he tried to get up, he found out that both of his arms were restrained, tying him to
the bed. He found it bizarre and tried to lift his head to see where he was. His motion
immediately brought it upwards much faster than he expected, as if it was lighter. Then
he noticied that the infirmary didn’t have any walls and that the medical equipment that
was close all seemed to be several decades old. At that moment he started to think if he
wasn’t in a dream that he couldn’t wake up from, no matter how much he tried.
The feeling got worse when an also blonde doctor come next to him with a look of
suspicion and made him a full physical examination. He only bothered to remove one of
the cuffs while he was checking Harris, so he stood sat on the bed and handcuffed to one
of the siderails of the bed. As he tried to ask questions to the man while he was
examining him but the doctor just ignored him and give indications in German that the
nurse nearby would write down on a notepad she was holding.
He kept trying to get some response out of the physician but after a while exaustion
finally made him stop.
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December 11th, 2002
Sea of Japan
For the men and women onboard the ships of Task Force 70 the wait was close to
unbearable as they monitored the sea and air lanes that separated mainland China from
Taiwan. Five nights ago an American commercial airplane on its way to Southeast Asia
had been nearly shot at by the Chinese fighters that seemed to be massing on the shore
and getting ready to retake Taiwan back into China by force.
Then in the following day a KH-11 reconnaisance satellite that about to take pictures to
determine the strenght of composition of the Chinese military had been shot down in
space by an unidentified craft. NORAD had detected the attacker but had failed to
determine if the UFO was Chinese or alien.
US President Vaughn had replied by ordering the naval task force out of its base on
Japan, composed of the nuclear powered aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk, four guided missile
AEGIS cruisers, plus five escorts into the area. Their official propose was to maintain the
communication lanes across the sea and air open, while the US still tried to bring the
whole matter to the United Nations’ Security Council. The carrier USS Constellation was
also steaming towards the area with its escorts after being called off from exercises north
of Hawaii.
The unofficial reason behind the top US leadership was to get ready for a possible war
over China taking back control of Taiwan, a conflict more aggravated by the opposite
philosophies that both nations held towards the aliens.
The Admiral in command of the force was feeling uneasy. He had been ordered to deploy
to the area to be ready to hinder any attempts the Chinese made to strike at Taiwan. The
Chinese Navy didn’t bother him too much since it was no match for the concentration of
American ships that was forming in the area. However the aircraft that were massing on
the shoreline gave him nightmares, considering the classified information he had about
the new Chinese advanced craft.
An air-exclusion zone had been declared two hundred miles around the task force and
any hostile aircraft that entered it and refused to leave could be shot down. Still, he knew
that if he took that action it would be extremely likely that a full-scale war might erupt
between the US and China.
December 16th, 2001

Unknown location
Harris had stayed in the infirmary for a week now, being fed by the nurses while he was
laying down. He was still restrained inspite of his demands and no one, either medical
personnel or the other patients would talk to him. His ribs still hurt and he assumed that
he had cracked a couple during the crash but besides some cuts he thought he had already
gone through the worse.
He couldn’t understand anything of what was going on and that was starting to get on his
nerves. One day, as he had awoken he had found that he had a guard constantly watching
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over him, seated on a chair next to the bed in front of him. As his enquiries were again
unanswered, he grudgedly came to the conclusion that he would have to wait.
Apparently his captors had decided something about him three days after. Two guards
had sent to fetch him from the infirmary. They were all more than six feet high and had
both blonde hair, although one was more browner than the other. They were plain grey
jumpsuits, almost equal to the ones used by X-Com, with no indication of rank.
But as they arrived Harris knew for certainty that he wasn’t back to Mother One or
otherwise the whole world had gone through a quick change since they were red bands on
their right arms with a circle on their middle where a Nazi swastika was on plain sight.
The guards didn’t paid any attention to his surprise. They simply made him dress a white
and blue stripped pants and jacket that one had brought. When he was done they
handcuffed his hands and feet in front of him afterwards. As they went through the
motion Harris turned to them and complained: “What the hell is happening here?” One of
them reached for his holster but the other simply spoke in German: “Nein!” They finished
their job and started to push him out of the infirmary.
As they guided him, Harris wondered where he had been brought. He was led through
metal corridors that had no openings and had a grilled floor. Surprisingly, he felt as if he
had lost half his weight since he could take long strides with a single step. He found the
sensation funny but when he hit one of the walls in one intersection, the guards made him
stop and explained with simple gestures how he should pace his walking.
Moving down the corridors, they passed through more of its occupants, all men and
women with the same Aryan features: tall, with blonde hair and facial features that
seemed as if they had been schiseled. In some cases he was almost certain that he had
passed through that person before but now it seemed that every five minutes the
individual had changed clothes and hairstyle.
Some of them were carrying weapons, red and grey rifles connected by a cord to a power
unit to their backs, looking extremely familiar to the laser weapons used by the security
troops at Area 51. In other cases he would pass by individuals wearing the same clothes
as him, which looked at the guards in deference and fear, and quickly moved away from
their sight.
All of the light was artificial, coming from lamps overhead that gave a dim illumination
to the corridors. But as they moved he saw a section of the corridor on the front more
lightened than the rest, with beams coming from windows. He almost quickened his pace
to see and discover where he was but one of the guards issued what sounded to be a
warning to him. When he finally reached the windows, he noticied first how thick they
were. And then he stopped as he saw the darkened sky, where stars could be seen
glimming fiercely, with no atmosphere to filter their light. The rim of a small crater was
in front of the windows, covered with grey dust with some parts illuminated by the
overhead Sun. “I’m on the Moon?” He asked but the only reply was another push of the
guards.
Finally one of them opened a door to a small room where a chair was standing in front of
a table. Two officers were standing behind the table, wearing the same jumpsuits with red
swastika band but their uniforms had black epaulets with a white skull on them. The
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guards made them with the Nazi salution, with their right arm lifted while calling the long
dead Fuhrer’s name. Then they made him seat and placed themselves at the door while he
realized the Adolf Hitler portrait hanging above the officers.
They were a man who Harris thought might be an albino since her face was almost white,
showing almost no colour and with deep blue eyes and a dark haired woman. Feeling
that he had enough of the World War II act he demanded: “What is going on here?” The
woman got up from the chair and gave him a slap on his face that sent him crashing to the
ground. Taking a second to think she then shouted: “Silence!” as the guards grabbed him
and placed him back on the chair.
Jesus, not another German ice-queen, Harris thought, feeling his cheek burn and a wet
tinkle coming from the corner of his lip. He moved his tongue and tasted blood. “Who are
you?” The male officer asked in heavily accentuated English.
He decided not to tell anything. “Me? I was just in the neighbourhood. Where are we
anyway?” The woman started to move again but the other officer raised his arm and
called. “Halt!”
Turning his head back to him, he said in a calm voice: “Mr. Harris, you don’t have any
rights as a prisioner of war because you are not one”. He leaned over. “If we do not have
the information we want, you will die by her hands”. The woman looked at him in pure
anger and Harris turned his attention from her. “How do you know my name?”
“It was written on the atmospheric suit that you were wearing when our crew retrieved
you from the crash site of your Hannabu”. The last reference made Harris wince in
confusion but the officer made a sharp demand. “You are American yes?”
He nodded and the officer tone lightened a bit. “Very well. Now tell us what is this X-
Com reference that was on your insignia and in the Hannabu and how come you are in a
possession of one”.
The reference against confused Harris. “I’m sorry but what is a Hannabu? I’ve never
heard of it before”. The woman gave a look to the officer but he made her stop with a
movement of his eyes. “A Hannabu is the airplane that you were flying”.
“You mean the Firestorm? X-Com developed it based on the UFOs used by the aliens”.
The reference to the extraterrestrials made a reaction on both officers. Leaning again
closer on the table, the man studied him carefully before posing his next question. “You
say that X-Com has contact with the ‘aliens’?”
The implications that X-Com was allied with the aliens gave disgust to Harris who shook
his head. “Hell no! The aliens did this to my face”. He tried to lift his hands to his face to
point to the scar but the chain holding them to the cuffs on his ankles only allowed him to
bring him up to his chest. “We are fighting them!”
“What do you mean you are fighting them!?” The voice of the woman surprised Harris.
“You’re are lying! You have sold yourselves to them for more than fifty years to prevent
us from being the natural leaders of man!” The other officer issued to her a shout in
German and she suddenly shut up. Watching both, Harris was even more confused but he
had no time to think as the man asked another question. “What is X-Com then? Who is
behind it?”
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“It’s a worldwide effort to fight the aliens. All of the major nations are behind it”. Harris
decided not to tell more about the defections that had occurred. “That’s impossible! The
Semitic-Alien alliance would never have allowed it!” Giving the woman a straight stern,
the officer simply told something that made her get up and leave the room, which she did
but not before giving Harris a murderous look. “What’s her problem?” Harris asked.
If the male officer was feeling anything, Harris discovered that he couldn’t tell for he
simply said: “She’s a firm believer of the New Reich, Lieutenant Colonel. But I make the
questions here and if you don’t give me the answers I want, I will turn you to her own
‘special’ interrogation skills”. Looking at the door through which the stiff officer had just
left, Harris felt a shiver went down his spine.
December 19th, 2001

Frankfurt-Berlin IDE, Germany
“Do you mind if I seat here?” The voice came from behind Williams and made him
almost jump on his chair on surprise. After an intense discussion with both Johnson and
Davis he had convinced both of them that it would be best if he went to the meeting
proposed by the email that he had received. He had spent the first two hours of the
journey completely on the edge, looking for any possible gunman and had even refrained
from using the restroom or going into any possible location where someone might try to
kill him.
On the other side of the restaurant car he saw Davis suddenly looking at the figure
beyond him and getting ready to act in case there was any threat. Although the message
said that he should come alone, the former FBI agent had insisted in coming along and
Williams had accepted it. He wasn’t also too eager to go alone into what seemed to be a
possible trap.
Slowly turning around his body, he saw a white-haired man on his sixties standing next to
him. He wore a straight grey business suit complete with jacket and coat with a dark blue
tie tied over a white shirt. The man’s accent marked him as English and Williams tried to
see if he could remember the face while he answered. “I’m expecting someone”.
The old man gave a conspiratorial smile. “Then rest assured for you shall not expect
anymore”. The phrase made Williams’ eyes went wide at the same time that they flashed
towards Davis. He hoped that the other man was watching them and had realized the
same thing.
Number Two caught the eye movement and looked at the same direction, speaking after a
second. “Well, well, well. Now isn’t that Mr. Davis? Don’t worry, I pretty much expected
that someone else would be presented here. I did not take you as a fool to actually come
alone. Go and tell him to rest asssured: I don’t intent to make any physical harm to you”.
Williams decided to remain on his place while the other man sat himself. Picking up the
folded napkin on the table, Two opened it and put it on his lap and then reached for the
menu that was standing on the middle. “I can see that you’ve already had your dinner.
Any recommendations from the menu?”
618
“Who are you?” Williams decided to go to the point. “You seem to know all about me
but I don’t have any idea of who you are”.
Two gave an air of slight dissapointment and put down the menu. “Dear lad, one of life’s
lessons that I have learned to appreciate the most is to have patience. I have come here to
discuss important matters with you and I would prefer to do it with a belly full. And as
for my identity, it means nothing at this point. However, for the time being you may call
me as Mr. Hood, although that is not my real one”.
The waiter came as Williams was about to ask another question and he had to wait in
silence while the older man made his choice. While he asked for the beef plate and a
bottle of French red wine, Williams tried to place the face into any familiar face that he
might have seen, either on the intelligence community or in the news. By the time the
waiter went away with the request he hadn’t found any match.
“Mr. Hood, why are you here?” He put it simply.
“Me? I’m just a traveler. I’m on my way to Berlin to take care of some professional
matters”.
“Do those ‘professional’ matters include me?”The older man’s eyes flashed for one
second before he answered. “They might”.
“Are you the one beyond the messages I’ve been receiving on the past months?”
“I think that question is self-answering, Mr. Williams”. He made a pause before
continuing. “Please, forgive me if I’m not in the disposition to discuss smaller details but
there are things more pressing at this point”. He looked through the window and to the
sky. “And while some of them aren’t really from this planet, the other matters will dictate
the future for many others here”. After another moment of contemplation he turned back
to Williams.
“See, I am here as a member of a group of men and women who have for long known
about the extraordinary events that are taking place all over the world at the moment”.
“And who have decided to keep that knowledge away from the rest through deception,
assassination and other immoral acts. Who should have told everyone about what was
about to come so that we would have decades to prepare, instead of only years”.
“That is right”. The lack of emotion on the other man’s voice shocked Williams and gave
him a deep anger but the arrival of the waiter made him repress the outburst that he was
feeling forming on his throat.
It was only after the man had served the wine and when away that they resumed their
conversation. Uncapable of holding out much longer, Williams spat out. “That is one of
the major crimes ever done to humanity!”
The older man wasn’t impressed by his outburst, which had drawn curious looks from a
couple of passengers who were seated close to them. He lifted his glass of wine and took
a sip before answering. “Don’t be too quick on pass judgement please Mr. Williams. If
I’m not mistaken you have proven yourself quite capable of deception also in the last
years towards the people you work for”.
619
He was about to respond but the other man’s words hit true. “I did it because it was
necessary”.
“So did I. Good! Now as you can see what truly remains here to discuss is whose reasons
are more valid”.
“Go on. What are yours then?” The discussion started while the older man was eating his
meal.
“The moment we had managed to establish communications with ‘them’ it was clear that
Earth was doomed if we were to fight them militarily. So we designed a special plan that
would ensure our survival as a civilization. See, ultimatly, wars are won by those whose
culture survives and becomes dominant.
That’s what happened over and over during History. The barbarians that took Rome had
devised superior tactics that combined with the Empire’s internal weakness allowed them
to conquer Europe in decades. However, Rome’s legacy survived because they adopted
the Empire’s culture.
The same happened with the Mongols and the Chinese when Gengis Khan and his
superior hordes conquered the whole of Asia in the thirteen century. When the Mongol
Empire finally crumbled after a century or two China naturally became an Empire again
on its own. Meanwhile the Mongols went back into cattle herding and lost any
importance in history”.
“But we are only a planet while the extent of the aliens’ empire is truly unknown. What’s
your point?”
“That an organized force can take an empire when it reaches a certain point of decay. We
only need to survive until the opportunity arises.
See, we had long seen that Earth would never be able to achieve a military victory: we
had neither the technology or the resources at ‘their’ disposal and it was doubtful that we
would have the time to develop them.
They would move to prevent that from happening and would simply exterminate most of
us before it was allowed to happen. So we took steps to ensure mankind’s final victory,
knowing that we would have to work undercover: if either the public or the world’s
leaders knew about what was coming there would resistance”
“Steps?” Williams was having trouble finding the words to express himself. “All of you
have sold out Earth. You are responsible for the deaths of thousands, if not billions if they
win”. The man shook his head the way a teacher would correct a pupil.
Putting down his silverware, he finished his meal, although he had left a good portion of
his plate uneaten. “See? That’s the whole problem with all of you. ‘They’ have already
won for now but you are too blind to see it. We had already antecipated how we would
eventually turn into one another, due to ‘their’ manipulations and because of the hopeless
fighting on which we tend to indulge between ourselves. But we recognized the need to
maintain human culture intact if we want to survive”.
620
“Intact?” Williams’s disbelief was plain to see. “Half the world is fighting the other half,
at the same time that we are trying to contain ‘them’. Our cities are being razed and our
people killed or used for food or experimentation purposes.”
“Call it to eliminate some undesirable elements of our society. We were already
overpopulated for this planet to support us. And the chaos is also necessary to get
ourselves into the right positions in several world governments.
From there we can truly unite the world under one government and all the fighting while
cease. We shouldn’t be fighting the aliens but instead be their obedient puppies, so that
one day we can bite back.”
“I doubt to see how we can throw them back after they have conquered us. And we are
already fighting back if you haven’t noticed.”
Two shook his head. “It’s utterly useless. In spite of all the breakthroughs you and your
organization have managed, some of which I was responsible for, you will be eventually
overwhelmed and defeated”.
“What do you want from me then? Why did you helped us then?”
“Ah, the juicy part. Now we are talking about real business”. He checked the bill that the
waiter had left and took a wallet from his suit’s pocket. Leaving a couple of Euro bills he
said to Williams. “We shall continue this discussion on my compartment where we can’t
be heard. And please go and tell Mr. Davis that he isn’t invited. I’m on carriage 102,
compartment six”. He got up and left, heading towards the exit of the restaurant wagon.
When he left Davis got up from his seat and moved over to Williams. The FBI men was
dressed in jeans and a sweater and wearing knickers, trying to pass off as an American
tourist in Europe. “I got most of the conversation. Hardly proves anything”.
“What do you think? Should I go?”
“This guy brought company. I’ve picked a number of fellows who seem to be his
bodyguards. And since you decided not to involve anyone else we are badly outnumbered
here. If he wants I doubt that any of us will ever get out of this train alive”.
Williams looked around to see if he could spot any of them. “Are you still in contact with
Johnson?”
“Yeah, but Mother One is too far for any help to come here on time”.
“I’m going”. His decision was simple. “Try to be around in case I need help”.
“You watch your ass. I’m not risking mine”. Williams got up after he nodded to the other
man and went to the passenger area. After passing two wagons he came by the
compartment he was looking for.
He hesitated before knocking but then gave two simples rasps at the door. “It’s
unlocked”. The reply came from the inside and he carefully opened the door, waiting for
a trap.
Two was seated on a bench on the first-class compartment holding a glass full of an
amber colored liquid on his hand. “Please seat yourself. Would you like some scotch?”
Closing the door, he replied. “On the rocks please”.
621
The older man got up as he sat in front of the position that he was occupying close to the
window. Mr. Hood had moved towards a small cabinet on the compartment and had his
back turned to him. “I am glad you came. But there wasn’t really any other option you
know”.
As he faced Williams again he was carrying a half full square glass on his left hand
where a couple of ice cubes could be seen floating and a pistol on his right hand.
Williams immediately started to back away but found himself cornered. The other man
feigned surprise at his reaction and raised the weapon. “Oh, I’m sorry but I had to startle
you. But don’t worry”. He sat down and placed down the gun next to him.
“I haven’t used one of these for years nor do I intend to do now. Think of it as a
reminder”. Passing the glass to Williams, who tried to hide the tremor on his hands as he
picked it up, the older man opened the buttons in the front of his suit and relaxed himself
on the leather bench. “Now we can really talk about the reason behind my invitation
towards you”.
Looking down at the pistol, Williams replied. “Why am I starting to think that you
haven’t told me the real reason about my presence here?”
“And I won’t yet. There are still things that you need to know to understand what is going
on”.
Taking a sip in hope that it would calm him down, Williams tried to relax. “You got my
full attention”.
“You see, as you know the Starspawn, or as the aliens called themselves and their
society, consists of several alien races that have been conquered and assimilated into their
culture, under a unified control. We also believed at first that we were dealing with only
the Sectoids, as you call them. However we discovered soon enough about the true
picture and that piece of information gave us the key into defeating them.
Their strenght cames from the fact that they have absorved the physical and mental traits
of several species, allowing them to conquer and control an empire that extends across
the stars.
However, that is also their major weakness. Their heterogenous nature is prone to
infiltration, even more than the one that is currently being done by their hybrids. Like X-
Com has discovered, we have a degree of mental resistance that puts us above the
majority of the species that compose the Starspawn.
And we believe that it is the key to defeat them. We allow the aliens to take over Earth
without the resistance that would be expected without our intervention. So that later,
when we are fully integrated into their empire we can shake them off or even take
ourselves control of it. We can learn more on how to defeat them, if we are already a part
of them. And there are ways to block their mental powers, if you don’t know it already”.
Realization of what the man was implying hit Williams. “That is insane. You talk as if
you think we can actually dominate the aliens”.
“Insanity is a luxury I cannot afford myself to, Mr. Williams.
622
Shaking his head, Williams put sarcasm on their voice. “You are talking about making
deals with the aliens while holding a dagger hidden. How can you be sure that they are
not doing the same?”
“But they are Mr. Williams”. The man’s cold certainty shocked him. “And amongst my
collegues perhaps I’m the most aware of it. We can’t rely on the promises made by them
to us about the peace and prosperity their rule will bring. Unfortunately most of my
opinions aren’t shared by the majority of my associates”.
“Since you bring that subject up”. Williams put his glass down. “How many of you are
there? Who are they?”
“If I told you I’d be signing my death sentence. In fact if they knew that I’m here with
you they will kill both of us on the spot. See, to them you are supposetly dead. Who do
you think that ordered you removed from the bottom of that river and planted a dead
clone of you there?”
“You did that? How? And why?”
“As for the how, I’m sure that by now you have already figured out that we have
enormous resources at our disposal. As for the why, we will come to that in a minute.
First we need to discuss something, namely X-Com”. Williams waited for the man to
continue.
“When the organization first appeared we weren’t surprised or even count it as a
disestabilizing factor on our plans. We had told the aliens that there would be some
organized resistance and that it would be impossible to stop it by us.
However, as time went by our original assessement changed. And while someone saw X-
Com as a threat to our plans and demanded your destruction, I saw future possibilities.
You are exactly what we are going to need in the future:
A well trained and equipped force that understands and knows how to fight the aliens,
when the necessity arises in the future. You also have managed to integrate the best of
alien and human technology into your benefit and that skill will be necessary. I don’t trust
the aliens to stick to their plans. It is better to always have a safeguard Mr. Williams”.
“Do you think the soldiers will follow your orders willingly, knowing that you have sold
Earth? That they will be ready to serve you?”
“They will have no other choice if they want to survive Mr. Williams”. The other man’s
voice took a dark tone. “Their plan is already on its final steps as you know from the
alien you have captured at Antartica. And ours also. Anyone who opposes their rule will
be ruthlessly exterminated”. The mention to Antartica made Williams froze. How did the
other man have access to that information? And what else did he knew them?
“What I’m offering is a chance to retreat and fight back later in the future. One day our
time will come. Until then, we must save the best soldiers and scientists of Earth from
destruction. We must make the aliens believe that there are no more threats to their role”.
“Why are you talking to me then? Shouldn’t you be having this conversation with
Commander Illyuschenko or any of the higher leadership?”
623
“No and the answer to that question is quite obvious. You are from the intelligence
community and are used to dealing with secrets: the best way to keep them is to keep
silent about them. And you have been silent about them, other than that Davis character
out there.
As for you, I need men who are placed into the right places to act on the right time. I
don’t need to get full control of X-Com nor would I want to. In fact it’s better if the
organization just dies when the aliens take over, although the personnel and material will
be saved. It will draw a lot less attention that way”.
“You want me to work for you?”
“Yes. And it’s a simple choice actually”. He casually dropped his right hand to the
weapon to show what he meant. “And you will have to decide now since some matters
have brought new necessities”.
Williams had a terrible thought, remembering the near departure of the mission to
Cydonia and how it was above top secret. “What if there’s another way to defeat the
aliens?”
The old man in front of him smiled. “I seriously hope that you don’t expect that the
mission to Cydonia will ever leave Earth”. Williams face become petrified and he tried to
hide it, but couldn’t. “Yes, I even know when it is scheduled to launch, at the end of
February”.
Something very wrong had happened, Williams could tell, a leak so great that could only
mean the worse for the outcome of the mission. “I know all your little secrets Mr.
Williams. X-Com surprised me by your ability to discover the alien base but luckly I’ve
managed to even restrain that information from the rest of my associates.
However, this foolish attack on the aliens is putting into even jeopardy the plan to
maintain human survival even under alien rule.
It case it occurs there will be a genocide and the human survivors will all be reduced to
slave condition. That’s what the aliens told us fifty years ago: help us to submit your
species or….”
“Or……?”
“We will all be destroyed, including me. And that’s why I’ve restrained the knowledge of
X-Com’s plans hidden from my associates. They would immediately move to destroy
your force if they knew about it.
And have no doubt about the aliens, Mr. Williams. If they see that we have become too
much of a threat they will launch a mass invasion that will utterly destroy Mankind”.
Williams frowned. “In case you don’t know, they have a fleet waiting on the Moon to do
just that”. Two dismissed it with a wave of a hand. “You misinterpret their intentions.
That fleet will be used to make a flashy appearance to convince the masses of what their
leaders already know: resistance is futile. However, it will also be used to anhilate any
form of resistance, as an example to the others”.
“What makes you sure that our attack to Mars will fail?”
624
“Besides the fact that is something no one has ever tried to do or that the intelligence is
completely sketchy? Or that this is something hastily planned as the result of you learning
that the aliens are about to take control of Earth?
Lad, you will have to learn that uncertainty here is a deadly liability. It is better to
eliminate all sources of uncertainties and chose the course that gives you more
assurances. We are talking about the survival of the human race here. You can’t be even
allowed to try, specially since the end result will be most likely a complete failure.
“If they fail”. He tried to put as much confidence as possible on his voice.
“They will”. Two put a blank smile on his face. “You won’t achieve anything even if the
mission takes off and gets to Mars. See, there’s something X-Com doesn’t know: even if
you kill the Brain, the alien civilization will not die there. You will be merely postponing
their conquest plans. And if you fail, we will all be dead as the aliens react to it”.
In any case, X-Com will never be allowed to strike at the alien base, that I can guarantee
you. I have placed safeguards to prevent it even if you chose not to join me. And if any of
my associates would know about this mission they would act quickly to prevent it,
destroying X-Com by force if necessary.
Now that is something that I would like to prevent and that’s why I’ve come here to have
a little chat with you.” Making a pause for effect, he continued. “You are the only one on
X-Com, or for that matter, outside our group that knows more about the whole scheme of
things. There are others of my trust inside the organization but they hardly know
everyhing about what’s going on and they are more engaged into riding X-Com from….”
He paused trying to find the right words. “….other influences”.
“What if I refuse?” He already knew the answer before the older man spoke it. “You and
Mr. Davis will never be allowed to leave this train alive”.
“At least I have a choice”.
“Doubtful. You think you have free will? Even I with all my power I don’t have free will.
You are bound to what you feel you should do. And that is survival, the essence and
instinct of every live being. And if you fail the consequence is simple: death”.
Williams was about to answer but the sound of the compartment door being unlocked
made him stop. As the other man turned in surprise he realized that something was wrong
as Mr. Hood grabbed the pistol standing next to him.
In a quick movement the door opened revealing a figure standing on the corridor. The tall
man wore the grey and blue uniform of a ticket collector, together with a cap on his head
and a satchel that was on the ground next to his feet.
However the figure was holding a small submachine gun on both hands with a silencer
attached to its barrel.
With almost no sound the man sprayed the inside of the compartment with an automatic
salvo that caught both Williams and the older man. The window glass broke as a slug hit
it, with shards falling both inside and outside the train.
Several shots hit the older man before he could even point his pistol towards the assassin,
catching him on the middle of its turning motion. A bullet caught the side o his neck
625
artery sending blood sprouting all over the compartment, some over Williams. He felt to
the ground with a pool of blood quickly forming on the carpeted ground.
Williams had also started to get up but the fake railway worker was too fast. He directed
the stream of bullets towards him and several hit his chest and waist making him wince
with pain. He fell with his face facing the ground and his mouth felt the metal taste of
blood.
As the clicking sound of an empty clip was heard the assassin took out another from one
of his pockets. Then suddenly something he caught on his peripheral vision made him
turn to the right.
A red light appeared on his shoulder as if somebody was targetting him with a laserscope.
As he looked he saw someone with a strange pistol at him from which the light came.
Suddenly he felt a burning sensation on his chest that almost made him drop his weapon.
However he brought the subautomatic weapon up and sprayed the corridor of the wagon
with bullets before rushing back inside the compartment.
The next thing Williams felt was the pain of having one of his legs crushed by the boot of
the assassin. The pressure quickly dissapeared but after two seconds he screamed in pain
unable to keep himself immobile for more time. His body hurted from a number of
locations and as he opened his eyes he found them sticky from the blood that was flowing
from the older man whose face was turned towards him.
Apparently he wasn’t dead yet since his eyes moved as Williams tried to raise himself.
He started to mumble. “….see? Always have a contingency plan”.
Moving closer Williams tried to move him but discovered that he missed the strenght.
The older man kept talking in fragments of sentences. “…ironic how now it will only
serve their purposes….”. He coughed blood. “The game is over for us”.
“What do you mean?” Williams demanded. “Tell me!”
A flash of realization came to the other man’s eyes. “….precarious I see. Doesn’t matter.
Amber Blue….he’s…” His mouth droppen open in the middle of the last sentence.
Williams tried to make him talk but discovered that he had died.
“Jesus!” Davis’ voice came from the doorway. “Are you allright?” He moved over and
grabbed Williams, checking his injuries.
“I feel like somebody took a trashing at me”. Davis hands ran through his chest, ripping
his shirt open and revealing a white vest underneath.
“You’re lucky the alien alloy seems to have stopped all of the bullets and that I arrived on
time before the guy could finish his job. You’re not bleeding from anywhere from what I
can tell”.
Davis moved to check the older man but only found what Williams already knew. “What
happened?” Even breathing brought pain to Williams, not to mention speaking.
“Well I noticed that the guys that were preventing me from getting here suddenly
dissapeared out of sight. When I found one of them dead in a toilet I knew that something
was wrong so I immediately raced here. I found what I think is a hybrid filling you and
this guy with bullets so I tried to take him out”.
626
“A hybrid?”
“Yeah, the thing took a laser hit that would have disabled anyone and still responded. It
looks as if it jumped off through the window to escape. Let’s get you out of here before
anyone notices this mess”. Pulling Williams arm over his shoulders he lifted him up.
The whole motion sent shivers of pain down his body but he refrained from shouting.
“Where are we going?”
“We need to find a safe place to clean you up from the other guy’s blood and get off this
train as fast as possible”. They moved into the corridor. “By the way, who was that guy?”
Williams shook his head. “I don’t think we will ever know”.
December 21st, 2001

The Premier of the Chinese Communist Party wasn’t pleased. The civil servants on the
old Imperial Palace knew that and they had avoided contact with him unless they were
called upon.
Zhu was standing in the middle of an large foyer, contemplating the garden that was
visible from the large windows that covered one side of the room. The message from the
alien liaision at Lhassa had arrived two days ago and it had been quite clear: there would
be no further support from them in the question of Taiwan. But more irritating was the
fact that the words of the communication made it look more than just a request and more
of an order. He felt humiliated by having to comply with the alien’s demands and could
only think about following his own plans for the matter.
But his generals and admirals had told him that it would be insane to directly threaten
Taiwan with the presence of the American task force in the area. Only the few Dong
Shen craft available would be able to break through the air defense cordon of the carriers
but even then they would be outnumbered. They needed the alien’s air support, the fools
had claimed, in case the invasion force that was massing in several ports on China was
ever to try to disembark on Taiwan.
And that was something that now seemed completely impossible. He was waiting for
Chen to get back from his visit to the alien liasion at Lhassa to try to convince them
otherwise but he knew the odds of such a try. What had made the aliens change their
plans, he wondered before a wave of anger flushed through him again.
When a knock was heard by him he ordered the person to enter but stood with his back
facing it and looking towards the garden. Chen cautiously opened the door and closed it
afterwards, bowing shortly. “Comrade Premier?”
He kept his back towards Chen. “What was their reply?”
“The liaison has refused our demands. He has plainly spoken that the Hierarchy will
never engage in actions that they consider contrary to their own interests and that the
nature of our alliance with them doesn’t require them to do so”.
“And what were your arguments?”
627
“Comrade, I mentioned that we would be very much appreciated for any help they could
give us on this issue since we considered them as friends”. Zhu turned to Chen and the
other man was quickly to correct himself. “I obviously used that expression to try to gain
his simpathy but it was to no avail. Then I mentioned how we have a common enemy in
sight, namely the Americans and how it would be wise to curb their power in the region.
At that time the liaison started to make veiled implications that I would take more as
threats. He spoke that China should be grateful for their generosity in the upgrading of
our society and technology. And that they expected more acceptance of their decisions in
the future”.
Zhu nodded and Chen stopped, understanding that enough had been said. “The aliens are
untrustworthy as allies, what we need to know now is how much we have to fear from
them. Go back to Lhassa at once. I dread that this whole thing isn’t over yet”.
December 22nd, 2001

Moon
As Harris was brought up again into the interrogation room where he had spent countless
hours in the past week he started to realize how disturbing his story must be to his
captors.
A new Nazi officer now sat between the man and the woman he had seen before and he
looked as if he was of a higher rank than the other two. As his blackened eyes started to
look for the chair to sit down he found out that it was gone this time. He felt like
collapsing to the floor but he managed to stand up after a couple of misshapen steps.
They hadn’t allowed him any sleep in the last six nights, since there would be always a
guard that would hit him the second he dozed off while hanging chained to a wall on the
prision area. One of his eyes was almost swollen shut and his face was covered with
blood coming from several cuts and bruises. The beatings from either the woman or the
guards had been severe and they had also broken his left forearm. He had broken a couple
of nights ago and had stopped to conceal anything from them and had told them
everything about X-Com. He only wished now that they would let him sleep or kill him.
As the Lieutenant-General sitting in the middle watched him stumble he turned to his left
to the almost albino Major and asked in German: “Herr Mann, he looks as if he is about
to die in front of us”.
The man looked at the female officer who seemed more relaxed now. “The Kapten did a
most excellent job on him. He gave us all that we wanted to know, didn’t he?”
“Yes, but I’m still having trouble confirming or even accepting it. How is it possible that
there is a force out there actively fighting the aliens while we have waited here for more
than forty years preparing ourselves while their fleet looms over us?”
The man’s voice showed surprise and disbelief. “General, you mean that there hasn’t
been any reply from the Fuhrer?”
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The lack of a response gave him the answer he need. “How can it be? It has been five full
Earth days! Doesn’t he understand the gravity of the situation? The alien’s Hannabu have
been probing the area around our base. They must be preparing something!”
“Something is wrong here Major. That it why I want to hear the prisioner’s claims by
myself so that I can believe them”.
To Harris it seemed as if he was in a dreamlike state as he overheard the conversation but
could make no sense out of it. Nothing seemed real except for the scar on his face that
would occasionaly itch and bring him back to the cockpit of the Aurora before it was shot
down by the UFO.
A voice made him focus again on the table. “Prisioner, identify yourself!”
After a couple of seconds to recollect his thoughts, Harris started speaking. “Andrew
Willard Harris, Lieutenant Colonel. Serial number 59154-1034. Born on April 15th, 1959
in Wakefield, Iowa, United States. Formely of the United States Air Force, now currently
under the service of Extraterrestrial Command, based in Area 51, Nevada, US, flying
Firestorm fighters…:”
“That is enough prisioner”. The albino Nazi made him stop. “What is Extraterrestrial
Command?”
“It was created in 1998 under the auspices of the United Nations to investigate and fight
alien activity on Earth. There were originally sixteen nations who signed the X-Com
charter but six have abandoned the force, with five joining the alien’s side and the United
States decided to fight them on their own”.
“Unbelievable!” The comment from the General made the Major stop before he could
state the next question. “What of the rest of the world?” He demanded to the officer.
“The prisioner told us that a number of states have also joined the Zionist-Alien alliance”.
“How is it possible? We fled Earth because we knew that we couldn’t fight them from
there. Our new Fuhrer told us that all of Earth’s goverments were becoming corrupted”.
The pause on the interrogation gave Harris time to clear his mind and start to think about
what really was going on. Then, all of a sudden a loud voice was suddenly heard coming
from an unseen speaker inside the room: “Achtung!”
“Alien Hannabus have been detected heading towards the base. All personnel man the
battle stations! Achtung!” The warning made all three officers looked in bafflement
towards one another. They quickly got up from their seats and sped off to the door, giving
no further attention to Harris as they left.
He couldn’t understand what the announcement had been but the frenziness that had
erupted around him was familiar. As the guards moved to his sides and grabbed his arms
to quickly get him moving his broken arm sent him a deep searing pain.
They ignored his shout and brought him outside the room to the corridor that would lead
him into the the containment area. As they stepped outside Harris got the confirmation
that something big was about to happen. Nazi stormtroopers wearing EVA suits with
laser rifles attached to their backs were running everywhere. The base could only be
under an attack by the aliens. Or could it be X-Com that had detected his location?
629
The idea gave in a little of hope, only to be dismissed as he remembered the alien fleet
that was parked on the other side of the Moon. They would never pass it or even try to
approach the satellite.
Suddenly the rumble of a blast was heard and the three men stopped on their path. The
metal ground beneath their feet shook for a couple of minutes as one of the guards started
to shout in German with a panicked voice. They were in the corridor with the viewports
to the lunar surface and Harris moved his head so that he could have a look at the outside.
The Moon had gone around the Earth and the planet was now blocking the sunlight,
turning the whole area into a deep darkness where only the stars could be seen. The
overheads light flickered for a second then went off, bringing more stressed words from
the guard.
As the red emergency lights came up both of them let go of Harris and drew their laser
pistols. They were looking at both ends of the corridor, unsure of what to do.
Meanwhile he continued to stare outside, trying to understand what was really going.
When the luminous shape of a Terror Ship came over the horizon he realized what was
happening and sat down on the ground, wanting to have some rest before the inevitable.
One of the guards ordered him to get up but he ignored him.
Then, as the man was moving towards him, the whole ceiling of the corridor suddenly
glowed and dissapeared afterwards. In less than a second Harris saw the guard raising
himself on the air as the explosive decompression sucked everything that was loose
inside the corridor. His own body followed a moment afterwards and as it cleared the
hole carved by the UFO’s weapons his body fluids exploded, killing him.
January 1st, 2002

Geneva, Switzerland
Three had been surprised by the sudden request for a meeting by Eight, which had been
completely unexpected. Before the appointment he had wondered for hours about the
purpose of such a meeting. A trap? A deal?
It had aroused his curiosity then, to the point that I was impossible to hide it from the
younger man as they both finally met. And he had blatantly admitted it, together with his
surprise to see what mistakes Eight might do if his ego was inflated enough. The man’s
psychological profile surely had indicated that there might be such a possibility.
“I have information of extreme importance to the group”. That had been the first
indication that some big was about to happen. A major change of power was probably
about to occur on the organization and he had better been prepared for it. “You have my
full attention. Proceed”.
“You know about Williams still being alive?” At the mention of the CIA officer, Three
felt dissapointment. He already had that information relayed from him by Seven. Still he
could use this meeting to start making Two distrusting Eight.
“And the reason why you were fooled was because someone we know ordered him taken
out of the car and to replace his body with a clone”. The revelation had sent a nuclear
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blast inside Three’s head. A deep sense of anger had gone by him at that moment but he
ignored it, knowing that he needed more proof of the other man’s claims.
“Our agents at Area 51…..” He started but Eight didn’t let him speak. “Have been
secretely reassigned or have been feeding you false reports. As you might have
discovered by now”.
“You realize that such a claim must be proven with more than words???”
“And I will”. Eight simply replied. “Days ago a secret communication was sent to
Williams proposing a meeting between both. I have the location and the date of that
reunion. Someone is conducting their own agenda and risking the integrity of all of our
plans. We can’t risk any association with X-Com at this moment”.
When Three’s silence had extended itself for more time than it would be natural, Seven
had started to wonder if he had overextended his hand and revealed too much without
stating his price. But Three was already seeing the near future and how all pieces of the
puzzle were falling into their right places on his mind.
Check-mate, the coup de grâce, a thousand words were coming to his mind to describe
his next movement. No, he had corrected himself then, the group’s next movement. He
only needed for the pieces to naturally place themselves in position. And they had. Both
in Earth and on the Moon.
Looking at the table he now occupied Two’s chair. He now had the other man’s position
by taking advantage of his mistakes. Across the table Eight was now Seven. His
ambitions had been clear: he wanted to raise his position. And he also wanted to be on the
winner’s side.
At the end of the table there was an empty chair, the twelfth one that marked the demise
of one of the groups’ members and reminding him of his victory. Even if Williams had
survived the attempt and was now hiding in Area 51 back again where they had no means
to get him for now. It didn’t matter. The clock was ticking and even if the former Two
had given him any revelant information about them he would be powerless to prevent
them or even discover who they were.
Looking to the other side, his eyes focused on Number One. He was the last obstacule to
be removed before he finally could get what he wanted and the other man knew it. And
nothing would stand on his path. Even his effort towards the Nazi fools on the Moon had
been sacrified. A worthless ideology, something that should belong to the past buried
alongside its now dead followers on the Moon.
One started to speak and he listened to him. “We stand on the threshold of a new path to
mankind. This is truly a New Year that will mark the beginning of a new era. We all have
taken a long and perilous path to get here and the fruits of it are now only start to truly
blossom”. Every member of the group nodded in approval, although some, including the
former Three found them too poetical for his taste.
“And those who deviated themselves from the plan will never enjoy them”. That brought
a smile to Three and Number One noticed it, looking at him. “But in order to be fully
prepared we need to keep our number. Competition is what drive us to our best as we all
know. Therefore we need to recruit another junior member to our cause”.
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That had been one of the major reasons for the assembly and Three already had some
suggestions. Several of his own agents inside the US Government had proven themselves
more than reliable. It was time to bring one of them into the circle and strenghten his
position.
But as he was about to speak, another voice suddenly overcome him. “I would like to
propose a name”. Searching for the source of it, Three found it to be the former Eight.
“No matter who misguided a former associate of ours were, he knew the value of that
person. He has been in contact with the alien situation from the beginning and will bring
new perspectives for us to consider. Not to mention the knowledge that X-Com has
collected over our ‘friends’. We can’t afford to loose it”.
As he realized of whom they were talking, Three was appalled by the proposal. “That is
preposterous! That man is a danger to us!” Number One didn’t even seemed to pay
attention as he replied. “A very interesting option”.
Three suddenly realized that the whole thing had already been set up against him. In no
doubt the others who didn’t support him were fearing his sudden elevation and trying to
contain his increase of power. “I call the vote. Who agrees with this proposal?”
A couple of minutes later the voting was all over and Number Three could only watch in
anger as his plans were completely frustrated. It didn’t matter, he told himself. Only the
strongest should survive and he was sure that he could pass any new challenges ahead.
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Chapter Thirty-One – Here It Ends
Map of Mars:
Map of Cydonia:
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Viking probe picture of Cydonia:
(All pictures were taken by NASA)
March 7th, 2002

Valles Marineris, Mars
Squaddie Jones looked at the yellow-brown sandy soil through the faceplate and wished
that he could spit on it. However the helmet suit from his power suit prevented it and he
wouldn’t risk taking it out. Not only the greenie would most likely turn into a small ball
of ice before hitting the ground, but he would be dead afterwards, as the air of his lungs
would be sucked out of due to the low pressure of the Martian atmosphere.
That or he would be dying from hypoxia a few minutes later if he tried to hold his breath.
And when the desperation coming from the lack of oxygen finally made him gasp for air,
it wouldn’t do any good. The little amount of gases present on the atmosphere was
composed mainly of carbon dioxide, not oxygen.
Yeah, all nice things could happen to you out there on the great Martian outdoors!
During the tense and crammed journey to Mars there had been talk, and complains, about
having to fight in a condition where a suit leak could became a serious problem, not to
mention the fact that there would be dozen of armed aliens around. But the reply from
one of the soldiers present, who had been a Navy SEAL, had been laconic: “Well, at least
we are not going to fight underwater there. I’ll tell you all that it would be much worse”.
That had gotten Jones to remember for a minute of the alien base on Antarctica and the
fight he had with the Silacoids on the flooded corridor. But he soon realized shortly that
apparently everything could and most likely would go wrong, especially when taking a
trip of millions of miles into Mars, which has something never done before.
And don’t forget to mention the fact that there’s an alien base out there, full of thousands
of aliens ready to take over any intruders, he reminded himself.
635
‘If the opposition isn’t tough enough, we will make them tough enough to make an even
fight’, his drill sergeant once told him during boot camp. Now Jones wished that the
bastard could be here and eat his own words.
His attention diverted from the soil littered with red stones to the high standing dark
brown cliffs in front of him. Jones had already forgotten how deep the whole canyon
were the X-COM force had landed but he remembered it was several thousand feet.
Hell, according to someone at Eta squad, who had heard it from someone else, which in
turn had overheard it from a conversation between two officers, Valles Marineris was a
series of canyons bigger than North America. That had gotten Jones thinking.
He could see the northern cliff, its dark irregular peaks standing above him and marking
themselves against the pink sky. On the contrary, there was nothing recognizable on the
south as far as his vision could see. Could it be that they were standing in a canyon that
big that you couldn’t see both walls of it? Jones decided to dismiss the soldier’s claim
and stick to Eta’s reputation: the soldiers assigned to it were too dumb to fight with the
other troopers, let them jerk around with the robot tanks.
As he was contemplating the scenario, Corporal Rodriguez came from behind him and
gave him a gentle pat with his heavy plasma as he passed by Jones. The trooper’s
attention was suddenly distracted by the metal noise and Rodriguez’s voice: “Let’s go
Jones. This patrol is over. Terminado. Wanna play a poker hand at the Challenger when
we get back?”
Jones dismissed the corporal with his laser rifle and resumed his walk back to the X-
COM camp, together with the remaining members of Gamma squad. As they approached
the provisional base they joined Private Pershing, whose tall figure had stopped on the
path.
“Very funny. We got someone with a sense of humor around here”. He said to them on
the radio with a detached voice, and then continued back to the camp to the provisional
barracks.
King and Rodriguez approached the location on where he was standing. Someone had
planted a metal stake on the sand with a sign on top in several languages, all of them
saying: “Welcome to Mars City One. Population: 244. Please don’t step on the grass and
don’t feed the aliens”.
Area 51, Nevada, US

78 million kilometers away from Gamma squad’s location, Williams had just entered
Robinson’s office to join with X-COM’s intelligence chief as they were about to get the
latest intelligence report on Mars. The mission had launched itself without a single
problem, much to his surprise due to the last dying statement of the man who he had met
weeks ago. Davis had called it a bluff as he had heard the story but Williams wasn’t so
sure. There was a clear implication that others were involved in the whole matter but if
they had tried to sabotage the launch of the Avengers and their flight to Mars or even
warn the aliens, nothing had came up.
The mood of everybody at the base was of anxiety. Although only a few people knew the
destination of the craft, everyone knew that something really important was happening.
636
Or that it was about to happen. The story of the alien fleet on the other side of the Moon
and the recent attacks on X-COM bases all over the world were putting pressure into
everyone. Even the news of minor confrontations between Chinese and US ships in the
Yellow Sea didn’t seem to grab anyone’s attention.
Checking his wrist he saw on his watch that only ten minutes were left until the
transmission procedures started at precisely nine-thirty. As he entered the office
Robinson’s personal secretary looked at him. “Oh it’s you Mr. Williams”, she replied as
if she was waiting for someone else.
“Good morning Jill. Is the Colonel around?” As he asked he half-expected Robinson to
pop out of his personal door with a serious face since he was five minutes late.
“No, the Colonel hasn’t turned in this morning yet”. She looked at his office. “I guess
that he finally must have overslept a bit. Even he must get tired after spending all of these
late hours here working”.
“He hasn’t arrived?” For the year since Williams had moved into Area 51 he couldn’t
remember ever seeing Robinson being late. In fact he had gotten from him quite a
number of looks of reprehension every time he arrived more than two minutes late for an
appointment with him.
“No and I don’t know what I should do”. The secretary was clearly surprised by the
occurrence. It looked to Williams that she was feeling as if the impossible had happened.
“Can’t you call his quarters to see if he’s already up? We have to be on the
communications room in five minutes. It’s very important”.
“I guess I could but I’d hate to disturb the Colonel”. A sudden remembrance came to her
mind. “Wait. The Colonel yesterday left me something for you when you came this
morning”. She opened a drawer from her desk and removed a letter from inside.
Picking it up from her extended hand, Williams wondered what might be inside. Opening
it up, he saw that on its back there was something written with Robinson’s handwriting.
Bringing it closer to his eyes, he read the words: Good luck.
Putting her right hand over the mouthpiece, Jill turned to him. “Sir, there’s no answer
from the Colonel’s quarters. He must not be there”.
“Try the base’s desk. See if they can find out of his location”. She went back to the phone
and placing a finger between the envelope’s flaps, Williams opened it.
On the inside there was only a single piece of paper. As he took it out, Jill moved back to
him in confusion. “Sir, the desk officer says that Colonel Robinson was last seen by a
Theta detachment close to the base perimeter. Apparently he couldn’t sleep and had
decided to take a walk outside. They have now started to make a search for him”.
As she finished off the sentence, his heart froze as he read the typed words on the small
paper.
“AMBER BLUE”. The envelope on his other hand dropped without a sound to the floor.
637
Inside the camp set out the day before upon their landing, Illyuschenko tried to ignore the
last news he had just received from Mother One about the situation on Earth.
Two X-COM bases had been attacked in the last 24 hours by the aliens with heavy
casualties.
Stalingrad Base had been the first, but Colonel Bondarenko had left it well prepared for
such an eventuality. The intruders had been repulsed by the plasma and laser fire from the
security defense towers, resulting in the destruction of one of the incoming UFOs and the
withdrawal of the remaining craft with serious damage, in opposition to the light
casualties suffered by the defenders.
But in the case of the African base, Depot S-4, the damage and consequences were far
more serious. With the call up of all available Avenger craft and soldiers to fight on Mars
the majority of the combat teams were either gone or gravely undermanned, since the
veterans were all here now.
It had been a massacre.
Colonel Warteens had less than two platoons of infantry and tanks to repel the intruders,
especially after having taking a beating on Nairobi two days ago from a terrorist attack
done by Ethereals and Sectopods.
It hadn’t been enough to stop the aliens.
All communications with the base had been ceased after reports of a series of alien
attacks and a desperate call for reinforcements. But there were none that could have
reached Depot S-4 on time to prevent the slaughter.
Two fully manned Lightnings from Mother One had investigated the site the following
day, with a couple of Firestorms flying along for protection. Among the ruins of the base
they hadn’t found any survivors. Not only, the warehouses on which the majority of the
alien artifacts captured were being stored had been completely destroyed or left empty by
the aliens. More than two hundred personnel had been killed, along with the loss of a war
material cache that was more than worth its weight in gold.
Plus the other attacks on the preceding weeks, which had badly damaged Complex YY-
18 and putting a stop on the Avenger production, plus the failed attempts at the Indian
and European bases. The X-COM Commander took a deep breath and contemplated the
dark monitor on the bridge of the Protector.
In his entire military career, Illyuschenko always had accepted the fact that military
troops are meant to kill or be killed. And also that sacrifices were required most of time
and the more he went up on the command ladder the more lives he had the power to
decide over. His plan had been modified and approved by X-COM’s High Command and
ratified by the UN’s Secretary himself after a long discussion.
When he had first informed the Secretary-General, Bomaka had refused to approve the
strike. He had argued that it would take away most of Earth’s men and equipment on a
suicide mission, leaving the planet undefended. And finally, that the decision for such an
attack should be left to the Council due to the seriousness of the proposal.
638
Illyuschenko had to threaten him to get his support. But not with physical force. Instead
he simply said that he was ready to present not only his resignation but of the entire X-
COM High Command if Bomaka didn’t approve the attack.
Actually, Bomaka’s critics were not completely unfounded. All of X-COM’s Avengers
had traveled together to Mars, in a trip that marked the maiden voyage of the first human
space fleet and the first landing on the red planet. However, it also meant leaving Earth
undefended against the aliens’ battleships and the upcoming invasion. Not undefended,
he corrected himself, trying to dismiss of the guilt he was suffering. “We left some troops
back….. But even if all of us where back there we couldn’t do anything….”.
“Commander? Did you say anything, sir?” Illyuschenko was startled by the new voice
and turned the chair to see a young officer standing close to him, with the upper section
of the power suit removed and in a hurry. “No. Do you have any business here son?” he
said in an unfriendly tone. The officer suddenly wished for some place to hide but kept
on his mission. “Sir, well, the hyper wave detector we brought aboard the Valiant is now
working sir”.
“Good! Why didn’t you say so! Now we won’t be seeing an unexpected attack from the
aliens! We can now know when they detect us and bring all of their firepower to erase
our presence from this dust ball!” The tirade came out of a second from his mouth before
Illyuschenko realized his error.
The officer stood in the same place, looking startled. “Sir? I’m sorry but I came from the
South American team and don’t speak Russian”. Feeling relief, Illyuschenko just thanked
and dismissed him with an order to be informed of any important alien communications.
Then he went back to read the remaining part of the intelligence briefing submitted by
Colonel Robinson to him, thanking whomever that he was speaking in Russian.
The lieutenant was still nearby, he waited to see what other news there were. “And sir,
Area 51 is calling. They have successfully reactivated the Odyssey”.
Area 51, Nevada, US

“I told you all!” Landon’s face was gloating as the data from the space probe orbiting
Mars started to flow into the computers at Area 51 with a twenty minute lag due to the
time it took the radio waves to reach Earth.
On his side, Pharris simply nodded in surprise. “You surely did. I never expected that
your piece of software that went onboard the Odyssey could do the job. I mean, to
pretend that the probe had suffered a malfunction; deploy it successfully on the planet’s
orbit; and re-establish communications, after more than a month so that NASA had
stopped by now to make any effort to listen to any signs from it. I take my hat to you”.
Still with a grin that extended from one ear to another, Landon turned to Pharris. “I’m
gonna leave you guys now”. He winked. “Good luck on examining the data. If you need
anything I will be shooting pool at the mess hall”.
“Well done, Landon”. Williams spoke to him, but he was already by the door, whistling
happily as he walked away. Moving closer to Dr. Mantell, who was looking on the screen
displaying the data that was arriving with an eight-minute lag from Mars due to the
distance, he asked. “Is it any good?”
639
The scientist had stopped to pay attention to reality and was emerged in the data. It took
him a couple of seconds to take notice of the question and to answer back. “Oh, yes. The
radiation detector on board it is working perfectly and has made a couple of scans of the
planet already”.
“Doctor and what about Cydonia?” Major Prescott, seated also close asked. Punching in a
number of keys to call the information, Mantell answered a minute later. “There are
tachyons all over the area. The aliens are there alright”.

On the other side of the landing area the X-COM troops had hastily built a firing range to
calibrate the weapons after the long-range flight to Mars. Corporal King was standing in
one of the stations, a shallow depression where a man could fit inside and with a small
wall. He was working on a heavy laser, when another figure suddenly dropped out of the
sky close to him. “I noticed you coming from more than fifty yards, Rumpole. You don’t
trick me”.
He turned his torso to greet the female sniper, who was now trying to land on the Martian
ground, using the anti-gravity equipment of her flying suit. Unfortunately, the suit
responded in a not expected way and she unexpectedly pummeled to the ground in the
last part, forcing her to bend her knees to absorb the impact. “Damn! I thought I had it
covered by now!” she complained.
“When you are standing on a planet with less than half of Earth’s gravity it takes some
time to adjust for the additional push they provided. Even if we flew all the way here with
the internal gravity at the craft set equal to Mars’ own one”.
She moved closer to him. “I know dammit! But it was supposed to be easier than if we
had spent the whole trip in zero-g environment!” King nodded in agreement. The more
than a month claustrophobic trip to Mars had been close to living for that time in a
submarine, due to the necessity of filling up the Avengers with life-support systems for
the journey.
However, one of the benefits from the use of alien propulsion systems, besides cutting the
travel time from Earth to Mars to a mere forty days, was that they created artificial
gravity onboard. Thus, it prevented the soldiers from starting to suffer the effects of
living under zero gravity, which would have weakened the body’ bones and muscles.
“Hey how did you recognize me anyways?” He dropped what he was doing and said to
her, slightly laughing. “Rita, you must be one of the shortest around here, not to mention
the only midget on a flying suit”. She kicked him to the side with her armored foot, the
sound barely audible in Mars’s thin atmosphere. He stopped laughing and cried in a mock
voice “Ouch! That hurt!”
The small, bulky soldier made a half-heartily try but King dodged it easily like he was
meant to. “Yeah right! Stand there in the middle of the range and you will see what really
hurts then!” He turned down her offer with a move of his metal glove. “No thanks.
Sergeant Hopkins will already have my ass because of the dents you just made on my
armor and I can’t afford one more scratch”.
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“Oh, can it! What are you doing with that heavy laser? Our squad has switched into
heavy plasmas for quite some time now”. He picked up the weapon with both hands and
dropped on her arms. “Just finished correcting the scope. Try it”. She picked the laser
with both arms and assumed a standing firing position. Choosing up a large rock as a
target, she took two shots at it, leaving two darkened holes. “OK”, he added, “now go for
something outside the range of the weapon”.
As she finished switching from one target to the other, she just slipped a phrase “Waste
of batteries” before pressing the trigger. Then she become shocked as the white beam
carved another hole at the rock she had chosen. “What the fuck?!” She checked the range
on the scope. “That rock is 405 meters away. But the practical range for this thing is 260
meters! Are you a magician King, or are you getting fancy with one of the rocket
scientists?”
He accepted back the laser from her hands. “Physics 101”
Looking at her enquiring pose he continued his explanation. “In Earth the practical range
of this thing is related to atmospheric conditions, such as temperature, smoke and clouds
and so on. In here the air pressure is almost zero, which allows for the beam to suffer
from less dispersion. You just need to adjust the sight for the new conditions and you
have an even more powerful heavy laser. Of course, the battery runs out faster also, but I
prefer it this way. Gives me an edge when targeting Sectopods”.
They both smiled at that last comment, although they couldn’t see each other’s faces.
Omega was one of the few squads in X-COM that could claim to have survived in a
direct firefight with one of the Ethereal’s armored plasma beasts without even a scratch.
That happened due to the excellent coordination of all its members and their
marksmanship.
“Very resourceful, Virgil Just don’t loose any other targets meanwhile”. The tone of her
voice turned warmer and King turned to her, wondering what she was up to. “Say, I think
I could use some adjustments on my heavy laser. Wanna go back to one of the tents and
help me out?”
Markovitch had just made another run into the Avenger’ toilet to puke for the hundred
time ever since they had landed three days ago. The nausea pills that a X-COM doctor
had given her seemed to be working, at least barely since she now felt better. The
physician had first mentioned that the long space trip plus the landing must have been
putting a lot of strain on her organism.
She could understand that. Spending a month in a metal coffin with no more privacy than
a curtain on her bunk wasn’t that great. Or the landing, where the fleet had entered
atmosphere at a completely opposite location from Cydonia right on the mouth of the
Valles Marineris, in order to avoid detection. That had been according to the plan.
Unfortunately, the weather conditions in the area were being responsible for the
formation of small dust storms and they had traveled most of the length of the canyon
through rough turbulence until finally setting down at the bottom of one of the cliffs. Or
the adaptation to this horrible place: Mars City One reminded her more of a shantytown
or even a nomad camp. Conditions were minimal and that included life-support.
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But when the Indian doctor had noticed the small Psi letter attached to the collar of her
jumpsuit he suddenly stopped babbling about the conditions and she understood him.
Psionics personnel defied science and doctors by its own nature.
Most doctors just simply gave up looking for any other medical explanation and simply
attributed any physiological problems to them, when dealing with psionic capable
troopers. This one had also the same attitude as he hastily finished the physical exam;
she read it on his face expression. Not that she was able or willing to do anything with
her mental skills.
She had never felt this bad before, expect when she participated on the interrogation of
the Ethereal commander captured in Antarctica. That had been the last time that she had
used her abilities, because of their reported damaging effects on the human brain.
Except for the selected members of the Psi squad, the strange group of volunteers from
Area 51’s personnel that seemed to have a special mental resistance, all of the other
psionic able soldiers were banned from using them. The only exception was when there
was a special need but the soldier would have to volunteer and the commanding officer to
authorize it. Such as the questioning of the alien commander.
The memories of it were still painful to remember. Johnson took the decision heart
broken because of its possible implications and only after she had pressed him. She and
all of the psi troopers on the base had been put together in the alien containment room.
The alien was being kept there under the power of a mental shield, which inhibited its
powers.
However, when the protection was lifted for the troopers to gain mental control of the
alien, the attack of the Ethereal was bad enough. All of the loose equipment in the room
next to the cell immediately started to fly towards the troopers, in an attempt to loose
their concentration. Markovitch wasn’t the strongest psi, so her job was to weaken the
Ethereal’s defenses and allow for the others to take control of him.
It had worked, but it had also given her nightmares that still had plagued her on the weeks
spent in the space journey onboard the Avenger. They had taken the robe off the Ethereal
and it was ugly and threatening enough to see. He had been sitting down on a rock bed, a
thin and frail figure looking completely helpless.
However, when the mental field was disconnected, all quickly changed. With an
incredible speed it got up and faced his jailers. Much taller than a Sectoid, its face was
close to the smaller alien, but it allowed for facial expressions. When she did her mental
attack the Ethereal had simply turned to her, the black eyes burning red, his mouth
opened showing sharp fangs. She became quickly engulfed in a wave of despair and fear.
For a brief second she saw herself suffering the vilest tortures at an examination table in
an UFO, followed by a feeling of something alien on her mind, probing and feeling,
looking for her primeval fears and activating them.
Then finally the alien froze in place and all of the almost unbearable pressure was
suddenly lifted off her mind. One of the other psis had managed to take control of him for
brief seconds, before the alien regained control and felt down screaming and with
uncontrollable shakes.
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From that moment on she hardly had any memories. From what Johnson had told her, the
officer had tried to place again the artificial mental field that would block the alien’s
psionic powers. That was the plan.
But after some seconds the alien had managed to gain mental control of the man instead.
He simply had gotten up and, using the metal chair where he was seated, started to smash
the controls. Fortunately several troopers were armed and ready for such an eventuality.
The fully armored squad immediately broke into the containment chamber and killed the
Ethereal commander with a couple of heavy plasma blasts.
Most of the psis involved in the whole matter, including her, had to be taken to the
infirmary afterwards, some of them in deep coma. But the whole affair had been
worthwhile. When Warrant Officer Fisk, a psi recruited from the base’s technical
personnel who had managed to control the alien, finally awoke after days of deep coma,
he simply asked for a map of Mars and pointed to an area: Cydonia Mensae. But
afterwards he had committed suicide less than two days later.
Her stomach gave another twist and she waited to see if she had to run to the toilet again.
The doctors couldn’t tell if what she was suffering was from the mental effort of the
interrogation or if it was only the results of the space travel. But she knew what it really
was.
Johnson and Hopkins were wearing their power suits and were taking a stroll in the
landing area, close to where the three Avengers belonging to the North American
command were parked. They were standing in the space in front of the Avenger,
Challenger and the Majestic. The craft were all covered in orange and yellow camouflage
tarps, hoping to hide them from alien detection.
Johnson considered himself lucky to have three of the craft available: one had been
originally bookmarked for use by the Eastern team but that was before the decision made
by Colonel Jackson to comply with President’s Vaughn’s orders and abandon the project
together with the US.
“The first manned outpost on another planet. Have you thought about it Hopkins?” The
Sergeant looked at the camp and decided that he had been in better places on his recruit.
All the Avengers had been parked close to the cliff and around them there ten feet igloos
made of highly resistant plastic polymers, with a smaller rectangular section as an
airlock.
They had been brought to supplement the sparse living space inside the Avengers and
also as for storage for weapons and equipment. “Pretty shitty place if you ask me
Colonel. I’m glad we are only going to stay here a few more days before packing up for
Cydonia. If we stayed here longer I think the place or the conditions would kill us”.
“Don’t complain too much about the conditions Sarge. You’re part of the team that broke
into NASA to steal the plans for all of this equipment to live on the surface of Mars. Next
time get us not-so-much-crappy designs, please”. The loud laughter of Hopkins voice was
heard on the radio. “Well sir, I plea the Fourth on that one. I never heard of such an
action before”.
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Suddenly the short-range microwave radio was filled with alert warnings and both men
froze into place, before running to the nearest Avenger. “What is going on?” He called on
the radio as he went to reach the emergency stations in case the aliens had detected their
approach and were attacking the camp, trying to be heard over the calls from all of the
other officers in the field.
The voice of someone with a Californian accent, definitely Hunt, filled the channel. “All
units stand down! I repeat all units stand down! The alert has been cancelled. Colonel,
there’s a problem in the outside quarters! The Major is on the scene”. Both men
immediately headed out to the main avenue, which linked all tents that had been raised by
the cliff. They soon discovered where the disturbance was located as a number of X-
COM troopers were standing beside it.
Finding Patterson, Johnson moved to his side as the other officer turned to him. “Colonel,
one of the inflatable barracks suffered a rupture. The troopers inside are safe since they
managed to use some of that repair spray to close it before the pressure dropped to zero.
They have safely put their helmets and are proceeding to safely close the hole”.
Johnson let go of a relief breath. “That was close. Make sure everyone knows the
operating procedures for the material. We don’t need losing people to accidents”.
One hour later, all of the company commanders were on board the Protector to finish the
details of the operation. The group of men and women present all showed the tension of
the week’s space flight in cramped conditions plus the strain of trying to stay alive on a
hostile planet. But a feeling of resolve was also present; with all of them knowing that
everything was about to end.
“The Odyssey just made another pass at Cydonia. The area is still covered under a giant
dust storm making it impossible to take any visual pictures but the radiation and
hyperwave detectors made another scan”. One of the small screens onboard the crew’s
compartment lit up showing a blue rectangular field crossed with horizontal and vertical
lines with three clusters of red lights arranged in a rough triangle.
“The aliens are concentrating their activity into three areas, all separated by dozens of
kilometers. The main source of activity seems to be here:” The visual image of what
seemed to resemble a face came up to the screen. “It seems to be a natural large mesa
formation at the first sight, but according to Area 51, its interior must have been
excavated to transform it into an alien airbase, since there are multiple readings of
Elerium engines and hyperwave transmissions coming from UFOs. More than a hundred
craft seem to be based at this location and about half are Battleships”.
Everyone stood silent or gave looks of apprehension. X-COM had brought fifteen
Avengers for the mission and trying to perform a classical attack would be suicide since
they would be badly outnumbered.
“Fortunately, that doesn’t seem to be our target. The other two areas occupied by the
aliens are the City, located on the west of the map and the Pyramid, situated on the edge
of a corner made between it and the City and the Face but more to the south”.
The image was replaced by one of a group of small pyramid like structures, all clustered
around in a circle. To the right a ruined large mount could be seen. “As for the city, there
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hardly is any activity going around there. The probe has detected a number of Elerium
engines but Area 51 has determined that they most likely are the signatures of Cyberdisks
on patrol.
There aren’t any UFOs in the area and it seems lightly defended. But in the case of the
Pyramid, the whole picture is different”.
The screen now showered a five-sided Pyramid that seemed more intact than the previous
structures. A small crater could be seen on the ground right to the structure. “This thing is
the largest of all of the structures, over five hundred meters tall and more than two
kilometers long. There are also a number of Elerium engines buried deep inside that
doesn’t fit the characteristics of the ones used to power the UFOs. Something else must
be inside that requires that sort of power. In fact their tachyon emissions match more the
characteristics of the reactors found inside the alien base on Antarctica”.
“The alien Brain” MacTaggert didn’t let him finish off. “But if we attack it, the UFOs on
that face thing will be on us shortly and overwhelm us”.
“We need a diversionary attack”. All eyes were on Bondarenko as the Russian Colonel
moved closer and examined the data. “Something to distract their fleet while our main
group drops undetected into the Pyramid and kills the Brain. But can we approach the
area without being detected?”
Illyuschenko nodded. “The dust storm that presently covers the northern half of the planet
should be sufficient if we move in complete radio and hyperwave blackout. We could
send a small strike force to attack the City first from a northern approach while our main
force moves in from the south”.
“But will that be of any good?” Johnson objected and all officers turned to him as he
pointed to the screen. “The City and the Fort are only a few miles away from one another
and they are roughly twenty miles from the Pyramid. The flight time between the three
structures means that the aliens will be able to respond in a few minutes. We can only
hope that they don’t have the transports ready to take-off, otherwise they will be on to us
while we are still getting off the ramps of the Avengers”.
“Johnson has a point”. Bondarenko conceded. “And the diversionary team will have to
hold the aliens as much as they can. And the aliens will be able to respond quickly and
achieve in minutes full air superiority over the area, risking aerial bombardments on our
men. It will be a suicide mission: by the time the aliens respond to the attack on the
Pyramid, I’ll doubt that there will be much left of the team”.
“Unless we make an air drop using flying suits. That will reduce the time needed to
deploy in case the aliens on the Pyramid respond in a matter of seconds to the attack on
the City. They can also use the suits to keep themselves constantly on the move, making
it harder for the aliens to pin and destroy them”. Johnson nodded as he heard
Illyuschenko’s comments.
The other officers also agreed with the plan although some still had some reservations.
Illyuschenko continued. “But we need to decide on who will perform the diversionary
attack”.
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He scanned over the group of officers. “I need someone who has the most experience on
hit and run attacks”. Looking directly at each officer he continued, his voice now
showing also a deep tiredness. “That team will have to try to stay alive for how long as it
can, since they can expect no help and every second they gain is vital to us”.
As his eyes came to rest upon Johnson he remained looking at him longer than he had at
the other officers. When he spoke, his voice came with pain. “Colonel, you might not
know how sorry I am for asking us this: can you do the diversionary attack and draw the
alien’s attention while we assault the Pyramid?”
Without thinking, Johnson nodded. “Yes sir”. He barely gave any attention to what might
happen to him personally although a trace of fear went afterwards over him.
Closing his eyes for a second, Illyuschenko whispered, so low that even Johnson couldn’t
hear. Spassibo!
Now speaking louder for anyone to hear, he continued. “You’re one of my best teams,
Colonel Johnson, otherwise I wouldn’t be asking you this. I hope that you make it back
alive but if not we will make the aliens pay for everyone who died on this war”. The
other officers’ eyes became filled with determination.
March 8th, 2002
As the Large Scout moved across the side of the gigantic alien Mothership parked on the
Moon’s orbit, number One felt amazement at the size of the fleet. He was standing at an
observation lounge on the mammoth ship where the hull of the ship would become
transparent at a wave of a hand on a certain section of the wall allowing him to stand in
the middle of space. Into every direction he could see the bright dots that marked the
UFOs parked on the Moon’s orbit.
The aliens had brought him to the giant ship after meeting one of the smaller craft, which
had avoided detection by Earth’s forces and landed at a pre-arranged location. One
wasn’t sure if the entire pick-up arrangement and the stay at the ship was the aliens’ way
of showing some courtesy or if it was their way to stating who was in charge. The
communications from the aliens had been fairly neutral at a first glance and even the
Sectoid officer who had been in command of the Scout vessel had seemed completely
oblivious of his presence.
The moment he had set foot upon the larger vessel about a week ago he had been become
bewildered by its size and crew. The kilometers long length of cigar-shaped craft was
composed of dozens of decks and they seemed to be filled by thousands of aliens.
As he had walked through the ship he recognized all of the races that had been reported
to operate on Earth but there were also some surprises that the Group had no idea of their
previous existence. There were the tall muscular green figures of Mutons, the majority of
them. They were apparently the race responsible for security since they were the only
ones who carried weapons. In some cases they also had canine like aliens held tightly
next to them by leashes. The creatures’ body was spiked and when they opened their
mouths they revealed rows of sharpened fangs.
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As one of them turned to face One, the Sectoid officer sent a telepathic message sent a
brisk warning for him to ignore it. He immediately turned his eyes off the beast and
resumed his examination of the creatures onboard. The Floaters and Snakemen aboard
seemed to be engaged into menial work, carrying equipment and supplies over the ship
while Sectoids could be seen manning consoles. The Ethereals had been completely
hidden from view but he had seen other beasts that looked more terrifying While the
Ethereals’ body was usually covered with robes in their cases the bipedal figures had
nothing to cover their body, which was full of cybernetic implants.
He even saw a large figure at the distance in one of the corridors that the Sectoids seemed
to fear more that the Ethereals. Unfortunately, it was moving away from him and it
quickly disappeared into one of the side corridors. He decided that he should know more
about these new races. Their reduced number showed that they performed highly
specialized roles within the hierarchy of the alien society. But just what those might be,
he wondered now.
At the distance one of the lights that competed with the bright stars on the horizon
brought him back to the deck as it started to increase its speed. Another smaller craft
started to head in the same direction. Those would be part of the strike force detached to
hit the X-COM complex on Japan, One realized as he recalled the strategic discussions of
the morning.
The aliens had requested his assistance in the final phases of the project, which called for
the elimination of any rogue forces still fighting the aliens. Of course, they would leave
some units and countries still intact to make an example for the others when the alien
landings started.
March 9th, 2002

Xanthe Terra, Mars
The holographic display mounted on the pilot’s station on the Avenger’s cockpit reflected
the orange tone of the Martian dust, with green symbols glowing on the air, giving
indications to Clark about its speed and direction.
The three Avengers that composed Tiger flight had just entered the massive sandstorm
that was covering the planet’s Northern hemisphere. The antigravity drive used to propel
the Avengers kept the craft relatively undisturbed from the two hundred plus velocity of
the strong winds that were raging around the Martian atmosphere. However the mass of
the dust particles would sometimes press enough to cause small deviations on the craft’s
flight path, keeping Clark and the other pilots absorbed into keeping into their straight
course.
But that wasn’t too easy also. Since they were on Mars and there was no GPS network to
determine their position that left the navigators with few options. One would be to use a
computer and a magnetic compass aligned with the Martian North pole; the navigator
would take note of the distance covered by a calculation of the time and speed in each leg
of the journey. However Mars didn’t really have a magnetic field like Earth and the
calculations were prone to errors.
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The remaining option was even more archaic: to use the landscape for guidance like
sailor on Earth had done before the invention of the compass. However the storm had
turned all visibility close to zero, making it impossible to discern any features in the
maelstrom of orange and yellow airborne particles. And the whole matter was risky, since
to avoid detection the Avengers were flying as close to the ground as possible.
One serious mistake and the craft could plunge into the side of a plateau although most
likely the crew would detect that they were flying too close to the ground. They needed to
clear the high terrain of the south before being able to drop.
When Seymour told Clark that Tiger flight had finally reached the low level plains of
Acidalia Planitia felt relieved. According to the flight briefing the whole area was the bed
of an ocean that had long disappeared, with few elevations.
As Clark took the Avenger lower he felt relieved. The storm wasn’t engulfing the ground
completely as it did to the atmosphere leaving the first two hundred feet above ground
level clear.
With a movement of his hand, he continued to lower the Avenger’s altitude, taking the
plane away from the hurricane that was raging the atmosphere. Soon the holographic
display was filled with a dark red barren landscape where the only visible features were
ancient impact craters of meteorites.
“Tell me which way to Cydonia Seymour”. The co-pilot was already using the
geographical features to check for their position, using satellite photographs of the area
taken by the Odyssey probe. After a couple of seconds a green beacon appeared on
display in front of him. But when he looked at the bearing and the distance he knew that
something was wrong.
“Colonel, please come up front”. He called on the radio while correcting the course to the
new indications. A few seconds afterwards Johnson entered the small cockpit area
through the hatch built on its back. Patterson was following him but, due to the lack of
space, he had to poke his head through the opening. “What’s happening Clark?”
“We must have made a navigation error while we were flying blind on that storm sir. We
are far northern than we should be. I’m sorry sir but I think our timetable just turned into
dust”.
Johnson didn’t respond for a second. Then he asked. “Are the Challenger and the
Majestic still with us?”
“They have followed us all the way. The tachyon detector is picking them moving behind
us and clearing the storm. Even if they detected the course change they couldn’t warn us
due to the hyperwave blackout. But the short range laser transmitters should work now
that we are clear of the blizzard”.
“Give me an ETA as soon as possible and inform the Challenger and the Majestic of
what’s happened as soon as you can contact them”. Moving back to the hatch he crossed
it and turned to Patterson. “What do you think Mike?”
“The whole plan just went down the drain. Even if we reach Cydonia before the
Commander hits the Pyramid we can’t risk attacking. We would just be tipping off the
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aliens and instead of them reacting to us they would divert their forces towards the
Pyramid”. He shook his head.
Johnson started giving small punches into the hull of the Avenger. “I’m thinking that we
should scrub this diversionary attack and head directly towards the Pyramid to help Bear
team. They will be badly outnumbered already”.
“Either way we can’t use the hyperwave to inform them of what just happened. But that
would risk alerting the aliens to our presence”. Patterson looked to the ceiling and after
thinking for one long second he shook his head and replied. “It’s your call Colonel”.
After considering all possibilities, Johnson spoke. “We’ll stick to the original plan. We
don’t know if they also haven’t been delayed by the storm. We’ll just have to see who
gets there first, if they or us and decide then”.
The Pyramid, Cydonia Mensae, Mars

Here it ends. Inside the Protector Illyuschenko had just been informed that the first wave
of Avengers was approaching the landing zone, located on the east side of the massive
building that stood nearly one kilometer tall.
He had been preoccupied when he had found out when Bondarenko had told him that
Tiger hadn’t performed its diversionary drop on the City but it was no time to turn back
now. Half of the strike force was now about to land on the ground while the other
Avengers would stay a couple more minutes airborne and use the weapons mounted on
their wings to suppress the alien’s defenses.
“The Valiant has landed. Colonel MacTaggert is deploying”. With his head uncovered by
the helmet of the flying suit Illyuschenko nodded to Bondarenko. Looking over the rest
of the men in the cargo area he saw all of them locking their helmets into position and
checking their weapons. Even the psis from Area 51 were getting ready, snapping ammo
clips into their plasma pistols and locking the psiamps to the sockets built into their
power suits.
Illyuschenko was surprised for one minute as he saw the orange ground of Mars on a
view port. His instinct told him that the craft was making an abrupt turn and that he was
about to be projected but he repressed the feeling and the natural reaction to it. The
artificial gravity inside the Avenger steadily gripped his feet against the metal floor
although he still felt the attraction of Mars’ gravity.
As the Protector completed its maneuver it discharged the plasma cannon it was carrying
on the left wing. The light of the blast as it left the barrel of the weapon briefly
illuminated everyone inside the craft.
Traveling fast, the ionized particles of the Elerium fuelled plasma hit the side of the
massive Pyramid that seemed to dwarf the Avenger. Sand and rock were thrown down
the side of the building as the pilot was already moving the craft away and clearing the
area for the other Avengers still airborne to perform their own attack runs.
Illyuschenko was watching the whole aerial battle when Bondarenko came through the
lock of the cockpit. The tone of his next words was somber. “The aliens are reacting. A
large number of UFOs is getting ready at the Fort”.
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Closing his eyes for one second Illyuschenko felt a brief fear but to his surprise it wasnt
of death. It was of failing on his task no matter how much he tried. “Beam the warning to
Tiger in case they are still out there and tell the pilot to bring the craft down. Let’s finish
this”.
Acidalia Planitia, Mars

“Red Dawn! Red Dawn!” The voice on the hyperwave transmitter distracted Clark as he
was making the last turn over a range of low-level peaks. The yellow elevations marked
the separation between the plateau of Chryse Planitia and the lowlands of Acidalia
Planitia, which were thought to be an ancient ocean bed and stood on the West of
Cydonia. The color of the flat rusted terrain underneath the craft had also started to
change into a more brownish tone.
A projection of Mars’ Northern Hemisphere was being displayed on the front of Clark
and Seymour with blue symbols indicating the position of Tiger force. It started to
become more filled with icons, as the Avengers on Bear flight start to transmit their
information.
“We’re late alright”, Clark said with disgust. “Seymour, check the Fort for the
Battleships. Colonel, the attack has started”.
A couple of seconds later the co-pilot replied. “Tachyon scans show that a number of
UFOs are starting to increase the output of their engines, apparently getting ready for
take-off. There is also activity in the Pyramid”.
“What’s the status of the strike force?” Colonel’ Johnson asked on the radio.
After some more seconds, Seymour reported again, now more relaxed. “All craft have
reached the target area. Some are nearly completing the process of disembarking their
troops”. Something the threat detector made him paused. His voice raised an octave.
“Confirmed: our own sensors are picking up hyperwave transmissions from the UFOs.
They are scrambling to respond to the attack on the Pyramid. ETA: less than five
minutes”.
“What’s the count?” Seymour’s voice faltered once as he started to enumerate the types
of UFOs detected and their numbers. “Total: over thirty enemy craft deployed, with more
than fifteen Battleships detected”.
“Bear is outnumbered!” Clark spoke the obvious but Johnson’ request came a moment
later. “Have they started to react?”
“Affirmative Colonel. The General has issued orders for some to perform attack runs on
the Pyramid before they head out to meet the UFOs”.
Hearing something on the radio channel Clark jumped into the report. “Incoming
transmission from Bear, sir. I’ll put it on this channel”.
A moment of silence followed then Illyuschenko’s voice was heard. “Attention Tiger
Flight. We are engaging the alien forces. Code Violet. Switch to reserve status and stay
concealed until we call for you. Odyssey will move into the horizon in ten minutes. Use it
to report your own status. Over and out”.
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On the crew compartment of the Avenger Johnson frowned as he heard the Commander’s
indications. Code Violet meant that they should land in the vicinity of the area and avoid
detection until further notice. They were now the only thing close to reinforcements
available to Bear, in case anything unexpected happened to them during the ground
assault.
He preferred to be out there in the Pyramid and aiding on the assault since they hadn’t
been able to launch the surprise attack that would distract a big portion of the aliens’
forces. The whole plan was starting to have problems from its start.
Markovitch came near him. “I hope that Bear can pull it off. Things will be getting hot
with all those Battleships arriving at the scene”. Something clicked inside Johnson while
he spoke but he couldn’t tell why. There was a factor that they were overlooking, he
could tell but he didn’t know what it was.
She detected his apprehension and asked. “What are you thinking about?”
“There’s something here that doesn’t quite fit the picture. And I don’t know if it’s just
that I keep thinking that we should be heading to help them”.

It wasn’t Egypt but to Illyuschenko it was strikingly similar. He had actually been to the
country in the 1970’s in a mission to provide training to Egypt’s special forces and he had
seen the Pyramids there. Only this one was more than the double in size when compared
with the largest one in the Gizeh plateau.
And from its orange colored side a number of platforms could be seen at the distance all
over the building that were in no doubt connected to the inside. Plasma fire was coming
from them and heading towards the X-COM troopers and tanks that were racing to the
pyramid.
As he cleared the ramp of the Avenger, Illyuschenko headed towards one of the
hovertanks that had been brought all the way from Earth. The automated fighting vehicle
was hovering seven feet over the sandy soil and waiting for instructions. More of the
ellipsoidal shapes of the tanks could be seen at the distance where they were supporting
the advance of the soldiers. Bondarenko’s command squad was already waiting for him
behind the tank. When he arrived the hovertank started to move with the soldiers using it
for cover.
As the group of troopers moved they passed by an area that had been already cleared of
aliens by the squads that had first deployed. And there were enough remains of the
fighting. Fallen figures littered the area, most of them aliens but some in the dust covered
white power suits while black marks and holes on the ground displayed the effects of
plasma weapons and explosives.
As they passed the side of a small ridge they saw five dead Snakemen lying on the
ground, some with their bifid tongues sticking out of their mouths. An X-COM trooper
also was close to them but it seemed to be missing his helmet and head.
The group slowed for a moment but Bondarenko ordered all to keep moving. Their target
was a large crater on the vicinity of the Pyramid. The thermal pictures taken by the
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Odyssey had shown it to be one of the main entrances to the building. They would storm
the Pyramid from there while using the rim of the crater for cover.
As they moved on the trail of the forward platoons, with the increasing Pyramid in front
of them, the carnage left by the fighting increased. Scores of dead aliens littered the
ground, accompanied by a few human corpses as they climbed the two hundred feet tall
edge of the crater. They were mostly brown Snakemen and purple Floaters.
As they reached the top, Illyuschenko dropped into the steep inclined terrain in front of
him, his head turned upwards to the orange and brown sky. The atmosphere seemed to be
full of green lighting and explosions as the Avengers of Bear force engaged the UFO
fleet to protect the soldiers on the ground and prevent the aliens to reinforce the area.
A stray plasma shot blew sand in front of him and he ducked again. Around him
Bondarenko and another soldier suddenly turned to the left and replied to the shot, hitting
a Floater that had been mistakenly presumed as dead by the advancing X-COM troops.
The alien died and its caped body slid down the wall until it rested on the bottom.
Looking at the direction of the towering figure of the Pyramid on the horizon and into the
basin of the crater, Illyuschenko saw the entrance to the alien base. It was an opening on
the ground, which stood at the end of an inclined ramp that had been dug by the aliens. It
looked large enough for a medium sized UFO to use as and entrance.
Looking to both sides he saw troopers in power suits moving down the rim of the crater,
together with the few hovertanks that they had brought along. The floor of the depression
became filled with laser beams and plasma bolts. The small figures now retreating aliens
could barely be seen but it seemed that they were trying to reach the entrance.
Then he looked upwards again as one Avenger crashed into the massive construction,
with the explosion momentarily lighting its side. “Commander, that was the Akagi!”
Bondarenko shouted to him on the radio as the remains of the craft rained down the
Pyramid’s side. “We need to get to the entrance. The Avengers won’t be able to protect
us much more”.
But Illyuschenko wasn’t looking at him. “Pull back the leading squads!” He quickly
ordered in horror.
The momentary blast had also briefly revealed to him movement coming from the inside
of the base. He had first wrongly interpreted as darkness but now he could see that it was
a wave of dark aliens emerging from the opening and racing towards the human soldiers.
“Chryssalids!”

When the aliens inside the alien Mothership had turned frenzy all of a sudden and One
realized that something important was happening. The feeling was also present on the
pair of unarmed Sectoid officers who served as his personal escort.
Turning towards one of them he asked for what was the source that was causing such the
commotion in the aliens and demanded to be taken to the bridge.
After a second later the alien replied to him telepathically and refused his request. One
also caught a deep fear inside the creature and wondered if it had just been in direct
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mental communication with one of the Ethereals. Those creatures projected an aura of
terror around them that affected everyone. And while the other races seemed to see his
presence around the ship more or less normal, the thin and tall aliens showed nothing but
plain contempt towards him.
A slight impression on his body told One something more significant. The massive craft
had started to leave the Moon’s orbit. The Sectoids stared with their dull and lidless eyes
at him without providing any explanation.
Moving down the corridor he went for the red lift that connected to the observation
lounge. As he looked over his shoulder he saw that the Sectoids had stayed beyond but
they also didn’t stopped him.
When the upward movement finally brought him to the metal area he quickly passed a
hand through one portion of the metal wall close to the lift. The outer hull of the craft
seemed to dissolve into the darkness of space revealing the Moon’s surface that was
slowing passing under the craft.
It was as he had felt, One realized in shock. The Mothership and the alien fleet had
started to move. Something very wrong was happening because the main body of the
ships was supposed to stay on the Moon’s orbit.
A sound behind told him that an alien had also used the lift. He expected one of the
Sectoids but as he turned he saw an Ethereal clad on its red robe stepping outside the lift,
followed by a violet faced Muton, who was also wearing a uniform of a similar color.
That struck One as extremely unusual. He had spotted before that particular alien: it was
the only one of its race that wore a different color on it’s clothing. Could it mean that it
was some sort of high-ranking officer, probably the only one on the Mutons? This was
both frightening and exciting since at the same time he would have an opportunity to look
closer into the aliens’ society.
They only had limited information on the Sectoid Hierarchy and badly needed more
information about the other races. And one of the assignments of his mission to the ship
was exactly that. However, more pressing matters needed his attention.
Why are we moving? The alien’s telepathic response came immediately after he had
thought his question.
You have failed us! As the words formed into his own mind, One felt confusion. I don’t
understand. What has happened? Something very wrong had happened: either the aliens
had decided to completely betray them now or some disturbing event had just taken place
on Earth.
Your species will die! The Ethereals’ death warrant made the Muton standing next to it
start moving towards Number One. In panic he started to step back but after some paces
he hit the wall of the craft. He was trapped.
Stretching his long and muscular arm, the Muton grabbed and lifted him by the throat.
The strength of the alien made it almost impossible for him to breathe. Grabbing with
both hands the arm of the Muton he tried to release himself from the creature’s grip by
scratching and hitting the limb of the creature with his nails and hands.
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But to no avail. A few seconds later his larynx started to break until it was finally
crushed. His eyes opened wide as he found that he was unable to breathe. One finally
died when the strength of red dressed Muton handgrip snapped his neck vertebrae and the
spinal cord inside them.

The alien trap was costing dearly to Bear team. Illyuschenko watched in horror as entire
squads that had advanced too much were being surrounded and overwhelmed by the
hundreds of Chryssalids who had stormed from the opening.
The main body of the X-COM force had managed to somewhat form a line to contain the
aliens but not everyone had been able to reach it. The leading elements that were wearing
flying suits activated the anti-gravity device and managed to reach safe positions but the
other had only their legs to try to escape.
The dark exoskeletons of the creatures felt down or were completely blown into pieces as
the soldiers with blaster launchers used their powerful weapon to try to stop the alien
advance. But new creatures quickly replaced the holes on the alien ranks, with their claws
balancing in front of their bodies as they run.
The lead soldiers stood and kept firing until the aliens took them down. In some cases
explosions followed afterwards, revealing that they had somehow managed to activate a
grenade in an attempt to die before from being impregnated to breed new aliens. As the
last white form disappeared on a crowd of aliens, Illyuschenko issued an order. “All fire-
support squads concentrate firing on the locations where our soldiers were”.
He saw then that the remaining laser HWPs had stopped to buy time for the troopers to
regroup in a line that forming a hundred yards away from him by the base of the crater’s
walls. When the aliens swarmed the tank as it kept pumping laser rounds at close range
until it finally went dead.
It had been brought to exploit the laser vulnerability that the alien Sectopod tanks had.
Now one of the Chryssalids stood standing over its wrecked turret, raising its claws as if
it was enjoying its kill. In rage, Illyuschenko lined up his heavy plasma and fired a blast
that hit the devilish creature on its main body and drop to the ground next to the dead
hulk of the tank.
It took them several precious minutes before the platoons were able to take out the
Chryssalids. In a couple of places the aliens managed to reach the line and wreck
considerable damage before they were killed. And as the last ranks of aliens charged sand
covered white figures could be seen walking besides them, the soldiers who had been
impregnated and now were nothing more that walking Chryssalid cradles.
When Bondarenko stopped firing his weapon after the last of the aliens had been killed,
the Colonel simply spoke out. “Lady in Heaven!”
“Save your prayers comrade”. Illyuschenko was pointing to the plain where they had
landed. When Bondarenko turned he saw three Battleships and a number of smaller ships
touching down. And sudden green lightning coming from the entrance told him that there
were still aliens left inside. Bear force was about to become trapped between the aliens
carried inside the UFOs and the ones inside the Pyramid. “Commander!”
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Illyuschenko stood silent. Here it ends. One way or the other! “Commander!”
Bondarenko’s voice started to show deep anxiety and it irritated Illyuschenko. We are
going to die here, haven’t you seen it yet?
Packs of heavily armed Mutons could be seen deploying from the entrance. The aliens
had left their shock troops to the end. And I need to lie and convince you otherwise. So
shall it be. The last time.
“Call Tiger for assistance. Deploy two platoons to hold out the western wall against the
alien reinforcements and order the remaining platoons to prepare to attack the opening”.
Bondarenko snapped at the brisk commands in surprise but immediately started issuing
orders.
Now, where’s that gun? Dropping his hand to his hip he gave a small tap on the plasma
pistol that he had there. Not yet.
Close to the City, Cydonia Mensae, Mars

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

The death of the alien Brain had thrown the alien forces besieging Bear team inside the
crater next to the massive pyramid into disarray. The aliens had stopped attacking and it
seemed that there was wide panic inside their lines since groups of aliens would just run
blindly into any direction. Illyuschenko was also assuming that the same was happing on
the inside of the Pyramid although they couldn’t tell now.
As soon as Tiger had reported that the Brain was instead at the City he had ordered the
demolition of ground opening to the base by blaster launchers. That way they didn’t had
to worry about the base defenders while trying to survive the aliens that had been
deployed by the UFOs.
Overhead, the air battle between the remaining Avengers and the UFOs had also been
won by the human side, as the alien crafts stopped to perform maneuvers and turned into
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sitting ducks or failed to correct their trajectories, making them to plunge like a rock to
the ground.
Initially, Illyuschenko had been surprised by the break up of the alien ranks but the call
from Tiger had come informing them that the Brain had been killed. Major Patterson had
also reported that the aliens had apparently managed to make a last transmission from the
Face before the transmitter was destroyed by an aerial attack made performed by the
remaining Avenger of Tiger team.
The less than fifty men and women who had survived the attack on the Pyramid had let
go of a tremendous cheer when the announcement came of over the general channel.
Illyuschenko had quickly put a stop to it and had everyone focus on their jobs, since there
was still a vast group of aliens nearby their position.
Three days afterwards the fighting was all over on Mars. The remaining UFOs had either
been shot out of the skies or crashed into the surface and the only aliens alive were the
few ones who had run away from Cydonia. But they had no place to go to, since the base
had been disabled by the X-COM soldiers who had removed all of the material that could
be brought back to Earth and destroyed the rest. Without any food or means to survive
the aliens would just eventually die on the cold, harsh Martian environment.
The news from Mother One confirmed that the death of the Brain had thrown the alien
forces into disarray like it had been predicted. However, it also meant that the survivors
of the Cydonia operation had to head back home as quickly as possible and help the X-
COM forces left beyond on Earth in defeating the remaining aliens.
March 10th, 2002

Earth
For the millions of human beings that could see the Moon, which was coming close to
full, either on night or daylight, the news from the death of the alien Brain were
noticeable about a day later.
The ones that by chance were looking directly at the Moon when the alien Mothership hit
the surface of the asteroid witnessed a major eruption of light at the its surface. X-COM
had been tracking the alien craft since it had just cleared into the near side of the satellite
following the Moon’s curvature. The soldiers left back on Earth had guessed the worse
until they saw the craft failing to correct its path and being caught by the Moon’s gravity.
When it finally hit the Moon’s surface the kinetic energy and the catastrophic release of
the fuel contained on its massive Elerium engines was more than sufficient to obliterate
the craft.
Although only few people on Earth could actually guess what had happened, the sight of
the intense flare over a major section of its southern hemisphere that lasted for seconds
was nothing something to be dismissed. In a matter of hours the major and national
networks had picked up the story on special news emissions. They were more than
hunger to exploit more the matter of “alien activity” since almost all governments still
avoided giving any specific information about what was going on. The incident quickly
became tagged as “The Alien Disturbance on the Moon”.
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On the next weeks speculation went rampant as government officials tried to hide the fact
that they also didn’t had any idea of what had just happened, in order to try to prevent
widespread panic. As they faced a full assault of enquiries their response would be: “The
matter is still being considered” and abstained from any additional comments.
Which lead to only two other groups capable of trying to forward an explanation: the
scientists and the public’s opinion. And neither both groups managed to get a generally
accepted theory. Discussion about if it was an asteroid or some sort of artificially
provoked explosion moved to dominate all discussions, either on the television or
between people. If it was an asteroid and if it had hit Earth it would probably have caused
a cataclysm like the one that provoked the extinction of the dinosaurs. If it was
artificial…well, then it was either a nuclear bomb set off against them or it was their way
of expressing their power.
Only Mother One, X-COM’s main base on Earth, knew the real truth, a little afterwards
the explosion. But there were still alien forces on the planet that needed to be destroyed
before they could cause more damage and unnecessary deaths to civilians.
These operations went go along well right from its start leading into the defeat of the
remaining aliens on Earth. The alien fleet on the far side of the Moon had turned into
chaos as several of the craft lost their positions on the satellite’s orbit. The telescopes
were tracking a number of them drifting away from Earth, and it seemed that there was
nothing alive inside to guide them. Other UFOs had plunged into the Moon’s surface
including the mammoth ship, whose explosion from the impact had made a new crater on
the satellite dozens of miles wide.
By the end of the month it had been decided by X-COM’s High Command to inform the
stunned national representatives of the Council of Funding Nations at the next monthly
meeting for the organization’s budget about the defeat inflicted to the aliens by X-COM
on both Mars and Earth.
Six months later the Secretary General called for an extraordinary assembly of the United
Nations and delivered a stunning speech that was broadcast live broadcast. He was
accompanied by an X-COM officer in a dark gray dress uniform with thick dark hair and
a youth that still could be seen behind the several scars on his face. On his collar he
carried the golden skull on an X pin that identified him as the force’s commander.
Secretary General Bomaka first announced the existence of X-COM and explained
briefly the duties and motives for which it had been created more than three years ago.
He then introduced the man next to him as Commander Boronin, the officer in charge of
X-COM. Bomaka then gave the podium to Boronin who explained in brief phrases the
Cydonia mission and how they had defeated the aliens on Earth and the Moon by killing
the Brain on Mars. The Alien War was over.
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Epilogue
October 12th, 1952
Area 51, Nevada, US
Looking at the B-29 bomber who was at the process of firing up its number four engine, a
man wearing the uniform of an Air Force officer wondered at the amount of work that
was still left to do. In the five years since the recovery of the first flying saucer he
couldn’t remember a day that he hadn’t been working on the whole problem. By now he
had been promoted from Major to a Colonel in the newly formed United States Air Force.
But no matter how much rank he climbed it only seemed that the challenges only
increased. And the stakes had also risen. In the past months Washington had been the
stage of an aerial display of UFOs and the media had picked up the story, giving too
much work in debunking the whole matter.
The sound of the engine was nearly deafening him, so he moved back inside the newly
built hangar were he was standing by the doors. At the same time the aluminum painted
plane started to move in the taxiway towards the reinforced section of the dry lake that
had been converted into a runway. That B-29 had brought the retrieved wreckage from
Wright-Patterson AFB to the facility. It had been decided to keep it on a hidden military
installation that the public had no knowledge of.
The German scientist came to meet him, his hands on his coats’ pockets and with a thin
smile on his lips.
“How do you find the facilities Doctor?” The officer asked more as a way to initiate the
conversation since the man had personally defined what would be necessary to study the
extraterrestrial craft.
“Excellent Colonel. I must say that I’m impressed by the few time it took for the
construction of this base”.
“Well, don’t thank me only, send also your compliments to the US government”. The
scientist’s attitude sometimes irritated the Colonel but there was nothing he could do
about it. Millions of dollars were being poured every day into this special project and
more were being spent on the other measures that were being taken by the White House.
But the man’s breakthroughs in reverse engineering the technology retrieved more than
paid it off.
“The Brits are going to send one of their intelligence guys to take a look at the ‘wagon’ in
a couple of weeks. You think you can have it reassembled by them?”
“It shouldn’t be a problem at all Colonel. Do you wish also to show him the ‘entities’”?
The mention to the extraterrestrial bodies recovered from the crash site made the Colonel
frown. Of all things they were presented the most problem: who were they and what did
they wanted from Earth?
The live alien that had survived the crash hadn’t been able to tell them very much or
wasn’t willing to. But unfortunately the thing had died weeks after it had been retrieved
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and the biologists were still trying to determine the cause of its death. “Yeah, get them
out of the fridges when he arrives. We’ve been instructed to tell them the whole story”.
“The English have been good allies in the war against my country, Colonel. I’m confident
that they will fully understand the implications of this matter”. The officer nodded,
although he had heard the comment before from the scientist. They had engaged on long
discussions about what should be made to deal with the extraterrestrials.
“They have stuck with us in the creation of NATO against the Russians. And everyone
will surely follow our lead in case this situation leads into the unthinkable”.
“Yes. Still we must be prepared for any eventuality”. The Colonel wished that the whole
situation in Korea wasn’t so bad so that they could inform Stalin of what was going on.
For him this was something that affected all of mankind and as such. Probably even the
KGB had by now an idea that something else was behind the UFOs. But then again the
possibility of war with Russia gave everyone an excuse to claim that an enemy was
waiting to strike at them, making it easier to conceal the extraterrestrials’ existence.
The scientist smiled in a sinister way. “We will Colonel. We will. In fact I have some
ideas about what we might exactly do towards it”.
March 9th, 2002

Arecibo, Puerto Rico, Earth
“Holy shit!”
It was late in the evening and scientists in charge of SETI’s research effort using the late
antenna at Arecibo had been busier lately in packing up their material before leaving back
to the United States than in monitoring possible alien signals from outer space. The
whole project was being discarded, not because some bureaucrat had deemed it a useless
waste of money, but because the scientific community was more inclined now into
believing that extraterrestrial life did exist and was right here on Earth.
Unknown to the majority of the population and unrecognized by the world’s countries,
for three long years a secret war against an alien invasion had been fought in the Earth’s
atmosphere and on the ground. After the first encounters with the aggressors from outer
space, the burden of the fight to defend mankind had been placed upon Extraterrestrial
Command. More known as X-COM it was a multinational force tasked with the mission
of investigating the alien threat and defeat them, allowing humankind to survive.
The fight had been brutal: the aliens were planning to take over Earth and to colonize it
and in the pursuit of their intentions entire cities had been razed and thousands of people
abducted for use in genetic experiments or simply as food. Hundreds of aircraft and
thousands of human soldiers had been lost in the confrontations between Earth’s forces
and the aliens. Only the research efforts made by X-COM’s scientists had leveled the
technological abyss between the weapons used by its soldiers and the alien’s deadly ones.
And the same scientific discoveries had allowed Earth’s victory: X-COM had sent a
mission sent to destroy the Brain in distant Mars, who controlled all the alien forces,
using spacecraft built based on the UFOs. The troopers had successfully forced their way
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into the main Martian base and had just killed the Brain, an organic being that possessed
huge mental powers and used them to coordinate the alien’s actions.
But the two scientists back at Arecibo didn’t know anything about what was going on
distant Mars. The few reports of UFOs and military confrontations that reached the media
had convinced the major research institutions to look for extraterrestrials not elsewhere,
but here on Earth. Some of the major universities and corporations had already gotten
into possession of claimed alien artifacts, put upon the black market by unknown sellers.
That had been the dead blow on SETI: the whole project was being axed and the two
engineers present were only a clean-up crew. And more frustrating was the fact that it
never had been able to pick up a signal from the aliens even though they existed.
Hearing the exclamation, the other scientist took his eyes off the magazine he was
reading but he kept his feet on top of the desk, preferring to ignore the computer monitor
in front of him. “What? Aren’t you tired of looking at that?”
“Lucas, get over here! I think we have picked up something!” The first scientist was
clearly excited as he suddenly got out of his position and started to click up switches,
performing system checks. Lucas reluctantly threw the magazine to a wastebasket on his
side. “Cool down, Pat, you must have picked some military recon bird”.
“Yeah? Then listen to this!” He flicked a switch and the speakers mounted on the top of
an electronic panel went live. The vibrations of a grave sound filled the room stopping
Lucas, as he was about to get up. “What is that?!”
“I don’t know, but it’s being transmitted over the entire radio spectrum, not confined to a
single frequency. I think it’s some sort of outburst that is bleeding so much energy that it
actually is affecting the radio frequencies.
“A supernova just went active?” The first scientist asked as both of them started
performing equipment checks and going through their checklist of actions to perform in
case an unidentified signal was detected. “I’ve just confirmed, the signal is not coming
from any Earth source. It’s not a reflection!”
“And it must be artificial: I’m picking modulation and a pattern although with heavy
distortion. I think we just hit gold Lucas!” The second scientist suddenly frowned as he
looked upon the monitor.
“Wait a minute! I’ve just picked its source: this signal is coming from Mars!” Pat looked
at him is dismayed. “What?” Then both of them were left in a stupor as the sound
suddenly ended, leaving only the static of the stars.
Unknown to both men, the X-COM troopers who were raiding the alien base on Mars had
just killed one of the last aliens who was standing over a console, apparently activating
some source of beacon aimed back to Earth.
They had been successful: the death of the Brain had brought the alien’s forces on Earth
into a chaos, the same way as a beehive dies as soon as the queen is killed. In the next
months the news of the alien’s existence and X-COM’s victory were announced to a
world that already knew part of the story.
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X-COM’s scientists tried to dechypher the message contained on the tachyon beacon but
it proved impossible to make any sense of the alien signals. Finally, they decided that it
was a call for reinforcements from Earth to defend Cydonia. Since by that time the
remaining force on the planet had been defeated, the whole transmission lost its value and
was quickly archived.
March 17th, 2002

Chryse Planitia, Mars
Illyuschenko would always remember the flight line of the Avengers who had survived
the fighting. Most of them showed signs of damage, with weapons pods missing or
patched holes in their fuselage. And less than half of the men and women are coming
back.
As he kept walking in a more smooth terrain, his gaze turned instead to the burial graves
that had been dug up on the Martian ground for the bodies of the X-COM soldiers. They
didn’t have space left on the Avengers to bring them along to Earth, so they had buried
them on the soil where they had died.
So many died but it wasn’t in vain. The voice was still tormenting him but now he could
finally deal with it, giving him a new resolve. I’ve done my mission as a soldier. Now I
need to do my final one.
Colonel Boronin had approached him from his left on that day. “General, the loading is
complete. We are ready to go home”. He waited for Illyuschenko’s command but the
Commander simply stood looking at the red Martian plain. “General?”
The easy way out, some might say. “Go Colonel. I’m staying. You have command of the
force now”.
“Sir??!” Confusion came to Boronin’s voice. “What do you mean?”
Starting to walk away from him, Illyuschenko replied. “When you go back tell the
Secretary General and whom else wants to listen that they make sure that this don’t
repeat itself”.
“You can’t do that sir. Come back with us”. Boronin’s voice turned into a plea. “You’ve
taken us through this whole thing. You can’t just quit now”.
Inside his helmet Illyuschenko knew that the other man couldn’t see the smile that came
up his lips. “Boronin. I’ve fought for the Soviet Union. I’ve fought for Earth. My life and
war have always walked together. But now I’m choosing my own path: no more fighting.
I’ve had enough for a lifetime”.
“The men won’t let you go, sir. Nobody will”.
“That’s why I’m asking you one last favor. Take off as soon as you can and pretend that
I’m onboard one of the craft. When you’re on your way tell them about my decision”.
“Are you sure of this sir?” And Illyuschenko felt a great resolve inside him. He started
walking away, following it. After a couple of steps, he stopped and turned to Boronin,
who was now away from him. “Goodbye Colonel. It was a pleasure having you all under
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my orders. When you’re back to Earth, tell the men and women back there on the
Avengers that. Because of them Earth survived”. He started to walk again, in the
direction of a ridge.
Later, Boronin couldn’t tell for long he stood there looking at the vanishing figure as it
got smaller and smaller until it completely disappeared. He couldn’t say anything so he
gave one last look at the footprints on the red Martian soil before throwing a salute and
heading back towards the Avengers.
But of that Illyuschenko knew nothing now. He had been walking for five days on his
flying suit. He had brought his heavy plasma in case he ran into any alien that might have
survived and one of inflatable tents on his back. He had decided to die as far as could
from Cydonia and had also to avoid the aerial scans made by the Avengers for one
Martian day, in a fruitless last-minute attempt to find him before they left the planet’s
orbit bound to Earth.
He had been waiting exactly that.
When he saw the lights of the Avengers taking off from Mars he had searched for a hole
where he could hide and had found a crevasse on a nearby dry river bed that where he
could fit together with his equipment. Once he was inside he had disconnected all power
to his suit besides the minimum to maintain the oxygen recycling. He made it so that they
couldn’t detect him by tachyon emission from the small Elerium engine on his suit. The
glacial coldness of the Mars landscape started to be felt inside the suit but he ignored the
cold. He had lived in worse conditions that this on Afghanistan.
After he had gotten himself out of the hole he continued to walk. It wouldn’t matter to
Illyuschenko anyway where he died.
Four days after he knew that the Elerium fuel was almost exhausted. Hours ago he had
taken his last reading of how for much time his suit would work out and provide him with
energy to move itself and with oxygen to live. He had abandoned all his gear at the base
of a rockier terrain where several boulders and creaks could be seen and had started to
climb into the irregular terrain.
As he entered it more and more a mist started to form by his legs and he actually noticed
that the atmospheric temperature had gone up although it was still below the water icing
level. He ignored it after a brief seconds.
By his calculations he didn’t knew how much time he had still left. As he walked from
boulder to boulder and crossed cracks on the ground he tried to cover as much terrain as
he could.
The mist had gotten itself thicker, with large clouds floating a few feet over
Illyuschenko’s head and obscuring the rocks. The dark shapes made him stop a couple of
times as it looked to him that he had seen alien or human figures hidden in the mist.
A part of his brain tried to warn they couldn’t be real but he was already lost in
remembrances of dead faces spread all over his past, from Afghanistan to his wife and X-
COM. He knew he would die of hypoxia in a dead suit that didn’t allow him to move
much because of its weight. He wondered how painful it would be.
688
Making him miss the ice that now was filling the ground as he kept running. As he
stepped with his left foot near a giant crack on the terrain, the metal of his armor made it
slip. He felt towards the crevasse that only revealed darkness. One of his arms
outstretched and grabbed a piece of rock but it was loose that he felt into the hole.
The fall lasted for several seconds through the crevasse. If Illyuschenko hadn’t been
wearing the flying suit he would have been killed. As it was he felt his body and head
hitting the walls several times before he finally landed in pain.
As he stood on the floor of the place where he had felt the pain told him that he must had
broken several ribs by the fall and also his right ankle and left hand. However as he tried
to move his uninjured limbs he found that that he still had power left. In spite of the pain
he tried to straighten himself up. As his right hand started to get a position on the ground
to support the whole body, he found that the ground here was extremely irregular.
Moving his head towards it he activated the lights mounted on the helmet’s sides.
A golden light that was coming from every direction suddenly replaced the darkness.
Illyuschenko had apparently fallen into an underground chamber filled with gold colored
crystals on every wall.
There was no exit present that trying to climb back up but he wasn’t thinking about it.
Instead, he just sat down and stood watching the show before his eyes of the light of his
suit being reflected millions of time and embedding with in a photon web.
There’s beauty even here on the planet that represented the god of war. Maybe there was
also some beauty in my life after all.
That thought lasted with him as the lights went dead after all of the fuel had been used
and there was no more Elerium left on his suit to power it.
March 9th, 2012

Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, United States
On VC Day, the anniversary of the X-COM attack at the alien base on Cydonia, Captain
Hunt usually made an excuse to take off the afternoon. However this year he simply
drove from his house near Quantico Naval Base and rode to Arlington to see the graves
of the X-COM soldiers buried there, and in particular Johnson and Markovitch’s.
But there were so many others. None of the initial US team was alive anymore. But
sometimes he would encounter one person who had also served under Johnson at Area
51.
However most of the US troops that had participated in the attack had died there or had
retired. The few still in the military were now serving in separate military outfits
scattered around the country and Hunt was the only one left at the Pentagon.
When he first arrived at Washington he had been looked upon with respect. Now it
seemed that most of the personnel tended to ignore his service in the war and only show a
slight interest if the matter was brought up.
He had been the commander of the North American area of operations until four years
ago, when the remaining facilities had been dismantled and the personnel shipped off to
689
positions more necessary. It had been for more than nine years since anyone had seen an
alien on Earth or elsewhere and in the midst of the world’s greatest financial crisis there
were more pressing needs than to fund a useless and costly military operation.
X-COM was just not needed anymore, after all the blood it had given to Earth, Hunt still
complained and rumbled. And he wasn’t needed also.
As he walked around the corridors of crosses he found out that two men were standing
already by the Colonel and the Captain’s graves, with their backs to him. He joined them
and kept a distance, while trying to see who they might be. The man closest to him was
the tallest and looked to be on his thirties and wealthy as well.
He suddenly recognized some features that were mistakenly familiar, like the blonde hair
and the shape of the nose. But only when the other man moved around to greet him was
that he knew whose ghost he was looking at.
“Good afternoon, Captain Hunt, I presume that you recognize me?”
Hunt shook his eyes in disbelief. “Williams? Is that you? You were reported dead ten
years ago!”
The other man’s voice dropped considerately. “Captain, I go by a different name now by
many necessary reasons. However, may I present you my brother, Frederick Williams”.
Hunt now understood the similarities between both men. “He’s the Mr. Williams now.
You might have heard of him”. The former CIA and X-COM analyst added.
The officer stood for a loss for a couple of seconds, but came about to what the man in
front of him was getting at. “You mean ‘the’ Mr. Williams, the computer billionaire
which made a fortune with computer built using alien technology?” He nodded. “Well,
that explains some things, err, what should I call you now?”
“Smith. Mr. Smith, please Captain”.
“Mr. Smith, right. So, ten years afterwards you decided to come out from whatever place
you’ve been hiding since the end of the war”. He looked at both graves. “Just paying your
respects to Captain Johnson and Captain Markovitch?”
The other man made a weak smile. “Yes, and also to make sure that their blood wasn’t
spilt on Mars in vain. For a number of different reasons, if I stayed out in the open I
would have been unable to act…or even be killed”.
Hunt raised an eye. “You might as well have stayed dead. If you don’t know, X-COM
was nearly dismantled. The only things still operating are the underwater bases but even
those do nothing more than try to retrieve UFOs that crashed on the water. But even that
is likely to change, since the costs of running the operation are becoming more expansive
than the value of the tiny amounts of Elerium retrieved”.
One of the consequences of the alien’s defeat had been the almost complete depletion of
the Earth’s Elerium stocks, since the element wasn’t natural to the Solar System. Hunt
knew this well.
Three years ago he had stepped again in the surface of Mars, leading the last operational
Avenger into a mission to examine the remains of the alien base and look if there were
any aliens or Elerium left on the planet. Then he had made a visit to the chamber that had
690
housed the Brain and seen its dead carcass, dry from being exposed to the Martian
atmosphere. He wished that he had been there but his platoon had been hold up against
the aliens preventing them from reaching the room. When the fighting at the City had
subsisted he had discovered that he was the senior officer left on Tiger team.
The entire search for Elerium on had been fruitless and there wasn’t even enough of it
now to power plasma weapons. With no power source available and the economy in
shambles, all research into interstellar travel had been abandoned. The only Elerium
available on the planet seemed to be the alien engines that had survived the crash into
Earth’s oceans.
“You are right Captain, but some things won’t change”.
“Yeah? Do you know how many people and planes we lost to mechanical problems after
the war before I quit? Gosh, after I’m done here I’m going to make a stop at the marker
for the Cydonia veterans that died when their Skyranger crashed into the North Atlantic
three years ago. Not a single body or trace of the craft was ever recovered. And do you
know what caused this and other accidents?”
“Lack of necessary funding!” He spat out. “Anyone cared? No!” His words came out in
disgust.
“Or what about the war crimes tribunals everyone was talking about after the war, to
punish those who collaborated with the aliens? Did anyone cared when the politicians
worked out a diplomatically acceptable solution for that? Hell, for me they should even
have put Vaughn on stand, but instead he just quits and nothing else is done”.
“I share your thoughts about Vaughn. He was one of the worst presidents this nation ever
had and I’d wished that there would be a way to mend things up”.
“Mend things up!” Hunt felt outrage. “Like the talk about the planned memorial for all
the American servicemen who died on the war. All of this time afterwards we are still
discussing if the names of the X-COM troopers should be placed next to the regular
servicemen, since some consider that we defected the country when we decided to stick
to X-COM instead of going with Vaughn’s plans. Bah! At least their names are written
on the General’s Crater!”
The General’s Crater was the unofficial name for the Moon’s new surface feature that
had been caused by the impact of the alien Mothership on the satellite. The Moon’s
craters were usually named after famous astronomers but on this case the International
Astronomical Union had accepted that it would be known as Illyuschenko’s crater. The
naming had even included a ceremony where a memorial stone was placed on precisely
on the center of the crater by the last Avenger craft on its last flight. It contained the
names of every X-COM man and woman that had died on the war.
Williams put a hand on Hunt’s shoulder. “You are right Captain, but right now these are
minor battles compared to the task ahead of us to ensure that this will never repeat itself
and mankind will endure”.
Hunt looked at the face. “What do you mean? X-COM closed down bankrupt at the
beginning of the year. It’s dead, expect for material for blockbuster movies and for
691
companies to market their products. The X-Lady is gone and no one cares for it. I’m not
even a part of it anymore. How can I possibly help?”
“I can see that you are a man that shares our worries and I’ve seen you file, Captain. You
were a Navy Seal before joining X-COM. And, it is a known fact that you were publicly
instated as the Seal’s Commander Officer afterwards when you returned for some years
to the regular military. You left for, quote, personal reasons, unquote. However it was
also the result of your personal frustrations towards how X-COM and its personnel were
treated. Since you resigned your commission you had had a couple of positions at
security companies but you have also left them after sometime”.
The statement shocked Hunt for its ability to “Mr. Smith, how do you known all of that?
Are you keeping a watch over me?”
Williams’s brother turned to him and said. “My brother is being quite melodramatic here.
Mr. Hunt. Let’s just say that I prefer to get the most possibly qualified man for the job.
And, for a strange fate or luck, you’re just what we need. Tell me, have you ever
considered joining the private sector? More precisely, in the aquatic business?”
The End
André Galvão, 2002
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X-Com: The Unknown Menace

February 25th, 1947

December 10th, 1998

Unknown location, North America

CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia

December 11th, 1998

NORAD Headquarters, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States

Area 51, Nevada, United States

Air Force One, Military Airbase outside Geneva, Switzerland

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States

Area 51, Nevada, United States

Air Force One, Geneva, Switzerland

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States

Northern California, United States

Air Force One, Geneva, Switzerland

Northern California, United States

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States

Air Force One, Geneva, Switzerland

Northern California, United States

Air Force One, Geneva, Switzerland

Unknown location, North America

The Pentagon, Washington D.C., United States

Imperial Palace, Tokyo, Japan

Pentagon, Washington D.C.

December 14th, 1999

December 23rd, 1998

December 26th, 1998

December 27th, 1998

December 28th, 1998

December 31st, 1998

January 1st, 1999

NORAD, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, US

Area 51, Nevada, US

Security Center, KSC, Florida

Command and Communications Center, Area 51, Nevada

Low Orbit, Earth

Area 51, Nevada, US

Security Center, KSC, Florida

Skyranger 1, over Louisiana, US

New York City, US

London, United Kingdom

January 10th, 1999

January 12th, 1999

Far Side, Moon

January 21st, 1999

January 27th, 1999

January 30th, 1999

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, US

Near Catalina Island, Pacific Ocean

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, US

White House, Washington D.C., US

Skyranger 1, over Washington State, US

Los Angeles, California, US

White House, Washington D.C., US

South Central, LA, California, US

February 3rd, 1999

Area 51, Nevada, US

February 4th, 1999

February 10th, 1999

February 17th, 1999

February 19th, 1999

February 25th, 1999