I've been ready for this for years. Custom groomed for command of anti-E.T. operations, should they pop out of the silver screen and try to chew our faces off. The few personnel with clearance high enough to even think that this might be a serious project, never quite took it serious enough. Being the butt of one of the few jokes that can even make a General or Admiral laugh is no enviable position in the first place; being the first guy they call when it not such a funny joke after all gives me no shortage of satisfaction. I shouldn't enjoy that part of it so much... I'm a world-class military leader now, but hey, I have a feeling I'm going to run out of anything else to get any joy from, soon enough.
We hit land just a short time later and I'm hustled to a very nondescript elevator, and zipped down what must be a good few hundred yards. Stepping out of the elevator, I'm greeted by a scene from a Michael Bay flick: military monitors galore, alight with explosions from wall to wall. Even being prepared for this the last fifteen years of my life doesn't make this any less grim.
"Commander, we've already got our men on the ground," I'm told by some pencil pusher with a name tag reading "Bradford" on his chest. "We'll brief you on operations after the mission; for now, we have business to attend to. Welcome to XCOM" He waves his hand towards what is obviously the focus of current operations. On display is a hi-res, digital map of Australia, with a red activity indicator blinking smack-dab in the middle of Sydney.
Overlayed on the monitor:
BRIEF: Alien abduction in progress. Site is clear of civilians and multiple hostile elements are present. Collateral damage is not a concern.OBJECTIVES:
1 - Sweep the abduction site and identify threats
2 - Neutralize all hostile targets
Yep. Michael Bay level shit, right here. Anytime you hear "collateral damage is not a concern", you can bet it's actually expected and some government accountant already has a check written out to the local authorities to make up for the tangible loss that's about to go down. Around the monitor are six camera monitors, four lit up and wavering around what appears to be the same scene in downtown Sydney. It's obviously late night, but there are spotlights and fires lighting up the streets just fine. What I'm looking at quickly becomes apparent as shoulder and helmet mounted cameras of what I assume are the soldiers at the scene. My soldiers. I didn't even get to shake hands yet; here's to hoping I get a chance to.
Bradford speaks into the microphone on his headset, "Mission is a go, weapons free." Chatter quickly fills the air as the soldiers begin coordinating their movements through the local area. I'm impressed by how quickly everything else in the operations room becomes dead silent, save their static backed commands and feedback.
In only moments, aliens are spotted. They're nothing surprising if you've been alive on earth the last century or so, they've been pasted all over our movie screens and book covers. Short, grey skin, almond eyes, big heads. Not quite ET, but Alien Autopsy had it right. Don't bother speculating how we knew what they looked like this whole time, you don't have the clearance to get a straight answer.
In moments, a monitor labeled "DeLano" lights up with a shot from a rifle and an alien's head explodes. Literally. Michael Bay does not disappoint. An alien near the first target quickly returns fire, though, and down goes DeLano's camera, presumably with his body. As the camera raises back up and the body it's attached to obviously limps behind cover, I know he's alright and turn focus to the rest of the scene.
To the right of the scene, a monitor labelled, "Wright" takes a green laser(?) blast almost directly at it. He grunts, apparently hit, but immediately charges behind the alien straight out of a ... movie by some high-explosives guy... and blasts the alien in the back of the head. Two down... two still in view of my troops.
DeLano's partner on the left of the scene takes out the alien that shot DeLano with a shot to the chest. With both aliens in their lane clear, DeLano and Jones turn to Wright and A. Bradford's lane to the right. No real activity from A. Bradford's cam, but she's got clear view of the scene and is barking feedback to her squad, keeping them fully appraised on anything they may be missing. Note, just to follow along here, Bradford is my admin guy, A. Bradford is a soldier. This is gonna drive me crazy even quicker, I'm sure.
What appears to be the remaining alien is hiding behind a cement barrier, returning fire like crazy, but shots are going wild. DeLano hits it in the shoulder with a shot; Jones takes advantage of the distraction to flank it and take it out.
While the troops survey the incident site to ensure no remaining aliens, I'm greeted by a Dr. Vhalen in a thick, but indeterminable, European accent. She indicates that the weapons the aliens carried appeared to self-destruct when the holder was killed, but that the parts can be salvaged for research. Bradford takes the cue and barks to the troops to salvage all alien technology, intact or otherwise, and to ensure all alien evidence and bodies are returned to base.
My soldiers reboard their landing craft and return home. I'm briefed by Central Officer Bradford, my apparent right-hand man. While he tends to focus too much on minute details like showing me where the water fountain is, I humor him and allow his micromanagement of the facilities to continue while I assess the base, mission, and hell, my life. He definitely performed as well as I could hope in the last mission, so if letting him indulge his management style keeps him in top shape, there's no harm.
Dr. Vhalen briefs me on her team's research capabilities and Dr. Shen shows me around the engineering lab. Both doctors scare me just a little in how eager they are to get their hands on alien tech. Dr. Shen also oversees base construction and provides me the current layout schematics and provides some ideas for how we might improve. A quick inventory details for me exactly how screwed I am with regards to resources: five scientists, five engineers, one satellite and two Interceptors equipped with Avalanche missiles. We also have facilities for an Officer Training School and a Satellite Uplink. Not a lot to work with, but hey, when some shady officials from various corners of the world put you in charge of an alien taskforce called XCOM, you expect things are going to be a challenge.When the troops make it back, I'm already waiting for them in the barracks. I need my soldiers at their best, which means making sure they know what they're worth to me. Medics already start looking at DeLano and Wright's injuries, so I know they're taken care of physically. Mentally, they need morale, discipline, leadership, and a sense of order in this current batch of otherworldly chaos. Promotions; they need promotions.
Kathryn Jones is my first choice: two kills her first go on the ground, voice didn't even shake for a second. Squadie Jones, I assign her to Heavy weaponry and have Bradford note to have her assigned a rocket launcher. She barely cracks a smile and starts cleaning her gear.
Ryan DeLano and Eric Wright, one kill apiece, both taking wounds. Squadies aplenty in here. Bradford asks, "DeLano, sniper? Wright, support?" I agree, notes are taken, ribbons are handed out. A. Bradford had no shots fired, but made it back alive. I give her a pat on the back, tell her to keep it up and she nods curtly, everything understood in one glance. Professionals. Every last one of them.
The rest of the soldiers in the barracks have everything nice and tidy, gear at the ready. Glad I don't have to worry. I'm assuming here that these aren't ordinary soldiers, and I make a mental note to inquire about the recruitment process at a later time.
For now, I finish the rounds, have Dr. Shen have his guys prep up a couple med-packs, and give the order to start excavating to make room for more improvements in the facility.
Dr. Vhelan provides the options for researching weaponry and armor technology; but, we both quickly agree that Xeno Biology takes a higher priority and that that will be her team's first focus. We need to understand what we're up against first. We need to understand what they hell they're doing here. We need to figure out how to take the fight to them.
Awesome!
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