Bay 12 Games Forum

January was quiet at The Hub... But then again when wasn't it quiet around here?



We had spent years in preparation for 'the alien threat', a threat that clearly didn't exist. I instructed the leftover recruits to check our stores and run errands for the lab. At least the damned scientists were still getting a kick out of the facilities and our obscenely large budget. Rumour had it that they were on the verge of a big break-through, whatever it was that they sure had the engineers excited. Considering I had enough trouble as it was preventing most of the 'soldiers' [and I use the term loosely] still stationed here from blowing the entire facility up I wasn't too thrilled at the prospects of them potentially getting their hands on even more destructive weaponry than they already had access to. Just last week Shadow under the encouragement of Codec had managed to blow a hole in 'Hanger Two' by setting off one of the Interceptors weapons. "Just testing the controls out" he had later sheepishly explained. I sighed... A part of me couldn't blame them, the misfits that they were, The Hub was a boring and overall unpleasant place to be... It gave the engineers something to complain about at least! We reported no visible contacts on the radar all month [no surprises there], although strangely we received some garbled radio chatter from China... Our communications expert was not sure but believed it to be some kind of distress signal, but it was not coming through on an official channel. I shrugged it off... Perhaps a couple of civvies playing around with the frequencies, who could know?



China began to withdraw funding for the program citing our inability to protect their borders... Not surprising really... The damn transporter could barely reach China from our icy base of operations. I took this as a sign that X-COM was finally on its way to being disbanded. How wrong I would prove to be...

All of a sudden the radios exploded in a flurry of activity. All over The Hubs emergency alarms blared "Attention... This is not a drill... All personnel to combat-ready stations... Repeat... All personnel to combat-ready stations". Stunned I surveyed the scene of chaos unfolding before me. Troll had begun screaming at some engineers and waving what could only be some kind of rocket launcher around with the tree-trunks he called arms as communications men ran to and fro in a panic. I grabbed the shoulder of one such man and spun him around. "Situation report, NOW!" "They're everywhere sir... They're everywhere... We're getting distress signals from all over the globe" stammered the communications officer. "Exactly WHO is everywhere?" I awaited his answer as he swallowed nervously... "The aliens sir... They're here..."

"MOVE... MOVE... MOVE... Get into the Skyranger NOW..." The voice although originating from me was at the same time strangely unbeknownst to me. "I DON'T GIVE A FLYING RAT-**** WHERE YOU LEFT YOUR ELECTRO FLARE SIMS... GET ON THE ****ING SKYRANGER NOW!!" the voice boomed as I grabbed Sims by the scruff of his collar and roughly threw him inside the transport. "Where are we going sir?" I hear Thunder yell over the roar of the engines starting up. "Jakarta, it's the worst hit." Is the reply yelled back.



We underestimated the aliens... The attack on Jakarta was just a decoy, a clever ruse. As soon as the Skyranger came close to Jakarta the UFO simply vanished... Blipped straight off the damned radar... Just as the aliens began to launch attacks closer to home...



The Skyranger now far over Asia was unable to fly back to stop the attack on England. The war had started off badly... And with time it would only get worse...

The Skyranger was sent back to The Hub to refuel and as it landed inside the hanger a gaggle of scientists and engineers rushed forward to trade equipment with us. Seems that they would like us to trial their new laser weapon prototypes in the field. Hearty thanks were in order before being sent out again just in time to intercept a second alien incursion on English soil.





It was time to do what we were all trained to do. The anxiety was palpable as we bravely stepped off the Skyranger and into the unknown.

"Set up a perimeter around the Skyranger!" I yelled as boots clanked on the metal deck. The darkness outside felt ominous and smelled of danger.



Immediately the UFO was sighted to our West, not two-hundred metres from the landing zone. "Flares out soldiers! I want to see the enemy if they're coming." I barked, "Codec you're now in command of Alpha Squad, mission: secure the UFO, stack up on that UFO hatch and Silver try to make sure the idiot doesn't get himself shot up." Silver snapped a hasty salute, knocking his tin-foil hat askew... At any other time this may have appeared comical but at the present moment I was inclined to believe Silver may not be as crazy as I had originally believed.



"Thunder cover the door, you're with them, breach on my mark." By now the area was fairly lit up with electro-flares. "I don't like the look of this." I muttered to myself... Hayfields and orchards lay to the North and the south, the crash site lay to our West and several large rural buildings to the East. This was starting to feel awfully like a trap. No choice... "BREACH" I screamed. "Codec slammed the hatch with the butt of his rifle and it slid open with an awful scraping sound. So much for the element of surprise I thought to myself. "CONTACT" Codec screamed firing furiously around the door.



Silver joined in on the fire-fight firing wildly and hitting everything EXCEPT the target. "****, I think we lost hi... Whoa!" Codec yelled as he was knocked to the ground. Excited by the prospect of revenge Silver charged into the UFO bowling Codec over in the process. "Damn you crazy ***holes." Thunder boomed as she leaped over Codec to follow Silver into the belly of the beast.

"We've got COMPANY!" Digger yelled from the North-West perimeter. "Fire at wi..." The rest of my command was drowned out by the loud booming of Diggers auto-cannon as it proceeded to blow the field to the North into seven different kinds of ****.





"DID YOU SEE THAT!" Digger shouted in gruff surprise. "I got a direct hit on the bugger with a HE round and he just got back up and scampered off like it was NOTHING." "We're all going to die!" Fluffy whispered. Swinging around I screamed back "SHUT UP FLUFFY, NO-ONE IS GOING TO DIE!" just as a loud explosion and inhuman howl came from the devastation. "Got the son of a *****!" Yelled Sims, the pin of the deadly grenade still in his hands. Digger lowering his rifle and turning around opened his mouth to form the words "Nice wor..." Suddenly the very air was torn apart with a horrible burning sound and green bursts of what we would later know as plasma hurtled towards us. Digger was tossed to the ground like a ragdoll, poor guy never saw it coming. The plasma cut straight through him like a knife through soft cheese. "DIGGER!" I screamed but no-one could hear my lamentations over the orchestra of gunfire which now filled the air.



Meanwhile inside the UFO: "No sign of the target. Stack up on that door there!" Ordered Codec. Silver fired taking down an alien that emerged from the corner of the control room.



"Breach in three... two... one... GO!" Codec was first through the door.



 Opening fire he cut down the alien hiding in what looked to be the engine room. Codec unhooked his radio from his chest "UFO's clear, say again, UFO's clear." Pressing the receive button all Thunder, Silver and he could hear was repeated gunfire. "****" Codec cursed. "Let's get back out there then shall we."

Back outside: "FIRE IN THE HOLE" Troll boomed as a rocket exploded forth from his launcher and beared straight down on the alien that killed Digger. Much to everyone's grim satisfaction the rocket slammed straight into the alien and curved slightly upwards, carrying it through the night air back into the orchard from which it came before exploding in a ball of fiery retribution. "What a way to go." Mississippi whistled. "Spread out, there's more of them out here! I can hear them." I commanded.

Troll radioed in "Uh... Ronin... Not to alarm you but I've got a missing bomb here..." "YOU'VE GOT WHAT!" "A missing bomb... I should have three in my pack but I've only got two..." Sticking my head up to shout out to the increasingly spread out group, that's when it caught my eye... It almost seemed to happen in slow motion... The worst part was that it was my fault for not seeing it coming sooner... Mississippi was legging it full tilt from the buildings to the East as far as he could when the explosion went off... And what an explosion it was... Took out half the building and because of the confined nature of the blast in-between the building and the thick hedgerows the blast expanded outwards. For a second I thought that she might have actually made it. But as I drew closer I realised that I had been mistaken...



The blast had burned her fatally and she died just as I reached her... Her last words were "Sorry... Boss..." The grass was wet but I did not care... I sank to my knees and I am not ashamed to admit I wept over that body. Wanting to prove she could be useful Mississippi had taken a high explosive charge from Trolls pack before the battle began. Upon arming it she did not leave herself enough time to escape from the massive blast. She had died in vain because of her commanders insufficiencies.

Hearing the blast from the other side of the buildings Sims and Codec turned around "DUCK" Sims screamed just in time as a burst of plasma fire sailed clean over Codec's head. "It's coming from the roof of that barn!" Codec yelled. Taking aim Sims unleashed a torrent of laser fire which was met with a scream as the falling body of the alien fell off the barn and to its doom.

And with that the mission was over.



Silver, Troll and Sims were promoted to squaddies. I have promoted Codec to sergeant and the second in command of X-COM operations because of his successful ability to lead alpha squad to take the UFO with no causalities and his support role in helping Sims take down the last alien. He has proven my initial assessment wrong.

A hand landed on my shoulder as I stared at Mississippi's blood on my hand. "Commander... I'm sorry but the Skyranger's fired up, we have to go." Codec's voice was soft... I hated that... I needed someone to hate me for what I had done... Or better yet... I needed revenge... I grabbed my rifle up from the scaffolding. "Lock and load soldier." I said. "Lock and load."

EDIT: I should note the mission report notes 3 xcom operatives killed because the blast somehow killed AND knocked Mississippi unconcious at the same time, the unconcious Mississippi then ALSO died so due to a weird glich Mississippi actually died twice.

I let my feet dangle out over the cavernous expanse. The wind cuts through the air filled with violent and orchestral fury. For a second I wonder from where these sounds come and to where these sounds go. But it matters not... I cannot go with them... Tugging off a glove I dangle it helplessly over the inky blackness of the abyss. The sound of a door slamming rings in my ears but this disturbance seems too far away to be troubling. I examine the glove intently before suddenly surrendering it to be swallowed whole by the great nothingness below. Staring at my now naked hand I notice that it still drips with crimson blood. Sitting on the edge of the cold metal scaffolding I think back to how it all began...



To think that my years of exceptional performance at the military academy in Paris had landed me here of all places, this icy hell-hole that they call Greenland! 'Important' they had said... 'Honour' they had said... Ha! My sole comfort was that the classified nature of this mission prevented me from becoming the laughing stock of the international community... The truth of the matter was simple... This detestable island was a prison. It is here that the generals would send personnel who they did not wish to deal with back in their home countries. It would be an embarrassment for anyone to catch wind of the fact that an up and coming French military officer whose sole crime consisted of being a member of 'the fairer sex' could best half of the experienced male officers in the field. So here I was... Scuffing my heavy boots against the snow and ice and wondering how I might best get off this barren rock... Little did I know how much the events to come would change me... How much they would change us all...



Call Sign: Ronin
Gender: Female
Nationality: French
Bio: Over-performed in every aspect of the most prestigious military academy in all of France. Her father who was in the French Foreign Legion taught her how to fight before disappearing on mission somewhere in the dense jungles of South America, presumed dead.



Call Sign: Fluffy
Gender: Male
Nationality: Unknown
Bio: No-one messes with Fluffy. Of particular note is how Fluffy obtained his nickname... Brutally disfigured in a barroom brawl he lost his right ear, his face is a mask seemingly chiselled out of pure horror. Few things are known about Fluffy... He refers to his weapon as 'righteous fury' and could shoot an apple off a tree from a kilometre away. Yes, no-one messes with Fluffy.



Call Sign: Shadow
Gender: Male
Nationality: English
Bio: Although lacking in most basic skills befitting of a soldier Shadow makes up for this with boundless enthusiasm and bravery. He survived a mysterious incident in London known only as 'Killing Floor'. Worryingly insisted on procuring an auto-cannon, I have warned the other soldiers to keep their distance.



Call Sign: Thunder
Gender: Female
Nationality: Dutch
Bio: Thunder sports blonde hair and blue eyes but comparison to your average woman stops there... For one thing she happened to be a star Dutch quarterback before joining the X-COM operation. For another thing she although subjected to little formal military education appears to make an excellent soldier. She is by general consensus the most attractive [and probably capable] soldier on base.



Call Sign: IT
Gender: Male
Nationality: Russian
Bio: Would probably make a good soldier if it wasn't so clear that he is obviously completely insane. Was transferred from Russia with the express instruction 'do not under any circumstances allow near explosives'.



Call Sign: Codec
Gender: Male
Nationality: Italian
Bio: Not a soldier... Pyromaniac that the Italian government though we 'might find use for'. Unruly, undisciplined and unimpressive. Maybe we can straighten him out and make a soldier out of him yet but I remain pessimistic.



Call Sign: Troll
Gender: Male
Nationality: German
Bio: Brute of a man... Has some military history in German counter terrorism. Seems like he'll be a somewhat useful addition to the team. I have made him the explosives expert [seeing as he is one of the only ones strong enough to lug around all the bombs].



Call Sign: Mississippi
Gender: Female
Nationality: American
Bio: Brave bordering on foolhardy. Eager to prove herself in combat. Decent shot with the rifle.



Call Sign: Silver
Gender: Male
Nationality: Swedish
Bio: Swears his father was abducted by aliens. Wears a tinfoil hat... Complete loony.



Call Sign: Sims
Gender: Male
Nationality: Croatian
Bio: Fast little bugger even if he isn't very strong. Bit of a card-shark and has been caught out cheating several times. Generally prefers to watch things go BOOM from as far away as possible.



Call Sign: Digger
Gender: Male
Nationality: American
Bio: Ex Special Forces and strong as an ox, hardy as one too. Digger's taken a few bullets in his time and lived to tell about the ordeal. Everyone likes Digger, he tells a good yarn even if he is susceptible to 'embellishing' them a bit. Returned to his homestead one day to find it burnt to the ground. Convinced that aliens did it.

This group of sorry misfits made up the last military members of the X-COM operation stationed at a central base in Greenland known as 'The Hub'. Some years ago the European Union got it into its head that we may be 'unprotected' from an extraterrestrial incursion and so they formed the organisation now known as X-COM that all governments in the world were secretly enticed to buy into. Like so many bureaucratic decisions X-COM soon became forgotten and dare I say 'unpopular'. Many of the scientists, engineers and soldiers were sent back from The Hub and the X-COM operation became all but defunct. Only a handful of souls remained to 'protect' this sorry 'investment'. I was the first soldier sent to the Hub and in charge of maintaining operations and reporting back to the committee of international governments. However there were rumours in the mill that the committee of international governments was planning to shut the X-COM operation down for good in a few months time. It was as if my prayers had been answered... In truth the nightmare was only just beginning...