XCOM: United Front (IC / DEAD)

[Beiarusia]

Sgt Setadewa

Mason Reid
April18, 2014 / Groom Lake, Nevada, United States

---

"Not happening," was the short answer given by Reid in regards to allowing highly experimental equipment to be sent to a country that was, for lack of a better word, a small fry on the global stage. The man could have left it at that but was kind enough to explain himself. "I understand that it's hard to forgo your national pride. I served my time, did things that no man ever should to protect my country, but we don't pledge allegiance to a flag anymore. Technically you, me, and everyone in this entire base belongs to the Council, but XCOM serves humanity first and foremost, and furthermore, how the Council decides to use its shiny new toys is beyond my pay grade, and neither I nor you should worry about what goes where when we have more pressing matters to attend to."

Blunt, but true, and no matter how kindly the sergeant pleaded his case nothing would come of it.

"As for the second request, also denied. By the time this outfit gets declassified you and I will be dead so don't even bother." Reid allowed a few seconds to pass so that his words could sink in. "As for these personal matters, do know that I am by no means required to keep whatever is said here confidential, and I will act accordingly if I feel it threatens the integrity of this unit. Now, what is it?"

[Relikai]

Fists thudded against the punching bag, the heavy sack barely moving with the first three hits until a left hook struck it hard by the side. It has been two weeks since her rifle exploded, the force cutting into her right hand and nearly straining a muscle or two. She allowed herself two days of rest, training only her abs and legs through extra training, allowing her first pull up only after she made sure the aching has subsided at the very least.

Every time she missed a kill, or a shot, the sniper would be sullen for a couple of days, Milky often picking herself up to prepare for the next mission. This particular miss however, it felt almost the same as when the UFO first escaped them. The burden was heavy, but the feeling of acid burn along her muscles was something awesome to feel, the barbell and weights being pushed up as the sniper returned to training herself. Her hand worked perfectly, evidenced by the dozen punches she threw at the bag, the exercise doing a great job of getting good sweat off her system.

The gym was her favorite place after her own bunk, and the best place for her to be alone. Especially with the others often busy, and Milky preferring to do her sniper training alone. Perhaps it was time to take a break, as she picked up her bottle of plain water, deep in thought over the rumors of new weapons...

[Theodosiya]

Sgt Setadewa
Area 51 a.k.a Groom Lake, Nevada

Seta closed his eyes, and begin to speak, "Sooner or latter, i think everyone, even back home, would knew. At one point in my life, I, uh, I committed cannibalism. Not that i wanted to. The man i eat have killed and eat my friend first, and we've been out of supplies for a week." He somehow feel better, after he let out his darkest secret. "I'm not lying. It happened months ago, when my company was sent as part of a joint Marine-Kopassus-Paskhas task force. Our task was to stop arms smuggling along PNG-Papua border and to capture a number of OPM leaders...

---

Cpl Setadewa,
Marine Amphibious Recon Battalion, Korps Marinir
Somewhere in Papua

"LZ Ahead, prepare to... FUCK! RPG!" Sgt Zaenal cursed as an OG-7V nearly struck the 412. "Where is that damned bastard?! Seta! Man the MG! Watch for any RPGs!" Zaenal turned to Seta. "Yes sir!" Seta grabbed the MAG doorgun, and watched for any other rocket. He doesn't have to wait for a long time, when he saw fume rise from a tree, followed by another rpg. He quickly fired the MAG at that position. He noticed that something fall off from the tree. "Got that bastard, sarge" Seta shouted. "Good. Now..." Zaenal answer was cut short by M2 HMG fired from another position. Some of the round struck the helicopter. "

Shit! We'll rapple down while moving! Come on, people!" Zaenal grabbed his rifle and prepares to rappel down. Seta followed suit and soon the helo was empty, except for the pilot, who manages to save the helicopter and flies away to safety. "Well, change of plan. Supplies are enough for only a week. We better try to link up with the other team first, and then improvise. And Umar, have you managed to contact HQ?" Zaenal asked. "Yes sir. Command wanted us to link up with the others" Cpl Umar replied. "Right. The meeting point is supposed to be on a hill. Right there" Zaenal points to a position north of them.

---

"Shit hit the fan the moment when we arrive. We're shot at with RPGs, HMGs. Hell on earth" Seta takes another deep breath, and continued

---

5 days later...

"Can't find the bastards leaders. At least captured some of their arms" Zaenal grunts while replacing the bandages on his legs. "Well, our mission aren't a failure, but not a success either. Umar, when the choppers arrive?" Zaenal picked his rifle. "In a few hours" Umar replies. "Sarge, when you arrive, can you tell command to hurry up and give us the supplies we need?" Seta clean his SS-2V1 HB. "Of course I will." Zaenal smiled. "Don't worry about them, Zaenal. I'll make sure everyone alive by the end of these two weeks" Lt Yudha, from Kopassus replies, while cocking his HK416.

---

"That guy, well. He did good enough, for two days. Then, we got ambushed. Umar calls for extract. The copters came, but there's not enough spaces. I and another guy, Pvt Petrus, from local army Raider battalion, volunteers to bait and distract those bastards away from LZ. Which we did. They promised extraction, and they did, but the chopper meant for us got damaged and have to return to base. Command said that soon they mount large scale operation" Seta sighed. "But it's too late... The rebels got us..."

---

A week later...

"You're okay?" Seta tried to patch Petrus wound "As ok as someone who got shot on his leg." Petrus snarkly replies. "We're out of ammo, and those bastards keep coming" Seta hangs his rifle and pulled his bayonet. "I know a village across the valley. They're loyal" Petrus tried to stand. "With our condition? Might as well die standing. Better try to reach it, or die trying" Seta grins. Suddenly, they heard loud commotion. "They're here. Damn. Well, better die fighting than giving up" Seta flex his muscle, as strong as possible, given the fact they're barely eat and drink anything at all. And as much as hardened he is, there's only so much that he could bear. "Got nothing to lose. Better try to kill as much as possible" Petrus continued. They looked at each other, grinning, and hide. Dozens of rebels, some clad with DPM pattern uniform, some with civilian and some with tribal clothing passed. Seta and Petrus jumped at them, killing as many as they could. The last thing Seta saw, before he got knocked out, is Petrus fighting with ferocity seldom seen among human.

---

"Rebels drag us one of their makeshift camp. For 3 days, we got tortured and beaten up... On the 4th day..." Seta tries to speak. "The 4th day..." he sighed, and wiped a tear from his eye. "Heh. On the 4th day, they got fed up and mutilate Petrus..."

---

"Well, well, well. The betrayer won't speak, eh? After what you did to your own people..." the man kicked Petrus. Seta, tied to a tree and barely alive, could only look helplessly. "Enough! Let's do it!" Another man, in tribal clothing swings a machete. "Yeah" other man speak, drawing his knife. "NO, no, no. We're not heartless bastards. Enough with this tortures. This could drive away recruits" a man disagree. "Go away, weakling. You keep protesting this and that! This is our way!" the man with machete swings it menacingly to the man who disagree. "Hey fucktard. What will you do, eh?" Petrus curse. "Eat you, of course. Supplies got scarce nowadays. Unless you tell us about some stuffs..." the man grins. "Never, poopface. Never. I won't betray my..." the machete swings and cut Petrus leg. Seta tried to broke free. He nearly managed to untie his arms. He saw Petrus expression, though. Don't move. They will kill both of us. At least you could still moves a bit. I can't really do anything thanks to my wounds. Survive and live on... Seta read Petrus expression, even though Petrus is in pain. Seta gritted his teeth, as the man with knife and the man with machete proceed to butcher Petrus, each swings Seta felt as if he's the one who got butchered. They then put what remains from Petrus, put them on sticks and boils some of them and roast the others

---

"I sat there, restraining myself not to rage out. At least not while there are many rebels." Seta speaks, ignoring tears that flowed from his eyes...". He then stopped for a while, then continues "I passed out, the next thing i remember is..."

---

He opened his eyes. The man with machete looks outside. Only he remains in the rebel camp. Seta slowly moves, his arms and legs untied. For some time, he restrains himself. All angers and rage gathered up to that point, loose up. "GGRRAAHH" Seta let out an animalistic groan and lunged toward the man. The man looked with surprise and terror as Seta picked a sharp rock and swings it toward the man. Seta managed to slit the man throat in one swift move. "Die you spawn of demon. DIE!!" Seta pulled the machete and slashed it at the man. He cut out the man brain, heart, liver, intestines and bones, until he nearly exhaust what little energy he have. And to spit the man even more, Seta grilled some of the man meat on the fireplace and eat it. While he feels better, diseases rocked his body, and take its toll on him. He takes what left from the man, and arranges it on the surroundings, as parting gift. He plans to go to the village that Petrus told him. He managed to look at the map the rebels have and took some valuable Intel assets.

---

"For two fucking days, barely alive, I traveled to the village. I literally pass out right in front the chief hut. They nurtured me, even though the rebels often passed through the village. Finally, they managed to contact the AF. Soon, the village and place around it were swarmed by vengeful soldiers and marines, hell bent to avenge our losses. In the end, we lost 4 men, including Petrus. But the enemy pay the price very dearly. We managed to kill 20 rebels, and captured around 25 and about 30 of their families and sympathizers. The people there and doctors who treated me says that I'm a walking dead. But somehow i recovered. Mentally though, it took me 2 months before i got declared fully fit to return to active duty. But, scars will remain" Seta exhales. "So, what do you think of me, Commander Reid? After hearing my sins? Part of me feel happy, mostly i feel guilty."

[SaintB]

"If the truth hurts the ones we love so much. Is it a crime to protect them?" Samir interjected from across the room, switching the television off with the nearby remote.

"Sorry, i didn't mean to be listening in" He added, leaning on a nearby vending machine and studying the variety of soft drinks held within.

"My parents think im studying at UCLA in Mechanical Engineering right now. I think they'd have a fit if they knew i'm actually part of a secretive military unit dedicated to fighting extra terrestrial life" He continued, pressing the button that would relinquish a Dr Pepper bottle from its holding within the machine, it fell with a resounding 'ca-thunk'.

"Sometimes it's better if they don't understand."

Eight-Ball caught a look of his own from the Lieutenant, "It doesn't make the lying any easier Samir. In some ways its even worse being unable to warn her of the danger the whole world is in." his ex wife could be eaten by a strider for all he cared but if anything happened to Denise... "I can't protect her and all of humanity at once." the big man lamented.

He heaved a sigh, "See I am human. now keep that secret." he tried to joke as he stood up.

He started heading for the exercise room before turning back, "By the way I noticed some of us were moving sloppy in the new armor. I know its heavy but it will save your lives if you use it right so spend more time familiarizing yourselves or I'll be doing it for you."

---

Gymnasium
The large room was mostly empty save for Milky over by the heavy bags and a few others using various pieces of equipment around the area. John paid them little attention and headed for the press machines; deciding on benching first. The machines used self spotting technology where the bar was connected to the machine by cables and depressing a peddle with your foot would pull the weight off of you if you couldn't lift so there was no need for someone to spot you. It wasn't fool proof but it was a good set up but Barb's didn't plan on going to his full weight anyway. He'd work his way up from a low weight and probably stop around 200 pounds for this exercise and just it several sets of repetitions.

[Vacif]

Shi Ai Nu
Groom Lake Facility

Content with his time at the range/kill house, Shi was ready to take a shower. His BO according to the Gunnery Sergeant was rank enough to kill the cutouts of the aliens they used in the range. The paper seemingly shriveling up or peeling off the board if he walked by it. Personally he didn't think he'd smelt that bad, but some of the other shooters begged to differ. So, he deposited his gear back to a scrunched nose Gunny and bolted, likely leaving a wave of green air in his wake if it were a cartoon or a game of Sims.

It was embarrassing to say the least for the passing base personnel to have to cover their nose when he passed, so he made it a point to get to the showers ASAP. Hygiene was key if he was going to interact with people effectively. So, Shi got to cleaning himself up fast.

[Serah]

Cpl. Alrick Lareylis
Groom Lake Facility - XCOM HQ

After the mission, Alrick didn't really waste time on getting to know others, instead, he headed straight for the bar, where he started drowning himself with whiskey.
It'd been too long since he had tasted any of it, and the sniper honestly didn't care about whether or not he was well seen by his peers.

However, his binge stopped short, as he woke up the next day, feeling his hands shake from the lack of alcohol within his system, he decided to cut short on it.
At least for the time being.
What good was a sniper if their hands shook anyway?
Instead, to keep him busy, he headed for the gym, or what could be called one and trained against the sacks of sand.
The hits resonated through the quiet room.

The next day, more soldiers came in, not that many, just Milky, or whatever was her name that had joined and another.
He hadn't yet fully gotten their names, but in an Op, he usually knew who was addressing him, and who he was addressing.
It was then that some flashes to the last mission came. The weight of his armor didn't slow him down much, he'd already been wearing a full armor before. And the sniper wasn't taking any chances. If he got hit, he wanted to stay alive, not rely on coincidence or luck. He had reflexes, but not enough to allow for a proper bullet dodging session. Especially when said bullets were made of superheated plasma.

His thoughts then went to the recent rumors.
New weapons, now that was a thing he liked. Although he briefly wondered if the scientists could make a rifle that would allow for darts.
Maybe healing darts were a bit of a fantasy, but making poisonous darts for the aliens may help, especially if they managed to flee. Sleeping darts may also be useful to dampen the efficiency of the enemy, if not knock it out entirely.

The best way to know your enemy's plans is to ask them yourself after all.
Maybe he could make a suggestion to them. He'd probably do that.

[Altito Asmoro]

Elsa Harewood
Cafeteria

Another day, another life.

She took some hits from the fact that she...well, not really, actually. She's just a little bit stressed with what happened lately. So stressed, though not to the extent of therapy needed that she took a large tray consists of pasta, two toasts, a plate of pancake, and two glasses of hot milk. Damn, she must be so hungry. But that was what she took.

Beer? Probably not. Trying to be healthy, you see.