XCOM: United Front (IC / DEAD)

[Theodosiya]

Sgt Marselinus "Shark" Setadewa
Yaxha, Guatemala


No! Seta thought as Kaiden fell dead. "HOLY FUCKING...RRARGH. VALDEZ, lay low, and follow me! We'll hunt that...FUCKTARD!" Seta shouted as he rolled away. "CHARLIE LEAD TO ANYONE WHO HEARD!!!! CHARLIE 3 IS DOWN! I REPEAT, CHARLIE 3 IS FUCKING DOWN! I'M HUNTING THE BASTARD WHO SHOT HIM WITH CHARLIE 5! CHALIE LEAD OUT! " Seta screamed to the radio. Like in Papua...

---

Cpl Setadewa
West Papua

"Aman? (Safe?)" Cpl Seta asked, as he scanned around. "Ya. Aman. Harusnya bangsat itu kabur! (Yeah. Safe. That bastard should've escaped) " Pvt Darji replied. "Benar? Kau yang tanggung! (Really? You'll be responsible!) Sgt Rustam grunts. "Aman, pak. Lihat... (Safe sir. Look...)" Darji lifted his helmet with his right hand, and soon a shot rang. Darji screamed in terror and pain as the bullet strike his elbow. "APA KUBILANG, IDIOT! (I'VE TOLD YOU, IDIOT!) " Rustam screamed, and said, "Seta! Habisi penembak runduk sialan itu (Finish that accursed sniper!)". "Siap! (Ready)" Seta answered. He ran between the trees, bullet hitting the ground around him. Kau di sana rupanya! Makan nih timah panas! (There you are! Eat this hot lead!) Seta thought as he fired a burst his rifle at the sniper, who hide behind a fallen tree. One of the bullet strike the sniper shoulder. He rolled out in pain. Seta smiled, as he approach his prey. "Kamu orang tamat. Beta bekal seret kau ke penjara (You're finished. I'll drag you to prison)" Seta growls, as he dragged the fighter, who lied on the grass with one of his hand. "Ampun. Beta minta ampun. Beta salah (Mercy. I beg mercy. I'm wrong)" the prisoner cried. "Telat, babi. Salahmu. (Late, pig. Your fault) Seta let out a small laugh and then kicked the prisoner on his wound, while shouting "Berdiri, bangsat! Jalan! (Stand up, bastard! Walk!)

[Beiarusia]

ALIEN ACTIVITY

The ambush had come without warning, but aside from Sqd. Seif the human soldiers had yet to take additional casualties from the erratic plasma fire, the Sectoids having only a vague idea of where to aim given the high grass and thick plant matter obscuring the edge of the clearing. The diminutive aliens were circling around for a better shot, using what little cover there was and keeping away from the open dirt. Semi-automatic fire from Cpl. Harewood stayed Sectoid 03, forcing the creature to duck behind a log (which was little more than a decaying stump) as several bullets came within inches of its head. Two additional Sectoids slid into the nearby foliage and took aim at where the gunfire was coming from, but before they could sling plasma into the high grass there was a whoosh and the subsequent blast of a 40mm grenade detonating. Sectoid 05 stumbled from the shockwave but Sectoid 04 was thrown completely from its hiding spot, landing with a hard thud in the clearing and coughing violently as its lungs were knocked of air. Weak and in a panic the Sectoid rolled onto its hands and knees and scrambled for whatever safety it could find. Sectoid 01, having had its capabilities increased by Sectoid 06’s Mind Merge, was looming out from behind a thin sapling, taking wild shots at where Cpl. Ai Nu was ducking for cover, but as movement caught its eye it changed targets and sent another volley of plasma into the high grass. There was the crack of a rifle and Sectoid 01 stumbled back, greenish ichor splattering the ground around it as the heavy .338 round tore into its left shoulder, nearly severing the arm in what should have been a fatal wound, but the alien seemingly ignored the pain and was sulking off to find a better firing angle. Sectoid 02 (also powered-up) dipped out of cover to fire a quick burst into the foliage, striking Sqd. Regis with a glancing blow to the right arm. A severe burn but not lethal.

Further down the road, maybe close to a kilometer before a bend, the Strider waited, still, like a spider in its perch, its hand-like feet keeping it stable as it sighted for another target. The reticle fell again to the form of Sgt. Barbs huddling behind the antenna the best he could, and again a more tempting shot caught the alien’s many eyes before a ferrous slug could be sent into the hapless human. The flash of a human rifle. The Strider snapped its sights to the area and, adjusting for the subtle movements in the grass, took aim at the tree where the human was most likely and fired. The metal slug hit its mark in less than a blink of the eye, tearing into the wood like a hot knife through butter and would have continued through the flesh of Cpl. Konayama if not for a thick burl on the far side of the tree where the alien had no visual. The slug was deflected, moving up at a sharp angle and cracking a large portion of the tree from its trunk as the wood shattered. The human sniper was sprayed in debris and splinters but was spared having her gut pierced by sheer luck. The Strider, however, could not confirm the death or survival of its target, and so kept a wary eye for movement while drifting back towards the human in the center of the clearing.

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Sectoid 01 - Powered-Up by Sectoid 06. Injured by Cpl. Konayama.
Sectoid 02 - Powered-up by Sectoid 07. Attack. Hit (Sqd. Regis).
Sectoid 03 - Suppressed by Cpl. Harewood.
Sectoid 04 - Injured by Sgt. Herrman. Moving for cover.
Sectoid 05 - Shaken.
Sectoid 06 - Mind Merge with Sectoid 01.
Sectoid 07 - Mind Merge with Sectoid 02.

Strider 01 - Attack. Miss (Cpl. Konayama).

[Anowa]

-snip-

Sergeant Wolfram Herrman
The now Godforsaken jungles of Guatemala.
Wolfram nearly shit his pants when the tree next to Konayama's head all but exploded, but his bowels remained unaffected by rage once he realized she was still in one piece. "If you want! Ramirez, give the woman some support!"

Ramirez nodded, "Copy!"

That being said, Bravo's lead turned back towards the fight. A single Sectoid (04) was hobbling to cover. A burst put an end to that, as the melon with legs, promptly lost said legs. With the distant whine reaching his ears, Wolfram wondered how the fuck they made noise without a mouth.

A dangerously close splash of plasma flared some pain on his exposed neck, coming close enough to boil the tree sap. Ducking back into cover Wolfram began reloading his piece of indirect fire. Plasma occasionally finding it way to the squad's general area. Soon enough Wolfram popped out of cover and fired another Forty-Mike. And since he pretty much had the Sectoids zeroed, he'd keep doing so until all 8 shells were expended.

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ETs Killed: 1
Sectoid 4: Lieutenant Dan'd

40mm Inbound to Sectoids

[Altito Asmoro]

Cpl. Elsa "Valkyrie" Harewood/Alpha 3
Yaxha, Guatemala

There's sound of something that hit the tree, the chunk of it was left on the ground in the process. Although Elsa can't see it clearly, there appeared to be some sort of attack that is different from the rest of the Sectoids, not like the usual attack. Some new alien? Much better... as it across the sarcastic mind of Elsa.

<<This is Alpha 3 to the rest. Beware of unknown attack on that tree over there, looks to be near the Bravo team.>> as she relayed it across the comms between the team. She has two choices, whether to inspect the direction of the shot that hit the tree, or keep continuing on suppressing her target.

<<This is Alpha 3, returning fire>>, she decided to continue firing on the Sectoid. Not gonna be good if she suddenly hit by the unknown shot, right? Eventually she forced herself out of the cover, switching to her grenade launcher and launched a grenade from it and into the direction of her previous suppressive fire, before returning to the cover.

It hit the Sectoid's area, so despite not directly, the effect was felt. And the Sectoid died.

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Cpl. Harewood - Killed Sectoid 03

[Vacif]

Cpl. Shi Ai Nu "Charlie", Alpha Two, Recon
Yaxha, Guatemala

No longer suppressed by the Sectoid 6's wild spraying, Shi rose from his crouch and raised his UMP. Using the direction of the plasma fire, he pinpointed the direction of his attacked, who was skulking back into the jungle. Out of his range, he noticed a strange glowing hue in the air connecting the injured Sectoid to something else in the jungle. Turning his attention to the source of the hue, he found Sectoid 6. Shi rested his cheek on the stock, and closed his left eye as he aimed for the Sectoid, applying pressure on the trigger.

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Cpl. Shi - Attack. Sectoid 06

[Relikai]

CPL Konayama Miyuki "Milky", Bravo Two, Sniper.
Yaxha, Guatemala

The explosion of wood splinters and debris nearly ripped the scream from Milky as she instinctively ducked, her heart pounding at twice their normal speed as she hugged the ground, keeping her helmet on as her Sergeant approved her request. The sniper ejected the spent round from the rifle's chamber, turning to Ramirez who nodded from cover. Moving into a leopard crawl, Milky pushed her way across the grass, avoiding the sporadic fire and gritting her teeth as a shot of plasma landed several meters from her head. It was at times like this that weird thoughts came into her head, memories of how her siblings forbade Milky from lying on her stomach at home due to the curve of her ass protruding from her form flashing in her head as the sniper hoped it doesn't get shot off while she crawled to the other corporal.

The second shot allowed Milky to confirm the rough location of the alien sniper, and if her calculations were correct, the time taken for it to see her form get into cover till the impact of the trees was a mere two seconds. A trained human sniper at rest could acquire, lock and hit a moving target in two and a half seconds on average, making XCOM at a disadvantage in a straight out sniper battle.

However, Milky was not just any 'human' sniper, and while she might not be the best, she was a cut or two above her peers which was why Milky now wears the XCOM patch instead of the Japanese SFG. Nodding to Ramirez as she pointed out the alien's direction, the sniper gave her instructions in quick orders. "Alien sniper by that thick bush. Has visual cover. We need to flank it before it can take us out."

Mobility would be key, and with that in mind, her sniper rifle was propped against the tree, open for the aliens to see as she took in several breaths, her pistol ready to be drawn in a less than a second. Nodding, the two burst forth in a single direction with a unified count, zig-zagging through foliage and cover as Milky ducked, a supersonic shot smashing into the tree she just managed to avoid taking cover from, a perfect hole appearing with its exit where Milky's exposed neck would have been.

It took them mere seconds before Milky caught sight of moving bushes, an indication that the alien has caught sight of the two flankers and was positioning itself to either intercept them or regroup with its lesser allies. Another forced stop, Milky feeling a tingling on her ankle as the boot sank slightly into the soil, the solid slug ripping into the air and causing a ripple just centimeters from her eyes, before the sniper drew her handgun and ran diagonally towards the alien.

More rustling, as she heard Corporal Ramirez burst to the side, making noise as he ran in order to become the next target.It was at that moment when the sniper could see the barrel of the weapon appear, aiming straight for the man, the alien ready to fire. Milky was not about to let it do that when she suddenly stopped and kicked herself back, nearly twisting her ankle as a round flashed before her, a shower of shrapnel exploding in a tight cone. Milky had just managed to create some distance in an attempt to fool the aim of the alien, but was caught as she threw a hand up, falling into a bush as Ramirez disappeared as well, the cone of shrapnel last seen flying towards him.

The alien kept its weapon ready, looking at the spot where the two humans disappeared to. The weapon was reloaded, and it was about to relocate when Milky burst from the bush she fell into, her left sleeve peppered with shrapnel, her right hand extended with a Five-seveN aimed for its center mass. The sniper managed to catch only the edge of the cone, timing her fall to land on her stomach before tucking her legs in for a sprint towards the weapon, where the alien should be. Just as she was about to pull the trigger, a soft pop, and a round quicker than anything tore the top of the handgun into nothingness. It was quick, so quick that there wasn't enough resistance to obliterate the handgun and disintegrate Milky's trigger finger into nothingness, but it did force her hand back in a painful movement. The sniper continued to charge, her left hand pulling out the combat knife before the alien swung a leg out, slamming the limb into Milky's chest with extreme force, but the combat vest with its filled magazines and armour managed to catch most of the impact. Still, it was enough to blast the air off the sniper as she was knocked backwards, grabbing the impact zone as she tried to breath through the pain. The railgun was raised, pointed at Milky as she tried to dodge, but at that distance there was no chance of her escaping.

A shot rang out as a high velocity bullet caught the alien on the chest, Ramirez appearing from the bush with his SCAR-H raised. Another shot struck the alien on the shoulder as it turned, both firing at the same time while Ramirez threw himself onto the dirt, his mind screaming the seconds as he moved at the death of the second second. Milky's words were heeded, but the alien's aim, while knocked from his latest shot, still managed to rest on him as the slug tore into Ramirez, the soldier knocked sideways before falling into the dirt. The 7.62mm round slammed into the railgun, possibly damaging it but none of the humans knew for sure.

The alien was hurt badly, ichor oozing from from the wounds inflicted by the battle rifle as it stood over Milky. In a flash, the sniper was picked up as its long fingers wrapped around her neck, the other hand trying to raise the weapon to point it at her unarmored stomach. Milky seemed to be limp for a moment, before her left arm moved quicker than anyone could register, aiming for the arm of the limb holding her by the neck. The knife tore into alien flesh as her legs moved, trapping the railgun between her boots before the higher leg kicked on the hand holding the weapon, forcing it loose and away onto the dirt. The alien seemed to give an unearthly wail as the sniper kicked hard once again, Milky was not sure how to describe it, but swung its arm with the knife still embedded in it, sending little Konayama flying towards a tree, her body slamming hard against the solid wood, her head protected by the helmet which remained strapped to her head. Milky's body was hurting badly, the strikes causing more damage than she initially anticipated especially when she just recovered from a broken rib. Still, she stared at the alien as it approached, its leg slamming against her chest once again, pressing her against the wood as the sniper cried out in pain, feeling her breath get cut, feeling the force on her chest as bone threatened to yield...

A shot rang out, followed by another, and another, and a fourth. Alien matter burst from the tall creature as it suddenly went limp, its leg lifted from Milky as it staggered, turning to face the soldier whose weapon was pointed right at its center mass. Corporal Ramirez held his weapon with trembling hands, his right shoulder a mess of flesh with a bloody hole through it. A flip of the fire selector as the alien gained a bit of distance from his sniper, a three-round burst slammed into the alien as it finally collapsed, landing on the ground next to Milky, very much dead. Milky turned to look at the alien, but flinched when its railgun exploded into a multitude of fragments.

The man staggered over to Milky, clearly wounded but not out of the fight. Two XCOM agents nearly gave their lives to eliminate this single threat, this hidden terror who drew first blood in their encounter. Truly a fearsome opponent, Milky shuddered at the thought of them being commonplace. The humans would have to buck up, just like Milky as she struggled to stand, giving Ramirez some support as they got up.

"Can you still shoot?" Milky asked. Ramirez nodded, but the pain in his shoulder was evident. Milky frowned at the wound before she grabbed the SCAR-H, Ramirez staring at her incredulously as she relieved him of two magazines.

"My radio's broken." Milky said as she tried clicking into the mike. "Go back to the Sergeant and stay low. I'll see you in a bit!"

Not waiting for Ramirez to respond, Milky was already on her way, her target clear. The Sectoids were in cover across the clearing, and she was already on a flanking mission. Her body hurts, and she knew explosives might be used, but her tactical instincts kicked in. Hopefully she could get a view without being shot at, and contribute to this battle.

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Cpl. Konayama - Wounded (Flanking Sectoids while trying to keep a distance of at least 25m)
Cpl. Ramirez - Wounded (Returning to Bravo)

Strider - Deceased (Killed by Cpl. Ramirez)


[Kentucky Fried Land]

Roscoe watched Barbs and Charlie move towards the antenna. His mind fluttered to the old adage "Curiosity killed the cat" before he took a deep breath and waited it out. Despite his personal feelings on the situation, he voiced no resistance to the Seargeant. He knew best, and this idea was probably for the best. Barbs and Shi would be fine, of course. Roscoe knew that, somehow deep in his heart he knew. They would be okay, everything would go smoothly.

Roscoe was not the best judge of situations.

He followed Wolfram through the jungle, stopping himself after a few feet and falling back into formation behind Raul. Large leaves brushed against him, lightly rubbing his cheek like an old girlfriend might do to an old boyfriend. Tender, water droplets falling off the tips of the leaves. Roscoe eventually reached the clearing with the others, Wolfram to his left and Samir on his right. Barbs and Charlie had almost reached the antenna, with relatively no harm. It had seemed like Roscoe's prediction had come true.

Until he felt a cold shiver crawl up his spine. His lip began to quiver, as Roscoe began to feel the ever elusive and mysterious feeling of terror. Something bad had happened, to was about to happen; in Roscoe's case, it was both. He heard a muffled pop, ears perking up and Roscoe himself lowering down to one knee behind a fallen log. He shivered, looking at his Sergeant. He hadn't really gotten to know the man, not since he had been recovering from his other commanding officer’s bout with cancer. Wolfram was tough; Roscoe knew that for sure. He had been hiding the scars on his face out on the field; Roscoe would have wondered if he was embarrassed about the defilement on his cheek, but did not. He was too focused on feeling his heart thump. What had just happened? Something had… but he had no clue what. He paused.

Just as a volley of green plasma was slung at him.

“Shit!” Roscoe cried as he fell down to his side and hugged his SMG, the plasma bolt exploding into the tree just behind him. Splinters of wood flew from the tree towards Roscoe, and he shielded his face not wishing to have anymore jagged debris scars. Wolfram scrambled into cover behind a tree, and Roscoe mad dashed along the floor on his belly, before leaning up against a tree. A plasma bolt exploded the grass at his feet, one blade of grass catching a light spark of fire. Roscoe doused it in between his right index finger and thumb. “Fuckin’… Forest fire.” He murmured to himself, mind thinking of how disappointed Smokey the Bear would be in the aliens. He snorted, but was slapped back into reality by a sharp cry of pain. Someone had been hit, somewhere. He heard bullets firing all about, an explosion, a few more burst shots for good measure. Sound pounded at his eardrums, something he hadn't felt since that grenade shockwaved him a few weeks ago.

Roscoe dragged himself up with his back on the tree, only using his legs to move, the tree being support. He took a quick peak at the aliens, seeing green plasma bursting and flying into varying items. Patches of grass were missing from the earth all around them, and a few trees had chunks ripped from them, only leaving scorched sap. It smelled horrible.

Roscoe dropped his SMG to the ground, slinging the grenade launcher off of his back and preparing a smoke grenade. He could cover Barbs, who was under a lot of trouble. A bit too far for a good toss though. Roscoe prepped the launch, and the canister flew out with a satisfying thoonk.

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Smoke Grenade from launcher covering Sgt. Barbs


[Theodosiya]

Sgt Marselinus "Shark" Setadewa
Yaxha, Guatemala


"Valdez, stay here and support the others!" Seta stopped and examined the situation. They're on the edge of the clearing, far from Miyuki and Ramirez but close enough to hear what happened, amidst flying plasma . "I'll try to help the poor guy" He continued as he ran again. "Hey you! Don't think too much about whoever left behind! I'll make sure Vasily will treat him!" He shouted at Miyuki without looking at her. As he ran, hemomentarily thought that he saw something inside high grass a bit far from where Ramirez lies. He fired several rounds at what he thought where the aliens hide. He keep firing from his hip while running, until he reached Ramirez. "You'll live buddy. You'll live. Stay with me. I've saw enough human death today." Seta murmured as he saw how badly wounded Ramirez is.

[Ubaria]

Samir 'Eight Ball' Malik. AKA - 'Bravo 6'
Yaxha, Guatemala


"Is he touching that thing...we don't even know what it do-"

Samir was quickly cut off by the sound of a strange electrical cracking from somewhere beyond his field of vision, followed by a resounding clap that rattled the foliage and tree canopy all around. A well timed ambush from the Sectoids hiding in the cut of the undergrowth soon had a barrage of hot plasma winging its way through the treeline that Bravo was occupying, forces them to take cover behind whatever solid object they could find, in Samirs case it was a large tree root that sprawled out several feet from the base of the trunk, providing little in the way of cover but he was also visually concealed by the nearby bushes.

"Grah. I can't fucking see shit, why did i bring a shotgun into the jungle!?" Samir, frustrated with the lack of a decent sight picture and active targets, chose to relocate several foot along the treeline for a better chance of laying eyes on the offending party. Using the natural lay of the terrain combined with the brush at the perimeter of the clearing, he made his way relatively unseen to within visual and effective range for his shotgun and crouched in the shroud of large bucket shaped leaves as to hide from prying eyes, it wasn't just sectoids by the sounds of the fighting, something big and very, very angry was firing high velocity rounds at anything it could see. Meanwhile the Sectoids nearby were send reeling by the nearby impact of a 40 mike mike that sent one sprawling into the open, soon to be picked off, however its partner still lingered and attempted to move to some more stable cover, Samir would ensure that never happened.

"I hope you like slug"

Samir quickly pressed his cheek onto the rest and aligned his eye through the small red dot picture that sat nicely with the center-line of the barrel, he tracked the Sectoid stumbling through the mud for a moment before pulling the trigger, sending the heavy lead cracking through the trees, hopefully it would make its mark.

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Sqd Samir Malik - Attack (Shotgun) ----> Sectoid 05

[SaintB]

Barb, John K
Yaxha, Guatemala
March 23, 2014

The Blue thingy was warm to the touch, warmer than the metal below it, but there was nothing else too strange about it. Its surface felt about as smooth and hard as a cue ball and... that was about as far as Barbs got before he felt the pressing need to duck. That impulse might have saved his life as some kind of projectile zoomed past him and then exploded in the distance and then seconds later from the same direction half a dozen Sectoids began firing their weapons, some seemingly at random and others directed toward himself and Shi Ai Nu but fortunately they were shit at acquiring targets and most of the plasma they fired was off by several feet at the ranges they were dealing with. He huddled behind the antenna but still felt awfully exposed on top of that damn knoll smack dab in the middle of the battlefield especially with some kind of sniper involved.

"Barbs hit the deck! Stay right the fuck where you are!"

Sergeant Herman shouted over the coms to be heard over the sound of return gunfire and explosions. Barbs didn't have his radio on but responded under his breath, "No shit. Did you think I would start dancing or something?"

The sniper thing took another shot, this time killing an entire damn tree and possibly a member of bravo squad along with it. He could not stay there any longer but he couldn't move either. He was stuck between the proverbial rock and its corresponding hard place. Barb's was considering his (very limited) options when he heard something clink off of a rock and land in the grass nearby. He turned his head just in time to see a shower of sparks and then a cloud of thick reddish smoke come pouring from the smoke grenade that had been fired near his position - in a couple of seconds he could safely move away under cover thanks to whomever had fired that grenade, and also equally importantly he could rig the antenna to blow.

<"Alpha 1 here, thanks for the covering smoke. I'll be moving toward Alpha 2 in a few seconds but first I'm rigging this thing to blow!">

While he could still see clearly The Sergeant pulled a brick of C4 out of his vest and peeled away the wrapper before inserting a detonation cap and attaching it to a 60 second timer. The final preparation was to pull away the paper layer on the adhesive side of the brick and wait until the smoke covered the bottom of the blue colored ring - as soon as it reached Barbs stood up and stuck the brick to the blue ring which to him seemed like some kind of power supply or something and then scooted down the side of the knoll with the timer ticking down. <"The Charge is set! Alpha 1 and Alpha 2 falling back toward the rest of Alpha team. Keep your heads down, I have NO idea what's going to happen to that thing when the bombs goes off!">

He would grab Charlie and head for the next cover on the way back toward his team at a dead run and then hit the deck behind it.

[Vacif]

<"The Charge is set! Alpha 1 and Alpha 2 falling back toward the rest of Alpha team. Keep your heads down, I have NO idea what's going to happen to that thing when the bombs goes off!">

He would grab Charlie and head for the next cover on the way back toward his team at a dead run and then hit the deck behind it.

Sectoid 06's body jerked violently as the .45 caliber rounds tore into his upper torso/head. It had been somewhat intelligent enough to use the foliage and local flora as cover, but the giant orange wave in the air connecting it to the other Sectoid that'd tanked a .338 was a dead give away of its position. He'd emptied the entire 25 round magazine into the Sectoid's general area. The familiar strange orange liquids of a Sectoid's body spurted out into the air as the orange hue dissipated. The Sectoid rag dolled backwards violently, flailing it's arms in the process. He could see the distinct explosion of the plasma weapon's fail safe.

As he ejected the spent magazine, the Sergeant's position was bathed in red smoke. A thoughtful, and convenient cover for the Sergeant as the elevated ground left him exposed and with the antenna providing minimal cover. Bursts of quick, angry sounding puffs came out of Charlie's gun as he popped off several more rounds at Sectoid 02 before Sergeant Barbs lept out of the smoke and jerked his head at the general position of Alpha. Charlie popped off several more rounds before following Alpha 1's example. Charlie let go of his SMG, allowing it to swing by its nylon strap as he pumped his arms while sprinting. The agile Chinese national easily catching up with the larger Sergeant in heavier gear. Alpha 1 and 2 after sprinting for a good number of yards vaulted over a large stone pillar that had fallen since its creation. As Alpha 1 went prone, 2 crouched down behind the pillar, and braced himself for the probably jarring explosion that was soon to come.

[Beiarusia]

ALIEN ACTIVITY

The aliens had lost the advantage. Over half their number were dead, including their sniper, and the smoke screen was making it quite difficult to target the humans hiding in the brush. Outnumbered the remaining Sectoids were eager to make their escape.

Another 40mm grenade flew towards the aliens, sailing high and landing somewhere in the high grass where Sectoid 06 was laying low. The blast stumbled the alien, leaving it unable to avoid the hail of gunfire from Cpl. Ai Nu’s SMG, killing it and thus severing the Mind Merge it had initiated with the injured Sectoid 01 who quickly suffered a fit of catastrophic convulsions as its nervous system went into shock. Ultimately the alien expired as well with its plasma gun bursting from a core overload. Not too far from where its fellow had died Sectoid 05 was squaring off against Sqd. Malik, and though its was ducking as low into cover as could be the alien could not avoid the shotgun blast, the slug striking the alien’s chest dead center and punching a hole through its heart before ripping apart its spine. The Sectoid crumpled as its plasma pistol exploded into fragments. Sectoid 02, still powered-up by Sectoid 07, fell low as Cpl. Ai Nu unleashed several rounds in its general direction, looking more so to keep it from firing as opposed to scoring a critical hit. The alien fired several bolts of plasma into the smoke in retaliation but missed by a rather wide margin, and was in the process of unleashing a second volley when its still alive companion alerted it to a loud human a little ways up the dirt road. The Mind Merge was severed. Sectoid 02 continued its fire for several moments more before falling back into the jungle; Sectoid 07 was close to the human and intended to achieve some meager act of revenge. The man, Sgt. Setadewa, was tending to another injured human when several bolts of plasma tore through the foliage, striking him in the arm and side where there was little armor to offer protection. Cpl. Ramirez reached for his sidearm and fired several wild shots into the jungle towards the alien but Sectoid 07 was already skulking away and was soon gone from sight completely. The sergeant was badly hurt but would live.

---

Yaxha, Guatemala

3…

2…

1…

The explosion was large, far larger than any grenade, and violently shook the clearing and the surrounding jungle (and the people hiding within) as a cloud of dirt and smoke rose ominously into the air to obscure the bright blue skies. Unsurprisingly the alien antenna had been destroyed, collapsing in on itself with only the remnants of its base still left intact. The strange alien alloy was strong but not strong enough to withstand C4. As the dust settled the handiwork of Sgt. Barbs would be apparent to everyone. Unseen was the collapse of the network put in place by the aliens, the remaining two antennas struggling to generate much less maintain the illusion that, moments after the tower’s destruction, would fail completely. The sky would warp slightly in a manner not unlike that of a Seeker decloaking, an anomaly that lasted for only a brief few seconds. On the ground not much else would be different, but above the humans would be visible to Big Sky for the first time since crossing over the boundary, and soon enough they were being hailed.

”This is Big Sky to ground team. The alien cloaking field has been disabled. I have visual. Coming back around to-” The man’s voice cut out rather suddenly as if he had been startled. Not long after his voice returned with troubling news. ”I have visual on an alien ship landed near the lake southeast of the temple. Dammit. So that’s what they were hiding here. Ship appears to have had damage repaired to its outer hull. Are you getting this?”

”I see it,” Reid said over the comms. “Damage assessment matches that of the UFO encountered several years back. It’s the bastard from Munich.”

Big Sky said nothing but that was enough to convey his anger. He had, after all, been a member of the RAF squadron that had engaged the UFO, this very UFO, over the channel during the Munich incident. An unpleasant case of deja vu.

”This is Reid to ground team. We got movement at the temple. Looks like the xenos don’t plan on sticking around much longer. I hate to tell you this but we cannot waste this opportunity. That ship is valuable, and seeing as you’re the only team that can act on this you’re the only choice I have. Take that ship. Anything in your way is expendable. The fastest way to the landing site is to follow the road through the temple. Big Sky will provide some additional eyes but I need you to hurry. We probably don’t have much time. I know I’m asking a lot, but do this and we have an advantage. Get it done.”

[Theodosiya]

Sgt Marselinus "Shark" Setadewa
Yaxha, Guatemala


Death. I welcome death. Free from the burden of this world. Seta though as he lies on the ground, his right arm partially burnt. He could feel and move it a bit, though. However, the plasma bolts also strike his side, burning large amount of cloth, flesh and what little armor there. Not your time, Seta. Your family, especially your nephew Yonatan needs you. a voice rang inside his head. And your girlfriend and friend waited you another voice answer it. As the two thought battled inside his head, he whispered, continuously, the name of three people who he held dearest, even though two of them had died, "Nita, Petrus, Natan..." as he slipped into unconsciousness.

[Relikai]

CPL Konayama Miyuki "Milky", Bravo Two, Sniper.
Yaxha, Guatemala

Her chase, while short, was ultimately fruitless. There was no longer any signs of living aliens, only dead ones, and weapon fragments. Sighing, Milky quickly backtracked, ignoring the pain and aches as she returned to Bravo. The SCAR-H was held tightly, Milky able to use the weapon, but wasn't that proficient than those with dedicated training. Still, Milky tried.

Reaching Bravo, Milky took a look at Ramirez and the wounded Seta, before passing her weapon back to her fellow corporal. Her breathing was ragged, but she could still fight. Picking up her rifle, Milky looked around, and at her sergeant, before pulling out her wrecked communications set.

"Comms down Sergeant." Milky said as she placed a hand on Ramirez, looking at Roscoe and Samir as she acknowledged them. "What's out next move?"

[Anowa]

CPL Konayama Miyuki "Milky", Bravo Two, Sniper.
Yaxha, Guatemala

Her chase, while short, was ultimately fruitless. There was no longer any signs of living aliens, only dead ones, and weapon fragments. Sighing, Milky quickly backtracked, ignoring the pain and aches as she returned to Bravo. The SCAR-H was held tightly, Milky able to use the weapon, but wasn't that proficient than those with dedicated training. Still, Milky tried.

Reaching Bravo, Milky took a look at Ramirez and the wounded Seta, before passing her weapon back to her fellow corporal. Her breathing was ragged, but she could still fight. Picking up her rifle, Milky looked around, and at her sergeant, before pulling out her wrecked communications set.

"Comms down Sergeant." Milky said as she placed a hand on Ramirez, looking at Roscoe and Samir as she acknowledged them. "What's out next move?"

Sgt. Wolfram Herrman, Bravo-1
Yaxha, Guatemala
The moment the duo returned Wolfram realized his mistake, he shouldn't have sent the team's sniper to hunt something down. At least rifles could fill both mid and close range, the rifle Konayama carried was almost as long as she was tall, and given her ragged breathing the two had a close encounter.

Wolfram sighed, he couldn't just leave the two wounded behind, they were short on time to capture that bastard UFO. But on the other hand they could slow them down, seeing as Miyuki was likely suffering from multiple rib fractures and Ramirez was bleeding like a stuck pig.

"We capture that UFO, Konayama, Ramirez, if you two start lagging behind from blood loss or chest pain you stop, hail Big Sky. Jacobssen stay with them if they stop. Let's start moving." With his little set of commands said, Wolfram started for the road. Time to breach a space-ship.

[Theyra]

Squaddie Anselmo Zavala
Yaxha, Guatemala

Anselmo was crawling, following Vasily when he heard the second wave of plasma behind him. He knew to kept going but, turned his head and that was when Sgt. Seta go down. He turned his head back to Vasily, "Vasily Sarge is down". "You need to get to him now and I will cover you". Anselmo got up on his knee and scanned the area for aliens with his rifle. He noticed that the aliens were fleeing but, still was in over-watch mode just in case.

[The Moscow Metro Red Line]

Corporal Vasily Seregyevich Ivanov - XCOM - Unit Charlie
Current Local Time (CST), 23/3/2014
Yaxha, Guatemala

"Cover me!" Vasily yelled as he sprinted over to Seta's position. There were wounded that needed to be attended too. But until then, there were too many uncertainties for Vasily to run over to them and give them triage. All these uncertainties disappeared when the explosion was heard. He continued running and running. He kept running until he finally saw Seta and stopped hurriedly. He began checking Seta for his wounds and injuries. He immediately noticed the wounds and burns at Seta's side. He took out his medical kit and took out a bottle of rubbing alcohol. "Looks like you will be out for awhile." Vasily muttered to himself as he poured the liquid onto Seta's wound in order to sterilize it before wrapping bandages around it.

"This is Charlie Two to all Unit Leaders, I'm taking command of Charlie squad due to the incapacitation of Charlie One. I'm moving to treat the wounded right now and will be unable to issue orders effectively to my soldiers. I'm having Charlie 4 (June) and Charlie 6 (Anselmo) assist in the capture of the UFO", He yelled over the radio as he was tending to Seta's wounds. He noticed that Seif was not with Seta which caused him to worry abit more. "June, Anselmo, I trust you won't get yourselves killed. Now go get those bastards!" He returned back to his duties and said aloud to anyone in the vicinity, "Who else needs triage?"

[Relikai]

CPL Konayama Miyuki "Milky", Bravo Two, Sniper.
Yaxha, Guatemala

Milky shook her head at Herrman's sigh, knowing what he was thinking, yet it was her who made up the plan of attack. At that point of time, a decision has to be made, and Herrman's decisiveness allowed Milky and Ramirez to eliminate the alien sniper albeit at some wounds.

"We capture that UFO, Konayama, Ramirez, if you two start lagging behind from blood loss or chest pain you stop, hail Big Sky. Jacobssen stay with them if they stop. Let's start moving."

Milky nodded, checking her AX338's status as she settled herself. "I'm still good sergeant." She said, getting up with a determined expression. Behind, Ramirez tried to stand only to be stopped by a gloved hand, Milky keeping him down. "You've done enough, it's because of you that we can go on the advantage."

Turning back to her sergeant, Milky thought for a moment, before leaning over to him so she need not raise her voice.

"After this is done, gotta need some time to have a word with you."

[Ubaria]

Samir 'Eight Ball' Malik. AKA - 'Bravo 6'
Yaxha, Guatemala


The wash of the explosion caused by the C4 punched through the jungle greenery and rattled the treetops, the concussive blast of hot air traveled for a few hundred meters into the distance before becoming subsided by the natural interference of the jungle. The invisible bubble that surrounded them was visible for a split moment following the detonation, a fluttering electrical aura that vanished into the sky before one could even blink, now with the antenna gone, Big Sky could see the ground troops once again, and something else that deeply disturbed him.

"It’s the bastard from Munich."

Samir had returned to the rest of Bravo squadron who were regrouping in a nearby clearing whilst discussing their next moves, both Milky and Ramirez seemed to have taken some beating during the ambush and were clinging onto one another for support, Hermann meanwhile was already thinking several moves ahead.

"We capture that UFO, Konayama, Ramirez, if you two start lagging behind from blood loss or chest pain you stop, hail Big Sky. Jacobssen stay with them if they stop. Let's start moving."

Samir racked his shotgun to dispose of the empty cartridge still inside and quickly loaded a buckshot round in, taking the shell from his gauntlet and placing it directly in the chamber before pushing the pump forward once again and returned to the rear of the pack to post security, somehow he doubted X-Ray would be following them deeper into the jungle anyway.

[Theyra]

Squaddie Anselmo Zavala- Charlie Six
Yaxha, Guatemala

Anselmo continued to cover Vasily as he moved to Seta's location. After he heard Vasily's orders, he got up from his overwatch position. "We will be fine Vasily, we will get them". Anselmo took a deep breath and motioned to June. "Come on June, we got a job to do". Anselmo had some thoughts about trusting June due to what he heard about Mexico. But, he forced himself to put those thoughts away and focused on the mission. He started to move to the nearest unit, which happened to be Bravo team.

[Forest State]

Kim Joon-Sook / "June"

"Fucking finally," June muttered under her breath, raising her rifle and following Anselmo. Her adrenaline wasn't just flowing, it was coursing through her body like water down a rapid. As she stared through the sight of her gun, she had a hard time keeping her hand from shaking from the adrenaline. She controlled her breathing, while they started towards the UFO. She wasn't showing any emotion, but this time, she had the cold look of someone who was ready to kill, and not a blank poker face. Time to prove that I belong here... Don't fucking screw this up. "You, get behind me," she said to Anselmo. "I have a quicker shot, in case anything jumps out of that thing. And I fully expect that to happen, by the way."

[Theyra]

Kim Joon-Sook / "June"

"Fucking finally," June muttered under her breath, raising her rifle and following Anselmo. Her adrenaline wasn't just flowing, it was coursing through her body like water down a rapid. As she stared through the sight of her gun, she had a hard time keeping her hand from shaking from the adrenaline. She controlled her breathing, while they started towards the UFO. She wasn't showing any emotion, but this time, she had the cold look of someone who was ready to kill, and not a blank poker face. Time to prove that I belong here... Don't fucking screw this up. "You, get behind me," she said to Anselmo. "I have a quicker shot, in case anything jumps out of that thing. And I fully expect that to happen, by the way."

Anselmo was surprised to hear that from her and figured he should lead given he was the marksman. he briefly turned his head to her and saw her face. One of a killer and thought to himself. She has that look on her face........ I doubt I could stop her now and maybe she wants redeem herself after Mexico. But, I should watch her just in case she get over her head. "Fine, but I will still watch our front and backs and we should regroup with Bravo". "We are almost to them and I can see them from here". Anselmo moved behind her and still moved to Bravo.

[Altito Asmoro]

Cpl. Elsa "Valkyrie" Harewood/Alpha 3
Yaxha, Guatemala

<<”This is Reid to ground team. We got movement at the temple. Looks like the xenos don’t plan on sticking around much longer. I hate to tell you this but we cannot waste this opportunity. That ship is valuable, and seeing as you’re the only team that can act on this you’re the only choice I have. Take that ship. Anything in your way is expendable. The fastest way to the landing site is to follow the road through the temple. Big Sky will provide some additional eyes but I need you to hurry. We probably don’t have much time. I know I’m asking a lot, but do this and we have an advantage. Get it done.”>>

Just as Elsa though the mission was a success, despite the casualties, Colonel Reid came in and revealed that the remaining aliens had an attempt to fled the scene and into their ship...which was close to them and to the XCOM. Damn, and with the casualties...though Elsa inside her mind.

<<Alpha Team, this is Alpha 3. Alpha 3 continue to pursue with the rest of XCOM, over,>> said Elsa to the rest of Alpha team. She decided to followed the rest of the XCOM, as Bravo team leader, Wolfram, had move out earlier. Temple ruins seems to be the fastest route, as she reloaded her rifle and turned to the temple ruins path as she jogged to the location of the ship.

[Beiarusia]

ALIEN ACTIVITY

The human soldiers were making a good pace for the temple ruins. The alien ship would soon take off, and with it any advantage that XCOM stood to gain, so time was of the essence. Recon was no longer the objective. This was an assault mission pure and simple.

The temple at Yaxha may have once been a magnificent sight but time and neglect had taken its toll on the structure. Nature had reclaimed the land, weeding itself through the crumbling stones and hiding the chiseled grey in a sea of deep green. Between this and the encroaching tree canopy the ruins were somewhat difficult to locate from the air without knowing just where to look. Big Sky circled as close as he dared, keeping well enough away from the alien ship and its heavy plasma weapons, using the forward camera to spot targets for those on the ground. Any alien caught out in the open had its location marked accordingly. There would be little need to tread softly from here on out.

A base of sorts had been erected at the temple grounds: a staging area for all alien operations in Latin America, and though most of the important bits were kept safely on the ship a few structures had been left out in the open such as canisters and tools whose purpose one could only guess at. Sectoids were scrambling to block the dirt path leading from the temple to the ship, having been alerted by the destruction of the antenna and by the two survivors of the ambush. Several gathered near the entrance to the temple courtyard (08, 09, and 10), using large chunks of overgrown rock for cover, while another (07) ducked down behind a pyramidal canister. Sectoid 02 slipped into cover not far from its fellow and used its telepathy to merge its mind with Sectoid 07. More aliens (Sectoid 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15) lurked near the edges of the courtyard while two others (16 and 17) were on the temple ruins itself looking down. Four more (18, 19, 20, and 21) blocked the exit that, ultimately, led to the alien ship. Shadows seemed to move as something not quite visible moved to stalk the coming battle. The humans would need to cross this courtyard to reach the ship, and though one could wander off the road for a better approach (and firing angle) it would be too difficult and time consuming to navigate the thick jungle with the intent of bypassing the temple entirely. A fight was unavoidable. The Sectoids knew this much and so dug in, waiting, ready to open fire the very moment they saw movement.

XCOM had its orders. Nothing got out alive.

[Anowa]

"After this is done, gotta need some time to have a word with you."

Surprisingly the woman kept pace despite her obvious chest injury, not surprising, most Japs were made of iron, been that way since they wielded massive fucking clubs and beat each other to death for feudalism. Then again, Wolfram always had trouble with assuming things... Case in point:

"You volunteered Kid, you can hardly get pissed at me for going after... Whatever the fuck was shooting at us. Ramirez on the other hand...."

His own dialogue was inturrupted by the top of the temple in the coming into view, He brought his off hand to his ear, <Bravo-1 to all, I have visual on the Temple's peak. I'm very much assuming that if this UFO takes off we'll have latrine duty forever. So let's not disappoint. If it isn't human, kill it, don't worry about the temple it's gonna crumble anyway. The UFO on the other hand is likely something the techies will want to look at, so keep it in good shape. Charlie, as much as you'll likely hate me for this, you're three down. So I'm asking that you act as our rearguard.>