Athena IC

[Vancon]

The Newest Van RP^TM:
What do you get when you mix XCOM with Ghost Recon?

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The Athena Program
Advanced Tactical HAZOPS and Extraterrestrial Neutralization Agency

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IC

Archive Thread

In Character Thread

Soundtracks

OOC Thread

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The sun beat down against it's lifelong enemy, the Earth, with a vigorous roar. That's to say, that one sound you hear when it's hot as all hell outside. Crickets, maybe? Regardless, it was hot, and sounds were everywhere. Waves crashing into the shore like cars in rush hour, wind turbines creaking softly in the wind and the mumbling of people hummed against the footsteps of a large man. This large man was well built in structure, but old. Easily in his 60's, maybe older. Regardless of the weather, he was still rocking a large, grey, overcoat, with red trimmings. He stood an easy 6 feet tall, and that was more then enough for him.

The large man went up to the front of a large group of people. All were standing at attention, with everything from grizzled warhounds to kids fresh out of highschool. They were all stuck in the sun. The man, however, had walked up a small flight of stars to a podium with a microphone in front of the group. The kicker? He was in the shade of one of the wind turbines above him. He removed his hat and made a small cough into the mic.

''Ladies and Gentlemen, I am Commander Leon Pier, the officer in charge of Athena, and your new boss. By now, you should be already up to date on our world's situation. Put simply, we're in a dire situation. We don't know when the enemy will attack us. We don't know how many soldiers they have. We don't know anything.

However, when has that stopped us before? Humanity shall rise to this challenge that these bastards pose to us, grab them by the balls, and rip them to shreds.

Beneath us is the base. Here you will live, learn and develop into the perfect fighting force to deal with these extraterrestrials. Here there is more then enough facilities for you to use to hone your crafts. There are gyms with pools, cafeterias, ranges, the works. If you're looking for it, it will probably be down there.

You must always be ready to go. We're on the defense here, at least for now. The enemy can and will attack whenever, and as common as the wind; so not precise at all. So get your rest when you can. Don't do anything stupid.

Once I'm done, you will all go down and basically relax. Or rather, do what you think is best for you. Just be ready, since the enemy can attack us in five minutes or will attack next week.

Now, let's get out of this sun,'' finished the Commander.

[Shyluz]

Oosterscheldekering Dam Base
ATHENA Rec Lounge
0600 Hours

Artem sat alone in the Recreational room, or was it technically a cavern? Anyway, it amounted to a combination of bar and club. He, of course, sat at the bar. He clutched his half-full glass filled with a completely transparent liquid, which smelled remarkably like kerosene, occasionally sipping at it as he read the after-action report of First Contact on his datapad. It didn't really faze him, the confirmation of alien life, that is. He figured that with all the stars and potentially habitable Earth-like planets that orbited them. Quickly he shook his head and got it out of the stars, despite that being it's usual residence. After skimming over the remainder of the AAR, he flipped his datapad to the picture of his now deceased fiancee, Sasha Belocovna, who had been visiting Moscow on First Contact. The first thing he had done after gaining access to ATHENA's database was confirm his suspicion of her fate. He was always an introvert, however, Shasha was his complete opposite, and always somehow made him sociable. But now she was dead. He supposed everyone had lost someone, he contemplated that for a moment, and then chugged the last of the liquid, and reached for the bottle.

Sasha's Picture

[United RussoAsia]

Oosterscheldekering Dam Base
Outdoor Shooting Range
0610 hours

Sage ran his hands over the gun- an HK 417 battle rifle. Closer to a sniper than he had ever had. He exhaled in awe, then slowly turned the gun over and cautiously inserted a magazine. He put in his earplugs, and sat down on the bench, then aimed downrange and winked into the scope. He adjusted it carefully, and re-sighted. He felt a shiver of anticipation travel down his spine, then held his breath. One, two, three; and squeezed the trigger. The gun kicked, but he was ready, and held it in place acceptably. He aimed downrange again, and inspected the target. A bullseye. He twitched with pleasure and emotion. He was going back in- with higher stakes than ever before.

[Altito Asmoro]

Oosterscheldekering Dam Base
Gym
0610 HOURS

Treadmill is active, and then there's Lei Chen, running on it. He needs to keep his body at high readiness as well as to stay fit. Being on the job of protecting the world is one hard damn job, but he's more or less devoted to it. He knew some people here now, but not very close. Especially since he's the only Chinese, and probably the only Asian here, and it's not helping him much. Then again, partnership and teamwork is important, since he is a Gunner and his job is to provide infantry support and suppressing fire, or sometimes engaging the target. At least it's not the worst job. Like being a scout.

He stopped the treadmill and turned his back to the bench where he put his water bottle, a slice of bread and a banana. His breakfast seems legit, but hey, it's a breakfast. He started to sat down and ate his breakfast there, and then after he finishes it, he will go back to his room to change clothes into the standard ATHENA soldier suit and goes to the shooting range.

[Bentus]

Oosterscheldekering Dam Base
Rec Lounge
Emilie Girard

Emilie sat idly at the bar, a half-finished pint sitting uncharacteristically ignored before her. You could hardly blame her for being a little bit distracted, though; it wasn't every day that you found at that ET existed. More than that, nobody could be expected to instantly come to grips with the idea that the little green men really were out to probe, maim and otherwise cause bodily harm. Girard grimaced, lazily lifting her glass with the realisation that she could use a bit more alcohol in her system: her head was working too hard. The large mug seemed disproportionate to the small woman, accentuating her petite build. It wouldn't have been too difficult to forget that she was a trained and decorated killer, although there'd been plenty of occasions when she'd had to remind someone who underestimated her abilities thanks to her stature.

The glass came down on the bar with a pound, the remaining liquor having been downed. Sighing, Emilie felt the warming sensation spread down her throat; at least these guys didn't skimp out on the essentials. Not for the first time, she cast her eyes around the rec room - trying to ignore the thought that there were countless tons of Earth suspended above her head. She hadn't heard of Athena until less than a month ago when some spooks had approached her with an offer. Naturally, the medic had told them quite gladly where they could go stuff themselves if they thought she'd abandon her unit and Emilie had assumed that would be the end of it. Two weeks later, however, they'd returned - and this time accompanied by her superior. And her superior's superior. It quite clearly wasn't some holier-than-thou black-budget get-up, at least in the typical sense, and Emilie had to admit that her curiosity had been piqued when they'd drawn attention to how many languages she spoke. She'd figured that she was being enlisted into some kind of NATO outfit, but in the first recruitment interview she found herself face-to-face with a former Spetsnaz operative. After that, there was no way she going to pull herself out of the rabbit hole - she wouldn't forgive herself. NATO didn't tend to play-nice with the Russkies since Ukraine, so this was something bigger.

Still. Aliens? Definitely hadn't been on her list of guesses.

Emilie observed the man sitting not too far down the bar, seemingly absorbed in his own little world. She supposed that it was high-time to start going through the motions, building up the sense of camaraderie and trust that every unit had to forge - even those ones based deep beneath a dam in the Netherlands. Grabbing her silently re-filled glass, the medic got up and planted herself on the stool next to her new colleague.

"Quite a bit to take in, no?" She said, guessing at what he was going over on his datapad. "Aliens. An international black-ops unit. Merde, this whole place just screams like some American flick." Turning to face him, she extended a hand. "Emilie Girard, armée de terre. I think I saw you at the boss' speech."

[Free Tuks]

Oosterscheldekering Dam Base
Indoor Shooting Range
0610 Hours

The SCAR-L carbine laid on the table. The gun was compact, lightweight and accurate. Just as Adam liked. Still, he didn't feel comfortable shooting it. For 5 years he shot the MTAR-21, which was a bullpup. He didn't feel comfortable with the grip, the magazine location, and the weight distibution. He sat on the bench, picked up the gun, inserted a magazine, switched from 'safe' to 'semi-automatic', and aimed. The taget was 100 meters away. He fired, hitting below the bullseye. He zeroed the sights, and fired again, Hitting a bit to the right. He adjusted the sight agained, and fired. Perfect bullseye. He was satisfied with the gun, and more importantly with himself. Now he stood up, and aimed again. He felt his muscles tightenning to stabilize the gun. He fired one shot, hitting close to the center. He kept firing, and with each shot he was becoming more and more familiar with the gun.

[West Aurelia]

Oosterscheldekering
Gym
Valentin Ivanov

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Valentin Ivanov replayed the events of his life in his head as he exercised. Born to a poor Russian immigrant family, he lived a hard life. Both of his parents worked long hours in order to pay for his education - his father in a shoe factory an hours' drive away from their tiny two-bedroom apartment, his mother helping out at the local grocery store. They were very strict regarding his grades, not wanting their hard-earned money to go to waste. Living in the bad part of town, he was tempted to join street gangs by his classmates, but the prospects of facing his strict father made him look the other way. During high school, he curiously entered a navy recruitment office, where he was persuaded to serve the country which gave his immigrant family a second chance. His parents' efforts paid off, and he graduated as the Dux Litterarum of his high school. Studying literature at a prestigious university, he dropped out at the age of 20 and enlisted to join the SEALs, much to his parents' dismay. He powered through the notorious training and selection program, graduating as one of the top students in his class.

Eight years later and now a petty officer third class, he was approached by a mysterious man with a mysterious offer. He had been selected to join the Advanced Tactical HAZOPS and Extraterrestrial Neutralization Agency, or ATHENA (still can't beat Congress at the acronym game, he thought at the time). That wacko conspiracy theory regarding aliens in Moscow? It wasn't a fucking theory. But did he want to leave his brothers in arms to travel the world fighting aliens? A bigger dilemma than dropping out of university, in his opinion. After days of thinking it through, he accepted.

That was one month ago - and what a frantic month it was. He sat at the same table as some of the most senior officers in the country as they discussed what he was about to go through - and he was a mere petty officer. He had to read and sign a mountain of non-disclosure agreements. He had to pack up basically all of his stuff - he wasn't going to be living in the States anymore. And then he got a phone call from the president. They only spoke for five minutes, but it was the most nerve-racking five minutes of his life.

Now here he was, assigned the rank of corporal (the equivalent of petty officer third class) and stationed at Oosterscheldekering in Rotterdam. Not Area 51? Disappointing. But, he reasoned, if this was ATHENA's headquarters, then either Area 51 was just a normal airbase, or it contained things even ATHENA was denied access to. "Oosterscheldekering" is also a mouthful. Every time he thought he got the hang of pronouncing it, he'd forget it the next day. Of the other two names used by non-Dutch speakers here - Ooster and Home - he picked Ooster. It wasn't his home yet. Not legally, anyway - his personnel file listed his address as Virginia Beach, Virginia, the location of Naval Amphibious Base, Little Creek and home of SEAL Team 2.

This morning he had stood shoulder-to-shoulder with everyone ranging from kids just out of high school to veterans of multiple conflicts, all from different countries, listening to their "new boss" (as he put it), Commander Leon Pier. He was surprised at the number of people without special forces backgrounds - you would think that a multinational black operations unit solely focused on neutralizing extraterrestrial threats would choose from the best of the best. But no matter - they were all handpicked, and thus all here for a reason.

After Pier finished his brief speech, Ivanov headed straight for the gym. He needed his morning exercise like most people needed their coffee. As he tried out the range of equipment they had available - they suited his needs - he spotted who he believed to be the sole Asian on the base running on the treadmill. The man got off the machine and began eating his breakfast. Right. Breakfast. He had completely forgot that he had to eat. To the rec lounge it was. He got up, muttered a brief "good morning" to the man, and left the gym.

[Shyluz]

Oosterscheldekering Dam Base
Rec Lounge
0605 Hours

"Quite a bit to take in, no?" She said, guessing at what he was going over on his datapad. "Aliens. An international black-ops unit. Merde, this whole place just screams like some American flick." Turning to face him, she extended a hand. "Emilie Girard, armée de terre. I think I saw you at the boss' speech."

Artem glanced over at the short, spunky looking woman. She was clearly French. Chuckling, he downed the last of his current glass of vodka, reached for the bottle and refilled. The bottle was now pretty much empty, save for a few drops. He then proceeded to lock the datapad, conveniently hiding Sasha's picture.

"I suppose, it does scream like some American television show. Have you read the after-action report?" He said in the best English he could muster. He then opened the datapad, flipped to the AAR, and offered to hand the pad to her. "Artem Yurivich. From thr 601st SKSS, maybe you've heard of us?"

[Free Tuks]

Oosterscheldekering Dam Base
Rec Lounge
0615 Hours

The training was over, and Adam could really use a drink. He remembered the boss saying something about a bar. He went out of the range to look for 'heaven'. That's how he refered to bars after training. He found a worker who poined him in the right direction, and a few minutes later he walked into a nice lounge.

When he walked in he saw a man and a woman talking. He knew they were soldiers, because he remembered them from the speech. He didn't know anything about them, but they seemed nice. He approached their table, and sat next to the woman. "Hi guys. I'm Adam Waltzman, IDF. I remember seeing you two at the speech earlier today. May I know your names?".

[Organized States]

Oosterscheldekering
Flight Line
0610

Captain Philip Edwards nearly jumped out of the cockpit of the Manta as he taxied the aircraft as dawn arose above the dam. The day started late, a side-effect of being positioned in the Northern hemisphere. He pulled off all of the straps holding him in place in the fighter before quickly climbing out of the cockpit and down the ladder towards the ground. He quickly exchanged high fives with the ground crew, all of them USAF. A kill-mark for their bird was certainly appreciated and the first one from an Ooster-based fighter at that was even more appreciated. Most of the other fighter aircraft in the Black World either saw no action at all. He quickly found his flight lead, Major Anthony "Alfredo" Zampini in a very good mood, much to his surprise.

"That was some fine shooting, Phil. Good job out there" said Zampini, upon slapping Philip on his back. The 35-year old Italian American had a very encouraging attitude, being very upbeat. Zampini and himself were bunkmates inside of the Male Barracks facility that was another feature of the underground facility, much to their dislike. So much for the four-star accomadations. After a quick shower and a change into fresh Nomex flight suits, they walked out into the hallway and made their way towards the Rec Lounge. Another American support unit trotted by on PT, a group of 8 of them, probably Operations Airmen. Their cadence resounded through the hall as the jogged by.


"PJ, PJ where have you been
Around the world and back again
PJ, PJ how did you go
In a C-130, flying low
PJ, PJ how did you get down
In an Osprey, big and round
PJ, PJ what did you do
I killed a commie for me and you
PJ, PJ how did you get back
In a Blue and Black body sack" the song repeated.

After the joggers passed by, Philip and Zampini entered the bar, taking a seat next to a group of three people conversing back and forth. "My man here just got his first kill on those Big-eyed fuckers in Russia, get this man a beer!" Zampini yelled at the bartender across the bar who slid an O'Douhls over across the bar. Only non-alcholic beer. Theater rules. It was still beer though. Why not?

[United RussoAsia]

Oosterscheldekering Dam Base
Outdoor Shooting Range
0615 Hours

Sage sighed, and put the HK away. He quickly decided to check out the other weapons.
Out of all the sidearms, he decided to go with Colt M45 CQB. It was similar to the 1911; a gun he admired for accuracy and power. He quickly looked at the PDWs; mostly MP5 variants. That was fine, he had worked with the MP5A5. Accuracy was ok, in semiauto. Carbines-Something he knew and hated. The SCAR-L Would do if he had to. Assault rifles- Versatile weapons, admirable for that. The ARX 160 caught his eye, and therefore he took it down and inserted a clip. He sat back down and re-sighted the target.

[Shyluz]

Oosterscheldekering Dam Base
Rec Lounge
0615 Hours

Upon being interrupted by an over-eager flight crew, and a polite Israeli, or least that's what the man said he was. He had only done a few operations with the 601st with Israelis during the Egyptian Crisis of 2018, and Artem. He decided to toss the empty bottle of liquor to the flight crew. It shattered with a satisfying crash. He then said to the Israeli, "I am Artem Yurivich, from the 601st SKSS, and this is my friend Emilie Girard, from the armée de terre. I would offer you a drink, but that plane has, eh, flown." He said chuckling to himself discreetly.

He set the glowing datapad down on the bar next to Emilie, and then proceeded to ask the Israeli, "Have you read the After-Action Report from Moscow?"

[The Armed Republic of Dutch Coolness]

Oosterscheldekering Dam Base
Rec Lounge
Natasha Vasilyev

The existence of aliens had been quite something to swallow for Natasha Vasilyev. It wasn't that much of a surprise that they existed, it was more that they had come to Earth and were hostile. Extra Terrestial creatures capable of travelling to Earth - how were they supposed to beat that? Shooting them seemed to be a, albeit typically human, solution, but would they even be capable of that? Already her mind was running wild with theories about who these aliens were, what they wanted to do, and how they could be stopped. The redhead drank her cup of coffee empty, and sighed. She leaned back in her chair, sitting alone in a corner of the Rec Lounge. The past month had been quite rough, eh? Aliens attacking Earth? Getting enlisted by a unit fighting said aliens? Said unit being located at the Oosterscheldekering, of all places? Truly, the world had gone mad and she was the only piece of it that remained sane - she had to, really. She looked around the lounge, and stood up, taking her coffee cup with her. She took it to the coffee machine, and began filling it again. Natasha looked around the lounge, watching the people that were there socializing with a slight smile on her face as she waited for the terribly slow-working machine to refill her cup with coffee.

[Shyluz]

Oosterscheldekering Dam Base
Rec Lounge
Artem Yurivich

Artem, still chatting with Emilie and Adam, shot a glance towards Natasha, who appeared to be the only other from the Slavic/Scandinavian region. He beckoned with his head a little. Subtle, barely noticeable, but an invitation none the less. He then returned to pouring more of the kerosene smelling liquid into his glass.

It all had been a bit much for him, though the grief in his mind, the well hidden grief; mind you, had taken up most of his brainpower, he never really had a chance to actually process the new information. It had happened quickly. The 'new boss' had said that they, all of them in the Lounge, and more throughout the Dam, were humanity's defenders? How is one team of people, no bigger than a platoon, supposed to hold off an entire invasion fleet of superior enemies? Yes, they were all special forces from their native countries, yes they all will fight bravely. Yes, everyone will lose someone.

It's just, Artem had already lost to much.

So, of course, though Artem, introvert as he was, can swap into a more sociable persona, and his true feelings only displayed in the bunk where he sleeps. He knew that the platoon before them, the one that responded at First Contact, had been slaughtered. They weren't special forces like them, of course, but still. He had seen one of the vests a casualty had worn. It was char.

Scariest of all. He knew that he, Artem Yurivich, would be of little use. After all, in both the 9th and the 601st, he just told the artillery where to point and when to fire. True, he did technically have over a hundred kills, but they weren't his, they were artilleryman's kills. They won't have artillery. He won't be alone anymore. They would be a team. And that scared him the most.

[Romic]

Oosterscheldekering Dam Base
Rec Lounge
Ethan Cole

As the group departed from the topside sun into the lower depths of the dam he inched his way toward the Rec room. First Contact is what they called the whole business of Humanity's ecounter of Alien Life. As a boy in Iowa he often heard stories of UFOs and always shrugged it off. It was mostly drunks that spoke of them.

He sat isolated at the bar and took a glass of water. He didn't drink much, his father was to blame for that. He looked over his data pad. Athena's database was far more vast than even Ranger's data. He looked up his brother's deployment. He was right he was still stuck in some mid east hellhole.

He then clicked over to an electronic game of chess.

[Cymrea]

Oosterscheldekering Dam Base
Barracks
Gage Rhys

Commander Pier's speech had been like something out of a movie, specifically the parts where the main character is made aware that the universe was a lot bloody bigger than he thought. He loved those old films, like Battle: Los Angeles and Independence Day, but damned if he thought it would ever be reality. Aliens were for real and there was a secret super bunker under his feet? Summer science-fiction blockbuster, just add the most elite soldiers on the planet.

He turned slightly and caught the raised eyebrows of another trained killer. "Holy shit, eh?" he whispered. The other nodded silently and they returned their attention to the podium. After they were dismissed, Gage picked up his duffel bag and rifle case and headed into the base. He had no destination in mind and just let his feet carry him forward. Glancing about, he recognised the unit patches and insignias of a number of different militaries. Israel, United States, Russia, Netherlands, and even another Canuck.

There was a firing range, he noted. That was good. Squeezing off a few dozen rounds always helped to centre him, but he wasn't feeling it just at that moment. The rec lounge certainly looked inviting and a small number of the others were already gravitating towards it. But Gage wasn't feeling terribly social just now, either. In the end, he decided to establish his nest, and that meant the barracks.

A few others had made their way down to where they would bunk down, likely following the same instinct he was. Upon entering, Gage noted the rows of stacked bunks with wide lockers between them. The spaces probably haven't been assigned yet, he thought. Best not to get too comfy.

[The GAmeTopians]

Shooting Range, Thomas
Thomas raised his R11 RSASS level with the target, peering through the sight to the bullseye about 50 meters away. He clicked the trigger and the weapon bucked in his hand. He lowered it and walked down the lane, inspecting the target.
"Hmm," Thom muttered. "Two centimeters from the bullseye."
He strode back to the start, and took more shots. He sighed. Practice, Practice, Practice.

Tam
Tam tapped Thomas on the shoulder.
"Were you going to say hi bro?"
Thomas jumped. He laughed, saying, "Tam! Didn't know you were going to be here! Is Jessica here?"
Tam laughed and thumped him on the back, causing Thomas to stumble, but he caught him self.
"Nice save. Jessica should be here somewhere, I have a feeling she'll be looking for you." Tam smirked, hinting at their relationship.

Jessica
"Hi guys!"
Jessica laughed from behind them. She hugged Thom and gave him a peck on the cheek, causing him to blush.

[Generailia]

Oosterscheldekering Dam Base
Indoor Shooting Range
Chris Ackermann

Chris held a G36C in his hands awkwardly as he repeatedly missed the target. Damn it. I can use a handgun alright but something like this? Sure as hell is very different from what I'm used to by far. He then put in some more time and patience into his shots and was happy to see that it at least hit the target at a decent level as he thought. Well I think I found my gun..because I have had more then enough embarrassment caused by this single Carbine for one day. So I guess when and if I do go out this is coming with me. Now let's see what this thing can do. He picked up a HK-45T that he simply picked up for the same reason he picked up the G36C..which was he liked how they looked. He then held the thing as in both of his hands as he fired the weapon..and was happy to see it hit closer to the bullseye then he ever could with the G36C as he unloaded a few more rounds with more hits then misses and once he exhausted the magazine he placed the thing back on the table after reloading the weapon as he thought. Rather not think about how I became skilled with a handgun but I guess my old hobbies did do something positive for me. Now back to the Carbine. He then picked back up the G36C and was able to hit somewhat near the bullseye this time..closer then he could do with the HK-45T as he thought to himself. Yep think I found the weapons for my first mission. Just hope that I am a shit load more accurate on the battlefield then I am here. He then continued to practice with the Carbine as he thought. There is a shit load of very different people here..both in age and experience I'm sure. But hell if I am going to catch up with any of them..I will need to push myself harder then ever before. He then continued to fire the Carbine as he started to get more familiar with the weapon he also got a little bit better with it everytime..yet he was never able to hit the bullseye throughout the entire time as he reloaded the weapon he thought. Still can hardly believe this is happening..don't think that I ever can. But I still better get better before they put a very real and very deadly enemy in front of my face..because if not I am pretty damn sure that I'll die. Chris then shook his head in denial of such a situation as he lifted his Carbine back up and continued to fire..not knowing when he was going to either take a break or do something else he continued with the pattern he seemed to set for himself until he either got bored or decided he made enough of an ass of himself for at least a hour..maybe more..and maybe less.

[Free Tuks]

Oosterscheldekering Dam Base
Rec Lounge
Adam Waltzman

"No Artem, I didn't read the report. I heard that thing went pretty bad in Moscow." he replied to Artem's question. He suddenly remembered why he came to the lounge in the first place. He turned aroud and yelled: "Bantender! Vodka for me and my friend here!". While waiting for the bottle, he realized what he was facing: Aliens. Not the regular terrorists he was trained to fight. He was a very skilled fighter who served in Sayeret Matkal, one of the most elite units of the Israeli military with a substantial record fighting Hamas terrorists in Gaza and hunting down terrorists in the West Bank. Still, all of these were nothing compared to the threat that everybody in the room was facing.

For now, he didn't want to think about it. He just wanted to relax and chat with the other guys. After all, he is going to fight with them for... He didn't even know how long this is going to take. He knew that the best way to forget about problems is to drink them away. The bartender put the vodka bottle on the table and Adam poured some for himself and for Artem. "Let's drink for ATHENA" he said.

[Bentus]

Oosterscheldekering Dam Base
Rec Lounge
Emilie Girard

Emilie nodded in recognition as Artem mentioned his unit. “Not all of it, only just got given clearance.” She grinned, easily recalling the Czechs’ reputation. Before she could ask anything else, however, Adam walked over to introduce himself – shortly before being almost drowned out by the boisterous cheering of a bunch of flyboys. Emilie rolled her eyes, unable to believe the hotshot’s claim to fame and half suspecting that they were already drunk. Then again, she’d just got there.

Artem hurled his empty bottle towards the crews where the sound of shattering glass resounded through the lounge. Emilie frowned, wondering how long exactly the Czech had been down here swigging the vodka. She also winced when the man announced her as a friend – although they hadn’t reacted yet, Emilie wasn’t too sure if she was in the mood for the air crews to suspect some kind of association. The woman nodded in greeting to Adam before taking the offered data-pad, scanning the contents of the report. It was quite a hefty document, and loaded with the usual bureaucratic tape and mumbo-jumbo, but she’d gotten used to skimming important files over the years. Still, Emilie found herself pausing and re-reading key sentences, thinking that she must have misunderstood or misread. When she finished, the first thing she did was reach over to pour some more of the liquor down her throat, as if the burning sensation may wash away some of the grisly images. She was pretty darn used to the guts and gore, had to be really, but she'd also filled out her fair share of post-mortem reports. People generally preferred to keep it professional and leave out all the real nasty bits - Emilie could only imagine what the medical team had left out of this one.

“Mon Dieu.” She managed, half-wondering if she’d really wanted to know all the details in there. Emilie turned towards Arnem, “This is what we’re up against? You’ve got to be kidding me." She scoffed, no wonder Athena had been at such great pains to prevent them from finding out about their mission. At least until after they'd all already sold their souls to the outfit. Vivid descriptions of what happened to your predecessors would definitely not have been boons to recruitment. "They definitely left some key points out of the pamphlets.”

[United RussoAsia]

Oosterscheldekering Dam Base
Outdoor Shooting Range
Sage Albrektsson

The ARX kicked; 1,2,3,4,5; he eased off the trigger, and checked his accuracy. Not bad, and well-grouped. He inhaled slowly, and exhaled deeply. He would make his father proud.
His father had always looked out of place; a Nordic man in an Asian country, especially Korea. He was a good three inches taller than anyone he met, and he looked silly next to Sage's mother. He considered his mother; she had always been far too submissive to his father, letting him name his Asian son a Nordic name, and not protesting his harsh discipline. He had not abused her, however- for this, Sage was glad. And it was he who had insisted on loads of athletics and also he who had taken him to the shooting range that day. "No," he thought, "no, I would not be the person I am without him." He owed it to the man to try and make himself a worthy family member again. With resolve renewed, him re-aquired the target.

[Westeastern Dicantia]

Oosterscheldekering Dam Base
Outdoor Shooting Range
Scott MacPhearson

Scott carefully pointed his M240b down range, inspecting the closer targets through his left eye. He exhaled fully, steadying himself. In the same moment his massive index finger moved slowly, but purposefully from the guard to the trigger, coming to rest in the lower space between the two. His eye focused on the center of the bull's eye, halved by his sights. At this point on the range, even the closest targets were a stretch to hit accurately with iron sights. A muscle in his shoulder tensed slightly as he slowly pulled the trigger on the hulking weapon. A single, precise shot echoed through the range as a pinprick hole appeared in the target downrange.

Satisfied with this, the large, Scottish man lowered his gun, put it in full auto and roared with laughter as the rest of the 200-round belt was dispensed into the hillside, drowning out the hysterics of a very easily amused man.

Scott cleared the chamber of the light machine gun, being careful to keep it open, and slung it over his shoulder as he headed off to have something to eat. The newfound knowledge that aliens did indeed exist was still fresh in his mind and it didn't trouble him at all. Mainly because he got to shoot them in the face, but other than that, he was generally open to the notion of extraterrestrial life. As he sat down with a sandwich and began to eat, he wondered if anyone else had noticed the new threat, and why the aliens were even here.

[Aquesta]

Oosterscheldekering Dam Base
Rec lounge
Senan Hogan

Hogan sat at the bar nursing a glass of orange squash. He noticed his comrades socializing but Hogan had no intention of joining them. He had never been good with people and was always afraid of making an arse of himself in front of people he didn't know well. Besides Hogan had enough on his mind. Finding out that there was intelligent extraterrestrial life and that it was hostile was sure to be quite a big shock to the vast majority of people. The shock had worn off now and what was left was questions. Hogan pondered why the aliens were here,what they wanted and so many other things like what their culture was like, the state of their technology and so on. Hogan shrugged and slugged down his orange, he probably wouldn't find the answers to these questions so no point brooding over them.

He finished his orange and started reading the datapad in his hand, it explained what had happened in Moscow during first contact and it didn't look good, from a human perspective at least. The extraterrestrials had inflicted high casualties, the datapad didn't say exactly how many extraterrestrials had been there but since the numbers were omitted it was probably far smaller than the casualties they had manged to inflict. Which was understandable considering that their enemy was most likely capable of prolonged space flight that could travel from system to system, so their technology must be fare superior than ours.

[Congreveopia]

Oosterscheldekering Dam Base
Outdoors

It was a lot to take in. Aliens existed. Aliens were here. Humans had met aliens. Aliens were hostile. He was going to help kill aliens. Yves sighed, trying to come to terms with it all.

There was so much running through his mind. Humanity discovering other life was a revolutionary part of history, but almost nobody knew. He’d imagined that if they’d found aliens in his lifetime it would be on the other side of a telescope hundreds of light years away. The scientists would all talk to the media. They’d be massive philosophical and theological debates as people were forced to confront that mankind was not unique. There’d be demonstrations in the cities. People would protest against and for space exploration, religion, the weaponization of outer space, but he’d only ever really considered the human reaction. He’d never thought the aliens would be an active player in the game rather than part of the scenery, and he’d certainly never thought they’d invade.

Yves found he was still standing around outside as most of the rest of the people filed inside to train, or relax, or acquaint themselves with the new base. Yves just felt like thinking alone for a while, so he decided to go for a walk instead. His clothes weren’t exactly civilian, but they weren’t fully military either.

“It’s not as if I’m going into public.” he thought “I’m going to stay on base, just outside.”

He glanced down at the ground. “I guess I really am on the base.” he thought “This’ll almost certainly be the most expensive house I’ve ever stayed in.”

He walked along to the top of a small hill and looked around at the flood barrier stretching away from the island on either side. A pleasantly cool morning breeze blew through the air. To the North, the village of Westenschouwen was beginning to wake up.

“If Haiti would spend half the money on stopping floods that these guys have…” thought Yves as he looked at the massive flood barrier “...then, there’d be no problems at- no, shit, this is all to hide the base isn’t it. Because no government would pay money just to keep its citizens safe and secure. No, it needs to go into expensive military projects. I guess at least this base protects the citizens as a side effect.”

He paused a moment as a couple birds flew past. They had no understanding of what was happening in the world. They didn’t know that their homes could be destroyed or others of their species killed horribly. They just lived in blissful ignorance. He’d wondered if that way was better a few years ago after he lost all his money trying to force the logging companies out of Haiti. The army had helped people, though, and he had helped people through the army. He’d helped people in Haiti, and he’d helped people in Egypt. And now he would get to help the entire world in secrecy.

“This walk has done nothing whatsoever to calm my thoughts.” he realised with a chuckle. He stood up and headed back into the base.

Oosterscheldekering Dam Base
Rec Lounge

Yves glanced into the rec lounge as he wandered around the base looking for the firing range. He’d been planning to get some practice with the new weapons, but they’d probably all be called away to be assigned bunks or practice fire drills or something soon anyways.

“I suppose team building is as important as anything else.” thought Yves as he looked in and saw it seemed like most of the other people had drifted there. He made one last glance around for something resembling a map, then gave up on the firing range and entered the rec lounge.

Most of the people seemed to be clustered towards the far end of the bar from where he’d come in. He walked over and sat down a couple stools away from the group. He didn’t mind socialising, but he didn’t want to butt in on something already underway.

“Anything for you this morning?” asked the bartender as he poured a vodka for someone else.

“How about just a coffee.” said Yves, looking at the array of alcoholic beverages lining the wall that he really shouldn’t consider touching before eating breakfast.

“How about narrowing that down for me a bit?” said the bartender good-naturedly “I don’t get many people coming in here asking me for ‘an alcohol’.”

“Alright fine.” said Yves with a smile, choosing to challenge the bartender “I’ll have a short macchiato caldo, please.”

“Certainly.” said the bartender, delivering the drink he’d been preparing and walking away to a different section of the bar. He returned in a minute with a clear coffee cup with the logo of the Athena program etched in it. In the cup was what looked like a well made Caffè macchiato with a latte art leaf on top. The bartender handed the cup to Yves and then walked away to serve someone else. Yves took a sip. It had slightly more milk than he liked, but on the whole was delightfully made. He sipped the macchiato and decided that this was a very good program to be working for.

[Caribica]

Dam Base
Rec Lounge
Dakota Maddox
Maddox was still in a semi-catatonic state after hearing the Commander's speech. He kept sipping at the glass of whiskey in front of him, unable to purge his mind of the fact that they really weren't alone. He noticed a group of people around him talking and after a few more sips he mustered the courage to ask, "So what exactly were the Rooskies throwing at the aliens? Spetznaz? or just cops?"