Silent Rain
UFOS SIGHTED OVER CHINA INTERCEPTED BY AIRCRAFT OF UNKNOWN MAKE OR MODEL AND SHOT DOWN IN WILDERNESS; CRASH SITE FOUND ABANDONED BUT SIGNS OF FIGHTING NEARBY APPARENT, SOURCES IN CHINESE GOVT SAY
STRING OF SUSPECTED ALIEN ABDUCTIONS IN FRANCE ENDS AS GIGN RAIDS WILDERNESS COMPOUND; SUSPECTS APPREHENDED AT SCENE CLAIM INVADERS CONTROLLED THEIR ACTIONS; INSANITY PLEAS EXPECTED DURING TRIAL.
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02:40, 04/16/2015, SKYRANGER HANGAR
David Bradford had never been one to consider lurking, but the longer he waited at the far side of the hangar the more he felt the term applied. He stood ramrod straight out of force of habit and perfectly still beside the door leading the command center with his eyes locked on the door leading to the access stairwell. And, as if summoned by the sheer stubbornness of his stare, the door opened and Harris briskly walked in and surveyed the now empty hangar before signaling to the door, and the others moved in behind him, including the current source of Bradford’s more recent headaches.
The video footage doesn’t do it justice, Bradford thought to himself as the group moved towards the center of the room. Even from across the hangar he could see curiosity on its face. Curiosity and fear. When the hangar doors opened it looked up to the starry skies with unabashed wonder before looking to Shen and saying something. Shen smiled and nodded but remained silent.
“Commander Bradford, there is an incoming Council transmission,” Came a voice from Bradford’s headset, and for a brief moment he was sorely tempted to groan and cover his face with his palm. Of all the times for the Council to call…
“Understood, inform them that I’ll take their transmission in my office in five minutes. Raise the alert level of the base and scramble Strike One, Strike Two and Strike Four,” Bradford crisply ordered through his headset and started making his way toward the group in the hangar. The lights all came on at the same time as the alert klaxon sounded. The alien in their midst jerked and its ears folded back from the sound, though one ear twitched in Bradford’s direction. A moment later those purple eyes were upon him, and Bradford met that gaze with one of his own.
David wasn’t unfamiliar with the concept of the stare-down, and was perfectly willing to deliver one if necessary… which wouldn’t be this case. Within a second of eye contact the alien visibly withered under his glare but still maintained eye contact, and then the moment passed as Shen met Bradford half-way.
“Shen, get everyone back to the lab. Council transmission is incoming, and you know what that means.” Bradford reported crisply before doing an about face and heading towards the hangar exit. He had gotten a half a dozen steps when a loud crack of displaced air sounded behind him. A glance behind him revealed that he was now alone in the hangar. He tapped his headset and asked, “Location on Charles Shen?”
A moment of silence passed before the reply came, “Chief Engineer Charles Shen is currently in the Stardust Labs, B3F.”
Teleportation…right, he remembered from the Vahlen’s research notes as he ascended the stairs to his office. Something tells me this mission is going to get a lot more interesting than usual.
------
02:43, 04/16/2015, B3F CORRIDOR
“Matt…” Lana started as the pair sprinted through the corridors.
“I know, Lana,” Matt replied as they rounded a corner and caught sight of the stairwell leading up into the barracks, “We have to let Fowler know about the situation.”
“And how would you explain the situation? ‘So sorry, can’t go with you on the mission because a pretty purple unicorn cast an unknown spell on us’? She’ll smack both of us if we tell her the truth and Bradford will smack us again for telling the truth about what happened,” Lana said, and her tone was missing her usual snark.
Damn it, she’s right. And there’s no time to come up with a plausible alternative. Damn it, Matt thought to himself. “All right, command decision. When we get to the armory, just follow my lead. If there’s any trouble it’s on me and not you.”
Lana didn’t reply to that, and Matt couldn’t look over his shoulder to see her expression as they hit the stairwell and bound up it three steps at a time. A quick exit from the stairwell and a few more turns brought the tardy pair to the Armory, and they were greeted by the bustle of nearly a score of soldiers getting their kit sorted for the mission. Unfortunately, Matt and Lana’s absence was not unnoticed.
“I swear to God I’m going to put my boot up both their asses the next time I see them,” Fowler seethed as she plucked her rifle from the armory locker and proceeded to the depository to retrieve magazines for both it and her pistol, “Muster call is absolute, anyone who misses that gets on my personal shit list.”
Matt braced himself for the verbal thrashing as he stepped up to Fowler, but she pointedly ignored him and continued to rant, “In case you knuckle-draggers hadn’t noticed, I’m in a bad mood, and the only thing that will get me out of that bad mood is the unlikely possibility that all of Strike One is miraculously on the Skyranger at the start of the operation.”
Command decision time. If we don’t suit up and meet them at the Skyranger, Strike One will be under-strength for whatever the mission is. If we join them they’ll be full strength but we’ll have to risk whatever Twilight’s spell was, Matt’s mind began to crunch the best and worst case scenarios, and made a decision.
“Lana, prep our armor and kit, I’ll gather our guns and ammo,” Matt hissed at Lana, and when she started to object, he turned back, “This is on me, just do it!”
Strike Two stacked up and filed out of the armory, followed by Strike Four, and through hours and hours of practice, Lana and Matt were able to get their kits together and join the end of the stack as Strike One departed for the hangar. Not one member of Strike One acknowledged their presence as they tabbed towards the Skyrangers. It seems we’re persona-non-grata because of our late arrival…ah, there will be hell to pay when we get back.
The crew chiefs for the three Skyrangers waved each team to their respective ride, Strike Four would launch first, followed by Strike Two, then Strike One. Matt and Lana were the last in the stack to enter the Skyranger but Fowler stood at the base of the ramp and glared towards the hangar entrance. The crew chief for the Skyranger ran up the ramp and began to check and recheck all the harnesses for the boarded members, but stopped just before he got to Lana and Matt and turned to the lieutenant on the ramp.
“Sir, we’re leaving in ten seconds! Get inside now!”
Fowler turned and headed back inside the Skyranger, her displeasure clearly apparent on her face.
“Is there a problem, sir?” Lana asked tentatively, and Matt sucked in his breath. Please don’t think she’s being sarcastic. Please…
The reaction from both Strike One and the crew chief was not what Matt expected. The soldiers sitting beside Lana and Matt would have jumped out of their seats if they weren’t harnessed, while everyone else whipped around to stare at the two like they had just materialized out of thin air. The crew chief was the first to respond by checking their harnesses and heading back to the front of the craft, though he gave both soldiers a dubious expression while he did so. Fowler’s reaction was to simply give the two a flat look before taking her seat and strapping into the harness.
As the ramp closed and the Skyranger taxied to the launch pad, Matt gave Lana a silent look. What the hell was that about?
Lana’s only response was to shrug.
------
02:50, 04/16/2015, MISSION CONTROL
Bradford looked up at the massive holographic globe as he structured the briefing for the soldiers in his mind. I hate that we don’t have more time to collect intel or brief the soldiers more than we do, every mission feels like I’m throwing them into danger blind.
The globe continued to lazily spin and Asia came to face the commander. His eyes quickly fell upon Hong Kong and again he had to resist the uneasy feeling the mission was giving him. He had always felt uneasy with the missions that XCOM routinely handled, but this particular assignment was making his insides roil.
The door to the Armory opened and the first of the strike teams made their way across the command center towards the hangar. That’s Strike Two, McKenna, Briand, Holiday, Beecham, Roland, Enderton and with Uther in command. Bradford nodded to the team and wished them luck as they passed, and the second team entered Mission Control. Strike Four, Halverson, Buettner, Green, Thacker, Amada, Rodriguez, Alvarez, and Payne in command. Again, Bradford nodded to this team and wished them luck.
Another eight soldiers filed out from the armory, and Bradford repeated the process with them. Strike One, Dryzimski, Anderson, Lee, Potter, Henderson, with Fowler in command. The door to the hangar closed behind them and Bradford turned back to the spinning globe, though he couldn’t quite keep the doubt off his face this time. It feels like I’m missing something. Something important.
“Bradford, Shen,” The engineer’s voice filtered into Bradford’s ear, sounding tired and a little concerned.
“Bradford here, I read you. Did you manage to finish the production model remote weapons in time?”
“Ah, yes, I did,” Came Shen’s reply, “Three of the new Shivs should be ready for the mission, and I hope they’ll prove useful. I had one question regarding the mission though… did Corporal Harris or Private Jenkins join the mission?”
“I didn’t see them, no,” Bradford admitted, and that flare of doubt spiked uncomfortably. Why feel doubt now? It’s too early in the mission for that. “Were there any problems back at the lab?”
“Ah, no ‘problems’ so to speak. It can wait until the mission is over. Good luck, commander.” And with that, the line closed and Bradford turned back to the globe just as the Skyrays launched and headed west.
The communications officer prompted Bradford and he switched his headset to the command channel. “Our mission area is in a suburb of Hong Kong. We’ve received intelligence that an organized crime syndicate has been offering an alien artifact for sale on the black market, and the source of this intelligence has managed to procure this artifact and is offering it to us instead. Intelligence on the device itself isn’t complete but it was certain that it is intact and in working order, so retrieval of the device is our top priority.”
On cue, the communications officer brought up the map of the suburban area for the operation. A large cemetery with a neighboring temple, some single-story buildings on the road nearby, and an empty parking lot filled the monitor in front of Bradford, and he began to relay his instructions to both the Strike teams and the Skyrays, “Big Sky, you will deliver Strike One to the parking lot. King Fisher, Ominous, you will remain in a holding pattern in the event that the extraction gets complicated. Strike One, your civilian contact can be found near the temple beside the graveyard. The alien artifact is priority but retrieval of the civilian is an optional objective. There is also the possibility of interference from the criminal element, so don’t assume any human present is civilian or friendly. Good luck, Command out.”
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06:25, 04/16/2015, HONG KONG
The Skyray roared over the graveyard with its VTOL engines before coming to a rolling landing in the parking lot. The ramp dropped to the asphalt and Strike One boiled out of the aircraft and sprinted for the nearest cover in the barren parking lot. “Big Sky, Strike One Actual, we’re clear.” Fowler reported.
“Solid copy, Strike One. Command, Big Sky. Strike One is on the ground, we are assuming overwatch now,” Big Sky reported as its VTOL engines flared as it lifted off and disappeared into the evening sky. With their eyes in the sky now firmly established, Strike One moved from cover and headed towards the graveyard entrance. “Strike One, Big Sky. Thermal imaging puts one human male outside the temple, looks like that might be your guy.”
“Copy, Big Sky,” Fowler said, and called for a halt as they approached the entrance to the cemetery. “All right, I want no chances taken on this. Three and Four,” She indicated to Potter and Henderson, the two marksmen in the squad, “I want you two on that building and covering the street and as much of the cemetery as you can. Yes, I know the damned trees will be in your way but we shouldn’t be out of sight for more than a minute. Seven, eight; I want you two camped out to cover the entrance of the cemetery. We absolutely cannot get bottled up here if it comes down to a fight.” Lana and Matt nodded at their assignment.
“The rest of you are on me. Let’s get this guy and get out. No muss, no fuss.” With all orders given, Strike One split up. The marksmen dashed across the deserted street and scrambled up the fire escape to the roof of the store across the street. “One, three. We are in position, no contacts.”
Matt and Lana chose a position just inside the graveyard, along an elevated walkway that would give them a good line of sight on the entrance, limited line of sight on the street running beside the cemetery, and plenty of cover to go with it. “One, seven. We’ve got the entrance covered.”
“One copies. ETA on the objective is two minutes.”
------
06:30, 04/16/2015, MISSION CONTROL
Bradford watched the visual feeds from Big Sky like a hawk as Strike One split to cover the graveyard. It was a sensible move, especially with the risks involved in the mission. Considering the lack of hostiles so far, moving the entire squad was less important than securing their exfiltration route. Despite the potential incident that occurred in the hangar, this mission is going smoothly. Too smoothly. Again his instincts prodded at him that something was going to go wrong, or already had and he had missed it.
“Strike Two Three, Command. Check your two o’clock.” Bradford said, and the marksman complied. While uncommon, it wasn’t unheard of for Bradford to issue orders to the soldiers in the field in the event of emergency or new objectives, and they had learned to trust his instincts. Still, it’s best to keep my hands off most of the time, the unit leaders don’t need me micromanaging their men for them…
“Copy Command,” Potter confirmed, and his armor cam showed a long and deserted street. “Looks all clear… Strike that, I have four contacts moving in two-by-two formation towards the graveyard entrance. They look human, small arms, no armor and black suits. Big Sky, can you confirm?”
“Strike One, Big Sky, confirmed four human contacts heading towards you.”
“Copy, Big Sky. Three, keep eyes on those targets but hold your fire. Seven, Eight, get into position and take them out silently if you please.”
“Solid copy, one. Jenkins, on me.” Seven said, and both he and Jenkins moved to a better vantage point to ambush the would-be ambushers.
Wait… Jenkins? Bradford thought with a start and a chill ran down his spine as he recalled the events from earlier in the evening, I saw all the strike teams go to the Skyrays and I did not see those two in the group. Fowler, Dryzimski, Potter, Henderson, Anderson, Lee. Six names…eight soldiers. I distinctly remember eight soldiers leaving the armory. Shen specifically asked if I saw them and I know I didn’t. What the hell. What the HELL. David Bradford was as detail-oriented as commanders came, and he was absolutely certain that he had recognized six of Strike One’s soldiers, but eight had left the armory. Something big is going on here…
Again, Bradford’s instincts screamed at him and he turned back to see Harris and Jenkins ambush the four would-be ambushers. The humans moved from door frames to alleyways across the street from the cemetery, and they regrouped inside an alleyway outside of the sniper’s view but still within the all-seeing view of Big Sky. That view twitched further down the alleyway to catch a pair of fast moving shapes sprinting towards the human interlopers, with the thermal cameras it appeared as nothing more than a blur. The humans were quick enough on the uptake to turn their guns and fire, but their pistols were no match for the monsters approaching them.
“This is One, I hear shots fired! Who’s shooting?”
“One, Seven. Confirmed Chryssalids engaging civilian targets! Eight, use your frag!”
At this point all four of the black-suited humans had died gruesomely, and the Chryssalids had begun to hunch over the corpses. Before they could, one of the soldiers lofted a grenade into the gory pile and reduced everything to meat. The Chryssalids survived however and began to stumble and limp away to new targets, only to be chased down and dispatched with shotgun blasts.
Bradford had seen enough. “Big Sky, Command. Start thermal scans in and around the temple, starting with neighboring blocks. Ominous and King Fisher, deploy your packages and prepare for close air support. Strike One, Command. Get that asset and get out of there, now.”
A chorus of acknowledgements flooded the radio, and Bradford turned away and switched channels. “Get Charles Shen on the line right now.”
---
06:33, 04/16/2015, HONG KONG
Matt flicked his rifle over to full auto as he covered the alleyway that the Chryssalids came from. Lana pumped another shotgun blast into each of the Chryssalids before giving the mutilated humans a quick look to make sure none of them would rise again. “These guys are down for the count.” Lana reported as she sprinted across the street and back into cover beside Harris.
“Strike One, Big Sky,” Their observer started, and the hurried tone and raised voice didn’t mean anything good, “You have multiple contacts moving in on your location. Thin Men, Chryssalids and Floaters. Recommend exfiltration immediately.”
“Oscar mike with the civilian--, wait, weapons free!” Fowler shouted through the comms, and the staccato reports from rifles could be heard in the distance. Instantly the radio exploded with contact reports and gunfire.
“On me, Jenkins!” Harris shouted as he sprinted back to the elevated position they had prepared earlier. Two loud reports came from across the street, and the two snipers reported kills over the comms. Harris and Jenkins slid into cover and began to search for targets, when the radio crackled again.
“Command, Strike One Two, Anita Fowler is KIA,” Sergeant Dryzimski shouted between machine gun bursts. “ETA to extraction is one min—“ Dryzimski’s report dissolved into a horrible coughing sound that most of the strike teams were becoming uncomfortably familiar with. “I’ve been poisoned.”
“Seven, Four! Three and I can watch the entrance. You and Eight reinforce the others.” Before Matt could confirm the new orders, Henderson interrupted with a shout, “Seven, xrays on your back!”
Before either Harris or Jenkins could so much as react, a Chryssalid bounded up the street-side wall into their elevated position, barely ten feet from their position and between the two soldiers. A thousand painful deaths ran through Matt’s mind as he got that too-close look at the alien monster. He had quite recently seen how fast they could run, and kill. Lana’s shotgun could probably stop it, my rifle might on full auto but neither of us can bring our weapons to bear before one of us dies. Matt thought, and a flood of anger filled him at that.
Matt’s anger at the situation turned into shock as the Chryssalid sped up…and leapt off the elevated walkway and into the graveyard without so much as looking at either soldier. A second Chryssalid leapt up near where the first had and scuttled along the path and passed by Lana close enough for her to touch it, but completely ignored the two soldiers as the previous one did.
A second passed which seemed to stretch on into eternity before a trio of Thin Men added themselves to the mix, taking cover positions along side Matt and Lana as though they weren’t even there. Will wonder what the hell is going on later, for now deal with the Thin Men. Can’t use guns, they’ll cough up poison, but…
With practiced ease, Matt let the rifle hang from its sling and whipped out the Arc Thrower. Two trigger pulls later and two of the Thin Men were down without so much as a fight. He turned to look at Lana only to see her flip her shotgun over into a barrel hold and execute a beautiful golf swing that connected with the last Thin Man’s face and sent it tumbling over the railing and onto the lower level. She flipped the shotgun around again and caught it by the stock, then went sprinting after the Chryssalid further down the path.
“Shot wide, damn it!” Potter shouted through the comms. “Seven, I’ve got no angle on the bug. Tag him or flush him out.”
Matt holstered the Arc Thrower and raised his rifle as he spotted the Chryssalid in question. It was hunkered down behind a dividing wall and one of the giant trees just inside the cemetery, likely lying in wait to ambush the retreating squad members or to hide from the sniper, or both. Doesn’t matter either way, he thought grimly and lined up his shot and fired a burst. The first shot sank into the bug’s lower torso, the second clipped one of its arms while the third connected squarely where one of its legs attached to the body. Not expecting the attack, the Chryssalid squealed and stumbled out of its hiding spot, only for its head to explode a moment later.
“Seven, you’re clear! Move up and we’ll cover you.”
“On it!” Matt shouted as he vaulted the railing and dropped down to the lower level, stopping only to put a pair of bullets into the Thin Man Lana had punted before moving to the gravestones for cover. The staccato reports of rifle fire were almost constant now. “Two, Seven. Status?”
“Two’s out, this is Six! We’ll be at the exit shortly.” And just as he predicted, the remaining squad mates appeared. Lee and Anderson were retreating in good order, while a third figure had Dryzimski’s unconscious form over his shoulders. The third figure was a Chinese man with a shock of white hair and goatee and a rather vicious-looking scar on the side of his face. He also wore the same black outfit that the hostile humans had worn.
So that’s our civvie, Matt thought, and was mildly impressed that he was carrying the unconscious soldier rather than bolting and getting himself killed. He also was aware enough to move during covering fire. Smart man.
Matt’s evaluation of the civilian was cut short when he spotted another Chryssalid bound out from a row of tall gravestones and sprint towards the retreating soldiers. He tried to line up a shot but this Chryssalid was either smart or lucky as it weaved between the gravestones and kept the retreating soldiers between itself and Matt. Lee saw the Chryssalid approach and began to panic as he switched to full auto and began to hose down the bug, but it wasn’t enough. One clawed hand slapped the rifle aside while the second tore out his throat. A gurgle came through the radio as Lee fell, and the bug stood over the dying soldier to commit one of the most horrifying things any human had ever witnessed: egg implantation.
Or it would have if a shotgun blast didn’t tear a wide chunk out of its chest and knock it to the side. It turned to search for this new threat only to get a second shotgun blast in the face. The corpse began to spasm, and Lana put one more shotgun blast into it. “Command, Strike One Eight. Private Donald Lee, KIA.” She reported before sprinting to the rest of the group.
“Damn it, Lana, stick to cover!” Matt yelled as he turned to suppress a pair of Thin Men who appeared behind a tree to the group’s right. Surprisingly, the Thin Men didn’t fire a shot in her direction, instead directing their fire at Anderson and the civilian. One fell from a body shot by Matt, while the second was crowned by one of the snipers.
Lana assumed Lee’s place in covering the retreat as best she could with her shotgun while Matt continued to take shots with his rifle from his position at the gate. Anderson, Jenkins and the civilian regrouped for one last push, when the worst of all possible scenarios occurred. It was purely by chance that Matt saw the flicker of movement as the Floater ascended above them, and a thrill of horror went through him as he saw it toss a grenade.
Matt’s eyes traced the trajectory of the grenade and realized it was going to land between the retreating soldiers and himself. Lana must have noticed it too as the group started to sprint towards the gate. Despite the increased speed, there was no way that any of them would survive the blast.
No! I will not let this happen again! Matt’s mind screamed as he leapt from cover. He moved without conscious thought as he charged for where he expected the grenade to land. The grenade landed and bounced once, at just the right height for Matt to turn his sprint into one massive kick. His boot connected with the grenade just as the retreating soldiers passed him by. Had it been something other than a grenade, it would have been an absolutely beautiful kick.
Unfortunately, it was a grenade, and it detonated just under a second after the kick, knocking Matt off his feet. Oh hell that’s going to hurt in the morning, he thought as he rolled over and staggered to his feet as he rubbed his chest with his free hand. It feels like I just got kicked in the chest.
Henderson had reached the gate and was taking pot shots at targets somewhere behind Matt as he staggered through and turned to provide his own covering fire, and hesitated. “Jenkins, get the civvie and Dryzimski to the extraction! We’ll buy you time.” Matt’s tone brooked no argument, and Lana offered none as she pushed the civilian into action.
“Command, Strike One Seven, objective is approaching the extraction zone but we are in danger of being overrun. Requesting close air support, danger close!” Matt shouted into his comms as he raised his rifle and fired off a trio of shots at the pack of aliens rushing their position. The dreaded sound of his magazine running empty was offset by the chorus of replies through the radio.
“Big Sky copies, we are at extraction and retrieving the objective shortly,”
“Ominous copies, fire mission danger close ten seconds.”
“King Fisher copies, station keeping over the extraction zone.”
“Strike Four is engaging enemy reinforcements! Strike Two, can you assist?”
“Strike Two is ten seconds from the graveyard, we’ll try and intercept! SHIV support is en route!”
The empty clip clattered to the cement and Matt brought a new one into place before signaling for Henderson to retreat. He then sprinted across the street and towards the parking lot. He had just rounded the corner of the block in time to see Big Sky land in the parking lot and a SHIV roll out followed by the Skyranger’s crew chief with a rifle. Lana kept herself behind the civilian and Dryzimski’s unconscious form until he was safely inside before sprinting back toward the fight. The SHIV quickly outpaced her and began to rattle off shots at distant targets. A second SHIV zipped out from a nearby alley and joined in the firefight, followed by the leading elements of Strike Two. They waved the surviving elements of Strike One forward as they provided covering fire.
The rattling fire of the SHIV was quickly drowned out by a second Skyranger as it roared over the parking lot on its VTOL engines, and its blunt nose turned towards the oncoming horde behind Matt. “King Fisher on station, tally ho.” A gout of fire erupted from the Skyranger’s nose, followed by a visible spray of spent shell casings raining down to the street. Matt could feel a few of them bounce off his helmet and armor as he sprinted towards Big Sky.
C’mon, you’re almost there, Matt told himself as the distance closed, but with every step his legs and arms felt more and more like lead blocks. To make things worse each breath caused a spike of pain in his chest. His free hand rubbed his chest and it came away wet, and Matt spared a glance down at his palm. “Oh,” was all he was able to say before collapsing to the pavement.
“Shit, Harris is down!” Matt heard someone say, though they sounded far away, “Come on, we’re at the Skyranger, Matt. Stay with me, stay with me!” He tried, he really tried to stay with whoever was talking, but it seemed like a much better idea to go to sleep.
------
OPERATION SILENT RAIN: COMPLETE
ALIEN ARTIFACT ACQUIRED
CIVILIAN ASSET ACQUIRED
STRIKE-1 REPORTS 2 KIA, 3 WIA
STRIKE-2 REPORTS 0 KIA, 1 WIA
STRIKE-4 REPORTS 0 KIA, 2 WIA
RECOVERY TEAM INVENTORY:
(Documented by Lt Payne)
LIGHT PLASMA RIFLE (2 total)
PLASMA WEAPON FRAGMENTS
THIN MAN CORPSES (32 total)
FLOATER CORPSES (12 total)
CHRYSSALID CORPSES (7 total)
THIN MAN CAPTURE (2 total)
OPERATION EVALUATION: GOOD
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i came here thinking this was a a yugioh crossover. its not. i wish it was. still amazing tho
2723624
Thanks for stopping by! May I ask why you thought it was that kind of crossover?
2723640
i thought it was this kind o crossover because the title was stardust and the cover art reminded me o yugioh
Stardust is an archetype in yugioh it includes cards like stardust dragon, shooting star dragon shooting quasar dragon majestic star dragon stardust xialong stardust phantom stardust shimmer ormula synchorn stardust dragon assault mode
ect ect ect
i notice you respond very quickly
2723689
Aha, thanks for filling me in! I'm afraid I'm rather ignorant of Yugioh so that's all news to me. And I tend to hang around to respond to my readers when they leave comments.
I hope you have a chance to read my fic and let me know what you think, even if it isn't quite what you were looking for.
So it seems that whatever Twilight gave them was some kind of imperceptibility spell. Good thing she did, though I'm sure there'll be hell to pay once they get back to base.
So basically, Twi-chan pegged them with a SEP (Somebody Else's Problem) Field? Forget invisibility, just forget I'm there in the first place. Very handy.
Be an awesome way to spoof Psis. Invisibility, they can find your brain anyway. SEP? "Eh, who cares."
2723624
Where the hell did you get the idea that this was a Yu-Gi-Oh crossover?!
The thing with the grenade could be clearer. On my first reading I thought it detonated on contact with Matt's foot and his survival was due to another spell.
2723710 2723740
Remember what Twilight said at the end of the last chapter? “If it works out right, nopony will notice anything.”
Don't you doubt that there will be some grilling about what Twilight did exactly.
2723780
Now now, I can certainly understand your surprise, but Rakdar explained how he stumbled upon Stardust. I, for one, am glad he did! There's been times where I've stumbled into a fic I wouldn't normally read because I thought it was something else, and was better for the experience after reading it.
2723801
Oh? I thought I mentioned there was a second or so before detonation.
2723701 Oh no, i didnt say this isnt what i was looking or. on this site you cannot find a well written pony/ygo crossover. i really enjoy the story. its just like "oh look a ygo crossover got featured" and then i read it " This is AWESOME, but sadly not a ygo crossover
." if a ygo crossover ever gets featured well... i dont know what id do
2723780 since you cannot read a comments list i will copy+paste what i said before
i thought it was this kind o crossover because the title was stardust and the cover art reminded me o yugioh
Stardust is an archetype in yugioh it includes cards like stardust dragon, shooting star dragon shooting quasar dragon majestic star dragon stardust xialong stardust phantom stardust shimmer ormula synchorn stardust dragon assault mode
ect ect ect
2723803
Yeah, I knew she did something, I just thought it would have been some kind of protection. I wasn't really thinking an SEP-type situation. But yeah, there's gonna be some torqued off officers.
Some of you might be interested in a fan-novelization of the original X-COM. It comes in .pdf format - 650+ pages, and 350,000+ words. Sadly, there are no ponies. Still, it ought to kill time while between new chapters of Stardust. :)
X-COM: The Unknown Menace (PDF)
X-COM: The Unknown Menace (Fanfiction.net)
It's the "you don't notice me spell". I sometimes wonder if Pinkie doesn't have that as a permanent aura.
Can't wait to read the aftermath. Gonna be on pins and needles till the next update.
I just discovered this fic last night, stayed up too late reading it and went to bed on tenterhooks wondering what the spell would do. This morning, another chapter appears marvelously answering that question, but now I can't wait to see the fallout. Such a lovely can of worms it opens.
Officers will be rightfully pissed about soldiers going into battle with an unknown xeno effect.
At the same time, the edge this tactical ability offers would be an immense lure.
Compounding this is the whole 'more spells that mess with people's heads' thing - guaranteed paranoia fuel.
Not to mention discovering that the xeno can not only teleport, but can do so *unnoticed*... well, I can see a massive review of security footage in the near future.
Oh, and let's not forget that this is yet another ability to drive Vahlen up the wall.
If you wanted to upset the applecart, that spell was well chosen!
Yet another excellent chapter, I have nothing to complain about here. I do wish that they implemented air strikes in the game, would have been a nice way to make aircraft customization more interesting. Have phoenix cannon equipped fighters perform strafing runs, EMP cannons to take down sectopods and cyberdisks, missiles and plasma cannons for area-effect attacks, and then be able to use the Skyranger for close-support, getting more firepower but making you unable to retreat while it's firing, and so on.
2724121
Always interested in novelizations, I'll read it when I get the chance. Thanks for linking that.
So, just for curiosity's sake, who here has played the original X-COM: UFO Defense/UFO: Enemy Unknown? If you haven't, you can get it on Steam for $5, definitely worth a try.
The Thin Men captured on the mission are going to be far less lucky than their Sectoid siblings - Vahlen has surely built up a lot of anger and tension from the very notion of Twilight Sparkle. That lady most likely had a childhood of swapping Barbie's head with Ken's...
I guess that would give Twilight some time to work the Magic of Friendship on the other staff members.
I already thought it would be some sort of invisibility spell, a spell that causes everyone to ignore them is also a good way to keep them safe, although it could have created another problem, mainly the skyranger pulling out without the two of them.
Wow, that's some damn good action writing. Loads of tension, and it definitely felt frantic at times. Absolutely cannot wait to see the aftermath; both because Twilight's in big trouble, and because she inadvertently made it very, very clear how much of an asset she can be without even entering the field.
lol Background Pony Spell
2724412
There is an open-source project that is nearly ready - just a bit of bug squashing to be done. The project's aim is to make the original X-COM a bit more friendly to use, both as a game and for modding. :)
OpenXcom (0.9)
Well that spell was entertaining. The poor mare is gonna be up shit creek after pulling that, though.
Fun-Size Error Report
That tag chucklet isn't from me, it's up there in the fic.
2723815
I'm glad you enjoyed it even thought it wasn't what you were looking for. I hope you'll keep reading though!
2723817 2724165 2724433 2724443
I actually like that little acronym, 'Someone Else's Problem,' it sounds like the in universe inverse of the 'want it need it' spell. Of course, Background Pony Spell is funny.
And Pinkie having this constantly upon her would explain how she gets around...
Also, I suppose this was a bit subtle, but when Lana brought direct attention to herself by speaking up when they first boarded the Skyranger, it broke the effects of the spell for everyone within earshot.
2724121
As though I didn't have enough fanfics to read. : |
2724378
Thanks for stopping by and I'm glad you've enjoyed things so far! It will be interesting to see the reactions back at XCOM once the dust settles!
2724412
I always thought the Skyranger behavior was a little lackluster in Enemy Unknown, and it could have been improved with stuff like overwatch and close air support. Worried that you're running into a Chryssalid Mosh Pit? Have Big Sky scan the area.
And I'm afraid I haven't had a chance to play classic XCOM...my problem lately is finding time to do anything. : |
2724425
A fate worse than death, indeed.
2724441
The inspiration for the pacing of this chapter was the movie Black Hawk Down. A 'simple' mission that turns into one massive clusterf--- in the blink of an eye.
2724536
Indeed. Poor Twilight has the best intentions and she'll catch hell for it.
2724830
Fixed!
Of all the spells Twi could have put on them, that was probably one of the best. Matt and Lana would have come out of that without a scratch if Matt hadn't been a HERO. Glad that, if I understand the battle report correctly, he was only wounded and not among the dead...
Definitely get the feeling that everyone involved with Project Stardust is in some deep shit now, though.
Interesting to see that you've included the Slingshot DLC guy. I'll be interested to see what you do with him, if anything.
2724494
Why have I never heard about this before? Well, thanks for that sir! I will certainly keep an eye on that.
2725416
Full agreement on the Skyranger, it would have been nice to see a line of Skyranger weapons or, even more blasphemous, the ability to get more than one Skyranger! In the original there was the excuse that you needed a soldier in the ship to fly it, but the sequel has no reason to not let you call in support.
And I know what you mean, it's hard to find the time to do fun things.
2725462
It's true Matt's injury was a direct result of his hero tendencies but it also saved the mission in the long run.
As for the fallout, we'll be getting to that. >_>
And it will indeed be interesting to see what, if anything, becomes of Zhang. :D
I expected many things, but perception filter came out as a surprise. How was it? "Not invisible, just unnoticeable"? Just out of curiosity: what inspired you to write this spell?
2725551
There's also the problems associated with only one Skyranger. What happens if it gets taken out? Hitch-hike back?
2725658
Truth be told? I'm a -huge- fan of Doctor Who.
2725681
So I guessed right about Doctor Who? Ha!
In old X-Com raids were more spontaneous, to the point of multiple alerts on opposite sides of Earth, which required multiple bases (proverb about eggs and baskets fits here), so multiple dropships came out naturally. And advanced ones could even act as fighters fight UFOs themselves. And that horror when plasma shot flies out of nowhere in middle of the night... And one thing that never happened in new game: enemy retaliation mission, aka base assault... Nostalgia hits had.
2725719
The majority of what has been seen so far in Stardust has conformed (to a certain degree) with the New XCOM canon, but since this is FANFICTION I see no reason why elements from XCOM classic couldn't make an appearance.
I guess we'll just have to wait and see. :)
2723803 a floater with a grenade? Hell that would suck big time. I'm glad only heavy ones actually carry them. Could you imaging? Fifth mission, o hi, have a grenade.
So Twilight put a SEP filter on them? Nice.
2725416
Yeah, though I can't take the credit, it comes from "Life, The Universe and Everything".
"An SEP is something we can't see, or don't see, or our brain doesn't let us see, because we think that it's somebody else's problem.... The brain just edits it out, it's like a blind spot. If you look at it directly you won't see it unless you know precisely what it is. Your only hope is to catch it by surprise out of the corner of your eye."
2726323
It's actually a classic enough reference that the likelihood of one of the scientists (or soldiers) making the connection would be realistically pretty high. I suspect their would be an abnormal concentration of people who have read the Hitchhiker's Guide working at X-COM.
And anyone who hasn't read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy really should read it. It's a classic for a reason.
Could you please answer, was twilights spell some kind of illusion device, or the perception filter from the first x com?
Also, the k/d quantities seam quite out of scale, 50+kills and 6 loses!
Is this perhaps ment to be more like the original 24 man crews from the first game.
Finally, keep up the good work, these,are great pieces to read!!!
2725681
Simple, tie them on top of the Raven fighters and air drop them into the fight! As for the return trip, they're walking. And if your base is in Asia, also swimming. At least they wouldn't have to deal with my X-COM base positioning, putting it right in the center of the Swiss Alps.
Oh, so the spell came from Doctor Who? I really need to put some time aside to watch that show...
2725908
And that early, those things could put a serious dent in your troops. At least when the heavies show up, you have some decent armor and are already used to grenades from the mutons (which get ALL of my hate), but if the floaters had them... *shudder*
2725863
I'm glad you're doing that, game rules which make no sense save for gameplay should be chucked out of XCOM's underground windows with extreme prejudice.
2732239
Keep in mind, with a good commander, well trained troops, and a fair portion of luck, you can get a pretty high k/d, especially in the new game. On my first playthrough (normal+ironman) I actually managed to make it through the game with only one casualty (which is why muton berserkers will forever be the bane of my existance). In old X-COM rules though, finishing a mission with 50% of your squad intact would be considered a crushing victory.
Now, I must prepare for the shitstorm that shall commence upon the return of Strike One to headquarters. *gets popcorn and an umbrella*
2725908
This is actually a good time to bring something up that I haven't explicitly stated. So far the story has shared two missions, and one was hinted at that other teams took care of. Matt and Lana, superstars that they are, don't go out on every mission. It would be an accurate assumption that XCOM handles more missions than what is described in my fiction, and the 'canon' missions may be tweaked slightly like the mission described in this entry. Just keep that in mind!
2725936 2726323
Believe it or not, LUE is a cultural phenomenon I missed out on, like the Simpsons. I tell people I've never seen or read either of them and they treat me like a cultural luddite.
2732239
The exact nature of Twilight's spell will be detailed in a future entry. :D
2733442
Watch Doctor Who! Then read Loyal2Luna's Doctor Who/MLP series! It's amazing! And it's almost entirely on Netflix!
Doctor Who was the original inspiration for Twilight's spell but other folks have brought up several other excellent examples.
And I'll try to veer in favor of realism over gameplay mechanics whenever I can.
Another reason for the kill/death ratio of the mission was also due to the nature of the alien response. I get the impression that their modus operandi is 'throw bodies at a problem' until its not a problem any more. They likely knew about the black market artifacts being sold/held nearby and decided to launch an impromptu terror mission on the spot to deal with it. Just their bad luck that XCOM was already there for the start of it.
And the AARs will be interesting for everyone to decipher. :D
Wait, how was Matt hurt? Friendly fire?
2733611
The grenade. His kick ensured the others were outside the blast radius but he was still just a smidge too close.
2733600
I know, I know, I need to watch Doctor Who, and Firefly, and Game of Thrones, and etc. etc. I just can never sit down and watch TV shows, I prefer to play games or be on the internet, stuff that I have some control over. To be fair though, I watched all of Eccleston's season, and some of Tennent's, which is pretty good for me.
And I know what you mean about LUE, I've missed a lot of classics like that (I'm slowly catching up though!) and I've had that reaction from a lot of people.
Also, if you're having Zhang join as an agent, you should make him a sniper, because you know, it makes a bit more sense than the Triad member grabbing an M60 and rocket launcher. Just a thought.
2733702
Canonically, Zhang is a Heavy. He is very distinct from other soldiers that can be found or recruited, in that he cannot be changed in terms of appearance and class. He also has an achievement dedicated to him being brought to the final mission.
This class is particularly dangerous to use - you can easily blow up your own troops, or sometimes forced into making a judgment call between sacrificing one soldier for five aliens. Something that would take a certain iron to even consider, let alone do. It probably took Zhang decades to reach the level that he did within the triads, only to abandon his ambitions and comrades for the greater good. The conflict of Zhang's reality with that of Twilight Sparkle would test them both.
My viewpoint is colored by watching Errant Signal's video on Sleeping Dogs, which had a theme of coming to terms with one's reality. It was interesting to me, and seems relevant as the protagonist was a policeman infiltrating the triad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEwNkSQAWtE
Basically, I am in support of Zhang being a Heavy, because it is closer to canon and more importantly, would lend extra weight to his interactions with ponykind.
2733600
I wouldn't call you a cultural luddite, but I WOULD suggest you give most of the increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhiker's Trilogy a read. (Except the last book; utterly depressing, that. Douglas Adams was in a depressed state when he wrote that, and it shows. He was supposedly regretting it and planning a new book to 'fix' things when he died.)
BTW, I don't think I mentioned it, but I do appreciate the turn away from strict game mechanics in the name of artistic liberty/"realism". Game mechanisms work well in games, less so in stories; it's one reason in my story that I don't adhere to BattleTech's ridiculously short ranges for weapons and instead try to keep battles from becoming a slog of details. It just makes sense that you'd send a large team for something truly important and backup for the main team.
Also Matt better not be dead; he seems like the only sane man there, save maybe Dr. Shen.
2733972
Yes, I do understand the canon, which is why he's the character I almost never use, because the lack of customization is a bit annoying, but that's beside the point.
Now, I've never played Sleeping Dogs, though watching that video does show me where you're coming from. The way I saw it, for a crime syndicate, a soldier equipped with heavy weapons would be more of a liability. Heavy equipment would slow him down, it would make him a very obvious target, etc. A sniper would be more useful, able to take down important targets quickly and from a distance, and there's the fact that a ballistic pistol could only take down a sectoid in one volley when used by a sniper with the gunslinger ability.
I will say however, that your reasoning does make a lot of sense, and there would be a use for someone with suppression and mass destruction capabilities in a crime syndicate when the situation calls for it.
Basically, I thought that a sniper made more sense, but with enough thought, any class could be defended as sensible. With that, it would make more sense to stick to canon, because a heavy trooper from the triad would make an interesting character (or he'll be put on a bus, as many XCOM players do).
See? Never say an internet discussion never led to one side changing their viewpoints.
2734400
That is the wonderful thing about details - you can repurpose many things into something greater than the original material with just a bit of thought.
In a lot of ways, that is very much representative of what made Friendship is Magic appeal to me - it defied expectations by going into depth for each of the Mane Six and Equestria. For me, worldbuilding is all about the specifics that set the fantasy apart from our reality, which is why Harry Potter, Planescape Torment, and Star Trek appeal to me. They embrace their differences, not reject or overlook them.
2734081 Well, Commander Bradford seems to be fairly sane. He's just detached from Twilight since he has so many other things to worry about. Keep in mind, half the reports he gets on Stardust is from Vahlen too...
... where's the chapter update? Got a flat tire on the Skyranger?
2743539
Got a little click happy and hit PUBLISH before EDIT. >_> It shall be posted SHORTLY!
2743552
All the hates when I do that myself.
Last thoughts...
S.H.I.V.s Give them some 
(They saved my troops more than once on Ironman).
Yours truly.... NecromancerX69
Ps...
Keep up the epic work my good sir.