June 21, 8:08:20 hours - The Wonders Of Technology

Commander LUEshi met the squad in the briefing room, grinning widely. "Let me tell you, boys, there is nothing better than the wonders of technology, and these bastards have brought us a ton of it. With the new Hyperwave Decoder Array that R&D recently finished constructing, we were able to decode transmissions from a large vessel over Central Asia, and determine their mission. They were enroute to terrorize Paris. Notice I said "were"...Interceptor 1 caught them enroute and shot them down!"

Commander LUEshi's ensuing grin had a somewhat feral quality to it as he said, "And now, it's time for the terrorists to be terrorized! Eliminate them all!"

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The Skyranger settled down in a farm a few hours later, on the very western edge of Russia, the squad mobilizing for attack. Their accompanying HWP detected a chryssalid, drilling it with two shells before Mokujin's laser blasts finished it off. Mensco spotted a snake approaching the front of the Skyranger, Grammar quickly drilling it with a plasma bolt, enroute to the alien vessel. While the rest of the team took up standard attack formations, another chryssalid came out of a nearby building and started approaching. It stopped, then, staring at no less than 8 X-COM operatives, all with loaded weapons pointing at it. Showing at least a measure of intelligence, it turned and quickly ran right back into the building it came from. Shadowzero's ensuing burst of plasma took the wall of the building, then the surprised creature, dropping it dead.

Ancisace and the HWP moved up to join Grammar on the main assault, Ancisace flinching as a plasma bolt struck a deflector plate on his armor, turning it aside harmlessly. Mensco, providing covering fire for the assault, killed Ancisace's attacker before it could fire another shot.

Sixty, fanning out to the south of the Skyranger, stared in horror as an alien rose from the field and threw something at him. He barely had time to register that the object was a grenade before the detonation threw him into the air, crashing to the ground twenty feet from the explosion. He stood shakily, examining his wounds, then called over the commlink, "I'm hit! Bastards have grenades! I'm falling back to SR1, need covering fire! Need a medic!" Child of Asuka provided the covering fire, killing the creature, and Zolthorg met Sixty enroute to the Skyranger, using the bioscanner enroute to determine necessary emergency treatment once they were in the safety of the shuttle.

"You'll live, but you're gonna be packing some nasty scars", Zolthorg informed Sixty. "That's cool with me. Chicks dig scars", Sixty casually replied, lighting up a cigarette. The battle was over for him. Zolthorg chuckled, replacing his med-pak on his belt and drawing his weapon, heading back into the battle.

The HWP led the assault into the enemy craft, spotting a chryssalid and taking off in pursuit. The stupid thing stopped once and slashed holes in the thing's armor, trying to deposit eggs in the outer shell...the remote pilot, back in Europa base, could only wonder if the thing thought that the HWP was a living being as he adjusted the turret's angle and tore the thing's head off with a point-blank cannon shot. The remote pilot's wonder increased as a snakeman descended from a gravlift, saw the HWP, and tried to knock it out, firing a stun-bomb at the inanimate object. The pilot moved the HWP out of the way, revealing to the horrified alien two real, biological threats. Grammar and Ancisace opened fire on the thing, dropping it before it could reload it's weapon.

Meanwhile, outside, Shadowzero had spotted an alien hiding in a hayloft, motioning to Ramza and Sonic, who were covering the other entrance to the UFO. Ramza's burst of fire tore away the thing's cover, and Sonic's ensuing shots killed it. A stray shot from Sonic struck a wall nearby, revealing another horrified alien...before Sonic could take advantage of his good fortune, Mensco drilled holes in the thing's abdomen. If it survived the wounds, it surely did not survive the fall, a sickening crack issuing from where it landed, head-first into the hard dirt.

Grammar and Ancisace advanced solo towards the grav-lift...there was no way the HWP could make the ascent. Reaching the top level of the craft, they split up, assaulting the control room from different angles. Ancisace poked his head around, then fell back behind the wall as two plasma bolts scorched the corridor. His distraction gave Grammar the time he needed to line up and kill the two remaining aliens with perfectly placed shots to the base of the skull.

The team searched the battlefield, admiring their handiwork. Useful stuff, this alien technology...they much preferred fighting the aliens in abandoned fields than on city streets. Upon return to Europa Base, Sixty was rushed to the medical wing, where he was informed he'd need surgery to remove shrapnel from his wounds. He took the news well, complaining only when informed that he could not smoke in the medical wing.

It would be more than two weeks before he would be ready for action again.

SUCCESS
Aliens Killed - 11
Corpses Recovered - 11

Sixty wounded in action, 16 day recovery.

Total Mission Kills (all missions)
The Grammar Police01 - 21
Sixty - 12
Child of Asuka - 19
Zolthorg - 3
Mokujin - 13
Ramza357 - 4
Ancisace - 6
shadowzero313 - 5
Mensco - 7
sonics true enemy - 2




<----- Chapter 18 - Havoc In Hong Kong
-----> Chapter 20 - Takin' Care Of Business