January 8, 1999, 17:23:42 hours - It Begins

The shrill pierce of the Base Attack Early Alert System pierces the air as the squad sits down to dinner. Quickly forgetting their meals, they haul ass to the armory, equipping themselves with assault rifles and a pair of grenades each before taking up defensive positions near the hangar. Suddenly, Commander LUEshi's voice over the comm system:

"False alert, false alert. The base is not under attack. An enemy craft has been spoted, however, in close proximity to the base. It has touched down less than 50 miles from Europa base. LL Squad, report at Hanger Alpha for duty at once."

Somewhat reassured that their first battle will not be on home turf, the squad double-times it to the hangar, where Commander LUEshi is waiting for them.

"This is it, boys. Hope you've had your practice and said your prayers, because we're doing a clean-sweep operation. None of the alien scum can survive to report the location of this base! Kill them all, then get your asses back here. We'll have a victory dinner awaiting the survivors."

Confident, as usual. The squad loads into Skyranger 1 and takes off for the site.

"Jesus, he wasn't shitting when he said it was close", HoboCheese shouted over the drone of the engines when the craft started to touch down, only minutes later. "At least we'll make it back before dinner's cold", Negative replied confidently. There was no more time for witty banter, because the Skyranger bounced abruptly and the loading door swung open. The squad leapt to alert, weapons at the ready.

"Well, no time like the present", said HoboCheese, and moved to the door. He stepped on the loading ramp, and suddenly a horrible sound pierced the air, green plasma bolts striking the armored surface of the Skyranger's loading bay. "Holy shit!", yelled HoboCheese, snapping his rifle to his side and firing off a quick burst at the chest of the offending Sectoid, hiding in amongst the apple trees in a nearby orchard. His aim proved true under stress, two of the bullets striking the creature in the chest and dropping it instantly.

While HoboCheese recovered his breath from the near-miss, The Haunted cautiously fanned out from the Skyranger. He hadn't gone far when a flicker of movement registered through the corner of his eye.

"Enemy spotted. In the barn. 10 o'clock from my position." "Roger that", came the reply from Crazy Howard Dean. "Lets take away his hidey hole." His meaning became clear a moment later, when a burst of gunfire from Skyranger 1 tore into the wall, easily blasting holes in the wood and leaving the sectoid horribly revealed. Before it could respond, primetime8880 followed with his own burst, breaching the hole cleanly to cut down the shocked creature.

Negative pushed his way past the crowd. "We landed right next to it. I'm going in. HoboCheese, ConkerTheHedgehog, come with me". Conker moved quickly to join Negative, HoboCheese still in a state of shock from his close encounter with death. Psycho mantis, Polaris, and NoBullet fanned out toward the fields to provide cover for the assault team.

Suddenly, a door ahead of Psycho popped open, and a Sectoid came rolling out, snapping off a pair of green plasma bolts that flew wide, striking the Skyranger and snapping HoboCheese from his stupor. Psycho returned fire with several quick bursts of lead, and smiled in satisfaction as a bullet struck the creature. His smile quickly faded when the thing growled and shook off the hit, lining up a plasma pistol. Then it was gone, NoBullet and Polaris using the distraction provided by Psycho to take careful aim, Polaris just missing, but NoBullet's shot piercing the thing's skull.

HoboCheese, finally coming to his senses, moved quickly to join the assault team. Negative, in the lead, came around the corner of the UFO, then spotted an alien hiding in a nearby wheat field. "Enemy spotted, in the fields. Can you throw that far, Conker?" "Roger that", came the reply, and Negative registered a slight whistle as an HE-pak grenade sailed over the UFO, landing perfectly at the surprised creature's feet. It barely had time to shriek before it was turned to gore by the explosion. "I love those things", Conker chuckled.

Negative, HoboCheese, and ConkerTheHedgehog moved into strike formation at the door of the UFO, HoboCheese taking the point. As they prepared for the assault, primetime8880, The Haunted, Crazy Howard Dean, and The Grammar Police01 fanned out to provide cover and take out any potential threats hiding in the buildings. Spotting a high brick wall ahead, Crazy Howard Dean chuckles and tosses an HE-pak, chuckling again as the resulting explosion blasted a hole in the wall and sent shards of stone flying. His humor faded quickly as he spotted a Sectoid walk out of the barn to investigate, a plasma pistol shining dangerously in his hand. "Take cover!", he shouted, firing off a shot at the creature. His shot was answered moments later, and a scream echoed from behind him. "NoBullet is hit!"

"NoBullet! Are you all right!?", came HoboCheese's shout over their closed commlinks. "Yeah, it's just a scratch. Scared piss out of me, though", came a somewhat shaky reply. With a look wrought of pure vengeance in his eyes, NoBullet took careful aim on his attacker and fired a single shot that struck the creature between the eyes, resulting in an explosion of green goo.

"Now!" shouted Negative, and ConkerTheHedgehog hit the activator mechanism for the UFO's door. HoboCheese charged into the ship, firing a burst that cut down the UFO's lone occupant before it even had time to register the hit. Negative and ConkerTheHedgehog charged in immediately after, but the alien was dead before they even set foot inside the craft.

A few minutes later, primetime8880's voice cut over the commlink. "Area is secured, Europa base. Sector is clean. Let's go home, boys."

Commander LUEshi's promise was fulfilled. The squad returned to base to find their cafeteria food replaced with prime rib. NoBullet's claim of "just a scratch" turned out to be fulfilled, and the medteam pronounced him fit for duty after only two days of medical treatment.

SUCCESS
Aliens killed - 6
Corpses recovered - 5 (one blown to bits by grenade)
Recovery - 1 Power Source, 2 Navigation, 11 Alien Alloy, 50 Elerium-115
HoboCheese - 2 kills
Primetime8880 - 1 kill
ConkerTheHedgehog - 1 kill
NoBullet - 2 kills, wounded, 2 day recovery (2 health lost, no fatal wounds)

PROMOTIONS:
Primetime8880 - Sergeant
Psycho mantis - Sergeant (The hell? He got no kills...)




<----- Chapter 1 - Prelude
-----> Chapter 3 - Think Of It As A Hunting Trip