January 23, 1999, 0:20:10 - For Whom The Bell Tolls

As the squad makes their way to their bunks for the night, the Outbound Assault Alert siren destroys any hope of a restful night's sleep. They make their way to the briefing room, where Commander LUEshi is waiting for them.

"This is a priority alert. We've just received a distress signal from Beijing, China. They are under attack by a new species of alien, one that is reportedly capable of hovering above the ground. Also, several huge dog-like creatures have been terrorizing civilians. It's a state of chaos out there, and by all numbers, you're going to be dropped right into a war zone. Get out there, save those people, and come back here in one piece. Dismissed".

As the squad left the room, grumbling about aliens destroying any chance at a good night's sleep, they did not realize that some of them would not live to see their bunks, or X-COM Europa, ever again.

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The Skyranger descended more quickly than normal, due to the urgency of the mission. The normal abrupt bump and jostle became a full-impact strike onto the Earth, as the team charged out of the Skyranger. HoboCheese was the first to fire his weapon, scoring several hits on a strange purplish alien, dropping it cleanly. Grammar Police also opened fire on an alien, but the thing proved quicker, dodging behind some cover and evading his shots. Negative, seeing the ugly thing dive for cover, sprayed lead at the thing, but his shots dug themselves into nothing but turf and aluminum siding.

Primetime, seeing an alien stalking towards a house with a menacing look on it's face, quickly fired a burst in the creature's direction, taking satisfaction in the fact that his decisive action saved the doomed residents of that house. Things were going well for LL Squad.

Then, as if Death was stating that it was time to even the score, bursts of green plasma erupted from a house. "HOBOCHEESE!", Haunted screamed, but it was too late. Even if Haunted could have made it, it would have done no good. No medicine will help the dead.

Psycho, knowing Hobo's fate but steeling himself to the inevitable, had his resolve shaken as two gigantic creatures charged him. They were unlike anything he'd ever seen, resembling a cross between a rabid pitbull and a T-Rex. NoBullet saw them too, but his reaction was a bit more favorable to the situation. He sprayed lead at the beasts, but amazingly, though he scored three solid hits on one of the things, they shrugged off the hits and continued their charge.

Negative, looking in the direction of the plasma bursts that killed Hobo, called out the location of another alien. "There's the murdering bastard! Kill him!", he screamed into his commlink, pointing his weapon at the thing. Prime turned to look, but caught a glimpse of another of the big dog-like things peeking out at him from the corner of a warehouse, growling menacingly. He levelled his weapon, wondering if it could even recognize the threat he presented, or if such thoughts were foreign to such a biological terror.

Conker spotted the alien that Negative was pointing his weapon at, taking careful aim and scoring a solid hit in the center of the thing's chest. Amazingly, it took the hit with little more than a grunt, and levelled it's weapon to fire.

Blasts from the street heralded Crazy Howard Dean's arrival on the battlefield, as he opened fire on the huge dog-things attacking Psycho. One of the beasts finally collapsed in it's tracks, and although he scored a hit on the other, it hardly seemed phased by either the bullet, or the death of it's companion. Grumbling, he started fumbling with one of the HE-paks on his belt.

Haunted, shaken by the death of HoboCheese, opened fire at the alien that murdered him, taking some comfort in the sounds of bullets striking flesh. But then, a human scream pierced the air, along with the phrase, "I'm...hit! Oh....God...no...". Staring in horror, Haunted saw not only the bullet-torn body of the creature he'd been aiming at, but saw Negative collapse, blood pouring from a wound in his back. Haunted screamed in outrage, rushing to Negative and tearing out a Med-kit, but the kit's biomonitor told the unbelievable truth. Negative had been cut down by a stray bullet.

Back on the street, things were seriously heating up. Psycho took a glancing shot from one of the creatures, returning fire and smiling grimly as he watched it collapse. He took a step forward, his smile turning to sheer horror as two more of the things stepped out from behind the corners of a building. To his credit, he actually connected with one shot before plasma bolts tore his body to shreds, killing him instantly.

Polaris, hardly believing the deadly turn the battle had taken, opens fire and avenges Psycho's death, killing the creature that fired the fatal shots. Grammar and Crazy Howard Dean quickly finish off the other, then turn in horror to see another of the dog-saurs charging their direction.

Conker rushes up to Haunted, grabbing him by the shoulders. "Snap out of it, damn you, or you're going to die here too! There's nothing you can do for him now, but you can save us. Nade the shit out of that demon dog!" More out of instinct than anything, Haunted complied, the two grenades drawing pained yelps from the creature, but amazingly the beast's hide absorbed the shrapnel, and it fled in terror.

Primetime, seeing the alien that killed Hobo drag itself to it's feet, fired another burst at it, dropping it in it's tracks once more, then winced as another horrifying scream ripped across the commlink. He turned just in time to see NoBullets drop, half his torso reduced to charred ash from plasma energy. He dropped to the ground, punching it in outrage, then picked up his rifle. "I can't do a damn thing to save you now, buddy", he muttered, "but I can damnside avenge your ass. It's fucking on, now."

Grammar and Crazy Howard Dean looked at each other, then at the dog-thing charging their way, and quickly came to the same conclusion. Flipping their selector switches to burst, they sprayed lead at the thing, which collapsed in a heap mid-charge. Amazingly, one of the bullets tore through the creature as it fell, striking a very surprised floater in the chest and dropping it dead in it's tracks.

Primetime, turning away from Hobo's killer, wheels back around as the thing tries to climb to its feet again! He fires another burst of lead at the thing, this time ripping it's chest to shreds. "And stay the fuck down!", he yelled at the now-dead floater. A growl brought him to his senses, and he wheeled around and fired, along with Haunted and Conker, at the dog-thing, recovered from the shock of the grenade hits and now mad as hell. Seven bullets strike the creature, but it just keeps charging. The gigantic thing leaps at Conker's throat, but Conker ducked out of the way, firing a spray into it's throat at point blank. The surprised creature dropped to a heap behind him, quite dead.

Grammar opened fire on another floater that walked into the open, then dropped prone as an answering burst of plasma bolts ripped the air over his head. Haunted, brought back to the edge of control after the fatal accident, rushed to Prime to provide covering fire, but dropped flat to the ground just in time to avoid plasma bolts fired from the side of a house. Prime, having seen the bolts, reverses the situation, diving around the house and spraying the offending alien, which dropped its weapon in horror and fled around the corner. "You go that way. We'll corner the bastard", Prime said, motioning to Haunted, who crawled to his feet and ran in the direction indicated.

Grammar, knowing he was in serious trouble, took aim at the alien he was exchanging shots with and pulled the trigger. A single report sounded from his weapon, followed by two clicks. He was empty. Thankfully, the one shot that fired did it's job, tearing through the creature's chest and dropping it like a stone. Grammar pulled a fresh clip out of his belt, giving a great sigh of relief.

Crazy Howard Dean found himself engaged in a firefight, as well. He was exchanging shots with an alien that had taken up shelter in a nearby store, using the walls for cover. As he pulled the trigger, the same bang-click-click that Grammar had just heard issued from his barrel. Never one for subtle tactics (thus his nickname), Howard cursed at the weapon, dropped it, then casually lobbed an HE-pak into the shop. The creature, suddenly confronted with a weapon it could not hide from, barely had time to scream before the grenade went off, splattering the store window with purplish goop. Howard slipped a foot under the weapon, kicked it to his hand, and reloaded, yelling, "Yeah, hide from THAT, motherfucker!"

Polaris, having somehow found the calm in the storm, continued checking out the warehouse he'd been investigating while the shit was going down on the street. He wandered back out into the street, just in time to see Prime gun down the alien he'd been chasing. Suddenly, the commlink lights up again:

"Die, die, die motherfucker, why won't you die!!!!", Conker shouted. Almost continuous gunfire explodes from a nearby warehouse pierced the relative quiet that had befallen Beijing, and the squad hurried to aid their friend, lest another life be lost in battle. They arrived too late to help...Conker's victim, another of the devil-dogs, lay in a pile of goop, more than a dozen bullet wounds riddling it's body. Amazingly, it was still alive, although in no condition to cause further harm to anyone.

Conker kept his victim covered while the rest of the team secured the area. The battle had been won, but the price was horrible.

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The next day, Haunted stood trial in front of a general session for the friendly fire incident, where he was cleared of all charges of misconduct, the incident officially going on record as "accidental death due to crossfire and the chaos of battle". The bodies of HoboCheese, Negative, psycho mantis, and NoBullets were consigned to flame, their ashes scattered over the nearby Atlantic ocean by Commander LUEshi himself. Haunted, under intensive psychotherapy, came to terms with his grief, and a few days later, the squad greeted the first of the reserve forces coming in to replace those who had fallen in battle.

SUCCESS
Kills - 12
Corpses recovered - 12
Live Aliens - 2 (1 floater, 1 reaper)
Civilians Killed - 4
Civilians Saved - 11
X-Com Operatives Killed - 4 (HoboCheese, Negative, psycho mantis, NoBullets)

Total Kill Count (all missions):
The Haunted - 1 (plus 1 FF incident)
The Grammar Police01 - 3
Crazy Howard Dean - 1
primetime8880 - 4
ConkerTheHedgehog - 2
Polaris - 1
(HoboCheese) - 3 lifetime
(Negative) - 3 lifetime
(psycho mantis) - 0 lifetime
(NoBullets) - 3 lifetime

RESERVES CALLED TO ACTIVE DUTY:
mokujin
sonics true enemy
Ancisace
Child of Asuka
<----- Chapter 3 - Think Of It As A Hunting Trip
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