March 7, 1999, 0:59:25 hours - Overnight Camping Trip With Alien Scum

A long, long time had passed, without so much as a hint of excitement at Europa Base. The closest came when a call from Interceptor 2 indicated it was engaging an alien craft over South Africa, but the craft quickly outdistanced the Interceptor.

On a good note, this gave the team ample opportunity to welcome the newest recruit, "Sixty", and to train with R&D's newest inventions, including a very well-received suit of personal armor for each member of the team, crafted from the same alloys that made up the alien crafts.

It proved to be only the calm before the storm...if you could call what occurred a storm.

The Outbound Assault Alert alarm woke the team from their bunks. They arrived at the briefing room just in time to hear the radio calls from Interceptor 1. Apparently, on patrol in the US, it had encountered a small craft and dropped it with a pair of Avalanche missiles.

Commander LUEshi turned to the assembly, now ready for action. "Should be fairly simple. You'll shuttle in on Skyranger 1 and clean up whatever mess is left after that crash. Be careful, it'll be well into the night before your shuttle can reach the crash site. Although it'd be easier to clean up in the morning, the decision was made to launch this attack at night, before the survivors have a chance to scatter and possibly terrorize the locals. The crash occurred in a farm about 200 miles north of Atlanta, so we want this operation to be hush-hush. Still, the craft took two direct hits from Avalanche missiles, the strongest ordinance we have. There shouldn't be much left of it. Dismissed."

That turned out to be an understatement, as the Skyranger settled down next to the craft about four hours later. "You mean to tell me that thing used to FLY?", asked "Sixty", the newest member of the squad. "Used to.", responded The Grammar Police01. "And for chrissakes, would you put that thing out? You can smoke when we touch down." Sixty grinned and took another drag from the cigarette. "Hey, I figure I may not survive long enough to die of old age. None of us will, probably. What's the harm?" Grammar opened his mouth to reply, then closed it as he realized solemnly that Sixty was right.

The Skyranger settled down, and the team swarmed off of the shuttle in an instant. Mokujin and Grammar made their way to the remains of the downed craft, while the others fanned out to sweep the surrounding terrain and buildings. "I think I see one", said mokujin. "Let me flush him out.." A few bursts of laser fire into the craft flushed his prey, a badly wounded sectoid, out into the open, where a quick burst from Grammar's rifle ended whatever threat the thing may have presented.

Ancisace spotted another in a nearby field, making it's way toward the Skyranger stealthily, hoping to pick off one of the attackers. While his laser blasts did little to harm the creature, they did startle it and reveal it's position. A carefully aimed shot by Sixty struck the panicking creature in the skull, killing it instantly.

Crazy Howard Dean turned a corner near one of the buildings, and found himself staring at another of the creatures, about 20 yards away. He briefly considered his rifle, then dropped it to the ground. The thing was staring at him through a narrow opening between two buildings...any laser shots would just as likely hit a wall as the offending creature. Relying on instinct, he snatched an HE-pak from his belt and lobbed it at the creature, diving out of the way as a horrible flare of pain engulfed his right leg. "Fuck, I'm hit! Medic!", he screamed over the commlink, barely conscious enough to register the explosion of his grenade, and the resulting alien scream of pain that it produced.

Crazy Howard Dean collapsed to the ground as ConkerTheHedgehog arrived, tearing his med-kit loose from it's holster on his utility belt. A quick scan of the wound revealed that a major artery had been severed by the bolt, but it was nothing that field coagulants wouldn't take care of. A few moments later, Howard regained consciousness, already enroute to Europa Base on Skyranger 1.

Conker grinned at him. "You always were a crazy bastard. You'd better be kissing R&D's ass after this, because that armor deflected the blast enough to keep your leg from being blown to bits. You'll live, the medteam is waiting for you when we touch down."

SUCCESS
Aliens Killed - 3
Corpses Recovered - 3

Crazy Howard Dean, wounded in action, 8 day recovery.

Total Mission Kills:
The Grammar Police01 - 5
Crazy Howard Dean - 2
primetime8880 - 4
ConkerTheHedgehog - 3
Polaris - 2
Sixty - 1




<----- Chapter 6 - Know Peace, Our Friend
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