March 11, 1999, 7:46:20 hours - Chaos in Kinshasa

The next few days were full of alien activity. Multiple craft were spotted over Central and South Africa, though all retreated before Interceptors were able to bring them down. The sudden flurry of activity in the area told the squad they'd be seeing action soon.

A few days later, the squad (minus Crazy Howard, still confined to the medical wing) assembled in response to a Priority Alert. Commander LUEshi met them enroute to Hangar Alpha, briefing them on the way.

"We've received a distress call from the authorities in Kinshasa, a relatively large city in Africa. They're under attack by what we've identified as Sectoids, along with a new variety of alien resembling a large, floating disk. Be cautious of these, they seem to like ambushing from above, and unlike the dog-like things you encountered before, these are equipped with plasma blasters. You're to land on the outskirts of town and save as many residents as possible. Good luck."

------

Several hours later, the squad scrambled out of Skyranger 1, just as the craft was landing. Thankfully, the aliens chose dawn to attack, and the sun was now well over the horizon, allowing plenty of visibility. But as the team scrambled and fanned out, things seemed a little too quiet...

Conker spotted the first, firing off a quick shot that hit the creature and spun it around. A follow-up blast from Child of Asuka dropped it quickly. Sonics true enemy, Polaris, The Grammar Police01, and Prime, fanning out in a different direction, spotted another. They all fired their lasers at the thing, but all missed. The alien, startled, responded by firing a strange weapon at them. They scrambled, but a strange projectile struck Sonic in the chest, exploding in a huge cloud of gas. Sonic dropped limply to the ground.

Coughing, Grammar hurried to Sonic, tearing loose his med-kit. Amazingly, Sonic seemed entirely uninjured from the blast, though it quickly became apparent that the gas was simply a very strong anesthetic. Grammar quickly applied a few shots from his stim-pak, which seemed to have little effect, then hurried out of the cloud before the fumes overcame him as well.

Prime and Asuka, thinking their teammate dead, fired in vengeance, dropping the thing flat. Their relief was evident at Grammar's report that Sonic was uninjured, only unconscious, and they fanned out in search of more terrorists. Prime quickly spotted another, dropping it as well.

Conker found himself exchanging fire with another sectoid in the street, using a nearby lamppost as cover. Sixty quickly joined him, firing his own weapon, but his aim was wide and missed entirely. Polaris snapped off a quick shot, then scrambled for cover as answering plasma bolts ricocheted off of the Skyranger's hull.

Mokujin, having seen a nearby open door and moving to examine the house, finds the house entirely empty...apparently the residents of the house fled in terror and left the door ajar. Hearing gunfire on the street, he wasted no time going back down the stairs; he simply blasted a hole through the wall and jumped from the second story, rolling out into the lawn with his pistol drawn. He hurried to provide backup to those fighting in the street.

Polaris, seeing that Sixty and Conker had their situation under control, advanced farther into the city. He spotted a Sectoid hiding near the corner of a building. His laser blast proved true, but the creature amazingly shrugged off the blow and levelled his own rifle at Polaris. Polaris whispered his way through a final prayer, interrupted as a bolt of plasma caught him in the face, killing him instantly.

Primetime, seeing Polaris drop, screamed in outrage, finishing off a sectoid he had been battling and turning to avenge Polaris. ConkerTheHedgehog beat him to it, though, his laser blast frying the creature and nearly disintegrating it. Grammar quickly hurried up to Polaris, med-scanner still at the ready, but the bio-monitor's screen revealed the truth. Grammar shook his head sadly, holstered the med-kit, and drew his own weapon, hell-bent on vengeance. His opportunity came quickly, another sectoid rounding the corner only to find it's head blown to bits by Grammar's ensuing laser blasts. Grammar stood, then started down the street, screeching to a halt as he spotted one of the disks, hovering down from the air to confront him. He shouted for backup, Asuka answering the call with a perfectly placed three-shot burst that bored holes in the thing's armor plating. Grammar could only stare in horror as the thing dropped to the ground, brimming with energy, then exploded into pieces with a tremendous blast. "Holy shit, did you see that? Be careful of the disks...they self-destruct! Don't shoot if you're too close to them!"

Primetime barely had time to register the information as he confronted his own disk, though he was thankful that it was a good 50 yards up the street from him when he heard the news. His laser blasts drilled holes through the thing's exoskeleton, as did a follow-up blast from Sixty, but the hits didn't seem to phase the thing. Two plasma bolts issued from it's underside, striking Sixty but glancing off of his armor harmlessly. Followup shots from Ancisace at long range and Child of Asuka also hit, having little additional effect.

Conker saw the threat, a sectoid hiding in a store, levelling a plasma rifle at Primetime. He quickly threw a HE-pak at the thing, hoping to dissuade it from it's shot. His action was rewarded with an explosion that took the wall from the shop, but amazingly, the creature stood from behind a nearby counter, completely uninjured from the blast. Conker did not have time to scream a warning before plasma bolts from the wicked creature's rifle bored into Primetime's chest. The resulting gout of blood spraying the wall left no doubt as to Primetime's fate.

Sixty, noticing Primetime fall but steeling himself against the wave of revulsion and grief that washed over him, drilled the disk-weapon with a few more shots from his rifle. It finally crumpled, dropping to the ground and blasting pieces of concrete out of the street as it exploded. Grammar Police, looking in the direction of Primetime's murderer, spotted the creature through a window and neatly drilled three laser bolts through the glass, taking away whatever pleasure the murderous thing had derived at it's kill. He then turned a corner, spotting yet another of the things through a nearby window, repeating the action and dropping it in it's tracks as well.

Sixty stepped over rubble as he entered a warehouse, spotting one of the creatures across the way. He shouted in mock terror, retreating around the corner and arming his laser rifle. He grinned grimly as he heard the stupid thing pursue him, stepping around the corner and ambushing it, blasting holes through it's chest. It stared stupidly, then stuck its finger through one of the holes in a ridiculous attempt to stop the flow of alien blood that resulted, dropping to the ground moments later. Sixty's amusement at the ridiculousness of the scene was taken away moments later, when one of the disks fired bolts at him from the ceiling. He snapped off a few shots and fled in earnest this time, calling out the wicked thing's location over the commlink.

Mokujin, hurring past Sonic, noticed a slight groan escape Sonic's lips. He screeched to a halt, breaking out his med-pak and applying a few more shots of stimulant, finally awakening Sonic from his stupor. Sonic crawled to his feet, gathering his scattered equipment, and joined Moku in a dash to provide backup for Sixty, as did the rest of the team.

The disk really had little chance, as it had cornered itself in the warehouse. It did manage to snap off a few shots at Sixty, who peeked in to confirm it's location, but missed. The ensuing shots from Sixty and Child of Asuka finished the thing off, bits of wood showering Sixty as he fled the resulting explosion.

The threat was ended, although nearly half of the residents of the town were killed. In a ceremony that was becoming all-too familiar, the bodies of Polaris and Primetime8880 were consigned to flame and scattered over the Atlantic, the surviving members of the squad toasting their bravery that evening at Europa Base.

SUCCESS
Aliens Killed - 11
Corpses Recovered - 6
Civilians Killed - 3
Civilians Saved - 5
X-COM Operatives Killed - 2 (Polaris, Primetime8880)

Total Mission Kills (all missions):
The Grammar Police01 - 8
Crazy Howard Dean - 2
ConkerTheHedgehog - 4
Sixty - 3
Child of Asuka - 3
(primetime8880) - 7 lifetime
(Polaris) - 2 lifetime

RESERVES CALLED TO ACTIVE DUTY:
Zolthorg
Ramza357




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