-Operation Crystal Breath-
South Africa
11:43 AM
Operatives: Ronnie, Psy, Christmas, Iceglow, Vivi, and BoB.
An unidentified alien vessel was spotted moving fast through the skies above South Africa. Demon-5, our newest Firestorm, was sent to intercept. It sustained light damage, but its EMP cannons managed to bring down the vessel in short order.
As per Standard Operating Procedure, we dispatched a strike team to the crash site to eliminate any threats and claim any available intelligence assets.
The Skyranger dropped our forces at the periphery of the crash site, a crater barely larger than the vessel itself. Our strike team immediately began approaching. Colonel Christmas was first onto the vessel's deck, and she immediately noticed a Muton in the chamber below her, though the Mimetic Skin genetic augmentation we provided appeared to keep her safe. She was also able to detect a Berserker in the next room over, likely due to the amount of noise the hulking brute made (seriously, since when can Christmas see through walls?).
She also caught sight of a Mechtoid that was escorting a Sectoid around the ship's outer walkway, near a canister of the substance called "Meld".
MEC Troopers Coleman and MacWalrus opted to take out the Mechtoid. Coleman's first shot did heavy damage, but also alerted the Mechtoid, prompting it to take a reflexive shot at MacWalrus as he moved into view. The foe's heavy Plasma Cannon dug deep into the ablative armor of Colonel MacWalrus's MEC, but our soldier maintained discipline and finished the foe off with a Particle Beam shot as the Sectoid hid further within the ship.
As our enemies scrambled to reposition, they were joined by a second Muton, which dropped off the roof. The Sectoid was the first foe to come back into sight, and BoB eliminated it before turning his gun on the Berserker. Ronnie rushed the Berserker and finished it with a Kinetic Strike, while Colonel Iceglow eliminated the first Muton. With the final Muton around the corner (and the wall for some reason actually blocking Christmas's Line of Sight this time), Colonel Christmas Ran to the Meld canister before unloading her Alloy Cannon at close range into the unsuspecting foe (Mimetic Skin is
so broken. I love it).
Moving forward onto the alien craft, Major MacWalrus detected two Floaters. While attempting to move to a position to better engage them, two more came into sight. However, these new foes appeared by be far better armored, and equipped with better weaponry. Command decided to designate these new targets "Heavy Floaters".
The two Floaters moved to the left flank, both focusing on Colonel Coleman, shredding much of his MEC's armor before they settled into defensive positions.
With the Heavy Floaters coming in from the front, and the original Floaters on their left flank, our forces were scrambling to take effective positions. However, before they could, a Berserker and Muton exited a door on the alien ship, joining the battle on our force's right flank, effectively surrounding them.
From his vantage point atop the roof, Major MacWalrus quickly eliminated both of the original Floaters, freeing up the left flank (like BoB, Psy has an ability that lets him shoot twice in a round as long as he doesn't move), though at the cost of the remainder of his ammunition.
Meanwhile, Colonel BoB decided to engage the Berserker. His first rounds went wide, but his second hit home, tearing open the beast's thick hide, overheating his Heavy Plasma weapon. The aggressive foe charged him, but was stymied by the ledge at the border of the alien ship (BoB was the one soldier who wasn't yet onboard). Colonel Iceglow finished off the foe with ease, and used the advantage provided by his superior preparation to reposition to heavy cover near the second Meld Canister (I couldn't see the remaining Muton yet).
Colonel Vivi chose this moment to make his presence known. He secured a headshot against the first Heavy Floater, eliminating it from the field. He then turned his Sniper Rifle to the second Heavy Floater, severely damaging it, but leaving it in the sky. Noting the new foe's heavily wounded state, Colonel Christmas exercised her newly modified leg muscles to leap atop the roof and come into position nearby to capture it, if the opportunity arose.
With no foes left to face, Colonel Coleman chose to aid the capture attempt. Activating his Jumpboots, he joined the others on the roof, taking a clear position to tempt the Heavy Floater into shooting at him, rather than departing, which would leave Christmas in a position to capture it. To his great surprise, not only did the plan work flawlessly, but the Heavy Floater's damaged cybernetics disrupted its aim, preventing its hastily fired shots from striking him.
Colonel Christmas wasted no time in firing up the newly improved Arc Thrower (awesome bit of research, 95% capture rate against a 2 HP enemy!), and successfully stunned the Heavy Floater. Science Team reports that the fall from above the roof of the UFO down to the ground floor did not interfere with the interrogation process.
The final Muton finally emerged into sight, below the majority of our forces who were sitting on the roof. Using the height to his advantage, Colonel Vivi eliminated this final threat, before ordering the team to regroup and reload (two were out of ammo, and they were scattered to hell and gone all over the place, mostly on the roof in plain sight).
As our forces prepared for the final push into the control center of the vessel, they were ambushed by another Berserker and two more Mutons. However, they were not caught unprepared. Reaction fire from Colonels Coleman and Vivi ripped the Berserker apart before it could manage to properly orient itself, and Colonel Iceglow tore down the first Muton.
The second Muton, however, escaped beyond line of sight. Colonel Christmas engaged her Mimetic Skin once again as she attempted to hunt this elusive foe, while the rest of our forces concentrated on the final room once again. Colonel Christmas succeeded in locating the Muton just off the far side of the alien vessel, and deployed her Alloy Cannon to ensure it did not become a threat to the mission.
The rest of our forces had prepared to take on the final chamber, however. With our MEC soldiers deployed at the doors on either side, and the front door covered by Colonels Iceglow and BoB, the decision was made to withhold engagement until the rest of the force was in position.
BoB detected two aliens within the chamber. Believing them to be the Outsiders we had always faced before, he opened the door and let loose his cannon. To his surprise, there were no Outsiders within. Instead, he discovered two of the Sectoid Commanders that we had first encountered on our assault of the alien base. His first rounds missed as the foes went into cover, one dangerously close to one of the Elerium Power Sources of the alien vessel.
Not wishing to damage the delicate equipment, Colonel Coleman closed with the foe and blew the lower half of its body away with his particle cannon (leaving the valuable head intact for research). Colonel Iceglow, meanwhile, fired at the other. His plasma round burned the creature, horribly scarring its face, but did not kill it. The rest of our forces swarmed the foe, hoping to corner it before it could escape, and secure a very worthwhile captive for our research team.
In his desperation, the final Sectoid Commander once again turned to his ultimate weapon, and attempted to bind Colonel Christmas to his will. However, he was shaken by the wounds he had already received, and she had practiced resisting as best she could in the interim between the missions, and thus was able to resist his psionic assault. One brief interlude with the Arc Thrower later, and our team had completed the mission.
Most Valuable Trooper: Colonel Santarina Christmas, for multiple confirmed kills, excellent scouting, and securing two very valuable captives.
Promotions: All of our fielded troops had already attained the maximum level permitted to field agents, so no promotions could be issued this mission.
Addendum: Major MacWalrus has not yet been made Colonel. We apologize for the oversight, and hope to correct this oversight in the review of his next mission.
Wounds: None.
Originally Posted by Iceglow
I'm a little confused as to who tore the beserker down with a pistol shot as it seems Vivi acted twice in the same turn out of sequence.... which was it me or him? xD
Excellent work.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote