XCom: Brutesquad vs. the Sectoids
Page 9
Mid-October 1999
"It has come to your attention men that we have not intercepted, nor attacked a landed UFO in over a month. There is a good reason for this men, the R&R you have been
given has been for a good reason. As you all know we captured several high ranking aliens in our last mission, what you do not know is that they all cracked and we have as of now
pin pointed the aliens base of operations, it is not on Earth but on Mars."
*A projector screen comes down from ceiling with a large map on it.*
"This soldiers is our target - Cydonia.
This is where we have traced the alien command and controls transmissions from, and our duty will be to take it out, destroy the base in its entirety and kill every piece of crap
alien they can throw at us. Thus the 13 of you the battle hardened veterans of countless battles with out foe.......shall ride out one last time to fight the valiant fight, and
once and for all save humanity!
Over the last month we have began the final preparations for this battle, and now that the Avenger has been tested successfully in Budapest and several orbital test flights, we
are sure that our final battle shall be our most glorious. Thus the 13 of you: Eightball, Siljanus, Samurai, Eduardo X, Nature Boy, Binky, Darkfyre, Papageno, Mealer, Ralph-
Wiggum, RayDude, DreamShadowMecha and Shang shall set out to destroy our foe.
To aid you in this our North American engineers have manufactured three hover plasma tanks. They are sure to help us on the surface of Mars. I know many of you will not be coming
back from this mission, that is why I ask you to write a letter to your family, or a last journal entry, in case you don't make it through this last trying time."
- Major CSL
It took three days and night to arrive in Mars orbit, the mood on the Avenger ranged from upbeat at times to download cold. The men past the time by playing an old game called "X
-COM" on their PDAs which they had all brought with them. They wrote final letters to their loved ones and spent many hours writing in their journals or simply reading. The
Avenger did not have a proper washroom so by the 3rd day the craft smelled like the slums of Mexico City.
Finally on the third day the craft arrived in a high Mars orbit and took several high quality photographs of the soon to be battle site. Running over the maps, Commander Siljanus
and Colonel Nature Boy formulated a plan of attack. It seemed like the base was underground and the only access point would be in a series of above ground pyramid formations,
undoubtedly these would contain defense positions and thus would be a tough nut to crack. However they were not worried, the 13 men on board were for the most part veterans and
all had tested high in Psi-Defense.
The men then got one last meal and the Avenger made its way down to the surface. Incoming plasma bolts from the bases defenses rattled the craft, but the pilot held it steady.
Now several smaller UFOs came up to challenge the Avenger, but they were no match its twin plasma cannons ripping through the almost puny hulls of the alien craft. Numerous
prayers could be heard from the crew and men aboard the craft.
Finally the craft touched down in the middle of the pyramid formations. The ramp dropped.........
.........and all hell broke loose. The tanks got out first but ran into a barrage of plasma fire from well-concealed Cyberdisks. Thankfully none of them managed to get destroyed
and they all stayed in the game. Quickly one of the disks was destroyed and the tanks moved out further still to establish a small perimeter for the men getting off the Avenger.
Nature Boy was the first man to step foot on Mars, he wasted no time in starting its conquest and took out a second well-entrenched Cyberdisk. Ralph was the other one off and he
secured the other side of the Avenger as the rest of the men prepared to disembark the craft. The hover tanks were all the things the American engineers had touted them as and
more. Their targeting systems were quick to pick up two more sectoids out of the darkness of the Martian night and killed them off quickly, further securing the perimeter. Another
one was detected and shot out by Nature Boy as he advanced to the relative cover of a rocky bluff.
More oppisition was incoming already. Ralph had spotted it first as two sectoids approached his position near the landing gear of the Avenger. He took out one with reaction fire
and the second fell from his plasma shots a second later. Now, thinking that it was clear to move up, DreamShadowMecha spotted another sectoid. Firing, he missed but Ralph
covered him and killed it. Another sectoid now appeared from the shadows, and it got a shot off at DreamShadow wounding him moderately, Ralph killed it to and rushed to give
medical aid to Shadow.
The tanks were still advancing but now coming into contact with reinforcements from the main base. Three more were spotted near the middle hovertank and it took damage from plasma
rounds. In response Binky throws a grenade within three feet on the collection of sectoid bastards. The grenade took out two of the sectoids but it was not enough to save the
hover tank and it was soon demolished. Now the southern most tank was under fire.
Nature Boy soon spotted another sectoid and took it out as well and soon the entire front line was moving forward, now all of the men were out of the Avenger. Of the two remaining
tanks one was moderately damaged and the other was still in top fighting shape, the one in the south had now spotted its attacker - a third Cyberdisk and had damaged it
moderately. From a distance DreamShadow took it out with a snap shot from his rifle.
The other tank had also come into enemy contact as another sectoid emerged from a pyramid. RayDude took it out with a precise shot to the head and the threat was averted. The men
were now within range of the last group of pyramids and the entrance to the underground complex could only be near here. The advance was prepped by a large amount of grenades that
further destroyed the Martian landscape.
The men now rushed forward. The grenades suppressed whatever defenders might have survived, and Shang was the first to enter the pyramids, killing its lone defender from behind.
Now the men swept the above ground complex one more time and killed the last sectoid, thus clearing the way into the underground complex and the goal that awaits.
The men emerged from the lift with no dead and only one injured. The assault on the surface had been a success, as well two of the tanks were still operational and would be able
to provide support while the final moves were made in this high stakes game of chess.
Darkfyre was first down the lift and he spotted the first alien, a Chrysalid the hated enemy of every Brutesquad member, its very name would give rookies a chill and even a
veteran a time to pause. Fortunately neither of these things happened for Darkfyre, and his training kicked in, the hundreds of drills about this kind of situation spurning him
on. The Chrysalid soon dropped with several holes in its chest.
Shang spotted an Ethereal next, the dreaded mental foe once again showing itself. Shang wasted no time disposing of it and the screams of it echoed through the base. The tanks too
spotted Ethereals as well and began to aim their guns at them, one of them taking out its target. The rest of the men were now disembarking from the lifts and taking up defensive
positions around the landing zones. Soon the sounds of gunfire approached and the Ethereal enemy seemed to be closing in, a blaster bomb exploding next to the zone of the second
landing party.
The men had by now all gotten down the main level and had in one way or another started getting into the action. The main areas of conflict were now starting to center around the
large supply areas which the aliens were so vigorously defending. In them were what we could only assume were new alien weapon prototypes and to my horror, human cadavers!
Those infernal blaster launchers were now at it again and this time they hit their mark, the second landing zone was hit and Darkfyre and DreamShadow were killed by the blast,
Binky was severely injured but could still fight. Despite this the men continued to advance, the loss of their comrades seemed to bolster them, inspire them in ways that no mere
speech could. Thus the Ethereals with the blaster launchers were soon taken out, one by a hover tank and the other receiving a fresh dose of alien grenade from Binky. Eightball
too had engaged in activity as he ran smack into a Chrysalid, quick reflexes saved him as he shot it three times in less than a second.
Shang now spotted a Sectopod waiting in ambush for our tank, and hit it, it returned fire killing Shang but the surprise was ruined for it and it received hot plasma from both the
tank and Siljanus. The rest of the men had now begun to move forward when Eightball was ambushed by an Ethereal. No damage was inflicted and he threw a grenade back at it. The
Ethereal screamed as it died, and Eightball ducked into the passage which he had encountered the Chrysalid, something telling him that he would find something down the hallway.
Nature Boy, Samurai and Eduardo X joined him.
As they reached the end of the corridor the men could hear the furious sounds of battle raging outside the small enclave, little did they know the rest of the men were going to
hell in a hand basket. Binky went first, the Ethereals finally cracking his mental defenses. Next went the remaining tank a Chrysalid blindsiding it and ripping it to shreds with
its think crab like claws. The Meal who was behind the tank used a grenade to cover his retreat. Elsewhere Siljanus, Papageno and Ralph were all the real resistance left to the
aliens on the northern part of the base, they had a tough task in taking out that Sectopod now.
Eightball was the first up the lifts, he was right, he had stumbled across the right passageway. In front of him lay the goal of all this battle, a giant alien creature was in
front of him pulsating and quivering. It wasn't that which worried Eightball, but the four Ethereals that guarded it. A fierce gun battle opened up and he killed two of them,
return fire knocked him unconcious and Nature Boy was next up, his shots wounded another of the aliens and he advanced upon them. Eduardo and Samurai were up the lifts next, and
Eightball received medical attention for his head wounds.
Nature Boy then finished off the last of the Ethereals, and while Eightball regained consciousness the men approached the alien mastermind..............
Elsewhere the rest of the men were still fighting for their lives, Papageno had finally taken out the Sectopod, its rear armor finally giving way, he then looked behind him to see
an incoming Muton terror unit which was soon dead. The men now settled in and defended the way back to the Avenger.
Back at the command post Eightball was back on his feet, albeit almost dead. He too approached the alien brain and the men assumed a firing postition. Opening fire the brain
exploded into a mess of blood and guts. The men then quickly ran for the exit as the underground complex started to come down.
Thirteen men went in, but only nine came out. The final losses were Binky, Darkfyre, DreamShadowMecha and Shang. You shall be remembered.
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