Lessons of our Fathers

[Shadow of the Condor]

Hey everyone - I am extremely happy to be back among the Matrix forums and even happier with the play of UFO:Exterrestrials. Most of my posts were for UV PBEMs (and a few HttP posts as well), and am going to try a "DAR" for the game here. I hope folks like the story. After reading the synopsis for the game, the title seemed a natural.

Anyway, the computer is upgraded (wow - a video "card" instead of "on-board graphics??") and the Windows ME system was given a funeral "fit for a king". With all of that out of the way, here is "Lessons of our Fathers."

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

January 15th, 2108…
News blog item…

In a brief statement to the Ilyrian assembly today, CAF director John Smith announced that the first Esperanzan CAF base was declared operational. He made the announcement via video link from the command center of that very same base.
Other states were more reserved in their enthusiasm. Pavel Gryth, the Security Council representative from Patria, expressed, “While we are committed to the course of action agreed upon to defend our planet from these invaders, we are anxious to see the men and women of the CAF be successful in acquiring the alien technology and making it available to all of the peoples of Esperanza.”

His statement summarized the discussions with regard to the location of the first base and the fear that the power of this alien technology would tempt the state where the base was located to using the technology for “other means”. The statement was seen as a not so subtle jab at the Ilyrians for blocking the effort to have the first base located inside Patrian territory.

While details of the base, its personnel and equipment remain classified, it is hoped that the men and women there – who represent the best and brightest our civilization has to offer – can prove successful in helping Esperanza avoid the fate of the inhabitants of Earth.


CAF Base Ilyria…
Hangar #2
15 January...2235 hrs

The face looked up from reading the day’s news and shouted over to a pair of figures near the parked aircraft.

“Hey Andy – how does it feel to be working with the ‘best and brightest?’”

Steve Patrick was happy. He was one of the two Raptor pilots assigned to the initial CAF compliment at the base. Andy Shaffer was the other one. Both of the pilots were friends, and jabbed each other incessantly about each other’s skills – flying and otherwise. They were picked out of hundreds of applicants. Lisa Andrews was the base’s Red Rider armored transport pilot. She chimed into the conversation before Shaffer could respond.

“Why Steve, that’s so sweet of you – asking your buddy to help you answer the question.”

Patrick took the bait and retorted – “Now now, little lady. You just play with your school bus there and leave the dangerous work to the adults.”

Shaffer just shook his head and walked out of the hangar and towards the command center. He had heard this exchange between transport and fighter pilots too many times to count.

CAF Base Ilyria…
Command Center
15 January...2300 hrs

The scientists had just left when Schaffer had walked in. Although they acknowledged Schaffer as he passed, formalities were not necessarily enforced at the base – everyone here was the best at something. Each respected each other enough, even if the nature of the “best” tended to make you think that – even just a little bit – that your best was a bit more necessary than the others who worked with you. Shaffer was here because the director, Mr. Smith (nobody really knew who he was – only that he had full control of CAF and even state leaders deferred to his “recommendations”) had asked for him.

Smith began. “Andy, I wanted to let you know that we are working on improving the cannon for the Raptor.” Smith pointed to a report on his desk and continued. “Although I don’t think the phrase ‘half-assed pea shooter’ will win you many friends at Richards.”

Shaffer conveniently spotted something on the ceiling of the room that held his interest for a few moments.

“Relax, Andy – I agree with you. We’ll see if we can get a ‘whole-assed pea shooter’ for you.”

Shaffer grinned broadly and thanked the director. On his way back to Hangar 2, he passed the laboratory, where the scientists were not happy (although the start of construction of a second lab at the base did assuage their feelings a bit). They had pushed for developing a laser system to improve the firepower of the ground forces. While Shaffer agreed that improved ground fire would be a good thing to have (he even said so in his cannon evaluation report), you first had to get the aliens on the ground.


CAF Base Ilyria
Radar Detection Center…
15 January…2330 hrs…

Another person had been reading the story about the activation of the CAF base. Frank Granz was a radar operator for the base. He was also one of the “best and brightest”. He too was selected from hundreds of applicants. He too, was happy to have been selected. He looked up from his reading and stared at the computer-generated display and thought back…

Patrian Capital building…
12 January…1900 hrs

While not the most lavish of ceremonies in the history of the state, Frank Granz was impressed. He managed not to gawk too much while he listened to various dignitaries of the Patrian assembly laud his selection to the CAF team. He was one of five Patrians who had “made the cut” – but his was the most visible of the assignments. As a detection specialist, he would be the first to raise the alarm of an invader and his words would set in motion the entire resources for the base. It was, however, strangely ironic that he would be the first line of warning for a state that had been seen as cool (if not outright hostile) towards his own state. And that was the greatest irony of all – that it took a threat to the planet to make the threat from another state seem insignificant. Still, there were those who tried to use this new threat to their own advantage…

His meeting with Pavel Gryth was a surprise. What was said during the meeting, however, was no surprise at all…

“We’re all proud of the contribution you and the others will be making to the defense of Esperanza, Mr. Granz.” Pavel Gryth’s voice was as smooth as ice, Frank noted. And just as cold.

“We especially are pleased that Ilyria has put aside their differences and realize that this is a problem to be solved by the peoples of all states on the planet.”

Frank was about to reply when the Security Council representative held up his hand.

“Mr. Granz, you are a hero to Patrians everywhere.”

Frank stammered back a reply.

“Councilman, I hope to be worthy of their support. And yours.”

The councilman smiled.

“I know you will, Frank.”

The councilman’s face lost his smile for a moment as he continued.

“There is just one reservation we Patrians have. While our brothers in Ilyria will be protected by the mighty CAF, we will have no such protection until a second base can be constructed. The cost for the “best and brightest” is not small, no? We have to protect the planet, yes – but I still have a duty to protect our people from this menace as well. Still,” as his smile returned, “that is for the future. And I’ve kept you long enough. Shall we rejoin the others?”

They both walked back to the main reception hall…

CAF Base Ilyria
Radar Detection Center…
15 January…2345 hrs

“…frank…?”

“Frank??”

Frank started as his technician was about to shake his shoulder.

“Jeez, Frank – you do need some sleep. I’m here to relieve you. It’s 2345.”

“Thanks, Jim. Your right – it’s been a busy day getting these systems online…”

Jim Boyd looked on as Frank left. He shrugged, and began running his preventative maintenance checks for the start of his – hopefully quiet – shift.

[Faenaris]

Love the style, Shadow of the Condor, I'm looking forward to the next part. [:)]

[Arctic Blast]

Man, I enjoy writing...I just wish I was as good at it as a lot of you guys are in this forum. Keep it up, guys!

[Shadow of the Condor]

(Thanks for the comments. The first battle wasn't - curiously - over a downed spacecraft, but one that landed. And in a very interesting place...)

January 19th…2300…
Ilyria Base communications nexus…

The computer monitor flashed to life as an alert bell sounded. The operator punched in a keycode, and a face appeared on the screen, and began to speak.

Within a minute, the voice had outlined that a UFO had landed in the ice region of Syrtis Major, near an abandoned diamond mine. The mine was operational until last month (due to the crisis from the aliens), and the planned resumption of operations was delayed by a day due to a surge in the mine’s power grid. One of the maintenance workers had radioed the landing and assault on the mine. His actual message was displayed, only to be cut off in mid sentence – to be replaced by a series of chirps, followed by static.

That was all that was needed to jump-start the new CAF base to respond to the first incursion (that they knew of) onto Esperanzan soil. An alarm klaxon had gone off, and Lisa Andrews was already onboard pre-flighting the transport. Both of the Raptors had already taken off to keep the aliens on the ground, if possible.

Brian Daniels was backing the team’s armored fighting vehicle, or AFV, onto the ramp and into the cargo bay. The four ground support personnel were already on-board. Eva Young would lead the ground team, but a majority of the information would come from the computers inside the “Desert Spirit” AFV Daniels would inhabit until the end of the mission. The time to the mission zone would be about seven and a one-half hours…

January 20th…0630…
Syrtis Major
Diamond Mine Number Two…

The Raptors circled the area. They had spotted the alien craft, and kept a patrol over it until the ground forces could be off-loaded. Steve Patrick, opened up his comm. Link to the base back in Ilyria…

“Raptor One to base. Raptor One to base. On station. Class Two craft on the ground. Red Rider inbound. Orbiting as planned.”

“Understood Raptor One. Execute Tango One upon ground crew insertion.”

“Roger, base. Raptor One out.”

Tango One was a plan for one of the Raptors to stay and provide support for the transport and ground team, while the other returned to refuel and rearm (not necessary on this mission) to be ready to respond to another call.

January 20th…0640…
Onboard the transport Red Raider

Andrews keyed the intercom..

“Three minutes.”

Eva Young tapped her rifle butt on the side of the AFV. A hatch opened and Daniels poked his head up.

“Three minutes Brian. You ready?”

“All set, boss. Computers recycled and standing by. Weapons loaded and ready.” Daniels jerked his thumb at the two rockets over his left shoulder. They were the main punch of the AFV. The magnetic cannon was less powerful, but had much more ammunition.

Young nodded and turned away to her team. Daniels slid back into his seat and the hatch slid shut. One last time, he glanced at the holo-screen projecting the outside area to his console. There wasn’t much to look at, but that would change when the door dropped open.

January 20th…0643…
Diamond Mine Number Two…

Having off-loaded, Daniels lead the team into the mine. He approached a junction of three passages, and nosed out into the opening to get a picture of the area.

“WHANGG!!”

Daniels was rocked back into his seat while the computer stated the obvious.

“Taking enemy fire.”

“No kidding”, Daniels muttered to himself as he traversed left.

While the image came into view, Daniels noticed an acrid odor, and felt the air inside the vehicle get very warm. Just as suddenly, the temperature cooled and the computer made another announcement.

“Armor loss at 60 percent.”

Daniels blinked at that. “One shot?” he thought. “One shot??”

The weapon system locked on to what looked like a giant insect. It appeared armored itself, but the armor wasn’t anything that looked like it could be removed. It was part of the creature.

“Target locked. 51% success probability.”

“Good enough for me”, Daniels breathed. He reached for the firing controls when he heard another explosion.

“Target negated.”

Over his commlink, Daniels heard Young’s voice. Young, having killed the alien with a grenade, spoke quickly.

“Be careful, Brian – we can’t afford to lose you here.”

Just then, the computer in the AFV spoke again.

“Target in range.”

A second alien shot a bolt of green something at Young but missed. Young had already pulled a second grenade off of her belt and tossed it at the new threat. She ducked as it went off, but this alien was still standing.

Meanwhile, on the opposite wall of the entranceway, Travis West peeked around the corner after the blast and saw the alien standing, but was wobbling. He leveled his rifle and put a shot into the creature, which – surprisingly, he thought – brought the creature down.

“Nice shot, Travis”, congratulated Eva. She turned to Simpson and Skufal. "Hold the entrance until we see what’s ahead.”

Both men nodded. Each leaned hard against the wall of the entranceway.

Daniels traversed and got a picture of three corridors. He keyed his mike.

“Recommend we go left Eva.”

Young concurred. “Roger that Brian. Don’t get…Wait! What’s that??”

Young had seen a glint of metal down the center corridor. Daniels checked his image on the monitor.

“Doesn’t seem to be anything, unless it’s holding real still. I don’t think we should chance it, though. Get cover!”

The ground team ducked as one of the rockets flared to life on the turret of the AFV. About ten feet from the AFV, the rocket’s second, more powerful motor ignited and sped down the center passage. Daniels lost sight of it but heard an explosion within a second or two.

They waited a moment, but nothing emerged from the shadows.

“I think we’re clear Eva.”

Eva tapped the back of the AFV twice and Daniels turned left. He advanced slowly, while the four-member team advanced behind him.

Daniels halted and keyed his mike twice.

Young looked down the line of sight Daniels was facing and saw an alien that appeared to be floating. She turned to Simpson and pointed forward. Simpson moved around West and hugged the wall as West stood and covered the move. Simpson looked back at Young who pointed ahead of him, held up a fist, and then opened her fingers. Simpson took a grenade, stepped out and threw it down the left passage. Before it exploded, he moved out of sight. It exploded, and as the smoke obscured the area, Daniels moved the AFV in front of Simpson, pointing toward the alien.

As the smoke cleared, West, who had advanced to behind the AFV, now had a clear line of fire to the alien. It was turning and headed towards them, and West let a three round burst loose. Predictably, they went wild, but the alien did pause a moment. West fired a single shot this time, and appeared to hit the alien.

Meanwhile, Daniels was locking onto the floating alien with his computer announcing that the lock was achieved. Daniels fired, and the alien seemed to explode from the force of the cannon shell as it collapsed to the ground.

After the third alien was killed, the team moved forward into the passage, which – ultimately – led to a dead end. Diamonds littered the floor, and machinery was everywhere, but the team moved back along the passage toward the entrance.

Once they returned, Daniels moved forward and found a fourth alien – another armored one this time. His computer couldn’t lock onto the creature for some reason, so he backed into the corridor while he reset the system. By the time the computer announced it was ready, the alien was making its way toward the entrance.

“Target locked. 57% success probability.”

Daniels fired his second rocket. The creature wasn’t directly hit, but appeared to be stunned as Daniels pulled ahead, uncovering the support team. Skufal couldn’t fire, but


Simpson and West both did. Simpson’s shot went wide, but West’s shot hit the creature. Young finished off the thing with a grenade.

Young keyed her mike.

“Center”.

Daniels moved the AFV into the center passage and came to another T-intersection. Young and Simpson followed Daniels as he headed right along the branch while West and Skufal held the rear guard for them.

As Daniels rounded another corner, a fifth alien – another armored one was detected. Daniels again tried to back up, but the alien advanced. Simpson fired and missed, but Daniels killed it with one shot from the cannon.

Meanwhile, back at the T-intersection, West watched from cover while one of the floaters came from the opposite branch of the T. He aimed and fired. This time, there was no doubt as he watched the creature seem to deflate and crumple to the ground.

Skufal watched the alien fall and ran over to the carcass. He was examining it when the second floater arrived and fired. West tried to fire first, but his shot went wide. The alien had a point blank shot and didn’t miss. Skufal was knocked backward by the force of the shot. Worst of all, a green cloud enveloped the wounded man. Skufal screamed and then went silent.

From down the corridor, Young ran back and saw the alien fire on Skufal. She wanted to get its attention off of West, who seemed to be just sitting there. She raised her rifle and fired. Her shot found its mark and the second floater in the intersection crumpled to the ground, next to the other one.

The rest of the mission was uneventful, and the team loaded Skufal onto the transport. The captured parts would be studied and prove beneficial, but no one on board seemed in a mood to celebrate.

edit - the battle described took 33 turns against seven aliens. I have about 50 screen shots (from start to finish) embedded in a Word document, but the file is about 80MB. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. [:D]

[Shadow of the Condor]

edit: Trying to get a few pics up from the last mission to help with the story...hard to choose

Here's the beginning of the advance up the left hand corridor.

[Shadow of the Condor]

In the next shot, the team begins its move into the left hand passage...

[Shadow of the Condor]

Around the first of many corners...

[Shadow of the Condor]

The end of the passage looms...

[Shadow of the Condor]

The processing room at the end of the passage. Time to head back to the entrance intersection...

[Shadow of the Condor]

In this last picture, West and Skufal on rear guard encounter two aliens. West reacts when the first one appears and kills it. The second immediately followed up and hit Skufal (he was covering West's back and looking the wrong way when they arrived). Daniels, Young, and Simpson are further ahead in the passage. Young's shoot skill was 38 in this mission, and she got very lucky. West would have probably been a casuality as well if she didn't hit the creature.

[Shadow of the Condor]

The AAR. Young ended up with three kills (two by grenade and one with the rifle) and 16 points. I added to her agility (51 - 55, AP from 61 to 66), Vitality (51 - 55, Health from 61 to 66), Bravery (37 - 41, Morale from 44 to 49), and two points to Shoot (38 - 46).

I enjoyed this mission immensely. Nice mechanics, and good storylines. Next chapter will be up soon.

[robpost3]

Great stuff!!!

[madflava13]

Good read!

[Arctic Blast]

Here's a question I've got for anyone who's playing the game...what IS the deal with the various color clouds that often appear in screenshots?

[GalacticOrigins]

Color clouds are gasses of various sorts.

Stun, Chemical, Inferno. (all I have seen so far) Oh, and nerve agent chemical toy

Green, as seen above, is Chemical (very bad)
Red is Stun
Inferno is Orange-ish

Some of the other AAR screenies have the stun and inferno. The gas dissipates after a few turns, but do not stand inside it until it is gone!

[Shadow of the Condor]

Another "background" entry. I should have most of tomorrow to get a few turns in and an entry ready again.


Three months earlier...
Rock Hills University Conference Room #4

Dr. Julia Adamowicz was impressed. The head of the university, as well as her department head were present in the room along with someone named “Smith”. This Mr. Smith had only arrived in the morning – she was told – and he had already commandeered the two most senior men in the building. This Smith fellow must be well-connected indeed.

Still, she continued with her overview.

“The cold plasma therapy will help people recover from infections in a substantially shorter time frame. We have documented evidence,” she pointed to her computer screen, “of a 32% improvement rate in cellular regeneration. The key to the system is the plasma needle.” As she spoke, an image of what looked like a miniature blowtorch was projected onto the computer screens as the briefing continued. “It looks more painful than it is. The 'flame' is nothing more than a helium and air mixture excited by radio frequency signals. The system operates at room temperature, and no contact is made with the affected area. Chemical stimuli are conveyed to affected area, and healing can take place. We have substantial evidence of bacterial inactivation, cell detachment, cell activation, and apoptosis."

Smith finally spoke, and directly to Julia.

“Very impressive, Doctor. This work can save lives – a lot of lives.”

Julia smiled, and began to think her evaluation of this Mr. Smith seemed to be a bit wrong.

Smith turned to the head of the university.

“We’ll take it.”

Julia froze. She recovered and was a bit more vocal with her disbelief.

“You’ll take what?”

The department head made to explain to Julia, but she stepped forward, and brushed past him, almost bumping into Mr. Smith as he made to leave.

“It’s hijacking! There’s no other word for it!! The research was mine and my team’s. The testing was done by my staff. The time and effort we put in to the project cannot be measured. This project was our lives. And you…some government official…stroll in here and claim you can take my research and use it for your own purposes??!?”

Julia finished her tirade – during which Smith watched her intently. He thought for a moment before he spoke.

“Please forgive me, Dr. Adamowicz. You misunderstand me. We’re not taking your research.”

“We’re taking you.”

January 20th…2000..
Hangar #2

Dr. Adamowicz was shocked when she saw Skufal taken from the transport. He was unconscious, from his wounds and from the morphine injected by the stimpaks the ground team used. His burns covered the back half of his body, and – at his neck - part of his armor had actually fused to his skin. The team, led by Eva Young, watched as technicians moved Skufal’s body on its (at that point, it was hard to consider the mass on the gurney a person) way into a sterile chamber at the hospital ward. The alien artifacts were off-loaded, as well as the dead aliens themselves, and taken to the lab.

Julia Adamowicz had recovered enough to head to the hospital ward herself. When she got there, she found Mr. Smith waiting for her. He leaned over and looked at her with a level gaze.

“This,” he emphasized, “is why we took you.”

She looked at him for a moment and walked into the ward, ready to begin the process of saving Skufal’s life.

2225 hrs…
Mission Debriefing…

The team had finished dumping their recorder data into the mainframe computer. Tactics would be analyzed, enemy responses and actions studied, and new plans based on the conclusions of both the computer and the members of the team itself. Daniels had already taken the AFV to the maintenance workshop to repair the lost armor burned off by the alien weapon. This too, would be analyzed. Hit location, armor slope, shot trap, damage patterns; all would yield information to improve the chances of team survival - theoretically for the next mission.

If they had the time…

[Shadow of the Condor]

A long post, and I have a few screenshots to post after. I hope you enjoy the read.

January 28th…0344…
The Ilyrian North coast…

The light appeared out to sea. Coastwatcher stations that were manned from the Ilyria-Patria tensions and the now worldwide threat were still manned. Of course, “manned” was something of a misnomer. Computer augmentation, of course, was everywhere in society, and especially in any aspect of the defense of the state. So in a sense, although computers ran contact data through their algorithms, they were the only thing that “manned” these sites anymore.

The radar reflection had just broken the detection range and, since this contact did not have a proper RFID signature that would have been filed and logged in, a contact alert was generated. Of course, the return was small enough that it could be something riding very low on the surface of the ocean.

It could also be something trying to stay hidden…

CAF Base Ilyria…0347…
Radar detection console…

Jim Boyd was the night operator for the base. All of the operators had their hands full here, as every contact that had been generated during the past ten days required a full integration and identification. Boyd touched the screen of the north coast contact (he was, in fact, integrating four other contacts now) and the contact was now a full screen display. Not much was known, other than it was headed south.

Towards them.

Boyd began his code sequences – each lasting milliseconds but enough to compare what was received with what was stored.

CAF Base Ilyria…0350…
Hangar one, onboard Raptor One…

Steve Patrick shifted in the pilot harness. He had manned his plane when the report first came in. The pilots and ground team were responded to alerts nearly twenty alerts in the past seven days. It was understandable – every unknown event in the world these days had potentially devastating consequences.

But Patrick was getting a bit miffed at the constant calls and then eventual stand down. It showed in his voice when he got on his comm link…

“Whaddya say, Boyd? Another spook??”

Boyd, for his part, was watching the contact develop as the computer transmitted code pattern after code pattern. He was about to re-run the sequences when the display changed.

…TARGET SPEED 955 kph…HEADING 165…classification pending…

Boyd typed a command and the display was forwarded to the pilots.

“Heads up, folks – it’s real…”

Something was coming toward them from across the ocean at a very high speed. In the hangars, the ground crews cleared their aircraft and both Raptors launched, followed by the Raider transport.

en route to target…0412…
onboard transport Red Raider…

Lisa Andrews followed the Raptors as best she could. She wasn’t in a hurry – yet. Her job was to orbit at a safe distance while the Raptors intercepted whatever was headed their way. She was monitoring the interceptors’ comm. link, and tried to stay calm as she listened to the Raptors engage the target…

“Raptor Two, Andy – on your display…”
“Raptor One, I see it Paddy. Getting close to detection range…”
“Raptor Two, aspect change to target. Target now bearing 270. Altitude decreasing rapidly.”
“One, I have missile tone…engaging…missile away…”
“Raptor Two, I have missile tone…target still losing altitude…”
“One…standby…standby…”
“Raider, this is Raptor One…confirm one missile hit on target…target is down…say again…target is down…do you copy coordinates, Raider?”

Now Lisa knew she had a point to fly to. The navigation computer displayed the GPS coordinates of her location, the downed alien, and the heading and distance to the location.

“Raptor One, Raider en route. Confirm one missile hit.”
“Raider, confirmed. One, say again, one missile hit.”

Everyone in the air knew one missile hit wasn’t enough to destroy the alien. It didn’t crash. Once again, like last week, this alien landed.

Lisa keyed the intercom, and spoke with Eva.

“Eva, it’s down. My files show another mine at that location. It wasn’t destroyed, it landed. Guess it’s looking for another hole.”

Landing site…0548…

The ground team was in the mine. Like last time, Daniels and his AFV would scout ahead while the others would cover. Unlike last time, however, the team had traded their rifles for shotguns. All were carrying at least 8 grenades each, and everyone had at least three stimpaks.

Also unlike last time, was Skufal’s replacement, Robert Stanton. Stanton was carrying a hand held rocket launcher. Similar to the rocket launcher on the AFV, it was portable, and Stanton had four spare rockets in addition to the one in his weapon. Daniels had welded a rack onto the back of his AFV and twelve additional rockets were carried there. They were too small for the AFV’s launcher, but Stanton had access to seventeen rockets should he need them.

Like before, the AFV encountered an alien as it crept into a main passage. Unlike last time, this alien didn’t fire at the AFV. But this alien wasn’t armored, nor did it float.

Daniels whispered into his mike, as if fearing his coded transmission to the other members of the team would be heard.

“Target – two seven zero. Can’t lock on it…”

West keyed his mike.

“System malfunction?”

“Negative,” Daniels replied. “System five by five. Target is too….big.”

“Too big??? How big?”

“At least as big as the tank, Eva. Computer is trying to lock onto four separate points, and keeps recycling. It thinks there’s four targets instead of one.”

Young and the others looked at each other. They knew there would be more than one alien in the passages, and if they were all this big…

“Switching to manual. Warning! Target approaching…”

Simpson, who had moved along the wall toward the alien, was still unable to see anything down the passage. But all of the sudden, he had the feeling that he couldn’t move. He shook his head, and refocused.

In front of him, about thirty feet away was a large grey alien with oversized appendages that were probably its arms. Each was wickedly curved like a scythe. It was, indeed, as big as Daniels AFV – probably bigger. When it opened its mouth, it screamed and advanced on Simpson. Simpson fired his shotgun without even aiming it. There was no way he could miss. The shell exploded into the creature, and the creature paused when a shell from West’s shotgun hit it as well. Simpson took the momentary pause to run away from the creature and those arms. The creature followed, moving surprisingly easy for its size. West had pulled the pin on a grenade and tossed it toward the creature. It exploded, and the creature was knocked backwards onto the ground. It didn’t move.

West and Simpson were joined by Young. No one said a word, but none needed to be said.

Young looked at Stanton and pointed down a second passage.

“Clear it.”

Stanton kneeled and aimed. He squeezed the trigger and the rocket shot out a bit and the main engine fired. It sped out of sight and an explosion announced it ran into something.

Young was about to set the advance for the third passage. Young was reloading. Daniels turned the AFV toward the third passage and found himself staring into a second of the giant aliens.

“There’s another one!!” he yelled as he twisted his throttle in reverse.

As Daniels was backing away, Young and West opened fire. Young got two shots off, but both were wild. West hit the creature, and Simpson had already two grenades in the air. Both went off, and the creature went down hard.

Stanton's voice was a bit shaky when he said, “Big bastards, and quiet." He tried to sound more hopeful. "Still, they seem to die easy enough.”

Young turned and looked at Stanton. “So do we. Stay sharp. Pay attention and we’ll all…”

Young seemed to forget what she was going to say. West looked intently at her.

“Eva?”

“...we’ll all get…”

Stanton saw it first and had the launcher shouldered. A third giant alien followed out from where the second one lay. Simpson watched Stanton and jumped for him, trying to stop the rocket from being launched.

“NO!!! Not here!!!”

Stanton fired, but his shot went wild to the side of the creature, and exploded off of the side wall. The heat blast rocked the team, and Young was back in control of herself. The creature was hurt, as the explosion ripped into its back. It howled in pain and rage and kept coming.

Simpson and West both had grenades in the air. Before they exploded, Daniels came through their headsets.

“Floater!! Behind it!”

The grenades exploded, but the giant alien was still coming. Young had leveled her shotgun but saw the floater aim at them.

“Cover!!”

The team backed away and got behind whatever they could. The floating alien fired, and hit the ground by the tank. Immediately, the green acidic cloud formed. Daniels AFV was taking damage. The computer announced it had lost 9 percent of its armor. Unfortunately for the giant alien, it was about to attack the tank and had no special protection from the acid. It howled again and dropped, dead.

West looked up and saw the floater through the green mist. He threw a grenade that bounced against the walls and landed near enough to kill the floater when it exploded.

Everyone stopped for a minute to gather themselves. Young spoke first.

“Simpson, you and Stanton stay here and cover the rear. West, you, me and Daniels move forward. Daniels, you okay in there?”

“We’re okay. Armor at 91%. Weapons are fine. Moving forward.”

Daniels moved ahead slowly, and Young and West advanced with him.

Stanton watched them as they rounded a corner and were gone. The rumble from the AFV’s engine got fainter.

Simpson punched Stanton in the shoulder.

“Hey buddy, they’re okay. Look sharp, k?”

Stanton smiled weakly and looked down the opposite passage, where he and Simpson waited for any aliens looping behind them.

Simpson heard it first. A rumble, but from in front of them. Not behind them where the AFV had gone.

“They couldn’t have made it that fast.”

He thought a moment.

“I don’t like it. Stanton…get ready.”

Simpson leveled his shotgun and glanced at Stanton. Stanton had his head cocked to one side and was staring towards the rumble ahead of them. More importantly, his rocket launcher was pointing down.

“Stanton?!?”

Simpson was about to shake Stanton when the giant alien rounded the corner ahead of them. Simpson wheeled and faced the giant. The alien rose up and howled. Simpson fired twice – both hits, but the alien swung its arm and hit the still immobile Stanton. Stanton’s body was knocked through the air and flew back about twenty feet. Simpson watched with fascination as blood fountained from the body, spraying the passage walls, the light stanchion, and began to pool as Stanton’s crumpled body lay against the wall of the passage.

Simpson backed toward Stanton and pulled a grenade from his belt. He suddenly felt the feeling he did earlier…that he wouldn’t be able to move.

“Not this time,” he breathed and rolled the grenade forward. He ducked as it exploded. When he looked up, the giant was on the ground. It didn’t move.

Simpson tore his stimpaks and began to try and stop the bleeding.

When the grenade exploded, Young, West, and Daniels were about halfway down the passage. They immediately turned around. Since Daniels was ahead of them, West and Young were able to run to the corner and see Simpson trying to save Stanton. Daniels rounded the corner and stopped. He saw the three crewmembers ahead of him so he turned his AFV back towards the passage they were exploring.

And he immediately saw another giant alien. This time, the alien didn’t howl at all. Instead, it swiped and hit Daniels’ AFV. The claw rocked the AFV when it hit, and made a weird “clanging” noise as well. The three members looked up and Young pulled a grenade while West fired twice. The alien looked over the AFV and Young tossed the grenade over the AFV. It killed the alien, but also damaged the AFV. Daniels reported he was down to 58% armor.

Leaving Simpson (and extra stimpaks) with Stanton, West, Young, and Daniels resumed their move into the passage. Daniels pulled ahead. Young and West trailed about fifty feet behind him. Daniels, turned into a room when his AFV was hit in the side. He immediately turned but didn’t see anything. The computer reported he still had his 58% armor, so he continued into the room.

This time, another shot hit his side, but this time the acid cloud formed around the AFV. Daniels backed out of the cloud with 32% of his armor left. He saw the floater, but wasn’t able to lock onto it because there was debris in his sight line. Until he could lock onto the creature, the weapons could not be activated.

“Floater – on me!” Daniels was hoping West and Young could flush the creature into the open.

Simpson heard Daniels call but ignored it. He was getting the bleeding under control, but Stanton’s chest was caved in. He wasn’t going on any more missions any time soon.

West and Young advanced around a corner and headed toward Daniels, when they saw a floater. West dispatched it with a shotgun blast. At the sound of the blast, the floater that had fired on Daniels moved out from behind the debris.

Inside the AFV, the computer displayed TARGET LOCKED and a small tone sang out. Daniels fired a rocket at the floater and immolated the last alien.

onboard Red Raider…0811…
en route to CAF Base Ilyria…

Stanton was stabilized, and that was about as good as it would get until they returned to base. Lisa watched the team come onboard, closed the ramp and took off. She saw Stanton’s crushed body, the melted armor on Daniels’ AFV, and the vacant looks on the others as the adrenaline in their bodies began to subside. She had a job to do, and she had to concentrate on getting the team back as soon as possible. The two Raptors were still on station, and escorted her home.

Lisa Andrews wondered, however, when the day would come that she wouldn’t have to concentrate on her job after seeing what she just did.

She hoped it would take a long time for that to happen.

She knew it wouldn’t.

[Shadow of the Condor]

The first alien...and it has a surprise.

[Shadow of the Condor]

The attack on Simpson

[Shadow of the Condor]

The AAR