The Innocent

Wayne Mockerman

contact the Author

Tension filled the spacious interior of the Skyranger.
It was the ships maiden voyage but none of the troopers felt like celebrating. The
temporary
commander Lyumilda Andianov shattered the silence with a repeat of the briefing
they had received an hour ago. "The scientists have classified it as a 
small craft, slightly smaller then the Skyranger. We are not sure how many, um,
occupants the ship will have had or if they will still be around for us to find.

We think they will stay to protect their technology but we can never be certain.

We also do not know what kind of weapons they will be using, though I think it is

safe to assume that they will be superior to ours." She paused with an affectionate
pat on her rifle and continued, "When we land after I throw the smoke grenade I will
leave the ship to see if our friends are still around and I want Paul to back me
up with his Heavy Cannon. After we leave if there are no complications I want James
then Klaus to follow. The rest I want you to search to the north of the ship." She
walked stiffly, probably because of nerves, over to the autopilot terminal and saw
the ETA. "All right suit up people! Our ETA is five minutes and counting, make sure
all clips, packs, and grenades are secure. Its time to go give E.T a kick in the
teeth he won't ever forget."

                Klaus tightened his utility belt around his waist making sure it

would not fall around his knee's as he ran across the battlefield. When he could
not
reach a certain buckle a voice behind him boomed, "Let me help you with that," and

promptly grabbed the buckle and tightened it. Klaus turned and gratefully said, "Thanks

I probably would never have got it around me without some help." The big man who

had helped him stuck his paw of a hand out and said "Anytime, names Paul Sharpe."
They already knew names from the briefing they had all received before the mission.
Most of the recruits had just arrived from their respective countries when the UFO
was spotted on radar landed in Central Ohio. "Klaus Krause, we didn't have time to
get acquainted before the mission. Where did you come from before you joined this
band of misfits?" Paul just chuckled and said
"Was a Marine ma'self when some guys in fancy suits came to my base out in Montana

and asked me if I wanted a job that paid a higher average pay and get hazardous duty
pay to boot. So where were you from Kraut?" Klaus eyed Paul with uncertainty and
wondered if the WWI American slang for German was meant to be insulting or a joke.
"I was an officer in the German armed forces when 'the guys in fancy suits' came
and offered me a better life, so far the only thing better about it is the food."
Paul laughed at that, "Not too much better I hope because if we get good eatin' now
they must've been slopping you like hogs before." The large man laughed at his own
joke. The relaxed atmosphere dissipated when Andianov said, "All right
people the Skyranger is starting to descend so get ready to get the hell out of
the ship!" The Skyranger gently touched down in the soft mid-summer Ohio soil. The

hydraulic hatch lowered to reveal a seemingly placid farm. From the looks of things

the farmer wasn't home so that was one less worry. The hatch hit the ground with
a
a soft thud. Andianov pulled the pin on a smoke grenade and let it fly a few
yards out. Upon impact the grenade exploded leaving a cloud of smoke to cover them

as they left the craft. Andianov was the first one out of the craft as planned.
She gave the OK signal and Sharpe, nimbly as a cat even with a heavy cannon, 
sprang out of the ship. Once again the OK signal and Klaus and James exit
the ship and take cover behind the landing gear. Andianov stalks to a nearby barn

and takes cover by the wall. Klaus turns to do the same but freezes in mid-turn.

It didn't look like much of an enemy with its bulbous head and puny little body.

Its large black eyes stared dumbstruck until Klaus lifted his rifle and squeezed

off a quick burst. The creature fell into a broken heap with a scream of a much lower
pitch than
you would expect and a shower of green blood. The rest of the squad was startled

by the rifle shots butflashed Klaus a thumbs up or a smile when they heard and saw
it die.
An unnatural silence fell over the farm as the squad got up to move toward the UFO

again. Andianov reaches one of the farm buildings and peers through the window.
All that was inside was a dusty hay loft. Paul rounded a the corner and shouted into

his radio, "Bug at 5 o'clock!" and fired one shot at the creature. His shot blew
a large chunk off it's arm with a spray of green blood, with a grazing shot but it
still stood. Huge black eyes glazed over with pain the creature fired a single shot
as Paul ducked. Green fire engulfed a portion 
of the wall of the barn. Once again Paul fired this time sending his HC round right
through it's large head spraying its brain across the barnyard. He then nervously
glanced around. 
"It's dead." He said into his radio. Andianov and Klaus arrived nearby and advanced
on the UFO
looking for the door. One area of the wall seemed separate from the rest. 
Paul then arrived from the corpse, looked at the door and said, "How do you use it?"
Lyumilda tensing said "I don't know I'll try to walk into it maybe it has an infrared
or motion sensor." She sprang right into the door and it slid open. Lyumilda was
greeted by a hail of green weapons fire from inside the UFO. Three shots ripped through
the kevlar vest that all X-COM personnel wore and charred the flesh beneath. Without
a sound she fell unceremoniously into a blackened heap on the ground. In a rage Paul
screamed and went for the door. Before Klaus could stop him he burst into the UFO
with the loud thump of an HC. Klaus went through the door of the
ship with his rifle ready but he knew it was over. Paul stood in front of a pulsating
orange cylinder covered in green blood. Klaus was surprised when someone tapped his
shoulder. It was the rest of the squad attracted by the screaming. The whole tableau
seemed to take forever but had taken somewhere between a minute or two Paul ignored
them all and gave one of the corpses a half-hearted kick and just said "You bastards."