The Calm Before The Storm

Wayne Mockerman

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               The skies over X-COM's radar coverage was surprisingly quiet
after the first UFO raid. Two small craft were detected within the last month.
One was shot down over the Great Lakes and sunk deep into Lake Superior while
the other ship spotted the approaching Interceptor and fled far faster then
the human craft could ever dream of going. A new long range radar was built
along with more storage facilities, barracks, and a special prison for housing
captured aliens. The number of scientists at the base had nearly quadrupled, so
you could hardly go anywhere without seeing a person in a lab coat going
somewhere in a hurry. Andianovs funeral had taken place two days after her
death, after the scientists had examined the damage caused by the alien weapons
an unwanted task but necessary. She had been buried in a remote spot in the
base perimeter in a nameless grave. The commanders had decided to erect a monument

to X-COM soldiers who died in battle. It was still being designed and could not
be built until after the war was over and everyone knew it was just beginning.
Two new recruits had arrived at the base as well. Isaac Shalminov and Marielle
Hudson. Klaus and Paul had become good friends over the last month. They spent 
many hours in the shooting ranges perfecting their shots with the new laser weapons

devised by the scientists. 

        "Hey Paul," Klaus said after firing three shots near perfectly through the
plastic target, in the shape of the aliens which had been dubbed sectoids by the
scientists,

        "Yeah?", Paul replied removing his headphones and powering down his heavy
laser,
the laser equivalent of the heavy cannon.

        "The bugs haven't been flying over much lately and the funding nations
have said that there have been few if any unidentifiable aircraft spotted, you
think they're planning something?" Klaus asked powering down his laser rifle.
        
        "Haven't got a clue, but if they are I'll be ready, willing, and able
to kick their sorry gray asses." Paul chuckled just as the range was filled with

the deafening racket of the klaxons signifying a UFO was spotted. The duo sprinted

out the door leaving their weapons where they lay. Through the underground labyrinth

they dashed knocking over a tech who wasn't watching where he was going. He probably

voiced his anger but Paul and Klaus where already out of earshot. They came to the

door to the Skyrangers hanger and went through the automatic door. The training officer

was standing near the small transport with the other troops in single file lined

up in front of him.

                       
                "Where the hell have you been Sharpe you're supposed to be leading this
pack of scum." The drill seargent, a huge Russian named Molotov demanded.

        "I've been whipping Squaddie Klaus here into shape sir!." Sharpe snapped
with the
accompanying salute.
        
        "Next time you hear that alarm I expect you to be here as in three hours
ago
Seargent," Molotov snarled at Sharpe who stood looking straight ahead, "Todays UFO

is still a small one but substantially larger than the one captured before. It was
shot down
over Nova Scotia in Canada and you will be arriving at high noon, that is if you
get
your asses MOVING!" He bellowed the last word, a drill seargent to the core. The
weapons
were already in the Skyranger. The troops piled into the ship and Sharpe engaged
the autopilot.
X-COM didn't use human pilots because they were considered too unreliable and panicky,

so a computer flew the ship just like the robotic tanks being ordered by the base
commander.
The soldiers sat in their places arranging their equipment as the Skyranger hurtled
from the
base in the Nevada desert to the frozen north of Canada. Another new addition to
the equipment
was the stun rod. It stunned animals the size of a cow with electric shocks.
Paul held one and said, "Now they want us to zap the little gray bastards, what next
walk up and just ask them to surrender?"

        Two tense hours later Klaus felt the ship lurch as it hovered with its VTOL
engines and descended into the forest below. It was close to noon but under the thick
canopy of Canadian coniferous trees it seemed to be twilight, much better than the
hot blaring sun of the desert surrounding the base back in Nevada. The ship touched
down with a gentle thud. The ramp lowered revealing a calm, but rather cold, forest.
The only problem was that there was no sound. No birds chirped and no insects called
out from the underbrush. The ramp scraped a rock as it lowered creating the only
sound that was heard since the landing. Paul raised his hand and counted down from
three. On zero the squad poured out of the snub nosed transport  with guns at the
ready. Nothing moved in the calm forest except the quiet rustling of leaves falling
from their lofty perches.

        "Fan out." Paul whispered into his small headset radio. The squad paired up and
searched the forest. Klaus and Paul were paired up and swiftly ducked branches and
jumped logs. Rookie Shalminov was the first to spot the UFO. It was in a small clearing
it had created with the force of its crash landing. 
        
        "We're going in." The rookie announced. Followed by Rookie Hudson he dashed into
the clearing and pressed up next to the UFO. Hudson did the same. Klaus and Paul
emerged from the underbrush as well. Paul would have to remember to berate the rookies
for their foolhardy actions. The rest of the squad had learned that lesson the hard
way. Over the radio Maleev and Unger had encountered a sectoid sniper. Unger was
wounded and the sectoid was dead. Paul got the rookies' attention. He raised his
hand for the signal to get ready to enter the ship. His hand shot down and the rookies
burst through the door. Laser fire strobed through the room. Paul and Klaus rushed
into the ship and saw the dead aliens corpse with the two rookies already guarding
the doors. Paul smiled to Klaus. The rookies were going to be promoted when they
returned to base.
        
        "Just look and come back, I want to see if we can stun one." Paul whispered. The
rookies converged on one door and Paul and Klaus on the other. Shalminov went through
one door and came into a small room. Klaus silently went through the other and was
immediately in a dimly lit room with control panels glowing brightly, and a sectoid
sitting in a chair staring intently into the monitors. Klaus silently pulled his
stun rod from his pack and stalked over to the sectoid. It saw him and dove for a
pistol on the panels a few feet away. Klaus dove too and touched the extraterrestrial
in the center of the back with the taser. It flopped around with the current and
lay still. 
        
        " I hope it wasn't too much for the little guy." he whispered to himself and looked
at the creature. It's face was relaxed and it's huge black eyes closed. Paul and
the rookies entered the room and glanced around. There was a door in the center of
the wall opposite of the control panels. Paul motioned for the squad to wait and
pulled a grenade from his belt. Paul moved to the side of the door and tapped it
with his hand. Green bolts of energy flew from the chamber and Paul tossed the grenade
just as the door was sliding shut. The wall shuddered with the force of the explosion
and muffled screams emerged from the room. Once again Paul motioned the door open.
No bolts of death shot from the interior and The small team rushed in. There was
another orange cylinder, this time with minute cracks across its surface from the
grenade shrapnel. Also were the shredded remains of two sectoids. Klaus walked over
to the unconscious alien feeling very proud of himself.

                        After the squad returned to the base the techs were very busy 
interrogating the alien. They had discovered that it already spoke English. It only explained
 that it was to intercept human communications. The day  after the squad arrived the intercom
activated getting everyones attention. The head technician came on and cleared his
throat before beginning. "From intensive interrogation we have learned the objective
of the alien ships mission. Our prisoner has informed us that his mission was to
scout out large civilian concentrations. The final result of this scouting was to
find a suitable place to land a large ship who would land troops for one purpose
only. Terrorism.