Europa base was absolutely buzzing. Countless X-Com craft were landing in the Hangars, and it was becoming quite cramped. X-Com had never orchestrated such a huge endeavor. Just a few months ago, each X-Com base pretty much was on its own. No base would help defend another base from alien attack. It's not that they didn't want to help their sister bases. It was simply the fact that they couldn't. Each base had to be as self-sufficient as possible. Now that was all behind them. The men and women of X-Com were now united in their common goal. For the first time, a real objective was at the top of their mission briefings. No more "Recover alien craft for possible research and raw material value" or "Defend local citizens from alien incursion". Those type of missions led no where. They only served to prolong X-Com, and humanity's inevitable defeat. Now, the mission objective read "Construct Moon Base and orbital space station, build space attack fleet, destroy alien armada, destroy Psionic Amplifier." That was enough to get anyone excited. No matter how small of a chance they had to pull those orders off, it still represented victory. If they all worked hard enough, they would achieve it.

Thompson entered Hangar-1 and saw 10 X-Com transport craft, Skyrangers and Lightning alike. "It's a good thing that Colonel Mederow ordered these Hangars to be enlarged, or the locals would be seeing quite a show right now. We would have to park our craft out in the forest. I can just see some German hunters out stalking their prey when they come upon a landed Lightning and a few dozen soldiers unloading heavy plasmas and alien grenades." Thompson smiled. "The looks on their faces alone…." "Sir, the last transport has arrived. You said you wanted to be informed." "Thank you Captain Krause. We'll be getting underway shortly. Give me the loudspeaker." Krause handed Thompson the large bullhorn with the X-Com logo stamped onto it. Of course, if they were to succeed on this mission, then all this stuff would have to be sold. The official X-Com seal would make everything worth a lot more. "OK, everyone. Stop what you're doing, and listen to me. What we need now from all of you is to drop what you are doing and go to the auditorium. We have someone who wants to wish us good luck." The few hundred or so X-Com personnel who heard Thompson started spreading the word, and before long, everyone in the entire base was sitting down in a rather uncomfortable chair in the Auditorium. This facility was used to teach new recruits about X-Com weaponry and textbook battle techniques. There was a huge, flat panel screen behind the large stage at the back of the large room. Thompson walked out onto the stage. "Uhhh, is this thing on Captain Krause?" "Go ahead Sir." "Ok, now, that we're all here, our guest speaker would like to tell you a few things. Mederow and Kimall were sitting together in the front row. "Who is this guest speaker Klaus? We have to be getting on with our mission. Time is of the utmost importance to both our peoples." "I have no idea Koras. But this won't take too long. We'll be launching shortly." A huge face of a man they all knew appeared on the viewscreen. It was President Bill Clinton of the United States of America. Of course, the whole situation with the intern and other matters were all fabricated in the attempt to fool the aliens into a false sense of security. After all, if the most powerful nation on Earth was in political turmoil, that would spell out an easier time of conquering the entire planet for the aliens. This had the effect of inflating the alien's already huge ego, and this impending attack would come to be all the more shocking.

"Hello friends. It's good to see you all. Now, I know that I'm not all you people's commander in chief, but I just wanted to tell you that the American people will be told of everything that has gone on once your mission is completed successfully. If you fail, then they'll all know about it anyway. But, I have the highest confidence in Commander Thompson's abilities to lead you into battle and pull out one for the home team. The time has come to let the people of this planet know that they're not alone and that certain alien beings wish for to enslave them or kill them. Only as a united planet will we be able to defend ourselves against the countless hostile aliens who undoubtedly plan on attacking us sometime in the future. That is why I'm counting on all of you to give the best you have and kick these aliens back to their own solar system. The entire planet is indebted to you: the brave men and women of X-Com. Well, that's it. I just really wanted to let you know that I didn't really have an improper relationship with that woman. I'm going to say that again. I did not…have…an…improper…relationship…with…that…woman." Clinton then smiled really big and gave them all the big "thumbs up".

The viewscreen dimmed and many of the audience members were chuckling a bit. "Ok, ok, enough. We all now know that, if we succeed, humanity will become united together in their common goal of defense of Earth. Maybe next time we won't have to make a last ditch, foolhardy effort to stop the alien invaders." Koras stood up. "Who is that woman he kept referring to? When I was under the control of the Master, he never informed us of an intern or weakened USA." Everyone in the audience broke out laughing. "I guess that whole mess with Clinton and the improper relationship was all for nothing if the aliens didn't even care about it. Ha ha ha!" Thompson just looked down and frowned. "OK PEOPLE!!! Listen up! Let's get back to our mission. Concentrate now. Refocus. Well, I want all of your gear stowed away aboard your designated transport vessel within the hour. We are leaving. Move it out!" The whole audience exited and headed for the transport bay.

Captain Krause was in charge of all the "luggage". This was a very important job. Everything they took with them would be used to construct the initial base on the moon. If he forgot ANYTHING, then they would be up a creek without a paddle. Krause walked into the first transport. "Weapons, check. Armors, check. Communication gear, check. Food, check." He grabbed some food paste from the gigantic food container. "Whoa, that tastes good. What is it." Krause read the label: BACON AND EGGS. "At least the food will be good on the moon. Ok, water, check. Building materials, check. Power units, check. Well, that's all here." Krause walked over to the other craft and found everything to be in proper order. He tapped a comm panel on one of the transports. "Commander Thompson, this is Captain Krause. All gear has been stowed away. We can now begin boarding in the crew compartments." "Understood, thank you Captain." Thompson walked to the center of the room and addressed everyone. They looked somewhat unsure. None of them had ever been in space before. It would be better than what the astronauts experienced since Koras Kimall had given them the design for shipwide artificial gravity, but they all knew what was awaiting them: three months of hard, backbreaking work, and then a showdown at the Martian Corral. Thompson got his X-Com bullhorn and addressed them. "Ahhh, absolutely badasses. You all look like you could take on the Master by yourself. Good, that's the way I want it. Captain Krause has handed out your seating assignments. I want you all to get aboard your transport vessel and stay there until we land on the Moon. Move it out people!" Each Transport Vessel held around 1000 people. Koras Kimall had given them this new design, and it was indeed spectacular. 10 alien anti-matter engines powered the ships. This allowed them to travel 1/1000th the speed of light. They would be on the moon in a matter of hours. The transports carried all the raw materials needed to setup a base and mining operation on the moon to support an orbiting space station and a large battlefleet. They were indeed the greatest machines ever build by the hand of man.

The last X-Com soldier entered the transport, and Thompson closed the hatch. The computer began countdown from 20. "T-minus 20 seconds, 19, 18", etc. The huge hangar bay doors opened and let the moonlight shine down on them. Tatyana and Uta had been given the helm of one of the vessels. "Uta, would you take a look at that?" "It's beautiful. You know we'll be landing there in no time." "Yeah, I always wanted to go there. I always wanted to see the Earth rise over the lunar horizon." Tatyana opened a channel to the crew compartment and let them all hear the computer countdown. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Liftoff." Tatyana pulled back on her terminal and the craft's mighty engines lifted it into a calm hover over Europa base. The other craft, piloted by Kimall and Mederow, also was hovering nearby. Kimall looked over to Uta, and she waved at him vigorously. "Hi Mr. Alien man, see you on the Moon!" Koras looked at her weirdly. "Klaus, there is some silly female over there flying the other transport. She is waving at me vigorously." "Don't worry about it. Females are kooky like that sometimes. It's normal." "If you say so my friend." Thompson opened a comm channel to both the ship's helms. "Well, if you flyboys and flygirls don't see any problems, then take us up." "Roger, we're on our way!!!" The two transports blasted off into the night sky as the hangar doors at Europa closed. Seconds later, they were in space on a direct course for the Moon. Tatyana looked up again at the moon and was speechless. For the first time in her life, she had nothing to say, and a solitary tear rolled down her cheek. It was simply breathtaking.