5 hours earlier….. "Warning, warning, UFO detected. 700 miles due North of Congo base. Radar shows X-Com craft Lightning-1 engaging UFO in battle." Klaus Mederow jumped out of bed and found a familiar red light. It was early that morning at Europa. Klaus was not expected on active duty yet for another 2 hours, but he felt he had better get ready for whatever presented itself. This was only the third day here at Europa. He was just getting used to the base and is new job as Commander. The X-Com soldiers under his command all wondered why C.O. felt that making a rookie a base commander was a good idea. They did not exactly trust him with their lives yet. Of course, Klaus was only a rookie when it came to fighting aliens. Actually, he was a Squaddie since he helped kill some Sectoid intruders at Area 51 before he came here, and his military experience helped out a lot with everyone's opinion of him. His biorhythm helped too. Preliminary tests showed that Klaus was naturally telepathic. This would be a great advantage to him and his squad when fighting aliens who employed the use of Psionic attacks. Klaus got dressed in his command fatigue and left Living Quarters-2. The door to Operations opened, and Mederow stepped into the room. "Officer on deck!" The four soldiers on duty all saluted him. He saluted back at them. "Report. We're picking up a general distress signal from Lightning-1." "Has the UFO shot her down?" "No Sir. They shot it down." Mederow looked stunned. "The radar scans showed this UFO to be Battlecruiser class, did it not?" "Yes sir." "You mean to tell me a Lightning shot down that behemoth with 1 plasma cannon?" "It looks that way Sir." "Well, someone's gonna get promoted. Who is scrambling for the salvage operation?" "Congo base reports that they have all their crews out on downed alien scouts in South Africa. We're the closest ones to the crash site." "What terrain will we be dealing with?" "Desert, 112 degrees Fahrenheit, Sunny, no wind." "So much for a surprise attack. Assemble Squad 1. I want anyone who doesn't have a high telepathy rating to stay home on this one. Something tells me these aliens are the one who mess with your head." "Sir." Mederow left Operations and headed straight for the Armory. His squad was already there, minus 5 members. "So, it's just us 7? Captain Veronin, what are these people's telepathy numbers?" "Sir, we are all rated as Highly Resistive; we're all in the 90's." "Impressive. OK, I want everyone to wear their Personal Armor. These two new suits are for Captain Veronin and me. The techies are calling them Power Suits. They're supposed to be able to completely deflect anything up to a Heavy Plasma, and even then, it'll take a few of those hits to take us out of combat. We'll take point. Annica, Lyudmila, Victor, you're with Mikhail. Paul and Beth, with me. Each of you take a Heavy Laser and a laser pistol. I'll take a high explosive, and the rest of you take 2 grenades each. Well, come on people, the aliens are expecting us. Let's move out! Let's go, let's go, let's go! Move out!" The squad ran out of the armory and into Hangar-1. "Captain Dawson, where is my Lightning? You told me it would be ready today." "Sorry Commander, engineering reports that Lighting-3 will not be completed until late tonight. You'll have to take Skyranger-2." Mederow thought to himself, "I'll have to hire some more engineers when I get back. We gotta have the newest technologies to fight these aliens." "OK people, standard combat seating, you know the drill", said Veronin. "Stow those weapons away, and prepare for liftoff." "Captain, you have the helm this time. Since we had to leave behind your co-pilot, I'll assist you. I am flight certified." "Well take a seat Sir, and hold on to your hat, cause we're on an express elevator to heaven, going up!" Skyranger-2 lifted off vertically, and engaged its engines. Its maximum velocity was only 760 knots, so it took them 1.5 hours to reach the crash site. The flyby revealed that the Alien Battlecruiser had sustained damage to an engine and to their bridge and some other smaller systems. "Sir, it looks like 3 of their engines made it through the crash. I think the reason why they went down is because their bridge got smashed." "I wonder how a Lightning did damage to the top of the ship. Whatever they did, it worked. Set us down just over that sand dune." "Aye Sir." "Everyone prepare for landing." The large transport landed softly in the sand. Skyranger was the biggest troopship in the world with Vertical Take off and Landing capability. X-Com was leasing it from Russia, and that was another reason why Mederow wanted his Lightning. Skyrangers cost X-Com $500,000 dollars each. That extra money each month would make a lot of alien-tech goodies for X-Com use. "OK soldiers, I want you to focus on only the job at hand. Clear your mind of every other thought. Your job is to kill any aliens you see. If you get a good shot at one of them, aim for their arms and legs. We could use them more alive than dead, but DON'T TAKE CHANCES. Anyone who is feeling any fear whatsoever right now, speak up, and I will knock you out myself right now. We don't need you turning on us." "Sir, how can you be so sure we're dealing with Psi Attackers?" "I don't know. I just feel it. OK, ready your weapons. Captain Veronin, open the hatch!" The back door of Skyranger hissed open, and X-Com jumped out onto the hot sand. Only the very top of the Alien ship was visible. "Take position on this ridge. Let's have a look." "Sir, I see 4 aliens staring straight at us. They're wearing some sort of orange clothing." "Ethereals?" "Damn. I knew it. I hear them in my head. They're trying to break down my mental defenses. Everyone, think of the act of killing them. Let them see you blowing off their heads. Block out anything they try to show you. If they start to slip into your mind, inject yourself with the sedative in your suit." "Understood Sir!" "OK, each of you with grenades, prime them for 6 second delayed detonation. Throw them behind the aliens. We want them to come towards us." Annica, Lyudmila, Victor, Paul, and Beth tossed their grenades at the Ethereal soldiers. One of them blew up too early and exploded in midair. One of the Ethereals opened fire on the explosion. The other 3 grenades landed behind them. They scrambled toward X-Com to get away from the blast. "Hold, hold, fire! Aim for their heads!" The troopers started squeezing off heavy laser blasts. Many of the shot missed, but somehow they managed to down all the ethereals. The grenades went off and scattered their alien body parts all over the dunes. "OK people, the rest of the aliens should be inside the UFO. These aliens are the officers: Navigators, Engineers, Leaders, and hopefully, a Commander. Mikhail, take point. I'm right behind you. The rest of you follow us. Head for that elevator type structure in the center of the propulsion unit array." Veronin walked to the front of the alien elevator and started pushing buttons. "Sir, I hear them! They're getting in my head!" Mederow took the butt of his heavy laser and knocked out Victor. "Anyone else having a problem?" "No Sir!" "Good. Captain Veronin. Can you figure out how to open that thing?" "I think so Commander. No, no, OK! Got it!" "The door squealed open and alien atmosphere rushed out. Behind the cloud dust and sand stood 2 Ethereals. They raised their Plasma Rifles and pounded Veronin all the way back behind Beth. Mederow and Annica Johnson raised their Lasers in response and drilled the Ethereals almost point blank. They both cried out in fear and agony. "Damnit, Mikhail, report!" "I….uh….I'm ok. Got a little cinged, but I'm ok." "Beth, take Victor and Captain Veronin back to the Skyranger, and stay there until we take care of the rest of these bastards." "The rest of us will go upstairs and see who's home." Klaus opened the elevator door again, and this time the coast was clear. X-Com stepped into the strange, alien structure and was immediately transported up to level two. "Two long hallways bisecting each other. No aliens in sight sir. Paul and Lyudmila, you search this level. Annica and I will take level 3." "Yes Sir." Klaus and Annica rose to level 3, and saw an alien standing with his back turned to them. Klaus pointed his weapon at the Ethereal's "kneecaps" and blasted him, leaving two stubs. "Ahhhh!", cried the stunned alien. He dropped some sort of missile launcher in the process. Klaus leaned down and bashed him with his Laser. "Looks like we got one alive everyone, kill the rest." "Understood!" "Klaus hears laser blasts downstairs and smiles. "Annica, take that door. I'll take this one." Klaus's door opened and there stood an alien without any weapon. It tried to get into Mederow's head. Klaus blocked out the alien's Psi Attack, and sent it back to him…highly amplified. Green blood oozed out of the Ethereal's nose and eye sockets, and his head exploded onto Mederow's Power Suit. The lifeless body fell to the ground made of alien alloys, and the sound thudded throughout level 3. Klaus jumped out of the elevator room and saw 2 more aliens, one right after another. He fired! One shot ripped a hole through both of their weak bodies, and they too fell to the ground. He heard Annica fire a shot from just a few feet away, and he heard another dull thud as her kill landed on the ground. "X-Com, sound off!" Paul and Lyudmila sounded off. Paul had taken a plasma in the chest, but he was not seriously hurt. His armor had absorbed much of the blast. Everyone else was fine. Klaus picked up the live Ethereal he had decapitated and carried him back to Skyranger. "It looks like we got ourselves a storyteller. This one's got a lot of information in his mind. I'd bet he's a commander. Maybe he'll "help" us to shed some light on the nature of this whole alien war." "I sure do hope so Sir", said Veronin. "I don't think I can take many more shots like those." Klaus smiled at Veronin. "Captain, do you feel up to being MY co-pilot?" "I think I can manage Sir." "OK, alert Europa of our situation. Tell them they can begin clean-up procedures. We have to get this alien bastard home before he bleeds to death." "Sir, permission to kick the shit out of him?" "Sure, each of you get 1 kick each, but nothing in the head. Just let him know who's boss." "Aye." The Skyranger lifted off as Beth and Annica kicked the Ethereal Commander in the butt. Klaus could feel the creature's fear, and he knew at that moment that the Aliens could be defeated. He knew that X-Com and the world would triumph someday. He simply hoped that he would be there, personally, to see the last star fall.