Europa base was the largest X-Com base in the world. Even Area 51, the first X-Com base, was not as grandiose. Europa already had installed 4 Plasma Defense Arrays, 6 living quarters, and an experimental Hyper-Wave Decoder capable of deciphering any UFO's mission parameters, and most importantly, the race of the aliens onboard. Aliens had invaded Europa 4 times, but the base's Plasma Cannons had repelled the last attempt at incursion. Each shot had hit the hostile Battlecruiser's engine pods causing the craft to fall to terra firma 200 feet away from the base. Since Commander Klaus Mederow's arrival, Europa base had enjoyed some of the highest levels of success that X-Com had ever experienced. They had successfully recovered 13 downed UFOs, 8 landed UFOs, and had repelled 2 terror attacks on London and Antwerp. Europa represented the best hope for victory over the alien intruders, and with the addition of Mederow, an apparent superhuman, the war was going better than it ever had gone before. "Skyranger-2, you are cleared to land in Hangar-1. Welcome back team 1." "Europa, this is Mederow. The alien we captured is still alive, but it is "bleeding" profusely. Alert the containment crew, and have them meet me in the Alien Lab." "Yes Sir." Mederow landed the bulky Skyranger in the Hangar. He had never flown one of these before now, but he handled it like a pro. "Ok everyone, fall out. Everyone who isn't in 100% condition report to Medlab pronto. I'm got some work to do." Mederow's squad filed out of Skyranger. Klaus carried the decapitated Ethereal over his back as he stepped out of the craft. Several scientists in containment suits approached him as he lay down the visitor. "How long has it been unconscious?" "About 40 minutes! I want to get him to containment right away. Let's go people!" Mederow watched the scientists take Ethereal Commander away down the halls of Europa. He took off his Power Suit and flung his weapons to the corner. "Somebody put that shit away for me! I've gotta get down to Containment." Mederow started off down the corridor as Colonel Sarah Evans grabbed him. "Sir, where are you off to so quickly?" "Miss Evans, if you had not heard, we captured a live Ethereal Commander. I'm going to go try to communicate with it." "Sir, here are the base's construction progress reports. We're almost ready to bring the Mind Shield online." "Good Colonel, take care of it." "Sir!" Mederow turned away from Evans and continued on his way. He arrived at the Alien Containment facility 2 minutes later. The scientists had already stopped the alien's bleeding and had sedated it. Mederow stepped closer to it and looked at it like he never had before. The Ethereal race was, on average, 6'2" tall but weighed only about 80 lbs. Obviously, they had concentrated on developing their mental abilities long ago and had forgotten about their bodies. Their limbs were severely atrophied, and their "skin" was no more than a few millimeters thick. Their heads were a different matter altogether. They almost looked human in appearance except for the lack of a nose. Their eyes were milky white with a dash of yellow in the middle. The brain was apparently responsible for about 95% of the head's weight. The amount of blood that was required to operate such an organ apparently was the cause of the body's lack of physical strength. These Ethereals hardly were seen carrying Heavy Plasmas. They mostly used their psionic abilities to wreak havoc with X-Com soldiers by causing them to turn on one another. "Doctor Wallace, what is the condition of our guest?" "His combat potential has been rendered to zero. He is no threat to anyone now." "Good, wake him up. I want to try to communicate with him." "OK Commander, but be careful. He could try to put you under his control." Doctor Wallace injected the alien with a neural stimulant, and the alien awoke. Mederow stood over him like a hawk observing his prey. He wanted to convey to the alien that he was in control. "Do you understand me? Can you communicate?" The Ethereal spoke: "You will die for this human. Free me, and you will live." "Sorry, I'm not at liberty to do that. I gather you speak English?" "Yes, I am able to verbalize your pathetically primitive language." "Well, why don't you verbalize to me what the hell you bastards are doing on our planet?" "We are here for pure scientific research." "Bullshit! If it were purely scientific, why do you launch terror attacks on civilians?" "Terror attacks as you call them are also scientific in nature. We merely are trying to comprehend the concept of fear that most of you humans display so easily." "Well you won't see me displaying any fear towards you. Now, I want some answers, the real ones."

Colonel Evans walked through the Europan Passageways and arrived at the Mind Shield facility. "Captain Harris, report." "Ma'am, we are ready to engage the Mind Shield. If this works, we should initially feel a slight headache, but that will subside over a few minutes. It's due to our brains getting used to the lack of outside psionic energy. We don't usually notice it when it's there, but when it goes away, it hurts for awhile; or at least that's what our scientists tell me. Since the aliens detect us by flying overhead and listening to our thoughts, this base and everyone in it will virtually disappear to them. We're buried deep in the ground, and the surface is covered in dense foliage. We should not have to worry about the aliens finding us again." "Well then, let's do it." Harris punched in a few commands to the computer console at the base of the grand Mind Shield device. The machine was based on alien technology that was derived from the same technology that was used to construct the Hyper-Wave Decoder. A few seconds passed, and all was silent. Sarah looked up at the giant coils as they began to vibrate and pulse in color. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her head, but it went away after a few seconds. "Captain Harris, was it successful?" "Yes Ma'am, it was." "Alright! Inform Commander Thompson at Area 51. These devices will prove to be very beneficial to X-Com."

"Well, speak up! I want to know why you're really here." Mederow felt a sharp pain in his head for a brief moment, and then it subsided." He shook his head a little and continued to look down at the alien. The Ethereal started to shake violently. "Wallace, what's going on here?" "I don't know Sir. His vital signs are stable." The Ethereal then stopped abruptly. He looked up to Mederow. "Thank you." "Thank me? For what?" "For freeing me from the Master." "The Master?" "Yes, the Master controls all his minions by using the Psi Implant buried in our brains." "So, you're speaking now on your own free will?" "I am." "Can you tell me what you and the other aliens are doing here now?" "I am a member of an ancient race that you call Ethereals. The other "aliens" you speak of call us "The Old Ones". Our planet was overrun by the Greys 20 years ago." "The Greys? Oh, you mean the Sectoids." "Sectoids? Ah, yes. They came to our planet in their Battlecruisers in a similar manner that we're doing to you now. They overwhelmed our defenses primarily because our technology was based on Psionics. The Sectoids also are psionics, and their ability is similar to our own. With our defenses overrun, our society fell, and we were conquered. After our race was assimilated, we and the Greys journeyed from planet to planet. We conquered the Mutons, the Snakemen, and countless other races. Please believe me when I tell you that we ARE NOT a hostile species. We are a peace-loving people just as all the other conquered races are. Some, like the Floaters, have been physically altered to provide for more efficient warriors." "Can you help us to defeat the Master?" "Yes. But there is only one way, and it is almost impossible. You must fly out of your atmosphere and go to the planet you call Mars. On Mars, you must find the entrance to the underground city where millions of aliens reside. Once there, you must find and destroy the Psionic Amplifier that the Master uses to control his armies. Once the Amplifier is destroyed, the rest of the aliens will wake up from their deep sleep and regain the control of their bodies." "Will they attack us without the Master's control?" "No, they will not. But they will most definitely be thankful to you and your race and will also request that you transfer them back to their home planets. "That sounds fun. But, we don't currently have any vessels that could make the trip to Mars, or for that matter, to another Solar System." "I'm sorry Me-de-row, but there is another concern. The Master has hundreds of vessels in orbit around Mars. They will attempt to destroy any vessel that tries to make a landing there." "I knew there was a catch." "To get past them, you will need a Star Fleet of spacegoing vessels similar to what the Ramikian race used to repel our attempt to assimilate them into our unity." "Again, we are barely a spacegoing race." "I will help you to design your fleet and give you manufacturing techniques and new technologies in this effort. You are a most resilient race. I know that you can help me to free my people and the other races which have been collected." "That sounds….great. But what exactly made you change your mind? Before, you were ready to kill me." "The link to the Master has been severed." "Oh really? Interesting."

"Evans to Mederow!" "Go ahead Colonel." "We have successfully activated the Mind Shield. The aliens should not be able to attack us again." "Colonel, am I correct in assuming that the Mind Shield blocks the aliens from reading our thoughts?" "Yes Sir, the final report is sitting on your desk for your inspection." "Good job Colonel Evans, Mederow out." "So, I guess we now know how you became so bright and cheery so fast." "Dr. Wallace, I want you and your group to sew some legs back onto our Ethereal guest." "Yes Sir, we'll go down to storage and take some legs off a dead ethereal." "Me-de-row, if I leave this facility, the Master will regain control of me, and he will know what I have told you. They will launch a final attack on you before your fleet is ready, and you most likely will be destroyed. He will not bother to assimilate your race since you know so much about him and what he does. The Master already knows that he has lost contact with me, but he will not assume that I have told you anything. This mind shield technology is unknown to us. He will assume that I am dead. His ego is too large to even consider that his Psi Emitter can somehow be stopped." "Oh, that's good….I guess. Well, we will need you to leave this base someday." "You could remove the implant in my brain. I can show you how to do it safely." "Good, Wallace, I want you to take extra special care of our guest." "Understood Sir." "By the way, do you have a name? Calling you Ethereal Commander is a bit….tedious." "My name is Koras Kimall. You may call me Koras." "Well, Koras, it's a pleasure to meet you. You may call me Klaus." Mederow left Alien Containment and headed for Ops. He had a lot to tell Commander Thompson.