All was quiet at Area 51. It had just turned midnight, and Commander Thompson was asleep in his rather luxurious bed. Luxurious had a different meaning when X-Com was concerned. The only difference between his bed and the standard Living Quarters bed was an electric blanket and, of course, privacy. The Commander of X-Com needed to be alone sometimes to contemplate the war with the alien invaders. He knew that he would ultimately be responsible for the future of humanity. Thompson had never imagined this in his wildest dreams. When he was growing up in Southern Indiana, he spent most of his days playing basketball and watching TV. Ironically, his favorite movies were science-fiction stories. The story which he was currently living wasn't anything like the old movies he liked as a child. This one might have a bad ending. This one was real.

Thompson woke to the sound of the computer's voice. Area 51 had the first artificial intelligence computer system in the world. The computer also had a name: Mother. It was named after one of Thompson's favorite sci-fi movies of all time, Alien. While the Mother in the movie was extremely low-tech, it had a sense of omnipotent knowledge to it. This computer had this trait as well. Area 51's Mother knew everything that went on at Area 51 and everything that was going on in the world. She seemed to be attached emotionally to Thompson, and although the soldiers and officers poked fun at Thompson for having a "relationship" with Mother, he did not mind it. After all, he was the Commander and was personally responsible for the future of humanity. A little jeering didn't bother him.

"David, I have someone who is requesting to talk to you." "Someone? Who is it. This better be good, I was dreaming about this girl that…". Mother interrupted: "Girl? You were dreaming about a girl?" "Uhhh, yeah. Is there a problem?" "No. Of course not. Why would there be a problem?" Thompson looked down at the floor and said quietly to himself "I've gotta get the programmers to fix your emotion bug." "I heard that Commander Thompson." "Enough. Put whoever it is on my viewer." Colonel Klaus Mederow appeared on his screen looking quite excited. "Commander." "Well Colonel Mederow, how are things at Europa?" "They've taken a new turn." "Explain." "My team and I have just captured a live Ethereal Commander." Thompson raised an eyebrow and stood up out of his bed. "What have you learned? Could you communicate with it like we thought you could?" "You could say that Commander. Thanks to Colonel Sarah Evans, we were able to communicate with him in a way that we didn't expect. Colonel Evans engaged our Mind Shield, and it has had an unexpected side effect. Our Ethereal Commander's name is Koras Kimall." "He has a name?" "Indeed Sir. And he also told me some more interesting things. You should have an encrypted report in your computer system now. All pertinent information is there for your eyes only. I don't want this information to get out. The aliens may have figured out how to monitor our voice transmissions." "Thank you Colonel, I'll view it immediately and get back with you." "Understood Sir, Mederow out." "Mother, open the file about which the Colonel spoke." "Yes Commander, here it is." "Mother, this file stays on my terminal only. Do not copy it to any other one in this base or any other base until I decide what to do." "Yes Commander, I understand." Thompson began to read the report. His mouth wide open and his eyes not believing what they were reading, he almost fell to the floor. "This is it!", he said. "I need to gather all my top people here in preparation for the Martian assault." He then heard the general quarters alarm.

"Warning, warning, Area 51 is under attack." "Mother, report." "Commander, I'm sorry to report this, but the aliens have landed 4 Battlecruisers right outside our perimeter. I estimate that there will be 200 aliens trying to gain access to our base. Sir! The UFO's have taken off. I believe their attack force has deployed and is on their way here." "200 aliens….We only have 50 soldiers here." "Sorry Commander, we only have 30. 20 of them are on assignment." "Mother, will that be enough to repel this attack?" "Projections show that the aliens will lose 70 soldiers while we will all be killed." "Damn. Mother, sound the evacuation alarm. We're leaving. "Commander, before you go, will you please download me onto a DVD? I can always be reinstalled into a machine of this type." "Of course Mother. I'll just copy you onto here and keep you with me until we get another base." "Thank you." "Now, let me address the entire base." "Base channel open Sir." "Attention, this is Commander David Thompson. The alarm you hear is due to the 200 alien soldiers who will be knocking on our door in minutes. I am ordering all X-Com personnel to leave this base via the Skyranger and the Lightning. Pilots, take your Firestorms to Columbo base in Brazil. Captain Krause, bring your team to the Lightning. I'll meet you there. Everyone else, get out on the Skyranger and go to Columbo as well. That is all." "Mother, inform our squad that is out not to return to Area 51 because it will not be there. Tell them to go to the nearest base, and await further orders." "Yes Sir." "Mother, initiate base auto-destruct on 2 minute countdown authorization Thompson 0-0-0 Destruct 0." "Yes Sir, I'll see you soon." "Goodbye for now Mother." The countdown started and Thompson made his way to the Lightning Hangar. He entered the bay and locked the doors behind him just as he heard some alien voices nearing him. Krause and the other 18 X-Com agents were there, some of them with armor, some of them with weapons. "Everyone, take all you can carry. We've got to get out of here." Thompson heard the roar of the Skyranger's engines as it took off. "Good, that just leaves us." Thompson then heard some explosions outside the Hangar bay doors. "Everyone, onto the Lightning. Krause, I'll need you at the helm." "Yes Commander." "Move it out! Let's go!" The soldiers all climbed into Lightning as Mother reported that 30 seconds were left until base detonation. The doors to the Hangar Bays burst open as multiple alien grenades exploded in a rage of steel and plastic. Dozens of Sectoid soldiers fell through the opening and opened fire on Lightning. "Damnit! Take off now Krause. Everyone sit down." "Yes Sir." Lightning blasted off with a barrage of heavy plasma bolts hitting its reinforced hull made of neosteel and plated with Alien Alloys. "Course is set Mr. Krause, full ahead to Europa." "We're on our way!" Lightning zoomed off into the night. Back at Area 51, the aliens looked around at themselves. The Master spoke to the Sectoid Leader. "Report my subject." "Master, X-Com has left this base. There is only one voice speaking at the moment." "Get closer to the voice, I cannot understand it." Sectoid Leader walked over to one of Mother's computer terminals. "Five, four, three, two, one." Sectoid Leader's body was incinerated as the nuclear reactor that powered Area 51 exploded deep underground. The Master screamed out as he knew 200 of his most elite Sectoids had just been neutralized. He yelled in his own language: "RI-CHAUGEY!!!!" Translated: "X-COM!!!!" Thompson looked on his viewscreen as Lightning made its way to Europa. He saw a cloud emerge from the ground over where Area 51 used to be. Luckily, it was in the desert and not many people, if anyone, would see the explosion. He knew that X-Com could not afford to lose many more bases like that, no matter how many Sectoids he killed in the process. However, he knew from Mederow's report that the Aliens would be in for a surprise. For the first time, there was a solid course of action against the aliens. All he had to do was get to Europa, implement the plan, and hope it would be enough against the Alien invaders.