To the reader:
The information in this short story may not be entirely accurate, like when I explain the history of X-Com. The reason it is that way is because this was actually a school project, and was inteded for instructors who have no idea what X-Com is.

The Ambush
By Jason Henley

Dim the lights. The only visible light now is a small desk lamp. Outside, the stars shine at a steady glow. You are enclosed in a blanket of warmth and comfort. All the stresses of the world have left your mind. You relax quietly...

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It was a cold night. Miles sat in the automated taxi as it sped towards a large warehouse owned by a mysterious organization. The stars above shone brightly and magnificently. Although the taxi was controlled by a computer, the city code 101, human interaction, required a person at the wheel. The driver was almost asleep. His feet rested quietly on top of the dashboard. Miles, with his eyes wide open, was uneasy of the choice he had made to join this highly secretive organization. Miles wanted to talk to the driver, but seeing that the driver was sleeping, Miles decided he should not disturb him, so he remained silent.
He thought of Sally, his one lost love. He thought how she had crushed his heart and left him without a job. That was what drove him to make the decision. He had no other choice. Miles once respected Sally, but now, he hated her. Miles was a very intelligent person, and very skillful. However, he always rated himself lower than what he really was. He dropped out of high school, and always regretted it. If he had stayed on track, he would be leading a normal life like everyone else. Now he was on his way to a worse life than he could imagine.
The steady hum of the engine put Miles into a trance. He was tired, but at the same time, excited. The taxi neared the warehouse. The magnificent lights streamed from the windows of the giant warehouse. It was an amazing contrast to the blackness of the night sky. Street lights around the vehicle shined and lights from the other buildings began to color the sky. It reminded Miles of the Aurora Borealis which he had visited in the arctic lands. He was pulled back into reality when the arches of the warehouse swooshed by the vehicle, rocking it and making a clanking noise. Then down they went into the underground parking lot of the warehouse.
Reaching a parking space, the taxi lurched to a stop, and Miles exited slowly, carrying nothing in his hands.
"So I say, welcome, uh...," a tall dark man stuttered. There was a short pause, then, "Miles. That’s your name, correct?" he said to Miles under his breath.
Sure, they don’t even know my name, thought Miles. Now I understand why they accepted my application. I’m not the youngest of my family, I have no wife, and no children. I’m a loser. I’m expendable. "Let’s go," the man told Miles. They walked together to a gravity lift. Miles was fascinated by them. Gravity lifts were much more efficient than conventional elevators. They used a large bean of anti-gravity energy to propel people up and down, and no elevator room was required. That solved Miles’ claustrophobia problems. After going up a few levels, Miles and the man who greeted him came into a large, open area with ramps and heavy steel doors. The room was cluttered with boxes and raw materials. The man lead Miles through a large, metallic door. On the other side, the entrance to the main base of operations lay. A large sign was on the door, it read: X-Com Extraterrestrial Combat Unit.
In the next hours, Miles was given the shortest briefing in history. In 1998, aliens were sighted in the USA. The national government was concerned about the aliens’ intentions, and ordered a small investigation project. Soon, countries around the world were doing the same because of recent UFO sightings in their major cities. Realizing that no single investigation would find out about these incursions, the United Nations conversed and set up a worldwide investigation project funded by all countries. This organization known as X-Inv, standing for Extraterrestrial Investigation, was highly secretive to ensure that the public wouldn’t panic. X-Inv soon realized that the aliens were hostile, and shifted their forces from research to attack, becoming X-Com (Extraterrestrial Combat Unit). The battle between the aliens and Earth soon reached the aliens’ main base on Mars. The base was destroyed. 50 years of piece reigned worldwide. Then, alien activity was suspected in Earth’s Oceans after a fleet of supply and cargo ships were sunk while en route to Europe. X-Com was reborn and was lead to a final battle in a lost, buried city in the Pacific Ocean. Recently, strange occurrences in the city of Mega-Primus forced the government to reinstate X-Com once more. Now Miles would have his chance at the aliens . X-Com would provide food, shelter, and combat training for him. It sounded simple enough to Miles.
After the 1:00 AM briefing, Miles went immediately to the squad living quarters. Much to his surprise, all the members of his squad were wide awake. They had a creepy look to them, and the feeling was contagious. All of them looked the same, except for a Japanese man. He had several stripes on his shoulder, indicating that he was the captain. He glared at Miles when he walked in. His hair was black with knots and twists in it, hanging down to his eyes. The man’s head was tilted downwards, and his eyes focused on one thing, Miles. Miles stopped in his tracks, did this man hate him for no apparent reason? After a long pause, Miles looking puzzled and staring back at the Japanese man, Miles finally continued to walk to his bed and lay down. The Captain watched Miles closely. Then, it seemed the color was put back into everyone’s faces. They all began to laugh!
"Ah, so this is the famous Miles everyone’s been talking about," the Captain announced without a trace of a Japanese accent.
"Don’t worry buddy, it’s ‘initiation’! Hahahaha!!" another soldier called out.
"Yeah, he’s just testing your mental strength. If ya’ scurry away like a coward, he whips yer butt into shape, if ya’ like me, yer gonna advance fast!" the soldier showed off the stripes on his shoulder, indicating colonel, higher than captain. Another man chuckled, and after a while, all the soldiers had settled down.
So Miles had gotten the first taste of his crew. There were about 13 altogether including himself, and Miles was immediately accepted into the group. He and the others stayed up longer cracking jokes and getting to know each other. His mind was cleared of worries about the organization, and thoughts of Sally had left for the first time in weeks . Everyone was enjoying themselves, but a loud shrieking noise was soon heard outside. The living quarters were located far below the ground, but the sound was penetrating and caught Miles’ full attention.
"Oh boy, here we go again," mumbled Yatsu, the Japanese Captain.
"What IS that?!" yelled Miles.
"Eh, it’s another U-F-O!!! That sound is a dimension gate opening!!! It sounds like it’s pretty close!!! We’re gonna do some alien investigations soon!!" Yatsu immediately responded. Everyone had to shout at the top of their lunges to be heard over the high pitched noise.
"Okay crew, I know it’s late, but if it’s the humans victory, we ain’t gonna sleep!!!! Now move out!!!" ordered Jim, the Colonel.
The entire squad ran down the halls. Red lights were flashing and Miles was panic stricken, but he knew he needed to keep his sharp senses. Everything around him became a whisper, and Miles’ ears became numb because of his powerful concentration. They reached an area surrounded by high-tech looking equipment. Lethal weapons lay neatly in a row ready to be equipped. Large, heavy body suites were hung in open closets. Yatsu was to be Miles’ guide for the first mission, and ordered Miles to pick up certain weapons, equip grenades and get into the armor. Miles obeyed promptly, and found himself weighed down with bulky items.
The squad now walked at a brisk pace to the hangars. Miles saw three giant ships. They looked like rockets with wings, but they were placed horizontally, and had wheels, making it look somewhat like a normal aircraft. He could see the pilots rushing into the cockpits. The squad boarded one of the craft. The inside was pretty fancy for a rocket with wings. The seats were nicely padded, the ceiling was carpeted, and the X-Com insignia was posted on the walls. The seats were lined up by two’s. The alley between them was narrow, but large enough to fit the encumbering equipment through. The space between the rows was comfortably large, and Miles buckled up and prepared for take off.
No one said a word, but Miles was very curious about everything he was being equipped with. He took a moment to inspect his main weapon, but his attention was immediately taken off the object and focused on the hangar . The entire floor which the three ships rested on began to elevate. Then the hangar doors opened, revealing no runway! Out the window, he heard a loud explosion as the engine of the craft to his right warmed up and propelled the craft at an amazing speed. The craft didn’t need a runway, the acceleration was so great that it reached a suitable flying speed in less than a second!!!!
"Hold on Miles!!! We’re next!!!!!" Yatsu told Miles from the seat beside him. Miles put down his weapons like everyone else had, and put his head to the back of the seat, then closed his eyes. Then he heard the explosion, this time it came from beneath him, and he could feel the ship accelerate. He opened his eyes, and saw a bright red pyramid hovering above the ground to his left. There was a semi-transparent sphere enclosing it, and bolts of lighting flew from the pyramid to the inside of the sphere. It was the dimension gate! The ship accelerated more, and soon the gate was out of sight. Looking behind him, the third ship followed closely behind the ship he was on. There were cannons and sets of missile launching tubes under each wing of the craft. The city lights below him soon became a giant blur. Then Miles turned to Yatsu.
"Wow!!" Miles exclaimed, "But why are we on an interceptor, why not a transport ship?"
Yatsu answered, "It’s cheaper to put us on the same ship that shoots down the UFO, one less ship to maintain, and uses less fuel. Right now we’re going to circle around the dimension gate a few times to wait for the alien craft, then...BOOM!!" Yatsu made a giant gesture, then continued, "The dimension gate is that big pyramid."
"I know," stated Miles. Then Miles turned his attention to his weapon, "What the heck is this stuff and how do I use it?" Miles pointed to his equipment.
"Yeah, I guess we should have explained it to you, but this dimension gate appeared unexpectedly."
Miles looked down at his main weapon. It looked like a standard pistol with an oversized barrel.
"That’s your standard, run of the mill pistol," explained Yatsu, "The rookies get it first to familiarize themselves with combat, then they get the heavy stuff," Yatsu lifted a large gun with ten separate barrels on it arranged in a circle.
"Hmmmm... so I’m probably not going to be on the first line, am I."
"No, actually, you will. We run things a bit differently. You scout out the aliens, and we come behind you with the heavy stuff."
"How do I use this thing?!"
"Uh, pull the trigger..."
While they were talking, the three craft circled the dimension gate. A burst of flames came forth from the gate, and a craft emerged from the fire. It had a dull, gray, metallic colored hull and was spinning at an astonishing speed. Miles and Yatsu ceased conversing and turned their attention towards the action. Miles’ craft turned abruptly, then accelerated. Golden yellow streaks flew from the craft’s cannon to the UFO. The other two ships followed and began launching missiles. The engine and guns on the ships were silent to Miles’ ears. His fascination with the alien craft was great. The UFO flew over a nearby building, where a beam, just like the gravity lifts’ beam, shot down onto the roof of the building! Was it the X-Com warehouse? Miles looked closer. Thank god it is not, he beamed. Small dark shapes flew down the beam, but Miles could not make out their forms. Just then, the craft to his left fired a missile. It streaked across the blackness of the sky. The resplendent rocked propelled projectile lit up the face of Miles and his comrades. It hit home, and the UFO began to jet smoke off the edge. The UFO slowed, and the spinning ceased. It crashed beside the building, causing no damage to the building itself, but cracking the pavement of the road below. Cheers were heard over the radio, and all 13 squad members gave a cry of happiness. The ships on either side of Miles turned back towards the X-Com warehouse, but Miles’ ship turned toward the downed UFO...

The engine on the craft turned vertical, and the craft was lowered slowly onto the crash site. It reached the ground with a jerk and a bump, but safely landed with great accuracy. Without a word spoken, the squad exited the craft and assembled in a group.
"Okay, get into yer squads!" ordered the Colonel, "Miles, yer with Yastu." The group was arranged into three squads of three people, and the fourth squad with four people. The fourth squad would investigate the UFO and eliminate hostile alien forces, the other three squads would secure the building that the UFO had transported life forms or objects into. Miles was in the second squad with Yatsu and Arquin, a sergeant. The three squads ran in an orderly fashion towards the building, Miles followed in an orderly manner too, and soon he reached the entrance. Yatsu took the pistol Miles was carrying and shot the lock of the door.
"Miles, get to the wall," Yatsu whispered once they entered. From the layout of the building, Miles could tell that it was an office building. Yatsu handed back the pistol, and they advanced with their backs to the wall. Miles was in front with the pistol ready in his hand.
"Steady Miles, we’re behind you. You’re gonna be fine," Yatsu reassured Miles. Miles turned the corner, revealing an empty hallway. Without any words, the squad continued down the hallway. Miles came to a door. He kicked it down and stood with his gun ready to fire! There was nothing but a disheveled room with papers scattered and a small file cabinet in the office. Yatsu and Arquin were following Miles’ lead, and they rushed to the other wall, where Miles kicked down the other door. Still nothing was found.
"Easy Miles, you don’t have to kick them down. The aliens can hear, ya’ know. Do you really want to attract their attention?" argued Arquin.
"I’d rather get it over with, all this sneaking around is making me nervous!" Miles whispered. They continued. Miles turned to another hallway. This time, he jumped! There was a large creature standing in front of him! It was a large bipedal creature with blue skin and a mysterious looking gun in its hand. Before Miles could react, it lifted it’s weapon...
"God damn ye’ Miles!! Ya’ scared me!!" It was Jim. He was wearing a different type of armor. It was shiny metallic blue, "I think this level is clear, I think we should move up. "
Miles nodded, and motioned to his squad to move toward the gravity lift down the hall. Just then, he heard a loud crash on the floor above him! Miles’ nerves were too sensitive, and he panicked, firing three shots into the ceiling.
"Miles!!!!!" Arquin screamed!
"God! I’m sorry!"
Then the squad heard a roar from the above floor!
"Quick! Get to the gravity lift and head them off!" Yatsu shouted the orders, " Colonel!! We need backup!!" He shouted behind him. Miles rushed to the lift, kneeled, and pointed his gun upward.
"Miles, don’t panic. Simply toss a proximity mine up there!" Arquin advised. So Miles primed a proximity mine with a range of five feet, then tossed it up the gravity lift. It landed on the floor above them.
"Good. That mine won’t go off until it senses motion within five feet," Arquin congratulated Miles, "Now get down!" Miles, Yatsu, and Arquin waited, but neither alien nor Colonel Jim came.
"Shoot! They’re too smart. We have to go up there," Arquin complained. He then casually walked into the nearest office saying, "I’m going to find a paper weight or something so I can trigger the mine without getting my head blown up!" Miles and Yatsu stayed there, looking up the lift and shaking their heads. Miles’ eyes had already adjusted to the darkness when they were talking in the living quarters. Miles began to think about Sally again. Miles shook his head wildly, driving the thought back. That was when they heard the scream. They rushed to the office where Arquin had walked to, only to find him bleeding on the floor. Yatsu kneeled and began firing at something. Miles dropped to the floor!
"NOOOO!!!!" Miles screamed! He lay down and began firing the pistol as fast as he could pull the trigger. His shots were blind. The room was in total darkness. Streaks of purple and red flew past his head, hitting the floor beside him and making a hissing sound as it burned through. His entire body became numb, but Miles kept firing. He heard a shriek, then a thump as an alien dropped to the floor. Then he heard another shriek, this time, it came from right beside him. Miles didn’t have to turn his head to know. Yatsu was dead.
"AHHH!! HELP!!" Miles called out, but it was in vain that he called for assistance, and it seemed imminent that he should never escape. Miles rolled to his side, then flung himself around the corner out of the room, only to find a metallic blue suit.
"Thank god you’re here, Jim!!! HELP!!!" Miles rejoiced. Jim’s answer was,

"RRRROOOOAAAAARRRRRR!!!!!"
Miles found himself staring into the eyes of a monster! It had no arms, and a long, scaly neck. When it opened it’s mouth, truculent, razor sharp teeth sprang from it’s gums and dripped saliva! Miles jumped though the door to another office. There were no aliens in there. Miles slammed the door behind him, only to find his second worst enemy, the enclosed space. Miles was trapped in a tiny room, but he was trapped again by aliens. The only thing Miles could do was...pass out.

When he awoke, he was completely and utterly alone. The closet he leaped into was shredded. The door was bashed to pieces. Outside there were bodies, both alien and human. Their twisted limbs were all that he saw. Blood ran down his cheek. Miles felt a sharp pain in his right shoulder. He looked to see if it was serious injury, but it was only a gash. It was nothing compared perennial injury to his leg...
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