68th Mission: Spanish Scout Assault
The ASIA COM Skyranger arrives on the Iberian Peninsula as the sun is beginning to make its way over the eastern horizon. The ten men inside the craft have been flying with the edge of the night for over ten hours, and they are restless to get out and get some action. Many of the men aboard are USA vets or agents coming off wounds; let’s hope they’re not rusty.
An equipment glitch resulted in only 7 Power Suits getting loaded onto the Skyranger. Jeff Nights II, Patman II, and Fonzie II will go without any armor on today’s mission. We’ll do our best to keep them out of harm’s way.
The Skyranger begins its descent…
Our troops today:
Left Side:
1. Render II (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
2. Rich 1033 (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
3. Danny Van Halen (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
4. Qwikshot II (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
5. Jeeber D (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
Right Side:
1. Thomkal II (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
2. Jeff Nights II (Blaster Launcher)
3. Patman II (Heavy Plasma)
4. Naiwf (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
5. Fonzie II Warlord II (Heavy Plasma)
The Skyranger drops the last few hundred meters to the dimly lit battlefield below. The men aboard scan the terrain. We’ll touch down in the northwest corner of what looks like a small village: we can see a row of buildings starting from the right side of our Skyranger and running parallel with our craft. There also appear to be more buildings set back behind these. More importantly, we won’t have far to go to get to the UFO remains: it lies about 5 yards to the right of our exit. It’s a small, one-room craft, and it looks like Superman’s missile hit and the crash landing ripped it apart badly. The UFO lies to the immediate left of the village’s first buildings, a two-story house. The areas to the left of our exit and stretching out to the rear of the exit are secure terrain. With the UFO so close, we won’t have long to wait to get into some action.
The Skyranger lands, the gate falls away, and we are greeted by early morning silence. Our tank rumbles down the ramp, spins, and searches…
Nothing. Render II and Thomkal II quickly exit the Skyranger and take up positions behind the tank. The UFO, only five feet away, has its roof caved it, but the outer wall, at least on this side, is intact. Render preps a grenade and lobs it into the UFO. It goes off with a resounding crash, but we hear no alien screams.
Suddenly, shots pour down on Thomkal and Render from somewhere up high in the village! Sniper! Plasma blasts pepper the ground as Render and Thomkal frantically search for the alien. There! A flash of a plasma rifle gives him away: a Muton on top of a two-story building, about 50 yards inside the village! Render and Thomkal return fire. Shots fly back and forth. Render is the first to hit, but the Muton stays up and continues firing. Finally Thomkal II lands two hits that kill the Muton. X-COM 1, Aliens 0.
A Muton sniper lays in wait for X-COM forces.September, 2003. X-COM Photo Archives.
Render preps another grenade and tosses it into the UFO as our tank and Thomkal advance to right between the UFO and the two-story building beside it. Qwikshot II exits the Skyranger and joins Thomkal. Render’s grenade goes off with a crash, but once again we hear no alien screams. Maybe there is nothing in the UFO?
Danny Van Halen exits the Skyranger and loops up under the belly of the craft. He then heads for the side of the first two-story building. Our tank edges down the lane between the UFO and the building. Bingo! Muton still alive inside the UFO! We slide our tank back. Qwikshot II preps yet another grenade and tosses it into the UFO. Crash! The thing goes off with a roar, and this time we hear an alien scream! Qwikshot II got one!
X-COM agents close in on a Muton holed up in a demolished UFO.September, 2003. X-COM Photo Archives.
And that was the last alien? Damn. Fly ten hours, kill two Mutons, then fly ten hours back. Lots of flying for three minutes of action.
Kills: Qwikshot II, 1; Thomkal II, 1.
KIA: None.
Wounded: None.
Attribute Improvements: Render II, Thomkal II, Qwikshot II.
Final score: 38
Mission Notes:
Wimpy mission.