77th Mission: Ethereals in Montana
Captain Jeff Nights II looks out the window of the Skyranger as it makes its way down to the farmlands of rural Montana. He does not like what he sees: night and a sea of dark clouds below him. The ASIA COM Skyranger raced against darkness to assault the small, Ethereal-piloted scout that crash-landed here, but darkness won. Not only that, but a nasty storm front has moved in, and we can expect cold, hard rain to further complicate the situation. Rather than have the men fly back 10 hours and do the whole trip over again, USA COM gave the order to attack.
Humm. It’s October 13. It’s dark. It’s raining. We’re going up against Ethereals.
The omens are not good.
Our troops today:
Left Side:
1. Alf III (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
2. Render II (Blaster Launcher, Power Suit)
3. Travis III (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
4. Jeff Nights II (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
5. Danny Van Halen (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
Right Side:
1. Glengoyne (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
2. Thomkal II (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
3. Rich (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
4. 3ric IV (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
5. Jeeber D (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
The men scan the dark wetness outside as the Skyranger drops the final 200 meters to the battlefield below. Between the rain, the turbulence, and the darkness, we have a hard time making out much of anything. Radar shows we’re coming down on the east side of the battlefield. We can see some shacks directly out in front of where we’ll exit the Skyranger. Looks like fields to our left. There appears to be some kind of two-story building right at the nose of the craft. Other than that, we can’t see jack.
The Skyranger drops the final meters and slams to the ground. The men bounce violently in the back of the Skyranger. Before we get settled, the gate drops away into the darkness…
Alarms! We can just make out the gold cloak of an Ethereal, in a field, about 20 yards in front of us, and slightly to the left. We run our tank down the ramp and into the rain. Glengoyne and Thomkal II follow quickly behind it, but hold at the edge of the ramp. Our tank reaches the bottom, spins…
Another Ethereal, about 20 yards away, in a field off to the left of the Skyranger’s nose! Glengoyne drops to a knee at the edge of the Skyranger ramp, and lines up the first Ethereal. His heavy plasma barks green fire, and tracers tear off towards the field…
Bingo! The Ethereal screams and falls to the wet ground with a splash! Nice shot! Almost at the same time, Thomkal II exits the Skyranger, jumps left, rolls, and comes up firing at the second Ethereal. Shots race toward the enemy, who was caught unawares by the speed of Thomkal’s movement. A plasma blast tears through the creature. It screams and drops! Yes! Alf III exits the Skyranger and takes up a firing position by the right landing gear. X-COM 2, Aliens 0.
Suddenly, we hear some kind of rocket go off, and the front of the Skyranger is engulfed in a large explosion. Dirt goes flying and a wave of smoke rolls over Thomkal and Alf. The two men frantically look for signs of the Ethereal, but all they can see in the rain and smoke is the large two-story building at the nose of the Skyranger.
We’ll guess that our enemy lies in the building. Jeff Nights II orders the men in the Skyranger to clear a firing lane for Render, who plots a quick course to the building and lets fly with a Blaster Launcher missile from the Skyranger bay. The rocket races in a large loop then slams into the brick of the first floor wall. The entire floor erupts in a tremendous blast that sends brick, wood, and debris cartwheeling off into the rainy night. Alf III gets up and quickly advances on the ravaged structure. There! In the flames and smoke of the interior, he spots an Ethereal trying to get out, about 20 yards away! Alf drops to a knee and opens fire. Plasma blasts tear into the building and slam into the Ethereal, who screams and drops out of sight! X-COM 3, Aliens 0.
An X-COM agent advances on a destroyed house in Montana. October, 2003. X-COM Archives Photo
And that is the last alien! Another short mission! Well done, men! No casualties!
Kills: Alf III, 1; Thomkal II, 1; Glengoyne, 1.
KIA: None.
Wounded: None
Attribute Improvements: Alf III, Thomkal II, Glengoyne, Render II.
Final score: 93
Mission Notes:
Another mission in which more than half our men don’t even get out of the Skyranger. Sorry, guys!
Looks like our luck was ok after all!
Next up, EU COM hits the Supply Ship in England.