A Long War

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ShadowSpectre
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Re: A Long War

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Wonder what's taking people so long, Pure thought to himself. The four of them had been sat in the Skyranger for a good ten minutes, now. He glanced at the others. Flan had her iPod plugged into her ears and was pointedly ignoring everyone as she tapped her foot in tune to some music unknown to anyone else. Dabir had kicked back and was relaxing, hands behind his head and a wide, smug smile on his face. This would have been cause for question for anyone but Man Jackson, whose smugness was pretty much a defining characteristic. Zax, on the contrary, was the most serene person in the back of the Skyranger. He'd finished checking his gear a few minutes ago and was now just sitting back, eyes closed and arms crossed. Pure vaguely recalled that he was the officer that had woken him up. He certainly looked the part, in his wargear. Of all of the soldiers that Pure had met so far, Zax was the only one that chose to stick to the standard issue equipment. He'd never asked him why, but with the Lance Corporal apparently meditating, right now probably wasn't the right moment to ask.

There was a metallic clank and Pure turned to see two soldiers arriving to join them, finally. Pure inhaled sharply. The first of the two was clad in armour of a rather interesting shade of purple, but wore a terrifying death mask of a helmet that appeared to show their visage as a black skull. As the soldier took the seat to Zax's right, both Dabir and Zax sat up and greeted the newcomer with a wave and a shake of hands. However, Pure was still a little bit apprehensive. After all, they were, to all intents and purposes, greeting a skeleton.

A figure swept past him. He looked up to see a flat-top haircut and black armour accented with a hint of orange. As he turned to sit on Zax's left, Dabir raised another hand in greeting. Pure peered at the face of the newcomer and realised that he was looking at Alex Mdle, the most accomplished soldier in the corps. A Belgian-born German, Alex was in his mid-thirties, one of the oldest soldiers enlisted at XCOM. His face was beginning to show signs of age, but his bright eyes revealed a sniper's particular nature: methodical, quick and precise. Flan was similar, but her eyes were frequently clouded over by something else that most people couldn't quite understand. She glanced round and locked eyes with Alex for a moment and there was the briefest of understandings between the two snipers. Pure caught it in its dying swansong as Flan's expression returned to its usual moody state. Alex sat down opposite Flan, not at all concerned with being snubbed off. He appeared to have a faint hint of arrogance, but nobody yet asserted that he'd not earned it.
Alex's achievements weren't to be sniffed at. In his first engagement, he killed four aliens without breaking a sweat and his tactical knowledge was remarkable. There were a couple of whispers of being in the right place at the right time, but the rest of the squad on that trip (Rumia Kuro, Sonia Sinstg, Spider Scionox, Wiz Kin and Aqua Mancia) noted that Alex was just as under fire as the rest of them, if not more. Manouevrability served them well, that mission. Everybody took at least an assist away from the mission, but Alex brought back four heads.

Despite this, his posture was rather reserved. Not quite as poker-backed as Zax, Alex seemed to be a little less weathered than the Lance Corporal sat besides him. It was highly likely that with the two soldiers in tandem, the Skyranger was holding more combined years of experience in terrestrial warfare than the rest of XCOM. Pure felt both relieved and intimidated. He was the lowest ranked soldier here; Dabir, Alex and Zax, Pure knew to be Lance Corporals, and the terrifying figure to Zax's right had similar insignia, and Flan herself was a Specialist. On the one hand, he felt reassured to have so much experience in the squad, but on the other, he wondered what exactly demanded so many veterans of combat and what he was getting himself into. The door of the Skyranger started to slowly close and the dropship began to shudder. Here goes nothing, Pure thought to himself. He wished that he had thought to bring a medkit.

***

8th March 2015

Waiting for the door to open, Central Officer Bradford left Mission Control. The walk to the Commander's office took him through the Situation Room from where XCOM's political position was managed. Most, anyway. It was the Commander's prerogative to deal with the bureaucrats, and he most often did that from his office. He wasn't sure how the news would be taken, they had been in service together for a week, but Bradford still couldn't read the man. The Situation Room bathed him in blue, green and red as he knocked on the door on the far side. After a brief pause, he heard a muffled "Hello?" and took that as an invitation to step through.

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The office itself was a rather interestingly plain affair. The most adornment was a red banner hung against the back wall with the XCOM sigil emblazoned on it in gold. A jacket hung on a doorhandle to a small broom closet and a used coffee mug sat on the desk in front of the three computer monitors from which the Commander had access to most of XCOM's operations. The Commander himself was reading a book sat in his chair, a pair of reading glasses perched on his nose, feet up on the desk. Despite himself, Bradford couldn't help but smile briefly. It was nice to know there was some degree of normality left in the world.
"Yes, Mr Bradford?" the Commander asked, swinging his legs to the floor and sitting up straight.
"Sorry, sir, just wanted you to know that Morbid Hydra was a success."
"Good!" the Commander grinned. "Any outstanding performances?"
"Yes, sir, the whole team was exemplary. Not a scratch on 'em."
"As we'd hoped. What about the ones I told you to keep an eye on?"
"Very, very well, sir. All three of them were laudable, and very likely to be useful for secondary deployment."
"Excell-" A siren cut the Commander off and a red light flashed hard at him from the computer monitor. He stared at it hard, an expression of dismay clear on his face.
"What is it, sir?" Bradford asked tentatively.
"It's... it's Japan," the Commander finally managed, throwing his book to the table and striding round towards the exit. Bradford stepped out of his way and followed him into the Situation Room. The red that had been only slight when Bradford had walked in earlier was now harsher. He was dumbfounded. "I... I don't understand. We haven't even heard of anything notable from the whole region!"
"I know, Officer. Can we get the news on this thing?" the Commander asked, looking to Bradford.
"Should be able to," Bradford mused, moving to a console. The map of the world briefly flickered before changing to a CNN broadcast. "... now to Tokyo where the the Prime Minister Keiji Makahoto is giving a live speech to the nation and the world." The news anchor disappeared, replaced by a middle-aged Japanese man wearing a royal blue suit staring straight into the camera, speaking in Japanese. After a few moments, his sound was suppressed and a Japanese accented interpreter spoke in his place: "It has truly been... an honour, an honour, to have been at the forefront ooooof this effort. But our focus lies at the heart of this, this contact. We believe that a nonconfrontational approach is the best solution to our problems. What is war but a path away from peace? I hereby do..."
The Commander remained stony faced throughout. Bradford turned to watch him. He waved briefly. "Turn it off." Just as Bradford was going to, the Commander spoke up sharply, "No, no! stop!" He marched up to the console. "Rewind it, say half a minute. There!" he pointed at a faint purple glow at the Prime Minister's collar. "That!"
Realisation dawned. "That's the same thing we saw in Montreal!" Bradford exclaimed.
"This has gotta have been sabotage," the Commander concluded, a hard edge in his voice. "Get back to Mission Control. I'll get in touch with the Council and see what assets we have in the far east." Bradford nodded, returning the Situation Room to its original state and giving it one last stare before returning to control room.

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Re: A Long War

Post by ShadowSpectre »

17th March 2015
The alarm system was blaring as Central Officer Bradford shouted across to one of the technical officers, "What have we got?"
"UFO contact, sir! Just off the Eastern Seaboard," the technician shouted back.
Another one? Bradford thought to himself. It was the third contact in two weeks. "How are the interceptors doing?" he said aloud.
"Two fuelled and ready, sir," another officer called over. Bradford nodded. "I'll ask the Commander what our course of action will be. And turn that fucking racket down!" he added, shooting a stare at the nearest technician. Once they'd complied, Bradford put a finger to his headset, pressing the button that would directly link him to the Commander's office. "Sir, this is Central, we've got a new contact."
There was a moment of silence on Bradford's radio before he heard the sound of scraping wood and metal. He quickly let go of the transmission button before turning to the room at large. After a few seconds, on the far side of mission control, a circular door opened and the force Commander stepped out, gazing at the hologlobe intensely. "Where's the offender?"
"Just off the Eastern Seaboard, Commander," the nearest technician piped up. She flicked a few controls to turn the globe round to show the Commander. He mused for a few moments before turning his head to Bradford. "Wait until it hits the mainland. No use wasting fuel on a chase that could go outside our birds' operating range. Carry on!" the Commander shouted as he made to return to his office. As the door closed behind him, Bradford exhaled, releasing a breath he didn't realise he was holding. He noticed a couple of the technicians were looking straight at him. He nodded, waving an arm at them. They would wait.
It took sixteen minutes for the contact to reach the Californian coast. It was at this point that Bradford gave the order to send an interceptor.
It wouldn't take long for the launch itself, the interception window itself was the nailbiter. They'd only have a few seconds, but it was more than if they'd sent the fighter immediately.
Flight officer Lucero reported her sighting above the skies of Idaho. Conditions weren't ideal, but that was something that the pilots were trained to deal with. She had less than seven seconds.

The UFO got the first shot off, and it hit Lucero's left fin. There was no shout of terror from her over the radio. Bradford reflected that this indicated the calibre of pilot they had enlisted. The next two shots from the alien spacecraft hit, too, and Lucero's bird was starting to look a little rickety, but her next three missiles were aimed true.
With three seconds to spare, the UFO shuddered. Its lights flickered for a moment before it began a long, slow arc downwards and Lucero's screams of triumph could be heard over the cheers from the control room.
"First round's on me! Three-seven out!" Lucero signed off cheerfully. Bradford shook his head in amusement. "The UFO's down, do we have any way to scout it out?"
"Bravo satellite's within four minutes of the site, sir," someone called from the other side of the room.
"Alright, people, settle down," Bradford called, raising his hands to try and calm the room. "Retask Bravo and get a visual. Put it on screen when we have it." A blurred image of smoke and dust masked a strange metallic shape in the ruins of a small building. Hope nobody was inside Bradford thought to himself. "Enhance," he ordered.
"Jesus," Bradford breathed. "Still in one piece. I'll get the Commander."

***

"Are you sure about this, sir?" Bradford asked, a hint of incredulity masked behind his professional tone.
"They can handle it," came the cool reply. The connection was severed and Bradford turned back to look at the assembled squad.
Well, okay, then, Bradford thought to himself. Sending five privates and a specialist was, in his opinion, a gamble where the odds were not at all in their favour, but the Commander's word was final. "Good luck, team, see you in a couple of hours."
They filed into the back of the Skyranger and the dropship's engines began roaring as it ascended.
As the doors closed above, Bradford found himself wondering just how much luck the team might need. He shook his head and returned to mission control, ready to brief them on board. The Commander was already there, sat at the back of the room in an inconspicuous chair, overseeing the operation. He'd already worked out a basic plan of action and the soldiers would be reading up on it on their way there.
The UFO had crashed in downtown Idaho City, practically demolishing three small buildings in the process. Luckily they were reasonably derelict anyway and there weren't people nearby. TBD looked around the inside of the dropship. To his right was Aqua and and to his left, Alex; across the way were sat Infinity's End, Vortex Reaper and Dabir. He was pointedly avoiding staring in fascination at VR's helmet. The skull seemed so intricate, but he wasn't sure how VR could see through it... indeed, if he was looking through it at all. IE was the other faceless soldier. A black screen between the outside world and him. It was distinctly troublesome, but not quite terrifying. Man Jackson himself was busy tapping away to something he was listening to. Dabir was a smug bastard, it was hard to bring his mood down. Alex was sitting incredibly still; TBD had to check a few times just to make sure he was actually still breathing. Aqua was checking his weapons diligently. Of the six in the squad, he was perhaps the most dependable soldier. His straight-talking attitude and systematic analysis of enemy formations had impressed the command team, and it was rumoured that he'd been pipped for squad command only because Alex had taken kills. There wasn't any bad blood in the matter, the air was friendly, if professional.

The journey itself was short, they reached the crash site within minutes. As Big Sky circled above, looking for a suitable landing spot, Alex stood up and turned to face them. "Alright, when the ramp goes down, check the area," he bellowed over the engine whine. "VR," Alex looked at the purple clad soldier, "You and me will check out the area right outside and cover the advance. TBD, you're on point," he added. TBD nodded, lifting his weapon slightly. "IE will back him up, we move up, Aqua joins us and Dabir takes the rear. When we hit the ground, look for cover but if you see an alien, try to avoid attention until we can smoke it." There was a shudder and everybody held on tighter to their handrails. "Touchdown, team," the pilot reported over the intercom.
"Clear," VR muttered. TBD gingerly stepped past him and Alex and surveyed the area. Flickering streetlamps lit up shattered concrete and destroyed cars. The area was not in a happy state. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw IE loading the magazine into his weapon. It was time to move.
The two of them made their way out and behind them, the team began filing off the dropship. TBD looked around and a flicker of blue-grey caught his eye. "Hold it!" TBD said sharply, raising a fist. The team stood stock still. They were still in the open in a loose formation, and first contact was not good news. "What do you see?" IE breathed over his intercom. His voice was raspy, like someone had put a voicebox together with sheet metal and elastic. "There," TBD moved his arm slowly to point at a broken building. "Eleven o'clock. Top left window."
"I can't see it," IE murmured back.
"Hold on," TBD whispered. "Gonna move up to that car." He turned the tactical flashlight on his rifle off and crouched, gently stepping his way towards the burned out vehicle. When he reached it, he gently put his shoulder against the metal to check if it could support his weight. It could. "I'm secure. Any movement?"
"None," Aqua replied. Dabir tapped Alex's shoulder, indicating he should try blind firing. Alex nodded.
"TBD, I need some detail about where this guy is," Alex said, carefully raising his sniper rifle.
"Okay, uh," TBD poked his head out briefly to check. "Top left window, it's behind the left frame. Behind the brickwork?"
"I can make that. Is it moving much?"
TBD checked again. "No, crouched. Looks like it's studying something. Aim low."
"Got it."
Alex rested the neck of the gun on his elbow. Taking several deep breaths, he then exhaled completely and moved the muzzle of the gun to point into the corner of the brickwork of the window frame. Here goes nothing, Alex thought to himself. He pulled the trigger.
The weapon roared and bucked once into Alex's shoulder. TBD flinched slightly but immediately looked out into the ruins of the building, hearing an alien scream and a bubbling noise. Yellow-green blood spattered the far wall and suddenly there was movement on the ground floor.
"That got their attention!" TBD yelled. "Enemy down, another moving to cover, advance!"
Things moved very quickly after that. Aqua immediately made the decision to run up to the nearby pillar that had fallen next to a truck. As he ran, he spotted two flickers to his right.
"We got company right!" Aqua shouted, rolling his shoulder against the stone cover.
"I'm on it," Dabir reported, running to take up overwatch. "Everyone else, move up, back TBD up!"
"VR, with me," IE called backwards as he ran towards the edge of Aqua's pillar. As he did so, the blonde-haired soldier stood up and stepped round from cover to take a shot.
The rounds hammered into the ceiling above the alien, showering it in dust, but nothing else. "Missed the target," he grunted, ducking back to cover with his back against it.
"Isn't a problem," VR said, tapping him on the shoulder. "Head down." He took deep breaths to ready himself for a possible shot next turn. IE nodded, glancing up and keeping watch.
To the right, there was a scuffling, and an alien loomed out of the darkness. Dabir saw it and fired, missing by inches. "Got a fucker moving up, it's gettin' pretty close!" Dabir cried out, returning to cover.
At the same time, TBD's alien began moving up in an attempt at flanking him. It didn't appear to have noticed Aqua, VR and IE, which suited IE just fine as he stood up, snapping his aim to the enemy. He fired. Five of the six rounds met their mark and the alien fell flat on its back, lifeless. "Nailed it."
Alex turned his attention to Dabir's target. "Dabir, alien behind the broken wall?"
"Lower segment, it's crouched," Dabir said, glancing back and nodding.
"He's mine." Alex steadied his weapon and fired again.
The high calibre round smashed the grey in the stomach, forming a small, green cloud of blood. "Fucker!" Dabir laughed. "Target disabled! Very nice. Got another hiding round this corner, if you can see him?" he added hopefully. Alex shook his head. "Out of line of sight, got no shot."
"I got this," Aqua interjected, running round the back of the van to the building.
The alien didn't appear to have been paying attention as Aqua glanced round. "Damn, what a shot," he said, half to himself. As the alien turned, he quickly ducked back, heart pounding. Had it seen him? He screwed his face up and rounded the corner, pulling the trigger and firing two bursts of three.
One burst was all that had been needed, throwing the alien off its feet and impaling it on some exposed steel. The second burst pattered the floor. "Enemy down!" Aqua cheered.
"Nice work, Aqua," Alex approved. "Dabir, seen any more?"
"I'm not sure," he said quietly, peering into the ruins. "I'm sure there was one more but I don't know where it went. I'll move up."
"Be careful," Aqua warned, "I got this flank, but I wouldn't depend on it, my barrel's hot."
"Noted, cheers," Dabir acknowledged. "On overwatch here."
IE and VR walked round the side of the van, watching for movement. It seemed to be pretty dead on that side of the building, however. VR passed IE a new magazine. He accepted it, but didn't load it. "Still got twenty-four in the box," IE explained.
"Right, right."
TBD was feeling a little bit left out at this point. He hadn't taken any kills yet, and everyone had essentially left him. He didn't voice his concerns and instead took overwatch. "I got this side, you're clear to move up when you're ready."
"Thanks, TBD," Aqua responded.
"Quiet, did you hear that?" Dabir hissed.
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Re: A Long War

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There was a shuffling and an alien popped up on the first floor on a broken walkway, looking down at Dabir. "Fucker here!" Dabir yelled, shooting and missing. Suddenly his rifle clicked and his heart stopped. Jammed! The alien croaked as it took cover next to a low stone wall. Its view of Dabir was uninterrupted. Raising its wrist-mounted weapon, there was a whoosh as green plasma seared through the air.
It grazed the soldier's position and Dabir automatically shied away. "Man Jackson's under fire, some help would be appreciated!" he shouted, more angry than panicked as he slammed his rifle clear.
"Fire on the way," Alex called back. The shot wasn't perfect, but it was better than nothing. Might even suppress it. He took aim and fired.
There was a strange creaking noise from the alien as it doubled over, but it soon popped back up, staring furiously at the sniper. "Uh, be advised, that was not a kill!" Alex said rather unhappily. He was too far away for aim to be very effective, but it was still a failure in his eyes.
"I'll deal with the little shit," Dabir growled. He stood up, tall and proud, and fired a single burst of three shots.
The distinct cough-cough-cough of the rifle pushed it back into his shoulder as the weapon cycled through cartridges. Every shot hit the alien's head squarely, gradually forcing the alien upwards with the sheer force of weapon lead. "Man Jackson," Dabir spoke slowly and triumphantly, "confirming a kill."
"Right, I'm moving up, we have a UFO to breach," Aqua reminded the team. "Command said it's in this building, strategy as intended."
"Got it," TBD acknowledged, moving to link up with Aqua.
Aqua found cover besides a massive white and gold container that seemed to be searing with golden light. He stared at it as TBD joined him, crouching behind a small pile of rubble. "What is it?" TBD asked him, catching his breath from the short dash. "I'm not sure," Aqua admitted. "It's apparently a container of Meld, but I've never seen one in person."
"It's beautiful."
"I know. Shall we get it open?"
"How?" asked TBD, turning to stare at the spinning cap.
As they were ruminating on the canister, IE moved up, motioning to VR to back him up. "Vessel in sight," he reported. Aqua and TBD had been busy studying the Meld canister to report the UFO proper, but now there were four pairs of eyes on the craft.
"Hab' ich," Alex returned, pulling the bolt back on his rifle. "I need a better line of sight on that craft, you're without sniper support."
"Gotcha," Aqua grinned. The canister's cap slowly stopped spinning, falling to pieces and revealing a large golden crystal, bathing both TBD and Aqua in its light. "Pretty, huh," TBD whistled in appreciation.
"Yeah. But we've still got a war to fight," Aqua replied, making his way forwards. He spotted Dabir doing the same on the far side, reloading as he walked. That's not a bad idea, Aqua thought to himself, doing the same.
"Okay, moving up, VR, TBD, cover my ass," IE hissed, taking a closer position.
"Whatever you say," VR said tiredly.
"Pah! Man Jackson neither wants nor requires your overwatch!" Dabir declared, sprinting to a section of wall very close to the UFO's hull.
As he did so, he saw a strange glowing coming from inside the ship. "Uh, we've got contact, but I'm not sure what it is." He peered round the edge of the wall and furrowed his brow. "It's come closer."
"Ready up," IE urged him, taking a position with line of sight.
"I think..."
Dabir's speech was cut off by a glimmering as the crystal grew in size.
A humanoid figure that appeared to be composed entirely of metallic crystal straightened up, surrounded by triangular flickering. "Jesus," Dabir breathed, watching the alien ready a small weapon. "It's an alien!"
"Well, yes," IE replied patiently. "It's in a UFO."
"No, you don't understand," Dabir ducked back round. "It's different to what we've seen before. Like, it's not anything like the others."
As he said it, the alien spotted the edge of his cyan hair and rushed to cover. It happened to pick a spot in IE's sight.
"Fuck, I see what you mean," IE said. "Anyone else got eyes on it?" He stood up and fired a burst at the strange creature. Every shot hit, but the alien seemed to shimmer as if it was already unwilling to stay material. "I got it!" IE yelled.
"You didn't kill it, fucknuts," VR muttered, not quite audibly. Indeed, all he seemed to do was spook it into retreating and hiding.
"It might come from this way!" TBD shouted bravely, running to the side of the UFO and peering down the lane of debris. He gingerly stepped partially through the translucent barrier of the spacecraft's entrance. "Okay, safe to enter."
"TBD, you're gonna get yourself killed," VR sighed, moving up and calmly hitting the alien again.
"I got him, don't worry," Aqua reassured him. Just then, the golden figure returned to view.
"No, you don't!" TBD cried out, suddenly highly aware that there was no cover between him and the attacker.
Turning to fire, he missed the moving target. "Fuck, I'm flanked!"
Time seemed to stand still for the rookie. The alien, now having reached a safer spot, stood up and aimed at him. He could have sworn there was a faint grin on its facial features as it fired a burst of six burning balls of plasma.
Instinctively, TBD ducked. It was all that saved him. The back of his hat burned in the flash of heat from the shots and he felt the air being briefly forced into his lungs as it expanded. Coughing, he realised how lucky he had been to survive the assault.
Seemingly in anger, the alien ducked back down to recuperate and avoid incoming fire.
It didn't help. Dabir's reaction was to loose a handful of rounds into its side.
VR took the opportunity to literally walk up to it, firing as he went. The combined fire ruined the alien totally and it shimmered out of existence with a snarl. "Enemy down, but... can't confirm the kill," VR noted. "There's no body."
"Maybe it doesn't have one to lose?" Dabir suggested. "It did sort of just materialise."
"We'll let Dr Vahlen figure it out," Aqua cut in. "There might be more aliens out there."
"He's right," Alex panted, having caught up. "TBD, with me, breach! IE, backup!"
Almost without stopping, Alex ran past IE. TBD only just caught the order and turned into the UFO, rifle ready, making his way to a small raised section for cover. Alex and IE took shelter with him.
"Wow," TBD said in wonder, looking around as IE joined them. "This place is incredible."
"It is, isn't it," he agreed, looking over to Alex. "Think I heard something outside."
"Agreed," Alex nodded. "Gonna move to position."
A flash of grey caught IE's eye. "Hey, there they are! Three contacts!"
"Reaper, moving it up!"
Alex joined him, taking deep breaths. "You're gonna need to spot for us, the door's shut."
"I can just about make it out," TBD told them. "My goggles seem to just about darken the door enough.
"Fine, take overwatch. I don't want them moving into the area," Alex commanded.
As he said it, one of the greys started moving. TBD immediately snapped to aim and missed his shot. "... fuck."
Alex sighed. "Never mind."
IE moved towards the side of the portal. As he did so, the light faded, opening a view out onto the area beyond. More destroyed rubble would afford enemies cover, but for the moment, they had been caught unawares.
Both IE and Alex capitalised on the moment, their snap shots a lot more accurate than TBD's reactionary fire. Two aliens fell to the ground, bleeding green.
Determined to turn his luck around, TBD stood tall and aimed at the alien he'd missed moments ago and fired.
This time, he was a lot luckier and killed it on the spot. He didn't vocalise his triumph, feeling like a schoolchild who had just managed something through luck rather than skill. He wouldn't indicate that that was the case.
"Central here, team," Bradford crackled through. "Thermal imaging says you're the last in the area. Operational objectives complete. Come home." TBD exhaled. Time to hit the firing range.

***
As the aircraft touched down, Bradford shook his head. "I didn't think they'd do as well as they would."
"Told you so," the Commander smirked, punching his arm lightly before leaving. "Promote them all!" he called over his shoulder. Bradford nodded to nobody in particular.
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Re: A Long War

Post by ShadowSpectre »

Once the Skyranger was in mid-flight, it was easily possible to communicate between passengers; the engine noise had blurred into the sound of air rushing past and both were reasonably excluded by the walls of the dropship. Pure had finished checking his gear once more and was pointedly avoiding staring in wonder at VR's mask. He and Dabir were in deep conversation:
"Good to leave IE behind, no?"
"Yeah," the skull sighed. "He's a good soldier but he can get really grating."
"Didn't he string you along pretty much every time he tried anything on Silent Crown?"
"And Cryptic Chant," VR added. He sat back, resting his head on the back wall.
"Jesus," Dabir chuckled. "Sounds like he quite likes you."
"Yeah, well, we did both come from Fort Grafton," VR said. "Despite his rather, uh, boisterous outlook, he's kinda insecure."
"Says the guy wearing a skull mask," Dabir snorted in amusement.
"Hey, I like this thing."
"I hear that," the cyan-haired, pink-armoured man conceded.
"What, uh," Pure tried, taking a momentary pause as an opportunity, "What happened on Silent Crown?"
"Ah, right," Dabir realised. "You weren't on that mission. Well," he glanced at the others for a moment.
"Silent Crown took place in Chihuahua, Mexico," Zax started. Pure looked at the soldier. He was still in his impossible serene pose, eyes closed, hands on his thighs. He could well have been talking to himself. "Escort mission, we were extracting a scientist named Dr Marazuki."
"Everyone here but you went on that mission," VR cut in. Pure looked around carefully. He suddenly felt very much more like the outcast than he did.
"The observatory we were taking him from was reasonably far from the Skyranger," Zax continued. "As I recall, we more or less had contact straight away," Zax said thoughtfully, opening his eyes and turning to Alex. The German stroked his moustache, considering. "I'd say zat vas correct. Flahn took vun zat vas flanking oss." Pure nearly choked. Surely not.
"After that, we essentially grabbed key positions and hunkered down, taking pot shots," Zax nodded.
"It was a good mission," Dabir agreed. "Lots of nonces to shoot. We came across the thin men that time, didn't we?"
"Ja, ve did," Alex nodded. Pure could not believe how perfect that accent was. He was slowly deciphering it and it would probably end up just as familiar as normal English, but he could not understand how nobody else was falling about laughing about it. "Zey die pretty easy, but zey smell pretty bad."
"Bad?" VR echoed. "That shit's poisonous, what the fuck?"
"Oh, is it?" Alex asked, a little confused. "Weird. I vas fine."
"Jesus H. Christ, Alex," Dabir chuckled. "You're fuckin' incredible."
"Danke," Alex grinned sheepishly, his face lighting up. He genuinely seemed none the worse for breathing poison. Pure could only assume the German soldier beat it into submission at his convenience.
"Hey, VR," Flan piped up. Everybody turned around to look at her: it was the first time she'd spoken all journey. "What did IE do when Bradford said he was a support soldier?"
"Oh," the purple soldier snorted. "He said 'Fuck that' and grabbed a shotgun. He's training for assault, now." Flan seemed to want to reply but she resisted and went back to her iPod. Pure exchanged looks of confusion with Dabir, but they both shrugged it off. They had a good spread of soldiers on board. As well as having Alex and Flan as Snipers, Dabir had cheerfully decided that he liked making things explode and took to Rocketeering with great gusto. Zax decided to stick with traditional tactics and stayed as Infantry. VR was apparently an Engineer, skilled with explosives and any technical equipment that would eventually make its way into XCOM's possession. There was a much greater spread of skill in XCOM than there had been in Pure's dream once upon a time.
"We're two minutes out," the pilot crackled through the hold. "Get prepped." The six soldiers began checking their gear again automatically. Pure traced the contours of his grenade with his finger. This was going to be interesting.
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Re: A Long War

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Operation Driving Fog:2nd April 2015

"Well," Pure muttered to himself. "This is it." He couldn't shake the dream from his head as the Skyranger's belly opened up.
He and Alex stepped past the hydraulic arms, aiming their weapons into the distance. "Okay, alles klar," Alex rasped, holstering his submachine gun and loading a round into his sniper rifle ready for action.
Dabir stepped past them, assault rifle at the ready. "Okay, moving up," he called back. The six soldiers stepped gingerly onto the farm, eyes darting around looking for cover and targets.
The biggest feature they could see was the huge barn right in front of them. A red building built from wood, a ladder was nailed to an outside wall, presumably for maintenance purposes. "I'll take that and head on up, ja?" Alex pointed. The top of the barn would be a brilliant sniping position, provided nothing was inside the barn. Zax, realising this, led the way towards it, ready to breach.
Pure followed him, checking back to make sure no alien would sneak up on them. He felt remarkably exposed, despite knowing that there wasn't likely to be anything hiding near their position.
The four others formed up on the nearest wall, a window between them and the inside of the barn. Dabir and VR were on point. "First six metres your side's clear," VR hissed to Zax. "What's the plan?"
"You four breach," Flan responded curtly, as if that much was obvious. "Alex takes a sniping position up top, I move right and make sure we're not outflanked. Roaming snipers aren't normally something they prepare for." There was a lot of sense in her plan. Dabir nodded to VR, readying his rifle. The skull-faced soldier collected himself, checking his weapon one last time. He stepped back twice, ready for a short run up.
"We're in!" he shouted, leaping through the window. Dabir popped round to cover him, despite knowing there wasn't anything on this side. VR shored himself against a corner, poking his head round. "Wow, barn's clear," he said, moving off the corner and standing at ease. "Alright," Alex sighed. "Flan and I will move up." Pure noticed that he had begun to process Alex's accent as if it was normal. He supposed it would end up easier.
Flan wordlessly moved up to a small stack of crates. Her look was one of distaste.
Alex made his way up. There was an additional small floor above the main barn, with two platforms overlooking the building. As he did, Dabir, Zax and Pure moved into the barn. VR pressed forwards to the opposite corner, allowing them to cover a larger area.
"Hey," Pure pointed. "There's the UFO." It looked just like the one that had been shot down before. A wall was missing, green shimmers coming from exposed power lines. Zax nodded. "Set up here, let's take a moment." They did, covering three directions.
"So," Dabir turned to Zax. "What's the plan?"
"I don't know," Zax frowned slightly. "I was expecting something to be here. I guess this'll do as a base of operations." Pure sat against some hay bales, looking straight through the window at the UFO. The burnt metal was almost beautiful in the brief respite. "Is there anything we can expect?" he asked the officer.
"Well, we're expecting one of the Outsiders," Zax replied, checking out the door. "We've not had contact with them anywhere but on these UFOs. Asides from that, your guess is as good as mine."
"I guess that's something," Dabir grunted. "I'm gonna head up to back VR up, he's looking a bit lonely over there."
"Wait, wait," Zax ordered. "Listen."
"Hear that?" he whispered, eyes wide.
"What the hell was that?" Pure asked, not daring to believe it. He'd heard the sound before.
"I don't know, sounds like some sort of..." Zax screwed his face up. "Person. It sounds like they're shouting. Maybe they're in danger."
Pure shook his head slowly. "It... sounds like they've been muzzled." The sound was far, far too familiar. He half expected the sound of a jetpack.
"We'll get there," Zax replied, standing straight. "Dabir, move up."
"On the roof," Alex muttered into his radio. "Gonna move to the little platform, overwatch the entire area." He moved to the end and opened the window carefully, stepping in. The floorboards creaked with his weight, but held him.
"Position held, Flan, your side is clear."
Flan moved up. "UFO in sight."
She took cover next to a small pickup truck in front of the barn. She didn't quite trust Alex being on Overwatch to protect her from the right flank, from what she knew of the aliens, they weren't too concerned with single snipers.

VR lfited his gun. "Ready?" he asked Dabir. Man Jackson nodded.
The door opened with a creak, revealing two stacks of hay bales and a small fuel pump for tractors. The UFO was lying in the field beyond, surprisingly close by.
"Come on," Dabir motioned to VR.
"This isn't so bad," VR muttered. "Decent cover, quiet day."
"No contact yet doesn't mean it'll be easy," Dabir reminded him. He shifted the rocket launcher to his other shoulder, letting him lean more comfortably into the hay. The smell was some small comfort over the stench of burning metal and parched crops in the late American spring.
Flan studied the parked tractors before deciding to take cover between them. Taking cover against the UFO was probably the better idea, but the other tractor would block lines of sight from anything coming from behind.
Pure and Zax had taken up positions either side of the window. "Ready?" Zax queried. Pure was not. "Ready," he replied. The Corporal nodded. "Out you go, I'm on your six."
Pure scrunched up his face and vaulted through the window. Somehow, none of the glass touched him and he landed without incident on their other side, stepping on broken panes and frames. He made his way to the outer wall of the ship, hearing Zax crunching on shattered glass right behind him.
There was an odd chiming noise from inside the ship. Zax quickened his pace, reaching cover at the same time as Pure. "You hear that?" he panted. Pure nodded. Well, he thought. Here goes nothing.
Zax turned around, staring hard at the corner. "It sounded like it was inside the ship, not on this side. I'm going to turn the corner and take a peek. Be ready to support." He stepped carefully towards the edge of the wall before quickly stepping round.
As Zax did so, there was a sudden shimmer of gold from his left. "Fuck," he breathed, terrified. "I'm comin' BACK!" he shouted, doing just that.
He ducked back round a few metres, gasping for breath. Pure felt a rush of adrenaline at the same time; Zax's flight left him suddenly willing to fight. He skipped round the veteran to the edge of the wall, snapping his rifle up quickly.
The shot was well placed, but firing burst rounds had a tendency to reduce accuracy on later shots. However, two rounds made their mark, sending the Outsider into a frenzy of crystalline lights.
Dabir spotted this from a distance. Most men would have reconsidered the shot, but Dabir was not most men.
"MAN JACKSON STRIKES AGAIN!" he roared over the gunshots.
VR snorted with laughter, moving up to the fuel pump before firing.
Meanwhile, Alex observed the scene. From his vantage point, he had the perfect shot. He smashed out of the window with the butt of his rifle before leaning it against the left frame to steady the barrel and fired.
The kill was raucous. The Outsider screamed in a mixture of rage and dismay as it bubbled away, a small light show into the night, leaving only a faint glimmer where once stood an alien.
Determined not to be outdone, the second sniper ran towards the Meld canister right outside the UFO.
Alex glanced backwards and was a little perturbed to see three thin men staring up at him, totally motionless, heads cocked. As Alex saw them, they skittered towards nearby cover.
Alex changed shoulders. Cover wouldn't help them. He broke the window and fired. The Thin Man hissed and spluttered into a cloud of poisonous gas.
"What the fuck?" Dabir frowned, turning back. "Sounds like there's more back that way."
"I'm on it," VR responded, making a move back.
"I got it," Flan posited over the radio. She was taking kills today, one way or another. Zax pushed his radio further into his pocket. "Well, they've got the rear, let's get to the front," he said to Pure. The Canadian soldier nodded, moving up towards where the Outsider had been. "Okay, clear inside." Zax moved into the UFO, only glancing around interestedly once; he was focused and little could distract him from the job. He took cover next to a low platform, crouching next to it. Once he had taken up Overwatch, Pure moved forward to join him. He saw to his right that Dabir was doing something similar, sitting beside what appeared to be a small control platform. This UFO was covered well enough.

VR peeped round the corner of the barn. "I don't see 'em," he muttered to Alex over the radio. "They've moved back a little, your should be able to see them from ze forklift," the sniper replied, waiting for a light breeze to drop. "Alright, I'm gonna move up," the engineer declared, standing behind the tall crate on the forklift. As soon as he poked his head round the corner, however, he had to duck away.
"Fuck, help me out, here!" he shouted.
Alex stepped to the window before spotting the cloud of bright green coming straight for him. "Scheisse!" he yelled, flinching as the wall and window exploded. "Can't help, I'm okay, aber pinned!" The Thin Man snarled, reloading its weapon for another go.

Just then, it screeched and fell to its knees. Alex peered out as the sound of plasma guns stopped: both Thin Men were glaring angrily to their right.
"Yeah, hey, there, cocksucker," Flan growled, reloading her rifle. One Thin Man was severely wounded: Flan had been flanking it and there was no cover to help them.
Alex instinctively lifted his rifle and shot at the more visible Thin Man. The speed at which he lifted the rifle meant his round hit the edge of its cover, but it was by no means unhurt.
"Fuck this," VR roared, tearing a grenade from his belt, pulling the pin and throwing it in one fell swoop. The Thin Men turned around at the sound of clinking before realising what it was.
Only one survived, and only thanks to its cover.
It immediately scuttled away, understandably terrified that its world had just gone up in lights and explosions. "I've got this," VR said vengefully. Alex chuckled. "Get him, Specialist."
"Hey!" Dabir cried out. Alex turned back to the UFO.
"We got two shits!" Man Jackson shouted.
He shuffled towards the wall of the UFO, taking cover before any harm could befall him.
Pure tapped Zax on the shoulder. The battle was beginning to lessen his hesitance. He led the pair to the other side of Dabir's wall. "Alex!" he called out, "Lessen the load!"
There was a gunshot, a scream and an explosion. One of the aliens fell out of the sky. "Gekillt!" came the reply.
"What is it?" Zax panted, limbering up his arms.
"Some weird thing," Dabir said, glancing round the corner. "Looks like a torso with a jetpack. Mean looking fucker."
"Floater," Pure said absentmindedly. Zax turned to him. "Floater?"
"They float about the battlefield. Jetpack, you know?" he explained, miming the motions. Zax did not react.
VR's Thin Man had been working its way carefully round its building, ducking whenever R took a shot. It had managed to get incredibly close, flanking VR. Fortunately, VR had a much greater need for vengeance than the need to die, and he simply sidestepped the blast.
A short sprint later and the Thin Man was suddenly looking into a terrifying visage, a moment too late.
VR walked away from the broken, fizzing body. "Kill confirmed," he reported menacingly.
"Kill soon to be confirmed," Flan murmured to herself, just loud enough that Alex heard it over the radio. He grinned, watching Flan dashing back towards the remaining Floater. "Nice try, little Flan." Her marksman's rifle had even been raised.
"No sell."
The Floater fell to the ground, writhing in pain. "I think that's all of them," he declared loudly.
"You killstealing fucker," Flan scowled.
"Too slow," Alex chuckled, rechambering. "Go scout it out."
"Sniper, asshole, not a scout."
"Yeah, yeah, scout-sniper."
"Go fuck yourself."

***
The flight back was much louder than the flight there. Pure was laughing and joking with Dabir and Alex with much aplomb, and even Zax and VR seemed to have broken out of their shells. There was a general feeling of lethargy, though; they were all on the come-down from twenty minutes of adrenaline and really feeling the pinch. Flan was grumbling a little bit, but Pure wasn't that concerned. He'd made it through another mission.
The light bump they all felt indicated to them the end of the journey. The Skyranger opened up and a pair of engineers and a pair of scientists immediately stepped inside, shaking the team's hands before removing the artifacts and resources gathered from the UFO. There had been an awful lot of stuff they had been able to remove, but a lot of it had been stripped away from the hull of the ship.

"Well," Dabir clapped his hands together as they stepped off the Skyranger. "A few days of leave."
"Yeah, it'll be nice," Pure sighed. "Still not got any kills."
"But you did show decent tactical sense," Zax piped up. Pure glanced back thankfully. At least he wasn't entirely useless. "What's your rank, again, Pure?"
"Uh." The question threw him off guard. "Private. Here, anyway."
"I reckon," Zax began, glancing at Dabir and Alex, " It's time for you to get a promotion."
"Really?" Pure blinked. This was unexpected.
"Well, you've been on two missions, now," Dabir nodded in agreement as they entered the armoury. "Standard procedure. You've got a couple of assists and aided in two missions that were reasonably critical."
"Wow. Well, I guess that's great," Pure tried. He wasn't sure how he should have reacted.
"What do you think you'll do?" Zax asked him, throwing his rifle to a waiting gunsmith.
"I don't know..." And he really didn't. He didn't feel like he had any particular direction in mind.
"Well, how about you take a support role?" VR suggested. "It's what I did."
"That's not a bad idea, actually," Pure considered. "It plays to my thought of just being a decent all-round soldier, too."
"That settles it!" Man Jackson roared, slamming Pure's back. "I'll get you a drink!" Pure chuckled off the back pain as the pink soldier marched off. This was one of those moments.
"Absolute riot, is that man," Zax shook his head. "Don't know whether he needs some sense slapped into him or someone to shine those brass balls."
"Probably both," Pure admitted. He stepped towards the row of support gear. This felt familiar. He couldn't now remember why. All he knew was the smell of gunsmoke and the bark of rifles and the screams of aliens. He shuddered.
"Any idea what you'll specialise in?" Zax asked him, removing his own kevlar.
"Maybe," Pure replied. "I'm not overly fond of being an engineer, but I wouldn't mind going field medic."
"I think that would suit you well," Zax smiled, raising a hand and taking his leave. Pure waved back. Well, then, he thought. Oddly familiar, this. He picked up a medkit and read its contents. Most peculiar.

He put it down and dismissed the thoughts. He needed a drink.
END OF PART ONE
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Re: A Long War

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PART TWO
19th April 2015
The Commander furrowed his brow slightly at the alert. Putting his reading glasses on, he scooted closer to the computer screen to read the email from the Council. They were requesting his attention in the Situation Room at his convenience. He'd get round to that shortly. He was currently reviewing a list of all personnel at XCOM. He'd just finished the scientists and engineers. Remaining were pilots, soldiers and technical officers. He wasn't thrilled by the job, but it was necessary.

Upon reflection, it had been a busy couple of months. They'd completed about ten missions in various locales and they'd managed to maintain satellite coverage over America. In addition, they'd been able to place two over Africa, and there were interceptors all over the world ready for service. He did not doubt that they'd fast need better equipment to deal with the UFO threats, but he could not ask more of the overworked laboratory staff. They were already putting out incredible discoveries: indeed, the Commander had looked over some of the chemistry papers that had been completed in the process of studying alien materials recovered from the UFOs. Fascinating stuff.

He sipped from a mug of coffee. His office was comfortable enough. The Commander hadn't asked for very much and he was satisfied with what he'd received. Spending most of a day in a single room wasn't necessarily something that was alien to him, but he could easily tolerate it here.

Picking up a pen, the Commander started reading the pilot manifest. There were four North American pilots in the hangars of XCOM itself. They were kicking ass and taking names, though he did understand that there was a little bit of bitterness amongst them, as one had accidentally been hogging all of the kills. He shook his head slightly. Professional rivalry was always irritating. Raven was an excellent pilot, and she had some promising simulated engagements. She'd not been out against a UFO, however, so it remained to be seen how she would do. Tanner was a killstealing bastard, as he recalled. Bit of a boastful one, annoying the hell out of Jones and King Kong. They'd both practically downed a UFO each before running out of fuel and having to return to base, but Tanner had then gone out and claimed it, despite the refuel being a quick job. Pilots, the Commander thought to himself. Goddamn divas. One not-quite-ace and two pissed off pilots made the hangar a vitriol-filled place. He scanned the pilot list.
Everything seemed to be in order. A signature and the deed was done. Next up, soldiers. He'd been rather looking forward to this one. He turned to his computer, sending for the pile of master files on the soldiers. They'd all been reviewed by the Commander personally before they started their service, and so much the better; some were perhaps less conventional. Still, that was water under the bridge to XCOM. Humanity's survival was at stake, this was not the time to be petty over bank heists and vigilantism. Some of them had actually been vigilantes against the aliens, to some degree. He knew of a handful that had been handpicked straight out of the local resistance militia for their skill. They hadn't recommended them to XCOM, of course. The organisation was still secretive, lest the aliens found them, but through their governments and eventually the Council, they found their way to the Barracks.
There was a remarkable number of Privates. The Commander made a mental note to send more out on missions. No doubt someone would get injured, if not killed, but it was worth the risk for more able soldiers.

He rubbed his eyes; a break was needed. He stood up abruptly and marched to the situation room, supposing he might as well hear what the Council wanted. The message was merely a short set of minutes from a Council meeting and a short brief on a mission to France.
This seemed peculiar. He shook his head slightly. Routine recon and retrieval, probably. He patched through to Central from his office. "Bradley, put up a squadlist for Portent, would you? I want Zax, Jox, Aqua, eebro, Zarro and Garo on mission."
"Yes, sir. When do they leave?"
"Within the hour. It's a Sunday morning, I'm pretty sure there's a Full English on in the kitchens."
"Roger that, sir," came the chuckling reply. "What do I tell 'em?"
"Tell them they're going to France. Eebro should be ecstatic, I think his mother's a French woman."
"That she is, sir. Central out."
The Commander sipped his coffee. Hopefully, it would be a pleasant trip for the Canadian soldier. The Commander expected some degree of alien contact, but it remained to be seen how much. He wasn't overly concerned: the team had some solid shooters, and, as the French said, un homme mort ne fait guerre. He finished his drink. Perhaps there'd be some breakfast left in the kitchens.
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Re: A Long War

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The team had taken a collective nap on board the Skyranger. Woken up half an hour before the start of the operation, they were a little more alert than they would have been naturally in the dark night over Lille.
Operation Forgotten Bell was the mission's codename. Garo was a little bemused by it. Such an odd name. Bellringing was rarely something one would forget, but he was perhaps getting besides the point. "Have you got any more information from the komandir?" he asked Zax, slipping into his learned-by-rote sounding Russian.
"Not very much," Zax answered. "He said this mission was from the Council. Mission objectives are recon and retrieve... nothing you haven't heard before."
"Da," Garo nodded.
"Are you Russian?" Eebro asked him. Garo shrugged. "It is what I have to speak back in Russia."
Eebro looked confused. "So wait, where are you from?"
"Poland," Garo said. "I was born in Kaliningrad." Still some confusion from eebro, but Aqua and Zax nodded in understanding. "That's on the east side of the country, isn't it?" Zax asked, hoping to clarify for eebro's sake. Realisation dawned on eebro's face as Garo nodded, smiling. "It is nice to see some other peoples take interest in my homeland," he said happily.

In the months coming up to the alien invasion, Russia had launched an offensive, retaking a corridor of land through Lithuania, Belarus and up to Poland. It had come after constant arguments with various nations regarding deposed prime minister Vladimir Putin's intentions regarding former USSR countries. Since the start of the invasion, Putin had been ousted by members of his own government and instead put at the head of the army. It was not an entirely disliked move by the old head of state, but there were rumours of some bitterness in the cabinet.

The actual conflict had been short and intense: Russian forces swept through towards the Baltic Sea, almost completely annexing Lithuania and encroaching heavily on Belarus and Poland. Upon establishing a new front, an intensely opposed police state was created, and many people from the region had reported via their social media that Russian soldiers and separatists were ordering them to learn Russian. Had the alien pods not started falling, there would have been something of a war anyway. Garo must have been one of those unlucky enough to have been displaced and taken to Russia, where they were fully expected to embrace the culture and lifestyle.

Garo had some spoken Russian under his belt as well as some Czech, both of which gained him favour with the local garrison at his new placement in Russia. He was proposed to their government as one of a top priority strike team that was secretly a test group for the Council. Garo and Spider both passed from that group into XCOM.

"How does it feel to be outside of Russian control?" Zax asked him, a slight smirk forming.
"In honesty, ser, I have not yet come to terms with it," Garo admitted. "It is hard, knowing so many of my fellow soldiers are still oppressed."
"That's understandable. But why are you still speaking Russian?"
"I'm what?" Garo was genuinely caught off guard by this question.
"You're not in a Russian force any more, soldier," Zax chuckled.
"No, I guess I'm not," Garo conceded. This was a new train of thought for the Polish soldier.
"Isn't it time to, uh," Zax tried, "No to zaszalejemy?"
Garo sat there for a moment, stunned. "You speak Polish?"
"I had a friend back in the regiment," Zax shook his head. "He taught me a few phrases, not more, I'm shit at languages, I'm certain I used the phrase wrong. You could teach me some if you like."
"I... I guess I could," Garo spoke slowly, realising the gravity of this situation. He could speak Polish again. He could speak Polish again! "O mój Boże!" He laughed with delight. "Yes, sir!" His grin was infectious, and soon everybody on board found themselves smiling, even Zarro.
"Thirty seconds," the pilot reported. Zax pulled himself up. "Well, team," he began. "Let's give our friend here something to shout about."
"It's Garo, sir," the Pole smiled, offering a hand. Zax nodded, grasping it firmly before letting the rest of the squad shake hands. Friendliness and warmth amongst the troops was always welcome.
The door of the Skyranger began dropping and they felt a thud as the dropship landed. "No to kurwa zaszalejemy!" Garo whooped. This was going to be an excellent day.
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Re: A Long War

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The Commander gasped. The world was green, it was red, it was dark and it was fading.
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