X-Com's Finest (An X-Com 2 play through)

Operation Gasping Shroud

A RATIONAL being would have run. The odds were six to one (and growing), and the alien had no chance of living. That didn't stop it from charging up its lance and running straight at Pubentz. That was one of the things about the lancers. All you really had to do was TOUCH a person with the charged lance. It was rather difficult to avoid. And while Pubentz was good, she simply couldn't avoid it and she went down.

***

"See! I told all you vermin that my plan was perfect! SEE! We've pinned one to the ground! These puny humans don't stand a chance against my OVERWHELMING MIGHT!" The servant Costrix just rolled its eyes.

"Your Inflatedness, didn't you just see the humans rip through half of your ground forces, and your troops managed to temporarily INJURE one of them?"

"DOWN! NEGATIVE THOUGHTS LIKE THAT are what make me lose!"

"BAD DECISIONS make you lose!"

The braniac slapped the servant across the face, sending him sprawling to the ground. "HOW DARE YOU intimate that *I* make bad decision!"

He turned back to the screen only to watch the lancer get eradicated from three different directions. There wasn't enough left to identify.

"Just watch! The incoming drop ships will send these poor humans to their graves!"

***

Pubentz barely recognized the obliteration of the lancer in front of her. She was more intent on catching her breath. It took a moment, but she returned to her feet and muttered to herself. She pulled out her "Breath-be-back" and took a quick inhalation. That was all it took. She felt great! In fact, she felt better than when she got out here! She looked around for the next wave. Bring it on!

***

Campbell found herself behind a tree looking over the wide expanse of ground below her. She had plenty of room to see and there wasn't anything sneaking up on her this time. THIS was her game. The rest of the squad stood nearby, mostly guarding the Avenger, but a small contingent including Bomber, SPARK, and Pubentz had moved forward to identify the source. Campbell just waited.

Another dropship flew overhead, dropping off another contingent of forces. Before the aliens had hit the ground, the team had anhillated two of them. The final alien ran for cover. Only half of it got there.

She overheard Pugh talking to Svagerko, "This is kind of fun! Is it always like this?" Svagerko smiled briefly, but shook her head. They had nearly the entire squad on the field now. The Commander had pulled anyone and everyone that could fight onto the field. He'd even cleared out med-bay, much to the chagrin of the doctor.

There was chirp over her earpiece in a metallic voice, "Source identified, transferring coordinates."

Campbell smiled and slid her targeting visor down. A power source, small in the distance, shone like the sun across her vizor. "There you are...."

The targeting reticle jumped as she adjusted the distances on her scope, and suddenly the power source was much, much bigger. She closed one eye, took a deep breath, and fired. The gauss laser shot like lightning across the battlefield, hitting the power source. There was a brief surge as the generator absorbed the energy before it began pulsing irregularly. That generator was not long for this world.

She ignored the dropping of the next dropship, the whining of its engine, the yelling of its occupants, the massacre that followed shortly afterwards, and the hoots and hollers from the victors. She had a more important job to do.

She verified the power in her rifle, lined up the shot again, took her breath, and fired. There was another brief pause as the generator absorbed the additional influx of power. It blinked a few times as if trying to determine if the energy was to its liking. It wasn't. The thing exploded in a shower of energy, taking out a nearby grunt and part of the plateau in the process. Looking around, she quickly shouldered her sniper rifle. "Well, that's it for today! LET'S GO!" THIS is what she was brought on board for and it felt GOOD. The fact that there were no snakes or monstrosities to account for was just a bonus.

***

The braniac sat with its hands on it knees, looking at the carnage of the pulse generator and his defense forces. Nearly twenty of his forces had been decimated by the humans who were now on their way to escaping.

"SEND MORE! I WANT THEM ALL! I WANT THEM ALL AT ONCE! SEND EVERYTHING WE HAVE! THAT WILL SHOW THEM!"

Costrix sat well behind the braniac's chair, rubbing his bruised cheek. He looked up at the monitors. "Oh, I'm sorry your Idiotness, we only have two shuttles left in the area. They are already on the way. They will be hitting the ground in a few minutes."

"FASTER! THEY NEED TO BE THERE FASTER!"

"Oh, I'm sorry your Hard-headedness, did the humans not fall like you asked them nicely too?"

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU SAID TO SEND THEM LITTLE BY LITTLE TO MAKE THE HUMANS FEAR US!"

Costrix looked around in fury. "I SAID NO SUCH THING!"

The braniac's eyes glowed, and Costrix stood up with a dumb expression, hands loose by his side, "I ordered the attacks to come in little by little in waves. I suggested that the humans would fear us more if we punished them slowly. This defeat is entirely my fault. I will go relay this information to my superior and accept the punishment for my failure."

With a glazed look in his eyes, the grunt shuffled out of the room. The braniac turned back to the viewscreen as he watched the last few humans jump back onto the Avenger. The Avenger blasted off as if nothing had happened and disappeared into the sky's atmosphere.

"Next time you little humans....next time..."

***

The entire squad was in the process of dressing down when a shadow passed across the doorway. The noisy chatter silenced as one by one, the squad noticed the figure standing in the doorway. Pubentz looked up to find her nemesis staring directly at her.

"YOU! YOU! YOU! YOU! MED-BAY! NOW!"

Savegerko looked to say something, but the stare silenced her immediately. She sighed, finished storing her gear, then shuffled head down back to her assigned bed.

The doctor walked up to Pubentz, "And you..."

She got up quickly, "LOOK! I'M ALL BETTER! I'M BETTER THAN WHEN I LEFT! SEE?"

"MED-BAY! NOW!"

"THIS IS..."

"NOW!"

"BUT.."

"NOW!"

Pubentz stomped away, leaving muddy foot prints all the way to Med Bay..

***

"Kitty?" Gill whispered as she slipped into Med-Bay. "Kiiiiity?" Gill looked around. Soldiers lay around the room in various states of irritation. She looked around but didn't see her engineer.

Svagerko looked up, "I haven't seen your Kitty Gill."

Gill looked around, "Has anyone seen Kitty?"

Everybody shook their head. Gill went to shake Pubentz who had covered herself to shut out the world for a while.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that Gill. You might want to come back later and ask her." Gill paused once, then nodded. She took one last look around and frowned dejectedly as she left Med-Bay.

The sheet came up slightly and a muffled voice could be heard from beneath the sheets, "Is.....is she gone?"

Svagerko looked over to the exit, "She's gone, but you better hurry. She has one heck of a determination, and I'd be surprised if we don't land for a few more days. I'd go hide in the debris room. I think the Commander wanted that cleared anyway. I don't think Gill even knows where that is, so that would be a pretty good spot to hide away."

The engineer looked around quickly before sending the sheets to the bottom of the bed. Reaching the exit, he looked out briefly and seeing that Gill wasn't there, jogged the opposite direction.

Svagerko looked over to the empty bed where Pubentz was supposed to be. The engineer had saved her once, but the doctor would not be happy when he realized Pubentz was not there....again. Svagerko leaned back and sighed. That was a problem for another day.