Operation: Repo!
XCOM:_Gray_Dawn#Recaps
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Game #12 7/27/14
Day 13
What the Rangers Saw
Specialist Gabe Glasman scanned Lambert road through the sights of his M249 SAW. The air was tense; it was second squad's turn at patrol, and the shit had hit the fan on their watch. They were pinned down at the baseball field while a crazed pack of civilians were firing on them. He wasn't too worried, though. Carville was en route with some men, and those civilians who had been busting ass recently. With at least some of the locals pulling their weight, it made Glasman feel better being here. His partner, Larry Ellis was in the guard post across the road from him. With their focus on the road, they didn't see the alien craft swoop silently in over the trees until it briefly blotted out the sun. Ellis looked over just in time to see the weapons on the UFO open up on his partner, and vaporize Gabe and his SAW. Ellis bailed from his spot a moment before it drew fire. He was caught in the explosion and was wounded, but was able to limp off and get a call out to Lt. Spiers that they were under attack.
The alien craft hovered over the development park and began firing some weapon at the ground. People out in the open quickly found out, however, that the gunners aboard the craft didn't have terrible aim. The ordnance that rained down was enemy troops, exploding out in their own furies of violence and fire. People ran and some died, cut down by screaming green bolts. As people ran for cover, they saw another alien craft skid across the sky, dipping behind the hills and trees to the south. Many of them felt sure that this was the end. An enemy they hardly knew existed had come to attack, and they had no means to defend themselves.
Marshall Spiers knew better. He had the report from his first sergeant, Feargus Carville, who had accompanied Captain Kamastafall, Brock Jankins, Fayth Wilson and young Marie Kjelstad on their mission to Tiger Mountain. Spiers knew the aliens weren't invincible. He rallied his squad and prepared to respond to this enemy attack. Fourth squad at the secret bunker was en route, and they would be able to provide some reinforcement in a few minutes. Spiers had to hold it together for that long, at least. He could see, plain as day, that the disturbance in town had been a diversion. He cursed himself for allowing Carville to respond with nearly an entire squad, but what else could he have done? His forces were thin to begin with; he couldn't have all his men everywhere at once all the time. Hopefully Carville and the others would be here soon, as well. In the meantime, he would fight, because that's what Rangers do.
The alien forces split up. One group headed to the main entrance, to cut off the approach of reinforcements. Another group headed to the KAI facility, the terminus of the tram that would bring the remaining rangers from Bunker November. How they knew to head there remains anyone's guess, but since they were moving on that position, several of the Rangers moving to regroup with Lt. Spiers got caught up in a firefight, and had to fall back to the safety of the KAI offices to make their stand.
What they found was Peter Kjelstad directing his employees like a general might command troops, getting them to set up barricades in the front offices, and getting Rangers trickling in for safety set up into defensive positions. When Kjelstad learned that Rangers were inbound from the bunker, he detailed workers to stand by and escort them to the lobby. When there was a lull in the fighting and the reinforcements were on site, he fell back. Naomi Agincourt was among the fresh troops. She had jumped on the tram at the last moment, called to the sound of the guns. Peter rallied his people to help move the wounded to the nearby medical facility, and personally provided escort for them and Naomi, under enemy fire. When Lt. Agincourt and the wounded were in the medical facility, Peter dashed back to his facility, and guided part of the Ranger contingent there through the building, allowing them to flank the attacking forces and secure the area.
The last group of aliens had moved on the east cooling tower, the one that housed the alien spaceship near its top. Lt. Spiers and most of his squad had gathered at a point several hundred meters away, behind cover. Artillery had been called in not too long ago, and Spiers didn't know what that meant for him now, but he knew that alien forces were trying to reach the captured vessel, and he couldn't let that happen. Carville returned with nearly a full squad, and Captain Kamastafall and his civilian back-up. Spiers gave them an intel dump of what little he knew, and they threw a plan together. The Rangers would lay down suppressing fire from the front, allowing Kamastafall, Carville, Marie Kjelstad and a couple other Rangers to flank. Brock and Fayth, armed with high-power sniper weapons stayed behind and attempted to neutralize the aliens making their way up the outside stairs to the top.
The combined arms of the alien assault force were formidable, but with human reinforcements onsite, their offensive began to crumble. The flanking team advanced to the cooling tower under cover of suppressing fire and the snipers took out the aliens on their way to the ship. One of the UFOs made a final appearance to blast parting shots at the cooling towers before slipping away, heading south. The attack was repulsed. Damage control begins.
