Operation Midnight Sun, Part I

When we last left off…

After having a few days to deal with personal and personnel issues and generally decompress, the team was called to the command center by Lillian Kjelstad. X-Com’s Big Ears had picked up a strange radio broadcast from the mysterious and fabled HAARP facility outside of Gakona, Alaska. The transmission was a distress call saying that the facility was under attack by alien forces, and that there were staff and research on site that must not be allowed to fall into alien hands. The team decided to investigate, and packed for cold weather. Normally, Gakona would be fairly mild this time of year, but the Siberian cloud was still circulating through the jet stream, and it was seriously messing with the weather patterns, especially in the northern latitudes.

Because of the risk of an ambush and due to the aliens being able to sense large groups of people, Fayth opted to bring only a small team to investigate. In addition to the core of the assault team, she brought Faraday for drone ops and field tech duties, and Flash, in case they needed to do some heavy lifting. When the team was ready, Fayth lifted off in the Firestorm and flew off to Alaska, the land of the (nearly) midnight sun.

She set the Firestorm down about a mile away from the facility. Lillian had suggested that due to the powerful interference emitted by the riometers at the research station, it would disrupt the alien’s sensors, but they would have to park it far enough away not to be seen with the mark-one eyeball. Flash and Faraday stayed onboard, with Andre serving as ship security. The rest of the team marched in. Douglas was insistent that they make their way to the main offices in haste, and was not too concerned with thoroughly scouting the perimeter of the facility. He conceded that Faraday should perform some quick passes with one of the scout drones. She didn’t find any overt activity, but noted a couple “warm spots” on the ground in the fields near the main building. Douglas had her investigate further, finding some kind of metal object sticking a few feet out of the ground, with a lens on it, almost like a mast-mounted camera. When she brought the drone in even closer, she lost signal with the drone and did not know why.

This ratcheted up the team’s nerves a bit, and they carefully approached the base perimeter. At the main gate, Sgt. MacNaughton discovered an Air Force guard dead at his post, having been shot with a plasma weapon. He found a radio and security pass. He hoped to get something from the cameras here, but they were all live-feed displays; if there was any recording being made, it could only be accessed somewhere else.

They approached the main office and moved in overwatch through the parking lot. When all that was left was a short dash across the open to the entrance, they could see through the shattered windows of the main doors two more dead airmen in the lobby. Carville moved ahead and covered the rest of the team as they joined him. The security station in the lobby had a monitor display showing multiple cameras throughout the building. The feed from the cafeteria showed several dozen people hiding behind makeshift barricades.

While debating how to make contact without causing the jumpy inhabitants to try and blast them, Whiskey remembered the radio he’d lifted from the guard shack. He turned it on and tried to send out a message. He was immediately able to contact an airman in the cafeteria, and in short order, the team was talking to them face to face.

The guy on the other end of the radio was Senior Airman Carter, and he told the team that the base had come under attack about four hours prior, which was odd, because even with the time to get everything together, get to Alaska and march to the base from the Firestorm, X-Com had picked up the signal no more than two hours ago. He also didn’t know that any kind of distress call had been sent, so seeing a rescue team was manna from Heaven, as far as he was concerned. Carter informed them that all but about 15 base personnel out of 60 were accounted for here in the cafeteria. The rest, including most of the senior researchers and the base commander, Colonel Marazetto, were likely at the AZ/EL telescope facility on the northern end of the base, as that’s where the computers and fancy equipment for the main riometer array was located. The aliens had performed a minimal assault of the main offices in order to corral the majority of the staff, then they had laid some smokescreens outside. They had heard some heavy machinery noise out there, but by the time the smoke had cleared, they couldn’t see what might have gone on out there. Also, they didn’t want to expose themselves any more than they had to, so they had been staying clear of the windows for the most part.

With no sign of the aliens at hand, the team split up. Instead of having to herd almost four dozen people in a mile-long march to the Firestorm, Fayth opted to truck back herself and bring her ride here because she was no stranger to cross-country runs. Carville chose to go with her because he was not about to let her wander off alone when the brush might be crawling with aliens and mutant Kodiaks. Meanwhile, Douglas and Whiskey remained at the main offices to stand guard and investigate. They headed upstairs toward the Colonel’s office.

When Fayth and Carville were outside, they heard several distant “whumps,” followed by what sounded like small metal drums bouncing around. Whatever the source, it was beyond the corner of the main office, and looking in that direction, they saw a large cloud of opaque white smoke billowing across the ground. Fayth told her brother, who detoured on his way upstairs and headed to peek out a window on the proper side of the building. Looking over the smoke, he saw beyond to one of the warm spots sighted earlier. The dirt heaved up as a robot rose from the ground, shedding earth in streams and clumps as the machine’s two heavy, telescoping legs extended. It reminded Douglas of the “Sectopod” units they had encountered before, but this machine seemed much more formidable. He and Whiskey high-tailed it to the roof. The main office was only three stories tall. Even up there they would just barely be able to look down on the thing.

Upon hearing what made the scene, Fayth and Carville wasted no time making themselves scarce. They tried to get something solid between them and the machine and hoped to get lost in the light forest they had marched in through. After crossing the berm outside the parking lot, Fayth caught a flash of a glittering red line sweeping across her, like a barcode scanner at the grocery store. She looked back to see the towering walker rounding the southern corner of the office. It was sweeping the parking lot with a laser. Far off in the distance, to the west and north, she saw two flashes of light. A few seconds later, a couple of meteors driven by fulgurating blue jets burst down through the low clouds and streaked down toward the lased parking lot. The detonation turned the lot into a flaming slumgullion of plastic, glass and metal. They continued running. Fayth didn’t want that thing laying its evil eye on her! The situation had suddenly gone from creepy to absolutely terrifying.

Atop the office, Whiskey saw that the walker was giving chase. In order to buy Fayth some time, he hosed the walker down with his SAW before it moved out of range. His fire stream was wickedly accurate, and much of the burst pummeled the rear plates of the machine’s chassis. It stopped and turned, and hesitated for a moment, but then continued its pursuit. It had backup, after all, and didn’t need to spoil for a fight. Doug saw a laser pattern sweeping across him and the top of the building: its source was a second walker in the field north of the facility. He called out to Whiskey, and they rushed downstairs, hoping that the building could withstand whatever was coming its way. Run/falling down the stairs, they made it almost to the first landing before the artillery landed, which crumbled the upper levels and swatted them toward the lobby from the concussion. They found people pouring out of the cafeteria, screaming in terror, which was understandable. On the other side of the door, they heard gunfire, which was not. They rushed to the sound of the guns to find two airmen engaged in a fight with a disgusting humanoid mountain of flesh and dripping skin. Douglas burned most of his SMG’s mag, dumping at least a dozen bullets into the monster’s chest. It sliced open one airman with a handful of long talons. Other than shredding some of its copious skin and splattering the area with its blood, the automatic fire seemed to only mildly inconvenience it. Whiskey looked at the SAW in his hands and figured it wouldn’t do much better, so he slung it, and pulled out a grenade. He wanted to toss it, but there were too many friendlies in the open too close to the faceless horror. Douglas urged him to toss it and aim for the wounds. Whiskey considered it for a heartbeat, but thought better of it at the last moment. He rushed forward and plunged his hand elbow-deep into its chest. He released the spoon and dove for cover, but not before the thing could take a swipe at him, raking its claws into his armor and delivering a surprisingly painful wound before he was behind one of the barricades. About five seconds later, the grenade blew, and painted the entire room in greasy blood and shreds of gelatinous meat and skin. The two trunk-like legs remained, until they toppled like deflating meat sacks. Before they could investigate the remains of this grotesque beast, red laser beams flickered behind the drawn shades of the cafeteria. He and Whiskey got everyone out and the next set of explosions swallowed up the remains of the offices’ western wing.

They couldn’t stay here. Douglas and the Sergeant guided the base staff toward the woods and into cover, but not directly toward the Firestorm and not in the heavy footprints of the walker chasing his sister. Douglas called for Faraday to bust out the assault drone and send it to support Fayth. He had her send Flash out, as well. That was all the support he could think to muster, and hoped that it was enough.

Despite their head start, Carville knew that the walker would overtake them long before they could reach the Firestorm. On the run, he told Fayth to keep moving, pull up ahead and “make a ruckus” to draw the walker’s attention. He would lay in ambush and nail the thing with his AT-4. She didn’t like the plan, but couldn’t think of a better one. She kept moving, then she turned and raised her rifle. She couldn’t see the walker through the trees, but she could hear it. She fired blindly.

An instant afterward, she could faintly hear a trio of metallic spangs echo through the trees. She had hit the damn thing! The trees went silent. Had she taken it out?

A bright blue light silhouetted the treetops, and the foliage parted as a thunderclap ripped between them. A heavy blue beam lanced toward Fayth and drilled her in the chest. She flew back and slammed into the frozen ground.

She woke to the sound of an explosion, and the metallic clang of a railgun. Overhead, she saw an assault drone firing into the distance. She looked down and saw the fireball of Carville’s anti-tank rocket engulfing the walker’s body, and the railgun slug tearing through the walker’s leg. It collapsed in a shower of sparks and fire. A moment later, Carville was over her, trying not to lose it as he attempted first aid on a wound that clearly demanded a trauma surgeon. Fayth strangely felt no pain, despite the grievous wound in her chest. She woozily guided Carville on how to staunch the bleeding. He emptied his can of plastiflesh. Douglas and Flash soon arrived. Flash unfolded his bucket loaders and gingerly scooped up Fayth and the ground she lay upon. Carville and Douglas hopped onto the construction drone, who delivered its mistress in haste back to the Firestorm. Carville helped her limp to the piloting chair, where she took the Firestorm to the skies.

She homed in on the remaining walker. Stealth was out the window, now. Fayth wanted to bring her biggest weapon to bear and turn the odds in her favor. The walker painted the Firestorm with a laser, and two distant artillery barrages homed in on the mark. She deftly evaded, just barely. Whiskey, Carville and Douglass manned gunnery couches on three of the ships four wings and took a shot from the mounted plasma cannons as Fayth spun the ship to bring all the guns to bear. The walker was hammered once, twice and then it was done. It may have been able to withstand some of the guns carried by men on foot, but not this.

On the ship’s sensors, Fayth spotted the signature of a repulsor drive powering up. Five miles away, at the bottom of a small lake, a hidden craft was preparing to lift off. If they planned on stopping it, time was of the essence. They would likely only have 15 to 20 minutes before it was able to escape, or get airborne and retaliate. Fayth headed to the secondary riometer, and the gunners dispatched the artillery walker stationed there. If the rest of the base personnel were here, they might be able to end this fight quickly. A team scrambled out to check the buildings, but found no one there. Additionally, the aliens had trashed the computers, preventing the team from finding out what the aliens had been looking for. Whiskey found the base commander’s ID and security pass. They returned to the Firestorm.

While they were inside, Fayth had spotted a grav-sled inbound, moving from the edge of the lake. Douglas had Faraday intercept it with the assault drone. She nailed it with the railgun, stopping it dead in the snow. Was it a troop transport hauling the cavalry? Only time would tell. Fayth moved the Firestorm toward the lake and the UFO. The rest of her team geared up and readied themselves for an assault on the enemy vessel. Based on Airman Carter’s description of the attackers, the cruel and crafty Behemoth Elites were likely on that ship, and she still had a bone from Brazil to pick with them.