Battle Report, 10 May - OPERATION STONE SENTINEL

Alien activity reported in Alexandria, Chihuahua and Mumbai.  By leaving India to cope alone I'm tempting fate, but I want to hit the X-rays hard in the gut and they seem to have concentrated themselves in Egypt.  Cpl. Ash and Sq. Langram-Goldsmith are already in the hangar when Sentinel, Nix and Twitch stroll in wearily: Ash tense, pacing, wanting payback long overdue for "Crater" Hill; LG fresh, eager to do a good job.

*

In Alexandria, the Skyranger swoops in low beneath a raised highway.  Cars and lorries wait patiently for drivers who will never return.  Some still idle gently.

A fairly standard op, but for two things: one, the rookies screwed up the calibration of our laser rifles on their last mission, so the team were down to lead rounds and beam pistols for the most part; two, we faced determined flanking from the enemy's Floaters, able to make rocket propelled leaps straight to 6 o'clock.  More than once, there was a Floater not five paces behind Nix, ready to fire.

Fortunately, so was Twitch.

Jumped by a Sectoid, Cpl. Ash flips up his rifle, hears the dull click of an empty cartridge.  Stumbling back, he scrabbles for his sidearm - firing wildly, he sends it scuttling into the darkness, running scared.

Moments later it's back - with a friend in tow.  By then, however, LG has her rocket launcher prepped and ready.

A good night's work.  The Gent's will make Captain, Ash Sergeant.  Soon-to-be Corporal Langran-Goldsmith is well on her way to doing the same.