Not long after the debacle in Toronto, it becomes clear that panic in the USA is reaching unmanageable levels. If I'm to keep their support for the Project, and the not insignificant funding they provide, I need to put feet on the ground fast. Abductions near Baltimore, Maryland, provide the opportunity.
Intel suggests a lot of alien activity and our analysts peg this as a dangerous mission. We need the Dream Team for this one. Cpl. H. Gent, and Sqs. Hill, Ash and C. Gent suit up and head out. Stakes are high.
They land outside a Bar and Grill on the freeway. It seems to be empty, abandoned. Cars have rolled to a stop in the road, some having crashed violently into the alien landing pods cratering the tarmac. No sign of the enemy.
The squad eases up against car doors and bonnets, aware that the X-rays' laser weapons will turn their cover into time bombs in a matter of seconds.
Suddenly three Sectoids burst out of the Bar and Grill. The squad spreads out quickly. A nice one-two from Sqs. Hill and C. Gent - Hill's grenade totals a lorry and one X-ray, giving Gent a free shot through the wreckage for another.
The noise brings in two more Sectoids, bound by a psionic link. One ducks into the Bar and Grill, while the other joins the last of the original three to pin Sq. Ash in an uncomfortable crossfire. Cpl. H. Gent, however, has lightfooted inside - dashing across the restaurant and leaping behind the cover of the bar, he blasts the lead Sectoid off its feet. Outside, the linked Sectoid falls as well, brain fried, freeing up Ash to kill the third on his second attempt.
The squad is just edging out of cover when there is a skitter from above. Sectoid on the roof! Leaning out from behind a van, Ash fires wildly, scoring a miss. Sq. Hill sprints across the tarmac, slamming into cover next to Ash. He steadies his LMG, shoots... and the X-ray screams backwards. Hill nudges his fellow squaddie, grins: "I'm about to start keeping score."
Feeling the rhythm now, the Gents move into the Bar and Grill, heading for the roof and a better vantage point for Charles, while Hill and Ash maintain lines of sight from the road. A noise from the alley at the back draws Harvey outside, and that's when the enemy gets the drop on us again: two more mind-merged Sectoids bursting out of the office. Charles slips out of sight behind a pillar just in time.
Unfortunately, poorly relaid orders then see Charles literally strolling past the nearest Sectoid, who snap shots at the sauntering sniper... but misses, three times in a row, perhaps too shocked to aim. His wild fire destroys the wall, however, leaving Charles on the open road, all but face to face with the foe.
I grip the console in front of me with whitened fingers, contemplating a needless casualty. Charles is wide open, with nowhere to go, and neither Ash or Hill have a shot. Then I see the main chance - I growl an order down the mic to Harvey, who starts to sprint down the alley. Skidding to a halt, he kicks down the back door, looming over the second Sectoid with shotgun raised. One shot is all it takes.
Outside, Charles sighs with relief as the first sectoid is struck down by the psionic feedback. All is quiet.
We've won.
