XCOM: Second Front

BRITISH TABLOIDS TURN TO LEGITIMATE NEWS AS PUBLIC GROWS DISINTERESTED IN 'FLUFF' DURING TIME OF CRISIS;

UFO LANDING SITE IN GERMANY REPORTEDLY SECURED BY MILITARY FORCES OF UNKNOWN AFFILIATION;

19:30, 20/07/2050 XCOM SOLDIER BARRACKS

Van Doorn woke up from the incessant beeping of his watch. Still half asleep, he blinked a couple of times and brought up his left hand. Looking at the clock face, he sighed wearily at the numbers displayed - 19:30. He shifted on his creaky bunk bed, not wanting to get up. "I can't believe it's so late already" he grumbled, sitting on the mattress "feels like i didn't even sleep." He yawned and stretched, gathered his strength and stood up. The sound of his footsteps echoed through the quiet barracks as he headed to the bathroom to clean up. Halfway there, he took notice of the silence, and turned around to look at the second story of his bunk bed, only to find it unoccupied. Did i sleep through a mission? He ruminated on the thought and found it ridiculous. Maybe everyone's training right now, or in the bar. Hell, the base's large, it's not that wierd to find the barracks empty. He entered the bathroom and started washing his face. As he was rinsing his mouth, something dropped in the other room, prompting the man to spit out the water and go investigate the source.

He opened the door, only to see the same empty barracks. As he searched the room for the source of the noise, he saw something move in his peripheral vision. His gaze darted to the door, and he saw a shadow quickly move away. "Hey, wait!" He dashed towards the exit and peeked out to see an empty corridor. A shadowy figure stood at the end of the corridor, and when the man tried to approach it, it took a left turn and ran. "Stop right there!" he yelled to no avail. As he followed the figure, the corridor spun into a spiral and trembled, forcing the man to the floor. Metal creaked and cracked under pressure as the walls contorted and deformed. Van Doorn looked around and stood up as soon as as the tremors subsided. He looked at the place where the figure was a few moments ago, only to see the spiraling corridor ending in a door that wasn't there before. "What in the goddamn..." he mutered, getting to his feet and moving towards the door. The jagged pieces of metal sprouting from the floor made him tread carefully and slowly. He stopped in front of the door, and opened it.

A wooden table was standing in the middle of a rustic room. The walls were made of birch wood, a large fireplace was located near the table. A number of paintings hanged from the walls, mainly depicting mountains and green fields. Windows were open, and beyond them a seaside was visible. A man in his fifties, as well as woman of roughly the same age were sitting side-by-side, both of them having grey streaks in their hair. To their left, a boy in his teens was poking his dinner with a fork as he stared into the fire, seemingly bored. On the opposite side of the couple, a dark haired woman was sitting at the table, talking to the three with a happy look in her eyes. The matter of the conversation eluded Peter, as they were speaking in a language unknown to him. He squinted trying to recognise the woman. He raised an eyebrow and took a step forward. "Rosa?" He pressed against an invisible barrier, it was wet and lathery to the touch, much like a soap bubble. When his hand connected with the barrier, a wave rippled its way across the surface, making the room waver.

The woman tensed up when the elderly man said something to her, and her speech became more strained. The couple smiled, tears welling up in their eyes. The boy saluted with a smirk on his face, a single tear falling down his face. The second the woman tried to stand up, a loud explosion shattered the windows, and engulfed the room with white light. As the woman screamed, the three figures were covered in crystals, gems sprouting from inside tearing their flesh apart. In a second they turned to glittering colorful statues, and shattered to pieces. The room dissipated into an black void, as the woman cried out and fell to her knees beside the shards of gems. As she wept and cradled the remains, a four-legged figure stepped out of the void with a smirk on its face. The equine spread her wings and lit her horn as she began cackling.

The woman looked at the alicorn with hate filled eyes and clenched her fists. She roared and leapt at the pony. To Van Doorn's surprise, the pink alicorn wasn't able to stop the soldiers advance, and soon enough a flurry of punches was unleashed upon the equine. The sound of breaking bone filled the room as the soldier grabbed the pony by her head, and started beating her head against the darkness. "Rosa, can you hear me?" Van Doorn yelled as the pony's head turned into a mess of blood and bone. "Stop right now!" The woman continued her assault, despite the mush-like substance covering her hands. Van Doorn pressed his hands against the barrier, and with enough pushing, it gave way. The barrier burst loudly, and Rosa finally looked away from her target. Her eyes widened when she recognised the man. "General?" The floor beneath them gave way and they fell into the nothingness together.

.

..

...

"GAH!" - Van Doorn shot up from sleep and hit his head on the bunk bed. His watch was beeping incessently. Bringing up his shaking hand, he looked at the clock face. A lump formed in his throat as he saw the time: 19:30. He took a deep breath, an stood up from the bed. He began making his way to the bathroom, when a familiar voice called him out.

"Rise and shine Mr. Doorn, Rise and-" the voice cut abruptly as Van Doorn turned to face him.

"What? Do i have something on my face?" He asks, scratching his chin.

"Pete, you look like you've seen a ghost." Adam says with a worried expression.

"You wouldn't believe it." Van Doorn responds, and enters the bathroom. A sink is positioned near one of the walls, and a mirror hangs above it. He leans on the sink and twist a faucet. As cold water rushes out, he takes a look at his reflection. He had bags under his eyes, a tired look in his brown eyes, and his body was shaking. He splashed some water in his face, and after deciding he looked somewhat presentable, got out of the bathroom.

Making his way towards the exit of the barracks, he notices something that made him quicken the pace. Adam was ahving a conversation with a shaken Rosa. As he exited the barracks, he heard a snippet of it.

"Bloody hell, what happened? I swear, Pete was just as shaken as you..."

19:55, 20/07/2050 XCOM INTERROGATION CHAMBER

Doctor Yuri Romalov checked his watch for what must've been the tenth time. He looked at Vahlen who was fiddling with her tablet. Beside her, two white operating tables stood, both of them occupied. On the left one lay Van Doorn, a myriad of sensors placed on his body, as well as a device similar to a VR headset placed on his head. On the right one an incapacitated white stallion was restrained to the table, monitoring equipment by his side. Yuri's clock buzzed startling him. He cleared his throat and approached the woman. "Doctor Vahlen, i believe its time to begin the procedure." She took out a recorder and approached Van Doorn.

"Begin log. This is Doctor Moira Vahlen, Head of Research. I will be assisted by Doctor Yuri Romalov, head of XCOM Psionic division. The date is 20/07/2050, 20:00. Today marks our first use of psionics during interrogation. Sergeant Van Doorn, are you ready to begin the procedure?"

"Ready as i'll ever be." The man said, getting as comfortable as he could on the table.

"Excellent, we'll begin psionic probing in 3... 2... 1." The woman pressed a button on her tablet, and the contraption on Doorn's head glowed with purple energy.

"Remember to establish a stable link with the subject before attempting information extraction." Yuri reminded.

"Just like the simulations." The man said, and closed his eyes in concentration. A bout of motion sickness gripped him, and when he opened his eyes, he was upright, standing... somewhere. He was surrounded by a starry night sky, it took fair amount of his willpower not to look down. He looked around and noticed that the weren't any familiar constellations. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and concentrated. Make a stable link... First i need something to stand on. Something that would be familiar to the subject... A field of grass, maybe? He pictured a vast meadow full of flowers with a quiet river flowing nearby. He heard the murmur of water and the rustle of grass. Opening his eyes, he found himself standing in a green pasture under the night sky. Finding a river to his left, he decided to follow it. Hopefully this will lead me to the target soon enough.

As he followed the river, night turned to day, and the outskirts of a small town became visible. Quaint wooden buildings littered the town, with a grand chrystal castle standing beside the village. The castle stuck out like a sore thumb, contrasting with the otherwise rustic town. The man squinted and took a better look at the structure. He snorted. Is it flipping me off? Following the river further, he heard sounds of chatter coming from just behind a grove. He crouched and slowly approached the source. He took cover behind a tree as he spotted a group of four ponies. Taking a closer look, it was obvious they were having a picnic. One of the figures was Shining Armor himself, currently listening to his sister with a content smile on his face. Beside the two ponies was Princess Cadance who was styling the violet mane of a younger alicorn. Her coat was light magentaish in color, and she looked grumpy for some reason. Van Doorn's eyes widened as he saw both a horn and a pair of wings on the pony. Bloody hell, another alicorn? This one looks young though... Not that it matters, they all look young. The man dashed from tree to tree, until he was hinding behind the last one, just beside the picnic place itself.

He stepped out of cover and outstrethced his right hand, while putting the left one to his temple. He concentrated, and purple tendrils of psionic energy erupted from his head rushing towards the white-coated pony. To the man's surprise, they impacted an invisible barrier. A wave of ripples made its way across the shield, and the white pony tensed up a little. A sweat built up on the man's forehead as he continued to assault the barrier. Cracks appeared seemingly out of nowhere as the stallion got up from his sitting position and started looking around in concern. The man thrust his left hand forward, and a wave of purple energy washed over the picnic grounds, shattering the shield.

As the shield shattered the scenery melted away into oblivion, and the pony watched in horror as his companions turned to sludge. He turned to face the human, and saw determination as he looked into the man's purple eyes. "I DEMAND ANSWERS!" the soldier yelled, and violet tendrills shot out towards the unicorn. The pony's horn glowed with power, and he teleported away from the attack. He dodged a couple more purple tendrills, and conjured up a sheld. Violet energy collided with the magical barrier, and Shining strained from the effort of keeping up the shield. A thought passed his mind that gave him an idea. *This is a dream, right?* His shield turned to shards of glass as he teleported behind a platoon of solar guards, and threw the shards towards Van Doorn. The man dropped to the ground, and was showered with broken glass. Getting to his feet he saw the approaching ponies, and the same though came to his mind. I'm still in a dream... Just as the ponies prepared to rush him, the hum of VTOL engines became audible, as well as the sound of spinning barrels. The voice of Big Sky filled the soldier's ears. "Aye aye; lightin’ ‘em up." A torrent of coherent light painted the battlefield with charred corpses and burn marks.

More ponis appeared, but each and every one of them was reduced to nothing by the Skyranger's heavy laser. As the man got closer to Shining, walls of a castle erupted from the ground, protecting the pony. A ocket fizzled through the air and impacted the castle walls. Van Doorn approached the hole in the wall and the smoke cleared, revealing a tired-looking pony. Before the latter could react, Van Doorn dashed to the stallion, and hit him in the muzzle. Before the pony could recover, the man grabbed him by the head, and purple energy started passing between his hands, right through Shining's head. The man concentrated on the information he needed. "Crystal Empire. The layout of the Crystal Castle. Show me..." The scenery changed sporadically, showing different rooms of the castle. "Lily Marzec. Show her." He visualised the girl's face, and to his horror, a teenager pony appeared as the scenery changed into a desert. "WHERE?" He screamed at Shining, who quietly mumbled "Australia" with a pained expression on his face. He was about to ask the pony about Canterlot Castle when a roar of thunder distracted him, and a dark blue aura threw him away from the pony. He hit the ground hard, and remained pinned by the magic field. He tried to get up, psionic tendrills fought against the aura and were slowly succeeding. That is, until a booming voice dissolved them into mist. "THOU SHALL NO LONGER TERRORISE MY SUBJECT. BEGONE FIEND!" The pressure built up and he could swear he heard a crack of a broken bone, when the ground underneath him disappeared and he fell into oblivion.

23:00, 20/07/2050 XCOM INTERROGATION CHAMBER

Dr. Vahlen was busy relaying the new information to Commander, as Dr. Romalov checked the condition of Van Doorn. The information the were getting was important, if somewhat unorganised. The myriad of room layouts, images of royal parties, and seemingly random scenery wasn't easy to process, but the information got more coherent in the last hour, giving them a clear layout of the castle. "Here's hoping it'll be enough..." Suddenly, the monitoring equipment signaled a warning, and the doctor looked away form his tablet to check the soldier's lifesigns. His eyes fidened as he called his superior. "Doctor Vahlen? We've got an emergency on our hands!" The woman rushed over to the operating table, an her eyes widened as she noticed the heart rate - 180bpm. "Wake him up! Now!" Vahlen commanded, tapping her tablet. "And call medical!" The headset powered down, and the purple light faded. As soon as that happened, Van Doorn shot up from sleep with a terrified look in his eyes. He grabbed his chest and began breathing heavily. Blood trickled down from his nostril as he stood up and tried to leave, but was stopped by Yuri. "Sergeant, you are to remain here until we are sure you've suffered no adverse side effects." The man groaned. "Side effects? What sort of side effects?" The doctor motioned to look towards the second operating table. "That sort of side effects." The pony on the table was convulsing, and his muzzle was bloodied. His eyes were wide open, and the pupils were the size of pinpricks. His broken horn was sparkling with energy.

Feng Yin rushed to the briefing room as soon as she heard the intercom. She ran up the stairs and almost collided with the rest of her squad. "Liutenant? Good to see you, i'd reckon we're all goin' to the same room." Courtney Murdoch said.

"No shit Sherlock, what gave it away? The base-wide announcement, or the fact she's clad in body armor?" Adam scoffed, which earned him a cuff on the nape from Rosa. As they approached the briefing room, they noticed the lack of a certain bald man. Dubravka was the first to speak up.

"Where's Peter? I haven't seen him in armory..." Rosa and Adam both tensed up at the mention of the man, and Iris Heijden was the one to reply.

"General's busy down at Psi Labs from what i heard." Mark furrowed his brows.

"I hope he's not going to miss this op, we can't afford to go into the fray understaffed."

They opened the door and to their surpirise, Van Doorn was already sitting on one of the benches, waiting for his squadmates. He looks left much to be desired though. The tired look in his eyes was matched by the heavy bag under them.
Strike One occupied their bench, just in time to see Bradford walk into the room. After a salute everyone settled down and Commander began the briefing.

"Germany reported widespread alien attacks in Cologne, the local military is holding them off the best they can, but they need our help. We are tasked with making sure a civilian convoy makes it out of the city. Strike One will be dropped near one of the remaining highways, their objective is to secure the area and hold out until Strike Two arrives. Strike Two will rescue civilian targets and escort the APC convoy to Strike One's position for evac. Strike Three and Four will draw the invader's attention, providing enough time for the convoy to make it through. Skyrangers will provide assistance to local forces, so don't rely on CAS. "

With that, the breifing was over, the strike teams made their way to their respective Skyrangers and the aircrafts soon left the base. Adam managed to take a set close to Peter, and was fidgeting in place thinking if he should ask him or not. Taking a deep breath, he turned towards the man and asked. "So, Peter, did you "ask" our friend about... You know." Van Doorn turned towards his squadmate. The look of pity he gave the man do not bode well.

"I-i did. She's a newfoal. Somewhere in Australia. I'm sorry." The man said with a sigh. Adam clenched his fists and shook his head.

"You're not the one who should be apologising. At least she's still alive, and that's what i prayed for. One more reason to blow those ponies to bits, eh? Plus, i'm sure the docs will cook up a solution to the problem sooner or later... Thank you, Peter, once we're back at the base - drinks are on me."

Van Doorn planned to take a quick nap, thank the lord military training allowed him to sleep pretty much anywhere, but his plans were ruined when an *ahem* from his right demanded his attention. He turned to see a familiar shape of Rosa's helmet, who was *probably* looking daggers at him behind it. The man raised an eyebrow, even though he already guessed the reason behind the disturbance. The woman was about to ask her question, when the voice of Strike One's pilot interrupted her. "Strike One ready to deploy."

23:40, 20/07/2050 Cologne, GERMANY

The skyranger hovered over a collapsed highway, its ramp opened and four thick cables fell out. Once the squad descended, the skyranger flew off.

"Command, this is Big Sky. Strike One is in position, securing the AO.

"Central, Big Brother reporting. Strike Two is on site, convoy is in sight."

"Command, Beaglerush on-line. Strike Three is engaging x-rays."

"Central, Firebrand speaking. We're in the pipe, five by five."

"Affirmative. Strike One is to secure the AO and wait for Strike Two escort the convoy. Strike Two is to protect the civilian targets and regroup with Strike One." Bradford said into his microphone, observing the situation. "Strike Three and Four you have one objective: keep the enemy busy. Once the convoy is out of the city, you'll have the go-ahead to evac. To all Strike teams: remember to check your fire, civilians are in the AO." An wave of aknowledgemet from the squad captains crackled through the Commander's headset as each team moved to complete their objective.

Strike One slowly approached the collapsed highway. Rosa moved towards an abandoned police car, and heard the distant sounds of battle. Plasma fire mixed with the sound of conventional firearms, as well as bone-chilling human screams. Among the familiar, yet not less terrifying roars of Mutons and Chryssalids she heard something... Unknown. A much more animalistic roar came from somewhere inside a crashed schoolbus. She put her left hand up, fist clenched. Her teammates stopped and listened. "You hear that?" She half-whispered.

"What the hell was that? Don't think i've heard that before..." Adam replied, taking cover behind a plasma-burned yellow minivan a few meters away from the assault. He checked the car, and a stench of burnt flesh permeated his nostrils. He recoiled from the smell, and shut the door. "No survivors." He said dryly.

Courtney propped herself against a green pickup truck, alongside Iris. Checking the driver seat, the driver was missing and the keys were in the ignition. A blood trail stretched from the driver's seat to the abandoned schoolbus. "This one's empty, but don't get comfy, something's dragged the driver away." She said, motioning towards the yellow bus.

Iris took cover behind an opened door of a sedan, and prooped his tripod-mounted heavy laser on top of it. "I'll cover the entrance, nothing'll get past those doors." He shifted in place as another roar was heard coming from the same bus.

"Bozic, get a rocket ready." Feng instructed, sitting behind a collapsed support beam, alongside the second sniper. "I don't like the looks of this." She steadied her rifle, before continuing. "Guzman, check the bus for hostiles. If there is anything inside - get out of there, a rocket will be on its way. Heijden, Murdoch, cover Guzman." She turned her head to the sniper beside her. "Van Beek, cover Doorn and Marzec." She aimed at the entrance of the bus. "The rest of you - continue advancing towards the collapsed highway." A string of confirmations soon followed, and the plan was set in motion.

Dubravka took cover behind a stack of wooden boxes, erected to work as temporary cover. She grabbed her rocket launcher, aimed, and prepared to fire. "Rocket is on standby."

Rosa quickly but carefully approached the bus. It was faint at first, but the closer she got to the vehicle, the clearer she could smell it. Something certainly died there. The windows were smudged from the inside, making it impossible to see the contents of the bus. The door was smashed through, and a broken body was sprawled sideaways on the drivers seat. Something strong enough to break the door with a body? Bloody hell. "Reporting a dead body, moving in to investigate."

"Roger that, covering." Iris responded as the woman took a step into the bus. The metallic smell assaulted her nostrils as she stepped inside. Most of the seats were broken, bodies strewn around in unnatural poses. Bones were broken, jutting out of the bodies. Limbs were either ripped off or were set at unnatural angles. Three distinct claw marks were visible on every body. The woman crept into the depts of the bus and accidentally stepped on something, making a loud crack. Something big huffed and got up from its knees. It came from the end of the bus, from behind one of the remaining seats. Something big roared as it noticed the woman, and charged at her without hesitation. "CONTACT! CONTACT!" she yelled, unloading her scatter laser into the thing as she backpedaled to the exit. The bursts of coherent light illuminated her surroundings, allowing her to see her attacker better. She caught a glance of a two and a half meter figure before its backhanded strike sent her flying through the window. The glass shattered on impact and she hit the ground hard. She crawled away from the bus as the creature reared its ugly head out of the doors.

As soon as it took a single step outside, it was impacted by a rocket, obscuring it in a black cloud of smoke. For a second, everything was quiet.

But then she heard it.

A roar.

The creature rushed out of the smoke and headed straight for Rosa. She shot at it until her charge was dry, but despite her shots scorching the creature's flesh, it kept going, roaring mencaingly each time it got hit. When it got within meele distance out of instinct, she tried to kick it with her leg. She was horrified when the monster grabbed her ankle in one hand and clenched it's fist, crushing fist. She screamed in pain as it struck her ankle with the second hand, breaking the leg with a loud crunch and bending the leg. A torrent of coherent laser impacted it's armor, but the creature ignored the attack, choosing instead to mutilate her other leg. Pain surged through her body as she felt the creature tear her right leg to shreds. The creature finally left the woman when a concentrated barrage of laser fire managed to burn a small hole through it.

It roared once more and barreled towards the team's gunner. "DIE YOU PIECE OF S-" Iris managed to yell before a bladed gauntlet hit him square in the chest. The man screamed in pain, before the creature put all of its weight into one punch, crushing his ribcage and silencing him forever. "Man down!" Courtney yelled into the mic as the squad focused its fire on the creature. The torrent of laser fire finally brought the creature down, and it collapsed to the ground, its armor scorched and bloodied. Before the squad could take a moment to rest, plasma fire scorched the extirior of a car closed to Courtney, nearly hitting her. "Floaters! Open fire!"

A group of ten monstrous cyborgs powered by pairs of twin back-mounted jets took off into the air, and rained green death upon the squad. Their glowing eyes and mutilated bodies were a horrifying sight to behold, not to mention the robotic arms and a respirator place over their mouth. A number of them dropped dead when a red laser connected with their heads. Feng shot one down, and spoke into the microphone. "Bozic go patch Guzman up, Courtney and Doorn - cover her."

"Got it, running." The rocketeer replied and dashed to the woman in question, ducking and weaving past the plasma bolts coming her way. One shot managed to connect, scorhing the armor. She landed near the soldier and quckly observed her condition. She was bleeding, and her legs looked like used up tubes of toothpaste. Dubravka took the woman's helmet off and was met with a face as pale as a sheet. "Kurva! Stay with me soldier, medkits fix everything." She took a red medkit from her belt and sprayed it over the woman's legs. Rosa felt numbness slowly spread through her legs, smiled weakly and replied. "Not the best time to call me a whore, but alright." Another plasma bolt hit their cover, and made the rocketeer flinch.

"The medkit won't cut it, she needs proper medical attention. NOW!" Dubravka said into her microphone. "Call Big Sky, we need to get her to the skyranger!" She added after a moment of hesitation.

"Big Sky's, this is Specter. Requesting emergency evac, what's your status?" Feng said, taking out another floater. Their numbered dwindled somewhat, but the recent reinforcements of mutons pressured the squad further.

"Specter, Big Sky's reporting. I'm covering the convoy's retreat, ETA is 5 minutes. Stay frosty." The Leutenant cursed under her breath before answering.

"Heard you loud and clear Big Sky. Staying put." She took a shot at the muton, whose bodyarmor melted a little when the red streak connected with it. Despite that, it continued it's advance.

"Bozic, get her to my position, i'll cover you."

"Aye, aye." The rocketeer responded and carefully skooped the wounded soldier up into a fireman's carry. The squad provided covering fire, and the woman began making her way towards the two snipers. Plasma whizzed past the two soldiers as they took cover behind a yellow van. Beside them, Courtney was firing at a group of hostiles. "Move! I'll cov-" She turned to Dubravka for just a second, but that second was more than enough for her head to evaporate as a plasma bolt hit it. She was dead before she hit the floor. "Dammit! She’s gone!" the rockeeter yelled. She took a deep breath and rushed towards the next bit of cover. Her headset crackled to life as she positioned herself behind some cover, narrowly avoiding another green bolt of doom. "Strike One, this is Big Sky. Big Brother is assisting the convoy, i'm making a beeline towards your position. Get ready."

Just as the pilot's voice cut off, the sound of VTOL engines filled the battlefield, and the skyranger landed with its ramp down. A copilot was standing in the nethers of the craft, motioning the rocketeer to get in. She rushed towards the entrance and managed to get in without getting shot. She slowly lowered the wounded soldier on the floor, and looked at the copilot. "I'll take care of here, get back into the fight." She replied. Dubravka nodded, and rushed back to the battlefield, only to see the convoy of german Boxers make its way into the highway. Her headset crakled to life once again, and the voice of Bradford filled her ears.

"Good job Strike teams. The convoy is safe, and the civilians are unharmed. You have the green light to evac."

OPERATION BATTLE CRY: COMPLETE

ALIEN TERROR MISION HALTED.

CIVILIAN LOSSES: ACCEPTABLE

STRIKE ONE REPORTS 2 KIA, 6 WIA
STRIKE TWO REPORTS 1 KIA, 6 WIA
STRIKE THREE REPORTS 3 KIA, 5 WIA
STRIKE FOUR REPORTS 4 KIA, 4 WIA

RECOVERY TEAM INVENTORY:

(Documented by CPT Glenn Friendly)

MUTON BODY: 30

BERSERKER BODY: 10

CHRYSSALID CARCASS: 20

FLOATER CORPSE: 30

WEAPON FRAGMENTS: 63

OPERATION EVALUATION:ACCEPABLE