22:00 March 1st, 2015: Zion Valley, Utah
Jeremy Flagg would be the first to tell others that he was in over his head. Nobody really believed him when he said it either.
Middle child of his family, he had been the troublesome one among his sibling. Not as charismatic as his older brother Randall, nor artistically talented like his younger sister Samantha, Jeremy was simply the one with a temper. After all, if nobody would notice him when he behaved they might pay attention when he caused problems. In hindsight this wasn't such a good plan.
By the age of nineteen he had managed to bounce around between various 'boy's ranches' meant to correct such violent and unruly behavior before landing himself in a courtroom for aggravated assault. Fortunately for him, when given the option between prison and a term of service in the military, he chose the latter.
Shipped off to bootcamp, Recruit Flagg pushed through the training and was sent to fight. Arriving at the garrison at Khe Sanh, he barely had time to settle in before the artillery began to fall. Quick tempers die ignoble deaths, a lesson that the North Vietnamese Army had hammered deep into his bones and cooled his anger into a sharpened edge of steel. Something hardened within Flagg during those long years and it was a different man that wore his face when America withdrew from the country.
Gaining his commission shortly after returning home, Corporal Flagg became Second Lieutenant Flagg. Spending the next forty odd years around the world in all manner of leadership position had led to this. Somehow Jeremy had been chosen over all other candidates to lead a highly classified task force whose sole mission is to defend humanity from aliens.
Now, being a man who believes in clearly observable facts, the alien invasion wasn't so hard to believe... considering the live footage he had witnessed as he directed his rag-rag group of multinational soldiers. No, the extraterrestrials were easy enough to believe.
What he had trouble with was the two french girls with bubblegum colored hair that had appeared out of thin air in the middle of the base!
"Commander, medical has sent word that the younger girl's condition has stabilized." Came the voice of John Bradford, the executive officer of the base unofficially known as 'The Rabbit Hole'. Flagg was actually rather content to let his people maintain a relaxed and semi-informal atmosphere around base, yet it seemed that
some people couldn't take the hint. Strict discipline has it's time and place, yes, but he knew that this would be a long and stressful campaign... it would be better to let his personnel relax when they can than have them break down at a critical moment. Bradford disagreed.
Turning to the man, the Commander grabbed the offered papers and skimmed through then with interest. He didn't like mysteries, that kind of thing could get people killed. "Hmm... Still unconscious I see. What did the medics say about waking her?"
"Best to leave it as is, sir. Don't want to complicate her recovery any more than it already is." Bradford said.
He could accept that easily enough. "Any word why the little girl was so heavily injured?"
"According to the statement provided by the elder sister, it was the girls' mother that did that to her. Considering the child's injuries..." Bradford didn't look happy at the thought. Not that Jeremy could blame him, the thought that someone could do such a thing to their own kid was sickening. The girl's body was almost a solid bruise the last time he had seen her. "Aside from standard medical screening, Doctor Vahlen has been running DNA tests on samples taken from both of them." John pointed to the orange tab on the next page.
Flipping to the mentioned information, the Commander read with interest. While the women were verifiably human, the doctor had discovered some odd findings in the DNA. Some was easily identified as responsible for pigmentation, but the older woman had highlighted several places where she could not discern the purpose for the mutation or whatever it was, though she insisted that it was no cause for alarm. Jeremy wasn't a geneticist, so he would leave that to the doctor to discover. "Find out where these two came from and how they got here, we don't need half of France showing up on our doorstep because of some anomaly or other." The important thing was that his base was still secure and nobody was going to come knocking down the front door.
"Intruder alert! Base defense personnel report to your stations! All Combat teams report to the storage depot!" The woman at the base communications station shouted as someone hit the alarm. "Extreme radiation spike detected in the storage depot. Bringing it on screen now."
"Christ, can't a man think without Murphy getting involved?" The Commander grumbled as he looked at the main screen. Twin spikes of some glossy black material were growing from the floor, sparking as they rose. Once the sharpened pillars reached the ceiling, the camera flickered and died. "Combat teams, whoever's closest, how long 'til you reach the depot?"
A burst of static came through his headset, followed by a feminine voice with a British accent. "Granger here, ETA in two. Damn lift takes forever."
"Understood. Cameras are down in the area, do me a favor and get us a visual."
"Roger that, sir, Kilton just off-lined the lift and we're rappelling down the shaft."
"Mwaura here, Strike two's droppin' in from the Skyranger tubes, we'll take care of them Commander." A deep voice said after another burst of static as the comms officer adjusted to compensate for the disturbance the intruders were causing.
The screen split into two images as the only two remaining teams entered the depot. Granger's team stacked up on the door and threw a flashbang in as they breached. Fanning out, they took up positions around their side of the room. Strike two's camera showed them entering the room and sprinting to climb the two security stations between the cargo lift and the main storage area. With both the high ground and the path deeper into the base covered, the men and women of X-Com watched the fiery hole in the world in silent anticipation.
"Dude, is that grass growing out of a steel floor?"
Mostly silent anticipation, the commander noted as Granger hissed in rebuke at the man's comment. Three minutes of tense waiting later saw a single figure emerge from the portal. It was... an old man?
Raising his arms wide to the sides, the senior citizen shouted to the gathered soldiers as they pointed various lethal weapons at his person. "Salutations! I am in search of a pair of young ladies by the name of Valliere. You wouldn't happen to have seen them perchance? The Pink hair is hard to miss."
"Uh... sir?" Granger's asked, obviously just as confused by the whole thing as he felt.
Sighing, Commander Flagg ordered, "Just detain him for questioning and secure the portal, I've had enough weirdness for today."
Status: Healthy
Magicka: (625/650)
Choose 1:
[] Resist arrest!
[] Spell write in.
[] Retreat and-
[] Close the portal.
[] set traps.
[] Allow them to capture you.
[] Write in
[] Write in
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A/N: Oakflesh is active. The Dragon stone can be added to any vote, it will be used only if 4 or more people vote and it gets voted for by the majority. In other news: Spot the cameos!
