Invaders Must Die! (XCOM Inspired)
- Thread starter Academia Nut
- Start date
- Original
[X] (Nemesis) Something worse shows up
[X] (Nemesis) Something worse shows up
Arc 0.2
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Stalk the aliens
Ashley wasn't sure she could do anything for the people in the truck, but she could stalk these alien bastards and learn more about them. Assuming that this was a local thing - if it was global she was fucked either way - Ash figured that the best thing she could do was gather information that could be used to help in the future. As such the best move was to follow these creatures and figure out what they were doing.
Thankfully the aliens seemed to have absolutely no need of stealth, and were mostly concerned with getting the pair of people they had abducted onto these fold out hover-sled things and then heading off. The big one seemed to utterly disdain work, leaving it up to the scampering grey aliens to get everything done, and while it was impossible to tell what it was thinking, Ash still got the distinct feeling that it was incredibly annoyed at being down a subordinate.
Served the motherfucker right.
Despite having taken losses, they also showed no signs of being on the lookout for future attacks, which struck Ash as being both supremely arrogant and incredibly telling. They had knocked everyone out, and despite direct evidence to the contrary, they were confident that there were no further threats.
Ash kind of hoped that there weren't any more of these things so that she could try putting more bullets in them. She wasn't confident in fighting the four in front of her, but if it was just them then maybe she could take a swing and save some people.
It unfortunately became obvious quite quickly that this group was not the only group out and about, as another of the tall aliens accompanied by a quartet of the small ones and a trail of sleds set with bodies soon joined up with the first group. Again, while fundamentally unreadable for about half a dozen reasons, Ash still got the distinct impression that "her" alien leader was getting shit for losing a member of the team.
The two seemed to examine the captives they had taken on their sleds for a moment, before one person from each group was removed from the sleds. Apparently there was a limit to how many people could be taken. Just as Ash was hopeful that she would at least be able to recover those people, the forest lit up with a horrid green light as the leaders used their weapons to dispose of the evidence.
Feeling her stomach drop over the casual execution of sleeping captives and the realisation that if she had taken out the first group some people could have been saved, Ash waited a minute for the groups to leave before she left the forest to examine what was left. By the time she arrived the last traces of skeletons were crumbling to black and grey ash amidst the slush of the snowy gravel road. If you didn't know where to look and what to look for, you would probably never know what had happened here. A solid snow would conceal it, and the spring would completely erase the fact the two people had been murdered here.
The snow whirls seemed to be dancing around Ash in an almost comforting way as she felt a dark and terrible wrath stir within her. She probably didn't know these people, and most of the people in this region were quite honestly a bunch of bigoted assholes, but they were still people. She had grown up surrounded by old stories of this sort of casual brutality directed towards family. These things treated people worse than most people treated animals. This was instrumental violence. Two people who had no use to the invaders had been disposed of like surplus catch. This was genocidal violence.
Ash wasn't sure what she would do. She wasn't sure what she could do. But as she returned to the hunt, she whispered a promise to all the ancestors and spirits that Uncle Denise had told her about.
"Not again. Never again."
The path the aliens took soon led to a section of forest marked with signs indicating that it was Property of the Government of Canada, and to keep out. Judging by the relatively lax security measures, they hadn't really meant it all that much, but the aliens had still obviously decided that just opening the gate was too much and had knocked it over by melting off its hinges. Following inside, Ash found a small compound composed of a trio of Quonset huts, a pair of corporate-industrial trailer homes, a radio tower, and what looked like a helicopter pad.
Hovering above the clearing for the helicopter pad was nothing less than a motherfucking flying saucer. Maybe it wasn't quite the full 50s B-movie deal since it had extra bits on the house sized disc that implied a front and back, but it was unmistakably a flying saucer. It was also one of the creepiest things Ash had ever seen, since the way it just silently hung in the air was completely wrong, and its hull reflected the aurora above strongly, mirroring the unnatural lights in the sky.
Another "squad" of aliens was at work beneath the saucer, brilliantly illuminated by a pillar of white light emitted from a hole at the bottom centre of the craft. A dozen people on those hover sleds they used alongside were lined up across from a line of a half dozen "pods". Judging by the arrangement of people and the fact that one of the pods was closed, it was pretty obvious that those who were being taken along were going into the pods. The quietly monstrous patch of black ash off to one side told what was going to happen to those who were not chosen.
The aliens were not paying attention to their surroundings, but it was obvious that they felt that they didn't need to. Ash could use that, but only up to a point. There was no cover beneath the saucer and the aliens were at work around the abductees, so unless she fought her way to them - which was a non-starter - there was nothing she could do directly. Perhaps all she could do was keep watch and hope she could get someone to believe her.
The full squad of "gatherers" dropped off their victims to be sorted and went back out into the woods, while the depleted squad began to line up the abductees with the other squad. Having watched for over an hour now, Ash was starting to get the feeling that the taller aliens had body language that was human enough to partially read, and it definitely seemed that the squad leader was getting shit for taking a loss. Not personnel loss or even a working animal, but more like a squaddie who dropped a rifle or flashlight in a river.
Since the full squad at the saucer wasn't going back out, Ash guessed that they were wrapping up whatever it was that they were doing. The little grey aliens had already dumped three people in the disposal pile, but the two leaders seemed to be having some sort of silent discussion. Probably about who would do the actual disposal.
Ash needed a miracle. She needed one right now if she was going to save the three people already slated for execution, and she probably had a half-hour at most if she was going to save anyone. The closest cover was the buildings of this little government compound, but those would be deathtraps with how powerful the alien weaponry was. The trees gave better overall cover in the dark, even if they were further out.
The argument had been won. The shamed leader was heading over to kill the unwanted abductees. He was going to be somewhat isolated for a moment. The little ones seemed kind of stupid without direction. If she took the shot, could she cause enough chaos to escape immediate retaliation and take another shot at the other leader? If they both went down, what would the greys do?
Time's up
[ ] Take the shot
[ ] Pray for a miracle, get a miracle
[ ] Accept the losses, figure out a better plan
[ ] Accept the losses,gather intel, the carnage attracts something worse
Ashley wasn't sure she could do anything for the people in the truck, but she could stalk these alien bastards and learn more about them. Assuming that this was a local thing - if it was global she was fucked either way - Ash figured that the best thing she could do was gather information that could be used to help in the future. As such the best move was to follow these creatures and figure out what they were doing.
Thankfully the aliens seemed to have absolutely no need of stealth, and were mostly concerned with getting the pair of people they had abducted onto these fold out hover-sled things and then heading off. The big one seemed to utterly disdain work, leaving it up to the scampering grey aliens to get everything done, and while it was impossible to tell what it was thinking, Ash still got the distinct feeling that it was incredibly annoyed at being down a subordinate.
Served the motherfucker right.
Despite having taken losses, they also showed no signs of being on the lookout for future attacks, which struck Ash as being both supremely arrogant and incredibly telling. They had knocked everyone out, and despite direct evidence to the contrary, they were confident that there were no further threats.
Ash kind of hoped that there weren't any more of these things so that she could try putting more bullets in them. She wasn't confident in fighting the four in front of her, but if it was just them then maybe she could take a swing and save some people.
It unfortunately became obvious quite quickly that this group was not the only group out and about, as another of the tall aliens accompanied by a quartet of the small ones and a trail of sleds set with bodies soon joined up with the first group. Again, while fundamentally unreadable for about half a dozen reasons, Ash still got the distinct impression that "her" alien leader was getting shit for losing a member of the team.
The two seemed to examine the captives they had taken on their sleds for a moment, before one person from each group was removed from the sleds. Apparently there was a limit to how many people could be taken. Just as Ash was hopeful that she would at least be able to recover those people, the forest lit up with a horrid green light as the leaders used their weapons to dispose of the evidence.
Feeling her stomach drop over the casual execution of sleeping captives and the realisation that if she had taken out the first group some people could have been saved, Ash waited a minute for the groups to leave before she left the forest to examine what was left. By the time she arrived the last traces of skeletons were crumbling to black and grey ash amidst the slush of the snowy gravel road. If you didn't know where to look and what to look for, you would probably never know what had happened here. A solid snow would conceal it, and the spring would completely erase the fact the two people had been murdered here.
The snow whirls seemed to be dancing around Ash in an almost comforting way as she felt a dark and terrible wrath stir within her. She probably didn't know these people, and most of the people in this region were quite honestly a bunch of bigoted assholes, but they were still people. She had grown up surrounded by old stories of this sort of casual brutality directed towards family. These things treated people worse than most people treated animals. This was instrumental violence. Two people who had no use to the invaders had been disposed of like surplus catch. This was genocidal violence.
Ash wasn't sure what she would do. She wasn't sure what she could do. But as she returned to the hunt, she whispered a promise to all the ancestors and spirits that Uncle Denise had told her about.
"Not again. Never again."
The path the aliens took soon led to a section of forest marked with signs indicating that it was Property of the Government of Canada, and to keep out. Judging by the relatively lax security measures, they hadn't really meant it all that much, but the aliens had still obviously decided that just opening the gate was too much and had knocked it over by melting off its hinges. Following inside, Ash found a small compound composed of a trio of Quonset huts, a pair of corporate-industrial trailer homes, a radio tower, and what looked like a helicopter pad.
Hovering above the clearing for the helicopter pad was nothing less than a motherfucking flying saucer. Maybe it wasn't quite the full 50s B-movie deal since it had extra bits on the house sized disc that implied a front and back, but it was unmistakably a flying saucer. It was also one of the creepiest things Ash had ever seen, since the way it just silently hung in the air was completely wrong, and its hull reflected the aurora above strongly, mirroring the unnatural lights in the sky.
Another "squad" of aliens was at work beneath the saucer, brilliantly illuminated by a pillar of white light emitted from a hole at the bottom centre of the craft. A dozen people on those hover sleds they used alongside were lined up across from a line of a half dozen "pods". Judging by the arrangement of people and the fact that one of the pods was closed, it was pretty obvious that those who were being taken along were going into the pods. The quietly monstrous patch of black ash off to one side told what was going to happen to those who were not chosen.
The aliens were not paying attention to their surroundings, but it was obvious that they felt that they didn't need to. Ash could use that, but only up to a point. There was no cover beneath the saucer and the aliens were at work around the abductees, so unless she fought her way to them - which was a non-starter - there was nothing she could do directly. Perhaps all she could do was keep watch and hope she could get someone to believe her.
The full squad of "gatherers" dropped off their victims to be sorted and went back out into the woods, while the depleted squad began to line up the abductees with the other squad. Having watched for over an hour now, Ash was starting to get the feeling that the taller aliens had body language that was human enough to partially read, and it definitely seemed that the squad leader was getting shit for taking a loss. Not personnel loss or even a working animal, but more like a squaddie who dropped a rifle or flashlight in a river.
Since the full squad at the saucer wasn't going back out, Ash guessed that they were wrapping up whatever it was that they were doing. The little grey aliens had already dumped three people in the disposal pile, but the two leaders seemed to be having some sort of silent discussion. Probably about who would do the actual disposal.
Ash needed a miracle. She needed one right now if she was going to save the three people already slated for execution, and she probably had a half-hour at most if she was going to save anyone. The closest cover was the buildings of this little government compound, but those would be deathtraps with how powerful the alien weaponry was. The trees gave better overall cover in the dark, even if they were further out.
The argument had been won. The shamed leader was heading over to kill the unwanted abductees. He was going to be somewhat isolated for a moment. The little ones seemed kind of stupid without direction. If she took the shot, could she cause enough chaos to escape immediate retaliation and take another shot at the other leader? If they both went down, what would the greys do?
Time's up
[ ] Take the shot
[ ] Pray for a miracle, get a miracle
[ ] Accept the losses, figure out a better plan
[ ] Accept the losses,
- Location
- New York
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Pray for a miracle, get a miracle
Álli Méra
Sometimes I forget my name
[X] Pray for a miracle, get a miracle
By the power of God and Anime you shall not pass!
But also I've a love for the "old magicks awake" trope in science fiction and that's where I hope this goes. (I do so love Furies)
EDIT: OTOH if the miracle is a Thunder Run I'm all about that too.
By the power of God and Anime you shall not pass!
But also I've a love for the "old magicks awake" trope in science fiction and that's where I hope this goes. (I do so love Furies)
EDIT: OTOH if the miracle is a Thunder Run I'm all about that too.
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VeryPeeved
The Bold Action Man
- Location
- why the hell would i tell you?
see? told you. bold action. And frankly, I've never been one to be holding out for a miracle. I'd rather make my own.
[X] Take the shot
[X] Take the shot
[x] Accept the losses, gather intel, the carnage attracts something worse
- Location
- Minnesota
[X] Pray for a miracle, get a miracle
