[Tasan]

Mission 1
January 1st, 2040

Everyone is getting settled into their bunks when the klaxons go off. "X-COM Sub teams to your ships. This is not a drill. Recon team assemble and ready at the drop ship for possible recon and recover mission. This is not a drill." The horns continue to blare as the stunned looks on the rookies' faces fade into alertness and battle ready mode. Chaos turns to order as the troops remember training, and everyone moves to their places.

Barracuda 1 is the first out. The sonor is reporting a small contact of unknown type, so this will be the only ship dispatched at this time. The USO (unidentified submersible object) is almost directly south of Base Atlantic and moving fast. After a short chase, 'Cuda 1 catches the USO and cautiously moves in to attack. 1 of the 3 torpedoes launched hits, and the USO accelerates and moves off. The 'Cuda gives chase, but the craft decides to stop just a few miles to the west. General Tasan orders the drop ship, Triton 1, to go to the landing site, recon the area, and discover what is out there.

Night chases the Triton as it makes its way west to the site. Just before landing, a very small blip appears on the sonar and 'Cuda 2 is dispatched to intercept. The tiny sub doesn't give much of a fight and 'Cuda 2 scores a kill. Not much is left either, so no mission is planned for a followup recovery. The news of the kill is send to the Triton just before touchdown, and cheers go up in the passenger section. With hearts high, the sub slides to the bottom, coming to a stop within sight of the alien vessel.

Barkeep gets a gas gun, the large, single shot mining weapon. He pops the standard load AP rounds out and with a big grin throws in the HE clip. He's only got one of each. Chesapeake gets the other heavy weapon, the auto-fire Hydro-Jet cannon. A rather disappointed look on his face lets the rest of the crew know he's only got AP rounds, but he's got quite a few to rock on full auto a bit. BYU 14 and Travis each get a few extra clips due to their poor range scores, and Travis gets a couple extra grenades to try to make himself a little more useful. Geared up, the troops make their way down the exit ramp.

We're in the top left corner of the map, for those of you following along. First out the door is hoopsguy, followed by DataKing and Barkeep. They head south and will form the first team, we'll call them Alpha. ntndeacon, Travis, BYU14 and chesapeake head west across the map and form Bravo team. Everything is clear as the head out, and the alien sub is nowhere in sight. Someone is gonna have to speak to the driver about this.

The teams fan out and begin to search. The comms stay quite until BYU 14 nervously opens a channel. "Guys, I think I see something, about 200 yards east of my position. Looks like a ship of some sort, but nothin' I've ever seen."

"Roger" tensely comes back from the rest of the squad.

"Alpha will continue the sweep south, and then join you at the ship. We wanna make sure there aren't any baddies out here lurking around before we move in position. Hold at the doorway, if you can find one." Barkeep is giving orders like he isn't just one of the privates. Someone has to take the lead, and nobody else was offering anything useful.

"Roger" comes back from everyone in Bravo, and the teams move out again, a little more careful than before.

As the squad fans out further, chesapeake sees something. A large green thing, standing upright on long, man like legs, moves from behind the far end of the sub! It ducks back behind the ship, then peaks out again. chesapeake is ready this time and lets loose a single shot, which sails wide of its target.

"Contact sighted!" he excitedly yells into his mic.

Bravo moves to take cover and get better beads on the target. chesepeake and BYU14 head to the top of the sub, where the creature was spotted. Travis and ntndeacon head to the bottom side of the sub to try to flank the target.

As Alpha continues its sweep, Barkeep notices something out of the corner of his eye.

"Movement! I have movement to the east of me!"

"Are you sure its not our target?" ntndeacon chimes in.

"Negative, this is further south. I can't get a clear look, but this isn't Nemo I'm seeing, thats for sure. Alpha adjusting a little to the east to get a better look," Barkeep informs them. The rest of his team follows.

"Son of a bitch! Get down BYU!" screams chesapeake as some kind of shot flies between him and BYU 14. The shot slams into the side of the Triton far to the rear, and the pilot adds "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!!!???!"

chesapeake reacts on instinct, though, and takes a dead aim this time. His shot flies true and the alien falls to the seabed, lifeless.

"Got 'im! Contact down!" chesapeake informs the rest of the team.

"Great shot ches, but don't let your guard down yet, I saw more movement," Barkeep adds.

Bravo team starts heading towards the sub again, even more wary than before. How many can fit in this small craft? 1? 3? More?

"Contact, I have another one of those green guys, I think!" comes from Barkeep. "Same one I think from before."

"Roger that Barkeep, see if you can locate and terminate, we're continuing on to the sub. ntndeacon out."

"We gotta find a way into this thing," ntndeacon thinks to himself. So far, nothing has looked like a door. However, no one has a clear line on the far side of the sub. The teams continue to get into position for an eventual assault, while trying to keep an eye out for more "Green Guys". hoopsguy is sweeping far to the west and south, with Barkeep cutting a line directly down the middle, heading to the south in backup of hoopsguy. Dataking is shadowing Barkeep a little to the north and east.

"I see him in my sights!" reports Barkeep. "Taking a shot." Barkeeps drops to one knee and lets loose a HE round. He doesn't have time to properly aim, and snaps a shot high and wide of the target. The round flies harmlessly off into the distance, not even hitting something close to maybe catch the greenie in the explosion.

"Crap. Gonna need some backup here, it sees me!"

"On it Barkeep, keep it together man" responds DataKing and he moves into position to try to take a shot. Unfortunately, he can't get into position and the alien gets off a shot, but it sails wide. All of the sudden, another alien appears to the east of Barkeep and takes a shot as well, but it goes wide!

"Multiple contacts taking shots, I'm pinned! yells Barkeep.

"Keep your shorts on, I'm coming! I should be able to get a drop on the guy to your east, you worry about the guy further south!" Dataking breaks into action, heading east. Barkeep turns and fires, this time finding his mark dead on. The rounds sails into the chest of the creature and explodes, sending shock waves and green goo slamming into the rocks around it.

"Green guy down! Someone get a mop!" cries Barkeep, suddenly feeling a lot better about his chances.

"I have your other guy, I've got a drop on him. Taking the shot!" Dataking lets loose a full auto shot, but his three rounds can't find their mark.

"Keep your head down, Barkeep, its still out there," Dataking tells him. He drops down to get out of the line of sight.

"Hey guys, I think I see a door," reports ntndeacon. "Its over here on the backside, just like we thought. Bravo get over here and set up covering fire. Alpha, we'll take this alone, you guys have your hands full down there it sounds like."

chesapeake moves closer to position himself just to the north of the door. BYU14 decides to split and head to the south side, because Travis is falling behind to support Alpha team.

"Barkeep, he's moving again, lookin' your way!" reports Dataking.

"I see him. What the hell? He just threw something at me! Oh shit, its bee..."

A sudden shock wave hits the team.

"Barkeep! Barkeep! REPORT IN!" cries Dataking, but only static returns his request. Barkeep is gone, blown to bits by an alien device.

"Bravo team is moving into position!" replies ntndeacon, trying to keep his cool. As BYU14 moves to support, he sees something. TO the east and south, another green alien is moving to support his buddy who just killed Barkeep. If he sees Bravo team, he's in a perfect ambush position to take out the team! BYU 14 takes aim, but misses wildly. The alien turns to fire, but something floats swiftly into view. Travis has throw a grenade! It lands on the rise in front of the alien, and explodes! It doesn't appear to do any damage, but kicks up enough seafloor to cover the team momentarily.

Dataking, blind with rage after seeing his buddy blown to bits, rises and spots the alien again. This time, he has the time to take a calculated shot, and it sails true. The alien merely flinches though, and raises its weapon to return the shot. The alien can't find his target though, and the blast goes wide. Dataking again takes aim and his shot is true again, and this time the alien falls.

"Got the one that took out Barkeep! He's down! I'm going to see if I can get in position to help BYU find the other one," reports Dataking.

"Roger that DK, we're moving on the interior now. Go go go!"

On that command, ntndeacon and chesapeake crash through the doors and into the alien ship. Immediately chesapeake spots a lone alien and blasts him in the back with a full auto shot from his Hydro cannon, felling the beast. The interior is clear.

Outside, BYU 14 moves to get a clear view around the sediment that Travis kicked up. He spots the alien again and snaps off another shot. This one hits harmlessly on the hillside, but the alien appears to be running for its life and doesn't turn to fire on BYU 14. Travis moves to get in better position. On the far side of the grid, hoopsguys moves to try to get in on the action. So far, its been real quiet for him.

The alien spotted by BYU 14 comes to his senses and turns to fire. His shot hits a pillar of dirt in front of BYU 14 harmlessly. Travis primes another grenade and his throw is on the money this time, landing at the alien's flippers. It looks down for a moment, and Travis sees a look of recognition cross its gills. Seconds later the grenade explodes and bits of the alien are scattered over the ocean floor.

With that, all that's left is the cleanup. Searching the corpses, one is found still alive. Unfortunately the containment center isn't ready yet, so DataKing empties his clip into it, silencing it forever. All in all, this was a very successful mission. A fully intact alien sub carries several valuable parts to research, and the aliens were carrying strange and powerful weapons to research. Barkeep will be missed, but X-COM will move onward.