[Tasan]

Mission 10
March 3, 2040

The Triton is pushed to its max. The island is clear on the other side of the world from Base Atlantic, the only base ready for operations. On board, two aquanauts mentally prepare themselves for battle. MrBug708 II is wearing the first ever Aqua Plastics Armor, or APA as the engineers call it.

The roster:
MrBug708 II
BYU 14

Each troop is loaded with a Sonic Rifle, 2 clips, 4 Pulsers, a medikit and 4 chem flares, as the sun is setting as we land.

MrBug708 II is first out. He heads towards the nose of the Triton, and tosses a chem flare. In the new light, he spots a Gill Man near a house. He fires and hits, kill the green alien. BYU 14 runs out and tosses a chem flare towards the hotel to the west. He spots movement there, a spitter, or Deep One as the eggheads say. BYU 14 doesn't want to mess around at all, so he tosses a Pulser at its feet. It explodes and blasts the creature several feet in the air, and it comes back down with a resounding splat.

They move out. MrBug708 II heads south along the eastern edge that the Triton landed near. BYU 14 heads west towards the hotel. MrBug708 II nears the small house he killed the first Gill Man at, and spots another one. He drops to a knee and fires again, hitting it in the head. It staggers briefly, then falls to the ground dead. He continues south, searching the house and finding it empty. Behind the house to the south is a storage building built into a hill. He moves towards it to investigate.

Back at the hotel, BYU 14 decides against going in the front door and instead scouts around the outside first. He makes it to the far side of the building and tosses a flare in the corner of the grid. Nothing there. He turns to move along the western side of the building and spots a Gill Man on the roof. He quickly ducks back behind the corner. Taking deep breaths, he leans out and takes a shot, but misses wildly. He pulls out a grenade and primes it, but can't figure out a way to get it on the roof. The alien turns around and sees him, taking a shot. It misses. BYU 14 stuffs the grenade back into his belt and takes aim once again. He fires, and for the first time since joining X-COM, finds his target. The Gill Man falls over the rail and down the side of the building, landing with a resounding thud.

At the storage building, MrBug708 II cautiously approaches the entrance. Inside he can see a Gill Man, and he looks unarmed. MrBug708 II drops to his knee and takes a shot, but misses, hitting the wall next to the alien. It shuffles its feet, but doesn't attack. Behind it, MrBug708 sees a Deep One move in from a hall. Deciding quick action is needed, MrBug708 II pulls out a Pulser and tosses it at the Gill Man's webbed feet. He takes cover as the grenade explodes. The blast slams the Deep One into the wall, killing it, and makes green goo of the Gill Man. A fire starts in the store room, making further exploration impossible right now. He'll come back to it later if need be.

MrBug708 II heads up a ridge line near the entrance of the storage room. Once at the top, he heads west along it, searching for aliens. He spots a Gill Man on top of a small house. He snaps off a quick shot, but it sails wildly into the side of the house. The Gill Man returns fire, but only hits the ridge. MrBug708 II takes his time for the next shot, and drills the Gill Man in the chest. It collapses dead on the roof.

At the back of the hotel, BYU 14 decides to make his entrance. He goes in through the rear service entrance, then into the dining area. Everything looks clear. He searches a pantry and again comes up empty. He heads out into the lobby, looking for the stairs up.

On the ridge, MrBug708 II advances. He spots two Deep Ones in the distance. He takes aim on the farther one and hits it dead on. The closer one sees the shot and tries to take cover. MrBug708 II shoots at it, but misses. It dances around again, but this time MrBug708 II's aim is true and he kills it with a shot from his rifle. He advances again and spots yet another Deep One, standing in a grove of trees near a house. MrBug708 II fires once again, and once again drops an alien. As he starts to move down the slope, he spots a Gill Man near a small hill. It doesn't see him, so he takes aim and fires, kill it.

In the lobby of the hotel, BYU 14 finds the stairs up. He carefully climbs them, poking his head around the top bannister. He turns down the hallway to search the rooms, but sees a Gill Man about to enter one. He considers throwing his grenade, but the area is tight and he's not sure of the blast radius. He fires instead, but his shooting luck appears to have only extended to one shot. His blast misses and blows a hole in the wall next to the alien. It spins and fires instinctively, and it's shot slams into BYU 14, killing him. As he hits the floor, the primed Pulser on his belt falls out and explodes, engulfing the second floor in flames and smoke.

MrBug708 II hears the explosion and turns toward the hotel. He wants to move quickly, but without a team to provide area security, he must check every corner, every dark spot. He makes it to the front door of the building and pushes it open. In the lobby behind the desk is a Gill Man, looking almost like it's checking the registrar. MrBug708 II takes a shot at him but misses. He drops and rolls back out the door, taking cover from any return shots. His ammo gauge reads 0, so he slams in his last clip. He waits a second then looks back through the doorway. He pulls his rifle up quickly, as the alien is looking right his way. He gets off his shot first and slams the Gill Man into the wall, ending its life.

MrBug708 II makes his way to the staircase. Smoke is billowing down now, and he can feel the heat from the fire. He makes his way up stairs. As he clears the top, a shot slams into the burning wall behind him. He spins and spots another Gill Man. Reacting quickly, he shoots and drops the big green creature. More movement, down the hallway this time. Its the alien that killed BYU 14. MrBug708 II shoots and scores another hit.

The fire has spread to the stair case, and he's not sure he can make it back down. He knocks one of the guest rooms door open and blasts out a wall with his rifle. He hops to the ground, with the APA taking most of the fall. He heads back towards the corner where he saw so may Deep Ones to see if any remain. He doesn't get two steps before he spots a Deep One in the distance. He brings up his rifle and lets the shot fly. It hits the Deep One center mass, blowing a large hole out the back of the beast.

Its the last shot he fires that day. A very cautious sweep reveals no more aliens. BYU 14 has joined his original squad mates in the Hall of Heros. The aliens get 15 more to add to their dead. Exhausted, MrBug708 II loads up the Triton, signals Atlantic with the all clear, hits the pre-programmed takeoff switch, and passes out in a jump seat for a well deserved sleep.

After the mission, Chief Rum II and RealDeal II are promoted to Lieutenant. For his outstanding duty against incredible odds, MrBug708 II is made Commander of X-COM field forces.