X-COM: The Unknown

[Logrin]

The Lieutenant-Colonel managed to erode what little confidence the Finn still had in him. A steady stream of venomous, empty threats leaving the Singaporean. Finland itself was non-NATO, unlike a great many of the nations that make up XCOM. Tarkka could only assume his presence here was as much a 'friendly' political gesture as a way to keep an eye on the organization. Doubtlessly the full scope of Raven's power extended to getting himself chewed out by Rock for not keeping his own men in line, in some ways command was a heavier burden than combat. Still, there was always the chance someone higher up might be eager to send Matti home, replaced with one of their own soldiers. He'd catch an earful for it before winding up back in Estonia, their weren't allot of men with the stomach for Tarkka's line of work.

"Oh, you've been very clear from the beginning, 'Sir'." The Finn spoke when prompted, a superior glower cast down to the more diminutive man. He had postured close and brought his voice down to a rough whisper, determined for every word to sink in. "So clear I can see right through you." His dense fingers parted into a gesture that couldn't quite cross the cultural barrier between them, though it wouldn't take a genius to assume it impolite. "You're green, wet behind the ears and I don't trust my life to you it the enemy is -anything- like what I've been hearing. You've been playing at war until now boy, and if by some miracle your still alive and giving orders after today maybe I start taking you seriously. Until then I suggest you keep both eyes open, the battlefield is a dangerous place." Something less than a threat hinting that it just became more so, ostracizing yourself from the man watching your back being less than sound advice. With the aircraft hurtling ever closer to their LZ the Finn would once more find his seat. No love lost between the two men after making their thoughts about each other perfectly clear.

[Llayne]

Riley kept his face neutral. Chew started off well enough, but it was always best to keep things professional. Personal attacks or insults, even if delivered in a calm voice, will call into question a leader's objectivity and invite greater scrutiny as the higher ups review your actions.

As far as the Corporal was concerned, Chew's big mistake was putting the insubordinate Lt under the command of a green Sergeant. Riley personally disliked the tendency some people had of shipping their hard cases off. If you have a problem, fix it... don't pawn it off on somebody else. That being said, if she was a veteran Colour Sergeant or Warrant Officer, Riley could see it working. They'd have had to deal with hot shots and blow-hards for their entire careers, the Finn wouldn't pose any problem.

That, and as a Lieutenant equivalent at his age, Tarkka was probably an Other Rank that earned himself a commission the hard way. Or at least he'd been around long enough to respect other career soldiers that actually get their hands dirty. But he'd just got done insulting her a few breaths ago! Not only did Chew just insult the Finn, but he also put a junior Sergeant in a very tough position.

Yet again, Riley was forced to remain quiet. Having a Corporal come to his aid would do Chew's reputation no great favor, quite the opposite. Riley cursed the idiocy of having 3 officers in a fire team, two of which are bloody field grade! He remembered seeing a slide as Colonel Rock blew through their indoc briefing about XCOM rank conversion, and didn’t' think it could happen fast enough. Of course, if we've got Colonels leading platoon sized 'companies' that'll still probably leave a Captain and a Lieutenant in command of our little 'squad'.

And of course, Tarkka wasn't cowed. Oh he said 'Sir' and eventually sat back down, but his words and tone were as bad as before. His threat had about as much subtlety as the flamethrower he carries, there's no way Chew can let him go on the mission now. The situation was far from over, but Chew needed to end it quickly. Riley still needed to bring up his own concerns about the plan and they were rapidly approaching their destination.

[Kadaeux]

Antony watched the confrontation with a sinking heard before signalling Riley. Whispering quietly enough only he should be able to hear. "This goes pear i've got your back." He said plainly. The plain fact was, unless both Chew and the Finn shaped up there would be a blue-on-blue very very soon. Slipping the marker back into a pocket he returned his attention fully to his squad.

The brute of a Finn lacked subtlety or even basic common courtesy. He was bucking for a strong Commander and Chew had completely misread the appropriate response in a fundamental way. Worse, Chew might even mistake the Finn for complying with him. Even worse. He'd just painted a broad target on Rosalinda's back fit to land this bird on right next to his own. The young Colour Sergeant might have the backbone to reign the Finn in but... Antony let his gaze linger a moment... signs weren't good. If the Finn is going to treat a new commander like a great fresh turd then gods knows how he'd treat her, someone he no doubt saw as a junior officer to himself.

Should I take responsibility for the Finn and bring him in line myself? Antony wondered. No, I'd have no use for the brute, his flamethrower would make him nearly useless hanging around near me waiting for orders. The conclusion was simple. For a fleeting moment he even wondered if simply fragging the Finn at an opportune moment would help solve the problem, but the thought was gone almost as soon as it begun. Antony wasn't here to put more people in the ground, at least, not human people. And even if he was murdering an ally was simply not something you did. Then you were no better than Jihadi's and Suicide bombers.

It was now a game of wait and see. And then.

Shoot.

Antony liked that game.

[xbriannova]

2015, 3rd February, 0926hrs, 1st XCOM (headquarters) base, level B1

As much as Lieutenant-Colonel Raven tries to be patient inasmuch as a man could be towards a consistently rude and unabiding man-child, his efforts were in vain. With his patience paying off, the scandinavian would have dodged the real consequences, but it was becoming increasingly clear that his official duty would be exercised-the negative parts of it.

It had happened before, back in sunny Singapore, once in a while. When he was a captain, he had to demote a conscript officer of 2nd Lieutenant rank to a 3rd Sergeant once on repeated charges insubordination-a string of offences serious due to the officer status of the conscript. Even earlier, back when he was a full lieutenant, he supported the removal of specialist status from a few conscripts on charges of negligence that had caused training accidents. More recently, back when he was a Major, he demoted another junior officer, this time a career soldier, to corporal. While that regular would have been able to climb back up to that rank within a year or two, he chose to quit-not that Raven could blame him. He was punished for beating up a fellow officer, a black mark on his file that would have prevented him from going anywhere beyond his Lieutenant rank.

When Raven heard everything Matti had said, his patience was eroded. History would have to repeat itself again. "What do you know about me ah? I have been through several battlefields, seen heroes and villains emerge and fall. I don't have to prove anything to you." Raven paused for a moment, deciding, calculating. He considered for a moment to salvage the man's commission but he saw it to be an impossibility-he had never seen such a soldier before, much less such an officer. Even the pai kias (street gangsters) who entered the army as conscripts knew better than what the scandinavian was showing, "I laid my cards on the table and you refused to take the hint. You will know the result of my effort by the end of the day. Consider yourself lucky if you even get corporal."

There was little advantage whichever way Raven turned. Had he let the insubordinations slide, he would lose authority. Had he gave a second warning rather than make the decision to end his commission, people would not take him seriously. Even his decision to follow through with punishing Matti was disadvantageous even if he knew it to be the right thing to do. Raven knew that he would gain a chip and a monkey on his back for every mission, if it wasn't inevitable already. He would have one less officer to work with, no matter how screwed up he was. One good thing that can be said however, was that he would have proven himself capable of making impactful and tough decisions-this one would be tough on the emotions of an empathic man, who Raven considered himself to be one, or at least he tried to be. Another benefit would be that he would have made an example out of this one troublemaker, as barbaric as it sounds.

---

From Colonel Li's standpoint, the debacle going on with Straggler squad, or as his new squad commander so decided, Hasta Terra squad, was an opportunity for him to strengthen his hold on the company, to improve his standing and perhaps win another territory in XCOM for China. While Delta Company was pretty much China's stronghold, it was hardly fully China's, what with the American cop holding onto one squad and his Japanese dog on another. At the very least, the command was his and so was the most important 'command squad', which was his command staff, and now this-straggler squad. While the Straggler squad was by no means China, it was commanded by a man from Singapore, a country that had been quite cooperative with China as of late, even if she was an ally of the USA. If I could gain his loyalty...

Stepping forward, the CO of Delta Company joined in the 'briefing' that was turning into an argument and a show for the other squads, who were viewing with either amusement or grim recognition of their environment, "and I am afraid you are... lucky, european. Your behavior is not acceptable, and there are 19 witnesses here. Your commander has say when you integrate into XCOM and get your rank. If he says that you get low rank, then I support him because of what I see." Europeans... Bunch of cocky Ang Mohs who're still pushing their siao di di (little brother) around to this day, ever since they destroyed the Qing dynasty! China will have XCOM and save the world, then she will reclaim her rightful place as the middle kingdom!

"Now I suggest you shut up!" The Chinese Colonel suddenly shouted at the big man from the far north of Europe, going the opposite way of his calm, meditative tone, his face almost instantaneously red, "and start opening your ears to listen and obey!" He had perhaps gotten angry from thinking of the 'european', or perhaps he had done this for the dramatic effect. Either way, he had made the contrast quite distinct from calm to rage. The Americans, oblivious to the politics playing out, resisted the urge to laugh and clap while almost everyone else was stone-faced.

[Llayne]

The carrot and the stick... reward and punishment. It's sad that you can break people's base motivations down that way, but over all it held true.

Often the threat of punishment is enough but sometimes you needed to carry through with it, especially when the subject in question kept pushing the limits. Chew had just smacked Tarkka with a big fat stick. The problem was, that was the only stick he had. Now faced with getting reduced in rank, being strapped to a desk so he wouldn't see combat again, and maybe even being sent home altogether... what else did the big man have to lose?

Tarkka sat down, apparently having said what he felt needed to be said. The funny part was, Riley would be surprised if Chew wasn't asking himself the same questions. He was sure to have noticed the special forces nature of three of his squad members. A field grade officer, battle tested though he claimed to be, was not a front line combatant.

Chew chose to keep those concerns to himself however. Leadership wasn't about knowing everything or being the best at everything… it was about getting the best out of the people that did have those skills. In order for that to happen a man had to acknowledge where those shortcomings lie. In a few short minutes they were about to see what the Singaporean was really made of.

Both Li and Chew seemed intent on bringing the man on the mission... a man who had already proven himself a loose cannon and had threatened to shoot his squad leader in the back if bullets started flying. Now Riley was forced to watch his own back whenever Tarkka was around... that heavy liability when his focus should really be on the hostiles.

A four man stack was the optimum number for room clearing, so leaving Tarkka in the craft did pose a problem. It was easily solved by having a member of a Phase 1 squad join them and stop on the knoll to provide cover. Then Carlton could clear the building with the rest of the 'Straggler' Squad. Once that was done the marksman could rejoin his squad as they assault the downed spacecraft.

When it became clear that Tarkka wasn’t going to give any additional response, Riley cleared his throat and addressed Chew. "Sir, judging from the scale of the map everything's pretty close together. The phase 1 squads will have a partial visual on the house, but we don't know the elevation of the hill and there could be a considerable blind spot. I'd recommend moving around the hill rather than over it. We can use the hill itself for cover while we get eyes on the house and avoid silhouetting ourselves against the sky by marching over it." He paused for a moment and looked past Chew toward the rest of the soldiers. "It looks like one of our new Japanese brothers is carrying a sniper rifle as well. You know, if there were any manning concerns, Sir."

[xbriannova]

2015, 3rd February, 0927hrs, 1st XCOM (headquarters) base, level B1

The huge man from Finland finally stood down after Colonel Li's more concrete and dangerous threat. Lieutenant-Colonel Raven, however, felt unplacated, considering that he had to be stopped by the company's CO after climbing right over his head. When the time came to review the specifics of promotion, he felt that he would not be able to resist his temptation to render some military justice and irony.

A short while later, before Colonel Li left the sight of Hasta Terra, Corporal Riley spoke up, proposing alterations of the plan. At first, Raven did not speak, thinking that the Colonel, being the CO, would make the decision himself, but he was mistaken about the Chinese Colonel's command style, "well, what do you think?" He asked his Singaporean squad leader, someone whom he want to gain the loyalty of.

"What I think..." Raven took another second or two, digesting the idea that the British corporal was presenting, taking into account his motives, abilities, not that there was much he knows about his lower-ranking man. After having dealt with Matti, he found that he could no longer be hostile towards anyone else for the time being. Despite the real deal combat experience that rare few other Singaporean soldiers had, he was still a peacetime soldier at heart. After making up his mind about the idea and its creator, the senior officer looked Puck in the eye, "corporal, your initiative is commendable. However, I am sure our CO, Colonel Li, has his reasons for ordering what he ordered..."

"And what if I say disregard the reasons I have? What do you say, Chew?" The Colonel, before allowing anyone else to speak, spoke first and chipped into the conversation. Raven himself did not expect this-to be given such a huge space for his personal input. His initial command plan was to merely follow orders first, seeing that he knew nothing of XCOM, before eventually learning of how it works and then contribute like he normally would in military operations, not that anything in his current circumstances could be considered normal any longer.

"Then, sir, I would say that the adjustments the corporal has... suggested has..." Raven said, and was unable to refer to his man in the third person, it being a three-way planning, "some merits. Going around the 'hill'... We would risk destabilising our battle-line for... as long as it takes for us to get to the house. Going around the knoll wouldn't give us much protection, how could it? While we climb the knoll, we would be protected instead, and we could leave the peak quickly, or leopard-crawl through it if necessary to keep a low profile."

"Nice, Lieutenant-Colonel, nice." Colonel Li smiled at what Raven had said before turning to Riley Shaw, "your squad leader read my mind. As for the height of hills, they are not high. They are not hills. I know the map makes everything look tight, but believe me-it is an Iranian farm, and I know farmlands are big, like Chinese village ricefields. The map itself is not trustable. As for manpower issues, there is none. 5 man, one squad. Enough. The 10 men in the middle are needed to mark centre and storm UFO. For your info, we have 2 snipers between us, and they will survey middle and keep us all informed of activity. I cannot spare them."

"I guess we'll have to play by ear. Get a first-hand lay of the land." Raven said, trying to conclude the discussion. He turned to Colonel Li after addressing Puck, "sir, the... blueprint of the house doesn't look convincing. There are only two rooms-hardly a house."

"Like what you said earlier-get a first-hand lay of the land." At this point, the Colonel was satisfied with the diplomacy so far. In trusting Raven with more than what he deserved, he had established a two-way trust system between them. Soon, after the system matures, he would then be able to reap the benefits of it. Being satisfied, the Colonel nodded with awknowledgement at Hasta Terra and went back to attend to his own business. Raven returned his attention to his own men.

"Any other concerns, Corporal Shaw? So we'll just have to be quick and smart."

[Llayne]

Riley shook his head the second he saw Li get involved. Damn, I thought the man was out of earshot. He knew Chew would react differently with his CO looking over his shoulder. The man was too rigid already, I need to get him loosened up if this squad is going to gel.

After Li and Chew got done elaborating on why his plan wouldn't work, Riley just blinked.

For a few seconds that was all he could do. He wanted to ask, If we have detailed enough info to know the height of a tiny little hill, then why isn't that on the tactical map? Why isn't the map to scale? Anybody within earshot would be wondering the same thing. Any organization was going to make mistakes and miss something, and perhaps XCOM more so. Not only was it brand new, but it was also a smash up of every major Country in the world, some with grudges against each other. It could be months before XCOM got itself straightened out. Every cultural difference or miscommunication due to a language barrier was going to put lives at risk.

In the abstract it was relatively easy to accept. When your life was riding on that misinformation it was still a bitter pill to swallow.

As far as their stubbornness in keeping Tarkka on the mission Riley could only shrug. I'm not the one with the target painted on my back, and if the Finn shoots Chew they'll both be gone. Maybe they'll let Carlton lead the Squad.

In response to Chew's inquiry he simply said, "No Sir." He knew there was more missing information but he didn't know the right questions to ask. Even if he did he wasn't sure either Li or Chew could give it to him. "No questions." If they were going to walk into the unknown he would rather just do it already and let the chips fall where they will.

[Kadaeux]

Things were getting better. Or worse... Depending on your perspective. And now Antony was in the middle of it, the Chinaman, regardless of how he may or may not be personally, seemed like a capable enough commander encouraging Chew to question his own, and his commanders, orders to see if that was best for keeping his men alive. And while Riley's point was valid.... bad intelligence was the sort of thing that got people killed and Li had just basically told them 'intelligence is a shit sandwich.'

But turning to Chew and Riley. "Well if we must get on with the party lets get on with it, I suspect the Colonel wouldn't be happy if we had to committee vote just to get out of the damned plane." He said as the clock in his head gradually ran down. He took his weapons from the racks and got himself ready for the mission ahead.

The only unpredictable element being the Finn, and of course, the enemy.

[xbriannova]

2015, 3rd February, 0933hrs, Iranian Farm, Mission 3

Within 6 minutes, as predicted, the troop transport was hit by a rather forceful storm. Before the turbulent wind could be felt, rain was already pattering on the pothole windows minutes before. There was slight rocking and shaking soon after, and the howling of the wind filled the cabin with dread, though no one allowed their face nor mouth to budge. It didn't take long for all the jokes and chatting to die down-a combination of ill omens and the lack of new subjects did the trick.

With so much time at hand, Colonel Li ordered another comms check to be sure. The comms equipment were previously maintained and checked in the stores and before they were given out, by some of the most dedicated professional storemen and technicians XCOM could find. Still, the old Chinese general-turned-colonel could never be sure. It was during this time that Lieutenant-Colonel Raven discovered that his own ACMS' radio could be integrated into the new communications grid put in place by XCOM's devices. Although clunkier, what with the earphone which was connected to a handheld radio, Raven was used to it and found it redundant to use XCOM's earphone when he had his own. He consigned it to being a spare.

For the benefit of the stragglers and pretty much everyone else, Colonel Li reiterated that there should be radio silence except between commanders, at least until the full battle begins to rage and their movement was discovered. Emergencies were of course an exception, such as in the case of the loss of commanders, or half a squad for that matter.

"This is the co-pilot patching in. ETA 10 minootes." The Russian woman said, her voice broadcasted with some static by the speakers installed into the cabin.

---

2015, 3rd February, 0948hrs, 1st XCOM (headquarters) base, level B1

It took longer than 10 minutes for the troop transport to land. The estimation was off by a magic 5 minutes. There was an addition 3 minutes of flight. The plane took 2 more minutes than usual to descend and land. Although the plane had momentarily outrun the storm, it was catching up fast. The winds, like harbingers of doom, were already announcing its presence to the wheatfarm, such that it caused some hardship for the pilots to land the thing.

When the ramp finally lowered, Lieutenant-Colonel could finally see the outside world, beautiful as it was ominous. The storm was rapidly gaining on them, manifested as a dark horizon encroaching on the operation.

"Go, now! Enkidu squad, Trojan squad, form parameter!" Colonel Li said as, suddenly full of energy unlike even when he was reprimanding everyone, he unbuckled himself and stood up. He loaded his weapon, a QBZ-95 rifle, "Dagger squad, Hasta Terra squad, stand-by." At this point Raven thought it was a surprise that Colonel Li was respecting his squad's identification-it was a trivial matter compared to the situation at hand, the operation.

"Hasta Terra, load up and make ready." Chew ordered absent-mindedly. In some corner of his mind, he willed his mouth to shout, but it came out as a reserved, eerily calm command. He had his mind on something else, specifically what was out there. He still clinged on to the hope that there were people out there, terrorists, rather than aliens, or 'little green men' as some of the company jokers put it. Unvelcroing one of his magazine pouches, he took out a translucent, brown 30-round magazine and snapped it in the back of his rifle. Pulling out his bayonet, he attached it to the head, and doubted if it would ever be used.

The next half minute was the longest one in Raven's life. As Enkidu and Trojan rushed out to secure the landing zone, to perhaps meet whatever opposition was outside to greet them, the squad commander's senses became rather acute, and he started waiting every second for something to happen, he started expecting something to happen every second. Gunshots, shouts, explosions. Seconds ticked by and beads of sweat started trickling down his face as his mind was assailed by all the possibilities.

But all was quiet outside, and soon, Colonel Li was broadcasting orders to begin Phase 1 to Dagger Squad and Hasta Terra Squad. "Dagger, Hasta Terra, begin phase 1." The Chinese former-general had said quietly over the radio.

The American SWAT officer in charge of Dagger Squad rose up and so did Raven, mechanically. "Hasta, outside, marching column formation. Guns and eyes out." Raven had said in his sudden, serene voice while the American shouted, "Go go go! Line up against the barn!" It was obvious that tactics between countries differed as well. Matti the Finnish got up with an impudent snort while Roslinda was quiet.

Outside, the effectiveness of XCOM's fledging intelligence branch was obvious. While the elements were as they were predicted, The barn in the distance had two silos and the house was two storeys tall rather than one. The knolls were 50 metres away from the landing site. The map they had were either outdated without replacement, or from a dubious source. Or perhaps intelligence could not find a real one, though the Iranian government could easily have sabotaged them. Raven had no idea which, and he decided not to speculate as his mind was set on something else-for example, what could be over the land elevations.

The path was a rough black river, rather than a dirt road as Raven was led to believe. In the distance, perhaps 200 metres away, was the wheatfield. Smoke rose in the horizon, but the so-called UFO was hidden from view from the blackness of the smoke and the displaced land it had mustered around its front, if it had a front.

Enkidu and Trojan squad was forming an oval around their craft with the two snipers lying prone and facing the UFO. The rest were crouching. Raven did the same when he chose the spot, which was the head of his formation.

[Kadaeux]

"Hasta, outside, marching column formation. Guns and eyes out."

Marching Column? Did Chew want to get them all killed by enfilading fire? Antony stood removing his weapons from the rack with quick serpentine movements long since trained into muscle memory and shouldered his sniper rifle powering up the scope. Emerging in a half crouch half run he took a knee and raised the rifle and scope to his eyes. He began sweeping his vision with the weapon in a long trained and practiced precision. He lingered on the suddenly two-storied structure. Not only was it not a two-roomed building, it was two stories high now.

Not only was there no hill of any sort. They had a clear view of the crashed UFO concealed by dirt and smoke.

Moving in a quick shuffle he put himself three feet from Chew's position and raised his rifle again. "On your order."