The massive Nova destroyer hung motionless in stationary orbit about Terra Four, the Terran’s Sector red planet. It maintained station on the ‘dark’ side of the sphere, well hidden from prying eyes, rotating along a path about the system’s small star.
        From a distance away it looked impressive, battle guns gleaming in the light, mammoth Ion Drives pulsing quietly. A host of smaller vessels danced about it, moving like bees about a colony.
        Close up, however, the picture was quite different. Great rents in the superstructure told a story of battle and suffering. Scorch marks peppered the surface where thousands of metallic objects had impacted with tremendous force, leaving a crippled shell where a once mighty battleship had been.
        The interior wasn’t much better. Dead comrades still piled up in storage holds, ready to be given burial in the cold confines of space when the necessary documents arrived from the home planet. Wounded crammed inside the hospital and make-shift infirmaries all over the ship. Repair teams had bravely confronted most of the damage, but without the necessary equipment found only at the orbital docks at the home planet, it was just patchwork.
        Computers had been hastily serviced and replaced where possible; the Ion drives, after weeks of hard work were 50% functional and a third of the defense batteries operational again. Still, the ship needed to return for a complete overhaul. Impossible, said High Command.
        Resources at the home planet were dwindling ever closer to creating a complete economic breakdown. Even the few supplies that the Fleet had sent proved insufficient in feeding the hungry monster, just barely enough to keep the industrial fabric’s nose above water. The current sites needed to be mined in record time, every atom of ore extracted and sent back with utmost haste. New sites were to be discovered and reaped in record time. Easier said than done. Forces on the planet surface were working as hard as possible, but mining sites were undermanned and fell routinely behind schedule. Unless extra workers arrived soon, or slave labor was enrolled, the prospects were bleak.
        The SubCommander walked slowly from the bridge to his cabin. He was tired but the end was in sight. A few more days and the Nova would be back in business. Not really, he deflated. The Ion Torpedoes were either spent or had been ejected when the containment fields had begun to deteriorate. The defense batteries were unable to transverse the dense atmosphere without losing so much power that orbital bombardment was reduced to child’s spit.
        He still had the fighters left. But they were occupied patrolling the sites in case the few terrans that had survived the attack decided to restart hostilities. He dared not risk anything going wrong at any of the sites. The destruction of the second Fleet would go down in history books as an all-time disaster. How had the terrans achieved such a blow? It was inconceivable but somehow they had managed to penetrate Terran Command before data dump to the secondary location, figured out how to use the computers and had sent the emergency gas release order towards the arriving ships. Chance or good info, but every one aboard the Fleet had died and the final action, releasing a pitiful number of gas torpedoes, had wiped out most of planet’s population but not enough. Gas concentration had been too low to penetrate the military installation’s puny defenses, the effects satisfactory only on those directly exposed to atmospheric air. Insufficient.
        High Command had been livid at the news. The second Nova had smashed into Terra Three’s moon before they could remotely control it. Another Nova lost, another would have to be built and with the economic costs involved rocketing sky high it put a strain on the economy he barely wanted to consider.
        But worse, the replacement fighters and troops were dead. Sure, a few long range barges were incessantly making re-supply runs, but it was a trickle in a waterfall. Not nearly enough to dominate the planet comfortably.
        The door opened silently and let him into his quarters. He sat at the table and called the subspace transmission again. A new Commander was on his way. He was going to be replaced. Fuck.

        The area appeared completely empty. Absolutely devoid of life, nothing moving. Straight out of some sci-fi movie, The Alien From Hell Wipes Out The City. All right, so he wouldn’t make title creator in Hollywood. Not that the city of dreams would be functioning again in the near future. He allowed the 4x4 to roll slowly down the street until the front end reached the intersecting avenue. He’d made a quick stop at the gas station and topped the tanks up, thanking the absent attendant for the free service.
        "Spooky," said Johnny beside him.
        "Yeah. Let’s see if we can pit-stop this one."
        Another youngster pocked his head from the rear. "The store’s gotta be to the right." He folded the map. "You figure we should leave the car here?"
        Daniel hesitated. They were always asking him questions, ever since the attack. Someone had voted him leader and he wasn’t sure he liked it.
        "Nah. Let’s have it close by case we need to fly."
        The others assented. The car moved forward cautiously.
        In reality, this was their first raid. The younger guys volunteered gung-ho, the promise of adventure spurring them on, but know he could feel their fear. For some reason, the gas hadn’t killed every one in their community. Maybe it was the high mountain air, or maybe it was the storm that had been raging over the resort that day, but the dozen families spending the weekend at Fishquarry Lake, high in the Rocky Mountains, had been spared.
        For days nothing had come over the TV or radio and the main lodge’s only CB wasn’t picking up any traffic. His grandfather kept saying that they were the only ones left. The first trip down into the town revealed an empty waste, except of course for the bodies. Panic had nearly erupted but the decision was taken to leave immediately and go to the closest major city to find out what was going on, but the Beasts had intercepted them. A family had been massacred in front of his very eyes, the destruction haunting his nightmares from that moment on. They had managed to retreat up to the resort and had been holed up since then.
        Someone had asked why they didn’t just leave. The answer came back like a cannon shot. Where to?
        "OK, guys," said Daniel. "Just remember to grab everything we need and get the Hell out. No fucking about in there."
        The doors opened slowly and the four of them stepped out into the cold air. They carried their rifles unsteadily, pointing at anything that held the promise of movement. Daniel looked around the group and sighed. Did they really think they could pull this off? Just a bunch of kids. Yeah, right and I’m Dirty Harry. Twenty one and scared out of my wits. But their families needed the supplies, depended on them.
        The department store was on the right. In any worthwhile post-apocalyptic scenario, the windows should have been smashed but instead they remained intact. Dirty but intact. Dozens of shapes lay on the streets, corpses disfigured by weeks of exposure to rain and wind and by packs of hungry animals. God, it stank! He tightened the handkerchief about his face and poured another dose of cologne into it. He nearly puked as a large crow alighted on a child’s body and pecked laboriously away.
        They marched into the store and quickly found the information panel.
        "OK." He looked at Johnny and Bill. "Drug store’s on the first, at the back. We’ll hit the second floor. Remember, ten minutes max." A chorus of trembling voices assented. It was getting scary and he felt his stomach churn. "Good luck, guys," he said softly.
        Daniel climbed the dead mechanical stairs two at a time. At the top he looked around carefully and stepped forward, sweat starting to break out along his spine. Pat was right behind him. He remember what his mother had said. Bring him back. Great. Another responsibility that he didn’t need. The hiking section was at the far end. Gas stoves, burners, tools. Everything you needed to survive in the wild, said the poster. Well, it didn’t get any wilder than this. He moved forward quickly and screamed as the dog burst through in front of him.
        "Jes-us," he spat, keeping the animal covered with the rifle. The dog was growling deeply, ready to defend its meal. A pair of legs stuck out from under a clothes rack. The smell grew worse. Pat moved to the right. He followed.
        "Grab one of those sacks," he said pointing to a display. "I’ll start pilling stuff here."
        He hunted around and started to collect as many items as he could. Ropes and camping stoves. Some knives and extra pairs of winter clothes, gloves, ear muffs, thermal underwear. He found a couple of first aid kits and grabbed them, even though the guys downstairs would be stocking up on medicines.
        The main problem was finding ammo for the rifles. They had precious little left but the hunting store was on the other side of town and he wasn’t sure if he’d have the guts for the second trip.
        The shot, when it came, echoed through the building and bounced directly into his heart. The hairs on the back of his neck rose, a primal instinct telling him Problem was raising its ugly head. Then the screams, the frantic yelling. He froze and looked over at Pat.
        "Oh my God," whispered the younger man. The shouts were coming closer, up the stairs towards them. He ran forward and nearly tumbled into the running couple.
        "Get back," yelled Johnny. "Right behind us."
        Daniel aimed his rifle down the stairs and saw the Beast bound towards them. He fired but it came coming up. He turned and ran.
        "Shit, I hit the fucker," he muttered. Then louder: "Out the emergency doors."
        "No good," said Pat, slamming his shoulder against them. "Blocked." Daniel shot passed him and rocketed against the double doors. Solid. He spun and faced the Beast. It had stopped twenty paces away, rocking gently from side to side. Even from this distance he could hear the cavernous breathing. Saliva dribbled from its jaws and added to the slime that covered its black body. It balanced on powerful limbs, coiled and ready to spring. Two long thin arms stretched out in front of it, claws extended. Daniel extended the rifle, keeping it covered, but he knew that the rifle wouldn’t come close to wounding it. His eyes drifted to the Beast’s midriff, where a series of scales overlapped the animals reproduction system. He’d read about them and heard the stories, seen the evidence. If it embraced you, death was but an instant away.
        "We’d better open that door, fast," he said quietly. Fear curdled in his stomach and threatened to make him puke.
        "Can’t. It’s really stuck," said Bill pushing hard on the bar. The panic in his voice rose with every syllable.
        "All right. Let’s try to get past it and reach the car. Bill grab the sack."
        "We had to leave some stuff behind," said Johnny, his eyes riveted on the Beast. "But I think we have enough." Hold on guys.
        "Ugly fucker," whispered Bill. They began to move in a slow circle, heading towards the stairs. The animal stood there, hissing softly and following their progress.
        "Oh shit," breathed Daniel. A second Beast appeared suddenly, bounding silently on to a wooden counter. And a third, over to their right, boxing them in.
        "Back up," he hissed. "Keep ‘em covered."
        "Danny," said Bill. He was losing it. "I don’t wanna die. What’re we gonna do?" he pleaded.
        "I…." The Beast leapt forward and two shots rang out. It crashed against him. Knocking him back, and jumped back nimbly. A dark liquid oozed from its chest but it didn’t seem overly hurt. Daniel lay on the floor.
        "Oh Lord," he said, crawling backwards towards the wall. Tears welled in his eyes as he realized the end was near. The animals crept forward.
        The concussion following the shot wasn’t that strong, but it felt like the air was sucked out of their lungs, making them cringe. Someone screamed. The first Beast exploded in a shower of crimson, nearly in slow motion. Another shot, another alien down. Johnny landed on top off him, yelling at the top of his lungs. The third one lunged sideways and ducked a series of blasts that left the wall behind them looking like a sieve, until it too finally exploded and died. Daniel kept his hands over his head and his eyes screwed shut, huddled in a corner under his friend. When the silence returned he risked a glance. A large man, built along the lines of the mountain range that towered over the town, advanced on them. He had a blond crew cut and deeply tanned features, the kind obtained mostly from outdoor exposure as opposed to lying on an exotic beach. His uniform was worn and ripped at certain places, opened at the neck to reveal dull body armor. He handled the strange weapon easily, balancing it casually on his hip.
        But what really made Daniel’s eyes open wide was the patch on the right shoulder, silver letters on a black background. It read: X-COM. Earth Defense.
        "Reckon it’s yaw lucky day, boys," said the figure.

Thanks!

X-COM: UFO Defence is copyright 1996 by Microprose Software, Inc. All rights reserved.