For this mission I’d be without a heavy weapons specialist so I opted for Lt. Rich Ivanoff (sniper), Lt. Shannon Crow (assault), Captain Burk Dowell (medic), Lt. Ron Johnson (support) and Sgt. Eric Oberg (support). The area of operations for this one was a cemetary in Canada.
Immediately after deployment, Captain Dowell moved up and encountered three greys. The team quickly moved into cover. Johnson took a great shot on a grey to the far left of the AO but only wounded it. Lieutenant Ivanoff took a long range shot and splattered grey matter all over the right side of the graveyard. Captain Dowell then snapped off a shot up the middle of the AO and missed. Finally, Sergeant Oberg fired up the middle, striking a grey but not killing it. Damnit we need better weapons ASAP!
With two wounded-but-not-dead greys, Shannon pressed her luck and charged straight ahead. That reckless behavior is likely going to get her killed and I plan to talk to her about that if she makes it back. In her charge she attracted the attention of two new Thin Men and another group of three greys. It was about to be open season on her, fast! Shannon blasted one of the original wounded greys and destroyed it but was quickly fired on in return. Fortunately they missed her but she was starting to be flanked on all sides.
Seeing Shannon was flanked by a Thin Man, Lt. Johnson quickly moved to his left under cover and dispatched it quickly with a great shot.
Oberg fired at one of the new greys hit hit it but only wounded it again. No kill. Fortunately, Lt. Ivanoff moved in and switched to a pistol to conserve ammo and finished it off with a good ranged shot.
Captain Dowell advanced up next and wasted a grey on the right side of the AO with ease as Shannon wisely pulled back to take cover.
At that point a Thin Man and two greys retreated from the squad while two new Thin Men could be seen rushing to the back upper left corner to join them. That meant the team now faced three Thin Men and two greys at a minimum.
Dowell, Johnson, Oberg and Crow all retreated and took a moment to reload while taking up defensive positions. Lt. Ivanoff decided to remain on over-watch rather than reload which was a sound decision. Suddenly a Thin Man charged and Ivanoff was ready, blasting him into vapor down the middle of the AO. With the immediately threat cleared, Ivanoff reloaded while the rest of the team provided overwatch.
Another Thin Man advanced next and the team dug in to prepare for engagement. Lt. Crow charged up the center at full speed and dispatched the Thin Man with a shotgun blast to the face. Once again however, she left herself fairly exposed and at least one psionically enhanced grey had a bead on her. Lt. Ivanoff moved in quickly and set up for a braced shot, destroying the enhanced grey with a quick headshot and relieving Shannon of pressure.
Johnson moved up next as the team prepared to advanced with meticulous precision. Oberg moved up the right side and discovered a Thin Man hiding in a grounds keeping shed on the left side of the AO but he didn’t have a good angle for the shot. Both Oberg and the Thin Man exchanged fire. Oberg missed and was struck by some return fire but absorbed the shot easily with his new enhanced body armor.
Suddenly a grey popped out of the shed and the team unloaded. Four soldiers fired nearly simultaneously. Crow, Ivanoff, and Johnson all fired but only Johnson hit, Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to drop it. Captain Dowell fired last, having an opportunity for a good shot and finished the job.
Lt. Crow then ran in quickly to finish the Thin Man and blasted him point blank range. Unfortunately Shannon was poised in the vaporous gas the Thin Men emit whenever they are eliminated. Fortunately it was mild and she’ll recover quickly. Doubt she misses a day.
And just like that, suddenly the fight was over. Ten aliens dead with minimal damage and no real injuries. The after action report looks like this:
Sergeant Eric Oberg now had one mission official mission with the squad but no confirmed kills.
Lieutenant Ron Johnson now had five missions with five kills and I decided to promote him to Captain. He certainly was an up and comer that one. Ron immediately requested some dense smoke grenades next time to help conceal his squadmates in future combat missions. I vowed to do my best.
Lieutenant Rich Ivanoff was impressive again. He now had eight missions with a whopping twelve kills. It was a no brainer for me to promote him to Captain.
Lieutenant Shannon Crow also was impressive with nine missions and twelve confirmed kills. She too was deserving of a promotion to Captain. Shannon expressed to me a desire to become more of a close combat specialist which seemed to fit exactly her style of combat.
And then of course there was Captain Burk Dowell with nine missions and fifteen confirmed kills. Can’t ask for much more from a squad.
Back at base I found that a whole bunch of research was completed and now we have more items available than we could possibly have money to build. We need cash FAST!
On that note, the council report came in and we recieved a B grade with 335 credits and some more scientists. It wasn’t enough, but it would have to do. I quickly ordered a new satellite up-link facility to be built and suddenly I was out of money again! Jesus, I don’t even have any goddamn money to buy satellites to put into orbit.