Godliberator
Well-Known Member
“What do you mean, Gone?” asked Greenearth
“I MEAN HE IS FUCKING DEAD!!” barked Gurw “THERE IS NOTHING I CAN DO FOR HIM”
DON’T JUST FUCKING GIVE UP ON HIM!!”
I SAID HE IS GONE!!....nothing ANYONE does will bring him back!!
Konflakes helped Tofurkey to his feet and they both walked over to Casey. Tofurkey knelt down and put his hand on Casey’s chest.
“It should have been me.” Tofurkey said solemnly “If you hadn’t……”
“Furkey, you would have done the same for him just like any of us. We still have a fight on our hands here. We all know the risks and Casey died admirably and we will not let him die in vain. Now let’s finish this so we can get Casey back home” interrupted Konflakes. “Get your minds right where they need to be, because we have TANGO’s INCOMING!! FIVE SECTOIDS THREE TO OUR TWO O’CLOCK, TWO TO OUR ELEVEN!!
Gurw jumps to his feet and grabs cover beside the rest of the team as five sectoids rush towards the team being spurred on by the remaining Floater.
“Furkey, Gurw, toss grenades to stop their advance then pick them off as they are forced into the open.” Ordered Konflakes.
The com lights flashed acknowledgement before Tofurkey and Gurw each grabbed a grenade and primed it before awaiting the go ahead.
“NOW” yelled Konflakes.
The grenades arced magnificently through the air. Tofurkey managed to place his directly at the feet of one of the Sectoids on the left flank and Gurw’s bounced directly beneath a car which was in the path of the advancing Sectoids on the right. The grenades exploded near simultaneously. The explosions caused two Sectoids to become nothing more than a purple mist. The remaining Sectoids were thrown into the open by the concussive forces from the grenades.
Tofurkey quickly fired several bursts from his assault rifle as a Sectoid was thrown into his line of sight. Multiple rounds impacted the soft flesh of the Sectoid who collapsed on the spot. Konflakes and Greenearth took advantage of the remaining Sectoids as they were attempting to find cover following the explosion. The Sectoids were taken out as quickly as they had appeared.
Greenearth spotted movement and fired a burst as the remaining floater emerged from cover sending plasma flying towards the team. Greenearth was hit by the plasma and thrown backwards from the force of the impact. Gurw returns fire on the floater and watches the green spray of its blood as the Floater’s rocket spirals it into a wall before sputtering to a stop.
“GREENEARTH!!” Gurw shouted as he sprinted towards him.
“I am good, just had the wind knocked out of me” Greenearth said as he hobbled to his feet.
Greenearth looked himself over, there was a spot on his chest where the plasma has impacted. The armor absorbed both the heat and the impact of the plasma bolt which left the armor glassed and smoldering.
“Holy shit” Greenearth exclaimed as he looked down at himself.
“Holy shit is right” Gurw said “For a second there, I thought you decided to join Casey”
Greenearth ran his fingers over the new scar in his armor which was already cold to the touch. “This armor is amazing”
The team formed up and finished clearing the area. When nothing was found, the team popped smoke and called for transport. Their jump jet returned with several others carrying research teams from The Council who hurried past the team into the abduction site to collect samples and study the alien corpses and technologies.
The team slowly carried Casey back to their jump jet, laid him inside, did a quick gear check, before finally taking off back towards base. The ride home was short but felt like it took ages, and when the bay doors on the loading dock closed and the whine of the engines ceased, the team just sat in silence for a moment.
“I will alert Godlib we have returned, He will want to debrief us. We need to grab a gurney and get Casey to the Infirmary.” Konflakes said before standing slowly and walking towards the phone bank to make the call to inform command of their arrival.
The team carefully loaded Casey’s body onto a gurney and proceeded silently through the base. Beese watched from his bed in the infirmary as the team escorted Casey to a curtained off area towards the back of the bay. He slumped down in his bed as sadness fell over him. One by one each member of the team was shuffled out of the area by doctors who wanted to prepare the remains for transport. They filed past Beese’s bed avoiding any contact until they were debriefed; the remaining team made the trek to Godlib’s office in minutes but it felt like hours.
*Knock Knock*
“C’mon in guys” Godliberator’s voice muffled through the door.
Konflakes had already delivered the news about Casey and was the first to enter the room; the rest filed in behind him and slowly saluted Godlib and Ozy.
After returning the gesture, he motioned for them to sit. After a short pause to collect his thoughts, Godlib finally spoke. “Let me start by saying this, you all performed tremendously out there. The intel we had showed this should have been just another routine abduction site clearance with an expectation of a few sectoids left behind to guard it. You faced down an opposing force which was stacked against you and you prevailed through it. Konflakes has already given a de-briefing and has filled me in to the mission events. Casey’s death is a tragic loss for this team, and will not be forgotten. Upon leaving this room, each of you are to report to the armory to gear down. A member of the research department will be waiting for you there where you will hand over your data nodes for your onboard HUD’s.”
Godlib paused briefly
“Though it cannot change anything, I am launching an investigation regarding the poor intel we received on this mission. I want to ensure that going forward, a situation like this never happens again. With that said, I cannot express the pain we all feel in loosing Casey, and I am struggling to even find the words. I plan to make the announcement to the rest of the team directly following our meeting while you all are gearing down and getting checked over. The decision has also been made to bring each of you up to the rank of squaddie for your efforts in combat. Your hard fought victory earned it. You all are dismissed, please head to the armory.
The squad stands and begins to file out of the room, but Tofurkey lingers behind still at attention.
“Is there something on your mind Furkey?” asked Ozy.
“Sir, I....Casey saved my ass back there; if it was not for him it would be me on that gurney. I understand why he did it, because if the tables were turned I would have done the same for him. I would like to formally request to escort his remains and deliver the news personally to his family.”
Godlib looks up at Tofurkey. “That is an awfully large burden to be putting on your shoulders.”
“I know how difficult this will be, but over the last few weeks we spent a good amount of time together through training and he had become like a brother to me. My family didn’t make it out of the city fast enough…So he is pretty much the only family I had left.”
Godlib and Ozy look on in silence.
“I feel that this news should not come from an informal source such as the standard letter or the visit from the chaplain. I want his mother to know that her son was a hero, I want her to know that he selflessly saved my life, and I want to do everything I can personally to ensure he receives proper burial and that his family is taken care of.”
Tofurkey switched his stance to be at ease.
Godlib looked over at Ozy, and Ozy gave a quick nod of agreement.
“Request granted, I will need you to sign the formal paperwork for the Honor Guard assignment. I will have it drawn up for you to sign tomorrow, but for now, I need you to head to the armory with the rest of your team”
Tofurkey snapped to attention and gave a salute. “Thank you, sir.”
Godlib and Ozy returned the salute, and Tofurkey then turned and exited the room.
Godlib rubbed his face to ease his tension. “I am not looking forward to this next part Ozy.
“I’m not either, but let’s go.” Ozy said as he held the door for Godlib before they both made the short walk to the barracks.
Ozy pushed the door open and called the room to attention. The sounds of feet pounding and chairs scraping filled the room as everyone scrambled to get on line. Godliberator stood at the end of the line at ease and waited for them to get in position, and when all fell silent, Ozy turned and took a place at the end of the line.
“This evening, I am here to report to you all that we have accomplished another successful mission and have reclaimed an abduction site from the enemy as well as several alien corpses and artifacts which will allow us to continue our research efforts against these invaders. This victory comes at an unfortunate loss to us all. I regret to inform all of you that we have lost a brother. Rk. Casey has been declared KIA during Operation Purple Shield. There will be a memorial service held to his honor tomorrow evening for those wishing to attend and pay their respects. Tonight, I want all of you to gather with your brothers and sisters in arms and find consolation and strength in their company. The other members of the team will be returning to you this evening once they have been cleared by research and medical. Casey died a hero, and we will never forget.”
Godlib paused and looked down at the floor.
“As you were” he said before walking back out of the room with Ozy.
Several seconds passed with nobody moving before the moment was broken as Pixiel drops to her knees in broken sadness as the grief begins to wash over the team. Faerie drops beside Pixiel and several members just sit on the nearest bunk as the shock of news sets in.
The room begins to fill with a range of emotions from anger to sadness. Stories begin to be told from those who knew him better than others about the good times shared with him which would occasionally cause a smile to break the sadness in the room.
The team talked late into the evening, bonding in grief, and when the four others finally returned to the barracks they were met with strong admiration and support from the team. The team did not get much sleep that evening as the story of the mission events were relayed to the team. Late into the night the team gathered around discussing the life and death of their fallen team member.
The following day Casey’s personal items were cataloged and packed for shipping, Casey’s body was processed by research before being cremated and placed in a tungsten Urn, and Tofurkey completed and signed all paperwork for his requested Honor Guard assignment.
Casey’s urn was placed on a pedestal in the loading dock with the XCOM flag as well as the council of nations flag on either side with three jump jets directly behind. The memorial service brought out the entire base out in force. Several speeches were given in honor of Casey, tears were shed, smiles were cracked, and a 21 gun salute ended the ceremony as Tofurkey carried the Urn with the utmost respect into the center jump jet where Casey’s belongings were all packed.
The team watched as the gangplank of the Jet was raised, heard the engines roar to life, and Saluted as it rocketed out of the overhead door and off into the distance.
The reverence remained throughout the evening and not much was said between them that evening following the service. Casey’s now empty bunk was a strong reminder of the reality that any mission could be their last. This thought resonated with the team as the fell asleep and was still with them when the base alarms began to sound bringing everyone to high alert. The team scrambled out of bed and ran to the briefing room to get status on the situation.
When they arrived they found Godlib with a cigar in his mouth looking at the monitor for the global array. He looked angry. A large Alien Battle Cruiser was visible on the display.
Godliberator turns to the growing crowd behind him, “Let’s go get ‘em”.
To Be Continued...
As always, I hope you enjoyed reading this episode of this series and I would love to hear what you guys think. You can also post any comments or ideas in the thread for the series which can be found at this link right here.. Thank you for reading and look forward for Episode 7
“I MEAN HE IS FUCKING DEAD!!” barked Gurw “THERE IS NOTHING I CAN DO FOR HIM”
DON’T JUST FUCKING GIVE UP ON HIM!!”
I SAID HE IS GONE!!....nothing ANYONE does will bring him back!!
Konflakes helped Tofurkey to his feet and they both walked over to Casey. Tofurkey knelt down and put his hand on Casey’s chest.
“It should have been me.” Tofurkey said solemnly “If you hadn’t……”
“Furkey, you would have done the same for him just like any of us. We still have a fight on our hands here. We all know the risks and Casey died admirably and we will not let him die in vain. Now let’s finish this so we can get Casey back home” interrupted Konflakes. “Get your minds right where they need to be, because we have TANGO’s INCOMING!! FIVE SECTOIDS THREE TO OUR TWO O’CLOCK, TWO TO OUR ELEVEN!!
Gurw jumps to his feet and grabs cover beside the rest of the team as five sectoids rush towards the team being spurred on by the remaining Floater.
“Furkey, Gurw, toss grenades to stop their advance then pick them off as they are forced into the open.” Ordered Konflakes.
The com lights flashed acknowledgement before Tofurkey and Gurw each grabbed a grenade and primed it before awaiting the go ahead.
“NOW” yelled Konflakes.
The grenades arced magnificently through the air. Tofurkey managed to place his directly at the feet of one of the Sectoids on the left flank and Gurw’s bounced directly beneath a car which was in the path of the advancing Sectoids on the right. The grenades exploded near simultaneously. The explosions caused two Sectoids to become nothing more than a purple mist. The remaining Sectoids were thrown into the open by the concussive forces from the grenades.
Tofurkey quickly fired several bursts from his assault rifle as a Sectoid was thrown into his line of sight. Multiple rounds impacted the soft flesh of the Sectoid who collapsed on the spot. Konflakes and Greenearth took advantage of the remaining Sectoids as they were attempting to find cover following the explosion. The Sectoids were taken out as quickly as they had appeared.
Greenearth spotted movement and fired a burst as the remaining floater emerged from cover sending plasma flying towards the team. Greenearth was hit by the plasma and thrown backwards from the force of the impact. Gurw returns fire on the floater and watches the green spray of its blood as the Floater’s rocket spirals it into a wall before sputtering to a stop.
“GREENEARTH!!” Gurw shouted as he sprinted towards him.
“I am good, just had the wind knocked out of me” Greenearth said as he hobbled to his feet.
Greenearth looked himself over, there was a spot on his chest where the plasma has impacted. The armor absorbed both the heat and the impact of the plasma bolt which left the armor glassed and smoldering.
“Holy shit” Greenearth exclaimed as he looked down at himself.
“Holy shit is right” Gurw said “For a second there, I thought you decided to join Casey”
Greenearth ran his fingers over the new scar in his armor which was already cold to the touch. “This armor is amazing”
The team formed up and finished clearing the area. When nothing was found, the team popped smoke and called for transport. Their jump jet returned with several others carrying research teams from The Council who hurried past the team into the abduction site to collect samples and study the alien corpses and technologies.
The team slowly carried Casey back to their jump jet, laid him inside, did a quick gear check, before finally taking off back towards base. The ride home was short but felt like it took ages, and when the bay doors on the loading dock closed and the whine of the engines ceased, the team just sat in silence for a moment.
“I will alert Godlib we have returned, He will want to debrief us. We need to grab a gurney and get Casey to the Infirmary.” Konflakes said before standing slowly and walking towards the phone bank to make the call to inform command of their arrival.
The team carefully loaded Casey’s body onto a gurney and proceeded silently through the base. Beese watched from his bed in the infirmary as the team escorted Casey to a curtained off area towards the back of the bay. He slumped down in his bed as sadness fell over him. One by one each member of the team was shuffled out of the area by doctors who wanted to prepare the remains for transport. They filed past Beese’s bed avoiding any contact until they were debriefed; the remaining team made the trek to Godlib’s office in minutes but it felt like hours.
*Knock Knock*
“C’mon in guys” Godliberator’s voice muffled through the door.
Konflakes had already delivered the news about Casey and was the first to enter the room; the rest filed in behind him and slowly saluted Godlib and Ozy.
After returning the gesture, he motioned for them to sit. After a short pause to collect his thoughts, Godlib finally spoke. “Let me start by saying this, you all performed tremendously out there. The intel we had showed this should have been just another routine abduction site clearance with an expectation of a few sectoids left behind to guard it. You faced down an opposing force which was stacked against you and you prevailed through it. Konflakes has already given a de-briefing and has filled me in to the mission events. Casey’s death is a tragic loss for this team, and will not be forgotten. Upon leaving this room, each of you are to report to the armory to gear down. A member of the research department will be waiting for you there where you will hand over your data nodes for your onboard HUD’s.”
Godlib paused briefly
“Though it cannot change anything, I am launching an investigation regarding the poor intel we received on this mission. I want to ensure that going forward, a situation like this never happens again. With that said, I cannot express the pain we all feel in loosing Casey, and I am struggling to even find the words. I plan to make the announcement to the rest of the team directly following our meeting while you all are gearing down and getting checked over. The decision has also been made to bring each of you up to the rank of squaddie for your efforts in combat. Your hard fought victory earned it. You all are dismissed, please head to the armory.
The squad stands and begins to file out of the room, but Tofurkey lingers behind still at attention.
“Is there something on your mind Furkey?” asked Ozy.
“Sir, I....Casey saved my ass back there; if it was not for him it would be me on that gurney. I understand why he did it, because if the tables were turned I would have done the same for him. I would like to formally request to escort his remains and deliver the news personally to his family.”
Godlib looks up at Tofurkey. “That is an awfully large burden to be putting on your shoulders.”
“I know how difficult this will be, but over the last few weeks we spent a good amount of time together through training and he had become like a brother to me. My family didn’t make it out of the city fast enough…So he is pretty much the only family I had left.”
Godlib and Ozy look on in silence.
“I feel that this news should not come from an informal source such as the standard letter or the visit from the chaplain. I want his mother to know that her son was a hero, I want her to know that he selflessly saved my life, and I want to do everything I can personally to ensure he receives proper burial and that his family is taken care of.”
Tofurkey switched his stance to be at ease.
Godlib looked over at Ozy, and Ozy gave a quick nod of agreement.
“Request granted, I will need you to sign the formal paperwork for the Honor Guard assignment. I will have it drawn up for you to sign tomorrow, but for now, I need you to head to the armory with the rest of your team”
Tofurkey snapped to attention and gave a salute. “Thank you, sir.”
Godlib and Ozy returned the salute, and Tofurkey then turned and exited the room.
Godlib rubbed his face to ease his tension. “I am not looking forward to this next part Ozy.
“I’m not either, but let’s go.” Ozy said as he held the door for Godlib before they both made the short walk to the barracks.
Ozy pushed the door open and called the room to attention. The sounds of feet pounding and chairs scraping filled the room as everyone scrambled to get on line. Godliberator stood at the end of the line at ease and waited for them to get in position, and when all fell silent, Ozy turned and took a place at the end of the line.
“This evening, I am here to report to you all that we have accomplished another successful mission and have reclaimed an abduction site from the enemy as well as several alien corpses and artifacts which will allow us to continue our research efforts against these invaders. This victory comes at an unfortunate loss to us all. I regret to inform all of you that we have lost a brother. Rk. Casey has been declared KIA during Operation Purple Shield. There will be a memorial service held to his honor tomorrow evening for those wishing to attend and pay their respects. Tonight, I want all of you to gather with your brothers and sisters in arms and find consolation and strength in their company. The other members of the team will be returning to you this evening once they have been cleared by research and medical. Casey died a hero, and we will never forget.”
Godlib paused and looked down at the floor.
“As you were” he said before walking back out of the room with Ozy.
Several seconds passed with nobody moving before the moment was broken as Pixiel drops to her knees in broken sadness as the grief begins to wash over the team. Faerie drops beside Pixiel and several members just sit on the nearest bunk as the shock of news sets in.
The room begins to fill with a range of emotions from anger to sadness. Stories begin to be told from those who knew him better than others about the good times shared with him which would occasionally cause a smile to break the sadness in the room.
The team talked late into the evening, bonding in grief, and when the four others finally returned to the barracks they were met with strong admiration and support from the team. The team did not get much sleep that evening as the story of the mission events were relayed to the team. Late into the night the team gathered around discussing the life and death of their fallen team member.
The following day Casey’s personal items were cataloged and packed for shipping, Casey’s body was processed by research before being cremated and placed in a tungsten Urn, and Tofurkey completed and signed all paperwork for his requested Honor Guard assignment.
Casey’s urn was placed on a pedestal in the loading dock with the XCOM flag as well as the council of nations flag on either side with three jump jets directly behind. The memorial service brought out the entire base out in force. Several speeches were given in honor of Casey, tears were shed, smiles were cracked, and a 21 gun salute ended the ceremony as Tofurkey carried the Urn with the utmost respect into the center jump jet where Casey’s belongings were all packed.
The team watched as the gangplank of the Jet was raised, heard the engines roar to life, and Saluted as it rocketed out of the overhead door and off into the distance.
The reverence remained throughout the evening and not much was said between them that evening following the service. Casey’s now empty bunk was a strong reminder of the reality that any mission could be their last. This thought resonated with the team as the fell asleep and was still with them when the base alarms began to sound bringing everyone to high alert. The team scrambled out of bed and ran to the briefing room to get status on the situation.
When they arrived they found Godlib with a cigar in his mouth looking at the monitor for the global array. He looked angry. A large Alien Battle Cruiser was visible on the display.
Godliberator turns to the growing crowd behind him, “Let’s go get ‘em”.
To Be Continued...
As always, I hope you enjoyed reading this episode of this series and I would love to hear what you guys think. You can also post any comments or ideas in the thread for the series which can be found at this link right here.. Thank you for reading and look forward for Episode 7
