X-COM Tribute 1 of 3: E.T.A. 1 Hour to The Landing Site.

I decided to make a fan fiction short story based on one of my fave games, X-COM. Because English is not my primary language and also I'm not actually into literature, there's bound to be mistakes here and there. If you do found them, just let me know.

BTW, this is just a work of fiction. All similarities are just pure coincidence.

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E.T.A. 1 Hour to The Landing Site.

The engine of the Skyranger blazes and produces a sound, an eerie sound that can describe the feelings of its passengers. The feelings of anxiety, excitement, and fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of the fate of oneself, fear of the aliens. Such is the everyday feeling and thought of every X-COM personel, and those two young seasoned soldiers are no exception. James Moran and Charles Lee, birth name Li Zhang Fei based from the hero of the Three Kingdom epic, are two childhood friends. They grew up together in the city of New Philadelphia, one of the cities which got hit on the first outbreak of the alien invasion.

James is a 6"1' with a burning red hair and a pair of hazel eyes. He was from a common suburban family. His father was a white collar worker, a salaryman, that was working long hour for a minimum wage. And his mother was a teacher, a teacher in the school which James also a student of.

He met Charlie, a son of a Chinese convenience store owner, in the 6th grade. Their meeting was a painful one, literally. They were fighting one another in a heated battle. The young James was a strong, smart, brash, courageous, fearless, and hot tempered. These traits can make him a model student actually, yet he was so prideful of this fact and become known as the bully of the school instead.

The young Charles Lee has a similar traits. He was also smart, courageous, and fearless. But due to what his family teachings of courtesy, honor, humility, and pacifism, he was rather reserved, a pacifist who often find a way out of trouble over a confrontation. For those who didn't know the real him, he would make a perfect target for bullying.

Most of the time, he could keep a cool head and lived to those values. But on that fateful day, he was enraged when James insulted his honor, his family, and his ancestors. Having trained in the art of Ba Ji Quan, an ancient Chinese martial art, he easily beat James and his gang. These fighting and bickering lasted for so many times, and every times James and his buddies are at the losing end. These however turned out to be the turning point of James's life. He finally admitted defeat and befriended Charlie. The story i's not unheard of around the base because James was always telling it every time he got drunk.

"So, how many rookies are there now?", ask James while glancing through the narrow corridor inside of the Skyranger.

"Eight, I think. We've suffered a heavy lost on the last mission.", his best friend for 14 years said. He looks just like he was 14 years ago, only taller and older. He's 5"4' with a black hair and eyes, the common figure of an Asian person. He's still as calm, reserved and can always control himself even in a heated situation.

Reminiscing the last two years they've spent on the X-COM headquarter "Vigilance", the first X-COM installation located somewhere inside the Navajo desert, they couldn't help but feel depressed. The shouts, shrieks, deathcries, and pleas for mercy (which obviously meant nothing to those bastard scums of aliens) echoed in their head. All those fallen comrade's, X-COM comrade's, images are still fresh in their memory.

X-COM, or Extraterrestrial Combat Unit, is an organization that was built by the powerful nations of the world for the purpose of investigating the current increase of alien phenomena, and battle them if they are deemed threatening. They were first established on December 1998 when more sightings of UFOs are known to public masses.

"Aw, sucks. I better get my mood back before they take the benefit of it." said James while he lights up a cigarette. "You know, those scientists are talking about some psychic powers mumbo jumbo that these aliens have. They called it psi or pis-something and it can be used to control our mind or so.".

While puffing the first smoke to the air, he said again, "They said its ratio of success is based on the morale of the target. I don't buy it though but better safe than sorry, right?".

"You know, that thing will kill you one of these days.", Charlie complied.

Suddenly a voice came from the seat at Charlie's lefthand side, "Can you pass me one, James?".

Maria Romanova is another one of the Squaddies besides James, Charlie, and 4 other guys. She comes from Russia. This 5"8' with a blond hair is one of the three divas of the X-COM personels in the "Vigilance" base. She's 24 years old, 2 years younger than James and Charlie but has the same bodycount as those two combined. They said that you shouldn't be fooled by her beauty, inside of her is a gifted warrior with a bloodlust of a beast.

"Sure, help yourself", and he offers his pack of cigarettes. A slender yet firm hand reach out to one of those cigarettes.

"I'm very excited with this tour! The upper echelon said that this mission is a special one." All of the men was thinking, "yeah, we can see that in your face." Her face couldn't hide the fact that she is joyful, or lustful to be precise, for the chance of adding up her bodycount. A bloodlust of a beast indeed.

"Those bastards of are becoming harder and harder to kill every day, and our tolls of death are increasing. Yet, that makes me more fired up." There's a silence in the air upon hearing the word 'death'.

"Cut it out, will you? You've scared all the little ones, like this one here.", and James pointed to someone beside him, me.

"What's your name, soldier?", he asked me.

I answered trembling, "Sa.. Said Abdul Jabar, sir!"

"Oh, you're an Arab. We don't have that many Arabs here. Where do you come from?"

"New Palestine, sir!"

"Okay, Said. I won't sugarcoat anything. Yes, there's a chance that we will get killed out there.", he paused and sucked his cigarette really hard and then blows a halo-like puff of smoke.

"But won't it be better to know that we died for something that's precious to us. So what is it that is precious to you?"

"God, sir!", I answered without a doubt.

"Well then, God loves all His creations, right? Humans, animals, nature, earth. So, if we fought for what He loved, that means we fought for Him, right? That's why..." his speech is cut by an announcement from the pilot that we've arrived at the destination.

"We're here, finally. Sorry, let's finish this conversation next time. Let's get ready!", and he inhaled his last smoke before throwing his cigarette butt.

All 14 X-COM combatants, armed to the teeth, finally arrived and they are preparing for the fated encounter with the other kinds.