Episode 1: Paying the Ferryman
Doctor Norman Johnson approaches both Admiral James Greer and George Tregear to head up the new eXtraterrestrial COMmand, or XCom. Greer accepts immediately, when told that the unit was to become a major world power. Tregear accepts after perusing a dossier showing UFO incidents becoming increasingly violent over recent months. The next day, he gets the strange sensation he is being followed and watched...
A group of US Marines dispatched by helicopter to investigate an alleged satellite crash on a desolate island in the north Atlantic, are shot down by the crashed UFO. The few survivors, some five men from a platoon of fifty, are unable to regain contact with their ship. Cut off, they make way to the island's main settlement to find the villagers wiped out by aliens, and laid out like meat in a butchers shop. They encounter the crashed saucer, a small scoutship set on automatic, and manage to disable its defence plasmagun.
In the docks they find a boat with an intact radio and contact their ship, which they discover has been attacked by UFOs. The only trail they have leads up to the highest point on the island to a small research station used by naturalists studying the local wildlife.
Admiral Greer and Professor Tregear arrive at the barely operational XCom base in Switzerland in time to discover that the US ship has been severely damaged by the UFO attack. Although theoretically outside the range of the base, it is determined that by using mid-air refuelling that it is possible to get the base's two interceptors and one VTOL to the island. Admiral Greer gives the order and Lt Dinova personally leads the Assault Team on the VTOL.
On the island, the Marines reach the research station, formerly the Island governors house it fell into disrepair before being renovated for the naturalists. All is silent and there are no signs of life. after a very cautious approach to the main building they find themselves in a close firefight with a 4' tall alien with orange, bulbous skin. Their weapons are barely effective against the aliens, barely knocking them down, whilst the alien plasma guns kill one marine and cripple another. Finally, the alien is hit dead centre with a 40mm grenade and destroyed. Searching the house they find another dead alien, wounded by the villagers, and the bodies of all the researchers.
As they look around the house, the saucer shaped UFO that attacked their ship arrives at the house and hovers menacingly overhead. The marines have no hope of fighting it.
Interceptors One and Two, piloted by Bowler and Hawk, scream past just in time, launching missiles at the large saucer. They are jumped by two smaller saucers also in the area, but destroy the large and one of the small UFOs, the second one fleeing at Mach five. Shortly afterwards, the marines greet the XCom VTOL and meet Lt Dinova who invites them to join XCom.
Episode 2: The Interrupted Journey
Doctor Norman Johnson hears of an alleged abduction case in France and wants to go investigate. Admiral Greer agrees but sends along a small team of soldiers as escorts, three of the new recruits from the Marine unit on Harper's Island, Corporal Kowalski, PFC Brody and 'The Swede'. Dr Cheng Lau, XCom's head of medical sciences also goes along.
On their arrival in France, they are met by Inspector LeBois, supposedly of the Surete, who orders them not to carry their standard firearms. Whilst the marines complain, They agree to leave them locked in the XCom transport helicopter.
On first interviewing Yves and Mary Jane Pascaud, Doc Johnson has suspicions, their story matches far too closely with the story of Barney and Betty Hill for be true. While on their way back from Marseilles to Lyon, they were abducted and taken aboard an alien craft.
While the XCom operatives are at the hospital, a man is admitted with sixth degree burns, ranting on in English about 'The Lights! The Lights came down..' This English tourist received his injuries in the same area the Pascauds say they were abducted.
Meanwhile, back at Swiss Base, XCom techs are picking up an unidentified energy reading in the general area between Marseilles and Lyon. Calling the investigation team, Greer ordered the soldiers to go investigate the area of the abduction, and invoked the Helsinki Protocol, allowing the soldiers to carry their big guns (as per the Helsinki Agreement of 1998) and also ordered the Interceptors to loiter in the area.
Investigating the area, the soldiers (accompanied by Inspector LeBois) come across an abandoned factory which is being used as a base by the blue uniformed aliens that come to be known as Slugs. The soldiers engage in a brief firefight before withdrawing. On hearing of the presence of an alien base Admiral Greer, in a fit of monumental stupidity orders the interceptors to strafe the factory.
The Interceptors, designed for high altitude dogfighting over the mach, are not suited for ground attack, and the alien base, with its ground mounted plasma cannon, is an excellent AAA site. The result: Bowler's Interceptor was scattered all over the French countryside. Seeing reason, Greer orders the Interceptor to disengage, and the Assault team in. Teaming up with the soldiers on the scene, they quickly secure the base.
The shock comes when they rescue the real Yves Pascaud. The one back at the hospital must be a fake. Rushing back along with Inspector LeBois, they find that the bogus Pascaud has given a press conference, but gone berserk shortly afterward, killing a policeman and kidnapping Mary Jane Pascaud. LeBois puts out an APB and Pascaud's hijacked car is found near a small filling station out in the woods, near the original abduction site. He orders the police car that found it to remain there, but when the soldiers arrive, they find that a group of Government Agents have ordered the patrol car to leave. They move into the woods to find the bogus Pascaud holding Mary Jane Pascaud hostage surrounded by Men In Black. The MIBS tell Pascaud that his implants are malfunctioning and that they are there to help him. A firefight ensues and the MIBs are cut down by the soldiers' fully automatic firepower, but Kowalski is critically injured. Before being shot, one MIB shoots Pascaud point blank in the head, then pours the contents of a vial into the shattered wound, destroying any evidence.
Pascaud and wife are reunited, Inspector LeBois confirms that the MIBs were not French government agents, and becomes a convert to the XCom cause.
Meanwhile, in his dazed and wounded state, Kowalski has a vision of a Grey alien, who looks at him and telepathically says "They are not yet ready"
Swiss Base picks up a UFO trace with a slightly different signature to the usual saucer. Greer orders the Interceptors to launch and when they rendez-vous with the intruder, it is a wedge shaped craft. After some time tailing it, the wedge heads out towards the Interceptor range limit, and Greer ordered the intruder shot down. The alien craft used a form of missile weapon rather than plasma, but was easily shot down.
The Interceptor recorders picked up transmissions from the wedge which, when later analysed, turned out to be a trinary signal. Many heads were scratched.
Shortly afterwards a conventional saucer was detected heading landing in the former Yugoslavia, the so called 'Black Hole' of Europe, as the continuing war, plague and natural disaster had rendered the area uninhabitable. Greer orders the Assault team in and they quickly find themselves surrounded by the small orange aliens. Pinned down by heavy fire, the team is unable to stop the saucer from lifting off.
But before the interceptors can engage, a wedge swoops down from high orbit and blasts the saucer from the sky. This prompts much speculation on the part of XCom command that they should try to make friends with the wedge pilots. Greer gave standing orders that no hostile action was to be taken against wedges or their occupants.
How little they knew.
(This scenario brought to you by the letter M...)
XCom officers are instructed to brief an enquiry by the EC 'oversight committee' into XCom operations and funding. Before Lt Dinova will allow the command staff to leave the HQ, she insists on them being combat trained and firearm capable. While training in France at a facility arranged by Inspector LeBois, who is in fact 2eme Bureau, Professor Tregear proves himself to be neither, although he does manage to wreck the training facility quite thoroughly. However, when the armourer produces a double barrelled, sawn off, 8 gauge combat shotgun with special armour piercing ammo, even Tregear can't miss.
Greer decides to take Dinova to brief the committee on the aliens' military capabilities, and Tregear to brief them on the scientific angle. Dinova also insists on a guard so PFC Harry Cheng is taken.
Shortly after their arrival in Munich for the inquiry, XCom learns of a massive alien attack on Angola. By gathering every available man and machine, Greer orders his entire complement of soldiers (26 men and women) to assist the defence of the capital city, Luanda. Dinova remains in Munich only long enough to give her report on the military aspects of the alien invasion, then jets south to assist the co-ordination of the mission.
Greer bumps into an old war buddy and over drinks, he warns him that things are changing back in the US, there is definitely a 'power behind the throne'. Later on, Greer is approached by MIBs claiming to be CIA, who warn Greer to avoid his friend, who is under investigation. Meanwhile, Tregear is running into problems with Emma Myers, an old sworn enemy of his who is heading up the 'prosecution'. He orders the Swiss Base computer experts Dale and Kenji to 'dig up the dirt' on her.
The battle in Luanda hots up as XCom minitanks meet alien biotanks for the first time. The XCom soldiers are unconvinced as to their usefulness. Luanda also saw the first operational use of the personal laser weapon designed by Prof. Louisa Kline, head of Physical Sciences. The verdict, nice but fragile. The aliens, a combined force of slugs and Harper Island Entities control much of the city, local forces are impotent against them. Brody's team comes across an Angolan soldier who is trying to save some children but is pinned down by slugs. He later joins XCom and is called Skeffen Zakalwe.
Dale and Kenji dig up the dirt on Myers. She has a reputation for hatchet jobs and is possibly three months pregnant, having been attending a fertility clinic in Switzerland. Shortly after learning this, Greers friend is shot and killed, and Myers is abducted by MIBs. A firefight erupts in the hotel lobby but the MIBs make it to a car and away, despite some deadly shooting from Tregears boom stick, he is unable to hit the car. Hijacking a car, the XCom team gives chase until the MIBs crash and are gunned down. But before the team can get to Myers, they are blinded and rendered insensate by a brilliant light. When they come to a half hour later, Myers is gone. She is later found wandering the streets. She is no longer pregnant.
In Angola the fighting hots up until the Slugs are driven out of the city. During some intense street fighting, two Slugs are captured alive. A small detachment of XCom soldiers are sent to an oil platform just offshore, but they find no-one at all. The humans were all killed by the slugs, but something or someone killed the slugs. This mystery is never solved.
Having recovered from his ordeal (and possible UFO abduction), Greer goes on to demolish any opposition to XCom by the EC by showing them live and recorded footage from Angola. The Committee agree to maintain funding levels for the next year.