Yet Another Light Dims

Soon it was time for more regular missions. Megawatt got back from the infirmary and Firestorm got another UFO downed in Canada. Squad was sent to mop up the scene and routinely they did exactly that. Firestorm is such a beautiful craft that it can keep up with the enemies much better and its armament is superior to anything we've seen on conventional aircrafts. Researching and reverse engineering alien technology certainly had its benefits on the sky. After Canada, people from Mumbai called. Aliens were abduction people nearby gas station and the team was sent to investigate. What started as a standard abduction mission ended up as something completely different.

[TACTICAL COMMS TRANSCRIPTION]

Ironside: Approaching the gas station in the middle, watch the flanks.

Megawatt: I can see movement inside, it's three mutons and a berserker!

Ironside: Posting by a gas pump, hope they don't decide to shoot anywhere near...can you get a shot from the top 44?

44: Negative, I'm pinned down by suppressive fire and this whole structure is falling apart.

[TRANSCRIPTION ENDS]

The berserker raged on on the gas station yard like maddened bull. It tried to reach for everyone at once, but the squad's relentless crossfire tore into its thick armor and skin and shredded it into an unidentifiable hulk. Still, it rushed dangerously close to Ironside, only to meet the wonders of a new technology that the eggheads called "alloy gun". Technically, it was a shotgun, but it fired alien metal shrapnel at outrageous speeds, rending anything less than a tank. Including berserker - it fell down at Ironside's feet with a loud thump.

Then something else stirred in the back section of the gas station. A pair of heavier-looking floaters emerged and took position from the back alley. They proved also a lot better shooters than anything the squad had met this far as Hildifer was taking cover behind a car far in the front and still she fell in an instant to a direct hit. She did not even see where the shot came from and Megawatt, seeing all that from close range, was close to inspect the wounds.

[TACTICAL COMMS TRANSCRIPTION]

Megawatt: Checking Hildifer, that did not certainly look good.

Hildifer: *groaning*

Ironside: Can anyone have a shot at that bastard?

44: Negative, it moves too fast. Megawatt, what's the status with Hildifer?

Megawatt: She seems to be reviving, I'm taking cover and checking the bogey.

[TRANSCRIPTION ENDS]

Hildifer came back to her senses, eyes blurry and everything was seen in various hues of red. Instinctively, she took cover behind the car, reloaded her weapon and everything went black again. The heavy floater had struck her again and this time there was not much to revive as half of her head simply disappeared. Megawatt caught the wounded heavy floater with a solid hit and that marked the end of the abductions in India for now, but still the aliens had managed to sow destruction among the XCOM ranks, much to Central's dismay. Technological advancements had still proved nothing on the survivability front.