Name
Sara Lancaster
Age
27
Nationality
Canada
Base of Operations
North America
Bio
Instead of a traditional bio, Sara's defining moments leading up to her XCOM induction will be told through a short story!
Appearance
Sara Lancaster just after escaping the wreck of the UFO. She is high strung and disoriented.
Sara Lancaster during her ERT training.
Class
Infantry
Squad
Arctic Wolves - Based in North America, this squad operates mainly in the Arctic. They work closely with other northern based XCOM squads.
Rank
Squaddie
Utility Skills/Strengths
Specialist in CQC and hostage situations, including VIP and package retrieval.
[UNDISCOVERED] Latent psionic aptitude
Counter Terrorism training allows Sara more flexibility against EXALT.
Personal Skills
Diligent - Sara is focused and quick to learn new things.
Family Oriented - Sara dedicates to those who she considers family. This may also apply to her squad.
Weaknesses
Sensitivity to psionics - Unknown if that is because of her own aptitude or because of some other psychological effects.
No formal military background - Sara was a police officer who branched off into Canada's ERT. While she may have taken counter terrorism skills from her ERT training, she has not attended any military training exercises.
Sara Lancaster
Age
27
Nationality
Canada
Base of Operations
North America
Bio
Instead of a traditional bio, Sara's defining moments leading up to her XCOM induction will be told through a short story!
Sara pulled her car into the lightly snowed over driveway of her house and turned it off. After getting out, she walked to the back of the vehicle and opened the trunk, removing a wrapped up gift. Sara smiled to herself as she closed the trunk, locked her car and entered through the front door of the house. Immediately to her right was the kitchen, the light was on and there was a radio on the counter playing that classic Christmas music that everybody is forced to listen to every year. The cutlery drawer had been left open. Down the hall, was the living room. The lights were off save for the light given off by the television. "James, I'm home." Sara called out.
There wasn't any response, which made her curious. Sara walked down the hallway, still holding onto the gift. As she got closer, she heard a voice from the television, "Your reality is made by the limitations you believe you have. For just a couple minutes, I want you to forget about those limitations, and see what your mind can accomplish."
Sara rolled her eyes, turning the corner and looking straight at the television. It was a show that James, her nine year old son, seemed to always watch without her permission. The man on the screen was known as Percival, and he was the host to his show called 'The Third Eye'. The show had given her the creeps since the day it aired, and she told her son that he wasn't allowed to watch it.
"Oh. Hey, mum." a voice said from behind her, making her jump a bit.
James sat in the corner of the living room, staring intensely at a tea spoon. At his feet was a pile of the things, which explained the open cutlery drawer. Sara looked at her son for a moment, then back to the T.V. show host, "How many times do I need to tell you that you aren't allowed watching this show?"
Sara set the gift down on the living room coffee table and switched the channel to the Discovery channel. She made sure the program was good for him, it was a show on the planets of the Solar system. She then turned the light on in the room so it wasn't as eerie. James didn't even bother to look at the T.V., he just continued staring at the teaspoon. Sara tried to draw his attention away from it, "Well, Christmas is two weeks away, and I got you a gift that I think you'll love!"
"I don't like telescopes," the boy said in a flat tone.
Sara frowned and looked at the wrapped gift, she had just bought it and got it wrapped at the mall, how did he know. She decided to play it off, "Well it might not be a telescope, you never know what Santa has in store for you."
"It's a telescope," James said back.
Sara sighed and picked the gift up from the coffee table, bringing it to the kitchen with her. She set it down on the counter and closed the cutlery drawer. James called out from the living room, "Uncle Mike is here, mom."
She heard a knock on her door right before it opened. "Sara?" a man called out.
Sara got the chills, both from the winter air coming in and the fact that her nine year old just called something that she didn't even notice. "Hey, Mike." she said from the kitchen, turning his gaze to him.
He stepped into the house and took off his shoes, "Hey," he said back, "I heard about the results! Best in the whole class, huh? Congrats! I brought some beer!"
She chuckled and ran her hands through her shoulder length black hair, "Thanks, Mike. I actually wouldn't mind one of those right about now. Been thinking back, y'know?" she looked to the cabinet on the other side of the kitchen where a small shrine was set up around a photo.
The photo had a man in uniform, smiling with the Canadian flag behind him. To the right of the photo, was a small box with medals in it and to the left was a platinum ring with a Ruby inlaid on top. Mike frowned a bit as he looked at the photo, "Ah cheer up! Let's have a drink and enjoy the Christmas season! I know that's what my brother would want." he took two bottles of beer from the case and opened them.
"Cheers," he said and held out the bottle.
Before Sara could cheer back, both of their phones rang. They answered them in unison.
They were both silent as they listened to the man on the other side of the phone call.
"Be there shortly," Mike said.
"Understood," followed Sara. She hung up the phone and set the beer on the counter, "We'll need to drink to Adam after."
Mike smiled and nodded to her, he then went to the door and put his shoes back on. Sara stepped into the living room, "James, mommy has to go to work. I will be back in a couple of hours. Make sure you brush your teeth and get in bed by nine-thirty, okay? There's some left over pizza in the fridge that you can heat up."
James only nodded and kept looking at the same spoon he had earlier. Sara sighed again and left the house.
__________
Forty minutes later...
"Welcome to ERT, Sara!" Mike cheered for her, followed by six other specialists around a black helicopter.
ERT, the Emergency Response Team, was Canada's equivalent to the USA's SWAT teams. Sara had just finished the advanced training necessary to become one. Sara was only a police officer before hand, but thought she needed to step up her game in memory of her husband, who died in Afghanistan. Sara smiled back to the other operators, "Thanks, glad to be here."
Mike patted her on the back and gestured everybody into the helicopter. Their chief stepped aboard right after. "Here's the situation. There is a hostage crisis on the fifty-seventh floor of the Living Shangri La in downtown Vancouver. There is a high profile VIP being held there by an extremist group that we've yet to identify. They're heavily armed and have the place fortified. You need to secure that VIP, his name is Pierre Lionne, a French dignitary on vacation with his family."
The helicopter lifted off and quickly climbed higher than the sky scrapers that graced the Vancouver skyline. It was easy to pick out the Shangri La, it was the tallest building in the city. The first stop was to drop off two of the operatives on the neighbouring roof, they held sniper rifles in their hands. The two ERT specialists quickly ran and set up on the edge of the building. The helicopter lifted off again and brought the rest of the team to the rooftop of the Shangri La. They all disembarked and scanned the area. Things seemed clear, it probably wouldn't have been if Lionne had taken an apartment closer to the roof. Three of the specialists quickly ran to the edge of the building and began to set up for a window breach, Mike was one of them. Sara and the remaining two specialists were to take the emergency staircase. "Eyes on," said one of the snipers.
"I see thirteen. Ten of 'em are packing some serious gear. G36c carbines, grenades and body armor. The other three, though... Looks like triplets in all honesty. Tall, thin. Wearing suits, but I wouldn't be surprised if they got some armor underneath 'em. They've got briefcases, could be explosives or nerve agents. This is starting to look a little more like a terrorist act than a hostage situation."
Mike, who was now dangling off the side of the tall building, nodded. "HQ be advised, we have possible chemical weapons in the apartment. Team, masks on. Sniper, we're not in position yet, keep your eyes peeled. Any sign of who these guys are?"
"I see one of them wearing a patch on his shoulder, stand by... EXALT. Ever hear of 'em?" the sniper asked.
There was a quick response from everybody, all of them negative. Sara and the team she was with got to the door and stacked up, their gas masks already on. "We're in position. What's your status, Mike?" Sara asked.
"In position," he responded, "Stay where you are. We need to ID Lionne and the rest of his family first."
The five minute wait was unbearable, but it came to an end eventually. The sniper chimed up in their ear pieces, "Lionne spotted. He's alive and kicking. No eyes on his family yet."
Sara then spoke up, "Lets get in there and secure the place."
"We can't just go in guns blazing when the VIP is in such a vulnerable position and we have no idea where his family is." Mike advised, "Patience. You're just a rookie, wait and see."
It was another ten minutes of hell. Waiting. Listening as Lionne screamed in pain, EXALT had begun interrogating the poor man four minutes into the wait. Then the chief spoke again, "Team, withdraw."
Mike instantly replied, "Withdraw?! What are you talking about?"
"You heard me. I've got a guy breathing down my neck, some government agent who refuses to give me his clearances. But his name checks out. I guess another task force is taking over. I say again, withdraw."
Mike shook his head and looked at his team, the two others with him both seemed to disagree with this order. "We'll lose them all if we take the time for another team to set up. We need to go in now."
The chief was silent over the radio, another man spoke up instead, "Sergeant, the situation has developed beyond your expertise."
Mike cursed and looks to his two men, "Team, status."
The rest of the team checked in, all were still on standby and awaiting orders. Mike let out a long breath, the cold air causing it to turn to mist before he pulled his gas mask over his face. "Team, breach breach breach."
It started with the two snipers picking off the man interrogating Lionne and another who would have presented the biggest threat to the team breaching through the door. Before they even hit the floor, the windows shattered and the door was kicked in. The operatives waited for the flashbangs to do their job before breaching in. From two angles, the ERT struck. The door team fanned out and killed another four EXALT as they were stunned by the flashbang. The three men in the suits ran out of sight from the snipers and the rest of the team, down a hallway in the apartment. The window team was quick in pursuit as Sara and the other two that came from the door dealt with the ones around Lionne, they were backed up by the snipers.
Mike was behind his two team mates. The man on point became nothing in an instant. It took a moment for Mike and the ERT operative in front of him to realize that he had just been vaporized. A hole was burnt into the drywall, and on the other side stood the three men in the suits, their open briefcases were on the floor. The men were carrying some strange weapons in their hands. There was a sort of green energy emanating from the weapons. Another shot came their way and burnt through the drywall like a hot knife through butter. The shot grazed Mike, singing his body armor around his stomach to just scraps.
The man next to Mike wasn't so fortunate as the next shot came. It took his head clean off, the sheer heat of the plasma cauterizing the stump of a neck left behind. Mike pulled back down the hallway, just in time to hear Sara yell, "Clear!"
Mike yelled back, "Not clear! Take cover! Frag out!" he took one of the grenades off of the webbing of a dead EXALT member and threw it down the hallway. He dived behind a couch, Sara did the same. Lionne panicked as he was tackled by an ERT operative to cover. There was a distinct bang and a shriek. Then from the smoke and rubble, two more green bolts of energy flew toward them. Mike returned fire, putting four rounds into the chest of one. It hissed and lurched over. A strange cloud exploded from the wounds and ate away at the materials around it.
"The hell is that?! That's not a human!" Sara said as she fired more shots down the ruined hallway.
Mike gestured to the two remaining ERT members, the ones who had entered with Sara, "Suppressing fire down that hallway! Sara, find out if he knows what happened to his family."
Shots were exchanged, Sara had to yell over the gunfire to speak to Lionne, "Your family! Where are they?"
Lionne replied through a thick French accent, "They took them! They're gone!" he broke down as he said that.
Through the door, a squad of soldiers rushed through. They were wearing gear that Mike nor Sara had ever seen before. Three of the four soldiers joined their fire with the ERT operatives. One went to Mike, "Major Shawn Jensen, give me a report, sergeant!"
Mike knew this was out of his hands, he quickly responded, "We got some sort inhuman things down that hallway! They bleed acid and are armed with-"
"We'll take it from here, Sergeant," Jensen interrupted him.
Shawn ordered his team forward into the hallway, and the firefight quickly came to an end. Whoever they were, they knew what they were doing. One of the soldiers was dragging the dead body of one of the creatures. "HQ this is Gold Squad, the report was accurate. Situation clear." Shawn said over a radio.
The ERT snipers spoke up from their own radio, "Uh... Mike? Are you seeing this?"
Mike replied, "Seeing what?"
"Everything just got distorted. You all are looking pretty wavy right now."
Then there was a light coming from the main window, it was blinding. From the snipers' point of view, they could see a strange disc like ship materialize out of nowhere. One of the glowing sections of the ship seemed to open up. The snipers could see inside, they could see the crew of the ship. Small gray creatures with large heads, classic gray aliens. They were dumbstruck, they didn't know what to do.
Inside the Shangri La, the light was too much. Sara felt lighter all of a sudden. Lionne started to scream uncontrollably. She heard Shawn, "Hold on!"
Hold on to what?! Thought Sara as she felt herself get lifted off the ground by some invisible force. It seemed Lionne was experiencing the same thing. There was a sudden thump as somebody tackled them. She lost her grip on Lionne as he was ripped from her by the tackle, but she was still weightless. Sara began to spin like she was in zero gravity. Shawn spoke up, "VIP secured! Get him to safety, men!" he seemed to be in a panic himself.
She also heard Mike, her brother-in-law, "Shit! Shit shit shit! Sara! No!"
It was as though she was the only one blinded by the light. And when it ended, she hit a metal surface. Seeing three of the soldiers, the two ERT operatives and Mike, with a look of terror on his face, staring back at her. She looked to her right, and saw Shawn. He must have pushed Lionne out of the way and got trapped in the light himself. But he was already standing and reaching for his pistol. He aimed at something, but a plasma shot punched through his chest quicker than he could pull the trigger. When Sara turned to see what Jensen was killed by, she saw the aliens. Six short creatures with large heads. In between them was an orange crystal which materialized into a humanoid being.
It looked at her, studied her, and then knocked her out with a swift kick.
Mike watched as the glowing section on the craft filled back in. There was a sound of some sort of engine powering up. A distortion of light. And a strange 'pow' sound as the ship launched of to the horizon in the blink of an eye. It was a UFO, it had taken Sara, his late brother's wife. He had promised his brother, Adam, that he would watch out for her while Adam was deployed. He couldn't keep his promise.
__________
Two hours later...
Mike stepped through the door to Sara's home. All of the lights were off, except for the television lighting the living room. The kitchen drawer was open, spoons were all over the floor and trailed into the living room. All of them were bent. Mike followed the trail and saw James, the nine year old orphan, as he bent a twisted a spoon with his mind. There was a device set up next to the window, it was a telescope, Christmas wrapping was all over the floor. On the television, there was that psychic figure that Sara hated so much, AlIen. He studied the figure, and recognized right away. The man on the television, looked exactly like the three aliens he had encountered in the Shangri La.
Mike quickly turned the television off and turned to James, kneeling down to him, "Hey, buddy... Mom wants you to come stay at my place for a bit. Go pack some clothes okay?"
James lit up happily and ran upstairs. Mike remained in his place, looking at the twisted and bent spoons of the floor. He turned the television back on and saw AlIen looking straight at him. He shook his head and switched the channel to the Discovery channel, AlIen was there too, only it wasn't AlIen. It was another television figurehead. He switched the channel again, everywhere he looked he saw these thin men. That's when he realized, that the Earth, had been invaded.
__________
Aboard the UFO
Undisclosed amount of time later...
Sara gasped as she woke up. She tried to sit up, but she found herself strapped to a table. Sara panicked and shook on the table, it was no use. She heard a gruesome squelching sound to her left, causing her to look over. She wished she hadn't. The aliens were poking, prodding, and dissecting Major Jensen's body. Her breathing picked up more as she looked around the UFO in a panic. She spotted a holographic projection of the Earth, as well a green blip that indicated their position. The Arctic Circle. As she continued to look around, Sara picked out a quarantine box with the major's pistol in it. Next was a long row of consoles that ran along one of the walls. A pair of aliens were interacting with the consoles. She heard an inhuman clicking noise and looked back toward the major, one of the aliens was looking at her. It squealed and crawled over to her with something sharp in its hand. She shook in her restraints in a feeble attempt to escape. The alien placed the sharp end of the device on her forehead and pressed a button.
Sara screamed as pain lanced through her head. She felt a burning, but the device wasn't doing any actual damage. After thirty seconds utter hell, the alien stopped. Sara went limp on the table and was breathing as though the wind had been knocked out of her. The alien signalled to another one. The second alien brought a hovering device over and fitted it over her head. Sara watched with fear as it obscured her vision. The inside of the device began to glow purple and vibrate. She panicked. Then it felt as though her head was being invaded again, this time she heard a voice in a language she didn't understand. Sara clenched her teeth tight and held her eyes shut. The face of a strange alien appeared in her mind, it was tall and regal. Sara tried to pull away as the mental image extended one of its four hands out to grab her face. But before it could, the device was pulled away from her head. The UFO was blaring alarms now, and the aliens scrambled around the ship in hurry. She heard voice coming from one of the consoles, a human voice. The aliens had intercepted transmissions.
"HQ this is Trinity 1-1. I have confirmed visuals on the bogey. Target is headed North, bearing 0-2-8. Over."
"Confirmed Trinity 1-1. You are cleared to engage. Be advised, the bogey does have prisoners aboard. Disable the craft so ground forces can move in and secure the site. Over."
"Copy that, HQ. Trinity 1-1 moving to gun range. Fox four."
Even from inside the UFO, the high pitched whirring of cannon fire could be heard from the fighter jet. The pattering of bullet on metal was distinct. The aliens clicked and squealed to one another. One of the gray aliens sat on a floating chair, which raised into a pod in the roof. Shortly after, the sound of plasma fired rumbled through the UFO. The transmission continued.
"HQ, bogey returning fire. Taking evasive manoeuvres. Over."
Sara shook in her restraints some more while listening to the pilot over the intercepted radio chatter. "Target locked. Fox Two. Fox Two."
More alarmed blared in the UFO before an explosion erupted in the port side of the ship. Lights flickered aboard the ship and eventually stayed out. The restraints holding Sara in place lifted. She quickly shot up from the table and rolled off of it. She could feel the ship lurch and begin to lose altitude. She looked around amid the chaos and remembered the pistol in the quarantine bin. Sara launched herself from behind the table and made a dash for the pistol. She heard an alien screech behind her. A bolt of plasma lanced past her head, missing her by a handspan. She reached into the bin, pulled the pistol from it, and turned to fire at the gray alien. Three shots put the small creature down. Sara heard the transmissions again.
"HQ, bogey is losing power and altitude. Following it down- wait... HQ, I see gun fire coming from inside the ship. One of the prisoners may have gotten free. Over."
"Copy that, Trinity 1-1. Stay on the bogey. Over."
Sara rounded a corner and took cover behind it as another plasma bolt flew past her. She was breathing heavily, her head was aching worse than ever before. She looked around, trying to find a new place to fall back to. That's when Sara saw it, the ground. It was fast approaching. She fired another shot from around the corner, heard a screech, and then moved from her cover to another spot where she wouldn't be thrown around in the crash. Plasma bolts flew past her head as she hunkered down. She heard the fighter pilot talking. "Bogey eating dust in five... four... three... two..."
Sara put her arms over her head and braced. There was a loud thud as the ship hit the snow drifts and ice of the arctic circle. The entire ship rocked and rumbled, metallic creaking drowning out all other noise. Once the ship came to a halt in the snow, everything was quiet save for sparks flashing out from displaced cables. Snow blew into the ship as biting cold wind howled through. Sara looked from beyond her cover, the rest of the ship was a disaster. When she found it to be clear, Sara puled herself from the cover and limped out from the ship. The wreckage of the ship streaked on for at least three hundred feet. Fires blazed along the crash sight. She was shivering from the cold, her gear wasn't rated for Arctic conditions. Sara staggered her way to a plasma fire not far from her to warm up. With her back pressed back against a piece of wreckage, Sara looked back at the UFO. She could hear the fighter jet orbiting distantly around the crash site.
Beyond the white haze of the snowfall and the black smoke of the wreckage, Sara could pick out a strange orange light. She looked closer and saw a crystal floating from the smoke. Sara remembered the crystal and immediately burst into motion. The crystal manifested itself into the same humanoid shape that had knocked her out in Vancouver. Just as Sara dived behind cover, three heavier plasma bolts sang past her. She breathed heavily and checked the ammunition in her pistol, eight shots left... Sara could heard the metallic footsteps of the figure moving over metal wreckage and soft snow. It was drawing closer. She gripped her pistol tight and readied herself to launch from cover. She didn't need to, a loud bang could be heard across the crash sight. A sniper. The humanoid staggered back from the shot to its shoulder. Another shot had the humanoid kneeling down. Sara could see a group of figures in Arctic gear moving closer. They fired in unison at the humanoid and watched as it evaporated. One of the soldiers spoke over his radio, "Outsider down. Crash site secured."
Sara pulled herself from cover and groaned, she started to become very aware of the pain across her body. One of the soldiers looked her way and raised his rifle, a precaution. Another waved the trooper off, he lowered his weapon. Sara walked toward them, but didn't make it past four steps as she collapsed in the snow.
__________
One day later...
Sara sat on a bench in an enclosed space. She felt like a lab rat being studied by scientists. "Sara Lancaster," a voice said through the room's intercom.
Sara looked out to the room and spotted a man who looked different from the rest of the scientists. He smiled assuringly at her. "You've been through quite a lot," the man said.
Sara stood from the bench and approached the glass. "Who are you guys?"
The man looked around, "Well you've had plenty of contact with us now. Shangri La, the fighter that shot down the UFO you were on. The retrieval team. These scientists."
Sara shrugged, "That doesn't answer my question. You can't hold me like this. I have a son!"
The man nodded, "Yes, James Lancaster. Your brother-in-law took him after the incident at the Shangri La. They're both under close surveillance. You're listed as MIA, Sara."
Sara sighed and stepped back from the glass, running her hands through her hair, "What am I doing in this cage?"
"You're under quarantine. You have had prolonged exposure to the aliens. These scientists are trying to discern if its safe for you to come out." the man said.
"And then what? This is clearly some classified shit I've stepped into." Sara said.
The man nodded again, "Indeed. You're standing in XCOM's North American headquarters."
"XCOM?" Sara asked.
"We are an internationally funded extraterrestrial combat unit comprised of the world's best soldiers, engineers, scientists, and pilots. We've been operating in secrecy for decades now. But while you were locked in here, a major attack on a European city centre took place. Both XCOM and the alien threat have surfaced from the shadows." He explained.
"And what, while you're off saving the world, I'm trapped in here to be studied like the aliens did to me?" Sara clenched her teeth and eyed the man sternly.
He shook his head, "Actually. I've come here with a proposition. You've fought these aliens and survived to tell the tale. Not even many XCOM operatives can say that. My name is Colonel Lance Grenbridge, I pulled you out of that crash site. After talking with the commander, he agreed to recruiting you into the squad. Your choice, you can remain in there for study. Or, you can fight these aliens to secure a future for your son."
Sara weighed those options, and in every way, the latter option was far more appealing. Her decision was quickly made. "Alright... I'll join you." she said.
Grenbridge grinned, "Good choice. You should be out of quarantine in a few days time. Get cozy, you'll have a locker assignment by the time you're out. Welcome to XCOM, squaddie."
There wasn't any response, which made her curious. Sara walked down the hallway, still holding onto the gift. As she got closer, she heard a voice from the television, "Your reality is made by the limitations you believe you have. For just a couple minutes, I want you to forget about those limitations, and see what your mind can accomplish."
Sara rolled her eyes, turning the corner and looking straight at the television. It was a show that James, her nine year old son, seemed to always watch without her permission. The man on the screen was known as Percival, and he was the host to his show called 'The Third Eye'. The show had given her the creeps since the day it aired, and she told her son that he wasn't allowed to watch it.
"Oh. Hey, mum." a voice said from behind her, making her jump a bit.
James sat in the corner of the living room, staring intensely at a tea spoon. At his feet was a pile of the things, which explained the open cutlery drawer. Sara looked at her son for a moment, then back to the T.V. show host, "How many times do I need to tell you that you aren't allowed watching this show?"
Sara set the gift down on the living room coffee table and switched the channel to the Discovery channel. She made sure the program was good for him, it was a show on the planets of the Solar system. She then turned the light on in the room so it wasn't as eerie. James didn't even bother to look at the T.V., he just continued staring at the teaspoon. Sara tried to draw his attention away from it, "Well, Christmas is two weeks away, and I got you a gift that I think you'll love!"
"I don't like telescopes," the boy said in a flat tone.
Sara frowned and looked at the wrapped gift, she had just bought it and got it wrapped at the mall, how did he know. She decided to play it off, "Well it might not be a telescope, you never know what Santa has in store for you."
"It's a telescope," James said back.
Sara sighed and picked the gift up from the coffee table, bringing it to the kitchen with her. She set it down on the counter and closed the cutlery drawer. James called out from the living room, "Uncle Mike is here, mom."
She heard a knock on her door right before it opened. "Sara?" a man called out.
Sara got the chills, both from the winter air coming in and the fact that her nine year old just called something that she didn't even notice. "Hey, Mike." she said from the kitchen, turning his gaze to him.
He stepped into the house and took off his shoes, "Hey," he said back, "I heard about the results! Best in the whole class, huh? Congrats! I brought some beer!"
She chuckled and ran her hands through her shoulder length black hair, "Thanks, Mike. I actually wouldn't mind one of those right about now. Been thinking back, y'know?" she looked to the cabinet on the other side of the kitchen where a small shrine was set up around a photo.
The photo had a man in uniform, smiling with the Canadian flag behind him. To the right of the photo, was a small box with medals in it and to the left was a platinum ring with a Ruby inlaid on top. Mike frowned a bit as he looked at the photo, "Ah cheer up! Let's have a drink and enjoy the Christmas season! I know that's what my brother would want." he took two bottles of beer from the case and opened them.
"Cheers," he said and held out the bottle.
Before Sara could cheer back, both of their phones rang. They answered them in unison.
They were both silent as they listened to the man on the other side of the phone call.
"Be there shortly," Mike said.
"Understood," followed Sara. She hung up the phone and set the beer on the counter, "We'll need to drink to Adam after."
Mike smiled and nodded to her, he then went to the door and put his shoes back on. Sara stepped into the living room, "James, mommy has to go to work. I will be back in a couple of hours. Make sure you brush your teeth and get in bed by nine-thirty, okay? There's some left over pizza in the fridge that you can heat up."
James only nodded and kept looking at the same spoon he had earlier. Sara sighed again and left the house.
__________
Forty minutes later...
"Welcome to ERT, Sara!" Mike cheered for her, followed by six other specialists around a black helicopter.
ERT, the Emergency Response Team, was Canada's equivalent to the USA's SWAT teams. Sara had just finished the advanced training necessary to become one. Sara was only a police officer before hand, but thought she needed to step up her game in memory of her husband, who died in Afghanistan. Sara smiled back to the other operators, "Thanks, glad to be here."
Mike patted her on the back and gestured everybody into the helicopter. Their chief stepped aboard right after. "Here's the situation. There is a hostage crisis on the fifty-seventh floor of the Living Shangri La in downtown Vancouver. There is a high profile VIP being held there by an extremist group that we've yet to identify. They're heavily armed and have the place fortified. You need to secure that VIP, his name is Pierre Lionne, a French dignitary on vacation with his family."
The helicopter lifted off and quickly climbed higher than the sky scrapers that graced the Vancouver skyline. It was easy to pick out the Shangri La, it was the tallest building in the city. The first stop was to drop off two of the operatives on the neighbouring roof, they held sniper rifles in their hands. The two ERT specialists quickly ran and set up on the edge of the building. The helicopter lifted off again and brought the rest of the team to the rooftop of the Shangri La. They all disembarked and scanned the area. Things seemed clear, it probably wouldn't have been if Lionne had taken an apartment closer to the roof. Three of the specialists quickly ran to the edge of the building and began to set up for a window breach, Mike was one of them. Sara and the remaining two specialists were to take the emergency staircase. "Eyes on," said one of the snipers.
"I see thirteen. Ten of 'em are packing some serious gear. G36c carbines, grenades and body armor. The other three, though... Looks like triplets in all honesty. Tall, thin. Wearing suits, but I wouldn't be surprised if they got some armor underneath 'em. They've got briefcases, could be explosives or nerve agents. This is starting to look a little more like a terrorist act than a hostage situation."
Mike, who was now dangling off the side of the tall building, nodded. "HQ be advised, we have possible chemical weapons in the apartment. Team, masks on. Sniper, we're not in position yet, keep your eyes peeled. Any sign of who these guys are?"
"I see one of them wearing a patch on his shoulder, stand by... EXALT. Ever hear of 'em?" the sniper asked.
There was a quick response from everybody, all of them negative. Sara and the team she was with got to the door and stacked up, their gas masks already on. "We're in position. What's your status, Mike?" Sara asked.
"In position," he responded, "Stay where you are. We need to ID Lionne and the rest of his family first."
The five minute wait was unbearable, but it came to an end eventually. The sniper chimed up in their ear pieces, "Lionne spotted. He's alive and kicking. No eyes on his family yet."
Sara then spoke up, "Lets get in there and secure the place."
"We can't just go in guns blazing when the VIP is in such a vulnerable position and we have no idea where his family is." Mike advised, "Patience. You're just a rookie, wait and see."
It was another ten minutes of hell. Waiting. Listening as Lionne screamed in pain, EXALT had begun interrogating the poor man four minutes into the wait. Then the chief spoke again, "Team, withdraw."
Mike instantly replied, "Withdraw?! What are you talking about?"
"You heard me. I've got a guy breathing down my neck, some government agent who refuses to give me his clearances. But his name checks out. I guess another task force is taking over. I say again, withdraw."
Mike shook his head and looked at his team, the two others with him both seemed to disagree with this order. "We'll lose them all if we take the time for another team to set up. We need to go in now."
The chief was silent over the radio, another man spoke up instead, "Sergeant, the situation has developed beyond your expertise."
Mike cursed and looks to his two men, "Team, status."
The rest of the team checked in, all were still on standby and awaiting orders. Mike let out a long breath, the cold air causing it to turn to mist before he pulled his gas mask over his face. "Team, breach breach breach."
It started with the two snipers picking off the man interrogating Lionne and another who would have presented the biggest threat to the team breaching through the door. Before they even hit the floor, the windows shattered and the door was kicked in. The operatives waited for the flashbangs to do their job before breaching in. From two angles, the ERT struck. The door team fanned out and killed another four EXALT as they were stunned by the flashbang. The three men in the suits ran out of sight from the snipers and the rest of the team, down a hallway in the apartment. The window team was quick in pursuit as Sara and the other two that came from the door dealt with the ones around Lionne, they were backed up by the snipers.
Mike was behind his two team mates. The man on point became nothing in an instant. It took a moment for Mike and the ERT operative in front of him to realize that he had just been vaporized. A hole was burnt into the drywall, and on the other side stood the three men in the suits, their open briefcases were on the floor. The men were carrying some strange weapons in their hands. There was a sort of green energy emanating from the weapons. Another shot came their way and burnt through the drywall like a hot knife through butter. The shot grazed Mike, singing his body armor around his stomach to just scraps.
The man next to Mike wasn't so fortunate as the next shot came. It took his head clean off, the sheer heat of the plasma cauterizing the stump of a neck left behind. Mike pulled back down the hallway, just in time to hear Sara yell, "Clear!"
Mike yelled back, "Not clear! Take cover! Frag out!" he took one of the grenades off of the webbing of a dead EXALT member and threw it down the hallway. He dived behind a couch, Sara did the same. Lionne panicked as he was tackled by an ERT operative to cover. There was a distinct bang and a shriek. Then from the smoke and rubble, two more green bolts of energy flew toward them. Mike returned fire, putting four rounds into the chest of one. It hissed and lurched over. A strange cloud exploded from the wounds and ate away at the materials around it.
"The hell is that?! That's not a human!" Sara said as she fired more shots down the ruined hallway.
Mike gestured to the two remaining ERT members, the ones who had entered with Sara, "Suppressing fire down that hallway! Sara, find out if he knows what happened to his family."
Shots were exchanged, Sara had to yell over the gunfire to speak to Lionne, "Your family! Where are they?"
Lionne replied through a thick French accent, "They took them! They're gone!" he broke down as he said that.
Through the door, a squad of soldiers rushed through. They were wearing gear that Mike nor Sara had ever seen before. Three of the four soldiers joined their fire with the ERT operatives. One went to Mike, "Major Shawn Jensen, give me a report, sergeant!"
Mike knew this was out of his hands, he quickly responded, "We got some sort inhuman things down that hallway! They bleed acid and are armed with-"
"We'll take it from here, Sergeant," Jensen interrupted him.
Shawn ordered his team forward into the hallway, and the firefight quickly came to an end. Whoever they were, they knew what they were doing. One of the soldiers was dragging the dead body of one of the creatures. "HQ this is Gold Squad, the report was accurate. Situation clear." Shawn said over a radio.
The ERT snipers spoke up from their own radio, "Uh... Mike? Are you seeing this?"
Mike replied, "Seeing what?"
"Everything just got distorted. You all are looking pretty wavy right now."
Then there was a light coming from the main window, it was blinding. From the snipers' point of view, they could see a strange disc like ship materialize out of nowhere. One of the glowing sections of the ship seemed to open up. The snipers could see inside, they could see the crew of the ship. Small gray creatures with large heads, classic gray aliens. They were dumbstruck, they didn't know what to do.
Inside the Shangri La, the light was too much. Sara felt lighter all of a sudden. Lionne started to scream uncontrollably. She heard Shawn, "Hold on!"
Hold on to what?! Thought Sara as she felt herself get lifted off the ground by some invisible force. It seemed Lionne was experiencing the same thing. There was a sudden thump as somebody tackled them. She lost her grip on Lionne as he was ripped from her by the tackle, but she was still weightless. Sara began to spin like she was in zero gravity. Shawn spoke up, "VIP secured! Get him to safety, men!" he seemed to be in a panic himself.
She also heard Mike, her brother-in-law, "Shit! Shit shit shit! Sara! No!"
It was as though she was the only one blinded by the light. And when it ended, she hit a metal surface. Seeing three of the soldiers, the two ERT operatives and Mike, with a look of terror on his face, staring back at her. She looked to her right, and saw Shawn. He must have pushed Lionne out of the way and got trapped in the light himself. But he was already standing and reaching for his pistol. He aimed at something, but a plasma shot punched through his chest quicker than he could pull the trigger. When Sara turned to see what Jensen was killed by, she saw the aliens. Six short creatures with large heads. In between them was an orange crystal which materialized into a humanoid being.
It looked at her, studied her, and then knocked her out with a swift kick.
Mike watched as the glowing section on the craft filled back in. There was a sound of some sort of engine powering up. A distortion of light. And a strange 'pow' sound as the ship launched of to the horizon in the blink of an eye. It was a UFO, it had taken Sara, his late brother's wife. He had promised his brother, Adam, that he would watch out for her while Adam was deployed. He couldn't keep his promise.
__________
Two hours later...
Mike stepped through the door to Sara's home. All of the lights were off, except for the television lighting the living room. The kitchen drawer was open, spoons were all over the floor and trailed into the living room. All of them were bent. Mike followed the trail and saw James, the nine year old orphan, as he bent a twisted a spoon with his mind. There was a device set up next to the window, it was a telescope, Christmas wrapping was all over the floor. On the television, there was that psychic figure that Sara hated so much, AlIen. He studied the figure, and recognized right away. The man on the television, looked exactly like the three aliens he had encountered in the Shangri La.
Mike quickly turned the television off and turned to James, kneeling down to him, "Hey, buddy... Mom wants you to come stay at my place for a bit. Go pack some clothes okay?"
James lit up happily and ran upstairs. Mike remained in his place, looking at the twisted and bent spoons of the floor. He turned the television back on and saw AlIen looking straight at him. He shook his head and switched the channel to the Discovery channel, AlIen was there too, only it wasn't AlIen. It was another television figurehead. He switched the channel again, everywhere he looked he saw these thin men. That's when he realized, that the Earth, had been invaded.
__________
Aboard the UFO
Undisclosed amount of time later...
Sara gasped as she woke up. She tried to sit up, but she found herself strapped to a table. Sara panicked and shook on the table, it was no use. She heard a gruesome squelching sound to her left, causing her to look over. She wished she hadn't. The aliens were poking, prodding, and dissecting Major Jensen's body. Her breathing picked up more as she looked around the UFO in a panic. She spotted a holographic projection of the Earth, as well a green blip that indicated their position. The Arctic Circle. As she continued to look around, Sara picked out a quarantine box with the major's pistol in it. Next was a long row of consoles that ran along one of the walls. A pair of aliens were interacting with the consoles. She heard an inhuman clicking noise and looked back toward the major, one of the aliens was looking at her. It squealed and crawled over to her with something sharp in its hand. She shook in her restraints in a feeble attempt to escape. The alien placed the sharp end of the device on her forehead and pressed a button.
Sara screamed as pain lanced through her head. She felt a burning, but the device wasn't doing any actual damage. After thirty seconds utter hell, the alien stopped. Sara went limp on the table and was breathing as though the wind had been knocked out of her. The alien signalled to another one. The second alien brought a hovering device over and fitted it over her head. Sara watched with fear as it obscured her vision. The inside of the device began to glow purple and vibrate. She panicked. Then it felt as though her head was being invaded again, this time she heard a voice in a language she didn't understand. Sara clenched her teeth tight and held her eyes shut. The face of a strange alien appeared in her mind, it was tall and regal. Sara tried to pull away as the mental image extended one of its four hands out to grab her face. But before it could, the device was pulled away from her head. The UFO was blaring alarms now, and the aliens scrambled around the ship in hurry. She heard voice coming from one of the consoles, a human voice. The aliens had intercepted transmissions.
"HQ this is Trinity 1-1. I have confirmed visuals on the bogey. Target is headed North, bearing 0-2-8. Over."
"Confirmed Trinity 1-1. You are cleared to engage. Be advised, the bogey does have prisoners aboard. Disable the craft so ground forces can move in and secure the site. Over."
"Copy that, HQ. Trinity 1-1 moving to gun range. Fox four."
Even from inside the UFO, the high pitched whirring of cannon fire could be heard from the fighter jet. The pattering of bullet on metal was distinct. The aliens clicked and squealed to one another. One of the gray aliens sat on a floating chair, which raised into a pod in the roof. Shortly after, the sound of plasma fired rumbled through the UFO. The transmission continued.
"HQ, bogey returning fire. Taking evasive manoeuvres. Over."
Sara shook in her restraints some more while listening to the pilot over the intercepted radio chatter. "Target locked. Fox Two. Fox Two."
More alarmed blared in the UFO before an explosion erupted in the port side of the ship. Lights flickered aboard the ship and eventually stayed out. The restraints holding Sara in place lifted. She quickly shot up from the table and rolled off of it. She could feel the ship lurch and begin to lose altitude. She looked around amid the chaos and remembered the pistol in the quarantine bin. Sara launched herself from behind the table and made a dash for the pistol. She heard an alien screech behind her. A bolt of plasma lanced past her head, missing her by a handspan. She reached into the bin, pulled the pistol from it, and turned to fire at the gray alien. Three shots put the small creature down. Sara heard the transmissions again.
"HQ, bogey is losing power and altitude. Following it down- wait... HQ, I see gun fire coming from inside the ship. One of the prisoners may have gotten free. Over."
"Copy that, Trinity 1-1. Stay on the bogey. Over."
Sara rounded a corner and took cover behind it as another plasma bolt flew past her. She was breathing heavily, her head was aching worse than ever before. She looked around, trying to find a new place to fall back to. That's when Sara saw it, the ground. It was fast approaching. She fired another shot from around the corner, heard a screech, and then moved from her cover to another spot where she wouldn't be thrown around in the crash. Plasma bolts flew past her head as she hunkered down. She heard the fighter pilot talking. "Bogey eating dust in five... four... three... two..."
Sara put her arms over her head and braced. There was a loud thud as the ship hit the snow drifts and ice of the arctic circle. The entire ship rocked and rumbled, metallic creaking drowning out all other noise. Once the ship came to a halt in the snow, everything was quiet save for sparks flashing out from displaced cables. Snow blew into the ship as biting cold wind howled through. Sara looked from beyond her cover, the rest of the ship was a disaster. When she found it to be clear, Sara puled herself from the cover and limped out from the ship. The wreckage of the ship streaked on for at least three hundred feet. Fires blazed along the crash sight. She was shivering from the cold, her gear wasn't rated for Arctic conditions. Sara staggered her way to a plasma fire not far from her to warm up. With her back pressed back against a piece of wreckage, Sara looked back at the UFO. She could hear the fighter jet orbiting distantly around the crash site.
Beyond the white haze of the snowfall and the black smoke of the wreckage, Sara could pick out a strange orange light. She looked closer and saw a crystal floating from the smoke. Sara remembered the crystal and immediately burst into motion. The crystal manifested itself into the same humanoid shape that had knocked her out in Vancouver. Just as Sara dived behind cover, three heavier plasma bolts sang past her. She breathed heavily and checked the ammunition in her pistol, eight shots left... Sara could heard the metallic footsteps of the figure moving over metal wreckage and soft snow. It was drawing closer. She gripped her pistol tight and readied herself to launch from cover. She didn't need to, a loud bang could be heard across the crash sight. A sniper. The humanoid staggered back from the shot to its shoulder. Another shot had the humanoid kneeling down. Sara could see a group of figures in Arctic gear moving closer. They fired in unison at the humanoid and watched as it evaporated. One of the soldiers spoke over his radio, "Outsider down. Crash site secured."
Sara pulled herself from cover and groaned, she started to become very aware of the pain across her body. One of the soldiers looked her way and raised his rifle, a precaution. Another waved the trooper off, he lowered his weapon. Sara walked toward them, but didn't make it past four steps as she collapsed in the snow.
__________
One day later...
Sara sat on a bench in an enclosed space. She felt like a lab rat being studied by scientists. "Sara Lancaster," a voice said through the room's intercom.
Sara looked out to the room and spotted a man who looked different from the rest of the scientists. He smiled assuringly at her. "You've been through quite a lot," the man said.
Sara stood from the bench and approached the glass. "Who are you guys?"
The man looked around, "Well you've had plenty of contact with us now. Shangri La, the fighter that shot down the UFO you were on. The retrieval team. These scientists."
Sara shrugged, "That doesn't answer my question. You can't hold me like this. I have a son!"
The man nodded, "Yes, James Lancaster. Your brother-in-law took him after the incident at the Shangri La. They're both under close surveillance. You're listed as MIA, Sara."
Sara sighed and stepped back from the glass, running her hands through her hair, "What am I doing in this cage?"
"You're under quarantine. You have had prolonged exposure to the aliens. These scientists are trying to discern if its safe for you to come out." the man said.
"And then what? This is clearly some classified shit I've stepped into." Sara said.
The man nodded again, "Indeed. You're standing in XCOM's North American headquarters."
"XCOM?" Sara asked.
"We are an internationally funded extraterrestrial combat unit comprised of the world's best soldiers, engineers, scientists, and pilots. We've been operating in secrecy for decades now. But while you were locked in here, a major attack on a European city centre took place. Both XCOM and the alien threat have surfaced from the shadows." He explained.
"And what, while you're off saving the world, I'm trapped in here to be studied like the aliens did to me?" Sara clenched her teeth and eyed the man sternly.
He shook his head, "Actually. I've come here with a proposition. You've fought these aliens and survived to tell the tale. Not even many XCOM operatives can say that. My name is Colonel Lance Grenbridge, I pulled you out of that crash site. After talking with the commander, he agreed to recruiting you into the squad. Your choice, you can remain in there for study. Or, you can fight these aliens to secure a future for your son."
Sara weighed those options, and in every way, the latter option was far more appealing. Her decision was quickly made. "Alright... I'll join you." she said.
Grenbridge grinned, "Good choice. You should be out of quarantine in a few days time. Get cozy, you'll have a locker assignment by the time you're out. Welcome to XCOM, squaddie."
Appearance
Sara Lancaster just after escaping the wreck of the UFO. She is high strung and disoriented.
Sara Lancaster during her ERT training.
Class
Infantry
Squad
Arctic Wolves - Based in North America, this squad operates mainly in the Arctic. They work closely with other northern based XCOM squads.
Rank
Squaddie
Utility Skills/Strengths
Specialist in CQC and hostage situations, including VIP and package retrieval.
[UNDISCOVERED] Latent psionic aptitude
Counter Terrorism training allows Sara more flexibility against EXALT.
Personal Skills
Diligent - Sara is focused and quick to learn new things.
Family Oriented - Sara dedicates to those who she considers family. This may also apply to her squad.
Weaknesses
Sensitivity to psionics - Unknown if that is because of her own aptitude or because of some other psychological effects.
No formal military background - Sara was a police officer who branched off into Canada's ERT. While she may have taken counter terrorism skills from her ERT training, she has not attended any military training exercises.
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