[right][sub]Hartford Military Base
New Star, Mars Colony
1110 hrs Local Time[/sub][/right]

The captain listened to each question closely, looking at the speaker accordingly and nodding in acknowledgement to each spoken question. “Good batch of questions, for the most part. We leave in ten, our skimmer will take us to the USS Bronzebeard in orbit and we’ll jump to slip space about ten hours after that. There are two other strongholds being attacked simultaneously with our objective, but ours is the closest, so our jump is last. As for the number of tangos, expect numerous, Private Steinboden. This is an enemy stronghold after all, so they won’t slouch on keeping it manned. Private Devries, you’ll be retaking the course on Earth’s interstellar travel when the mission is over, but I have addressed the first question. Your second question’s answer is quite simple, and that’s that there is no particular rhyme or reason. Another squad is Hawk Squad, you’ve got the Vengeful Sharks, a Spec Ops team of mostly Rippers with a couple of Reapers in support. So, no particular reason, just where our lot fell most likely.”

The captain, having given a quick brief of general details and gotten all the new bloods to talk, walked around the table and hit a button on it, bringing the holographic display up on the fortress that they’d be helping to assault. “And since no one asked, I’ll give you guys something more in depth. This is the stronghold Alpha as we’ve labeled it, though intel says the aliens call it Outpost Warden. Regardless, the official plan that the Commander laid out for us is to insert at the top of the stronghold and work our way down to the main hall while also dealing with any defensive emplacements we can.” The gunslinger spoke up at this point.

“But we both know you got a second set of orders from the Commander that weren’t so official, which are?” The captain, chuckling softly, nodded.

“He did and that was that the unofficial plan is to move as we see fit and focus on getting to the enemy leadership and contain or neutralize. Orbital support is being tasked to remove anti-air and anti-infantry emplacements on the outside of the outpost. Seems simple enough right?” Damian nodded and took another bite of his jerky as the image shifted to a layout of the Bronzebeard. “Now, as for our accommodations on the Bronzebeard, XCOM units are considered a branch of special forces, so we’ll have our own armory, barracks and mess hall for our small unit, though it is encouraged that we mix and mingle with the UEG regulars at meal times and during PT.” Snapping his fingers, Captain reached behind him and withdrew three XCOM patches and approached each of the new bloods.

“These are your XCOM patches, signifying that you are members of the unit within the UEG and that if you say your mission is of dire importance, then the regs had better listen to you. However,” the change in the captain’s tone caused the new bloods to jump, “don’t abuse that power. You ever hear of the boy who cried wolf? That’s what’ll happen to your authority.”

Returning to his position at the table, the holographic projection turns off and the Captain starts to walk off. “I’ll be back in five to gather you four for the trip up to the Bronzebeard, but until then, get to know each other. You’ll be working closely for the foreseeable future.” And with that, he and his Gremlin were gone. After a moment of silence, the Irish accent in Damian’s voice won out as he jumped down to converse with his new squad mates.

“Alright then, where’s everyone from? Hobbies, likes, dislikes?”