[IC] XCOM Enemy Unknown Season 1: The Coming Storm

[Pete]

Sergeant Feng's breath was hot, and as Carrie's face was spattered with the Chinese man's spittle she stood motionless and unblinking, as if he weren't even there. Discipline and the Corps' image were everything, it wasn't a secret even to her that she was here as a statement, and besides, this was far from the first time she'd been yelled at. That being said, it was now confirmed that she indeed did absolutely hate Feng, who already openly flew the flag of prejudice. Three thoughts drifted through Carrie's head: The first was the familiar image and sounds of the ocean, which she had almost comically made it a point to visualize whenever someone started yelling, completely shutting them out. The second was that for as ugly and scarred a man as Sergeant Feng was, his breath smelled quite good. Lastly, she imagined herself jamming a Beretta down the source of that breath and pulling the trigger until the handgun clicked uselessly.

As the Captain gave his brief, the Marine wondered more and more what the fucking point of all of this was. There had to be something more, there seriously just had to, to justify the money and the international support that this program had received. Da Jun's mention of a firefight piqued her interest; if it was worth bringing up, it would have to be a possibility, and it would explain the wealth of military personnel present. But who would they be fighting? Some sort of terrorists? God damn. . Xenomorphs? Little fucking green men? She shuddered at the mention of "U.N. Headdresses", the LAPD Officer's still fresh in her mind, and after the squad's dismissal she dug through her duffel turning each item over in her hand before returning it. The armband she expected to wear, maybe even the helmet, but she'd make it a point to not wear the U.N. softcap. The she slipped the PDA into her left trouser pocket before heading towards the armory to retrieve her weapon, which she'd prefer to just leave locked up and out of mind. She'd scour the information provided on the PDA later. She might even consider a bit of small talk, being that her bunkmate turned out to be the team's leader, it might not be a bad idea to get on this Hyun-Seong's good side.

[RIengo]

Maria felt a mixture of both relief and concern flood through her. Certainly, she was pretty glad how well this whole "stay silent" thing was going. She had managed to escape the notice of most of her fellow squadmates, as well as the living hurricane known as Feng. However, if this pattern continued onto a battlefield, and in a firefight, as the Captain had so offhandedly mentioned, Maria was growing ever-the-more concerned for her prospects of survival. But despite her initial trepidation, watching the Sergeant chew out anyone who crossed his path, she couldn't help but feel a small sense of warmth, in her tiny corner of anonymity.

Mentally backtracking, Maria began to idly wonder exactly they were supposed to DO. Her initial concern about being in a firefight wasn't exactly the most realistic of fears, mostly because the chances of them getting in a firefight with a bunch of aliens were hovering at about zero percent. Even escorting a bunch of scientists around, trying to find aliens, was bound to become less hilarious after a while.

She snapped back to reality as the Captain primly made his way out of the room for his meeting with... Who, or what, ever. Thinking in the physical plane once again, Maria strolled inoffensively towards the haphazard groups of bags that were recently delivered into the room. Scooping up her duffel bag under her arm, Maria quickly picked her way back to her bunk, making sure that she didn't elbow any of the various soldiers trying to get their mitts on their own supplies. She stuffed the bag under her bunk, yet another advantage to being on the bottom, and made the quiet choice to rifle through the contents later. She then left the room in order to hop on over to the armory. Hopefully, Maria would manage to beat the throng, and end up back in Echo quarters to pick through the PDA at her leisure, while the rest of the soldiers were jostling for their guns.

[Proser]

Lee remained at attention by the captain's side as he gave his briefing, taking everything in. Thinking about it, she really wasn't sure how she failed to recognise Yong Feng; the apparently indestructible sergeant was something of a legend for a reason, and with Seoul understandably worried about potentially butting heads with Beijing he was a figure who had shown up in his share of 707th briefings. He was someone to keep an eye on, to be ready for should the ascendant China do something stupid, to know how to deal with if necessary - and now they were on the same side. It didn't really make her reconsider her initial assessment of the man, though - a bully who was good in a fight was still a bully, and he was yelling at her soldiers. Her team. She had been going to remind him of that fact, but he really wasn't her jurisdiction, as Captain Lee pointed out; besides, he did get the squad falling in, and he was right about one thing - where the hell had Shao Zu gone? She would have to track him down when everything else was in order.

"You heard them, get your equipment settled, one at a time!" She would get her own pack once the rest of the squad was settled, as indeed some had started even as she was giving the order. Her mind was more on the briefing anyway, as nice as the uniform and PDA would be - the more their squad leader said about the situation, the less any of it added up, and the heavier the weight in her gut became. UNXIPU asking for the best and brightest had smelled strange already, but apparently the work really was dangerous enough to need them as glorified security guards. None of the others seemed to have questions, but the chance to ask them was a fleeting one, and Lee couldn't help herself.

"Sir," she cut in, hoping it would get the captain's attention before he left. "Just what kind of opposition are the researchers running into, that regular security forces can't do the job? You don't build a dedicated military branch like UNXIPU has if you don't expect to need it."

[Lotta Pumpkins]

Ruven had been to basic, and knew not to look at the sergeant as he was yelling at him. He straightened his back. Eric listened, and when his back was turned, watched the Sergeant yell at everyone in the room. Ruven was internally irritated with the NCO yelling at them, like they were all fresh recruits, but he also understood that the man was trying to force discipline and camaraderie upon them. Ruven listened to the Captain brief about them having to be officially on duty soon.

Once they could move, Ruven stepped to the bags and retrieved the items, putting the arm band on his left arm. He put the headband in his pocket, as he wouldn't be wearing it currently, at least, not until he was directed to. He grabbed the helmet, and the pda, and placed it in his pocket, while tucking the helmet under his arm. He left and headed to the armory. After a small wait, he was strapping his side arm to his thigh, tightening the his kevlar vest, and slung his weapon over his shoulder. He tightened it to his chest, so that it was pointing down, and he only needed one hand to steady it. Checking the safety one last time, began to head to the mess hall again. He acquired a second sandwich, and headed back to the bunks, to eat it, and wait until Echo squad was summoned and actually went on duty. As he sat next to his bed, eating his sandwich, he attached the pda to his belt, and wondered what they'd be doing. Investigating crop circles? Oh no, farmer brown's field has an unexplained phenomena. Get the black hawks and the men in suits, are coming to tell you that you lost some wheat.