Ethereal Business

Large abductor class UFO got shot down in USA. Firestorm shot it twice and it almost split in half. There was not much to see at the crash site. Harmony Lad got well deserved rest after a long year and Snake Catcher stood up for him. Hipster's new toy - some kind of a blaster cannon - was field tested. It seemed to turn mutons into pulp at will.

Abductor ship was cleared much in the style of standard house hoovering. Nobody even broke sweat and as the squad returned home, psi lab got ready. A cold, steel chamber housing a few human-sized, sealable pods was waiting for the first guinea pigs. What if the devices did not work as expected? Or if they deep-fried and cooked the brain of those who decide or are nominated to take the hits for humanity? First three was chosen: Ironside, 44 and Helldorado went in and hopes were that they would also come out - alive.

Hyperwave relay got ready as well. It started whirring and slowly rotating around, as it was skanning the skies for answers who the sectoid commanders talk to. First thing it found was an UFO that had roamed the skies apparently for a long time already, but no satellites had been able to detect it. Designated as overseer, Firestorm was sent again to shoot it down. It delivered, and this manifestation of air superiority found always new ways to surprise us. Overseer fell like a rock from the sky, and hyperwave relay also revealed both the UFO's objective being something related to "final preparations" and the saucer's resident crew. Muton elites, sectopod, drones, heavy floaters and something that was called "ethereal". Perhaps that meant the sectoid commanders' overseer?

Overseer UFO was not particularly big, nor were its standard defenders particularly dangerous. Harmony Lad's vacation was over and he went back to work shooting different kinds of aliens on the familiar pace, that was largely restricted by his weapon's cycle rate. Approaching the bridge, the squad fell silent and seemed to go again into the well-oiled-machine state. Broden opened the door, and beyond was two muton elites and something tall wearing a grey helmet and red robes, as if it had escaped from planet Nirn. There was an ominous, depressing feeling in the air and it was clear, that anything looking like that could not rely on physical force. Broden and Hipster took care of the muton elites while Megawatt shot plasma at the ethereal. As the plasma seared the ethereal - it was impossible to tell whether the hit had any effect on it or not - Megawatt felt a stinging and devastating headache cut her consciousness like a knife.

[TACTICAL COMMS TRANSCRIPTION]

Megawatt: Aaaagh! It hurts!

Branca: We need to finish it, hide your arc throwers.

[TRANSCRIPTION ENDS]

Branca ran up to the ethereal and shot it twice, point-blank. The robes flushed and all substance seemed to disappear from the inside. A charred and mangled alien body remained and Branca kicked it to check it does not have any tricks up the sleeve. It did not. Now the squad could also concentrate on the big, glowing orb in the middle of the bridge. It had to have a meaning, so it was bagged in as well.