Mission five

We touch down in a desert area, and unsurprisingly, we spot an alien wandering just outside the Skyranger. It’s those slippery Sectoids again.

I send out the cannon-based HWP. As it crawls down the ramp, plasma fire sprays the area. Another alien must be camping the transport.

Kevin fires on the Sectoid first spotted across from the Skyranger, but his aim is a little off. Jay drops smoke, and we prepare to hit the sand.

As a precaution, I order our HWP to take out the other Sectoid near the drop-ship. An armor-piercing shell cuts it down.

During the aliens’ turn, the Sectoid that Kevin could not kill sets his sights on our HWP and launches a torrent of plasma death. Luckily, all its shots miss. Guillermo returns fire over Kevin’s shoulder, only to hit a dead tree behind the creature.

On our turn, Kevin takes aim first, missing yet again. Guillermo now has the time to properly line up an aimed shot, and his blast of laser fire takes down the Sectoid.

As the HWP advances toward the alien space craft -- to the northwest of our position -- plasma fire shoots out from the dark. Another Sectoid awaits us!

Sharper-shooter Jay Henningsen exits the Skyranger and hurls his characteristic, high-explosive reign of murder on the unsuspecting alien.

Beyond the scorched desert, our HWP spots another threat; however, no one is in a position to do anything at the moment. I back the weapons system out of visual range.

That apparently wasn’t enough -- during the hidden movement phase, plasma fire hits the HWP and reduces its outer shell to less than half strength.

Both Jay and the HWP line up their sights but ultimately miss -- only to discover a second alien in the vicinity!

Unfortunately for us, I’m standing in the very back of the Skyranger with the rocket launcher! But with no other options, I hustle my squad mates aside and move out onto the exit ramp. I order the HWP to get out of my line of fire, and it spots yet another Sectoid near the UFO -- we're surrounded!

Unable to move further, the HWP sits in the way. Hoping that I’m elevated enough to shoot over the platform, I stay on the ramp. Alas, my aim is off.

The thick smoke now obstructs our view of the battlefield. The three aliens previously in our sights move undetected! Michael throws down a proximity mine near the UFO -- just in case.

Jay spots the last Sectoid our recon identified advancing toward the Skyranger. He aims and misses the target. What's going on, Jay? That's two failed attempts in a row!

James and Adam covertly move around the Skyranger to flank the enemy. Adam thinks he has a clear shot with his HE-loaded auto-cannon and opens fire.

But he doesn’t strike the Sectoid -- instead, he hits the nearby landing gear of the transport and blows himself up in the process!

Remember that scene in James Cameron’s Aliens when the Colonial Marines first enter the hive located under the power plant’s cooling facility? The violin accompaniment begins to screech and melt in the background, the screen switches to the armored-personal carrier’s internal video monitors that display the feed from each soldier’s shoulder-mounted camera, and people begin dying. A lot.

Adam’s death marks the beginning of such a sequence in our own X-Com game. First the HWP meets an untimely end, and now a self-inflicted, limb-tearing explosive force takes out one of our own. This is when things begin to get a little crazy. Can we pull through?