"Fallout" Yadav was the greatest unsung hero of the XCOM campaign. He came in at around July and quickly found a place in the A-team next to "Lumberjack" Kohler. Both guys were heavy weapons experts and both of them provided a 1-2 knockout punch whenever things started to get intense. You needed a cyberdisk swatted out of the sky? Lumberjack will knock him down. Need a wall flattened so the assaults can rush in? Fallout's on the job. When Sectopods first started showing up these guys wreaked total havoc on them.
"Patch" Illyushin from Russia. Formerly of the Russian Airborn Infantry he was selected as the Kremlin's contribution to the XCOM project after an attempted Xenos incursion of St. Petersburg was halted in around May, if memory serves. He was the best medic XCOM ever saw, able to patch up just about any combat wound. No trooper ever died under his watch, and somehow, he always managed to get every man and woman out alive who he went into a fight with.
Operation Devil's Thorn was the attack on an Overseer UFO, rumored to house an artifact of huge importance to the war effort. While scouting the perimeter out troops ran into two Sectopods accompanied by four Drones. The terrain didn't allow for easy maneuverability, and worse yet, the Sectopods' range outpaced that of our own weaponry. Yadav occupied the high ground and blew out the surrounding obstacles around the sectopods to open up sight lines for our sniper, unfortunately, he drew the attention of the beasts in the moments that followed. The mechanical beings opened their hulls and opened fire on his position, killing him instantly. Illyushin tried to make it to the high ground but was gunned down in between cover before he could. The mission ended in success, despite the loss of two of XCOM's greatest heroes.
"Whiskey" White, Assault trooper, shotgun specialist, first pioneer of the scatter laser and first member of XCOM to score a confirmed kill on the dreaded Cyberdisks. While there were many valiant and well known assault troopers in the XCOM project, most preferred the use of rifles and a more cautious approach in dealing with the xenos threat. White never had any of it, and believed in a full on frontal attack. Her love of close-combat won her both respect and a bit of a reputation for being reckless. Her Run & Gun style made her the obvious choice for Terror Sites, where she could get in, secure civilains and then get the hell out.
Operation Blind Throne was a terror attack on Cairo as the month of June came to a close. The Xenos had unleashed a dozen Chrysalids into the city and casualties were quickly running high. Local officials were being overrun by undead and xenos forces when the call came through for XCOM, by the time boots were on the ground the situation was completely unsalvageable. What was meant to be a civilian evac quickly turned into a fight for survival against hordes of undead. White was ambushed by a Chrysalid as she and Jin "Septic" Park were clearing through a Police station. Though not stated on the official reports, local surveillance equipment later seized by government officials show Park and other operatives refusing to leave the Terror Site until they tracked down and killed the "turned" corpse of White before a Chrysalid could erupt from within.
"All Day" Chepurnova, Support gunner and widely considered the best runner in the outfit. She was the butt of many a playful rib from the longest serving XCOM operative, "Softie" Mcintyre for 'being able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.' All day was the flanking specialist, while Lumberjack or other forces pinned Xenos threats with concentrated suppression, Chepurnova would lead the flanking fireteam into position.
Operation Lone Star, an abduction mission at the end of May went incredibly bad, incredibly quickly. What began as a routine cleanup that local security forces couldn't handle turned ugly when Thin Men outfoxed XCOM's attempts to pin down a number of Sectoids. Chepurnova's flanking mission fell into cross fire, by the time operatives moved in to support, Lt. Chepurnova had already fallen.
"Jazz" Gonzalez. The first sniper we ever had for the XCOM project, and arguably one of the best to ever take up that role. He joined the project after the disastrous first mission wherein only one survivor returned from the operations and was instrumental in rallying together the rookies after such a frightening loss was incurred. The first "leader" of the troops, he reported directly to the mysterious Commander. He was the first man in human history to wield the Laser Sniper Rifle, code named the X-R12, and proved his undeniable prowess with on the battlefield against the Xeno shocktroopers, the Mutons.
Operation Empty Hammer was a response to a distressed 9-1-1 call, intercepted by the XCOM project. Construction workers had come under fire from xenos and were being taken to a ship just on the outskirts of a residential area. The call was made to move in before local law enforcement could get on the scene, hopefully securing the site and saving the workers before anyone really knew what was going on. Gonzalez took up position near an abandoned, still running car to provide overwatch as the team moved in. Unfortunately, what was not realized is that the Mutons had brought along Floaters to screen their advance. As Operatives moved in, floaters dropped in behind the lines and cornered Gonzalez. No one knows why he had a grenade on him, it was standard operating procedures to equip all snipers with the specialized S.C.O.P.E attachments. But unable to get a clear shot on his flankers, Gonzalez is reported to have charged forward close to the enemy and pulled the pin. The resulting explosion took out two cars and killed the Xeno, along with himself.
"Road-Block" Meyer from Germany, one of the most imposing men to ever dawn the armor and swear the oath of service. Heavy weapons specialist and a bear of a man, Meyer was also the friendliest guy in the barracks. He always went out of his way to help the rookies get acclimated with the stresses of the job, and was often seen in the rec room having a drink with whatever new face happened to be about to head out on patrol.
Operation Frozen King was a VIP retrieval mission. A politician in Europe had been double-dealing with the aliens, selling out earth in the hope that he would be spared whatever coming fate was planned for the Human race. Road-block took point on a roof top and lead the way for "All Day" and "Softie" to come in behind, That's when he turned a corner around an air conditioner to find a group of Thin Men awaiting in ambush. Softie barely had time to call for cover when Road Block was hit and went down.
"Septic" Park was never the same after
Blind Throne. Seeing a close comrade subjected to the brutality of death by the hands of Chrysalids is.. difficult. He had been largely outgoing and friendly before the Terror mission that saw "Whiskey" White's death, afterward, he was quiet. Solemn. Most operatives gave him space, understanding the stress. He would come around with time. He'd recover. Earth needed him, Earth needed
all of them, after all.
Operation Morbid Spark, two days after Blind Throne, a UFO was spotted over a missile silo in Europe. XCOM fighters splashed the UFO and the team was sent in to recover any and all artifacts they could. May and June had both seen significant losses for the XCOM project, so Park was called in to help with the clear. All able bodied veterans were desperately needed to stand on the front line. Unfortunately, it seems it was just a bit too soon for him. After action reports from his fellow Operatives paint the picture of a man who could barely hold his rifle straight. In the heat of the moment, he panicked and tried to vault over cover and make a break back for the skyranger. A muton saw him move and opened fire...
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