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Background Story
Back in the late 1940's, the Roswell UFO landing was well-publicized, but dismissed as tabloid hype. In fact, a UFO did crash-land at Roswell, and was one of the first in a series of sightings and reported crash landings. Over the years, people dismissed rumors of abductions and cattle mutilations. By 1998, however, these reports increased dramatically in frequency. In response, a secret UN council voted to form X-Com - the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit. Provided with the best soldiers, scientists, and equipment Earth had to offer, its task was simple: investigate the alien threat, and put a stop to it, while keeping the general populace ignorant of the threat looming overhead. The year was 1999.
At first, primitive Terran equipment could barely stand up to the aliens. However, through sheer determination and will power, handpicked X-Com teams, recruited from special forces all over the world, fought on. Soon, research allowed X-Com to turn the aliens' weapons against them as well as invent new technology, such as powered armor which would enhance the user's strength, speed and perception as well as provide better protection than any terran-made armor.
By 2001, several X-Com bases had been established in secret locations around the world. With most governments cooperating and using black bag tactics to conceal evidence of X-Com activities, as well as providing the funding and personnel necessary for X-Com to function, the alien threat was kept at bay.
From interrogation of captured alien commanders, it was learned that the aliens' staging point was a secret base on Mars - fully equipped with all the cloning facilities and resources to execute an invasion of earth. The base also contained a giant "brain" - used to control the alien forces on earth. Destroying this brain would effectively neutralize the aliens on Earth and win the war. The structure was located beneath an area resembling a human face, surrounded by pyramids.
On November 3rd, 2001, an X-Com Avenger was launched from X-Com European Command, carrying the best troops X-Com had - with incredible psionic strength, weapons of terrifying power and a pair of hovertanks. In short, firepower enough for a Desert Storm tank batallion. It's destination: Cydonia, Mars. Making the trip in a record-breaking thirty-six hours, the Avenger arrived near the main alien base. Communications were sparse, and only a bit of distorted radio chatter and video images reached Earth. One thing was clear - the mission had failed. The team took heavy casualties on the surface - losing both tanks and several personnel. Twelve troopers made it inside the alien base, where the aliens apparently slaughtered them one by one.
As X-Com was preparing a second mission, the aliens decided that this style of warfare was too dangerous to continue. Launching an all-out invasion of Earth, they overwhelmed all Terran defenses within a matter of hours. People fled wherever they could as alien battleships hovered over cities, supporting muton death squads as they swept through, eradicating or capturing every human they found.
However, not all resistance had collapsed. All over the world, small groups of Terrans gathered in hostile terrain - mountains, the arctic, deserts - terrain that the aliens were found to be uncomfortable on. By 2003, one particular group, the North Atlantic Alien Resistance Organization, or NAARO, had made several notable successes against the aliens. In the Alpine mountains, several hundred people holed up in caves, successfully fighting the aliens off and sometimes even striking back.
In Siberia, the Russian Resistance Force, composed mostly of remnants of the Russian army, had captured several UFO's which attempted to land. They also managed to make contact with several other resistance groups.
In the Gobi Desert, remnants of the People's Army of China and others were making themselves a nuisance to the aliens.
And, in cold Alaska, the Cold Force, led by Captain Samuel Wychin and the remnants of his Delta Force team had managed to survive against all odds. This is the story of the Cold Force and its people. The year is 2003 A.D.
