Taken from the blog of Joseph A. McCullough, http://therenaissancetroll.blogspot.com/search?q=last+train
Drop 1: Shirav's Farm
25/08/2419
On receipt of a short-wave distress signal transmission [21:34-24/08/2419] a shuttle was dispatched from the transport Ridley's Hope to Shirav's Farm in the northern quadrant of Tuchachevski Province. A squad from the 62nd Soviet Space Marine Battalion under Cpl. I. V. Meretskov was landed a hundred metres to the east of the farm and the shuttle immediately dusted off, hovering over a nearby hill.
A pre-drop flyby by the shuttle had revealed several xenos milling about around to the west of the farmhouses as well as several in the fields as well as obvious tunnel entrances dotted around the farm so Cpl. Meretskov's squad were prepared for immediate contact. Cpl. Meretskov's simple plan was to eliminate all the xenos in sight then form a firing line to deal with any others appearing while Medic Bykovsky and Tpr. Abramovich checked out the farmhouses for survivors.
First shots. Tpr. Ulyanov engages the xenomorphs from long range and knocks one down. Tpr. Smirnov moves up in support with his flamer.
Predictably, the shuttle had hardly dusted off when Tpr. Ulyanov engaged a pair of xenos at the other side of a ploughed field, knocking one down. As the rest of the squad shook itself into a rough Advance To Contact line Tpr. Smirnov moved up to the fence beside Ulyanov, his flamer at the ready.
Cpl. Meretskov and Troopers Abramovich and Zdhanov firing along the road at xenomorphs appearing from behind the farm buildings.
Another pair of xenos appeared from behind the far barn but were almost immediately downed by a hail of fire from Tprs. Abramovich and Zdhanov with heavy rounds from the latter's 12.7 KPG knocking huge splinters from the barn wall beside the falling xenos.
Tpr. Smirnov flames a brace of xenomorphs while his comrades fend off other attacks from several directions.
Having downed two xenos at his side Tpr Ulyanov accompanied by Tpr Smirnov moved over to the road towards Cpl. Meretskov. As two other xenos lumbered across the field they came under a torrent of fire from Smirnov's XM42 flamer as they crossed the fence. Unfortunately, by this point xenos were appearing not only ahead of the squad but were looming up out of tunnels behind them.
A desperate situation for the beleaguered rescue team with xenos closing from all directions.
Advancing towards the large farmhouse Medic Bykovsky shoots at two advancing xenos while Tpr. Smirnov disposes of a third.
This rather negated Meretskov's original plan and he ordered the squad into a rough defensive circle moving slowly towards the large farmhouse.
Xenos get close to Medic Bykovsky while Cpl. Meretskov and Tpr. Abramovich take aim at them.
Despite the hail of outward fire the xenos continued to close and Medic Bykovsky came close to being savaged and killed and was only saved by brisk shooting with his pistol.
Intense fire from the squad having temporarily driven off the xenos Medic Bykovsky enters the farmhouse and liberates the hiding civilians.
Luckily, as the last of the xenos in their immediate vicinity fell to the ground there was a slight pause while the squad reloaded and got their breath back. As they did so, Tpr. Abramovich sprinted to the door of the barn and hauled it open to reveal only a few bales of hay and some farm tools and he quickly rejoined the group. Cpl. Meretskov then ordered Bykovsky forward to check out the farmhouse while getting Tprs. Smirnov and Ulyanov to cover him from beside the ploughed field. It took several attempts for Bykovsky to reach the farmhouse door as incursions of xenos continually appeared from behind the house. However, a steady rate of fire from the squad covered the pathway between the fence and the farmhouse into a litter of well-perforated xeno bodies while Tpr. Smirnov flamed several attempting to cross the ploughed field.
The shuttle from the transport Ridley's Hope sets down near the village pond while the squad prepares to defend a withdrawal.
As Bykovsky flung open the farmhouse door he discovered a group of ten survivors including a local party chief and a Sovinform film crew as well as the farm workers. A brief conversation confirmed that the remaining farm building was empty and Bykovsky quickly led the group out towards the squad signalling Meretskov to call for immediate dust-off.
Medic Bykovsky leads the civilians towards the shuttle while the squad, aided by the machine gunner on board the shuttle, do their best to keep the xenos at bay.
Meretskov did so and the welcome sound of the shuttle returning overlay the desultory fire from the squad at the odd approaching xeno. With the arrival of the shuttle the crew chief's heavy machine gun scythed down a couple more xenos approaching from the front while the survivors boarded.
Nearly half of the civilians on board as Tprs. Ulyanov and Smirnov fight off two Xenos close to the shuttle.
With all the civilians on board the shuttle the three remaining squad members prepare to embark also.
Within a few minutes all the survivors were strapped in and only Meretskov, Smirnov and Zdhanov remained outside clearing the last of the xenos near to the shuttle. After a few seconds they leapt on board, slammed the armoured doors closed and a very relieved bunch of survivors and an equally relieved rescue squad breathed a sigh of relief.
