CthuluIsSpy wrote:Do we have a MEC bay yet?
I would like to be a MEC if I receive heavy wounds.
chaos0xomega wrote:I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!
way ahead of you guys!
streamdragon wrote:If "new equipment" ever includes robot body replacement, Lance Corporal (?) Stream Dragon volunteers to be the first under the knife.
streamdragon wrote:Just remember, Stream Dragon will happily volunteer for mechanical augmentation over gene modification.
CthuluIsSpy wrote:Do we have a MEC bay yet?
I would like to be a MEC if I receive heavy wounds.
chaos0xomega wrote:I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!
way ahead of you guys!
streamdragon wrote:If "new equipment" ever includes robot body replacement, Lance Corporal (?) Stream Dragon volunteers to be the first under the knife.
streamdragon wrote:Just remember, Stream Dragon will happily volunteer for mechanical augmentation over gene modification.
Hate to break it to you bud, but I volunteered for augmentation well before you did
"Our air wing was pretty beat up, but we kept scrambling against anything we felt we had a shot to shoot down. The eggheads kept saying that it was vital that we shoot down UFOs - especially if we ever wanted better weapons. I'm a guy who loves a new gun so we kept scrambling."
--Dean "Rascal" Tompkins.
Dean "Rascal" Tompkins claims his first kill of the air war. The price is 8 days in heavy maintenance.
"My team was keenly aware of the air wings difficulties in the skies above us. UFOs still ruled the skies and although our pilot occasionally succeeded in bringing one of the smaller ones down, we were still seriously outgunned. I would say in the early months of the war it [the air war] was our biggest weakness. I had directed most of my engineering staff towards searching for answers to our dilemmas in the air campaign and they came back with the laser cannon. They were big, slow to manufacture, and so expensive in terms of cash and rare alien alloys that the air wing was always desperately short of them, but they would make a difference.... at least, I hoped they would.
--Dr. Shen in an Interview Post-War.
The air wing wasn't the only recipient of improved laser weapons. The sniper corps would no longer have to make due with their ballistic rifles. Also, those troops who preferred the close range killing power of the shotgun also got an upgrade
This is the African air wing's situation in mid-May.
The hard won battlefield experience does pay off as XCOM become increasingly proficient at shooting down the aline scout UFOs.
The Commander's plans for expansion received a major shot in the arm as late May rolled around. The long anticipated Thermo Generator finally started supplying power.
Things were still fragile. Needs still outweighed supplies by a significant margin, but XCOM was starting to get it's feet under it.
Warning: Classified Information Access Restricted. Commander's/Council Eyes Only. Your access has been logged.
.... authenticating... authenticating.... Access granted. Welcome, Commander. Please speak your inquiry.
"I heard your speech after Banished Chant, Lieutenant Silver. Quite the act of falling on your sword."
"Sir, I... I accept full responsib."
"Ever been to Germany, Lieutenant?"
"Sir...I... .what?"
'Your file says you were SAS before you came over to us, is that correct?"
"Yes sir, first female ever selected for the Special Air Service."
"Your file is exemplary - the parts of it that haven't been destroyed that is."
"I'm not sure where this is going, Sir."
"Look at this and tell me what you think."
The Commander slid the laptop across the desk. LT Silver MK2 spent the next few minutes reading the file. When she was done, she looked up.
"Questions, Lieutenant?"
"Just one, Sir. Who is Scott Rasmussen?"
"That's what we want you to find out."
Awesome! Welcome to the team. Please let me know what gender, what class, and what nationality you prefer and I'll do my best to make it happen. Since this is a military organization, the chances of you getting any of your preferences are... low.
Awesome! Welcome to the team. Please let me know what gender, what class, and what nationality you prefer and I'll do my best to make it happen. Since this is a military organization, the chances of you getting any of your preferences are... low.
Caucasian British male, but ok with female. Or French, because of by Bretonnian variant on my moniker: d'Orlan or T.H. Orlan are acceptable alternative names.
But have a strong preference for sniper, with Squad Sight a required skill and static over mobile skills. High accuracy is very important, courage less so than for most.
I would take a character like that as insurance, to take the (head)shot in cover of exposed forward friendlies in the event that they themselves miss or fail to make a kill due to bad luck. By keeping this characgter back in position and turn order ends up saving the lives of others in forward position who have to take higher risks
eddieazrael wrote: Loved 1st Squad's latest exploit, and am grieving for the lost comrade, but one thing is still puzzling me - shouldn't I have been on that mission?
Nope, I played ahead to the 25 of May before you came on board. You will be on the next 1st squad mission!
OPERATION CURSED CRONE: 25 May 2015. San Diego, California. USA.
"Sorry Scruffy, you're almost ready, but the docs want to see you go through one more round of physical therapy before they'll sign you off. I could use you out there, but we've got this. Mrs. Scruffy will be fine without you." Dead Meat looked apologetic.
"It's okay CPL Meat. I'll get the next one."
"Sure thing."
Dead Meat closed the door on SGT_Scruffy's room. Although he wasn't a superstitious man, he could almost swear that SGT_SCRUFFY was a curse on the squad. Although other soldiers had been wounded worse than he had, SGT_SCRUFFY spent more time in sick bay than anyone else in XCOM - even before he was elevated out of the legion. Whenever he was along, other people seemed to get hurt too. He knew it was coincidence and superstition, but still....
Snapping out of his reverie, CPL Dead Meat focused on the job at hand. Alien Abduction. San Diego.
"Okay EVERYONE LISTEN UP!! We've got kidnapping intergalactic travelers in San Diego! Load Up! Mrs. Scruffy, we get to test something new for once - draw the laser scattergun. On the Skyranger in 5 minutes."
I love this map - provided the enemy spawns work out for you. The large structure has an easily accessible roof that provide all sorts of tactical opportunities. The general plan will be to get on the roof. Clear the perimeter, then breach the interior with a simultaneous drop on multiple sides. Should be a piece of cake.
"CONTACT!" Chaos 0xomega stumbles on a sectoid pod before XCOM makes it off the LZ. Before the sectoids can do more than dive for cover, 0xomega scores the first kill of the mission
"Contact right, Contact Right!' The squad reacted instantly. Docta Deth led the legion around the back side of the box van while Chaos opened fire. everyone else dove for cover. Even as Chaos killed the first sectoid, the other two opened fire.
Legion scout dispatches one sectoid while the other is severely wounded in the by a well thrown AP grenade.
"Okay people, new plan. The sectoids may have given our position away... we're going to flank around to the right here and get that meld. Watch out for Floaters. Skyranger saw them on the way in."
--Dead Meat hastily briefs his troops as they take cover behind a box van.
Chaos 0xomega collects the meld.
The Squad continues their run around the right side of the engagement area.
A pod of Floaters stumbles into the well-prepared 2nd Squad. 2nd squad, being so excited that they get to do the ambushing for once, promptly miss most of their shots. One Floater is killed in the cross-fire, cutting the pod down to three members.
The Floater taking cover on top of the roof will be a particularly thorny problem.
Docta Deth, Mrs. Scruffy and Chaos make their way around another truck while Dead Meat and the rest of the squad lay down fire.
The Legion scout bravely draws fire from the overwatching Floaters.
Here Dead Meat wounds a Floater for Legion 22 to finish off.
Our Legion Scout, still using a ballistic shotgun takes down the already wounded Floater.
Mrs. Scruffy takes the roof. The Floater who had previously occupied it was... not a problem any longer. Unfortunately, the meld deacticvates just as she kills the last Floater.
2nd Squad now has the roof which means they control the commanding terrain. XCOM has the initiative.
Having snuck up on a second pod of Floaters, Dead Meat initiates the ambush with a well placed rocket.
With most of the Floaters wounded, Docta Deth adds disorientation to injury as she flashbangs the entire pod.
\
Eager to finish the fight, Chaos 0xomega throws an AP grenade to devastating effect.
The last floater, having taken cover in the building tries a suicidal charge against 2nd squad. It does not work. With its death, 2nd squad completes the mission with no casualties.
Upon return to XCOM HQ, Mrs. Scruffy is promoted to Corporal. She will be groomed for further undercover mission should they become necessary.
2nd squad doesn't grab as many resources as they had hoped for, but it is overall a wildly successful mission.
XCOM rocketeers had for some time been complaining about how heavy all their equipment was. It was true that the rocketeers often found themselves lagging behind in the fast paced missions XCOM had thus far conducted. Dr. Shen's team was instructed to begin work on a lighter weight laser SMG to reduce the weight the rocketeers had to shoulder. It would take almost two weeks to complete.
The Commander finally begins to act on Dr. Shen's and Dr. Vahlen's recommendations and orders the construction of an alien containment chamber.
Eddie Azrael and Adept Sister officially join the Dakka Corps upon graduation from XCOM orientation training.
What happens next is anyone's guess.
Okay guys, I am officially caught up. I had to stop myself from playing too far ahead as it was getting harder and harder to recall how I wanted to tell each story. This mission was interesting tactically, but I was struggling to remember a few details so it's kind of a bland play-by-play. I've managed to discipline myself though so now I won't forge too far ahead of the storyline. Right now, XCOM has a problem. Panic in Asia as a whole is bad, but panic is skyrocketing in Russia and Germany. Between mysterious organizations making their own play for alien resources and the alien's seeming obsession with breaking Russia, XCOM may have to suspend their planned expansion of the base and their expansion into Asia in order to deal with the European problem. Alternately, we can focus on battles we know we can win and attempt to retake Russia at a later date. This will probably mean the aliens get more powerful in the meantime, but I think it may also save us from devoting the entire month of June towards buying interceptors.
My re-evaluation of my priorities now includes
1. Choose either Europe or Asia to protect.
2. More laser cannons - at least one more, but probably two more.
3. More interceptors
4. Alien Containment + 2 Arc Throwers.
5. Foundry
6. Advanced Armors.
7. Genetic/Cybernetic enhancement.
8. Increase squad size to 8. Train more officers.
Unfortunately, I have money for probably two or three of these. It's going to be a cruel summer.
Good work 2nd squad. Well recovered from the early tactical weakness.
The problems in the global environment are serious indeed, although I am glad to see alien containment and capture is starting to go ahead - this will aid significantly in our understanding of the enemy and their equipment, tactics and goals...
Not time to capture yet right?
Just put lots of shot into the freaks.
Hope it is no terror mission: the zombies adding to their numbers makes reloads a marathon sport.
Okay, so far we've mostly focused on the tactical end of XCOM operations. Short of posting pictures mid mission and waiting for you guys to give me responses, there's not much I can do on that front to get advice. However, input would be good on the strategic and logistical side of things. First off, the base.
So... ugly right? Well there (sort of) a plan here. The two fission generators on the right side will eventually be removed in favor of more satellite uplinks and eventually satellite nexuses.Below that I'm not exactly sure what I'll end up with down there but it will probably involve the foundry, workshops, and mission required building like the hyperwave relay. The bottom of the right side of the base will be my power generation complex. Both steam vents will eventually be used and I'll tear down the fission generators once Elerium generators become available. The top side right will obviously be for one off projects like the OTS and alien containment while the last few blocks will be for laboratories, genetics labs, and possible research into.. telepathic abilities.
As you can see, I'm currently building the alien containment, although I may cancel since I'm still at minimum 3 weeks from actually getting an arc thrower and I need the cash. I know I'll need it eventually, but I need the cash. Thoughts?
Here's the current global situation troopers.
The aliens were smart when they took down Canada. Without access to Canada, XCOM can not fully utilize North America's extensive aerospace industry.If only there was a way to bring them back into the fold. Additionally, the aliens are gong after Russia hard. Most of their attacks seem to be centered in the central portions of the country. This may explain why Britain and France aren't as worried as Germany is. Germany seems to be the alien's next target. They've gotten a lott of attention from them recently. XCOM will have to keep an eye out. The political repercussions from the bombing of Shanghai are still being felt across Asia. All the Asian countries are worried. That situation will require close monitoring.
Our science team is coming along nicely for now, but we need more. It's imperative that the team continue to grow. We are currently finishing up improved body armors. Dr. Vahlen informs me that any alien capture project will require our soldiers to close to point blank range with the alien. I've decided to finish our improved body armor before pursuing any live alien captures. I won't send my men to their deaths. As assets, they are too valuable to the Commander.
Last but not least, CPL Dead Meat, you are hereby promoted to Lieutenant. May you discharge the duties of an XCOM officer with all the valor, honor, and vigilance expected of the position. Good Luck Lieutenant Dead Meat.
Okay, enough waffling from me... expect OPERATION CRYSTAL SHROUD up later today.
Do workshops give rebates in long war? I would suggest for the number of fighters and bits of equipment xcom will be needing, starting the rebate train early will be of great benefit.
That might not be a bad idea. There's some foundry projects that will allow me to recover more alien alloys and elerium from missions (alloys are kicking me in pants right now), but those projects are EXPENSIVE. Maybe a workshop farm would be good… The problem is there are SO many other things vying for my attention.
OPERATION CRYSTAL SHROUD: Council Mission Site Recon. St. John's, Canada. 26 May, 2015
Note: While the team was enroute to Canada, a UFO bombed the Russians again which increased panic. I wasn't lying when I said they were going after Russia hard.
"Council intelligence was taking an intense interest in the Canadians during the early days of the war. Since their fall, things had been.. disturbingly quiet north of the American border. A lot of UFOs were detected coming out of Canadian airspace, but otherwise things seemed to be normal. Sure the Canadians were no longer communicating with anyone, but it seemed the average civilian was still living close to a normal life. That all changed when the American NSA, working for the council at that point, detected a strange silence coming from St. John's. St. John's isn't the largest town by any stretch, but it is close to the United States border and the NSA was worried about the possibility of a land invasion.
XCOM thought this was unlikely since the aliens seemed to rely exclusively on UFOs for transport, but the Council was not so easily convinced. They all but begged the Commander to intervene. The various council members may have been regretting their choice to give sole command of the operational side of XCOM to a single individual as many members of the council were swiftly being relegated to irrelevance. Africa as a whole was largely the personal fiefdom of the Commander all ready. When the Asian bloc of the council protested the choice of the Africa and threatened to leave, the Commander (some claim) allowed Shanghai to burn as a lesson to them. The only power the council had was the power of the purse-strings and they clung to that power jealously. At least one plan to assassinate the Commander was discovered, but it never really got off the ground as anyone in XCOM was fanatically loyal to the Commander.
The council knew the only thing they could offer the commander that would sway her (him? I swear the Commander is a guy - C.G. Spender) would be the promise of more funding.The Commander agreed but rejected the calls from some of the operatives that a special team be hand-picked for the operation. I remember him saying, 'If our squads can't handle any mission assigned to them when at full strength, then what is the point of organizing the direct action platoons as a platoon level force? Third squad will take the mission they are next on the rotation. They will augment with appropriate Legion members of course.' That was that. With a spoken word, the Commander cemented the platoon organization of XCOM - at least for now." --COL. Terry Bradford (ret.)
--Interview with C.G. Spender for The Long War Project
The Council comes to XCOM - along with a substantial offer of funding.
Okay listen up everyone. We're going to Newfoundland. Yes, Canada. We're going to be on our own up there - extraction is unlikely if things go tits up. Our objective is to recon the small village of Conception Bay hereby referred to as Objective Shroud. Satellite scans and what available SIGINT we have indicated zero movement in the vicinity. No cars, no pedestrians, no radio, no signals what-so-ever. Our mission is simple. Get in, assess the situation, take appropriate action if needed, then extract. Shouldn't take more than 30 minutes. The big-wigs are concerned about some sort of invasion force, but why the aliens would mass a force on an island is anyone's guess. Enemy situation is unknown, but be ready for anything. No one has been to Canada in almost two months and returned so we need to move fast. That means dropping the heavy armor people Tac Vests only for the mission. I want to be on the objective for less than 30 minutes in case the aliens have some sort of quick reaction force set up. Okay. Gear up people. PCI/PCC in 15 minutes. --LCPL Stream Dragon briefs his 3rd Squad on Crystal Shroud.
Third squad conduct last minute pre-combat checks and pre-combat inspections. Note the light armor and heavy use of explosives. Third Squad continues the tradition of pioneering new technologies by deploying the new laser sniper rifle. Legion 23 and Legion 3 are both chose for their familiarity with explosives and their speed.
Third Squad fast ropes into action on the bleak Newfoundland Coast From Left: Bullockist, Talizvar, and Carlos 13th land in enemy territory
"We needed to figure out what was going on, but I wasn't going to rush. Third Squad isn't the best squad in XCOM because we rush. Let 2nd platoon carry out their shock assaults. We advance with discipline and good fire control."
--LCPL Stream Dragon
3rd Squad advances through the deserted village - guns raised.
"God, that awful skittering... I'll remember it for the rest of my life. Things were quiet. Then just out of nowhere this ... avalanche of skittering. Chryssalids came at us from our left. Luckily, both Legion troopers were in position to provide overwatch and They gunned one down before they even got close."
--LCPL Bullockist on first contact.
Legion 3 wounds a charging 'lid for Legion 23 to finish off. 3rd Squad would face multiple wave attacks by 'lids throughout the mission. Not pictured is the other wave of 'lids approaching from the front. Carlos 13th claims the first of what will be many kills with a laser sniper rifle[i]
[i]more 'lids charge the besieged 3rd squad.
"Fall back! Fall back. Firing line 10 meters behind us. closest targets first! Rockets and grenades on the further squad. Move!"
--Stream Dragon shouts orders over the constant fire.
Third Squad showers the aliens with grenades... ..flashbangs... ...and more explosives. Bullockist and Legion 3 have been caught trying to reload and need time to react. Stream Dragon had moved forward accidentally activating the second pod mid-XCOM turn.
"Fire the rocket, Legion or I will personally tear off your head and spit down your neck!"
--Stream Dragon orders Legion 23 to fire her rocket danger close to Stream Draong
Okay. We're in trouble. The aliens won't die. Legion's rocekt flew off course. (I was hoping I wouldn't have to use it which is why I fired the shredder after I had already grenaded these lids. Luckily the three behind the shipping container are flashbanged, but Legion 3 and Bullockist are still danger close to those guys. The last 'lid on the left is wounded, but not disoriented. He will definitely kill someone if we don't kill him now. I activate run and gun on stream dragon to place him between the squad and the charging 'lids. He comes up aces and kills the fast approaching lid.
"The other three 'lids charged us. They were blinded, deafened, and missing limbs, but they kept coming. Luckily we had slowed them down JUST enough that they didn't reach our lines.
Stream Dragon intercepts a charging 'lid. Bullockist guns down the two 'lids just as they reach melee range
"I've been on plenty of operations, but that was harrowing. They just don't die like you'd expect something missing that much of them to. I'll admit at that point I considered ordering the extraction immediately." --LCPL Stream Dragon recalls the uncertainty of Crystal Shroud
The squad pauses to reload and apply bandages.
"At this point, the mission timeline was shot. 3rd Squad was in heavy contact with Chryssalids and I tried to have the mission aborted. Better to lose the intel than lose the entire squad. Just as I was about to order to evac, the Commander walked up and put her hand on my shoulder. She said, 'Trust them. They'll come through.' I guess I trust her judgment. She reminded me of my older sister like that."
--COL. Bradford on the situation in operations and his relationship with the Commander.
"We continued our advance. More slowly now. We needed to find where the 'lids were coming from. Everyone did a quick count on how many grenades, rockets, and flashbangs we had left. By my estimation, we could sustain maybe two more rushes before the casualties would begin to mount. --Stream Dragon
Legion 3, on point, spots a zombie and wounds it. LCPL Talizvar finises it off with a shotgun blast. and again as another zombie stumbles towards the squad.
Carlos 13th selects a perfect sniper perch as the squad advanes through the village.
The squad lays down fire as a particularly nasty zombie appraches.
"When the Chryssalid came bursting out of that shark, I almost lost my lunch. Chryssalids are gross enough... that sickly sweet minty smell combined with the blood and viscera of a 3 day old dead sea creature made for a olfactory assault that put me off sushi for the rest of my life."
--Legion 3 reflects on the unique smells of battle with XCOM.
Bullockist moves upto deal with a wounded zombie but once again, a pod is inadvertantly activated. Stream Dragon uses his flashbang to slow them down crucially, he can not flashbang all of them as they have spread out. One of them has dodged out of sight behind the shipping container.
With options limited and the aliens closing quickly, Stream Dragon decides to start getting as many kills as he can. There's more skittering off to his left. Here, Carlos 13th takes down the zombie.
Legion 23 is once again out of position for a good rocket shot and ends up only being able to wound 2 of the approaching 'lids
With the threat of the zombie gone, Talizvar advances and lays down a flashbang on the remaining closest 'lid.
The 'lids charge...
... 4 more Chryssalids rush 3rd Squad from the left. That's 8 'lids in close combat range of third squad.
Luckily, the 'lid charge falls just short before 3rd Squad can react. The wounded lids have surrounded Bullockist. Big Mistake.
"I swear he didn't even flinch. Just emptied his laser rifles into the closest 'lid and then transitioned to his sawed-off and downed another on."
--Stream Dragon on Bullockist's reaction to being surrounded.
LCPL Talizvar delivers the final blow against the three 'lids surrounding Bullockist.
Legion 3 opens up the slaughter on the remaining 'lids with a well placed AP grenade.
Legion 23 redeems herself somewhat with her last rocket as she destroys two 'lids
Marine_With_Heart cleans up the wounded 'lid.
"Crystal Shroud... man that was a mission that was alternately terrifying and exhilarating. We'd be on the verge of being overrun, then we'd slaughter them."
--Marine_with_Heart in a rare interview with The Long War Project."
Stream Dragon and Carlos would clean up the remaining two 'lids. 3rd squad had survived the second wave - even worse than the first.
"We were out of rockets, and we were running low on grenades. We only had one flashbang left. We could *maybe* sustain one more wave."
--Stream Dragon.
LCPL Carlos13th spots for the squad as they advance. Carlos 13th would hang back in his sniper perch for the rest of the mission and provide deadly precise sniper fire. Marine with Heart scores another kill.
Carlos13th keeps a low profile and covers 3rd squad as they move onto the fishing vessel.
"We made it up on the deck of that beached fishing vessel and the smell hit us like a sledgehammer. Rotting fish, blood, that minty smell all mixed with salt water and the diesel fuel smell of a freighter. There was this massive, bloated whale carcass in the deck of the freighter. Of course, you could see where the 'lids had planted their eggs so illegal whaling was the least of our concerns."
--Talizvar on the sight of the whale.
"The video feeds coming back to operations were horrific. The dead civilians, the zombies, that whale and those god-awful 'lids. They were so fast and they were implanting anything big enough to hold one of their larvae. It was at this point that the Commander quietly ordered me to destroy the town. 'Blow it all up. Nuke it from orbit if you have to. It's the only way to be sure.' With that she turned around a walked away."
--COL. Terry Bradford (ret.)
[i]3rd Squad gets it's new orders to activate the ships distress transponder in order to guide in XCOM's airwing.[i]
"Talizvar, go activate the transponder. We'll cover you from here."
--Stream Dragon.
Talizvar is in position but needs time to figure out how to activate the system. 3rd Squad opens fire on the 'lids that begin emerging. Finally, Talizvar figures it out.
"The Commander was very clear. We were to blow that village up. The Air wing had lifted off enroute to Newfoundland as soon as she had given the order. At the sort of speeds the air wing was capable of, 3rd squad had eight minutes to get out."
--Bradford
"We aren't leaving anyone behind and we aren't rushing, people. We have 8 minutes and we are all getting out of here. Now fall back in good order and keep the fire up."
--Stream Dragon to his squad as they fall back to extraction.
[i]Carlos13th scores another Chryssalid kill as the squad retreats off the boat.[i]
The Squad makes it to edge of the boat.
More fire from Carlos as the squad retreats
The squad performs a backwards bounding overwatch as two members alternate engaging the emerging lids then are covered by two more members while they retreat. The Squad meets back up with Carlos13th as he dismounts his sniper perch.
Chryssalids charge in ones and twos as the squad retreats. The ship is now crawling with a horde of 'lids all rapidly chasing 3rd Squad.
Chryssalids move to try to cut off 3rd's retreat
Carlos 13th downs another 'lid with his laser pistol
'In the end it was almost anti-climatic. We made it to the extraction with 2 minutes to spare and a ton of dead 'lids to show for it. No one rushed. Actually at the end I don't think anyone was even breathing hard. Stream Dragon just sort of smiled and told us that the rest of XCOM may get all hot and bothered with personal heroics and desperate fights, but 3rd squad would content itself with good execution and everyone coming home alive. With that he let Marine_with_Heart start picking the shredder shrapnel out of his leg."
-- LCPL Bullockist on completing Crystal Shroud.
The airwing pounds Conception Bay and Objective Shroud to ruin. The commander elects not to nuke the area.
OPERATION CRYSTAL SHROUD: Complete
Promotions are handed out liberally as the squad makes it back to base.
Befitting his careful nature, Stream Dragon learns further lessons on tactical sense and situational awareness. The more desperate things are, the clearer he thinks. The doctors would insist he spend two weeks in sick bay recovering from the shredding he took at the hands of legion 23.
Carlos 13th, probably the MVP of Crystal Shroud, becomes proficient at disabling alien weapons with his precise fire. This will be crucial in capturing the aliens in the future.
Continuing the theme of careful advances. Talizvar learns how to use battle scanners to their full effect.
Bullockist becomes insanely proficient at overwatch fire to the point that his snap shots are just as accurate as most people's carefully aimed shots.
"Of course the Council was relieved. Sure, a potentially 'life as we know it ending' new threat was discovered, but so far XCOM was up to it, and they felt they could exercise some control with the application of enough money. The Americans, who had already advocating nuking Canada at least once, were placated and the rest of the world was informed of this new threat. XCOM could breath a little easier, but Russia was still a disaster in the making.
Phew.. that was a close run thing a couple of times. I make that mistake a lot. One of the keys to success in XCOM is engaging enemies on your terms and twice I let that get away from me. Luckily, 3rd squad has some flexibility in how they are built and we were able to learn some valuable lessons about just how fast a flashbanged Chryssalid is. Good work 3rd Squad. Stream Dragon may have earned his Lieutenant's bars today, but I think the Commander has another "reward" in mind for him.
Literal goosebumps when I realized which mission we were going on. I hated, hated that mission.
I can't describe how proud of you all I am 3rd squad. Damn proud.
Sgt_Scruffy wrote: "Of course the Council was relieved. Sure, a potentially 'life as we know it ending' new threat was discovered, but so far XCOM was up to it
Phew.. that was a close run thing a couple of times. I make that mistake a lot. One of the keys to success in XCOM is engaging enemies on your terms and twice I let that get away from me. Luckily, 3rd squad has some flexibility in how they are built and we were able to learn some valuable lessons about just how fast a flashbanged Chryssalid is. Good work 3rd Squad. Stream Dragon may have earned his Lieutenant's bars today, but I think the Commander has another "reward" in mind for him.
dementedwombat wrote: Wow. That is crazy! 33 aliens. Good job everybody, drinks on me when you get back.
Oh, I really like how you do satellite views of "mission sites" . That's a nice feature that adds to the storytelling a lot.
Thank you, I take a look at the map I'm going to play on and try to find something similar on Google Earth near where the mission is supposed to take place.
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streamdragon wrote: Literal goosebumps when I realized which mission we were going on. I hated, hated that mission.
I can't describe how proud of you all I am 3rd squad. Damn proud.
Sgt_Scruffy wrote: "Of course the Council was relieved. Sure, a potentially 'life as we know it ending' new threat was discovered, but so far XCOM was up to it
Phew.. that was a close run thing a couple of times. I make that mistake a lot. One of the keys to success in XCOM is engaging enemies on your terms and twice I let that get away from me. Luckily, 3rd squad has some flexibility in how they are built and we were able to learn some valuable lessons about just how fast a flashbanged Chryssalid is. Good work 3rd Squad. Stream Dragon may have earned his Lieutenant's bars today, but I think the Commander has another "reward" in mind for him.
There's no guarantee you'll actually survive long enough for the 'reward'
Hazzah!
Cool stuff.
Shotgun and fast feet help keep my buds alive.
Grenade buddies and sniper fire makes it like running through a field of minty smelling daisies.
Never seen a guy so surrounded by stabby death and walk away, think I was holding my breath when I placed my shot.
If I see more zombies, can I get extended clips?
You can hit 'em and hit 'em and they just don't die.
You know, I need to spend more time with the eggheads, that transponder thingy had more options to configure than a router.
Was worried the flyboys might miss the ship, they are not having much luck with the UFO's.
Now time to hit the bunk and have nightmares about sushi and skittering noises.
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carlos13th wrote: I still hate lids. Glad to be able to pick them off from afar.
You and me both.
You pick them off, I blast the remaining bits that move.
For some reason I am happy you have a big LAZER, no envy here at all now.
carlos13th wrote:I still hate lids. Glad to be able to pick them off from afar.
Yeah, you racked up quite the kill count on the last mission. Thanks for that.
KamikazeCanuck wrote:So you all went to Canada without me? Oh ok...no, that's cool..... *goes back to playing playing video games in the break room*
Sorry about that buddy, third squad already has their token Canadian in Talizvar and it just wouldn't be fair to the rest of the platoon if they got all the Canadians. You guys are an endangered species now, you know.
Talizvar wrote:Hazzah!
Cool stuff.
Shotgun and fast feet help keep my buds alive.
Grenade buddies and sniper fire makes it like running through a field of minty smelling daisies.
Never seen a guy so surrounded by stabby death and walk away, think I was holding my breath when I placed my shot.
If I see more zombies, can I get extended clips?
You can hit 'em and hit 'em and they just don't die.
You know, I need to spend more time with the eggheads, that transponder thingy had more options to configure than a router.
Was worried the flyboys might miss the ship, they are not having much luck with the UFO's.
Now time to hit the bunk and have nightmares about sushi and skittering noises.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
carlos13th wrote: I still hate lids. Glad to be able to pick them off from afar.
You and me both.
You pick them off, I blast the remaining bits that move.
For some reason I am happy you have a big LAZER, no envy here at all now.
Dude, you won't be too concerned with killing them for much longer.
It was a beautiful day and Scott couldn't be happier. He'd never been to Europe before and here he was, fulfilling his life's destiny no less. Jolene could spend her days fething Mark for all he cared now. He had power. Real power. Already he was quicker, more alert, and he no longer needed his glasses to read the newspaper.
Scott snapped out of his reverie and regarded his new partner. She was sitting across the plaza at a coffee house, and Scott had confirmed all the correct signals had been passed. He dropped his copy of the New York Times (Lead Story: Canada closes it's borders amid rumor of alien attack) and headed to meet his new protege.
As he approached, he mentally reviewed her file. Strong, intelligent, ex-military although discharged for some scandal involving an Admiral and classified documents. Ambitious no doubt, and apparently so cold-blooded she passed the induction tests without even batting an eye... now that was impressive. In truth, if the documents he had seen were any indication, Scott was worried he'd end up working for this woman. Of course, she wasn't hard to look at.... maybe he'd give Jolene a taste of her...
"You must be Graham! So nice to meet you. I hope the flight from Philadelphia went well?" She was making contact correctly. Good.
"Oh, you know, the security people think my shoes hold the key to global destruction and the economy class was crammed full of people desperate to get away from BIG SCARY Canada, but it was uneventful."
She recognized the counter-code. Good. This Ms. Silver would work out just fine...
Now THAT was an impresive pice of work 3rd, very nicely done indeed.
And that interlude...man you should start publising thrillers. Id buy them in an instance, and as always a great AAR. really gives the whole thing a special kind of autensicity
That mission could quite easily have hit the fan - some excellent discipline from third squad to hold things together. I think that Glory Squad will have to put in some extra time in the simulator if third are going to pull performances like this out of the bag!
An exciting debrief to observe!
*At first glance her contact didn't seem too special, but then, those were often the ones who were the most valuable. After the opening exchange of covert signals the man got up, dropped his paper in the bin and crossed to where she was sitting in the cafe. She could see him assessing her but she remained relaxed, schooling her expression and body language into something that would fit the exchange.
The passcodes were correctly given and countered, although Silver's hand never strayed far from the concealed laser pistol she was carrying. After all, you never could tell who you were dealing with. Case in point, her contact looked like a man unsure quite where to put himself and constantly made motions as if to adjust a pair of glasses he wasn't wearing - despite not having the faint ring around the iris of a man wearing contact lenses.
She quietly observed his behaviours as the meeting progressed, becoming increasingly sure that he appeared to almost be unfamiliar with his own body. Drugs? Psychic possession? Whatever it was, Silver felt sure that XCOM wanted to study it, which meant that if things went down she couldn't just blast a hole through his head or damage him... too much at least...*
toasteroven wrote: Interesting fact: I had the Harbor mission map pop up as a terror mission in Long War.
It was unpleasant.
This thread is great, though. I'm amazed at what you've pulled off, time and time again.
Yeah, I've had that as well. It's a tough map to do a terror mission on because it's so damn big. Floaters just love going after civies.
Well this is my 6th game of Long War and I've never played past the middle of July either through sheer frustration when half your team ends up dead or you get a squad wipe or something. I think I learned my lessons for Spring and early Summer of the first year. After that we are in unexplored territory gentlemen.
Okay, covert extractions are my least favorite Exalt missions. First off, you are limited to 4 squad members, and secondly, they rarely give you much in the way of reward. Exalt in Long War is incredibly dangerous due to their sheer numbers alone. You will be heavily outnumbered in all missions. There are pods everywhere and they aren't afraid to use grenades, missiles, sniper rifles, and healing mist. This will be a challenge.
"THAT BITCH!" Scott Rasmussen was furious. His files were gone, his computer was destroyed, and all the cell's information on Ms. Silver (if that was even her real name) was deleted. She couldn't have gotten far, he'd been keeping tabs on here ever since he'd chanced here making that dead drop at the railway station. Pure coincidence that he'd been there too. Things didn't quite add up after that. Had he still been in corporate he would have called his boss for instructions, but the cell had to take care of it's own issues here. Their work was too important. First things first. Call Takashi and Dementyev and get the cell's response force together. He wasn't going to take the blame for this. He'd see to it personally...
"Commander, can I see you for a moment?" Bradford never seemed to sleep. The Commander was fairly sure Dr. Vahlen was plying him with some sort of (no doubt highly experimental) stimulant. Bradford had that slightly jittery quality he always got when things were happening -especially bad things.
It's LT Silver MK2 isn't it?" The Commander had a knack for know what was going on.
"Yes Sir, apparently someone stumbled on to her identity and she had to cut things a little short. Her last communique stated she had vital intelligence on this EXALT organization and that she needed immediate extraction. The Skyranger crew is saying they'll have head winds all the way to Germany and that we need to cut the payload down to four combat-equipped crew members. Fourth squad is next up in rotation and I already have LT. Trondheim ..."
"That won't be necessary. First Squad will retrieve the LT. I need my squad's whole. Anyone on a covert mission will be picked up by their own squad."
"Yes, Sir."
"Oh, and Bradford?"
"Sir?"
"Get some sleep."
"Yes, Sir."
--Audio recording 0135, 28 May 2015
--The Long War Project
The short-handed 1st squad is given the mission. Although this would upset the normal rotation, it would become a standard operating procedure that the squad would always retrieve it's own covert operative. CPL Elemental would command the mission until LT Silver could officially take command.
A circling squad surveillance drone captures 1st Squad disembarking the Skyranger. Aviation enthusiasts and aerospace industry analysts would speculate for years on just how the skyranger was simultaneously fast, quiet, stealthy, and possessed most of the capabilities of a helicopter such as prolonged hovering and VTOL/STOL capabilities.
So the key I feel in extraction missions is to not activate too many pods/squads at once. Individually, I don't feel the EXALT soldier is that dangerous, but they tend to come in numbers that make them quite hard to handle. Early Exalt missions give you nothing in the way of captives or advanced weaponry so you'll notice that I am quite liberal with the explosives. On this mission I need to hack two communications relays and get LT Silver back to the extraction zone. The squad can then either kill everyone left or extract. Usually you are dealing with between 16-20 Exalt members on these missions so I doubt I'll be able to hang around and kill everyone without getting someone killed so I'm not going to go for it.
The squad takes cover immediately as the skyranger departs as quickly and silently as possible.
The good LT Silver MK2 hunkers down on the roof she's taken cover on. The Exalt patrols control the streets for now.
Two Exalt operatives stumble on our exfiltration team
CPL Eusbius "Vulture" Walrus seriously wounds the first Exalt agent XCOM encounters.
CPL Cthulu Spy lays down such a barrage as to panic the wounded exalt into jumping into the open.
Eddie Azrael makes his mark in first squad as he claims his first kill and wounds the other exalt agent with a well placed grenade
LT Silver MK2 takes cover behind a decoy Exalt server stack. The final bits of intelligence needed are somewhere in the vicinity.
"Luckily, Exalt was too concerned with trying to capture or kill LT Silver that they forgot to yank her server access. If we could get her into their communications net, we could probably stall their search..."
--COL Bradford on Patient Law
More Exalt operatives appear on 1st squads right flank.
Even more operatives rush to corner 1st Squad.
Exalt deploys explosives and Specialist Azrael is wounded.
LT Silver's rushes to hack the Exalt communications network. It seems to slow them down more than anticipated (all their guns stop working)
SPEC Azrael quickly rushes the lone Exalt operative and dispatches him at point blank range.
Esubius claims an Exalt kill as the human fanatics mill about in confusion.
Exalt falls back to regroup - giving LT Silver time to rush the last encoder.
"I don't think I've ever seen such a bizarre fire fight. LT Silver was running around in the middle of the enemy. I think most of the Exalt didn't know exactly who they were looking for and were just responding to our attack. Maybe some of them considered her an ally. After all, she hadn't shot anyone... yet."
--CPL Elemental marvels at Exalt's lack of reaction to Silver.
The firefight descends into chaos as 1st squad throws flashbangs and AP grenades to whittle the EXALT forces down enough for LT Silver to make the withdrawal.
LT Silver MK2 turns on her erstwhile allies at the critical moment.
Grenades are thrown danger close in order to clear the LT for her run. All Exalt weapons are operational at this point but all visible Exalt agents are flashbanged.
CPL Elemental breaks what has thus far been a run of catastrophically bad luck and finally claims an Exalt kill. (Seriously, he had missed 2 90% shots in a row and a 74% shot).
A blinded Exalt operative sprays the room with fire... slipping a round past CPL Elemental's chest plate and puncturing his lung.
Cthulu Spy and Esubius Walrus enacts swift vengeance and allows LT Silver and CPL Elemental to make their withdrawal.
Eddie Azrael, who has been covering the left flank (3-5 Exalt operatives have been seen dropping in but so far have not entered the fight) begins his withdrawal while maintaining overwatch.
Which promptly pays off as the Sniper tries to sneak up to cover the extraction route
Exalt, although fanatically zealous and insanely ambitious, are not too tactically sound. Genetically enhanced operatives drop right into the overwatch fire around 1st squad.
LT Silver dashes towards the extraction zone but refuses to leave until the rest of the squad can join her.
LT Silver is the last one on the skyranger
"What happened, Rasmussen?" Demntyev was hurriedly packing up what was left of the equipment along with Rasmussen and the remaining members of the cell. Takashi and his men were dead - killed in that raid by whomever those people were.
" We were betrayed by that whore, Silver." Once we get evacuated, I'll go to HQ personally and make sure this is all taken care of... I am not going to let this...
Scott Rasmussen was still telling anyone who would listen how this was not his fault when Demenyev put a bullet in his head.
Well done first squad. the random number generator was not on our side this time (we missed A TON of shots, but we still pulled it off. Elemental will be in the ICU for a month and Azrael is out for almost two weeks, but you guys pulled it off. While 1st squad has dominated the story-line thus far, this makes for a good opportunity for the other squads to step forward and take up the plot.
Eddie Azrael has proven himself 1st squad material and is promoted to LCPL. 4 kills in one mission! Good job Azrael
So next time we'll get back in the rotation with 4th squad. Stay tuned!
Excellent extraction technique Glory squad. Could not have asked for better backup to pull my buns out of the fire. I will make sure medical have something good to put in your IV's Elemental and Azrael.
Well done 1st, would have liked to see some captives or at least useful intel beside the main catche retrived. But stellar work non the less I dare say.
So it seems that just attempting to keep up with the rest of 1st Squad put me in the ICU! Glad I didn't let the rest of the squad down though, and I seem to have earned my stripes - literally!
And that's why untrained fanatics make horrible military forces. Lots of enthusiasm does not make up for lack of combat experience! Good job 1st squad.
I find the fact that certain humans actually want to join with these aliens disgusting. I've seen enough of what they can do to know that negotiating isn't on the table. Admittedly there isn't much information floating around since stuff is still pretty classified, but I don't know what these crazies could possibly hope to gain from this arrangement.
dementedwombat wrote: And that's why untrained fanatics make horrible military forces. Lots of enthusiasm does not make up for lack of combat experience! Good job 1st squad.
I find the fact that certain humans actually want to join with these aliens disgusting. I've seen enough of what they can do to know that negotiating isn't on the table. Admittedly there isn't much information floating around since stuff is still pretty classified, but I don't know what these crazies could possibly hope to gain from this arrangement.
IIRC, Exalt doesn't want to actually join the aliens as much as utilize their technology to force human evolution forward. Think the Illuminati but with aliens.
dementedwombat wrote: And that's why untrained fanatics make horrible military forces. Lots of enthusiasm does not make up for lack of combat experience! Good job 1st squad.
I find the fact that certain humans actually want to join with these aliens disgusting. I've seen enough of what they can do to know that negotiating isn't on the table. Admittedly there isn't much information floating around since stuff is still pretty classified, but I don't know what these crazies could possibly hope to gain from this arrangement.
"Exalt wants one thing - personal power. They believe that now is their time. They are the visionaries who will guide humanity forward into a new golden age. Of course, they will be at the helm as is only correct for such men (and no few women) of vision. Men like Scott Rasmussen are petty little foot soldiers in Exalt's quest for world domination and evolutionary apotheosis. The Rasmussen's of the world provide Exalt with a perfect package of discontent, ambition, and petty viciousness. They are given the crumbs of personal power and sent out into the world to sow panic, spread misinformation, and ruin the lives of millions.
Ultimately, Silver's work is only a small part of this new front in the campaign to defend Earth, but an important one. Exalt must be found and soon. Defeating the alien will mean nothing if Earth is lost in the meantime."
--Personal diary, Col Terry Bradford
Excellent extraction.
Funny to see how confused Exalt gets with an infiltrator in their midst.
I MUST find out how weapons can be hacked to shut down... that was AWESOME!!!
Low tech shotgun is looking like a good backup "just in case".
The group in recovery is getting awfully big for comparing scars.
Awesome job Sgt_Scruffy, I have been XCOM fan sense the start and this thread is just another reason to love it more. That all being said time to get off the bench and into the action.
Gallia_Comata reporting for duty sir
I don't really care where or what I look like so go nuts with that. I would like to to either be a Gunner(LMG) or Rocketeer. Either a rate of fire higher then the collective IQ of man, or the ability to explode all of man is my calling. Also I am down with any gene/MEC/Psi mods you are willing to cram into me, because I love mods and transhumanism and not because disdain the officer class at all.......at all...*Coughblue bloodsCough*
By the end of May, the squads were beginning to form their own identities. 1st squad, the so called "Glory" squad had gained a reputation for professionalism and perfectionism only recently tainted by their forays into cover actions. 2nd Squad was still struggling to shed it's reputation as the Cursed Squad, but their May had been a good one with few casualties. 2nd Squad seemed particularly eager to do whatever it took to destroy the alien and spent many long hours with Vahlen and Shen testing new tactics, techniques, and technology in hopes of gaining an edge. 3rd Squad was still the solid heart of 1st Platoon. They also enjoyed a reputation as the "guinea pig" squad that always fielded new weapons, items, and technology. Already Dr. Vahlen was briefing 3rd squad on expected xeno-neurological weaknesses. 4th Squad, 1st Platoon and 1st Squad, 2nd Platoon were developing a burgeoning rivalry as XCOM's premier shock assault squads. Where 4th squad accomplished this with disciplined fire and steady advances, 2nd platoon had thus far accomplished it with lightning assaults. Both approaches had their adherents and detractors, but both styles definitely worked.
4th Squad would have a particularly interesting encounter in the closing hours of the Month. Exalt's operation in Hamburg had drawn the attention of the already active aliens in the area. A heavy alien abduction raid hit Cologne like a sledgehammer in the middle of the night on the 31st of May. Resistance was expected to be heavy so the Commander made the decision to elevate a member of the Legion to 4th Squad's roster. Although more snipers would have been preferable, the sniper school was having a hard time churning out the recruits needed for XCOM's needs. Instead, the Commander gave 4th squad it's first gunner in the form of the newest Dakka Corp member Orlanth.
The coming hours would see one of the fiercest fire fights of the war.
--The Long War Project
--Edited by C.G. Spender
A successful Exalt mission and the council mission means I'm sitting on some cash. I've decided to spend it on a new satellite and a new interceptor. Russia's panic is rising so fast that I don't think I'll be able to stop it even if I get a satellite up in time. Instead, I'm going to focus on Asia to prevent the fall of another contitnent bonus. We'll take back Russia and Canada at some point, I swear. Orlanth, I didn't have any male snipers available for you to take or I would have given you one. Instead, I assigned you to a gunner who I eventually want to make into a light machine gun squadsight, holotarget, shredder build.
The Squad assembles just prior to boarding.
"Okay, listen up. I'm not one for big speeches and I'm not going to pull any punches. This is a heavy engagement. You all have done this before - either here or in the legion. Do your job, don't feth up, and watch your lane. Orlanth is our new squad member, but save your introductions for later. We've got a job to do. PCIs in 5 minutes."
--LT Tronheim prior to Burning Thorn
Demented Wombat and Motyak take point as the squad lands at the LZ
"I've never seen the aliens charge us at the LZ. Maybe they were testing new tactics? Regardless, we came across five of them less than 30 seconds into the mission."
--Motyak
As the squad spreads out, LT Trondheim faces a dilemma. He can stand in the open to gain maximum firepower and hope to wipe out 5 Floaters before they can return fire, or he can dive for cover and sacrifice the chance for the quick kill in return for better survival. Either course of action has risks, but Trondheim tells his men to dive for cover. Here, Adept Sister displays her incredible speed by scaling the drain pipe while the rest of the squad takes defensive positions on the ground.
Tronheim, Motyak, and Malfred are the front line with Orlanth, Legion, and Wombat in support I mis-clicked Wombat and ran him into the open so I had to scramble him back into cover or this engagement may have been over a lot faster
An embryo of a plan forms as the squad watches the Floaters scramble for cover
Crucially, the floaters don't seem to notice Adept Sister above them.
"I swear there was a stand-off moment between the 12 of us. 7 on our side and the 5 of them just seemed to stare at each other. Neither side quite sure what to do. Then the LT shot one of them in the face..."
--Malfred on Burning Thorn.
Trondheim downs the Floater with the aerial advantage.
CPL Malfred's rocket goes long, but still bags a Floater
"These new scatter guns were amazing. I loved it"
--CPL Motyak describing his impressive Burning Thorn kill count.
Motyak scores his first kill of the mission
With three Floaters down, Trondheim signals Adept Sister to blind the other two. The engagement has swung decisively in 4th Squad's favor.
Things were going okay when Wombat spots 5 more enemies coming in hard on the left flank. There are 4 floaters and a Muton. Totaly enemy count at this point = 7.
Another view of the tactical situation as Wombat is in dager of getting outflanked.
Meanwhile, Adept Sister discovers one of the original Floaters had decided to not take cover... tsk tsk.
Unfortunately, laser rifles aren't quite strong enough to bring the Floater Squad leader down.
CPL Wombat, meanwhile, decides to reduce the Muton's cover with a well placed grenade.
"This Muton shrugged off the shrapnel peppering his body and just thumped his chest and roared so loud I could smell his breath from 20 yards away. I'm ashamed to say I panicked a little."
--CPL Wombat
Feth. Wombat is one of the best troops in the squad and now he's out of action for a while. There are other Floater pods nearby, I can hear them
Legion 5 secures Wombat's flank with a well placed shot.
"Wombat was trapped. I'm not sure what was going on there, but I knew he would get flanked so we were going to have to pin these new aliens until he could move. I would flashbang while Orlanth would overwatch. He was well back but hopefully that would prevent them from charging up.
--Trondheim
More aliens join the fight on the left....
Another pod of Floaters rockets into view on the front bringing the total enemy count to 11. 10 Floaters remain and a Muton. Things look bad.
"This is my first mission and all, but I've been the Legion for a while. I've never dropped with 4th squad though. The scuttlebutt was they were a heavy assault unit so it made sense to send a medic on over, but man, they weren't kidding. I saw more aliens in 3 minutes than I'd seen in my entire operational history on Burning Thorn..... What did we do about it? Oh we murdered them!"
--Adept Sister in archival interview
CPL Malfred opens the slaughter by catching an entire pod in a rocket blast. CPL Motyak gets three kills with one grenade as the pod disintegrates under grenade and rocket fire.
Adept Sister drops down to check for survivors and spots on lone Floater. She pins it in place with an overwatch.
"I heard a lot of explosions behind me, but Motyak was still calmly calling out targets and they didn't seem to be in distress. I had my own issues here trying to rescue Wombat. 2 floaters and the Muton were still active. First things first. I could see an alien grenade hanging on the Muton's armor and I knew he would use it if we tried to get too close. Legion 5 would have to take down the Muton. Thank God she's a decent shot."
--LT Trondheim
LT Trondheim downs an already wounded floater.
Return fire from the remaing floaters seriously wounds our Legion sniper who has been the focus of alien attack for the entire mission.
Shrugging off her wounds, Legion 5 delivers swift, but not fatal retribution.
Specialist Orlanth, having gotten back into position, scales the pipe and prepares to secure the roof.
Orlanth secures his first kill since joining the Dakka Corps.
"Orlanth had a stroke of genius. I knew there were more Floaters to our left but I wasn't sure how I was going to tackle them... our squad was dangerously split. If we could secure the roof, we could potentially react to whatever the aliens threw at us."
--LT Trondheim
CPL Wombat rejions the squad on the roof
CPL Malfred secures a commnding spot on the ground floor.
"The alien clearly knew we were watching him. I could almost see him on the verge of panic. It's nice to know they feel fear. Anyway, he was holding up the proceedings so I ran forward an killed him."
--CPL Motyak describes kill #5 on Burning Thorn.
Most of the Squad has regrouped, reloaded, and reoriented for the final assault. Not pictured is Motyak (still in the alley killing the wounded Floater) and Legion 5 who is making her way to the roof for treatment.[i]
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU,,,, I TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT THIS GUY
Thank you Jesus, Buddha, Shiva, and all the lucky rabit's feet on the planet. A Floater misses a point blank flank shot. I actually leaped out of my chair and had to pace around the room for about 30 seconds...
[i]Motyak, not quite believing his luck, does not make the mistake of missing. That's kill #6
Meanwhile, the squad continues to regroup - oblivious to Motyak's life and death struggles behind them.
LT Trondheim finds another pod of Floaters. Do they ever end?
CPL Wombat redeems himself from earlier and wounds the squad.
Adept sister is potentially caught out of position as she is busy working on Legion 5. Legion 5 deploys a smoke grenade to conceal them.
LT Trondheim manages to just spot one wounded floater for an easy kill.
Motyak was out of round for his scatter gun, but that wasn't going to stop him. Here Motyak finishes off another Floater from the pod Wombat wounded.This brings his kill count to 7.
The squad spread out trying to find what happened to the last 2 Floaters in the pod. They are nowhere in sight.
I got this... premonition... a hunch. I don't know what you want to call it, but somehow I just knew the aliens were hiding off to our right. [color=red](Actually, I tried to run Wombat there and the game would let me)
CPL Malfred drop down right on top of the last wounded Floater and kills him (her? it?) at point blank range.
Final Score: XCOM: 17. Aliens: 0
Specialist Orlanth and Legion 5 are both promoted LCPL.
LCPL Orlanth would go on to pioneer a new (for XCOM) form of gunner tactics. He would now take the longer ranged, heavier LMG over the standard SAW.
In addition to all their kills, 4th squad nets a substantial haul of alien goods.
Requests for alien materials in exchange for scientific expertise have been pouring in as the month draws to a close.
"The Council thought they still had control, although I think in their private fears they already knew they were largely irrelevant. Their ridiculous hearings and bureaucracies they had brought with them from their previous lives and legislators and businessmen were old habits that needed to die. XCOM was already moving beyond their petty politics and securing the loyalties of those whom they needed. For now, though, The Commander humored their "report cards."
--C.G. Spender on the Political Situation.
[color=red] So here you see the dire situation Russia is in. They get bombed every day or so and there is no way I will be able to stop that short of transferring the entire air wing to Europe. Even then, it's a losing battle. No. We'll focus on Asia. The Foundry should be coming online soon and the Asian bonuses will be crucial as the Foundry is much more extensive. Overall I'm pretty happy with how the month went. I know I'm somewhat gimping myself by spreading out the experience SO broadly. It would really help if I could get some guys up to Master Sergeant for eventual base assaults and what have you, but we still have time. The war goes on. Hope you enjoy.[/colo]
There's still time to join people! Do your part! Join the Dakka Corps!
Don't know what happened there, my head was just not in it that mission. First I run out into the middle of nowhere instead of grabbing cover (communications breakdown there, I swear I heard "rush them"). Next I let Big Ugly intimidate me into grabbing cover while the rest of m squad has to haul my butt out of there.
After staring down `lids charging at me you'd think I'd have handled that a little better, but the guy was just so big, and it's hard to explain, but the obvious intelligence and deliberation they show gives you time to think. With the `lids you just have to shoot them, you can't think about what you're doing until after it's over. You know?
I'll do better next time. Humanity is counting on me!
It's with great sadness that I must report the first death among the members od the Dakka Corps. Details are still coming in, so it would unwise to speculate at this time. Alert the medical bay and the morgue. Skyranger inbound...
"It's never easy, you know? We circle the battlefield and monitor the squad channels as they ply their deadly trade. Sometimes we swoop in on a hot LZ to extract. Sometimes we're ordered to stand by and loiter while the squad gets shot all to hell and back. I was trained in the best insertion and extraction teams in the world. 160th SOAR, Flight Concepts, and outfits you've never heard of. That's probably what got the attention of XCOM in the first place. Crewing for the Bin Laden raid was exciting, but crewing for XCOM? It's mostly just sad. Men and Women coming in bleeding and crying for their mommas.... and Command calling it a victory.... I've never met the Commander, but I hear he's a @(#&$(# bastard.
--Jihadin
-- Crew Chief, Skryanger 1
OPERATION SWIFT ENGINE. 6 June 2015.Harbin, China
"You think you've got the whole plan figured out, and you think you've accounted for every possibility, every contingency, and every possible catastrophe; but you forget that the enemy has a vote, and it counts for just as much as yours."
-- Unknown staff officer, XCOM Central Command
The day dawned bright enough. Squall018 and Galia_Comata would both be elevated out of the Legion. Both Legionnaires hailed from the United States and the 6th of June was a particularly auspicious day in their military history. Squall018 in fact hailed originally from the 82nd Airborne before making his way up through the ODA, and eventually Delta Force. He would join 2nd Platoon, 1st Squad as another element of their shock assault squad.
Galia_Comata got drafted in from federal law enforcement although he orignally learned his skills in Marine Force Recon. Galia's particular penchant for excessive force made him a bad-fit for hostage rescue and crisis response teams - however his exceptional lethality drew the interest of the Council recruiters.
"The month of June started off fairly quietly. The first week was almost totally devoid of contact. This rare week of relative calm left some members of the staff fairly jubilant while it left others worried..
Dr.Shen dsplays his new plans for expansion XCOM HQ
Dr. Vahlen was particularly pleased as her team made a reproducible combination of the alien alloy and conventional Kevlar. The Commander would immediately order an initial production run of 2 sets of the expensive armor.
The Commander finally gave the order: XCOM was expanding into Asia. Russia would have to fend for itself. CPL Chaos0xomega would have to be restrained at the news. LT. Dean "Rascal" Tompkins would take command of the newly formed Asian Air Wing of XCOM Air and Space Command
Senator Duncan Wilson (R-AZ), chariman of the United States Senate Armed Services Committee leaned back in his chair. He hadn't felt this young in years. Things were finally moving.Let that idiot Jack Reed blather on about readiness postures in response to extra-terrestrial threats and how much the Canada crisis should affect base realignment and closure hearings in the coming sessions. Of course, he would play the game, for now, but if things played out as he expected then he wouldn't have to worry about what his caucus or what that simpering idiot in the White House did. The latest news out of Russia was... disturbing, true, but Lockheed Martin's (a valuable campagin contributor) stock had risen 23% on the news. Their vaunted (although absolutely useless) F-56 high altitude intercepter was pure pork, but it got him votes and it sold well in the press. The Dreamland boys probably had something better, but he wasn't in on the secret... yet. He thought the F-56 project would succeed about as well as his country's continuing efforts to pacify the Middle East.. not at all. Of course, none of that mattered
No, what Duncan Wilson needed was success of a different sort. If his latest gambit worked, than he wouldn't have to worry about New York TImes OP Eds or the weekly Gallup Polls. Actually, he wouldn't have to worry about much at all if Argentina worked out as he planned and as he hoped. He picked up the phone..
"Get me The CEO of Lockheed Martin, Marilyn Hewson, please"
"Right away, Seantor Wilson."
Of course, his call was answered as it was at all defense industry companies.
"May you be exalted among women, Mrs. Hewson."
"What can I do for you, Senator."
"Let's Talk about Argentina..."
"Everything is on schedule..."
Senator Wilson smiled a rare, unpracticed smile. Argentina would work out just fine. The future was lookng up.
"Sir, I think you should look at this." Bradford had that shrill voice he got when he was on the hunt.
"What is it Major?" The Commander seemed particularly somber today - uncharacteristically, as if expecting something bad to happen.
"The Clarin, it's an Argentinian Newspaper. Basically, it's their New York Times and they just published the article claiming that a secret council is controlling the planet's response to the alien crisis."
"It's the truth - more or less."
"Yes Sir, but not the way they're portraying it. It all read very Illuminati and Free Masons-like, if you catch my drift..."
"I do. I'm guessing it's quite the scandal."
"It is. They have "evidence" or so they claim. We've checked and it's all bogus, but it looks credible enough... Credible enough to force our Argentinian Council Member's hand."
"They'll withdraw?"
"If it gets worse, yes."
"Then see too it Major."
"Yes, Sir."
It's shaping up to be a dark month. Music for this month is Skyfall by Adele. Listen to it in the context of XCOM and it's quite fitting I think.
Look for Operation Swift Engine tomorrow in it's entirety tomorrow
Well done first squad. the random number generator was not on our side this time (we missed A TON of shots, but we still pulled it off. Elemental will be in the ICU for a month and Azrael is out for almost two weeks, but you guys pulled it off. While 1st squad has dominated the story-line thus far, this makes for a good opportunity for the other squads to step forward and take up the plot.
"A sucking chest wound is nature's way of telling you to slow down, I guess. When you're lying on a bed with tubes in your chest, you get a lot of time to think, and I kept going over all those good clean shots that I'd missed--and why. When it's human against alien, there's no hesitation--and even less after I'd seen the footage from the Newfoundland battle. But fighting humans after so long battling monsters from the skies? That hadn't felt right. Oh, we were still fighting to the best of our ability, and no false modesty, the team are all damn good soldiers, but in the heat of battle, it's those tiny distractions that make the difference between a live enemy and a dead one.
"Time to come back down to earth--I don't mean we stop needling 2nd and 3rd about 1st being the best of the best, that's a proud tradition! But we've gotta remember at all times that this is war, and wars can get really ugly, really fast."
So I take this current trend of increased Exalt operations as a clue that we will be increasing our efforts against them? Perhaps some additional improvements to side arms and such would be wise, considering the nature of the task the covert ops has to preform?
OPERATION SWIFT ENGINE. 6 June 2015. Harbin, China
"Who knows how the aliens find their targets. Maybe they've seen XCOM's pivot to Asia and are trying to decisively knock out a Council member before Asia is too heavily fortified. With Russia falling into chaos, maybe it's only natural for the violence to spill over into northern China. Maybe it is our increased presence that allowed us to detect an already on going operation in the first place. Regardless, XCOM would respond."
-Dr. Shen's personal log
1st Squad, 2nd Platoon is now almost fully manned. Although still short on experience, 2nd platoon will shape up to be a deadly shock assault unit. As the only squad that boasts two infantry soldiers and a gunner, 2nd platoon put out more firepower on a per-soldier basis than any squad in XCOM. Legion support consists of a scout and a rocketeer to fill out gaps in 2nd's roster.
2nd Platoon scrambles out of the Skyranger at the start of Swift Engine
"We had contact as soon as we got off the 'ranger. Lots of contact. I'd seen video on those Mutons, but you don't realize just how big they are until you're staring them in the face..."
--Squall018 on his first encounter with Mutons.
Two mutons and two floaters makes this the toughest pod XCOM has yet encountered.
'Priority one targets are the mutons, I don't want them getting shots off. Floaters are secondary, but take a shot at them if you've got it."
--Kamikaze Canuck issues his orders to his squad.
Flaming Killamajig softens up the mutons with a disappointing AP grenade
The tactical situation develops. 2nd Platoon set up a base of fire and charges in response to the close ambush.
Unknown Legionnaire flash bangs tow muton warriors in an attempt to temporarily take them out of the fight.
LCPL Hordini seriously wounds a floater, but crucially fails to kill him. Kamikaze hopes that Hordini's renowned close combat specialist abilities will prove sufficient to save him.
Kamikaze Canuck shoots a Muton through his right eye -- apparently a vulnerable spot.
LCPL Bromsy suppresses the threatening floater.
Here we see the alien's standard threat response. When faced with flanking situations. They choose to supress the flanker and move to cover and overwatch.
It's too late for the forward floater though. LCPL Bromsy destroys the already wounded alien with a well placed shot.
More aliens enter the fray
Flaming Killamajig continues his streak of wounding but not killing aliens
Squall018 scores his first kill as a member of 2nd platoon
Kamikaze Canuck disorients the remaining Muton.
The Squad moves to take the bank.
Flaming Killamajig takes a grave wound as alien plasma fire rains down 2nd squad. The Sectoids are now in danger of flanking our positions.
"Sectoids apparently learned how to shoot over the last couple of months when we haven't seen them. Squall018 was hit by a sectoid who had been hiding. Luckily, Squall would survive the wound."
Blurry image of Flaming Killamajig injuring another sectoid. What was it about these sectoids that was making them SO hard to kill?
Hordini finishes off a wounded sectoid
Squall guns down another Sectoid
LCPL Bromsy suppresses another sectoid in the hopes of keeping his pinned
"I sent half the squad around the to the right to deal with the sectoids. I had faith in Hordini and Bromsy and the new kid Squall018 seemed to be a pretty steady sort. While 1st squad moved right, I would shepherd the legionnaires around the left to deal with this fething Muton. Maybe I shouldn't have done that... I don't know. It seemed like a good idea at the time."
--LCPL Canuck on the burdens of command and the fog of war.
A legionnaire takes a nasty wound from the heavily entrenched Muton.
The stalemate is finally broken as a Legionnaire makes a (poorly aimed) shot at the Muton, depriving him of cover.
Kamikaze Canuck unloads her laser rifle into the stubborn Muton - scoring her second muton kill of the mission.
Flaming Killamajig once again fails to kill a sectoid at point blank range. Perhaps his laser weapon is defective?
Squall018 cleans up another sectoid kill with his pistol
"Strike 1, this is Skyranger, you've got sectoid's closing in from the west."
"Roger Skyranger, break. Bromsy, move your team up to take their left flank, over."
"We've got to patch up and reload, over."
"Okay, Hordini, take the roof. You're the flanking element. Bromsy, move your team when ready."
"Roger."
"Okay, Legionnaires, that means we're the target practice for a while. Grab some cover and hunker down! For God's sake, aim your rocket launcher legionnaire.... swear I gotta do everything myself..."
--Kamikaze issues hasty orders as more aliens enter the fray.
Flaming Killamajig uses his only medkit to stabilize Squall018. Hordini takes the roof The sectoids once again prove that they've been training hard. A Legionnaire takes another heavy hit Perhaps because of the wound, but more likely due to nerves, Legion 14's shredder rocket flies well left and long of her aimed spot... some of the aliens escape serious injury. Sectoids tank more explosive damage. What is with these aliens?
Bromsy, Flaming, and Squall activate a 4th pod. 2 thin men and a Seeker join the fight.
"The aliens seemed to be having a hard time maneuvering. It was a stalemate. We were pretty much out of explosives at this point and our options for an assault were limited. I could have pulled back and tried to regroup for a roof top assault, but with the pods already aware of us, they might just follow us up into the killing ground. They had better cover than we did and they had more of it. I was nursing 4 badly wounded soldiers and I needed this fight to end quickly. I don't know what I should have done differently..I don't know..
--LCPL Canuck on the debrief of Swift Engine
"I've never seen fire like that before... our guys and the aliens were just pounding the hell out of each other. Everyone's calling this war, but 90% of XCOM's actions are short, sharp, breach and clears. This was the first open warfare I'd seen between the two sides. From up in the ranger, it looked almost pretty... green blobs and red beams criss-crossing the parking lot. It sounded like hell on the squad channel. There was almost the continual thump of explosions and the constant chatter of squad members calling out targets. One of guys was pretty clearly in shock - I think that was Squall, but he kept firing. Another guy, that would be the medic Flaming Killamajig, kept trying to talk one of the Legionnaires through applying first aid to keep himself from bleeding out... At least in a blackhawk you can provide some cover fire, but the skyranger is built for speed..."
--Jihadin, Crew Chief and systems operator on Skyranger 1
What follows is a pictorial representation of one enemy turn at the height of Swift Engine
A bad shot of Squall018 finishing his kill of the thin man he wounded with his covering fire
"Things were grave... yes.. but I felt that they were under control. 2nd platoon would be out of action for a while, but the dominoes were in place finally and Hordini was about to knock 'em down. 2nd platoon had the least amount of experience and were facing some very heavy opposition. Bromsy's fire team would turn the flank and it would be all over... we didn't know Seekers could fire when cloaked..."
--COL. Bradford (ret.) recounts Swift Engine
"We had suppressed most of their cover fire and so I ordered the advance. Flaming Killamajig just got up and rushed to his next spot.. should have been easy..."
--LCPL Bromsy
Okay, I call BS. That seeker was cloaked and he can overwatch? I was being very careful about rushing my shot up squad around under overwatch fire. I don't know if this is a bug or a feature, but I guess in war you learn hard lessons at the cost of good soldier's lives.
The news of Killamajig going down quieted the net, but only for a second. There was no panic. It made sense in a twisted sort of way. The mission seemed be building up to something happening. There would be time for grief later, but Canuck, to her credit took command before things got out of hand.
"Okay. Okay people....[short pause]... Bromsy advance and take out that dammed Seeker. Squall, cover her. Hordini make your assault. I want Killamajig protected until we can arrange an evac. Let's kill these fethers and go home."
Bromsy exacts swift vengeance Hordini drops down in the midst of the enemy and begins the slaughter More aliens die as Canuck pours on the fire
"In a way, you have a better view of the war from the skyranger than the guys on ground. Swift Engine was an incredible sight - maybe especially after Killamajig went down. Men and women who should have been in a coma were reloading and firing with one hand and advancing on the enemy. One of the legionnaires somehow managed to continue to fight even though he was gut shot. Hordini wove through the aliens like an avenging angel leaving pulped alien meat in his wake. You know, I don't know if humanity stands a chance against the alien and I don't know what they think (if they think). I do know that whatever happens to XCOM, the aliens will know they had a hell of a fight when it's all over."
--Jihadin, Skyranger crew chief
Legion 14 takes down the last sectoid with his last grenade LCPL Bromsy finishes off the last alien even as the skyranger swoops in to evac Flaming Killamjig
"We red-lined the engines all the way back to Nigeria as we worked on LCPL Killamajig. It was too late and the damage was just to great. He died somewhere over the Indian Ocean."
--Jihadin
"We face intergalactic invaders and naturally this brings to mind many questions and open many doors for scientific advancement. We fight a new war with weapons thought impossible, but war... war never changes. We spend young men and women as currency in exchange for bodies and graves."
--Dr. Shen's personal journal.
The Chinese are happy and panic has decreased. Swift Engine is a "success."
Kamikaze is promoted to Corporal. She is now an opportunist
Hordini is promoted to Corporal. Recommendations for the Medal of Terra are placed in his file. Hordini is quickly specializing in brutal aggressive assault tactics.
Man, nothing would go right for me this mission. it was a hard slog all the way through, but I'm proud of 2nd platoon. Losing Flaming Killamajig was hard, and I was momentarily very pissed off about the way he died (invisible seeker overwatch) but I suppose it's a tough lesson learned. I really do appreciate the continuing interest in this thread by everyone! I especially like the little anecdotes I get from the various Dakka Corps members. It really helps to build up the character of XCOM.
The Commander walked through the infirmary, trying to stay out of the way of the doctors. Blood covered the floors... so much blood. Finally, he came up to the body of Flaming Killamajig.... silently the Commander hung his head and after a few moments pinned corporal stripes on Killamajigs' collar. With that done, she (he?) turned and walked out.
"Humility must always be the portion of any man who receives acclaim earned in blood of his followers and sacrifices of his friends."
--Dwight D. Eisenhower
That was a helluva a first mission to be on. 35 days in the medibay is a long time. Sad to see the company's loss, but it looks like they put up a good fight.
"I didn't know what to expect on my first mission with Xcom. But after we got home, I knew what lay ahead of me. Hell."
"Yeah, of course I did, even the tech's were watching that fight."
"I don't know man, I'm all about a good fight, but invisible robots that can shoot you? Hardly seems like a fair fight."
"Fair fight? Dude, they've come from who knows where across the galaxy, abducting civvies, burning cities just because, and you're worried about fair? Come off it."
Frankenberry listened to the two men talk, their fear's evident, anger clearly displayed at the death of one of their comrades. He hadn't known the agent who'd died, only that they had gone down fighting, which is all any agent could ask for now.
He twirled a rifle round between his fingers as the two men parted ways, leaving him alone in the hallway. On the round the name 'Killamajig' freshly carved into the brass, one more dead, one more to avenge.
Silver never watched the missions live - she hated the feeling of seeing things and not being able to do anything about them. She had heard the news while she had been visiting her injured squadmates, joking about how they should have ducked left instead of right, or they should have hugged the wall a second longer before dashing out of cover. Several medical orderlies had run through the recovery ward and hastily answered the queries from the wounded that Killamajig had taken a bad hit and was being rushed back to base as the suegeons talked the aircrew through stabilising vitals.
Of course in the end it had amounted to nothing and he had passed away for the final time over the ocean. Along with the others she had passed on heartfelt sympathies to 2.1. Some had smiled, some cried, others not responded at all. She had watched the tapes just like everyone else, seen a stream of plasma shoot out of nothing and engulf Killamajig, burning away armour, flesh and bone.
Damn those bastards.
Silver was drenched in sweat and blood, and covered in bruises as she pounded away at the rapidly fraying punch bag in the unlit gym. The dull thump of punches, kicks, blocks and moves taken from half a dozen martial arts made a grim counterpoint to her ragged breathing as the bag swung wildly through the darkness.
With a final punch a seam split, spilling sand and sawdust over the floor where it mingled with droplets of blood and sweat. And as Silver slumped sobbing against the punchbag and wrapped her arms around it to hold her upright, they mixed with something else too... tears.
Trondheim stood silent and felt himself enter a trance of some sort. He was no stranger to loosing comrades in arms, but it never got any easier to deal with the shock and anger that followed. In fact it seemed only to get worse for each time it happend.
Watching the feed of the mission had provided noting but a sense of helplessnes and despair as the situatuion became worse and worse.
He swore most foul in Norwegian and spat on the cold concret floor and took a long and hard sip from the cup that he held in one hand, the other closed and opend. Almost as if seeking a grip to pause his decent into grief and rage.
There was a debt to be paid to the foul invanders, and a shining star snuffed out at it prime to remember.
" Save a seat for me in Vallhalla brother!" he mutterd and looked skywards while gripping the hammer shaped pendant he always wore beneath his cloths and armour
Bromsy hadn't had a drink in months, not since the war started. Still covered in the blood of a fallen brother, he pulls a half empty bottle out of a backpack in the bottom of his locker. Hands shaking, he takes a long pull and leans his head against the wall. What could he have done better?
"Hehe....(Flaming laughed a bloody laugh) You know i never got to tell Cthulu i loved her. I suppose that's one night we won't be 'spending together' (coughs up more blood and grabs bromsy's hand). This invasion just seems so stupid now. Just promise me one thing. Send as many of them to hell with me as you can. I'd like some new 'friends' to play with (Flaming smiles an evil grin). See you....on the....other side....(Flaming's eyes darken and his body goes limp with silence filling the crew and hordini stabbing a knife through the interior of the skyranger and punching his fist into the wall)"
--------
I died....lame. Oh well it figures. My impossible ironman game is going rather well actually.
Make me a sassy black woman next (if possible). I think it'd be hilarious.
--------
@bromsy: Aren't you female in this ;P? You shouldn't be a 'he' unless something happened in between missions.
Invisible Seeker overwatch!? I've never heard of or seen that. I wouldn't doubt it some kind of weird Long War glitch.
Great write-up Scruffy. It was very suspenseful and I especially like the part about the bird's eye view of the battle from the pilot and how he could see us soldiering on despite everything.
RIP Killamajig
Can't believe I'm the first guy to lose A Dakkanaut under my command
KamikazeCanuck wrote: Invisible Seeker overwatch!? I've never heard of or seen that. I wouldn't doubt it some kind of weird Long War glitch.
Great write-up Scruffy. It was very suspenseful and I especially like the part about the bird's eye view of the battle from the pilot and how he could see us soldiering on despite everything.
RIP Killamajig
Can't believe I'm the first guy to lose A Dakkanaut under my command
Yeah well i'm the first one dead. Somehow i had a feeling it was me when i saw it the whole 'death in the family' bit.
Not sure how long war goes but normally assaults and supports are the first to bite it with more experienced snipers out-living everybody.
flamingkillamajig wrote: "Hehe....(Flaming laughed a bloody laugh) You know i never got to tell Cthulu i loved her. I suppose that's one night we won't be 'spending together' (coughs up more blood and grabs bromsy's hand). This invasion just seems so stupid now. Just promise me one thing. Send as many of them to hell with me as you can. I'd like some new 'friends' to play with (Flaming smiles an evil grin). See you....on the....other side....(Flaming's eyes darken and his body goes limp with silence filling the crew and hordini stabbing a knife through the interior of the skyranger and punching his fist into the wall)"
--------
I died....lame. Oh well it figures. My impossible ironman game is going rather well actually.
Make me a sassy black woman next (if possible). I think it'd be hilarious.
--------
@bromsy: Aren't you female in this ;P? You shouldn't be a 'he' unless something happened in between missions.
I consider gender rather... fluid. Consider me ... transitioning. Regardless, I'll send you as many playmates as I can.
"Fall in squad." keep your voice even, keep cool. you're their leader. "By now you've probably all heard Corporal Killamajig was killed in action today. He was a good soldier; kept lance corporal Squall018 from bleeding out." shock on 23's face, he didn't know. keep it cool. "He will be honored. He will be remembered. We're likely up next, lots of you will want revenge." damnit 3, don't nod. "If you plan to avenge him by killing some aliens, I suggest you stow that crap. If you can't, I don't want you with us." 23's pissed, talk to him after. keep it cool. "We will avenge him and ALL the fallen, now and going forward, by winning this damn war. Killing a few aliens doesn't do squat if we don't complete missions." Talizar's in. Good. "No matter what, we win. We remember the dead. We fight for the living. Now fall out." wait for it, wait for it. they're almost at the door, handle going ... and...
"Oh, and first one of you bags a seeker? Drinks are on me for a month. Now go get dressed for the ceremony."
Thanks for the great response! Doing this write up just makes XCOM even more fun. I have to restrict myself to one mission a day in order to get any work done. It's exciting for me find out what happens to the Dakka Corps and I'm glad it's exciting for you guys as well.
I am considering a reorganization of the squads. Experience largely is derived from number of missions survived and because some squads (1st, 3rd, and 4th) have done relatively well, they have gone on a lot more missions than 2nd platoon and 2nd squad. So far, the experience gap isn't too dramatic, but it bears watching.
I have considered disbanding 2nd platoon and using the members to fill the other 4 squads....
No decisions have been made yet. June is just starting and it's shaping up to be a busy SOB. We're short on NCOs (still) and I'm behind on my plans for... well, everything. Killamajig is dead, but the war goes on.
Disbandment of 2nd Platoon?! Dang, I'm sure killamajig wouldn't have wanted his death to cause the dissolution of a whole platoon! Of course, he can't speak for himself now....being dead and all.
Doctadeth curled around the second squad cat, If only she had been in the second platoon when killamajig had been there, she would have saved him.
She gazed up at her brother and sister, and sighed. They wouldn't have wanted her to die, but they wouldn't have wanted her to give her life needlessly. The mission comes first, her brother always said, as he had got back from the Military.
She picked herself up, gave Millicent one last stroke, and began brushing up on her training again, reading another one of those damn officer training manuals.
*bang*
high
*bang*
high left again
*bang*
still higher left
*bangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbang*
Most of the shots went wide but one had found its mark on the center of the target. Chaos took another swig from the bottle of vodka and slammed it down on the bench before loading another magazine into the rifle.
Drinking at the gunnery range was strictly forbidden like many of the "extracurricular" activities that she partook in, but few ever dared challenge the former Spetsnaz operator on any of them, fewer still would dare do so while she was drinking, and even fewer still while she had a firearm in her hands, but after the loss of killamajig, coupled with the news that X-COM was abandoning Russia, HER RUSSIA, none would even acknowledge her presence out of fear that they might suffer her wrath. In truth, she knew better than to mix alcohol and a loaded gun, but at this late hour it was unlikely that anyone else would enter the range anyway, so she would only he a danger to herself.
She shouldered the rifle again and peered down its sights.
*bang*
low left
*bang*
5 millimeters to the right
*bang*
high right
*bang*
just high
*bang*
she couldnt see where the round hit
*bang*
still nothing, had she missed?
*bang*
again, nothing...
*bang bang bang*
one round clipped the corner of the target, her aim was very off
*bangbangbangbangbangbamgclickclickclickclickclick*
She screamed in frustration as she emptied another magazine and slammed the rifle down on the bench. She again grabbed the bottle of vodka and put it to her lips.
Empty.
She shouted in frustration and threw the emtpy bottle at the target and slumped down in defeat as it shattered.
Bullseye.
Things werent supposed to be this way. She had always been a prodigious soldier, all the way back to her time as a cadet at the academy. She had graduated at the top of her class and served with some of Russias most elite units, including the 45th Guards and Vympel. She had fought in some of the most hellish warzones on earth, seen women and children murdered in the street. She MURDERED women and children without mercy, without hesitation, if they stood in the way of completing her mission. When obstacles of any sort stood in the way of her advancement she overcame them with ruthless efficiency and a calculating coldness. Her superiors believed she was destined for greatness, her peers feared her, and her subordinates looked up to her.
But all that changed at X-COM. She was an outsider here, surrounded by many of those she would have once called her enemy. While many of her peers still feared her - and with good reason - she wasn't living up to the expectations set for her by others or herself. Her injury early on in her X-COM career had shattered the illusion of her own immortality and bruised her ego. She had come close to losing her nerve, but that so many of her fellow Dakka Corps operatives had survived similarly threatening injuries had given her hope, she had convinced herself that they were truly earths most elite, and that they were largely untouchable. She had come close to being able to laugh death in the face, but the loss of killamajig instead provided a cold harsh slap of reality, bringing her once more face to face with her own mortality.
Worse still, she was forced to watch her beloved homeland slowly fall to pieces under the repeated blows of alien assault, shattering her patriotic resolve as the mighty Russian Bear was humiliated on the world stage. She was powerless to help, and felt betrayed by the Commander. How dare he (she?) ask her to continue to defend less worthy nations as she (he?) turned his (or was it her?) back on her people, leaving them to suffer and die? And yet, Chaos could not find any protest to the decision within her, as angry as she was, she somehow felt the Commander was right. Perhaps that cognitive dissonance within her was the source of her present frustration and angst.
She gathered her resolve to herself once more as she unsteadily stood back up, grabbing the bench to steady herself as her vision swam.
She placed her service revolver on the bench and loaded a round in.
She was Russian. Her people had stood before greater trials and emerged victorious, and they would do so again. She would carry on the fight, and make sure that what aliens she did encounter would know cold Russian fury. And when the time came, she would return to her homeland and reclaim the pride of her people.
One round. Six chambers. She had been a first year cadet when she was first made to play roullette by the upperclassmen. There hadn't been a live round in the revolver then, it was a prank, a hazing ritual to scare the new students. She played it, and she carried on the tradition of hazing the new students when she too was an upperclassman. In the Spetsnaz however, it was no game, the round was live, and death - although thankfully rare - was not out of the question. It was a matter of hubris, to risk ones own life by chancing death in such a reckless manner and emerge unscathed, and something that most operators with even a modicum of sense avoided... but every now and again, it became a brazenly stupid display of ones stubborn fearlessness - a reminder to themselves and others that Spetsnaz were as cold as winter and as hard as steel.
She put the barrel to the roof of her mouth, cocked the hammer, and held her breath.
*click*
she exhaled.
*clickclickclickclick*
she stood silently for a moment.
and then she laughed. and then she smiled.
Yes, she was Russian. And she was Spetsnaz. And she looked death in the face and laughed.
What is it to die?<running, pant>
To stop is to die.<dodge, fire, dive>
When the invisible can shoot you, we must never stop.<fire, jump, roll, fire, re-load while running>
I have to get better, faster reactions, expect the unexpected, practice at the course. <sprint no-man's land>
Best memorial I can give Killamajig is to live by the lesson he learned for us.<run to wall, kick-in door, flash-bang, roll to cover>
We now can never be sure if the enemy is there.
We will be ready when they are and make sure they die in our stead.
"Legio Patria Nostra. Just like in the Foreign Legion, an attack on one is an attack on us all." Vulture thought. Over the first months of the Long War, he'd gotten so used to being in the Legion (or as he called it, "the other Legion") that he'd started to think of himself as Vulture even when not in the field.
He'd done battle across three continents with the Legion before joining the other Legion, laid in wait for days upon days wating for the perfect moment to pounce on his target. This was was... different. In, kill everything that moves that isn't human (and even then, some humans too!) and then get out again ASAP. Exactly the sort of thing he'd been hoping to avoid by signing up as a sniper in the first place. And now one of their own had fallen.
“Out. Now.” it was a dead voice, completely devoid of any emotion. Even I somehow recognized that. Probably sounded terribly offputting, but I couldn't really find it in my heart to care at the moment. The junior electronics tech looked up at me and stammered “b-but sir, you know operatives aren't allowed outside the base unless on mission. It could compromise security and...” he stopped talking and backed out of the room. Good.
I entered the security code I “borrowed” during my time hobknobbing with the eggheads. I had stored that piece of information away for a just in case situation. Why did it have to be this one? The freight elevator door opened silently and I stepped inside.
The highlands of Nigeria, sunset. No-one around, not even lights from a nearby city. Stars were coming out. I started walking. I used to enjoy hiking back in the Carpathians. I don't know how long I walked or in what direction but eventually I found myself in a canyon with a small waterfall spilling down over one of the slopes. It was fully dark now. Fully dark isn't all that dark though. People get surprised just how bright the stars and moon can be.
Why am I standing under a waterfall in the middle of nowhere, Nigeria? I don't even know exactly where the hell I am. I guess that's fine really. Describes a lot about me lately come to think of it. I didn't even join on to this organization as a soldier; it just turned out that way. What am I supposed to do now? I always knew some of us might not make it out of this war but I never seriously thought about it before...
Humans have been killing each other since the first cavemen learned how to bash each others brains out with rocks. Killing is what we do. Kill to eat, kill to stop others eating us. Kill for other reasons. When will it stop? Can it? Now these aliens show up and things get worse. Apparently they're just as bad as us out there in the universe. I don't know what I think about that. First contact for humanity with other sentient species, the single most momentous occasion in the history of humanity, and what do we get? More killing. Is there any way out of this that leads humanity forwards? Can something I do somehow convince us that all this killing can stop?
Maybe. Maybe not. All I know now is that the only way to reach that future is for me to kill, and kill, and kill again, and don't stop killing until these aliens are defeated. I just pray that once the job is done there's enough left of me to care.
Time to head back. I should be able to make it to base before sunrise. Hopefully nobody even notices I was gone. Probably going to catch hell for this... what`cha gonna do?
"First Squad will do the mission. It's a shot down scout UFO! It's the perfect time to send some of the new guys." Lt. Silver was pacing in front of Bradford's desk.
"First squad still has two members in the hospital. CPL Elemental and Eddie Azrael are still recovering from your last outing. Second squad gets the mission."
"Sir, with all due respect to second squad..."
"What were you saying about second squad?" Lt. Dead Meat walked into the room..
"Ah, Lt. Meat, how quickly can you get your squad ready? Bradford tried and failed to suppress a smirk.
"Are you kiddin?, Chaos, Docta Deth, and the rest of the boys have been practically living in their armor since Killamajig ... passed away. Evan Sgt_Scruffy is ready to go..."
"You've got the mission then. Air wing splashed a scout UFO in South Africa and you've got clean up."
"Sir! You can't just skip 1st Squad!" Silver was furious.
"Relax, LT...." Bradford let the silence drag on for a while. "I understand everyone is eager to get out there and even up the body count, but 1st squad is in no shape to move. You are not being skipped, you are being re-positioned in the squad rotation. Once Eddie Azrael is back in action you will get your mission. Is that understood?"
"Yes Sir."
"Oh, and LT.."
"Sir?"
"Don't come storming in here again."
--Bradford's office, early morning of 8 June 2015.
"So this is the new armor Shen's been promising for months?" CPL Scruffy didn't look too impressed.
"It's a modest improvement, but this phalanx armor is actually pretty light as well. It's not as heavy as TAC armor, but provides more protection. The tac vest is light true, but that'll never stop a plasma round." The armorer looked intimidated by the gruff Mrs. Scruffy.
"Okay give it to me and set out 6 other sets for the rest of the squad. Get me the scatter gun too."
"Uh... we only have two sets."
"you'll have to repeat that. It sounded like you said you only had two sets and I know that whatever idiot is running this organization wouldn't order ONLY TWO SETS OF FRICKING ARMOR!"
"Ma'am! This stuff is expsensi..."
"WHY THE FETH ARE THERE ONLY TWO SETS OF ARMOR. PEOPLE ARE DYING OUT THERE!"
"Ma'am... you're hurting me.....!"
--Exchange between Mrs. Scruffy and the armory supply clerk.
So you see, Chaos and Mrs. Scruffy got the armor. They are most likely to engage in close combat and they could use the speed boost. Frankenberry has somehow become a woman.... I'm not sure what happened to his original model, I think I may have accidentally renamed him Orlanth. Have to talk to Dr. Vahlen about all the gender... fluidity around here. I suspect her hand in this.
The Squad storms down the ramp as the skyranger sets down.
"I remember everyone was being careful on that mission. No mission seemed like a cakewalk anymore. Of course, I never see missions as cakewalks."
--Sgt_Scruffy
The squad slowly advances.
"They're going too slow, Major Bradford." Dr. Vahlen was pissed.
"Ma'am, they're being cautious. Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast."
"They will not capture the valuable meld if we do not hurry... I understand that the men..." Bradford tuned her out. Until her science team actually came up with something to do with the meld it was all talk.
The squad advances towards meld... slowly. No Swift Engines here.
"We have contact people. Docta Deth, Mrs. Scruffy, and Chaos, you're closest. Deal with them."
It's a medium to long range engagement. Dead Meat, Sgt_Scruffy, and Frankenberry along with our legionnaire are off to the left of the engagement (they were setting up to breach the UFO from that side). Chaos, Docta Deth, and Mrs. Scruffy will have to take these four aliens largely alone... for now.
Chaos wastes no time deploying grenades. 2nd squad doesn't take chances. Not anymore.
Docta Deth moves up and finishes off an alien of her own with her pistol. Docta Deth is proving to be one of the better shots in 2nd squad.
Mrs. Scruffy flashbangs the two other aliens.
Docta Deth has the presence of mind to grab the meld even while in combat. Her calm under fire is noted for possible future advancement.
As the small fire team advance on the sectoids, the Outsider activates. Unfortunately, the rest of 2nd squad is out of position to engage him this turn.
The rest of second squad, their surprise ambush of the Outsider ruined, decide to advance quickly into full cover.
Chaos takes no chances and grenades another alien. Mrs. Scruffy finishes off the last of the sectoids.
The Outsider is worried that he'll be flanked (as he should be). Therefore, he redeploys to cover and goes on overwatch (thank god).
The Legionnaire flashbangs the Outsider. Sgt_Scruffy, the least lethal operative in XCOM wounds the outsider but doesn't kill him. It's up to Frankenberry to finish the job seen here moments after dispatching the final alien (I love this screenshot)
2nd Squad finishes a mission by the numbers. A rarity these days in XCOM. Chaos, Sgt_Scruffy, and Docta Deth all earn promotions.
The ever-lethal Chaos 0xomega becomes quite adept at using explosives. Robotic aliens are especially vulnerable.
Sgt_Scruffy is sent to the psychiatrists to help her with her tendency to panic. After some... experimental treatments courtesy of Dr. Vahlen, she is much more steadfast. The drooling will only last a few days we are assured.
Docta Deth, takes a break from her medical studies in order to better defend the squad. Preventative care, she calls it.
Quite the haul of alien goods comes in.
Finally, a nice mission that goes more or less according to plan. The lieutenants are really helping with their fatigue reduction. I will need to see about making all squad leaders lieutenants. This may reduce the need for additional squads. Not the most exciting mission, but that's a relief after the last few.
"Listen up people." Bradford had assembled the entire strike force - a rarity. "I understand that everyone is mourning CPL Killamajig and that's okay. This isn't the military you're used to and none of you are green recruits -even if you are new to this organization. You may mourn in the ways you, your culture, or your religion see fit." Bradford looked almost sympathetic -almost. "Make no mistake though. Killamajig may have been the first of the Dakka Corps to die, but he will not be the last. This is a war and we few are all that stand between Earth and absolute destruction... or subjugation. I need you all clear-headed when you face the alien. Dr. Vahlen's medical staff has several behavioral health counselors on board - utiliize them if you need to. No one will judge you for it." Bradford's face grew stern "You will 100% focused on your missions when you go on them so take your time if you have it and do what you have to. When you come up on rotation you will be ready... is that clear?" Heads nodded. "Good." Bradford turned to leave.... "Oh, and one more thing. The wake is at 1600 local and the Commander just opened the bar. Drinks on her. 1st Squad, lay off the booze - Eddie just got out of the infirmary - you're next up on rotation. Dismissed."
What does one need to participate in this thread?
Because i have beening playing alot lately. To bat because i prioritized weapons over sattalites and hanger, im about to loose the game
hotsauceman1 wrote: What does one need to participate in this thread?
Because i have beening playing alot lately. To bat because i prioritized weapons over sattalites and hanger, im about to loose the game
Captain Wilmot couldn't quite believe his luck. It was tough recruiting men and women away from the most elite militaries on Earth. Most of them thought they were already among the best of the best. XCOM didn't exactly offer private military contractor level pay and the details were sparse. He had access to all the council member militaries' best and brightest it was just hard getting them to join. Always a pleasure when one of them seemed to come seeking him out.
"Certainly soldier, you said your name was?"
"Hotsauceman1, sir."
"You understand you'll be incommunicado with your family if you have one for the foreseeable future?"
"Yes, sir. I still want to join up."
"Great. Step this way."
Captain Wilmot just might make his quota this month.
/story mode
Welcome aboard, hotsauceman1! I will have to see what's available right now, but a position did just open up in 2nd platoon...
hotsauceman1 wrote: So we just report?
like tell our game stories?
ok. Cool.
although I'm on 360........
Well, this is really an AAR of my game. What happens is that I fill in the names of all my XCOM troopers with the names of Dakka Board members. I then report on my campaign using a mix of straight AARs, screenshots, and made up fiction that follows the actual in game events. I'll track the progress (or eventual death) of each member of the Dakka Corps as I call them and report back on their accomplishments, failures, enhancements, and perhaps untimely death. So really it's just an excuse to bore you all with how my XCOM game is going but with the added interest of their being some danger of your digital self being killed off.
Ahh crap...bad vibe...if you pile in my Sky Ranger remember to point your weapon down and have it unloaded. If not there is a crash axe aka attitude/mental adjustment tool within reach. No John Wayning grenades either.
Also remember to approach my aircraft from the rear and not the sides. We don't need you to FoD out my #1 or #2 engine. Well....
1. Remember to remove your reflector belt before boarding my aircraft
2. No pin on rank on the airfield
3. No Hat No Salute area
4. Nothing under the seats being they will collapse to help cushion your butt if we crash
5. Do not engage the enemy while in aircraft as we approach the LZ
6. If we crash stay in the aircraft unless you see the Crew Chief haul ass out the aircraft. Gather in front of the aircraft (12 o'clock) about 50m out
7. You are not part of the crew and you do not need to plug in our ICS
Trondheim wrote: What if the E.T comes inside the Skyranger? Can we shoot them then?
You start putting holes in my airframe I punt you off my aircraft.....while in flight.....as the rest are eyeballs to eyeball(s) fighting and trying to slide 8" of cold steel into some alien flesh.Human Blood is NOT ALLOWED on my floor of the aircraft. Alien blood is allowed so get to STABBING while I swing this damn crash axe
Trondheim wrote: What if the E.T comes inside the Skyranger? Can we shoot them then?
You start putting holes in my airframe I punt you off my aircraft.....while in flight.....as the rest are eyeballs to eyeball(s) fighting and trying to slide 8" of cold steel into some alien flesh.Human Blood is NOT ALLOWED on my floor of the aircraft. Alien blood is allowed so get to STABBING while I swing this damn crash axe
So say if a Mutton went all Conan and leaped into the Skyranger you want us to stab it I see now that you must be related to Norwegians
Trondheim wrote: What if the E.T comes inside the Skyranger? Can we shoot them then?
You start putting holes in my airframe I punt you off my aircraft.....while in flight.....as the rest are eyeballs to eyeball(s) fighting and trying to slide 8" of cold steel into some alien flesh.Human Blood is NOT ALLOWED on my floor of the aircraft. Alien blood is allowed so get to STABBING while I swing this damn crash axe
So say if a Mutton went all Conan and leaped into the Skyranger you want us to stab it I see now that you must be related to Norwegians
Holes in aircraft is bad being some sort of projectile was traveling at extreme velocity hit something vital to prevent the Sky Ranger from taking off. Leaving all of us stuck on the ground with some pissed off Aliens
The turbulence in the Skyranger was making him queasy - at least that's what he kept telling himself. He also desperately needed to pee - except that he'd just been 5 minutes ago. He opened his eyes, and looked around from his seat in the crash netting that lined the interior of the cargo bay - at the calm serene faces of the rest of 1st Squad. "Don't let them down, don't let them down" he thought to himself, while breathing deeply and trying to get his fear under control. On his last (and only) mission he'd nearly bought the farm trying to keep up with the team, and since then XCOM hadn't been getting any easier - would ending back up in the med-bay he'd just left be the best he could hope for? He hoped to hell not.... and then the nausea crashed over him again. "This bloody 'plane.."
The turbulence in the Skyranger was making him queasy - at least that's what he kept telling himself. He also desperately needed to pee - except that he'd just been 5 minutes ago. He opened his eyes, and looked around from his seat in the crash netting that lined the interior of the cargo bay - at the calm serene faces of the rest of 1st Squad. "Don't let them down, don't let them down" he thought to himself, while breathing deeply and trying to get his fear under control. On his last (and only) mission he'd nearly bought the farm trying to keep up with the team, and since then XCOM hadn't been getting any easier - would ending back up in the med-bay he'd just left be the best he could hope for? He hoped to hell not.... and then the nausea crashed over him again. "This bloody 'plane.."
And remember the fighter pilot's prayer: "Lord I pray for the eyes of an eagle, the heart of a lion and the courage of a combat Skyranger pilot."
Which one of these designed the Skyranger: "If it’s ugly, it’s British; if it’s weird, it’s French; and if it’s ugly and weird, it’s Russian." - Yep, definitely Russian.
"The thing is, Skyrangers are different from planes. An airplane by its nature wants to fly, and if not interfered with too strongly by unusual events or by an incompetent pilot, it will fly. A Skyranger does not want to fly. It is maintained in the air by a variety of forces and controls working in opposition to each other, and if there is any disturbance in this delicate balance the Skyranger stops flying; immediately and disastrously. There is no such thing as a gliding Skyranger. This is why being a Skyranger pilot is so different from being an airplane pilot, and why in generality, airplane pilots are open, clear-eyed, buoyant extroverts and Skyranger pilots are brooding introspective anticipators of trouble. They know if something bad has not happened it is about to." - Skyranger Test Pilot
The Commander scrutinized the stategic overview, options running through his head. Transfer fighters to Russia? Maybe. The last few days have been good to XCOM, despite the losses. Perhaps we can salvage the Russian situation.
"Ma'am, you should get some sleep. Bradford was always looking out for her... not that he needed it. The Commander was beyond such petty concerns... but she admitted that it was nice of the Major to care. "Thank you, Major, I was just about to turn in." Did Bradford blush? No matter. He headed for the door.
"Oh, and Major?"
"Yes, Ma'am?"
"Send the Asian Air Wing to Russia. We're stopping this madness."
"Yes, Ma'am. You heard the Lady!" Bradford started snapping orders.
OPERATION BROKEN MOTHER: UFO Abduction, Puebla, Mexico.
Interlude: Air War over Africa
"Alert! Alert! Raider Class UFO inbound! Alert!"
"Another one, we just got done shooting one down?"
"They seem particularly eager to die today. Let's oblige them shall we?" Captain "Puke" Shaw was always eager to tangle with UFOs. Everyone joked it was because he had the laser cannon. The eggheads kept promising more of them, but so far had failed to deliver. Dean Tompkins was off in Asia preparing to move the newly created (and as yet untested) Asian Air Wing to Russia to try to stop the figurative and literal bleeding going on there.
"Tarzan" Cordero sustains severe damage before breaking off his pursuit of the large alien craft.
Today was the day. He was going to splash his 5th UFO and become Earth's first intergalactic ace. He knew it... nothing would deny him. He red-lined his engines and kept on the Raider's tail even as the big ship spewed plasma cannon fire at him. Just a little closer.... just a little clos... THERE! Twin beams of red light streaked his craft and spear the alien power supply. The stricken UFO almost seemed to continue on for a moment, then listed lazily to the left and began it's long fall back to Earth. "Splash one Raider, Command. I do believe that makes five. Beers on the rest of the Air Wing Tonight!"
OPERATION BROKEN MOTHER, Puebla, New Mexico.
"Commander we have a problem. Captain Shaw just splashed a raider UFO over South Afria."
"Why is that a problem?"
"Well sir, The Mexicans are asking for help. They're eperiencing a number of abductions and their local defense forces are overwhelmed."
"Okay, send first squad to Mexico and Third Squad will take t he UFO."
"Sir, We only have one Skyranger operational at this time."
"Mexico first then"
"But what about..."
"They're not going anywhere. They have crashed in the South African bush. Keep the Air wing on high alert to intercept any rescue attempts."
"Yes, sir."
--Commander and junior officer Cavill. Operations Center
Even as 1st squad scrambles to respond to the alien abduction, Eddie Azrael is cutting off his cast and bandages and suiting up (I ran the clock forward about 4 hours to get Azrael out of sick bay for the mission). Elemental will have to miss out. Good news comes from both research and engineering.
The alien containment chamber is complete. Now we need to find a way to capture these monsters. Dr. Vahlen's crew of ethically questionable scientists comes up with the answer almost simultaneously.
Although all the discoveries heralded good things for XCOM, it would have no practical effect on this mission. Silver and Co. assembled in the launch bay. With so many of XCOM's finest in the sick bay, one of the Shiv's was pulled off exterior base patrol and sent on the misision.
The Squad dismounts the aircraft. If you look really, really closely you can see Crew Chief Jihadin yelling at them to get the #($& off his plane.
All is quiet initially. 1st Squad thought maybe the skyranger dropped them too far away. As the squad advanced through the delicatessen, they finally hear the tell tale hum of drones and Seekers. XCOM prepares to exact a measure of revenge for Killamajig.
"I don't know if Seekers are sentient, or if they have feelings, or if they're just automated killing octopuses. Personally, I hope they share a deep and interconnected family life so that they can experience the pain of losing loved ones - 'cause I want them dead."
--Eddie Azrael
The Seekers charge the rookie on the right. This is a mistake as they walk right into the ambush. Esubius draws first blood which sparks the most one-sided fight in XCOM history.
By the time the smoke clears, the Seekers are in so many pieces and 1st squad hasn't even expended any grenades. The squad can hear drones on the other side of the meat locker and prepare an ambush for them. Unfortunately, a soldier accidentally leans agains the overhead door button and raises the door. Everyone scrambles as drones and humans come face to face.
It's a tense minute as the drones are caught frozen - their combat algorithms can not decide whether to retreat of attack and LT. Silver makes them pay for it.
The rookie earns her stripes by destroying the last drone.
With the deli cleared, 1st squad takes shelter behind a truck while Cthulu Spy and Esubius Walrus scramble onto the roof.
Floaters make their presence known. Unfortunately for them. Esubius is waiting.
The last floater has taken up an overwatch position that leaves Eddie Azrael vulnerable. Line of sight issues makes it awkward for the rest of 1st squad to engage.
Finally, Silver is able to get a flashbang on the floater.
Eddie Azrael makes his kill.
With that the mission is over. Although Broken Mother would go down in the books as a routine mission. Nothing felt routine in the early days of June.
Although promotions would be sparse, the rookie is officailly added to the roster of the (much depleted) legion as an infantry soldier. Infantry along with snipers continue to be XCOM's greatest shortfall.
1st Squad also bring back a good haul of materials.
The Skyranger shut down for fuel, but even as the Skyranger pilots ran in to use the restroom and stretch their legs, Third squad was loading up for the downed UFO mission.
Glad things are going bad for the aliens.
The ambushes were a happy thing to see.
Ready to go! Looks like I get a laser after all and a little extra armor: you would think someone was planning for me to get a little more aggressively in the face of the enemy or something. With Stream looking covering my back, it is guaranteed to get interesting.
"Like the new armour, feels like you are wearing a lightweight tac vest but it shrugs of both kinetic and energy based impacts like water off a duck's back... Not that I want to stand around all day getting shot at at! It is just the shame we have so few sets to keep our soldiers protected." - Lt Silver on the new armour.
"We were all glad to see Azrael make it on mission, even if he was still pulling bandages off as the skyranger was blasting along to the LZ. The Commander made the right choice delaying zero hour so he could get discharged by medical, and he certainly pulled his weight once it all kicked off."
Sad to see 1st squad may have missed out on being on the starting line when the arc thrower comes online, but very pleased we are back on form in the combat zone.
SilverMK2 wrote: "Like the new armour, feels like you are wearing a lightweight tac vest but it shrugs of both kinetic and energy based impacts like water off a duck's back... Not that I want to stand around all day getting shot at at! It is just the shame we have so few sets to keep our soldiers protected." - Lt Silver on the new armour.
"We were all glad to see Azrael make it on mission, even if he was still pulling bandages off as the skyranger was blasting along to the LZ. The Commander made the right choice delaying zero hour so he could get discharged by medical, and he certainly pulled his weight once it all kicked off."
Sad to see 1st squad may have missed out on being on the starting line when the arc thrower comes online, but very pleased we are back on form in the combat zone.
Bradford looked over the accounting numbers again. He had a headache, and it wasn't just from the stimulants Dr. Vahlen was giving him. Even she was starting to balk at keeping him awake much longer. There was so much to do. The new armor seemed to be doing well, but it was SO damn expensive. The money wasn't so much the issue - but the stuff ate through all of XCOM's hard won alien alloys like his German Shepherd ate bones. Dr. Shen said his first few arc throwers would be up and running before the end of the month. Bradford knew the Commander was eagerly anticipating them. One would be okay, but two would be far superior. Three would be ideal. So much demand and no supply.
The unit manning roster was looking pretty bleak too... The Commander's email staying the disbanding of 2nd platoon made him happy for the troops, but it made properly manning missions a pain in his 4th point of contact. The Legion for all intents and purposes no longer existed. It was barely larger than one of the Dakka Corps squads (where did that name come from anyway?) What legionnaires did exist were of limited usefulness - either because they were critically short specialties like snipers or they were ones XCOM had in abundance like engineers. Bradford reluctantly allocated more money for 3 new recruits... if things went okay. He'd hold off on that decision for now.
The air wing was a disaster and a black hole where money went to never be seen again. Fuel, maintenance costs, repairs, pilot training. It was never ending. The operational readiness rate was hovering around 40%. The UFOs still largely owned the skies although now Major Puke Shaw was like a hyena worrying the edges of their fleet. The laser cannons alone were eating up almost 40% of XCOM's operational budget....
"Lt. Cavill, can you get me another coffee from the mess. It's going to be a long night."
"Yes, Sir."
Bradford rubbed his eyes and started the calculations all over again... Maybe if he only ordered 2 sets of phalanx armor...
Bradford looked over the accounting numbers again. He had a headache, and it wasn't just from the stimulants Dr. Vahlen was giving him. Even she was starting to balk at keeping him awake much longer. There was so much to do. The new armor seemed to be doing well, but it was SO damn expensive. The money wasn't so much the issue - but the stuff ate through all of XCOM's hard won alien alloys like his German Shepherd ate bones. Dr. Shen said his first few arc throwers would be up and running before the end of the month. Bradford knew the Commander was eagerly anticipating them. One would be okay, but two would be far superior. Three would be ideal. So much demand and no supply.
The unit manning roster was looking pretty bleak too... The Commander's email staying the disbanding of 2nd platoon made him happy for the troops, but it made properly manning missions a pain in his 4th point of contact. The Legion for all intents and purposes no longer existed. It was barely larger than one of the Dakka Corps squads (where did that name come from anyway?) What legionnaires did exist were of limited usefulness - either because they were critically short specialties like snipers or they were ones XCOM had in abundance like engineers. Bradford reluctantly allocated more money for 3 new recruits... if things went okay. He'd hold off on that decision for now.
The air wing was a disaster and a black hole where money went to never be seen again. Fuel, maintenance costs, repairs, pilot training. It was never ending. The operational readiness rate was hovering around 40%. The UFOs still largely owned the skies although now Major Puke Shaw was like a hyena worrying the edges of their fleet. The laser cannons alone were eating up almost 40% of XCOM's operational budget....
"Lt. Cavill, can you get me another coffee from the mess. It's going to be a long night."
"Yes, Sir."
Bradford rubbed his eyes and started the calculations all over again... Maybe if he only ordered 2 sets of phalanx armor...
Logistics and supply problems are a big part of the difficulty in X-Com games; especially in this newest one. Dividing manufacturing time/resources between weapons, armor, satellites, and so on makes it tough to build a powerhouse force. At least in the first two games it was possible to exclusively arm your troops with captured alien small arms (once you had researched the tech, of course), saving your manufacturing time for stuff you couldn't buy or capture... The new X-com makes doing that a lot harder, what with alien weapons exploding when the alien dies. Of course, now that you have access to the one weapon that can take aliens down alive, you may be able to supplement your armaments with the odd captured plasma pistol or two.
squidhills wrote: Of course, now that you have access to the one weapon that can take aliens down alive, you may be able to supplement your armaments with the odd captured plasma pistol or two.
So capture the aliens with the best gear??
Really looking forward to zapping a big green ugly and have him shrug it off and fire up his rifle.
Yep, little grey men look like the way to go or I will have to "know kung-fu":
Talizvar wrote: So capture the aliens with the best gear??
Really looking forward to zapping a big green ugly and have him shrug it off and fire up his rifle.
Yep, little grey men look like the way to go or I will have to "know kung-fu":
Well, I never said it was going to be *easy*, just that it would be possible. In the earlier games, there were weapons that could knock out aliens at range (and were surprisingly powerful for a stun grenade launcher) which made live captures easier. The new X-com doesn't have that. It has a glorified taser, instead (of course, so did the previous games). From what I experienced in my nearly-complete-but-ultimately-abandoned playthrough, the larger aliens need to be tagged once or twice with a light weapon to throw some wounds onto them before you try to tase them. Otherwise they shrug off the hit and then death ray you in the face.
The Sectoids do tend to go down in one hit, though.
Scuttlebutt was that the engineers were putting together some more sets of the new armour that had been developed. Silver was pleased that command had managed to find a way to squeeze a little more out of the overstrained war budget - hopefully the investment would pay back with soldiers spending less time in medical, and fewer in the morgue...
A second mission today will be up later. Third Squad has to complete Operation Empty Stallion ... or do they?
In Long War, the resource problems are bad.. .I'd say somewhat worse than in Vanilla XCOM: Enemy Within. Everything takes longer and is more expensive... you do get more money on a monthly basis though. I'd say that the resource problems aren't AS severe in Long War as they are in the early months of Enemy Within, but they are more drawn out.
Squidhills, I totally forgot to add an avatar for you. You will be in action soon though. *Makes mental note!*
Hhhhmmmmm possible EPW.....eerrrr test subject......thinks of a scene
Time to add two stretchers
Couple rolls of 2" Hundred Mile Hour tape
Roll of 550 cord
Ratchet Straps
Non regulation Anesthesia device (Slugger Baseball bat)
Cattle Prod
Brass knuckles
Better check and make sure I still have two boxes of MRE's and two cans of water to
I'm thinking that our alien captures go more like this.
Our air war is going a lot like Independence Day as well at least the first half of independence day. Funny that movie is almost 20 years old. Makes me feel old.
OPERATION EMPTY STALLION: South Africa, 9 June 2014
Talizvar, Carlos, and Bullockist fast rope into the destroyed town in Northern South Africa.
"Raider Class UFOs are no push-over - even when shot down. They carry a substantial crew complement and we'll have to be on our toes.... okay everyone, we're on the ground and we'll start out goin... CONTACT!"
--StreamDragon, immediately after hitting the ground on Empty Stallion
Okay Okay... Muton and three(?) Floaters. I can handle this as I only used one action to activate them.
Both Floaters are swiftly dispatched before getting a shot off. The Muton is now our sole concern.
Carlos 13th hits the Muton's gun causing it to malfunction. June would be the month the snipers proved themselves the deadliest men and women in XCOM.
Sectoids are drawn by the sound of gunfire as the muton miraculously survives being in the open (StreamDragon, Comata, and Marine with Heart all miss 75%+ shots.... that's XCOM *sigh*).
Carlos13th annihilates the first sectoid in his sights
Legion 3 moves to flank on the sectoid's right.
Talizvar and Galia_Comata start what will become a great partnership as Talizvar find and flashbangs the errant Muton (He'd run off out of sight)
Galia Comata cuts into the besieged Muton.
The rest of the squad moves to intercept the incoming sectoids.
What is it with me and medics? Marine_with_Heart takes a fearsome hit. If Marine goes down, that will mean XCOM will be down to one medic
Legion 3 makes her presence known as she destroys the sectoid cover.
A wounded Marine_with_heart gets his revenge on the very sectoid who shot him.
Talizvar once again spots for Galia Comata and together they take down the Muton.
Sectoid reacts to being hit with scattergun fire from Stream Dragon
The last sectoid wisely decides to run for it.
The squad, having been in constant, high intensity contact now for the last 10 minutes pauses and reloads. Here Marine_with_Heart applies a tourniquet to his shattered left arm while downing his pill pack of antibiotics and painkillers along with the ... ahem... experimental battle stimulant provided by Dr. Vahlen
The sectoid tries to ambush Galia Comata.
He brings friends.
Talizvar takes the lead and wounds the sectoid and applies holo targeting.
Okay, so the next fight gets a little wonky with line of sight issues. If there is one thing I hate about XCOM, it is that sometimes the game seems way to arbitrary on deciding what I can and cannot see.
Stream Dragon activates the floater pod.
And Marine with Heart kills the first one
Talizvar bobs and weaves through cover to draw their fire.
Galia Comata is proving to be a great addition to the 3rd squad roster and he claims his second kill of the mission.
The Floaters fail to put up much fight as 3rd squad overwhelms them with firepower and their steady advance.
The squad at this point has had no rest and been in constant contact since the beginning of the mission. A couple turns pass while the squad regroups and reloads. Just as the last of the reloading is complete, 3 drones attack on the squads left flank.
Bullockist finally gets in on the action as his overwatch fire damages a drone
Legionnaire 3, the longest serving member of the legion proves that she is a deadly warrior in her own right.
The last of the floaters finally regains his courage and attempts to assault 3rd squad while they are dug in.
It does not go well
StreamDragon explores the wrecked Raider class UFO.
After properly setting up the breach, Stream Dragon is somewhat surprised that an Outsider charges him. The aliens are not making good life choices today.
A barrage of fire finishes off the Outsiders
Shame really. If I'd only been a little quicker on the arc thrower research. Anyway. Mission successful. 3rd squad may not have any fancy officers, but they are quickly becoming the best at the steady, stalwart advance.
The wounded Marine_with_Heart makes Corporal. Gains the name axle... not sure about that. Anyone who doesn't like their nickname feel free to choose it.
Legion 3 makes Corporal and is the first of the Legion to do so. She has now served longer than most of the Dakka Corps. The Commander makes her the Legion's official Centurion.
Marine_with_Heart now has the smoke grenade skill.
3rd Squad brings back a hefty haul of alien goods.
After selling what would not be useful to the cause, XCOM has enough money to start manufacturing two more sets of Phalanx armor. The Dakka Corps will need them in the days ahead.
I am so excited that each of the squads has their own character. 1st squad seems to operate a lot like the Ultramarines. They are good at pretty much whatever they do. 2nd squad is the Crimson Fists for sure. Bloodied, beaten, but unbroken, they now have an abiding hatred for the alien. 3rd squad is without a doubt the Salamanders. Stalwart, loyal, and equipped with the finest weapons and armor. They are also not the quickest squad. If I had to characterize fourth squad, they would be the Imperial Fists - loyal, stubborn and great at protracted siege style warfare. 2nd Platoon definitely has a Black Templars or Blood Angels vibe to it as they favor shock assault and close range combat.
Thank you all so much for participating in this thread. It is the most fun I've had with a video game for a long, long time. I appreciate it greatly.
Next time, join us as a wounded, but still fighitng 2nd platoon races into action against the traitorous Exalt.
On a slightly off-topic note, has anyone else had the mission name generator go insane? I had "Operation Vengeful Vengeance" earlier today, followed by "Operation Lethal Death". It would seem the Department of Redundancy Department is represented on the Council...
Gallia does the team-up thing rather well, drinks on me.
Those big greens sure seem awful angry when we bug them.
Glad all went well, seems appropriate our medic is the greatest fire soak.
"Sorry guys! I angered the aliens and am too busy patching myself up to deal with you just now..."
I just know if my vest gets transferred I will get a full plasma unloading in the chest.
Stream seems to now expect the aliens to run straight for him, they probably want a hug.
Can I wear a flashing leotard? I feel I am not distracting the aliens enough, wait, may have to verify their main visible spectrum.
The holo-targeting just makes me want to yell "Dance, moonwalk for me baby!!"
Sgt_Scruffy wrote: I've seen my name generator just... run out of names I guess. I have seen Vengeful Vengeance but not Lethal Death.
I think I would like my nickname to be Saint... Marine "Saint" Heart on account of being a medic and what not You don't need to include "_with" in the name of the character, I am just as happy with Marine Heart
As always these are awesome write ups and surprisingly engaging as I watch each character take a wound, unsure if it will be fatal or how the squads will succeed on their missions when the numbers start mounting against them.
Great job, Scruffy
Talizvar wrote:Gallia does the team-up thing rather well, drinks on me.
Those big greens sure seem awful angry when we bug them.
Glad all went well, seems appropriate our medic is the greatest fire soak.
"Sorry guys! I angered the aliens and am too busy patching myself up to deal with you just now..."
I just know if my vest gets transferred I will get a full plasma unloading in the chest.
Stream seems to now expect the aliens to run straight for him, they probably want a hug.
Can I wear a flashing leotard? I feel I am not distracting the aliens enough, wait, may have to verify their main visible spectrum.
The holo-targeting just makes me want to yell "Dance, moonwalk for me baby!!"
There's a sight... Dr. Vahlen's psych evaluation team will see you now. Scouts are in such high demand right now that I need you guys to stay alive. You will be my go to alien capture personnel. Assaults tend to make a mess of any alien they get close to - they just can't help it. The plan will be the scout runs in and zaps the alien. If that doesn't work, the assault is right behind them to ... well I guess zap again... but this time the "bad" type of zap.
SilverMK2 wrote:Excellent work 3rd!
Also been impressed with the extra mission maps in long war, the destroyed urban looks excellent.
I tried going back to vanilla XCOM after I tried Long War to finish up a campaign I had going... just couldn't do it. Long War Beta 14 is just better in every respect - bugs aside.
Marine_With_Heart wrote:
Sgt_Scruffy wrote: I've seen my name generator just... run out of names I guess. I have seen Vengeful Vengeance but not Lethal Death.
I think I would like my nickname to be Saint... Marine "Saint" Heart on account of being a medic and what not You don't need to include "_with" in the name of the character, I am just as happy with Marine Heart
As always these are awesome write ups and surprisingly engaging as I watch each character take a wound, unsure if it will be fatal or how the squads will succeed on their missions when the numbers start mounting against them.
Great job, Scruffy
Thank you very much and consider your nickname changed as soon as the story catches up (I got ahead of myself again)
chaos0xomega wrote:We're going back to Russia!? First round is on me tonight!
We're gonna try. The air wing is clearing a flight path for a satellite launch as we speak.
Excelt work 3rd squad as always. And for anyone in 4th thinking about sporting leotards or Borat suits while on deployment...... If so reconsider that doing so will volenter you for "special" attention by your Lt
Trondheim wrote: So I have to ask, when are our beloved Commander going to start constructing a genetical modification lab and a mec bay?
When there is enough coin to rub together between keeping birds in the air, with laser fangs, and all assault-type troops get better armor to capture nasty aliens or die trying.
Having played Long War money is the hardest thing to manage.
Being able to capture will help with so many things so that is a priority at this moment.
Once the fancy tazers are out, then priority is coffins for the turkeys who have to perform the capture.
Better guns on the fighters will get the aliens to ease-off on harassing our funding countries and get us more materials as we shoot UFO's down.
I dunno, I would not be in too much of a hurry to have limbs nipped off or your cells rearranged.
<edit> Plus I have not seen what the time period would be for performing those changes... it would seem like forever.
Trondheim wrote: So I have to ask, when are our beloved Commander going to start constructing a genetical modification lab and a mec bay?
When there is enough coin to rub together between keeping birds in the air, with laser fangs, and all assault-type troops get better armor to capture nasty aliens or die trying.
Having played Long War money is the hardest thing to manage.
Being able to capture will help with so many things so that is a priority at this moment.
Once the fancy tazers are out, then priority is coffins for the turkeys who have to perform the capture.
Better guns on the fighters will get the aliens to ease-off on harassing our funding countries and get us more materials as we shoot UFO's down.
I dunno, I would not be in too much of a hurry to have limbs nipped off or your cells rearranged.
<edit> Plus I have not seen what the time period would be for performing those changes... it would seem like forever.
i know that, having played long war for a substasial amout of time. it helps with evening the playingfield, and bringin very potent weapons to bear on mobile and potent platforms
Hi Scruffy, if it is at all possible to change my look, then could I ask for the following settings (obviously, your game, your rules, so feel free to ignore!) Race 1, Head 9, Skin 6, Hair/Helmet 7, 22, or whatever style you are picking, Hair colour 2, facial hair 1, armour deco your preference, and armour tint 19 - (for that Ultramarines vibe!) Beyond that, just wanted to say that I'm loving this - you've even got me starting my own game of Enemy Within for the first time!
My first real mission and we won, so why do I feel so.....weird?
Sitting in the Sky ranger returning home, I closed my eye's trying to sort it out. Was I scared? No, every mission is scary with death so close and the thought of dying to a stream of plasma was not a pleasant idea to dwell on, but I was not scared. I kept my cool and did my job, so what was this feeling. Excitement? Relief? Not quiet it.....It was.......it was..... just a good feeling. We had fought a hard battle and won. The enemy and thrown nearly everything at us and we beat them. They attacked and we weathered hit, we hit them and the reeled; retreating and we advance, counter attacking and we dug in. We beat them, it was that simple. Their is was, it was simple. Evil alien bad guys come to earth and try to f*ck with us and we kicked there ass. It was that simple. No agenda's, no politics, no holding back. Just find the bad guy and then kill them.
The little smile sneaked its way onto Gallia's face; as he leaned back into the seat to enjoy the ride home.
My first real mission and we won. We beat you. We can beat you motherf*ckers.
We're working on getting the capture business up and running. It will help immensely on the weapons front as well once we get plasma weapons researched (which won't be for a long time). Once that's complete, we'll probably start working on xenogenetics which will give up access to the genetics labs.
After that, I'm going to start knocking out a bunch of small projects like autopsies, interrogations, UFO analysis,. and experimental warfare. This will help unlock new weapons and foundry tech. July will be a "small" projects month, then August will be consumed with the next step up in armor and weaponry to Carapace armor and Gauss.
At this point, I'm pretty much past the point where I have experience and am largely flying blind in regards to Long War. I'm taking the lessons I've learned so far, and applying my general Enemy Within knowledge and simply flying by the seat of my pants. I know this is no where near an optimal play through, but I'm having fun.
I also desperately need to rebuild the Legion if I'm going to maintain the squad structure of XCOM as it currently stands. I need medics, rocketeers, infantry, and snipers especially, but I'm pretty much just short on troops since, again, I don't play very well and a lot of soldiers end up in the hospital.
Anyway, I played a head a little and it's going to be a wild ride for the rest of June. The UFOs are going to come hot and heavy. Will XCOM keep up?
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Trondheim wrote:So I have to ask, when are our beloved Commander going to start constructing a genetical modification lab and a mec bay?
Genetics lab is next on the list. Mec Bay won't be for a while since it requires more research.
eddieazrael wrote:Hi Scruffy, if it is at all possible to change my look, then could I ask for the following settings (obviously, your game, your rules, so feel free to ignore!) Race 1, Head 9, Skin 6, Hair/Helmet 7, 22, or whatever style you are picking, Hair colour 2, facial hair 1, armour deco your preference, and armour tint 19 - (for that Ultramarines vibe!) Beyond that, just wanted to say that I'm loving this - you've even got me starting my own game of Enemy Within for the first time!
Thank you Eddie, and I will certainly modify your guy to your specifications once I get back to the game (traveling for the weekend.)
"Bullockist sat in the copter as it lifted away from the drop zone his heavy head resting on his the back of his seat, mouth dry and head pounding as the rush of adrenalin drained from his body leaving behind it the stone cold dullness of reality. Closing his eyes he wondered how much reality he could take now that fighting aliens was a regular thing.
It just didn't seem like reality was real to him any more, Unreality (as he thought of combat missions) just seemed more poigniant now, more primal , it's not like he wasn't crapping himself the whole time he was out there in crazy alien land, it's just that when he came home, things seemed less edgy, less controlled, he had to listen to some chickenshit from upstairs tell him to shine his boots. Who care's about boots when your only doing short search and destroy missions from a fething drop zone, it's not like he was doing fething foot patrols. How many squaddies had to spend days in hospital protecting Major chickenshit whilst he floundered about inspecting trivialities. Bullockist had saved a bullet from his old assault rifle and one of these days he was going to carve MC into the head.
At the thought of Major Chickenshit he fought the urge to spit, and looked at the guy in the next seat, still least the kid did well today although Bullockist wasn't sure if he was going to last the distance as he had some kind of half crazed victorious smile plastered across his youthful scone. Still he didn't know if he himself was going to make it as lately he'd been taking to blocking reality through extended trips to the mess for drinks and surreptitious sips from the small hip flask he now carried everywhere. He might not earn a purple heart if he kept drinking from what he thought as his silver heart , his hands now shook like the oscillating effect of an alcoholic aftershock when he didn't quaff from the flask enough.
He knew it was wrong and betraying his squaddies but he had to do it to get through the "normal" days. Did it make him a bad soldier?It was certainly making his aim worse. He really didn't know and the army was the only place he'd every really knew anything.
Bullockist counted down the hours till they got home and he could find his silver heart in his hand...."
Jeez, the direct action platoon is falling apart… PTSD and alcoholism abounds. Dr. Vahlen knows she can fix it… if only she could get the appropriate … specimens for her experiments...
Frankenberry cycled the action again on his rifle, crisp action, so clean that even Bradford would be impressed.
And hadn't fired a damn shot in anger.
He set the weapon down on the bench, looking over the mag's set up carefully in stacks to his right. Fully-loaded, ready to rock and roll with full auto for at least a full minute depending on his reloads.
And hadn't fired one round at an E.T. yet.
He frowned, thinking back to the notices of some group of humans fighting XCOM AND the damn aliens; EXALT. No one knew anything about them aside from their equipment and training was eerily similar to an XCOM agent's. Word around the barracks said the commander wanted to take the fight to these guys too, Frankenberry didn't care who he fought though.
He slid each mag into his combat vest, checked his sidearm and it's spare mags, grenades were on his belt, and he picked up the rifle and slapped a magazine into it hard
He'd kill them all. Every. Single. God. Damn. One. Alien, these EXALT ***holes, they all owed a debt, not to XCOM or humanity, but to him, for every single life they took, he would take from them a hundred fold.
"Yay though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil." He wracked the slide and walked towards the staging area. "For I am the baddest mother****** in the valley."
Bullockist wrote: things were going ok till you only alluded to bullockist getting 2 damage in one mission. I thought why would that be? then i got a perfect solution
At this point in the game, Bullockist has a ton of kills. He is one of the deadliest soldiers in XCOM. He excels when XCOM is being rushed. The only issue is that he needs to work on his Cardio, he's slow…. maybe a beer gut?
You said he helped kills, the pics just ever showed it. and after the 2 damage drone thing i was left wondering "what is going on with him"
he just din't feature much , so i kind of started asking why--- and now i have a whole back story, I love your AAR , I hope my take on bullockist adds to your aar story. a good soldier with problems is even better.
I am LOVING all the character arcs. Feel free to make your character how you see fit! Any negative reaction you get from me will be in the spirit of a concerned Bradford or Commander who worries about his troops (Bradford) or a valuable asset (Commander).
Bullockist wrote: You said he helped kills, the pics just ever showed it. and after the 2 damage drone thing i was left wondering "what is going on with him"
he just din't feature much , so i kind of started asking why--- and now i have a whole back story, I love your AAR , I hope my take on bullockist adds to your aar story. a good soldier with problems is even better.
BTW what happens if we die?
If you die you are dead. I may (repeat, MAY) recycle you as a new recruit if the Dakka Corps becomes depleted to the point that the narrative falls apart. It may be something like an XCOM soldier has to get an expensive Gene mod (like Iron Skin) in order for the genetics lab to clone a new version of Bullockist (or Talizvar or Silver MK2 etc.). They've lost all their hard earned skills, but the genetic person is back.
As for some of the lesser seen Dakka Corps members, They will start to see more action soon. Bullockist soon has his day in the sun…. well, not so much sun as alien terror ship, but you get the idea.
"mess tent : 21:00
The company was assembled in a time that was quite unlike any usual time inhabited there. Grating grumbles passed through the company, like a whispering wind gathering wrath as they learned it was their rec time, not the officers that was to be given up. Slovenly glances above stained pints marked time as the command and science departments waltzed into the mess. The grunts had barely time to remark "what's this gak about" when Major Illifan gestured for attention, not quiet, but attention....the witch.
Sgt. Scruffy flanked the CO and the hostility felt by the rank and file towards the CO bled onto him.it was just what he feared and it was the erosion of competent leadership by the base chance of birth and money. By just appearing with a hated CO Sgt SCruffy , probably the best NCO in the company had had just cost his command quite a lot, he was secretly hoping he wouldn't be referred to as Sgt. CHickenshit in the future. SGt scruffy,looked after all the men in X-com, he was the essence that bound them all together, the officer above him was chickenshit and the more experienced grunts knew it too, he certainly wasn't getting any favours from the old 27th rifle company. 27th whilst being one of the best rifle companies before the X-com appropriation had contained both Bullockist and Talizvar. Talizvar had readily adapted to X-com life ....Bullockist he'd have to keep an eye on, judging by his previous behaviour a brown eye :/ ... he wasn't going to get anything other than a full load of gak from that old bald bastard.
His revelry halted, SCruffy became aware that the acting CO had gained the center of the men....here it comes he thought.....
Major Illifan halted, using the murmurs of the men, and waited on silence.
"it has come to my attention that whilst the greater part of the force is going well and gelling into an effective combat unit there needs to be more work done.Squads 1, 2 and 4 squads morale are where they should be and are proving to be viable fighting forces. There is an issue with 3rd squad and a considerable lack of morale in non combat time. There may be a court marshall if this behaviour continues.
This is not acceptable, WE are the shield that stands before Terra, all other considerations should pale before the defence of your planet no matter how trivial.
there was silence...
Major IIlfaven droned on " we demand that you give yourselves mind and soul to the defence force, what we ask you, we ask for everyone......"
"bs!" roared one from the group below "did you care about legion 12? or any of the others? they died for you and you are just chucking more of us on the meat grinder , I mean look at Comata, he's all of 18 and he's fighting zappyy aliens. He should be playing football and scoring.
At a gesture the MP's had the culprit in hand, but he bellowed "we die for you, what do you do for us??"
DR Valen threw a pointed gaze at the Major indicating that this one would do for will testing. Catching that gaze, the bald one cursed" keep away from me you mind butcher, haven't the aliens done enough?""
I'm looking forward to heading out again (strange as that sounds, someone has to go I guess and it might as well be me). Didn't do so well on the last mission so hopefully that will change for the better.
As for some of the lesser seen Dakka Corps members, They will start to see more action soon. Bullockist soon has his day in the sun…. well, not so much sun as alien terror ship, but you get the idea.
Mum i dun wanna go! with this whole permadeath thing ( it's wholely reasonable) i'm now scared for my toon wheras before i was looking to what i would kill, I hate you for making me scared of what my ikinda avatar is doing
Do your job. Suppress your fear. Your training will take over. Training becomes ingrained and also closing your eye's stepping out the aircraft at 800ft
Remember to keep your feet and knee's together or we be here forever
NSDQ
Watch your Battle Buddy
Drink Water (for there is a pallet of water on every hallway corner)
Paint miniatures as a hobby to handle stress
Read a book
Down Load porn off AFFES provided internet service
Sleep
Ensure all weapons are clean, functional, and dependable
If Clearing Barrels around make sure to clear your weapons
Complacency gets you killed
Don't puke on the floor of Sky Ranger (for you will clean it up)
Indulge yourself in the DFAC by grabbing a sweet treat from KBR mini bakery by the exit door
Wear your Reflector Belts
Trondheim wrote:Walk with the burning fury of mankind in your hearth, and drench the earth in the blood of our foes!
I would have to give you the shotgun and something like a 9mm. Not the crew serve or heavy weapon. You seem to "eager" to engage.
As long as you are a member of Homo Sapisens, and dont come from beyound earth you need not worry. And besides your Skyranger beats any other transport by a century. Even if I am afraid of flying
OPERATION BLEEDING FIST: 12 June, 2015 Buenos Aires, Argentina
Specialist Killionaire quickened his pace as he hurried to check on the encoder. This wasn't supposed to be happening. Someone must have sold him out. The encoder literally could not be traced through electronic means and the transmitter was so advanced most of XCOM's scientists and engineers didn't understand it. No, someone sold them out - either here in Buenos Aires or in the Council. Hopefully it wouldn't matter. He had his information, not that he necessarily knew what it meant. Let the Commander and the brass worry about that.
He made his approach to the parliament from the south on the Combate del Los Pozos. Peole were still crowding the streets in other parts of town, but the Governmental district was quiet on a Friday night. Only a few business men and ambassadors wearing their usual pinstripe suits and bulky coats to ward off the chill of a South American winter... but it was 55 degrees. Killionaire slowed his pace and pulled out his iPhone as if answering a text. Yes, those men were looking for something and trying not to be obvious about it. Several of them were definitely armed - G36s by the look of them. Exalt. Someone at the council was selling XCOM and him down the river. Killionaire turned down the Av Belgrano and headed west - away from the parliament and the encoder. If they knew about the approximate location of the encoder, they would probably pick up his transponder signal when he called for extraction. XCOM was fast, but for the next couple of hours he was on his own.
Think. If he activated the transponder now, it would certainly be traced. They'd know his location and know they'd flushed him out. If he activated his transponder and left it somewhere nearby, it would take them a while to trace the exact location. Either way, they would know that they were close to the encoder and the incriminating information. If he activated his transponder and ran for it, they'd know he was trying to draw them away from the encoder. The only option would be to activate the transponder and stay in the area. He needed to lead them on a chase. Maybe they'd think the encoder was mobile. Either that or the transmitter.
More suits. There were very few people on the streets now as he passed Centro Gallego hospital and turned up Pasco street. He took out his phone - the one that cost more than most cars - and entered the simple phrase "My vigilance is no longer necessary." XCOM loved its little inside puns and despite the fact that no computer on Earth could break this phone's encryption, they still couldn't help themselves when it came to code words. With that, he put the phone in his pocket and hailed a cab. Even as he drove around he noticed quite a few suited men with their phones pressed to their ears and looking about quite intently.... it was going to be a long night.
The parliament building where the encoder is hidden in an administrative wing.
Argentinian Embassy (Council safe house #41), Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
Catrin Schwarz's feet ached. She'd been running errands for the Argentinian ambassador all day and the insufferable pig thought his work was so important. Further unpleasant thoughts clouded her mind as she fought with the jammed copy machine - again. Usually, being secretary for the Argentinian ambassador to Germany was a pretty sedate job, but the ambassador seemed to be unusually interested in this whole alien speculation coming out of Russia. She smiled to herself at the thought of Jose Mendez being the least bit involved with the whole furor.
The phone was ringing. Oh, how she wanted to get these shoes off her feet.
"Mr. Mendez's office, Argentinian embassy. This is Ms. Schwarz speaking. How may I help you?"
"May I speak to the ambassador, please? It is Mr. White." Ah yes, the ever important Mr. White - always to be put straight through. Catrin rolled her eyes.
"Certainly, sir."
Catrin's Spanish wasn't as good as she'd claimed on her resume, so she could be mistaken, but she always swore whenever Mr. White called Jose would talk about relgion or something. The exalted people? Must be a Catholic thing...man, her feet ached.
XCOM HQ: Underneath Gashaka Gumti National Park, Nigeria/Cameroon border.
"Killionaire is calling in, sir. emergency evacuation. His cover is blown." Major Illfaven had the look of a man who thoroughly detested the cloak and dagger nature of Killionaire's mission and was not afraid of showing it.
Bradford was at the screen in a flash. The man's usually spotless uniform was rumpled. Sleeping in his office again. "Okay. Lt. Morton? Would you alert the Skyranger crew. I need them spooled up in 15 minutes - full burn for Buenos Aires. Emergency extraction. I need them dark for this one." Lt. Rousseau, assemble 4th squad in the briefing room and alert the armory.... I w"
"That won't be necessary Lieutenant." The Commander always showed up just as things were heating up. "2nd Platoon will look after its own. Keep 4th squad on call. Things are escalating."
Bradford hated having his carefully formulated QRF duty rosters screwed with, but the Commander had her reasons.
Corporal Canuck and Lance Corporal Bronsy shuffled into the briefing room to find three members of the Legion and CPL Hordini already there. The Commander herself was there as Major Illifan droned on through the in-extremis mission briefing. The men and women listend while strapping on gear and loading up on grenades and medical kit.
"Here is the mission, gentlemen and ladies." Killionaire has been in contact and believes he managed to lure most of the Exalt forces over to the west of the parliament building. Expect your avenues of approach to primarily be from the west and perhaps from the north as well. We'll infiltrate from the east. The Skyranger will insert you right in front of the parliament in full whisper mode, then conduct a false insertion off to the west - closer to where Killionaire has dropped his transponder. He will be in hiding on the north east side of the building and will guide you to the service entrance closest to the encoder. Your mission is to protect that encoder until Exalt is dealt with. They can't pull the information out of it, but they have jammed all communications in the area. The transmitter is set up in a dumpster out behind the parliament. You can not let exalt get a hold of that transmitter. If they reverse-engineer that technology we will never find them. Questions?"
"Sir." It was Hordini. "Collateral Damage?"
The Commander spoke up before Major Illifan. "You will not let Exalt get the transmitter or the encoder... at all costs. Is that understood?"
Hordinin grinned. "Perfectly."
2nd Squad, although depleted, continues to deploy on missions.
Killionaire pulled out his laser pistol and checked the charge. Full... okay. Okay. He had led a squad of those freaks through the parliament and lost them in the basement before circling back and leaving through the western entrance. Now he found himself on the east side of the building with no where else to go. He was finally cornered. Might as well make his stand here... or not. He smiled as he felt a gust of wind at his back. Only one thing made a gust of wind that strong but produced no noise. ..
Killionaire has already been busy defending the encoder from a squad of Exalt who got too close.
Corporal Bromsy ran across the street with the rest of the squad, the SHIV whirring at his side all 6 members of the strike force sprinted for the building. Already he could see movement through the windows. Canuck and Bromsy were breaking off to the right to join Killionaire and set up the perimeter. That left him and the Legion to take the fight to the enemy.... Hordini was just fine with that.
"Full tactical entry, we have to take the building. Weapons free. Legion 9, grenade the entrance on my command...... execute"
--CPL Kamikaze Canuck's audio recording. Mission log Bleeding Fist
Don't get stuck out in the street. Don't get stuck out in the street. It was a mantra running through Hordini's head as he pelted across the wide boulevard. Already Legion 9's grenades were going off in the entrance. The other soldiers were pausing to take shots, but not Hordini. He beat the rest of the squad to the front door and peeked in. Exalt was flipping over heavy oak desks and benches and quickly digging in. They weren't going to let go of their prize easily.
Kamikaze Canuck engages the first wave of Exalt in the opening stages of Bleeding Fist. The ferocity of 2nd platoon's assault would keep Exalt off balance for the majority of the engagement.
Killionaire was good at the cloak and dagger stuff, but he really wished he could strap on some tac armor and pick up a scatter gun. Instead he booted up his laptop as he took cover near the satellite transceiver he had seen the Exalt forces set up. If he could hack their comms, he would definitely slow them down...
2nd Platoon's explosive assault clears out a number of Exalt, but more Exalt take up defensive positions. Hordini flanks an Exalt force.
"There he is, thought Hordini as he peeked over a window. The Exalt operative looked to be in his mid-forties, old for a soldier, but Hordini recognized the gleam in his eye as that of a fanatic. There would be no surrendering from these men and that was fine with him..."
Killionaire successfully hacks the communications relay. Killionaire would continue on to the Exalt's bakcup and tertiary transmitters throughout the mission. During his hacks, he would uncover more intelligence./i]
"I've seen brutal assaults in my life, but 2nd platoon hit that governemnt building like bulldozer. Within 5 minutes the western wing of the entire building was on fire. I could see a stream of figures running in from the west. Most of them were carrying assault rifles but I saw some light anti-tank weapons and machine guns among them. Exalt was coming in force."
--Jihadin
[i]More Exalt join the fray
"Advance! Wedge formation! Contact front!" Hordini and the SHIV advanced abreast through the rotunda as streams of laser fire and the crack of bullets snapped back and forth. More Exalt were coming, but the Legion were keeping their heads down. Already half a dozen dead operatives were sprawled on the floor behind him. He was quickly running out of building as a fire blazed through the senate offices. As he arrived at the western entrance, he observed the parking lot and rear of the building. More Exalt... a lot more. CONTACT!" he bellowed, before ducking back in the building. They were heading for the encoder - they knew where it was now. Hordini keyed his mic. "Kamikaze, you've got incoming.... platoon strength. Estimate 20 or more. They are heading right for the encoder you'd better get ready."
2nd platoon is heavily engaged on the west side of the parliament as Exalt forces stream down the Av Rivadavia
They were trying a frontal assault. Unfortunately, they lacked the speed and professionalism of trained soldiers. Hordini thought grimly as he blasted another Exalt operative who hesitated too long in the fatal funnel that was a doorway. Already bodies were piling up around the entrance. ...
The Legion secures the rest of the building and prepares to repel the continued Exalt assaults
Bromsy and Canuck defend the encoder from repeated assaults.
As ammo runs low, Canuck finishes off another assault with her pistol
Lt. Morton looked a little green as the UAV and Skyranger footage streamed in to XCOM HQ. 2nd Platoon had turned the western edge of the parliament into a slaughterhouse. Bradford watched as Bromsy's laser machine gun mowed down full squads of Exalt forces rushing down the Avenues. Whatever was on that encoder, Exalt wanted it badly to be throwing so many foot-soldiers at 2nd Platoon. Canuck had conducted a marvelous breach of the parliament and was now conducting a masterful defense. Bradford walked over to the Lt. "Steady, Lieutenant. These men and women are traitors to their species. They would do the same to us in a heartbeat."
Killionaire turned the corner and almost ran right into an Exalt. He was fiddling with his communication ear bud. Even at 15 feet, Killionaire could hear the high pitched screech his hack had produced. Killionaire almost felt sorry for the man as he shot him and moved on.
The Exalt body count rises as the steady flow of reinforcements starts to dwindle.
The Legion continues to hold the parliament as Hordini and the rest of 2nd Squad advance into the kill zone to mop up.
Canuck, once again out of ammo, uses her pistol to kill yet another Exalt
The last few stragglers in the aborted hunt for Killionaire return to the parliament only to find XCOM waiting for them. Legionnaires engage incoming Exalt forces.
2nd platoon remorselessly slaughters the attackers.
Hordini pounded through the hallway and out the very entrance he had initially breached. As he cleared the steps, he spotted the operative Legion 20 had been unable to hit. He looked young. Even as the thought formed Hordini saw the kid raise his weapon. Hordini didn't hesitate.
Legion 9 surveys the devastation.
BREAKING NEWS: TERRORIST ATTACK ON ARGENTINIAN PARLIAMENT THWARTED BY COUNTER-TERROR FORCES
"Hello America, and welcome back to Fox and Friends Weekend. Breaking news just in overnight as a DARING terrorist attack was thwarted in the act of being carried out. Although few civilians were hurt, the terrorists did manage to detonate several explosive devices within the parliament grounds. No group is yet taking responsibility, but stay tuned as our panel will discuss the implications and whether the attack in Argentina means you're in danger here. Remember, we'll report, you decide. Fox News. Fair and Balanced."
The Capitol, Washington D.C. USA
Senator Duncan Wilson (R-AZ) turned off the TV in disgust. Fething morons. They'd invested so much into the Beunos Aires chapter. Half the ruling coalition of parliament were brothers and soon they were to lead the charge to cut XCOM off from funding. Argentina was to be the first country to back Exalt openly - paving the way for further gains. Now the cell was in ruins and XCOM had who knows what information - surely not his name. That much he knew. XCOM may have a thread though. It would take careful watching and deft manipulation to keep XCOM off the trail from now on. He picked up the phone. "Mindy? Yes, it's me. Can you be a dear and get me Mr. White?" Thanks, Hun."
Amputation would be necessary to stop the bleeding. For now Argentina was lost, but hopefully the damage was mitigated. Now, he had to prepare for the Senate debate on deploying troops to the northern border in the face of Canada's increased... erratic behavior.
Argentinian Embassy, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Catrin didn't usually come into work on Saturday mornings, but she'd forgotten her cell phone last night. Luckily it wasn't too far out of the way and she could meet Anna just down the street. It was a gorgeous day and the embassy was quiet - most staff were gone and it was too nice to attend to the matters of government. As she entered the grounds she passed a very handsome man who smiled the most perfect white smile at her. She blushed quite fiercely.. then blushed even harder when she realized she was blushing. It was going to be a good day.
Mr. Mendez's car was here - how strange. The ambassador worked Saturdays even less often than she did and never without her. Maybe there was some sort of emergency and she'd forgotten her phone! Oh God, if she got fired... She rushed up the stairs. "Mr. Mendez, I'm so sorry. I left my phone here... Mr. Mendez? The door was ajar and Catrin saw.....
Catrin would not remember what she saw for a very long time. Somethings are better left unseen.
"Ma'am, may I talk to you?" Bradford always seeking answers.
"Yes, of course you may."
"Ma'am, I understand that you make the final choices in regards to all things in this command, but may I ask why you sent 2nd Platoon instead of 4th Squad? 4th Squad has an exemplary combat record and the soldiers are well suited to the work. I'm not complaining. The mission was a complete success and the 2nd Platoon is to be commended. In fact, the promotion paperwork for Killionaire and Bromsy is almost complete."
The Commander regarded Bradford silently for a moment before replying with a question of her own.
"Terry, what do you know of the Council?" The Commander wasn't usually so informal.
"Not much, I'll admit. I gather it's a collection of influential government and non-government individuals who have taken the lead in the response to the alien invasion. A NATO for extra-terrestrials so to speak."
"Why do you think there are no heads of state on the Council? No presidents... no prime ministers or dictators?"
"I... I'm not sure. I always assumed it was for deniability, but I admit I don't know."
"Neither am I. We're operating on the thinnest of margins, Terry. On the one hand, we take almost no orders from the Council. They ply us with money and ask no questions. All they expect in return is for us to defend the world in general and their countries in particular. We are provided with money and political cover for our actions, but not anywhere near the money a unified world response the Council claims to represent would supply. We have advanced human technology more in the last 4 months than in the last 40 years. Genetic engineering. Laser Weapons, Advanced armor and fighters that make F-22s look like bi-planes. We defeat the alien wherever we engage him, yet we are small. Lt Silver commands less than 50 soldiers. The science team is even smaller. Why is the unified world response so... paltry?"
Bradford looked uneasy. Questioning superiors was not his forte. "You think they're hiding something?"
"They're definitely hiding something -besides their faces. We're going to find out. Exalt is just the beginning I feel."
"Ma'am, what does this have to do with 2nd platoon and 4th squad?"
"I need an instrument to find me my answers. I need a force who is willing to do the dirty jobs and not ask questions. Buenos Aires was a perfect resume. 2nd platoon is my instrument." The Commander straightened and assumed a formal tone. "Major Bradford, after careful review of combat and personnel records I am formally disbanding 2nd platoon. You will find recommendations for reassignment for all surviving members of the platoon.As of this point forward, 2nd platoon no longer exists." The Commander raised her eyebrow. "Is that understood, Major?"
"Understood, Ma'am."
"Good. Dismissed."
"Yes, Ma'am." Bradford turned to leave.
"Major?"
"Yes, Ma'am?"
"Tell them they did a great job."
"Yes, Ma'am."
I can't wait to go home and play. I'm going to have to restart. And this time make Africa my base and not focus so much on just weapons.
this thread rekindled my love for this game.
hotsauceman1 wrote: I can't wait to go home and play. I'm going to have to restart. And this time make Africa my base and not focus so much on just weapons.
this thread rekindled my love for this game.
Glad you are enjoying the thread, and glad I've 'inspired' you to pick the game up again. I do believe it is one of, if not the best game of the last 10 years.
We'll figure one out for you. Stay tuned for the end of June round up as I take an operational pause and write a report on the state of each member of XCOM.
I here by declare your Frat name.....wait...Animal House influence....K.I.S.S.
Callsign for Bromsy should be "Brewski11" His combat "buddy" should be a peeled label off a bottle of "PBR" that's a velcro patch on his Battle Rattle
Excellent work 2nd platoon. Sad to see your colours mothballed, but maybe one day they will be revived. In the meantime I am sure you will all be welcomed into 1st platoon with appropriate gusto.
When I played the new X-com, I didn't have the version with EXALT in it, so this mission was new territory for me. You can send X-Com operatives on spy missions? You can fight human collaborators (which was a feature of X-Com Apocalypse, if I recall)? I may need to pick this version up for myself...
Frankenberry wrote:Wait a second...I see a distinct lack of a cereal monster in that last drop!
Or did I read you wrong and just assume I was going along for that ride? I really can't remember now.
Frankenberry is an official member of 2nd Squad, 1st Platoon. You will drop when Lt. Dead Meat, CPL Docta Deth, the Scruffys (Me and my wife), and CPL Chaos 0xomega drop. 1st Squad, 2nd Platoon is who just dropped.
SilverMK2 wrote:Excellent work 2nd platoon. Sad to see your colours mothballed, but maybe one day they will be revived. In the meantime I am sure you will all be welcomed into 1st platoon with appropriate gusto.
Maybe I wasn't clear. 2nd platoon doesn't *officially* exist. Even by the standards of XCOM, 2nd platoon is now the going to lead the charge in rooting out corruption, and in the Commander's own investigation of the Council. The Council always struck me as not making a whole lot of sense and I want to explore (thematically and through the narrative) exactly what the Council's aims are. Are they this secretive, but ultimately noble organization just trying to defend the planet or do they have ulterior motives? Assuming the aliens can be beaten, what happens to the world's most advanced technology after that? Whichever force or organization controls XCOM will ultimately rule the world. The Commander wants... no needs to make sure that XCOM can not be used to enslave the very people it defends.
Trondheim wrote:Now this was indeed stellar work by any standards! Great jobb 2th! Drinks on me this evening
squidhills wrote:When I played the new X-com, I didn't have the version with EXALT in it, so this mission was new territory for me. You can send X-Com operatives on spy missions? You can fight human collaborators (which was a feature of X-Com Apocalypse, if I recall)? I may need to pick this version up for myself...
Exalt is part of XCOM: Eneny Within, an expansion pack for XCOM: Enemy Unknown. The Exalt are basically a darker version of XCOM. They seeks personal power and wish to jump start the next step of human evolution by using alien genetics to do it. They also always felt quasi-religious to me which is why I try to cloak their actions in a sort of fanaticism that the game doesn't really give them.
Sgt_Scruffy wrote: They also always felt quasi-religious to me which is why I try to cloak their actions in a sort of fanaticism that the game doesn't really give them.
Er, I mean... you've tried to ARC one before, right?
spoiler for those who have never played, just in case it comes up in narrative.
Spoiler:
I decided to bring a dude in for questioning and worked seriously hard to get one in ARC territory. I finally manage to run up and stun him, only for him to yank out a needle and jam it in his neck for suicide. I mean, that's some fanaticism right there...
Expect the Terror Attack up later tonight. I'm going to power through June here then take a pause to collect my thoughts on how I want XCOM to develop thematically.
After I figure it out, I'll post a psych profile and general records review of each Dakka Corps member and squad. This will be the framework for the narrative going forward as I feel like I'm sort of drifting here and just bouncing from one thing to the next without really developing it.
In the meantime, I will try to take whatever fluff you've written for your character into account in developing their individual profiles. Bullockist has already provided some good insights into his character and some of the other like Chaos, Frankenberry, and Galia are promising. If you want to push a certain narrative, feel free to PM me.
From now on the missions are going to be a little less play by play and more narrative like the last mission. I'll be less concerned with reporting how many HP that laser blast took off the Muton and more concerned with setting the scene.
Love the write-ups. I think the Exalt storyline in this thread is much more interesting than the game actually! That's why some people IRL have asked for an Exalt campaign.
Glad 2nd Platoon could slaughter some traitors. Sad to see 2nd Platoon disbanded but the Commander seem to be saying we "officially" don't exist anymore....does that mean we...unofficially exist in some way? Has 2nd become the Black Ops team of the already Black ops Xcom?
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Righteousrob wrote: This is cool. Wish I had gotten in on this. If you need cannon fodder to be molded sign me up
KamikazeCanuck wrote: Love the write-ups. I think the Exalt storyline in this thread is much more interesting than the game actually! That's why some people IRL have asked for an Exalt campaign.
Glad 2nd Platoon could slaughter some traitors. Sad to see 2nd Platoon disbanded but the Commander seem to be saying we "officially" don't exist anymore....does that mean we...unofficially exist in some way? Has 2nd become the Black Ops team of the already Black ops Xcom?
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Righteousrob wrote: This is cool. Wish I had gotten in on this. If you need cannon fodder to be molded sign me up
We always need more Cannon fodder!
It would seem that 2th has become the absulte definition of black ops, witch is kinda cool
Quiet Canuck. No such thing as 2nd platoon. It no longer exist. They've been taken by the Dark Side. They are not located at the end of Gruber RD in the fenced compound there.
I guess now we will be seeing issues with the XCOM budget, like staplers costing 100 credits... After all, money to feed the totally doesn't exist secret projects has to come from somewhere.
The intent will eventually be to provide each squad and each individual with a narrative hook. Canuck and company are the commander's deniable asset. They'll still fight aliens, but they're primary focus will be more.... Terrestrial
Sgt_Scruffy wrote: The intent will eventually be to provide each squad and each individual with a narrative hook. Canuck and company are the commander's deniable asset. They'll still fight aliens, but they're primary focus will be more.... Terrestrial
I wouldn't have it any other way.
"There's nothing so wretched or hated in all the world as a traitor. The Alien's mind is unknown, who knows why they do what they do. But we know the traitors all to well for they are human and for them there can be no forgiveness and no mercy" -attributed to Kamikaze Canuck upon hearing Canada's fall was due was in part due to collaborators
KamikazeCanuck wrote: Love the write-ups. I think the Exalt storyline in this thread is much more interesting than the game actually! That's why some people IRL have asked for an Exalt campaign.
Glad 2nd Platoon could slaughter some traitors. Sad to see 2nd Platoon disbanded but the Commander seem to be saying we "officially" don't exist anymore....does that mean we...unofficially exist in some way? Has 2nd become the Black Ops team of the already Black ops Xcom?
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Righteousrob wrote: This is cool. Wish I had gotten in on this. If you need cannon fodder to be molded sign me up
We always need more Cannon fodder!
It would seem that 2th has become the absulte definition of black ops, witch is kinda cool
OPERATION DEFIANT NIGHT: 15 June 2015. Norilsh, Russia
"SFC Jihadin, prepare your skyranger for seats out operation. We're going to cram as many civilians as we can into the skyranger. Check with QC for updated 365-4 forms. Tell them to max it out."
--Major Illifan delivers orders to the maintenance wing.
"Russia is not like Canada. There was no sudden defection. No sudden capitulation. The Russians fought like cornered bears the entire time. By the time the Asian air wing arrived in their bases in Germany, the Russian air force was a smoldering wreck and the Russian strategic missile forces were buried in their bunkers. The aliens didn't even bother targeting Russian military bases outright, they simply retaliated against attacks with devastating efficiency. Still, the Russians fought and they did all they could. The Russian representatives in the Council hurled invective, threatened, pleaded with, and eventually cursed the Council for their inaction. The Commander, who so many people viewed as this unfeeling monolith at the center of XCOM, struggled daily with the decisions on her shoulders. The Asians were insisting that they would withdraw en mass if immediate resources were not allocated to the defense of their land masses. The United States was screaming for help with the border defense along their Northern border, and the continued Exalt activity in South America was making the Council nervous. Sensing an imminent Russian defeat, the aliens piled on the pressure throughout June - to an unbearable degree. Some people still blame the commander for what happened in the aftermath, but I know she tried everything she could think of.
--Personal log, Major Bradford
I've never been to Russia and I don't even think I can personally point out Norilsk on a map. It was, in truth, a bleak town in the middle of nowhere Siberia. The Russians were desperate though. They had nothing left to throw at the UFOs so the aliens were just picking towns and slaughtering the people there. It was horrible. We had to help. I wanted to help. Then we got to Norilsk, and all I wanted to do was get out of there."
-- Attributed to Specialist Adept Sister, 4th squad medic
Dominique Le Penne strode down the halls of The Parliament Francais quite quickly, but not so quickly as to draw notice. This was important and the opposition leader, Guillaume Leveque would be ecstatic! This would surely tip the balance of power in the Council. The Russians were going to leave, she was sure of it, and with that, the last major obstacle to moving ahead with the genetic augmentation initiative would be removed. The Asians would get some concessions, of course, but the South American model would be pursued. Her sources said the Commander was already vacillating and the removal of a powerful voice for the strategic air model would tip the scales more towards genetic manipulation. Perhaps this would convince others to listen to Leveque's more... ambitious ideas.
XCOM HQ: Underneath Gashaka Gumti National Park
"Lieutenant Trondheim, your only mission is to save as many civilians as possible. Is that clear? The Russians are leaving and there's nothing we can do about it. We have a window of 12 hours to get our people out of their borders or they will consider us hostile. In that time, you will save as many of the people of Norilsk as you can. The Russian members of the Council may have lost faith in our endeavor, but already the legend of XCOM is spreading. We will do everything we can to bolster the flagging morale of the Russian people before we must move on to battles we can win. We will win this war one town at a time, even if we have to fight for every town, village, and hamlet on Earth. Get to your Skyranger, and don't come back until every alien in Norilsk is dead.
-- The Commander to Lt. Trondheim moments before liftoff for Defiant Night.
"I don't know why, but there seemed a sense of defeat about Defiant Night before we even lifted off the ground. The briefing seemed almost perfunctory. It basically amounted to "kill the aliens, save the civilians." In those days, all the news out of Russia was bad. We'd win every battle we fought there, but we'd only fight 1 out of every 20 battles. The aliens were relentless. Canada had been almost merciful by comparison - a quick shutting off of the lights and then silence. Russia was loud, drawn out, and above all heart-breaking." --Adept Sister
4th Squad storms down the ramp. The Skyranger had stripped as much fuel, armor, and ammo as possible in order to haul civilians away from the fighting.
"They charged us immediately. They always do now. XCOM is now on the aliens radar, of that, I'm sure. We are dangerous enough to be noticed. Maybe that's reassuring, maybe that's scary. I don't know. The thought that something as apparently mindless as a Chryssalid will stop what it's doing and attack us at the mere sight of XCOM uniforms keeps me up at night."
--Adept Sister
Orlanth finishes off an alpha 'lid as 4th squad stand firms against a chryssalid charge
"I think they're getting bigger."
--Observation made by Adept Sister. Definat Night
Demented Wombat finishes off a 'lid as 4th squad struggles to even make it off the LZ
"Have you ever had to call in rocket strikes on civilians because you knew that the poor woman's life would buy the lives of 5... 10.... 100 other civilians. Is 100 enough? 100 has to be enough, right?
-- Adept Sister
CPL Malfred shredder rockets a pack of zombies
"We were efficient. I don't believe we missed a shot the entire mission. The aliens and their vile zombie incubators were cut down like wheat to the scythe. The guys who had been around for a while seemed particularly grim as they cleared out the alien. They told me later they'd seen it all before. They knew how this song played out. No matter what we did, those aliens were going to have their pound of flesh."
--Adept Sister
CPL Motyak slaughters yet more zombies
Adept Sister finishes off a zombie
"Sometimes I don't know if what we did saved lives or cost lives. Sure, we killed aliens, but I can't help wondering if we inadvertently drove civilians away. Filling the air with explosions, the screams of aliens, and the constant zap of laser rifles probably drove some civilians right into the 'lids arms..."
--Adept Sister
Civilians cower before the assault of XCOM. They are caught between the immovable object of XCOM and the irresistable force of the alien terror attack.
"I've never seen marksmanship like I saw that day. A 'lid in full gallop will run down a cheetah - at least, that's what Dr. Shen's engineers tell me."
--Major Bradford comments of Defiant Night.
"[static].... I see 'em. preparing rocket. Cover me....[inaudible].... ROCKET AWAY!
....hit! We have a hit. Okay, they're still coming. Firing line on my mark.... and MARK!
..... This is 4-3, I'm green/green/red! Reloading!.....
... X-ray down, I'm out. ...
..... Okay, fire team alpha, advance. fire team bravo, base of fire...." --Sample 4th Squad squad channel audio. Defiant Night.
CPL Malfred softens up zombies
CPL Wombat and Malfred have become quite proficient as a team
"Slowly but surely, they were surrounding us. Worse yet, we were so swamped in aliens that the aliens were starting to veer off to kill civilians..."
--Adept Sister
Motyak and Legion 11 deal with a flanking 'lid
Malfred finally gets a kill of his own - he has wounded over a dozen aliens in this mission
Orlanth finishes off the last of the 'lids
"We were low on explosives and resorting to blinding zombies just to slow them down even more... at this point, as much as I am terrified to admit it, they were smart enough to ignore us and just focus on doing as much damage as possible... The implications that a dead human could strategize...I don't want to think about it."
--Adept Sister
Adept Sister continues the grim work of 4th squad as yet another zombie horde shuffles towards them
Demented Wombat uses his last grenade on the never ending hordes of zombies
LT Trondheim, out of ammo, uses his pistol to take down another zombie
"By the end of Defiant Night we were dumping anything we could off the Skyranger. All the crew had dumped their body armor. I'd already dumped the MCU overboard. Basically we were doing anything to save weight. I made all the XCOM soldiers dump their armor - but LT Trondheim wouldn't let anyone dump their Phalanx armor. He said it was too valuable. I could see his heart breaking as he said it. We crammed 18 people in a ship made to transport 8...."
--Jihadin
The order to withdraw is given. Just over 60% of the town is saved by the actions of 4th squad.
"I'm almost ashamed to admit that I watch every mission live in the CIC. Call it morbid curiosity, call it professional interest, but no one in the Combat information Center that day was dry eyed. For all we knew, we were watching the dying gasps of an entire culture. I know I never expected to see Russia again. The aliens were merciless and watching 4th squad wade through an ocean of blood to save the last few civilians was simultaneously the proudest and saddest moment of my life."
--Dr. Shen.
4th Squad comes back - untouched... at least physically
First Lieutenant Trondheim learns the improtance of suppressing fire
Long hours in the gym have made Motyak the fastest man in XCOM
Legion 11 becomes quite the predator, preying on weakened aliens
"I worked on Viktor Korotayev for what seemd like forever [the flight took 2.4 hours -- Jihadin]. Massiave internal injuries, severe lacerations across the abdomen and he was deep in shock. I use the contents of my entire medical bag on him and he still spent a month in a coma in XCOM's medical ward. Eventually he was transferred to the US and last I heard, he was being granted asylum with all the other Russians out of the country when the Russains went dark. I think that's what I'm most proud of from Defiant Night.... I saved Viktor."
--Adept Sister
The Council delivers the official news. The Russian delegation has walked out and no amount of convincing will make them stay. The Russian governement will officially sever contact with The Council and XCOM. Russian airspace is closed and the Russian withdraw from the UN the next day.
"Of course it was bitter. We'd moved heaven and Earth to prepare for a Russian defense. Projects had been postponed, personnel and funds reassigned, and the genetic enhancement projects put off to crash build a Russian air defense plan. Just as it comes online the Russians break. In the closing hours, we promised them satellites and a full air wing! Nothing worked. They surrendered... I think. No one is quite sure. Unlike the Canadian border -t he Russian border was almost impenetrable. None of our UAVs returned. I think Russia might be hell on Earth."
--Major Bradford
Dominique could not stop smiling. Her work was going swimmingly. Leveque was most pleased and all reports out of Gahaka Gumti pointed to the military arm going forward with the genetic project. Leveque was a genius. He'd managed to slow down the distress calls coming out of Russia just long enough for XCOM's response to be too slow. The Commander was untouchable and so were the members of XCOM itself. The commander's unique nature made tampering with them out of the question. Control their flow of information however.... well. It was turning into a wonderful summer. You could say an exalted summer.
Feth. Russia is lost. For now. It sucks because I truly made a concerted effort to save it. I hadn't planned on putting that much money towards the air wing when things like armor, genetic research, weapons research, and the foundry were all crying out for attention. The last terror attack was the nail in the coffin. Lesson learned. I had been holding off on launching the satellites until I was sure I could defend them. It may have been a better option to put them up early and hope the available interceptors could defend them. Of course, thematically I think it couldn't have gone any better - XCOM is at it's most interesting when things seem darkest. The developing rift in the Council is super exciting from a stroy telling standpoint for me. I hope it is for you as well. Stay tuned. June is just getting started (even though we're halfway through). The aliens are feeling confident and the enemies of XCOM are on the march. Can XCOM hold out?
You're an enabler, really. On this mission you got plenty of kills - really everyone did. I use you as the opening salvo.. .mostly because a rocketeer is salvo unto him(or her)self.
Quick question for all the readers out there. Does the Commander make sense to you all? I know I keep referring to her/him through different pronouns. There is a story there - at least there's the beginnings of a story. I want to try to make a narrative out of the absolute control the player has over the game world. I'm wondering if the assembled audience is actually interested in it.
INTERLUDE: XCOM Barrack: Underneath Gashaka Gumti National Park, Nigeria
Sgt_Scruffy slammed her hand down on her alarm clock... again. "Dear God, please give me the strength to be the woman XCOM thinks I am." She murmered to herself as she slowly got out of bed. Another night of heavy sleep. She was sleeping a lot lately. Maybe if she could sleep long enough, the war would be over and she could go back to a world that made sense. Maybe she wasn't cut out for this. Maybe everyone knew she wasn't cut out for this. Maybe Jeanette knew she wasn't cut out for this. God, what if she was laughing at her too? She always seemed so confident - fearless even- on missions. Meanwhile she couldn't stop shaking.
"I'm only here as a concession for Jeanette." she thought to herself - not for the first time. Jeanette had always been special. IDF through and through and a tough girl even by military standards. She'd loved her as soon as she saw her, of couse. Surprisingly, she'd loved Sgt_Scruffy back. Oh.. most of the world would consider her a well trained soldier. 3rd SGF(A). ODA 3336. That was her. Of course, that was about par for the course around here. Some of these peole hailed from units she'd never heard of - and they were American units! It added to her sense of insecurity.
She shuffled back to her bunk. Maybe just five more minutes....
I second this, I a big fan what you are doing. Makes me really want to start up another long war, but so many games and so little time.....I must resist the temptation for now.
Quick question for all the readers out there. Does the Commander make sense to you all? I know I keep referring to her/him through different pronouns. There is a story there - at least there's the beginnings of a story. I want to try to make a narrative out of the absolute control the player has over the game world. I'm wondering if the assembled audience is actually interested in it.
In a sense, yeah I can understand the commander. It's had to personalize a distance all controlling figure, but as long as the Commander tries and show a little humanity I think it works. I mean when you have the job of controlling a organization like XCOM while dealing with the council, aliens attack, money and research constraint's and Exalt shenanigans it takes a special person to really be able to do that. You really do have to be kinda abnormal to begin with, I mean look at history a lot of great generals where kinda weird or at the very least not normal at all. Not really a job for anyone with a normal personality to handle, or that is how I see it.
++++++++++
..55,56,57.. Gallia mentally grunted out each rep, all the while doing his best to maintain perfect form. He was supposed to be taking it easy, resting from the last mission it was just......Operation Defiant night got under skin.
..58,59,60... What happen to Russia was...awful no doubt about it. Part of him was secretly glad it was Russia and not the States, another was disgusted that he would even feel that way. The emotion where conflicting and a he needed to burn off the energy.
..60,61,62.. It was just to see a nation to go out like that; struggling to fight back, to give everything and anything to be back the horde and for it still not to be enough to win.
..63,64,65..
I mean 4th squad did great, kicked ass and everything....it's just feels so sour, so pyrrhic a victory. Really we kill some aliens and they take out a nation.....so much....Pressure
There was a word that was perfect to describe this whole thing. Pressure. Pressure from the alien attacks, pressure from Exalt, pressure from watching those people we could not save die, pressure from the damn screaming council for XCOM to do the impossible, hell even the damn weight he was lifting was pressure. Pressure, pressure,pressure. Slowly and inevitability grinding us down into the dirt. It was not enough to kill us, but they wanted to break us. In that moment Gallia could see it. The Muton he had killed in his first 3rd sqoud mission was here, grimy clawed hand holding on to the weight. Pushing him back down; dull eyes a glitter with joy. Joy of watching someone put so much effort into a task that he knew he would fail at. Pathetic So there he was fighting not a weight or even gravity but a figment of his own mind. A struggle which seemed impossible. So many things just kept stacking up, his own made gave him a army of enemies to force him back down. Aliens, Exalt, even his own limitations where there. All trying to crush him.
So much to hold the line. God, so much effort and blood just to hold everything up. XCOM and the World. A near endless swarm of things to hold back, Aliens, Exalt, f*cking reality it seems......Just...Just so much to hold.....hold.....Hold.....That all we are doing, and yet..... I got threw my mission by holding out. Beating those bastards. 4th squad held out against the odds in Defiant Night and 2nd squad defies the odds all the time. Against all that we held, we pulled threw.
Just like that the weight felt lighter.The pressure lessened and the Muton went back to being what it was, dead and gone.All we have to do is hold out, weather the storm and we can do this. Pushing of the ghost of the mind, Gallia set the weight back up on the wrack and basked in the pain of his soar arms. He really gonna feel that one tomorrow. Stretching out for a moment, Gallia made his way to the showers. He had gotten what he wanted, he felt much calmer. Maybe not a peace or even feeling good but he new what he needed to do now. All he had to do was hold out. Weather the all this crap and get to the other side and we can win.
I just have to endure....endure and I can win-no XCOM can win. God,I am glad I am nothing but a glorified grunt. I can't even imaged what the officers have to deal with......or damn the commander. Can't imagine what that is like. I mean.....Geez if it hard like this...It must be....Like trying to hold up the whole world. The whole wide world on you. You and you alone....I can't imagine, but if the Commander has not had a break down then I sure as hell will keep on going.
Reinvigorated, it was only until he got to the showers that Gallia thought he could imaged what it was like. The Commander was Atlas. A single person holding the whole world on his shoulders. It was a terrible, hard and thankless task to do, but it only made Gallia smile.
Atlas commander has a nice ring to it.
Sgt Scruffy, love what you are doing so far. Have no complaints. Wish I could be useful to you in the narrative aspect. I'm no writer, but I like what you have done for my character. The whole endurance feeling I get when you write about him. I feel he's like an unmovable mountain. If that's not what you were going for then I'm wrong in some aspect then lol.
Keep up the good work. Looking forward to your next posts and the fate of Xcom.
Grim tidings indeed, sad to see that we lost Russia in this manner. Even after wading trough hordes and hordes of aliens and their reanimated hordes of darkness.
Hope that we get to pay them back fo this sad loss of both civilian and milletary support.
---------
Trondheim sat silent on his bed, his equipment disgarded on the floor and said bed. The things had had seen just hours ago still played over and over in his mind, the endless hizz of laser fire and the woosh of rockets alongside the sickeing sounds of the aliens. As one of his calloused hands found the amulet he always carried around his neck tears started to drip down his face.
He had failed those whom needed his help the most, he had not managed to save them all. But Odin willing the next time he came face to face with one of these devils thre would be hell to pay.
OPERATION SACRED RAIN (The stupidest random name yet). 18 June, 2015. Chicago, Illinois, United States.
LCPL Eddie Azrael was getting coffee when the call came in. The Skyranger crew had just finished scrubbing the blood off the floors of the ship and the maintenance people had just put the ship back in order after the mission. Alien abductions again. 1st Squad hadn't been on call for more than a few hours. No one was on call for more than a few hours anymore before attacks came in. You could set your watch by them it seemed. Even as Eddie scrambled to the briefing room, thoughts of coffee forgotten, he couldn't help but notice the look of resignation on the faces of the maintenance people. One more long day for them.
What's this? Usually the brass weren't here for what was fast becoming a routine mission. Something was strange. Dr. Vahlen seemed more creepily excited than usual and Dr. Shen was looking particularly proud of himself. Everyone else was already here strapping on their armor. Ah.. new Phalanx armor. 2 new sets. That would help. No, the technicians seemed to clustered around Silver MK2 trying to help her with some sort of bulky contraption. She was complaining about something...
"What do you mean I have to reconfigure it? I can't just point and shoot?"
"Ma'am, no. We are dealing with vastly different alien species. If we want any chance at taking them alive you have to apply just the right amount of neurological shock to incapacitate them. A muton will require a much greater charge than a sectoid."
"And I'm supposed to do this under fire?" The LT didn't seem happy.
"Yes, Ma'am. You'll have to close to point blank range to give it a chance to work. Try taking a wounded alien first. Most combat footage shows some common alien life forms are susceptible to trauma shock and this will weaken their neurological resistance to the chemical tipped electrode dart.."
"Yeah, just give it to me. How many rounds do I have?"
"Just one, Ma'am..."
"ONE! What if it doesn't work?"
"We're working on another one. We suggest having a squad mate provide back up. Work in a team of two."
"Thanks for the suggestion. May I run my own squad now?"
"Of course, Ma'am it was onl.."
"Shup up. Legion! Get over here. The engineers can't be bothered to mass produce anything around here so we only get one of these things."
Maybe things weren't going to be so routine this time Eddie thought as he hefted his new phalanx armor over his shoulder.
1st Squad prepares to cover Legion 20 as the initial testing of the arc thrower begins
"You could always tell when command was worried about resistance. They'd send in the robots with us. Simultaneously reassuring and terrifying. The SHIVs may not have looked like much at the time, but they were real life savers. They always drew a lot of attention and The adaptive AI Dr. Shen's people had programmed into them seemed to be pretty good at prioritizing protecting the squad. I sort of liked the little guys. I guess they were the closest thing XCOM had to a guard dog."
--LCPL Azrael
"We're going to conduct seveal false insertions to try to drive them south towards the highway before we take insert you. We need to get close. Remember people, we only have room for one of these things. I need everyone to clear out opposition for Legion until there's one left. Walrus! Shoot to wound! I know. I know. It's stupid, but the Commander thinks it's important."
--LT. Silver Mk2
The squad touches down outside First National Bank and Trust. LT Silver forgoes the usual bold assault in hopes of luring the aliens as close as possible.
"The thing about thin men is that they're fast and they don't particularly like being close to you. Accurate too. Advancing on thin men is dangerous work."
--Azrael
1st Squad found itself in a difficult position for most of Sacred Rain. For all their ferocity, most aliens aren't stupid. Through months of sustained combat with XCOM, they had come to take us seriously. All but the most barbaric aliens seemed to prefer prolong long range combat where their plasma weapons still held a distinct advantage. Advancing under fire would be yet another skill XCOM would master in the coming weeks. --Excerpt from Inside XCOM: The Long War Project
LT Silver pulls the plug on attempting a capture of thin men. Walrus is given the go ahead to shoot to kill.
Dakka-Dakka 2 draws fire as the sole remaining thin man starts to fall back.
The tactical situation proves impossible to safely effect the capture.Legion 20 is forced to defend himself as the alien charges him..
With the thin men dispatched, Lt Silver is immediately faced with a new threat. Floaters and Seekers are advancing on her left flank. Luckily, she'd spotted the Seekers before and the squad is already in the process of coming on line to meet their attack.
"I'd been preparing my rocket all mission, just waiting for the chance to shoot it. I got the weapon's clear command from the LT. Checked my back-blast and let loose. Direct hit. It's satisfying having one of these POS rockets fly straight and true."
"What the hell are they doing!" Majro Illifan was furious as he watched the screen. "The Commander ordered them to capture an alien, not blow them all up!"
"The LT knows what she's doing, sir." Lt. Morton was somewhat in awe of the direct action platoon.
"Lieutenant, 1st squad is not even trying. Legion 20 shot that thin man after being ordered to capture it. That's disobeying a direct order! Lt. Silver is doing the same when she ordered LCPL Azrael to blow up those Floaters."
"Sir, we're not there maybe..."
"Shut up, Lieutenant."
"Yes, Sir."
Walrus deals with a Seeker as 1st squad tries to find an avenue to advance on the last Floater. http://i1151.photobucket.com/albums/o624/Sgt_Scruffy/Bleeding%20Fist/Defiant%20Night/Sacred%20Rain/2015-03-12_00028_zpsjzbj1b4q.jpg" border="0" />
Seeker Ambush! Legion 3 tries to defend Walrus from a strangle attack Dakka-Dakka 2 shoots the seeker off Walrus. Although Walrus would need a minute, his armor has saved him from a crushed larynx.
"I'm not sure when the LT saw the opening. Things were still pretty intense. We were winning, yes, but there was still a lot of plasma coming out way. All of sudden, Legion 20 and hers just got up and sprinted through it. I don't think the Floater quite expected it. Legion was still fiddling with the settings as he ran. He actually had to vault off a park bench and attempt the stun in mid-air as the floater was hovering at about 10 feet. Damnedest thing I've ever seen. The Floater hit the pavement like a ton of bricks - some sort of paralytic shock [the Arc Thrower floods the alien nervous system with commands - inducing a rigid seizure as all muscles tense for prolonged periods of time --Dr. Shen]. With that, it was over... just seemed to end abruptly. I don't think the aliens expected an abduction to happen to them."
"See sir, mission accomplished!" Lt. Morton couldn't help but have a slight gloating tone in his voice.
"I see that, Lieutenant." Illifan looked simultaneously pleased with the outcome of the mission and sour at the fool he'd made of himself. "Make sure the alien containment center is ready, Lieutenant. 1st Squad managed not to screw up, let's see to it that we don't either."
"Yes, Sir!"
"We trussed up the Floater pretty good on our way back to XCOM HQ. I think a lot of us would have preferred beating the gak out of the alien right then and there, but orders are orders. Dr. Vahlen has something special all ready for this guy and I know it will be worse than whatever I could inflict. Almost wish I could be there to watch it."
--Eddie Azrael
Cthulu Spy continues to develop as the squad's heavy firepower
The squad captures a floater captive and recovers an alien carbine.
Dr Vahlen's Science Lab.
[i]The Commander observed the trapped Floater as it tried fruitlessly to find a weak point in the containment center's armor. Up close and stripped of their weapons, Floaters were sad specimens. Pinched, necrotized flesh crudelystrapped into powerful cybernetics made them horrifying to look at. The look in their eyes - madness, violence, and pain mixed in equal measure.
"A fascinating specimen, Commander. We have already identified 4 different organs that have no terrestrial equiv..."
"Is it what you need?" The Commander wasn't in the mood for a science lecture.
"Yes! More is needed though! We must capture one of the sectoid's commander. The psychic powers of the small aliens may be key to understanding or communicating with them! You must instruct the men to continue..."
"I'll take care of commanding XCOM, Doctor."
"Of course, forgive me. The men and women have done an outstanding job. Please convey my thanks."
"Do you know what this is, Dr?" The Commander turned to her.
"Of course, Commander. It is a Floater class Xeno-soldier. Primary purpose seems to be ..."
"I'm sure it is all that, but what this Floater represents is the first true offensive operation XCOM has under taken. We have now struck back. I intend to keep striking back. We are going to take the fight to the enemy. Prepare your team doctor. You will be busy."
"Yes, Ma'am." The Doctor looked pleased.
Docta deth looked in the containment room window as the floater circled the room, time and time again. Her eyes were distant, she remembered the blood, the acid, the plasma raining down on her squad, her attempt to cut away the seared flesh as her squadmates screamed. she looked at the floater, and smiled, a smile without cheer or humor.
She fingered the remains of her old life, the family photo, her son's dog tags, the lucky coin her husband had given her the night he had died, and began the walk to the armoury. The flames of her memories would be reborn in alien flesh, and alien blood.
Grats on a successful capture! Also grats on grabbing a functional plasma weapon. That'll help add some firepower to those teams that are still using assault rifles...
Excellent work glory squad. Legion 20 stuck to the playbook and bagges us our first alien, which I am very much looking forward to seeing the debrief of.
Lt Trondheim watched in morbid facination as the skyranger unloaded its inhuman cargo, he felt a strange tingeling deep within him and smiled.
There was perhaps justice to be found, for all those dead and lost civilians.
he would invest heavily in aquiring any recording of the interogation
AlmightyWalrus wrote: "Shoot to wound?!" The Laser Sniper Rifle is probably strong enough to punch through the armor of a tank, that's like shooting to wound with a mortar!
I just love how people lead by example!
It is now the great hunt!
Who gets to bag their first of each creepy-crawly?
(...and not get their face blasted off...).
Wait a minute, we won't be spitting acid and flying around with jets attached to our backs will we?
Oh Dr. Valen!
If I get you nice undamaged specimens I won't be modified to grow anything weird, right?
Chaos stared blankly at the floater in containment, but her mind was elsewhere. Russia had collapsed and gone dark, she could only wonder what had become of her family and childhood friends, and her comrades from her time in the service. She hadn't been able to even look at her stash of Vodka since she had heard the news, for all she knew those were the last bottles of Youri Dolgoruki and Pyatizvyozdnaya left on the planet. The tyrannical clarity of mind brought about by prolonged sobriety had made her quiet and introspective, and generally inattentive to the world around her.
Even still, she could feel the eyes of the nearby security personnel boring into her. They had searched her when she had entered the containment area, 'standard procedure' they called it, but she knew better. She knew that they had been given special orders to watch her, Valen and Shen were seemingly convinced that she would somehow find a way into the floaters cell and torture it to death. The image of how ridiculous that notion was almost brought a smile to her face, the truth of the matter was that she was almost positive that the most torturous thing that could be done to the Floater was to hold it in captivity and subject it to whatever tests and experimentation the science staff intended for it. In a way she almost felt an unwelcome degree of empathy for the creature. Just as it was trapped, powerless to affect anything in the ongoing war, she too was powerless to do anything for her Russia.
She would shrug that thought off by slaughtering some more aliens on the upcoming mission.
Well, it seems the Aliens like the cold. They've captured the entire North of the planet...
What Legionnaire? That man is known as Righteous "Zim" Rob, first human to ever capture an alien.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Talizvar wrote:I just love how people lead by example!
It is now the great hunt!
Who gets to bag their first of each creepy-crawly?
(...and not get their face blasted off...).
Wait a minute, we won't be spitting acid and flying around with jets attached to our backs will we?
Oh Dr. Valen!
If I get you nice undamaged specimens I won't be modified to grow anything weird, right?
I have been personally assured by the Commander that no XCOM operatives will be forced to undergo genetic, cybernetic, psychological, or physical ... alteration wihtout their express written consent. Yet.
AdeptSister wrote:Love the characterisation of AdeptSister! Thanks for doing this. All she wants to do is help get humanity through this.
I'm trying to differentiate the Dakka Corps. We've got our in house drunks, our immovable mountains of reliability, and our gung-ho Rambos. Hell, I've even got one who struggles with inadequacy, cowardice, and maybe a little bit of jealousy. It's nice to have someone fairly altruistic who doesn't hold some sort of personal grudge against the aliens.
chaos0xomega wrote:Chaos stared blankly at the floater in containment, but her mind was elsewhere. Russia had collapsed and gone dark, she could only wonder what had become of her family and childhood friends, and her comrades from her time in the service. She hadn't been able to even look at her stash of Vodka since she had heard the news, for all she knew those were the last bottles of Youri Dolgoruki and Pyatizvyozdnaya left on the planet. The tyrannical clarity of mind brought about by prolonged sobriety had made her quiet and introspective, and generally inattentive to the world around her.
Even still, she could feel the eyes of the nearby security personnel boring into her. They had searched her when she had entered the containment area, 'standard procedure' they called it, but she knew better. She knew that they had been given special orders to watch her, Valen and Shen were seemingly convinced that she would somehow find a way into the floaters cell and torture it to death. The image of how ridiculous that notion was almost brought a smile to her face, the truth of the matter was that she was almost positive that the most torturous thing that could be done to the Floater was to hold it in captivity and subject it to whatever tests and experimentation the science staff intended for it. In a way she almost felt an unwelcome degree of empathy for the creature. Just as it was trapped, powerless to affect anything in the ongoing war, she too was powerless to do anything for her Russia.
She would shrug that thought off by slaughtering some more aliens on the upcoming mission.
Well done! I think we'll be returning to Russia eventually.
Automatically Appended Next Post: I've been doing some tinkering under the hood... Here's a sneak peak.
He'd heard the call go out, fourth was headed to Russia to take part in an evacuation.
For some reason second still wasn't slated for a drop, causing no small amount of frustration on Frankenberry's part - especially when it came to dealing with the E.T. bastards that were busy burning his homeland.
He watched as fourth dropped into hell.
"On the right, drop that thing!" *explosions, alien screams*
"Jesus christ they move so fast!" "Get them off that guy! The civvie, THE CIVVIE!"
The aliens killed and killed, butchering defenseless men and women. They charged fourth repeatedly and he was sure that there would be an eventual call for another squad to go and save fourth. But the call never came, they stood their ground and killed every freak that came at them.
And then? The Russian government ran away. His homeland went dark, no news feeds, no intel from drones or satellites - they even refused aid. The cowards consigned the death of every single civilian because they were scared.
Frankenberry punched his locker hard, again and again, breaking the latch and a hinge, the door lazily swaying open. He grabbed the door in both hands and pulled hard on it, the metal groaning in response, if only for a moment before the final hinge gave out and it was ripped away.
Frankenberry stood there, broken locker door in hand, breathing heavy, staring at the floor. "It doesn't matter, does it. What we do." he said quietly.
chaos0xomega wrote: Chaos stared blankly at the floater in containment, but her mind was elsewhere. Russia had collapsed and gone dark, she could only wonder what had become of her family and childhood friends, and her comrades from her time in the service. She hadn't been able to even look at her stash of Vodka since she had heard the news, for all she knew those were the last bottles of Youri Dolgoruki and Pyatizvyozdnaya left on the planet. The tyrannical clarity of mind brought about by prolonged sobriety had made her quiet and introspective, and generally inattentive to the world around her.
Even still, she could feel the eyes of the nearby security personnel boring into her. They had searched her when she had entered the containment area, 'standard procedure' they called it, but she knew better. She knew that they had been given special orders to watch her, Valen and Shen were seemingly convinced that she would somehow find a way into the floaters cell and torture it to death. The image of how ridiculous that notion was almost brought a smile to her face, the truth of the matter was that she was almost positive that the most torturous thing that could be done to the Floater was to hold it in captivity and subject it to whatever tests and experimentation the science staff intended for it. In a way she almost felt an unwelcome degree of empathy for the creature. Just as it was trapped, powerless to affect anything in the ongoing war, she too was powerless to do anything for her Russia.
She would shrug that thought off by slaughtering some more aliens on the upcoming mission.
chaos0xomega wrote:Chaos stared blankly at the floater in containment, but her mind was elsewhere. Russia had collapsed and gone dark, she could only wonder what had become of her family and childhood friends, and her comrades from her time in the service. She hadn't been able to even look at her stash of Vodka since she had heard the news, for all she knew those were the last bottles of Youri Dolgoruki and Pyatizvyozdnaya left on the planet. The tyrannical clarity of mind brought about by prolonged sobriety had made her quiet and introspective, and generally inattentive to the world around her.
Even still, she could feel the eyes of the nearby security personnel boring into her. They had searched her when she had entered the containment area, 'standard procedure' they called it, but she knew better. She knew that they had been given special orders to watch her, Valen and Shen were seemingly convinced that she would somehow find a way into the floaters cell and torture it to death. The image of how ridiculous that notion was almost brought a smile to her face, the truth of the matter was that she was almost positive that the most torturous thing that could be done to the Floater was to hold it in captivity and subject it to whatever tests and experimentation the science staff intended for it. In a way she almost felt an unwelcome degree of empathy for the creature. Just as it was trapped, powerless to affect anything in the ongoing war, she too was powerless to do anything for her Russia.
She would shrug that thought off by slaughtering some more aliens on the upcoming mission.
Frankenberry wrote:He'd heard the call go out, fourth was headed to Russia to take part in an evacuation.
For some reason second still wasn't slated for a drop, causing no small amount of frustration on Frankenberry's part - especially when it came to dealing with the E.T. bastards that were busy burning his homeland.
He watched as fourth dropped into hell.
"On the right, drop that thing!" *explosions, alien screams*
"Jesus christ they move so fast!" "Get them off that guy! The civvie, THE CIVVIE!"
The aliens killed and killed, butchering defenseless men and women. They charged fourth repeatedly and he was sure that there would be an eventual call for another squad to go and save fourth. But the call never came, they stood their ground and killed every freak that came at them.
And then? The Russian government ran away. His homeland went dark, no news feeds, no intel from drones or satellites - they even refused aid. The cowards consigned the death of every single civilian because they were scared.
Frankenberry punched his locker hard, again and again, breaking the latch and a hinge, the door lazily swaying open. He grabbed the door in both hands and pulled hard on it, the metal groaning in response, if only for a moment before the final hinge gave out and it was ripped away.
Frankenberry stood there, broken locker door in hand, breathing heavy, staring at the floor. "It doesn't matter, does it. What we do." he said quietly.
So I got two crazy Russians hell bent on killing everything. Looks like I'll have to temper the rage into a keen blade of vengeance some how.
Oh man, I forgot how much I loved XCOM till just now....cant wait for my new rig to get here Friday (fingers crossed) and to load up a Long war game!!!
Also if you need more bodies im totally down to enlist! Those bug eyed bastards have taken too much already!
There's set of enforcers called the Minutemen who have pretty
boss code names. The Dog, the Bastard, the Saint, the Monster,
the Point Man, the Rain, and the Wolf.
Sgt_Scruffy wrote: The coward, the drunk, the psycho, the mountain, the machine, and Docta Deth (Whom I haven't quite come up with a hook for). Second squad is a mess.
Sgt_Scruffy wrote: The coward, the drunk, the psycho, the mountain, the machine, and Docta Deth (Whom I haven't quite come up with a hook for). Second squad is a mess.
Sgt_Scruffy wrote: The coward, the drunk, the psycho, the mountain, the machine, and Docta Deth (Whom I haven't quite come up with a hook for). Second squad is a mess.
Sgt_Scruffy wrote: The coward, the drunk, the psycho, the mountain, the machine, and Docta Deth (Whom I haven't quite come up with a hook for). Second squad is a mess.
Sgt_Scruffy wrote:The coward/PERV, the drunk, the psycho, the mountain, the machine, and Docta Deth (Whom I haven't quite come up with a hook for). Second squad is a mess.
Fixed that fore me...
Kavik_Whitescar wrote:Oh man, I forgot how much I loved XCOM till just now....cant wait for my new rig to get here Friday (fingers crossed) and to load up a Long war game!!!
Also if you need more bodies im totally down to enlist! Those bug eyed bastards have taken too much already!
PFC Miguel Zamora reporting for any and all duty!
Welcome aboard trooper. Step right into our personnel section here to sign your death certificate, update your life insurance, submit a genetic sample to Dr. Vahlen's lab, and the nice psychiatrist is going to have a long talk with you! Welcome aboard.
Sgt_Scruffy wrote: The coward, the drunk, the psycho, the mountain, the machine, and Docta Deth (Whom I haven't quite come up with a hook for). Second squad is a mess.
Am I the psycho or the drunk?
Why don't you show me?
Good night everyone!
I get it now... I was trying to incite Chaos0xomega to write about the character. I swear.
Frankenberry wrote:It's a shame they don't have actual close combat, i.e. knives, because I'd push to have Frankenberry be the resident throat cutter and ear taker.
Docta stood over the casualty, grabbing out the disposable spoon, she scraped the plasma off the still screaming soldier,
Lasfire and energy discharges went off overhead, a flashbang burst just to the right. Docta squinted, and applied the iodine and the antiseptic from the disposable containers. She yelped as the patient jumped, and got out a light sedative, injecting it under the skin of the casualty, who went quiet. She applied the burn healing wrap with skill, and then tightened the bandage over the top.
The taskmaster came up behind her. He spoke quietly as the training simulation wound done. "well done Docta, your skill was impressive, thats another second off your fastest time. However, you misapplied the iodine on the burn, and the wrap would have fallen off by missions end. Docta looked up and sighed. "Its all I can do, I want to be perfect, to hit every time, to kill every alien, to heal every casualty.
The taskmaster laid his arm on Docta's shoulder. "You cannot be in every fight, and there will be things you cannot heal. There will be things you cannot kill. Throw smoke down tactically, rather than just shrouding yourself and your own casualty. Sometimes the battle hangs over what you do for your teammates and not yourself."
Docta sighed, "Reset the simulation again, I want to run through that again." The taskmaster sighed and went back to the door..
OPERATION FLYING VENGEANCE: 21 June, 2015. Nile River Valley, Egypt.
INTERLUDE: AIR WAR OVER AFRICA
Major "Puke" Shaw hated command. The air wing was a disaster and Major Bradford (still his boss although technically they were the same rank) let him know about it in every production control meeting. He needed more planes, he needed more laser cannons (He'd sell his first born daughter for more laser cannons - not his son though. His son played football for A&M). The worst part was the desk work. He now had budgets to manage and maintenance personnel to think about when he used to just study gun film and get drunk with the boys. Even the other pilots treated him differently now. Dean Tompkins got him. Dean Tompkins had been with him for a long time. Dean was in the Philippines now, of course - trying to set up the XCOM annex out of the old Clark Air Base. Shaw rubbed his eyes and stared at the numbers one more time... Operational Readiness for June was an astoundingly bad 18% Fully Mission Capable. He'd just managed to get his own ship back online and Helen "Giggles" Mitchell had just arrived from Asia to help bolster the defenses here... hopefully it would be enough.
Alien craft would continue to grow in size and capability throughout the war. Helen "Giggles" Mitchell faces off against a Raider class UFO armed only with Avalanche missiles.
"Home 1, this is Raven 5. I'm done out here. Just lost my number 2 engine and I'm RTB at this time." Helen was out of the fight. Already Major Shaw was punching the afterburners and accelerating over Southern Sudan in pursuit of the UFO. By all accounts Helen had put some good hits on the Raider - avalanches just didn't pack enough punch. Shaw briefly considered that 4 months ago the Avalanche had seemed like God's own gift to fighter pilots. 4 months ago was long time in his book. "Giggles, I got this. Keep the beer cold for when I get back."
Major Shaw downs yet another UFO.
Even as Major Shaw was returning to the base, Dr. Shen was excitedly putting the finishing touches on another shiny new arc thrower. XCOM would need it as they prepared to mop up the crash site.
Dr. Vahlen's team has laid some key groundwork for our new Foundry facility. Several new possibilities are now in the works. The Commander orders her team to look into the Meld substance and it's genetic possibilities.
It had been a long night for CPL Deth. She'd tried to spend time with Chaos and Frankenberry but both of them were going through some tough times with the loss of Russia and their families and she'd struggled to get through to them. Major Illifan was constantly droning on about how nationalism had no place in XCOM, but people still had homes. People still loved their countries. It had been the source of more than one bar brawl she'd witnessed and the loss of homeland in the way Russia was lost was heartbreaking. Luckily, 2nd squad was holding it together for now. The Scruffy's were private most of the time and she respected that, but she wished they'd integrate more into the squad. Deth supposed that two women in the male dominated world of special operations... she'd be pretty withdrawn too. LT. Dead Meat was still LT Meat of course. Cryptic Mountain had come close to breaking him, but he'd pulled through. He commanded respect where some of the other soldiers commanded fear. She thought of 2nd platoon... wait, they were something else now.. Strategic Research Directorate or something. Those guys took to their work with the sort of violence that made her turn away. She couldn't bring herself to dislike anyone in XCOM, but 2nd platoon came close. The commander's goons was how she thought of them.
"Snap out of it." She muttered to herself. Lost in her thoughts again. Lt. Morton was about to start the briefing. Shoot downs usually involved a more thorough briefing... the aliens had thus far shown little interest in rescuing their fallen comrades. Morton was young... so young. Already you could see Bradford's influence starting to show on the young lieutenant.
"I'm sure you've seen the film and been provided the arc thrower training required by Major Bradford so I'll skip that portion of the brief." Morton looked so earnest - the antithesis of the jaded, cynical, and fearful looks etched into the faces of 2nd squad. Even will all the armor they wore you could see scars running up Mrs. Scruffy's neck, and you could still see the way Chaos favored her left leg ever so slightly. The war had left quite a mark on 2nd squad. Talk of a 'cursed' squad had largely abated following our last few successful missions - and disappeared entirely after Killamajig had died, but Docta Deth wasn't so sure. It would bear watching.
"The Commander has ordered that the capture of the aliens colloquially known as the Outsiders be given your top priority. R&D believes that these commander aliens may possess information about the location of alien forcs, alien lines of sypply (if such things exist), and perhaps the location of a forward operating base. You must take the outsider alive if at all possible." CPL Deth had faced her share of Outsiders - they were deadly foes who defended their craft with skill and determination. This wasn't going to be easy. She looked at the rest of the squad as they loaded up. Maybe she'd try again to engage with Chaos and Frankenberry when they got back... if they got back. She started checking her medical kit.
So Legion 20.. I mean Righteous Rob taught me that close combat specialist assaults are not the ideal people to capture aliens. They tend to kill EVERYTHING they see. You'll notice that I gave the arc throwers to Docta Deth and our Legion scout. Not only are they fast, but they are also tough so if anyone can take a hit, it will be them. Mrs Scruffy and Chaos will be charged with covering them as they make the approach. Basically, those two are my life-insurance policy. Dead Meat, Frankenberry, and LCPL Scruffy are my fire support. All of them are slower and will suppress the aliens while the other four make the assault.
The 4 founding members of 2nd squad storm down the ramp on Operation Flying Vengeance. Notice Chaos0xomega using the hydraulic strut to slightly support the weight of her left leg. It would never fully heal.
"The UFO was just to the east of where we set down. Heavy woodlands would provide ample cover for the approach although it may also conceal alien patrols. Standard SOP for the aliens was to set up a perimeter around any crash site. We'd have to be careful. 1st Squad has pioneered the Raider class UFO assault and it really did work. Find the front door and kick it down really was the optimal way to approach these ships. We'll grab the meld we could already see in the distance - hopefully clear out some light patrols, then make our assault."
--Docat Deth recounts the ad hoc plan
"We took our time. It was dark out. Our NVGs worked fine, but you still can't see as well. We could hear drones flying around so we didn't want to get caught with our pants down. Frankenberry got the meld - suprisingly there wasn't that much. Maybe the aliens were low on resources? Just as we grabbed it the drones made their presence known. 4 of them."
- CPL Deth
Frankenberry stuff the meld into her sack just as the firefight starts in earnest.
"Drones used to be a problem... I mean, they're still dangerous, but they used to keep me up at night. The laser weapons have evened the playing field for sure."
--CPL Deth.
Frankenberry guns down a drone Docta Deth gets in on the action as well
The terrain was horrible. Thick brush, and the ground was a bog. It made manuvering difficult against the drones. For their part, they were hugging the terrain to make it difficult to get at them. Chaos had that covered though. She just blew them all up. Of course, that's Chaos's solution to most problems."
"With the drones dispatched, we moved on. Man, those Raider ships are big. It had felled a swath of trees and the light from the fires was reflecting off the massive craft. We'd already passed a couple of dead floaters on the ground - thankfully we wouldn't have to deal with the full crew complement on this ship."
Docta Deth approaches another Meld canister
"More drones. Maybe this was a drone supply ship or something? I wasn't sure how the aliens manned their ships and I suppose if I was sure, Dr. Vahlen would never let me leave the base. Maybe this was just a perimeter patrol?"
Chaos0xomega finishes off the last of the drones along with Frankenberry and Sgt_Scruffy
"The moments before an assault are always the tensest for me. Everyone is coiled like a spring, ready to explode through a doorway or window. We're never quite sure what's going to be on the other side. Bitter experience has taught us to be ready, and to make sure we get it right."
2nd Squad sets up a thorough breach and clear team
"It's almost worse when you breach a UFO and find nothing waiting for you initially. The "foyer" for lack of a better word provides a great killing field when you breach it. We'd studied the combat footage and knew this. The rest of the ship was an altogether thornier problem. There are two trains of thought here. Split up and assault the command deck from both sides after securing engineering or stick together to pose less risk of activating security patrols. Dead Meat chose to stay together."
--CPL Deth
The squad prepares to asssault one of the two power control rooms in a Raider class UFO
"Contact! Drones! Their charging us!"
--Mrs. Scruffy
Mrs. Scruffy initiates the firefight Sgt_Scruffy defends her wife Interlocking zones of fire quickly annihilate the drones. They never get a shot off
"The command deck was quiet as well. The Outsiders must be on the bridge - if they survived. XCOM HQ seemed to think that no Outsider had ever perished in a UFO crash - they were extremely hardy. We prepared to assault the bridge."
--CPL Deth
The Squad prepares to storm the bridge from both sides
"Sgt Scruffy, bless her, open the door just as an outsider is walking out. I'm not sure if that crystalline entity has emotions, but LCPL Scruffy let out quite the shocked yelp. Things quickly devolved into a mess as both sides tried to scramble for cover."
Trapped, the aliens aren't quite sure where to go. Scruffy and the Legion both react more swiftly than the Outsider. Scruffy shoots the alien and wounds ti severely. Severely enough that Legion's arc thrower disables the sentient rock. Dead Meat shoots to wound the other Outsider
"I don't know of anyone better with grenades than Chaos. I've never seen someone capable of throwing a grenade to wound, but there you have it. She arced that grenade far enough away that the Outsider caught some shrapnel, but not a whole lot. It would be amazing if it wasn't so scary."
--CPL Deth.
"Standing face to face with an Outsider is terrifying. They have these huge, deep... I guess they're eyes. Whatever it is, you can feel the cold malevolence these aliens harbor. Mrs. Scruffy was right behind me and she was ready to put that Outsider down. Luckily, my arc thrower worked."
"1st Squad managed to bring back this smelly Floater who was trussed up and hauled off to interrogation. By comparison, bringing home two outsiders was almost anti-climactic. I simply picked them up and put them in my medical bag. Legion carried his like he'd just been handed a new born baby. They weren't even that heavy. Still, we completed our primary objective twice over."
Dr. Vahlen examines the remains of one of the Outsiders
"The Frankenberry kid may have some issues off the battlefield, but once you put that gun in his hand, he's rock steady. I think it's a well-deserved promotion for Frankenberry. He seems to have gotten better at flushing enemies from cover too."
2nd Squad brings back quite the haul of alien goodies
Awesome job 2nd squad. Resistance wasn't that heavy, but it's key to capitalize on these relatively easy missions and not screw it all up. The fact that you captured two outsiders and not one is Awesome with a capital A as I will need a skeleton key for each base assault I conduct to liberate countries. We just got our keys for Canada and for Russia. XCOM, of course, doesn't know that.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Doctadeth wrote: Docta stood over the casualty, grabbing out the disposable spoon, she scraped the plasma off the still screaming soldier,
Lasfire and energy discharges went off overhead, a flashbang burst just to the right. Docta squinted, and applied the iodine and the antiseptic from the disposable containers. She yelped as the patient jumped, and got out a light sedative, injecting it under the skin of the casualty, who went quiet. She applied the burn healing wrap with skill, and then tightened the bandage over the top.
The taskmaster came up behind her. He spoke quietly as the training simulation wound done. "well done Docta, your skill was impressive, thats another second off your fastest time. However, you misapplied the iodine on the burn, and the wrap would have fallen off by missions end. Docta looked up and sighed. "Its all I can do, I want to be perfect, to hit every time, to kill every alien, to heal every casualty.
The taskmaster laid his arm on Docta's shoulder. "You cannot be in every fight, and there will be things you cannot heal. There will be things you cannot kill. Throw smoke down tactically, rather than just shrouding yourself and your own casualty. Sometimes the battle hangs over what you do for your teammates and not yourself."
Docta sighed, "Reset the simulation again, I want to run through that again." The taskmaster sighed and went back to the door..
I like it. I was going to make Docta Deth the Squad Mother - always concerned about her children. I can easily see her being a perfectionist as well. Also, she's going to be an incorrigible gossip.
Now that is how you do it 2nd! Expetional work by all those involved, and great news as regarding the two outsiders.
On a side note, maybe some implants to help ward of the odd strangulation attempt by seekers would be good? Just as a additional thing to have on hand. That and some upgrades for the rocketers?
The flight back was one that Frankenberry hardly remembered; high fives, 'hell yeahs', and that crew chief - Jihadin, or something - commenting on second squad's luck. It was all a haze to him, bits and pieces of the several hour ride back to base, and even after they'd touched down he was on edge - muscles taught and eyes wide.
Metallic, not-living things, that's what they shot today. To the rest of the squad and he was sure, the commander, this was a win - a stamp of bad karma breaking badassery that second squad needed so badly.
He didn't care. Sparks instead of blood. Mechanical whines and shudders instead of screams of pain. Even those god damn rock things in the bridge didn't seem to feel anything - something that burned brightly in Frankenberry's mind.
No. This wasn't it. He'd dropped drones, automated defenses that may as well have been flying beer cans. He fought things that couldn't feel fear, with his squad, today and triumphed. He should be happy, he should be proud of what a perfect mission had been run.
Except, he wasn't. He paced back and forth in front of his, now repaired, locker. Still armored and armed, helmet off on the bench between him and the row of lockers. His mind raced, his muscles screamed to be in action again, his heart pounding in his ears and his breaths coming in quick succession.
Maybe Vahlen had something for this...whatever this was, but all he could concentrate on was the lack of dead aliens. He wanted them to scream for mercy before he ran a round through their heads. He wanted them to feel fear when the high-pitched whine of the Skyranger is heard closing in. He would kill them and keep killing until there were no more; he would burn their ships, their bases, their very souls before he was done - and the same went for EXALT.
Trondheim wrote: Now that is how you do it 2nd! Expetional work by all those involved, and great news as regarding the two outsiders.
On a side note, maybe some implants to help ward of the odd strangulation attempt by seekers would be good? Just as a additional thing to have on hand. That and some upgrades for the rocketers?
We're working on it! I only have so many engineers on staff!
Way to go 2nd Squad! Still, 1st does set a great example!
OOC - Scruffy, not sure I fully grasped your intention with the Commander - were you implying that they are Transsexual, or just enigmatic to the point where an observer cannot define their sex? (Not that it matters, except I might be missing something in the story otherwise!)
eddieazrael wrote: Way to go 2nd Squad! Still, 1st does set a great example!
OOC - Scruffy, not sure I fully grasped your intention with the Commander - were you implying that they are Transsexual, or just enigmatic to the point where an observer cannot define their sex? (Not that it matters, except I might be missing something in the story otherwise!)
Every individual in XCOM perceives the Commander in some way. S/he is perceived as someone the observer trusts implicitly even to the point of varying genders and such. People are vaguely aware of it, but the mind seems to brush it off as a coincidence or something. Basically, the Commander is some sort of psychic phenomenon. The Commander (the player) is often directly addressed but never shown in the game. You, as the commander, have complete control over all the actions of XCOM - including the ability to say no to your "boss" the Council. No one ever directly threatens your life and no one refers to you by a specific gender. You're always the gender neutral "Commander." I took that to its extreme. I suppose I could have just made myself the Commander in the story-line since that's what I am in reality, but I wanted to have a more human figure as my avatar. That's why there's a female Sgt_Scruffy and Ms. Scruffy running around (my wife wanted an avatar too). The Commander is basically a plot device and I'm using him/her really as a personification of me as the player in game as opposed to Sgt_Scruffy the XCOM operative.
Really what happened was I noticed in my first couple of AAR reports that I had refered to the Commander by varying gender pronouns and decided to make it official. It remains to be seen what exactly the Commander intends to do besides see the XCOM project through to the end. Perhaps he will make his own bid for world domination or maybe she will just fade into obscurity. I'm trying (and succeeding somewhat I think) to make the nature of the Commander another large mystery in the world of XCOM.
Trondheim wrote: Now that is how you do it 2nd! Expetional work by all those involved, and great news as regarding the two outsiders.
On a side note, maybe some implants to help ward of the odd strangulation attempt by seekers would be good? Just as a additional thing to have on hand. That and some upgrades for the rocketers?
We're working on it! I only have so many engineers on staff!
No need to stress, I have all manners of understanding about that particular matter, good to hear that Xcom RnD are on the ball as ever
"It has to be a trap." Bradford wanted to try an air raid on the landed ship. It was huge. "There is no way that the alien would just land that ship out in the open and roll out the welcome mat like that unless they're expecting us. Anyone you send to that ship isn't coming back."
"Nonsense, the Aliens have given us the perfect opportunity to strike a critical asset. Failing to attack now smacks of timidity and will only embolden them further. These are the same ships we have reports of in terror attack. Do you want another Norilsk? Major Illifan, aggressive as usual, was constantly vying for the Commander's favor and Bradford's job.
"Think of what we'll learn if we do manage to take the ship." Dr. Vahlen, although not technically part of the command council, held a lot of sway in the staff meetings. "This ship will certainly contain a great many power sources, computers, weapons, and perhaps abducted humans! We must see the inside!"
"All that technology will be used against anyone who steps foot on that ship. Dr. Shen says the skyranger is already showing signs of stress fractures from it's constant high-speed runs. He's indicated that over-grossing the aircraft like we did in Norilsk can not happen again. His team is working on a solution, but you're talking a 7-man squad against that monster! How many aliens will be on board? We are always outnumbered and we've paid the price so far. Now you want us to fight them on the battlefield of their choosing, where they are strongest, and outnumbered as much as 7 to 1? This is idiocy." Bradford always put solider safety first. "Commnader, it's your call, but I don't think this is a good idea."
The Commander stared at the situation room operational overlay for what seemed like an eternity. The huge ship had come in low over the Mediterranean and was just settling into the woodlands of northeast Cameroon. An obvious invitation and an obvious trap, but a tantalizing opportunity. Success would catapult XCOM's efforts forward by weeks, maybe months. Failure could very well mean losing the war. "I want all my operational officers in here. I want their input."
Sgt_Scruffy wrote: "It has to be a trap." Bradford wanted to try an air raid on the landed ship. It was huge. "There is no way that the alien would just land that ship out in the open and roll out the welcome mat like that unless they're expecting us. Anyone you send to that ship isn't coming back."
Ah Man.....they still haven't replaced the row of working rivets near the horizontal tab on both sides of the fuselage......they couldn't miss it due to the plasma bolt hole that was a through and through..
"Nonsense, the Aliens have given us the perfect opportunity to strike a critical asset. Failing to attack now smacks of timidity and will only embolden them further. These are the same ships we have reports of in terror attack. Do you want another Norilsk? Major Illifan, aggressive as usual, was constantly vying for the Commander's favor and Bradford's job.
Sounds like 1st Platoon...*loads aircraft with ammo*......
"Think of what we'll learn if we do manage to take the ship." Dr. Vahlen, although not technically part of the command council, held a lot of sway in the staff meetings. "This ship will certainly contain a great many power sources, computers, weapons, and perhaps abducted humans! We must see the inside!"
Thinking of how much lifting capacity the Sky Ranger can pull off...add's slings and cargo webbing and checks the cargo hook
"All that technology will be used against anyone who steps foot on that ship. Dr. Shen says the skyranger is already showing signs of stress fractures from it's constant high-speed runs. He's indicated that over-grossing the aircraft like we did in Norilsk can not happen again. His team is working on a solution, but you're talking a 7-man squad against that monster! How many aliens will be on board? We are always outnumbered and we've paid the price so far. Now you want us to fight them on the battlefield of their choosing, where they are strongest, and outnumbered as much as 7 to 1? This is idiocy." Bradford always put solider safety first. "Commnader, it's your call, but I don't think this is a good idea."
Wonders if someone see's the Good Idea Fairy floating around in the office
The Commander stared at the situation room operational overlay for what seemed like an eternity. The huge ship had come in low over the Mediterranean and was just settling into the woodlands of northeast Cameroon. An obvious invitation and an obvious trap, but a tantalizing opportunity. Success would catapult XCOM's efforts forward by weeks, maybe months. Failure could very well mean losing the war. "I want all my operational officers in here. I want their input."
Excellent work 2nd squad - double bagging some outsiders with hardly even a return shot fired through the mission is impressive in the extreme! You are really forcing 1st squad to keep on its toes
Speaking of which, I hope the commander knows that 1st squad stands ready to kick arse and take names when it comes to raiding ufos.
Ooc: Only able to post on my phone as I am on a course atm, really enjoying rhe character buildup and am sad I am not able to easily post anything for silver :(
Not all that on-board for capturing the aliens, but at least putting a few holes in them first probably helps the jolt conduct better.
The great thing about shooting and killing aliens is it gives few flashbacks of prior engagements: there is always something new.
Who would have known this dope on a rope would get to do something that would be viewed as "good" for a change.
I will do whatever it takes to neutralize the enemy and get "my" team home.
The long-timers know the score and if there is any comfort on the battlefield to be found it is with them watching your back: it is all good training.
Not liking how I feel about the blue heads though, they seem to be a legion unto-themselves.
As long as they can potentially hole an enemy, they got my support I guess, but I keep feeling any minute they're gonna bug out at any time.
When they become a football bat I keep feeling like I want to put a bullet in them to get things to calm down.
They just seem like some raw meat to feed into the grinder and hope something worthy comes out the other side.
So the only peace to be had is to practice and train until you collapse on the bunk.
Never thought I would give up drinking, as long as I am ready for active duty I can be called at any time so to be slow would be unforgivable.
Maybe if I find myself with the bloods and crips, I can drink then, it is a possibility of the squad's bullet sponge.
Stream absentmindedly stroked the head of the rat perched on his shoulder. Regulations didn't really allow for pets, but he'd freed it from a glue trap he found in the base's kitchen, so it wasn't technically a pet. It wasn't stealing food, since he fed it from his own rations, and he found having it around helped him think. Of course he'd heard the rumors about the landed alien craft, and he agreed with most of the base about its most likely purpose: a trap for X-Com. Tantalizing with all that technology just sitting there, waiting to catch an away team much like the glue trap that almost killed Avalon. "Crap, when did I name you?" he muttered aloud, setting the rat on the shelf above his computer.
He knew his team. Good soldiers, all of them. Never balked at his orders, well, other than the time he had called a rocket strike on his own location. Reasonable enough, and the rocket showed up, so no harm done. But the downtime was starting to fray their edges. Talizar's training regimen was getting dangerously long, like the time Bullockist was spending in the mess. He wanted to give them the time they needed after... No, the dead will still be there, now we focus on the living.
streamdragon wrote: Stream absentmindedly stroked the head of the rat perched on his shoulder. Regulations didn't really allow for pets, but he'd freed it from a glue trap he found in the base's kitchen, so it wasn't technically a pet. It wasn't stealing food, since he fed it from his own rations, and he found having it around helped him think. Of course he'd heard the rumors about the landed alien craft, and he agreed with most of the base about its most likely purpose: a trap for X-Com. Tantalizing with all that technology just sitting there, waiting to catch an away team much like the glue trap that almost killed Avalon. "Crap, when did I name you?" he muttered aloud, setting the rat on the shelf above his computer.
He knew his team. Good soldiers, all of them. Never balked at his orders, well, other than the time he had called a rocket strike on his own location. Reasonable enough, and the rocket showed up, so no harm done. But the downtime was starting to fray their edges. Talizar's training regimen was getting dangerously long, like the time Bullockist was spending in the mess. He wanted to give them the time they needed after... No, the dead will still be there, now we focus on the living.
"We're going." The Commander's words had the air of finality that brooked no further argument. Bradford clearly wasn't happy, but acquiesced immediately. "At least let me assemble an elite crew," Bradford really didn't want this mission - didn't want to watch more soldiers die. "No, I can't have our experience all put in danger at once. Third squad will take the mission - with appropriate Legion support of course. See to it, Major Bradford, and if you pray to a god, then pray hard."
It was something special to just sit back and observe the sheer amount of people that populated this bace Trondheim thougth as he leaned against the wall in the C&C center, it was always hectic but now it seemed like someone had force feed speed to everyone here. Of course this had to do with the alien landing in Cameroon, and the obvious fact that it was a trap designed to wipe out the deployed Xcom team. But he still knew that the Commanders decision to send 3rd squad was a solid one, although he would have preferd to be deployed himself or at least have a very experienced strike team hit it.
But then again, as the commander had told Bradford it was unwise to place all your eggs in one basket.
His mind drifted to his fellow soldiers, and the manners witch the constant deployment had begun to take its toll on them. Some where spending almost eveery hour awake in the gym. Or in the mess hall, and himself probably spent far too much time working over battle plans, scematics for enemy weapons and anatomy. But he supposed it was normal after all, that these things developed in someone tasked with saving the world.
And then it was his own squad, witch was a whole psycologist ward to itself by a normal persons standard, but he would not want it any other way.
Elemental felt like he was watching the war from afar, from his room in sickbay. It was pretty grim news from everything he'd heard--that was plain from the barely-concealed rage or vengeful satisfaction when other operatives had passed through, or from the stories he'd exchanged with other wounded soldiers. Not that he couldn't understand some of what they were enduring. India had been largely spared so far, but. the Leeds raid early on in the war had been close to home for him--he'd been on a university exchange program there, and had made some good friends in England. But having your entire homeland turned into a hunting preserve for the aliens was hard to imagine.
Loath as he was to admit it when he wanted to be out there fighting, maybe an absence from constant deployment enforced by a sucking chest wound was good for him, in a way. Or maybe not, since the grinding boredom was giving him time to think about the war as a whole. How the aliens had kept escalating and revealing nasty new surprises every time the humans had seemed to gain an advantage. Like they were being assessed, and they were not the ones controlling the pace of this war. Would the Cameroon op be where the aliens decided to take off the brakes?
He had heard the news. Even laying in the hospital wing, Heart had heard the news. Third Squad was being called into action and his arm may not be ready in time. Despite his injuries, the pills and expert care he was given meant wounds such as a shattered arm healed in days as opposed to weeks, something he still marveled at. When had the technology become so good? He still remembered his basic medic training when he had joined the military so long ago. Mind you, his time in the Italian Special Forces was far different from what he did now.
Staring at one of the TV screens in the med bay, his brow furrowed as text and news reports slowly filtered over.
"I wonder what the people who used to see UFOs for years think of us all now. I guess they'd be feeling pretty high and mighty about their pictures and shoddy camera footage being 'real' now..." He muttered, turning away to stalk down the corridors to his locker, still bandaged.
His gear had been repaired, but Heart knew they would still need some tender love and care, even from just one working hand. There was a little name badge, an unofficial one, on the right shoulder. "Saint" it read and he smirked. Now that name was a great irony on his past. But that was a long time ago it seemed, now he was a medic for XCOM, for Third Squad. Their lives in his hands when the bodies hit the ground hard and the bullets start flying. Or lasers. They had lasers now.
Pulling his helmet onto his lap, Heart took a small cloth and rubbed the one-way visor clean of dust. The aliens would never see his fear.
That was always on his mind. Never let them, or Third see his fear. It had been beaten out of him in the Special Forces, but something about these aliens had brought it trickling back. Wearing the helmet was his mask, his facade. It hid him from the world, and he knew his brothers in arms needed their medic to appear calm and in control, even as he stabilized their broken bones or bleeding organs.
His helmet was his safety net, and there would never be a fight without it.
Docta walked through the dormitory, members of her squad sitting, standing or lying around in varying state of dress. She pushed a trolley, on it was plates of food. Chilli, Nachos, even some hot dogs and some spaghetti Carbonara. She had cooked for a few hours, purloining the ingredients from the chefs, and some....outside sources. "Celebration time" she cooed.
Everyone walked to the trolley, picking up a plate of something, and either a beer or cider, or soda. Docta brought out dessert. Profiteroles. Good suggestion of what they'd gunned down.
The other soldiers joined them, the smell of the food wafting past their barracks, and soon the barracks was full of chatting, cheerful soldiers.
Docta then walked to the medi-bay, checking the patients wounds by herself, and feeding them. No drink though....
The smell of homemade food made his mouth run with saliva, the food they got served in the mess hall was good noting fancy but it still did its purpose, but this was a welcommed change of menu.
"A army and its soldiers marches on its stomach" he mutterd to no in particular as he joined the rest of the Xcom operatives in the que for the plates of steaming food.
Frankenberry looked up from the collection of pictures on his bunk; a smiling woman, an older man with salt and pepper hair, two boys who must be twins. All smiling.
The rest of the teams were charging the food cart with gusto, laughing and talking, partaking in the home-cooked meal. He was hungry, sure, but he looked at the pictures and back at the various XCOM members, moving around and acting like they were all at a barbeque or something.
He frowned, tucking the pictures back under his mattress, and walked over towards the gathering in the hall.
Smiling faces all around, none of them, for the moment, aware that they could be called on to die violently for what Frankenberry had come to see as very little gain. Why? This food didn't matter, being at the HQ didn't matter, he needed to fight, needed to kill. Food wasn't going to fix that.
He turned to leave but as he did, a legion member who's name he'd forgotten tapped him on the shoulder, plate of food in hand.
"Hey man, Frankenberry right?" the small man thrust the plate of food at him.
"You should try this, I didn't even know they HAD spaghetti here." His smile said it all.
Frankenberry looked at the man and back to the food, turned to face him, ignoring the plate. "Get. The. feth. Away. From. Me."
He said every word, punctuating every syllable, and the man's smile faded. "What's your problem man?"
His problem? Frankenberry backhanded the plate of food away from him, scattering the contents across the floor.
"You're my problem!" He rammed a finger into the mans chest. "The world burns around us and you have a god damn picnic! Innocents die by the thousands and you eat spaghetti and laugh and giggle like housewives!"
Frankenberry came nose to nose with the trooper. "Come near me again, scrub, and I'll rip your fething heart out." He then turned and stormed off, far more interested in range time than some attempt at forgetting. He couldn't forget, he wouldn't, and even if the rest of them wanted to pretend, he wouldn't.
Further down the hall, motyak shrugged. He thought to himself, if old grumpy doesn't want to eat his food then he doesn't have to. This soldier knows the value of hot grub when it's available, you never know when you'll be choking down a cold ratpack while pissing in an empty ammo tin in breaks between exchanges of fire in some godforsaken mess of a situation. Although he figured the ammo tin is a thing of the past now that we have laser weaponry. Still though. He spun back, chasing the cart as it started to move on "Cool your jets there, I'm still eating!"
THe food. Clearly the higher ups had nothing to do with this. It was a spread he hadn't seen since ....whenever. Looking at the exemplary food produced by one of the ragged company Bullockist felt his soul rest. There was everything, from burritos to steak to kim-chi. Shaking his dehidrated and decidedly unhosptable head from side to side the bald headed man looked at the cornucopia of taste on the hard wooden table. His dry eyes drifting up from the unfinished hardwood surface,to fall on the myriad of dishes perched atop it's hard surface , he fell in completely in love with humanity at that point. Never before had he thought it but humanity was linked totally and inexorably by what we ate. The spice reminded him of the power of the LZ, the chilli seeds of the connection with the pilot who got you there, coz without his doubty prescence you weren't getting in or out, no matter how much you wanted to gak in the mean time.
Watching his squaddies relax and have fun whilst on R and R, khaki limbs flayed around the edge of the threadbare room,to a knot of the social butterflies fluttered perttily around the middle as though dispelling the idea that the eternal leveller was waiting around the corner,he envied them as though the joy of mastication on their chapped lips, coupled with the verdant lust of youth, fought off what was coming and they filled filled the room with post operation joy. A joy that always left him bewildered and baffled, his cornucopia post operation was confusion and approbation, all of it self inflicted.
lips stretched tight in a fair approbriation of a half dead rictus he looked out drinking in the vibrant lust for life of his erstwile companions. he looked down to the bulge in his pocket....sooon....silver heart...soon.
Okay, looks like I won't be back home for about another day or so. The Skyranger is undergoing heavy maintenance. We will pick this up again soon. Thanks for your patience.
Sgt_Scruffy wrote: Okay, looks like I won't be back home for about another day or so. The Skyranger is undergoing heavy maintenance. We will pick this up again soon. Thanks for your patience.
"I told you there was foxholes under us but nnnnnnnooooooooooo you had to do a roll on landing. If the briefing said a closed small arms firing range was the LZ then expect some holes."
grumble grumble grumble F'ing DYNACORP
"Well maybe they get around patching the swimming pool on both sides of the fuselage near the horizontal stab."
"Cannot believe the pilot said "No Brass No Ammo" to the Battalion Commander"
"Frak this pen for making a red "X" where's my damn red crayola"
"Well don't have to worry about that aircraft wash or the 10 hour inspections. pppfftttttttt nor the 100 or 500 hours....might as throw it to Delta Company for Phase four or something"
"Damn I stuck to updating maintenance manuals for the company......freaking West Pointer pilots." grumble grumble
more to come on the status of my busted bird..
One busted wheel strut
One torn tire
One bent rim
One ESSS wing torn off
One ESSS fuel tank rupture
One Cargo door ripped off track
Multiple main structure cracks....some asshat said stop drill
One new pilot (D-EXed the last one)
One piece of plywood up through the belly (what do you think they cover foxholes with)
One cylic stick bent
One biological decon in the cockpit from the pilots crapping themselves
"Wait...#1 engine FoDDED out?!?!?! Great JUST GREAT.....wait...the engine shop has that cute female that wears the one piece flight suit....."
Jihadin wrote: "Wait...#1 engine FoDDED out?!?!?! Great JUST GREAT.....wait...the engine shop has that cute female that wears the one piece flight suit....."
Yeah, I know who you mean.
Problem is, she is smart too... got no time for love unless it is made of metal.
Problem is, she is working on this:
Some "turbo-pump" thingy that Dr Shen said he would abide no distractions to his personnel.
He muttered something about using me for an excuse in his report for the delay to Jihadin.
Since when does that fly-guy get reports??
There are no fire axes around right?
He takes on a whole different look when he has one...
There is actually axes similar to that in rotary wing aircraft's (not sure on a Kiowa Warrior). Its used to chop sections off an aircraft to extract pilots.....crewchiefs...PAX......whoever we landed on....for the Sky Ranger same deal unless an Alien get loose in the aircraft hold. I have the Axe, you all have bayonets/combat knives....I suggest a good Tomahawk. great for door kicking.....chop right out hinges, latches, pad locks, dead bolts, green alien, grey alien, occasional insurgent, drones.......
Oddly, living up to my country flag: I prefer the "Tanto".
I have enjoyed Kendo for many years so kiai/strike and zanshin just feels right, so I can appreciate but not envy the axe (looks like it throws nice though unless the handle is too light).
This has been an all-time favorite: don't leave the Skyranger without it:
Magnum Tanto XII
Spoiler:
Full guard, 1' blade X .2" thick, 5 5/8" handle CPM 3-V High-Carbon steel, only about 58-60 HrC but we don't want to be too brittle.
You have to get this stuff from outside because they figure if you get that close you should be using the zapper.
Jihadin wrote: There is actually axes similar to that in rotary wing aircraft's (not sure on a Kiowa Warrior). Its used to chop sections off an aircraft to extract pilots.....crewchiefs...PAX......whoever we landed on....for the Sky Ranger same deal unless an Alien get loose in the aircraft hold. I have the Axe, you all have bayonets/combat knives....I suggest a good Tomahawk. great for door kicking.....chop right out hinges, latches, pad locks, dead bolts, green alien, grey alien, occasional insurgent, drones.......
I myself have always been partial to the entrenchin tool, just sharpen it and let fly
Okay boys and girls, the engine max power checks are complete, the air frame work has been TI'd, the 2408-19-2s are filled out, and the test pilot has released the skyranger for flight. Expect Operation Brutal Serpent up tonight. "Irene. I say again. Irene."
Sgt_Scruffy wrote: Okay boys and girls, the engine max power checks are complete, the air frame work has been TI'd, the 2408-19-2s are filled out, and the test pilot has released the skyranger for flight. Expect Operation Brutal Serpent up tonight. "Irene. I say again. Irene."
OPERATION BRUTAL SERPENT: 21 June 2015, Central African Republic
Frankly, by late June we now longer could challenge them over Africa. Maybe that was why they had sacrificed their smaller ships before hand. I don't know. What I do know is that they swatted down the Italian Air Force and waltzed into Africa across the coast of Libya. We watched and waited. Our aircraft were basically so much scrap and our pilots were worn out. Even our soldiers were feeling the strain. Why they chose to land and bait us in, I'll never know. Maybe at that point they knew we only had a few soldier, or maybe by that point they just wanted to pick us off one by one. The Commander was insistent though. She said it would turn the tide of the war.
--Personal log, Lieutenant Colonel Bradford.
"There was a lot of debate in the hours running up to Brutal Serpent. Do we send an enhanced team? Do we send everyone? The Commander was adamant that we send only 3rd squad with the usual Legion support. I'm not sure it was the best idea as I'd already voiced my concerns about 3rd squad's efficiency and morale. Still, I was overruled and I would accept that. I could tell Bradford was nervous. Perhaps this would play to my advantage.
--Personal log, Major Illifan.
"Obvious trap with minimal chance of survival? A UFO apparently made to be an ambush.? What's not to love? Was I eager to take this mission? Hell, no. This mission had every indication of being a blood-bath, but I guess that's why third got the mission. With first and second squad being mostly scar tissue and rookies at this point, I suppose it was third squad's turn. They say you only get the tough assignments if the Commander has a lot of confidence in you. I say you get dead if the Commander has a lot of confidence in you. Look at 2nd platoon. Sent them on a mission and next thing you know, Killamajig is dead and the platoon is gone. 2nd squad is held together with titanium rods and stitches. Even the fething Glory squad looks like they've gone three rounds with an angry Muton in the boxing ring. This whole operation was fethed from the get-go."
--Bullockist, 3rd Squad
"Look, I like StreamDragon. I think the guy is a solid squad leader, but he seemed way too confident for this mission. Maybe that's his job and maybe that's why he's a squad leader and I'm not. I pulled him aside you know. Told him to take it slow. I know third squad has always been a little more cautious than some of the other squads like first squad and those psychos over in 2nd platoon, but I meant it. I told the legionnaires to pack for a long operation. We weren't getting off that ship for a while."
--Bullockist
Third squad faced an interesting dilemma in the run up to Brutal Serpent. Namely, they faced a manpower crisis. Sick bay was full, and the squads were exhausted. XCOM's direct action platoon at this point boasted 15 ready operatives. The majority of the force was made up of third and fourth squad with a sprinkling of other squad members and legion forces making up the remainder. A concerted effort to ensure success in Brutal Serpent would cripple XCOM for the remainder of the month. XCOM may have won Brutal Serpent more easily with a stacked squad, but may have lost the war in the process.
--C.G.B. Spender, editor
The Long War Project
Operatives and Airmen of XCOM Direct Action Platoon!
You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of homo-sapiens everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the alien war machine, the elimination of this alien terror ship and the liberation of all humans you may find within. This is but the first step in reversing the tide of alien aggression and returning mankind to his rightful mastery of Earth. Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and genetically modified. He will fight savagely.But this is June! Much has happened since the alien triumphs of March. These United Nations of the Council have inflicted upon the alien great defeats, in open battle, man-to-alien. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home Fronts have given us a parity in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal the greatest fight men and women the world has ever seen. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory! We will hound him from this world and follow him to the gates of hell itself if need be. Let there be no mistake. This is a war of annihilation. There can be no peace, there can be no surrender. There is only victory or death.
--The Commander on the eve of Brutal Serpent
3rd Squad hits the drop zone
"Almost immediately we were met with contact. Three floaters and a muton. Standard perimeter patrol around the [massive] UFO. We could see the front entrance, but there was a lot of no-mans land between us and them. The first sustained fire fight of Brutal Serpent started with an ambush and wouldn't end for almost an hour."
--Bullockist
Third Squad engages the advancing aliens en masse
Talizvar holo-targets the alien squad leader as well as proving he is as good a shot as many of the infantry in XCOM.
"Gold Phase of Brutal Serpent went well. We had established contact, we had supressed the alien and were continuing the advance. We knew this was the first of many fire-fights, but so far we commanded the superior position. Things were going well."
--Major Illifan.
The young Galia_Commata supressed the Muton while Carlos13th takes down the a floater.
"The aliens retreated in the face of our fury, I suppose they had come to at least respect our skills, if not fear us. Stream Dragon knew that he had to be careful though. We advanced carefully. We were rewarded with alien reinforcements. 3 drones and 2 seekers.. The fight was getting worse. I had no idea how much worse it would get."
--Bullockist
Talizvar advances under heavy fire.
Carlos 13th survey his targets as he picks out targets. A severely wounded Muton has been designated as a potential subject for capture. Meanwhile, the 7 members of XCOM face 3 drones, 2 seekers, 1 muton, and 1 floater. Resistance intensifies.
Stay tuned for more of Operation Brutal Serpent! (Seriously guys, I have almost 200 images for Brutal Serpent. This one may take a while).
I think I'm in lust, she is absolutely stunning. Less axes, more hawt maintenance girls! (particularly that one!) You know, just when I thought i'd found all my fetishes Dakka gives me a new one.
If I die in the AAR i'm going to be gakky, i have a baaaad feeling about this one.
I started Long War (yeah, screw you!) and there seem to be
conflicts every 2 seconds. Combine that with battle fatigue and
I barely get to use the same soldiers more than once. How
large should my barracks be?
way ahead of you guys!
\
That all being said time to get off the bench and into the action.
