AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH. You're too much of a tease GB. :D :D

IN THE NAME OF FREE COW PORN! ALIENS DIE!

Chief Rum

Hey GB, if you need me for some air support, I will be in the lounge drinking select beverages listening to 80's mix tapes with DVH.

Good luck guys, we will keep ASIA COM safe and secure while you are gone!

Let me get this straight...I'm sitting on a Skyranger heading...towards that mess.

Why oh why, dear CWII, did you not take up fencing.

"Gee, I wonder if Cap'n Shorty's son will mind that I'm using his dad's personal effects for cover?


Nahhhh! Besides, the battle scarred look will make it look more authentic."

Okay, GB, its Friday on Nigel IV. So WRITE, you bastard, WRITE!

It's Rigel IV! Not Nigel IV!

If I've gotta die, I want to die listening to Iron Maiden!

Argh........why do you have to do that to us, GB? I wanna know what happens and I don't wanna have to wait for it!!!!


:D

Let me at 'em
I'll splat 'em

It's Friday on Rigel IV, too? Gee, I thought it was only Friday on Nigel IV!

Agent Call Up

I thought telemarketing was bad...

Tucker and New Star are AWOL.

Jeeber D is up next.

Ring ring ring.

hes always here...he will respond...

wait, I'm here!!!

Run to the hills...run for your life!

Or would this be more appropriate...

Two minutes to midnight!

Bite me. :D

Agent JeeberD reporting for duty!!!

I was thinking "If you're gonna die, die with you boots on." :)

Of course, boots don't work well on tentacles.

Okay it's Friday. ;)

Well, it's been Friday for over 14 hours here in France. And Alf III is out of service... Gasp !

COME ON MAN!! I'm sittting here at work desperately wanting to hear about this battle, don't leave me hanging man GAAAAhahahahaha....



I love this thread =)

Ren

Toddeic!

We are now friends!

Let's start a meth lab, wear tank tops and and get bad sun burn while listening to Molly Hatchet.

BOOYAH!

In the central time zone it has been Friday for over ten hours now. Where the hell is our freakin base defense?!?! :D

YEAH!

Muffled voices come from the back of the ASIA COM Skyranger:


Voice 2: Scared?

Voice 1: A little.

Voice 2: I’m not. I’m ready for battle. These aliens killed my brothers.

Voice 1: Hey, me too. I’m the third one in my family to join X-COM.

Voice 2: Hey, me too.

Voice1: What do you think we're going to find when we arrive at EU COM

Voice2: Not sure, but if the worst happens...

Voice1: I know. We will make these bastards pay.

Captain jfbbis: Keep it down back there you two!

Blade6119 III: Uh Cap’n. There’s only one guy back there talking. It’s Splits.

Captain jbbis: Oh. Uh. Quiet down Splits. Great, I get stuck with the psycho. I wonder if that helps or hurts him when it comes to psi-attacks.

SplitP3a & SplitP3b: to selves: We will make the bastards pay!

LMAO!!! bGreat job split, and id gladly entrust my life with either of your personalities:D ...well...maybe not b...he sounds like a panzi, but def. A....he sounds like the man!;)

I just got back from the Chinese buffet where I had lunch. I was really worried when I got my fortune cookie, fearing that it was going to say that I was going to die, but in fact it was very insightful. It said...

"Not to know is bad. Not to wish to know is worse."

So, in the spirit of my never-failing fortune cookie, I wish to know what happens in our base defense! (Maybe that'll work) :)

Edit: And on the other side of the slip it has a little Chinese language lesson. Mine said how to say "on diet." Damn thing telling me I'm fat...how did it know that? :D

Wow...

August 30
EU COM (0359 local time)

Boris the Third stared at the dark screen and watched the red dot of the alien Battleship draw closer to the bright green dot representing the EU COM base. Three minutes to go, twenty miles, a mere half-inch on the radar screen. He thought about his grandfather, killed in the jungles of South East Asia so many years ago, and thought for sure this would be his day to die. He wondered why he took the lower paying X-COM job instead of the job at McDonald’s. X-COM promised me a future, he thought. Future, my ass. Doesn’t do me much good if I’m dead for it. He resolved to quit if he was still alive tomorrow.

“Boris, update!” Ravenhawk’s voice snapped him back to the present. He looked back at the radar screen. The red dot was still a half-inch from the base. Huh? He glanced at the stat readout to the left of the dot: Speed—0; Altitude—0; Bearing—XX; Distance—22.4 miles. It stopped? He pressed the refresh button to double check. Same readout.

“Sir, it stopped 22 miles away.”

“What?”

“Sir, it’s landed 22 miles away. I don’t think it knows where we are. I think it’s doing something else.”

“Could it be a trap?”

“Possibly, sir, but the alien ships have never landed more than once. If they do, it would be a first. I think they’re not attacking us! I think we’re safe!”

Ravenhawk clipped his transmitter back on. “Men, it stopped 20 miles from here! Everything points to it not intending to attack our base.” With that, the tension in the base vanishes, and all the men realize their chances to live have gone up tenfold. “Kodos?”

Kodos jumps in. “Yes! The Colossal Squid is with us! Let’s go kick some alien butt! Switch base to full operational setup. We’ll launch the Skyranger. Full combat layout. I want the following men on board: Raven Hawk, The Time, Sachmo II, Kerillini II, Chief Rum II, Zippy, Astott, Klayman II, 3ric III, and myself. We’re going after one of the large UFOs near the alien base. Let’s move, people! I want us in the air in five minutes. We’ll hit the first one at dawn, USA COM and ASIA COM will take two while we resupply, then we’ll hit the last UFO in the afternoon. Four big battles coming up today! Let’s go get ‘em!”

The base lights flash on full power. Agents sprint for the Skyranger launch bay. Exactly four minutes later the EU COM Skyranger is airborne with the ten agents on board, the fear of the long night’s wait forgotten, the chance to go on the offensive fresh in everyone’s mind. With four big battles coming within twelve hours, August 30 was looking to be the war’s fiercest day of fighting yet.

EU COM would be the first ones in.

So we didn't get base smacked. Wow.

Good luck guys! Battleship raids are nasssty!

This should get really interesting...

Is it wrong that I am as disappointed as I am relieved? :)

Godzilla Blitz, I name you King of Jerking Us Around. :)

Chief Rum

umm...are you a soldier godzilla...??...didn't see you on the list...

He was speaking as Commander Kodos at the time...

I think GB was quoting Kodos there Blade.

Edit: Damn I gotta learn to post quicker :)

lol....thnx both of you...sry bout the mix-up

not a problem...

49th Mission: Big Day, Part I (English Large UFO)!

The EU Skyranger rockets through the morning sky towards the British countryside on what could be the most important day of the war so far. With both other Skyrangers Europe bound, there could be a massive amount of activity in the next few hours. With all the UFOs out there, we might even be able to get the EU Skyranger back in for a second mission before this day is done. This first attack is critical.

The ten men inside are determined to get revenge for their five comrades that died in the Berlin Terror Mission.

Commander Kodos is in charge of the following crew:

Left Side:
1. Chief Rum II (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
2. Kodos (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
3. Sachmo II (Blaster Launcher, Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
4. The Time (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
5. Zippy (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)

Right Side
1. Klayman II (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
2. 3ric III (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
3. Raven Hawk (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
4. Kerillini II (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
5. AStott (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)

The Skyranger descends to the British countryside on this beautiful, sunny day. Outside temps are reading 75 degrees, and there isn’t a cloud in the sky. Perfect fighting weather. To the left of the Skyranger exit, about 50 yards away, we can see bulk of the large UFO. This one looks to be some kind of shape that we haven’t seen yet. We’ll know more once we get a better look. Otherwise there are no distinguishing characteristics to this battlefield: just fields, fences, and stone walls. We’re landing in the northeast corner of the active zone; the areas at the rear of the Skyranger exit and to the right are secure zones.

Our tank hits the ramp, scans left and right, but spots no alien movement. It rumbles to the bottom of the ramp, heads left and starts towards the UFO to get a better look.

Klayman exits the Skyranger, comes up under the belly of the craft, and moves to a firing position at the front landing gear of the Skyranger. 3ric III exits, heads left, and sets up a quick firing position. Kerillini II exits and sets up a firing position at the left rear landing gear.

Our tank has a better look at the intimidating UFO that faces us. It is definitely one that we haven’t seen before. Right now, we can see two levels on the thing. The lower one is basically the shape of a huge letter I, with the bottom facing our Skyranger. The second level is smaller, octagonal, and sits on top of the midsection of the lower level. We can see no doors so far. God only knows what these things are up to.

Our tank heads southeast, into the fields near our Skyranger. Astott exits the Skyranger and takes up a firing position at the right rear landing gear.

Suddenly, our tank spots a Sectoid and a Cyberdisc advancing on our position from the fields toward the nose of the Skyranger! Both aliens open fire on our tank, but their shots slam into some intervening stone walls. They quickly retreat of out view again.

Klayman II, at the nose of the Skyranger, stands to get a better look. There they are! Our agents pick up the HUD spottings and open fire, with the aliens returning fire only a fraction of a second later. Our tank takes two quick hits but stays functional. 3ric III, with the longest shot, drops the Sectoid screaming to its death with a massive torso wound. Astott is deadly with his Heavy Plasma on the Cyberdisc: his first burst of auto-fire is dead on, and the Cyberdisc explodes with a crash that sends shrapnel and smoke flying in a 20-yard radius.

We get a slight pause in the action, and as our tank immediately pushes forward, Chief Rum II and Zippy exit the Skyranger, join 3ric III, and start straight left from our Skyranger position. Within a few seconds they can see a barn about 75 yards away, and lying to the right of the UFO. Sachmo II exits the Skyranger, heads straight back, and sets up a firing position with the Blaster Launcher.

Our tank comes under fire from a Sectoid by the left side of the lower level of the UFO! Kerillini II opens fire on this alien and hits it with two shots that blow the torso apart. The creature falls dead to the ground. More movement! About 50 yards from the nose of the Skyranger, our tank can make out some kind of a two-story building, and two Sectoids are advancing on us from a field to the right of that building. Klayman II opens fire drops one of the aliens, but the other returns fire on our position, just barely missing our tank. Back at the Skyranger, Sachmo II opens up with his new toy: the Blaster missile arcs up, around the Skyranger, and back down on the head of the Sectoid. The creature disintegrates in the tremendous blast. X-COM 5, Aliens 0.

We get no respite, though. Almost immediately, a wave of PSI-energy rolls over us. 3ric III vomits in the field, but remains in control. Kerillini II, however, panics and freezes! Oh oh! We quickly move some men out of his lines of fire and sight, and have Astott train his Heavy Plasma on his back.

Our tank continues to advance on what we can now see is a two-story house. As we move forward, our tank hears a clang from inside the house and immediately spots a Cyberdisc by the right corner of the house! Chief Rum II, about 100 yards away from the house and heading in the other direction, actually has a good line of fire on the Cyberdisc. He turns, drops to a knee, and opens fire: his first plasma blast sears across the intervening fields and slams into the Cyberdisc! It drops with a crash to the corner of the house, where it explodes, tearing the corner of the house apart. Sachmo II follows this shot with another Blaster Missile Launch that arcs around the Skyranger, cuts towards the house, and disappears inside through a hole in the outer wall from the previous Blaster Missile explosion. An instant later, the entire first floor is blown outwards in a massive roar of red flame and black smoke! We can hear an alien wailing inside, so we know that Sachmo II got one of them! X-COM 7, Aliens 0.

With this explosion, Kerillini II snaps back to our side. Kodos immediately orders him to drop his weapon, but stay with the attack teams. Kerillini II obey immediately, but is still looking a bit shaken.

Things go quiet for a moment, and we take stock of things. There are two places left to deal with: the UFO and the barn. We’ll let the Blaster Launcher deal with the barn, which leaves us in reality only the UFO to deal with. We can now see that the craft has two levels, and if the structure is symmetrical, we can expect that there will be another door at the top of the “I” shape. We’ll split up into two squads, one to a door.

The Time exits the Skyranger and heads for Sachmo II, where the two men trade weapons. Sachmo II then joins Kodos, who exits the Skyranger will the Stun Blaster and a full load of stun bombs, and the two of them head towards Klayman II, Astott, and Kerillini II (Squad One) to handle the near door of the UFO. Raven Hawk exits the Skyranger as well, and joins up with Zippy, 3ric III, Chief Rum II (Squad Two). This squad will first clear the remains of the barn after The Time tears it up with the Blaster Launcher, and then head around the backside of the UFO to attack from the other door.

The Time gets us going with a Blaster Missile that disappears inside the barn and turns the building into a ball of flame and smoke. We hear no screams inside so we can assume that there was no one home. Squad Two follows this with a cautious advanced along the right side of the UFO.

While they are doing this, Squad One (minus Kerillini II who keeps panicking, going berserk, and getting mind-controlled in the adjacent field) advances on the near door. Once there, Kodos and Chief Rum II set up firing positions from behind the tank. Astott and Klayman II hold at the side of the UFO, around the corner from the exit. Squad One will wait for Two to make it to their door.

Squad Two makes to the far side of the UFO after checking out the remains of the barn. It turns out the UFO is symmetrical; we can be all but certain that there is a door on the far side.

While 3ric III leads Squad Two along the backside of the craft, and gets ready to turn the final corner to the second door, Squad One waits patiently. Suddenly, a bolt of plasma comes out of the smoking remains of the house behind our men and slams into Kerillini II’s side! The blast opens a huge hole in his armor, and punches a foot-deep hole into his torso! Kerillini II screams, grabs his side, and falls over dead! Aaargh! Damn it! X-COM 7, Aliens 1.

Our tank spins left and races at the remains of the house. There! Sectoid, taking cover behind a shattered section of wall! All four men from Squad One open fire. The alien’s cover is quickly blown away, and then Kodos kills the creature with a decapitating headshot! Quick revenge, but damn it, we should have checked the remains of that house better. Squad One sets up its firing position again. X-COM 8, Aliens 1.

Back at the other side of the UFO, Squad Two reaches the far corner. 3ric III takes a deep breath and rushes around the corner: nothing! Zippy is right behind him. The two men set up a quick firing position from just outside the door. Meanwhile Raven Hawk and Chief Rum II head back to the other side of the top of the “I-shape” that makes up each end of this UFO. They radio for The Time to send a Blaster Launcher at the right side of the I while the two men take cover. The Time plots the course and fires the rocket. The missile slams into the hull of the UFO and rips a five-foot hole in the side of the I opposite the door. Raven Hawk and Chief Rum II sprint around the corner of the I, head for the opening and jump in: nothing! 3ric III and Zippy follow them into the room through the door. This section of the UFO is connected to the middle section by a narrow corridor. We can see the octagonal room that makes up this middle section of the UFO. The men head for it.

Back at Squad One, a Sectoid comes out the door of the UFO right in front of Sachmo II and Kodos! Both men open fire and rip the thing apart before it can turn on them. Then immediately after that a Cyberdisc comes out the door! Damn! Once again though, the two men are lightning fast, and they put the Cyberdisc down with three quick hits. Once there, the thing explodes, sending shrapnel everywhere and shrouding the exit in smoke. Astott and Klayman II are around the corner and safe from the explosion. Kodos and Sachmo II are safe behind the tank. X-COM 10, Aliens 1.

Back at Squad Two, the four men head into the corridor. Almost simultaneously, a Sectoid comes into the corridor from the other side! Plasma bolts fly back and forth. 3ric III takes a hit to the chest plate that almost knocks him out, but the Sectoid is quickly a smoldering mass of gray skin and green goo! X-COM 11, Aliens 1.

Things are happening fast now. Back at Squad One, another Sectoid comes racing out the door. He turns, aims at Kodos and Sachmo II, but both men drill him as he pulls the trigger: his stun missile sails over our men as he falls backwards to the ground, his chest a mangled mass of smoking flesh! X-COM 12, Aliens 1.

Back at Squad Two, the men continue down the corridor, and come to a circular corridor that runs around a central room. Suddenly, a plasma blast comes raining down on Chief Rum II from above! Chief looks up. There is a Sectoid on a little hiding ledge on the second level here! Chief pulls his Heavy Plasma up, but he’s not going to make it! Zippy reacts in a flash. He dives back, turns in mid-air to face up, and pulls the trigger on his Heavy Plasma: the blast catches the Sectoid in the throat and rips his head from his body, just as his plasma blast sails wide of Chief’s shoulder. The Sectoid’s body crumples to the floor of the ledge; his head drops to the first floor, where it bounces once with a heavy thud, and then lies still. X-COM 13, Aliens 1.

And that is the last alien! Well done! We didn’t catch any leader, but still, outside of Kerillini’s death, not a bad mission!

Wrap-up

Promotions: None.
Kills: Chief Rum II, 1; Kodos, 3; Sachmo II, 3; Zippy, 1; Astott, 1; Klayman II, 1; 3ric II, 2; Kerillini II, 1.
KIA: Kerillini II.
Wounded: None.
Attribute Improvements: Chief Rum II, Raven Hawk, Astott, Kodos, Sachmo II, Zippy, Klayman II, 3ric III.
Final score: I keep forgetting to check this.
Mission Notes:
We raid the UFO for engine parts and other supplies. The haul is impressive, and should pull us in at least $2,000,000 in cash once we sell it all.

Hat tricks to both Kodos and Sachmo II! Well done, men!

Go FOF X-COM!

Whew! Thanks, Zippy! Those damn Sectoids sure know where to hide!

I'm just one more kill away from the leaders' list! :)

Chief Rum

Wow, taking a battleship with only one casualty. Nice job...

Sectoids and Disks??? Where are all the big boys? No robot monsters? No ethereals?

Maybe I'm just a bit paranoid, but I wonder whussup wit dat? Outside of numbers, that was kind of easy. Here's hoping it goes as well for USA Com!

If I were there, I'd take a step back to make sure I wasn't about to get hit by lightning or a landing UFO.

SI

I need some more aliens to, uhh, research. Can someone bring me back a souvenir??

I demand more air time.

I will take over for Maury!

I'll take alien POW's and send them to boot camp.

Vote for me!

3 Kills. Heh.

Back in the base, 3ric III climbs out of his Power Suit, closely examining the burnt chestplate that saved his life. Not many men has taken a point blank plasma shot and lived to tell the tale. The other guys had given him quite a ribbing about losing his lunch in the field, tho.

Still, it felt good being on a mission with Cmdr Kodos and RavenHawk, and not doing worse than that.

Next time, I've just have to remember to remove the helmet visor before hurling... yeech, I wonder which detergent will work best on the inside of a Power Suit? Maybe I should ask Craptacular...

excellent work. this will be a historic day.

Great mission guys! With results like this the war should be over by Christmas! :)

I've always liked Purex myself, but I recommend a generous application of Febreze just to make sure you get the stench out. :D

Update

ASIA COM goes in next.

The last battle was a step below a battleship.

This next one is a battleship in Germany.

Give 'em hell!

____________

Tucker: You're at USA COM. Welcome!

JeeberD: You're in transit to EU COM to replace Kerillini II. Welcome!

Sachmo: Nice shooting on that last mission! You're heading for stardom, and should be on the next EU mission later in the day.

Chief: I thought for sure that battleship had our number. I think we could give them a good fight, in any case. I'm sure they'll be coming for us soon.

MrBug: Yes, you seem to be dying a lot this time through. Let's hope your next in line will meet a better fate.

DVH: You deserve more air time!

3ric: Don't bother cleaning that face plate. Just use Kerillini II's. He won't need it any more.

_____________

Next mission will probably be up on Monday. Don't have enough time to play more than an hour a day, and big missions take about 3-4 hours to play and write up. I started in on it last night. Man, those battleships are big.

I shudder to think what the USA force is going to get stuck with.

Sorry for your demise, Kerillini, but WooHoo! Europe, here I come!

YES!!!

TIME TO KICK SOME SECTIOD ASS!!!:D

Wow.

The game of X-Com I've been putzing around with...fairly early on, medium alien craft assault.

We're taking heavy fire, I've got my boys all around the Skyranger, fighting for their lives...

End turn, I see 2 grenades fly from different directions right into the mass of my troops.

...and the game crashes.

Coffee: Pretty impressive aliens you've got there: they can even take out your computer. Wow!

Damn right! My aliens mean business!

Skyranger Transmission

This just in...

Wade told me to report in that there's like almost no one here. The guys have been walking around for fifteen minutes and they ain't seen nothing but "sick toads", but, I mean, how dangerous can frogs be? Don't know why he even bothered telling me that. I heard a few booms, saw some smoke, and someone's been shooting at something, though, but according to Wade, there's nothing here but sick toads, so I wouldn't worry. Everyone should be ok.

BOOOOOM! Ping, pang, ping!

Holy shit! There's an X-COM agent shooting at the Skyranger! Damn it! Hey you! Lay off the cheese out there! Huh? Is that a rocket coming this way? Whoa! Over and o...

Tranmission ends.

uh oh...

Actually, I think a certain X-Com Agent who was monitoring the radio made due on a certain promise regarding Skyranger pilots. :)

It's about time someone shut-up that pilot with those annoying reports. I wonder what is a "Sick-Toid" very very interesting. Looks like more PSI attacks, not good not good at all.

That doesn't sound good at all...

how do you get X-COM to run on your computer??? wasnt it released in 1993?? Or are you using a older computer?

Gold Edition with some patch to the main .dll file, and it runs fine.

My actual CD wouldn't work in 98, but I downloaded the patched version of the game off the 'net. (No, don't ask me where I got it. The place I got it from took it off anyway.)

I have a copy that I can't get to run on XP at all. I'd be quite appreciative if someone could direct me to a version of it that would work.

D'oh! I didn't notice that this thread was back up. Put me back on the list. I'm here. Japherwaki II wants to make up for his father's less than stellar performance. Retribution will be his!

Eventually...

Well.... if anyone knows of a way to get it to work on Windows XP let me know. I'd also be interested in a place to download the game itself, i threw my copy of the game away a long time ago.

Japherwaki: No problem. Welcome back! I'll add your name back on the list.

A couple of thoughts for people trying to get the game to run...

I'm using the Collector's Edition on Windows SE. You have to disable QuickDraw (I think that's what it's called) on your graphics card to get it to work properly. I tried my older version of the game, but had no luck getting it to work.

This XCOM site is pretty good. Their forums can be especially helpful for technical questions. I think we can now link to their site because they have taken down the links to download the game for free.

thanks Godzilla! I've been trying to get it to run for a while now.

dola-

Do you think the X-Com collector's Edition would work with XP, cause I'm really tempted to buy it...

Captain Raven Hawk returns to base with the Skyranger. They unload the remains of Kerillini II. Raven Hawk bows his head for the fallen warrior and heads back to his office.

There on his desk he noticed that he had forgotten to put away his leisure readings that kept his mind occupied when the believed the base was under attack. Commander Kodos probably would have busted him down to Sergeant if he had know that Raven Hawk was reading leisure materials while the base was preparing for attack.

"How mad could he have really gotten on such a quick read?" Raven Hawk pondered as he dropped the his reading into the trash.

He quietly walked away from his desk. The title of his reading was barely readable by a visitor passing his office, but it clearly read:

George Forman's Book of Baby Names.

Tucker: Sorry, no clue on that one. I would search/ask over at that X-COM site, and you might want to search or ask at GoneGold too. There are a lot of people that play X-COM there, and they are a friendly and helpful lot.

____________

Next battle should be up Monday before 6 CST. I just finished it now; all I have to do it edit the report, so I'll probably take a work break in the afternoon to clean it up then post it. Man, I forgot how much fun this game is.

The ol' Sectoid Hattrick. Not too shabby, Commander, not too shabby! :)

Asia wonders whats happening...must be too drunk off victory and a 10-kill mission for me...please...my sectoid addiction must be filed after my spirits are dashed after giving up 3 late goals to lose 3-4 in the match against my division league rival...need this to help my spirits!

Hey...

I did kill a man before.

Or at least injure.

WHOOOOOOOOOOOO!

50th Mission: Big Day, Part II (German Battleship UFO)!

Two hours after the EU Skyranger lifts off for home, the ASIA Skyranger makes its way down to the German countryside for what will be the second major battle of the day. With the news of the successful early morning attack, agent confidence is high. However, this attack should be against a larger UFO, and our previous battleship attacks have been nerve-wracking affairs. This should prove to be no exception.

Colonel Wade Moore is in charge of the following crew:

Left Side:
1. Jfbbis (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
2. Split Personality III (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
3. Wade Moore (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
4. BYU (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
5. Patman II (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)

Right Side
1. Travis II (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
2. Blade6119 III (Blaster Launcher, Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
3. Qwikshot II (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
4. Al Hill III (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
5. Airhog (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)

The Skyranger descends to the German fields below. The clear front that is over England extends across most of the European continent, and the weather here is beautiful as well: not a cloud in the sky, cool late summer temperatures, and little breeze. The most dominating feature of the landscape below is the massive bulk of the alien battleship that is our objective today. The UFO is a three-story monster of a craft with two expansive, octagonal floors sitting atop a bottom floor that consists of four landing columns surrounding a central exit pod. Our Skyranger pilot is putting the craft down less than 30 feet to the right of the craft. By coming down to the right front of the battleship, our men will have secure areas at the nose of the Skyranger and to the right of the its exit. To the rear of the Skyranger exit we can see nothing but fields; to the left is our target.

The Skyranger drops the final few feet to the ground and touches down. The exit ramp drops outwards and lands with a thud on the soft summer soil. Nothing. Quiet landing. With the UFO so close, this surely won’t last.

Our tank hits the ramp, scans left and right, but spots no alien movement. The key to these battleship attacks seems to be to quickly establish firing lines on the central exit pod in the center of the UFO, and to do this, we send our tank left, off the Skyranger ramp. From here, one of the large outer support pods partially blocks our view of the central exit pod, but we do have a reasonable view into the central area under the UFO. Still no sign of alien activity. Split Personality III exits the Skyranger and sets up behind our tank. Travis II exits, heads right from the ramp, and sets up a firing position on the fields to the rear of the Skyranger. The rest of the men shuffle to the Skyranger exit.

We edge our tank left to get a better look at the central pod of the UFO. We can now the left exit, one of the two that we know exists there. We hear the whirring of UFO doors, but see no alien activity, and this holds for the next few minutes.

We begin our deployment. BYU joins Split at the rear of the tank and the two men take up firing positions on the central exit pod. Travis II heads straight back from the Skyranger exit and towards the open fields, then cuts left to a fence that provides another firing angle on the underneath of the UFO, this one from the right side of the intervening support pod. From here he can see that there are some small shacks that lie off to the right of the UFO, but everything there appears quiet too. Qwikshot II and Al Hill III make their way straight out from the exit, and continue on to clear the open fields that lie further to the rear of the Skyranger. Blade6119 III exits the Skyranger, moves right, and sets up a firing position with the Blaster Launcher. Once these men get underway, Airhog sprints out of the Skyranger and races the short distance to the side of the near supporting pod of the UFO. He makes it to the wall unimpeded. Jfbbis, Patman II, and Wade Moore wait for the others to clear the exit area.

Although we can hear the near constant whirring of UFO doors, we see no aliens yet. What are they doing?

There is still a considerable amount of space underneath the UFO that we can’t see, and part of this unknown area includes the right door of the two exit doors on the central pod, so we decide to shake things up a bit. Blade6119 III launches a blaster rocket around the back of the Skyranger, under the UFO’s overhanging floors, and slams it into the central exit pod, right near where we expect their to be an exit door. The rocket explodes with a roar and sends clouds of smoke, dirt, and debris spewing out from under the UFO. Tough to hear with the explosion, but there might have been an alien wail in that sound. Still no sign of aliens, and within a few moments, the battlefield grows ominously quiet again.

Suddenly, Travis II spots a Sectoid near the shacks to the right of the UFO! He lifts his Heavy Plasma to fire, but the Sectoid backs out of sight before he can get a shot off. First contact! But where did it go?

We continue to move. Airhog starts to edge his way around the central pod, and Wade Moore sprints to join him. Qwikshot and Al make it far enough into the fields at the rear of the Skyranger to see that they are empty of aliens, then the two of them break left and head towards the shacks to the right of the UFO to try to flush out the Sectoid that Travis II spotted. Patman II exits the Skyranger and jogs to join them. Jfbbis grabs some blaster launcher missiles to re-supply Blade6119, then exits the Skyranger and moves to join him at the nose of the Skyranger. From here, with his outstanding marksmanship, he should also have some good long shots on the left UFO exit door.

Al, Qwikshot, and now Patman II reach a long fence overlooking the shanties to the right of the UFO and take up firing positions. Al is on the left, Qwikshot in the middle, and Patman II sets up on the right. Still no sign of the Sectoid near the shanties. Al preps an alien grenade and tosses it towards the door of one of the shacks. It goes off with a crash that blows apart half the shanty. There! Patman II spots a Sectoid running towards the shack in a field just to the right of the shack! He fires on full auto. Plasma beams flash across the 30-yard interval and tear the Sectoid to pieces! It tumbles to the ground dead! Nice shooting Patman II! X-COM 1, Aliens 0!

Time to take those shacks. If we can get control of those, we’ll have good firing lines on both exit doors from the UFO, and should be able to rip apart anything that tries to come out. Patman II blows apart a section of the wooden fence in front of him and makes his way along a stone wall that leads up to the first shack. Suddenly, he spots another Sectoid in the field to the right of the shacks! Oh no! The Sectoid has him dead to rights! Patman II raises his Heavy Plasma, but before either he or the Sectoid can get a shot off Qwikshot II drills the Sectoid with a stream of Heavy Plasma that sends the alien flying backwards to the ground! Nice shot Qwikshot! Patman II resumes his cautious advance on the first shack. X-COM 2, Aliens 0.

Back at the UFO, things are quiet. Airhog and Wade wait at the central pod. Travis II keeps a close eye on the corner of the support pod should any aliens come around it. Jfbbis and Blade6119 wait for targets at the front of the Skyranger. BYU and Split Personality III wait behind the tank, their Heavy Plasmas trained on the left UFO exit.

Patman II reaches the right side of the first shack, and spots a two-story barn two buildings further down. He quickly calls in the coordinates to Blade6119, who screams revenge for his ancestors’ deaths, and happily lets fly with a blaster launcher rocket. The rocket flies through the fields, drops down to ground level, and slams into the right side of the first floor. The resultant blast devastates a grove that lies to the right of the barn, and shatters the first floor of the barn in a massive explosion of wood, fire, and smoke. No alien screams though. Qwikshot II shuffles right and starts to head for Patman II’s position. We’ll hold both of these men where they are for the moment, as they have great firing angles on the right UFO exit door, and it appears that the shacks and barn are clear of aliens, for the moment. Al Hill turns left, as from his current position, he has a good angle on the right exit as well.

Now that we’ve got good firing positions on the UFO exits, things are looking better. We decide to let Blade6119 have some fun. Al Hill can see that Blade6119’s first blaster rocket blew the right exit door apart on the central pod. Blade6119 now programs a blaster rocket through that opening, into the elevator shaft just beyond it, up one floor, then sharply right and well into the body of the UFO. The goal is to have it hit something in that first floor, and rip apart the interior of the UFO. Blade6119 fires; the rocket whooshes across the interval and disappears into the UFO. We hear the muffled explosion a second later, followed by the muffled scream of at least one Sectoid! Yes! It worked! Blade6119 got one! We have no idea how much damage he did, as the UFO is huge, and there were no telltale signs of the blast, but we have to believe that that missile should shake things up a bit! X-COM 3, Aliens 0.

Now we wait…

And wait…

Sectoids! In the central exit pod! Our tank and Split Personality react first, sending fire through the rent in the door and punching a hole in one Sectoid’s chest! But there’s at least two more in there. Suddenly, a blaster rocket comes sailing out of the exit right at our tank, BYU, and Split Personality III! It sails across the interval…

And just misses! It sails further on, just misses the nose of the Skyranger, and then continues on to blow up harmlessly in the distance with a roar. This near miss though is too much for BYU, who goes berserk, turns around, and opens fire randomly! Plasma blasts pepper the Skyranger, and Blade6119 and Jfbbis duck for cover. Stop that, BYU! Once under cover, Blade6119 lets another blaster rocket fly into the core of the central pod. The rocket disappears inside and explodes, sending out a rush of black smoke and debris. From inside, we hear the frantic wail of Sectoids dying! Blade6119 got at least another one! Rock ‘n roll! X-COM 5, Aliens 0.

BYU quickly comes back under control, but Wade orders him to drop his weapon and move behind the central pod. Jfbbis leaves the Skyranger, and races to support Split Personality III at the tank. As he does this, another Sectoid appears in the pod! Split Personality III drills him with one shot, dropping the alien headless to the floor of the pod. X-COM 6, Aliens 0.

We close on the UFO door. From the right side, Al Hill, Travis, and Airhog all start to advance on the central pod. The left side holds to provide covering fire. As they do this, another Sectoid comes down the lift into the pod! Split Personality III, Jfbbis, and the tank are once again too fast for the Sectoid, as they drill him with a gut-splitting Plasma blast that sends the thing screaming to the floor of the pod. X-COM 7, Aliens 0.

The Sectoids answer with a wave of PSI-energy that washes over our men, and Split Personality III freezes! Damn it! Snap to it! With only Jfbbis remaining at the tank, Wade orders BYU back into action. BYU sprints to his Heavy Plasma, and joins our tank and Jfbbis as they advance on the exit pod. From the right side Al Hill and Travis also close quickly on the pod. Then, more Sectoids in the pod and in front of the pod! Streams of plasma absolutely rip apart the area. At least two Sectoids go down, with everyone near the exit pod firing, and even Qwikshot II and Patman II getting in on the action! Man, what an intense display of firepower! There quickly follows an explosion somewhere inside the UFO. An alien must have dropped something? Suddenly another alien corpse appears to the front left of the exit? How the hell did it get there? Just as quickly as it starts, the firing stops, and our men continue to close on the central pod. X-COM 9. Aliens 0.

Split Personality III gets himself back under control, but his morale is badly shaken: Wade orders him back to drop his weapon and head back to the Skyranger.

With our right flank exposed, Patman II and Qwikshot II decide to start a sweep of the shacks. This should help cover our men as they hustle to enter the UFO. Wade and Airhog stay in reserve, waiting to fill in should their help be needed. Blade6119 keeps a steady finger on the Blaster Launcher.

As our men close the final few yards to the center pod, we can see that one of Blade6119’s rockets ripped huge holes in the floor and ceiling of the second floor of the UFO, right in front of the exit pod. That would explain the Sectoid corpse on the ground in front of the central pod: it fell through the hole in the UFO floor. How it died is another question. This hole allows our men approaching from the left to actually see up into the shattered guts of the craft. As they approach, Jfbbis spots alien movement up on the third floor, opens fire instantaneously, and kills the thing! X-COM 9, Aliens 0.

And that’s it? It’s over! Wow! We did it! No casualties! Well done, men!

Wrap-up

Promotions: None.
Kills: Blade 6119 III, 5; Jfbbis, 2; Patman II, 2; Qwikshot II, 1; Split Personality II, 2.
KIA: None.
Wounded: None.
Attribute Improvements: Blade6119 III, Jfbbis, Airhog, Patman II, Qwikshot II, Travis II, Split Personality III.
Final score: 611. Wow!
Mission Notes:
Blade6119 III sure had himself a good day with the Blaster Launcher! Five kills! Way to go!

Patman II’s second kill is a bit of a mystery. The only other thing I can think of is that he must have gotten the kill when the Sectoids massed in the central pod at the end of the battle.

I have no idea how Airhog improved. He and Wade were in reserve, and didn’t fire a shot the whole battle. Bizarre.

Once again we get all kinds of stuff from the UFO. Should fetch a pretty price on the market! Nice!

Two down, two to go! USA COM up next!

Go FOF X-COM!

Outstanding display! Enough firepower to level half of Baghdad was utilized to good effect!

The attribute improvement for Wade and Airhog may have happened because they had to check their bravery during the PSI attack, or they may have been close to their carrying capacity.

I hope I got improvement to fend off PSI attacks...my bravery is real low...I always worry I'm going to be responsible for friendly fire.

Wow, great job. Now let's take out these next two with the same sort of results...

RavenHawk: Is a congratulations in order, or are you just prophesizing your doom and thinking about names for RavenHawk II?

Kodos: Very nice, Commander! Very nice indeed!

Blade6119: I hope that picks up your day. 5 kills may be second only to RavenHawk's big day a while ago.

3ric: Those Blaster Launcher's rock. Talk about changing a battle with a couple of shots.

Sachmo: Aha! Thanks!

Qwikshot: I'm wondering what the PSI-abilities will look like once we can see them. Not sure when that happens, but I think we should almost be there.

JeeberD: Effective use of the Blaster Launchers has helped a lot the last couple of missions, but in all honesty we have been lucky the last two missions. The aliens can't seem to hit diddly. I just hope our luck continues.

Also, I noticed in Berlin that an agent that survives a PSI-check may still have their morale drop significantly, making them more susceptible to the next attack. That happened to Lokugh, and the next turn he went nuts and shot everyone up. I'm making sure now to check everyone after each attack, and making people that have big morale drops drop their weapons and get back to the Skyranger. I'm hoping this will help reduce our deaths from alien controlled agents.

On a side note, things are slowing down a bit. The left shift-key cover on my notebook PC just popped off, making the typing of capital letters a bitch. Anyone know how to fix a broken key?

_______

USA COM up next. My guess is Thursday at the latest, maybe much sooner though. Got to keep plugging away while the luck is with us.

well...i would have liked 10, but i think i can settle for 5:D :D :D ....keep giving me that blaster launcher!!!!;)

How did i get 5 kills and not improve?

well it doesnt take much skill to program a guided missle to kill for ya :D

well it doesn't blah blah blah....how many kills did you get?....how did you help the team?...my point is made;)

Nice work, Blade. Commander Kodos is quite pleased with how these battles are going. :) Quite pleased indeed.

Well for starters, I didnt have a weapon that does all the work for ya :D

Besides, someone has to cover your ass while you fiddle with the weapon of yours :D

Blade6119: Whoops. There you go. We'll share the best toys with everyone though, so you might not get the Blaster Launcher for a bit. Only ones that won't get it are agents with low bravery. Last thing we need is for an alien controlled agent to be toting one of those things behind our lines.

Kodos: I'm amazed how well things have gone so far. I thought I would be making lots of stupid mistakes, but so far the aliens are missing and we are tearing them apart. I think pulling people off the front line when their morale dips from PSI-attacks might help us reduce casualties a lot in the future though. Most of our disasters recently have come from alien controlled agents, and if we can reduce those, we might be able to save a lot of lives. We'll see what happens when we run into Ethereals again though. Those things are just nasty compared to Sectoids.

Airhog: You want next up with the Blaster Launcher? Boom boom boom.

Good job men! It's nice when I can sit back and watch you all work and not have to get my hands dirty ;)

That's me all right...I get depressed easily. Hopefully little Lokugh II will do better than his Pops did. I want my boy to be an officer!:D

Lokugh

"If at first you don't succeed, make sure you are toting a Blaster Launcher."

Is RendeR II gonna get any action? =)

Certainly not!

Oh, wait... you meant in the game! ;)

Is it my turn yet?

*thwaps Kodos with a very large tank*


*SPLAT!!*


What was that? did someone here a bug getting squished?
*rubs his ears*

Wade: Sorry that you didn't get to do much in that last mission. I thought there would be more of a fight at the end and everyone could get in. I don't want to lose you early in a big fight though, because of the morale hit the men would take.

Lokugh: Nice quote!

Render: You're in Europe. You guys hog all the action.

Mr. Bug: I'll have an updated list in soon, but there's still 14 people in front of you in the waiting list. Looks to be a bit of a wait.

well... you guys need to start dying!!! i need to get called up dammit!!!! :)

Skyranger Transmission:

This just in. Helpful stuff as usual:

Ahem. Hello? You guys at HQ know why the radio only gets Barry Manilow? I tried fixing it by going WHAM WHAM WHAM on top of the dash, but nothing seems to help. All I can get is Barry. You know, I kind of like Barry now. You ever listen to him? And oh, yeah, since when did our men learn how to speak like aliens? Is that some kind of new code? How come no one tells me this stuff? And I think you might want to check the lunch food at the base: a lot of guys are getting sick out there. I feel these sick feelings sometimes too, and I feel like I'm going blow chunks, you know? Here comes another one...Whoa...That was a strong one. Dude. I can see little fuzzy green things floating in front of my eyes. I wonder if I can catch one. Tell me, why are we fighting the aliens? Are they bad? They seem kind of cute to me. I have to pee. Bye.

End of transmission.

Damned interns! :p

Ah, PSI attacks. Makes for an interesting mission...

If I'm not mind warped by aliens already.

I'm flipping the trigger on my satchel charge in the Skyranger cockpit. Now. Immediatly. No delay. Kerboom. Splat. Bang. Pow.

How about this beauty from demotivation.com:

"If at first you dont succeed, failure may be your style"
or
"It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others"

I love those....if you want more, go there and browse their demotivational posters.

Don't worry, I wasn't complaining.. I most certainly see the reasoning and advantage to me staying back -- believe me, I like staying alive!