Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - X-COM II: The Earth’s Revenge (Part IX)

Godzilla Blitz · 01-28-2004, 10:06 PM

78th Mission: British Supply Ship

The EU COM flies a holding pattern over the English Channel, waiting for word from EU COM headquarters that the Sectoid supply ship has landed. Our hyper-wave radar has been a godsend: we’ve known for 8 hours that the alien UFO was headed right for the British Sectoid base, and were able to get our Skyranger in position to attack right at the crack of dawn.

With Commander Kodos out with a cold, Captain Jfbbis takes charge of today’s crew.

These large supply ships have always been a tough fight, and usually involve PSI-capable Sectoids. Today should be no exception.

The green light flashes and the Skyranger picks up speed for the barren plains of northern England.

Good luck, men!

Left Side:
1. Jfbbis (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
2. Lokugh II (Stun Launcher, Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
3. Wolfpack (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
4. Afoci (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
5. Swaggs (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)

Right Side:
1. Blade III (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
2. Revrew (Blaster Launcher, Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
3. Japherwaki II (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
4. Tasan (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
5. Mr. Bug IV (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)

As we descend to the rocky tundra below, we scan the battlefield. We’ve got a cloudy, cool, fall morning, and the gray landscape below should make spotting gray Sectoids a bit tough. It looks like we’re coming down on the northwest part of the battlefield, but in the dim light, we can’t see much. There is no sign of the UFO. We can see that there are rocky mounds on both sides of the Skyranger and that there is a large rocky hill at the nose of the Skyranger. The area to the rear of our exit is secure ground, as is the area beyond the mounds to the left of the Skyranger. The majority of today’s battle should occur to the right and front of our Skyranger.

The Skyranger crunches into the rocky landscape. The gate falls open. Silence.

We start our tank down the ramp. Suddenly, a plasma blast comes screaming in from the left and cuts through the tank’s armor, causing the vehicle to grind to a halt and die. Looks like the main computer must have been hit. Damn, it’s been knocked out already. No time to lose, though. Blade III and Jfbbis come tearing out of the Skyranger, dive left off the ramp, roll on the rocky ground, and come up firing at…

A Sectoid, about 15 yards away, in front of a small mound. The Sectoid is ready for us, though, and both sides open fire simultaneously. The Sectoid nearly hits Blade, but its shot slams harmlessly into the landing gear strut to the left of Blade’s head. Blade and Jfbbis don’t give the Sectoid a second chance though: both of them drill the Sectoid with plasma blasts that tear the thing apart! The two men then quickly scan this side of the Skyranger for more life: nothing. X-COM 1, Aliens 0.

X-COM troops are ambushed by Sectoid forces. October, 2003. X-COM Archives Photo

Lokugh II comes out of the Skyranger, breaks right and jumps off the ramp: Sectoid, right in front of him, about 10 yards away! Both Lokugh and the alien pull the triggers at the same time, and both hit at the same time. The Sectoid goes flying backwards in a heap, and Lokugh takes a crunching hit to the chest that knocks him to his knees. The Sectoid is a green mess and clearly dead. Lokugh wobbles on his knees…

But stays up! He tries desparately to breathe, and after a few seconds manages to get some huge gulps of oxygen that take an edge off the diziness. He coughs up a bit of blood, gives Jfbbis an “ok”, and gets ready to resume fighting. Boo yah! We came to party! X-COM 2, Aliens 0.

Things go quiet for a moment, and we begin our deployment. We send Afoci and Blade left to check out the small mounds to the left of our exit. Japhwerwaki II exits the Skyranger and comes up under the Skyranger. He quickly advances to the nose of the craft. He’ll cover this area until we can clear the relatively small amount of ground to the left of our craft. Wolfpack and Lokugh II head right towards the mounds that lie on that side of our Skyranger. The rest of the men wait in the Skyranger: we can guess that there is an enemy Blaster Launcher out there, and we don’t want to bunch up and lose a handful of men with one shot.

With Japh holding our front, Afoci and Blade make a quick, uneventful search of the two mounds that lie to the left of our Skyranger.

On the right side of the Skyranger, Wolfpack and Lokugh go over the first two mounds, an come upon a larger mound that has a narrow, winding chasm cut right through the middle of it: where is Danny Van Halen, expert chasm clearer, when you need him? As the two men eye the opening, a Sectoid steps out and rips off two shots at Lokugh! The first one misses, but the second one clangs off the top of Lokugh’s helmet. Sharp jolts of pain shoot down his spine and his vision blurs, but once again he manages to stay up! Before either of the two men can return fire, the Sectoid cuts back into the chasm and disappears from view. As Wolfpack and Lokugh take cover, prep grenades, and toss them towards the fissure, Tasan exits the Skyranger and races to help support our position over here.

The grenades go off in two quick booms that send rock and dirt spewing out of the chasm, but we hear no alien screams from the silent, dark chasm. Suddenly, from the left side of this hill, another Sectoid appears, about 40 yards away! This one quickly fires some kind of missile that clips the side of the hill and explodes about 20 yards in front of our position. Wolfpack and Lokugh II open fire on the Sectoid on full-auto. Green plasma flies alongside the hill and rips up the earth near the Sectoid. Wolfpack gets the first hit, as he blows the Sectoids right arm off, then Lokugh catches the thing in the stomach. The Sectoid’s intestines gush out onto the rocky soil and the thing drops over dead. X-COM 3, Aliens 0.

A panoramic view of an X-COM attempt to root out Sectoids dug into caves. Seconds later the X-COM agent in the middle was killed by alien fire. October, 2003. X-COM Archives PanSCAN Photo

Suddenly, the Sectoid in the chasm reappears! Wolfpack doesn’t have an angle on the thing, Tasan is too far away; it’s one-on-one, from 15 yards away, between Lokugh II and this Sectoid! Both open fire at the same time. Lokugh’s shots clip the rocks on either side of the chasm, but the Sectoid’s first shot hits Lokugh in his weakened chest plate! The shot cuts through body and armor. A gush of red comes out a hole in Lokugh’s back plate and he topples backwards, dead before he hits the ground. Aargh! Wolfpack preps another grenade and tosses it into the chasm. Tasan races for the entrance. The alien spins to retreat, but Wolfpack’s grenade goes off and blows the thing apart! Yes! We race Mr. Bug IV and Jfbbis forward to help out on this side of the Skyranger, as things are getting hot over here. X-COM 4, Aliens 1.

Things on the other side of the Skyranger are calmer. Swaggs exits the Skyranger and joins Japherwaki II. Afoci and Blade finish searching the left side of the Skyranger, and they move forward to form a line with Swaggs and Japh. Together, the four of them begin to climb the large hill that lies in front of our Skyranger. As they start up, Japh catches a glimpse of the bulky alien Supply Ship on the other side. We’ll send these men (Squad One) over the hill and around the near side of the UFO. A Supply Ship should have doors on the far side, and so we’ll need to go around the thing to get in.

X-COM forces advance through rocky terrain. October, 2003. X-COM Archives Photo

Supply ships usually have Sectoid officers up high, in the command center on the west end of the craft. It’s usually a good idea to try to hit this part of the ship with blaster missiles to try to take them out early. With this in mind, Revrew exits the Skyranger, aims, and sends a blaster missile up over our Skyranger and the large hill in between, and slams it into the bridge of the Supply Ship. From his vantage point about 50 yards away, Japh can see the rocket hit, explode, and blow a large hole in the side of the tough alien craft. Japh also hears the screams of Sectoids dying inside! Yes! Revrew got at least one with that shot! As Swaggs, Blade, Japh, and Afoci continue their advance over the hill and towards the UFO, Revrew fires two missiles into the hole created by the first hit. The first of these shots brings no screams with it, but the second causes some kind of a chain reaction inside that sets off a series of four more explosions that shake the earth. Once again we hear Sectoids screaming inside! Revrew’s got at least two kills today! X-COM 7, Aliens, 1.

Back on the right side of the Skyranger, Jfbbis joins Tasan, and together they begin a sweep around the near side of the steep, unclimable rock formation that houses the chasm. Mr. Bug IV heads right into the chasm, and Wolfpack starts around the far side. Once these four men clear this, they should be very close to the right side of the UFO. The search takes a few minutes, but things begin without incident. Tasan and Jfbbis have the easiest search and the shortest route. They are the first ones to clear their path around the hill and sure enough, as they reach the far side, they spot the right side of the UFO. Just as they get there, a Sectoid comes around the corner of the craft! The Sectoid looks surprised, then bolts back around the corner of the UFO and out of sight. Tasan quickly prepares a grenade and tosses it to the spot where the alien disappeared. Both men then train their weapons on the corner and wait…

Seconds later, the Sectoid reappears and opens fire at Tasan before either men can react! Plasma shots slam into the rock in front of Tasan. Tasan’s grenade goes off with a roar, and the Sectoid is blown to smithereens! Well done, Tasan! X-COM 8, Aliens 1.

Except for the whirring of internal UFO doors, things go quiet for the next few minutes. Japh, Blade, Swaggs, and Afoci get around the left corner of the UFO and set up an assault position on the left exit. Swaggs and Blade cover the exit from 15 yards away, while Afoci and Japh hug the wall of the UFO, just shy of the final approach on the UFO.

X-COM troops prepare to assault a Sectoid supply ship. October, 2003. X-COM Archives Photo

Meanwhile, at the other end of the UFO, Wolfpack, Mr. Bug IV, Tasan, and Jfbbis all converge on the right corner of the UFO and begin their way around that corner of the craft. There should be a second exit on this end of the craft, and we’ll have these men go in through that exit.

Suddenly, a Sectoid exits the UFO, right in front of Blade and Swaggs. The two men ready their heavy plasmas and go to pull the trigger, but the alien darts back inside before either man can fire. Blade tosses a grenade on a 30-second timer near the exit, but it goes off harmlessly. Scant seconds later, the Sectoid reappears! This time Blade is quick to the draw: he drills the Sectoid in the right shoulder as it exits. The blast severs the arm off and sends the Sectoid wailing to the ground! And then another Sectoid is right on this one’s heels! It turns to fire, but Blade gets off another quick shot first. This one blows the Sectoid’s knee apart and sends it howling to the ground. And then another Sectoid appears! Swaggs, fire! This Sectoid is a bit faster than Blade and gets off a shot that clips Blade’s neck armor and blows a chunk of Blade’s throat away! The shot must have hit a major artery, as a stream of blood comes squirting out of Blade! Blade pulls the trigger once more, but his shot sprays well wide. The Sectoid turns back into the UFO. As Swaggs pulls out a Medipatch and slaps it on Blade’s neck, Afoci and Japh get up and charge the UFO door. Afoci pops it open, and comes face-to-face with the surprised Sectoid. He slams the butt of his heavy plasma into the Sectoid’s face. The force of the blow breaks the creature’s neck and kills it instantly. Afoci hops over the falling body and breaks right along the outer corridor. Japh enters the UFO right behind him and breaks left. X-COM 11, Aliens 1.

As Wolfpack, Mr. Bug IV, Tasan, and Jfbbis rush the far exit to help the men inside the UFO, a Sectoid comes around a corner right in front of Japherwaki II. Japh dives right and pulls the trigger on his heavy plasma. Three shots slam into the creature’s chest, sending green goo splattering in all directions. The Sectoid crumples backwards in a heap, its chest a steaming mess. Way to go, Japh! X-COM 12, Aliens 1.

And that’s all she wrote! Well done, men! Tough to lose Lokugh, but not a bad return to action!

Kills: Revrew, 3; Japherwaki II, 1; Tasan, 1; Jfbbis, 1; Afoci, 1; Blade III, 2; Lokugh II, 2; Wolfpack, 1.
KIA: Lokugh II.
Wounded: Blade III (3 days).
Attribute Improvements: Jfbbis, Japherwaki II, Tasan, Revrew, Blade III, Wolfpack.
Final score: 412.
Mission Notes:
Revrew picks up a hattrick with his blaster launcher missiles.

Japherwaki II’s reaction skill increased by one, to 32! Wow!

Blade III’s wound looked bad, but quick action by Swaggs kept the bleeding to a minimum. Blade III should be back in action in no time.

01-28-2004, 10:06 PM	#25
Godzilla Blitz College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000	78th Mission: British Supply Ship The EU COM flies a holding pattern over the English Channel, waiting for word from EU COM headquarters that the Sectoid supply ship has landed. Our hyper-wave radar has been a godsend: we’ve known for 8 hours that the alien UFO was headed right for the British Sectoid base, and were able to get our Skyranger in position to attack right at the crack of dawn. With Commander Kodos out with a cold, Captain Jfbbis takes charge of today’s crew. These large supply ships have always been a tough fight, and usually involve PSI-capable Sectoids. Today should be no exception. The green light flashes and the Skyranger picks up speed for the barren plains of northern England. Good luck, men! Left Side: 1. Jfbbis (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit) 2. Lokugh II (Stun Launcher, Heavy Plasma, Power Suit) 3. Wolfpack (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit) 4. Afoci (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit) 5. Swaggs (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit) Right Side: 1. Blade III (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit) 2. Revrew (Blaster Launcher, Heavy Plasma, Power Suit) 3. Japherwaki II (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit) 4. Tasan (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit) 5. Mr. Bug IV (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit) As we descend to the rocky tundra below, we scan the battlefield. We’ve got a cloudy, cool, fall morning, and the gray landscape below should make spotting gray Sectoids a bit tough. It looks like we’re coming down on the northwest part of the battlefield, but in the dim light, we can’t see much. There is no sign of the UFO. We can see that there are rocky mounds on both sides of the Skyranger and that there is a large rocky hill at the nose of the Skyranger. The area to the rear of our exit is secure ground, as is the area beyond the mounds to the left of the Skyranger. The majority of today’s battle should occur to the right and front of our Skyranger. The Skyranger crunches into the rocky landscape. The gate falls open. Silence. We start our tank down the ramp. Suddenly, a plasma blast comes screaming in from the left and cuts through the tank’s armor, causing the vehicle to grind to a halt and die. Looks like the main computer must have been hit. Damn, it’s been knocked out already. No time to lose, though. Blade III and Jfbbis come tearing out of the Skyranger, dive left off the ramp, roll on the rocky ground, and come up firing at… A Sectoid, about 15 yards away, in front of a small mound. The Sectoid is ready for us, though, and both sides open fire simultaneously. The Sectoid nearly hits Blade, but its shot slams harmlessly into the landing gear strut to the left of Blade’s head. Blade and Jfbbis don’t give the Sectoid a second chance though: both of them drill the Sectoid with plasma blasts that tear the thing apart! The two men then quickly scan this side of the Skyranger for more life: nothing. X-COM 1, Aliens 0. X-COM troops are ambushed by Sectoid forces. October, 2003. X-COM Archives Photo Lokugh II comes out of the Skyranger, breaks right and jumps off the ramp: Sectoid, right in front of him, about 10 yards away! Both Lokugh and the alien pull the triggers at the same time, and both hit at the same time. The Sectoid goes flying backwards in a heap, and Lokugh takes a crunching hit to the chest that knocks him to his knees. The Sectoid is a green mess and clearly dead. Lokugh wobbles on his knees… But stays up! He tries desparately to breathe, and after a few seconds manages to get some huge gulps of oxygen that take an edge off the diziness. He coughs up a bit of blood, gives Jfbbis an “ok”, and gets ready to resume fighting. Boo yah! We came to party! X-COM 2, Aliens 0. Things go quiet for a moment, and we begin our deployment. We send Afoci and Blade left to check out the small mounds to the left of our exit. Japhwerwaki II exits the Skyranger and comes up under the Skyranger. He quickly advances to the nose of the craft. He’ll cover this area until we can clear the relatively small amount of ground to the left of our craft. Wolfpack and Lokugh II head right towards the mounds that lie on that side of our Skyranger. The rest of the men wait in the Skyranger: we can guess that there is an enemy Blaster Launcher out there, and we don’t want to bunch up and lose a handful of men with one shot. With Japh holding our front, Afoci and Blade make a quick, uneventful search of the two mounds that lie to the left of our Skyranger. On the right side of the Skyranger, Wolfpack and Lokugh go over the first two mounds, an come upon a larger mound that has a narrow, winding chasm cut right through the middle of it: where is Danny Van Halen, expert chasm clearer, when you need him? As the two men eye the opening, a Sectoid steps out and rips off two shots at Lokugh! The first one misses, but the second one clangs off the top of Lokugh’s helmet. Sharp jolts of pain shoot down his spine and his vision blurs, but once again he manages to stay up! Before either of the two men can return fire, the Sectoid cuts back into the chasm and disappears from view. As Wolfpack and Lokugh take cover, prep grenades, and toss them towards the fissure, Tasan exits the Skyranger and races to help support our position over here. The grenades go off in two quick booms that send rock and dirt spewing out of the chasm, but we hear no alien screams from the silent, dark chasm. Suddenly, from the left side of this hill, another Sectoid appears, about 40 yards away! This one quickly fires some kind of missile that clips the side of the hill and explodes about 20 yards in front of our position. Wolfpack and Lokugh II open fire on the Sectoid on full-auto. Green plasma flies alongside the hill and rips up the earth near the Sectoid. Wolfpack gets the first hit, as he blows the Sectoids right arm off, then Lokugh catches the thing in the stomach. The Sectoid’s intestines gush out onto the rocky soil and the thing drops over dead. X-COM 3, Aliens 0. A panoramic view of an X-COM attempt to root out Sectoids dug into caves. Seconds later the X-COM agent in the middle was killed by alien fire. October, 2003. X-COM Archives PanSCAN Photo Suddenly, the Sectoid in the chasm reappears! Wolfpack doesn’t have an angle on the thing, Tasan is too far away; it’s one-on-one, from 15 yards away, between Lokugh II and this Sectoid! Both open fire at the same time. Lokugh’s shots clip the rocks on either side of the chasm, but the Sectoid’s first shot hits Lokugh in his weakened chest plate! The shot cuts through body and armor. A gush of red comes out a hole in Lokugh’s back plate and he topples backwards, dead before he hits the ground. Aargh! Wolfpack preps another grenade and tosses it into the chasm. Tasan races for the entrance. The alien spins to retreat, but Wolfpack’s grenade goes off and blows the thing apart! Yes! We race Mr. Bug IV and Jfbbis forward to help out on this side of the Skyranger, as things are getting hot over here. X-COM 4, Aliens 1. Things on the other side of the Skyranger are calmer. Swaggs exits the Skyranger and joins Japherwaki II. Afoci and Blade finish searching the left side of the Skyranger, and they move forward to form a line with Swaggs and Japh. Together, the four of them begin to climb the large hill that lies in front of our Skyranger. As they start up, Japh catches a glimpse of the bulky alien Supply Ship on the other side. We’ll send these men (Squad One) over the hill and around the near side of the UFO. A Supply Ship should have doors on the far side, and so we’ll need to go around the thing to get in. X-COM forces advance through rocky terrain. October, 2003. X-COM Archives Photo Supply ships usually have Sectoid officers up high, in the command center on the west end of the craft. It’s usually a good idea to try to hit this part of the ship with blaster missiles to try to take them out early. With this in mind, Revrew exits the Skyranger, aims, and sends a blaster missile up over our Skyranger and the large hill in between, and slams it into the bridge of the Supply Ship. From his vantage point about 50 yards away, Japh can see the rocket hit, explode, and blow a large hole in the side of the tough alien craft. Japh also hears the screams of Sectoids dying inside! Yes! Revrew got at least one with that shot! As Swaggs, Blade, Japh, and Afoci continue their advance over the hill and towards the UFO, Revrew fires two missiles into the hole created by the first hit. The first of these shots brings no screams with it, but the second causes some kind of a chain reaction inside that sets off a series of four more explosions that shake the earth. Once again we hear Sectoids screaming inside! Revrew’s got at least two kills today! X-COM 7, Aliens, 1. Back on the right side of the Skyranger, Jfbbis joins Tasan, and together they begin a sweep around the near side of the steep, unclimable rock formation that houses the chasm. Mr. Bug IV heads right into the chasm, and Wolfpack starts around the far side. Once these four men clear this, they should be very close to the right side of the UFO. The search takes a few minutes, but things begin without incident. Tasan and Jfbbis have the easiest search and the shortest route. They are the first ones to clear their path around the hill and sure enough, as they reach the far side, they spot the right side of the UFO. Just as they get there, a Sectoid comes around the corner of the craft! The Sectoid looks surprised, then bolts back around the corner of the UFO and out of sight. Tasan quickly prepares a grenade and tosses it to the spot where the alien disappeared. Both men then train their weapons on the corner and wait… Seconds later, the Sectoid reappears and opens fire at Tasan before either men can react! Plasma shots slam into the rock in front of Tasan. Tasan’s grenade goes off with a roar, and the Sectoid is blown to smithereens! Well done, Tasan! X-COM 8, Aliens 1. Except for the whirring of internal UFO doors, things go quiet for the next few minutes. Japh, Blade, Swaggs, and Afoci get around the left corner of the UFO and set up an assault position on the left exit. Swaggs and Blade cover the exit from 15 yards away, while Afoci and Japh hug the wall of the UFO, just shy of the final approach on the UFO. X-COM troops prepare to assault a Sectoid supply ship. October, 2003. X-COM Archives Photo Meanwhile, at the other end of the UFO, Wolfpack, Mr. Bug IV, Tasan, and Jfbbis all converge on the right corner of the UFO and begin their way around that corner of the craft. There should be a second exit on this end of the craft, and we’ll have these men go in through that exit. Suddenly, a Sectoid exits the UFO, right in front of Blade and Swaggs. The two men ready their heavy plasmas and go to pull the trigger, but the alien darts back inside before either man can fire. Blade tosses a grenade on a 30-second timer near the exit, but it goes off harmlessly. Scant seconds later, the Sectoid reappears! This time Blade is quick to the draw: he drills the Sectoid in the right shoulder as it exits. The blast severs the arm off and sends the Sectoid wailing to the ground! And then another Sectoid is right on this one’s heels! It turns to fire, but Blade gets off another quick shot first. This one blows the Sectoid’s knee apart and sends it howling to the ground. And then another Sectoid appears! Swaggs, fire! This Sectoid is a bit faster than Blade and gets off a shot that clips Blade’s neck armor and blows a chunk of Blade’s throat away! The shot must have hit a major artery, as a stream of blood comes squirting out of Blade! Blade pulls the trigger once more, but his shot sprays well wide. The Sectoid turns back into the UFO. As Swaggs pulls out a Medipatch and slaps it on Blade’s neck, Afoci and Japh get up and charge the UFO door. Afoci pops it open, and comes face-to-face with the surprised Sectoid. He slams the butt of his heavy plasma into the Sectoid’s face. The force of the blow breaks the creature’s neck and kills it instantly. Afoci hops over the falling body and breaks right along the outer corridor. Japh enters the UFO right behind him and breaks left. X-COM 11, Aliens 1. As Wolfpack, Mr. Bug IV, Tasan, and Jfbbis rush the far exit to help the men inside the UFO, a Sectoid comes around a corner right in front of Japherwaki II. Japh dives right and pulls the trigger on his heavy plasma. Three shots slam into the creature’s chest, sending green goo splattering in all directions. The Sectoid crumples backwards in a heap, its chest a steaming mess. Way to go, Japh! X-COM 12, Aliens 1. And that’s all she wrote! Well done, men! Tough to lose Lokugh, but not a bad return to action! Kills: Revrew, 3; Japherwaki II, 1; Tasan, 1; Jfbbis, 1; Afoci, 1; Blade III, 2; Lokugh II, 2; Wolfpack, 1. KIA: Lokugh II. Wounded: Blade III (3 days). Attribute Improvements: Jfbbis, Japherwaki II, Tasan, Revrew, Blade III, Wolfpack. Final score: 412. Mission Notes: Revrew picks up a hattrick with his blaster launcher missiles. Japherwaki II’s reaction skill increased by one, to 32! Wow! Blade III’s wound looked bad, but quick action by Swaggs kept the bleeding to a minimum. Blade III should be back in action in no time. Last edited by Godzilla Blitz : 01-28-2004 at 11:34 PM.