X-COM II: The Earth’s Revenge (Part XI)

[Godzilla Blitz]

Update

USA COM 11:38PM NOV 23

Ring…ring…ring.

The phone jolts me from sleep. I glance at the clock beside my bed: 11:38PM. Dawn in England. Damn. Not a good sign. The EU COM team should be on the verge of battle, or already in it. I grab the receiver. “Yes. Go ahead.”

“Mr. Blitz?” A woman’s voice. A foreigner. Familiar, but I can’t place it.

“Yes. Who is this?”

“Mr. Blitz. I’m sorry for calling you so late, but it’s very important. You need to—”

“Who are you? I don’t know who you are.”

“I’m sorry. This is Miss Terry. You met me a few days ago. In Fargo. I read your hands.”

Yes. The nutcake. Pretty, but looney. “How did you get my number? Why are you calling me now? It’s almost midnight.”

“Mr. Blitz, please listen to me. Your men—you must get word to your men in the field.”

I press the yellow RECORD button on my phone. “How do you know about that? Who told you these things? And how did you get my number?”

“Mr. Blitz. Please trust me. There is no time. I can see things others can’t. I just know things. There is no way you would understand. But please, believe me, call your men—your officers—one of your high ranking officers is in grave danger. I can’t tell exactly who, but he is, I think, your best man. He has many bars on his uniform. He must not approach the alien flying ship. If he tries to go to the ship, he will not make it. He will be shot and fall from a great height. He will never fight again. And the world needs this man. Please—”

Normall, I would dismiss this nut immediately, but she right on the money here, too much so for this to be a coincidence. “Why should I believe you? We never interfere with commanders in the field.”

“Mr. Blitz, you have no idea what will happen in the next few weeks. You have no idea the horror that awaits the world. I saw it all when I held your hands. Your role in this is powerful, but there is no way you can change any of what is to come. It is too late. If there were, I would tell you. But somehow something is blocked from me. Something in ice. Perhaps it will not matter, and all is lost, but this man, your leader, without him—”

“Stop.” I’ve heard enough. “Miss Terry. I’ll call right away.”

“You will?”

“Yes. Thank you. Goodnight.” I hang up. I pick up the phone again, immediately press my direct line to the EU COM Skyranger. Hurry up. Hurry up. Damn these X-COM phones. In a few seconds, I’ve got a connection.

“EU COM Skyranger. Can I take your order?”

“Cut the shit, moron. Get Kodos on your radio, now. Tell him to hang in the back of the formation. Send someone else inside the UFO.”

“Who?”

Idiot! “The Commander. Kodos.” I’m yelling into the phone, now. “Tell him not to go to the UFO.”

“Tell him he’s got to go to the UFO?”

“No! Not go to the UFO! Tell him I’m ordering him to stay back. Send someone else on the UFO assault.”

“What? I can’t hear you that well. You throw a salt?”

“No! UFO assault! UFO assault. Aargh!” Where do we get these guys?

“Got it. Hang on.” I hear clanging and clattering. Static. A minute later the pilot is back on. “Hello? Mr. Sir? Kodos said he’s halfway to the UFO now. They lost men. Not enough left to send someone else. Whoa! What’s that screaming? There’s screaming something awful on Kodos' line. Someone’s hurt real bad, there. Whoa, now it stopped. That didn’t sound—”

I hang up. My hand rests on the receiver. The screaming was loud enough that I could hear it too.

No. It can’t be. Not Kodos. I bow my head, bring my palms to my face. Not now. So many dead, but we can’t lose him, not now.

Shortly, the tears begin to fall.

[JeeberD]

So I'm guessing that it's time for another "save error"?

[tucker342]

oh shit..... that can't be good.

[Japherwaki]

Crap. I wonder how many horseshoes I can pull out of my ass on this one.

[sachmo71]

I think he's alive.

I love GB.

[Poli]

Can I take your order?

[fantastic flying froggies]

You can't kill Kodos, he's the symbol of Earth resistance, the epitomy of the Human race, he stands for all the good that Mankind has ever achieved, he's...

Huh ? What do you mean "Kodos is an alien" ???

Oh....Nevermind then...

[hoopsguy]

If I were jfbbis (Colonel) or revrew (Captain) I would be seriously worried at this point.

one of your high ranking officers is in grave danger. I can’t tell exactly who, but he is, I think, your best man. He has many bars on his uniform

Kodos is fine. I don't think he qualifies under the definition of "man", technically. Or else the psychic has a different definition of best man. If that is the case, then GB never had a chance with her in the first place

[Kodos]

I'm sure I'll be fine, men. No need to worry.














**Once out of sight, Kodos takes out his lucky rabbits foot and rubs it furiously**

[Coffee Warlord]

I get his office.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

I get his office.

What you'll be getting is my steel-toed boot up your ass!

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by Kodos

What you'll be getting is my steel-toed boot up your ass!

Hey now. Running around and ranting for obedience is *my* job, Sir.

Besides, you don't have feet, much less boots!

[Godzilla Blitz]

101st Mission: Sectoids in Britain, Yet Again. (Part I)

The EU COM Skyranger heads towards the remains of a large Sectoid supply ship that our new Firestorm fighter shot down near the British alien base. Our attack should go off shortly after dawn.

We bring one of our more experienced crews ever on this mission. Commander Kodos, Colonel Jfbbis, and Captain Revrew are all aboard. These three men alone have a total of 65 alien kills to their credit. Technologically, this will be our most advanced team as well. Every soldier has a Flying Suit, and a Hovertank will lead us out of the Skyranger. Needless to say, we’re bringing our A-Team today.

We’re also bringing a handful of our newly healed agents back into battle today. The Time, Revrew, Sachmo III, and Japherwaki II are all seeing their first action since receiving Purple Hearts.

The men get the sign from the Skyranger pilot. Quietly, efficiently, and professionally, they make final preparations for landing.

Left Side:
1. Kodos (Heavy Plasma, Flying Suit)
2. Raven Hawk II (Heavy Plasma, Flying Suit)
3. Breeze (Blaster Launcher, Flying Suit)
4. Japherwaki II (Heavy Plasma, Flying Suit)
5. Swaggs (Blaster Launcher, Flying Suit)

Right Side:
1. Jfbbis (Heavy Plasma, Flying Suit)
2. Revrew (Heavy Plasma, Flying Suit)
3. Wolfpack (Heavy Plasma, Flying Suit)
4. The Time (Heavy Plasma, Flying Suit)
5. Sachmo III (Heavy Plasma, Flying Suit)

The Skyranger heads down to the British countryside on this partly cloudy, late November day. We can just make out the large, triple-decked UFO about 40 meters off to the left off where the Skyranger exit will end up. We can also see three two-story structures. One will lie about 20 meters in front of our exit. One will lie about 20 meters in front of the nose of our Skyranger. One lies slightly to the right of the Sectoid supply ship. We’ll come down in the middle of these buildings and the UFO. Not a good landing spot, as our enemy could rain fire on us from three sides. This could get hot fast. The area to the east of our Skyranger is secure ground, and off-limits to us. The Skyranger hits ground, bounces once, and settles. The ramp falls away. Cool autumn air drifts in. Silence greets us.

Our Hovertank glides out the Skyranger and spots a Sectoid in a field off to our left, about 30 meters away. It appears to be unaware of our presence. (Silly Sectoid! There is a large aircraft behind you!) As our tank rises to search the area around our Skyranger, Kodos and Raven Hawk II step to the edge of the Skyranger ramp, drift a bit beyond it, and open fire. Plasma streaks toward the Sectoid, who jumps in fear as the earth around him is peppered with plasma blasts. As it turns to return fire, Kodos nails it in the shoulder, blowing the creature’s arm off at the joint. The arm cartwheels to land behind the creature. A stream of green goo spews from its torso. The creature flails about with its remaining arm, then drops to the hard earth to die. X-COM 1, Aliens 0.

Kodos holds at the exit but Raven Hawk II moves down to take up a firing position at our landing gear. Sachmo III also exits. He drifts out, breaks right, then comes up alongside our Skyranger. He begins to advance to the nose of the craft and the building that lies past it. The rest of our men move toward the exit.

Suddenly, we catch Sectoid movement in the building—we can now tell it’s a barn—right in front of us. Shots come sailing out from a first floor window and streak toward the men in our Skyranger bay. The Time—who is standing beside Kodos—gets hit by a blast that rips through his shoulder armor and punches a deep hole in his flesh. He tries to return fire, but the jolt from the hit ruins his aim: his plasma blasts miss the window and blow holes in the outer wall of farm instead. As the men outside the Skyranger scramble for cover, Revrew pulls the The Time backwards, then jumps forward, out of the Skyranger. He rolls left off the ramp, comes up on a knee, and spots the Sectoid in the farm through one of the holes from The Time’s plasma blasts. Revrew opens fire on full-auto and sends a stream of plasma into the Sectoid. The creature’s torso explodes in a flash of green as the Sectoid is knocked backwards. Right behind this Sectoid is another one! Revrew never releases the trigger, and the next plasma blast blows apart the head of the second Sectoid. It too falls to the ground. Nice shooting Revrew! X-COM 3, Aliens 0.


XCOM agents fight through Sectoid-infested rural England. November, 2003. X-COM Archives Photo

Back in the Skyranger, Wolfpack sticks a Medi-patch over The Time’s wound, which is not as bad as it looks. Still, it must be frustrating for The Time, who has now been wounded four times in the last two missions.

We move out. Japherwaki II joins Revrew and Raven Hawk near the Skyranger exit, and slowly we begin to expand our position. Wolfpack exits, rises up over the battlefield, and scans for aliens. In front of our position, our Hovertank continues to sweep for aliens. As they do this, Breeze steps to the edge of the Skyranger bay and fires a Blaster missile right at the wall of the second floor of the barn in front of us, just to make sure that building is clear. The entire second floor goes up in a ball of wood, fire, and smoke. No sign of any more aliens in there. Sachmo III continues to move up toward the nose of the Skyranger, but before he gets there we are overrun by a wave of PSI energy! Sachmo III panics and freezes. Damn it. Hang on, Sachmo!

We can hear house doors clicking open and shut, and Raven Hawk spots an open door at the house that lies off the nose of our Skyranger. We clear firing lanes inside the Skyranger for Swaggs and Breeze, who quickly plot firing courses and pull the triggers on their launchers. Two missiles come roaring out of the Skyranger bay, loop around the Skyranger, and slam into the first floor of the house. The subsequent explosions blow the house apart. Pieces of wood, brick, and glass rain down on the battlefield. As the explosions die down, we hear a Sectoid screaming in agony! Yes, we got one! X-COM 4, Aliens 0.


Satellite scan of an XCOM attack on a Sectoid supply ship. November, 2003. X-COM Archives Photo

Suddenly, two Sectoids charge our position from the right side of the UFO, between the UFO and the building that lies to its right. They are about 50 meters away and closing fast, trying to get to a stone wall for cover. As Jfbbis exits the Skyranger to help out, Raven Hawk, Japherwaki, Wolfpack open fire. Plasma blasts chew up the earth around the two Sectoids as they run. Japh gets the first hit, spinning around the Sectoid on the left with a hit to the hip. As it regains its balance, Jfbbis drills it in the chest and knocks it to the ground, dead. An instant later, Wolfpack skewers the other Sectoid with a shot to the groin. The creature doubles over and tumbles forward. Two dead Sectoids! Nice shooting, men! X-COM 6, Aliens 0.

Before we can catch our breath, another Sectoid comes at us, this one from the left side of the UFO, about 30 meters away from Raven Hawk. The Sectoid gets off a quick shot that races towards Raven Hawk, hits him in the left hand, and blows apart his armored glove. Fingers and bone go flying as his hand shatters under the force of the impact. Raven twists through the pain, tucks his weapon butt into the side of his stomach with his right hand, and returns fire. His first shot catches the alien in the foot, but the rest sail horribly wide. The alien stays up and returns fire, but its shots slam harmlessly into the dirt in front of Raven. From behind Raven, Jfbbis adds his weapon to the mix. Jfbbis’ shots clip the side of the UFO, but finally he runs one past the side of the UFO, catches the Sectoid in the torso, and blows it backwards to the ground. It wails in pain, then falls still. Another one down! X-COM 7, Aliens 0.

Raven checks out his wounded hand. He’s missing an index finger and a ring finger at the knuckle, and his middle finger is gone from the middle joint up. Blood is running down his hand and spilling onto the brown grass below him. Raven shrugs and continues on.

Things go quiet for a moment, and we take stock of the situation. We are fairly certain the two buildings near our Skyranger are clear, as there isn’t much left standing of either structure, and everything we can see is clear. Time to move put pressure on the UFO and on the building—which we can now tell is a barn—to the right of it. Raven Hawk and Revrew will head for the left side of the UFO. We know that the doors lie on that side of the craft, and Raven and Revrew should be able to set up good firing positions on the first exit. Japherwaki and Wolfpack will head for the barn to the UFO’s right. Kodos, Jfbbis, and The Time will split the difference and head for the roof the UFO. They’ll try to bust in from the top of the craft. Swaggs and Breeze will provide the artillery support with our two Blaster Launchers. Sachmo, who has yet to respond to orders and is still babbling behind the Skyranger, will be ordered back into the Skyranger once he settles down enough. With the plan in place, we resume our movement.

Before we can take one further step, Sachmo screams, then starts yelling in Sectoid! A grenade comes looping over the backside of the Skyranger and lands in the middle of our position. Kaboom! The earth shatters with the explosion. Kodos, Jfbbis, Revrew, and The Time all get their bells wrung, but the explosion was far enough away that they all appear to be ok.

Jfbbis uses his Flying Suit to go hurtling over the Skyranger as Revrew charges around the nose of the craft. The two men spot Sachmo pulling out another grenade. Jfbbis and Revrew open fire from close range. Sachmo is blasted with consecutive plasma hits that blow huge holes in his chest. He screams and drops to the ground. The grenade rolls away, pin still in place. Sachmo is dead. X-COM 7, Aliens 1.


An XCOM agent lies dead after succumbing to an alien PSI attack November, 2003. X-COM Archives Photo

We try again to move out, and this time things go much better. Japherwaki and Wolfpack reach the barn on the right, search it, then head farther along the right hand side of the UFO. They’ll clear the right hand side, then go around the corner and go in the far door. Revrew and Raven Hawk advance on the nearer exit on the left side of the UFO and move in to set up firing positions. We bring our tank over to help cover their advance.

Kodos, The Time, and Jfbbis advance through the air to the roof of the UFO. Suddenly, Kodos is distracted by an emergency call on his helmetcom. As The Time and Jfbbis continue their advance, Kodos holds to take the call. The Time then Jfbbis move away from Kodos toward the UFO. A fraction of a second later, as The Time reaches the UFO, a violent wave of PSI energy rolls over us! The Time’s eyes roll up into his head and he starts twitching uncontrollably. Hang in there, The Time! No! He goes over to the aliens! With blindingly fast reactions, he turns on Kodos and Jfbbis—who are still behind him by a few feet—and opens fire. Plasma screams out of his weapon and goes straight for Jfbbis and Kodos...

(to be continued)

[Poli]

Darn you!

[sachmo71]

Dead. Again.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by sachmo71

Dead. Again.

You may have company shortly.






And I just knew this was going to be a "To Be Continued..." episode.

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by Godzilla Blitz

[b]...With blindingly fast reactions, he turns on Kodos and Jfbbis—who are still behind him by a few feet—and opens fire. Plasma screams out of his weapon and goes straight for Jfbbis and Kodos...

(to be continued)

HOLY SHIT!!!

[fantastic flying froggies]

Uh oh...

[sachmo71]

Blitz, i'd like my next clone to be a pilot. Preferably the pilot of the Mars ship, but beggars can't be choosers!

[Qwikshot]

Kodos, The Time, and Jfbbis advance through the air to the roof of the UFO. Suddenly, Kodos is distracted by an emergency call on his helmetcom. As The Time and Jfbbis continue their advance, Kodos holds to take the call. The Time then Jfbbis move away from Kodos toward the UFO. A fraction of a second later, as The Time reaches the UFO, a violent wave of PSI energy rolls over us! The Time’s eyes roll up into his head and he starts twitching uncontrollably. Hang in there, The Time! No! He goes over to the aliens! With blindingly fast reactions, he turns on Kodos and Jfbbis—who are still behind him by a few feet—and opens fire. Plasma screams out of his weapon and goes straight for Jfbbis and Kodos...

(to be continued)

Why does this remind me of the sergeant in Aliens?

[illinifan999]

This should so be a movie.

[JeeberD]

RIP Sachmo, ya damn dirty traitor...


So...nothing bad ever really happens in the second part of a "to be continued", does it?

[Godzilla Blitz]

101st Mission: Sectoids in Britain, Yet Again. (Part II)

(previously on X-COM)

Kodos, The Time, and Jfbbis advance through the air to the roof of the UFO. Suddenly, Kodos is distracted by an emergency call on his helmetcom. As The Time and Jfbbis continue their advance, Kodos holds to take the call. The Time then Jfbbis move away from Kodos toward the UFO. A fraction of a second later, as The Time reaches the UFO, a violent wave of PSI energy rolls over us! The Time’s eyes roll up into his head and he starts twitching uncontrollably. Hang in there, The Time! No! He goes over to the aliens! With blindingly fast reactions, he turns on Kodos and Jfbbis—who are still behind him by a few feet—and opens fire. Plasma screams out of his weapon and goes straight for Jfbbis and Kodos...

(our story continues)

The first shot blows a hole in Jfbbis’ stomach armor; the second shot guts him. A gout of blood and intestines shoots out from his stomach, and then he drops 20 feet to the ground to land face up with a sickening thud. An instant later, Kodos pulls the trigger on his Heavy Plasma and decapitates The Time with a vicious head shot. The Time falls back to the roof of the UFO, blood pouring onto the UFO from his headless neck. Kodos drops to the ground to check out a now screaming Jfbbis. A pool of blood has formed around him, and pieces of his stomach and intestines are scattered over the grass. Blood is literally draining out of this stomach. Kodos works frantically, but it takes four Medi-patches to cover the wound and stop the bleeding. A short minute later and the painkillers from all the Medi-patches kick in. After a couple of minutes, Jfbbis starts to calm down and look a bit better. Kodos gets ready to move on, but as he starts to rise, Jfbbis struggles to get to his feet. He almost falls, and is looking terribly pale, but somehow, someway, he fights through the incredible agony and makes it up. He gives Kodos a wincing smile and a thumbs up. Kodos starts to order him to stay in place, but Jfbbis grunts, “Don’t even think about it. Let’s go get some,” and is working his way back up toward the UFO roof before Kodos can reply. X-COM 8, Aliens 2.

With our UFO assault team now down to one-and-a-half men, we scratch our plans to go in the far door, and bring Wolfpack and Japherwaki up to the roof once they clear the exterior of the backside of the UFO. We now know that the remaining aliens are inside the UFO. Time to “go get some”. We’ll hit them from the top first, then send Raven Hawk and Revrew in on the ground level right after that.

Kodos, Jfbbis, Wolfpack, and Japh wait on a ledge below the roof of the UFO. Swaggs fires a blaster launcher missile over our Skyranger and slams it into the top of the UFO. The massive roar punches a hole in the craft’s tough outer armor. He follows this with another shot that disappears inside the craft, shakes the upper floors, and sends a plume of fire out the previous hole. He then fires a third missile for insurance. The UFO shakes once more, and again fire and smoke come bellowing out of the now larger hole in the roof. Up and in the men go. Kodos is first to the hole. He looks down into the top floor of the UFO, and spots a dazed Sectoid hiding behind an inner wall. Kodos aims from the hip and fires, blowing the Sectoid backwards to the ground. The Sectoid’s chest is a mass of gore. Kodos then drops down into the UFO and scans for aliens. Nothing. Japh is next in the hole, and the two men quickly take cover and get ready to move out. X-COM 9, Aliens 2.


XCOM agents follow a Blaster Missile into the top deck of a Sectoid supply ship November, 2003. X-COM Archives Photo

Back on the first floor, Raven Hawk and Revrew move up to the first UFO door, and get ready to bust in from this angle. With most of our men inside the UFO, further fighting will be at close quarters, so our Blaster Launchers won’t be needed as much. Swaggs drops his, heads over to Sachmo’s body, grabs a Heavy Plasma, and heads up to the roof of the UFO.

Back up on the top floor of the UFO, Wolfpack and Jfbbis enter the craft. Although the blaster missiles flattened the interior walls at this end of the top floor, the far end of the floor is still intact. Kodos and Japh head through the ruins to that end of the craft. Jfbbis loops around to an outer corridor on the left hand side and starts to search there. Wolfpack guards the grav-lift that rises up from the second floor. After a few moments, Swaggs comes in through the hole in the roof and jogs to catch up to Kodos and Japh.

Back on the first floor, Raven Hawk approaches the UFO door, pops it open, and bursts inside. The first floor is totaled. Perhaps the crash-landing did this, but there are no internal walls standing, with the exception of a couple at the far end of the craft. Raven Hawk breaks that way. Revrew is next inside the UFO. He breaks for the grav-lift that leads up to the second floor. As Raven approaches the far end of the UFO, he spots a Sectoid scurrying through the ruins, about 30 meters away. Raven drops to a knee and opens fire. His first shot hits the Sectoid in the torso and sends it flying into the debris on the floor. Within seconds, it is dead. X-COM 10, Aliens 2.

Back up on the top deck, Japh and Kodos start to approach far end of the UFO. On previous missions, this is where the alien officers have tended to gather. Suddenly, a Sectoid peeks around the far corner, then ducks back before either of our two men can get a shot off. Swaggs, behind Kodos and Japh by a few feet, preps a grenade and bounces it around the corner. We hear a squeal of surprise from the alien just before the grenade goes off with a muffled boom. The alien screams in agony and then falls quiet. X-COM 11, Aliens 2.

Swaggs tries again with another grenade. Once again, we hear a Sectoid death scream following the explosion! X-COM 12, Aliens 2.


XCOM agents close in on the command center of a Sectoid supply ship November, 2003. X-COM Archives Photo

Time to close in. Kodos and Japh move forwards. Jfbbis, who has been looping around from the other side of the UFO, also closes in. As he approaches the final corner, a Sectoid pops around the corner in front of him and opens fire! Jfbbis is dead to rights, but the Sectoid’s shot slams into the intervening corner, mere inches from Jfbbis’ head. The alien darts back around the corner, but runs right into Kodos coming from the other side. Kodos jams the muzzle of his heavy plasma into the Sectoid’s chest and squeezes the trigger: the shot blows a foot-wide hole in the creature’s chest and throws it back towards Jfbbis, where it lands with a thud and slides into the outer wall of the UFO. X-COM 13, Aliens 2.

Back on the first floor, Raven Hawk continues his search of the far end of the first floor, while Revrew clears the grav-lift that runs non-stop up to Wolfpack on the third floor. With this floor clear, the two men start for the second-floor grav-lift, down by Raven Hawk. As they close in, Raven Hawk catches movement in the shadows to his right: Sectoid, five feet away! Where did that one come from! The thing bolts away from Raven and towards Revrew. Revrew raises his weapon to fire, but the creature dives out of the way, gets up, then runs right back toward Raven Hawk. Raven charges the creature, raises his heavy plasma over his head, and brings it down on the creature’s skull as they two combatants come together. The Sectoid’s head explodes like a ripe watermelon and covers Raven with a wave of green goo. Before the alien can fall. Raven jerks his heavy plasma back to the left, then takes brings it forward in a hard baseball swing that ends with a sharp crack on the Sectoid’s shoulder. The Sectoid’s headless corpse cartwheels away and lands in a heap on the ground. End of Sectoid. X-COM 14, Aliens 2.

And with that, our threat sensors finally turn green.

Kodos and Swaggs help the badly battered Jfbbis back to the Skyranger, where he falls unconscious shortly after getting aboard. During the trip back his breathing becomes ragged and his face turns ghostly white. By the time the Skyranger gets back to the base, Jfbbis is in a coma.

Kills: Jfbbis, 3; Kodos, 2; Revrew, 2; Wolfpack, 1; Swaggs, 2; Breeze, 1; Raven Hawk II, 2.
KIA: The Time, Sachmo III.
Wounded: Jfbbis (?? days); Raven Hawk II (3 days), .
Attribute Improvements: All survivors.
Final score: Forgot again.
Mission Notes:
Tough to lose The Time and Sachmo III. PSI-attacks continue to be our biggest problem.

Jfbbis suffered massive internal bleeding on the return trip home which lead to the coma. After a 16-hour operation to rebuild his intestines and stomach using Sectoid and Floater parts, doctors finally stabilized his condition. However, he has yet to come out of the coma: no idea when—of if—he will return to action.

Somehow I came up with 14 kills while writing this, but the game only gave us 13 kills. Humm. Fushigi desu ne.

I expected less opposition, as there are usually fewer aliens in UFOs that we shoot down. Tough fight.

[Godzilla Blitz]

To All X-COM Agents

Subject: General Meeting

A general meeting of all X-COM agents will be held on June 14 at 23:00 hours CST.

[kingfc22]

KingfcII will be there

[Raven Hawk]

Originally Posted by Godzilla Blitz

Raven checks out his wounded hand. He’s missing an index finger and a ring finger at the knuckle, and his middle finger is gone from the middle joint up. Blood is running down his hand and spilling onto the brown grass below him.

Raven Hawk II paused for a moment as he examined his missing fingers. Suddenly it all made sense to him. His father had given his life for freedom. His father had given his life so that he and his mother could live. He had given his life for his fellow warriors. Raven Hawk II then said a prayer to his ancestors, as his father had taught him when he was younger. The prayer to invoke their warrior spirits. Like a rush of adrenaline, it hit him. This was his rifle, this was his gun, this one's for fighting, this one's for fun. He looked again at his missing fingers, shrugged and moved on.

Raven drops to a knee and opens fire. His first shot hits the Sectoid in the torso and sends it flying into the debris on the floor. Within seconds, it is dead.

"That one was for grandpa."

Raven charges the creature, raises his heavy plasma over his head, and brings it down on the creature’s skull as they two combatants come together.

"AND THIS ONE!"

The Sectoid’s head explodes like a ripe watermelon and covers Raven with a wave of green goo.

"IS FOR!"

Before the alien can fall, Raven jerks his heavy plasma back to the left, then takes brings it forward in a hard baseball swing that ends with a sharp crack on the Sectoid’s shoulder.

"MY FATHER!"

The Sectoid’s headless corpse cartwheels away and lands in a heap on the ground.

"YOU BASTARD!" Raven Hawk II paused and to catch his breath, spit on the slump of alien, then turned and walked away.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Random Comments

I've got a seminar to attend this week, which may mean things slow down. Not sure, yet, as it depends on how intense the seminar is.

I'll try and post some photos of the past couple of missions soon.

Jeeber D: I hope I'm not getting predictable with the second half of missions. I'll have to keep and eye on that. I don't want to ruin all the fun.

Illinifan: Thanks!

Qwikshot: The first Aliens? I've only seen the second one, and that was a long time ago. All these references to the movies makes me think I should rent them.

Sachmo: Got it. Sorry about your death by the way, but once you started chucking grenades around, there really wasn't much of a choice. Anyway, your next of kin will get the Firestorm right away! Probably a good choice of actions at this point, but let me know if you want to change your mind after tomorrow's meeting.

Kodos: The Time just missed you. So very close.

Hoops Guy: Nice call!

Real: Sorry that you feel like you're not getting much action, but I think you're actually right on par with everyone else, if not a bit on the high end for missions. With 45 agents active, you should should on one in every 4.5 missions. There simply are a lot of agents now. I agree, however, that you've been on the short end of the last few big missions that EU COM has seen. I'm aware of that and will adjust it in the near future as best I can.

Occasionally, I take a look at an agent's number when making sure I'm not shafting anyone. You're number 89, and have had 12 missions, which lines up pretty well with everyone around you. I do have it in my head that there were a few missions where you didn't see much action at all, but that tends to happen to everyone at some point. Also, the computer tends to put you at the back of the Skyranger, which makes it a bit tougher to get you into action on some types of missions.

Nevertheless, If you would like to transfer somewhere, let me know. I think I can make a switch.

Raven: Good humor!

Tellistto: Interesting. I didn't know that about the supply ships. They are getting a bit expensive to take out in terms of X-COM agents, though.

[Poli]

RIP fellas.

[Tellistto]

It could be different in the pc version, but the playstation version was pretty much a complete port, so I wouldn't assume anything is different. The real bad thing about supply ships is that they are always sectoid ships. If I were you on those, first thing I'd do when I found the ship would be to open a hole near the command room and send missles galore to get rid of the commander :P


Tell

[Kodos]

See? I told you I'd live!


Sorry to have to shoot one of my own men, but sometimes there isn't much else to do. I hope jfbbis recovers in time for Mars.

[fantastic flying froggies]

We 're losing too many good agents out there... Us rooks will have to step it up !

[RealDeal]

Thanks, GB. You know me, I just want to be in the thick of things. If you think I get more action somewhere else, be my guest. If you think I'm more needed at EU Com, particularly with the losses from the last mission, then that's fine too. I just want to get another experience that I can go on the final mission.

[jfbbis]

I hope jfbbis recovers in time for Mars.

Thanks, Kodos but I'm not too hopeful. Well, I spent probably more time in an hospital bed than in active service during my career. It just continues.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Update

November 25

General Meeting

X-COM Agents Only

(Delivered live via X-COM video conferencing)

Men, I have good news and bad news.

First, the good news.

Our second production bay has come online at SAM COM, which allows us to double the number of men working on our Avenger, the spacecraft that will take us to Mars. Sterling Ice now has 100 of his best men and women working full time on the project. But that is only the precursor for the good news.

The good news is that we now have a firm completion date for the craft, and it is sooner than we anticipated.

Much sooner.

The craft will be ready in exactly 19 days and 21 hours from (looks at watch, waits…) now.

December 14, men.

D-Day is set.

In less than three weeks, we will launch our one shot, our only hope, to end this war and save the human race. That shot will consist of 2 hovertanks and 18 carefully selected agents aboard our Avenger. With them, the hope of the world and its five billion lives will lie. Every man, woman, and child of Earth will hang their fate on the shoulders of those 18 men, and we must do our best to make sure that we select those of you that give us the best chance for victory. We have not lost an encounter yet: 101 times we have answered the call to arms, and 101 times we have been victorious. All that will be rendered meaningless if we lose the last battle.

Beginning in five days, on December 1st, shortly after we get the November PSI training results, we will be begin the selection process of Strike Team Omega. We will let you know of the further details as the selection process is decided. However, a rough outline is as follows:

1. X-COM Command will select the first 12 agents.
2. Commander Kodos will then select one agent, a Commander’s Choice.
3. Two agents will then be selected by a popular vote of their peers. Details to follow.
4. X-COM will then select the final three agents (it may be based on a battlefield competition).
5. X-COM will lastly select five alternate agents, should some of the 18 become incapacitated before we launch our attack.

I should let you know, however, that we expect to encounter fiercer PSI attacks on Mars than we have encountered to date in any of out battles. Intel’s exact words: “Expect multiple PSI attacks each and every minute you’re on the surface.”

To this end, when selecting our strike force we obviously must place a high emphasis on an agent’s ability to withstand the psychological element of alien combat. Contrarily, however, we are considering selecting three agents for their obvious weakness at PSI combat and using them as unarmed decoys. Since we know that the enemy will bombard us with heavy PSI attacks, we can reasonably predict that weak agents will be the first to crack. The goal is for these three unarmed agents to crack early and keep the enemy PSI forces engaged while our strike force butchers everything in sight. If these decoy agents are unarmed, there is no way that they can hurt us. If the plan is successful, we hope to dramatically reduce the chances of an agent killing his own men, which has been the leading cause of casualties over the past month.

That is all for now regarding the good news.

The bad news is somewhat sobering. Less than two weeks ago, X-COM agent Rawisdan defected to the enemy. Whether he was under his own power or whether he was affected by brutal PSI attacks is a moot point. The important point is that Intel has picked up some significant changes in enemy activity since his time of capture. These changes give us strong reason to believe that Rawisdan has talked.

This is what we know:

Our Spanish attack, which Rawisdan knew of before he was captured, was ambushed in their attack on the alien base. More than ten aliens were waiting around one of our team’s entrances. It is shear luck that they did not expect us to split our force. If they had detected the second attack team, it is likely that none of us would have survived. Fortunately, we believe this was the only regular mission that has been compromised by Rawisdan’s capture.

Second, the aliens are buzzing about like farts in a lantern since the capture: UFO activity has nearly doubled; there has been a significant increase in activity on the surface of Mars; and South America has seen a sharp increase in scout UFOs.

This leads us to conclude the following:

1. The aliens now know about the production of our Avenger at SAM COM, and about our planned attack on their central command post. There are no indications that they are attempting to move their command post, but it is clear that they are strengthening their defenses and increasing their efforts to find SAM COM. If there is any consolation, it has to be that Rawisdan thought we would attack at the end of December at the earliest, so we still may catch the alien’s off-guard by attacking in mid-December. Nevertheless, for our 18-man attack force, the already brutal fight for Mars has just gotten tougher. For our men guarding SAM COM, expect reinforcements.

2. We are now nearly certain the aliens know the exact locations of EU COM, USA COM, and ASIA COM. It is unlikely they know where SAM COM and AFRICA COM are, but we cannot be sure. I’m aware that we have told you this before and that it has not come to pass, but expect attacks at the big three bases. If you are on guard duty at SAM COM or AFRICA COM, be on the alert. Especially, SAM COM must not fall.

3. The aliens may be getting desperate. Over the past year, we have foiled every attempt to expand their bases on Earth and extracted a terrible toll on their UFO fleet. They now know that we are coming to get them. In short, we can expect them to throw everything and anything at us over the next three weeks. We are likely to see the most brutal fighting of the war before this thing is over. Expect a frantic schedule of missions— Intel says most likely we’ll see engagements on a daily basis—over the next three weeks. There is a lot of fighting left to go. We must have total concentwation.

Lastly, before we adjourn, the information you have been given tonight, if divulged to the enemy, would likely mean the destruction of our planet. To prevent any possibility of a reoccurrence of what has happened with Rawisdan, all agents will be fixed with a small detonation pack on their armor on future missions. It is our equivalent of the “small black pill,” except for the fact that the pack can be remotely detonated from X-COM command. The pack has enough charge to blow you into enough pieces that we won’t have to worry about you talking to anyone. It would be a very good idea to avoid capture if you want to stay alive.

Meeting adjourned—

Wait! (An assistant comes running to the podium, hands a note to Godzilla Blitz, who reads it.)

Gentlemen, an X-COM Interceptor has just downed a UFO over Africa. USA COM will launch the attack.

The following men should report immediately to the Skyranger bay:
Wade Moore, Ardent Enthusiast, Patman II, Anxiety III, AStott, Airhog II, Sublime II, Jeeber D, Lokugh III, Achilles.

Back to war, men.

Dismissed.

[Poli]

Reporting for duty.

[jerk3616]

It's been a long time since I've visited this forum...I can't believe that I waited so long, much less made this my first post.

I see the attack on Mars is coming...put my name on the waiting list, although I'm pretty sure the poo will fly before ol' jerk gets in the fray. It's sort of like waiting for someone to mostly finish washing the dishes before you ask if you can help, no?

Good luck and Godspeed to X-Com!

jerk3616

P.S. Godzilla Blitz--were you the author of the ND anti-dynasty a couple of years ago? That was the first dynasty I read at this site, and I absolutely loved it.

[Poli]

yes, he was. Good luck, jerk3616.

[Raven Hawk]

In the infirmiry

"I don't have time for cybernetic fingers, Crappy! Didn't you hear what GB said? All agents need to be ready to fight. Set me up with one of them hooks!"

[Kodos]

"Commander’s Choice," eh? Interesting...

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by jerk3616

P.S. Godzilla Blitz--were you the author of the ND anti-dynasty a couple of years ago? That was the first dynasty I read at this site, and I absolutely loved it.

Here it is!

[jerk3616]

You guys are the best. Yay X-Com! Down with ND!

[Blade6119]

Blade6119 cant wait to get back into duty after the last base assualt. Depite not being entered into PSI-training, i hope my agent proved himself in the last mission by being the only one directly in the vicinity of the PSI attacks and to live. Blade6119 out.

[Abe Sargent]

Back to work gentlemen.

-Anxiety

[Wolfpack]

I just made the goofy realization that if this game did take place in 2003, then we've just passed the date when my daughter was born. Hope the wife understood why I couldn't be there just that moment. "Sorry honey, I wish I could be there, but I'm busy trying to save the planet so she won't be enslaved by the horrible things from outer space." Do you think that would fly as an excuse?

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by Godzilla Blitz

We must have total concentwation.

Weweese Bwian!!!!


Looking forward to kicking some more Alien ass, sir!

[MrBug708]

While I'd love to be part of the mission, not sure if my PSI sense are up to it....

[hoopsguy]

Bug, GB did say he needs three unarmed targets ...

On a similar note, how far out are the updates on PSI defenses for the next round of troops? Are those end of month?

[revrew]

That Rawisdan thing is nasty. Did we know this could happen? Or are you just BS'ing us to up the realism element? Counter-espionage! They can do that?

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by Wolfpack

I just made the goofy realization that if this game did take place in 2003, then we've just passed the date when my daughter was born. Hope the wife understood why I couldn't be there just that moment. "Sorry honey, I wish I could be there, but I'm busy trying to save the planet so she won't be enslaved by the horrible things from outer space." Do you think that would fly as an excuse?

I think she'd become a horrible thing from outer space if you used that line.

[jerk3616]

jerk3616 will offer his services to X-Com by standing outside the Martian base wearing assless chaps and clown makeup and attacking armed with nothing but his own feces. What can I say...I have no pride.