X-COM II: The Earth's Revenge (Part VIII)

[NAIWF]

Am I really a Sarge now? I thought I was a Squaddie last time, or is this just a clerical error ala the SI blunders?

My family will be so proud that not only am I alive, but I'm still photogenic

[JeffNights]

Well great, now i'm jinked, 20th mission and nobody has died yet on it? Yeah i'm dead for sure.


: )

well i hope not...

[Godzilla Blitz]

Update

We make it to the end of September without further incident.

The UN is extremely pleased with our performance during the month, and all the countries of the world increase funding to our program! Apparently our propaganda has helped enlighten the masses.

On October 1st, Crappy and Sterling Ice unveil new PSI-training facilities in EU COM and ASIA COM. These facilities will help us identify agents with high PSI-resistance, and also begin the process of training our troops how to fight with PSI technology as well. We can put ten men in training at each facility. We choose carefully:

EU COM
Kodos, Revrew, Chief Rum III, Real Deal III, Patman II, Tasan, Naiwf, Coffee Warlord II, Swaggs.

ASIA COM
Jeff Nights II, Thomkal II, Astott, Rich, Danny Van Halen, Qwikshot, Illinifan V, Render II, Fonzie II, Condors II.

We'll have the results at the end of the month.

On October 2, our Interceptors give chase to a small UFO that appears over the USA. The craft makes it all the way to Russia before Toddiec IV, flying out of ASIA COM, knocks it out of the sky for his seventh kill. The UFO crash lands in western Russia, about halfway between EU COM and ASIA COM.

We'll launch either EU COM or ASIA COM's Skyranger for this one early on the morning of October 3.

_______

I'm hoping to play and post this mission tomorrow, but things could be delayed. Gozilla III is due for an appearance any day now.

[Sectoid Leader]

Swaggs

You took our commander

So we will take you

We are coming for you

You will be wishing you were Marmel before we are done with you

Sweet dreams

Sectoid Leader

[Travis]

Dude, pass the helium balloon here, I want to make the sectoid voice next...

[Swaggs]

Originally posted by Sectoid Leader
Swaggs

You took our commander

So we will take you

We are coming for you

You will be wishing you were Marmel before we are done with you

Sweet dreams

Sectoid Leader

Oh my!

Sectoid Leader, you are damn lucky that I am in Psi Training this month, otherwise I would be laying a swift beat down on you... the likes of which you cannot comprehend.

You better hope you are dead by the time I get out of training.

[3ric]

So we're to expect a Godzilla Blitz Jr on the "On Call" list any day by now? Either that, or it's a sectoid invasion to your house, with the rudimentary PSI attack "wailing scream all night"...

[AStott]

Oooooo... Psi training. Nifty! Can't wait to see me Psi stats. Must be good, because I've never had any problems with Psi attacks...

[sachmo71]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz

19th: 1

Booooo!

Although I guess I should be happy that I had my chest blown out by a mind controlled rookie rather than die the way Marmel did. Ick.

[RealDeal]

Woot I'm one of the chosen few!

[Godzilla Blitz]

Sachmo: Actually, considering that only four men have gone on a 19th mission, our 19th mission is the most deadly in terms of percentage chance of death (25%). Let's hope Sachmo III can outdo his daddy.

Swaggs: Actually, even though you are in PSI training, you'll be able to fight regularly. Nothing changes, so you can go on missions, etc.

Real, Astott: I'm curious to see what everyone's numbers look like. From what's been said about the last mission, I don't think we'll be taking any PSI weaklings with us.

3ric: This will be our 2nd child, so I guess that would make her Godzilla III? Any day within the next ten days or so!

[Qwikshot]

Thank God for PSI training, I figured QwikII to be a goner with that 10 bravery...hopefully its a LSD/Mescaline/Angel Dust concoction that gives the illusion that you are a collosal squid...I think the sectoids should be very afraid...

or something like that...

good luck with the baby GB!!

[Japherwaki]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz
We can put ten men in training at each facility. We choose carefully:

EU COM
Kodos, Revrew, Chief Rum III, Real Deal III, Patman II, Tasan, Naiwf, Coffee Warlord II, Swaggs.

That's only nine. Did you forget to do a tenth, or did you leave someone off the list?

[Superman=#54]

My prayers are with you and your family GB! Don't spend to much time on this dynasty.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Qwikshot, Superman: Thanks! So far, nothing.

Originally posted by Japherwaki
That's only nine. Did you forget to do a tenth, or did you leave someone off the list?

Blade III is the tenth. Thanks!

________

Update

I wanted to launch the ASIA COM Skyranger to attack the downed Sectoid scout, but it was refueling after an attempted assault on a UFO in Africa and could not refuel in time to attack before darkness fell.

Instead, we launch the EU COM Skyranger with the following ten agents aboard:

Kodos, Revrew, Real Deal III, Coffee Warlord II, Blade III, Mr. Bug IV, Sir Fozzie, Japherwaki II, Swaggs, Chief Rum III.

Good luck, men.

I'm just starting this mission now, but if it's short, I'll probably post it later tonight.

[Swaggs]

Excellent. I hope Sectoid Leader makes an appearance.

[Coffee Warlord]

I'm ready to go forth and Kill once more!

[Travis]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz
Qwikshot, Superman: Thanks! So far, nothing.



Blade III is the tenth. Thanks!

Always gotta have the token Canadian

[Godzilla Blitz]

Sorry for the delay with this next mission. My wife's pregnancy is fine, but this last week (or weeks?) really looks to be a bear. Things could get slow again for a while, as I've got 100% son duty during the days, and that means I'll work at night (instead of playing) for the next few weeks.

I did play the next mission last night: our streak of no-casualty missions came to an end, and I will try to finish the writeup and post it tomorrow.

Having said that...

Ring ring ring

Calling Breeze! Your planet needs you!

(Post in this thread to report to duty)

[Breeze]

Reporting for duty as ordered....SIR!

[Wolfpack]

Sheesh. Go on vacation in the real world for a week and look what happens. One mission is a complete whiff for me while I managed to pick one off the second time. However, I'm noting that I've been left off the last couple of EU missions. Resting up for the upcoming attack on home base or something?

Oh, and congrats and good luck GB. We're in the home stretch on our first child (due early Nov).

[Godzilla Blitz]

72nd Mission: Sectoid Scout in Russia

The EU COM hurtles east on its second trip to Russia in less than a week. Today’s target is a small, Sectoid-piloted UFO scout. This could be a short mission, as these small scouts only carry a handful of aliens at best, and Superman seems to be killing quite a few when he knocks them out of the air.

Kodos is in charge of our team today. He is now on his 21st mission, and needs only one kill to become our second 20-20 agent (Wade Moore is the other).

Left Side:
1. Kodos (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
2. Sir Fozzie (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
3. Real Deal III (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
4. Patman II (Blaster Launcher, Power Suit)
5. Swaggs (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)

Right Side:
1. Revrew (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
2. Chief Rum III (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
3. Japherwaki II (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
4. Coffee Warlord II (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
5. Mr. Bug IV (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)

We descend to the battlefield on this chilly, gray, October afternoon. It looks as if we’ll be coming down in the middle of the active area, and things could get hot quick: the small, square UFO will be only 20 yards away from our exit, and the exit of the UFO will face directly at us. To the immediate left of the exit is a two-story house. To the immediate right of the exit is a hedged-in apple grove. Both of these structures offer great cover; if there are aliens inside we could get hit from covered positions on three sides as we exit. Most of the remaining visible areas of the battlefield are typical rural terrain, but there is a two-story brick barn off to the right side of our exit, up near the nose of the Skyranger.

The Skyranger touches down, and the men brace themselves for what is likely to be a hot landing. The gate drops down…

Warning lights flash and the alarms go off: Sectoid, 20 yards away, right in front of the UFO door!


X-COM forces come face to face with Sectoids in Russia. October, 2003. X-COM Archives Photo

We roll our tank down the ramp to give Kodos and Revrew clear shots at the enemy. Just as the tank drops out of the line of sight, both men open fire. Kodos shows his prowess here, as he rips the Sectoid apart with three direct hits. The mangled corpse drops to the ground. Our tank spins to search the exit area…

No more aliens in sight, but we can’t see beyond the hedgewall, and we can’t see into the building to our left. X-COM 1, Aliens 0.

Chief Rum III and Sir Fozzie advance to the edge of the exit ramp, drop to a knee, and wait.

Nothing. We better not wait too long, as we’ll want to set up firing positions on the UFO door as quickly as possible, and as it stands now they have us lined up like ducks in a row if they come out the UFO exit. We’ll just have to take our chances on the hidden grove to our right and the house to our left.

Chief Rum III exits the Skyranger, breaks left, loops under the exit ramp, and scans the area towards the front of the Skyranger for aliens. Nothing in sight yet. He’ll hold this end of our position. Sir Fozzie exits, breaks right, and takes up a firing position on the exit cut in the hedgewall to our right. Japherwaki II and Real Deal III exit and head straight for the sides of the UFO door. As this is going on, we roll our tank over to the hedgewall exit to take a peek in the apple grove beyond…

Sectoid! Right on the other side of the hedgewall! It’s got to be only a few feet from Sir Fozzie! Crap! The tank fires rockets, which would create too big of an explosion to fire with Sir Fozzie so close to the alien. We hold fire.

Suddenly, our tank spots another Sectoid cutting through the grove towards us! This Sectoid fires and slams a plasma blast into our tank that hits pay dirt: our tank goes up with a boom! I’m not sure what happens next, as there is a second, larger explosion right on the other side of the hedgewall—could have been an alien-tossed grenade or a missile from our tank as it went up. In any case, the closer half of the hedgewall disappears in a roar, and we hear the death scream of the Sectoid nearest our position. Sir Fozzie is peppered with debris, but otherwise is ok. He scrambles to his feet and heads through the smoke into the grove to try and spot the second Sectoid. Real Deal abandons his advance on the UFO door, turns right, and heads for the grove as well. X-COM 2, Aliens 0.


X-COM agents search for Sectoids in an apple grove. Seconds later the agent in the foreground was killed by
a Sectoid sniper. October, 2003. X-COM Archives Photo

Suddenly, shots pour down on us from the roof of the building to our left! Sniper! Sir Fozzie drops face down to the ground, the back of his Power Suit a smoldering ruin. A pool of blood starts expanding from beneath his body. Shit. Real Deal turns around to look up at the rooftop…

There! At the far left of the roof. With aliens on both sides of him, Real spins and dashes for the smoky apple grove. As he does this, Japherwaki II—who is now at the base of the building the sniper is on—preps a grenade and lobs it onto the roof.

Real Deal III is two steps from the entrance to the grove when he hears a sharp crack behind him, then nearly simultaneously feels a plasma blast slam into his back. He is driven forward, through the shadowy, smoky entrance to the apple grove. He lands on his face, catches a flash of gray to his left. Although he’s stunned from the plasma hit, his adrenaline-jacked body reflexively twists to look: Sectoid right beside him, crouching behind a tree trunk! The Sectoid turns to fire as Real rolls on his right side and brings his Heavy Plasma to bear. Real is a fraction of a second faster, but that is all it takes. The Sectoid’s head disappears in a flash of green blood. Whew! That was close! X-COM 3, Aliens 0.

Seconds later, back near the house, Japh’s grenade goes off with a crash that tosses the Sectoid sniper to the ground below. The creature lands with a sickening thud, but it was dead before it hit the ground. X-COM 4, Aliens 0.

And that was the last alien! Sector cleared! The men quickly run to check Sir Fozzie, but this is nothing that can be done. His upper torso is badly torn up. He was likely dead within seconds of getting hit. Damn, our first loss in a long time. X-COM 4, Aliens 1.

Kills: Real Deal III, 1; Japherwaki II, 1; Kodos, 1.
KIA: Sir Fozzie.
Wounded: None
Attribute Improvements: Real Deal III, Japherwaki II, Kodos.
Final score: 22.
Mission Notes:
Kodos becomes our second 20-20 agent, and is only one kill away from the lead in total kills!

[Swaggs]

Damn... that one must have ended before I got off the transport.

Is there any significance to where we are from 1.-5.? Is that the order we come out and flank?

[Godzilla Blitz]

Breeze: Welcome! You're in! You're stats show you a little slow on the draw, but otherwise looking pretty good. Actually, you're really slow on the draw, but otherwise pretty good. You're very brave though, which is always a good sign.

Wolfpack: Sorry about missing the last couple of EU missions. I've been trying to balance them out, but I got kind of confused with all the shifting of bases, etc. I've already launched EU for their upcoming mission, and I don't remember if you're on that one or not. I'll make sure to get you on the next couple after that to balance things out a bit. Good luck with your first child! I hope we don't need to call him/her up too soon: those toddlers tend to have crappy aim.

Swaggs: The order is the order the game automatically lines you up in inside the Skyranger, with #1 being first in line and #5 being at the back. In practice, it doesn't matter too much as I usually run people around people to get out the agents I want in action first. Where it does come into play a bit is when we have a hot landing. Then I usually need to use the people up front first. To be honest, I occasionally fudge the orders of agents in the back to save time typing (I might not take the time to switch someone from the #4 to the #5 slot when I type up the order), unless it is a factor in how the mission plays out. There apparently are utilities that let you set your own exit order, but I haven't messed with them yet.

_______

Update

Things are disconcertingly quiet over the next few days, although CapnMorgan manages to knock down a small, Ethereal-piloted scout over Mexico on October 4. We launch the USA COM Skyranger to attempt to search the remains. I'll be posting this mission recap today, as it went fast.

Later this evening I'll try to post the prelude to the next missions. Both EU COM and ASIA COM have more action coming up!

Go FOFC X-COM!

[Godzilla Blitz]

73rd Mission: USA COM vs. Ethereals in Mexico

All these agents are the inactive readers (missed roll call), so this will be a simple mision summary.

Our troops today:

Left Side:
1. Daimyo II (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
2. Wade Moore (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
3. BYU (Blaster Launcher, Power Suit)
4. The Time (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
5. Wignasty (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)

Right Side:
1. Achilles (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
2. CT Homer (Blaster Launcher, Power Suit)
3. Data King III (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
4. Fat Football II (Heavy Plasma, Stun Launcher, Power Suit)
5. Rawisdan (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)

Another short mission against a tiny UFO scout. There were only two aliens. Although this one was manned (aliened?) by Ethereals, we made short work of them.

Wade Moore killed an Ethereal by the UFO door as we exited the Skyranger.

The Time shot and killed an Ethereal cutting through a field.

Kills: Wade Moore, 1; The Time, 1.
KIA: None.
Wounded: None
Attribute Improvements: Wade Moore, The Time, Fat Football II.
Final score: 70
Mission Notes:
The Time gets only his fourth kill in 15 missions, despite having solid attributes. He's worse than Tasan.

[SirFozzie]

Fuguta.

Good thing I had a clone ready for this

[Tasan]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz
The Time gets only his fourth kill in 15 missions, despite having solid attributes. He's worse than Tasan.

Woohoo!

[DukeRulesMAB]

Looooong time lurker, but if I may make a suggestion, don't exclude the USA COM inactive guys from consideration for the final mission. Some of them are among your most talented soldiers, and you'll need all the help you can get there.

[RealDeal]

Whew! Glad that I'm finally improving my reaction times.

I'm surprised that I wasn't wounded despite getting hit.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Sir Fozzie: We'll sign your clone right up. Sorry that I lost you on that one. I thought we were going to make it through ok, but that damn sniper nailed you.

Tasan:

DukeRules: Thanks! I'm wondering what to do about that. I hear what you're saying and agree, but part of me wants to reward the readers that have been with us the whole time by including them on that final mission. I've got to go with our best available agents, of course, but if I can get a good crew without using our USA troops, I think I might go that way. I sure would like to bring Wade Moore though. He never misses, and has been one of our best agents. Tough decisions, but I think they are still quite a ways off.

Real: That seems to happen a lot (getting hit but not hurt). I'm not sure if they are just near misses that appear as hits, or hits that do no damage. However, that sniper bullet that killed Sir Fozzie could have easily gotten you. We were lucky to lose only one man on that mission. That was the second worst defensive position we've ever been in at the start of a mission.

________

Update

October 4-8

Over the next few days things are once again quiet, and our research efforts continue on at full speed. We open another lab in the USA, and hire 40 more scientists to swell Crappy's research ranks to 140.

On the 6th, Crappy's men learn from our Sectoid Commander that Mars is indeed the alien's home planet. With feverish intensity, the men struggle with identifying how exactly we can locate the base and launch an attack across such a great distance.

On October 7th, Superman shoots down a small UFO over Denmark. We launch our ASIA COM Skyranger to clean up the remains. On board are the following men:

Thomkal II, Qwikshot II, AStott, Alf III, Fonzie II, Render II, Split Personality III, Illinifan V, Condors II, and Glengoyne.

While they are airborne, a large UFO heads up Africa towards Europe. Once it reaches the Mediterranean, it cuts northwest, straight for England. We are expecting that it is a supply ship heading for the alien base, but the craft drops down over London instead. Twenty minutes later we get word from the UN that Floaters are ravaging London! Terror Mission! The aliens are attacking their own allies!

We launch the EU COM Skyranger immediately. A successful mission here would go a long way to helping our image with the countries that have gone over to the aliens. On board:

Kodos, Revrew, Patman II, Real Deal III, Coffee Warlord II, Chief Rum III, Breeze, Naiwf, Jfbbis, and Swaggs.

The EU COM Skyranger will strike first on London. The ASIA COM Skyranger will hit the smaller UFO immediately afterwards.

Good luck, men!

[AStott]

Yes! I'm finally back in action! My butt was getting kind of sore sitting around waiting...

[klayman]

Originally posted by AStott
Yes! I'm finally back in action! My butt was getting kind of sore sitting around waiting...

It was getting wide as well

GB: I think it would be ok to take Wade along, cause if I recall correctly he was pretty active when the dynasty first started.

[Glengoyne]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz


On October 7th, Superman shoots down a small UFO over Denmark. We launch our ASIA COM Skyranger to clean up the remains. On board are the following men:

Thomkal II, Qwikshot II, AStott, Alf III, Fonzie II, Render II, Split Personality III, Illinifan V, Condors II, and Glengoyne.

Whoot! First Blood?

Good thing This mission happened now, I had been "bulking up" on Lucky Charms waiting for this to happen. Hmmm ...Maybe a bit too bulky?

[RealDeal]

LOL I'm in heavy circulation now. Sounds good to me, as long as you don't get me killed

[Godzilla Blitz]

I'm about one hour's work away from posting the terror mission. Maybe Tuesday night I can post it?

[Swaggs]

You can outsource your work to us if it means more postings.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally posted by Swaggs
You can outsource your work to us if it means more postings.

I think I'm ok with the mission, but now that you mention it, we still have the medals thing to take care of. I'm thinking that at some point in the near future I'll go back and quickly tally up medals for the earlier missions. But once we get caught up, if anyone is interested in writing more detailed presentations for medals, drop me a PM.

I'll also probably pull the medals information off the Troop Master List and make it a separate post.

Also, if anyone is interested in adding some other kind of an X-COM piece of writing, let me know and I can get you all the information from the game that you need. I keep thinking it would be cool to do a mission report or supplement in the first person from one soldier's viewpoint (with radio chatter interspersed, etc.), but I have yet to give it a try. If anyone wants to give it a go, let me know.

Hell, if there's anything that anyone would like to do (looking up stats, posting about research findings, writing more newspaper articles, guest mission writer, etc.), just fire me off a PM. The more people involved the merrier, I think!

[klayman]

hehe...I think Swaggs meant your real work

[Breeze]

Slow on the draw? Does that mean like High Noon slow on the draw or "Slow on the Uptake....like stupid."

I guess it doesn't really matter...if I'm slow on the High Noon draw and brave I'm stupid anyway

[Superman=#54]

Terror missions are hell and usually end up bloody. Good Luck to EU COM agents!

I'm glad I'm in my plane and don't have to go on nasty terror missions.

[revrew]

The green eyes of envy spring up inside Revrew's head...

"I've been a part of this thing from the very beginning...one of the last of the original X-COM agents. Wade Moore and Kodos gettin' all the props. Harumph.!...Can't believe that glory hog, Kodos, took that Sectoid out on what was clearly my shot...jerk pushed me out of the way to take his...20-20? That's the glory spot? Is that what it's going to take to get a medal? Or a promotion? Or at least some %$^#& recognition around here? I've been passed up and passed over one too many times, I tell ya...I'm almost at 20 missions...Now we're out on a terror strike!...I'm ready to be the NEXT 20-20 guy. I'm gonna let loose a barrage of firepower that hasn't been seen since Hiroshima! Somebody get me one of those blaster launchers, I need a good 6-kill mission!...But no....Blitz isn't lettin' me tote the blaster launcher...it's a conspiracy....I'll bet Kodos is in on the whole thing...

[Breeze]

Breeze, nervous going on his first mission and a Terror strike at that has his senses peaked. Looking around he notices Revrew appears to be agitated and mumbling.

Breeze looks at Coffee Warlord, "Hey...is he (pointed at Rev) always like that before a mission?"

[Godzilla Blitz]

74th Mission: Terror in London! (Part I of II)

The EU COM soars towards London to face an unexpected alien attack on the British capital. One can only speculate why the aliens are attacking a nation with which they have signed a treaty of cooperation. Perhaps the aliens are finally getting desperate? This may be a big chance for us to win over the support of the British people.

Commander Kodos is in charge of today’s crew. With the exception of Breeze—a rookie on his first mission—we’ve brought along a top-notch team of experienced EU COM agents.

Left Side:
1. Jfbbis (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
2. Revrew (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
3. Real Deal III (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
4. Patman II (Blaster Launcher, Power Suit)
5. Swaggs (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)

Right Side:
1. Kodos (Heavy Plasma, Stun Launcher, Power Suit)
2. Breeze (Blaster Launcher, Power Suit)
3. Chief Rum III (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
4. Naiwf (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
5. Coffee Warlord II (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)

The Skyranger descends to the outskirts of the British capital on this clear, breezy, fall day. We’ll be coming down on an empty lot at a street corner on the southwest corner of the battle zone. To the immediate rear of the Skyranger, about 20 yards from where we’ll exit the craft, we can make out a large warehouse. Running parallel with the right side of the Skyranger will be a long, two-lane street. We can make out a pair of small houses on the opposite side. Running perpendicular to the nose of the Skyranger will be another two-lane street. Across this street we can make out an empty lot. The area to the left of the Skyranger is secure ground. Almost all of the battle should occur to the right of our Skyranger.

The Skyranger drops the final few meters to the ground. The wheels hit the ground. The ramp falls outward…

Alert! Hot warning! Our tank spots a Floater just to the right of the warehouse in front of us, about 20 yards away!


X-COM forces come face to face with Floaters in London. October, 2003. X-COM Archives Photo

Kodos and Jfbbis follow our tank as it heads out onto the ramp at full speed. The Floater opens fire on full-auto. Plasma blasts hammer our tank. It explodes with a roar. Jfbbis and Kodos fire over the back of the ruined vehicle at the enemy Floater. Jfbbis’ second shot catches the thing in the side of the face and blows away half its skull in a splash of purple. The Floater gurgles and drops to the ground. X-COM 1, Aliens 0.

Two civilians come running out of the warehouse in front of us. We hear gunshots and the screams of innocent civilians roll over the city landscape. We’ve got to move fast if we want to save as many of these people as we can. Chief Rum III works past Kodos and Jfbbis, breaks left, and takes cover at the Skyranger landing gear. He scans the nearby terrain for enemies, but spots none.

Revrew starts out of the Skyranger. As he does, he spots a Floater moving away from us, about 40 yards away, in the street to the right of our exit. He and Kodos open fire. Kodos is first to hit, and his shot blows a hole in the creature’s back. The thing drops to the street, dead. Once again Kodos beats Revrew to a kill! Revrew hisses and flashes Kodos the middle finger. X-COM 2, Aliens 0.

We move out. Revrew, then Real Deal III, exit the Skyranger and head for the warehouse in front of our exit. Swaggs, then Jfbbis, exit the Skyranger, loop up under the fuselage, and head for the street off by the nose of the craft. Kodos takes the Blaster Launcher from Breeze, who is struggling under the weight of the weapon, and gives him his Heavy Plasma. Breeze, Patman II, Coffee Warlord II, and Naiwf then work their way out of the Skyranger. They join up with Chief Rum III, and the five of them form a line and begin a cautious advance towards the two houses that lie on the other side of the street that runs parallel with our Skyranger. Coffee anchors the left side of the line, Naiwf takes the middle, and Chief takes the right point. Patman II and Breeze hang back a ways and form the second rank of the line. Lastly, Kodos exits the Skyranger, breaks left, and sets up a position with the Blaster Launcher.

Swaggs and Jfbbis make a quick check of the empty lot beyond the street at the nose of the Skyranger. They then turn left and work to catch up to the right side of the line of men working their way across the street.

As our line of men working across the street get about halfway into it, a civilian comes fleeing out of one of the houses on the other side. A bolt of plasma comes from somewhere behind him and hits him in the back of the head. His head disappears in a red pop, and he drops to the ground, dead. Unable to spot the alien, our men continue this perilous, open advance.

Suddenly, a Floater exits the right side of a warehouse set back from the other side of the road, about 40 yards in front of Chief Rum III, and about 60 yards from Swaggs and Jfbbis! Most of our line of men has their lines of fire blocked by the building’s front, but Chief Rum III opens up, and Swaggs and Jfbbis add in some firepower from further back. Despite the bad angle and long distance, Jfbbis shows again why his is the second best shot in X-COM: his first shot blows the Floater’s stomach apart, and the thing falls to the ground before it can get a shot off! X-COM 3, Aliens 0.

But suddenly another Floater exits! This time the Floater gets off a number of shots at Chief, who also returns fire. Before either one can hit, the Floater switches to a grenade, tosses it at Chief, and takes cover by dropping to the ground. Crap! The grenade lands right next to Chief! Do something, Chief! Chief reaches out, picks up the grenade, and starts to toss it back at the Floater…


X-COM forces advance on enemy-held positions in London. October, 2003. X-COM Archives Photo

(to be continued)

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally posted by Breeze
Breeze, nervous going on his first mission and a Terror strike at that has his senses peaked. Looking around he notices Revrew appears to be agitated and mumbling.

Breeze looks at Coffee Warlord, "Hey...is he (pointed at Rev) always like that before a mission?"

Sorry rookie, he's usually got nerves of steel. Guess we're in some serious trouble today.

[JeeberD]

Terror missions tend to fray the nerves of even the bravest soldier...

[RealDeal]

Sucks for Chief Rum to be running point. Luckily, I get the barn, er, warehouse.

[Achilles]

Hey godzilla, bairly finding time to get to the internet, yet alone post here since my "voluntary" move to this "fun" private school with full boarding accomadations...

Any chance i can get back into action? Anxious to kill me some aliens, and continue to stay alive and well!

[PsychoCop]

Anyone wanna bet on the grenade exploding before Chiefie being able to throw it back?

[Achilles]

ill bet he makes it through...his to be continueds always live, then the next guy he mentions gets it reeeaaalll bad...

[Godzilla Blitz]

74th Mission: Terror in London! (Part II of II)

(previously on X-COM II)

But suddenly another Floater exits! This time the Floater gets off a number of shots at Chief, who also returns fire. Before either one can hit, the Floater switches to a grenade, tosses it at Chief, and takes cover by dropping to the ground. Crap! The grenade lands right next to Chief! Do something, Chief! Chief reaches out, picks up the grenade, and starts to toss it back at the Floater…

(the story continues…)

…but before he can release it, the grenade goes off. Chief Rum III disappears in a tremendous explosion that fills the street with smoke. X-COM 3, Aliens 1.

Breeze breaks forward from the rear of our line to try to spot the Floater through the smoke. He sees the Floater as it starts to get up. Breeze opens fire on full-auto from 30 yards away and tears the Floater apart with numerous hits! The Floater falls to the sidewalk, dead. Revenge! X-COM 4, Aliens 1.


X-COM agents fight their way across a London street. October, 2003. X-COM Archives Photo

A couple of Breeze’s shots ripped open holes in the wall of the warehouse, and suddenly, from one of these holes, plasma blasts comes flying at Breeze and Naiwf. One shot clangs off Naiwf’s armor, but he is unhurt. The two men start to return fire, but the enemy ducks out of view. Then Naiwf spots another Floater moving through a gas station that lies about 15 yards to the left of this warehouse, and is set behind one of the small houses that line the street. Damn, they’re everywhere!

We try to take care of the warehouse alien first. The wind quickly pushes the intervening smoke from the alien grenade out of the way, and Swaggs, Jfbbis, and Breeze all open fire at the warehouse front wall. Plasma blasts rip into the thing and tear massive holes in the ground floor wall. Within seconds, the wall is torn apart, and we spot the Floater inside! We shift our aim on the badly outnumbered alien as it tries to take cover behind some boxes. It never gets there though, as Swaggs sends a plasma blast crashing into its torso that drops it to the floor of the warehouse, dead! X-COM 5, Aliens 1.

While this firefight was going on, Real Deal III and Revrew complete the search of the warehouse near our Skyranger, and start to work their way up to the left side of our position.


X-COM forces search a warehouse for Floaters. October, 2003. X-COM Archives Photo

Coffee, Naiwf, and Patman II, on the left side of our advancing line of men, reach the other side of the street and start into the row of two houses to search for aliens. Patman II shuffles over closer to Breeze’s position. Naiwf blows a hole in the outer wall of the central house and starts in there. Coffee does likewise at the left house. From where Coffee is, he has a line of sight onto the gas station behind the central house, and as he advances through the living room of the house, he spots a Floater behind some gas pumps—this is most likely the Floater we saw here moments ago. Coffee takes careful aim and gently squeezes the trigger…


X-COM forces fight house-to-house in London. October, 2003. X-COM Archives Photo

…and drops the unsuspecting Floater with his first shot! Wow! Way to go! X-COM 6, Aliens 1.

Once Real Deal and Revrew reach the house that Coffee is in, we have a long line of men stretching across the entire battle zone. Revrew and Real Deal III move into Coffee’s house and the three of them prepare to advance into a small grocery store that we can see lies beyond it. Naiwf, in the central house, quickly rushes up to the second floor to confirm that it’s clear. It is free of aliens, and Naiwf moves to a second story window that overlooks the gas station.

Patman II loops around the right side of this house and advances on the gas station. As he does this, he spots another alien at the backside of the second line of pumps. Without losing a step, Patman II aims, fires, and drops the Floater with one shot! Wow! X-COM 7, Aliens 1.

Breeze starts to advance on the shot-up warehouse. To his right, Swaggs and Jfbbis advance down the long street that runs to the right of the structure. Kodos sits and waits for targets of opportunity.


X-COM forces advance down a London street. October, 2003. X-COM Archives Photo

We continue our slow advance towards the gas station. As Patman II draws closer, he spots two Floater bodies at the far end of the station. These are not Floaters that we’ve killed or shot at. We have no idea how they’ve been taken out.

Suddenly, a Reaper—a large, hairy, meat-eating alien—races into the gas station from the far end, pounces on an civilian taking cover at the side of the station, and rips the man apart. Within seconds there is nothing left except blood and guts. The Reaper then moves closer to our position, looking for more targets. Naiwf has the thing dead to rights and opens fire from his second-story window. Plasma blasts rain down on the Reaper. The startled beast tries to turn and run, but Naiwf lands two direct hits that blow chunks out of the thing’s body. It falls to the ground, dead! X-COM 8, Aliens 1.

And that’s the last alien! Wow, I thought there would be more! Tough to lose Chief Rum III—who had a lot of talent—but a one-loss terror mission is hard to complain about!

Kills: Jfbbis, 2; Kodos, 1; Patman II, 1; Naiwf, 1; Coffee Warlord II, 1; Swaggs, 1; Breeze, 1.
KIA: Chief Rum III.
Wounded: None
Attribute Improvements: Jfbbis, Kodos, Patman II, Naiwf, Coffee Warlord II, Swaggs, Breeze.
Final score: 72.
Mission Notes:
I have no idea how the two Floaters got knocked out at the back end of the gas station, but we were able to capture both of them alive. Bizarre.