Sorry, but no. We do not feed humans to the alien death cube. We can clone and make monstrous human-hybrid computer. But we will not betray our own species. I strongly disprove of such acts. Now, lets just get this cube done with so we can tap the mind bending horrors of the borehole and then torture one of those dust bunnies to death.
Mojo_JojoWe are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourseRegistered Userregular
Turn 43 Decision: B 2 $: Engineering, artillery and asking for help Numbers:
Overview
Funds: €304M [+€88M/turn]
Research Progress: No Project 0/0 [+3d12*/turn]
Engineering Progress: No Project 0/0 [+1d10/turn]
Borehole Progress 100/100 [+2d10/turn] Suspended
Agency HQ, Madrid
Research labs [+1d12 RP/turn]
Distributed Research [+1d12 RP/turn]
Exotic Materials Lab [€10M/turn upkeep, +1d12 RP/turn]
Engineering bay [+1d10 EP/turn]
Radar Antenna Array [Allows detection of enemy vessels]
Hanger [Can maintain/hold 2 aircraft. Restores 1 aircraft wound / turn]
Another Hangar [[Can maintain/hold 2 aircraft. Restores 1 aircraft wound / turn]
Sickbay [Treats 1 wound or psyche damage / turn]
International Assets
UNIT [Active in Europe, Oceania and Asia, provides bonus missions, €30/turn upkeep]
DESCARTES PREMIER [Free attack on any alien craft that end up in Europe. Target number is 12 and it deals 1d4 damage]
Kola Superdeep Borehole [Digging too greedily and too deep]
ELF detector array in Asia [€250M, 25EP: Detects previously invisible craft, collects alien signals]
LIVE ALIEN STORAGE
1x Dust Bunny Rockship Assault Pod Lander
STORAGE
Empty
Specials
[Gunslinger] - On a natural 20 gains an extra attack
[Gunslinger II] - On a natural 19-20 gains an extra attack
[Headshot] - On a natural 20 deals an extra 1d4-1 damage to the target
[Tough] - +1 Wounds
[Revenge] - +2 on combat rolls if a squadmate is killed in action
[Even The Odds] - +1 on combat rolls if outnumbered
[Iron Will] - +1 Psyche
[Medic] - Restores one wound after a mission
[Berserker] - +1 on combat rolls for every wound
[Quick Reactions] - +2 on combat rolls in first round
[Bloodlust] - Killing an alien restores 1 psyche
[Team player] - +1 on combat rolls if another soldier has the same trait
[Slow] - Fires every other turn
[Fragile] - Breaks on a natural 1
[Targeting Computer] - Lowers target by 2
[High explosive rounds] - +1 damage
· is a Black Mark. Collect two to drop a funding level with a council
Europe +€54 [Level 3] [Morale -0.1] [Difficulty 16]
Middle East +0 [Level 0] [Morale -0.2] [Difficulty 13, -4 penalty]
Asia +€20 [Level 2] [Morale -0.5] [Difficulty 15]
Africa +0 [Level 0] [Morale -0.2] [Difficulty 13, -3 penalty]
Oceania +€18 [Level 1] [Morale -0.1] [Difficulty 14]
North America [Level 0] [Morale -0.2] [Difficulty 13]
Central America [Level 0] [Morale -0.2] [Difficulty 13, -3 penalty]
South America [Level 0] [Morale -0.4] [Difficulty 13, -2 penalty]
The Coca-Cola Company +€16[Level 1] [Morale -0.2] [Difficulty 14] [.]
Internal: +€20
Research
Gear III: Personal Armour [Cost €10M, 5EP. Gives a soldier 1 armour], Powered Armour [Upgrades personal armour to 2 armour, allows Beyond Humanity project], High Capacity Transports [Cost €250M, 10EP. Unarmed, 4, 3] [Transport 7] ]
Materials I: Basic alien scrap analysis [Allows exotic material lab]
Alien Tech IV: Alien Comms I [mounts comm packages on all aircraft], Alien Comms II [Allows ELF detector array], Death Rays [Cost €15M, 10EP: Difficulty 8, [Fragile]], Stun weapons [Phase 1 combat now deals stun damage]
Xenobiology III: Fractal Fish [gives +2 diplomacy bonus with Oceania], Jelly dissection [-1 max wounds on Jellies], Dust Bunny dissection [global +2 diplomacy bonus],
Mysteries III: Kola Superdeep Borehole [facility construction discount / mining spin out and excavation options], Vivsection Lab [allows advanced medical lab, identifies alien clones], Human composite blob [allows ELF detector to decode messages, allows unethical computation: increase research die size]
Narrative
“They’ve stopped the box. From moving, I mean.”
“It doesn’t matter”
“Ed. It really does.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean? That thing came out of the sea and is heading straight for the borehole. The same borehole that our friends tried to get us to nuke. The same one that is producing all kinds of fields and energies and whatever the fuck that our scientists can’t even guess at. The same one that seems to have another of these things at the bottom of it. Of course it goddamn matters. This is what we do. We stop shit like that. For all those people who’ve been forced out of their homes. And for the ones who didn’t get out of the way. The ones who are under that thing somehow not starving to death. The ones who weren’t as lucky as- LOOK AT ME DAMMIT”
Hiller’s fist banged pathetically against the plexiglass of the cell while Ed returned to his etching on another surface. He’d been using his cutlery at first to draw the geometric patterns, and had switched over to his fingernails when they’d taken his spoon away. He didn’t work obsessively though. Far from it. Even locked inside a blank cell he’d only spend an hour or so a day. Little fragments of time when the mood took him. A few straight lines here, added emphasis of a scratch there. Each of his nails was cracked and bloody now, but the replicant didn’t seem to realise, or perhaps he just didn’t care.
Turning away from his masterpiece, Wolner looked over to his friend,
“Hiller... Steve. I’m sorry. I know this is hard for you.”
“FOR ME!? Hard for me?”
“Look. You just can’t see what is going on and I can’t explain it you. You won’t understand. You have to see it for yourself. When you realise the true order of things then you’ll see just how silly it is to worry about whether some giant cube is moving or not. The best thing you could is just to go and see for yourself. Or let me go. But I know that you won’t. I know you Steve, we’ve served together and you can’t take that leap of faith. It made you the man you are, but it’s also your downfall. One day you’ll thank me...”
Hiller turned away from the raving idiot that had replaced the sinister alien clone which had replaced his colleague and friend. His boots rang out on the metal walkway. Once he was safely on the other side of the blast door, he screamed. Only briefly but it was a primal thing of anger and frustration. His fist cracked against the metal doorframe leaving a spatter of blood there and a few droplets by his ankle.
Gripping his hand, he cursed himself quietly and headed upstairs. He’d spent longer down there trying to coax out something of Wolner from the idiot that he was now and it meant that he was running behind. He checked his phone. Nothing. Still nothing. Nothing since last night. No guilty message. Perhaps that was for the best? No. No it wasn’t. And now he was running late for Dr Estefan’s latest lecture on some abstract concept or idea he’d had in the shower this morning.
The room was packed. The rest of Rainbow Force, active, standby or on medical leave, were all in attendance. As was most of the brass and engineering teams. Maybe this wasn’t another useless seminar to conclude that the alien psychology was unknowable or that there were actually six discrete factions of aliens. The huge screen at the back carried the title “Recent Advances in Composite Materials for Kinetic and Heat Resistance: BEYOND HUMANITY”
With one of his sly smiles the scientist began a long and colourful narrative which passed Hiller by completely. The rest of the non-technical audience looked similarly bored. After some half an hour of this, the man paused,
“Perhaps a demonstration would make this clearer.”
From the side-door came a hulking shape. It was less a man and more a walking tank.
“The initial designs for high tech armour were limited by the amount of material we could bolt onto a member of Rainbow Force without snapping his spine. Not only have our materials improved to make them more effective, but we’ve perfected battery powered exoskeletons. This is one of our interns, he is carrying full Rainbow Force field kit including a suit of Powered Armour. The total weight he is carrying is more than one and a half times his body-mass at almost 160 kilos”
Thee vaguely human shape walked about the front of the lecture theatre. Crouched down, jogged briefly and even jumped half a metre into the air as Dr Estefan spoke,
“You can see that he is quite untroubled by this. We are rolling out this breakthrough immediately. But that is not why you are here...”
A loud oinking broke through the generally awed sounds that came from the intern’s display. The awe transformed to outcry as the next exhibit dashed onto the raised platform. It was a pig. Or it had once been a pig.
The thing was a mish-mash of metal and flesh. A twisted form that should not be.
“We’ve replaced most of the subject’s natural skeleton with our new materials. The exoskeleton has become a skeleton. Vastly reducing bulk and allowing us to rewire his nervous system to give direct control.”
A blurred video replaced the slides. It was an image of Dr Estefan’s own foot. Artefacts scrambled across it from time to time,
“This is a real time output from the subject’s retina. We can similarly interface with most bodily systems. Gentlemen, ladies, what we have here is an improvement on nature. And we can do the same to ourselves. We can exceed the arbitrary limitations which Mother Nature has cruelly forced onto us. And we can do it today and it is only the beginning”
[Tech Complete: All armour now offers 2 armour rather than 1. You can also initiate the Beyond Humanity project, which transforms any soldier who returns to base with 1 remaining wound into a cyborg. This has the following effects: +1 armour, -1 psyche, +1 on combat rolls. It costs €20M per soldier so enhanced once it’s started. The project costs €500M to implement and counts as an atrocity]
Dr Estefan slipped away with his armoured intern and test-pig during the ensuing arguments. Seeing how futile it was to try and weigh in at the moment, Hiller did the same. Still no messages. Not even a quick note to say thank you. Just silence. Maybe the message hadn’t been received at all? Or maybe it had been intercepted. Maybe they knew. Maybe that was what this was now.
But no. Hiller arrived at his next appointment to find Mr Fish already seated tapping away at his laptop. He offered a simple hello but no further small talk while they waited for Ms Chia, Generalmajor Reichenbach and whichever of the science team they’d judged capable of communicating without appearing overtly insane. Usually it was Dr Thomas, but she was still out keeping an eye on the borehole.
The others filled in, the Majorgeneral still arguing intently with Ms Chia about Dr Estefan’s words when the chiming signalled that their call was ready. A weedy-looking man in a headset appeared on the screen,
“Oh, there you are, great. Right, so we’re obviously going to film this. Try to avoid swearing and we’re looking to paint this as a grand unified moment for humanity. We may need people to hang on afterwards so we can get some clear recordings for soundbites. Every okay? Good. You’ll be on with Captain Franklin and the other big faces. We can do logistics after, that way you won’t appear as wooden when we’re doing this for the show. Right. Awesome. ACTION”
For a moment there was only a painful tone and a testcard visible. Already the Generalmajor was visibly annoyed, although he did hide this when the assembled members of Pepsi Present Earth Defenders appeared on screen.
Hiller could hardly focus on the conversation. Captain Franklin blathered away, his charming facade applied for all. The gist seemed to be that their allies/rivals weren’t going to send any of their men to the Mandlebox now that they knew the danger but they would do what they could to help intercept anything that showed up to threaten the artillery emplacement.
The voices continued their empty talk while Hiller festered inside. Looking down at the pad before him he realised he’d been doodling. For a moment his heart stopped. He’d just written it out there for all to see. Thankfully the camera wouldn’t have picked it up but Ms Chia could quite easily have read it. As nonchalantly as possible he flipped the page. He’d have to burn it later. It was all too risky. Was it even worth it? No. He couldn’t let all this stuff boil over. He was bigger than that. He’d play along with this. Argue about resource commitments, interject when they talked about their unspecified agent’s interaction with the exclusion zone. The full nine yards.
[If anything targets the Mandlebox or the associated sites that are locking it down there’s a 50% that PPED will send in an interceptor of their own]
Hours later and Hiller had calmed down somewhat. He’d controlled himself in the teleconference. But only barely. Now he just felt ashamed of nearly exploding on (what would be) international television. He’d come so close to losing everything and really it didn’t matter on reflection. It didn’t matter at all. He looked out at the perfect sunset. Or at least at the recreation of a perfect sunset. Really, he was deep underground but whoever designed secret underground liars apparently thought that building an artificial outside was a good idea. So he could watch the deep orange disc as it sank beneath the horizon and he felt himself relax. He was at peace. Or at least as close to “at peace” as he could ever be.
Early the next morning and everybody was back on full alert. The first of the ELF arrays was about to go live. The actual facility was out in Mongolia, but they were patched straight into The Pit. The extremely long frequency signals would be collected and then combined with all the usual radar that populated that huge holomap of the Earth. It was an excited time but a fearful one. Hiller sat at the back. He’d wanted to see this. He’d needed to see the strange mixture of feelings. It was going to hurt. They knew that there were other ships out there, ones that for whatever reason just didn’t ping when a radar dish looked at them. They just didn’t know how many. And they were about to.
Mother’s voice boomed out,
“ELF Array Alpha pulink established. Integrating signals in 3... 2... 1... ELF Array Alpha is live. Repeat ELF Array Alpha is live”
It was worse than Hiller imagined. He couldn’t count the red dots that sprang up. Asia suddenly was inflamed. A horrible rash on the Earth. He didn’t even register as his phone chimed softly. That message which had eaten him alive yesterday by not arriving was sat there and he just didn’t have time to care. Mother’s voice carried out over the din of work and calls,
“Twenty-eight static ELF transmitters detected. Eight mobile ELF transmitters within interceptor range detected. Additional but uncountable ELF transmitters detected in the upper atmosphere outside of interceptor range. Target designation Mandlebox is not an ELF transmitter. Message repeats...”
[ELF Asia is live! As there are now pretty much always going to be targets to strike I’ll only break the turn in battle/base if something odd happens. Picking the “Combat” option will generate a battle phase and you can pick a base option once it’s done with. If these are going to lower your diplomacy or earn blackmarks then I’ll make them a standout option]
Next
A - Perform focused research [additional +1d12 RP this turn]
B - Perform focused engineering [additional +1d10 EP this turn]
C - Hire new military personnel (specify number) [€20M each]
D - Train existing military personnel (specify soldier to promote) [Cost is €2M * Old Rank]
E - Hold negotiations to improve funding / remove black marks(specify council)
F - Start construction of an ELF detector array in [Region] [€250M, 25EP: Detects previously invisible craft, collects alien signals]
G - Start construction of an Advanced Medical Lab [€250M, 25EP, €10M/turn: Replaces Sickbay. Treats 1 wound / soldier / turn and 1 psyche / turn]
H - Start producing [n] suits of Personal Armour [€10M, 5EP] [12/22 troops armoured]
I - Start producing [n] death rays [€15M, 10EP. Difficulty 8 [fragile] weapon] [3/22 troops have death rays] J - Implement Unethical Computation [€500M, increases RP dice to d15, atrocity]
K - Implement Beyond Humanity Cyborg Program [€500M, one soldier per turn returning to base with only 1 remaining wound is made into a cyborg at a cost of €20 +1 armour, -1 psyche, +1 on combat rolls, atrocity]
L - Buy/Build new aircraft [€250M Interceptor or €250M,10EP Dropship, two open hangar slots]
M - Build and have the ESA launch DESCARTES DEUXIEME [Asia or Oceania, €250M, 25EP]
COMBAT - Engage a contact in Asia [choose Ground-based or Aerial]
PROTOCOL OMEGA - Active the self destruct system
1 - Research Alien Javelin Weapon [RP 50]
2 - Research Alien Rockships [RP 50]
3 - Research Overcharged Death Rays [RP 75]
4 - Research Interceptor Mounted Death Rays [RP 50]
5 - Research Advanced Military Conditioning [RP 50]
6 - Research Alien Elements [RP 75]
7 - Research Alien Implants [RP 75]
8- Research Replicant Ooze [RP 150]
9 - Research Mandlebox’s effects on human physiology and psychology [RP100]
10 - Research Fractal formations at the borehole [RP 100]
11- Interrogate Dust Bunny Rockship Assault Pod Lander [RP 75]
[Next turn you’ll be able to able some of your research to try and extract meaning from the alien transmissions]
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
0
Options
Mojo_JojoWe are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourseRegistered Userregular
Is it clear what I mean about combat?
There's so many contacts out there now you can just elect when you want to send out Rainbow Force. It won't advance the turn number (as it's combat). I'll just resolve that and then present the options again (without the option for combat)
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
We need engineering, desperately. I think Alien Elements is the one most likely to help with that. Also, looks like combat's a whole thing now, so an awesome sickbay seems a thing to do, particularly since it's relatively quick to engineer.
G 6
Generalísimo de Fuerzas Armadas de la República Argentina
We need to know what we're dealing with. Hit a ground target now and we can assume a similar MO for others in the region, and determine how critical purging these alien infiltrations will be.
Also, aww yeaaahhh BACONBORGS!
+1
Options
jakobaggerLO THY DREAD EMPIRE CHAOS IS RESTOREDRegistered Userregular
edited March 2013
M 6
Am I blind or did we never find out out what message Hiller was worrying about? What have I missed?
Wouldn't it be better to let us pick one combat encounter and one base building option each round instead? Since combat doesn't advance time so to speak.
Also did we not have an option to build the new power armor or is that automatically upgraded to our personal armor?
We should research the bore-hole fractals and human psychology thing. We can beat the rock ships with our current combat capabilities but we are powerless in the face of MATH.
He's a shy overambitious dog-catcher on the wrong side of the law. She's an orphaned psychic mercenary with the power to bend men's minds. They fight crime!
So this just went from "catastrophe" to "apocalypse".
M(Asia) 10
I really think we should launch some more orbital strike capability over Asia. Seeing as how we've got a plethora of things to shoot at now. Also yeah, we really need to figure out what's going on with these fractals.
Also: will we be notified if the Mandlebox intersects an ELF transmitter? I'd like to know if they get destroyed by the 'box.
0
Options
Mojo_JojoWe are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourseRegistered Userregular
Wouldn't it be better to let us pick one combat encounter and one base building option each round instead? Since combat doesn't advance time so to speak.
This way the sequence is explicit, and it breaks up the updates to more more manageable for me
Also did we not have an option to build the new power armor or is that automatically upgraded to our personal armor?
Automatic.
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
0
Options
wiltingI had fun once and it was awfulRegistered Userregular
Speaking of armour, I'v always found it difficult to keep track of what our current armour is. What are we currently rocking armour wise and where can I find it?
0
Options
jakobaggerLO THY DREAD EMPIRE CHAOS IS RESTOREDRegistered Userregular
Speaking of armour, I'v always found it difficult to keep track of what our current armour is. What are we currently rocking armour wise and where can I find it?
It's in individual personnel's stats. Indicated by a plus 2 after wounds. I count 5 armoured actives, and four on medical leave.
Also I too am wondering what Hiller's message was/is.
Maybe he's asking Pepsico's team lead "Will you join us?"
Or on a date. Or both.
Alright, nice to know I'm not going mad. And yeah, it's probably the date. And not at all something terrible, like Hiller going mad or trying to communicate with the aliens. Because terrible things never happen to us.
Also I too am wondering what Hiller's message was/is.
Maybe he's asking Pepsico's team lead "Will you join us?"
Or on a date. Or both.
Alright, nice to know I'm not going mad. And yeah, it's probably the date. And not at all something terrible, like Hiller going mad or trying to communicate with the aliens. Because terrible things never happen to us.
I'm feeling slightly bad about what I advocated we do to Wolner. Can we give him some crayons or chalk or something so he won't keep messing up his fingernails?
0
Options
jakobaggerLO THY DREAD EMPIRE CHAOS IS RESTOREDRegistered Userregular
Or maybe we could hire some psychiatrists. I wouldn't trust our current science team to handle that sort of treatment. Or any treatment, really.
So in giving this some more thought I really think we should probably start cyborging people. I mean I can think of like, way worse atrocities then getting robot legs.
The penalty to psyche is significant.
These guys would be much more likely to lose their shit in a fight and then we'd have to deal with crazy terminators all the time.
0
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jakobaggerLO THY DREAD EMPIRE CHAOS IS RESTOREDRegistered Userregular
edited March 2013
Oh look, it's Zakharov electricitylikesme sacrificing ethics for science again. What a surprise.
Edit: I guess we did already start down the Dr. Bishop path though, and also poor ethics is a proud Space Australian tradition. Both completely logically sound arguments for doing this, of course.
I'm not keen on cyborging people. Cyborging pigs I am all for though.
Especially if this results in self cooking bacon.
GRANT FUNDING APPROVED.
+1
Options
Mojo_JojoWe are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourseRegistered Userregular
edited March 2013
Turn 43 BATTLE Decision: Attack one of the myriad alien touchdown sites Numbers:
Overview
Funds: €304M [+€88M/turn]
Research Progress: No Project 0/0 [+3d12*/turn]
Engineering Progress: No Project 0/0 [+1d10/turn]
Borehole Progress 100/100 [+2d10/turn] Suspended
Agency HQ, Madrid
Research labs [+1d12 RP/turn]
Distributed Research [+1d12 RP/turn]
Exotic Materials Lab [€10M/turn upkeep, +1d12 RP/turn]
Engineering bay [+1d10 EP/turn]
Radar Antenna Array [Allows detection of enemy vessels]
Hanger [Can maintain/hold 2 aircraft. Restores 1 aircraft wound / turn]
Another Hangar [[Can maintain/hold 2 aircraft. Restores 1 aircraft wound / turn]
Sickbay [Treats 1 wound or psyche damage / turn]
International Assets
UNIT [Active in Europe, Oceania and Asia, provides bonus missions, €30/turn upkeep]
DESCARTES PREMIER [Free attack on any alien craft that end up in Europe. Target number is 12 and it deals 1d4 damage]
Kola Superdeep Borehole [Digging too greedily and too deep]
ELF detector array in Asia [€250M, 25EP: Detects previously invisible craft, collects alien signals]
LIVE ALIEN STORAGE
1x Dust Bunny Rockship Assault Pod Lander
2x Snowglobe Crew Replicants
1x Snowglobe Response Team jelly
STORAGE
Empty
Specials
[Gunslinger] - On a natural 20 gains an extra attack
[Gunslinger II] - On a natural 19-20 gains an extra attack
[Headshot] - On a natural 20 deals an extra 1d4-1 damage to the target
[Tough] - +1 Wounds
[Revenge] - +2 on combat rolls if a squadmate is killed in action
[Even The Odds] - +1 on combat rolls if outnumbered
[Iron Will] - +1 Psyche
[Medic] - Restores one wound after a mission
[Berserker] - +1 on combat rolls for every wound
[Quick Reactions] - +2 on combat rolls in first round
[Bloodlust] - Killing an alien restores 1 psyche
[Team player] - +1 on combat rolls if another soldier has the same trait
[Slow] - Fires every other turn
[Fragile] - Breaks on a natural 1
[Targeting Computer] - Lowers target by 2
[High explosive rounds] - +1 damage
· is a Black Mark. Collect two to drop a funding level with a council
Europe +€54 [Level 3] [Morale -0.1] [Difficulty 16]
Middle East +0 [Level 0] [Morale -0.2] [Difficulty 13, -4 penalty]
Asia +€20 [Level 2] [Morale -0.5] [Difficulty 15, +1 bonus]
Africa +0 [Level 0] [Morale -0.2] [Difficulty 13, -3 penalty]
Oceania +€18 [Level 1] [Morale -0.1] [Difficulty 14]
North America [Level 0] [Morale -0.2] [Difficulty 13]
Central America [Level 0] [Morale -0.2] [Difficulty 13, -3 penalty]
South America [Level 0] [Morale -0.4] [Difficulty 13, -2 penalty]
The Coca-Cola Company +€16[Level 1] [Morale -0.2] [Difficulty 14] [.]
Internal: +€20
Research
Gear III: Personal Armour [Cost €10M, 5EP. Gives a soldier 1 armour], Powered Armour [Upgrades personal armour to 2 armour, allows Beyond Humanity project], High Capacity Transports [Cost €250M, 10EP. Unarmed, 4, 3] [Transport 7] ]
Materials I: Basic alien scrap analysis [Allows exotic material lab]
Alien Tech IV: Alien Comms I [mounts comm packages on all aircraft], Alien Comms II [Allows ELF detector array], Death Rays [Cost €15M, 10EP: Difficulty 8, [Fragile]], Stun weapons [Phase 1 combat now deals stun damage]
Xenobiology III: Fractal Fish [gives +2 diplomacy bonus with Oceania], Jelly dissection [-1 max wounds on Jellies], Dust Bunny dissection [global +2 diplomacy bonus],
Mysteries III: Kola Superdeep Borehole [facility construction discount / mining spin out and excavation options], Vivsection Lab [allows advanced medical lab, identifies alien clones], Human composite blob [allows ELF detector to decode messages, allows unethical computation: increase research die size]
Narrative
They’d taken to calling it a snowglobe. They did this despite the lack of snow. The Generalmajor didn’t really understand Rainbow Force’s sense of humour. Still, he smiled along with in that stern way that he thought befitted somebody of his station. Always look in control. Always. Never let it waver.
He opened the report and paged through it again. The techs would be pleased enough at how their new armour was performing. He penciled a note onto a cream sheet of heavy paper he was using a to-do list. The disorganised grandeur of his desk pleased him and it took a great deal of work to maintain the correct mix of facade and practicality.
10:59am. The meeting with Fish and Chia was at eleven and that meant both would stride in the very moment that the hands on his clock snapped along. It was unnerving the first few times. It had quickly become reassuring. Standing up with a groan, his old bones resisting the sudden movements, he walked along to the tea trolley that his assistant had rolled in, and poured himself a cup of coffee.
Strange stuff coffee. The Agency ran on it. That and the stronger stuff. The Generalmajor didn’t really like that the staff were freely able to shirk the law and indulge in whatever vices they subscribed to. Drinking on the job was weakness. As was any other drug. Still, at least coffee made a room smell nice when it was freshly brewed. Tasted foul though. People didn’t trust a man who wouldn’t drink coffee though. And that was why he always poured a cup. Sometimes he’d even take a sip or two during a meeting but more often than not it just sat there and went cold.
Behind him the door opened and there was a brief flurry of good mornings before Ms Chia was beside him, pouring herself a cup and asking what they knew about the snowglobe so far. Without hesitation, the Majorgeneral leapt into an operation rundown.
Rainbow Force had come down in some communist monstrosity outside St. Petersburg. The theme park was apparently the origin of the signals but the downside to the enemy using ELF comms was that you couldn’t pin them down effectively. It gave an area a few kilometres wide as a possible origin. Suited up in their new finery Rainbow Force spread out to control the, seemingly deserted, area.
Eight minutes in and Scott finds what would later be referred to as the snowglobe. He holds position while Young and Greer circle around and the others continue their sweep. At this point enemy replicants make themselves known and open fire.
The exchange lasts only three minutes. The final toll is seven replicants dead, two stunned, and Loeb takes a hit in the shoulder. Replicants were armed with light civilian weapons only, handguns and hunting rifles.
[Nine Replicants attack. I’ve left the piece of paper with the numbers for the combat at work, so we’ll just give the highlights:
Combat where Loeb takes 2 wounds and they catch two replicants]
Back at The Pit we get an update for the ELF array saying that there was a signal spike. Assuming that the replicants called for help before engaging, Rainbow Force take up defensive positions. The ELF picks up a contact moving in on their position. Radar fails to confirm the contact indicating that it was not a rockship.
Visual contact was made shortly after. Rainbow Force video feeds confirm that the craft was one of the lesser observed forms: The vessel matches the first alien craft which Rainbow Force encountered. The ship was roughly a conic with a cylindrical void running along the length. Lobes in the body appeared to hold Jellies and while the ship was hovering it dispatched five such creatures before landing.
This second engagement was considerably longer. Jellies were exclusively armed with death rays rather than their stun weaponry. Rainbow Force’s powered exoarmour again proved itself but injuries were sustained. Emergency triage prevented friendly losses. Scott has earned a commendation due to his efforts to capture one of the Jellies alive. This action ensured that once hostilities ended, the craft which delivered the response team did not self-destruct.
[jelly combat. One captured. The rest dead. Ayanami, Loeb and Greer take 2, 1 and 1 wounds respectively. As a Jelly was stunned the ship (Jelly Lander) didn’t explode so you’ve now got one of those too to add to your mass of research options]
[Medics restore 1 wound to Greer and Loeb.
Rei, Greer and Scott all rank up. Rei learns Headshot, Greer learns Beserker and Scott learns Iron Will
+1 Diplomacy bonus next turn on Asia from a successful non-critical mission]
“And the snowglobe itself?”
“Yes, I was coming to that but perhaps I’ll skip ahead.”
The Generalmajor leafed through a few pages, more out of theatre than anything else. He knew what had happened on the mission. He needed to know. It was bad enough that he was too old to be out there himself.
A perfect hemisphere. Invisible and thirty-one metres across at first estimate. And apparently utterly indestructible. At points the hemisphere intersected with surrounding structures - including a Ferris Wheel - slicing through them. No surrounding material was able to rest upon the surface due to its incredibly low coefficient of friction. The interior was filled with a visible brownish haze, and little else of interest outside of the general detritus one would expect to find in a theme park themed after the great communists.
Fanning out, Rainbow Force discovered what they believe to be the power source or control room for the snowglobe. A former cafeteria had been filled with assorted equipment of unfathomable alien technology. The heart of this machinery was a freely suspended (i.e. floating) cubic metal frame around twenty centimetres to a side. Within this frame was what the science teams have taken to referring to as “Fractal Matter”. A cluster of swirling geometry. Despite the apparent similarity to the Mandlebox nobody from Rainbow Force has reported (or been observed to display) any unusual behaviour.
“And?”
“And what? That’s the report. The snowglobe is just a random section of a theme park sealed off from the world which is powered by a chunk of something that looks a hell of a lot like somebody broke a chunk of the Mandlebox off and put it in a little glass case for us.”
“So what do we do about it then? ”
The question hung in the air and the Generalmajor set down his cup on the saucer. Questions like that rarely signalled a short meeting.
Next
A - Perform focused research [additional +1d12 RP this turn]
B - Perform focused engineering [additional +1d10 EP this turn]
C - Hire new military personnel (specify number) [€20M each]
D - Train existing military personnel (specify soldier to promote) [Cost is €2M * Old Rank]
E - Hold negotiations to improve funding / remove black marks(specify council)
F - Start construction of an ELF detector array in [Region] [€250M, 25EP: Detects previously invisible craft, collects alien signals]
G - Start construction of an Advanced Medical Lab [€250M, 25EP, €10M/turn: Replaces Sickbay. Treats 1 wound / soldier / turn and 1 psyche / turn]
H - Start producing [n] suits of Personal Armour [€10M, 5EP] [12/22 troops armoured]
I - Start producing [n] death rays [€15M, 10EP. Difficulty 8 [fragile] weapon] [3/22 troops have death rays] J - Implement Unethical Computation [€500M, increases RP dice to d15, atrocity]
K - Implement Beyond Humanity Cyborg Program [€500M, one soldier per turn returning to base with only 1 remaining wound is made into a cyborg at a cost of €20 +1 armour, -1 psyche, +1 on combat rolls, atrocity]
L - Buy/Build new aircraft [€250M Interceptor or €250M,10EP Dropship, two open hangar slots]
M - Build and have the ESA launch DESCARTES DEUXIEME [Asia or Oceania, €250M, 25EP]
[/s] COMBAT - Engage a contact in Asia [choose Ground-based or Aerial]
PROTOCOL OMEGA - Active the self destruct system
1 - Research Alien Javelin Weapon [RP 50]
2 - Research Alien Rockships [RP 50]
3 - Research Alien Jelly Lander [RP 75]
4 - Research Overcharged Death Rays [RP 75]
5 - Research Interceptor Mounted Death Rays [RP 50]
6 - Research Advanced Military Conditioning [RP 50]
7 - Research Alien Elements [RP 75]
8 - Research Alien Implants [RP 75]
9- Research Replicant Ooze [RP 150]
10 - Research Mandlebox’s effects on human physiology and psychology [RP100]
11 - Research Fractal formations at the borehole [RP 100]
12 - Research Snowglobe / Fractal Matter Device [RP 100]
13 - Interrogate Dust Bunny Rockship Assault Pod Lander [RP 75]
14 - Interrogate Snowglobe Response Team Jelly [RP 75]
15 - Interrogate Snowglobe Technical Crew Replicants [RP 75]
Mojo_Jojo on
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
Posts
Not humans. TV and Pepsi executives.
Pepsi Co can become Team A.
Decision: B 2 $: Engineering, artillery and asking for help
Numbers:
Funds: €304M [+€88M/turn]
Research Progress: No Project 0/0 [+3d12*/turn]
Engineering Progress: No Project 0/0 [+1d10/turn]
Borehole Progress 100/100 [+2d10/turn] Suspended
Agency HQ, Madrid
Distributed Research [+1d12 RP/turn]
Exotic Materials Lab [€10M/turn upkeep, +1d12 RP/turn]
Engineering bay [+1d10 EP/turn]
Radar Antenna Array [Allows detection of enemy vessels]
Hanger [Can maintain/hold 2 aircraft. Restores 1 aircraft wound / turn]
Another Hangar [[Can maintain/hold 2 aircraft. Restores 1 aircraft wound / turn]
Sickbay [Treats 1 wound or psyche damage / turn]
International Assets
DESCARTES PREMIER [Free attack on any alien craft that end up in Europe. Target number is 12 and it deals 1d4 damage]
Kola Superdeep Borehole [Digging too greedily and too deep]
ELF detector array in Asia [€250M, 25EP: Detects previously invisible craft, collects alien signals]
Personnel
ACTIVE
Squaddie Rei Ayanami
[10, 3+2, 3] [Medic] [combat rifle]
Squaddie Charles Kawalsky
[10,3+2, 3] [Even the Odds] [combat rifle]
Squaddie Everett Young
[10,3+2, 3] [Team player] [combat rifle]
Squaddie Matthew Scott
[10,3+2, 3] [Team player] [combat rifle]
Squaddie Tamara Johansen
[10,3+2, 3] [Medic] [combat rifle]
Squaddie Mitchell Loeb
[10,4, 3] [Tough] [combat rifle]
Squaddie Ronald Greer
[14,3,3] [Bloodlust] [rocket launcher] [slow] [1d4 damage]
STANDBY
Rookie Sanford Harris
[10,3, 3] [combat rifle]
Rookie Amy Jessup
[10,3, 3] [combat rifle]
Rookie Richard Alpert
[10,3, 3] [combat rifle]
Rookie Ana Lucia Cortez
[10,3, 3] [combat rifle]
Rookie Sayid Jarrah
[10,3, 3] [combat rifle]
MEDICAL LEAVE
Colonel Steven Hiller
[6,4+2,1/3] [Gunslinger II] [Revenge] [Tough] [Fragile] [death ray] [Targeting Computer]
Sergeant Pam Poovey
[14[1d4+1],2/4,1/3] [Tough] [Berserker] [rocket launcher] [slow] [high explosive rounds]
Sergeant Sterling Archer
[8,3,3/4] [Bloodlust] [Iron Will] [death ray] [Fragile]
Squaddie Shinji Ikari
[10,3+2, 2/3] [Headshot] [combat rifle]
Squaddie Cheryl Tunt
[8,2/3+2,2/3] [Medic] [death ray] [Fragile]
Squaddie Asuka Langley Soryu
[10, 1/3, 4] [Iron Will] [combat rifle]
Squaddie Louis Ferretti
[10, 2/4, 3] [Tough] [combat rifle]
Squaddie Jonas Hanson
[10, 2/4+2, 3] [Tough] [combat rifle]
Rookie Jake Bosworth
[14, 1/3, 3] [rocket launcher] [slow] [1d4 damage]
QUARANTINE
Alien Imposter, Mandlebox exposed, Colonel Edvard Wolner
[10,4+2,0/4] [Revenge] [Medic] [Tough] [Iron Will] [Combat Rifle]
MORGUE
Sergeant: 1
Squaddies: 6
Rookies: 5
LIVE ALIEN STORAGE
1x Dust Bunny Rockship Assault Pod Lander
STORAGE
Empty
Specials
[Gunslinger] - On a natural 20 gains an extra attack
[Gunslinger II] - On a natural 19-20 gains an extra attack
[Headshot] - On a natural 20 deals an extra 1d4-1 damage to the target
[Tough] - +1 Wounds
[Revenge] - +2 on combat rolls if a squadmate is killed in action
[Even The Odds] - +1 on combat rolls if outnumbered
[Iron Will] - +1 Psyche
[Medic] - Restores one wound after a mission
[Berserker] - +1 on combat rolls for every wound
[Quick Reactions] - +2 on combat rolls in first round
[Bloodlust] - Killing an alien restores 1 psyche
[Team player] - +1 on combat rolls if another soldier has the same trait
[Slow] - Fires every other turn
[Fragile] - Breaks on a natural 1
[Targeting Computer] - Lowers target by 2
[High explosive rounds] - +1 damage
Craft
Interceptor [10x2, 4, 3]
Dropship [-, 4, 3] [Transport 7/7]
EMPTY
Funding
Europe +€54 [Level 3] [Morale -0.1] [Difficulty 16]
Middle East +0 [Level 0] [Morale -0.2] [Difficulty 13, -4 penalty]
Asia +€20 [Level 2] [Morale -0.5] [Difficulty 15]
Africa +0 [Level 0] [Morale -0.2] [Difficulty 13, -3 penalty]
Oceania +€18 [Level 1] [Morale -0.1] [Difficulty 14]
North America [Level 0] [Morale -0.2] [Difficulty 13]
Central America [Level 0] [Morale -0.2] [Difficulty 13, -3 penalty]
South America [Level 0] [Morale -0.4] [Difficulty 13, -2 penalty]
The Coca-Cola Company +€16[Level 1] [Morale -0.2] [Difficulty 14] [.]
Internal: +€20
Research
Materials I: Basic alien scrap analysis [Allows exotic material lab]
Alien Tech IV: Alien Comms I [mounts comm packages on all aircraft], Alien Comms II [Allows ELF detector array], Death Rays [Cost €15M, 10EP: Difficulty 8, [Fragile]], Stun weapons [Phase 1 combat now deals stun damage]
Xenobiology III: Fractal Fish [gives +2 diplomacy bonus with Oceania], Jelly dissection [-1 max wounds on Jellies], Dust Bunny dissection [global +2 diplomacy bonus],
Mysteries III: Kola Superdeep Borehole [facility construction discount / mining spin out and excavation options], Vivsection Lab [allows advanced medical lab, identifies alien clones], Human composite blob [allows ELF detector to decode messages, allows unethical computation: increase research die size]
Narrative
Next
A - Perform focused research [additional +1d12 RP this turn]
B - Perform focused engineering [additional +1d10 EP this turn]
C - Hire new military personnel (specify number) [€20M each]
D - Train existing military personnel (specify soldier to promote) [Cost is €2M * Old Rank]
E - Hold negotiations to improve funding / remove black marks(specify council)
F - Start construction of an ELF detector array in [Region] [€250M, 25EP: Detects previously invisible craft, collects alien signals]
G - Start construction of an Advanced Medical Lab [€250M, 25EP, €10M/turn: Replaces Sickbay. Treats 1 wound / soldier / turn and 1 psyche / turn]
H - Start producing [n] suits of Personal Armour [€10M, 5EP] [12/22 troops armoured]
I - Start producing [n] death rays [€15M, 10EP. Difficulty 8 [fragile] weapon] [3/22 troops have death rays]
J - Implement Unethical Computation [€500M, increases RP dice to d15, atrocity]
K - Implement Beyond Humanity Cyborg Program [€500M, one soldier per turn returning to base with only 1 remaining wound is made into a cyborg at a cost of €20 +1 armour, -1 psyche, +1 on combat rolls, atrocity]
L - Buy/Build new aircraft [€250M Interceptor or €250M,10EP Dropship, two open hangar slots]
M - Build and have the ESA launch DESCARTES DEUXIEME [Asia or Oceania, €250M, 25EP]
COMBAT - Engage a contact in Asia [choose Ground-based or Aerial]
PROTOCOL OMEGA - Active the self destruct system
1 - Research Alien Javelin Weapon [RP 50]
2 - Research Alien Rockships [RP 50]
3 - Research Overcharged Death Rays [RP 75]
4 - Research Interceptor Mounted Death Rays [RP 50]
5 - Research Advanced Military Conditioning [RP 50]
6 - Research Alien Elements [RP 75]
7 - Research Alien Implants [RP 75]
8- Research Replicant Ooze [RP 150]
9 - Research Mandlebox’s effects on human physiology and psychology [RP100]
10 - Research Fractal formations at the borehole [RP 100]
11- Interrogate Dust Bunny Rockship Assault Pod Lander [RP 75]
[Next turn you’ll be able to able some of your research to try and extract meaning from the alien transmissions]
There's so many contacts out there now you can just elect when you want to send out Rainbow Force. It won't advance the turn number (as it's combat). I'll just resolve that and then present the options again (without the option for combat)
G 6
Yep, it'll just happen as and when. I just wanted to let you know that I hadn't forgotten about it.
Since it looks like we might be able to get a bit more proactive, let's work on making our soldiers better and keeping them alive longer.
We need to know what we're dealing with. Hit a ground target now and we can assume a similar MO for others in the region, and determine how critical purging these alien infiltrations will be.
Also, aww yeaaahhh BACONBORGS!
Am I blind or did we never find out out what message Hiller was worrying about? What have I missed?
Med bay and figuring out this borehole. The aliens want it so bad, we gotta find out why. Combat next turn.
Oh, Piggly....
The Beyond Human project seems like it might be a good incentive not to be shot so much. Get some dice rolling and then we can go test the new armour.
D3 Steam #TeamTangent STO
EDIT: Oh, right, nevermind, I get it.
We have a fair few active squaddies and rookies in reserve, might as well roll a combat and see what is out there, I say.
COMBAT - Ground
Wouldn't it be better to let us pick one combat encounter and one base building option each round instead? Since combat doesn't advance time so to speak.
Send in the clowns!
Also did we not have an option to build the new power armor or is that automatically upgraded to our personal armor?
We should research the bore-hole fractals and human psychology thing. We can beat the rock ships with our current combat capabilities but we are powerless in the face of MATH.
M(Asia) 10
I really think we should launch some more orbital strike capability over Asia. Seeing as how we've got a plethora of things to shoot at now. Also yeah, we really need to figure out what's going on with these fractals.
Also: will we be notified if the Mandlebox intersects an ELF transmitter? I'd like to know if they get destroyed by the 'box.
This way the sequence is explicit, and it breaks up the updates to more more manageable for me Automatic.
It's in individual personnel's stats. Indicated by a plus 2 after wounds. I count 5 armoured actives, and four on medical leave.
So Geth likes stats, huh (I wonder when commenting on Geth's awesomes/agrees will be made an infractable offense).
Maybe he's asking Pepsico's team lead "Will you join us?"
Or on a date. Or both.
Alright, nice to know I'm not going mad. And yeah, it's probably the date. And not at all something terrible, like Hiller going mad or trying to communicate with the aliens. Because terrible things never happen to us.
I'm feeling slightly bad about what I advocated we do to Wolner. Can we give him some crayons or chalk or something so he won't keep messing up his fingernails?
Yeah, but totally give him drawing materials and see if we can make heads or tails of it.
My god what they did to that pig...
These guys would be much more likely to lose their shit in a fight and then we'd have to deal with crazy terminators all the time.
Edit: I guess we did already start down the Dr. Bishop path though, and also poor ethics is a proud Space Australian tradition. Both completely logically sound arguments for doing this, of course.
Especially if this results in self cooking bacon.
GRANT FUNDING APPROVED.
Decision: Attack one of the myriad alien touchdown sites
Numbers:
Funds: €304M [+€88M/turn]
Research Progress: No Project 0/0 [+3d12*/turn]
Engineering Progress: No Project 0/0 [+1d10/turn]
Borehole Progress 100/100 [+2d10/turn] Suspended
Agency HQ, Madrid
Distributed Research [+1d12 RP/turn]
Exotic Materials Lab [€10M/turn upkeep, +1d12 RP/turn]
Engineering bay [+1d10 EP/turn]
Radar Antenna Array [Allows detection of enemy vessels]
Hanger [Can maintain/hold 2 aircraft. Restores 1 aircraft wound / turn]
Another Hangar [[Can maintain/hold 2 aircraft. Restores 1 aircraft wound / turn]
Sickbay [Treats 1 wound or psyche damage / turn]
International Assets
DESCARTES PREMIER [Free attack on any alien craft that end up in Europe. Target number is 12 and it deals 1d4 damage]
Kola Superdeep Borehole [Digging too greedily and too deep]
ELF detector array in Asia [€250M, 25EP: Detects previously invisible craft, collects alien signals]
Personnel
ACTIVE
Sergeant Matthew Scott
[10,3+2, 4] [Team player] [Iron Will] [combat rifle]
Squaddie Charles Kawalsky
[10,3+2, 3] [Even the Odds] [combat rifle]
Squaddie Everett Young
[10,3+2, 3] [Team player] [combat rifle]
Squaddie Tamara Johansen
[10,3+2, 3] [Medic] [combat rifle]
Rookie Sanford Harris
[10,3, 3] [combat rifle]
Rookie Amy Jessup
[10,3, 3] [combat rifle]
Rookie Richard Alpert
[10,3, 3] [combat rifle]
STANDBY
Rookie Ana Lucia Cortez
[10,3, 3] [combat rifle]
Rookie Sayid Jarrah
[10,3, 3] [combat rifle]
MEDICAL LEAVE
Colonel Steven Hiller
[6,4+2,1/3] [Gunslinger II] [Revenge] [Tough] [Fragile] [death ray] [Targeting Computer]
Sergeant Pam Poovey
[14[1d4+1],2/4,1/3] [Tough] [Berserker] [rocket launcher] [slow] [high explosive rounds]
Sergeant Sterling Archer
[8,3,3/4] [Bloodlust] [Iron Will] [death ray] [Fragile]
Squaddie Shinji Ikari
[10,3+2, 2/3] [Headshot] [combat rifle]
Squaddie Cheryl Tunt
[8,2/3+2,2/3] [Medic] [death ray] [Fragile]
Squaddie Asuka Langley Soryu
[10, 1/3, 4] [Iron Will] [combat rifle]
Squaddie Louis Ferretti
[10, 2/4, 3] [Tough] [combat rifle]
Squaddie Jonas Hanson
[10, 2/4+2, 3] [Tough] [combat rifle]
Rookie Jake Bosworth
[14, 1/3, 3] [rocket launcher] [slow] [1d4 damage]
Squaddie Mitchell Loeb
[10,2/4, 3] [Tough] [combat rifle]
Sergeant Rei Ayanami
[10, 2/3+2, 3] [Medic] [Headshot] [combat rifle]
Sergeant Ronald Greer
[14,3,3] [Bloodlust] [Berserker] [rocket launcher] [slow] [1d4 damage]
QUARANTINE
Alien Imposter, Mandlebox exposed, Colonel Edvard Wolner
[10,4+2,0/4] [Revenge] [Medic] [Tough] [Iron Will] [Combat Rifle]
MORGUE
Sergeant: 1
Squaddies: 6
Rookies: 5
LIVE ALIEN STORAGE
1x Dust Bunny Rockship Assault Pod Lander
2x Snowglobe Crew Replicants
1x Snowglobe Response Team jelly
STORAGE
Empty
Specials
[Gunslinger] - On a natural 20 gains an extra attack
[Gunslinger II] - On a natural 19-20 gains an extra attack
[Headshot] - On a natural 20 deals an extra 1d4-1 damage to the target
[Tough] - +1 Wounds
[Revenge] - +2 on combat rolls if a squadmate is killed in action
[Even The Odds] - +1 on combat rolls if outnumbered
[Iron Will] - +1 Psyche
[Medic] - Restores one wound after a mission
[Berserker] - +1 on combat rolls for every wound
[Quick Reactions] - +2 on combat rolls in first round
[Bloodlust] - Killing an alien restores 1 psyche
[Team player] - +1 on combat rolls if another soldier has the same trait
[Slow] - Fires every other turn
[Fragile] - Breaks on a natural 1
[Targeting Computer] - Lowers target by 2
[High explosive rounds] - +1 damage
Craft
Interceptor [10x2, 4, 3]
Dropship [-, 4, 3] [Transport 7/7]
EMPTY
Funding
Europe +€54 [Level 3] [Morale -0.1] [Difficulty 16]
Middle East +0 [Level 0] [Morale -0.2] [Difficulty 13, -4 penalty]
Asia +€20 [Level 2] [Morale -0.5] [Difficulty 15, +1 bonus]
Africa +0 [Level 0] [Morale -0.2] [Difficulty 13, -3 penalty]
Oceania +€18 [Level 1] [Morale -0.1] [Difficulty 14]
North America [Level 0] [Morale -0.2] [Difficulty 13]
Central America [Level 0] [Morale -0.2] [Difficulty 13, -3 penalty]
South America [Level 0] [Morale -0.4] [Difficulty 13, -2 penalty]
The Coca-Cola Company +€16[Level 1] [Morale -0.2] [Difficulty 14] [.]
Internal: +€20
Research
Materials I: Basic alien scrap analysis [Allows exotic material lab]
Alien Tech IV: Alien Comms I [mounts comm packages on all aircraft], Alien Comms II [Allows ELF detector array], Death Rays [Cost €15M, 10EP: Difficulty 8, [Fragile]], Stun weapons [Phase 1 combat now deals stun damage]
Xenobiology III: Fractal Fish [gives +2 diplomacy bonus with Oceania], Jelly dissection [-1 max wounds on Jellies], Dust Bunny dissection [global +2 diplomacy bonus],
Mysteries III: Kola Superdeep Borehole [facility construction discount / mining spin out and excavation options], Vivsection Lab [allows advanced medical lab, identifies alien clones], Human composite blob [allows ELF detector to decode messages, allows unethical computation: increase research die size]
Narrative
Next
A - Perform focused research [additional +1d12 RP this turn]
B - Perform focused engineering [additional +1d10 EP this turn]
C - Hire new military personnel (specify number) [€20M each]
D - Train existing military personnel (specify soldier to promote) [Cost is €2M * Old Rank]
E - Hold negotiations to improve funding / remove black marks(specify council)
F - Start construction of an ELF detector array in [Region] [€250M, 25EP: Detects previously invisible craft, collects alien signals]
G - Start construction of an Advanced Medical Lab [€250M, 25EP, €10M/turn: Replaces Sickbay. Treats 1 wound / soldier / turn and 1 psyche / turn]
H - Start producing [n] suits of Personal Armour [€10M, 5EP] [12/22 troops armoured]
I - Start producing [n] death rays [€15M, 10EP. Difficulty 8 [fragile] weapon] [3/22 troops have death rays]
J - Implement Unethical Computation [€500M, increases RP dice to d15, atrocity]
K - Implement Beyond Humanity Cyborg Program [€500M, one soldier per turn returning to base with only 1 remaining wound is made into a cyborg at a cost of €20 +1 armour, -1 psyche, +1 on combat rolls, atrocity]
L - Buy/Build new aircraft [€250M Interceptor or €250M,10EP Dropship, two open hangar slots]
M - Build and have the ESA launch DESCARTES DEUXIEME [Asia or Oceania, €250M, 25EP]
[/s]
COMBAT - Engage a contact in Asia [choose Ground-based or Aerial]
PROTOCOL OMEGA - Active the self destruct system
1 - Research Alien Javelin Weapon [RP 50]
2 - Research Alien Rockships [RP 50]
3 - Research Alien Jelly Lander [RP 75]
4 - Research Overcharged Death Rays [RP 75]
5 - Research Interceptor Mounted Death Rays [RP 50]
6 - Research Advanced Military Conditioning [RP 50]
7 - Research Alien Elements [RP 75]
8 - Research Alien Implants [RP 75]
9- Research Replicant Ooze [RP 150]
10 - Research Mandlebox’s effects on human physiology and psychology [RP100]
11 - Research Fractal formations at the borehole [RP 100]
12 - Research Snowglobe / Fractal Matter Device [RP 100]
13 - Interrogate Dust Bunny Rockship Assault Pod Lander [RP 75]
14 - Interrogate Snowglobe Response Team Jelly [RP 75]
15 - Interrogate Snowglobe Technical Crew Replicants [RP 75]