Wow, I was wondering why I was benched after the first two months or so after making it to Sergent, but now that I see my stats...hoo boy, those few missions I did go on must of been some sort of Make a Wish request cause besides moving and shooting, I'm a atrophied skeleton with the reaction time of sloth. Good luck soldiers, thanks for letting me play with you.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for I am the baddest motha in the land.
Believe in yourself. Not in the you who believes in me. Not the me who believes in you. Believe in the you who believes in yourself. I will believe in the me that believes in us, humans and the future!
We chosen few, we will buy our passage to Valhalla with the blood of our foes, we will make them pay for their transgressions and cleanse them in the Commander's name! They picked the wrong planet to molest this time!
I will suplex aliens through the crust of their forsaken planet.
Farangu practicing for this particular feat:
+13
Options
FandaHang a shining starupon the highest boughRegistered Userregular
We're entering the Martian ionosphere, Commander. Secure your stations for landing.
Copy that. How's it looking on the ground?
Radar topography of the target area shows a flat basin surrounded by ... well, there's some interference, but these must be the pyramids we were briefed on.
Put us down on the edge of the basin, if you can. We have to search the buildings for our exit.
Aye aye. The Avenger will stay on station until you're underground, then we'll tour Acidalia Planitia until you send the recall signal.
Coming into visual range now. No airborne contacts, no motion on the surface. It looks quiet down there.
... it's not.
As the seal on the rear door cracks open, air rushes out of the Avenger. Decompression is swift but not explosive, and by the time the ramp touches down on the gravelly surface, pressure has already equalized.
There's oxygen here. Artificially generated and highly localized, no doubt. Thin like mountain air. Yet breatheable.
With heaven knows how many blaster launchers and psychic aliens arrayed against us, there'll be no waiting on our usual smokescreen. Safety exists only in movement.
Not a lot of safety, mind you.
Bitter cold and darkness. This is what Dante thought the center of hell would look like.
Maybe it's only fitting that the first human being to set foot on Mars is also the first to set Mars on fire. Light from the nearby inferno gleaming off its hull reveals a hidden Cyberdisc, and Confirmation Bias rolls east to get a firing angle between the craters.
The disc's frontal armor buckles under the impact, but a telltale green glow from within shows that its plasma cannon is already charging for another shot.
Iolo disembarks to starboard and sprays more burning phosphorous into the night. With his target now bracketed by flame, theSquid takes aim from the bottom of the Avenger's ramp. It gives him only a very small height advantage.
But enough to clear the craters! I will never get over how good Squid is at his job.
Astonishingly, there's no further contact, and focus turns to the urgent task of securing our newly-won beachhead.
At the nose of the Avenger stands a pyramid with doors on all sides.
YerMum steps in front of Iolo to lay a proxy on the door facing us.
From inside the transport, Molybdenum likewise secures our northern flank.
And so it goes, all around the LZ, until each of the pyramids surrounding us has a package laid at its doorstep. More proxies go flying into the alleys between the pyramids, in case anything should approach from the north, and a trio of strategically-placed smoke grenades completes our defences.
According to Doctor Vahlen's analysis of the Bigity Incident, there are two possible mechanisms governing the aliens' use of psychic powers.
The first, and by far more terrifying, is that they can violate any mind within a moderate distance.
The second is that they require visual contact with their target - either directly, or through the eyes of another creature to which they have become psychically linked.
Going by this second theory, as long as we stay hidden we'll be immune to their psionic assault.
Everything rests on our picket line of proximity grenades. The Sectoids have to be stopped before they can penetrate our smoke cloud.
Because if even one of them should survive the explosion and get close enough to see us ...
... all bets are off.
Well, we had a good run.
A burst of plasma dissipates with a sizzle against the backside of Confirmation Bias's turret. Talus and NotoriusBEN flinch at the incoming fire; behind them, theSquid is preoccupied with clutching his elbows, rocking back and forth, and whimpering helplessly into the night.
Of the four men whose minds were just ravaged, only Iolo has held himself together - and only by a thread. Unclenching his jaw, he opens his eyes for a tentative look around.
Mvrck now stands on the perimeter of the area of operations, staring up at the Avenger with unspeakable intensity. His hands are balled into fists, muscles twitching.
But what happened to Rend? He was right beside theSquid a moment ago.
So apparently my bookmark for this thread got unchecked and now I'm catching up and oh god this is like one of those nightmares where you go to school and didn't study for the final because you didn't know there was a final and hadn't even gone to the class the whole semester and why am I naked and holding a box of ducks?
....oh phew, just stuck on Mars in a major fustercluck about to be killed by aliens or mind controlled allies. What a relief!
I'd completely forgotten that this was also the name of the operation in Edge of Tomorrow.
Hopefully the quote doesn't apply here..
"Operation Downfall isn't our endgame. It's the enemy's."
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FandaHang a shining starupon the highest boughRegistered Userregular
Well, shit. Permission to neutralize Rend?
Negative, keep your stun rods holstered! He and Mvrck could still come back to us. We have to give them time.
Wouldn't dream of touching a stun rod, sir.
Light up the south for us, see317. We need to clear room for the second wave. YerMum, Durinia, and Antinumeric, with me!
I'm running low on incendiary rounds, ma'am. Gonna have to head back into the Avenger for resupply soon. It'll probably take awhile, what with the sticky mag release on my autocannon. Don't wait for me.
Less chatter, soldier, and more arson.
Brilliant. That's your target, Anti.
This one's for Bangkok.
It's still intact!
I can fix that.
Looks like we're clear again to the south and east. Consolidate behind Confirmation Bias for the next push.
How're you feeling, Iolo?
Had a bad moment, but I'm all right now, ma'am. Maybe the storm has passed?
From the north, a flash of fire.
A peal of thunder.
The tempest rages on.
With a scarcely-human hiss, Rend scuttles off into the northern shadows. Moments later, a grenade comes flying out of the darkness that he disappeared into.
To the south, a tremor comes over Colonel an_alt. She bares her teeth, choking back a noise that is not quite a shriek nor a giggle, and unhooks a grenade from her belt. Pulling the pin, she drops it at her feet and takes a step back. Then she turns, looking down at her handiwork with a savage grin.
How does the panic/berserk/mind control status work in UFO? We haven't see much of that to this point.
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Sir FabulousMalevolent Squid GodRegistered Userregular
Mind control simply means your unit switches to the enemy team for a turn.
Panic might make you drop your weapon and either freeze in place or run away.
Berserk causes you to fire your weapon at a nearby target (friend or foe).
Switch Friend Code: SW-1406-1275-7906
+1
Options
38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
Well see317 is clearly a goner, lets start auctioning off his estate.
Cracking open his locker... hey these are mine!
Correct me if I'm wrong but don't you lose conciousness if you stay in smoke for too long?
Maybe this is a clever alien ploy to coat the whole map in smoke and just let XCOM asphyxiate...
Yep.
Using smoke grenades on the battlefield can cause your own units to take Stun damage, weakening them and potentially leading to unconsciousness.
Unarmoured units will take stun damage whenever they end their turn inside a cloud of smoke. The stun damage to an unarmoured unit is 1-3 points per round. Soldiers in Power Suits or Flying Suits are immune to stun effects from smoke. Even unarmoured troops will have to spend a long time in smoke before they become unconscious, so as long as you remain aware of your soldiers' Stun levels (the narrow white bar within the Health bar), it should not present major problems.
A more serious hazard emerges from a bug in the way the game handles fire, smoke and Incendiary effects. Fire and smoke are interdependent in the game. One unintended consequence is that stun damage is done to all friendly units standing in any smoke area, every time an incendiary explosion occurs anywhere on the map. This happens instantaneously, affecting soldiers who are in smoke at the time of detonation. Therefore, be very careful in your use of IC munitions if you wish to move unarmored units through smoke, or hide them in smoke.
Posts
Believe in yourself. Not in the you who believes in me. Not the me who believes in you. Believe in the you who believes in yourself. I will believe in the me that believes in us, humans and the future!
We chosen few, we will buy our passage to Valhalla with the blood of our foes, we will make them pay for their transgressions and cleanse them in the Commander's name! They picked the wrong planet to molest this time!
Destiny Profile : http://www.bungie.net/en/Profile/254/7028016
When you get to Mars...
Raise your fucking flag.
Why I fear the ocean.
I will suplex aliens through the crust of their forsaken planet.
Chicago Megagame group
Watch me struggle to learn streaming! Point and laugh!
Farangu practicing for this particular feat:
As the seal on the rear door cracks open, air rushes out of the Avenger. Decompression is swift but not explosive, and by the time the ramp touches down on the gravelly surface, pressure has already equalized.
There's oxygen here. Artificially generated and highly localized, no doubt. Thin like mountain air. Yet breatheable.
With heaven knows how many blaster launchers and psychic aliens arrayed against us, there'll be no waiting on our usual smokescreen. Safety exists only in movement.
Not a lot of safety, mind you.
Bitter cold and darkness. This is what Dante thought the center of hell would look like.
Maybe it's only fitting that the first human being to set foot on Mars is also the first to set Mars on fire. Light from the nearby inferno gleaming off its hull reveals a hidden Cyberdisc, and Confirmation Bias rolls east to get a firing angle between the craters.
The disc's frontal armor buckles under the impact, but a telltale green glow from within shows that its plasma cannon is already charging for another shot.
Iolo disembarks to starboard and sprays more burning phosphorous into the night. With his target now bracketed by flame, theSquid takes aim from the bottom of the Avenger's ramp. It gives him only a very small height advantage.
But enough to clear the craters! I will never get over how good Squid is at his job.
Astonishingly, there's no further contact, and focus turns to the urgent task of securing our newly-won beachhead.
At the nose of the Avenger stands a pyramid with doors on all sides.
YerMum steps in front of Iolo to lay a proxy on the door facing us.
From inside the transport, Molybdenum likewise secures our northern flank.
And so it goes, all around the LZ, until each of the pyramids surrounding us has a package laid at its doorstep. More proxies go flying into the alleys between the pyramids, in case anything should approach from the north, and a trio of strategically-placed smoke grenades completes our defences.
According to Doctor Vahlen's analysis of the Bigity Incident, there are two possible mechanisms governing the aliens' use of psychic powers.
The first, and by far more terrifying, is that they can violate any mind within a moderate distance.
The second is that they require visual contact with their target - either directly, or through the eyes of another creature to which they have become psychically linked.
Going by this second theory, as long as we stay hidden we'll be immune to their psionic assault.
Everything rests on our picket line of proximity grenades. The Sectoids have to be stopped before they can penetrate our smoke cloud.
Because if even one of them should survive the explosion and get close enough to see us ...
... all bets are off.
Well, we had a good run.
A burst of plasma dissipates with a sizzle against the backside of Confirmation Bias's turret. Talus and NotoriusBEN flinch at the incoming fire; behind them, theSquid is preoccupied with clutching his elbows, rocking back and forth, and whimpering helplessly into the night.
Of the four men whose minds were just ravaged, only Iolo has held himself together - and only by a thread. Unclenching his jaw, he opens his eyes for a tentative look around.
Mvrck now stands on the perimeter of the area of operations, staring up at the Avenger with unspeakable intensity. His hands are balled into fists, muscles twitching.
But what happened to Rend? He was right beside theSquid a moment ago.
Oh.
Rend is with his new family now.
I made it!
Alright you guys you have fun out there.
...I think those are party poppers going off! So you ARE having fun!
Law and Order ≠Justice
ACNH Island Isla Cero: DA-3082-2045-4142
Captain of the SES Comptroller of the State
Brav-ooooo
--Mark Twain
Steam - NotoriusBEN | Uplay - notoriusben | Xbox,Windows Live - ThatBEN
They have blaster launchers
Nowhere is safe
Guys
Where did everyone go
Where did...
Steam profile - Twitch - YouTube
Switch: SM-6352-8553-6516
Stark reminder that it all comes down to this.
Looks like we hit their first line of defense pretty hard. Now, can Fanda pull off a miracle?
....oh phew, just stuck on Mars in a major fustercluck about to be killed by aliens or mind controlled allies. What a relief!
Definitely not proud of cheesing the AI so hard, but I think it would've been a very short mission if I'd done anything else.
I'd completely forgotten that this was also the name of the operation in Edge of Tomorrow.
Hopefully the quote doesn't apply here..
From the north, a flash of fire.
A peal of thunder.
The tempest rages on.
With a scarcely-human hiss, Rend scuttles off into the northern shadows. Moments later, a grenade comes flying out of the darkness that he disappeared into.
To the south, a tremor comes over Colonel an_alt. She bares her teeth, choking back a noise that is not quite a shriek nor a giggle, and unhooks a grenade from her belt. Pulling the pin, she drops it at her feet and takes a step back. Then she turns, looking down at her handiwork with a savage grin.
Smoke covers the blast sites in a dense pall.
Smoke and dust.
But no bodies, and no blood.
They tried to kill us with smoke grenades.
It's not the martian atmosphere slowly killing our bodies.
It's not alien psychic waves turning our brains into goo.
No no, we're gonna die of smoke inhalation. Who got that square on the bingo card?
Can we avoid the panic spiral?
Law and Order ≠Justice
ACNH Island Isla Cero: DA-3082-2045-4142
Captain of the SES Comptroller of the State
Panic might make you drop your weapon and either freeze in place or run away.
Berserk causes you to fire your weapon at a nearby target (friend or foe).
Switch Friend Code: SW-1406-1275-7906
Cracking open his locker... hey these are mine!
This can be hilariously harmless (if your guys are in flying suits and you have everyone armed with pistols)
or absolutely terrifying (if your guys are toting heavy plasmas)
Maybe this is a clever alien ploy to coat the whole map in smoke and just let XCOM asphyxiate...
Yep.
Still, if our mindmushed comrades had been carrying anything more potent... the computer is not fucking around.