the latest mission took place on march 22, so it stands a good chance that the next abduction wont be until next month. Month 2 is going to be grim in more ways than one...
At the moment, if we can keep the entirety of the Americas and Egypt from capitulating we'd stand a good chance at their bonuses. Russia would be icing on top, but loosing Asia and Europe are... acceptable.
Priorities as I see them would be:
South America (literally weeks of interrogations and autopsies done instantly, and those instantly feed into quicker research times, and options for Gene Mods and Future Tech)
Then North America for pure money
Then Africa for the 30% income
taking Europe would be nice for its money output, but its bonus bascially allows about ~60$ savings and since we only need, at most, 3 workshops and 3 labs, thats only 360$ saved.
Its up to the director though, even if we put satellites up on countries in doomed regions, that is a region that is still open to abduction raids.
I had to put myself back together; there was a lot to be done today.
First thing was a trip down to engineering to see Delta-4, now known around the base as, "Notorious Ben".
I, uh, think we can safely say that the gamble paid-off.
We're printing-off more forms; the doctors expect to see an increase in volunteer interest after soldiers see the weapons platform performing on the field.
We received the first 'club cards' today. I don't agree with this program, but what the Hell; anything to improve morale can't be wholly bad, I guess.
Delta-1 is our first Platinum Club member...
...while Beth is out first Silver Club member.
We incidentally located and extracted the sister of one of our flyboys during the last op; Natalia "Lanrutcon" Owsley.
That girl is not playing around. She's a former SEAL; she had grabbed a squad support weapon from a wiped-out National Guard unit - may they rest in peace - and killed at least 14 ETs by our count before we even arrived in the mission zone. She is now Delta-8.
It's my opinion that we would do ourselves a real service by spreading-around some of the expertise on hand; to that end, preparations for the construction of some dedicated education & training have been made.
We're running out of space on the ground floor; we're going to have to start digging-out basement & sub-basement levels soon.
Ah, and I forgot to mention, loled at the Fishman reference.
As well, I'd like to state that I'm am most certainly pro-transhumanism, and will volunteer for anything regarding that end that you deem necessary.
"The big wigs announced a club program recently. Tch. Bastards. The only thing to do in the entire base, and they put it behind a kill wall. I'm determined to get in there someday, so there's more to do than stare at the wall.
On another note. I caught a glimpse of "Notorious" today. When they said they were instituting a cybernetics program, I admit to having my doubts, and I still do. I mean, sure...He's going to do great in a fight. Probably run roughshod over the greys...But I get uneasy just looking at him. I think I'm with the head of engineering on this one. Where do we draw the line?
...End of log"
-recording ends-
M A G I K A Z A M
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KadokenGiving Ends to my Friends and it Feels StupendousRegistered Userregular
edited November 2013
To the Unenlightened of the World: We are EXALT
Brothers and sisters of the world, who partake in this futile state known as humanity: The travelers, "Xeno", "Aliens" as you know them, are not demons. They are not our enemies. They are prophets. They are our future.
EXALT has grown under the yoke of idiotic, inefficient, and corrupt governments of the world. In our existence, we have seen the futility of humanity. We have seen what humanity truly is: Weakness. We are a species that lives under the illusion that we are capable; we are strong; we are beings that have worth in existing. We do not. We are ignorant, feeble animals, yet we have the audacity to say that we are advanced, that we are civilized. We are as civilized as the vermin of the earth, clawing out each others' eyes, warring in the name of greed, "ethics", or "morality". Claiming our evil governments to be just and fair rules, while ignoring indignities and evils man has done to itself. The travelers, however, are different. They are greater. They bring clarity, truth, and enlightenment.
Humanity is foolish, the travelers are wise. Humanity is a genetic abomination on the world, the travelers are an evolved and advanced form of life, gods compared to the dirt of mankind, and are a premonition of what our glorious future in the galaxy and the cosmos beyond could be, if we accept their light. Humanity is weak. The travelers are strong.
To those profligates and wastrels who have ordained themselves "XCOM", who wave their banner in defense of mankind's pathetic state, we say this: Why persist in this the hopeless struggle? There is no victory for you. You will not stand in the way of progress. You will not stand in the way of humanity's evolution. Your fruitless actions will be for naught. You will be swept from this earth. There is nothing to achieve from your meaningless fight. There is no other choice than to follow the travelers, and advance mankind into such a potential that we may one day too, be like the travelers, strong, wise, and great.
We are waging our own war. We are waging a crusade, a crusade for the advancement of man, and the destruction of those in the way of man's future greatness.
Brothers and sisters of the world, who partake in this futile state known as humanity: The travelers, "Xeno", "Aliens" as you know them, are not demons. They are not our enemies. They are prophets. They are our future.
EXALT has grown under the yoke of idiotic, inefficient, and corrupt governments of the world. In our existence, we have seen the futility of humanity. We have seen what humanity truly is: Weakness. We are a species that lives under the illusion that we are capable; we are strong; we are beings that have worth in existing. We do not. We are ignorant, feeble animals, yet we have the audacity to say that we are advanced, that we are civilized. We are as civilized as the vermin of the earth, clawing out each others' eyes, warring in the name of greed, "ethics", or "morality". Claiming our evil governments to be just and fair rules, while ignoring indignities and evils man has done to itself. The travelers, however, are different. They are greater. They bring clarity, truth, and enlightenment.
Humanity is foolish, the travelers are wise. Humanity is a genetic abomination on the world, the travelers are an evolved and advanced form of life, gods compared to the dirt of mankind, and are a premonition of what our glorious future in the galaxy and the cosmos beyond could be, if we accept their light. Humanity is weak. The travelers are strong.
To those profligates and wastrels who have ordained themselves "XCOM", who wave their banner in defense of mankind's pathetic state, we say this: Why persist in this the hopeless struggle? There is no victory for you. You will not stand in the way of progress. You will not stand in the way of humanity's evolution. Your fruitless actions will be for naught. You will be swept from this earth. There is nothing to achieve from your meaningless fight. There is no other choice than to follow the travelers, and advance mankind into such a potential that we may one day too, be like the travelers, strong, wise, and great.
We are waging our own war. We are waging a crusade, a crusade for the advancement of man, and the destruction of those in the way of man's future greatness.
Audio log of Delta-1 "Vegeta": March 22nd, 2015 21:10 hours
In just a small amount of time things have gone a bit crazy. Actually, that's putting it lightly. Just a short while ago I was a Park Ranger for god's sakes. I still remember patrolling the woods, hearing of aliens landing and finding those campers... I'm just glad I'm handy with a rifle. I don't know what's scarier in the dark, a bear or one of those things.
I know it's because of my efforts on that fateful morning that I find myself as Delta-1, and I'm honored to be in the position. It's just... hard to not feel like I might be in over my head. These men and women look to me though and I will guide them through hell and back. I have a feeling hell is just around the corner actually... heh.
The 'travelers' are a bunch of fat-bellied grey babies that excel at dying to our supposedly inferior weaponry. They don't even have mouths with which to scream when our bullets take them.
But hey, if you want to be more like them - riddled with bullets - then I'm sure XCOM would be happy to be oblige.
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KupotheAvengerDestroyer of Cakeand other deserts.Registered Userregular
Brothers and sisters of the world, who partake in this futile state known as humanity: The travelers, "Xeno", "Aliens" as you know them, are not demons. They are not our enemies. They are prophets. They are our future.
EXALT has grown under the yoke of idiotic, inefficient, and corrupt governments of the world. In our existence, we have seen the futility of humanity. We have seen what humanity truly is: Weakness. We are a species that lives under the illusion that we are capable; we are strong; we are beings that have worth in existing. We do not. We are ignorant, feeble animals, yet we have the audacity to say that we are advanced, that we are civilized. We are as civilized as the vermin of the earth, clawing out each others' eyes, warring in the name of greed, "ethics", or "morality". Claiming our evil governments to be just and fair rules, while ignoring indignities and evils man has done to itself. The travelers, however, are different. They are greater. They bring clarity, truth, and enlightenment.
Humanity is foolish, the travelers are wise. Humanity is a genetic abomination on the world, the travelers are an evolved and advanced form of life, gods compared to the dirt of mankind, and are a premonition of what our glorious future in the galaxy and the cosmos beyond could be, if we accept their light. Humanity is weak. The travelers are strong.
To those profligates and wastrels who have ordained themselves "XCOM", who wave their banner in defense of mankind's pathetic state, we say this: Why persist in this the hopeless struggle? There is no victory for you. You will not stand in the way of progress. You will not stand in the way of humanity's evolution. Your fruitless actions will be for naught. You will be swept from this earth. There is nothing to achieve from your meaningless fight. There is no other choice than to follow the travelers, and advance mankind into such a potential that we may one day too, be like the travelers, strong, wise, and great.
We are waging our own war. We are waging a crusade, a crusade for the advancement of man, and the destruction of those in the way of man's future greatness.
We are the enlightened. We are EXALT.
Finishes reading the email and thinks for a moment before filing it under flag and respond later before finishing putting final coat of wax on his Raven
Yes, my staff has done an amazing job - an incredible job - this past month. I don't need to be told this, and anyone who might say otherwise can cram their opinion right up their asshole.
The lab has been working 24/7 on a solution for the challenge of capturing an ET & their weapon for study, and I've got plans on my desk right now for the construction of a containment structure: we just need the materials & green light from the logistics people. We don't have an appropriate stun-gun yet, but R&D feels that this is a small challenge given what they've learned so far of ET physiology; they think they can modify a TASER-brand electroshock gun to do the job.
We've set-up detection & interdiction capabilities over South America, basing VooDoo strike craft in Brazil. Make no mistake about it: this is absolutely an effort to placate some state delegates who have expressed concerns over XCOM's priorities.
HQ-TOMORROW is getting roomier every day. We're eating through a lot of our logistics budget to make it happen, but--
APRIL 4TH, 2015. 1544 HOURS.
OPERATION SOARING HEART
HQ-TOMORROW PERIMETER ZONE, JAPAN
...BEGIN MISSION RECORDER PLAYBACK...
Director: Delta, report status. DELTA-1 "Vegeta": Status yellow, HQ. I can hear the UFO, but I have no visual at thIs time.
Director: Copy that. We are treating this as a coincidence, Delta, nothing more; don't get distracted thinking about what's under your feet while you're topside. DELTA-3 "MegaMek": Long time no see, Notorious. How was the, uh... procedure? DELTA-4 "Notorious": ERROR; UNIT DELTA-4 DOES NOT UNDERSTAND COMMAND DELTA-3 "MegaMek": ... DELTA-4 "Notorious": Just playing with you. And the 'procedure' was fucking boss. I mean, look at this shit!
DELTA-4 "Notorious": And I sound like Goddamn Optimus Prime. DELTA-1 "Vegeta": Form-up behind him, Delta. Standard sweep, and keep your eyes open for any Meld canisters while we're up here. DELTA-3 "MegaMek": Copy. DELTA-2 "Bethryn": Copy. DELTA-8 "Lanrutcon": Copy.
Director: ...Well, now that you mention it, Delta, our scanners have sniffed-out a Meld cache in your area. DELTA-4 "Notorious": Yeah, copy that, I've got a visual...
DELTA-4 "Notorious": Oh, shhiii... contact. i don't think they've seen us yet. DELTA-1 "Vegeta": sectoids? DELTA-4 "Notorious": naw... looks airborne. and mechanical. never seen something like this before. DELTA-1 "Vegeta": okay. keep a low profile, delta, and inch forward. set-up an ambush-- DELTA-4 "Notorious": fuck. they're movin'...
DELTA-4 "Notorious": fuck. motherFUCK. DELTA-1 "Vegeta": What the Hell? DELTA-8 "Lanrutcon": ...They bugged out? DELTA-2 "Bethryn": How did they-- DELTA-3 "MegaMek": Contact! UFO door!
DELTA-8 "Lanrutcon": ...That is... that is fucking disgusting. Oh my god, that smell... DELTA-2 "Bethryn": HQ, are you getting this!? Holy shit. Director: We see it. Looks like we're not the only ones asking soldiers to make sacrifices. Engage with extreme caution, Delta.
DELTA-8 "Lanrutcon": Well, those airframes they're grafted onto sure do give off a nice heat signature. Shredder in the air!
[Explosion]
DELTA-8 "Lanrutcon": GODFUCKINGDAMMIT! Fin came off as it was exiting the barrel! HQ, check your fucking gear before you-- DELTA-1 "Vegeta": Cool it, Lannie.
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": We still got 'em. DELTA-8 "Lanrutcon": ...whatever... DELTA-3 "MegaMek": ...What was... BETH!
DELTA-2 "Bethryn": Bethr--RRRGL!
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": ...Delta-2! ...Hold still...
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": Are you alright? DELTA-2 "Bethryn": <gasp>...think <gasp> ...so DELTA-4 "Notorious": More contacts coming out of the UFO!
DELTA-4 "Notorious": Fuck. DELTA-1 "Vegeta": Pull back, Delta. We need some space; if that other octopus-thing comes out of the woodwork while we're in a fire fight with those Sectoids...
DELTA-2 "Bethryn": ...Speak of the devil...
DELTA-8 "Lanrutcon": Watch it, Mega! Incoming!
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": ...is it the red armor? jesus... DELTA-1 "Vegeta": Open-up on 'em, Delta!
DELTA-4 "Notorious": Only one straggler still up; I'm pushing-in on him! DELTA-3 "MegaMek": I'm right behind you!
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": There he is.
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": Jesus, he's still--
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": Nope.
DELTA-4 "Notorious": Visual on the pilot.
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": Zone's clear, HQ. Get some white coats & hard hats topside.
The looks on their faces when I told them that we were going to be shipping the ET materials off to logistics...
This is going to be an extremely rough month.
I had a very, very long discussion with our budget & intel offices to get a breakdown of what we fundamentally need right now. Item #1: additional data links:
...Item #2: Additional space. Which means tunneling-out a sub-basement:
...Item #3: Additional power infrastructure. We've been losing important time & data to brown-outs:
...Item #4: Increased detection capability:
This was The Month of the Great XCOM Fire Sale. Fuck me stupid; this spaaaaaaawwwwwwwwn. I even waited to see if i could get an Abduction mission before selling all of that; no dice. We needed to pitch it to buy sat capability in time for the end of the month.
I even had to sell a teensy tiny bit of Elerium (and far, far more alloy than you're ever supposed to be selling at this point).
btw you're never ever supposed to sell even 1 unit of Elerium and you know that things are grim when you are selling that shit FFFFFfffffffffffffffffffffffffff
On the brighter side, we do now have our modified TASER systems ready for service, and the labs are making progress on a new weapons system based on some reverse-engineered ET tech. I look forward to seeing the end product of that research.
APRIL 11TH, 2015. 1730 HOURS.
OPERATION DEMON THORN
LAGOS, NIGERIA
...BEGIN MISSION RECORDER PLAYBACK...
Director: Delta, report status. DELTA-1 "Vegeta": On the ground and status yellow, HQ. LZ's clean. DELTA-4 "Notorious": Starting sweep. Let's breach this bitch.
Director: We've got a read on a Meld cache in your area, Delta. Bring it in. DELTA-1 "Vegeta": Copy that.
DELTA-4 "Notorious": Structure's clear. Shifting to the lot.
DELTA-4 "Notorious": Visual on Meld. Moving to secure. DELTA-3 "MegaMek": I've got your back.
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": Woah! Contact!
DELTA-8 "Lanrutcon": ...Where? I've got no visual. DELTA-3 "MegaMek": It's an octopus. Went AWOL. DELTA-1 "Vegeta": Copy; keep on your toes, Del-- DELTA-6 "Rizzie": Vegeta! On your six!
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": ...Good shooting. Holy shit, I hate those Goddamn--
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": Additional contacts! Sectoids near the 18 wheelers! DELTA-1 "Vegeta": I see 'em... bah, they're in full retreat. Keep alert, Delta: we don't want to be caught between those assholes and another octopus. I'm assuming this one wasn't travelling alone.
DELTA-4 "Notorious": WoooOOOOoo! DELTA-6 "Rizzie": ...whew... Thanks. DELTA-4 "Notorious": ...I've got a bead on that Sectoid's pal, too.
DELTA-4 "Notorious": I love this gun. DELTA-1 "Vegeta": Alright Delta, contacts are all status black. Group up and check those trucks. DELTA-8 "Lanrutcon": Copy. DELTA-3 "MegaMek": Copy. DELTA-6 "Rizzie": Copy. DELTA-4 "Notorious": Copy.
DELTA-4 "Notorious": Woah. Delta, we've got some civvies over--
DELTA-4 "Notorious": Hey! Where you fellas runnin' off t-- Director: Delta! Those are NOT civilians! I repeat, those are ETs! Waste 'em! DELTA-4 "Notorious": ...Son of a....
DELTA-4 "Notorious": Got 'em pinned back.
DELTA-8 "Lanrutcon": Shame about the suit.
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": Eh. Not a fan of the color, myself. DELTA-1 "Vegeta": Heads-up!
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": Motherfucking... light 'em up! DELTA-8 "Lanrutcon": On it. DELTA-6 "Rizzie": On it.
DELTA-4 "Notorious": I got a little somethin' for the one behind the truck.
DELTA-4 "Notorious": Whoo. Now that is some shit right there. DELTA-3 "MegaMek": ...That is the most revolting I smell I have ever...
Audio log of reserve pilot "Takel" - 05:30 2015-04-11
So, where to start? It's been more than a month since the world's gone to the shitter with these bloody Xenos gatecrashing the party. Not like we already had our hands full trying to deal with every Tom, Dick and Harry blowing each over, or themselves, up over some petty argument. Petty is relative, of course, because now we have a far technologically superior menace threatening our enslavement, or extinction, or whatever; we don't even know why they're here yet for goodness' sakes!
But I'm rambling. It's been a stressful month and it's been a miracle that we haven't lost a man yet to this invasion despite being outnumbered and out-gunned every time we try to claw back from the brink. Meanwhile we've got a bunch of men and women, myself included, chomping at the bit to get out there and do our part but we're getting knocked back for 'budgetary' reasons. Hell hath no fury compared to the glares the scientists were giving when they were told they wouldn't even get a glimpse at the parts we pulled out of that fully intact UFO. No, all of the loot got shipped off to some big wig's personal museum for what? Just so we can get 5 days with a couple of earthmovers. You'd think we'd get some concessions when we're trying to save the bloody world...
Anyhow, Bid Bird's heading off to Nigera to halt a wave of abductions. As much as I'd love to get my own bird and shoot down some UFOs, I have to say it's a little disconcerting that the decision was made immediately despite Australia calling for assistance; and they're on the verge of freaking out over there as well. I'm sure it's just a coincidence that the African Union was willing to give us 200... what do they call them? Simoleans? outright to compensate for our interception. XCOM is charged with the defence of what's left of humanity and the world. We are above petty politiking and bribes in getting the job done. I just hope Delta team gets back in one piece. This fight is escalating. If the procedure on 'Notorious' wasn't disturbing; having your limbs lopped off and all, the last combat report mentioned the Xenos have gone all out and grafted torsos to jetpacks.
XCOM mostly looks great in motion, but my God, some of it really looks awful when you're screenshotting it. Like, the flamethrower effect looks fine, most of the gun tracers look fine, the explosions look fine... but some of the alien models are janky as Hell, and those blood particle effects... holy shit, they look like they were rendered on an N64 or something.
You've had long enough. Our supposed "foe" selected the one choice we wanted them to. I trust that your efforts in Birmingham and Brisbane are paying off as we speak.
I expect results or otherwise I'm going to retask your entire division's families to Alien Enticement.
Hello, Commander. This reader is pleased with the progress of the XCOM Project thus far. Your recent results have been beyond my expectations, and that is not a statement this reader makes lightly.
As a point of order, would it be possible to wrap future AARs in spoiler tags? Not only does it maintain a sense of suspense, but it makes it much easier to navigate the page without constantly having to scroll down because more images (from old posts that have already been read) keep popping in and lengthening the page.
This is especially problematic when phone-foruming.
I thought he'd come in to apologize for his previous outburst. He looked incredibly somber, and I was so sure for whatever reason that I saw a little bit of sunshine at the corners of his mouth.
'Director,' he said, 'There is something you need to see,'
And then the delegate from India unholstered his sidearm, pressed it's barrel against the side of his own head and... well, I imagine you know where things went from there.
At least we know where he went; the delegates from China and Australia are AWOL, and we can't get in communication with them at all.
The whole of Southeast Asia is fucking Planet Halloween right now; we have reports streaming in of people getting mauled, vaporized, sucked hundreds of feet into the air and simply vanishing... Japan seems to have been spared the worst of it, but the rest of this sector is being classified Code Black: Unrecoverable.
Until we can defeat the invasion, China, India and Australia are being amputated from all XCOM coverage. It's not worth the risk to try penetrating that airspace.
Yup, there goes our buffer. Was hoping it would hold out a little bit longer than this, but them's the breaks.
He has a metal voice. Why does he have a metal voice?
Everything he says, no matter how colourful, comes out in this calm, soothing, Star Trek-y artificial voice.
But only his arms and legs have been replaced with machines. Not his lungs, his larynx, his tongue, nothing that would alter his voice to such an extent.
Is it a byproduct of Meld? Or did Dr. Shen get a little too enthusiastic with cybernetic replacements?
And if so, can we really trust he won't go yet further still?
Also, I told you we shouldn't snub Asia again. But did you listen?
The alternative would have been Egypt and Nigeria hitting the panic zone. We have ONE satellite for this month as we didn't have the funds to purchase another one before the cut off date. That means we would have lost the 'All In' region bonus guaranteed.
Thinking back, yeah we probably should have gone to India instead of the US if we wanted to keep panic in check, but that would have come at the expense of a Sergeant and a 5 man squad.
He has a metal voice. Why does he have a metal voice?
Everything he says, no matter how colourful, comes out in this calm, soothing, Star Trek-y artificial voice.
But only his arms and legs have been replaced with machines. Not his lungs, his larynx, his tongue, nothing that would alter his voice to such an extent.
Is it a byproduct of Meld? Or did Dr. Shen get a little too enthusiastic with cybernetic replacements?
And if so, can we really trust he won't go yet further still?
Also, I told you we shouldn't snub Asia again. But did you listen?
Why do you think that only arms and legs are replaced? You can't even see the lungs.
We should have a 5 man squad with a flamer mec and two(?) heavies before the terror mission. We won't need upgraded equipment for the terror mission. '
He has a metal voice. Why does he have a metal voice?
Everything he says, no matter how colourful, comes out in this calm, soothing, Star Trek-y artificial voice.
But only his arms and legs have been replaced with machines. Not his lungs, his larynx, his tongue, nothing that would alter his voice to such an extent.
Is it a byproduct of Meld? Or did Dr. Shen get a little too enthusiastic with cybernetic replacements?
And if so, can we really trust he won't go yet further still?
Also, I told you we shouldn't snub Asia again. But did you listen?
Why do you think that only arms and legs are replaced? You can't even see the lungs.
Well, when you go to the 'create a MEC' screen, there's this image of a person and the arms and legs fade out, but not the torso. Implying that the only amputations that should be taking place are the arms and legs.
Yeah, we have two heavies: Lanrutcon, the drop-in Sergeant (please don't hit me!) and Rainfall. Those with a flamer MEC are going to see us through the corpse humpers rather handily.
We've missed the deadline for more sats before the end of the month, so really we have 200 fun bucks for infrastructure or equipment. Or we could just bank it towards getting 3 satellites for the next month. Not sure how much Meld we have left, but there is the option to grab a second MEC...
Posts
At the moment, if we can keep the entirety of the Americas and Egypt from capitulating we'd stand a good chance at their bonuses. Russia would be icing on top, but loosing Asia and Europe are... acceptable.
Priorities as I see them would be:
South America (literally weeks of interrogations and autopsies done instantly, and those instantly feed into quicker research times, and options for Gene Mods and Future Tech)
Then North America for pure money
Then Africa for the 30% income
taking Europe would be nice for its money output, but its bonus bascially allows about ~60$ savings and since we only need, at most, 3 workshops and 3 labs, thats only 360$ saved.
Its up to the director though, even if we put satellites up on countries in doomed regions, that is a region that is still open to abduction raids.
Steam - NotoriusBEN | Uplay - notoriusben | Xbox,Windows Live - ThatBEN
MARCH 22ND, 2015
First thing was a trip down to engineering to see Delta-4, now known around the base as, "Notorious Ben".
I, uh, think we can safely say that the gamble paid-off.
We're printing-off more forms; the doctors expect to see an increase in volunteer interest after soldiers see the weapons platform performing on the field.
We received the first 'club cards' today. I don't agree with this program, but what the Hell; anything to improve morale can't be wholly bad, I guess.
Delta-1 is our first Platinum Club member...
...while Beth is out first Silver Club member.
We incidentally located and extracted the sister of one of our flyboys during the last op; Natalia "Lanrutcon" Owsley.
That girl is not playing around. She's a former SEAL; she had grabbed a squad support weapon from a wiped-out National Guard unit - may they rest in peace - and killed at least 14 ETs by our count before we even arrived in the mission zone. She is now Delta-8.
It's my opinion that we would do ourselves a real service by spreading-around some of the expertise on hand; to that end, preparations for the construction of some dedicated education & training have been made.
We're running out of space on the ground floor; we're going to have to start digging-out basement & sub-basement levels soon.
As well, I'd like to state that I'm am most certainly pro-transhumanism, and will volunteer for anything regarding that end that you deem necessary.
Come get your needle today!
"The big wigs announced a club program recently. Tch. Bastards. The only thing to do in the entire base, and they put it behind a kill wall. I'm determined to get in there someday, so there's more to do than stare at the wall.
On another note. I caught a glimpse of "Notorious" today. When they said they were instituting a cybernetics program, I admit to having my doubts, and I still do. I mean, sure...He's going to do great in a fight. Probably run roughshod over the greys...But I get uneasy just looking at him. I think I'm with the head of engineering on this one. Where do we draw the line?
...End of log"
-recording ends-
EXALT has grown under the yoke of idiotic, inefficient, and corrupt governments of the world. In our existence, we have seen the futility of humanity. We have seen what humanity truly is: Weakness. We are a species that lives under the illusion that we are capable; we are strong; we are beings that have worth in existing. We do not. We are ignorant, feeble animals, yet we have the audacity to say that we are advanced, that we are civilized. We are as civilized as the vermin of the earth, clawing out each others' eyes, warring in the name of greed, "ethics", or "morality". Claiming our evil governments to be just and fair rules, while ignoring indignities and evils man has done to itself. The travelers, however, are different. They are greater. They bring clarity, truth, and enlightenment.
Humanity is foolish, the travelers are wise. Humanity is a genetic abomination on the world, the travelers are an evolved and advanced form of life, gods compared to the dirt of mankind, and are a premonition of what our glorious future in the galaxy and the cosmos beyond could be, if we accept their light. Humanity is weak. The travelers are strong.
To those profligates and wastrels who have ordained themselves "XCOM", who wave their banner in defense of mankind's pathetic state, we say this: Why persist in this the hopeless struggle? There is no victory for you. You will not stand in the way of progress. You will not stand in the way of humanity's evolution. Your fruitless actions will be for naught. You will be swept from this earth. There is nothing to achieve from your meaningless fight. There is no other choice than to follow the travelers, and advance mankind into such a potential that we may one day too, be like the travelers, strong, wise, and great.
We are waging our own war. We are waging a crusade, a crusade for the advancement of man, and the destruction of those in the way of man's future greatness.
We are the enlightened. We are EXALT.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXw6znXPfy4
Steam: abunchofdaftpunk | PSN: noautomobilesgo | Lastfm: sjchszeppelin | Backloggery: colincummings | 3DS FC: 1392-6019-0219 |
The 'travelers' are a bunch of fat-bellied grey babies that excel at dying to our supposedly inferior weaponry. They don't even have mouths with which to scream when our bullets take them.
But hey, if you want to be more like them - riddled with bullets - then I'm sure XCOM would be happy to be oblige.
Finishes reading the email and thinks for a moment before filing it under flag and respond later before finishing putting final coat of wax on his Raven
Battlenet: Judgement#1243
psn: KupoZero
DIRECTOR'S LOG
APRIL 4TH, 2015
I don't need this shit right now.
Yes, my staff has done an amazing job - an incredible job - this past month. I don't need to be told this, and anyone who might say otherwise can cram their opinion right up their asshole.
The lab has been working 24/7 on a solution for the challenge of capturing an ET & their weapon for study, and I've got plans on my desk right now for the construction of a containment structure: we just need the materials & green light from the logistics people. We don't have an appropriate stun-gun yet, but R&D feels that this is a small challenge given what they've learned so far of ET physiology; they think they can modify a TASER-brand electroshock gun to do the job.
We've set-up detection & interdiction capabilities over South America, basing VooDoo strike craft in Brazil. Make no mistake about it: this is absolutely an effort to placate some state delegates who have expressed concerns over XCOM's priorities.
HQ-TOMORROW is getting roomier every day. We're eating through a lot of our logistics budget to make it happen, but--
WARNING!
PERIMETER SENSORS TRIGGERED! INTRUDER PROFILE MATCHES EXTRATERRESTRIAL VEHICLE!
...WHAT!?
Currently playing: GW2 and TSW
OPERATION SOARING HEART
HQ-TOMORROW PERIMETER ZONE, JAPAN
...BEGIN MISSION RECORDER PLAYBACK...
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": Status yellow, HQ. I can hear the UFO, but I have no visual at thIs time.
Director: Copy that. We are treating this as a coincidence, Delta, nothing more; don't get distracted thinking about what's under your feet while you're topside.
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": Long time no see, Notorious. How was the, uh... procedure?
DELTA-4 "Notorious": ERROR; UNIT DELTA-4 DOES NOT UNDERSTAND COMMAND
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": ...
DELTA-4 "Notorious": Just playing with you. And the 'procedure' was fucking boss. I mean, look at this shit!
DELTA-4 "Notorious": And I sound like Goddamn Optimus Prime.
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": Form-up behind him, Delta. Standard sweep, and keep your eyes open for any Meld canisters while we're up here.
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": Copy.
DELTA-2 "Bethryn": Copy.
DELTA-8 "Lanrutcon": Copy.
Director: ...Well, now that you mention it, Delta, our scanners have sniffed-out a Meld cache in your area.
DELTA-4 "Notorious": Yeah, copy that, I've got a visual...
DELTA-4 "Notorious": Oh, shhiii... contact. i don't think they've seen us yet.
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": sectoids?
DELTA-4 "Notorious": naw... looks airborne. and mechanical. never seen something like this before.
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": okay. keep a low profile, delta, and inch forward. set-up an ambush--
DELTA-4 "Notorious": fuck. they're movin'...
DELTA-4 "Notorious": fuck. motherFUCK.
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": What the Hell?
DELTA-8 "Lanrutcon": ...They bugged out?
DELTA-2 "Bethryn": How did they--
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": Contact! UFO door!
DELTA-8 "Lanrutcon": ...That is... that is fucking disgusting. Oh my god, that smell...
DELTA-2 "Bethryn": HQ, are you getting this!? Holy shit.
Director: We see it. Looks like we're not the only ones asking soldiers to make sacrifices. Engage with extreme caution, Delta.
DELTA-8 "Lanrutcon": Well, those airframes they're grafted onto sure do give off a nice heat signature. Shredder in the air!
[Explosion]
DELTA-8 "Lanrutcon": GODFUCKINGDAMMIT! Fin came off as it was exiting the barrel! HQ, check your fucking gear before you--
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": Cool it, Lannie.
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": We still got 'em.
DELTA-8 "Lanrutcon": ...whatever...
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": ...What was... BETH!
DELTA-2 "Bethryn": Bethr--RRRGL!
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": ...Delta-2! ...Hold still...
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": Are you alright?
DELTA-2 "Bethryn": <gasp>...think <gasp> ...so
DELTA-4 "Notorious": More contacts coming out of the UFO!
DELTA-4 "Notorious": Fuck.
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": Pull back, Delta. We need some space; if that other octopus-thing comes out of the woodwork while we're in a fire fight with those Sectoids...
DELTA-2 "Bethryn": ...Speak of the devil...
DELTA-8 "Lanrutcon": Watch it, Mega! Incoming!
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": ...is it the red armor? jesus...
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": Open-up on 'em, Delta!
DELTA-4 "Notorious": Only one straggler still up; I'm pushing-in on him!
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": I'm right behind you!
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": There he is.
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": Jesus, he's still--
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": Nope.
DELTA-4 "Notorious": Visual on the pilot.
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": Zone's clear, HQ. Get some white coats & hard hats topside.
...MISSION RECORDER PLAYBACK ENDS...
Steam - NotoriusBEN | Uplay - notoriusben | Xbox,Windows Live - ThatBEN
DIRECTOR'S LOG
APRIL 11TH, 2015
This is going to be an extremely rough month.
I had a very, very long discussion with our budget & intel offices to get a breakdown of what we fundamentally need right now. Item #1: additional data links:
...Item #2: Additional space. Which means tunneling-out a sub-basement:
...Item #3: Additional power infrastructure. We've been losing important time & data to brown-outs:
...Item #4: Increased detection capability:
I even had to sell a teensy tiny bit of Elerium (and far, far more alloy than you're ever supposed to be selling at this point).
btw you're never ever supposed to sell even 1 unit of Elerium and you know that things are grim when you are selling that shit FFFFFfffffffffffffffffffffffffff
On the brighter side, we do now have our modified TASER systems ready for service, and the labs are making progress on a new weapons system based on some reverse-engineered ET tech. I look forward to seeing the end product of that research.
REGION SELECTED FOR INTERDICTION
TEAM DELTA, REPORT TO SKYRANGER PLATFORM IN FIELD GEAR
OPERATION DEMON THORN
LAGOS, NIGERIA
...BEGIN MISSION RECORDER PLAYBACK...
Director: Delta, report status.
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": On the ground and status yellow, HQ. LZ's clean.
DELTA-4 "Notorious": Starting sweep. Let's breach this bitch.
Director: We've got a read on a Meld cache in your area, Delta. Bring it in.
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": Copy that.
DELTA-4 "Notorious": Structure's clear. Shifting to the lot.
DELTA-4 "Notorious": Visual on Meld. Moving to secure.
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": I've got your back.
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": Woah! Contact!
DELTA-8 "Lanrutcon": ...Where? I've got no visual.
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": It's an octopus. Went AWOL.
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": Copy; keep on your toes, Del--
DELTA-6 "Rizzie": Vegeta! On your six!
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": ...Good shooting. Holy shit, I hate those Goddamn--
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": Additional contacts! Sectoids near the 18 wheelers!
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": I see 'em... bah, they're in full retreat. Keep alert, Delta: we don't want to be caught between those assholes and another octopus. I'm assuming this one wasn't travelling alone.
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": Meld's ours.
DELTA-6 "Rizzie": Smoke's out.
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": ...Well, look who came wandering back.
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": ...Regrouping...
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": RIZZIE! DUCK!
DELTA-6 "Rizzie": ohjesusfuckingchr--
DELTA-4 "Notorious": WoooOOOOoo!
DELTA-6 "Rizzie": ...whew... Thanks.
DELTA-4 "Notorious": ...I've got a bead on that Sectoid's pal, too.
DELTA-4 "Notorious": I love this gun.
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": Alright Delta, contacts are all status black. Group up and check those trucks.
DELTA-8 "Lanrutcon": Copy.
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": Copy.
DELTA-6 "Rizzie": Copy.
DELTA-4 "Notorious": Copy.
DELTA-4 "Notorious": Woah. Delta, we've got some civvies over--
DELTA-4 "Notorious": Hey! Where you fellas runnin' off t--
Director: Delta! Those are NOT civilians! I repeat, those are ETs! Waste 'em!
DELTA-4 "Notorious": ...Son of a....
DELTA-4 "Notorious": Got 'em pinned back.
DELTA-8 "Lanrutcon": Shame about the suit.
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": Eh. Not a fan of the color, myself.
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": Heads-up!
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": Motherfucking... light 'em up!
DELTA-8 "Lanrutcon": On it.
DELTA-6 "Rizzie": On it.
DELTA-4 "Notorious": I got a little somethin' for the one behind the truck.
DELTA-4 "Notorious": Whoo. Now that is some shit right there.
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": ...That is the most revolting I smell I have ever...
...MISSION RECORDER PLAYBACK ENDS...
Steam - NotoriusBEN | Uplay - notoriusben | Xbox,Windows Live - ThatBEN
XCOM mostly looks great in motion, but my God, some of it really looks awful when you're screenshotting it. Like, the flamethrower effect looks fine, most of the gun tracers look fine, the explosions look fine... but some of the alien models are janky as Hell, and those blood particle effects... holy shit, they look like they were rendered on an N64 or something.
You've had long enough. Our supposed "foe" selected the one choice we wanted them to. I trust that your efforts in Birmingham and Brisbane are paying off as we speak.
I expect results or otherwise I'm going to retask your entire division's families to Alien Enticement.
Do not fail us.
Director
EXALT
He stirs.
Hello, Commander. This reader is pleased with the progress of the XCOM Project thus far. Your recent results have been beyond my expectations, and that is not a statement this reader makes lightly.
As a point of order, would it be possible to wrap future AARs in spoiler tags? Not only does it maintain a sense of suspense, but it makes it much easier to navigate the page without constantly having to scroll down because more images (from old posts that have already been read) keep popping in and lengthening the page.
This is especially problematic when phone-foruming.
DIRECTOR'S LOG
APRIL 11TH, 2015
I thought he'd come in to apologize for his previous outburst. He looked incredibly somber, and I was so sure for whatever reason that I saw a little bit of sunshine at the corners of his mouth.
'Director,' he said, 'There is something you need to see,'
And then the delegate from India unholstered his sidearm, pressed it's barrel against the side of his own head and... well, I imagine you know where things went from there.
At least we know where he went; the delegates from China and Australia are AWOL, and we can't get in communication with them at all.
The whole of Southeast Asia is fucking Planet Halloween right now; we have reports streaming in of people getting mauled, vaporized, sucked hundreds of feet into the air and simply vanishing... Japan seems to have been spared the worst of it, but the rest of this sector is being classified Code Black: Unrecoverable.
Until we can defeat the invasion, China, India and Australia are being amputated from all XCOM coverage. It's not worth the risk to try penetrating that airspace.
Everything he says, no matter how colourful, comes out in this calm, soothing, Star Trek-y artificial voice.
But only his arms and legs have been replaced with machines. Not his lungs, his larynx, his tongue, nothing that would alter his voice to such an extent.
Is it a byproduct of Meld? Or did Dr. Shen get a little too enthusiastic with cybernetic replacements?
And if so, can we really trust he won't go yet further still?
Thinking back, yeah we probably should have gone to India instead of the US if we wanted to keep panic in check, but that would have come at the expense of a Sergeant and a 5 man squad.
or do we throw every cent we have at satellites before the spiral of death kicks in?
Currently playing: GW2 and TSW
Why do you think that only arms and legs are replaced? You can't even see the lungs.
Well, when you go to the 'create a MEC' screen, there's this image of a person and the arms and legs fade out, but not the torso. Implying that the only amputations that should be taking place are the arms and legs.
And yet...
I don't think we've built a genetics lab yet.
We've missed the deadline for more sats before the end of the month, so really we have 200 fun bucks for infrastructure or equipment. Or we could just bank it towards getting 3 satellites for the next month. Not sure how much Meld we have left, but there is the option to grab a second MEC...
Currently playing: GW2 and TSW