also, I can't stop giggling at that picture of the pre-ops briefing in the sky ranger. 3 MECs sitting on one side, maybe a non committal grunt or something. and in the cockpit, the pilot is bitching about weight distribution.
also, I can't stop giggling at that picture of the pre-ops briefing in the sky ranger. 3 MECs sitting on one side, maybe a non committal grunt or something. and in the cockpit, the pilot is bitching about weight distribution.
That's part of their resource conservation program. Whichever way they need to turn, they have the MECs move over to that side.
Recon Log:
I think the director is still mad because I *borrowed* his single malt... during the base raid...
Got sent out as bait in the last mission with a bunch of goddamned transformers and a guy from our "Special" Ops. Kept going on and on about getting a mexican hat, even while the shots were flying. I'll probably die next mission, but if we're all the world has got...
An incredibly sensitive situation has developed at a hydroelectric dam in France; we have intelligence suggesting that a transport vehicle loaded with a possible WMD - possibly a under EXALT control - has been disabled by a strafing UFO attack. Local authorities are unable to approach the area, and the kind of 'worst case scenario' that could be created by a big bomb exploding on top of that big dam hardly needs an explicit description.
We're taking the call for this one. 'Machine Gun' and a small team are headed out to secure and/or disable whatever weapon is in that truck before it does any damage, as well as mop-up any EXALT or ET stragglers.
...I can't explain why, but for some reason I have a bad feeling about this op.
OPERATION 'DELUGE'
JULY 25, 2015
DELTA-10 "Machine Gun": ...We're on site, HQ. Status yellow. Place is a mess. Director: How healthy does the dam itself look? DELTA-10 "Machine Gun": I'm not exactly a civil engineer, HQ, but I didn't see what I'd call serious damage to her superstructure while we were flying in. Director: Copy that, Delta. Proceed as you see fit and report anything unusual.
DELTA-10 "Machine Gun": Delta 5, we could use a little more situational awareness. Get on top of that eastern tower and take a peek around. DELTA-5 "Anubis": Roger.
DELTA-10 "Machine Gun": Delta 3, do you-- Director: Delta, update status to red! Repeat, you are status red! We're picking up electromagnetic spikes on our end consistent with--
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": Jesus! Beth, watch the flank! ET delivery!
DELTA-2 "Bethryn": Ugh, that's not what I ordered. I'm sending it back. And I'd like to talk to the manager. DELTA-5 "Anubis": Wait - I think I've got your order right here, Bethryn.
DELTA-2 "Bethryn": That's more like it.
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": Aw, poor thing. It doesn't know where we went. DELTA-10 "Machine Gun": Yeah. 'Poor thing'.
DELTA-10 "Machine Gun": Back to status yellow. Delta 5, continue up the tower. DELTA-5 "Anubis": I'm there.
DELTA-10 "Machine Gun": What's picture, Delta 5?
DELTA-5 "Anubis": ...I've got sights on a pack of Skinnies. They're fiddling around with... something.
DELTA-5 "Anubis": ...Heh. Almost looks like he's-- Director: Delta, that area is status black as of this moment. Commit to an immediate emergency evac. DELTA-3 "MegaMek": ...What? DELTA-5 "Anubis": ...But what about-- DELTA-10 "Machine Gun": You heard the order, Delta. Fall back to the ship. Let's move it.
Director: Double time it, Delta! Move it! Get out, now!
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": What's that--oh my God... DELTA-10 "Machine Gun": Go! GO! HAUL THAT FUCKING ASS OF YOURS, SOLDIER! DELTA-5 "Anubis": I'll... I'll never-- DELTA-2 "Bethryn": ...I can't... I don't-- DELTA-10 "Machine Gun": TAKE OFF! TAKE-- Director: Delta, are you airborne yet? Delta, are you out!? ...Delta, respond! Machine Gun, talk to me! God fucking damn this piece of sh...
MISSION RECORDER PLAYBACK ENDS
ALERT : INBOUND PRIORITY 1 VIDEO COMMUNIQUE
Director: I will not accept this decision. You cannot simply pull the plug on our logistics support. We have done everything-- The Featureless Man: HQ-Tomorrow cannot continue to operate within the XCOM framework in the shadow of this emerging new political landscape. I am sorry. Director: I won't let my people become your fall guys! ...Look, just give me-- The Featureless Man: I am sorry, director. Something had to give, and that something was HQ-Tomorrow. This conversation is over. Make your resignation preparations.
Director's Final Report
August 25, 2015
The good news? We didn't lose Machine Gun's team last month, despite a frightening 2 hour window where we lost all contact with them. They were re-deployed, along with most of HQ-Tomorrow's personnel, shortly after our logistics support was pulled.
Yeah. That would be the bad news.
EXALT had their hands on a kinetic kill satellite weapon beacon & trigger. I have no idea how they obtained it, and I no longer have the resources at my disposal to try and investigate... not that it really matters at this point anyway. It was American in origin, though.
ET then got their hands on it, with predictable results.
The tungsten orbital strike rod missed the beacon, which is the only reason our skyranger got out. The shockwave from the impact catastrophically fractured the dam, though, and that... well. We're not sure yet whether the rod itself or the deluge from the dam collapsing did more damage. That'll probably be debated forever by those who care about such details.
French delegates accused American delegates of being traitors. Someone leaked confidential XCOM intel out, presumably in retaliation, that resulted in U.S. satellites being knocked out by ET. HQ-Tomorrow is caught in the crossfire of this drama because we had a team on the ground at the fucking dam, so that paints us with suspicious colors. It probably doesn't help that my previous vocation involved work at the White House.
Things kind of spiralled into a political shitstorm from there. People starting talking about 'peace deals', we were told to fall on XCOM's sword so that some of the project could be salvaged, we lost our ability to combat ET in any meaningful way.
So, I guess that's how it ends. Even in the face of an omnimalevolent extraterrestrial force, somehow, we fucking find a way to start blaming each other and trying to work an angle to maybe get cozy with the monsters that only wants to lay eggs in your chest cavity. Fan fucking tastic.
Even Alan Moore was too optimistic. How do you like that?
HQ-Tomorrow director signing off in contempt & disgrace.
Unofficial Log of former Captain 'Vegeta', Delta-1
August 26, 2015
You fuck sticks think this is over? Is that a joke? Are you joking?
No, this is not over.
Yeah, Delta no longer has the tools at it's disposal take on ET.
For now, anyway,
But I ain't going quietly into that sweet night, and I heard a story from a little birdy about an office building in downtown Cologne.
And I'm pretty sure that Delta has all it needs to go knock on that little wooden door.
OPERATION 'DEMON GOD' WARNING: UNSANCTIONED ACTIVTY
AUGUST 27, 2015
MISSION RECORDER PLAYBACK BEGINS
DELTA-4 "Notorious": This is the place, Chunk? DELTA-9 "Smokestack": Yes. This is place Chunk sees when he sleeps. DELTA-1 "Vegeta": Alrighty then. Gaddez, you mind ringing their doorbell for us? BRAVO-1 "Gaddez": My pleasure.
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": ...Mighty shame about that electrical fire. DELTA-4 "Notorious": Yeah. Faulty wiring will get you every time. I'm just glad nobody got hurt. DELTA-9 "Smokestack": ...But Ben, people did get hurt though. Chunk even-- BRAVO-1 "Gaddez": Just eat your ice cream, Chunk. We'll be home soon. DELTA-9 "Smokestack": ...Kay.
MISSION RECORDER PLAYBACK ENDS
OOC Post Mortem
Whew.
Okay, so first I just have to apologize for largely abandoning this project so long ago (Geddit? Euhuhuhuhu); I honestly had no concept going into it of how much would it would be to keep this type of LP going. Guys, it is really hard work, holy shit. Or for me it was, anyway. x.x
I never did forget about it, though, and had thought about resuming it a few times (and then chickening out). So, finally, with XCOM 2 actually now be a preloaded piece of software on my machine I thought, "Fuck it. Now's as good a day as any to bring some closure to that old LP. Because why not?"
So, here we have it: the canon ending. HQ-Tomorrow, a victim of political squabbling and infighting. Oh, humanity, you rascals you!
Yes, this is kind-of a cop out, but I just don't have what it takes to follow something like this all the way through I guess.
If anyone did still care enough about this to read this last piece of the LP, I hope you found the conclusion at least somewhat fitting.
Also... just in case anyone is curious, I intentionally binned Deluge just to see if there was some cool cutscene of the dam collapsing or something, so I could use it for screenshots.
Nope. There isn't. Your soldiers just die in a black void and there's some vaguely collapse-sounding SFX.
Oh well.
Thanks for participating in this, effort (such as it was), folks. At the time it was being regularly updated, this was one of the few ongoing things in my life that got me out of my bed in the morning, and mostly that was just down to the fact that you were all a bunch of cool cats to share a story with.
These characters are all going into my character pool. Even the EXALT people (courtesy of XCOM 2's EXALT bandanas).
I'm masticating on the idea of maybe doing a blind LP of XCOM 2, as a narrative continuation of this LP... but I dunno. I wouldn't want to start another LP and just leave it hanging again if I get de-motivated.
These characters are all going into my character pool. Even the EXALT people (courtesy of XCOM 2's EXALT bandanas).
I'm masticating on the idea of maybe doing a blind LP of XCOM 2, as a narrative continuation of this LP... but I dunno. I wouldn't want to start another LP and just leave it hanging again if I get de-motivated.
I've heard that XCOM2 saves can actually be loaded so you can watch a replay of a mission and change the camera angles up for screenshots.
That does make the recording and capture of gameplay easier at least. But from experience the main thing that sucks is actually writing the update. But hell. It'd be a ride to see Xcom resurrected from the ashes. The survivors grizzled vets of the first war.
As part of my self-assigned role as the designated covert operative, I remember thinking up a bunch of increasingly implausible excuses to explain my many sudden absences from the XCOM base. Wish I could still remember them.
Posts
Steam - NotoriusBEN | Uplay - notoriusben | Xbox,Windows Live - ThatBEN
That's part of their resource conservation program. Whichever way they need to turn, they have the MECs move over to that side.
I think the director is still mad because I *borrowed* his single malt... during the base raid...
Got sent out as bait in the last mission with a bunch of goddamned transformers and a guy from our "Special" Ops. Kept going on and on about getting a mexican hat, even while the shots were flying. I'll probably die next mission, but if we're all the world has got...
Fuck, where's that whiskey?
Ahh.
Alright. Back to the trenches.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-27210992
Destiny Profile : http://www.bungie.net/en/Profile/254/7028016
I immediately cringed when I saw that story recently.
Also, the return of this thread has me SO HAPPY.
--Mark Twain
July 25, 2015
An incredibly sensitive situation has developed at a hydroelectric dam in France; we have intelligence suggesting that a transport vehicle loaded with a possible WMD - possibly a under EXALT control - has been disabled by a strafing UFO attack. Local authorities are unable to approach the area, and the kind of 'worst case scenario' that could be created by a big bomb exploding on top of that big dam hardly needs an explicit description.
We're taking the call for this one. 'Machine Gun' and a small team are headed out to secure and/or disable whatever weapon is in that truck before it does any damage, as well as mop-up any EXALT or ET stragglers.
...I can't explain why, but for some reason I have a bad feeling about this op.
JULY 25, 2015
DELTA-10 "Machine Gun": ...We're on site, HQ. Status yellow. Place is a mess.
Director: How healthy does the dam itself look?
DELTA-10 "Machine Gun": I'm not exactly a civil engineer, HQ, but I didn't see what I'd call serious damage to her superstructure while we were flying in.
Director: Copy that, Delta. Proceed as you see fit and report anything unusual.
DELTA-10 "Machine Gun": Delta 5, we could use a little more situational awareness. Get on top of that eastern tower and take a peek around.
DELTA-5 "Anubis": Roger.
DELTA-10 "Machine Gun": Delta 3, do you--
Director: Delta, update status to red! Repeat, you are status red! We're picking up electromagnetic spikes on our end consistent with--
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": Jesus! Beth, watch the flank! ET delivery!
DELTA-2 "Bethryn": Ugh, that's not what I ordered. I'm sending it back. And I'd like to talk to the manager.
DELTA-5 "Anubis": Wait - I think I've got your order right here, Bethryn.
DELTA-2 "Bethryn": That's more like it.
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": Aw, poor thing. It doesn't know where we went.
DELTA-10 "Machine Gun": Yeah. 'Poor thing'.
DELTA-10 "Machine Gun": Back to status yellow. Delta 5, continue up the tower.
DELTA-5 "Anubis": I'm there.
DELTA-10 "Machine Gun": What's picture, Delta 5?
DELTA-5 "Anubis": ...I've got sights on a pack of Skinnies. They're fiddling around with... something.
DELTA-5 "Anubis": ...Heh. Almost looks like he's--
Director: Delta, that area is status black as of this moment. Commit to an immediate emergency evac.
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": ...What?
DELTA-5 "Anubis": ...But what about--
DELTA-10 "Machine Gun": You heard the order, Delta. Fall back to the ship. Let's move it.
Director: Double time it, Delta! Move it! Get out, now!
DELTA-3 "MegaMek": What's that--oh my God...
DELTA-10 "Machine Gun": Go! GO! HAUL THAT FUCKING ASS OF YOURS, SOLDIER!
DELTA-5 "Anubis": I'll... I'll never--
DELTA-2 "Bethryn": ...I can't... I don't--
DELTA-10 "Machine Gun": TAKE OFF! TAKE--
Director: Delta, are you airborne yet? Delta, are you out!? ...Delta, respond! Machine Gun, talk to me! God fucking damn this piece of sh...
MISSION RECORDER PLAYBACK ENDS
Director: I will not accept this decision. You cannot simply pull the plug on our logistics support. We have done everything--
The Featureless Man: HQ-Tomorrow cannot continue to operate within the XCOM framework in the shadow of this emerging new political landscape. I am sorry.
Director: I won't let my people become your fall guys! ...Look, just give me--
The Featureless Man: I am sorry, director. Something had to give, and that something was HQ-Tomorrow. This conversation is over. Make your resignation preparations.
August 25, 2015
The good news? We didn't lose Machine Gun's team last month, despite a frightening 2 hour window where we lost all contact with them. They were re-deployed, along with most of HQ-Tomorrow's personnel, shortly after our logistics support was pulled.
Yeah. That would be the bad news.
EXALT had their hands on a kinetic kill satellite weapon beacon & trigger. I have no idea how they obtained it, and I no longer have the resources at my disposal to try and investigate... not that it really matters at this point anyway. It was American in origin, though.
ET then got their hands on it, with predictable results.
The tungsten orbital strike rod missed the beacon, which is the only reason our skyranger got out. The shockwave from the impact catastrophically fractured the dam, though, and that... well. We're not sure yet whether the rod itself or the deluge from the dam collapsing did more damage. That'll probably be debated forever by those who care about such details.
French delegates accused American delegates of being traitors. Someone leaked confidential XCOM intel out, presumably in retaliation, that resulted in U.S. satellites being knocked out by ET. HQ-Tomorrow is caught in the crossfire of this drama because we had a team on the ground at the fucking dam, so that paints us with suspicious colors. It probably doesn't help that my previous vocation involved work at the White House.
Things kind of spiralled into a political shitstorm from there. People starting talking about 'peace deals', we were told to fall on XCOM's sword so that some of the project could be salvaged, we lost our ability to combat ET in any meaningful way.
So, I guess that's how it ends. Even in the face of an omnimalevolent extraterrestrial force, somehow, we fucking find a way to start blaming each other and trying to work an angle to maybe get cozy with the monsters that only wants to lay eggs in your chest cavity. Fan fucking tastic.
Even Alan Moore was too optimistic. How do you like that?
HQ-Tomorrow director signing off in contempt & disgrace.
August 26, 2015
No, this is not over.
Yeah, Delta no longer has the tools at it's disposal take on ET.
For now, anyway,
But I ain't going quietly into that sweet night, and I heard a story from a little birdy about an office building in downtown Cologne.
And I'm pretty sure that Delta has all it needs to go knock on that little wooden door.
WARNING: UNSANCTIONED ACTIVTY
AUGUST 27, 2015
DELTA-4 "Notorious": This is the place, Chunk?
DELTA-9 "Smokestack": Yes. This is place Chunk sees when he sleeps.
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": Alrighty then. Gaddez, you mind ringing their doorbell for us?
BRAVO-1 "Gaddez": My pleasure.
EXALT Central Computer: WARNING. SECURITY BREECH.
EXALT Sentries: ...He... stirs?
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": WASTE 'EM!
[gunfire]
[gunfire]
[gunfire]
[gunfire]
DELTA-1 "Vegeta": ...Mighty shame about that electrical fire.
DELTA-4 "Notorious": Yeah. Faulty wiring will get you every time. I'm just glad nobody got hurt.
DELTA-9 "Smokestack": ...But Ben, people did get hurt though. Chunk even--
BRAVO-1 "Gaddez": Just eat your ice cream, Chunk. We'll be home soon.
DELTA-9 "Smokestack": ...Kay.
MISSION RECORDER PLAYBACK ENDS
OOC Post Mortem
Okay, so first I just have to apologize for largely abandoning this project so long ago (Geddit? Euhuhuhuhu); I honestly had no concept going into it of how much would it would be to keep this type of LP going. Guys, it is really hard work, holy shit. Or for me it was, anyway. x.x
I never did forget about it, though, and had thought about resuming it a few times (and then chickening out). So, finally, with XCOM 2 actually now be a preloaded piece of software on my machine I thought, "Fuck it. Now's as good a day as any to bring some closure to that old LP. Because why not?"
So, here we have it: the canon ending. HQ-Tomorrow, a victim of political squabbling and infighting. Oh, humanity, you rascals you!
Yes, this is kind-of a cop out, but I just don't have what it takes to follow something like this all the way through I guess.
If anyone did still care enough about this to read this last piece of the LP, I hope you found the conclusion at least somewhat fitting.
Also... just in case anyone is curious, I intentionally binned Deluge just to see if there was some cool cutscene of the dam collapsing or something, so I could use it for screenshots.
Nope. There isn't. Your soldiers just die in a black void and there's some vaguely collapse-sounding SFX.
Oh well.
Thanks for participating in this, effort (such as it was), folks. At the time it was being regularly updated, this was one of the few ongoing things in my life that got me out of my bed in the morning, and mostly that was just down to the fact that you were all a bunch of cool cats to share a story with.
Steam: abunchofdaftpunk | PSN: noautomobilesgo | Lastfm: sjchszeppelin | Backloggery: colincummings | 3DS FC: 1392-6019-0219 |
I won't scatter your sorrow to the heartless sea.
Now... ALL FOR REVENGE commander!
I hoped I would get to be president of ADVENT.
Or at least die as a named goon.
Well, it was a great LP while it lasted.
Do you have plans to go into XCOM2?
I'm masticating on the idea of maybe doing a blind LP of XCOM 2, as a narrative continuation of this LP... but I dunno. I wouldn't want to start another LP and just leave it hanging again if I get de-motivated.
I quite enjoyed being given the opportunity to contribute in small, creepy ways to the story you were unfolding.
I have XCOM2 preloaded and will be sending over a character to be used in the PA pool at large, so seeing this come back was a treat.
I may have to just go back through the whole damn thing...again. *smirks*
I've heard that XCOM2 saves can actually be loaded so you can watch a replay of a mission and change the camera angles up for screenshots.
I'm not making that up.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
I got some guidelines for making my guy now. I'll go support instead of heavy because I'm already part machine and I want to be a drone rigger now.
Steam - NotoriusBEN | Uplay - notoriusben | Xbox,Windows Live - ThatBEN
As part of my self-assigned role as the designated covert operative, I remember thinking up a bunch of increasingly implausible excuses to explain my many sudden absences from the XCOM base. Wish I could still remember them.