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

[Godzilla Blitz]

Welcome to Part Eight of X-COM II: The Earth’s Revenge!

The story of the brave men of FOFC fighting to save the planet from the alien invasion continues...

Recap
We are in the ninth month of the bloody way between Earth and the aliens. In the past month, the aliens have increased both the frequency and strength of their attacks on the planet. We have fought bravely, often winning stunning victories, but the waves of aliens seem endless, and each battle they chip away, killing an agent here, wounding one there, and wearing us down with an overwhelming amount of attacks. Although we are winning the battles, it seems clear that we are slowly losing the war.

To top it off, in early September, X-COM Intelligence learned that the aliens had built two new bases, one in Portugal and one in Germany, to service their expanding operations. Shortly thereafter, Germany informed us that they were cutting off our funding and siding with the aliens, making them the third European country to abandon our cause.

We retaliated immediately, striking against the Portuguese base and winning yet another victory, but once again losing serveral top agents in the process. Preparations to attack the German base have been going on over the past two weeks. X-COM has been rearranging forces, fighting more UFO incursions, and preparing for the assault on the newly discovered German base.

Yesterday, on September 13, X-COM received a command from the UN to launch a prepartory assault on the German base to soften the target for our the "real" assault by veteran agents later next week. We take the directive as an insult, as it basically dictates how we fight our war, and casually infers that the lives of our inexperienced agents are to be sacfificed for the greater cause. Nevertheless, on the morning of September 14, the initial assault on the German base launched. We are currently awaiting news of the attack from our trusty Skyranger pilot on the scene.

It is becoming ever so clear that no matter how well we fight against the aliens, our cause will be doomed unless we can take the battle to them directly. To that end, research has been increased to a feverish pace at all our X-COM facilities to develop the means to take the fight to the aliens on their home world. Initial indications, gained from questioning alien captives, are that the alien homeworld is somewhere in our solar system. Exactly where is not known, and to find this out, we will have to capture and question an alien leader, which it seems can only be found at alien bases. To this end, one of the goals of the current base assault is to capture a live leader for interrogation. If we can survive the mission, that is.

Welcome to part eight of our story. Read along as the fight rages on, the brave men of X-COM II slog their way through encounter after encounter against our deadly foe, and the fate of the planet hangs in the balance.

By way of explanation
This "dynasty" is a participatory story using the Microprose game X-COM: UFO Defense. If you'd like to sign up, just post here to let me know. You don't need to know anything about the game, basically you just read along and post comments as you like, although at times there are decisions to be made where input is requested. In almost all of those cases, you don't need to know anything about the game to make an equally bad decision as I usually do.

Past Links
Our current game:
X-COM II (Part I)
X-COM II (Part II)
X-COM II (Part III)
X-COM II (Part IV)
X-COM II (Part V)
X-COM II (Part VI)
X-COM II (Part VII)

Our first game:
X-COM I (We all died in this one)

[Alf]

Still 13 days for Alf III before he can see any action...

[Japherwaki]

Oh, this should go real well. I was starting to get pretty attached to my new character, horrible stats and all. I just hope he doesn't follow in the "proud" base assault tradition of his father.

Do we know what kind of aliens are at this base?

[Godzilla Blitz]

Whoops. More specials. The first part of the base assault...

66th Mission: German Base Assault: The Expendables (Part I)

The EU Skyranger hugs the ground as it hurtles northwest on the short, one-hour jaunt to the German base. There is nothing but tension inside the craft, as Astott and Sachmo II try to get this untested team of 12 inexperienced squaddies in the right frame of mind for launching an attack on a PSI-capable, Sectoid-infested base. In turn, the two men walk down the aisle of the Skyranger and offer quiet words of encouragement to these agents that are clearly in over their head. All Sachmo II and Astott can wonder is how many men will die in the next couple of hours.

The mission orders are simple:

1. Inflict as much damage on the alien base as possible.
2. If possible, capture the base commander.
3. Evacuate when command-control breaks down.
4. Leave no man behind.

The Skyranger slows for a few minutes, then hovers, then settles to the ground. The green light goes on, the ramp falls away, and the men scramble out. Within minutes they have cut their way through the vent grids and are rappelling into the dark base below…

Our troops today:

Alpha Team:
1. Sir Fozzie (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
2. Swaggs (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
3. Blade III (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
4. Marmel (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
5. Japherwaki II (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
6. Travis III (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
7. Wolfpack (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)

Bravo Team
1. Astott (Blaster Launcher, Power Suit)
2. Sachmo II (Blaster Launcher, Power Suit)
3. Afoci (Heavy Plasma, Stun Blaster, Power Suit)
4. Mr. Bug IV (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)
5. Condors II (Heavy Plasma, Stun Launcher, Power Suit)
6. Lokugh II (Heavy Plasma, Stun Launcher, Power Suit)
7. Katon II (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)

Once the assault force reaches the large horizontal shaft that runs over the interior of the base, they split up into two groups (the game does this automatically; I have no control over this). Alpha team heads west along the shaft; Bravo team heads east. Shortly, they arrive at vents over small supply rooms. Each team cuts its way through the grating and drops to the floor below. The seven men of each team are now in small rooms that lie over the main floor of the base. It’s hard to tell exactly, but the two teams look to be about 50 yards apart, which is hardly ideal: it would be much better to be near each other. Alpha team appears to be up against the west side of the base, maybe in the center of the facility. Bravo team appears to be in the north central area of the base. The two teams will have to fight as independent forces for at least the first portion of the attack, and more importantly, our Blaster Launchers are both in Bravo Team. Damn it.

Wolfpack gets us going. He heads down the grav-lift for Alpha team, reaches the bottom, and scans the main floor of the base. Three corridors run from the open room he is standing in: north, east, and south. He spots no movement, no sign of aliens. Japherwaki II is next down the shaft. He takes up a firing position a few feet away.

Astott (the game selects this as well) heads down the grav-lift first for Bravo team. He reaches the bottom and looks around. He is also in a large room. This one has four exits: one north that opens onto another room with some sort of smaller, walled lab inside it; ones east and south that open onto longer corridors that run off into the distance; and one west, that quickly butts into a T-intersection. It is hear that we catch first sight of the enemy: a Cyberdisc is hovering outside the room, at the left side of the T-intersection. It’s about 20 yards away, and has not seen us yet. Astott is too close to fire safely with the Blaster Launcher. Instead, he heads back up the grav-lift. Katon heads down immediately, drops to a knee, and opens fire: laser blasts streak towards the disc and slam into its tough hull. A couple of shots do some minor damage, but the thing quickly reacts and returns fire at Katon. Shots pepper the walls near him, but luckily all of them miss. Katon scrambles back up the grav-lift. Afoci gives it a go next. He drops down the lift, drops to a knee, and gets off a quick shot at the Cyberdisc before it can readjust its aim. Afoci’s aim is true, and his first hit sends the Cyberdisc up in a loud explosion that shatters any element of surprise that we may have had. X-COM 1, Aliens 0.

And here they come! Shots whiz over Afoci’s head from behind. He turns, and sees a Sectoid, standing in the small, interior lab in the room to our north. Afoci opens fire, but the shot is a tricky one: the interior room is walled, with only small windows opening on the interior. The Sectoid is firing from one of these covered positions. Afoci’s shots pepper the walls, but none hit. Mr. Bug IV and Condors II are next down the grav-lift. The two of them reach the bottom and join Afoci in trying to take out this Sectoid. Numerous plasma blasts streak back and forth across the short interval. Finally, Mr. Bug gets a shot through the window that explodes the Sectoid’s head in a splash of green. The thing screams and falls out of sight. X-COM 2, Aliens 0.

Back at Alpha team, Japherwaki II spots a Sectoid rushing up the corridor to his east, about 30 yards from our position. He opens fire on full auto, just as Sir Fozzie drops down the grav-lift to lend a hand. Japh’s shots miss wildly, but Sir Fozzie nails the Sectoid in the midsection and sends it sprawling to the ground. Wolfpack then heads north, to get some space between our now bunched up men. As he heads into the next room, he spots a Sectoid carrying a Blaster Launcher coming into this room from the east! He steps back behind cover. Swaggs drops down the grav-lift quickly and joins him. Together they then lean out and open fire on the unsuspecting Sectoid. Green plasma blasts rip up the room, and one of Swagg’s shots catches the Sectoid in the gut and blows the thing in half. X-COM 4, Aliens 0.

Suddenly, a wave of PSI-energy washes over our men! Katon, back up in the supply room with Bravo team, completely panics and freezes. Damn it! Astott, Sachmo II, and Lokugh II quick try to move behind him. Before they can get there, Katon screams something in Sectoid, twists, drops to a knee, and opens fire on the three men. Sachmo II takes three consecutive plasma blasts from three-feet away. One of the shots rips open the side of his Power Suit and penetrates deep into his torso. He screams and falls to the ground, blood pouring out of his midsection. Lokugh II snaps to his senses, and pulls the trigger on his Heavy Plasma. Plasma blasts slam into Katon’s armor and drive him back against the wall of the small supply room. One final blast catches him in the faceplate and breaks through to his skull, killing him instantly. Katon barely manages a scream before he drops to the ground. Damn it. X-COM 4, Aliens 2.

Back at Alpha Team, a Sectoid enters the long corridor that runs east from our entry room, about 40 yards away, and opens fire on Japh and Sir Fozzie. A stream of plasma sails towards the two men…

And goes between them! The Sectoid then ducks back down the corridor before we can get a shot off. And then another Sectoid appears at the same place! This one’s got a Blaster Launcher! Oh shit! We’re all bunched up! The creature fires. The missile sails down the corridor, right at Japherwaki II, Sir Fozzie, Wolfpack, and Swaggs…

It slams into the wall right behind them, and explodes with a…

(To be continued...)

[SirFozzie]

arrrrgghhhhh!

[Japherwaki]

And thus ends the short but suprisingly brilliant career of Japherwaki II.

Or does it?

Probably.

I hope the Sectoids have a good janitor, because that could be very messy.

[Tasan]

Duck?

Wow. All those II and IIIs are gonna become IIIs and IVs

Here's hoping for a dud, and being glad that I'm in my bed safe and sound at XCOM EU.

[JeeberD]

Maybe they'll get a dud like I did.

I hope...

[PsychoCop]

Don't leave us hanging!

[Fonzie]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz
It slams into the wall right behind them, and explodes with a…

... foot long pole, about which a slowly unravelling yellow flag reveals the bold, red-lettered word "BANG!"?

Followed by the exhalation of tense laughter? And thigh slapping?

Please?

[MrBug708]

I got another one


That being said, I'm a goner

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally posted by Fonzie
... foot long pole, about which a slowly unravelling yellow flag reveals the bold, red-lettered word "BANG!"?

Followed by the exhalation of tense laughter? And thigh slapping?

LOL! That was really good! Cracked me up.

Originally posted by Fonzie
Please?

No.

_____

Not trying to leave everyone hanging, but it'll take me some time to put up the next post. I'm still playing the rest of the mission. Maybe installment two on Thursday night? Part three on Friday, if there is a part three, that is.

[AStott]

I had to go and volunteer... *gulp* we are so dead.

Wait... must keep up my morale for the men... um... um...

[sachmo71]

Ghaaa!!!

[Blade6119]

hmmm....i still hate being dead...unfortunately i now have some more guys with me on the list again...

[Wolfpack]

I would say "Oh *!", but how do you do that when your torso and head are separated by a good 20 feet? Makes exhalation of words rather difficult.

[RendeR]

This is going to get ugly......

[JeeberD]

I'm glad that I've been on three missions and therefore didn't qualify for this one...

[The Afoci]

Well, I am not dead yet. Yippee!

[Katon]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz

7. Katon II (Heavy Plasma, Power Suit)

That was still the original. Katon II will be a better shot and slightly less prone to get taken over.

Sorry about that, Sachmo.

[Marmel]

Uh-oh, it is just going to be Travis, Wolfpack and myself left in Alpha.

[sachmo71]

Originally posted by Katon
That was still the original. Katon II will be a better shot and slightly less prone to get taken over.

Sorry about that, Sachmo.

Way to go, rookie.

Has anyone run the numbers on the casualty rate of the X-COM force?

[Wolfpack]

The missile sails down the corridor, right at Japherwaki II, Sir Fozzie, Wolfpack, and Swaggs…

Care to amend my chances of survival there, Marmel? Or do you know something I don't?

[Marmel]

Ooops. Make that Travis. Nice knowing you Wolfpack.

[Travis]

Originally posted by Marmel
Ooops. Make that Travis. Nice knowing you Wolfpack.

Guess now we know who the real alpha male is....

DON'T GO GUYS, IT'S SCARY IN HERE!

[Superman=#54]

Looks like the aliens will have meatloaf for dinner.

[tucker342]

uh oh this could get ugly.....

[Godzilla Blitz]

We're back!

66th Mission: German Base Assault: The Expendables (Part II)

(Previously on X-COM II)

The Sectoid then ducks back down the corridor before we can get a shot off. And then another Sectoid appears at the same place! This one’s got a Blaster Launcher! Oh shit! We’re all bunched up! The creature fires. The missile sails down the corridor, right at Japherwaki II, Sir Fozzie, Wolfpack, and Swaggs…

It hits the wall right behind them, and explodes with a…

(our story continues)

Fizz? Huh? Another dud? Holy crap, Japherwaki II’s luck does it again! The missile exploded, but it was just this little pop, and none of our men are hurt! Wow! This man is a Godsend! Once again, before we can return fire, the Sectoid disappears down a side corridor.

Alpha Team asks for fire support from Astott, who has our remaining Blaster Launcher, and then quickly spreads out. Marmel enters the grav-lift, drops to the main floor, and joins Swaggs and Wolfpack as they head once again into the north room. This room has a small grav-lift in the center, and corridors to the east and north. Swaggs breaks left to go around the left side of the walled-in grav-lift. Wolfpack heads right and goes for the east corridor, which opens onto a t-intersection. Marmel heads for the grav-lift. Back in the room to the south, Sir Fozzie heads towards the east corridor, towards the known enemy positions, but can spot nothing. Japherwaki II heads south, to explore the corridor leading that way.

As this goes on, Bravo Team, now down to five men, spreads out as well. Mr. Bug heads north into the small lab room, then breaks right to check out the room to the east. Afoci follows him, then breaks left to check the room that lies to the west. We’ve got to be a bit careful here, as we still aren’t 100% sure that the area behind the small lab is clear of aliens. Astott heads down the grav-lift, drops to a knee, and plots a firing course that he hopes will put a blaster missile right on top of the Sectoids that have been firing on Alpha Team. He double checks the course, then pulls the trigger. The missile winds its way through the base and slams into a section of wall right near where we think the Sectoids have taken cover. Kablammm! The explosion rocks the base, and we hear muffled Sectoid screams right after it! Yes! Astott took out at least one of them, and probably more! X-COM 5, Aliens 2.

Condors II moves away from Astott and heads for the corridor that runs east. Before he gets there, a blast of plasma flies in from behind him, goes over his head, and hits the wall right in front of him. He spins…

Sectoid, 15 feet away, heading right into the room! Condors II fires on full-auto, and catches the Sectoid with a glancing blow that messes its aim up, but the Sectoid keeps coming! As it enters the room, another Sectoid charges around the corner and steps in the room right behind the first one. The first Sectoid twists and fires at Astott from five-feet away. The shot cracks into AStott’s kneecap, crushes the armor, and snaps his leg back. Astott feels a biting pain in his lower leg as he falls to the ground. The second Sectoid fires at Condors II, but the shots fly just wide. Just as quickly, the two Sectoids spin and race back the way they came. Astott quickly winces through the pain, picks himself up, and tests his leg. He can barely put weight on it, but he should be ok to continue.

At almost the same time, back at Alpha Team, a Sectoid appears about ten feet from Japh, in a long corridor that leads towards our starting room from the south. It gets off a shot with a stun blaster that slams into the far wall of our entrance room, next to Sir Fozzie. The stun gas fills the air, but somehow Sir Fozzie manages to stay up. Japh, otherwise known as “The Man of Lightning Reflexes”, stands perfectly still in the face of this imminent threat, but Sir Fozzie—dazed and drugged—spins, opens fire, and skewers the Sectoid with a plasma blast to the groin. It clutches its crotch, screams, and drops to the ground! Suddenly, another Sectoid appears further down the corridor! This one’s got a Blaster Launcher too! Crap! It fires. The missile whizzes down the corridor, but once again Japh’s luck holds true: the missile clips the side of a wall 15 yards short of our position and explodes with a roar that sends a wave of smoke and debris over Japherwaki II and into our room. Japherwaki appears to be ok, but he can see nothing down the corridor except debris and smoke. X-COM 6, Aliens 2.

Just then, a wave of PSI-energy washes over our men. Condors II breaks out in a heavy sweat and starts erotic seeing visions of Sectoid Playmates in bikinis! He shakes off the vision and stays with us! Way to go, Condors, we need you!

Things are happening so fast it’s hard to keep up with the action! Back at Bravo team, we’ve got to take out those two Sectoids that nearly killed Astott and Condors. Afoci is just north of their position. He sprints west and loops into the north-south corridor that they disappeared down. As soon as he enters it, he comes upon the Sectoids from behind, prepping their next move into the room to their east. Afoci opens fire on full-auto from ten-feet away. Plasma blasts fly at the aliens, but all of them miss! Goddamn rookies! Condors, who can’t see the aliens, quickly preps and tosses a grenade through the room exit to land at the spot near them. Astott, who is standing in the blast radius, dives for cover. The two Sectoids turn to open fire at Afoci, but the grenade goes off just a fraction of a second before they can pull the trigger. The explosion tears both aliens apart, and sends smoke and metal fragments in all directions. Afoci is far enough away that he only gets peppered with light fragments that don’t penetrate his armor. Astott took cover well enough and receives no further wounds. Condors II, who is on the brink of going over to the enemy, was the furthest from the blast, and is fine. Still, Astott orders him to drop his weapons and get back up the grav-lift as quickly as possible. We can’t afford any more friendly fire casualties over here. X-COM 8, Aliens 2.

Back at Alpha Team, we’ve still got that damn Blaster Launcher alien somewhere to our south, unless he blew himself up with the last miss. Japh starts down the long corridor to the south, but it breaks into two parts to go around a large room, so Japh holds up for a moment to wait for more help. Marmel heads up the grav-lift to search the second floor room in the room to our entrance’s north, and finds it to be empty. Swaggs and Wolfpack continue moving north and east, respectively. Sir Fozzie enters the east corridor from our entrance room, and comes upon two Sectoids! One is 15-feet away and heading for our position; the other is directly in line with the first one, but about 30 yards further down the corridor. Sir Fozzie pulls the trigger on his heavy plasma: green plasma blasts tear towards the Sectoid, but all of them sail wide. Man, we need shooting practice! Sir Fozzie looks death in the eyes, as both Sectoids go for their triggers at the same time. The one furthest gets off his shot first. Plasma blasts streak towards Sir Fozzie…

(To be continued)

[The Afoci]

I am still not dead!!!!

[Godzilla Blitz]

By the way...

no one's answering at the Breeze residence, so...

Ring ring ring

Calling Zippy, Glen Goyne, and Chief Rum III. Report immediately to USA COM for processing. We need you!

[Chief Rum]

Chief Rum III is already at USA.COM!

He's been cleaning out toilets, mopping floors, and doing other odd-ends until he was called up. After all, he is a clone with no other skills, you know.

CR

[zippy256]

Zippy II reporting for duty!

I can't wait to blast some alien hide.

[SirFozzie]

Damnit GB.. are you doing this to drive me crazy? I have a feeling that this is it. Especially since you called up three, but we have two deaths so far

[Japherwaki]

Originally posted by SirFozzie
Damnit GB.. are you doing this to drive me crazy? I have a feeling that this is it. Especially since you called up three, but we have two deaths so far

Don't worry, he wouldn't tip his hand like that. Two died on the mission so far, and Breeze didn't answer the call to report for duty. There's your three.

Although, at some point in the last thread, when he mention my uncanny luck, he mentioned me blunding into a room with a couple of Floaters, and mentioned some sort of incident with a blaster launcher that I had no recollection of. I wonder if he had played the base assault mission up to that point when he made the post. I pulled this from the mission notes of the 64th Mission: Sands of Tibet.

Mission Notes:
Amazingly, after getting shot at four times from point blank range, Japherwaki II came through the mission unhurt! The scene played out almost identically to when Blade 6119 III got killed, but Japherwaki II came out of the thing with only scratches, whereas Blade 6119 got ripped apart. Japherwaki II is the second luckiest agent I have ever seen. First he survives a close range Blaster missile launch, now this. This is clearly a man who should buy himself a lottery ticket this weekend. Luck like this just doesn’t happen everyday.

Is the base mission what you were talking about here, GB, or am I just completely confused? Because I can't seem to remember any other incidents with a blaster launcher involving Japherwaki II.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally posted by sachmo71
Has anyone run the numbers on the casualty rate of the X-COM force?

I ran some a long time ago, when we were only about 20 missions in to X-COM II, and some for X-COM I. X-COM I was pretty high KIA rate, I think above 20% at the end. X-COM II was lower when I ran them, about 10%, if I remember right.

A rough guess would say we're at 10% KIA right now in X-COM II. This is mission #66, and there are almost always ten agents on a mission. We're just shy of 66 agents KIA. So I'd say 10%, give or take a point.

I'd be interested to see how we've died: what percentage due to mind control, friendly fire, and enemy fire. It seems like I have the most trouble with damn mind control. It would also be interesting to see what type of enemies have the highest kill percentage. For example, how many agents get killed by Sectoids for each Sectoid we kill? Say it's taken 300 Sectoids to kill 30 agents, that would give them a 10/1 ratio. I would have to bet that those Ethereals are the worst, but we haven't seen them for a while. Knock on wood.

I was bummed, though, when you bought it, Sachmo. That was going to be your 20th mission. You would have been the first to complete the tour. And I thought I had you in such a safe place, too.

[Blade6119]

cough cough medals!

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally posted by Japherwaki
Is the base mission what you were talking about here, GB, or am I just completely confused? Because I can't seem to remember any other incidents with a blaster launcher involving Japherwaki II.

My bad. I just went back and took a look at what the hell I was talking about. It was Jeeber D that took a blaster launcher missile from close range and survived (Mission 61 maybe? The German Supply Ship, the mission where Blade 6119 got shot up bad.). In that mission he took a blaster missile hit that was a dud. For some reason I got it in my head that you were the one that got the first dud too. I'll probably go back and rewrite the erroneous comments soon. Thanks for pointing it out!

[Coffee Warlord]

Psi attacks are by far the most brutal thing in the game. Blaster Launchers are #2, but nothing's worse than your own guys killing you, and they seem to just pound you with it.

Not to give anything away, but in the final final battle. I took 22 men (I think. However many the ubership lets you pack in there). I won with 3 left. 4 died in a blaster hit, 1 from a regular attack, the rest from psi.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally posted by Blade6119
cough cough medals!

I've been thinking about this and can't figure out what to do, so maybe a pool would be in order.

Basically, it takes me about as long to do five missions worth of medals as it does to play one mission. I go back and read the missions, figure out who deserves medals, write up comments, and then append the Troop Master List. All this takes time. It's not that I don't mind doing it, but it will slow us down by about 20% if I go back and start trying to catch up on medals.

So, what does everyone think? Is it worth slowing down the game to try to complete the medals list?

Let's do a poll!

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally posted by Coffee Warlord
Psi attacks are by far the most brutal thing in the game. Blaster Launchers are #2, but nothing's worse than your own guys killing you, and they seem to just pound you with it.

Not to give anything away, but in the final final battle. I took 22 men (I think. However many the ubership lets you pack in there). I won with 3 left. 4 died in a blaster hit, 1 from a regular attack, the rest from psi.

I agree completely. It is such a devasting weapon for the aliens.

Lately, I've found that I can reduce PSI casualties by checking each agent's morale after PSI attacks hit. If a guy's morale takes a big hit, I'm having him drop all weapons and try to get the hell out the battle. I've noticed in many cases that it takes two PSI hits to turn an agent over to the enemy, and by dropping weapons right after the first hit, they guy has nothing to fight with once he goes over. Not only that, but I think the aliens might be locking onto the same agent once they've turned him, so we can get them to in effect waste their PSI attacks on someone who can't do us any harm by doing this. If I can eventually get the guy away from the action for a while, sometimes he'll settle down enough to bring back into the fight later.

This doesn't always work, of course (just ask Sachmo II and Katon), but I'm hoping to reduce the PSI casualties by 50% or more by doing this.

By the way, your post didn't give anything away, but my god, 18 deaths out of 22 agents? Yikes! Suddenly the final mission has me scared, very scared.

[sachmo71]

No worries about me dying, Zilla. Just sign up my grandson!

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz
By the way, your post didn't give anything away, but my god, 18 deaths out of 22 agents? Yikes! Suddenly the final mission has me scared, very scared.

Did I mention it took me 15 or so tries to actually win at that level?

Course, I could just suck or something.

[PsychoCop]

Coffee: Do you do the 4 Saved games out of battle, and 3 Saved Games In Battle technique? hahaha. I do.

[Japherwaki]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz
By the way, your post didn't give anything away, but my god, 18 deaths out of 22 agents? Yikes! Suddenly the final mission has me scared, very scared.

Well, I don't want to scare you any more, but that ship actually holds 26 troops, not 22. So if he didn't take any tanks with him, he lost 23 of 26 agents. Happy hunting

Okay, so Japherwaki II has only survived one close run-in with a blaster launcher. That's still pretty darned lucky. Then there's still all that other stuff that happened, too. I attribute my success to eating lots of Lucky Charms and praying daily, among other things. Japherwaki II got very religous, very quickly on these last few missions.

I get the feeling that I'm going to be sent on all the really tough missions now, assuming I survive the base assault, just for my good luck effect. "Hey, let's send Japherwaki II first into that Ethereal battleship. He can survive anything."

That worries me a bit.

[JeeberD]

Originally posted by JeeberD
Maybe they'll get a dud like I did.

I hope...

Wheeee, I'm psycho...errr, psychic!!!


I was wondering if GB got Japh and me mixed up when he made the comment about Japh survivng the point blank blaster. I couldn't think of anyone else besides myself who had been that lucky. But of course, there are four others now. Welcome to the Survivor's Club guys.

[Glengoyne]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz
By the way...

no one's answering at the Breeze residence, so...

Ring ring ring

Calling Zippy, Glen Goyne, and Chief Rum III. Report immediately to USA COM for processing. We need you!

*Answers the Phone
YO!
*pause
YO!
*pause
OK I will pack my yo yo and be on the way.

[Godzilla Blitz]

66th Mission: German Base Assault: The Expendables (Part III)

(Previously on X-COM II)

Sir Fozzie enters the east corridor from our entrance room, and comes upon two Sectoids! One is 15-feet away and heading for our position; the other is directly in line with the first one, but about 30 yards further down the corridor. Sir Fozzie pulls the trigger on his heavy plasma: green plasma blasts tear towards the Sectoid, but all of them sail wide. Man, we need shooting practice! Sir Fozzie looks death in the eyes, as both Sectoids go for their triggers at the same time. The one furthest gets off his shot first. Plasma blasts streak towards Sir Fozzie…

(Our story continues)

And slam into the first Sectoid! Its back explodes with a sharp crack, green goo goes flying, and it drops to the ground, dead! Wow! What luck! Sir Fozzie, amazed to be alive, scrambles back behind a wall in our entrance room. Travis III, who has been patiently waiting with Blade III for the entrance room to clear, hops into the grav-lift and drops to the first floor. He rolls right, and comes up on one knee, directly in line with the long corridor. From 50 yards away, he opens fire on the Sectoid on full auto. His initial plasma blast zips down the corridor and nails the Sectoid in the head! It wails and drops to the ground! Nice shot! Way to show ‘em how! Travis then scurries back up the grav-lift, as we want to keep the room relatively uncrowded, with that enemy Blaster Launcher still on the loose. X-COM 10, Aliens 2.

Once again, a wave of PSI-energy hits us. Condors II manages once again to stay with us, but he’s looking mighty shaky as he rushes to the grav-lift.

We get a moment’s respite, and take a second to form some kind of a plan. Bravo team is down to four active members, but they have our heavy artillery and our stun launchers. Alpha Team is still at full strength. The base’s central command appears to be east of Alpha team and south of Bravo team, and this is where we can expect to find the Sectoid Commander. Bravo team doesn’t have enough men to attack the command area without leaving their flanks badly exposed. If we’re going to attack, we’ve got to link our two teams. Also, until we can link up, Bravo Team will not be able to effectively set up a defensive perimeter. The plan, then, is simple. Send Swaggs, Wolfpack, Marmel, and Blade III on a northward, then eastward sweep to link up with Bravo team. Once there, the eight men will launch an attack on the command area, using our two stun launchers up front in hopes of bagging the base leader, if it’s still alive. Sir Fozzie, Japh II, and Travis III will hold the end of the sweep, and fill in where needed. We move out.

Swaggs heads north, reaches the north wall of the base, and turns east. Blade III enters the grav-lift in our entrance room, heads down, then breaks north to join up with Wolfpack. The two of them wait for Swaggs to clear the north area. Suddenly, Marmel is hit with a massive blast of PSI-energy as he returns to the main floor of the base! His confidence shatters, and he starts singing the Teletubbi theme song! Wolfpack quickly orders him to drop all his weapons, which Marmel manages to do just a fraction of a second before he completely panics. He sprints back into our entrance room, then breaks south and heads straight for the enemy command center. Marmel, you’re going the wrong way!

Meanwhile, back at Bravo Squad, the same wave of PSI-energy that hit Marmel swamps Condors II. He goes completely over to the aliens! Good thing he dropped his weapons first! He starts alternately hissing and singing the Oscar Meyer theme song. While this goes on, Lokugh II gathers up Sachmo II’s blaster launcher, heads down the grav-lift, grabs the Stun Launcher that Condors II dropped, and heads north to hole up in the small lab until reinforcements arrive. Mr. Bug breaks east, and quickly searches the northeast room of the base: all clear. Astott then half limps, half jogs to that room to set up a firing position with the Blaster Launcher. Afoci heads north to take a look at a long corridor that runs along the north wall of the base. It is clear of aliens, and this should provide Alpha Team with a safe, fast route across the gap between the two teams.

Swaggs continues east, and makes it to the long corridor that runs along the north side of the base. Once there, Blade III sprints to catch him, and once he reaches him, the two of them head for Bravo Team’s position.

Back at Alpha Team, Travis III leaves the entrance room again, drops to the main floor of the base, and joins Wolfpack in the room to the north. Together they move east, and set up a firing position that covers possible alien approaches from the south. With Marmel gone to the enemy, we’ll hold Wolfpack with Alpha team to help out on this side of the base. Japh II holds his position guarding the south approach to our main room. Sir Fozzie peeks down the east corridor again: Marmel is gone, completely gone. He must have gone into the alien command center. Suddenly, his life meter in our HUDs flashes yellow: Damn it. Now Marmel has gone over to the aliens too! Suddenly, as Sir Fozzie continues to peer down the long corridor to the command center, he catches Sectoid movement, about 60 yards away, within a portion of the outer corridor of the command center that we can see through a destroyed wall. Sir Fozzie takes careful aim and pulls the trigger on his heavy plasma: green streaks fly toward the alien and slam into its torso. We hear a low gurgle, and the alien topples over! Yes! That’s how we shoot! X-COM 11, Aliens 2.

Back at Bravo Team, Swaggs and Blade III make it down the long corridor without incident and join up with the four remaining men. The men then quickly prepare to assault the command center. Swaggs takes a Stun Blaster from Lokugh II (who had two of them). Lokugh II and Blade III will head directly for the command center, while Mr. Bug and Swaggs will loop around to the east and come on the structure from that direction. Afoci will hold the west flank. While the men move into position, Condors II randomly panics and gets mind-controlled by aliens. He occasionally sprints in random directions as well, and has gradually worked himself to a position where he is about 15 yards from the command center.

Bravo Team, now reinforced with Swaggs and Blade III, finishes their preparations and sets out for the command center. While they make their initial moves toward the structure, Alpha Team keeps busy. Sir Fozzie, who has a good view into the northwest side of the structure, takes a lookout role: he takes frequent peeks down the long corridor in hopes of spotting alien movement. Japh II guards our westernmost position from flanking attacks from the south. Wolfpack and Travis III start to advance on a door in the north central portion of the base that most likely leads to some unsecured supply rooms.

Everyone continues on, but more frequent and stronger waves of PSI energy are hitting us. We still have no word on Marmel’s fate, but Condors II comes back to our side long enough for him to sprint back to the safety of our supply room. But just as he gets to safety, a ferocious wave of PSI energy hits Travis III; he goes completely berserk, firing in random directions! Wolfpack, who is only a few feet away, has to dive down a side corridor to avoid getting blown apart. Within moments, Travis III luckily comes back to our side. Wolfpack peeks around the corner, and orders Travis III to drop his weapons, which Travis manages to do. Seconds later, Travis gets hit by yet another wave of PSI-energy and goes completely over to the aliens! Wolfpack’s quick thinking most likely saved his own life, but we’ve now lost three agents to enemy mind control. We’ve got to finish this thing quickly!

Our command center assault team closes in on the command center. From what we can see of it so far, it looks to be of identical design as the one from our initial Sectoid base mission: a large central room surrounded by a winding, angular corridor. There has been enough damage to the north side of the structure that we should be able to get into this outer corridor without having to go to the west side of it, where the entrance doors lie. Lokugh II and Blade III close in on the north side, as Mr. Bug and Swaggs loop around and close in from the east. The key here is to make sure that our Stun Launchers are the ones to fire: we don’t want to kill any more aliens. We absolutely must try to capture the commander inside, if he’s still alive. As Lokugh II draws to within five-feet of the north side of the center, he catches a glimpse, through a small window in the outer wall, of a Sectoid moving along the outer corridor. Before he can get his stun launcher up, the Sectoid disappears from view.

Lokugh II rushes the outer wall and heads east, towards a broken panel in the outer corridor. Blade III is right behind him. Swaggs and Mr. Bug close in on this same opening, which looks to be the only such opening nearby. Lokugh II reaches the opening first, takes a deep breath, and steps inside…

Sectoid, ten-feet away, in the corridor! This must be the one that we just saw a moment ago. Lokugh II pulls the trigger on the Stun Launcher and sends a shell right into the Sectoid. The bomb goes off with a pop, sending stun gas up and down the corridor and knocking the Sectoid into unconsciousness. Lokugh II then stuffs another bomb in the Stun Blaster and heads for the entrance to the main room, which lies on the east side of the center. Swaggs, Blade III, and Mr. Bug reach the corridor a moment later. Swaggs and Blade III head inside. Mr. Bug holds outside and guards the approach from the south, which is still terra incognito.

Meanwhile, back at Alpha Team, we suddenly have an interesting thought. In flight, the stun launcher missile that Lokugh II used looks an awful lot like the Blaster missile. Maybe the aliens that fired the “dud” blaster missile on us earlier actually fired a Stun Launcher shell? Wolfpack, who is 10 yards away from two Sectoid corpses, abandons the idea of searching the supply rooms alone (aren’t they always empty anyway?), and heads for these corpses. Sure enough, the first one is carrying a Stun Launcher! Aha! That explains Japherwaki II’s lucky duds! Wolfpack grabs the Launcher and one remaining shell. He stuffs the shell in the launcher, straps his Heavy Plasma on his back, and starts towards the command center from the northwest. Sir Fozzie leaves his position guarding the long approach to the center and heads to provide backup for Wolfpack. Meanwhile, Japherwaki II decides to check out some of the corpses in one of the long corridors to the south. He moves out, quickly comes upon a Sectoid corpse, and takes a look: Blaster Launcher! It would be nice to find another Stun Launcher, but at least now we know that the enemy Launcher is down. This guy must have blown himself up when he fired at Japh. Japh leaves the Blaster Launcher and continues down the corridor.

Suddenly, Marmel comes back to our side! He’s standing in a corridor near the west side of the command area. The alien that Lokugh II took out must have been the one zapping Marmel. We try to get him back to the entrance room, but he is still having trouble obeying orders. He randomly panics and starts running all over the place, and alternates between speaking alien and speaking English. Sir Fozzie catches sight of him heading toward the west side of the base and screaming “Red Sox Rule!” over and over. Travis III, in the meantime, has crunched up in corner of the base near the command center, and is humming the theme song from the Jetsons. Sigh.

Back at the command center, as Lokugh II, Blade III, and Swaggs make a final approach on the main entrance, Wolfpack nears from the west. Suddenly, a Sectoid steps out in front of him! Wolfpack takes aim, but the Sectoid turns and runs before he can get a shot off. Wolfpack gives chase, and spots the alien as they round a corner. Wolfpack fires the Stun Launcher, but the shell misses wide and explodes harmlessly further down the hall. Now unarmed, Wolfpack turns around and runs away. Swaggs leaves the other side of the command center to see if he can help subdue this Sectoid. Sir Fozzie spots the thing as it runs west down another side corridor. This alien has clearly completely panicked, as it has not fired despite two great chances. We gain confidence and give chase at a full sprint. Wolfpack, Swaggs, and Sir Fozzie all try to corner the thing so Swaggs can blast it with the Stun Launcher. If it keeps going the way it’s headed, it will quickly run into Japherwaki II as well, who has been making a methodical search of the hallways in the southwest corner of the base.

Back at the command center, Blade III and Lokugh II prepare to make the final assault on the main room. They arrive at the main doors, and decide to go on three. One…two…three! They pull open the doors, and step inside…

Nothing! The command center is empty! There is a grav-lift up to the second floor however, and the two men head for that.

Meanwhile, Swaggs, Sir Fozzie, and Wolfpack quickly gain ground on our panicked Sectoid. Shortly, Swaggs is able to get an easy ten-foot shot off at the thing, but his aim is sloppy at a full sprint and the shell flies wide. Damn it. Swaggs only has one more shell left. As the Sectoid continues to flee, Swaggs reloads and starts off again after the little bugger.

Meanwhile, back at the command center, Lokugh II and Blade III reach the main grav-lift. Once again, on three. One…two…three…

They step in and head straight up to the top floor. Once there, they frantically spin and scan the large operations control room, filled with high-tech machinery…

Nothing? There’s no one home? Is the alien we’re chasing the last one left? Maybe the commander?

Back at the west side of the base, Swaggs can’t afford a miss with his last shell. He is much faster than the Sectoid, and within a minute he is right behind the thing. He leaps for it and tackles the Sectoid by the legs. The two of them topple to the ground. Swaggs barely manages to hang on to the Stun Launcher. He quickly pulls up the gun, sticks it in the alien’s face, and pulls the trigger. Bang! The blast shatters the alien’s nose, drives its head backwards, and fills the air the stun gas. Both alien and Swaggs drop into unconsciousness…

And that is all she wrote! Wow! The rookie patrol did it! Way to show those UN assholes a thing or two about FOFC X-COM! Booyaa! Only two KIAs! Our best base mission to date!

The men begin the search for valuable artifacts and weapons. These bases are usually loaded with goodies, and unlike Portugal, this base was taken relatively intact. We haul away large amounts of alien artifacts to be lifted up the air vents. The resale value could fund our operations for a month. The men also duct tape the two Sectoid captives, and haul them up the airshafts.

It isn’t until an hour or so later that Astott glances at his HUD and notices that Marmel’s LED indicator is no longer on. Astott quickly questions the men. No one has seen Marmel since the final chase for the last Sectoid. The men begin an intense search of the base, but find no sign of him. Finally, Japherwaki II finds a small escape vent in the northwest corner of the base that has been pried open. On the edge of the metal is some dull gray paint, the same color as our Power Suits. Mr. Bug and Japherwaki volunteer to search the shaft, and head inside. After a hundred meters of horizontal crawling, the shaft goes straight up. The two men find ladder handholds, and start up. Ten minutes later they emerge into the now dark German countryside. Marmel is nowhere to be seen. Another one has gone over to the dark side?

After packing the Skyranger and loading up the two prisoners, the men get on board for the short jaunt home. Three empty seats let us know that once again, the aliens have extracted a price for our success.

Kills: Travis III, 1; Sir Fozzie, 3; Afoci, 1; Astott, 2; Mr. Bug IV, 1; Condors II, 2; Swaggs, 1.
KIA: Sachmo II, Katon.
MIA: Marmel.
Wounded: Astott (9 days).
Attribute Improvements: Lokugh II, Travis III, Sir Fozzie, Afoci, Astott, Mr. Bug IV, Condors II, Swaggs.
Final score: 961. Take that, Germany!
Mission Notes:
Well, the idea was to try this to cut down on KIAs to our more experienced agents, but we ended up losing Sachmo II anyway. Tough loss on that one. He never cracked under fire, and was an extremely reliable agent. We’ll miss him, and just have to hope that someone can step up and fill his shoes.

The big question is whether we’ve bagged our badly needed Sectoid Commander. Only time—and Crappy—will tell.

I’m glad I finally figured out the mystery of the “dud blaster missiles”.

Congratulations to Sir Fozzie, who led our agents with three kills today! Well done!

[Coffee Warlord]

Wow, I was right. I did take 22, because I took a fusion hovertank with me as well.

Part 1 of that mission amounted to me just tak-nuking the entire battlefield with fusion balls. This was after attempt 10 or so.

And I saved right as we touched down, and Ironman'd the rest of the way during that Mission From Hell.

But yeah. GB...good fricken' luck. That last writeup is gonna just be brutal.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally posted by Coffee Warlord
But yeah. GB...good fricken' luck. That last writeup is gonna just be brutal.

If we ever make it that far!

Is it true that you only get one chance at the last mission? If you fail, it's game over?

[Coffee Warlord]

Yep. It's an all or nothing mission. You die, game over.

Edit: And yeah, we got a LONNNNNG way to go, judging from our current technology.