The Invasion Has Only Just Begun(XCOM EW+LW, Interactive)

[Brian Swartz]

[Grover]

First Name: Didier
Last Name: Keita
Nationality(optional): Ivory Coast
Focus Attribute(optional, will try to pick a character strong in this): Will
Neglect Attribute(Optional, will try to pick a character weak in this): Mobility
Starting Squad Member(optional): If possible

Really looking forward to this!

[Travis]

First Name: Jace
Last Name: Hunter
Nationality: Canadian
Focus: Aim
Neglect: Movement
Starting Squad: No preference

Good luck with this!

[law90026]

First Name: Dean
Last Name: Hoo
Nationality(optional): Doesn't matter
Focus Attribute(optional, will try to pick a character strong in this): NA
Neglect Attribute(Optional, will try to pick a character weak in this): NA
Starting Squad Member(optional):*Yes pls
Special Requests: NA

[Brian Swartz]

Thanks for joining and for the positive comments! I happen to have a long shift Monday, but a day off on Tuesday. I plan to get the first mission done and some other introductory stuff Monday night or by Tuesday night at the lastest.

Since we have three courageous/foolhardy volunteers, a description of the career paths available to you would seem to be in order so you can choose intelligently -- assuming you don't die horribly your first time out, of course.

Remember that XCOM's most valuable resource isn't finances, technology, or even luck -- it is you, the fighting men and women.

Ranks

The XCOM Charter defines ranks for both enlisted soldiers and an officer corps, though the latter is purely a hopeful plan at this point and has not been put in place. It is worth noting here though that will is the most important attribute for a successful officer, should any of you alphas have the ambition to become such a leader even in this elite force.

Enlisted 'Promotion Ladder'

Promotion to the next rank takes longer the further you progress up the ladder. Promotions depend on the following, in order of importance: (1) Overall squad performance on a mission, (2) Personal kills, (3) Personal performance. It is actually possible to lose experience, for example, if the squad does poorly and you miss a number of good opportunities to hit the enemy. But squad performance first and kills second make up the lion's share of the evaluation.

Private First Class(PFC) -- This is what everyone is right now. Having volunteered from nations across the globe to fight for mankind, you are a proven operative, in most cases from elite special forces units. Now you must prove yourself once again. Known as the 'Red shirts', PFCs have been accepted for operative duty and are the tip of the spear, with all of the privileges and perils associated with that responsibility. Basic ballistic weapons, armor, grenades, and a few other possibilities are available to you. You will given a full tour of XCOM and part of that will involve briefings on the capabilities of these items.

Specialist(SPEC) -- With a basic amount of combat experience, XCOM will approve you for training specializing in a particular approach to combat or other skills which will be tactically useful. See 'Classes' for more detail.

Lance Corporal(LCPL) -- At this the third rank, and each rank above it, you will have three choices of what special skill or training to choose. These choices are vital to your development, and may allow you to fill a truly unique and/or powerful niche in the XCOM arsenal.

Corporal(CPL) -- Achieving the rank of Corporal is required before a soldier can be considered for the possibility of being an officer.

Sergeant(SGT)
Tech Sergeant
Gunnery Sergeant
Master Sergeant -- The top rank an enlisted man or woman can achieve, and a truly invaluable part of the agency.


Soldier Classes

Once you have demonstrated on the field of combat that you are not a complete screw-up or magnet for enemy fire, you will be promoted to Specialist and one of four general paths will be recommended. Each path has two classes, and at this point you can choose one of those two or choose to be randomly placed in a different class. This selection is permanent, and choosing a random class is risky: it may be better, it may also be worse. It is generally only used when neither of the recommended classes are desired.

Of course, if there is a particularly obvious choice, the Commander may simply tell you what your assignment is. I.e., it doesn't matter how badly you want to be a medic if you have a great aim and a sniper assignment comes up when XCOM is in need of one.

Scout/Sniper -- The scout is one of the most important classes. Their job is essentially to get shot -- no, really. Well, get shot at. A small difference of two letters, but an important one. They will scout out enemy positions, and are given training in Lightning Reflexes, after which enemy reaction shots will have a 90% less chance to hit for the first one, and 70% less for each shot afterwards. The Scout is therefore vital in drawing away enemy fire while the rest of the squad advances on a dug-in position. Mobility is the most important attribute of a scout, though health and defense are also very valuable. They have a high mortality rate, even for XCOM, due to the dangerous nature of their role.

The Sniper is essentially the polar opposite. They have unlimited range, specializing in taking out targets from anywhere they have line of sight to the target. The Sniper is trained in Squadsight, which allows them to use targeting data from any member of the squad. Line of sight, it must be emphasized, is the only requirement. Aim is their most important attribute, and in most cases the only important attribute.

Gunner/Rocketeer -- These are the specialists in heavy weapons. The Gunner, especially when inexperienced, tends not to get kills very often. This is because they are trained in Suppression, a very low-accuracy barrage of ammo in the general direction of the target. This lowers an enemy's chance to hit if they fire, and allows a reaction shot against them by the gunner if they move.

The Rocketeer fires rockets which provide an area effect of significant damage -- if they hit the target. Often they don't. Using Rockets is their specialist training. Aim is most important for them, but mobility is as well in order for them to be able to carry large payloads and not be a drag on the squad formation.

Infantry/Assault -- These are the operatives XCOM turns to when the battle becomes chaotic and the enemy threat needs to be thinned out, NOW. The Infantry class is as important as any in the agency due to their basic Light 'Em Up ability. This allows the soldier to fire twice in one turn if they don't move, giving them an overall damage-dealing ability far beyond any other class.

The Assault has a more specialized role. They are the close-range fighters, and as a result can be very vulnerable if the enemy is waiting in ambush. Their Run N Gun training allows them to fire after dashing a great distance, allowing them to reach enemies, especially isolated ones, that might have considered themselves to be at a safe distance. Mobility is probably most important, allowing them to range further and further with their devastating close-range attacks. Health is also highly valued, given their propensity to occasionally get themselves in highly hazardous situations.

Medic/Engineer -- While many classes rely mostly on their primary weapons, those are of secondary concern to these support classes, if they bother to use them at all. The Medic's job is to keep wounded soldiers alive and/or get them back in the fight. When things go wrong, as they often will, they can be the difference between a dead operative and a live one. Their Field Medic training allows them to always bring one medical kit with them on missions, and get two uses out of any additional ones they add to their loadout. Mobility is most important here, as reaching the wounded in time takes precedence over any other consideration.

An Engineer is one who takes the contrary approach, using grenades to incinerate or disable enemies, or else to aid their comrades, depending on their approach to the battlefield. Grenadier training allows them to throw their grenades 20% further, making them useful in more circumstances, and also allows two destructive grenades for each spot in their inventory. The explosive potential of the Engineer is far greater than the same weapon in the hands of anyone else, often making their 'rifle' an irrelevant afterthought.

The Commander considers the Scout, Infantry, and Medic classes to be the most important. Particularly when accompanying rookies on less dangerous missions, these classes will be prioritized and those who chose them may find themselves out in the field more often than the others.

[Brian Swartz]

Setup Options

For those of you familiar with the game who are curious ...

Difficulty: Normal(other options are Classic, Brutal, and Impossible. The mod info says Normal is harder than vanilla Classic, and I can't argue with that overall. I'm not a masochist, well not much of one).
Progeny/Slingshot: Included(these were originally DLC with EU, each is a mini-series of Council missions that I think add to the experience)

Second Wave Options

My goal with these was to make it as 'realistic' as possible, not go for making the game easier/harder. And yes, good grief there are a bunch of them.

** Damage Roulette -- On. This makes weapons less predictable, as they do a wider range of damage. LW makes this a narrower range than vanilla, in which you could do a point-blank shotgun blast with a flesh-wound 1-damage result. Highly annoying. The implementation is very good I think.
** New Economy -- On. The funding from each nation is randomized.
** Strict Screening -- Off. This fixes PFC stats as the same for each, I'm doing everything I can to make each character a unique individual.
** Hidden Potential -- On. Improvements in attributes when earning a promotion have a significant random element. Every once a while, a cruddy PFC turns into quite a valuable operative, and I really like those kinds of stories. Individuality again.
** Training Roulette -- On. Some of the choices for training when promoting are random. Some of the combinations can be crazy-good, other times there are 'I don't really want any of these, I'll take the least-bad one'. More individuality, and a great option IMO. A lot of metagaming theories revolve around the 'optimal build' for each class, choosing one option because you know you can get option X two promotions later ... I'll take the less gamey approach every time.
** Save Scum -- On. I don't reload unless I clicked somewhere on accident(one tile short of cover or past the move range, etc.). This resets the seed so that reloading may result in a different enemy action.
** Red Fog -- On. any operative, or alien, who takes damage finds their mobility and aim significantly reduced. This is one that works in XCOM's favor, but realism and change in tactics is the main reason for it.
** Absolutely Critical -- Off. Any flanking shot guarantees a critical hit. I generally don't like guarantees, and flanks get a massive critical hit chance bonus. That's more than enough for me.
** Liberators -- Off. Requires XCOM to free all nations before finishing the war. I'd rather have the choice to do or not.
** Not So Long War -- Off. A shorter game, though still longer than vanilla.
** Results Driven -- On. Countries lower their financial support as panic increases. Sensible, and I like how it changes the strategic elements.
** Cinematic Mode -- Off. Should be called 'EZ Mode'. XCOM Weapons, both air and ground, hit significantly more often. No point in playing a mod like this and then using this option IMO, unless it's just to learn it.
** Diminishing Returns -- Off. Satellites increase in cost the more you have built. Don't really understand the appeal of this one. Doesn't make sense to me.
** More than Human -- On. Training psionic abilities has a lower chance of success. Generally they are considered to be overpowered both in vanilla and in LW, so making them rarer seemed to be a good idea.
** Itchy Trigger Tentacle -- On. This could cost XCOM the war, but I love the idea. Upon being discovered/triggered, aliens can choose to just shoot right away instead of moving/overwatching. This can take away XCOM's usual advantage of having the first chance to get the drop on the enemy, and especially with powerful enemies, makes things more dangerous. This is the one option I have that really helps the aliens. It doesn't happen often, but one example: I had a rookie happen upon a trio of drones. Freaking drones, probably the weakest enemy in the game. Anyway, one shot him despite being in full cover. He panicked and hunkered down, and a second one hit him anyway and killed him before I had a chance to do anything. I just stared at the screen when it happened in disbelief. Very low chance, but it adds to the 'anything can happen' element that I really enjoy.
** War Weariness -- Off. Council funding drops slightly each month. A reasonable option, but Results Driven sort of has this covered and I like that one better.
** Bronzeman Mode -- Off. Strange one here, allows restarting missions when using Ironman, which isn't advised in the mod anyway as there can be problems with it. I more use 'Honorman', meaning I won't reload unless I did something I didn't intend to, i.e. no reloading just because something went badly.
** Total Loss -- On. Another one that really can hurt. Any soldiers who die or are left behind don't have their gear recovered. Realism here, but a 'squad wipe' mission can be EXTREMELY expensive with this on. Gotta do it though, doesn't make sense not to.
** Alternate Sources -- Off. Power requirements for all facilities increased. I think the balance is good as is, getting enough power for everything is definitely not too easy.
** Aiming Angles -- On. Another one I really like, and which works both ways for human/aliens. The closer the shooter is to a flanking shot, the more their chances are increased. 'Straight-on' shots are the hardest to hit, while, 'almost flanking' can have close to a 20% increase or thereabouts. Again mandated by realism.
** Mind Hates Matter -- Off. Gene-modded and psi-capable soldiers are mutually exclusive: with this on you have to choose one or the other. That increases specialization among the elite soldiers, but it doesn't really make sense to me, almost an artificial way of making things harder. Pass.

[Breeze]

First Name: Benton
Last Name: Gale
Nationality(optional): UK
Focus Attribute(optional, will try to pick a character strong in this): Will
Neglect Attribute(Optional, will try to pick a character weak in this): Movement
Starting Squad Member(optional):*Yes please
Special Requests: NA

[chesapeake]

First Name: Ches
Last Name: O'Peake
Nationality(optional): USA, but any is fine
Focus Attribute: No preference
Neglect Attribute: No preference

[path12]

First Name: Path
Last Name: Twelve
Nationality(optional): no pref
Focus Attribute(optional, will try to pick a character strong in this): Aim

Sounds fun!

[Coffee Warlord]

He's baaackkkk...

Name: Coffee Warlord
Nationality: Any
Don't worry about focuses. Coffee Warlords come and go too often to worry about such things.

[Brian Swartz]

** OOC Note: I'll denote any explanations or other out of character this way, with asterisks and italics. I should point out here that within the last couple of days the Long War team released beta 15, the last gameplay update. It was tempting, but while there's good stuff in it in my opinion nothing is truly 'must-have'. More importantly, it will take probably a couple of months to fully debug and balance it. Beta 14, which I am using and familiar with, is very stable and that's as important as anything to a project like this, though I'll still be saving and backing up obsessively. Anyway, we are now officially underway ... **

It was almost as if they knew we were coming. Within minutes of the official activation of XCOM on the morning of March 1st, the following images came in. All they know right now is it was from somewhere in Europe.

At first the locals thought it was a meteor shower. This is one of the first objects that hit. Frankly, though the situation itself was incredible, I couldn't take my eyes of this man's hair. I mean, it's just perfect. Superman perfect. It doesn't move, though the earth falls apart around him. His friends and relatives will sure be proud of the corpse he leaves behind ...





That is, if they live long enough to notice. After the smoke cleared, a crowd gathered around a strange mechanical object, oddly square-ish in shape. A few brave citizens dared approach it closely. I simply must ask though: why were only the conservatively dressed out on the town on this night?





Curiosity turned to terror-filled screams within moments, as what I can only describe of tendrils of green gas poured from the object at nearly every conceivable angle.






Unfortunately, this did not last long. I say unfortunately not out of sadism, but because soon the final recorded images showed streets of near-absolute quiet. Nothing moved any more. The partially-liquefied and apparently congealed corpses were an image my mind would never be able to erase. It was obvious our attackers were not here in search of natural beauty.





Within moments I was wide awake and scrambling for updates. It was clearly time for the proof-of-concept mission the Council had demanded. It went without saying that failure was not an option -- long-term support required results, and without it our species had no chance. With that, Operation Hot Dirge was launched. The classified, state-of-the-art transport aircraft that we call the Skyranger 77-SRH landed in Murmansk just minutes later.





One way or another, the world would never be the same.

[Icy]

First Name: Ivan
Last Name: Drago
Nationality(optional): Russia
Focus Attribute(optional, will try to pick a character strong in this): Mobility
Neglect Attribute(Optional, will try to pick a character weak in this): No Preference
Starting Squad Member(optional): No Preference
Special Requests: Think Dolph Lungrend. Huge muscular guy, light blond hair, the typical non very smart heavy machine gunner/rocket launcher from the movies, so strong to carry loads of ammo to cause destruction while listening to heavy music!

[BYU 14]

First Name: Ace
Last Name: Idol
Nationality: British
Focus Attribute: Aim or movement

[Brian Swartz]

**Warning: this will be an image-heavy post. I intend most updates to contain at most maybe a half-dozen, but I wanted to give the first mission the royal treatment, and there were some that happened to be particularly well-timed as well. There were also a few concepts/features that an image would best highlight. I would also like feedback from the community if they are too large: I know people use lots of different resolutions. If there's constant side-scrolling in these, let me know what resolution you use and I'll resize the larger images down to something a little below that in most cases at least. As always, I'm open to all suggestions on any other subject as well **

OPERATION HOT DIRGE
Murmansk, Russia
3.1.2015, just past midnight

** Three of our heroes venture forth in this first mission: the rest of you who did not request to go on the starting squad will find out more about your characters after we get back to base. Assuming we don't go out in a blaze of ignominy at the first mission of course. The first mission is always nerve-wracking to a degree, because I can't control who goes or what equipment they have. I've just gotta fly with whatever we get, and that can result in some pretty tough situations. By the way, I hate this map -- it's literally my least favorite one in the entire game and we start here. Go figure.**

The three other members of the squad are Su-Min Kim, a tough soldier with a fairly good trigger; Naomi Foster, also tough but not quite as skilled, though she has the only medkit and that makes her important here; and Lily Brodie, a little flimsy but solid shooting and fairly good will.

Didier Keita has a pair of grenades, one armor-piercing and one flashbang. It's the only flashbang in the squad and will almost certainly be needed. Good health, very good will(42), but literally the worst aim I've ever seen in a PFC(sorry, 55) and somewhat of a magnet for fire(-2 defense). Benton Gale has a pair of AP grenades, off-the-scale will(44), poor aim(58), and hideous defense(-4). Dean Hoo has a very solid all-around soldier with very good potential I think. Good aim, and I think you brought along a laser sight to make it even better so you've got the best shooter on this mission. above-average will(34), a bit flimsy with only four health and a single AP grenade.

** Both Gale and Keita are female: I didn't have much choice in this since it was one of those oddball things with only two males out of six operatives. Feel free to change names if you wish to something more ... feminine. **

The squad deployed on the edge of a street, with a 'artistically developed' wall in front past some abandoned vehicles. Trouble can come from almost any direction here, and we don't have the high ground.







Kim is clearly the best for scouting duty in the group, and moves up the police cruiser in front, everyone else taking cover as best they can. Soon the squad hears a noise straight left down the street, but it's more a mechanical sound than one of movement. Heading that way is asking for trouble anyway, taking higher ground if possible is a far more pressing concern.

Then Kim reports hearing ... movement. Past the wall, just past the white 'fuel tank' car. Seems like they are close ... but the train cars would likely shield us from their vision. Kim moves up the ladder ... and we spot a flying mechanical unit of some kind and a pair of whitish creatures that scamper out of sight on all fours. What in the ... well, it's official. First contact. We didn't get all dressed up for nothing. The new species move to the right, while that machine or whatever comes straight forward.







There's no way we can get more than one up there into firing positions quickly, there just isn't time. I order the team to fall back, hopefully they'll chase us. This is risky as well -- if we are approached from the left down here on the street, this could get ugly in a hurry.

We spot that flying thing for a second, Brodie is in position for a shot but misses badly. It's just floating at the edge of the wall. Gale retreats around the back of the semi cab, and hits ... it's damaged but still airborne.







**Probably a good time to point out the idea of damage reduction here, which is a LW feature. The 'red 2' is the actual damage done to the enemy, the 'bluish 1', a little harder to see, below that is the damaged that was 'absorbed' or bounced off. Being in cover grants a bit of damage reduction if you are hit, and some enemies have a significant amount of inherent DR as well. It sometimes happens that you hit the target, but to no effect.

Brodie tries again, and her rifle incinerates it. That's some better shooting! One less enemy in the area and they didn't even get off a shot. I'll take that.

Looks like the others have taken the bait as well, one of the moves up and dares us to move, waiting to take a shot at anyone who tries it appears.







** The 'eye' above the shield icon tells us that they are lying in wait for use to move. The first soldier to move in it's vision will trigger an overwatch or reaction shot. This is a risk best avoided when possible, espescially when they have the benefit of an elevated position.**

We won't be taking that bait. Unfortunately Keita is just a bit too far away for a grenade. An armor-piercing toss by Kim damages it, but doesn't quite kill it. More of them come in from left, and despite it's injuries the damaged one comes down and fires over the police cruiser at Kim ... he's hurt but still ok. The other moves forward and fires at Brodie, missing. And then, more join the party ...







This is a tactical cluster right now. They're coming at us from high ground in front, and flanking from the left. We've got to take out some of the enemies right now, or this is going to go very badly, very quickly. The on up top behind the train is the real problem. Brodie has a pretty good shot at it but we need better than that ... it needs to die for sure. Foster moves to the back of the police cruiser and just has enough arm to get an ap up there ... gone! That's a huge one.







Kim moves to the 'landing pod' or whatever those things are, executing the second one from point-blank range. That leaves three coming at us down the street. We move to cover, and there isn't anything decent except the semi cab, but we won't be able to see anything from back there. Two move up. One had a decent angle at Kim from behind some rocks, but missed. The other is waiting for us to give him a shot. Kim's stuck a bit too far forward, and we have to pull him back even with the risk. He dashes back to the semi, and thankfully they miss. Foster heals Kim, and we hunker down.

They advance a bit and look for reaction fire again. It's a mutual cat-and-mouse game right now, we've got the numbers but they have better position, each trying to bait the other into a foolish rush. We hold again, Hoo has a decent look at one of them but fires a bit high. He's really the only one in decent shooting position here.







The enemy in front seems to be the toughest and most threatening of the group, and Foster treats it to a grenade now that the distance has closed. That barely did anything. A follow-up by Kim injuries it more, but it's still up.







**I think this is the best shot of what happens when an armor-piercing grenade goes off that I've managed to get. A cloud of shrapnel, purplish for some reason.**

They press us hard now, the injured one moving up but not able to get off a shot, one of the enemies behind firing at Brodie from that van ahead on the right, but missing. Kim has a shot but misses. Brodie is forced to move up to the pod and take it down. Two left.







They don't seem to want to approach us, instead going for suppression on Brodie on the right, and a missed shot at Foster on the left. Our turn now to inch forward, and they try Brodie again, she has good cover there and they miss. Both are huddled behind that van, which presents an opportunity. Foster moves in and takes one of them down, but both Brodie and Gale miss the second. Keita uses the flash-bang to pin it down, and a minute later it's Gale moving around to finish the job.







For the first time since we first spotted them, we are clear of the enemy. With most of the grenades spent, I hope this is over soon. The squad heads back to the insertion point, preparing to use the ladder and go back up over the wall to the train. Whatever else is out there, high ground will probably be useful.

Again Kim is ready to go up, and just as he is we hear them again. Straight past the train, right where the first group came from. Super. I think we're in better position now than before, perhaps we can get shooters up top in time. Four of them! They're just past the train. Damn it. This isn't likely to be easy. They move left, and I think we'll have a better approach from the right though it isn't going to be great from any direction. As we gather over the wall, the train cars shield most of them from view, and vice versa. Somebody's about to get a nasty surprise, and I'm not sure if it's us or them.







They find a couple of shots at Hoo, badly missing one but they hit him the second time. He panics and stands there in one of our few good shooting vantage points, babbling like an incoherent fool. Fantastic. We get mostly into firing positins, Brodie and Foster are left, Hoo/Gale in the middle, and Kim/Keita on the right. Keita has a reasonable shot at the close one that injured Hoo, but fires just high. Gale still has two grenades, and soon she has one and we have one fewer enemy.







They fire at Hoo again and miss. Probably of more importance, one does this strange thing that seems to combine his mind with that of a comrade. It's just past the train, probably waiting in ambush. We're not taking that bait. From that position, they could fire on anyone trying to breach the train line. I'll say it again, clever bastards.



**The wavy lines indicate a mental link, and give away the position of the third member of this group





The hiding enemy sneaks along the tracks to try and get a shot at Brodie ... Foster has her covered but misses, shots at Brodie miss as well. That, my friends, was an absolute gift on a silver platter.







They won't get another chance, as from that close range she gives the enemy a premature grave. We can now fire at them from both sides, but only Kim manages to hit anything. One of the enemy has to reload, the other scampers into a defensive position behind the building up on the left. We have numbers now and can afford to be patient. Keita finally drills the wounded one, and there's only one of them left up here. That we know of. It's Brodie again, and they tell me that's all of them! No life signs remain, except of our course for the known animal life, and ours.

POST-MORTEM

Phew. 10 of the enemy were killed, 0 of our lost. That was very tense, and could have gone a LOT worse. Could have been better too, but we were up against it almost from the outset and are very lucky nobody came back in a body bag. It is to be attributed to nothing other than sheer dumb luck. I fear XCOM will need a lot more of it in the days ahead. There's no question we are up against a sneaky and intelligent adversary.

Artifacts Recovered

7 Sectoid Corpses
Drone Wreck
8 Weapon Fragments
1 oz. of a mysterious orange substance.

It is 1:58 AM as the Skyranger returns to base. The whole thing took maybe half an hour, but it felt like half a lifetime.

[Brian Swartz]

In the next day or two I'll get into our first promotions, the XCOM tour, and other similar shenanigans now that we are, for the moment, safely back at base.

[law90026]

I see I covered myself in glory there ... Not!

[Brian Swartz]

Truly spoken, there was more blood than glory in your performance. But there is a bit of a silver lining.

[Brian Swartz]

XCOM BRIEFING TOUR: ADMINISTRATIVE

XCOM HQ
Classified location, somewhere in Germany
3.1.2015, approximately 0200

There is only one way in or out of XCOM Headquarters. It's a vertical descent straight through the ground. We call it simply the Shaft, the circular opening from the ground barely visible here due to poor lighting as it closes behind us as we descend into the base.







The Shaft continues about 120 feet straight down, where it opens up into the Hangar, which is another 80 feet. At the top, XCOM's four Raven-class fast attack fighters, outfitted with the lastest weaponry, electronics, hardening, and stealth technology, await orders on their landing pads.






The Ravens can be outfitted with either Avalanche or Stingray missiles, provided in abundant numbers by the Council for use as we see fit. The Avalanche is our most powerful missile, while the Stingray sacrifices warhead size for a shaped charge with greater armor penetration. The vigilant eye notices personnel working on loading Stingrays onto a pair of the Ravens; this order was given to ensure we are ready for any circumstance with a balanced approach.

Flight Roster

FO 'Boss' Bordini
FO 'Mangler' Neale
FO 'Chainsaw' Katz
FO 'Blinker' Kamala

Their pilots are often nearby, and generally stay clear of the field operatives. None have seen any action yet, but nobody expects that to last long. Many analysts believe that it is in the battle against the alien craft, of which we know virtually nothing, that XCOM may face it's sternest and most desperate test.

Below this the hangar widens out a bit more into the landing pad for the one and only SR-77H Skyranger. This craft's classified VTOL(Vertical TakeOff & Landing) tech allows it to use the Shaft as safely as the smaller ravens. It is stealth and thermal shielded and can deploy anywhere in the world within hours. Although it seems strange to have only one of these vital ships that deploy our strike teams around the globe, we are assured that only one is needed. It may be the most advanced feat of engineering in the entirety of XCOM.





The mood as we exit the Skyranger is celebratory, but subdued. XCOM has earned its spurs, but there was a price as the Hot Dirge team is reminded of as they carry PFC Dean Hoo off the transport on a stretcher. From the perspective of the 'ant colony' view presented in these schematics, the team must proceed from left to right through civilian areas to reach field ops. If that seems a strange way to setup the HQ base to you, I definitely agree: but apparently it was done to allow for immediate debriefing if that is necessary and remind the soldiers that they are not autonomous. I don't buy these concerns, but even one with near-absolute authority such as the Commander cannot exactly reinvent the wheel at this point.

Everything on the same level as the hangar is known as the Administrative Level -- this is where the power structure of XCOM operates and where the most important decisions are made. As we enter Mission Control it is impossible not to be impressed by the feat of engineering. The sweating, and in some cases bleeding soldiers make their way past sophisticated electronics and the best civilian operators in the world manning these stations: it's a instant and obvious clash in every way imaginable.







The room is dominated by the Hologlobe, a sphere twelve feet in diameter suspended in the air and bathed with the light of ten massive floodlights, four from each side and one each above or below. All manner of data regarding XCOM's operations and alien activity around the world can be displayed on it in real time. Surrounding it are the dozens of workstations that serve as the nerve center for XCOMs intelligence, data gathering, and tactical decision-making operations, data which is used to update the Hologlobe. Overseeing all of this is this man, who can be seen conversing with the Commander himself nearby.







This is Central Officer Bradford, XCOM's second-in-command on the civilian side of the agency. As he puts it, his job is to make sure the Commander can focus on the bigger issues at hand. More specifically, the flow of information is a three-step process. The various personnel here in mission control, usually a couple dozen, collate information from the myriad of sources around the world. Whether it's an intelligence source in a remote part of the world, an official in some major government, satellite feeds from anywhere on the globe, etc., anything that appears to be promising or important will first come here. When a diplomat or important national official announces self-servingly that they have 'just been in contact with XCOM' about some matter relating to the alien threat, it was someone in this room they were talking to almost certainly. The personnel here filter out the garbage and report the most vital information to Bradford, who in turn uses this to apprise the Commander of the overall situation. In this way, I am able to avoid being bogged down in minutia, but need concern myself only with the most vital developments. Bradford strikes as a man who is stiff, naive, and a fair bit overeager, but despite these flaws extremely capable. There's no question his role is a very important one.

Moving through Mission Control leads us to field ops, but if we take the stairs on the right upwards, we will reach a smaller room of much more vital importance. It is not one that the average soldier will often be allowed access to, as it contains the most sensitive strategic information. This is the Situation Room.







No hologlobe here, but the far wall is a lit flat-panel display of the world that does not at first seem to tell us anything of significance. Once I enter the room, Commander's identify confirmed by the sophisticated ID verifications, the display comes to life. At present, that looks something like this:





On the map itself, there are icons representing our satellite coverage(only one, in Germany). These are not your usual communications or even spy satellites, but stealth satellites hardened against every form of detection and more importantly, capable of detecting nearby distortions in gravitational fields. I am informed that the one working prototype we have up there, though quite small in size as satellites go, was built at a cost of twenty million euros, the same as our Raven fighters cost to build, though improvements in fabrication have lowered the satellite price significantly. Needless to say, these assets are as pricey as they are essential. Also shown is the location of our HQ in Germany and the four interceptors available to the continent.

In the upper left of the map is what's known as the Doom Tracker. Right now it's set at 0, as all 16 Council nations have pledged to support XCOM's defense of humanity. If any nation ever leaves the Council for any reason, the Doom Tracker will tick upwards. XCOM will continue the fight so long as a single important nation supports us, but if all 16 leave us, there will be no hope and the project will be abandoned. It is my job to ensure that never happens.

Finally, along the left and right of the map are shown vital at-a-glance information about each funding nation. The panic levels are color-coded in five levels. Thankfully at the moment there is virtually no panic in Germany due to our presence, and around the globe 15 of the Council nations can be seen to be at Green status, the lowest panic alert level. The exception to this is India, which has borne the brunt of activity so far and moved into the second tier, Aqua status. As panic increases, the amount of funding from each nation will decrease. The amounts currently shown are listed in hundreds of thousands of Euros. I.e., we presently have 7.8 million per month coming in from our home nation of Germany. Conversely, having satellite coverage will result in a doubling of income from the nation the satellite is deployed over, adding a very practical economic value to investing in them. The shield icon shown between each nation's panic and funding represents their ability to resist the alien threat, and will increase if we trade them classified materials or specific assistance as they request it. Due to the vital importance of keeping the global coalition strong, I have instituted a policy that 30% of the resources XCOM acquires will be made available for this purpose. The majority, the remaining 70%, will of course be used for our internal needs, but we cannot do this alone.

News Feed

Below the map, the latest headlines from around the world scroll by. At present, the following has been noted:

** Residents of Mumbai stand behind reports of an unknown 'creature' lurking in the streets; so far no evidence has been presented
** Experts debate as early indications show objects in space are of 'alien' origin
** Drastic increase in reported UFO sightings leaves experts baffled
** Alien sightings shock world population as reports continue to climb
** Successful military incursion by unknown forces in Russia stops alien abduction in progress

XCOM FINANCIAL OUTLOOK

In addition to all of this information, I can access in the Situation Room internal reports detailing the economic situation. We have an initial funding of 60.6 million, which I have divided in half between two priorities. The Air War half will be used for satellites, fighters, and all associated support expenditures. The General Fund will be used for everything else. We have no hope of defeating the aliens on the ground if we cannot contest their control of the skies, and it is obvious their technology is superior to ours in both arenas. At present, though the changing situation will impact these numbers, we are expecting another 74.6m to come in next month. 18m will be eaten up in maintenance costs for the Skyranger and Ravens, another 2.5m for some of our more advanced facilites in the rest of the base. That leaves a projection of 54m for new expenses at this time.

Of course, it is very possible that we will be able to pick up additional sources of income. In fact, I'd venture to say that XCOM's survival will require it. If we are desperate, one of those additional sources, which would bite into our available resources to trade to Council nations, is the Gray Market. Here we can sell classified materials for a price. After Hot Dirge, we have the following in storage, along with their selling price point:

7 Sectoid Corpses -- 200k ea.
1 Drone Wreck -- 200k
8 Weapon Fragments -- 100k
1 oz. MOG(Mysterious Orangish Goo) -- 700k per oz.

** Next up will be Field Ops, likely to be the most interesting part of the tour as we will get into starting attributes for all of FOFC's brave volunteers, promotions from the first mission, available equipment, and so on.**

[Brian Swartz]

XCOM BRIEFING TOUR: FIELD OPS
Equipment Overview

Field Ops is the one core department that isn't really limited to one level. It takes up the right wing of the base, both the administrative level and also Sublevel 1 below it. Here's how the cross-section of the entire area looks:







There's a lot of different things that go on here. First up, there's the room where I work, the Commander's Office, which might fit better in the Administrative Briefing but that was going on a bit and I knew everyone was tired from the last mission. Now that we've gotten a bit of rest, I should point out that my office is just to the right of the Situation Room.







It may not look like all that much, but it's got all I really need for my workstation and close access to the rest of the Administrative Level, a luxury few can be afforded at XCOM due to limited space. As for all of you as field operatives, you'll be better off not spending a ton of time in the Commander's Office. Generally you won't see the inside of it unless you are making a habit of being a screw-up.

Taking up the lower half of the Administrative Level are the first two parts of Field Ops itself. We'll begin with the Armory.







The Council nations have supplied virtually unlimited amounts of every conceivable type of standard ballistic small arms here. When a new mission profile has been approved, those soldiers selected to the squad will be given access, a duty usually handled by a 'blue shirt', or candidate operative being evaluated for potential commissioning as a full-fledged XCOM soldier. Some types are available only to specific classes of soldiers, but the following can be used by anyone, PFCs included. Our featured model here is PFC Lily Brodie, who made a name for herself by being in the right place at the right time consistently during Hot Dirge, racking up an impressive 5 kills and playing a huge part in XCOM's probationary approval by the Council. This Scottish blonde(be professional, gents!) will display some of the options available to you in outfitting.

Armor

Choosing the right armor for a mission is about balancing survivability and mobility, the latter being often useful in getting out of harm's way or getting a better firing position to increase lethality.

Tac Armor -- +2 Health, +1 Mobility. This is the standard armor many soldiers will use, and provides maximum protection against enemy fire.







Tac Vest -- +1 Health, +3 Mobility. Those who need or desire additional mobility on the battlefield, or who are particularly tough physically, often choose this less restrictive option.








Primary Weapons

Typically the determining factor in what weapon you choose will be your intended role on a mission.

Assault Rifle -- Long range, 2-6 damage, 10% critical chance(6-10 damage), 3-burst ammo capacity. This is the weapon PFC Brodie is using in the above images.

Assault Carbine -- Long, 1-5, 5%(5-8), 3 bursts, +7 aim, +1 mobility. A somewhat smaller weapon that is more accurate and allows for better movement, but also does less damage.

Submachine Gun(SMG) -- Long, 1-5, 0%(5-8), 2 bursts, +3 mobility. When quick movement is all that matters, this small, low-damage weapon can be chosen. It is typically by used by scouts or by classes, esp. medics or engineers, who do not rely on their primary weapon but tend to use other items and skills most often.

Secondary Weapons

These are generally of far less importance, but that is not always the case. Each soldier will carry with them a 'pistol-sized' secondary weapon. The most common use is in relateively desperate situations where it is better to fire a limited weapon than take time to reload, time that the battlefield does not always permit.

Pistol -- Long, 1-3, 0%(3-5), 2 shots, less accurate at long ranges.

Machine Pistol -- Long, 1-5, 0%(5-8), 2 bursts, -1 mobility, -10 accuracy compared to pistol, less accurate at long ranges. Carrying a machine pistol will slow a soldier down a bit, and is usually not worth it. It does provide considerably more punch however.

Utility Items

Every soldier can carry two 'extras', which are usually tailored to their expected role in the next mission. All of these also exist in effectively unlimited quantities, as they are fairly basic equipment. That will not be the case as more specialized items are developed. These are also optional: if more mobility is desired, leaving a slot empty will increase mobility by the weight of the item removed(usually 1).

Alien Trophy -- Reduced chance of panic, Weight of 1. Some engineers wasted their time putting together a 'momento' of our success in Russia, essentially a fusing of alien skulls with some of their weaponry. Bringing this on a mission will serve as a visceral, if rather grotesque, reminder that the aliens are mortal, and help a soldier keep their head in the fight. I consider a complete waste of time, soldiers generally ought to be more concerned with more practical means of waging the fight.

Battle Scanner -- Limited-time tracking device, Weight of 1. For use in scouting an area without risking a soldier, these will relay sensor information back to squad and can be thrown similarly to a grenade into potentially dangerous parts of the battlefield.

Ceramic Plating -- +1 Health, Weight of 1. An insert worn underneath the soldier's primary armor, this will improve the amount of enemy fire they can survive. These can be the difference between life and death.

Anti-personnel Grenade -- 1-7 damage, Weight of 1. The AP grenade showed it's usefulness in Hot Dirge. They cannot damage enemies behind cover, meaning they must usually be thrown slightly past the target. As with any explosive device, damage is greater the closer the target is to the detonation.

** I earlier referred to these, incorrectly, as armor-piercing not anti-personnel. Not sure why I mixed that up. There is no 'armor-piercing' grenade. Perhaps the Commander should be more certain of his facts before he decides to wax eloquent

Flashbang Grenade -- Disorients target, Weight of 1. The FB grenade is highly favored due to it's ability to disable the enemy. Though it is not believed to be effective against mechancial enemies such as the drone encountered in Hot Dirge, organic life forms suffer significant penalties in aim and mobility if they are caught in the blast radius.

Smoke Grenade -- Deploys a defensive cloud, Weight of 1. The cloud of smoke resulting from this grenade grants +20 defense to anything, friend or foe, within the cloud. As Commander I do everything I can to limit exposure to danger, but these can be very helpful when the situation demands it.

High Explosive Grenade -- 0-6 damage, Weight of 1. Unlike the AP Grenade, the HE Grenade damages everything in the blast radius, cover included. If an enemy is cowering behind something particularly destructible, the damage to their cover may be more valuable than any injury it causes directly.

High-Capacity Magazines -- +1 ammo, Weight of 1. Enlarged magazines allow the soldier to shoot one additional time before reloading, significantly improving their effectiveness in prolonged firefights.

Laser Sight -- +5 aim, Weight of 1. Laser sights are probably the most commonly used item, allowing for greater accuracy in both primary weapons and, for those who use them, rocket launchers.

Medikit -- Variety of medical applications, Weight of 1. Medikits can restore three health or cure a variety of battlefield infections. They can also be used to stabilize critically wounded soldiers if needed.







This is known simply as the Activities Room. Some call it the Lounge. You can call it whatever you want, but remember that all training and combat and no play is not good for your mental health. Blow off some steam every once in a while. Your Commander will be glad you did. Few things are better for your effectiveness in the field than a reasonable amount of R&R.

[MacroGuru]

First Name: Mac
Last Name: Roguru
Nationality(optional): Scottish/Welsh if Possible
Focus Attribute(optional, will try to pick a character strong in this): Aim
Neglect Attribute(Optional, will try to pick a character weak in this):
Starting Squad Member(optional): Not required
Special Requests: Bald and Goatee...that's about it.

[path12]

'sup Lily.

[Brian Swartz]

Ten volunteers! I salute you all, one in four XCOM soldiers is a FOFC representative!

XCOM BRIEFING TOUR: FIELD OPS, PART 2
Soldier Profiles

Moving down to Sublevel 1, there are three more rooms in Field Ops. The first is the Fitness Center, which is open 24/7 and you are encouraged to take advantadge of it's facilities to keep yourself in optimal physical shape during your down time. The vigilant observer will note that for some reason, the 20kg plates have been stamped 'XCOM' in case you are tempted to forget where you are.







Directly below this is the bar, and never was an orange BioHazard sign displayed in a more appropriate area. To the far right rear, there is a bluish wall with three stars on it if you look closely. This area serves as the Memorial Wall(thankfully and fortunately still blank) and killboard, to honor those who have died in combat as well as those who have racked up a sizable total of alien scalps. Those of you who served in Hot Dirge may wish to review it ...







KILLBOARD

PFC Lily Brodie -- 5
PFC Benton Gale -- 2
PFC Su-Min Kim -- 1
PFC Didier Keita -- 1
PFC Naomi Foster -- 1

Finally there is Medical, where PFC Dean Hoo will unfortunately be spending quite some time. The diagnosis is that he was gravely wounded, and will be out of action for 19 days. Evaluation has indicated that there are no signs of permanent PTSD damage to his pysche, and he is expected to serve with distinction once he recovers.

**There are two kinds of injuries, wounded and gravely wounded. The difference is recovery time(up to a month for regular injuries, up to 40 days for grave injuries) and that grave injuries can also impart a permanent will reduction**







That concludes our Field Ops tour: it's time to meet our soldiers. There are a total of 40 at this stage, and XCOM can recruit more at a cost of 2.5 million for each.

PFC Dean Hoo -- Ukraine, 1 mission, 0 kills, gravely wounded(out for 19 days), SPEC Candidate
Health: 3
Mobility: 12
Will: 34
Aim: 68
Defense: 0

Dean was usually in the wrong place in the wrong time during Hot Dirge, and when he did get an opportunity he failed to take advantadge of this. For this reason, the Commander requires that he remain a private for the time being. Aim is still a little above-average as is will, though health and mobility are on the low side. He should prove a very capable, if fragile, soldier in time. There will still be many opportunities for him to distinguish himself.



PFC Benton Gale -- Japan, 1 mission, 2 kills, awaiting promotion to Specialist
Health: 3
Mobility: 13
Will: 44
Aim: 58
Defense -- -4

Her claim to fame is being the most strong-willed soldier in XCOM, giving Gale excellent officer potential should she survive long enough and wish to pursue it. Low health, aim, and defense will definitely not help her, though mobility is decent.



PFC Didier Keita -- Mexico, 1 mission, 1 kill, awaiting promotion to Specialist
Health: 4
Mobility: 13
Will: 42
Aim: 55
Defense: -2

Keita is unfortunate to have the worst aim I have ever seen in an XCOM operative. Elite-level will along with decent health and mobility will go some way towards making up for this. She is another with excellent officer potential.




There are six more heroes to profile who have not yet seen action. That will come in time. Naturally priority in choosing your 'avatar', if you will, was done in the order of sign-up.

**I should mention at this point that I am slightly concerned. This seems to be one of the least-talented rosters that I have seen. It seems the good old RNG is not feeling kind to us.**

PFC Jace Hunter -- Netherlands, 16th in the queue
Unfortunately, there was only one Canadian who didn't really fit the requested profile, plus they were slated second-to-last to go out.
Health: 4
Mobility: 11
Will: 30
Aim: 70
Defense: 3

Apart from being slow as dirt, Hunter has everything required to be a top-notch soldier. Decent will and health, excellent aim and an ability to avoid enemy fire. Big things are expected from him.



PFC Ches O'Peake -- USA, 5th in the queue
Health: 5
Mobility: 13
Will: 29
Aim: 65
Defense: -2

Ches is very tough which should grant excellent survivability. Otherwhise she is not particularly good or bad at anything, versatile with no great strengths or weaknesses. A blank slate on which to craft a successful career.



PFC Path Twelve -- Germany, 4th in the queue
Health: 3
Mobility: 12
Will: 27
Aim: 72
Defense: 3

Path Twelve is considered at this stage to be the most accurate shooter in XCOM. She will need to make good use of that, given below-average marks in most other respects, though defense is high as well.



PFC Coffee Warlord -- Israel, 6th in the queue
Health: 3
Mobility: 15
Will: 30
Aim: 61
Defense: -1

Coffee can't hit much of anything and he's flimsy, but he moves as well as anyone on the roster. As a scout or assault soldier he might do some fine things.



PFC Ivan Drago -- Honduras, 14th in the queue
**This has just been a really weird starting roster. Stupid weird. There wasn't a single Russian to be found, only Hoo was close as Ukrainian, but I've got Australians and South Africans all over the place. It's bizarre. Anyway, I just went for a reasonably close attribute match and then customized the appearance. I did change the language to Russian to help me remember the character. A Russian-speaking badass from Honduras. Sure. **
Health: 3
Mobility: 15
Will: 27
Aim: 64
Defense: -1

He can move. That's about it really, though Aim is just a slight but subpar.



PFC Ace Idol -- UK, 17th in the queue
It'll be a bit of time before you see action, but not that long and worth it I think. This is one of the best matches I was able to find, right nationality, attributes, and gender.
Health: 3
Mobility: 14
Will: 29
Aim: 67
Defense: -2

Ace has more than enough skill with the trigger and with his legs to make something of himself.



PFC Mac Roguru -- Australia, 21st in the queue
Pickings were slim in the Aim dept. by this point, but going to the Land Down Under you have one of the best who were remaining.
Health: 5
Mobility: 12
Will: 26
Aim: 68
Defense: 2

A pretty good shooter, Roguru should also be highly survivable though he's a bit fragile mentally.

[Grover]

RNGesus has not been kind to us.

[Brian Swartz]

Ok it's time to make a couple of choices. PFCs Benton Gale and Didier Keita, you are on the clock. 48 hours to choose your class, you will be promoted to Specialist once you have done so with updated attributes.

Benton Gale

The Scout/Sniper path has been preselected. Sniper is out of the question with your low Aim. Scout or a random class from the remaining six are your two choices.

Recommendation

Honestly this is a tough one. You have enough mobility to be an ok scout, but the low defense wouldn't help. It's also not an optimal class for an officer. Probably wouldn't prevent you from becoming one, but officers are best when close to the rest of the squad and a scout by nature takes the lead. On the other hand, a random class could be either better or worse. You'd fit well as a medic or engineer, but if it was infantry or rocketeer you'd be worse off than as a scout due to the aim issue.

You are now on the clock. Choose carefully .


Didier Keita

Gunner/Rocketeer have been selected. Rocketeer is not an option for the same reason, your legendarily poor aim. Gunner with an eye on potential officer training down the line would be fitting for your skills. In the Commander's opinion this an excellent spot for you, and the random class is too risky. If infantry or sniper were selected, you'd be a disaster.

Congratulations, Specialist Didier Keita(Gunner). You have been promoted, and your new attributes are as follows:

Health: 5(+1)
Will: 45(+3)
Aim: 56(+1)

A pretty 'meh' set of increases unfortunately. You now are authorized to use two new weapons:

SAW -- Long, 2-8, 0%(8-13), 6 bursts, -1 mobility. The SAW does more damage and probably more importantly for your concerns, has double the ammo capacity. You'll use it up quickly with your new Suppression ability.

Light Machine Gun -- Long, 3-9, 5%(9-15), 8 bursts, -2 mobility, grants Squadsight. The LMG is both more powerful and more restrictive. It is the largest portable weapon in the XCOM arsenal, but also requires careful positioning: you cannot move and fire in the same turn.

The Commander recommends the SAW for your use, given your near-complete inability to hit anything. The extra ammo will be useful for suppression, you don't need more damage since you aren't likely to do much anyway. Have a look at your new armor(same protection, but different detailing)

[Brian Swartz]

I am informed by PFC Benton Gale that she wishes to tempt the RNG and go with the random class selection. And so the results are ...

Infantry. Congratulations on your promotion! Condolences on the fact that you weren't able to roll a more appropriate class. But hey, you did make it up one level, and infantry are always in high demand -- but more so if they can hit something. SPEC Benton Gale now has the following attributes:

Health: 4(+1)
Will: 48(+4)
Aim: 60(+2)

Another very 'meh' promotion gain, though somewhat better than the other one. The rest of you soldiers really need to step it up. XCOM needs better than this. In NPC news, Su-Min Kim got solid improvements in becoming the first Assault, Naomi Foster proceeded even more cruddily that our pair of heroes in initiating the Engineer class, and despite her gaudy number of kills, Lily Brodie's talents were seen fit to start off as a Medic. A massive will increase(+9) in her case solidified her place as a person of extreme interest.

Scout, Sniper, and Rocketeer classes remain empty at this juncture.

Here's your new appearance, Specialist Gale, decked out in infantry blue:







There are pair of new weapons that you can technically use. I say technically, because you won't actually be using them anytime soon.

Battle Rifle -- Long range, 2-8 dam., 15% crit(8-13), 4 bursts, -15 aim, -1 mobility. A heavy assault rifle variant, the battle rifle can only be used effectively by an elite soldier. In the hands of one, the significant accuracy penalty can be negated enough by their skills to make the higher damage count. Unfortunately others such as yourself would be simply polluting the atmosphere without much of a chance of hitting anything.

Shotgun -- 3-9 dam, 20%(9-12), 5 bursts, short range, less damage against enemies in cover. The shotgun is a close-range, execution-style weapon that can technically be used by an infantry soldier but really shouldn't be. To be used effectively, they would have to be placed so close to the enemy that they would not survive long.

It is likely that you will be sticking with the standard options of assault rifle or carbine.

[Brian Swartz]

XCOM BRIEFING TOUR: CONCLUSION

This is the final part of the tour, in which we will explore the two departments that govern the civilian side of XCOM, reporting directly to Bradford. Both are headquartered on Sublevel 1. First, directly below Mission Control, are the Research Labs.







Research is under the direction of Dr. Vahlen, who seemed a bit over-doctrinaire in our first conversation. After stating the obvious fact that all of XCOM's research and development is directed from this part of the base, she mentioned that her team has already begun analyzing the artifacts recovered during Hot Dirge and that the potential for improvements is promising. She stated that work would begin immediately 'with my approval'.





I have the feeling she has no intention of waiting for my approval anyway. Regardless, she seems quite competent and nothing is more obvious at the moment than that we are desperately behind the invaders in terms of technology. Unquestionably the efforts of the teams under Vahlen's direction will be invaluable. I am informed that we currently have ten of the best scientists from around the world working for her on site.

There are three project proposals presented, though one of them(Alien Materials) is merely theoretical at this point as it will require resources we don't have. The other two are Xenobiology and Alien Weaponry. Vahlen's summary of the Xenobiology project is compelling enough to make it my choice, given that the time and resource requirements for the two are almost identical:

'It is crucial that we gain a thorough understanding of the alien physiology in order to develop weapons and tactics better suited to combating them.' I couldn't agree more. The project is authorized, and I am told results are expected in the second half of March given the current staff available.

As I leave, she is keen to remind me about the need to preserve as many alien artifacts from the field for study as possible, urging me to limit use of explosives. It's always good to have somebody telling me how to do my job, particularly when they insist on emphasizing the obvious. As important as her stated priorities are, the lives of the soldiers under my command will always come first.

Continuing back to the left across Sublevel 1, the base extends underneath the hangar itself. Before we fully reach our next intended destination, this disturbing site greets the passer-by:





There are some places not to vent your sense of humor. What would possess someone to think this is an appropriate way to label what appears to be the generator powering this part of the base?

I have little time to consider this, as continuing on I enter the final department: Engineering.





Soon I find myself face to face with Dr. Shen. This is his corner of the XCOM world.





He politely welcomes me, and after a brief tour of their facilities assures me that 'anything they can dream up in the research lab, we can build it here.' I sense already a bit of rivalry with Dr. Vahlen in his tone, but that is only natural. They are driven, highly successful in their fields. If they were not, they wouldn't be here. Competition for XCOM's limited resources will undoubtedly be fierce. But I'm a little more concerned about the demonstration of the robotics at his disposal on the assembly line. Impressive to be sure, but I think said limited resources might be better used on a task other than what appears to be massive quantities of metallic lunchboxes. Perhaps Dr. Shen might be a little too ... 'experienced'. I need to watch him closely.





He hands me a great stack of folders which he says I should peruse. I retreat to my office, and soon realize that while he may be a bit strange, his information is really very good.

Equipment

Or at least it appears to be. One immediate possibility for our combat teams is detailed:

Sawed-off Shotgun -- Short range, 4-8 dam., 5% crit(8-11), 1 burst, -1 mobility. Essentially a street modification of our standard shotguns, these can be carried instead of a pistol, though it seems only by some classes and they will slow them down. Still, it could be useful in some situations. Best of all, it comes at the very acceptable price of free. The engineers need only the original shotguns to modify, which we have in unlimited amounts. We almost certainly won't need to use these often at all, but I tell Dr. Shen to build us four of them anyway. I am told they will be ready tomorrow. If he's always this efficient, we will get along well.

Also of great interest are the blueprints for the Super Heavy Infantry Vehicle(SHIV). Essentially this is a small tank, and there are ideas for ways to improve the basic functionality. The cost is 6m each. While the concept is interesting in theory, I've always been a fan of boots on the ground. Nothing in the report indicates that a SHIV has the potential of a human recruit, though they are certainly expected to be initially more combat effective than an untrained PFC. The cost is also well over twice that of a new recruit. While both Shen and Bradford voice their disapproval, I tell them my policy is that we will have a human fighting force. I state emphatically, with far less conviction than I feel, that Field Ops is up to the job without these mechanical replacements.

New satellites are also in Shen's capability to produce, at a current cost of 14 million each. 25 days would be required for each. Certainly we'll need to expand the number of those we have available to detect alien activity in more nations, but we're not ready for that yet.

Facilities

The final folder in the stack to review is by far the thickest, and for good reason. Here Dr. Shen has detailed what lies beneath: the mostly empty and undeveloped levels below. There are four of them in all, Sublevel 2 through Sublevel 5, and it is here that expansions can safely be built. So far, there is merely an access lift down to SL2 and a satellite uplink for communicating with the bird over Germany.





There is much more that can be done, however. The schematic outlines the basic structure of the levels, as follows:







There are several designs for facilities we can build, if I choose. Access lifts will give us access to the next sublevel via the central shaft, laboratories will increase the efficiency of our research teams, workshops will allow us to build equipment more inexpensively(though not faster, more engineers are required for that), power generators will increase our ability to power more of all types of facilities, satellite uplinks are required to maintain more satellite coverage, and a foundry would allow more advanced engineering of current equipment or possibly new focused studies on new possibilities. Clearly I have a lot of choices to make, and not a lot of time in which to make them.

Attempting to clear my head before my next crucial task, orders on what areas of XCOM's operations to invest in now that all personnel had gotten a good tour of the base, I headed down to sublevel 2 to say hello to some people in Uplink Control. I was sorry I did after being greeted with this:





There are some things I would be better off just not knowing. It was a full minute before I regained my powers of speech.

Edit: The last image seemed dark to me. If it seems that way to others, this cautions reads: 'If the device begins leaking or malfunctioning contact your supervisor immediately. Safety not guaranteed. I have only done this once before. Risk of electrocution.'

[Travis]

Looking forward to joining the squad and hopefully lasting long enough to become a sniper.

[Brian Swartz]

INITIAL DECISIONS

Already Dr. Vahlen's research team had their orders, and Shen was working on the sawed-off shotguns. On the Air War side of the budget I ordered another interceptor. The price was steep, but it wasn't going to get any cheaper and we need to have an increased presence in the air. That put us down to 10.3m remaining, not quite enough for the next priority which is getting another satellite uplink going so we can extend our coverage to other nations in Europe.

As for the General Fund, after reviewing Shen's information it was clear that our top priority had to be getting access to that steam vent in Sublevel 3 right next to the access shaft. We are currently using almost three-quarters of our available power, and a thermal generator there would more than double our supply. Having one so close was quite fortuitous, a sign that not everything was going against us. The first step was building an access lift for 10m, most of which came out of the general fund but some out of the air war portion as it will also allow more space for more uplinks eventually. I am told this will take a week to build. We also began work on a laboratory on the far left end of Sublevel 2, and began excavating in the other direction as well: I want to get a workshop up and running as soon as possible. A Euro saved is a Euro earned. The lab will take three weeks, and each space excavated required five days. With these orders given, a good amount of our initial funding was gone. Here's the remaining balance:

Air War: 7.3m
General Fund: 10.3m

**This is the end of the 'setup' posts. It is still 1:58 am on March 1 in the game, but we will now progress chronologically. After we get 'caught up' to the current date which won't take long at all most likely, the Commander will present a daily briefing in this space -- even if there is nothing significant to report.**

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by Travis

Looking forward to joining the squad and hopefully lasting long enough to become a sniper.

I hope you do. Especially with limited talent, we will definitely need to get the most out of everyone.

[Brian Swartz]

The Story Continues ...

For a while there were a glut of observers in Mission Control, mostly just talking nervously and waiting to see what would happen. After about an hour they were dismissed from the room. It was really just a distraction to those doing vital work there, and everyone has to get used to the idea that while a crisis could come up at any time, nobody can be wired indefinitely. Off duty personnel and soldiers need to sleep, they need to relax as much as possible on personal time, they need to have as much of a life as is possible within the confines here. That's the only way they can operate at peak capability when they are really needed.

It was perhaps a blessing that the next few days had little other than relative mundane developments. It allowed everyone to get into a little bit of a rhythm. Nobody was foolish enough to believe this would last long however.

March 1

** 1:45 PM -- Stingray missiles have been loaded on two of the Ravens, and all four are once again ready for action.

March 2

** 1:41 AM -- Sawed-off Shotgun(x4) finished. It took just under 24 hours.

March 3

** 7:42 AM -- India has officially requested satellite coverage. This is unlikely to happen since A) we have no satellites, B) we have no satellites being built, and C) we couldn't spare the satellites to make it useful anyway. We have just over a month, 31 days to pull the trigger, and if we change our mind(which we won't), they will send us two engineers.

March 4

** 9 AM -- FO 'Notso' Sharpe is given the fifth fighter, leaving Europe just one short of a full complement.

** 11:12 PM -- A UFO was spotted to the north over the polar region! Our first action, only this thing was huge. Analysis indicated it was flying nap-of-the-earth, but at that size it was still easy to spot.





This created a problem as well. Nobody thought we had much chance of taking it down, but in order to preserve goodwill with the council we couldn't ignore it. Reluctantly I sent up 'Boss' Bordini's fighter, with strict orders to disengage if it was necessary.





** 11:46 PM -- Intercept happened just over a half our after it first showed up in our systems. The 'battle' lasted less than two seconds. One hit was all it took to make it clear that we couldn't conted with the firepower of that ship. It was still disturbing though, that Bordini managed to miss a vessel of that size. I could only shake my head at the practical futility of the attempt.






Bordini withdrew, and the ship will require almost two weeks of repair. 'Chainsaw' Katz's Raven will now load Stingrays to resume the 2/2 balance of weapons in the interim.

March 5

** 12:46 AM -- While the UFO is tracked by nervous souls in Mission Control, another request comes in and I duck into the Situation Room. South Africa also wants satellite coverage and offers the same two engineers. That's nice. They get the same response as India did.

** Approx. 1 AM -- The UFO arrives in Germany and hovers over the country. We don't know what it's doing, but the bet is preparing a diplomatic team to offer terms of surrender isn't on the agenda. We only have to wait a few minutes. At 1:08, we receive a report of abductions in Stuttgart. The national government tells us that despite the size of the enemy ship, it's a relatively small alien contingent involved and a reward of 8 million is on offer for a successful intervention.

They don't need to tell us twice. It will yet be nearly a full day until any of our veterans of the first operation a few days ago are ready, but given such limited resistance this is an opportunity to get some greenhorns experience anyway.

Privates Path Twelve, Ches O'Peake, and Coffee Warlord are among those suiting up for the waiting Skyranger ...

[Brian Swartz]

OPERATION SPECTRAL SLEEP
Stuttgart, Germany
March 5, 1:21 AM







Intelligence indicated that the area of operations would be a large urban structure. Overall, the squad was not an impressive ground. Path Twelve was the only above-average shooter, and will probably need to do a lot of the heavy lifting. Eliana Soares of Brazil has toughness and slightly above-average defense, earning her the role of scout, albeit a slow one.

PFC Thozama Khumalo(ZAF)
PFC Eliana Soares(BRA)
PFC Courtney Mason(UK)
PFC Path Twelve(DEU)
PFC Ches O'Peake(UK)
PFC Coffee Warlord(ISR)

The squad was given laser sights all around to help with accuracy, but even so only Twelve and O'Peake are carrying assault rifles. Most of the others have carbines, and Twelve had to sacrifice the second elective inventory slot to retain a decent movement rate since she's flimsy enough to need full armor. O'Peake has a flashbang and Warlord a medikit, with one of each also carried by Khumalo/Mason. For the most part, this group will need to nibble the enemy to death, and disable them or get out of dodge of things get too hairy.







They moved cautiously towards the building, and almost immediately heard to tell-tale sounds. From study of the audio from Hot Dirge, that was unmistakable. Sectoids. Pasty white fiends with bulging eyes and oversized heads. Miserable interlopers that needed to die.

As the squad reached the building, some could be heard a ways insides, but three approached, then ducked out of sight down the alley to the left. No need to alert them all at once. Best firing positions on the alley left of the building were assumed, with Path Twelve and Ches O'Peake featuring on overwatch. Twelve had a shot that was well off target, two of the enemy went on overwatch and another missed well high for Khumalo. Looks like the first firefight of the operation is upon us.





We had only a couple of decent shots, and Khumalo and Path Twelve made amends by gunning down their targets in quick succession! That was unexpected, but really gives us the edge now with only one left. The survivor tried to retreat, while we spotted movement inside the building. This could still get troublesome if we have to fight another group at the same time.

O'Peake and Soares led the way as the squad wheeled down the street past the building. We saw nothing, but can still hear them out there. A cornered enemy is a dangerous thing, and that's exactly what we have here. As Mason came around the corner, she was just in range of the sectoids inside ... three of them. They saw us. Well, that's exactly what I wanted to avoid. We weren't careful enough, and now there's potentially four out there.

One moved toward us inside the store, while the survivor of the first group reappeared far down the street. Not worrying about that one, at least for now. The other got itself a faceful of Coffee Warlord's carbine, as he was best positioned for a shot. Three down, at least three to go. Retreating, Mason spotted three more inside a garage of sorts behidn the auto shop. Well, that could have been better. Six of them now. This is what's known as 'light' resistance?

Some sort of mental attack on Mason, and she appears to have been damaged somehow, by one of them inside the store. Twelve misses, they move forward and miss a couple shots, reaction shot off target by Peake ... this is getting crazy and we're getting nowhere. It's an even fight in numbers, but we look out positioned here. A second mental attack on Mason, and she panicks.

The good news is that in their aggressiveness they gave up overwatch coverage, so we can adjust ... and one of them left themselves open. From her position on the corner of the building, Path Twelve slides along the near side for a flanking shot. The fight is no longer even. Khumalo and Soares move inside the building for better cover, allowing them to take a less defensive posture and potentially add to the fight.







A third straight attack on Mason succeeds, and she'll burn a medikit. Otherwhise they overwatch, not wanting to compromise good cover positions. Soares wounds the nearest one just behind the doorway, but it's still up and both Ches O'Peake and Path Twelve miss. Twelve is out of ammunition.

The sectoids advance a bit, using that panic attack they seem to love so very much. Mason holds firm this time, but it's O'Peake's turn to babble incoherently from her good defensive position on the street. I mean, now-useless defensive position on the street. She's now screaming randomly to 'get me out of here!'. Um, not till the fight's over dearie.

One has moved close enough to give the Warlord a shot. That's two kills for him, as a Sectoid body falls on a previously-eliminated corpse. He's showing some clutch in that maligned trigger finger of his today!







Khumalo puts a hole in the wall and that's it.







I still spot three. One moves up and misses a fairly close-range shot at Soares. She's pretty well covered, but that was still dangerous. the other two overwatch, preventing us from overrunning their position.

Soares returns fire and misses, and now not only is she out of ammo, but another advance would leave her flanked. We need some of these bastards dead. Mason has regained her composure in the nick of time, but fires high. Twelve breaks only a window. Khumalo looses a flashbang to temporarily knock the near one out of commission, it still shoots again, and misses again, at our Brazilian scout.


The blinding light of a flashbang, buying Soares a little time





Meanwhile a fourth comes at us from the back. That has to be all of them that are left. This fight has gone on too long. Warlord tries to plant a third body in the same heap, but it's just a flesh wound that simply bounces off the sectoid's hide. Ches O'Peake wounds, but does not kill, the same enemy with her last burst. At least two of them are hobbled now, that will help. More shots misfire both ways, and they are suppressing Soares as well. That doorway she is using for cover is disintegrating by the second ...







Khumalo plants the suppressor, freeing up Soares to take out the second injured sectoid. That was huge. Now we're in business again with two left. Again they move up to take out Soares ... missing, but the wall is gone now! She retreats, Mason gives out only a flesh wound, more reloading, Warlord relocates, but it's mostly just a positioning battle. We're winning it, but it's not over yet.

Another wall explodes, and this one exposes one of them! The second one had retreated, and only Ches O'Peake has a decent shot. Missed. Again. Khumalo takes the other one in a gimme to finish off her magazine, and it looks like we're down to one foe here.


Probably the best of Ches O'Peake's many failed opportunities to be more than a bystander in this operation.





Faced with little choice, it tries to move forward for a shot ... and there's the Coffee Warlord again, gunning it down just before it reaches a pod in the street! Half an hour later, a sweep reveals that was it for this dust-up.


Warlord's mission-ending bullseye, probably the most impressive part of the Stuttgart operation





POST-MORTEM

9 kills, all sectoids, and no soldiers lost. Courtney Mason made an embarassment of herself with her panicking, and she'll get to spend almost a week keeping Dean Hoo company in the medical ward. Special services has termed the attacks on her to be of two types. One was mindfray, which caused her to hallucinate out there along with physically weakening, the other was psi panic, the one that got to Ches O'Peake and made her go nutso.

I hate Sectoids. All in favor?

Fellow goat of the mission is O'Peake, who failed to record a single kill despite several opportunities. Hope you enjoy life as a lowly PFC, because guess what? YOU STILL ARE ONE!! Get your behinds to the practice range and freaking learn to hit something, slackers!

The other four were promoted, with Khumalo and Coffee Warlord bagging three apiece. Warlord is the unquestioned and surprising hero of the day. He was in a rear position almost the whole mission, spending a lot of time at the back of that full-size green van in the street. But the enemy learned that despite that, he was not one to be ignored. Opportunistic and stunningly accurate, he did well for himself out there. After a fast start, Path Twelve couldn't hit much at the end but still had two kills, and Soares finished with the one tally.

Artifacts Recovered

9 Sectoid Corpses
9 Weapon Fragments
Another oz. of the mysterious orangish goo

With the reward money deposited in the treasury, the Air War fund is back up to 11.3m, 14.3m in the General Fund. The team was on site for over an hour and twenty minutes, and returned to base at 2:52 AM.

[Brian Swartz]

Promotions

Coffee Warlord, you are hereby promoted to Specialist, and the first member of the Scout class. You are still slightly subpar on defense and physically flimsy, so it's not without risk, but elite movers are a pretty rare thing. Compared with the other options of a 61-aim sniper or a random offering, it was a no-brainer and Commander's prerogative was invoked.

Heath: 3(--)
Will: 38(+8)
Aim: 65(+4)

I would have liked to see you toughen up a bit, but let's not kid ourselves -- this is good training work. Your XCOM career is off to a fine start!







Path Twelve, the whole compound knew what was going to happen in your case. But it's now official. You are XCOM's first Sniper, and have been duly promoted to Specialist as well.

Health: 3(--)
Will: 34(+7)
Aim: 75(+3)

Not bad, but we need to see a little bit more dedication from you on the firing range as well. As a sniper, that's far more important than anything else you can do.







Khumalo became a medic, and Soares is the agency's first, albeit slightly subpar it would seem, rocketeer. All classes are now represented with at least one soldier.

[Brian Swartz]

The Story Continues ...

March 6 -- SPEC Su-Min Kim returns to duty. Excavation finished on sublevel 2, but we lack the funds to build a workshop as more power is needed first, which is waiting on the thermal generator.

March 7 -- The rest of the Hot Dirge squad returns to duty, including Benton Gale and Didier Keita. Dean Hoo is the lone exception, as he remains in the medical ward for some time yet.

[path12]

Heading to firing range now!

[Brian Swartz]

I was remiss is not talking about the new weapon options from our recently promoted specialists.

Coffee Warlord, as a scout you now have access to the Battle Rifle and Shotgun which were previously mentioned. The Shotgun is an interesting choice for a Scout as it signifies a more offensive-minded soldier. Most scouts will take a carbine or even just an SMG so they can do the actually scouting part of the job better, maximizing ability to move over wide distances. There is also this option:

Marksman's Rifle -- Long range, 2-8 dam., 5% crit.(8-13), 5 shots, severe aim penalty when used at short range. This turns the scout into more of a long-range operator. The Commander considers it to be a poor choice since it is rarely useful -- scouts tend to spend more time close to the enemy than any other class, and this weapon is specifically weakened in that circumstance.

The primary choice then of the scout tends to be in taking a carbine/SMG for superior movement, or a shotgun for superior firepower. This choice is often mission-dependent, but usually the former is best.


Path Twelve, you have access to the Markman's Rifle as well, but were pictured with the default full-blown

Sniper Rifle -- Unlimited range, 2-8 dam., 25% crit(8-13), 5 ammo, -1 mobility.

The sniper rifle has greater range(the marksman version is limited to five tiles beyond visual range) and slightly greater overall damage due to a higher critical chance. It does restrict movement a bit though and cannot be fired after moving. When the sniper has a reliable position and can just fire away, the sniper rifle is better, while the marksman's rifle is superior in situations where they have to move quite a bit during a firefight.

[Brian Swartz]

**The CDB will be seen on a daily basis, and will generally be brief but of course game events will determine this to some degree**

Commander's Daily Briefing(CDB), March 8 2015

Heavy UFO activity noted over South Africa, and Mexico has joined the group of nations requesting a satellite.

Meanwhile, in the aftermath of Spectral Sleep, here are the latest news headlines:

** Mysterious operatives intervene In Germany's abduction crisis, preventing further alien incursions(*NEW*)
** Successful military incursion by unknown forces in Russia stops alien abduction in progress
** Residents of Mumbai stand behind reports of an unknown 'creature' lurking in the streets; so far no evidence has been presented
** Experts debate as early indications show objects in space are of 'alien' origin
** Alien sightings shock world population as reports continue to climb

[Brian Swartz]

CDB, March 9

March 8, 4 AM -- Access Lift to Sublevel 3 completed. Excavating the steam vent just to it's right will now commence.

**On Tuesday, I intend to get the updated roster organized and put in the first post of the thread, so that it can be clear where everybody is at 'at a glance' whenever desired**

[chesapeake]

It definitely wasn't my day. But don't give up on me now, Commander!

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by Chesapeake

It definitely wasn't my day. But don't give up on me now, Commander!

I won't. That would not be prudent at this juncture. I can't go around dismissing operatives that screw up, or A) we'd have almost nobody left, and B) we'll be out of money real fast, ya'll are expensive :P. You'll have plenty more chances to screw up worse ... I mean, redeem yourself.

[Brian Swartz]

CDB, March 10

Council Bulletin

At just past noon, the Council of Nations announced that South Africa has lost all faith in XCOM and withdrawn from the project. Leading the news everywhere was a statement by the UN condemning them for allegedly providing material support to the aliens.

Shocked, the Commander and Bradford discuss the report two days ago of UFO activity in the nation. Clearly this is something we need to pay more attention to, though of course we lack the ability to do anything about it even had we known it was coming. The revised projections without South Africa show Council funding down to 67.6m per month, 42.6m after maintenance costs are paid.

****This is a scripted mod event and will only happen once. It is necessary for reasons relating the main plot of the game, and the country selected is random. It is possible for nations to suddenly leave the council, but rare and more warning will usually accompany it if this happens again in the future. **

Later in the day, three operatives return to active status including Ches O'Peake and Path Twelve.

[Brian Swartz]

** This roster is accurate as of the end of March 10 and will be updated daily in the first post of the thread. First up, all active soldiers specialist or above are listed by class. The first soldier for each class is generally selected for the next mission that needs one, except in cases of vital priority missions which will take the best available. **

Assault(1)
** This should mostly be self-explanatory. The % listed is progress towards the next promotion. The number in paretheses by each class is the total number of that class currently in XCOM(including those who are recovering and/or injured)**

SPEC Su-Min Kim(KOR, 1 mission, 1 kill, 3%) -- 5 Health, 14 Mob, 44 Will, 66 Aim, 1 Def

Engineer(1)

SPEC Naomi Foster(USA, 1 mission, 1 kill, 1%) -- 6 Health, 12 Mob, 34 Will, 64 Aim, 1 Def

Gunner(1)

SPEC Didier Keita(MEX, 1 mission, 1 kill, 1%) -- 5 Health, 13 Mob, 45 Will, 56 Aim, -2 Def

Infantry(1)

SPEC Benton Gale(JPN, 1 mission, 2 kills, 10%) -- 4 Health, 13 Mob, 48 Will, 60 Aim, -4 Def

Medic(2)

SPEC Lily Brodie(SCO, 1 mission, 5 kills, 43%) -- 3 Health, 13 Mob, 46 Will, 64 Aim, -2 Def
SPEC Thozama Khumalo(ZAF, 1 mission, 3 kills, 22%) -- 5 Health, 14 Mob, 42 Will, 63 Aim, -1 Def

Rocketeer(1)

SPEC Eliana Soares(BRA, 1 mission, 1 kill, 1%) -- 5 Health, 12 Mob, 33 Will, 67 Aim, 1 Def

Scout(1)

SPEC Coffee Warlord(ISR, 1 mission, 3 kills, 22%) -- 3 Health, 15 Mob, 38 Will, 65 Aim, -1 Def

Sniper(1)

SPEC Path Twelve(DEU, 1 mission, 2 kills, 12%) -- 3 Health, 12 Mob, 34 Will, 75 Aim, 3 Def

Private(31)
**Only FOFC volunteers are listed here. The number listed is your spot in the queue, or to put it another way your 'place in line' to be sent out on a mission and get yourself into the game. Those who have already gone out but didn't get promoted are actually at the head of the line, due to the fact that XCOM needs to build critical mass of experienced soldiers and they are closer to getting that first promotion having already gained some experience.**

PFC Ches O'Peake(USA, 1 mission, 0 kills, 83%) -- 5 Health, 13 Mob, 29 Will, 65 Aim, -2 Def -- 1st
PFC Ivan Drago(HON, no missions) -- 3 Health, 15 Mob, 27 Will, 64 Aim, -1 Def -- 9th
PFC Jace Hunter(NLD, no missions) -- 4 Health, 11 Mob, 30 Will, 70 Aim, 3 Def -- 11th
PFC Ace Idol(UK, no missions) -- 3 Health, 14 Mob, 29 Will, 67 Aim, -2 Def -- 12th
PFC Mac Roguru(AUS, no missions) -- 5 Health, 12 Mob, 26 Will, 68 Aim, 2 Def -- 16th


Recovery
**Those soldiers who are fatigued following a recent operation will be listed here. At the moment there are none as the last several days have been eerily quiet for XCOM.**

Injured
**Injured soldiers are out of action until they recover. The expected time until they are available for active duty is listed here as well.**

PFC Courtney Mason(UK, 1 mission, 0 kills, 83%) -- 4 Health, 14 Mob, 31 Will, 62 Aim, -2 Def -- 16 hours
PFC Dean Hoo(UKR, 1 mission, 0 kills, 83%) -- 3 Health, 12 Mob, 34 Will, 68 Aim, 0 Def -- 9 days


KILLBOARD

SPEC Lily Brodie -- 5
SPEC Thozama Khumalo -- 3
SPEC Coffee Warlord -- 3
SPEC Benton Gale -- 2
SPEC Path Twelve -- 2
SPEC Naomi Foster -- 1
SPEC Didier Keita -- 1
SPEC Su-Min Kim -- 1
SPEC Eliana Soares -- 1

MEMORIAL
**Here are remembered all those missing or killed in action. Thankfully it is blank so far.**

[Coffee Warlord]

RECON!

[Brian Swartz]

CDB, March 12

March 10 -- Two more operatives return to duty, including Coffee Warlord.

March 11 -- Courtney Mason returns from injury: it is otherwhise a quiet day.

Too quiet for the likes of many. The natives are getting restless with only the tedious hum of 'routine' activity. Among the complainers is Dr. Vahlen, bemoaning to virtually anyone who will listen the deplorable state of her department. Her consistent argument is 'If we don't address the lack of available scientists in the lab soon, we run the risk of falling behind on our research.'

Falling behind, Dr. Vahlen?!? I become worried that she may not be the right person for this job. It is absurdly self-evident to anyone with two brain cells to rub together that the aliens are light-years ahead of us in technology pretty much across the board. Possibly hopelessly so. Falling behind, you say? Her point is well taken, but it's not as if I can pull extra world-class researchers out of my arse.

The situation is Field Ops is not a lot better. Almost everyone is antsy, especially the privates who are still waiting their first shot in the field. The first two missions have been tense, yet overall the soldiers have performed quite well. The inherent sense of danger during and immediately after missions has had a somewhat perverse positive effect of focusing everyone on the danger and issues at hand. During extended down times -- it has been nearly a week since Spectral Sleep with very little to do -- there is nothing for the mind to focus on except the continued effort to maintain fitness and contemplation of our fate, both individual and collective.

It is not as if we can realistically imagine that we have scared the aliens off. South Africa dropping off the grid was certainly more than proof enough of that, and there are reports daily from all over the world indicating they are far from absent. Having some control over the skies above Germany is a great achievement, and yet that means that the other 7.2 billion people, 98.9% of the world, lives in areas that we have little alien intelligence in and even less ability to interdict. It would be much better to have something to focus on other than that sad fact.

[Brian Swartz]

**After a couple fun days at work, I've a bit to catch up on here.**

March 12 -- At 1631, after just about exactly one week of quiet, XCOM went back on high alert. The satellite over Germany had detected a UFO, this one much smaller than the one which had led the Stuttgart abduction attempt. It was flying low but not NOE, suggesting a different mission, and of a type not previously seen.

'Blinker' Kamala was launched soon afterwards, and following a tense aerial battle in which their fighter took heavy damage, barely managed to down the UFO before it could get away. Immediate post-flight analysis indicated the enemy weapons were more accurate but that our Avalanche missiles appeared to pack a bigger punch. Thorough dissection of the data will begin immediately.

More importantly, there was much celebration in Mission Control as Bradford demonstrated poise and control in getting images of the crash site immediately. Even he was dumbfounded by the results however:







'Still in one piece?!' commented CO Bradford, unable to mask his shock at the impossibility of that fact. Clearly alien technology is every bit as advanced as we've feared if a crash at that velocity from that height didn't cause the ship to break up noticeably at all. Also readily apparent was that this was a crucial opportunity. We've never seen any of the enemy craft up close. Who knows what we might be able to learn? A field operation was urgently required.

It also left me in a quandary. Coming up with a sensible squad to send out was my toughest decision to date by far. Success here was even more essential than in our first two operations, but on the other hand if I sent out our best soldiers we would have little experience left should something even more vital come up in the next couple of days. Meanwhile, continuing to build a broad base of experienced soldiers was still necessary.

There was no time to brood on the choice, time was of the essence. We had to get down there and to the crash site as soon as possible.

[Brian Swartz]

In the end I decided it was too risky to treat this as a priority mission. As important as it is, nobody doubts there will be more UFOs. In order to give us a better chance to survive whatever is down there, I sent the following strike team:

OPERATION DEVIL'S FIST
Germany, 3.12.2015, 1720

SPEC Lily Brodie(Medic) -- SMG, Medikit(x2)
SPEC Eliana Soares(Rocketeer) -- Carbine, Rocket
PFC Courtney Mason(UK, 1, 0, None, 83%) -- Carbine, medikit
PFC Ches O'Peake(USA, 1, 0, None, 83%) -- Rifle, flashbang
PFC Eman Hodzic(BIH, 0, 0, None, 0%) -- Rifle
PFC Brook Carter(USA, 0, 0, None, 0%) -- Carbine, flashbang

Brodie's medic skills will give the team a better chance of coming back in one peace, and Soares' rockets should prove handy if they find themselves overwhelmed by large numbers of the enemy. Mason and O'Peake are virtually guaranteed to be ready for promotion if they don't get themselves killed, while Hodzic and Carter will get their first opportunities in the field. I'm still not comfortable with it but it seems a reasonable balance between survivability and getting more of our personnel out there. Time will tell if I've made the right choice.

Carter is slow but adept at avoiding hostile fire, so she'll be the scout with this group anyway. Soares is limited due to her low mobility, so she'll only be able to carry one rocket. It will have to be conserved for vital need. With the importance of being mobile enough to get to anyone who is injured, Brodie will be carrying an SMG, making it unlikely she'll add much to her impressive kill tally from the first outing. Hodzic and O'Peake are the squad's best shooters and will need to be relied upon to turn the odds in our favor, while Mason will hopefully just manage to not embarass herself as thoroughly as she did in Spectral Sleep. She's the backup medic should anything happen to Brodie, always an important role.

The AO is designated 'riparian'. Looks like a bunch swampland to me. The squad is aways east of what seems to be the outline of the crashed vessel. Cautiously Carter leads the team that way. They don't hear much but what they do hear is by now a most familiar sound -- sectoids. What a shock.

As we approach, it seems they are just to the right and mostly straight ahead, but the sounds stay at the same distance as we approach. It's as if they are intentionally staying just out of range ... leading us ... smells like a trap. But is there really a choice? We must get to that ship before reinforcements arrive.

Continuing forward, using logs, plants, and whatever else for cover, Carter spots the ship. It's definitely taken serious damage, but is still remarkably intact structurally. And what is that ... thing ... off to the right? That orangish glow is reminiscent of the mysterious goo we have recovered in miniscule amounts from the dead bodies of aliens already. The squad wheels and moves off in that direction.







Then we hear movement off to our left. Investigating that ... pillar, or whatever it is ... is risky. It's so close to the ship, who knows what might be hiding in there? It's a risk we have to take though. As Carter moves up to the ship, something -- materializes I guess is the right word. Vahlen pipes in her two cents that the readings we are getting can't be accurate. She describes them as indicating a 'being of almost pure energy'. And what on earth is that glowing green thing? We're off the reservation here, stepping into unknown territory.





Caution is the word of the day as we slowly advance, the strange new enemy moving up and missing Carter. Brodie advances to the strange orangish pillar, and Dr. Shen notes that the glowing green thing appears to be the primary power source. He's clearly impressed by it, and also says we should watch our fire since it could be 'highly unstable'. Fantastic.

Brodie depresses a panel in the side of the column, and three oz. of the substance is dispensed as it deactivates. Apparently it is a storage unit of some kind. Carter uses her flashbang while the rest of the squad moves up. We're not quite close enough yet. It fires back at her again, missing again. I don't plan on letting it have another chance.

The new alien takes everyone to eliminate, we miss a couple of times, but eventually it is ... Brodie, who just doesn't know how to fail it seems, taking the thing out from point-blank range. It has a really tough exterior, several times more resistant than a sectoid, yet distintegrates into fragments similarly to their weapons when it dies.





We can still hear sectoids to the left, and decide to use the good cover the ship provides as we move that way. At first we see nothing, and then we spot three of them, in the rocks. We aren't going to find a better position than where we are right now. We have their ship, let's see them try to take it back.







Soares misses high, but Hodzic plants one of them. They aren't feeling adventurous, and just sit there hoping we'll chase. Not likely. We're not about to give them an easier target. We have a few decent shots at the leader as he moves forward behind a log, and miss every last one of them. They fire at Mason on our right, missing badly. Ches O'Peake is the odd one out, unable to find a decent firing position without exposing herself.

She'll switch with Soares who reloads, while the leader advances, dodges reaction fire from Brodie, and misses a good angle on Mason. Nobody can hit a blasted thing, and the second enemy has strangely moved alongside a log on the right in an exposed position. Perhaps borne of desperation, they've made a suicidal error overextending like this.







Mason moves up to assassinate the second sectoid, and Ches O'Peake does the same with the leader. They made it easy on us other than the missed shot on Mason a moment ago. O'Peake reports no more alien life signs, and it's only a matter of time before a sweep confirms that. Soon the salvage teams are in place to recover what we can from the alien ship.


It took long enough, but from point-blank range PFC O'Peake gets her first kill, finishing off an important operation





POST MORTEM

Only four enemies out there, but it was as clean as clean can be. We had no injuries, though they had a couple of chances, and we mopped them up without causing any further damage to the enemy ship. Still, it was a walk in the park compared to the previous pair of outings.

At 1904 the Skyranger landed back at HQ, while Dr. Vahlen offered her congratulations on the impressive operation. She was particularly pleased at our efficiency in grabbing the 'canister' with no casualties.

There were promotions all around with the exception of SPEC Soares, who didn't get a chance to use her rocket and misfired consistently with her carbine.

ARTIFACTS

3 Sectoid Corpses
15 lbs. Elerium
10 lbs. Alien Alloys
4 Weapon Fragments
3 oz. meld
1 UFO Power Source
2 UFO Flight Computers(both damaged)

[Brian Swartz]

The new enemy we encountered during Devil's Fist has been codenamed an 'Outsider'. The damaged flight hardware was sold for three million on the gray market. A financial update following this seemed to be in order.

XCOM FINANCIAL STATUS

Operating Budgets

Air War: 12.2m
General Fund: 14.4m

Excavation for the thermal generator will be finished soon. The generator itself will require 35m to build, so money is certainly very tight with that expense hanging over our heads.

Gray Market Assets

14 Sectoid Corpses @ 200k ea.
1 Drone Wreck @ 100k
15 lbs. Elerium @ 500k
10 lbs. Alien Alloys @ 500k
21 Weapon Fragments @ 100k
5 ozs. MOG(Mysterious Orangish Goo) @ 700k
1 UFO Power Source @ 6m

Total Value: 27m

XCOM's total assets have skyrocketed with the UFO raid. Of the new materials, the tougher alien alloys used in construction of their ship are pretty self-explanatory, but we know little of elerium which is actually not an alloy but an element that is confounding to Vahlen's research teams. We know only right now that we can't reproduce it. What it's use is remains a mystery, as do potential applications.

Meanwhile, Dr. Vahlen seems very troubled by our foes. After Devil's Fist, she had this to say:

"I'm still having trouble grasping what the aliens are attempting to accomplish. Are they studying us? Why abduct humans seemingly at random? There must be a pattern that we haven't established yet."

I suggested she might be better off focusing on the research tasks she has been given. I have a feeling, not an altogether pleasant one, that the enemy plans will be revealed in due time.

[Brian Swartz]

Promotions

PFC Ches O'Peake, having redeemed yourself a bit, you have been promoted to Specialist! Your choices are Infantry, Assault, or a random class selection.

We presently have two assaults, one infantry since Courtney Mason went the assault route. As a well-rounded soldier, your talents are serviceable for any class choice. You'd make a slightly better assault given your physical toughness and solid mobility, but infantry are more in demand.

Recommendation -- Not an easy selection in my opinion though under the circumstances infantry is an attractive choice especially since it would assure you of continued action -- they are one of the classes that is typically in high demand. Given your 'decent at everything' profile, I don't think a random choice would be particularly useful. But of course the choice is there.

Private O'Peake, you are on the clock -- what training do you select?

[Brian Swartz]

March 13 -- Lots of UFO activity over South Africa in the morning. Not that we particularly care much. They are traitors to the human cause. At 0630 excavation was finished on Sublevel 3. Now all that we need is the funding for the thermal generator proceed.

March 14 -- 0053. Overnight, another small low-flying UFO is spotted approaching from the polar regions to the north! It's been identified as being of the same class as the last one less than a day and a half ago, designated as a Scout by XCOM Intelligence.

Flight analysis indicates a more aggressive posture will yield better results. 'Notso' Sharpe was sent up and again the alien ship was downed, this time with a bit less damage. Impressive work!

The hangar was busy again as the Skyranger readied for departure. After the minimal resistance experienced during Devil's Fist and the fact that we have limited rested skilled soldiers available, I decided to send an all-private squad out here. If it's anything like the last mission, they should be able to handle it.

PFC Yolanda Pena(ESP, 0, 0, None, 0%)
PFC Sophie Deschamps(FRA, 0, 0, None, 0%)
PFC Alma Demirovic(BIH, 0, 0, None, 0%)
PFC Rebecca Burke(USA, 0, 0, None, 0%)
PFC Geoff Russell(USA, 0, 0, None, 0%)
PFC Ivan Drago(HON, 0, 0, None, 0%) -- Rifle, ceramic plating

[Brian Swartz]

OPERATION PATIENT KING
Germany, 3.14.2015, 0136

It's another remote area for this. So far a duplicate of the previous raid and hopefully it will end with the same success. This group has a lot of versatile, general-purpose recruits. Pena, the Spaniard, fits best as the scout but really it's a very interchangeable group.

Almost immediately a pair of sectoids were spotted up ahead on the right. They had by far the better terrain, and despite our best efforts to dig in, one of them hit Pena. Fortunately it wasn't much of a wound. They had sacrificed any sort of covering fire to do it though, and one of the Americans, Geoff Russell, managed a flanking shot. The leader was badly hurt, but still up.



The second soldier from the US, Burke, finished it off while Pena used a flashbang on the second sectoid. Unable to do much of anything, it could not avoid a follow-up burst by Pena which dropped it a minute later. Soon everyone was reloaded, a medikit application made everyone back to full sterngth.

Another storage canister was found to the right, and we got to it with Deschamps making the recovery. Another three ounces. Whatever this stuff is, I have to think it will eventually prove useful or they wouldn't be storing it. We were used to the 'whirring' sound of the canisters by now, and could hear two more out there, one to the right and one to the left of the ship.

Approaching the craft, two more sectoids were spotted just inside it by Pena. We had the high ground on a hill overlooking it, and no intention of ceding that advantadge. Let the come if they would. Pena, Drago, and Demirovic got into good firing positions -- but the last of them spotted another outsider! Now that could be trouble, taking on all three at once. Burke found a flanking shot and took out one sectoid immediately, making things a little better for us. The second advanced, and was drilled by Pena, while for some reason the outsider stayed put. Oh well. You have the right to remain stupid, I guess.







Soon it became clear though that the goal, successfully executed, had been to stay out of range and force us to make the first move. It assumed a defensive position inside the ship, daring us to come in after it. Russell had the only flashbang and might as well have been a mile away.







We repositioned, but were fortunate to have it miss a long shot at Demirovic. Deschamps and Burke were close enough to flank it, with the American getting the kill ...

... but this time the scanners didn't read all clear. The canisters, we had noticed, had gone silent. Apparently there's a shutdown or self-destruct on those things. Sectoids to the left. That was the immediate concern.

Again we used the ship as cover, but before we could get in position we spotted a pair of them. Pena's reaction shot was off target, and they found good elevated positions. This could be fun. My plan was a bit speculative. Use shooters to pin them in place, and then if possible, wheel part of the squad out of the ship to the right and attack from two sides. Problem was time, the fight might be over by then, but the second part of the squad couldn't help from where they were, so it was worth a shot.

Russell gave one of them a flesh wound, but the more ironic part is they swung around the ship gradually to our left, the opposite of the way my 'hinge' was going. Pena wounded the second, but we still had to withdraw a bit to avoid getting flanked ourselves.


They might have have outmaneuvered me here, but we still had them far outgunned.





Pena was able to finish one off as it left itself exposed, but that was a two-way street. The second one, already wounded, missed her and she closed for a pistol-shot execution.


Pena finishes off the final enemy as Deschamps looks on



Post-mortem


Again we have to consider ourselves a bit lucky. The cornered outsider had it's chances, and the sectoids had a couple decent chances that missed. We killed seven of them, and have yet to lose a soldier. I wouldn't have taken odds on that two weeks ago. Pena was the clear hero, bagging four of them with Burke taking the other three, but everyone earned a promotion with the clean results.


Artifacts Recovered

6 Sectoid Corpses
2 lbs. Elerium
8 lbs. Alien Alloys
7 weapon fragments
4 oz. MOG
2 UFO Flight computers(damaged)
1 UFO Power Source(damaged)

Another 6m for the damaged UFO parts. This ship took a lot more damage on the way down for some reason, as shown by the reduced haul from scavenging it.

[Brian Swartz]

Promotions

PFC Ivan Drago, you have been promoted to Specialist! You didn't really have a chance to do much in Patient King, but you didn't screw anything up either. Your choices are Infantry, Assault, or random.

Recommendation -- Given your elite-level mobility and slightly subpar aim, you'd be a little bit more effective as an assault. There's a chance to get the gunner/rocketeer options that are a bit more fitting with your persona, or the engineer/medic options that are a bit more fitting with your skills, if you take the random path. Of course, you could also be stuck as a subpar sniper or a scout that way as well.

Ivan Drago, you are on the clock!