X-COM: Terror from the Deep is a go! (Mission 17 complete and posted!)

[Tasan]

It appears we've hit a major snag. I can't seem to advance very far in this mission without it crashing. We may have to skip this terror site if I can't get through it. I have a save before the Triton arrives.

[Tasan]

Okay, things are going again on the 3rd try. Some of you are lucky, I'll say that ;- )

[Tasan]

"Base....*********der heavy**ire. ***e down now********kind of alien, something fly****. We may have to p**********. Re*****, may have to pull******. Copy?"

[Tasan]

"Base, we*******nt twel*** down, repeat, t*****e *****s down. We'r***** the Triton****** lif****f in 10 minute**********out."

[Neon_Chaos]

Holy shitake mushrooms!

[Neon_Chaos]

Neon Chaos III is watching his fingernails grow while the world falls apart around him.

[PilotMan]

Eeekgads!

[Poli]

Coffee Warlord II: Hey Caesar, whatcha reading?
Caesar: An article.
CW II: No shit. What's it about?
Caesar: It's about why we're fighting the war.
CW II: Why are we fighting the war, Caesar?
Caesar: It appears the aliens are bad, very bad.
CW II: You don't say! The aliens are bad, huh?
[Turns to Neon Chaos III]
CW II: Hey Neon, this guy is reading an article that says the aliens *are bad*.

[Large amounts of banging and explosions can be heard. Sirens scream as lights begin to light up and emergency lights flash.]

NC III: What the heck is going on??
Caesar: It's go time.

[Coffee Warlord]

The infirmary will be defended!

[kingfc22]

Let's do this thing. The ladies are waiting for some heroes

[JeeberD]

I'm pretty sure what the garbled communication is saying is that JeeberD II took down 12 aliens by himself...

[hoopsguy]

The next day hoopsguy II excitedly runs into my office. It turns out the Deep Ones are manufactured creatures, using some captured human DNA along with alien DNA. Deep inside, they have small devices that work much like the Ion Beam Accelerators. Also, they seem to be controlled in the same manner our aquanauts fall under alien control. hoopsguy II thinks that from this research, we can unlock the secret of the aliens' origins, the mind control they are doing, and a new form of armor based on the Ion Beam Accelerators. I order the Atlantic base scientists to start work on the new armor. I order the South China Sea guys to cut way back on the PWT Defenses and start work on the mind control stuff. Things are getting better every day around here.

Journal Entry #17 - Breakthrough! Over the past months there has been one driving force keeping me in the labs all these hours, at the expense of sleep, socializing, proper hygiene ... hmm, I may have written too much ... and it has been the goal of thwarting this "mind control" scourge that has taken too many of our men.

It is one thing for a man to die in battle, with a blaster in his hand, facing down foes. But to be turned against allies, and to suffer the indignity of being shot down by a dog by the men you have trained with? That is unacceptable!

I will stop at nothing to solve this puzzle. And then, just maybe, it will be time to pick up a weapon and join this fray.

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

It is one thing for a man to die in battle, with a blaster in his hand, facing down foes. But to be turned against allies, and to suffer the indignity of being shot down by a dog by the men you have trained with? That is unacceptable!

Wait, we've armed our DOGS?!?!? AWESOME!

[hoopsguy]

by a dog, like a dog ... eh

[Tasan]

Mission 16
Mayhem in Miami

April 28, 2040

Its a bright, sunny day in Miami, but smoke is rising from the dock area of town already. The Triton lands in an empty field near the shoreline. The troops let out a groan when they realize its not a resort area but the dockyards they'll be searching. Clearly someone needs to be shot for that bit of misinformation. The roster:

KWhit – Shok Launcher
SirFozzie II – Sonic Cannon
BYU 14 II – Shok Launcher
JeeberD II - Sonic Cannon
Roberto II - Sonic Cannon
kingfc22 III - Sonic Cannon
MrBug708 II - Sonic Cannon
gkb - Sonic Cannon
RealDeal II
ntndeacon III
Izulde
Abe Sargent II
Travis IV
Greyroofoo III

BYU 14 II is first out. He immediately sees two Lobstermen, one directly in front of the nose of the ship, and one to the east and south a little. He fires at the one towards the nose, and hits it, knocking it out. KWhit is next out, and he fires at the other alien. The Shok bomb explodes at its feet, knocking it out as well. MrBug708 II comes out and provides them some cover, while the rest wait inside.

BYU 14 II reloads and MrBug708 II moves towards the docks. He spots another Lobsterman hiding behind a loading device and fires on it. He hits it and it returns fire. Its shot misses wide. BYU 14 II steps up and tries to knock it out, but his shot hits a fence near MrBug708 II and nearly takes him down. Roberto II moves up to cover MrBug708 II and fires on the alien. He hits it, but it still doesn't go down. Inside the Triton, JeeberD II readies a Pulser and tosses it near the Lobsterman. It explodes and the thing still doesn't fall. The creature returns the favor by lobbing a Pulser of its own, but it hits the side of the loader's control booth and lands in front of the monster, exploding. No aquanauts are harmed, but a civilian hiding behind the booth screams his last breath. MrBug708 II returns fire and hits again, killing the alien.

The team moves out. More civilian screams are heard, but no more aliens are spotted. KWhit moves towards an office building next to the Triton. A door on the lower level opens and some kind of tiny flying saucer comes out, not 20 feet from him. KWhit realizes he hasn't reloaded his Shok launcher, and is really too close to fire anyway, he dives back around the Triton and yells to the rest of the team.



SirFozzie II spins and fires. His shot hits the wall of the building behind the strange alien. MrBug708 II turns next, and his shot smashes into the little vehicle. It explodes in a massive fireball, blasting out the side of the building and ripping up the dirt around the area. The antenna array on the Triton is flattened by the explosion.

Everyone checks in and is OK. The group fans out more, and things are quiet. SirFozzie II spots another flying disc thing. It fires on him and hits, but his armor absorbs most of the hit. He returns fire twice, hitting it once. Out of the corner of his left eye, he spots a Lobsterman down near a garage. He points in its direction. KWhit steps up and fires a Shok bomb, but it sails wide and explodes in the distance, doing nothing. kingfc22 II takes a shot, but misses. The flying thing returns fire and hits SirFozzie II, sending him to the ground dead. The Lobsterman fires twice, hitting kingfc22 II and Roberto II, killing them both.

Over at the building, JeeberD II enters through the back garage. RealDeal II goes with him. They'll sweep the building. Around the back side, BYU 14 II, ntndeacon III and gkb sweep to the far side. In the distance, BYU 14 II spots yet another flying device. He fires, hoping the Shok bomb will do something, but he misses anyway. ntndeacon III fires at it and hits some barrels nearby, causing them to explode. The thing returns fire, hitting BYU 14 II instead. His blood gushes out of the gaping hole in his chest. ntndeacon III moves closer and fires again, hitting it. It fires back once again, but misses, hitting the side of the building. Gkb rounds the corner and fires, hitting it dead on, but it still doesn't go down.

On the other side of the building, the guys try to pull themselves back together. Abe Sargent II and MrBug708 II move closer to the building to cut down the aliens' firing lanes. As Abe Sargent II moves, he sees another flying alien. He fires and hits it to no effect. KWhit moves over to Roberto II's body and grabs his Sonic Cannon, and throws down his own Shok Launcher. He fires at the flying alien that Abe Sargent II targetted, hitting it. It still doesn't go down.

Izulde moves further from the Triton in an attempt to relocate the flying thing down the alley next to the building. He spots it and takes aim. His shot hits it and it blows up, taking half the building with it.

Shots fly all over the place. JeeberD II, inside the building, takes a hit from a flying alien and dies. No fewer than 5 other shots sail about, but fortunately hit nothing but siding and asphalt. Three more Lobstermen are spotted. One is behind the building everything is happening around. RealDeal II can see it from inside the building and takes a shot. He hits, but it just shakes the shot off. gkb and ntndeacon III both fire and hit, and the thing is still standing.

Back on the front side of the building, MrBug708 II moves up and spots the flyer again. He fires and is dead on. It explodes, taking out a tire stack and part of a tower with it. To his left, KWhit moves closer to the garage where the alien just exploded. He spots the Lobsterman from earlier and fires, hitting it. Nothing. Izulde fires and misses. Greyroofoo III moves next to KWhit and gets a shot off, hitting the alien at a weak point on its shell. It pops, spraying alien goo everywhere and killing the creature.

A shot comes from the darkness near the tower to the south where the flyer exploded. A Lobsterman hits KWhit, sending him to the ground. He down, but not out. Travis IV moves over to SirFozzie II's body and grabs his Sonic Cannon and medikit. He rushes over to KWhit and pops him with two shots of Heal All and some stim. Next to him, Greyroofoo III and Izulde advance to locate the Lobsterman. The spot him, and a little flying friend along side. They both fire at the flyer and hit, causing it to explode. The shock visibly rocks the Lobsterman nearby, but it doesn't fall. MrBug708 II and Abe Sargent II both fire at it, but miss due to bad firing lanes.

Behind the building, another flyer is spotted. Nobody can get a shot off, though. In an upper window, gkb spots a Lobsterman on the second floor. That building still needs to be cleared. He moves inside to attempt it.

Back in front, Greyroofoo III moves closer to the Lobsterman for a better shot. He scores a hit but still can't bring it down. MrBug708 II drops to a knee and takes a real good shot, hitting the thing. It roars and falls down dead. Abe Sargent II turns and heads back towards the main building to help out gkb. Izulde moves to cover the alley.

In the back again, RealDeal II moves up to try and spot the flyers. Instead, he spies two more Lobstermen in a tower. He fires at the lower one and hits it. The thing spins and fires three times, and twice hits RealDeal II. He's badly hurt, but still on his feet. ntndeacon III moves up to support him and spots the flyer. He fires on it and hits, but it returns fire twice, hitting him on the second shot. Its fatal, and he slumps to the ground dead.

The Lobsterman on the roof of the tower jumps off and lands safely on the asphalt. The one in the mid level fires at RealDeal II again, this time finishing him off. Izulde takes a shot at the jumper and hits, but it scrambles out of the way under the tower.

Back out front by the Triton, Travis IV stows his medikit and heads over to join Izulde. KWhit shakes out the dust and grabs a Pulser and his weapon from the ground where he dropped them.

Izulde moves forward and spots the jumping Lobsterman again. He takes and knee to steady himself and fires at it. The shot hits and kills the giant crustacean.

Back out front, once again, MrBug708 II moves forward and spots a flyer. He takes careful aim and fires, scoring a direct hit. It blows the top off of a nearby building as it goes down in flames.

Izulde tries to move up to find the Lobsterman left at the tower. Two shots come from a window and slam into him, one right after the other. He cries out, clutching his throat, and dies in a pool of his own blood.

Travis IV and KWhit both move up to take Izulde's spot in the alley. Travis IV sees the Lobsterman in the tower and fires, hitting it. The alien returns fire three times, one hitting Travis IV. His armor holds though, and KWhit returns fire. His shot hits the Lobsterman as well, but this time it falls down roaring in pain, then silence.

At the rear of the building, Abe Sargent steps through a blown out wall and spies a flyer. He fires but misses poorly. He radios to gkb upstairs, but he can't get a shot through a window. Abe Sargent II moves back inside for cover. The thing fires at him, trying to blast the walls down around him, but can't get to him. Abe Sargent II leans out and fires again but misses, then darts back inside. Travis IV is able to work his way down the alley and around the building, and gets his sights on the flyer. He fires on it and hits, blowning up the device. The blast unfortunately vaporizes BYU 14 II's corpse in the process.

Abe Sargent II races back to the stairs inside to assist gkb in the building sweep. As he gets to the stairs, an alien starts coming down them! He fires and hits, and the alien returns fire. He's hit, but still breathing. The alien turns to run, but gkb fires and hits it in the back, dropping it cold.

Outside, KWhit spots an alien in a building in the far corner of the grid. It looks unarmed. MrBug708 II primes a grenade and throws it towards the building. It goes off and three of them have clear shots. KWhit and Travis IV fire, followed shortly by MrBug708 II. Travis IV is the only one to hit, and he doesn't kill it. The alien rushes towards Travis IV, flexing its pincers. It grabs hold of him with them, trying to remove his arms from their torso. He gets a shot off on the beast and drops it, knocked cold but not dead. Further searching of the area reveals no more threats.

The mission has been a disaster. Eleven dead civilians were found, and one looked to have been dropped by an exploding alien which makes us responsible. No other civilians were found alive in the vicinity. Twelve aliens were killed, and three were taken alive. Only eight alien bodies were recovered. Eight X-COM agents gave their lives in defense of the port. It took us over half the mission to move twenty yards away from the Triton. KWhit is wounded and will be out of action for two weeks. We'll be stuck with eight aquanauts at Atlantic until replacements can be brought in. This was an awful mission.

KWhit was promoted to Commander. Icy II and mrkilla22 II both made Lieutenant. wahoomac and Abe Sargent II were bumped to Ensign.

[hoopsguy]

Yikes - we're gonna need some more ... well, some more everything. Soldiers, improved weapons, improved armor. You name it, we need it right now based on our difficulty putting down these newer enemies.

[Tasan]

I think this mission signals the end of Sonic Rifles. They were just about useless. Sonic Cannons still took two hits in most cases. We're really going to have to work the buddy system when attacking from now on as well. Hopefully, we'll be able to crank out some Ion Armor before our next mission.

I'm also considering taking less troops per mission. I think one of our issues is that we just present so many targets on the battlefield. I really think a small, more manageable number might actually get a higher survivability rate.

[kingfc22]

Gah. King IV is ready to prove his ancestors' name

[KWhit]

Yeah, baby. Promoted to commander. Exxxxxxcelent.

[KWhit]

Of course, it looks like I was near death and will be sipping mimosas for a while, but at least I made it out alive.

Gotta look on the bright side, you know.

[ntndeacon]

On to IV!

[BYU 14]

Ouch, hopefully my third incarnation will be the charm.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by ntndeacon

On to IV!

That's what KWhit's saying right now, too.

[JeeberD]

Hopefully Jeeber III is made of tougher stuff than II...

[Abe Sargent]

Yay, i survived my first (again) mission!

[SirFozzie]

Well, FUCK. on to III then

[Tasan]

Interlude 17

The Triton returns to Atlantic just past nightfall. KWhit is helped down from the ship by the five other aquanauts returning from the mission, and then they unload their fallen comrades. Only seven of the eight bodies were recoverable. The three living aliens are roughly moved to holding. We sell off everything not needed and bring in around 1.2 million dollars. This will go a long way towards constructing the new armor.

With our injuries and recent deaths, Atlantic needs more aquanauts. I send a request for two more. With our new rotation of ten aquanauts per mission, this will give us a grand total of two healthy backups.

Our first set of Ion Armor is ready on the 30^th. Its fitted for MrBug708 II, the Captain of the troops in the field.

That evening, I leave for the monthly meeting at the UN. The news is generally good, and our funding goes up almost 3/4 million or so. New Mexico (the newly founded country, not the state) and Neo Japan are unhappy with us though, and reduce funding. I make a mental note to ask my friends at the CIA to look into their governments. We've seen quite a bit of alien activity in those general areas, and I'm a little concerned about alien influence.

Before I can even get back to my transport, my cell is ringing. hoopsguy II can barely contain himself. It seems that the aliens aren't just controlling the minds of the other aliens and our aquanauts, but are controlling them on a molecular level. He believes we can implant a device into our troops and train those with high capabilities to use this same technology to counter and even control the aliens themselves. This will require us to build a highly advanced training and implantation facility. The cost will be high, and it'll take almost a month to complete. Once its done, it will be able to house 10 troops at a time. I approve construction at Atlantic for now. We'll need more money before we can build another one at South China Sea. hoopsguy II also thinks one of the alien devices is a reader of some sort, possibly for the devices implanted in the aliens. I order him to start work on it at once.

I end the call and climb aboard my transport. The phone rings again. The Egyptian consul has been informed that a cruise liner has been taken over by the aliens off their coast, in the Med. This is a new trick. I calm the minister down and get him off the line. I quickly call the dispatch at Atlantic and order Triton 1 out to investigate. Lets see how this new ten man team works.

[Coffee Warlord]

Hey, how much longer am I in medlab?

[Tasan]

About another 2 weeks. You were pretty messed up, I think down to 1-2 health when they dragged you aboard the Triton.

[Coffee Warlord]

Delicous delicous morphine.

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Delicous delicous morphine.

Be glad it's morphine and not 6 feet of dirt...err I guess that would be 18 feet now.

[DataKing]

I suggest we name our next Triton the "Vitamin M."

[Greyroofoo]

Nice to see a greyroofoo finally kick some alien butt

[KWhit]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Delicous delicous morphine.

High Five!

[Tasan]

Mission 17
The Deaaaath Boaaaaat

May 1, 2040

The ride is bumpy to the ship. A strong storm cell in the Atlantic causes the barf bags to be passed out and used up. The Triton approaches the vessel and the everyone who can see outside groans. Instead of coming to the rescue of a Cruise liner as promised, theres nothing but a large cargo ship on the horizon. The Triton pilot matches the rolling of the cargo ship, much to the protest of the passengers aboard the Triton, and sets down on the third attempt. On the Triton:

DataKing III
Kodos IV
Neon Chaos III
Caesar
Chief Rum III
MrBug708 II
gkb
Abe Sargent II
Travis IV
Greyroofoo III

A handful of straw is passed around and Kodos IV pulls the short one. He'll be the lone Sonic Rifle troop, everyone else gets Cannons.

DataKing III is first out the door. The Triton has landed on the lower open end of a large cargo vessel. Its a fairly large clearing, with stairs leading up to the top level in the lower right corner and a door leading into the crew areas on the left side. The squad will pair up and head out, with at least four going up and the rest going into the crew area. The close quarters there are going to be rough.

DataKing III and Kodos IV move towards the crew area, and Neon Chaos III and Caesar head towards the stairs. The rest come out after the first four spread out. Things are relatively quiet. Kodos IV spots a small room at the tail of the ship and heads towards it to make sure its empty. Another door to the crew area is discovered, and Abe Sargent II and Chief Rum III are sent that way.

Neon Chaos III and Caesar reach the stairs. Neon Chaos III is first up, and he spots a bizarre looking alien at the rear of the upper area. It looks like a giant floating Nautilus. He rolls to his right and comes up on one knee, taking aim. His shot hits the giant beast in the midsection, and it explodes.

Down below, gkb and Travis IV are first through the main doors of the crew area. Nothing in the main room. Abe Sargent II makes it to his door and opens it. Inside is a room full of fuel barrels. There doesn't look like a good way through them, either. He and Chief Rum III turn and head back towards the main doors to get inside.

Topside, an Aquatoid appears on top of the conn and fires at Neon Chaos III. It misses, and Neon Chaos III returns fire. He also misses, and the little alien moves for cover. Caesar moves over under a crane and takes a shot at the alien, but hits the rail.

Back below, Travis IV goes through another door. In the new room, he spots a Bio Drone, the small flying saucers. Travis IV realizes he's too close to the thing to fire, so he ducks back through the door. gkb turns to cover him. Chief Rum III enters through the main door and moves to cover a door behind gkb.

On the upper level, MrBug708 II and Greyroofoo III join Neon Chaos III and Caesar. Neither see the Aquatoid on the roof. Greyroofoo III joins CaesarI and they search the left side of the ship. MrBug708 II joins Neon Chaos III over at the conn tower and spots a door in, as well as a life into the lower level. As they move to investigate, a strange, reptile looking alien comes around the side of the conn tower and fires at Neon Chaos III It misses and Neon Chaos III returns fire, hitting the alien in the chest. It falls to the floor dead.

Caesar moves from under the crane to where he can see the rear of the conn tower. There he spots another reptile thing. He takes careful aim and fires, hitting it in the head and sending it to the ground, dead. Another one steps out of the shadows and fires, hitting Caesar square in the chest with its Sonic Cannon shot. He clutches his chest and screams, and then is forever silent.

Down below, the troops are making their way through the ship. The Bio Drone spotted earlier is now missing. There were two doors in its room, and it could have gone through either. Abe Sargent II takes the left one, and DataKing III takes the one straight ahead.

Suddenly, Greyroofoo III clutches his head and screams. He then takes hold of his Cannon and fires around madly. The aliens have panicked him via Molecular Control (MC).

Over at the conn, MrBug708 II opens the door. Inside, he spots an Aquatoid, presumably the one from before. He fires at it and hits, killing it. Outside the conn, Neon Chaos III heads down the far side of the conn. At the corner, he comes under fire. The first shot hits the wall beside him, and the second hits him in the ribs. He holds his side, in pain, but he's still on his feet. He turns and runs back towards MrBug708 II to get first aide. Neon Chaos III tosses MrBug708 II his medikit and MrBug708 II puts it to use, giving three shots of Heal All.

Below, Chief Rum III opens a door near the room with barrels blocking the way. In the new room he spots a Bio Drome. He moves out of the way (since he's so close if he were to fire and kill it, he'd be caught in the explosion) and Travis IV, covering him, fires at the thing. He hits it, but it simply returns fire twice, hitting him both times and killing him.

Above, Greyroofoo III comes back to his senses. He comes around a container and spots the alien that shot Neon Chaos III hiding behind a support beam. He fires, but its a long shot and he misses well wide of the target. The creature dives for cover behind a wall. Neon Chaos III heads inside the conn to finish searching it. He comes under fire from below.

Down where the fire came from, DataKing III opens the door to find another reptile alien. He fires at it and hits, but it doesn't die. Above, Neon Chaos III ducks back out the door, out of the line of fire.

Below with the Bio Drome and Chief Rum III, Chief takes out a pulser. He opens the door and tosses it in, right under the little craft. It fires on him twice before the grenade goes off, and kills him with the second shot. Kodos IV fires during all this as well, and the Bio Drone gets off two more shots at him as well, killing him. The pulser then explodes, taking the Bio Drone with it.

At the conn, MrBug708 II moves back down the side of the conn where Neon Chaos III previously was. He spots the alien and fires, hitting it squarely. It falls to the floor screaming, then is silent. He steps forward a little more and sees another reptile in the distance. He fires on it, but misses. It returns fire with a Shok Launcher, but the shot lands well short of MrBug708 II. He moves up and steadies himself this time, shooting true. The creature falls to the ground dead as well.

Down below, Abe Sargent II and DataKing III are checking the crew quarters, room by room. Abe Sargent II comes to the las room and opens the door to find a reptile alien. He quickly fires but misses. The alien returns fire and misses too. Abe Sargent II dives out of the doorway and tries to take cover in the hall. He waits for the inevitable, but it doesn't come. He slowly gets back up and pops the door open. The alien is still standing there. He fires on it again, and this time takes its head clean off. DataKing III moves up behind him and enters the room. Abe Sargent II moves back out into the hall. He clears another room then heads towards a cargo area. DataKing III steps through the blown out wall in the room and looks down another hallway. At the far end is an Aquatoid, about to go through a door. He fires on it and scores a hit and kill.

The search continues, slow and deliberate. Clearing the top, MrBug708 II and Greyroofoo III hop down below to help out there. gkb still hears the faint hum of a Bio Drone, but can't seem to flush it out. MrBug708 II joins him. They go back through the forward rooms once again. MrBug708 II opens the stateroom door and spots the Bio Drone. Someone must have missed it in the far, dark corner earlier. He fires and hits it. It fires back twice and hits him both times, but his armor doesn't even scratch. He dives for cover and gkb steps over and fires. He hits the thing and it explodes, blasting the room to tiny bits. The search resumes, but nothing more is found on this level. The team meets up at the main cargo hatch and prepares to descend into the bowels of the ship.

[Tasan]

Oh yeah


To be continued.....

[Abe Sargent]

Yay - a kill = fun!

[Greyroofoo]

Woohoo! I'm still alive!(In my third incarnation).

These ship missions are why I refuse to ever play through TftD again.

[ntndeacon]

More new recruit!

It is the first to X wins right?

[Izulde]

I had a nice officer run, and it's time for Izulde II to follow the original's legacy.

[MrBug708]

Thank god for armor!

[Coffee Warlord]

I'm gonna have to give Terror from the Deep a try. Sounds a lot more brutal.

[Chief Rum]

Man, I can't catch a break. At least I killed the bastard that got me.

Chief Rum IV reporting for duty.

[Tasan]

When we last left our troopers, they were preparing to go into the lower levels of the cargo ship. Our story resumes...

The team assembles on the lift and MrBug708 II hits the down button. The lift stops in a large, square room that has one opening forward. The opening leads to large cargo area filled with containers and narrow passages. At the far end is the engine room and some lower level rooms. Each of the containers will have to be searched.

MrBug708 II and Abe Sargent II move towards the opening and spot a reptile alien. It moves for cover and out of sight. Abe Sargent II goes through the opening in an attempt to relocate the alien and spots another one on a catwalk above, with its back turned. He takes aim and fires, hitting it square in the ass, blowing its gut out the other side.

MrBug708 II moves up along side a container to try and spot the other alien, but doesn't see it. DataKing III moves over and checks a port side container, which is empty. gkb, Greyroofoo III, and Neon Chaos III bring up the rear.

DataKing III moves around to the port side of the container and checks the alley heading forward. In the distance, he spots a Bio Drone and something that looks like a man in an old dive suit, but leaking green goo everywhere. He decides it can't be anything good and fires at the Bio Drone in an attempt to bring it down and use the explosion to take out the other thing. He hits the drone but it doesn't drop. He dives back behind the container.

MrBug708 II moves up to get an angle on the Bio Drone and attempt the same thing. He spots it and fires, hitting the flying disc. It explodes violently, taking it and the other alien down in a mass of green goo.

The team fans out to search the containers. DataKing III clears out another large one on the port side, and Greyroofoo III and Abe Sargent II assist him on that side. MrBug708 II rounds the container he's been using for cover and begins to search for its door. Neon Chaos III covers him. gkb attempts to move to a support beam for cover and a shot comes from behind and above a container near MrBug708 II. It slams into his back and kills him. MrBug708 II peaks out from behind his container and spots it, up on the highest catwalk. Its a Bio Drone. He fires and hits it, but its still flying. The little flying thing spins toward its attacker and fires, but instead of spotting MrBug708 II, its spotted Neon Chaos III. It hits him in the head with the last shot fired, which sprays Neon Chaos III's brains on the side of a container.

An aquatiod peaks out from behind a container right in front of MrBug708 II and tries to throw a Pulser at him. It bounces off a girder and lands right back at the feet of the little alien and explodes, taking out the alien and not hurting MrBug708 II at all.

MrBug708 II regains his composure and fires at the Bio Drone again. He hits it again and this time it goes up in a fireball.

Something fires at Greyroofoo III from behind and above. The shot misses, and he spins to find his attacker. A reptile thing is up on a catwalk. Greyroofoo III returns fire, hitting it on its head. The alien falls to the ground lifeless.

Things get quite again, and the team continues its search. As Abe Sargent II and DataKing III are getting read to enter the next section of the cargo hold, DataKing III starts screaming. He spins wildly, firing sporadically. Abe Sargent II ducks his shots. The aliens have caused DataKing to go berserk via MC.

Abe Sargent II spots a reptile alien on a lift in the center of the next cargo room, but can't get a shot. Greyroofoo III is working his way over to a door on the starboard side of the first cargo room to try and flank anything in the next room. Abe watches the alien come down the lift and head towards the door Greyroofoo III is preparing to enter. He signals to Greyroofoo III and on his mark opens the door and fires. The alien goes down on the first shot, dead.

DataKing III regains his senses, but is out of the game. MrBug708 II orders DataKing III to meet him at the containers he's searching. He'll relieve MrBug708 II and continue the container search, while MrBug708 II joins the other two in the main search.

In the second cargo room, Greyroofoo III and Abe Sargent II work their way to the central lower level lift. The lift controls access to the upper portions of the lower level. As Greyroofoo III moves towards it, he spots another reptile. He fires and misses, hitting a support post. Abe Sargent II sees where he was trying to shoot at and gets sight on the alien. He fires and hits it, but it doesn't go down. Greyroofoo III runs to the lift and hits 'up'. He fires as soon as it clears the second floor and drops the alien cold. Abe Sargent II joins him on the lift and they head up.

The third floor is large. There are several containers to search, plus rooms forward. There are stairs to go up to the fourth level as well. Abe Sargent II starts searching the containers, and Greyroofoo III moves towards the rooms. As he does, he feels a sudden dread and panicks, dropping his weapons and running. The aliens have used MC to panic him.

As Abe exits a container, he spots a very large beast looking thing on the starboard wall, near where Greyroofoo III has panicked. It almost looks like a dinosaur with frickin' lazers. He fires at it but misses. It doesn't move though, so he fires at it again, but still can't hit it. Greyroofoo III calms back down and goes to retrieve his weapons.

MrBug708 II makes it back to the engine room. As he opens the door, he spots another reptile alien on a catwalk above one of the engines. He fires but misses, hitting the rail. It moves towards the stairs to come down. MrBug708 II fires again and misses.

Back upstairs, Greyroofoo III gets set and goes back through the door to help Abe Sargent II take down this beast. As he walks through the door, a shot comes from the corner of the room and slams into him, killing him.

Below, the team looses contact with DataKing III. He's now being MC'ed by the aliens.

In the engine room, the reptile fires twice at MrBug708 II and misses with both shots. He drops to a knee and takes careful aim this time, and scores with a hit to its leg. The alien doesn't go down though. It freaks out though, and starts firing wildly. One shot hits MrBug708 II, causing a slight wound, but nothing serious. He shakes the hit off and fires at it again, hitting and dropping it this time.

DataKing III reports back in. He's been freed from the alien control. He throws down his weapon and begins to sob.

On the third level, Abe Sargent II fires yet again at the odd beast, finally hitting it again. It roars in pain then slumps to the floor, presumably dead. Abe Sargent II heads into the room area. As he rounds a corner, an alien reptile steps out and fires, hitting him in his chest. He gasps but can't breath, mainly because his lungs are slipping to the floor. He falls over dead.

MrBug708 II moves towards the stairs heading up from the engine room. He's got to get over to where Abe Sargent II fell before the alien can hide deeper in the ship. He carefully makes his way through back rooms until finally coming to a door behind where the alien was last spotted. He opens it and looks down a corridor. At the end is the alien. He snaps off a shot and hits it. The creature howls in pain and falls to the floor, going silent.

MrBug708 II contacts DataKing III to try and settle him down. He needs him to finish the sweep. Together they slowly sweep the remainder of the vessel and come up empty, except for some very frightened sailors.

The mission is over. This was perhaps our toughest mission yet, and we paid a heavy price. Eight X-COM operatives will not return to Atlantic, and one that will is wounded. The other has been compromised by the aliens and is unfit for duty. Over 20 aliens were found and killed. One still lives. Four new species were discovered. Twelve sailors were rescued from the ship, from a crew of 22. The mission highlighted the need for the new armor, as MrBug708 II took multiple shots and only had a slight wound, while everyone else wearing the original armor is dead save DataKing III.

After the mission, Barkeep49 III was promoted to Ensign to fill in some of the rank gaps we now have.

[Travis]

Soooooo, my lucky number is 19 but I'm hoping version V sticks around for a while once the new armor is ready for mass production

[gkb]

gkb attempts to move to a support beam for cover and a shot comes from behind and above a container near MrBug708 II. It slams into his back and kills him.

Cowardly bastard; shooting me in the back. Sign up my clone for some sweet, sweet revenge. Please.

[Tasan]

This game is absolutely brutal. If you haven't played this version and really want a test, give it a whirl.

[Abe Sargent]

Damn I got two more kills before dying. Load up Abe III.

[hoopsguy]

I'm looking to expand my research staff, just in case any of the men are interested in a field that offers gratification without a colossal mortality rate.

[MrBug708]

Damn. the armor is pretty good.