Update 2: Just Like 'Nam
Things progress slowly at first, with no alien craft sighted for almost two weeks. The storage facilities are completed, as is research on Medi-Kits. Several are ordered for production by our previously idle engineers, but it will take a while for them to be ready.
Jan 13th
UFO finally spotted over Russia. An Interceptor is launched, and quickly finds itself in a head-on collision with the alien craft. The UFO slightly damages our fighter, but is brought down nonetheless.
This is it. At 20:49, our Skyranger lands, and our organization begins its first true mission.
The first thing I notice is that our Maxclone is too weak to carry his own gear without issue. Damn it.
Nonetheless, the team begins spreading out slowly from the craft. It sits with a field to its left and a building to its right; the rear exit points towards a dirt road and the nose to an open meadow. The UFO is quickly located, sitting right in front of the Skyranger's nose. I'm somewhat concerned about what this says regarding pilot visibility.
Suddenly, Oscar takes a plasma bolt from the nearby window- the very same window Lindholm had peeked into moments prior. He collapses on the Skyranger ramp. Dr. Euchre shouts out assurances that he's merely unconscious, but with no medical equipment his chances are bleak. Another alien is seen through the windows of the upper story, confirming it as an enemy hideout.
Lindholm reacts quickly, rushing back along the wall to lob a grenade in against the far wall. She doesn't have much time to get clear.
The remainder of the team scrambles to either approach the UFO or get into firing positions in case something shows itself in one of the building windows. O'Malley gleefully approaches the door to the building, ready in case the grenade doesn't finish the job.
Maxclone returns from the field, taking up position next to Sunny and firing at the upper wall.
The shot goes straight through the window and impacts the far wall, taking out the alien within. Our first kill as a ground team is an unstable clone using a blind explosive shot.
Well, at least it's not surprising.
Meanwhile, a plasma bolt goes wide from northwest of the UFO. KB-1, seeing no targets, advances and fires into the darkness anyway.
It doesn't hit anything that we can tell, but it does alarm me that that weapon has an automatic fire setting.
The grenade goes off without incident, and O'Malley rushes the door. Nothing greets him immediately inside, but closer to the stairs plasma streaks past. With no time to return fire, he keeps moving, getting clear while GlyphGryph comes through the new hole the alien's fire opened in the wall. A burst of automatic fire later, the alien falls.
Oscar succumbs to his wounds, while a bolt of plasma passes straight between Sunny and the Maxclone. Both panic and turn around, realizing there's enemies in the field after all.
Closer inspection quickly reveals a building adjacent to the field, with an obvious window from which the shot must have come. Maxclone and Urist open fire on the structure with rapidfire explosives, but do little other than crack a bit of the wall open. Sunny takes up position in case anything becomes visible, and Lindholm begins sprinting around the fence to get at the building from a different angle.
O'Malley switches targets while GlyphGryph inspects the building to ensure nothing else remains. Cold Stone begins rushing to the alien craft, attempting to go around what is assuredly an empty structure to help flank the field terror. The sound of an alien door opening, with the craft's entrance directly behind him, causes him to freeze utterly in terror.
More fire comes from the darkness near the alien craft, and KB-1 begins advancing. Sir Kahn attempts to dart out to find the menace, but a plasma blast annihilates a nearby tree, prompting her to duck back behind cover. Anja, finding herself hedged into the same grove, switches targets from flanking the second structure to clearing out the field.
Several flares later, the alien is still invisible, and KB-1 continues advancing, firing blindly into the field as it goes. It's quickly brought down, however, and the alien remains unrevealed and unslain.
Anja attempts to break free of the grove, but is quickly gunned down. In desperation, Sir Kahn runs for KB-1's gun, grabbing it and rushing to what is hopefully the cover of the UFO. It isn't, but the plasma bolts strike the craft's walls around her.
Dr. Euchre, coming through the grove, abruptly spots the alien, standing just outside the smoke of the numerous explosives that have failed to kill it. In a panic, she unloads with her pistol, hitting but failing to kill it. Urist, standing in cover next to a wall, moves a short distance to fire at the now-exposed terror, but misses both times.
Sir Kahn, back to the alien spacecraft, unleashes the destroyed droid's explosive automatic weapon on the creature, finally ending it.
Back at the building, Lindholm is gunned down as she runs along the fence, revealing that the creature must be hiding in the corner, untouched by the firepower Maxclone and Urist attempted to lay down. Maxclone finally puts it down with explosive fire, but as Sunny attempts to enter the building, a hail of plasma bursts from the far wall, killing her.
Urist and Maxclone prepare to slay whatever's in the field behind the presumed empty building, but by the time they enter, the alien has graciously entered of its own accord. They quickly murder it, then sweep the field with help from one of Dr. Euchre's flares.
Stone Cold recovers, and realizes that since he's not dead yet, the door he heard wasn't the one behind him. This means there must be more enemies within, and Sir Kahn and O'Malley arrive at the scene, with O'Malley soon leading the charge. The spacecraft's center is a mass of rubble and smoke, but some plasma fire assures O'Malley that he should vacate for a moment. Stone Cold decides to throw a smoke grenade in, despite much of the room being filled with smoke anyway.
Apparently it works, as the team enters without incident. O'Malley, Sir Kahn, and Stone Cold all advance, quickly spotting the alien. O'Malley and Sir Kahn open fire, with Sir Kahn not only killing the visible target, but taking out a second, hidden threat as well.
With all threats neutralized, recovery and assessment begin.
Five to seven are not the sort of odds I like, but one can only expect so much from an enemy that's both unknown, technologically superior, and well-entrenched. I hope future missions will fare better, but I suspect otherwise.
Oscar The Wilde has been struck down!
Lindholm has been struck down!
Sunny Rain has been struck down!
KB-1 has been struck down!
Anja Galena has been struck down!
Maxclone I has slain 2 Sectoids! Maxclone I is now a Squaddie.
Urist McCannonFodder has slain a Sectoid! Urist McCannonFodder is now a Sergeant.
Commander GlyphGryph has slain a Sectoid! Commander GlyphGryph is now a Squaddie.
Sir Kahn has slain 3 Sectoids! Sir Kahn is now a Squaddie.
Stone Cold is now a Squaddie.
Dr. Euchre is now a Squaddie.
Brian O'Malley scored no kills and has received no promotions.
So, there's that. I'm actually a bit fuzzy on a handful of the details (like who killed what alien in that second building), but overall it's pretty accurate.
Not sure if it needs more screenshots or not. I'm thinking at least a screenshot of the general area (like that infamous second building and field) for anyplace a lot of stuff is happening might be good, but everything changes a lot...
Also, my sincere apologies for any incompetence-related deaths. Which was, strictly speaking, all of them except KB-1, who isn't really programmed to understand cover very well. Oscar qualifies because he was only on that ramp because I accidentally clicked him back there after moving him elsewhere.
Anyway, welcome to X-COM. Comments appreciated.
Author
Topic: Let's Play: X-COM! ULTRAWUSS MODE! [Update 11: Rainbow Nation] (Read 43596 times)