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[Burnt Pies]

What's that? Aliens are attacking Earth? Good Lord! This sounds like a job for... The Army!

The Army's busy? Brilliant. Guess we'll just have to form a shadowy paramilitary organisation and fight them ourselves then, right?

What do you mean "Right.". You can't be serious. I'm not even a Military man, for Gods' sake. Stop waving briefcases of money at me. Oh. That's a gun. Fine, fine, I'll do it.

Okay, the fate of the world in my hands, check. Surrounded by incompetents, check. Let's review our assets.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

A fully operational subterranean Military base, complete with 3 'cutting edge' Aircraft, conveniently situated just outside the town of Gotha.

Not a bad start, although I'd love to find the idiot that designed the interior. Even I can tell you that having 3 seperate entry points to defend won't go well. We'll just have to do a bit of... redecorating. There's also problems with both storage and living space, so they'll be looked at while we're at it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It's looking much better now, although I don't think anyone's getting any sleep for a week.

Ok, now for Funding...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

We aren't exactly spoiled for cash; given we're supposed to be Earth's last line of defence, I kinda expected enough funding to maintain bases on every continent, at least. Still, we have about 4 Million left after operational costs, so we're not running out of Ammo any time soon.

Our chief of research informs me we can research either Motion Scanners or Laser Weaponry. Like there's any contest.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Who can say no to promises of pew-pew? Not me, that's for sure.

Shortly after all this, I'm informed our small, inefficient Radar system has detected one of these Interlopers flying almost overhead. The Nerve! I dispatch Interceptor 1 and the Skyranger to follow and neutralise it. It soon lands, and we're on it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Apparently, it was all over in a flash. So quick, in fact, that the UAV didn't have a chance to take any photos. Jump out, spot alien, engage full auto mode.

Another UFO, this time detected by the Interceptor on CAP over America. We set a deadly air ambush and knock him out of the sky. Then we wait a few days while the Skyranger captain sits on his hands, screws up refuelling, runs out of fuel 3/4s of the way across the atlantic, turns back, refuels again and eventually arrives. Wow.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The UAV got only one shot of this battle, part way through. Shortly after this, our heavy weapons guy walked through the bug-eyed-freak's field of vision and almost got a fatal blast of Plasma. Fortunately for him, Rifleman Alan Evans thought it was a Cricket ball and stuck his hand out to catch it. I understand he'll be out of the hospital in 10 days. Squaddie Sumie Davies quickly levelled her rifle and blasted both the intervening hedge and the skull of the shooter in one burst.

A few days pass, and I get a sternly worded letter from the Australian Ambassador. Apparently, they've been playing host to a few Alien scout craft for a week now, and feel that the 'little blighters' have outstayed their welcome. I send out the Interceptors to LRCAP the outback and vector the Skyranger over there, this time with a full tank of fuel.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

We soon find a landed UFO, and attempt to speed its' egress with a few Stingray missiles. It feels most put out at this, and crash lands. The Skyranger is on its' way, but it's got half the globe to travel first.

This is the Human side of the Orb vs BurP multiplayer game. Apologies for the size and number of the Screenshots, it's my first go at something like this. I'll accept some weapon/loadout requests, but within reason; no more than 3 people with Heavy Weapons, 2 with Sniper Rifles and 2 with Pistols. For the proper atmosphere when reading these, set Guile's Theme to repeat. It's what I was listening to.

[EuchreJack]

Dibs on your first Officer!

[Xanatos Jr.]

Make me a random bland rifleman dude.

[GlyphGryph]

Commander GlyphGryph, reporting for duty, sir! While I don't expect to hold my previous post, I do hope to useful in the battle against this alien menace!

(Requested Loadout: Rifle and Grenades, with a sidearm.)

[Delta Foxtrot]

Sinebrychoff, arm him or her with an autocannon. No preference between explosive and normal rounds, whatever suits the situation. Few grenades might be a good idea too, whatever you can afford.

[Burnt Pies]

Music!

A busy week, this one. And surprisingly successful, given we seem to be a crew of idiots under the command of an ex-Civil Servant.

First up was... a long period of waiting as, yet again, the Skyranger Pilot didn't bother to check fuel levels before taking off. Australia is a long way away from Germany, but he doesn't seem to remember the last time this happened.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Jack Euchre, our Sergeant and Sniper (Being the only person in the organisation capable of using a gun properly) spotted the lone enemy right away and ventilated his torso. Quick and Easy.

As the Skyranger passed over the Georgian/Russian border, he spotted another UFO, this one seeming quite large, at least in comparison to all the others we'd seen. Both Interceptors were vectored onto its' position, and it was shot down as soon as it took off.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

With everyone fed and rested, I order the assault on the fiends. As the skyranger's flying over, a UFO sighting is reported in South America. Interceptor 1 is despatched to deal with it, and does so in style.

Strife!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Not much left of the UFO. I'll have to see about attacking some of them before we shoot them down, I want to see what the insides of these craft look like.

We take positions covering the surrounding area. Sinebrychoff is the blonde at the bottom of the ramp, Jack Euchre's sniping from the top.

We spread out a bit more. One of the Aliens tires of hiding and jumps out from behind the centre barn. He wounds the rifleman guarding that area, but Jack Euchre has the reactions of a cat and the accuracy of a sniper, and introduces him to .50 Cal sniper bullets. Shortly after this, various Alien gibberings are heard from the wrecked UFO, where the only other surviving crewmember had been hiding. Apparently, prolonged exposure to smoke has the same effect on them as it does on us; i.e. unconsciousness. He's dragged home, and has some interesing info on how his internals work. He died in captivity, though.

Soon afterwards, we set off for the Small Scout in South America. I always enjoy these missions; they bring in Mind Probes, and those things sell for 136k. The one from Aus funded Interceptor 2's Avalanche loadout.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

We spot the only hostile mere seconds after arrival and...

Several volleys of laser fire later...

He collapses, probably due to boredom. Still, he's alive, and the last piece of the puzzle. The puzzle of how these things work, to be more specific. We get ideas for a new type of motion detecting goggle, easily made from supplies on base. As such, all soldiers now have '+4' Perception.

The trajectory of all the UFO's we've detected in the air lead me to believe that the Aliens are based somewhere in Saudi Arabia. As such, both Interceptors are ordered to patrol that area in the hope of catching a UFO taking off. We don't manage to catch one, but the Skyranger spots another 'Medium Scout', doing whatever nefarious activities Aliens do, this time in Australia.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I order the Interceptors to take station above it, while the Skyranger awaits dawn to initiate the attack. Fortune favours us, as the Aliens haven't taken off before we touch down.

Nothing out here, so we spread out a bit. One of these 'Sectoids' is spotted to the south, and treated to a lively round of fire. It all misses (Even Jack's 75% likelihood Aimed sniper shot), until the scout who spotted it goes for a last ditch laser blast, finally dropping it.

The Aliens inside hear the demise of their compatriot, and decide to jump out to give us a lively round of applause. Plasma variety. The first one catches a bullet after knocking the guys on the ramps out (Including Jack), but the next puts our heavy weapons guy down before heading back into his UFO. Sinebrychoff sets a little trap (You can see her conferring with Xanatos in the photo) and puts an Armour Piercing autocannon shell into him next time he tries it. That's the last of them, and we take the UFO completely intact, with the death of a single grunt. All the rest of them will be out of the Med bay in around 10 days, so I've ordered a few new replacements. They'll arrive sometime tomorrow.

[Delta Foxtrot]

Quite fun to read both your and orbs commentaries on the same missions. Congratulations on the intact UFO. What's your short term plan for research and such? How long you figure until you get personal armour?

[Burnt Pies]

I'm pretty much done researching Alien Alloys now, and my plan is to go for Personal Armour straight afterwards, so it's days until the first armour rolls off the production line. After that, all the Laser Weapons, as I want Heavy Lasers before he can roll out Cyberdiscs, and I rather like Laser Snipers. Heavy Weapons in TTS are slightly different from normal. They punch through armour much better than standard weaponry, but don't do automatic fire. Not even the Heavy Plasma does auto-fire. The one exception is the Autocannon, which still autofires and can be pretty nasty. Sniper Rifles don't have accuracy or damage falloff, which means Jack can fire across the map and still have 75% chance of hitting. There isn't a Plasma version, however, which means they start looking a bit underpowered when Mutons arrive.

The intact UFO means I can go for Firestorms when I need more armour, probably when his Destroyers, Terror Ships and Battleships arrive, but that's a long, long way away.

[GlyphGryph]

...

WHAT?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

[Burnt Pies]

It means my computer looks at button presses and decides what it wants to do about them without my input. I didn't even press enter, I don't quite know how it managed to post that prematurely.

[mainiac]

Name someone Trixie the Maniac for me please.  Gender not important.

[Burnt Pies]

Music for this update.

Nothing much happened for a few days. Our scientists puzzled out how we can use the Alien's materials for our own uses, and immediately launched into a project to create a Body Armour from it. I'm all for it; having people survive Plasma blasts without faling unconscious will be great.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The planes are all out on Combat Air Patrol, looking in those areas that have reported the most Alien activity. Nothing much comes up

East Asia has seen a drastic spike in Activity recently, so I order our planes over there to see what the Aliens are looking for.

I'm not sure what it is, but they're interested all right. 3 UFOs detected in quick succession, all 3 the type we're calling Small Scouts. One's on the wing, searching for a landing spot, the other 2 are landed already. Interceptor 2 downs our flyer, then takes up position over the northern landed one, while Interceptor 1 completely destroys the one it was waiting for.

The skyranger moves in on Interceptor 2's target, and Evelyn Bryant, our scout, steps out of the Skyranger, spots the Sectoid, and downs him with her 3rd volley.

A short trip back to base for refuelling and picking up the new arrivals, then the Skyranger goes back to hit the crashed scout.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

What time is it? It's Killing Time! I think I might be enjoying this position slightly too much.

Evelyn steps off the skyranger and sighs. Hedges. What is it with Aliens and hedges?

Shortly after this, Sinebrychoff spots the alien looking around, just the other side of the hedge from Siegfried Morita, one of the new arrivals.

Siegfried promptly shoots his way through the hedge and completely fails to hit the sectoid. Impressive, especially given it was around 2 feet away from him. Another auto-burst later and we're looking at a corpse.

A few days pass, we have no reported Alien sightings or detections, despite patrolling areas that have reported large amounts of visitors. They seem to have moved away.

Suddenly, we get a sighting phoned in; A 'medium scout', sat in the Desert being as disruptive as possible. I'm not sure how you disrupt the desert, but that was how it was described to me. Still, those things are worth tons, and I want some more of their Navigation and Power Supply units (I have Plans. Oh Yes.), so the Skyranger's vectored in from Australia, and both Interceptors ordered to converge on the site.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Skyranger touches down before the UFO takes off, promising more of our Alien craft's innards. Excellent.

Only 10 soldiers, and half of them complete rookies, so this could all go very wrong.

A quick scout shows no enemies outside the UFO, so our replacement Sniper takes position on the Skyranger's stairs, scanning the entrance and ready to fire.

Evelyn pulls a Grenade from her belt and sets the timer. It'll go off in 3 'Turns', so she has time to gather her wits before hurling it inside the UFO. Unfortunately, one of the Sectoids is stood right in the doorway, and she fumbles the throw in surprise. He takes the opportunity to give her a face full of Plasma. The Sniper then has a clear shot, and downs the bastard in revenge.

Sinebrychoff loads AP ammo into her Autocannon and takes position ready to gun down the next hostile to show their face. She is so suprised when it happens that she completely forgets to actually pull the Trigger, and receives point blank plasma. That sectoid decides to remain outside the UFO door and gun down a few more of the suprised soldiers supposed to be watching for that.

The sniper again earns his pay, with high speed .50 Cal ammunition. Upon hearing of this outrage, the remaining sectoid tries dancing through the doors, and shoots Alan Evans, the guy next to the wheels there. He ducks inside before anyone can draw a bead on him. Sumie Bryant, still inside the Skyranger has an attack of nerves, dropping her rifle in panic.
Hearing the impact of rifle on floor, the Sectoid seems to believe we must all be panicing, and rushes outside his UFO to get a few more kills. As soon as he clears the smoke, he's downed by a single .50 Cal, again from the Sniper on the Stairs.

4 Deaths, including one of our few spotters and Sinebrychoff, who was one of the best shots we had, but in return a lot more Alien Alloys, the innards of a Medium Scout and a captured Alien.

Not the best week, all in all, but nothing crippling.

Here are few personnel files I've received requests for.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[warhammer651]

Could I claim a guy?

[Delta Foxtrot]

I'd like a replacement, by the name of Bobrikov. A heavy weapons specialist.

Couldn't you get proximity grenades to take his guys out as they try to make potshots by coming out of the UFO? Did you get much out of that live alien you captured?

[Burnt Pies]

It was only a soldier, so not much. 18 Scientist-days worth of research, and when I have the time I can research the Live Sectoid for a 10% damage bonus vs them. Not too handy for Sectoids, but it'll be a lifesaver for snakemen and above.

I could get Prox 'Nades and mine the entryway, but I keep forgetting.

And yeah, claimed guys will go in next session.