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[Jim Groovester]

I want to do the research thing that lets you carry around toasters with labels that say "insert metallic object" in sectoid.

That would be the Kinetic Strike Module, but we're well away from MECs at this point.

[Darkening Kaos]

   Planning?  OK.  My next choice will be Danger Zone.

   Also, voting for Improved Body Armour.

[Toaster]

Planning, eh?

Plan Agalia:  Repair, Battle Scanner, Packmaster, Bombard

Repair's really the hardest choice, since Arc Thrower works against the spirit of the character.  But Ranger is so limited utility (and also buffing something not in line with the character) and Suppression completely off that there isn't much choice.  Overall, a meh rank.

Battle Scanner adds a utility option without taking a slot, which fits the idea perfectly.  Dense Smoke is useless without the smoke grenade (and subpar with), and EC, while always a solid choice, isn't what the doctor ordered.

While WtS and RfA are both useful upgrades, Packmaster is simply incredible, and perfectly fits the character.

The last one is a harder choice.  While Fire Rocket trades an out of character pistol for a neat trick, the added weight counts against the mobility-focus of the character, which is already hurt by not taking EC.  Mayhem is great at first glance, but many of the bonuses don't work for the character.  Bombard is a SERIOUS boost to the mobility aspect of the character, and can make for some incredible tosses; especially if you consider that the area that an engy can cover with a 50% greater radius goes up by 125% in the best case.

[Mephansteras]

Some soldier updates:






For research, I've made an executive decision to do a brief stopover to learn more about the Alien Scout ships. I really want to get to the point where we can reliably shoot them down with one interceptor, and this will help with that. We'll be moving on to Experimental Warfare after it completes in 3 days.


We also get an offer for funding in exchange for Elerium. We don't need it yet, and we really need more cash to get things moving, so I take the deal. Can't do too many of these, since I think we need lots later, but no reason to hold onto it quite this early.


But the aliens aren't content to let us ride out the end of the month in piece. An attack is reported in Argentina!


Intel reports moderate alien activity, so we want some good soldiers on this to be safe. A squad is assembled, under the leadership of Villiams.


Next time...Operation Banished Knife

[RAM]

Oh, sweet, you gave me someone with a red shirt!

I was worried that I would need to order the scout to run across a field of hostile overwatches, but the rocketeer should do the job nicely and we still have the scout for backup.

Wait, I do not see the rocketeer in the chopper...

[i2amroy]

Wait, I do not see the rocketeer in the chopper...

It only shows 4 or 5 people in the chopper, don't worry about it.

And yeah, elerium (like meld and alloys) is one of those things you only give away in return for bunches of money when you need it.

[Mephansteras]

Spoiler: Operation Banished Knife (click to show/hide)

The squad sets down in a train yard. Should be a good engagement for our snipers!


We take the nearby maintenance building as a staging point for any aliens up near us


Nothing immediately near us, but as the squad starts to move over to secure the right flank a group of floaters is spotted lurking behind a train car.


Omega and Gauss team up on one



While Maelle badly injures another


Krauss keeps it pinned down with suppression while we wait to see what the final floater is going to do


Villiams puts it out of its misery


And the final Floater goes down in a hail of overwatch fire from the team


After a brief stop to reload, the squad moves up to get a view of the rest of the trainyard below. The rest of the enemy forces are seen conversing, and quickly disperse as we make contact.



Gauss takes out a thin man from her rooftop position while the rest of the squad gets into cover.


In a brilliant tactical move, the sectoid moves through the acid cloud to take up firing position on us. Very helpful it, really.


Villiams takes out one of the Thin Men as it tries to find better cover. The rest of the aliens reposition themselves.


Gauss and Villiams team up on one of the remaining Thin Men



And Omega tries a rather daring approach to move up and get eyes on the rest of the aliens


Fortunately, the aliens were as surprised as I was and all four shots miss


Bruciare's rocket attack lands just short of the mark, and while it sets two cars on fire it fails to damage any aliens. At least it removes some of their cover options for the next round.


Krauss rips one of the remaining Thin Men into pieces


And Maelle wraps up the last of them with a precision shot


Unfortunately, the aliens had carefully moved a cloaked Seeker around. It wraps around Gauss, strangling the life from her!


The other seeker dashes forward, avoiding the fire of our troops in order to get a nasty flank attack on Bruciare



The Sectoid tries to finish the job, but blinded by acid as it is the only thing it manages to do is hurt itself.


Villiams falls back and blasts the Seeker on Brucaire to bits


While Omega and Maelle team up to save Gauss



Which just leaves the acid soaked Sectoid cowering behind a lump of alien metal. Villiams dispatches it with a casual pistol shot.


A sweep of the train yard reveals no more enemy forces, so the team heads home.


In addition to our monetary rewards, our troops took out the enemy fast enough to secure two of the Meld Canisters!

Spoiler: Soldiers (click to show/hide)

Other than the rather unfortunate attack on Bruciare, the mission was quite successful. Two promotions, including Gauss as our second Sergeant!



birdy51, you can choose between Shredder Ammo (Enemies take additional damage from further hits for 4 turns), Heat Ammo (Extra damage on Robotic enemies), or Ranger (+1 Primary weapon damage and +2 Aim and Will)


Vector, you can choose between Executioner (+10 Aim and Crit against badly damaged enemies),  Aggression (+10% crit chance per enemy in sight, max 30%), or Damn Good Ground (+10 Aim and Defense when at a higher elevation than enemies)

The next day we finish up researching the Alien Scout ships and begin work on Experimental Warfare



We also spend a little bit of our funds on an Intel Sweep. Sure enough, another Excel cell has been uncovered.


Shall we send in Ra? Or would you guys prefer that I use our NPC as an operative instead? They are both Lance Corporals with the same perks at this point, so no real mechanical difference except that I think Ra is a bit faster.

[birdy51]

I'll go with Shedder Ammo. Between it and Flush, the Alien scum won't be able to leave their post without getting mauled by one of our guys.

[GiglameshDespair]

I'd say send Ra. For the operative, speed is everything.

[Tiruin]

I'd say send Ra. For the operative, speed is everything.

I dunno :3 In my games, I usually get an Assault for the Operative, and use him as backup (with Gunslinger). The only thing needed is positioning. Get him near those comm arrays and *poof*. Win for the turn!

[Jim Groovester]

Yeah, send in the fast one. Being a tile short of a comm array is painful, especially on extractions.

Ugh, extractions.

[Powder Miner]

>gravely wounded
Well dang son

[Mephansteras]

I'd say send Ra. For the operative, speed is everything.

I dunno :3 In my games, I usually get an Assault for the Operative, and use him as backup (with Gunslinger). The only thing needed is positioning. Get him near those comm arrays and *poof*. Win for the turn!

Both people we're considering are Assaults. Pity neither of them has Gunslinger, though. Too low level. But, yeah, I pretty much only do Assaults or Sprinter scouts for Operatives if I can help it.

[Mephansteras]

Ra is kitted up and sent out to Russia. Time to strike another blow against Exalt!



And a soldier update for Krauss. birdy51, what do you want her Nickname to be?


Our Uplink completes just before the end of the month. Fortunately for us, both France and Germany have outstanding offers of engineers for Satellites, so we oblige them.






With the extra funds available, we order another Laser Cannon


And with that it is the end of the month and time for the Council Report. Which starts off with unfortunate but expected news.


Overall, though, we did quite well. We just need to step up our air game a bit.


Which the aliens waste not time reminding us of. With our new Laser Cannons still a day off and too many interceptors out for repairs, we have to let another Raider go.



Not long after comes an urgent message from India. An abduction attempt!


Since this is the start of a new month, we can expect to see some new alien troops showing up. We send out a solid team for this mission, despite the relatively low alien activity reported.

Spoiler: Operation Blind Savior (click to show/hide)

The squad heads off of the Sky Ranger and into a construction yard.



No immediate alien presence, so we move to take one of the nearby buildings as a staging point


From inside there we quickly spot the aliens down in the construction pit. Two groups of Floaters, plus one of those big green guys who immediately hides



The team falls back and sets up for the floater attack


Phobos and Kaos take out the first to come over the edge of the pit


While Toaster lands a hit on the next.


One moves around to try and flank us. Devil shows it how flanking is done.


And Phobos blasts another that was dumb enough to sit in front of her


The rest of the aliens say hidden, but we can hear them moving up on the roof. The squad moves to better cover in case they come over the top of the building.


One drops down on Phobos, but she was waiting for it.


Another tries to race around the side, only be caught by Kaos


Floater reinforcements arrive


We manage to tag one of them on the way in, but can't quite take it out


Greene, of course, has a solution to this new problem


Followed up by Kaos and her solution to poblems


One of them, however, was smart enough to try and launch itself into our back field


Devil and Kawalec respond to the threat. A grenade solves the problem quite nicely.


Next up is dealing with the green brute. We eventually find him lurking in the pit, and he manages to score a nasty hit on Greene.


Toaster removes his cover for us


And Kaos removes the brute


With no more aliens discovered on site, that wraps up the mission. Not bad, except for that one hit on Greene. In fact, he was the only alien to even get off a shot!

Spoiler: Soldiers (click to show/hide)

Only one promotion, but a good mission all around. Greene will be out for a few weeks, with is unfortunate, but it could have been much worse.



Darkening Kaos, as per your plan you have been given Danger Zone

That out of the way, we start using our available funds. First up, we begin work on the next Satellite Uplink so that we can fully cover Europe. We also begin work on a Foundry so that we can be in a position to start improving our aircraft a bit more.



We also order another Laser Cannon and one of the new Alloy Plating vests.



Current Base Status


Layout


Hanger situation. Not great, but getting better.

[Powder Miner]

Meph, how many people are currently wounded?