After getting out of the APC, Redshirt 2 walked over to me and said that his name is Zchris13. I'm still not convinced that he deserves a name, but if it boosts his morale I'll allow it.
Odd name for a human though, sounds more like an android name.
I also hired some crazy civilian who pulled up next to the APC and spray-painted flames on it. While we were moving.
Good talent is hard to find. Unfortunately, this filled up the physical training facility, so Redshirt 1 was sent off to the psi gym to work on her psi defense. Crowding the phsyical training facility would only have detracted from the amount of time the real soldiers could train.
I then looked over the reports. X-Com was allied with the government and Megapol. The Cult of Sirius was predictably aggressive towards us, with all other corperations neutral to us. (Aggressive organizations attack, and stop selling anything to X-Com. Annoy Marsec, and no more machine gun ammo. Annoy Transtellar, and no goods can be bought or transferred between bases. Annoy the Mutant Alliance, and no more mutants can be hired. According to the UFOPaedia entry, Transtellar is particularly vulnerable to alien infiltration. Supposedly, allied organizations give various bonuses - more goods on the market from them, and a bonus particular to each, like more mutants from the Mutant Alliance. I do not know if these are valid, but they can be brought up to allied with cash. Let me know if I should pursue any alliances. [Note: We're flat broke right now.])
Why? Why can't the aliens attack during the day, when I'm already awake? Their second attack came on Friday, at 2:00. Unfortunately, all three of the UFO's succeeded doing what I now believe to be dropping off their crew. One was shot down seconds afterwards by the Valkyrie. Once again there were five UFOs, and only one escaped. A few vehicles were lightly damaged, but should be fine in a few hours.
The APC was sent off. I decided that taking every solder to clear the aliens was unnecessary. Redshirt 3 was sent to determine if any aliens were in the crashed UFOs. I hope I won't regret sticking Zangi with Redshirts 1 and 2 ... er, Redshirt 1 and Zchris13.
Operator: "Scanners indicate aliens in those six towers. Your mission is to clear them, same as always."
Squads 1 and 2 entererd from the east, while squad 3 entered from the west. Squads 2 and 3 were to guard either end, while squad 1 went inside and flushed the aliens out of the complex. I assigned myself to squad 2 for this mission, while Dougan, Spartan 117, and Crazy Mutant Lady were in squad 1. (Yes, it started my squads on opposite edges of the map.)
Really, it should have been a flawless plan.
Dougan: "I'll take a short cut through this elavator."
Dougan: "Ahh! An egg! It's spitting some sort of acid at me ... I'll wait out here and snipe at anything Spartan 117 and that Crazy Mutant Lady chase out."
Zchris13: "Aw, that blue alien up there is sending me more Ned-Friends."
Zchris13: "Look, it jumped on my head. It's tame!"
At this point, Redshirt 1 fired at it.
Zchris13: "YOU KILLED NED THE THIRD! YOU'LL REGRET THAT!"
Nirur Torir: "Activate suit-tranqs in armor 11. Protocal Alpha-Delta-Pi."
Zchris13: "PREPARE TO ... uhhh ... I feel asleep."
I expected something like this to happen, so I had the engineers install a voice-activated tranquilizer system in his armor. The dosage was designed to be too small to knock him out, and just enough to make him too drowsy to remember his rage.
Zchris13: "Tower 1 cleared. Moving on to tower 2."
Zchris13: "It's another one of those brown things. Hey, what's it doi-"
Crazy Mutant Lady: "It's jumped on his head. Opening fire."
Crazy Mutant Lady: "Missed. Uh - Commander? It dropped off and died. His brainwaves have changed. They look like those from the blue aliens."
Nirur Torir: "What? Spartan 117, what happened?"
He didn't respond.
Crazy Mutant Lady: "He's showing signs of aggression. Permission to stun?"
Nirur Torir: "Granted."
More silence.
Nirur Torir: "Crazy Mutant Lady? ... Operator, what's the situation?"
Operator: "She threw a stun grenade. She is now unconscious, but he escaped."
Nirur Torir: "... Squad 1 is out of commission. Squad 3, get up there. Now."
Zchris: "Hey, Zangi, did I ever tell -"
Zangi: "Save it. Roger that, commander."
Zchris: "I see ... I see one. Firing."
I'm still surprised he actually managed to hit it while filled with tranqs. We need to work on the dosage.
More gunshots.
Redshirt 1: "I've spotted him. He's aiming at me."
Nirur Torir: "Try to stun him, but you are ... authorized to kill him if the need arises."
Redshirt 1: "Roger that, throwing a stun grenade ... he's out."
Zangi: "So is she. Giant green worm spotted."
Nirur Torir: "Try to stun it. We have a bio-transport module now, and the biochemists were very interested in getting their hands on live giant green worms."
They succedded, eventually.
Due to some obscure Senate ruling, not only do I need to be on the front lines, but I had to start as a recruit and work my way up the rankings ladder as I went. I hate politicians.
The scientsts claim to not have the proper understanding of alien biology to cure Spartan 117. They were very happy to have a giant green worm to study though. They named it a multiworm. Something about it carrying small purple worms inside it or somesuch. For now, Spartan 117 has been locked in an unused storage room, until we figure out what to do with him. Nobody was injured, and we still have two more buildings to clear.
Poll
