When the Skyranger arrived back at base, a team of paramedics were waiting to transport Ashley Smith and Archangel to the nearby town. They commented on the quality of the field dressings and noted that they were likely alive only because of them. Ashley Smith looked pretty bad however, pale as a ghost.
The next day I received a prognosis from the hospital. Archangel was a medical marvel at the hospital. He suffered much skin loss on his shoulder, arm and ribs but very little to his muscle tissue. He was incredibly lucky that nothing from the shot penetrated through to his organs.
Ashley Smith was not in such good shape however, The shot she had taken, while not immediately lethal, had compromised her axillia artery. She was alive but it was not yet known if they could save her arm. I told them that time and money were not issues, I told them to do everything humanly possible to promote a full recovery.
I wrote up a shopping list for Auraluna.
A replacement tank, two more soldiers and a half dozen rockets for both the tank and the rocket launcher. Keeping a tank in our missions was becoming quite costly. However, not having a tank on our missions would compromise the already feeble safety of the ground team and I would not have it.
She quickly replied with an estimate on the costs. I winced but gave her the go ahead. While were were not out of money, we needed two more Interceptors at the start of the next month. With the funding nation's charity beginning to ebb, we needed to limit our spending.
I remembered then the bounty the funding nations had placed on alien bodies and equipment. I picked up a copy of the recent mission's report and studied it. I decided to liquidate some of our spoils. I tagged some items that Zilvara had agreed prior to do without and sent the list to Auraluna. She quickly replied with an estimate.
With the estimate on screen I looked over the financial situation again. I gave her the go ahead. With an estimated 4 million in the bank I felt we had much more breathing room for the rest of the month. Maybe we could invest in something other than jet fighters, ammunition and tanks this month.
I sent out an email to all base personnel explaining that this is the month where we either make it or break it. I thanked each department for their ongoing efforts in this conflict and hoped that we would continue operations long enough to end this "war". I added as well that all base personnel that handled firearms of any kind were to submit themselves to the basic soldier testing. I encouraged people to do so whether they handled weapons or not as the tests were somewhat fun and would not entail new duties of any kind but would allow for transferring should they wish it.
War. It was an odd word to use in this case. Until this year, the concept of war being anything but a conflict between two nations was reserved for fiction. While our enemies did attack us and civilians with extreme prejudice, they attacked very sparingly, as if they were testing us. Everyone was calling this a war, a very foreboding concept. It was certain that the aliens were testing our defenses, the funding nations continue to ask for our laser weapon research so it could be mass produced and sent to every nation in the world. "What is wrong with arming the world's nations so that they can protect themselves? You're running X-Com like a greedy corporate dog!" The Chinese representative had commented after the previous meeting when he could message me without his peers to keep him restrained. I had to grin and bear it however. If we let our enemies know that laser weapons could be mass produced, they would design a way to combat them, just as we are working to combat their means. It was a better idea to surprise them once they mobilize their efforts against militaries they thought would have more conventional weapons. I suspect they were waiting to find a way to combat our explosive devices.
The next day on the 7th of April I received a folder filled with new soldier test reports. This came as a surprise because I had only hired two new soldiers. Did my message to the base personnel carry that much weight or people that eager to come to humanity's aid? Thirty reports! Among them were the two soldiers I had ordered for.
The first was Shigeo Okabe who was an Asian mercenary, recently working for NATO in Yugoslavia as a sniper. Regular missions he partook in involved assassinating deadly war-criminals deemed too dangerous to live. While Shigeo did not score well on strength and accurate throwing tests, he did well on all other tests. He also ,naturally, scored amazingly well on his accuracy test, bested by only Darkwind's initial test.
The second soldier was Shu Bei. A recruit from China. I was wary of that fact and suspected the Chinese representative. I would play it cool however and make no actions on this connection but I would proceed to watch him closely. He was an all around decent soldier however he scored quite low on his bravery, reactions, firing accuracy and health tests. He was a dedicated and decorated soldier however and I would not turn down a willing recruit.
That left 28 other test reports. I skimmed through each file and a few caught my eye.
Mehmed was a scientist on base that was integral to developing the laser rifle. He was obsessed with them and tested and tweaked them in his spare time. He included a note with his results ensuring that when research returns to laser development, he could produce a laser that made the current rifles look like flashlights. He was bright but, like most scientists, quite eccentric. He scored high on his health test but low on his strength test.
Manny had taken the testing as well, I suspect this was to come into compliance with my mandate. Manny loved guns n' ammo and it wouldn't surprise me if he had his own weapon on base. He scored exceptionally well on the bravery and strength tests, little surprise given his profession and attitude.
Mac submitted to the testing as well apparently. He requested to carry a personal load-out in his Interceptor in-case we ever needed someone on the ground quicker than a Skyranger can fly. I thought this was a great idea as well. He scored just as well as Manny on the bravery test but low on his accurate throwing test. I decided to issue him an auto-cannon and a side arm pistol along with 2 flares and a grenade.
The next report really surprised me. It was from Zilvara.
Apparently the reports of damaged targets being left behind in the firing range were her fault. She had been keeping a personal laser pistol since it had been designed without telling anyone. Zilvara was a natural when it came to weapon's handling and scored in the high averages but her real strength was her accurate throwing. Apparently she had lots of practice where she grew up with annoying perverted neighbors and could throw just about any object with pin-point accuracy. She scored very low on her bravery test, apparently her mind is always wandering and calculating leaving her susceptible to external stressors. She also placed low in the endurance and agility tests, good thing we had no plans to put her into the field, but it's good to know that she would not be defenseless against an attack.
The last report came as a relief initially, but once I read it all the way through I felt my stomach sink. It was Tamunshin's report, she had been released from the hospital.
Tamunshin had undergone reconstructive techniques and her physique took a hard hit. She was not ready for active duty yet but insisted that she be tested. She had changed, she had a weary determination fueled by anger. While now more frail and shaky, it was reported that she moved with amazing determination and purpose. She scored the highest on several tests including agility, endurance, bravery and reactions. She scored poorly in accuracy for both firing and throwing but it was suggested that as she continues to heal, this will improve.
Attached were notes on the procedures taken to restore Tamunshin. She had to have multiple organs removed and replaced. They repaired her muscle tissue using experimental new age technology. Without these procedures and improvements, she would never have recovered entirely, assuming that she survived at all. Her psych examinations showed that she has had a significant personality shift. She was now quick to anger and thought only of getting back into the field. Dr. Richard Gableman suspects that she was feeling (and rightly so) violated by the alien aggressors. She had been attacked mentally and physically leaving her disfigured and changed. I'm glad she was on our side, I pity the next alien she encounters on the battlefield. The aliens now had not just humans to worry about, but a beast.
My reading had been interrupted. Since the last few missions I had begun to keep strange hours. The PA system light up and I was beckoned to the command center at 3:30AM. Apparently the aliens decided to try their "unnatural hours" approach again.
I quickly made my way to the command center where I was greeted, like always, by the radar technician's assistant. "A very small UFO has been detected off the coast of Pakistan near Karachi."
"It is heading west at 2200kt/s." She read from her report in a practiced tone.
"Very good, have Mac's Interceptor scrambled, I want that UFO to be history." I replied and took my seat at my console. "And could someone get me some coffee?"
I opened up a screen that showed me where the UFO was on a graphical map.
It would take Mac a few hours to reach the alien UFO When he does it had moved to the United Kingdom.
Mac intercepted the UFO over the north end of the English Channel where he closed in and tore the small UFO a new exhaust pipe.
The UFO soon lost control and fell, spinning through the air, into the waters below.
I however called it a night and headed back to my quarters. I ran into Auraluna on the way back, she had just gotten up as ready to start her day. She saw the heavy bags under my eyes and the jitter in my hands. "Commander? Are you just waking up?" She asked with concern as she looked at my ruffled uniform.
"N-No." I replied sleepily following with a long yawn that I just could not hold at bay. "Been up since ground team got back."
"WHAT?! Go to bed commander!" She replied in surprise. "You're exhausted and your going to hurt yourself!"
"I know, I know." I replied tiredly. "I can't be unavailable though, I can't slack off..." Memories of the previous month end meeting filled my head. I couldn't rest, the program, the world rested precariously on my shoulders.
"Nonsense!" She replied sternly. "Get to bed now! If I see you out of bed for no good reason before 4PM I'll break your fingers!" She scared me with her intensity. She was being tough because she cared about me, I knew that, but I wouldn't doubt her threat.
"Fine, fine, I'm going." I replied wearily, unwilling to argue when I knew she was right.
"If you be a good little commander and rest, I promise I'll treat you to a nice dinner like you had for me ok?" She offered.
"Sounds good Aura, let me know if anything earth shattering happens while I'm asleep ok?" I replied with a little smile. It was easier to make jokes when so tired, easier to ignore that "earth shattering" was a complete possibility.
"Ok, go get some sleep." She replied and patted me on the shoulder. "We're counting on you and we need you to be rested."
I returned to my room and promptly passed out on my nice soft bed.
At 4pm when I awoke, relatively refreshed. I had received a message that the replacement tank had arrived. I had a look at my notes on the soldiers and sent a message to the engineers to produce two laser rifles and two laser pistols to have extras on hand for the base personel. They were happy to take a break from the med-kit production and gave me some very nice quotes on price and construction times.
A couple days go by with relatively little action. I managed to snag some extra rest under the watchful eye of Auraluna. On the 10th I received a message from Zilvara. She and her team had finished their research on the alien weapon!
She started her message with a note explaining that without researching the ammunition of the weapon further, we could not put it into regular use.
Following this was a detailed report on how the alien weapons worked. So far we have only encountered four kinds of alien weapons: green fire bolts (no known as plasma), high explosives, a non lethal form of explosion and psionics. Focusing on the plasma weapon, it has been named so because it is a form of weapon that cannot be fit into conventional weapons type much like how plasma cannot be fit into a conventional matter type. The plasma "bolt" originates from a small "clip" in the form of a conglomerate of elemental particles and small but strong magnetic rods. Inner mechanics of the pistol grind part of the clip off and deposit the minute specs into the barrel of the weapon. The specs are then subject to a strange gravitational field, which is not yet fully understood, then the elemental specs are accelerated greatly and become very unstable. The burning cloud becomes magnetic in this process and is ready to be fired offensively; a magnet is launched through the cloud of deadly shrapnel and draws the cloud out of the barrel of the firearm. As the cloud travels through the air it destroys the magnet and adds it's particles to the cloud. The inertia of the cloud continues and allows it to travel impressive distances before loosing velocity and falling to the ground. Finally when the cloud strikes an object, the small size of the particles causes an impressive level of hardness penetration but an unimpressive amount of depth penetration. Once the accelerated particles come into contact with regular material (such as metal or flesh) the particles act as sources of intense radiation. The particles will destabilize adjacent matter causing a chain reaction of decay and burning. Some materials fair better than other based on how benign they are to begin with; for instance, lead fairs extremely well compared to carbon. There is no perfect material to use for defense however because the alien weapons use a conglomerate of elements in their weapons, so no one material is "the best" at resisting the effects of the plasma weapon.
The plasma weapon is not a conventional weapon by any means and cannot be considered an explosive, conventional firearm or biological weapon. It's closest human comparison is a shotgun but this comparison does the alien weapon no justice.
Zilvara added an extra note to the report: In order to develop an effective armor against this kind of weapon would require a buffer of armor rather than a neutralizing armor. Our human methods of armor are based on neutralizing an attack (Kevlar armor, medieval chain and plate armors) instead of creating a barrier from it. Our tests show that with current technology, we would need to have armor thicker than our tank's armor to achieve this. This wont be effective for ground troops. We have been looking at the alien alloys instead, they appear to be incredibly dense but light-weight. I request permission to begin focusing on them commander.
I replied with my answer quickly, asking her to go with her idea and determine if the alien alloys would be the answer.
Soon after the engineers sent me a report on the rifles and pistols, the work had been completed and they were awaiting their next assignment. I sent them a reply telling them to produce more med-kits, with a smiley of course.
Auraluna dropped by to congratulate me on my recovery of rest and offered to make good on her promise. As I was about to accept, the PA interrupted. "All commanding officers to the command center." Droned out the accursed speaker. I excused myself. "I'll have to take you up on that later, I have work to do." I turned and hurried off towards the command center. Blasted aliens.
I arrived at the command center and the radar tech's assistant gave me the regular practiced spiel. The small UFO was detected just east of our location, traveling at 2700kt/s eastwards.
I had Mac scrambled as I sets his coordinates, I hoped that the UFO would slow down enough to be caught.
Sadly, this was not the case and it easily outran Mac's Interceptor. We lost radar coverage of it over the Atlantic.
The same UFO was detected again after a couple hours and I was called back to the command center.
This time the UFO was moving much more slowly. I ordered for our second Interceptor to be scrambled and sent across the Atlantic.
Four hours passed before the Interceptor caught up to the UFO. It had moved south and was nearing Spain. The Interceptor moved within weapons range of the UFO with ease.
The Interceptor secured a missile lock and fired off a salvo of avalanche missiles. They slammed into the small UFO, knocking it off course. It accelerated in an attempt to escape but a second salvo slammed into it and disabled the craft. It hurled into the waters below, just off the coast.
The next day, on the 12th, Another UFO was detected. Again in the unholy early hours of the day. This one was detected over the middle east and heading north east at 2000kt/s.
It was likely too far for us to catch but we had to try anyways. Maybe the winds would be with us?
I sent Mac into the air to try and catch it. It headed east then turned south towards India. It landed in India before Mac could even get close.
"So this one is on a ground mission? Interesting. Let's get the Skyranger over there." I ordered as I drank my coffee. I wish our aircraft were faster, it took hours to get anything done.
Darkwind and Ram 1 were selected to lead the ground team on this mission. Darkwind took Mehmed, Argatson, Tamunshin and Spartan to form an over-watch team. Ram 1 took Hugh Mann, Shigeo Okabe, Dash Gunmetal and Shu Bei to form a breach team.
While the Skyranger flew across the Pacific ocean, the Interceptor's fuel gauge began to beep. It had reached it's halfway mark and Air Control urged me to call Mac back or he wouldn't make it to the base. I recalled him with regret, he was about as happy as I was about it. As the Skyranger reached the far north-east of Asia, the UFO took off into the air. I ordered the Skyranger to continue it's course in case it landed again. As I predicted the UFO quickly landed again, this time near Sri Lanka.
As the Skyranger nears it's target after so many hours of travel, it takes off again. This time it heads north east towards China and moves past the incoming Skyranger.
"We need to cut off that UFO." I thought out loud as I fought to keep my eyes open. "Let's get the second Interceptor into the air." I commanded.
The UFO easily out classed the Skyranger's speed as it moved north. as it passed Japan we started to lose our radar coverage on the craft and it disappeared before the Interceptor could get close enough to keep our eyes on it. I had the two craft patrol the area looking for the UFO. They patrolled for an hour with no luck. I stared at my screen intently, watching the radar sweeps circulate endlessly without picking up our quarry. Then the strangest thing happened.
I woke up in my bed.
TO BE CONTINUED!
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hope you guys enjoy the reading ^.^ We could still use a name for a few of our base personel such as the infamous Interceptor pilot 2 and the radar technician, maybe a head engineer? these are characters i need to refer to often so it would be nice to put a name and personality to them.
Also, please post personal logs, anything really even comments. It gives me some extra stuff to work with that can fill in the "days between interesting stuff".
edit - also I find this awesome. my photobucket pictures have had over 17000 views. holy crap!
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Topic: Anya's x-com LP - UPDATED! Augest 17th (Read 90990 times)