Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Zilvara]

Tiring to remember the encounters we did I think have flying enemies, so you can imagine and also bug the techics about it.
 This would work.
After all if you seen the tech on the enemy maybe you would want to use it so could imagine it.
Just don't take it as fact smiles.

After all it is a soldiers desire to have better tech even if only seen on the enemy.

[Mephansteras]

Go Darkwind!

[rickvoid]

I don't want to derail the thread here, but, yeah. I got fired. 

I'll be getting about thirty hours a week from my part-time job until I find a new one, but... ugh.

Anyway, bad news for my bank account, good news for you guys. I'll have more time for writing. Probably. Until we cancel my intartubez.

In celebration of my incredibly shitty day (even if I did hate that job with a passion unrivaled), have an incredibly depressing/disturbing story post! 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

ENTER KEY: ******
*ENCRYPTION KEY ACCEPTED*
*DECRYPTING . . . DECRYPTION COMPLETE*
*BEGINNING AUDIO LOG PLAYBACK*

Ahem. Right. I think that did it.

This is the private Audio Log of Dr. Richard Gableman.

I don't know why I'm recording these things. I can't talk to anyone about it. Certainly not the other medical staff. And not the soldiers either, though I suspect I'd have their support. They'd never trust me again, of course. I can't go to the Commander either.

Yet, I feel compelled to make these recordings. When this is finished, I intend to encrypt them, and include them with my daily files. Marcus is the key to unlock them, of course, though recording that knowledge here will certainly not help anyone decrypt them.

Perhaps it's simply the romantic with me. Here I sit, making a midnight confession, this computer program my only witness as I bare my soul, my sins, to the darkness.

Perhaps it is my hope that, after we win this war, and these files are declassified, someone will find these files. Find them, and discover the key. They'll hear these confessions, and maybe, grant my soul a measure of forgiveness.

*GLASS TINKLES AGAINST GLASS. AUDIO STOPS FOR SEVERAL SECONDS*

Perhaps it is simply this excellent Cognac. I must remember to thank Corporal Kovacs the next time I see him.

*ANOTHER PAUSE*

Yes, definitely the Cognac.

The nightmares are getting worse. Always the same. A memory, almost, but terribly twisted. It always starts the same. Midnight in Los Angeles. The night my world ended.

I come home late. Again. I'm always late, there's always another patient, another person calling out for help. I ate at the office. I've come home to too many dark homes to expect a cold supper awaiting me.

The house was, of course, dark. I think, this is odd. I was late, yes, but earlier than usual. I expected her to still be up, if not in an welcoming mood.

I slip my shoes off. If I'm quiet, she won't wake, and the inevitable is delayed a few, precious hours. I don't think about this. I tell myself I don't want to wake Marcus.

I lie.

Our door is closed. A sign of her continued displeasure? Of course. Typical. I reach for the handle, then freeze. That noise, what was it?

Was... was that a moan?

Ice grips my heart. Fire fills my belly. My vision narrows. I open the door.

It changes here. The memory ends. Mostly. The nightmare begins.

Tamunshin, nude, lies on my bed, entwined with a humanoid serpent. A Snakeman, the Soldiers call them. It is... doing things to her. Unspeakable things. Things it shames me that I am capable of imagining. She does not fight. She makes no noises, save the occasional soft grunt, or moan. Her eyes, large, accusing, bore into mine.

I look away. Somewhere else. Anywhere else. I look out the glass doors at the back of the room, to the balcony outside the window. There is a figure there, someone watching, waiting, but it's wrong. Anya- Commander Snow, is on my balcony. Body taut with rage, she witnesses the horrors unfolding in my bedroom.

Her armor, made of the same material as the alien devices, glimmers in the moonlight. In her hands she carries a plasma gun. She turns to me, raising the gun. Our eyes lock. The bore of the weapon begins to glow, and the window explodes inwards. Tamunshin, the Snakeman, and my bed, are engulfed in a rolling ball of expanding plasma. Tamunshin shrieks in agony, but it is strangled silent.

Over the haze of the flames filling my room, I see Anya. Her accusing glare burns my soul, and her whisper echoes with the rage of a thousand gods.

"Why didn't you save them?"

*PROGRAM RECORDS SEVERAL MINUTES OF QUIET SOBS, THEN ENDS RECORDING*
*PLAYBACK COMPLETE.*
RUN AGAIN? (Y,N): _

[Heron TSG]

Y

Good writing, although a bit disturbing there at the end.

[cganya]

wow rick, just wow. I tend to find my own dreams confusing, this was just awesome. it was confusing and surreal enough to certainly be a dream.

crap about your job, i'll send a pm as to not derail.

edit - last 8 bios in this post. Enjoy!

edit - turns out Dr. Ross was an extra bio so it is actually 9 bios. also I fail at copy paste fixed now, how could i have forgotten about quibble?!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Gary Bennett(Jinx): character of pwnzerfaust
Desc: Gary was born an ace jet pilot and has a personality to match it. Unearthly skilled and lucky in the seat of a jet fighter, Gary received the nickname "Jinx" after his peers had heard enough of him saying that he couldn't fail at flying if he tried. When Gary was offered the chance to fly the world's most advanced jet fighter, Gary didn't even give it a second thought. Gary has been stationed in North America. On the ground Gary prefers lighter weapons so that he can capitalize on his mobility. Gary's load-out is as follows: Rifle(laser), grenade, smoke grenade, high explosive.

Quibble: character of cj1145
Desc: Quibble is one of the strangest people in the X-Com project. Possessing an incredible mind that absorbs knowledge like a sponge, Quibble developed his own super-complex language before he could be taught anything else. To everyone else Quibble appears to simply be repeating his own name in varied amounts of completion and pitches. Quibble became famous for his work all around the world though few knew little about him and his language. It was decided after the disaster that was the Pokemon (also known as Pocket Monsters) franchise, Quibble would keep his personal self completely private. He would not let some marketing quack abuse his fame again. Quibble has passion for science and a fascination of explosions. Hired by X-Com as a scientist, Quibble found himself surrounded by the world's best and brightest minds. Sadly few of them could understand his spoken word and communication was slow. Deciding that his mind was best used towards decisive action, Quibble took the soldier testing and joined the ground team. A mission without an explosion is Quibble's greatest fear. Quibble is eagerly awaiting his first mission. Quibble's load-out is as follows: Rifle(laser), grenade, high explosive.

Samuel Grover: character of kagus
Desc: Samuel is an unorthodox soldier. Where other soldiers try to improve their aim, Samuel improves his throw. A master of slight-of-hand and all things tossed, Samuel turns combat into an art form and explosive into paint. If it were up to Samuel, he would not even bring a gun into his missions. Currently Samuel has attained the rank of Squaddie. Samuel's load-out is as follows: Pistol(laser), 4 grenades, high explosive. Samuel has been on 1 mission and has 1 confirmed kill.

Sigvard: character of sigvardr
Desc: Sigvard is a bit of a brute, content to be pointed at the enemy and let go. Sigvard would rather run up to an enemy and strangle it to death than to simply shoot at it. We get all kinds, ragaholics as well apparently. Because X-Com does not allow our soldiers to get themselves slaughtered in the public's eye, Sigvard was issued a proper kit and told to follow orders. Currently Sigvard has attained the rank of Rookie. Sigvard's load-out is as follows: Pistol(laser), stunrod, 2 grenades, high explosive. Sigvard has been on 1 mission and has 0 confirmed kills.

Anne Maxwell: character of acanthus117
Desc: Anne Maxwell was returning home from a black ops mission out of country when the alien attack on Los Angeles occurred. Anne lost everything in the attack, her home, her family and friends. With nothing left Anne immediately had a breakdown and secluded herself away from it all. Soon after she was approached by her superiors in the military and consoled. When Anne was offered a chance to have her revenge on the aliens she didn't even need to answer. Anne's load-out is as follows: Rifle(laser), grenade, smoke grenade, high explosive.

Dr. Fin Knick: character of knick
Desc: Fin is a bright young man who was hired on as a scientist. Fin is different than most the other scientists on the base as he is more interested in biology and biochemistry than physics and explosions. One of the easiest scientists to interact with, Dr. Fin made quick friends with Dr. Richard and Dr. Ross.

Sergei Danilev: character of haspen
Desc: Sergei is a quirky pilot from Ukraine who has difficulty with the English language. None the less he is an excellent pilot who was able to engage an UFO with an outdated fighter plane up until the point the UFO fled. Both he and his superiors wonder what would have happened if he had a fighter plane from this decade rather than last. Once contacted by an X-Com agent Sergei and his supervisors were eager to sign on as he would have access to a state of the art jet fighter worth more than Sergei's squad's planes put together. Stationed in Europe, Sergei is extremely eager to start his first flight mission. Sergei's load-out is as follows: Pistol(laser), grenade, smoke grenade, high explosive.

Bob: character of greiger
Desc: Bob had been working alongside Mac since the inception of the X-Com project, before even Commander Anya was on the scene. Bob's efforts were overshadowed by Mac's successes. Preferring to use more traditional long range missiles, Bob has had mixed results, sometimes failing to take down a UFO due to lack of missiles or destroying smaller UFO outright. Now that Mac is half-way around the world Bob has his chance to step out of Mac's shadow.

Dr. Ross McFarlen: character of (nobody!)
Desc: Dr. Ross was the doctor that treated Ashley Smith's wounds without having to amputate her arm. Touted as a medical miracle worker, he is highly sought after. With little private time with his family Dr. Ross has become bitter and judgemental but no less effective at his work. Dr. Ross was already suspicious of Ashley Smith's wounds but when Cerapa joined her as Dr. Ross's top priority, he knew something malicious was happening. Dr. Ross began asking questions and making noise and had to be stopped. He was contacted by an X-Com agent and his family taken into hiding, Dr. Ross was given a choice: Work for X-Com as an on-base doctor or be put into protective custody and hidden from the world until the alien conflict was over. Dr. Ross was resistant at first but as he sees more and more of X-Com's operation, he opens up more to the idea that maybe X-Com isn't the kind of secret organization you read about in stories.

[chaoticag]

Umm... anya? Those are only six bios.

[Tellemurius]

Umm... anya? Those are only six bios.

dude there's eight. wait nvm.

[rickvoid]

Thanks guys!

That was a lot of fun to write, especially since that dream has a lot of meaning for Doctor Rick. This line, and word that I've bolded, in particular means a lot, though it doesn't make much sense to you guys at the moment:

Over the haze of the flames filling my room, I see Anya. Her accusing glare burns my soul, and her whisper echoes with the rage of a thousand gods.

"Why didn't you save them?"

 

[Heron TSG]

Whoa, the snakeman too? That IS deep.

[Mephansteras]

Sucks about your job, Rick, but I really enjoyed your writing!

[cganya]

Here is a bonus bio for you guys while i cool down before heading back out to the job search (its quite humid today, we had a 10 minute thunder storm today)

Auraluna: character of cganya
Desc: Auraluna is Commander Anya's personal assistant at X-Com and handles most of the paperwork and scheduling. Auraluna was born and raised in Mexico city but her father left her mother in her early years. Her grandmother and mother worked hard for many years to put Auraluna through private schools, they pushed Auraluna to be the most successful member of the family. At age 13 Auraluna's grandmother had a stroke that left the heavy set woman half paralyzed (left side). With her mother now pulling the entire weight of the family, only Auraluna was available to care for the aging woman. Auraluna was thus forced to skip most of her childhood and quickly became the only responsible adult in the family, she cooked every meal, cleaned everything that needed to be cleaned and tended to both her grandmother and any guests all while attending school and achieving a very high grade average. Having no extra money to enjoy the little things in life, Auraluna setup a small candy empire that she and a friend managed and ran. Buying candy in bulk and reselling it at school, Auraluna managed to turn an amazing profit. Though the profit was spent on frivolous things and school supplies, Auraluna quickly proved that she was an extremely hard working and clever as well. Auraluna went on to work for several companies as an office administrator, often single-handedly keeping them in business. She is no stranger to superiors that don't play by the rules but has never sunk to that level herself. Selected from a long list of applicants, Auraluna stood out as an office administrator who went above and beyond, turning any company she worked for into pure gold. Currently Auraluna has her sights set on the commander and is trying to win her over with excellently cooked foods.

[rickvoid]

I don't remember if I requested it before, but I'll do it now.

When we get to the point where we're running troops through the psy training, I'd like you to give Gableman a soldier. Run him through the training with the first group, and have him go on missions with the psi-troops. In-character he'll be there to monitor the effects of psi-combat on the soldiers minds. Out-of-character he'l be there because I think it would be awesome to send him on missions.

Give him armor, a laser pistol, a psi-amp, and a med-kit. He'll happily blast an aliens he runs across, but for god-sakes don't put him on breaching duty!! D:

[cganya]

I don't remember if I requested it before, but I'll do it now.

When we get to the point where we're running troops through the psy training, I'd like you to give Gableman a soldier. Run him through the training with the first group, and have him go on missions with the psi-troops. In-character he'll be there to monitor the effects of psi-combat on the soldiers minds. Out-of-character he'l be there because I think it would be awesome to send him on missions.

Give him armor, a laser pistol, a psi-amp, and a med-kit. He'll happily blast an aliens he runs across, but for god-sakes don't put him on breaching duty!! D:

ooo... I wish you had asked this sooner. We are pretty close to the end of the month and you can only assign who's being trained at the beginning of the month.I will hire the next batch of people as soon as I get out of the current mission but no promises. On that note I would like anyone who "doesn't" want to have psych training to speak up, I figured it would be easier to count the people who don't want this aspect of the game on their character.

[rickvoid]

I don't remember if I requested it before, but I'll do it now.

When we get to the point where we're running troops through the psy training, I'd like you to give Gableman a soldier. Run him through the training with the first group, and have him go on missions with the psi-troops. In-character he'll be there to monitor the effects of psi-combat on the soldiers minds. Out-of-character he'l be there because I think it would be awesome to send him on missions.

Give him armor, a laser pistol, a psi-amp, and a med-kit. He'll happily blast an aliens he runs across, but for god-sakes don't put him on breaching duty!! D:

ooo... I wish you had asked this sooner. We are pretty close to the end of the month and you can only assign who's being trained at the beginning of the month.I will hire the next batch of people as soon as I get out of the current mission but no promises. On that note I would like anyone who "doesn't" want to have psych training to speak up, I figured it would be easier to count the people who don't want this aspect of the game on their character.

Easily solved in character. We'll just say he monitored the first batch of recruits, then participated in the second batch.

I'll get to work typing up some stuff this afternoon while I'm at the part-time job (and there won't be any issues with me doing that there), including the official request e-mail from Dr Gableman (which I already have written, by not typed).

[cganya]

I have news!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

this office administrator is EMPLOYED!

that is all.