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[warhammer651]

STORY POST
Jan 26th, 2040
Techies built a few ping-pong tables. I think they might not have enough things to do.

Jan 31st, 2040
Started preparing for the monthly performance review when we picked up another sub near midway. Ace took it down without too much trouble.

cleanup was standard. Al was a bit pissed at the state of the sub

Tasjack captured an alien, much to Al's delight. Also, most of the alien's fuel survived the landing.

Much to everyone's delgiht, no one died. Tasjack and Henri were bumped up to ensign, and REM is now a lieutenant.


Feb 1st, 2040
Performance review wasn't too bad

everyone is generally satisfied, and we got a nice boost to our funding. The off-duty personnel threw an impromptu party, and someone brought a docu-drama of the First Alien War. I must say, it's failry accurate most of the time. But I'm pretty sure that our CO wasn't a hulking, chain gun wielding Austrian.

I refuse to mention the fan sites.

[cganya]

nice month end commander. keep it up.

[rickvoid]

Personal Log of Dr. Marcus Gabelman

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Jan 10, 2040

Finally, my research is paying off. I just said farewell to a nice young man from the Navy. He informed me that Navy Brass had read a number of my papers, and had several research programs that they would like me to head.

I will be packing my things up soon, and in two days I will be arriving at Norfolk, where I imagine a number of non-disclosure agreements will be awaiting me. Ah well. Things were getting boring here anyway.

Jan 13, 2040

Well, this was unexpected.

I am on a submarine, headed for a top-secret, underwater military base. I will be joining a team of scientists already there, and together we are going to save the world.

Because they're back.

I remember, as a child, being disappointed that I would never be able to get my revenge on the extra-terrestrial aggressors. Now it appears I may do so, if only by giving others the weapons and armor needed to win the day.

Perhaps my original research may be continued here. I'll have to talk to the base commander...

Jan 15, 2040

I officially hate my idiot colleagues.

Cuttlefish... ugh.

Jan 20, 2040

I attended the funeral today, for the brave soldiers who died in the last raid.

It's sad. So much death, for no good reason.

This war needs to end soon. I pray we can keep it under raps, and away from the public, as much as possible. We lost so much to the last Alien War, we we're finally getting back into things. And now they've come back.

I talked to the base commander about my research. He told me to take one of the personal subs, and get whatever I needed. I hope there's enough room for the tanks. They prefer to stay as a group, I couldn't bear to separate them...

Jan 23, 2040

Oops.

One of our dead heroes had a sister. A sister that managed to find out how he really died. A sister that managed to sneak aboard my sub. A sister that has demanded to be allowed to fight.

And I've been put in charge of her training.

I suppose I should have seen that coming eventually. They were bound to know about my early experiments, and their successes, and then the black-ops work the government had us do, when my friends and I were found out.

Not sure why they would think an assassin would make a good soldier trainer, but I'll certainly do my best. I can probably train a decent scout, at least.

Who knows? Maybe she has the Talent, and I can show her far more of the universe than she could imagine.

If so, perhaps she will eventually find peace. I can feel her rage, bubbling red-hot, all the way from the brig.

Time to introduce myself, I suppose.

The events of Jan 25th, 2040

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

In a distant corner of the underwater base, a glass-steel dome poked out. Originally designed as an underwater training area, it was seeing slightly different use this day. Almost three-quarters full of water, a figure in a bulky diving suit floated in the center.

The figure breathed slowly. Most, he knew, found diving suits of this variety bulky, and claustrophobic.  It made it difficult to feel that there was a physical world beyond the suit.

Which was precisely what Marcus intended. Closing his eyes, he opened his mind.

He found the dolphins first. he had released them from their travel tanks, as soon as the room was filled to his satisfaction. They had spent most of their time at first exploring, testing the boundaries of the new room. It was much larger than anything they had been used to back at the labs. They were soon playing with the many toys he had scattered around the room.

He marveled at their minds. They were so alive. Joy sang through every thought, as they chased each other, passed balls back and forth, and leaped above the water, seeming to challenge the others to slap their tails playfully against the ceiling.

They had names of course, but none that he had given. Bright-Song. Ripple-Wave. Brown-Water. Deep-Friend. These were the names they knew themselves by. Dolphin naming conventions were sometimes tricky to understand, but there was always a meaning. Deep always tried to see how far down he could swim, before returning to the surface. Marcus remembered the first time he'd given Deep and oxygen tank and a special-made breathing mask. He didn't think she'd ever return.

Brown-Water, sadly, was named so because of his gastro-intestional issues. He did often leave a trail of his name-sake. Most dolphins and divers quickly learned to swim up-current from him.

Just as he knew them, they knew him. He remembered when he'd first met this pod. He'd retired from black-ops, burned out from so much death. The mental death-screams of friends and enemies had left him drained. He'd turned back to research in hopes that it would relax him.

The first time he'd felt the stangely human-like thoughts of a dolphin enter his mind, he'd been rather shocked.

His own mental powers had come from much study with his friends, long ago in college. They'd gotten hold of an amplifier, but instead of using it like an exoskelton, letting it do the heavy-lifting, they'd used it like a piece of excercise equipment. Evntually, they'd learned how to do simple things like this, without needing the amplifier at all.

Reaching out, he located one specific mind in the pod. Applying a slight mental pressure his whispered in the dolphins mind. :Sleek.:

He felt his target loop around lazily, and hover before him. Softly, Shining-Sleek's thoughts tickled his mind. :Hello, Mar-cus.:

:How does your pod like their new home?:

Sadness colored the next thoughts. :We miss the open ocean. We can see it, beyond your walls, but we cannot hear it sing.:

:I know Sleek. I could have the sounds pumped in if you like.:

This perked the dolphin up :You could do this?:

:Yes. I could even make it so you could talk back to the ocean. Would you like that?:

Fierce joy rolled over Marcus. He thought he felt the dolphin bump his with his nose. :Yes, Mar-cus. We would like that very much.:

Now they had come to the difficult part. He wondered how Sleek would react. :Sleek, they've come back. Did you know that?:

Now the thoughts were tinged with fear, anger, and sadness. :The Destroyers?:

:Yes Sleek. They attack the ocean.:

Now the feelings had given way to rage. :You are trying to stop them?:

:Yes Sleek. And I think you can help.:

:How?:

:I think I know a way to enhance your songs. You would be able to sing the Destroyers to death.:

There was nothing intelligible in the reply. It reminded Marcus, disconcertingly, of the feeling he got from the pod when they had a school of fish surrounded, and were picking them off, one by one.

:Sleek. I may return with another, soon. She might not be able to talk as we talk, but perhaps some day. Would you like that?:

:Yes, Mar-cus. Bring your pod-mate.:

And with that, Marcus's audience aparently over, Sleek returned to his pod, and Marcus left to meet with a certain angry young woman.

Okay, so my dolphins think english. I took a little creative license. Sue me.

[cganya]

Personal Log of Dr. Marcus Gabelman

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Jan 10, 2040

Finally, my research is paying off. I just said farewell to a nice young man from the Navy. He informed me that Navy Brass had read a number of my papers, and had several research programs that they would like me to head.

I will be packing my things up soon, and in two days I will be arriving at Norfolk, where I imagine a number of non-disclosure agreements will be awaiting me. Ah well. Things were getting boring here anyway.

Jan 13, 2040

Well, this was unexpected.

I am on a submarine, headed for a top-secret, underwater military base. I will be joining a team of scientists already there, and together we are going to save the world.

Because they're back.

I remember, as a child, being disappointed that I would never be able to get my revenge on the extra-terrestrial aggressors. Now it appears I may do so, if only by giving others the weapons and armor needed to win the day.

Perhaps my original research may be continued here. I'll have to talk to the base commander...

Jan 15, 2040

I officially hate my idiot colleagues.

Cuttlefish... ugh.

Jan 20, 2040

I attended the funeral today, for the brave soldiers who died in the last raid.

It's sad. So much death, for no good reason.

This war needs to end soon. I pray we can keep it under raps, and away from the public, as much as possible. We lost so much to the last Alien War, we we're finally getting back into things. And now they've come back.

I talked to the base commander about my research. He told me to take one of the personal subs, and get whatever I needed. I hope there's enough room for the tanks. They prefer to stay as a group, I couldn't bear to separate them...

Jan 23, 2040

Oops.

One of our dead heroes had a sister. A sister that managed to find out how he really died. A sister that managed to sneak aboard my sub. A sister that has demanded to be allowed to fight.

And I've been put in charge of her training.

I suppose I should have seen that coming eventually. They were bound to know about my early experiments, and their successes, and then the black-ops work the government had us do, when my friends and I were found out.

Not sure why they would think an assassin would make a good soldier trainer, but I'll certainly do my best. I can probably train a decent scout, at least.

Who knows? Maybe she has the Talent, and I can show her far more of the universe than she could imagine.

If so, perhaps she will eventually find peace. I can feel her rage, bubbling red-hot, all the way from the brig.

Time to introduce myself, I suppose.

The events of Jan 25th, 2040

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

In a distant corner of the underwater base, a glass-steel dome poked out. Originally designed as an underwater training area, it was seeing slightly different use this day. Almost three-quarters full of water, a figure in a bulky diving suit floated in the center.

The figure breathed slowly. Most, he knew, found diving suits of this variety bulky, and claustrophobic.  It made it difficult to feel that there was a physical world beyond the suit.

Which was precisely what Marcus intended. Closing his eyes, he opened his mind.

He found the dolphins first. he had released them from their travel tanks, as soon as the room was filled to his satisfaction. They had spent most of their time at first exploring, testing the boundaries of the new room. It was much larger than anything they had been used to back at the labs. They were soon playing with the many toys he had scattered around the room.

He marveled at their minds. They were so alive. Joy sang through every thought, as they chased each other, passed balls back and forth, and leaped above the water, seeming to challenge the others to slap their tails playfully against the ceiling.

They had names of course, but none that he had given. Bright-Song. Ripple-Wave. Brown-Water. Deep-Friend. These were the names they knew themselves by. Dolphin naming conventions were sometimes tricky to understand, but there was always a meaning. Deep always tried to see how far down he could swim, before returning to the surface. Marcus remembered the first time he'd given Deep and oxygen tank and a special-made breathing mask. He didn't think she'd ever return.

Brown-Water, sadly, was named so because of his gastro-intestional issues. He did often leave a trail of his name-sake. Most dolphins and divers quickly learned to swim up-current from him.

Just as he knew them, they knew him. He remembered when he'd first met this pod. He'd retired from black-ops, burned out from so much death. The mental death-screams of friends and enemies had left him drained. He'd turned back to research in hopes that it would relax him.

The first time he'd felt the stangely human-like thoughts of a dolphin enter his mind, he'd been rather shocked.

His own mental powers had come from much study with his friends, long ago in college. They'd gotten hold of an amplifier, but instead of using it like an exoskelton, letting it do the heavy-lifting, they'd used it like a piece of excercise equipment. Evntually, they'd learned how to do simple things like this, without needing the amplifier at all.

Reaching out, he located one specific mind in the pod. Applying a slight mental pressure his whispered in the dolphins mind. :Sleek.:

He felt his target loop around lazily, and hover before him. Softly, Shining-Sleek's thoughts tickled his mind. :Hello, Mar-cus.:

:How does your pod like their new home?:

Sadness colored the next thoughts. :We miss the open ocean. We can see it, beyond your walls, but we cannot hear it sing.:

:I know Sleek. I could have the sounds pumped in if you like.:

This perked the dolphin up :You could do this?:

:Yes. I could even make it so you could talk back to the ocean. Would you like that?:

Fierce joy rolled over Marcus. He thought he felt the dolphin bump his with his nose. :Yes, Mar-cus. We would like that very much.:

Now they had come to the difficult part. He wondered how Sleek would react. :Sleek, they've come back. Did you know that?:

Now the thoughts were tinged with fear, anger, and sadness. :The Destroyers?:

:Yes Sleek. They attack the ocean.:

Now the feelings had given way to rage. :You are trying to stop them?:

:Yes Sleek. And I think you can help.:

:How?:

:I think I know a way to enhance your songs. You would be able to sing the Destroyers to death.:

There was nothing intelligible in the reply. It reminded Marcus, disconcertingly, of the feeling he got from the pod when they had a school of fish surrounded, and were picking them off, one by one.

:Sleek. I may return with another, soon. She might not be able to talk as we talk, but perhaps some day. Would you like that?:

:Yes, Mar-cus. Bring your pod-mate.:

And with that, Marcus's audience aparently over, Sleek returned to his pod, and Marcus left to meet with a certain angry young woman.

Okay, so my dolphins think english. I took a little creative license. Sue me.

I wonder if i would notice your developed psychic ability, as i would have something similar...

[rickvoid]

That would make for a neat little plot line. We might have to explore that.

I had other stuff I wanted to put into that conversation with Sleek, but it was getting pretty long.

Also, I'm having images of psychic dolphins running our radar sonar system, warning the base commanders once we get the psychic stuff back. And remote piloting whatever our interceptor subs are.

I love dolphins. *mentally huggles a dolphin*

[cganya]

Anya Snow's Experiment Log 1

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I am submitting in private a request to commander Argatson for a psi-amp from the first war. I told him that I wanted to know if psi-attacks have the same effect on these aliens as the previous ones. When we destroyed the mastermind behind the invasion, a strange thought entered my head, filled with laughter: "Silly human, your kind will submit to us eventually."

"Us" It had said, I thought then it had planned to simply clone itself at the Crydonian base so I ordered it to be annihilated. Maybe I messed up. Maybe I failed to discover another forward attack base. Maybe 40 years was all it took to setup another one? In anycase, psi control was integral to turning the war in our favour and I would think that will be true again.

I miss you Zerusi...

[Nirur Torir]

Personal Log of Fran Small

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

January 24, 2040
...ou mean this button activates voice-to-text? I'm sure it was already on. I'm not repeating myself to the machine, now get lost, old guy.

Right, and then, the base commander was mad. I mean, like, really mad. Gave me a bunk in a barracks, said he'd figure out what to do with me later. Felt like I was being watched all night. Had a hard time sleeping. Was woken up too early, and told I was going to be given my chance to kill the aliens who killed brobro- uh, Robert. Seems the old fool who's sub I snuck into is going to be teaching me to shoot after I'm done preserving my tale or whatever.

Probably going to be used by a psych to tell me I'm crazy. Whatever, I'm done. Where's the off button on this - I SAID GET LOST, YOU OLD- Oh, right, you're that old guy who brought me here. Where's the...

January 25, 2040
Ugh, the food here is terrible, and ... what's his name, Marcus? Said I was a bad shot. I am not. I spend an hour a week at the range. Probably still mad about me calling him old yesterday. Anyway, I thought the food in a sea base would be, you know, fresh fish. Shrimp, maybe some crabs. No, we get this, I don't even know how to describe it.

Marcus keeps bringing up dolphins. I wonder why he's so obsessed with them.

January 29, 2040
After we were done at the range today, he brought me to see his dolphin collection. Disgusting fish, all of them. Thought I saw one flinch while I was telling it how I felt about it. Marcus took us away in a hurry, as though he was afraid I'd hurt their feelings. Pathetic.

January 30, 2040
The old fool didn't meet me at the range today. Huh.

January 31, 2040
I was sent out to help recapture a downed uso earlier. As if. They kept me in the sub, said it was important to not let the aliens take it. Not as if they would even want it. I thought about shooting my way out. Ha, that'd show 'em. I came here to kill aliens, and I will kill aliens, even if I have to kill every single one of you to do it!

...

Actually, I'd better delete that before the psychs find it. Where's the delete key? Where is it? It better be here! I'M GONNA KILL WHOEVER MADE THIS STUPID SYSTEM!!
...

I ... was, um ... I bought these brownies earlier, and I was like, cool, dude, and the brownies responded, and It was like, awesome, and they were awesome, and, like cool. I need to go find some chips now.

...

Groovy?

[rickvoid]

We do eventually  get psi-amps in this one, right? It would be a little embarassing now if we didn't.

Also:

Personal Log of Fran Small

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

January 24, 2040
...ou mean this button activates voice-to-text? I'm sure it was already on. I'm not repeating myself to the machine, now get lost, old guy.

Right, and then, the base commander was mad. I mean, like, really mad. Gave me a bunk in a barracks, said he'd figure out what to do with me later. Felt like I was being watched all night. Had a hard time sleeping. Was woken up too early, and told I was going to be given my chance to kill the aliens who killed brobro- uh, Robert. Seems the old fool who's sub I snuck into is going to be teaching me to shoot after I'm done preserving my tale or whatever.

Probably going to be used by a psych to tell me I'm crazy. Whatever, I'm done. Where's the off button on this - I SAID GET LOST, YOU OLD- Oh, right, you're that old guy who brought me here. Where's the...

January 25, 2040
Ugh, the food here is terrible, and ... what's his name, Marcus? Said I was a bad shot. I am not. I spend an hour a week at the range. Probably still mad about me calling him old yesterday. Anyway, I thought the food in a sea base would be, you know, fresh fish. Shrimp, maybe some crabs. No, we get this, I don't even know how to describe it.

Marcus keeps bringing up dolphins. I wonder why he's so obsessed with them.

January 29, 2040
After we were done at the range today, he brought me to see his dolphin collection. Disgusting fish, all of them. Thought I saw one flinch while I was telling it how I felt about it. Marcus took us away in a hurry, as though he was afraid I'd hurt their feelings. Pathetic.

January 30, 2040
The old fool didn't meet me at the range today. Huh.

January 31, 2040
I was sent out to help recapture a downed uso earlier. As if. They kept me in the sub, said it was important to not let the aliens take it. Not as if they would even want it. I thought about shooting my way out. Ha, that'd show 'em. I came here to kill aliens, and I will kill aliens, even if I have to kill every single one of you to do it!

...

Actually, I'd better delete that before the psychs find it. Where's the delete key? Where is it? It better be here! I'M GONNA KILL WHOEVER MADE THIS STUPID SYSTEM!!
...

I ... was, um ... I bought these brownies earlier, and I was like, cool, dude, and the brownies responded, and It was like, awesome, and they were awesome, and, like cool. I need to go find some chips now.

...

Groovy?

*Dies laughing*

[cganya]

We do eventually  get psi-amps in this one, right? It would be a little embarassing now if we didn't.

Also:

Personal Log of Fran Small

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

January 24, 2040
...ou mean this button activates voice-to-text? I'm sure it was already on. I'm not repeating myself to the machine, now get lost, old guy.

Right, and then, the base commander was mad. I mean, like, really mad. Gave me a bunk in a barracks, said he'd figure out what to do with me later. Felt like I was being watched all night. Had a hard time sleeping. Was woken up too early, and told I was going to be given my chance to kill the aliens who killed brobro- uh, Robert. Seems the old fool who's sub I snuck into is going to be teaching me to shoot after I'm done preserving my tale or whatever.

Probably going to be used by a psych to tell me I'm crazy. Whatever, I'm done. Where's the off button on this - I SAID GET LOST, YOU OLD- Oh, right, you're that old guy who brought me here. Where's the...

January 25, 2040
Ugh, the food here is terrible, and ... what's his name, Marcus? Said I was a bad shot. I am not. I spend an hour a week at the range. Probably still mad about me calling him old yesterday. Anyway, I thought the food in a sea base would be, you know, fresh fish. Shrimp, maybe some crabs. No, we get this, I don't even know how to describe it.

Marcus keeps bringing up dolphins. I wonder why he's so obsessed with them.

January 29, 2040
After we were done at the range today, he brought me to see his dolphin collection. Disgusting fish, all of them. Thought I saw one flinch while I was telling it how I felt about it. Marcus took us away in a hurry, as though he was afraid I'd hurt their feelings. Pathetic.

January 30, 2040
The old fool didn't meet me at the range today. Huh.

January 31, 2040
I was sent out to help recapture a downed uso earlier. As if. They kept me in the sub, said it was important to not let the aliens take it. Not as if they would even want it. I thought about shooting my way out. Ha, that'd show 'em. I came here to kill aliens, and I will kill aliens, even if I have to kill every single one of you to do it!

...

Actually, I'd better delete that before the psychs find it. Where's the delete key? Where is it? It better be here! I'M GONNA KILL WHOEVER MADE THIS STUPID SYSTEM!!
...

I ... was, um ... I bought these brownies earlier, and I was like, cool, dude, and the brownies responded, and It was like, awesome, and they were awesome, and, like cool. I need to go find some chips now.

...

Groovy?

*Dies laughing*

there are no "psi amps" in this one though i imagine they do still exist. I have an idea for why they dont work on these specific aliens which i will shoot towards argatson in a moment.

in TFTD there is instead a molecular control system which is really psi control system with a shiny new label probably implemented to balance the game (humans start off with mind control? woop woop woop woop easy)

[warhammer651]

hmm... I really hope I haven't run into a bug. It has been over a month with 50 scientists and they still haven't finished medkits. anyone know the approximate research times for the different technologies?

[Myroc]

Have you actually allocated any scientists to the medkit research?

Have they finished it yet, but you haven't yet noticed?

[warhammer651]

50 scientists have been allocated. research progress: poor

[LegoLord]

In my experience it always took ages to research any of the starting stuff, even when buying more scientists right off the bat.  More than a few months, I think.  Poor isn't how far it's gone, by the way, it's just how quickly it's going, in case you didn't know.  I've had things start off as "excellent", and other projects have finished even though checking earlier that day showed "poor."

[warhammer651]

ran a parallel save just to see how long it takes. we'll be good by February 11th ish

[warhammer651]

Calm Before a Living Hell Update

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Feb 1st, 2040
Ace downed another UFO. This one was a bit close for comfort.


Team was dispatched, Tasjack was wounded, but he captured an alien squad leader.


He'll be out for about 17 days.

February 2nd, 2040
Anya radioed me today. asked if she could have her old Psi-Amp back. She wanted to see if a psi-amp would work on the aliens. I went ahead and got it for her (had to call in pretty much every favor I could), and reminded her that psi-amps don't work without Elerium.

That Bloody Dolphin Freak (TBDF for short) flooded one of the labs for his experiments. Spends a lot of his free time there. he tried taking miss civie in there one time, but I don't think she likes dolphins.

February 3rd, 2040
Al asked if he could speak with me today.
Me: "what's up"
Al: "I've been taking a look at some of the alien weaponry, not enough to rebuild one or figure out how it works mind you, but they seem to use sound instead of a projectile"
Me: "So the Aliens have super-advanced weaponry. what else is new?"
Al: "well, judging from the mission reports... they seem to prefer our sound"
Me: "by that you mean....."
Al: "They are shooting songs at us"
Me: "Tell me they're firing light, classical, music at us."
Al: "not.... quite.

FML!

February 4th 2040

Command Center Dude: "Boss, you had better take a look at this!"

Me: "what is... I'm heading down to the mess. Get everyone else up here now, initiate Full Alert throughout the base, and contact the US Army. Appraise them of the situation"
" Aye Aye Commander"

A brief time later in the mess hall

Me: "All X-Com Combat Teams to the Subs. We're going to Jamaica!"



DUN, DUN, DUUUUUUUUUUH!