Update 11X-COM Commander’s Log – Robert Steinbach - March 14 2084; 1010hIt appears the aliens are a greater threat than we believed.
Just yesterday, I thought that the aliens were finished with whatever they were planning to do here, since we had proven ourselves more than capable of fending off their weak ships. Whatever the case, they’re back in force.
It all began with this purple UFO showing up out of gate three. Gates three and two had both moved closer together, for reasons unknown.
It was followed closely by another of the same type, and I sent both squads two and three to intercept the first one.
Those two were escorted by two other brown ships, both appearing from gate three as well. Three ships headed west in a convoy of sorts, while the last purple one went southeast.
The brown ships had incredible speed and firepower, hitting one of the hoverbikes almost immediately and forcing it to retreat back to base for repairs.
To the east, squad three was unopposed. The two hovercars landed two near-simultaneous hits with their missiles, inflicting severe damage on the lone purple ship.
When squad three joined the battle, the purple ship was done for. The entire ship sagged under the impact of three missile explosions, and began drifting down to earth.
I ordered both squads to turn about and engage the closer of the two brown ships.
And then things went south. In just one hit, a brown ship completely vaporized squad two’s hovercar. There was nothing left to recover, no wreckage to salvage.
The convoy of UFOs proceeded east, with the brown ships staying back to protect the purple one from our craft. Successive missile and laser hits did not seem to affect the targeted ship much, as it continued as though nothing had happened.
The same could not be said for our craft. Another hit heavily damaged one of squad three’s hovercars, disabling half the systems. It was withdrawn when unable to fire weapons.
The purple ship paused over the Quadrax Tower, one of Nutrivend’s office buildings. It then activitated the same white beam the scout used to drop aliens into the power station. We’ll have to sweep and clear the building later.
Once it had finished, the three moved west back to the dimension gate. A lucky shot from the purple ship managed to damage our last hovercar.
When the brown ships proceeded east, they engaged the remains of squads two and three at close range. A brave Megapol hovercar moved in, shooting at the UFOs from behind. At this range, a single shot also destroyed squad three’s last hovercar, which had been damaged mere seconds previous.
The aliens were now the ones unopposed in the air, with only a hoverbike and police hovercar after them. Stray shots collapsed portions of nearby buildings – it’s clear that these weapons are much more powerful than the ones first seen. The hoverbike was able to use its small size as an advantage, dodging and weaving through the energy beams.
Unfortunately, there was only so much that the onboard AI could do. The bike was hit by a beam…
…and promptly exploded in a huge fireball. X-COM had no more craft in the air, and in any case the aliens were already heading back to their dimension, where we couldn’t pursue them.
The Megapol hovercar continued the chase, but was barely able to land even a single shot before the UFOs disappeared into the gate.
Our airforce is in bad shape. We lost two hovercars and a bike, with another car and bike awaiting repairs. We only have four vehicles ready, including the Skyranger, which likely won’t do so well in combat. I think it’s time we spent some of that money in the bank.