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[Erheller]

Some close calls so far, but the squad seems to have handled the situation well.

Spoiler

b15 did add one Thin Mint pod to this map, right?

 

[hooijdonk17]

OK, so I do remember offering to bomb the cemetary off the face of the earth, and Command did not give green light to that. But gents, seriously, this? It needs to be bombed to hell and back.

 

[Jintor]

COOLASJ19
Squad, reload, take a breather! Decoy, don’t- don’t pull that shit again, you hear?

DECOYPLATYPUS
They would’ve found us anyway, sir.

COOLASJ19
Be that as it may…

DECOYPLATYPUS
I don’t see you down here… sir.

COOLASJ19
(calmly) I’m keeping an eye on the situation. That’s not all of them, not by a long shot.​

They cluster behind one of the trucks, checking ammo. BAM. BAM. Magazines smack into rifles. Bolts are racked, rounds are chambered. Feonix snaps open his LMG, grunts, snaps it back together. Decoyplatypus is shovelling rounds into his shotty, as Mupod ducks down, checking her last rocket before slamming it into her tube. SCREECHING and the distinctive sound of rapidly-moving CHITEN ON WOOD approaches.

CHASING COMETS
Here we go…!​

Chrysallids burst from the darkness, smashing through windows and charging around the wall of the office warehouse. Gunfire fills the air, to no avail, illuminating bulbous, insectoid forms in FLASHBULB GLIMPSES. As they rush in, straight past a startled Chasing Comets…

…a group of four THIN MEN melt out of the darkness behind them; only Coolasj19 sees them in the confusion. His HUD also brings up another zombie stumbling towards the market, but he ignores it, more focused on the immediate threat below.

COOLASJ19
Be advised, Bug Catchers are on the move.​

 

[Jintor]

SQUOIG
‘NADE OUT!​

The team leap clear, somehow outpacing the bugs, as Squoig hurls a grenade. Incendiary palms something from her belt and drops it as she dives behind the truck. A sniper shot rings out above the confusion, and an acid sack ruptures-

- followed by an explosion closer to home. But these bugs are made of sterner stuff.

Incendiary’s bomb annihilates two of the survivors, leaving two SHRIEKING in pain and rage. Chasing Comets blasts one in the face; Feonix destroys the other.

COOLASJ19
Up! Up! The rooftops!​

A single THIN MAN darts over the rooftops, running crouched, its movements unnatural; it leaps the gap between buildings, sliding into cover behind a box, flanking the entire squad. As Incendiary brings her rifle to bear, a sizzling bolt of PLASMA sprays across her shoulder.

INCENDIARY
Wh- shit! BUGS WITH GUNS?!? Oh, fucking SHIT!
​

COOLASJ19’s P.O.V. He is watching the THIN MEN through his scope, keeping track of locational positioning. A picture-in-picture notification informs him that the zombie has wandered towards the burning building, but he ignores it.

COOLASJ19
It’s just skinnies, Incendiary, keep your hair on…

INCENDIARY
(o.s., distorted over the coms hysterial) I WANT- WE GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE!

COOLASJ19
Someone get her a drink or something, yeah?​

EXT. WAREHOUSE OFFICE

A shotgun blast; Comets has filled the flanking THIN MAN full of holes, but - bleeding from the chest, it brandishes its carbine at him, before-

- exploding in a cloud of acid. Decoyplatypus pumps his shotgun.

 

[Jintor]

DECOYPLATYPUS
Where did the skinnies come from?

INCENDIARY
Oh, fucking Christ…

COOLASJ19
Dockside. Two left.

FEONIX
Keeping the man down…​

LMG fire rings out, echoing in thumps across the marketplace. PLASMA FIRE streams out in return, soaring harmlessly overhead.

COOLASJ19
I’ve got movement – Squoig!

SQUOIG
On it.​

A THIN MAN leaps up to support its comrade, but tracer rounds slam into its body, popping it like a balloon.

A sniper shot rings out, but no consequent acid rupture follows. Mupod steps up besides Coolasj19, sighting down her SMG.

COOLASJ19
Think you can hit it from here with that thing? That’s a short ranger, you know.

MUPOD
It’s a gun, Coolas. Just point… and shoot.​

Bullets spray everywhere, but enough find their mark. The Thin Man keels over and bursts.

COOLASJ19
I’ll be damned.

MUPOD
Don’t be. I’m not just rocket-certified, remember?​

 

[Incendiary]

....why do I always end up on missions with these stupid freakin' bugs?!?! If I survive I'm gonna have a serious phobia. There isn't going to be a single ant left in the command center.

 

[Jintor]

COOLASJ19
Staggered reload, team… I don’t want any surprises. Incendiary, are you with us?

INCENDIARY
You shot all the skinnies, right?

COOLASJ19
They’re mist.

INCENDIARY
Okay. Okay. [takes a deep breath]. Oh… kay.​

Tension. The team take stock, reloading quickly, efficiently. Squoig sights around the corner. Nothing.

COOLASJ19
We’re getting nowhere. Decoy, Comets, check the docks – everybody else, form up on me.

DECOYPLATYPUS
Roger that.​

They fan out, warily, Chasing Comets and Decoyplatypus cautiously approaching the docks. Chasing Comets looks at Decoy, makes a hand motion; counting down. Decoy nods, and raises his 12-guage. Takes one deep breath, then they both dash down the ramp, together.

EXT. DOCKS

Comets is clear, but Decoy finds himself face-to-face with a Chrysallid, which REARS BACKWARDS as his flashlight blinds it.

DECOYPLATYPUS
Shit-!​

Comets whirls around at Decoyplatypus’ shot and fires before the Chrysallid can move a step.

CHASING COMETS
Why didn’t that one rush us with the others?

DECOYPLATYPUS
Maybe it was distracted. Hey, what’s up with that shark?​

A shark hanging by the tail at the far end of the docks is… WRITHING, BUCKING.

COOLASJ19
(v.o) Assault team, what is the situation?

CHASING COMETS
Clocked a ‘lid. There’s… a shark on a stick here that… ain’t dead…?

SQUOIG
Uh… like, you’ve watched Alien, right?

CHASING COMETS
Of course-

DECOYPLATYPUS
Oh. Oh. SHIT.​

Decoy raises his shotgun and charges the shark, but it’s too late; the shark thrashes one final time, blood welling from its eyes, from its gills, until suddenly – in a fountain of gore and blood – it EXPLODES OUTWARDS, depositing a NEWBORN CHRYSALLID onto the ground. It immediately scrambles upright, only to be flung backwards by dual shotgun blasts.

DECOYPLATYPUS
Fuck! Fuuuuuuuuuuck that!

CHASING COMETS
What the flying fuck was that?

DECOYPLATYPUS
Coolas, they’re in the sharks! They’ve got chestbursters in the motherfucking sharks!
​

 

[Jintor]

Coolasj’s HUD flickers – there’s the shark in the market, there’s a shark ahead of Incendiary – where else? What else?

COOLASJ19
Take ‘em out, explosives team!​

Incendiary’s hand shoots out, a blinking grenade pitched like a cricket ball; an explosion of blood and guts and alien SHRIEKING as one shark is blown to kingdom come. Squoig lobs his more underarm, but the result is the same; no more shark.

SQUOIG
You don’t train for this everyday.

COOLASJ19
I’m still missing tracking on one zombie I saw earlier… I think it’s in the burning house.

CHASING COMETS
Engineers, there’s one more shark down this way…

SQUOIG
Got one more…

COOLASJ19
Comets, run interference for Squoig; take out that shark before it… births. Everyone else – let’s go zombie hunting.
​

A flurry of movement as the squad trades positions. CLOSE ON Feonix as she rushes forwards to cover, when an inhuman SCREAM pierces the night.

FEONIX
I don’t think sharks are all these bugs fucked!​

INT. BURNING BUILDING

Clambering out of the steaming body of a zombie is a CHRYSALLID, attempting to shake itself free of its gory shell.


EXT. MARKETPLACE

Feonix arcs her giant LMG around and fires round after round.

The chrysallid staggers backwards under the onslaught; Incendiary rushes forward to put some bullets in its skull.

INCENDIARY
Here’s a tip: aim for the nerve stem, and put it down for good.

FEONIX
Ha, ha, very funny. Coolas, this one came out of a zombie…

COOLASJ19
I suspected as much… Squoig, how are we doing with that last shark?

SQUOIG
(v.o) Just a second…​

There is a distant explosion.

SQUOIG
(v.o) Shark fin soup, anyone?

MUPOD
I’m never gonna look at a shark the same way again.

FEONIX
Are you kidding? I’m never gonna look at a human the same way again.

INCENDIARY
(v.o) Uh, Coolas… you’re gonna want to look at this…
​

 

[Jintor]

EXT. OUTSIDE BURNING BUILDING

A huge ship, a tanker or a hauler, is partially embedded in the docks, lit by the flickering light of burning oil fires. Wreckage is piled up everywhere. As the Squad approaches, it is apparent that the ship has crashed. A massive hole is in one side of the ship; various gashes and slashes pock its steel exterior.

FEONIX
We’ve got problems.

INCENDIARY
How many sharks are on that thing, you reckon? How many did these fuckos haul in? Ten? Thirty? A hundred?

COOLASJ19
I really don’t want to think about it.

FEONIX
But we’re going in anyway.

COOLASJ19
Of course.​

Feonix groans, but hefts her gun and shoulders forward, Mupod following. Squoig and Chasing Comets arrive, visibly gawking at the ship.

CHASING COMETS
Jesus Christ.

SQUOIG
I don’t think I’ve got a grenade big enough. I don’t think there is a grenade big enough.

CHASING COMETS
There’s no way in fuck seven of us are going to be able to clear that out. There’s no way a friggin’ ARMY could clear that out.

COOLASJ19
If what we think is there, is there… we’ll take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.​

Squoig shakes his head.

SQUOIG
It’s going to have to be low yield if we don’t want to completely fuck up the Atlantic for the next thousand years. But if it’s low yield, with the EMP interference, we risk missing entirely. Maybe just flattening St. Johns and getting radioactive bugs to boot.

COOLASJ19
(quietly) Are you saying there’s a gap generator out there we have to find and shut down? With all these bugs shadowing us the entire time? I’ve been watching the ammo count. We’re down to our last rocket. We’re running low on ammo. We haven’t lost anyone yet and that’s been a flipping miracle as far as I’m concerned. And we’re not even inside the ship yet.

SQUOIG
Hold on, I’m thinking, I’m thinking…​

Incendiary wanders into the impromptu group meeting. Behind her is the sporadic sound of gunfire.

INCENDIARY
There’s a zombie wandering out this way… we’ll take care of it. Can’t you set up a relay beacon from inside the ship? Mask it with BELIEVE-1’s output, we know that can cut through the fog.​

Squoig snaps his fingers. He’s excited.

SQUOIG
Yes… yes, that could work. (frowns) We’d need a transmitter though.

INCENDIARY
So use the ship. Communications is usually on a separate circuit, and the emergency beacon always has its own power.

SQUOIG
Someone would have to get to the bridge.

CHASING COMETS
…ugh, I’ll do it. I’ve got a slight edge on Decoy on sprinting.

COOLASJ19
Alright, but he’s going with you onto the ship first. That clear?

DECOYPLATYPUS
(v.o) Hey, Incend, where are you? Twenty bucks says you can’t hit this fucker from here! Feonix and Mupod already got their shots in!
​

Coolasj19 grins.

 

[Jintor]

EXT. SHIP DECK

TIGHT ON Decoyplatypus, grumbling to himself as he cautiously clambers onto the side of the ship. The team is on his heels.

DECOYPLATYPUS
…and now I’m out twenty bucks.

CHASING COMETS
Quit yer whining… at least you’re not on point on a flippin’ suicide mission.

COOLASJ19
(v.o) What do you see, assault team?

DECOYPLATYPUS
Nothing… sir. You can move up.

COOLASJ19
(v.o) I’m on overwatch… if you’d all kindly follow Decoy up…​

Grumbling, the team cautiously follows Decoy onto the deck of the ship. The snow is falling gently, now, an odd contrast to the heavy, smoky fires and the hellish light they cast. A calm, of a kind. Decoy puts a hand on a wall; it is slimy, and strange. He pulls away in disgust.

FEONIX
I hope to god everything else is either dead or asleep.

INCENDIARY
Well, we’re not dead yet, so that’s a promising sign…

MUPOD
Asleep’s not that much better.

CHASING COMETS
(v.o) Oh, shit…​

Hanging suspended by giant hooks, down in the hold of the ship, is a GARGANTEAN WHALE… though it looks… twisted, broken… ALIEN. A massive gash runs down its midsection, revealing BULBOUS INSECTOID CHITEN that sprouts from the wound, impaling the ship, growing on it… growing into it. Sharks line the wall, some hanging, some laying in piles. Here and there bodies – the remains of human bodies, shark corpses, even a few seals and dewgongs – lie, discarded shells, burst from the inside. As the flashlights sweep across the ALIEN HIVE, it begins – visibly – to move.

DECOYPLATYPUS
Oh, shit!

COOLASJ19
Get to the bridge! Now!

CHASING COMETS
Running, running, running…​

He dashes down the ship as the rest of the team run to the loading bay doors, bringing their weapons to bear, just in time; a CHRYSALLID burrows out of the whale, leaping out with a threatening HISS that turns into a SHRILL SHRIEK as it is cut down by the entire squad firing together.

FEONIX
They're coming out of the goddamn whales!​

INT. BRIDGE

A door bursts open and Comets races into, eyes scanning wildly as gunfire erupts behind him. He makes a grab for the main console and spots the only thing still lit up; an emergency communications beacon, enabled but not operational. He smacks open the side and clips something to some wires.

CHASING COMETS
It’s done!​

EXT. THE MARKET

COOLASJ19
Requesting Bunker Buster at transponder beacon, Central, authorisation Zero-Seven-Niner-Sierra-Zulu. Repeat, requesting Bunker Buster…

CENTRAL
(v.o) Authorised, Alpha-Bravo; football is on-route. Advise evacuation before Appiah arrives.

BIGSKY
I’m inbound, Coolas!

COOLASJ19
Copy that Central. Alpha-Bravo, get the hell out of dodge!
​

 

[Jintor]

EXT. SHIP DECK

The team race for Coolasj19’s position, Chasing Comets bringing up the rear but closing fast. There is a shrill SCREECHING and CHITTERING and the now-familiar sounds of fleshy explosions as blood, shark and whalemeat fills the air, but the team don’t look back. A Chrysallid warrior leaps up the hole, but the team is long gone.


EXT. MARKET

COOLASJ19
Descending!​

Coolasj19 leaps to the ground, spins, and brings his scope to the eye to

CLOSE ON Alpha-Bravo as they stream out of the ship, running like madmen. The market is burning but they leap over fires and straight across barricades like vaulters at the track meet. Behind them the sound of wild CHITTERING and CLAWS ON METAL erupts, but nothing – so far – appears to be chasing them.

MUPOD
Fuck… this… heavy-ass… rocket…!

SQUOIG
Are they… gaining?​

Chasing Comets and Decoyplatypus lead the pack now, legs pumping, shotguns steadied, jogging in an economy of motion, refusing to waste their breath. Coolasj19 is covering them all. HIS POV, specifically part of his HUD, showing a moving blip on a map of what is visible Newfoundland. The blip is approaching fast.

CENTRAL
(v.o) Warning: t-minus 5 minutes to reach minimum safe distance.

COOLASJ19
Come on, come on…​

The chittering is reaching peak; it cannot be contained. As Alpha-Bravo dash past Coolasj19 at full sprint, a bug BURSTS out of the ship, followed by another… and another… and another. They are charging, limbs flailing, skittering across the wood, covered in gore and secretions.

COOLASJ19
MOTHERFUCK.​

He turns and runs, the tidal wave of bugs still two football fields away but gaining fast.

EXT. WAREHOUSE OFFICE


The team rocket around a corner as BELIEVE-1 swings wildly to ground level, its hover-jets buffeting them with visible heat and steam as snow melts in its wake.

SQUOIG
Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!
​

INT/EXT BELIEVE-1

They throw themselves onto the open cargo bay door, the ship buffeting wildly. COOLASJ19, last on the scene, leaps at the ramp but stumbles. ARMS grab his shoulders and lift as DECOY pulls him aboard. Behind him, CHRYSALLIDS round the corner right on their heels. One tries to jump up as the BELIEVE-1 pulls up and away; Coolasj19, pistol in hand, manages to hit it as it rises. It clangs harmlessly off the ramp and falls to the ground, writhing.

Coolasj19 claps Decoy on the arm as he drags him to the side of the cargo bay.

CENTRAL
(v.o) T-minus 3 minutes to reach minimum sa-

COOLASJ19
Punch it, Bigsky!​

A horde of bugs snap angrily at the sky as the dropship engines flare and fire, blasting some of them backwards with the sheer force of its acceleration.

The ship lunges away at impossible speed, blurring wildly, climbing rapidly above the cloud layer. Inside the loading bay, all is chaos; Troopers are clinging to anything they can. Coolasj manages to strap himself in as the radio, patched now into the ship’s intercom, blares out over the rumbling of the engines.

CENTRAL
(v.o) T-minus 30 seconds… T-minus 10… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…

​

--- EXCERPT ENDS ---

 

[McNum]

XCOM: Where "Take off and nuke them, it's the only way to be sure!" is part of our operating manuals. Damn bugs.

Good work team, while I'm sure the science team would have loved if we could have hauled in that whale, this was a risk we couldn't take.

 

[dkoy]

The nerds can cry as much as they want, I'm not playing guard duty for an endless bug spawning giant piece of meat.

Spoiler

completely off topic, I'm now a member!

 

[Sciz]

This ain't Jintor's first clam bake.

They're coming out of the goddamn whales!

How long have you been waiting to use that

 

[Baalzebup]

Spoiler

The total quantity of Aliens references is pleasing.

Shit, that looked tense as hell. I hope those shits will never be seeded on an elephant range or something.

 

[Poodlestrike]

Spoiler

The total quantity of Aliens references is pleasing.

Shit, that looked tense as hell. I hope those shits will never be seeded on an elephant range or something.

Eh, it's not like there's enough elephants left for that to be an issue.

Spoiler

fuuuuture

 

[Squoig]

SQUOIG
I don’t think I’ve got a grenade big enough. I don’t think there is a grenade big enough.

Just gonna put in a new request to the Science Team

 

[Erheller]

Here and there bodies – the remains of human bodies, shark corpses, even a few seals and dewgongs – lie, discarded shells, burst from the inside. As the flashlights sweep across the ALIEN HIVE, it begins – visibly – to move.

Oh, no, not the Dewgongs!

 

[Feonix]

Whew. Thought I might have been a goner there.

 

[Jintor]

PROMOTIONS: LCPL "Coney" Decoyplatypus promoted to CPL | SPEC Chasing Comets promoted to LCPL | SPEC Feonix promoted to LCPL

MEDICAL REPORT: LCPL Incendiary: Wounded (19 days)

RECOVERED: N/A

KILLS/MISSION BOARD - STRIKE TEAM ALPHA-BRAVO
Coolasj19 - 14 | 5 (+1)
Incendiary - 8 | 4 (+4)
Chasing Comets - 8 | 3 (+5)
Decoyplatypus - 7 | 5 (+5)
Squoig - 6 | 2 (+4)
Mupod - 4 | 2 (+3)
Feonix - 2 | 3 (+1)

Squoig and Mupod assigned to BRAVO
Feonix assigned to ALPHA

---

///CLASSIFIED TOP SECRET: ATTACHED///

Spoiler

As my desire to play Long War is rapidly outpacing my desire to write up milk run missions, I might begin consolidating multiple missions where nothing exciting happens into smaller reports, pending no objections. This might result in a little less screentime however.

 

[Lamptramp]

No objection here that man!

 

[KyanMehwulfe]

Great read. Damn I love that mission, even unmodded. Last time I played it on PS3, I actually had been on a pretty amazing run... had a few of my starters die but most of my guys that began to get significant promotions under their belt had all survived. And since that fight, it's been the same.... but that fight... we were so close to the evac, too, thought for a moment we were all going to make it, too. But somehow... fucking chryssalids... poor Garrote... I press F every time I pass by the barracks, man, we won't forget...

These Long War reports are good stuff. But especially Newfoundland.

 

[Incendiary]

Good job on a successful mission all around team! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go pass out over here...

Regarding classified documents:

Spoiler

Consolidated reports sounds good to me - we don't need full write-ups for every routine mission. That's a lot of work.

 

[Baalzebup]

///CLASSIFIED TOP SECRET: ATTACHED///

Spoiler

As my desire to play Long War is rapidly outpacing my desire to write up milk run missions, I might begin consolidating multiple missions where nothing exciting happens into smaller reports, pending no objections. This might result in a little less screentime however.

Spoiler

'tis your show, Jintor. Do it like you want to. I think we've seen a decent number of milk-runs and the goods stuff is usually when something dramatic happens anyway.

 

[McNum]

///CLASSIFIED TOP SECRET: ATTACHED///

Spoiler

As my desire to play Long War is rapidly outpacing my desire to write up milk run missions, I might begin consolidating multiple missions where nothing exciting happens into smaller reports, pending no objections. This might result in a little less screentime however.

Spoiler

Take it from someone who LP'd the original. YES. DO THIS. Save the blow by blow battle reports for big things, otherwise, just a highlight reel. You know, when someone does something awesome, someone dies, a new alien is introduced, and of course plot critical missions like first capture, base attacks, EXALT showing up and such.

 

[Poodlestrike]

Spoiler

Yeah, I'd be 100% okay with more "condensed" updates, especially if we get more of them . Got an idea:

Command, me and some of the guys have started talking, and we've come to an agreement: the requirements for mission reports are completely ridiculous! Half of these are just milk runs, do we really need to fill out 250 separate forms? Half of them turn out the same way regardless, and the piles of paperwork on some of the desks has gotten so out of control, we think it might be a new ET.

Consider this a formal request to simplify the process.

Before the paperwork starts fighting back.

 

[Fragamemnon]

///CLASSIFIED TOP SECRET: ATTACHED///

Spoiler

As my desire to play Long War is rapidly outpacing my desire to write up milk run missions, I might begin consolidating multiple missions where nothing exciting happens into smaller reports, pending no objections. This might result in a little less screentime however.

You will need to do this. I've actually been recommending to people here and there to do LPs with Dynamic War now that it is fixed to give them a reasonable chance of seeing an LP all the way through. The grind is real.

 

[Jintor]

CLASSIFIED TOP SECRET
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PRESENTATION – APRIL 21 – APRIL 30 [2016]

April 24
F.O. GoodCoffeeJoey shoots down UFO-08, a small scout, over the state of Wisconsin (USA). Strike Team Omega is dispatched, successfully securing the crash site with no casualties. [OPERATION 017 BRUTAL HAWK]

Project Looking Glass concludes primary research, but manufacture of materials is deemed too resource intensive at this time.

April 28
CPL Sober and CPL Coolasj19 of Alpha, and CPL Hazaro of Bravo are assigned officer ranking of LT.

April 29
F.Lt. PBAlfredo shoots down UFO-09, a small scout, over the state of Nevada (USA). Strike Team Omega is dispatched, successfully securing the crash site with no casualties. [OPERATION 018 DYING SLEEP]

April 30
F.Lt. Hekk05 shoots down UFO-10, a small scout, over the coast of California (USA). Contact Team Bravo is dispatched, successfully securing the crash site with no casualties. [OPERATION 019 HOT DIRGE]

NB: UFO-10 was detected flying NOE and was projected to land; however, as target began to approach the West Coast (flying in from the Atlantic), executive decision was made to attempt interception rather than let UFO-10 escape over the Pacific. Contact Team Bravo was prepped for a Landing, and was therefore dispatched to maintain combat readiness.

Monthly Council Report Transmission received.

 

[Jintor]

VITAL STATISTICS

OPERATION 017 BRUTAL HAWK
STRIKE TEAM OMEGA: Poodlestrike, Danj, Deraldin, Lamptramp, Doczu, Erheller, LostEcho
PROMOTIONS: --> LCLP | Lamptramp, Doczu, Deraldin | --> SPEC | LostEcho
KILLS/MISSION:

Poodlestrike: 6 | 4 (+2)
Doczu: 5 | 3 (+1)
Deraldin: 5 | 3 (-)
Danj: 4 | 4 (+2)
Erheller: 4 | 2 (+2)
Lamptramp: 1 | 3 (-)
LostEcho: 1 | 2 (+1)

Doczu, Erheller and Lamptramp assigned to ALPHA.

---

OPERATION 018 DYING SLEEP
STRIKE TEAM OMEGA: Screaming Meat, Raphael, Galactic Fork, Decoyplatypus, Xeteh, Sober, Adnor
PROMOTIONS: --> LCPL | Screaming Meat | --> SPEC | Galactic Fork, Xeteh
KILLS/MISSIONS:

Decoyplatypus: 10 | 6 (+3)
Raphael: 8 | 4 (+1)
Sober: 7 | 6 (+1)
Screaming Meat: 3 | 3 (-)
Adnor: 3 | 2 (+1)
Xeteh: 1 | 2 (+1)
Galactic Fork: 0 | 1 (-)

Adnor assigned to BRAVO.

---

OPERATION 019 HOT DIRGE
CONTACT TEAM BRAVO: Danj, Chasing Comets, Aztechnology, Bassforever, Tangaroo, Lollipop Dave,
PROMOTIONS: --> CPL | “Garotte” Aztechnology | --> LCPL | Bassforever, Lollipop Dave
KILLS/MISSIONS:

Tangaroo: 15 | 6 (+1)
Hazaro: 13 | 6 (+1)
Aztechnology: 10 | 5 (+4)
Chasing Comets: 8 | 4 (-)
Danj: 6 | 5 (+2)
Bassforever: 4 | 3 (+1)
Lollipop Dave: 3 | 3 (+2)

Bassforever and Lollipop Dave assigned to BRAVO.

 

[Jintor]

CLASSIFIED TOP SECRET
//ENGAGEMENT REPORT 0011 – UFO_0011//
1 May 2016

Radar: Contact! …fuck, it’s huge!
Central: Fantastic… First of May and they’re already fucking us. Get the Director down here now.

Radar: UFO-11 is decelerating rapidly… suborbital…
DirOps: What’s the situation?
Central: Beagle’s in the air… ETA 10 minutes.

<--timestamp advance +9 minutes-->

Beagle: [unintelligible Australian yelling]
Central: Telemetry incoming&#8230; processing now!

Central: Pull out, Raven-4, we&#8217;ve got what we needed.
Beagle: [unintelligible Australian acknowledgement]
Radar: Looks like it&#8217;s inbound&#8230; route trajectory puts it over Denver in about 20 minutes.
Central: Hmmm&#8230; profile matches the previous Landed Large&#8230;
DirOps: Abductor-class?
Central: Right&#8230; analysis gives us 80/20 on either landing or seeding abductor pods.
DirOps: Okay. Now we wait&#8230;

 

[Baalzebup]

That is just fan-fucking-tastic. What's the scuzzlebut on those lasers, command? Seeing as we just had a payday, can we expect a more wide deployment of that weapons tech on the field?

Feels like we're going to need the extra firepower, pronto.

 

[Jintor]

Central: No landing, but at least we can predict their movements somewhat.
DirOps: Send a bottle of champagne down to Analysis and get Omega in the air as soon as you can. McNum, you’re in charge on this op.
Central: Should be by the numbers, sir.
DirOps: I hope so.

 

[NightmareTrigger]

Good luck soldiers.

 

[Jintor]

OPERATION 020 GLASS CROWN
STRIKE TEAM OMEGA: Poodlestrike, Moonlight, Clevinger, Coolasj19, DivineRage002, Mupod, Verbatimo
MEDICAL: No injuries or casualties sustained.
PROMOTIONS: CPL | &#8220;Bull&#8221; Poodlestrike, &#8220;Werewolf&#8221; Clevinger | LCPL | Mupod, Verbatimo
KILLS/MISSIONS:

Coolasj19: 14 | 6 (-)
Clevinger: 11 | 5 (+1)
Moonlight: 11 | 4 (+2)
Poodlestrike: 8 | 5 (+2)
Verbatimo: 5 | 3 (+2)
Mupod: 4 | 3 (-)
DivineRage002: 4 | 2 (+2)

Verbatimo assigned to ALPHA
DivineRage002 assigned to BRAVO

 

[Poodlestrike]

Finally putting some numbers on the scoreboard. Feels good.

Command, any word on that laser shotgun?

 

[Jintor]

Central: Omega is wheels up-
Radar: New contact! Another big one!

Central: Shit!
Radar: Identical profile pattern&#8230;
Central: Get Beagle out there right now! Someone go wake up the Director!

<--timestamp advance +15 minutes-->

Central: Telemetry received&#8230; identical. We&#8217;ve got another one!
DirOps: Is it the same craft?
Central: At the least it&#8217;s the same type&#8230;

Radar: UFO-12 deceleration is inconsistent with UFO-11, sir.
Central: It&#8217;s bypassing Denver.
Radar: Projected landing point is&#8230; here. Oregon.
DirOps: ETA?
Central: Processing&#8230; 15-20 minutes at current speed.

Central: Sir, BELIEVE-1 has landed, Omega is unloading now.
DirOps: Lt. Sober is out on fatigue time, right?
Central: Yes.
DirOps: Well, get him off fatigue time and onto BELIEVE-1 right now. He can have a week off later&#8230; get the rest of Alpha loaded. Are those damn laser prototypes up and running yet?
Central: They&#8217;re days out from field readiness.
DirOps: Damn. Well, we&#8217;ll just have to hope we&#8217;re even better at this the second time around.
Central: Look on the bright side, sir. We&#8217;re about to steal the xeno&#8217;s lunch money.
DirOps: As long as nobody buys the farm.

 

[Grexeno]

It's quiet out there. Too quiet.

 

[hooijdonk17]

I don't mind, I just successfully delivered a tactical nuclear warhead.

 

[Poodlestrike]

Quiet is good. Quiet means I'm not gonna have to worry about picking somebody's teeth out of my armor after a mission.

 

[Baalzebup]

...

Spoiler

Damn, and here I was hoping we got some more updates. And curse penny arcade forums. I was somewhere near the end of the 4th thread of Director Fishmans X-COM LP and now they seem to be nuked. I even spotted a certain Specialist Jintor operating the Hyperwave decoder

 

[Jintor]

CLASSIFIED TOP SECRET
//INCIDENT REPORT_0021//
OPERATION SHATTERED DIRGE
<<UFO-12 LANDING SITE &#8211; MT HOOD NATIONAL FOREST, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA>>
1 May 2016

CONTACT TEAM ALPHA
LT Sober (Gunner)
CPL Decoyplatypus (Assault)
LCPL Lamptramp (Medic)
LCPL Baalzebup (Infantry)
LCPL Doczu (Sniper)
LCPL Bassforever (Rocketeer)
SPEC Palehorse (Scout)

--- Audio Transcript Excerpt &#8211; CONTACT TEAM ALPHA ---

Palehorse: What the hell is with these guys and forests, anyway?
Doczu: Search me.
Decoyplatypus: And what the hell&#8217;s with BigSky putting us down here every time?

Baalzebup: Give him a break, it&#8217;s the only LZ he knows.
Sober: Alright, Alpha, listen up. You&#8217;ve all seen the recordings &#8211; you&#8217;ve studied the layouts. We can probably expect some &#8216;lids, probably a crew of floaters, definitely multiple outsiders somewhere on the ship.
Lamptramp: Entry point?
Sober: We&#8217;ll try the roof again &#8211; telemetry says it&#8217;s exactly the same make.
Palehorse: I don&#8217;t really like the lack of cover up there&#8230;
Decoyplatypus: Neither, but it&#8217;s the best option &#8211; it&#8217;s got some cover here and there, you can pick off the floaters pretty easily, and you can manoeuvre pretty easily to either side if need be.
Sober: Right. Saddle up, team.

 

[Grexeno]

Spoiler

Hey Jintor, it doesn't look like Minus images are working anymore.

 

[Jintor]

Spoiler

Some kind of temporary error hopefully - they still show up on mobile, so I'm not sure what's going on there.

...maybe I'll have to buy my own space at some point... ugh

 

[Jintor]

Spoiler

minus still broken as fuck with no response from support. Going to slowly move all images to imgur probably unless anyone can think of a better host. can't afford own server atm.

 

[McNum]

Spoiler

minus still broken as fuck with no response from support. Going to slowly move all images to imgur probably unless anyone can think of a better host. can't afford own server atm.

Spoiler

Well, can't say much about min.us since I haven't used them, but I used Imgur for the Sims 4 OT and those are still up. Just checked. So, I suppose I can recommend those. I used Dropbox for my original X-Com images, those are still there if I remember right, but a free account there does have some limits on bandwidth, which made it a no-go for that Sims 4 OT.

 

[Sciz]

Spoiler

Picking through my own post history, I've got stuff on imgur and abload.de that's still up four years later, without ever having any sort of account.