Greetings! In an attempt to reconnect with the community here, I'm attempting a blog series that I hope will be more than a one hit wonder. I'll be playing through XCOM: Enemy Unknown and using GIO members as names for my soldiers and writing stories based on their missions. I am always seeking for new participants for my series and it works best with involvement from the community.
I play on Normal difficulty on Ironman. I also have some various second wave options selected (I think at least Not Created Equally, don't remember what else). I do my best to keep all soldiers alive, so please do not think that your death is on purpose if it were to occur. So without further ado, Here is The XCOM Report.
“Yes, councilor. We’re on it.” The communication shut off and the commander walked briskly out of the mission control room and called Saint and Noobtubin8r to the briefing room.
“Alright boys. We have a special request from the council. We’re dropping in South Africa to extract a VIP. Xrays confirmed. We need to leave now. You’ll be taking Cerpintaxman and leading Rookie Whovian on his first mission. We’re dusting off in eight minutes. Go gear up.”
The soldiers saluted and quickly left to gather their gear. Eight minutes later they were in the skyranger headed west. Saint stood near the door anticipating the next mission. He had been on two missions already and still hadn’t killed a single alien. He wasn’t a guts and glory soldier; he had seen far too much action for that. Even though he was classified a rookie by XCOM, he came from an elite squad in Northwestern Europe. All XCOM soldiers were seasoned. He wasn’t looking for glory, he simply had the nagging feeling that he wasn’t as useful as he could have been on the past two missions. He wanted to pull his weight.
OPERATION: HIDDEN DIRGE; 1400 hours
The flight was short. 40 minutes after takeoff they were touching down on an abandoned highway leading out of Port Elizabeth. The soldiers piled out of the skyranger, with Saint taking up the rear. Once the craft was airborne again, he heard control state they were free to engage the enemy and the soldiers began their search. Though it was early afternoon, the sky was blackened from smoke and dust. Cars were scattered everywhere, with many still burning. They were close.
The soldiers ducked from car to car. “I’ve got a survivor!” Cerpintaxman exclaimed into the com. The man was hunched behind an overturned bus, shaking. Rushing over, he ducked behind the bus and began speaking to him. The other soldiers took up overwatch positions surrounding the area.
Noobtubin8r looked over at Whovian. “I don’t think you’ve said a single word since we took off,” he stated.
Whovian returned his gaze. “I’m with a bunch of old men,” he replied. “What am I supposed to talk about? I don’t know anything about Bengay.” Noobtubin8r erupted in fits of quiet laughter while Saint rolled his eyes. Cerpintaxman stood up and rejoined his squad.
“The VIP is further ahead. This guy will be fine. Let’s move.” The squad continued their forward motion. Saint looked over and spotted something.
“We have another survivor. I’ll go make sure he’s safe.” He began moving towards the man, but they looked…odd. Stretched out. “Wait a second, this doesn’t look-” he began when the man suddenly straightened up and hissed. Before Saint could react, it spat a glob of…something at him and a cloud of gas enveloped him. Saint began coughing and returned fire, but the gas obscured his vision and he shot wide. The man began to sprint for cover, but Whovian fired a burst and it exploded in a giant gas cloud which hung in the air.
“You okay?” Noobtubin8r spoke into the com.
“I think this is poison. I feel like hell,” Saint replied. “I can still move though. I think I’ll be fine.” He clutched his stomach, and moved forward to more cover. The soldiers continued to advance, and some more of the original Sectoid aliens began firing from behind a broken up section of highway. Saint took a blast full on the chest, sprawling him backwards. Cerpintaxman panicked, firing wildly and shrinking behind a car, but wasn’t quick enough. He took a blast on his thigh. Screaming, he hunkered behind the car. Noobtubin8r returned fire, killing one of the Sectoids.
Whovian began laying down some cover fire, and Noobtubin8r began moving toward Saint to help drag him back into cover. Saint crawled slowly toward a highway blockade in front of him, cursing under his breath. The Xray returned fire, causing Noobtubin8r to once again duck to avoid the plasma. “Saint! Come on man you can make it!” Noobtubin8r called. He poked his head around the car he was using for cover and took a shot. The bullets flew true, connecting with the Sectoid, killing it and causing the plasma fire to cease. He ran forward and crouched next to Saint, who looked hazily back up at him.
“This poison sucks balls,” Saint muttered.
“You’ll be fine, you old fogey,” Noobtubin8r returned. But he was already gone. Saint lay dead, and Noobtubin8r hung his head.
“Get out here!” Whovian’s voice came over the com. “More contacts!” Noobtubin8r grabbed Saint’s dog tags and peeked around his cover. Whovian and Cerpintaxman were in a firefight with a Sectoid. Noobtubin8r jumped his cover and rushed forward, firing toward the alien. The Xray turned to fire on the oncoming soldier, but Cerpintaxman took advantage of the distraction and shot, killing the Sectoid. Noobtubin8r ducked behind another car for cover and took an overwatch stance while Whovian crept forward.
Whovian spied someone crouching beside the barrier on the side of the highway. He moved forward and spoke to him, while the other two squadmates continued to watch over the area. Whovian stood up. “This is him,” he spoke to his squad. “Let’s bring him home.”
As they began to move out, control spoke over the com. “You have incoming hostiles. Keep your heads up.” The soldiers began looking around, grabbed the VIP and double timed it to the extraction point. Suddenly one of those Thin Men dropped from the sky and crouched near Saint’s body. Whovian aimed down his sights and painted the ground green with its blood. They continued to move forward and Noobtubin8r stopped by his fallen teammate.
“Noob, come on,” said Cerpintaxman. Noobtubin8r shook his head and stooped, picking up Saint’s body. “No, leave him. He’s just going to slow you down!” Noobtubin8r shook his head again and began walking toward the extraction point. Cerpintaxman sighed, frustrated. “If you die I’m shooting your corpse,” he muttered.
They ran into another Thin Man on the way to the extraction point, but he proved little trouble. The second he dropped from the air Cerpintaxman shot it through the chest, killing it. No other resistance was met, and Noobtubin8r kept steadfastly marching toward the extraction point carrying his comrade. As the skyranger touched down, he carefully laid Saint’s body against the bulkhead before strapping himself in. Pounding on the ceiling, the skyranger lifted in the air carrying the somber soldiers home.
“I SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE!” Yelled Jolt, upending a table and scattering folders everywhere. “That’s my job! I could have saved him!” Jolt pounded his fist against a wall. The commander stared, unflinching, at the raging soldier.
“Are you done?” He snapped, bringing Jolt back to the present. Jolt turned his head and stared, questioningly. “I made calls and I do not apologize for them. You forget your place soldier. I will not be questioned, least of all by one of my men. I am acutely aware of every death, Jolt. You need not remind me. And please do not think to question my knowledge of the gravity of the situation.”
Jolt stared, not knowing what to do. The commander tossed two pins to Jolt, who caught them. “Alert the men of their promotions. Noobtubin8r will serve as another sniper for the team. Whovian will serve a heavy. You are dismissed.” Jolt came back to attention, saluted, then began to walk out of the room. Stopping after a few steps, he turned around and walked back to the commander. Without speaking, he bent over and placed the table upright. He then saluted once more and left. The commander sighed, rubbing his eyes, and sat down. He had reports to write.
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So once again, if you would like to participate, please let me know! It will be quite boring without many participants as I'll have to default to stock characters. Also follow me on twitter at @Joyfulpenguin where I will live tweet a watered down version of the missions. Here's to many more episodes.