[crizza]

I will reiterate: I cannot promise you a MEC.

There are two cognizant reasons for this. The first is that I'm doing really crappy at recovering Meld. The second is that not every class makes a good MEC.

My bad, sorry^^

[TrashMan]

Can you list the current roster together with their respective classes?

[NGTM-1R]

I'm actually at a mission right at this moment so I can't. Later, however.

[deathfun]

I'm going to mandate armor decos for now, simply as a class distingusher, and if you're a rookie you get the standard armor, but otherwise go crazy there.

Sounds good

Looking forward to seeing the medic run around in bright pink!

[SpardaSon21]

I'm going to mandate armor decos for now, simply as a class distingusher, and if you're a rookie you get the standard armor, but otherwise go crazy there.

Sounds good

Looking forward to seeing the medic run around in bright pink!

It's not pink.  It's light red!

[StarSlayer]

I will reiterate: I cannot promise you a MEC.

There are two cognizant reasons for this. The first is that I'm doing really crappy at recovering Meld. The second is that not every class makes a good MEC.

It will be a bit before I can do a play through myself but I think for narrative purposes I'll only opt to 'augment' troopers after they receive grievous injuries in the field.  The idea of salvaging ruined operatives Adam Jensen style seems more palatable to me then chopping up a perfectly good body.

[NGTM-1R]

_{Anyone else who wants a customized look, please speak up. Also, I should point out that if you'd like to speak a different language, just to confuse me, your options are currently English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Russian, and Spanish.}

Commander, we have a mission for you. A Council facility in Durban has gone off the air. One of our best researchers, Doctor Hongou Marazuki, was there doing work on UFO trajectories to attempt to establish point of origin. This implies a security leak of some sort. Go to Durban. Recover Doctor Marazuki. Establish how information leaked if possible.

Strike One, saddle up! I'll want OpEval reports on the new S.C.O.P.E. gear after the mission, but if it's causing problems don't hesitate to discard them. Your mission is to secure and extract a VIP, Doctor Hongou Marazuki, and any possible data from the mission site. Opposition is expected.

They gave us the S.C.O.P.E. before we deployed. An enhanced...scope, really, using alien tech to be smaller and lighter than what we have, yet more full-featured. Testing on the range has gotten us comfortable with the device and we do think it will help, but only combat can truly prove it. At the same time, Micheal is still in recovery. Brave of him to be the first volunteer, but we could have used him. Or his cybersuit.

Ralwood took my place on the Skyranger in a last-minute substitution. I find it hard to believe Ral would go out again the same day as the release from sickbay from his last mission. Either exceptional bravery or a grudge nursed well enough to be nearly Russian.

Operation Defiant Star, 3:10pm, Durban, South Africa
Deployed: The E (assault, mission commander), StarSlayer (sniper), deathfun (support), Admiral Ralwood

"Doc, stay close to Ralwood. Ralwood, StarSlayer, you take care of him. Deathfun, we'll sweep and clear. ET is out there according to Sky, who has movement."


"Contact! Looks kinda human, should check. Got no shot, Ral, can you get him?"


"On it!"

"Target down!"

"Did your life flash before your eyes there, Ral?"

"No. Definitely not human. Contact!"


"Contact! Jesus, Ral get down!"




"Strike One, Sky, hostiles entering the area."


"Dropped into the wrong neighborhood, my friend. Target down!"


"Moving up, firing...Target down!"


"Dammit, missed him."


"Ral-****!"


"I'm all right! Bastards really have a hate-on for me. Star, got no shot, do you?"

"Firing-miss, dammit."


"He moved. I'll get him."


"Damn Ral, you have a grudge or something?"

"I've been shot, stabbed, and burned by these things, damn right I have a grudge!"

"Recovering the data the commander asked for."


"Contact!"


"Enemy down."


"Nice shot E."

"Strike One, Sky, X-rays inbound."


"Not anymore. Sky, we need you on the ground, approaching LZ."


"Copy. Sky is waiting for pickup."


"Okay, deathfun, got the data?"

"Confirm."

"Then let's get out of here."


A solid mission. Ralwood continues to intercept a great deal of plasma, but it can be said revenge was had this time. The SCOPE gear performed well, overall, though StarSlayer turned in a negative report about the enhanced accuracy after missing two shots, the others gave it good reviews. Examination of StarSlayer's weapon revealed a barrel improperly mated to the receiver; engineering's mistake. The SCOPE is due for general service now it seems.

^{Deathfun is now fabulous}

[NGTM-1R]

The hell of it all was that when I woke up, I didn't feel different. It took me a few seconds to realize my left arm wasn't there. My right felt perfectly normal. So did my legs.

They weren't normal at all, of course. Walking...walking was oddly easy, despite the new knees. Damn fools stuck my left arm on after I was awake and on my feet. I'm pretty sure that was a risk somehow, but they did it. It just slid right in, no problem, secured, and it worked instantly. I guess I no longer have to worry about breaking an arm or a leg. They replace real easily.



The Mechanized Exoskeletal Cybersuit, as they're calling it now, was just across the room, undergoing final touches. It's...you can see exactly where I'd...slot in. IronBeer was there to see whether his babies were doing well. I really should have felt considerably more weird about this than I actually did. They were just getting to attaching the arms to the MEC. Flamethrower or the rocket punch.


Heh. Rocket punch.

Think I'll go with that.

<sup>Basic augmentations for a MEC soldier


Kinetic Strike Module Demo


MEC suited up and ready for action; I had to select the helmet, mind.</sup>


At IronBeer's insistence, I'm slated for immediate deployment to test the suit in combat. I might have wanted to get used to the MEC a bit first. He's insisted on designating it MEC-I Warden, but I'll be really if pleasantly surprised if something better than this comes along. This is already amazing.


<sub>Storyline:
Micheal Sanderson, MEC Trooper, Squaddie
Irina Ignatyeva, Heavy, Squaddie

Active Soldier Roster:
The E, Assault, Squaddie
Deathfun, Support, Squaddie (and fabulous)
StarSlayer, Sniper, Squaddie
Trashman, Sniper, Squaddie
Enioch, Assault, Squaddie
Admiral Ralwood, Assault, Squaddie (in sickbay, seven days)

Pilots:
Scotty, Interceptor One
Phantoom Hoover, Interceptor Two

Support Staff:
IronBeer (MEC Project Lead)

In the queue:
EuclidanGeometry
Rodo
MP-Ryan
Polpolion
Patriot
Scotty
SpardaSon21
Scourge of Ages
The Force
Swashmebuckle
BLARGHER</sub>

[Scourge of Ages]

Actually, on second thought, I'll take a support role as well. Technician guy what gets to build stuff?

[CommanderDJ]

I'd like my soldier to speak Polish. That'd be cool.

Also, I seem to have been missed in the queue, even though I got first reply to the OP.

[NGTM-1R]

I'd like my soldier to speak Polish. That'd be cool.

Also, I seem to have been missed in the queue, even though I got first reply to the OP.

I have no excuse, sir. Consider yourself at the top of the list.

[IronBeer]

Professional log: Dr. Vincent "IronBeer" Zokus
March 29, 2015 - Entry #3
_____________________________________________________________

It all seems so surreal even now. These last few months have been such a whirlwind. First finding out that UFOs ARE real, to being inducted into the shadow world of HLPX-COM, and now working with the greatest scientists of our time. For the past four years, I was under the assumption that the work at CyberLife and its contemporaries was bleeding-edge. I wasn't wrong, but it turns out there's something even more advanced than "bleeding-edge", and now I'm in the thick of it. I can't say I'm 100% comfortable with the augmentation scheme that's been devised, but so long as all the candidates volunteer on their own and I'm up-front with what the procedure entails, I suppose my conscience can rest easy.

Michael Sanderson was the first to volunteer. The Commander told me to be serious when detailing the procedure, but also to not be too grim- I may have come off a little snarky, but apparently the military types appreciate some wit and dark humor. Whatever helps them cope, I suppose. It's funny- I'm apparently the in-house "expert" on cybernetics, but I myself would be a little uneasy with willingly giving up a limb. Or four. And then some. Amputation of both arms; amputation of both legs; major restructuring of pelvic muscles and bone; major restructuring of pectoral girdle/shoulder structures; tons of implants. It seems like lunacy, but yet, when I look up from my computer screen and see Michael walking around, using his personal tablet, just generally LIVING with quadruple cybernetic limbs, the gravity of what we've accomplished here strikes home. Of course, Drs. Shen and Vahlen had access to the systems I helped develop at CyberLife - off-the-shelf Series 4 nerve relays are the best we could get on short notice - but the one thing nobody in the "normal" world could ever have foreseen is Meld.

Meld. The name really says it all, and yet there's so much it misses. I suppose first off, on the technical level, is just how we're handling MEC augments. We did it directly. I know how insane that must sound to any other cyberneticist, but there it is. There's no other way to really describe it- the Meld just "knew" somehow what we were trying to do, and formed an inorganic electrical interface with the nerve endings. A bit more Meld around the limb stumps, and we have perfectly biocompatible sockets for the "daily" limbs, and the control trunks for the armor suit.

The MEC suit itself is a major point of pride for Dr. Shen and his team- I won't lie, it is an impressive machine, especially as it's effectively the first working version of a full-body prosthesis. At first I was somewhat opposed to the digitigrade feet due to concerns about potential adaptation difficulty, but Michael tells me it's no trouble at all. I've since changed my tune- it's almost elegant how the thousand-kilo machine can lope about. Also, though not elegant in the least, watching Michael demolish practice walls and dummies with the rocketfist module is endlessly entertaining.

Back to Meld. It's funny- various think tanks and universities have long speculated that nanomachinery would be used for augmentation, but I don't think anybody thought it would happen so soon. Using Meld as a ...liaison of sorts for bulk cybernetics is all fine and good, and has some real potential to help people if when we win this war, but what I can't stop thinking about is the other use that Dr. Vahlen has theorized about- genetic manipulation. We haven't actually done any real work on it, but the blue-sky theorizing suggests a very real method of inserting xenogenic DNA strands to grant subjects some alien-derived abilities. Naturally, nobody's really comfortable with the idea, but what surprises me is that we don't have any potential Earth-derived DNA that could be integrated. When Dr. Vahlen gets a spare second, I'll have to grill her over that question, but I may want to brush up on my biochemistry first...

Actually, the more I think about it, the less "right" it seems for me to be so dramatically altering our soldiers (even if it is by their choice) when I have no real idea of what they're going through. Pending the Commander's approval, I will give up my left arm and have the stump modified to the same standards as our MEC troopers. I'll also see if I can get Dr. Shen or one of his engineers to build a custom lightweight replacement- nothing wrong with the MEC cybernetics, but adding an unbalanced 20 pounds can't be smart. It feels so wierd to be actually writing this, but my mind is indeed now made up.

Addendum: Yes on both- I'll be going under the knife tomorrow at 0900, and the engineers already have a ready-to-go "replacement" limb line. HLPX-COM doesn't **** around. I figured my request would take longer to go through- this is happening so fast I'm not even nervous yet.

Addendum 2: WELL I DIDN'T WANT TO SLEEP ANYWAYS. I'm off to medbay eight hours early. It'll be a few days before I can update. Guess I'd better wish myself luck, and for a good surgery....

[TrashMan]

I'm a sniper?
Oh well....begars can't be choosers.

[NGTM-1R]

_{March 28th to March 30th would be a decent date. Glad to have you onboard with the self-inflicted writing projects.}

Operation Spectral Fall, Beijing, China, 11:00pm, March 31st)
Deployed: Micheal Sanderson (MEC, mission commander), StarSlayer (sniper), Deathfun (support), CommanderDJ

"Let me get this straight, on my first deployment I'm with a guy in a giant robot and somebody in fabulous pink armor."


"You knew there would be days like this when you signed up, DJ. I hear they recommended cyanide for them. This is probably the standard alien abduction attempt, so we're going to do the standard smash them all to pieces. DJ and StarSlayer, you're fire buddies. Deathfun, you're weird enough to be with me. We'll see whether the aliens prioritize bright colors or loud noises for fire."

"You're actually a lot quieter than I would have-CONTACT! X-ray down!"



"Second set! Third set!"



"You're bad luck, rookie."

"The hell I am, why are you standing in the open?"

"You see anything here that'll hide a a MEC? No? Didn't think so. Star, go wide and clear that flanking high ground to the left."

"Scratch one. Ironbeer will be happy to know it all works."


"Fourth set! God, maybe I am bad luck."


"Don't know, that one you just shot seems pretty dead to me."

"Son of a *****, pistol wasn't gutsy enough to take that one down. Watch your left flank!"


"Got another one. They haven't even returned fire yet. Could there be a reason boss?"


"Yeah, we're kicking their ass."

"Scratch two. Crap, ammo box depleted. This thing uses it up fast."


"...how the hell did he miss me?"


"Don't knock it, man."

"CQC time. Let's see if this thing works the way Ironbeer said it would."


"...holy ****, you just punched him so hard he flew ten feet and through a goddamn wall."


"And doesn't it feel good!"

"Enemy killed."



"You okay?"


"Minor armor damage, good to go. More facepunching time."

"This guy just didn't fly as well. Wall actually stopped him."

"Figures. I don't get more than one chance to fire."

"Knock it off, Star. You chased two of them into the rocket punch. Besides...we just pulled off our first perfect mission."

"He's right."


The MEC...it's hard to describe it. I took a plasma burst to the chest, right? I didn't feel a thing. Suit didn't even rock. The high-temperature ceramics in the chestplate vaporized, there's a crater about the size of a fist in the chestplate, but there was still at least that thickness of armor left. It took thirty seconds to replace with a new one at base, too. Performance wasn't noticeably affected. The real test will be a limb hit, but I have lot more confidence in the suit right now. Supposedly one of the GSG-9 guys in Hamburg bought it trying to CQC a Sectoid because of their hands-free guns. For the Warden, it was simple. Granted Doc Vahlen was less than thrilled about the condition of the bodies, as apparently the only unbroken bones were in the legs and I even managed to break the eardrums with those hits.

The aliens clearly prioritized me as a target, I was the only one they fired at even though they had a good flank shot at DJ a couple times. Given the size of the suit and its positioning it's impossible to say if they realized the threat level or were simply going for the most obvious and nearest target. I'm okay with having a fire magnet on my forehead since I can take it a lot better than the others, but it could have been an issue if they'd gotten off more rounds.

Maybe a little too much confidence in the suit. I'm reminded of a quote: "I have fought as a god fights, you will not frighten me little man." Have to remember I'm not invincible, just very hard to kill. Need to bring up these issues with IronBeer; possibilities of addiction, maybe even psychosis. We didn't think about the psych issues of making someone Superman with a chaingun.

[StarSlayer]

Oh the painful early grind of a Designated Marksman.  Well so long as I survive once they start leveling up the DMs really start rocking.

Customization:
4/5/1/2/14/12

Armor Scheme works for me.

[deathfun]

Well done NGTM with that narrative. Gave me a solid laugh

I like being fabulous

[Phantom Hoover]

Uh... are there actually any augmentations available for pilots in Enemy Within?

[NGTM-1R]

Uh... are there actually any augmentations available for pilots in Enemy Within?

Technically, no.

Narratively, I can say whatever **** I want.

[Phantom Hoover]

wooooooo

[Gortef]

Damnit I missed the start just because of one slumber day.
Put me onto the queue list too, please. No real class preference, but on the last one I was a sniper so might aswell do that again if needed.

And good going so far lads.