[NGTM-1R]

Green pyramids. Feels like Cydonia. Of course, Cydonia didn't have these. Jack killed it but BloodEagle softened it up.


The_Force took a shot, but missed. Jack killed this Sectoid.


And...ah frak it's the brains with the tentacles again. A number of MC attacks landed but nothing stuck, this time. LordMelvin retaliates for the efforts to **** with people's heads.


Incoming fire has the right of way. Tasoths missed the tank and LordMelvin. BlueFlames and MP-Ryan get shown up by still fairly junior The E after they both miss the Tasoth that shot at LordMelvin. On the other front, The_Force gets a kill after BloodEagle spots a Sectoid and a Tasoth standing next to each other. The Tasoth succumbs to the vengeance of Spoon. Nobody shoots at a Tiger Shark and lives.


BloodEagle spotted and killed another Sectoid. We're not getting as much resistance as I expected, though half the damn team just panicked. The rookies actually seem to be handling the MC-spam better than most of the vets, excepting Jack and MP-Ryan. Speaking of which...

Spam that. Courtesy of MP-Ryan.

One of the Tasoth is hiding in there, so LordMelvin threw a grenade into the entrance. The Tasoth is now presumably injured. We know he's flipping out, considering you can hear him screaming, and we've spotted him moving about.


And Spoon hunted down a lone Sectoid and killed it.


The team seems to have pulled themselves together now. We've killed eleven aliens, most of them are probably dead. The injured Tasoth is still panicking, and Spoon found another one.

A couple of shots took care of the problem.

BlueFlames drops the injured Tasoth so it will stop screaming conspiracy theory crap in languages we don't understand. A Sectoid was lurking right next to the deployment area but didn't have a gun so he couldn't do anything.

The E puts him out of his misery.

This guy never panicked, why the crap did he drop his gun? Oh well, easy kill.


One last alien, which Spoon finds and destroys.




This...isn't like Cydonia at all. It honestly looks pretty, well, human.


MP-Ryan killed this one as it came down a lift.


And another for MP-Ryan.


Sectoids and Tasoth, same as the surface. Probably some more of the tentacle monsters, too. MP-Ryan is hogging all the kills, as he gets another Tasoth. So far only deathfun has gotten a kill of anything else.


Really, though, it looks really human.


Oh yeah, floating brain dudes. Spoon, do your thing. Also, the walls in this room are some kind of light-devouring void. What the hell?

(Having an SWS to soak up the tenteculats is kind of nice; I don't usually have a Displacer when this mission happens.)

And...what the crap, where'd he come from?! He's got a stun weapon, so rather than risk reaction fire BlueFlames and deathfun prod it with stun rods until it drops.


The ability to zombify people is insignificant next to the power of The Force a Spoonzer VI.


More Sectoids. This is only the second we've seen on this level, but they weren't thick on the ground up top either.


This guy had the drop on BlueFlames...admittedly only with a stun weapon, but he did. Instead, he flipped out, dropped his gun, and ran towards him. Then away again. Then towards, running in little circles until he ran out of TU.

BlueFlames celebrates his good fortune by...missing an aimed shot. Dammit!

What the christ is THAT?

Whatever it is it just ate a Sonic Cannon shot and didn't act too bothered.

Jack, demonstrating considerably more courage than sanity, went in with a stun rod and prodded the giant jellyfish until it stopped moving.


BlueFlames managed to miss three consecutive aimed shots at the panicking Tasoth, so deathfun had to kill it.

(check out the cool green shot trail; you get those underwater, but not land)

BloodEagle, determined to be even more ballsy and yet dumber than Jack, takes on a tentaclebrain with his stun rod. He won, too.

But then he has to have the tank save him from another one.

And that's it. We've killed them all. We win.

Mother of god, do we win. That's as much as half of our score for last month! (The extra corpses again; this time I didn't carry any. I have no idea what happened.)

We made 6.1mil off selling misc. junk, excess weapons and Aqua Plastics, and alien corpses. On this mission alone.

[pecenipicek]

also, wooo, i'm not dead yet

(even tho XenoWatch had only one mission so far. unless i missed something)

[NGTM-1R]

also, wooo, i'm not dead yet

(even tho XenoWatch had only one mission so far. unless i missed something)

You guys have had one interception. No, wait, two.

You only just got a Triton.

[pecenipicek]

also, wooo, i'm not dead yet

(even tho XenoWatch had only one mission so far. unless i missed something)

You guys have had one interception. No, wait, two.

You only just got a Triton.

considering i havent ever played any X-Com, and my only experience with the gamestyle is from UFO:AI, cut me some slack for not following everything 100%?

[Sandwich]

I'll request that Goober5001 be brought up for active duty.  BUT before you hire him, you have to hire Sandwich -- I don't know who this "Sandwhich" guy was that managed to hijack his spot.  Good riddance he got killed right outside the doorway.  The real Sandwich gives Serious Sam a run for his money.  I recommend making him a sniper armed with a Torpedo Launcher or something similarly devastating.

Personal Log, Sandwich; January 28th, 2040: The night before reporting for duty at my new HLPX-COM assignment, I felt the need to unwind. Alcoholically. Hopping over to a nearby dive, I sat down at the bar and ordered a pint. Soon enough, the evening turned into a blur of conversation... I don't remember much. I figured I must have eventually collapsed and been taken back home by some good Samaritan, because I woke up in my bed.

That night, though... wow. My dreams were bizarre... probably all the suppressed stress from the impending HLPX-COM assignment, allowed to come to the fore by the sleep and alcohol. I dreamed I was in a pitch-black room, strapped to a padded surface by my arms, legs, and chest. I felt the pinch of IV tubes in my arms. I could sense that I was surrounded by machines - something to do with a barely audible whirring (cooling fans?) combined with the way the my breathing echoed back into my ears. I didn't know how I got there or what day it was. The dream felt like it lasted forever. In it, I drifted in and out of consciousness, never knowing if I was "falling asleep" or being put under by something coming through the IV tubes. I never heard or saw anybody else.

Like I said, bizarre.

I woke up in my apartment. Aside from a nasty hangover headache, I felt as good as could be expected. Glancing at the clock, I saw I had about 30 minutes to report in to the HLPX-COM base on the other side of town. I rushed out of the apartment, go-bag in hand, hopped onto the maglev, and was at the enlistment desk with 2 minutes to spare. I handed the duty officer my ID. He swiped it and handed it back to me, and then turned to his monitor. Slowly, a confused, flustered look came over his countenance. He picked up the phone and spoke into it quietly but very intently, glancing at me occasionally. Suddenly, strong hands grabbed my arms, and a voice spoke from behind me, "Son, come with us quietly please."

That's when I found out that it hadn't been a dream.

The rest you know. The investigation, the slowly unraveling puzzle of what had happened that night, the 'roid lookalike that had replaced me so perfectly that nobody had noticed, and where I had been for the past 2 weeks. I was told of the outcome of that first mission, told that the bizarre kidnapping might have just saved my life... it's weird. I feel like I've been cheated out of a game of Russian roulette. Sort of a mixture of "how dare they!?" and "Well, 'puddle of gore' isn't really my favorite look anyway." Sure, being replaced probably saved my life, but I swear if I ever find out who was behind drugging me at the bar that night, I'll wring his worthless neck.

The doctors tell me I'm fine, that nothing's been removed (or added) as far as they can tell. I've passed the rigorous gamut of physical and mental tests they put me through and been cleared for immediate return to duty. I guess thinking that a horrible experience was a dream has it's advantages.

So now here I am. In a personnel "holding pattern" at base, waiting for the call to be transported out to whichever underwater HLP-XCOM base I'm to be assigned to. I've been trying to keep up with the progress of the war, both through the public news channels and the base intel reports. I fill the rest of my time in keeping up with my training, especially on the newer weapons being developed by the science division from recovered alien tech. Some fascinating stuff, that.

I hope to have a chance to use it someday.

[Spoon]

I am Soooo digging this new SpzKpfw

[TrashMan]

I can't belive how little casualites you are having. Aliens panicking left adn right, droping their guns and missing 99% of all shots.
you are blessec wiht some uber luck.

[IronBeer]

you are blessec wiht some uber luck.

However, you and I (among a few others) were not.

[Scotty]

Just gonna throw this out there, the next tank should be the SpzKpfw VII "Sea Lion".

[Sandwich]

I propose that everyone currently involved in the game write their own personal logs in between missions, to spice things up a bit.

[Scourge of Ages]

Dear log,

This cloning vat is BORING to wait in. And being all naked? What's up with that. Couldn't they clones us with some pants on? I'm gettin' uncomfortable with Trashman over there, with his eyes all lookin' at stuff. I miss shooting aliens. Oh man that was fun.
Doc Fox came by to check our progress the other day, he says it might be a while before we see action. The enemy has been routed at every turn.

Oh no. Don't tell me the Alien Containment is full, again. Oh no not my tube not my tube not my... **** it.
Well so now there's a Gillman here. Probably a Gillman, possibly a Gilllady, if the science reports are accurate. That won't make this any less awkward. I'll just... scoot over to this corner.

I'll just take a nap. Here in my tube.

[z64555]

Whoa whoa whoa, wait, who authorized using the cloning vats as temporary storage for captured aliens? That's just asking for a massive failure, especially when (not if) they find the access panel to the cloning controls!

Excuse me while I go chew some techies out. 

[The E]

Personal Log, Eberhard "The E" Gustaffson

I never expected this. I thought that, after we went all the way to ****ing Mars to blow up everything that threatened our way of life, it was over. Even though it seemed just that tiny bit too easy back then, we were all convinced that the big threat was past, that if anything, cleanup operations were all that was left to do. When I signed the order to disband the original HLP-XCOM, I did so in the firm belief that humanity as a whole was equipped to deal with everything that would come, and that an organization such as ours was no longer necessary.

I do not regret the things we did. If we were fighting humans, our tactics and methods would have been decried as monstrous; our use of horrifying weapons of mass destruction be called excessive by those sitting at home watching the newscasts. As it was, we did what we had to to keep humanity safe, and none of the people under my command would have acted differently. There aren't many of us left, now that a new threat has risen quite literally in our backyard. Thankfully, the Powers That Be have decided to resurrect HLP-XCOM to combat it. For a while, I was contend to stay away from the frontlines; combat is a young man's game, and I no longer am one. I tried to do my bit, training militias and advising governments, but as I watched coastal cities being evacuated, beaches that once were teeming with laughter and love being patrolled by drones and heavily armed men, I could no longer stand back and do cheerleading from the sidelines.

So I reenlisted, as a simple grunt. I am impressed by the skill and courage these new recruits have, they remind me of the old Squad One in many ways. Hell, some of them are the sons and daughters of people I commanded back in the first xeno war. I try my best not to "game the system" to my advantage; if there's one thing these ****ing aliens have taught us, it's that the only thing that counts are results, and the people getting them.

As we sit back in Battutas' Bar (Dude may not have been much of a soldier, but hell if I have ever seen a better run establishment to kick back and relax in), I know that once more, we will prevail. We went to Mars and came back with nary a scratch, we will go to the deepest, darkest places on this planet and root out these ****ers once and for all.

Hell, we may even allow some of them to live on.

[MP-Ryan]

Personal Log, MP-Ryan.

After spending one mission guarding the Triton and drinking margaritas, I've made a very important discovery:  tequila hangovers appear to improve alien-killing performance by a significant margin.  Either that, or my teammates spent last mission drinking their own beverages, because it appears I had to do all the hard work.  Come to think of it, I bet the pansies were probably drinking lemon gin, the better to get their panties removed back at base.  Next time we're clearing froggies and lobster out of a tourist hotspot I'm going to have to order some of the new fodder to sample the beach bar and quit drinking the weak girly stuff.  Either that, or I'm transferring them to Xenowatch next chance I get.

It's a damn good thing Mongoose and I are leading this ****show, though the new bunch of recruits do appear somewhat more promising than the last group of cannonfodder.  I can't believe the one even shot the damned tank.  Here I thought The_E's stories of FF on the tanks were just the exaggeration of a grizzled old grunt - so much for that theory.

Time to go test my hangover theory again.  Hopefully NGTM-1R requisitioned more tequila - I think we're getting low.

[pecenipicek]

i'll try to join in the logs if i survive the inevitable first proper xenowatch mission

[Rodo]

hahahaha, you're all insane people.

and I love it

[TrashMan]

Personal log, TrashMan

Damn those aliens. Didn't they learn anything during the last war?
It's been a while since this s*** started but I still can't get over it that they are at it again. I was soo looking forward to my R&R and my basking in my status as war hero. What's not to like? Fame, fortune and chicks... but duty calls.

Heck, E is back and still seems his old self. A but rusty, but still the killing machine we all remember. Never could top him back then and I don't think I will now. But I'm just glad to have him with us again.
Spoon is also back. He and his tanks. And his mumbo-humbo about karma and his pretty little darlings. The way he polishes that thing it's disturbing. And he drives it like a drunkard, always getting in my line of fire...then blaming me when the armor gets singed. Heh, as long as his tank is in front, soaking up damage, I couldn't care less tough.
We are the elites of the last war, the baddest of the bad. I killed my fair share of alines and these aquatic bastards. And now we got a snazzy new armor too.
So why do I have this nagging feeling, this churning in my stomach? Why do I have the feeling I won't be coming back today?
...
Oh well...we all have to die one day, right? Lock and load and all that jazz. Here's to hoping I bag a few more before my time is up.

P.S. - if I die, I leave my gun to whomever angered Spoon the most.

[Goober5000]

BloodEagle, Jack, and MP-Ryan set up to defend the Skyranger

Oh cool, did one from the First Alien War crash and sink?

[LHN91]

If I survive the first Xenowatch mission where I'm mentioned  I'll look at making a log. Not that I have any kind of humorous writing skill.

[NGTM-1R]

Oh god, now I need to read all this. Later, later.

BloodEagle, Jack, and MP-Ryan set up to defend the Skyranger

Oh cool, did one from the First Alien War crash and sink?

This is the ninth time I've had to avoid writing that and the first I failed. Dammit.