Author Topic: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!  (Read 118900 times)

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Offline NGTM-1R

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Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
Squad One is apparently full of bosses.  All of them.

How long has it been since you lost one of them, anyway?  Four missions?

At this point, longer than that. I'm admittedly working pretty hard to keep them (and Squad Two even) safe, because I've put a lot of time and effort into them. And Flying Suits are a ***** to replace. But the combination of TUs at 70 or above and Flying Armor results in basically roflstomping everything that moves. And it'll only get worse from here.

What's happening with my alter-ego, did I get killed off somewhere since I haven't seen myself mentioned for a while? :nervous:

You're fine. In fact, you just went on a pretty impressive one-man rampage through a supply ship and killed four aliens in a turn.
"Load sabot. Target Zaku, direct front!"

A Feddie Story

 

Offline General Battuta

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Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
there is no safety from psi or blaster bombs. mark my words: there will come a day when the lambs of squad one will bloody a distant field.

who sold me this ****. this **** is weird

 

Offline NGTM-1R

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Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
We've run a number of minor missions, essentially training ops, but we're mainly conserving our strength right now. Squad 2 fought Ethereals again, in small numbers; Mjn.Mixael got grenaded at one point, with it going off right at his feet, but his Flying Suit saved his life. They tried to psi Backslash, but it failed. (Panic or control? The world will never know.) Squad 2 also hit a Large Scout down over North America because they needed the experience. Squad 1 has raided an intact alien supply ship and did some target practice on a crashed Snakeman Medium Scout just outside Area 51. Of particular note was Fury's one-man rampage through the middle level of the Supply Ship, where he killed four aliens in a turn.

There is also some very good news.

This is the result of the Avenger project. Instead of taking us weeks to get Mars, the Avenger could get us there in two days. It will be ready to fly inside two weeks. We still need a precise target, however, as simply flying around in Martian airspace would get us mobbed by UFOs and probably killed to no purpose.

We are now in the endgame of the war. The Martian assault mission will happen inside the next two months.
"Load sabot. Target Zaku, direct front!"

A Feddie Story

 

Offline NGTM-1R

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KNOW YOUR FOE: From the Desk of Doctor Thaeris
Remember, he's not a mad doctor, he's just angry. Comments from X-COM Command have been appended for a more in-depth view.



The Ethereals challenge everything we know about conventional physics and biology. We have determined, primarily through interrogating other aliens, that the Ethereals are the leadership of the invasion. Our one Ethereal capture proved more trouble than it was worth, but we learned a lot about psionics during its stay in alien containment. Mainly because it kept seizing control of or panicking HLPX-COM personnel. Interrogating it was impossible; it would not cooperate and had no spoken language.



The Sectoids are the Greys of myth. We have no idea how long the Alien War has been going on from their perspective; it could be centuries. If so, they rank among the worst military minds in the universe. Sectoids are short, they average perhaps a hundred and thirty centimeters. They're also definitely cloned; we've recovered well over three dozen bodies or live Sectoids, and only encountered four unique genetic sequences.

The Sectoid Hierarchy is subservient to the Ethereals, but in what fashion we don't entirely understand. They have no spoken language, communication is all psionic or by computer; we interrogated them over what amounts to instant messaging. The Sectoids were largely uncooperative, but we did glean something of their culture and daily lives. Short answer: they don't have any. Sectoid society has given up nearly everything in pursuit of efficiency.



Despite their bizarre biology, the Snakemen are actually the most human of our opponents. They were made subservient to the Ethereals about seventy-five years ago, by force. They have a culture which, while it glorifies the hunt, is not so dissimilar from our own as to be unrecognizable. Our captive Snakeman has actually learned to speak English and has generally been very cooperative and friendly; most everyone on the staff at Area 51 has been in to talk to it at some point.

The reasons behind this are as disturbing as they are poignant. Our Snakeman captive was a Rookie serving in the Snakemen version of HLPX-COM when the Ethereals conquered their planet. It wants to see us succeed where its own organization failed.



The most obvious thing to note about the Floaters is the drastic surgical and cybernetic alterations made to them, including everything from the waist down. As far as we can determine, these alterations are a part of their military service and are performed on enlistment. An unaltered Floater would be huge, nearly three meters tall. Their alterations are as much practical in allowing them to use standardized equipment as they are tactical in allowing them to fly.

Floaters are intelligent, but admit they are uplifted race of nonsentient animals. Where, when, and how is not clear, but considering their service to the Ethereals the "who" is easy to guess. Their culture is stunted, and performs support roles for their military; even their art is focused entirely on this purpose.
« Last Edit: May 01, 2012, 04:42:01 pm by NGTM-1R »
"Load sabot. Target Zaku, direct front!"

A Feddie Story

 

Offline Scotty

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Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
Dammit.  That part about the Snakemen means I'll never be able to kill another one without feeling bad again. D:

Also been meaning to ask: how do you automatically reserve TUs for shots at the end of the turn?  I've always had to just do it manually and hope I didn't move a space too far.

 
Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
Have the aliens already given up their reasons for attempting to conquer Earth, or are you still waiting on that?
17:37:02   Quanto: I want to have sexual intercourse with every space elf in existence
17:37:11   SpardaSon21: even the males?
17:37:22   Quanto: its not gay if its an elf

[21:51] <@Droid803> I now realize
[21:51] <@Droid803> this will be SLIIIIIGHTLY awkward
[21:51] <@Droid803> as this rich psychic girl will now be tsundere for a loli.
[21:51] <@Droid803> OH WELLL.

See what you're missing in #WoD and #Fsquest?

[07:57:32] <Caiaphas> inspired by HerraTohtori i built a supermaneuverable plane in ksp
[07:57:43] <Caiaphas> i just killed my pilots with a high-g maneuver
[07:58:19] <Caiaphas> apparently people can't take 20 gees for 5 continuous seconds
[08:00:11] <Caiaphas> the plane however performed admirably, and only crashed because it no longer had any guidance systems

  

Offline NGTM-1R

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Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
Also been meaning to ask: how do you automatically reserve TUs for shots at the end of the turn?  I've always had to just do it manually and hope I didn't move a space too far.

You should notice a an area with red buttons of guys taking shots, to the left of the bar for soldier stats. The button for firing from the shoulder is aimed; the single from the hip is snap, the multiple from the hip is auto. I've been admittedly incautious and reserving for auto, but if you reserve for aimed you can usually take a snap or auto and duck for cover.

Have the aliens already given up their reasons for attempting to conquer Earth, or are you still waiting on that?

Yes.

But I'm saving that for another post.
"Load sabot. Target Zaku, direct front!"

A Feddie Story

 

Offline Alex Heartnet

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Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
Dammit.  That part about the Snakemen means I'll never be able to kill another one without feeling bad again. D:

On the other hand they are part of the invasion force.  Shooting aliens should only be done as long as it furthers the goal of saving Earth.  We can't become what we are fighting.

 
Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
Have the aliens already given up their reasons for attempting to conquer Earth, or are you still waiting on that?

Yes.

But I'm saving that for another post.
Ah.  Thanks for the post by the way, I found it quite informative about the nature of our foe.
17:37:02   Quanto: I want to have sexual intercourse with every space elf in existence
17:37:11   SpardaSon21: even the males?
17:37:22   Quanto: its not gay if its an elf

[21:51] <@Droid803> I now realize
[21:51] <@Droid803> this will be SLIIIIIGHTLY awkward
[21:51] <@Droid803> as this rich psychic girl will now be tsundere for a loli.
[21:51] <@Droid803> OH WELLL.

See what you're missing in #WoD and #Fsquest?

[07:57:32] <Caiaphas> inspired by HerraTohtori i built a supermaneuverable plane in ksp
[07:57:43] <Caiaphas> i just killed my pilots with a high-g maneuver
[07:58:19] <Caiaphas> apparently people can't take 20 gees for 5 continuous seconds
[08:00:11] <Caiaphas> the plane however performed admirably, and only crashed because it no longer had any guidance systems

 

Offline NGTM-1R

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KNOW YOUR FOE: From the Desk of Doctor Thaeris 2


The Mutons are probably an engineered species; we can't prove it but we have a very hard time believing that their particular combination of traits could have evolved naturally. The most effective way to kill them is to hash an area with psionic white noise, but this requires non-portable equipment. Failing that, Heavy Plasmas will do the job, but we were fortunate in phasing out the Laser Rifle before we first encountered these aliens. They have a simple spoken language and no discernible culture of their own.



Reapers are purely animalistic, controlled by cybernetic implants. We've actually taken several alive, as their redundant organ systems mean they often live for a fairly long time after they're no longer able to move. They appear to eventually go berserk without commands, possibly as a fail-safe; we've had several bash their heads in against the walls in alien containment after they're healed.

Perhaps the most interesting thing is their strong genetic similarities to the Floaters. They may be the non-uplifted form of the race.



The Chryssalids are possibly the greatest threat to human life in the alien forces, with more in common with a mobile virus than any animal species from an environment on Earth. While there is great debate over whether or not they represent a fully engineered species or one that was adapted, what we do know is disturbing.

Chryssalid claws are one of the hardest natural substances known. Their musculature is incredibly strong, backed up by what can only be described as "hydraulic assist". We already saw them tear apart an HLPX-COM tank in the missions, and we don't expect a Flying Suit will fare much better except by keeping the wearer in the air and out of reach. It's entirely possible that Chryssalids are capable of breaching the armor on a true armored vehicle. Each "egg" is more or less a full Chryssalid in juvenile form. Their growth rate is astonishing and in barely four minutes a juvenile Chryssalid is capable of surviving on its own and it consumes the host entirely in two hours. This coincidentally happens to be about how long it takes for the massive dose of the slightly neurotoxic and psychosis-inducing venom they inject to kill a human, something of which we're quite suspicious.

The good news is they're about as dumb as a rock. Chryssalids aren't smart enough to open doors; they simply push through them with their natural strength or break them with their claws. Their carapace will deflect almost every modern projectile-based infantry weapon and most fragmentation weapons as well, so only forces armed with HLPX-COM laser weaponry or alien plasma weapons will likely be able to stop them. Left unchecked, Chryssalids could wipe whole continents clean of human life. We must destroy these creatures wherever we encounter them.



We never actually captured a "live" cyberdisc, but we did capture a Sectoid whose job involved maintaining and programming them. It was quite helpful, after some convincing. Cyberdiscs are completely autonomous robots. Their programming is quite advanced and they're actually fairly intelligent; we managed to teach one to play fetch, for example. The important thing to grasp is that it won't help to kill all the nearby Sectoids or to jam transmission in the area; the Cyberdiscs will keep fighting regardless. Their weapons system is all-aspect; distinctions such as front or back are functionally meaningless, so there is no effective way to ambush one. Their coordination with nearby Sectoids can be somewhat poor, fortunately, and the fact they explode violently when their power system is damaged can be exploited.

There was talk of using what we learned about computer science in a combat robot of our own, but the "Enforcer" project never made it beyond the drawing board. Most of what we learned about their propulsion and power systems went into the HLPX-COM Hovertank.
"Load sabot. Target Zaku, direct front!"

A Feddie Story

 

Offline headdie

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Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
loving the enforcer reference
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Offline Scotty

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Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
Playing my own game, I just had an unarmored rookie take a heavy plasma shot to the chest and not even be hurt.

New favorite?  New favorite.

 

Offline Polpolion

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Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
Playing my own game, I just had an unarmored rookie take a heavy plasma shot to the chest and not even be hurt.

New favorite?  New favorite.

inb4 psi strength of 10

 

Offline NGTM-1R

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Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
Playing my own game, I just had an unarmored rookie take a heavy plasma shot to the chest and not even be hurt.

New favorite?  New favorite.

Technically the jumpsuit does provide some minor armor (iirc 6/3/2). However weapon damage is partially randomized and calculated as from 0-200% of the listed value, times modifier if applicable, then you subtract armor rating. (Explosives randomize between 50-150%; generation of a negative value for damage means nothing happens.)

As an example, let's shoot a Blaster Bomb at some random dude in Flying Armor. It hit the front, so 110 armor, and no damage modifier. The Blaster Bomb has a 200 damage value, so it will generate a damage range of between 100 and 300, and after armor, will have a damage range of between -10 and 190 damage to him.

Yes, this means if you're obscenely lucky you can survive a direct hit from a Blaster Bomb without a scratch.
"Load sabot. Target Zaku, direct front!"

A Feddie Story

 

Offline FireSpawn

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Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
Playing my own game, I just had an unarmored rookie take a heavy plasma shot to the chest and not even be hurt.

New favorite?  New favorite.

Technically the jumpsuit does provide some minor armor (iirc 6/3/2). However weapon damage is partially randomized and calculated as from 0-200% of the listed value, times modifier if applicable, then you subtract armor rating. (Explosives randomize between 50-150%; generation of a negative value for damage means nothing happens.)

As an example, let's shoot a Blaster Bomb at some random dude in Flying Armor. It hit the front, so 110 armor, and no damage modifier. The Blaster Bomb has a 200 damage value, so it will generate a damage range of between 100 and 300, and after armor, will have a damage range of between -10 and 190 damage to him.

Yes, this means if you're obscenely lucky you can survive a direct hit from a Blaster Bomb without a scratch.

Squad one should test that theory....On eachother.
If you hit it and it bleeds, you can kill it. If you hit it and it doesn't bleed...You are obviously not hitting hard enough.

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Offline Goober5000

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Re: KNOW YOUR FOE: From the Desk of Doctor Thaeris
We still need a precise target, however, as simply flying around in Martian airspace would get us mobbed by UFOs and probably killed to no purpose.
Again, I ask about Mars Global Surveyor.  Or did the aliens nuke that for target practice?


The reasons behind this are as disturbing as they are poignant. Our Snakeman captive was a Rookie serving in the Snakemen version of HLPX-COM when the Ethereals conquered their planet. It wants to see us succeed where its own organization failed.
Ouch. :(

 

Offline Alex Heartnet

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Re: KNOW YOUR FOE: From the Desk of Doctor Thaeris
We still need a precise target, however, as simply flying around in Martian airspace would get us mobbed by UFOs and probably killed to no purpose.
Again, I ask about Mars Global Surveyor.  Or did the aliens nuke that for target practice?

The aliens probably figured out how to jam and duplicate its transmissions, in order to make it send back false info.  Or am I attributing too much tactical knowledge to these let's-send-in-our-fleet-one-ship-at-a-time aliens?

 
Re: KNOW YOUR FOE: From the Desk of Doctor Thaeris
We still need a precise target, however, as simply flying around in Martian airspace would get us mobbed by UFOs and probably killed to no purpose.

Again, I ask about Mars Global Surveyor.  Or did the aliens nuke that for target practice?

Shot down, while still en route, I suspect.  The invasion of Earth began in earnest in mid-/late-1998, with scattered but increasing reports of abductions spanning back through 1997.  MGS was to arrive in Martian orbit in April of 1999.

 
Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
Weird. Despite what the tech entries say, I always did (and still do, sort of) believe that the Sectoids, or at least the "master" Sectoid species were always the ones in charge. The Sectoids you fight and even the Ethereals were just commanders and soldiers, under orders from wherever the aliens actually come from.
Spoiler:
And that what you fight on mars too, was just a field commander.

 

Offline Goober5000

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Re: KNOW YOUR FOE: From the Desk of Doctor Thaeris
Shot down, while still en route, I suspect.  The invasion of Earth began in earnest in mid-/late-1998, with scattered but increasing reports of abductions spanning back through 1997.  MGS was to arrive in Martian orbit in April of 1999.
Nitpick: MGS arrived at Mars in September 1997, a few months after Mars Pathfinder.  Because of orbital fine-tuning, it didn't begin its primary mission until April 1999.  But it could still theoretically have taken pictures of UFOs or alien activity in the vicinity at any point in that time.