And, immediately, disaster on the world map. Just after the council report, we get shafted by the abductions. One in Egypt, one in the UK, and one in India. Since UK is at 4, I have to grab it or lose it. However, ignoring Egypt means that it jumps to 5. I have to dump a sat there pretty or we lose it, and I do not want to lose Africa. Stupid game.

-Operation Sacred Mother-
Birmingham, United Kingdom
3:52 PM

Loony BoB, wanting to break his perfect record, decides to move to the wrong space right out of the gate. When he takes his second move to get into cover (1 square over, where I meant him to go before the misclick), he uncovers two Floaters and is unable to shoot at them. Vivi takes a shot at one, but the high cover of the gravestones thwarts him. Psy remembers he has a grenade, and blows the gravestones away, reducing the Floaters to 1 HP apiece. MacGuyver ran up and blasted one in the face. Fortunately, the other fled, but then Launched itself behind our troops.

Not wanting it to last, Psy ran around the wall of the graveyard and blasted it point blank, while the rest moved forward, and we eventually regrouped.

Shortly thereafter, we encountered three more Floaters. Two went into Overwatch, while the third Launched itself into a flanking position. With no chance of moving without getting hit, each soldier tried to get shots at the flanking Floater. BoB's shot missed, as did MacLeod's. Psy's shot missed as well, but then MacGuyver was able to eliminate it with a lucky shotgun blast. Vivi then took out another of the two. And Psy, realizing he had a second shot because he hadn't moved, got lucky with a 50% shot and eliminated a third, earning a promotion.

Our next move encountered three Thin Men near the end of our turn, and then two Floaters joined them on the other side of the map, one of which was promptly eliminated by MacLeod's reaction fire. Vivi took a clean shot to eliminate the other. It was an easy shot, but with so many enemies on the map at once, he knew to take the guaranteed kills first.

Finally remember he was an Assault for the first time, Loony Run and Gunned up near the central monument, and nailed a Thin Man in the head. Psy unleashed a shot at the other in view, a 36% chance to hit, planning on using both shots to eliminate it, only to remember that Hit Percentages were for losers, and just wiping it out on the first shot and still having leftover time to enter Overwatch. Unfortunately, three (or maybe four, not sure, it's hard to keep track) Overwatch shots all missed on the final Thin Man, who fired a few rounds at Balls MacGuyver, hitting her and ruining our perfect record. Vivi ended it, and the mission.
This mission was screwy as hell. We got royally shafted with intelligent aliens in good positions, yet got extremely lucky on hit percentages, which kind of balanced out to about average.

MVP is Psy, who made excellent use of Bullet Storm (the first good use I've gotten out of that skill, and prompting me to actually reconsider it over Holo Targeting somewhat).

Promotions are Psy and MacLeod. Woohoo!

Casualties: Balls MacGuyver was wounded and will be out for 10 days.

I had been planning on taking some Rookies on this, but decided against it when I was left with a "Very Hard" as the mission it made the best sense to take. I probably could have pulled through with a Rookie (although that first misclick brings it into question), given the foe lineup, but the messups and good enemy placement make me fairly glad I didn't. I promise, I'm working on a B-Squad, I just don't want to lose while doing so.

Fortunately, I got a sattellite up over Egypt, so as long as we don't get any more abductions there this month, we should be good. Finishing the Very Hard mission dropped UK to zero, allowing me to postpone the satellite to there (think I'm going to drop it in Russia instead, worth more money and will eliminate that panic), but I'm currently saving it as Asia has gotten more tense.

Carapace Armor is now availible (well, researched, I don't have the funds to build it quite yet)! Don't forget to mention if you want particular gear. Currently I'm just following my best judgement.


-Operation Glass Dream-
Nigeria
May 14th, 1:47 PM

Our forces landed extremely close to the UFO, far too close for comfort. Usually they cut like a buzz saw through enemy forces to get to the UFO, then eliminate the Outsider. Starting this close, there was no telling where they'd encounter what.

As such, they stayed close together as they moved. Soon, they were set up against the UFO. And then, they spotted a new foe. A hulking beast, covered in green armor. These new enemies ran out of the UFO, with Psy being the only one overcoming his surprise at the new enemies enough to hit one with his reaction fire. Our new Rookie then eliminated the weakened foe.

Loony Run and Gunned to a flanking position near the second Muton, only to get his Assault Rifle mostly deflected by its thick armor (2 damage, AR's minimum). Clearly, he'd have to learn its weak points and focus fire better. Psy took two shots at it, hitting with his second one, weakening the beast enough for Vivi to eliminate it. MacLeod Suppressed the third, which decided not to take a shot during its turn, but to just stand there looking stupid to avoid MacLeod's wrath. It did not, however, stop three Floaters from joining in the fray.

The Muton's armor continued to thwart our forces, allowing it to survive its attacks with one hit point remaining, and to throw a grenade to damage BoB and the Rookie, and eliminate their cover. A Floater then proceeded to fire on our Rookie and miss, while another splattered our lovely Rookie's brains all over the floor. BoB, not liking to see a pretty lady die, panicked, but made the smart decision to run to cover which I couldn't even see through the bloody alien forcefield (had I, I would have moved him there last turn, and probably kept the Muton from using the grenade). Vivi managed to cap the Muton with his shot, and Psy took two shots to eliminate a Floater while MacLeod reloaded. BoB, finally faced with a familiar foe, managed to put his Assault Rifle to it full use and eliminated a Floater immediately, leaving just one more somewhere in the ship. It played Hide and Seek for a bit, coming out, evading an Overwatch shot, and retreating again. MacLeod moved to heal BoB while we waited it out.

Unfortunately, the sounds we heard made it seem as though it was not coming out, but rather circling the UFO. With little choice, our forces split up. Vivi and Psy secured the exit and flank, while MacLeod and BoB started to explore inside. Soon enough, BoB found the alien, and quickly eliminated it while MacLeod was covering a side path. Our forces regrouped, and breached the inner chamber of the UFO, discovering the Outsider, who fled deep into a corner. Psy ran to better cover while MacLeod shot and missed. Vivi moved into a good cover position and unleashed a pistol shot at the foe, wounding but not killing it. Finally, BoB decided to show them how it was done, and Run and Gunned into a flanking position to eliminate the foe. But not the final threat...

As they exited the UFO, our forces encountered two Thin Men. Vivi, behind the door quickly eliminated one, while Psy stepped forward to blast the other, the last foes killed before they could attempt to bring harm to our forces.
MVP: Loony BoB, excellent kill rate, if only he hadn't been shafted on damage numbers against the Muton, he'd have rocked this mission solo.

Promotions: Loony BoB is now a Lieutenant

Casualties: Loony BoB got wounded for 7 days by the Alien Grenade. Kim Cook, a Canadian Rookie who was, as yet, completely uncustomized, is KIA.



And our next mission is in Moscow, Russia. Operation Red Line, a bomb disposal mission for the Council. Glad I held that sattellite in reserve. With two wounded troops, our lineup for this mission is Psy, Jiro, Ronnie, Connor, and a Rookie (who will hopefully fair better against Thin Men).