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Topic: X-COM Monday Nights Campaign (Read 4486 times) |
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Jenniza
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FROM: Jane Swift, X-COM Field Agent
TO: Michael Garret, X-COM UN Envoy
RE: Mission Report – Canadian Rockie Mountains
We were sent on a mission to investigate a bogie up north. Dr. Stanley White flew the Skyranger; Pilot Yushi led some Interceptors. Interceptor-1 exchanged shots with the bogie and both were damaged; Interceptor 1 managed to survive luckily. The bogie went down over Canadian airspace in the Rockie Mountains. I think we took some damage too.
The plan was to take out all but one Sectoid, then Vasily and I would use our Stun Rods to take the last one alive.
I scouted out the mountain pass on the east side, going high. We all suspected an ambush. I and another used our binoculars to spot any Sectoids laying in ambush. I motioned to the others that there were two to the northwest. Someone readied a grenade, while I had my sniper rifle ready, everyone else was spread out. Someone gave the order to begin. The next few seconds went by rather quickly: I heavily wounded one of the Sectoids;. I was heavily wounded by FOUR Sectoids firing on my position (the two from the northwest & two more from north of my position); I realized I was too far forward and exposed, even though I was high up and tried to head back for the group… I twisted my ankle and was gunned down.
I awoke to Dr. White tending me. During the combat, Dr. Baron and Catalina were also taken out. His medicines are quite remarkable. We proceeded on to the scout ship to recover it. Inside, I was greeted by another plasma shot that took me out. When I awoke, Dr. White was again busy tending me and two others. We certainly keep him busy. I grabbed some snapshots and we headed back. One live alien, one intact ship, a few weapons, some dead aliens, some snapshots, not a bad haul.
On the negative side, I suffered a concussion and the others were treated and released too.
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Jenniza
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Jane tried to find Chief Hallorand when he was in a good mood. It took a little while; but, with persistence, she hoped she could talk to him for a bit.
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This assumes she does:
Jane began, “Sir, about X-COM’s policies towards captured Sectoids… the ones still alive, now and in the future. How we treat them will define us as a species from here out. Do we want to define the human race as those that will not recognize another species as sentient beings with the same rights and respect as us regardless of how they treat us; or do we go to any extreme to survive as a species even at the expense of vivisecting a live alien to see what makes them tick? It’s a defining moment for us as a species. We could learn a lot from a live one without mutilating it, just as much as we could learn a lot from it the other way. Ask Dr. Baron and Dr. Allen. Both would agree.”
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Lazybones
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Commander Hallorand nods in response to Jane's question. "I've asked myself similar questions. I haven't heard anyone who is advocating chopping up our captive alien; as far as I'm concerned the thing is a prisoner of war. But we need to learn more about it. Heck, I don't even know if waterboarding will work on it."
At her horrified look, he adds, "That was a joke, Jane. Look, if you're concerned, I'd recommend talking to Director Garret or others of the administrative staff. I think our immediate need is going to be keeping the thing alive; from what Doctor White said, it's been pretty much unresponsive since you brought it back here."
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Lazybones
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OOC
I think that I will follow the pattern I've used thus far, my schedule permitting, when posting updates. I'll post Dr. Wagner's updates on Tuesday evenings, reflecting information from the past evening's session. On Friday I'll post the results of any research/manufacturing completed that week. I'll continue to respond to direct questions/posted e-mails as they occur.
I'd like to streamline the discussions of priorities in-game, so perhaps folks could prepare their character's thoughts on the Friday e-mail prior to the game. I suspect that as the campaign goes forward this will become smoother, especially as personalities get more established in the team.
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TheBaldMan
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It had come to him in the shower: a clear image of the alien navigation control panel. And he sat in his bunk dripping wet, towel loosely laying over his lap.
Buzz was enthralled with the alien symbols he saw before him that felt like a pattern, like a new code that needed to be hacked. The adrenaline of the realization that he could decipher the symbols made his mind sharpen to a hyper focus not many could achieve.
He tapped the buttons on the on his X-phone amazed at the power this little device had and hoping it would be enough to run the three algorithms simultaneously. He knew the language would be deciphered but did not now how many hours it would take. It was a risk to over-clock the X-phone system but he was use to taking risk and knew his calculations were within reasonable safety parameters.
Now all there was time for was to wait. He looked down at the now wet mattress and then the dry one next to his bunk. They will never know...
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Lazybones
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The day after your mission in the Canadian Rockies is a busy one. You receive multiple e-mails on your personal communicator.
FROM: Special Agent Inise Drake
TO: All X-COM Personnel
RE: New Security Measures
Due to recent computer breaches and subsequent questions about the effectiveness of X-COM security protocols, all alien weapons technology in X-COM custody shall be turned over to United States Homeland Security Personnel immediately. United Nations Liaison Garret has cosigned this order, which is available in file HV-K452 for your examination.
This order is mandatory for all personnel. |
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FROM: DR. KIMBERLY WAGNER, X-COM RESEARCH LEAD
TO: MEMBERS, ALPHA TEAM
CC: MICHAEL GARRET, JOAN BEAUVOIS
RE: New Priorities
Per your recent suggestions, X-COM has embarked upon new research and manufacturing projects. Research Lab 1 has begun advanced work on the alien medical technology, while Lab 2 has commenced the autopsy on the Sectoid specimens you brought back from Utah.
Half of Chief Engineer Thelon Beluca's team has been assigned to assist in the preparation of a missile defense battery atop the X-COM base. Twenty MIM-104 "Patriot" missiles have been ordered and are en route. The remaining engineers have begun the construction of laser pistols in Workshop 1.
Next week I hope to have additional options available for research. Your capture of a mostly intact alien vessel, along with a live member of its crew, should open up new avenues of research for X-COM. I will report back to you as soon as our preliminary work on these projects is complete. |
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| « Last Edit: on: May 14, 2008, 12:30AM » |
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Jenniza
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Jane approached Michael Garrett, Dr. Stanley White, Dr. Baron, Dr. Allen and Dr. Beauvais independently over time to get their candid opinions on the subject before broaching the subject with the others.
Basically, Jane was curious what their opinions were on the subject of the alien in containment as well as any future captured aliens: should they be treated as prisoners of war (just like we would with humans) or to what level do we study them to save the human race... where do we draw the line? It was a matter of ethics in a time of war that X-COM needed to be asking itself as it would forever define the human race. There were no right or wrong answers to the questions. They were simply opinions.
These X-COM members were only the first of those that really needed to be consulted. Jane figured that these people would be the most vocal on the subject. Others would surely also have strong opinions too.
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chiz
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on May 14, 2008, 2:55 AM, Jenniza wrote:Jane approached Michael Garrett, Dr. Stanley White, Dr. Baron, Dr. Allen and Dr. Beauvais independently over time to get their candid opinions on the subject before broaching the subject with the others.
Basically, Jane was curious what their opinions were on the subject of the alien in containment as well as any future captured aliens: should they be treated as prisoners of war (just like we would with humans) or to what level do we study them to save the human race... where do we draw the line? |
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Jim took Jane's request seriously, even though he felt it was unlikely he'd have any say in what actually happened. He had started to make a joke about Internet pictures of naked aliens with dog collars, but Jane's question was so obviously sincere that he felt he ought give it a careful response, and heck, his joke didn't quite come together in the second or two he was thinking about it.
"Jane, the aliens are here and as far as we can tell are hostile. They have killed people, and tried to kill us. No negotiation, just shooting. I'd say we are at war, and it is a war we have to win, for the future of our entire species. So I'd start treating them like we would POWs, but if circumstances forced our hand, we may need to do whatever it takes. Fortunately, I don't think I'll be the one making that decision."
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chiz
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From: Dr. James Allen, X-Com Agent
To: Base Chief Halloran
Re: Tactics 101
I'd like to suggest the alpha team undergo some additional training in tactics as soon as possible. In our last mission, we unfortunately experienced several severe lapses in tactics that almost cost some team members their lives and risked the success of the mission and the very survival of the alpha team.
Specifically, the concept of ambush avoidance seems to be underappreciated by some of my fellow team members. During at least two points in the mission, team members recklessly charged into open spaces where they had no prior visibility, and where it turned out they were exposed to multiple overlapping fields of enemy fire. In both cases several alpha team members were incapacitated, and only survived through the heroic efforts of Mr. White. My recommendation would be to carefully take out the visible opponent, if necessary through staging a retreat to a more favorable tactical environment, allowing us to establish multiple overlapping fields of fire against individual aliens. Changing the team mind-set to allow this seems to me to require some active training with external feedback.
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vanya mia
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Standing with legs braced against the recoil, looking surprisingly vigorous after the severity of her wounds, Catalina took aim at the target. Halloran stood watching and she answered his question. “It’s all there in the report, Chief, but if you want it again then so be it. As I stated, we got out of the ship and Vas headed for nearby cover in by a hill. He’s more experienced at judging terrain than I, even said it was classic ambush territory, hence I followed him as did the others at first. Calami… err Jane kept going into a position with less cover.” She took the shot and snorted at the result. “Both Doc B and Jane reported just two to the north. Doc A said something about using a more intelligent formation, not bunched up, so I suggested a pincer movement and backed off to move round.”
Catalina aimed again. “I used the ship as cover and tried to swing around to a similar position using cover on the other side of the valley, and either Doc A or Buzz followed. That was about the point problems started.” She fired and gave a soft snort. “The things had an ambush set up, just like the big fella said, but we couldn’t see them until they moved to fire. It looks like they used high ground on both sides, but at first I only saw the two above where I was heading for. I, and whoever was behind me, took them out and I ran in to reach the cover. It was then that I could see the ones on the other side of the valley. The distance was a bit much for my pistol, but I can’t aim as well with this,” she indicated the rifle she was using, “hence the practice, but I think I hit one. Vas charged another I was shooting at, and took it out with a stun weapon, but about then a shot clipped my arm and hit my chest.” She shrugged ruefully. “I don’t know what happened after that until I woke up with Stan and Buzz over me.”
Taking aim, Catalina fired again, looking a little more satisfied with the result. “As for at the ship, I don’t know what happened to begin with. Vas and the Docs went in, but the ship slipped and the door was blocked so three of us had trouble following. I was in last, and the place was full of mist. Vas had gone forward, maybe to stun another or maybe to see the things, I don’t know. He was pinned, Jane was already down and I saw Doc B drop, so I ducked into cover. Got a line on the one that shot the Doc, so took it, that left one out of sight for me firing at Vas.” Frowning she took another shot. “Vas caught a bad hit, so I took a chance on surprising the one firing at him and broke cover. A little risky, but it paid off. I thought about trying to subdue it for a moment, but decided discretion was the better part of staying alive, got in close quickly and shot it.” She fired the rifle again and this time gave a small punch of victory as the target collapsed.
“So that’s it Chief, nothing more to add really. With those things so well camouflaged, and three of us left outside the ship, it’s difficult to see how else it would have gone. Staying together until tactics are sorted might be an idea, but everyone needs to do that or we all end up just reacting. We’ve got a lot of generals out there but only one real soldier. Until we all follow his example I think we’re going to keep Stan busy.” Catalina slung the rifle over her shoulder and gave Halloran a lively grin. “Not sure what’s in those kits of his, but bloody hell they do something. I was weak at first, but now? There’s no way I should be feeling this good after being in that condition. If you’ll excuse me, I need to burn off some of this energy” With a wink at Halloran she walked away.
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Jenniza
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ooc i was doing some debugging in D20 Modern, and it appears that Infiltrator's .2da class file is misdefined...
It seems that the Search skill is listed according to the rules as a class skill of Infiltrator; BUT, when one going to level up in Infiltrator, it costs TWO points to level up in SEARCH with the usual penalties in max rank of a cross-class skill, instead of it being a class skill.
Ie, this is a bug in D20 Modern.
I'll forward this to Forrestwolf.
hugs,
Stephanie
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Lazybones
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on May 14, 2008, 2:55 AM, Jenniza wrote:| Jane approached Michael Garrett, Dr. Stanley White, Dr. Baron, Dr. Allen and Dr. Beauvais independently over time to get their candid opinions on the subject before broaching the subject with the others. |
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Jane does not find Mr. Garret; he appears to have left the base, and the com techs are either unable or unwilling to get a message to him.
She finds Dr. White in a brief interlude in the medlab. The doctor looks rather haggard, and he looks up from washing his face in the surgical prep sink to answer Jane's question.
"At the moment, we're having enough of a time keeping the thing alive. I had thought that we'd learned a lot from the bodies, but this thing... well, it's like nothing I've ever encountered in thirty years of medicine. It's slipped into a semi-comatose state, and remains unresponsive. I'm trying to calibrate our instruments and find a configuration in the sealed room that will help to keep it alive and at least relatively comfortable."
"As to its status, I'm no politician or strategist. I only know that it's a living, sentient being, and as such, my code requires me to treat it as best I can."
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Lazybones
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on May 14, 2008, 1:28 PM, Jenniza wrote:| Ie, this is a bug in D20 Modern. |
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Since editing the 2das would require all of you to redownload the haks, I'll whip up a widget to compensate.
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Gulfwulf
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It was probably an oversight, VM. The only way to get your points back is to loose levels then regain them. LB might have another option, but that's the only one I know about.
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Jenniza
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true, in our superheroes campaign, that happened with my field medic with the drive skill, and with wolfgang's smart character with computer use (I think, maybe it was later). mine had to be releveled, his had to be remade (i think). yes, we had to redownload .2da's in each case.
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| « Last Edit: on: May 14, 2008, 3:32PM » |
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vanya mia
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Figured that would be the case really. She's only one infiltrator level so far, and I suppose lost 2 of the 4 points I used on search. Not too drastic so far but it's going to be a pain in the long run as it's a key skill for her.
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Jenniza
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Jane took Chief Hallorand's words to heart and looked up the Genenova Convention, pertaining to Prisoners of War on the internet...
She found this link at Yale:
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/lawofwar/geneva03.htm
ARTICLE 3
In the case of armed conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each Party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a minimum, the following provisions:
(1) Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria. To this end the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons:
(a) violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture; (b) taking of hostages; (c) outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment; (d) the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.
(2) The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for.
An impartial humanitarian body, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, may offer its services to the Parties to the conflict.
The Parties to the conflict should further endeavour to bring into force, by means of special agreements, all or part of the other provisions of the present Convention.
The application of the preceding provisions shall not affect the legal status of the Parties to the conflict.
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vanya mia
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Catalina wandered back into the recreation room and pulled out her x-Phone to check emails as she dropped down in a chair. "You know, I've been thinking," she said cheerfully to the room in general, "The very idea of me thinking at all might come as a shock to some of you, but I wonder if anyone has told the medical chaps about that red mist?"
"It didn't do us an awful lot of good, but what if it was wasn't just there to hinder us? What if it's something to do with their own," she waved a hand vaguely, "natural environment perhaps? Not that I'm averse to the thing choking to death right now, but if we need the captive to stay alive it might be something they need to know." Catalina started to scan the emails, "Medical might already be aware of it, or I could be totally off the mark, but you never know."
The merry look left the blue eyes as she read the first email. "Recent computer breaches? What computer breaches?" She read the email again and a frowned. "Is that woman saying that the weapons we found can't be researched? That we won't be able to develop anything from them?" The frown deepened and she looked around the room for the first time checking who was there.
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| « Last Edit: on: May 14, 2008, 4:34PM » |
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Jenniza
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Jane looked up from her research, "Red mist, mmmmm. Catalina, that's a great idea. It might be it's life support system, ie envrionmental systems. They may have something about exposure to our air."
With that, Jane was up to find Dr. White to explain Catalina's theory, giving Catalina credit. Dr. Thelon Beluca might be able to help rig up something from the ship that was recovered to get the red mist to form an environmental system for the Sectoid to keep it alive and comfortable. Possibly the suits that they wore were damaged in the fights and could be repaired in the meantime.
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| « Last Edit: on: May 14, 2008, 5:23PM » |
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