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Topic: X-COM Monday Nights Campaign (Read 4486 times) |
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Boomer
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Doctor Baron opened up another book. This one more sci-fi than actually true mind behavoir study. The books on the table were a assortment of legitimate books on the human mind and theories that were so out there that the society of behavoiral sciences would laugh at them. He had one goal, find the best way to resist telepathic influence. The theories on how to do so were so far up to a dozen. Sing a song in your head when you felt a intrusion, think of something massive and beautiful like the ocean, or suddenly start doing complicated math problems.
But who knows how powerful this 'telepathy' could become. They had to come up with some defense for it.
OOC- Making a Knowledge (Behavoiral Sciences) roll, +9
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Jenniza
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Dr. Beauvais found Jane in the hallway, “Hello, Jane, how are you?”
Jane replied with a smile, “I’m well, thank you. How are you?”
Dr. Beauvais returned the smile, “I’m well too, thank you. It’s been quite a while since we spoke last, would you care to join me in my office now? You’ve not checked in for weekly appointments for several weeks now,” watching for Jane’s reaction, she added, “I could make it an order.”
Jane relented, “No, that won’t be necessary. I think perhaps I’d feel more comfortable speaking with you again.”
They headed to Dr. Beauvais’s Office.
Inside, they sat down and continued talking.
Dr. Beauvais began, “So, I remember the things we talked about last time; but, what would you like to talk about this time.”
Jane thought back to their last conversation, “That feels like a lifetime ago almost. That was probably after our third mission in the Canadian Rockies when I got my butt handed to me several times,” she grinned a bit embarrassed. She continued, “We also began to first address the POW status of the prisoners, despite the technical flaw that no major World Power has publicly declared a state of war with the aliens in order to follow the Geneva Convention, thus affording them POW status. Obviously now that we know some of their telepathic powers even while under sedation and containment fields, that point is quickly becoming a moot point.”
The counselor replied, “You are good friends with Dr. Sandesh, aren’t you?”
Jane replied gently, “He’s a good man and I respect him a lot. I care what happens to him like anyone else here. He’s had some tough breaks. I’d said I’m better friends with Alpha Team to be honest. I wouldn’t know who to say I’m closest to. I thought I had a good doctor-patient bonding going with Doctor Baron; but, that seemed to fade, which is why I looked forward to coming back to you when the time was right. I wouldn’t know if Dr. Sandesh ever looked at me like an equal or a friend. I’d consider Buzz, Catalina and Vasily to be the closest ones I’d call friends, with the other two Doctors right behind them. The rest around the base, I’m on good terms with; but, I don’t think I interact with them enough yet on a regular basis to call them good friends… more like coworkers: Grace, Stan, Ken, Musa being in the top four, since it’s hard to count bosses or someone I see on mostly a professional level.” She grinned at the counselor.
The counselor nodded and agreed, “That’s a healthy attitude, Jane. I noticed you left out, for example: FBI Agent Inise Drake.”
Jane shrugged, “Is it my place to comment on why she was picked for this job? She seems to be perfectly comfortable keeping everyone distant from her. Whether that is her natural personality or part of her assignment is not in my domain to question. I simply don’t count her as one of my friends. Beta team, on the other hand, is generally warm and friendly; I’ve just been a bit busy with missions sometimes to have a lot of time to spend with them. I’d like to spend more time with them; although, I’m concerned for a few of their members. I’ve always tried to be honest with you.”
The counselor replied, “Thank you, Jane; I’ve always appreciated that with you. By the way, I noticed you put in for a day off with your niece and were turned down. Would you care to elaborate?”
Jane sighed, “It was her birthday and the opening day to the new Narnia movie. I had promised to take her to it a while back when it came out. I suppose it’s hard to keep those types of promises in this line of work. She seemed to understand; but, I’d like to make it up to her somehow. Besides movies, her track team is doing well. I know that’s a long shot to ask for, so I didn’t.”
The counselor nodded, “I’m sure Chief Hallorand has you on his list of requests for days off for when the directive is lifted, Jane.”
Jane replied with a smile, “Your reassurance is appreciated, Dr. Beauvais.”
The counselor smiled, “See you next week?”
Jane smiled and nodded, “Sure thing, Doc.”
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Lazybones
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ooc I am going to assume that Boomer just forgot to sign up, as I haven't noted him absent for this week. chiz is out until next week however.
* * * * *
Jane spends several days helping get Workshop 3 on-line. Her support helps Grace's team get the shop fully operational well before the final arrival of the new engineers. As a result, a good start is made on Dr. White's medical lab in the base's new West Wing.
(Craft Mechanical: 9 + 11 = 20 [moderate success], result = +2 to manufacturing for this week)
Doctor Baron spends time working with Dr. White in Research Lab 1. The alpha-wave emitter is installed ahead of schedule, which should secure the alien containment area against any future mind-controlling aliens captured by the field teams.
The two spend some time working on the issue of portable protection. Doctor Baron shares some of his theories, but none of them seem that useful for practical application, at least not at first.
"I don't see why the emitter can't be miniaturized to provide protection in the field," Baron asks.
"As you heard earlier, part of the problem is the power source," White responds. "You'd essentially need a portable reactor on your back to run the emitter."
"What about if we capture some of the alien fuel?" Baron persists.
"It still won't work. Even if we could rig an emitter in a helmet, for example, you don't want your head that close to a radiation source, trust me. Your minds might be safe, but it will be of little solace if the entire team ends up with cancer in six months."
"What if we don't try to counter the rays with an active field, but just line the helmets with something that inhibits them?"
"Hmm. Well, mind you, it wouldn't stop everything, but there are a few alloys that might work..." He looks up to see Grace Thelon Beluca walk into the lab. "Grace, can I talk metals with you for a bit?"
(Knowledge [Behavioral Sciences] 19 + 9 = 28 [complete success], result = all new Personal Armor helmets will now offer a +2 to Will saves)
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| « Last Edit: on: Jun 30, 2008, 10:27PM » |
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vanya mia
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Catalina has for once spent a busy week, reviewing security footage, going over work rosters of any with open access to computer terminals, cross referencing these to Buzz's list of anomalies and generally trying to identify any patterns of access that would narrow down the field of suspects. Any who saw her at the task would have been surprised at the level of commitment to the work involved. Certainly she made light of the activity. "That security officer has the most intriguing eyes, I've just got to keep going back," she grinned when asked by anyone.
Before the data store was replaced in it's location, Catalina approached Hallorand. "You might want to use this." She offered a small bottle of fine powder. "Dust it on the device and it'll transfer to the fingers of anyone who pick it up. Completely invisible in normal light, but the powder fluoresces in UV light. A simply scan with a light source and you'll have anyone who's been near it. Doesn't wash off easily either." She winked at Hallorand and sashayed away before he could ask why she had the powder in her possession.
((Sorry this is so late, I've had a busy week, so if you choose not to allow it it's cool.  Hoping to use Cat's search skill in on this if that's possible, for the security tapes at least. Think it's +11, forgot to save PC after last level and lost my notes.))
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| « Last Edit: on: Jul 1, 2008, 1:08AM » |
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Smart Alec
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Excerpt of Session Transcript, Kasprjak, V.D.
***
[Time: 9 minutes 53 seconds into session]
I not saying this was easy in beginning. But now it feel like it getting harder. You know?
[Pause of 9 seconds.]
I seen some crazy [Russian expletive] last couple of months. Aliens, monsters, dead men walking... not getting me wrong, I handle that. I thought I handle that. Could shoot them at least. Alien bastard, get off my planet, yaaaa! [He mimes using a gun at this point.] There was crazy all over but I fight back, yes? I hit them where it hurt and I glad to do so. Is payback. Revenge, how dare they come here, screw with us...
[Pause of 47 seconds.]
I not even fighting aliens any more. I fighting... things. Just things they make. Not them at all. We not hurting them any more. Is more like putting down sick animal. I mean, I...
[Pause for 9 seconds.]
I do things before, in past, things other people would say, 'is wrong'. But there always...
[Pause for 5 seconds.]
... always reason, I guess, but these things we fight, so... [mumble], so pitiful. I just not sure.
[Pause of 6 seconds.]
Find myself wanting to know what God think about what we do. Is easy to think of alien as devil, but... I start wondering, is He with us? He even care? What He think of me gunning this [garbled] down, huh?
[Pause for 22 seconds.]
I get up in morning, I actually kind of scared of what is coming next.
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| « Last Edit: on: Jul 1, 2008, 1:05AM » |
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Jenniza
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ooc is there anything Jane could do to aid in the construction of the head gear for the psy-device? craft mech +11 , is it worth diverting effort from the labs this next week?
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Lazybones
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on Jul 1, 2008, 1:33 AM, Jenniza wrote:| ooc is there anything Jane could do to aid in the construction of the head gear for the psy-device? craft mech +11 , is it worth diverting effort from the labs this next week? |
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You can help with it next week, if you like. Vasily's helmet will need a retrofit and you can help with that.
I'll apply Catalina's support roll for next week as well (assuming that the issue isn't made moot this session).
LB
EDIT: almost forgot; +600xp for everyone for full-party posting this week.
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| « Last Edit: on: Jul 1, 2008, 1:46AM » |
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Jenniza
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FROM: Jane Swift, X-COM Field Agent
TO: Michael Garret, X-COM UN Liaison
RE: Mission Report – Abbey in Ireland
Yet another large UFO with three Snakemen outside, several inside. The differences this time were: 1) we were understaffed; 2) a civilian holy Father insisted on joining the gunfight despite nearly getting himself killed (I had to bandage him and protect him … I should have physically restrained him; but, I guess I should be grateful for the extra gunfire); 3) we learned that autofire and stunning rods don’t mix; 4) we learned that Snakemen ignore fragmentation grenades; 5) we learned that the VDU’s worked well; 6) we learned that stunning rods take a long time against Snakemen; 7) we gained a fully intact ship including power supply and fuel cell; but, I’m not happy at the price we almost paid for it with Catalina’s and the others' lives.
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| « Last Edit: on: Jul 1, 2008, 10:47PM » |
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Lazybones
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Just a heads-up: I've asked Boomer to leave the game for a while until his RL situation stabilizes some. He'd missed half of the sessions thus far in the campaign. I wished him well on his job search, and hopefully he'll be able to rejoin us soon.
I will be adding a new player, and will keep you all posted. Several folks have already contacted me asking about the slot; I will try them first. If any of you know of someone who is interested in joining please have them contact me. If you do forward someone please let them know about the radically different nature of this campaign.
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Lazybones
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Update: the flash drive
* * * * *
Agent Drake has a sour look on her face when you come into the briefing room. Director Garret explains the results of your operation with the flash drive.
"Due to the tracking device, we were able to determine when the drive was recovered from the trash cannister. An inspector took it and handed it off to a supply clerk, who in turn took it from the incineration facility. Both men have been taken into custody. We followed the device to a location in Reno, a warehouse facility. The signal was lost there; this prompted Homeland Security to immediately raid the site."
"It turns out that the site was operated by a significant criminal enterprise; in addition to the flash drive, which had been placed in an armored vault hidden on-site, we found sixteen kilograms of methamphetamine, eleven illegal guns, and about six hundred thousand dollars worth of stolen consumer electronics items. Two men fought back and were killed; another six were taken prisoner. The American Department of Homeland Security has already conducted preliminary questioning, and it appears that the six were low- to mid-level operatives for the cartel. Only one had any knowledge of the flash drive, and it seems that their role was limited to forwarding it to a third party, which another member of the group was going to meet in San Francisco in a few days. The criminal had no specific knowledge of when or where this meeting was going to take place. The Americans will conduct a more thorough interrogation later, but at the moment we doubt that we will gain further information from these individuals."
"The Defense Department inspector and the clerk admitted that this was the third flash drive that they'd shipped through this illicit system. They did not know any details about the organization for whom they provided the service, but admitted that they each received one hundred thousand dollars for each delivery that they processed. Most of that money has since been recovered by Homeland Security investigators."
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Lazybones
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Dr. Wagner's weekly e-mail.
FROM: DR. KIMBERLY WAGNER, X-COM RESEARCH LEAD
TO: MEMBERS, ALPHA TEAM
CC: MICHAEL GARRET, GRACE THELON BELUCA
RE: New Research/Manufacturing Priorities
We have several completed projects to report. Workshop 3 is fully staffed and is now online. Work has begun on the Medical Lab in the new West Wing. A second suit of Personal Armor has been finished, with the new berillium lining. Theoretically, this should offer at least some protection against the alien mental powers.
Research Lab 1 reports that it has begun work on the Laser Cannon. Our pilots are happy to hear this; in recent engagements they have been seriously outgunned by the larger alien ships. Research Lab 2 has almost completed its work on the Floater Autopsy and should have its report in a few days. Doctor Sandesh has resumed work on the Heavy Weapons Platform and insists that he will have a working prototype soon, despite the setback of the sabotage incident.
Now that you have recovered an intact supply of the alien fuel, work on alien power systems can proceed quickly. Dr. Okwelume has reported that the device you found in the Everglades is a power coupling that should greatly accelerate research into the alien engine technology.
To summarize, here are our current priorities:
Research Priorities (20 points available)
- Laser Weapons: Research complete. Laser pistols may be constructed.
- Laser Rifle: Research complete.
- Laser Cannon (10): a ship-portable cannon, with superior range and firepower. This technology will allow our interceptors to go toe-to-toe with the larger alien craft. Also, if HWPs are researched, this will allow us to construct a Laser Tank that can accompany X-COM teams in the field. Successful research of the Laser Cannon will allow us to research Laser Defense.
- Motion Scanner: Research complete.
- Heavy Weapons Platforms (5): Research underway.
- Alien Medicine: Research complete. Dr. White's lab will produce a regular supply of the new medikits each week. He reports that when the lab is involved in research projects, such as alien autopsies, the rate of production will slow. Further upgrades may come from research into alien life forms.
- Sectoid Autopsy: Research complete.
- Alien Alloys: Research complete. Personal Armor is now available for manufacture.
- Alien Handgun: We've retained two pistols for research purposes. Until we capture some of the alien power source, research in this area will yield limited results.
- Sectoid Prisoner: Research complete.
- Alien Navigation: Research complete.
- Alien Power Supply: We have captured a supply of the alien fuel source. Research of this material will allow us to understand both the alien propulsion systems, and their weapons, both of which use this material for power.
- Snakeman Autopsy: Research complete. It is clear now that the alien menace is not limited to one species.
- Snakeman Prisoner: The snakeman taken in the Everglades mission was seriously injured in the engagement. At the moment it is stable but uncooperative.
- Alien Rifle: The snakemen carried larger versions of the alien handgun, which apparently rely on similar plasma technology.
- Floater Autopsy (5): This new alien species is apparently a deliberately crafted race, engineered from human and other DNA. Parts of its body have been removed and replaced with alien machinery.
- Floater Prisoner: Initial interactions with the captives taken in Riverside reveals that the creatures have an alien intelligence. Little that is human remains, save for some mannerisms observed by Doctor Baron.
Manufacturing Priorities (30 points)
- Research Capacity: Research Lab 2 is fully operational. Further expansions will run into problems due to base size limitations.
- Medical Capacity (10): Dr. White has requested that we separate the sickbay from the research center, and create a separate lab for his team.
- Manufacturing Capacity: Workshop 3 is fully operational. Further expansions will run into problems due to base size limitations.
- Base Defense: Missile Defense has been completed. Chief Thelon has noted the technical feasibility of creating a laser defense system, once our research into laser weapons technology is sufficiently advanced.
- Laser Pistol: Three units have been constructed.
- Laser Rifle: Ready for manufacturing orders.
- Motion Sensor: Two units have been constructed.
- Personal Armor (10): Two suits have been constructed. Helmets have been upgraded to resist mental attacks.
- Medikit: Doctor White's medical lab can construct a number of these kits each week without compromising our manufacturing capacity. If you wish to dedicate additional resources to the project, the kits can be produced at a faster rate.
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Your current allocations are listed in parens above.
Thus far I have Catalina (Search +11, spy investigation) and Jane (Manufacturing +11, armor upgrading) listed down for this week's skill rolls. Keep those contributions coming, we haven't had a "1" yet!  I've been thinking about granting XP awards for creative application of skills in forum posts... what do you all think?
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| « Last Edit: on: Jul 2, 2008, 12:38AM » |
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Lazybones
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Well, that was quick; I have received word back on one of my queries, and have invited a new player to join us as a replacement for Boomer. I'll post more info about integrating the new PC into the squad as it becomes available.
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Smart Alec
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He was slow in healing. Or, rather, he was not healing fast enough. The alien medicines worked wonders, but he still ached, and weapon recoil sent painful shudders through his chest. The doctors had said it was incredible he had still been on his feet, let alone conscious. He had to 'take it easy', now, with nothing on his mandate but to recover, and compare scars with Beta Team once they got back from the Yukon.
But he was restless; he'd always be restless. They'd found an intact power source, at last, and it was only a matter of time before the aliens realised it. When they did, destruction of X-Com US would be high on their list, he was sure. The aliens had been prepared to sacrifice their lives to keep their technology out of the hands of humans; no doubt they wouldn't think twice about killing humans to do the same. That left him with the choices of either sitting still and worrying, or helping out around the base, and in light of their condition, the new medbay seemed like an even better investment than ever before. The drilling was slow, but there were ways to speed that up. Brutally direct ways, but no less effective for that.
Brutally direct, and explosive.
"You are a thug, Major. Not an ounce of subtlety. Kalinovskaya is news. You hear that? Supposed to be covert, and I am hearing it on the radio, reading it in the newspapers!"
It had been a long time since he'd blown anything up. For good reason.
"I - we achieve objective, sir."
"Your whole team dead, a civilian building levelled? You call that achievement? Get out. High-up wants your head and I'm half inclined to give it to them. Consider yourself reassigned."
Extreme situations always called for extreme measures, but even so, the teams he worked with seemed unlucky of late. The capture of insurgents in Kalinovskaya that had gone horribly wrong, leaving him no choice but to drop a building on friend and enemy alike; and now this, with Team Alpha engaging in a point-blank slugging match with alien forces to save a church, and wading through pain and horror to secure an alien ship. They'd come out alive... barely, and in one case, with one foot in the grave. That had been sheer luck, as frightening a thought as that was.
The last time he'd ordered men in a combat situation they'd all died... but here, was it the absence of a command voice that was killing them? And if one of the civilian members of the squad should die, was it as much his fault for being silent?
That was a thought he couldn't deal with, not yet. Limping, he went in search of Chief Beluca to talk about blasting charges.
***
OOC: Can't not do this, now. Vasily trying to use demolitions expertise to speed up Medlab drilling: Demolitions +9, or possibly 10.
Also, should things get to a more finished stage this week by some minor miracle, then Craft: Mechanical +5 or possibly 6 to help in setting up equipment and furniture.
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| « Last Edit: on: Jul 2, 2008, 2:57AM » |
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Jenniza
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ooc now that we have the alien power supply...
we can study the fuel that powers the ships, the handguns, the rifles... we can build the ships eventually for the pilots, make new improved tanks, base defenses, satellite systems, the works...
i say we RADICALLY start thinking in new ways on research quickly BEFORE we get attacked
anyone that is good at research, get to work on research, please
the snakemen are immune/resistant to lasers/fire, so the entire laser-based technology line is pointless against them (as well as fragmentation grenades).
plasma-based weapons are electrical and might be more effective against some of the aliens.
if we research the alien power supply (10), alien rifle (5), alien handgun (5) we might make some progress. (if that were possible)
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Jenniza
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ooc
Good luck in the job search, Boomer.
Bob and I can relate on some level. We're looking to, for Bob. The writing is on the wall again, so to speak.
His company is imploding (ie: it's outsourcing), and if I told you the harsh treatment of the methods they use to mass fire people, you'd be horrified (walking 90 into a room, closing the door, being told: clean out your desks, go home, don't come into work tomorrow).
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Haven't got any other applicable skills! 
))