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Topic: X-COM Monday Nights Campaign (Read 4486 times) |
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Jenniza
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Jane watched the television's news... three of the world's biggest cities nearly vaporized by the aliens before their eyes. More importantly were the reactions of the people that were directly effected by the devastation caused in its wake... most notably Catalina, the closest thing she had to a friend outside of the counselor.
The gift Jane was getting Catalina was meaningless now... Catalina lost practically everything she called home... possibly even most of her family.
Catalina's reaction was quick and Jane thought that maybe Catalina needed someone to talk to... someone that would listen mainly...
Jane followed Catalina out, and when Catalina wondered what Jane wanted, Jane began, "My parents worked in Tower One the day the airplane hit one floor below their office... I hope you find your parents. If you ever feel like talking, I'm a good listener..."
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| « Last Edit: on: Sep 20, 2008, 4:27AM » |
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Jenniza
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ooc: np, just roleplaying Jane. 
IC
Jane couldn't just let Catalina deal with this alone. Jane had been through this before and had a feeling that Catalina needed someone about now. She knew something of the pain and panic. She helped in the search for anyone in authority, asking guards, researchers, engineers, medical staff, heck even the mainainance personnel and cafeteria workers... anyone that had the slightest clue.
Everyone was in a flurry of excitement. The most obvious place to find some of them then was the Briefing Room.
Most likely, Catalina would be an impossible force out of hell to stop if she got the notion to go into the Briefing Room at this time. Jane would have no intention of stopping Catalina if she intended to go in; but, merely to help her through it afterwards, if she needed it... a one in a million chance... Catalina was strong... and a Brit... still Jane was there if she Catalina needed a show of support. Most of the Senior Staff would know of Jane's parents as a show of silent support for Catalina.
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| « Last Edit: on: Sep 20, 2008, 12:08PM » |
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karvon
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Hadrian watched the unfolding news reports stone-faced. The size and the blatant power of the massive alien ship was mind-numbing. How could they ever hope to counter something like that?
New York, London and Frankfurt gone; was there any rhyme or reason to the targets he wondered?
New York... well, it was the location of the UN HQ, so one potential global center of coordination, and the largest global financial center.
London... in addition to being the UK's capital, was the second largest global financial center. He wondered how much of the Brit leadership had managed to evacuated before the attack. With the few hours notice, he figured most of the key leaders had likely been able to escape.
Frankfurt... hmm, the second largest European continental financial center behind Paris - which obviously wasn't going to be a target - and the largest transportation hub in central Europe.
Yes, at first glance it seemed the aliens were bent on causing the economic collapse of the West. The resulting unrest and chaos in democratic states would bring extreme public pressure to bear on allied Western governments to seek terms with the intruders.
What was equally disturbing was the fact the aliens had not completed their sweep by targeting Tokyo, the third largest global financial center. Had the Japanese secretly sold out already, or had the aliens been advised by their human allies that the Japanese - and other Asians - would cravenly fall into line once they saw the devastation wreaked on the West?
Well these were all issues outside of his pay grade, so all he could do was carry out his role in the missions handed down.
Hopefully, the guys in charge knew what they were doing.
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Smart Alec
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Nothing to do but stare at the television in impotent rage.
"... relief efforts have emergency services on both sides of the Atlantic overwhelmed...
He didn't even understand why. Oh, he grasped the why - it could be a coincidcence, but then they'd fought alien attacks and stolen technology, ships and more and the aliens had only sent token forces their way - yet once of the 'Ethereals' was in their cells, this monster had come and called fire down upon the human race. It hadn't been hard to riddle out the meaning of that. There was a very good chance that X-Com had finally found out just how far the aliens could be pushed.
No, what he didn't see was why New York, why London - and why not X-Com HQ. If the aliens had such massive power... why was X-Com still alive? Were the aliens unwilling to destroy one of their own with the base? But then, why had they not unleashed this giant earlier, and terrified the Earth into submission?
It was a grim thought, but a detached one, he knew. Even watching the television, the footage of the smouldering wastelands that had been three cities, he knew it was not truly sinking in. There were quite a few team members who would be reeling now, and mourning later. And more than a few who would be thanking God that it was not their people who'd suffered.
Which gave rise to the other question that nagged him, as he looked around at the other faces; the shocked, the angry, the terrified.
How could they even continue, now? Or, how, without open revolt from the staff?
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| « Last Edit: on: Sep 21, 2008, 1:40AM » |
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vanya mia
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"What do you mean, I can't?" The blue eyes blazed and fury echoed forth from every square centimetre of Catalina's slight form as she stood, fists clenched at her sides, glaring at Garrett. Voice raised so anyone not beyond a blast door would hear it if, not her words. "These are my parents I am talking about."
"Exactly what I say, you cannot attempt to contact them." Garrett's demeanour was patient as ever, if a little strained from the strength of the assault, his hands held out in a calming gesture. "It's simply not possible. General lines into Britain are jammed. We've received a report from GCHQ Cheltenham but it's brief. They had 45 minutes warning of the heading and reported that evacuation procedures were initialised for all key personnel."
"You have to be able to find out more now!" Catalina insisted, full of impotent anger, "It's been nearly an hour since the attack. What of the Service, does the Director know nothing? There must be more."
"Nothing," Garrett shook his head. "A state of martial law has been declared, that much we know, and the Armed Forces mobilised in anticipation of any assault by French forces. Lines are clogged with localised traffic concerning deployment of troops and aid. GCHQ reported the Prime Minister and Cabinet reached safety, but that was before London was hit. There's a list of staff but neither the Director or the General Officer Commanding of London District are amongst them." His face was apologetic. "Until they contact us there is nothing we can do"
Catalina gave a growl that was a mixture of grief and rage, then spinning on the ball of one foot punched her hand into the nearby door of the briefing room.
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| « Last Edit: on: Sep 20, 2008, 9:38PM » |
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Lazybones
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The mood is grim as Garret calls the team together in Briefing Room 1. Doctor Wagner has schematics and a world map called up on the big monitor screen. Special Agent Drake is not present.
"The alien base is located in Antarctica," Garret says, once you are all present and the door is secured. "It's a major resupply base for their ships, which apparently have a more limited range than we thought."
He nods to Wagner, who brings up different images on the screen; those with medical experience recognize the twisting helices and biological data. "Doctor White is completing his test models. What I'm about to tell you does not leave this room. What he's been working on is a nerve gas targeted at alien physiology. If all goes as plan, it will have catastrophic impact on the aliens' unique biology, without significant effect on human beings. Lab tests have been promising, but don't tell us enough about how it will work in the field. We've been looking at a way to test it without endangering Earth; this Antarctic base may be just the thing."
"If it works the way we project, it just might turn the tide of the war," Wagner says.
"Our prisoners, especially the snakeman leader, have been very helpful in explaining more about the alien civilization," Garret continues. "Everything we learn makes our situation appear more grim."
Wagner brings up another report on the big screen.
"We hope to gain more insight once we finish work on this new alien, the 'ethereal'. Thus far it has resisted interrogation, but we intend to keep working on it until we learn what we have to know."
"Preparations for the base attack are being made as we speak," Garret continues. "The new Lightning craft will arrive tomorrow, and we've already been preparing a module to accept the gas that will be deployed from Firestorm-1. Our captives have revealed that the bases are heavily defended, but we've learned a lot about the aliens and their systems, and it's time to give them a surprise or two for once. In addition to deploying the gas, Firestorm-1 will take out their communications and sensor array. And the biggest surprise for them will be when their battleship lands to resupply."
He pauses for a moment to let this sink in. "That's right. We can't shoot it down, but once it's docked for supplies, we're going to have a little surprise waiting for that damned ship. That last navigator you captured spilled the protocols for their ship refueling missions, so the Lightning is going to pretend to be their comm array, and send an all-clear signal once you've taken the base and have set up the ambush."
"I know you've all been watching the news reports. The entire human race has taken a hit, and there's damned little that the nations of the world can do about it. So it's up to us. Don't let us down."
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| « Last Edit: on: Sep 20, 2008, 10:35PM » |
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Jenniza
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Jane listened to what was proposed. She thought the humans and the aliens were escalating to extremes. She wondered when genocide would be considered a viable option for both sides' strategists. Jane didn't see this ending well for either side. She knew the Earth was in a lose-lose situation. She would continue her job anyway.
ooc: Shall we play a game?
How about a nice game of Chess?
-- War Games
*grins*
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| « Last Edit: on: Sep 21, 2008, 5:15AM » |
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cigol712
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OOC: ....God, I can't believe how exciting the campaign has gotten and I can't play. This is coming as a huge apology—life has finally caught up and I need to take a break from NWN for a month or two (grad courses + work + social life need attention). I just need the time to sort out what's going on over here and hopefully I'll be back soon. This goes to Smart_Alec too as I have to drop the Firefly campaign as well for now.
Really, really sorry guys. Hope to be back before the end of the campaign, though, or at least able to see what happens.
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Jenniza
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ooc good luck Cigol. School comes first as with all real life issues. I look forward to your return and to gaming with you again. You've been a lot of fun to game with.
hugs,
Stephanie
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Jenniza
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ooc: Bob's still not sure what he wants to play and asked for suggestions of areas where we need gaps filled, because right now his character is a blank slate.
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Jenniza
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Scene: Dr. Beauvais’s Office
Jane knocked on Dr. Beauvais’s door and Dr. Beauvais answered, “Please come in.”
As they sat down, Jane said with a smile, “Thank you. How are you holding up through all this, Dr. Beauvais?”
The counselor asked, “As well as can be expected, Jane. How about you?”
Jane gave some thought, “Me too, thank you,” she sighed. She continued, “I’ve been watching the news reports coming in… the devastation… the impact it’s had on the world… on everyone here… my friends… even me… Communications are jammed… no one can reach their families… I’m worried about mine. This reminds me the day I lost my parents on 9/11 only many more magnitudes worse for the entire world. When 9/11 happened, some of the country were scared it would just get worse; but, mainly it bound the country together to counter the threat and fight it off at all costs. That is what I believe is going to happen here with these attacks in the end. It will get worse… it will get bloody… but they have yet to face the real beasts that lay below the psyche of the human race. We are survivors in a dogfight.” There was a hint of anger in her voice; but mainly what was disturbing was that her voice was relatively calm through this like she’d seen this all too many times before.
The counselor picked up on that, “You sound like you have experience with that area.”
Jane nodded, “I grew up in a neighborhood that bordered on another that was prone to gang wars. They would start over the tiniest of things and would escalate very quickly… getting extremely bloody. The depths that people sank to were extremely low in taking revenge, etc. Keeping out of sight was often the only way to survive. Getting out of he neighborhood was the best thing our family could have done; but, I taught us some valuable lessons on the human condition. I’m just glad I ended up on the straight and narrow path of the law. Many of the people I knew back where I grew up are probably dead, etc.”
The counselor realized the connection, “You grew up in New York, didn’t you?”
Jane nodded and sniffed back some tears finally, “They were dead before today, Dr. Beauvais, or moved away. Whoever was left I long since distanced myself from… but still… I mourn for them all as a city, just like London and Frankfurt. I mourn for us as a planet. Still, we have work to do, the missions continue. I’m sure we’ll have time to mourn at the appropriate time. You’ll probably end up helping us all through that process.”
The counselor nodded again, “I guess I will. Well, I think our time is up. See you next week, same time?”
Jane replied, “Sure thing, Doctor Beauvais. Thank you. Take care.”
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Jenniza
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on Sep 17, 2008, 3:05 PM, Smart Alec wrote:
((Manufacturing suggestion: Plasma Cannon (20), Powered Armour (16). Yes, there are 3 suits of powered armour floating around; Soheil's, Vasily's, and James's, though James hasn't got the proficiency for it and only took it because neither Jane or Hadrian wanted it at that time.))
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ooc:
Okay... I need to point out a correction here:
Plasma Cannon (20) isn't even on the Manufacturing list as an option, it's not Heavy Plasma Weapon which isn't even researched for another 2-3 weeks yet. It's a component that's installed to Plasma tanks, Plasma Inteceptors, Plasma Defense, etc. They get it automatically, as we already researched it... correct?
[IGNORE MY ABOVE DRIVEL, PLEASE ;]
[MAJOR EDIT to match SA's post below:]
36 points Manufacturing:
20 Plasma Defense
16 Powered Armor for Jane (attempting to streamline/lighten it with Jane's help, craft mech +14)
Thanks SA!!!!!!!
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| « Last Edit: on: Sep 22, 2008, 5:04PM » |
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Smart Alec
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Vasily blinked. Gas? Vague, confused memories of Moscow floated up in his hindbrain. He pushed it aside with the knowledge that it was unlikely there'd be any civilians in Antarctica.
But still... here was a UN agency sanctioning the use of a nerve agent upon the aliens. He wasn't sure how many articles of war that violated.
Oh well, he thought, thinking briefly of a giant ship and three burning cities. They started it.
The southern nature of the whole enterprise rang a few irony bells, too. Antarctica! Who'd have thought, a subject to talk to Alyssa about. Only, several months too late and classified. Heh.
***
on Sep 22, 2008, 3:05 PM, Jenniza wrote:| ooc: Bob's still not sure what he wants to play and asked for suggestions of areas where we need gaps filled, because right now his character is a blank slate. |
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OOC: Don't think we have any gaps, come to think of it. Vasily, Hadrian, Jane and Catalina are all good shots, Catalina, Jane and Hadrian all have sneakiness covered to some degree, James (and Jane?) have the medical angle covered and Catalina has the traps and smarts angle.
That's the magical 4-man team of Fighter, Rogue, Cleric and Wizard, more or less, so I'd guess Bob can be who and what he wants. Having said that, you can't go wrong with a guy good with a gun. 
Or another doctor. 'Cos, like, Dr. Allen is never here.  Sign up, Chiz!
Edit: When referring to 'Plasma Cannon' I did, in fact, mean 'Plasma Defence'.
To quote the update post:
| Base Defense: Missile Defense and Laser Defense have been completed. Plasma Defense may be constructed. Current base defense factor: 40 |
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So that would be Base Defence (Plasma) (20) and Powered Armour (16 plus Jane's help in streamlining it). Sorry about the confusion. Dunno about you, but my take on things was that giving the base a bigger gun was probably more urgent than fixing the tanks, especially given that once we take their battleship, they'll be hopping mad.
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| « Last Edit: on: Sep 22, 2008, 5:46PM » |
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vanya mia
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She had avoided the doctor's approaches, ignored her emails, skipped appointments and generally dodged extended contact with anyone, beyond the briefing and odd grunts when it couldn't be avoided. However, through persistance Dr Beauvois managed to corner Catalina in the firing range, where she had spent most of her time since the conversation with Garrett. A hand on her arm stopped Catalina simply walking away, so instead she turned.
"Don't." Blue eyes hard, Catalina snapped at Beauvois. "I don't want to hear it. You do not understand, you cannot understand. It's not just that it's my parents, it's not even the not knowing."
"I knew my parents may be dead, but it didn't seem real. I stretched that to 6 aunts and uncles, three grandparents, and 7 cousins, and it still wasn't real. So I started smaller. My school friends." She shook her head. "Still nothing. My colleagues in the service, and the answer was still no."
"So I tried the fellow I met in a club last New Year's eve, and it struck me." Catalina drew a deep breathe and paused momentarily. "The Gardening Club is gone, so is Trafalgar Square where we went later. Harrods, Carnegie Street, the lovely little Italian restaurant near Charing Cross station, Charing Cross Station too. St Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, the Embankment, the Tower of London, the Crown Jewels the Palace of Westminster, Big bloody Ben." Catalina drew a breath. " It's all gone. Everything, everything is gone!"
"So don't you tell me talking about it will help, because it won't." Catalina spat venomously. "There's nothing to be done but taking the bastards out, or going down trying." She jerked her arm away from Beauvois. "Good day, Counsellor."
Turning back to the targets and pushing the black hair out of her eyes, Catalina resumed firing.
((OOC - A spare doc who's good with a gun! Yay for that. Just make sure he/she can wear powered armour.  ))
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| « Last Edit: on: Sep 22, 2008, 6:41PM » |
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Lazybones
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RE Bob's character, I agree, any class is welcome at this point. I also agree that planning ahead to take the Medium Armor Proficiency should be a priority.
* * * * *
Alpha Team is in the middle of a drill in preparation for the base assault mission when the call comes down over the base intercom.
"Prep for incoming casualties!"
The Alphas join the medical teams as they rush to Hangar 2. Skyranger 2 looks like it's been in a war zone, with ugly black streaks covering its hull; black smoke trails from one engine housing.
The medics board the ship even before it settles fully to a halt. Perez is brought out first. A pad sodden in red blood is pressed into the socket where his right arm used to be. Ama Ngunyi is brought out on a stretcher, her entire body wrapped in a translucent stasis sheath that cannot hide the blackened wreck of her chest. Jurgin Ritter looks dazed, his face streaked with soot. A medic escorts him gently to the medical bay.
Later. Alyssa Sanders is recounting what happened. The members of Alpha Team linger in the background during the debrief.
"We didn't get a lot from the Ranger 2 combat recorders; the ship's computer was fried by one of those plasma bolts," Grace is saying, as she works the controls on the command console in the briefing room. Garret prods Alyssa to fill in the gaps.
"They attacked us just a few moments after we were all out of the ship," Alyssa says. "Ama took a hit in the chest that went through her Personal Armor like tissue; Jurgin was able to drag her back into the ship while we set up a perimeter."
"They were big, green... bright green all over, their skin, or a suit of some sort. Our lasers and bullets did nothing, at least, I didn't see any of them bleeding. If they even have blood. Purple faces, I remember, like masks, like Halloween masks..."
She trails off. Beauvois shakes her head, but Garret prods her gently to resume her narrative. "They would have gotten us all, but for Svenn. He charged them... he poured a full belt from that cannon of his into one, but it didn't even flinch... He attacked it in close combat, yelling for us to get out... They fell on him, all of them... They took him in their hands... They tore his arms off, and then the one he'd shot grabbed by his head..."
The woman's eyes are haunted as she looks up at you. "There were only three of them. Three..."
Garret makes a quiet gesture, and one of the medtechs takes the woman off to the medical bay.
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vanya mia
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There's a slightly haunted look on Catalina's face echoed that of Alyssa's as she listened in. When the Beta member was escorted away she asked, "Is he gone? Svenn? If they can do that how do we deal with them?"
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| « Last Edit: on: Sep 23, 2008, 12:22AM » |
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Sorry to see you go fella, on both counts.)) 