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“For starters, Dr. Vahlen has requested for further alien captures the crashed UFO will be the perfect place. The more captures the better, and if possible, one of each variety of alien that’s down there. You have your discretion on how thorough you want to be for the good doctor’s experiments” Bradford explains, idly resting his hand on his Arc Thrower.

“Next, the alien abduction. My team has confirmed several MELD canisters deployed in the area alongside the usual vanguard forces present. Dr. Shen has expressed a particular interest in securing as many of the MELD canisters as possible before they expire to shore up the expenditure for the MEC division.” Bradford continues.

“A timed mission… ugh.” Q-Tip, Jimmy’s second, mutters quietly.

“Finally, we have the VIP mission. The VIP in question is Dr. Hongou Marazuki and his team. An expert in astrophysics studying alien invasion craft patterns. Marizuki is the prime objective with the rest of his team being deemed ‘acceptable losses’ by the Council. The Commander has something else in mind. She wants as many of Marazuki’s team EVAC’d safely. Yes, whichever picks this will effectively be herding cats for this one, but that’s the Commander’s orders.” Bradford finishes.

“Hm. Welp, you fine with whatever, Hornet?” Jimmy asks Strike-7’s lead, a very no-nonsense medic of all things. An interesting choice for officer.

“We’ll be fine.” Hornet says plainly.

“Great.” Jimmy claps. “I say you get first dibs, Dozer.”

“Huh? Why me first?” You blink.

“It’s gonna be your first real op you’ll be leading, yeah? I say you get off with the whole squad leader thing on the right foot.” Jimmy chuckles.

You look over to Loki, who shrugs at that. Bradford is indifferent at this mostly, but is keenly observing you. It’s safe to assume in his eyes he still is waiting to see if you’re a good enough leader.

Hm...

>The UFO Crash Site. The easier op and a nice warm up. Vahlen would appreciate it.
>The Alien Abduction. A moderate challenge and a timed one at that. Dr. Shen would be grateful.
>The VIP Escort. The most difficult mission dealing with civvies. The Commander would be pleased.

>>2490856
>>The VIP Escort. The most difficult mission dealing with civvies. The Commander would be pleased.

>>2490856
>The VIP Escort. The most difficult mission dealing with civvies. The Commander would be pleased.

>>2490856
>>The UFO Crash Site. The easier op and a nice warm up. Vahlen would appreciate it.

>>2490856
>>The VIP Escort. The most difficult mission dealing with civvies. The Commander would be pleased.

>>2490856
>The Alien Abduction. A moderate challenge and a timed one at that. Dr. Shen would be grateful.

>>2490856
>>The UFO Crash Site. The easier op and a nice warm up. Vahlen would appreciate it.

>>2490858
>>2490877
>>2490934
VIP Escort it is, writing!

>>2491001
Will We ever get around to finding out how the hell we ended up in the Commandy One's bedroom?

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>>2491043

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>>2491054
That's not an answer I can live with damnit!

>>2491062
Clearly we must get on her good side so that she tells us.

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“Strike-1 will handle the escort mission.” You decide looking at the mission site’s location on the hologlobe, an observatory in the United Kingdom.

“Going big? Hah!” Jimmy whistles at that. “You’re sure about that, Dozer?”
“Yeah. Strike-1 already has successful experience with escorting VIPs, our team had secured Van Doorn before and I trust they can handle scientists.” You explain your reasoning, more to the dubious Bradford than anything else. Sure, Rook was leading the team back then but the point still stands.

“Fine by me, let the ‘A-Team’ handle that mess.” Hornet says bluntly, stressing her words on the word A-team. You raise an eyebrow at that. To which Hornet merely shrugs. “Strike-1 ultimately took that Battleship as a whole, your group’s reputation is going around.”

“Oi, there were other teams that took that damn floating hunk of metal.” Jimmy counters.

“Enough.” Bradford snaps, cutting the banter off before it could really start. “Focus on the task of hand.”

“Yeah yeah…” Jimmy scratches his chin.

The final two operations are doled out between Jimmy and Hornet’s Strike teams as you discuss mission details and specifics with Loki. A secluded area in the mountains, minor civilian presence besides staff due to the observatory’s location, a Raider-class Medium UFO dropped off the enemy force, etc. Briefing sorted, you and the other troopers make your way to the Armory to link up with their respective teams.

“Good luck out there, give ‘em hell.” Jimmy fist bumps you before splitting off to link up his team with Q-Tip as you arrive at the Armory.

“We’ll be dealing with multiple civilians to escort and a strong alien presence.” Loki reiterates. “Squad you ultimately decide will need to be capable of looking after the civs and minimize collateral damage while being strong enough to deal with the aliens in the AO.”

You nod, you have to pick five team members with the most synergy to deal with mission at hand. Naru and Rook are still out of action due to their respective situations, which narrows it down. But unfortunately, until the Skyranger is upgraded you can’t take everyone. Of course, there's also always the option to bring SHIV along to minimize injuries. Who will be on deck?

>Peppermint. Sniper. The Observatory would be a good perch for her.
>Loki. Engineer. Explosives would help thin the enemy force.
>Sweet. Medic. He can look after the squad and the civs.
>Zhang. Gunner. Keeping the aliens pinned through suppression will give you more options.
>Rachel. MEC. Sweet gave the green light for her and she'd make a drastic difference in the battle.
>Burnout. Scout. Intel on enemy positions would make escorting the civs safer.
>Harita. Assault. Her stealth and close quarters expertise would cause havoc on the aliens.
>SHIV. A mobile weapons platform to take the hits for the squad.

(Pick five. I'll tally and pick the top five members who have the most votes. I'll wait a bit longer for this vote!)

>>2491110
>>Peppermint. Sniper. The Observatory would be a good perch for her.
>Sweet. Medic. He can look after the squad and the civs.
>Zhang. Gunner. Keeping the aliens pinned through suppression will give you more options.
>Rachel. MEC. Sweet gave the green light for her and she'd make a drastic difference in the battle.
>Burnout. Scout. Intel on enemy positions would make escorting the civs safer.

>>2491110
>Peppermint. Sniper. The Observatory would be a good perch for her.
>Loki. Engineer. Explosives would help thin the enemy force.
>Sweet. Medic. He can look after the squad and the civs.
>Rachel. MEC. Sweet gave the green light for her and she'd make a drastic difference in the battle.
>SHIV. A mobile weapons platform to take the hits for the squad.

>>2491110
>>Peppermint. Sniper. The Observatory would be a good perch for her.
>Sweet. Medic. He can look after the squad and the civs.
>Rachel. MEC. Sweet gave the green light for her and she'd make a drastic difference in the battle.
>Burnout. Scout. Intel on enemy positions would make escorting the civs safer.
>Zhang. Gunner. Keeping the aliens pinned through suppression will give you more options.

>>2491110
>Peppermint. Sniper. The Observatory would be a good perch for her.
>Loki. Engineer. Explosives would help thin the enemy force.
>Sweet. Medic. He can look after the squad and the civs.
>Rachel. MEC. Sweet gave the green light for her and she'd make a drastic difference in the battle.
>Burnout. Scout. Intel on enemy positions would make escorting the civs safer.

>>2491110
>Peppermint. Sniper. The Observatory would be a good perch for her.
>Sweet. Medic. He can look after the squad and the civs.
>Zhang. Gunner. Keeping the aliens pinned through suppression will give you more options.
>Rachel. MEC. Sweet gave the green light for her and she'd make a drastic difference in the battle.
>Burnout. Scout. Intel on enemy positions would make escorting the civs safer.

>>2491110
>Peppermint. Sniper. The Observatory would be a good perch for her.
>Sweet. Medic. He can look after the squad and the civs.
>Zhang. Gunner. Keeping the aliens pinned through suppression will give you more options.
>Burnout. Scout. Intel on enemy positions would make escorting the civs safer.
>Harita. Assault. Her stealth and close quarters expertise would cause havoc on the aliens.

Calling the vote here, writing!

>>2491110
>Peppermint. Sniper. The Observatory would be a good perch for her.
>Sweet. Medic. He can look after the squad and the civs.
>Zhang. Gunner. Keeping the aliens pinned through suppression will give you more options.
>Rachel. MEC. Sweet gave the green light for her and she'd make a drastic difference in the battle
>Zhang. Gunner. Keeping the aliens pinned through suppression will give you more options..

>>2491255
TWICE THE ZHANG

>>2491110
>Zhang. Gunner. Keeping the aliens pinned through suppression will give you more options.
>Zhang. Gunner. Keeping the aliens pinned through suppression will give you more options.
>Zhang. Gunner. Keeping the aliens pinned through suppression will give you more options.
>Zhang. Gunner. Keeping the aliens pinned through suppression will give you more options.
>Zhang. Gunner. Keeping the aliens pinned through suppression will give you more options.

>>2491110
>Commander. Sniper. The Observatory would be a good perch for her.
>Bradford.Medic. He can look after the squad and the civs.
>Vahlen. Engineer. Explosives would help thin the enemy force.
>Shen. MEC. Sweet gave the green light for him and he'd make a drastic difference in the battle.

COMMAND STAFF ONLY, FINAL DESTINATION.

>>2491110
>Peppermint. Sniper. The Observatory would be a good perch for her.
>Sweet. Medic. He can look after the squad and the civs.
>Zhang. Gunner. Keeping the aliens pinned through suppression will give you more options.
>Rachel. MEC. Sweet gave the green light for her and she'd make a drastic difference in the battle.
>Burnout. Scout. Intel on enemy positions would make escorting the civs safer.

>>2491359
>Vahlen. Engineer. Explosives would help thin the enemy force.
>Vahlen. Engineer.
Delete this my guy

>>2491405
Eh... fair enough. Given how much she bitches about explosives.

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A quick look at your squad’s composition and a team starts to form together. Given the nature of the terrain and the mission as a whole you have settled on a more stationary team with a solid base of fire and strong support utility should fill the needs out for this operation. Peppermint, Sweet, Zhang, Burnout, and Rachel will be the team you lead for the mission.

Loki, seeing as she’ll not be needed for the operation ahead takes her leave, having given you as much pre-mission advice and squad tactics related assistance as she could. After bidding you good luck, you head over to meet with the team you’ll be heading out with, explaining the situation as you gear up with your team, switching their loadouts accordingly with the objectives in mind.

“Civvies, huh? Fun.” Sweet muses. “I guess I’ll pack extra medikits for the trip then.”

“As long as we are efficient in the operation, perhaps we will not need the extra medical supplies.” Zhang comments as he hefts the autolaser in his hands. You've yet to see him in combat besides when you extracted him, but his scores on the shooting range have been excellent.

“If you keep them out of my line of fire, efficiency won’t be an issue.” Peppermint answers in way that sounds less like boasting except more as a matter of fact. Normally you’d not be much of a fan of such statements if other people had said it, but Peppermint has more than earned it with what you’ve seen of her marksmanship.

Burnout is naturally as laid back as ever cigarette free at the moment for the sole reason that the Armorer would kick him out of the armory.

You take stock of your gear, scatterlaser primed and in hand. Unfortunately there isn’t any Phalanx Armor available yet, so you’re team will still be going in with Kevlar. Hopefully trying out the a suit during Muton interrogation will get them out faster by next mission so you and your team will be in a better protected. But for now it’s another mission sporting kevlar and the familiar bulkiness of an ceramic plate.

Rachel, upon hearing she’s going out had made her way to the new MEC loading bay to sort things out. You had guessed she had that aspect under control, until a runner had approached you over something with your squad’s MEC. Hoping it's not anything serious, you head over to check and tell the squad to meet you and Rachel at the hanger.

(Part 1 / 2)

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The MEC bay, initially the equipment Repair Bay until refurbished to accommodate MECs, reminds you of a miniature cargo yard, with the cranes and other heavy machinery, where instead of shipping containers it’s large racks holding the three MEC suits and accompanying equipment. At the center of the room, is Rachel, completely limbless and hanging on a sort’ve pulley as she is in the process of being implanted into one of the suits with a small army of technicians and engineers scurrying around her.

“Yo!” Rachel casually greets you over the noise. Her helmet already on her head, indifferent that she’s just a mere torso at the moment. “What do you reckon is the best MEC suit to bring along for the op? Goliath, Marauder, or Archer?”

You blink, still a bit thrown off at the sight. You’ve gotten used to Rachel with her augs but with all of them removed it’s--

“Hey, time’s wasting here! I don’t want to keep the gang waiting!” Rachel presses, pulling you out of your distraction. “It’s like trying to decide what shoes to wear, and it sucks! Should I go punchy, flamey, or artillery?”

Hm, tough call.

>Goliath. Getting into close range with the Kinetic Strike Module will keep the pressure on XCOM and not the civvies.
>Marauder. The flamethrower will be able to provide excellent area denial.
>Archer. The artillery support will keep the enemy pinned down and destroy their cover.
>You trust Rachel to make the right call here. She knows what she’s most proficient with.
>Other

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>>2491449
>>2491449
>>You trust Rachel to make the right call here. She knows what she’s most proficient with.

"Go with your Gut, Girl!"

Let's just hope the civilians won't be too freaked out by seeing a MEC for the first time.

>>2491449
>You trust Rachel to make the right call here. She knows what she’s most proficient with.

>>2491449
>You trust Rachel to make the right call here. She knows what she’s most proficient with.

>>2491449
>Marauder. The flamethrower will be able to provide excellent area denial.

>>2491449
Archer. The artillery support will keep the enemy pinned down and destroy their cover.

>>2491449
>You trust Rachel to make the right call here. She knows what she’s most proficient with.

>>2491462
>>2491468
>>2491481
>>2491576
Rachel's call it is, writing!

>>2491449
>>You trust Rachel to make the right call here. She knows what she’s most proficient with.
I feel like she'd pick the punch bot chassis

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“It’s your call, Rachel.” You say shaking your head. “You know the most out of which chassis you’re most comfortable here.”

“But they’re all so badass!” Rachel complains, dangling slightly from the hook. “I really can’t decide here, man… nngh… OK. Uh, Goliath it is! I’ll punch the shit out of some aliens!”

At that, the Engineers spring into action, having been waiting on the final call and likely running secondary system checks or things like that. Out of curiosity, you watch Rachel fully interface with the Goliath suit. The process could be boiled down to the pilot slotting into the chassis, but the process is still mesmerizing in a way. First the chassis, and then the arms and equipment. Like pit crew for a race car track the engi’s get Rachel ready to go, finally handing her her autocannon. KSM module already mounted on her off arm.

[Combat ready.] Rachel says to you in satisfaction, her voice now modulated and picking up into your armor’s comms. She moves to the side and motions handles on the back shoulder. [Hop on. I’ll get us to the hanger faster.]

Interesting. You agree hopping onto Rachel’s back, gripping onto the provided handholds. The both of you head out, Rachel being much quicker with her longer legs closing the gap rather quickly. Who would’ve thought piggybacking into combat would be a thing outside of creative training drills. XCOM staff keep a wide berth from the MEC, not wanting to get trampled as you arrive at the hanger where the squad and Skyranger awaits.

“You are a big target.” Peppermint says plainly to Rachel as she comes to a stop and you hop off.

[Good luck trying to inflict moderate damage.] Rachel replies back.

“Hm.” Zhang watches as Rachel boards first looking interested at the massive MEC suit and it’s accompanying gear. “Who would have thought we would become like the enemy to fight them.”

“Reality’s stranger than fiction.” Burnout says, now with a cigarette between his lis. He nods to you and steps into the Skyranger with the others.

With other Skyrangers waiting in the Hanger, you board the dropship, strap in, and the pilot sets off to the UK. Heading off to your first real op as squad leader. As time passes on the flight over you notice It’s a bit more of a cramped fit with Rachel’s MEC in the passenger hold, even despite it being built to accommodate itself into the Skyranger. The rest of squad is generally as you’d expect them to be, psyching themselves up in whatever ritual they do to get ready. Except this time however you are listen to constant mission updates from Mission Control. More to keep track of but thankfully manageable.

What do you do to pass the time?

>Focus on keeping up to date with Mission details. You want to be on the ball as soon as the ramp lowers.
>Prepare yourself mentally for combat. You really don’t want to lose control of the situation.
>Speak with the squad. Gauge everyone’s readiness for the battle ahead.
>Other

>>2491681
>Focus on keeping up to date with Mission details. You want to be on the ball as soon as the ramp lowers.

>>2491681
>>Focus on keeping up to date with Mission details. You want to be on the ball as soon as the ramp lowers.

>>2491681
>>Focus on keeping up to date with Mission details. You want to be on the ball as soon as the ramp lowers.

>>2491681
>Focus on keeping up to date with Mission details. You want to be on the ball as soon as the ramp lowers.

>>2491681
>>Focus on keeping up to date with Mission details. You want to be on the ball as soon as the ramp lowers.

>>2491681
>Stay up to date on details

>>2491681
>>>Focus on keeping up to date with Mission details. You want to be on the ball as soon as the ramp lowers.

>>2491693
>>2491698
>>2491700
>>2491706
>>2491724
>>2491743
>>2491753
Mission details it is, writing!

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As tempting as it is to chat with the rest of the squad, which apparently has Rachel spearheading the particular topic involving sardines of all things. You however opt to keep an ear to the constant chatter from Mission Control for both the VIP mission up ahead and to keep track of the other two Strike Team’s operations. Obviously more of the former than the latter, but it’s always good to have some form of big picture. There could be a chance after all of a possible new alien sighting, given how XCOM has been out of the loop for some time.

The only catch is that it really is quite the art to sift through the constant chatter. Even with Mission Control keeping the information as clear and as simple as possible, there’s simply a lot to unpack and restructure in your head into something coherent. You quickly see why Rook always was pretty quiet during each flight to an op if he was keeping up to date on things.

Can you get the hang of it without?

>Roll 1d20

Rolled 16 (1d20)

>>2491803

Rolled 3 (1d20)

>>2491803

Rolled 12 (1d20)

>>2491803

>>2491359
Switch Bradford's and Vahlen's classes and you're good to go. Remember, Bradford suggests you to blow up the relays instead of interacting with them when you do Gangplank in the game.

Rolled 6 (1d20)

>>2491803

Rolled 5 (1d20)

>>2491803

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Placing a hand over your other hear, you listen carefully to the constant stream of mission details from the rather bubbly sounding female Mission Control operator who is essentially your support element from XCOM HQ. You are able to effectively communicate with the operator, and have her narrow the mission info down to the critical intel.

From what you’ve gathered from the operator alongside the pre-mission brief you were given prior to leaving, Dr. Marazuki was a high value asset to the Council and a reasonable detachment of Council affiliated security personnelle was stationed in his observatory. The good news was that that means they were able to put up a fight and get the scientist and most of his team to the relatively fortified main building of the facility once the aliens attacked, establishing an effective killzone. The bad news is the Council forces suffered heavily and their defenses and you have no confirmation of accurate numbers for both sides.

You relay the important tidbits to the team but otherwise let them have the time they need to get ready. Before you know it, the red lights come on in the Skyranger, signaling preparation from deployment.

“Dark Sky to Strike-1, we’re pulling up to the AO now. Whole mountain’s practically on fire down there.” The Skyranger pilot explains through the comms. “I see a few good LZs I can drop you kiddies off. We have a Raven wing in the air to provide me air support but we won’t last long if they send if that Raider comes back and has its sights on me.”

A nearby monitor, beside the ramp lights up showing camera footage below. You can see IR footage of a pod of Floaters skirmishing around the main building, glowing bright streaks of plasma fire lighting up the screen with each shot.

[I suggest we fast deploy next to the main building and ontop of those Floaters.] Rachel suggests. [Start to get the fire away from the main building.]

“That is risky for the Skyranger if we don’t clear the LZ quick enough.” Peppermint shakes her head, somewhat annoyed by how brazen Rachel is. “I would deploy the squad in the edge of the observatory, in that clearing in the woods.. We can secure an evacuation for the civilians immediately.”

“That is too far.” Burnout answer simply. “There is a landing site large enough in the parking lot, which is in the middle of the other landing sites.”

“The aliens possibly have set up overwatch in the buildings near the parking lot” Zhang murmurs.

“We’re about to enter the AO now, Strike-1. I where you want to land now.” Dark Sky says.

>Fast rope down next to the main building. Get right into the fight immediately and secure the safety of Dr. Marazuki right away. The Skyranger could get damaged during deployment.
>Secure the parking lot. A relatively short evac distance to escort the civvies. Possible overwatch trap.
>Land on the forest clearing. The safest approach from immediate contact, the safest landing for the Skyranger. It's unfortunately also the farthest.

>>2491892
>Land on the forest clearing. The safest approach from immediate contact, the safest landing for the Skyranger. It's unfortunately also the farthest.
Maybe we can clear the buildings around the parking lot and have the Skyranger extract the doctor from there?

>>2491892
>Land on the forest clearing. The safest approach from immediate contact, the safest landing for the Skyranger. It's unfortunately also the farthest.

No way are we going to risk insane stunts like some action movie.

>>2491892
>>Secure the parking lot. A relatively short evac distance to escort the civvies. Possible overwatch trap.

Hey guys, we're slow and heavy squad. Get closer.

>>2491892
>>Land on the forest clearing. The safest approach from immediate contact, the safest landing for the Skyranger. It's unfortunately also the farthest.

>>2491892
>>Secure the parking lot. A relatively short evac distance to escort the civvies. Possible overwatch trap.
In case people forgot, this is a VIP escort missions, not a normal kill all aliens safely mission. Think Terror missions, where if you took even a single turn too long the civilians dies too much. Don't disappoint the Commander

>>2491892
>>Secure the parking lot. A relatively short evac distance to escort the civvies. Possible overwatch trap.

>>2491922
switch to parking lot.

>>2491892
>>Secure the parking lot. A relatively short evac distance to escort the civvies. Possible overwatch trap.

>>2491915
>>2491922
>>2491935
>>2491936
>>2491938
Parking lot it is, writing!

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Rolled 2 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

“Go for the parking lot!” You call out as you and the rest of the squad stand up, ready for deployment.

“You got it, just make sure nobody scratches the paint on my bird!” Dark Sky replies.

The Skyranger quickly lurches to a slow and begins its descent onto the floor as you all prepare for exit. You take lead right at the ramp, with Zhang beside you and the rest of the squad behind. Given the nature of Rachel and her large MEC, she’ll be one of the last down the ramp. With a loud groan, the ramp begins to lower. The the orange glow of the late afternoon sun intermixed with the crackling fires of the forest beam into the ramp, blinding you for only a split second. As soon as the incline is steep enough to traverse, you’re already rushing out down the ramp right into the fray.

The parking lot is in flames, with several empty and burning cars having crashed into one another near the main entrance. A pickup truck lodged into a tree near a knocked down part of fence means that some of the others tried more unconventional escapes with unfortunate results. The distinct sound ballistic and plasma fire ring out in the air as you look over to see the main observatory is swarming with five or six floaters dashing about in the air in circles, reminding you of indians surrounding a wagon train.

You plant your ass behind a car as Zhang does the same in another and scan the area for any immediate contact as you wait for the tense five or six seconds for your entire squad to deploy. You and Zhang need your eyes on the lookout for any concealed aliens should they be waiting for most of your squad to pour out to get the best chance to score damage on an exposed mass of enemies. While the nearby buildings are only at worst two stories high that’s still a two stories of distinct height advantage on your team.

>Roll 1d20+1

Rolled 14 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>2491980

Rolled 18 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>2491980

Rolled 1 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>2491980
Rolling

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>>2491986
Ouch! Off to an unlucky start with the mission! Do you guys want to use a saved crit? You have three in the bank.

>Y/N

>>2491991
>Y

>>2491991
>>Y

>>2491991
Y

>>2491991
>Y

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Rolled 11 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>2491994
>>2491997
>>2491999
>>2492000
Using the crit then!

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And… there! Fuck, you almost missed spotting those agile lanky bastards peeking their heads from above!

“Thin Men on that roof!” You shout to Zhang pointing to one of the buildings. Dropping your shotgun, you reach for laser pistol and promptly start blasting away at the rooftop. Zhang who was more focused on contact on the ground immediately responds to your alert and replants his autolaser on the roof of his car and starts suppressing fire, letting out bursts of laser fire on the roof.

The Thin Men attempt to exchange fire back but are successfully suppressed by both Zhang and your own combined fire long enough for the rest of the squad fully dismount safely and begin to return fire, with Rachel charging out like the walking tank she now straight out the Skyranger, slightly cracking the cement with each step from her MEC suit. The Thin Men upon seeing Rachel immediately duck back out of line of sight but still remain on the roof. They occasionally blindfire from above, their elongated arms making it rather easy to do so. Their shots are mostly wide, but much more accurate than any human attempt at blindfire.

The Skyranger quickly retracts it’s ramp shut, protecting it’s exposed interior. The Skyranger can take a reasonable beating but plasma fire still melts through any time of armor. The sooner you can secure the LZ the better.

“Damn.” Peppermint hisses, as one of her snap shots from her laser sniper rifle just barely misses boring a a burning hole between the eyes of one of the Thin Men, who scamper away from the surprising sight of Rachel.

[They’re scared. Good.] Rachel says with a modulated satisfaction. As she peppers the roof with her autocannon, the weapon booming ferociously in a constant staccato of firepower.

“Pushing up will be ill-advised until we take out those snipers. We’ll be exposed” Burnout points out as he quickly double checks the ammo charge left on his laser strike rifle.

“We’ll be just as bad off if we stay in this parking lot, these cars can still turn into fireballs!” Sweet adds.

“You can throw smoke on us to keep us covered and Zhang can keep suppressing.” Burnout says calmly to Sweet.

“Dozer has flashbangs to help push up and to flush them out.” Peppermint says gaze locked onto the roof.

>Advance forward and secure the roof. Flashbang the advance.
>Smoke and hold the LZ. Whittle the Thin Men down under overwhelming firepower.
>Other

>>2492031
>>Advance forward and secure the roof. Flashbang the advance.

>>2492031
>>Advance forward and secure the roof. Flashbang the advance.

>>2492031
>Advance forward and secure the roof. Flashbang the advance.

>>2492031
>Advance forward and secure the roof. Flashbang the advance.
It is what we do best.

>>2492031
>>Advance forward and secure the roof. Flashbang the advance.

>>2492031
>Advance forward and secure the roof. Flashbang the advance.
Rachel and Peppermint on suppression, the rest clear the building.

>>2492033
>>2492035
>>2492040
>>2492045
>>2492046
>>2492052
Advance it is, writing!

“Sweet and Peppermint have a point here, we’re just sitting on a series of explosions waiting to happen and leaving Thin Men of all things alone on a roof is asking for trouble.” You quickly assess, holstering your laser pistol and bringing your scatterlaser back into your hands. “We’re taking that roof.”

Your squad agrees to that without issue, all those team building exercises prior keeping morale high and disagreements with your leadership as low as possible for now. You’ve dealt with taking out snipers holed up in roofs before, it’s essentially the same thing even with aliens. Storm the front out of their line of sight and close the distance as quickly as possible before they can realize and react.

[I am best suited for close range and I can carry two of you.] Rachel says, holding the KSM attached to her arm and motioning to the handles on her back again. [We can close the distance quickly. ]

“They’ll know you’re coming a mile away.” Peppermint says as she fires again at the room, just grazing one of the Thin Men as it peeks below. She grunts in annoyance.

You think for a quick moment, pausing as a glob of plasma melts the concrete a few feet away from where you are. You think quicker.

“I'll flash the top to start. Zhang and Peppermint will hold position and suppress while…”

>You’ll breach with Rachel. A loud but very quick assault.
>Rachel will also hold position in the parking lot. You don’t want to let them know you’re coming.
>Other

>>2492082
>You’ll breach with Rachel. A loud but very quick assault.

>>2492082
>You’ll breach with Rachel. A loud but very quick assault.

>>2492082
>>You’ll breach with Rachel. A loud but very quick assault.

I think they'll know we're coming regardless of what we do.

>>2492082
>You’ll breach with Rachel. A loud but very quick assault.

>>2492082
>Rachel will also hold position in the parking lot. You don’t want to let them know you’re coming.

File: Rodeo.jpg (615 KB, 1920x1850)

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Rolled 12, 13 = 25 (2d20)

“Rachel, you’re joining the assault.” You say, recalling just how useful and versatile being able to mount onto and essentially rodeo your way into fights. Plus, admittedly, it’s pretty damn cool. “Burnout you’re with us.”

Burnout nods curtly and the both of you latch onto Rachel. A few extremely childish thoughts on the whole scenario come to mind as you hop on but you quickly push it aside, there’s Thin Men to neutralize. You grab a flashbang from your belt.

“Flash going out!” You should as you pull the pin and toss it into the air, right onto the roof. The blast goes off without a hitch and your team staying behind begin to let out a ferocious barrage of laser and phaser fire right up the roof.

[Advancing.] Rachel says as the MEC begins to move forward, quickly picking up speed.

Rachel doesn’t slow down as she bursts her way through the entrance, destroying the doorway and leaving a MEC sized hole in its wake. You grip onto handles tightly trying your best to not topple out and be left behind. A glance over to Burnout and unsurprisingly he is treating this whole situation like an afternoon stroll. You initially fear that the building won’t be able to support the MEC’s weight as the doorways clearly don’t accommodate the MEC’s frame. Thankfully the lightweight nature of the MEC’s alien alloys are enough to stop Rachel from being lodged into the floor.

You ascend the stairway up rapidly and in moments Rachel bursts through the rooftop entrance, right into the dazed but still expectant overwatch of a pod of waiting Thin Men. Rachel reacts firing away with her autocannon and advancing while you and Burnout take the opportunity to dive for cover and assist. One Thin Man winds up to spit a glob of sickening acid at you attempt to out shoot it!

>Roll 1d20+3

>>2492082
>>You’ll breach with Rachel. A loud but very quick assault.

Rolled 1, 4 + 3 = 8 (2d6 + 3)

>>2492119

Rolled 17 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>2492119

Rolled 18 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>2492119

Rolled 3 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>2492119

Rolled 10 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>2492119
>>2492126

My bad, I have no idea how I accidentally rolled two dice of the wrong number no less.

Rolled 8 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>2492119

File: [ALIEN ACTIVITY].png (94 KB, 699x104)

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Rolled 5, 10, 7 = 22 (3d20)

>>2492129
...

>>2492131
I'm not really bothered as your first roll would have been a 1 ;)

Rolled 20 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

File: MEC Kinetic Strike Module.jpg (109 KB, 676x653)

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You really don’t like Thin Men. I mean sure, every trooper you know dislikes Thin Men, From their inhumane accuracy to their equally bullshit agility, to their irritatingly hippie sunglasses. In particular ever since you had to huff several lung-fulls of acid during the last VIP mission, you’ve actively tried to avoid inhaling any more of that awful substance. You make damn sure that cheap suit wearing alien doesn’t get to cough at you.

You blast the Thin Man at short range, causing it to pop like the reptilian gasbag that it is. The other remaining Thin Men don’t fare well either as both Burnout and Rachel make short work of the remaining aliens on the roof. If you can get close, but not to close, to a Thin Man, they are made short work of. Burnout is swift and precise with his strike rifle. Rachel however shows off the full capabilities of the Goliath.

One of the Thin Men is completely shredded to bits by her autocannon, leaving nothing but bits. The remaining Thin Man however is given the distinctive honor of being the first alien to be killed by Rachel’s Kinetic Strike Module and by god it’s a beautiful sight. With a roar of the module’s thrusters Rachel closes the distance and winds up her punch, her MEC’s arm literally shaking with the built up energy.

And then she swings.
Like a miniature space rocket launch, the KSM impacts the thin man with brutal force his body exploding like a balloon on impact, bathing Rachel in acid. The crumpled remnants of the body falling right off the edge and splattering onto the ground. Naturally, Rachel could not give less of a shit thanks to the MEC’s internal sealed oxygen supply ignoring the acid.

[Enemy. Thoroughly. Neutralized.] Rachel says savoring the moment. You don’t blame her, you would also.

“Roof secure!” You call it in.

Your team moves up, the immediate area secured. One building and the Skyranger EVAC secured. Good so far.. There’s still the rest of the complex to move through, clearing out those skirmishing Floaters, and making contact with the doctor. You check the charge left in your scatter laser’s current power cell and continue on.

The mission isn't over yet.

File: Sleepy Naru.jpg (119 KB, 500x500)

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>...And with that it's once again 3AM and I'm dying at the wheel. Worth it though! So until next update...

Thanks for playing!

>>2492181
Thanks for running!

>>2492177
Thanks for running!

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The high ground you have secured has given you a good view of the battlefield ahead. The observatory itself is the largest building in the complex and in normal circumstances would have been a nightmare to fortify and defend. Yet somehow, with rampaging aliens going wild and likely dropping in without warning, the Council security team had managed to successfully fortify themselves in the building instead of a haphazard barricade.

Someone had managed to park a truck with an attached tractor trailer to block the entirety of the front entrance, and the windows and smoldering holes in the building have been barricaded with killholes to shout out of. Judging by the handful of dead sectoids a floater or two, and even an odd Thin Man corpse strewn around the front they had managed to successfully repel any initial attacks.

There’s one glaring weakness, and it’s the observatory dome for it’s telescope. The Floaters seem to be focusing solely on trying to get inside in there but have been meeting resistance. Any attempts for the flyers to enter is met with a hail of bullets. This doesn’t deter the insane mechanical monstrosities as they continue to either circle around the building firing pot shots at the windows or committing to a suicide dive for the dome.

While the defenders are holding, the numerous human bodies strewn all around and near the observatory has meant they won’t be holding out for long. It’s likely the alien strike force is testing weaknesses before commiting to a full out assault. It’s a good thing you landed in the parking lot. You’d have had to double time it with wild abandon to try and reach the observatory from the forest. The survivors likely would have been assaulted once aliens had realized XCOM was in play.

The observatory is a short jog away, but it’s between a fex auxiliary buildings where aliens could be hiding and a center courtyard which is basically an exposed no man’s land. Every second that passes means a higher chance the Floaters could get lucky and bust their way in to wreak havoc. Clock’s ticking.

(Part 1 / 2)

File: Peppermint.png (49 KB, 504x1089)

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Rachel, being the huge target that she is doesn’t linger too long on the roof, hopping back down onto the ground floor to help provide cover for the rest of the squad to advance. As Zhang and Sweet move up to Rachel, Peppermint makes her way up to the roof on the double. No surprise she’d want to high ground. Burnout keeps tabs of the clusterfuck around the observatory, rifle at the ready. The Floaters attacking the observatory are pretty damn single minded and have yet to notice your team, instead more focused on the survivors. Peppermint reaches the top and regards the roof, scanning every inch of it with a critical icy blue eyes.

“This will do.” Peppermint says.. “I will provide support.”

“This is a good position for me aswe-” Burnout starts but Peppermint grunts.

“I work better without distractions.” Peppermint glowers glancing at you at that.

Burnout frowns slightly at Peppermint’s prickliness which she just ignores as she goes prone at the edge of the roof, propping her laser sniper rifle up with her alloy bipod. She eyes the enemy ahead through her S.C.O.P.E. not saying another word, exuding that Lone Wolf aura of hers. You know she can back it up and ultimately does work better alone. Burnout can be useful either as forward recon or observer however. The scout seems well aware of that and looks to you, silently awaiting orders.

>Provide overwatch with Peppermint. She won’t like it but two pairs of eyes on the room is better than one.
>Leave Peppermint alone. Burnout is better suited scouting ahead with the squad.
>Other

>>2495751
>>Provide overwatch with Peppermint. She won’t like it but two pairs of eyes on the room is better than one.

>>2495751
>>Leave Peppermint alone. Burnout is better suited scouting ahead with the squad.
A Sniper's Squad-Sight works better when they have teammates scouting for them from the front to give them targets to shoot, not hanging around to provide overwatch they don't need.

>>2495751
>Leave Peppermint alone. Burnout is better suited scouting ahead with the squad.
Just make sure she has a bug out plan in case things go sideways.

>>2495751
>>Leave Peppermint alone. Burnout is better suited scouting ahead with the squad.
He's kitted for scouting.
>>2495806
This.

And then a bad roll takes peppermint out with some kind of robot tentacle monster. Those things exist and they work very well in the environment we.are currently in. Something to keep in mind.

>>2495751
>Leave Peppermint alone. Burnout is better suited scouting ahead with the squad.

>>2495751
>Leave Peppermint alone. Burnout is better suited scouting ahead with the squad.

>>2495751
>>Leave Peppermint alone. Burnout is better suited scouting ahead with the squad.
She also has lone wolf

>>2495751
>Stay with Peppermint
Last thing we need is her getting choked out by the ayy hentai drones with no one around to help.

>>2495751
>>Provide overwatch with Peppermint. She won’t like it but two pairs of eyes on the room is better than one.
last time we left people alone went kinda poorly

>>2495751
>Provide overwatch with Peppermint. She won’t like it but two pairs of eyes on the room is better than one.

Uncovered sniper with highly maneuvrable flying enemies is a dead sniper.

>>2495751
>Provide overwatch with Peppermint. She won’t like it but two pairs of eyes on the room is better than one.
If there are Seekers in this quest's universe they'll show up soon.

>>2495751
>>Provide overwatch with Peppermint. She won’t like it but two pairs of eyes on the room is better than one.

Is splitting the squad again a good idea? I get that it is a good position but we could be leaving them to the Chryssalids out here

>>2495751
>>Provide overwatch with Peppermint. She won’t like it but two pairs of eyes on the room is better than one.
Well if we are splitting I guess this makes more sense.

>>2496267
We're splitting anyway, the question is if we're leaving Pepper totally alone or with backup.

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>>2496303
Not necessarily, there's always the Other option if you guys want to pull an incredible godlike tactics fast one on me!

I'll call this vote when I wake up, so if you guys want to readjust your plan you are more than welcome to change votes.

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>>2496303
I mean we could always have them both come with it isn't like having a sniper in close range doesn't have benefits occasionally.

Maybe we could strap her on Rachel's mec suit. That way she would have the high ground without us having to split up the squad.

>>2496352
Doesn't that negate most of her range advantage?

>>2496352
If we went the route of taking her with us she should still stay in the back.

>>2495751
Ehh fuck it changing from >>2496271
to
>Other
Actually Peppermint we should stick together we don't know what kind of xeno's are out here now we need you to watch our backs.

>>2496335
This isn't a party of adventurers on a merry quest, it's an X-COM mission with everyone needing to get to protecting the VIP ASAP. Keeping every team member together and unharmed is NOT the priority, and keeping the VIP alive and unharmed IS the priority. People need to go to where they're most effective, and a sniper works best when staying alone in the back, picking off targets spotted by teammates so the rest of the team can get to the mission objective faster and not fail the mission.

>>2496384
>This is X-COM so we should make brash decisions and not care if our soldiers die because they aren't important right?
Ahh I see we have an Easy player among us.
If she is dead she can't cover us anyways my dude.

>>2495751
>Leave Peppermint alone. Burnout is better suited scouting ahead with the squad.

>>2496384
You do realise that in enemy within thats asking for a seeker ambush to succeed and win right?

>>2495751

> Leave Zhang behind with Peppermint.

Rachel's got enough in-your-face firepower. If we leave the Gunner and sniper up there we've got a firebase to support our advance and cover our retreat.

>>2496399
>Prioritizing the mission = Easy
Are you retarded? Missions like this always carries consequences of failure that simply can't be ignored, even at a higher risk to the team. If you wanted to just kill aliens safely, you should've chosen another mission. Any time when there is a VIP, their lives are automatically more important than the lives of normal soldiers. Besides, implying that Peppermint will die just because she's alone even when she stated she works better alone, is an insult to her. What, did you want to hold her hands too?

>>2496479
If Peppermint says she is used to working alone, then she should have no problems dealing with that sort of thing. On the off chance that scenario happens, either she works as she advertised and deals with it just fine alone, or she gets problems and learns her lesson to take a partner, if she lives from the mistake. In the end it's up to her to back up her own words.

When properly used, a sniper sets up in an ideal location with lines of fire to provide overwatch to most the field that the team is operating on, and usually from the back. The only time they should move is when the field is cleared and the team is moving to a new location when the sniper has to relocate to to support them. After all, every turn that they have to move is a turn when they can't shoot something with the sniper rifle, unless they took snap-shot and not squad-sight. With what Peppermint says about her preference working alone, I'm almost certain she has squad-sight so she can support better alone from the back, and not move together with the team with snap-shot.

>>2496542

...But I guess as a write-in that has little chance of succeeding, and we don't need burnout stuck babysitting. So changing to:

>>Leave Peppermint alone. Burnout is better suited scouting ahead with the squad.

leaving 1 person behind seems like a bad idea, while taking shots she might not notice other aliens coming in from behind her, there is a reason snipers always have a buddy with them

or we could maybe give peppermint a scanner? so atleast she would be less suprised if she gets ambushed

>>2496556
Everyone thought they were prepared for everything until new aliens start showing up, that's why we nearly lost Rachel and Haru to skitters in Vegas and why we lost so many people to cyber dicks on Gangplank.
This could very easily be the mission that seekers are introduced and their introduction at this point could be "We hear Pepper choking on something over the comm, wat do?"

>>2496542
>>2496567
I actually wouldn't mind leaving Zhang behind and bringing Burnout with us. If he's not a superman his big gun is going to slow the rest of the team.

>>2496852
slow down*

>>2495751
>>Provide overwatch with Peppermint. She won’t like it but two pairs of eyes on the room is better than one.
I have terrible experiences leaving snipers on their own

>>2495751
>>Provide overwatch with Peppermint. She won’t like it but two pairs of eyes on the room is better than one.
Snipers are in teams for a reason

>>2495751
Apologies QM, but I might as well change to something that has a chance of winning.
>>2496379 so disregard this.

>>2495751
>>Leave Peppermint alone. Burnout is better suited scouting ahead with the squad.

>>2495751
>>Provide overwatch with Peppermint. She won’t like it but two pairs of eyes on the room is better than one.

>>2495751
>Other
She needs one person with an angle to cover her from. That person doesn't need to be right next to her though. Burnout can take the other corner of the roof

>>2496852
Voting to put Zheng on the roof.

>>2495751
>Put Zheng on the roof with her.

Anything at all happens they get the fuck out and come to us, stupid separation causes situations like Vegas.

>>2495751
Switching from >>2496218 to
>put Zhang on the roof with her

Calling the vote here!

>>2498052
>tfw no revote to maybe put Zheng on the roof with her
He’s quiet and straight to the point, and an autorifleman operates best when entrenched or with overwatch.

>>2499679
Heavies should never be put on overwatch in the back when possible. They have the highest potential DPS but lowest aim accuracy. That means they specialize in fighting at mid to close range in the front with the team, and it would be a waste to keep him behind.

>>2499697
We’re using him for suppression, and we’re also using a few real-life elements. This isn’t Enemy Within/Long War through and through. It’s also noted that Zheng has good accuracy.

I would be all for lone sniper if we knew the area was safe for her to do so

>>2499716
Who the hell uses a heavy for suppression unless it's on the offensive? It's a waste of deployment if the DPS specialist isn't used for attacks. Each soldier should be in their optimized roles and positions, not coddled like children.

>>2499745
In my experience suppression from heavy is very helpful for stuff like flight discs when you cant take them out in one round

>>2499745
You’re viewing this in terms of XCOM mechanics and oversimplifying the role of an autorifleman. A light machine gun, a firearm *designed for sustained fire* is meant for suppression and putting targets down, not just the latter. Light machine guns have solid damage output, but they’re not exactly submachine guns or carbines. You’d be better off having him mount his LMG on the roof as opposed to trying to snap-shoot close-ranged targets with a weighty belt-fed weapon.

>>2495818
Switch to >>2496271

>>2500115
Meant >>2496542

>>2495751
>Other
Leave Rachel alone, but instruct Rachel to double back if Peppermint's in trouble. She's the fastest in the squad.

So how much can the standard MEC suit carry? Perhaps, at the cost of speed, we can bolt extra plates of hillbilly armor, carry racks, or maybe even give them a tank gun?

>>2500763
A tank gun won't fit in the Skyranger. Hillibilly armor would probably be useless if it's not made of alien alloys. Carry racks though...

>>2500763
Only way I see MECs with tank guns is either using smaller calibres like 37mm or 57mm, or having custom made short-barrel howitzers.

>>2501248
In the end, the higher speed of the MEC is preferable, to make splitting up the squad safer.

>>2500095
>as opposed to trying to snap-shoot close-ranged targets with a weighty belt-fed weapon.
Will there stength gene mods that can alleviate this ?

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You motion for Burnout to make his way down to the others. He does, a trail of cigarette smoke following him. Peppermint is satisfied, keeping her gaze down her S.C.O.P.E. It doesn’t register to Peppermint at first as you walk over and crouch down beside her, surveying the field ahead, you assume she’s assuming you're just getting a lay of the land, visualizing how to direct the squad to move forward. When you give orders to advance to the squad, Peppermint still seems to not mind nor realize, going through the motions of accounting variables for sniping with the help of the S.C.O.P.E.'s in built systems. Apparently it does a lot of what a spotter would do for an XCOM Sniper.

Besides the most important thing.

When the squad crosses towards the next building, she notes you haven’t left her side. She then realizes you're not going anywhere.

“What are you doing?” Peppermint demands.

“Providing overwatch.” You answer.

“You’re an Assault. You have a shotgun.” Peppermint grunts, getting more annoyed.

“I’m aware.” You say, rubbing your nose and watching your team stack against the doorway to the next building, which you can tell from the windows is a computer service storage area. Burnout reaches for his motion scanner and with several hand gestures motions four contacts inside the building.

“You shouldn’t be up here. You are ineffective up here.” Peppermint grits her teeth, trying to make her point as best she can without outright saying it.

“With the shotgun? Sure I won’t be able to hit anything. Having a view of the battlefield and making sure you’re not got? I’m very effective right here.” You explain, you motion for the team to prepare to breach.

“I said--” Peppermint starts.

“I heard.” You interrupt. “Until I know your position is absolutely secure, I’m not risking it.”

“You are insufferable.” Peppermint grumbles.

“Then I’m doing my job then.” You smirk.

Burnout and the rest of the team are in position, waiting for your signal. You don’t know if there’s any possible alien contact in the server room building or if they’re aliens lying in wait. They have a few options of going in. Checking if the four mystery contacts are actually human and not going in guns blazing right away, or being safe than sorry and firing first and asking questions later. You already know Dr. Marazuki and most of the important members of his team made it to the main observatory, but there could still be surviving staff who lucky to live but not lucky enough to make it to safety. Burnout could use some Battlescanners to confirm it but that’s resources that could be used later...

Peppermint shifts her rifle to face the building, ready to blow away contacts. The team are waiting for orders.

>Breach and clear. It’s worth the risk of possibly hitting civvies if there’s aliens in wait.
>Enter with caution. The team needs to confirm if they’re friendly or not.
>Have Burnout use a Battlescanner. Better safe than sorry.
>Other

>>2501346

>>2501346
>Enter with caution. The team needs to confirm if they’re friendly or not.

>>2501346
Wtf, how did our votes turn into us being the one on overwatch for her? haha.

>You already know Dr. Marazuki and most of the important members of his team made it to the main observatory
Good, then we know for sure these are Not the VIP we're looking for, just potential secondary objectives.
>>Breach and clear. It’s worth the risk of possibly hitting civvies if there’s aliens in wait.
However, the best tactic when dealing with potential aliens is still to breach first and ask later. The faster the aliens are killed the less time and chances they have to kill anyone else, including potential friendlies that may or may not exist.

>>2501377
I mean sure if we can deal with the fact we'll probably tag an innocent bystander and get crucified for it.

>>2501346
>>Enter with caution. The team needs to confirm if they’re friendly or not.
Let's not blast our fellow humans here. Battlescanners out.

>>2501346
>>Enter with caution. The team needs to confirm if they’re friendly or not.
no fuck ups during our first command

>>2501346
>>Enter with caution. The team needs to confirm if they’re friendly or not.

>>2501346
>>Have Burnout use a Battlescanner. Better safe than sorry.

>>2501346
>Enter with caution. The team needs to confirm if they’re friendly or not.

>>2501346
Literally anyone but us would have been better as overwatch. How did this happen?

>>2501346
Wait, we thought it was burnout providing overwatch with peppermint. Us doing ti is retarded. The fuck?

>>2501377
The commander wants as many civvies extracted as possible.

>>2501505
If QM does not allow vote switching after the call, it would be a tie.
But someone switched of off alone to leave Zhang after the vote.

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Wait hold on
>>Provide overwatch with Peppermint. She won’t like it but two pairs of eyes on the room is better than one.

Was for us? I thought we were talking to Burnout cause the other inverse prompt directly mentioned him.

>>2501562
Burnout asked to stay behind and there was literally no option to say yes, unless a write in.
HAHAAH
that must be a mistake.

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>>2501377
>>2501505
>>2501514
>>2501562
Oh craaaap, I totally misinterpreted things! This is all 100% my fault here and I can see how things have gotten confusing. I'm going to throw up a call if you guys wish for a revote of the previous choice. The last thing I want is confusing you guys.

Would you guys like a more clearer revote?

>Y/N

>>2501576
>Y

>>2501576
y

>>2501576
>N

>>2501576
Y

>>2501576

Y

>>2501576
>Y

I think the shark nommed on his computer a bit too much.

>>2501576
>N

>>2501576
Y

>>2501639
This is why you should never let aquatic creatures interact with your computer.

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>>2501647
Fuck

>>2501664
wut in the world?

>>2501667
Pixel's true form.

>>2501576
Y
Thanks pixel.

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Revote it is, here are the choices. I’ll call the vote tomorrow to give everyone a chance to vote. I’ll try and make it up with a bit more art or something similar down the line. Sorry again!

>Leave Peppermint Alone.
>Burnout stays with Peppermint.
>Zhang stays with Peppermint
>You stay with Peppermint.
>Other.

>>2501764
>>Zhang stays with Peppermint

>>2501764

>You stay with Peppermint.

>>2501764
>Zhang stays with Peppermint

>>2501764
>>Zhang stays with Peppermint

>>2501764
>>Leave Peppermint Alone.

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>>2501764
>Leave Peppermint Alone.
>>2501697
IKEA Sharks are great

>>2501764
>>Burnout stays with Peppermint.

>>2501764
>You stay with Peppermint.

>>2501764
>Zhang stays with Peppermint

>Commandy One is actually an Angel of the Lord sent down to aid Humanity in their fight against the Ayys.

This actually explains why everyone metaphorically shits themselves and is afraid of her.

>>2501764
>Zhang stays with Peppermint

>>2501764
>>Zhang stays with Peppermint

>>2501764
>Zhang stays with Peppermint

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>>2501764
>Zhang stays with Peppermint

>>2501764
>>Zhang stays with Peppermint

Best option of the bunch.

>>2501764
>Zhang stays with Peppermint

>>2501764
>Leave Peppermint Alone.
Seriously what's the point of a Lone Wolf sniper if you never utilize her full abilitias.

>Miss clicks happen in both the game and the quest
Wow immersive.

>>2502562
Having never played LW1, what does Lone Wolf even do?

>>2502568
Bonus to aim and critical so long as there are no squad mates nearby.

>>2502568
>Lone Wolf: +10 Aim and Critical Chance if not within 7 tiles of an allied unit.
https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Sniper_(Long_War)

>>2502571
>>2502572
Thanks.

>>2502567
At least we were able to savescum it. Imagine the shitstorm if we were doing an ironman run here.

>>2501764
>Zhang stays with Peppermint

>>2501764
>>Zhang stays with Peppermint

>>2501764
Im fine with either zhang or dozer. In dozer's case he could stay the 7 squares away and then run to her if sth happens

>>2501764
>Zhang stays

Calling it here!

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You blink.

You feel a sudden sensation of deja vu, coupled with the gut turning feeling of vertigo or perhaps being [i[yanked[/i] back for a split second, and then it’s gone. You look about hastily, raising your scatterlaser up to bear. Was that psionic influence from a Sectoid just now? Burnout and Rachel, noticing your sudden alertness look around as well for alien activity but find nothing. Strange.

During that little episode, your team below wastes no time moving up and securing cover out of the parking lot. Rachel doesn’t linger long either, given that she’s a huge target and jumps down. During which -- yes -- Peppermint makes her way up onto the roof on the double. You knew she was going to do that, which… makes sense. She’s a sniper.

“This will do.” Peppermint says as she arrives, sizing up her new perch. “I will provide supp-”

“Zhang will be supporting you.” You say, getting straight to the point. This causes Peppermint to bristle but you shake your head. “Yes, I know you work better without distractions but it’s better safe than sorry, Zhang can provide suppression from above and help us keep the aliens pinned as much as much as you can snipe them. He could even flush targets out for you to snipe.”

“...Very well. As long as he doesn’t deafen me I will work with this.” Peppermint begrudgingly sighs. She probably thinks you’re insufferable. You pat her on the shoulder, she'll make it work.

As Zhang makes his way up to post up on the roof with Peppermint, you and Burnout make your way back down to link up with the rest of the team. Once the roof pair are set up, you don’t waste any more time to advance to the next building with Sweet, Burnout, and Rachel.

Stacking up on the by the entryway, Burnout pauses for a moment to check if there’s anything moving within with his motion scanner and confirms four contacts spread out in building. How to breach is the question. Could be aliens or civs inside. Can't tell yet.

[Suggestion.] Rachel says.

“What?” You ask.

[Juggernaut.] Rachel says simply pointing to the wall with her KSM equipped arm. That would scare the shit out of anyone inside. Although it could possibly drop the ceiling on everyone, you’re not sure how sturdy this building is. It would definitely help with the breach if it doesn't.

Hm.

>Flash and Clear. You’ve done this so many times it’s ingrained. It’ll just cost several flashbangs to clear each room you have, you don’t have an infinite supply.
>Enter with caution. It won’t cost any of your squad’s kit, but if there are aliens they’ll get the first shot on you all.
>Have Burnout use a Battlescanner. You’ll know for sure what’s inside but it’ll use one of out of his two Battlescanners..
>Other

And should Rachel punch her way in at the same time?

>Y/N

(Pick a choice from both!)

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>>2503681
>>Have Burnout use a Battlescanner. You’ll know for sure what’s inside but it’ll use one of out of his two Battlescanners..

>N
Last thing we need is to bring down the load-bearing walls.

>>2503681
>>Flash and Clear. You’ve done this so many times it’s ingrained. It’ll just cost several flashbangs to clear each room you have, you don’t have an infinite supply.
Standard tactics for standard situations
>Y
There is no reason to not do this.

>>2503681
>Have Burnout use a Battlescanner. You’ll know for sure what’s inside but it’ll use one of out of his two Battlescanners..

>N

>>2503681
>Have Burnout use a Battlescanner. You’ll know for sure what’s inside but it’ll use one of out of his two Battlescanners.

>N

>>2503681
>>Have Burnout use a Battlescanner. You’ll know for sure what’s inside but it’ll use one of out of his two Battlescanners..

>N

scan reveals no hostiles, only friendlies
at the same time, Rachel Kool aid mans through the wall, collapsing it on the VIP

>>2503711
>collapsing it on the VIP
The VIP is not here.

>>2503681

>Have Burnout use a Battlescanner. You’ll know for sure what’s inside but it’ll use one of out of his two Battlescanners..

>N

>>2503681
>>Have Burnout use a Battlescanner. You’ll know for sure what’s inside but it’ll use one of out of his two Battlescanners..
>N

>>2503681
>>Flash and Clear. You’ve done this so many times it’s ingrained. It’ll just cost several flashbangs to clear each room you have, you don’t have an infinite supply.

and

>N

>>2503681
>Have Burnout use a Battlescanner. You’ll know for sure what’s inside but it’ll use one of out of his two Battlescanners..
>N

>>2503681
>Flash and Clear. You’ve done this so many times it’s ingrained. It’ll just cost several flashbangs to clear each room you have, you don’t have an infinite supply.

>N

>>2503681
>Have Burnout use a Battlescanner. You’ll know for sure what’s inside but it’ll use one of out of his two Battlescanners..

>N

Calling it here!

>>2504178
Uhh, is your twitter all right boss? It seems to have undergone some... changes

>>2504204

The fuck are you talking abou

>BGrey's twitter has been hijacked by a shark in an EXALT uniform

Did...did the timeline shift when that savescum for Peppermint happen?

>>2504213
BGrey forgot to press "Intelligence Scan" after reloading that save, and now EXALT has won!

>>2504226
How about EXALT quest,where a squad of brave soldiers defend their kind and generous masters against evil XCOM terrorists ?

>>2504204
>>2504213
>EXALT Spy have found a way into XCOM by disguising a surveillance rig as a Shark plushie.

The cute eyes on the shark are actually the EXALT logo and hidden cameras.

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Rolled 6, 5, 11 = 22 (3d20)

You assess the situation and and notice one of the building’s second floor windows is open. That’ll do. You motion to Burnout to take a peek inside. With a curt nod, the French Scout produces one of his two battlescanners and quietly throws the device right into the window. The noise doesn’t alert the inhabitants within. Burnout then kneels down, pulling out a tablet to view what’s inside. It doesn’t take long for him to learn who's occupying the building.

“Thin Men.” Burnout says, the squad tenses up prepared to engage..

Rachel raises her MEC’s arm once again, emphasizing her desire for busting in with her KSM. You pause to knock on the outside wall, testing the durability of the material and shake your head, it’s too risky. The building might collapse on everyone and possibly draw a lot of attention. Disappointed the MEC trooper lowers her arm slowly.

As you quietly knock on the wall, a thought occurs to you. You tap Burnout’s soldier and quietly request the specific locations of each of the Thin Men within. He begins to do so, walking down the length of the wall pointing at specific places which should be direct lines to each of the aliens. Burnout confirms that there’s two in the ground floor, two on the second floor.

You realize the wall is thin enough that your laser weapons can burn through it with ease. You direct your squad to position themselves at each point of the wall and aim their weapons at it. They quickly get the idea. With hand signals you also silently inform the roof team to take aim at two contacts on the secondlor. In short timespan, you have a team ready to surprise a waiting ambush of Thin Men.

God, you love Battlescanners and beam weapons.

As you train your scatterlaser inches away from the wall you raise your hand up. A moment passes and you swiftly drop your arm down. In unison with you and your team begin to fire their beam weapons right at the walls where hopefully a pod of unsuspecting aliens with get sliced and burned to bits in the process.

>Roll 1d20+4

Rolled 14 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>2504454
Let's roll.

Rolled 15 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>2504454

Rolled 7 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>2504454

File: [ALIEN ACTIVITY] B.png (75 KB, 699x104)

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Rolled 19, 8 = 27 (2d20)

>>2504464
...

File: It Could Be This Thin Man.jpg (56 KB, 1280x720)

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Rolled 7 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

Your squad opens fire, their beam weapons and Rachel’s autocannon tearing through the wall like and lighting up the building within with scorching red hot lasers and autocannon rounds. You hear the crack of Peppermint’s rifle and the distinct hissing reptilian death rattle of one of the Thin Men on the upper floor dying. You let out a blast from your scatterlaser at the wall, and hear the sound of another Thin Man being struck down, exploding into acid. The remaining two Thin Men however wise up and don’t just lay down and die.

Plasma fire shoots back right at your team from the walls, melting whatever was left of the front wall in certain points, leaving holes of burning hot cement concrete. Strike-1 begins to back up from the wall shooting as they do. Shots from both parties go wide or miss entirely in this semi-blind back and forth obscured firefight. The Thin Man on the second floor attempts to fire down at you all only to have to retreat away from the window by Zhang’s suppression. It’s forced to lurk within the building instead of fighting for the moment.

With the holes you’ve now made you attempt to gun down the the remaining ground floor Thin Man. You manage to catch a glimpse of it through on of the holes in the wall and you note this one seems.. Different. Taller, if that was even possible and even more overtly reptilian with a scaly texture on it’s exposed skin. You fire at the seemingly easier target taller Thin Man but it’s more agile than you realize as it evades most of your scatterlaser fire with lightning reflexes, you do manage to hit it but it’s a grazing shot at best, which is extremely frustrating as grazing shots usually are.

“Get me eyes on that runner!” You order Burnout.

Burnout kneels down once again and looks down at his tablet.

“Runner is attempting to reach the roof.” He alerts.

You hear a scoff from Peppermint over the comms as you assume she’s adjusting her aim to take out the new Thin Man. You hear the door on the roof being slammed open followed by the crack from Peppermint’s laser sniper rifle. Instead of hearing the satisfied pop of a Thin Man dying you hear a curse of frustration in Russian over the comms.

“Missed!” You Peppermint hisses and immediately pins the blame on Zhang. “If it wasn’t for your damn Autolaser distrac-- roof Thin Man is running to the edge!!”

That alerts the team as they raise their weapons up at the roof. Thin Men with height advantage is very lethal.

“Reposition, the kill is mine!” Peppermint shouts over the comms, determined to not miss again.

>Stand ground and Overwatch. You and your team will attempt to outshoot the new Thin Man if Peppermint misses the shot.
>Push into the building. The team needs to get out of that new Thin Man’s line of sight. You and the others can handle the one waiting inside. Let Peppermint handle it.
>Retreat back to safer positions. You’ll extend the shootout but you won’t risk being shot from above or inside. Let Peppermint handle it.
>Other

>>2504651
>Retreat back to safer positions. You’ll extend the shootout but you won’t risk being shot from above or inside. Let Peppermint handle it.

>>2504651
>>Push into the building. The team needs to get out of that new Thin Man’s line of sight. You and the others can handle the one waiting inside. Let Peppermint handle it.
listen to Peppermint for once for fuck's sake.

>>2504651
>>Push into the building. The team needs to get out of that new Thin Man’s line of sight. You and the others can handle the one waiting inside. Let Peppermint handle it.

>>2504651
>>Retreat back to safer positions. You’ll extend the shootout but you won’t risk being shot from above or inside. Let Peppermint handle it.
Lets hope she doesn't get accross the map full cover sniped like thin men are prone to do

>>2504651
>>Retreat back to safer positions. You’ll extend the shootout but you won’t risk being shot from above or inside. Let Peppermint handle it.

>>2504651
>Push into the building. The team needs to get out of that new Thin Man’s line of sight. You and the others can handle the one waiting inside. Let Peppermint handle it.

>>2504651
>>Push into the building. The team needs to get out of that new Thin Man’s line of sight. You and the others can handle the one waiting inside. Let Peppermint handle it.

>>2504651
>>Stand ground and Overwatch. You and your team will attempt to outshoot the new Thin Man if Peppermint misses the shot.

>>2504651
>Push into the building. The team needs to get out of that new Thin Man’s line of sight. You and the others can handle the one waiting inside. Let Peppermint handle it.

>>2504651
>Push into the building. The team needs to get out of that new Thin Man’s line of sight. You and the others can handle the one waiting inside. Let Peppermint handle it.

>>2504651
>>Retreat back to safer positions. You’ll extend the shootout but you won’t risk being shot from above or inside. Let Peppermint handle it.

Calling it here!

>>2504651
>Push into the building. The team needs to get out of that new Thin Man’s line of sight. You and the others can handle the one waiting inside. Let Peppermint handle it.

>>2504713
I had hoped she would be at squadsight range, but seeing as how Zhang can hit with an autolaser (which isnt the semi squadsight one iirc) that doesn't seem to be the case

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>>2505464
Oh hah, you're right, I had gotten the Autolaser (SAW) and the Gatling Laser (LMG) mixed up. We'll just say it's just pure suppression and volume of fire and they're at around Squadsight range to be clear!

Guess I need to catch up on my Long War mechanics!

>>2505496
Nice ! In that case it's safe to leave it to her !

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Rolled 1 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

“Inside!” You shout to the others, entrusting Peppermint to handle the Thin Man above you and focusing instead on getting everyone out of the line of fire.

You hear the crack of her laser sniper rifle behind you and see the red beam streak above. You don't stop to confirm the kill.

“Don’t have to tell me twice!” Sweet exclaims, already moving for the door.

Rachel is faster.

[Breaching.] Rachel says, stomping and bursting through the doorway with her MEC. She's immediately lit up by the other Thin Man within, waiting in overwatch and striking.

It’s a three shot plasma burst directly center mass on Rachel’s MEC suit which is around head height. It likely could have been lethal if anyone else entered first. Besides stumbling for a moment from the impact, Rachel is fine. She lets loose a spray of deadly autocannon fire, shredding the already destroyed computer servers to bits. Hissing, the Thin Man retreats upstairs.

You can't let that Thin Man set up again, its it's well aware it's weakness is close quarters and its attempting to leverage that with height and the defenders advantage. Time is of the essence!

>Rachel keeps leading the push. She’ll take tank the damage.
>You’ll Run n’ Gun it. This is your speciality.
>Have Zhang try and flush it downstairs. Try and make it come to your teams overwatch.
>Other.

>>2506367
>>You’ll Run n’ Gun it. This is your speciality.

>>2506367
Run 'n' Gun

>>2506367
>You’ll Run n’ Gun it. This is your speciality.
>But flashbang it first!