>>2652324
>>Psionics.
Time to figuring out psionics for the good of humanity, both by understanding how to use it actively without blowing up our head, and to find out how to awaken others. Uncontrolled powers are always a risk until understood and trained after all.

>>2652324
>Psionics.
It'd be great to get a handle on this before out next mission. Better to test it now in a 'safe' environment now rather than on active duty.

>>2652324
>>Psionics.

>>2652324
>Psionics.

>>2652324

Time to research various religions and spiritual studies to attain Zen and potentially become a warrior monk.

>>2652324
If I wasn't clear here: >>2652416

>Psionics

>>2652324
>>Muton Interrogation.

>>2652324
>Psionics.

>>2652373
>>2652380
>>2652401
>>2652402
>>2652430
>>2652474
Psionics it is, writing!

File: Psi Op Logo.png (3 KB, 200x200)

3 KB PNG

The decision was never really in doubt, you’ve been eager to really put some time down to practice your true potential. Psionics. The Gift. Hell out of boredom at one point you even scribbled a possible 'logo' for psions the other night. 'Psi Op' has a nice ring to it...

It’s been in the back of your head, always in your thoughts when nothing else important is in your mind. As uncomfortable of the thought, the best analogy you could give yourself is that you’ve become almost addicted to tap into that energy once again. After having a taste, you want more. Hopefully you won’t become actually obsessed with it to the point of being detrimental to yourself or the squad. It would be an ironic end of being a former Fed ‘overdosing’ on something. You’re going to have to pace yourself. Learning your own capabilities will be a good foundation.

Of course, as much as you want to get right to learning, you also have to be on the lookout for other potential psions in XCOM’s staff. There’s a chance you could be the only one, the Chosen One as it were, but you doubt that. Having an idea of possible potential psionic apt individuals ahead of time before XCOM devotes its time to research would be a massive leg up. You’re likely the only one able to figure out other candidates for the foreseeable future.

The question remains what to prioritize first.

>Learning your own psionic capabilities.
>Investigating other possible psions in the base.
>Other.

>>2652652
>>Investigating other possible psions in the base.

>>2652652
>Learning your own psionic capabilities.
That way we'll at least have something to teach the others when we find them.

>>2652652
>Investigating other possible psions in the base.

>>2652652
>>Investigating other possible psions in the base.
I'm not sure what Dozer could do on his own to learn his abilities.. Having a larger pool of test candidates would likely help Vahlen later on.

>>2652652
>>Learning your own psionic capabilities.

>>2652652
>>Learning your own psionic capabilities.
Start from the basics. We need to understand our own powers first before searching for others. In fact more skills would probably lead to better sensing to use for searching anyway.

>>2652652
>>Investigating other possible psions in the base.

>>2652652
>>Learning your own psionic capabilities.

>>2652652
>>Learning your own psionic capabilities
Might be easier to sense the others after we learn a little

>>2652652
>Learning your own psionic capabilities.

>>2652652
>Learning your own psionic capabilities.

>>2652652
>Learning your own psionic capabilities.
we'll be better at looking around for it with some control over it.

>>2652674
>>2652690
>>2652698
>>2652704
>>2652723
>>2652734
>>2652737
>>2652741
Learning Psionics it is, writing!

Looking over the previous thread, who would look the best in a one-piece/two-piece swimsuit?

>>2652784
One piece: Rachel
Two piece: Commander

>>2652800
>>2652784
Commander would probably look good in just about anything. Peppermint should be great in a two piece.

You need to start from square one and keep things simple. Finding possible psions is great and all, but if nobody has even a faint idea what they’re doing it's just going to be the deaf leading the blind. If you have an idea what to do yourself, it should be easier to find other psions. Hell, you might be able to teach others how to use the power. At least, that's the idea on paper. Who knows how it’ll be in action. Decided, you make your way back to the barracks, heading for your dorm room.

Zhang’s already in the room. Your roommate laying in his bunk and staring at nothing in particular, most likely lost in thought. Before awakening to your gift, you would show concern at the secluded nature of the former Triad. Outside of the squad he’s still not particularly liked much, and the Gunner hasn’t made an effort to improve his relations. You still are concerned, but in this situation however, it’s convenient for you. While Zhang has made his stance on psionics rather clear, you still need his help in keeping things quiet.

“Hey.” You greet him. “I’m going to try and practice for a while.”

With a wordless nod, Zhang stands up and walks out of the room. He’ll be keeping watch and making sure nobody enters without giving you a heads up. Hopefully you don’t get lost in another psionic induced trance, that would be rather inconvenient and hard to cover up if someone walks in. You’ll have to leave it to Zhang to cover you.

Once alone in your dorm room, you take a seat on your bunk. Holding one of your hands up.

“Start small.” You say to yourself as you steady your breath.

In your mind, you reach out to that power and try and coax it out. Willing it to come forth in your hand. You realize there’s two ways to do so. One is to try and have it come out naturally, almost of it’s own accord, using yourself as a conduit. The other… is pulling it out yourself, using that always present anger that bubbles within you. Getting mad you feel would be the easiest way for you, but you might… well… start seeing red. That could be good or bad.

>Tap into your psionic abilities naturally. You are inexperienced in this, but it would be more controlled.
>Use your anger and force it out. This is the easiest way for you, however it runs the risk of you losing control of the situation.
>Other

>>2652879
>>Tap into your psionic abilities naturally. You are inexperienced in this, but it would be more controlled.

Something something Yoda Force quote
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJz2FXkZb7g

>>2652879
>Tap into your psionic abilities naturally. You are inexperienced in this, but it would be more controlled.

At least we aren't doing CIA or KGB shit

>>2652879
>>Tap into your psionic abilities naturally. You are inexperienced in this, but it would be more controlled.

>>2652879
>>Tap into your psionic abilities naturally. You are inexperienced in this, but it would be more controlled.

>>2652879
>>Tap into your psionic abilities naturally. You are inexperienced in this, but it would be more controlled.
Rage is a fine way to boost psionics as a weapon, but we gotta know how to use normal psionics first.

>>2652879
>Tap into your psionic abilities naturally. You are inexperienced in this, but it would be more controlled.

>>2652879
>Tap into your psionic abilities naturally. You are inexperienced in this, but it would be more controlled.

Calling it here, writing!

As easy as it would be for you to get angry, not being of the right mind of things would be the absolute worst thing you could do. There’s a time and place to get angry, and right now is not the time nor the place. Steadying yourself, you begin to tap into the raw power yourself. Reaching out -- yes -- reaching out into the air around you. The energy is here, in this very room, you just need to grasp it.

You think. You’re just kinda fumbling in the dark here.

You don’t let yourself get discouraged as you continue. Mentally ‘tugging’ at the air to try and ball up the raw power to your hand. Your mind immediately begins to feel the mental strain as you do so. Sparks of purple start to form around your hand, like tiny fireflies springing to life from nothing before fizzling out just as quickly. You’re doing... something! The mental strain increases as you try make something more cohesive.

Come on…!

>Roll 1d20

Rolled 6 (1d20)

>>2652999
>>2652999

Rolled 14 (1d20)

>>2652999

Rolled 10 (1d20)

>>2652999

Flow like water!

Rolled 18 (1d20)

>>2652999

File: The Gift.jpg (121 KB, 1600x900)

121 KB JPG

You keep your focus honed in on your hand, not letting your mind wander or fray your attention elsewhere. Slowly but surely, the sparks and little motes of purple energy start to form into something right before your very eyes. You’d be really excited if you could spare the mental capacity. The room starts to glow purple, a new powerful light source starting to emit from the palm of your hand.

In your hand is a glowing ball of purple psionic energy, about the size of a tennis ball. The handful of energy pulses and writhes with power, straining against the mental confines you had placed it, seemingly desiring to be let out to do… what? What do you do with it now? The only thing that comes to mind is mental manipulation, much like how the sectoids use their own psionic powers or how the Intruder had barged into your mind. But there has to be more you could do than just attacking people’s minds.

Could you manipulate the environment? Do something to yourself? Perhaps something more intangible, more abstract? You feel like all of that is possible, you just have to steer the energy and your focus to it. And soon too, you’re starting to get a migraine just keeping this focused amount of psionic power together. You look about the room as you pull your hand back, prepared to unleash the energy in your hand out to something.

Without thinking you channel the power towards-

>The chair in the room. You want to manipulate it and raise into the air without touching it.
>To the center of the room. You desire to create something from nothing, willing something into existence.
>The wall. You want to do some sort of damage to it, using the energy as your ammunition.
>Yourself. You wish to empower yourself somehow, perhaps to make yourself stronger or calmer.
>Other.

>>2653080
>>The wall. You want to do some sort of damage to it, using the energy as your ammunition.

>>2653080
>>The wall. You want to do some sort of damage to it, using the energy as your ammunition.
>Null Lance this early
Count me in

>>2653080
>Yourself. You wish to empower yourself somehow, perhaps to make yourself stronger or calmer.

Mystic Adept nao/

>>2653080
>>Yourself. You wish to empower yourself somehow, perhaps to make yourself stronger or calmer.

>>2653080
>>The wall. You want to do some sort of damage to it, using the energy as your ammunition.

>>2653080
>>Yourself. You wish to empower yourself somehow, perhaps to make yourself stronger or calmer.

>>2653080
>To the center of the room. You desire to create something from nothing, willing something into existence.

One can only imagine what would happen if we roll a 1 on Psionics.

Reminder that we haven't lost our cool once so the calming bit is unnecessary and the stronger bit doesn't come into play very often because up close we use our shotgun where as a null lance type attack could significantly improve our ranged capability.

>>2653080
>Yourself. You wish to empower yourself somehow, perhaps to make yourself stronger or calmer.

>>2653122
In this case us being a physical adept boosting our move speed or leaping like a thin man might be great. Or it just lets us move like them in general.

>>2653080
>The wall. You want to do some sort of damage to it, using the energy as your ammunition.

I've been meaning to get around to playing XCOM

>>2653080
>>Yourself. You wish to empower yourself somehow, perhaps to make yourself stronger or calmer.
Practically speaking, using psionics as merely a gun is simple, and just as easily substituted by real gun. Thus doing something that is impossible to do with technology would be more useful use for psionics. However, since doing something like making something out of nothing sounds impossibly hard, let's try something we've done before, and would be undoubtedly useful almost anywhere.

Personally speaking however, I think w should try something Dozer has probably been using his psionics for subconsciously all along, as in empowering himself with psionics for those moments of seemingly unstoppable force. Can you imagine if we could rip apart more aliens with our bare hands? or better yet, do some kind of psionic charge that boosts our defense, speed, and strength. Maybe even fire full-auto and not feel the recoil with psi-enhanced strength for superior accuracy in combat.

>>2653080
>Yourself. You wish to empower yourself somehow, perhaps to make yourself stronger or calmer.
it's probably easier to hide until the general staff has clearance to know.

>>2653131
However the wall could lead to us getting more ranged abilities like blowing up grenades in the aliens hands and such.

>>2653080
>>Yourself. You wish to empower yourself somehow, perhaps to make yourself stronger or calmer.

>>2653080
>The wall. You want to do some sort of damage to it, using the energy as your ammunition

>>2653139
But if Yourself gets us solace, then we become a much more significant tactical tool than if we just blow people's grenades up.
It protects our buddies as well.

>>2653097
>>2653098
>>2653101
>>2653125
>>2653137
>>2653138
>>2653142
Yourself it is, writing!

>>2653161
Not to mention advancing further than Solace due to this not being limited to the game. Sorta like becoming a Psionic AWACS of sorts being able to link everybody's senses and information with each other.

File: Big Sky.jpg (19 KB, 480x360)

19 KB JPG

Large update soon, standby!

File: Glowing Eyes.jpg (17 KB, 596x334)

17 KB JPG

On pure instinct, you take that ball of purple energy and instead of unleashing it onto anywhere in the room you press it into yourself. You crush the energy in your hands and you feel surge within you, not unlike those very first glorifying moments of godlike power when you awoke to The Gift. It’s only for barely a fraction of a second, but you feel that jolt of energy.

The entire room seems to become much more vibrant and colorful, filled with life. The world had seemed duller before until just now. Looking down at your body you see that it’s glowing a faint but luminescent purple. Looking at the mirror, you can see your eyes are glowing purple as well, wisps of energy trailing off your eyes. With glee, you begin to experiment, the pool of energy filled within you. A pool of psionic… Focus.

You begin to breath. Each breath is utterly soothing. It’s as if all the doubts and worries you have is being washed away with each breath, replaced with a zen-like wholeness. Your anger’s still there, it seems like it will always be a part of you but for the moment it’s… sated. You realize you haven’t become lethargic either. Far from it, you feel as composed and in control of yourself. Everything seems to make more sense in your mind, as if it has become sharpened to a razor’s edge. You feel like this could save lives, snapping people out of panic or worse. Giving them that moment of clarity to get back into the battle. You might be even able to have them resist Psionic influence as well! This ‘Solace’ takes the least amount of Focus.

But that’s not all, as you realize this Focus you currently have inside you can be used in other ways. You quickly stand up and spin around back facing the heavy steel double bunk bed. With just one hand, you reach up and lift the entire thing up with complete ease. Your strength having been enhanced nearly double, possibly even triple its original state. You could probably rip open a blast door if you wanted. You set it down and quickly move over to to your desk, pulling out a random quarter. With the expertise and finesse of Houdini himself you begin to twirl and dance the coin around like a master of sleight of hand around your fingers before snapping it at the wall. It pings off with lightning speed which you catch just as quickly. It wouldn’t surprise if you could take a beating without flinching either. In this moment you’re faster, stronger, and more pain resistant. That’s not even counting if you went really mad in this state... Becoming a ‘Juggernaut’ costs a moderate of Focus

(Part 1 / 2)

File: Psion Logo 2.png (36 KB, 192x184)

36 KB PNG

One last thing comes to mind without even realizing you hold your hand out towards the chair on the other end of the room. You really, really want to be there in that chair’s place. With every last bit of Focus left in your body, you will yourself to swap places. In a flash, you find yourself standing where the chair is, and the chair was where you were. You had just ‘switched’ positions in space. The possibilities of this are endless, and it doesn’t have to be yourself either. It could be objects or other squad members or even aliens. ‘Swapping’ things costs a lot of Focus -- and your remaining Focus at that.

The world dulls and you feel the mental fatigue hit you hard, causing you to stumble and flop back onto the bed, which is tilted and closer to the side when you set it down. You pant heavily, your mind strained.

“Holy shit…” You mutter. That was amazing.

You lay there for only a minute or two composing yourself before sitting up again. Taking a breath you make another focused ball of energy, which takes effort but now that you know what you’re doing it’s a fraction easier the second time. You Focus that energy and you become empowered once again. You feel like you should focus on one of the three ‘powers’ (for a lack of a better word) to improve on first. You have access to all three powers, but you’d need time and practice and hone your skills. Each ability is amazing and game changing but you need to plan your training out. Hell, there’s probably more abilities you can learn with experimentation, but you shouldn’t get ahead of yourself. Small steps!

What do you prioritize first?

>Solace. Keeping everyone at peak mental performance is not to be understated, you’ll be a great team player. It costs the least Focus.
>Juggernaut. Becoming a one man killing machine at will is… well… intoxicating. Coupled with your Rage you’d be a wave of destruction. It costs moderate Focus.
>Swap. The sheer creativity and advantage you can spring on the aliens will give you and your squad an unpredictable and deadly edge. It costs the most Focus

Apologies for the late post, coming up with interesting and fair Psionic abilities from XCOM's selection is more challenging than I expected!

>>2653415
>Swap. The sheer creativity and advantage you can spring on the aliens will give you and your squad an unpredictable and deadly edge. It costs the most Focus

>>2653415
>>Solace. Keeping everyone at peak mental performance is not to be understated, you’ll be a great team player. It costs the least Focus.

>>2653415
>Solace. Keeping everyone at peak mental performance is not to be understated, you’ll be a great team player. It costs the least Focus.

>>2653415
>Juggernaut. Becoming a one man killing machine at will is… well… intoxicating. Coupled with your Rage you’d be a wave of destruction. It costs moderate Focus.

If Dozer were to use Solace and Juggernaut at the same time, would that be the equivalent of attaining Ultra Instinct or Demi God status?

>>2653415
>Juggernaut. Becoming a one man killing machine at will is… well… intoxicating. Coupled with your Rage you’d be a wave of destruction. It costs moderate Focus.

>>2653415
>Swap. The sheer creativity and advantage you can spring on the aliens will give you and your squad an unpredictable and deadly edge. It costs the most Focus
INSTANT TRANSMISSION

>>2653415
>>Juggernaut. Becoming a one man killing machine at will is… well… intoxicating. Coupled with your Rage you’d be a wave of destruction. It costs moderate Focus.

While both of the other two sounds fascinating, Solace would not be needed when there are no psionic aliens on the field. Instead, the threat of combat is what is always a constant on a mission, not facing psionic aliens. This ability also seems like the one he was using already so it should be relatively easier to train for Dozer, not to mention the synergy with Rage to further boost it when needed. Basically, while the other two has situational uses, this one can be used in every mission. Besides, we would be able to directly protect our allies by being better at killing anything that's a threat, and not just psionic aliens.

>>2653415
>>Juggernaut. Becoming a one man killing machine at will is… well… intoxicating. Coupled with your Rage you’d be a wave of destruction. It costs moderate Focus.

We can save a lot of lives with extra strength and speed, though I'll be happy with any of the three.

>>2653453
>>2653458
>>2653472
>>2653485
A really close vote, but it looks like its going to be Juggernaut, writing!

File: I_m_the_Juggernaut_bitch_.jpg (18 KB, 500x398)

18 KB JPG

>>2653514
>its going to be Juggernaut

File: They call you....png (606 KB, 624x792)

606 KB PNG

Becoming a one-man army has too much of an appeal to you to not ignore. While both Solace and Swap had their uses, and great uses at that, they seemed rather situational to you. Juggernaut on the other hand…? Yes. You can see many uses of that. You can only imagine how deadly you’d become if you tapped into your rage at the very same time you are under the effects of Juggernaut. More importantly, you’d be able to keep the rest of your squad safe. That’s what really matters to you.

What follows next is you testing limits of your psionic abilities and steadily developing an impromptu training regimen of sorts, all the while jotting everything down to document for XCOM. What you learn quickly is that the hard limit to psionics is the acquisition and management of psionic Focus. It’s time consuming and mentally draining, and until XCOM can research some sort’ve psionic amplifier to or simply become better at manipulating the raw psionic energy in the air, it’s going to be a challenge. It’s not impossible however, and is much akin to training muscle. With time and effort an experienced psion should be able to draw and use more and more Focus for their abilities.

Practicing Juggernaut, you manage to hold and maintain the ability for an average of around ten seconds per burst of Focus, with each subsequent attempt becoming more difficult to maintain it. In those ten seconds, you are quite the powerful individual. You’ll need to test the limits further than just in your room with heavy objects and obstacles and the like, but you expect good results. It’s a shame you can only hold the ability for such a short amount of time. Though you suppose ten seconds is more than enough to change or end a problematic firefight outright, it’s a good start. With mental fatigue starting to quickly wear you out, you decide to stop practicing for now, feeling satisfied as a whole.

(Part 1 / 2)

File: Zhang.png (49 KB, 615x1184)

49 KB PNG

Opening the door of your dorm room, you look over to see Zhang casually right next to the doorway. He looks like a rather effective Chinese scarecrow.

“I’m done, thanks for keeping an eye out.” You say.

“Sir.” Zhang answers with a curt nod, cold and distant. You can see calculated wariness to Zhang eyes.

You frown, feeling an the loss of a friendly and respectable initial relationship with the former Triad since you recruited him frozen over for the foreseeable future since you have become a psion. It’s disheartening really. If only you could find out why he’s so cautious of you.

It’s then a… very different thought comes to your mind. You could with psionics. Sectoids had been doing it since first contact, and the Intruder had kept doing it to you until you kicked it out. With the power to read minds and perhaps do things even further… you realize that there is truly much more to psionics than you initially realized.

“You are staring at me.” Zhang says, causing you to snap out of it.

“Sorry, something came to mind… I'm a bit scatterbrained right now.” You answer halfheartedly, your mind wandering quickly again.

You could do it, he probably wouldn't even realize. Or you could ask if you could, but would he let you? Or maybe you shouldn't, as tempting as it is.

The decision weighs down in your head...

>Read his mind. You won’t do anything else, you just want to know. To understand. If you’re careful enough, he might not even realize.
>Ask for his consent. It’s for practice after all, this might be the most important thing to learn now.
>Don’t do it. No… just no. It might bite you in the ass down the line not knowing The Gifts true capabilities but you’re better than that.
>Other

>>2653576
>>Don’t do it. No… just no. It might bite you in the ass down the line not knowing The Gifts true capabilities but you’re better than that.

At the very least we should try it on an animal like Billy the Goat first.

>>2653576
>Ask for his consent. It’s for practice after all, this might be the most important thing to learn now.

>>2653576
>>Don’t do it. No… just no. It might bite you in the ass down the line not knowing The Gifts true capabilities but you’re better than that.

>>2653576
>>Ask for his consent. It’s for practice after all, this might be the most important thing to learn now.

Well thank goodness there's no Perils of the Warp type mechanic so there's minimal risk we turn him into a vegetable

>>2653576
>Don’t do it. No… just no. It might bite you in the ass down the line not knowing The Gifts true capabilities but you’re better than that.

>>2653576
>Ask for his consent. It’s for practice after all, this might be the most important thing to learn now.
Zhang might be wary of us but it’s just too important to ignore

>>2653576
>Ask for his consent. It’s for practice after all, this might be the most important thing to learn now.

>>2653580
>>2653603
>Nat 1 on Mind reading

>Dozer ends up temporarily possessing the target(s) while his body is essentially empty.

Alternatively
>Dozer and target(s) temporarily swap bodies

>>2653576
>Ask for his consent. It’s for practice after all, this might be the most important thing to learn now.

>>2652879
>and the Gunner
Someone corrected me last thread and said he was a Heavy ?

>>2653576
>Don’t do it. No… just no. It might bite you in the ass down the line not knowing The Gifts true capabilities but you’re better than that.
There are testing animals for god's sake, USE THEM.

>>2653472
>Solace would not be needed when there are no psionic aliens on the field
Could still be used to mentally stabilize Rook or Rachel, who are both a worry.

>>2653632

Would it really be worthwhile to peer into hte mind of a goat or rabbit, though? It'd either be a blank buzzing nothingness or intermittent thoughts of grass and stuff.

>>2653632
There are testing animals for god's sake, USE THEM.

I'm not against them but they barely have any mind to read, The Muton or Vahlen would be better. Vahlen might agree for SCIENCE and the Muton is a prisoner.

>>2653576
>>Ask for his consent and make it absolutely clear it will be a one-time thing.

Also offer him the opportunity of transferring to another squad if he's unconfortable with a Psion.

>>2653582
>>2653603
>>2653607
>>2653614
>>2653618
>>2653650
A very close vote, but it looks like asking for consent it is, writing!

>>2653630
In the Long War mod the Heavy class was split at Gunner and Rocketeer.

>>2653617
>Dozer gets to watch as his possessed body eats his pillow

>>2653639
>>2653644
basic instinct and low level emotions, mostly reactionary, but at least that's detectable. the sudden urge to eat grass is not normal to humans after all. we should do it where we can use tools that aren't needed by the scientists right now though.

File: Telepathy.jpg (30 KB, 680x383)

30 KB JPG

“Hey Zhang, there’s something important I want to ask you. It’s what came to mind.” You say, motioning for him to enter the room.

Zhang enters without another word and it seems he can read the writing on the wall just by what you are implying alone. He closes the door behind him and waits for you to speak.

“I made some good progress practicing but there’s one last thing I’d like to try. But, I need your help with it.” You say carefully, trying your best to gauge Zhang to see if it’s worth pressing. Not being able to gleam anything without psionics does not yield much, so you press on. “...I want to try and read your mind.”

Zhang stiffens and you see him grit his teeth. But he does not flinch or waver at the request. There’s a moment of silence as the Gunner considers this.

“If you don’t want too it’s fine, I can just practice on Billy the Goat or something and--” You’re interrupted as Zhang, with a slight air of reluctance gives you a nod.

“I will prove my loyalty to XCOM.” Zhang murmurs.

“Woah, your loyalty is definitely not in question here.” You are quick to reassure.

“In Strike-1 perhaps.” Zhang shrugs, before stepping forward. “Get it over with.”

“Thanks.” You say as you begin to Focus, calling forth one last burst of psionic energy to bend to your will one last time for the evening.

The room begins to glow purple once again as you see Zhang reflected against the light, grim and… accepting of his fate. You would hesitate yourself, but that would be practically insulting to Zhang going out of his way to let you do this. You hope you don’t screw this up. You look him in the eyes one last time, and can practically see your own purple glowing eyes reflected in his. He nods one last time, straightening his posture to accept it.

Here goes nothing. You raise a hand toward Zhang as a purple tendril extends out from you to him. Upon reaching contact you begin the process. The sensation is by far the most indescribable yet, as you feel your very own consciousness peer into Zhang’s. With Zhang allowing this to happen, it’s actually easier for you to enter his mind, which you take note of. Now… you feel like the real test begins now.

You really hope you don’t fuck this up.

>Roll 1d20+2

Rolled 6 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>2653697

inb4 Perils

Rolled 14 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>2653697

Rolled 18 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>2653697

>>2653703
Nailed it

>>2653703
From the rate we're developing our prowess, we should be halfway decent if it comes to stopping a Psionic fumble.

I'm waiting for the moment when we discover some random civilian kid that is too psionically powerful for any practical use.

File: Spoiler Image (900 KB, 1600x900)

900 KB PNG

>>2653713

I'm more concerned how it'll be once (if) pic related comes into the picture.

>>2653717
Mind merge and masturbate

File: Gun and Smoking Barrel.jpg (8 KB, 590x300)

8 KB JPG

You slip into Zhang’s mind. As you do so, you are assaulted by a barrage of sudden senses. A dozen images, sounds, smells, and other sensation hits you in a rapid and erratic pace that surprises you for just a moment until your quickly adjusts and stabilizes. It was as if you were tossed into a churning sea and couldn’t determine where the surface was.

Several snippets, memories, stick and linger long enough for you to catch before they changing back into a wild blur. Soldiers training. The coppery taste of blood. A dead rat in a gutter. The smoking barrel of a pistol and ringing ears of a gunshot. And a man, someone who while you can’t place you know is… important to Zhang. These memories, as fleeting as they are, have weight.

It’s Zhang’s thoughts, the constant churning of a mind at work. Raw and unfiltered. You don’t know the exact specifics but you can sense that Zhang has done and has endured many terrible things in his life. His mind is tough, and what you had managed to caught has shown you the former Triad lived a harsh life that steeled him.

You’re not alone either. You sense Zhang’s consciousness is present as well, and it can sense you are there but simply cannot do anything to stop you. You realize if you wanted, you could control Zhang further with more Focus. It would be so easy… a cold chill runs down your spine. You are Zhang’s Intruder. This is what it was like for it when it invaded your mind. You didn’t realize it could be so… Dominating? You are immediately filled with great unease and stop yourself long before you can truly violate Zhang’s privacy and wellbeing. Your grip is too tight on Zhang, you realize. You immediately lessen your grasp, letting him be able to communicate and act of his own volition.

“Hey.” You greet him, your ‘voice’ echoing in his mind.

(Part 1 / 2)

File: Zhang.png (699 KB, 901x810)

699 KB PNG

The barrage of memories freezes and all of Zhang’s attention is brought to bear immediately to you. Zhang, it appears, has realized you can read his raw thoughts and is trying to not reveal more of himself. Trying to force only a blank white nothingness in the ‘space’ around you. Unfortunately for him, there’s nothing he could really do to stop you if you wanted too snoop, but it’s a damn good effort to keep his mind as blank as possible.

“Dozer.” Zhang ‘speaks’ back to you.

“Hey relax. I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do, and I’m not going to intrude on your memories if either. I mean it.” You explain carefully.

“You still saw things, however fleeting, yes?” Zhang asks you.

“...Yeah.” You admit.

Zhang’s defense wavers, and you catch further snippets. The smell of incense. The sounds of drunken men and women singing drinking songs. The horrible screaming cries of a man being burned alive. A strange man wearing the same glasses of a Thin Man. The smoking gun and the ringing ears again. Zhang clamps down and focuses, and things return to a blank white. What you saw again is… especially the smoking gun, is the source of great pain from Zhang. The stinging horrible sensation of… of… you can’t place it but it feels like a terrible debilitating knot in one’s gut.

“...Are you satisfied?” Zhang asks. “Is this enough for your test?”

A part of you wants to learn more. To help Zhang. You may not know the context, but you felt the turmoil as if it were your very own. Your mind relating the sensations to similar memories… this could be very therapeutic for Zhang. Perhaps telepathy could be used for good here… but would that be overstepping your bounds?

Zhang is waiting for a reply, his guard is wavering knowing you’ve learned much more about him. His guard remains up nonetheless.

>You want to learn more about Zhang and help him.
>You’re done. You’ve seen far more than what you needed to see.
>Other

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

119 KB JPG

>...As much as I want to keep going, it's 3AM where I am and I am nodding off at the wheel and can see grammar errors in posts. This is a rather important decision anyways so I'll keep the vote running until tomorrow try and continue this as soon as possible. Thanks again for sticking around for an admittedly slower Friday session, writing psionics is hard! Until next update...

Thanks for playing!

>>2653742
>You want to learn more about Zhang and help him.

>>2653742
>>You’re done. You’ve seen far more than what you needed to see.

We can always talk about it, forcefully getting to know him better probably isn't going to help us.

>>2653742
>You’re done. You’ve seen far more than what you needed to see.
Getting the feeling Zhang's not exactly on board with the whole psychic gig. Thinking we should back off for now and try to pry later.

>>2653742
>You’re done. You’ve seen far more than what you needed to see.
Also seconding the suggestion to talk with him in a normal way.

>>2653742
>You’re done. You’ve seen far more than what you needed to see.
The probablility of a catastrophic fuck up is too high imho.

File: ij9nc0w.png (8 KB, 900x188)

8 KB PNG

>>2653742
>>You’re done. You’ve seen far more than what you needed to see.

But leave the option open if he wants to talk about it. We're in no position to pry and whatever happened in his past is irrelevant; what matters is the present, and the present issue is killing ayys

>>2653742
>You’re done. You’ve seen far more than what you needed to see.
I'd thought it'd be more like an outer crust, then the flowing river of thought beneath that. I'm sorry for intruding somewhere farther than I had intended to reach. And thank you.

>>2653742
>>You’re done. You’ve seen far more than what you needed to see.
If Zhnag needs help he'll ask it.

>>2653833
Changing vote
>>>You’re done. You swear absolute confidentiality about what you have seen. Not even the Commander gets to know this.

>>2653742
>>You want to learn more about Zhang and help him.
It's pretty clear that Zhang does not like this. BUT, as the option says, we would be doing this in an effort to better understand and help the man. That means choosing between keeping things as it is right now and not poking where we shouldn't for politeness, or doing what we need to do to help the teammate even if they might like us less for it in the short term. I say go for it. Zhang already no longer feels as friendly as before, yet he is still an integral part of the team and our comrade. So even at the cost of him having less opinion of us for the immediate term, it's only right that we try to help him so we can open him up to the rest of us.

As for normal talking only, I'm not entirely sure if he will ever willingly sit down and talk about his pasts and issues so simply.

Then again, perhaps we should try the mind-reading thing after we practice Solace. IF possible, we should trying mind reading someone while we sustain Solace on them. The mental clarity and focus might actually help in calming down those that we mind read on. That and since the in-game effects are to resist mental psi-effects, it might also help the person to take partial control of where and which memories are being read. There is just so much testing that needs to be done. I'll bet Vahlen wished we did this under her direct observation lol.

>>2653742
>>You’re done. You’ve seen far more than what you needed to see.

Be supportive and offer to talk about it if he ever wants to, but now probably isn't a good time to push him on it.

>>2653742
>You’re done. You’ve seen far more than what you needed to see.

>>2653742
>You’re done. You’ve seen far more than what you needed to see.

Consent is important. If we want to go deeper we should at least ask or try to convince him. Hence the "other" option.

Who was/is Rook's roommate btw ? If it was Babbler, I can understand his reaction during gangplank a bit more.

>>2653742
>You’re done. You’ve seen far more than what you needed to see.

Should have done this with Rachel. She'd be all for it.

>>2653742
>You're done
>>2654743
Maybe some other time

Calling it here!

>>2654743
I think we should just use telepathy every time we want to communicate with Loki, let's see her try being enigmatic to a psychic.

>>2655205
That might be a breach of trust though.

>>2655211
>might
It absolutely is.

>>2655211
I thought that telepathy and mind-reading were two separate things, but it appears Dozer can't "upload" to another person without "downloading" ?

>>2655905
We might be able to learn how to with more training, or maybe using solace on our self and the other person while we read them so as to only catch thoughts directed at us?
But that could lead to other problems ...

>>2655013
You didn't forget to hit post did you? I do that all the time.

That's it. You’ve already breached more than enough of Zhang’s privacy. You expected more difficulty in entering his mind but the consent of the person you were entering made it far easier. You pushed too hard and delved deeper than you had expected. That would mean entering an unwilling mind would be more difficult to breach and how you go about entering and navigating a mind can be as nuanced or as brute force to the psion. With that general principle, you can be more passive in gleaming minds in the future. You probably be able to control your own body while in the mind of another with practice like Sectoids mind merging.

Of course, all of that very useful information and theory you’re learning first hand is all secondary to you still intruding Zhang’s mind. The Gunner remaining constantly guarded and wary of you, and for good reason really. You never liked the Intruder in your mind.

“I’m leaving now.” You say as you begin to sever your mental connection to Zhang.

You can feel his relief in more ways than one. A part of him seemed to had expected you were going to probe his mind further. For one last time you see catch a glimpse of the pistol with a smoking barrel and feel the disorientation of ringing ears from a gunshot.

The last of your Focus is spent the mental link is disconnected. You feel a sense of vertigo as your mind adjusts back to controlling your body but are otherwise fine. Zhang relaxes as he’s finally once again alone with his mind. A bead of sweat trickles down his forehead, but otherwise he remains calm.

“You could’ve kept exploring my mind. But you didn’t.” Zhang says, unsure.

“Having been in your shoes, I know how powerless it feels. I didn’t expect pushing that hard would do that.” You say apologetically.

“...Why? Why did you stop?” Zhang asks you, not satisfied with your answer.

You blink, a bit thrown off by his constant questioning. Then again, being a part of the Triads must’ve forced the Gunner to always expect an ulterior motive. Perhaps that’s a good trait to have really, which means if you did earn the man’s trust he would be a valuable to have at your side, if that’s possible to gain the trust of a former criminal as a former enforcer.

>Zhang is a part of your squad. You want him to trust you.
>Having dealt with the Intruder you’ll only use telepathy on the enemy.
>If you wanted to learn about Zhang you’d ask him directly instead of snooping in his brain.
>Other.

>>2656965
>If you wanted to learn about Zhang you’d ask him directly instead of snooping in his brain.

>>2656965
>>Zhang is a part of your squad. You want him to trust you.

>>2656965
>>If you wanted to learn about Zhang you’d ask him directly instead of snooping in his brain.

>>2656965
>>Other.
Cause that shit is fucked up yo.

>>2656965
>Zhang is a part of your squad. You want him to trust you.

>>2656965
>If you wanted to learn about Zhang you’d ask him directly instead of snooping in his brain.

>>2656965
>If you wanted to learn about Zhang you’d ask him directly instead of snooping in his brain.

We're not exactly a subtle person if anyone were to know one thing about us.

>>2656965
>>Having dealt with the Intruder you’ll only use telepathy on the enemy.

>>2656965
>If you wanted to learn about Zhang you’d ask him directly instead of snooping in his brain.

>>2656965
>If you wanted to learn about Zhang you’d ask him directly instead of snooping in his brain.

>Other.
>Just wanted to check if it can be done, nothing more
I believe these options can be combined.

>>2656965
>>If you wanted to learn about Zhang you’d ask him directly instead of snooping in his brain.

Although I probably would reword that without the "if I wanted to learn more about you" since that can come off as kinda like we don't want to learn more about him.

>>2657359
Adding this to my vote >>2657354

>>2657354
sounds good

>>2656965
>A
and
>C

>>2656965
>Zhang is a part of your squad. You want him to trust you.
>If you wanted to learn about Zhang you’d ask him directly instead of snooping in his brain.
Having mindspace lewds with Rachel when

File: 1523913949834.jpg (42 KB, 600x532)

42 KB JPG

>>2657684
>not the commander

>>2657686
>Not having a psi-fuck threeway with Rachel and the Mommander.

>>2657691
>Not taking turns wearing each other's skin during said psi-fuck threeway

File: 1469431321311.png (200 KB, 606x563)

200 KB PNG

>Thirsty waifufags

>>2657684
Forgetting about trauma healing with Peppermint

>>2657945
You're shit.

>>2657948
Peppermint is very forgettable

>>2657945
Agreed

Calling it here!

>>2658434
>We'd just ask (consent is important).
11 + 3 didn't mean to dive that deep, just wanted to know i could read minds.
>Shit feels whack yo, i would know.
2
>I want people to trust me if i'm going to lead them into a battlefield.
4

>>2657951
Each to his own

File: patient bear.jpg (38 KB, 600x466)

38 KB JPG

>>2658434
I hope you're doing wonderfully. And that you had a party with your father yesterday. Take all the time you need, I'll be waiting.

File: Hack You!.gif (23 KB, 250x250)

23 KB GIF

>>2660659
Not patient enough that you felt the need to count for him hours after he called it and then reply again reminding him you are waiting evidently.

File: 1c6bb2d5m_aroused_snicker.jpg (39 KB, 623x414)

39 KB JPG

>tfw we eventually become a psionic god capable of wiping entire pods on our ownsome.

“If I wanted to learn more about you, I’d just ask you directly instead of snooping about in your head. I just wanted to check if it could be done, nothing more.” You explain, hoping to ease the tension between you and Zhang.

The man is thoughtful for a moment, considering your words. Zhang finally relents a bit, calming down a notch.

“You continue to be a surprise.” Zhang murmurs.

“Hah. I’m not exactly a subtle person.” You say.

“I… won’t apologize for my cautious behavior, as abrasive as it may be. But hopefully, you can understand my position.” Zhang tells you.

“I’d like to know for sure, just so we’re on the same page.”

Zhang frowns, but nods. He’s silent for a few moments, deliberately considering his choice of words.

“...There are two possibilities regarding your new abilities. One, that there are many more capable of what you can do, myself included. Second, you very well could be the one person alone with such powers. Both outcomes do not fill me with confidence.” Zhang shakes his head. “I have simply seen how cruel humanity can be in their desire for power.”

You’re a bit surprised at how thoughtful the Gunner is. Then again, having lived the live he likely had, it has given the man a very particular perspective of the world. It’s a rather cynical. Having seen your own fair share of fucked up shit in your former job a part of you agrees with Zhang. Cortez, the cartel kingpin your old team worked so hard to bag, would’ve done anything to keep a hold of his power. But, surely, if a multinational force like XCOM could operate to defend humanity, maybe it’s not all bad?

>You agree with Zhang. You’re concerned of the ramifications of psionics as well, you don't want to lose yourself to the power.
>XCOM has shown you that humanity can be worth fighting for, and you believe the world can handle the Gift.
>You have no stance on the matter. The Gift is a tool that can be used to help end the war, and should be used for better or worse.
>Other

>>2660757
You agree with Zhang. You’re concerned of the ramifications of psionics as well, you don't want to lose yourself to the power.

>>2660722
Really, that's just being able to cast void rift.

>>2660757
>>You agree with Zhang. You’re concerned of the ramifications of psionics as well, you don't want to lose yourself to the power.

>>2660757
>You have no stance on the matter. The Gift is a tool that can be used to help end the war, and should be used for better or worse.

>>2660757
>>You have no stance on the matter. The Gift is a tool that can be used to help end the war, and should be used for better or worse.
Eh, people will be people, and there will always be those that want more power. That's just human nature, and getting psi isn't going to change anything in the long term. Honestly, as long as humanity progress and advance, new radical technology will always present the same argument. With every new technology comes new regulations, and there will probably be psionic police or something to manage it. In the end nothing will really change.

Either way though right now it's a useful power and tool to use, and we need to focus on surviving and winning before worrying about who would use psionics for what.

>>2660757
>You have no stance on the matter. The Gift is a tool that can be used to help end the war, and should be used for better or worse.

>>2660757
>Like everything else it's a tool. No more no less. Killing someone with psionics is not different than killing with a gun, and likely a lot harder to achieve.

>>2660757
>You agree with Zhang. You’re concerned of the ramifications of psionics as well, you don't want to lose yourself to the power.

>>2660757
>You agree with Zhang. You’re concerned of the ramifications of psionics as well, you don't want to lose yourself to the power.
I don't mean this as a "lets stop studying psionics" vote though, I'm all for advancing further down this path.

File: 8354484_EXALT Dossier 3.png (285 KB, 1240x1034)

285 KB PNG

have you guys been seeing what's being thrown up on twitter lately? clearly a lot of effort was made for the person who uploaded them and you should praise me for the hard work

>>2660757
>You agree with Zhang. You’re concerned of the ramifications of psionics as well, you don't want to lose yourself to the power.

The man knows what the fuck he's talking about.

>>2660757
>You agree with Zhang. You’re concerned of the ramifications of psionics as well, you don't want to lose yourself to the power.
>>2660714
People forget to hit send, get busy with life, or experience power/internet outages all the time. It's frustrating for the players, and discouraging to the qm's.
I just wanted to try and be helpful, and remind them that we enjoy what they do. I can't say I wasn't worried something had happened to them either, 24 hours is quite the pause between calling a vote and updating.

>>2661093
He doesn't update regularly outside of Fridays.

Active sessions are on Fridays.
'Update when I can' is on every other day.

>>2660757
>>You have no stance on the matter. The Gift is a tool that can be used to help end the war, and should be used for better or worse.

>>2660757
>>XCOM has shown you that humanity can be worth fighting for, and you believe the world can handle the Gift.

>>2660757
>>You agree with Zhang. You’re concerned of the ramifications of psionics as well, you don't want to lose yourself to the power.

>You have no stance on the matter. The Gift is a tool that can be used to help end the war, and should be used for better or worse.

>>2660757
>>You agree with Zhang. You’re concerned of the ramifications of psionics as well, you don't want to lose yourself to the power.

>>2660757
>XCOM has shown you that humanity can be worth fighting for, and you believe the world can handle the Gift.

>>2660757
>>You agree with Zhang. You’re concerned of the ramifications of psionics as well, you don't want to lose yourself to the power.
Anything other than Solace is complicating a already chaotic combat environment.

But having soething like Solace available when Rook flipped out during Gangplank wouldve been invaluable. And maybe it wouldve helped with Bannon too.

>>2660757
>You have no stance on the matter. The Gift is a tool that can be used to help end the war, and should be used for better or worse.

>>2660757
If anything, as a personal ability that is inherently limeted by the user's power and requires significant training to use, psionics are less a threat to humanity than, say, repeating rifles..

>>2661007
the shark shit talked pixel.

>>2662054

Seems a lot of that going around. How long is this shark avatar thing gonna be hijacking Pixel's account? Until EXALT appears proper in the quest?

Calling it here!

“You’re right, Zhang. Psionics could change everything, for better or worse. I don’t like the idea of either possibilities, especially if I’m just the only one.” You say, frowning. This seems to improve Zhang’s mood but you continue. “...But, we can’t ignore this potential. We need this edge just as much as we need MECs or reverse engineering alien tech. We don’t have a choice.”

“...No, we don’t.” Zhang sighs, nodding. “My choice still stands. I will not hesitate if you lose subdue you if need be. For all any of us know, you are a walking time bomb.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.” You tell him. As morbid as it sounds, you do feel better knowing that if you do lose your grip there is a contingency plan. Hopefully it’s not needed.

“I should also thank you as well… for considering my privacy, such as it was.” Zhang murmurs, closing his eyes and nodding humbly. You can tell he’s still going to remain cautious of you, but it’s not as cold as it was at first.

“Don’t mention it. Really. Don’t, gotta keep it secret.” You chuckle, before placing a hand on the man’s shoulder. “And hey, if you want to talk about… what I saw in there, I’m all ears.”

Zhang doesn’t answer and instead merely takes his leave, but he does take note of what you said. It won’t affect him in fights, if the last operation is anything he’s showed you that the man can keep his cool. Still, you can’t help but remain concerned. Those memories you felt utterly gnawed at you. It’s messed him up. As Zhang opens the door to exit however, he nearly bumps into Rachel who is standing outside.

“Yo!” Rachel grins waving her mechanical arm at the both of you before pausing and noting the… ‘tension’ of sorts in the air. She blinks and wavers a bit, looking at you and Zhang with a… very suspicious eye “...Woah, I’m totally not in the middle of something am I?”

“No.” You and Zhang say in unison, totally not helping things..

“Riiight.” Rachel coughs, looking at you both and oddly waggling her eyebrows very suspiciously before clapping her hands, which makes a slight clanging noise. “Anyways. Naru’s finally come out from hiding and had this idea of getting Strike-1 together to watch some dumb action movies she’s apparently had before she has to ‘do a thing’ with RnD. Last I checked both are part of Strike-1, which means you’re both in!”

“Cool.” You like the sound of that. It’d be nice to spend time with the others.

“Ah. Thank you for the offer but--” Zhang attempts to politely excuse himself from the squad get together, but his single mistake was saying that to Rachel of all people.

“Nuh uh, you’re not going anywhere, pal.” Rachel snaps grabbing Zhang. At that any protest is over. There’s really no way Zhang can escape Rachel’s augmented grasp. With a defeated sigh Zhang relents, much to the satisfaction of Rachel.

“Movie night!” Rachel whoops.

(Part 1 / 3)

File: Delta Section.png (360 KB, 583x280)

360 KB PNG

While the rest of that evening was a enjoyable one, your squad’s downtime eventually ends as Strike-1 is slotted back into active duty.The aliens have not relented at all since after the triple mission and have only increased their operations across the globe. What you’re hearing is not pretty. Africa and South America is being repeatedly bombed by raids UFOs and there’s rising unrest in Europe, it’s not looking pretty. Soon enough your squad’s been called upon for a mission. You were hoping for something easy like a crashed Scout UFO given how brittle you’re squad has become but unfortunately that’s not the case.

Looking at the hologlobe briefing room in Delta Section, you and the rest of the combat ready members Strike-1 are overviewing mission information of yet another Council Mission that you’ve been assigned to. Apparently, an unauthorized military convoy in France was ambushed in the middle of a city and XCOM’s been requested to investigate. Specifics given from the Council remain vague for XCOM besides the bare basics. More information will be given from the Council on-site as needed. Everyone can clearly see there’s something more to the operation much like every other Council Mission usually you’ve been a part of.

“Mm. It all feels very cloak and dagger…” Loki hums with dissatisfaction.

“For once I agree with you.” Rachel frowns.

“I just hope I do not know anyone in the convoy.” Burnout frowns, which Harita reassures with a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Strike-1 currently has a ‘full’ squad of six ready to deploy with Loki, Harita, Rachel, Zhang, Burnout, and yourself comprising the unit. However there’s a seriously problem, which you’re trying to reason with the Commander who has been present to give the briefing.

“We’ll do it ma’am, there’s now hesitation. However…” You pause and look over to Rachel.

The MEC Division has been taking a bit of a beating and the three MEC suits they have are not enough to go around with how extensive alien operations have been. All three of the suits are constantly in the repair bay if they aren’t in combat, and you feel it’s risky for Rachel to deploy in a damaged suit. Rachel has already begrudgingly agreed to step down if need be, but she can’t or the squad will remain undermanned. SHIVs are an option but they’re getting churned through in operations as well.

You really wish the Gauss weapons and Phalanx armor would be done by now. And they will be in circulation… by essentially the next mission. You’re squad has the rather unlucky position of being one of the last XCOM squads to deploy with soon to be outdated tech. Joy.

The Commander, however, seems to be in good spirits nonetheless.

“Now, I know you’re worried Dozer. But I have good news for you.” The Commander says, with a warm smile. “Hopefully it should be here any… ah, there they are.”

(Part 2 / 3)

File: Rook.png (105 KB, 889x1260)

105 KB PNG

You and the rest of the squad look over to the entrance and see someone you weren’t expecting for a while. Rook.

“Holy crap.” Rachel gasps.

The former Strike-1 squad leader is already in his combat gear and the sight of him wearing XCOM’s Tac Armor gives you and likely some of the others a bit of confusion, a tiny part of you almost expects you to snap a salute and wait for Rook’s others. But things have changed. Rook is accompanied by a shrink who after quiet discussion with Rook, takes her leave. You see the Infantry take a moment to compose himself by the doorway before approaching and… saluting you.

It’s immediately awkward for the entire squad.

“Reporting for duty.” Rook says as calmly as he can.

“At ease.” You answer just as calmly as you can, feeling your anger start to bubble for a moment before you force yourself to relax. Not here. Especially not in front of the Commander.

“Now, I was assured multiple times by Dr. Cai that Rook has… calmed down. And I’ve even personally spoken with the man myself.” The Commander says reassuringly. “Rook can fill in for Rachel’s slot in the operation and that should sort out your concerns for the operation until the rest of your squad can be back to active duty.”

You nod slowly, regarding Rook. It’s been quite a while since Gangplank and you never did get a chance to sort things out with him. A part of you plain doesn’t trust he can handle himself, but practically speaking it would make the operation be smoother for you if Rachel can sit the mission out until the MEC Division is in a better position to support operations.

...And there is of course finding out yourself if Rook is really good to go or perhaps ensuring he’s combat ready through Psionics. You've been practicing mind reading and can possible read his mind without anyone realizing. The only risk is being found out, however...

Rook awaits your call looking at you directly. This is just as difficult for him as it is for you. At the very least there’s that, you guess.

>Rook will participate in the mission.
>Rook will sit this one out.
>You’ll… ‘verify’ him yourself.
>Other.

>>2663231
>Rook will participate in the mission.

>>2663231
>Put him in, coach.

>>2663231
Also do we glow purple when we use Juggernaut?

>Other.
Ask the Commander in private about permission to use psionics in battle.

>>2663250
I can support this.

File: yoooooooooooooooooooooo.png (1.1 MB, 745x812)

1.1 MB PNG

>>2663250
Slightly! If people paid Dozer attention enough to they would see him glowing.

Also as an aside, holy crap! Someone made Riot Shields in XCOM 2! Pre-MEC Rachel is a go!

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1416242202

>>2663231
>Rook will participate in the mission.
Also supporting >>2663250

>>2663261
Yep! One of my friends was paid for doing the model work on it, its good!

>>2663231
>Rook will participate in the mission.

>>2663231
>>Rook will participate in the mission.
I would choose verify if we had more skills to be more subtle, but our attempt with Zhang shows how easy it can be recognized currently. maybe later after more practice.

>>2663231
>>Rook will participate in the mission.

>>2663250
Either way, the cat will be out of the back the moment all of our hair turns white.

>>2663443
Just shave away all the hair on our body. Including nose hair.

>>2663443
>>2663464
That did not happen in xcom 1. My guess is given they had a limited pool they had to gene treat humans tog et it to take. Since we're a natty psion we're set.

>>2663231
>>Rook will participate in the mission.

>>2663231
>>Rook will participate in the mission.
also >>2663250

>>2663231
>Rook will participate in the mission.
>>2663250
Just in case.

>>2663231
>>Rook will participate in the mission.

>>2663231
>>You’ll… ‘verify’ him yourself.

>>2663226
>unauthorized military convoy
Oh boy, that is going to be trouble in itself. Hope they werent transporting a damaged mini nuke or something.

File: 1529229333378.gif (1.9 MB, 1108x1089)

1.9 MB GIF

>>2663231
>>You’ll… ‘verify’ him yourself.

Best to see if he's fit for it.

Wait.

>Council Mission
>unauthorized military convoy
>France

Ohhhh shit, it's /that/ mission! Which means we're starting that other DLC mission pack!
Which means that she...well.

EXALT is coming--and that right soon. This mission will make it apparent. Brings up the question, though: who will be the unwary operative we pick up?

>>2663222
>>2663226
WHAT MOVIE DID WE WATCH

>>2662128
I have no idea. But Pixel is my waifu.

>>2663261
So what movie did they watch?

>>2663231
>Rook will participate in the mission.
I'd assume we can at least attempt Solace in a situation where we really needed it.
Also supporting
>>2663250

Calling it here!

>>2664565
>>2664587
Predator.

>>2664691
Why not 50 Shades of Grey ?

>>2664731
Is it really a good idea to watch a horror movie before a mission?

>>2664691
>>2664731

Probably because Naru is going to pick up heat vision

>>2664746
>she's going to notice an increase in temperature around men's groins when they get a boner

>>2664781
Oh shit, we convinced Naru to sign herself up for Meat Vision.

>>2664781
>men's
And those women in Xcom who have sonething..extra.

>>2665023
I know XCOM has a bit looser standards in terms of what kind of personality a soldier may have as long as they can do their part on the battlefield but I don't think even XCOM would let somebody as deranged as that join them.

>>2665069
I think an organization that even lets members of criminal triads in isn't going to particularly care about whether someone is cis or not

>>2665093
A mentally ill person who may at any moment decide to kill themselves is in my opinion a greater threat to people around them than some Chinese mafioso. There's no guarantee that they won't decide to take others to the grave with them.

>>2665131
You realise the suicide is caused by NOT treating the dysphoria, right?

>>2665155
Because dysphoria is super easy to treat while on the schedule of an active XCOM soldier?

>>2665163
Yes? Literally, its just a pill in the morning and a pill in the evening. Obviously if they're still in the early stages of transition (still getting electro etc) they won't be signing up, in the same way that you don't have the freedom to sign up for anything out of town at that point.

>>2665173
Maybe I'm pulling a Dunning-Kruger here, but something makes me skeptical about two pills taken daily being sufficient to completely treat a severe mental illness. I'm not arguing that they couldn't be functional, just that putting someone with even slightly questionable mental health into an XCOM mission is like putting someone with severe arthritis into a construction project.

>>2665205
The pills treat it by removing the underlying cause, and they have been proven to help immensely. Of course, anybody who does have the severe depression side (ie, is still severely dysphoric) would be screened out by the psychs anyway, the same as any other military force that accepts trans folk (such as the British Armed Forces, or the American Armed Forces until relatively recently when it changed to blocking all applications out of hand).

>>2665205
The Commander is Canadian. Canada has allowed trans soldiers since 1992.

>>2665227
I didn't know that so I'll stop complaining about it. Though I still don't like it

File: 1527681088297.jpg (88 KB, 1200x758)

88 KB JPG

Are we really going to argue about having trans soldiers in XCOM? I don't care if they identify as male, female, or goddamn Apache attack helicopter--if they wanna kill aliens, hand them a rifle a send them on their way.

>>2665155
Then why is suicide far more prevalent in people who do transition?

>>2665800
It isn't. It is far more prevalent in people who don't (because hey guess what when your existence causes you trauma, it isn't good for your mental health), and while it remains higher than average in people who do, not by much.

>>2665800
because transitioning is not the end of their problem. A lot of them suffer from ostracization, or belittlement when coming out as trans.
Half of all trans people lose family members. more than 60% have suffered from violence in the work place or school.

File: 1468705017023.png (129 KB, 800x800)

129 KB PNG

Y'all need to stop.

>>2665899
Sorry, I tend to get worked up when people get vocal about disliking that I exist

>>2665935
Have you considered growing up?

>>2665962
cause that's helpful.

>>2665935
If you get worked up everytime you encounter an idiot, you'll never have time for anything.

File: Logo.png (362 KB, 535x535)

362 KB PNG

The others wait for your call. History aside, the answer is a relatively simple one.

“Rook will come along for the mission.” You say.

Rook lets out a small breath he was holding in and, nods to you. Quietly taking a seat with the others. Besides a few glances among one another, nobody in the rest of the squad comments. Which is good, the last thing you need is drama right before an operation. If the Commander and XCOM’s shrinks say Rook is fine to fight, he’s fine to fight.

“Ah damn.” Rachel sighs, a bit disappointed at not going. “Oh well.”

“There’s always next mission.” Harita cheers up Rachel. The MEC trooper appreciates it.

As the rest of the briefing continues, which there really isn’t much to work with given how little information the Council’s released you take the opportunity to have a word in private with the Commander once Loki steps in to handle ironing out mission details with the Mission Control operator supporting the squad for the mission. It’s the same one you had last time, her name’s Anna you believe.

“What is it, Dozer?” The Commander ask you once you both step aside out of earshot. Zhang looks over and judging by the look he has he might have a good idea what you’re going to ask.

“Do I have permission to use psionics in the operation?” You request. The Commander raises an eyebrow.

“Are you sure you can pull that off while still commanding the squad and actively getting shot at?” The Commander asks you. The way she says it shows that she’s concerned, but more than anything else seems to be asking you in a tone of voice that makes you have to think it through several times just to be sure.

“I’ve made a fair amount of progress in training my ability like I had written in my reports so far and I should be able to not reveal myself.” You answer. Though that understandable cautious lingers in the back of your head.

“If you really think you’ve made enough progress that it would matter and it could possibly save lives, I’ll allow it. Just don’t push your luck, please.” The Commander says, before smiling and turning back to continue to the briefing.

(Part 1 / 2)

File: XCOM Armory.png (355 KB, 1036x473)

355 KB PNG

You nod. That’s reasonable. You still have little experience and practice in casting Solace and Swap and it would be a challenge to try in a firefight. Juggernaut however shouldn’t be impossible. There’s always a bad fluke to keep wary of course, but it’s good that you have an option to use your full suite of tools available to you if need be. The rest of the briefing goes without note, and you and the rest of the squad make their way to the armory for one last gear check and then the hanger.

As everyone double checks kit you have a few options of kit yourself. There’s your standard kit of flashbangs and armored vest. Still ceramic plating, but this might be the last outing with it, so it’s not so bad. But there’s more tools at your disposal. Naru’s once again offered the squad to use her flamethrower gauntlet while she’s ‘busy’ and then there’s the Arc Thrower, which is most effective in the hands of Assaults. Sure it’s a Council Mission, but the high-tech stun gun has it’s uses in a pinch and it would be a nice bonus to bag a stunned alien. You can swap out your current kit around or bring extra at the cost of extra weight and decreased movement. And you can always suggest and manage some of your squad’s gear as well.

Hm.

>Keep your standard kit.
>Swap something out for the Flame Gauntlet or Arc Thrower (Specify)
>Carry extra kit (Specify)
>Manage Squad Loadout. (Specify)

>>2666169
>>Swap something out for the Flame Gauntlet or Arc Thrower (Specify)
swap out the flashbang for the arc thrower

>>2666169
seconding >>2666178

>>2666169
>>Swap something out for the Flame Gauntlet or Arc Thrower (Specify)
the plate for the arc thrower.

>>2666178
supporting.

File: 1529523059781.png (2.45 MB, 1144x1600)

2.45 MB PNG

>>2666169
I'm down with: >>2666178

>>2666178
Swap flashbang for Arc Thrower

Historically we've needed the plate

>>2666169
>>Carry extra kit (Specify)
Arc Thrower as extra.

>>2666289
>>2666371

This.
Also, who do we have on team for the mission? I lost track

>>2666635
Loki (Engineer), Harita (Assault), Burnout (Scout), Zhang (Gunner), Rook (Infantry), and yourself.

>>2666169
>>2666178
This

Does Harita have room for a flamethrower or is her kit already full with sword and whatever else she has?
>Manage Squad Loadout. (Specify)
Flamethrower for Harita if she has room for it but don't do it if it would require replacing something.

>>2666668
>>2666169
I'll second this.

>>2666418
Changing my vote, as I realised Sweet is not with us: bring as many extra medkits as possible.

File: 45433121_EXALT Dossier Ma(...).png (401 KB, 1240x1034)

401 KB PNG

would reccomend that instant ramen brand

>>2666651
Much obliged

Calling it here!

>>2666890
>inb4 we get a EXALT rival team to contrast with the other rival XCOM teams

File: Vigilo Confido.jpg (120 KB, 736x640)

120 KB JPG

You idly bounce a flashbang in your hand. You’re so accustomed to carry a couple of these room clearing life savers but the Arc Thrower is very tempting. After a moment of thought, you begin to set down the couple of flashbangs you have aside and take the arc thrower instead. The thought of removing your ceramic plating never crosses your mind, after all you have a pretty high track record of being shot.

Holding the Arc Thrower in your hand you note the various ‘stun’ settings on the device with the maximum setting being practically lethal to humans, likely designed for tazing Mutons or the pain resistant Floaters. There’s a setting for tazing humans too, though hopefully you won’t need to ever use that. You really can’t see why you would, given XCOM fights aliens, but you suppose it would helpful in stunning a mind controlled ally or something like that. It’s good it has the versatility.

Holstering the Arc Thrower on your person you are about to make your leave before pausing and taking a look at Naru’s flamethrower gauntlet. The thing’s been upgraded a bit, looking more ferocious than last time. Naru’s time spent as a non-combatant were put to use as she’s been tinkering away at the thing. It can fire two whole bursts of flaming death now. It also has a sharkteeth decal painted on the sides. Suitably menacing. You do like sharks a bit. While carrying this around would weigh you down, someone else could use this. Taking the gauntlet, you make your way over to Harita as she’s sharpening her blade.

“Hey, Harita. Think you can spare room for this?” You ask her, presenting the flamer gauntlet to her. She looks down and blinks, a bit surprised.

“Hm.” Harita pauses. “I can opt to not bring my grenades and carry that instead, since Loki will be participating in the mission with us.”

“Sounds good. We should have more than enough explosives with her coming along.” You say, handing her the gauntlet. She takes great care handling it. “Do you know how to operate it?”

A nod is all you need to see and you leave her to it. Before leaving you also have the rest of the squad try and carry a few medikits if possible, with Sweet still out of the fight it definitely wouldn’t hurt. Rook and Burnout are fortunately able to spare a medikit each, which should be enough for meds until your squad’s Medic is back on his feet. Rook in particular seems to be taking the time to psyche himself up. You leave him be.

Your squad geared and ready to go, you all make your way to the Skyranger. Rachel gives Harita a hug for good luck, a nice little showing of affection between the pair and generally wishes everyone else to kill a couple of aliens for her. She gives you a mechanical thumbs up, which you return. As you and the others board the Skyranger poised for France, you can’t help but wonder what’s in store for you and Strike-1 this time.

For some reason, you can’t shake the feeling you’ll be thrown another curve ball. A Portent, you suppose...

File: Heading Out.png (1.82 MB, 1360x882)

1.82 MB PNG

>>2668079
>...And with that, I'm going to call this thread here! Next thread is going to be very interesting to say the least, but you'll be in good hands, I assure you! So until next time...

Thanks for playing!

hehehe

I wonder if Rook will turn out to be a Psion? And the reason he gets so upset about squad members dying is because he can FEEL it?

>>2668452
Damn, that'd be cool.

>>2668079
>You do like sharks a bit.
I see what you did there.

>>2669142
Dozer confirmed for being Exalt spy

File: 36306017_EXALT 'Dossier' (...).png (135 KB, 1894x940)

135 KB PNG

shh

>>2669227
It's a little uncomfortable to know all these details about the people we will violently kill.

>>2669227
>Nichijou OST
New goal: Ensure this beacon of good taste lives forever

>>2669227
>That ASCII shark
Nice.

New thread soon!

Just a heads up thread is delayed for an indeterminate amount of time due to the internet being down and my ISP being a trashfire, apologies!

>>2670628
We'll wait while we send angry letters to your ISP ;)

>>2669227
>Dr T.
SHIT

>>2670878
I think I missed the Dr. T bit, explanation please?