Hey, everybody else has started a let's play and abandoned it. Lets Play X-Com!

[Cubey]

Yes, we have painkillers. It's just that nobody saw it worthwhile to use them yet. After all, why waste resources on restoring soldiers' morale when shooting an alien and threatening that they'll be next if they don't feel better does the same, for free?

[chiasaur11]

Awesome. Awesome. (Laser rifles/pistols have always been my favorite weapons. Pistols especially because of how many times a trooper with decent time units can full auto.)
I understand it only seems to be a mirror flip, but why do I get two?
Sorry. Seems I missed the P.17 update.

Hooray, I'm participating!
Uh.... you died.
S'okay, I got a spare.

Oh, and Commander Chiasaur11 sir, are my stats any good, or am I condemned to redshirt duty?

Well, the you that died had fairly good stats.
The other one... less so. Still, you might ace psi testing, so all hope isn't lost.

Chumbley came by the hospital. Good lad, kept me up on incidents at the base. He also slipped me a spoon yesterday, which was greatly aiding my attempts to dig to freedom and/or eat chocolate pudding. Both activities denied by my so called "Doctors".

"Good to see you again sir. I have good news! Dr. Peirce thinks you should be able to walk again by August, and in full fighting shape by the year's end."

"By the end of the year, we'll all be speaking Sectiodese, or whatever you call it. Besides, I was walking yesterday. Give me the alternative."

"It's called Y'eg'opth, I'm pretty sure immediately falling to the floor, then crawling 50 feet and attempting to strangle a doctor with your large intestine isn't technically 'walking' (even if it is very impressive), and there was a suggestion from Cubey. Seems he developed a prototype of some sort."



"What's it do?"

"A good deal, especially considering he built it in his spare time from random debris around the base. It's highly resistant to plasma fire, all but immune to lasers and conventional firearms, enhances physical strength, has built in life support systems, and a built in long range transmitter to allow constant contact with on base support staff. In any other war, the wearer would be like unto a god. In the current conflict, it may just be good enough to even the playing field. It should be enough to get you back on your feet before the week is out, but..."

"Great. Get it to me tomorrow."

"Will do, chief. It's an honor to serve under a man more dedicated to his world than his own well being. Oh, got another lab report for you to sign off on."



I stared at the paper. So this is how they pilot. Well, looked easy enough. Heck, even Knight or Copper could fly one of these with five minutes to study.
Not that I'd ever trust my life to Copper. He's probably plotting something.



Unfortunately, as soon as I was in my fancy new modular power suit, the UN council walked in. Seemed our performance in Casablanca wasn't quite up to the standards they'd come to expect from us. And the budget probably wasn't helped by my punching the Japanese ambassador in the face for his comment on the suit's lack of aerodynamics. Ah well.


The results of PSI testing coming in did something to make up for the poor funding results. Chumbley explained the rubric as best he could.

"The standard system goes from the hypothetical extremes of 0 and 100. Now, a zero would be basically unable to resist mental commands, even those aimed at others. Up until, oh, forty, we'd still be dealing with very weak mental abilities. A fifty through seventy is pretty good. Leadership material, and, if the species is capable of it, psionic officers. Seventy five is likely the best you'll encounter in the field. Eighty, now eighty to is amazing. From what I was able to gather from upper echelon conversations I overheard, a score of eighty to ninety pretty much meant total command of an operation. Genetic experiments are conducted to get scores that good, no matter the other consequences, before any major invasion. One hundred is a purely hypothetical scenario. The theoretical perfect psychic."

A huge grin appeared on Chumbley's gigantic noggin.
"Sir, Sgt. Tengu has a psi score of one hundred."

Only one thought ran through my mind. It was going to be harder than ever to get Temp to do anything.

The tech developments hardly lived up to the other discoveries, but it was better than nothing.

A new heavy laser. No good for most field work, but a modified version mounted on a treaded chassis might be a good idea. Lopez manages fine with just a cannon, but he's Lopez. Any other HWP probably couldn't pull it off.


Another UFO seemed just the thing to test out the new gear, so I quickly assembled the team.

"Oh, ^*&*. Cubey was telling the truth. He was building a robot army to kill us all."

"No such luck, maggots. Now get your butts on the Skyranger."


I grabbed all the applicable gear and got ready to waste whatever Floaters and Sectoids were waiting outside.



Bingo. Seemed to be a new species, though. I called up Chumbley on the fancy new comlink.

"Some kind of Snake guy. Any idea what to do to 'em?"
"Oh. Ah. This is... probably bad."
"Spill."
"Well, normally from what I could find, by this late in conflict is supposed to be settling. If local resistance continues, it ceases to be worth the resources. Seeing a dedicated warrior race, especially one with such an... interesting attitude towards ethics... Is there anything you've found on this world to justify a continued invasion of this world? Massive Elerium supplies, some kind of ancient doomsday device, its purpose long since forgotten, now revered as a deity?"
"Nothing but an old UFO in the gulf of Mexico. I'd been having some nightmares about unkillable armies of man/lobster hybrids, and..."
"Lost colony? T'Leth! This is..."
"Boring me, Chumbley. Sorry. We can talk more at base."

Right. Panic the Snakeman with the Amp, then give it something to panic about with the rifle. One handed made the shot a bit tricky. Missed.



Didn't miss one coming around a corner to try and drop me, though. And it seems losing an arm makes most of these suckers back off fairly quick.



About then I noticed Tengu Temp had not, in fact, left the Skyranger. He was, as things go, hiding in the back.
"Just figuring out how to work the Psi-Amp, sir.I think I get it now."

And with that, a nearby Snakeman stepped out of its cozy hiding spot and right into the UFO. I readied a grenade.

"Bingo. Two of these things inside the scout. Don't shoot the soldier with the heavy plasma. I'm using it right now."

Colonel Knight and I slipped in. Seems the Snakemen had gotten into a little argument. Knight's bayonet mopped up the survivors.

I did a final sweep of the area, and found my earlier target still irritatingly mobile.

A quick one two from my Psi amp and Knight's stabbing skills ended that issue.


And with that, we were done.

Seemed Chumbley was right. Tengu was a natural with mind control, (Oddly, this did not give me the slightest impulse to increase his rank or pay. ) and Cubey's power armor worked like a dream. Of course, it could use a few minor add ons...

[Eldan]

Yes, Sir. I have no psionic skills at all, so you should not pay any attention to useless attempt in this department.

All my parents said I was a loser and would never dominate earthling officers...

[Pie Guy]

So, how's my psi-strength?

[Alex Knight]

Well......

At least I've got better PSI scores than Eldan. That's something.

[chiasaur11]

So, how's my psi-strength?

Dunno.

We haven't got a training center at Fort Fri yet.

[BRC]

YES, I (Barely) Made the grade for Psi-Specialist. Though I'm no match for Psilord Tengu.


Sir, a question, how do you propose to keep Tengu from mind controlling us and seizing control. More to the point, how do we know he's not already doing it...

[Johnny Blade]

So, are those shown the only ones tested yet?

[BRC]

Here's another batch of artwork. Tengu, Lopez, and Cubey

[Artanis]

Ouch. Only four or five keepers in a group that size is pretty good statistically, but it still hurts when veterans wind up with a 20something.

At any rate, I'm enjoying the updates quite a bit. Keep them coming!

[Inhuman Bot]

So... Have I been recrutied yet, perchance? :p

[Lord Herman]

I knew I shouldn't have copied off Eldan on that test. I mean, he said himself he's a perfectly normal earthling with no supernatural powers whatsoever.

[chiasaur11]

So... Have I been recrutied yet, perchance? :p

Yup.

You're currently in the PSI lab for testing, as the first shift's ended.

[Alex Knight]

YES, I (Barely) Made the grade for Psi-Specialist. Though I'm no match for Psilord Tengu.


Sir, a question, how do you propose to keep Tengu from mind controlling us and seizing control. More to the point, how do we know he's not already doing it...

Easy. I thwack him whenever he looks like he's thinking.

[Johnny Blade]

Easy. I thwack him whenever he looks like he's thinking.

If I may say so, this is brilliant human capital management, sir.

[Cubey]

And here I thought the game would decide to be sarcastic and give Chiasaur 15 psionic strength or something so we won't be able to use him for any mission that actually matters. But no such luck misfortune.

Also, yay. I'm a mad scientist. I mean, OF COURSE!

[Oslecamo]

Yup.

You're currently in the PSI lab for testing, as the first shift's ended.

I also applied. Where am I? I would even be honored for toilet cleaning, sir!

[chiasaur11]

I also applied. Where am I? I would even be honored for toilet cleaning, sir!

You're not at a base yet.

But there's some openings coming up soon. You can be garrisoned at the third base we make.

[Murska]

How am I doing?

[chiasaur11]

How am I doing?

You're at Fort Fri.

So far, you aren't dead.

Further bulletins as events warrant.

[Cubey]

Also, Power Suits are just the milestone. What I aim for is... to make them FLY!

Why? For distinct tactical advantages, some might say. To make them lighter and easier to transport, that's what others believe. But these answers do not satisfy me. I do it... FOR SCIENCE!

And because it's awesome.

[Redpieper]

And how's my namesake alien fodder doing?

[Tengu_temp]

Ha, I knew my stubbornness and refusal to follow any orders unless threatened were the indication of something! This means I will spend all the missions from now on sitting on my ass safely inside the Skyranger, mind controlling the aliens from afar, yes?

As for using my newfound abilities to take over X-Com, don't worry - I can assure you that I'm too lazy and demotivated to do that. Remember - you have no doubts that I am too lazy and demotivated to do that.

[Copacetic]

Ha, I knew my stubbornness and refusal to follow any orders unless threatened were the indication of something! This means I will spend all the missions from now on sitting on my ass safely inside the Skyranger, mind controlling the aliens from afar, yes?

As for using my newfound abilities to take over X-Com, don't worry - I can assure you that I'm too lazy and demotivated to do that. Remember - you have no doubts that I am too lazy and demotivated to do that.

I have no doubts that you are too lazy and demotivated to do that. All hail Psylord Tengu.

[Oslecamo]

You're not at a base yet.

But there's some openings coming up soon. You can be garrisoned at the third base we make.

Third base? So we are trying to take over the Wor...

ALL GLORY TO THE TENGU TEMP!

[Thanatos 51-50]

As for using my newfound abilities to take over X-Com, don't worry - I can assure you that I'm too lazy and demotivated to do that. Remember - you have no doubts that I am too lazy and demotivated to do that.

I totally believe him sir! He MUST be telling the truth!

[Tengu_temp]

If anyone encounters any soldiers shouting worshipful phrases about me, I would like to assure you that they are doing it only out of respect for a superior X-Com officer. Or inferior, if they outrank me (but that won't be the case for long).

[Alex Knight]

<beats Tengo into unconciousness again>

Watch it, troop.

[Thanatos 51-50]

What, sir, no, sir! That is not a shrine to the One True Teng... er, The Savio... Er, it's not a shirne at all...
Nope, definatly not a shrine.

[Tengu_temp]

<beats Tengo into unconciousness again>

Watch it, troop.

Ow. My delusions of grandeur.