Let's Play: UFO Aftershock!

[Erik von Nein]

Hahaha! I most assuredly will be killed at any moment, but I can shoot better than all you people. Guess that makes me a valuable target, huh? *sigh*

[The Yosemite Bear]

I would go for he AK47, decent accuracy and they tend to survive most anything.

[White Haven]

I'd forgotten how cool the 'psychic scouting' bit was in that game. Huzzah for mindsense!

[MJ12 Commando]

So, what sorts of weapons shall we use? I have the 'Weapon Rebalance' mod, which adds more types of weapons.

Currently, we can produce
Beretta M92FS
Colt M1911A1
Desert Eagle .50
Colt model 635 SMG
Micro Uzi
HK MP5A5E
HK UMP
HK 33 Assault Rifle
HK G3KA4 Assault Rifle
Colt M4 Carbine
AK47

Wait a minute. The HK33? I'm not entirely sure (been a while since I played) but I think it ties with the XM8 for "best assault rifle in the game". The AK does a tiny bit more damage but has a significantly shorter effective range and heavier recoil so it's worse in bursts, and I think 5.56 is more common than 7.62, so you don't need to spend all your resources producing the latter.

But there IS an appeal to a tacticooled-out AK-47 with a gyrostabilizer, laser sight, and EM accelerator, sooo...

[PeZook]

Feh...if we only used the best there is, there would be no HILARITY.

[MJ12 Commando]

Feh...if we only used the best there is, there would be no HILARITY.

Well in that case we should exclusively use the Desert Eagle, the UMP, and other pistol-caliber weapons. Those are pretty bad IIRC (although the Deagle has a reasonable amount of firepower for a pistol). Maybe the M4 because it's the game's worst 5.56 rifle. And where are my BEAUTIFUL shotguns?

[wautd]

About two months later, the Cyborg Council built a statue and diorama for Wautd and placed it dead center in our Rome base on an obsidian pedestal. It shows him, gritting his teeth, wielding both a laser rifle and a sword, defending a collection of Children from some kind of transgenant I've never seen before called a 'Dragon'. In retrospect, I sure as hell wished we declassified this mission's video record just to prevent that.

I love happy endings

I suggest we spend more supplies to build more and even larger statues to celebrate my greatness

[Nephtys]

File: Personal Log, Nephtys
*Begin Recording*

Well. With things slowing down, the Transgenant and Reticulan problems well in hand, it figures I've now got time to tackle these piles and piles of reports on my desk.


We now control a majority of what our decyphered computer records classify as 'Europe'. Although many of the alien records are still untranslated, we can begin making advancements in our understanding of the alien library. Unfortunately aerial surveys and scouts made by allied human settlements indicate a hostile presence in the geographic location of 'Iraq'. All attempts at communications have failed, and known clusters of active biomass remain in the region. We will have to monitor it closely.

At this point, I may as well append the first set of Transgenant bio-analysis results down to this document.


The Brainman was one of the first creatures we've encountered. Although our biologists have determined it to possess a form of paralyzing psionic attack, we have not suffered from it yet in the field. It's presumed close combat capabilities are now confirmed. Still, it's slow speed and vulnerable form makes the brainman the least threatening of our enemies.


The Flatster is an interesting specimen. It's shell is as hard and bullet-resistant as we have seen, but armor piercing rounds we have recovered will have increased effectiveness against them. They have nearly no defense against laser or thermal attacks. Our development of a 'flame throwing' device is continuing on course, and will soon be issued to kill-teams in exterminating these pests.


The Muckstar is an interesting creature, unlike anything yet encountered in earth biology. It is literally a floating hydrogen balloon that feeds off electrolyzed water with it's powerful electric discharge. Our bullets can puncture it's tough skin fairly easily, deflating and killing the creature. The electric discharge however remains a powerful and surprisingly accurate attack. Our troops must take caution and use cover against Muckstars.


And finally, the Morelman. One of our more disturbing enemies, it literally is a reanimated human corpse, somehow able to retain enough ability to wield weapons or grenades with reasonable effectiveness. Even when disarmed, it's corrosive bile attack is dangerous. With few working organs, it is difficult to kill without a large application of firepower. When in close quarters and armed with shotguns, their lethality has been well established with the death of whats-her-face. Note: Oh right. Karza. Poor rookie.

As for the Reticulans, we're still conducting our analysis and interrogation. It seems however that they are simple minded creatures, comparable to human pre-schoolers. Yet, they seem to be armed to the teeth with highly advanced laser and psionic weapons, each designed quite clearly for their anatomy. They clearly could not have built the Laputas, which brings up even more questions. White Haven has been kept on standby with the interrogation teams, and seems to have developed an affinity for a recently acquired 'Psionic Blaster' artifact. This weapon seems to stun targets by overwhelming them with psychic energy.

Now, as for our equipment situation, we've procured a number of new ----

*bleep bleep*
Oh for crying out--- what is it? Hello? This is Nephtys.
*muffled phone noises*
...what kind of problem?
...The whole squad is ... WHAT? MISSING?!

*sound of footsteps bolting out the door*

*End Recording*

[Ford Prefect]

Haha, oh wow. The entire squad is missing? I hope this is my fault.

[MJ12 Commando]

Haha, oh wow. The entire squad is missing? I hope this is my fault.

Your teaching of the cardboard box based infiltration technique has worked too well.

[Darth Yoshi]

Nice. I can't wait to see how that happened.

[The Yosemite Bear]

And I thought it involved my construction of the latest brewery....

[Nephtys]

Meanwhile...


*yawns* "Hey Carl, I'm going out for a smoke. Yell fer me if you spot any aliun's."

Joe Stevenson, Aged 34 stepped outside the listening post on this cool night, lowering his rifle for a second to take a drag on his cigarette. His survivalist group was well equipped and had little trouble with mutant or reticulan attacks for years. They kept to themselves and the world at large did not bother them. Even those crazy space people knew to keep away from a territory that clearly did not need or want their 'help'.

Joe enjoyed a long pull on the ancient cigarette, relaxing after his long, thankless vigil.

"Hey Carl, is that y---" he was cut off by a sudden burst of fire, collapsing into the grass.


"I... I think I got him!" came Wautd's voice, brandishing his brand new M60 Machine gun, still trembling under his arm as he absorbed the recoil of a short burst.
"Great Fuckin' Job!" Vendetta hissed under her breath, as she pumped her shotgun. "I can't believe the aliens look like us now." she peered about, scanning for targets.
"Cut the chatter and shut your yap. We WILL pacify this sector, human-replicant aliens or not!" snapped Ford Prefect, looking stern and lifting his head. "I am in command, and I run a tight ship!"
"We're not a ship." Peptuck snarkily added. "And how the hell do you know they're really aliens?"
Ford looked back to his XO. "That's 'we are not a ship... sir!' to you. And I believe those details are above your clearance, soldier!"
"..." contributed White Haven, who appeared to be getting more and more albino by the day. And balder.
Wautd's head jerked around, and he leveled his M60. "White Haven's right! I think there's more of them!"


White Haven's new psi-blaster fired invisible, yet devastating rays of psionic energy in a wide cone, neutralizing several shadows she sensed with her inescapable mind-sense. Wautd shuddered as he was caught in a blast, feeling increasingly dizzy and drowsy.

"I'll check the bodies." Vendetta said, moving forward with her shotgun levelled.
"N-noo!" slurred Wautd, dazed by White Haven's blast. "That 'ones still a--alive!" he fired, the recoil spitting bullets barely past Vendetta into the floored soldier.


"Uggh..."

"We've got another live one! Science team will want a prisoner!" Ford barked, directing the squad forward as one of their targets tried to struggle to his feet.

"N-noo... stop firing, you've made a mis---" *BLAM!*

Peptuck fired quickly. "He's trying to trick us!" she snapped, clearly on edge at the very idea that their hated enemy could be so familiar now. She grinned, firing into the man who seemed to share Samuel's hairstyle.

The wounded man, protected by his heavy body armor, groaned and staggered backwards, caught off guard by the sudden shotgun blast. "Nn-n-ooo... pleaaasssee..*gurgle*"


"Got him sir!" Vendetta hissed, firing shot after shot with Peptuck as the man jerked with each blast, before falling. "They're tough. No human could take that much fire." she smirked, peering.

Ford meanwhile, stared. "I said I need a live one!" turned, facing their first target, the wounded Joe Stevenson. He jerked a glance. "Cover him. We're going to bring him in for interrogation." he smirked. White Haven leveled the psi-blaster, as Stevenson cluched his bruised ribs through heavy kevlar and smashed ballistic plate. Stevenson groaned.



"Take him back to the vehicle." He gestured, prodding the man off into the distance. "We're getting back to base."

File: Personal Log, Nephtys
*begin recording*

My head fucking hurts. Oh good lord, my head hurts.

We've got four dead, one wounded from a human settlement near Hamburg. Instead of landing near our base in Stuttgart and driving to conduct exercises with our allies, Squad McLargeHuge got lost, went two hundred miles off course in a groundcar, and assaulted a neutral human outpost. Apparently, our newly appointed 'Commander' Prefect misinterpreted his orders. Having found no aliens at the target site, he assumed that 'Conducting mutant search-and-destroy maneuvers with earthside humans' actually referred to 'Conducting mutant search-and-destroy maneuvers ON Earthside humans'. Seriously, what the hell gave him the idea that Transgenants now looked like humans? Probably all those stupid movies Samuel keeps watching.



Because our confederation is already quite unstable due to the unpopularity of our forced labor camps, we can't let news of this get out. We have instead dispatched more forces and pacified the region, transporting the survivors to a new camp. Our new Propaganda corps is working overtime, analyzing pre-Twilight archives for ideas on what we can do to minimize the damage.

Ford Prefect has been reprimanded, confined to quarters, and sent immediately for additional study. I personally would have pushed him off the Laputa, but we're so shorthanded on personnel that we need this man and his supposedly exceptional intelligence scores.

At least out of this whole mess, we recovered a lot of supplies. Several large weapon caches, including multiple assault rifles, heavy weapons and relics that our R&D division would love to get their hands on. Still, I'm going to lie down now and assume that----

*ALERT. FIRE IN WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT. FIRE IN WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT. ALL PERSONNEL EVACUATE DECK 8.*

...for crying out loud...

*End Recording*

[Nephtys]

(Actually, with the above.. I did accidentally attack a human settlement first thing. I mis-clicked, and instead of scouting the nearby mutant-held sector, I hit a human town. I mean. Commander Prefect hit the town.)

[Peptuck]

Bah. "Neutral" simply translates into "Too stupid to join our glorious army." We should weed out these pathetic "neutral" humans. Mankind can only stand united, atop the piled corpses of its own dead!

[Ford Prefect]

I mis-clicked, and instead of scouting the nearby mutant-held sector, I hit a human town. I mean. Commander Prefect hit the town.

Hmph, clearly the hasty cover-up of a semi-competant armchair general with no real taste of ground combat. But I blame no one; intel was bad, but my me and women are a tight ship, tight as drum. They took it like a drill and murdered four completely innocent human beings. You're going to need that if you want to beat the aliens.

[PeZook]

The game could hurry up and throw the Wargots at you already...

[The Yosemite Bear]

Ok we can pacify them, I'll just brew more alcohol, what, WHO TOOK THE RUM!

[Manus Celer Dei]

I mis-clicked, and instead of scouting the nearby mutant-held sector, I hit a human town. I mean. Commander Prefect hit the town.

Hmph, clearly the hasty cover-up of a semi-competant armchair general with no real taste of ground combat. But I blame no one; intel was bad, but my me and women are a tight ship, tight as drum. They took it like a drill and murdered four completely innocent human beings. You're going to need that if you want to beat the aliens.

You are truly a tactical genius.

[wautd]

"N-noo... stop firing, you've made a mis---" *BLAM!*

Peptuck fired quickly. "He's trying to trick us!" she snapped, clearly on edge at the very idea that their hated enemy could be so familiar now. She grinned, firing into the man who seemed to share Samuel's hairstyle.

Good one. Must have been a Cylon skinjob and we all know they're not to be trusted

[MJ12 Commando]

Bah. "Neutral" simply translates into "Too stupid to join our glorious army." We should weed out these pathetic "neutral" humans. Mankind can only stand united, atop the piled corpses of its own dead!

Not really a good idea to raid neutral settlements if you don't have to. You'll be dependent on good relations to get high-quality recruits later. If you get towards the end and the recruit isn't at least moderately leveled life can get difficult. Also, in case you run out of moola you can beg a friendly faction for certain resources although that resets their disposition.

In general you want to be good friends with everyone, but fortunately they won't hate you forever if you just attack once or twice.

So Nephtys, when do I show up? </plaintivewhining>

And furthermore how goes your construction of an implant factory? Those are rather useful if you plan to ever use 'borgs.

[Nephtys]

I forgot how tracks worked in this game, and realized that I had built about 400% too many, which caused our supply issues. I had to demand money several times from the subfactions.

Well, Implants are on hold atm as we're still producing conventional weapons and trying to expand as hard as we can. New Recruits are coming in soon to form the Cyborg Squad (our most loyal allies), and once Darkevilme recouperates from his first deployment, and the first time we encountered 3 rocket-launcher armed reticulans.

On the plus side, our AK-47 legions are hilarious.

[SirNitram]

Judging by the raging fire in weapons development, I got the flamethrowers working!

[Peptuck]

On the plus side, our AK-47 legions are hilarious.

Are they at least as silly as the Liberian civil war pictures?

[Darth Yoshi]

Spray 'n pray? I weep for humanity's future.