Mega Primus needs you - Lets Play X-COM Apocalypse!

[MKSheppard]

This is Sergeant Sheppard from the TANK CORPS.

I am wondering whether to thank the fact that my application for transfer to the infantry side of X-COM is in limbo because:

1.) Casualties seem pretty high now that we're invading the meatbag dimension.
and
2.) I got to shoot the fuck out of a 50 foot high alien with my tank.

I am putting in a request for nuclear shells for my tank with XCOM Labs.

[Darkevilme]

This is darkevilme from the tank corps. did no one hear me ask for one of those explorers? well no matter as it turns out that apart from their ability to go into the alien dimension and at least shoot stuff they appear to be made of poo. please accept my transfer to the next prototype dimensionaut craft labs produce however provided the thing has some appreciable firepower.

[Force Lord]

Forcelord's log:

Never thought the aliens are fans of giant monsters. That thing wiped out half the city! Sanguinius Terra was downed as well, and that was our best aircraft available.

We're gonna need bigger guns. VERY big guns.

[wautd]

Best update so far

[MKSheppard]

I hope you are modding the game now to have NUCLEAR SHELLS for my Rumble Cannons.

[White Haven]

Well, that was a whole lot of drama for not a lot of legwork. Sucks to live above ground in half the city, but that's why I live in an underground bunker. Being heavily armed and surrounded by other people who are also heavily armed doesn't hurt, either. Seriously though, someone needs to tell the damned flyboys and tankers to actually shoot something down next time, I'm getting bored.

-Haven

[Grif]

I do hope we infantry grunts won't go up against that sort of monsters when we start trampling the alien frontlawn. Them disruptor cannons suddenly don't look too powerful.

[PeZook]

XENOFORM BEHAVIOR CONSISTENT WITH PREDICTED PARAMETERS.

DESPERATION EVIDENT IN TACTICS UTILIZED. MILITARY EFFECTIVENESS OF DEMOLITION MEAT-CREATURE ASSAULT NEGLIBLE. ORGANIC CASUALTIES WELL WITHIN ACCEPTABLE LEVELS.

PROBABILITY OF FINAL X-COM VICTORY: CERTAIN.

[wautd]

This tread still alive? Would be a shame to quit so close to the end

[Oberleutnant]

This has so far been one of the most enjoyable "Let's play" threads ever. The good balance of humor and serious stuff has kept me entertained during office breaks. I hope to see it end in a glorious battle where the threat of extradimensional xenomorph spawn is eradicated.

[Nephtys]

Sorry for a lack of updates, had a few other things on my plate of late. I'll get back to a regular schedule pretty soon.

[Grif]

Do we get to see nuclear shells?

[The Yosemite Bear]

Only if you are "Bert the safety Turtle" whose shell can wuthstand being at ground zero.

[Darth Fanboy]

Hey im looking forward not just to seeing how this one plays out, but also to the next one.

[Teleros]

Good stuff, was getting worried about this .

[Nephtys]

Wednesday, May 10th, 2048
Status Update, Col. Nephtys, X-COM Intelligence

The aliens haven't made another incursion ever since their failed monster attack on the city. The city council has denied all of our attempts of course to secure funding for a giant robot to defend the city from further attacks. A pity. Our scientists were even ready to dub it 'Giga-Primus'.

Well, it's not all a waste however. From the development effort to create a giant robot formed by combining lesser vehicles, science division has developed a new aircraft from the 'torso' unit, called a Retaliator.


The Retaliator is nearly as heavily armed as the alien battleship, and is designed from the ground up to kick ass. Far more durable and nearly as agile as the smaller Explorer-class vessels we have been using, it will escort our Bio-Transports into the alien dimension. Our first Retaliator has been dubbed 'Repensum ex Terra' by some smartass who assumes the aliens can read Latin.


Repensum, Warmonger, Peacebringer and Short Bus took off at 2330 yesterday night, taking Alpha Squad out to attack the alien city. Their heavy armament is calculated to be an even match for the Alien Battleship and Alien Mothership.


Our target: This complex, a large multi-story arcology dedicated to the growth of alien food supplies. Autopsy of the alien 'Over-Spawn' monster indicate obscene caloric intakes, as expected from such a huge creature. If we're able to compromise the alien food supply, maybe we won't see another one of those things. At least, until the Giga-Primus project is complete.


Repensum lead the penetration into the alien dimension, breaking off with the two Explorer-class ships to engage a Type-7 Escort and Type-6 Bomber guarding the dimension gates.


Both alien craft fell quickly to our massive firepower. Peacebringer's extended sensor suite didn't catch any sign of either the alien capital ships in nearby airspace. Could they already be on their way to Mega-Primus? were they in orbit? Or undergoing repairs at an alien shipyard?


The last remaining UFOs were engaged and destroyed over alien airspace. We now have total air superiority over the alien city. The Shortbus landed successfully at the alien food production facility.


This is our objective: The destruction of these bulbous nodes. They act as environmental regulators for the alien farm complex and must be destroyed. Once a sufficient number of them are eliminated, an autoimmune reaction within the structure will grant our agents access to the foundation, where we can demolish the building safely.

As a curious event, recon sweeps indicate of all things, Sectoid life-signs. To think that our old enemies are now at the mercy of these new aliens as food is quite amusing. As an unfortunate note however, I don't believe anyone mentioned this fact to Alpha Squad as they went in.


Alpha Team blasted through the entryway identified by our scans as the quickest path to the environmental regulators. Our heavilly armed team advanced in three-man fireteams. Colonel Coffee himself lead this attack, loading his autocannon with incindiary shells.
MrCoffee: *Incomprehensible frothing battle orders*
Edi: Yessir! We're going to light this place up
UndeadUnicorn: (checks autocannon) *rookiegulps*


The team made contact with sectoids shortly after entering the structure, having sighted no defending aliens so far.
Peptuck: CONTACT. ALIEN FORMS DO NOT APPEAR TO BE... CORRECTION: IDENTIFICATION, SECTOID.
OmegaChief: Don't just stand there, shoot Rookie!


GuppyShark and Colonel MrCoffee opened up on them immediately with their incindiary weapons on the defenseless sectoids.
MrCoffee: *RAGE!*
Guppyshark: I approve of your leadership style, sir!


A large mob of the sectoids emerged from cubby holes apparently to see what the loud explosions were.
Sectoid: ...Gleek?
White Haven: There's a lot of 'em! Are.. are any of them armed? I don't see any...


GuppyShark dove in front of Colonel Coffee, shielding him as he tossed a Vortex Grenade into the crowd, instantly killing a half dozen.
Guppyshark: Gleek this, you grey bastards! You're not getting near the Colonel!


Kryten discovered a cluster of environmental regulators atop a large alien structure. He armed a Vortex Grenade and set it on the platform with a timer.
Kryten: Target located. I hope this bomb'll be enough...


The blast engulfs the alien control nodes, triggering secondary explosions and wreathing the structure in flame.
Kryten: ...yup.
UndeadUnicorn: Aaugh! Explosions!


Colonel Coffee's squad continued it's rain of fire from above on the helpless sectoids, autocannons, minilaunchers and devastator blasts strafing the surviving Sectoids.
Squad: *hideous, gleeful laughter*


With X-COM efficiency, these defenseless aliens were terminated with extreme prejudice.
Sectoid: ~telepathic signal~ Please do not harm us earth-kind! We are not your enemies! We wish to live in pea---
Coffee: DIE!


Kryten encounters the first alien defenders we've seen yet. A trio of Anthropods rush out of a narrow corridor leading to a large structure within the chamber. This structure appeared to be the central control hub for the whole complex: Our primary target. Kryten cuts them down with a spray of poisonous shield-penetrating darts from his Toxi-gun.
Kryten: *Ffft-ftt-ftt* Suck poison and die!


Squaddie MkSheppard entered the central farm chamber. Encountering a large squad of Anthropods, he took several direct hits against his shields, knocking it down to emergency power levels. In response, he opened fire into the regulator node with the autocannon. The blast instantly killed most of the anthropods.
MkShepard: Shit! Who's firing at me?! Ah, eat this, shiny thing!



Storming in from another direction, Rookie Peptuck dropped an armed vortex grenade on another regulator. The blast washed over him and his shields.
Peptuck: DEMOLITION SUCCESSFUL.


Omegachief and Edi ascend into the alien control room. They were greeted by a security contingent of Skeletoids. Omegachief lit them up with a grenade, while Edi cut each down with cold efficiency.
Omegachief: Heavy contact, second level!
Edi: Situation under control.


Squaddie MkShepard, having accomplished his mission, was trapped in the burning farm with more anthropods emerging from the thick foliage and smoke.
Mksheppard: IS THAT ALL YOU GOT, ALIENS?!


With his squad-mates engaged heavily and too far from help, he gunned down the remaining anthropods in close quarters before finally falling from his wounds.
Mksheppard: Hah! Ha. Gotcha all.... URKK.


Turning to an opening in the alien control center, Omegachief destroys the last of the regulator nodes. From the explosion however, two strange green forms emerged from the thick array of alien plants. They floated slowly, and had appendages that ended in short, slippery tentacles.
Omegachief: Vortex grenade out! Wait, what the hell are those things?!
Kryten: The f---


OmegaChief and Kryten immediately came under psionic attack by these creatures, as visible electrokinesis danced along their tentacles. Omegachief fired upon Wautd with his devastator cannon. Fortunately, Wautd's shields held. Peptuck came under attack from Kryten's toxi-gun, which of course had minimal effect against his armor and robot physiology.
Omegachief: AUGH! THE'YRE IN MY HEAD!
Kryten: NOOO!
Wautd: Son of a bitch, watch your fire!
Kryten: PUNY HUMAN. YOUR BIO-WEAPON HAS NO EFFECT ON ME, FOR I AM A MIGHTY ROBOT.


White Haven executes one of these floating psionic aliens with multiple blasts from his devastator cannon. Acidburns and Force Lord exploit this opening and rush the other one, launching stun-grenades. With five consecutive shocks from a Stun-Grappler, the creature finally falls unconscious.
White Haven: We got this son of a bitch alive here.
Acidburns: Shit. We've got to drag it's sorry ass back to Earth?
Force Lord: I'm sure R&D'll have a field day with it's orifices. Come on, we gotta set the bomb.


Mission accomplished. Our troops hauled that alien back to Short Bus's containment unit, shocking and beating it multiple times.


Alpha successfully planted their demolition charge within the base of the alien food chamber and took off, escaping the colapse of the complex.


The squadron retreated back into the dimension gates. Our major objectives have been completed successfully, with the loss of one man. We've also captured this strange new alien, and have kept it under sedation. Psi-readings are off the charts. Perhaps this species is the mastermind behind the invasion. Our Bio-chemists and Intel Branch's 'Q&A' specialists are working triple shifts with the prisoner to find out. A pity about those defenseless sectoids. But hey, I've killed more than a few myself out on the Frontier. I suppose we did them a service.

Well. I think I need to be off. We're having a MkSheppard Memorial Banquet in celebration of this veteran Tank pilot's service with X-COM, and his transfer into the Infantry. And in celebration of a few hundred thousand starving aliens.

LOG TERMINATED

[JonB]

I never liked seeing the Sectoids in this game. It seemed to me to be too much of an a$$-pull to help tie Apocalypse in with the previous games.

[Teleros]

+ Begin Log: 03:01:05, Wednesday, May 10nd, 2048 +

Well, Alpha Squad just came back from a mission; it's all a bit rowdy here at the moment but I gather they captured some new lifeform and gave the aliens a good seeing to, destroying some kind of farming complex. That new design the boys in the labs cooked up seems to have worked wonders too.

Damn shame about MkSheppard though.

+ End Log +


Hmm, I wonder if a future mission to the alien dimension can recover whatever's left of Shep for an android body. It doesn't seem right to be doing this without our trigger-happy genocidal warmonger in on it...

[PeZook]

MISSION OUTCOME MATCHES PREDICTIONS. XENOID WAR CAPABILITY SERIOUSLY DIMINISHED.

CELEBRATION WARRANTED. THIS UNIT SHALL COMMEMORATE THE OCCASION BY INGESTING LARGE QUANTITIES OF USED MOTOR OIL AND BADLY PERFORMING SEVERAL WELL-KNOWN MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMS.

[OmegaChief]

Ow, my brain.

Ruddy psychic aliens, we'll show 'em next time, like to see them mind rape me when thier head is exploding ino litle fragments, ha!

On a side note, I belive the best way to remember Shep would be to develop some kind of nuclear device and name it after him.

[Grif]

Ow, my brain.

Ruddy psychic aliens, we'll show 'em next time, like to see them mind rape me when thier head is exploding ino litle fragments, ha!

On a side note, I belive the best way to remember Shep would be to develop some kind of nuclear device and name it after him.

Actually we could just name the next ship after him. "The Shep's Solution" (The Annihilator I believe, if my memory of Apoc is correct)

[CaiusWickersham]

Given the destruction of several ships (and a noted absence of Omega doing much of anything), could we get a status update on troops?

[GuppyShark]

Alien Dimension Food Storage Mission "Operation Famine" After Action Report: Personal Comments: Squad Leader GuppyShark

Is it true that the enemy are vegetarians? I've heard it, but I don't believe it. I knew they were weird, but that's a bit too much to take in.

The most important thing about operations in the alien dimension are that things we take for granted no longer apply. For example, in an alien world, you have to assume everything is hostile. We don't know what's a weapon and what's not. It's all alien goo to us.

While I'm sure Colonel Coffee could handle a bunch of scrawny sectoids, I maintain it was prudent to dispatch them all immediately. Secondary detonations confirmed they were hostile. Besides, a sectoid doesn't need a weapon in its hand to be a threat anyway. They have that mind control crap in their brains.

I'm going to miss MKSheppard. We served in the Armour division together. I'll be wearing a black armband.

[FaxModem1]

Fax Modem's log:

Here ya go, here's a glass sir.(sounds of glass clattering)

Congratulations Colonel. Here is your drink sir.

(rustling)

Who ordered the motor oil? (metal sounds)

Here ya go. (sound of tray spilling and glass breaking.)

Oh crap, does anyone have a sponge? I just covered PeZook in champagne. Oh crap, he's mad.

End of log.

[Nephtys]

Wednesday, May 17th, 2084
Status Update, Col. Nephtys, X-COM Intelligence

Big news today. We've come along way in this war, and we've finally had a breakthrough. With our initial success terrorizing the alien dimension, and the production of advanced strike craft, it's time to examine ourselves and our enemy as we progress to what hopefully are the final stages of this war.

First of all, a roster update. It's been close to three months since the war started, and our units have both changed greatly from their initial composition.


Our Highest Ranking Soldier right now is Colonel Coffee, a veteran of every single mission Alpha Squad was sent to fight. Having been promoted after the death of Captain VX-145, he has lead our most recent incursion into the Alien Dimension with success. Nearly every member of the squad save the three replacements have seen their fair share of alien killing.

Omega Team has a different spread of troopers, reflecting it's more unique composition. The Spearhead Team consisting of Covenant, Tasoth and Caiuswickersham has eliminated more aliens than virtually all of Alpha combined. Being the first equipped with Toxiguns, Close Combat Weaponry and Flying Armor has contributed greatly to their kills, while the Hybrid troopers have largely played support roles. A higher concentration of android soldiers also reflects their prowess in battle. Truly, we owe our non-human soldiers a great deal.

Finally, a new batch of five rookies is standing by at Xenocide Central, training day and night so that they may replace worthy soldiers from Alpha and Omega Squads who have fallen in combat. I'd praise Yosemite Bear a bit more, but he's on special assignment right now to the Senate, and I'd prefer not to have records of that.

Now, to our fallen.

Coaan (Autocannon Ammo Explosion)
KrauserKrauser (Popper)
Hawkwings (Popper)
Ford Prefect (Popper)
Borninshadow (Popper)
Torben (Brainsucker)
Vanas (Brainsucker)
Phred (Vehicle Destroyed)
VX-145 (Devastator Ammo Explosion)
Stark (Brainsucker)
Karza (Brainsucker)
JonB (Devastator Fire)
Monty Pythod (Friendly Devastator Fire)
MkSheppard (Wounds incurred from Devastator Fire)
Mutant Headcrab (Killed in UFO Crash)
Zixinus (Killed in UFO Crash)
Cpl Kendall (Killed in UFO Crash)
Vendetta (Killed in UFO Crash)
Sir Nitram (Colapsing Building)
Zixinus (Vehicle Destroyed)

We've lost 20 agents so far in action. Veteran soldiers Stark and Karza were painful losses, showing that even our strongest defenses can be overcome by those little orange devils. Thank Goddess Colonel Coffee was spared from his run-ins with them early in this campaign. I have no idea where Alpha would be without his leadership.

Mutant Headcrab, Zixinus, Cpl Kendall and Vendetta deserve special commendation for their actions in the Alien Dimension. While crewing Alien Type-3 UFO 'The Whirlygig', they covered Omega Squad's transport successfully on it's initial raid, giving their lives to do so while destroying a Type-6 Alien Bomber in the process by ramming it with their own ship. They've all been posthumously awarded the Platinum Star in recognition for their service.

Phred's brain still seems to be largely working properly in his new robot body on Omega Team. I just still feel awkward seeing him in the hallways, after attending his funeral so long ago, when his Wolfhound APC was crushed early in the war.

Finally, MkSheppard is our most recent loss, having been killed in the line of action during the raid on the Alien Food Chamber. Surrounded by enemies, he gunned down a half dozen aliens with wanton destruction in the finest X-COM tradition before colapsing of his wounds.

---

Now that we've finished reflecting upon ourselves, onto something startling we've learned about our enemy. Alpha Squad encountered a powerful new type of alien on their last mission, a large creature with powerful psionic capabilities. We thought this creature could be an answer to a question we've long had. Was this the mastermind race behind the Alien invasion?

Yes. And no.




The Psimorph itself is a massive, bulky and clumsy creature. It's hide is moderately armored against most weapons, but can be dispatched nonetheless with a few Devastator Cannon shots or Toxin Darts. However, it possesses a boyant flight mechanism and terrifying psionic capability, exceeding that of even the dreaded Ethereal race of the First War. We must be careful of this creature in the future.

Although it had multiple brains and other vital organs, this was not the Alien Intelligence that we had hoped to find. Instead, the answer lay in what we found in it's bloodstream. Permeated through all of it's tissue were microscopic organisms that we had thought were parasites or immune system cells in other alien forms. These Micronoids were the key.


Micronoids, tiny organisms collectively generating psionic consciousness. As their numbers increase, so does the sophistication of the mind. The Aliens invading our world are no more than puppets being controlled by glorified bacteria. Brainsucking infuses the nervous and circulatory system of the unfortunate victim with Micronoids, leading to alien control. Our Bio-Scanners only detected side effects of the process, but never the mechanism for it's cause.

Bio-Warfare division is already developing a new toxin to kill these little bastards dead.

---


Finally, we did have another visitor just a few hours ago. An old friend, the same Alien Mothership-class vessel that terrorized our city with a giant monster. It was back for more action. Unfortunately for them, our forces were stronger than ever and standing by.


Although we feared an attack by another Overspawn, the chances of the aliens being able to produce one now are slim. We've destroyed their major food supplies, and such a creature requires an incredible amount of calories to run. Hopefully, the Mothership won't have another one.


The Mothership held station over this Warehouse for several seconds, not engaging any visible transport beam or anything, as it came under fire from our forces.


Our Forces, lead by Repensum ex Terra blasted away at the Alien ship, crushing through it's shields and scorching it's armored hull. The UFO's energy signature became erratic, as signs of critical damage appeared. Unfortunately, the damned thing escaped just before we could lay on the final blow. This isn't over yet, Alien Mothership...

So, well. Here we are today. We're prepared for another run into the Alien Dimension. Omega Squad is now fully equipped with Shields, and Spearhead Team soon recieve the first batches of new Toxin-C designed specifically to kill the Micronoids controlling the each alien. Rumor has it an aerosol version is possible. If so, we may be able to poison the entire alien city to death.

I can't wait.

LOG TERMINATED