At All Costs - A Narrative OpenXCom LP - Entry Zero: Enemy Unknown

Entry Zero: Enemy Unknown

*RECORDING STARTS*

[The sound of a middle aged man sighing deeply can be heard, before he starts speaking in a gravelly, weary voice.]

Personal log. Director Nathaniel Kessler. December 31, 2013. I still think back to the days of old, when the only enemies we ever had to face were terrestrial in nature... and I actually find myself growing nostalgic for them.



August 6, 2012. NASA rover Curiosity successfully lands within the Gale Crater on Mars. Its mission, to analyze the Martian ecology and study the planet's potential habitability for future human exploration.



September 15, 2012. Curiosity's signal is interrupted. All contact with the rover is lost, and all attempts to reestablish a connection are met with failure. We still don't know how or why we lost contact, but we believe that it's connected to what happened in the following the month.



November 20, 2012... Chicago, Illinois, United States of America.



We discovered that we were not alone in the universe... the hard way. A massive alien vessel entered Earth's atmosphere at approximately 2100 hours, heading straight for the American Midwest. No one knows where it came from. Satellites and early warning radar detected the craft while it was on approach. The National Guard and Air Force assets stationed within the region scrambled to respond to the threat, and an emergency evacuation notice was sent out on all channels throughout the city.



It wasn't enough. The invaders made landfall before we could even get our birds up into the air. Chicago's police force was ill-equipped to fight an enemy vastly more advanced than them. The evacuation process had been met with resistance by a large portion of the city's population, leaving the majority of them vulnerable to attack. By the time the Guard arrived, the situation had devolved into complete chaos. Charred, twisted bodies and the smoking, half-melted husks of vehicles littered the streets. The local police had dispersed, completely ineffective against the aliens' superior firepower, and the alien battleship pounded downtown Chicago with heavy plasma fire. They showed us no mercy.



The Battle for Chicago lasted a little over two hours. The defenders sustained heavy casualties, being vastly outclassed by the aliens' advanced weaponry and armor, but they were able to push the aliens back through sheer strength of numbers. The alien vessel retreated, exiting Earth's atmosphere after sustaining only minor damage during the attack. The death toll exceeded five thousand... most were civilians. The attack sent a fervor throughout the world. It was our first encounter with extraterrestrial life, and it was out to destroy or enslave humanity. Nobody knew for certain, as the aliens made no attempt to communicate, nor did they respond to our own attempts to do so. It didn't matter, neither option was better than the other. Every nation mobilized its forces. The world was paralyzed with fear. Many believed that the invaders couldn't be stopped... but not everyone fell to despair.

The majority of Earth's leaders agreed that surrender was not an option. A solution was proposed; the creation of an independent organization dedicated to combating the alien menace. It would have access to Earth's finest scientific minds, most proficient soldiers and most advanced technology. Not every nation agreed with such a bold plan, arguing that it would be impossible for this entity to fight a global war on its own, but the majority ruled in support of it, though many were reluctant to do so. The truth was that Earth's nations were too busy keeping their panicked citizens under control to take the fight to the extraterrestrials, and any breakthroughs in the war effort would not be easily shared. Old rivalries ran deep, so establishing an independent team that centralized these efforts was the best option. The decision was made, and thus, the X-COM Project was born.

Construction of Central HQ took a year. In that time, Guangzhou, Tel Aviv and Barcelona were hit. The attacks were becoming more frequent, along with the probing actions and abductions being carried out across the world in the interim. We've been letting the aliens have their way with us ever since this war began, but that stops now. We're finally ready to carry out our mission.

We are X-COM. We are humanity's first and last line of defense. We will hold the line against our unknown nemesis at all costs.



We will be watching.



We will drive them off our world, sending them back from whence they came.



Vigilo Confido.

*RECORDING ENDS*



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Hey guys. Welcome to my playthrough of OpenXCom! This is going to be a narrative screenshot LP, a bit like Guavamoment's LP which basically means I'll be writing it much like I would a story, and I'll be screencapping key moments to show to you guys. Truth be told, I'm a little nervous, but if you guys like it, I'll be more than happy to keep on providing material for all of you.

I'm going to be playing with some big gameplay-altering advanced options on, like Sneaky AI, which VASTLY improves the AI by having them actively avoid the line of fire whenever possible, and range-based accuracy, which causes accuracy to degrade the farther you go, especially if the soldier can't see the alien he's shooting at. Everyone in the original X-COM could basically use Squad Sight, so this is a major nerf to it. There's a bunch of more minor changes, like death notifications, building queues, auto-end battles, globe tilted lighting (for REALISM), strafing, inventory stats and auto-end if all remaining enemies are mind-controlled. Options I may or may not include are auto-sell, instant grenades, TFTD manufacture rules, researched items will be spent, psi-training at any time (extremely tentative), and explosion height. If you guys have any suggestions or complaints concerning advanced options, please, let me know! Also, I'm not playing with any mods, save for one that changes the starting date to 1/1/14, 'cause those have the potential to be unbalancing, so I'm playing it safe.

Now, before we begin, two things need to be decided. One, our location. We need to select a region of the world to set up shop in. Nothing ridiculous like the poles, please. :P

Second, what's an X-COM LP without community involvement? As always we start with eight soldiers, and we will recruit god knows how many more in the future, depending on how lethal this all turns out to be (I'm guessing extremely). You guys can rename those soldiers if you so wish, otherwise, I'm keeping their generated names (I expanded on the name lists, so we probably won't see the same generated name twice.) If you wanna sign up as a trooper, feel free to fill out this little sheet.

Name: (Real names would be nice)

Callsign: (If you wish, but not required. Also, keep in mind that the name-box has limited space.)

Nationality: (It's a global affair, after all. Also needed for the following section.)

Previous Unit: (A little something from Xenonauts that I really liked. I believe that, despite gameplay proving otherwise... rather often, at that, X-COM gets its manpower from the best. I.E., various spec ops units from all over the world ((including specialized police units like GSG-9 and SWAT)), and regular troops that have accomplished feats that were beyond what was expected of them.)

Personality: ((Not required, but for those who like to fluff out their characters, this is for you, and I think that'll be a lot of you. :P I'll gladly work these personalities in as best I can. Doesn't need to be long, just enough to give me a sense of what this trooper is like.))

Also! We can rename the Skyranger and our two interceptors, as well as any future aircraft we buy or develop, so go ahead and list names for them too. Hell, if you really want to, you could fluff up their pilots, too.

If you have any questions or grievances, please let me know. Enjoy the ride!

Put the base in Denmark and name it Beowulf. You're slaying monsters preying on humanity after all. Lots of council nations are in vicinity as well.

Name: Juhani Alavirta
Callsign: Red
Nationality: Finnish
Previous Unit: Guard Jaeger Regiment

Personality: Idealistic. Hopes the aliens would have come in peace but since they didn't, he'll fight. Instead he looks forward to the rewards humanity will reap from the advanced technology of the aliens.

Name: Arnold Kolhammer

Callsign: Hammer

Nationality: German

Previous Unit: Kommando Spezialkräfte

Personality: Pragmatic and reserved.

Name: Albert Lowell
Callsign: Chimera
Nationality: USA
Previous Unit: 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta
Personality: Ruthless, Pragmatic, Gets the mission done no matter the cost. He's the guy who shoots the hostage so he can have a better shot at the hostage taker. Chicago was his home turf, and he's ready to do anything, sacrifice anyone to payback the aliens in kind.

3 folks so far, I'm liking what I see. Keep 'em coming, people! Remember to vote on region, and list names for the aircraft!

Name: Mekan O. Omega
Callsign: Mofo
Nationality: USA
Previous Unit: NYPD SWAT
Personality: Kind, smart, and utterly brutal in a head-on fight. The instant civilians get involved, he'll put his ass on the line to either get them to safety or protect them until they get there themselves. Likes alien guns and hams it up in a fight.

I vote we start in Canada.

Because CANADA, MAN.

Name: Leon Douglas
Callsign: Hammerhead
Nationality: USA
Previous Unit: FBI SWAT, Boston
Personality: Straightforward, ruthless. Knows sacrifices will be needed to get the job done, but the entire planet is depending on XCOM succeeding. 'When it doubt, blow it up.'


Name: Kaleb Archer
Callsign: Arrow
Nationality: USA
Previous Unit: USAF Pararescue
Personality: Idealistic, sees XCOM coming through as the white knights and being able to save everyone. Willing to do his damnedest to make sure as many people get out alive as possible.

Region wise, I say Ireland, or Madagascar, because why not.

Hammerhead won't fit. D: Find a shorter callsign!

Edit: Never mind, I may just rename the soldiers to their callsigns ingame. It's all good!

Name: Bo Kross
Callsign: Shadow
Nationality: USA
Previous Unit: 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, USMC
Personality: Straightforward, temperamental. Kross counts himself as a consummate professional and will follow orders without question. That said, he absolutely despises ET for having massacred his unit in Chicago during the early hours of the invasion, and at times his desire to shed alien blood overrides his rational side.

Name: Emma Conway
Callsign: Rose
Nationality: UK
Previous Unit: 16 Air Assault Brigade, British Army
Personality: Idealistic, inexperienced. Emma is proud to serve in XCom, the best and brightest of humanity and despite the odds facing them, believes humans have the will to pull through. However, compared to her fellow brothers and sisters in arms, she has yet to experience the real horrors and traumas that this war will undoubtedly bring.

Base location: I'd vote the UK. Europe offering faster access to tech will be the key to winning this war.

Skyranger name: Cipher or Arkbird

Interceptor names: Wardog

Oh, Kage, you immediately had to go for the AC references. :P Looking good, but I need more women on this team. The game tends to generate a pretty equal ratio of female and male soldiers.

Name: Kate Parker
Callsign: Wrecker
Nationality: Australia
Previous Unit: Australian Army (duh)
Personality: Passionate and more than a little bloodthirsty. She's in this to kill the shit out of aliens, and kill a lot of them. May or may not be addicted to combat highs.

Sure let's go with Britain.

Couldn't resist. :P

Also, feel free to use whoever to start, I just offered an extra soldier in reserve since, well, this is XCom we're talking about here. :P

Alright, the general consensus seems to be the UK, so that's where we're going. We're gonna be covering Europe.

No hammerhead huh?


Uhhhhhhhh



Sledge, Bull, Mako, Sawtooth, Goblin?



Whatever.

Well, you can keep Hammerhead, I'll just have to put that as the name for the unit. He'll still be referred to by his actual name in the narration, though.

Name: Karen Graves
Callsign: Basilisk
Nationality: UK
Previous Unit: SAS
Personality: Confident, almost to the point of cocky. Friendly and outgoing amongst team mates, always watching their back.

Name: Michael Cline
Callsign: Payload
Nationality: Canada
Previous Unit: Canadian Special Operations Regiment, Canadian Forces
Personality: Happy-go-lucky, with an affinity for explosives. Rabid Ottawa Senators fan.

Name : Ranak Bernard
Callsign : 4Eyes
Nationality : France
Previous Unit : GIGN
Personality : Outgoing and friendly, fervent promoter of unit cohesion. His GIGN training made him used to go in situations with impeccable intel and foolproof plans, so he's a little uncomfortable of the huge unknowns that come with that new job.
It's his opinion however that the aliens showed little strategic acumen, rushing into battle, showing their hand and weathering needless losses despite massive technological and total surprise advantage. He's confident that he'll be the one who'll bring home the information needed to outsmart those brutes.

Name: Titus Scapula
Callsign: Cartographer (if that's too long: Nav)
Nationality: Australian
Previous unit: Australian SASR
Personality: Ruthless, friendly. In combat, he will take any risk, even if it costs his own life or the life of those around him, to ensure the completion of the objective. Out of combat, he will actively try to befriend his fellow soldiers, make sure they're alright, and will feel the deaths of those around him personally.

Location for the base, I say Australia. If I'm the only one rootin' for it, I second Canada.

Name: James Mosby

Callsign: Strider

Nationality: United States

Previous Unit: 2nd Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment

Personality: Professional on a mission, everyone's friend outside of it. Can drink anyone under a table and still be able to run a 5k afterwards. Divorced and can be a bit of a workaholic. Loves American Football, Pizza, and kicking twelve year olds asses in Call of Duty.