There was a lot of work to be done after XCOM's last outing. The scientists finalized designs for a full-size, production-ready laser weapon, which they passed on to the base's manufacturing workshops.
In the wake of last mission, the scientists turned their focus towards a miniaturized first aid and field surgery kit.
The commander, for his part, ordered additional munitions and equipment to replace those used and destroyed assaulting the UFO, and worked on recruiting more operatives to refill XCOM's ranks.
January 29th, a small UFO appeared on XCOM's radar, but the new missiles had not yet arrived, and they were forced to watch it continue unchallenged. Just after midnight on January 31st, another small UFO appeared, and this time the Interceptors were ready for it. The UFO was shot down without issue... but until new soldiers arrived, XCOM could only field four operatives for a mission: TechnoSam, Shotgunner42, and two raw recruits. Fortunately, 8 hours later, the requested soldiers arrived at Sector 1. They were immediately issued combat gear and hustled into the Skyranger.
Mara Schaeffer and The Pikachu Master would carry the squad's rocket launchers.
In addition, the engineers had completed a pair of the new laser rifles. These were issued to the recruits who had the best marksmanship records in their pre-XCOM units, SearchingLyoko and Strangely_Scott.
Thanks to the new troops' timely arrival, the aliens were unable to obliterate their craft and escape the area before XCOM forces arrived on the scene. Soul Jelly and Strangely_Scott were first down the ramp.
Strangely_Scott alone secures the craft's uninteresting left flank, and Laura Rola mirrors him by moving towards the right side of the Skyranger's forward landing gear. Meanwhile, Soul Jelly, SeachingLyoko, and Mara Schaeffer enter the orchard, and the remainder form an outwards-facing arc ready to fire on any target that presents itself.
To the arc's left, the first Sectoid of the mission appears.
memoire-blanche gets the first shots, but it is Hikaru to his immediate right that hits the extraterrestrial twice, killing it. Soul Jelly moves forward to the opening in the hedges out of the orchard. SearchingLyoko moves to join her and spots an alien through holes in the hedges created by his teammates, located a good distance away, far past the fence.
Firing from the defensive arc formation, Ice emblem glory scores a hit on the Sectoid. Unfortunately, none of the other rookies prove to be as accurate. ArgentDandelion and dreamowd in particular make sizable contributions to the field of pockmarks in front of them.
And so it's rocket to the rescue, as always. The Pikachu Master scores a perfect hit on the squat grey alien. Ouch!
Their progress past the Skyranger's nose blocked by a fence, and with nothing interesting in sight, Laura Rola and Strangely_Scott move into the orchard.
Dreamowd moves towards the second alien's corpse and sees the UFO entrance just behind it. Outside the entrance, he spies the arm of a Sectoid largely hidden by a hedge. Well, hedges don't pose an obstacle for rockets. The Pikachu Master fires one that sails high over the UFO, but Mara Schaeffer's is on course, impacting the UFO's hull and catching the concealed alien in the blast.
The troopers moving through the orchard enter and clear the farmhouse, Tsunamix and LaserArrow take the long way around to the far flank, and everyone else bears down on the UFO. A Sectoid emerges from the craft into the craters from the double rocket impacts and immediately is fired upon by the entire central group, but their lack of combat experience betrays them and they cannot seem to hit the grey alien. Mara Schaeffer is called on once again to fire a rocket against the UFO and eliminate the threat.
The central formation gathers around the UFO entrance, while the orchard team finish their sweep and moves to rejoin the main group (with the exception of Laura Rola, who continues around the UFO's exterior), and the flankers prepare to enter a barn on the far side of the UFO.
memoire-blanche enters the UFO first, and lo and behold - no aliens waiting in ambush! And no corpses, for that matter. There's likely to be some still inside. He and dreamowd position themselves at the right doorway.
Strangely_Scott enters next, and spot an alien down the left-hand passage missed by the other two. He levels his laser rifle, which brings the Sectoid to an efficient end.
Everyone follows into the UFO, preparing to breach both doors simultaneously. Unfortunately, they are interrupted by two Sectoids, who attack from the left doorway. The first grabs an alien grenade, and the second fires through the open doorway, killing Evil Jeremy.
Strangely_Scott once again guns down the Sectoid with his laser rifle.
Abandoning the simultaneous breach, the team at the right room enters and finds the control room unoccupied. Everyone surrounds the final two chambers where at least one alien still remains.
The alien doesn't wait for them to act. It springs from the closet beyond the left-side door and shoots Ice emblem glory twice point-blank.
Strangely_Scott snaps off one shot that finds its target, and forgetting XCOM's standing orders to capture alien personnel where possible, kills the alien with another burst.
The UFO secured, the team celebrates the first alien power source captured intact, but mourns the loss of two more heroes.
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Mission Recap and Debriefing
Strangely_Scott: 3 kills
Mara Schaeffer: 2 kills
The Pikachu Master: 1 kill
Hikaru: 1 kill
New Sergeant: TechnoSam
New Squaddies: Strangely_Scott, Mara Schaeffer, The Pikachu Master, Hikaru, dreamowd, ArgentDandelion
Ice emblem glory: Rookie, KIA on his 1st mission with 0 kills
Evil Jeremy: Rookie, KIA on his 1st mission with 0 kills
Whew, a return to what passes for normalcy, at least in the midst of an alien invasion of the planet. A few rookies lost, but the UFO is ours. Curse those last two Sectoids, if not for them it would have been flawless. :< And although we didn't get any of them alive, we captured a power source, which will be instrumental in eventually building our own craft to rival the aliens'.
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