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Twitter: https://twitter.com/BurningGray
Archive: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=XCOM%20Trooper%20Quest
Squad Info: https://pastebin.com/4KJN5HKK

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>>2763837
>>Not fun. Someone’s gotta do it obviously, but you wouldn’t really recommend it to someone if they had a choice.

Need we remind everyone of "That Day where everyone rolled low at the observatory"?

>>2763837
>>Just like any other firefight. Deadlier sure, but same principles and mindset generally apply.

>>2763837
>Just like any other firefight. Deadlier sure, but same principles and mindset generally apply.

>>2763837
>>Just like any other firefight. Deadlier sure, but same principles and mindset generally apply.

>>2763837
>>Other.
>"Nerve-wracking. Every time I go out I have to wonder what new bullshit are they going to throw at us this time and how are we going to survive it? Doubly so now that I'm a squad lead. That said, there is no place I'd rather be.

>>2763866
>>2763868
>>2763878

Just like any other firefight it is, writing!

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“Well it’s just like any other firefight.” You answer, you’re not really sure what the Blueshirt is trying to get

The answer doesn’t seem to be what the Blueshirt wanted to hear, so you decide to try and elaborate further.

“Sure you don’t want to mess with alien plasma and you have to keep on your toes all the time, but when you boil down to it training and mentality is the same. Keep your head down, follow orders, don’t crack under pressure, that kinda stuff.” You explain, trying to hopefully give a better answer.

“I understand where you’re getting at but… man, you guys are on a whole ‘nother freaking level. You’re all a bunch of badasses, y’know? Me? I’m just a glorified mall cop.” The Blueshirt laughs, idly adjusting his blue XCOM ball cap.

“I wouldn’t say that.” You shake your head, trying to reassure the guy. “You’re using the same armor that we’re using out in the field, just painted blue.”

“Not those fancy laser guns you guys get to use. And don’t even get me started on the MECs. Whoo boy.” The Blueshirt shakes his head, “Man what I’d do to be out on the field blasting X-rays instead of guarding hallways in a super secret base. The magic really wore off fast.”

You opt to not tell the guy that the XCOM troopers are going to be phasing into better armor and weapons. It doesn’t sound like there’s much of a trickle down with kit. It honestly doesn’t seem that necessary so long as the base remains wholly secret and the security staff know it. Whatever the case, the guy does seem very eager to be on the field. It’s… well, it reminds you of how eager you were when you first saw and started to learn about XCOM way back when…

>Tell the Blueshirt he’s doing an important job. Everyone has a role to fill and so does he, he shouldn’t put himself or his role down a peg.
>Reason that he’s got it pretty good. There’s been multiple times you wouldn’t mind being a Blueshirt after some of the shit you seen.
>Be optimistic and tell the Blueshirt how you got recruited. Anything can happen and he might get his wish if he’s good at his job like you and Rachel.
>Other

>>2764006
>Be optimistic and tell the Blueshirt how you got recruited. Anything can happen and he might get his wish if he’s good at his job like you and Rachel.

inb4 he goes hero mode in the base defense and dies

>>2764006
>Be optimistic and tell the Blueshirt how you got recruited. Anything can happen and he might get his wish if he’s good at his job like you and Rachel.

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>>2764006
>>Tell the Blueshirt he’s doing an important job. Everyone has a role to fill and so does he, he shouldn’t put himself or his role down a peg.
>Be optimistic and tell the Blueshirt how you got recruited. Anything can happen and he might get his wish if he’s good at his job like you and Rachel.

Blueshirts are the unsung heroes at the base. If not for their tireless diligence we might have had enemy infiltrators openly wreaking havoc or Mutons instigating containment breaches.

The Blueshirt does raise a valid point--see if we can convince the Commander to let surplus or low-cost gear upgrades be accessible to the security personnel. It'll certainly make them a lot more useful when the Base Defense hits.

>>2764006
>Be optimistic and tell the Blueshirt how you got recruited. Anything can happen and he might get his wish if he’s good at his job like you and Rachel.

Stress that you can't just get in by being good though. You have to be the best. You have to be willing to sacrifice everything, even your arms and legs. Just look at the MEC troopers.

Calling the vote here, writing!

“Hey, I wouldn’t count you out of the prospect. Me and a buddy of mine were former FBI SWAT and were recruited in the middle of a mission for holding our own and then some against aliens. Anything can happen.” You say.

“You really think there’s a chance?” The Blueshirt brightens up a bit at that, just like a kid being told he become anything he wants to be. It’s… oddly endearing actually.

“Yep.” You nod to the Blueshirt before holding cautionary hand up to get him to relax bit. “There’s just one big thing however to keep in mind, you really have to be at your very best and nothing less. You have to be willing to sacrifice everything, even your arms and legs, for the cause. Just look at the MEC troopers.”

The man nods intently, and that seems to only fire him up further. The man’s eagerness is rather infectious, so long as he doesn’t get too cocky (like you do sometimes) who knows, stranger things have happened in this war.

“Wait, you said you’re Former SWAT right? Then that… oh shit! I recognize you now! You’re--”

The Blueshirt is interrupted by another voice. It’s a female voice and a gruff one at that.

“--You’re Dozer.... Oh for fucks sake.” The voice lets out a very very annoyed groan.

(Part 1 / 2)

You turn to face the voice of the new person that’s stepped into the room and come face to face with XCOM HQ’s Security Chief Emilia Ingram. A woman who looks completely and absolutely tired of everyone’s shit. You are instantly reminded of the Armorer on her off days or when she has to deal with Burnout for an extended period of time. She’s older than most of the other XCOM staff, though not as old as Shen and she sports the same armor that every other blue shirt wears. The only exception is she’s not wearing the standard blue ball cap but instead a blue beret. She’s also holding a large mug of coffee.

She looks like she wants to turn around just walk right out of the room.

“Ma’am.” You greet her. “I--”
“You want to do our job but better, right?” Ingram grunts, you’re taken aback. As she takes a moment to take a large swig from her piping hot coffee like it’s nothing. “Nngh. I was wondering why the Commander was keeping the identity of the so called ‘specialist’ to help deal with the prisoner secret… she even went out of her way to make me coffee. I should’ve known the coffee was a sign of trouble, god dammit.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it boss.” The Blueshirt you were talking too stepping up, and giving you a reassuring wink and stepping up to bat for you. “I hear a lot of good things about Dozer here, like how he’s--”

“The hot shot Assault who stepped up to save the day in Gangplank? The trooper who beat up and tamed a captured Muton? The soldier whose bestest of pals with not only Dr. Shen but Dr. Vahlen as well?” Security Chief Ingram starts to fume, taking a step forward and causing the Blueshirt to shrink away. “The guy who left the Commander’s room with her!? Well, which one is it, Private David? Refresh my memory.”

“T-the first one, ma’am!” The man stammers, nearly dropping his rifle with how much Ingram is putting him on blast.

“Argh… jesus christ, David. Shape up! You’re on duty, show some professionalism here, you’re making us look worse.” Ingram groans, pinching her nose. “I can’t believe this…”

The Blueshirt -- David -- looks down at the floor. You look at both him and Ingram, trying to figure out how best to react.

>Ask what Ingram’s problem is. You have no idea why she clearly doesn’t like you.
>Try and help out David. You don’t think any less of the guy for being friendly.
>Keep things professional. Move things along and try not to sour things further.
>Other

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>>2764205
>>Keep things professional. Move things along and try not to sour things further.

Try to defuse this situation /gently/. The least we can offer Ingram is a handshake and a sweet word in for David. She has an agenda, though--would be a good idea to keep an eye on her.

>>2764205
>Keep things professional. Move things along and try not to sour things further.
"Nice to meet you Chief Ingram."

>>2764205
>Keep things professional. Move things along and try not to sour things further.

>>2764205
>Keep things professional. Move things along and try not to sour things further.
Her problems are her problems. It's not our responsibility to keep with that, only to help in whatever way we can.

>>2764205
>>Keep things professional. Move things along and try not to sour things further.

Keeping things professional, writing!

“Nice to meet you Chief Ingram.” You say curtly, trying to keep things as civil and professional as possible. You extend your hand out to shake hers.

“...” Ingram wordlessly reaches out to shake back. She may not like you for some reason, perhaps she has some sort’ve agenda, but if you’re going to keep things professional she’ll do it too. Her grip is a firm soldier’s grip and her hands are rough and calloused from hard work over the years. She’s been around.

David relaxes a bit, but a bit of the tension remains. Given that Ingram didn’t excuse him he makes himself as useful as he can be by guarding the door. He gives you a nod before hurrying off to post outside.

“...We’ve checked in both the convoy survivor and suit and tie over here in respecting holding cells.” Chief Ingram starts, walking over to stand in front of the one-way window, hands clasped behind her back. “The former remains compliant for the time being, skittish but compliant. Number 2 over here has been out cold the entire time but the docs says he’ll be waking up any minute now. We won’t be rolling out the red carpet for him.”

“Did you search him thoroughly?” You ask.

“Yes we did.” Chief Ingram grunts. “Patted him down.”

“What about checking his teeth? He could have fake tooth with cyanide. His clothing could have a hidden compartment or pouch too.”

“We checked that also and found nothing. We did our job. Thoroughly.” Ingram looks over to you directly, not wavering even the slightest. “I take security very seriously, contrary to popular belief of how other personnel view security. I’m not going to risk this fancy looking punk in there causing a breach in the base.”

Ingram is either cocky or she really has put a lot of effort into her job to be like that. You take note of how she makes it a point that the Blueshirts are doing their jobs. Is security really looked that down upon in the base? You’ve been rather friendly to the men and women, they’re doing their job after all. However you never really paid attention to how other staff view them. Is that why Ingram’s so hostile to you?

“You’re honestly wasting your time here. We have this under control.” Ingram presses.

Maybe she’s right…?

>Check for yourself. More to sate your own caution and paranoia more than anything else.
>Take your leave. Ingram’s made her point and you’ll let it to her and her team.
>Other

>>2764424
>Probe his head deliberately looking for suicide stuff.

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>>2764424
>>Check for yourself. More to sate your own caution and paranoia more than anything else.

She's sizing us up. Wants to see how hot her shit is by telling us how competent her staff are at their security protocols. To back down now would show weakness.

Aside from that, I would like a better look at who these two we pulled out from that shakeup in France are.

>>2764424
>Check for yourself. More to sate your own caution and paranoia more than anything else.

>>2764424
>Probe his mind for information, and suicide stuff. It may be easier while unconscious. Also tell her that any and all footage are restricted to her, and the other people in the know.

>>2764424
>>Check for yourself. More to sate your own caution and paranoia more than anything else.

>>2764424
>Check for yourself. More to sate your own caution and paranoia more than anything else.
He's clearly a high priority. If Ingram is offended or bothered, that's her problem. Not ours. Our squad was put at risk to capture him, and the potential to probe his mind is invaluable.

Calling it here, writing!

“I’m sure your team are quite capable, but I want to check just to be better safe than sorry. He’s high priority after all.” You say. Maybe you’re just a hands on person, but you’d feel more comfortable if you went through it yourself.

As tempting as it is to say your piece over how your squad risked their lives to get him, you refrain from souring this any further.

“Suit yourself.” Ingram holds her hands up in resignation, shaking her head.

“I might check through a certain abnormal method, restrict the footage if I do.” You add.

“Oh right. You have that.” Ingram frowns, before producing a keycard. “I’ll give you your privacy. There’s medical gloves in that drawer over there, if you really want to be thorough. We did that already.”

You nod but you’ll refrain from that. As you walk over to enter the holding cell Ingram just sighs and reaches for her coffee mug, before noticing her drink is empty. She grumbles to herself. Stepping into the holding cell you look over the prisoner is still just sprawled out onto the simple metal bed. He’s still out cold.

Looking over the guy on closer inspection you note on his arms is a unique green tattoo poking out from his shirt sleeves. An odd distinguishing physical trait that spoils how easy the man can slip into incognito. Former criminal or some other background reason then? Hm.

You wait a bit longer before making sure the cameras and other such recording equipment is off, looking down at the man. You’re tired from the combat earlier and spending all your time pouring over french documents on the flight back to the base, but you should still have enough Focus for a decent mental search should you opt to use psionics on the guy. You’re about to do so when you feel an sudden hesitance to do it.

You would never mind using your psionics against the aliens or on your team if it meant helping them out, but somehow you feel like using it on this guy is a line you’re going to cross. Whether you like it or not you’re setting a precedent to how XCOM uses Psionics going forward here which could have some serious consequences down the line.

Still, the information could save lives and help you understand what the hell is going on.

But is it worth it?

>Dig through his mind.
>Don’t use Psionics and search him normally.

>>2764585
(Going to wait a bit longer for this vote!)

>>2764585
>Don’t use Psionics and search him normally.
But maybe it's something to bring up with the Commander sometime in private. Psionic ethics and all that.

>>2764585
>Don’t use Psionics and search him normally.
Psionics are a tool against aliens, not our fellow humans if we can help it.

>>2764585
>>Dig through his mind.

EXALT didn't sign Geneva, we're only treating this fella nicely outta common courtesy.

>>2764585
>Don’t use Psionics and search him normally.

>>2764585
>>Don’t use Psionics and search him normally.

>>2764585
>>Don’t use Psionics and search him normally.
at least not yet

>>2764585
>Dig through his mind.

>>2764585
>Dig through his mind.
This is a war. You can't pull your punches, not when your survival is on the line. If humanity isn't unified for the sake of everything we have, then you need to find out why and pull everyone together, by force if necessary.

>>2764585
>>Don’t use Psionics and search him normally.

>>2764585
>>Don’t use Psionics and search him normally.
We can’t risk accidentally frying his mind. Better safe than sorry. And besides, sec officer watching us. Psionic stuff is still a secret for everybody.

Calling it here, writing!

>>2764585
>>Dig through his mind.
I know the vote's called, but I can't believe people aren't using psionics on this guy. This is an enemy, so psionics should automatically get used when trying to find information from him. Him being human is no excuse, since war is war, regardless if it's against aliens or humans. In fact with humanity's extinction from the aliens as a threat the need to use everything possible to win faster and better is even more necessary to prevent even more global casualties from a longer war. While the aliens might not actually want to kill all humans, the amount of irrecoverable damage and killing they're willing to do to get what they want is unacceptable either way.

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...No. Not like this. You’re on a very slippery slope right now. Ingram and the Commander weren’t wrong in that you’re a ‘specialist’. More than that actually, you’re going to decide how XCOM is going to operate in these untreaded waters. You are going to set a standard. Looking down at this unconscious man you start to understand the decisions that the Command staff had wrestled with in the war effort. A simple question but one that makes all the difference in the world.

How far would XCOM go to save humanity?

You don't know how far you'd go, admittedly.

One thing’s for sure, you’re not going to pry through the mind of this man unless absolutely necessary. Lucky him. Instead, you proceed to do a more conventional search. You go through the usual motions and the more… ‘thorough’ methods you and the rest of your old team had to learn rather quickly in the drug war, all except for searching that certain infamous hiding spot. You’ll trust that the Blueshirts checked that place.

You don’t find anything on the man.

As you finish up, the prisoner slowly starts to wake up. Groaning and rubbing at his chest.

“Fuck me…” The man groans.

You narrow your eyes and begin to snap your fingers in front of him, getting the drowsy man’s attention.

“Rise and shine.” You say humorlessly.

“Wuh… you... You fucking tased me.” He grimaces, coughing and sputtering.

“Perceptive.”

The man looks about the room and then back to you, focusing on the XCOM emblem on your chest piece. He grits his teeth and you notice a flash of recognition in his eyes. He, forces himself up to a seated position but the Arc Thrower really must’ve knocked the wind out of his sails as he slumps back down onto the cold metal bed.

“You’re nothing... but a puppet.” The man coughs. There’s a look of defiance in his eyes. “You’re not getting anything from me.”

Really now? The smarmy look on his face stirs the anger within you. You may have shown the man a mercy, but he’s none the wiser. You can still put him right in his place. He reminds you of the countless ‘soldiers’ you’ve arrested from the Cartels. Loyal and defiant right up until a few hours interrogation. Sure there were those that had willpower and could resist interrogation, but they never talked. They weren’t idiots.

You’re about to say a few choice words to the guy when the intercom from the observation room turns on.

“We’ll handle it from here.” Ingram says coldly through the comms.

“I’d like to see you try!” The man spits at the window before going into a coughing fit.

You twitch, your hands balling into tight fists. You really want to get this man to show you and XCOM some respect yourself for being the arrogant prick he is...

>Intimidate him.
>Relent.
>Other

>>2764802
But at this point nobody really knows what's up with this guy. Yeah, probably there's an organization, but it could be some french paramilitary or just organized crime, seeing how they knew about this convoy and xcom didn't. How would you justify mindraping a human when you know firsthand how horrifying mind control is?
And the thing about psionics - we don't know how people actually 'awaken'. What if this guy is a much more powerful psion and you happen to awaken him in the same manner the ethereal awakened Dozer? Who knows what he could do, especially if he still sticks to his beliefs that council is actually bad guys and xcom is their force through and through. Especially if he tries to play nicely and decides to bide his time.

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>>2764821

>Intimidate him.
>>Other

Glow with the purple stuff and see if we can't Psionically bitch slap this guy.

Or hell, if you wanna do this Spoopy Alphabet Soup style let's get a bedframe, a towel, some plasticuffs, and a couple gallon jugs of water and waterboard the motherfucker.

>>2764821
>>Intimidate him.
Dozer always had the option to be Angry. Even without mind reading he can use his psi in other ways to help interrogations.

>>2764821
>Glow purple intimidatingly
>Demonstratively crunch some stout metal thing with psionics

>>2764821
>>Relent.

>>2764821
>Relent.
>Calm down. Remember how to let out your emotions with words rather than fury. Don't make him think you're some brute, some kind of "puppet" playing along with someone else's plan. Remind him that you're the ones fighting the aliens, while shitstains like him are doing nothing but helping them by fighting other humans.

Why are people suggesting we use psionics just to scare him? What will that accomplish?

>>2764821
>>Relent.

>>2764854

Intimidation. He probably doesn't know that his buddies picked up Miss Durand, and probably knows nothing about Psionics. He sees that we have alternative methods of persuading his cooperation, he might want to sing a little bit easier.

>>2764821
>Relent.
I don’t wanna antagonize chief security more than we did already. Remember - being on a good side of a sec have a benefits.

>>2764821
Feign(?) being deeply offended, ask something along the lines of 'do you think the xcom works for the aliens?'. Measure the level of smugness to get insight of what he actually believes in.
My hypothesis is that he believes that invasion and xcom is just a charade and aliens are already ruling the earth or something.

>>2764854
To aid in interrogation obviously. The best interrogators can make the suspect confess without using physical torture, and usually through convincing them that not confessing is a VERY BAD idea, like say showing them every torture tool and how they could be used as opposed to actually using them. That is why intimidation is so useful, because it can help interrogators get the confessions without needing to actually hurt the subject.

>>2764821
>>Relent.

>>2764864
>>2764886
Okay, but I don't see why being really strong and glowing purple is any more intimidating than what I'm sure the base's security personnel is capable of. Not to mention the risk involved in revealing this sort of secret to an enemy simply to freak him out a little bit.

>>2764843
>>2764849
>>2764862
>>2764869
>>2764887
A very close vote but I'm calling it here at relenting, writing! Also this next update will be the last post for tonight!

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>>2764891

"Better the devil you know than the devil you don't". Nightsitcks, mental tricks, maybe a bit of physical torture--oh he knows these sorts of things might happen. But Psionics? That's uncharted territory for pretty much everyone. Who knows what shit might go down once the motherfucker across from you starts glowing purple.

And it's not like we'll be letting this guy out once he's stopped being useful to us. We'll either do some very unscrupulous things that would get frowned upon by signatories of the Geneva convention or give him some Grade A amnestics and shove him into some remedial job around the base.

>>2764894
Or enlist him into D-class personnel.

Just a heads up update's going to take a tad, it's much longer than I expected, but it's on the way! Apologies!

>>2764936
No problem, fishcake.

It’s so tempting. Oh so tempting. All that hot air would deflate in just a moment if you showed him just what you’re really capable of. You wouldn’t even need to scrape through his tiny mind to do it either, just Focus a little bit and show him your true potential and that’d be more than enough…

But you don’t. You exercise self control and focus on not being the brute you can be. In way, the guy would win. There are other ways to get your point across without raw fury, despite how easy it is.

“What’re you going to do? Huh? Just gonna stare me down?” The man grunts.

You don’t say anything, he’s not even worth an idle comment. Instead, you just turn to leave.

“Yeah, that’s right. Walk away! That’s what I thought!” The man’s chuckles turn to wheezing as he just lays back down onto the bed. Utterly exhausted but sounding smug as hell. You need to put a little more willpower in stepping out, but you do.

You step back into the observation room to a moderately surprised Security Chief. Ingram raises an eyebrow at you. You take several steady breaths to calm down. Your self-control reigning true and tempering that ferocity within you.

“I thought you were going to do your thing.” Ingram says, crossing her arms. “Mess with his head and all that.”

“I considered it. But like you said, you have it under control, so I’ll leave you to it.” You answer back. “And no, I didn’t find anything. Your team was effective.”

Ingram is silent for a moment, sizing you up. Before sighing, rubbing her face.

“Thanks.” Ingram mutters. “Now get out of here.”

“Ma’am.” You nod to her and you take your leave. As you start to move toward the door, Ingram stops you.

“Before I forget, Command wants another meeting in the hanger for something important. It should be starting any minute now, you were… pretty focused in the cell and you didn’t look like you wanted to be interrupted.” Ingram explains.

You thank her back for then exit the room. That wasn’t so bad, actually.

(Part 1 / 4)

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Once again you find yourself back at the hanger. You’ve essentially walked in one big circle since you got back to HQ. Lined up in squads is most of the XCOM trooper personnel. Finding Strike-1 isn’t difficult and you take your spot in line with them. Everyone in the squad is present from earlier.

“Uhh…” Rachel tilts her head and looks at you confused. Some of the other troopers in other squads are giving you glances too.

You aren’t one to get embarrassed but you are very clearly the only trooper in full combat gear and it gets to you a bit. You’ve been so busy you didn’t get a chance too yet. You probably smell. You straighten your posture and take it as well as you can, for Strike-1’s sake.

You’re totally going to get shit for this from the other squads.

“So… any idea why we’re being called up to assembly?” You say, looking over to your squad and ignoring the amused comments.

“No, the Commander is one to love surprises.” Loki explains.

“It ain’t from the MEC division.” Rachel shrugs. You recall she’s been getting pretty chummy with the other MECs, which makes sense given they’re all in the same boat together.

“Could there have been a major breakthrough in the war, perhaps?” Zhang ponders.

“You’re not that far off the mark…” You say as you spot Dr. Vahlen and the Commander approaching. One of the squad leaders sounds off, and in unison all the chatter shuts up and the entirety of XCOM’s combat ready forces snap to a salute. Gotta give respect to the higher ups, after all.

The Commander looks about at the assembled staff and opens her mouth to say something, before Dr. Vahlen taps her on the shoulder and quietly converses with her. The Commander looks appeared to be pleasantly surprised with something while XCOM’s Chief Scientist seems… hesitant but committed. It’s a distinct change of pace from the very serious and collected aura Vahlen presents herself in her labs. The Commander graciously steps back and allows Vahlen to take the stage, one of the misc non-combat staff provides a mic for her.

She looks about the collected staff, takes a breath, and looks down at the tablet you’ve never seen her without. She looks over what you guess is a speech written on her tablet for a moment before looking back at the crowd and taking a step forward.

(Part 2 / 4)

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“Today--” Vahlen doesn’t get more than one word in as the mic peaks, causing everyone to wince for a moment and throws the German(?) woman off for a split second as she readjusts the settings on the mic. “--Ahem. Today makes a very important day in my team’s developments in reverse engineering the aliens technology. Many man hours were put into and thanks to the help of -- no --...”

Vahlen stops to quickly tap and swipe at her tablet. You and the other soldiers look among each other. She's fidgeting, her speech rhythm is erratic, and she's staring at her tablet 90% of the time. It’s like a freaking checklist of mistakes you do in a public speech. I-Is this really happening? Could it be the cold and intellectually cunning Dr. Moira Vahlen is… actually absolutely rubbish at making speeches? What a surprise.

“Oh there we are. A-ahem... Many man hours were put into this project which will surely give our soldiers another important edge they need to survive out in the battlefield…and ah…” Vahlen pauses her speech. Hesitating at the next part, as if she could not believe she had written it. She steels herself and presses on. “...With what we are about to unveil, hopefully this will help our forces keep their explosives on and… exercise restraint from using them... Ahah.”

There’s a pause. Wait. That was a joke? Nobody else laughs and are just as confused at the lingering dead air. The Commander however chuckles warmly… before giving you all a glare. A… cue as it were. Everyone quickly gets the hint and begins to laugh. This eases the scientist’s nervousness and the speech continues on at a mediocre quality at best until a realization hits her.

“...You know what? Nevermind anything else I am going to say, it won’t matter. They will explain for themselves.” Vahlen says, before motioning to the side pathway for a group of people to approach.

(Part 3 / 4)

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You get an immediate sense of deja vu as a small group of men and women, fellow XCOM soldiers and scientists, make their way before the crowd. At a glance they appear normal like anyone else… until you look closer. The first thing you note that’s the same among each of them is a pair of embedded glowing metal ‘studs’ on their arms, the devices seemingly implanted right into their flesh… but that’s where the similarities end.

Each of them has a very different and drastic physical change of some kind. Be it physical before you or… just be merely sensing it in the very air. One of soldier’s skin for example is greyer as if someone had dulled the pigmentation of skin and, if you squint you swear you can see some sort of hex pattern etched in it. Another noticeably has slightly longer and more powerful legs, angled ever so slightly in a different way. You spot Loco is a part of the group, the… eccentric Spanish Infantry seemingly normal at a glance until you see something emanate from her an orange hazy mist of some kind. It washes over the crowd and hits you and Strike-1, you feel a gleeful giddiness come over you…

When the sudden manic happiness fades away it’s then you spot her. It was a bit difficult at first given how short she is and how pretty distracting the other augmented men and women are in the group... but the proper actual rocket launcher slung proudly over her shoulder is more than enough for you and the rest of Strike-1 to identify who she is. Naru Takumi, your squad’s Rocketeer.

The bandage over her eye has been removed, showing the burn scars underneath. She, like the other men and women have the same metal studs in her arms, but that’s not what catches your eye. Her eyes catch it instead. It’s not the blue eyes she had before, now they glow a warm amber, and with each step a bit of light seems trail like wisps as she moves. Most striking of all is her pupil. Instead of it being a round shape, it’s a distinct slit instead.

Snake eyes.

“Standing before you is the Genetic Modification Division and it’s volunteers.” Dr. Vahlen says, confidence tinged in her voice.

Naru winks at you.

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>...And with that I'm going to call it here for tonight! No prompt for now as the update would've likely turned into a 5 or 6 parter! I'll try and update more often through the weekend but no promises. So until next time...

Thanks for playing!

>>2764998
Thanks for running!

>>2764998
A pleasure as always Pixel

>>2764997
Yay!

She looks good with amber eyes.

>>2764997
Cute

>>2764998
Thanks for running!

I am severely disappointing that we didn't use psionics on the exalt scum. Odds are he would never leave base, even after security is done with him.

>>2764998
Strike 1 is a bit large. Rachel rightly remarked that she was very bored being stuck at base for so long. Seems like X-com is a inefficient organization, with reserve personnel not allowed to part-time as Blueshirts, cooks, or whatever.

This just reminded me of how retarded the lack of armor on augmented soldiers is.

>>2765098
It also reminded me how close Bradford was to realizing that the world of XCOM was actually a video game/quest and that real world logic couldn't really apply.

>>2765072
Rachel was also hurt and without cybernetics then, and last mission her MEC suit needed repairs

>>2765202
>and last mission her MEC suit needed repairs
Isnt there a long downtime between missions,
and werent we planning on taking a more useful MEC variant suit ?

>>2765215
>Isnt there a long downtime between missions,
Not between the last two.

>>2765215
Not for this mission. We got off had 2 days off (not nearly enough time to fix her REALLY fucked up suit) and then had another mission.

Okay dudes (and dudettes; and also snek-dicksuckers, I guess) how are we gonna call Dozer?
My bet is on a Marcus Heeymeyer.

>>2765947
Beef McLargeHuge

>>2765947
Anon Anonsson

>>2765947
A. N. Onimus

>>2765072

Depending on how many active squads Commander's got right now, there might not be enough personnel to rotate from active to light duty and back.

>>2765947
Jacob Morgan

>>2765947
Russel Ulysses Sirius

>>2765947
Agamemnon Plutarch Archer

>>2765947
Ben Dover

>>2765104
When was that?

>>2765947
Ajax Ivanson

So does XCOM deal with supernatural threats (i.e.
Ghosts, monsters from folklore, paranormal activity, etc.), or is it out of their jurisdiction?

>>2766760
Sort answer No
Long answer: Theoretically they might but nothing like that shows up in the Xcom setting.

>>2766760
>>2766793
I see it as either:

>Nobody believes in the supernatural at the base, citing how unrealistic it is despite the fact the world is undergoing an alien invasion.

>There's an even more secret XCOM-like organization dealing with their own problems capturing and neutralizing various supernatural threats around the world (hopefully, they don't hold greater priority compared to us)

>>2766811
If that second one is true then I agree to hoping it's not a higher priority. If it's a higher priority then that means it's a bigger perceived threat, or a known apocalyptic scenario.

>>2766760
No

>>2766811
I could see both factions fighting over psionics to join their organization.

>>2765947
Dick Hugewood

>>2766760
They have to focus all their time and research on aliens but might shoot a human-sized myth creature thinking it is one of the aliens.

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>>2766760
>>2766811

Way I see it, it's either of two things:

>An off-brand version of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense (with even more disastrous funding and none of the cool mystical things from the mad ravings of Mignola)

>An off-brand knockoff of an off-brand knockoff of the FBI UIU, but even more buttmonkeys to both XCOM and EXALT and even their fellow alphabet soup spooks.

There's probably an agent or three in XCOM and EXALT right now because blacker than black agencies are all intermingled that way.

>Commander's fw she learns of the sad state of affairs of the paranormal defense organization
>EXALT!Commander's fw they consider them an even larger joke than XCOM
>Council's fw a member nation's rep brings them up in a monthly "State of Terra" meeting as a sizable threat in jest

>All those paranoid shadowruns in previous thread.
I TOLD YA DAWGS, I TOLD YA, NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT!

>>2766293
I like it. Nice and simple

>>2768189
Me too. And in the end they didn't even want to stick a hand up the EXALT guy's ass to do a thorough search.

>>2766811
>even more secret XCOM-like organization

Must be fun for them to give regular council reports alongside the XCOM rep.

>"We thwarted a major abduction attempt in two major cities by the Aliens with minimal casualties and six brand new alien types ready for interrogation."

>We....uh.....captured Bigfoot, investigated a small town's ghost haunting, and seized what we believe to be a Satanic artifact from a small cult.

>>2768866
>For the last time, Agent Steve, this is NOT a Bigfoot, its just man in a gorilla suit!

>>2768945
>A Muton in a gorilla suit, actually.

>>2768866
>>2768945
>>2768949
>the real kicker is when XCOM encounters Lovecraftian alien horrors from beyond the black void between stars, has no clue how to beat them, and has to team up with the regular buttmonkey team

>turns out Supernatural/Paranormal not!XCOM are stone cold badasses when they're in their element of kicking the ass of Alien Star Gods, and legitimate supernatural threats, and are only treated like jokes because most of the time they're wasting time investigating hoaxes, folk stories, and finding logical explanations to mysteries

>>2768970
I want a quest about them.

>>2768866
>>2768977
Could make a decent spinoff.

Thinking into this more, the backstory of the group is that in the mid-late 19th century, they were founded to investigate a multitude of different things like boogeymen, ghosts, monsters, magic, etc. They could've been active when interest in the occult was at an all-time high during its founding, stop Elder Gods from tearing holes in reality in the '20s, fight the Thule Society during WW2, and be tasked to hide the true nature of psychics from the world by dismantling the US and Soviet Union's various psychic programs.

>inb4 they merely pretend they're a complete joke to stop the Council members going mad from the truth that the Elder Gods are real as well as discovering Psionics way before XCOM

>>2769018
Does this mean that they can No-Sell the Psionic Users harder than Superman No-Selling almost everything?

>>2769018
I wouldn't be surprised if the early organizations interpreted psionic powers as Magic considering the ways the powers manifest themselves. Though we need to see how personal beliefs/personality affects powers.

Ex. Voodoo practitioner able to actually reanimate the dead as zombies, the devoutly religious seemingly able to perform miracles, etc.

>>2768977
There IS/was a quest about them. Look in the archive.

>>2769304
I guess now we know how Templars from WoTC had been formed - at first as secret “magick order” and it went downhill from there.

So anyone have any guess as to what the four psionic disciplines are?


I am guessing they are

Adept -Self Reinforcement of body and mind. with mental energy.
Telekine - Manipulation of amter and possibly energy via mental energy
Warper- Rearranging and relocating amttter(and possibly energy) with mental energy.
Telepath- Manipulation of thought and deed of others with mental energy.

If I am close, I am going to say Dozer is an Adept. Cause that's been all the shit he's pulled off. He is, so his enemies are not.

>>2769419
Name, good sir?

>>2769419
You can't just say that and not tell us what to search for, a name or at least how close it was to finished

>>2770896
test

>>2770979
That the name of the quest or are you just seeing if 4Chan's working?

>>2770980
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2718368/

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>>2770991
>Died one thread in

>>2770991
Well, looks like a shit to me.

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“Jeez, what a showoff.” Rachel grumbles as you and the rest of the squad watch a demonstration from one of the Gene Mod troopers.

In one moment, Strike-3’s Sniper is, crouching down at the hanger landing platform. In the next, he’s soaring through the air in one smooth motion, his legs and body changed thanks to the MELD. He easily lands on top of the roof of the parked Skyranger in the center platform. Skyrangers are pretty big and it was nothing to him.

“You were certainly enjoying yourself a fair bit when you were showcasing the KSM, Rachel.” Harita teases gently.

“For a damn good reason, Hari! That thing punched through walls back in that observatory like it was nobody’s business. And I’d take that any day over friggin… jumpy legs!” Rachel gives a dismissive wave over to the gene modded Sniper, her metal arm whirring slightly from the motion.

Looking about you notice that the other MEC troopers seem… unimpressed? You know that look all too well. It’s the relationship between the FBI. DEA. U.S. Marshals… it’s that all too present friendly ‘rivalry’ quickly starting to come to fruition. You can already see the MEC and Gene Modded troopers trying to outdo each other in just about everything. There hasn’t been that much conflict between the different nationalities or branches of special forces in XCOM so far, but this seems to have changed things. That’s going to be fun to deal with.

Then again, what about when the inevitable Psionics Division is established?

You still have to talk to the squad about that. With a sigh you rub at your tired eyes, Haven’t slept at all yet, and you’re starting to become sluggish.

“How many types of gene mods are there?” Zhang asks you.

“Last I checked when I was given a dossier there were at least three modifications and several in the works, seems looks like Dr. Vahlen and her team finished those and a few more... since. Woah.” Your explanation is interrupted as you and the others wince slightly as you feel a wave of… sudden sensations from the standout Gene Modded Trooper Loco and her Adrenal Neurosympathy mod. A genetic cocktail that consists of various insect and of all things Muton DNA.

The mod is supposed to have the user secrete pheromones to increase the squad’s combat effectiveness but you didn’t expect it to be so… invasive. You are now feeling exceptionally smug, pleased, and in an all around good mood thanks to Loco. It actually wakes you up, which is appreciated. The Infantry is just standing there all pretty and letting her body do all of the work.

“I do not like that gene mod.” Loki mutters, crossing her arms.

“What, you jealous?” Rachel grins. Even Burnout smirks a bit at that, the pheromones affecting him.

Rook chuckles heartily, fully under the effects of Loco’s gene mod, not trying to resist it.

“Hmph.” Loki tries to keep cool but her resolve is wavering under the intense effect of Loco’s pheromones.

Seriously, whose idea was it to give Loco that gene mod?

(Part 1 / 2)

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The one member of the Gene Mod Troopers that the squad is ultimately interested about is Naru. After all, she’s part of Strike-1.

Depth Perception is the mod she got, derived primarily from Thin Man genes. You had tried a weaker prototype mod yourself some time ago, which you think is what Naru has now, but while there’s not much to really ‘showcase’ on stage of that mod she does have two eyes again. Her bandage had obscured the burn scars underneath until now, but she doesn’t seem to mind. It’s the least eye catching thing about her now.

...You wince at the pun you just made in your head.

Burnout quietly murmurs something to himself in French. You’re the only one that catches it.

“Something up, Burnout?” You ask him.

“She’s happy.” He says. He's as calm as ever be he seems pleased by that.

You nod. That she is.

The general demonstrations finish and the volunteers are given the OK to link back up with their respective squads. As Naru finishes chatting with Dr. Vahlen over something she starts to make her way back towards the squad, a small and gentle trail of amber light coming out of her eyes as she moves.You note Burnout deftly slip his cigarette into that small portable cigarette holder.

“Don’t even try to hide it, Burnout! I could see you puffing that shit all the way up from the podium. That’s rude as hell to smoke during a speech!” Naru chastises the French Scout as she reaches the squad. She gives you all a casual wave. “Yo.”

“It’s good to have you back.” Harita says warmly.

“What? I didn’t go anywhere. I was just stuck in a orange tube for a bit that’s all.” Naru laughs.

“You certainly had quite the transformation in that tube.” Loki says.

“You could fucking say that.” Naru replies, looking about the squad. Before pausing and tilting her head at you. She looks you up and down, her glowing eye trail lagging ever so slightly as she doe sso. “...Why’re you in combat gear?”

“We came back from a mission. Didn’t get a chance to take the armor off yet, I was busy.” You answer.

“So just normal Dozer stuff then.” Naru nods.

“Yep.” Rachel agrees.

You shake your head. There’s no escape.

“Anyways!” Naru claps. “I’m good and feeling good for some Q&A if you guys got anything to ask. I got the genetic golden ticket, y’know!”

Well...

>Genetic golden ticket?
>Ask what it’s like for her to ‘see’ now.
>Let her know she should watch out for Rachel. A new rivalry’s starting.
>Comment on her Rocket Launcher. She carrying her real launcher now.
>Other

>>2771489
>>Genetic golden ticket?
What does that mean? Are people limited in what gene-mods they can take based on their own genetics or something?

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>>2771489
>Ask what it’s like for her to ‘see’ now.
>Naru and Burnout
I ship it

>>2771489
>Genetic golden ticket?
>Ask what it’s like for her to ‘see’ now.

>>2771489
>Genetic golden ticket?
>Ask what it’s like for her to ‘see’ now.

>>2771489
>Comment on her Rocket Launcher. She carrying her real launcher now.
>Ask what it’s like for her to ‘see’ now.

>>2771476
When a Psionics Division is established the MECs will cry, because psions can be genemodded.

>>2771489
>Genetic golden ticket?
>Comment on her Rocket Launcher. She carrying her real launcher now.

>>2771599
I ship it too now

>>2771489
>>Genetic golden ticket?

>>2771489
>>Genetic golden ticket?
>>Ask what it’s like for her to ‘see’ now.
>>2771599
>>Naru and Burnout
Also this.

>>2771489
>Genetic golden ticket?
>Ask what it’s like for her to ‘see’ now.
>You good for combat Naru?

>>2771489
>Genetic golden ticket?
>Let her know she should watch out for Rachel. A new rivalry’s starting.
Also seconding the vote to ask if she's ready for combat.

>>2771489
>>Other
>Make a mental note to find out what Solace+Adrenal Neurosympathy does.

>>2771489
>Genetic golden ticket?
We already know what it's like for her to see now. We experienced it for a while.
Also, >>2772102

>>2772102

I'd worry about the entire team around that combo dying from sheer ecstacy, a smile on their face, and in need of a new pair of pants.

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>>2772102
>>2772301

Adrenal Neurosympathy is basically a hormone dump into the surrounding area, right? And the ventilation is circulated around the base, right?

WOuld that mean that if a Gene Modded soldier with Adrenal Neurosympathy was fucking someone in the barracks and the vent system doesn't have scrubbers that it's possible everyone on the base would become hot and bothered, with the added possibility that those soldiers who also have Adrenal Neurosympathy would be more sensitive to the hormone dump and dump hormones themselves?

>>2772386
Yes, yes it is. Shen has already started installing scrubbers.

>>2772386
>>2772386

Note for Dozer: Make sure not to fuck Loco on the risk of biohazards.

>>2772420
Pretty sure we're going after
Rachel
or
momander
or
peppermint

With a few hold outs for Loki.

I prefer Rachel.

>>2772426
I'm generally talking along the lines of the (offscreen) minority of XCOM personnel deciding to blow some steam with one night stands due to the nature of their work with the ever present risk of injury, death, and the doom of the human race as they know it.

>>2771489
>Make more eye puns.

>>2769018
>19th century Supernatural COMbat Unit

>Assault: is uses either a shotgun, carbine, or lever actions
>Heavy: is armed with hand bombs, or mountain guns
>Support: is either a magic/occult doctor, or someone that performs a lot of amputations (washing hands before treatment is optional), or a regular engineer
>Snipers: use Rifles and pistols
>Battle Priest/Nun: uses custom made munitions, and relics for offense or support specializing against the supernatural
>Sanctioned Occultist: essentially a Psi Trooper, but with varying degrees of things blowing up in their face

>>2772856
And don’t forget
>Infantry: a guy with a rifle, bayonet and sense of duty.

>>2772856 >>2772895
I wouldn't be against that! Also, calling the vote here!

>>2772895
Sounds like an Imperial Guardsman.
>that unimaginable horror didn't die when you shot it? Well clearly you need to start praying and affix bayonets.

>>2772856
>>2772895
Some other additions, Assaults and Snipers could go with Dual Revolvers

Maybe have the Occultists come in various flavours depending on their background like having Cthulu types, Eastern European Occultists, people that talk to ghosts, etc.

Battle Priests/Nuns better have high calibre revolvers loaded with custom made bullets made out of various materials that are effective against whatever nasty they come up against (vampires, werewolves, demons, etc.). Also keep Catholic and Protestant Battle Priests out of the same team, otherwise you'll get the unending spiel about how one or the other are perversions of their form of acceptable Christianity

>>2772926
And of course there is Battle Priest from Orthodox Church, flinging a censer like it’s a flail and creating smokescreens, screaming/singing hymns that makes all occultists and psy-alien’s brains hurts

>>2772856
>regular engineer

>Not going balls to the wall with Tesla, or Steam troopers

>>2773341
Steam troopers/knights actually are MECs.
And “foreign specialists” are gene-mod soldiers.

Is Loco's Neurosympathy "on" 24 hours a day ? Must be fun for her roommate.

>>2773889
And by extension, for her.

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“Genetic golden ticket?” You raise an eyebrow.

“So, normally people are able to get one gene mod per major part of your body. Arms, legs, chest, whatever. But me? I can get however many I want wherever and my body won’t turn into a genetic slurry. I got the golden ticket.” Naru seems rather smug about that, you can’t tell if it’s because of Loco or not. “I’m already thinking of getting Hyper Reactive Pupils when XCOM snags more MELD… which we totally should keep going at now.”

“Right…” You nod slowly, Naru is very eager it seems. “So, how’s it like to ‘see’ now?”

“Hm… It’s as if before everything was just so blurry. Unfocused. It didn’t help when I burnt my eye out, hah.” Naru scratches her chin. “Buuut thanks to my special eyes, I can see clearly now that… uh… how does that song go? You get the idea. Distance is extremely easy for me to gauge which is absolutely perfect for being a Rocketeer. Oh and things look ever so slightly orange, but I don’t mind the color so it works for me.”

“Your special eyes are certainly eye catching.” Loki muses.

“Har har.” Naru rolls her eyes, exaggerating the motion a bit by rotating her head. It leaves a circular trail of light around her. Like Rachel, she’s a very different person now. The question lingers again in your head on how they’re going to reintegrate after the war.

What about you?

...Probably best to not think about it until after the war, like your two MELD enhanced troopers.

“So you’re good for combat then, Naru?” You ask.

“Technically no. But I’m going to be go and ace that test after this exhibition. The eyes are definitely going to help but I should be thanking you for getting medical to OK me lugging around that dummy rocket launcher.” Naru grins, punching you on the shoulder. Ow. “It may not be much, I didn't lose my gains while I was moping around.”

“Glad to hear that.” You say, rubbing your shoulder. “I would say good luck on your test, but you seem to have it well in hand.”

“Damn straight!” Naru shoots you a thumbs up.

“Try not to get too cocky there, Snake Eyes.” Rachel says, unimpressed. “Still have to pass first.”

“Stay in your lane and I'll stay in mine, Clanker.” Naru winks and gives points a pair of finger guns at her. “You may have a big ass robot suit, but I can still fit through a door in a fight.”

“Oh yeah!?” Rachel scoffs. “I can fit through a door if I really wanted to, but charging through a wall is way cooler!"

“Garage doors don’t count, Kool-Aid Bot” Naru counters, wagging her finger.

“Why you…!”

The pair begin to bicker as they attempt to one up each other over where the MELD should be put better. Harita looks nervously between the pair, trying to figure out how best to defuse a possible escalating situation. Given her role in the squad as ‘Squad Mom’ this would be her jurisdiction. But maybe you should do something about it?

>Tell them to knock it off yourself.
>See if Harita can handle this.
>Leave them be, it’s just friendly banter. Probably.
>Other

>>2774160
>>See if Harita can handle this.
But
>Tell them to know it off yourself.
If she fails or doesn't.
By the way can we ask if her eyes glow? Like cat eyes, could be an issue in the field.

>>2774160
>Other
"You know I can ask the Commander to get the two of you a room.

All seriousness though you should save that competitiveness for the aliens. The two of you working together out there? They won't know what hit them."

>>2774160
>>Leave them be, it’s just friendly banter. Probably.
It's fiiiine. Not like they're seriously fighting each other when both are friends.

>>2774160
>Leave them be

>>2774160
>>See if Harita can handle this.

>>2774160
>See if Harita can handle this

If not, distract them by mentioning a squad meeting to discuss your powers. Neither saw it and would be very curious.

>>2774160
>>See if Harita can handle this.
>Also since Naru and everyone else is here we need to find a place so you can explain what happened last mission.

>>2774160
>Tell them to knock it off yourself.
And tell them about the squad meeting we're about to have

>>2774160
>Tell them to knock it off yourself.

>>2774160
>>See if Harita can handle this.

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>>2774160
>>Tell them to knock it off yourself.

Girls, girls--you're both pretty!

Though Naru's receptiveness to Gene Mods means that we should probably cheese the fuck outta Gene Mods with her the most we possibly can--resources permitting. Hyperactive Pupils, Mimetic Skin, and Secondary Hearts are worth their weight in MELD if all placed on the same soldier.

>>2774160
>Other
Put a psionic barrier between the two

“Mine’s still bigger”

>>2774160
>See if Harita can handle this.

>>2774160
>Leave them be, it’s just friendly banter. Probably.
When they're finished, "If we're gonna be having this particular brand of dick waving contest, I think I'll be the winner"

>>2774577
In the game, Gene mods are always safe and have no consequence. But here we are dealing with "real people", and Naru might want to not be more of a freak. Then there's the thing that we won't always take Naru on a mission.

>>2774160
>See if Harita can handle this.

>>2774160
>>Other
>Try to quell the bickering between them by joking that Psionics is better than both

>>2774160
Glow purple, then wiggle your eyebrows at them

>>2774160
>Tell them to knock it off yourself.
"You can compete in body count and mission progressing later. Besides, there's definitely going to be a better option than both of those."
Don't specify until our little reveal. Hopefully with footage from the last mission.

>>2774160
>>See if Harita can handle this

>>2774160
>See if Harita can handle this.

>>2774160
>Tell them to knock it off yourself.

Calling the vote here!

Remeber kids - don’t try to completely defuse a rivalry between two departments that depends on a same, limited resource.

>>2776027
You mean Commomder’s fresh cookies?

...I’m pretty sure she refined ability to read minds and using it incredibly discreet for... making perfect coffee and donuts for everyone.
And probably to find dissidents and infiltrators on her base. But mostly for a coffee

>>2776031
What?

>>2776039
It's the MELD, it's also getting to these Anons.
Now that I think about it, could the MELD itself rewrite the brain? Since it's technically changing things on the genetic level, it could possibly also cause a personality rewrite.

>>2776053
I always thought that MELD by itself can’t do much, it must have SOMETHING to work with. If used without anything it might heal you up, maybe cure(or progress) a cancer, but that’s about it.

>>2776069
>maybe cure(or progress) a cancer
Maybe using MELD would be the last gamble in treating an incurable cancer.
>50% chance to heal back to normal
>50% chance to turn the entire body into a huge cancer cell balloon

>>2776072
Yep, like that. Without knowing how to properly use it, it would always a gamble.
I do wonder - in XCOM 2, Gene Clinic using a wonder-MELD or something more refined, but less effective?

>>2776095
Probably an advanced version of the gene things human scientists are researching in real life. I would expect them to mention MELD somewhere if it was a thing in X2.

>>2776095
gene therapy. But curing all aids and other major disease like the aliens did would require a enormous amount of MELD, if that is what they used to cure it.

>>2776338
But can MELD cure terrible writing and garbage taste?

>>2776348
Nothing can cure that

>>2776537
What a shame. It seems we must still fight through that even in the future.

>>2776547
Nothing can save us from this evil.

>>2776348
It can but it's a waste to use it on anything other than combat and medical applications.

>>2776649
Terrible writing and garbage taste are medical conditions that require treatment. We just don't know how to treat them right now.

>>2776751
>We just don't know how to treat them right now.
By treating the severe butthurt of people who hate writing if it isn't exactly catered to them only.

>>2776751
Is it contagious? Do we have to put all the Rachelfags in quarantine?

:^)

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>>2777064
Nah we just got put all the waifufags in the gas chamber.

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>>2777100
Let's do it.

>>2774160

Fuck me, I'm finally all caught up.

>Leave them be, it's just friendly banter. Probably.

Can we go meet our muton buddy soon?

>>2777356
Im pretty sure he is now a Loco’s breath. An incredibly smug breath.

>>2777375
Seriously, who the hell thought it’s a good idea to give an Assault aura of smugness?!

>>2777572
>Assault
Loco's an Infantry though

>>2777669
Still a bad idea though.

>>2777787
It's a bad idea because of who she is, not because of what class she is

>>2777375

I don't think that's how gene modding works.

>>2777992
Why not? She have an aura of smugness, doesn’t she?

You’re about to tell the knuckleheads to knock it off but seeing an opportunity to hit two bird with one stone you let Harita step in and attempt to defuse things. She can really step into her own role and you’ll be ready to stop things if need be. You give an OK to Harita and leave it to her to try and handle this.

Harita composes herself and steps forward standing between the two just as things seem to start to get heated. The pair of MELD enhanced troopers are nearly butting heads with how close they are to each other, that is, until Harita places a hand on each of their shoulders.

“Oh yeah? Well If there’s something high on a shelf or some shit I can just remove my arm and-- huh, Hari?”

Harita pushes the pair back away stopping them from pressing foreheads with one another. The pair are confused by the sudden third party literally stepping in between them and their argument.

“That’s enough you two.” Harita says, looking about the pair. “We’re all teammates here”

The pair blink, and there’s a moment of silence before both the MEC and Rocketeer start laughing. Harita is thrown off by this until Rachel places a hand on her shoulder.

“We’re just messing around, Hari! Even if Glowy over here needs to brought down a peg or two.” Rachel reassures.

“I heard that!” Naru snaps but it’s more less ‘hostile’.

You and hte rest of the squad are just as confused as Harita is, until Loki seems to understand what’s happening, a glint of recognition in her eyes.

“Damn. How could I have missed that. I’m becoming rusty.” Loki frowns, shaking her head as she mutters to herself.

“I don’t understand.” Harita says to Rachel. “The both of you were really getting into it...”

“You aren’t the only one out of the loop here.” Rook shrugs. You and the rest of the guys are in agreement.

“The both of us were together when we both got fucked over. Back in Vegas.” Rachel smirks and Naru nods in agreement. “We were there. Covering each others asses when those damn Chrysalids rushed us. If that doesn’t mean we’re good to point out how questionable the other’s life choices are, who will? Some know-it-all shrink? Fuck that.”

“Someone’s gotta bring Rachel down a few pegs from her high horse.” Naru explains. “Or technically her MEC suit I guess.”

Shared trauma bonding two individuals. It makes sense in retrospect. A little voice in the back of your head says it’s your fault, but seeing how well they’ve both stepped into their new lives quells that voice. You relax then, it’s just banter. Though, it’s still up in the air how the two departments are going to act in general. You doubt the other squads will have as smooth cohesion as Strike-1.

“Oh.” Harita deflates a bit at that. “My apologies then.”

“Huh? Don’t apologize!” Rachel says quickly. “You’re doing a damn good job!”

Harita nods. Feeling reassured.

(Part 1 / 2)

“Looks like the big Gene Mod reveal is winding down. I’m going to go and pass my Rocketeer evals now. If any of you are interested in watching me blow up some very angry looking alien dummies you’re more than welcome to tag along.” Naru announces.

Burnout nods to that. He’ll tag along. This somehow doesn’t surprise you.

“Not so fast. I believe Dozer has some explaining he wishes to give the whole squad soon.” Rook says, looking to you. He really wants to know. He speaks the same sentiment to the others who were in the mission.

“Not everyone is here, Peppermint and Sweet are still recovering in medical from the last mission.” Zhang points out.

“Well I got news on that. After I got out of the tube I was in a bit ago I was given a checkup in medical. I heard both of them are awake now.” Naru chimes in.

“That’s good.” You say. “How about this. We’ll all regroup in medical in an hour and I’ll explain what happened in the mission That should be enough time for you to get greenlit back for combat, right Naru?”

“More than enough.” Naru gives you a thumbs up.

“Great. I’m heading over to the armory if any of you need me. Otherwise you’re all dismissed.” You finish, stifling a tired yawn as the squad disperses.

You’re going to need to be a bit more relaxed so you can drop your psionic bombshell on them. You wonder idly how the rest of the squad is going to take it, but the sooner you get everyone on the same page the better.

But before anything else, you really want your armor off and a shower.

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>...And with that I'm going to call the thread here! My bad for taking two days to post, but I was having some writers block. Glad you guys kept yourselves busy with discussion, I really appreciate that! So until next time...

Thanks for playing!

Thanks for running!

>>2778094

I don't think they implant organs from live aliens in the gene modded soldiers. Or maybe they do, I have no idea.

>>2778689
See ya next time Pixel

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>>2778684
Thanks for the run, Boss!

Daily reminder that WW1/2 S-COM > 19th Century S-COM

The alternate universe XCOM's make me wonder how Strike-1 would integrate. Food for thought!

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>>2778867
>>2778893

Honestly, I think a story about a supernatural XCOM-esque organization in the interwar or WW2 would have the best plot threads compared to a 19th century or Cold War era. Mostly involving stopping 20s/30s era CTHULU cults before ending up in a pulpy Shadow War against The Thule Society's Dieselpunk and Occult Division.

>we have to stop them from finding the Antarctic entrance to Hollow Earth to prevent them from awakening Giants to win WW2
>taking part in a top secret landing on D-Day to take out various german occult defenses
>infiltrating Italy to access the secret Vatican reliquary housing the Lance of Longinus
>stopping the British from summoning human hating Fey spirits

It writes itself!

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>>2778893
>>2778942

>WW2 Momander's secret base is THE HABAKUK

>>2778967
What does this stuff do when hit by flammable or high explosive projectiles ?

>>2779206
Nothing. It's an iceberg.

>>2778967
>that thing would have been able to comfortably launch B-36s
Wew.

>>2778967
I wonder if the future of space exploration is to stick rocket engines on an iceberg

>>2778967
Does that mean the Nazis get an actual Landship for a base of operations?

>>2779695
The Landship IS the European X-com base. There will be at minimum a armistice as a defense against the bigger threat (alien invasion) Is mounted

>>2778893
You're welcome to run a WW II X-com quest or oneshot...

>>2779703
I would read that.
And vote if I happened to catch it while it's running but euro hours don't go well with quests.

New thread soon!

>>2779964

Hooray!

>>2780726

Thread up!