Let's Play UFO2:Extraterrestrials

[Zombie]

Only a slight update today unfortunately. I have been playing the game a little bit every day or so and right now all my bases have Thunderstorm interceptors which was a huge logistical nightmare. In a perfect world all the bases would have manufacturing capabilities (they don't, the aircraft carrier lacks this and for my main base all manufacturing capabilities are directed to soldiers). So long story short, you have to transfer stuff around and then scramble to manufacture more to replenish what you sent out.

I ran a couple tactical missions (battle cruisers) the other day and for the most part they went smoothly which was surprising. The portable teleporters were invaluable in quickly revealing the UFO cannons and once those are gone you can focus on holding your ground while safely advancing the rest of the troops for backup.

I think I figured out how Steam tallies UFO's shot down and Aliens killed for the global leaderboards. For a while there those stats were not "updating" for me. The aliens killed stat is just tallied by individual alien kills - you can't "game" the system by say killing the same group of aliens over and over. Once you kill an alien it doesn't get counted anymore. Same theory behind the UFO's Shot down stat: if you shoot down UFO #1, 2 and 3, then reload and shoot down 3 UFOs (doesn't have to be the same UFO type either could be a recon vessel instead of a patrol vessel) it doesn't count. Those 3 have been counted and you will not see an update on the leaderboard till you shoot down #4.

So that was the reason why I wasn't seeing an update as I shot down so many UFOs (for testing purposes mostly) but never saved the progress. Right now I have 900 UFOs shot down which places me at #117 globally and I killed 7077 aliens which puts me at #22 overall which is quite impressive really. And I just shot down two more battle cruisers and an alien supply vessel over the European theater which means at least 100+ kills and a bunch more "garbage" alien hibernation kills of Treps and Iron Rattlers which would put me #21.

When I was running the game forward in time the other day I noticed that not much was going to happen for the rest of the month so I took the time to update all my golden eagle interceptors to thunderstorms. As for my main base, I manufactured a big pile of mortar bombs as I always seem to go through 7-8 every mission where there are UFO cannons present. You can never have too many of these as far as I'm concerned. I even manufactured a couple mortar "launchers" just in case I need to nuke more stuff on a mission or if/when I switch to a dual transport strategy (thankfully mortars are really quick to manufacture so it's not like you'll get stuck). And then lots more rifle ammo (gotta have this), and refilled my stockpile of grenade types plus a few more soldier shields. In the down time I even manufactured a battle armor upgrade to the raven "tank" just in case I need to put that into service. So it's looking good overall as every "state" is happy with my performance in dealing with the alien threat and I have $84+ million space bucks in the bank.

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

The correct answer to Lightning becomes Thunderstorm?

Things having evolved as they have you need to dance your best to keep your interceptors in tune with the potentially mounting alien aircraft threat.

I noticed your teleportation-based achievement on Steam. State-of-the-art recon for the win!

You've got some impressive figures to tout regarding the punishment dealt to the enemy. The system to tally things, as you describe it, means that you've massacred even more than taken into account. You're well on your way to becoming the Grey Ripper! ?

Such big numbers require loads of ammo, so it's fortunate you could find the time to ramp up production, gathering some reserves for more wilful destruction.

Rolling in dough too, so things are looking fine indeed!

[Zombie]

Heavy Cruiser Part 1

We zone in and spread out the usual way. It's slow going though as I'm not sure what aliens will be present. On the aliens 4th turn a Fireball shows up which Slaughter reaction fires at damaging it twice for 17 & 18. When it's our turn there are 2 aliens visible now. First things first Slaughter is going to auto shoot at the Fireball he damaged earlier:

He ended up needing a second auto shot as the first two bullets were absorbed, but in the end he killed it. The other alien is also a Fireball and the new NKF is going to take some long range aimed shots at:

Both were absorbed so now it's time for the new Pete to try the same thing. Unfortunately it took him quite a few APs to get into position to shoot at the thing so he can only manage one aimed shot:

It does a massive 5 damage.

Now I get worried that the thing will shoot back at us during it's turn so I have Blade take a couple aimed shots at it with his photon beamer. First shot looks like it'll hit:

It was absorbed unfortunately, but his next shot hit for a pitiful 55 damage (okay, this is sarcasm folks in case it doesn't come across):

That's it for this round. During the alien's turn a Gehe shows up where the first Fireball was and the ever-vigilant Slaughter reaction fires at it (the first bullet is just hitting in the screenshot):

He damaged it twice for 27 & 20 but it wasn't enough for the kill. Now there's three aliens present as another Fireball shows up too. When it's our turn again NKF is going to start off the proceedings by taking aimed shots at the damaged Fireball:

Everything was absorbed. Same deal for Pete too. Slaughter is going to take an auto shot at the wounded Gehe next:

He did low to no damage for a lot of bullets and even triggered reaction fire from the Gehe:

Silly thing, your weapon can't reach even halfway to us. Anyhow, Slaughter kills the thing when his last bullet does 38 damage:

Tammy is going to start shooting at the new Fireball next:

She uses nearly all her APs up shooting at it but finally was able to kill it when her hast two bullets did 30 & 31 damage:

I leave the last damaged Fireball hoping to get Pete and NKF some more xp but forgot that Blade was looking directly at it so when it was the alien's turn he started shooting at it. The first blast hit for 11 already and the second looks like it'll hit too:

It did 26 which killed it:

Oh well, at least I got a little xp for our new "old" guys. Five turns later and there's a lone Trep milling around South of us so NKF is going to take an aimed shot at it:

He hits both times for 19 & 24 damage. Pete shoots next and the first bullet is right on target:

It did a healthy 50 damage killing the thing:

Four turns later and we finally can see a couple of the alien cannons on the roof of the UFO. As usual, Bomb Bloke is going to split the difference and try to mortar both:

He hits one for 71 and the other for 113 damage which wasn't enough to kill either. (By the way, notice where he's standing as there's no way the cannons can reaction fire back at him):

We need these things gone pronto so BB fires off another mortar destroying both:

The next turn we spot the scary central cannon so BB is going to send a mortar it's way:

It's a massive critical hit for 266 damage:

Join me next time as we deal with lots more Gehe's and a smattering of Iron Rattlers and Trep spawns just to make things more interesting. Well, I intentionally waited so that they would spawn because we need more xp for Pete and NKF.

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

Such early stage hullabaloo caused NKF & Pete II to have some performance anxiety is all.

The aliens get enthused, our forces verbally abused but their ammo got misused and what happens when your chance is missed? Nope, you don't just get bruised, it's a whole different dance, our veterans simply don't get dissed.

You can bring out the big guns - we've got our own ones - and they've got the reach to teach you some good manners. No need to preach.

Get in formation. We're going in!

[Zombie]

Heavy Cruiser Part 2

Sorry for the lack of updates recently. I went on vacation then it was busy at work and lastly there was an issue with the screenshots I took. Seems I re-ran part of the mission for some reason and forgot to delete the old set which created significant confusion to say the least.

Last time we just got rid of the big central UFO cannon on the roof of the thing which was our turn #17. Nothing really happened for a number of turns as I cautiously and meticulously brought up my two new rookies along with some others for backup. That took about 13 turns and then the alien hibernation spawns started pouring out of the UFO. Last turn, NKF and Jman tossed grenades on an Iron Rattler for 10 damage combined and Pete even shot at it once for 16 damage. It didn't die so we waited for the aliens turn. The Iron Rattler shot at him twice damaging him for only 4 damage overall. Another Iron Rattler and a Trep come out of the UFO for reinforcements. NKF is going to toss an incendiary grenade in the middle of the bunch:

It killed the damaged Iron Rattler for an additional 43. The other Iron Rattler was apparently out of range and the Trep was unfazed. The incendiary grenade was probably not the best choice so NKF is going to give them a taste of sludge gas now:

The Iron Rattler was unaffected and the Trep only took 15 damage.

Pete then takes a snap shot at the Trep, hitting it for 26. He also takes a snap shot at the Iron Rattler which hits for a huge 51 damage killing it:

Blade is tasked with mopping up the leftovers so he tosses a photon grenade on the Trep and that kills it when it hits for 20 damage:

With that mess gone we think we can relax again. Nope. During the aliens turn something hits Jman and Blade for little to no damage. Not sure what it was because when it's our turn we spot a Gehe on the top of the UFO. JFG is pretty far away so he'll take a couple aimed shots at it with his photon beamer:

His first shot connects for a good 53 damage and it looks like his second is going to connect as well:

Unfortunately, the damage is absorbed. And now Pete takes an aimed shot at it and it looks like its going to connect:

It only does 3 damage and his next shot isn't much better when it does 1. Time for NKF to take an aimed shot at it:

He hits for another 1 damage and cannot take another aimed shot as he's out of APs. Slaughter gets into a position to shoot next:

His accuracy is pretty good so he going to take snap shots at the thing from a fairly long distance. His first shot was absorbed and it looks like the second is going to be a hit too:

His second did 1 damage and his last hit for 12. Zombie does the same with his first shot hitting for 19. Let's take another:

His next shot was absorbed and his last was a hit for 5 damage. Tough things, these Gehe's. Hobbes takes his first shot and it was absorbed. Time for his second:

His second was absorbed and the last did 1 damage which killed it:

Well, we took it out, but that was a grueling process with lots of low to no damage numbers. During the aliens turn another Gehe shows up on the ground near NKF. Kind of a bad spot as there are fewer soldiers which can shoot at it now. Pete's going to risk it with some 51% accurate auto shots:

Pete only manages to hit it twice for no damage. Hobbes takes an auto shot at it too but only one shot connects for no damage. Time for another:

Everything else connects but for no damage except his last bullet which hits for 1.

Unreal. I was hoping he would soften it up a little bit but that wasn't in the books obviously. JFG takes a snap shot at it with his photon beamer hitting for 14 and he's about to take another:

This one does 40(!) damage but his last two shots were absorbed unfortunately. I'm going to do something really risky now that the Gehe is weakened: NKF is going to walk right up to it and take some point-blank auto shots:

He hits for 22, 17 and 16 which kills it. And he even has APs left to kinda get back into cover too:

He runs to the side of the UFO to get out of the way in case some of our other soldiers need to shoot at something there. That was a good choice as a Trep spawn shows up right near him. Kneel down an take an auto shot at nearly point-blank range again:

His first shot kills it doing a critical 66 damage:

Easy-peasy. But wait, there's more! Another Trep is right above NKF too so Pete is going to take an aimed shot at it:

It looks like it's going to be a hit:

It only does 1 damage while his second is a little better when it hits for 14. Well, since NKF is right below let's have him take an auto shot at it:

His first hit for 28 damage but there's more on the way and this next one will be a hit:

Whatever damage it did, it was enough to kill the thing and end the mission. Big sigh of relief from everyone. I'll cover the EOM report in my next post along with the two obvious promotions for Pete 2.0 and NKF 2.0 along with shooting down another UFO and dealing with research and production. Should be an interesting short addition so stay tuned for that!

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

We've rattled their cage so out they pour; we're happy to greet them at the door. We come bearing gifts of all flavours, the kind we bring for bad neighbours. After some labours the cocktail leaves them lying nicely on the floor.

Oh, look, they wanted more. ?

Leave it to us to chip away at such a reckless tide. Having come to play you can't stare us down or hide, look, we're wearing no frown, get down!

At this stage we sort of hate everything about you, but don't feel blue - we'll go after your friends next too. Well done, everyone. Now let's rotate outta here.

[Zombie]

Quickie update. First of all, let's check out how we did with the EOM report card:

As expected, both of our 2.0 rookies were promoted. Granted, I did put them in positions to get some kills so I guess it isn't unreasonable to expect the higher-ups to look favorably on them. Because both Pete and NKF are so similar in stats and because they were both promoted to the same level I just gave them the same treatment: 7 points into shooting, 4 into throwing, 5 in strength, 1 in bravery and agility and 2 in vitality (as is always said - "CON is not a dump stat").

Honestly, from what I know about this game so far, Bravery is quite useless (at least around the 70 threshold). If I ever replay the game I'm probably going to ignore this stat completely and put those points into agility, vitality and/or perception instead as those have actual tangible benefits. Anyways, these two soldiers are set now as their shooting and throwing are tolerable and they can carry more stuff (like some spare clips, grenades and maybe a mortar bomb).

Back in the Geoscape and we just shot down yet another heavy cruiser over Sweden:

Before I could send the transport out to assault the UFO our research into the heavy cruiser finished:

Let's check out it's description and stats:

Yup, we know all about those cannons. They are not to be messed with, both on the ground and in the air too. Well, Advanced Alien Flight Control is the only topic that'll lead to something (I hope) so let's pour all our scientists into that:

Besides, the sooner we research that, the sooner we can start selling off the excess. Although, at this point I'm certainly not broke or even close to it but the cash would help if I start expanding our reach on the globe. So join me next time when we tackle that heavy cruiser.

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

Well, well... somehow you've reached the much-coveted rank of Corporal 1st Class.

Feeling smug, 2.0 NKF and Pete? Please, don't let me burst your bubble here - do flex those newly acquired proficiencies - but you're still frontlining on pretty much every instance from here on in, so make sure to go on wearing suitable underware because things are getting hairier all the time out there.

Just look at those Heavy Alien Cruisers: real bruisers, outside and in. As you'll soon see for yourselves.

[Space Voyager]

On 8/30/2023 at 5:16 AM, Zombie said:

Bravery is quite useless (at least around the 70 threshold). If I ever replay the game I'm probably going to ignore this stat completely and put those points into agility, vitality and/or perception instead as those have actual tangible benefits.

Frack man, I'd never be able to get this far and you're thinking about a replay!11!!1 Kudos, kudos!

[Zombie]

19 hours ago, Space Voyager said:

Frack man, I'd never be able to get this far and you're thinking about a replay!11!!1 Kudos, kudos!

Not right away obviously. Eventually though I want to apply the knowledge I gained from my first foray and apply that on a higher difficulty setting. After this play through I'm planning on doing a "proper" Let's Play of Xenonauts and then Xenonauts 2 to compare. Those shouldn't take as long as the UFO:ET playthroughs so maybe after that? Gosh, I still want to finish my plathrough of Buzz Aldrin's Space Program Manager too.

Heavy Cruiser Part 1

On to this heavy alien cruiser. We've been seeing a lot of these UFOs recently so I guess it's only fitting we do another, this time on an airport map. On our second turn we spot one of the UFO cannons so BB is going to send a mortar it's way:

It does a pitiful 37 damage:

I'd really like to know what the alien cannon stats are and if they change by ship type or how far along in the game you are. For now though, BB mortars it again and this time it does a respectable 147 damage:

During the alien's next turn, a Rider pops out from between two landed "helicopters" and is immediately met with a hot burst of plasma from JFG's photon beamer:

It's a massive weak spot hit for 81 damage! When it's our turn again, Pete spots a Rider on the roof of the terminal. Now that his shooting accuracy is higher he can take a fairly accurate auto shot at the thing:

The first bullet does a hefty 58 damage which is way more than enough to take down a weakling alien like this:

During the next alien's turn, another Rider pops out from between the helicopter thingies but this time Tammy shoots at it and kills it with the first bullet when it hits for 57 damage:

During the next alien's turn a Rider came bombing out of the hangar and disappeared. When Slaughter peeks out, he spots it along the fence line near the helicopter. While I would love nothing more than to shoot that helicopter to take out the Rider, I also realize that doing that would remove my cover for a lot of soldiers. So Slaughter is going to carefully shoot it:

He hits with all three bullets doing 9, 8 and 9 damage killing it:

Well, he's at least consistent. About 5 turns later we spot a Bonesetter near the farthest helicopter. Again, we aren't going to mess with it as we don't want to destroy our precious cover if the helicopter explodes with an errant shot:

During the alien's turn, Jman shoots at a Bonesetter through the personnel door (aka "service door") of the hanger. The first shot did 6 damage and it looks like the second will be a hit too:

That shot was absorbed and the last did 15 damage. That's not it though as that Bonesetter which was by the far helicopter flew over to see what all the commotion was about and was met with reaction fire by none other than Jman again:

The first shot hit for only 6 damage but his second shot looks like it'll be on target too:

It did 17 as did his last shot. No kills, but both Bonesetters are at least damaged now. When it's our turn again, NKF is in a pretty good position to shoot at the Bonesetter outside, the only problem being his auto accuracy is still only 65%:

No problems though as he hits twice for 16 and 3 killing it:

The Bonesetter inside the hangar is still there when we check up on it so Jman is going to take a rather inaccurate auto shot at it:

He hits for 14 and 27 which kills it:

13 turns later and BB finally gets around to nuking the control tower. Hope there's something up there:

Whatever it was, it got hit for 95 damage and that's a kill:

The next turn we decide to tackle our "favorite" room in the terminal: the mechanical room. We are going to try something different this time. Instead of barging in there, or throwing grenades how about we have Blade shoot in there with some heavy photon beamer ammo which is AOE. We already shot out part of the wall and see a Bonesetter inside. No shot on it, but Blade can shoot at the wall and hopefully the blast will propagate through:

The first shot looks like it's going to hit the wall:

It hits perfectly and damages for a whopping 93 which killed it! The last shot connects too, but it doesn't matter:

Two turns later and a Rider shows up by the corner of the terminal building. Let's have NKF take a snap shot at it for some easy XP:

It hits for 27 which is barely enough for a kill:

Easy stuff. A couple turns later and Blade spots a Bonesetter while he's on the roof of the terminal. Time for an auto shot:

The first shot did 30 damage while the second was absorbed and the last missed. Then the Bonesetter shot back which damaged him for 3. He huffs it back inside the tower to get healed up by Pete. The next turn the Bonesetter comes up there by them. Pete comes down the lift for a point-blank auto shot:

20, absorbed and 9, but it was still a kill:

Join me next time when we deal with more Bonesetters, more ufo cannons and the commander and then we'll have 3 promotions (guess who). And finally we'll shoot down another ufo and go to visit that. Should be interesting!

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

Making an entrance with a bang, we're going all out to defang the opposition.

It's a no-fly zone, dummies, it's about time you comply. I guess you'll have to be further pounded until you realize over here you're grounded.

Your wanton pursuit of slaughter is what turns you into fodder. But you're not the only ones with a thrill for the kill.

We've got skills and such in the smarts department, which means you won't last much, alien dreck.

All hands on deck - hop to - let's mop this up!

[Zombie]

Heavy Cruiser Part 2

After Pete killed that Bonesetter inside the tower, Blade made his way outside on the roof and spots yet another Bonesetter in between the terminal and UFO:

What to do, what to do? Blade only has 60 APs to play around with which isn't a lot, so how about we toss this incendiary grenade on it and get back into cover:

It does 26 damage which wasn't enough for the kill. So we wait till it's our turn again and check. The thing is still there, roasting in it's shell. Pete can now take an auto shot at it:

The first salvo was all absorbed so he took a second and was able to kill the thing when his last shot hit for 33 damage:

During the alien's turn a UFO cannon shoots at Pete but for no damage. We've got bigger fish to fry at the moment as a Bonesetter just popped out of the hangar. Hobbes will take the honor and shoot at it through the hole in the fence we made a few rounds ago:

Mediocre damage numbers required him to auto shoot again, this time killing it:

A couple turns later and that pesky UFO cannon shot at Blade for 13 damage. He thought he was pretty safe from it where he was, but obviously it wasn't. We can't have this cannon ruining our progress so BB is going to mortar it:

The first bomb only did 74 damage so he sent in another one which did a even 100 which destroyed it:

A couple turns later and we are surprised to see the Bonesetter commander come outside and go next to a helicopter. NKF is going to take a 76% accurate auto shot at it:

The first bullet hits for 16 damage, while the second missed completely and hit the helicopter to causing it to explode. In this pic, the third shot is on it's way:

That last shot didn't matter because the explosion was strong enough to take out the commander and end the mission! EOM report:

It was a complete surprise that JFG earned a promotion to captain so let's allocate his points first:

Yup, his shooting, strength and throwing are all maxed out so he got 3 points in agility and 2 in vitality. Beast mode activated. As for NKF and Pete 2.0, they both got the same treatment again: 2 points in strength, 2 in throwing and one in shooting:

Back in the Geoscape and our main base is manufacturing mortar bombs on a steady basis while most of our other bases are hard at work manufacturing weapons for our interceptors:

I'm a little worried about the possibility of one of our interceptors getting shot down so I'm manufacturing an extra "kit" for an interceptor and stockpiling one at each of the bases for an emergency situation. At our base in Antarctica, we've just built a couple heavy rocket defenses and another photon cannon which will take a while to complete. The two workshops are almost ready to go - only two days yet. Once those are finished we can build a couple more to get to "full" capacity:

It's now nearly that time on the globe, but another heavy cruiser is buzzing around North America so the interceptors are sent out to engage it. Along with the base defenses it doesn't take long to see progress:

Three minutes later and the thing crash lands in western West Virginia or eastern Ohio:

It's almost getting light at the crash site now so we'll wait a few hours and then send out the transport for another crack at getting Pete and NKF 2.0 promoted. Stay tuned for that next!

- Zombie

[Zombie]

Heavy Cruiser Part 1

Well, that last mission was fun, so let's do another! It's on one of these army base map types so we have to be a little careful due to aliens cowering behind ledges or inside of buildings. Right away when we load in and step off the transport we spot two Bonesetters next to each other on a rooftop. Nobody can get a shot on them except for Bomb Bloke who can mortar them:

Would be stupid not to right? The blast kills both dealing 98 to one and 83 to the other:

That's how I like to start a mission out with 2 Bonesetters dead in one blast. Totally worth the cost of the bomb. Totally. During the alien's next turn a Rider comes down some steps to a rooftop to the left of the transport. Cowering behind a ledge as normal. Dummy me didn't take a screenshot as I was having Pete take an auto shot at the ledge to destroy it. Well, it did that with the first bullet - the second was eaten up by the destruction process, but the last flew farther and hit the Rider for 64 damage killing it:

That was unexpected, but really funny as I wasn't even aiming at the alien. After the alien's next turn, Zombie came around a wall to peek at the battlescape and spots a Rider on the next rooftop to the south of where the first two Bnesetters were on the first round. Peetie is going to take an aimed shot at it:

Yeah, I was surprised he had a shot on it. But he killed it when the shot dealt 34 damage to the weakling:

We're off to a good start. During the aliens next turn an airborne Bonesetter appears to the left of the transport and Tammy starts reaction firing at it dealing 54 damage with the first bullet. Another is about to hit it too:

The next shot was absorbed and then the Bonesetter shot at her with it's heavy photon beamer ammo damaging her for 2 damage. Another shot from it is on it's way though:

The blast was right on target and hit her again:

The bark was worse than the bite as the damage was absorbed. Tammy now reaction fires back at the Bonesetter with the first bullet being absorbed. The second is right on target:

It hits for 17 damage killing it. The body fell down somewhere in the maze of buildings and catwalks so I didn't bother taking a sceenshot of that. When it's our turn, Zombie again comes around the wall to see what was going on at the edge of the map and spots a Bonesetter on the ground nearby. Tell you what, I'm going to have JFG (who is in decent cover behind some trees and a wall too) toss an incendiary grenade on it:

The blast does a decent 40 damage to the thing but not enough for the kill. With all attention on JFG right now, I'll have Zombie take an auto shot at it:

The first auto shot only managed to deal 12 damage to the thing, so Zombie took another. The first bullet was absorbed, but the second hit for 31 killing it:

That worked out better than expected actually. Two alien turns later and Slaughter kills a Rider on the left side of the transport dealing only 24 damage:

They really are weaklings. Two turns later and we spot another Rider on the east side of the map. JFG is going to take an aimed shot at it with his photon beamer:

At does 29 damage which kills it:

Four turns later and now there's a Rider on the west side of the transport. Seems like the alien are alternating threat areas, doesn't it? NKF needs some action so he'll take an aimed shot at the thing:

It only did 6 damage so he had to take another aimed shot at it. This time it did 46 which killed it:

During the alien's turn another Rider appears in approximately the same area as the other one was and takes a shot at Zombie with it's photon beamer (standard ammo):

Luckily the damage was absorbed. Well, Jman is in a perfect position to toss a grenade on it. No sense overdoing it, he'll just use a normal DG1:

It does 24 damage killing it and destroying a section of the wall too:

We spend the next 14 rounds carefully exploring the map making sure there aren't any aliens camped out in a dark corner somewhere. Nope, nothing yet. We did spot an alien cannon though so BB is going to mortar it:

It was a huge blast which dealt 123 damage, destroying it:

A couple turns later and we spot a Bonesetter on the roof of another building in the area between the UFO and the right edge of the map. Hobbes has already completed the time consuming task of shooting out the ledge in front of it so now he can take an auto shot at the thing:

It was a glitch kill where the first two bullets hit (first was absorbed, second did 44 damage). The third hit and technically killed it but the game allowed it to take a snap shot at Hobbes before his last shot registered the 15 damage:

Join me next time when we creatively deal with the rest of the UFO cannons, then assault the inside of the craft dealing with the usual Bonestters and a commander.

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

Roasted Bonesetter? Fine, as long as you keep it well outside the plate.

What to use as fuel? What about... the helicopter variant - done deal!

Time to party, with the most esteemed presence of our newly minted Captain JFG, escorted by the gallant Sergeants Pete and NKF. ?

Drink up y'all, or you'll be posted at Antarctica, entertaining the Ice Queens!

Kidding aside and as usual, when duty calls we ask not where the enemy falls. Another heavy downed, we go collect our levy.

BB says 'Leave it to me' on arrival and that's a death decree. Let's go for a ride, we're turning this tide.

You're picking one hell of a fight and see here, Tammy shows how to deal with those who are impolite. Another death knell.

Scatter all over the place if you will but - tough pill to swallow - we're that fate you must ultimately face.

We're coming for you now!

[Zombie]

Heavy Cruiser Part 2

It's now four turns later and Bomb Bloke has moved closer to mortar an alien cannon on the UFO:

And for once the bomb does a healthy 136 damage which was enough to destroy the thing:

About six turns later and Hobbes spots another alien cannon on the far side to the right and is shot at twice for 5 & 4 damage. No problem there as his pale blue crystal healed him right up. BB's mortar couldn't shoot that far and I was too lazy to move him to get into a position to take it out so how about we have Jman take an auto shot at it instead:

His first shot was a weak spot hit for 77 damage while his second is doing 20:

His last shot was absorbed and then the cannon shot at him but missed thankfully. On his next shot the first "bullet" does 36 which takes it out:

He got lucky with the 77 weak spot kill, but overall it wasn't a bad idea to just shoot at it. I could see having someone like Hobbes to shoot at it himself as he could probably "tank" the damage the cannon could manage to do. It's now turn 58 and we've been busy clearing out the buildings on the north west of the transport. Nothing really was inside but we did spot a Bonesetter outside on the ground. Hobbes is going to toss a normal DG1 grenade on it:

It does a respectable 42 damage so Jman is going to try an incendiary grenade:

It does 29 damage which was enough to kill it:

That actually worked too. Hmmm. We spend the next 17 rounds slowly revealing the rest of the map, I'm pretty confident we didn't miss anything so a select group of soldiers gathered at the far south east side of the UFO for breaching duty. There's one alien cannon left so BB is going to mortar it:

It only does 109 damage so the thing is still active:

We've got bigger fish to fry right now as the UFO door closest to us is open. We took a peek around the corner before but don't see anything so the alien (probably a Bonesetter) is inside somewhere. Tammy is going to test the waters out by tossing an incendiary grenade at the opening:

The next turn the Bonesetter comes outside to barbecue itself and takes 18 fire damage. Zombie is going to toss a normal DG1 grenade on it now:

It only did 18 damage so he tossed a photon grenade on it next which did a healthy 42 damage which killed it:

You may be wondering why I haven't had BB mortar that last cannon to finish it off. Well, it's teetering on being destroyed so the bomb would be overkill so I had Jman huff it over to the far side to toss a normal grenade on it:

It does 25 damage which means no more alien cannons to worry about anymore:

It takes a couple rounds to split the team up to cover each door and when we open the far one there is a Bonesetter just inside. Time for NKF to take a nearly point blank shot at it:

His first bullet does 59 damage which kills it:

Pete tossed a grenade at the door to the left room thinking there might be an alien inside there yet, but no. Made a nice explosion though:

A couple turns later a Bonesetter comes out of the doorway on the right and shoots at Jman for no damage. He shoots back at it for (surprise) no damage as well. When it's our turn Pete is going to shoot at it:

It actually required 2 auto shots to take it out, but it's kinda expected at this point due to our under powered ammo:

When we move into that room we actually spot a Bonesetter just inside the far door so Hobbes is going to toss an inferno grenade as close to it as he can:

It does a respectable 34 damage. Since it's wounded, Tammy is going to shoot at it now:

The first bullet was absorbed but the second hit for 56 killing it:

A couple rounds later and the commander came out to say hello:

It glitch-moved back to the far doorway to grill itself but the damage was absorbed. NKF is going to start us off by shooting at it:

Unfortunately, he killed the thing before Peetie could shoot at it for some xp. That was the end of the mission. EOM report:

Again, NKF and Pete 2.0 were promoted. And as before, because both their stats are so close I gave them the same point allocation: 1 in Bravery, 1 in Strength, 1 in Throwing and 2 in Shooting:

Probably should have just tried to max out strength and shooting first, but at this point in the game I was worried about PSI becoming a factor. Back in the Geoscape and we just detected UFO #163. It's a patrol vessel near North America:

As soon as it hits the Idaho/Montana region our base defenses kick in and start firing at it:

When it starts to move Northeast over Wisconsin and Lake Michigan I send out the interceptors:

We just barely take it out over Maine before it makes it to the Atlantic. And now there's another heavy cruiser that shows up over the arctic:

It's headed to Europe though. When it gets there we shoot it down. Not very pretty, but it's down at least:

Well, I think we better start heading over to the supply vessel crash site first as it's in daylight. Stay tuned for that mission next!

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

They think this is tourism, don't they? Walking about, seeing the sights, smelling the flowers... Curious buggers.

It's about as much freedom as they'll ever get. Until we obliterate their behinds that is.

At least we do the corteous thing and go knock-knocking several times before going for actual eviction duty. Enjoyable pyrotechnics brighten the proceedings!

Invading Commander relieved of command, the usual suspects get promoted - that's justice done.

Other wrongs need writing and we're even fitter for the task now, so mount up!

[Zombie]

Supply Vessel Part 1

I go into this mission thinking it'll be the usual Bonesetters+Riders, but nope not even close. It's a cityscape map so we deploy as usual. Nothing is spotted until the alien's second turn when a big thing comes out of nowhere and lands at the foot of the transport. It spooked Jman who reaction fired back at it showing it's a Chemical Monster (abbreviated CM from now on). The first shot did 17 damage so that's encouraging news:

His second shot did 12 more and the last was absorbed. When it's our turn, I'll have Pete auto shoot at it:

All of that shooting was absorbed except for the second to last which did 29 damage, killing it:

A couple turns later we spot another different type of alien at the nose of the transport. Pete needs the xp so he'll take an auto shot at it:

The first bullet did 6 damage, the second was absorbed and the last did 39, killing it (the type of alien is a Megetra, but I'll be referring to it as a Mega from now on):

Well, these two alien types don't look all that tough so far. Certainly not pushovers, but no Gehe level either. "If it bleeds, we can kill it" type of thing. Three turns later and we've been slowly exposing more of the map. Blade and Slaughter are right below the transport and notice another CM down there. Blade is going to take a couple auto shots at it with his photon beamer to check the damage it does:

All pretty low numbers, nothing above 19 damage. So Slaughter is going to auto shoot it now:

All the bullets from the first auto shot were absorbed. But on the second auto shot the first bullet did 29 which killed it:

Four turns later and Slaughter spots a Iron Rattler nearby so he'll auto shoot it:

He hits for 14 and 22 damage killing it:

Kinda surprised to see the Iron Rattlers out so soon, normally they spawn much later in the mission. In any event, we know there will be more of them (and Treps too). The next round Blade spots another Iron Rattler through the glass windows of the building below. So he starts shooting out the walls to get a lock on it. His first shot doesn't even make it past the door because it hits Slaughter instead. Luckily for no damage:

With a nice big gaping hole in the building, Slaughter has a clear shot at the Iron Rattler:

Some pretty low damage rolls caused him to take another auto shot, but the alien couldn't stand all that pressure and buckled:

During the alien's turn a Trep comes out of nowhere to try and "blade" Tammy who was in the transport. Nobody shot at the thing so when it's our turn again, NKF is going to shoot at it:

The first bullet does a respectable 37 damage, while the second was a critical hit dealing a "monstrous" 75 damage killing it:

Four turns later an Iron Rattler comes up the lift by the ramp of the transport and shot at Tammy for no damage:

It was a "glitch" kill as the Iron Rattler shot back after it died. Luckily Tammy absorbed the damage like a champ:

Ten turns later and Hobbes got up the nerve to peek around in the building next to us. Part of the walls are missing there which allowed him to catch a glimpse of 2 cannons on top of the UFO:

Unfortunately, BB couldn't mortar them as he was inside the building. Not only that, but there is a CM standing on the lift above. I have Peetie huff it over there so he take a shot at it next turn:

He kills it no problem with only 2 bullets:

A couple turns later and BB can finally send a mortar out to those alien cannons:

He destroyed both dealing massive critical hits (one was 168 and the other 199):

The next round Zombie sneaks up on the upper roof of the building but is spotted by another cannon which shoots at him but the damage was absorbed:

You can probably make out the big central cannon too. We have a problem though because we spot a Mega below by the corner of the UFO. Blade can take a shot at it and his first blast does... nothing. Absorbed. More are on the way though:

His second was absorbed too, and the last missed. The Mega shot back with it's scary chem weapon but it only did 1 damage to Blade. As always, Slaughter has to try and mop up the mess these other soldiers do. Let's try an auto shot:

A lot of bad damage rolls happened so now Hobbes steps in with an auto shot of his own:

More low damage numbers, but we must've whittled the Mega's health down enough as Hobbes was able to kill it:

Join me next time for more Trep+Iron Rattler killing, plus another Mega and a surprise visit from the Mega Commander which hurts BB. Oh, and let's not forget about those stupid alien cannons too. 

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

As far as introductions go, CM, Mega, you really should work on not being so pushy. As, you know, others might push you right back into oblivion.

Getting in Tammy's face is another big no-no. You see, we're a rather tight-knit crew and you'll learn the hard way where's your place: nowhere near here.

You can't hurry love; it's a game of give and take. And we fully intend to keep you freaks from taking anything more!

[Zombie]

On 9/9/2023 at 10:24 AM, Thorondor said:

Getting in Tammy's face is another big no-no. You see, we're a rather tight-knit crew and you'll learn the hard way where's your place: nowhere near her.

Fixed it for you.

As a preface to the rest of the mission, I'd like to mention that I cut quite a few screenshots out. And I was sorta jumping all over the place during the gameplay itself so there are areas which may be a little confusing. I will do my best to fill in the blanks.

Supply Vessel Part 2

It's the next turn and Jman just walked around the corner to see a Trep a few tiles away. I think there's a lot of players out there who would just have Jman shoot at the thing, right? *looks around* Not me. And there's an important reason why: for front line troops I like them having plenty of APs left over at the end of our turn just in case an alien comes around the corner they can reaction fire at it. Besides, if you have a soldier take a long range aimed or snap shot at the alien and don't kill it, the alien will shoot back. The alien is probably going to take an auto shot which is very inaccurate and the result of this is fewer APs left. If you can't kill the alien with long range shots and it's APs are depleted you can always shoot with the front line trooper safely. Granted, we are talking about a Trep in this instance which doesn't carry a weapon, but it's nice to continually practice this theory. So Slaughter (who is a fair distance away) is going to take a 71% accurate auto shot at the Trep:

All his bullets hit and all did decent damage which killed the thing (purple death aura included for free):

The next round Jman spots another Trep through the windows in the building he's using as cover. This time Blade shoots at it with his photon beamer. The first shot did a decent 30 damage but more are on the way:

This shot does an equally impressive 34 damage which kills it:

Now seems like a good time to try and take out that scary central turret on the UFO so BB readies a mortar:

It's a weak spot hit for 187 damage which destroys it:

Bomb Bloke is still too far away to target the other smaller cannons at the far corner of the UFO, so we'll move him up now. During the alien's next turn Jman spots a Mega through the windows so when it's our turn again he makes a beeline straight to it. An auto shot with the photon beamer at near point-blank range should do something:

Well, he only hit for 28 total damage so another auto shot was in order. The first blast was absorbed but the second did 15 damage which killed it:

With that out of the way BB is going to send a mortar by the other two turrets, closest one first:

The blast does 111 to it and 81 to the other. Neither are destroyed so let's do the same thing again:

This time it does 131 and 69 damage which was enough to take both out:

During the alien's turn the Mega Commander shows up and shoots at BB with some sort of a chem weapon which damages him for 15. Luckily there were no critical wounds so he runs over to NKF to get patched up:

Every last area of the body is affected but it's only superficial thankfully. There's no way we can shoot at the commander as it's amongst some girders on a catwalk:

If BB wasn't injured he maybe would have been able to mortar it, but alas, that's off the table now. Reluctantly we have to let it be. It tries shooting at us during it's turn but misses and hits the ground instead. It then heads straight for the chem cloud to stand in it. New tactic? Pete's going to start us off by shooting at it:

Most of the bullets were absorbed but he managed to damage it a couple times. JFG has been awfully quiet this mission so far so he'll try shooting at it with his photon beamer:

Same as before: most of the blasts were absorbed but a couple did very minor damage. Maybe Jman can do better:

His first two shots hit for 6 and 14 which killed it:

I wasn't expecting this as commanders usually have a lot more health but apparently not for Mega's. The mission isn't over yet so we lie in wait. We see a Mega wandering around where the commander was and luckily NKF is there to shoot at it when it's our turn:

He hits all three times but only damaged it once for 5. I move him into the building behind him as I don't want to risk getting him hurt. Slaughter is camped out in the building to the right of the Mega so he comes out to take an auto shot at it:

His bullets alternated between absorbed and doing a little damage but he was eventually able to kill the thing:

And he even has time to get back into his hiding place! A couple turns later and we see a Trep in the air where the commander used to be. NKF needs the xp so he'll shoot at it from below:

He kills it and that was the end of the mission. Report:

Slaughter is promoted to Colonel! Let's allocate his points:

Three points go into agility to max his AP stat out and then the last two go in vitality. Wish I had a few more points to max that stat out too, but he's quite the tank right now. Well, since he's fully promoted he's going to get a nice long vacation alongside Thorondor and Space Voyager. That's a power trio right there folks!

While we are back at base it's time to sell a little stuff:

You can see I have a pretty big stockpile of alien gravity engines and flight controls. The reason for this is they sell for good money and they are common on all UFOs. Between the both of those I have $8 million in space buck reserves. Technically I should really just sell off the rest of the components as I get them, but I keep a small stockpile of 10 units on hand for some extra mad money when we have big ticket items to produce.

Since Slaughter is on vacation we need a replacement for him. We all know nobody can truly replace him but how about Crazy Gringo?

He's got great shooting and throwing and his strength isn't bad either. Seems like a solid choice from where I'm sitting. There's no rest for the wicked as we need to go to that heavy cruiser UFO next so stay tuned for that!

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

The thing with forward scout Jman and his cool is he knows you're the man with a plan.

BB can be a little brash so Mega Commander goes for a bash, but our team knows how to take out alien trash.

Still a few run around like they just don't care, yet their fun is soon over with the last confirmed kill.

Colonel Slaughter's in the house, old stripes go in the bin. Come get some rest and join the very best. ?

Crazy Gringo, you're up. Report for duty stat!

[Zombie]

Heavy Cruiser Part 1

As is typical, this is a cityscape map. Nothing doing in our first round as there were no aliens spotted so we deployed as usual. The second round was different. Tammy comes off the transport to look around and spots a Bird of Prey that's greenish-yellow in color. Hmmm, chem BoP maybe? She's going to shoot at it to find out:

Yes indeed, it's a Poisonous Bird of Prey (I'll call it a PBoP from now on). One of the bullets missed so she had to take a second auto shot to kill it:

Decent damage numbers at the end. I'll forgive the missed shot and 2 damage shot as "new alien on the first turn jitters".  Not sure how Tammy missed this, but there's also a PBoP right above the exit to the transport. So we'll have NKF shoot at it from the building he's in:

None of the bullets missed and he was able to take it down with two auto shots:

A couple turns later and Hobbes spots one of the UFO cannons from the building. It didn't spot him so he huffed it out of there:

A couple turns after that and BB is finally in a position to mortar it:

It does 111 damage which was not enough to destroy it and he doesn't have enough APs to shoot again so we'll have to let it be:

Same round and Tammy comes off the transport to look around and spots another PBoP in nearly the same spot as before. So she'll shoot at it:

The first bullet hits for 15 while the second did 51 damage. The third bullet is on the way, will it be enough? The bullet is just barely visible midway between her and the PBoP:

The last does 32 which kills the thing, nice shooting Tammy!

At the start of our next turn BB is going to mortar that UFO cannon again:

The blast does 71 which destroyed it:

The next turn Tammy comes off the transport to look around for more PBoPs to shoot at but doesn't spot any. She does get a glimpse of the UFO cannon on the other side near to us so BB will mortar it:

The blast does 98 damage so it isn't destroyed:

He's not going to mortar it again unless the $h1t hits the fan so to speak The next round Blade and his new buddy Crazy Gringo are down below and spot a Mega by a small building directly under our transport. He doesn't have a shot at it directly so he does the next best thing and shoots at the building with his photon beamer (normal ammo):

Once the glass was out of the way he was able to shoot at it properly. The first blast does 41 which killed it (body disappeared) and the rest would have also been hits:

The next round there's another PBoP near our transport again but much higher in the air, this time Jman will shoot at it:

His photon beamer does fantastic damage and he's able to kill it in one auto shot:

BB thinks that now is a good time to mortar that UFO cannon again:

This time the blast does 96 damage which destroyed it:

It's the next round now and Jman comes off the transport to look around and spots a Mega on the ground. He can't shoot at it but can throw a grenade that far. He decides a cryo grenade would be best choice as the blast is more localized:

I'm not sure if I've shown what the cryo grenade explosion animation looks like so I included a pic of that here:

Kinda pretty. And against a Mega it's probably a bit overkill but they can easily be manufactured so we may as well use them. The blast does 90 freeze damage which isn't even a "weak spot" or critical hit:

It's 15 turns later now. We've been spreading out a little more trying to cover (and hold!) a wider piece of the Battlescape. There doesn't seem to be any aliens outside anymore as we haven't seen any PBoPs since that last one we encountered before. But a Mega came out of the UFO and shot a chem weapon at Tammy but missed (thankfully). Tammy will shoot back:

The first bullet was absorbed, but the second did 37 damage which killed it:

Join me next time when we play around with an exploding barrel, have difficulty taking out another UFO cannon. Then we go inside the alien craft to leave a wake of destruction in our path on the lower floor and head upstairs to deal with a couple more Megas and a commander too!

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

Old becomes new, variants that poison spew. If it's creativity they seek, we'll teach PBoP how to dance to our bebop.

The problem with BB is that sometimes he gets too inventive in messing with those mortar rounds. At the price point of these things is it too much to ask for one hit kills?

Conversely, when Jman tries to jam he's so cool he's Mr. Freeze, making executions a breeze. Light show upon life deplete, looks darn sweet too.

Shooing the aliens off the streets is only half the story. Even though no Mega hits come through we'll be sure to let them know, it's our tune and all the way we go regardless of fame or glory!

[Zombie]

Heavy Cruiser Part 2

Since it seems like there aren't any aliens outside the UFO we start to make our way over there. One thing that bugged me is that there are some "protrusions" along the middle of a couple of the sides of this craft type. I've been using them as cover but when there isn't that need anymore they are a pain. So I have Blade take a snap  shot at a nearby barrel to see if that does anything:

Yup, the blast is strong enough to remove part of those chunks at least:

Maybe tossing a grenade would do more but one photon beamer shot is basically free in terms of cost. Anyhow, the next round we spot the far UFO cannon on the door side so BB is going to mortar it:

The blast only does 44 damage

The next blast does a pitiful 74 damage:

I'm going to have our "Slaughter replacement" Crazy Gringo shoot at it with his rifle:

The first bullet does 32 damage, destroying it:

If the damage of the Ultra AK1 ammo was more uniform I'd probably have the soldiers shoot at the cannons instead. But then the issue is that if you don't destroy it within that auto shot it'll shoot back and probably will damage someone. It's 6 turns later and we've just started the breaching process for the UFO. When we open the far door we notice that the engine room door is open too. So Pete is going to toss an incendiary grenade just inside the door to "feel things out":

The blast sets off the two engines killing a Mega inside for 138 damage (non-critical hit too):

A couple rounds later NKF spots the right engine room door open so he'll toss an incendiary grenade just inside the door like Pete did:

Only thing is that those things he's standing behind for cover will not allow you to throw over or around them. Well, crap. And if you move out from behind them you can't toss a grenade inside anymore. So NKF is going to try tossing it right by the door instead:

Nothing. We even waited till the next round but no incidental damage either. The door was still open though so maybe it glitched open for a few rounds?

We still aren't sure what's going on there so we wait a number of turns to see what happens. Short answer is nothing but the door seems to have fixed itself now. So Zombie takes a peek into the hallway at the back and is shot at by a Mega for 12 chem damage. NKF patches me up and then Pete enters to shoot at it:

All his shots were absorbed. Same thing for Hobbes although he managed to damage it once for a minuscule 8. JFG now enters and shoots at it with his photon beamer. The first shot looks like it'll be a hit:

It was absorbed too, but his next shot did 35 damage which killed it:

About 10 turns later and we've just begun the inner braching process when we notice a Mega in the same room as before. It opens the door where part of the team is behind and shoots at them. The shot missed entirely somewhere. We dodged a bullet there so Pete is going to take a point blank shot at it:

But wait, that isn't a Mega, it's a Poisonous Bird of Prey. Yes, inside the UFO! I've never seen a big alien (non-main race) type inside before so that was a surprise. Anyway he hits for 65 and 17 which kills it. There's one of the BoP's secondary units which was deployed in that room too. It's invisible but with the help of the mini map we were able to find it and shoot at it:

Before heading upstairs I saved the game and reloaded hoping to get rid of the wonkiness going on with doors staying open on their own and invisible aliens. For the time being it seems to have fixed itself. It's 4 turns later and Zombie goes upstairs alone for a little exploration session. He finds a Mega outside the right lift room so he'll shoot at it:

His first shot hits for 43 which kills it, the next round Zombie is going to book it back into cover:

The next round our other team led by Hobbes finds a Mega next to the left door upstairs. Hobbes will shoot at this one:

His first shot was absorbed but his second did the same as Zombie dealing 43 which killed it:

It's about 4 turns later and we see some movement during the aliens turn on Hobbes' side. It's the Mega Commander so NKF is going to shoot at it for training purposes (everything was absorbed):

Jman shoots at it next with his photon beamer which damages the commander 3 times for 34 total damage. The thing must be close to death so Hobbes is going to stun it just in case there's a difference between Bonesetter Commanders and Mega Commanders:

62 stun damage = one unconscious mega commander:

The mission is obviously not over. There must be a Mega somewhere yet. Hopefully it's inside... yup it's on the bridge and it shoots at Blade for 11 chem damage. Zombie is going to shoot at it now:

And that was the end of the mission. Here's the report card:

I'll say excellent too as we were able to overcome some glitches. Back in the Geoscape and our research into the advanced alien flight control just completed:

Ah-ha, a new interceptor type is available now! Let's check out the description of the flight control first:

Interesting. In terms of research, I think we'll go with the Mega first:

You are probably thinking what the he!! is this guy doing researching an alien instead of a new interceptor type? Hear me out, ok? The Thunderstorm is going to take a lot of time to research which means there will be no upgrades to our soldiers for at least that long. And it's going to take a while to get enough of them built to make a difference too. Lastly, I'd like to fully get our new base in Antarctica somewhat completed which means we also need to have a little time to manufacture the weapons to go on the new Thunderstorms.

So in the interim I'm thinking of researching the Megetra first as that will open up the new combat medkit topic. I'd like a better medkit for us as we are dealing with tougher aliens now and those chem weapons do a lot of damage. We don't need a lot of them - just 2 to start - so it will not take too long to manufacture them and get them into the hands of our medics/rear commanders.

Back in the Geoscape again and now we detected a heavy cruiser UFO which is headed to Africa:

I wonder where it is right now? Turns out it's over our South American base so I scramble the interceptors there to greet it:

Apparently it's afraid of our show of force and decides to head South instead, then suddenly stops. Ingenious strategy drawing us away from the safety of our main base defenses to target one interceptor. I hold out as long as I can, then send the damaged interceptor back to base. Oh, and send reinforcement interceptors from Antarctica:

We destroy it in the meantime so I guess it wasn't necessary to scramble more interceptors. You just never know:

It'll be daylight at the crash site soon so we are going to get our soldiers ready and send them here next. Stay tuned for that next time!

- Zombie

[Space Voyager]

19 hours ago, Zombie said:

Maybe tossing a grenade would do more but one photon beamer shot is basically free in terms of cost.

 

Oy, as one of the people out there (though not seen in a while) I object to weighing our survival with economy! 

 

That said... I can't remember losing a soldier so... I guess it's all right.  

[Thorondor]

Is BB done shooting peas? This whole business of being a tease before actually penetrating enemy territory gets old fast. Time to get cracking!

They're pretending to play coy; what we find is a Mega killjoy.

It's a box full of surprises, PBoP and all, but that's what we're here for and turned out not much of a stall.

It's a stunning success this mission, no less. Research item completed, new one in the pipe. We go out gunning for more ripe pickings!