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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 5080386" data-attributes="member: 143">Plus, if I remember right I required them to research Elerium first before they could work on the alien plasma weapons. But even after they got the advanced weapons, some of the players preferred to keep their older weapons because of feat selections and the like. I'll try to clarify that in the story when appropriate. The module download at Neverwinter Vault (link in the first post) includes an Excel spreadsheet with all the weapon, armor, and alien stats, if anyone is curious.* * * * * Session 15 (July 21, 2008)Chapter 51It was almost nine hours later when the Skyranger began its descent toward Dijon-Longvic Airbase, where X-COM’s European air contingent—two advanced interceptor craft—was stationed.  The hangars at X-COM Europe weren’t completed yet, so they had to transfer to a wheeled APC for the forty minute drive to the new base.  The ride started smooth as they made their way west, then culminated in an increasingly rough ride as the quality of the roads quickly deteriorated.  Finally, after they began to feel the bruises start to rise on their backsides, the vehicle rolled to a stop.  Vasily grunted and rose to the hatch in the rear of the APC, which dropped open to reveal a green, hilly landscape overlaid with the brilliant sunshine of a bright morning. “France in springtime, mmm,” Catalina said, taking a deep breath as she stepped toward the open hatch. James fumbled with his medical satchel, which had gotten stuck on a protrusion under his seat.  “Where’s my foie gras?” he asked, still a bit grumpy from the lack of sleep on the flight over. Catalina, on the other hand, managed to look refreshed.  “Still in the goose?” she said brightly, letting out a slight laugh at the doctor’s scowl.  Behind him, Moshe banged his head on the low ceiling of the APC, and muttered a curse in Hebrew as he gathered his gear and followed after the others.As the Alphas filed out of the APC, they got a good look at the surrounding landscape.  The low hills surrounded them and rose to a respectable height in the distance, where the scattered trees thickened into more substantial forests.  They could see the battered dirt track snaking through the hills behind them, with dust raised by the APC’s passage still floating in the air.  Ahead of the armored vehicle, the road ended in front of a small wooden building, the ideal picture of a rustic French farm cottage.  There were no power lines or phone cables that they could see, but the long outline of a propane tank was visible on the far side of the building, and the bottom of a video camera housing was just visible under the eaves that jutted out over the cottage’s front porch. A man in the familiar X-COM uniform emerged from the house to greet them.  He was accompanied by a huge dog, a mastiff whose shoulder was nearly at the level of the man’s armpit.  The dog merely eyed them silently as they approached.  “Uh, bonjoor?” Vasily offered in greeting. “Hey there, Alpha,” the guard said.  “Je mapple Catalina, et vous?” Catalina asked.The guard chuckled.  “I’m from Kansas City, lady.”  He jerked a thumb back toward the house.  “They’re expecting you.”Vasily looked up at the old house.  “I think there some kind of mix-up in the blueprints.”“Heh,” the guard said.  “Elevator’s inside.”Inside, the cottage looked as rustic as its exterior.  But instead of leading to a back bedroom, the large sliding wooden doors against the back wall of the front room revealed the elevator, its doors open and waiting for them.  There was only one button inside, but before any of them could press it, the doors closed and the small chamber began its descent.  The Alphas completed the twenty-second ride in silence, sharing a few wary looks as the elevator slowed and finally stopped, the doors parting to reveal a slightly shadowed corridor that extended to the left and right.  There was a man waiting for them, a Gallic copy of Garret, down to the black suit.  “Bonjour,” he said.  “I am Jacques Nemot.  Welcome to X-COM Europe.”“Hiya,” Jane said. “Merci,” Catalina added. “It is a pleasure to have the legendary Alpha Squad here on French soil,” Nemot continued.  “We have heard a great deal about your exploits.”“We are charmed to be here,” Catalina said. “I am certain that the day of the alien defeat is soon at hand.”  He gestured with a hand toward the corridor to their left.  “Come, let me show you the base.”“You are more certain that we, monsieur Nemot,” James said. If the French administrator was affected by the doctor’s comment, he gave no sign.  “It is our hope that this facility will greatly aid us in our case,” he said, pausing at a large steel door with a security keypad set into the wall next to it.  Ahead, the corridor ended in an area that was obviously under construction; even before noting the warning signs, they could see the tools and heavy machinery scattered about.  Nemot saw their notice and said, “As you can see, we still have a bit of final work to do.”  He tapped in a code on the panel.  “This will be the first of our new research laboratories.”  As the door slid open with a thick hiss, Nemot gestured them forward.  “If you would, Doctor Allen?”The lab was likewise unfinished, but they could see the potential in it; several banks of heavy equipment had already been installed, including both devices familiar from the X-COM facility in Nevada and some other machinery that looked new.  It was spacious, easily half again the size of the largest lab at X-COM HQX.  There was a diagnostic array mostly complete in the center of the room, with a half-dozen bulky sensors arranged on adjustable metal arms around a slightly raised metallic pad.  A dozen large LCD screens, each a good six feet across, were set into the walls just below the ceiling, angled so that anyone in the room would have a clear view of all of them.  The only thing powered in the room at the moment were the emergency lights on each end of the room, but they could almost imagine it full of people and activity. “Impressive,” James said. “Kind of… bigger,” Vasily added.Moshe had gone over to the scanner array, and was poking around at the heavy instruments.  “Very advanced,” he reported, continuing his examination. Nemot had waited in the doorway.  “Hopefully, this facility will contribute a great deal of information to our knowledge base,” he said.  “Come, let me show you the rest.”“There is so much packed in back at home,” Catalina observed, as Nemot led them back to the elevator and then down the corridor in the other direction.  “We wanted to create a facility where our brightest minds could work in comfort,” the Frenchman said.  They passed the entrance to a barracks, which Nemot let them briefly look into.  The décor was much less Spartan than back in Nevada, with wood paneling and soft red carpeting offsetting the military-style bunks that ran in orderly rows down the length of the room.  There was easily enough space to sleep twenty comfortably.  “How are the defenses here?” James asked, as Nemot continued leading them on their tour.  They passed several storerooms, and Nemot showed them a communications center that, like the laboratory, was currently dark and unused. “Our proximity to the air force base is our primary defense,” Nemot replied.  “In addition to the Armée d l’air, the two interceptors that X-COM has given us will have to do until your new experimental craft is ready."“The Firestorm?” Jane asked.Nemot nodded.  “Ah, yes.  A very evocative name.  I hope you can press the urgency of our case, and get the second such craft, at least, assigned here on a permanent basis.”“Is possible they not know of this place yet,” Vasily said, looking up at the ceiling.  “Maybe we have new craft by the time this base really working.”“We’ll keep our fingers crossed,” James said. “Come, let me show you the temporary crew quarters,” Nemot said, bringing them to the end of the corridor.  The open door led into a lounge slightly bigger than the one in Nevada, with a full kitchen set up along the far wall.  Comfortable-looking chairs were arranged around the perimeter of the room, and there were two tables that could each seat a dozen people for dining.  Two doors to their left obviously led to restrooms, while another to the right was marked, “L’office.”  There were two men in guard uniforms seated at one of the tables, who looked up as the Alphas entered.  “Hullo, boys,” Catalina said to them. “Hey, you guys are from the States, right?” one of them asked. “Define ‘from’,” Vasily said.  The guard who had spoken grinned.  “Sorry, I meant US X-COM.”“We from there,” Vasily said, walking over to them.  “What up?”“Not many comforts, as yet,” Nemot said.  There was a buzzing at his hip; he took out a small communications unit, and frowned down at it.  “Excuse me, I need to take this.  If you wouldn’t mind waiting here, thank you.”The Alphas joined the guards, who seemed pleased to see new faces, and particularly the members of Alpha Team.  “We’ve heard a lot about you guys,” one of the guards said.“Did not realize we talked about,” Vasily said.  James headed over to the kitchen, and started poking around the stainless-steel appliances.  Here too it looked like the work was incomplete, but there was a working range and twin ovens, a massive refrigerator, and even a gleaming espresso machine.  The second guard, who came over to get a Coke from the fridge, saw him looking at it and smiled.  “Damned if I know how it works,” he said.  “It’s nice to visit and check this place out,” Jane said.“Yeah, it’s small, but we’re growing,” the first guard said.  “It’ll be as impressive as the US base soon, I’m sure,” Catalina said.  The second guard returned with his drink.  “Mike, don’t keep the pretty ladies all to yourself,” he said, smiling as he reclaimed his seat.  “Name’s Derek,” he said, offering a hand to Catalina. “Is not as… boxy?   As X-COM US,” Vasily said, looking around at the décor.  He started to say something else, but was cut off by an odd, high-pitched whine that seemed to come through the ceiling tiles.  “That normal?” he asked.  “I don’t know, but it doesn’t sound good,” Mike said.  He started to get up, but before he or any of the others could do anything to react, a massive explosion shook the base, and then everything went black as the room collapsed onto them.</blockquote>

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