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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 5204702" data-attributes="member: 143">I think my players effectively summarized the mood at this point of the campaign. X-COM has an up-against-terrible-odds feeling to it, but it's a single-player game, and in role-playing game there are ways to make things more visceral. The attack on the Earth cities was the first part of that, and the devastation wrought upon the Betas (who were NPCs, but who interacted directly with the Alphas at numerous points in the campaign) made the impact more personal and immediate. * * * * * Session 23 (September 29, 2008)Chapter 93The lights in the room were dim, as everyone in the room focused on the images that Doctor Wagner brought up in succession on the large LCD unit on the wall.  There was a general air of revulsion as the video taken during the creature they’d battled during the Miami mission appeared on the screen.  Catalina, still looking pale but determined, involuntarily ran a hand over her belly, which was still tender despite the accelerated healing she’d undergone over the last few days.  Mary had aided James on the project, and what they had found had only raised more disturbing questions about the aliens.“This new alien represents a threat that could potentially rival even the alien battleship,” Wagner was saying.  “At the moment, we're calling it a ‘chryssalid.’  On the plus side, it looks like the American quarantine of Miami is holding, and no new cases have been reported.  Our biological research team has made it a top priority to develop countermeasures for the creature’s implantation attack.” She shifted the screen to another familiar and equally disturbing image.  “We have completed our preliminary study of the psionic alien prisoner, code named ‘Ethereal.’  The creature has an incredibly developed brain, but its abilities for independent thought are somewhat atrophied for a being of its potential intelligence.  Still, they look to be leaders of sorts of the aliens, or at least lieutenants for some greater authority within the alien hierarchy.”The image shifted to a more neutral schematic, a blueprint for a new facility within the X-COM headquarters.  “Doctor White has submitted an audacious proposal, in conjunction with Counselor Beauvois and the Biological Sciences research team.  Doctor White?”Stan rose.  “We believe that X-COM can use the Ethereal leader and the data we've collected from it to build a Psi-Lab on site that will allow us to train our operatives in psionic warfare.  While the immediate benefits would be to improve our mental defenses against the alien psi attacks, the idea is that eventually, X-COM agents might be able to access the latent psi talents that all human beings possess, to some degree.”  Seeing the looks around the table, he held up his hands.  “I know, I know; believe me, I understand your skepticism.  While some of these theories reek more of science fiction than what we understand as real science, we are forced to give them credence by the simple fact of what the aliens have shown us is possible.  Constructing the Psi-Lab will require a major effort; a full research team in addition to an estimated 60 engineer-weeks of manufacturing resources.”“Thank you, Stan,” Garret said, stepping in quickly before anyone else could speak.  “I know you have questions, but they’ll have to wait for now.  We have a more immediate concern.  Kim?”Doctor Wagner returned to the monitor and brought up the global map.  Bright lines sprang into being across it, tracking data and mission information that culminated in a meeting point not far from the South Pole.   “If the information gained from the alien prisoners is accurate,” she told them, “the alien battleship should reenter Earth orbit in eleven hours.  Six of those hours will be spent with you boosting at high speed in the Lightning to Antarctica.”“You will need to hit the base fast, and hit it hard,” Garret said.  “The Lightning has been readied to imitate the alien communications.”Grace looked tired; she and her team had hardly slept over the last two days. “Aliens won’t know anything is wrong, if it works.”“Stan?” Garret asked. “The nerve agent is ready,” Stan replied.  ”The gas should neutralize their defenses, and their resistance.”“Who is deploying the nerve gas?” Jane asked. “Firestorm-1,” Garret said.  Wagner nodded  “The ship will hit the enemy base first, and deploy the gas.  We’ve used the alien intel to mask its signature, so it will appear to the aliens to be a small scout ship.”“So the air filters on our helmets will protect us?” Jane asked. “Air filters wouldn’t help you against this stuff,” Grace said.  “I thought it was non-toxic to humans?” Catalina said. “In tests, symptoms were… minor,” Stan said.  “But it’s moot, as it breaks down in atmosphere in just a few minutes.”“Taking most of them with it, we hope?” Catalina said. “Stan, just exactly what will the gas do to those aliens?” Joan Beauvois asked. “It should leave them helpless, almost like a seizure.”“For how long?” Hadrian asked. “If everything works as planned, until they die, sergeant,” Stan replied. “So we shoot them while they are down?” James asked. “What is primary objective of the mission?” Jane prompted. “Destroy battleship,” Vasily said.  Garret nodded.  “Capture whatever intel you can find.  If there’s a chance, we’ll send in a retrieval team to get whatever Elerium we can, but if not… your instructions are to leave nothing behind that they can use.  We have to assume that once we hit the battleship, we’ll provoke a response.”“Is the plasma base defense operational?” Catalina asked. “Ah… sort of,” Grace said. “What does that mean?” Agent Drake shot back.  “Either it works, or it doesn’t!”“Well, it’s been a rushed week,” Grace said.  “In all honesty we’ve skipped a lot of the safety protocols to get it online in time for this mission.”“I have a question,” Mary said, the first words she’d spoken since the start of the briefing. “Yes, Doctor Ranma?” Garret asked.“What is the point of a ground assault on an opponent we know can destroy us from above?  Will our incursion doom another city to destruction?”Garret leaned into the table in front of him, resting both hands on its edge.  “It might,” he finally acknowledged.  “But if we are successful and luring the battleship in, we might be able to stay ahead of them.”“According to our intel,” Wagner added, “they only have the one battleship.  At least for now.”“The only other option is to wait for them to take us out,” Garret said.  “Even the plasma defense likely wouldn’t stop that battleship.”“So how do we destroy it?” Jane asked.  “Even nuclear weapons barely scratched it.”Grace leaned forward.  “The battleship will think that everything is all right, if the Lightning’s new comm array does its job.”“Right,” Garret said.  “You secure the base, let it land, and when they open the door, rush in and take it out.  An explosive charge on one of the Elerium storage units should set off a chain reaction that will destroy the ship from within.”“As simple as that,” Drake said.  “Won’t the ship be heavily garrisoned?”“Any way of gassing the ship too?” Hadrian asked. “I can’t think of any way to get the stuff inside,” Stan said.  “So you don’t have any grenades or portable cannisters of the gas?” the Marine persisted. Stan looked a bit embarrassed.  “We’ve had some difficulties…ah, keeping the stuff stable,” he admitted.  “Most of what’s going on the Firestorm will be the containment and dispersal unit.  And the… ah, backup.”“Backup?” James asked. “Firestorm-1 will be carrying a fusion bomb as a backup,” Garret said.  “If you are unable to penetrate the alien ship, the bomb may be able to cripple it enough to keep it from taking off.”“Better not to fail,” Drake said.  The Alphas shared a grim look from their side of the table.  “What is stopping base from sending distress call?” Vasily asked.  “We got jamming, or something?  Or we relying on gas?”“The Lightning can jam their signal,” Grace explained, “but only for a few minutes.  The gas has to work, or the mission is off.”“Seems like an awful lot of ifs,” Drake interjected, “and things that can go wrong.”“We have no choice,” Garret said.  “We don’t know why that battleship skipped us the first time around, but we can’t count on a second pass.  If we don’t take out that ship…”  He trailed off for a moment.  “I wish we had more to give you, Alpha.  This is on your shoulders, now.  We will need you to adapt, and do what is necessary.”</blockquote>

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