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: "Oh, we're going on a boat? I bet yer looking forward to it, huh Sheila?"

It occurred to Grifen that she had never seen the other girl on the water before. She was already so strong and skilled on land...what would she be like at sea?

Well, it looks like I'm gonna be available most of the day (freaking afternoon pickups, grumble grumble), so if you're free we can do some chatter.

((Gah, sorry SC. Sleep hit me like a sack of bricks >< ))

Grifen felt a brief flash of anger towards the priest. Easy for him to say! He wasn't worried about getting married at all, let alone to someone he had never met before! To be traded off like some so many sheep...how could he possibly understand?

Her anger quickly subsided however - now she just felt depressed.

: "It just ain't that simple, preacher. Can we drop this? Talk about something else?"

: "On the plains, yeah. It's hard to meet other people yer age if yer not related to them, cause of how spread-out folk are. That's why we still have matchmakers, especially fer first-born children like myself. To give ya an idea, Pa broke over a hundred years of tradition to propose to Ma instead of lettin' a matchmaker choose his wife, and he nearly lost his position as head of the family over it."

Leo's teasing unfortunately had the exact opposite effect he had been hoping for. She sighed, her head hanging low.

: "If there ain't someone by now, there will be shortly after I get back. That's what it means to become an adult; you ain't just old enough to get a name, yer old enough to get married, too."

Grifen's mood took a startling turn at that last sentence.
: "Heh. Marriage. Right."

She was silent for a moment.

: "...Preacher, how do marriages work out here, outside of Masalla? Ma said something about folks marrying whoever they feel like it, and I was wonderin' if that were true."

January 6th, 1999

When the Skyranger returned to base, I was there to greet the soldiers as they disembarked. I did my best to boost their spirits, assure them that their comrades did not die in vain, that we learned a great deal even from the defeat. If I say it often enough, I might start believing it myself.


I assigned the remaining soldiers to fill out the Skyranger's seats...and added a special weapon that I hope will turn the tide next time. I also put in a massive order for additional equipment, seeing as we had no time to recover anything during the panicked retreat. One staff member recommended bringing flares next time, a suggestion I took to heart.

January 7th, 1999


The shipment arrived. At least now we aren't down to assaulting the next UFO with harsh language. Also, the grounded UFO flew off at some point. We'll be ready for the next one.

January 11th, 1999


A momentous day. Construction of additional storerooms finally finished. We can hold more equipment, which should come in handy for when we finally recover some of the alien's technology.

The eggheads also completed development of a portable medical kit. If we had been able to heal Cirno, he might have been able to recover the alien corpse and weapon. I order manufacture of some of these devices immediately.

January 17th, 1999


The aliens have been quiet, or are concentrating elsewhere. With additional living space, we can house more personnel.

January 18th, 1999


Alarms roused me from sleep. It seems that the aliens have indeed been busy elsewhere, and are now openly terrorizing a city in India. We cannot sit by and allow this to happen. The Skyranger takes off at once.
_{And I had just requested additional soldiers too, goddammit...}


Operation Iron Mongoose


Theros: "Time to see what this hunk of junk can do..."


Theros: "Aw shit, urban combat. At least its light out this time."
Ulbretch: "What about last time?"
Theros: "You don't wanna know. Well, at least it seems to be clear."


Chris: "NOT AGAIN!"
Theros: "Why...didn't...it...shoot...the tank? Blaargh."


((At least five human death screams sounded during this one Alien turn. Jeezus .___.; ))


: "Tank reports no sign of whatever killed Theros. Proceed with extreme caution."


Chris: "I see a civilian inside that house! Hey buddy, over here!...I don't think he understands English..."


Hooman: "Please to spread out, comrades."


Chris: "Uh...guys? Is it just me or am I seeing a UFO?"
: "_{What the hell...?}"
Chris: "Well, I doubt I can hit it through the entire house. Taking cover."


Britches: "I see another of the little grey bastards! Have the tank take it out!"


Britches: "Whoa. Shame it missed, but whoa."

((another miss, which I forgot to screencap))
Britches: "...okay, this thing sucks."
: "Forget that alien for the moment. What about the disk?"


Chris: "We got a lot of people waiting for it. If it comes around the corner, we'll be ready."


Britches: "Jeez! That alien tossed something into the house, and it exploded! Those things have grenades!"
Hooman: "Course. Why would w--they not have explosives, yes?"


Hooman: "Also, two spot."


Hooman: "Now one."


Chris: "That disk is still out there. And there's another alien as well."


Britches: "Ha-haaaa! Tank finally hit something! Direct hit, too. Ooooo, there's still chunks of alien raining down. Gonna go over there and..."


Britches: "aw crap"


Ulbretch: "On it!"
Ulbretch: "Boo-ya!...uh, it's still floating."
Britches: "Maybe you weakened it. I'll take a couple shots...crap, missed. Well, nice knowing you, rookie."


Chris: "Oh god. There are two disks here, one on top of the other. Where's that dude with the rocket launcher?!"
Maxclone: "On my way!"
: "The tank's got a shot. Soldiers, stand back!"


: "Direct hit!"


: "..."


Britches: "_{sorry, rookie...grk...}"
Ulbretch: "Nooooo! Eat explosive auto-cannon!"


: It took a second direct hit and still didn't go down...are these things indestructible?



Broomy: "YeeeeeEEEEEE*fzz*HaW!"
Hooman: "Nooooo! Mission failed it has! Urgh.."

Slow motion footage of his death showed that Ordin Hooman was, in fact, an alien in disguise. How the strange broom robot knew, I'll never know. Perhaps it was just a lucky coincidence.





Chris: "Yes! My first kill!"
Foxy: "Nice shooting, there."
Maxclone: "RELOADING!"


Foxy: "There's another one!"


Foxy: "Payback's a bitch, ain't it?"


: "Something in that building is shooting at the tank. Last shot, but we're gonna take it!"
Something in there survives, shoots back, and...


: "...that tank was destroyed in a single shot."


Chris: "Oh crap, it's one of those disks! Get some grenades on it, pronto!"
Foxy: "Got it!"


Broomy: "D@m i'M gooooooooood"


Chris: "That thing took two grenades! How the hell is it still up?!"
Foxy: "Firing...I got it!...holy shit, it exploded! Better stay away from those things!"
: "But at least now we know they can be destroyed. Keep it up, squad."

((Another missed screencap. Broomy threw a grenade at a sectoid and killed it))
Broomy: "Boo0/\/\"


Foxy: "..."


Maxclone: "Foxy, what are you doiiiiargh!"
: "She must be working with the aliens! Terminate her at once!"


Chris: "Sorry, Foxy..."


Broomy: "FZZZZZZZZZZ *boom!*"

Chris used his medikit to revive Maxclone.
Maxclone: "Ugh, my arm...what happened?"
Chris: "Foxy turned on us. We're the only two left."
Maxclone: "...damn."


Maxclone: "We...we have to get out of here. This mission is a failure."
Chris: "Yeah. I'll draw their fire."



Chris: "Hurrrk!"



Maxclone: "Goddammit. GODDAMMIT! Noooooooo!"

Skyranger Pilot: "Oh god, they're breaking in to the cockpit! Code Black! I repeat, Code Bla--"
*static*


The command room was utterly silent. I could hear my own voice giving the command for Hammerdown bombardment of Calcutta, as though it were someone else entirely.
We're doomed. All we can do is make it as hard a fight as possible.



*************************************



SO! Second mission, and what do we get? Terror mission, nearly-invincible cyberdisks, and psychics capable of mind controlling already.
Dunno if I'm just very unlucky or if OpenXcom upped the difficulty a ton, but I have never had such a bad start before.

Night Xan!