Swim presents XCOM 2: ZV Edition - Ironman Run

[Swim]

I've been talking about doing something like this for awhile, and although I think this would be more fun to stream for everyone my hardware just isn't capable of capturing video at this time. Regardless, the ZV Dynasty Warriors and Wrestleman character streams have made me want to revisit the idea of running through XCOM with an all ZV squad. And since I've beaten the game a couple of times now I'm going to make things a little more difficult on myself and do an Ironman Run, meaning no reviving characters who fall in battle. Who will live and who will die in the struggle to retake Earth? Not even Bob knows, the RNG can be really unkind in this game sometimes. Should make for some fun war stories between comrades, and why this game has such replay value to me.



And now for the characters and a little bit about the role I expect them to play on my squad. Note that I've designed their appearances around a combination of their character sprites, reference artwork in the Dropbox folder and their real life appearance if I've met them or seen their picture on social media. If you have any problems with me using your name or likeness for this playthrough I will certainly delete the character. If you weren't featured in my first round of characters and want in don't fret. In all likelihood someone will die and I'll need to make new characters to replace them, go ahead and PM me your character details and I'll do my best to faithfully recreate their appearance and fighting style. As the playthrough progresses I will post updates regarding the characters, any feats they have accomplished or details regarding their death if applicable. If they survive their appearance may change, they may gain scars or gain new armor or abilities.



Ranger Class - Close range experts wielding shotguns and swords, ideal for scouts and assassins.
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Tyler 'Xero' Carawan

Xero is my shotgun expert, my run and gun guy. I plan on giving him traits for extra movement so that he can get in, blow someone away and get to cover before they can shoot back.

Matthew 'Ztrl' Ferguson

Ztrl will play a very similar role to Xero but his talent points will be focused around the sword on his back. Befitting a ninja he will deal extra damage when attacking from behind and have additional chance to dodge.

Tristy 'Ghost' Prowers

Tristy's talents will revolve around concealment. While the rest of her squad has engaged the enemy her role will be to flank around the back and extract a VIP or assassinate the enemy commander. She will have the ability to go into stealth once per mission.

Francisco 'Sonic' Ribiero

Sonic's traits will involve additional movement and extra actions. I plan to use him for rescue missions or operations with a limited number of turns.

Matt 'Submarine' Prowers

Sub will be a jack of all trades character taking talents from all trees and flexing to fill whatever role I might need.


Alex 'Swim' Prowers

Swim was going to be my Blademaster but Ztrl has most of the same talents making him redundant. For now Swim will probably sit on the bench and wait for Ztrl to die before getting his taste of battle.




Specialist Class - Their battle rifle is effective at medium range but the class truly shines when using their GREMLIN drones to support their team.
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Jordan 'Ed' Rema

Ed is the Donatello of my squad, he does machines. Or at least his GREMLIN does, specializing in hacking enemy systems. He's the one I'll rely on to disable alarms, turrets and robots/cyborgs. Hopefully he can even reprogram them and turn them against their alien masters.

Alexis 'Chip' Monsoon

The happy go lucky healer of Sub's mercenary company is here in XCOM to take all of the healing abilities and keep everyone alive. She can revive unconscious party members, cure poison and stop you from bleeding out.

Jeff 'Renegade' Oliva

Renegade fills a very similar role to Ed in that he handles my non-organic problems. But sometimes having Ed attempt to reprogram an enemy can backfire and cause even bigger problems. In those circumstances it may be safer to have Renegade just shock it until it's no longer operable.

Aerin Rema

Like Sub for the ranger class, Aerin will be the jack of all trades of my specialists. She can heal, she can hack, just not quite as reliably as the more specialized specialists.




Grenadier Class - Comes equipped with a chain gun and a grenade launcher, this class can blow away groups of enemies ane lay down suppressing fire to cover their squad.
-----------------------------


Seth 'Tank' Prowers

Tank's talents will be focused around the heavy chain gun and his role will be to shred through the enemy's armored troops. In addition to massive single target damage he can also lay down suppression fire which will impair the enemy's accuracy.

Sam 'Silver' Simao

Silver will provide my area of effect damage, specializing in different types of grenades and if she lives long enough I'll try to get her wrist rockets and flamethrowers. Figured a dragon ought to be the one with the fire.

Markez 'Netzuko' Benitez

Jack of all trades for the grenadier class, he can provide support for either Tank or Silver.

Thomas Whauler

The demolitions expert on Sub's merc team, he will probably fill the same role as Silver and won't see much action unless she's killed or spending time in the med bay.

Corey Ganye

Sub's second in command will be the second guy to be my big gun if Tank ever dies.



Sharpshooter Class - Can be effective at long or short range using either a sniper rifle or pistol, this class comes with many powerful reactionary abilities.
------------------------------------------


Peter 'Nightmare' Stephens

I made Nightmare a sniper mostly because that's what he tends to play in Splatoon, but the class seems to fit him. He has the powerful Overwatch and Killzone abilities, giving him a large cone of vision to watch over his squad as they complete their objectives. Any enemy that steps into his line of sight will trigger an automatic reaction shot.

Kyle 'Jet' Prowers

Jet has most of the same abilities as Nightmare but comes with Death from Above, which increases his damage when attacking from a higher elevation. To help him get around his suit can fire a grapple cable allowing him to swiftly reach a good vantage point. I plan to utilize both Jet and Nightmare as my lead sniper depending on the map.

Korin Solewsar

Korin Solewsar is a member of the Fate's Outriders fleet and Captain of the Tempest Eagle. Unlike Nightmare and Jet, Korin will be my Gunslinger, gaining a second pistol and a number of reactionary shots and free actions. He can still use his sniper rifle, but his more close range build and extra mobility make him the better choice for maps requiring constant repositioning to cover the squad.

'Lunchbox' Hedrington

The disgruntled sniper of Sub's merc company is here to provide backup in case Nightmare, Jet or Korin should die.




Psionic Operative - After fusing with experimental alien technology these soldiers can now cast a variety of spells with giving them a wide range of impactful abilities.
-------------------------------------


Arne 'Tony' Highwind

...

Nick 'Vilex' Campos

OMG AM VILEX





Reserves
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James 'Vile' Rummenie

Sorry Vile, you're on the bench at the moment. I actually made your character pretty early on but I couldn't decide what role I'd make you and before I knew it I had most of the roles covered. Depending on how the campaign goes I might select you to undergo Psi Ops training or I might need you to step in for someone who has died.

[Vile]

Generally I snipe in war games. If we go by my doom playthroughs I'm the rocket launching frontliner. Also ya coukd have at least given me my sprite hair XD

I have no clue what XCOM is but godspeed to you. Also Ed will be the first to die, by being impaled of course.

[Swim]

Snipers are probably the class least likely to die unless I get ambushed by a patrol so I made gave you a chain gun. Here's VileMkII.



For those of you unfamiliar with XCOM, in the first game a group of aliens invaded Earth. The game was considered so difficult that when the sequel came out the developers decided to make it canon that we failed to repel them and most of Earth's armies were destroyed and the planet occupied. 20 years later the aliens have developed a system of government called ADVENT and are generally regarded as benevolent rulers. They have shared their medicine and technology with us and generally most people have accepted their leadership. Sure, there is the occasional disappearance and sometimes entire cities are wiped out but people are either too scared to resist or willing to turn a blind eye so long as they are unaffected. XCOM 2 picks up with you leading a small resistance and attempting to retake the Earth, but also find out what kind of twisted experiments the ADVENT have been doing behind the scenes.

[Swim]

I didn't get to start the game with everyone, I was launched into the first mission with a random first squad which consisted of Nightmare, Swim, Tank and Netzuko. All of them began with just a basic rifle, having not been promoted into their advanced classes yet. Our mission, Gatecrasher, was to blow up a monument and cause a distraction so that another team could rescue the XCOM Commander who had been captured 20 years prior.

With surprise on their side, the squad silently moves into position and Nightmare fires the opening shot.


Swim plants the explosive charge while Tank and Netzuko provide cover.



The mission was successful, but because Netto failed to hit most of his shots both Nightmare and Swim are wounded and removed from duty until they can recover.


Back on my base, a captured ADVENT ship known as the Avenger, Nightmare and Swim share a drink to take the edge off before checking into med bay. In the back you can see Vile chatting up some attractive NPC.


In between missions I manage to recruit some more soldiers. Xero, Silver, Jet, Aerin, Ziggs and Tristy join my starting team which had consisted of Nightmare, Swim, Tank, Netzuko, Vile, Vilex and Korin. Because he'd leveled up I send Tank back out on my next mission to watch over Jet, Vile and Aerin.


The calm before the storm.


Jet, Vile and Tank move toward the objective.


Aerin climbs on top of a roof and prepares to fire the first shot.


As we reach the objective the team finds it guarded by a dangerous new enemy, a sectoid. These aliens display psionic powers, including the ability to induce fear, brainwash and control their enemies and even reanimate the dead to fight for them. Jet and Aerin are too far forward and things look grim until Tank blows up the side of a building with his grenade launcher allowing Vile to charge in and join the fight. Vile attacks from the side causing crippling damage, allowing Aerin to finish the sectoid with her next action.


But what's this? There's more than one of these things? Vile waits for a good time to engage.


Tank flanks from the side and finishes it off.



Mission complete, the team relaxes as they head back to the Avenger.


Vile and Aerin stop to talk with Nightmare and Silver about the mission.


Our next mission is to rescue a scientist with intel on ADVENT's plans. I'd like to bring a sniper around to watch over these new units and Nightmare is still recovering so Jet is sent back into the field along with Silver, Korin and Xero.


The team moves into position to extract the VIP.



Xero finds himself in a tight spot after reinforcements cut him off from the team, who are dealing with another sectoid which has reanimated a group of enemy soldiers the team had previously killed.


With enemies on both sides Silver takes some heavy damage but remains standing and the team successfully extracts the scientist.

[Vile]

Wrecking that alien! Nightmare hurry up and get better.

[Swim]

Nightmare is finally better and he gets a lot of use this next round of play.

The first mission today is to rescue a settlement under attack by ADVENT forces. The transmission got cut off but the last thing we saw was... this. What the hell is that?


The Avenger flies there with all speed but most of the buildings are on fire and most of the people already dead. We deploy Vile, Korin, Silver and Aerin to rescue anyone still alive.


The team lands just outside.


Aerin looks for some retribution for the villagers.


Vile follows up and secures the kill.


Korin puts one down with his pistol.


Silver forges ahead and rescues the first villager.


The squad covers each other as they each move further into the settlement.


Korin spots an enemy Sectoid


He takes it out.


As Silver approaches two villagers one of them doubles over. His skin starts to bubble and expand and morphs into that monster we saw on the distress call! Without warning he charges forward and swipes at Silver with his claws.


Suddenly things aren't looking good for Silver. This new Faceless enemy has destroyed her cover as well exposing her to ranged enemies if she doesn't move. Korin lines up a shot and fires into the Faceless.


Finish it Vile! Save her!


With a little healing from Aerin's GREMLIN drone, Silver is back on her feet and launching grenades at a barricade to give Korin a clear shot with his sniper rifle.


The team mops up the rest of the ADVENT and saves the remaining villagers. Silver was a little wary about approaching the rest but thankfully there seemed to only be one Faceless hiding among them. On the way back we look at the stats, Aerin seems particularly pleased about the squad's 100% accuracy ratio for this mission.


Well done team.


We'll go ahead and promote Aerin so that she can heal better. Chip hasn't arrived yet so Aerin is actually my only healer at the moment.


We'll go ahead and promote Vile so that he can start to rip and tear all the things. Because some other units haven't joined me yet I decided to make Vile a Ranger instead of a Grenadier.


Silver is not only injured but shaken by the events of last mission. Until she can overcome that mental trauma she'll be more susceptible to psionic attacks like Panic and Mind Control.


The aliens are upset and plotting to bring me down. We get notice of Dark Event activities that will be happening shortly. Neither outcome is desirable, but I'll only be able to prevent one of these from happening.


We'll worry about that later once we get more intel on the target sites. Right now it's time for a good old fashioned train robbery. We get word of an ADVENT mainframe being transported and the train is currently stopped in Kansas City. Note that I don't get to choose the codename assigned to each mission, but I thought it appropriate to send Nightmare on Operation Purple Daze. With him are Ztrl, Xero and Netzuko. Netzuko is my only specialist apart from Aerin and he's more tech oriented than healing. And honestly, after the first mission I was curious whether he or Nightmare would end up 'accidently' causing the other to get shot again.


Clearly Nightmare is thinking about the last time he got paired with Netto.


The team rappels down from their dropship.



Seeing the enemy is clustered Netto starts things with a grenade, the other three quickly fire on any ADVENT still standing.


Nightmare's gun actually doesn't look like a hair dryer here! The game does allow for some weapon customization, I can give it a name, color it or add designs on the side. Most of them are fairly standard at the moment but if you'd like your character to have a custom weapon I might be able to make adjustments.


The team reaches the train but there's a complication in the form of an automated turret on top of it. It fires at the squad attracting the attention of more ADVENT units, including a pair of Sectoids.



Ztrl shoots one but the other ADVENT make it to cover.



That's annoying, they're hiding so we can't shoot them.


Xero can take care of their cover with his grenade launcher though.


With their cover gone Nightmare now has a clear shot.


The team stands guard outside allowing Netto to board the train and hack into the mainframe. Most of the data is encrypted but there's something about an Avatar Project? What could that be?


A final enemy runs forward and jabs Xero with a shock baton. He didn't notice the sneaky ninja standing across from Xero who now had an easy shot.


Welcome back team.


In between missions we recruit more soldiers including Renegade, Tony, Sonic and Jet. Since our next mission is a supply raid against ADVENT I opt to bring Sonic along with Tank, Aerin and Nightmare.


Hello, here's something new. Is this the 'thin man' we heard reports about? These Vipers look like formidable foes.



The team decides to get the drop on this Viper rather than find out what it can do.


Sonic and Nightmare end up working well together. Sonic scouts ahead, finds the enemy and sets up Nightmare's shot. If anything is left standing Sonic pops his head up from behind his cover and fires off with his shotgun.


An ambush! A second squad appears from the side, an ADVENT lancer knocking Tank unconscious with his shock baton. A second Viper appears as well, lashing out with its tongue and dragging Aerin out from behind her cover! Once in its clutches the Viper swiftly coils around Aerin, trapping her and squeezing the life out of her. Tank is incapacitated, things are looking bleak.


From downtown! It's Nightmare to the rescue! His shot allows Aerin to slip out of its grasp.


Aerin is free to fire off a shot but it's not enough to kill the Viper...


It coils around her again and begins to crush her once more.


Sonic races around the truck to get a good shot and finishes the Viper off. What a relief, Aerin is one of my best units right now, not to mention my only medic. She'll be in the med bay herself for some recovery time but at least she didn't die.


Between missions Vile, Tank, Swim and Tristy use the gym.




That's it for today, hope you guys are enjoying the series. And again, if you'd like me to customize your weapon to the extent that I'm able, let me know.

[Vile]

Finally Purple is back! Looks like Ranger Vile was an MVP for a mission too, which is cool. RIP AND TEAR!

Team Xero seemed to have a well rounded plan of attack and reliable support when needed to. Hopfully Aerin gets better soon.

[Swim]

It's been a little while since we've played some XCOM and the planet isn't going to liberate itself. Lets check back in with our squad.

We've established contact with a new resistance cell and they've asked us to rescue a VIP for them.

For Operation Half Dead Sky I'm bringing sky captains Jet and Korin. I wanted two snipers for this mission to babysit Silver, who you might remember is still shaken from last time. Hopefully if the mission goes well she'll snap out it. And Vile's just here to supervise.


The team sneaks as close as they can to the detention facility before the bullets start flying.


As we get closer to the facility Vile spots a familiar face on a wanted sign.


As Jet lines up a shot he sees Sub's face on a bounty screen.


Jet climbs up a drain pipe to find a better sniping point.


The rest of the team has entered the detention facility and engaged a pack of enemies. Korin's found himself solid cover but a lancer rounds the corner to shock Vile. Meanwhile the Sectoid seems to have focused on Silver...


Oh fudge she's been mind controlled. With her willpower eroded the Sectoid directs Silver to turn her chain gun on Vile. The shots connect but he's still standing. Jet fires a shot through the window on his next action, killing the Sectoid and freeing Silver from its control.


Immediate crisis averted, Vile takes a moment to reload his boomstick while Korin frees the VIP from her cell.


We've taken too long, an enemy dropship comes in and drops off some troops. Luckily we now occupy the prison and have enough cover to deal with them.


Vile and Silver wait on opposite ends of the hallway to ambush an Advent trooper.


After the reinforcements are mopped up Jet and Vile secure the area while our own dropship lowers a cable for the VIP.


Operation Half Dead Sky ends with a half dead Vile. Promotions for everyone!

Also I feel like Vile's character looks like Nicholas Cage and now I can't unsee it.

Vile gets promoted to Sergeant and gets a talent that should help him not to get shot so much.


Jet gains the Long Shot ability allowing him to cover his teammates from greater distances.


Korin isn't going to focus on long range like Jet and Nightmare and takes the Return Fire talent giving him a free pistol shot at any unit that fires on him.


Silver is promoted to Corporal and gets equipped with armor shredding rounds.


Best of all Silver has recovered from her battlefield trauma and should be more resistant to mental attacks going forward.


Along with the VIP we've brought back a Sectoid corpse and order Dr. Tygan to dissect it.


The aliens are making their own scientific breakthroughs, opening several new labs across the globe to work on this Avatar Project. We don't yet know what it entails, just that we're screwed if they complete it. The race against time has begun.


A local resistance cell may be able to pinpoint one of these Avatar facilities using a recon device to listen in on Advent comm channels. Advent seems to have caught on however, and a team of Aerin, Swim, Xero and Nightmare are deployed to protect the device.
~
I mentioned several posts up that after a couple of missions the game will generate a nickname for soldiers that haven't been assigned one, usually based on their battlefield performance. If they use explosives they might get called Volcano. Last game I had a unit that carried extra medpacks and carved up enemies with her sword, she was nicknamed Doctor. If you look at Aerin you'll notice that for whatever reason the soldiers have started to refer to her as Bones. My best guess is that this is in reference to her repeatedly being crushed by the Viper enemies last time, but it could also be that she's done the most healing since Chip hasn't shown up yet. I can change this if there's a more fitting name for her but I always think it's interesting to let things happen organically.


By the time we arrive Advent is already going building to building looking for the listening device and we're forced to drop down further away than I'd like.


As we get close to our target we encounter an Advent patrol with some new tech. This thing has some serious armor.


Its weapons pack a solid punch as well.


While the team deals with the mech a long tongue snakes out and drags Nightmare from his sniper nest. A Viper coils around his body and begins to squeeze. Swim is close enough to help and runs forward to slash the Viper with his sword.


Once freed, Nightmare retreats a couple of paces and turns around to deliver the finishing blow. Unfortunately this skirmishing ends up taking too much time, Advent forces locate and destroy our listening device. We've failed, and it'll take us longer to locate the Avatar Lab now.


Remember the Dark Events from before? It's time to counter one of them. I choose to prevent them from better equipping their soldiers, but it comes at the cost of fewer resources and income for myself over the next month. Additionally they've stepped up awareness with their patrols, giving them greater vision and making it more difficult for me to make stealth attacks.


Now that soldiers like Jet, Vile and Aerin have leveled up enough they've gained the ability to deploy a fifth squad member with them. With the additional manpower I decide to try and level up some newer recruits. Jet brings Xero along to help him guide Renegade, Tristy and Zigs on their first combat mission.


It's a little more cramped in here now.


Renegade, Xero and Jet fan out.


Renegade attempts to use his GREMLIN drone to hack into the base security, but he might not be leveled up enough yet. I decide not to risk it, he could alert the enemy to our presence sooner than I want to if his hack is detected.


In the distance you can see the security tower Renegade is trying to hack. Meanwhile Tristy runs in for a leaping slash on the Advent trooper, quietly taking him out.


By the time Advent realizes we're there we have five guns shooting at them from multiple angles. Jet provides sniper cover against any Advent troops that survived our initial onslaught but the mission went quite smoothly.


Minor injuries on Tristy but otherwise my risk to level up some new guys really paid off.


Well done team, that should really set them back- ...crap.


Since this is another rescue mission I send Aerin and Tank out with Sonic, Zigs and Korin. I want to be fast and mobile. Tank is equipped with some extra armor plating now, I plan to use him very aggressively to draw fire away from civilians and squad mates.


Just like the last rescue mission there are Faceless hidden among the civilians I have to rescue, as Zigs found out to his detriment... He ended up taking a heavy hit before Tank and Korin brought it down. I've got to be really careful when I approach civilians, but if I play too cautiously more of the actual human civilians are going to die.


While this Advent trooper is reloading Sonic uses his blinding speed to run up and slash him. His skin begins to bubble and shift and suddenly Sonic finds himself facing a Faceless.


Sonic pictured acting confused about no longer being the tallest mofo in the room anymore.


Fortunately Aerin is close enough to help him out.


Further into the camp our squad catches sight of a new enemy.


The Mutons are extremely durable and have powerful long range weapons and close range charge abilities. One of them shoots Aerin before she can react.


At the same time this asshole robot locks onto Korin and Zigs and fires rockets from its back. Zigs is badly burnt.


Tank kills the Muton but is out of ammo, Sonic has to charge in and stab the final Faceless to death.


The final enemy is dead and we've actually managed to save most of the villagers. But in the process, we lost a man.


Zigs succumbed to his burns and dies, but I consider myself lucky because it was only his second mission. It could very easily have been Aerin and Sonic as well. That was... difficult. Much more difficult than I had anticipated. All of my resources have gone into recruiting more staff and upgrading my ship, and that's about to pay off in a huge way. But I clearly need to invest in better armor going forward. RIP Zigs.


fudge, I just went through this with Silver. I guess watching Zigs die shook Aerin to the Bones.


Meanwhile Dr. Tygan has finished his research on the Sectoid anatomy and theorized some interesting applications we might apply it toward.


<Vile> Yo Vilex, you know where Tony is? I can't find him anywhere.

[Vile]

And see, this is why you never trust a furry. Ya get shot up.

Good read Jet! Shame we lost someone but I suppose it was bound to happen. We gotta unshake Aerin though. Time for some motivational speeches from team ZV!

[Swim]

We're going to try our best to get Aerin fighting fit again. Sadly there is no option for motivational speeches here, the only way to build her confidence back up is to send her back into the field and let her kill something, let her prove to herself that she can overcome whatever hurtle is in her way. Unfortunately sending her back out in this state is dangerous for everyone involved, as Vile found out firsthand when he got shot up by Silver.

The first thing we do today is send Central on an ambassador mission to Mexico to bring a resistance cell there into the fold.


Although we still haven't located any of the Avatar Labs we do receive intel about another one being built. We send a team out to destroy it preemptively, as well as get a little retribution for Zigs' death. Unfortunately doing so means we lose the ability to prevent the aliens from developing greater stealth detection and placing a mole in one of the resistance cells, but we'll deal with that when it comes up.


We get Aerin patched up and assemble a team of some of our strongest to watch her back as they head into the field.


Alright, lets go kill some Ice Holes!


Tank takes point while Aerin and Vile follow a few paces behind him. In the back Nightmare provides sniper cover and nails the mech warrior in our path.


Aerin hacks into a security tower and manages to score some info for us to analyze after the mission.


Tank stands on overwatch as Vile scouts ahead. Upon sighting an enemy soldier he pulls out his sword and messily guts him. Rip and tear!


This Sectoid reanimates the corpse of the soldier Vile just killed. Unphased Vile promptly blasts him with his shotgun.


"Look at this asshole guys, he won't let me create a zombie army!"


"fudge your zombies and fudge you."


Another Sectoid focuses on Vile and attacks his mind, causing him to panic. I lose control of Vile who flees a short distance away, and fortunately doesn't draw the attention of another pack of Advent units. Xero flanks in from the left and finishes off this Sectoid with a hail of bullets.


Apparently its snake crossing here. As the Viper slithers over to attack Xero, Tank manages to connect with a couple of rounds but fails to down the slippery enemy.


The Viper manages to wind around Xero and constrict him for a turn, fortunately Nightmare was on his way over and manages to shoot the snake in the head from his new vantage point. Aerin sends her GREMLIN drone over to heal Xero up a bit.


"In memory of that guy."


Meanwhile Aerin has secured her one kill and is in the back performing a more supportive role. After healing Xero she goes back to hacking things.


That one went much, much better than our last mission.


The team flies back satisfied with a job well done.


So well that Aerin shakes off her battlefield trauma and is back and better than ever.


She also levels up and gains the Field Medic ability enhancing her healing abilities. I was sorely tempted to take Scanning Protocol, which would allow her GREMLIN drone to scout areas and reveal hidden enemies, including those Faceless assholes that like to pretend they're normal civilians. But as useful as that would be, because Chip still hasn't shown up in my game yet Aerin remains my only Specialist with healing abilities and I can't afford her taking abilities which aren't related to that role.


We manage to bring back a Viper corpse for Dr. Tygan to dissect, can't wait to see what new toys he'll be able to provide us with that insight.


Speaking of new toys we've managed to enhance our swords to deliver electrical shock as well as cutting power.


Everyone is invited to the bar for celebratory drinks. Vile walks up and begins talking with new recruit, Terra Bichepart. It always amuses me how Vile is always seen with the ladies. Nightmare can be seen talking with some rando in the back while Aerin chats with Central about his trip to Mexico. On the far right Jet and Renegade are obviously discussing Smash Bros.


<Tony> "..."


While my soldiers are happily celebrating I have a short chat with the Councilman, our ally within the Advent government. Back before the invasion this council was a sort of United Nations and had governance over a united Earth. Now they are all dead or collaborating with the aliens, save one. He obscures his face to hide his true identity but this is clearly Morpheus from the Matrix. It was he who first clued us into the mysterious Avatar project and continues to pass us information from within. Now we have coordinates for one of these facilities.


A team is assembled for Operation Blood Soaked Peak. That doesn't sound ominous or anything... I'd better send in my strongest units for this one.


The team receives their briefing as they fly in.


The Avatar facility is massive, by far the largest map in the campaign so far. Silver climbs the outer walls and finds an automated turret blocking the way.


The team gets the drop on a Muton and a Viper loading a train with a number of strange green pods. They're too obscured for a clean shot so Aerin tosses a grenade to blow up their cover, the rest of the team makes short work of them.


Another Muton gets the drop on Tank, slashing him across the chest. He passes out from the injury, but Aerin manages to revive him after the Muton is dealt with.


As we get closer we find a loading bay filled with more of the strange green pods. Closer inspection reveals there are people inside, abducted from all around the world! Oops about blowing them up earlier...


It's even worse inside the facility, row after row of these pods rise up from the sinister colored pool.


Aerin finds cover behind a computer console and pops up to fire on the enemy.


Silver fights her way to the center of the lab and finds a mysterious glowing vial. <Silver> "This looks important."


A dropship carrying fresh troops arrives outside.


From the roof of the facility Jet headshots first of the aliens reinforcements.


Back outside a Muton blows up Silver's cover, severely burning her! A nearby Viper barfs a ball of toxic slime onto Aerin, severely poisoning her!


Tank tries to clear a path away from the facility but is unable to land any shots on this Advent trooper. The trooper fires back but is unable to hit Tank! The situation reminded me of Ztrl and HZ hiding in their pillow forts flipping each other off, neither capable of dealing any damage to the other. Jet breaks the stalemate by shooting the trooper in the head.


The girls aren't looking so great, it's time to get out of here. After providing some quick first aid Vile covers Silver as she rises into our dropship.


The mission was rough, but ultimately successful. Tank, Silver and Aerin are all injured but should make a full recovery.


The newly minted Lieutenant Vile learns Run and Gun allowing him to be even more aggressive with his attacks. Rip and tear forever my friend.


Jet finally gets Death From Above, one of the most important tools for his kit.


Although wounded, Tank promotes to Lieutenant as well gaining Holo Targeting. Now any shot he makes, hit or miss, will mark the enemy giving everyone else a better chance of landing their shots. Perfect for a guy at the front!


The armor research is finally complete! Get equipped everyone!


Tank models the new and improved 'Predator' series armor.


Tony emerges from the Psi Ops lab, crackling with energy and laughing maniacally. I may have made a mistake guys...

[Vile]

Is Tony rocking some purple there? Seems out of character for him. Hopfully his new abilitys give him some spotlight in the next mission.

[Swim]

Tony is still very much a green, psionic/alien energy in video games just has a tendency to be purple I guess.

Haven't had the time to go on any more missions yet, but I was messing around a little bit with the character creator and added a couple more ZVers to the squad. Unknown exactly what role they'll play in the game if any since we're already a decent way in but maybe we'll see them hanging around the ship if nothing else.

I like how Sorrum turned out here and I hope he's pleased with how the character translated over to XCOM. If nothing else we've got the black/white color scheme with just a hint of red representing his fire abilities.


Terra Bicheparte turned out pretty well, the armor options are actually fairly close to how I'd imagined her. Since this game doesn't allow her to actually punch anything I set her up with her sniper rifle Supernova instead.


Majeh the murder man as he appears in XCOM. I'm a little less pleased with this one however, I couldn't find a hairstyle that looked like him so in the end I just decided to steer into the strange and give him a bloodstained hockey mask. I also think the red/yellow armor scheme looks a little too much like Tank, but unfortunately they only give you 4-6 options for armor and don't let you color items individually. Regardless, he looks ready to rip and tear.


I'm not sure if I like how Rion came out or not. I'm pleased with parts of him, like the armor choice and tattoo sleeve to give color to his metallic right arm. But again, the hair options didn't have anything great and I think the blue here is a bit too bright but I couldn't give it a more faded look. Still, I don't have anyone else that looks quite like him and I feel like you'd be able to tell who this character was if I hadn't written the name.


ShAuNmAn-X makes a surprise appearance in XCOM. I didn't have much reference art to go off of so I took a few liberties with this one, but cool to have him regardless.




And as a little bonus, since we've unlocked the new Predator series armor I'm including updated pictures of the entire squad. Unfortunately this doesn't include people like Ed, Chip and others who haven't joined us yet, but everyone else looks pretty cool. In no particular order we have


Renegade


Vile


Tony


Aerin


Sonic


Swim


Xero


Tristy


Tank


Silver


Nightmare


Submarine


Ztrl


Vilex


Netzuko


Lunchbox


Jet


And finally, Sky Captain Korin Solewsar

[Swim]

And finally I tallied up all of the missions and kills each character has secured thus far and made a scoreboard.

	Missions Completed	Advent Killed
Vile	5	15
Aerin	6	14
Jet	5	13
Tank	6	11
Sonic	2	9
Nightmare	4	6
Silver	4	5
Korin	4	5
Xero	4	4
Tristy	1	3
Netzuko	2	3
Ztrl	1	2
Swim	1	2
Renegade	1	1

My squad also includes Lunchbox, Tony, Vilex, Shaun, and Terra but none of them have gone on a mission yet. After 12 missions the MVP is certainly Vile, who by nature of his weapons (blade and shotgun) is almost always in the front of the pack and getting shot at from all sides but somehow emerges alive. Sonic is a surprise standout being within striking range of the leaders despite going on half as many missions, I honestly had no idea he'd secured so many kills until I stopped to tally them.

[Sorrum]

Like how my character looks. In that last picture update it looks like you misplaced Jet for Korin with the predator armor upgrades.

[Vile]

When you bring DoomVile to the field, expect death. I dig the new armor, looks more sleek. Now gentlemen, as the new Nicholas Cage, we are going to steal the declaration of the advent.