Drowned in XCom Three
Operation Half-dead Vanguard will either be remembered as the day Advent got a grip on their renegade human problem, or the day DiX tightened their shit up and stopped making costly mistakes / their commander stops playing whilst drunk. A turning point in the war, one way or another.
The snuff merchants wish us to locate a “”“scientist”"" of theirs that has gone into hiding in the tunnels underneath Guadalajara. A team led by Duck and Cowtipley is duly sent out, including newly trained rifleperson Nikki, there for the experience.
Things go passably until Meowth steps out of the shadows and straight up kills Nikki with a crit. One mission, one kill, one death. RIP. Sergeant Twinkletoes deals with Meowth…
…But somebody steps too close to the hiding scientist, and suddenly Advent rappel through the ceiling on all sides. It’s an ambush! Duck launches his rocket straight at a Sectoid, and it mysteriously does nothing. Said Sectoid then mind controls Cowtipperson. Another Sectoid saves Duck any more agonising over his faulty RPG by killing him.
Next turn, with no-one willing to shoot her, Cowtipville mortally wounds Twinkletoes.
The evac finally arrives, and the scientist, Antpocalypse, our pet Reaper and Colin Zeal bundle in. They’re the only ones to make it. Duck, Twinkletoes and Nikki are dead, Cowtipsy is captured. Absolutely horrendous.
Two LEDs manage to blink on in the profoundly black-humoured aftermath. First, the workshop produces its first THEO unit. These hulking androids are a godsend to XCom since they never get tired, and can be sent out even whilst damaged. As well as this, a strange warrior who channels the power of pure mathematics to tear apart her foes, known only as Perv, demands to enlist. The pair go some way towards filling the gaping holes in our roster.
Next mission is to protect a radio relay in a petrol station. The gang go about it with all of their trademark subtlety. I think there may have been some emotion involved.
Advent then launch another retaliation mission. This time it’s led by Jessie.
I usually find this Chosen the toughest, but Jessie seems to get torn between whether she wants to kill civilians or XCom, and is taken out by Perv before managing a single action.
THEO remorselessly machineguns aliens whilst making weird jokes in his tinny voice that nobody understands, and Jamos hits a Priest so hard he flies off the map (didn’t capture that unfortunately). It’s the first flawless mission DiX have managed since the first one over two months ago. A welter of fresh breakthroughs has provided the barracks with shiny new mag weapons and plate armor, and there’s finally a feeling of momentum gathering.
However the aliens are making substantial progress with the Avatar project (essentially a doomsday clock that will end the game if it fills), and the remaining DiXers badly need to get on the offensive. The Black Site looms large.
