Part 16

Monday, March 20, 2084, 5:00

*BEGIN RECORDING*

I have not updated in three days, and need to cover the events that have transpired.

The plans for the advanced quantum physics lab were given to us by Strangleglove.

We've started research on the alien weapon. Based on which soldiers are surviving, and which are getting killed the best weapon seems to be auto cannon explosive rounds - mainly because you don't need to aim much. If this new alien weapon is both powerful and accurate, it could replace nearly half of the weaponry used by our troops.

After construction began on the new lab, it appears our base is getting crowded. For this reason and the safety factor, we may need to purchase and build a second base.

Saturday morning we got a call of more aliens lurking inside a government warehouse. We investigated.

Coolswa somehow manages...

...to keep hitting...

...what he's aiming at.

It's not all good news. The giant hole in the floor was caused by a popper, sneaking up behind our troops. Who was in the back? Cowcaster and not lame!, two of the three hybrids serving X-COM. We don't know if it was the explosion or the four story fall, but neither survived this mission.

Hybrids physically are much weaker and slower than humans. This is why Cowcaster and not lame! were lagging behind in this mission. Hybrids really shine when using psionic attacks - of which the aliens seem to be largely immune. While it was a good gesture on our part, I can't in good faith allow hybrids to become a major part of our soldier pool. Schlock will be the last hybrid on the X-COM squad.

If it wasn't for the floor giving way, Acetone may have been killed by either a second popper or the hyperworm. As it was, Acetone killed off these two aliens and the rest of the team cleared the warehouse without incident.

We're very close to opening our new biochemistry lab, but our boys are doing well with what they currently have.

Our weekly funding assessment came at the same time as the second MarSec arms shipment. Power swords, mini-launchers and more armor arrived and was quickly purchased.

It appears the aliens received an upgrade too - a new type of alien ship appeared, with three escorts.

These alien ships are nearly an armada - we concentrated all our fire on one of the new ones and escaped as soon as it was down.

Three of our craft will be in for major repair.

Before I sent our soldiers to capture the new alien ship type I sent them to this large flyer factory. The other ship deposited a group of aliens here, and I suspected that they might have something else new besides a ship.

My suspicions were confirmed. A large yellow skeletal-looking creature met our men.

And these creatures can fly.

Fortunately many more of our own troops now have flying armor, and BeerDeer scored the first "skeletoid" kill after a mid-air duel.

Acetone killed the second. We seemed to be able to handle these new creatures...

...though an old foe took over Xmas Future.

'Dini' was able to stun Xmas Future and return him to base. Along with Jimmy Tango, we now have two brainsucked soldiers in containment, awaiting a cure that may never come.

We were unable to capture a living skeletoid, but no doubt the new alien craft will have some as crew.

*RECORDING CONTINUES*