Part 24: X-COM SOLDIER BRIEFING - COLONEL CLEARANCE LEVEL
Dr. Markus: Colonel Zander.
[Otto Zander: Oh hello Reis. What's up? I hope this won't take long, there's another funeral going on in a few minutes.
Dr. Markus: You'll have to miss it I'm afraid. I have some bad news. Well, bad news for us. The Kiryu-Kai boys just lost another eight men on a mission.
Otto Zander: Jeez, they're really getting hammered over there.
Dr. Markus: That's why I'm here now. They need you and your expertise to help with their problem. Your orders are to take three men of your choosing and head over there immediately.
Otto Zander: Oh. Wow. Uh, okay. I've never been to Japan. Isn't that Ryo guy from there? He talks of home a lot, I should take him. And Andrew Jackson has proven fairly competent. Taking those two shouldn't hurt our operations here too much.
Dr. Markus: That would be acceptable. Tell me your third choice, and I'll go inform them of their transfer.
Otto Zander: Actually, I'd rather do it myself.
Otto Zander: Lily, how's it going?
Dr. Lily Takakumi: Ugh, I've been better. I've had the flu recently, and I'm still pretty upset over Dommy's passing.
Otto Zander: My condolences again. I wanted to ask you a favor.
Dr. Lily Takakumi: Oh?
Otto Zander: You see, I know you're originally from Japan, and you mentioned how everything here reminds you of Terashell, how you're not a huge fan of Dr. Markus...
Dr. Lily Takakumi: Don't get me started on that. Or that Private Wren trainee, he gives me the creeps. Have you met him?
Otto Zander: No, I try to stay distant from the trainees. It's hard making new friends that keep dying. Anyway, I'm here to ask you something that may solve some of your problems. I'm being transferred to the Kiryu-Kai, and I want you to come along.
Dr. Lily Takakumi: Really?
Otto Zander: You'll be in charge of research there, plus you'll be closer to home. One of your homes.
Dr. Lily Takakumi: Did you hear that Ms. Cuddles? We're going on a trip!
Ms. Cuddles: *prrrrrrr*
Otto Zander: Oh, that explains the orange fur all over my medkit. That stuff is like Velcro.
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X-COM SOLDIER BRIEFING - COLONEL CLEARANCE LEVEL
Examination of the captured Sectoid Leader provided some very interesting results. Though we still cannot risk having it conscious, study of it has shown that its psionic abilities are an organic amplification and transmission of its own brain waves. This discovery provides us with a unique opportunity.
By surgically implanting small devices into our men, we can simulate this ability ourselves. With study and practice our soldiers should be able to stimulate emotions of fear and panic in alien soldiers. With enough practice, a psionic user may be able to overwrite the brain wave patterns of a target, forcing the target to perform any actions the psionic attacker wishes.
A soldier's implants send brain wave signals to a specialized amplifier - the Psi-Amp. An Elerium boosted transmitter allows a user to broadcast a psionic signal to anywhere on the battlefield.
An added benefit of the psionic field of research is communication. No longer will only certain individuals be able to communicate with Allen. A properly equipped person can use the Psi-Amp to communicate with any alien, regardless of language barriers. Thoughts are transmitted as images, feelings and memory rather than words and text. The potential for interrogation is enormous.
Psi-labs are being constructed in all X-COM bases and will be operational by the end of the month. We suspect that training an individual in the use of psionic warfare may take upward of a month, and each lab can only accommodate ten users. Testing for suitable candidates is underway.
Captured inside the Sectoid terror ship was an unexploded Cyberdisk. We have dismantled it and learned much of its construction. We confirmed our hypothesis that the Cyberdisk is a miniature UFO. The external shell is reproducible using alien alloys. Internally a sophisticated control system automates the function of the mounted plasma weapon. The programming behind this system is impressive, yet easily understandable. Rewriting the program for the purposes of making a friendly Cyberdisk support weapon is a definite possibility. The primary power source was damaged beyond repair. Fortunately-
-we have spares. The alien power source moderates the flow of particles into chamber containing Elerium. The Elerium generates anti-matter, which is collected and stored. When the anti-matter is injected into the Elerium, anti-gravity waves are emitted through a method not entirely understood. The alien power source is reproducible and simply scaled down.
With a new power source installed and some source code rewritten, we were able to repair the Cyberdisk. There have been some rather heated arguments about the role of automated support weapons for use as X-COM weapons. Some scientists are quite vocal about the potential of "automated soldiers" as a way to prevent human deaths. On the other hand, an AI will never be as quick to adapt to a changing situation as a person, and our current tele-operation of tanks has proven effective. While we are designing an upgraded tank weapon, is it still under debate as to whether it will be an automated system, or remotely operated.
X-COM Head Scientist,
Dr. Reis Markus
SELECTED FAN ENTRIES BELOW
Dexanth posted:
Audio Log L. Takakumi, random musing
Activate recorder. Ok, so normally I'd write, but that'd require sitting down and I really just feel a bit tired and overwhelmed right now. I don't even really feel up to speaking pretentiously, fun as that normally is.
Otto asked me to come to Japan with him. It's really a no brainer - My own personal division, a way to get away from Markus the incompetent, and, well, I guess I can always go sightseeing. Though, I will have to mention to him I'm actually from America, it's just my ancestry.
Best of all, though, I think, will be that leaving will get me away from thinking about Dommy all the time. That time we spent together was so wonderful, and -
Oh. Oh no. Fuck fuck no, this can't be happening! Why couldn't I have - Why didn't I notice?! I don't have time to deal with - Ah, End log!
Recording Ends
Allen Wren posted:
From the desk of Pvt. (???) A. Wren, clea...
From the desk of A. Wren, the mayor of putting up with your bullshit.
Me and my mouth. My big fucking mouth gets me in trouble again. I must have been drunk, said something about wanting to brighten up that mad scientist's lab of a workplace I got, and now, well, you've probably read the report or heard the rumors. The security report lays it out fairly concisely: I got to my office yesterday morning (yes, my OFFICE, you jarhead assholes. I don't LIVE there. Do your research next time) to find that someone had interpreted my intentions of making this job a bit more tolerable as "Oh, boy, I wanna put my dick in!"
Okay, as I said, I was drunk. I might have started talking about the boss's ass again. I don't remember. So, yeah, somebody...
Come in!
...weird. Thought someone was at the door. Anyway. Some asshole decides they're gonna be the hero on a white horse from little old me, and graffitis up the office, telling me to keep hands off. Oh, and thank you, science! Whatever this paint stuff is, it's not coming off. And, yah, you guessed it, I'm the janitor, I gotta make the attempt at cleaning it up. Fucking great. Y'know, I don't mind a good prank. But pulling that shit and getting this bunch of paranoid, superstitious assholes thinking it's a ghost? No-one'll even talk to me n...
It's open!
...still nothing? Fucking assholes. This is fifth-grade-level shit, knocking on the door and running away. If I had any idea who pulled this, the counter-prank-action would be legendary.
Dexanth posted:
Personal Request Form 22-B
From : Dr. Lily Takakumi
To : Commander Ulysses
Subject : Request for additional personnel on movement
Commander Ulysses,
It has come to my attention I will shortly be transferred over to Japan. Now, I know that the rumor around base is that the pair of us don't get along well, but I would like to request that Private Wren be included in the list of personnel transferred.
Simply put, though he is a rather misogynistic pig, for some reason I've grown oddly fond of his manner. I'm sure part of it is his tendency to get injured in amusing ways, but anyway, he does do quite a good job keeping the public areas of my lab rather clean, and as there appears to be someone on-base who wants him dead, for his own safety I would recommend this as well.
So, please take this into consideration!
Sincerely,
Lily Takakumi