Last time I left off on a Council mission called Confounding Light. I don't remember anything about what the plot was and I don't bother to re-read the description, let's just get to it!
I'll bring Lieutenant Almaeron, infantry, Sergeant Tevelyan, my medic, Corporal Ciyin, my gunner, Corporal Belarius as sniper, Corporal April Valin with rockets, Lieutenant Corporal Belendithas Uth Droma as an engineer, Specialist Lil Mouse as scout, and take a risk and bring Private First Class Jaro. I equip people with laser guns and the few pieces of upgraded armor I have, and we take off.
Ok, Central explains that my mission is to place a transponder on a train and turn the train on to lure away an alien battleship that is heading towards the city. Ironically we're in China, which is currently home to an Alien base and is not part of the XCOM council anymore, but this is a plot mission so I guess it has to happen. I have ten turns to complete the mission. Do you know how long trains can get? I hope I have time. Hoo boy. Wait, the objectives say I have to place "each" of the transponders? There's more than one?
Alright, we deploy on one side of a commuter train station. The train is in the middle and there is another platform on the opposite side of the train. I know there are aliens around, but I have no idea which direction they're coming from. I'm going to try a combination of aggressive movement and cautious movement? I'm sure that will go well, but I don't know what else to do. We swiftly run into our first pod of aliens, a trio of Thin Men on the far side of the train. Almaeron is able to pick one of them off immediately, but the rest of my squad is out of position and I have to dash a lot of people just to get into positions with cover. At this point I have eight turns remaining.
Belarius is able to kill a second Thin Man on my next turn, just before Ciyin moves into a forward position and spots a second pod; this time the pod is made up of one Thin Man and a pair of Seekers. Ciyin has managed to spot them without activating the pod, and so gets a flank attack on the Thin Man who promptly dies in a hail of laser fire. Three shots from the rest of my squad finally takes down the last Thin Man, and Belendithas kills one of the seekers.
On the alien turn, Central warns me that a group of aliens were air-launched from the battleship, and will be arriving in my position shortly. A Muton lands directly behind Belarius the sniper and goes on overwatch. The remaining Seeker meanwhile manages to land a hit on Almaeron.
Cover is difficult, Belarius, Almaeron and Aeril had gone to the train roof for the range and elevation bonuses, but there is very little cover up there. Almaeron had dropped back down to help inside the train a turn before the Muton showed up. Now Belarius is stuck, unable to move and too close to the Muton to use his sniper rifle (the rifle has a 38% chance to hit at point blank range, and his pistol does almost no damage.) Aeril, a bit ahead, takes a shot and manages a hit on the Muton. And then the Muton roars, causing a Will check to resist panic from intimidation on Aeril, which she fails. So my person with rockets is panicking, this is good. At least Ciyin kills the last Seeker.
Inside the train, Almaeron pushes forward and activates three more Thin Men. Lil Mouse pops out of the train, hoping to draw the Mutons overwatch with her Lightning Reflexes, but it doesn't see her. Still, she has a shot and she takes it, wounding the Muton further. Belarius is then able to finish the Muton off with his pistol. Phew!
There are two transponders remaining of four, and Almaeron has made it to the third. I have seven turns remaining, so time-wise this is looking doable.
And then a Thin Man runs onto the train and straight up kills Almaeron. No "critical wound" I can stabilize, just dead. So, I'm restarting the mission.
Take Two!
I move more aggressively this time. sending four people towards the top of the train; Aeril, Mouse, Almaeron and Belarius. The rest of the squad goes straight into the train. Hopefully, since all the aliens were on the far side of the train the first time, I don't need to have cover to my back. On the alien turn, the pod of three Thin Men patrols into my forces, which is good for me as they then spend the turn finding cover and NOT shooting me. As I move people to return fire, I realize I forgot to give Mouse a laser gun. She's shooting regular bullets! Fortunately, she kills her target anyway. The whole team, better positioned than last time, kills the whole pod with no chance to fire back. Jaro runs forward and plants the first transponder, and I still have nine turns to go! The Muton shows up now, so it must be tied to the transponder. Fortunately, it appears on the platform next to the train, rather than on top. Jaro takes a shot, wounds the alien, and then fails his panic check to the Muton's intimidating roar. Mouse finishes the Muton off before it can do any more damage.
Moving forward, Tevelyan spots a second pod of aliens, the one with two Seekers and one Thin Man. Tevelyan promptly kills one of the Seekers. Belarius, in position on top of the train, snipes the Thin Man from a range, and Ciyin rains laser death on the last Seeker. My sight lines are clear again, but not for long as three more Thin Men show up. Almaeron kills one on overwatch, and Aeril's overwatch wounds a second. A second Muton teleports in, this time on top of the train right behind Mouse and Belarius. This feels familiar.
At this point I have six turns remaining.
Belendithas tosses a grenade that outright kills another Thin Man, but somehow there are still more. Ciyin kills another, and I count three remaining.
Let's look at the Muton situation. I consider a few options; Mouse can hopefully draw his fire and not get hit with Lightning Reflexes, then shoot it, or I could try wounding it with someone from the bottom again. I move Mouse... and she gets hit and dies. What was my last autosave?
I repeat my steps with the Thin Men, and realize I have another good option. This time the Muton is not using the SAME cover as Belarius and Mouse, so Aeril turns around and destroys the Muton's cover with a rocket shot, leaving the Muton wounded, which allows Mouse to simply turn and kill it rather than triggering its overwatch. Phew, again. Belarius then snipes another of the Thin Men.
In the forward part of the train, the Thin Men fire on us, and one manages a hit on Belendithas that knocks him to critical health. Tevelyan is able to revive Belendithas though, and the engineer kills a thin man with another grenade. As Ciyin kills the final Thin Man, another Muton appears directly behind Belarius, and I notice that even though he's standing on one side of the cover, for some reason it doesn't seem to count as cover, so that's lovely.
Well, let's deal with that in a moment. Jaro places the last transponder, now I need someone to turn the train on. Jaro can still act after placing the transponder, so he runs to the cab of the train... and that's it! I win! With four turns remaining. Phew! Again again!
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| Yeah, we did well. Even if I restarted once and went back a turn once... |
Promotion time! Almaeron reaches Lieutenant 3, and takes Lock'N'Load. This lets him move after reloading, and I had a moment in that last fight where I really needed him to shoot but he lost his whole turn to reloading.
Tevelyan will take Opportunist at Tech Sergeant, mostly because the other two options improve smoke grenades and none of my medics are doing smoke grenades right now. Ciyin promotes to Sergeant and takes Ranger for the extra point of damage with every shot.
Belarius attains Sergeant as well, and will take Sharpshooter, which grants +10 critical hit chance at all times, and +10 aim at foes in full cover.
Congratulations Lil Mouse, you have gone past specialist to Lieutenant Corporal! You get Holo-Targeting, because my scouts tend to be shooting first anyway, so you may as well help the rest of the squad hit your target.
Jaro becomes a Rocketeer!
Belendithas reaches corporal, and takes H.E.A.T. Warheads, which will increase his grenade damage against mechanized foes. By the time he's back in action we'll probably be facing mechanized enemies that aren't drones and Seekers.
I let time pass. Or try to. I don't progress a single day before I get an Abduction mission. So next time, it will be time for a swarming abductions mission in Kyoto!
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