What follows is a journal written by one of the operatives in the second XCOM campaign, Alan Robertson.

Operation Witch Claw – May 11th,2035 – Part 1

This is our first mission after our daring escape after we were shot down by ADVENT forces. I’ve recovered from my injuries, but I’m not sure I’m ready to get out in the field. However, I’m not given much of a chance. We’ve found intel on an Alien Relay in East Africa that needs to be destroyed. After the losses suffered, myself and Sgt. Ishikawa are the two highest ranking members of the team. We’re joined by Cpl. Ye and two new rookies, Kabosky and iD35DSTROYu (Don’t ask me where he got the name, but that’s all we have for him).

As we drop into the area, we find out that we have eight minutes before the relay finishes transferring all of its data to ADVENT. So, we’ve got to hurry to take it out before then. Ishikawa takes point and creeps from cover to cover. He ends up spying a sectoid and trooper in our path to the relay. iD35DSTROYu follows suit and takes his position behind an abandoned ADVENT patrol car. Kabosky moves up just a bit from Ishikawa and takes cover behind a giant cactus. Ye moves up and takes cover behind a temporary barricade that was constructed in the area. I bring up the rear and take cover behind a large dumpster as we wait.

The enemy forces we can see make no movements. So, we set our ambush. Ye is the first to go into overwatch. iD35DSTROYu and Kabosky follow suit, and then Ishikawa does the same. That leaves me to initiate the altercation. I switch back and forth between the trooper and sectoid trying to determine which is the best target. I decide on the sectoid and let a shot fly. It hits him directly in the head causing critical damage and he falls dead. The trooper moves forward to try and retaliate and take us out. As he advances, Kabosky lets a few rounds fly, but he misses wide. As the trooper moves around a cover, Ishikawa lays down a volley with his cannon, but his shots go high and miss. As the trooper moves past the corner, Ye fires a blast with her sniper rifle and tags the trooper, but he’s still standing. He moves into sight of iD35STROYu and he finishes him off with a blast from his rifle.

We wait to see if our actions bring the cavalry in, but we hear nor see any ADVENT movement. So, we continue to press on towards the relay. Kabosky takes cover behind a bus and spots two more ADVENT troops in the building with the relay, a Mech and an Officer. As the spot him, they move outside of the building to engage us. Seeing them grouped together, Kabosky pulls out a frag grenade and tosses it right between them. Both take shrapnel damage, but are still standing. iD35STROYu moves to the other end of the car. He can see the Mech just beyond the front corner of the bus. So, he pulls out his rifle and lets a shot fly. He hits the Mech and it goes down. Having no chance of moving and taking a decent shot, Ishikawa trucks it and takes cover at the front of the bus. Ye moves up and takes cover behind a small building by the patrol car. She then goes into overwatch with her pistol, since she does not have time to prepare a shot with the sniper rifle. I move up to the patrol car by iD35STROYu and take cover myself.

The officer takes cover behind some rubble in the corner of the building and fires a shot at Kabosky, but misses his target. iD35STROYu moves as far as he can and takes cover behind a car parked in the parking lot of the building the relay and officer are in. Kabosky moves up and into cover behind some shopping carts. He doesn’t like the shot available to him and so decides to wait and see what the rest of the team does. Ye rushes up and moves into position right beside iD35STROYu. I rush and take cover behind another car in the parking lot. Ishikawa moves up behind a lone shopping cart to take partial cover. Kabosky realizes that he’s the only one with any real shot at the officer, even if it is a poor shot, and lines up and lets one fly. He hits the officer through the bricks of the building and finishes him off. With no hostiles in sight, Ishikawa moves further up and into cover beside me.

<To Be Continued>

Author Heath Markley

I have been an avid gamer for 32 years now. It started with the Atari 2600 my parents bought me as a child (my mom still says she regrets that decision), and I have never looked back. For my gaming, I enjoy RPG and strategy games the most, but I will play almost all games. Besides gaming, I am a family man (beautiful wife and three wonderful children) and a healthcare IT professional. So, gaming time is a premium for me, but I make the most of every chance I get.