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

Recap: A UFO was hunting the Avenger and found us. It shot us out of the sky and placed an EMP disrupter spike outside. We cannot take off until we destroy it, and ADVENT is sending everything they have at us. We are currently battling their forces, and they dealt a massive morale blow to us by killing Lieutenant Jane ‘Specter’ Kelly, which caused Keenan and Kim to panic.

Not liking having a MEC unit right up in his face, Ishikawa proceeds to lay right into the unit with a volley of fire. It’s damaged but still standing though. Girard finishes off the injured sectoid with one rifle shot. Due to the hair trigger installed on his rifle, he has time to take another action. He proceeds to move down into cover by me to get closer to the MEC. However, the trooper that was in overwatch notices his movement and hits him with some rifle fire. I can tell Girard is hurting, but he keeps moving and takes his spot in cover. He then finishes off the MEC with another rifle shot. Ye takes aim and blasts a trooper with her sniper rifle. As seems to be the standard today, she injures it, but it’s still standing. I take shot at another trooper, but my shot misses.

The remaining sectoid moves up closer. Then, a trooper moves forward and tries to hit Ishikawa but misses him. Another trooper moves forward and also takes a shot at Ishikawa, but he also misses. Yet a third trooper moves up and takes a shot at Ishikawa. Luck is on Ishikawa’s side today though as this shot misses also.

Central sends out another reserve unit to join us, Rookie Bernhard Schulz. Not liking being in the sights of three troopers, Ishikawa moves into cover behind a large boulder to reposition and then reloads his cannon. He then pulls out the grenade launcher and launches a frag grenade between two of the troopers. It takes one down completely and injures the other. Ye realizes that the sectoid moving up left himself wide open in her sights. So, she fires of a shot and critically hits him, but he’s still standing. Girard reloads his rifle to be ready and then takes out a trooper with a rifle blast. His hair trigger procs again and allows him to finish off the trooper injured by Ishikawa’s grenade. Keenan moves forward into partial cover and finishes off the sectoid that Ye injured. That makes the psi zombie that the sectoid created fall back motionless to the ground. Kim moves up to the fence line and goes into overwatch. Schulz moves forward as far as he can and goes into cover on the fence line where Kelly was taken down. With no enemies in sight at the moment, I reload my sniper rifle so I can be ready for whatever comes next.

Off in the distance we see a red flare hit the ground, signaling that we’ve got ADVENT reinforcements incoming in that area. Realizing that we’ve got to get this disruptor spike taken out, Kim rushes forward and takes cover behind a partial fence in view of the spike. However, he is also in view of two trooper and a berserker that were waiting on the roof of a building behind the spike. Ye realizes she is out of ammo and takes a moment to reload her sniper rifle. Ishikawa and Girard stay in their positions and go into overwatch. Keenan moves up into cover behind a large cactus and reloads his rifle. I also go into overwatch to prepare of the incoming troops. Schulz moves up into some full cover and goes into overwatch.

We watch the ADVENT transport come into view and drops off an officer and trooper. The berserker rushes towards Kim, but Schulz lays into it with a blast from his rifle. However, the thing is still standing. One of the troopers by the building moves forward and injures Kim with a rifle blast. The other trooper rushes towards Schulz’s position, but Ye takes it down with a pistol blast.

<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.



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