XCOM 2: Avatar

[Part of the XCOM 2 story]

It's not long before the UFO finds us and forces us to land with an EMP spike. They then send loads of units to try capture the ship while our forces must push forward and destroy said (literal) spike AND return to the ship before lift off (an excellent mission which I aced)! Pretty we constructed those defensive turrets.

Once we've escaped, our scientists reveal what they learned from all the material we gathered so far. The alien leaders are dying and have found the correct host to be the titular Avatars. Millions of people are being secretly processed for the human component and the coordinates for their main base which sits underwater is located. The only catch is it needs an Avatar to open the gate.

Luckily we have one of those, so I volunteer to neural link up to pilot it and lead a squad into the alien infested base but find the psionic powers of the avatar to be super strong. Null Lance which pierces through everything and void rift which is huge AoE are amazing and let the team slaughter our way through easily. 

Is that a Saiyan under that mask?

That is until we find the three enemy avatars we must defeat (one at a time) who continually summon servants each round. Their worst ability is mind control, and Jane Kelly manages to become the bitch of all three - killing her teammates Rev with a point blank shotgun blast to the face and cutting William down with her plasma blade before I take her out of the equation with a Null Lance. Goose also gets ripped apart by a void rift (bad guys can do it too) before the final enemy avatar is slain and their base destroyed.

With the ADVENT plot exposed, their remaining and now leaderless forces worldwide are overrun by the growing resistance... a total victory for XCOM!

Tactics Tip: For that last fight I advanced really slowly and held on the right side before the bridge, then sent Jane alone to trigger the enemy avatar sequence.

XCOM 2: Facilities

[Part of the XCOM 2 story]

Since hitting facilities really damages the Avatar project that's what the soldiers are sent to do, and a few more give their lives to the cause, the most horrifying being IzzBee being impregnated by a chryssalid (who are exactly the same from last time) - eventually dying on the field from its fluids and was turned into a fleshy birth sack that her team mates destroyed before full gestation occurred (which is +3 chryssalids on the field).

Also lost Katz who was obliterated by a pair of sectopods (huge, two legged war machines), Aaron who was beheaded by an archon, Squidman Dan who took cover behind a flaming truck (carrying explosives), Mickey and Rocio exploded by MEC missiles, and Cash who was melted by Andromedon acid.

These things are basically tanks.

During this time Jane Kelly managed to skulljack a codex which spawned what the science team refers to as an avatar, which her squad promptly dealt with as well as a psionic gate guarded by a large floating ball (which hides a psionic tentacle alien) which were all transported back to the Avenger for further study. All this has almost put the Avatar project back at square one, and the aliens are so pissed they finally send a UFO to hunt us down.

Fun Tip: If there is a "fixed" extraction point in a mission and it is not on ground level and somewhere inconvenient / dangerous, blow it up to force it to move.

XCOM 2: Skulljack

[Part of the XCOM 2 story]

We took another loss today from a team deployed to rescue our rebel allies against an ADVENT raid. While focusing on saving civilians from an imposing Muton (brute type alien), soldier Peyton found himself standing next to a new type of alien coined the faceless. These things look like civilians until you get close, which is when they transform into a towering clay humanoid with giant claws. Even with his shotgun Peyton didn't stand a chance.

Super tall things. I wonder how they hide all their mass?

On a more positive note, the development of the skulljack (think Wolverine's claws, but with USB tips?) is complete and Jane Kelly managed to shove it right into an ADVENT officer's noggin. For some reason this then spawned a digital ghost that needed to be defeated but her squaddies Rev, Squidman Dan and Ursula were more than a match for it.

Thanks to the intel gained from the skulljack and the vial Katz retrieved previously, we now know ADVENT is working on something called the Avatar program, and it comes complete with a visual doom clock and everything. Only bad things will happen if that time marker runs out so we need to step up our game, especially as ADVENT forces are now conducting midnight raids to reduce the potential number of volunteers available to us (bad event that doubles the cost of hiring people for the next month).

XCOM 2: Avenger

[Part of the XCOM 2 story]

Despite Earth's best efforts, the aliens won - and after twenty years of "unification" most humans are ok with that. It's almost unbelievable, yet here I am having been freshly rescued by a new XCOM team led by Jane Kelly from an ADVENT prison to help the resistance. Apparently they lost two soldiers in the attempt (because the tutorial forces them to die). I sure hope I'm worth it.

Now I'm onboard the Avenger, a massive alien space ship refit to be a mobile base as we covertly play whackamole with ADVENT forces deep in South Africa. To be more acceptable to the public these ADVENT enforcers are almost people now, humans spliced with alien DNA and injected with some sort of chip in their head. A similar type to the chip chief science officer pulled from my head.

The mobile base is a good idea.

Unfortunately studying chips from corpses aren't getting anywhere, so he's requested tech be developed to jack into a living ADVENT officer. Might be some time before that happens since we still need to clear the lower bowels of the ship to make chambers that can design that, and more chambers to power it. At least the resistance is world wide and provides regular supply drops. Our job is to network them up and take the fight back to the aliens. Time to get to work.

Fallout Shelter: The Great Purge

[Part of the Wasted Land story]

Unable to reach the exit due to a flanking swarm, the remaining Vault 40 survivors retreat into separate rooms and lock the doors. This of course only serves to trap them. The roaches soon invade the power station and make quick work of Smedley, Carol Black and Payday.

Totally freaking out, Shocklord uses his lightning powers and full blast - eliminating waves of the insects but at the same time hitting the power generator itself. The machine goes into overload and explodes, setting most of the vault on fire. While this does force the roaches to flee, the fires also roast alive Jane, Nicki, Lanfey, Rage Metalhead, Hawkes, Charybdis and Shocklord himself.

Everything's on fire!

Only Maxine and Bardo who managed to hide in a bathtub of water survive the event, and with the coast clear, opt to take their chances in the wasteland rather than remain in this awful and forsaken place. Eventually both women give birth to sons, and are forced to try find another place to stay away from the radiation. It is then they find a similar looking door imprinted with "Vault 465".

Insight: You can revive deceased dwellers for caps, just not in survival mode.

Fallout Shelter: Horrors in the Dark

[Part of the Wasted Land story]

While their new accommodations were cozy and quite self sustaining, it soon became clear that Yazan's group were quite deprived of female attention much to Charybdis and Hawkes detriment. Now with "fresh meat" available they soon came to forcing themselves upon the rest of the females in the group whom they divided and "conquered".

Seeing that conflict was inevitable, Smedley began rallying his crew but a shrill scream signaled the presence of a new threat.

There in the living quarters they found Luna, decapitated by a giant radroach... and more of the vermin soon crawled out from the vents looking to feast on their new visitors! Any thoughts of fighting each other quickly vanished as both teams began battling the insectoid invaders but had to fall back against the increasing enemy numbers.

Totally heading the way of Terraformars here...

Eventually even the amazing skills of Guin are not enough as the tiger man is brought down by the horrible foe. This causes the remaining survivors to panic and flee.

Insight: Survival mode is serious business and makes everything harder! Don't jump straight into it like I did here!

Fallout Shelter: Vault 40

[Part of the Wasted Land story]

They didn't know what triggered the explosion, but Smedley knew that it was bad. He quickly took his nearby crew of Carol Black, Payday, Maxine, Nicki Law (who had escaped captivity), Bardo and Lanfey to a safe shelter he knew about that had imprinted on the entrance in large, faded letters "Vault 40". Accompanying them were also his two prized prisoners, Luna and Jane (whom Payday captured after her previous appearance).

By the time they reach there, another more colorful group - composed of Yazan Barghouti, Guin, Rage Metalhead, Shocklord and their two slaves Hawkes and Charybdis were already at the door, trying to gain entry. After a brief standoff, Smedley and Yazan agreed it would be better if both groups simply worked together and so entered the foreboding bunker as one.

What could go wrong?

Insight: Each room uses a different stat to operate, and power is most important because without power nothing else works.

Shadowrun: Whole

[Part of the Shadowrun Chronicles.]

The headcases become significantly less organized after dealing with Jane, giving some breathing room at Smedley's Square. Despite the continued lock down spirits are high, for Carol particularly as she has earned enough money to get out of Smedley's debt.

For an exorbitant fee, she undergoes surgery again - removing her robotic limbs to be replaced by a vat grown variety. As a bonus, the donor was even of the same skin color so only the keenest of eyes could tell they weren't originally her own.

Almost good as new.

Also, less cybernetics means better magic abilities!

During recovery Carol is visited by her few friends and allies, including Smedley who congratulates her and lets her recover in peace.

"When you're ready to work again, you know where to find me."

Carol hoped that would be awhile yet, as she still had funds left over to enjoy some simple luxuries.

A victory requires a celebration after all!

Shadowrun: Left for Dead

[Part of the Shadowrun Chronicles.]

When they find her, Jane is in the center of a large circular room connected to all sorts of wires and is now totally possessed by the virus. The squad makes quick work of her generators, taking cover from her radial fire virus wall attacks as they advance.

This only makes Jane angry, as she summons large waves of hounds, headcases and turrets  to protect her. Barbel is eventually brought down by a pack of dogs, Maxine severely wounded by gunfire and Batshit takes a full hit of the virus wall attack when he is caught in the open, effectively disintegrating him.

Jane is being worn down though, and at an opportune moment - Carol pulls out Smedley's Vindicator chain gun and empties it at her frenemy. Jane is torn from the wires and collapses in a heap. There are too many headcases still around so Carol grabs Maxine and the two get out of there, leaving Jane for dead.

Defeated, but possibly still alive.

Shadowrun: What Doesn't Kill You

[Part of the Shadowrun Chronicles.]

With the virus release imminent Sarah is quick to pull the plug on the mainframe. Jane responds by making it explode somehow, killing the police officer and most of Carol's team. She herself is knocked her out and awakens to find herself about to be experimented on by Aztech scientists at a strange lab.

Another common occurrence it seems.

Carol manages to free herself and kill the lab rats, but then finds herself in a large room surrounded by powerful headcases while Jane mocks her over the speaker system. Fortunately a team composed of Lanfey, Bardo and Payday arrive just in time to rescue her. Smedley clearly cares about his investment!

As thanks, Carol volunteers to lead the attack against Jane who is easily tracked as she is creating a massive power spike for some nefarious purpose. She loads up on weaponry and assembles the kill squad of Barbel, Maxine and Batshit - the only other survivor from the control room explosion who is equally keen for some pay back.

Shadowrun: New Age Spam

[Part of the Shadowrun Chronicles.]

There's no time to worry about Jane's new behavior as the team finds Smedley's Square under direct assault by Aztech forces, now desperate since their bombing attempt failed. Carol joins up with Batshit, Blood Countess and Darwin, a dwarf hammerite, to stop them.

Manastorm is very effective!

Between Blood Countess' turrets and Batshit's new AoE spell they aren't much of a challenge. As soon as they are defeated Smedley sends them on the offensive, along with Sarah and four militia guys to attack the main Aztech broadcasting tower (the only one left working) and broadcast Allison's recorded report which contains the truth about Aztechnology and the virus beyond the quarantine zone.

The militia guys don't make it past the parking lot, getting slain by eagle shamans, blood spirits, and one to a guard dog but the rest penetrate the facility just fine - with Darwin actually surviving toe to toe against blood spirits with his hammer. Upon reaching the control room, Jane radios in to reveal she has other ideas.

They are going to broadcast the virus instead.

Shadowrun: Weaponized Malware

[Part of the Shadowrun Chronicles.]

Nicki Law must have spilled the beans because not long after the last outing, Aztechnology sends in sappers to Smedley's Square. Without time to get her usual squad she joins Ratdoktor and male counterparts Bardo, an orc chain gunner, and Batshit, a tattooed mage to cleanse the tunnels of Aztech fanatics who are *guarding timed explosives*.

One of the zealot sun priests manages to kill Ratdoktor with an eviscerating spell, but the team manages to defuse all the bombs in time. Jane then has a breakthrough in regards to the virus: it's part dragon blood/part nano tech - one heck of a way to weaponize a dragon.

Apparently that's a common thing.

The best place to find more info is at the research lab tied to the data Jane found, so she takes Carol, Bardo, Blood Countess and Maxine (another autogunner) to the location and the team gets past the heavy security, including more mechs, to let Jane hook up directly to their mainframe. While all of Aztechs dirty secrets are now revealed, Jane seems to start acting funny...

Shadowrun: Ninja Magic

[Part of the Shadowrun Chronicles.]

During Carol's recovery back at base, Sarah's investigation led to her arrest by the forces of Knight Errant (police) and is now in need of rescue. After getting fake ID's from Jane, Carol assembled her team of Halon, Thunderb0lz and Hangover the dwarf ninja who is really good with her katana.

Using some tunnels to get to the precinct leads into a small skirmish against headcases but nothing the team can't handle. Breaking Sarah out of the prison is even easier, though the Knight Errant forces up their game during the pursuit through the warehouse district.

You can tell they're up to no good.

After a trying combat, the team is able to escape and a battered Sarah is able to give them the current location of Luna the dragonslayer boss. Carol leads her team to the rooftops where they clash against Luna and her gang in earnest. Hangover manages to win her duel against a chainsaw brute only to have the teleporting Luna blast her off to her death.

This puts the fat magician in a bad position though, and the remaining squaddies incapacitate her for questioning.

Shadowrun: Redirection

[Part of the Shadowrun Chronicles.]

After learning some hacking skills from Jane, Carol is next sent with the troll shaman Anjelica to plant some evidence at a corporate office. The robot guards prove resilient to Anjelica's magic, but less so to her summoned spirit bears.

The task really goes sideways when a random dragon decides to attack the city, causing the building alarms to go off and forcing the pair into an early escape. Smedley redirects them to a garage where they meet team mates Thunderb0lz, a silver haired drone operator, and Ahnah TwoCrows, an elf with an uzi, to steal an ambulance.

Getting the gang together.

With four people this easy job turns out to be just a warm up for the true heist. Disguised as EMTs , the squad heads through the panicked city to a stadium the dragon had attacked. Casualties and police are abundant, but apart from a cursory "don't go in there, it's still dangerous" no one stops them from entering the taped off building.

Shadowrun: The One that got Away

[Part of the Shadowrun Chronicles.]

Accepting Carol's request, Smedley teams her up with the hacker, Jane and Al'sia, an elfin mage, to raid Dragonslayer controlled docks to find their leader, Luna. While Al'sia's magic is devastating to the guards, it has little effect on the automated turrets. Fortunately Jane takes care of all of those and hacks a computer that indicates Luna's location nearby.

Carol and Al'sia hoof it to the designated apartment building and after Al'sia bribes the janitor with some beer, the pair gain access to the power system - shutting off the lights and the automated defenses.

Jane is quick to comment.

They find Luna, a fat lady dressed as a clown, in conversation with her mage underling. Luna quickly teleports away while the underling uses mirror images to battle the pair of intruders. His tricks don't fool Carol though, and she carves him up with a machete. A minor victory but the big fish got away.