X-Contracts

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Available Contracts

Operation Enduring Smoke

Heads up, Ungulates, we're offering you this contract before anyone else. Long story short is that we've identified where our captured personnel is being held, we managed to force the alien battleship to depart before the personnel could be moved there, so instead they're being held in a facility here on Earth, in Argentina. It's at the far southern end of their country, almost in Antarctica. A frontal assault would mean we'd have to engage the Argentine military, as well as giving the aliens a chance to execute the captives before we could get to them. If we don't get someone there soon, they'll likely be shipping the captives off-planet for thorough interrogation, possibly execution, or maybe simply use as human shields.

Additionally, one of the hostages is Overwatch.

Primary Objectives

Rescue all hostages

Secondary Objectives

Get information on the aliens' off-planet facilities from the Tierra del Fuego base.

Operation Frozen Crown

Dangerous Ungulates? Undoubtedly some sort of witty joke among the locals of this planet. I congratulate you on the demolition of our facility in the region you call Alaska, undoubtedly some luck was involved, but you showed skill in the operation as well. Know that I am High Admiral Bombyx, formerly of the Ethereal Empire. I would list my accolades and accomplishments, but most of them would be lost on your limited understanding of the universe. But know that we, whom X-COM has likely labelled as invaders or rebels, are not your enemies. Though our means may seem harsh, our goals are to safeguard you, and the remainder of the galaxy.

Because you have been misled into opposing us, know that we are offering you a chance to see the light. If you accept this contract, you will be temporarily relocated to our Lunar facility for training and re-supply, then seconded to our operations in the region you call Antarctica. Know that this is your chance to serve your world and your species, to save them, and that you will be well rewarded for your moral and ethical rectitude.

Primary Objectives

Hitch a ride from an alien supply UFO
Arrive on the Moon
Re-arm and re-supply
Undergo mandatory Class 5 Auxiliary training
Engage X-COM forces in Antarctica

Operation Glass Hawk

Hello again, Ungulates. This is Inyoka Mercenary Command, and also coincidentally the new government of the Alaskan Star Republic. We've decided to forget the past and the numerous sisters you've killed and left to rot, or burned alive, in the spirit of cooperative enrichment and success, now that we're going into business for ourselves. X-COM will never tell you the full story, and the Ethereal rebels have their own goals, neither of them truly care about humanity. We don't either, but we're more like you than them, and helping you win will be part of our revenge. Maybe we'll even end up as friends along the way, anything could happen.

I'm sure that our motivations are largely irrelevant to you, but we'll pay you well for assisting our plans, and we'll let you keep anything you steal along the way that isn't a mission objective.

What we need now is the resources and equipment to carry out our future plans, which is where you come into the picture. Both X-COM and the rebels have some of what we need, so we hope you don't mind fighting some of your former colleagues.

Primary Objectives

Get to Alaska
Negotiate your new contract
Steal a lot of stuff
Get rich

Secondary Objectives

Save Earth

Operation Cryptic Vanguard

Ungulates, the battle for Earth is moving into the end-game. I'm sure you feel like there are things you're being kept in the dark on, but once we've secured victory, we can explain everything.

For now, our objectives have shifted. We've identified that a third forerunner site is located in a remote part of Antarctica, but not the exact location. The aliens and some of their human allies are searching for it as well, turning the ice fields into a low-key war zone. This operation will mean a transfer to our Antarctic facilities, likely for the remainder of the conflict, and close cooperation with our pilots, scientists and troopers in the search for the third site. You might not be able to accept any other operations for a while if you accept this one.

Primary Objective

Get to Antarctica

Completed Contracts

Clearance

Welcome to X-COM, mercenaries, you are hereby cleared for ARCHANGEL-level access to the Ufopaedia and X-COM contracts, your liaison will be codenamed REACTION FIRE. Please stand by for your first assignment.

Operation Fallen Grave

This is REACTION FIRE, we've got a crisis in Morocco and we need you to respond. At approximately 1800 hours, an Algerian fighter jet attempted interception of an alien scout UFO as it crossed Algerian airspace and entered Moroccan airspace. The Moroccan air force responded with an intercept mission of their own, and in the confusion, the Moroccan air force jet managed to crash into the UFO, resulting in the first successful non-XCOM UFO interception on the African continent, as well as the loss of the Moroccan jet and its pilot.

Morocco's official line is that it was simply a mechanical malfunction that killed their pilot while he was trying to chase off the Algerian jet. At the moment they have a skeleton crew and a military forensics team at the crash site which is only barely on the Moroccan side of the border,, to avoid drawing too much attention, but Algeria is massing forces near the border and may start a war to recover the UFO first.

We need you to make your way into Morocco and assault the crash site, salvage what you can from the UFO and destroy what you can't. Additionally, recover the black box from the remains of the Moroccan fighter if possible. Once you have the items and sufficient distance from the Algerian border, a Skyranger will be dispatched to recover the items, and payment will be released from escrow. Algeria's displayed an ability to to track our Skyrangers, and we don't intend to get into a shooting fight with the Algerian air force just yet, and they've already displayed a willingness to violate secure air spaces to in the interest of intercept and recovery missions involving UFO materials.

Be warned that Morocco's preparing a large force to properly secure the crash site and its materials at the break of dawn, and any signs of fighting from the Algerian side of the border may prompt them to cross it.

Debriefing

The primary mission objective was completed successfully, all advanced technology inside the UFO was destroyed, and Algerian authorities were able to acquire only heavily damaged alien alloys. We also learned a lot about what it takes to destroy a UFO from your reports and the amount of C4 you employed in your demolition efforts.

The resulting hostilities between Algeria and Morocco… were likely to happen anyway. You might have exacerbated them, but unless you somehow managed to spirit away the entire UFO or assisted the Moroccans in making a rapid escape with it, they'd have come to blows over it in any case. For now, the hostilities are cooling down as the Algerians have moved the UFO husk far enough into their interior to secure it against Moroccan assault.

Operation Empty Summer

This is REACTION FIRE, and we have a contract for you in Algeria. Recently, the Algerian Air Force has displayed the ability to track our Skyrangers and Interceptors, and has attempted several of their intercept missions against us when we've been in or near their airspace. As a result, we need you to infiltrate one of their air bases and reach one of their attached radar installations. Look for any signs of advanced technology, in particular any signs of technology of non-terrestrial origin. Recover or document what you can, then make an escape with the materials. If you can manage to total the site in the process, that would be a bonus.

Our research indicates that Tamanrasset Air Base is the least guarded Algerian Air Force site, but it's also deep in the Algerian interior and might make for a difficult escape if you encounter problems.

Debriefing

Completed by the lone operative codenamed KILL STREAK with high amounts of collateral damage, collecting the necessary intel seemed like an afterthought. Keep an eye out for this one, we're not sure of his loyalty and he may be taking contracts from opposing forces as well.

Operation Patient Night

This is REACTION FIRE, we've got an emergency on our hands. Again. One of our ops in eastern Turkey was interrupted by the local military, most of the squad managed to escape, but one of the specialists stayed behind to destroy alien technology and was captured by the Turks before he could kill himself.

He's being held at a top secret site near the Turkish-Syrian border, and we need you to recover or kill him before they manage to wring any secrets out of him. We'd prefer him recovered alive, but he knew the risks when he joined the program and keeping our secrets secret is paramount.

We've been tracking Turkish military intelligence comms regarding the capture, and apparently it's only known to a small circle of high-ranking officers so far. This could simply be caution, but it could also indicate that something unusual is going on.

Debriefing

THE FOUR HORSEMEN took this contract but were unable to rescue the captured trooper as they were discovered on the approach and his captors killed him. Some of the Turkish officers at the prison site had Gauss weaponry, suggesting alien infiltration or a successful intercept that we are unaware of.

Operation Vengeful Prophet

REACTION FIRE, calling in. Congratulations on your first completed contract… Dangerous Ungulates. Really, that's the name you're going with?

We've got a new situation emerging in Spain. A group of our investigators have been trying to infiltrate the Church of Sirius and find out whether they're just another cult, or whether they've got an actual connection to the alien invasion. In their last report they were attempting to gain access to the new CoS meditation retreat in Spain while it was under construction, and then we lost all contact with them. This was about a week ago. Their sudden disappearance might just be a coincidence, but it implies that they've stumbled across something interesting or dangerous connected to the Church of Sirius.

We need you to follow up on our investigators' trail(their last reported location was attempting to gain access through the CoS offices in Barcelona) and, if possible, recover them. Also, if there's an alien connection to the Church of Sirius, you can consider their membership and property to be valid targets.

Debriefing

You managed to recover one of our investigators, and based on your evidence, we're assuming the other three are dead. So in the situation, you did the best you could. You also discovered a direct link between the Church of Sirius and the alien menace.

Unfortunately, the Church is aware of our awareness, now, and will be stepping up their defenses. It also looks like they're employing alien psionic powers to make potential candidates' minds malleable and easily controlled. They've already started a strong propaganda campaign against us, which we have limited options for counteracting.

Still, good work.

Oh, and we're going to need that Stun Launcher back.

Operation Stone Serpent

Alright, gentlemen, and ladies, and bird. We've got a new contract for you, and this one's going to be dangerous. We've monitored UFO flight patterns recently and expect one to be crossing over Egypt within the next week, but the Egyptian authorities are on high alert due to rumours of a coup attempt in the works, so they're going to respond rapidly to a crash on their territory, and with only our own troops, we couldn't guarantee a timely raid on the crash site due to uncertainties about where it'll be. That's why we're going to be deploying multiple mercenary teams and our own troopers in the region. Whoever's closest will respond to the crash, everyone else will run interference against the Egyptians.

We expect a high chance of live alien crew members.

Debriefing

The UFO was brought down in the expected region, and a combination of our own forces and mercenaries engaged the surviving aliens while keeping the Egyptian regulars at bay. Unfortunately the aliens managed to destroy the troops sent against them, almost all of them having survived the crash, and trigger a self-destruct in their craft before anyone could salvage it. The only bright side was that we kept alien technology out of the hands of the Egyptian government.

Operation Demon Hydra

We haven't been keeping contracts from you because there haven't been any, but X-COM has had a money flow problem in recent weeks. Several of our sources of funding have had to lie low, or been interrupted by government agents or, in one case, a Church of Sirius assault team bursting into their corporate officers. So we've been seeking alternate forms of income. Until those come online, we need your assistance.

The Church of Sirius regularly converts large amounts of its income into less easily-tracked forms, like Cryptocurrencies(there's a new one every week, it seems), gold and other commodities. We've recently acquired intel about when one of these conversions will be taking place, and what route the resulting truckload of gold will be taking on its way to their vaults. If you take this contract, we'll need you to intercept the transport, secure it and ensure that we gain the entirety of it. Be warned that the Church of Sirius will guard this one heavily.

Debriefing

That was a… worrying amount of collateral damage. We're still trying to figure out how that Interceptor got redirected to provide air support for you. We're going to want a full report on that "Cyberdisc" you found in the crate. We don't know what the Church of Sirius wanted it for, how they got it, or what they planned to do with it, but it's worrying that they have access to technology like that.

Operation Blazed Garden

'eyyyyy baes! lol, do i need some dorky-ass call sign? how about xXxTwitterQueen420xXx??? anyway my boss keeps talking about you guys and like everythign he likes is fucking stupid but you guys seem pretty cool like an action movie or something. okay so real talk dudes(and dudette I think????? i dont believe in the gender binary, though, so whatevs), this base is hella lame.

they took my PHONE and there's no INTERNET and last week they shut off the lights and even the A/C because some idiots were trying to take pictures of the base or something i don't know i stopped listening when REACTION FIRE started using long words.

anyway the only way i'm surviving this shit is if i can get high. i took some of the science dorks' stupid alien gizmos from the labs, i don't know what they do but if you can get the trooper goons to pick up like… a bale of weed? maybe two????? and some booze, tell them its SPACE WEED or something lol they're probably stupid enough to fall for it, you can have the gizmo. also i need a new phone and maybe a fidget spinner or two so i don't die of boredom k???

dont leave a homegirl hangin!!!!! [eggplant emoji] [sweat emoji]

Debriefing

Guess who just got done HOTBOXING the shitty broom closet they call her room? Damn, I feel like my brain's actually working again now.

Now I need to find out if Papa John's delivers to Uruguay. LOL, Ur A Gay, that's the worst country name!

PS: Don't worry homegirl and homeboys and homebirds, I got you some real cool shit from the armory. Enjoy! No one's going to miss ANY of this, honest.

Operation Rotting Jester

X-COM requires an escort for one of our investigator teams in Egypt. UFO sightings have increased near sites of archeological significance, and even after putting aside the ones from confirmed Ancient Astronaut Theorists, there seems to be an undeniable pattern. That's why one of our teams has been hitting up these sites for clues. So far nothing, but they've reported that they've been experiencing harassment from potential Church of Sirius sympathizers and criminal elements, and they're not as heavily armed or as combat trained as you are.

This contract is simple, accompany them to the site, make sure they don't get killed, and get them out again safely.

At worst, we expect mild interference from the Church of Sirius, they don't have much of a foothold in Egypt currently, but if there's a genuine connection between these sites and the UFO sightings, they might interfere openly if our investigators are on to something. There's also the chance that local authorities might take note of what we're doing, and in that case, try to minimize casualties and damage to the site, we're hoping not to anger the Egyptians more than we have to.

Debriefing

You completed all your objectives without blowing them up, made us some new friends, captured a live sectoid and you survived. A pretty stellar performance. This operation has had some… interesting repercussions. I suggest you watch the news. The short version is that we now have agreements with the Egyptians and Libyans that mean they won't try to stop us operating in their airspace or on their territory. Your good work is partially responsible for that.

PRIORITY INTERRUPT: TERROR MISSION

Attention all mercenary units, we have a serious crisis! As of an hour ago, a massive alien battleship entered Earth's atmosphere above the Atlantic Ocean and set a direct course towards a major European city, Barcelona. After initial EU efforts to intercept it were swatted aside by the ship's anti-air and point defense systems, we contacted the EU through our intermediaries to coordinate our efforts. They will focus on evacuating Barcelona as far as possible and avoid engaging the vessel any further. Once it arrives, we will commit all of our European and North African forces to engaging whatever forces it deploys, and the EU will not interfere.

We need every man on this, and there's no telling what we might be facing, or how many of them.

We expect the battleship to reach Barcelona in two hours, please confirm your participation as soon as possible.

Debriefing

Well, this was an eventful mission. We've confirmed the involvement of more alien species than just the sectoids, we've seen more alien war machinery and confirmed that they have tiers of technology beyond Gauss weaponry. It's just a shame we couldn't get one of those robots, we've christened them Sectopods, for study. If we could, we might be able to produce our own humanoid drones. At least we got the laser rifle you secured, we hope to have full production of laser weapons online by the end of the year.

Barcelona is… well… Barcelona got badly damaged. In some of the fighting, the explosives got busted out and fires got started. Emergency services couldn't enter the city for almost a full day while the Spanish military secured the area, so large areas of the city are ruined. There's also no telling what sort of surprises the aliens might have left behind that haven't been found yet. The EU can't decide whether to thank us for limiting the damage as much as we did, or whether to crucify us for letting it get as bad as we did. The damage to the stadium was taken particularly poorly by the regional authorities, though I understand it was necessary to save yourselves.

The fighting has also had some diplomatic fallout. Some nations saw how badly it could go for them without X-COM protection and decided to support us, others felt there was no standing up to direct alien aggression and are now their vassals or clients. We're also trying to figure out how mercenaries from so far abroad got there so fast. The Algerians in particular are a worry, while they didn't bring any to the fight, they've got an active domestic production of Gauss weaponry that's letting them push into Morocco more or less unopposed.

Capturing the Snakemen we did, even if it was unintended, has also supplied our chemical labs with some new toys. Unfortunately Overwatch got her hands on some of it, and as a result we're having to put her on probation, since she might have put an entire squad out of commission for the rest of the month by accidentally spiking their drinks.

Operation Fallen Fall

This is REACTION FIRE. If you've been following events in North Africa, you will be aware that they're coming to a head. Algeria invaded Tunisia last week, terming it a "protection" operation and claiming that the Tunisian government requested it, and now they have their sights set on Morocco, apparently to the extent that they're informally negotiating with Spain about whether Spain gets to keep Ceuta and Melilla or not. We can't interfere on a scale to keep Morocco independent, that'll be their own problem, but we need to extract some Moroccan government personnel. We've been in negotiations with most African nations with regards to basing and air space rights for some time now, mostly we've been making progress with Libya and Egypt, but also with Morocco.

Algeria seems to have gotten wind of this and may attempt to kidnap our Moroccan contacts, we cannot allow this to happen.

Debriefing

Surprisingly, most of the corpses on this mission weren't Buffaronin's fault. Rather, as far as we can tell, Kill Streak got hired on by the Algerians, or simply went in rogue because he's a nutjob, and wasted everything in his way until Buffaronin dropped him. According to Buffaronin's after-action debriefing, there should be literally no chance that he survived… but Moroccan authorities apparently never pinpointed his corpse. Hopefully that just means the Algerians spirited him away to hide their involvement.

Good timing on the mission, too, the very next day, Algeria started their offense in force and so far they've demolished the Moroccan defenses with ease. We're a bit jealous of their efforts in upscaling gauss cannons to tank main cannons. So far they're showing no sign of moving on our allied nations.

Operation Spectral Star

Attention, mercenaries, this is your Algerian Mercenary Command liaison Eman Guerouabi. You have been brought to our attention by one of our Italian contacts, and we have a contract for you. In short, we need you to extract several Moroccan ministers alive before they are able to leave the country, we believe they may have important information about X-COM as the Moroccan government's informal contacts with that organization. If you accept this mission, we will furnish you with the necessary details for the extraction operation. Eman Guerouabi out.

Debriefing

I believe you've made your loyalties clear, mercenaries.

Operation Burning Law

This operation takes place in northern Italy. I'm sure you're aware of the marked right-wards turn in Italian politics over the last few years, but now we've got credible intelligence that the invaders may have infiltrated or allied with one of the most right-wing forces in Italian politics, possibly with the intent of controlling Italian legislation and politics, or simply intending a total takeover of the country. The alien support appears to consist of intelligence, weapons for their paramilitary wing and suspicious deaths and disappearances among their political opposition. We expect that it's being funneled through the Church of Sirius, and that no actual alien contact is present, but anything is possible.

We need you to disrupt their latest planned attack on an opposition politician from the left wing, Floriana Orlanda, while she's campaigning in the north. We don't know exactly when the attack will happen or what shape it'll, so you will most likely need to keep an eye on her for a week until she heads south again, as per her itinerary. Additionally, Italian police and Floriana's security detail are on high alert after the other disappearances, so if you seem too threatening or suspicious, they might mistake you for attackers. We expect the attack to be performed by armed paramilitaries without alien support, but if they become aware of your presence, they might step up their plans.

Floriana's party is likely to win seats in the next election, their policies support our goals, and it won't hurt if she owes us a favour besides.

Debriefing

On the downside, you might have damaged Floriana's campaign chances, but you did at least keep her alive.

On the bright side, you managed to capture both a Sectoid Commando and an alien transmission device. Both of those are going to be extremely useful, assuming we can keep the Commando from constantly trying to mind control our staff.

On balance, we'll consider this mission a success.

Operation Dream Hammer

Is this thing on? Hello? Okay, good, we've got a clear connection. My name is Jamie White, and I represent several people with large wallets and an interest in uncovering the truth that our governments are keeping from us. I'm sure you're aware of the growing reports of UFO sightings, as well as the recent disaster in Barcelona which was blamed on "terrorists," when it's clear to anyone that it was a conflict between the Hollow Earth Reptoids and the Zeta-Reticulans which boiled over into a populated area. So far only a few governments have had the courage to admit that the alien apocalypse is upon us, that they're tired of merely polluting our drinking water with mind control agents, and have now taken to assaulting our very homes.

But now we finally have a chance to blow the lid off the whole conspiracy. We have credible intelligence that the US government itself has been in contact with the alien menace for decades. No surprise to anyone who pays attention to the world, obviously, but more blatant evidence may be needed to convince the masses.

Our sources indicate that a secret US government base in the state of Virginia, also used for military research into psionics and cybernetics, is being used for research on alien artifacts as well as containing recordings and evidence of the US government having had diplomatic contact with the Zeta-Reticulan Star Empire, or perhaps something even worse. Likely this location will also contain evidence of other alien encounters… abductions, what really happened to the Titanic and what they've been "fluoridating" our drinking water with all these years.

We need you to secure this information by stealth, diplomacy or violence. It's a shame if anyone gets hurt, but if they're collaborating with the aliens, they've already forfeited their lives.

Are you ready to make a difference?

Debriefing

Excellent! With this information, we can finally prove to the governments and peoples of the world that the alien menace is real! You've changed the world today, agents!

Operation Cryptic Smoke

Welcome back, Dangerous Ungulates, good to work with you again after Barcelona. So far, we've been able to keep the aliens in check, at the very least, on the ground, but they've maintained a considerable advantage in the air. Against their fighter craft, we generally need three to one Interceptor superiority to guaranteed a win, and against their heavier vessels, we can still only barely eke out a win at the cost of several of our own fighters. This needs to change if we're to have any chance of winning this war.

We know that the aliens engage in abduction missions from time to time, but only where they assume their transport vessels can slip past our patrols and radars un-intercepted. To this end, we've been baiting them with an obvious hole in our patrol patterns near France for the last month. We've got credible intel on where the next alien abduction mission will be, and we need you to be present when it happens. Once the aliens have landed and disembarked their vessel, move in and capture it with minimal damage. Do not allow the crew to destroy any internal equipment or to take off, we need to study the vessel in detail so we can understand its propulsion, armoring and weaponry.

That will allow us to develop a new generation of Interceptors and take back the fight in the air.

We expect the vessel to be crewed by Sectoids, but be careful. We believe the aliens may be deploying more combat-capable Sectoids than the ones you're used to.

Debriefing

Due to a lucky crashed UFO with most of its flight systems intact, we've elected to postpone this risky operation.

Operation [Static Interference]

Hello? Mercenary friends? Is this thing on? Yes, hello, this is Riess Two-hundred Five, and I think you call us Snakemen. We have a job for you, nothing that compromises your other contractual obligations.

One of our own operations in your country Israel suffered an unfortunate setback, and one of our operatives was captured. Currently the Israelis are keeping her in one of their military confinement facilities, hoping to gain knowledge from her. She will not give them any, but ultimately they may attempt to learn from her biology rather than her mind. Being that she is valuable to us, we would like you to liberate her and get her a safe distance away so that we can recover her. We will of course pay you for these services.

Hopefully this will be the start of a mutually beneficial contractual relationship.

Debriefing

The number you have called is not in operation. Please redial and check that you have entered the number correctly.

Operation Empty Pyre

First off, bad news, we've confirmed that the UK is no longer attempting to intercept UFO's in their airspace. Furthermore they've started attempting to intercept EUAF jets that pursue UFO's into UK airspace. This can only mean that the British have decided to side with the aliens, or to surrender to them. That alone wouldn't be enough to prompt an operation, but what came next is that they announced the Stonehenge site was to be closed to the public to permit an archeological research project to get underway.

Considering what we found at the dig site in Egypt, we presume the aliens have an interest in Stonehenge for the same reason. The dig's already started, but as far as we know only British soldiers are present at the moment, no aliens are on site, so this is a perfect time to strike.

We need you to infiltrate the dig site and, this time, if they've uncovered anything below the surface, we need you to investigate it. Simply collapsing the dig won't do, they'll have plenty of time and resources to open it again. Instead, we need you to discover what they're digging for and to destroy it. Do not interact with any advanced technology you find.

Debriefing

You managed to interfere with the alien dig project, but it may have been too late, or damage to the complex might have triggered it. We're still not quite sure what happened, we may never be entirely sure, but judging by the terror mission the aliens just launched, they're either extremely pleased or extremely pissed.

Operation Enduring Dream

I'm aware that it's some distance from your usual stomping grounds, but nonetheless we're offering you this contract since we need every man on deck… if you take this contract, we will be providing transport to Singapore. The government of Singapore has recently given us tacit permission to raid the Church of Sirius compound located there, suspected to contain most of their physical wealth, and possibly some of their higher leadership. To this end, we're mobilizing a large number of our regulars as well as most of our mercenary contracts for support.

Since we hope to recover both live prisoners and intact intelligence, you will likely not be involved in the raid on the main compound. Instead we've found some Church of Sirius outposts in other locations around the city, and we're making a plan that involves your team blowing them up with blatant disregard for property damage in order to keep them busy, dead or both.

Debriefing

Our raids encountered zero opposition, all Church of Sirius opposition either surrendered, or had escaped or committed suicide before our troops and auxiliaries could arrive. Something's going on.

PRIORITY INTERRUPT: TERROR MISSION

LOCATION: MUNICH

TRANSPORT UFO DETECTED ON HIGH SPEED INTERCEPT COURSE

CIVILIANS ARE BEING EVACUATED UNDER CLAIMS OF A TERRORIST GAS ATTACK

SKYRANGER 114 HAS BEEN DISPATCHED FOR PICKUP AND FURTHER DETAILS WILL BE SUPPLIED EN ROUTE

OBJECTIVES: RESCUE CIVILIANS, DESTROY ALIEN THREAT

OPPOSITION: UNKNOWN. SNAKEMEN AND SECTOPODS EXPECTED.

Debriefing

The Chryssalids are a major threat, a bioweapon which, uncontained, could depopulate entire continents in short order. It seems unclear why the aliens haven't used this weapon before, and we can only assume they're going to use it again. Destroying Munich was a last resort, but we projected no other way to remain sure that we had completely annihilated the Chryssalid threat this time around. Hopefully we've managed to contain this outbreak.

Operation Brutal Thorn

A group of our operatives responded to a UFO which set down on one of the Faroe Islands, it looked like a simple intercept as our satellite tracked heat signatures leaving the UFO and moving towards a nearby farm. Mercenaries were deployed to seize the UFO and were reporting good progress, no opposition and that they were likely completely undetected. Then we got a distress call reporting that they were under heavy fire and needed support.

Before we could send reinforcements, the UFO lifted off and made its escape. But several hours later, one of the mercenaries activated his emergency beacon. This could be a trap, but we can't leave our men out there, not even if they're mercenaries.

We need you to head out there and recover any survivors, as well as discovering what happened to them. Jade Shield was well-equipped with alloy armor and laser weapons, they shouldn't have been easy prey.

Debriefing

The ambush turned out to be one of a series of operations designed to draw our mercenaries, troopers and agents away from their bases and keep them tied down while the aliens launched an assault on our base in Egypt, which was built to protect and investigate another forerunner tech site like the one in the UK. On the bright side, we managed to identify one of the aliens' earthside bases and destroy it(I'd ask if you really had to take down an entire mountain to do it, but I think I already know the answer), we got our hands on an intact transport UFO and you managed to give us some early intel on the "Alaskan Star Republic," which is a development we had not anticipated. As of this debriefing, it appears that all Snakemen forces in the system have defected to assist the Republic, abandoning their former contract.

On the less bright side… our Egypt facility has been completely destroyed, we've suffered immense casualties, our alliances with the nations that lost troops in the battle are strained, the aliens managed to reach the site and trigger it… and in the process they also captured a number of our research and command personnel.

WNN Reports

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1st of June, 2020

News headlines for the 1st of June 2020: Italy Wins World Table Tennis Championship! Moroccan/Algerian Political Crisis Deepens As Algerian Aircraft Allegedly Violate Moroccan Airspace! Belarussian President Declares Alien Panic Absurd, Insists That If Aliens Were Really Here, They'd Be Our Friends! Would you like to know more about these headlines?

4th of June, 2020

Moroccan/Algerian War Ends In Ceasefire

It remains unclear what, exactly, sparked the hostilities between Morocco and Algeria on the night of the 1st of June, rumours include assault by a top-secret mercenary outfit, an attack by Islamist terrorists masquerading as Algerian regulars, an alien raid and even interference by the apocryphal "X-COM" organization. After several days of fighting along the border, including Moroccan incursions several kilometers into Algerian territory, the border has re-stabilized and the two nations have returned to the negotiating table. At this juncture it appears unlikely that aggression will resume any time soon. Casualties are expected to number in the hundreds.

Italian Table Tennis Championship In Doubt

Rumours are flying that the Italian table tennis champion may have been cybernetically augmented in the months ahead of his victory over Saudi Arabia in the finals. So far the champion has been refusing to allow independent doctors to examine his body.

Church of Sirus Opens New Retreat In Spain

The controversial Church of Sirius has opened a new retreat along the coast of Spain, intended for members to meditate and achieve one-ness with the cosmos. A CoS spokesperson said that the truly unified would be able to telepathically commune with alien saviors and call them to Earth, something the Church of Sirius insists is a necessity to avoid mankind falling into self-destructive patterns and sparking another global cataclysm. Protestors calling the Church of Sirius a cult have been protesting the construction of the retreat for months now, attempting to prevent the Spanish state from permitting its construction and, indeed, calling on the Spanish state to ban the Church of Sirius altogether.

30th of June, 2020

Church of Sirius Denounces X-COM

Almost a month after the attack on their new retreat in Spain, an attack which left only a handful of survivors and incurred dozens of casualties, the Church of Sirius announces that the X-COM terrorist organization is actively targeting it. The Church has called on all its members to refrain from associating with X-COM members, and to report them to local authorities if discovered. It has also offered a large cash reward for anyone who can help bring justice to the killers of their friends and brethren.

Spanish Recovery Efforts Fail

Despite dozens of civilians reporting the crash of a jet fighter into the ocean east of Barcelona on the night of the 4th of June, the Spanish Navy and Air Force have been unable to locate or recover anything. Spokespersons for the Spanish Air Force deny reports that the jet fighter was an X-COM vehicle, insisting that a terrorist organization with its own air force is an absurd suggestion. Questions about whose jet fighter it was, then, remain unanswered.

Was the Titanic an Alien Plot?

The newly released non-fiction book, "Titanic: Tragedy or Threat?" by Alex Jones posits the theory that the Titanic was not, in fact, sunk, but was abducted by aliens, and what we believe to be the wreck of the famous cruise liner is in fact an alien trap. Rated five out of five stars by the Washington Post for capturing the spirit of the times, one out of five stars for actually believing in aliens.

WAKE UP, SHEEPLE!

The Star Children walk among us! They reach into our minds and consume our thoughts and memories! Barack Obama was an alien half-breed!

THIS SITE HAXX00RED BY DA TRUTH ZONE

20th of July, 2020

UN General Assembly Holds X-COM Vote

Today the UN General Assembly voted whether member nations should universally consider X-COM a terrorist organization. The motion passed by a vote of 163 to 21, with 9 abstentions. Notable among nay votes were Libya, Vietnam and Egypt, while China, United Korea and Russia were notable abstentions. No ambassadors of the nations voting nay or abstaining were available for comment on their nations' tacit support for the mysterious organization. The bill compels all members of the UN to report encounters with X-COM personnel and military forces for the purpose of finding their base, or bases, of operations.

Suspected X-COM Members Arrested in Utah

A raid by the FBI in the American state of Utah has captured several supposed members of the X-COM organization and seized a large amount of military equipment and armaments. According to official statements by the US government, they were planning acts of terrorism against the peaceful Church of Sirius and its membership. None of the arrested X-COM agents have made a public statement.

Bioware Announces New Mass Effect Game

"We've stripped out all of the parts that were unimportant to the game," their lead designer told our reporter in an interview, "Now it's entirely about dating aliens. Alien girls, alien guys, alien dogs, alien girlguys, we've got everything. You can even date your vacuum cleaner. Enemy soldier got you pinned down? Why don't you ask him out for a date? How about that locked door? I think it just needs some sweet-talking instead of being forced with lockpicks. Because did you ever consider that the lock might not have consented to having that lockpick forced inside it? Yeah, that's what we're doing this time around, blowing your minds."

Scientists Discover Unknown Snake Species In Australia

Known only from its shed skin, Australian biologists have discovered the shed hide of a gigantic snake, about the size of a fully grown human, in the Australian outback. University authorities rapidly confiscated the shed skin to ensure it wasn't a hoax and that no one would panic on seeing it. Requests for picture evidence of the skin have been repeatedly denied, and no members of the Australian expedition have been available for comment after their initial press release.

Spanish Chaos Remains A Mystery

The only thing certain about the events of the 31st of June in Spain remains X-COM's tangential involvement, the destruction of a large part of the town of Villamunios, copious property damage and the embarrassment of the Church of Sirius as their members were first arrested for illegal ownership and use of firearms, and then for possessing an entire truck trailer full of illegal items ranging from illicit pornography to drugs and more weapons. The latter was eventually proven to not be theirs, but it tied up the Church in litigation for several weeks to prove it.

30th of July 2020

Malta In Flames

The peaceful island of Malta erupted into violence between police, rioters and Church of Sirius supporters last week, and the damage is only now close to being tallied and cleaned up. Despite multiple gunfights, there are no reports of loss of life among any police officers or firemen, though thirty civilians, among them twelve members of the Church of Sirius, lost their lives. As a response, the European Union is now considering whether to label the Church of Sirius as a harmful cult across the union.

InfoWars Stock Grows

Alex Jones is now considered the fifth-richest man on Earth, as InfoWars products continue to grow in popularity and its stock accelerates in value. Recent controversy surrounding Alex Jones' comments that X-COM is "clearly a false-flag operation intended to make us forget the time the government made the frogs gay," appear to have had no negative impact on InfoWars stock.

Algerian/Moroccan Crisis Escalates

Earlier this week, Tunisia accepted Algerian protection after Algerian troops unexpectedly crossed the Tunisian border and entered the capital after facing minimal resistance. Now, reports indicate that Algerian troops are massing along the Moroccan border, and Morocco is requesting UN Security Council intervention. Morocco has also condemned Spain for allegedly negotiating with Algeria about the future status of Ceuta and Melilla. Algeria, meanwhile, denies all rumours that it's planning an invasion of Morocco, and maintains that its intervention in Tunisia was at the request of the Tunisian government as protection against both X-COM and extraterrestrial threats. The government of Tunisia has not been available for comment.

21st of August, 2020

Egypt Publicly Praises X-COM

In a shock announcement earlier this week, the Egyptian president became the first head of state to publicly announce support for X-COM and their stated mission of countering an alien invasion, as well as aliens' more subtle machinations among human governments and organizations. It came as little surprise to veteran observers, however, who had already noted that Egypt and Libya banned the Church of Sirius organization a few days prior to the announcement. Among others, the American government condemned what they called "brazen support" for a terrorist organization.

On the night of the 1st of August, independent observers confirmed X-COM and Egyptian Air Force jets engaging unknown hostiles in the skies above Egypt.

US Military Raids X-COM Base on Canadian Soil

According to anonymous sources within the US military, the first successful strike against an X-COM base was conducted this weekend. Supposedly the base was located on Canadian soil, and assaulted without the knowledge or support of Canadian officers or officials, as US military intelligence considers them to be compromised by X-COM infiltrators. Sources suggest the raid was an unmitigated success and resulted in the total destruction of the base, though no X-COM personnel or equipment were captured. The Canadian government has so far yet to comment on this announcement, and the US military has yet to make a public statement.

Could this be the first victory in the War on X-Terror?

High-Ranking Chinese Official Disappears

Chinese Minister of Welfare Zhou Guanting has reportedly disappeared, according to his wife. A few days ago, Zhou made headlines by being the first Chinese official to publicly comment on 2020's flurry of UFO sightings and supposed abductions, but not quite in the way anyone expected. Minister Zhou reported that he, himself, had been abducted, and had met alien creatures of boundless wisdom and intelligence, which he described as "beautiful, glittering beings of gossamer, ethereal structure." Zhou's statement, now removed from his official blog, also commented on how they sang to him and convinced him of their benevolence.

Acquaintances of Minister Zhou have suggested that he may have been removed from the public eye for violating the Chinese government's apparent stance of complete silence on the "alien issue."

10th of September, 2020

Barcelona Death Toll In the Thousands

Despite repeated requests for information, the Spanish authorities refuse to disclose what happened in Barcelona at the end of August. The official line maintains that the city was evacuated due to a credible terrorist threat, but multiple eyewitnesses report UFO sightings, as well as aliens in the streets, in some cases engaged in gunfights with X-COM agents. Many of these witnesses have since refused to talk to WNN reporters or have simply disappeared. Meanwhile, the death toll rises, survivors and evacuees report growing incidences of mental illness and several Barcelona residents report having seen large reptilian animals in the city after dark.

When will we be told the truth?

Dominos No Longer Guarantees Delivery in 30 Minutes

Due to repeated orders by a prankster in Paraguay, Dominos has decided to end its "delivery in 30 minutes or its free"-guarantee, much to the disappointment of many pizza fans.

"It's simply not possible to deliver to the middle of the Paraguayan jungle in under 30 minutes," said a Dominos spokesman, "It's sad but true. Plus several of our delivery people in the area report having been threatened by armed paramilitary types, and we have to put the safety of our employees first. As a result we will also no longer be doing delivery to Paraguay."

Launched late last year, Dominos' Global Delivery Service was much-lauded as the first delivery service to deliver anywhere on Earth. As a publicity stunt, they delivered pizzas simultaneously at Earth's north and south poles within the 30-minute limit.

Japanese Animation Studio to Make X-COM Anime

A1 Pictures has announced that they're planning to create the first anime based on the story of X-COM. According to the official announcement, it will feature an X-COM rookie in high school, who must juggle his desire to save Earth from aliens, with his interest in the many female alien students at his high school who he wants to date, and his need for a proper haircut.

Croatia Investigates Mysterious Bird Deaths

Late last week, Croatian authorities on the island of Vis reported a spate of mysterious bird deaths, possibly linked to a new outbreak of bird flu. However, the authorities on Vis have now confirmed that the large amount of dead seagulls and pigeons are not related to an outbreak of bird flu, and are instead the work of some unknown predator, perhaps an entirely new kind of animal, hitherto unknown to science.

Algeria Invades Morocco!

Relations between Algeria and Morocco have been at a boiling point for months, with most political analysts predicting war before the end of the year, and now they've been proven right. Late last night, Algeria officially declared war and moved on Moroccan territory in force. Most of the Moroccan government has escaped and formed a government in exile already, though several high-ranking ministers appear to have disappeared the night before the invasion. The remains of the Moroccan government insist that they were kidnapped by Algerian special forces or mercenaries.

So far, all reports indicate that Algerian forces are meeting spirited but largely ineffective resistance from the Moroccans in their advance, and analysts predict the country will be entirely occupied within a week.

UN Human Rights Council Recognizes Psychics

Today, in a historical forest, the UNHRC recognized Psychics, more formally known as Psionics, as a protected class of people, making it a breach of human rights to persecute or discriminate against them based on their abilities. Several governments have criticized this as causing legislative problems for them, as they've already passed laws legislating the use and legality of psionic abilities. Some of this legislation forbids psionics from working with sensitive information or requires that they live a minimum distance from any government institutions or military bases.

Psionics were first confirmed to be real, rather than pseudo-science, near the end of 2019, when pyrokinesis was scientifically confirmed.

30th of September, 2020

Russian-Chinese Joint Declaration on Aliens

Today, Russian and Chinese delegates at the UN announced their countries' official position that Earth was under alien attack or suffering from alien infiltration. They called on all countries and citizens to be vigilant, but stopped just short of supporting X-COM. Instead they suggested that X-COM should approach them and share their advanced technology to become sanctioned by the Russian and Chinese states.

The American president meanwhile dismissed the statements as absurd: "Let me tell you, it's ridiculous. Why would aliens travel hundreds of light years to mess with us or fight us? If there were aliens on Earth, they'd be advanced and peace-loving, the best friends we could ever hope for, and anyone who took a shot at them would be making a great mistake. Let the Russians and the Chinese chase ghosts, we've got real problems, like X-COM terrorists, to deal with."

Elon Musk Announces "Space Rail"

Rather than conventional rocket launches, Elon Musk today announced that Space X would focus on sending payloads to orbit with a large railgun system. Pressed for technical details, Mr. Musk simply stated that new breakthroughs in railgun, or "gauss," technology made it a lot more viable than previous attempts had been.

Aliens in Italy?

Italian authorities have reported finding several strange bodies in and around the town of Bormio. They're supposedly of an unidentified, non-human species, and have been shipped to various Italian universities for study. Must puzzling, according to police reports, was that the creatures appeared to be wearing alien clothing. Currently theories are that the "corpses" are merely a highly elaborate prank.

Meteorite Impact in Australia

The Australian outback shook today as a large meteorite of unusual composition made planetfall in a thankfully isolated and uninhabited area. Australian researchers were highly fascinated and are already planning to mount an expedition to the crash site: "Most small meteorites explode high in the atmosphere from the heat they accrue during re-entry. To actually manage to impact gives us an unprecedented amount of research material!"

15th of October, 2020

InfoWars Releases Shocking New Info

Today, InfoWars released news that water fluoridation is, in fact, not a government mind control plot. Also some stuff about aliens, but we've heard that a thousand times before, so it's hardly newsworthy.

X-Com Terror Attack in Virginia

In a shocking twist, X-COM launched an unprovoked terrorist attack on a hospital helping wounded veterans recover. Without any mercy, X-COM terrorists attempted to butcher everyone in sight, and confirmed deaths are in the dozens, as well as the total demolishment of the facility. However, our brave men and women were rallied by several veterans with freshly-fitted prostheses and managed to achieve total destruction of the X-COM attackers. In the end, the last standing X-COM terrorists committed suicide rather than be captured.

Half-Life 4 Announced

"We figured that Half-Life 3 could never possibly live up to anyone's expectations," stated Gabe Newell in a press release, "So we decided to skip straight to Half-Life 4, which will be a soft reboot of the series. That single statement should get everyone expecting an absolute pile of garbage, so we can get away with just about anything, even timed stealth escort missions in sewers, without anyone being disappointed."

As of this article being written, Valve has reported over two million pre-orders already.

20th of November, 2020

X-COM Terrorists Attack Monument

An X-COM attack on Stonehenge has caused irreparable damage to the ancient monument, not to mention costing the lives of several members of the British armed forces. Statements from the US, Belarus and Venezuela have condemned the attack, while the EU, Russia and China are officially withholding comment, citing the need for proper evidence that X-COM was actually to blame. So far, X-COM itself has not taken responsibility for the attack.

Reports of a strange lightning strike at Stonehenge being responsible for most of the damage have been dismissed as an optical illusion by the British ministry of defense.

Astronomers Astonished

Late this night, astronomers observing Jupiter reported an astonishing change in the gas giant's atmosphere. Apparently the Great Red Spot, the massive storm, large enough to swallow Earth, has begun to rapidly diminish in size. It's unclear what's prompted this sudden change, but this could herald a new understanding of gas giants and their turbulent mechanics.

China Welcomes X-COM

As a first, Chinese special forces and X-COM agents cooperated on a raid against a suspected Church of Sirius hideout near Beijing. Anonymous reports indicate that the Church of Sirius was tipped off about the raid, turning it into a gruelling, hours-long firefight that claimed the lives of at least two dozen members of the church, several members of the Chinese military and one X-COM agent, as well as resulting in numerous injuries. The situation appeared to reach a head when the cultists somehow managed to seize civilian hostages, but was resolved when Chinese military psionicists compelled the hostage takers to lower their weapons.

Both X-COM and the People's Republic of China have publicly declared their hope that this will lead to greater cooperation in the future.

8th of January, 2021

Silence From X-COM

Ever since the terrorist nuclear weapon attack on Munich, X-COM has remained suspiciously silent. They've been implicated in no terrorist attacks and sightings of "UFO's" have been rare. Reports from insider sources in the German army suggests that the "terrorist attack" was actually a cover for something worse, a biological weapon that had been unleashed from a top-secret European Union lab and had to be burned out with no chance of it spreading. X-COM has offered no comment, and so far no one has been able to explain how a "nuclear weapon" used by "terrorists" has utterly failed to leave behind any measurable radiation, even at ground zero.

UFO Activity Rises

Sightings of UFO's, which have been at an all-time low for the last two months, are on the rise again, with multiple sighted above Egypt, Belarus and Scandinavia.

Church of Sirius Formally Dissolves

With much of its leadership absent, and large numbers of its members in custody, dead or filed as missing persons, the remaining high-ranking members of the Church of Sirius have formally dissolved the divisive religious movement. A formal statement has declared that the Church has done what it was meant to do, alerted humanity to the existence of benevolent aliens that want to free them from the hardships and failings of human government, and now serves only as a target for those who wish to stop their mission.

15th of January, 2021

Invaders!

The existence of aliens was revealed last week, and today formally announced by the UN, something which in most people's minds was a formality. After the sudden attack on Egypt, which involved the armies of at least two nations and the air forces of a further five, and the strange secession of Alaska as the Alaskan Star Republic, few people had any doubts left in their minds.

[In-Article image of Egyptian tanks smouldering in the sand, several have been partially melted by high-energy impacts]

In Egypt, a secret X-COM facility was attacked by a massive alien battleship which came in high over Europe before descending across the Mediterranean, batting aside attacks from European, African and Middle Eastern air forces along the way, as well as X-COM Interceptors, before disgorging an alien attack force into the Egyptian countryside.

[In-Article image of Egyptian soldiers and X-COM troopers in cover, trading fire with aliens at night]

After close to ten hours of tense fighting, the alien battleship abruptly departed after directing a parting volley of energy weapons fire at the remains of the X-COM facility. Human casualties are estimated in the low thousands, with dozens missing, both categories including army regulars, pilots, X-COM personnel and unfortunate civilians.

Alaska Secedes!

After a brief engagement with forces from the remaining American states and territories, Alaska formally declared its secession from the United States of America today. According to reports from the remote American state, the state government has been replaced in a mostly-bloodless coup by an alien force. As late as the 13th, UFO's were regularly seen on course towards Canada from locations around the globe to contribute to the alien occupation force. Locals identify the invaders as "Snakemen," while the aliens themselves call their species the "Inyoka."

Aside from some fighting in and around Anchorage, as well as on the sites of some loyalist or federal military installations, the coup has seen few casualties and injuries. It remains to be seen what changes the coup will mean for the people of Alaska, but so far reports from the state indicates that life continues mostly as normal.

The American government has denounced the coup, and has threatened to embargo any nation that acknowledges the Alaskan Star Republic's legitimacy. It remains unclear whether they intend to attempt to liberate the state again, as their first attempt was stymied by the Inyoka as well as a surprising number of locals who turned out to support them. So far the governments of Canada and Russia have refused to comment on whether they intend to recognize the Republic, as its only non-American neighbours. X-COM, likewise, has yet to make a formal statement.

International Astronomical Union Press Release #1747

[WNN Summary Follows]

The IAU calls for all national and international space agencies to focus on sending a probe to Jupiter as soon as the current alien crisis is resolved, due to unusual developments in the planet's storm system. Late last year, the Great Red Spot on Jupiter began to suddenly diminish, and has now faded almost entirely. Reports from some of the major telescopes indicate that an artificial object or structure is now visible high in the Jovian atmosphere. While not large on the scale of astronomical bodies, the object is estimated to be roughly thirty kilometers long.

XP Gains

Operation Fallen Grave: 4 XP
Operation Vengeful Prophet: 4 XP
Operation Demon Hydra: 4 XP
Operation Blazed Garden: 4 XP + 1 free rank of Armory Access for everyone
Operation Rotting Jester: 4 XP
Terror Mission, Barcelona: 8 XP
Operation Fallen Fall: 2 XP
Operation Burning Law, part 1: 3 XP
Operation Burning Law, part 2: 3 XP
Operation Dream Hammer: 5 XP
Operation Empty Pyre: 5 XP
Terror Mission, Munich: 6 XP
Operation Brutal Thorn: 8 XP

Ops votes

Sanev:
Ferret: Enduring Smoke
Zep: Enduring Smoke