Operation Secret Pyre (Target Escort - Shanghai, China)

Gentlesophs, I am your host, the Kid With A Pen, and welcome to XCOM:  War Interminable - my playthrough of XCOM:  Enemy Unknown, with the Enemy Within expansion, the Operation Slingshot DLC, and most importantly the Long War mod.  Links to all of these can be found on the "What is XCOM:  War Interminable?" page below this post.

Today, we're going to a university campus in Shanghai, China, to retrieve Dr. Hongou Marazuki, a Japanese scientist doing research at the Shanghai University for Science and Technology.  Dr. Marazuki has been tracking UFO activity over China, and has made some interesting discoveries about the aliens' technology and possible points of origin (our own analysis of UFO flight computer data indicates that they are not from Zeta Reticuli).  Between the sheer volume of alien activity in China and the kind of research this man has been doing, the Council believes that he and his research are in danger of being targets of an alien intervention.  This is why Strike One has been called in - to find him and escort him to XCOM HQ so that he can work in the most secure facility on the planet with the most resources available for his research.

So, on to the mission!  Our team today is:

Our sniper, special contributor Lady Grey

Our infantry, Patreon contributor Rascal

Our squad leader, medic and Patreon contributor Vixen

Our rocketeer, Prototype

Our scout, Alpha

Our other infantry, Patreon contributor Banzai

Our engineer, Ahonen

And our assault, special contributor Klein

Joining us today is Dr. Marazuki, who has been studying UFO activity since March.  Due to the aliens' inexplicable interest in China (all you have to do is look at the sheer number of missions we've had in China as opposed to Canada or Germany), his work has led him to the Shanghai University for Science and Technology (it helps that his alma mater, Tokyo University, is in a country overrun by the aliens).  Anyway, he's convinced that the aliens have developed a means of faster-than-light travel, and that the resources needed to mount the sort of invasion they have are simply staggering.

Well, the plan is to take him around the back and through the storage area, limiting the aliens' sightlines and hopefully getting through without any casualties.

And we have our first drop-in!  There's a Thin Man on the roof.

Next turn, Alpha throws a battle scanner, revealing a combined pod of two Floaters and a Muton.  I think we can deal with them with minimal trouble.

The squad continues to sneak up the side of the building, overwatching as usual.

The aliens move away.  Interesting choice.

Another Thin Man drops in.

OK, so the cover available to us here is terrible.  What we're going to do is take advantage of sight range limitations, and pop a smoke grenade for additional cover.

Dr. Marazuki keeps his head down.

Alpha pops smoke over the entire squad (even those of us behind full cover).

The rest of the squad overwatches...

...which proved to be a mistake, as Lady Grey takes an overwatch shot at squadsight range on the Floater/Muton pod (using the battle scanner as a spotter).  Didn't even manage to kill it.

The aliens advance into cover...

...and into our overwatch battery.  A Floater doesn't make it through.

Next turn:  Alpha moves up and gets holo-targeting on the Muton.

Frost misses the Muton.

Klein pops Run and Gun...

...and also misses the Muton. Great.

Rascal misses the Floater...

...Banzai hits the Muton...

...Vixen and Prototype score hits on the Floater...

...and Ahonen pops another smoke grenade on our squad members out of cover.

Marazuki keeps his head down.

The pod overwatches.

As does the Thin Man.

Alpha runs pretty much everyone's overwatches...

...and kills a Floater.

Not to be outdone by the scout, Klein blows the Muton away.

After missing it the first time, Rascal kills the Floater.

The squad advances, with Banzai covering that Thin Man on the roof.

Contact!  Another Floater/Muton pod.

The Thin Man takes a shot at Lady Grey, triggering Banzai's Covering Fire overwatch.  Fortunately, he hits this time.

Unfortunately, so does the Thin Man.  Lady Grey's not down, but she will require medical attention.

Good thing we have a medic in the squad, right?

Alpha gets holo-targeting up on the Muton...

...and Klein flanks it for the kill!

Ahonen grenades the Floaters to limited effect.

Lady Grey misses the Thin Man...

...but Banzai finishes it off.

Rascal goes on overwatch while Dr. Marazuki runs to catch up with the squad.

Rascal kills a Floater on overwatch.

Rascal needs to reload.

Banzai flanks a Floater, and hits it but doesn't kill.

Fortunately, Alpha was able to bring it down with a pistol.

Marazuki keeps his head down.

The rest of the squad advances and overwatches.

Contact!  More Floaters and a Muton.

More contact behind the supply shed!

Between Ahonen and Klein's overwatches, that Floater does not survive the turn.

Meanwhile, this cheeky Thin Man maneuvers to outflank us.

Also, Vixen hits a Floater on overwatch.

Ahonen grenades the Mutons.

Klein gets a bead on a Floater and brings it down with his laser pistol.

Prototype kills another Floater.

Lady Grey picks off the other Thin Man on the roof.

Alpha reloads.

As does Banzai.  However, thanks to Lock and Load, he gets another shot...

...which he promptly uses to end another Floater.

Vixen reloads.

In the aliens' turn, the Mutons retreat.

A Floater flanks Vixen, but misses her completely.

The Thin Man, on the other hand, spits acid onto her.  Which is funny, because except for the aim debuff she's immune to the effects of acid due to her medkits.

Next turn, Lady Grey kills the last Thin Man.

Klein scouts ahead to the extraction zone, and reloads his shotgun.

Banzai flanks and kills the Floater.

Ahonen reloads.

Despite being covered in acid, Vixen still manages to hit the Muton.

Prototype reloads.

Alpha misses the Muton, which is very unfortunate.

One of the Mutons ducks into the server farm building and misses Prototype.

However, the other Muton takes no heed of its own life and flanks and kills Alpha.

Another Thin Man drops down onto the roof.

Frost reloads.

Klein pops Run and Gun...

...and promptly avenges Alpha.

Banzai runs to the roof and hits the Thin Man.

Marazuki books it for the Skyranger.

Prototype returns fire with a standard rocket.  The Muton did not survive.

Well, all that's left now is that Thin Man.  The squad backtracks and overwatches.

The Thin Man runs for cover and hits Banzai.

Banzai ducks to cover of his own and misses the Thin Man due to Red Fog.

Rascal sprints up to the roof, and Vixen orders him to fire.

He also misses the Thin Man.

The Thin Man misses Rascal.

Next time, though, Rascal does not miss.

Op Success!

Unfortunately, we lost yet another scout, and we took a good number of wounds, but we got a couple promotions.

We also got a pretty decent haul.

The Council is pleased that Dr. Marazuki is safe and sound at XCOM HQ, where he'll be able to do his research more effectively.

Anyways, it's time to start chopping some MEC Troopers.  Klein straight-up volunteered for the procedure, becoming our first Marauder.

Meanwhile, Dr. Vahlen has received written consent from Bull's next-of-kin to go ahead with the procedure.  Bull will become our first Valkyrie.

In the meantime, we need a MEC Suit so that we can deploy them in combat.  We'll need more than just one, but this is all we can afford for now.

Back to the Hologlobe!

Canada wants alloys?  Go ahead!

Brazil wants to see if they can get any more information out of our last remaining Sectoid captive than Dr. Vahlen's team did.  *shudder*  They're offering two scientists in exchange, so OK.

And we have an abduction in Alexandria, Egypt!  Let's get the squad together.

Leading this one is our medic, Scooby.  She's packing the standard medic loadout.

Plunder and Zilch are our infantry on this op, with the standard infantry gear.

This is a roadway map, so we're bringing two snipers on this mission.  Checkmate is coming along, of course, and for want of a better option so is Long Shot.  They're packing standard sniper gear.

Sikafuo is our engineer, and she's packing an Arc Thrower just in case we have the opportunity to capture aliens.  She's also bringing AP grenades for killing things.

We're also bringing some rookies along on this op, the first is Vernon.  Vernon's bringing a flashbang just in case we need to wreck the enemy's aim and mobility.

Also coming along is PFC Mbatha.  He's packing an AP grenade for killing stuff.

Strike One has arrived at the Abduction site.  Touching down.

And that's where we'll leave this update for today!  Join us Monday for Operation Falling Father!  Remember, you too can join the fight by going to https://www.patreon.com/user?u=177434 and subscribe today!  Every subscriber gets to have a rookie named after them!

Can't subscribe to my Patreon campaign, but still want in on the program? Go here to see how you can get in: http://xcomwarinterminable.blogspot.com/p/join-fight.html  With that, I hope to see you next time!