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First Encounter Task Force

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[X][Pro] Ade Afolayan
[X][Ins] Deflector Analysis*
[X][Ins] Alien Interception

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Given the efficiency by which the NHIs have anticipated UNNDTF tactics and the sophisticated understanding of both human biology and thought processes that the NHI has demonstrated, I almost wonder if our satellite communications networks are already compromised, or if there's a biologically altered mole somewhere within UNNDTF.

In the month since our first encounter, they've managed to deploy celebrants -- that's suspiciously fast response time (even for canon XCOM.)

Combined with some of the stuff me.me.here has mentioned, which was really insightful --

me.me.here said:
It also means that (unless those particular isotopes are the particularly rare semi-stable ones with looong half-lives) these materials are single-use, made shortly before the mission and then discarded? as no longer being up to spec once the mission is over - simply because the specific isotopes would have run through said nuclear decay patterns in days/weeks while the mission was underway.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

These capabilities are specifically tuned towards the human state of the art, which means the NHIs have a remarkably sophisticated understanding of:
  • standard human military capabilities, including the radio bands we use for comms;
  • the optical/near IR/UV wavelengths we use for visual perception;
  • the microelectronics most of our military capability is reliant on.
This isn't, for example, Turtledove's Race -- these are NHIs with a deep understanding of human civilization circa 2021, with the intellectual, technical and political sophistication to nearly start a nuclear war between India and Pakistan.

That's worrying.


@Academia Nut, is it possible to call in our German favor for a security sweep, and/or comprehensive medical examinations? (Do we even think that's worthwhile, or will meaningfully change anything?) If there's any way to slow down the pace with which the NHIs can build out counters, I think that's what we need to focus on.
 
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We're 1 Insight away to completion on alloys. Why not vote for that and complete a project?

[X][Ins] Alien Alloys
 
[X][Pro] Ade Afolayan
[X][Ins] Alien Alloys
[X][Ins] Alien Biology*

Alloys is 1 research from completion, and thus seems very worth taking immediately. After that it was close between Bio, Deflector, and Interception. I chose bio as a reaction to the new threat. It sounds like we're able to deal with the deflectors adequately right now and narratively I don't want to try to apply alien tech to interception before we have a better understanding of it.
 
[X][Pro] Ade Afolayan
[X][Ins] Alien Alloys
[X][Ins] Alien Biology*

Finish alloys for some sort of advance before we work on anything else and get some insights into the aliens biology
 
[X][Pro] Ryan Huddleson
[X][Ins] Alien Interception
[X][Ins] Alien Alloys

I'd really like to have Ade Afolayan's medical expertise, but morale is also going to be greatly problematic in this conflict - just look at this last battle. I'll cross my fingers for another medical specialist soon. Otherwise, I subscribe to PoweofMind's thoughts regarding Deflector and Interception research. Given that I expect Interception to have a more immediate impact and both Alloy and Deflector to need follow-up work, I'm going with Interception and the more mature of the latter two, Alloys. This also has the benefit that whatever doors alloys may open will be open when we choose a research focus for after Interception.

The possibility of infiltrators is also concerning. I don't think current evidence strongly indicates such a thing, but it would be terribly complicating if they exist. However, I think there's a good chance infiltrators might be able to simply slip whatever net we throw up until we have a better idea how to distinguish an infiltrator.
 
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[X][Pro] Ade Afolayan
[X][Ins] Alien Alloys
[X][Ins] Alien Biology*

Bad News: We went from 33% turnover to 46% turnover
Good News: With the 5 fatalities attributed to celebrants, that means we performed approximately as well or better in anti-Predator combat as last mission despite the earlier depletion.
 
[X][Pro] Ade Afolayan
[X][Ins] Alien Alloys
[X][Ins] Alien Biology*

Ade is supremely valuable for his medical speciality though I could be convinced for our heavy weapons option.
That being said alloys is almost finished and bio is benefiting Celebrant research this turn.
We can double up on deflectors next time, taking advantage of the limited time offers is often lucrative.

[x] [X][Ins] Alien Alloys
 
[X][Pro] Ade Afolayan
[X][Ins] Alien Alloys
[X][Ins] Alien Biology*

I'm not sure we should be rushing to completion on Alien Interception - there's been some pretty explicit mentions of the aliens escalating/retaliating to us, which combined with the obvious inspiration the quest is taking from xcom makes me pretty confident that actually succeeding in shooting down an NHI craft would invite another retaliation or escalation that I don't think we're quite ready for.

This is not to say that we shouldn't work on interception, but more to say that focusing on interception leaves the door open to the NHIs bringing even nastier units along on ground missions that our own ground forces are simply not equipped to deal with.
 
[x][Pro] Gerhard Lang
[x][Ins] Alien Alloys
[x][Ins] Alien Interception

While i really want to double up on deflector research, getting more stuff shot down is quicker way to get more samples for destructive analysis.
 
While dropping the amount of morale recovery even further down will likely have consequences in the near-future that will have to be addressed, I still think that Ade would be the most optimal choice. Minimizing the amount of casualties our forces suffer so that they can accumulate experience in fighting aliens instead of just being replaced by rookies (against this kind of threat) is a must for our long-term success. And basically eliminating the effects of the morale loss from our own casualties that will still inevitably happen will be a major boon.

On research, completing the initial study of how to use the alloys would be a major boon, and will probably help with future projects like Experimental Weapons I. And Alien Biology was just pushed way ahead everything else with the parasitic organism that starts as a "pathogenic form that is virus-like in nature". Even if its infection efficiency is low to a point where concentrated doses are required, who says it will stay that way? It could be capable of rapidly evolving and reaching higher infection rates, or being actively developed by the aliens to be better adapted against human targets, or both. Getting a preliminary analysis ASAP so we get ahead of a weaponized alien bioweapon that could potentially create a zombie-plague is a no-brainer to me.

[X][Pro] Ade Afolayan
[X][Ins] Alien Alloys
[X][Ins] Alien Biology*
 
[X][Pro] Ade Afolayan
[X][Ins] Alien Alloys
[X][Ins] Experimental Weapons I

Our current casualty rates are unsustainable. They were last update and they continue to be so this update. We need better weapons and better training ASAP or we won't even have a Task Force to fight the NHI's with. As such I highly advocate focusing our efforts on research that will reduce our casualties, namely pairing Experimental Weapons with Alien Alloys to get better offensive capability ASAP.

I get that Biology is seen as important to help deal with the infection, but reading the analysis it is likely a low-transmission bioweapon that requires direct application by an NHI, not something that will spread on its own. It's also already being researched by other member nations without using UNNDTF's resources. I think a much better allocation of UNNDTF's limited resources would be far better spent elsewhere at this time.
 
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