The SPECIFIC Gamer quest

[We Just Write]

Ultimately, you decide to bring along a video representation of the alien to head off any potential misunderstandings. Without any further delays you suit up, grab a hologram projector to show what's going on in Lovall's cell, and head to the teleportation core. You beam yourself across to the UN HQ, inside the reception area.

They're expecting you this time, and you quickly get shuffled inside to the central room, ready to make your presentation. You set down the hologram projector in the middle of the room, and turn it on, showing the default globe with a basic orbital map. You begin "As you already know, aliens are invading Earth." At this the view shifts to where one of the destroyed UFOs was drifting into deep space a week ago before you salvaged it.

"What we didn't know until now, is just where the aliens are coming from." At this the projection shifts to a 3-D image of the alien in its cell. "One of the aliens aboard those ships managed to survive, and we captured it. In the subsequent interrogations, it was determined that there's a massive colony ship coming for Earth in about 6 months."

You nod, and then continue "There are 13,000,000 aliens aboard that colony ship, and they're looking for someplace to settle down in a very great hurry. While theoretically they could set up on Mars or similar, due to some unforeseen circumstances on their part they failed to bring enough food, meaning that they have to either settle on a world with an existing food supply, namely Earth, or deal with upwards of 90% of their population dying of starvation."

"Quite bluntly if we don't act quickly we're likely to be colonized, and we've got plenty of experience as a species of what happens to the locals when someplace gets colonized." At this the eyes of all the diplomats around you widen slightly.

The ambassador from Nigeria asks "Is there any likelihood that a peaceful resolution is possible?"

[] Write In Answer
(A/N: While the aliens are assholes, they're also pragmatic about trying to get all their people through this crisis. Please keep this in mind.)

 

[We Just Write]

You turn to the Nigerian representative and answer "Possible, but they are likely to treat the people of this world like Nazis following the ideal of lebensraum would the people of the lands they take over.

These aliens don't see those that live here as people, so much as just savage primitives that need to be dealt with and if possible retrained into something that can be used for there own means. If we are to deal with these aliens in a way that won't see those here under their boots. We need to prove to them that we have guns just as big as theirs, if not bigger."

One of the representatives (Italian by the looks of things) asks "This still doesn't explain where you came from, a matter which I am intensely curious about, given that Italy is providing a noticeable amount of your funding."

[] Answer (write in)

 

[We Just Write]

Strategic Turn 3 votes

SCIENCE!
[] Build something new
-[] A robot
--[] What variety?
---[] Any extra specifics for the design?
-[] An aerospace craft
--[] What variety?
---[] Any extra specifics for the design?
-[] something else
--[] What variety?
---[] Any extra specifics for the design?
[] Upgrade something
-[] improve the Avenger's FTL
-[] fix the C-10's recoil issues, otherwise nobody will want to use one.
-[] make your cyborg dude even more awesome
-[] something else

[] Name for your first pocket warship?

[] Name for the moonbase

{SCRIPTED EVENT, BUT NOT ALIENS}

[] write in 3 other things you want done

 

[We Just Write]

(QM note: Random Name Generators are fun)
SCIENCE!
You decide that the next idea that needs to go from thought to metal is the sleep learning machine. Yes it has side effects if overused, but the benefits greatly outweigh the flaws.

Over the week you steadily work on building the device, and you have a prototype that should work by dinner on Tuesday. As it turns out though, no-one wants to volunteer to be the first to test it, leaving you in a bit of a bind.
You ultimately decide to...
[] Test it yourself
[] Volunteer someone
[] Offer some sort of incentive
[] write in

---

{Wednesday}
You walk into the hangar for the launch of your new pocket warship. You ultimately decided to let the engineers who made the ship name it, and they decided to follow the naval tradition of naming the first ship and the class of ship it belongs to the same. Thus, your new heavily armed brick of murder is named the Pitbull.

The Pitbull's form factor is designed with trilateral symmetry, with 3 plasma cannons in turrets in the rear third of its length, and a fourth as a spinal mount. It also has 6 laser turrets built into the hull for point defense. The Pitbull is quite obviously built with only one job in mind, and that job is murder. Every last kilogram of its mass is devoted to ensuring it can do this job effectively, and the projections indicate that it could theoretically go up against an alien ship 3 times its mass with a reasonable chance of victory.

The 3 person crew salutes as they enter the hangar, and you begin the short speech you'd cobbled together.
"Earth is under siege by invaders from another world, but all hope is not lost. Though they have technology greater than most of Earth, we've already proven that we as an organization have parity with them. Though the aliens may attempt to burn our civilization, with this ship and those like it we will make them pay in blood for every square inch of usable land. The Pitbull will take 'em by the balls."

---

{EVENT}{Thursday}

It's just after breakfast when a Joe and one of your soldiers walk up to you in the corridor, the Joe asking you "Can we make a weird request?"

Your answer is "That depends entirely on what the request is."

Your absolutely sure that if you'd installed that feature the robot would be blushing, and the soldier actually is as the Joe asks "I'd like a couple things actually. First, I was hoping I could maybe have some sort of personal identity besides 'Joe 14'. And the other thing is, well..."

Your soldier sighs as he picks up "We've gotten into a relationship and we both want to take it further, but we can't because she isn't properly equipped."

A sneaking suspicion occurs to you as you ask the Joe "Command Override (query): Did he order you to love him?" using one of your failsafes to ensure a truthful answer.

Joe 14 answers "No, he suggested we go on a date, and I decided I'd like to do it with him again a few hours after the first one. That was about 4 days ago."

You nod, before saying "Congratulations, you are now
[] Sarah
[] Petronella
[] Alcyone
[] Anne
[] Write In"

You then continue "As for modifying you to facilitate a more intimate relationship,
[] I can make some time (Post a picture, that's now her Civilian mode)(needs 2 hours)
[] I'm busy, but I've got plans I can forward to the engineering department (Let the QM do it)(Results in civilian mode being implemented as standard upgrade for Joes that want it)
[] I've got a really full schedule, but I'll see if I can make some time (Procrastinate)
[] Command Override (order): No {Parental Creator Marriage Veto}

---

Your moon base will be finished by the end of the week, and you think it would be a good idea to delegate responsibility for managing it. Thus, you search through your ranks for anyone who looks like they'll make a good base commander. It takes a bit of work, but you find 5 candidates who seem viable. You ultimately decide to appoint
[] Joe 37 (+ incorruptible loyalty, + good at multitasking, - inexperienced)
[] Steven Huddleson {Engineer} (+ reduces cost of base upgrades by 10%, + faster design for new aerospace craft, - Alcoholic)
[] Janet Dupree {Scientist} (+ faster research, - requires larger budget for research projects)
[] Dan Ger {Soldier} (+ improved combat training, - Blood Knight)
[] Grant {Janitor} (+ No messes at all, + Eager to prove himself, + Learns extra fast, + rather wise, - very inexperienced, - more likely to suffer insubordination)
as sub-commander for the moon base named Von Braun

---

Quite bluntly, your current state of affairs pertaining to public relations are completely unsustainable. Currently, you and the alien situation are the subject of 30% of the world's internet traffic, and of that 35% is conspiracy theories as to your motives, 15% is slander, and all of it is biased. Still, public opinion of you is nowhere near good, especially given that some people are claiming you disappeared someone in Switzerland (annoyingly, that was just you hiring Gio getting misconstrued).
QM rolled 1d20: 18 | Great success!
You quickly remedy this, hiring some spokespeople to keep public opinion of your activities more towards the positive than the negative. Though this is a demanding job, you manage to hire on 23 people to handle PR. They work amazingly well together, and the populations opinion of you quickly halts its downwards slide. If you want it to improve you might need to make a public appearance, but that can wait a bit.

---

Quite bluntly, for the last few weeks you've been mostly flailing around on instinct in a very poorly defined command structure save for the fact that you're on top. Thus you and the various department heads make a couple hours for a conference. When it's done, you've got a clearly defined chain of command, along with some general guidelines and basic anti-alien doctrine. Said doctrine also includes guidelines detailing when it's appropriate to do something completely insane in hopes of catching the aliens off guard.

The command ranks are as follows
Commander (CMD): You. Complete overarching authority over the whole organization
Sub-Commander (SCD): An individual with command over the resources of a single base
Department Head (DPH): People in charge of parts of the organization like Research and Engineering. They have authority over their department throughout the whole organization.
Local Department Head (LDH): Similar to a SCD and DPH, an LDH is basically a DPH with authority only within a single base.
Operational Commanding Officer (OCO): An OCO is deployed in the field, and has authority over every asset involved in the operation.
Forward Operative Officer (FOO): A FOO is deployed in the field, and has command over no more than 10 individuals. They are subordinate to OCOs and their primary job is to keep their squad alive while still achieving mission goals. If the OCO orders their squad to do something blatantly suicidal without saving at least twice the amount of civilian lives, the FOO may not be punished for insubordination for refusing.

 

[We Just Write]

You look at your creation for roughly 30 seconds. Eventually you answer "You've obviously emerged into full-fledged sapience. I think it would be fitting for you to pick your own name. As for modifying you, I've got a rather full schedule but I can forward some plans to the engineering department."

Joe 14 salutes, before replying "Affirmative. Anyways, I think I'd like to be called Anne if that's the case. When will be my appointment?"

Your answer is "Whenever you get down there, they should be able to fit it into your memory defrag schedule."

Anne nods, and wanders off. You see her with her lover the next day, and you only manage to recognize her because she's with the same guy and using the same mannerisms. She looks rather nice, considering her new skin is silicone rubber. The blue dress she's wearing also suits her pretty well.

You remark "Anne, you're looking absolutely beautiful."

Your robot 'progeny' replies "Thanks, even better is that this doesn't impact my combat effectiveness any because when it's time for a mission I can just do this!" Anne suddenly emits a blue flash of light, and when it fades she's back in her armored combat mode. She salutes before shifting back to civilian mode and adding "I personally prefer being like this though, I feel like I fit in more. Oh, in other news I tried the food in the cafeteria for the first time, and it was delicious! Sure it doesn't have much in the way of fusionables or the metallic elements my self-repair system needs, but I had it with a glass of heavy water and my new mouth has a setting for my sense of taste that matches what humans get!"

---

After much frustration with trying to get someone to volunteer to test your sleep-learning machine, you eventually announce at roll call on Thursday "Due to a lack of interest, the first person to test the sleep learner machine will receive a 500,000 bonus on their paycheck. Other rewards may also be considered."

It's in the evening when one of the soldiers volunteers, and the test begins. The machine works well, and though he's rather exhausted in the morning, he also suddenly knows how to code in Java. You give him the bonus pay via check, and he goes back to his bunk in the base. Now that you know it works (even if it does have some side effects) you can start applying the technology.

---

Steven and Joe 37 step into your office, and Steven asks "I'm guessing this is the final stage of deciding which of us gets command of the new moon base when it comes online over the weekend, so, which of us gets the job?"

you put your hands together and answer "Yes."

Joe 37 facepalms as Steven replies "With all due respect, that was completely unhelpful."

You then elaborate "Steven, you're getting the promotion, but I'm assigning Joe 37 as your aide. You'll be beamed moonside tomorrow the both of you. Dismissed."

Joe 37 salutes sharply and precisely as he turns to leave, while Steven is more preoccupied trying to get rid of a cramp in his neck.

 

[We Just Write]

Strategic Turn 4 votes

SCIENCE!
[] Build something new
-[] A robot
--[] What variety?
---[] Any extra specifics for the design?
-[] An aerospace craft
--[] What variety?
---[] Any extra specifics for the design?
-[] something else
--[] What variety?
---[] Any extra specifics for the design?
[] Upgrade something
-[] improve the Avenger's FTL
-[] fix the C-10's recoil issues, otherwise nobody will want to use one.
-[] make your cyborg dude even more awesome
-[] something else

Your research department has been rather neglected so far, but that doesn't mean they can't do something of great use
[] Write in project

Your manufacturing base hasn't been used all that much lately, and it's meant to be used
[] Write in something you want them to make
here come the aliens
[] Write in 3 other things you want to get done this week

 

[We Just Write]

{Monday}
Today you start in on a couple projects. First, you order Otto to report to your lab for some upgrades. He does so, and in a few hours time you've transferred him to a new body that's a major upgrade from either of his previous shells. His new body can swap between a civilian mode similar to what Joes can get, and in combat mode he's an absolute monster.

Able to project extremely powerful electrical arcs that circumvent the Faraday Cage effect, and able to stand up to a truly tremendous amount of abuse, Otto is now an extremely well-made war machine.

Later in the day you talk with your new PR department, and arrange for a press conference tomorrow. You also check in to make sure the work on expanding Von Braun is going well, which it indeed is.

Your late afternoon and evening is spent in the labs, making a new device that will be a complete game-changer. You're building a time dilation device. It's rather frustrating, with all sorts of issues relating to field instability, waste heat, and power consumption. Still, you make a lot of progress and go to bed content.

---

{Tuesday}
In the morning, you do some more tinkering on your time stopper device before breakfast. Afterwards, you do a bit more work on it and finally manage to get that infuriating problem with the waste heat solved.

Come 11:00 though, you set the prototype down on your workbench and go to the teleporter room. You have a press-conference in New York that you need to appear at after all. After a quick bit of teleportation across the Atlantic you materialize behind a podium bearing the X-COM insignia. You stare out into the sea of reporters and announce "Ladies and gentlemen, I am commander Harry Brady of X-COM. For the past month we've been working tirelessly to prepare the world for the incoming alien invasion. Any questions?"

Things continue in this sort of vein for some time, but around halfway through you get an alarm through your smartclothes that some alien ships have just de-warped 1,500 km over Earth, on the opposite side of it from the Weisshorn. You groan and say "Sorry to call this over so quickly, but some more unwanted visitors just arrived." Then you beam back to the Weisshorn.

When you arrive in the command center you immediately order
[] Write In (1 paragraph/4 sentence limit)

 

[We Just Write]

Ms. Perkins starts filling you in in more detail as you arrive, and you aren't liking what you're hearing. Apparently there's a group of 25 alien craft over Brazil, 5 of which are quite obviously Pocket Warships bristling with weaponry. Pretty much as soon as they arrived they started making a dive for the atmosphere, and they've started using their plasma weapons on a low setting to clear a bit of the Amazon rainforest for them to land before they get all the way down.

As a side-note, Sectoids would find the Cane Toad slowly strangling Australia delicious, and non-toxic.​

You order "Get the troops ready, I want to have 3 whole platoons ready to beam out in the next 2 minutes. Also, drag a few hundred of those extra blaster bombs down to one of the cargo teleporters." Your orders start rippling through the base, and you also add "Oh, have we intercepted the alien's communications yet?"

One of the technicians answers "Yes actually. If you like I could patch you in?"

"Certainly."

You are soon treated to the enemy's communications, namely <-ave to move fast and grab as much edible biomass as we can fit in our holds. We've got {20 minutes} before those super-soldiers get here at maximum, and we need to be out of here long before then.>

Well, this is certainly interesting. You opt to.
[] Start transmitting
-[] What do you want to say, now that you're on the line?
[] Beam troops directly to right near their landing zone
-[] Orders?
[] Beam some of your surplus Blaster Bombs aboard their ships
[] Beam the Pitbull and some Firestorms directly into their midst
[] Write in

 

[We Just Write]

You tell your communications officer "Can you get us on the line too please?" He nods and gives you a thumbs up after a few seconds of fiddling with the controls. You then interject into the alien's comm. chatter <Correction, you have two minutes to stop what you are doing, explain what you want, and give me, and by extension humanity as many reasons as possible for why we shouldn't blast you to bits. Am I understood?>

As the aliens begin a jumbled mess of <WTF>s and similar expressions, you also send orders to the cargo teleporter room to make sure they've got good target locks for the Blaster Bombs you sent them to materialize inside the ship's engine rooms.

It takes about 30 seconds for the aliens to make a coherent response, but eventually they send back <We don't have enough food for everyone aboard, and we were sent to get more to stave off malnutrition. Things are getting bad enough that we were explicitly told that if we don't bring back a full load of food we'd be the first on the menu if we have to resort to cannibalism. So, unless you have a worse fate in store for us than being stripped down for nutrition while still awake to save on anesthetic, we will be continuing our present course of action.>

Um... well...
[] Write In

 

[We Just Write]

You transmit back "Well, we're capable of feeding your people, but we would be over-stepping our authority. Our responsibility is fighting extra-terrestrial threats to Earth, not diplomacy. If you want to, we can try to begin taking you through the process of negotiating with the body of our United Nations. We can easily provide you with the cargo to feed your people in just a few days. Or, you can begin another act of aggression and we blow you up."

As the aliens puzzle over this, you yourself are making an incredibly stressful phone call to the UN. You begin with "I've got news. Some aliens showed up over the Amazon, anyways, I've got a target lock on them to blow them to bits any time, but I've also got them on the line and managed to get some usable intelligence out of them, as well as get them willing to talk. I know what I said about them earlier, but new information has come to light. So, would you be willing to try negotiating with the current group over Earth?"

After a bit, they answer "Alright, fine. But the very instant they hit atmosphere, blast them."

You set up the auto-translate system so the two parties can talk to each other, and they negotiate. Eventually they settle on having the aliens touch down near Rio, and begin loading food. It's a few hours in, when there's a security alert near the summit. You groan, and look to the security cameras to see a bunch of... LARPers(?) dressed as a stereotypical wizard, a knight, and some punk in leather with way too many knives climbing down into your base through the anti-orbital battery.

[] What do you do?