Your men are anxious to rescue the pilots, but acknowledge stealth is of the essence. The Skyrangers set down a ways away from the hostile compound and attempt to make an entrance. Unfortunately, they fail almost immediately, and as soon as they enter are spotted. Panic cries and radio chatter echoes out, and the troops in the first room fall back to better positions. Your troops curse and double time it to the center of the compound.
Not The Center Of The Compound, Interrogation Room
You are Shinji Ikari, and you are sitting in uncomfortable silence. You are being faced down by a man in a suit with an orange mask and sunglasses. As far as you can tell, that's just what these people wear. It feels like he's staring into your very soul. It's not an overly pleasant feeling, really.
"So, would you say you've lived a life free from true suffering?"
What's also an unpleasant feeling are these intensely personal questions he's asking.
Asuka is just curled up a little and is giving him the thousand yard stare, she won't be of any use for a while.
Because you like living, you think about it for a moment and shake your head. There's another pause as the interrogator leans forward and puts his chin on his hands.
"Your parents, boy. How are they? Details."
You consider for a moment, and decide to answer. This is going to play havoc on your psyche, but that's for when you're not in potential imminent danger/
"My father's... not very good... and my mother... is... well, she's-"
The man raises his hand. You stop speaking. He nods contentedly towards both you and Asuka. You turn to see her, and she's actually curled up tight in a semi-fetal position. Same story huh?
"I think we have something. John, what do you think?"
Another man, shrouded in shadow and sitting with a tablet, flicks over it a few times, muttering to himself.
"Dead mother, dead mother, dead mother, dead mother, dead mother, dead mother, dead mother. All in the same class, where the Eva pilots are drawn from. Yeah, I think we have something."
The other man looks elated for some reason, and moves to speak, before a distress comes over the radio. He sighs.
"Ah well, times up. Initiate contingency plan 2A."
Compound Interior, Assault Team
The assault team is making very limited progress, the maze of corridors being very confusing to all involved, and definitely not the floor plan that should be there. The attempts by the hostiles to stop them are almost non-existent, just enough to keep them aware of their surroundings. The heavy usage of explosives help a little, but not much. Then, any resistance drops off altogether as the distraction team commences their own assault. Surface To Air missiles attempt to shoot down the Eliminators but are blown apart by the gunships before they can fire. Eventually, the assault squads arrive at what appears to be an interrogation room, but the pilots are long gone.
At this point, word arrives from sensors that a convoy is leaving the warehouse. The troops all rush onto the Skyrangers, and follow the group of vehicles, arriving in mere moments. The troops carefully take the time to aerially board and disable each vehicle, and do so rapidly, but it appears the pilots aren't on board. A panicked search of the warehouse reveals a secret passageway, but it's collapsed. The pilots are long gone. All you've gained is a name, that shows up in several areas on gear and in files: EXALT.
Secret Tunnel Exit
You look at your captors closely as they reach the surface. Several of them stretch after being stuck in the cramped tunnel, some more start chatting among themselves and a few more stay on watch on the perimeter of their little group. Your interrogator, apparently the leader of this area, gives off a smile that you can feel without even looking at his face.
"Well done lads, that's what I call a clean getaway. However,"
He turns towards you and the still unresponsive Asuka.
"We need you to defend NERV from the Angels, and we still need more info. More to the point, we can't hide you forever. So, let's cut ourselves a little deal."
XCOM HQ, Commander's Office, 3 Hours Later
You close the viewscreen. So there's good news and bad news. The good news is the pilots were just abandoned and left to be picked up and returned to NERV by some of your security personnel, and they're safe and sound back in their homes.
The bad news is that the pilot of Unit 02, Asuka Langley Soryu, seems traumatized by something and will be out of action for at least two weeks by everyone's guess. Worse, Japan has pulled out of the project, citing your inability to protect two of the three most important people in the world on a matter very close to them, which cuts your budget. The main UN is also disappointed, but more reasonable, and the Council is unhappy but accepting, and has expanded your intrigue section to deal with the EXALT threat.
You've also received additional information on the Angel issue from two sources: Kaji and Shinji.
Kaji was tasked with delivering a mysterious package to Gendo, one which he handed over to an ex-Section Two member on the fleet. He thinks Gendo doesn't trust him for some reason, but probably hasn't figured out his connection to you. He says this was connected to both SEELE and Gendo's goals, something called the Human Instrumentality Project, but he can't find anything out about it. This also confirms Gendo and SEELE are allied, but you're not sure how well you can move against him at this point in time.
Shinji's info is even more confusing. He relays to you his interrogation, and the info therein is... disturbing. Dr Vahlen thinks if we discover more about the Angels, there might be things to look at in the Evas as well. She also has new research proposals.
Pilots recovered, rescue failed. Japan pulls out of XCOM, -10 credits/turn. Intriguing information acquired. Intrigue actions increased.
Chryssalid Autopsy- 5 points
Terribly sorry about this only coming up now commander, but there were unfortunate delays with the subject in question. Anyway, the Chryssalid is a remarkable specimen, just like the other aliens. It is extremely fast and agile, and it's claws are sharp enough to cut through even Alien Alloy. In addition, we have confirmed the reports of zombification shown by this creature in the terror attack on New York. This is clearly a terror weapon.
-Dr Vahlen
Über-Soldat Autopsy- 5 points.
The super-soldiers of SEELE are an interesting specimen to examine. The material sciences involved in their equipment is beyond any of our own, although it is of course totally inferior to Alien Alloys in every respect. What's more, there seems to be traces of Angel DNA-equivalent in this beast...
I really cannot say more without further study, commander.
-Dr Vahlen
SEELE Agent Interrogation- 5 points.
The Agents of SEELE probably know something about the organization we can use, although what I am not sure.
-Dr Vahlen
At this time, EXALT captives cannot be interrogated because they know jack shit. Compartmentalization strikes again!
Internal Defenses- 50 credits.
Commander, the recent assault on XCOM HQ has shown a need for superior defenses. Using a similar model to the internal defenses we installed near Terminal Dogma, I can improve our internal defenses with things like turrets, gas dispensers, superior blast doors and so on.
-Dr Shen
Week 8 Planning
Engineering Queue:
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Research:
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Diplomacy:
[]
[]
Intrigue:
[]
[]
Intrigue/Diplomacy Knowledge:
-The Council is very busy with suppressing SEELE right now.
-The UN is grateful for you lifting the wool from their eyes, but are very cautious thanks to this debacle.
-SEELE still has a great deal of soft power, even if their overt supporters in the UN are gone.
-Now that you now what you're looking for, a sweep to find overt EXALT operations and cells is advisable.
-Hunting Gendo will have him recognize that Kaji has been compromised, be warned.
-You should be able to assign some sort of therapist to the pilots, but it'll take an action to push through.
-You're unsure of the loyalty of the majority of NERV.
-Should you wish, you can release knowledge of SEELE to the public for uncertain results. Knowledge is power, and aware citizens could help you deal with this mysterious organization.
EDIT: I'll actually say this wasn't supposed to be that hard, but the dice completely shat on you, like more than usual.
and it makes us do better against them in battle. Considering the dice rolls lately...
