You look away from the screens in the centre of mission control, now endlessly looping the clearest pictures we have of these aliens. As if your planet didn't have enough on its plate. The Thurulian-Gaulian war still raged on, the Coalition of Franken States continued to try to impose it's will upon the world, the human states of Caller and Austral continued to demand equal rights for humans in other countries, all the while the Callico region continued its uprisings against the various govenement's in the area, and let's not even get started on the People's Republic of Cattil.
You are the Commander of X-CAT, the eXtraterrestrial Commision of Alien Technology, a small organisation that answers to the Cabal, and due to several weird clauses in the treaties your organisation is now in charge of defending against this alien threat. While you had always maintained a small cadre of elite soliders due to that, you had never expected to have to use them. And clearly neither had they, given that one remained after that disastrous first encounter. Thankfully the Cabal has seen fit to give you access to one hundred more soilders, as well as increase your budget, which in turn has let you hire a world class engineer and the leading scientist in alien technologies. Now, if only you could remember their names.
[X]Head of Engineering
-[X]Dr Raymond Shen
-[X] Write in
[X]Head of Technology
-[X]Dr Claire Vahlen
-[X] Write in
But no matter how serious the threat seemed, you would stand against it. X-CAT would protect the world, or else your name wasn't:
X-CAT is based in:
[X] Europe (Gives Bonus: Lab's and workshops cost 50% less to maintain)
[X] North Frankia (Cat's version of N. America)(Gives Bonus: Aircraft and their weapons cost 50% less to maintain
[X] South Frankia (All interrogations and Autopsies are instant)
[X] Africa (30% extra monthly funding)
[X] Asia (All foundry and Officer training school projects cost 50% less)
Welcome to my first quest, X-CAT. This is a world where Cats are the dominant race, not humans. Although humans certainly do still exist. And yes, cats do have opposable thumbs. And can walk bipedal (and on all fours). Still cat sized.
Yes, but would you rather have Cat!Hannibal Lecter advising you on what to do with the bodies.
Also, your attention please. The second post now contains a world map, and the list of the countries the cabal controls. As well as the few human controlled countries. Critique it as you desire.
Vote tally: ##### 3.21
[X] Commander's Breed
-[X] Maine Coon No. of votes: 1 Lilithium
[X] Dr John Kramer
-[x] Russian Blue
[X] Dr Hannibal Lecter
-[x] Maine Coon
[X] Commander Gendo Ikari
-[X] Sphynx
[X] Africa (30% extra monthly funding) No. of votes: 1 permeakra
[X]Head of Engineering
-[X]Dr Raymond Shen
[X]Head of Technology
-[X]Dr Walter Bishop
[X] Commander's name
-[X] Douglas Gordon
[X] Africa (30% extra monthly funding) No. of votes: 1 Azecreth
[X]Head of Engineering
-[X]Dr Raymond Shen
[X]Head of Technology
-[X] Dr Hannibal Lecter
--[X] Maine Coon
[X] Commander's name
-[X] Commander Dugg Schrödinger
--[X] Egyptian Mau
[X] Africa (30% extra monthly funding) No. of votes: 3 Mecha-Tsundere87, Lichte, BBBence1111
The winning vote is at the bottom of the vote counts. This vote makes the Commanders name Schrödinger. I now need to remember the key combo for that letter. Thanks, SV. I was rather amused that people kept Shen. Then again, Shen is awesome.
The corridors leading to the research labs and engineering shops were tall, vaulted things. As you padded down them, tail flicking back and forth, I could hear vague shouting. Again. It turns out that Dr Shen and Dr Lecter have a history. Which makes your job all the more interesting. As you turned the second to last corner the words became decipherable:
"Look, all I'm saying is that we could use them. Even the weakest of them are about five times stronger than us, and given that they are several times larger that Alien's weapon, whatever it was, wouldn't be a one-shot-kill for them, like it is for us. All we would need is –"
"Need? We need nothing from them. They are barbarous, uncivilised, and repulsive. The very idea that you would arm such creatures – such filth – with the weapons we use to control them is such a malign stupidity I am surprised you know how to breathe! Give one of them one of our weapons, and as soon as they realise it's power, which may take a time given how stupid they are, they will go on a rampage, trying to kill as many of us as possible! All we need is to –"
"Do you even listen to yourself? They aren't some Puma or Lion or, more relatedly, ape. They are sapient. They are intelligent. While I will be the first to admit that they are more stupid than us – having to control all that extra body and all – they are not dumb. The human countries are an example of that. Fully functioning countries which produce some of the greatest amounts of food stuff on the globe. Give me a few humans, a drill instructor or two, and I can train them!"
"Of course you can. You could also train a dog to sit, or a horse to dance. The thing is we don't need them. Just compare their size to ours! Most of the base would need to be remodelled, they wouldn't fit in the Sky ranger and… and… look, I'm not the engineer here, but you know as well as I do that they simply don't fit in our society. A large house to us is a small one to them. They are unessecary. All we need is to have the anti-human weaponry restrictions released, and the aliens will die by the droves."
"Are you mad? Wait, don't answer that. The medical supplies you came with answered that for me. The anti-human weaponry restrictions exist for a reason. If all aliens die like that last one did we just need you do doodle up some ideas for armour, hand them over to us for the actual work, and send maybe three times as many soldiers. Piece of cake."
"Cake! Those things died easier than humans do, you think that it will be enough? These are scouts, built to be small and easy to move around! I'd bet my degree on it!"
"Hardly small when they are larger than us."
"Yes, well –"
You cough, and the two doctors look at you, stood in the corner of the Lab. Dr Shen had the decency to look sheepish, while Dr (Hannibal, just Hannibal, I insist) Lecter looked on expectantly, as if he expected validation from you. Hmm. Perhaps you should say something.
[ ] Humans have always been a valuable resource, and we should make use of their strength and their resilience in protecting us.
[ ] Humans have been unpredictable and viscous, constantly testing their bonds. We cannot allow such risks in an organisation as important as ours.
[ ] Write in! {Be aware that anything far removed from the realities of the world as it is, such as treating humans as equals in everything, will have a lower weighting in the vote counts}
[ ] The anti-human weaponry is some of the most powerful weapons in our arsenal. It would be remiss not to ask the Cabal for permission. (Will mildly upset Dr Shen)
[ ] The anti-human weaponry was sealed for a reason, and that was so that such weapons could leak into the general armoury of our race. Such weapons in the hands of subversive organizations would possess a threat to the very fabric of our society.
Those matters attended to, you got back to the reason you came here, to see how the Doctors we settling in after their remarkably abrupt transition, as well as see if they had any information that could be of use, now that several days have passed.
"Ah, Commander Schrödinger, my team has just finished running the preliminary tests on the samples recovered. The structure of their weapons was interesting, incorporating materials as far removed from our technology as we are from the Bronze Age. Perhaps I exaggerate. No matter. I have taken the liberty of preparing a number of options my team could focus on. Which would you like to choose?"
"Ah, Mr Dugg Schrödinger, always a pleasure. The workshops are up and running and I took the liberty of stocking the armoury a bit more, if you get my meaning. Currently I am rather limited in what I can construct, my skills limited by a lack of available projects. I still have some contacts in CARC, the Advanced Research Centre of the Coalition. If you could give me some time I might be able to get a few projects they abandoned, ready for us to look at with a fresh eye. Alternatively, I have a few ideas of my own I would rather like to try out. The choice is ultimately yours."
[ ] Acquire CARC projects (Time: ??, Benefit: ??)
[ ] Let him work on his own projects (Time:?? Benefit :??)
You stride out of the rooms purposefully. Of course, that would be a lie, as you have no idea what to do now. Hmmm.
[ ] Go see the survivor of first contact
-[ ] Formally
-[ ] Informally
[ ] Go talk to C.O Bradford in the Situ. Room.
[ ] Write in!
The world of X-Cats, the Anti-Human weapons:
The anti-human weapons were a creation of, among others, Dr Shen at the end of the third human-cat war thirty years ago. Due to the fact that the cats no longer possessed an overwhelming technological advantage, this war was bloodier than any other in recorded history, with an estimated half a billion cats dying. As the only advantage the Cats had was numbers, while the humans still had vastly superior strength, this was turned into a gridlock, the lines running from the Scandia peninsula to the Dog head sea. It was the invention of the anti-human weapons that provided the force to break the lines of trenches and secure the victory. It was this victory and the treaty that ended the war that restricted these anti-human weapons, with only one known surviving set of blueprints. It was also, interestingly, the war which caused the formation of the Cabal, but that is a story for another day.
[x] Humans are large, resilient and durable. They can wear a lot tougher armor any cat can. They are much better for the role of combat brutes and living shield. Not so much as stealth or ambush force.
[x] The anti-human weaponry is some of the most powerful weapons in our arsenal. It would be remiss not to ask the Cabal for permission.
[x] Alien Materials
[x] Acquire CARC projects
[x] Go see the survivor of first contact
-[x] Informally
--[x] Let someone else do the talking. You won't always have time for this, so make sure there is a capable tongue to do this job for you.
[x] Humans are large, resilient and durable. They can wear a lot tougher armor any cat can. They are much better for the role of combat brutes and living shield. Not so much as stealth or ambush force.
[X] The anti-human weaponry is some of the most powerful weapons in our arsenal. It would be remiss not to ask the Cabal for permission. (Will mildly upset Dr Shen)
We have a planet to defend, and we're using everything we've got.
[X] Alien Materials (8 days, grants: ????)
Better armor IIRC.
[x] Acquire CARC projects
[X] Go see the survivor of first contact
-[X] Informally
We should talk to him, doesn't matter how, I just prefer informal.
[x] Humans are large, resilient and durable. They can wear a lot tougher armor any cat can. They are much better for the role of combat brutes and living shield. Not so much as stealth or ambush force.
[x] The anti-human weaponry was sealed for a reason, and that was so that such weapons could leak into the general armoury of our race. Such weapons in the hands of subversive organizations would possess a threat to the very fabric of our society.
[x] Alien Materials (8 days, grants: ????)
[x] Acquire CARC projects (Time: ??, Benefit: ??)
[x] Go see the survivor of first contact
-[x] Informally
You know, I picked the name Dugg because it resembles "Dog". I was vote for doge, but that sounded too stupid to me.
Well what do you think Vahlen does with them after the autopsy. I'm just saying all that mystery meat has to come from somewhere, also
[x] Humans are large, resilient and durable. They can wear a lot tougher armor any cat can. They are much better for the role of combat brutes and living shield. Not so much as stealth or ambush force.
[x] The anti-human weaponry was sealed for a reason, and that was so that such weapons could leak into the general armoury of our race. Such weapons in the hands of subversive organizations would possess a threat to the very fabric of our society.
[x] Alien Materials (8 days, grants: ????)
[x] Acquire CARC projects (Time: ??, Benefit: ??)
[x] Go see the survivor of first contact
-[x] Informally
Due to the nature of this thread and the name of our character I can't help but imagine Dugg as sounding like Schrödinger from Hellsing, I get that it's meant to be like Schrödinger's cat and all, but still.
Due to the nature of this thread and the name of our character I can't help but imagine Dugg as sounding like Schrödinger from Hellsing, I get that it's meant to be like Schrödinger's cat and all, but still.
Hey, that's still better then German catboi at least
Also, a question about this quest, do you think you'll just be using all the standard XCOM aliens, or will you be mixing it up and adding some variety, it doesn't have to be original aliens, it can be things from other fictional as well. Mostly just asking because after a while it gets boring just seeing the standard set of aliens
Also, a question about this quest, do you think you'll just be using all the standard XCOM aliens, or will you be mixing it up and adding some variety, it doesn't have to be original aliens, it can be things from other fictional as well. Mostly just asking because after a while it gets boring just seeing the standard set of aliens
not very, they would do decently in the human areas though, but now I'm trying to imagine what would make a good thin man cat, and all I can think of is the alien cats from kid vs kat.
not very, they would do decently in the human areas though, but now I'm trying to imagine what would make a good thin man cat, and all I can think of is the alien cats from kid vs kat.
A cat, when stood upright, comes to about a sectoids shoulders. Wee bit bigger than a cat. Also, an Egyptian naked cat (that 'ugly furless cat-thing') doesn't exist in this world as the breeding programs to make them never existed.