Many Welps

At the conclusion of the last round Rakuno offered some advice to make contact with Europe to do the story mission or Blacksite facility there. I decided I would start there and see what I could do.

Looking at our resources we are running low on just about everything. Including intel, which is exactly what I needed to make contact with Europe. So the question became, how can I get us some more intel.

I was immediately warned of an incoming interception by ADVENT. Taking some evasive actions halfway around the globe we managed to avoid interception. On my way back to base the mission popped. Sadly, no intel was gained in the Geoscape Phase.

Operation Half-Eaten Rose

Luckily, one of the rewards for this mission was a fair bit of intel. Completing this one would get us some more resources to make contact with Europe.

I was happy to see that some familiar faces were available going in to this mission. I was less happy to see the mission was a VIP extraction. I remember playing this type of mission before on a different save. Not only does it have a timer but everyone needs to get to extraction or be left behind. The timer for this one was 12 turns.

The VIP needed captured or killed. Before the squad even dropped I knew which option I was going with…

Once the squad landed I could tell this was one long map. The drop point at one end and the extraction on the other. Somewhere in between was the VIP.

The first building contained and Andromedon and a Codex. The squad took the Andromedon down pretty quickly. The Codex managed to disable most of the squads weapons forcing them to reload and get out of the way of the AOE bomb that was about to go off. The fight was over in 2 turns without anyone getting hit.

I sent most of the squad towards the extraction and making sure they ended their turns in the most cover possible. There weren’t any enemies in sight so everyone kept moving up until Naithin spotted the VIP through a window. I figured most of the enemies would be inside the building and I didn’t want to risk sending the squad into a trap if I didn’t have to. So Naithin took the shot and finished off the VIP.

Then all the enemies showed up. A mix of ADVENT units including a MEC and a Sheildbearer and one Sectopod. All of them were waiting by extraction and started moving towards the squad.

I had Magi take the high ground on a building behind most of the squad. This afforded for some great 100% chance shots on the majority of the enemies. Bookahnerk and Volcano went for the flank while Black Widow, Naithin, and Rocket took the fight to the enemy up the middle.

Bookahnerk and Volcano, with a few supporting shots from Magi, were able to take down the Sectopod without taking too much damage themselves. I made the mistake of sending Naithin a little to far forward causing him to be the primary target for 6 Advent units. Oops. Through sheer luck and poor enemy accuracy, Naithin managed to get through a turn without taking damage. I was able to move Black Widow close enough to land heals on Naithin if needed. Backed up with the heals from Black Widow, Naithin was able to stay ahead of most of the squad and brute force a path even closer to extraction.

There were only a few enemies left but reinforcements were on the way. Time was running out and I didn’t want to risk leaving squad members behind. I started rushing soldiers to extraction. Bookahnerk and Volcano made it out first managing to avoid overwatch shots from the enemy. Advent reinforcements arrived.

Again Naithin and Black Widow managed to take out most of the fresh enemies. Naithin made it to extraction with two turns left. Sadly, Rocket wasn’t so lucky, getting taken out by the Advent Officer.

I had Black Widow make a run to extraction setting off 2 enemy overwatches. Both missed and this cleared the way for Magi to get to extraction safely.

Aftermath

Naithin got a well deserved promotion after the mission. Keeping with the Assault skills I went with Untouchable.

Unfortunately, killing the VIP didn’t net us any intel. That would have been nice to know going in though I’m not sure it would have changed my decision in the moment. We did get some supplies and a Codex Brain out of it.

The end of this mission could have been a lot worse. Sure, everyone is injured for at least a few days, and sure Rocket died, but if anyone was going to die on that mission, I’m glad it was the guy with the least missions under his belt. I was almost certain I was going to lose Black Widow or Magi or both at the end there.

There weren’t any pips added to the ADVENT project this turn so we’re still in the same predicament of needing to make contact with Europe to complete the story mission or the Blacksite mission. We’re also still really low on intel.

Next up is UnwiseOwl. Good luck Commander!