UPDATE#5:
Tragedy has befallen our squadron once more. In fact, this unit has been killed in action since Friday night, but I couldn't bring myself to break the news to you guys. So let's start with the good news, shall we?
Built a crap load of satellites. I have eyes in the sky in just about every country and their panic levels are at an all time low. All of you guys are outfitted with the finest gear and we're currently researching 'Ghost Armor'. Not only is it more resilient, but it will make us difficult to detect. Finally got some funding and developed a foundry. Now we've got engineers and scientists working around the clock discovering incredibly sweet upgrades. But damn is it costing me money...
Infiltrated a crucial enemy base and completed a milestone with no casualties. We've grown, brothers; XCOM operatives are a force to be reckoned with now. @AK Stormthegates continues to impress. He's scary up close with a shotty, but this means he also sustains a lot of injuries, and so he's absent from every other mission. However a berserker used its intimidate ability, caused him to panic and he STILL killed the motherfucker WHILE panicked! Holy shit! @THTB did his first tour of duty today. Performed admirably. Gave me a heart attack when a Thin Man poisoned him and Youphemism was too far away to heal him. He held his own and is now going to be brought into the rotation as a regular. He shined too brightly in the battlefield to not do so. Promotion, though he needs some more confirmed kills.
@Youphemism is freaking Florence Nightingale. If Youphemism isn't on a mission, I bite my nails. From clutch smoke bombs, to incredibly efficient healing, to stabilizing our wounded soldiers AND OHKing enemies during overwatch mode, he is the one who holds the team together. But he is also an incredibly favorite target of the enemy.
@Doombawkz has gotten too badass for his own good. Got ambushed by I believe two Mutons, and a Berserker in CLOSE FREAKING RANGE and he singlehandedly wiped them out: Well placed rocketlauncher injured two of them, but more importantly, destroyed their cover. He then switched to his Gatling laser and melted their faces. This was all during one turn, mind you. Speaking of capitalizing during turns:
@Shaolin 19 's 'In the Zone' ability is INCONCEIVABLE. Each time he kills an enemy outside of cover, IT DOESN'T COUNT AS A MOVE! And since he's so powerful that every shot is a OHK ANYWAY, I have killed three enemies during one of his turns before. No grenades. No items, 3 stock, final destination. He makes half cover count as 100% cover, and has an ability to shoot any target an ally unit SEES. Think about that for a second.
@Kitana Prime keeps making me forget he's still a fresh recruit. Has more confirmed kills than ToptierHarley, ...which is ironic....in a way.....anyway, there was no silly sliding in the battlefield, but there WAS an incident that let me know that I mighta been pushing him a little to hard. Stormthegates, our resident shock trooper seldom even cracks and panics during a mission, but a berserker's intimidate ability all but forced him to freak out. He was next to Kitana, and I guess seeing HIM freak out fighting the enemy caused Prime to freak out, and so there was a chain reaction of panic. They were close to our other friendlies and so I feared friendly fire. Thankfully they snapped out of it in time.
@Qwark28 is incredibly versatile, but unfortunately is in the infirmary for a few days. Nothing serious though. Pretty much Sargent 28 has the most powerful weapon FIRST, then after a month, every other unit uses his hand me downs. Very loyal unit. He, Doombawks, and Shaolin have never panicked once.
youphemism was critically wounded, but thanks to @AeroGrunt the man with the plan, he was stabilized. Initially my exclusive alien catcher, he has grown to become a support unit rivaled only by Youph himself. I really really love this unit.
@Dr Morganstien and @Yoaksssss
were sent into the front lines for the first time. As I said, Yoakss was a gift to me from the UK I believe but oh did he come well equipped.
@TopTierHarley got a promotion, but I need to give this guy some more battlefield time. After the severe injury last time I hesitated to throw you back into the front lines, but we're ready.
Top 3:
@Shaolin 19 24 Missions:60 kills
@Qwark28 23 Missions: 48 kills
@AK Stormthegates 20 Missions: 40 kills
PSIONIC ABILITIES AND JETPACKS CURRENTLY IN DEVELOPMENT!
.....and now for the bad news....
<Press play to set the mood and keep reading>
You may have noticed at this point, a crucial support unit has been left out. This unit was a veteran, well outfitted, and is responsible (alongside Youphemism) for keeping Shaolin smoke bombed at all times, giving him line of sight without consequence. This unit has healed, and stabilized our units since the beginning of time, and never faltered in his duties. It is with great regret that I inform you....that....
Corporal @RiBBz22 has been killed in action.
We were pinned down against a huge army of floaters and Mutons. Since floaters have incredible mobility, they suppressed Ribbz as he took cover by a vehicle. We were already heavily damaged and he was our only medic at the time with that much experience. I had to yank him out of there at once..but it was too late:
The enemy flanked and gunned him down, but the resilient fighter would not go down. He was uncritical condition and had 3 turns before he would bleed out. Aerogrunt TRIED AND TRIED to reach him in time risking even his own life, but before the end of the first turn, the aliens continued to intentionally assault the vehicle...setting it on fire
...and eventually causing it to explode, killing Ribbz instantly.
The rest of our troops made it home safely. Ribbz spent his entire military career tending to the wounded and stabilizing their conditions. He was selfless, and while he was just a support unit, and not a heavy hitting shock trooper, he was more valuable than all my heavies and assault units combined. It pained me to lose such a veteran unit, and I desperately tried to save him in time...but alas, he is in a better place now. Farewell, old friend. Your valor is treasured, and the health of our soldiers is a direct result of your sacrifice and tireless charge. Goodnight, sweet prince. You will never be forgotten.
Everyone salute Ribbz.
That's an order.