DocFrance

So I was sifting through an old e-mail account of mine, and found an odd message inviting me to return to some forum at "strategycore.co.uk." I had never heard of the place, but nonetheless, I clicked the link out of curiosity. Wow. Just... wow. This place brings back memories. In case you're wondering who this jerk is, I've been a rabid avid fan of the X-COM series since around 1994. I was a regular poster at the old Your X-COM: Apocalypse Source message board (back in the days before VB and the likes!) during the late 90's. When that place finally died for whatever reason, I moved on to this place (at the time, xcom.co.uk, I believe), where I participated in a terribly-writtenrole-playing Apoc fanfiction. Those were good times. And then I just left, for some reason, around 2002. To everyone else who might remember me... Hi.

Well, garlic naturally repels the undead - vampires, and zombies and the such.

Well, you can't really capture and research zombies. However, when I was young boy (I played the silver ball... haha - name the song) I used to think that you could. I thought that after you research them you could manufacture "Garlic Grenades" in order to kill the zombie and prevent the chrysalid from hatching. Heh, pretty crazy ideas, but wouldn't that be cool? :bomber:

*looks around* Hmmm, I haven't been here for a *long* time. I've been really busy and rather uncreative. So to preserve my character's "deep-smoked and snarly flavor", as JFG put it, I'm relinquishing command of Doc to JellyFishGreen. At least until I can get around to thinking of something creative. I'll also try to actually read all that's happened yet...

Just to remind you guys: Name: Sean France Callsign: "Doc" Alpha Squad Commander/Tactician Based on his upbringing, one would never expect Sean to be a soldier. He recieved a PhD in Behavioral Science and Leadership at Johns Hopkins University (one of the few universities left standing after almost a century of extraterrestrial conflict) in 2073. Soon after, he was offered a job as a professor for Lifetree in Vancouver, the site of a new "mega city". Unfortunately, his professorship ended quickly - all they needed him for was as an electronic avatar for the psionic interfaces that Lifetree was beginning to use. Sean was not unemployed for long - he landed a job as a psychological investigator for MegaPol in the newly-founded Mega Primus. Over the next 7 years, he spent his time observing the actions of the Police on special assignments, and soon developed a keenness for small-squad tactics. His superiors noticed this change in his behavior, and transferred him to the Special Ops division, where his true colors showed. He soon became renowned throughout the Police, and was thus the first candidate from MegaPol for a tactician in X-COMCorp. His education gave him the obvious moniker "Doc." In X-COMCorp, Doc made a name for himself as both a master tactician and the life of any party (the opposite of Carlos, the death of any party ). He owns a not-quite-legal micro-brewery in a section of a hangar bay at his home base, where he concocts beverages from decades past. His tactician's skills make him the best opponent for Tinman in a friendly game of chess - but he usually leaves drunk and/or furious. In dramatic opposite to his more cheery side, Doc has a complicated past that he tends to hide. He has only mentioned it to one person on base, and even then his story was vague. Strentgh: Average Agility: Below Average Speed: Above Average Endurance: Above Average Perception: Average Intelligence: Exceptional Accuracy: Below Average Psi Powers: Above Average Weapon of Choice (Don't be shocked by the sound of our voice... check out my new weapon...): Doc's time in MegaPol accustomed him to the good solid spray of slugs produced by the MegaPol M4K.

w00t! Stay tuned for more adventure-packed episodes! To include: -Tammy sleeping in more uncomfortable chairs! -Ego and Doc still moping around, half-drunk, feeling sorry for themselves! -CAP hitting on more androids! -and Carlos still not being there! Remember, same Apoc channel, same Apoc time!

Yes, but that can easily be edited. I think the description was maybe 1 or 2 lines. We could say we reported the aircraft as crashed in the Pacific, and make a bit of a cover story.

Yes, but something like a supply ship isn't that easy to carry whole..., especially when its about 10 times the size of a Skyranger. I'm sure he wouldn't mind the alien alloy hull being cut into manageable pieces, and individual components disconnected, etc, etc.

You do realize, we still have a C-5 at Pine Gap. That thing could easily accomodate a large UFO, if it were sliced up first. Let me put it this way - a Galaxy can carry three Apache helos, or two M-1 Tanks. It's the second largest aircraft in the world. Big, slow, and ugly - that's what they're good at.

"Lieutenant Dan! Your legs grew back!"

Ummm... I'm American and reasonably nice... I just tend to swear alot. And I haven't been in too many posts in order to get some character development... I've been pretty busy lately.

Hmmm??? I just visited the fanfic section for the first time (I know, I'm deprived), and I noticed the one chapter-Apocalypse fanfic made by "The Regulars." This was the collective fanfic that me and my buds back at X:AS did over two years ago, as well as the inspiration for the currently ongoing collective fanfic at this site... heck, this fic even has my name in it. I just wanted to know who put that up there and when... and why its only the first chapter. It's also a shame that that site went down a long time ago. Just curious...

It's amazing that Apocalypse wasn't even near 100% complete, but its still such an awesome game...

Actually, it'd probably be a BX, since its a base

Jack-wan Thomas... He is our only hope...

Hmmm... I guess I can send out Cheese to pick up the new Hurricane, as well as some more supplies (rocket tank, anyone? ) He can just take the old C-5 we came here in. After all, that thing can hold 3 Chinook helicopters, it should have no problems with a small jet... Actually, I'm sort of at a loss for content... I'd appreciate some suggestions. Anything you guys'd like to see Doc do or say? Come on, my character needs some meat (content-wise - although I could go for a nice juicy steak ) And anyone can feel free to write about Doc. Just don't kill or otherwise mangle him - there will be serious repurcussions... :hmmm:

So what's the problem?

I don't mean to be anal about this (wow, I'm really raining on Kitat's picnic), but I just discovered a bit of an anachronism in our plotline. Kilam enjoys playing Counter-Strike, correct? I saw this and I decided it was an old enough game. But then I just discovered that the Counter-Strike mod wasn't realeased for download until mid-1999, half a year after the events that are taking place. I guess we could let it slide, but in the hopes of realism, Kilam could enjoy playing TFC, the popular mod for Quake 2! Weee! Seriously, who's idea was it to heal someone with a bloody axe? Again, my $0.02.

I think it's late November or early-mid December...

Why, he's moving 'Zig' for great justice

Alright, time to get this show started. First off, I don't think it's such a good idea to have the war started by just one aircraft being shot down. If that were the case in RL, we'd be at war with Canada right now (in the news - some US pilot bombed a group of Canadians in Afghanistan). Not all attacks are a declaration of war. After all, we are STILL X-INV. Our job is to determine if that was an act of hostility, or just an "Ooops, wrong button." We, the authors know that the aliens are hostile, but the characters don't. Second, just one unknown pilot in a jet doesn't quite hit home, does it? This probably sounds clicheic, but I think the event that changes us from X-INV to X-COM should be pretty dramatic, like in our last fanfic. In that one, Chicago was assaulted on Xmas Eve by a large group of Snakes and Chryssalids. Alot of people were killed, the city was pretty much ruined, and it affected alot of people at Pine Gap. One week later, on 1 January 1999, X-COM began full operation to study and FIGHT the alien MENACE. Just my $0.02

Actually, this should probably go in the philosophical "Do Sectoids really exist?" thread.

In RL I'm not Christian - I really only believe in a god (or some higher force), nothing more. I guess my character's the same, though he tends to swear alot. I guess I'm going for the cigarette-smoking, coffee-swilling, bad-mouthed "Cid Highwind" sort of guy. And no, I DO NOT have an airship

Actually, I think that aliens take "stun damage" until it exceeds their current HP. Then they pass out. That's why if you damage them a bit it's easier to stun them. For you soldiers, it's that grey bar on their health bars.

Although it would be pretty funny to have the Chungs working together, it doesn't seem too realistic. In US and other nations' militaries, people in a familiar relationship aren't placed in the same squad or whatever. I think its been a common thing since Pearl Harbor, where one of the ships that sank had two or three brothers on board, both killed. Anyway, just my $0.02