Knick

Two come to mind: The first was a young Sergeant, in the early X-Com days. A heavy weapons expert, he was equipped with an Auto-Cannon. While retrieving a UFO on a farm, he was ordered to smoke out a suspected alien in a stable. He fired off three rounds of incendiary, of which one lit a wheat field on fire, and the other two struck a stone wall---directly in front of the Sergeant. The Seargen promptly dropped his weapon as he went up in a blze of phosphor. Running around, weaponless, he subsequently set a barn on fire, until he collapsed unconsious. He woke briefly, only to die from his wounds. We had a closed casket ceremony for that one. The second was a Rookie on his first UFO assault. Taking point at the entrance to the medium sized scout, he was thrown a high explosive package. He picked it up, and charged inside, only to find four SEctoid staring at him, plus an intact power source. Deeming it impossible to save the power source, he threw down the explosve package. Unfortunately, he did not have enough time to escape. The Rookie was awarded a post-humous medal of honour for his sacrifice, which saved the lives of the entire breaching team. Unfortunately, his remains were removed from the smoking hull of the UFO with a fire hose.

X-Com seems like a pretty dodgy operation these days. --Data Cannister 567: Excerpt from Research materials relied upon for The Shadow World: Life in Europa Base during the Alien War , by Jeanette Lavelle-Colignon, (2034), Maclean-Stuart Press, Montreal, Canada. Lavelle-Colignon relied upon her special relationship with the former Base Commander to ensure a substantial portion of the day-to-day records of Europa base were preserved. Unclassified documents were made part of a special bequest on behalf of the Lavelle family to the Canadian War Museum. Lavelle-Colignon's research is considered a seminal look at the soldiers behind the public facade of X-Com. Notice To: All Personnel From: Base Commander Lavelle RE: Intramural Football Tournament It has come to my attention that there have been some complaints concerning the Intramural football finals. In particular, a team has been accused of tampering with equipment. I have asked IO Franks to investigate the matter further. Please be advised that the Intramural football tournament finals have been suspended until further notice. **************************************************** Memorandum To: Base Commander Lavelle From: Doctor Robbins RE: Caseload Trends This report is a follow-up to your request of an overview of the status of the Infirmary and Medical Bay. As you are aware, the Medical Wing was designed to carry up to ten patients at any one time, with sufficient operating capacity and triage facilities to deal with casualties following missions. The allotted space was adequate for our needs in the first few months of base operations. For the most part, injuries fell into two categories. The first category consisted of minor injuries resulting from activities in and around the base. In particular, there were numerous light sprains, pulled muscles, and abrasions resulting from training. It was very rare for personnel to be incapacitated as a result of base-side activities. The second category of injuries consisted of mission-related injuries. These injuries generally were the result of shrapnel wounds, or friendly fire or collateral damage injuries. Shrapnel injuries resulting from enemy ordinance typically was the most serious and was the most likely to cause near-fatal wounds. Such injuries usually required extensive bed-rest. Friendly fire incidents, while unfortunate, would entail a quicker recovery time and often were not life-threatening on the battlefield. More recently, we have seen an increase in the number of personnel reporting to the infirmary with life-threatening injuries. In particular, we have consistently encountered a third, very common form of injury-plasma burns from enemy weapons. The severity of these injuries varies enormously, requiring anywhere from three to twenty days recovery. Although there appears to be an increase in the number of injuries of assault squad members, in fact new technology has actually substantially improved the survival rate of personnel as follows: 1. Increased armour protection. All squad members are issued either personal armour, or powered armour. While not proof against all enemy weapons, a glancing blow is not necessarily fatal. Kevlar vests with ceramic trauma pads failed to provide sufficient protection. Blows which would otherwise be fatal are now merely result in serious injury. 2. Issuance of medical kits. Battlefield medi-kits, while developed early in the war, did not come into their own until the advent of personal armour. Not only are wounds less likely to be fatal, injuries can be quickly treated on the spot, thus preventing fatalities. 3. Weapons and Training. It is apparent that more advanced and accurate weapons and improved training have decreased casualty rates substantially. The fast the enemy is neutralized, the fewer injuries sustained. In short, the increased number of casualties in the recovery ward masks the substantial decrease in fatalities during sorties. The Medical Bay is now suffering from a shortage of bed-space, but an over-abundance of morgue space. The solution to this problem suggests itself. Morale Issues Overall, morale among soldiers appears good. There is a healthy amount of complaining, but no noticeable malingering in the infirmary. Squads still act as a cohesive unit, and as such, are efficient and professional in their roles. Exceptions to this rule are soldiers who have undergone psionic attacks. While not universal, some soldiers appear extremely rattled by these attacks. Long term effects are uncertain, at best. Finally, there have been several complaints concerning food quality in the cafeterias. In particular, the preponderance of beef at virtually every meal has resulted in constipation and gastro-intestinal distress. While normally popular with personnel, it would be advisable to replace the red meat with chicken, pork, or fish several days per week. On a personal note, Col. Colignon will recover from her wounds within two days. *********************************** General Notice to All Staff To: All Personnel From: Base Commander Lavelle RE: Intramural Football Tournament As a result of IO Franks' investigation, I regret to announce the Intramural Football Tournament has been cancelled. I remind all staff that tampering or modifying alien equipment, particularly guided missiles such as Blaster Bombs, regardless of apparently harmless intent, is extremely dangerous and is a punishable offence. Guided weapons systems are vital to the defence of this base, and should not disassembled for any reason except as required for research. They are not toys. Further incidents of this nature will result in severe disciplinary penalties. Engineering Team B will be assigned to KP duties with restricted base privileges until further notice.

--Data Cannister 751: Evidence presented during the Abella Commission relating to possible Human Rights violations during the prosecution of the First Alien War. While X-Com Executive conceded the veracity of the substance of the following report, some portions, particularly the conclusions and the Director's notes, were hotly disputed by X-Com representatives. Preliminary Report: New Guided Missile System Alien artefact retrieved following assault on AB-02. Preliminary field reports indicate substantial destructive power of ordinance. Field reports also indicated appearance of guidance during flight, including a number of very tight right-angle turns. Description: Launcher is grey-blue in colour. Constructed of alien alloys, the Launcher is a two-handed weapon which barely fits into a standard issue combat pack. The Launcher is slightly lighter than a standard issue Heavy Cannon. The Launcher is front-end loaded, and has a small, easily accessible interface on the top. Two copper leads are situated in the back of the barrel, and are used for transmitting programmable co-ordinates to the ordinance. The ordinance is small, blueish-grey, and very lightweight. Approximately the size and shape of a football, they may be hung on belt webbing, or placed in standard issue combat packs. The ordinance cannot be armed until it is loaded into the launcher. There are two copper leads at the back of the ordinance which are used to transmit data from the Launcher. The Ordinance will automatically align itself with the leads. Use The Launcher is held with two hands. A strap extending from the front of the Launcher to the stock provides additional support. Soldiers may use one hand (usually the left, although the Launchers are ambidextrous) to front-load the ordinance. The ordinance is fully loaded when a tell-tale double click is heard. Once the ordinance is loaded, soldiers may enter co-ordinates or way-points into the programmable interface. The originally-alien interface has been modified to reflect a more familiar three-dimensional Cartesian co-ordinate system, with the operator at co-ordinates 0,0,0. Once up to ten co-ordinates are entered, the ordinance may be launched by the trigger located on the bottom of the Launcher. There is virtually no recoil from launch. Performance--Accuracy Following examination of the launcher and ordinance, a number of dummy ordinances were constructed. Repeated tests indicated that, with some practice, co-ordinates could easily be entered, and ordinance could be launched in the space of ten seconds. The guidance system of the ordinance had a very high degree of accuracy. Minor modifications permitted the interface of the guidance system with the battlefield GPS system, allowing for true tactical stand-off strike capability in combat situations. Line of sight issues are entirely irrelevant with this weapon. Some discrepancy was noted where there were long distances between waypoints. There was a slight tendency for ordinance to drift in transit. Reduced distances between waypoints mitigated these discrepancies. Greatest accuracy was achieved by using right-angle turns on the horizontal axis. An apparent design flaw in the navigational system of the ordinance causes a malfunction if the ordinance is programmed to perform a right-angle vertical turn. The ordinance naturally turns to the south, with almost random results-sometimes the ordinance will reacquire its programmed way-point, sometimes not. Such a misfire may be extremely dangerous to the operator. Right-angle vertical turns should be avoided at all costs. This flaw may be related to the Earth's magnetic field. Performance-Power The ordinance consists of a fusion core, in which a small amount of elerium is bombarded with gravitational waves. The resulting mass is highly unstable. Although inert prior to insertion in the launcher, the mass will rapidly destabilize once the ordinance strikes an object. Unlike even primitive earth-based nuclear weapons, the ordinance is an odd combination of highly advanced physics and chemistry, and old-fashioned World War One era explosive shells. The ordinance cannot be programmed to self-destruct. Live fire trials indicated the substantial destructive power inherent in these weapons. One ordinance produces a blast radius of approximately 23 meters diameter. Virtually every object within the blast radius will be destroyed. Virtually no heat is produced by the ordinance. The explosion appears to generally be disk-shaped, propagating from ground zero outwards, but only minimally upwards and downwards. This behaviour is believed to be related to the anti-gravity propulsion system within the ordinance. Further, regardless of the strength of the blast, the blast radius is a constant, and never extends beyond 11 meters from ground zero. The process by which the blast radius is limited is as of yet, unknown. Further, there is no discernible radiation following the deployment of an ordinance. Explosive power of the ordinance does decrease with distance from ground zero. Trials indicate that at the outermost edge of the blast, the ordinance will demolish a brick wall. Reinforced doors will be destroyed at about nine meters from Ground Zero. Reinforced walls will be destroyed at a distance of three meters. It is believed that a direct hit will puncture the outer hull of an enemy craft. Terrestrial structures could be quickly and efficiently demolished with this weapon. The final set of live-fire trials involved the effects of this weapon on organic targets. Initial findings were very positive. The predictable nature of the blast radius permitted precision targeting. It was further found that organic targets do no typically provide cover against the effects ordinance. This weapon will therefore be very effective against groups of enemy. Conversely, this weapon may present a hazard if misused, misfired, or controlled by a mind-controlled agent. While it is possible that an armoured soldier may survive on the periphery of the blast, a direct hit is invariably fatal. Further, targets do not appear to produce a blast shadow, suggesting the explosive energy of the ordinance does not propagate from a central point in a linear fashion, so much as envelop all objects in its path. One misfire occurred in live fire testing. One ordinance was launched, with the intention that it circumvent a "friendly" organic target, and strike a second target some distance away. The ordinance continued in a straight line, embedding itself in the friendly target, but failing to detonate. Later examination of the "dud" revealed the absence of a navigational system and fusion core. Conclusion This weapon represents a substantial tactical advantage on the battlefield and the ultimate in stand-off strike capacity. These weapons will be particularly useful in assaults on enemy craft. If further research can overcome the apparent limitations on the strength and blast radius of the ordinance, a weapon of substantial tactical and strategic value could be produced following the successful prosecution of the current conflict. Requisition Report Request submitted for civilian indemnification as follows: $50,000 Reparation for crop and field damage $150,000 Reconstruction of two haylofts $250,000 Reparations for collateral damage to farm house $40,000 Compensation for replacement vehicles $75,000 Compensation for loss of 47 head of cattle Request for clean-up crew, including civilian treatment and recovery. Director's notes: Request for indemnification and reparations approved. Clean-up squad to report to test site. Civilian trackers to be installed to facilitate later processing. Clean-up squad to use every effort to salvage damaged material for X-Com use, or otherwise attempt to recoup losses from research efforts. Launcher to be issued to squads, as necessary. All future indemnification expenses to be pre-approved at the Director level. Failure to follow procedure will result in disciplinary action.

--Data Cannister 541A: Undated report on Xenopsychology, likely presented to X-Com Board of Directors and Base Commanders sometime during the first year of the First Alien War. Presenter is believed to be Team Lead Dr. Adekya "The interrogation was not entirely a matter of forcing information out of the subjects. Our experience indicates that threats of pain do not provide accurate information from Sectoids. Mutons have little care for pain. Although they clearly show signs of pain, they almost seem to welcome it. Snakemen appear to be the most susceptible to standard interrogation techniques. "Our research seems to indicate a schism between the races. There are roughly three categories: leader races; servant races; and what can best be described as outside contractors-mercenaries. "The relative position of each race in the alien hierarchy is reflected by their relative strategic abilities. During our interrogations, we attempted to gauge the critical thinking abilities of each race through the use of a variety of games. "The Mutons are quite rightly dubbed the "green meanies" by our troops. For our perspective, all they know is attack, regardless of the odds. Some attempts were made to teach Muton prisoners the basics of strategic board games. Researchers had great difficulty in teaching basic rules to such games as Risk, Chess, Stratego, or Axis and Allies. In particular, Muton prisoners had difficulty accepting the use of game pieces as a representative of the player. Mutons demonstrated a propensity for direct physical retaliation on opposing game pieces, rather than representational retaliation, as required by most games. "It's not so much that Mutons are poor losers, as they are unable to separate themselves from the gaming concept. We went through several Risk boards in coming to these conclusions! "For some reason, Mutons had a greater acceptance of computerized games. We suspect that absence of overt "rules of the game" was somewhat comforting to the Mutons. They are able to work within restricted circumstances, but are unable to self-impose those restrictions. This leads us to believe that Mutons are unable to address issues of supply, demand, lines of communications, scarce resources, or husbanding of resources. This impression was reinforced following a number of games of Risk. The Muton player displayed a propensity to attack, regardless of the odds. Mutons appear to have no concept of strategic retreat, the creation of strong points, choke points, feints, or the preservation of existing forces. When engaged in more complex games, such as Axis and Allies, Mutons displayed an inability to manage supply chains, or otherwise make use of strategic targets. "Gentlemen, Mutons may be tough adversaries, however, they are wholly unable to prosecute a war of this scope. They are unthinking foot-soldiers who simply do as they are told-they are the light brigade, without a Tennyson to romanticise their slaughter. It is clear that they are taking orders. "Sectoids have been put forward as the likely "brains behind the brawn". The first intelligent species encountered by humanity other than our own, we have seen direct evidence of their mental abilities. "Our research indicates that they have considerably greater powers of critical thinking. For example, they were able to grasp basic restrictions and rules of games. An oddity of the Sectoid strategy is their difficulty in understanding the concept of limited resources. Although they displayed far greater strategic ability then other races, they initially had difficulty in conserving resources. Theorists posit that SEctoids are accustomed to working with virtually unlimited military resources. As you can imagine, this revelation is somewhat disturbing in the context of limited X-Com funding and resources. "Sectoids demonstrate an ability to engage in tactical retreats, feints, and the ability to manage supply lines and resources. Interestingly enough, they have difficulty in addressing alliances. For example, in some games with multiple, independent players working together, Sectoids had difficulty and appeared frustrated when allied players-invariably human-engaged in self-interested strategies, for example, husbanding strength rather than supporting an ally, or by seizing valuable assets or goals despite the Sectoid players greater need. This appears to indicate a true hive mentality, where individual needs are entirely suborned to the commonweal. Sectoids would derive a considerable advantage from a divided humanity. "Snakemen were easily the most fascinating specimens. We have already determined that they appear be genetically unmodified. As such, they appear to be outside contractors in this war. Mercenaries. As of yet, we are uncertain what payment, if any, they derive from their activities. "Snakemen demonstrated advances strategic knowledge and thinking. Unlike other races, they were able to husband their resources, engage in strategic retreats, employ feints, and take clearly calculated risks. Unlike Sectoids, they were also able to create temporary alliances with other players-including human players-and would break those alliances where they deemed it advantageous. "Further, Snakemen appeared to take delight in winning, and even engaged in sportsmen-like behaviour. They appeared to play games for the sake of playing. Snakemen actually preferred games involving multiple players, with the least restrictive rules possible, allowing for greater freedom of action and creativity. Currently, their favourite games are Age of Empires and Starcraft. "It is clear that Snakemen appear to be a far more individualistic society than other alien races. Further investigation may be warranted. "On reflection, it seems a pity that Humanity encountered the Snakemen in the context of this war. Under different circumstances, we likely could have forged a lasting and beneficial relationship." END TRANSCRIPT NOTE TO FILE: It appears substantial a substantial amount of information is missing from the research files relating to Xeno-psychology. In particular, it appears the methodology of the researchers interrogations was removed before files were submitted to archives. Regrettable, Dr. Adekya is no longer available to confirm his methodology.

Could have been worse. There could have been a hapless researcher inside. --Data Cannister 874B, Excerpt from Appendix A of the Doctoral thesis of Jeanette Lavelle-Colignon, "The Shadow Warriors", 2028, Queen's University Printers, Kingston, Ontario. Lavelle-Colignon is recognized as a leading scholar with respect to the psychology of X-com personnel, currently teaching at the Royal Military College, Kingston, Ontario. Security Report Fire Arms discharge Report To: Base Cmdr. Lavelle From: Capt. Petrov, Duty Officer RE: Disturbance Reported, General Stores C, 03-06-1999 0134h—Received report of excessive and unexplained noise in the vicinity of General Stores C. Security unable to identify source of disturbance on surveillance cameras. 0137h—Proceeded to General Stores C, armed with standard LP sidearm. Upon investigation, discovered PFC Sato, PFC Blake, and Recruit Reynolds. Upon question, all denied any wrongdoing or disturbance. While engaged in further questioning, several loud noises were heard from an unused equipment locker. Determined, upon investigation, determined that a pacified life-form, known as a “Reaper” was present. LP discharged at this time. PFC Blake prevented further discharge. PFC Blake, PFC Sato, and Recruit Reynolds subsequently confined to quarters. Security removed Reaper to Containment. ***************************************************************** Discipline Report RE: PFC Blake PFC Sato Recruit Reynolds Incident of 03-06-1999 Accused, by their own admission, broke into alien containment. They acquired a Reaper, held there for investigation. The Reaper was taken to General Stores C. General Stores C is currently at approximately half its normal capacity. The Reaper was fit with a control collar at all times. Accused then engaged in what they termed an “alien rodeo”, taking turns riding the Reaper in the corridors, while the others kept watch. Upon confrontation by Duty Office Cpt. Petrov, the accused initially denied any wrongdoing. Petrov detected the smell of alcohol on the breath of the accused. When Petrov discovered the presence of the Reaper, PFC Blake prevented Petrov from killing the Reaper with the Duty Officers’ side arm. When confronted with the presence of the Reaper, the Accused claimed they were performing research in the use of Reapers as Cavalry Mounts. Accused were sent to the Brig. Security removed the Reaper. Discipline Imposed: PVC Blake and PVC Sato to lose their base privileges for one month for misuse of prisoners, drunkenness, and wanton and reckless disregard for base safety. Recruit Reynolds to be assigned to KP for three weeks for failing to display good judgement. Non-disciplinary actions: Petrov to log an addition five hours target practice with LP. Recommend that recreational facilities and activities at Europa Base be expanded. ****************************************************************** Memorandum To: All Base Personnel From: Base Commander Lavelle RE: Intramural Football Tournament After receiving several requests, Senior Management has agreed to hold an intramural touch-football tournament. Teams should consist of at least ten players, and are open to all Military and non-Military staff.

I really like this format--half fic, half guide! Here's my first ever: --Data Cannister 874, Excerpt from Appendix A of the Doctoral thesis of Jeanette Lavelle-Colignon, "The Shadow Warriors", 2028, Queen's University Printers, Kingston, Ontario. Lavelle-Colignon is recognized as a leading scholar with respect to the psychology of X-com personnel, currently teaching at the Royal Military College, Kingston, Ontario. Memo To: All Staff From: Base Commander Lavelle RE: Safety and Security Procedures Given the recent events in Research Lab B, Senior Management has determined that all Research and Development staff are to attend the following refresher courses: Health and Safety; Lab Safety Precautions; Workshop Safety Precautions; First Aid Refresher; and Emergency Procedures. In particular, R & D staff will observe the following safety procedures while working in either Labs or Workshops: 1. Research test teams will be under the authority of a team lead. The team lead is responsible for ensuring safety in the workplace. 2. Researchers and Engineers working on a project are obliged to follow the directions of the team lead, particularly when either examining alien technology, or building prototypical systems, weapons, or equipment. 3. While conducting tests of prototypical equipment, employees will follow the instructions of the team lead, and not second guess testing procedures. The team lead will issue a command for each step of the procedure. Team members will confirm the command, and verify its completion before moving to the next step. It appears a break-down in communications is at least partially responsible for the recent casualties in Lab B. 4. MediKits are placed in regularly-spaced brackets in each Lab. Please report any missing or defective MediKits. Please be aware that MediKits are for emergency only, and each use must be documented by the First Aider using the MediKit. Misuse will result in disciplinary penalties. Stimulant and Painkiller doses in the MediKits will be carefully monitored by Senior Management. 5. Future testing of Project Angel will continue, however, as discussed in Health and Safety meetings following the recent accident, new, high-tensile harnesses and restraints will be installed. All R & D staff will undergo training in the proper use of this new equipment. Central Command has approved the diversion of a modest supply of alien alloy for the installation of this necessary safety equipment. Senior Management appreciates the stress and trauma undergone by the staff working on Project Angel. We are confident that the R & D staff will rise to the occasion and complete Project Angel within the estimated time lines. We are pleased to announce that Team Lead Henriksen is recovering in sick bay, and should be back at work within a week, broken jaw notwithstanding. As a final note, Base Maintenance assures us that Lab B will be functional within 24 hours. They also hope to repair the damage to the ceiling, once they determine the most efficient method of removing the prototype antigravity suit currently embedded in the roof.

I guess military speak would include slang, jargon, and so on. Whateve would make a story (or report) more realistic. I'm more interested in, for example the difference between an official report and a first hand account or debriefing. And then you compare the officious phrases to what a soldier would say when reporting to a superior. . . It is a help to be able to make up slang for X-Com!

Hi, first time post, long time lurker, and all that. Is there anyone who can give a brief glossary of military jargon that would be appropriate for fan fiction? It's easy enough to look up slang, not so easy for more official language that would, for example, be included in military reports. Thanks.