Saber Warrior

Indeed, I recommend an anti-virus software and this topic turns into a political discussion. Not that I don't enjoy reading everyone's views of course.

Hey Pickers, try searching Google for AVG antivirus scanner. It's freeware and yet takes care of most if not all your virus/worm troubles. Takes up much less resources than other alternatives as well. Communists, us? I do like the China side in C&C but that's as far as I go. PURE Chinese here but I rather not bore you guys with Malaysian history. Let's just say that there are Chinese communities outside of China due to immigration a couple of centuries ago.

17 eh? Still not legal to take you to the pub, Chung. j/k ::sings the chinese version of the happy birthday song::

<< PVT McBannok >> McBannok paused for a while to examine himself in the mirror. The figure that stared back at him looked exhausted with his hair in a mess and dark rings under his eyes. He was about to turn away when he noticed that something was wrong....... His reflection in the mirror became distorted and blurred out for a few seconds. "I must be worse than I thought" He rubbed his eyes and stared at the mirror again and found himself again. He frowned at the mirror but his reflection in it had an almost comical smile on his face. Strangely, the McBannok in the mirror looked similar yet different at the same time. It was as if he had lost a part of himself and that part had become a different McBannok, one who led a different life and had other experiences. McBannok was almost certain that he was dreaming and decided to play along. He said something witty but was stopped by his alter-ego. "Hehehe, it's your turn to control this body" After his reflection had finished speaking, it jumped out of the mirror and disappeared into his body. He felt a sharp pain in his head as images and sounds of events that happened flooded into his mind. It was too much for him to take and he blacked out. When he opened his eyes, everything seemed to be back to normal. He shrugged it off as mere hallucinations but somehow he felt more complete and refreshed. He stepped out of his room and found some grafiti spray-painted on the walls by Jackson some time ago. It read, "Mirrors are more dangerous than television." McBannok laughed and continued on his way. "How very true! Wait, I'm actually agreeing to something that Jackson wrote.......I NEED A MEDIC!!" <<Alright, I'm officially passing this character to Vikernes. Have fun! >>

<<SGT. ONG (Saber)>> XCS Peregrine, 12 November 2067 In the aft section of the ship, Kevin stood in front of stacks upon stacks of equipment crates that the Ascidian Special Forces had most generously supplied. The crew chief of the Peregrine who was also inspecting the crates, grinned as he ticked off each item on his exceptionally long equipment roster. “You know.” Kevin said to no one in particular since the chief was not really listening. “I once had a ruthless drill sergeant who always said that ‘when in doubt, bring lots of ammo’ but it seems that you gits took it a step further.” Kappa Team had relied on stealth and precision to accomplish their missions so this was the first time that they had brought so much firepower. Kevin picked up a shotgun to check its condition. Most of these weapons never left the armoury except for the occasional field training so they looked almost brand-new. He realized that their new opponents were different from their previous ones but he’s still unconvinced about the need for such drastic measures. Rallwell’s message wasn’t really clear about the nature of their enemy so he decided that when the ship landed, the first thing he’s going to do was grab her, push her into the briefing room and………get more information from her. << :devil: >> Usually the pilot would balk at the additional weight but strangely he just shrugged and reminded the team to make good use of the weaponry. “Well at least I’m not the one carrying all these crates out of the ship when we land…….” The equipment bay was strangely silent as Kevin realized that all the ship’s crew had disappeared. “Bastards!” Meanwhile, the crew chief locked the door to the cockpit and uncorked a bottle of Ascidian brandy. “To the Terrans!” He raised his bottle of liquor. “Terrans!!” The rest of the crew boomed as laughter filled the cockpit.

<<Yeah, I’m a bit slow to react. This post is supposed to be before XCAS found out who the enemy is >> <<Private McBannok>> Royal Ascidian Fusion Test Facility, 2 November 2067 “Ahem! This is Private McBannok continuing my report on our progress on the mysterious energy reaction found in our analysis of the unknown enemy contact. Today marks the third day of our experiment with sadly little progress.” Gael puts down his personal recorder and sighs. “Hey Prive! If you could spare a moment from listening to your whiney self, come on over here and give us a hand.” Gael turns around to glare at the source of the voice, an old man with a sneer in his face. X-Com had requested the assistance from the Kabrons and surprisingly the Kabrons not only agreed but they went out of their way to send their best and brightest to work on the new analysis. The pirates don’t have any scientists per se but their technicians are incredibly talented in their work. The Ascidians while still distrustful of their human allies decided that a joint investigation might help ease the tension and maybe shed some light on the erratic energy readings. Head Technician Randell Kain is smoking something that smell worse than a squad of sweaty Ascidians. He’s scowling at his underlings working furiously in front of him, occasionally commenting on their sexuality and questioning their ancestry. “Hey old man, I’m detecting power fluctuations on valves four and six. Should we abort?” One of the technicians turns around while the rest stares at the warning signals popping up all over the screens. Most are sweating which is ironic since the Kabrons are used to keeping their own atomic engines on the red zone most of the time. Lacking both the technology and the resources to keep up with X-Com, the Kabrons had been known to over-pressure their reactors to generate extra output at the cost of maybe getting a critical reactor core meltdown in space. The test reactor in front of them is being tuned to a level well beyond even the craziest Kabron would never dare try. “What’s our status?” Randell looks like he’s going to rip someone’s head off. “25% of the projected energy level.” Said one of the Ascidian scientist in another corner. The scientist is referring to the calculations made by the team on the predicted energy output from the mysterious equipment used by the unknown enemy. “Then we goddamn proceed! No way we’re going to lose to some alien buggers…..” Gael could almost see the reactor vibrating in response to the critical levels that it is subjected to. The Ascidians scientists look at each other doubtfully before continuing the experiment. “Increasing fusion output…..26 percent, 27, 28, 29.” The entire facility is silent with anticipation except a few mumbled prayers to whichever God that the person believes in. Suddenly, red klaxons activated and a loud buzzing is blaring from all the speakers. “I detect an overflow in valves 5 through 10!” “Shit, valve six just ruptured! Rerouting to secondary valves now.” “Coolant temperatures are still increasing. We cannot hold the reactor steady!” The facility is in total chaos as every Ascidian and Terran work furiously. Randell mumbled a curse before ordering an emergency core shutdown. “Private Gael McBannok speaking. Our experiment has failed……. The test reactor suffered a malfunction before reaching our objective. The maximum output we’re able to generate is a mere 30% of the enemy’s ability. God help us all…….”

I can take one of the land vehicles, if you want. My impression is that the ATV is some sort of buggy while the Half track is a slow but well armored personnel carrier, probably with slits at the side for the troops to shoot out from. Not sure about arming them though.

DH, where's my mail? STRIKE THREE! Hehehe, just teasing you. You mentioned earlier that you have some comments about the Viper description so this is just a reminder. I know you're busy with your Finals so take your time.

I like the new skin very much. Too bad the smileys are created for white backgrounds.

A very sad statement indeed but it can't be helped. Anyway I wish you best of luck in your studies and any future endeavors. XCAS had been my first sim and throughout the years I've met various people from all around the world. It introduced me to weird stuff like Monty Phyton and Yo Momma jokes, all of which gave me plenty of laughs. Even though I'm no longer very active due to the increasing difficulties in coping with the time zone, I will continue to be a part of this sim as long as it still exists. Thank you for introducing this poor geek to a wonderful place. It's been a great honour and pleasure to serve under you, sir! ::salutes::

Yes it answered "Loonie's bi! I got the logs! Mwahahahaha!"

Hmmm....in my experience the simmers are posting too fast so by the time I finish responding to the particular shot, they're already posting about a different situation already. Bob, you seen how Kappa simmed; try comparing it with Alpha's pace and you'll see why Ghost and DH gets nuts.

Heh the graphics is one of the reasons but I'm also curious about the technology tree. Maybe I liked that Marsec Armor from Apoc too much cuz the armor design in Aftermath is just plain weird!

Hey Bob, I might be digressing from the topic a bit but I'm wondering if you can give us some tips. In your previous simming experience, how did the GMs handle large numbers of simmers at the same time and did you have problems with short posts as well? These two problems has been prevalent in XCAS even before you joined so it would be useful to get some opinions.

It's official! UFO: Aftermath has gone gold and I'm counting the days till I get my hands on it. Unfortunately judging from the screenshots, I'm not very impressed. Heh, maybe it's the cynic in me so let's hope I'm wrong. Besides, Silent Storm is coming out soon as well (though the theme is WWII)

Come on guys, expressing your resentment here won't solve anything. Mouse, if you want to end XCAS, please do so only if you really think that you can no longer spare the time for it. Yes Bob, Mouse was and will always be a damn good CMDR of XCAS. Personally I don't want to see the end of XCAS but if it had to happen I'm sure at least Kappa will still uphold Mouse's legacy. Maybe my opinions are biased since I'm a loyal Mouse supporter , but I've really enjoyed being part of XCAS for the past two years under Mouse that I still stay up at ungodly hours just to sim. Anyway, I'm posting just to show Mouse that some of us still want him to be around. ::salutes the CMDR:: (Maybe some positive opinions will encourage him to take XCAS back to its full glory again )

Heh, I hope I'm not being a bad influence on you Shadow. :devil: First only two members of XCAS has swords namely Ko and Ong. Unlike me DH has incorporated his sword into his character through storylines and RP posts. I had the sword cuz I'm an anime freak (Yeah wipe that smirk off your face DH ) Later after gaining some experience I had decided in the interest of realism, I'll forget about the sword since it's just a novelty and not part of my character. However, it seems that everyone here got so used to me having a sword and starts pestering me for it during the sims so I guess it's here to stay. My point is, don't just add anything just for the heck of it. If you want to be a pilot, write something out or post some RPs in the forum to indicate your interest. Maybe you can enlist as a trainee under the ascidian air force or something and elaborate from there. Hell I'm studying Computer Science in RL so I should put engineering as a secondary position right? Nope, since I lack contribution so it would be pointless for me to apply for engineering if I don't do anything with it. So put on your thinking cap and do some pondering before you make any decision.

I support the idea but I'm worried that the simmers will end up doing crazy stunts just to earn the medals. So requirements for the award of a medal should be considered carefully. Also I suggest the inclusion of demerits as well to put realism back to our sims. *cough* Scott *cough* :devil:

I was the only kappa member present, enough said! Ghost did show up but it was well into the sim so we couldn't discuss anything. Oh and have you done the storyline yet? I'll need it to write up my mission briefing.

Ahem! SOMEONE has forgotten a meeting!

Yes a meeting is in order then. I'll try not to be late this time. Kudos to Pickers for an excellent description.

Good god! I've just realised the potential amount of possibilities involved in this alien planet. Come on people, post some opinions!

Let me add that simmers should always try to put more stuff in their posts. Not only that it makes the sim more interesting, it also allows the GM to find something to respond to. However, the only way for this to work is to slow the pace down so everyone can read the posts and put appropriate response. There won't be any problems if everyone take their time to put in nice, creative and long posts. P.S. On a side note, if Scott decides to pull off another one of his crazy stunts again, I swear I'm going to crash our only Avenger transport and leave the team stranded behind enemy lines. (or at least I'm going to whine to the GM until he does it) :devil: Don't think that I don't like the stunts though, it kinda gives Scott a unique character but at least do some research on aerodynamic physics before doing it!

Damn, I've read the previous posts and I noticed that I'm just repeating what you guys have already posted. Bad me!

Heh I guess I'm guilty for starting the physics discussion in the kappa channel! Anyway, there's a good reason to separate GMs and COs. This was already discussed after Sunday's sim so I'm just restating our views. As Mouse had posted, the CO won't know what direction the sim is heading if he's not the GM but that can be a good thing as well since it encourages the CO to think creatively instead of following a set path. Of course this might inconvenience the GM because he'll need to do improvisations whenever the CO decides to take a different approach but I think this will make the sims more interesting. I think everyone is getting sick of all the cookie cutter sims (go in, blow everyone to hell, get overwhelmed by the enemy, run away ) For example in the kappa sim, (Oh I don't mean kappa is better than alpha, I'm just using this as an example ) the GM decides to fail the mission because I mentioned that the enemy might notice the water puddles on the floor from our wet suits. (at least I think that's why he failed the mission :dontgetit: ) My point is, the GM didn't plan the sim to progress that way and instead relies on the simmers to take a more active role in determining the storyline. Technically, the sergeants will end up as secondary GMs though they don't necessarily need to post actions and settings. The GM will take care of the strategic (long term) aspect of the sim while the sergeants will take care of the tactics (short term) involved in accomplishing the objectives. I believe that this way, the sims will be more creative and fun. I say this because we managed to hold a sim using this concept for four to five hours between three people and yet we still had fun throughout the entire sim. (or maybe we're just lame geeks! ) Okay I've posted my lame opinion, now I need to hide before you guys decide to throw rotten vegetables at me.