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XCOMUFO & Xenocide

CTD - Silabrate


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[color="red"][b]EDIT: PLEASE NOTE THE XENOCIDE NAMES HAVE NOT BEEN DETERMINED YET FOR EVERY ITEM OR UNIT IN THE GAME, REFERENCES TO NAMES WHICH ARE THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF ATARI OR OTHER COMPANIES BY INDIVIDUAL PROJECT MEMBERS IS NOT CONDONED BY THE PROJECT AND THE PROJECT DOES NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR SUCH ACTIONS. INDIVIDUALS SHOULD REFER TO ENTRY NAMES AGREED TO BY THE PROJECT, AND IF SUCH A NAME DOES NOT YET EXIST THEY SHOULD USE A SUBSTITUTE IN [BRACKETS]. THANKS![/b][/color]

Here it is...you know what to do.

Autopsy coming shortly.

-The Captain Edited by Breunor
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Hey thats pretty good!

I have taken the liberty of rewriting your work, changes I have made include:

- some spelling and gramatical errors
- paragraph and subject order
- some repetition and emphasis issues

I wasn't sure what the powers that be have to say about alien alloy so I left that.

Good fluff text! :D

feel free to reject/use any of my re-write. Edited by MagicAndy
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"Silibrate, Silibrate, dance to the music!"

Oh, never mind.

The statement that "we need to find out" what their purpose is does seem a bit redundant, but other than that it seems very comprehensive. Is there specific mention in the Alien Alloys CT that it is made of a silicon derivative? If not, then the silibrate is not the only source.
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I'll remove the redundant passage...I guess it got left after a rewrite. I also spotted an errant "it's" in there that I need to fix.

The alloy connection is there...it was intended from the start that Silicoids be the source of alien alloy. The alloy is not silicon based...it's a composite of several different elements and compounds. The Autoposy will get into that in a little more detail.

MagicAndy, just so you know, that first paragraph you removed was intended as the topic summary. I'll put it back in, along with my fixes in the next update.

-The Captain
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[quote]MagicAndy, just so you know, that first paragraph you removed was intended as the topic summary. I'll put it back in, along with my fixes in the next update.[/quote]

I thought it was too good to be left as just an intro, it seemed too specific and made the whole thing muddled like stuff wasn't being covered in any kind of order. Why not write a more general paragraph to replace it?

Your call of course.

"Si-li-brate good times, come on!!"
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"While these creatures seem to serve no obvious purpose, they are only found in larger alien assemblages. These creatures obviously serve some important purpose, and we must find out what."

pretty stupid sentence when i comes just after you tell them that they are the source of alien alloy :P
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  • 11 months later...
SILABRATE
X-Net://Pegasus.net/Alien/Species/Silabrate

These creatures are extremely exothermic, capable of causing extreme burns merely by close proximity. The natural carapace of Alien Composites protects it from low caliber weapons, and incendiary ammunition is likely to be useless, given its internal temperature. Its innate ability to grow Alien Composites makes this creature, apparently, the Aliens’ source of this critical substance.

The live specimen recovery of one of these curious creatures has added a new twist to our understanding of Alien biology. Our standard Alien Containment units were inadequate to keep the creature alive; special and immediate modifications to the Alien containment facility were required in order to preserve the specimen, and thanks to our engineers' commendable work, we are now able to study these creatures in depth.

The stone-like Silabrate is a silicon-based life form, different from any other Alien species previously encountered. The metabolism of this creature is unique in the annals of science. While silicon biology had previously been theorized, there were numerous practical flaws. Terrestrial life forms oxidize carbon during the respiratory process, forming gaseous carbon dioxide. However, when silicon is oxidized, it forms silicon dioxide, a crystalline substance that would seem to prove a major impediment to continued respiration. The Silabrate seems to incorporate the residual silicon dioxide into defensive spikes, literally exhaling short, thick quartz crystals between the plates of its carapace.

The carapace may be the most curious item of all. Formed of irregular, overlapping plates of Alien Composites, it was assumed that the organism had been surgically altered, like many of the other Alien species had been, and the plates implanted; however, after a section was removed for analysis, the vulnerable area left by the excision was covered by a thin layer of Composites within hours, and a full-sized plate had grown within a few days. It appears that this species is the source of the Alien Composites. The exact method by which the Aliens cause it to grow large enough to be useful is still unknown. Theories run from some fashion of hormonal or mental control that causes oversized plates to be produced, to giant Silabrate ‘queens’ with armor plates several meters across. Whatever this method may be, we are currently unable to make good use of the Composites obtained from dead or alive Silabrates.

The Silabrate seems to possess a most rudimentary form of intelligence, the equivalent to that of a terrestrial canine. At first, these creatures seemed to serve no obvious purpose; however, recent evidence leads us to believe that they do, in fact, serve some important purpose; we must find out what is it in order to successfully assess the true danger behind the existence of these creatures.

The specimen is exothermic to extremes, averaging a body temperature of 950 degrees Kelvin. The exact method by which this creature maintains such a high temperature is currently unknown. It ingests virtually any substance given to it, only refusing materials with too high a melting point. However, the discovery of a high proportion of depleted Uranium Dioxide and rare Beryllium compounds in the creature’s waste, along with the increased background radiation around the specimen, has led to the radical proposition that some form of atomic decay may be the source its heat.

Due the extreme heat generated by this organism, it is recommended that our agents avoid close contact. The carapace provides it with exceptional armor, and our incendiary weapons pale in comparison to its own great heat.

“Doc, are you saying that this sucker…..is NUCLEAR?” - Pvt. M. McFly
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  • 1 year later...

Moved back to active due to refference to Alien Composites! People! Something like that can not ever happen again!

 

And moved back to complete. Issue resolved by changing tech tree

Edited by Mad
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added refference to the need of Alien Composites for Silabrate research

 

SILABRATE

X-Net://Pegasus.net/Alien/Species/Silabrate

 

The creatures we have come to call Silabrates are extremely exothermic and thus capable of causing extreme burns merely by close proximity. The natural carapace of Alien Composites protects it from all tools not made out of Alien Composites as well as from low caliber weapons. Incendiary ammunition is likely to be useless, given its internal temperature. Its innate ability to grow Alien Composites makes this creature, apparently, the Aliens’ source of this critical substance.

 

The live specimen recovery of one of these curious creatures has added a new twist to our understanding of Alien biology. Our standard Alien Containment units were inadequate to keep the creature alive; special and immediate modifications to the Alien containment facility were required in order to preserve the specimen, and thanks to our engineers' commendable work, we are now able to study these creatures in depth.

 

The stone-like Silabrate is a silicon-based life form, different from any other Alien species previously encountered. The metabolism of this creature is unique in the annals of science. While silicon biology had previously been theorized, there were numerous practical flaws. Terrestrial life forms oxidize carbon during the respiratory process, forming gaseous carbon dioxide. However, when silicon is oxidized, it forms silicon dioxide, a crystalline substance that would seem to prove a major impediment to continued respiration. The Silabrate seems to incorporate the residual silicon dioxide into defensive spikes, literally exhaling short, thick quartz crystals between the plates of its carapace.

 

The carapace may be the most curious item of all. Formed of irregular, overlapping plates of Alien Composites, it was assumed that the organism had been surgically altered, like many of the other Alien species had been, and the plates implanted; however, after a section was removed for analysis, the vulnerable area left by the excision was covered by a thin layer of Composites within hours, and a full-sized plate had grown within a few days. It appears that this species is the source of the Alien Composites. The exact method by which the Aliens cause it to grow large enough to be useful is still unknown. Theories run from some fashion of hormonal or mental control that causes oversized plates to be produced, to giant Silabrate ‘queens’ with armor plates several meters across. Whatever this method may be, we are currently unable to make good use of the Composites obtained from dead or alive Silabrates.

 

The Silabrate seems to possess a most rudimentary form of intelligence, the equivalent to that of a terrestrial canine. At first, these creatures seemed to serve no obvious purpose; however, recent evidence leads us to believe that they do, in fact, serve some important purpose; we must find out what is it in order to successfully assess the true danger behind the existence of these creatures.

 

The specimen is exothermic to extremes, averaging a body temperature of 950 degrees Kelvin. The exact method by which this creature maintains such a high temperature is currently unknown. It ingests virtually any substance given to it, only refusing materials with too high a melting point. However, the discovery of a high proportion of depleted Uranium Dioxide and rare Beryllium compounds in the creature’s waste, along with the increased background radiation around the specimen, has led to the radical proposition that some form of atomic decay may be the source its heat.

 

Due the extreme heat generated by this organism, it is recommended that our agents avoid close contact. The carapace provides it with exceptional armor, and our incendiary weapons pale in comparison to its own great heat.

 

“Doc, are you saying that this sucker…..is NUCLEAR?” - Pvt. M. McFly

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