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CTD - Paradigm Shift: Offensive Operations


Guest Azrael Strife

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"more information from low-ranking Aliens, we must interrogate the highest-ranking Alien officers: the Alien commanders well protected inside Alien Earthly bases. "

sound funny, and relies on knowledge that might not be discovered, consider rewrite.

eks:

…, we should interrogate a higher ranking alien officer. A base commander should suffice.

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That sentence make it sound like the report writer knows that xcorp needs a commander for this information. And that he knows that xcorp can only get one from a base raid.

Remember that this is actually only speculations from the scientists.

 

So the problem is actually me and my obsession with uncertain-ing texts.

That way it sound more believable, and it wont come back to bite our "donkey," we can just say that we it was the scientist that made the mistake, not us CDT writers.

Edited by Qonfused
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I believe that some sort of information regarding the hierarchy (sp?) of the Aliens would already have been obtained through interrogations, so the Humans already know that there are higher-ranking Aliens directing things from the bases, it is the X-Corps who name them Commanders, but the name is just that, but I think that they would know by then that there are those Commanders protected in the bases.
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Im not saying its wrong, im just saying it could be better.

Trust me; academics always add stuff like "according to surveys...", "the facts point at..." or a good old "we have reason to believe..."

Scientist think different that normal people, and write differently too.

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Hmm... We don't speak Alien, the Aliens don't speak Human (for that matter, some races can't even speak!), all Aliens have at least some exposure to psi, more likely than not, at this point, the player would have encountered psi on the battlefield, and while he might not be able to research/use it yet, realisticly the scientists would have happily theorized/experimented away and relatively psi capable personel would have been found and while incapable of using psi on the battlefield yet, what's to keep them from attempting to communicate with the buggers from outer space while at the base?

 

Not to mention there's the mind reader(Which of cause, would result in amusing circumstances if the player hasn't reseached it yet... Or maybe we should force the player to research it before he can research the aliens for info...)

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i don't think so.

 

me neither. By forcing people to get PSI before you get to Mars, you effectively prolong the entire game. Good thing, and you won't be able to interrogate aliens beforehand. Makes sence. Completely.

Edited by mikker
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I had thought so, even though psionic people may not be able to use it on the battlefield, there are people who can use telepathy, so we'll just have to assume that the interrogator is one of them.
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Hmm... Provided the player actually reads it, it should be plenty clear enough.

the brain wave patterns get scrambled and reorganised in a way they’re sensitive to external manipulation,

Suggest: "... the brain wave patterns get scrambled and reorganized in a certain pattern, one that we think makes the person more sensitive to external manipulation..."

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  • 5 months later...

(Yet another) minor nitpick... Maybe elaborate on the text's title a bit in the text?

 

Perhaps add a sentence to explaining how this research paves the way/is the first step (depends on where in the tech tree this text is) for the X-Corps to "take the battle to the Aliens", instead of purely defending against Alien incursions. It is essentially a "paradigm shift" in the mentality of the X-Corps leadership, making plans to transition from a reactive to a proactive stance, from defensive to offensive operations.

Edited by Astyanax
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  • 2 months later...

...now we are heavily working on "Thanatos: Project Xenocide", we should also look at this one again, I guess. Perhaps parts of the first paragraph I wrote for "Thanatos: Project Xenocide" are more useful here:

 

When we began fighting this war, we believed that we could win it here, on earth. If enough UFOs were shot down, enough alien bases found and smoked out, enough of their soldiers killed, the Aliens would just lose interest or determine that fighting us is a waste of resources. But the more we learned about them, the more it became clear that they wouldn't just stop. They would continue to attack, abduct, investigate and terrorize us with a neverending supply of Aliens.

followed by something like "Our only hope is to take the battle to them. But first we had to find out where they operate from, to stage a counter-attack. We have now gathered evidence that their base is located in our solar system, on a planet near earth."

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  • 2 months later...

Tweaks.

------

PARADIGM SHIFT: OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS

X-Net://Pegasus.net/Alien/Research/Offensive Operations

 

Extensive research into the issue of the Aliens’ main base of operations’ location has finally paid off. Our agents on the field have been able to capture several live Alien creatures, among them, a Leader of the invasion forces. Interrogation of the captured Alien officer has allowed us to decipher one of the last mysteries we are to resolve in order to stop this war and eliminate the Alien threat once and for all. The enemy’s main stronghold lies on Mars, the fourth planet of our very own Solar System.

 

Excerpt from Alien Leader Debriefing

[X-Net://Pegasus.net/Alien/Debriefings/Deb#281-b]

 

Interrogator: [spc. Mark Dufraine] and [spc. Eileen Iwosaka]

 

Spc. Iwosaka (EI): This is the interrogation of a captured and pacified Alien leader. Due to the importance of this interrogation, and my high aptitude for psionics, I have volunteered to try to establish communication with the Alien being through telepathic means. I have surrendered my weapons to one of the MPs on guard in the room. They have been ordered to sedate both me and the Alien should anything appear to be going wrong. Questions will be prompted and recorded by Specialist Dufraine, in the control room. I am ready to begin.

{Spc. Iwosaka assumes the lotus position, and visibly relaxes. The Alien, who had been looking around the room, turns and focuses on Spc. Iwosaka.}

Spc. Dufraine (MD): Specialist Iwosaka, can you hear me?

EI: Yes. I can hear you.

MD: Have you contacted the Alien?

EI: I think so. I'm getting some very confusing signals. It wants to get in my head. It's cold.

MD: Are you ready to give it a question?

EI: Yes. I'm letting down my guard a little, let it get inside and see if that makes things easier.

MD: What was the purpose of your ship?

EI: It says that we cannot hope to defeat them. Things will be much easier if we just lay down our weapons and surrender.

MD: What is your name and rank?

EI: Names are meaningless abstractions for sentient beings. It says only a minor race such as humans require names for themselves. Its ship designation was 110011010101.

MD: Where did your ship originate from?

EI: …It won't tell me that.

MD: Where was your ship headed?

EI: It won't tell me that either. I'm going to try to push deeper.

{Spc. Iwosaka's face contorts into an expression of painful concentration. A thin trickle of blood begins to ooze out of her nose}

MD: Don't push it too hard.

EI: It.. It's resisting. Fighting back… Let me in you slimy... Ah! I think I see now... wait, there is something more… it’s like… locked! As if a part of the creature’s mind was completely locked, I’ll try to get in see what’s it hiding…

MD: You’ve been long enough there, get out!

EI: I’ll try to break the mental lock… What the..!??, NOOooooooooo!!!

{Spc. Iwosaka and the Alien start to shake as in terrible pain, the MPs immediately step forward and stun both Spc. Iwosaka and the Alien into unconsciousness}

 

Notes: Spc. Iwosaka recovered, but appears to have lost any psionic ability that she had due to her extremely close encounter with the Alien intelligence. She reports that the last image she was able to recover from the Alien was an view of a reddish planet from orbit. Further debriefing and research indicates that this planet is most likely Mars. Unfortunately Spc. Iwosaka was unable to gather precise location of the Alien base or bases on the fourth planet. The mental lock Spc. Iwosaka described in the Alien’s mind remains a mystery, apparently the single attempt to break the lock triggered some sort of mental defense mechanism, which has resulted in the Alien suffering a cardiac arrest. [...]

 

Thanks to the deciphering of the Alien language, we have been able to successfully translate data logs from captured Alien craft; the gathered information corroborates our interrogation, the source of the Alien attack is Mars.

The last scan of the Martian surface (Mars Global Surveyor, 2004) did not reveal anything that indicated the presence of any sort of structure on the planet. Our Research Division’s theory is that the base is completely hidden, that is why our probes and satellites have revealed nothing on Mars, despite the fact that the Alien stronghold seems to have been there for several centuries. As there is no indication of Alien technology capable of cloaking a base from satellite scans, our scientists agree that the most likely option is the base being underground, so the possibility of missile bombardment is off the table; our operatives will have to conduct a direct assault through the very gates of the Alien stronghold in order to destroy it once its exact location is discovered.

 

The base contains the massive equipment used to build the enormous Alien fleet we’ve so far encountered and the large quantities of the precious Xenium-122 that is used to power the Alien vessels and armament. Also, our Biochemistry Department strongly believes in the possibility of cloning facilities, used to create the invasion army, if this is true it would mean that any eventual assault will most likely encounter fierce resistance, as the Alien forces have not been much weakened, they have only been slowed down.

 

The sheer size and coordination of the extraterrestrial attack suggests there is some greater element at play here, straying from the theories that proposed a united, cohesive effort brought on by a collective of Alien races, it appears that the only feasible way the Aliens could orchestrate such a massive undertaking would be of a military-like societal structure. Ideally, the head of the serpent lies in the form of a higher hierarchy, something beyond everything we have seen so far. We might be dealing with a completely different Alien species, something we have not yet encountered.

 

We already know that Alien attacks on our populations are directed from the Alien bases on Earth, what we still do not know is who is that it gives the orders to these bases, it might be a sole individual, like a king or emperor, or even a council of some sorts, it's quite hard to say what the driving force really is. Is our enemy led by a group, or by an overlord?

 

Further research into this matter is of critical importance to Earth’s very survival; we have been attempting to put up an effective defense against the Alien incursions ever since the beginning of this war, unfortunately it is now clear that we are fighting a losing battle, our only choice is to switch from defense to offense, and to do it immediately, otherwise it will be too late for the Humanity to prevent an Alien victory.

Once we obtain accurate information regarding the Aliens’ chain of command, we will be able to prepare an effective offensive against it, for now we have no real chance of stopping the Invasion.

Our Research Division believes that we cannot obtain more information from low-ranking Aliens, we must interrogate the highest-ranking Alien officers: the Alien Commanders, well protected inside Alien Earthly bases.

 

“I believe there is enough evidence of a superior creature pulling the strings here, I’ve observed the captured Aliens’ brain wave patterns, they are similar to those of soldiers who have been mind controlled while on the field, you know?, the brain wave patterns get scrambled and reorganised in a way they’re sensitive to external manipulation, I’m convinced there is something more behind all this, and I’m not talking about Cloaks, oh no, the patterns are in there too, that means that it’s something we’ve never seen before”

 

Matías "Azrael" Laíno – Research Division, Biochemistry Department.

Edited by Azrael
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Good stuff =b

 

Thanks to the deciphering of the Alien language, we have been able to successfully translate data logs from captured Alien craft; the gathered information corroborates our interrogation, the source of the Alien attack is Mars.

 

I don't know... somehow, this sentence sounds a little stiff... And AFAIR this is the first time we mention Alien language. So maybe put a little bit more into it. I would love to have a seperate entry just for this. Maybe as a bonus entry coming together with this one. But for now, you could write sth. like "Putting heavy efforts in deciphering the Alien language we finally managed to successfully translate some data logs from captured Alien craft..."

 

more or less the same goes with the other added sentence

[...] we have been attempting to put up an effective defense against the Alien incursions ever since the beginning of this war, unfortunately it is now clear that we are fighting a losing battle, our only choice is to switch from defense to offense, and to do it immediately, otherwise it will be too late for the Humanity to prevent an Alien victory.

 

The "unfortunatly it is now clear" sounds a little strange in my ears. Maybe it's just because I havent had breakfast 'till now... ;)... What do you think of something like "we now have to face we are fighting a losing battle, our only remaining choice is to immediatly drop our defense tactics and try to bring up a counterattack within the heart of the alien command centre..." Ok... so maybe the "counterattack in the heart" is a little to melodramatic :P , but you get the point. Mankind's survival is at a stake!

 

But this one caught my eye... never read it conciously before...

 

Matías Laíno – Research Division, Biochemistry Department.

 

:D

 

---Edit---

 

I see the Alien language is mentioned in the Alien Origins CT before... so nevermind.. :)

Edited by Mad
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Good stuff  =b

 

Thanks to the deciphering of the Alien language, we have been able to successfully translate data logs from captured Alien craft; the gathered information corroborates our interrogation, the source of the Alien attack is Mars.

 

I don't know... somehow, this sentence sounds a little stiff... And AFAIR this is the first time we mention Alien language. So maybe put a little bit more into it. I would love to have a seperate entry just for this. Maybe as a bonus entry coming together with this one. But for now, you could write sth. like "Putting heavy efforts in deciphering the Alien language we finally managed to successfully translate some data logs from captured Alien craft..."

 

more or less the same goes with the other added sentence

[...] we have been attempting to put up an effective defense against the Alien incursions ever since the beginning of this war, unfortunately it is now clear that we are fighting a losing battle, our only choice is to switch from defense to offense, and to do it immediately, otherwise it will be too late for the Humanity to prevent an Alien victory.

 

The "unfortunatly it is now clear" sounds a little strange in my ears. Maybe it's just because I havent had breakfast 'till now... ;)... What do you think of something like "we now have to face we are fighting a losing battle, our only remaining choice is to immediatly drop our defense tactics and try to bring up a counterattack within the heart of the alien command centre..." Ok... so maybe the "counterattack in the heart" is a little to melodramatic :P , but you get the point. Mankind's survival is at a stake!

 

But this one caught my eye... never read it conciously before...

 

Matías Laíno – Research Division, Biochemistry Department.

 

:D

 

---Edit---

 

I see the Alien language is mentioned in the Alien Origins CT before... so nevermind.. :)

 

I have been thinking about an Alien Language text, but it's not really a good idea, mainly because Stewart's language is not really a different language, but rather a "codification" of English, so explaining it would really take away all the Alien feeling out of it :)

Thanks for the comments.

Edited by Azrael
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  • 3 months later...
  • 1 year later...

Fixed forum software mess

PARADIGM SHIFT: OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS

X-Net://Pegasus.net/Alien/Research/Offensive Operations

 

Extensive research into the issue of the Aliens' main base of operations' location has finally paid off. Our agents on the field have been able to capture several live Alien creatures, among them, a Leader of the invasion forces. Interrogation of the captured Alien officer has allowed us to decipher one of the last mysteries we are to resolve in order to stop this war and eliminate the Alien threat once and for all. The enemy's main stronghold lies on Mars, the fourth planet of our very own Solar System.

 

Excerpt from Alien Leader Debriefing

[X-Net://Pegasus.net/Alien/Debriefings/Deb#281-b]

 

Interrogator: [spc. Mark Dufraine] and [spc. Eileen Iwosaka]

 

Spc. Iwosaka (EI): This is the interrogation of a captured and pacified Alien leader. Due to the importance of this interrogation, and my high aptitude for psionics, I have volunteered to try to establish communication with the Alien being through telepathic means. I have surrendered my weapons to one of the MPs on guard in the room. They have been ordered to sedate both me and the Alien should anything appear to be going wrong. Questions will be prompted and recorded by Specialist Dufraine, in the control room. I am ready to begin.

{Spc. Iwosaka assumes the lotus position, and visibly relaxes. The Alien, who had been looking around the room, turns and focuses on Spc. Iwosaka.}

Spc. Dufraine (MD): Specialist Iwosaka, can you hear me?

EI: Yes. I can hear you.

MD: Have you contacted the Alien?

EI: I think so. I'm getting some very confusing signals. It wants to get in my head. It's cold.

MD: Are you ready to give it a question?

EI: Yes. I'm letting down my guard a little, let it get inside and see if that makes things easier.

MD: What was the purpose of your ship?

EI: It says that we cannot hope to defeat them. Things will be much easier if we just lay down our weapons and surrender.

MD: What is your name and rank?

EI: Names are meaningless abstractions for sentient beings. It says only a minor race such as humans require names for themselves. Its ship designation was 110011010101.

MD: Where did your ship originate from?

EI: ...It won't tell me that.

MD: Where was your ship headed?

EI: It won't tell me that either. I'm going to try to push deeper.

{Spc. Iwosaka's face contorts into an expression of painful concentration. A thin trickle of blood begins to ooze out of her nose}

MD: Don't push it too hard.

EI: It.. It's resisting. Fighting back... Let me in you slimy... Ah! I think I see now... wait, there is something more... it's like... locked! As if a part of the creature's mind was completely locked, I'll try to get in see what's it hiding...

MD: You've been long enough there, get out!

EI: I'll try to break the mental lock... What the..!??, NOOooooooooo!!!

{Spc. Iwosaka and the Alien start to shake as in terrible pain, the MPs immediately step forward and stun both Spc. Iwosaka and the Alien into unconsciousness}

 

Notes: Spc. Iwosaka recovered, but appears to have lost any psionic ability that she had due to her extremely close encounter with the Alien intelligence. She reports that the last image she was able to recover from the Alien was an view of a reddish planet from orbit. Further debriefing and research indicates that this planet is most likely Mars. Unfortunately Spc. Iwosaka was unable to gather precise location of the Alien base or bases on the fourth planet. The mental lock Spc. Iwosaka described in the Alien's mind remains a mystery, apparently the single attempt to break the lock triggered some sort of mental defense mechanism, which has resulted in the Alien suffering a cardiac arrest. [...]

 

Thanks to the deciphering of the Alien language, we have been able to successfully translate data logs from captured Alien craft; the gathered information corroborates our interrogation, the source of the Alien attack is Mars.

 

The last scan of the Martian surface (Mars Global Surveyor, 2004) did not reveal anything that indicated the presence of any sort of structure on the planet. Our Research Divisions theory is that the base is completely hidden, that is why our probes and satellites have revealed nothing on Mars, despite the fact that the Alien stronghold seems to have been there for several centuries. As there is no indication of Alien technology capable of cloaking a base from satellite scans, our scientists agree that the most likely option is the base being underground, so the possibility of missile bombardment is off the table; our operatives will have to conduct a direct assault through the very gates of the Alien stronghold in order to destroy it once its exact location is discovered.

 

The base contains the massive equipment used to build the enormous Alien fleet we have so far encountered and the large quantities of the precious Xenium-122 that is used to power the Alien vessels and armament. Also, our Biochemistry Department strongly believes in the possibility of cloning facilities, used to create the invasion army, if this is true it would mean that any eventual assault will most likely encounter fierce resistance, as the Alien forces have not been much weakened, they have only been slowed down.

 

The sheer size and coordination of the extraterrestrial attack suggests there is some greater element at play here, straying from the theories that proposed a united, cohesive effort brought on by a collective of Alien races, it appears that the only feasible way the Aliens could orchestrate such a massive undertaking would be of a military-like societal structure. Ideally, the head of the serpent lies in the form of a higher hierarchy, something beyond everything we have seen so far. We might be dealing with a completely different Alien species, something we have not yet encountered.

 

We already know that Alien attacks on our populations are directed from the Alien bases on Earth, what we still do not know is who is that it gives the orders to these bases, it might be a sole individual, like a king or emperor, or even a council of some sorts, it's quite hard to say what the driving force really is. Is our enemy led by a group, or by an overlord?

 

Further research into this matter is of critical importance to Earths very survival; we have been attempting to put up an effective defense against the Alien incursions ever since the beginning of this war, unfortunately it is now clear that we are fighting a losing battle, our only choice is to switch from defense to offense, and to do it immediately, otherwise it will be too late for the Humanity to prevent an Alien victory.

Once we obtain accurate information regarding the Aliens' chain of command, we will be able to prepare an effective offensive against it, for now we have no real chance of stopping the Invasion.

Our Research Division believes that we cannot obtain more information from low-ranking Aliens, we must interrogate the highest-ranking Alien officers: the Alien Commanders, well protected inside Alien Earthly bases.

 

"I believe there is enough evidence of a superior creature pulling the strings here, I've observed the captured Aliens' brain wave patterns, they are similar to those of soldiers who have been mind controlled while on the field, you know?, the brain wave patterns get scrambled and reorganised in a way they're sensitive to external manipulation, I'm convinced there is something more behind all this, and I'm not talking about Cloaks, oh no, the patterns are in there too, that means that it's something we've never seen before"?

 

Matias Laino - Research Division, Biochemistry Department.

Edited by Mad
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