XCOM: Milk From My Bone

Difficulty: Classic/Ironman
2nd Wave: NCE, HP, TR, AA
Base of Operations: Murica (Air and Space)

Operation: First Hawk
AO: North America, Houston
The cover got ropy after sectoids fired on the squad across the no-mans-land of the cafe. Grenades and manuvering around the side-kitchen was crucial. The grenade work was impressive with two double kills coming from nades.
Allesandor Carrow: 3 kills, gravely wounded. (Assault)
Horus Harase: 2 kills. (Heavy)
Leeman Roos: 1 kill. (Support)
Robert Grillmaster: 0 kills, good hustle.
2/2 Meld Recovered.

Operation: Cursed Fear
AO: United Kingdom, Birmingham
Aliens have attacked a very strategic bodyshop in the United Kingdom. Contacts made right off the bat. 2 Overwatch kills with 1 turn followed by a Gosu flank by the Korean operative Ang Ron. 4 contacts mopped up in 2 turns, all from small-arms fire. During a split-push for recovering the meld, Lional and Jagatai encountered 4 more contacts. Lional proved himself a hotshot by taking out an enemy in high cover. The remaining enemies were annihilated by grenade work from Jagatai and consistent shooting from Lional.
Lional Johnson: 4 kills, damn son. (Assault)
Jagatai Kann: 3 kills. (Assault)
Ang Ron: 1 kill, baller flank shot. (Sniper)
Rogel Durn: 0 kills, good hustle.
2/2 Meld Recovered.

UFO-1 Encountered on March 10th.
Raven-1 made UFO-1 look like a bitch.
Tango down in the northern United States.

Operation: Blind Star
AO: United States
Crashed UFO has torn up a dense urban area; XCOM sent in to investigate. Heavy fighting ensued in the wreckage not 2 turns from leaving Big Sky. A huge no-mans-land and poor chances to hit proved tough for the squad. Ang Ron was killed in full cover while preparing for a sniper shot the next turn. Following Ang's death, clutch shots and frags made short work of the remaining aliens. The 3 rookies push to the UFO. On the last move of the turn, Ferrus triggers the Outsider. Durn takes a reaction shot and hits. The next turn proves nearly-deadly for Grillmaster, who was critically wounded by the Outsider. Durn panics and shoots the Outsider dead, saving Grillmaster.
Rogel Durn, 3 kills, saved Robert. (Heavy)
Ferrus Mannus: 1 kill. (Sniper)
Robert Grillmaster: 1 kill, gravely wounded. (Sniper)
KIA, Sectod Crit: Sq. Ang Ron: 0 kills.
2/2 Meld Recovered.

Within the same day (March 10th), the council has asked of XCOM to assist in extracting a HVT in Canada. The reward is a good chunk of space-dorru and a new NCO recruit. XCOM agrees.

Operation: Lone Thorn
AO: Ottawa, Canada
UN Official Doorn seems to have gotten ass-fucked by an unknown enemy force; time to extract him. After talking to a UN Boot, the squad encounters a Thinmint. Through rifle rounds, pistol shots and a last-ditch grenade, the threat is neutralized. More enemies are encountered below, and the squad uses the high-ground to mop up two sectoids in one turn. The team encounters more sectoids at the opposite bank of the damaged highway and extract Doorn to deal with them later. More Thinmints drop from the sky and Mannus mops one up with a critical sniper shot. Mannus would go on to nail a 9 damage crit on a mind-merger Sectoid, scoring a twofer. No injuries, 8 kills total and the target extracted.
Sq. Lional Johnson: 3 kills.
Sq. Ferrus Mannus: 3 kills, twofer.
Sq. Leeman Roos: 1 kill.
Sq. Allesandor Carrow: 1 kill.

Canadian NCO (Sergeant) Matt Johnson is added to the XCOM team. An OTS is built promptly after his arrival.
Skills added (Matt Johnson): Aggression, Smoke and Mirrors.

Another round of abductions come on the 16th. Brazil is offering 4 BR En-gah-neers as a reward, which would push the total XCOM engineers to 13 within the first month. XCOM heads to Brazil.

Operation: Silent Fog
AO: Manaus, Brazil
The half rookie, half squaddie XCOM team touches down at construction site in Brazil. Several turns go by with no action; Meld recovery is the spark to cook off the action. With half the team seperated, Mannus and Guilliman buckle down as the rest of the squad regroups. Guilliman delivers a fastball special to a mind-merger, picking up a double kill. More contacts are encountered as Mannus moved to a sniping position. He takes fire before doing just as Guilliman did before, picking up a double kill. A few turns pass with no action. Enemies spotted as they head for the low ground in the site. Rookie Alpharius gets a reaction kill and Guilliman gets an easy kill on a poorly positioned sectoid.
Roboute Guilliman: 3 kills, twofer nade. (Support)
Sq. Ferrus Mannus: 2 kills, twofer nade.
Alpharius Omegon: 1 kill.
Sq. Allesandor Carrow: 0 kills, team-player.
1/2 Meld recovered.

Back at base, a satellite uplink begins construction on March 16th. Weapon fragments research completes shortly after. The OTS finishes and Squad Size 1 is purchased. Funds are now running low as the month continues. A power generator finishes on the 22nd, enabling more construction. Robert Grillmaster returns to active duty after nearly being killed in Operation Blind Star. Alien materials research finishes. Carapace Armor research begins, but with only 5 scientists  on staff, it'll be a long while. The 3 satellites all finish right before the month ends. The 3 satellites are launched in Nigeria, Russia and France to reduce panic and pick up 1 Engineer + 2 Scientists next month. The month comes to a close.

March Report:
585 Space Dorru
3 Scientists
9 Engineers
1 Recruit (Matt Johnson)
11 promotions (Squaddies out the ass)
33 Aliens killed
1 XCOM Operative killed

April starts quiet, as the base continues chugging along. More power, an access lift and interceptor deployment keep the staff busy. An abduction finally comes on April 9th. Scientists are badly needed, so the team heads to Egypt.

Operation: Hot Apollo
AO: Alexandria, Egypt
The team sets down at a critical law-firm in Egypt, only to encounter 3 sectoids within the first turn. A grenade from Horus leaves a mind-merged sectoid exposed and Guilliman takes the kill. Lional makes short work of another sectoid, leaving only one left, but out of sight. The next turn, 2 more sectoids come into the fray and Mannus blows one away on a reaction shot. The remaining alien cries for help. 3 Floaters hear the cry and come into the action. Horus isn't taking any of this shit and scores what was intended to be a triple-kill with a rocket, but ended up kill an out of view Seeker behind a wall. The other Seeker cloaks thereafter. A sectoid moves to nearly flank, but misses his shot. Lional run-and-guns to a flanking position and takes out the sectoid. The other Seeker begins to strangle Horus and gets cut down the next turn. Durn recovers meld with only 1 turn left. A few rounds pass as the team flushes out the last sectoid. Durn takes a hit from reaction fire before slaughtering the enemy.
Cpl. Ferrus Mannus: 2 kills.
Cpl. Lional Johnson: 2 kills.
Sq. Horus Harase: 4 kills, fourbagger rocket.
Sq. Rogel Dunn: 1 kill.
Sq. Robute Guilliman: 1 kill.
Promotions:
Cpl. Ferrus Mannus: Squadsight.
Cpl. Lional Johnson: Close Combat Specialist.
2/2 Meld Recovered.

Back at XCOM HQ, Mexico has fallen into panic. 4 sats are constructed, leaving XCOM with 0 space dorru. Research changes gears to Beam Weapons to counter incoming Thinmints within the month.

On April 10th, a Medium UFO is spotted over France. Raven-3 makes the UFO its bitch. XCOM heads out to France to investigate (i.e. alium murdering) the crash site.

Operation: Broken Dawn
AO: France
The squad lands atop a trashed French high-rise. Contact is made within the first turn as the squad scrambles for cover. Carrow dodges reaction fire to set up a kill from Guilliman. Mannus picks up the other remaining Sectoid on a reaction shot. Following recovering a Meld canister, two Seekers cloak. The squad regroups and prepares for a tentacle rape fest. Overwatch shots mangle one Seeker and the squad carefully pushes on. Another Seeker comes, another Seeker goes. Two Floaters are encountered shortly after; one going down easily, the other fleeing and eating up a few turns before getting mowed down by NCO Matt Johnson. The squad is then greeted by the Outsider, who moves to a flanking position. A do-or-die option is taken, but fails. Squaddie Jonson is hit by a flank shot from the Outsider and is critically wounded. Carrow won't let his squadmate die, so he rushes in for the kill, ending the mission and saving Jonson.
Sgt. Ferrus Mannus: 1 kill.
Sgt. Lional Jonson: 2 kills.
Cpl. Allesandor Carrow: 2 kills, saved Jonson.
Sgt. Matt "Maple" Johnson: 1 kill.
Sq. Roboute Guilliman: 1 kill.
Promotions:
Sgt. Ferrus "Cool Hand" Mannus: Gunslinger.
Sgt. Lional "Bustah" Jonson: Close and Personal.
Cpl. Allesandor Carrow: Extra Conditioning.
1/2 Meld Recovered.

Very little time passes back at the XCOM base before another round of abductions hits the world. The team heads off to Germany in order to secure more scientists for the XCOM Reasearch and Development Division.

Operation: Twisted Knife
AO: Cologne, Germany
The team is landed on a highway with construction at the middle of it. Thinmints are encountered on the 2nd turn, leaving some Operatives with low-cover, forcing the hunker down. Durn is poisoned on the next turn, but Mannus picks up a reaction fire kill. Guilliman and Kann one-two the last contact. Two Floaters are spotted down the highway and close to range. One dashes to Kann, but Kann blasts it with the shotgun the next turn. Guilliman moves to flank the remaining Floater; easy kill. 2 Seekers force the squad to regroup and play it slow, losing a Meld canister in the process of taking them out. The remaining enemies eat up turns by hiding, forcing XCOM to forfeit both Meld canisters this operation. The last 2 Floaters eventually make contact and after setting up an overwatch trap, the squad makes quick work of them.
Sgt. Ferrus "Cool Hand" Mannus: 2 kills.
Sgt. Matt "Maple" Johnson: 1 kill.
Cpl. Roboute Guilliman: 2 kills.
Sq. Rogel Durn: 1 kill.
Sq. Jagatai Kann: 2 kills.
Promotions:
Cpl. Roboute Guilliman: Lightning Reflexes.
0/2 Meld Recovered.

Shafted on Engineers for this month, XCOM focuses on research. With 3 days until Beam Weapons finished, terror strikes South Africa, forcing XCOM to head there for a different sort of mission than before.

Operation: Cryptic Bell
AO: Bloemfontein, South Africa
Touching down in a dense urban area, screams fill the air as XCOM moves in. Within a few turns, Chryssalids come charging at the Operatives. One is cut down to reaction fire, and the other holds back next to a civilian. Squadsight and a closer shot save the civilian's life. Pushing into the bookstore, the squad encounters 2 groups of Floaters. The squad continues to push, but setting up overwatch traps as well. Harese guns down a Floater headed for a flank and Mannus picks another in a reaction shot. Harese gets tagged by a plasma shot, but barely survives. "Maple" Johnson patches him up. Kann rushes in to get revenge, dished out by a nade toss to the last remaining (and wounded) Floater. Mission complete.
Post Operation report botched; Bradford blames misclick in Commander's Office.
Promotions:
Lt. Ferrus "Cool Hand" Mannus: Disabling Shot.
Lt. Matt "Maple" Johnson: Bullet Swarm. (Motherfucker has 100 aim as a Lt. Support)
Sgt. Allesandor "Inqusitor" Carrow: Savior (Need medics, even Battle-Medics)
Cpl. Horus Harese: Deep Pockets.
13/18 Civilians saved.

XCOM's work is never finished. Within 24 hours of the previous operation in South Africa, a satellite over Russia detects a landing. Beam Weapons are so close to being finished, but the team must respond to the landing without them. The operation happens to be on April 20th. Durn (on medical leave) is denied use of medicinal marijuana.

Operation: Swift Fall
AO: Russia
Placed near the landed Small Scout, the team carefully moves towards the UFO, not making any contact for several turns. Thinmints eventually are spotted, and hole up inside and around the UFO; this could potentially go wrong. Guilliman nails a Thinman dead, but takes a hit the next turn. 3 Floaters enter the scene, one turn away from flanking two units. Guilliman fires again, but fails to down another Thinmint. The squad pops smoke, overwatches and buckles down for the worst. In a miracle play, the Thinmen in the ship re-position before both overwatching. The three Floaters all dash into the fray, foregoing any attacks at exposed prey. Maple takes two shots in one turn, critting two exposed Floaters. Guilliman cuts the loss of the UFO Power Source and frags the two remaining Thinmen, killing both--one completely eviscerated by the exploding Power Source. The last remaining Floater moves to flank on it's turn, only to be cut down by Mannus' reaction fire. Carrow patches up Guilliman, but not before tripping 2 Seekers on his move. Guilliman continues to have bad luck, getting strangled the next turn. "Maple" Johnson saves his ass with a crit. The squad prepares to breach. Shockingly, Mannus is attacked by the last Seeker, an entire turn away from his squad. Two operatives fall back to save him, with Carrow nabbing the kill. Guilliman and Roos promptly rush in to secure the craft, one-twoing the Outsider.
Lt. Ferrus "Cool Hand" Mannus: 1 kill, wounded.
Lt. Matt "Maple" Johnson: 3 kills, fuck yeah bullet swarm.
Lt. Allesandor "Inquisitor" Carrow: 1 kill, saved Mannus.
Sgt. Roboute "Tacticool" Guilliman: 3 kills, fuck power sources, wounded.
Sq. Leeman Roos: 1 kill.
Promotions:
Lt. Allesandor "Inquisitor" Carrow: Rapid Fire.
Sgt. Roboute "Tacticool" Guilliman: Smoke and Mirrors.
0/2 Meld recovered.

With less than a day from getting Beam Weapons, the council calls on XCOM once again, requesting to extract a Triad member in China. The rewards are great, but the squad selection is poor; 5 operatives are in the infirmary, leaving some less than optimal Operatives left to the task. The squad prepares to head out to China.

Operation: First Thunder
AO: Choncqoing, China
The squad quickly reaches Zhang, but now have to extract him back to Big-Sky. Two Thinmints drop in, quickly dealt with to reaction fire. Zhang muses obnoxiously to the squad before more Thinmints enter the AO. Omegon sends a frag it's way for the kill, softened by reaction fire. Carrow barrel stuffs the last Thinman for an easy kill. The squad pushes up, Zhang still blabbing. Another Thinman is spotted by the exit, but is killed by reaction fire. The weather continues to consist of raining Thinmints; Leeman Roos brought his umbrella and crits the Thinman dead. A Muton and Thinman decide to join the party; the Muton out of sight and the Thinman killed the same turn by Roos' grenade. The team prepares an overwatch trap for the Muton, but he pushes in just the right way to avoid line of sight. Johnson trashes the cover and the squad pours on the fire to no avail. The muton re-positions and fires, critting Lt. Carrow for 12 damage, ending his life. Grillmaster and Roos panic. Maple goes all-in to dispatch the enemy before it does more damage, killing it with a bullet-swarm attack. The team encounters another Thinman and Sectoid, both of which are quickly disposed of. Zhang is extracted.
Cpt. Matt "Maple" Johnson: 3 kills, clutch.
KIA Lt. Allesandor "Inquisitor" Carrow: 3 kills, died a hero, 10 kills total.
Cpl. Leeman Roos: 2 kills, scared little bitch.
Cpl. Alpharius Omegon: 1 kill.
Sq. Robert Grillmaster: 1 kill, scared little bitch.
Promotions:
Cpt. Matt "Maple" Johnson: Dense Smoke.
Cpl. Leeman Roos: Deep Pockets. (Please be a medic. Please.)
Cpl. Alpharius Omegon: Lightning Reflexes.

Beam Weapons finally finish. Squad Size 2 and Rapid Recovery are purchased with the council funds provided from First Thunder. Carapace Armor is set to finish right quick and 4 more sats are on the way. It was not feasible to get an uplink up this month, but the satellites prepped now will allow cash to be spend elsewhere next month. The month finishes quietly. With Carapace and Beam Weapons research complete, Meld Recombination is hastily researched and a Cybernetics Lab is prepped for construction. The last satellite available with two uplinks is launched over Mexico to avoid losing it from the council. Nicholas Cage somewhere freaks out over this decision. The month draws to a close.

April Report:
635 Space Dorru gained.
13 Scientists gained this month. (21 Total)
4 Engineers gained this month. (18 Total)
1 Recruit. ("Childong")
15 Promotions. Matt Johnson is highest ranked at Captain.
49 Aliums killed this month. 82 total.
1 XCOM Operative killed. 12 Operatives remain.

The month opens slowly. Production of both Carapace Armor and Beam Rifles/Pistols tax the alloys supply. Construction of the Cybernetics Lab is nearly done by the 9th. China asks for 12 alloys out of the remaining 42. 120 Space Dorru is the reward, but the alloys are needed at this moment. Still got 20 days to complete the request. The Cybernetics Lab finishes and Rogel Durn volunteers to be put into a giant robot. Soon enough, the action of the month kicks off and the squad is sent to Germany once again. For science! No engineers as a reward is consistently becoming a problem. The 6 man squad gears up with Wazor Wifles and Carapace Armor to go face whatever is out there in Germany.

Operation: Fading Stranger
AO: Hamburg, Germany
The team lands near an alley 'tween a TV store. A Meld canister is directly ahead. The squad pushes towards the Meld, but not before making contact with 2 Floaters. Kann pushes to secure the Meld and takes a shot to no avail. The rest of the squad maneuvers and provides overwatch; threats eliminated next turn. The squad pushes up, but gets attacked from the intersecting alleyway by 2 more Floaters. Mannus picks one easily, the other flees. "Maple" Johnson pushes into an adjacent building and picks up the other Meld canister. The last Floater finally comes out, aiming to flank the squad, but Kann nails an overwatch shot to secure the victory.
Cpt. Matt "Maple" Johnson: 1 kill.
Lt. Ferrus "Cool Hand" Mannus: 2 kills.
Cpl. Leeman Roos: 0 kills, good hustle.
Cpl. Alpharius Omegon: 0 kills, team player.
Cpl. Horus Harese: 0 kills, great team-spirit.
Sq. Jagatai Kann: 1 kill.
2/2 Meld Recovered.

A day after coming back from Operation Fading Stranger, Rogel Durn has become one with the machine. He is quickly fitted with a MEC-1 Warden suit and opts for the Kinetic Strike Module because he "likes to fuckin [sic] punch shit." The rest of the squad does not complain. Shortly after this development, a Large UFO is detected over the United States. 2 Ravens go after the UFO, but to no success. Shen and Vahlen suggest improving our interceptors.
"Duly noted."
Mexico panics once again due to the UFO sucking up all of the country's tortillas. XCOM does not ever catch a break, and the day after the Large UFO encounter, a terrorist cell known as EXALT tries to instill panic in the already scared-shitless Mexico. XCOM decides they must use subterfuge and sabotage to handle this asymmetric enemy. Ferrus "Cool Hand" Mannus is sent to Mexico with his Gunslingin' Laser Pistol and the clothes on his back.
The council promptly requests XCOM to go assist further with Zhang's device from the previous month; the squad grumbles that Mannus would've been very useful. The squad heads to China.

Operation: Secret Mother
AO: Shanghai, China
The Operatives are now facing the clock along with hordes of meatbag-hating aliums. The squad pushes fast and hard to the first transponder and buckle down for the incoming attack. 4 Thinmen engage the squad, but use of Collateral Damage and sharpshooting from Harese, Roos and "Maple" bring it down to one. The last Thinman pushes to engage MEC Durn, dealing 4 damage. Suddenly, a Muton drops from the sky landing RIGHT NEXT TO DURN.
"I like punching shit," indeed. Durn sends the Muton right into some concrete benches. The squad disables another transponder and Omegon nails the last Thinman. Another Muton drops in, another Muton goes down; "Maple" bodybags the Muton in one turn thanks to Bullet Swarm. Shit hits the fan the next turn as Roos is gunned down by 2 Thinman. 2 Mutons decide to join the party as well. Durn and Harese have panicked at this point as well. A turn goes by as the Thinmen and Muton re-position; one pins down Omegon and the other overwatches. The Muton dashes into favorable cover. Harese pulls it together and obliterates the suppressing Thinman with a rocket. Omegon blows a hole in the train to set up an easy kill for "Maple," but he fucking misses a 93% chance to hit. Chilong ends up having to clutch with a nade to off the Muton. The Thinman poisons Omegon and calls it a day. 2 turns remain. Everyone pushes up and Durn Collaterals the Thinman for.. 1 damage? He returns fire the next turn to damage Durn once again. Chilong activates the last transponder and makes a mad dash for the train controls, getting in by just one tile. Mission accomplished.
Cpt. Matt "Maple" Johnson: 2 kills.
Lt. Shaojie "Chilong" Zhang: 1 kill, good hustle.
Sgt. Horus "Pure" Harese: 2 kills.
Sgt. Alpharius "Halfnhalf" Omegon: 2 kills.
Cpl. Rogel Durn: 1 kill, FISTO.
KIA Cpl. Leeman Roos: 1 kill, died a hero. 6 kills total. (My fucking medics keep dying.)
Promotions:
Sgt. Horus "Pure" Harese: Shredder Rocket.
Sgt. Alpharius "Halfnhalf" Omegon: Close and Personal.
Cpl. Rogel Durn: Automated Threat Assessment.

Right after returning to base, a Medium Scout UFO is detected over Nigeria. Raven-5 barely disposes of the threat, but nonetheless; XCOM is out to another mission.

Operation: First Druid
AO: Nigeria
The team lands in a burning forest with very little cover. They slowly advance from cover to cover heading towards the UFO, hoping to pick up some Meld on the way. The forest is eerily quiet, and a protracted game of cat-and-mouse begins. Many turns run by until the squad stumbles into a group of Seekers, but they still hear Floaters on the wind. Solid contact is finally made, and 2 Floaters go down to reaction fire. A Seekers shows it tentacles to Omegon, only to be gunned down the next turn. "Maple" pushes forward to find the last Floater and takes a shot of plasma for his troubles. Tango down. The squad regroups and pushes into the UFO. The Outsider charges into position upon being spotted, but Close Combat Specialist Lional "Bustah" Jonson responds by blasting the Outsider back to it's dimension.
Maj. Matt "Maple" Johnson: 2 kills.
Lt. Alpharius "Halfnhalf" Omegon: 1 kill.
Lt. Horus "Pure" Harese: 1 kill.
Lt. Shaojie "Chilong" Zhang: 0 kills, get it together Zhang.
Sgt. Roboute "Tacticool" Guilliman: 1 kill.
Sgt. Lional "Bustah" Jonson: 1 kill.
Promotions:
Maj. Matt "Maple" Johnson: Holo-Targeting. (On a fucking Support. Why.)
Lt. Alpharius "Halfnhalf" Omegon: Rapid Fire.
Lt. Horus "Pure" Harese: Low Profile. (HA.)
0/2 Meld Recovered.

Back at XCOM HQ, in order to get a Satellite Uplink up this month (and due to short-sighted power management by the Commander), the Alien Containment building was destroyed in order to free up enough power. Shortly after construction began, the council called upon XCOM once again. Gangplank is a-go.

Operation: Dying Vengeance
AO: Ganzhou, China
Tasked with disabling power conduits on an Alien Battleship, the squad breaches a door and spies the first conduit, along with three Thinmints. Quickly disposed of, the squad pushes forward. More Thinmen and Chryssalids enter the combat soon after deactivating the first conduit. Horus takes a Thinman hit before Omegon rips the Thinmint a new one. By the next conduit, 3 Thinmen and a Sectoid have set up in defensive positions. Grenade work from Omegon and Jonson take out the conduit, along with 2 Thinmen. The remaining enemies are mopped up by Zhang (finally) and Johnson. The team heads right, taking out a Chryssalid along the way. Guilliman pushes and engages a Thinman; the pesky Thinman decides to use a power conduit as cover. This doesn't stop "Tacticool" Guilliman from destroying both the conduit and the Thinmint in one shot. Another Thinman hides on the rafters, taking shots at the squad and poisoning Guilliman. Johnson takes out the Thinman and Omegon rushes in to flank a remaining Sectoid. In an astounding case of tactical bullshit, a Cyberdisk rushes through a door the following turn and gets a free shot on Omegon, luckily only dealing 7 damage. Omegon won't take this shit and gets 3 shots in one turn on the Cyberdisk, finished off by the no longer poisoned Guilliman. The team readies a split push into the final conduit room, hearing Thinmin and Mutons drop in behind the doors. Omegon dishes out punishment to another Thinman who made a mistake coming to this party. Omegon and Lional Jonson clean house thanks the Close Combat Specialist; a Muton made the mistake of closing to range, allowing two shots from Jonson, the coup de grâce from Omegon, and another shot from Omegon to beanball a Thinman. Zhang and Omegon push in for the last conduits. Mission accomplished, and 20 Xenos wiped away.
Maj. Matt "Maple" Johnson: 5 kills.
Cpt. Alpharius "Halfnhalf" Omegon: 8 kills, doubled her total kills in one operation.
Cpt. Shaojie "Chilong" Zhang: 2 kills.
Lt. Horus "Pure" Harese: 0 kills, but a lot of assists.
Lt. Roboute "Tacticool" Guilliman: 4 kills.
Lt. Lional "Bustah" Jonson: 1 kill.
Promotions:
Cpt. Alpharius "Halfnhalf" Omegon: Extra Conditioning.
Cpt. Shaojie "Chilong" Zhang: HIGHWAY TO THE DANGER ZONE.
Lt. Roboute "Tacticool" Guilliman: Field Medic. (Thank you based Emperor.)
Lt. Lional "Bustah" Jonson: Rapid Fire.

A few days pass at the XCOM base, giving a break the team desperately needed. Rogel Durn and a few other wounded operatives come out of the infirmary just in time for the latest development; Ferrus Mannus has key intel on the Exalt faction and is requesting extraction from Mexico. With the MEC repaired, the team readies for the extraction operation.

Operation: Red Line
AO: Mexico
Ferrus Mannus has been compromised by Exalt forces; the team now needs to keep him alive while recovering data from Comm Relays. Contact with Exalt forces is made near instantly. The enemies take defensive positions around a Comm Relay. Johnson gets first blood with a Bullet Swarm double shot and "Tacticool" Guilliman lands a shot as well. MEC Durn maneuvers for some Robo-Punching Action the next turn. Horus nails a wounded Exalt Operative. 3 more Exalt show up, catching reaction fire along the way. Ferrus "Cool Hand" Mannus flanks some wounded Exalt and tags one with a crit Laser Pistol shot. Rogel Durn sends an enemy operative through a wall with his Kinetic Strike and Zhang picks up the last kill. More Exalt forces close to range, but Ferrus and Jonson clean them up. The team pushes to the next Comm Relay; all is quiet, for now. Ferrus moves in for the 2nd Relay, and takes it. Time to return to Big Sky. Right on cue, 2 more Traitors close to range. One of them is gunned down, the other presumably has every bone in his body shattered by Rogel Durn's Power Fist. More enemies arrive-- one on the roof, and another near the extraction point. The team encounters more opposition along the way. Use of grenades, collateral damage and elevation mop up the remaining enemies. Mannus makes it back and everyone is without a scratch.
Maj. Matt "Maple" Johnson: 3 kills.
Cpt. Ferrus "Cool Hand" Mannus: 2 kills.
Cpt. Shaojie "Chilong" Zhang: 2 kills.
Lt. Horus "Pure" Harese: 1 kill.
Lt. Roboute "Tacticool" Guilliman: 1 kill.
Lt. Lional "Bustah" Jonson: 3 kills.
Cpl. Rogel Durn: 2 kills, FISTO.
Promotions:
Cpt. Ferrus "Cool Hand" Mannus: Aggression.

Intel Report: The EXALT base is not in a country with any territory in the Arctic Circle.

Nearly a week passes with no action. XCOM Operatives are thankful for this break and get a lot of well deserved R&R. But XCOM's job is never finished until the Alium threat is eleminated; 3 abduction sites around the world have popped up. Once again with no Engineers available to recover, the squad heads to Egypt with the hope of gaining more scientists. Ferrus Mannus is glad to be back on the job with his rifle.

Operation: Devil's Sleep
AO: Port Said, Egypt
Dropped in front of a laundromat, the squad encounter 2 Floaters instantly. Overwatch dispatches one, and Johnson offs the other. Two Mutons come-a-knockin the next turn, putting pressure on the flanks. A shot from Mannus softens one and Durn nails the minigun shot. The other Muton is discovered quickly, hitting Durn with a shot. Durn returns fire, obliterating the Muton with a crit. The team split-pushes on, looking for more contacts and any recoverable Meld. The moves into an alley and prepare a multi-pronged breach on the adjacent strip of buildings. Durn recovers a Meld canister. The breach is a-go, with two Floaters behind door number one. The remaining doors reveal no further enemies, leaving a lot of room for flanking. The two enemies are quickly disposed of and two more drop down from the roof, all destroyed from remaining reaction fire. Back to HQ.
Maj. Matt "Maple" Johnson: 1 kill.
Cpt. Horus "Pure" Harese: 2 kills.
Cpt. Ferrus "Cool Hand" Mannus: 1 kill.
Lt. Roboute "Tacticool" Guilliman: 1 kill.
Lt. Lional "Bustah" Jonson: 1 kill.
Sgt. Rogel "Fisty" Durn: 2 kills.
Promotions:
Cpt. Horus "Pure" Harese: Danger Zone.
Sgt. Rogel "Fisty" Durn: Damage Control.
1/2 Meld Recovered.

Nearing the end of the month, Heavy Lasers finish and the Alien Containment is rebuilt. Those dicks at Exalt steal 53 Space Bucks from our cash pool, revealing a cell in Argentina. "Cool Hand" Mannus is sent back on the job; his mad Gunslingin' skills proving useful in the last operation. Within another day, the Satellite Uplink finishes. Satellites are deployed over all of South America, and the UK. Experimental Warfare finishes right before the month ends. Now with the support of South American dictators, a whole load of autopsies finish in rapid succession. The month finally ends.

May Report:
885 Space Dorru.
15 Scientists gained this month. (36 Total)
7 Engineers gained this month. (25 Total)
0 Recruits.
12 Promotions. Matt Johnson is highest ranked at Major.
56 Aliums killed this month. 138 total.
14 Exalt Scum killed.
1 XCOM Operative killed. 11 Operatives remain.