XCOM 2 AAR - Defend the ship!

The ship is dead in the water. Or whatever the idiom is in this new age for when a flying ship has last all power and sits defenseless on the ground as ADVENT forces from the area all converge on us. The soldiers suit up; no squad limit here. We'll want everyone out there. A scant few soldiers are sent on rescue and repair duty within the ship, but that shouldn't take long.

The ramp comes down slowly, the hydraulics hissing as they go. No aliens in the immediate vicinity means our engineers can setup a very strong defensive position just around the ramp. Our soldiers will need to go farther into the jungle we've found ourselves in if they want to target the spike, but full cover all around for now.

Health takes a forward position as two soldiers and a mec come into view. She whips out her new mag pistol and kills both soldiers with a quick two shots. JCan sees the mec as a blessing in disguise. The mec is a deadly combat unit, but lacks proper security defenses. He hacks in, and sends it forward. Let the alien's own forces fight each other! The mec spots more forces, a sectoid, two soldiers,and another mec. The sectoid dashes forward to get a strong flanking position, but Gaius takes it down with a shard blast.

The rest of the forces spend their time uselessly firing into our new mec. Susanne launches a grenade into their midst to take out one of the soldiers. JCan has our mec fire at point-blank into the other mec, muttering something about giant robot battles. Health finishes off the mec, and Hyme pistols the defenseless soldier. Culise steps out from the ship, ready for battle.

A group of two soldiers and a leading viper step forwards, dodging overwatch fire from Gaius and Lovenought. JCan uses the mec's missiles against the against a poor soldier. He's having a bit too much fun over there, and Health kills the mec, leery of JCan losing control soon. Susanne drops a grenade on the viper, jealous I think of her looks. The grenade hurts, but doesn't do much more than that. The tree she hides behind is rather tough. Hyme doesn't care though, and makes her shot anyway. Gaius finishes off the last soldier.

Spyhawk is next out of the Avenger, and takes up position beside the other snipers. With no other targets in range, they take shots against the spike, damaging it but not disabling it. A flare comes down marking more ADVENT forces, rather close to JCan's position. The group repositions against the new forces when Lovenought spots another viper, a trooper, and a soldier. Gaius drops the trooper, still leaving a sizable group against us.

Cut off from the rest of the troops, JCan will have to make do. Out drops a mec and a soldier, both of which work to flank JCan. Susanne cannons the mec, but the thing stays standing. If only she had new toys like the rest of the squad. Another flare drops in the same location, JCan's situation is looking grim. The viper does something odd. Rather than blasting at Lovenought with her sizable gun, she extends her tongue in an effort to, presumably, grab him. Lovenoughts's reflexes dodge the grab before he can even think.

Hyme, staying true to the mission, blasts the spike, where it erupts in a fountain of sparks. The Avenger's systems immediately hum to life. We've got power! The squad is ordered back to base so we can leave, preferably before the battleships arrive. Spyhawk takes a shot against the soldier flanking JCan and hits. In a stunning display of agility, the viper dodges a close-ranged flanking shot from Gaius. She takes only minimal damage, even with the upgraded weapon. Susanne sends down suppressing fire towards the viper, while JCan moves further away from the ship, taking down the mech but staying in an awkward position.

The viper springs out from it's bad position. While it was perfectly capable of dodging a shotgun blast, Susanne's hail of gunfire is too much for her and Susanne scores another kill. Dropping onto JCan a trooper and captain both flank him, mirroring what happened with the last transport. Lucky for JCan, the next flare drops on the other side of the field, farther away from our concentrated fire. Gaius mortally injures the captain with her blade, but doesn't bring him down. JCan begins his run towards the ramp and finishes off the captain as he goes.

All forces clear, the squad makes an orderly retreat to the ramp. Reloading where necessary and preparing themselves for the dropped forces. A hail of gunfire greets the newly arrived captain, as both heavies and Lovenought pick him as a target. Lovenought claims the kill, but that still leaves a mec and stun trooper up. A second transport moves to the same location. Culise launches a grenade onto the trooper, injuring him and removing his cover, giving Spyhawk an easy kill shot.

The mec still alive, ADVENT drops a solider, trooper, and captain to support it. Susanne drops the dropping soldier. Yet another flare comes off our left flank.  Rather than continue this lovely tango, the squad runs to the ramp. High time to leave this place, even if the squad seemed to be enjoying their live target practice with their new toys. Spyhawk even takes a last pistol shot against the captain, before the bay doors close. No kill though.

Twenty ADVENT soldiers later, our squad returns in high spirits. Who doesn't like a tropical vacation spot with live target practice? Thank you ADVENT.