TLDR: We have had to cancel Fear the Con 2020. The funds collected on Kickstarter will be used to pre-fund Fear the Con 2021. We’ll be contacting people with backer rewards to see how they’d ...
Last time I touched on the total coverage that gaming had of an entire floor (the second floor) at ECCC, so today I’m going to touch on what I did, both there and elsewhere, and some interestin...
One of the things that is pretty mandatory at a con is cosplay. And boy, did we have it. I saw some really great costumes up close, and I could tell some of them had a lot of work going into them...
Seattle’s my home, guys, so when I got the opportunity to not only attend Comic con, but represent Fear The Boot as press in it? I was floored. This was real. I wasn’t just an audio scissorgi...
Just in time for the holiday season, we’re pleased to bring you nearly 600 pages, packed with 32 winter stories by veteran writers and up-and-coming talent. Grab a copy today for yourself or ...
March 14th, 2084… “We simply weren’t prepared for this kind of success,” Dan comments in an impromptu meeting with Tex and Ryan. There are 16 active soldiers on XCOM’s roster. Splitti...
March 13th, 2084… With the paperwork done and orders in, Dan goes to bed. The loading crews and medical professionals have a lot to do, but there’s nothing more he can attend to right now. ...
As written by Ryan Fraedrich… From: Ryan@xcomops.com Sent: March – 13 – 2084 07:38 AM To: Spirit@xcomops.com Subject: Augmentation Maintenance Spirit, at your earliest convenience, could yo...
As written by Ryan Fraedrich… From: Ryan@xcomops.com Sent: March–13–2084 05:17 AM To: Beth@xcomops.com Subject: VR Training Sometimes life decides to sucker punch me when I’m not looking....
As written by Aaron Kortteenniemi and Kite Winters… Aaron had come to take over after Kite had offended the sensibilities of the tech who’d been checking her brain for anomalies one too many ...
As written by Jeremy Ciccone… The last team returned — the one who cleared the Temple of Sirius — Jeremy went immediately to download his own copy of the mission replay onto a tablet. He s...
As written by Spirit Kay… Memo re: Alien sentience I must make a quick note here. The blues have human-equivalent brains — they could probably pick up one of our guns and figure out how to us...
As written by Dan Krenzke… The smell of fresh cut grass filled DJ’s nostrils. The hot, humid North Carolina weather made the sweat pour from him. He mowed the lawn and couldn’t wait until h...
As written by Kite Winters… Kite said very little as she lay waiting for the diagnostics and repairs to finish. The only reason she wasn’t waiting for fabrication of an entirely new limb was ...
As written by Dan Repperger and Michael Repperger… By the time Tex arrived, Dan had a stack of paper-written notes ready to go. Ideas have been written out, underlined, crossed-out, added to th...
March 12th, 2084… Between the more conservative approach we took to weapons fire and the material salvaged from the Cult of Sirius, there’s enough ammunition to fully restock everyone’s kit...
As written by Jeremy Ciccone… What the bloody hell am I doing back here? Once the usual post-mission poking and prodding was over, his weapon and remaining ammo cleaned and turned in, he wearil...
As written by Dan Repperger… From: dan@xcomops.com Sent: March-12-2084 11:40 AM To: tex@xcomops.com, ryan@xcomops.com Subject: what I’ve learned I’ve been going over the combat debriefin...
March 12th, 2084… Depending on one’s point of view, Tex has either the most or least enviable of the three assignments. The APC rolls up in front of the Temple of Sirius, certain to be unwelc...
As written by Michael Repperger… Tex checked his rifle out of the armory and went to inspect his team before the mission. We had very limited supplies, but Tex wanted his people to be as well e...
March 12th, 2084… Ryan leads Jeremy, Karla, Ray, and Mais into the Superdynamics facility. Its purpose is essentially identical to that of the Nanotech factory, and while its exact layout is un...
March 12th, 2084… The team responding to the Nanotech incursion consists of Dan, DJ, Krenzke, Beth, John, and Alex. The factory floor is a broad, open space, built entirely from metal. A hand...
March 12th, 2084… Dan informs Tex and Ryan that XCOM will not strike the cult just yet. But at the first hint of escalation in their posture or alien interactions, we will act, even if it m...
As written by Dan Repperger… We’re losing this war, Adam. We have yet to shoot down a single saucer. We’re running out of bullets. And now I have to weigh taking on a second enemy. Th...
As written by Chris Mais… Laying there in the hospital bed, Chris — with his eyes partially closed — felt the breath of his daughter, Sloane, as she rested her face asleep on his arm holdin...
As written by Dan Krenzke… From: krenzke@xcomops.com Sent: March-09-2084 11:47 PM To: aaronk@xcomops.com Subject: RE: Can you do it? I am more than capable of following orders. Thank you for yo...
As written by Michael Repperger… Tex listened quietly to the intelligence briefing. Off to his right was a data pad with XCOM’s current inventory of supplies and forecasted needs for the rest...
March 9th, 2084… As the vehicles pull back into the garage, there’s a lot to sort out. Tex and Mais both have serious injuries and will be out of action for a while. Ditto for Kite and Huss...
March 9th, 2084… Dan steps off the APC at the Osiron warehouse. They’ll appreciate us cleaning up an alien mess, particularly since we’re not Megapol and therefore won’t care about the...
As written by Dan Krenzke… Rufus began running the tests again. He found the molecular structure of the acid that ate through Papa’s armor. Now he was trying to develop a light-weight, ballis...
March 9th, 2084… Nutrivend is the primary supplier of food for Mega-Primus. Allowing the aliens to damage or contaminate this facility would be disastrous. The hydroponic farm consists of a t...
March 9th, 2084… The government warehouse has a rather uninspired named: Warehouse Six. It also has a rather uninspired design. Metal walls mark off corridors that run between storage areas...
As written by Aaron Kortteenniemi… From: aaronk@xcomops.com Sent: March-08-2084 12:21 PM To: krenzke@xcomops.com Subject: Can you do it? I just read the orders. I bet you don’t like the or...
March 7th, 2084… Just before midnight, a few agents patrolling outside report Diablo loading up several cars. Minutes later, we get news reports of those cars getting into a brief and one-s...
As written by Spirit Kay… XCOM BIOTECH DEPARTMENT TODO LIST #0 * Introduce self to existing staff and set up workgroups depending on how many people we’ve got. * Dig out all the old alien con...
As written by Ryan Fraedrich… The mess hall was the only room big enough to hold all of XCOM’s personnel. Well, everyone who wasn’t currently on duty keeping the lights on or the gates guar...
As written by Kite Winters… Riding the APC back to base is an oddly silent affair. It had been easy, seeing everyone regathered, having “gotten the band back together,” to imagine that it w...
As written by Michael Repperger… Tex was leaning back in his chair at the command meeting. Ryan was finishing up his after action report. When Ryan was done, Tex leaned forward. “Obviously th...
I won’t say too much about the aliens we’re encountering, since I don’t want to give spoilers to those that haven’t read the wiki and/or played Apocalypse themselves. And I encourage h...
So what are we carrying around? I’ve given several nouns in the episodes, and now I’ll add pictures to go with them. Some of the equipment is rather strange looking, which is intentional,...
I was talking to Tex a couple of hours ago, and he pointed out that visual aids might help. Sure, the game is dated, and the graphics aren’t what we’re used to. But at least it would help...
March 7th, 2084… The Cyberweb robot factory is an archetypal, industrial building with metal walls and a floor built from a synthetic material that looks like wood. Cylindrical power plan...
March 7th, 2084… The Evonet treatment plant is one of the most vital facilities in Mega-Primus — collecting, filtering, and pumping water to a large portion of the city. Tex leads his team in...
As written by Michael Repperger… Tex thought back to the, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat,” quote from Jaws. Five saucers. All at once. Previously, operating XCOM had been about qualit...
March 7th, 2084… Unlike the slums, the Garden of Delights procreation park is pristine. The growth chambers are lined with white tiles, and all of the artificial wombs sit in neat rows. The...
As written by Dan Repperger… Mega-Polis is like a machine. Everything has a purpose and a place, and the whole thing has the veneer of perfection. And so long as the machine is running prop...
March 7th, 2084… Explosions rang through the streets. A Megapol patrol had intercepted a car of Diablo gangers just outside our base. Rather than risk a confrontation, they simply blew up t...
As written by Dan Krenzke and Beth Roper… (The first section takes place before the mission to Osiron. The second takes place immediately afterward.) It was a long ride from Raleigh to XCOM H...
March 7th, 2084… XCOM was slated to be operational at noon. People and supplies are still trickling in. The first round of gear is passed out, and it becomes clear we’re still short on sid...
As written by Dan Repperger… For the second day in a row, Dan woke up hungry. That hadn’t happened in years. He grabbed eggs, bacon, and cold cereal from the mess hall before meeting with...