User:Notamaniac

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MARINE

Transport Officer

Access: Tadpole Dropship Piloting, Pilot Gear and CIC Difficulty: Hard Rank: Warrant Officer(Starting), Chief Warrant Officer(25hrs), Ensign(50hrs), Lieutenant Junior Grade (100hrs) Class: Navy Supervisors: Captain, Field Commander, Staff Officer Duties: Fly the Tadpole, ferrying marines, supplies and mission critical objective items across the AO. Get hit with direct Boiler globs, Warlock grav crushes, or get your Tadpole computer disabled by a stealthed Hunter because NO ONE CLOSED THE BLOODY CADES. Guides: None Quote:"We're in the pipe, five-by-five ."

Introduction

As a Transport Officer, your chief role is to fly the Tadpole Dropship. The Tadpole is an important dropship that marines use as a rally point, offload supplies onto and potentially act as evac when things go FUBAR. Technically you’re also meant to take command if no other ranking officer is present- but it isn’t expected of you (for reference a Squad Leader is on the same rung as you).

Communication

As part of command, you have access to all of the marine frequencies. Make sure you inform marines over general (;) when the Tadpole is departing, and where the Tadpole is landing. You’ll often be talking to requisitions with (:u), for supplies (e.g. metal and plasteel), or an ASRS pad/fultons to sell xenoes.

The radio commands are the following:

• .v for command
• .m for medical
• .u for requisition
• .e for engineering
• .s for fire support
• .q for Alpha
• .b for Bravo
• .c for Charlies
• .d for Delta

Picking a Dropship

At the start of an op, you can choose one of several options using the dropship picker terminal, which will be often located next to the Tadpole landing spot in Hangar. You can only make a single selection, and this selection cannot be changed once the Tadpole is deployed.

Model	Description
Insert Image here Tadpole Standard Model	The Tadpole-03, used as the standard Tadpole dropship. Is the most compact variant, and has the best firing angles.
Insert Image here Tadpole Carrier Model	The Tadpole-01, phased out by the Tadpole-03. Has smaller points of ingress with reinforced orbital glass installed on the cockpit, and a door that helps stop sneaky undesirables from getting at the main computer. Also has a camera console and a map table of limited use. Firing angles heavily limited due to extra hull.
Insert Image here Tadpole Food Truck Model	Equipped to provide hungry marines hot meals to improve morale (or pacify xenoes with well made hotdogs). Cooking skills not provided. ```Has no interior attach point```
Insert Image here Tadpole NK Haul Model	Designed for hauling, maintenance and general engineering. Large size makes it difficult to land and harder to defend. However more space means it’s easier to store supplies.
Insert Image here Tadpole Mobile Bar Model	Primed to slake the thirst of marines. Bartender skills not provided. ```Has no interior attach point```
Insert Image here Tadpole Umbillical Model	Comes with an umbilical for tactical insertion, which has extra blast doors installed. Windows are reinforced orbital glass but very limited firing angles.

Preparing the dropship

Once you’ve picked a model, you’ll be expected to fly it. Keep in mind that A : You cannot launch until at least 12:18 B : Launching early will prevent the FOB drone from being deployed. Make sure to consult with everyone before departing- deploying before the FOB is constructed will cause marines to be angry at you! This doesn’t mean you should be sitting around though…

First of all the plasteel cades on most models are often unwired. This means xenoes can slash at them without taking any damage! You start off with barbed wire in your construction pouch, so use it on the plasteel barricades to wire them and help deter any nasties that might consider slashing at them. You might also want to link any plasteel barricades using a crowbar, which allows all the barricades to open and close simultaneously. This comes at the risk of leaving you more open to xenoes charging straight in and overwhelming you, should anyone leave the barricades open however.

Secondly you need to install equipment on the weapon attach-points (on the front of the tadpole), and the interior attach-point (located inside, obviously). Both these slots take dedicated equipment, and can be installed using a Powerloader. The hangar will often have some equipment lying around for you to choose, but in case they get lost/destroyed, you can print more using the dropship fabricator. Keep in mind that the Pilot Officer also needs to use this fabricator, and often demands a monopoly on it. Don’t waste points mindlessly on equipment you don’t need. You can deploy equipment on weapon attachpoints using the Navigation Computer.

A list of equipment is as follows.

<tabs> <tab name="Interior Attachpoint">

Module	Description
Insert image here 'Machinegun deployment system	Contains a modified HSG-102. Starts off with a unique 500 round mag, but can use the standard 300 round mags.
Insert image here 'Dropship Operating Table Deployment System	Cannot be used as a surgery table until deployed on an attach-point. Doesn’t come with an anaesthetic tank by default, and needs a spare one from medbay.

</tab> <tab name="Weapon Attachpoint">

Module	Description
Insert image here 'Sentry Deployment System	Contains a modified ST-571 sentry. You cannot change it’s settings (so no radial mode), and turrets are just as vulnerable to being knocked over or damage as normal ones. Deploy in front of engineers tending to APC’s to cause IFF related salt.
Insert image here 'Flare deployment system	Fires standard M40 FLDP grenades. They burn much brighter and are anchored, but have a dramatically shorter lifetime. Still sets anyone who gets hit by them on fire.
Insert image here 'Mortar deployment system	Deploys a TA-55DB mortar, a twin barrelled variant of the TA-50S, capable of firing the same 80mm rounds. Requires coordinates to fire. Both barrels can be loaded, and fired right after another, but it takes a little longer to load compared to the single barrelled variant.

</tab> </tabs>

Thirdly, you need to make a choice on getting rid of the windows on your dropship. There are upsides and downsides to your choices.

Keeping the windows Windows can only be shot through with laser weapons. This means if you don’t have a laser weapon, xenoes or other hostiles will be able to break the window unchallenged, unless you get out and expose yourself to danger. On the flip side, gas cannot penetrate through windows, keeping your occupants and yourself safe from them.

Keep in mind windows cannot be repaired by any means. When they take enough damage, they will break and leave you exposed.

Removing your windows You’ll have to apply some elbow grease to the windows, as most of them cannot be deconstructed with tools. Once you remove them, they can be replaced with normal barricades, which can be shot over, and more importantly repaired. This will require using up some of the materials you have on hand though.

You are also more exposed to gas, from both boilers and defilers. This requires you to wear Mimir, otherwise you’ll find yourself eventually succumbing to either toxins or acid.

Time to fly

You can pilot the dropship using the navigation computer and other than you, only the Captain, Field Commander, Synthetic and Squad Leaders (including acting Squad Leaders) can launch the dropship.

Once you hit launch, after a little while you’ll be in low orbit (you’ll notice the scenery change around you). Click on the navigation computer again to enter the landing interface.

The green areas indicates valid landing turfs. The red areas indicates dense turfs. Naturally the entire dropship shadow must be green for the Tadpole to land.

If you’re having trouble seeing where you are, toggle Night Vision mode. While in Night Vision mode all turfs are revealed, but you cannot see their contents or any marines/xenoes. Once you’ve decided where to land, turn off Night Vision and check to see whether the area you’re landing is under attack, has barricades, or has supplies. Anything underneath the Tadpole when it lands will be crushed, in the case of organics, gibbed.

Places not to land

• On top of the FOB cades
• On top of ammo and supplies in the FOB
• On top of machine gun emplacements/sentries
• Directly in front of a whole load of xenoes
• In the wide open where you can be attacked from all sides and gassed

As a reminder, disable nightvision mode to check if the area is hot, or if you’re landing on anything important.

Defending the Tadpole

There’s a wide range of threats to your Tadpole and if it falls, so do the chances of the ops success. Defending your Tadpole’s navigation computer is of upmost importance. Any xenomorph can destroy the tadpoles navigation computer after a delay, and once the computer is destroyed, the Tadpole will permanently disabled. There is no way to repair the Tadpole once it’s disabled in this manner. Do not let the navigation computer be destroyed at any cost.

If the situation is desperate, every Tadpole variant has a inner and outer door button. Pressing this will shut the blast doors, protecting you from threats… or keeping any threats inside and unable to escape. These blast doors are not invulnerable, and can be melted with acid or destroyed with a crusher charge, but they are immune to conventional slashing. Remember though, deploying these blast doors only delay the inevitable. You will probably need to leave, ASAP if marines do not bail you out.

When req has spare points, you can also consider buying a standard ST-571 sentry, which will better help defend against threats, compared to the forward facing turrets mounted on the weapon attach-points, especially if you plan on leaving the Tadpole unattended.

More importantly CLOSE THE CADES BEHIND YOU TO PREVENT THREATS FROM BOARDING THE TADPOLE, AND BERATE THE FUCK OUT OF LAZY ASS MARINES WHO DON’T CLOSE THEM WHEN THEY LEAVE THE TADPOLE.

As for more specific threats :

Xenomorph

Sentinels,Spitters,Drones

These castes have acid, which can melt through your barricades and windows. They’re fragile enough to be deterred by gunfire, but consider packing a shotgun loaded with buckshot or slugs to definitively stagger them and prevent them successfully vomiting acid on your Tadpole.

Hunters

A hunter won’t be able to do much if your barricades are up. If they’re down- or worse destroyed- be very careful and be vigilant for stealthed hunters trying to board. While a tac sensor will pick up movement, hunters can move very slowly to stay almost invisible. Primordial hunters can also use Disguise to pretend to be an ordinary object. If you see messages in your chatlog about a “M40 FLDP begins to slash delicately at the computer”- start shooting and ask questions later. Ideally around where the computer is.

Crushers

A threat that can be hard to deal with, especially if your landing spot is more open. Since you have some engineering skill, making razor wire with metal can be used to stun the Crusher, should one have a lane on you. Alternatively you can try to open the plasteel cades or use the blast doors button when the Crusher comes charging, then close them quickly to trap them. In both instances, you’ll need other marines around to help secure the kill. Crushers do love attempting to crush the interior attach-point, so if they do have a lane to charge down, you may want to consider repositioning the Tadpole to avoid the loss of any equipment there.

Warlock

Your bane. The Warlock has two great abilities to make your life miserable – Grav crush and Psychic blast, and one to make your attempts at killing them difficult, Psychic Shield. If the Warlock has line of sight of ANY of your Tadpole tiles, they can use Grav crush to create a damaging AOE that will most likely hit you and everyone inside. Alternatively they can use Psychic blast to damage you or your cades directly. Mindless bullet spam will be reflected at you using Psychic shield, and trying to chase it down can also be punished with Psychic shield (not to mention leaving your Tadpole alone or getting ambushed by other xenoes).

Your only deterrent is other marines keeping the Warlock away, or the humble X ray rifle, with a tac sensor, which can penetrate the Warlock’s shield.

Boilers

The threat they pose depends on the type of Tadpole you have, if it’s Primordial and if you’re wearing Mimir. A Tadpole with windows and closed off departments? Minimal threat, until your windows break. A Tadpole with cades? A serious threat if you don’t have Mimir.

Orders

Orders

All Command staff and assigned Squad Leaders have access to Orders which can be used to buff nearby troops. Using one causes you to shout out a unique phrase over the radio. After giving an Order, there is a one-minute cooldown period until you can give another one, but cooldowns for Orders and Markers are separate.

Order effects are influenced by your Leadership skill, which increases both the effect and range.

Order	Description
Move order	Increases movement speed by 0.1 per Leadership level Great for retreats and getting to objectives quickly
Hold order	Reduces damage received by 5% per Leadership level Increases pain resistance, reduces the effects of dizziness and jitteriness
Focus order	Increases accuracy by 10% plus 5% per Leadership level Makes Aiming instant
Rally marker	Places a directional pointer and a map icon, urging marines to Rally at a given point.
Attack marker	Places a directional pointer and a map icon, urging marines to Attack a given point.
Defend marker	Places a directional pointer and a map icon, urging marines to Defend a given point.
Retreat marker	Places a directional pointer and a map icon, urging marines to Retreat from a given point.

TGMC Roles
	TerraGov Marines Ranks	Command	Captain, Field Commander, Staff Officer, Pilot Officer, Transport Officer, Mech Pilot
		Vehicle Crew	Assault Crewman, Transport Crewman
		Engineering and Supply	Chief Ship Engineer, Requisitions Officer, Ship Technician
		Medical	Chief Medical Officer, Medical Doctor, Researcher
		Marines	Squad Leader, Squad Smartgunner, Squad Engineer, Squad Corpsman, Squad Marine
		Civilians	Corporate Liaison
		Silicon	Combat robots, Synthetic, AI
	Xenomorphs Playtime	Tier 0	Larva, Minions
		Tier 1	Drone, Runner, Defender, Sentinel
		Tier 2	Hivelord, Carrier, Hunter, Wraith, Bull, Warrior, Puppeteer, Spitter, Pyrogen
		Tier 3	Gorger, Defiler, Widow, Ravager, Warlock, Behemoth, Crusher, Praetorian, Boiler
		Tier 4	Shrike, Queen, King, Hivemind
	Others		Zombie, Emergency Response Teams, Sons of Mars, Survivor