XCOM: Gray Dawn is a new experimental alien invasion game testing some variants of the Cyberpunk 2020 system.

Premise

A meteor shower approaches Earth out of the blue. Astronomers believe it must be a long-period orbital cloud that has not been seen in hundreds or perhaps thousands of years. Amateur sky-watchers prepare for a surprise mid-winter light show, and no one is much alarmed.

The first meteors strike, and a significant portion of London is destroyed. As the Earth rotates, the stream of meteors continues to pepper our planet's surface, sweeping from one time zone to the next. The East coast of America is hit a few hours later. Within a day, no corner of the world is left untouched.

Unbeknownst to the people of Earth, this meteor shower is not a natural phenomena. It is an alien planetary assault program unleashed in pursuit of The Mercenary that landed undetected on our planet a few days before. In his possession is the superweapon stolen from his enemies that could be their undoing. They will stop at nothing to get it back.

The Mercenary's plan, which has slowly been unfolding across the galaxy for hundreds of our years, did not take into account one important variable: Humanity. He did not--could not--know Earth was populated before he embarked on the long, slow voyage to our world across three-quarters the span of our galaxy. When he absconded with the weapon nearly a century ago, the people of Earth had just barely made it into the skies with airplanes; radio waves that could be detected by alien long-range probes would not come for many years.

Earth is The Mercenary's hot landing zone, and he realizes that he has placed this innocent civilization in great peril. He knows that his enemies would gladly destroy humanity in pursuit of him, but even worse, they would enslave us first. We are just the sort of specimen they are looking for.

The alien Collective is not the only threat, though. The Mercenary sent advance scouts to Earth several decades ago to establish bases and gather resources that would allow him to use Earth as the launch-point of his counterattack. Those bases were never built, that part of his plan failed. Certain factions have not been so ignorant of the existence of extraterrestrial life, and those ripples of influence in the shadows have created even more Byzantine agencies to hide among them.

A group of civilians find The Mercenary's hiding place on Earth, and with The Mercenary's help, they become the heart of the resistance against the Collective. X-Com: Gray Dawn is the story of this group of resistance fighters.

Dramatis Personae

Alonzo Jerome "AJ" Kamastafall...played by Jason

Douglas "Doug" Wilson...played by Dieter

Fayth Wilson...played by Rumi

Marie Curie "Curry" Kjelstad...played by Anna

Brock Jankins...played by Scott

Supporting Cast

1st Lieutenant Marshall Spiers
Master Sergeant Feargus Carville
Captain John Newton
Peter Kjelstad
Lillian Kjelstad
Officer Cristelli
Draco
Chief Danforth
Mayor Osgood
Jules Saint
Ernie the Pharmacist
Professor Jenkins
Professor Marlowe
Janelle
Daniel Pershing
Abigail Blythe
General MacArthur Nils
Naomi Agincourt
Trevor Kamastafall
Vladimir Gurov
Bob the UH-60 Pilot
Governor Jay Inslee, deceased
75th Rangers, 2nd Battalion Alpha (Rifle) Company, 1st Platoon

Alien Technology

This is a running list of technologies the human resistance has researched, captured or has interacted with (in a position of some control or understanding).

Excavator Probe
Lizardman Detector
Spraycrete
Repulsor Drive
Alien Weapon "Green Gun A"
Alien Weapon "Green Gun B"
Alien Weapon "Needler"
Alien Weapon "Stun Bomb"
Alien Weapon "Ray Gun"
Mitigation Screen
Ablation Screen
Scout Drone
Assault Drone
Construction Drone
Electroreactive Myomer Fiber
Alien "Alloy"
Conversion Reactor
Alien fabric

Alien Species and Factions

The Collective

"The Collective" is the name given to a militaristic, expansionist starfaring "government." The name was bestowed on them by Draco, the Mercenary. Reportedly, the Collective is made up of many varied species. Most of these have been somehow enslaved by one or more "master" or "core" species that form the intellectual nexus of the Collective.
The Collective is said to be a "hive mind," though how this relates to their psychology or actions remains to be seen.

The following are known member species within the Collective:
Grays
Behemoth