Ops

Created by real life VLA Operators*, Ops takes you inside the shadowy world of U.S. Special Operations and puts you at the controls of the world's largest energy weapon: the Karl Zjunior Very Lethal Array! Disguised as a giant radio telescope larger than New York City, this massive weapon was built for one purpose and one purpose only: to terminate hostile aliens with extreme prejudice! Lucky for you, the night sky above rural New Mexico is a target-rich environment...

Knowing cows to be more intelligent than humans, the aliens seek to abduct as many cows as possible. Due to the VLA's special relationship with the cattle rancher, allowing all of the rancher's cattle to be abducted would be disastrous for your employer, the National Radio Ablation Office (NRAO). Ablate the aliens before they can abduct all the cows! Also, look out -- the alien ships pack devastating laser cannons that can melt your antennas within a few seconds. Kill the attacking ship before your antenna melts, and your antenna will eventually cool back down.

As you get to higher levels, you may notice other threats, such as chupacabras. These foul creatures are particularly nasty! A chupa will happily eat an entire cow whole (although they usually like to carry the cow back to their lair before doing so). Once a chupa has sunk its sizeable fangs and talons into a cow, the cow is mortally wounded and cannot be saved.

We wanted to do a "Last Starfighter"-style contest whereby whoever earns the highest score automatically gets offered a job with NRAO, but sadly that idea was deemed to be "too rad" to actually implement (paraphrasing a little here)... We do, however, encourage everyone who crushes this game to apply for a job with NRAO. It's an amazing place to work, and this game is exactly the same as being a real life VLA Operator!**

*This game is not approved or endorsed by the National Science Foundation, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, or Associated Universities, Inc. Many movies, TV shows, and video games have been set at the VLA over its ~50-year history... We just happen to work there!

**The truth value of this claim has not been independently verified and is dubious at best.