SMEG! I need to get moving! Here we go...
Yellow Sun
Season I, Episode 3
'Now You See It'
Part 2
The Story Thus Far...
The PCs find themselves on a JMC Supply Ship derelict, the Behemoth, drifting through space after it suffered what was clearly an attack of some kind many years prior.
Exploring the vessel for salvage the group discovers the ship is littered with the remains of Simulants, pseudo-biological androids designed for combat, all of whom are found floating through the Hangar Bay and corridors in various states of having been torn to shreds.
After being attacked by an assailant invisible and inaudible to ARTHUR the Security Robot and the Hologrammatic Lt. Donald Wilder, the team double times it back to their shuttle, a small Starguard Rescue Craft. As Chicken and Webb race towards the Hangar, Wilder unlocks a 'Let's Go Crazy' mode on ARTHUR enabling the Robot Security Chief to take full advantage of a close quarters encounter with their unseen enemy. After batting it against the wall and floor a bit they all make haste for the shuttlecraft.
Webb and Chicken manage to get into the Starguard only to discover its landing gear is caught on some debris and won't engage lift off procedures. Wilder and ARTHUR meanwhile find one of the Simulants is still functioning (barely) and pull him along through the weightless environment of the badly damaged Supply Ship.
The Simulant identifies himself as Cameron and pleads with Wilder to "Call it off!" and "Make it stop!" Clearly delirious (or the positronic equivalent), Lt. Wilder and ARTHUR focus on getting to the shuttle and inside. It was just then that Mitchell Webb notices the creepy shape of a strange creature in the door way to the Hangar Bay. Oddly the thing doesn't appear on any of the Starguard's scanners. No one else notices it.
Lt. Wilder (really his Light Bee) enters the Starguard and pulls Cameron is as the latter sparks and leaks chemical fluids all over the floor. Again he begs Wilder to "Tell it to stop! Come on man have some decency. Sure, we killed every Human Being we've every come across, often in colorful and creative ways, but even we didn't deserve this! You won, OK? Just tell it to stand down!"
Cameron reaches up to grab Wilder's collar, but when his only hand passes through the Hologram, the Simulant's mouth drops open and he shakes his hand violently. "No! No, No, No! A Hologram?! Then we're doomed. All doomed..." With that the bio-robo...roboroid...the pseudo living mecha...Cameron OK? Cameron coughs up a gout of oil and lubricant and 'dies'.
Meanwhile Webb and Chicken have informed ARTHUR about the landing gear being stuck and he decides to go beneath the nose of the shuttlecraft and try to pry it loose. Webb gives ARTHUR the head up about the creature as well but the Robot insists he can't worry about that right now and must focus on freeing the shuttle. What a trooper, right folks?
As ARTHUR tried free the Starguard's landing strut with a long, metal bar, he suddenly noticed movement through the dust, shrapnel, and ice particles scattered about the Hangar. Moving to the right in the nick of time, an unseen entity smashed into the bar he was holding. ARTHUR used the momentum to dislodge the landing gear as Chicken cheered she the pretty lights in the shuttle do the things that meant flying was going to happen.
Webb looked out the window all 'Gremlin-on-the-Wing' style, he and he alone seeing a misshapen creature preparing to pounce on ARTHUR. He pointed at it and screamed out (William Shatner would be proud) alerting Wilder and giving the Lieutenant a moment of clarity and an idea. "Webb, get on the shuttle external radio and tell the creature to stand down!"
Webb was a bit confused but grabbed the handheld communicator at the end of a twisting cord and, calming himself as much as he could with his heart in his throat, said softy, "Stand down please."
Through the window he, and now Chicken looking over his shoulder, saw the creepy, pale being sit down, like a dog, on the deck of the Hangar Bay. Breathing in a collective sigh (for even the Hologram of Lt. Wilder had been 'holding his breath'), the team relaxed and retrieved ARTHUR through the shuttle's back hatch.
One everyone was settled in, Webb leaned over the controls, having been studying the manual during the original trip over to the Behemoth, and activated an Emergency Override to open the Hangar Bay doors. When he did, the lack of gravity but re-established pressure blew everything it could out into space...including the creature.
Cameron sputtered on for a moment, his eyes flashing, his face twitching, and through gurgling coughs said, "You did it. You made it stop. I can't...thank you. For any of my fellow Simulants that may have remained active...I thank you. You ended the nightmarrrrr..." With that, Cameron was permanently defunct, all movement and sound ceased, all lights went out.
Sometime later, ADAM had the chance to scan the Behemoth further, analyze some of the data and learned something of what had happened.
The Behemoth was attacked by the Simulants who were after something in the Cargo Container section of the ship. They slaughtered any Human they came across. Desperate, the Human crew released a GELF, a Genetically Engineered Life Form, and sent it to attack the Simulants. This particular GELF, called a 'Gremlin Gelf', was designed to be undetectable to electronic devices. It's skin reflected EM scanning, it had glands and organs that jammed various computerized and mechanical equipment, etc.
After destroying all the Simulants it could find, it had started to attack the ship's Security and Cargo Robots, and even Cleaning Robots and Skutters. It was engineered to attack machine opponents and not harm living things (which is why it never went after Webb or Chicken but had attacked both ARTHUR and Lt. Wilder's Light Bee).
This had all happened many, many thousands of years ago.
The Gelf was also designed obey Human commands, but clearly it hadn't received any of those for several millennia and was probably going a little stir crazy. This fact was known to Cameron however and he tried to convey it to Wilder who eventually got wise and Webb was able to tell the Gremlin Gelf to cease its hostilities.
The interesting thing was...the Simulants, as a result of the Gelf, had never reached their target. The forward most part of the Cargo Container was still intact and sealed. Unfortunately, it was shielded and very difficult to scan.
The group made plans to go back once they were sure it was relatively safe.
Heh. Safe.
AD
Barking Alien
After being attacked by an assailant invisible and inaudible to ARTHUR the Security Robot and the Hologrammatic Lt. Donald Wilder, the team double times it back to their shuttle, a small Starguard Rescue Craft. As Chicken and Webb race towards the Hangar, Wilder unlocks a 'Let's Go Crazy' mode on ARTHUR enabling the Robot Security Chief to take full advantage of a close quarters encounter with their unseen enemy. After batting it against the wall and floor a bit they all make haste for the shuttlecraft.
Webb and Chicken manage to get into the Starguard only to discover its landing gear is caught on some debris and won't engage lift off procedures. Wilder and ARTHUR meanwhile find one of the Simulants is still functioning (barely) and pull him along through the weightless environment of the badly damaged Supply Ship.
Simulant Cameron
His right side is missing a hand, most of his lower abdomen,
and has severe damage to his leg.
The Simulant identifies himself as Cameron and pleads with Wilder to "Call it off!" and "Make it stop!" Clearly delirious (or the positronic equivalent), Lt. Wilder and ARTHUR focus on getting to the shuttle and inside. It was just then that Mitchell Webb notices the creepy shape of a strange creature in the door way to the Hangar Bay. Oddly the thing doesn't appear on any of the Starguard's scanners. No one else notices it.
Lt. Wilder (really his Light Bee) enters the Starguard and pulls Cameron is as the latter sparks and leaks chemical fluids all over the floor. Again he begs Wilder to "Tell it to stop! Come on man have some decency. Sure, we killed every Human Being we've every come across, often in colorful and creative ways, but even we didn't deserve this! You won, OK? Just tell it to stand down!"
Cameron reaches up to grab Wilder's collar, but when his only hand passes through the Hologram, the Simulant's mouth drops open and he shakes his hand violently. "No! No, No, No! A Hologram?! Then we're doomed. All doomed..." With that the bio-robo...roboroid...the pseudo living mecha...Cameron OK? Cameron coughs up a gout of oil and lubricant and 'dies'.
Starguard Rescue Shuttle Model by Martin Bowers
Meanwhile Webb and Chicken have informed ARTHUR about the landing gear being stuck and he decides to go beneath the nose of the shuttlecraft and try to pry it loose. Webb gives ARTHUR the head up about the creature as well but the Robot insists he can't worry about that right now and must focus on freeing the shuttle. What a trooper, right folks?
As ARTHUR tried free the Starguard's landing strut with a long, metal bar, he suddenly noticed movement through the dust, shrapnel, and ice particles scattered about the Hangar. Moving to the right in the nick of time, an unseen entity smashed into the bar he was holding. ARTHUR used the momentum to dislodge the landing gear as Chicken cheered she the pretty lights in the shuttle do the things that meant flying was going to happen.
Webb looked out the window all 'Gremlin-on-the-Wing' style, he and he alone seeing a misshapen creature preparing to pounce on ARTHUR. He pointed at it and screamed out (William Shatner would be proud) alerting Wilder and giving the Lieutenant a moment of clarity and an idea. "Webb, get on the shuttle external radio and tell the creature to stand down!"
Webb was a bit confused but grabbed the handheld communicator at the end of a twisting cord and, calming himself as much as he could with his heart in his throat, said softy, "Stand down please."
Through the window he, and now Chicken looking over his shoulder, saw the creepy, pale being sit down, like a dog, on the deck of the Hangar Bay. Breathing in a collective sigh (for even the Hologram of Lt. Wilder had been 'holding his breath'), the team relaxed and retrieved ARTHUR through the shuttle's back hatch.
One everyone was settled in, Webb leaned over the controls, having been studying the manual during the original trip over to the Behemoth, and activated an Emergency Override to open the Hangar Bay doors. When he did, the lack of gravity but re-established pressure blew everything it could out into space...including the creature.
Cameron sputtered on for a moment, his eyes flashing, his face twitching, and through gurgling coughs said, "You did it. You made it stop. I can't...thank you. For any of my fellow Simulants that may have remained active...I thank you. You ended the nightmarrrrr..." With that, Cameron was permanently defunct, all movement and sound ceased, all lights went out.
Sometime later, ADAM had the chance to scan the Behemoth further, analyze some of the data and learned something of what had happened.
The Behemoth was attacked by the Simulants who were after something in the Cargo Container section of the ship. They slaughtered any Human they came across. Desperate, the Human crew released a GELF, a Genetically Engineered Life Form, and sent it to attack the Simulants. This particular GELF, called a 'Gremlin Gelf', was designed to be undetectable to electronic devices. It's skin reflected EM scanning, it had glands and organs that jammed various computerized and mechanical equipment, etc.
After destroying all the Simulants it could find, it had started to attack the ship's Security and Cargo Robots, and even Cleaning Robots and Skutters. It was engineered to attack machine opponents and not harm living things (which is why it never went after Webb or Chicken but had attacked both ARTHUR and Lt. Wilder's Light Bee).
This had all happened many, many thousands of years ago.
The Gelf was also designed obey Human commands, but clearly it hadn't received any of those for several millennia and was probably going a little stir crazy. This fact was known to Cameron however and he tried to convey it to Wilder who eventually got wise and Webb was able to tell the Gremlin Gelf to cease its hostilities.
The interesting thing was...the Simulants, as a result of the Gelf, had never reached their target. The forward most part of the Cargo Container was still intact and sealed. Unfortunately, it was shielded and very difficult to scan.
The group made plans to go back once they were sure it was relatively safe.
Heh. Safe.
AD
Barking Alien
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