This is the Operational report for Decontamination of Deep freight Mail Shuttle 'Dallas Mercury'.
Updated live as mission progresses....
SUNDAY EVENING
TURN 1
Team TROTSKY, TEQUILA - HAR, CHANG - FLECHETTE CANNON, KONGO - HEMG, YOU - BLASTER, BIOSENSOR, FIRE-BOMB, HIGGINS-FLAMER
Enter forward cargo bay from starboard side.
Lots of Harpies in a full cargo bay which includes both explosive and flammable loads. In addition we must not damage any cargo because the reputation of the DF Physical Communications Division is at stake.
Due to proximity of hazardous cargo the team leads over the boarding bridge with the Gunners, Tequila and Trotsky. They com eeyeball-to-eyeball with a Harpy and shots from both only knock it away without killing it. They make space for the next two to board.
Chang deftly moves right and takes up position to cover the right flank with the shotgun.
Higgins backs him up with the flamer but doesn't get so far because of the heavy gear. Both have a shot in hand, which is just as well.
The Harpies react violently at first. One rushes Chang but falls short and gets blasted to ribbons in the hail of flechettes from the shotgun. The next Harpy tries something spectacular and tries to leap a pile of post packets to attack Tequila from above. Luckily Higgins can turn in time to flame the acrobatic alien and sends him up in smoke along with a lot of. no doubt, important stuff such as sentimental gifts, packages of Earth soil on its way to a colony, vouchers for cheaper thermal underwear, that kind of thing. So right from the start any thought of bonuses has to be adjusted.
More worryingly, the fire Higgins created is warming the adjacent gasflasks. The clock starts to tick as they warm up. The ship's extinguisher system wil not register the fire as dangerous foranother turn or two.
The other Harpies ar in a dangerous pack but they decide to lie low out of sight this turn - maybe the smell of their Hive-mate roasting put them off! Still 5 Harpies to deal with ....
MONDAY
TURN 2
HIGGINS burns-off CHANG's assailant. It was not wise to trust in CHANG's ability to reload in time.TEQUILA moves to back-up CHANG covering the main Harpy attack route. TROTSKY attempts to blast his target at point blank but a lousy shot just sends the Harpy reeling away.
YOU and KONGO enter the ship but do not quite get into position...laggards!
The Harpies are not triggered by human activity yet. They stay hidden and waiting.
TURN 3
TROTSKY raised his HAR with deliberation and this time made no mistake in blasting the Harpy before him to bits. He then paused rather than risking getting jumped by the other waiting round the corner and rummaged in the locker near him, being rewarded with a pack of grenades.
HIGGINS could not be bothered to wade through fire or clamber over crates so he was content to wait, weapon poised.
Penned into his corner CHANG also waited.
YOU moved to be able to scramble over crates ones they stopped burning.
TEQUILA waited, beads of sweat accumulating in his beard.
KONGO moved the heavy artillery out to where he can now shoot all the way down the left flank.
MEANWHILE, ON THE HARPY SIDE, NOTHING HAPPENED .
TURN 4
The burning crates futtered out into a few coals allowing the Verms on the right to clearly see the Harpy hiding behind the gas flasks.
HIGGINS did not spend too much time calculating, lobbed fire over the package crates which descended accurately onto the crocuching alien and gave it no chance. HIGGINS then led off down the right flank. Followed by CHANG after he shoved another canister up his barrel.
KONGO advanced cautiously down his flank.Along with Trotsky and backed by YOU.
TEQUILA moved up alongside HIGGINS.
Now it is apparent that the veteran team of Verminators
have made an elementary mistake. They have advanced too far to allow the
use of grenades without blowing themselves up.......
Rather than shuffle about they diecide to hold their ground and see what the monsters do.
The Harpies smell flesh and burst out of cover to attack the nearest humans.
The one that rushes HIGGINS cannot be shot at by CHANG with the wide dispersal of his shotgun so more flame has to be used to down him. However, all goes to pot when HIGGINS uses only a double burst to try and conserve fuel. It is not enough - the Harpy makes it through to grapple with the flamer operative.
On the other flank KONGO lets the other emerging Harpy have it with relish. But it is a bum shot and he fails to kill the Harpy. It is flung wounded against the bulkhead.
HIGGINS fights heroically but is slashed severely in the first seconds.
TURN 5
Tragedy strikes! The consequences of the team's miscalculation become serious. HIGGINS is ripped to bits and goes down dead as a doornail.
HIGGINS being deceased, CHANG fires off a canister at his murderer and a thousand flechettes perforate the alien's exoskeleton. It sinks to the deck, twitching.
KONGO gives it rice and spreads Harpy pate over the bulkhead. It is now all quiet on the western flank.
The forward cargo bay is secure. 5 Carnifex are chalked-up. But a Verminator is dead and we have singed some imporant cargo. Luckily, the fire near the gas flasks goes out before they got too warm.
PLAY DELAYED ... BEST LET SLEEPING Felis annoyingus LIE
The problem is my Billiard Table light. The damn cat can feel it is nice and warm under it.
Maybe I should switch over to LED ?
TUESDAY EVENING
ON THE ROAD AGAIN..
HIGGINS bodybag is taken back to the Verminator's ship. The team reorganises with Tequila shouldering the flamer. Needing to locate the Hive entrance quickly, the team prepares to visit the Bridge. Positions are taken and the door opened.
Six Harpies are shown on the Biosensor.. All hiding. This will be tough...
TROSTSKY led through the door and faced left, CHANG followed and faced right.
The heavy weapons did not make it through the door and suddenly everyone had a bad feeling about all this.
The biggest Harpy pack suddenly became aggressive and diced maximum...ooeerrr.
A grinning Harpy lunged round the corner at CHANG and he let go a cannister in its face.
As the smoke cleared and the remains of the alien dripped down the walls CHANG saw to his horror another one leering at him and before he could think of anything it leapt on him.
Standing behind, YOU let loose with his hand blaster. The conjunction of bad luck and bad planning was now enough for religious Verms to suspect they had been sinning too much on their last leave.
YOU made the worst shot possible. It glanced off the Harpy's glossy skull without effect. The Harpy's claws reached for CHANG's throat as even more of them formed a queue to join in.
On the other flank Trotsky now faced his test. A Harpy broke cover and rushed for him. He levelled his Heavy Assault Rifle and let it get a full burst in the throat. The dice throw was so good that the Harpy's head left the building.
CHANG swung the heavy tube of his cannon against his gibbering assailant and smashed some of its teeth. It was enough to give the monster pause for thought. CHANG held on.
Next Turn
Again, the team had to work out how to drag their chesnuts out of the fire. CHANG had to be saved.
The heavy weapons had to be brought to bear. But how?
Either YOU or TROTSKY should try to shoot the Harpy off CHANG, but fate would have it that both had poor dexterity. Something had to be done. Getting a good angle, YOU let fly fiirst.
The blast temporarily hid CHANG. 'Took your time, you bastard!',yelled CHANG as Harpy blood squirted behind his visor and he began to faint. The allien's remains slumped to the floor, still reaching out to CHANG with its long pointed talons.
TROTSKY dashed for the corner in order to forestall the team being penned for longer in the confined corridor. Hardly pausing, he fired-off a grenade at the shape of a Harpy which came into sight in the far corner of the Bridge. It was bang-on and the bang wounded the Harpy badly.
KONGO had not managed to manoeuvre the unwieldy HEMG through the doolock when TEQUILA shoved his way past and stood over CHANG's prone body. He let rip with a full burst of flame to engulf the nearest alien ready to leap onto CHANG or himself.
As the creature shrivelled a barrier of heat and flame rose between the team and any more enemies coming from that direction. They all allowed themselves to relax a notch as the flank was now secure..for a while...
KONGO lumbered into position to back TROTSKY up.
FRIDAY
NEXT TURN
CHANG crawls to safety while KONGO blasts the harpy in his sights to bits. TROTSKY nips round the corner to sight along the next gap. The last Harpy tried to dash to cover but TROTSKY took his chance and splatted it against the wall. It was not dead but just needed finsihing off.
The Bridge-Control Room was now in the Verminator's hands.
The locker contained some HEMG ammo gladly taken by KONGO.
YOU glances over the sensors and camera footage available from the ship's console.
The hair began to curl on the back of his neck as he realised where the Hive was. The temperature and humity data clearly showed maximums right next door, in the Mess !
SATURDAY
VERMS
The team lines up to take on the Hive. Flamer and Shotgun to the fore, backed-up by the HEMG.
YOU opens the door... and 8 Harpies ranged around the Mess module.
CHANG lets fly with the Flechette Cannon but it is an abyssmal shot. The 4 nearest Harpies are wounded, no kills. That was his last shell...
To try and take an attritional approach, TEQUILA flames the door entrance to block any rushes from Harpies. Grenades may be the way to reduce the aliens before entering.
HARPIES
The Harpies milled around unable to attack through the flames, only 1 recovered from his wound.
NEXT TURN
VERMS
TEQUILA sets up the flame barrier again. CHANG ducks out of the way with his large useless tube. KONGO steps into place and nails the nearest Harpy. He lets fly at the next but just drives it into cover.
HARPIES
The flame barrier works two ways - now most of the Harpies have taken cover to wait in ambush.
NEXT TURN
VERMS
Having herded the Harpies back in the module, the time is now for a rush to bomb the Hive.
Getting in a bit of a tangle, KONGO takes position in the Mess to cover. on the right. TEQUILA steps in to cover the left. YOU rushes over to the Hive entrance with the firebomb., but takes both actions to get there. The Verminators take a deep breath, waiting to see how the Harpies react.
HARPIES
TEQUILA is jumped but grills his attacker to a coal.
The rest of Harpies miraculously stay put.
NEXT TURN
VERMS
YOU dumps the fire-bomb into the disgusting Hive Entrance.
Th eonly dircet shot possible is a long grenade lob by TROTSKY. It is worth a try. He shoots. He hits without scatter even though he had to miss YOU's head and lob it over the furniture. The results are not brilliant, though. One Harpy wounded, one dead out of a possible four affected. But they will be stirred-up by that !!
Seeing as the bomb is in, YOU ducks out the door and mans the doorlock controls.
KONGO and TEQUILA follow. Both wait ready in the doorway, but on the safe side...
HARPIES
The monsters react and rush the door. None quite get there.
NEXT TURN
KONGO takes out the closest Harpy. YOU whacks the pad to shut the doorlock.And then would like to leg it but is blocked by the heavy weapons. so he sets off the bomb instead. - and fumbles it.. well there is always next turn !!! TEQUILA starts off for the exit.he reaches the door to the Forward Cargo Bay and opens it. CHANG limps homeward. TROTSKY legs it. KONGO turns and lugs his HEMG towards safety.
NEXT TURN
Updated live as mission progresses....
SUNDAY EVENING
TURN 1
Team TROTSKY, TEQUILA - HAR, CHANG - FLECHETTE CANNON, KONGO - HEMG, YOU - BLASTER, BIOSENSOR, FIRE-BOMB, HIGGINS-FLAMER
Enter forward cargo bay from starboard side.
Lots of Harpies in a full cargo bay which includes both explosive and flammable loads. In addition we must not damage any cargo because the reputation of the DF Physical Communications Division is at stake.
 |
| DFMS Dallas Mercury : 2 drive units, 2 cargo bay, s plus Harpies |
Chang deftly moves right and takes up position to cover the right flank with the shotgun.
Higgins backs him up with the flamer but doesn't get so far because of the heavy gear. Both have a shot in hand, which is just as well.
 |
| Welcoming committee is rather grisly,, Gunners do your best ! |
 |
| Tequila gets warmed but the Harpy gets roasted..Good show Higgins!. |
More worryingly, the fire Higgins created is warming the adjacent gasflasks. The clock starts to tick as they warm up. The ship's extinguisher system wil not register the fire as dangerous foranother turn or two.
The other Harpies ar in a dangerous pack but they decide to lie low out of sight this turn - maybe the smell of their Hive-mate roasting put them off! Still 5 Harpies to deal with ....
 |
| Harpies scatter Trotsky and Chang are still under threat . though ! |
TURN 2
HIGGINS burns-off CHANG's assailant. It was not wise to trust in CHANG's ability to reload in time.TEQUILA moves to back-up CHANG covering the main Harpy attack route. TROTSKY attempts to blast his target at point blank but a lousy shot just sends the Harpy reeling away.
YOU and KONGO enter the ship but do not quite get into position...laggards!
The Harpies are not triggered by human activity yet. They stay hidden and waiting.
TURN 3
TROTSKY raised his HAR with deliberation and this time made no mistake in blasting the Harpy before him to bits. He then paused rather than risking getting jumped by the other waiting round the corner and rummaged in the locker near him, being rewarded with a pack of grenades.
HIGGINS could not be bothered to wade through fire or clamber over crates so he was content to wait, weapon poised.
Penned into his corner CHANG also waited.
YOU moved to be able to scramble over crates ones they stopped burning.
TEQUILA waited, beads of sweat accumulating in his beard.
KONGO moved the heavy artillery out to where he can now shoot all the way down the left flank.
MEANWHILE, ON THE HARPY SIDE, NOTHING HAPPENED .
TURN 4
The burning crates futtered out into a few coals allowing the Verms on the right to clearly see the Harpy hiding behind the gas flasks.
HIGGINS did not spend too much time calculating, lobbed fire over the package crates which descended accurately onto the crocuching alien and gave it no chance. HIGGINS then led off down the right flank. Followed by CHANG after he shoved another canister up his barrel.
KONGO advanced cautiously down his flank.Along with Trotsky and backed by YOU.
TEQUILA moved up alongside HIGGINS.
Rather than shuffle about they diecide to hold their ground and see what the monsters do.
The Harpies smell flesh and burst out of cover to attack the nearest humans.
On the other flank KONGO lets the other emerging Harpy have it with relish. But it is a bum shot and he fails to kill the Harpy. It is flung wounded against the bulkhead.
HIGGINS fights heroically but is slashed severely in the first seconds.
TURN 5
Tragedy strikes! The consequences of the team's miscalculation become serious. HIGGINS is ripped to bits and goes down dead as a doornail.
HIGGINS being deceased, CHANG fires off a canister at his murderer and a thousand flechettes perforate the alien's exoskeleton. It sinks to the deck, twitching.
KONGO gives it rice and spreads Harpy pate over the bulkhead. It is now all quiet on the western flank.
The forward cargo bay is secure. 5 Carnifex are chalked-up. But a Verminator is dead and we have singed some imporant cargo. Luckily, the fire near the gas flasks goes out before they got too warm.
PLAY DELAYED ... BEST LET SLEEPING Felis annoyingus LIE
Maybe I should switch over to LED ?
TUESDAY EVENING
ON THE ROAD AGAIN..
HIGGINS bodybag is taken back to the Verminator's ship. The team reorganises with Tequila shouldering the flamer. Needing to locate the Hive entrance quickly, the team prepares to visit the Bridge. Positions are taken and the door opened.
 |
| Good plan, lousy execution |
TROSTSKY led through the door and faced left, CHANG followed and faced right.
The heavy weapons did not make it through the door and suddenly everyone had a bad feeling about all this.
The biggest Harpy pack suddenly became aggressive and diced maximum...ooeerrr.
A grinning Harpy lunged round the corner at CHANG and he let go a cannister in its face.
As the smoke cleared and the remains of the alien dripped down the walls CHANG saw to his horror another one leering at him and before he could think of anything it leapt on him.
Standing behind, YOU let loose with his hand blaster. The conjunction of bad luck and bad planning was now enough for religious Verms to suspect they had been sinning too much on their last leave.
YOU made the worst shot possible. It glanced off the Harpy's glossy skull without effect. The Harpy's claws reached for CHANG's throat as even more of them formed a queue to join in.
On the other flank Trotsky now faced his test. A Harpy broke cover and rushed for him. He levelled his Heavy Assault Rifle and let it get a full burst in the throat. The dice throw was so good that the Harpy's head left the building.
CHANG swung the heavy tube of his cannon against his gibbering assailant and smashed some of its teeth. It was enough to give the monster pause for thought. CHANG held on.
 |
| Queueing to have a go at CHANG |
Next Turn
Again, the team had to work out how to drag their chesnuts out of the fire. CHANG had to be saved.
The heavy weapons had to be brought to bear. But how?
Either YOU or TROTSKY should try to shoot the Harpy off CHANG, but fate would have it that both had poor dexterity. Something had to be done. Getting a good angle, YOU let fly fiirst.
The blast temporarily hid CHANG. 'Took your time, you bastard!',yelled CHANG as Harpy blood squirted behind his visor and he began to faint. The allien's remains slumped to the floor, still reaching out to CHANG with its long pointed talons.
TROTSKY dashed for the corner in order to forestall the team being penned for longer in the confined corridor. Hardly pausing, he fired-off a grenade at the shape of a Harpy which came into sight in the far corner of the Bridge. It was bang-on and the bang wounded the Harpy badly.
KONGO had not managed to manoeuvre the unwieldy HEMG through the doolock when TEQUILA shoved his way past and stood over CHANG's prone body. He let rip with a full burst of flame to engulf the nearest alien ready to leap onto CHANG or himself.
 |
| Revenge for CHANG |
KONGO lumbered into position to back TROTSKY up.
FRIDAY
NEXT TURN
CHANG crawls to safety while KONGO blasts the harpy in his sights to bits. TROTSKY nips round the corner to sight along the next gap. The last Harpy tried to dash to cover but TROTSKY took his chance and splatted it against the wall. It was not dead but just needed finsihing off.
The Bridge-Control Room was now in the Verminator's hands.
The locker contained some HEMG ammo gladly taken by KONGO.
YOU glances over the sensors and camera footage available from the ship's console.
The hair began to curl on the back of his neck as he realised where the Hive was. The temperature and humity data clearly showed maximums right next door, in the Mess !
SATURDAY
VERMS
The team lines up to take on the Hive. Flamer and Shotgun to the fore, backed-up by the HEMG.
YOU opens the door... and 8 Harpies ranged around the Mess module.
CHANG lets fly with the Flechette Cannon but it is an abyssmal shot. The 4 nearest Harpies are wounded, no kills. That was his last shell...
To try and take an attritional approach, TEQUILA flames the door entrance to block any rushes from Harpies. Grenades may be the way to reduce the aliens before entering.
HARPIES
The Harpies milled around unable to attack through the flames, only 1 recovered from his wound.
NEXT TURN
VERMS
TEQUILA sets up the flame barrier again. CHANG ducks out of the way with his large useless tube. KONGO steps into place and nails the nearest Harpy. He lets fly at the next but just drives it into cover.
HARPIES
The flame barrier works two ways - now most of the Harpies have taken cover to wait in ambush.
NEXT TURN
VERMS
Having herded the Harpies back in the module, the time is now for a rush to bomb the Hive.
Getting in a bit of a tangle, KONGO takes position in the Mess to cover. on the right. TEQUILA steps in to cover the left. YOU rushes over to the Hive entrance with the firebomb., but takes both actions to get there. The Verminators take a deep breath, waiting to see how the Harpies react.
HARPIES
TEQUILA is jumped but grills his attacker to a coal.
The rest of Harpies miraculously stay put.
NEXT TURN
VERMS
YOU dumps the fire-bomb into the disgusting Hive Entrance.
Th eonly dircet shot possible is a long grenade lob by TROTSKY. It is worth a try. He shoots. He hits without scatter even though he had to miss YOU's head and lob it over the furniture. The results are not brilliant, though. One Harpy wounded, one dead out of a possible four affected. But they will be stirred-up by that !!
Seeing as the bomb is in, YOU ducks out the door and mans the doorlock controls.
KONGO and TEQUILA follow. Both wait ready in the doorway, but on the safe side...
HARPIES
The monsters react and rush the door. None quite get there.
NEXT TURN
KONGO takes out the closest Harpy. YOU whacks the pad to shut the doorlock.And then would like to leg it but is blocked by the heavy weapons. so he sets off the bomb instead. - and fumbles it.. well there is always next turn !!! TEQUILA starts off for the exit.he reaches the door to the Forward Cargo Bay and opens it. CHANG limps homeward. TROTSKY legs it. KONGO turns and lugs his HEMG towards safety.
NEXT TURN
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