Oh Oh peanut butter : Success on Medical Research Station Panzered-Peanut
This research station orbits above the jungle planet Gamma-Eridani 7. Samples from the rainforest have been used to create drugs to treat various diseases but it is rumoured that unauthorised genetic experiments have also been conducted. Harpy infestation stopped all work but vital samples remain.
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| MRS-Panzered Peanut orbits GE-7 |
The Verminator team urgently called to retrieve medical samples left in a safe on the station when it was hurriedly deserted a year ago were:
Snitmeister and Trotsky (Flamer) ..handled by Ewan
Kongo and Pettybone (Shotgun)..handled by Jason
Chang (HEMG) and Tequila..handled by Colin
No one was a superhero in this team but there were six men for a station with only 8 modules - a slightly better team than the company usually deploys.
Also they got to know that the Comptrollers were out to get them during this tour...
There was also a small chance that a party of Ardzilians detected in a nearby planetary system could turn up to try and snatch a specimen of Homo sapiens for their Galaxy Zoo...
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| Bloody Death, Financial Irregularities, Eternal Captivity : Three Awful Fates |
Overall plan of MRS Panzered Peanut
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TURN 1
Mother docked onto the propulsion module. It was not possible to find a good place closer to the Bio-medical Research Lab where the samples remained in a safe.
Although a good pack of Harpies was in the module, the combined firepower of a team with full magazines made short work of them.
The Harpies were aggressive but came at the Verminators in 1s and 2s allowing them to be shot to bits. Snitmeister used his shotgun in this delicate part of the ship but failed to damage the drive units, luckily.
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| Slugs, grenades, flame, damn the propulsion units..... |
When the dust cleared the team sorted themselves out to enter the Bridge Module.
THE BRIDGE
The Biosensor gave a low reading and the doors slid open to reveal two Harpies standing in the centre of the module.
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| Ready ! Aim! Fire! |
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| The Harpy point of view... |
Unfortunate. No mercy was shown and it was very soon quiet on the bridge.
Moving on quickly, the next module, the Crew Accommodation, gave a horribly high Biosensor reading. It took some time for the team to reach agreement as to their line-up before the door was opened.
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| Not enough room to swing an Ezumian Micro Cat |
CREW ACCOMMODATION
Before the Harpies moved-in the Crew Accomodation was well kept and cleaned. Harpies do not do house-keeping, though and the staff would not stay, even if they avoided being eaten. It was hot, it stank of rotten things and acid. The deck had not been hoovered for months.
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| Don't trust aliens with housework... |
Six Harpies immediately came for the door to protect - THE HIVE! - for the Hive entrance was here.
But the Verminators were really on their game today and again the Harpies attacked in dribs and drabs which got mown down.
Even when the Bull Harpy emerged from the Hive to defend his brood a lethal shot from Snitmeister removed any thoughts he had of avenging the dead Harpies...along with his head.
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| Controlled chaos but steady fire got rid of the Harpies without any casualties to the Verms |
Amazingly, the Team was still unhurt, had plenty of ammo and even found some useful stuff in the lockers they had rummaged so far.
Next stop was the Arsenal and beyond that lay the Medical Research Module.
The Team decided NOT to wait with chucking the firebomb down the Hive entrance until they were safely away. Even though this would draw Harpies from the rest of the ship when it went off, a happy accident meant there was a solid bulkhead between Propulsion and Freight modules so all Harpies must come at them from the direction they were moving in anyway.
Before setting the bomb, a Biosensor reading for the next module showed a MAX reading.
The Team kept their nerve and relied on being just as deadly as they had been up to now......
The bomb was set for a delay of 6 turns and dropped down the hole.
THE ARSENAL
The door slid open to reveal a horde of 9 Harpies. All turned their heads to the humans revealed in the doorway...
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| ..and gazing in, he saw 'Horrible Things' |
Snitmeister shot a grenade into the biggest cluster of shiny black aliens and the carnage began...
This module was roomy enough for a perfect use of the BLOCK AND BATTER tactic. Trotsky flamed a burning swathe across the deck and the rest of the team locked and loaded.
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| Blocking and Battering |
As the Harpies screeched and skwarked to each other they formed two main packs and ran toward the humans but stopped before the flames. Every barrel splurged lead and half the Harpies exploded into a black and green shower of remnants.The survivors retreated behind and into the shelving.
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| Another rush blocked and mown down |
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| Grenade away, followed by a hail of slugs...courtesy Snitmeister |
Pettibone now got a bit wild with his SHOTGUN and loosed a round into the stored weaponry. Everyone held their breath but no explosions followed. Obviously the shelves held weapons but ammo was elsewhere...pheeew. Encouraged, Pettibone continued to kill the remaining Harpies and made the storage look like a pile of collanders. Expensive collanders dripping with green blood.
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| If you are armed with a shotgun, everything looks like a pheasant..Doesn't it Pettibone?! |
There was a deathly silence.
The Team began to plunder the arsenal but everything on the shelves was now useless thanks to the effectiveness of Pettibone's shotgun. A Combat Drone stood on one wall but when examined it was found to without any AI brain and was useless.
Just then, Kongo got an InfoByte from Mother in his head-up display. A dangerous meteorite swarm was approaching. Mother had to pull off the MRS in 12 turns from now!!!!
The Team all began to speak at once, but Chang kept his cool and insisted there was plenty of time if things continued to go well. Speaking as the slowest of the Team, carrying the HEMG, this confident attitude got everyone quiet and ready to enter the Medical research Module.
MEDICAL RESEARCH MODULE
The Biosensor reading was high but nothing like the Arsenal's reading.
When the door opened, the main problem was revealed to be congestion. There was not much space in the MEDMOD and the Harpies were hiding.
Flame and close-range shots quickly dealt with most of them but a grenade lobbed over a cabinet to dislodge a Harpy resulted in 3 furniture elements getting damaged....and the safe and samples were in here somewhere. Everyone shouted at Pettibone to keep his finger OFF the TRIGGER of his shotgun...
The last Harpy was trapped behind a wierd experimental dome thing, by flame, and finished with a close range volley from Tequila and Snitmeister.
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| No place to hide. |
The FIREBOMB had just exploded ....all remaining Harpies on the ship would soon be making their way through here to the HIVE.....
The lockers were rifled,,nothing was found. Chang wanted to carry everything away to sell it but speed was more important, the clock was ticking.
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| Hell of a mess in the lab.... |
Banging and scratching now started against the door and bulkhead into the Freight Module. The Harpies were coming!!!
Snitmeister decided to examine the dome thing....he wished he had not.
The clear dome was misted on the outside. It was obviously hot inside. Snitmeister rubbed the mist away and looked in. He jumped back, terrified when a slimy, clawed hand smashed against the plexiglass.
This was followed by a grusome, deformed face with wild yellow eyes looking out. The thing inside, some kind of humanoid, began to scream and wail and smash against the glass with all its strength. Snitmeister wished he had packed extra trousers.
The others had meanwhile searched through the remains of the cabinets and miraculously found the small safe unharmed. Tequila dialled in the code and snatched out the magazine of vials inside.
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| the cause of all the trouble... |
He carefully placed them in protective satchel he had brought for the purpose and stood ready for the next move. Hopefully a retrograde one.
FLIGHT
6 moves remained until Mother had to undock. It would take the Team 5 moves unhindered to exit MRS-Panzered Peanut. But hindrances now arrived!!!
The DOME split open under the onslaught of the 'Experiment'. It emerged - horribly green and unpainted, for which the author apologises, but no less deadly for that! His sticky yellow eyes peered round for movement - and flesh to consume...
Just then, one of those lucky moments occurred for which Verminators are usually not known.
A Harpy emerged from a conduit in the bulkhead and leapt onto the Experiment, assuming he was responsible for attacking the Hive!. Another wriggled out of a gap in the deck plates and joined in the fray.
Not wishing to spoil the fun, the Verminators fled in a hurry out of the MEDMOD and closed the door.
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| Exit stage left, hopefully not pursued by anything.. |
They then dashed past the flames of the burning Hive and back to Mother, looking more like Keystone Cops than trained professional Pest Controllers.
RECKONING
Safely back on Mother, as she accelerated away from the 7th of 9 planets around Gamma-Eridani 9, the Verminators relaxed in their couches sipping warm Mexican chocolate and nibbling Venusian Doodads. Mission accomplished ! How much had they made ?
Chang doodled on the back of an envelope, long since uselss as a means of communication but kept on as vital note-taking devices.
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| Sirius Cybernetics Model XVII with extensible flap |
No-one was hurt but they had really smashed the MRS up. The Hive and the Samples netted them 110,000 but assorted weaponry and medical equipment perforated or toasted had cost DF 70,000. Snitmeister's bodycam had caught some heroic instances which netted him a 20,000 personal bonus but the shared-out Mission Bonus was just 10,000 each.
Snitmeister was grinning as he opened his Communicator and started booking a tour to Eroticon 74 - The others would be lucky if they could get to Dinsi World for a cheap recuperation weekend.
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| Old School Recreational Droids on Dinsi World |
But such is the life of a Verminator! The next mission might just be the big one which netted them enough to retire!
As Snitmeister scrolled through pictures of the delights awaiting him on his leave, a scowling face with an over-sized peaked leather cap suddenly filled the screen of his Communcator. ..
Senior Comptroler Ebenezer Gradgrind snarled disappointedly up at him.
"Just you watch it sonny !
We know some of your team have VERY dodgy Tax Returns and Time Sheets...
We will get you one of these days....Lucky your ship left the MRS before we arrived to pickle your walnuts - 'meteor shower' indeed!!!
Mark my words, you will meet us one day ! "
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| Every cloud of meteors has a silver lining! |
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