Post-Hunt Report.
As one of the two members of the Climbing Lodge With Gallantry (CLWG) hunting party in the Serenity Station Hunt I was impressed by the excellent hunt set-up. The combination of prey was most challenging and allowed for an excellent day out.
After entering the station and having a good look around I watched the initial human entry and fired a few rounds from extreme range [OOC – around 60 inches, perhaps more] at them as they disembarked. This caused them to disappear (I suspect that they have developed some sort of cloaking technology, although they did not use it when I encountered them later, so it cannot be much good.) This fire was ineffective because the humans were wearing reasonable, if crude, personal armour. The armour was breachable at close range, as my first kill testified.
I stalked a group of 10 prey and 2 machines while they moved from the docking bay, throuh my original position, to the centre of the station. As they moved past me I engaged one of the prey in close combat and killed it with ease. After taking the head as a trophy I abandoned the body and went looking for some real sport, the human being too easy a kill.
After a brief wander around the station I came across a gg’gvnt adult alone in a corridor. Not messing about I shot it from medium range & took the head, this too was rather easy, so I returned to corridor A where I could watch the entry of a lot more humans through the main docking bay.
I had some fun for a while sniping at the prey, and watching their bewilderment and not being able to see what was doing it. At about hte same time Pickles, my compatriot, was doing much the same from corridor C. I didn’t manage to hit anything because the prey was armoured. After a bit decided to go hunt some gg’vnt until the humans had made it a bit farther out of the entry area & were more spread out.
I sensed that there was a reasonable sized group of gg’gvnt adlts in area G. On entering area G, which had only one entrance/exit, I moved to despatch another lone gg’gvnt before taking on the group.
I first encountered the lone gg’gvnt adult as we both attempted to use a doorway at the same time. Giving it a quick shot at point blank range had little effect other than enraging it. A brief hand-to-hand combat ensued during which the gg’gvnt scratched me before I managed to finish it off with my spear. A good fight which nicely warmed me up for what was to follow…
As I took the head I noticed several gg’gvnt adults approaching, more than I could hope to take on at one time. I then carefully chose my ground so that I would be able to take them on without being overwhelmed. Moving into a doorway I sensed that there were about 12-15 gg’gvnt adults closing in on me, lambs to the slaughter!
They spread out to find me and as the first one came through my doorway I tried to shoot it but my weapon refused to fire. Getting out my spear I resolved to have a good look at the D.E.W. when I had dealt with the prey at hand. This weapon failure allowed the gg’vnt the opportunity to strike me & push me away from the door. I finished it off using my spear after receiving a few more scratches and giving some ground.
A large gathering of gg’gvnt adults had formed outside the door at this stage, all baying to get in. The death of the second adult didn’t seem to stop another one launching itself at me. As it charged in I slipped on the blood of it’s friend and it managed to gore me rather painfully. For it’s impudence I immediately killed it when I recovered my footing. I was no longer in a mood to play with these things.
My change in attitude, expressed in the violent death of the third gg’gvnt adult, seemed to transmit itself to the mass of gg’gvnt who took the opportunity to leave me alone. They obviously realised that I was too dangerous to take on. I took the two heads and went off to a place where I could look at my D.E.W. and from where I could shoot at some humans. Now that I was seriously wounded I reckoned that the humans might well be fair game.
I limped down to the medical bay on the station, which had a few gg’vnt eggs around as well as three machines that the humans had abandoned earlier. Inside the medical bay I tested by now-repaired D.E.W. by despatching a lone gg’gvnt adult, for which I also took the head. I then decided that I would go back & see where the humans had got to, and moved off down corridor J where I ran into a some humans rushing towards me, although it was apparent they hadn’t seen me as they were very surprised when I shot the lead figure, which was a machine I had mistaken for prey (I later took the head for novelty value – it being worthless otherwise).
This timely shot slowed the prey down and allowed me to lead them onto the gg’gvnt eggs. As I moved backwards down the corridor the prey carried on towards me, shooting wildly down the corridor. None of this wild fire came close to hitting me but it did destroy one of the human’s machines. (It shows just how indiscrimately destructive these humans are and why we need to avoid them finding out where our planets are.)
I shot two of the humans cleanly before they got close enough for the eggs to start going off. This confused them somewhat as they had apparently not seen this before and suffered badly for it. Four humans were hit by the ‘face-huggers’ and rather strangely they were then killed by their comrades, a strange phenomenon, especially since their comrade didn’t take the heads. I shot the remaining two prey and left their last machine where it was.
As I was finishing off this group of prey anothe rone the same size appeared from behind it, as did a third come down corridor I. Both these new groups tried to locate what had killed the first group, and came close to finding me, although I shot the two which I suspect detected me. The humans concentrated on destroying all the gg’vnt eggs that they could see by using their machines to crush them. They als employed a couple of radiation grenades which landed almost at my feet, although these didn’t appear to have any effect on my suit.
After a while most of the humans moved on up corridor K leaving behind the bodies of the prey I’d killed. As I started to move in to collect my trophies the humans put the fallen prey onto some machines which then trundled off up corridor J. Seeing this I broke cover & ran after them. As I opened the med-bay door a gg’gvnt seed pod got one of the humans which distracted thm a little from detecting me as I ran up the corridor.
Just behind me a horde of gg’gvnt adults burst out of the same door I had come out of and attacked the humans, allowing me to chase my trophies unmolested. The machines were moving faster than me so I was forced to shoot them to stop them getting away. I shot the first machine no trouble, but as I was closing on the prey a third machine started to pick up the trophies, so I destroyed it too.
At this point a large group of gg’vnt adults swept past me up the corridor and blocked my view of the second machine carrying the other trophies. When they passed I carried on to chase the second machine, which was getting away. As I rounded the corner it left my line of sight and I was unable to shoot it. I did however have to bash a fourth machine, which was attempting to recover the trophies, with my spear.
Realising that I wasn’t going to catch up with the second machine I cut my losses and took the two heads that the machines had been trying to get away from me, I also took the head of the human-like machine that I had shot earlier when I met the group in the corridor.
After that I reluctantly decided that it was time to leave Serenity Station. If I had been in perfect health I would have gladly carried on the hunt, but my wound was beginning to trouble me and had prevented me from being able to recover my trophies.
During the hunt I had killed: 1 SAS trooper (Hand-to hand); 2 human marines (both by D.E.W.); 1 human-like robot (D.E.W. but not for scoring purposes); and 5 gg’gvnt adults (2 by D.E.W. & 3 hand-to-hand)
. I had also been responsible for the deaths of 3 other marines by D.E.W. and 5 by luring them into gg’gvnt pod range. On top of this I destroyed 3 of the human trophy-stealing machines.
Not a bad day’s hunt.
What Really Happened at Serenity Station?
In as much as you can ever get a definitive story I will now tell you what actually happened at Serenity Station.
In recent years humanity has been fighting the Berserker, an artificially intelligent machine race dedicated to the destruction of all life. Accordingly Marines have developed tactics and equipment suitable for dealing with this menace.
The scientists at Serenity Station had been conducting top secret research into weapons systems for use in this struggle. Following a distress call by a few beleagured survivors holed up in the comms centre of the research station the fleet dispatched a task force, including an entire Marine Regiment, to effect a rescue.
Apart from the survivors in the comms centre the station was completely under the control of the gg’vnt, a prolifically-breeding race with similarities to those in the “Alien” films. Two colonies had been established by the time the Marine Regiment appeared. One of these was entirely due to a third race, the Vl’hurg (roughly translated as “The Hunters”), and the other to the research being carried out.
The Vl’hurg are a secretive species whose entire culture is based around prowess in hunting. The primary social grouping of the Vl’hurg is the Hunting Lodge and one of these Lodges (the Climbing Lodge With Gallantry) thought up a really challenging hunt for its two best Hunters.
The basis of the hunt was the establishment of two gg’gvnt breeder colonies on a human research station. The humans, having little or no previous contact with this species would undoubtably act with their usual extreme violence. This would enable the vl’hurg to hunt both gg’gvnt & humans in the middle of a fight to the finish between these two dangerous species.
On arrival the Marine Regiment sent in a small group of elite troops to lead the way. These being rather over-confident were wiped out to a man by the gg’gvnt.
After this minor set-back (which was a plot-device to create some atmosphere as the marine players didn’t know what they were fighting) the marines landed a sizable force in the main docking bay of the station whilst under harrassing (but ineffective) fire from both the Hunters. A second group also broke down one of the missile turret shafts that was near the beleagured survivors.
As the main force slowly, but methodically cleared it’s way forward the martian force, which had come down the missile turret, got the first taste of the gg’gvnt ferocity. After fighting their way through to within sight of the Comms Centre (from which contact had been lost anhour previously) they were butchered, one of the lieutenants putting up a brave but brief defence. None of them came out.
The main force, almost simultaneously massacred about 20 gg’gvnt adults without loss to themselves just outside the docking bay. They then pushed on and had a minor skirmish with a Hunter & a dozen gg’gvnt egg-pods at the med bay where green group lost an entire squad. In the middle another group destroyed four ex-berserker robots before conducting an egg-clearing exercise with their own robots.
This was about as far as the marines got. After a report of a UFO that appeared and disappeared the Admiral got confirmation from the marine Colonel that there was no hope of rescuing the scientists. Following a minor incident on ESS Andromeda where a single gg’gvnt had run amok and killed 20 crewmen the Admiral made his decision.
The Marines extracted smoothly, taking with them the only survivor, a small boy, from Serenity Station. Detonating a series of command mines as they went to discourage the gg’gvnt from chasing them the marines got all live personnel out without further loss. However, many support robots were abandoned.
Once the evacuation was complete the Admiral ordered ESS Andromeda to launch a pattern of three nuclear warheads at Serenity Station. At the inquiry afterwards Admiral Kemp told the Navy Committee that he had had to “Nuke it out of orbit, it was the only way to be sure”.
Special Correspondent “JK”.