Alien Invasion: Colony Ship Group

[Voth]

Valzoa

Nodding eagerly Valzoa replies, "Sure! I would love to. I've been meaning to examine these walls but a holographic generator? Thats something I would kill to look at."

Carefully walking over to the projector/device, Valzoa beings to search for any sort of mechanics or electronics.

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Search Roll (1d20+8)[17]

[Khelendros]

Terran

Walking over to the grate with weapon ready I'll keep watch out on this grate while you check out the hologram.

[Voth]

Valzoa

"Thanks. It shouldn't take too long, I hope." Valzoa says as he continues searching for some clue as to how the hologram works.

[SithLackey]

X2G-32

Seeing the rest of the group move into the room, 32 follows to the door but stops there, hopefully keeping it open. Other than a quick glance around the room, his focus is clearly the hallway.

[DungeonMaster77]

Terran:

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Moving to the grate, you notice that the slime trail decidedly began and ended inside of the grate. Inside the grate you see darkness.

Everyone moving inside the room:

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As you move around, you see a roughly humanoid creature, projected, somehow, on what you realize, is some kind of freestanding, transparent crystal. If human body language is any indication, you'd say the creature is curious at your presence, and almost equally excited. When you see him/her/it move backwards and forwards, it seems that the crystal is the limit it can go forward, as if touching a window, and the back wall, behind the creature and to your west is the limit it can go that direction. The most interesting thing is that when someone goes to the western most 'projector' you see that the limitations for the creature are the same, but mirrored. After a short while, the creature takes one of his 'hands' and moves to the south wall, which is between the two sets of projectors, and puts it onto the wall, palm towards the wall. You see a small space open, and a tray of some kind slides out. On the tray are 8 devices, seemingly handheld, that he picks up. He seems to be indicating that you should mimic his movements in that place. When you step in the space that allows you a visual to the south wall, you notice no open space, just the solid, silvery wall that seems prevalent in this place.

[Gnarnia]

Cameron calmly walks over to the wall and mimics the aliens' movements as best he can, placing his hand on it to see if a similar tray will pop out.

[DungeonMaster77]

To your suprise, one does. You see eight handheld devices of some kind.

[Gnarnia]

"I've got to say, I'm glad it's not Craeons" Cameron says as he picks up one of the devices.

Unless its use is completely obvious, he'll walk towards the hologram and see if the alien is pantomiming any further instructions.

[DungeonMaster77]

You notice it holding the device up to it's 'face' and speaking at the device.

[Voth]

Valzoa

Walking over to the devices, Valzoa carefully picks one up and begins to examine it, holding it close to his face before speaking."These are amazing!"

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Knowledge: Technology Check to find out more (1d20+9)[27]

[Gnarnia]

Cameron Blackwell

Cameron holds his up as well. "Hello? Can you hear me?"

If the alien doesn't respond he'll look the device over to see if there's a button he has to push and try it again.

[DungeonMaster77]

As you begin to speak, you notice that out of the part of the device facing away from your face, words, though in your voice, are coming out in a language sounding very much like the language the creature on the holograph projector was speaking. At that point, the alien becomes visibly excited, and begins speaking. This time, from the part of the device that you were previously speaking through is now emitting sound, and English is the language coming from it!

"Oh, at last! I was hoping that you were intelligent enough to understand what I was trying to communicate. Oh, I am sorry, I seem to have forgotten my manners. My name was Angoran. I am no longer living, but my mental faculties were copied to our library to serve as librarian after my people's evacuation. I am curious, though, do you happen to call yourselves human? We call ourselves the Golorians. The reason I ask is that we came across a probe or something from your race if you are. It had a plaque made up of atoms containing 79 positively charged particals, 78 uncharged particals, and 79 negatively charged particals, though I don't know what your name for the substance to be, with pictures of 2 examples of your race, male and female. Oh, why bother, telling you! Here it is!

(Any of you may make a knowledge<chemistry> check to figure out what the heck he is talking about, as far as positively and negatively charged particals, as well as a knowledge<history> check to know what the pictures represent)

At this point, a picture of the probe he speaks of appears on the surface, and then a picture of the plaque. ((OOC, you may have to right click and zoom out then in over the picture to see it correctly))

This device was extremely archaic by our standards, and was a great mystery to us for a long time. We guessed it was supposed to contain some kind of universal message, but we could not decode it. We were able to, however, track the most probable trajectories it could have come from, taking into account gravitational pull from nearby bodies in space, exit from your solar system, etc...and were planning on preparing a visit to your planet. We even tried to contact you via a remote station much like this one a while back, but... his voice trails off.

"the Craeons came. We did not know their origins, but they found us in the midst of our search for you. Our planet, which was very technologically advanced compared to what we knew of your civilization, could not hold off the Craeon Armada. Some of our race had discovered traces that an advanced, space-faring race had been visiting us long ago, but those few were ridiculed and ostracised from our communties. Their research was mentioned when we found your probe, but the technologies and such did not match, so it was discounted again as a hoax. They tried to warn us. We did not listen. Then they came. They told us that they were going to take all of our natural resources. We attempted to flee. We were attacked, as we too, were a 'natural resource' that they wished to harvest. We sent out as many signals as possible to our remote facilities. This was one of them, however, it was only inhabited by one of our race: myself. Before my body's death, I transferred a copy of my brain to the library, so that if any of your race was to become able to traverse the distance between stars, we could warn you of the invasion you faced. You see, when the Craeons invaded our planet, they found the probe. They apparently were happy to find them, as they had come accross another probe we didn't find. It looked like this."

Another image crosses the screen.

"It confirmed what we knew about life outside of our planet. That our two races were not the only ones in the galaxy. We did have a small fleet, not unlike your own, that was sent out to search for assistance against the Craeons, but the Craeons eventually found them, and harvested all of the equipment and personnel as additional resources. None of us have met a Craeon, nor do we know what one looks like. We mostly fought with robotic machines. As we were able to adapt to their warfare techniques, they adapted faster. I can only guess that your race was attacked after ours, and I don't doubt that you had as little warning as we did. In fact, I would not be suprised if you were the last remnants of your entire race."

He looks pretty forlorn at this point. It is obvious that he was extremely lonely, if a computer program can be called that.

"Well, look at me ramble on. I must also apologize, as I took the liberty of scanning your ships, and copying your databases. I have learned much from you, but basic knowledge, like your history and such, was not stored on your ship's memory. Also, I'm curious, is it true that your race has over 100 different languages spoken amongst yourselves? I find it fascinating that you are able to communicate at all!

[Gnarnia]

Cameron Blackwell

Speaking back into the device, "Wow, pleased to meet you as well and I'm sorry it couldn't have been under better circumstances. I'll be happy to answer your questions but there may be a more pressing matter first...

...there's something running around your ventilation system and leaving trails of slime all over the station. For some reason it's not registering on our motion detectors. Any idea what it is or if it's likely to try to kill us?"

[DungeonMaster77]

"Oh, those. Those are nothing but vermin and pests. They hatch from eggs, and begin their annoying little lives as larvae, without legs, and at their tallest, up to your ankle. Quite disgusting, really. They slither around until they shed their exoskeletons, beginning their pupae stage. At this stage, they have grown several legs, and exude a thick, translucent mucus, and their height would be around the middle of your shins. We usually have them exterminated at this point, as they mess up the place, and get into our foodstuffs, supplies, etc...but occasionally, we don't. That is when things get...difficult. They shed their exoskeleton yet again, and this time, grow to the size of one of your kind, hitting their adult stage. They gain the ability to stand on their back legs and walk upright, grow large mandibles, and their front claws grow to larger proportions, capable of snapping things in half. They also become immune to any and all poisons, fire, cold, and can survive in a vaccuum. Acid seems to be the only thing that destroys them, but unfortunately, we only use energy weapons. Radiation can harm them, however due to its unpredictable nature and danger to other living beings, we chose to use acids. Unfortunately, we did not have enough to destroy them all. A few eggs were all that remained. We haven't used any kind of melee weapons since the Dark Times, so that wasn't but a last option. They were sealed in a room down the hall, with an automatic process that was supposed to only release them in the event of a Craeon boarding party. Something obviously went wrong. It triggered as soon as the docking bay was breached. The worse problem is that it takes only seconds to reach their pupae stage after hatching, and a few hours to get beyond that. The reason that they did not show up on your motion sensors is due to the mucus. It absorbs any and all forms of radiation that your technology probably uses to detect them. The airflow around the mucus is not affected, so it would essentially be invisible to your sensors. Luckily, or unluckiliy, when they reach their adult stage, they will stop emitting the mucus, and will become visible on your sensors, so if I were you, I'd try to catch them before they get to that point. Also, if the system that was supposed to keep them locked away misfunctioned, it is likely that the rest of the station's defenses are also activated. Unfortunately, I am unable to do much more than communicate with you as you move about the ship. I do have an undetailed map of the ship's corridors and rooms. Why, may you ask, should you all care? Since it is quite possible that these creatures will grow to their adult stage within 24 hours, it is at that time that they will begin to lay more eggs. More eggs equals more of them and so on and so forth. If more than 100 of the adult forms are ever detected on the station, the station will initiate its self destruct sequence. If you have any hope of using any of my knowledge or the technology of my people, I'd suggest taking care of the problem, and deactivating the ship's automatic defense systems, located in the Central Control Room, located at the center of this station."

[Gnarnia]

Cameron Blackwell

"Ooookay... glad I asked", Cameron says, laughing nervously to himself.

"Guys, communicators, everyone take one quick. Sounds like we're going to be up to our necks in alien predators if we don't get started on this now. I'm gonna try to find the room at the end of the hall these things came from. If the doors just opened when our ship docked, hopefully there's a lot still in there waiting to be squished.

Angoran, you mentioned that this station's defenses are activated. Anything in particular we need to watch out for when wandering the halls (apart from the critters)"

[DungeonMaster77]

"Hmm...primarily energy weapons popping in and out, here and there. Other than that, none that I can think of. Oh, and I have downloaded as much as I could from your computer's memory banks, and believe that I have a good handle on your language, so the translators are no longer needed, however you may keep them as a sign of our goodwill."

[Gnarnia]

Cameron Blackwell

"These critters are still vulnerable to energy weapons in the earlier stages of their life, correct?

And the adults would still be vulnerable to ballistic weapons if I understand you correctly?

And do you have a supply of acid still remaining here on the ship somewhere?"

[DungeonMaster77]

"To answer your questions: Yes, theoretically, and no."

[SithLackey]

X2G-32

Listening from the door, 32 suddenly turns his head to look at the projestor again. "Then how are we supposed to kill them? We don't all have projectile weapons."

[DungeonMaster77]

"I don't know, but based on my calculations, and the rate at which they reproduce, you have...hmmm...about 36 of your hours to eradicate enough of them to be effective. That, of course, is assuming that you kill at least 2-4 an hour. If you manage more, then your time will likely increase."

[Voth]

Valzoa

"Well that is fantastic! Now we have some freaking vermin trying to kill us alone with the Craeon." Turning towards Angoran, Valzoa quickly asks it several questions. "Is it possible to transfer you to my computer card? You could be a great assist to us. We'll need a map to find all these buggers." Turning towards the others Valzoa finishes. "Finally I think that it would be better if we split up. I'm not as good with a gun as you guys but I should be able to disable the defense systems with Angoran's help."

[Khelendros]

Terran

Still keeping and eye out at the grate We could check back at the ship for alternative weapons to use. Could be worth it in the long run.

[SithLackey]

X2G-32

"If we kill them now, we won't neeed different weapons. Besides, going back to the ship could take long enough for them to grow even more, or worse, reproduce. Angoran, can any of the station's sensors pick them up?"

[DungeonMaster77]

((OOC: I meant to get this posted, but had to work all weekend. Sorry. Here it is...))

"As far as transferring me, no, that is not possible with the equipment you carry. Think of it like trying to cram a comet in your sleeping quarters. I can communicate with you all as you move through the station. Lastly, you have several options. 1) You can go to that room out the door, and to the far right and see if any more of the creatures remains there, to eliminate them. Option 2) Head out the door to the right, turn left at the intersection, and follow that hallway to the Central Control Room, making your way past the defense system, and disableing it, eliminating the need to dodge the weapons that will try and kill you, there by allowing you to search for the creatures without fear of death. Lastly, option 3 is heading out the door, to the left and following that cooridor until you get to the armory. We have many weapons there, but I'm not sure how many will be of any assistance."

[Voth]

Valzoa

"Can you help me disable the security system?"

[DungeonMaster77]

"I can walk you through the procedure, yes, but cannot do it from here, for good reason."

[Trulhammaren]

Amethyst

Having not worked with other people in a while Amy felt a little out of place, but she knew well enough that she wouldn't be much help if a fight broke out. So she decided to stay near the rear as much as possible, while still following the group.

When the group entered the room with the hologram Amy became distracted with looking around the room for anything that might be salvageable or reverse-engineered. Her ears didn't pick up most of the conversation, she did however pick up little tid-bits about the alien creatures that where on board the ship.

As the hologram spoke of the situation, Amy's mind started running through multiple simulations of things that might help the party with the situation at hand.

Thinking out loud Amy starts to speak, "Maybe we could use the mucus to cross-engineer a weapon that might hinder the mucus pointless, thus allowing us to get them on sensors....." Grabbing one of the communication devices Amy speaks to the hologram directly. "Is there a lab of sorts on board that I might be able to examine the mucus and create a chemical or biological compound that might render the creatures ability to evade our efforts?"

[DungeonMaster77]

"Oh, yes, and strange that we never figured to try that...hmmm...yes, that might work! Well, there is such a lab, if you proceed out the hall, and to the left, it will be the first door on your right. I can do multiple things at once as part of integrating my body and thoughts into this system, so I can assist you as well as assist the others with whichever destination they are wanting to choose.

[SithLackey]

X2G-32

32 speaks first to his group. "I'll check the containment room. There shouldn't be anything there I can't handle." Then, turning back to the projector, "Are there any of these traps between here and the creatures' containment room?"

If yes:

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"Can you help me bypass them, or at least alert me to their presence?"

If no:

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"Thank you." He unholsters his pistol and heads towards the door. "I'll catch up as soon as I can."

[Voth]

Valzoa

"Can you give me a general lay out of my way there? What about hostiles?" Valzoa says packing up his gear.