[Nemesis – Retaliation] Xeno Eggstraction

All right, squad, listen up. You'll be dropped on RXV-773 and enter the scientific installation. Communications with that outpost went dark couple days ago, last emergency transmission indicates it became infested by yet another bug swarm. They're really becoming a nuisance as of late in this sector …

To better prepare for future bug attacks, get in there and get the squints a couple bug eggs; apparently they can get us buggy insights from these according to the spooks.

Lock and load and prepare to take off!

Oorah!

The Marines were dropped off on the landing pad:

As soon as their lander departed, they noticed an automated computer voice "Attention! Automatic anti air system activated! … Attention! Automatic anti air system deactivated! … Attention! Autmatic anti air system acti-beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep" over the installation's PA. The squad was unsure, if the last message was sent by the computer before the activation should have happened, or after the avtivation did happen… They better had to check the status of the AA system.

With an uneasy feeling concerning their exfiltration route, the squad began to advance into the installation. The Officer lead by good example, and was immediately cut off when he entered the first room, as four xenos fell from the ceiling into the corridor he had just passed through, springing their ambush. But he had stumbled across the live support control room for sector A, which allowed him to restore the air flow, and the Marines could turn off their respirators for the moment.

His squad mates instantly tossed a grenade into the corridor and killed the xenos.

Exploring in all directions, the Officer advanced into Sector B discovering the server room (and having to rely on his oxygen supply again, as sector B was without life support so far); while the Combat-Engineer moved north into the drilling station; and the BioTech-Expert and Scout teamed up to explore south discovering the surgery. Through a lucky event, the robot was moved to the room of the Combat-Engineer.

The Combat-Engineer explored towards the cryo room, discovering the cooling system hub, which unfortunately was damaged.

The Officer secured his room, still being pressed by xenos in connecting corridors.

The BioTech-Expert discovered gun control room - which was damaged, on fire and guarded by a larva.

When the fire was extinguished, and lacking tools for reparing the gun control, the BioTech-Expert wanted to advance into the next room, which turned out to be a dead-end room, the live control room for sector B, and it contained The Insider ‒ an NPC character that survived whatever happened in the installation, and can either be a help to the characters, or an additional enemy… which only would turn out during the game.

The BioTech-Experts called for the insider to join her, but the movement of the insider triggered an alien to follow her.

More aliens were drawn towards the two women by an event, this time larger specimen.

The Scout came as backup and she and the BioTech-Expert wasted the xenos, before the BioTech-Expert moved to the life control room and enabled the oxygen supply of sector B, allowing the squads mates to breathe without using their personal oxygen supply.

Moving back triggered another xeno to appear.

The squad re-formed, taking the insider with them. They also started to secure corridors to allow for less dangerous movement, decreasing the chance of xenos appearing.

The Scout checked on the status of the AA system, and reported to the squad that she had deactivated it. Was she telling the truth…?

Then disaster struck, and the Queen suddenly appeared in their midst!

As the room had been secured before, the first attack of the Queen did not hit the marines, …

… which quickly withdrew.

The insider was still with the squad.

With everyone having moved up, the squad continued to explore the installation, repairing some rooms along the way, and securing more corridors for a potential escape route, once the mission target had been allocated.

The insider started to provide valuable intel on which room lay ahead.

More rooms were discovered, but not the Queens Nest, where the mission objective eggs could be obtained from.

Instead, the reactor room was discovered by the BioTech-Expert, and the first aid room by the Officer.

The Queen started to get close to the squad… An event also caused the landing pad to be damaged and on fire!

The Officer discovered the armoury, gleefully stuffing his belt with ammo and grenades, but still, the essential Queen's Nest was not discovered.

Finally, the Scout did what is in her job description, and scouted out the position of the Nest! She also directly grabbed one egg.

She then went on and found the escape pod launcher room, right behind the Nest… Immediately, she thought of taking that escape route… the rest of the squad convinced her, though, that her help was still needed, and one egg would not ensure mission success.

Also, the lander arrived, hovering over the burning and not usable landing pad, waiting for the squad to clear a save landing space. As it turned out, the Scout had said the truth concerning the status of the anti aircraft system, as the lander was not shot down by an automated system.

The BioTech-Expert took the short route through the previously unexplored room to close with the squad, while the Combat-Engineer used a grenade to blow a hole into a wall, thus creating a new corridor, which allowed for a short route back to the landing pad ‒ and hopefully one that would avoid facing the Queen.

The Queen came closer though, and the BioTech-Expert was engaged by a xeno in her room.

Trying to avoid the Queen, the squad decided to head south into the dead-end room (or at least it was clear it would not have a connection to the gun control room), with the plan of the having the Combat-Engineer create another corridor with his grenades. When he arrived in the dead-end room, the squad noticed that the Combat-Engineer forgot to pick up an egg! This had been agreed before, that he would take the second mission objective, but it slipped his mind!

As the BioTech-Expert was the closest to the Nest, it was now her job to get the second egg, and then take the escape pod, as mission time was getting shorter and shorter, and she would have to fight through the Queen.

And indeed, with the next event card, the Queen cut off the BioTech-Expert from the rest of the squad.

While the Queen was in the tunnel, she got fragged badly by two grenades and one burst, so when she finally arrived with the majority of the squad, she was badly wounded.

The Combat-Engineer finished her off with one well placed shot from his shotgun.

The BioTech-Expert moved into the escape pod room and secured it, before boarding the escape pod and the infested hell of an installation with one of the mission objectives secured.

The Combat-Engineer blew another corridor through a wall, and the final run to the landing pad for extraction was on ‒ which was still not usable and burning.

The squad closed in on the extraction point, as did the xenos on the squad.

As the Officer left the armoury fully re-equipped, a couple grenades and bursts later, most of the xeno menace had been dealt with.

The three ramaining squad members arrived at the landing pad, totally ignoring the insider, leaving her to her fate, and were now in the disfunctional, burning landing pad, enjoying the company of another xeno.

Driving the xeno away, the squad took care of the fire and repaired the landing pad, so the hovering lander could finally touch down.

The Scout immediately entered it.

The Officer also boarded the lander. When the Combat-Engineer tried to board the lander in his clunky exoskeleton, he attracted the attention of another xeno…

… which meant his two buddies were forced to exit the lander again to defend it.

Once the xeno had been dealt with, the Scout again boarded the lander.

When the Officer followed, he triggered the appearance of another xeno in the corridor #4, but luckily he drew the blank counter!

The Combat-Engineer again was the last to board, and everybody held their breath…

… but he managed to rumble aboard, light-footed like an elephant, without summoning another alien to the landing pad!

The squad reunited in space, the three marines that were fetched by the lander, with the one who escaped with the pod, on the Marine star barge. Among them, they had the two eggs they had been tasked with getting from the infested installation.

The Officer, the Combat-Engineer and the BioTech-Expert all had chosen the official order - having success in retreiving the two eggs made them fulfill their objective and thus win the game.

Only the Scout lost ‒ her chosen mission was to see the BioTech-Expert dead - her other option was to see everyone except herself dead. But she didn't identify an easy option during game letting the BioTech-Expert die, without being too suspicuous… and her player had qualms, as he was cooperating so well with the BioTech-Epert's player…

Great game, quite tense and exiting in the end!