Lab Rats

See mission briefing below for a complete list of objective.

Mission Report

Day 1:

The team with one squad replaces the two earlier squads to enforce the illusion of downgrading the bases defenses.

Day 3:

Dr. Starflower requires parts of the team to keep her company retrieving DNA material from a giant centipede. The specimen is located and stunned, allowing Dr. Starflower to retrieve her samples. The team returns to base.

Day 9:

At the base Narine locates 6 xerglings in the base infrastructure. It is believed they have been using the support pipes as entrances. The team establish covert surveillance to observe them to anticipate an attack, but tries to avoid alerting them they have been detected.

[[[Image:Searching_for_Xerglings_500x332.jpg|Searching_for_Xerglings_500x332.jpg]]
[Puchu|Puchu]], Narine's familiar, searches for Xerglings.

Day 10:

A group of 9 xerglings are observed by the team's established covert sensor net. After establishing visual contact from a guard tower, Dr. Starflower is informed and require the team to assist in caputuring bio samples. The team combat the xerglings, killing 6 and capturing 3 alive. The samples is secured in the base lab.

Day 14:

After a few lazy days, a few members of the team noticed that the control room no longer answered on the radio. While on route to investigate, Narine Daran, Urgax and Caine noticed that the Xergs were on the move. The report this to the ship and were ordered to investigate, but not to do anything overt.

When the control was reached, they saw that the watch, Raz Johnson, had been torn to pieces. They also notice that personel were dispapperaring at a rapid pace through a tunnel that had been dug by the Xergs into the lover levels of the base. Apparantly they were being abducted for the Xergs' nefarious purpouses.

While trying to stop the abductions, Urgax was ambushed by the Xergs, their poison paralyzed him, and he also was abducted.

Intervening, high command ordered Narine Daran and Caine to feign paralysis and allow themselves to be captured. As a wave of Xergs broke into the Control Room, both succeded with their bluff and were carried, together with Urgax, by the Xergs into their lair.

The team was webbed up in one of the Xerg nest's rooms, where thay waited for an executive decision on how to proceed. Finally, Admiral Glorious Thunder invoked a Miracle which freed the team and restored it to fighting form. Simultaneously, a team of Venus Guardians were teleported in to support the group, together with a just revived Raz Johnson.

After getting bogged down in fighting a mass of small Xerglings, they temporarily cleared the area by using a CloudKill, and then skipped directly to the Queen's chambers through a DimensionDoor.

[[[Image:Caine_blasts_Xergs_500x445.jpg|Caine_blasts_Xergs_500x445.jpg]]
[Caine|Caine]] cleans up.

Unfortunately, the group got bogged down in a mass of small Xergs, and were never able to use massed firepower on the queen. Individual, not very coordinated attempts by were made, and those damaged the Queen enough that she was forced to retreat to another dimensional plane.

Meanwhile, Narine manage to teleport to another hive room just in time to stop Dr. Starflower from being dragged down into the bowels of the Hive. With some Xergs still clinging on, they returned to the main group, where the extra passengers where disposed of.

Awards

Narine Daran, Caine, Urgax, Raz Johnson were all awarded a Marine Combat Badge.

Narine Daran was awarded the Bronze Shield.

Raz Johnson was awarded the Crimson Heart.

Mission Briefing - Operation Lab Rats

Planet of assignment; Zergal IV.
Mission Classification; intelligence, disinformation

Background

Doctor Alana Starflower, Elf/Female/187, Xenobiologist (Imperial Druid/8, is strongly suspected of reporting to the Xerg.
- She is also known to be sort of a Xerg sympathizer, thinking them an interesting biological phenomena and expression of forced evolution rather than a galactic menace.
- It is not known w

hether doctor Starfloweris reporting consciously and willingly or is somehow being used against her wishes.

The local Xerg has been defeated militarily, but a Xerg presence remains, acting somewhat like a guerrilla force.
- The planet is under strict quarantine. No risk of bio-contamination outside the system is acceptable.
- The Xerg have become harder and harder to detect, perfecting tactics of evasion and stealth.
- Seemingly random attacks on rear areas are escalating. The enemy is clearly developing a guerrilla sabotage tactic, but any deeper pattern is as yet impossible to discern.
- Zergal IV is still an imperial reserve. Unless dictated by the mission, all contact with and influence upon the local biology is to be avoided.

Mission Plan

A trap is being set up. Doctor Starflower will be posted to a seemingly weak sector of the Xergal operation, and reports from her will hopefully goad the Xerg into attacking.
- The main objective of the operation is the location of the Xerg queen/hive by presenting a good target and goading the enemy into action. To achieve this, a state of unreadiness must be simulated.
- The official mission is one of data analysis and retrieval. The unit of assignment is a biological lab.
- Doctor Starflower is in offical command of the station. In order to maintain intelligence integrity, this fiction is to be upheld as far as possible, while not jeopardizing the main objective.
- Soldiers are to use rear echelon gear only. This means Combat Fatigues and side arms. Regular marine equipment should be stored in lockers at all times, except when doing so would in itself be an irregularity. No power armor or heavy weapons allowed, as the Xerg have consistently avoided contact with groups so equipped.
- Most operatives will be unaware of the true objective, and should remain so. This area is officially classified as a rear-echelon zone, with comesurate unit readiness.
- A strike team of Venus Guardians will stand ready in high orbit, with an insertion time of 2 hours. During alert, this insertion time can be reduced down to 15 minutes.
- A side objective is to prevent casualties, except as required by the mission. This is a beta-rated mission, and casualties up to 50% are acceptable. The materiel of the base is considered expendable.
- A side objective is to prevent large-scale ecological destruction.

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