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I was able to get the vast majority of my gaming group under one roof last Friday. We picked back up with Systems Failure and had a great time. In the more recent games, I've had two new players join the group, playing a NORAD Phase II Splicer (experimental, more human-looking) and an Exterminator under contract to NORAD. I should probably give ya'll the updated background, first.

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Half the group initially investigated a massive influx of Bugs into Nevada and found them conducting a Stalingrad-esque siege of Las Vegas against the forces of Area 51. After being rescued from getting caught between the Bug rearguard and approaching reinforcements from Arizona by an Area 51 air assault team, the recon group spent a few days recuperating in the massive underground complex in a quarantine facility that could best be described as transplanted park.

With just enough time to conceivably reach their pre-determined extraction point, the recon team was released from quarantine and escorted back to Arizona. As their escort commander was explaining the pact between NORAD and Area 51 to stay out of each other's business, their APCs came under attack! The shell-shocked group stumbled out of the APCs to address the threat... flying power armor units that were ominously similar to those used by the Area 51 forces themselves.

The firepower of the survivors was just enough to take down the PA units. Upon inspection, they found the pilots were not human, but instead were Greys - the aliens who had crash-landed at Roswell fleeing the Bugs' destruction of their own homeworld. The Area 51 troops explained that the Greys were fanatically paranoid about the Bugs not knowing about their presence on Earth. Apparently, so much so that not even the pact between NORAD and Area 51 was beyond breaking.

The other half of the group was assigned to the recovery team and made a mad dash in an Organitech-refitted Chinook to reach the extraction point. Upon their arrival, though, the recovery team came under attack, too! Two Area 51 fighters did their best to take out the Chinook, but they didn't expect the team would be willing to use the Hummer it was carrying as an expendable target!

Upon catching up with the recon team and the Area 51 troops, they all agreed their best bet was to make it for NORAD airspace as quickly as possible. The Chinook flew cover for the APC as they made their best combined speed. NORAD High Command granted the Area 51 soldiers asylum and entry, in return for their intel on what was going on in Nevada. That brings us to last Friday's game.

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One of the soldiers recounted that he had been involved with a small group of Area 51 officers and Greys who had been born on Earth that were secretly trying to circumvent the ban on launches into space. The Grey Elders had convinced Area 51 commanders to impose the ban, lest it attract the attention of the Bugs before they could launch their own plan to eradicate them.

If he was presumed dead by Area 51, the Elders would have been able to get access to his quarters without raising suspicion. If that was the case, then the entire operation might be in jeopardy. The soldier explained that he was to have been on the security detail for a mission to try to recontact the hidden base on the far side of the Moon. If NORAD helped them carry the mission out, the expansionist faction in Area 51 would almost certainly share the windfall.

The entire team, including an Area 51-aligned former Ranger chosen by Carter's player to replace him, assembled and loaded up in two of NORAD's stealth helicopters like those used to raid the oil rig. Despite pilot Marina's best efforts, they did stumble across a small flight of Bugged F-5 fighters on patrol. She and the NPC pilot in the other chopper outflew the F-5s in the desert ravines and used their stealth to their advantage. While Marina played bait and evaded their attacks, the other pilot hadn't been detected and took out one of the enemy fighters from behind with a missile. The second fighter overshot Marina's chopper and flew right into her line of fire. The third tried to escape, but wasn't fast enough to escape a burst from the other pilot's Chain Gun.

After evading other patrols and the formidable Area 51 air defense network, the team set down a couple of kilometers from the former missile training silo being used by the secret researchers. Their attempts to get anyone to answer the door at the main entrance were met with silence. The access terminal kept repeating that the request for entry was awaiting review by the local security officer.

They then found an underground access ramp for trucks leading to the lower levels of the silo. The outbuilding covering it had old-style pressure doors like those on a submarine. All it took was some strength to get them open. Upon reaching the bottom of the ramp and the staging area, the team found yet another unresponsive access terminal and a pair of recently-driven diesel trucks with "Office of Special Investigations" emblazoned on the side. Concerned that "something bad" might be going down inside, they jury-rigged a bypass in the terminal to force the blast doors open.

The access tunnel was just as quiet as the rest of the facility, and so was the silo itself, which had clearly been converted into a reusable launch platform. The team cautiously made their way to the rail tunnel that led to the missile hangar. There were walkways on either side of the tunnel and the big doors were closed, so they split into two groups and closed the distance. On the other side of the crew doors, they found quite a Mexican standoff.

A sparkling-new spaceship sat on the rail turntable, as if it was about to be moved into position. The motley group of young Greys and Area 51 officers stood in front of their creation. Between the players and them were four Elder Greys in ornate pressure suits and four Grey power armor units. The Elders and the youngers argued back and forth over the situation while the players moved into flanking position. The Area 51 Ranger then signaled to another officer he recognized that they were there.

Convinced they had the upper hand, the rebellious Greys asked their Elders to stand down and step out of the way. Now aware that they were surrounded, the Elders insisted it was not their decision to make... and the combat began.

While some of the Area 51 officers laid cover for the allied Greys and technicians to get inside the spaceship, the Elders and their bodyguards had to deal with the clear threat from behind. When it became clear that these humans knew how to fight their power armor units, the Elders unleashed their withering psionic attacks - inflicting pain, blindness, and even manipulating the Splicer to begin attacking her own team!

The Area 51 officers rallied to help their new friends and provided enough of a distraction so that the players could muster enough strength to take down the forcefields protecting the Elders, thus making them quite vulnerable to direct attack. The NORAD team scooped up their wounded and brought them onboard the spaceship for attention in the small, but effective enough, medical bay. They knew they would be blamed for the deaths of the Elders and probably executed if captured by Area 51, so it was time to buckle in and tag along for the ride to the Moon.

I have said it before and I say it again, your adventures that you run appear awesome. I would love to see some stats on the Greys, Grey Power Armor, etc...
Keep up the good work!

I was in a hurry, so I admit that I just roughly converted the Altess Advocate to SDC that evening. Since I'm no longer writing for the Rifter, I guess I can just put up a fan Systems Failure page with all the creations I've devised for my players.

Sounds like a fun game.

I second that thought.
The option in the tables in HU2 is just not enough info. I made an attempt at doing the greys on the "BtS Critters" Thread but am now stuck
(It's up for grabs if anyone has a mind to run with it, BTW)

Here's that Thread on "New BtS Critters":
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=105335

I did Zeta Rheticulans (greys) for Heroes Unlimited/Aliens Unlimited, but they were adaptable to most hero categories, not specifically psionic.

Do you mean you posted stats for them here on the forums?
if so, where?
I searched but couldn't find it.

I did not post them. I mentioned it in case anyone wanted me to find them and post it. Believe it or not, I don't post everything to the boards.

Oops! My Bad, Guess I misunderstood
sorry for any inconvenience.

No problem. Did you want me to post the Zeta Rheticulan writeup I did somewhere?

Yes Please! (If it's convenient, I know you mentioned that you have a lot of balls in the air most of the time).
I think anywhere in the HU Forum would be a great place. It has also been asked for in the "BtS Critters" thread if you think that one is more appropriate.

It appears I need to rewrite it, unless I can find it. I have nothing else pressing at the moment so I will have something up for them fairly soon.

Many thanks SG
I appreciaite it.

It just irks me that all the moving I had to do a few months back caused me to misplace that writeup. It took MONTHS of research to create it last time. Fortunately, I still recall much of it, so I can probably expedite the process.

I Also lost a few notebooks full of stuff when I moved around this time last year.
So I can relate.
Though I have never spent Months on a single writeup.
Your dedication to the forums is sincerely appreciated

It was not so much a dedication to the forums as it was that in my first campaign I wanted a prison colony of Zetas in an M.I.B. P.O.W. work camp condominium setup. I wrote them up so I would have a playable race as war prisoners and refugees from an attempted world takeover which was park of the back story of Massacre Park. The reason it took months was that I designed a lot of custom environmental suits for a Zeta tourist visiting an underwater pyramid, and special ship controls as puzzles for anyone going over the salvage of a ship serving as a war memorial monument in Massacre Park.