| AN ONGOING NEWSLETTER | August 2001 |
In theory, it should never happen. In practice it does happen, albeit occasionally. When it does, people get hurt, valuable property gets blown up and vehicles are spectacularly destroyed. Even worse, top executives get sacked. An escape from Bionetica Facility Nelson 111 is always serious. This is the Ultra Secret complex where Bionetica house the bewilderingly diverse assortment of aliens that have arrived on Earth. They are here for all sorts of reasons. Many are simply lost and looking for help. Some are refugees or political sanctuary-seekers. Some are violent invaders, pirates and other criminals. A very few have been deliberately sent as ambassadors, spies or recce units. It is very difficult to tell what the purpose is of any particular alien. Naturally, the public knows nothing of this and Bionetica will go to any lengths to keep the secret. On those rare occasions when an alien gets loose, Bionetica takes ruthless and brutal action. Regular troops are employed in search and destroy operations led by operatives from the blandly named Recovery Department. After completion of an alien search mission, all involved troops are memory-wiped. Not all scenarios have to be simple 'Bug Hunts': The Aliens may be the hunters, and the Humans the 'bugs'; The Aliens may hunt each other, with Human allies; The Humans may be in a free-for-all trying to grab the Aliens for their own ends, while the Aliens just try to stay free. Feel free to send us any Scenarios that you devise! |
These suggested rules for em4's Aliens assume that combat with these creatures is going to be a rarity and when it happens, it's a question of how many troopers they can take with them before they're zapped. There is nowhere for them to go. However, with a bit of thought, a more sophisticated role may be created for them. Maybe they could team up with some gangers on the basis of "my enemy's enemy is my friend." Possibly Bionetica could promise one or two of them freedom in return for splatting a particularly awkward gang (any Alien accepting this offer is going to have to be very naïve). "Feeder" & "Cockroach" are primarily living killing machines, unlikely to enter into alliances that require rational discussion; all the others would probably communicate once someone's worked out how to talk to them. Bionetica's Facility Nelson 111 is expert at this. When fighting against the primarily hand-to-hand Aliens, tactics are vital. Anyone getting into close combat with them is liable to be minced. Careful fire and movement techniques need to be used. It would be nice to have hidden moves for the Aliens; that would certainly stretch the expertise and nerves of their enemies. Any suggestions for playable hidden movement without having recourse to an umpire would be welcome. These rules have not been extensively tested so any feedback would be gratefully received. |
