Shannon was to
play Vilusindar, an alien sent to the planet via a very long range
transporter beam. But the transporter slowly kills its users, so the
alien race has decided to destroy all of the transporter stations, one
being near the Federation border. The team's shuttle just happens to be
in the way when the transport beam arrives, and Clancy is taken over by
the alien mind. The alien wants to reach the base and destroy it by
activating the self- destruct device. He doesn't want to hurt anyone,
but is willing to harm the lesser beings "for their own good."
Vilusindar has some access to Clancy's memories and skills, but it's up
to Shannon to make mistakes that the other players can catch.
For some reason a lot of people showed up. Chris and Pick and Woo and
finally Donald (an hour late because he had traffic school -- the
perils of driving a really fast car). The mission was to investigate
mysterious energy emissions from a nearby planet, although the
Discovery had to go on to its next mission so the the players were all
alone. (I have to stop doing that and get the ship back into the
episodes.) Another Command test to see who is in command and this time
it was Gonar. Venor took the time to requisition a marine combat suit.
He's been acquiring way too many things lately, so I penalized him
heavily after this adventure.
A comment on my players. Pick is the hardest to control because he
hates that, and yet he also tries to take advantage of every situation.
Chris can be blatant about cheating, but he's not crafty. Pick will
take what you said, remember it a couple of months later and use it
against you. The best player in this campaign has been Shannon and even
Eric is doing better, perhaps because he sees what trouble I'm having
with Pick and Sweet. Sweet roleplays much like I do, which is
unfortunate when I'm running. He has a view of the universe, I have a
view of the universe, and we both have to win. Woo may be starting to
get better with that stim plot. I can't pick my players, so I have to
deal with what I have. Back to the episode.
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Once at the
planet they were bushwacked by a Jem'Hadar fighter. Clancy saw it first
though and they hailed it, forcing its hand. Also on the planet Beltana
spotted an orange glow starting to intensify -- a planetary assault
cannon! Gonar smartly evaded the cannon and dove for the planet,
fighter in pursuit. Just then, a psychic wave hit the shuttle, knocking
out Beltana and Krystal and leaving a little present in Clancy. Gonar
landed hard while the fighter crashed not to far away.
Well, the shuttle is not too bad off, let's shuttle over to the cannon.
A shot from the cannon dissuaded them from that course of action. Looks
like a nice trek in the jungle. Gonar was already antsy and needed a
stim, but Beltana (now awake) refused her commanding officer's request.
They hid the shuttle, left a note for Krystal (who they didn't want to
carry), and left. It wasn't long before they encountered the first of
the planet's dangers: a hypno vine trying to lure them into it's trap
with the image of Krystal. Venor calmly phasered it down, as he is wont
to do in any suspicious situation.
The constant drizzle continued, putting everyone in a down mood,
especially Gonar. The team next arrived at a steep slope, it's muddy
slope an obvious danger. Overconfident, Venor simply flopped down and
rolled down the hill. Not doing it very well though so even with the
armor he took damage. Everyone else elected to use ropes, though
halfway down the first person, Gonar, disturbed a nest of bats which
attacked him. First time I've allowed people to use wide-angle stun,
which I've decided does 1-3 damage, not enough to matter except when
you're attacked by lots of very small creatures, like bats.
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