Call Security!

 

Your Station is in trouble. An alien race has taken over and imposed a lockdown, no information is flowing in or out of the station. Your team was shut down and all weapons taken off them, you’ve been kicking your heels for a week now keeping your head down as people keep looking to you to do something. Now though you’ve started hearing whispers that people are being executed for minor infractions and still more have been going missing with no explanation at all. Looks like you are going to have to do something … afterall, someone has to.

Welcome to my campaign of the seventh story arc in the Call Security! rules. Here are my Security Team, lead by Security Chief Bradbury (in the gold helmet), and I will introduce the others as we go.

I will be using these figures (Stargrave Automatons) as the Adversaries, the alien race who have taken control of the space station.

Game 1 - Breaking out

Our story starts with the Security Chief breaking out and gathering back together their old team. The 8 Markers represent 6 possible Adversaries.

“This is not right”, Security Chief Bradbury muttered to himself, “I have to do something!”  It had taken time to crack the new door codes but now if he could release his team before the intruders got on to him maybe they could strike back. 

Round 1 - Chief Bradbury crosses the corridor to start working on the door to the nearest room, but unfortunately he either triggered something or was very unlucky because one of the aliens is coming after him.

Round 2 - Bradbury has a problem, he can either open the door or he can shoot at the intruder. He knows he needs help though, so he open’s the door. Inside are Officers Herbert and Tubb, both are long serving members of the team, and Tubb in particular is a skilled officer. He also gets lucky as the intruder decides to stay where they are, or maybe not so lucky as now two more join it.

Round 3 - Our heroes only have improvised weapons while the intruders have some really nasty hand-to-hand weapons that seem to be built into them, and while it’s 3-vs-3 the corridor is going to make it hard to manoeuvre. Bradbury and Tubb start to advance, with Herbert close behind. One Adversary heads towards the entry corridor, one stays where it is, but the other attacks Bradbury, wounding him and pushing him back. Then a fourth Intruder shows itself! 

Round 4 - The team can’t release their comrades without getting past the increasing number of intruders, they will have to fight! Tubb strikes swiftly at the one that hurt Bradbury and gets a lucky blow, incapacitating it! Bradbury scoots past and engages the next one, but with the disparity in weapons and him already with a wound, nobody comes out on top. Herbert can’t get clse enough to fight, but puts herself ahead of her commander, making herself a target. The intruder heading for the exit disappears, did they go for help or just decide to make themselves scarce? Whatever, the combination of seeing one of their colleagues go down and another disappearing sends the other two for the exit as well.     

Round 5 - Bradbury is torn between risking further confrontation with the intruders and releasing the rest of the team, but the next closest rooms are across the main area. Herbert steps out into the main area and spots two more intruders there, but at least there doesn’t seem to be any sign of any more. Then Bradbury runs towards the other corridor while Tubb covers the two heading for the exit in case they change their minds, which is just as well as one immediately does, and manages to wound him. The other heads after Bradbury, but doesn’t make contact, as does one of the newly spotted, while the fourth one sets its sights on Herbert.

Round 6 - Bradbury legs it down the corridor, hoping he’ll get enough breathing space to unlock another door, while both Herbert and Tubb try to fight off their attackers, but neither is successful and both take a wound. Both intruders following Bradbury trudge after him. Both intruders fighting Herbert and Tubb attack them. Tubb gets lucky and disarms his attacker but Herbert is nowhere near as lucky and she’s down!

Round 7 - Bradbury opens the door, releasing Officers McDevitt and Campbell, who race out. Tubb sense an opportunity and attacks the disarmed intruder, scoring another wound on it. The two intruders that were chasing Bradbury have very different reactions to the sudden appearance of two more foe, one heads for the exit, while the other attacks. It’s Campbell who gets attacked, and he takes a wound. Meanwhile the one fighting Tubb has had enough and makes a run for it which is enough to make the other one pause rather than wading in.

Round 8 - Bradbury moves to the next door while Campbell and then McDevitt both try their luck against the intruder, neither being able to get the better of and both taking a wound. Tubb meanwhile tries to face down two would be attackers, and thankfully the one that was already heading for the exit keeps right on going! Although the other one plucks up enough courage to head towards him. The one facing three opponents has decided that its luck might run out eventually and heads away from them. 

Round 9 - Bradbury opens another door, revealing Officer Banks, while the two already with him decide to see what their opponent does next rather than risk attacking, but Tubb decides to risk fighting his and pays for it in blood. The adversary heading for the exit has left, but the other two are continuing to fight. Tubb takes a fourth wound but unlike most of the team, he can take it and is still standing. Campbell takes a wound from the other. 

Round 10 - Tubb gets lucky and scores a wound on his opponent, while both Campbell and McDevitt try against theirs only to get wounded themselves. The one fighting Tubb doesn’t like being wounded and heads for the. The other one’s luck finally runs out and it attacks Campbell who incapacitates it with a lucky blow. 

Round 11 - Tubb heads off to rescue more of the team while Bradbury and the three he has already freed swarm up the corridor towards the last intruder. This clearly is too much for the lone adversary and it makes a run for it, leaving the team free to hurriedly unlock their team mates and get away before any more show up.

Outcome - Herbert is fine, she was just concussed, and Tubb gained 2 experience points. The team are out and spoiling for a fight.

Game 2 - Supplies

Some of the team launch a daring raid to gather weapons and supplies.

“That was too close,” Bradbury thought, “we need weapons and supplies and the usual storage will be protected, but the secondary stores down in maintenance might be easier to get to.”

Round 1 - Chief Bradbury takes Banks, Reynolds, Brinn, Clarke, and Cherryh, and they make it down to maintenance without incident, but then spot an intruder as soon as they get there. Reynolds heads for the storeroom door and spots another coming down the access corridor next to it. Knowing how tough these things are to take out in hand-to-hand combat, Bradbury and Cherryh hustle over to Reynolds while the other three stay together at the entry.  The intruder in the corridor comes down it to see what’s going on while other stays where it is but seems to have summoned a couple of its mates, one out of another corridor and one out of the right side room.

Round 2 - Reynolds pops the door to the store room and Bradbury and Cherryh follow bundle in. Thankfully there are no intruders lurking inside so the rest of the team head that way too. The intruders head for them and the one that didn’t move before now gets it into its head that something is up and charges at Banks and wounds him. Another two adversaries also now appear, it’s getting crowded in maintenance!

Round 3 - Reynolds can now go into the storeroom while Cherryh is first back out with a gun and takes a shot at one of the intruders, wounding it. The rest make a run for the storeroom as Bradbury also comes out shooting and hits another adversary. The sudden energy weapon fire throws the intruders into disarray with some moving towards the team, some towards the exit, and one doing nothing.

Round 4 - Four of the team are properly armed now and beams are flashing through the maintenance section, but the enemy are tough and although one seems to have disappeared off, the rest are moving in. Both Cherryh and Reynolds find themselves in hand-to hand combat and suddenly Reynolds is down! 

Round 5 - Five of the Team are fighting for their lives and the first of the intruders finally goes down under concerted fire. Then it’s hand-to-hand combat again as three of the adversaries get close enough to fight. Bradbury gets a lucky hit on his and it goes down, and as he glances around he sees Banks holding off his attacker, but realises Cherryh is down, though apparently she took her adversary with her.

Round 6 - The air is thick with ozone and blood as the vicious battle continues. The officers concentrate their fire at a single intruder and eventually it falls, leaving just one intruder, who seems to be hanging back. But what’s that? Another intruder appears at the entry to the section. 

Round 7 - Three beams hit the nearest intruder and cut it down, leaving Bradbury free to fire at the new one, when his weapon dies, I guess that’s what you get when you grab something out of a maintenance room locker! The adversary believes the Chief is defenceless and charges at him, but Bradbury gets a lucky hit with the now useless energy pistol and is probably is as surprised as the intruder when he hits something vital and takes him out.

Outcome - Bradbury takes stock of his officers and while Reynolds is injured, Cherryh was just unconscious, so the team quickly grabs up the supplies they need and exit via one of the access corridors before any more of the intruders show up.

Game 3 - Hideout

The team needs somewhere they can rest, and their casualties can recover, where hopefully the Intruders won’t think to look for them.

Bradbury hatches a plan. If they can clear the Special Atmospheres section quickly, they can set up a secure area there and switch off the monitoring so that they can have a safe base to operate from. The Team feels much more comfortable with proper weapons and the Intruders aren’t carrying guns, so this should work!

Round 1 - The team senses movement, but can’t yet see any, so fan out carefully, but as luck would have it, the only Intruder they spot is actually coming up behind them! 

Round 2 - In the tight entry point only three of the team can fire and Herbert manages to miss, but it’s wounded badly enough to make it prone and the rest of the team moves on carefully until Banks spots another one. The first Intruder struggles to its feet but that’s all it manages, while the one that Banks has seen as clearly seen him too and heads straight for him. Then another one appears from nearby, and the one behind then is joined by a pal!

Round 3 - Frantic firing and there’s Intruder blood all over the floor, but they are all coming on. Bradbury and Banks manage to win their fights, but Tubb and Campbell are hampered by the close quarters of the entry corridor and are forced back wounded. If that wasn’t bad enough, another Intruder is now advancing through the section to join in and there’s other movement behind it!

Round 4 - Tubbs’ energy rifle packs up on him but Herbert finishes off his attacker, while Campbell wounds his again. A story repeated behind them as Bradbury hits his target but Banks’ weapon goes dead too! McDevitt is last to fire and gets a head shot on the one attacking his Chief, stopping it dead. The Intruder at the entry area switches its attention to Herbert, wounding her. The one fighting Banks knocks him flying off the table. The third one heads right into the middle of it all. Then yet another one appears at the entry point, but at least that seems to be all of them now.

Round 5 - Those that can still shoot, do, Campbell actually cutting down the one that just hit Herbert, while the other three landed wounds but that seemed to enrage rather than distract the attackers, and Herbert, Banks, and McDevitt all took wounds.

Round 6 - Herbert and Campbell both shoot and hit the one in the entry corridor, and it end up on the floor. Bradbury and McDevitt both shoot and wound the one that fought McDevitt. Banks tries to hit his attacker with his useless gun but gets wounded again, so Tubb tries to distract it and actually manages to wound it and force it back. The one at the entry point clambers to its feet but then looks hesitant. The one Tubbs hit comes for him and returns the favour. The last one seems to have decided it is time to leave but picks the blocked entry to head for, it’s pretty crowded there! 

Round 7 - four good shots could end this! Campbell shoots and hits. Herbert shoots and just hits but that’s enough to take out that Intruder. McDevitt shoots, again just hits, again it’s enough. Bradbury has no shot, so he loops round behind the last and squeezes one off into its back! It’s down!  

Outcome - well everyone but the Chief is nursing wounds, but there are no long term injuries and after a hurried cleanup operation the team moves into one of the special areas and the rest of the team arrive with their supplies so now they should be able to recover and plan their next move. 

Game 4 - Recon

With a safe base of operations now, it’s time for the Team to find out what they are up against.

Bradbury and some of the team go to scout out the docking area, but finds that the enemy there are much better armed. Realising that they cannot deal with the reinforcements that are no doubt coming off an enemy ship, they will need to get across the section and away!

Round 1 - The place looked deserted, and while it seemed unlikely the intruders would leave access to their ship unguarded, Bradbury was determined to try and get a clear idea of what they were facing, so had the team fan out. However as soon as they entered the section they spotted an Intruder down one of the access corridors leading to the docks! He and Campbell fired down the corridor at it, and Bradbury marvelled at the way luck has a habit of balancing out as his energy pistol hiccuped and died, while Campbell shot it right in the head, killing it. 

Sadly this just seemed to attract the attention of another Intruder lurking in a nearby corridor, who then appeared. Also McDevitt was convinced that he had heard a door opening somewhere. 

Round 2 - Campbell fired at the new target, only wounding it, while Bradbury could do nothing more useful than get out of the way of Herbert, who could then land it a second wound. Others prepared to start clearing rooms or went on alert, keeping eye out for more intruders. Not that it helped as the only Intruder who appeared was heading for the two team members who had been busy firing!

Round 3 - Campbell and Herbert had a new target as the previous Intruder ducked back into the corridor before the new one showed up. Campbell finished it with one shot again though, so this time Herbert could wait to see if the other one showed up again. Meanwhile Banks and Tubb sprung the doors to two of the rooms, revealing another Intruder that McDevitt quickly shot. Then  Herbert fired as the one lurking in the corridor came out. 

Then McDevitt let out a yelp, as the one in the room shot back at her!  They’ve got guns this time! Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the team, more Intruders were starting to appear at the far ends of the corridors, drawn by the energy weapon fire and calls from their comrades, and there were still three lurking in the section somewhere!

Round 4 - Herbert shot the one heading towards her again and it was out of action, while McDevitt and then Tubb put two more shots into the one in the room, as Bradbury suggested they start trying to move towards the far exit. Unfortunately the Intruder in the room wasn’t out of the fight yet and plugged Tubb who sank to the ground, clearly in trouble.

Round 5 - McDevitt put a final shot into the Intruder while Bradbury hoisted up the fallen Tubb and the team decided it was time to get through this section and away! Thankfully no more Intruders showed up, but they could hear noises suggesting more were on their way.

Round 6 - The speed of their exit is hampered by the incapacitated Tubb, so the team advances cautiously, staying alert for trouble. Which is handy because the remaining two Intruders in the section now show themselves and immediately take a wound each, with one actually ending up on the floor, though not out of action.

Round 7 - Bradbury continues helping Tubb towards the exit while the rest of the team deal with the attackers. Banks gets a kill shot on his while Herbert and McDevitt get two more hits on the one coming up from behind. Then Campbell spots another one at the far end of an access corridor and wounds it too. The badly wounded Intruder gets up and heads for the nearest exit (thankfully heading away from the team) while the one Campbell shot fires back at him, but misses.  Meanwhile another access corridor has an Intruder approaching down it.

Round 8 - Bradbury keeps going with Tubbs but the rest of the team are busy blasting away. The Intruder behind them is dead, both two down the side corridors have multiple wounds. Both are staying put and shoot but only the one firing at Campbell hits, and there seems to be another one behind it!  

Round 9 - Bradbury nearly has Tubbs to the exit point, so the rest of the team abandon caution and run to catch up. The Intruder that Campbell has been shooting tries to call it a day getting tangled up with the one behind it, which save the rest of the team as they end up in full sight down that corridor! No other Intruders have sight of the team, though one now appears way behind them, so their haste works out. 

Round 10 - They complete their exit of that section and get Tubb back to the safety of their hideaway in the Special Atmospheres section.

Outcome - Tubbs will need some time to recover, but at least he’s alive, and Bradbury now has a clearer, though worrying, idea of what they are up against.

Game 5