They Mostly Come at Night... Mostly.

When we last left our intrepid heroes, Ben was spread out on the dinner table, his innards splayed across a formerly mint copy of Star Wars: Epic Duels. The Alien (aka, Scott), had burst forth from his chest and shot out of the room. Now what are we going to do? (Special note: Hard drive failure on my primary PC last night drastically cut short my gaming time, so this report is a tad abbreviated.)

The Alien shot out of the Command Module, leaving a red floor streak and nine shocked crew in its wake. Here are the starting positions of the crew:

Command Module: Steve (command)

• The Command Module is adjacent to the Arms Locker, so Steve's first priority as one of the three command officers will be to unlock the weapons for the other crew. He and the other two command officers will grab blasters, tranquilizer guns, and nerve gas grenades. The Company has issued strict orders that the Alien be captured, not killed. So, no lethal attacks are allowed until the Alien reaches life stage three (and the crew apparently realizes what they are really up against). If the crew can manage to knock out, cage, then freeze the Alien before it grows to powerful, decisive victory. We'll see...

Ship's Mess: Michael and Chris

• Michael (command) and Chris (science) were apparently having a long, slow lunch at the time of Ben's chest burst. Thanks for the help, guys! They will both proceed to meet up with Steve and arm up. For some reason, Chris, like the other science officers, flatly refuses to equip anything but non-lethal weapons. Does anyone else notice how his reflexes seem a bit unnaturally fast?

Infirmary: Rob

• Rob (science) is off on his own in the ship's infirmary. He has a ways to go to meet up with one of the other crew and arm up. Let's hope none of those blips near him are anything he needs to be nervous about...

Living Quarters: Mark and Ted

• Mark (command) and Ted (engineer) are sacked out in the ship's living quarters. Ted thinks he can whip up a reasonably effective flamer some spare parts, but he needs three turns in the workshop to do it. Hopefully nothing will interrupt him. If this all works out, the engineers are going to want to renegotiate their bonus shares. Mark decides to head to the arms locker with the others.

Maintenance: Brian; and Power: Jon

• The two remaining engineers will also head to the workshop to build some weapons. There is safety in numbers, right? Brian, rather than focusing on building a flamer, will whip up an ad hoc electric shock stick weapon, taking only two turns to build. It won't kill the Alien, but it can be used to force the Alien to follow a particular path. The Alien has a chance each turn to shrug off this control, with expected very negative implications. However, if control is maintained, the Alien can be pushed into an airlock or the carbon freezing chamber.

Lab: Dennis

• Last, but certainly not least, is Dennis (science) in the laboratory. Somehow... either in the excitement of the situation or perhaps... well, let's not jump to any conclusions... someone in the lab "accidentally" released all the lab animals (dogs, cats, and monkeys), which promptly then bolted into the adjacent ventilation shafts. Unfortunately, now ship scanners aren't just showing one blip from the Alien, but now nine blips, all moving wildly through the bowels of the ship, adding to the confusion and frustration of the already terrified crew. It's almost as if someone on board wanted to study the Alien as it evolved...

Tomorrow... A few turns.