Session 1

Back to Sessions

Chigusa Mining Colony "Pyrite"

LV-216 - GL259 system

2184 A.D.

A Weyland-Yutani company rep, Phillipe, steps off a suborbital shuttle onto a dusty patch of ground, the closest thing to a spaceport that the Chigusa mining colony of Pyrite has. A hover transport awaits the company rep to the colony proper to meet with the administrator. The transport's pilot sits waiting on the agent, with none of the usual fanfare that Phillipe is typically accustomed to when he visits W-Y associated assets. Instead, he takes a moment to transmit a complaint to his boss via satellite link, knowing and not caring that it could take up to 17 days to get any response. Then, after an awkward handshake with the pilot, a synthetic named Frank Bishop, they head into town.

They pull up in front of the marshal's office, noting a slack-jawed pre-teen loitering across the street. Frank shakes Phillipe down for a tip then drives off, just as another hover transport arrives. It only has one occupant, a young woman of Asian descent. She jumps out and storms past Phillipe into the marshal's office without even a second look.

Phillipe hears shouting almost immediately and approaches the still-open door to the marshal's office. He sees the young woman berating an older man sitting at the desk, feet up and an unlit cigar in his mouth - Marshal Bullock. He nods along with her tirade about the incomplete task list she'd given him. However, she does bring up something new that catches his attention. A few kilometers to the north, one of the exploratory mines hasn't checked in for over 48 hours. He tells her he'll get it done. On her way out, she pauses to briefly introduce herself to Phillipe -- Machiko Noguchi, the colonial administrator. She leaves without allowing time for conversation. Phillipe and the marshal chat a bit, with Phillip indicating both concern and interest in the mining operation. Bullock summons his trusty and mostly sober second-in-command, the resident starship pilot Maverick. After gathering the group, Marshal Bullock, Phillipe, and Frank the android are off to the mine, with young Ricky stowing away in the back of the transport.

After a few minutes, they arrive at the mining facility, seeing the loading doors wide open and pitch-black shadows inside, indicating the power is out. Ricky charges in and finds the power switch, firing up an unhealthy sounding generator and restoring flickering power to the facility's ground floor. To the side, they see several dozen lockers and a small breakroom that looked to have been abandoned in a hurry. They find a notebook talking about the foreman missing in the newest mineshaft, 57. Further along in the darkness, they follow a long concrete incline lined with unused equipment and mining vehicles going down toward a sizeable subterranean elevator. Bullock decides this isn't the best place for a kid and orders Ricky back to the hover transport, just as the lights flicker out and the loading door closes, trapping them inside.

With Frank's assistance, they locate some flashlights and a portable generator. It is decided to use the generator to power the elevator to continue the investigation. However, Frank and Ricky will stay up at ground level to find an alternate way to open the loading door. Bullock, Maverick, and Phillipe power up the elevator and descend to Shaft 57.

Once they reach the bottom, they find another generator and a power switch, lighting up the pitch-black mine shaft in front of them. A storage locker with hardhats, flashlights, and a medkit to the side. A few dozen feet ahead, they see a hard hat and a pair of boots lying in a puddle to the side of the pathway. Upon inspection, they notice that one of the boots has a severed foot inside and that the pool of liquid is actually blood. Sensing foul play, Bullock radios up to Frank, advising him to update Noguchi about the situation and send assistance.

Further along the path, they see that the path diverges. The way to the right lies in dim shadows. And the path to the left is lit with a strange glow from further in. Then, finally, they hear the sound of moving air, indicating a large chamber.

Before choosing which path to follow, they hear a shuffling sound to the right. They see a person standing with their back to them, no hat, no boots, and a few ripped clothes. The figure turns around, revealing milky white eyes and a pulsating tumor that's taken over half of its face. It reaches out to them with one arm. Two fingers painfully elongate and curl, revealing far more knuckles than a human hand usually has. Its left arm ends with a fleshy bulge and several long claws clicking together. Bullock pulls his magnum and orders the figure to stop and identify itself. It moans weakly, and its jaw drops, the bone inside unhinging. It shuffles forward, the jaw-dropping obscenely further, its long tongue slithering out and slopping around. The jaw splits at the bottom, and the two ends form rudimentary eyes.

Bullock knows he can't fire his gun in an enclosed space like this without deafening everyone and orders everyone to retreat to the elevator. Thankfully, the figure is relatively slow, allowing them to back around the corner and get some safe distance. They check the storage locker and find one pair of earplugs and a bolt gun. Maverick grabs the bolt gun just as the Anathema creature shuffles around the corner. He approaches the thing, getting close enough to fire the bolt gun. The bolt hits the thing's torso, collapsing its flesh and puncturing through its body entirely, leaving a gaping hole of wiggling fleshy filaments and pieces of diseased organs. But it keeps shuffling. Before Maverick can fire again, it rakes its long knuckly fingers across his torso, ripping through his shirt and ripping through his skin. He backs up and fires again, putting a bolt squarely through the creature's head, which collapses bonelessly and seemingly kills the monster. It staggers to the side of the path and drops, blood oozing from its wounds.

Bullock radios Frank again, who states that help has arrived. They are working on getting the loading door open from the outside. Just as they are about to fire up the elevator to head back, they hear someone yell for help further into the mineshaft. Reluctantly, they step around the dead Anathema and follow the sound. It seems to be coming from the glowing left path. They follow it a bit, eventually stepping into a gargantuan underground chamber so large that its ceiling and far wall are lost in darkness. All around the sides are massive cyclopean statues of humanoid visages, all surrounding a field of roiling mist housing countless identical stone ampules. Inside the mist, they imagine seeing things moving around, like sharks in dark water. They hear the call for help again and see someone up on the side of one of the statues, waving at them. He asks if they brought the colonial marines, a grapnel gun, or anything. They eventually convince him to climb down and shimmy along the upraised side of the chamber, avoiding the mist and whatever is inside it. He slips once but catches his footing and safely makes it to them. He introduces himself as Jace Wynn, a visiting xenobiologist, and advises they leave immediately. Bullock asks about the miners, and Wynn simply gestures out to the mist and the things moving around inside. He clarifies that the miners are all down there somewhere and that all of them are mutates like the Anathema they encountered earlier in the pathway. They retreat back to the elevator and head back to the surface.

Ricky, in his boredom, removes the tarp from one of the mining vehicles and climbs into the cockpit. With a half-baked notion to drill down to rescue the group, he fires up the machine and randomly hits a bunch of controls. He accidentally engages the drill without activating the bracing supports. The drill shakes violently as it hammers deep into the ground. A hand reaches in, shuts the machine down, and then lifts Ricky out. Frank glares at the boy, but his reprimand is interrupted by oil bubbling up from the drill hole under the vehicle. Keeping Ricky away from the liquid, Frank takes a sample.

Ricky, having lost interest, spots the elevator arriving. He alerts Frank just as the generator kicks on and the loading doors open. Sunlight once again spills into the facility. Bullock watches with concern as the black oil retreats from the bright light. Their rescuers, Reed the bartender and Freya the pilot, meet the group at the loading doors, joined by Ms. Noguchi herself. After hearing about what happened, she orders Frank to seal the door and disable the generator, pending further investigation. She wants a full report on everything but agrees to wait until they get back to town.