Planet Karbarren
Karbarra is a large, terrestrial
world in the Merak star system. Karbarren
Bear Men are, in fact, Earth's closest
known extra-terrestrials neighbours. The primary star itself is more than twice
as large as Earth’s Sun and about 60 times as bright. Because of the size and
heat of Merak, Karbarra orbits at about the same distance from its primary star
as Jupiter orbits from the Sun. Any closer and it would not support life.
Merak has several asteroid belts, suggesting it is an overall young star system
whose planets have not finished forming. The planet Karbarra has plenty of
volcanoes and tectonic activity to suggest it is overall relatively young, and
there is little fossil record.
Karbarra is a scarred, battered world. Though capable of supporting life, it is
heavily polluted by the centuries ofore mining operations and the burning of Sekitan . The air is
filled with heavy, black smog clouds, and through them one can often see the
glint of metal off an Invid patrol.
Every major city is dominated by a giant Invid hive, usually located at the
center of the city. Residents, faces and eyes protected against the constant
soot and acid rain, do not linger in the streets for long, hoping not to be
noticed.
Outside of the cities are the massive Sekitan
mines, landscapes often strip-mined until all that remains is
ugly, scarred earth. This process was started by the Robotech Masters and continues under the order of the Invid , who use the ore for auxiliary
energy sources and side projects. (Sekitan is rumoured to be a major component
in the creation of the Regent's Inorganics.) All of the basic Inorganics are
found here, and there are a large number of Invid Soldiers and Invid Scientists
here as well.
The Karbarran orbital shipyard has been
melded with a hive-like lnvid space station, and it is here where the large
Invid starships are constructed. While it is obviously a goal of the
Expeditionary Force to free the Karbarran people and liberate the planet from
the grip of the Invid, capturing or destroying the shipyard is also a major
priority and likely to be the subject of a special operation.
The players
contribution to the campaign:
The
Causeway
Having assisted in securing the
safety of a group of Karbarren cubs, the team is quickly redirected to
Subterranean Causeway 319.Causeway 319
was of strategic value as if provided direct access to the planet capital Tracialle .
A
second-tier detachment of REF personnel, holding that position, were being
overrun.The team manage to rescue some
of the Destroid Pilots and save valuable prototype combat data before
encountering an Invid Inorganic Assault force.
The
team put up a strong defense, the balance of power tipping in their favor when
Xander spotted and destroyed a command unit.The loss of the command unit threw the remaining Inorganics into
disarray.
The
successful completion of all mission objectives was marred by rookie member Garret. In an attempt to impress the more experienced team members, severe
structural damage inflicted on the Causeway by a missile volley.This resulted in the collapse of the
subterranean tunnel and loss of strategic supply lines to aid the karbarren
resistance fighters in the capital.
Forward
Base Kodiak 27
Hastily constructed and located approximately 175 miles
from a significant invid strong point.The invid strong point is believed to be a concentration camp or slave
internment facility, potentially housing many prominent and Craftsbears .
Located within resonance range of
the forward base, scouts have discovered a Karbarren Ancient’s relic
tower.Section Commander Grant assigns
the team to investigating the relic and determining if it might be useful as an
extraction point for the suspected Karbarren POW’s held at the invid strong
point.
The team are trained up to
perform a HALO jump insertion over the Karbarren Ancient tower, a risky endeavor made even more challenging as try race against an approaching storm
front.After several close calls, they
manage to land relatively safely and using rappelling gear climb to the top of
the tower.
The Karbarren Tower of the Ancients
An oddly constructed
building, the tower had no entry point at ground level.After rappelling to the top of the tower the
team discover the remains of a less fortunate wisdom seeker, a clue and a trapdoor.With Rodar’s aid the team gain access and
proceed down into the tower.
The team encounters many tests,
with various clues written in Karbarren script found before each obstacle.During one test of pain endurance, a platform
Rodar is standing on fails, presumably sending Rodar tumbling to his death in
the depths of the tower.
Battling and overcoming several Elemental Guardian bears , the team finally
gain access to the basement of the tower.Here they discover some form of obscure teleportation platform which
they step through one by one.
The Forge
Bears Cavern
The last player materializes at
their destination, where ever the heck that was.There is a hideous blast as something
electrically shorts out, seriously shocking the players who have materialized
in a flooded, pitch-black room.
Where ever the team are now, it is
ancient, decrepit and has not seen any sign of like in a very long time.The team struggle, but manage to muscle a
seized bulkhead door open, escaping the flooded room.
Cautiously, the team explore this
archaic local, discovering ancient Karbarren runic script covering the surface
of every wall.Slowly the team manage to
power up the facility by using a Sekitan Ore furnace
and Karbarren
Logic cards . With the Karbarren Computer programme loaded into
the facility, autonomous operations begin restoring the facility.
An ear-splitting
howl reverberates the lifeless halls.The team as one, rush to the one room that they have been barred access
to.They batter down the door and
discover a prone Rodar, strapped to an arcane mystical apparatus.He is barely alive, physically in very bad
way from life threatening injuries that he has sustained.Automated surgical robots are Rebuilding him.The team look on in horror as a non-sedated
Rodar is surgically restored and his body modified to some preset design.
Invid
experimental cybernetics, a constant reminder to his days of imprisonment at
Formicarium, are dismantled and replaced with new Karbarren robotics and logic
interface armor.Rodar, through a pain
blinded delirium, tells the team that this is a Rite of passage that he must endure.The team do their best to lessen his pain for
the ordeal, and then continue to examine several weapon Walking tank units of
Karbarren design.
Bears Head Mountain
The monastery
fortress of the Forge
Bear is a swarm of activity.Clockwork automatons under Rodar’s (The new
embodiment of the Forge Bear) control are tirelessly assembling the teams
Destroids and Veritech.Auxiliary
personnel working in cycling shifts have set up a temporary communication post
to attempt to maintain contact with Forward Base Kodiak 27 .Utilizing steam lift systems, the team break
the surface of the mountain, intent on gathering intelligence.Luck is not with them; a roving Cougar patrol
catches the teams scent and rush to assault them.The shocked team take down the patrol in
short order, scrambling into cover moments before an invid inorganic Garn patrol swoops
overhead.The patrol finds nothing and
continues its sweeping patrol.