Gadroon
Contents
Commonly known information
In 1977, a greenish-skinned humanoid species called the Gadroon, possibly attracted by the first Mandaarian visit, arrived in Earth’s solar system. Their intention: conquest. The batrachioid Gadroon had long ago destroyed their swampy homeworld, and sought a planet they could terraform and colonize, with a plentiful supply of natives for slaves.
Numerous battles, both in cislunar space and on Earth and the Moon, followed as Human superheroes tried to drive off the invaders, who had powerful weapons and ships based on gravitic technology. Numerous supervillains, including Dr. Destroyer, assisted with the war effort. After two months of desperate battles, a group of powerful superhumans specially assembled for the purpose made it through the Gadroon defense perimeter and destroyed the enemy’s flagship. With the force of their invasion thrust blunted, and their resources depleted, the Gadroon retreated, leaving Earth in peace.
A second attempt at conquest, in 1984, was defeated much more quickly by Earth’s heroes, as was a 1994 invasion that landed in Canada. Having learned that full-force invasions wouldn’t work, the Gadroon got smart. In 2008 they sent a covert force of elite troops to establish a beachhead in the Canadian wilderness, and they succeeded before any heroes could stop them. Having dug themselves in, the Gadroon have resisted all attempts to remove them. Some authorities suspect they’ve got spies in major cities, or other ways to find out what Humanity’s plans are to defeat them.
Less commonly known information
The authorities’ suspicions are correct: Gadroon spies camouflaged with holo-devices that make them look like ordinary humans have infiltrated several major Earth cities, including New York, London, and Millennium City. If someone doesn’t stop them they may find ways to weaken humanity for another all-out invasion attempt.
Project Incubator
During the 1977 Gadroon invasion, VIPER fought on the side of Humanity. The Nest in Portland, Oregon captured a Gadroon mothership, and though none of the adult Gadroon survived the fighting, the agents did secure a clutch of fetuses in stasis. Since then, these fetuses have passed from Nest to Nest, mostly being used for testing and never once freed from stasis.
The Duchess (one of VIPER’s leaders) has ordered that one fetus be allowed to mature. With over five hundred fetuses at her disposal, she hopes the alien child proves tractable... and if so, she plans to create a faction of alien soldiers loyal to her and her alone.
The Gadroon orders
Note: These orders are found in game and represent a slightly different take on the Gadroon that sheds an odd light on their background
Dr. Helen Charbonneau - "This is just what we need! Now give me a few minutes..."
"It's compiling now..."
"And here we are! Very interesting. The original sample you got appeared to be some kind of translation itself, which is weird because it was orders for the Gadroon here to begin terraforming from someone called "The Empress". "
"I wonder why the Gadroon would be following orders given to them in another language? Well, anyway, the Gadroon translation program I'm loading into your crime computer should help you if you need to access any of their terminals. I bet there's some interesting information on them. "
Terraforming Report: Progress
Local Command:
Climate alteration progress is slow. The hostile natives are reason enough, but we also hampered by our orders themselves. The Empress commands that we establish positions on this world’s surface so that we can provide rally points for her D-Soldiers. But she restricts us from clear-crushing, flash-burning, or cavitating the surface. Any of these techniques could speed our progress, but the Empress commands that we do not employ them. I was briefed that she wanted as little damage done to the planet as possible, but this level of concern is harming our efforts.
We are Gadroon.
We are not made for working under these restrictions.
Survey Orders: Questionite
Local Command: We report that while we have established a presence and begun climate alterations, we have not been able to access the vein of the mineral Questionite located by preliminary scans detected in orbit. This is not due to any technical issues, but due to the presence of two conflicting human factions contesting control of the dig site:
The group currently in charge of the site are thralls of a human-created virtual concept-entity called "Color-of-Silver". Their objective is most likely financial exploitation, but their considerable network of resources mean that we cannot move against them without drawing more attention.
The second group, the "Seeker-Loyalists", are attempting to drive the others away to exploit the Questionite themselves. We have hesitated to act against them because they employ magic, which could prove unpredictable.
We will continue to fortify our position and seek alternate means of access to the Questionite vein.
Secret Orders
These seem to be orders for someone: "Your first priority is to assess the current state of human preparedness to fend off a full-scale attack. Look to the after-effects of the recent Qularr attack for sample cases.
Secondly, you are to observe the current state of super-human affairs. Not just powers and weaknesses, but also learn alliances, associations, antagonisms, and connections. The Empress wants as much of Earth intact as possible, if we can find ways to bring Earth's super-humans into our ranks without violence, it wil be a great step towards that goal."
The Gadroon and the Empress
Saaloxt - The word from home is grim. Between the efficiency of her D-Soldiers and the enticements she offers to those who swear their loyalty to her, what little resistance there has been to the Empress is teetering on the edge of collapse. And all the time the masses are placated with victory after victory against the Qularr.
What have become of our people?
Have they forgotten our own history?
Our own leaders?
Our own legacy?
This “Empress” is not even Gadroon!
- Much of the included information presented here was posted by Mayhem of the Blackwatch Defenders, A big thank you to them for their research and diligence!
