Reagan's Alien fighters

[Michael Hopcroft]

I got the idea for acampaign setting: in the 1980's, President regan got to build his space defense shield. the cover story was that it was targeted at Soviet nuclear missles. the truth was far more sinister -- they were aimed OUT....

 

You see, just before he becamse Presdient, Reagan got a visit from an alien. It was obviously an alien -- there was no way to dispute it. There was also no way to stop it from approaching the President-elect. Thank goodness it was friendly. However, it had come as an advance scount from the civilization at Sirius, and bore a message -- they had intercepted Earth's Tv transmissions and, hbaving seen too amny bad '50s sci-=fi mvoies, determied that Humnas were so inherently aggressive and itnolerant that the Sirians had no choice but to wipe out the species for our own good.

 

So, with the kowledge of only a few key people in the administration, Reagan prepared his defenses. having reached an understanding with the advance scout that humans weren't so bad after all, the cout lent his assistance (because the enemy fleet was only a year behind him and there was no way he could convince them to change their minds). With the technology the liane lent to the scret agency reagan founded, which reported directly to him, a defense shield over the entire planet was contructed without the knowledge of the population at large, and an elite group of pilots trained to fly speical aerospace craft that nobody knew about but the pilots, the mechanics, and the people who buuilt them.

 

It is now 1982, and the Sirians have arrived. They think all they have to do is nuke the planet from orbit and the job will be done. Reagan's Space Force is about to rpove them wrong....

[Outsider]

Re: Reagan's Alien fighters

 

So the advanced scout is (t)reasonable enough betray his own civilization, but the main attack force isnt reasonable enough to not attack?

 

Perhaps you could modify your backstory such that the friendly alien and the agressive ones are not of the same species. Maybe the agressive ones wiped out the friendly one's civilization already, and the friendly one (a rag-tag fugitive survivor) detected our TV signals, and determined from them that we -might- be able ot defeat the bad aliens (something his high tech, but peace loving society was unable to do) if we got a few technological pointers in time. And so he rushed here as fast as possible to warn us.

 

 

You'd still need some reason to actually keep such a thing secret, though. Public knowledge of the threat might cause disruption in the short term, but it would still result in many times the number of ultra-tech weapons being deployed.

[JMcL63]

Re: Reagan's Alien fighters

 

So the advanced scout is (t)reasonable enough betray his own civilization' date=' but the main attack force isnt reasonable enough to not attack?[/quote'] Why not?

Perhaps you could modify your backstory such that the friendly alien and the agressive ones are not of the same species. Maybe the agressive ones wiped out the friendly one's civilization already, and the friendly one (a rag-tag fugitive survivor) detected our TV signals, and determined from them that we -might- be able ot defeat the bad aliens (something his high tech, but peace loving society was unable to do) if we got a few technological pointers in time. And so he rushed here as fast as possible to warn us.

All that is needed is two alien factions (cf. Harry Turtledove's Worldwar series):

• the aggressive, militarist faction who hide their own xenophobia behind high-sounding rhetoric
  
• the peaceloving faction who think that all other intelligent species should be given a chance to prove themselves
  

You'd still need some reason to actually keep such a thing secret, though. Public knowledge of the threat might cause disruption in the short term, but it would still result in many times the number of ultra-tech weapons being deployed.

The only reason needed is the requirements of a good story. Keeping the thing secret makes for intrigue and treachery, and allows for some factionalisation among the humans as well as among the aliens, with the attendant plotlines that factional interplay permits.

 

This whole idea makes me think of V meets Babylon 5 with a certain topicality. I like it.

[BobGreenwade]

Re: Reagan's Alien fighters

 

Whatever the case... it sounds like a Sirius situation.

[dbsousa]

Re: Reagan's Alien fighters

 

Other elements to consider in this game.

• Do Psychic powers exist? Is the astrologer Nancy consulted a precog?
  
• With the Alien Nuclear Attack thwarted, they will have to send ground troops in, probably establishing bases in Grenada, El Salvador, and Nicaragua ("The Sandinistas are just two days drive from Harlingen, Texas".)
  
• What are the strange structures in Havana, Cuba? Has Castro made a deal with the Aliens, or does he have his own agenda?
  
• Why won't Reagan talk about AIDS? Is it an Alien Bio-Weapon? or is it our attempt to create a universal vaccine that failed?
  
• Does U2 really have a plan for "Peace with Honor", or are they just trying to sell records? And is Prince a good alien or a bad alien?

 

Sounds like good, goofy fun, no matter which side of the Reagan coin you are on...

[JakSpade]

Re: Reagan's Alien fighters

 

Just to apply something to this thread to give it some more flavor...

 

Clipped from this link:

Ronald Reagan's Alien Threat Speech

 

Reagan showed his perception of UFOs at the United Nations General Assembly September 21st, 1987, when he stated, "In our obsession with antagonisms of the moment, we often forget how much unites all the members of humanity. Perhaps we need some outside, universal threat to make us recognize this common bond. I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world. And yet, I ask you," he went on, "is not an alien threat already among us? What could be more alien to universal aspirations of our peoples than war and the threat of war?"

 

Have fun,

Jak

[UltraRob]

Re: Reagan's Alien fighters

 

We just need a talking AI Satellite that says...

 

"UFO....UFO....."

 

Whenever the aliens are incoming.

 

With a british accent, of course.

 

Rob

[naturaltwenty]

Re: Reagan's Alien fighters

 

Your wish is my command:

 

Audrey Mark I AI

 

Later,

 

Greg Volz

Natural Twenty Gaming

http://www.naturaltwenty.com

 

 

 

We just need a talking AI Satellite that says...

 

"UFO....UFO....."

 

Whenever the aliens are incoming.

 

With a british accent, of course.

 

Rob

[JakSpade]

Re: Reagan's Alien fighters

 

Your wish is my command:

 

Audrey Mark I AI

 

Later,

 

Greg Volz

Natural Twenty Gaming

http://www.naturaltwenty.com

 

Hey! That was AWESOME! The situation, however, is grave... :-|

Jak

[Edsel]

Re: Reagan's Alien fighters

 

We just need a talking AI Satellite that says...

 

"UFO....UFO....."

 

Whenever the aliens are incoming.

 

With a british accent, of course.

 

Rob

 

And a couple of purple-haired women to run our moon base.

[Dr. Anomaly]

Re: Reagan's Alien fighters

 

Your wish is my command:

Neat! And such a quick response! Good job! Here...have a little Rep on me!

[Ghost who Walks]

Re: Reagan's Alien fighters

 

Interesting idea.

 

George Bush I would of course be running the covert side of the war.

 

Assuming the alien invasion is secret, theere is a lot of potential here, especially if you use it as an earlier event in a prior timeline.

 

Aliens would:

~cause holes in the ozone layer

~Chernobyl

~assasinate several pre-Gorbachev leaders of the Soviet Union (there were several inbetween him and Breznev)

~Make friends with Libya

~Get involved in the Iran-Iraq war

~All of this would eventually become public, Iran-Contra was the cover story.

~Manchurian Candidate style politicians would threaten Reagan...his name? Walter Mondale.

~Democrats get involved. Learning of the threat, ex-President Jimmy Carter starts constructing shelters and bunkers across America, to save the threatened populations. Will the aliens discover the secret behind 'Habitat for Humanity?'

[Darren Watts]

Re: Reagan's Alien fighters

 

Just to apply something to this thread to give it some more flavor...

 

Clipped from this link:

Ronald Reagan's Alien Threat Speech

 

Reagan showed his perception of UFOs at the United Nations General Assembly September 21st, 1987, when he stated, "In our obsession with antagonisms of the moment, we often forget how much unites all the members of humanity. Perhaps we need some outside, universal threat to make us recognize this common bond. I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world. And yet, I ask you," he went on, "is not an alien threat already among us? What could be more alien to universal aspirations of our peoples than war and the threat of war?"

 

Have fun,

Jak

 

And some more: During a screening of "E.T." at the White House in the summer of 1982, Reagan leaned over to guest Steven Spielberg and whispered, "You know, I bet there aren't six people in this room who know just how true this really is." At least, according to Spielberg, who told the story to documentary producer Jamie Shandera. dw

[Outsider]

Re: Reagan's Alien fighters

 

Haha! I can see Reagan doing that just to freak Spielberg out. Then again, I can also see Reagan finding it even funnier if it was true, knowing that Spielberg would think it was a joke. Or was it?

[JakSpade]

Re: Reagan's Alien fighters

 

Did any of you guys ever watch that really bad SciFi Channel miniseries about that very same idea? I can't remember the name of the damn thing, but it was about a race of pale humanoid aliens that come to Earth to warn us about an extradimensional alien race that kidnaps humans and uses them as biofarms... Anybody know the name of the story?

 

Jak

[UltraRob]

Re: Reagan's Alien fighters

 

Your wish is my command:

 

Audrey Mark I AI

 

Later,

Greg Volz

 

Bwahahahahaha ^__^ Sorry for the late response, but that is too cool!

She could inspire me to battle any day!

Actually, in the old HERO Supplement Super Agents they had their own version of SHADO which is more or less in line with this dicussion. Does anyone remember what they were called?

 

Rob

[UltraRob]

Re: Reagan's Alien fighters

 

Did any of you guys ever watch that really bad SciFi Channel miniseries about that very same idea? I can't remember the name of the damn thing, but it was about a race of pale humanoid aliens that come to Earth to warn us about an extradimensional alien race that kidnaps humans and uses them as biofarms... Anybody know the name of the story?

 

Jak

 

Are you referring to Steve Spielberg's "Taken"? Or the British one which ran a few years earlier? (The name of which I now also forget...It might just have been "Invasion".)

 

Rob

[Outsider]

Re: Reagan's Alien fighters

 

There is your reason to keep the build up secret. The hostile aliens already have pathfinders/scouts in place on earth, and any sign that we are expecting the invasion and are prepared for it will result in the invasion plan being cancelled in favor of the "stand off and make the sun go nova using the Mark XXIII Solar Destabiliser" plan. The entirety of the first phase of the human defence will be to nail the one or two ships that carry M23SD's, and the only way to do that is to sucker the bad aliens into thinking we're easy meat.

[JakSpade]

Re: Reagan's Alien fighters

 

Are you referring to Steve Spielberg's "Taken"? Or the British one which ran a few years earlier? (The name of which I now also forget...It might just have been "Invasion".)

 

Rob

 

Referring to the "Invasion" show... Great Britain was being invaded by extra-dimensional aliens that could create portals, snatch people, and emplant/harvest the humans for bodily fluids. The only person who knew what was going on was a British WWII officer who encountered and later left with a race of space aliens that discovered the extra-dimensional aliens.

 

Needless to say, it ends pretty unhappily. I was not a nice camper after watching the ending... I wanted my 6 hours and my blank VCR tapes back.

 

------------------------

 

But that's neither here nor there. I think that if you were going to run a "Reagans Alien Fighters" game, it would have to be a "two-fisted" pulp type game. I know the 80s weren't very pulpish, but if you could figure out a way to get the atmosphere just right... maybe something X-COM like... yeah!

 

Jak