Fragment Bear

Summary

A massive bear (~35 feet tall) mutated by a meteor fragment that landed in the Russian wilderness during the Second Meteor Event. It proved nearly impervious to conventional gunfire and grenades, destroyed two combat suits with acidic corrosion (including Thompson’s and a Russian operative’s), and killed Andrews.

Description

An enormous ursine creature of anomalous size — approximately 35 feet tall — transformed by direct exposure to an active meteor fragment. Its physiology has been radically altered: the beast healed catastrophic wounds (a C4/Claymore detonation in its chest, a Very Fine retractable blade through the eye and into the brain) within seconds and survived a full engagement against a heavily armed special operations team. Its hide and body carry some form of corrosive property — prolonged contact dissolved the DR 70/50 protection of Voss combat suits to rusted, acid-eaten husks. Whether this is a secreted acid, an electrochemical field, or a side-effect of fragment energy radiating through the creature’s body is unknown.

Behaviourally it appears highly aggressive and territorial, consistent with a badly wounded or enraged bear, but at a scale that renders standard threat responses irrelevant.

Abilities

• Extreme Size: Approximately 35 feet tall. SM +5 or higher. Attacks carry enormous reach and force; a standard claw-claw-bite pattern becomes catastrophic at this scale.
• Rapid Regeneration: Recovered from a massive chest wound (C4/Claymore explosive bundle) and a retractable blade driven through eye and brain within seconds. Suggests Regeneration (Very Fast) or equivalent — wounds that would kill any normal creature close almost immediately.
• Acidic Corrosion: Contact or proximity corroded combat suits (DR 70/50) down to rusted, acid-eaten husks. Mechanism unknown — may be a secreted substance, radiated energy, or passive field effect.
• Claw-Claw-Bite: Standard bear attack pattern at enormous scale. Individual strikes capable of destroying equipment and killing hardened operatives outright.
• Resistance to Conventional Weapons: Conventional gunfire and grenades had minimal effect. The creature sustained fire from multiple operatives and continued its assault without meaningful pause.

Weaknesses

• Decapitation: Ronnie leaped onto the creature’s neck and severed its head after sustained melee. Decapitation appeared to prevent regeneration from restoring viability — the body did not reconnect or resume activity.
• Incineration: Guy torched the separated remains with thermite immediately after decapitation. Combined decapitation and incineration ensured the creature could not regenerate.
• Heavy Explosives (stagger only): Sammy’s improvised C4/Claymore bundle detonated in the chest cavity dropped the creature temporarily and created the opening for Sammy’s blade execution attempt — but the bear recovered within seconds. Explosives alone are insufficient to stop it.

Game Stats

Unknown — GM to determine.

• Suggested reference: GURPS Basic Set — Animals, scaled up significantly for SM +5 or higher
• DR: Likely very high (conventional weapons ineffective; explosives stagger but do not penetrate to lasting effect)
• Regeneration: Suggests Regeneration (Very Fast) — wounds visible between attacks re-close before the next exchange
• Acidic Corrosion: Possibly modelled as an Innate Attack (corrosion, area or touch) or an Affliction affecting equipment rather than HP; corrodes DR 70 suit material over sustained contact
• ST: Proportionate to ~35-foot bear; far exceeds any standard animal entry
• Note: Stats are a GM construct — nothing has been formally assigned at the table

History

Encountered by Major Jenkins’ team during the Russian phase of the second meteor recovery operation. A meteor fragment from the Second Meteor Event landed in the Russian wilderness and made contact with a bear, triggering the mutation.

The bear had already killed Andrews and corroded the combat suits of Thompson and a Russian operative before the PC team arrived on scene.

Sammy brought it down initially with an improvised device — a C4/Claymore bundle detonated inside the chest cavity — then drove a Very Fine retractable blade through its eye and into its brain during the opening. The creature regenerated both wounds within seconds and resumed the fight.

Ronnie leaped onto its neck and hacked at the spine with sustained melee. After prolonged effort he severed the head entirely. Guy incinerated the separated remains with thermite, ensuring no regeneration was possible.

Relationships

Outgoing:

Incoming:

Appearances

• Session 04 - Fallen Stars — Encountered during Russian meteor recovery; killed Andrews; destroyed two combat suits; ultimately killed by decapitation and thermite incineration