RPPR Illustrated: The Wreckage Of Accelerate Phoenix in the Giant Robot Graveyard

Introduction: Built by a powerful group of superheroes, the Graveyard of Giant Robots is a massive cavern in the upper mantle of the Earth. The old heroes stored dead kaiju, wrecked alien spaceships, and decommissioned giant robots in the Graveyard. Eventually the superheroes used it to throw anything that wasn’t too hazardous or useful. It is accessible by teleport pads in various superhero bases and a single maintenance tunnel network that connects somewhere on the surface. A system of repair and defense robots keep the facility sealed and intact, but they seldom pay attention to anything that does not threaten the integrity of the outer walls. An extensive climate control system creates weather inside the Graveyard. The scientists built it to speed along the decay of kaiju corpses and prevent the build-up of noxious fumes. Artificial sunlight comes in a regular cycle of day and night.  It is a self-sustaining ecosystem. 

One teleport pad connects to the wreckage of Accelerate Phoenix (AP), a skyscraper-sized robot built in 1974. A team of young heroes piloted AP to fight kaiju spawned from pollution and a mad scientist’s experiments. AP defeated five kaiju and lost to a sixth. The heroes survived the battle and managed to stop the scientist. The sixth kaiju died a few months later, succumbing to wounds it suffered in battle. With the threat over, AP was scrapped and sent into the Graveyard. An engineer who worked on AP built a teleporter after she received a faint signal from the machine. She found it was still partially intact. She spent years trying to restore the robot but never finished her work.  Who knows who will gain access to the robot and its technological treasures next?

The Wreckage of AP: AP sits with its back against an outer wall of the Graveyard, its arms at its sides. The left arm was bitten through at the wrist during its last fight.  Several city blocks worth of debris surround the robot, now overgrown with vegetation. The robot is partially encrusted in moss and flowering vines. A small alien spacecraft is anchored to its chest with magnetic clamps. Someone built a windmill from scrap on top of the right ankle. Cables run into the leg. 

Sections

Head: The command module. Two heroes fought in unison with a synchronized battle rig. Mostly intact. The teleport pad is here. 

Torso: Someone launched a small scout ship from the wreckage of an alien command ship years ago and attached it to the chest of AP. They abandoned the scout ship, heading for parts unknown. The scout ship is powered down but could be repaired and fly again. 

Inside the chest is a series of traps and sentry turrets aimed at the left arm door. They may still be dangerous. Someone tried to force out the alien creatures in the left arm but failed. 

Left Arm: A colony of creatures (evolved parasites that arrived inside the corpse of a kaiju) reside within the arm now. They are now omnivorous scavengers, primarily feeding on plants.  The creatures still attack anyone who gets near their territory. 

Right Arm: An alien hunter lairs inside the right arm. It knows the head teleporter is active and waits for someone to use it. The alien is quiet and deadly and seeks a teleporter device so it can escape the Graveyard. 

Left Leg: Partially flooded, a small lake of blind fish are delicious and a new species worth investigating but stray power cables dangle overhead, a dangerous hazard. 

Right Leg: Someone built a windmill to generate power for a hideout in the right ankle. Perhaps they left something else behind…

Art by Patsy McDowell