Lets Play - Falcon 3: The Rack of Baal

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Thaluikhain
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Lets Play - Falcon 3: The Rack of Baal

Post by Thaluikhain »

The beginning of the book has much the same stuff as the beginning of the first two, I've copied and pasted it here again:

Earth 3033 AD
A third of the land's surface is populated with cities which stretch miles up towards the Ionosphere and are also tunnelled deep into the Earth's crust.

The world is united - war within the atmosphere of a single planet can only lead to total destruction. Government is carried out by Executives, each having full powers within a certain area. The Food, Health, Pleasure and Enforcement Executives are centred in Alpolis, a city covering what was once an independent country - Switzerland - and it is here that the most recent Executive, TIME, exists.

People live for fun, not to work. Most tasks are performed by robots, so life is quite easy. Only 10% of the population still works, and then only for fun or out of a sense of social duty. Food is plentiful, the main source being a fungus grown in huge vats under artificial light. Luxury foods, such as meat, are a rarity. Communications have improved so as to transform society: holophones connect all homes across the Space Federation so it is possible to be in direct contact with many alien species light years across space. Travel on earth is done by hovrail, jetcopter or stratocruiser, so that the longest journey need take no more than an hour.

The average Earther lives for two hundred and fifty years and the ageing process only begins during the last fifty years of life. Life-prolonging drugs, called Anagathics, are freely available, and transplant surgery is now a simple operation. Unfortun- ately, because people live longer, there are many problems. There is overcrowding and very little to do which has resulted in a rapid increase in violent crime. With so many people needing new hearts, lungs and other organs there is a shortage of spare parts for use in transplant surgery, so the Enforcement Executive has passed a Termination Code. All violent crimes are punishable by painless death. The Enforcement Executive has had sensors set up to catch criminals, especially Bodybrokers who deal illegally in organs for surgery. If Energy Weapons are used by criminals, for instance, a police jetcopter will be there in seconds.

Earth, using Hyperdrive, faster-than-light travel, has established itself as head of the Space Federation, which includes all the earth colonies and alien planets. The Navy patrols the colonies: Lastlanding, Proxima Centauri, Ascension and so on, as well as the alien worlds: Kelados, Sundew, Dyskra, Clyss, Rigel Prime, the Hive and others. Contact with alien life forms is commonplace and the colony ships of the twenty-fourth century are still approaching the centre of the galaxy.
How to Travel in Time
Travel through time involves crossing a fourth dimension, 'Null-space' or the 'Void' as it is known. This dimension joins all points in time and space from the beginning of the universe to its end. Imagine time as a cable. Earth's Timeline (or past, present and future) is a single strand of this cable stretching from Earth's beginning to the end of time. The timelines of other planets run alongside this and weave around each other, because events on one planet affect things on another. These strands, or Timelines, are insulated from the fourth dimension in the same way that an electrical wire is insulated. At certain points there are holes in the insulation allowing travel from one point on the wire through this hole to a different point on this or another wire. In this way a Time Machine may move from one 'Timehole' to another and from one point in space to another via Null-space.
The Timeholes are formed when the fabric of time is damaged by unknown forces. They can be larger, but are usually less than five miles across. Timeholes come and go as new damage occurs and older Timeholes close up naturally. The Monitoring Section is responsible for keeping the map of current Timeholes. Your up-to-date map is at the beginning of the book. At least one hole has been there for a long time - the Eiger Vault, near the TIME Building in the Alps. It is thought to be a permanent Timehole and your Time Machine, Falcon's Wing, is kept there along with those of the Lords of TIME and other Agents. Some Timeholes are safer than others and it is possible to go back in time only to find that the hole through which you travelled has closed up, trapping the unfortunate traveller in the past. Time passes at the same rate in all Timeholes as on Earth. If you begin a journey to a Timehole ten minutes after somebody else does you will arrive ten minutes later than them. Only those with Psychic Awareness can navigate across Null-space.
Game Rules
ATTACK
In certain paragraphs you will have the chance to attack an enemy. When you choose to do so, you will be asked to make an Attack Roll. To do this, roll two dice and add the numbers together. You will be told which paragraph to turn to next, depending on your score. In all combats you are more likely to succeed if your score is high than if it is low

ATTACK MODIFIER
Whenever you make an Attack Roll you must add or subtract your Attack Modifier to the dice score. Your Attack Modifier may change as the adventure unfolds and you should keep a note of this on your Agent Profile (at beginning of adventure). To begin with your Attack Modifier is zero.

EVASION
In certain cases you may need to avoid the attack of an enemy or escape from a difficult situation. You will be asked to make an Evasion Roll, to which you must add or subtract your Evasion Modifier. This works in the same way as the Attack Roll and Attack Modifier as described above. Your initial Evasion Modifier is also zero.

POWERS OF THE MIND
Some paragraphs will offer you the chance to make a mental attack, either a Thinkstrike or Power of Will. Make an Attack Roll, just as if you were attacking normally, but add or subtract your Thinkstrike or Power of Will Modifier, not your Attack Modifier. In all other ways mental attacks work in the same way as a physical attack. To begin with your Thinkstrike and Power of Will Modifiers are zero, as noted on your Agent Profile.

PSYCHIC AWARENESS
Your Psychic Awareness operates at all times and you will be told when you have discovered anything of interest.

ENDURANCE
You, Falcon, start the adventure with 20 points of Endurance. If you are wounded in combat, suffer something unpleasant such as an acid atmosphere without a space suit, or become exhausted, you will lose Endurance points. A running total of your Endurance should be kept on your Agent Profile. If at any time you fall to zero Endurance or less you are dead and your adventure is over. Endurance points can be regained by visiting the Autodoc in your Time Machine (see equipment list) and you
will be told when you can use your Autodoc.

SCORING
You will notice as you use this book that certain paragraph numbers are followed by a letter in brackets. If you wish to score your performance as Special Agent Falcon, you will need to make a list of the letters following these numbers on the box provided on your Agent Profile every time you come to one of these paragraphs. If you should be killed or fail in your adventure, you should delete your current recorded letters except for all the Qs which must be kept and begin again. Each letter corresponds to a score, and you will be given a rating, depending on what the total of your scores is. The letter scores may be found at the back of the second book of this series, Mechanon. This is necessary, since printing the scores in this book would allow you to find out what the right decisions to take in this adventure are!
Equipment
Standard Issue for TIME Special Agents
ITEM i: MODEL A3 TIME MACHINE [see accompanying specifications]
Your own Time Machine, Falcon's Wing, is silver with bright scarlet markings and is the eleventh machine capable of travel through time ever built. Its cost cannot be computed, since it involves the use of certain materials and scientific skills which are priceless. The silver and scarlet hull will withstand enormous pressure, heat and exposure to harmful gasses and liquids, as .well as providing protection from radiation. The six hydraulic legs which support the machine are extended when it aterialises in a new Timehole, to provide stability on uneven ground. The Main Access is operated by invisible Tractor Beams (energy beams that can be used to grip and lift) that will draw the Time Traveller up into the cabin, to rest on the Access Disc. This disc is matter but is changed to air as you move through it by the Molecular Converter (see Item 4). The pressurised cabin is lined with instruments and gadgets. The crash couch is moulded to fit your shape and can be moved up to the command console or up into the Flyer (see Item 6). The air inside the machine is kept pure by the life support unit and can be flushed out and replaced within ten seconds. The
Main Access will work only when its Memory Scanner recognises your own brain patterns. Specially sensitive cameras and power floodlights are mounted on top of the Machine. The Variac Drive, which forces the Machine into null-space, is housed beneath the deck and is controlled through your computer (CAIN, see Item 7).

ITEM2: HOLOGRAM GENERATOR
Each Time Machine is equipped with a Hologram Generator - very important if the First Law of TIME is to be obeyed. The Generator changes the appearance of the Machine by casting a hologram around it, so the computer can make the Machine look like a small wood, hayrick or grassy hill etc, which is very lifelike unless you are within two metres of the Machine itself. This stops people in history being curious at the sight of a highly technological machine.

ITEM 3: HOLO-DETECTOR
Due to the existence of Hologram Generators you may find it difficult to see other Time Machines. As a member of the Time Police you have been given a Hologram-detector which is portable and operates to a range of fifty metres. This will reveal the presence of a hologram and therefore another Time Machine.

ITEM 4: MOLECULAR CONVERTOR
Each Time Machine is equipped with a Molecular Converter, a device which uses the rarest of all elements, Polybdenum, as its fuel. Small articles, placed in the Converter, are transformed into whatever the computer decides. In this way, Time Travellers have disguises which allow them to pass undetected amongst the intelligent beings of other times. CAIN, your computer, carries information about the Timeholes shown on your map, so that the blueprints required by the Converter to make the disguises accurate, are usually available. Your Psionic Helmet, for instance, can be turned into a legionary's helmet, while keeping its modern powers.

ITEM 5: AUTODOC [see accompanying specifications]
This is a couch-like device which has needles, a drip, a blood supply and surgical robo-arms. You may lie in the Autodoc during the time taken to travel from one Timehole to another, for instance, and come out healed, restoring your Endurance by up to twelve points. You will be told when you can use your Autodoc.

ITEM 6: FLYER [see accompanying specification]
Your crash-couch swivels up onto the platform of your flyer when you wish to use it. The flyer is a small hover-raft which is catapulted out of the Time Machine through the Launch Doors, two sections on top of the hull that slide apart. Once safely away from the Machine the Ion Drive can be cut in, giving the flyer a top speed many times the speed of sound (Mach 6). It can hover which allows you to use it as an observation platform, but it is too small to carry a Hologram Generator and should only be used when strictly necessary. Fortunately, its Ion Drive is almost soundless. You are also issued with a Homing Beacon, which, when activated, will make the flyer move to its location as quickly as possible. The flyer is then piloted by its micro computer. The Beacon is magnetic, and about the size of a die.

ITEM 7: CAIN [Cybernetic Artificial Intelligence Nexus]
CAIN is one of the most advanced computers known to man. Its data banks offer information on all subjects and historical data on all Federation and alien planets. Its memory banks are continuously updated with information concerning the Time-1 holes and it is able to link with the massive memory banks of the TIME Service Computer at the Eiger Vault. A holophone, through which you can contact any other holophone in the Federation, is built into CAIN and you also have access to most of the files kept by TIME. CAIN answers to your spoken commands and runs the Time Machine for you. It can display information visually, via the terminal screen, or verbally, using its melodic chimes.

ITEM 8: BLASTER [see accompanying specifications]
This is your Standard Starship Trooper issue Plasma Pistol. It fires superheated plasma to a range of 100 metres, and the Energy Pack is sufficient for ten minutes continuous use. You have more Energy Packs in your weapons locker. Your blaster is labelled, 'For use in exceptional circumstances only'.

ITEM 9: PSIONIC ENHANCER [see accompanying specifications]
This helmet helps your Powers of the Mind by damping all other thoughts. It senses when you want to use your power and activates automatically.

ITEM 10: ENVIRONMENT SUIT [see accompanying specifications]
A light, pressurised suit for use in vacuum, inhospitable atmospheres and extreme ranges of temperature which monitors your life signals such as pulse and temperature. It is compatible with your Psionic Enhancer.
Personal Background
Special Agent (TIME)
Codename: Falcon
For three years you have studied at the Academy as a cadet attached to TIME: the Temporal, Investigative and Monitoring Executive, and you have passed the difficult training pro- gramme with flying colours. You have been selected from the Academy to be a Special Agent because of your unusual talents, having been born with Powers of the Mind: you can sense things that others can't and even influence their actions through thought alone. These powers have been strengthened and focussed during your training and you have been issued with a Psionic Enhancer, a helmet which increases these mental powers. You have been taught to attack the minds of others with a blast of mental energy you call Thinkstrike. Your Power of Will allows you to control the minds of those weaker than you, and your Psychic Awareness allows you to sense things that others cannot, including the presence of another with such mental powers. This Psychic Awareness also lets you navigate your Time Machine through time and space. Few have such powers and even fewer are trusted with one of the small number of Time Machines in existence. You are expert in survival - including combat — armed and unarmed. History and detective powers of deduction have also been major subjects of study. You are now an Agent in the Time Police, whose job is to guard the Timelines of the past and to ensure that no-one tampers with past events in any way that would change things as they are now.

TIME, the Temporal Investigative and Monitoring Executive, was set up in Alpolis forty years ago shortly after Time Travel was discovered. The realisation that anyone with access to Time Travel could change the past so that the entire human race might cease to exist was worrying, so Time Machines were built for the Time Police in their crystal domed TIME headquarters, in order to stop this. TIME is headed by five Lords, representing the most powerful groups in the Space Federation. Each of these has Powers of the Mind, and their own Time Machine. The Executive is divided into four sections: Administrative, Research, Monitoring and the Special Agent Section (or SAS). The Monitoring Section, headed by Section Chief Jobanque, is responsible for noting any disturbances in the past, or Timelines, of the planets in the Federation. The Research Section, headed by Section Chief Skirrow is responsible for all equipment used by Special Agents and is also examining the possibilities of travel into the future, as yet impossible. Your own Special Agent Section is- headed by Section Chief Agidy Yelov, a Siriun humanoid from the Federation member planet, Sirius Secundus. Agidy Yelov and others have told you the importance of the First Law of TIME when on active service: 'A TIME Agent must, in all cases, act naturally according to the time in which he is currently operating, thus minimising any disruption of the Timelines his or her presence might be causing'. As Yelov once said to you: There's no point in coming back to 3033 if you have left an atomic hand gun near Hitler's bunker, because this would change the present - in fact, you'd probably find you had never existed!' As with all Special Agents, your bloodline has been traced back, in your case to the French Revolution in 1789 AD. Should any one of your ancestors fail to produce the next in line it would be as if you had never existed.
Hints on Play
The rules are very simple - you could almost play this book without reading them at all. But reading the Personal Background and, of course, the Mission Brief will help you to understand what is happening as you begin the adventure. If you come across something you don't understand, don't worry, check the Equipment List and this may give you a clue. If not, carry on anyway, it will probably come clear later

Special Rules
The action in Falcon 3: The Rack of Baal, carries straight on from Falcon 2: Mechanon. If you have played Falcon 2, transfer the modifier scores from your Agent Profile in the beginning of this one. It is not essential to play Falcon 1 and 2 first, but information you may gain while playing them may help you to complete this mission successfully. If you have not played Falcon 1 or 2, then all of your modifiers begin at zero.
Starship Trooper Battlesuit
Starship Trooper Battlesuit
During Falcon Book 3, you may be issued with a standard issue battlesuit. It has 10 Defence points. When you take damage in the battlesuit you will be told to lose a certain number of points. Simply cross off the relevant amount in the box provided on your Agent Profile.

(You don't get the Strike Fighter in this one...but they put the pic of the fighter and not the pic of the battlesuit. Oops)
A Brief Historical Update
In Falcon 1: The Renegade Lord, you, as Falcon, after a desperate chase across time, thwarted the evil plans of the renegade Lord of TIME. Falcon also discovered that the then Section Chief of the Special Agents, Agidy Yelov, was in league with the Renegade Lord and was a traitor. Falcon killed the Renegade Lord and captured Yelov. Jobanque was given Yelov's old post.

In Falcon 2: Mechanon, Yelov escaped and swore revenge against Falcon and the Federation. Using the massed wardroids of the factory planet, Mechanon, Yelov planned to conquer the galaxy. But Falcon penetrated Mechanon and killed Yelov in a titanic battle. However, Yelov's last act was to set into motion a series of events that would completely destroy Earth. The only way Falcon could save Earth from annihilation was by changing the past, thus creating a paradox in time in which prior events never took place. The Earth was saved, but Yelov was alive and still at large - Falcon never killed him. This is where the action begins in
Falcon 3: The Rack of Baal.

(The person responsible for letting Yelov go the second time (sorta) was Falcon himself, which probably wasn't intended as a twist)
Last edited by Thaluikhain on Thu Nov 23, 2017 1:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Thaluikhain »

Mission Brief
Once again you are sitting in the office of your Section Chief, Jobanque, after an urgent summons. He eyes you, his face serious. 'Well Falcon, I've sent Lynx out to trail Yelov. There's something even more urgent for you. Baal has escaped.'

'Who?'you query, puzzled.

'Let me explain,' and he presses a button and a hologram of a globe of crackling white energy appears, hanging in the darkness of interstellar space. Orbiting it is a small asteroid. That ball of rock is a satellite, put there by the Ancients.' You sit up in interest. Archaelogical remains of a highly advanced culture, thousands upon thousands of years old, are dotted everywhere around the galaxy, popularly referred to as remains of the Ancient Culture. 'A Federation research station was set up on the satellite - the Federation is always hoping to uncover some of the Ancient's advanced technology. A group of psychics was brought in to probe the globe of energy, rather than fiddle with it in any other way. Immediately they did so their minds fell under the control of some powerful will from inside the globe. It forced the psychics to board a Federation starship and fly it straight at the globe. The resultant explosion weakened the globe enough for the thing inside it to break out,' and Jobanque presses another button. The hologram of the globe bursts open in a veritable holocaust of flaming energy. A great figure, human in shape, powerfully muscled, a strange white triangle at wrists and ankles erupts forth, a look of crazed triumph on its face. That is Baal,' says Jobanque, and he freezes the hologram. 'We discovered an Ancient Codex on the satellite and a team of scientists, working night and day, have managed to decipher it. It told us a lot. Baal is a cosmic being, aeons old. Some would call him a god. He is utterly evil, totally unscrupulous. Power-crazed he sought, and will seek again, to dominate all intelligent life in the galaxy. He feeds off the life forces of sentient beings and is sustained by some kind of natural energy. Our scientists think he is linked to the very fabric of the universe in some way, at any rate not even the Ancients were able to destroy him outright, although they managed to imprison him. Baal can travel in time at will, without having to use timeholes. That means he can go anywhere in the past he wishes and he can exist in any environment. The Ancients built something they called the Rack to imprison him - it is composed of those four triangular objects at his wrists and ankles. Apparently, each piece of the Rack inhibits Baal's powers, cumulatively, if they are near to him. With the Rack momentarily deactivated, Baal was able to remove the pieces, and has scattered each segment throughout space and time. Your mission, Falcon, is to find each piece, unite them and then imprison Baal once more. A difficult mission, but the fate of the galaxy is at stake; there's no telling what damage a being like that could do to the timelines.'

'But how will I be able to locate the Rack, if it isn't to be found at a timehole?' you ask.

'Don't worry, it won't be as hard as it seems to find them. It is likely that objects of such power will cause timeholes to appear around them, as will Baal if he stays in one place for any length of time. Also, we have this/ and he hands you a small metal tripod with a large glowing white gem at its tip. This is an Ancient device that will detect the sections of the Rack, but only somebody with psychic powers can interpret its signals. Your only chance is to conduct a random search through the timeholes until you find the pieces. A final warning, Falcon. As Baal can travel freely in time, he has had plenty of opportunity to set up all sorts of things to prevent the Rack from being discovered. In effect, sections of the Rack will have been lying in places for centuries now. Lastly you will not, of course, be able to take the Strike Fighter with you - using it on this mission would almost certainly break the first law of TIME. Right, Falcon, that's it. Get going and good luck.'

1
Soon you are sitting in the familiar confines of Falcon's Wing, running through the systems check and activating CAIN. Immediately its metallic chimes fill the cabin: 'Welcome aboard once again, Falcon. Perhaps on this mission you will not behave in the usual erratic and emotional way common to all organic forms of life!' After threatening to pull the plug on CAIN you ask it if there is any information on offer:'Of course, Falcon, am I not the world's finest computer? In fact, there is some new data from the new Section Chief of the Monitoring Section, Po-Ling. A disturbance in the timelines has been noted in the timehole currently active in North America, Earth, in the year 1863. There was a civil war in America at that time, Falcon. It is also possible to narrow your search down to only four timeholes. Other agents, mainly on monitoring duties, have found no evidence to suggest there has been any tampering in any of the others,' and CAIN displays the information on the screens. Where will you search for Baal, the so-called Demon-Lord:

South America, Earth, 1409 AD - the time of the Aztecs?
North America, Earth, 1863 AD - the time of the American Civil War?
Rigel Prime, 1642 AD?
The Earth Colony on the Planet Dustbowl, 2764 AD?
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Post by Omegonthesane »

Civil war time because nothing else to go on.
Kaelik wrote:Because powerful men get away with terrible shit, and even the public domain ones get ignored, and then, when the floodgates open, it turns out there was a goddam flood behind it.

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Post by SGamerz »

Sure, why not?
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Post by Thaluikhain »

You set the co-ordinates for North America, Earth 1863 AD, and instruct CAIN to engage the Variac Drive. Moments later your mind is searching through null-space for the psychic pattern that marks the North American timehole. You may lie in your Autodoc and restore up to 12 points of lost Endurance during the journey. You rematerialise on a wooded hill, with good all-round visibility, but your vision is partially obscured by clouds of gunsmoke. To the south is a small town wreathed in smoke. Dense forest lies to the east, another wooded hill rising from it. To the west, you can see a column of men, armed with primitive muskets and dressed virtually in rags, mostly a butternut brown in colour. A few, mainly officers, are wearing grey uniforms. They are marching towards you across a road. The air is filled with the sound of volleys of musket-fire, the boom of cannon and the sound of many men at war. Suddenly a column of men dressed in blue uniforms, stream past your hill, near the town, in what can only be described as an orderly rout. It appears you have arrived in the middle of a battle. You ask CAIN for information. This is the field of Gettysburg, a decisive battle in the American Civil War fought on the eastern edge of North America, Falcon. It was fought over three days, and we have arrived in the late afternoon of the first day. The Civil War was between the Union and the Confederacy, over reasons too detailed to go into here, unless you'd like me to?'

'No, no, CAIN, that's all right,' you interrupt hastily.

'Well, the Confederacy, the men in grey, had the better of the first day, but ultimately they were defeated, despite their brilliant commander. General Robert E. Lee. You have materialised on Benner's Hill. The hill to the south is Culp's Hill and beyond that Cemetery Ridge. The town is, of course, Gettysburg. It would be best to disguise you as a Confederate soldier for the moment. However, the jacket will be reversible, so that the outside is grey, the inside blue, if you should need to change sides in a hurry.' Donning the disguise the Molecular Converter has given you (your helmet is now a peaked grey cap), you take the detector tripod and leave Falcon's Wing.

314
You step out onto the wooded surface of Benner's Hill. The trees are obscuring your vision now, but you can hear the sound of men taking up a position south-west of you. Nearby are the crumpled bodies of several men in blue uniforms, Unionists. Quickly you set up the Rack detector and the gem begins to glow. Sifting through its psychic emanations you can find no trace of the Rack or any parts of it. Disappointed, you are packing it up when your Psychic Awareness registers the presence of someone with advanced mental powers on the north face of Benner's Hill. Will you:

Investigate this psionic presence?
Leave for another timehole immediately?

(Yeah, if you were wondering if going to North America during the Civil War meant Canada far from the fighting or something, nope, you go straight to probably the first place most people think of when they think of the American Civil War)
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Post by SGamerz »

Investigate.
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Post by Omegonthesane »

We've come pretty far to not investigate.

So investigate.
Kaelik wrote:Because powerful men get away with terrible shit, and even the public domain ones get ignored, and then, when the floodgates open, it turns out there was a goddam flood behind it.

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Post by Thaluikhain »

325
Slowly you creep down to the north side of the hill. As you descend, blaster in hand, you can see someone crouching behind a tree, their back to you. Whoever it is has a strong psychic presence and is hiding from someone or something further down at the base of the hill. The crouched figure appears to be a young Confederate soldier, dressed in homespun butternut, with grey trousers. It seems the Confederates were not able to clothe their soldiers properly. Suddenly the figure stiffens and then whirls, a blaster in its hand, pointing at you! Will you:

Shoot to kill?
Wait to see what happens next?

There is a picture here
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Post by Omegonthesane »

I like how "shoot to maim" or "set laser to stun" aren't even options.

Wait and hope that Falcon's reflexes are not so slow as to preclude dodging.
Kaelik wrote:Because powerful men get away with terrible shit, and even the public domain ones get ignored, and then, when the floodgates open, it turns out there was a goddam flood behind it.

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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

Wait.
Pseudo Stupidity wrote:This Applebees fucking sucks, much like all Applebees. I wanted to go to Femboy Hooters (communism).
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Post by Thaluikhain »

356

The blaster is pointing straight at you, but you recognise the face of Agent Lynx. She says, 'Falcon! What are you doing here?' You move closer and tell her of your mission and then ask her what she is up to. 'Well, Falcon, as you know, Jobanque assigned me to trace Yelov. I've found him. He's about forty yards down the hill behind that clump of trees. I have him pinned down. With your help, we can almost certainly get him. You could walk around behind him.' It still disturbs you to think of Yelov as alive. As far as your memory is concerned, you saw him die by your hand, but you also know that never happened, due to a time paradox. Before you or Lynx can act, there is a sudden barrage of explosions. The Union or the Confederates are shelling Benner's Hill. You crouch low and then the tree you are sheltering behind is vaporised by a bolt of plasma and you are both forced to throw yourself to the ground. You can see Yelov taking this opportunity to escape. He, too, is dressed in grey. Lynx looks disappointed. 'Blast it, Falcon, we had him! Falcon, listen, I know your mission is important, but I could use your help here. It'll probably only be for a couple of hours. How about it?' Will you:

Say: 'I'm sorry Lynx, I can't,' wish her good luck and go in search of the Rack?
Stay and give Lynx a hand against Yelov?
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

Kill Yelov because he's otherwise probably just going to come back to bite us in the ass.
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Post by Omegonthesane »

Do what we should have done two books ago. Kill Yelov - not capture, kill.
Kaelik wrote:Because powerful men get away with terrible shit, and even the public domain ones get ignored, and then, when the floodgates open, it turns out there was a goddam flood behind it.

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Post by Thaluikhain »

367
'Okay Lynx, I'll help. What do you think he's up to?'

Thanks Falcon, I can certainly use it! Well, at the moment, Yelov just seems to be trying to avoid being caught, but there is one thing he could do here today. The Union forces are pretty demoralised at the moment. In about an hour General Lee will order General Ewell, the commander of the Confederate forces on this flank, to launch an attack, if possible. Culp's Hill is unoccupied at the moment, it will be held by Union troops later, but if Ewell was to take it now... Historically, Ewell decided not to attack, but if he had, it is almost certain the rest of the Union army would have been routed, and the Confederacy would have won Gettysburg. My guess is that Yelov will try to force Ewell to order an attack using mind control. Imagine if the Confederacy had won the Civil War, Falcon? There would be two nations in America, history would be changed radically and we might never exist! This would be revenge enough for Yelov. Let's head for Ewell's HQ and await developments.' Will you:

Go with Lynx?
Say, 'You stake out the HQ, I'll go in search of his Time Machine. If I can disable that we'll have him trapped here,' and leave in search of Yelov's Time Machine?
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Post by Omegonthesane »

Ha ha ha he thinks Gettysburg would've been enough to win the civil war.

Steal Yelov's time machine.
Kaelik wrote:Because powerful men get away with terrible shit, and even the public domain ones get ignored, and then, when the floodgates open, it turns out there was a goddam flood behind it.

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Post by SlyJohnny »

Nah, every time we're offered a distraction like this, it means Yelov will have made the entire species extinct in the five minutes our back is turned. I think we have to help Lynx.
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Post by SGamerz »

Go with Lynx
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Post by Thaluikhain »

[Score a G]
Together you leave the hill. There is a pause in the battle; both sides are tired and the day's fighting is virtually over. You walk past groups of exhausted and wounded men, artillery batteries, field hospitals and so on. It is all very confused as far as you can make out. No one challenges you and soon you are behind Ewell's Command Post, a small building on the outskirts of Gettysburg. Ewell is sitting at its front. He has lost a leg and the stump is obviously paining him. Eventually, a courier on horseback arrives, with orders from General Lee. Both you and Lynx tense expectantly. As soon as General Ewell has read them, your Psychic Awareness tells you that Yelov is exerting his will from inside the house. You both decide to use your Power of Will on Yelov simultaneously. He is taken by surprise, but Yelov recognises that you are with Lynx and his hatred of you gives him added strength of will. He throws your mental attack aside, but Ewell is now unaffected at any rate. Suddenly, Yelov bursts out around the corner of the house. You stand stock still for a moment, a prickly chill of fear running up your spine. As far as you are concerned, the last time you saw Yelov he was dead at your feet. To see him alive like this is disturbing, even though you knew you never really killed him, due to a puzzling time paradox. His cybernetic arm gleams in the falling light as he raises it to smash you, shouting: 'At last Falcon, I'll see you dead!' You must try to dodge the blow. Make an Evasion roll

If you score 6-12, got a 3 and 4, so:

You twist away from the savage metal blows of his arm and you can feel the air move on your "face as his blow whips past you. Lynx reacts with lightning speed. She was trained in unarmed combat by Yelov, and grabs his arm, using his own impetus to throw him into the air. He lands well and, rolling to his feet, is running east towards Culp's Hill before you can act.

'Come on,' you shout and you both set off in pursuit of Yelov. He pulls away from you however, his bionic legs giving him an added advantage. Soldiers stare at you as you run past, thinking you are couriers with urgent messages. Soon you are past Benner's Hill, coming to orderly lines of Confederate men, tired but still alert. Lynx tells you this is Early's division, the Confederate troops nearest to Culp's Hill. You veer away from them, not wishing to draw any enquiries as to where you are going. You see Yelov crossing a small river or brook and disappearing into the woods around Culp's Hill, noticing that he is now in a blue uniform. You move forward towards the wood. Suddenly a line of blue jacketed infantrymen step into the open at the edge of the wood. There is a shouted command and a billowing cloud of smoke appears in front of them, they have unleashed a volley of musket fire at you. Desperately you throw yourself to the ground. Make an Evasion Roll.

There is a picture here

If you score 6-12, got a 4 and 4, so:

Almost simultaneously, you both drop to your feet in the long grass. 'All right, Falcon?' whispers Lynx.

'Okay/ you reply. 'You?'

'Unhurt,' she answers. Looking up over the edge of the long grass, you see the blue-coats stepping back into the woods. The Union have finally occupied Culp's Hill. Suddenly, a section of the woods on the left side of Culp's Hill winks out, Yelov has escaped in his Time Machine. Lynx drops her head in disappointment. 'I'll have to find him again. Thanks anyway, Falcon, let's head back to our Machines.' Slowly, you crawl through the grass until you are behind the Confederate lines. 'Well, good luck, Falcon, I hope to see you soon. Bet you I get Yelov before you get Baal!' Smiling, you climb Benner's Hill and soon you are approaching the clump of trees disguising Falcon's Wing.


333
Moments later you are back in Falcon's Wing. Where will you go in search of the Rack?

Rigel Prime, 1642 AD, if you have not been there already?
Earth in the time of the Aztecs, if you have not been there already?
The colony planet, Dustbowl, in the year 2764 AD if you have not been there already?
Return to the Eiger Vault, in case the Monitoring Section has any information for you?
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Post by Omegonthesane »

How do we not have the option to break kayfabe to make sure the fucker is dead?!

Eiger vault because we didn't get any info.
Kaelik wrote:Because powerful men get away with terrible shit, and even the public domain ones get ignored, and then, when the floodgates open, it turns out there was a goddam flood behind it.

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Post by SGamerz »

All those "have not already been there" makes me think that we're supposed to try out all the possibilities before going back to Eigervault.

I vote Aztecs next.
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Post by Omegonthesane »

Changing vote to break tie.
Kaelik wrote:Because powerful men get away with terrible shit, and even the public domain ones get ignored, and then, when the floodgates open, it turns out there was a goddam flood behind it.

Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath, Justin Bieber, shitmuffin
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Post by Thaluikhain »

You set co-ordinates for South America, Earth, in 1487 AD and soon Falcon's Wing is sailing on the Winds of Time towards its destination. You may lie in your Autodoc during this journey and regain up to 12 points of lost Endurance. The cameras show that you have materialised in bright sunshine. You hold your breath in astonishment as the cameras revolve. You are in a great city in the middle of a lake. The shores of the lake are studded with townships, each with a core of brightly painted stone houses, surrounded by smaller white adobe houses. Each township has a tiered, brilliantly painted pyramid rising from it. The city itself is perfectly square, with three causeways leading to the mainland. It seems to have been constructed with great precision. Much of the city is criss-crossed with canals, upon which are moored many canoes. The houses are mostly of adobe, with some of stone, presumably for the rich and powerful, and all are single storey buildings with no windows. You can see the flat roof tops have low tables on them, pottery and the like. But your attention is drawn to the centre of the city. You can see a huge pyramid reaching up over the city. Other large buildings surround it, covered in carved friezes, in a strange, stiff style. The pyramid has a wide flight of steps climbing up its front. You can see figures moving all over it but, strangely, the immediate vicinity seems deserted as do the townships. However, the external microphones are picking up the noise of a huge crowd coming from the main pyramid.

CAIN chimes: 'I have disguised your Time Machine as an adobe house; fortunately no organic life forms were nearby to witness its sudden appearance. We have arrived in Tenochtitlan, the great capital city of the Aztec Empire, Falcon. Its population has been estimated in hundreds of thousands which makes it one of the largest cities in the world at this time. The current 'Uei Tlatoan, or Emperor, is Ahuitzotl, a cruel and vicious tyrant. His son was Moctezuma II, who was Emperor when the Spaniards, along with smallpox, all but wiped out this civilisation and its people. The Aztecs practised a brutal religion, requiring mass human sacrifice, and, after, the consumption of the victim's flesh. Indeed, wars called 'Flowery Wars' were often fought between nations for no reason other than to garner prisoners for sacrifice. Ahuitzotl was responsible for the sacrifice of 20,000 defeated victims in one day, in this very year.' You ask CAIN to run off a suitable set of clothes for you in the Molecular Converter. Soon you are dressed in the clothing of what CAIN tells you is one of the two elite military orders in the Aztec Empire, the Eagle Knights. The other is the Jaguar Knights. You are wearing a fantastic headress of white eagle feathers, a quilted patterned jacket, and a brightly coloured skirt adorned with feathers, with copper anklets and bracelets. Your weapon is a wooden club inlaid with sharp flints of obsidian. You tuck your blaster under the jacket. If this is the first or second timehole you have visited on this mission....

Taking the detector tripod, you leave Falcon's Wing, and set it up behind a white adobe house that is adorned with many bright flowers. As the white gem begins to glow brightly you explore its psionic emanations with your mind. You find it is registering the presence of a segment of the Rack. It is lying in one of the buildings near the Great Pyramid. Putting the tripod back in Falcon's Wing, you head towards the pyramid. As you near it the babble of many voices grows louder. Rounding a large stone building you are presented with an awesome sight. You are at the top of a flight of one of the many stone steps leading down to an enormous plaza, surrounding the Great Pyramid. The plaza is filled with thousands upon thousands, a teeming crowd of Aztecs. Most are dressed simply in feathered shirts or robes, others are dressed richly in brightly patterned robes and head-dresses. The stairs that rise up the centre of the bricked pyramid are filled with hundreds of prisoners, almost naked, many covered in white down stuck to their bodies by their own blood. They are formed into a long column marching into the plaza itself. Aztec Eagle Knights, and Jaguar Knights, dressed in the skins of the jaguar from head to foot, are hemming them in. At the top of the pyramid are many black robed priests as well as what must be the Emperor Ahuitzotl, wearing the most incredible finery, with his retinue. The sight of what they are doing fills you with revulsion. Methodically the priests are laying the prisoners on a blood-encrusted stone slab, slashing open their chests with obsidian knives, ripping out their hearts and smearing them over the carved idols of their gods. From what your Translator can pick up, it is a sacrifice to the Sun God, Huitzilopochtli, the Lord of War. Horrified, you make your way through the crowd, towards the building housing the piece of the Rack. It is a low structure, with a large square entrance, hung with bright curtains. Two Jaguar Knights stand guard at either side. Not wishing to waste time in this place of death, you decide to Thinkstrike them in rapid succession.

311

The two Jaguar Knights stagger back and fall to the ground under the effect of your Thinkstrikes. Their minds were elsewhere, on the spectacle on the pyramid. No one notices their fate and you dash through the curtained doorway into a bewildering mass of corridors and large storerooms containing stocks of maize, sculpted gold and so on. Eventually you come to a wide corridor, lined with friezes, depicting scenes of Aztec mythology. At its end is a richly decorated portal leading into a large room. When you are nearer, you can see a large altar at the end of the room. Upon it lies a translucent white triangle, small circles embedded in each corner, giving off a bright white radiance. It is a segment of the Rack. In between you and the altar, the floor is a checkerboard of nine, six-foot-square stone slabs, laid out in a square. Directly ahead of you lies the first three. Will you:

Step out onto the left hand slab?
The middle slab?
The right hand slab?
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Post by SGamerz »

No clue that I can see. Given the checkerboard description I'd have thought there'd be a safe path by sticking with either black or white, but we're not told the colour of each slab. :/

When in doubt, go straight, I guess. Middle.
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

As much as he writes about how fucked up Aztec ritual sacrifice is I don't actually see anything indicating the author considers the Aztecs racially inferior in the way he clearly considered the Mongols to be. Hoping that trend keeps up, and also hoping he doesn't try to paint the whole Spanish conquest as a good thing.

Anyhow, channel another futuristic gamebook special agent and go straight down the middle.
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Post by Thaluikhain »

340
You walk out onto the middle stone slab, sense alert for any trap. Nothing happens. Will you step out onto:
The slab directly ahead of you, the centremost slab of the nine?
The slab to your left?
The slab to your right?
The slab at a diagonal right forward?
The slab at a diagonal left forward?


And, oh, on there is a picture that seems to go with it, but it's on the next page so I didn't see it before.

(And yeah, fingers crossed there's no racism)
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