152
You unleash a bolt of mental energy at Baal, but he hardly even pauses as he hurls the corpse of the Warrior at you with punishing force, brushing aside your mental assault almost as an afterthought. Caught off guard the body slams into you, sending you crashing to the ground. Luckily none of its sharp protuberances have cut you, but the impact has cracked one of your ribs. Lose 4 Endurance points. If you are still alive, you rise to your feet.
If you have the severed hand-blade of a Caver Warrior in your possession, turn to 163, if not read on. Baal grabs another body as if it were a rag doll. You dash for the exit as he hurls it at you. Make an Evasion Roll.
If you score 6-12...6 and 3, so:
You swerve away and the spiked body sails past you. Baal howls angrily, scooping up another corpse. Just then a troop of red-furred Warriors charge into the room and straight at Baal, led by two of the rebel Nobles, still trying to defeat the intruder, Baal. They use their laser pistols on him as the Warriors launch themselves into the attack. You make it to the exit and sprint down it. Baal's bellows of rage fill the cavern. You know it will only be a matter of minutes before Baal has dealt with the Cavers and is hot on your trail.
You race on through the tunnels of Darkhome, retracing your steps. It is completely deserted, save for the bodies of many Warriors, mostly red-furred, and the oblivious workers still toiling away. You are just leaving the area where you saw the brutal battle between the loyalists and the rebels when you can hear a rushing of wind and the voice of Baal echoing through the tunnels behind you: 'I am coming for you, you little animal, and I shall tear you limb from limb and devour your soul!' Desperately you push yourself on, until you burst into the Cavern housing Falcon's Wing. The Burrowers are still digging. You are almost in your Time Machine when Baal flies into the cave, his bulk filling the tunnel completely, indeed if he could not have flown headfirst, he would not have been able to traverse the corridors of Darkhome at all. He holds a long steel girder in one hand which he hurls at you like a spear, at the instant he spots you. You try to dodge the attack, wishing fervently you had some means with which to combat the super-powerful being. Make an Evasion Roll.
If you score 6-12...3 and 2, so:
You twist away from the hurtling bludgeon but it catches you a glancing blow on your forearm. However, such is the force behind it, that it breaks your arm. Lose 5 Endurance points. If you are still alive, you grimace in agony as you are drawn up into Falcon's Wing, screaming at CAIN to engage the Variac Drive as you do so. Moments later you are safe in null-space. You never believed you would ever welcome the grey nothingness that fills the camera screens as you do now. You have learnt much about the art of avoiding damage in your near fatal brushes with Baal.
Add 1 to your Evasion Modifier.
You tell CAIN what happened on Cave. It reports that there have been substantial changes in the history of Cave, caused by Baal. 'In my opinion,' it goes on, 'Baal intended to rule over Darkhome and, using advanced technology, extend his control over the whole planet. From there he could breed a race of genetically engineered star-warriors and make war on the whole galaxy. But you have prevented that, Falcon, he will never win any more support on Cave now. In any case, I would compute that Baal is seriously worried about the possibility that the Rack may be re-assembled.' If you have three pieces of the Rack...
As you sit in your crash-couch, your Psychic Awareness begins to register some kind of psionic phenomena within Falcon's Wing. Turning around you can see that the three pieces of the Rack are glowing brightly, radiating a white light that you cannot look directly into. They begin to pulse faster and faster, emanating waves of psychic energy. Examining these, you are overjoyed to discover that they are transmitting the location of the fourth piece of the Rack. You are forced to break contact hurriedly, however. Being mentally linked to the incomplete Rack is very uncomfortable, its psychic power is rooted in some kind of machinery imbued with an unnatural half-life. The whole feel of the thing is horribly alien. You pause as a wave of nausea passes over you. Then, excitedly, you set co-ordinates for the timehole on planet Chill, in 2985 AD, where the fourth part of the Rack lies. You may lie in your Autodoc during the trip and regain up to 12 points of lost Endurance.
When you rematerialise, all the camera reveals is a dirty white expanse, tinged with pink, visibility is almost zero. You have arrived in a storm and sheets of hail are driving against your Time Machine, clattering against the hardened hull. You ask CAIN for information on Chill in 2985. 'Well, Falcon, the planet Chill is a ball of rock rich in minerals covered in a crust of ice. It is one of the coldest planets man has yet discovered. It is devoid of life and the atmosphere is ammonia based. However, at this time, only forty years ago from our time, there is a small mining station, mostly automated, run by a crew of five men. They are working a rich bed of titanium, used in many starship hulls. Incidentally Falcon, the Manager, Braxton Bragg, was a good friend of your grandfather's, your grandmother was Bragg's sister, so be careful. You will have to wear the battlesuit, your environment suit will not be enough to keep out the cold, Falcon. I will run up some stencils in the Molecular Convertor, you can paint on the insignia of the Federation Planetary Exploration Scouts. If you should run across the miners, you can pretend to a be a shipwrecked scout, crash-landed on Chill. Remember, Time Travel won't be discovered for another thirty years.'
Thank you CAIN,' you reply. When you are ready you step out into the freezing atmosphere of Chill. Looking around, you can see a rugged landscape of twisted ice ridges and valleys. Setting the Rack detector, you soon discover the location of the last piece of the Rack. With the other three pieces of the Rack in your battlesuit utility containers, you set off towards it. The buffeting cross winds caused by the storm are too strong for you to use your jets, but you take great leaping strides, your battlesuit servos whining. Hailstones as large as your fist are battering against your armour and your instrument readout tells you that the suit is working overtime to ward off the deadly cold.
An hour passes as you labour on, and the storm lessens a little. Then you come to the top of a gnarled ice ridge, looking down into a valley, where a large grey dome rests. Black smoke seeping out from an exhaust vent is whipped away in the wind. This must be the mining station, and using the tripod again, you are able to tell that the item you seek lies far below it. Then you notice a figure in an industrial powersuit coming around the back of the Dome, making towards the circular air-lock door at its base. The figure sees you and stops in its tracks. The body is in a posture of surprise. Your battlesuit picks up a radio signal from the figure. 'I mean, wow, man, like really ultra! Who are you? I mean, I thought this filthy ice-cube was uninhabited,'and he breaks into laughter. You send a message back, saying you are a Scout whose Explorer Class starship's drive failed.
'Am I glad to see you!' you say. 'I thought I'd never find the mining station.'
'What a story, man. Hey, that's really ultra! You'd better come down, I'll take you to the manager. Ultra warm in the Dome.' You'll have to enter the Dome anyway so you go down and join the man. Minutes later, you are through the Dome's air-lock. The man is stripping off his powersuit, so you do the same, stepping out in your environment suit and hanging your battlesuit next to a row of the powersuits. They are virtually the same as yours save without weaponry, armour, microbeam radar, jetpack and the like. He is a tall, thin man, unshaven and unwashed, characterised by quick nervous movements of his hands. As he leads you down a functional grey corridor, all steel, lined with pipes and illuminated by strip-lights, he says, 'I am Sil McReady, the Engineer, pleased to meet you.' You introduce yourself as Lieutenant Falcon of the Scouts. 'Here's the Rec Room, not what you'd call really ultra but it's better'n stinking ice!' and he opens a door in the right hand wall.
(There is a picture
here)
The Rec Room is where the crew eat, rest and play. Several vid-
booths line one wall as does a large nutritional dispenser.
Various personal effects and pieces of machinery lie hap-hazardly about. A holo-viewer is on hold, the small projected figures frozen in place - it looks like some kind of horror-holo feature, possibly a holo-nasty. The machine is labelled 'Kepy Achov's - keep off!'. Absently, you note that the holo-cassette is called 'Night of the Star-Vampires'. Two people, one an oriental of slim build, with the insignia of a medtech on her overalls, the other a heavily built, neat looking man, with a carefully trimmed beard and thick black hair are seated at a long table. They look up in astonishment at the sight of you, they probably haven't seen another human face for weeks. You tell them your story and the bearded man says, 'I see. You're lucky to have survived. I'm Braxton Bragg, the manager, you can call me Brax. This is Tsu Tsang, our Medic and general boffin,' and he indicates the oriental woman next to him. 'It looks like you'll be stuck here until the Relief Ship arrives, I'm afraid. That will be about two weeks from now. It'll cost too much to send a starship just for you! Tsu Tsang will show you your cabin and then you can come back here. We haven't spoken to anyone else for two months - you'll be a welcome change,' and he smiles warmly at you. Tsu Tsang walks over to you, and you notice she is limping. She says tersely, 'Drill bit fell on my foot two weeks ago, broke it badly.' She shows you into a tiny cabin with a single bunk, a few doors on from the Rec Room. It is opposite a large room. 'Make yourself at home,' she says wryly and leaves. A minute later, there is a knock at the door and Sil McReady comes in.'Hi, Brax asked me to show you around if you'd like? Its a pretty ultra place, or it was at first! I'm getting ultra sick of it now.' You decide to agree as you'll need to find out if the Rack is near, despite having to listen to McReady's obsessive use of the word 'ultra'.
(There is another picture
here)
You walk on up the corridor, further into the Dome, McReady commentating as you go. You pass several doors on the left and right, the crew's cabins. Then he shows you into a brightly lit room with many precision instruments and worktops. A primitive Autodoc lies in one corner. Tsu Tsang is working in there and she nods as you come in. 'This is the lab,' says McReady. 'A really ultra place. Old Tsu is testing a titanium sample no doubt. Bet you're sick of the stuff, eh, Tsu?' Tsu Tsang smiles weakly and works on. Leaving the lab, you are led on down the corridor. It opens out on the right into a large floorspace crammed with industrial machinery, and the corridor continues on beyond it. Then it branches off into three. 'Down there is where we store the titanium. Pretty non-ultra sight,' says McReady, pointing to the left-hand corridor. 'Down to the right are the generators, life support and that. Pretty ultra-less as well. But straight ahead is the Mine Control, ultra man!' and he leads you down it. It opens into a large room, lined with complex instrument banks, computers and so on, making your console in Falcon's Wing look like a toy. In one corner you can see a large personal lift, presumably leading down into the mine itself. Two men are seated at the console boards, running the automated mining operation. 'Our Minetechs,' says McReady. 'Hey guys, meet our newcomer.' They look around, eyes widening in surprise. One of them is a Siriun like Yelov, tall and lithe, with long brown hair and golden cat-like eyes. He carries himself as if he were thoroughly bored with mining. McReady introduces him as Kepy Achov. The other is built like a tank, about seven foot tall, bull-necked and bearded. His name is Caleb. McReady tells you he is from Proxima Centauri, a high gravity planet, which accounts for his size. They ask how you got here and you chat to them for a while, making your story sound convincing. Half an hour later, you are back in your cabin, pondering on how you can get hold of the last piece of the Rack without causing any disturbances in the timelines when you hear a commotion outside.
(There is yet another picture
here)
Looking out, you can see Caleb and Achov running into the Rec Room and you follow them in. There is an air of excitement, as Achov speaks rapidly. 'Brax, the Autodrill has uncovered a large cavern, deep in the rock. I've never seen anything like it. We went down and had a look, we found these.' And he puts two objects onto the table. One is a strange leathery egg, about the size of a football. The other sends a rush of adrenalin through your blood - it is the final piece of the Rack. 'Not only that, there is a circular shaft leading from the cavern roof right up through a mile of rock, up to the ice. Can't be natural. Looks like it's some remains of the Ancient's culture, the Federation'll pay through the nose to examine it. We're as good as rich.'
Braxton Bragg looks at them thoughtfully. 'You could be right Achov, this egg could be a real find; bit weird though, isn't it?'
'Yeah, really ultra, man,' McReady chips in to be answered by several irritated glares.
'We'll get Tsu Tsang to examine it.' Braxton Bragg continues. 'Here, Achov, take it to her, and then get back to work, the Mining Company doesn't pay you to sit around!' He laughs. When they have gone, Braxton eyes you speculatively, Tunny a Fed Scout should turn up at the same time as we find this, eh?'
'Yes, an amazing coincidence, isn't it,' you reply and he smiles. You decide to return to your cabin and wait for night to fall and the crew to sleep. Then you can creep into the lab, take the Rack and leave, they'll think it's all some secret government operation. At any rate, it seems Baal is not here in person, as on Cave and Tenochtitlan.
You wait until the lights have dimmed and a blanket of silence has fallen over the Dome, save for the quiet thrum of the generators. You creep up the corridor. Light seeps out from around Achov's door. He is still up. As you pass his room you hear a faint sound, as if of a muffled shriek from far away and a soft squelching sound. Suppressing your curiosity, you come to the lab and, opening the door, you glide in silently. You turn on a lamp and search the lab in the dim light. To your consternation you cannot find the Rack segment anywhere, but you do find the egg. It has split open and a thick reddish mucus has spread from it, dripping onto the floor of the lab with a slow, rhythmic splatter. You stare at it, fascinated, for several long seconds. Suddenly there is a sound behind you and you spin to face it. At the doorway stands Tsu Tsang, looking at you sideways, head cocked oddly, the light green pinpricks in her eyes. Her posture is rather stiff and jerky and an eerie shiver goes up your spine. She seems unnatural in some way. She steps towards you. Make a Chance Roll.
If you score 1, 3, 4 or 6...6, so:
Suddenly there is a sickening, tearing sound and Tsu Tsang's chest rips apart loudly, blood and slime spraying everywhere. Several tentacles writhe and twist forward, hissing and bubbling horribly. Her body jerks convulsively, the jaws crack open and her tongue, impossibly long, slithers out obscenely, splitting like ripe fruit into two pulpy appendages that form into stings like a scorpion's tail in front of your very eyes. Organic juices spurt and flow in rivulets. Utterly horrified you stand transfixed with shock at what you are seeing, as slime ridden tentacles reach out for you.
(There is a 4th picture
here)
Make a Power of Will Roll as you try to retain control of your senses.
If you score 6-12...2 and 6, so:
414
You shake yourself out of your shocked horror. You must defend yourself as the creature continues to change, the head crunching in on itself and forming a huge gaping maw where the shoulders and neck should be, snapping convulsively. Will you:
Thinkstrike the hideous apparition?
Go for your blaster?