You find yourself in E1M1

[Mindf!3ldzX]

>check inventory for grapes.

[Shadowswift]

>check inventory for grapes.

You check through your inventory for some fresh grapes. To your dismay, you find none. But that won't stop you from dishing some out the very next opportunity you get!!

>

[foq]

>and then Ray was onto lift

[Shadowswift]

>and then Ray was onto lift

You swim toward the lift, then climb up. You don't see any Shadows around, but you feel them. Not near...but not far off. You step on the lift and are instantly lifted up. When you reach the top, you step off and turn to your right. The lift is now on your right. You find yourself on an elevated pathway, open on your right, walled off to your left. You follow the path with your eyes. It leads off ahead to the right, then off to a hallway with a flickering light. Still no Shadows. You follow the pathway. As you follow it, blaster turrets start firing from the right. Crap! The automated defenses are targeting you! You take your Scythe in one hand and your Blaster Pistol in the other. You swat away laster blasts one by one. One of them catches your left shoulder. Damn it!

You lose 14 health.
You are now partially crippled

You shoot back at the turrets with your pistol. Your accuracy is less than amazing thanks to that blow to the shoulder, but you manage to disable one of the three turrets before you reach the end of the hallway. You duck away behind the corner.Well...that's one pretty neat thing about this Blaster Pistol. Not a very strong weapon, but being a pistol, you only need one hand to use it. You can dual-wield it with another pistol, or a melee weapon. Cool...would be even cooler if you had another pistol. Oh well...maybe later in your travels. Still no Shadows. Hm...feels like the closer to get to them, the further they distance themselves from you. Maybe they're scared...as well they should be. Oh well. You follow the hallway further on until you're standing in front of a terminal. You log on.

"Welcome, Ray.
>Check Email
>Run Diagnostic
>Base Detail Logs
>Launch Media Player
>Log Off

>

[foq]

>Check Email
>Run Diagnostic
>Base Detail Logs
>Launch Media Player

[Shadowswift]

>Check Email
>Run Diagnostic
>Base Detail Logs
>Launch Media Player

Might as well check everything...there are two emails here. The first is one from Phoenix.

"Dear Captain,
I don't quite know what is going on with you at the moment, but I do hope you haven't lost sight of our mission. Where ever you are, I hope you are safe. I understand if you want to be alone to grasp your new powers and whatnot, but don't forget about us back here at E1M1. We're here to help, and we await your command.
Your friend and loyal ally,
TSgt. Fenmore Stockton"

Hm...Phoenix's pleas for reason touch what's left of your heart, but only briefly. You delete the message and move on. The second is...another email from Protos...?

"Hello again, Ray.
I enjoyed seeing your fight against 'The Beast'. I knew you would triumph. Your strength is becoming something truly impressive...and frightening. I can't wait to see it fully blossom. Don't worry. It won't be long now. See you soon.
Ever admiring,
Protos"

Who the fuck is Protos? And how did he watch your fight with The Beast? There wasn't anyone else in the Pit...creepy. You delete the message and move on. You run a diagnostic, but don't learn anything useful. You open the Base Detail Logs. There are detail logs dating back clear til this date five years ago, in 2007. You skim them briefly, but you can't seem to find any names that reoccur more than twice, except one; the base commander's, Captain Hom, USMC Ranger. He's the only name you can find with officer rank...and up until 2010, he's the only Ranger. All others are Grunt and Enforcer class. After 2010, Recon and Ranger names start entering the logs. The same month in 2010, you also stop seeing Captain Hom's name in the logs. Weird. You kinda wonder if what Phoenix was saying about turning soldiers into super-humans or whatever is true. The very last log was on 05/17/12 at around 4am...the day the slipgates were switched on. You remember it....clearer and clearer..

[CONSOLE BEEPS]
"Master Sergeant! RAY!! Wake up, ya damn idiot!!" You fumble your wrist console as you pry your eyes open. You're in a bunk at Termination Central. You slap your console on and ask what's up. "All hell has broken loose! It's the slipgates!! Get your ass to the slipgate and help what's left of the men there! MOVE IT, SERGEANT!!" You grab your shotgun and jump to your feet. When you get to the slipgate, all you find is a bloody massacre. All the base's personelle are dead. No one is in site, hostile nor friendly. Your console beeps. "Sergeant, our forces are depleted. What few men we have are banding together for Operation Counterstrike. We want you to lead. Head to HQ immediately. Out." You head for the exit. The moment you step outside, you hear more gunfire inside the base. You head back in and find some of the few remaining military personelle engaged in combat with hostile soldiers. You aid your comrads in neutralizing your enemies. You, alone, survive the onslaught. You swiftly leave the base and return to HQ.
"Here's where we stand, Ray." General Navejar paces around you. "Some bastard called 'Quake' is kicking our asses all over the world. All four outposts with slipgates have been overrun. All personelle have been slaughtered and/or converted."
"Converted?" You scratch your chin.
"Yeah, seems our fallen troops are being risen and turned against us. More than likely, you're going to have to fight against them. However, you are the very best we have, even amongst the most elite rangers. I'm certain you'll have no problem against a bunch of undead grunts and enforcers..."


Yeah, you remember. You were weaker back then...but even then, you were the best. Entire armies of monsters toppled before you...those were the easy days. Oh well. You open the Media Player, but there are no files to play. Bummer. Some music would be nice. You log off of the terminal and look around. Theres a pathway ahead. You follow it to another lift. The lift takes you to a storage attic. There are several lockers here, each marked with Silver Keycard emblems. There is a desk with a terminal here. There are several footlockers here. There are several gunracks here. There is a safe here.

Ahead of you is a Silver Door.
Behind you is the lift.

>

[metchsteekle]

>examine desk and gunracks

[cOlOrKiNg]

Story

>sv_cheats 1
>spawn monster_shambler
>spawn monster_shambler
>spawn monster_shambler

[foq]

>Lockers...? Surely you can break open some silly lockers. If not, hunt down the silver key... again... sigh

[Shadowswift]

>sv_cheats 1

You already tried this once. Now, you may find yourself desperate at times, and even find yourself doing absolutely stupid things...but you really don't want to break your console again.

...even though some impulse 255 sounds really good right now...hm. You consider the possibility that you might be addicted to Quad Damage. You wonder if there is a 12 step program for Quad Damage...maybe even a Quad Damageaholics Anonymous...heheheh....QDA. Quad Damage Quad Damage Quad Damage Quad Damage...yeah....you have a problem...quaddammit...

>spawn monster_shambler
>spawn monster_shambler
>spawn monster_shambler

You attempt to use your new found powers to spawn some shamblers to your location. You pat your legs and whistle. Here, shammy shammy shammy!

...nothing happens.

>examine desk and gunracks

The desk is cluttered with papers. You sift through them, but don't find any useful information. There's a terminal on the desk. It's turned on. Someone named Keith Long is logged in. Weird...you have a look.

Welcome PFC Long.
>Check Email
>Open Log
>Play Klondike
>Log Out

You check his email. There is one message here.

"PFC Long,
In response to your application for advancement: although your resume is impressive, we regret to inform you that you do not meet the standards and qualifications set for NCO ranking in the Marine Corps' Recon class. If you have any further inquiries, contact your CO for answers and advice. Thank you for your daily hard work in making our nation's military the finest in the world.

Major James Bradon"
Sucks for him. Oh well, he's probably dead anyway. You check his logs.

"Log entry #1: 04/28/2012
Reassigned to this toilet today. Chumps at the Termination Central base couldn't handle someone who tells it like it is, I guess. Oh well, their loss. Maybe the grunts around this place will have more open minds.

Log entry #2: 05/02/2012
Tired of assholes trying to read my logs. Going to start moving them onto a backup drive.

Log entry #3: 05/04/2012
Some of the grunts are talking about some project the eggheads have going on. Supposed to have something to do with interdimensional travel. If it's true, then it's just like I've been telling everyone. The end is near! I've stored a small stockpile of supplies down in the purifier room. When the shit hits the fan, I'll be ready!

Log entry #4: 05/15/2012
The eggheads arrived today with their machinery. I don't trust a single one of them. I'm hiding my keycard in the light fixture above this terminal. I don't want those assholes, or anyone else for that matter, getting their hands on my stuff.

Log entry #5: 05/16/2012
The eggheads estimate they'll be ready to open the slipgates tomorrow morning. Today could very well be my last day on Earth...to all my friends and family out there....fuck all of y'all. Peace out."

You reach up and open the light fixture above the terminal. Score.

You got the Silver Keycard.

You leave the terminal as it is and move on to the gunracks. There are some 20 gauge shotguns and hand axes here, nothing really useful. Except...this one gun....hm. You inspect it. It's an older model rifle, bolt-action. It's not loaded, but it looks to take .30-06 rounds, which you have none of. It's in good condition, and appears to have a custom bolt installed for speedy reloading. No scope and, what's worse, no magazine. You opt to take it anyway. Never know...

You got the R700!

>Lockers...? Surely you can break open some silly lockers. If not, hunt down the silver key... again... sigh

These are highly polimerized military-grade heavy-duty titanium steel lockers. They were designed to keep personal stuff in and assholes out. With the addition of an electronic lock, they are impossible to break in to, short of a nuclear warhead...and even then, you're not so sure. Luckily, you have the key already, so you won't need to do any breaking. You open each of the lockers and collect what they contain.

You find 10 Shells, some Pristine Warrior Armor (red), 3 stimpaks, a roll of Duct Tape, a Teddy Bear, 10 Energy Cells, 5 .30-06 rounds, an Unopened Bottle of Water, 2 Gas Grenades, a Flashbang and Cell Phone.

Most of it is crap, but with your jury rigging ability, you might find a use for it.

>

[foq]

>proceed into other places in the base you haven't been to yet

[Shadowswift]

>proceed into other places in the base you haven't been to yet

Well lets see, there is that one place. There's also that area off in that one direction. Then there's that location over yonder...


...maybe be a little more specific with your impulses?

>

[foq]

>and then Ray was into silver door

[Shadowswift]

>and then Ray was into silver door

You head over to the silver door, ignoring the rest of the stuff in this attic. When you head through it, your Silver Keycard vanishes. Shit...sure hope you didn't need that for anything else. Alrighty then, lets see...there are some generators in here, already fully functional. There are some circuit breaker boxes on the far wall. There are some blaster turrets above, and off to your left there's a SHIT! TURRETS!!

You lose 4 health and 8 armor

You scramble back through the door. Laser blasts sail past your head. Why the hell is the security system attacking you here? Hm...better find the mainframe and fix that. If you can get to the circuit breakers, they might be able to give you a vague idea of where the mainframe is. That means you'll have to destroy those turrets...damn. Oh well, if that's how it is...you take out your shotgun and ready it. The moment the door opens, you blast one of them. The shower of hot buckshot rips the turret clean off of the ceiling. There are two more. You fire at the second one before they get a chance to aquire you and fire at you. It, too, is destroyed. The third one caps off a single blast before you send it to hell.

You lose 4 health and 8 armor

You notice your buckshot...it's changed again since absorbing that second crystal. Instead of glimmering with a pale red, the wounds on the wall now glow a bright red, visible even when the lights are on. You test your other weapons...Mr. Plasma Rifle is now firing dark blue bolts with almost no luster to them, darker than the color they had with the first crystal. Your Blaster Pistol, the blasts look very different from the ones fired by the turrets. Instead of a hot orange, it fires bolts that have a lifeless grey color. You wish you could test your Lightspark, but you're out of Shadow Plasma Cells. You know you have a stockpile of them back at E1M1, but you don't really want to go back there right now. You're sure to get an earful from Dudly Do-Right...anyway, there's gotta be some Shadows around this base somewhere. You'll get some cells off of them. Moving on, you inspect the circuit breakers. The Mainframe's switch is located by the power switches for the exit slipgate. They could mean that the Mainframe is at the exit. It could also mean nothing at all...

>

[Mindf!3ldzX]

>wonder where you are,and investigate who stole the grapes.