You find yourself in E1M1

[foq]

>find the fn mainframe

[Shadowswift]

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

You put a fist to your chin and contemplate where you are. You're pretty sure you're still in The Sewage System. You don't remember taking any slipgates or portals. You do know, however, that you will, very soon, find the bastard who stole the grapes. And they...will...PAY...

>find the fn mainframe

Well, lets see. You take the pencil out of your satchel and scribble out a rough map on one of the papers on the desk. Generators and circuit breakers over that way, lift over here, elevated pathway and another lift here, sewage pool there with four-way intersection. Gold Door to the north, submerged tunnel to the east, previously-mentioned lift to the west, closed floodgates to the south. High above is the room with the entrance slipgate, which you never took apart. Um...why didn't you? Does it really even matter anymore? I mean...the Shadows have pretty much won already by capturing the four slipgates from Start. What's the point in even trying? Why are you even here? What are you doing? Damn it...you feel lost...
Maybe I can help. A man approaches you from behind. You spin around and site your shotgun.
"Hold it! Don't fucking move!" You demand.
Calm yourself, Ray. I am a friend. I have been wanting to speak with you for some time now. You study the man. He appears to be a Ranger, same as you. No rank on his shoulder.
"Who are you?"
An admirer. The man flashes a rather evil-looking grin. Admirer...
"You're Protos, aren't you?"
You're very clever, Captain. I have been longing to meet you face to face. You scowl, but lower your gun.
"Why are you stalking me? What do you want?"
I have been watching you since your glorious victory over The Reaper. I have taken a very special interest in your work. What do I want? Why, to help, of course. You look as though you could use some. You hang your head.
"Yeah. Kinda stuck at the moment. Not really sure what to do. The Shadows have pretty much already won. They already have enough slipgates, there isn't really anything left to stop them from invading Earth..." Protos chuckles.
What exactly makes you think that the Shadows want to invade Earth? You hesitate.
"Well...I don't exactly KNOW that they do, but it makes sense. Why else would they steal our slipgates?"
Perhaps they simply want to explore other dimensions. That's why the slipgates were first invented for military use, right?
"And what about The Reaper? And The Beast? Why would they make it a point and go out of their ways to try and destroy me?" Protos chuckles again.
You worry too much. You really should take it easy. You scoff.
"I don't have time to take it easy. It's always one mission after another for us Rangers, ya know? I mean, first I had to stop the minions of Quake from invading Earth, now they've sent me back to stop the Shadows."Wait...
...
When did they send you?
You can't remember the military sending you to stop the Shadows. Now that you think about it, you still don't remember anything before you arrived in E1M1. Why are you here? What happened after you killed the Dragon? You never went home...you never reported back to HQ. You don't even remember leaving Quake...
Do you understand now, Captain? You shake your head...Pity. Protos smirks. Follow me, Ray. I think I know just what to do to solve all of your problems at once. You follow Protos, almost unwillingly...as if you're being summoned. You don't want to follow him, but you find yourself unable to resist. Your vision feels like it's starting to blur. Your body feels light...you feel high.
"Is this a dream?" You ask him.
No, my friend. What you are experiencing right now may be the only reality you have ever experienced. Protos leads you back down to the sewage pool. Now then, if you will use your Grappling Hook to take us back up to the slipgate. You comply, blindly. Protos clings to your back as you hook to the ceiling through the tube to the entrance room.
"Where are you taking me?" You ask, almost sleepily.
Don't worry, dear friend. All will be clear soon. Odd...he says that, yet you're finding that the longer you're in his company, the more high you feel...the blurrier everything gets. Here we are. Go on through, Captain.
"Whats...on the other side...?" Protos smiles.
Understanding, my dear Captain. Understanding... You step through.

You find yourself in E1M1.

[[Continued]]

[Shadowswift]

[[Continued]]

...ugh...what the hell?
"Captain! You're back!" One of your sentries greets you warmly.
Kill him. Protos's voice vibrates in your head.
What?? Why?!
Release his soul unto yours. You will feel his life empower your own. The Darkness within you pulsates. The Light remaining in your heart weakens.
I can't! I can't kill my own men! You shudder as you find yourself clutching your scythe. No, I can't do this!
"Captain? Are...you ok? What's the matter??" The sentry's eyes pierce into your soul. There is fear within them.
Fear of you.
You approach him.
"Forgive me..." You hesitate...
DO IT! You raise the Scythe and send it crashing down upon the hapless soldier with the speed of a Thunderbolt. Blood sprays upon you. You feel stronger. The Darkness within you swells and pulses. You feel stronger now than you usually do with Quad Damage. This strength...is incredible. It feels...good. The bases alarms snap you out of your high. The soldier's death must have set off the base's Security Grid. The turrets begin firing on you. You slash them all with blazing speed, destroying them before they can line you up. You hear the lift lower. You ready yourself to confront your subordinates. When the door opens, Phoenix walks in and finds you standing above the fallen sentry, you and your scythe covered in his blood.
"...Ray..." Phoenix can't believe what he sees. "What have you done??"
"It's over, sergeant. The mission is a failure. There's only one way to survive now." You raise your scythe again.
"What's happened to you?? Your face! Your eyes! What are you doing? What are you thinking??" Phoenix is clearly heart-broken by your betrayal.
"Don't be a fool, Phoenix. Come with me. Help me remake our world." The words coming out of your mouth shock even yourself a little...but they feel natural.

You have lost control.

"Captain, I don't know what the hell is wrong with you, but so help me, if you have lost yourself to whatever corruption was in those crystals, I'll bring you out of it one way or another!" He sites his Lightspark Rifle at you and readies to fire. "Please, sir. Come to your senses and stand down!" You glare at Phoenix. You are ready for combat. You've been wanting to put this whelp in his place for some time now............but you.....can't! You can't find the strength to attack him.
"Don't worry, little man..." You slash a portal open. You'll see me again soon... You leap through the portal. It vanishes behind you.



Phoenix drops his rifle and falls to his knees. "How...did this happen? How could I have fucked things up this badly? I've failed my mission...as well as my commander." Behind him steps the DKC.
"Ray has fallen prey to the Shadow's influence. This was not your fault, Stockton." Phoenix is not consoled by the DKC's kind words. "Our mission is not yet failed, friend. It must be completed, even if you and I must complete it ourselves. On your feet!" Phoenix rises.
"You're right. This isn't over yet." Phoenix calls HQ.
"Sergeant Stockton? What is it?"
"Lieutenant, I need some advice. The Captain has lost his mind and turned on us. He's killed one of the base's sentries, then fled into a portal. I don't know where he is or what he plans to do! He said something about remaking our world. What should I do?" There is some silence...you hear some arguing in the background.
"Stockton, this is General Navejar. I'm placing you in charge of The Captain's mission for the time being. However...your primary objective is to find and stop The Captain...by whatever means necessary. Understood?" Phoenix winces at the situation.
"...Oorah, sir."
"Very good. Now get to it. Oh, one more thing. Check your slipgate. Out." Phoenix checks the slipgate. Upon it materializes a shining new rifle. He picks it up.

Phoenix got the Thunderbolt!

"Hm...thought I'd be happier to see this thing..." The DKC comes up behind Phoenix.
"You assume the command that Ray once had...therefore, you assume my command, as well. My blade is yours, Lord Phoenix."

You are now playing as Phoenix.
The Death Knight Commander has joined your party!
You have lost the buff 'The Captain's Charge'.

-Fenmoore “Phoenix” Stockton-
Character
Phoenix has 100 Health
Phoenix has 75 Soul Armor
Phoenix is equipped with the Thunderbolt
Phoenix's Communicator is ON
Phoenix's Console is ON

-Phoenix's Inventory-
-Ammo-
(96) Shells
(56) Energy Cells
(100) Shadow Plasma Cells
-Weapons-
Grappling Hook
Maglite
Badly-Bloodied Hand Axe
REALLY Super Shotgun
Enforcer's Blaster Rifle
Lightspark Rifle
Thunderbolt
-Consumables-
empty
-Miscellanious-
Fully-Stocked Toolbox
Complex Networking for Dummies Manual


-The Death Knight Commander-
Companion
The DKC has 375 health
The DKC has 200 Black Armor and 100 Soul Armor
The DKC is equipped with the Commander’s Sword
The DKC’s Headset is ON
The DKC’s Console is ON

-The DKC's Inventory-
-Ammo-
(100) Shadow Plasma Cells
-Weapons-
Grappling Hook
Commander’s Sword
Lightspark Rifle
-Consumables-
empty
-Miscellanious-
(3) Bunch of Slipgate Parts
Slipgate Fuse


-Darkscythe-
Pet
Darkscythe has 300 health
Darkscythe has 100 Soul Armor

-Scrogg Flyer X-
Pet
SFX has 50 health
SFX’s Universal Communicator is ON
SFX’s Computer is ON

-SFX’s Inventory-
empty

>

[Shadowswift]

((Don't quit now! It just got interesting!))

[foq]

I had no intention to quit... I moved and lost internet for a while.

>Shit, how do we even get around? We've been tearing down slipgates and relying on the Captain's portals to move... start trying to find some way to follow Ray.

[Shadowswift]

>Shit, how do we even get around? We've been tearing down slipgates and relying on the Captain's portals to move... start trying to find some way to follow Ray.

Hm...well, lets count our resources. You still have the slipgates, they're just taken apart. No big deal. You're Phoenix: the baddest fuckin technician in the corps. The DKC still has all those slipgate parts. You could rebuild one of them and have HQ recalibrate its pathway. Yeah, you're gonna have to finish this fight the old-school way, it would seem. As far as The Captain, you suspect that his console is still active. If your hunch is correct, HQ could ping it and give you relative coordinates of his location. You call HQ.

"Sergeant? What do you need?" You ask them to ping The Captain's console, if it's still on. "Heh...ten steps ahead of you, buddy. We've been pinging Ray's console ever since you first told us about what happened. We've tracked him to somewhere in The Elder Dimension. He's been there for some time...or at least, he had been. The last time we pinged him, nothing showed up. We suspect he probably turned the thing off." Damn...you ask where in E4 he is. "The last ping we got was somewhere in a city. We don't have much intel about this place, not even a name, but supposedly, it's the only city left standing from before the Elder Gods' conquest of Quake." A nameless city... "Unfortunately, there are no slipgates there. You'll have to fight your way through The Elder Dimension to get there." Awesomesauce...you tell them you'll call them back. You've got a slipgate to build. You just pray that the Encroaching Darkness hasn't rearranged E4 too much. You head down to the exit slipgate with the DKC and use the parts he's carrying to rebuild the thing. When you plug the final fuse back in, it sparks back to life. You call HQ and ask them to recalibrate the pathway to The Sewage System. They comply. Alright, ready to make the journey? Do you want to take one of your pets with you?

>

[foq]

>and then Phoenix, DKC, and Darkscythe were into slipgate

[metchsteekle]

>and that robot thing deal into slipgate also

[Shadowswift]

>and then Phoenix, DKC, and Darkscythe were into slipgate

>and that robot thing deal into slipgate also

The DKC and SFX stand at your side. Darkscythe, who is usually apprehensive around SFX, wishes to come along, also. He misses his master and is worried about him. How could you say no? This is highly irregular, but given the circumstances, you allow it. Besides, it's likely you won't be able to return to The Slipgate Complex for some time...if ever again.

SFX joins your party!
Darkscythe joins your party!

Having both pets will be useful. Darkscythe and the DKC can cover the frontal assault while you and SFX attack from range. SFX will also prove most useful against enemy Shadows. Being a soulless robot, damage from Shadow-based attacks will be significantly reduced against him, if they can manage to hit him at all. You pause and consider SFX for a moment. Alien technology, once alive now stripped of all biological components...you wonder why this thing chose you and Ray to follow around. Programming? Hm...you wonder if it IS just a soulless robot, or if there's more to him than that. Seems silly...you even feel silly calling the thing 'him'...but even though it's only been a member of the team a short while, it's grown on you, like a loyal friend willing to defend you without a moment's hesitation. You pat the robot on the top of its screen and thank it for a job well done.
"=)" You smile at the tiny text emoticon on the flyer's small screen, then get back to serious-face. E4M1 awaits! Let's go!

When you arive, you find the entrance pretty much the same as it has always been. You study the surroundings.

Behind is the slipgate.
To the left and right are walls...boring.
Ahead is the tube down to the map. Beyond that is a mangled computer box.

Your primary mission is to find and apprehend The Captain.
Your current objective is to locate the exit.

You grip your Thunderbolt and prepare yourself for the worst.

[foq]

>inspect computer box, then become down into map via tube

[Shadowswift]

>inspect computer box, then become down into map via tube

You check the Mangled Computer Box. It looks like an ordinary number-crunching computer box, commonly scene in military bases. It's been slashed open, likely by something strong with a very sharp appendage. The insides have been picked through and the harddrive is missing. Other than that, there's not really anything useful within. Well, that's that, you suppose. You're not really sure what to expect on the lower level, so you latch your hook onto the wall of the tube and lower yourself down slowly. The DKC grabs Darkscythe and follows with his hook. SFX floats quietly behind. As you dangle above The Sewage System, you survey your surroundings. Your first observation is that there are no hostiles in sight.

You see a large room filled with liquid waste. It splits off into four hallways, one in each direction.
You smell.....oh dear God
You hear the heavy sloshing sound of water and waste. There must be a floodgate nearby.
You don't taste anything...thank God.
You feel a faint reverberation of Arcane magic. It's everywhere in this dimension.

You lower down just above the waste and inspect each hallway.

Ahead leads to a Gold Door
Right leads to a submerged tunnel
Left leads to a lift
Behind leads to a floodgate.

>

[foq]

>party was onto lift, then search for gold key... even if it means going to that tunnel...

[Mindf!3ldzX]

>interrupt foq's command,and protest foq stole the grapes.

[foq]

>not me... couldn't be!

[metchsteekle]

>inspect floodgate