You find yourself in E1M1

[foq]

>while using Kaio-Ken, you only need 1.5 seconds anyway

[Shadowswift]

> stick the Commander's Blade into his head

Right. Quick and simple. You order SFX to attack from behind to confuse the beast and delay the recovery of his psychic ability. You order Darkscythe to attack his leg tenticles, holding him at bay. You ready your weapons.

>while using Kaio-Ken, you only need 1.5 seconds anyway

Your eyes burn with fury. Strength and rage flare within you. You pull from it as you charge Yogg-Shargoth. Red fire erupts around you as you swing your weapons. Axe and sword cross in the middle of the Elder God's neck. His head falls from his body. His body wriggles and struggles briefly before it falls to the ground. You pull out a crystal and jam it into the dead god's body. The crystal drinks deeply and soaks up the Shadow energy. Once all traces of Yogg are gone, you replace the crystal making sure not to touch it. Well....that wasn't so hard, was it? Ya know, you almost died only once in that fight and you only had to use one consumable. Not bad. Hey, keep in mind that it took the strength of The Reaper to kill this guy the first time. What now?

Your skill in Kaio-ken has increased by 10
Your Kaio-ken skill is now 12/525

>

[Shadowswift]

[[Just so we know, here's a list of skills and their levels Phoenix and company know. Higher skill = greater proficieny in that skill. A lot of them are useless and simple fluff for the story, but some of them are useful in combat.]]

Ray
2-handed Weapons- 525/525 [Proficiency with weapons requiring both hands, guns AND melee weapons]
Dual-Wielding- 420/525 [Skill when using two one-handed weapons, including guns]
Grappling Hook- 525/525 [Proficiency with a grappling hook]
Unarmed- 200/525 [Skills in basic pugilism and martial arts]
Kaio-ken- 0/525 [Duration and intensity of Kaio-ken]
The Force- 0/525 [Aptitude with the Living Force]
Shadow Magic- 500/525 [Spell power with Shadow spells]
Earth Magic- 0/525 [Spell power with Earth spells]
Hell Magic- 0/525 [Spell power with Hell spells]
Nether Magic- 0/525 [Spell power with Nether spells]
Arcane Magic- 0/525 [Spell [power with Arcane spells]
Leadership- 525/525 [How well you can command subordinates]
Bartending- 25/525 [Taste and potency of mixed drinks]
Humor- 100/525 [Proficiency with jokes and anecdotes]
Technology- 160/525 [Skill in creating and repairing technological devices]
Athletics- 363/525 [Ability to run, jump, swim, climb, and play]
First Aid- 15/525 [Skills in patching wounds without the use of Stims or steroids]

Phoenix
2-handed Weapons- 100/525
Dual-Wielding- 500/525
Grappling Hook- 75/525
Unarmed- 20/525
Kaio-ken- 12/525
The Force- 0/525
Shadow Magic- 0/525
Earth Magic- 0/525
Hell Magic- 0/525
Nether Magic- 0/525
Arcane Magic- 0/525
Leadership- 100/525
Bartending- 385/525
Humor- 405/525
Technology- 500/525
Athletics- 325/525
First Aid- 50/525

Velen
2-handed Weapons- 525/525
Dual-Wielding- 0/525
Grappling Hook- 0/525
Unarmed- 410/525
Kaio-ken- 0/525
The Force- 0/525
Shadow Magic- 0/525
Earth Magic- 0/525
Hell Magic- 0/525
Nether Magic- 20/525
Arcane Magic- 0/525
Leadership- 525/525
Bartending- 0/525
Humor- 5/525
Technology- 0/525
Athletics- 500/525
First Aid- 0/525

[foq]

>Return to Velen, debrief him about Yogg's defeat, replenish dream water stims and take a drought from the pool, contact HQ

[Shadowswift]

>Return to Velen, debrief him about Yogg's defeat, replenish dream water stims and take a drought from the pool, contact HQ

You turn around to head back to Velen, but as soon as you do, you find yourself with an eyeful of DKC.
"I felt it. He's dead, isn't he?" You nod. "Thank you, my lord. I feel as though a tremendous burdon has been lifted off of my shoulders. I feel...free. I will be happy to accompany you in killing Vol-Balgruth...again." Well, that's good news.

Velen has joined your party!

You hand him back his sword. You collect your shotgun and axe off of the battlefield. You head over to the healing pool, refill your stim and have yourself a drink.

You are refreshed

You call HQ. Donavon answers.
"Stockton, what is it?" You tell him of your current progress. "The second Elder God is dead? Excellent work." He goes quiet for a moment. "Hey Phoenix..." Whoa...Donavon NEVER calls you Phoenix. "We've been thinking here. The way we see things here, you've done incredible work since The Captain turned. You're doing better than any of us expected you to, better perhaps, even, than The Captain himself. Even the General agrees. It is for that reason we feel you deserve a promotion." Whoa...totally weren't expecting that one, were ya? "Now, we can't give you LT at the moment although I would love to promote you as my equal...the General wouldn't have it. However, we are prepared to offer you Master Sergeant. It's not a huge promotion, we know...remember, though, Ray was a Master Sergeant before he was promoted to Captain." Yeah yeah yeah, but THAT was a huge promotion. "Keep up the good work, Master Sergeant, perhaps when this is all over, I'll be saluting you. Oh, before I break contact, Scribe Irish wanted to talk to you." He hands the phone to Irish.
"Stockton, I have a mission for you if you're up to it. I want you to catalogue runes and their ties to elemental magic. Finding the four Lesser Runes will be most helpful in this, but really, any runic items will do if you can find any elemental properties in them." Yeah, sure...if you have any time in between your main quests and, ya know...struggling to stay alive. "Like I said, if you're up to it. You don't have to do this mission if you don't want to, or don't have the time. If you can do this for me, I will personally recommend you for advancement to fully-fledged Scribe in the Science Department." Yeah, ok. That works. "Thank you, apprentice. I'm sure whatever time you can devote to this will be helpful."

You have accepted the mission: Optional Mission: Runes for Irish.

>

[metchsteekle]

> ask Velen if he is familiar with runes, and whether he is familiar with the works of Abdul Alhazred, Ludvig Prinn, Friedrich von Junzt, Eibon of Hyperborea. also ask whats the deal with [quake] zombies, if he be undead and they be undead why he so smrt while they be so dumb yo.. also knight zombies/

[Shadowswift]

> ask Velen if he is familiar with runes, and whether he is familiar with the works of Abdul Alhazred, Ludvig Prinn, Friedrich von Junzt, Eibon of Hyperborea. also ask whats the deal with [quake] zombies, if he be undead and they be undead why he so smrt while they be so dumb yo.. also knight zombies/

Runes? "I have already told you most everything I know on that subject. Was there something in specific you wished to discuss about them?" Uh... "The last human-written book I read was some philosophy by a Greek named Plato. It has been over a millenium since I have been on Earth to read books." Ok. Zombies? "I have already told you all I know about them, also. Are you not feeling well, my lord?" You explain your inquiry. "Well, when my kinsmen and I were turned, we were alotted to keep a great deal of our human minds. You see, before we came to Quake, we were often in the company of great magisters, alchemists, scholars, philosophers, travelers, nobles, royalty...we were very worldly for mere soldiers. When The Master conquered us, he was impressed with our level of knowledge almost as much as he was with our prowess in combat. We were shown a level of respect and mercy never before seen by the Elder Gods." Go on... "That is just us. We were a world apart from the other minions. However, even lesser Knights, Death Knights, and other undead thralls like the Grunts boast a much greater reasoning and comprehension than the Zombies do. True Zombies are thoughtless, mindless, soulless, willless...they are automatons in every sense of the word, 'machines' of rotten flesh and bone given a prime directive from which they never sway." Fascinating. "Was there anything else you wanted to discuss, my lord?"

>

[foq]

>practice kaio-ken again, see what you can do after that boost from Yogg.

[Shadowswift]

>practice kaio-ken again, see what you can do after that boost from Yogg.

You find it much easier to find your inner strength. Quiet as it is, you now find yourself in a level of zen unfound thus far. Red fire erupts around you. Strength rips through you, followed shortly by pain and stress. The longer you hold on to it, the stronger you feel until it finally peaks at 2.34 seconds. Pain shoots through your body. You release the kaio-ken and flop down. Shit...you may have over-done it. Your body feels shredded. You can hardly move. You'll need a moment to recover before you can get up.

You lose 30 health
Your skill in Kaio-ken increases by 5
Your Kaio-ken skill is now at 17/525

[metchsteekle]

>consider how to collect wall-runes, camera/

[Shadowswift]

>consider how to collect wall-runes, camera/

[[not sure I understand what you're trying to say...]]

[metchsteekle]

[you know the runes enscribed on walls n shit, how do collect those?]

> if have quad or any power-up, shave some off and mix it with healing pool water if possible

[Shadowswift]

[you know the runes enscribed on walls n shit, how do collect those?]

> if have quad or any power-up, shave some off and mix it with healing pool water if possible

You have a look around along the walls. You don't see any here in this place. You remember the DKC telling you about runekeeps, and how this place isn't one. You keep in mind, though, if you see any to catalogue them with the camera on your console. At the moment, you don't have any powerups. The only runic items you have are the Runestone Bowl, and those mysterious Bindings. You could take a scraping of them, but you'd hate to ruin them. Plus, you don't have any phials to keep them in. You opt to simply take their picture and catalogue them.

Runes catalogued: 2/25

>

[foq]

>Go after Vog already... ask Velen for tips

[Shadowswift]

>Go after Vog already... ask Velen for tips

Going to assume that you mean 'Vol' in your thought there. You concur that the time for standing around with your finger up your nose has passed. It's time for absolution. It's time to make shit happen. One Elder God stands before you and the answers you seek.

Now then, if the psychic traffic is any indication, there are two Shadowy presences, both around the same area in which your fight with Shub-Niggurath took place. You remember now, there were two closed-off areas, and, according to your console's radar, there are hostiles in both areas, 4 smaller hostiles in one area, one huge hostile in the other. That's where you'll have to go. You are in good condition, your armor is still pristine, you have sufficient ammo in your Lightspark Rifle, and a moderate amount in your Thunderbolt. So awayyyy we g....oh, SFX has something for you.
"Download complete. Open?" Why, yes. Please do. "Items known as Bindings. Markings appear to be elemental in nature. When exposed to a particular element, runes will adopt properties of said element. When attached to a weapon, weapon will take one that elemental property. Be warned, while elemental properties can be changed without limit, once attached to a weapon, they will become permanently bound." Interesting. You ask SFX exactly where these files came from and why even the Science Department doesn't have anything about them. "All information comes from carbon analysis, laser scanning, ultraviolet and infrared light analysis, suplimented by simple internet database searches." Coooool...why couldn't HQ find anything about them? Speculation: United States Marine Corps Science Department researchers limit themselves to preexisting files in their own database. A wealth of knowledge can by found by accessing every database on the world wide web." What internet database could possibly have information on runic items from Quake? "www.google.com" Well, you asked...anyway, back to business. Vol-Balgruth must die! Wait, what's this? A portal opens before you. Out of it steps a robed man...The Captain.
"Hello, Phoenix." You say nothing. "Are you not happy to see me? I thought we were friends..." You are not amused. "Oh...I see the Elder Dimension has hardened you quite a bit. Tell me, have you given any thought to my offer? Perhaps you'd like to reconsider joining our cause? It really isn't as evil as it seems, it's actually quite noble!" You remain silent. "No? Oh, fine then. I guess we'll just have to fight, then." Wait, what? Now?? That's not how it's supposed to go! You're supposed to fight all the lesser bosses first, then find your way to him and SHIT!! A stream of black plasma slashes past your head. The Captain has his Plasma Rifle aimed straight at you. You pull out your Thunderbolt and return fire. Your companions stay their ground, torn by loyalty. It would seem that they simply cannot bring themselves to hurt their Captain. Whatever. You don't need them right now. You can handle this on your own! Plasma and lightning scream across the battlefield. Both of your Cell supplies run dry. The Captain puts away his Plasma Rifle and takes out his Blaster Pistol. You take out your Plasma Pistol and have an old-fashion cowboy pistol fight with the Captain. Black laser bolts cross with green plasma bolts, neither able to find their mark. "I am impressed, sergeant. You have improved quite a bit!"
"Actually...it's MASTER Sergeant!" The Captain pauses a moment, stunned by your retort. You utilize the oportunity to catch him with a plasma bolt to the right eye. The Captain reels backward, clutching his face, cursing your existance. As he stops reeling, you catch a glimps of his face. Your plasma bolt has scorched his face, crippling his eye.
"You miserable little bastard. You're gonna pay dearly for any permanent damage on my face." He staggers a little. "This is NOT over! I was going to go easy on you, but you have now officially pissed me off. Pray that next time we fight, I kill you QUICKLY, because next time, I will not hold back." From out of no where, the Reaper's Scythe appears in The Captain's hands. He rips open a portal and vanishes within it. The portal closes behind him. Shit...you were hoping for a more fruitful fight than...wait, what's that? There's something shimmering on the ground. The Captain must have dropped something. You go over to inspect it. It's a rune!

You got the Rune of Fire Magic!

You take a picture of it and catalogue it.

Runes catalogued: 3/25

Hm...doesn't let you cast any fire spells or anything...you ask the DKC.
"By themselves, the lesser runes aren't good for much. If you do know any Earth Magic, they can enhance that while you have them, but other than that...they don't really do anything." O....k. You stuff it into your satchel and move on...

[[Continued whenever I get more time...]]