You find yourself in E1M1

[foq]

>and then Ray was into battle

[ImperiusDamian]

> fire everything!!!

[MadGypsy]

You're doomed. Even if you beat Protos (highly unlikely since he got his powers right back) you will never beat his master. The party is in over their head trying to fight Gods with rocks.

[Shadowswift]

You're doomed. Even if you beat Protos (highly unlikely since he got his powers right back) you will never beat his master. The party is in over their head trying to fight Gods with rocks.

How right you are...but you knew all of this from the very beginning when it was just you and your 20ga shotgun and badly-bloodied hand axe. You made it out of that situation relatively ok. Now you have better weapons and armor and allies at your side ready to die for you. Much bigger rocks than what you had before...who ever said saving the universe would be easy?

Your battle morale has increased by a factor of 5

>and then Ray was into battle
> fire everything!!!
>rain down lightspark rifle fire, other energy weapon fire, and any other weapon fire in that order of priority on Protos all at once.
>Keep in mind that back teleporter as it may serve as an emergency exit...
>Don't go through the 'emergency exit' unless the party is all together.

You and your followers ready yourselves to engage Protos once more. It seems he has his powers back, but you wonder to yourselves if he has all of them. He's still in human form...perhaps he lost the ability to transform. That tentacle thing he transformed into was freaky and damn-near untouchable...and the serpent form had that barrier, but that was broken in his fight with his master. Maybe it's still broken...you hope so. The six of you attack together in tandem, attacking from every angle. You try ranged weapons first, only to find out that Protos has somehow gained a mighty speed boost. When you fought him in his human form last time, you were at least able to keep up with him...now, he's dodging and deflecting every single shot from every single one of you. You opt to switch to melee. As your scythe and axe meet with his twin swords, holy crap...you find out that he is a might stronger than you remember. You wonder to yourself as Protos shoves you back in a deflection why he is still fighting in his human form if he as all this new strength? Surely he could switch to another of his forms and end this fight in the bat of an eyelash...but why doesn't he? You decide you'd rather not find out. With the exit portal behind you in the back of your mind should things get dicey, you rejoin the fight, giving your all to Protos with your Light-blessed weapons. With SFX and Ted raining down fire from a distance and Darkscythe keeping Protos from moving too much by attacking his legs, you feel like you have a decent hold on this fight. It worked last time...that is, until he transformed. Something's wrong this time, though. Even with your combined assault, Protos still seems to have the upper hand. With a mighty kick, Darkscythe is sent flying.

Darkscythe loses 15 health.

With his mobility unhindered by the claws of a miniature fiend, Protos is now free to run circles around you and your party. One quick slash to each of you is enough to halt your assault.

You lose 20 health.
Phoenix loses 20 health.
Velen loses 5 health.
SFX dodges the attack.

This isn't working. You need to step up your game. Maybe a one-on-one fight will have more success than all of you attacking at once. Velen knows exactly what you mean. He begins to hand his sword to you.
"Wait, Ray..." Phoenix calls out to you. "Let me have the sword." You raise an eyebrow. "I think I have a trump card that can take Protos down...if you give me the chance." You tell him that if he means Kaio-Ken, he already tried that. "No, sir. Something...more than Kaio-Ken." You are skeptical...but you trust your lieutenant. Velen hands Phoenix the blade. You step back to the sidelines with the rest of the party.
What's this? Phoenix steps forward to face Protos. You want to fight me by yourself? Didn't you already try that, Phoenix? He quickly notices Velen's sword in Phoenix's clutches. Ohhh, I see. You're going to use the knight's sword imbued with your all of your friends' strengths to try and stand up to me. I have little to no faith in your success, but I will allow you to try if it makes you feel better. Protos continues to mock Phoenix as you and your followers empty your strengths into Velen's sword. Phoenix's power level skyrockets. I mean, you must feel pretty insignificant now that Ray has taken command again...after all that hard work you did in the Elder Dimension trying to bring him back, and all it did was make you second-banana again. Poor little soldier. Phoenix's muscles bulge. His eyes burn. Red fire explodes around him as Kaio-Ken ignites almost automatically. His power level skyrockets yet again. Protos grins a bit. Ahh...now, I see. So you do have some fight in you. This must be the legendary Kaio-Ken I've heard so much about. I never thought a geek like you would be able to harness it. Well, let's see what you have, then.

[[Continued]]

[foq]

>Kaiokeeeeeeen... TIMES FOURRRRRRR

[ImperiusDamian]

> use the Force, Luke - I mean, Phoenix

[Shadowswift]

[[Continued]]

Red fire and Black fire clash in a colossal show-down. Phoenix is fighting valiantly and, for the most part, has been able to keep up with the empowered Protos...but there's still something missing. Protos still has a very noticeable edge over Phoenix...and has used that edge to knock Phoenix down every chance he gets. Slowly but surely, Phoenix is losing the fight. Drained as you are, you and your party are helpless to do anything about it, either. Worse, if he loses the fight and is killed, you all lose. Your strengths die with him. You urge him to release your strengths and let you take the sword to fight.
"No, Captain! I need to do this!" You relay the dire urgency of his victory, and remind him that if he loses the fight..."I WON'T LOSE!!" You lay your face back down and pray for a miracle. As his strength begins to wane in the face of Protos's relentless attacks, you notice that Kaio-Ken's red fire fades away entirely. His power level drops with every blow. The fight has now become so one-sided that Phoenix cannot even defend himself. Protos's attacks are now eating into Phoenix's health. You beg him to throw you the sword. He stubbornly refuses. As Phoenix turns to face you, Protos thrusts his twin swords into Phoenix's chest. Blood pours from his weakening body. You feel his power fade away all but entirely. Protos pulls his blades away, letting Phoenix's body fall to the ground. He struggles once or twice, then lies still...lifeless.

Phoenix has been killed.

No...you've lost. You can't believe it. After all that hard work, after trying so hard, it ends like this? It can't be! You can't accept it! It just can't end like thi- wait, why are you still alive? You should be dead right now...but you aren't. The Commander's Blade is still in Phoenix's lifeless grip, your strengths still bound to the blade and to the corpse wielding it, but for whatever reason, you are still alive. How can that be? You notice him twitch slighty. His body lurches a few times, then begins to legitimately stir about. In a magnificent explosion of brilliant fire, Phoenix rises to his feet. The fire about him is so intense, even Protos shies away from it. Phoenix lifts his head, his eyes aflame.
What is this? I've never heard of Kaio-Ken like this before.
"No." Phoenix says in a clarion voice. "Not Kaio-Ken." For the first time, you can see real fear on Protos's face, even more so than when he had to face his Master's wrath. "I guess it was fate why I was nicknamed Phoenix. Ancient legends say that the Phoenix, a magnificent bird engulfed in holy fire, will rise from it's own ashes after death and come back more brilliant than before. Something happened to me when I was brought back from death by Ray. I never really understood what it was, but it made itself known when I first learned how to use Kaio-Ken. I was able to grasp it and utilize it so easily and in such a short amount of time. Such a powerful ability is rarely able to be used by ordinary men. Even Ray has trouble using it. There is a mighty power within me that I can't exactly control. The Well of Wishes gave me much more than just resurrection. I was made into a new being that day with my namesake as my Divine Guardian." A new confidence burns within your lieutenant. Even without the Commander's Blade in his hands, you can feel his power level far exceed yours. As he picks up the blade off of the ground, his strength compounds even further. Protos studies his opponent.
Indeed...you have gained a massive power boost with this, young Phoenix...but it still pales in comparison to my maximum. Protos begins to charge up his own power. Black fire flares around him. You can feel the intensity around Protos...and he is right. Even with Phoenix's new power, he is still weaker than Protos at his maximum.
"But I'm not done yet."
Huh? Phoenix smirks.
"Kaio-KEEEEENNNNN!!!!" Kaio-Ken's red fire comes instantly, as if Phoenix had suddenly become a master of the skill. His power level explodes to new heights. You aren't sure, but you feel as though Phoenix might actually be on par with Protos. He might just be able to pull it off! The two power-houses clash in a flurry of swords and fists. The fight seems to rage on for hours on end. You watch the fight, dizzy and weakened by the Commander's Blade. Something is wrong, though...Phoenix is somehow still losing the fight. Even with all of his power-ups, somehow Protos still maintains and edge! You wonder if there is a limit to his power. Phoenix falls back for a moment to catch his breath. Protos allows him the brief respite.
Indeed, you are stronger. I haven't had such a challenge in....ever. Even the Reaper at his best could not keep up with me as well as you have. I applaud you...but you surely must know that you can't win. You're tiring far faster than I am. You'll be out of stamina soon if you keep it up like that. I can feel that Kaio-Ken catching up to you...and worse still, your new Phoenix ability seems to be burning away at you even faster than Kaio-Ken is. He's right. Phoenix's power level is slipping away. The longer the fight goes on, the faster his power decreases.
"Then I guess I'll just have to end this very quick-like. I've been wanting to try this for some time now, but I've been too scared it would damage my body too harshly. I don't have time to worry about that now."
What are you talking about?
"Kaio-Ken.....times TWO!!!!" Phoenix's fiery aura doubles around him. His power level soars to yet unreached heights, though as it has peaked, it is now falling fast. He wastes no time as he bolts into Protos with frightening speed. Protos reels across the yard, slamming hard into the wall behind. Phoenix strikes again from the side, slashing at Protos's side. He strikes again from the other side, slashing at his leg. He darts away and thrusts back to the center, gripping Protos's throat and violently throwing him to the other side of the yard. Protos's edge has been crushed. Phoenix now has a commanding power lead. He releases Kaio-Ken. Now only the sacred fire of the Phoenix burns around him.

Phoenix's skill in Kaio-Ken raises by 50.
Phoenix's skill in Unarmed raises by 10.

"Here, Velen. You can have this back." He tosses the Commander's Blade back to Velen, releasing your strength at the same time. You rise to your feet and take out your Chromaspark cannon. Velen and Phoenix take out their Lightspark rifles. Protos rises to his knees and knuckles.
Who do you think you are...Stockton? You think...you have won? Ha....ha......kill me if you...can. At the end of your journey, my Master awaits. You...will not get past...him. You and your Companions stand shoulder to shoulder behind Protos and aim the barrels of your rifles at the back of Protos's head. Velen begins to pray
"And shepherds, we shall be.
For thee, my Lord, for thee." You and Phoenix join in.
"Power hath descended forth from thy hand,
That our feet may swiftly carry out thy command.
And we shall flow a river forth to thee,
And teeming with souls shall it ever be.
In nomine patris,
Et filii,
Et spiritus sancti." You pull your triggers in tandem. White Light rips through Protos's head. His body falls to the floor, lifeless. At last....victory. You search Protos's corpse and take everything you find.

You get:
Protos's Swordstaff
200 Shadow Plasma cells.
Abyssal Armor
Protos's Orders
Dalton Kirk's Journal
Rune of Earth Magic.

As you breathe in a sigh of relief, Phoenix falls backwards to the ground. You rush to his aid. He is breathing, but unconscious. The battle has taken a heavy toll on him. Stimpaks and steroids won't help this situation. He will need time and rest to recover. You gather up your fallen friend, summon your pets to your side, and scythe back to headquarters.

Back at E1M1, you lay Phoenix down in the make-shift medical bay they have set up in the small room on the second floor of the main complex. The medics and doctors tell you he will be just fine after a good long rest. They advise you and your other followers to take a good rest, as well. You'll do that later, though. You still have work to do. You report to Major Davis and tell him that Protos is dead.
"Good. With him dead, his Corrupted have no leadership. The darkness corrupting them will likely abate in time and they'll go back to the lives they once lead." You ask about the marines back at Fallen HQ. "No...they weren't Corrupted. They were all culled and raised as Shadows. I'm afraid there is no hope for them." You tell him about Protos's background story. "Dalton Kirk? Yes, I remember him. He was a legendary teacher and a soldier of high renown. Cryin' shame how he turned against us...even worse that he couldn't be saved. We could sure use his wisdom right about now." You nod. "If there is nothing else, Captain, you are dismissed."

Lots to do, even though there is really only one main Objective left. You now have all four Lesser Runes in your possession. You can now take the fight to the Shadow's home front and confront the Master you've heard so much about, but have yet to see. You still have The Force to learn about. Though you'd like to learn more about his special new power, Phoenix is out cold. He should be ready to go in a day or so. You could try to practice Kaio-Ken on your own, see if you can't get it up as high as Phoenix. You can have a conversation with Ted or play a game of five-card-draw with Darkscythe or learn from Velen's eons of wisdom. You can simply go out and explore the realm of Quake. There's a lot out there. Never know what kind of adventures you can get into before we wrap this all up.


>

[foq]

> Phoenix has Kaio-Ken. Perhaps you ought to learn The Force and bring a different skill to the table. Embark on a journey exploring Quake while learning of The Force and chatting with Velen and learning from him, even though whatever he has to say is probably irrelevant at this point.

> Next time you see Phoenix, ask him if he thinks there's a way to modify the Thunderbolt so it fires a stream of light energy instead of electricity.

[MadGypsy]

> shave

These guys must have beards to their ankles by now. I bet an artistic rendering of what these guys actually look like right now would be pretty funny. A bunch of hobos in armor.

> bathe

is there fungus growing on any of these guys yet?

>>>> Pheonix sees something just barely poking out of the shadows behind a terminal. "What is that?" he expresses inquisitively while walking over to it. He reaches the object and bends down to pick it up. "Quote of the day." he reads aloud from the cover. "It's a quote book" he realizes.

You have gained one quote book for moral support on your journey

> read a quote
> Tell SFX to memorize the entire book and throw it away

SFX gains "knowledge of the ages" now when times get hard SFX will always know something relevant to say.

[Shadowswift]

[[I would love to see that artist rendering, btw!]]

[Shadowswift]

> shave
> bathe

You've been keeping your facial ruggedness under control with your scythe, though a good clean shave does sound awfully nice right now. You tell the medics to bathe and shave Phoenix while you tend to your own hygienic needs.

You feel refreshed.

Well, you've beaten the second-in-command, Protos...the thorn that's been lodged in your side since the day you first re-awoke in E1M1. Only one major fight stands in the way between you and the end of the war. The Master...if only you knew more about him, you'd feel a lot more confident about what you're about to embark upon. The little you do know chills you to your very soul. Godly powerful, seemingly omnipresent, mysterious as a moonless night in the heart of the Doomed Dimension...and in command of an army of Shadows that range from cannon-fodder to Elite-class Warriors capable of bringing down a squad of Enforcers with a wave of their hands that he could very well unleash upon you and your pitiful resistance at any given moment. You could take the ball that's in your court at the moment and lead a preemptive strike on him, though you know that even if you have a glimmer of a chance at victory, it'll be a very hard-fought battle that will likely come with a few casualties. You're not ready to sacrifice anyone right now. If you walk away from this victorious, you want all of your friends walking right beside you. You decide that you need to bolster your own team however possible. You have just about all the firepower you need. It doesn't get much better than the Chromaspark Prismabolt Cannon...in fact, the only thing you can think of that would be better than your CPC would be a CPC in the hands of every soldier and minion in the complex.

...why not? Shit, you have enough Shadowpulse Rifles from the hundreds, if not thousands of Shadow soldiers you've massacred...maybe R&D can work with the Science Dept. and reverse-engineer these things enough to figure out how to build them. If they can do that, surely they can put together a CPC like yours. You offer to let them have it for the time being so they can study it and figure out what makes it so much more powerful than the average Shadowpulse. You tell them that you are expecting promising results within twenty-four hours. You are pleased with your authority when you see them set to work right away like men possessed.

> Next time you see Phoenix, ask him if he thinks there's a way to modify the Thunderbolt so it fires a stream of light energy instead of electricity.

You check on Phoenix to see how he's doing. In just six hours since the battle with Protos, he's awake and coherent. You smile at him as he looks over at you.
"Cap'n." You ask him how he feels. "I feel alright...muscles are pretty sore, but it'll work out. Once they're fully healed, I'll probably be a lot stronger than I was when I fought Protos." You smile at him again.
"You did good, Lieutenant. Damn good. Whatever the hell you did back there certainly came at a good time." He nods.
"Yeah. It's a good thing I studied Kaio-Ken and Hand-to-Hand as much as I did in your absence. I may never have discovered the fire within me if you hadn't gone all evil." You snort.
"What exactly was that that you did? I know your abilities inside and out, but I've never seen you burst into flames like that." Phoenix shakes his head.
"I wish I knew how to describe it better in words...it's like, ever since I was resurrected by the well, a powerful divine presence has been inside of me, strengthening and hardening me more and more each day. It's like I told Protos, really. In ancient mythology, the holy Phoenix, a divine bird of living fire, will actually burn itself to ash with the might of its own fire. However, once fully consumed by the fire, the bird will rise again from its own ashes and shine with a light that is stronger, brighter and more potent than ever before." You nod along, still confused. "Somehow, for whatever reason, I was given the boon of the Phoenix on the other side before I was brought back to life. When my spirit reunited with my body, the Phoenix's boon came with it. I don't fully understand the lengths of this power and what blessings it has given me, exactly. It has made me far stronger than I've ever been before, even with Kaio-Ken at my disposal. Quite frankly, I'm not even really sure I'm still human." You raise an eyebrow... "Strong as I may be, though, I'm pretty sure I'm not exactly immortal. There are limits to this power, I'm betting. Just as with the holy Phoenix, as the fire burns around me, it burns me up as well. I can't just use it willy-nilly. It's a lot like Kaio-Ken, really. It hurts if I use it too long." Right. You tell him to keep a straight face and keep that under control. He nods and rises to his feet. You raise your Thunderbolt inquiry to him.
"I...well, I guess that's possible. I don't have the first clue how to do it, though. I've studied the Thunderbolt inside and out, and I know how the thing works with electricity...but I don't know how one would turn it into a light weapon. You might try asking a weapons technician or a more senior Scribe."

Quest accepted: White Lightning
Find out more information about upgrading Phoenix's Thunderbolt.

> Phoenix has Kaio-Ken. Perhaps you ought to learn The Force and bring a different skill to the table. Embark on a journey exploring Quake while learning of The Force and chatting with Velen and learning from him, even though whatever he has to say is probably irrelevant at this point.

You saddle up and tell Velen to join you for a new journey.
"Of course, my lord. Where you go, I follow."

Phoenix has left your party.
Velen has joined your party!

Darkscythe and SFX await patiently for your word on which of them will accompany you. Ted is also curious as to which of them will be his mount for this journey.


>

[Shadowswift]

You opt to allow Darkscythe to accompany you on your journey through the lands of Quake.

Darkscythe has joined your party!

Remembering what Scribe Irish told you, you decide to begin your journey at the ruins of Marine HQ back on Earth. You don't expect to be welcomed by anything friendly, so you lock a few cells into your gun and ready yourself for dimensional travel.

[Dimensional Travel]

...

......

.............

[Traveling between two separate dimensions takes longer...]

...

.....

You arrive at the gates of what used to be the bastion of the strongest military force on the face of the Earth. A veritable castle, protected by towering tungsten carbide walls, mighty guard towers, beam turrets, and sentries posted every ten feet. At least, that's what it used to be. Now, it's just a shell. The electricity has apparently been cut, as the spot lights and beam turrets are inactive. You take in your surroundings. This is not like the Earth you remember. The wind is fierce and constant, like a storm is near. You look up at the sky. Clouds...and lightning. No moon or stars...just like the sky in Quake.
"The barriers between the two worlds are weakening. The Shadows are attempting to pull this dimension into the next." It seems Velen knows what's going on. "They did this to the outskirts of Quake. The entry hub you call 'Start', they pulled the whole thing out of Quake and into their own realm piece by piece. They have since begun to pull apart the rest of the realm and take other areas for their own. The dimensional boundaries between our world and theirs have been so thin, our atmosphere and climates have begun to resemble theirs. Now they target this world." No... "They are not satisfied with simply conquering our realms, my lord. They want to unify them into a single, all-consuming dimension of darkness so vast and thick with evil, it would rival even Hell itself." This is not good. You need to do what you've set out to do quickly before both Earth and Quake are absorbed into the realm of Shadows. You're not exactly sure, but you assume that once the realms are absorbed, there is no way to bring them back. You focus on the task directly in front of you. It may not be as mighty as it could be, but the walls still stand, and the sentries, though no longer human, still patrol the perimeter. There's only one way inside; the front door. You can't assail the walls. None of your weapons are powerful enough to eat through the tungsten carbide alloy. Not even your grappling hook can stick to them. You haven't been anywhere inside of the place except for the bailey and the main lobby, so you can't Scythe your way in, and even if you did, you'd probably Scythe yourself right in front of a Shadow or something stupid like that. Too risky. You grip your rifle tightly and step forward. The moment your foot hits the ground. Shadow plasma screams by your face, scalding your skin. Though you don't suffer any damage, it still hurt a little. You drop to the ground and attempt to sight your enemy. You ask Velen if he saw it. "No, my lord. It's as if the shot came out of thin air." Great...a sniper. Well, we'll just have to fight sniper fire with sniper fire. You jump back up to your feet, triggering another sniper shot to nearly bullseye your exact location. You run back to the street, taking cover behind a nearby statue of an eagle with its wings spread. Sniper fire follows your every footstep, missing you by mere centimeters. Shit. It's pitch-friggin-black in there. Even with your Scoped R700 30-06, you can't pick out where the sniper is. You decide that you'll need to blow your cover and throw stealth to the wind if you're going to advance beyond this sniper. You put your Scoped R700 away and take out your CPC. You aim for the two towers and the front gate and fire a shot at each. If your old Lightspark Rifle could light up the darkness as well as it could when fired at a wall, you imagine that its bigger brother can brighten things up significantly here. As the shimmering white light slams against the walls, it leaves a brilliant, chromatic splat on the impact spot which lights up several scores of feet around it. The bailey is now lit up well enough to where you should be able to see a Shadow with your scope. You take your R700 back out and look through the scope. You search the towers, and the walls along the bailey. There he is...looking right at you through his own scoped weapon, waiting for you to come out of your hiding place. A shot rings out from his rifle. You pull your head back around the statue. A single bolt of shadow plasma splatters against the exact spot where your head was .3 seconds ago. Damn, he's good. He's a much better sniper than you are. You'll need to either try to out-snipe him, or think of something crafty to give yourself some kind of edge.


>


[[If no one wants to play anymore, I can just finish the story up in narrative form.]]

[MadGypsy]

[[ I've run out of adventure . It's so long and long between updates that it's hard to keep the fire. It generally doesn't take me years to finish reading a 100 page book. I still love your story, though. sorta unrelated have you ever read the North and South series? The movie is over 21 hours long (1300+ minutes)...if that is any indication of how long the books are.]]

[Shadowswift]

> exit interactive mode
Exiting interactive mode. Entering stand-by mode.
> exec narrative mode
Initializing. Narrative mode online.

Ray looked toward the front gates at the dark figure shifting around in the blinding light. The Shadow sniper stuck out like a sun in the middle of the night. Ray lined up his rifle, aiming clearly at the snipers head. For the few split seconds he could afford, the sniper remained still. Just as Ray pulled the trigger, however, the Shadow shifted positions again. Ray's 30-06 slug just barely missed its mark. The sniper took position again and counter-fired, taking only a fraction of the time to line up his shot that Ray took.
"Damn it. I need to distract this thing some how or I'm gonna get my head blown off trying to out-snipe it." He put his rifle away and thought the situation through.
"My Lord, you're not thinking with portals. Can you not simply teleport behind him with your Scythe?" Ray looked up at his large companion.
"That's...brilliant...the hell didn't I think of that?" Ray took his Scythe out and slashed a rip into the dimensional fabric and swiftly jumped through. On the other side, the sniper spun around at the sound of the dimension ripping open. Just as it raised its rifle, Ray slashed the soldier across the midsection with his Scythe, cleaving it in two.
"We should check each soldier we kill here. One of them may hold a key that will allow us easier progress through the compound." Ray filtered through the fallen sniper's possessions, finding only a few cells and a set of shadowy dogtags. "It didn't really hit me until now...most of these Shadow soldiers we've been slaughtering this whole time were probably human marines once...who even knows how many of them are damned to their current fate because of my actions under Protos's corruption."
"It's probably best not to think about it, master. It may dampen your killing instinct, which will only cause more humans and other innocent sentient beings to die at the hands of these Shadows." Ray nodded.
"You're right." Ray then checked the Shadow's weapon, hoping perhaps it was some form of modified rifle used for sniping, but was disappointed to find that it was merely using an ordinary Shadowpulse Rifle. "Come on, let's see if we can't get into the bailey from here. We'll need to get through the main gate and across a slime river. Once in the bailey, we can assault the front door. If the Shadows are using any of their previous marine corps knowledge, there will be several of them stationed inside the bailey to prevent us from doing that. One of them will likely have the keycard that opens the front door. If not, we might need to search for an alternate entrance."
"...or make one. Been a while since we blew somethin up. We need more explosions in this adventure." Ray looked back at Ted and smirked at him.
"There's some wisdom in your idiocy somewhere, Ted. If I remember right, the General mentioned them building a data storage room below the bailey that leads into the main building. If we can find some strong enough explosives, we'll have better luck blowing a hole in the ground below us with them than we will these walls or the front door. Hopefully they didn't line the walls of the data room with this tungsten crap, or we'll be S.O.L. First things first, though. We need to get the main gate open. To do that, I think I have an idea." Ray opened a portal back down to the ground level and studied the gate; a massive, solid portcullis weighing several tons, impossible to lift by hand, even with the combined great strengths of Ray and his followers. "We'll need to put our faith in the strength of Mother Earth for this one. Just hope it works." He reached down and took a handful of dirt from the ground and rubbed it on the Binding attached to his Scythe. The runic symbols on the Binding shifted, marking the elemental sign for Earth. He then raised his Scythe up above his head, and sent it crashing down to the ground, creating a heavy rumble. Below them, the earth began to churn and quake. The ground beneath the portcullis began to crack and open up, revealing huge pillars of mighty stone that rose up from the ground as Ray lifted his Scythe. Slowly and hesitantly, the mighty portcullis begin to lift off of the ground. The stone pillars underneath the massive metal construct began to splinter and crumble. "Quickly! Before the pillars give way, dive underneath!" In a move that would impress even Indiana Jones, Ray and his followers made a sliding leap under the portcullis just as the stone pillars holding it up broke apart leaving the gate to fall and smash into the ground below it with a heavy boom. "We're in."


<x>

[[I'll try to post a bit more of this on a regular basis.]]

[Shadowswift]

Once on the other side of the front gate, Ray and company find themselves facing the castle's bailey; a huge courtyard lined with impenetrable walls, imposing guard towers, and separated from the main building by a twenty-foot wide moat of boiling acidic slime.
"That slime is prolific in Quake. It'll clean skin off of bones faster than sulfuric acid...likely dissolve the bones, too. We'd be better off if we didn't touch it, lord." Ray nodded in steadfast agreement.
"I don't think we'll have to worry about it too much. We can easily grapple over it, and Darkscythe can jump over it with little effort." As he spoke that statement, he began to wonder exactly where everyone was, Shadow or otherwise. If there was a sniper out front guarding the entrance, the only logical thing to do would be to station a few dozen guards in the bailey to defend the main entrance...but the place seemed entirely deserted. The spotlights on the guard towers were off. The only sounds to be heard were the furious wind howling and the crickets chirping. Settled in the outskirts of a normally very busy city, sounds of traffic and city life could easily be heard from the bailey of USMCHQ...but not that night. Ray could only assume that all the residents of the once bustling metropolis had all been slain, captured, or culled into Shadows. Ray then began to wonder exactly how far the Shadows' grip had spread on Earth. If USMCHQ had fallen so easily and even the massive city nearby been culled, was there anything left to stop them? Where was the Army? Where was the National Guard? Where were all the other military forces from the US's various allied countries? Had they all forsaken him and his Corps brethren...or had they all fallen as well? The USMC was the mightiest of the mighty. No other military force on Earth could rival their numbers or skill in combat...yet they had already been defeated, save for Ray and Davis's remnants. Surly, if they had fallen, the rest of the Earth's defenders had followed suit. Ray shook his head and refocused on the present. He took one step forward into the bailey and very quickly found out where the guards were. As if out of thin air, scores upon scores of Shadow soldiers materialized before Ray's group and began firing upon them with automatic weapons. As he ducked for cover, Ray noticed that several of the soldiers were using various ordnance. Along with the usual Shadow Plasma, bullets of various calibers, nails, lasers, buckshot, and varied degrees of plasma rained down upon Ray and his company. With their impressive speed and power, Ray and Velen were able to deflect a majority of the incoming fire with their blades away from themselves and Darkscythe (and Ted). They knew, however, they would not be able to keep that up until the enemy ran out of ammo. They would have to go on the offensive at some point. Velen offered to step out of defensive stance and into attack. Utilizing his sword, he begun to blanket the area in caustic green fire, scorching dozens of foes in its path. In doing so, however, he was forced to take the brunt of the enemy's attack, causing his massive health pool to drop rather rapidly.
"That's enough, Velen. I'll take it from here." Ray took out the Chromaspark Prismabolt Cannon and unleashed its fury upon the remaining guards. Pillars of Light screamed from the cannon, enveloping the hapless Shadows, erasing them from the battlefield. The battle, though grueling on Ray and Velen's health, lasted only a minute or two. Every Shadow guard in the yard was destroyed. No alarms sounded, as Ray had expected. "That means the power's probably off...if we caused that big of a ruckus and they haven't sounded the alarms yet." Velen nodded.
"It might give us an advantage, but knowing the Shadows, they likely cut the power on purpose. They can see in the dark, master. You, however, cannot." Ray looked up at Velen.
"...can you?" Velen grinned.
"Yes, sire. Darkscythe and I both possess the ability to see through the darkness of the void. We need no light to guide our paths." Ray begun to smile at him. "There is one catch to that. We see not in the darkness, but through it. In pitch-black darkness, the enemy may blend in. We might not be able to detect them unless they move around a lot." Ray's smile faded.
"Damn. We'll then that's directive number one once we get inside. Just like old times...find the breakers and restore the power."

<x>