/-/S'pht-Translator-Active/-/

	Tempus Irae Volunteers - Ain't My Bitch
	Posted By: Steve Levinson	Date: 11/23/03 8:33 a.m.
	OK, since no one else has posted, I guess I'll get the ball rolling. Just be forwarned - I'm not about to lead the charge on this one the way I did with Rubicon. We start out the scenario in a room onboard a starship with a docile S'Pht, some ammo and a term to read: There is no time to explain. You must assist us, or your (/species?) will be in grave danger, as will ours. The W'rkncacnter has made crisis possible, and we must follow a narrow course. Otherwise, all we have gained will be rent apart, irretrievable. This by itself tells us a lot. First of all, the W'rkncacnter has been released and the "crisis" that leads to all of Infinity is once agian upon us. Only this time, things are different. In other words, Tempus Irae is an alternative to Infinity - not a sequil to it. We need to gain access to the primary drive reactor. The slavers are fighting to prevent us, and have closed off the (/security locks?) We will perform transformations upon the drive, but we require your assistance. Take these weapons we have replicated for you, and open the (/security locks?) as soon as possible; the Pfhor are in disarray, but the heavy troop carrier K'alima has become aware of our (/insurrection?) and is closing quickly. Hurry. So we are on board a Pfhor battleship in which a S'Pht rebellion has been or is taking place. It is not clear if this rebellion was occurring while we were down on Lh'owon or if it started in the aftermath of the W'rkncacnter's release, and we have no idea how we ended up here rather than on the Jjaro Space Station of Aye Mac Sicur and all it's variants. But we have no time to ponder any of this - the Pfhor troop carrier K'alima is closing on us and we have to react quickly. We have to get past the security locks and get this ship up and running under S'Pht control - but to what end? The S'Pht know of the W'rkncacnter and they seem to have a plan. A plan to undo what has been done. Getting throug the level is fairly straight-forward and there are any number of ways one can do it. This is a very tough level for the beginning of a scenario, but there is ample ammo and there are a few 2X shield recharger that make the job doable. En route, we come upon a couple of Pfhor terminals that help fill in some of the details: All tactical units are directed immediately to close with light cruiser Sh'aptide which has been overrun by enemy mechanized and mechabiological units. Commandnetwork (tactical) priority is assigned to the mechanized unit(s) of carrier K'alima; tactical priority and protocol transfer will now take place. All units are directed to assist in action to destroy the Sh'aptide. The K'alima will close with the objective and provide primary fire from heavy armor. All others are directed to move into supporting positions following combat doctrine 429-A413. (/Counterintelligence?) will be directed by the machinated command unit of the K'alima. All units not participating in this action will be subject to immediate ship-wide demerit of two rank/merit stamps. Damage to ships following the action against the deep-orbit L'howon station will not be considered acceptable in justifying nonparticipation in the pending action. This tells us that we are on the light cruiser Sh'aptide and that the K'alima will be commanded by its on-board AI. I wonder who that could be? ;-) Also, we note that even this mission is so critical that even the most heavily damaged ships that were participating in the assault on the Jjaro station must participate. Being incapacitated is apparently no excuse. I guess the Pfhor will be Pfhor. And later: This is insanity. The command mecha of this ship is not fit for directing this tactical operation. Though it seems rational on the command networks, it seems to harbor a vendetta-feeling towards one enemy unit among the many. This is not in accordance with command doctrine or tactical doctrine. I humbly submit that the machinated unit be shut down and replaced with a biological thinker. More evidence that the AI in charge of the K'alima is someone we know . . . The slavers have anticipated our intent, and have locked out certain necessary drive controls remotely from the K'alima. It seems (/someone?) aboard the K'alima has partially infiltrated our (/network-command?) There is an override circuit here; however, it is under the surface of the coolant. Destroy the exposed circuts at these locations; this will allow you to reach the override switch. And after we succeed: Perhaps the greatest (/irony?) is that S'bhuth himself gave us this technology, which we now put to use in order to save ourselves from his (/folly?). We are traveling a great distance to resolve his tangled network of errors. Our destination is a place you have been before -- or, rather, one that your (/individual-neural-network?) seems to recognize. Woa! What does S'bhuth have to do with anything. And what is this tangled network of errors for which we have to travel a great distance? What does any of this have to do with the W'rkncacnter and how will fixing it save the universe? We will never fully get the answers to these questions, but as in Infinity, we have to travel back in time to correct the errors that ultimately lead to our doom - but this time we're going back a bit further in time: The K'alima was too close when we activated the modified drives. We did not anticipate that the slavers would be able to follow us here; neither did we foresee that the effects of S'bhuth's new designs would affect nearby ships as well. Together, we have traveled a great (/distance- duration?), to your homeworld. Hmm . . . Looks like we're going to have some visitors, and our task won'te be quite so simple. There is not enough time to explain further right now. You must seize the opportunity and complete your tasks before the slavers begin to understand our purpose here; if they succeed in thwarting us, their domination of both our species will be assured. Now this confuses me. At the beginning it is the release of the W'rkncacnter and the destruction of the universe that is at issue - but then, why were our ship and the other Pfhor vessels still around after its release? Perhaps S'bhuth's actions have already averted that dreadful end, but at an unacceptable cost. We will transport you to the surface of your world, where you must find several fragments of a scientific treatise. After you find each fragment, you will be transported back here to deposit it, and we will direct you to the next one. We cannot yet communicate with you directly while you are on the surface; our presence -- S'bhuth's presence -- has already disturbed your species' isolation enough. A scientific treatise from Earth's past? Why would this be so important, and why has S'bhuth gone back in time, to this particular time? And let the discussion begin . . .

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Replies:

	Tempus Irae Volunteers - Ain't My Bitch	Steve Levinson	11/23/03 8:33 a.m.
	Re: Tempus Irae Volunteers - Ain't My Bitch	Keith Palmer	11/23/03 10:45 a.m.
	Re: Tempus Irae Volunteers - Ain't My Bitch	Steve Levinson	11/23/03 11:23 a.m.
	Re: Tempus Irae Volunteers - Ain't My Bitch	Mark Levin	11/23/03 1:36 p.m.
	Re: Tempus Irae Volunteers - Ain't My Bitch	elliott	11/23/03 2:21 p.m.
	Re: Tempus Irae Volunteers - Ain't My Bitch	Steve Levinson	11/23/03 3:48 p.m.
	Re: Tempus Irae Volunteers - Ain't My Bitch	elliott	11/24/03 7:00 a.m.
	Re: Tempus Irae Volunteers - Ain't My Bitch	Ben A. Potter	11/23/03 4:06 p.m.

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