Obviously distressed by Caine's sudden and unexpected death, Binary helps Jade drag the body out of the murky water and says, "Someday, we'll be able to prevent this.  Someday."

You barely have time to look down at his electrocuted body before you hear sounds coming from the north hallway.  The sounds are instantly recognizable.  Footsteps.  Three or four men.  By the echo, it sounds like military boots.

You instinctively crouch up against the north wall out of sight to listen.  The flickering light gives only slight illumination.  The hum of electricity drowns out some of the sound.

Whoever they are, they don't seem to be in a hurry.  You hear them walk up toward the north side of the puddle and stop.  "I don't want to get all wet," one of them says.

"Sissy," says the other in a deep voice.

"This is a sissy mission.  There's no one down here.  Hasn't been for a couple years now."

A third man, obviously in charge, says, "We have our orders.  They believe intruders will enter the complex in..."  You catch the brief glow of a watch lighting up in the darkness.  "...any time now."

"Yeah, well, I've never had orders like this before.  Shoot to kill.  Don't ask questions.  Don't talk to the intruders.  What's that about?"

"It's to save your life, corporal."

"Whatever."  Then, as an afterthought, "Sir."

"We'll wait here for the rest of the squad.  Are your M-16's ready?"

"It's a well oiled machine," says the soldier with the deep voice.

"Be on alert.  Anything moves, you shoot it."

The deep voiced soldier says, "That's right.  Let God sort em out."

"That's more like it, marine.  We should be through this detail in about one hour.  If we're lucky, the email was a prank.  If not...well, that's why we're here."

You hear a snicker from the whiny soldier.  "Should have sent in the whole platoon if they're that worried."

The deep voiced soldier responds, "Our squad can handle anything."  You hear him remove and replace the clip in his rifle.

"Get your nightvision goggles ready," their sergeant says.

A flashlight beam hovers dangerously close to you...and close to discovering the body.  Then it pulls back into the hallway.

"I hate wearing these things," says the whiny soldier.  "I'll stick to the flashlight."

"I'm with you there," says the deep voiced soldier.

"Suit yourselves," the sergeant responds.

It appears that there only three of them so far.

[PLAYER WALKTHROUGH:  At this point, you have many options, from sneaking out to the west or staying to listen further to confronting the soldiers or attacking or distracting them.]

Jade signals with her hands for the party to move slowly and quietly west and away from the soldiers.

Lazarus gets behind Jade, and starts to walk.

X's voice crackles in your ear.  "Okay.  We just heard everything that went on.  We don't want you killing any military.  That's not our job.  But Locke says we need to get some answers.  I'm sending down some help.  I suggest you meet at the juncture between the rooms marked 201, 101, and 209."

He pauses.  "Locke authorized me to send in my pet project, but it's not tested yet, so I hope there are no bugs in the programming.  It's a 45 mm MAW--that's 'modified assault weapon' to you rookies.  It's a 45 mm pistol capable of firing non-lethal ammunition."

After a moment, he pipes up, "It carries ten rounds of ammo.  I'm sending three clips for each of you.  The ammo is a dart-tipped non-penetrating round.  It fires at the rate of 1 round per 3 seconds, so aim well.  You won't get a second chance.  After a hit, it will take 3-6 seconds for the target to be neutralized."

[Note:  This weapon fires like the beretta but with a -1 modifier to hit.]

Player Walkthrough:  Sneaking away from the soldiers requires a Stealth check.  Because of the darkness and the noises, there is a +4 modifier to this roll.

If you do not have the Stealth skill, it defaults to the HIGHER of IQ -5 or DX -5.  (In this case, because of the +4 modifier, it would be the higher of IQ -1 or DX -1.)

Lazarus looks at the others; his face still has a pained expression on it. He starts to clench and unclench his left hand and starts to head to where X told them to go.

Jade, Binary, Grid, Lazarus, and Xan (in that order) begin to sneak to the west away from the guards, who are standing waiting for the rest of the squad.

Jade swiftly and easily moves away from the scene.  Binary...moves quietly away.  Grid...escapes without notice.  Lazarus...moves stealthily out of range.

Xan [roll 15]...bumps his gun into the wall, and the guards turn.  "What was that?" the whiny one says.  Two flashlights turn toward the area surrounding the puddle.

"Nightvision goggles on," the sergeant orders.  "Turn those flashlights off.  You're blinding me."

The two flashlights turn off.  "What's that?" the deep voiced soldier asks.

"Safeties off," the sergeant orders.

"It's a body," the whiny soldier says.  "Someone's down here.  Someone's dead."

"Shut up already," the sergeant says.  "I'll call in and report this."

Xan is able to move quickly away from the commotion during the talking.

The party moves down the hall as the sergeant begins calling for backup on his radio.  You meet up with Mitose, Johnny, and Twitch (the only non-rookie among you except for Binary).  They hand you each the MAW pistols and the extra clips.

"That was a close one," Binary says.  He turns to Xan.  "Maybe this isn't the place for a rookie like you.  X can take you off the hardline if you go back to the room we entered.  This is life and death here."  There is something obviously bothering Binary.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:43, Thu 08 Apr 2004.

Twitch hands Xan one of the extra MAW's.

"Don't worry about it kid.  Mistakes will happen," he whispers to Xan, placing his hand on the rookie's shoulder.

He looks to Binary, and nods once.

"The kid will do fine.  First time jitters.  We'll need all the help we can get." he whispers to Binary.

Twitch points further down toward the west, and motions for everyone to follow, placing his index finger on his lips.  He turns sideways, and motions for the others to pass in front of him.

Jade follows Twitch's motions and takes the lead to the west.  "Let's get him to his computer," she says.  "But we'll probably run into more of those soldiers, so be ready."  She has the Maw pistol loaded and ready for action with the safety off.

Laz loads his Maw, checking twice to see if everything is in working order. He nods to Mitose, Johnny, and Twitch as he passes by them. "Yeah, lets get to it as soon as possible, this isn't looking up for us."

Twitch looks at Lazarus as he passes, "Wanna bet?" he quietly asks with the hint of a smile playing across his face.

"Lamplighting.  They're wearing nightvision goggles, right?  So if we encouter them, flip on your flashlights and shine 'em right in there eyes.  It'll blind 'em for a few seconds, long enough to plug 'em with a MAW dart."

Mitose, the new arrival, is clearly of Japanese descent, with long black hair loose down his back, and jade green eyes that scan the area intently.  Mitose's mode of dress is black with white trim, and a mandarin-style collar. The pants are loose, almost military in style, tucked into combat-boots.  His shirt is white silk, the jacket over that is double-breasted, buttoned up, and ending in that mandarin collar we mentioned.  He wears his katana on his back, for an over the shoulder draw, and the AK-47 slung opposite.  In his hand is a readied MAW.  His build is slim, though his shoulders are broad and powerful for his modest height, and he moves well, efficiently, like a dancer or an animal.

He nods approvingly to Twitch, and says quietly, "If the enemy thinks of the mountains, attack like the sea; and if he thinks of the sea, attack like the mountains."

Then, "Let us continue before fortune turns fickle."

Binary holds up his hands for everyone to stop.  "Before we go on, there's one thing you must know," he says.  "That email they spoke of...I think it was the one I sent.  A few days ago, as we started to plan this mission, I sent a secure email to Sam Dreydon--that civilian here whom I trust.  Remember, I mentioned him before?  Anyway, it was a completely hack-proof email telling him that we would be jacking in here today at about this time and asking him to meet us or at least make sure we don't set off any alarms."

He pauses, hesitant.  "There's only one way anyone could have gotten that message...and that's by forcing Sam.  Which means that Sam's probably dead."

He scratches his head and rubs his forehead.  "The only other thing I can think of is if the machines got to the message. We were encoding everything so that even the machines couldn't hack into it.  Otherwise, our entire operation would have been sacked from the start."  He looks around at the empty building.  "Apparently, the machines found out.  That means that they broke the code somehow.  And that means they know we're here."

He points up the hall where Twitch was directing the party to go anyway.  "There's a safe deposit box in Sam's office.  We agreed privately before I left to put hard copies of important data in there.  No one knows about it except us.  If there are answers, they'll be in there.  Sam's office is the spot marked 401."  Binary seems a little hesitant, frozen into inaction.  He stands still and looks down the hall, taking a deep breath.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:45, Fri 09 Apr 2004.

Mitose is silent for a moment, his face becoming solemen, until finally he nods and moves up quietly behind the older Binary. "Forgive my intrusion into your thoughts, Sir, but surely the enemy is counting on our caution.  If we act now, and swiftly, we may yet  prevail."

He lays a hand on Binary's shoulder, smiles slightly, and recites, " 'You win battles by knowing the enemy's timing, and using a timing which the enemy does not expect. ' "

"Let's win a battle." He hefts his MAW, cocks it, and releases the safety.

"I suggest we keep flashlights in one hand and pistols in the other," Jade says.  "That way, when we see them, we can blind them with the light and shoot at the same time."

Laz looks at Mitose as he speaks, breaking into a large smile. "I agree, we at least owe it to Caine that we get the info we came here for." He takes his Maw in his left hand and the flashlight in his right.

[Lazarus brings up a good point here:  If you have not done so, please indicate in a PM to me if your character is right handed or left handed.]

Binary's smile plays across his face again as he hears Mitose's words.  "He's right," and then he looks at Jade, "and so is she."

He takes the safety off his MAW, holding it in his right hand, the flashlight still in his left hand.


"Keep it quiet, everyone.  Keep a good dispersal."

He steps off toward the west, heading down the corridor as quietly as possible.

Mitose fills his empty left hand with his flashlight, keeping it off for now, but positioned to switch it on in a second's notice. He nods to the others, and allows them to precede him, lagging behind only a little, to act as somethng of a rear guard while they are on the move.

The party goes west and then north up the west side of 201.  You briefly notice more rubble to the south, but you head north.  You notice a sign on the door leading to W7 stating "Networks," a sign on the door to W9 stating "Breakers," and the door to 201 stating "Research and Development."  You remember there was also a door on the east side of 201 stating the same thing.

In the intersection between 201 and 401, you see a pile of parts--computer parts, hardware, pipes, and other junk.  It looks like piles of parts were dragged out of several offices and piled here.  The items all look damaged, dented, and dust covered.

Looking east, you can make out light.  The soldiers have turned their nightvision gear off and have their flashlights pointed down at the body of Caine.  There are now five of them.  They are talking and pointing at the body.  One of them is turning him over to check for a wallet.

You instinctively turn your flashlights away to avoid attracting attention.  It is still quite dark where you are standing, and even the indirect light of your flashlights may attract attention if seen.



[The door to 401 is on the east side, so you can go through all the junk and possibly attract attention with the noise, climb over the pipes that still run around the ceiling, or take a minute to walk around 201 to the other side...or whatever else you can think of.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:02, Sat 10 Apr 2004.

"We should take the pipes...climb over the junk so as not to attract attention," whispers Twitch.

He jumps up and grabs the pipes overhead, and begins to travel them across the junk...

Lazarus shakes his head and grabs the pipe, the look on his face was one of worry. He put his weapons away and says to himself, I'll be fine, I'll be fine."
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:47, Sun 11 Apr 2004.

While Jade is waiting for them, she tries the door on the west side of 201 to see what's inside and if it might be easier.

Remaining silent until now, Xan moves quietly behind Binary. After the verbal warnings from Binary earlier, Xan has remained silent, looking sullen and a bit sad, but now a look of determination can be seen on his face.

"I, I'm sorry sir, that was a careless mistake earlier. It won't happen again. I'm ready for this sir, you'll see.


This message was last edited by the GM at 01:52, Mon 12 Apr 2004.

Lazarus and Twitch both make it successfully across by shimmying from the pipes.

Jade looks in the 50 foot by 30 foot room, and finds it full of smashed equipment.  Hard drives, monitors, and parts, not much different from the intersection of the hallway.  Tables and countertops are filled with office supplies, rotting boxes, and the like. This was once apparently used for experiments and research.  You could traverse across it without too much trouble.  It will just be a little slow.

Twitch drops to the ground, and withdraws his MAW and his flashlight.  He walks as quietly as possible to the corner of room 401, and with his flashlight off, looks quickly around the corner to see what's down the hallway.

The hallway appears dark and empty.  Twitch does not attract any attention.

Laz wipes his hands on his leather trench as he drops from the pipe, he takes his maw in his left and the flashlight in his right hand which is off. He looks to Twitch and says in a whisper, "Guess the train keeps heading down this tunnel."

Mitose moves to cover Jade's curiosity, in case anything in the room should present trouble.  He does this naturally, and without questioning Jade as to whether or not she might think it necessary.  When the room is clear, he relaxes a bit, and considers their options.

He asks Jade a question in a quiet voice, "Perhaps we should cross this room and make sure the opposite hall is clear of soldiers?  We would be at a disadvantage if we reach our destination, only to find trouble is literally just around the corner."

Jade nods in agreement with Mitose and crosses the room carefully and quietly.

Twitch looks back across the junk in the hall and whispers, "You two be careful.  Xan and Binary, stick together.  Lazarus, cover me."

Twitch inches along the north wall of 401, and as he approaches the north-east corner, he, moves into a crouch.

He stops right at the corner, and whips his head around it - just long enough for a quick peak.

Mitose, Jade, Binary, Grid, and Xan make their way across the R&D room to the east door.  The peek out.  The hall is clear.

Twitch makes his way north with Lazarus covering him.  He peeks around the corner on the north side of the building.  All is clear.

Now, Mitose, Jade, Binary, Grid and Xan must just get across the hall intersection without drawing the attention of the guards.

You hear sounds to the northwest.  The sounds of boots clanking against metal steps.  There is a group descending the northwest stairs.  You have maybe 20-30 seconds to get out of sight or you will be directly in their line of vision.

"Quickly." Mitose whispers, "Or we'll be spotted."

Mitose will stay low, knowing that the best way for him to evade immediate detection is not to be in a matching lineof sight.  He manages to move smoothly despite this, and takes a brief second or two to look over the intersection.  Then he holsters his weapon, lowers himself until his hands touch the floor, and takes a breath, before dashing across the intersection to avoid detection.  He does not rise, but instead moves like a monkey, relying on his posture for balance, and if he does encounter an obstacle, he will roll with the fall naturally and continue on until he is safely out of sight.

"Go! Go!"Grid whispers fiercely at Jade, Binary and Xan as he waves the trio after Mitose. "If we are spotted I will draw them away. Just keep going!"

True to his word the broad shouldered giant steps back to let the others pass, cocking his machine gun, ready for action.

Laz looks at his companions as they run across the hall, a look of intense concentration on his face. He looks at Twitch; his hand gripping his flashlight tighter than he was before. "Guess we're sitting ducks," a smile playfully breaking across his face.

Twitch looks back at Lazarus "Wanna bet?" and winks.  He motions for Lazarus to follow him to the door to room 401.

"Cover me."  He holsters his MAW, and tries the door.