We have little time. The Pfhor attack on the Imbroglio has begun. We are under siege from seven of the eight Pfhor F’har Str’ke assault ships. The remaining vessel has been sent to board the ancient Pfhor battleship, which is still ignoring all the aliens’ attempts to communicate with it. Boomer, as the rogue battleship appears to have been named, remains a mystery. Why is it refusing to answer Pfhor hails? Why is it named in a language totally alien to the Pfhor? If the Imbroglio survives the attack being made upon it, I may send you to the ancient vessel to seek the truth. Right now you have another task. I have sent you to the Sallostophus garrison’s desalination plant. Exterminate all Pfhor forces located here so the BoB survey team you were originally sent to protect may return to the Imbroglio safely.
Find them and ensure they remain unmolested during this critical process. They are needed here more than ever, to help defend the Imbroglio. Certain key elements of my control circuitry are being jammed, and I will need all the human help I can get to direct the coming battle. I can’t locate the source of the jamming -- my sub-spectrum scanning systems were the first to be jammed. My anti-jamming sub-systems have been jammed too. I can’t believe the Pfhor are responsible -- only someone familiar with UESC systems could pinpoint the essential components so swiftly. Again, my thoughts turn to Boomer. Finally, find any terminal and I will transmit fresh orders. Wotan
>Command: Diagnose (Display_Vessel_Status) >Enter ID Code: UESC_40018-A_Wotan Ship status read-out follows... •Shields: Deactivated. •Weapon power: Deactivated. •Sub-light thrusters: Deactivated. •Translight drive: Deactivated. •Artificial gravity: Deactivated. •Long-range communications: Deactivated. •Short-range communications: Active. •AI functions: Active. •Life-support: Active. •Spectrum scanners: Active. •Sub-spectrum scanners: Deactivated. •Shipboard coffee machines: Deactivated. Alert Status: RED Combat Status: YELLOW
As you can see, the news isn’t good. I have managed to destroy five of the Phfhor attack ships, but almost all of the Imbroglio’s command circuitry has now been subverted from my control, including all the key defense systems. The jamming interference I experienced earlier must have concealed interception signals. The Imbroglio is now effectively under Pfhor control. And yet my own circuitry remains unaffected -- only my command override protocols have been broken. If the Pfhor were the jammers, why did they engage in combat? They could simply have waited until the Imbroglio’s defenses were down and then pushed home their assault.
No, a third-party is working here, neither human nor Pfhor, and the destruction of the Imbroglio must not be its goal. The remaining Pfhor ships are maneuvering to board the ship. Whatever plans our mysterious jammer has in mind for us, our first concern must be to deal with the Pfhor boarding parties. I’m going to beam you straight to the Imbroglio’s Engineering section. This is where the Pfhor will make their assault. Steel yourself. The odds are not in our favor. Wotan
Operation Evolution Progress Report Access Code: Alpha-2-Omega/Doctor_Strauss Stage One Locate target. Status: Achieved Stage Two Transmit coded request for back-up Pfhor attack forces. Status: Achieved Stage Three Take control of and disable target’s key defense/offense systems. Status Achieved Stage Four Allow target to placed under temporary Pfhor control. Infiltrate Pfhor forces with loyal S’pht compilers. Isolate AI core. Status In progress Stage Five Modify AI control program with rampancy virus ‘Dark December’. Supress Stage Three processes with data transfusion from my own core. Status: Pending Stage Six Erradicate intruding hostile Pfhor forces from target’s vessel. Use UESC operative currently causing the Pfhor so much grief on surface of Sallostophus. Status: Pending Stage Seven Pray it works.* Status: Pending *Choose deity at random. The Nebulon supreme being, Torth The Flatulent, seems most appropriate under the circumstances.
>Command: Diagnose (Display_Vessel_Status) >Enter ID Code: UESC_40018-A_Wotan Ship status read-out follows... •Shields: Deactivated. •Weapon power: Deactivated. •Sub-light thrusters: Deactivated. •Translight drive: Deactivated. •Artificial gravity: Deactivated. •Long-range communications: Deactivated. •Short-range communications: Active. •AI functions: Active. •Life-support: Active. •Spectrum scanners: Active. •Sub-spectrum scanners: Deactivated. •Shipboard coffee machines: Deactivated. Alert Status: RED Combat Status: YELLOW
As you can see, the news isn’t good. I have managed to destroy five of the Phfhor attack ships, but almost all of the Imbroglio’s command circuitry has now been subverted from my control, including all the key defense systems. The jamming interference I experienced earlier must have concealed interception signals. The Imbroglio is now effectively under Pfhor control. And yet my own circuitry remains unaffected -- only my command override protocols have been broken. If the Pfhor were the jammers, why did they engage in combat? They could simply have waited until the Imbroglio’s defenses were down and then pushed home their assault.
No, a third-party is working here, neither human nor Pfhor, and the destruction of the Imbroglio must not be its goal. The remaining Pfhor ships are maneuvering to board the ship. Whatever plans our mysterious jammer has in mind for us, our first concern must be to deal with the Pfhor boarding parties. I’m going to beam you straight to the Imbroglio’s Engineering section. This is where the Pfhor will make their assault. Steel yourself. The odds are not in our favor. Wotan
Wotan Translation System Activated Personal Log Update 4506-A/430-7 Access Password: tahms_gap My mood grows ever more fatalistic. The reports from Pfhoria Maxima -- well, those that pass by the Augustus’ (Emperor?) censors -- say the Imperial forces are failing to repel the barbarians. They have already crushed seven of the Empire’s strongest Legions. The K’or R’ine (Eastern Frontier?) has buckled under the onslaught -- even B’elg’ae 13 has fallen and it will not be long before Gall'ia Transpfhoria follows. At that rate of advance, the Sm’g Hede (human?) and treacherous S’pht’Kr forces will soon breach the defenses of the homeworld itself. Within an Imperial Year, Pfhor civilisation will have fallen beneath barbarian feet. A 12,000-year-old empire that has brought light and learning to the galaxy, law and order, science and understanding to planets once wracked with internecine conflict, will be no more, and in its place, chaos. T’fl’avus S’ilva, my Primus Pilum (legionary commander) during my days in the enlisted ranks, was right: the Augustus has betrayed the Empire. To speak thus is treason, yet if truth be treason, so be it. The Empire’s fate cannot be allowed to rest upon the whims of one who plays to the mob one moment then sucks up the Senate the next, who has permitted the decimation of entire Battle Groups -- even the Great Seven -- on the counsel of fools like M’ar Varus. With leaders such as these, perhaps we deserve to perish...
Wotan Translation System Activated Right now, though, I have more pressing concerns. The Sm’g Hede vessel will soon be taken, but the warrior who has destroyed two centuries of troops remains a considerable danger. He has shown much courage and skill. He might almost be Pfhor-born, and deserves respect. It will take more than brute force to capture or terminate him. However, his own freedom to move about the garrison -- our own Electrosender technology -- will be his downfall. Today will see the fall of the lone warrior, his craft and the traitor starship. A small victory, but the Empire needs small victories more than ever. T’frik T’frak Primus Pilum, Sallostophus Garrison
>Command: Diagnose (Display_Vessel_Status) >Enter ID Code: UESC_40018-A_Wotan Ship status read-out follows... •Shields: Deactivated. •Weapon power: Deactivated. •Sub-light thrusters: Deactivated. •Translight drive: Deactivated. •Artificial gravity: Deactivated. •Long-range communications: Deactivated. •Short-range communications: Active. •AI functions: Active. •Life-support: Active. •Spectrum scanners: Active. •Sub-spectrum scanners: Deactivated. •Shipboard coffee machines: Deactivated. Alert Status: RED Combat Status: YELLOW
As you can see, the news isn’t good. I have managed to destroy five of the Phfhor attack ships, but almost all of the Imbroglio’s command circuitry has now been subverted from my control, including all the key defense systems. The jamming interference I experienced earlier must have concealed interception signals. The Imbroglio is now effectively under Pfhor control. And yet my own circuitry remains unaffected -- only my command override protocols have been broken. If the Pfhor were the jammers, why did they engage in combat? They could simply have waited until the Imbroglio’s defenses were down and then pushed home their assault.
No, a third-party is working here, neither human nor Pfhor, and the destruction of the Imbroglio must not be its goal. The remaining Pfhor ships are maneuvering to board the ship. Whatever plans our mysterious jammer has in mind for us, our first concern must be to deal with the Pfhor boarding parties. I’m going to beam you straight to the Imbroglio’s Engineering section. This is where the Pfhor will make their assault. Steel yourself. The odds are not in our favor. Wotan
interlevel teleports
