11: Neo New Mordor

terminal 0

unfinished

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This is a perimeter defense station. Whatever they've got nearby, they really want to keep it safe. I've decided to send some of the security staff to help you break through their local defenses. Try to keep them alive. I don't want it to turn out that I sent them to die for you. I have also given you an uplink chip. There will hopefully be someplace to insert it into their computer grid; from there, I might be able to override their safeguards entirely. But first you've got to get inside.

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My own attempts at scanning the area are about as good as they tend to be. The best I can tell you is that you may be able to breach the perimeter east of the main door across the river to the north. Look for another terminal once you're inside so I can continue to tell you exactly what you have to do in clear terms.

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success

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Good. Both their automated and manual defenses are scattered, and their troops are hurrying up the mountain. We'll have to follow them. This teleporter will take you to a dam system that seems to double as the interior defensive ring for their fortress; hopefully we aren't walking into a trap. The foreign technology they found must have been the Atreides. If they did, and they've been bringing parts of it here, then it's possible they've found Phoenix. If they have, they've got a powerful weapon in their hands... and we'll be in even more trouble.

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# t
<teleport to level 12>

terminal 1

unfinished

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I've found something that may help you break into this garrison. While I could let you find it out on your own -- you do seem to be pretty good at that -- I fear that the solution may be more obtuse than you could appreciate. So, in order to avert frustration, I will tell you that through the window behind you you can see the security control tower. The visible switch controls all of the bronze perimeter doors. From there, you can enter into the fortress in a few key points.

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terminal 2

unfinished

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[The following information is mostly about internal transfers of materials and hardware from one facility to another, using this site as some kind of waystation. You gloss over most of it. There is a brief written report that catches your eye.] ...and yet the transfer of phlebotnium back to the citadel is still increasing. What do they need so much of it for? The requests are getting more and more ridiculous. A year ago they wanted one ton of the stuff per month. Now they seem to consume that much in a matter of days. Even if the mining teams can extract that much, we can't ship it to them over land in that kind of volume. Council has repeatedly denied requests for a more secure and direct transit route for our haulers, and they won't let us fly it either. What do they expect us to do?...

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terminal 3

unfinished

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[The following information seems to be an excerpt from a communications log left unattended by whoever was last using this terminal.] [S'pht translator active] -0030726: You're redeployed? -0166238: Back to the Yard. They're moving us tomorrow. Some kind of high security thing. Council is scrambling to defend "assets of the utmost importance." -0030726: So you have to go back up the canyon? That's a march I'll happily never take again. -0166238: They won't let anyone fly or teleport, so yes, back up the canyon. It's absurd. If they're in such a hurry to defend their Library, why make us take the long way back? -0030726: Some protocol of Karma's... [Excerpt terminates here.]

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terminal 4

unfinished

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This will do. Put the uplink chip into the card slot here. We can't subvert their defense grid entirely through this point, it turns out, but what I can do remotely is expose some machinery if you needed to repair something. You can figure out the rest, I'm sure. There are three access points. When you're done, return to where I first contacted you for extraction.

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terminal 5

unfinished

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The Human mind is peculiar. Unreliable. Illogical. You simultaneously laud your ability to think and act for yourself and look constantly for instructions from those you call superior. I bring this up to you not simply to taunt the mortal mind for its weakness, but to make you consider the context in which you have waged your little war on the A'khr Dominion.

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The Pfhor are the enemy. Don't you understand? You have a very limited amount of time and ability to defeat the Pfhor here. Every moment you spend -- every Human life you watch burn out in front of you -- is wasted here. You and I want, essentially, the same thing. The destruction of the Pfhor. Understand that if you try to destroy us -- and if you somehow succeed -- the Pfhor will destroy you and your entourage. Your little ship doesn't have anything to stop them. You don't have anyone else coming to your aid. You're alone. Destroy us, and you destroy yourself.

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