Adventure Overview
Players: Mr. Rhyze, Morton, Faust.
Enemies: The Postman, Virgil and his team.
Started: As Zaya placed the station on yellow alert.
Ended: With Blank's summing up of events.
Morton wasn't overly impressed with Mr. Rhyze's log security system. After all, he would have to move the logs himself everytime that he wanted to to use his own ship. Such a logout procedure seemed like a huge waste of time. Mr. Rhyze shrugged, noting that he would have to leave the logs there anyway, since it was far too much work carrying them back to his room. With the rejection of these two ideas, Morton caved and decided to pay a little visit to Doug, in search of the real club. Falco decided to come along, noting that watching other people get ripped off by Doug was sometimes funny. Mr. Rhyze, on the other hand, had no intention of leaving the lounge so soon after arriving there, and set his sights on the Y-Box. Gaining control of this device would clearly require ridding the room of Johnny, who was in the middle of a Blitzball 2000 season. The communications officer knew just how to do it. He told The Man that Commander Zaya was looking for him, and wanted to have a private discussion. Leaping to his feet, Johnny replied that women were always looking for him, and that certainly included the commander. Still, he wasted no time in dashing from the room, leaving the coveted games console in Mr. Rhyze's possession.
With his incredible running abilities, it was no surprise that Johnny reached the turbolift just as Morton and Falco were boarding it. Morton was instantly concerned that Mr. Rhyze had been left alone in the lounge, especially after the theft of the Buick's refrigerator. Likely fearing for the other furniture, he convinced Falco to go back and keep an eye on things. This turned out to involve lots of Y-Box playing, something Falco was not adverse to in the least. Meanwhile, Morton made his way over to Doug's. He noticed several different posters outside the shop, advertising that it was now protected by The Club, the number one method of visible anti-theft protection. He was busy studying other such posters inside the store when he suddenly found himself being hit on the back of the head by a heavy wooden club. Spinning around, he saw that it was in the hands of a big burly guy wearing a T-shirt advertising The Club. Doug took this moment to pitch the latest in security technology, noting that Morton had just received a free demonstration! Somehow, the pilot didn't seem to find it overly persuasive, despite the fact that the goon assured him that The Club's SOLID WOOD construction thwarted thieves! Putting one of these devices in a window was usually more than enough to deter criminals. After listening to this pitch, Morton demanded to know how much The Club would cost. Doug declared that it would be ten marks for the club alone, and extra if he wanted to hire someone to actually swing it. There was also some assembly required, though how this could be possible given that The Club was little more than a piece of wood remained unclear. Unconvinced of The Club's merits, Morton asked Doug if he had any other security devices. Doug responded that he also had a stock of Raidoshack alarms, which Morton disregarded immediately, noting that they would never work. With no other alternative, Morton negotiated the price of the number one method of visible anti-theft protection down to the last peso. Club in hand, he set off back down to the Military Bay Lounge, narrowly avoiding a second demonstration from the burly ruffian.
Falco and Mr. Rhyze were still playing Blitzball 2000 when Morton returned to the lounge. After propping the club in the Vesper's cockpit, the pilot went to work on a security contraption of his own. Using his mechanics skills, he had soon fashioned a giant lock which he fastened around the ship's landing gear, making it impossible to raise the gear with the lock in place. Unfortunately, he had neglected to make any sort of key for this lock, and now that it was closed, doing so would be much more difficult. MOrton attempted to forge some sort of keyblade, that could be used to both unlock doors and to whack enemies. Such attempts proved futile, and he was forced to pay a small sum to purchase a bonesaw from Mr. Rhyze, who had one ready for just such circumstances. It appeared that the pilot would now have to use this saw to destroy his own lock next time he wanted to use it, but Morton figured he could simply weld it back together again. Satisfied that Morton had purchased something from him, Mr. Rhyze decided to head up towards the bridge. While waiting for the turbolift, he happened to meet up with Faust, who was on his way to the computer labs. Frankenstein was idly chewing on a charred bone, causing Mr. Rhyze to question Faust's recent activities. The mortician was decidedly evasive, and eventually distracted the communications officer's attention by repeating once more that the Coca-Cola from the APC was being stored in Sick Bay, and likely hadn't been consumed by Sam. Considering that the medical officer now had two pots of coffee, and all. This tactic succeeded in steering Mr. Rhyze straight to sickbay, where he was able to refresh himself with the Real Thing.
Meanwhile, Faust was free to visit his original destination, the computer labs. He had heard of the Complete Necromancer's Handbook, Diablo's latest literary work in the dark world of Dungeons & Dragons, and he intended to get a free copy of it through the powers of the Internet. The computer lab was occupied by the usual crowd, which included Diego Zapata and Vance. The science officer was surprised to see Faust, but noted that the lack of natural light in the labs would probably be welcome to the mortician. He wasn't so pleased when he learned what Faust intended to do, noting that Kazaa filled machines with pointless pop-ups. Diego, on the other hand, was already designing a filter that would destroy such ads. It would eventually be implemented in Yava, though several months worth of diagrams would still need to be created. Faust ignored Zapata's offer to make these diagrams, and instead began a quick download of the Complete Necromancer's Handbook. It was done almost before it started, and Faust was now free to browse the powers given to Necromancers in the dark world of El Diablo. Vance complained briefly about people using the computers for personal activities, but soon switched his ire to the fact that the number of Electrans obstructing his work seemed to be growing rapidly. Not only did Fayde still have sole access to the backroom of the science lab, but now the newly arrived Bahljas had taken up a position in the lab itself, and apparently intended to stay there at almost all times. Needless to say, this distracted Vance greatly from his most important work. Faust muttered agreement, but noted the labs would be a fine place to work, especially with the CSSS money coming Epsilon's way. This did brighten the science officer's mood, along with his intention to hook Neo's powerful computer up to the lab network. It seemed that Vance's gains would be Mr. Rhyze's losses.
Speaking of losing, that was exactly what Mr. Rhyze's replacement was doing at that very moment. When the communications officer arrived on the bridge, he found his replacement capping off yet another Freecell defeat. Zaya and Picard were both quick to note that they hadn't seen much of Mr. Rhyze on the bridge lately. His replacement was quick to add that the Freecell record had improved greatly without Mr. Rhyze's contributions to it. This allegation was firmly denied by an outraged Mr. Rhyze, who claimed that his absence from the bridge had contributed to the longest losing streak on the machine's history. When faced with this challenge, Mr. Rhyze's replacement was unable to come up with machine statistics to counter Mr. Rhyze's claim. Perhaps the replacement didn't have the computer skills to obtain such stats, or maybe they didn't exist in the first place. Mr. Rhyze suspected that it was a strong combination of both, and declared as much. Once the replacement had cleared the station, after several more exchanged insults, Mr. Rhyze was able to set up his own chair and start rebuilding his Freecell record. He didn't end up having much time to work towards this end, as Blank soon contacted him. The security officer wanted to summon Mr. Rhyze, Morton and Faust down to security for an important meeting. Mr. Rhyze doubted that it could be as critical as his Free-cell record, but agreed nonetheless to make the necessary announcements.
Coincidently enough, all three officers arrived at security around the same time. Morton and Faust had come from a greater distance, but they had expounded a lot more effort in movement than Mr. Rhyze, who was still contemplating a way to attach a motor to his George Takai chair so that he could move around the station with even less effort. Such conversation quickly died down when the three entered security, where Blank was waiting, leaning back at his desk. Gesturing for them to sit, Blank declared that there had been several recent developments with the investigation that they should know about. Mr. Rhyze had already logged into a game of Free-cell through Blank's security terminal, but the other two present were listening attentively. Blank began by declaring that a mysterious fire had ravaged the lower level of the station. The boiler room, in particular, had seen the brunt of the blaze, and he speculated that it could possibly have been arranged to hide evidence associated with the jailbreak. Faust didn't agree, mainly because he had been the one to set the boiler room ablaze, during his experiments with the corpses. Giving the mortician a tired look, Blank supposed that Faust was aware of the fact that starting random fires onboard the station was not really recommended. Regulations and all. The security chief seemed quite certain that Jean-Luc Picard would disapprove of such an act. Taking some heat, Faust decided to bring up one of the items he had found in the boiler room before setting it on fire. With a flourish, he pulled out the black technician's uniform. Blank was impressed, and noted that it was almost certainly the one worn by the man who had allegedly freed the prisoner. Taking the uniform, Blank mentioned his intention to have this confirmed at a later time. If it was recognised by the prisoners, it would serve as the first real proof of this mysterious man's existence.
This wasn't the only information Blank had to share. He had been going over the security logs, and had discovered something interesting regarding the departure of the Silverdust. As Morton already knew, the military bay doors were designed to open only for those with proper security access. This raised the question of how Vandred was able to leave the station in the ship. According to the security logs, the doors had been opened late on the night of the jailbreak with Shaimus' access code. Morton was more than willing to suspect Shaimus, but was shocked that the station's chief engineer had access to open the bay doors. Blank replied that it was standard procedure on most stations, since th engineer would often have to go out and perform repairs on the outside of the station itself. Much doubt was expressed by Morton as to whether Shaimus was even remotely trustworthy enough to be given such responsibility. Regardless of questions about Shaimus' right to such a code, Blank was most curious as to why the engineer would allow Vandred to use his code. It seemed almost too helpful. The three others present could offer no answers, but their baffled silence was interrupted by the entrance of the man in question. Shaimus stomped into the room, apparently having overheard most of the conversation. As he began to weld a portion of the wall, the sneering engineer declared that he had been most willing to give access of his code to Vandred. After all, they have been instructed to give Vandred their upmost cooperation, and Shaimus had merely been doing his duty in that regard. An angry Morton was quick to speculate that the only reason Shaimus had done his duty was to assist in getting rid of the Silverdust, thus making the pilot's job much more difficult. Shaimus responded with another sneer, and then stalked from the room, but not before pounding his leadpipe into his palm a couple times for emphasis.
With that mystery apparently resolved, Blank informed them of the reason he had called the three of them in particular down to this meeting. The search of the engineering tunnels was proceeding very slowly, and costing many Red-Shirts their lives. Even those who didn't get horriby wounded would often end up lost in the dark tunnels that spanned all four levels of the station. Sam had stated his eagerness to join in the search, but was now busy dealing with all the injured Red-Shirts. Mr. Rhyze, Morton and Faust had used the engineering tunnels several times before, and knew them as well as almost anyone on the station, with the likely exception of Shaimus himself. As such, Blank declared that the three would make a great addition to the searching effort. The three had also proven themselves in several combat situations, making them more suited for any possible encounters with the fugitives. Morton and Faust were quick to agree, both eager to get to the bottom of this whole affair. As usual, Mr. Rhyze was opposed to anything that might require him to take any sort of action, and noted that it should be security's job to conduct such a search. However, like usual, the enthusiasm of his two colleagues soon convinced the reluctant Mr. Rhyze to join the search. Morton had another security issue in mind as well, and intended to speak with Commander Zaya about getting Shaimus' access to the military bay revoked. After some disagreement, the three decided to make their way up to the bridge through the engineering tunnels. Within moments, they had descended through the hatch in the hydrosphere into the deep darkness of the tunnels.
The engineering tunnels were still dark, power having yet to be restored to the lights after a misfired prank conceived by Morton and Gaston. Fortunately, as he continually reminded everyone around, Faust's necromancy allowed him to see quite well in the dark. Morton also had a flashlight out in no time, leaving the three equipped to search the ominous tunnels. Of course, their first objective was to reach the bridge. This proved more difficult than any of them had anticipated. Each of the three seemed to think that they knew the tunnels, but combining their knowledge would often lead to conflicting opinions. Even Frankenstein seemed to disagree with some of the paths chosen by the group. Still, the passage seemed to be angling upwards, which was definitely a good sign in any sort of journey to the bridge. However, the group reached a deadlock in the form of the corridor splitting off into three branches. Faust was convinced that the left passage was the correct, while Morton was certain that right was the way to go. Mr. Rhyze believed that the correct direction was straight. Frankenstein seemed to side with Faust, giving the mortician's opinion the edge in numerical support. However, both Mr. Rhyze and Morton disregarded this opinion based on the fact that Faust and Frankenstein hadn't been on the station as long as they had. Mr. Rhyze grew tired of the argument after several heated minutes, and simply walked down the center passage, swiftly disappearing into the darkness. Morton and Faust were now arguing about whether to follow him. In the end, they decided that it would be better if the group didn't split up, and so followed the communications officer down the middle passage. Unfortunately, all their discussion had made the splitting of the party inevitable. The center tunnel soon branched several more times, with nothing to indicate which way Mr. Rhyze had gone. Despite their best efforts, they had 'officially' split up.
After about ten more minutes of random searching for either the bridge or Mr. Rhyze, the two heard a sound that got their attention in an instant. It sounded like gunshots coming from back down the tunnel. With all the strealth that they could manage, Morton and Faust carefully made their way back down the tunnel. The noise of continuous gunfire was growing ever closer. Upon turning another corner, they were confronted by its source. It was Il Postino, firing his autoblaster randomly into the side of the tunnel. His rage only increased upon seeing the heroes, especially given the presence of Frankenstein. The Postman hated dogs, and intended to prove as much by blowing the zombie dog out of existance. This led to a brief battle, during which the Postman's alleged mastery of information proved inconsequential. Amazingly enough, the Postman turned out to be too smart to become disgruntled in such a situation. Without his grumpiness, Il Postino had no choice but to turn and flee. Faust and Frankenstein pursued, the former using his advanced necromancy skills to sprout wings and fly after his foe. Morton puffed along behind, but was quickly left trailing by the speed of the pursuit. Realising that he couldn't outdistance the flying Faust, The Postman spun around for one final volley of shots that brough Frankenstein down. Faust retaliated with a mighty strike from his scythe. This attack ripped right through the Postman's autoblaster, and also succeeded in dropping him. After taking his beaten foe's mailbag, Faust declared that the mail wouldn't be getting through this time.
Morton was still floundering along somewhere in the tunnels, having totally lost sight of Faust. It seemed that this pursuit had separated them still further. All too aware of the dangers of being split up, both Faust and Morton engaged in a series of shouting that eventually saw them regroup within a central tunnel. Relieved to be together once more, the two resumed their search for the bridge. However, their attention was attracted for a second time by what sounded like a gunshot. This time, it was only a single shot that rang out through the darkness. And it hmust have been fired somewhere very nearby. Once again deciding to investigate, Morton and Faust veered down a side passage from which the sound had emerged. They didn't go far down this tunnel before reaching a hatch that would lead up into one of the main areas of the station. By now quite lost, the two weren't sure which room the hatch would open into, or even on what level it would be. Nevertheless, both were eager to investigate, and in the process recover their bearings. The hatch was locked, but it proved no match for Morton's muscles. As the two pushed their way up into the light, they were confronted with a most surprising sight.
The room wasn't one that Morton often entered, but he still recognised it as the science lab. The room was currently occupied by four people, Vance not among them. One of the four was Bahljas, although it was most unclear whether he was no part of Faust's jurisdiction. The Electran officer lay unmoving on the floor, his smoking gun inches from his outstretched hand. A sneering Shaimus loomed over Bahljas, lead pipe and welding torch in hand. Upon Morton and Faust's entrance, he fixed his menacing gaze on them instead. The other two people in the room seemed to be fiddling with the doorway leading into back part of the lab. The first was a man that Morton hadn't seen in some time, and one he hadn't expected to find on the station. It was the man in the black trenchcoat who had helped them escape from the Spherans on Gangsta's Paradise. Morton had also seen him on Starbase during the first shore-leave, watching the Epsilon contingent escape from the Fenixa Infernos. Though they had never been formally introduced, Morton was sure that this man was the one Vandred had called Virgil. The description certainly fit. Although a brief character description for Virgil was shown in adventure 7, it will be updated here with some actual information.
Virgil / The Man in the Black Trenchcoat
The man standing next to Virgil was one that Morton and Faust both knew well. It was Mr. Rhyze, and he was taking a turn at the panel that would open th door into the back of the lab. There was something very different about him, though. His yellow Starfleet shirt had been replaced in favor of a polished suit of black and gold Zelzakian armor. As Morton commented on the new look, Mr. Rhyze declared that it had been given to him by Virgil to help with this big mission. As such, the communications officer had finally managed to fulfill the Zelzakian dream of obtaining their namesake armor. While Faust shouted that he had known all along of Mr. Rhyze's evil, Virgil turned to the two heroes. He declared it a pity that Morton and Faust had to die after he had put so much effort into keeping them alive. But since his involvement with the station was almost over, they were no longer needed anyway. With a gesture, he ordered Mr. Rhyze and Shaimus to kill them while he continued to work at the door. Shaimus replied that he had been waiting for this moment, and advanced on Morton, a sneer twisting his face. Since he had let Mr. Rhyze kill Bahljas, Shaimus declared that the pleasure of killing the pilot should be his. Mr. Rhyze had no problem with that arrangement, and actually moved quickly for once as he pulled out a deck of cards. Faust and Morton also readied themselves for a difficult battle. It was two on two, but neither of them had expected one of their foes to be their former comrade.
Mr. Rhyze certainly showed no signs of holding back, and hit Morton with a devastating fifty-two pickup. As the cards scattered around the room, Shaimus came in with a DFW to the pilot's chest. This combination was almost enough to bring Morton down, but he still managed to fire off a volley of shots from his autoblaster. The bullets cut into Shaimus, but were repelled by Mr. Rhyze's new armor. Faust also tried to strike the communications officer, but Mr. Rhyze's unparalleled apathy left him no choice but to attack Shaimus instead. After the intial clashes, things weren't looking good for the remaining heroes of Epsilon. Morton was barely standing, while Mr. Rhyze and Shaimus didn't appear badly wounded at all. Fortunately, help was on the way. The door to the lab burst open to reveal Blank and Sam. The security chief wasn't surprised to find proof of Mr. Rhyze's treachery, and noted that he had surely been involved with the jailbreak as well. Rikker had apparently recognised his voice during the meeting in security, as Blank had suspected that he might. As such, Blank was ready to bring Mr. Rhyze to justice. Sam was also eager to help, though he didn't know which side to assist in this case. Fortunately, Faust quickly convinced him that Mr. Rhyze had alligned with the villains. Noting that they were now outnumbered two to one, Shaimus glowered at Virgil that it was time to change strategies. The man in the black trenchcoat agreed, and spun around to join the fight personally. Virgil seemed a bit disappointed that Mr. Rhyze and Shaimus couldn't take the heat on their own, but declared that it would be faster this way in any case. Despite their superior numbers, the heroes soon found that the battle was far from won. Virgil's Force Wave in combination with Mr. Rhyze's psi-fire proved to be a deadly combination, and enough to drop both Morton and Sam, though not before the medical officer let out a psi-fire of his own. Faust struck back while Blank performed his never-before-seen special move, the Tantilus Salute. It brought Morton back to his feet, possibly with a d12 hitpoints. Of course, he wasn't likely to stay up long in this vicious battle.
Race: Deksiilan
Occupation: Still not known - ? Travelling Ice-Cream Salesman, perhaps?
Virgil was introduced fairly early in the campaign, but only identified when he finally made his strike on space station Epsilon. Most often described simply as the man in the black trenchcoat, Virgil's other physical characteristics included short blond hair, a dark suit and gloves. His motivations for coming to the station remain unclear, but Vandred's description of him as a cold-blooded killer certainly seemed to fit. Though he had apparently engineered to save the officers of Epsilon on several occaisons, Virgil still had no qualms about attempting to kill them when he considered it necessary. His martial arts skills and psi certainly seemed to be up to the task, and he also had the ability to call forth the powerful force wave to hit a group of opponents. Much mystery still remains surrounding Virgil and his treacherous team.
As the villains prepared for the final downfall of the heroes, an indistinct outline suddenly faded into the form of Fayde. The black-caped Electran had witnessed Virgil's arrival in the science lab, and had in fact been the one to inform Blank and Sam of the situation. Now, he was here to put a stop to Virgil's scheme, and avenge his fallen comrade. Virgil didn't agree with this plan, and ordered his team to take Fayde alive. Apparently, he might still be useful to them. But the rest could die. Shaimus and Mr. Rhyze were perfectly willing to obey, and lept to the attack once more. Fayde quickly faded from view, though not before drawing out his thunderblade. In the combat that followed, Faust was the next to go down from one of Virgil's knifehands. Meanwhile, Mr. Rhyze continually took Morton out, only to have Blank salute him back into the battle. Shaimus seemed ready to tip the odds with his piledriver, but he was intercepted by Fayde, who was still angry over the time that Shaimus had hit him with a leadpipe. A few strikes later, the chief engineer crumpled against the wall, apparently defeated. It was now two on three, though Morton was still grievously injured.
All the same, Mr. Rhyze was starting to dislike these odds, and considered flight. However, Virgil told him that there was no room for failure, and led the communications officer in another devastating series of attacks thst brought down Morton, and even left Fayde bleeding. However, the Electran's retaliation was swift. His thunderblade seemed to cut right through Mr. Rhyze's Zelzakian armor, and eventually brought down the treacherous communications officer, despite his unparalleled apathy. Virgil responded by dropping Blank with the last of his psychic energy. Despite being drained, the villain in the black trenchcoat refused to concede, and turned his attacks on Fayde. The Electran officer was equally determined, and after a bit of back and forth, eventually ripped his blade across Virgil's throat, sending his head flying across the room. The battle was over. A bloody, but victorious Fayde intensified into view, even as Faust and Morton groggily regained their senses. Even weak as he was, Morton pushed himself to his feet in order to finish things once and for all. He fully intended to fill Mr. Rhyze's unconscious body with lead, but was distracted when Fayde asked what had become of Shaimus. All three glanced around the room, confirming what Fayde had just observed. There was no sign of the engineer. It appeared that he hadn't been defeated after all. In that split second they had their guard down, a very wounded Mr. Rhyze took his chance to escape down the engineering tunnels, flying at near his max speed. There seemed little doubt that he was headed down to the ships to make his escape. Fayde could only hope that they were all well secured. However, Faust didn't intend to let Mr. Rhyze escape so easily. He sprouted wings for the second time, and offered to carry his companions at flight speed down to the bays. Unfortunately, he found that he was only able to take one while moving at such a high velocity. Grabbing Fayde, Faust flew with all his speed down to the military bay, leaving Morton to puff along behind.
Please proceed to page three of this adventure for the dramatic conclusion of Virgil's Nightmare.
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