                    THE REVENGE OF THE STROGG

     Slowly I drift through the cyber ether pinging the servers and sampling the data stream as
I search for one of them.  I find one server which has a strange feel to it. I sense a trace presence
of one of them but I am not sure. The server is occupied, but my  connection to it is mediocre.
 
     Connecting to such a sever could be very dangerous since I'll be subject to lag.    Briefly I
ponder whether I should take a chance and connect to it since I'd be at a disadvantage due to my
high ping rate.   However, due to that undeniable trace presence of them on this sever, I have a
strong feeling that their evil lurks within that particular patch of cyberspace.  Ultimately, I decide
I to down link into the server since I need to know for sure if some of them are  there.  

          I down link  into the server and launch off of the spawning pad like a rocket.  A 
rail slug zips past my head narrowly missing me. Damm camper!!  I knew coming onto this server
at such a high ping rate could result in  the fragging of me!!

     I look briefly to my left and I see ol' baldy, a standard grunt,  grinning at me with a big
Rail Gun in his paws.    I need to get away quickly from this guy before he makes gibs out of me!! 
I dash down the hallway quickly, zig zagging as I run while rail slugs impact upon the walls
around me.   I hear the footsteps of ol' baldy in hot pursuit.

          I enter into another room and dash around the corner.  I spot some armor shards in
the other corner but nothing more.  Uh-oh it's a dead end.  I am in big trouble now because ol'
baldy  with the rail gun has just entered the room and he's still wearing that stupid grin! 

          Just then, I hear the  weapon's respawning sound and I look behind ol' baldy and I
see a Grenade Launcher has just reappeared.  What Luck!! I take a running leap straight at big
ugly and do a somersault right over the top of his chrome dome  and grab the launcher and it
instantly morphs into pistol form in my hand. 

     Pirouetting around to face my antagonist, I start back pedaling down the corridor the way
I had run, just as ol' baldy starts shooting rail slugs at me again.  I pump several grenades down
the hall in his direction in order to discourage pursuit.  Suddenly I hear a cry of pain and a death
wail, some my grenades must have hit home.  

     Carefully I retrace my path back up the hallway toward the dead end room.  I find ol'
baldy  lying there face up on the floor in the corridor mouth with that same silly looking grin on
his face.  As I look upon his continence I wonder how if ol' baldy had ever heard of the Hair Club
For Men. He definitely should be a member!!

     I glance quickly about the room hoping to find the Rail Gun he had moments before.
Rats!! The Rail Gun is gone! He must have used up all of the ammo!  Briefly I curse the fates
which had robbed of such a prize. Possessing a Rail Gun would have gone a long way to insure
my safety on this server. I glance back at ol' baldy again in frustration. "Jerk!!" I yell at him.
"Why did you use up all of the ammo! How dare you leave a poor innocent girl like me without
that weapon!!"  I then gib him for good measure.          

     During this small respite I suddenly notice a small beeping coming from my pouch. I
unsnap my pouch and take out my PDA. The screen glows softly to light and my Digital
Assistant, "Hope" comes to life.

     "Hottie" she says. "Time elapsed since entry onto this sever 17 seconds." "Time remaining
before sever map recycle is fourteen minutes and zero seconds."  "Thanks for the info Hope". I
reply.  "Scan for map configuration, weapons, and silicone based life forms Hope"I tell her.  
"Scanning" she chirps.

     While Hope scans the area,  I take stock of my situation.  I have picked up some armor
shards and I have a Grenade Pistol with 1 grenade.  Not much to frag with I muse.  "Scanning
complete" Hope announces. " Results?" I ask.

     "Level has been heavily modified from standard issue." Hope says.  "I am unable to
identify it's configuration due to the massive amounts of energy being emitted here."  "At best I
may be able  give you a general idea as to where to proceed for med packs and weapons." says
Hope.  "Possibility of  any specials, Hope?" I ask.

     "None detected" says Hope.  "Current probability of a BFG being present is 0001.%"
"Quads and Invulnerability are not present either." "There are no runes in scripted in this
modification."  "However their presence could be masked by those unknown energy readings."
says Hope.    

     "Life forms?" I ask. "17 PPMs" Hope replies. "Uh, make that 16 PPMs now." she says
correcting herself. "Identities of the PPMs unknown." "Strengths unknown," "Pings range from
middle to LPB range." Additionally  I am also getting massive amounts of some unidentifiable bio
readings which I cannot scan due to the massive energy interference."  

     "Great" I mutter.  "Just what I need." "A heavily modified level, massive quantities of an
unknown energy, a massive amount of unknown bio readings, and unknown opponents  who
mostly have better pings than I do."  

     "Situation  is dangerous Hottie," Hope says. " I suggest we uplink and look for a better
ping." 

     "I know Hope"  I reply.  "However these unknown energy and bio readings you are
picking up really has me worried." "I have a hunch something bad is going on here." And we
better find out what happening." "Continue analyzing those unknown energy and bio readings
Hope."I tell her "Roger that" Hope replies.  Hope falls silent for a second then beeps me again. 

     "Hottie?" Hope says in a worried tone . "I suggest you proceed with the upmost caution."  

     "I will" I assure her as I try to sound cheerful. "Time remaining Hope"? Thirteen minutes,
thirteen seconds to map recycle.  "Damm that's a bad omen" I mutter as I put Hope back into my
pouch.      
     Grenade Pistol in hand, I take off down the corridor and sprint past the pad I had spawned
in on in search of the other PPMs.  The next few rooms contain the typical Strogg architecture
and are empty except for some more armor shards and a few bullet packs. In the last room
however I find a standard shot gun and some shells. " Just what I need." I muse. "A popgun." 
"Where are all of the good weapons on this level?"

     I leave the room and proceed down another hallway which leads north. As I jog down the
hallway I hear the sound of gun fire in the distance.  I emerge from the hallway  into an open area
and there I see a Cyborg and an alien Grey locked in combat.  The Grey notices me as I enter the
area and starts shooting at me with a Chain Gun.

     I try to dodge the bullets but I am too late .  I feel some of them hit me. Hope my PDA
activates a mike which is located in my ear and informs me of my status, "Current Health Status  
73%. Armor status 3%" She informs me.  "Roger"   I reply.

     In response to the Grey's attack  I shoot my one remaining grenade at him and switch to
the shotgun.  Strafing right I start pumping shells into his little grey hide.  Meanwhile the Cyborg
whom the grey has be fighting gleefully starts pumping machine gun rounds into the Grey's
backside.

     The Grey goes down in a hail of gunfire and drops the Chain Gun. The Cyborg and I both
make a mad dash for this weapon. It looks like the Cyborg might reach it first so I pump several
rounds into him as I charge.  The shock of my shells  blows him back.  I reach the Chain Gun first,
it morphs into pistol form when I touch it and I use  it on the Cyborg. The Cyborg goes down as a
result of my blasts and drops a machine gun.   

     Hmm... not bad pickings for a quick fight. A machine gun and a chain gun. At least I can
do some damage with these weapons. "Hottie" Hopes beeps in my ear mike.  "I have now
collected sufficient data concerning this level to give an approximation of where some items might
be located."

     "Great" I reply. "Directions?" "Continue due north and you'll find another passage" says
Hope.  Continue down that passage to a hallway juncture.   Turn east and you'll find a flight of
stairs. Proceed up the stairs and you'll find a room with some equipment. "Roger that" I reply.

     Following Hope's directions I proceed north and locate a darkened hallway lit by only
intermittent red lights.  As I proceed down the hallway I notice a lot of gibs and a figure curled up
in a corner.

     As I approach I determine the figure is an Athena class PPM who has apparently fought
her last fight.  I briefly examen her body and I find the marks on her which indicates she was
actually an IPPM, just like me.  

     Damm!! There are so few of us left now we couldn't afford to lose any more IPPM
Strogg Hunters.   We IPPMs had been created when it was accidently learned that the true
masters of the Stroggos threat had not been eliminated.  

     During the fall Of Stroggos,  the Strogg ruling class had escaped into the Net along with
some of their minions.  There, in the shadows of death match play they have regrouped  and were
forming new plans to conquer humanity.   Luckily their presence was discovered when an
individual,  as a part of experiment, launched  an Airwolf helicopter into cyberspace, whereupon 
that copter stumbled across the Strogg rulers hiding on the net.   

     After this discovery, the IPPMs,  Independent Plug In Play Models were launched into
cyberspace and our mission is to hunt down and eliminate the Strogg rulers. This is a task we
accomplish in the shadow of most Death Match games.  Most of humanity is ignorant to our
presence as they enjoy their net gaming, unaware of our presence.
   
     I look around the room to see if I can discern what had actually happened to her.  Judging
by the amount of gibs on the floor, it looks like she was ambushed and that she took a lot of other
entities down with her before she succumbed.  I am unable to identify her attackers. However the
fact that she was ambushed tells me that my original hunch was right, there is something evil on
this server.  

     I bend down and close the unblinking eyes of my fallen comrade.  Next to her is a stash of
grenades. I quietly pick up the grenades from her, give her a quick salute, and head down the
hallway.   I locate the stairs Hope told me about off to the right and bound up them two at a time. 
At the top of the stairs, off  to the left, I find a room with two windows containing a med pack,
shotgun shells, and a Super Shotgun. 

     Seeing this little treasure trove. My confidence grows and I feel that I might be able to
successfully complete this level. As I gather up these items, I hear gunfire in the courtyard.  I
glance out the first window and I see nothing but a Doom Marine striding across the court yard. I
guess old heros never die, they just get repolyed .  

     I look out the other window into an  another courtyard and I see a bedraggled Faerie,
Spirit Of The Machine class PPM armed with a  Shotgun locked in mortal combat with a Bauul
PPM armed with a Hyperblaster.

     I pop off  a grenade at the Bauul just to be annoying but it misses.  The sound however
distracts him and he turns to face it just as the Faerie sticks her Shotgun into his gullet.  Surprised
at the number of holes appearing in his stomach, the Bauul PPM falls, then gibs under the Faerie's
onslaught.  The Faerie then picked up the Hyperblaster looks at me briefly then dashes into
another building.  After this exchange, I wondered if the Bauul  PPM would ever admit to his
buddies that he got fragged by a Faerie.       

     Retracing my steps down the stairs and into the hallway.  I return to the hallway juncture
and head due north again.  Emerging from the hallway and into a courtyard I almost run right
smack into him, the Duke. "Great," I mutter.  "Just what I need, an interloper from an alternate
reality."
     "Who loves ya baby" he says upon seeing me.  I start backing down the hallway in order
to get away. "Hey baby wanna play?" he then yells at me. "Here, let me see you dance!" he says
as he pulls out a Chain Gun and starts shooting a my feet.  I sidestep quickly to avoid taking any
damage from his shots. I then zigzag away and start firing back  at him. 

      "Hey babe come back I wanna strip ya"!! He yells.  I reach another hallway juncture and I
duck down another hallway.  I lean against a wall and find a secret passage. I enter the passage
and I lose him for a moment. But a few seconds later I hear his voice coming toward me again
down the same passageway  I had just entered.  He's telling me how handsome  he is and how I
should want to be with a stud like him.

     " Geeez!! What a creep!!!" I mutter. I run down the hallway and emerge onto a catwalk
suspended above a pool of lava.  There are several other catwalks and ladders in this area as well.
I spot a small alcove off to the side.  I duck into the alcove and wait. 

     Seconds later Duke comes running into the area. He stops to scan the area.  "Where are ya
Baby!!." he yells.  "Don't ya love me anymore?"  

     "Sure I do!" I reply as I spring from the alcove.  "Here's a present for ya!" I give him
several quick blasts with my super shot gun and blow him over the edge of the catwalk.

     "Ohhh poor baby doesn't have his jet pack!" I yell at him as he falls screaming into the
lava below.  As he hits the lava with a THOP I mutter to myself "I guess he now knows who has
true grit."

     Now that I've gotten rid of that self proclaimed pretty boy.  I examen the area more
closely.  Up on the catwalks above me I see a combat vest, and some stim and health packs.  And
low and behold, the Duke seems to have left a Rocket Launcher for me.  I guess ol' Duke really 
does know how to treat a lady after all!!!

     I scoop up the rocket launcher and head up a ladder and onto the other catwalks where I
gather the armor and stim packs.  At the end of the uppermost catwalk, I see what appears to be
another corridor.

     Hope beeps me in my ear mike "Hottie" Hope says. "The corridor ahead has a lot of
twisting passages" "OK Hope" I reply.  "Status?" I query. "Health 104%. Armor 50%." "One life
form is nearby." "Location unknown. Strength Unknown" "Time to map recycle 9 minutes, 34
seconds."

     I enter into the twisting passages at a slow trot.  I switch to my Chain Pistol  just in case I
run into anyone in the passages.  I follow the winding corridors about 200 yards and  I emerge
onto a bridge.  In front of me I see her, a Crackwhore, (g) class, a Strogg ruler. And she's locked
in battle with the Doom Marine I saw earlier.  My hunch was right!! There are silicone based life
forms on the server!

     As I raise my pistol to engage her in combat, the Crackwhore rails the  Doom Marine.  He
dissolves into a spray of giblets.  "Hope get a reading on her NOW!!" I shout. "Hottie" Hope
shouts into my ear mike "I can ‘t get a reading on her"  "She's got shields!!" 

       Damm!! No wonder Hope hadn't detected her presence!! Hope can't scan anyone wearing
shields.  I open up fire with my Chain Pistol.  Several of my bullets strike home as I see a green
glow flare up around the Crackwhore .  The Crackwhore turns toward me and fires. "Hottie!!"
Hope cries "Watch Out!!!" "She's a LPB!!"  Just then I feel a Rail slug slam into my side. I
double over in pain.
     
          "Warning, Warning !! Health below 65% armor 13%!!!" Hope says frantically into
my ear mike.  This is bad, real bad I think to myself.  I don't have room to maneuver and if she
hits me again with that Rail Gun again there'll be Hottie giblets everywhere.  

     Not having  time to change weapons, I charge the Crackwhore with my Chain Pistol
hoping it will be able  to take her shields down quickly.  The Crackwhore points her Rail Gun at
me again and fires. I side step and  duck.  She  misses me this time. 

     Suddenly at the other end of the bridge I see the Faerie whom I helped earlier emerging
from the mouth of the other tunnel.  She charges the Crackwhore from the rear while shooting at
her with a Hyperblaster. 

     The Crackwhore is caught in the crossfire between the two of us, her shields are
constantly flashing green.  The Crackwhore suddenly switches weapons to a Standard Shotgun
and blasts me again and I am blown off the bridge and into the water below.  All of my stats are
now below 15% and I am redlining 

     I hit the water below with a big splash and I come up for air just in time to hear the
Faerie's death wail.  I quickly dart below the water again just as a Hyperblaster starts spraying my
general area. Spying a nearby tunnel, I swim down the passage.  I then switch to my Grenade
Pistol and I fire off  a couple of rounds behind me in order to discourage pursuit.

     I surface in a darkened tunnel and I spot a ladder nearby.  I crawl up the ladder and lay
panting on the floor. My mind is swirling with many thoughts, chief among which, is the fact that
I realize that I have just narrowly escaped being gibbed.

      "I thought you said there were no specials listed for this level Hope!! I mumble. Hope
remains silent for a second then replies softly "Hottie, I'm sorry but my data and sensors did not
indicate the presence of a shield belt on this level at this time."  
     Hope pauses for a second then continues. "The only explanation for it's presence on this
level  is  that there must be a random spawning site located somewhere on the map" "Hottie"
Hopes says softly in my I ear, "I suggest we uplink now."

     I ponder the option of just blowing this popsicle stand in order to regroup and fight
another day.  Ultimately however, I decide to stay.  I know that if I leave now, the Crackwhore
will block my reentry onto this server and I'll never find out what is going on here.  "No Hope" I
say softly.  We ‘re gonna stay."

     But Hottie!! Hope says in my ear.  "No but's Hope" I reply.  "Hope re-link skin to
fhotbgrnhblk."  For a second Hope doesn't reply, then I hear her say meekly "Acknowledged"

     Suddenly I feel a warm rushing sensation flow over me.  My old standard Hottie skin is
gone and I am now wearing my green cammo bodysuit.  Hopefully this will give me an small edge
in any future encounters.  I need to use every trick I know until I can replenish my health.  

     "Which way Hope?" I query.  "To the left Hottie." She replies  I take off in a slow trot in
the direction Hope has indicated.  I pull my Rocket Pistol out for protection.  I just wish I had
more space to use it.  It would be embarrassing to frag myself due to my own rocket's backblast.  

     I make my way  through several unoccupied rooms not finding anything much of value
except for a couple of armor shards and some more bullets. I cautiously emerge into another
courtyard and I see a Strogg Tank patrolling in the distance.

     A Strogg!! They are a rare sight these days since the Terran Marine Corps fragged
Stroggos prime.   The remaining few who escaped the fall of Stroggos prime, fled into cyberspace
with their masters. Those who fled were mostly comprised of a few elite Strogg units.  Thus those
Strogg units on the net are usually a lot tougher than the one's encountered by the marines back
on Stroggos prime.  

     "Can you get a reading on him Hope?" I ask her. "Negative" Hope replies. "This area is
swarming with energy surges." "I am unable to scan him."
     
     "Great" I mutter. No help there. I need to take this boy out quickly as possible. Knowing
that surprise was my weapon now I use the available ground cover to sneak up on him so that I
can get a good shot at him .  When I am in optimum range, I let loose with a rocket. The rocket
scores a direct hit. I shoot him a second time which damages him heavily. He turns and fires at me
but his shot goes wide.  I pump a third rocket into him and he explodes. 

     I then survey the area which he was patrolling and I locate a weapons cache.  The cache 
contains a lot of armor, several Rocket Launchers, Grenade Launchers , Power packs, Med Kits
Rail Guns, BFGS and their accompanying ammunition.  

     WOW!! I hit the mother load!! The tank that I had that thought was  patrolling the area
was actually guarding it! I then scoop up all of the goodies I can carry.

     After replenishing myself I look around the area some more and  I find several other
ammo dumps nearby which contain similar stockpiles.  What are they doing with all this ammo? I
wonder. It looks like there is enough items stockpiled here to supply a small army.  I decide to
query Hope to see if she has an answer to this riddle.

     "What's going on here Hope?" "Why didn't you detect all of this?" I ask her. 
"I couldn't Hottie" Hope replies .  "This area is saturated with energy which interferes with  my
sensors."  Suddenly I feel a deep steady rumble emanating beneath my feet.  "Hottie," Hope says.
"I am now detecting  huge energy discharges coming from the next courtyard." 

     "What type of energy readings are they Hope?" I ask "Unknown" Hope replies. "How do
we get over there Hope ?"   "Unknown" Hope replies again. "There is too much energy
interference to plot a path." 

     Geez!! Just when I need a simple answer Hope can't give it to me. I weigh my options for
a second as to how I can get into the next courtyard.  I realize could wander around for days
without finding the right path to the next courtyard since Hope couldn't trace one for me.  I then
decide that the direct approach may be the best.

      "Does the grapple work on this mod Hope?" I ask.  "Perhaps" she replies "Since there is
probably a random weapons respawner on this level, grapple usage might be possible." 

     I pull my grapple out of my pouch and shoot it at the top of the wall.  It works!!  I pull
myself up to the top of the wall and anchor myself into position. I peer over the wall and I see a
huge horde of Strogg battle troops and gear assembled in what looks like a staging area .  At each
corner of the staging area are huge pylons which are glowing green.

     Upon seeing this sight I suddenly have a sinking feeling in my stomach.  I pull Hope out of
my pouch set her on top of the ledge.  "Can you scan those structures Hope?"  I ask her. 

     "I might be able to if you extend all of my sensor apparatus." Hope replies.  I  extend all of
Hope's  sensor apparatus and place her back on the ledge.  She looks like a big spider standing
there. 

     "Hope, now do a full scan this area and tell me what you think."  "Scanning......" replies
Hope. .... Scanning complete. She says a few seconds later.  

     "Hottie" Hope say. "This is a staging area for troops and those pylons are transmutation
devices."  "I surmise they are planning to transmute troops off the net and onto Earth prime."  

     "I thought so too Hope." I say numbly. "How many pads do you think are on this level
Hope?" I ask her.  "With the data I have accumulated I would estimate at least 100 pads, maybe
more."  Hope replies.  "Enough to transmute several Strogg divisions onto Earth prime."  "And
due to their power buildup I think they will complete the  transmuting process in about 6
minutes."  Hope concludes.

     Damm!! This is bad real... bad. There is no way I could contact Home Prime and get a
strike team here in time to stop them!!  Sighing heavily, I slowly I pick up Hope and fold her back
up and place her in my pouch. 

     "Hottie... Hottie?" Hope says in my ear mike.  "What are you about to do?"  "Today must
be a Good Day to Die" I mutter as I unsling the BFG I had  just found in the weapons cache. The
BFG  morphs into a BFP in my hand.  I draw a bead on the first pylon and start firing. I rapidly
switch targets to the second third and forth pylons and fire at them as well.  

     Several balls of green energy have emerged from my pistol.  Green lances of energy erupt
out of these glowing balls and rain down green havoc upon the assembled Strogg below. These
energy balls then hit each of  the pylons. A massive explosion ensues which cascades toward me. I
duck down behind the wall just before the wave front reaches me.  I am then blown from my
perch and blasted into unconsciousness. 

     "Hottie.... Hottie..." I hear a voice calling me in the distance.  I don't want to answer it. 
It's nice and warm in this darkness. I ignore the voice.  "Hottie" the voice says more insistently.  I
then feel an electric  jolt coursing through my body, then another jolt. I open my eyes and all I see
is darkness.

     Hottie!! the voice says in my ear you must get up now!!  There are several  Strogg
heading in this direction!!  Slowly I realize that the voice I was hearing was Hope speaking to me
in my ear mike.  The electronic jolts I felt was her stimulating my electronic mesh in a effort to
wake me up.
     
     "Hope "I reply weakly. "I'm alive?"  "Yes Hottie Your alive" Hope replies. "You redlined
completely for a few seconds but you fell in some med packs and some armor."  "Hottie, you
must get up and leave NOW because there are several Strogg Tanks coming in this direction.

     I am still engulfed in darkness even though I am now awake and my eyes are open. "I
can't see Hope"! I exclaim "Everything ‘s dark!!"

     "Relax Hottie" says Hope.  You are buried underneath some rubble."  "You must dig
yourself out NOW before the Strogg get here."  For the first time I notice the heavy pressure on
my chest.  Slowly I push the rubble off me and I crawl out from under it and into the daylight.

     "Hottie" says Hope "When you blew those pylons the energy surges stopped temporarily
and I was able to scan the entire level and contact the central server." "I now possess a complete
map of this level." "There is an access hatch a few meters west which leads into an underground
air duct system I suggest we enter it NOW." says Hope.

     In a daze, I stumble to the hatch Hope described, open it, pull myself inside, and I close
the hatch behind me.  "Hope, status" I ask weakly  "Health 100% Armor 125%" Time to map
recycle  five minutes 10 seconds.  

     "How can that be?'  I ask Hope.  "I was just blown to smithereens and I feel like I was out
several hours." "You were blown up" says Hope. "But just before you finally derezzed you fell
upon a huge pile of med packs and armor." "It stopped you from derezzing."  "The time
distortion you feel must be a result of your partial derezzing". Hope concludes.     

     "Back from the dead I guess then" I muse.  "I sure feel like it."  I wonder if I'll develop a
craving for blood?"

     "Hottie, we don't have time for these philosophical discussions." says Hope.  "The
backblast you caused only stopped the Strogg temporarily."  They are already powering again for
a large scale transmutation which will be complete in a few minutes.
  
     Any way we can stop them for good Hope? I ask. "I can't just go around blowing up
pylons." "I'll never find them all in time."  Besides, I lost the BFP in that last backblast.

     "True" says Hope. "However when you blew those four pylons, the power went out and I
was able to locate the main reactor for the pylons." "The main reactor for all of the pylons is
nearby  and if we blow it...  says Hope "...........the whole place blows." I say finishing her
sentence. "Correct  Hope?"  "Correct Hottie "Hope replies smugly.

     "Have you charted a path to the reactor Hope ?" I ask "Yes." replies Hope.  "Go South
through this duct and I"ll give you further directions."   

     "Roger that Hope" I reply.  "Before we start however, my outfit is a mess." "Are the
places were going pretty dark?" I ask Hope. "Yes Hottie" she  replies.  "Good" I say. "Time to
engage stealth mode." "Hope relink skin to Hottieblk." 

     "Roger that" says Hope. As Hope relinks my skin for stealth mode, I suddenly hear a low
humming. "Time remaining until the Strogg transmutation devices are fully charged?" I ask.   "4 
minutes 13 seconds" replies Hope.  Geez!! There's the number 13 again! "It must be a bad
omen." I mutter. 

     Under Hope's guidance I navigate the air ducts and corridors.  Running the air ducts and
corridors in this fashion with Hope's guidance reminds me of the simpler times when I used to
death match with my friends before I got recruited to be an IPPM.  Those were much simpler and
happier times.

     I make my way through the corridors with hardly any encounters. However, the few
encounters I do have are with mostly Strogg tanks and flyers. Thus I burn up a lot of my ammo.

     I enter a set of twisting passages and emerge on a bridge.  The same bridge where I took
my icy plunge. into the water below. Fortunately, there wasn't anyone here to imped my progress
. 
     "Hope, are you sure this is the right way?" I ask   "We seem to be backtracking."  "I don't
remember seeing a room full of power generators back here." 

     "Don't worry" Hope replies.  "There is a secret hatch just on the other side of this bridge. 
It leads directly to the power plant." "Ok" I reply.

     I proceed across the bridge.  Half way across I find the body of the Faerie I last saw
fighting the Crackwhore.  I stop a moment to examen her body and I find a Hyperbalster still
clutched in her hand hidden underneath one wing. 

     Wondering how the Faerie still possessed such a prize when I thought the Crackwhore
had picked it up and tried to kill me with it.  I queried Hope for a solution to this riddle.  

     "Hope" "I thought the Crackwhore was shooting at me with the Faerie's Hyperblaster
when I was in the water below."  "How come it's here?"  I ask here. 

     "I don't know" replies Hope.  "Maybe she already had a Hyperblaster and she intended to
reach for it but pulled out the shotgun by accident."  "Or maybe her key binding to her
Hyperblaster was just bad." concludes Hope. "Either way it's still here."

     Bad bindings or not, I am grateful to have found this weapon.  I was getting low on
ammunition and this Hyperblaster along with the power packs I already had greatly augmented
my  firepower.  I bind the Hyperblaster to my belt and continue across the bridge.

     I reach the other side of the bridge and push the wall in several places where Hope
instructs. A small hatch pops open and I climb inside.   I crawl on my hands and knees a couple
hundred yards and eventually wind up next to grate overlooking a room full of generators.

     "Hope, Are there any guards in here?" I ask her.  "There shouldn't be any" Hope replies.
"I had the central server seal off the area when the power went out."  "And the air ducts we went
through are too small for most Strogg to fit through them."  Hope concludes  

     "Great!!" I reply "Were Home free then!! I shoot out the grate with my standard issue side
arm and drop to the floor below.  As I hit the floor I instinctively crouch just as a rail slug slams
into the wall just over my head.

     Standing in front of the power generators about 50 yards away I see her,   the
Crackwhore,  she glares at me,  Rail Gun in hand.  I had forgotten that she could fit through the
air ducts too.

     I hear here shout something but I can't make out what she is saying over the din of the
surrounding machinery. However, she flips me off then points at me.  By these signals alone I
know what she wants. She is challenging me to a DEATH MATCH.  I flip her off then point at
her in order to let her know that her challenge has been accepted.

     "Hottie!!" Hope says in my ear mike. "We don't have time for this!!" The transmutation
process will be complete in two minutes, 18 seconds!!"  Besides, she has shields and  is a  LPB!!!. 

     "Battle Colors Hope" I reply, ignoring her comment.  "Hottie, are you sure?" asks Hope
"Battle Colors, Hope" I say again insistently..  "OK Hottie," Hope says meekly.  "Relinking skin
mesh to QGZHOTRHBLK."  I pull out my Rail Pistol and salute the Crackwhore to let her
know I am ready and we begin our dance of death.

     Quickly the Crackwhore lowers her weapon and fires at me as she jumps away.  I slide
sideways and a rail slug passes dead center at the spot where I had been standing just moments
before. I return fire with my Rail Pistol but she dodges my shot easily. I jump right and her next
shot narrowly misses me.      

     Damm is she's fast!!! I realize I'll never defeat her in a Rail Gun duel due to the Rail
Gun's slow rate of fire.  I quickly switch to the Faerie's Hyperblaster and start strafing left.   My
tactic of switching to a Hyperblaster then circle strafing  left has caught her off guard.  This time I
score several direct hits on the Crackwhore and her shields glow brightly.  

     I keep strafing left keep and pumping rounds into her until I nearly exhaust the last of my
power packs.  Her shields must be weakened I figure but they still have gone down. I get ready to
jump again but I am not  quick enough.  She has caught on to my strafing pattern and she fires at
me just as I start my jump. I feel a rail slug slam into me. I stumble in pain, then I  jump again just
as another rail slug whizzes by me. "Health 13% armor 0% " "Two minutes to transmutation"
Hope says softly in my ear. 

     Our death dance has moved me a lot closer to the generators than when I first entered the
room. I jump again, and in mid-jump, I spin around and turn my back on the Crackwhore, switch
weapons to my Grenade Pistol and start lobbing off grenades into the generators.

     Nooooo!!  I hear the Crackwhore scream above the din of the generators.  My next jump
takes me behind one of the generators and out of her sight.  I continue running between the
generators pumping grenades into them  into them as the Crackwhore follows in pursuit.   Some
of the generators erupt in small explosions  due to the damage that they have received.  I hear the
Crackwhore's  shield crackle constantly as she is caught in several of the explosions as she
follows me.

     Exhausting my grenade supply, I start using my remaining weapons to damage the
generators until all of my ammunition is  exhausted.  Finally armed with only my trusty pistol, I
reach a corner on the other side of the room.  I turn around to examen my handy work . Small
explosions, smoke, and energy discharges  are erupting out of all of the generators.  Several of
them look as if they are going to blow sky high at any second. 

     Out of this carnage emerges the Crackwhore, her Rail Gun still in her hand. Her outfit is
torn and her face is twisted into pure hatred.  I look for an open area so that I'll have room to
maneuver but their isn't any place to run. I'm cornered, like the proverbial rat.  

     "Enjoy your little victory now" the Crackwhore says as she sneers at me.  "It'll will be
your last." "I still have my troops and I can rebuild elsewhere and you won't be around to stop
me."  She then levels her Rail Gun at me and fires.  I duck and roll,  and I feel the rail slug whistle
pass my head.  I return fire with my pistol. My bullet strikes home dead center in her chest area.

     "You can't hurt me with that little popgun, Girlfriend."  She laughs.  Suddenly, a small
hole appears in the Crackwhore's chest where I just shot her.  A small hissing sound is heard
coming from the hole in her chest.  NOOOOOOO! She screams as the air emerging from her
chest causes her to become airborne and she flies around the room and eventually slams into one
of the generators and sinks to the floor in a heap.

     I stumble over to where the Crackwhore has landed and I prod her body with my left foot. 
Her body has a deflated look to it.  "I always thought  they were nothing more than blowup
dolls." I muse out loud. 

     "Agreed" says Hope in my ear mike. Just then, one of the smaller generators at the far end
of the room blows up.  I am pelted with burning debries.   

     "Hottie" Hope says into my ear mike. "We must leave now!!!The rest of those generators
are going to blow any second!!  "Is the transmutation process still going to take place Hope?" I
ask.  

     "Negative" replies Hope.  "There is insufficient energy to complete the process."  "In fact
this whole map level is going blow sky high when those generators blow." says Hope  

     "OK Hope," I say "Let's get out of here" "Roger that" replies Hope "Thirteen seconds left
to map rotation." " Commencing uplink now!"   

     I feel the electronic surge of the uplink process. My last glimpses of the level are of several
generators starting to blow sky high as I shoot up out of the server.

     Entering the data stream I look back at the server I had just left.  It erupts in a blinding
flash and then goes dark.  "Hope, do you think that the human that was running that server will
discover what happened?" I ask her   "No" replies Hope.  "He'll probably think his server just
crashed due to a windows bug or a program bug."  "He'll have it up and running again in no
time." 
     Slowly I start to drift through the cyber ether pinging the servers and sampling the data
stream as I search for one of them.  Hope beeps me in my ear mike. "Fae" she says softly . (Hope
rarely calls me by my first name and it is even rarer when she calls me by my nickname.) "You did
good back there."  "Real Good".  "Thanks" I reply.  

     Hope falls silent for a minute then beeps me again . "Fae, " she says. "I have  just received
a message from Home Prime.   They are asking us to return to base  to be debriefed."  "Why?" I
ask "It seems that someone has found some information indicating there might be another type of
Strogg ruler, code named Love Doll. says Hope. 

     "Great" I mutter.  "Just what we need, a new member of the Strogg ruling class."  I up
shift to the top of  the data stream  and head for home.  




