CAMPAIGN
RECORD
PART 13- DARKSTAR ALPHA
Links to other parts here: 123456789101112131415
This page continues the chronological log of our Votoms
Campaign.
7214.02.24 - RIVER OF DEATH (Game
15)
Exhausted after their raid on the Red Shoulder base, squad Gilcut
takes up the Guerillas' offer to rest and resupply. All of the
squad, that is, with the exception of Quey, who is rightly concerned
that Wyvern is only getting further away the longer they wait!
Impatient and restless, Quey goes on an evening walk, and overhears
the Guerillas camping nearby. He realizes they are arguing
over whether Squad Gilcut has outlived its usefulness", and agree to
"cut them loose" and take their ATs! Quey hurries back
to the Gilcut camp and shares the news.
The rest of the squad agrees that it is time to get out, and
continue their pursuit of Wyvern upstream. Chet offers to
"create a distraction" with his Shadowflare AT while the others
capture a Guerilla River Patrol Boat and make good their
escape. With any luck, Chet can break away and meet up with
the team further upriver.
While Chet makes hit and run attacks on the far side of the Guerilla
camp, Quey, Pent, and Goug try to sneak across the river and take
the patrol boat. Quey manages to carry Captain Mayfield across
and he gets the patrol boat started...
But the Guerillas on guard hear the noise, and a nighttime firefight
breaks out! Pent and Goug manage to pull their non-waterproof
ATs onto the deck, while Quey flanks around the boat in his Snapping
Turtle and engages the Guerilla ATs on the shore.
All the shooting attracts the attention of a Guerilla Veteran, whose
flamethrower-equipped Standing Turtle washes a wave of fire over the
deck!
Pent watches helplessly as Goug's Berserga is engulfed in
flames. Firing shots into the smoke, he hopes to do some
damage to the new threat.
Lightly toasted, Goug emerges from the flames, and follows up Pent's
attack with a charge of his own!
Everyone barely manages to get onboard and put out the fire as
Mayfield pilots the boat upriver. Things are quiet, but as
they trawl ahead, they notice sinister statues on the shore, and a
bloated corpse in a Red Shoulder uniform drifts past them down
stream...
Then without warning, creatures emerge from the water, knocking Quey
back and catching everyone off guard! Getting over their
initial horror, the team realizes they are the same kind of
creatures that attacked them on Sunsa!
Quey and Goug barely manage to fend off one creature, but Pent is
not so lucky, having to face the other one alone.
Dropping down into the water, Quey gets a devastating attack angle
from below, finishing off one creature with a barrage from the
waterline.
But Goug shifts focus, and gunfire, onto the other creature, Pent is
dragged overboard! Desperate to stop the creature, he unloads
his guns into the thing's underbelly before sinking below the
surface.
Leaking water, Polymer Ringer Fluid, and life giving air, Pent
struggles to reorient himself and get to the surface...
Thankfully, Quey's hydrojet equipped Snapping Turtle is quick to the
rescue.
Exhausted by their ordeal, the team finally reaches the head of the
river, where an ancient temple stands. And in front of the
temple, four deadly looking Berserga ATs!
The Bersergas identify themselves as the guardians of the doorway,
and warn that only the worthy may pass. Quey tests the threat
by kicking a rock towards the temple doorway, setting off a shower
of sparks. Apparently the door is protected by a magnetic
barrier!
Goug warns that he does not know these enemies- they aren't
mercenaries from Quent, but could be Overman descendants native to
Darkstar. The Guardians immediately open fire on the team,
destroying the ship's gun turret before Mayfield can do more
than a glancing blow to them. Splitting up to take on their
new foes, Pent's Strikedog rushes the Solid Shooter equipped
Berserga...
After a fearsome barrage of rockets and gunfire, the Berserga isn't
destroyed- instead, it appears to shut down. But an even more
advanced version, the Testa Rossa, looks to be the toughes opponent!
Goug charges into the other two Guardians, but barely scratches them
while taking tremendous damage himself. It has been a while
since he's fought opponents as tough, and skilled, as himself!
But before they can close in for the kill, a familiar black AT
bursts onto the scene- Chet has finally rejoined the group!
Several shell blasts catch one of the Guardians off guard...
While Quey engages the other one with a rollerdash charge, shoving
him back into the magnetic barrier and blowing out the Berserga's
control system!
Chet circles around behind the temple to engage the Testa Rossa
leader, who is as fast as he is deadly.
Tough as he is though, he's no match for the entire squad, whose
combined efforts finally shut him down. Admitting that they
have proven "worthy", the Guardians allow the squad to enter the
Temple.
As the squad enters the darkness, they are surrounded by a strange
glowing light... Then suddenly with a gut-wrenching sense of nausea,
they disappear from the temple, only to reappear in a dark, metal
corridor far away from the temple. What new horrors await
them? Can they ever hope to catch up with Wyvern and stop
him? Find out next episode!
