CAMPAIGN
RECORD
PART 15- THE DARK MOON
Links to other parts here: 123456789101112131415
This page continues the chronological log of our Votoms
Campaign.
7214.02.25 - THE PROGENITOR (Game
16, Part II)
Once through the portal, the team comes face to face with a most
alien machine attached to what could only be described as a giant,
pulsing brain. They are shocked when the machine speaks,
identifying itself as The Progenitor. The Progenitor explains
that it is a repository for the collected knowledge of the Overmen
race that once lived on Darkstar. As their bodies died out,
they looked for a new form of life worthy of inheriting their
legacy. Imagine its surprise when five potential candidates
arrive all at the same time!
The Progenitor goes on to explain that long ago, a battle between
the Balarant and Gilgamesh forces was fought over the black moon of
Darkstar, resulting in a Balarant Ship crashing to the
surface. Although it somehow made it through the magnetic
field barrier, it was irreparably damaged, and the survivors were
hunted down and executed, not worthy of the Overmen's legacy.
When the ship crashed, however, part of the moon's technology was
broken loose, and discovered years later by Wyvern. This was
the origin of the blackwire technology, and why Wyvern spent so much
effort on the planet of Darkstar trying to find a way onto the black
moon! When the team inquires about Major Wyvern,
The Progenitor explains that he shall be the first new vessel of the
Overmen...
A sinister surgical machine rises out of the floor, and on it is...
what USED to be Wyvern. Now the cyborg creation that rises
from the operating table is a blackwired body that hosts a new,
alien conscience. The Wyvern-Overman explains that they shall
all become brothers, and thanks to the blackwire he once used as a
tool to control others, they will all become vessels for the return
of the Overmen!
The team is understandably reluctant to join Wyvern, and refuses the
offer. But an alien looking Light AT Warrior unit is sent in
by the Progenitor to "convince" the team to submit to the conversion
process. Pent tries to defend himself by getting inside the
Warrior unit's weapons range, but is grabbed by the AT. Only
Chet's heavy weapons fire stuns the Warrior unit enough for Pent to
run free!
The team flees the nightmare chamber of the Progenitor, returning
through the portal just in time. They then fire heavy weapons
and grenades back through the portal, hoping to destroy what lies on
the other side.
Mounting their ATs again, the team decides it is too dangerous to
let the Overmen's technology survive, and begin a rampage of
destruction through the labs.
If they can just do enough damage, the engergies that power the dark
moon might overload and possibly destroy the entire place!
But soon, more of the Warrior unit light ATs are dispatched to stop
the infidels from destroying the home of the Overmen "Gods".
Quey's AT takes some damage as a result.
Although the Warrior units are fast and deadly, they are easy enough
to destroy if you can hit them, as Goug discovers.
Pent, meanwhile, frantically presses buttons and pulls wires in an
attempt to accelerate the destruction.
But as the team flees the destruction, a familiar AT rounds the
corner in pursuit- it is Wyvern, back in his Rabidlydog and now one
of the deadly Overmen in the flesh!
Smashing Pent down from behind, Wyvern doesn't kill him, insisting
that he must fulfill his destiny and become his Overman Brother...
But Pent shouts that he already has a brother! Setting his
Strikedog to self destruct, he makes a quick escape...
And Wyvern is devastated by the resulting blast! The
destruction of his AT is a heavy price to pay for Pents escape, but
worth it. Quey pick up Pent and the team escapes down the
corridor...
Meanwhile, dozens of Warrior units appear from every corner and
crevasse, relentlessly pursuing the Gilcut team.
When they come upon the Fatty again, they realize it must be from
that wrecked Balarant ship, which can't be far.
Pent fires up the Fatty, and the race is on to find that ship, which
may be the only way off the black moon before it blows up!
Following the Fatty's ancient, dusty tracks leads the team to the
wreck of the ship, which they barely manage to get working again in
time to escape their pursuers.
Concerned that the magnetic field will fry them as they escape, the
team are relieved to see it flicker off just as they reach
orbit. The damage to the dark moon must have been enough to
shut the field down!
As they retreat from the dying moon, they pass right by two
Gilgamesh ships, hungry to exploit the vulnerable moon and unaware
of the danger it poses...
But the moon catastrophically explodes, taking the sinister Overman
legacy with it, along with the Progenitor, the genetically
engineered monsters, and the blackwire technology with it. Now
Darkstar will hopefully be a little bit brighter world from now
on. But who knows what bits of technology may have survived
the moon's destruction? Some power-hungry Gilgamesh or
Balarant commander may scour the debris to find another sinister
technology to be exploited. The Gilcut team may have to be
vigilant in the future if they hope to stop the rise of the next
Wyvern...
