Weapon: Doom!
Adventure by Layne K. Saltern
The preface of
Red Knight
mentions a Sathar agent called the Gray Knight (aka Kelly Khan)
against whom Kro'khan Zek'et faced off in something
called the "Doom Project."
To fill in the details for any interested readers,
I have recounted Kro'khan's past adventures
pertaining to this recurring enemy.
The four mercenaries had been placed and were ready to move: Toxica the Human,
Kro'khan the Vrusk, Yaundorr the Yazirian and Paaglo the Dralasite.
Reports had come in that a dangerous Sathar agent known as Kelly Khan
may have come to this location with the intention of passing strategic
UPF schematics to a small Sathar envoy.
Sure enough, hours of tracking revealed a solitary hovercycle
slicing through the empty wilderness.
The burning yellow deserts of Laco are not exactly a playground,
so the cycle raised considerable suspicion.
By plotting the cycle's intended path, the group of four mercenaries
was able to locate its destination and get there first. Three Sathar
soldiers in worm-shaped heat reflecting suits were waiting there, hiding
between two prominent sand dunes.
The mercenaries took the vile worms by surprise and a fierce battle ensued,
ending with three Sathar carcasses smoking on the baked sands.
But the hardest part of the assignment was still ahead:
intercepting and capturing Kelly Khan!
The four mercenaries concealed themselves within the dune shadows,
but Kelly could apparently see that something was wrong.
As the agent's cycle cruised into range, he accelerated to
top speed and began firing!
A rapid exchange of ammunition broke the desert silence as
the mercenaries dived for cover. Laser beams reduced chunks
of sand to molten glass. Gyrojet rounds exploded everywhere, biting
deep holes into the mountainous dunes.
It was finally Yaundorr who let off a carefully aimed shot
with his gyrojet rifle--precisely at the right moment--and
sent the hovercycle tumbling out of control.
Kelly was thrown head first into one of the dunes.
The cycle struck the sand very near him, and parabattery
acid began spraying everywhere. Kelly shielded his face
from the caustic liquid, aware only too late that the
acid had taken fire.
Kelly screamed in an inferno of flames, but managed to activate a
device on his chest belt. A rectangular section of sand fell away,
revealing a secret passage. The mercenaries rushed forward in time
to see the flaming Human form vanish down the passage.
By the time the group reached the panel, it had closed again.
It took a few moments for Paaglo to set an explosive charge
powerful enough to blast the metal plate blocking the passage.
The mercenaries dropped into the passage, finding a complex
underground labyrinth of steel-reinforced tubes.
The floor was littered with the remains of Kelly's stolen
data chips--rendered useless by the fire.
But there was no sign of the Sathar agent. . .
The Vrusk received a warm welcome from his father,
Zyluss Zek'et, but his younger (and more loyal)
brother Chor'el seemed uncomfortable
at the sight of his rebellious older brother.
While visiting the computer center of
the family's corporate skyscraper,
Kro'khan made the acquaintance of a
young computer wizard named Steele "Flash" K'arx.
(Flash had the unusual habit of wearing
his Vrusk sungoggles at all times.)
To everyone's surprise, K'arx discovered that
the building's computer systems had been tampered with
and that the executive suite's security had been
deactivated.
Kro'khan, knowing that his father and brother were
alone in the suite, drew his laser pistol and dashed
for the nearest elevator--with Steele right at his heels.
But they were too late!
Two thugs in an aircar had blasted a hole through
the outer wall of the executive suite
and were racing away through the air with Zyluss and Chor'el unconscious in the back seat.
Kro'khan dared not fire at them, for fear of
damaging the car and causing it to fall
20 stories down to the ground level.
Sathar Bypass
The Laconian Desert!
Weapon: Doom!
Disenchanted with his life as an adventurer, Kro'khan
began to reconsider his having left the domain of the
successful business family into which he was born.
At long last, the Vrusk decided to break off from
his group of mercenaries and return to his estranged family
on Terledrom.
Steele picked up a small device from Zyluss' desk. "There may be a chance of catching up with them," he said. "They didn't remove the boss's homing device that he wears for security purposes. We can use this tracker to follow them."
Kro'khan and Steele dashed down to a ground level skimmer and followed the signal for hours.
Finally, the homing signal stopped moving. The two Vrusk alighted in a forest area from which the signal seemed to be coming.
A Vrusk stepped out from the bushes, his blaster already aimed at Kro'khan's chest. Kro'khan quickly recognized the Vrusk as the driver of the aircar.
Unable to reason with the other Vrusk, Kro'khan casually brought a hand near his holstered pistol and shot from the hip. A single blast from the weapon fried the driver's innards before he could squeeze off his first shot.
"The aircar must be close by," said Kro'khan. "There might be some clues there."
And as expected, the two Vrusk did find the aircar, hidden within some bushes. After searching the vehicle, they found a small holographic recording chip.
They placed the chip in a holographic playback device and stared at the three dimensional image of a monstrous cyborg--half Human, half hideous machine.
The cyborg presented itself as Kelly Khan. "The Weapon: Doom project is progressing as planned," said the image. "Our first test will be ready within hours. If all goes as hoped, this planet and soon dozens more will be easily shifted to Sathar control!
"But this is not my reason for summoning you. It has come to my attention that Kro'khan Zek'et, one of the beasts responsible for doing. . .this to me, has come to the planet to seek his family. I have just realized that this is the perfect opportunity for revenge. What better subjects to test our weapon upon than the dear family members of my old friend. . ."
Steele pulled out a pair of infra-red goggles and began scanning the landscape. It did not take him long to find a secret entrace to some sort of underground base. He set to work at once, bypassing the door's security and deactivating its lock.
The two Vrusk had to fight their way through dark corridors of Sathar workers and eventually had to defeat their supervisor, a scarred old Vrusk named "Laser" Loc.
But the worst was not over. Kro'khan and Steele passed into the base's main section and found a massive cannon, the likes of which neither of them had ever seen.
"It's called a particle disintegrator," said a metallic voice from the shadows. "It's only in its prototype stage, but to date there is no known defense against it. By strategically placing these cannons on Terledrom, we can easily claim the whole planet--and there is nothing that can be done from the ground or the air to stop us."
"Kelly Khan," said Kro'khan, turning towards the disgusting mix of flesh and metal. "Where are my father and brother?"
The Human half of Kelly's face twisted with a snarl. "Funny you should ask. Remember what you did to me? Well, it's payback time!"
The cyborg increased the lighting, revealing both Zyluss and Chor'el, bound and placed in the cannon's path.
Kro'khan's attack on the cyborg proved futile. Kelly's robotic armor made him superhumanly strong, and practically invincible. The monster's mechanical arm fired laser blasts and rockets with dead-eye accuracy.
The Vrusk withstood the blows heroically, but soon found himself on the verge of passing out. Kro'khan stumbled again to his feet, having all but no stamina left. He injected himself with a stimdose, and his vision began to clear. But he knew it wouldn't be long now until Kelly would finish him off.
The superhuman monstrosity advanced slowly, relishing every second.
It was then that Kro'khan noticed what looked like a control panel, with aiming and firing controls. He had once chance left, if this panel was what he thought it was.
The Vrusk's mandible's curled into a growl. "Eat this!"
The mighty cannon turned toward Kelly and fired. Air and matter alike seemed to dissolve along the cannon's line of fire, distorting Kelly Khan and throwing him across the room.
The shot seemed to breach the structural integrity of the base itself, for soon wall panels and support beams were collapsing all over the place.
There was barely enough time to free Zyluss and Chor'el, and to flee the base before it all came down.
But again, Kelly's fate was a mystery. . .
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Site created and maintained by Layne K. Saltern
(layne@xmission.com)