Hellraiser
Arcane
2.6 At the crossroads once again
“Come in Heracles,” Ajax welcomes you in his office,“ a lot has happened since you were here the last time. It is a pity Fuschs can’t be here with us, still he did what he had to save his team.” You already heard the news during the trial, Fuchs and his team uncovered what most likely was an underground military base. Unfortunately the defense systems were still active, Fuchs got killed while luring security drones away from his team thus buying them time to escape.
“Still, we have sent a squad of totenkopfs there to protect our personnel. It is a about time to see how the fruit of Project Prometheus fares in a combat situation.” Chills run through your body as you hear that name, the average totenkopf soldier can hardly be called human. Their eyes are replaced by cybernetic implants. A neural interface port is grafted into the back of their necks. It links their brains directly into their armored suit’s systems. Rumors say that they are also subjected to an extensive genetic and pharmaceutical treatment, one which makes them fully loyal and merciless.
“Now about what has happened at Der Riese,” Maximilian continues after taking a sip of wine from his glass, “your security clearance has been upgraded to Kaiser level. After all you proved your loyalty and usefulness, not to mention you already were aware of some confidential facts. Even Himmler didn’t object, guess the fact that your testimony burdened Jürgen Weber and not Osterhagen must have helped.“ Yes, last you heard Jürgen was reassigned to a mechanic’s post in the neutrino detection array in New Swabia. You wonder if he enjoys the company of penguins and of physicists making jokes about muons.
“So I can now tell more about our superhuman interlopers. We call them Lemurians, but the name is just an educated guess based on the fact they use some form of Indus script. Himmler found the name *appropriate* for some reason. They’re definitely an advanced civilization originating from the Indian sub-continent in some parallel. Outside of the fact they seem to use organic machines, even when better conventional designs are available, we know little about their agenda.” Is that all he knows? They could have given you that security clearance earlier if that is all.
“Now, about the pyramid-ship you saw. It confirmed a hypothesis we had, that the Lemurians are at war with another trans-parallel superpower. You remember the interference that trapped you for over 5 years? We believe the Lemurians, or their enemies, set up a rift-inhibitor. It blocks all but specific types of rifts from forming within a certain radius around the earth, in a few parallels around the one it is based in. My guess is the Lemurians and their enemies use them to limit the other side’s ability to deploy their ships or agents.”
He turns on a holographic projector, the image shows a map of the nearest parallels. ω-32, the Reich homeparallel „officially” uncharted by Atlantis is at the center. The image quickly zooms in on the location of your former “prison parallel”. Ajax starts explaining what has happened as animated effects are displayed over the image of the map .“Now, the reason why you were able to get out, was because Atlantis secretly built a countermeasure and deployed it in δγ-1. It took it a few weeks to reach full power and weaken the interference trapping you in αδ-37. The data from your RGM helped us pinpoint the location of the Atlantean device.”
Well, at least that does explain a few things. Knowing Ajax however, he is telling you this because he needs you for something. “You have proven to be a skilled agent Heracles. Therefore I am giving you a choice, there is after all more than one way in which you can be of use to me and the Ahnenerbe.” – he adds.
“Sadly, the Ahnenerbe does not know *how* to build a countermeasure like the Atlantean one. Our infiltrators are observing and working on identifying what or who do they need to procure, in order to build one of our own. We’re researching one ourselves, but all our research AIs are busy with other projects. The newest Wurmmeister mainframe won’t be ready for at least 13 months. Even after it is operational, we will still need *human* scientists to make sure it didn’t give us false information on purpose. You will assist the team in δγ-1 with your engineering expertise allowing us to acquire the technology sooner than that, if possible.”
“There is also the matter of acquiring advanced technology from other parallels. Our agents in γω-6 have found something of use there. However, the local authorities are aware of rifts and can detect them. In order to successfully avoid being imprisoned for spying you must pose as an Atlantean adventurer who decided to see why travel is prohibited to that parallel. You won’t be able to take any weapons with you. Fortunately however you won’t need them. The city you will find there… will not be what you expect. You will contact our agents there who will fill you in on the details.”
“We also have a small outpost in δβ-21, it is mostly used to monitor Lemurian and Atlantean activity. Occasionally they find a pioneer or lemurian spy transiting to nearby parallels. They kill or capture them and retrieve their devices. They did request for an engineer with Kaiser-level security clearance to be sent to them. They may have found something.”
“Finally, there is the issue of αδ-38. We have teams investigating why the Lemurians used biological weapons there. From what you told us, we know they have outposts there. You can help them look for the outposts in question and retrieve any tech you find. Don’t worry, they are armed sufficiently enough to handle both the sentinels, chimeras as you called them, and the Lemurians.”
*
Back at your new apartment, not far from the Thule AG building in Neu Port, you browse private messages sent to you via the encrypted Ahnenerbe part of the Weltnetz. You read the one marked as high priority. “One more thing, if you wish I can assign a junior Ahnenerbe engineer under you. You will find a list of names, along with some facts about the people behind them, attached to this message. - Maximilian Ajax.”
Konrad Bosch, mechanical engineer, during his teen years he was an active and ambitious member of the hitlerjugend. He even received an award from Schirach himself for “unquestionable loyalty to the Aryan race” and “excellent performance under extreme circumstances”.
Siegfried Glockner, software engineer, expelled from his university for hacking into its grade database in order to get a higher GPA and a scholarship. Recruited by the Ahnenerbe shortly afterwards.
Paul Roth, biotechnology and genetic engineering prodigy. Won a prestigious internship at the bio-tech branch of Thule AG. Impressed by his performance, Ajax assigned him to minor work related to project Prometheus and recruited him into the Ahnenerbe.
There are also three more messages, one is from Osterhagen. “I was willing to accept the consequences, your involvement was surprising. Meet me in room 203 at the Hindenburg hotel and we will discuss a few things.” – he wrote.
Another one is from Gustav, the technician from Der Riese. “Got time for a beer? They gave me a week off duty and I am already sick of the company of my wife. Konrad and Edmund will be there as well, no chess only beer remember!”.
The last one is from Jürgen. “I saved your sorry ass back there and this is how you repay me? Hopefully we will need another engineer in New Swabia someday. I’ll recommend you for the position, the penguins will enjoy your company arschloch!”
You do have some time left before you need to leave this parallel after all. Might as well do something with it.
You will travel to…
A)…δγ-1. Find the team and steal some top secret Atlantean tech. How hard can it be?
B)…γω-6. No weapons needed? Could be very safe or extremely risky, but smuggling is your second nature after all.
C)…δβ-21. They need an engineer, it should be worth investigating. Better you go than have another Jürgen sent to screw up.
D)…αδ-38. You plus a few well-armed soldiers against an army of Sentinel Chimeras and the odd Lemurian? Better odds then the last time you were there.
Before you leave you will…
1)…meet up with Osterhagen at the hotel.
2)…go for a beer with your old chess rivals.
3)…browse the Ahnenerbe weltnetz database and see what else kaiser-level security clearance allows you to know.
Regarding the junior engineers…
V)…pick nobody. You work better alone.
X)…pick Bosch to assist you. A former nazi boyscout may be useful.
Y)…pick Glockner to assist you. Let’s see how he hacks into things other than university systems.
Z)…pick Roth to assist you. Gods know there are plenty of genetic freak shows you know nothing about roaming around the multiverse.
Consult the parallel list and map here for details if you need them.
All transits, except for the one to δβ-21, will be double transits consuming all of your RGM’s fuel.
Vote now.
Yes, Jürgen would be a valid pick if he wasn’t neck deep in penguins. Did I mention he’s a skilled driver and a pilot?
“Come in Heracles,” Ajax welcomes you in his office,“ a lot has happened since you were here the last time. It is a pity Fuschs can’t be here with us, still he did what he had to save his team.” You already heard the news during the trial, Fuchs and his team uncovered what most likely was an underground military base. Unfortunately the defense systems were still active, Fuchs got killed while luring security drones away from his team thus buying them time to escape.
“Still, we have sent a squad of totenkopfs there to protect our personnel. It is a about time to see how the fruit of Project Prometheus fares in a combat situation.” Chills run through your body as you hear that name, the average totenkopf soldier can hardly be called human. Their eyes are replaced by cybernetic implants. A neural interface port is grafted into the back of their necks. It links their brains directly into their armored suit’s systems. Rumors say that they are also subjected to an extensive genetic and pharmaceutical treatment, one which makes them fully loyal and merciless.
“Now about what has happened at Der Riese,” Maximilian continues after taking a sip of wine from his glass, “your security clearance has been upgraded to Kaiser level. After all you proved your loyalty and usefulness, not to mention you already were aware of some confidential facts. Even Himmler didn’t object, guess the fact that your testimony burdened Jürgen Weber and not Osterhagen must have helped.“ Yes, last you heard Jürgen was reassigned to a mechanic’s post in the neutrino detection array in New Swabia. You wonder if he enjoys the company of penguins and of physicists making jokes about muons.
“So I can now tell more about our superhuman interlopers. We call them Lemurians, but the name is just an educated guess based on the fact they use some form of Indus script. Himmler found the name *appropriate* for some reason. They’re definitely an advanced civilization originating from the Indian sub-continent in some parallel. Outside of the fact they seem to use organic machines, even when better conventional designs are available, we know little about their agenda.” Is that all he knows? They could have given you that security clearance earlier if that is all.
“Now, about the pyramid-ship you saw. It confirmed a hypothesis we had, that the Lemurians are at war with another trans-parallel superpower. You remember the interference that trapped you for over 5 years? We believe the Lemurians, or their enemies, set up a rift-inhibitor. It blocks all but specific types of rifts from forming within a certain radius around the earth, in a few parallels around the one it is based in. My guess is the Lemurians and their enemies use them to limit the other side’s ability to deploy their ships or agents.”
He turns on a holographic projector, the image shows a map of the nearest parallels. ω-32, the Reich homeparallel „officially” uncharted by Atlantis is at the center. The image quickly zooms in on the location of your former “prison parallel”. Ajax starts explaining what has happened as animated effects are displayed over the image of the map .“Now, the reason why you were able to get out, was because Atlantis secretly built a countermeasure and deployed it in δγ-1. It took it a few weeks to reach full power and weaken the interference trapping you in αδ-37. The data from your RGM helped us pinpoint the location of the Atlantean device.”
Well, at least that does explain a few things. Knowing Ajax however, he is telling you this because he needs you for something. “You have proven to be a skilled agent Heracles. Therefore I am giving you a choice, there is after all more than one way in which you can be of use to me and the Ahnenerbe.” – he adds.
“Sadly, the Ahnenerbe does not know *how* to build a countermeasure like the Atlantean one. Our infiltrators are observing and working on identifying what or who do they need to procure, in order to build one of our own. We’re researching one ourselves, but all our research AIs are busy with other projects. The newest Wurmmeister mainframe won’t be ready for at least 13 months. Even after it is operational, we will still need *human* scientists to make sure it didn’t give us false information on purpose. You will assist the team in δγ-1 with your engineering expertise allowing us to acquire the technology sooner than that, if possible.”
“There is also the matter of acquiring advanced technology from other parallels. Our agents in γω-6 have found something of use there. However, the local authorities are aware of rifts and can detect them. In order to successfully avoid being imprisoned for spying you must pose as an Atlantean adventurer who decided to see why travel is prohibited to that parallel. You won’t be able to take any weapons with you. Fortunately however you won’t need them. The city you will find there… will not be what you expect. You will contact our agents there who will fill you in on the details.”
“We also have a small outpost in δβ-21, it is mostly used to monitor Lemurian and Atlantean activity. Occasionally they find a pioneer or lemurian spy transiting to nearby parallels. They kill or capture them and retrieve their devices. They did request for an engineer with Kaiser-level security clearance to be sent to them. They may have found something.”
“Finally, there is the issue of αδ-38. We have teams investigating why the Lemurians used biological weapons there. From what you told us, we know they have outposts there. You can help them look for the outposts in question and retrieve any tech you find. Don’t worry, they are armed sufficiently enough to handle both the sentinels, chimeras as you called them, and the Lemurians.”
*
Back at your new apartment, not far from the Thule AG building in Neu Port, you browse private messages sent to you via the encrypted Ahnenerbe part of the Weltnetz. You read the one marked as high priority. “One more thing, if you wish I can assign a junior Ahnenerbe engineer under you. You will find a list of names, along with some facts about the people behind them, attached to this message. - Maximilian Ajax.”
Konrad Bosch, mechanical engineer, during his teen years he was an active and ambitious member of the hitlerjugend. He even received an award from Schirach himself for “unquestionable loyalty to the Aryan race” and “excellent performance under extreme circumstances”.
Siegfried Glockner, software engineer, expelled from his university for hacking into its grade database in order to get a higher GPA and a scholarship. Recruited by the Ahnenerbe shortly afterwards.
Paul Roth, biotechnology and genetic engineering prodigy. Won a prestigious internship at the bio-tech branch of Thule AG. Impressed by his performance, Ajax assigned him to minor work related to project Prometheus and recruited him into the Ahnenerbe.
There are also three more messages, one is from Osterhagen. “I was willing to accept the consequences, your involvement was surprising. Meet me in room 203 at the Hindenburg hotel and we will discuss a few things.” – he wrote.
Another one is from Gustav, the technician from Der Riese. “Got time for a beer? They gave me a week off duty and I am already sick of the company of my wife. Konrad and Edmund will be there as well, no chess only beer remember!”.
The last one is from Jürgen. “I saved your sorry ass back there and this is how you repay me? Hopefully we will need another engineer in New Swabia someday. I’ll recommend you for the position, the penguins will enjoy your company arschloch!”
You do have some time left before you need to leave this parallel after all. Might as well do something with it.
You will travel to…
A)…δγ-1. Find the team and steal some top secret Atlantean tech. How hard can it be?
B)…γω-6. No weapons needed? Could be very safe or extremely risky, but smuggling is your second nature after all.
C)…δβ-21. They need an engineer, it should be worth investigating. Better you go than have another Jürgen sent to screw up.
D)…αδ-38. You plus a few well-armed soldiers against an army of Sentinel Chimeras and the odd Lemurian? Better odds then the last time you were there.
Before you leave you will…
1)…meet up with Osterhagen at the hotel.
2)…go for a beer with your old chess rivals.
3)…browse the Ahnenerbe weltnetz database and see what else kaiser-level security clearance allows you to know.
Regarding the junior engineers…
V)…pick nobody. You work better alone.
X)…pick Bosch to assist you. A former nazi boyscout may be useful.
Y)…pick Glockner to assist you. Let’s see how he hacks into things other than university systems.
Z)…pick Roth to assist you. Gods know there are plenty of genetic freak shows you know nothing about roaming around the multiverse.
Consult the parallel list and map here for details if you need them.
All transits, except for the one to δβ-21, will be double transits consuming all of your RGM’s fuel.
Vote now.
Yes, Jürgen would be a valid pick if he wasn’t neck deep in penguins. Did I mention he’s a skilled driver and a pilot?