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www.markshan.com/podstrn/sp_genoma.htmSP download
www.markshan.com/maps/genome.zipProgetto Genoma
They call the planet 'Hell'. That's not its real name - the former human
inhabitants called it Hideaway - but Hell is a lot closer. The previous owners
were led by a megalomaniacal and ruthless dictator who fled from his planet of
birth after failing to crush a rebellion. Fled with several hundred henchmen and
the planetary treasury and valuable scientific knowledge from looted university
databases - and several thousand 'citizens'. "Slaves" would be a much more
accurate term. On reaching Hell, they set up shop, operating as pirates and
planning a comeback. One of the first things the Dictator did was to use some of
the stolen riches to build himself a great castle, as grand as he could get.
Much like the Mad King Ludwig of Bavaria, but with little of the Bavarian king's
taste. Large halls, towers in huge courtyards, dungeons of course, and a great
room of odd design, suitable for staging combats with the "citizens", who were
told whoever won could go free. That left the poor serfs some hope, and
enlivened the combat while the rulers watched from a great walkway above - until
the bars at the entrance were raised to let huge carnivores enter and devour the
survivors. Not a very nice bunch, those rulers... Hideaway/Hell looked pretty
safe to the deposed and fleeing rulers. Well off the beaten path, in a relative
backwater, offering lots of time to scheme for going back to their home. Then
the war with the Strogg started, and Hideaway was right in the path of the
Strogg advance. Initially the Strogg contented themselves with blowing away the
ruler's small fleet of pirate ships, and bypassing the planet, since there
seemed to be little of value there, while continuing to advance toward Earth.
Eventually, the Strogg landed several thousand troops, massacred the slave
population, and ran through the castle defenses and over the few hundred ruling
class. A few were kept around for normal Strogg experimentation, and the
dictator was the feature attraction at a Strogg banquet. Then the Strogg began
going through the captured equipment and discovered that there had been
something of fantastic value after all - the almost-completed second-level
mapping of the human genome sequence, building on work from Earth during the
prior century, results of a university project and stolen with the rest of the
university intellectual assets when the deposed rulers escaped. Realizing the
value of this find, the Strogg imported vast amounts of computing equipment, set
up shop, completed the genome sequence mapping, and are apparently now moving
into trial phases of genetic engineering, using the few captured humans. If left
alone, they could breed super-Strogg as well as create fearsome plagues to wipe
out humanity. Intelligence suggests that in fact they are working on a human
-Strogg hybrid, combining the worst aspects of both races. They must be stopped!
Since Hell is behind Strogg lines, our ability to gather intelligence was
limited. We landed a crack team of combat intelligence officers and Rangers.
None came back, but thanks to a small robotic craft that monitored Marine
transmissions from the surface during the battle, we did manage to get a rough
layout of the castle, and some idea of the general placement of the Strogg
computers and research equipment. We have programmed your combat computer to
give you as much help as we could. The objectives of your mission are very
simple in concept: infiltrate all Strogg defensive structures, stop the energy
production resources, enter and destroy the research laboratories, then come
back home ....alive! Easy obiectives don't mean an easy mission. After our
successes at destroying Magic Lamber - and after the failure of the intelligence
agents to get in undetected - the Stroggs are alerted your arrival. We do not
know the full extent of their forces on the planet and in the castle, but we do
know they number in the hundreds, and perhaps as many as a thousand enemies
waiting for you! Your insertion will be via our experimental stealth lander,
which we do not believe the Strogg can detect. However, the stealth equipment
takes so much power that you will not be able to lift off again, so it is a one
-way transport. In fact, you will need to exit the lander quickly, since
demolition charges have been attached to prevent our stealth technology from
falling into Strogg hands.You will have to complete your mission on Hell and get
back to our forces on your own. Good luck, and God speed...
Story by Jay Aiken
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