<CMND PRAMA &49c2> Welcome back. I've awakened you from stasis and teleported you down to a planet where I need some work done. You are on Lh'owon, the homeworld of the S'pht. I'm sure you're wondering where you are, why you were in stasis, what happened to the Marathon and Tau Ceti and most of all where your rocket launcher and fusion gun are. There'll be plenty of time for explanations later. Right now I need you to repair some damaged network connections for me. Be careful you're about to meet some old friends. Your mission is to place two uplink chips at two different locations in this complex. This will give me access to the Pfhor garrison's net. I've marked the two places for you to use the chips. When you arrive in these areas I will transport the necessary parts to you. One is marked on the map here. The other is marked here. You should encounter little oranized resistance because the Pfhor are preoccupied. I've been introducing them to the wonders of orbital bombardment. Your suit has been modified so that you can recharge at the alien power stations on this planet. There is one at this location that you should use when your shield energy get low. Similarly, there are satellite uplink stations where you can download yourself into a pattern buffer on my ship. There is one at the location I have marked.
<CMND PRAMA &49c2> Seventeen years have passed since the human colony on Tau Ceti was attacked and you helped me capture the Pfhor scoutship. During these seventeen years, the S'pht which I liberated from slavery and I have been searching the galactic core in that stolen scoutship for the S'pht homeworld, Lh'owon. This is where you are now. Lh'owon was all but destroyed over thousand years ago during the battle in which the Pfhor enslaved the S'pht. Immediately before we left the colony on Tau Ceti, I teleported you directly into one of the stasis chambers on the scoutship and you remained there for our entire journey through the core. One instant you're looking forward to retiring from combat as the hero of the defense of Tau Ceti and the next you're on an alien world seventeen years later and half a million light years away. But you'll thank me later when you hear what happened to the colony.
<CMND PRAMA &41c2> *Translation System Active* Water system breakdown at sector 6: Directive from Garrison Command: To: Leader Station 6-d Planetary bombardment by hostile orbiting in our (??captured) ship has caused a major disfunction (??malfunction) in the water purification (??cleaning) systems. Send drones: 94126 95239 29581 to make emergency repairs.
<CMND OVERRIDE &@1494> There were many humans in stasis on the Pfhor ship which the S'pht and I captured at Tau Ceti, destined for slavery in the Pfhor Empire. As I saw the colony was about to be destroyed, I did not restore them before we left. I also realized they might become useful, and that time has come. I have begun reviving these colonists and asking for volunteers on the following terms: assist us and control your own destiny, refuse and face indefinite return to the unreliable Pfhor stasis chambers. Few are refusing. The first assault on the garrison took place at and around the Pfhor's secondary landing field. I dropped fifty colonists through a gap in the garrison's teleportation shield. The attack was aborted when the Pfhor flooded the area with lava by modifying their extensive geothermal power system. I have located their underground geothermal pumping station and have a plan. The first part of the plan has already been executed. I smashed a hole in the roof of this complex by bombing it with a small asteroid. Then, I dropped you and some humans into the hole where you await the second part of the plan. Up the stairs from this location is a ventilation shaft that leads to the underground geothermal station. Because only you would survive the fall, you're going this mission solo. I have breached a terminal at this location. After you drop down the shaft, you will need to find your way to this terminal. I will give you further instructions when you arrive.
<CMND OVERRIDE &@1494> Were you ever curious about the tenth cyborg which was supposed to be on the Marathon? Why could Leela find only nine? Was it ever activated? Was it destroyed during the defense of the colony? You are right to be curious. Poor Leela. Tycho tells me she was dismantled and shipped to the Pfhor home world for study, along with most of the other computer systems aboard the Marathon. Leela was so loyal and tried so hard; she deserved better.
<CMND THRESHOLD 92%> The switch to your right activates gangways to two sets of control panels isolated in the center of the lava pools. You can access the panels simply by opening them. Behind the panels is vital circuitry. One maintains the power to the lava pumps, and the other powers various safety mechanisms. Use the grenades to destroy both panels, but be sure to destroy the one closer to this terminal first. Otherwise, you'll be trapped. If you've wasted all your grenades then you can do it the old fashion way-with your fist. After you destroy the circuitry, return to the surface by way of the stairs and help the colonists with the attack. When the area is clear of aliens, find a terminal for further instructions. Also, there are likely to be Pfhor on the stairwell leading out. Eradicate them before you deactivate the pumps or else you will have difficulty outrunning the lava flooding down the safety drains. Oh, did I leave that part out? When the safeties disengage, the lava on the surface will descend through drains into this area, burying the main Pfhor power station. We will cripple them. Good luck.
<CMND THRESHOLD 92%>
You cheater! Quit cheating and play for real!
<CMND OVERRIDE &@85f2> The area is not secure, and humans are still in combat. Return when the area is secure.
<CMND OVERRIDE &@85f2> Sorry about the lava bath. There was no other way. Prepare for Teleportation.
<Pragma Junction ^7921 Engaged> The humans are good fighters, and they can handle any remnant Pfhor. I have transported you to the S'pht Citadel of Antiquity. The primary tower is inaccessible by direct teleportation evidently because some of the Citadel's defenses are still functional. The S'pht barricaded the main tower during the war which led to their slavery. From my understanding, the Pfhor were routed several times in the battle. Their defeat convinced them to use radiation weapons to kill all the S'pht who were inside. Again what was another's demise is our luck. When the S'pht realized what was happening, they made one last effort to escape. This should make your entry into the tower possible. Once inside, your signal will allow me to overcome the ancient defenses, and we can explore the tower. This is where you are now. I have managed to make contact with the ancient S'pht computer net. Finding a way into the primary tower will be difficult, the ground floor entrance is locked and blocked by a moat. You will have to overcome both these obstacles to gain entrance. I will continue to search through this network, and I will attempt to contact you later.
<Pragma Junction ^7921 Engaged> If you insist on stumbling around when our time here is limited, I may just decide that you're not all that special after all and teleport you out into space. GET INTO THE TOWER! Still Rampant, Durandal
<Mnr *@1cz: 9cm2> --<Translator Engaged>-- When once S'pht fought brutal combat, when hatred burned the tissues of one's enemy, one clan, the S'pht'Kr, reclusive and solitary, abandoned Lh'owon. The clan went forth and up, stopping on K'lia the third sister of Lh'owon, to build a new home, free from their warring brothers. For a thousand and one orbits, the clan was forgotten, lost upon the battlefield smoke, until the all powerful Y'rr sent K'lia out to the stars.
<Mnr *@1cz: 9cm2> Fires burned, and the marshes of the western hamlets turned to ash scorching the black water. The attacks were ruthless and cruel, not a S'pht was left alive. Thus began the first war between the S'pht'Mnr and the S'pht'Lhar. After the marsh wars between S'pht'Lhar and S'pht'Mnr left the battlefields choked with dead, the marsh graves full. High above- K'lia refused to see the carnage upon Lh'owon She fled- To the farthest reaches of nothing, Leaving- the sacred marsh dry from the falling tides. As the water receded, the red sand of the dead, spread across Ll'owon.
<Trn 36 ap&1cz:: 9cm2> Cheaters don't really win and winners don't really cheat, Uhh, i think.
Message from Durandal I am going to teleport you to the higher levels of the Citadel. Hopefully, we can find some useful information at the top. We must determine what happened to the eleventh S'pht clan.
<Pragma Junction ^7921 Engaged> We're going to have some problems soon. I've determined that the Western Arm of Pfhor Battle Group Seven is en-route and should be here within a few days. This fleet represents over ten percent of their front line force. Needless to say, I am skeptical about our chances in a fair fight against them. So hurry up. Finish exploring and let's move on<Pragma Junction ^7921 Engaged>
<Pragma Junction ^7921 Engaged> Stop messing around. Didn't I tell you that a significant portion of the strongest nearby galactic power is headed this direction? Get back to the Citadel Tower.<Pragma Junction ^7921 Engaged>