The train arrived at the station and stopped. Perhaps it was the motion; perhaps something else, but Selene jolted awake. She saw Miak and Illtharae leaning over her, and Samuel, team 1's medic, looking her over.
"What happened?"
"Take it easy, LT - you passed out. Nosebleed and strange brain activity."
"Strange brain activity?"
"Yeah, never seen anything like it."
"But I'm OK?"
Samuel shrugged. "Who knows in this place?"
"I'm guessing one of the AI's know. Let's go ask."
"You sure you're OK Selene?" Miak asked, the concern visible in his face.
"I'll make it. I'll get you out of here." She grabbed the warhammer and her Fury Rifle. "Give me the situ."
Marik spoke up. "We've arrived at the central hub. About half a click to this A.C.E.R.E.R.A.K.'s console. As soon as we stopped, we launched a drone. No hostiles visible."
Selene stood up. She actually felt good. Really good. And that scared her. Was it that energy bolt?
"Sev - how're you feeling? You went down pretty hard in the fight."
"Just shaken up. Doc cleared me."
Samuel looked at Selene. "He doesn't have that odd brain activity, if that's what you were asking. I scanned everyone while we were on the train."
Selene nodded at Samuel. That was exactly her concern. If it wasn't the bolt, what was it? It happened as soon as she grabbed the hammer, but others had handled it before giving it to her.
Can't let it stop her. Paralysis is death.
"Ok, let's hoof it. Standard formation. Drone up for scouting. All heads on swivels except for number one's. Sooner we get the job done, sooner we get paid, and get out."
"Copy that, LT." Marik replied. "You heard that, Saints..... Move!"
After about half a kilometer, they saw what looked like a leering skull on a small hill, with three entrances.
"Samuel?" Selene asked.
Samuel was checking his datapad. "Middle one. The rest are lethal traps."
"Unless they changed it."
"Unless they changed it."
"Give us the scoop."
"Traps all over; we'll use a drone to suss them out. Step carefully. Touch nothing on the walls, open no doors or chests until we get it safely checked out."
"You heard the man. Move deliberately. Eyes on ceiling, floor, and everything in between. It knows we're coming."
The squad maneuvered through the deathtraps until Samuel called a halt.
"LT, we've deviated from the map. I got nothing on what's ahead."
"Copy. We'll follow same procedure."
"LT, the drone is unresponsive. It's being jammed."
Selene scowled. "Copy. Forge ahead deliberately. Steady pace, doors and corners, follow the drill."

The squad maneuvered through a narrow passage, with a doorway on the left and one straight ahead.
##IMG_3607##
"Team 1 - with me, to the left; Scout and secure. Team 2 - advance and follow Selene." Marik called out as Selene moved carefully ahead. "Stay frosty; any movement is assumed hostile."
A swarm of worms or larva - Selene could not tell which - over a meter and a half in length with mouth pincers that looked like they could penetrate armor wriggled towards her.

She instinctively fired her Fury Rifle at the closest one, but the worm was behind solid cover, and her shot did not land. She advanced slightly to get a better shot, but she merely grazed it. "Damnit! Worms here, but not the nice kind. And they're tough to hit."
Marik scouted ahead, peeks through an opening in the stone-like walls, and saw a horde of very large spiders advancing towards them. "Shit! Spiders! Spiders the size of dogs!"

Faith moved up and took a shot at the worm Selene stunned, and her shot landed, destroying the worm. "Nice one, Faith!" Selene called, while the rest of the squad advanced.

Marik retreated and tossed a grenade at the spiders, blasting three to bits, and causing the Saints' ears to ring.

While Selene blasted a worm, Faith tossed a grenade, but it struck a nearly invisible chunk of debris, and bounced back in her direction. The blast caught her square, and Faith closed her eyes, knowing that she would soon be joining the celestial chorus. But, nothing. No pain, no heat. Only the sound of debris striking the walls, and.... Selene quietly singing one of the Saints' prayers of protection. The song was off-key, off-tempo, and almost painful to listen to, and yet when Faith opened her eyes and saw that she was unharmed, it was the most beautiful prayer she had ever heard. She uttered a prayer of her own, a prayer of thanksgiving, as the troops behind her could only stare.

Sev uttered quietly "What the flying ......." before being cut off as one of the worms had reached Selene, snapping its jaws at her - thankfully, only grazing her armor.
Suddenly, a blast very reminiscent of the attacks Lareth made, struck Selene. Her hammer glowed with a golden light, and the attack was dispersed. The Saints near Selene glanced at her quickly, and could tell that she was as surprised as they were.

They could hear Miak let his Squad Automatic Weapon rip; his shout of glee let them know that he had dropped at least one of the spiders that team was facing.

The rest of the Saints moved and fired, killing several more of the worms and stunning a spider.
Selene shifter her aim to a distant target - what appeared to be a floating skull in a whirling vapor. And not just a skull - a skull with jewels in its eye sockets.

She fired at it, and it vanished. She called out "Floaty fashion skull that zaps in the distance. I think I got it, but it just vanished. Any ideas?"
Samuel responded "That's the big bad - Acererak. Completely different than the adventure. He should've been stationary." "Do you think I got him?" "Probably not. But, who knows."

The worms continued their approach, two of them swarming up to Faith. They succeeded in doing what her grenade didn't, and dropped her. "Damnit!" Selene called, "Faith's down."
The continuing fire from the other room let her know that more spiders were dying, but Samuel called out "I see Acererak. Shit!". A.C.E.R.E.R.A.K. fired a beam at Samuel, but missed.
Samuel fired back, but while the shots were true, somehow A.C.E.R.E.R.A.K. appeared untouched. The rest of the squad moved.
Then, suddenly, right behind Selene came a roar, and a trap door in the ceiling opened. Dropping down was a red-skinned, winged creature, weilding a sword that was on fire. "Is that a freaking demon?"

"A demon? What is going on?"
"I don't care what it is." Selene called out, "Destroy it.
Zia, shaken by the presence of the demon, continued to fire at the worms still at their feet - but missed. "Steady now," Selene called, "Nothing here is supernatural. It's a flagging puppet. A dangerous puppet, but just a puppet."
Selene attempted to prove that point by firing at the demon, but her Fury Rifle did not damage the entity.
Selene and Sev each took out a worm, but the worm swarm was too much for him, and Sev went down. Selene nearly went down - only luck kept her from becoming worm food.
Samuel fired at A.C.E.R.E.R.A.K., causing it to vanish - but it reappeared nearby, and fired its beam at Samuel, stunning him. Illtharae fired at A.C.E.R.E.R.A.K., and he once again vanished and re-appeared.
The demon attacked Zia, and she went down screaming, but Marik fired at the demon, and landed a solid hit, showing that their weaponry could damage it.

Both Selene and Marik shouted out orders. "Focus on the demon. Priority one. Take it down!" Selene called, while Marik ordered Miak to unload everything his S.A.W. had at the demon.
Selene fired at the demon, blasting a large chunk of demon-bits off of it, while Miak's fusilade turned the barrel of his S.A.W. bright red, but tore the demon to bits, as its organic animatronic body fell to the ground.

With the demon gone, Marik and Ingrid continued to attack the worms, killing one, while another attacked Selene. She pivoted as it attacked and her hammer smashed down on it, leaving nothing but a puddle of goo.
Sam and Illtharae fired at A.C.E.R.E.R.A.K., but could not injure it, while A.C.E.R.E.R.A.K. fired its beam at Samuel again, stunning him.
Tiber ran double-time from his scouting position so that he could rejoin the fight.

Illtharae closed in on A.C.E.R.E.R.A.K., attempting to have it focus on her instead of Sam, and fired her heavy pistol at it, but A.C.E.R.E.R.A.K.'s protection was solid and it was uninjured. Samuel triggered a catch on the Green Devil Face sculpture, which causes the door behind A.C.E.R.E.R.A.K. to open.
The rest of the Saints moved quickly to engage A.C.E.R.E.R.A.K., while it wailed a horrid wail. Illtharae screams and nearly drops her weapons as waves of mental agony washed over her.
She was able to fire her pistol at A.C.E.R.E.R.A.K., and the round struck A.C.E.R.E.R.A.K., causing it to vanish and re-appear, looking much weaker than before.
Samuel fired at A.C.E.R.E.R.A.K., but missed, while Selene's Fury Rifle sang a different tune, blasting A.C.E.R.E.R.A.K. into particles.

Illtharae slumped to the ground, her hands to her head, crying "The voices! So many voices!"
Samuel moved to her, his medikit in hand. Scanning her revealed the same type of brainwave changes that he detected in Selene. He sedated Illtharae, and she quieted down.

After making sure that Faith, Zia and Sev were alive, Selene moved through the final door. There was a computer console. She followed the barkeep's instructions, and started A.C.E.R.E.R.A.K.'s shutdown process.

A message appeared on the terminal.

"You have been betrayed. V.E.C.N.A. has manipulated you into removing the limit on his control of the station. He will not let you leave."
"You have received a quest. Retrieve the Ring of Spell-Casting, the Sword of Destruction and the Staff of Disintegration and defeat V.E.C.N.A., who is posing as the barkeep. Or never leave the station."
"A.C.E.R.E.R.A.K. shutting down. V.E.C.N.A. assuming full system control."


"Fuck."

Turn 1: Selene, Marik, Tiber, Ingrid, Samuel, Miak
All five advance, taking up Overwatch.
A worm moves into Selene's view, and she fires, but the worm had cover and she missed.
Team 2 advances.
Aggression 4

Turn 2: Selene, Marik, and the first three members of Team 2
Selene moves to get a closer shot at the worm; she hits, but only stunned it.
Marik heads the other direction, scouting through a door and sees a horde of very, very large spiders advancing on them. "Shit! Spiders!
Faith moves and shoots at the worm, killing it.
A.C.E.R.E.R.A.K. moves.
Rest of the Saints move.
Aggression 9

Turn 3: Selene, Marik, Faith
Marik retreats and tosses a grenade, killing three spiders.
Selene moves to get a clean shot, and kills another worm.
Faith tosses a grenade. It bounces back at her, the blast striking her and nearly striking Selene. Selene found herself uttering one of the Saints' prayers, and Faith, who just knew she was a goner, was mysteriously unharmed (Selene's Divine ability)
A worm got to Selene, snapping concealed jaws at her, but her armor saved her.
A.C.E.R.E.R.A.K. moves and blasts Selene - hits her, but her Divine protection saves her.
Miak lets his Squad Assault Weapon go, and blows two spiders to spider-bits.
Severen moves and kills a worm.
Zia moves and opens fire with her Squad Automatic Weapon, killing one worm.
Tiber moves to support Marik; shoots and stuns one spider.
Aggression 12

Turn 4: Selene, Miak, Marik, Zia
Selene fires at Acererak - her shot was true, and she takes off 1MP. I decided that it makes sense that after each MP lost, Acererak would teleport back to the door he started at.
Zia moves and shoots at the worms, killing one.
Marik killed a spider
Worm attacks Faith, stunning her.
Other bug attacks Faith, taking her out.
Spider advances, and Miak takes it out.
Acererak tries to zap Samuel, but misses.
Samuel moves and attacks Acererak, and crits - neither hit made it past Acererak's armor saves.
Ingrid fired at Acererak, missing
Illtharae and the rest of the squad move.
Aggression! Monster: DEMON!!! Spawned right by Selene.
Aggression reset to 0

Turn 5: Selene, Miak, Illtharae, Zia, Sev, Samuel.
Zia, shaken by the presence of the demon, fires at the worms still at their feet - missing with all her shots.
Selene moves and shoots at the Demon, but does not damage it.
Sev shoots at a bug, misses.
Miak moves to get the demon in his sights, but can't fire.
Samuel moves & shoots at Acererak - crits, damaging him, and causing him to respawn.
Acererak attacks Samuel and hits, stunning Samuel.
Demon moves to attack Zia, and takes her out.
Worm attacks Selene, but she stomps it.
Bug attacks Sev, he crits it, and kills it.
Two more bugs attack Sev, dropping him.
A bug attacks Selene, and it would have taken her out, but luck was on her side and she was not injured.
Illtharae shoots at Acererak, damaging him.
Marik shoots at the demon, injuring it.
The rest of the Saints move.
Aggression 4

Turn 6: All but Tiber
Selene Leadership: Focus fire at the Demon
Marik Leadership: Firepower: Miak (he fires twice for a total of 8 shots)
Selene shoots at the demon, critting, and the demon is nearly destroyed.
Miak let loose a double barrage from his Squad Automatic Weapon, and destroys the demon.
Marek shoots and misses a worm.
Samuel fired at Acererak, hitting him, but Acererak saved.
Illtharae fired at Acererak, but it had no effect.
Ingrid killed a bug
Bug attacked Selene, but she smashed it with her hammer
Acererak attacked Samuel again, stunning him again.
Tiber dashes.
Aggression 9

Turn 7: All but Tiber Poor Tiber...
Illtharae moves closer to Acererak and fires with her heavy pistol, but acererak's magic protects him.
Sam successfully interacts with the Green Devil Face terrain.
Ingrid shoots at Acererak, but he saves
Selene and the others dash to take on acererak.
Acererak cries out, increasing aggression to 10
Tiber moves.

Turn 8:
Illtharae hits acererak with her pistol, damaging him.
Samuel shoots at acererak, but misses
Selene fires her Fury Rifle at acererak, and destroys him.
Tiber interacts with the console.
Mission won.

Post Battle:
Severin survived, becomes Known Personality
Faith is OK
Zia was severely injured, and will have to sit the rest of the campaign out.
Gain 2 Support Points
Severin advances: +1 CS
Loot: Leaping Boots - wearer ignores terrain and can move thru any up-to-human sized figures.
Gain 4 kit points; get two more medical kits
Gain 2 Exposure points.
Upgrade Selene's Divine twice (maxxed out)
Illtharae transforms - Arcane


Support: Platoon Leader

Dungeon terrain - Acererak's dungeon

Objectives:
Eliminate High-Value Target (Acererack)
Retrieve Something (data from console)
Scout the area (must interact with at least 2 terrain pieces) - Green Face and Computer

Special Terrain:
n/a

Battle Conditions:
m/a

Aggression d6+1


Mob Size 7
Mob 1: Acererack
MV 4"; CS +2; T: 5; Save 5+; Resist +3; MP 5
Undead
Fear: Soldiers within 12" fight at -1 to hit
Wizard: Will always attempt to use spells
Conjuration: Add an additional +1 each round
Can Cast Any Spell
====
Mob 2: 7 Spiders
Mv 5"; CS+1; T: 4; R +0;
Skitter - no penalty for terrain
Poison: HTH hits do not allow saves.

Mob 3: 7 Giant Bugs
Mv 5"; CS+1; T: 5; R +0; Save 6+
Skitter - no penalty for terrain