For the first time, I started to feel time being pinched to the point where a daily doodle and description had to be put aside. It’s exam season, and I have signed myself to a shedload of marking. Whilst this will prove rewarding in the long term, the next few weeks will be a grind.
Nevertheless, I stole back a couple of hours today and caught up with where I should be. The pause helped in a way, I was able to give this layer a bit more thought. I knew what I wanted to do, but I was concerned about making it too similar. I think I’ve cracked it now.
The Shadow Prophecy
This is the first time, since the creation of this high-tech facility, that two prophecies overlapped. Before the global terrorism issue had been resolved, another prophet revealed an equally dangerous disaster – a shadow organisation hellbent on bringing down society from within. In other words, whilst the facility worked to combat the threat from outside forces, a threat from within was about to erupt.
So the next layer was built in direct support of the next. The Ultores would be expanded, now with a branch dedicated to counter espionage and more covert investigations. This layer contains similar rooms to the layer above – training and planning rooms – but with more of an emphasis over subtle actions over brute force and interrogation.
The other change implemented was the use of a new technology. Ultores were already augmented, but more was desired to make the soldiers more effective at stealth and subterfuge.
The Tace Tenis Project intended to create the most advanced agents of espionage. An thin membrane, exo-suit was developed. This coating, once linked to the agent’s neural network via the spinal cortex, would allow the user to completely camouflage themselves with their surroundings, alter their outward appearance and even disrupt recording equipment.
The Tace Tenis suit could good all of these things at the blink of an eye. It was all controlled by the users brain.
The issue – feedback. The Tace Tenis could perform as intended, but the extraordinary impact on the minds of the test subjects caused some serious consequences. It transpires that, the processing power required to allow a person to completely change appearance and visibility will was slightly too much to handle.
Only a small handful of Tace Tenis soldiers were made. Once attached, removing them was likely fatal. The maddened, violent, traumatised soldiers were not discharged however. Whilst they were too incoherent to follow order, to addled to work as intended, they did still have extraordinary capabilites.
Drop a Tace Tenis behind enemy lines, on a freedom fighters’ base or in the grounds of a home of a political opponent, the results were as you might expect. Violent, chaotic and unstoppable. Rounding them up afterwards was the hardest part.
When the world finally ended, and facility was thrown into space, it was only a matter of time before the Tace Tanis broke out. A brief dip in power was all it took. Now, this layer is a site of constant, subtle conflict, as the Tace Tanis try to cautiously murder the remaining Ultores on this level.
Weeks 22 & 23 – 161 Rooms Complete
The last rooms of Layer 5 and the first few of Layer 6 looks like this:
148. Interrogation Rooms
– All except one room is left empty, thick layers of dust
– N most room is frequently used to ‘interrogate’ prisoners despite them knowing nothing that could longer be applied. Anyone captured by Ultores on this layer will be brought here one at a time.
149. Red Room
Room set up to conduct physical torture on prisoners
The Ultores Interrogator residing here likes to periodically bring inmates in for ‘questioning’. Any of the characters from 5-7 may be in here when the party arrive.
150. Blue Room
– Room set up to conduct psychological torture and ‘behaviour correction’.
– The Ultores Interrogator here can defend himself from attackers by activating the screens on the E wall. The psychedelic lights and sounds can incapacitate intruders that stare too long.
151. Green Room
– Room set up to offer temporary comfort and relaxation for inmates that gave useful information without need for ‘pressure’
– An Ultores Sergeant lounge in here, refusing entry to anyone except other sergeants
152. Secured Entrance
– Originally a reception or office for processing, roughly converted into a defensive point. Barricades made from counters and metal sheets.
– N and S doors are welded shut, W door has now power and has to be forced open.
– Signs of multiple firefights
153. Damaged airlock
– The doors and decontamination process no longer function
– Heavy weapons damage across the room, blood stains suggest serious fighting occurred in the last few months
154. Trapped Airlock
– If anyone presses a rigged floor tile, they set off a burst of gunfire from weapons concealed in the walls. This will damage the room as well as anyone standing in it, causing decontamination to shutdown. The doors will need to be forced open.
155. Deployment station
– Once prepared with banks of weapons and equipment to allow agents to deploy quickly.
– A mobile gun turret sits here. It is out of fuel and ammunition but still functional.
156. Incubation suite
– a dozen eight foot tall tubes on metal pedestals.
– The fluid remaining in each one is dark and smells vile.
– Each tube is open, smashed, fallen or entirely shattered.
– exposed wiring, battle damage and acrid fluid make this a hazardous space to spend time in
157. Testing Station
– Another, large vat, stands in the corner. This one is undamaged, and there is liquid on the floor to suggest something has climbed in or out.
– The Tace Tenis use this bay to heal. Tampering with it will prevent any positive interaction with this group if discovered.
E door is barricaded.
158. Storeroom
– most chemical and a electrical containers are intact
– One Tace Tenis dwells here, if it hears creatures in the corridor it will use its camouflage to hide amongst the shelving.
– If undetected, the Tace Tenis will follow, only attacking if the group is sufficiently weakened
159. Records Room
– computers contain all the data on experiments and field operations of the Tace Tenis
– 2 Tace Tenis will be present here is fighting has occured on this layer, if not alerted, the dwell in TBD
160. Stasis Bank C
– Intended storage space for the Tace Tenis between military operations and experiments
– Now all rooms are open
– Tace Tenis may try to capture intruders and store them in stasis
161. Stasis Bank B
– As with C, all the Stasis machines and the cells are open
– Six Tace Tenis dwell in here unless disturbed, they appear in pairs to attack intruders, remaining hidden until space in the central room is cleared.
– S door is heavily barricaded
In Summary
Hopefully now that I’m into the momentum of marking, I won’t fall behind again. I’m certainly looking forward to making stats for the Tace Tanis
Thank You For Reading
Want to see how my Dungeon23 journey began? Look here!
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