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Message no. 1
From: Dark Avenger <Dark_Avenger@********.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject: RS: Library - Part 2
Date: Fri, 24 Jan 1997 23:46:31 +0000
*****TO: Stonewall
>>>>>[
+++++ARCHIVE ACCESS: 9-1DA-2S
+++++BEGIN UPLOAD: RS2/1A8-F.ctx

+++++LLE engaged
+++++05:08:41


DA: "That confirms it for me then. We can assume some of the looting was
from greedy prospectors, and some might have been this fanciful
Brazilian bunch, trying to find the Soul. No, Dewy, we can't leave it
here, it has to be recovered and taken to a place, where they can find a
way of destroying it. I'm loath to allow either of the Tir's near it,
they'll be too tempted to use the damned thing. Maybe the Amerindians
will understand better, MIT&T would certainly have some thoughts on the
matter, though again, they may wish to play with it first. I don't know
Dewy, but something has to be done, maybe the artefact will be safe for
another fifty or hundred years. Magic is a part of life now, whether we
want it or not, which means the bugs now have a new method of attempting
to acquire the Soul. We have to find it, and find a way to destroy it.


Anna, Ben, please, take us to the chambers you think holds the Soul. I
want my mages to have a look at what we are about to face."


Loch: "DA, I think it may be better if we sort this mess out and rest
awhile before you start digging around in that Library. These bodies
are going to stink fairly quickly once the sun rises, and we could all
do with a wind down from taking this camp." She looks meaningfully in
the direction of Wells, who is preparing coffee over a camping stove.


DA looks around at the crew. The pressure of the battle is showing on
the more inexperienced members. Edge sits with his back propped by a
scorched oil barrel, idly flipping a small blue flame between his
knuckles, eyes heavy. Wells, cleaning splatters of gore from his
clothing and face, hunched tiredly over the boiling kettle. Shado and
Gates sorting through the paperwork Pharaoh recovered from the office,
Tank checking his drones for damage. Blaze nervously scanning the dark
jungle, where Stephanie and Pharaoh are busy setting a perimeter, and
Nemesis polishing his Barret and cleaning the mechanism, watching the
edge of the jungle from hooded eyes "OK, maybe we could do with a
short rest. Let's get these bodies into the grave and cover it over,
we'll check the location later, after sun-up."


Edge immediately perks up, "No need Avenger, it's being done already."
He gestures broadly around the camp, where two earthen constructs are
slowly and quietly moving bodies to the hole they dug earlier.


"I thought you were told to release those things?" DA growls.


Edge: "Yes, but as I said before, it is not a problem. I have worked
longer hours and under more strain than this before, and if it saves
these people from doing a messy and unpleasant job, what's the harm. I
got plenty of rest yesterday. I can handle it. Besides, it's better
this way." Edge smiles pleasantly.


Dewdrop looks skyward in resignation, a slight grin of amusement,
cracking his stone expression. He nods slightly when DA looks at him
speaking quietly, just for DA's ears. "It probably is better this way,
everyone's pretty hyped up from this, and could do with a break, and
Edge does have a point. Bodies aren't particularly pleasant things,
least of all the way some of these people died. Let him do it, I'll
watch him, make sure he's OK. You might want to relieve Wells though, I
think he could do with getting cleaned up, and I think this battle has
taken more out of him than he will admit. He's suffering some sort of
internal conflict DA, and its' screwing with him somewhat."


The Avenger looks in Wells' direction. "How do you know?"


"You know I have spoken before of aura's surrounding a person? Wells'
is screwed, not physically, I don't mean he's ill, but something is
wrong with it, like it's mingled with something else?.."


"Wait a minute, wasn't Bulls friend?."


"No Clint, not that. I've read the information Bull sent out about
Stands, and this is different somehow, he's not possessed by anything.
It's more like he's... sharing with someone, or something, not a spirit,
something else, I don't know, I've not seen anything like this before.
I've tried not to study him too much as I don't want to alarm him, but
it is most curious."


"Alright, keep an eye on him, let me know if anything changes. He's a
good friend, I'd rather we were available to help him, than leaving him
to suffer whatever this is."


DA turns back to the scientists. Loch is crouched in front of them,
holding two mugs of steaming coffee, sincerity on her face. "We may
look, and act like butchers, but behind the facade there lies hearts of
gold. Please understand we don't mean any harm to you, and we are here
just to help. Some very good people are in grave danger, and this thing
Avenger searches for, may be of some help to them."


Ben: "Thank you," he sips at the coffee gratefully. "I do understand
that you are doing something you all consider important, but this is not
a child's toy that you search for, it is an item of legend. Something
we don't know anything about. It's like searching for the Ark of the
Covenant, once it's found, who knows what will happen. What little we
do know, may not be enough to help your friends, and only one piece of
many exists here in Palenque. Where the other pieces are is unknown.
It may even be, that what the Dark Avenger seeks will turn out to be
useless, and he will have wasted his time searching."


Loch: " "I don't think it will be useless, our enemies also search for
this item, which means it is important to them as well. Who is to say
that you are more qualified to retrieve it? What gives you the right to
say 'This artefact will hinder the human race let's leave it?' Don't you
dig up the past to better our future? Aren't there answers in the past
that have been unveiled, but have been lost just waiting to be found?
Not every thing buried is an Ark of the Covenant."


Ben: "Yes, that is all true, however, we do not put our hopes and faith
into a myth, we merely find sites of archaeological interest, excavate
them and research what we find, trying to better understand the
civilisation that created these wonders. I was not questioning the
qualified right to uncover something, but the illogical hope you are all
placing in this item. If you find this Twilight's Soul, that you search
for, somehow manage to uncover the secret of it's assembly, and find out
what it's purpose was, it doesn't mean you, or your enemies will be able
to utilise it's power. If indeed it even has any power. It is
something that you must consider that you are ultimately wasting your
time. Also, if this thing exists at all, it will be based upon magic of
which you have no understanding, Mayan shamanic magic, based heavily in
blood. How much blood is needed to activate the object, how many people
must be killed before it does what you hope it will do. With all due
respect to yourself and your companions, your time would be better spent
researching the item and finding out what it's purpose was. Finding the
secrets of the rituals that surrounded it, rather than chasing after
what may only be a ceremonial head-dress, or a pure myth created out of
Mayan stories. People have searched for centuries for the Ark of the
Covenant, and the Holy Grail. Using greater knowledge, better research
techniques, more and more powerful and adaptive equipment. Even with
the Dead Sea Scrolls, biblical references, the discovery of biblical
cities beneath the sands of Israel outside or in some cases under
existing cities, we still are no nearer to its location. Many myths,
legends, scrolls and engravings speak of it, yet it is still hidden from
us, proving that it most likely _is_ just a myth. People have spent
entire lifetimes searching for these and other items, and died failing
in their quests. For centuries we have searched for Atlantis, yet it
remains hidden from us, even with the modern imaging and resonance
equipment, even with the knowledge that the island probably did exist,
and it's approximate location. You yourselves have stated that your
time is short. I am concerned that you have put too much faith in this
item and it's supposed abilities, maybe even the people you are working
against, have also fallen for the legends, and have no real proof of the
existence of this device."


Anna: "That's not strictly true, Ben. We know the artefact exists, and
we believe that one part exists here within the library. There is
sufficient information to be able to start finding the others, what we
can't prove, and have found no reference to, is the rituals of the item,
or the supposed powers it has, or what it was used for."


Loch: "You speak of faith as thought it were something that should be
based on fact. What brought you to be an archaeologist? Was it because
you wanted to explore cities that another person had dug up for you? You
seem to be questioning your own profession."


Ben: "Faith is supposedly based on fact, however, much of the world's
faith is merely conjecture and supposition. As to what brought me to
being an archaeologist, I have a curiosity about mankind's roots. I
find it very difficult to believe that a benign/malignant being created
us in his own image, that is the kind of arrogance I have come to expect
from the faithful, and is plainly utter rubbish. I have no desire to
explore cities that someone else has dug up for me, but I do have a
desire to understand those cities, and dig for their secrets, because in
those secrets, are the answers to our questions. Where did we come
from? Why are we here.? What has gone before? What is to come? I
happily question my own profession and the profession of others who
presume to *know* these things.


For instance, how could a Stone Age civilisation build structures like
the ones here in Palenque? How could they have such an advanced
knowledge of the stars, and the sun? Where did their knowledge and
beliefs come from, and how do they influence ours?


For centuries, the church preached that man was made in the image of
God, and that he took six days to complete the task of creation. Now is
that six human days? Or six galactic days? There is a massive
difference. Early teaching also stated that the earth was the centre of
the universe, and when a man stated that was not so, he was branded
heretic and ex-communicated. It took until the middle 1990's before the
Catholic Church admitted he was right. Again, previous beliefs stated
that the earth was flat. When someone suggested that was not so, he was
laughed out of the city of learning, and cast amongst the commoners, yet
he was eventually proved correct. When Darwin first introduced his
Theory of Evolution, he was also branded as a heretic, and his books
were publicly slammed by the Church of the time, because they went
against the teachings of the bible. Yet he has also been proved
correct. Mankind did, and has evolved, though not from the apes. There
are many other examples, of the idiocy, of my, and other respected
professions.


The Mayans predicted that the fifth age, and they called it the fifth
age as well - They also believed that four previous ages, or
civilisations had gone before them. - They predicted that it would end
on December 22, 2012 AD. It effectively did, with massive earthquakes,
volcanic eruptions, and the downfall of civilisation, as we knew it.
Precisely as they had predicted. The last age, supposedly began on 12
August, 3114 BC. Which means the fifth age lasted a little over 5,000
years. The effective length of the Mayan reign, yet we have found
evidence that the Mayans were around for 10,000 years. Which means they
were originally a part of the civilisation prior to the fifth age. This
brings into question, how much did they know? What else can we learn
about our lives our past and our future? That is why I spend my life
digging around in these ruins. Not from some mistaken belief in my
superiority, or infallible faith, but because I want to know.


Recent researches show that though they were primitive by our standards
- they had no running water, no cars, no roads and certainly no
electronic equipment - they had developed their psychic facilities in
ways that we have not even suspected are possible. Like the aborigines
of Australia, they made active use of dreaming as a way of foretelling
the future and of understanding the present. They also followed planets
and stars with uncanny accuracy, even though they had no telescopes or
modern instruments. All this before mankind in general had risen to his
power. Before Europeans had decided the world was in fact flat, and the
universe circled around the earth. Before Europeans discovered there was
more beyond the doors to their caves.


Of course I call modern faith and beliefs, even my profession and that
of the other sciences into question. They all state this to be
impossible, yet the evidence covers 75 cities in this part of the world.
How can it not call into question what we already know? These people
knew things that we have only recently discovered, and in the case of
magic, recently re-discovered. Yet there is evidence that magic was
part of life for the Mayans, as much as it was a part of life for the
North American Indians, the Aborigines and Native Africans. My
profession, as you call it, claims that this is all tosh. That magic
didn't and couldn't exist, and continually crawls around in the dark
looking for answer that are beneath their noses, yet too strange to be
accepted.


These are also the reasons I question your quest. Has it not occurred
to any of you that the item you search for may have been broken apart by
the Mayans for a reason? That it should remain broken, and guarded by
their devices?"


DA: "Loch, I think you might want to see to your brother. He could do
with some rest, and may be feeling the strains of the battle. This kind
of combat is not exactly his field. Please, take him aside and get him
to rest. Ben, Anna, one of my team has arranged for this camp to be
cleared. I have someone in Veracruz who will inform your friends and
research team that it is safe to return. It will probably take him two
days to get here, Maybe another two days to take Nemesis back to
Veracruz. Nemesis will fly everyone out here, until then, is there
anything you need from the city, or from your research area, I can have
people escort you back to Palenque to collect equipment or supplies?"


Ben: "There is nothing that we need as such, but there should be food
and bedding there, we also have a permanent camp site set up, if the
rebels didn't destroy it, you may prefer to rest there, it will be less,
odorous."


DA: "No, we are better off here, near the library. The rebels have a
reasonably defensible position, once Pharaoh has finished setting traps
and warnings, we will be relatively safe here. In Palenque, there are
too many directions enemies can come from, it's too open. The smell
should clear during fairly quickly, and by sun-up you won't even notice
it anymore." He takes a mug of coffee from Wells, "Thanks Chan, for
what you did."


Wells: "Didn't do too bad yourself there.... Satan. Of course, with a
bit more experience, you might do well at this sort of work." Loch
looks up from her crouched position with the scientists, moving closer
to DA with a slight grin from her brothers' comment.


A loud scraping noise attracts everyone's attention. The constructs,
busy filling in the grave, have half buried one of the trucks as well.
DA looks at Edge, a question in his eye. "I figured it needed some sort
of marker, and a cross seemed inappropriate somehow, so I used what was
left of the truck." Several pairs of eyes centre on him. "Well, it
seemed somehow fitting, the truck was dead too. What?" He looks around
at everybody, puzzled. "What?" Red Shift continues laughing, as Edge
smiles broadly.


+++++07:23:41


The rebel camp looks even more desolate in the daylight, buildings
gutted, walls blown out, it seems that every thing has bullet holes in
it. Insects and flies swarm around the remaining pools of blood.


A large gap in the wall behind the offices serves as an impromptu gate
for Red Shift as the two scientists lead them towards the entrance of
the library.


DA: "We've got a hard day ahead of us, and most of it is wasted. I
hope you sleeping beauties have rested up well. Pick up your gear.
Pharaoh, Dewy, scout ahead, follow Anna's directions, and se if you can
locate the entrance. Stephanie, work point. Move out."


The crew grab their gear, slinging webbing, packs and rifles on, they
start the walk to the library.


Edge: "Hey Nemesis, you said to ask you later what DA's problem was
with magic?"


Nemesis: "Yeah."


"Edge: "Well?. It's later."


Nemesis glances at him. "OK. He was workin' a few years ago for the
British Government. I don't rightly know what it was he used to do for
them, but it was what he calls "hush hush." Anyways he's in Ireland,
you know that place off the west coast of England? The way I interpret
what he's said on the subject, he was hunting someone, or several
someones. While he's over there doing this work, the people he's
looking for, get wind of it, seems someone in the British government is
owned by them, so they decide to go after DA's family. I don't know if
the Brits did anything about that, or if they helped, but his wife and
two kids got themselves torn up pretty bad in what was supposed to be a
robbery. DA finds out through a newspaper article. He says nobody told
him what was happening. He dumps what he's doin' and flies back to
England, immediately. He finds out from some neighbours, that the team
assigned to protect his family had been called away and weren't in the
house with them. He goes into the house, and... Well, if you can
imagine that rebel camp, in a small British house, you'll get an idea of
what he found. There's this warning scrawled up the wall in blood, I
don't think he ever found out who's, probably best that way. So he
heads over to the people he works for, only someone's set up some kinda
trap, and he gets himself caught in it. His car gets toasted, and he's
out on foot. That was the only mistake these people made, they let him
get out of his vehicle alive. DA's real good on his own, you might get
to see that one day, one dangerous dude. Anyway, he goes after the
bushwackers, taking them down one by one. Eventually there's just him
and one left, only this last one looks like his little girl. Seems they
took a hostage, but she can't speak. DA holsters his gun, and walks
towards her. Turns out it's a mage, with some spell cast over himself
that makes him look like DA's kid, so DA get's a few feet away from this
guy, and the spell drops and he comes out blasting. I talked to Dewy
about it once, and he figures either the mage wanted DA to die
different, or he'd wasted himself toasting the car, or maybe he just
likes to kill. Well, the mage's hands are on fire, as DA tells it,
flames and lightning and shit playing half way up his arms, he blasts
DA twice afore DA get's his gun out and shoots the wizboy between his
eyes."


"You gotta understand, at this point he was hurt, and hurt bad, half his
face was fried, and almost the entire right side of his chest and
abdomen were charcoaled. He crawls into the bad guys car, and starts
driving towards civilisation. He musta blacked out at some point, cos
the next thing he knows he's in a Brit hospital, and covered with
bandages, and he says he itched like every damn flea on the planet was
crawling and biting him. A couple nurses are standing by, and see he's
woke up. They shoot out and in comes this Swedish guy. He starts
explaining how it's gonna take several months to sort out the mess and
resculpt his face, and what sorta face would he like, does he have an
objection to Orthoskin, or would he prefer new vat grown flesh, which'll
take longer. You know, the way doctors go on. Well, DA somehow gets
outta bed and tells the doc to shove it, gets his clothes outta the
cupboard and walks outta the hospital, beatin' over two sec guards on
route. He steals an ambulance and drives to, what does he call it, erm,
oh yeah, Parliament. He busts through the main doors and creates merry
hell inside, sec guards falling down willingly everywhere, women
screamin', remember he's covered in these bandages, and some of his
wounds have cracked, so they're bleeding as well, god only knows what he
musta looked like. He storms up to some guys office and busts the door
down. This guy is sittin' in the middle of Brit government, with one of
the dudes DA has been lookin' for. Well, the alarms have gone off, and
security's on it's way, so DA shoots the pair of 'em, when he notices a
book on the desk. He grabs that, and there's this list of names, and
people, some of 'em he recognises, including his family. It's some
kinda hit list. So, rather than give himself up, and face judgement, he
turns out the door, and makes a break for freedom. At the entrance, is
a group of people, one of them a real good buddy of his, the way he
talks about the dude, gives me the impression that he was a real close
buddy. DA's got two choices, shoot the guy and go after the people in
the book, or give up, and lose his chance for ever. He says he reckoned
the book would disappear into some guys office, never to be seen again.
So he shot him. Just a wound ya know? But the guy dies from *multiple*
gunshot wounds later on, and DA gets rapped for it. Says he was set-up
again. I believe him, but many don't."


"He went after everybody in the book that was linked to the killing of
his family, including those in Tir NanOg, where he originally was. Got
'em all except two or three. One was too deeply dug in, and DA just
couldn't get to him without half the Brit armed forces, and the others
had disappeared."


"Anyway, he copies the book and sends it to some newspaper and a trid
station. The screamsheet publishes but the trid company don't, so he
sends it to someone else, a big trid station calls itself BSB, well,
this one publishes the book, in all it's glory, with some heavy duty
investigation as well, and a good few of the ruling people in Brit
Government and their royal families go down, sentences longer than the
Presidents inaugural speech. Though some disappeared. Seems these
people were responsible for a lot of bad things that went on in the UK.
So, he's got a price on his head in NanOg, for killin' people over
there, he's got a price on his head from the Brit Government, because he
killed a pile of people there, and he's got a price on his head from the
families of the involved people. He's not too welcome in Britain, and
isn't what he calls, flavour of the month. He skips a boat across to
Europe, and disappears in Germany, which is where he met that Orion
fella from Chicago. When he picks up a paper and sees this guy who's
wanted in England. The Brit screamsheets nicknamed him the Avenger, he
kept hold of that nick, and still uses it today, sorta like an invite to
the Brits, to come and get him, or a finger at them, I can never figure
which. He earns some money in the Shadows in Germany, doin' some dirty
work for people, then flies up to Sweden. It was there that they
rebuilt what was left of his face and body. When you consider most of
it is false skin, it don't look too bad. Orthoskin he calls it.
Fraggin miracle I call it. After they finished makin' him look pretty
again, he flew over here to the states, and has worked out of Seattle as
a mercenary since then. There's only a few people know his past, mainly
guys who work with him well, and are regular employees of his, which
means you're kinda privileged, but I figure you'll be with us for quite
some time. He's got this reputation in merc circles of having a "dark"
past. Somethin' he keeps quiet about, and nobody can find out. And his
nick grew to the Dark Avenger. I think he kinda likes the handle
myself, though he won't admit it. "


Edge: "Well, the history lesson was nice Nemesis, but that doesn't
explain why he hates Mages so much, I mean, Ok, one took his face off,
but, worse has happened to others. I don't want to be rude, but it
doesn't seem a logical reaction somehow."


Nemesis: "Yeah, well, I hadn't finished had I. The reason he hates
mages so much, is it turns out it was a mage as took his family. This
guy was some sort of Doctor, and had hacked his kids and wife apart.
The guy kept their hearts, and brains. When DA found the dude, there
were several canisters in the lab, each one has got these parts in them,
the hearts still pumping, in this solution the mage had cooked up. Dewy
says that some pretty heavy, and real bad mojo was on hand to allow
that. Each one has got a label on it, the name on four of the labels
matched his family. DA killed the doctor, and his assistants, and the
guards around the lab, used his bare hands to kill most of 'em, he was
that mad. Got himself shot up again, but that didn't seem to matter so
much to him anymore. I don't know what he did to the mage, but I don't
doubt it weren't pretty. He said the hardest thing was not knowing if
his family still lived in those canisters, not knowing what was
happening, or why. He tells it like a horror story, you gotta hear it
sometime, it's real creepy. Well, he sat there for some time talkin to
what was left of his family, afore he shot the canisters. Now you
imagine it Edge, he's gone after the people that killed his folks, only
to find that parts of them are still alive, but in a form that can't
possibly be changed, and he has to kill them again, but they're his
family. What the hell that did to the guys' mind I can't imagine, but
he's still got a crazy streak in him now. It's controlled, but there's
a lot of anger and insanity bottled up in there waiting for an excuse to
break out. Now, do you understand why he hates mages?"


Edge doesn't say anything, just walks along next to Nemesis, seemingly
studying the broad back of the Avenger as he leads the team, talking
quietly with the scientists.


Shado: "You tell story well Nemesis, maybe sometimes too well. It be
better if you left alone."


Nemesis: "Yeah, maybe, but Edge here has been my buddy for a while
now, and I figure if he's goin' with us on this, he's got a right to
know somethin' about the man he's followin'."


Shado: "Maybe, maybe not."


Gates: "Hey Shado, does it matter, I mean shit girl, it's history, we
ain't never seen DA get hooped out over nothin', the man's ice. Leave
Nemesis alone, Edge has a right to know. He's gotta trust DA and follow
him around down here, how can you trust someone you don't know nothin'
about?"


Shado: "We did."


Pharaoh and Dewdrop rejoin the team, talking animatedly with the
Avenger.


Pharaoh: We've found it. The library entrance is right where Anna said
it'd be. Dewy had a look inside, but he says there's too much weird
stuff down there for him to get a handle on anything, and wanted to wait
for you guys to catch up. We checked out the area and there are no
unpleasant surprises. But there's a real strange feeling around the
library itself, like something's watching you. I can't find anything,
but my gut says someone's there."


DA: "You can't pin it down?"


Pharaoh: "Nope, just a feeling, but a strong one."


Anna: "There is rumoured to be a spirit guarding the tomb. A great
Mayan spirit, we've never encountered it, but Pharaoh's right, it is a
strange place. And you always get the feeling that someone is peering
over your shoulder. Part of it probably down to the nature of the site.
It's ancient, and spooky. Part of it may be down to a true guardian.
We haven't explored the deeper parts of the complex, so what's hiding in
the depths we don't know yet. The site covers about a 2 square
kilometres, so it's pretty extensive. I believe what you're looking for
is in the south-eastern section. One of the areas we haven't checked
thoroughly. We lost a couple of people down there, so it was left alone
until we had researched the site a bit more thoroughly, and the seismic
resonators, thermic imagers and GP radar had arrived.


Ben: "The guardian is mentioned both on the entrance inscriptions and
on the doorways to the library chambers, we've found little in the
scrolls and tablets to lend any credence to the claims, but anything is
possible."


+++++CLOSE ARCHIVE: 9-1DA-2S
+++++END UPLOAD: RS2/1A8-F.ctx


]<<<<<
-- Dark Avenger <23:03:34/01-25-58>

Further Reading

If you enjoyed reading about RS: Library - Part 2, you may also be interested in:

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