Ice Strike (3 page)
Authors: Steve Skidmore
“I need to get to Iceworld right now and make things hot for Arktos,” you say.
“Slow down,” replies Agent Lee. “Before you pack your thermal underwear, you need to know more about Arktos and his world. Without that knowledge, you’ll die and Earth will be at his mercy.”
QTee nods. “Arktos is more powerful than your previous opponents. You will have to think carefully about how you are to defeat him.”
You send a stream of fire towards Arktos. He counters your attack by sending a cloud of ice and snow from his Staff of Power. The flames are extinguished.
He is almost upon you as you leap upwards and over him, attacking with a burst from your eGun. You hit the battle mammoth and it crashes down dead. You float down onto the glacier as Arktos is thrown to the ground. The ice storm closes in and huge bowling-ball size hailstones begin to fall. You blast at them with your needle gun while Arktos quickly regains his feet. You turn to face him just as he throws his ice axe at you. It catches your DART suit, ripping open a hole in the armour. You feel a blast of icy air.
“Suit damaged…” warns the computer.
Arktos continues to attack, blasting you with ice bombs.
To try to escape,
go to 38
.
To try to repair your suit,
go to 47
.
If you wish to fight back,
go to 13
.
You nod and put the creature out of its suffering.
You have to decide whether the frost bear was telling the truth. Is Arktos really in his northern palace or the one in the south? You consider what it said and make your choice.
If you wish to head towards Arktos’s northern palace,
go to 33
.
If you wish to head to Arktos’s southern palace,
go to 41
.
The NAV system guides you to Arktos’s palace.
Soon you see it ahead of you. It is a huge ice palace set in the middle of a glacier. Its crystal towers reach high into the sky.
The suit scans the area. “Main entrance guarded by glacier giants,” it reports.
You realise that time is running out on your mission, how should you get into the palace?
To head to the main entrance,
go to 8
.
If you wish to try to find another way into the palace,
go to 39
.
You shake your head. “I don’t think so! Show me something that isn’t going to kill me!”
“Very well.” QTee puts the ray gun back and points at some small plate-shaped devices. “Chemical-thermo mines. Set them off and they create an incredible heat. They will melt most surfaces.”
“That’s more like it,” you say.
“You will have the usual weapons and you can create streams of fire with the crystal from Vulkana’s Staff of Power. And remember if you capture the crystal that powers Arktos’s staff, you will also have control over the element of ice: that could be crucial in our battle against Tyranno.”
“But you’ll have to survive your trip to Iceworld first,” says Agent Lee.
QTee continues. “I have set the co-ordinates for the snowy wasteland of Iceworld. You will need to make your way to the palace where Arktos is.”
QTee arms the DART suit with your weapons.
“Let’s go, before it gets too cold!” You step into the suit. “Teleport,” you order. A bright light flashes as you are teleported through the dimensions of space to Iceworld and your battle with Arktos.
You take aim and send streams of fire at the frost bears. Their armour and fur bursts into flames and they drop down, howling.
More of the creatures target you with their ice-beam guns. You dive down and send ripples of flame at the frost bears and they catch light. In their panic to escape, the creatures blast each other — putting out the flames, but freezing them solid. You continue your attack and soon your enemies are lying on the icy ground below.
You fly down to check if any of them are alive. “Locate survivors,” you tell the computer.
It replies. “One life form, fifty metres ahead.”
You head over to the creature. It lies groaning, with its armour melting.
If you wish to kill the frost bear,
go to 17
.
If you wish to try to communicate with it,
go to 10
.
You turn to fly away, but the giant raises his ice trident and thrusts down. The weapon pierces your suit.
Again the giant attacks, breaking through the armour once more. Time after time he pierces the suit’s defences. You cry out as the deadly ice weapon tears through your flesh.
You have paid the ultimate price. If you wish to begin again,
go to 1
.
“Activate fire system,” you order.
In an instant the suit heats up and the ice turns into harmless droplets of water.
“All systems restored,” says the computer.
You are still being battered by the icy gale and visibility is minimal. You know that you have to get back to Area 61.
If you wish to use the DART’s NAV system,
go to 16
.
If you trust your own skill,
go to 35
.
You begin your attack by sending streams of energy blasts at the two snakes.
They writhe and twist to try to avoid your deadly assault. They spit back huge ice missiles, which explode around you.
However, you take evasive action and reply with a volley of missiles. The cloud of smoke from the explosions covers the pass. Blinded by the smoke, the snakes crash into each other, plunging their teeth into each other’s heads and locking themselves together.
You send a sheet of flame at the struggling creature’s heads and they melt together. You fly by them and out of the pass, leaving the creatures locked in their death grip. The way to Arktos’s palace is open!
“Super speed,” you order.
The suit responds, but the frost bears shoot ice beams that block your path. You crash into the ice and spin down into a snowdrift. Before you can get to your feet, you are trampled on. A frost bear’s iron jaw rips through your DART suit’s defensive armour.
“Systems failing!” warns the computer.
“Teleport back to Earth,” you cry, but nothing happens.
Mercifully the freezing cold numbs your body as the frost bears feast on your flesh.
Begin your adventure again.
Go to 1
.
“I’ll take it,” you say.
“Very well.” QTee mounts the laser gun onto the DART suit.
“You will have your usual weapons, and of course you can now create streams of fire with the crystal from Vulkana’s Staff of Power. And remember, if you capture the crystal that powers Arktos’s staff, you will also have control over the element of ice: that could be crucial in our battle against Tyranno.”
“But you’ll have to survive your trip to Iceworld first,” says Agent Lee.
QTee continues. “I have set the co-ordinates for the snowy wasteland of Iceworld. You will need to make your way to the palace where Arktos is.”
“Let’s go, before it gets too cold!” You step into the suit. “Teleport,” you order. A bright light flashes as you are teleported through the dimensions of space to Iceworld and your battle with Arktos.
You arm the chemical-thermo mines and begin your flight towards Arktos. However, you are quickly spotted. Ice demons take to the air and begin hurling ice bombs at you. They explode and send you spinning through the air.
You return fire and drop some of the mines. They detonate and begin to melt the glacier. Some of Arktos’s forces fall through the melting ice.
You continue to drop the mines, but there are too many enemies to deal with.
You head towards Arktos, but are cut off by more of Arktos’s army. You fight bravely, but it is hopeless. You are hit by a burst of ice missiles.
“Systems badly damaged,” warns the DART suit. You crash to the frozen ground, where you lie, unable to respond.
A group of ice demons are quickly upon you and spray you with a liquid that instantly turns into a net of ice. You are trapped!
The demons take you to Arktos.
“Set co-ordinates for Arktos’s northern palace,” you order the suit.
It responds and soon you are flying across the frozen landscape.
Soon it begins to get dark. You can just see the outline of a huge range of icy mountains ahead of you. They reach high into dark black snow clouds and you cannot see their peaks.
If you wish to try to fly over the mountains,
go to 6
.
If you wish to look for a mountain pass through the peaks,
go to 37
.
You blast at the mountain of ice with your eGun.
To your amazement, the energy blasts hit the wall and are reflected straight back at you! The DART suit takes a massive hit. The electrical systems burn out and all power is lost!
You begin to plunge through the air.
“Teleport!” you order, but nothing happens. Eventually you hit with a sickening crash.
You switch the DART suit to manual control to fight your way through the storm.
However, the cloud of snow is so thick that you cannot see anything. You realise that you have made a big mistake! Before you can take evasive action, you smash full speed into the side of the mountain.
Arktos stands above you holding his Staff of Power.
“You fool,” he growls. “To think that you could stand up to the might of Arktos. You and your puny Earth are doomed.”
You plead for your life.
He laughs. “Did you not know that I am cold hearted?”
