Lets Play - Falcon 5: The Dying Sun

Omegonthesane · Post by **Omegonthesane** » Wed Mar 28, 2018 1:12 pm

Continue our mission. He wasn't even completely useless let alone enough of a liability to be worth tossing aside spitefully.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Wed Mar 28, 2018 2:04 pm

Yeah, while he ran off from the mission he saved us from losing a lot of endurance (and got us weapons that killed off half of the villains). And he’s still a really good counter to the Symbiont. It’s also entirely possible that killing Tane Gamil will help us in the long run, assuming that Cobra was right about his threat level.

Thaluikhain · Post by **Thaluikhain** » Wed Mar 28, 2018 2:14 pm

You take Chameleon and Cobra up into your Time Machine, Falcon's Wing, and deliver a quick report to Jobanque. He is extremely pleased that you have terminated Sparrowhawk and Dark Star, but you know that your most difficult adversary, Yelov, and the Symbiont are on the loose somewhere in the past. At last a report reaches you from the monitoring section to the effect that there has been a disturbance in the timehole on Earth, 1881 AD. You decide to investigate, it can only be Yelov and his Time Machine.

You instruct CAIN to set co-ordinates for the timehole on Earth in 1881 AD, murderous thoughts running through your mind as you regard the Bounty Hunter. He stares ahead impassively.

You may lie in your Autodoc and regain up to 12 points of lost Endurance. Unfortunately theAutodocin Falcon's Wingis specific to humanoids and, if Chameleon is wounded, as an Illusion Master he will be unable to receive any treatment. Soon you have materialised on Earth and CAIN switches on the external cameras saying that Falcon's Wing has been disguised as a ramshackle, disused barn. The view shows a town about a mile away, baking in the glare of a hot summer's day. The town consists of many wooden buildings, some grand, others simply dirty warehouses and stables. It looks odd to your eyes - all around it stretches an empty expanse of parched grass, as if the town had been dropped randomly from the skies. You are used to vast sprawling cities. An ancient looking steam locomotive is puffing towards the town, following along two iron rails. It is pulling several brightly painted carriages and dull dirty cattle wagons.

You ask CAIN for an historical update. This is the town of Tombstone in the state of Arizona, in the United States of America, Falcon. In a month's time the famous"Gunfight at OK Corral" will be fought between the Earp gang and the Clanton gang. Virgil Earp is currently the Marshal of the town and will soon deputise his brothers Wyatt and Morgan, and Doc Holliday. No doubt you will have seen old 20th Century entertainment vids on the subject. I will run off some suitable clothing for you in the Molecular Convertor, including some of the local money, which may be of use to you. I advise against taking any hi-tech weapons, Falcon, as the danger of them being seen or falling into the hands of anyone in this time period is far more likely to force changes in the future than in most time- periods you have visited.

Soon you are dressed in typical clothes of the period - high, narrow leather boots with pronounced heels, simple trousers and a cotton shirt and leather waistcoat. A hat rests on your head, and you have a scarf. Around your waist is buckled a leather belt lined with bullets. In a holster at your hip lies a Colt
.45 'Peacemaker', a revolver or 'six-gun'. In your left hand you hold an 1873 Winchester repeating rifle with fifteen cartridges. Moving the trigger guard lever down and back moves a fresh shell into the chamber and ejects the old one. Chameleon is dressed much as you are but the Bounty Hunter has foregone the rifle in favour of two Peacemakers, one at each hip. You decide to follow CAIN's advice and leave your 31st century weapons behind.

'Ready?' you ask your agents and they both nod. You descend from Falcon's Wing and walk across the parched earth towards the town, three abreast. After a twenty minute walk, you enter Tombstone along its dusty main street. Horse-drawn chuck wagons and buggies drive past you and cowboys and well- dressed gentlemen mill about on the boardwalks that line the street. Wooden buildings, saloons, stables, stores and so on rise up on either side. Billboards and signs add a little colour to the drab-looking habitation. You are walking down the street 'listening' with your mind for signs of Yelov when a dishevelled young boy runs up to you and says, 'Hey, are you the one they call the Falcon?' Instantly alert the Bounty Hunter and Chameleon look around, scanning the rooftops and shadowed alleys as you nod your head, not looking at the boy but all around. 'I got a message fer you then,' and he hands you a note saying, The old Lucky Horseshoe ranch's outta town, thatta way,' and he points at the far end of Tombstone. You take the note. It is written in Galactic.

I know you're coming, Falcon. The Symbiont and I will be waiting for you at the deserted Lucky Horseshoe ranch. Let us finish this once and for all, for I am going to kill you.
Your Implacable Enemy Yelov

You look up and the boy is still there, uncomfortably shifting from foot to foot. After a minute's silence he says,' The man with the long hair and funny face said you'd give me a silver dollar, mister.' Reluctantly , you take one of the coins CAIN gave you and pass it to the boy. Without a word he snatches it and scampers gleefully away.

90
You will have to shoot it out at the Lucky Horseshoe. Soon you are leaving Tombstone behind you, following the dusty track that leads to a dilapidated cluster of buildings about two miles from Tombstone. A strong breeze starts up and tumbleweeds begin to roll across your path. Eventually you come to a battered wooden fence with a broken gate. Across the top, suspended between two poles is a sign with 'Lucky Horseshoe' painted on it. The old barns, outhouses and the ranchhouse seem to beckon menacingly. Everything is quiet, save for the rustling breeze and the monotonous creak, creak of the sign blowing in the wind. The sun beats down mercilessly and you wipe the sweat from your face and neck with the red bandana draped around your throat. Nerves tingling and senses alert for the first sign of danger the three of you walk into the Lucky Horseshoe, Chameleon on your left and the Bounty Hunter on your right. To the left stands a barn, an old hitching post outside it. An empty water trough, filled with dust now, lies ten feet ahead of you. On the right is a log cabin and beyond that a stable. Opposite the stable is a row of dilapidated sheds. At the far end, directly ahead of you, is a fine mansion-like house, but now its timbers are rotten, its windows smashed, its doors hanging off their hinges. Suddenly Yelov, his face plate gleaming in the sun, steps out with the Symbiont from behind the stable about fifty feet ahead of you. The three of you tense expectantly but no move is made. Yelov is dressed in smart black trousers, tailed jacket and black hat with a white frilled shirt, like a 19th century riverboat gambler. His coat is pushed back over the butt of his pistol that hangs at his hip. His hand hovers near it. You can make out the bulge of another weapon on his other hip. The Symbiont is dressed in buckskin trousers and a checked shirt, looking like a hunchbacked cowboy. He holds a Winchester rifle in his hands and has a Navy Colt .44 at his hip.

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The Symbiont titters madly, drawing a black look from Yelov. 'So you have come, and you've brought your lackeys with you. Do not think they will save you from my vengeance, Falcon, you Arcturan slime-worm.'

'I'm going to move to the right,' whispers the Bounty Hunter. Chameleon sends you a telepathic message telling you he intends to go for the Symbiont. Will you:
Stay where you are and go for a straight draw with Yelov?
Dive to cover behind the old water trough, firing your Winchester on the run at Yelov?
Thinkstrike Yelov and then go for your Peacemaker?

(I like that instead of rocking up during the shootout at OK Corral, you miss it by a mere month)

Omegonthesane · Post by **Omegonthesane** » Wed Mar 28, 2018 4:58 pm

Brain powers!

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Wed Mar 28, 2018 6:02 pm

Dive and shoot on the run, since Yelov still probably has his psionic damper circlet on under that hat and I’m sure that his concealed weapon is some sort of laser that he’ll kill us with in a straight shoot out (and even if not he’s a cyborg who probably has better reflexes than we do.)

Pariah Dog · Post by **Pariah Dog** » Wed Mar 28, 2018 6:38 pm

Agree with Darth. Dive for cover and fire while in slow motion.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Thu Mar 29, 2018 1:48 am

My preference is to Thinkstrike, but I'll withhold my vote so there isn't a tie.

Thaluikhain · Post by **Thaluikhain** » Thu Mar 29, 2018 2:39 am

You dart for the trough, readying your Winchester to fire from the hip and all hell breaks loose. Yelov draws with lightning speed and fires, the sound reverberating like a thunderclap but it is difficult to hit a moving target and he misses you. The Bounty Hunter dives to the right, a gun suddenly in his hand like magic, and rolls to his feet in the doorway of the log cabin. Chameleon drops to one knee and aims his rifle at the Symbiont. Yelov fires again. Your mind registers the fact that the Symbiont has not moved - Chameleon has dropped his rifle and is writhing on the ground in agony, a victim of the Ego Whip. You squeeze the trigger of your Winchester and it kicks violently in your hand, going off with an explosive crash.
If you score 2-6,

I'm guessing this is an attack roll, could maybe be a chance roll, though. Anyway, 2 and 2, so:

288
You miss Yelov and he fires at you again, hitting your rifle which flies out of your hands to skitter along the ground behind you. You hit the dirt in cover behind the water trough, pulling out your Colt. Then, to your horror, the Symbiont fires his rifle twice and Chameleon throws his arms up and falls back, either dead or incapacitated. Seconds later, the Bounty Hunter fires with deadly accuracy. A bullet thuds into the Symbiont's shoulder. He staggers back and another takes him in the stomach. He doubles up, dropping his rifle and a third bullet slams into his chest and he is knocked backward to the ground where he lies, a bloody mess, all in the span of three seconds. Yelov curses and darts into cover behind the stable's far corner. 'You all right. Falcon?' shouts the Bounty Hunter.

OK,' you reply. You look back. Chameleon is dragging himself to the barn, leaving a trail of milky translucent blood. He slumps in the doorway, sending you a feeble mental message, saying he cannot fight any further. Then he passes out. He needs urgent medical attention - you will have to finish this quickly. Suddenly there is a crackling sound and a lancing ruby light burns through the trough and into the ground beside you. Yelov has a laser weapon! Before you can react another bolt slices through and grazes your arm. Lose 2 Endurance points. If you are still alive, the Bounty Hunter leans out and begins pouring a volley of shots at the stable corner and Yelov is forced to pull back. You pop up and train your Colt at the corner ready to fire at the first sight of Yelov. The Bounty Hunter stops firing and everything goes quiet. He looks at you expectantly. Will you:
Stay where you are and await events?
Tell the Bounty Hunter to cover you and make a dash for the cover of the sheds opposite the stable?

Pariah Dog · Post by **Pariah Dog** » Thu Mar 29, 2018 4:13 am

Well Chameleon is bleeding out and as it said we need to end this quickly, move. No idea why Chameleon decided to go after Symbiont when he lost to him back in Greece while he counter is traveling with us.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Thu Mar 29, 2018 2:35 pm

Thaluikhain wrote:Yelov has a laser weapon!

Called it!

Anyways, I agree with Pariah Dog (both on what we should do here and the daftness of Chameleon's actions). Hoof it and rely on the Bounty Hunter for cover.

Thaluikhain · Post by **Thaluikhain** » Thu Mar 29, 2018 2:44 pm

You surge up and vault the trough, running as fast as you can for the sheds, whilst Cobra leans out of the cabin door and fires several times at the corner of the stables. You leap over the body of the Symbiont and reach the sheds without hindrance. You dart into one and take up a position by a shattered window, looking out at the stable opposite. You can see Yelov has moved from behind the corner of the stable. Then your eye is drawn by a sudden movement at the log cabin. Cobra suddenly slumps unconscious and Yelov appears from the cabin, his gun pointed at the old water trough, a malevolent grin on his face. He hesitates in surprise when he sees that you are no longer there. If you still have your Winchester...

You aim the Peacemaker at him and squeeze the trigger. Make an Attack Roll.

If you score 2-6...2 and 6, so:

You aim your Peacemaker as carefully as you can, while Yelov looks uncertainly about. You squeeze the trigger and the pistol bucks and roars. It takes him in the chest and he gives a strangled cry of pain and slumps backwards into the cabin, his pistol firing harmlessly into the sky. You can see his booted feet protruding motionless from the doorway. Carefully, you approach him, ready for any tricks, but he makes no move. Looking down you can see that he is dead, you have shot him in the heart. You can hardly believe your eyes as you look down at his body. Finally, you have killed Yelov. The Federation will, at last, be safe from his depredations. An enormous sense of relief comes over you and you turn and walk out into the sun. You notice a pulpy mass, a purplish blob of protoplasm, some feet away from the body of the Symbiont. It is still and its outer edge is cracked and dry. It is the parasite from Hel, having crawled from its host body. It has dehydrated and died in the open sun. You notice that Coin Helm's face is peaceful and calm in death as it never was in life. You gather up the dead and wounded, leaving no trace that this gunfight ever occurred and return to the Eiger Vault, 3034 AD.

A few days later, you are sitting in the Hall of Honours, in front of the horseshoe-like desk behind which all the Lords of TIME are gathered - Silvermane the Rigellian, Jobanque, Pilota and R'lllk the Keladi, who floats in a large tank of sea water. Jobanque says, 'I hope you have rested well, Falcon. You'll be glad to hear all of your agents have recovered and are well and that we've retrieved Yelov's model A3. Once again you have exceeded our expectations. Without you the Federation would be in ruins, there's no doubt of that. I'm afraid we simply do not have any honours left to bestow on you - other than making you a TIME Lord,' and he laughs, as if the idea were somehow ridiculous. 'You are much more valuable in the Special Agent Section. We could create another award just for you but that seems a little indulgent. We can only offer you the heartfelt thanks of all the Lords of TIME. Thank you Falcon.' He beckons you over, and shakes your hand. 'Good work, the best agent, and the best Section Chief I could ever hope to command,' he says under his breath.

You move on to Lord Silvermane, who lays a massive hand on your shoulder, and mumbles, 'A fine display of martial prowess, Falcon. You would have made a good Rigellian, with a little meat on your bones!' This is indeed a high compliment to receive from a Rigellian.

Lord Pilota looks you up and down and says officiously, 'The Government of Lastlanding extend their thanks to you in recognition of your deeds,' and then she leans forward conspiratorially and whispers, 'You were pretty good out there at Sirius. We must have a solar race, just the two of us. I've an excellent racer I'd like you to try.'

R'lllk the Keladi, a cross between a giant crayfish and a giant squid bubbles nonsensically and your Universal Translator renders it as, 'I am empowered to bestow on you the highest honour a Keladi can bestow on a non-Keladi. You are henceforth an honorary clan member of Kelados and entitled to all the rights accruing to a clan member.' There is a short pause and then, 'And expected to perform all those duties and obligations a clan member is expected to perform.' You thank him and decide you had better do some quick reading on Keladi culture, to find out exactly what this entails.

The ceremony over, you hurry back to your office - you have more important things to attend to, you tell yourself, such as locating your old comrade and friend, Agent Bloodhound ...

(Only got killed twice that time, though without using the autodoc for space travel that would have been more)

Pariah Dog · Post by **Pariah Dog** » Thu Mar 29, 2018 4:20 pm

So hypothetically what would have happened if we didn't run screaming out of the sterilization chamber?

Thaluikhain · Post by **Thaluikhain** » Thu Mar 29, 2018 4:33 pm

In that case, you'd start being gassed and are locked in. You can PoW the medtech to let you out, or "Thinkstrike blindly at whoever is operating the
gas valve" and then run out and have the gunfight.

Seems odd you can Thinkstrike like that.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Thu Mar 29, 2018 9:17 pm

Is the book winnable if we hired Sosquilla or Yellowblades? If so, how does it change?
Do any of the other gadgets do anything interesting/useful?
Is there any other way to defeat the Thaccoid?

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Fri Mar 30, 2018 1:47 am

I'm willing to bet that the reptilian missile would have worked on the Thaccoid too.

Was I right in my theory that each of the interns would be more effective against one of the sub-villains? If not, is there a "best" or "worse" choice between the interns?

Also, could we have won that solar race, and would it have made any difference?

Thaluikhain · Post by **Thaluikhain** » Fri Mar 30, 2018 1:34 pm

The reptilian missile kills the Thaccoid. Though, it's only supposed to knock out the target, but it's alien metabolism doen't like the drug.

After shooting the grill it is standing on, if you shoot the web it plummets to its death. I'm a bit surprised that nobody voted for that, it seemed the obvious bad idea the game wanted you to try.

If you run away from it to try and ambush, it jumps you and if you have the mimi-laser you can zap it in hand to hand to give you time to get away and try something else.

You can take on any of the three agents, most of the game is the same regardless of which one. The three agents and the three villains aren't really linked, the Thaccoid always dies in the first encounter, the Symbiont always gets away, Dark Star is always a bit meh (and you don't ever see the pet, it's just at the raid on the warehouse you send other people to deal with).

OTOH, Squirrel cannot stand against the Symbiont, and is driven insane at Troy, or knocked out for the mission if she meets him at Barbarossa. So that villain is more effective against one of the three.

Blade gets beaten at Troy by the Symbiont, but it leaves for the spaceship before killing him. He gets injured at the last fight at Barbarossa and left behind, though that seems bad luck rather than being out of his depth.

If you send Cobra to Troy, he's chases the Symbiont around until it escapes in its time machine, but this is not different from Blade losing but surviving.

Cobra is the only one you can take with you to Tombstone. But then if you send him to guard the warehouse it will be raided, and he's the only one that runs off and leaves you at Barbarossa.

I don't think there's an out and out best or worse pick.

Oh, and you can win the solar race, but it doesn't matter.