Ice Strike (2 page)

To fight the glacier giant,
go to 48
.

You continue to fire at your enemy but there are too many of them. They slam into your body.

“Evasive action!” you order, but you are too late.

Before the DART suit can respond, you are overwhelmed by the frost bears. Their great teeth rip through the tough suit and into your flesh and bone.

You scream in pain as the great beasts tear you to pieces.

You have failed, Arktos will invade Earth! To try to stop him,
go back to 1
.

The frost bear is in pain. It growls at you.

The DART suit translates.

“You have won, kill me now and let me join my brothers,” it says.

“I will take away your suffering if you tell me where Arktos is,” you reply. “In the north or the south? And do not lie to me.”

The frost bear laughs. “It doesn’t matter if you know where my master is. He will defeat you. He is all-powerful. He is in his palace in the north, waiting for you. Now keep your word.”

If you wish to keep your promise,
go to 23
.

If you don’t want to,
go to 46
.

You decide to head down the pass. “Missiles ready. Automatic firing,” you order the suit. “Super speed.”

The suit reacts immediately. As you hurtle down the pass, the columns transform into living ice snakes. They spit thousands of deadly icicle missiles at you. You spin and weave, and they explode around you.

The suit replies, sending streams of missiles at the snakes. You hit several of the creatures and they explode, lighting up the dark sky.

You continue to fly though the pass, destroying your enemies, one by one.

You come to a sudden stop. Ahead of you is the way out, but it is blocked by two goliath ice snakes.

If you wish to try to fly straight between them,
go to 44
.

If you wish to fight them,
go to 29
.

QTee presses a button and a large metal storage unit emerges from the floor. It is filled with many types of weapon.

He picks out a large gun. “A gamma-ray laser gun,” he says. “Its light beam hits any target and sends radioactive shockwaves through it. This then causes the target to vaporise. It is especially good against anything with high water content.”

“Like ice,” you say.

QTee nods. “Exactly. But it’s an experimental weapon — it’s not fully tested. If you do use it — and it works — you must be further than fifty metres away from your target. Otherwise you’ll receive a fatal dose of radiation. It can only be used once and it is a high-risk weapon. That’s why I haven’t shown it to you before now. It is up to you whether you wish to take it.”

If you wish to take the gamma-ray laser gun,
go to 31
.

If you don’t want to,
go to 25
.

You know that with your suit broken open, you have little time. Quickly, you remember what happened to the ice snakes. You send a stream of missiles at Arktos. He easily blasts them with ice bombs.

“You are no match for me! Give up now and save yourself.” Arktos roars with laughter. But the thick smoke from the missiles drifts towards Arktos, blocking his view like a smokescreen. He cannot see you! However, you can see him with your DART suit’s NAV system.

As he continues to launch ice bombs, you fly behind him and take aim.

“Fire!”

A stream of energy blasts hit Arktos. He drops his Staff of Power and, as the cold begins to seep through your body, you quickly fly towards it. You grab hold of it with your icy fingers.

“No!” he cries as he falls to the floor.

You snap the staff in half.

There is a great whirlwind of ice and snow as the storm disappears and the landscape transforms instantly. Ice and snow disappear and the temperature of the planet shoots up. Grass and plants suddenly appear amongst the rocks and earth and all about you, the forces of Arktos are disappearing.

You stand over the body of Arktos. He is dying.

“You lose,” you say.

He laughs. “No. I have completed my task for my Lord Tyranno. It was not about my forces invading Earth. I am merely a diversion…”

His eyes close for the last time.

“Teleport,” you order.

Go to 50
.

“Teleport,” you order.

A white light envelops you and you find yourself back in the OPS room in Area 61. QTee and Agent Roberts and Agent Lee are amazed to see you.

“Why have you returned?” they ask.

“I took a bit of a battering, patch me up and I can return to Iceworld.”

QTee shakes his head. “We can mend you, but there is no point now! You were our only hope to defeat Arktos. You won’t have time to return and defeat him. The Earth will soon be frozen over and Arktos will become its ruler!”

What a disaster! Get
back to 1
if you’re feeling brave.

You send a stream of energy blasts at the nearest snake. It rears up in pain. Another burst from your eGun hits home and the snake shatters into a million shards.

The other snake hurls itself at you, spitting a volley of icicles.

You spin away from the deadly missiles and send a burst of energy blasts at the snake. They explode around the snake’s body, but it keeps on attacking.

If you wish to change weapons,
go to 3
.

If you wish to continue to attack with the eGun,
go to 20
.

“
Take me back to Area 61,” you tell the NAV system.

Within seconds you are flying carefully through the snowstorm. The suit twists and turns, avoiding the trees and ridges of the mountain.

Soon you are back at HQ and in the OPS room. QTee and agents Roberts and Lee are present. They look worried.

“So where did that storm spring up from?” you ask. “Is the Earth under attack again?”

QTee nods. “Show data,” he orders the computer.

The plasma screens on the walls light up, showing dozens of figures and pictures.

“The Earth’s ice sheets are beginning to grow at a rapid rate. If it continues, the Earth will become a giant snowball! Plant life will die, oxygen won’t be produced, seas will freeze up. All humankind will die out!”

“So who is responsible for the big freeze?” you ask.

QTee continues. “Intel points the finger at Arktos. He is the ruler of Iceworld, in the Khule dimension.”

“So it looks like I’m going to pay him a visit,” you mutter.

Roberts nods. “Take your mittens, it’s going to be cold!”

If you wish to head off to Arktos straightaway,
go to 21
.

If you wish to hear more about your mission,
go to 40
.

You aim your eGun and finish off the creature.

You check around, but no more of your enemies are alive.

Where to go now? you wonder. North or south?

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
.

You know that you are hopelessly outnumbered. You will only have one chance to get near enough to Arktos to try to capture his Staff of Power. He is standing in front of the palace.

“Distance to target?” you ask the computer.

“Three-hundred-and-fifty metres.”

You arm the gamma-ray laser and take a deep breath.

If you want to try to cause a diversion,
go to 5
.

If you wish to get as close to Arktos as you can and then attack,
go to 42
.

You fly up into the air above the oncoming creatures. As you gain height the air is suddenly filled with solid white beams.

“Frost bears are armed with ice-beam guns.”

“Thanks for letting me know,” you mutter at the suit.

The frost bears open fire again, and you are forced to dodge the freezing beams. The air crackles around you as the beams move closer…

If you wish to fight the frost bears with fire,
go to 26
.

If you wish to use your eGun,
go to 2
.

To try to escape using super speed,
go to 30
.

You continue your attack, spinning away from the icicles the snake shoots at you.

You target the snake’s head. A burst of energy blasts hit the snake’s head and it smashes apart. Its lifeless body crashes down the side of the mountain.

You stare into the pass and can make out more “columns”. You order the DART suit to scan these.

The computer confirms your suspicions. “Ice snakes.”

You curse. Time is running out. You wonder if you could try to blast a way through the side of the ice mountain and avoid the snakes.

If you wish to head further into the pass,
go to 11
.

If you wish to try to blast your way through the ice wall,
go to 34
.