In the tunnel Turel Bevlick suddely
remembers something, "DAMN! Ayes forsgot- Ayes tau dat ole
WUTBIPE wassa unner oid-doivs!" Crawling on his belly, The Track of the Pocket Miner
Page 13.
The Fabian yanks back on the stick -- racks the Disco into a tight loop and heads Northeast. Grenades and heavy cone rifle bullets streak past as the Disco jinks and jogs between the trees and over the ridge to F-17 where the Fabian brings the Disco to a gentle landing.
In the tunnel Turel Bevlick suddely
remembers something, "DAMN! Ayes forsgot- Ayes tau dat ole
WUTBIPE wassa unner oid-doivs!" Crawling on his belly,
Wimdit moves away from the tent which is beginning to sag from the cone rifle bullet holes. "Youse guys inna tunnel goes aheads anna finds out where dat tunnel goes; we's a gonna kill all dem bots up heres."
"Wotdafugg , ober?" Turel Bevlick askes. "Me and SOOPERHITSHAID can cobber ZUVE and TUIBB, bott Ayes DO NOT WANT TO LEAVE WUTBIPE ALONE in the tunnel noes farmin' wile wees goes snakey patin' owta sit owf heeseff...... Yust ah stannin' deres wiff hee fangkers opp hees noes, finkin' beeg finks (Wich wees awl noes issa hard fors usses smard Eli Raiders ta doo, let ah lone Ole WUTBIBPE!) yust ah watin fors sum bigk boogker ta cum strolling bye fors ah Eli Raiders sna-yack!"
TUREL BEVLIK, twitching his love handles under his Eli Raider helmet in irritation and worry about Eli Raider life, death, poverty, and owr meagker forses beingk splid inna tew toids wiff wun toid kilt daid awl reddy..... "GODS OWF SPACE!!! HOLY XHIT!!!"
Suddenly, Turel Bevlik, remembers almost being dead in the wreckage of the DISCO that might have been, and with big blue eyes bulging behind his multivisor, shakes an armored fist at the tunnel ceiling and yells into the tac comm net: "FABIO BRONSTIK! EFFEN YOUSE GILTS KILTED, ORSE TAKEN POW, OR TOINS DA DISCO INNA TEW A YUNK HEBE, AYES AM GONNA BEE PIZZED OWF! 'MEMBER DAT BUTTY!!!! YOUSE BEES CARRFUWLS WIFF MY RIDE AWF OWF DIS WOILD OWF HAWRAWS!!!!"
As Turel Bevlick stands in the tunnel making his soliloquy, Hitshead follows Tuibb and Zuvebee down the tunnel to join Wutbipe.
"Gawds of Space!",
murmurs Wutbipe. 
Standing in the tunnel at I-18 the Eli are totally astonished at what they see. Here the tunnel widens out into a natural cavern. The cavern is well lit and it is as if they had stepped into some fantastic underworld fairyland. Gigantic stalactites hang from the cave ceiling which is lost somewhere above in the darkness. Monstrous formations and stalagmites cover the floor. Everywhere the walls are covered with sparkling crystals of red, green, and clear colors.
Above, the Guardian bot standing over the body of Drich Binble, bends down and picks up Drich's blast rifle.
Asbeef hoping for a shot with his portable missile launcher, crawls around the Northwest corner of the miners tent.
The Buckethead fires the captured blast rifle at the tent. The blazing ball of plasma burns through the tent and rolls over Asbeef in an inferno of blazing hell. Asbeef's astonished curse is cut shot as his armor fails and he is quickly consumed.
Oerkjof tries to dig himself into the soft turf. Then he realizes that the extra ammo for the PML is lying there exposed. As the heat from the blazing ball reaches an almost unbearable level he quickly throws himself over the ammo rack. He is lucky -- only the very edge of the plasma washes over and Oerkjof survives.
Oerkjof stares in horror at the smoking corpse that a few seconds earlier had been his brother Asbeef.
Wimdit fires the second rocket from the great motha' flare. "Oerkjof! We is fugged up heres! I is shootin' it, but I ain't gonna HURTS it, youse go for da tunnel foist! Hitsead, iffen eider of us gets a far as dat cavern, you waits behind da wall an disappears it when we's comes by. Iffen youse guys don't sees us, its been nice knowin' yas."
Oerkjof hears the Xrit's voice in his headphones, but it is meaningless to him. Anger soon overcomes the horror and he scrabbles over to his dead bother. He heaves his corpse off the Portable Missle Launcher. He picks up the smoking weapon. Swinging it around he centers the miners bot in the sight. Even as he pulles the trigger he sees the evil bot's blast rifle bossom with flame at the muzzle.
Just then the flare streaks up into the sky and detonates; filling the sky with blinding green light.
"What da heel is dis place?"Zuvebee asks staring about.
"Etts ah fuggin huge grate cave, Zuve! Biggah den yew woeman's plumbing!" Turel says, as he nervously hops about scanning left and right.
"Wees (roight SooperHitshaid?) issa moofing owt afta da point! Cobber usses! Anna Gods owf Space wach da rares!" The old Eli gouges his mark into the soft stone wall of the cavern.
"Wees just doan noe wotdafug issa in hee-yars wiff usses! Doan let noe damn rowbutts crall opp owrse aces from bak deres!" He yells back to the Eli coming up the tunnel. "Raymanbas awls dose tales Ayes has been tellin youse guyse about dem Skrowls fings! Gods owf Space!
Turel sweating under his helmet and armor, wishing his underwear was bigger or is ass twenty years smaller, mumbles under his breath: "Wot am Ayes doin down hee-yar wit youse guys! Dis poe ole Eli Raider shuud bees a sitting at his favorite titty bars bak on Lees Woild, stuffin bugks inna dose skimpy pans and trinkin beeg, cawld bairs!" With a final look over his shoulder at the corridor, Turel Bevlik says, "Dis dommed pahlace coud git ah poe ole Eli Raider kilt daid!"
The rest of the Eli are two awed to speak. Never have they dreamed of such a place. Flowing from a crack high in the wall of the cavern a petrefied waterfall cascades down to form a frozen river of sparkling white crystals which winds its way between the stalagmites. Embedded in the walls and loose on the floor are scattered crystal formations, ranging in size from dust to the size of a man's head. Deep glowing red and dark emerald green -- here and there a deep purple or pale orange crystal sparkels and glimmers. In several places the cavern floor has been artifically smoothed by skilful use of a disinitigrator. The floor is lightly covered with soft yellow dust; in which can be seen many footprints, both of men and bots. Along the walls are several hollow bubbles which have been cut open by a disinitigrator, but nothing remains in them but a little yellow dust.
Suddenly the com chanels from the Eli above are transmitting nothing but static.
Wimdit happy that his vision isn't gone, just slightly dazzled from great green motha' flare runs to the North west side of the smoking ruin that formerly was the miner's tent. He rolls Oerkjof's smoking body off the PML and picks it up. Fortunately it is warm but undamaged. He kneels down to pick up an AP Round when he sees a cyan flash in the corner of his visor. "Duck you Sucker!" screams his helmet computer, "You is under fire from Power Gun in East Quadrant."
Grabbing up both the PML and the Ammo rack. He makes a quick jump to L-16 where the still sparking fragments of a buckethead lie scattered over and about the body of Drich. Here are the robot's HCSMG, Drich's Blast Rifle and a Disintigrator. Wimdit grabs up the blast rifle and goes prone as a cyan bolt from a power gun burns a nasty scorch in the grass beside him. "Now you duck?" babbles his targeting computer. "Gottem located in H-6."
Wimdit laughs, "I is still up heres, boys! Dat Buckethead done barbequed da brudders, but is missed me! I is gonna gather up alls dese good weapons anna wait for dat worthless Slaber bot what got Honebead, an I is gonna blast IT, too. Affer dat, I is gonna come down dere wit youse guys afore da STF limps ober an crunches me. Is youse guys found dat Amcrys yet?"
Below in the great cavern, the remainder of the Eli mill about like astonished children. Wutbipe, after taking a brutal ribbing from his Eli shipmates, spins on his heels and double-times back down the tunnel. He is heading for his commander and a date with infamy. The little cave creatures cowering in the shadows hear him mumbling to himself."Gonna' git me wun big muther punch gun.....gonna' git me sum.......gonna' wayste sum bot-luvin' miner-puke........majur retreebution......................MAJUR"
Tuibb also starts back toward the entrance and is startled as Wutbipe streaks past doing a controlled jump. He is totally amazed as the crazed Eli pulls his legs up to his chest and blasts down the narrow tunnel.
Wutbipe, with skill and grace that amazes even himself, uses his legs to bounce off the wall as the corridor turns Southwest and again as the passage turns West again. He finishes his jump beneath the shaft that leads upwards at J-12.
Hitsead searching along the North wall of the cavern finds a plastic bucket beneath a three foot diameter hole in the wall. The bucket has a few small yellow crystals in it. The hole above, is a convenient height to look into. Hitsead turns his visor to active infra-red and thrusts his head into the hole. The hole is just a bubble in the rock, lined with crystals which twinkle and flash back as the infra-red scanning beam flashes over them.
Turel Bevlick, and Zuvebee move ahead and find at the end of the great cavern, three passages, all lead roughly east. What to do?
Over an open channel the Eli hear the icy cold voice of the miner, "You bastards killed my dog!"
(Find out more about the Disco Nightmare) (Read the stats for the Eli warriors) (See the map for the game.)
For questions concerning this webgame contact John McEwan at john@tin-soldier.com
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