Stage 1
Location:	TIU Spearhead (L2 Research Labs) (8, 3)
You wander the Research Labs. The place has an air of vague menace, as places in which unpleasant things happen generally do. Whilst walking the corridors of the labs you are met by several Mutant Subjects. Stitching etched crudely into their face. They attack you on sight as if driven by an unseen force. In a large room you find a TIU Scientist. He takes scans of various Subjects and checks his Datapad.
He looks at you with open disapproval, 'Ummm, why are you here? This is a restricted area you know, is the holographic field broken again?' He then scans you and checks his Datapad. 'Well you do have friends in high places...' He is about to say more, when he sees something in the records and stops in mid sentence. His face alters to a mask of pleasantness, 'Ummm, I see you are a person who is useful in a crisis. I may..' He then stares into your eyes. 'Well now, you have no Model Number in you Iris Code. That can only mean your are a G27 Unit! How marvelous, that would explain much about your record if the rumors are to believed. But anyway, I need you to get a Statistical Sample from our results. Data cannot be gained when our experiments are running all over the place. Here take this Project 83 Harvest Blueprint and get me the R83 Data Results.' You are speechless at his detached attitude. You blurt out that these are Mutants you are talking about. You can't simply tear them apart for little reason. The Scientist rolls his eyes, 'Oh dear. Look they're just Mutants...' He then suddenly changes tack, 'If you get me my results, and I get what I require. Then we can ease their suffering and anyway, scientific progress is always the best reason! Now go. Stop wasting my time.' You receive 1 x Project R83 Harvest Blueprint

Stage 2
Location:	TIU Spearhead (L2 Research Labs) (8, 3)
The TIU Scientist stands waiting your return, 'Ah Unit. Good, have you got the Data Results yet? Time is of the essence!
He takes the Data from you greedily and snaps it into his Datapad. 'Oh, thats odd. There is an anomalous wave pattern in the brain scan. It also looks like it has a reflective effect on the rest of the bio system of the subject.' He frowns at the small screen, 'The wave pattern also does not seem to have a cohesive pattern. It spikes and alters density at odd periods'. You have seen the eyes of the 'Subject', they are obviously under the influence of the Echo. You mention that the echo are controlling or manipulating the Subjects to do their will. The Scientist looks at you down his nose, 'I cannot simply jump to conclusions. I must have a body of data and see if there are any trends within that data so a theory can be devised and then, a conclusion may be drawn. This is the scientific process.' He looks at the floor for a moment, 'But, you seem like a competent individual. I shall give you the opportunity to prove your theory correct. I just cannot see how an alien presence can infiltrate the Spearhead and cause such problems with my research. We do have security you know! But anyway, take this Echo Hypothesis Blueprint. Return when you have completed your research. If what you are saying is correct, you will not have a problem gaining the required data components.' You receive 1 x Echo Hypothesis Blueprint

Stage 3
Location:	TIU Spearhead (L2 Research Labs) (8, 3)
The TIU Scientist is still going over the results you gave him when you return, 'Have you compiled your research on your Echo Hypothesis? I would be interested in seeing it.'
He snaps the Hypothesis into his Datapad. His eyes go wide as correlations between your research and his start to appear before his eyes. 'I, don't believe it... There is a connection to this Darkfire material and the characteristics of the anomalies found in my Subjects. Fascinating. But there is still the variant wave patterns to be explained.' You try to think up a way to tell him that it is probably the Mind of the controlling Echo that he is seeing in the scans. But is there little point in another argument about jumping to conclusions. Another idea occurs to you. You ask him if he could search for any other files with similar references to Darkfire held in the Spearhead datastore. The Scientist looks at you, 'Why on earth would there be... Oh all right. Just to make you happy - I'll look.' He pokes a few menus and does the file scan. As he waits for it to complete, he looks at you with an air of smug certainty of your failure. There is a shrill bleep from the Datapad and he smirks whilst he looks at the results. His merriment does not last long however. Astonished he flips his Datapad and shows you a string of files highlighted on the small view screen. 'Look at that. You were right. But the files are Classified above my authority. But what is odd, is that the projects are linked to the command staff of the Spearhead. There are no Research Scientists on the command deck to my knowledge.' You get a horrible sinking feeling, and ask where the Research is being done. 'I can find that out for you, the Research is being done... in the our Alpha Testing Chamber. But it's sealed.' You have a flash of inspiration and ask if he could contact the Chief Technician, the Scientist frowns again, 'I don't get on with him very well. He does not answer my requests very quickly. But I'll try. I'm not sure why you want to talk to him though.' He prods his Datapad again and after a few seconds you hear a very exasperated voice through the Datapads tiny speaker, 'Sorry Sigmond but I cannot get to your issue just yet as we have a slight crisis to deal with..' You snatch the Datapad from Sigmond before the Chief signs off. He blinks back at you, 'Still violating protocols again eh? What is it now Captain?' You ask him to look at your Research and see the scope of the Echo across the Spearhead. You watch his face go pale even over the small view screen. 'They must be everywhere within the Spearhead!' You then tell him that Captain Emon is conducting research into Darkfire in the Alpha Chamber. You need that opened at once. 'Ok - will do. Go now it'll be open when you get there. Oh, and take Sigmond with you. At least you will have Research staff with you when you gain entry.' You need to see what the Captain is up to in the Alpha Chamber.

Stage 4
Location:	TIU Spearhead (L2 Alpha Chamber) (2, 2)
You swing the door open into a small room. In its center is a chair with someone strapped into it.
You rush up to the chair and reach for the restraints when LaReina's head swings up to look at you. In a harsh voice not her own she laughs in your face, 'We meet again Mortal. It seems sooo long ago since I laid eyes on you.' You freeze on the spot, the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Again she laughs, 'I see you do not recognize me. Do not worry, it is not surprising really. We first met in the Ullgath Caves, I am the Guardian of the Bridge. I have been looking to find a way into your existence. Then we can destroy you for our Masters. But with the Bridge vanishing completely, I am trapped here. I was expecting my essence to be eroded by your toxic reality. I had accepted my failure and stood to reap the rewards.' 'Lucky these TIU are not as noble a soul as you, and therefore are easily bent to my needs. It was amazing how they even volunteered their own Psychic as my vessel. Can you imagine my surprise when I could manifest completely due to her talents. So with their greed I have inadvertently discovered how we can survive in this realm. I only need to contact the Masters and tell them the good news. But, now we meet again I think you are worthy to test your mettle. I shall meet you in battle! I cannot move very far from my Vessel at the moment and I find the concentration of manifestation troublesome at times. But I will wait for you in the Beta, Gama or Delta chambers. I'm sure you will figure it out. I look forward to consuming your mind.' To free LeReina, you must kill the Guardian of the Bridge (HK)

Stage 5
Location:	TIU Spearhead (L2 Alpha Chamber) (2, 2)
You return to the Chair to find LaReina unconscious. Sigmond is looking into her eyes with a light, 'Have you killed the Guardian of the Bridge (HK)? I guess LaReina will not wake until he is dealt with. Be quick!'
He nods, 'Good, good. I feel I must apologize to you Captain. I didn't pay attention to you earlier. If I had done, then this crisis would have been resolved much more swiftly. My only defense is that your tale was utterly bizarre. I mean, the idea that an interdimentional alien had infiltrated the Spearhead and was using the Power Grid to dominate the crew is quite fantastic. But a good scientist has to be open to ideas as well as structured in his approach. I shall not make that mistake again, I have learned a great lesson from you Captain. I thank you.' Sigmond steps back from LaReina, 'Her pulse is steady and she has been pumped with drugs to keep her asleep. I would hypothesize this was because her will was interfering with the Echo. But this can only be verified through further data of course. I will need to do some testing on her to make sure there are no latent issues with the Echos personality imprinting himself on her mind. I would hate to ask her to come to those tests as she would.... resist. I would appreciate you asking her to come to me when she has recovered her strength. We must be sure she is alright. She has been mistreated very badly.' 'Now if you don't mind I'll leave. I have no wish to be here when she wakes. I once saw her throw a man across a room for not saluting her. It was very impressive. Good day to you Captain, I hope we will meet again.' With this he scuttles out of the Chamber. You stand beside LaReina, you wonder how many people fear her rather than respect her. Eventually she slowly opens her eyes, 'Ah, Captain, I've had a bit of bother lately and didn't know what to do.' She straightens herself in the chair and then stretches like a cat. 'I was ordered to hold the Sanctuary of Ages in place so we could get time to harvest the Altus tech. The Echo said he would help us do this. We just needed to use the right type of energy. They said that the Darkfire is a form of Flux Crystal Vapor. That it can interface with the Altus structure much more effectively than anything we had. It only needed a Psychic to activate the Fire and convince the Mind to stay.' LaReina laughs harshly, 'The Echo said that the Altus were very clever, too clever for their own good. Why have a computer to control the Sanctuary of Ages when you can have a consciousness to do it for you. But this was their weakness, a thinking mind can be tricked where a computer cannot. I can't believe that Central Command fell for it. When the Guardian of the Bridge said we would use the Darkfire to access the Sanctuary. He actually meant was he would use the Darkfire to slip past my defenses and possess me utterly and try to force the Sanctuary of Ages into their own dimension. What he didn't bank on was the Mind reinforcing my defenses around my Psychic core so that I wasn't destroyed completely. I owe the Mind a great deal. As well as you. Thank you Captain for freeing me from that monster. I will not forget it.' You receive 398,605 Xp