XENON

The Story

	From the moment that Captain Xod's face appeared out of the static
on the communicator, Darrian knew he was in trouble. As the only other
Federation fighter in the sector Darrian had to go to the captain's aid. It
would have to happen to Darrian, everything seems to happen to Darrian.
Maybe it came from him being the youngest ever man to have graduated from
P.E.d'E., the Panterran Ecole d'Espace, he had used up all of his good luck
there and now the gods were out to extract their revenge.
	Of course it did not help that he had been born when he was. The
universe was in chaos, war had returned and now no travel was safe. For
five hundred years there had not been a single major conflict, and space
had been completely safe, apart from the odd rogue pirate and the risk of
collision with space debris. Mind you, with all travel over any distance
occurring in the unreal world of hyperspace the chance of meeting another
ship was slight in the extreme, even on the busiest routes between the suns
of the galactic cluster, and as for the chance of hitting space debris, as
there is no debris in hyperspace, at least not yet, this was only a problem
when coming to a system to dock, and it was the space port's duty to keep
the lanes clear.
	At least there were some advantages to living now, he mused. He
could count his blessings that he had not lived through the Arachnid War
itself, now that had been totally unreal. They had been shown holo's of the
war during their training in the P.E.d'E., and it had given him nightmares
after each and every time that he had seen them, he still woke up screaming
sometimes when something reminded him, and now he knew exactly why he was
frightened of spiders.
	The war had been such a close run thing as well, if it had not been
for the skill and bravery of the allied pilots, and the superb judgement of
their Admiral, the great Ziggy S, the universe would now only be peopled
with purple furry things with eight legs. It was no wonder then that Ziggy
had received the highest accolades the Governments of the eight allied
empires could bestow.
	Having recovered from the devastation caused by the traumatic
Arachnid War, which had been fought over half the galaxy and lasted well
over fifty years, humanity had its spirit severely dented and its passion
for war completely removed. Through the fighting it had learned to live
with itself and with the other races that had stood side by side with it in
the terrible battles against the spiders.
	No-one wanted to see death and destruction return, they had seen
too many pictures of colonies completely ruined by the Arachnids' suicide
soldiers, heard too many stories of cruisers destroyed in the bleak cold of
space, the frozen bodies of their dead crews slowly orbiting their
blackened hulls. Now was the time for peace, reconciliation and rebirth.
	It was had to say quite how the other allies had reacted to the
war, four of them had made their first contact with humanity during the
war, and the other three had always been something of a mystery to the
people of Earth, how do you know what is really going through the mind of a
mile long gas bag, or even the mind of a hive insect? Still, the eight
allies, the remnants of the Arachnids and their now freed slave reces, all
appeared bowed by the experience. life would never be the same again.
	In the peace following the Arachnid War, trade and artistry both
flourished reaching peaks never dreamed of before, as the victorious allies
rebuilt their shattered empires and once again pushed out into the stars.
The cross cultural influences that came from the close contact with the
allies during the war brought about new forms of art never seen before by
any of the races.
	The archaeologists set about to reconstruct the ancient pre-space
civilizations and artists harked back to the glory days of the twentieth
and twenty-first centuries. Several of the greatest composers used themes
from the ancient days as the starting point of their new works. Tallemarcs
13 Variation on a theme by Ian Anderson was hailed by critics across the
thousand worlds as one of the greatest pieces written for a thousand years.
	The Pax Terra kept the space ways clear of pirates, much more of a
threat in those days before Professor Hemylin had done her pioneering work
into the theory of charmed life quark interactions, that had led eventually
to the creation of the Quark/quark power unit, which meant that it was
finally possible to put into practice the latest developments in
simultaneity theory, which meant that the Markov boundary to Hyperspacatial
pseudo-acceleration was finally broken, allowing the allies and their
trading ships to finally break free of the Andromeda Galactic Cluster and
reach out into the vast depths of space that lie beyond and reach into the
furthest corners of the universe.
	Not that there were any corners, for as had been predicted long
before mankind had even archieved the stars, the universe was closed and
eventurally one of the new craft succeeded in circumnavigating it, and in
being tracked all the way round, with full coverage on the Super_Spatial
Heolo Networks of their visits to twnet of the furthest colonies, proving
for all time that they had not faked their voyage.
	The knowledge that the universe was indeed closed, and would
finally collapse in on itself seemed to act as a spur to its inhabitants to
achieve as much as possible before then, even though no one living could
even imagine the number of lifetimes that would pass before the collapse
came.
	The Xenites appeared overnight. One day no one had ever heard of
them, the next their ships and bases had appeared on fifteen different
planets. Suddenly war had returned, and merchantmen once again had to
travel armed, but when civilization grows so large, it takes many years for
the great trading fleets to re-equip. For nearly a decade merchantmen took
their life in their hands never knowing if they would be atacked, or if
there woudl be a friendly warcraft available to rescue them.
	Even now a decade after Xenites first appeared there could be calls
like this one, Darrian cursed yet again, before he finally rolled out of
bed and moved over to the control panel. He switched on the speech channel,
saluted and then ran his fingers through his tousled hair, not that the
captain could see him yet, and Darrian was not going to switch on the
vision channels unless he absolutely had to, there was no need for the
captain to see him undressed.
	"Urgent Mayday, Repeat Urgent Mayday, all units in the sector
WQD145FF report at once. The fleet is under attack. We need support. There
is heavy Xenite activity. Proceed to a rendezvous at Tarsus Nebula, make
all possible speed. We are in extreme danger". "Message Repeats....."
	Darrian relaxed, he had not realized just how embarrassed he had
been at the prospect. Still it had only been a recording. He pulled on a
pair of trousers and moved over to the controls, he had to get this craft
into order and go and help the captain, he was going to be the first craft
to arrive, there could not possibly be anyone closer than he was. This
meant that he was going to be the one that had to clear the way.
	A minor problem if it was not for the fact that he had to cut right
through Xenite occupied territory. Fortunately there was some hope, at
least he could plot a route that would take him past three refueling stops
on the way, he would be able to refuel and replenish his shields at least,
if only he had the skill to get through.

Gameplay

	You have to negotiate four sectors, each divided into four zones.
You have a choice of two craft, which you can change between at will. You
have a ground craft, capable of eight way movement, and a faster jet
fighter. You need to select the appropriate craft to negotiate the
obstacles facing you and be prepared to change between them rapidly.
Certain of your opponents are ground based and some are at atlitude, you
need to be in the correct craft to shoot the alien that you are facing.
Certain weapons can only be collected and used by the fighter craft.
	You can only use the ground craft on the ground, you cannot land on
the top of buildings, you need to fly over these in the fighter.
	Shooting the aliens and their weapon emplacements reveals power
cells. Collect these by moving over them, to give your craft extra power.

	There are eleven types of power pill:

A	ARMOUR		Makes your ship invincible for 15 seconds. 

F	FUEL		There are two types of fuel cell those with one
			orange band restore five units of fuel, those with
			three restore all your lost fuel.

H	HOMING MISSILE	Shoots homing missiles for 15 seconds.

L	LASER		Arms your fighter with lasers

G	GUN		Cancels the lasers and reverts to normal bullets

P	POWER		Increases the distance your shots travel

R	RATE		Speeds up your ground craft

S	SIDE		Arms fighter with side lasers

W	WINGS		Gives you wing tip weapons

Z	ZAP		Again there are two types of zap pills. Those with
			a single orange band zap the aliens and screen,
			those with a triple band zap everything, aliens and
			emplacements. 

BALLS			Collect up to three rotating balls that follow you 
			and mimic your fire pattern.

You can only collect Laser and Side with the fighter and Rate with the
Ground Craft.

	Each time you are hit by the aliens' weapons you lose at least a
unit of fuel which is used to recharge your shiels. If you collide with any
of the aliens you will suffer substantially more damage and consequently
use more fuel. If your fuel runs out you lose a life and have to restart
from the beginning of the zone. Some aliens will require more than one hit
to kill them, these flash evey time you successfully hit them. Some of the
aliens are invulnerable.
	Half way through each section you will be faced with a single large
opponent. This is a 'Sentinel" so called beacuse they are set to guard the
path and they are fully sentient, that is smart. You need to find out where
they are vulnerable and concentrate your fire on the appropriate points.
Colliding with a 'Sentinel' is fatal.
	At the end of each section you will have another larger and more
dangerous 'Sentinel' opponent. These are only vulnerable to certain
attacks, and completely invulnerable to all others. If you succeed in
defeating this you will be refuelled and re-equipped ready for the next
section. You lose any weapons you had collected on the previous section.

The Sections

	In the first section the domes and aliens are either ground or air
based, as are their bullets. When you shoot the domes, they are then
replaced by either another dome, nothing or a power pill. You need to pick
up the power pills to add extra weapons and abilities to your ship, be
careful though, as picking up some pills switches off the bonuses you have
already collected. You need to use the fighter to fly over the obstacles
and the ground craft for close combat with the aliens.
	The second section uses only the fighter craft. You must avoid the
sides and the various weapon emplacements mounted in the side walls. Once
again there will be power pills to pick up. The third section is similar to
the first, in that you hve the use of both of your ships. You have to make
the correct decisions as to which ship to use. Using the wrong craft can
prove fatal. Finally you must negotiate section four. You are nearing your
goal. Time is of the essence. Fly your fighter at speed through this
section to achieve your goal.

The Aliens

	In order to complete your mission successfully it will probably be
necessary for you to read the following notes on the various enemies that
you will be facing.

Ladybirds - These are standard Xenite craft. They are used in several
defence operations, as they are cheap and effective. They are small ground
based craft. They are equipped with a low power unit and basic enemy
identification, detection, and tracking equipment. They are armed with a
forward firing missile.

Pods - These are basic self-destruction type guards. They are equipped with
an array of sensors enabling them to track and intercept intruders. They
are not armed but explode on impact.

Eyes - An upgrade to the design of the pods. These have a superior power
plant and computer, giving them greater speed and the ability to track
intruders at a greater distance. They will attempt to follow and collide
with your ship.

Spinners - Fly in either arrowhead or a single diagonal line across the
screen. They keep to their place in formation as they are not equipped with
sensors. They're, however, equipped with very powerful engines allowing
them to attain high speeds.

Launchers - Sitting on the side walls of the passageways. These are heavily
armoured doors. They periodically open to launch a single rotator. it has
been noted that the rotators launched from thes show greater intelligence
in their movements than the normal rotators that appear in packs.

Rotators - These appear either as single craft launched from the launchers
described above or in patters of four or sixteen that attempt to block the
passageway. No rotator has been know to be armed with any weapons, they are
self-destruction craft relying on collisions for their effect.

Sidewinders - These are among the largest of the flying Xenite ships.
Equipped with lasers they have a nasty habit of lurking at the side of the
passageways and coming out into the middle when they detect intruders.

Sideshooters - Another large flying ship. These are equipped with two
lasers. They have slightly less armour than the sidewinders, and fly in
patterns rather than having sensors.

Middleshooters - Earlier version of the sideshooter, these only mount a
single laser, and again move in a variety of patterns to cover the whole of
the passageway.

Side Guns - There are quite a number of different types of gun
emplacvements that sit on the side walls of the passageways. They vary in
the amount of detection circuitry and movement that they are equipped with.
Some rely on shooting a constant stream of missiles across the passageway,
so that there is no way that an intruder can pass without taking a larga
amount of damage, others can track intruders and aim their guns or even
follow intruders along the passageway itself. You will have to learn the
differences between these types yourself as it has not been fully
documented.

Spinners - An upgrade on the simple ground based pod, spinners fly in
patterns. Later models are equipped with missiles. They have some extremely
nasty habits in their flight patterns. Watch out for these.

Cells - These most often appear in groups of four. They have basic sensors
and will move along the passageways until they detect an intruder, when
they will switch into a pattern mode firing their missiles along the length
of the passage.

Kites - These move down the passage at very high rates, they are not armed
with missiles.

Pumps - More of a hindrance than anything else. These expand and contract
regularly, blocking the entire passage at their greatest extent. They are
heavily armoured and therefore require an extremely large number of hits to
destroy them, it is simpler to avoid them instead.

Blinkers - Similar to the side guns that you will already have encountered.
These fire salvos of three missiles at a time. They also have more armour
than most of the other side weapons and will require several hits before
they are neutralised.

Hearts - These move in a variety of patterns. They come in a range of
models with different power packs and ornaments.

Circle Moulds - Fast moving craft armed with missiles.

Brain - These are highly intelligent, heavily armoured powerful craft,
among the most powerful in the Xenite armoury. They are armed with smart
missiles.

Stalks - These are invulnerable. They will either launch a large number of
missiles, or if shot enough times they release the bubbly that they hold at
the top of the stalk.

Bubbles - These come in two varieties. Some are equipped with an
intelligent sensor and will try their best to collide with any intruder.
Others are simply fast moving and launched in large groups to provide
blanket cover.

Lip Guns - Highly armoured, these are only used in defending important
Xenite Colonies. They are armed with both lasers and normal guns.

	Besides these there are the Sentinels that appear at the end of
every section. These are unique creatures or at least there have never been
previous reports of the Xenites using the design of any Sentinel more than
once, and a large number of these have been reported from other sectors.
You will have to find out for yourself the particular method of destroyig
the Sentinels that you are faced with. They are definitely the most feared
of all the Xenite weapons met so far.

Status Panel

	Down the right hand side of the screen is a status panel. This
displays all the information you need to know about the state of the game
and of your craft.
	At the top of the display there are four numbers. The top number is
your score. Underneath this are two single digit numbers. To the left is
the number of liver you have left, to the right the sector number.
Underneath these is your altitude.
	Beneath this there is your long range communicator screen. Most of
the time this is blanked off, but at the start of each section Captain Xod
will appear and tell you which section you are starting.
	Underneath this there is a bar display showing your fuel level.
Underneath this there are two bargraphs. The left hand one is your rate of
spped, and the right hand one your power - the distance your shots travel.
	At the foot of the display there is a weapon panel. This has ten
letters on it. Weapons active are highlighted in red. The weapons are:

W	Wing
L	Laser
S	Side Shot
H	Homing Missile
A	Armour
B	Ball	
X	Extra ball making two
X	Extra ball making three
O	Time left on homing missile
O	Time left on armour

Controls
	
	When the program has finished loading you will see the main control
panel. Your protective shield is down, and the mission screen is switched
off, so the main display is covered in static.

Press

F1	to select one player option
F2	to select two player option
Fire to start play

	In two player mode the players alternate at the controls. Player
one uses a joystick in port 2, player two uses a joystick in port 1.

If no button is pressed within a short space of time, the game will enter
demo mode.


	You control the ships movement with the joystick.
	To change craft press space or rapidly wiggle the joystick.
	If you do not move the joystick for a short while the game will
pause.
	To force the game to pause press F3
	Press fire to restart play.
	To quit press F10.

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Xenon docs brought to you by The Southern Star.