Keen 4 Story

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Keen 4 Star Wars like scrolling text story

Commander Keen 4: Secret of the Oracle begins months after Keen frees the Vorticons from Mortimer McMire. While trying out his latest invention, the Photachyon Transceiver, Keen stumbles upon a strange, distorted message spoken in Omnispeak, a language which the Vorticons had taught him. From what he can hear in the transmission, Keen learns that an unknown race called the Shikadi are going to destroy the Milky Way in the name of a mysterious Gannalech. He thinks it sounds like a job for Commander Keen, so he dons his brother's football helmet and sets his Bean-with-Bacon Megarocket towards Gnosticus IV, the home planet of the Gnosticenes, the guardians of the Oracle — they owe him one, from some adventure never mentioned in greater detail. Keen needs information on who the Shikadi are and where he can find them.

When he arrives at his target he meets an irritating and scared Council Page who tells him that the Shikadi had been there, that they had taken the Council Members, and that they imprisoned them in the Shadowlands far to the west (evidently the Shikadi were worried or aware that the Oracle knew of their plans and acted to prevent the Oracle from telling anyone). Stranding the Council Members in the wilderness was the easiest way to keep them from interfering, as they are immortal. Keen decides to rescue them and flies to the Shadowlands, where dangerous creatures lurk in the jungles and deserts, caves and even underwater — some of them being native and others what the Shikadi left there to guard the Gnosticenes.

The official story reads:
COMMANDER KEEN in . . . "Goodbye, Galaxy!"

Keen Episode Four: Secret of the Oracle

Billy Blaze toils in his backyard workshop, busily constructing his latest invention: the Photachyon Transceiver. Put in simple words, it is instantaneous radio -- point to anywhere in the galaxy and you can pick up a signal as if you were right there. After picking up a lot of very bad alien sitcoms, Billy hears a strange message, spoken in the language of Omnispeak that the Vorticons taught him....

brrzzz....giggg....oment of great triumph...frzzt....ast the Milky Way will be... huzzzzz...terly destroyed...pyuneeeeeeg...can stop us now. We will remake the galaxy in the name of the Gannalech. Power to our race! Power to the Shikadi!

Then the radio is silent.

"So the Shikadi are planning to destroy the Galaxy, huh?" thinks Billy. "Sounds like a job for...COMMANDER KEEN!"

Billy once again dons his brother's football helmet, contemplating three questions:

--Who the heck ARE the Shikadi?

--Where are they?

--How are they planning to destroy the galaxy?

Climbing into the Bean-with-Bacon Megarocket's cockpit, Billy sets up the launch sequence for Gnosticus IV, the home of the Gnosticenes, guardians of the Oracle. They owe him a favor, and he needs to get some questions answered. The launch sequence begins....

"Suppertime, Billy!" announces his mom as she walks out to the workshop.

"Aw, nuts!" spouts Billy. He realizes there isn't enough time to stop the sequence and cover the ship! Thinking quickly, he pulls out his Neural Stunner, points it at the door, and waits.

One "Zzzzap!" later and his Mom is frozen in the doorway.

"Whew," says Keen.

"Honey? What's the matter?" says Billy's dad, coming out the back door.

"Double nuts!" mutters Billy. He peeks past his mom, takes aim and....

Once at Gnosticus IV, a Council Page runs up to him.

"Oh, Captain Keen!" he begins.

"That's Commander Keen," Billy corrects.

"The Shikadi were here, and they kidnapped the members of the High Council and took them to the Shadowlands far to the west."

"They didn't kill them?" Keen asks.

"Impossible. They are immortal," says the page. "So they just made sure they weren't available to activate the Oracle."

"Well, I'll just go get them," Keen says, turning with heroic determination.

"Um, but Captain Keen, they also left a bunch of horrible creatures and traps to guard them," says the Council Page.

"Well, I'll just go get them CAREFULLY, then," Keen says over his shoulder.

Keen turns to walk out the door, stops, turns and addresses the page.

"And if you call me Captain Keen again, I'm taking you with me."

Keen boldly heads out the door as the page mutters, "Sorry."

Commander Keen hops in his Bean-with-Bacon Megarocket and heads for the Shadowlands....
The scrolling story reads:

Episode Four

Secret of the Oracle

After delivering a crippling blow to the plans of Mortimer McMire and receiving the praise of the Vorticon race, Commander Keen returned to his home in the suburbs.

Here he was forced to go to bed at an early hour, and to eat mashed potatoes.

Months later, Billy tinkered around with his latest invention, the Photachyon Transceiver, or faster -than-light radio. After picking up a lot of bad alien sitcoms, he stumbled upon a strange message of terrible importance.

Ending

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
At the end, Keen is able to find and free all of the eight Council Members, and he travels back with them to the Oracle. There, the Council activates the Oracle (labeled "ACME ORACLE" in Standard Galactic), which tells Keen that the Shikadi are from the far side of the galaxy, living in the Korath system, and are building an Armageddon Machine to destroy the galaxy (interestingly, this contradicts the story at the end of Keen 5, when the Shikadi "hightail it back to their own galaxy"). It also shows Keen's reaction to what the Shikadi look like. Keen then blasts to Korath III, to find and stop the Shikadi. Meanwhile, on Earth, Keen's parents are still stunned outside while a storm seems to be forming overhead...
The official end-story reads:
Wow, this is really an impressive way to activate this monolith of ancient wisdom.

Everyone be silent. The Oracle is about to speak.

Hmmm. Maybe it's got a dead battery or something.

The Shikadi are a race of shadow beings from the far side of the galaxy.

They are building an Armageddon Machine and are planning to blow up the galaxy with it, then rebuild it to suit their needs.

They live on the third planet of the Korath system, which is 71,000 light-years from Gnosticus IV. The Armageddon Machine is almost complete.

And this is what they look like.

These Shikadi are toast!

Thanks for the scoop, Oracle. I'm outta here.

I hope it doesn't rain on my folks....

Meanwhile, back on Earth...

Don't miss "The Armageddon Machine," the shocking conclusion of "Goodbye, Galaxy!" where you'll see:

-- what the Shikadi look like

-- the insides of the "Omegamatic"

-- lots of weird robots and aliens

-- cool shots of galaxy exploding

-- plus one or two big surprises!

Call or write for "The Armageddon Machine" now!

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