The room beyond the door seems larger than expected, especially considering how small and insignificant the doorway was. Perhaps it is a trick of the eerie, dim, greenish lighting, but once the party gets past the various racks and piles of boxes near the entrance, the chamber opens up and appears quite cavernous.
The air inside seems a bit thick, and its aroma is a weird combination of ozone, solvents, warehouse mustiness, old bapf, vomit, some sour scent that defies explanation, Yangae-style spiced room freshener, and even spicier dasch smoke. (Widjgleeby is not amused.)
In one corner there is a sort of platform whose surface is very shiny black, but the reflected light betrays a sort of mottled appearance, as if it were made up of many thousands of tiny tiles. A low hum which fills the room clearly emanates from this bizarre edifice (which looks quite familiar to Mon'Fargret and Pru).
A tall, apparently female humanoid in armor with a multitude of weapons stands guard next to the platform. On seeing Par'deth, she bows stiffly but remains in position.
Not far away, there is an untidy-looking half circle of tables holding control panels, monitor plates, cased or rack-mounted machinery, a variety of equipment tossed about, and a veritable collection of drink cups, food containers, dirty dishes, and ashtrays. The floor in the vicinity of the tables is even messier.
A female Bolgan is busily examining the machinery. She doesn't respond to the party at all. She doesn't look happy, either.
Next to the tables, seated in chairs and apparently restrained, are two Yangae men (of the Yangae ethnic group). One of the two, who doesn't look familiar to the party, immediately greets Par'deth with a torrent of curses and thrashes about helplessly. The other, however, eyes the party calmly as they come in. There is no mistaking who it is.
"Be still, Mek," he says with apparent amusement, making no attempt to hide his Noble caste pronunciation. "We have new guests!" He glances about the party and offers a nod of greeting, a grin crossing his face. "Ah! The honorable artist! With his blue sidekick, of course! And the oversized mock-Hergoth investigator or spy known as...what is it...Zayton? Here with the warrior whore from Wirg's? How interesting! In fact, I believe I saw that Farbett at Wirg's, too, only yesterday! I remember she was with a very talkative Zorlan who had a spiny, alien sidekick! I don't see either of those or the sickening, hooded thing they latched onto; otherwise I'd suspect half of Wirg's lunchtime clientele had dropped in for bapf!" He squints a bit looking at Ham. "I don't remember that one. I'm probably the better for it." Then he turns his gaze to Pru. "I do know you, however. Pru! A true citizen! What are you doing mixed up with this lot?" He lifts scornful eyes to the priestesses.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
59 comments:
"You've seen better days Duskar," replies Mon'Fargret a bit wearily.
"Blowing up floors in restaurants. Abandoning friends. Hiding in this putrid back room. In fact, you are not the civilized person we remember. It is like someone is pulling your strings."
Mon'Fargrets gaze hardens, "What happened to you?"
"That's my question, my lord!" snaps Pru, swaggering alongside Mon'Fargret with her hands on her hips. "What's happening to Civilization?"
Dun'Mesker (aka Dusker) studies Mon'Fargret and Pru in turn.
"You're both sodding TRAITORS!" spits Mek.
Pru's hand goes to her belt. "Use that word again, and so help me..."
"There's no need for this!" says Dun'Mesker calmly. "We fight for Civilization! Let's be civilized!" He cocks his head, licks his lips, and says to Mon'Fargret, "You don't fool me, artist. You use lofty words, but I see the truth in your eyes. You're a killer. Just like Pru. A killer. We're all killers and predators. It's in our nature. I tried to deny that, and it destroyed me. Now I've learned to be honest with myself, as should you. Don't try to pretend otherwise. The undeserving are made to suffer for the benefit of the deserving. That is the way it was intended for us. That is the way it shall be again!"
"When did you learn to be 'honest with yourself?' Listening to some savior? Watching a holovid? I am truly curious why we need to claim total dominion all of a sudden," retorts Mon'Fargret with exasperation.
Dun'Mesker raises his eyebrows. "All of a sudden?" he echoes.
"Forget it, Dusker," says Mek with annoyance. "He grew up under the snake. He won't get it."
"Oh, yes he will," counters Dun'Mesker. "It might take longer, but he'll come around." Looking at Mon'Fargret again, he says, "No savior, artist. Just history...and revelation. Did you know that it was here on Lyranell that the great lord Kal'Yangae realized the truth? After that he constructed what would have been the greatest empire in history! Far greater than what the failed ones achieved!" He throws a scornful look at Lirassa. "We would have done what we were made to do! And we would have succeeded...if it weren't for the meddling snake!"
"This isn't right," says Pru. "This isn't it at all!"
"The great lord Kal'Yangae," mutters Dabid, mimicking Dun'Mesker's pronunciation, "cut his own throat. Everyone knows it. Except maybe the ones who try to deny history."
Mon'Fargret waves his arm to the others for quiet, "I can see part of what your saying Dusker, but how will I know when this realization comes? I mean, well, was there a moment when it all gelled for you? When you knew it was time to quit holding back? Is that something I could grasp?"
He runs his hand through his hair looking anxious for answers.
Dun'Mesker looks thoughtful for a minute. Then he throws a glance at Mek before replying, "Most of it just came from working with others that understand. However..." He looks at Mek again. "The real moment of clarity came when I saw something I never expected to see, something my honored ancestors would have appreciated, no doubt. It was something I would never have believed I would enjoy had I not seen it myself." His voice trails off as he looks at the memory.
"Something the Hergs would never appreciate," snarls Mek, sneering at Par'deth and the priestesses.
"You got that right," retorts Par'deth brusquely.
Mek looks at Mon'Fargret and says, "I saw it, too. It was such a rush! It was weird! But I understood when I saw it!"
"We're not like the Hergs," continues Dun'Mesker. "We're not meant to be like them! We were made to be something different! And when I saw what I saw I realized just how deeply the Hergs had messed me up! No more! Now I know what I am and what the Yangae were meant to be. I will reclaim my rightful position as I help my people reclaim theirs!"
"You wanna see what we're talking about, artist?" says Mek. "It's right here!"
"Though I admit I'm surprised you haven't seen it yet!" adds Dun'Mesker.
"I knew it! This is finally it." intones Mon'Fargret, his eyes ablaze as he turns to Pru. He turns his back to Dusker and Mek and puts a hand on Pru's shoulder.
"Finally Pru. An end to all of this ambiguity," he says as his head rests near her shoulder. He pauses as he grasps her hand.
He continues, "I knew there was an answer but I've been blinded by noise."
He points at Par'deth, "Your noise."
He turns back to Dusker, "Help me. What am I missing?"
Dun'Mesker stares at Mon'Fargret warily. Then he says, "Weren't you with Mey'Luskar before coming here? My...ex-lodge-lady? She stole something from me. All this..." He nods toward Par'deth. "...is because we tried to get it back. I figured she'd show it to you, but I guess not. You really need to see it. It's...exhilarating. You'll come to understand exactly what it means to be Yangae! You should see it too, Pru. It'll make you feel even better about our cause!"
Lirassa steps forward. "Mey'Luskar said it was the Second Chancer video!" She smirks. "Is that it?"
Mek and Dun'Mesker look at each other and laugh.
"A vid worthy of the Civilized Realm!" replies Mek acidly. "Too bad you're not on it! You'd fit the bill perfectly!"
Mayhem is written all over Lirassa's aura as she starts to move forward. Par'deth immediately intercepts her.
"Don't," he says curtly.
"Do you have any idea what's on that vid, Zark?" jeers Mek.
"I'm Besteeng," replies Lirassa, "not 'Zark'."
"Beskers, Thaggers, whatever," says Mek. "You're all Zarks, and you're all as good as dead. Your history is over."
"You'd better not watch it," adds Dun'Mesker. "It might make you confused...or delusional. You'd wind up doing something you'd regret."
"Oh, that," replies Mon'Fargret with a derisive chuckle.
"It was that video, wasn't it Dun'Mesker, Mek? That was when you decided to be 'honest with yourself.' That was when you decided Yangae were the clear overlords and all others were subsentient."
He becomes fierce in tone towards Dun'Mesker and nearly shouts, "You never answered my questions, Great Master. You know someone else is pulling your strings, but you can't admit it. You know it because you can watch death with pleasure. You know it because you abandoned a True Citizen, Mey'Luskar, when you couldn't control yourself at Wirg's. Dusker never did that, but YOU did. Why would you abandon a true citizen? Why?!?"
One corner of Dun'Mesker's mouth turns up as his eyes blaze.
"I think you need to review your history, artist," he says venomously. "Remember who the Orion Arm belonged to first. They failed." His eyes turn toward Lirassa. "Then their children failed." His eyes meet Mon'Fargret's again. "Then it became our turn. Or it would have been if it hadn't been for the snake."
"You need to review your history," hisses Par'deth. "Kal'Yangae's realm was already crumbling! It was rotten like an old, dead tree, and everybody knew it! Why do you think Foldorius accepted Ty'Klemmo so quickly? The Stelleron Master did what he did to save his people, not deny them some twisted notion of birthright!"
Dun'Mesker and Mek scoff. Then Dun'Mesker says, "What would you know about it? Your witch-corrupted race..."
"I WAS THERE!" blasts Par'deth. "I saw with my own eyes how the Civilized Realm treated people that surrendered to it willingly! I also watched as it frayed! Ironically, it was Ganneth who taught me to try to see the Yangae as people and not hate without discrimination. During the last century all I saw in the Great Empire, and in the eyes and hearts of the people, was decay...right up until Ganneth took out your whole precious Occupation High Command all by himself! In one blow! History?" He looks at Pru. "You have every right to be proud of your culture, but history?" He turns to Dun'Mesker again. "You weren't there to see how badly it treated your kind, and now you're falling into someone else's delusion! Pathetic!" He sighs with disgust and turns away.
"Next time we'll get it right," replies Dun'Mesker calmly. Then he looks at Mon'Fargret and adds, "As for my lodge-lady, she pretended to understand, but I could tell she didn't. She's not one of the chosen. I don't know why, but she's tainted. I made her prove it, too. You and those Herg punks gave me the perfect opportunity. She's lost. There may still be hope for you, however."
"Dusker," says Pru softly, "did you use Meskar to try to get that tech-witch?"
"It wasn't planned," says Mek, "but when we realized she was going to the witch-mountain..."
"Never waste a resource," says Dun'Mesker, "or an opportunity."
"Why?" asks Pru, her voice barely above a whisper.
Mek and Dun'Mesker look at each other. Then Dun'Mesker replies, "We don't really know. The Great Lord Kal'Yangae said in his writings that that mountain was an obstacle to his dreams. Now we feel it too. The Great Lord was able to get around it in the end, but it took time. Someday we may do the same. But victory will be much easier if the mountain's song is silenced."
Zeton stifles a chuckle as Dun'Mesker finishes his explanation and replies in Her-Galad, "You can't silence this mountain's songs any more than we can silence the songs of whoever is pulling your strings. Even if we could eliminate your master, or you this mountain, that sort of music plays even when there are no musicians."
Mek gives Zeton a look combining surprise, puzzlement, and lead-melting scorn.
Dun'Mesker chuckles and says, "The only ones pulling our 'strings' are our employers. They had nothing to do with this. We arrived at this decision on our own, though I do admit I don't completely understand why we're seeing things with such clarity now. I'd like to think we had the same cleansing as the Great Emperor."
"Cleansing," mutters Pru, shaking her head. "Speaking of clarity, I think I'm beginning to understand a lot of things myself."
"Welcome to the club," says Lirassa.
"Well," reports Braghl, "you got more out of 'em than we did. We couldn't get anything like an admission, let alone a motive. At least nothing that made any coherent sense."
"It'll all go in the report," says Par'deth. "The Peace Forcers should..."
"I got it!" says the female Bolgan sitting behind the machinery. "The video files and the masters for the subliminal programming. It's all here!"
From the computer there is a strange, low noise.
Suddenly Keil'i gasps. "It's rigged! The password! You've only got a minute or so!"
Zeton rushes over to the equipment the female Bolgan is working with to assess the situation as quickly as he can and to try and stop the information from being lost.
Zeton will be assertively polite with the Bolgan, but he is not going to let her get in his way. If there is no way to stop the destruction of the information on the current equipment, Zeton will attempt to transfer the info to another storage device.
[Most honorable GM, please check your e-mail]
The female Bolgan seems only to happy to step aside and let Zeton have at the computer system. Instead, she starts examining the other equipment.
Par'deth darts in front of the two restrained men. With blue hate blazing visibly in his eyes, he says, "Tell me how to shut it off! NOW!!!"
The two men only eye him blankly in return, vacuous smirks on their faces.
For an instant, Bina, who looks to be praying or meditating, seems to have a reddish aura.
Zeton continues to work on the computer system focusing all his energy into solving the problem. At first he seems slightly relieved, but that is quickly replaced by a concerned look and a redoubling of his efforts.
"Oh, by the way," says the female Bolgan as casually as if she were talking about a spot of lint on Zeton's clothes, "when I tripped the security countdown, at least one of those two guys started expecting to die. I just thought you should know."
Dabid's silver, slit-pupiled eyes nearly bug out of his head shortly before he turns and bolts back out of the room.
A few seconds after that Ham's scanner beeps.
In the next instant, Keil'i assumes a prayer stance like Bina's, and the two of them both start glowing.
Dun'Mesker's face suddenly turns into a frightening, demonic grimace.
Pru lets out a cry and lifts a hand in front of her face, saying, "What the sod...?"
The ring she was given is sparkling.
Suddenly Dun'Mesker lets out a scream followed by, "MOTHER, WE ARE YOUR CHOSEN ONES, ONE AND ALL!!! MOTHER, WE ARE YOUR CHOSEN ONES, ONE AND ALL!!!"
Mek lets out a gasp of shock and outrage and starts to struggle again.
The display on the computer changes. Zeton now has full access.
The sparkling on Pru's ring becomes noticeably less intense.
The two priestesses stop glowing and relax from their prayer stance, each heaving a sigh of relief.
Par'deth gives Mon'Fargret a look that says, "How in Flames did you do that?" at maximum volume.
"The best weapon against the Mark," says Keil'i (in Her-Galad), "is another with the Mark."
Lirassa leans toward Pru. "What'd she say?"
"Don't ask me," responds Pru with a shrug.
Mon'Fargret looks around in a daze at first, then with a sparkle in his eye towards Par'deth, "With a patient trainer, a ton of help from Bina and Keil'i and the luck of the Pressk tu'Har I believe," he says in Her-Galad.
"What are we going to do about these two?" he says with a look towards Mesker and Mek to assess their demeanor in the aftermath.
Pru gasps (again). Then holding up the ring, she says, "My lord!" When she points her hand toward Mek the ring sparkles, but when she points it toward Dusker it goes dark.
"You closed the channel," says Keil'i.
"That's why his blocker kicked you out," adds Bina.
As for Dun'Mesker himself, he just looks dazed.
After another moment, Mon'Fargret looks intensely at Mek, and the two priestesses start chanting (and glowing) again.
Mek's face takes on a confused look.
Then it becomes much more demonic.
The two priestesses' chant suddenly ends in a unison gurgle, and their auras wink out. Bina collapses to the floor.
Pru utters a low cry as the ring suddenly blazes with light.
"You...fool..." intones Mek as if in a dream, his eyes bulging and glassy, his mouth drooling.
Mon'Fargret becomes totally rigid.
Keil'i takes a deep breath and resumes her chant, her orange aura reappearing. At the same time, Par'deth starts to shimmer blue.
Mon'Fargret leaps back as if the rope he'd been pulling against suddenly broke.
Keil'i stops her chant and moves to tend to Bina.
Par'deth moves to Mon'Fargret and says, "I think that's enough of that. It's on to you now."
Ham's scanner is STILL beeping...
[M'F's meat puppeteer sent Ham's meat puppeteer an e-mail reminder.]
Mon'Fargret casts an embarrassed look at Bina, Keil'i, and Par'deth, "I apologize to all of you and thank you for your help. I was hoping we could salvage Mek, but I think Keil'i was right. Perhaps someone can check to see what freeing Mesker from the key accomplished. I think I need to rest a moment."
"Um, I think you mean 'Dusker', don't you, my lord?" says Pru, staring at the ring with a very uncertain look on her face. "'Mesker' is what we called the lady!"
"Of course you are right, Pru. I'm a bit drained just now. By the way, where did Dabid get off to?" Mon'Fargret says and peers off in the direction he bolted.
Knowing the implications.....Ham opens the Scanner screen to take a peek at whats on the outside.
Since the grandstanding "citizens" have made their intentions known to the galactic community ... the response will come.
Ham ruminates to himself - unimpressed with the ravings. He has seen power drunk behavior before. His response to the vid, (after the anger had finally subsided to dull glow), still troubling.
Zeton tries very hard to conceal his confusion at what transpired, but he is relieved to see he now has full access to the computer. He quickly sets to work to disable any devices that would harm the information. Once that is completed, Zeton begins to make a copy of all the info related to the video files and the masters for the subliminal programming if he is able to.
Zeton's curiosity gets the better of him and quickly asks over his shoulder while working, "So, what just happened?"
"Oh," replies the female Bolgan nonchalantly as she picks her way along a cable, "The priestesses helped Mon'Fargret sever the Atlanzi's link to Dun'Mesker. Since they're both of the Foldorian race, it made it easier, or so they believe. That allowed Mon'Fargret to implant a command in Dun'Mesker's subconscious mind to reveal the password. Coincidentally, it was a voice command. It certainly made your job much easier, Zeton. I would upload the data to a secure source as soon as possible." She pauses and looks at him intently. "Who am I? I'm Wari. I work for Par'deth." She turns back to the machines. "They weren't successful with Mek. The Atlanzi used the channel to fight back, and it went for the priestesses. Smart move. They weren't ready. Especially Bina. She's a bit out of sorts right now, but not as bad as Dabid. I noticed Pru is pretty messed up, too, and getting worse as we speak. I don't know how Lirassa stays so calm even with all this going on. Speaking of which, Ham's scanner is showing him we've got company. The guards upstairs have already surrendered."
(For the record, that yammer session was all in Yangae.)
Keil'i looks up from comforting Bina, surprise written in her features.
"Please don't ask me to translate that," moans Pru.
"I read it alright," replies Keil'i. "She's right!"
"Of course she's right!" retorts Par'deth. "She doesn't talk much, but when she does she says a lot...and it's always right!"
"No, that's not quite accurate, Honored Hero," Wari intones in flawless Her-galad. "For example, there was that time..."
"Figure of speech!" interrupts Par'deth, putting up a hand. "It's the Peace Forcers. They're here right on schedule."
Keil'i gestures negative. "Something's wrong! I can't read them!"
"Blockers?" suggests Braghl, looking at Wari. She ignores him.
Upon hearing Wari's explanation and understanding they may lose access to the computer, Zeton gets back to work.
Mon'Fargret shoots a look at Keil'i. "I don't like the sound of that. Par'deth. Defensive positions?" he asks.
He instinctively reaches down to make sure his pistol is ready.
He adds, "Can we portal out of here if needed?"
Par'deth looks at Mon'Fargret grimly and says, "Of course we can. Either I or the priestesses can open the gate back to the Temple. Or we can grit our teeth and port this lot out ourselves. But it shouldn't be necessary. The only reason they're here is because of Inspector Par'ai's report. It should be enough!"
Just as he finishes saying this, Dabid comes bursting back into the room at a full sprint, diving behind a pile of boxes and staying there.
Keil'i looks at Par'deth and asks, "Is it normal for the Peace Forcers here to use blockers?"
Par'deth purses his lips and replies, "The only ones who used blockers were the Yangae Occupation Authority."
Pru crouches down next to Bina and says, "Hey, you...you gonna be alright?"
Bina grunts and replies weakly, "Ever had your mind twisted around inside your head?"
"No," answers Pru.
"Don't!" says Bina.
The two of them share a chuckle.
Once Zeton has set into motion his plan to save the video information, he will attempt to use the computer to access the security system or cctv to try and get a view of the people using the blockers.
Without looking up Zeton calls out, "Any idea how much time we have left before we have to make a decision about moving?"
Mon'Fargret relaxes a little. "I'd better go check on Dabid."
He proceeds over to the box pile. "Dabid? It's me. I think the weird stuff is over for a while. Can you talk to me, Old Root?"
"We're under attack!" moans Dabid. "There's a whole army here!"
"They're heeeere," sings Warim and then she breaks into a bell-like titter.
"Just stay calm," warns Par'deth. "Let's not provoke anything!" Then he looks at Keil'i.
Keil'i purses her lips, closes her eyes, and shimmers orange for an instant. "They know we're here," she says. "They're scanning, trying to confirm who we are. I think they've succeeded. They're relaxing their posture. But..." Her large eyes open again.
"But?" says Lirassa.
"These feelings don't make sense!" replies Keil'i. "It's not what I'd expect..."
"Wari?" says Par'deth. Clearly wrapped up in her own world, the female Bolgan doesn't reply.
Par'deth sighs and glances around at the others. "Move away from the door. Get Bina behind cover just in case."
"I'm alright!" protests Bina.
"C'mon you," says Pru, helping the priestess to her feet (and noticeably grimacing when they make skin contact). "Let's do what the big guy says."
[Warim is our resident Terran film expert.]
Mon'Fragret asks Dabid, "Whose army, Dabid? Aren't they Hergoth Peace Forcers?"
[Prardon the typos]
"Lirassa, I'm using my computer at the moment, so I can't try and use the buildings security system to act as our eyes and ears for us. Do you have anything that might help us?"
Zeton continues his work and intermittently scans the room for a place to duck for cover if the action picks up.
[Speaking of typos, her name is "Wari".]
Dun'Mesker says to Zeton, "You can't access the security system from here."
"What...what are you doing?" cries Mek.
"This room is isolated," continues Dun'Mesker. "It's like a disaster shelter, totally self-contained."
"Here," says Lirassa, heading to Zeton's location. "You can use my wrister and upload it to my ship. It's a secure link."
"Make it fast," says Par'deth. "You only have about a minute or so."
[Any word out of Dabid to M'F's question?]
Ham looks up from his scanner "No Mon'Fragret. I would say they aren't Peace Forcers .... too much of their weapons and equipment is non standard police issue."
Ham pauses long enough to check the acquired submachine gun and his pistol, and looks at Mon'Fragret directly.
"There is over a half dozen vehicles out there, the 3 transports are Yangae. Par'deth is is right - we dont have much time. No heavy weapons thus far at least."
He moves in a position to have a view of the door and looks for anything that would provide decent temp cover
"I saw Peace Forcers," moans Dabid, clutching his knees. "I think they were Peace Forcers. Looked like Betham and the others. Maybe some didn't. Ah, I don't know!"
Zeton takes Lirassa's wrister and begins to use it.
"If this room is set up to be a disaster shelter, why don't we just shut the door to purchase ourselves some more time and then teleport out of here when we're ready?"
"Then the Peace Force will know we're all bad guys!" replies Wari with another titter.
"She does have a point," says Par'deth. "We need to cooperate!"
There is some trouble getting the uplink through Lirassa's wrister to work. Linking it to the computer is easy enough, and Zeton catches and stops a virus apparently planted to prevent such things, but what follows is a comedy of menus and confirmation dialogs. Zeton picks his way along as quickly as he can while Lirassa swears in Brekka and occasionally molests innocent objects.
We will continue on a new post.
Post a Comment