Join the Club pt. 3

"Alright, wise ones," says Lirassa sourly, "where do you suggest we go now?"

"Not standing around here in the hallway!" replies Betham.

"Obviously," adds Mon'Fargret.  Noting Mey'Luskar coming up behind him, he asks her, "You know this place?"

She gestures affirmative.  "That's just the first floor lounge there.  Adu...what's-her-face...won't be there."  Anticipating Lirassa's question, she adds, "The kitchens are to the left, and I think the other way goes to the business office."

Lirassa toys with her pistol.  "Good.  Let's put 'em out of business."

"That's not why we're here," reminds Betham.

"Maybe not YOU," retorts Lirassa.

*     *     *

 

  Meanwhile, just before entering the mansion, Widjgeeby turns and regards the fleeing group again.  Then her gaze moves to her grenade launcher.  A twinge of excitement pulses through her massive frame.

"Aw, just one," she mumbles, drawing an awkward bead.  She hesitates as a tiny knot of uncertainty pops out of a trap door in the back of her mind.  It whimpers for a moment.  But then her eagerness ruthlessly stomps it flat.

"Just one..."

*     *     *

"First things first," says Mon'Fargret.  "Where do you think Adulie will be?"

Mey'Luskar pauses as unpleasant memories pass through her thoughts.  "The club is just upstairs.  That's where the real toughs will be...watching the stairs.  In fact..."  She glances around.  "Why isn't the whole place coming down on us?"

"I've been wondering that, too," adds Betham.  "I don't like this.  In fact, I..."  He shudders.

"I'm not wondering at all," retorts Lirassa, glancing around restlessly.  "An opportunity should never be wasted."

"I agree with you partly," says Mon'Fargret.  "Nothing but door guards and floor guards so far, and now nothing.  Either we really did take them by surprise, or..."  He eyes his pistol thoughtfully.

"Or...?" echoes Pru anxiously.

"Getting up those stairs isn't going to be pretty."  With a sigh, Mon'Fargret turns and glances toward Pru, who is checking out the nearby cloakroom window.  "Where's Granite Spear?"

"I think she went through the other door," replies Pru.

*     *     *

Widjgleeby pulls the trigger...and nothing happens.  Grunting impatiently, she sniffs around the weapon for a bit until she locates what is probably the safety and a cocking mechanism.  Then she tries again, aiming into the group just as it arrives in the parking lot.

*     *     *

"Other door..."  Mon'Fargret clicks his tongue irritably and lifts his wrister.  Before he touches it, however, it chimes at him.  "Go," he says.

"Granite Spear has secured the security station," reports Nekshi's voice.

"I guess it wasn't very secure," notes Betham.  His attempt at humor elicits only glares.

"That's good," replies Mon'Fargret.  "Now leave the baggage, get the fighters in front, and..."

"Wait, this is all wrong," protests Nekshi.  "It's illogical!  The security station..."

"What about it?"

"Granite Spear says the guard at the security panel was catatonic."

Mon'Fargret shares furrowed brows with the others.  "Um...don't you mean comatose?"

Pru giggles.

"No, catatonic !"  Nekshi's voice betrays a hint of indignance.  "I looked up the Yangae word to be sure!  Conscious, but unaware."

"What could do that?"  Mon'Fargret and the others exchange uncertain glances.  Nekshi remains silent.

"Psy?" suggests Lirassa.  "But why?  Who would freeze the watchman?"

"Someone who wants to get in," replies Betham, "or wants us to get in.  A trap?"

"Or an opportunity."  Mon'Fargret glances at Lirassa.  "We still need to get up there."

*     *     *

Widjgleeby pulls the trigger.  There is a muffled report...followed by a much bigger report.  The aim was off, so the blast is well short of the target.  The fireball isn't particularly big or bright, but it appears to be above ground.  Ricocheting shrapnel can be heard like a sort of dissonant percussion ensemble among the parked vehicles.  Anti-personnel rounds, then?  Obviously not high-yield, though.

Widjgleeby recocks the weapon.

*     *     *

 The sudden blast outside makes everyone jump.  A few glances are exchanged.  Then there is a chorus of sighs.

"Our Farbett friend just upped the ante," says Mon'Fargret.  "We're out of time."

"There's an elevator," suggests Mey'Luskar.  She gestures east.  "Over there.  The cooks use it."

"Elevator..."  Mon'Fargret pauses thoughtfully.  Then he looks over at Pru again.  The light bulb over his head is almost visible.  He taps his wrister.  "Zeton!  Is Ham up yet?"

"He's only just coming around," reports the Lybolt.  "Furnfin...whatever his name is...is picking him up right now."

"Alright, I guess he'll help if and when he can," says Mon'Fargret.  "As for you, make sure your guest doesn't interfere, and get yourself up here.  We've got work to do."

"What's your plan?" demands Lirassa.

"We'll send a strike team up through the elevator first," replies Mon'Fargret.  "Either they'll secure the landing or tie up the guards enough for the others to come up the stairs."

"We'd better leave the non-coms in the basement," recommends Betham.  He jerks a thumb at Mey'Luskar.  "Including her.  Pru could stand guard."

"I'm not staying down there!" she cries.

"Me either!" adds Pru.  "We're moving, like it or not!  And we need Bina up here, too."

"Alright, whatever," sighs Mon'Fargret.  "But let's get moving!"

Join the Club pt. 2

Lirassa starts to move forward, thinks better of it, and tosses out her mini-robot instead, shouting a command in Brekka. The little machine glides into the corridor junction...

...and almost immediately comes under stun bolt fire from the west. One bolt grazes the mini-robot, and it automatically retreats.

 Swearing, Lirassa jumps across the corridor and presses herself against the stairs, weapon at the ready. Mon'Fargret glances at Betham, who reassures him with an awkward grunt and vibe of annoyance. Then he moves out around Lirassa.

Up above, Granite Spear looks both up and down the curved stairway, debating her next move. It's dark up above, but she can sense there are living beings up there. On the other hand, her loyalty sense gnaws at her...

Just as Widjgleeby reaches the landing, Mey'Luskar crouches down to pick up a pistol dropped by one of the felled door guards.

 "Nice!" she coos.

The Farbett brings herself to an awkward halt, rumbling impatiently. Pru, eager to get to the top, walks right into the giant reptile's backside and snaps, "Hey, watch it, you!" Widjgleeby turns to confront the dark-skinned Yangae but smells danger.

She and Pru glance toward the west door just as it slides open with a bang to reveal a guard with light body armor and a carbine.

 Acting on pure instinct, Widjgleeby dives through the still-open front door just as the guard pulls the trigger...and nothing happens.

Snatching up the expensive-looking designer pistol, Mey'Luskar breaks into a run..and plows right into Betham as he tries to stand.

 Landing on the porch outside, Widjgleeby dimly notices that there is a group of people (three that smell like Yangae and three armored figures of uncertain race) hurrying away but concerns herself with the activity inside the house. She regains her bearings and turns back toward the door.

Sensing the commotion, Granite Spear spins around, presses against the rail, and begins scanning the area with all her senses. The strong beat going through the floor makes her acoustic sense almost useless and makes it hard to focus...

Whining like a wet fezik, Mey'Luskar spins around as she regains her balance and notices the guard is fiddling with his gun rather than shooting it. She glances at the pistol for an instant, guesses what button might be the safety, and trips it as the guard reinitializes his weapon.

Behind her, Betham takes a couple of steps to secure his footing and moves toward Mon'Fargret.

Shaking her head to clear it, Granite Spear finally spots the guard and notes the positions of the others. Through the fog of her battle lust, she begins weighing her options.

Lirassa makes no such effort.  Popping out from behind her cover, she squeezes off a shot at the other guard.

Stowing the bulky pistol as best she can, Granite Spear begins to climb on top of the stair rail and readies herself to jump.

Mey'Luskar purses her lips and shoots the handsome-looking pistol. There is a flash and a crackle of ionized air, and both the guard's weapon and the breastplate of his armor melt away into plasma. "Scarlet!" she hums, eying the pistol with a grin.

Lirassa adjusts her aim and shoots again. Then she ducks back and sends out her mini-robot.

Betham comes to a stop behind Mon'Fargret and reaches out with his psy senses.

With a violent HWOOPH, Granite Spear launches herself airborne, lands off-balance on the center stair landing (directly in front of Pru, who has to abort her attempt to emerge to keep from getting skewered), rolls, and comes to a stop braced on her feet and tail right in front of the guard. Partly confused, partly petrified, the guard manages one word or two before the Shurian's beak tears his throat off. Granite Spear then tosses the gurgling guard aside and continues into the room behind him. A second later, a loud crash can be heard followed by the Shurian's excited clicking.

"Oh!" whines Mey'Luskar. "I wanted to shoot my gun again!" With a huff, she struts on her way toward the others, tossing her head at Pru when the latter hurries to catch up with her.

Mon'Fargret glances at Betham expectantly, and the latter says, "There's one more guard in the parlor over there." He points south. "She's scared boneless. So are the people over that way." He gestures west. "Most of the people in the parlor don't know what's going on."

"Yeah?" retorts Lirassa. "Well, we need to fix that. Come on!" She swaggers out into the corridor.

"Do we really need to do that?" wonders Mon'Fargret.

"That's what I want to know," adds Betham. "What exactly are we trying to do here, anyway?"

Join the Club pt. I

 

 

As Lirassa presses herself against the counter on the east side to avoid the incoming fire, the others quickly take action.  Granite Spear struggles to maneuver herself around without getting tangled up in anything or anybody.  Meanwhile, Betham and Mon'Fargret dart around the ascending staircase to the east.

To the south, a guard stands in a doorway brandishing a carbine with which he continues to rain stun bolts on Lirassa's position.

Betham instantly pulls his holomatte cloak around himself and dives to the floor while Mon'Fargret calmly takes a pot shot with his pistol.

It's a clean miss.

Mon'Fargret ducks back behind the post on the side of the staircase as the guard launches a volley in his direction.

Mey'Luskar hesitates at the top of the stairs as Widjgleeby appears behind her.

With a bloodthirsty whoomph, Granite Spear uses her compression leap to its fullest to launch herself up onto the east ascending staircase.  As she does so, Mon'Fargret pops out from behind his cover and squeezes off another shot.  It's closer this time, but the wall suffers yet another undeserved hit.  The guard answers with another volley in his direction which is equally ineffectual...though one errant burst grazes Betham, making him partly visible.

More tumbling than walking to the railing, Granite Spear fires off a more or less random shot from her enormous pistol.  The floor about two meters in front of the guard erupts in a ball of fire.

Mon'Fargret corrects his bead and shoots again, this time planting a pulse in the guard's face.  The laser energy can be seen to dissipate against the guard's visor.  The guard, meanwhile, perhaps confused by all the goings-on, unloads on Betham's position.  The combination of the stun bolts, the overloaded holomatte, and the stun-proofing of Betham's body armor make an interesting light show.

Similarly irritated, both Mon'Fargret and Granite Spear fire again almost simultaneously.  Still not having a clear view of the target, the Shurian manages to cause another explosion directly at the guard's feet.  Mon'Fargret's shot lands right between the guard's eyes, only just penetrating.  The same is true of the pulse which follows a fraction of a second afterward, but this time it's directly on the guard's eye.

Lirassa yells a Besteeng battle cry as Mon'Fargret plants one more pulse directly on the hole scored by the last one.  The guard screams and clutches at his helmet as he crumples to the floor.

Securing the Landing pt. III

Mon'Fargret carefully steps around Granite Spear to the west door and puts his ear to it. Nothing can be heard. The music in the air is strangely muffled, as if the source itself were muted but the floor and walls were acting as a conductor.

Reading the thought, Betham says, "I think it's coming from that way." He points south toward the stairwells. "Somewhere behind the stairs. I sense a lot of people that way." Then he looks around at the smoldering bodies on the floor with disapproval.

Lirassa crouches, pauses, and then quickly jumps around the corner of the stairs toward the window to the east. After a quick scan with her pistol, she relaxes with a sigh and mutters to herself.

Mey'Luskar suddenly appears on the stairs, which then creak as if in agony.

"Ooh, that Farbett is going to wreck the place!" she cries.

"Let's hope the music muffled that," replies Mon'Fargret.  "In any case, we'd better get a move on."

He, Betham, and Granite Spear turn to follow after Lirassa, who mutters something evilly about the leafy-green carpeting.

All at once, Lirassa's muttering ends in a grunt of surprise and she stiffens.  In the next instant, a volley of stun bolts cuts low across her position, one of them catching her in the shin.  The Besteeng convulses but stays on her feet.

Securing the Landing pt. II

Lirassa disappears completely.  Mon'Fargret, with Betham close behind, heads up the stairs.  Both vanish as well.

"I don't remember that !" mutters Mey'Luskar as she starts up the stairs, Widjgleeby closing from behind.  Pru follows uneasily.

"Is Ham alright?" calls Zeton across to Bina.

"He's just stunned!" replies the disgraced priestess as she looks over the Ibitonian.  "At least I think he is!  I don't see anything else!"

Over by the crystal's display stand, Nekshi and L'Toyei start a very low but apparently animated conversation.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the action, Mon'Fargret and Betham cross what appears to be a cloaking curtain, and everything at the top of the stairs suddenly comes into view.  (At exactly the same moment, the thumping of loud but muffled music becomes audible.)  What are apparently the front doors of the mansion stand open to the night.  Two armored figures and one in ordinary (but professional looking) clothing lie on the floor with smoldering wounds.  Granite Spear prods one of the armored ones to the left.  Lirassa, weapon in hand, eases around the banister of the stairway to the right.  On either side of the stairway, twin curved staircases arc upward to the next floor.  There is also a door to the left and a passageway going right.

Securing the Landing

"Lirassa," starts Mon'Fargret into his wrister.

Puzzled, Granite Spear starts to raise her staff to poke ahead.

"Are you there?" continues Mon'Fargret. "What's hap..."

Just then, Granite Spear's fighting reflexes allow her to jump aside just as Ham suddenly materializes directly in front of her and tumbles backward.

On the other side of the stairway, Lirassa can be seen partly to appear. She seems to be quickly crouching and pressing herself against the rail.

"...pening?" continues Mon'Fargret.

Granite Spear immediately grasps her bulky pistol and dives up the stairs, disappearing from view as she passes Lirassa's half-visible form.  The armored Amazon, perhaps startled, seems to lose her balance and catches herself on the rail, allowing a little more of her form to fade into view.

"Lirassa!" cries Mon'Fargret.

Forgetting all about the crystal, Bina sprints across toward Ham, cutting in front of Mon'Fargret and leaping across the bottom of the stairs.  She pays no mind to the stun bolt that suddenly appears from nowhere in the stairwell and expends itself against the railing directly behind her.

Lirassa seems to right herself and move a little up the stairs again, parts of her fading out grotesquely as she does so.

"Tricks!" Widgy says, starting to move closer to the stairs as Betham raises his weapon and trots forward.

The Stairs to Where?

"How about if we misalign the crystal?" suggests Mon'Fargret.  "It might save us from what is ahead. Anybody game to turn it in a different direction?"

Bina eyes him as if he'd just asked her to jump off a bridge.

L'Toyei eyes him vacuously.

Nekshi raises an eyebrow and then walks right up to the crystal's display stand.

"No!" hisses Bina, waving her hands frantically. "Don't!!"

Nekshi pauses thoughtfully, and then she reaches through the shattered case and turns the crystal.

There is an instant of intense, heartstopping silence (other than Bina's brief vocal/psychic cry of alarm).  Then, suddenly, there is a dramatic outburst of absolutely nothing.

"Obviously not physical alignment," observes Nekshi, scratching her chin as she moves away.

"Obviously not !" retorts Bina through clenched teeth. "That word..." She purses her lips. "I think...it has...well, it would have a more spiritual meaning, wouldn't it?"

"We don't know, do we?" barks Betham. "So let's leave it! Come on, let's move!"

As Mon'Fargret waits at the bottom of the stairs for Mey'Luskar to catch up, Lirassa and Ham move quickly up (or at least as quickly as their armor allows) with Granite Spear close behind.

Then Granite Spear, Mon'Fargret, and Mey'Luskar react with surprise as both Ham and Lirassa seem simply to vanish into thin air, leaving only the empty stairway.

The Crystal and the Oneness

The procession continues to pass through the narrow hallway and into the chamber.  As it does so, Widjgleeby impatiently pushes one of the doors out of her way, just missing Mey'Luskar and blocking Pru.

Mey'Luskar only gives the massive reptile a pensive glare and moves on.
"Hey, WATCH IT, you oversized clod!" snaps Pru from behind the door.

Lirassa and Ham continue to strut toward the older Yangae man, who trembles and stammers as he backs toward the display case behind him.

Bina enters the chamber and heads straight toward the crystal with an emotional moan, Atraktu on her heels.  Betham pauses in the doorway and eyes the large gem warily.

 "That's it!" hisses the constable.  "That...thing...has been buzzing in my head since we got here!"

"You fear the Oneness," sings Bina as if in a daze.

"Fear?"  Betham grunts with annoyance.  "All I give a flame about right now is that...rock...is driving me bonkers!"

"A gift from the Elders," retorts Bina as she comes up behind Nekshi.  "It calls to us!"

Betham sighs and shakes his head.

"If you're talking about that old rock," says Mey'Luskar weakly, "just forget it!  Keep walking!  I HATE that thing!"

"Don't fear the Oneness!" replies Bina.

A Mysterious Relic

"You didn't have to do that!" cries the older man in a near panic as the burning ruin of his young companion lands heavily (and messily) on the floor.
"Yes, I did," retorts Lirassa as she struts forward, Ham moving out from behind her.

Nekshi huffs impatiently as the two large, armored humanoids finally allow her egress.  Entering the room with Granite Spear close behind, she ignores the goings-on in the center and heads straight for the case holding the large crystal.

"Don't touch it!" calls Bina from back in the hallway.

"Fascinating!" says Nekshi, and she starts fiddling with her wrister.  "If I'm not mistaken..."

"Let me see it!" cries Bina.

"As I thought!" says Nekshi.  "Temple technology!  Or at least a very reasonable facsimile..."

"Let me through!" cries Bina from behind Granite Spear.  "Let me see it!"

"I don't like this!" calls Betham from further back.