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.

A Diamond in the Dark

(Recapping and continuing)
Mon'Fargret speaks with the couple while aiming his pistol at them, "I apologize for the intrusion. Place your hands in the air and realize I am very good with this pistol. That is a very nice crystal. Tell me about it."

It's a couple of guys, one of whom looks middle aged and respectable and the other of whom looks to be in his late teens and a bit more rowdy in style.

The kid smirks and strikes a cocky pose. "Do you even know where you are?"

Mon'Fargret's finger twitches ever so gently on the trigger, and a burst of vaporized material erupts from the edge of the display case behind the two men.  The older one jumps with fright. The younger one, however, only takes a couple of startled steps and then resumes his haughty stance.

"The next one won't miss," says Mon'Fargret.  "Talk about the function on the crystal."

"That?" replies the younger man smugly, gesturing toward the crystal. He chuckles. "Who knows? It's just some old Gothie relic. Ancient witch-ware. I don't know what it does...or how the lady got it." He glances over his shoulder and raises an eyebrow. "I guess I don't have to call for the guards."

Mon'Fargret pauses, but then Lirassa gives him a shove, sending him out of the doorway so she can emerge herself.

"Stop holding up the procession!" she barks.  Then she sees the two men and sings a sweet, "Good evening, gentlemen!" Her pistol rises into position.  Behind her, Ham levels his stun carbine under her arm.

"I don't think the guards are coming," observes the older man anxiously.

"The guards have already been here," retorts Mon'Fargret, resuming his steely gunpoint.

"They're still here, too," adds Lirassa, nodding to the rear.  "On the floor.  Wanna see?"

The younger man's smirk lowers a bit and a spark of worry enters his eyes.  His voice sounds thinner as he says, "Look, I don't know what this is about, but at least try not to be stupid!  You're not.."

His last utterance ends with a nasty gurgle as his chest cavity bursts open in a cloud of luminescent steam.  Flames play about his clothing as he topples over.

The older man dances with panic.

"Don't call me stupid," says Lirassa flatly.

Mon'Fargret sighs as confusion can be heard from back within the corridor.  Bina is trying to push her way through the group.

Into the Gallery

"Lirassa," calls Mon'Fargret as he steps over the just-shot guard to get to the door, "get Nekshi and Granite up here and Widg too if she can fit. Fighters in front. Zeton will see to Ham. Get Betham to look at you and tell him to pull it together and watch Mey and Bina." Indifferently, he picks up the guard's pistol and examines the door.

Lirassa starts reciting her own version of what Mon'Fargret said as she comes up behind him.

"I'm alright," grunts Ham in protest as he stiffly follows after her, blocking the side entrance just as Nekshi and Granite Spear try to come through.

With a snort of discomfort, Widjgleeby does her best to turn around in the tight space.

Betham, his back pressed tightly against the corridor wall to let people pass, moans, "Could they have made this any narrower?"

"I don't think they expected people to have a party in here," says Zeton in a failed attempt at humor.

Bina gestures toward the closet.  "Maybe I should see what I can learn from them," she offers.

"Maybe you should just close the door," retorts Mey'Luskar.  "The less you learn, the better.  Trust me on this one."

Just then, Mon'Fargret pries open the inert sliding doors to reveal a large chamber.

In the eerie glow of emergency lights, the room reveals itself to be a sort of museum, no doubt a display of the owner's private collection.  There are many works of art on the walls and on various stands.  Glass cases display a variety of valuable items.  Without a doubt the most imposing display, however, is a purplish stand holding a case containing what looks like a large, carved crystal with some kind of writing on it.

Mon'Fargret fancies that the large crystal seems to be giving off a faint luminescence of its own.  He also notes that the sight of it gives him the creeps.

There is another set of sliding double doors on the opposite side of the chamber, a couple of smaller doors on either side to the south, and a beautiful, marble staircase going up to the ground floor.

The only people visible in the room are a Yangae couple standing between a couple of display cases eying Mon'Fargret warily.

What's Behind the Door?

Ham starts to stir, so Lirassa hefts him onto his feet and helps him out into the outer corridor (as opposed to in out to the inner corridor), allowing the rest of the party to move.

"Easy, Granite!" says Zeton, carefully easing his bulk around Granite Spear's spiky form and into the closet.  "Let's get her calmed down fi...uh..."  He blushes hotly orange, and his gaze quickly drops to the floor with Lybolt modesty.  Spying the clothing there, he picks up the woman's garments and offers them to the Shurian without a word.

Granite Spear eyes the Lybolt blankly for a second or two, takes the clothes, and uses them to tie up the woman even more securely.  In the process, she frees up one tentacle just long enough to say a curt, "See to the male," with her talkbox.  Zeton complies quietly.

"This door solid," grunts Widjgleeby, tugging in vain with four arms.  Then she backs up and levels the grenade launcher.  "Just one?"

"Put that damned thing away!" snaps Lirassa.  "If those are high-end boomers, just one will make us all mincemeat!"

Mon'Fargret peers into the corridor from the doorway and nods toward Ham.  "Can he move?"

"He's coming around," replies Lirassa.  "We're go."

Mon'Fargret nods at the guard on the floor.  "What about that?"

Widjgleeby gives the guard a good sniffing and then shrugs two pairs of shoulders.

Mon'Fargret sets his jaw and peers at the double doors to the left.  "I wonder what's behind those?"

Behind him, Nekshi pauses to look into the closet, bringing the rest of the party to an abrupt halt.  So abrupt, in fact, that Betham barely avoids bumping into her.  Bina, however, does not avoid bumping into him.

"Hey, watch it!" snaps the constable as much ahead as behind.  "Can we all be just a little more alert?"

"Forgive me!" retorts Bina with an irritated sigh.  Looking back at Mey'Luskar, she says, "Sister, you need to control your feelings!  You're blinding my senses!"

"I can't help it!" whimpers Mey'Luskar.  "I've been here before!  I know what's coming!"

"I'm familiar with that woman," reports Nekshi.  "She is Ami'Sallan, the host of 'The Civilized Kitchen' on the Morva Free Channel.  I always thought her recipes sounded as overwrought as her fashion sense."  She furrows her brows.  "This, however, may qualify as an improvement!"  She looks down at the man.  "I may have seen him before, too.  Maybe a news anchor?"

Betham squeezes past Nekshi.  "With all this noise, it's a wonder the whole sodding place isn't on us by now!"

Bina clutches her head.  "With all THIS noise, I can't sense...someone's coming!"  She nods to the left.

Betham taps Mon'Fargret's left shoulder and gestures as he takes cover.  Mon'Fargret eases partly behind the door, pistol at the ready.  Across the hall, Lirassa starts to brandish her stun carbine, but Mon'Fargret hisses at her and nods back into the corridor.  Lirassa nods in understanding, lowers the carbine, and backs toward the stunned guard.

There is a click, and the double doors to the left jolt apart a few centimeters.  Armored fingers press through, and then the doors are slid ponderously open to reveal a single guard similar to the one on the floor.

"Help!" cries Lirassa in Yangae, gesturing at Ham and the stunned guard.  "They've been shot!"

"Shot?" Echoes the newcomer in a masculine yet effeminate voice.  He wrestles with the doors and enters the corridor.  "With what?  I heard a blast...over in the restroom..." Once he clears the doorway and releases the doors. they quickly slide shut again of their own accord.  "Who's shooting?"

Lirassa points toward the doorway to the south.  "They went that way!"

"Who?"  He glances toward the doorway.  "Why are you even up here?  You're supposed to be down guarding the...who's there?" The guard leaps back a pace or two, wheels toward Mon'Fargret, and goes for his weapon.

Quick as a flash, Lirassa raises her stun carbine and...fumbles.  The weapon flies through the air.

Mon'Fargret immediately follows and is more successful.  Sparks fly from the guard's throat as laser pulses tear open the vulnerable spot.  The guard hits the floor only a fraction of a second before Lirassa's carbine.

"I believe that's the way we should go," observes Mon'Fargret as he retrieves the weapon.

"I don't like it," retorts Betham.  "Whatever it is that is bothering me..."  He nods toward the double doors.  "That's where it is."

Uninvited Guests

Widjgleeby starts to move forward, jostling Ham and Lirassa, and growls with impatience.  Caught off guard, the two armored warriors move aside to let the Farbett pass and then fall in behind her.

Behind the door is a chamber with three exits.  The ones on either side are heavy-looking cargo doors.  The one in the middle is an opening behind which is another set of stairs, this one narrower than the ones in the shaft.

Without pausing for a moment, Widjgleeby continues forward and up the stairs.  It only goes up the equivalent of a single story before arriving at a very plain-looking room with a set of double doors off to one side.

The door is slightly ajar.  Behind it, muffled moans can be heard.