Come on down to L. Marie Ford! Free hotdogs, and balloons for Mom!
HEY!
HEY HEY HEY! It's Faaaaaat Albert!!
Okay, NOW we can use this board. Everyone, in here!
All the characters rush in and stampede the poor redshirt.
While Adon is flying away from the Spidership a light goes off inside his suit. He flicks a switch.
"Kiehart to Spidership. I don't know if you'll get this, but I'm stranded by the wreckage of that TerrSec ship you guys scrapped a month or two ago. I've got Taocmna's skin sample. We can remove the curse, hopefully, but my craft got shredded in an explosion. Could you maybe swing by and grab me?"
Adon decides to go ahead and head to the location of that transmission, unaware of what he is about to enter into.
[Webber: Jerk?! Ha! Ha! Ha! You've done it now, my friend! Prepare to feel my awesome wrath! My righteous vengeance! My....aw, the heck with it...lets just say you asked for it!]
The wreckage of the TerrSec ship is unstable, and rapidly begins to fall to pieces! Kiehart manages to grab a spacesuit (if he doesn't already have one on....you're not getting me this time, and I know he's UNBREAKABLE, but what the heck...lets put him in one, anyway! Space is mighty cold!) and puts it on, right before the whole ship becomes so much debris! He is alone, floating in space. Fortunately, he still has the skin sample in his possession..... Unfortunately, he is also heading toward the sun!
[And if you have a problem with the spaceship wreckage falling apart, Kiehart accidentally triggered a still-working self-destruct device he didn't know about!]
With a burst of light, Adon's Combat-Suit, in plane mode, appeared. It transformed into robot mode and began firing on any enemy ships that appeared. Then it stopped and picked up Kiehart.
The Combat-Suit landed on a nearby planet and put Kiehart down.
I'm sorry that I can't stay, but I have more important things to attend to and I doubt that even you will be able to survive a transpace jump. I have sent a signal to the Spidership, so they should be on their way to pick you up shortly. I'm sorry, but I can't do more.
The Combat-Suit took a few steps back and leapt into the air. It transformed into plane mode, and with a powerful blast, took off into space. Once clear of the atmosphere, it charged the transspace device, and disappeared.
In the holodeck...
You tie my shoe! I tie your shoe!
PD Insane does a leap, lightsabre in hand, at two spinning remotes, deflects their blasts to hit the remotes themselves, and skewers a third remote. He then spins around, deflecting a blast from a fourth remote to hit a fifth, and slashing the fourth remote in half.
COMPUTER: You have completed level one, commense level two.
Just then, another message comes through.
Lieutenant Insane, report to bridge for tactical duty.
On my way.
He deactivates his lightsabre and leaves the holodeck.
Computer, save program.
a message in Taco's ready room...
the message repets itself waiting for an audience.
Hi Taco! It's me, Ansh! I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was going home but my mother got ill and I was needed to look after her. She is getting better and I'll be returning soon. I may be bringing *sigh* a visitor with me {mumbling}if I can't perswade her other wise. {normal voice} Well I see your not in at the moment so I just left the message to explain my asense. I hope I don't miss to many adventures. Bye!
the message started again...
Hi Taco! It's me Ansh! I'm sorry...
Oh no, the Captain's loose. Helm, take us to within 500 meters of the Captain's battlesuit. Quantum, try to trace Adon's exit vector. Hmm...the battlesuit's shields are too strong. Let's try...
Milkshake moves back to Tactical One. Insane looks over at him and recoils in surprise.
"Commander, you're going to attack the Captain?!"
Very carefully, Lieutenant. I didn't get a sharpshooting medal in the Marines for nothing. There!
The starboard phaser bank activates, and an incredibly thin energy beam blasts the battlesuit. It pierces the mechanism's shields and strikes the hull at a critical point for less than a millisecond before shutting off. The disabled suit spins in space.
Looks like the Captain's all right, but the cold will get to him soon. Insane, transport him out of the suit, directly to sickbay. Hold him in the pattern buffer until I get there. He shouldn't be able to do much damage without his armor. Security team to sickbay, on the double. Helm, take us down to the planet. We need to pick up Kiehart. Rocket, follow me down to check on the Captain and we can discuss the disk and note on the way.
Aye, Commander, activating transport. There, he's in the annular confinement beam.
Commander, it appears to have been in the direction of 47 mark 47. There is a Class L planet near that vector, about 2 lightyears away. I am also detecting a debris field, it appears to be WhyteKastle in origin.
Commander Milkshake, we just received a message from Commander Adon. It says "Kiehart has the skin sample" and a coordinate. I've managed to trace the message and the origin point is the same as the coordinates.
Rikard sat in his fighter as it flew through space. He had left two minutes after the speeders had and was in pursuit of Adon when he received a signal from a planet. It had Kiehart's coordinates. He came out of warp and entered the planet's atmosphere. He scanned for Kiehart, located him and landed 30 meters away. He opened the cockpit.
Hey Jason! Where'd Adon go?
Milkshake, sir, do you want me to see if I can find a way to track Adon? If not, I want to launch the SnowCrane and see if I can send a few Whyte Kastles to Valhalla!
The transpace drive had been in the red for some time, Adon didn't know how much longer he had before the device burned out entirely. With a lurch, the Combat-Suit returned to normal space just as the drive burnt out.
Well, so much for the return trip. Lets see here... Satellite defense network, planet based defenses, and... the target.
Several satellites reorientated themselves to point at the Combat-Suit. Before they could fire, the suit transformed into robot mode, confusing the satellites' targeting scanners. It only took a moment to reacquire target lock, but it took a moment too long.
The suit pointed its rifle at one satellite and fired, sweeping the beam over most of the satellites, opening a hole in the defenses. Adon traveled through the hole landed on the planetary surface.
The suit approached the palace of King Rominaius, destroying anything and everything that stood in its way. The final barrier was a force field protecting the palace. The suit fired blast after blast into the force field, but failed to punch through. The last shot managed to knock out the field, but it exhausted the rifle's power supply. The suit dropped the mammoth rifle and knocked a hole in the palace wall leading directly into King Rominaius' throne room.
Adon hopped out of the suit, drew his sword, and stood before King Rominaius himself.
Its an honor to meet you, Rominaius King. Unfortunately for you, it is now time to pay the price for what you have taken from me.
Milkshake to bridge, set a course, coordinates 47 mark 47. Contact Lt. Cmr. Rikard and tell him to rendezvous with us there. Milkshake to Engineering, prepare the Bad News Drive. A little bad news for the Whyte Kastles could actually help us.
RR, wait until we reach Adon's location. If there is a Whyte Kastle presence there, you can blast as many as you want.
Just as Milkshake finishes speaking, the security team (mostly yellowshirts) enters the room.
Good. Insane, energize.
The air above a biobed shimmers as the Captain materializes there. As soon as he is fully remoleculated he immediately jumps off the bed and rushes at Milkshake and RR. The security team wrestle him back onto the biobed, (losing all their redshirt members in the process) and activates the restraining field. Holodoc, climbing over the redshirt corpses, rushes over and injects him with a strong sedative. The EMH checks on his vital signs, then turns toward the commander.
"I don't know how long I can keep him under, the sedatives are losing their effectiveness on him."
Just a short while, doc. Rikard and Kiehart are on their way with the cure. Let's get to the bridge.
Hello, Boss? EE here. Yeah, our sponsors really like this plotline. They just wish that we could up our ratings some. How about if we have the Solid Gold dancers make a cameo?
Ahem....just to make sure that the Captain doesn't somehow escape from the restraints (bad locks, or something).....I'm gonna do this! (RR points at Tacoman, and a beam of blue-white light strikes him. When the beam stops, there is a `bar' of solid light holding the Captain's midsection to the table. Its just tight enough to stop him from slipping out of it, yet comfortable enough that he can barely feel it) There. There's no way he can get away now, if the sedatives don't work! The frequency of the light will also interfere with any attempts to transport out! He isn't going anywhere!
(Adon still stands menacingly in King Romanius's throne room. There is a familiar blurring in the air to Adon's right, and...)
Allow me to assist you, Commander.
(Observer pulls out a small black handle, pushes a button and his golden lightsabre snaps to life. The watcher grins.)
Well, what do you say, Adon? Medium, or well-done?
[King Rominaius isn't home right now. If you'll leave your name, number, and a message, he'll get back to you and have you killed later! ]
Unforunately, King Rominaius isn't even in the WK's HQ, much less the throne room. Fortunately for King Rominaius, and unfortunately for Adon and Observer, about three-hundred and fifty fully armored, heavily armed WK soldiers ARE! You've just interrupted a practice drill!
One of the WK commanders notices the new visitors....
Kill those intruders, and feed their corpses to the dogs!
A number of golf ball sized objects fly out from under Adon's cloak and surround him. A network of thin red lines connect all the floating spheres. Then the lines and the spheres disappear.
Where's Rominaius?
The soldiers open fire on Adon, and the shots bounce off of the shields that Adon put up. Adon cuts a path through the soldiers to the throne.
Where is he? Or do I have to go through you again?
Suddenly Adon (and Observer) feel the most intense headaches that they have ever had in their entire lives...and that's saying something! The pain is so bad that they can barely stand without vomiting. Suddenly Adon begins to hear a voice in his head....it is the Silver Maiden!
Stop! You have no chance to defeat the Whyte Kastles! You are only asking to commit suicide!
Adon's shield shuts off. He stands rigid, as if he is being frozen by something....the pain goes away, and the voice speaks again...
Come with me, my love!
Adon's eyes begin to glow a faint purple color. He speaks one word, `Yes!', then promptly disappears in a flash of purple-white light!
The wreckage of the TerrSec ship is unstable, and rapidly begins to fall to pieces!
Are you reading the board dumb ••••? There was no ship wreckage. There was a field of floating debris! PAY ATENTION DUMB ASS!!!
-
Kiehart wanders the planet for a short time. He hears the sound of rockets, and looks up to see a battle suit landing. At first he thinks it's Adon, but then he sees the rabid anger pouring thorugh the faceplate. "Captain?"
Sorry!! I had my reasons for doing that to Kiehart...I was going to use that to introduce a new character....thanx for screwing that up!! And read the d@mn posts thoroughly before you post....Tacoman's tied up in sickbay right now!! :-(
-
On board the Condimental, Onion Ringster is happy because his voice is back to normal.
At last! I'm sick of speaking that fouled-up junk! So.....what are we gonna do now, boss?
Lord of the Hamburger spins his command chair around to face O.R.
Good question. I don't know if we should go back down to the planet and kill a few Whyte Kastles, engage their starfighters, or help LICC!
Condimental. Oh. I guess I missed that while I was being PO'ed at Plot Aggrevation. I tend to do that when I'm in a bad mood. Please disregard that last post. But, um, has the Spidership come by to p9ck up Kiehart yet?
[It's already forgotten, but read my post (and ScottN's before it) in LICC Discussion 6! You really need to learn to control that temper...and your language! Unfortunately, I have the same problem....at least with my temper, anyway! Children probably read this board, so try to control your language!]
Kiehart notices something out of the corner of his eye: a red ship in the distance. Suddenly the ship turns and heads toward him. After it reaches him, a tractor beam pulls him into the cargo-hold. As he stands there, a door opens and three beings enter; they are all 7' foot tall, purple, reptillian beings with four black horns on their heads and solid grey-black eyes. All three of them are wearing golden, armored chestplates and carrying what looks like golden tridents with electricity arcing between the three tines.
You! Human, come with us! Our leader desires to speak with you!
[Note to Webber: Don't do Kiehart 3:16....these are good-guys!]
Adon wakes up, with a slight, although not unpleasant, tingling sensation in his head. He looks around and realizes that he is in a dimly-lit cave. Suddenly, he hears the Silver Maiden, but this time the voice is not in his head!
So...you're finally awake! Good! I know you still have no powers, but if you join forces with me, we will be invincible! We will crush Rominaius and rule the WK empire ourselves!
Adon looks around, and finally sees her sitting on a silver chair with blue topazes encrusted in it. She is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen! She has long, silver hair that reaches down to her waist, violet eyes, and is wearing a black and purple dress with a silver choker around her neck.
What do you say? Shall we join forces, or shall I kill you?
Maybe we should pick up Kiehart. Nahhhh, he'll not starve. But he'll sure get angry, so maybe we'd better go and get 'im!
How about a third choice?
(The ceiling of the cave rumbles, and suddenly gives way! Tons of rock and stone suddenly bury the Silver Maiden, who has barely time for a shriek before she is covered with the crushing limestone fragments. As Adon stares in surprise at the event, Observer steps out of the shadows behind the rock-pile. He is limping, and has a nasty gash in his side.)
That won't keep her for long, and her minions were stronger than they appeared. Good thing I was able to trace you, Commander. Shall we depart?
[Note: To Observer: Jason and I were setting up something here! So.....I'm just gonna have to do this to fix things......]
Suddenly there is a blast of purple-white light, and the limestone fragments go flying in all directions, but don't strike anyone. The Silver Maiden rises, surrounded by a purple-white force-field, completely unharmed, but angered! She points at Observer...
Begone!
Suddenly, in another flash of purple-white light, Observer finds himself transported to a galaxy far, far away.....(No Star Wars jokes, please) She then looks at Adon, whose eyes glow purple for a second. When the glow subsides, to him the cave looks as it did before Observer's nasty little trick (interference) and he remembers nothing of what happened since the Silver Maiden last spoke to him!
Kiehart is led into a room that looks like a military war room (it is). Seated at a very big, circular table, is another reptillian being. This one looks much like the ones who brough Kiehart here. However, his skin is reddish instead of purple, and the horns set farther back on his head are larger. He is wearing what looks like a black and gold military uniform. The guards leave Kiehart and the `man' alone. He stands up, walks over to Kiehart, and smiles.....at least it looks like a smile.
Greetings, human. My name is General Sslarr, commander of the Ssslrth Forces. I was once the president of the Ssslrth government...until the Whyte Kastles destroyed our homeworld! Our race once numbered 11 billion, but now there are less than 900,000 of our people left! We received your S.O.S., and came to help, hoping you would help us in return! We seek allies in our quest for revenge against Rominaius and his forces! (he pauses and offers his hand to shake) Will you help us, human?
Tacoman wakes up on the the biobed and begins to struggle. The light bars keep hold. He starts muttering, saying
You dirty Kastles, you'll pay for all you've done to the LICC!
Great, there he goes
{Rikard hails the Spidership when they drop out of warp.}
Hey guys! I tracked Adon's course and came up with a number of possible systems that Adon could've gone to, but three have Whyte Kastle bases. I also picked up some signals originating from one of the systems. Apparently, someone is attacking the Whyte Kastle HQ planet. I think that we should head there ASAP. By the way, I found Kiehart but he was taken aboard some ship. We can try to get him back before we go find Adon but that's up to you Commander.
RR, you take the Snow Crane and one or two of the crew and go after Kiehart. Josh, lay in a course to the Whyte Kastle HQ.
Kiehart sighs. "Sure. But on one condition. Do you know where the Spidership is? I want to drop off this very important skin sample before I go and help you out. I'll also want to grab a jar of instant redshirts if I can. We may need them." Kiehart shakes hand with the Ssslrth. "Oh, and would you mind picking up what's left of my fighter craft? I'd like to rebuild it if I can."
-
BF: My last MAJOR aggrevation with Plot Agrevation was that one of his posts was eesentially punishing me solely for not remembering what happened to Adon's sword. Jason never said that the sword WASN'T beamed down with him, so I just assumed. It just kind of escalated from there. But I'm clam down. Meredith Vieira looked especially sexy on The View this morning. Loved that pink sweater.
Join forces? Tell me, how will joining forces help? Or have you forgotten your oath?
Adon took a step towards the Silver Maiden.
You will help those who cannot help themselves.
Adon took another step.
You will defend those who cannot defend themselves.
Adon took a third step.
You will not use your gifts to place yourself into a position of power in any realm.
Adon stopped. He was nearly nose to nose with the Silver Maiden.
Do you remember those?
How has giving my powers to Rominaius helped other people? What has he done to defend the defenceless? What would happen if you were to add your powers to his? Look into his mind and his heart, and tell me if he wished to help all people, or if he just wants more power for himself.
Kiehart struts about the war room, trying to look strong for these people who seemed to have put way too much faith in his abilities. He looks at the maps of Whyte Kastle territory. Most of it is idnetical to the star maps he saw aboard the stolen Whyte Kastle vessel just days ago. "Hmm. I see some mistakes here General. I recently took command of a Whyte kastle ship not too long ago. Tried to ram their homeworld, but I only disabled their minefield." "Minefield?" "Yea. With any luck their homeworld will be vulnera-now why the hell didn't I think about that before? Do you have a communicator? If we can organize an all out assault on that planet we could do massive damge to their fleet, their troops, AND their morale!"
[Author's Note: When someone in a command position tells me to take the SnowCrane out, WITH ONE OR TWO OF THE CREW, could you order someone to go with me, instead? No one volunteers! I had to get Nawdle to send Jadlad and I sent Female Redshirt last time! And JD? Its SnowCrane...one word, not two.]
Rocket Ranger takes the SnowCrane out, along with a couple of volunteers, to find Kiehart....
I hope we don't have to hunt half the galaxy to find him!
Jadlad wakes up in sickbay.
Whoa?!
Holodoc: Take it easy Lt.. You had a major shock to your system and I want to keep you here for a while longer to make sure there are no lasting ill effects.
Jadlad: Fine. But if I'm going to be stuck here. Computer, change the Doctor to Jadlad EMH template Alpha-Beta.
The Doctor shimmers and is replaced by a 6 foot tall medium skinned female Doctor with large eyes and long purple hair tied into a neat ponytail. The Doctor walks in front of a mirror and looks at herself.
Holodoc (In an alto sounding female voice.): Not much of an improvement if you ask me. Well on the plus side, I have more hair now.
Setting the record straight. He didn't get me to send Jadlad. I chose to send him!
[Author's note: I didn't mean to imply that I made you go, or anything like that, Nawd. The fact is, I him to join in while we were on AoL Instant Messenger (the only good thing about AoL, as far as I'm concerned)I need to quit watching tv while I post!]
Rocket Ranger is too busy piloting the ship and checking the sensors in his space-pilot armor's helmet to look around at his crew.
So...since we all transported in, instead of walking to the ship, who's here? I can't afford to look and see right now!
Tacoman's face returns to normal and looks over at the doctor
Hmm... interesting new look Doc. BUt shouldn't you have just one eye to go with the purple ponytail?
Yay! Blind Man's Bluff!
An entire first-grade class appears out of nowhere and surrounds Rocket Ranger. They quickly sit down and form a circle on the floor, then one gets up and start to spin Rocket Ranger around, very fast.
[Brief A.N.:I ain't even going there!]
On board the Condimental....
Onion Ringster: Boss, we're picking up something on the sensors. There's some sort of giant crystal heading toward the planet!
LotH: How big is it?
Onion Ringster: Humungous!
Bigg M.A.K.K.: It is roughly 1.3 times the size of Earth's moon.
LotH: Lets wait and see what happens. It may stop before it gets here. But just in case it does'nt, power up the Ultra-Mega Thunder Cannon!
We can pick up the remains of your ship easily, human. Unfortunately, we do not know the current location of the spidership. We sent one of our mightiest warriors to meet with LICC and ask for their assistance, but he never returned.....we know he made contact, but are unaware of what has happened to him. Why hasn't he made contact with us?
I am present, Rocket Ranger. It will take me a few milliseconds to familiarize myself with your craft. Do I have permission to interface with your on-board computer and accelerate the process?
Affirmative. Welcome aboard, Colanator. (He pauses, and pulls a small black box with a white circle on it out from under his jacket) Just remembered something..... (He points and a small portal opens in the air next to him. He holds the box up and it is sucked through the portal, which then closes) I meant to give that to Commander Milkshake earlier. Its a homing signal locator, in case we get lost.
(Back on the spidership, a portal opens and the box drops out onto Commander Milkshake's lap. The portal then closes)
So....is anyone else here, or just you? I was hoping to have at least two people onboard besides myself for this mission!
We are here.
And we are armed and can sing!
see the two previous posts....
Awwwww... How funny.
[Well, now, isn't that special?]
Bigg M.A.K.K. looks at the tactical data displays, then the sensors....
Onion, can you confirm this data? (He shows Onion Ringster the data. O.R. runs over to his own console and presses some buttons, then pauses.
Ummm....M.A.K.K., I hate to tell you this, but the data's correct! We'd better burn outta here or we're all dead!
(Lord of the Hamburgers looks at the data, and is shocked) My God! It can't be! (He runs over to the comm-system) Blotzus, get us as much power as possible out of those engines! We need to get as far away from here as possible immediately! I'll warn the spidership. (He contacts the spidership) No time to explain, but its imperative that we leave this system immediately!!
(A busy market day in one of the larger cities on a Class-M planet just beginning its Cultural Renaissance. The nearly-humanoid natives haggle over goods, and brightly-painted signs advertise everything from clothing to carved pieces of wood. Suddenly, a violet flash of light temporarily blinds the market-goers and the Observer falls out of thin air into the unpaved street. The inter-dimensional traveler quickly gets to his feet and surveys the situation.)
That was unexpected. Now where am I?
(Observer watches the various natives recoil from his presence, the feathered humanoids squawking in a strange, tonal language. Observer quickly utters a few words in their own language, the folds of his cloak hiding several magical gestures. At once, the natives suddenly lose their fear and go about their business, apparently ignoring Observer. The watcher turns his eyes to the sky. He peers into the green-tinged atmosphere until his trained eyes, penetrating the daytime-opaque sky, pick out familiar stars and other cosmic landmarks. His impassive face registers brief surprise when he realizes how far the traitorous Wanderer sent him.)
Well, well. I'll have to take the shortcut to get back.
(Observer looks around until he reorients himself with his surroundings. He marches directly to a sort of tavern, where the avian-humanoid natives sip sugary fruit juices out of long, slender cups with hollow reeds. Observer speaks several words to the proprietor, who waves him toward the back of the establishment with one stubby wing. Observer weaves his way past tavern patrons sitting in tall perches, until he reaches a small tapestry hanging over the entrance of a garderobe. Glancing about to make sure no one is watching, he steps into the alcove and disappears.)
Kiehart sighs. "I hope nothing bad happened to your warrior. He may have just goten lost. Anyway, do you have the technology to repair the fighter as well? Oh, and any word on the fleet? Do you think there will be enough ships for an attacks? We may have a few days before they can get the minefield working." He walks over to the starmap, wishing it could handle real-time monitoring of the Whyte Kastle homeworld. As far as he could tell, the Whyte Kastle fleet hadn't mobilized many ships to replace those lost in his failed attempt to ram the planet, but looks CAN be deceiving. "Launch a probe towards where you found me. Have it contain a progress map of our various locations over the past several hours, and a message explaining the situation. Set it to activate once it picks up the Spidership's recognition coes."
The Silver Maiden stares at Adon, a look of doubt on her face.....
I will consider what you have said! (She vanishes in a burst of purple-white light!)
Adon sighs in relief.
Well, now all I need to do is find a way out of here.
Adon began looking for a way out of the cave.
The Spidership flies out of warp in orbit of the WK HQ planet.
Well, we're here.
(A quiet, whispered voice sounds in Adon's head.)
"She won't hear this, no matter how powerful she is. Is it safe?"
(Adon telepathically replies in the affirmative, and Observer once again appears in the cave, none the worse for wear.)
Ah, she's gone. Well, you and I won't be here when she gets back. She must have placed a barrier around this cave to keep you here, but I have something that should foil her.
(Observer pulls out a small transparent cube. Its primary color seems to be yellow-green, but all the hues of the rainbow randomly appear in it.)
It's a gift, from some friends from out of town. We need to make a brief stop before we return to the ship. One moment.
(Observer closes his hand on the cube, and himself and Adon are enveloped in a strange, otherworldly mist. When they emerge from the glowing haze, they seem to be inside a small, dark room. Observer reaches forward and slides a door open, revealing a massive complex. A huge room, with a dome ceiling thousands of feet overhead. The circular room is ringed with balconied levels, and each level has hundreds of doors just like Observer's and Adon's, circling the main area . What is most amazing is the vast quantity of beings purposely moving through the gigantic complex, and around the circular levels. Some are humanoid, most not and some are beings so strange even Adon does not recognize their species. Observer turns to see Adon staring in amazement.)
Welcome to the Terminus of the Legion of Observers, Commander. It takes quite a group to supervise every known universe. Of course, most Observers can transit between dimensions on their own, but sometimes we need a safe, reliable method of travel. Follow me.
(Observer leads the way down a long corridor, this time entering a huge rectangular room, again with identical doors lining the area. Adon and Observer walk for nearly a half-mile before stopping before one of the doors. The brown-cloaked traveler stares at the eye symbol above the portal and the door opens. Observer walks inside and returns in a few seconds tucking something into a pocket.)
Okay, let's go.
(Observer and Adon make their way through the huge crowd of Observers back to the Terminus area, where Observer again chooses one particular entryway. They walk through, and materialize on the bridge of the Spidermobile, almost causing Commander Milkshake to spill his coffee.)
Hello everyone. Did you miss us?
The Whyte Kastle ships, still shaken from the surprise attack on their homeworld by one of their own ships, almost missed the Spidership entering orbit. Two of the smaller ships at the rear of the defensive fleet set up on the side of the planet that had been attacked spot them first, and decide to move in without calling it in, fearing their comm systems might be being monitored.
-
Aboard the Sslath(sp?) vessel, several HOURS later, Kiehart spots an addition to the map. "What the, is that the SPidership? Aw hell! General! We ahve to go now!" "What? No, we can't! We're not ready. We only have three ships." "It'll have to do. The LICC could be in serious danger, if they aren't already. Our hand has been forced. We have to strike now."
-
BF: I'm leaving it to you to say what happens during those several hours.
And I thought that I was well traveled. I will need to visit the Observer Terminus again, if I ever get my powers back.
Speaking of getting my powers back, I don't suppose we could pick up my suit? I seem to have left it on the planet.
Both the Condimental and the spidership have left Karhl the Younger's planet, and its home system as well. The Condimental has followed the spidership, but due to slight malfunctions, it is at least half a lightyear slower.
Condimental to spidership. This is Bigg M.A.K.K. The reason we had to leave that system is because Onion Ringster detected something on the sensors. I'm sending you the data now.
At that moment, the sun in the system they left goes supernova!
The WK planted some sort of devices on the planet, and in space, that should have activated right about now....these devices have caused the system's sun to go supernova!
Onion Ringster: Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, our scans showed that the entire population, except the woman and her child in your sickbay, were deceased. The WK wiped them out!
Bigg M.A.K.K.: Right before we warped out, the giant crystal disappeared. I could not tell if it warped out, teleported, or just vanished. I dread seeing it again. It does not bode well for anyone.....
Oh...
(Observer puts a hand to his forehead and grimaces as if in pain. Rikard and Insane also react, as they feel the deaths of millions of people through the Force.)
This was a terrible occurance. We must make sure the Kastles never do anything like this again.
And Adon, when this is all over, I'll try to get you back to the Terminus. It's very rare for beings who are not Observers to be permitted to access the Terminus on their own, but I can pull a few strings.
Kiehart grasps his head, grimacing. "Oh man, I'm not sure I should be doing this. I could get the crew killed, I could get you killed, I-I just can't do this!" Kiehart storms out of the warroom. He makes it about half way down the hall then starts punching the wall, screaming at himself. "You arrogant bastard! You should've stayed on the WK ship when it hit. At least I could've taken the fight right to them. Instead I ran like a dammed coward!" Kiehart collapses to the floor and starts crying. This self-doubt is getting stronger. He notices that his hands have bruises.
[The Sslrth walk over to Kiehart and start kicking him, until he begins to bleed, and....JUST KIDDING!]
Rominaius is sitting on his throne, on board his private war-ship, going over some facts and figures with some of his advisors...
Yes, I think that would be just about right...and about th....(The Silver Maiden appears in front of him in a burst of purple-white light. He stops and looks at her, smiling) Hello, my dear...are you ready to...(Her eyes begin to glow, and Rominaius' eyes do as well. After almost a minute and a half, the glowing stops. The Silver Maiden looks horrified)
Its true! Everything Adon said was right! What have I done?! (She disappears in a burst of purple-white light, but this time she takes Rominaius with her!)
Shouldn't the Spidership crew have realzied that there is a gaping hole in the WK homeowrld's defences? No mine arrays, no big defense ships, just a couple of small scout vessels hoping to gain glory by delivering a kill shot to the legendary Spidership. The PERFECT time would be right about now, wouldn't it? And with back up coming from the Sslar and Kiehart, this could be one hell of a battle!
[Oh, come on now! The WK empire spans TWO whole GALAXIES! Not solar systems...galaxies!! If you think its gonna be that easy.... ]
Rocket Ranger is flying the SnowCrane when the onboard sensors and scanners begin receiving data from the probe.... Could someone check that out? I would, but I'm too busy...can't bring up the Heads-up display in my helmet and read it while trying to dodge all this debris!
I see you've watched that old Earth TV show "Futurama?" too much Captain. Otherwise you'd see that Jadlad made me look like an anime style character. As you can see my eyes may be larger than normal, but they're not overly large. I also have longer legs and....so forth.
Out in space somewhere, the giant crystal waits.....
In sickbay, the woman wakes up, the surgery to repair her shoulder having only been partially successful; the arm is partially paralyzed as a result. She looks over and sees her son lying in a bed next to her. He is still asleep.
Wh-where...where am I?! Is Kelvon okay? He fell and hit his head while we were running. The last thing I remember is being shot in the shoulder, and....
Colanator reaches over and morphs one arm into the SnowCrane's computer.
Downloading...there appears to be some interference, I will attempt to reconfigure the data.
Oh no! The Authenticaticator is back!
Didn't he turn out to be Q?
Oh no! Q is back!
That Authent Error was supposed to be a post of mine! I'm very angry. And you woudln't liek me when I'm angry. ARRRRGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BRIAN SMASH
OK, so anyway, my original post was a reply to BF's comment about the WK. I meant to say that regardless of how large their Empire was, levelling their homeworld would do more than a little damage. And a nice chunk of fleet would probably go down (no intern jokes) with the planet!
So there!
OK, so now Kiehart has discovered his weakness. Self-doubt makes him vulnerable. The Ssslath(sp?) ships (all three of them) are rushing to the aforementioned WK homeworld to help the Spidership. Two small WK vessels are ehading towards the Spidership whilst this is happening. So what does the trusty crew do?
Wouldn't it be nice if all of the AUTHORS USED THE DISCUSSION BOARD TO DISCUSS THE STORY????
ARRGH I'M GETTING ANGRY! RULK SMASH!
The Incredible Rulk grabs BW and BF and stuffs them through an interdimensional portal into the Discussion board, where the authors reside.
ONLY CHARACTER TALK HERE! Rrrrgghh...
Anybody got any Prozac?
Here you go.
Well, what can we do now? I don't know I can do now that I'm mostly powerless.
A giant 30 miles long spaceship appears through a hyperspace hole, fires a directed energy shockwave at the WK fleet on this site of the planet and disappears again, leaving lots of ionized gases behind.
"Shall we put up a Enter Here sign?"
Me want Pupper Pals! Me want Puppet Pals!
As the Sslath ships rush towards the WK homeworld, an addition to the war room map catches Kiehart's eye. "What the hell?" The General tilts his head and looks at the map. "According to this the WK homeworld no longer exists. Considering the satelite delays the planet has been 'gone' for three hours." Kiehart turns in shock. "Gone? The planet is gone? How?" The General shurgs. "I do not know, but a projected path for the Spidership and the Condimental were added to the map as well. Shall we find it?" Kiehart nods. "Well yea. I still have that skin sample."
Doctor, what's going on? Where's my skin sample?
It is still with the WHYTE KASTLES???
Tacoman's face takes on a look of rage and madness again. The Doctor comes over and sedates the good captain with the strongest sedative sickbay has
and watches has it fails.
Holodoc: Oh no.
Adon wanders into sickbay and sees what is going on.
Captain! Calm down.
Adon pulled out a small vial from under his cloak. He pours the contents into a hypospray and injects Captain Tacoman. Immediately, Tacoman settled down and falls asleep.
Its a good thing I came down here. This is a good look for you, Doc.
Holodoc: Well, at least the lightbar that Rocket Ranger put into place is holding him down....
Meanwhile, on the SnowCrane, RR and Colanator (AND WHOEVER THE OTHER @#$! VOLUNTEER IS) are heading to the Sslrth ship to find Kiehart.
We should be there soon....funny....the ship seems to be turning and heading the way we came!
"We have a ship heading straight for us Kiehart!" A Sslarth)(sp?) in the War Room yells. Kiehart goes over to the sensors screen, happy at last for a real time display. "It's not the Spidership but it looks familiar. Could you get a closer look at it?" "I can try." Kiehart leans in on the enlarging picture. "I think that's the SnowCrane! Slow down. Let them intercept us. They're allies. Send the ship a message. Have it say, hey Rnager, the Unkillable Redshirt here. Wanna meet for coffee? Just like that."
The SnowCrane receives a message from the Sslrth ship....(not posting it)
I understand. We'll be right over in a minute.
(RR cuts the SnowCrane's engines, then looks behind him. It appears only Colanator volunteered to join him to rescue Kiehart...
Oh, great. I was hoping for at least one more crew member! Colanator, I know you're an engineer, but I hope you can stand in at tactical as well. If Kiehart comes aboard, I'm assigning him to weapons.
Rocket Ranger stands up.
Ready, Colanator? Lets beam over, then.
Rocket Ranger activates the transporters. They disppear and reappear a few seconds later on-board the Sslrth's ship. RR looks at Colanator.
Remind me to put in for some greyshirts to crew the SnowCrane with me! I'm fed up with asking for volunteers! (He looks at Sslarr and Kiehart.
Well, Kiehart, are you going to introduce us to your friends, or are you going to pull your pistols and whistle Dixie?!
Back on the spidership, a voice appears from out of nowhere. Everyone on the bridge can hear it, and it is both distraught and very angry!
He's been manipulating me for his own purposes! Everything's been a lie, and a will not be used any more!
There is a flash of purple-white light. The Silver Maiden appears on the bridge, with Rominaius laying at her feet. He has been bloodied, and he is also very scared.
Do whatever you want to with him! I don't care! You don't have anything to fear from me anymore! I've come to help you get Adon's powers back, but there is something that you should know first....
Milkshake coolly regards the newcomer.
Yes, and what is that?
Kiehart smiles. "Well, you're not who I was hoping to meet but I'll take it where I can get it." Kiehart proceeds to introduce his new allies and explain their situation to RR. "So, exactly what the hell happened to the WK home`world?"
The Silver Maiden looks down at the trembling, bleeding Rominaius and sneers at him, then looks at Milkshake.
Rominaius created a clone of himself...a younger clone whose body he intended to transfer his mind into after....augementing the clone. One of the augmentations has already been done. The clone has Adon's powers!
Rominaius looks up and laughs.
My dear, you have failed miserably. I already imprinted the clone with my mind! You may have me, but the WK will live on, with a new, stronger leader behind it! Your psychic powers will be useless against him. From the examinations you submitted to, we found a way to defend ourselves against your unique abilities!
The Silver Maiden lets out a blood-curdling roar, then kicks Rominaius in the face, breaking his nose.
SHUT UP! If you open your mouth again, I swear I'll make you hurt so bad, you'll be begging to die!
Kiehart roams about the SnowCrane and looks out a viewport at the Sslrth ships gathering behind them. 2 additional ships had since started following them, and sensors showed that more were coming. "So, Ranger, how long before we catch up with the others? It's not a good idea for an Assistant Chief of Security to be away from his ship for so long." "assistant what?" Colanator asks. "It was in the last message Tacoman sent me before, well, before he lost his marbles, so to speak."
It shouldn't take long. I want you at weapons, in case we're attacked. The WK isn't finished by a long-shot, and I have a feeling that they're going to be even harder to deal with since their homeworld was blown to bits!
(He looks at Colanator)
Colanator, see if you can work some of your magic on the engines and give us a little more power. The sooner we rendevous with the spidership and the Condimental, the better!
Certainly. Caution: Performance modification to the engines will draw energy from several ship's systems, including the inertial dampeners.
Colanator morphs into the bridge deck plates, heading for the Engineering section. Soon after, Colanator's computerized voice sounds over the bridge speakers.
Modifications complete. Brace for acceleration effect.
Immediately after this announcement the engines of the SnowCrane glow with power, and it rockets through space, at better than twice its top-rated velocity. Rocket Ranger and Kiehart are propelled backwards by the newly-gained speed, and they begin to feel extremely strong G-forces!
At Silver Maiden's outburst, Milkshake gets up from the Captain's chair and walks over to the beautiful Wanderer and the prone enemy.
Madam, calm yourself. We have men and women of great ability on this ship, and the Whyte Kastles couldn't possibly hope to match us all. We need to discuss something.
At a signal from Milkshake, Insane beams Rominaius to the brig. Milkshake turns back to the Silver Maiden.
All hope is not lost. We have the device that you used to take Adon's powers. If you will activate it, we can hopefully use it to take his abilities from the clone and return them to Adon. But first, we need to know where the WK are headed.
Kiehart struggles out of his seat. "What about the Sslar? They can't posibly catch up with us at this speed!"
My god. They went to plaid!
The Silver Maiden looks at Milkshake, obviously upset.
I'm afraid I don't know how to work the device. I never actually saw the scientists use it. As for the WK.....I'm not sure, but I think they're probably going to head for their second base, located somewhere in the Grehble system. I've never been there before, so I don't know the exact location, but from what I understand, the entire system has defensives systems that put the one at the planet you destroyed to shame!
And I sense what you are all thinking...the planet that was destroyed was NOT the WK homeworld. That planet was actually just a base of operations. Rominaius may be evil incarnate, but he would never put his own homeworlders in danger. (She walks over and points at a planet on the map that is several systems away.) This...is actually the WK homeworld.
An alarm goes off in the back of Kiehart's mind. "I don't know why but I got the feeling I missed something somewhere. Ranger, could you have the Sslth transfer a copy of their map of WK terriotry over to my console?"
I'm guessing that the homeworld has formidable defenses right?
Kiehart looks over the maps. "That's it! No wonder i thought that was their homeworld. The systems are identical! Sames type of sun, same number of planets, yadda, yadda, yadda. I was tricked! I tried to ram the wrong planet! Now I'm really pissed. Ranger, any tricks I need to know about this ship's weapons?"
Since you asked, Kiehart....The ship's armed with anti-shield mines, which are actually magnetic bombs that attach to the enemy's ship, then wipe out their shields, frying the shield generators in the process. Unfortunately, you have to be close to the enemy to use them.
Just use the pulse-lasers and the energy-web projector, and you'll be fine. Whatever you do, don't press the purple button! That uses too much energy, and will slow us down!
Rominaius sat on his bunk in the Brig. Several yellow shirted security officers stood guard over the prisoner. Adon entered the Brig, and stared at Rominaius.
Rominaius stood up, and walked over to the force field.
Rominaius: "What do you want? Now that you're powerless, you can't stop me."
Adon continued staring at Rominaius.
Lower the force field.
The guards gasped, but they followed orders. One guard drew his phaser and pointed it at the prisoner, and the other lowered the force field. Then that guard drew his phaser and pointed it at the prisoner too.
With surprising speed, Adon swept Rominaius onto the floor and held his sword across Rominaius's throat.
You are nothing but a Grw'Kur. If you wish to continue your pitiful existence, you will tell me where that clone is.
This board should now be locked...just like my locked box....now that the new one is up and running!