The GateWorld Cantina Chronicles

[lordofseas]

<ModSnip>

Los watched as the Triangle fleet limped back together to regroup. After the destruction caused by the rebellion, a fleet of around 531 battleships was reduced to a mere 88. Los pulled his tablet out of his bag. Adaris was hailing him on it. He sent a written communication back, saying that it was alright, that he was alive. Los sniffed, then turned. To a horrified Draygon.

"What. Was. That." Los said, voice as cold as ice, and hard as steel. It was not a question, but Draygon answered anyways.

"When we left New Gallifrey.....it wasn't completely sanctioned from the Time Lords. I'll spare you the politics." she said. "But that doesn't matter. I cannot leave." She said, eyes flashing towards him. Benson took a step forward.

"You saw what they did to the rebellion. Don't be a complete fool." He jabbed a finger towards her. " If you are that important to them, they could probably do that to our measly fleet as well. And we don't have the resources to stop them," Benson said cuttingly. Los turned to Benson for a moment.

"You will need to go down to the planet. Go, sort out the Senate and the public. They need to be reassured about their well being, both of them," Los said. Benson's eyes narrowed, but he assented, and walked towards an officer on the bridge. He beamed down a few seconds later. Los turned back to face Draygon, only to find she wasn't there. She was at the window of the Bridge, staring out onto the still exploding debris in space.

"You need to go to the rift." Los said, quietly.

"I know." she replied.

"My advice is to give a vice-regency to a neutral person in the Senate. The best choice would be...."

"You." Draygon said bluntly, still staring out of the window. Los started backwards.

"...Me? I don't wield political power, I manipulate it." he said.

"Which is why you'd be the perfect candidate for the full title of Lord President." she said. Los' eyes opened wide in shock.

"WHAT?!" he said loudly, attracting the attention of the officers about the warship.

"Mhmm. I don't know whether or not I shall come back, but in any case, I would prefer you to be at the helm of the Triangle, than having the Senate bicker and whine about who will be my successor. And they might even elect a bad person, or a person that doesn't support the Timelords. It is my prerogative and right as Lord President to

"Listen, Los," she said, turning away from the window, and looking into his hard, steely eyes, one blue, one brown. "There is thing that you must do. You have to give allegiance to the Time Lords. If the Triangle isn't in their pocket, they'll put it there, and shove it down."

"I can do that. I would do that anyways," Los said.

"Then you are smart." Draygon fished something out of her pocket in her dress. It was a necklace, with a golden triangle in the middle, with three different gemstones at each vertex. One, a diamond. The second, a sapphire. Third, an emerald. The triangle was held on a silver chain. Beside it lay a ring, with a simple triangle extruding from it.

Draygon intoned, "Los, how will you take the title of the Lord President of the Three Galaxies of the Triangle, and all the weight that will come to bear with that name, good and bad?"

"With all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my strength."

"How will you accept the Ring of Hope, and the Chain of Light, as symbols representing your office, and what they represent?" Draygon said gravely.

"With chasity, honour, and integrity."

"And how long will you bear these burdens?" Draygon asked.

"Until the hour has come to lay down my burdens, and hand my legacy to the people," Los said.

"And where will you bear these burdens?" she asked, voice rising to a crescendo.

Los hesitated, then spoke on with the accepted words.

"In the Hall of the Senate, in the Seat of the President," Los said, quickly.

"Then, by the power given to me, by the people, and for the people, I pronounce you Lord President of the Triangle." Draygon finished.

A wave of sound came from beside them. Applause, from the officers aboard the deck. The sound was tumultuous.

"Congratulations, Lord President Los." Draygon said.

(Draygon)

[Vampyr]

Furiously gesturing into the bracelet's projected hologram and whispering the moment... whatever that was had disappeared, Ben shook his head, “Ohkaaay. I'm dead sure that wasn't my bracelet, and I'm reasonably sure that wasn't a hallucination so anyone have any idea as to what the hell that was?” A round of nods in the negative later, the four were once again proceeding down the corridor in hopes of randomly stumbling upon the main, or a, control room. The deeper down the lot of them managed to go, the more Ben was able to map of the facility using sonar, radar and thermal. During the long, silent walk, CJ and Elle had continued to keep their distance from one another, while Mapp ambled after Elle and Ben continued to toy with his bracelet's projection.

Deep in high orbit, the Shadow took note of the incoming vessel, passively analyzing the various EM signatures it put out as it assumed a medium orbit about Midna. When the unknown vessel had achieved medium orbit, the Shadow registered multiple EM spikes registering across the surface of the planet, and even a tight-beam laser being briefly aimed at itself. Rapidly spooling through the message, remembering key phrases, and calling up what it could tell from passive sensor data coming in from the stranger, the Shadow's controlling persona subjected the information to the considerable amount of knowledge its data core carried. The results took far too long for the Shadow's liking, and what it came up with, it didn't like: nothing. In all of the Matari's recorded history, for all their reconnaissance operations, gathering data from every nook and cranny they could find in the Triangle, and beyond, nothing matched the hull profile or was suggestive of any known contemporary or extinct race. The controlling persona was, in contradiction of the Isolation Accords, preparing to send an FTL comms burst to the Rand solar system, Matar's government needed information about an emergent Type-13 civlization.

Back down under the surface, Ben's bracelet urgently informed him of the Shadow's analysis and the decision it had arrived at. His only response was a concerned frown, but no action beyond that, it could be discussed later, for now focusing on the task at hand was the better idea.

[Draygon]

...

It took a moment for Dray to realise that she was now free. No more being held by her duty to the Triangle and it's people. Free.

Well. Mostly.

"So what are you going to do now?" asked Los quietly.

"Have to go to the Rift, don't I?" she replied bitterly, walking away from the bridge. Los followed her after giving a few orders to the bridge crew.

"I can make sure that-" he started.

"You need every ship you have Los. Don't worry, I have arrangements."

Los paused for a moment, puzzled before following her again. He followed her to her room where she gathered up a few strange items, wondering a little how she acquired some of them but said nothing. He followed her again out of the room and through the ship once more till she stopped. They were in a deserted corridor now and Dray took out her sonic screwdriver and raised it. A sudden whirring and they were beamed down to New Gallifrey. At least Los hoped it was New Gallifrey! It looked more like she had beamed them into a junk yard.

"Dray..." Was she going mad again? He really didn't want to have to deal with that again.

"Relax," she laughed. "I just figured this was a good place to hide it, that's all. Who's going to suspect the -now former- Lord President would hide a personal transport here?"

"When you put it like that..."

Smiling, Dray led him through the perilously piled towers of scrap metal. At the end of the twisted maze was a large area devoid of junk. Taking the sonic screwdriver again, Dray powered down the cloak.

A personal transport, probably not more than enough room for about four people to comfortably live on it It wasn't anything to look at, but that didn't' always mean anything. P-90 went around in a police box for heavens sake!

"It got Timelord tech?"

"Not really. Only really bare essentials for emergencies."

"Wraith?"

"Nope."

That one surprised him. A bit. "So it's just..."

"Oh don't be deceived, it's good. And means I wont;' be noticed." She walked over to the ship, still smiling. "Sometimes speed and stealth are more important than strength."

"Fine, well, if you think it'll be enough."

"You are needed back with your Empire, Lord Los. Let me worry about myself." Dray seemed a little lost in daydream as she looked at the ship. "Greg is already going to be mad I'm not in control. Failed in my purpose. Not much more reason to keep me around."

"If you're going crazy again..."

"Goodbye Lord President," said Dray sweetly, aiming the sonic screwdriver at him. In a blink he was beamed away. Stowing the sonic screwdriver back in her sleeve, she boarded her ship and took off.

Couldn't keep the Timelord waiting. Everyone was going to want some answers.

[Admiral Mappalazarou]

Several levels under sat a series of bays and chambers, where the lights were brighter and the scientists could actually see what they were doing. It was difficult to work in this place, most of them agreed. The foundations had been built in three distinct sections, each with their own unique security measures and defence mechanisms. It was designed, presumably, by the Leader himself as a perfect covert base. It was almost entirely undetectable, and surrounded by ice and rock on all sides.

The Leader stood beside a large tank of glowing liquid, completely hidden beneath his long rotten cloak. He raised a hand; a hand crafted from old steel, and delicately felt along the glass. Within the tank floated some kind of being. It was vague, as if its form was being deliberately blocked by the liquid around it. He touched the casing slowly as that familiar tempest of nostalgia swirled eternally through his depraved mind.
Once, a long time ago, the Leader was a respected scientist and doctor on the GateWorld Cantina. It was often the case that his work and studies helped his crew to fight off the countless threats they encountered on their earlier journeys under Mapp’s command. He didn’t remember the exact date when it all went wrong, or the exact reason why Mapp had him exiled on a small watery moon. But it involved CJ.
He found nearly everything to do with his past perplexing. It all lay in tiny fragments now. He had been kicked down by the universe on so many occasions that each time he had to rebuild himself somehow to scrape his way back up, rebuild his physical body as well as his frail mentality. There was no doubt that this insidious creature was a genius, but he was also something else. He had become the creation of his own research, the result of his own work. His limbs, like all limbs, grew old and withered. He had replaced his old claws with mech hands, traded his wretched paws with mech stands, and swapped his curved chest cavity with a trunk of constantly clicking prehistoric metals.

And each time he ‘upgraded’ himself he drifted further away from being that respected scientist and doctor, but it had become a fixation. His eyes looked over the creature hidden between the forces of the containment tank, and his eyes simmered yellow with possibilities...Escape the past by building the future...

It was something he had read from one of the notes scavenged from her derelict labs on ruined Gallifrey. You were so wise in your former regeneration...

Draygon was an anomaly in what his understanding of the universe was, but he knew that she was too tall a figure to be captured. She was at the very centre of the Triangle now. He remembered meeting her briefly on the Cantina before all of this, in a time where consequences weren’t considered, and found it so hard to believe that it was her research that he was basing his own on. A few years ago he lived in the ruins of Earth, lost and utterly every meaning of insolvent. She kicked me out of my window!

He paused as he realised that his metal claw had caused three large wolf-like slits across the thick surface of the glass, nowhere near enough to stir a panic but he certainly felt cautious. He was far more powerful than he once was, far greater a being despite what the masses would argue are deformities. The Leader truly thought he was approaching mechanical perfection. He was on the verge of outmatching his age. Science always wins!

That was when he sniffed the air hungrily. Someone entered the chamber.

‘Leader,’ muttered one of his white-cloaked lackeys ‘the Time Lady managed to get the weapons working-...’

‘...I know,’ he spoke as his artificial body parts pumped and ticked loudly like finely tuned clockwork ‘I felt the floor rumble...’

‘Well we have the results and, um, they’re exactly as you predicted.’

‘Yes.’

‘Only we have a theory about her...’

‘...Yes I know,’ the Leader spoke ‘you believe that it’s Winged Pegasus, not Mappalazarou. I saw your initial scans about the two consciousnesses enclosed inside her head...’

The scientist lowered his clipboard and merely stared at his superior’s back.

‘...So who do you think she is?’

‘I recognised the body; it was definitely a more mature Winged....’ he answered slowly, like an old man ‘She never saw my face, that’s good. It may have damaged her somehow if she had. Fear often exposes itself in unknown surroundings, especially when you see someone you least expect on a world so far from what it was. It’s just...It’s all so strange.’

‘...The subject, the one we had her test the first artefact on. He said she was WP.’

‘...The body is, but the mind, oh the mind...’ the Leader rambled on, and reached a conclusion he felt happy with ‘that was Myn.’

There was a short silence as the scientist recollected himself.

‘...But I thought you said Myn was dead?’

‘...Not yet,’ he said and smiled ‘she’s in her sisters head. Oooh, you clever girl.’

'Orders, sir?'

The Leader stared back into the tank and caught a glimpse of the test subject. His smile sank into nothing.

'Have her readied for the RC project...Let's see if we can split the consciousnesses. Perhaps we can get her out of there...' he wondered. The scientist consulted his clipboard, remembered what he had seen before whilst going over them in private.

'We ran a simulation of that before,' he read from the charts 'earlier on. There's a risk that we could lose both consciousnesses.'

'This is what we do, every day. We have the body of a Time Lord, functioning. Midna is inhabited by all kinds of ghosts. We'll find another consciousness if we lose both. There's a way to just pluck them out of the inbetween and back into reality. They're all just...hiding.'

'Yes sir,' the scientist replied reluctantly, bowed a little, turned and exited.

The Leader remained in his glare, and watched the being inside the tank twitch a little.

'...Anything else?'

It remained still. He smiled again.

'It is being done, as we speak...'

[Admiral Mappalazarou]

She heard a fast metal scraping just beneath her as she felt the feeling rush back into her empty veins. She jolted against her restraints irregularly, not willingly, and saw the ceiling moving like a luggage dais in a morbid old airport. She shuddered, held against the stiffness of a thin medical bed as a number of strange images were forced into her head from places unknown. She saw a wide, thick tank of glowing green...With something completely cunning and heartless at its core. The image stayed with her as the mercs wheeled her bed down a cobra of corridors until they finally curled up into a large alcove, sparkling with computers and other occupied medical beds. Hers came to a stop between two others, and on them she scarcely caught the gagged and frightened faces of other people she thought she recognised.

She couldn’t speak, even as a trio of scientists grouped over and stared down into the green defencelessness of her eyes. One of them, she quickly figured, clearly showed signs of hesitation as he glanced up at his colleagues and gave the order: ‘Alright, hook her up. Let’s get this over with.’

One of them grabbed her hand, turned it over and used a small knife to create an incision. Her fingers trembled with sensitivity, and yet she didn’t feel any direct pain. Still drugged? She wondered as he stretched a rusty cable over from a nearby control panel and quite sketchily inserted the plug end into her veins. She twitched, gagged a little. Still no pain. The figures around became all hazy again, their voices deep and almost mechanical.

‘I’m surprised she’s responding it so well...’ someone said slowly ‘the other subjects wouldn’t stop screaming.’

‘They were human,’ another responded ‘I think she can handle anything.’

‘Well, we’re about to find out. Complete the necessary points in her spine and nerves. If we’re going to be successful, we’re going to have to drain out her entire soul...’

***

The Leader felt that the events he had just put in motion would certainly not be the end of his experiments. There was just something in the bitter sepulchral air which cried out success. He turned to leave, when the creature convulsed from within the glow of the tank just behind him. A voice whose certainty he drew comfort in dropped into his distorted brain. It was series of sounds he chose to interpret in ancient Earth speak...

‘She will survive.’ It told him ‘Have no fear for the Time Lord.’

‘It’s good to hear you again...’ said the Leader, grateful.

‘Turn your attention to the invaders,’ it showed him images of CJ and another girl hacking closed a security door ‘they bring the destructor to our door. If they are not contained, they will overwhelm. Do not miscalculate their motives. They do not move with any other motive than unadorned reprisal.’

‘...Just the two of them?’ he asked, glancing at the tank once more.

‘The two are in my sight. I sense others, but they are protected. Something is...blocking everything. I am unable to see clearly. Be wary. I detect great devastation ahead.’

‘Then we’ll find them.’ The Leader swore ‘And they will not leave this place alive.’

He turned back to the door.

‘Be wary old friend,’ the creature shuddered ‘...there is another.’

But the Leader was already gone.

***

‘Can you believe it? They’ve actually hooked the Time Lord up to that RC machine. Do you reckon it’ll work?’ one of the mercs started conversation with a colleague as they continued their patrols through the ancient tunnels ‘I mean all other tests failed, and we both heard the screams of the last bugger they tried to transfuse with the experiment...’

‘Shut up,’ the other one sighed ‘you don’t even know what transfuse means.’

‘Sorry, it’s just these passages freak me out. They look more Roman than alien...I mean look at all of the scriptures and morals. If this was an armoury world, why would the Time Lords catalogue parts of their history here too?’ he questioned, growing more nervous at the thought of falling into another silence.

‘I don’t know,’ his partner moaned ‘all I know is that we’re here now.’

The silence finally fell over them.

The younger of the two brought it upon himself to break it again.

‘You know, rumour has it that this is where the Gauntlett rested...’ he said, wiping the cannon of his rifle fretfully ‘Hey do you reckon any of its evil could have latched onto Midna?’

His partner finally came to a complete stop.

‘What the hell does that mean?’

‘...Well, like, if the Gauntlett left but it dropped some of its evil behind...’

‘Evil?’

‘Yeah.’

‘...Are you frakkin’ retarded?’

‘...Just trying to strike up conversation.’

‘Don’t.’

‘...Okay, sorry.’

‘Seriously, don’t.’

‘...Okay.’ He surrendered.

They finally continued through the shadows, until after about a minute...

‘Hey, who do you think the Leader is anyway?’

His partner sighed loudly.

[Admiral Mappalazarou]

Myn felt everything begin to sting as different kinds of alien energies were gradually channelled into her bloodstream through the corroded cables. It wasn’t agony, but at least now she felt the pain they had talked about. That brought her stumbling back into reality. Her body juddered and stirred with material awareness as the scientists indomitably recorded the findings.

‘She’s reacting exceptionally well,’ said one of them, checking the data as it came in.

‘It’s only to be expected,’ his colleague let out a certain smile ‘now don’t you go dying on us, little lady. You’re this project’s shining star.’

Her body convulsed to right suddenly, tearing away the restraints down her left side as the pain started to breed. Her muffled yells and screams oozed out through whatever they had gagged her with, and she broke into a violent seizure as the mercs rushed in and held her in place. The scientists kept their distance.

‘Okay this is it!’

Many things sprawled out in her head as the visions melted into nonsense. She saw infinite databases of knowledge, of excavations and experiments with technology way beyond the normal capacity of thought. She saw her own, saw how they had hooked her up to force her mind through a thoughtless terminal and into a new body...But they were arrogant, and had tragically misjudged the power of her maddened psyche. Her thoughts frenzied, and she punched through an opening as her soul was yanked out of her sisters suddenly so motionless body. They fought to contain, and she fought to be free. She hurled whatever being she was through a virtual wall in the database, and quickly hid herself within the system.
She heard their voices, louder and clearer than ever before. She even saw them as she zipped from camera to camera in the room, watching them glaring at her sister’s body as it struggled and fought on the medical bed in fury. Sis, Myn thought somewhat relieved, you are still there...

Myn was in the system, she was part of it, part of the hub and the facility. She moved like lightning across the infinity of their research, and saw everything they were doing and had done since they had come to Midna, under the Leader’s guidance. It was all so incredible, so surreal. She felt like some kind of super being, some kind of bodiless entity capable of suddenly finding out anything and everything she desired. She surfed over the files, occasionally feeling something tugging on what she could only describe as her legs as the scientists worked frantically to correct their error and fish her out of the core. Not in my town!

She dropped traps, flung up firewalls, unleashed rabid contagions, broke through resident shields and infected all of the major systems with the new powers she had been unwittingly bestowed...She had no delusions about it.

She had become a virus.

***

Ben mutely slid open a vent cover as he bent out into a high platform as the four intruders had at last reached a level worth exploring. They crawled over the platform and to the edge where they stared through the rails and to the large group of mercs and scientists grouped in a huge laboratory below. Each scientist stood by an individual terminal, working away at research or whatever the hell they had built this place for. Some of them worked by large desks containing all kinds of tiny artefacts, obviously unburied from some nearby dig, and sat studying them with certain relentlessness. They’re poisoning the vault of Midna’s history with their arrogance, CJ sighed, and this world has been through so much. Do they have no nobility?

‘What are they doing?’ Elle whispered.

‘Looking for potential weapons...’ Mapp said. All eyes turned to him suddenly, and he stared at each of them with the same bewilderment ‘I would presume.’

CJ smiled. You are still in there somewhere after all.

The lights flickered.

‘Power surge?’ Ben responded quietly, and then watched as the terminals in the lab below began to shudder and spark. The mercs grabbed the scientists back as some of the consoles simply burst up into flames, and rushed them to the nearest exits.

‘Sabotage.’ CJ gripped the rail firmly ‘We’re not alone.’

The lab became clouded in smoke as more fires broke out. The lights flickered again, and this time they kept at it. Elle focused on her.

‘Who?’ she said.

***

The Leader sat in his office, a wooden room of splendour and relics on display within glass containers. He had essentially created a tiny one-room museum, and as he was admiring a small rusty sidearm...The lamp sparked with died. He hit the comm.

‘What was that? Power surge?’ He urged, and waited for the light to return. It didn’t, and he didn’t get a reply. The communications were dead ‘Hello?’

Then he saw something light up as a small cutting sound burned from just behind the door. After a moment it collapsed off its hinges and slammed down, and in the darkness beyond stood a certain team of careless mercs and scientists.

‘Sir. We have got a really big problem...’

[lordofseas]

<Modsnip>

Los doubled back, then caught himself. He was on the bridge of the Flagship he was on before, Aphaleaus. Los looked into the hard set faces of the crew. Los shut his eyes for a nanosecond, then opened them again.

"General, how many warships do we have, all in all?"

The general walked over to a screen, then replied, "2198, sir."

"Your flagship will stay here. Dispatch all other warships to guard a planet. We need to protect all of our planets from something like this," he said, gesturing outside of the window. "And get some people to clean this up," he said, quickly, as he tapped his wrist, beaming him to a different ship. Adaris stood up from the chair from behind the control console, long robes swishing to and fro. His vibrant blue eyes looked at Los.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Rebellion, stuff, Lord Presidency, nothing important." Los said.

"What about the Lord Presidency?" Adaris asked.

"I'm the Lord President," Los said offhandedly. "Listen, we must keep the ship under the cloak. You have access to the military communications, so if you even hear about a planet being attacked, you are the fastest ship anywhere, except for a Tardis, but I can't use those. Anyways, go to the planet, and defend it. The rebellion is finished, but there may be a few people willing to attack for the sake of attacking." Los looked over. A flat look from Adaris was staring back.

"Oh, of course, nothing important." Adaris said sarcastically. "You're just the freaking Lord President."

"I have a mess to clean up. There's no time to mourn." Los said. "Now, can you beam me down to the planet?" he said, hurriedly.

Adaris rolled his eyes, then pushed a plate on the console.

Los was outside the Lord President's palace. After the rebellion, the entire palace was damaged, and structural integrity was lacking. Los began to take a calming walk towards the Senate. Benson should have been holding a session, so they should be all there, he thought.

Los walked into the entrance hall of the Senate, the columns gleaming white as he passed. Clumps of Senators stood in various places. Benson looked on, alone. Los walked over to him, grabbing a glass of white wine on the way.

(AR)

[Admiral Mappalazarou]

Quakes tore through the lower levels of the facility as the primary generators overcharged with power and exploded like a series of well placed bombs. The modern structures around the excavation sites toppled over and swung down through the ancient ruins, joining them in history as the scientists started to experience what life for the Time Lords on Midna was truly like. A cluster of them stomped across an expansive silver bay at the foot of the mountain, towards one of the leftover shuttlecrafts. Not bothering to consult their superiors over the radio, they started to board. The facility shook again violently as the detonation of another generator echoed out from below. One of the scientists assumed position as pilot, and overran the central command systems. The bay doors slowly started to shift open.

‘Okay, this is our chance!’ he shouted like a true rebel leader ‘The Leader stole us from our homes and our jobs and made us do his dirty work! No more! This base is compromised! We can finally escape!’

Many of the others cheered as he charged up the main drives and the shuttle ascended into a low hover, just as the bay started to shuffle from side to side. The ceiling tiles came raining down, followed by metal planks and beams as the base struggled to keep balance in the unexpected chaos. The shuttle steered through the cascade of debris and rubble and zoomed out of the bay just as the doors caved in behind them.

***

The Leader followed the science team along the corridor and up towards the nucleus lab, the one which relied on its own systems and power sources. Myn could not break the system shield and enter it. They would be safe there, at least until the remaining generators overloaded and destroyed the foundations. There was a chance they could contain the threat from inside the lab, using the main command terminals and a hell of a lot of cunning to trawl out the hectic worm which was damaging everything they had worked on for these last four years.

At first the doors resisted, until they moaned apart when the Leader slid his personal key card through the open access terminal. They sparked a little as he stepped through, followed by the others. In the centre of the lab glowed the tank, and all around stood huge CPU’s and entrée points.

‘Go fix it,’ he ordered, and the scientists scrambled to the panels with the mercs by their sides in case they screwed up again. The floor trembled as something rumbled from far below. The Leader remained oblivious, and simply approached the tank.

‘It’s okay,’ he whispered ‘we’ll get this under control.’

***

Inside the virtual cosmos of the database, Myn zigzagged away from what she perceived to be a huge burning anti-virus program. It burnt across several of her traps and chased her through program to program, until she broke into a dive and slipped into the flecked oblivion of the system core files. She had access to everything other than the mainframe of that main lab, but she made new eyes out of the cameras and watched the Leader as he spoke covertly with the green tank. What the hell is that thing?

Something steered her attention away, something odd, a sting of attention, something important, which yanked her up and back into the defence interface. She made the satellites on the mountainside twitch to life under the cold, and channelled herself through. She watched the harmless shuttle escape the bay as it burst into flames, and watched the tiny craft escape up onto the atmosphere. Using her new intellectual senses, she sent a wireless signal into the shuttle’s navigation and took a look...

The navigation terminal sparked a little, but the pilot scientist shrugged it off and kept control as the shuttle waded through the blue dust of the upper atmosphere and paddled off into low orbit. He noticed that some of the external sensors had automatically activated themselves and although he knew how these shuttles worked, he ignored it and presumed it had recently been upgraded. He only got concerned when he heard a female voice hum out of the speaker closest to him. The voice did not sound familiar. It did however sound like it had just spotted something terrible approaching. It gasped: ‘Oh no! They’ve found us! Warning, residents of shuttle B-16, turn around and return to the surface! This is not a trick! Warni-...’

He silenced the device as some of the others crowded around behind him.

‘Probably a precaution installed by the Leader to trick any escapees. Ignore it.’ He smiled at them, and then realised that they were staring out of the front window with shared looks of shock and alarm. He turned forward in time to see a bolt of yellow energy bubble open the glass and destroy their shuttle in one effortless shot. In a couple of seconds, they were all dead.

The final transmission zoomed back down through the atmosphere and implanted an image onto the satellites which Myn recognised clearly from WP’s more recent memories; an attacking warship, huge in breadth with long beams stretching out from a turret-coated heart which spun with a rage of energy and an appetite for obliteration. It was black and clear against the thin shine of deep space. It bore burning scars along its spider-like hull, and craters in its thick armour as its giant form created an arachnid shadow over the storm clouds of ancient Midna, obviously having just escaped from a recent fire-fight with other warring vessels of similar strength.

There was no doubt about where this ship had come from.

They’ve found us! Myn cried as the slam of the wardrums shook the systems of the facility.

***

‘Sir!’ one of the scientists tore out of their concentration and shot a fearful glare over to the Leader as he appeared from behind the tank ‘we’re detecting another ship in orbit.’

‘The Dictarius?’ he replied, unconcerned.

‘No sir,’ the scientist responded slowly, shaking his head ‘much bigger.’

There was a short silence as the Leader finally became overwhelmed by the rapid jeopardy that the truth presented him with.

‘Just received confirmation from an ID scan,’ the other scientist broke in ‘Battleship. Triangle-class.’

It hit him like a meteriorite.

'Then...They've found us.'

[aretood2]

The Night dragged on as salvage teams reported in every hour. The bitterness of the winds made visibility nothing but a hopeful dream for any fool unfortunate enough to venture out alone in the wilderness due to the snow storm it generates by throwing the snow from the ground all over the place. Jacen found himself with a small group looking for a ship that a past team spotted before the winds picked up.

"It's not far from here, about two clicks northeast!" yelled Ishta, the group's navigator. She was a strong build woman in her 40's. Experienced in so many ways, she claimed to have retired her days as a smuggler in CJ's colony. No former rebel would want to live in the triangle, Jacen thought. Then it hit him, Rebel? He was once a Rebel, these people only did what they did for the money not for freedom. They weren't in it for democracy or liberty, both concepts that this part of the universe knew nothing about. The moment "Lord" is a tittle for the leader, all hopes of equality and unity are lost.

"There she is!!!" Roden screamed from the front. A big man in his 30's who seemed to be the only one who remained unaffected by the frozen winds. "The Ship, Who's ever it is, seems damaged. But with the things we salvaged from the ruins of the colony we can fix her up."

"I wonder whose it is?" Asked Mordaken. A strange looking short man whose history is unknown, probably out of his own choice. The team got closer and began surveying the shuttle craft

"Its not large enough for the whole colony, but we can get CJ with it," Jacen spoke with hope in his voice. The others took note in his interest in getting CJ, he almost sounded releaved that it was too small to take everyone. In reality he was, CJ is the only constant in his life now. He also owes her a great deal of things. "Get the strike team and one of the salvage teams and let them know that we are ready!" He told a fourth man who had a com device.

"Ishta, Roden come with me please. We'll take a look inside while the others get here." Jacen gave his order and the others complied. The plan is simple, Find the downed craft and repair it using the spare parts from the colony. If the ship is too small for everyone, they'll have to find CJ and hopefully she'll have a GDO for the Stargate. Once they have the ship they will load a strike team to go and seek out CJ and the others. The rest will remain at the stargate and prepare a possible defense. Once the Strike team gets back, they'll dial the gate and leave.

"This place is freaky" Roden chimed in taking note of the strangely calm environment that they found themselves in. The craft was damaged but seemed salvageable. "It crashed not to long ago, What crew would abandon this ship like that?" No one answered, no one knew who used this ship. They had no way of knowing that the strange assassin left to fulfill her mysterious mission.

"The Bridge is up ahead," Ishta pointed towards the open area with seats and control counsels. They quickly got to work and managed to activate some systems. Jacen moved over to check the ship's status.

"It seams that FTL systems are still damaged. Sublight is also damaged but we can fix it. All we need is a new stabilizer, a few power coils and a new housing unit for the engines." Jacen looked for more information concerning the ship. The technology didn't seem familiar to him, but some how he understood everything. Where did this ship come from? he asked himself

"The hull is damaged but we can patch that up," Ishta took over the status reports, "The shields are down, but I can jerry rig a new one." She said.

"Weapons?" Jacen asked, the most important thing they needed.

"They seem operational. I think we can actually do this!" Roden was both excited and surprised. He honestly did not think it was possible for this plan to workout. Jacen looked at both Ishta and Roden. He too didn't expect anything good. He has learned that the universe is a deep void of despair. Midna is cold and unforgiving, he has learned to live like this. But then he remembered what a freind of his told him once

"The one knows us, but like all the great ones he only watches. For to shape our lives we have to give up our free will and be treated like children. They do not wish this on us, we must live and die in pain but at least we live and die free and not under the control of others. Freedom is pain, pain is life and in the end life is good."

Could there be any good in this? Jacen asked. If these Great ones do exist, maybe they should get involved. If pain is freedom, then pleasure would be control. What a cruel trade off.

[Vampyr]

About them, the facility shook, but one person was oblivious to it all, intently focused on his readouts instead. The hell? Ben wondered, staring at his bracelet as network traffic spiked by several thousand percent. “Shadow, can you make sense of any of this?” The rudimentary AI controlling the Shadow immediately replied in the negative. The reason why was what disturbed Ben the most, the images it was painting were unrecognizable to him, but the IFF readings the Shadow was getting told Ben everything he needed to know: the shaking was in part being caused by a massive orbiting warship, massing in the multi-trillion tonne range. To keep from getting blasted out of orbit, the Shadow had enacted a random stutter-jump flightpath to keep in contact with Ben, back down on Midna.

On one of its exits, the Shadow received a broad-wave communication, purporting to be from the warship in orbit. “Civilian shuttle Shadow of Descent, this is the Triangle-class battleship Some Golden Harbour, you are requested to leave the immediate stellar volume on pain of being shot down.” The Shadow, although not technically sapient, still felt the machine equivalent of being insulted. Warming up one of its communication lasers, it pointed it not at the warship, but down to the surface, the facility where Ben was. The message it sent to the data entity that had tried to spoof the warship's communications frequency About them, the facility shook, but one person was oblivious to it all, intently focused on his readouts instead. The hell? Ben wondered, staring at his bracelet as network traffic spiked by several thousand percent. “Shadow, can you make sense of any of this?” The rudimentary AI controlling the Shadow immediately replied in the negative. The reason why was what disturbed Ben the most, the images it was painting were unrecognizable to him, but the IFF readings the Shadow was getting told Ben everything he needed to know: the shaking was in part being caused by a massive orbiting warship, massing in the multi-trillion tonne range. To keep from getting blasted out of orbit, the Shadow had enacted a random stutter-jump flightpath to keep in contact with Ben, back down on Midna.

On the tail end of one of its exits, the Shadow received a broad-wave communication, purporting to be from the warship in orbit. “Civilian shuttle Shadow of Descent, this is the Triangle-class battleship Some Golden Harbour, you are requested to leave the immediate stellar volume on pain of death.” The Shadow, although not technically sapient, still felt the machine equivalent of being insulted. Warming up one of its communication lasers, it pointed it not at the warship, but down to the surface, the facility where Ben was. The message it sent to the data entity that had tried to spoof the warship's communications frequency to deliver was was a poorly constructed, 'Nice try', as an insult to whatever had sent it the badly encrypted message.

“Sonuva*****.” Ben muttered, reading what the Shadow was piping down to him, and the facility. “Okay ladies and gentlemen, we've got more fun to add to the situation. There's a warship in orbit, something big and it's hitting this facility. Doesn't want us dead though, could do that in a heartbeat, but it's not. And second, there's something in the systems. I can't tell exactly what it is, only that it wasn't there before and it's smart, just tried to fake out my shuttle's controlling persona.”

[susanne]

Spoiler:

About them, the facility shook, but one person was oblivious to it all, intently focused on his readouts instead. The hell? Ben wondered, staring at his bracelet as network traffic spiked by several thousand percent. “Shadow, can you make sense of any of this?” The rudimentary AI controlling the Shadow immediately replied in the negative. The reason why was what disturbed Ben the most, the images it was painting were unrecognizable to him, but the IFF readings the Shadow was getting told Ben everything he needed to know: the shaking was in part being caused by a massive orbiting warship, massing in the multi-trillion tonne range. To keep from getting blasted out of orbit, the Shadow had enacted a random stutter-jump flightpath to keep in contact with Ben, back down on Midna.

On one of its exits, the Shadow received a broad-wave communication, purporting to be from the warship in orbit. “Civilian shuttle Shadow of Descent, this is the Triangle-class battleship Some Golden Harbour, you are requested to leave the immediate stellar volume on pain of being shot down.” The Shadow, although not technically sapient, still felt the machine equivalent of being insulted. Warming up one of its communication lasers, it pointed it not at the warship, but down to the surface, the facility where Ben was. The message it sent to the data entity that had tried to spoof the warship's communications frequency About them, the facility shook, but one person was oblivious to it all, intently focused on his readouts instead. The hell? Ben wondered, staring at his bracelet as network traffic spiked by several thousand percent. “Shadow, can you make sense of any of this?” The rudimentary AI controlling the Shadow immediately replied in the negative. The reason why was what disturbed Ben the most, the images it was painting were unrecognizable to him, but the IFF readings the Shadow was getting told Ben everything he needed to know: the shaking was in part being caused by a massive orbiting warship, massing in the multi-trillion tonne range. To keep from getting blasted out of orbit, the Shadow had enacted a random stutter-jump flightpath to keep in contact with Ben, back down on Midna.

On the tail end of one of its exits, the Shadow received a broad-wave communication, purporting to be from the warship in orbit. “Civilian shuttle Shadow of Descent, this is the Triangle-class battleship Some Golden Harbour, you are requested to leave the immediate stellar volume on pain of death.” The Shadow, although not technically sapient, still felt the machine equivalent of being insulted. Warming up one of its communication lasers, it pointed it not at the warship, but down to the surface, the facility where Ben was. The message it sent to the data entity that had tried to spoof the warship's communications frequency to deliver was was a poorly constructed, 'Nice try', as an insult to whatever had sent it the badly encrypted message.

“Sonuva*****.” Ben muttered, reading what the Shadow was piping down to him, and the facility. “Okay ladies and gentlemen, we've got more fun to add to the situation. There's a warship in orbit, something big and it's hitting this facility. Doesn't want us dead though, could do that in a heartbeat, but it's not. And second, there's something in the systems. I can't tell exactly what it is, only that it wasn't there before and it's smart, just tried to fake out my shuttle's controlling persona.” to deliver a poorly constructed, nice try, as an insult to whatever had sent it the badly encrypted message.

Elle and CJ exchanged glances, the two in a silent battle as to weather get out now or risk a few more lives....

"We're staying to finish this off. Whatever that thing is isnt our problem."

Elle sighed and turned to Mapp expecting backup, expecting some semblance of sanity but the instant she looked at his face she knew things were going to get worse.

"Oh not again!"

She ran forward as he slumped over, spasming in pain and screaming as more images flashed across his mind. It was the strangest thing she'd ever seen, like an epileptic fit it was uncontrollable in full swing. Their skin made contact for a breif second but it was enough for her to catch a glimpse.


Scenes and images danced across her mind, different times, different places. Each and every one of them. There was emotion here too, anger and despair. Men in blinding armour marched towards her, their faces hidden by hideous horned helmets, each one splashed with blood, and a voice split the silence.

"Sometimes.....peace doesnt work.....we've got to be there to show them that neither does bloodshed. We've got to stop them...."

The scene whirled into bright and painful colours as it rearranged itself into a room so big that but for the tiny area of light, all was black, a man stood in front of her, he looked so young, his clothes nothing more than bloodsoaked rags, around them whispered discussion was taking place. Obviously they couldnt see her but....he looked so defeated. even his face hadn't been spared the savagery inflicted on his body...

Suddenly she could feel the episode coming to an end, she was being released. Her mind floated back into the corridor, back to where they were and she gasped, dropping him and stumbling backwards, the echoes of the headache bouncing around her own head.

Why those images? Are we being warned? Two amazlingly delicate but vice-like hands gripped her shoulders, forcing her to sit up and look into CJ's cold eyes.

"What did you see?"

"I....i...uh..."

She raised a hand to her head as the headache distraced her thoughts.

"M'head feels rotten...."

"I dont give a damn about your head Elle....What did you SEE?"

ATCCU

((CJ mapp or vamp ))

[Commander Jumper]

Elle and CJ exchanged glances, the two in a silent battle as to weather get out now or risk a few more lives....

"We're staying to finish this off. Whatever that thing is isnt our problem."

Elle sighed and turned to Mapp expecting backup, expecting some semblance of sanity but the instant she looked at his face she knew things were going to get worse.

"Oh not again!"

She ran forward as he slumped over, spasming in pain and screaming as more images flashed across his mind. It was the strangest thing she'd ever seen, like an epileptic fit it was uncontrollable in full swing. Their skin made contact for a breif second but it was enough for her to catch a glimpse.


Scenes and images danced across her mind, different times, different places. Each and every one of them. There was emotion here too, anger and despair. Men in blinding armour marched towards her, their faces hidden by hideous horned helmets, each one splashed with blood, and a voice split the silence.

"Sometimes.....peace doesnt work.....we've got to be there to show them that neither does bloodshed. We've got to stop them...."

The scene whirled into bright and painful colours as it rearranged itself into a room so big that but for the tiny area of light, all was black, a man stood in front of her, he looked so young, his clothes nothing more than bloodsoaked rags, around them whispered discussion was taking place. Obviously they couldnt see her but....he looked so defeated. even his face hadn't been spared the savagery inflicted on his body...

Suddenly she could feel the episode coming to an end, she was being released. Her mind floated back into the corridor, back to where they were and she gasped, dropping him and stumbling backwards, the echoes of the headache bouncing around her own head.

Why those images? Are we being warned? Two amazlingly delicate but vice-like hands gripped her shoulders, forcing her to sit up and look into CJ's cold eyes.

"What did you see?"

"I....i...uh..."

She raised a hand to her head as the headache distraced her thoughts.

"M'head feels rotten...."

"I dont give a damn about your head Elle....What did you SEE?"

ATCCU

((CJ mapp or vamp ))

Elle looked at CJ with confusion, her eyes wide with terror. "I don't know. It's like a dream.." she whispered, her voice conveying a mixture of awe and fear. "It just..." she reached out lazily as if trying to grasp something. "fades."

CJ let go and sighed, running a hand through her dirty blood matted hair. They would never get answers this way. Things were spinning out of control. She needed to make a decision. She ripped a gun from her holster and armed it before handing it to the still perplexed Elle. She grabbed the young woman by the shoulders and forced her to meet eyes.

"Elle I need you to protect Mapp... stay here... and defend yourselves." CJ stated, concern written on her face. She turned to Ben. "You come with me!."

He locked eyes with her. "Are you nuts those two are helpless without one of us!"

CJ sighed, "I know... but this is the perfect opportunity we can't let it slip through our fingers..."

Ben shook his head. "I'm sorry but I'm not going to agree with you this time CJ."

CJ sighed, hanging her head. "You rather I go alone?"

"No." Mapp stated weakly, lifting his head and staggering to get up. "No one wants that... I barely know you... but if you go alone..."

"I don't think splitting up is wise." Ben stated, stepping forward.

"So what!" CJ shouted, feeling her emotions wind back into her throat. "You'd rather we give up right here right now! We didn't come this far to turn tail and run!"

CJ grabbed her spare gun and grabbed the railing in front of her. "I won't let this monster live!" She used the rail as leverage and flung herself over the edge, landing in the smoke below. Out of sight from the others.

"Damn.." Mapp stated, looking over the edge. "You think I'd remember a girl that crazy."


(Mapp? Susie? Vampyr)

Spoiler:

(sorry A. it took so long and B. is fail. I ARE ILL )

[susanne]

Spoiler:

Elle looked at CJ with confusion, her eyes wide with terror. "I don't know. It's like a dream.." she whispered, her voice conveying a mixture of awe and fear. "It just..." she reached out lazily as if trying to grasp something. "fades."

CJ let go and sighed, running a hand through her dirty blood matted hair. They would never get answers this way. Things were spinning out of control. She needed to make a decision. She ripped a gun from her holster and armed it before handing it to the still perplexed Elle. She grabbed the young woman by the shoulders and forced her to meet eyes.

"Elle I need you to protect Mapp... stay here... and defend yourselves." CJ stated, concern written on her face. She turned to Ben. "You come with me!."

He locked eyes with her. "Are you nuts those two are helpless without one of us!"

CJ sighed, "I know... but this is the perfect opportunity we can't let it slip through our fingers..."

Ben shook his head. "I'm sorry but I'm not going to agree with you this time CJ."

CJ sighed, hanging her head. "You rather I go alone?"

"No." Mapp stated weakly, lifting his head and staggering to get up. "No one wants that... I barely know you... but if you go alone..."

"I don't think splitting up is wise." Ben stated, stepping forward.

"So what!" CJ shouted, feeling her emotions wind back into her throat. "You'd rather we give up right here right now! We didn't come this far to turn tail and run!"

CJ grabbed her spare gun and grabbed the railing in front of her. "I won't let this monster live!" She used the rail as leverage and flung herself over the edge, landing in the smoke below. Out of sight from the others.

"Damn.." Mapp stated, looking over the edge. "You think I'd remember a girl that crazy."


(Mapp? Susie? Vampyr)

Spoiler:

(sorry A. it took so long and B. is fail. I ARE ILL )

((aww annecake is ill *huggles*))

Elee stared over the railing, her headache making her sway slightly.

"Yeah....You think you would...Hey!"

She watched as Ben grabbed Mapp and jumped into the darkness, leaving her standing there.

"Frak."

She hauled herself over the railings and....fell into the gloom. She landed awkwardly and felt the strain on her muscles as pain shot from her ankle to her knee.

"ARGH! Cramp! Cramp!"

CJ and Ben turned and watched amusedly as Elle hobbled around in a circle, swearing profusely.

"Do this often?"

"Oh i do this for a bleedin hobby!"

CJ smirked but said no more as Elle hobbled.

"Im an engineer! I dont do heroics as a rule."

"Then you really shouldnt have come."

ATCCU

((CJ? mapp? vamp? ))

[AtlantisRules!!!]

Benson looked up as Los walked over. He had been deep in thought. "The Senate's sorted out. Though, I figured our Lord President would be a better choice to assure the public."

Strange, Los thought, normally Benson would jump at the chance to do a duty that the Lord President should. Los nodded and kept his voice neutral, "The Lord President will."

Benson raised an eyebrow slightly. There was something in Los' eyes... something was up, but he didn't have a clue as to what. He would find out eventually, one way or another. But it didn't hurt to try. "Is something going on?" Benson said, sometimes being blunt is the best approach.

Los realized he had made a slight mistake, he had been distracted and underestimated Benson's ability to read people. Oh well, he thought, at least its something that I dont have to keep from him. "You could say that." he said aloud, and left it at that, for now.

(los)

[Gregorius]

Back in the Fortress, Greg and the woman appeared in a room with only Cassius there.

"Welcome back, Lord President. Madam."

"You really need a name, dear."

"Names are so ... lower, but if you insist you can call me Anna."

"Cassius, how much research is left from project 102?"

"Enough to continue it."

"Excellent, you'll work on it with Anna. The moment it's possible, bind yourself and her to one."

The Lord President disappeared.

"How typical...but I guess it's what we made him." Anna sighed.

"What do you mean?" Cassius asked her in honest curiosity.

"And what did that old man mean with 'Q yet not Q'?"

Anna sighed and pushed the hair from her face as memories of eras past shot in front of her eyes.

"I'll tell you, but first I need to know something, Cas. This project 102, is it related to that Tardis he brought with him to the Continuum?"

She saw shock appear on Cassius' face.

"He was building an army afterall. How typical of him."

"You're absolutely right, Anna, but it was to be expected from someone who has seen as much combat as he has and is, in some ways, his superior.", another female voice spoke.

"Lady Laplace." Cassius nodded at her. "Weren't you supposed to be at the senate meeting?"

"I'm pretty sure he'll survive without my help. Afterall, they're scared of him." She turned her head to Anna and checked her out. "So you're the infamous Q he talks about, or should I call you Anna?"

"Let me guess, you're that sentient Tardis he brought along with him to the Continuum, and my, my, how you've changed. Do you dress like that to get his attention?", Anna said with a small smile on her face.

"Look who's talking, dropping onto a meeting table all naked; even now you're dressed like a harlot. Then again, from what I know of you it's what you are.", Laplace retorted with a similar smile.

As the ladies were verbally slapping each other Cassius was watching the screens. Suddenly he left the room and left the bickering ladies wondering what was going on.

==========

Meanwhile in the Senate Greg was preparing to give his speech but was taken aside by P90.

"What is going on? I heard rumours of our forces fighting the invaders."

Greg pushed him aside and his bodyguards retrained P90 as P90's anger grew more and more.

"YOU CAN'T DO..." The guards silenced P90 as Greg took the stage.

"Ladies and Lords, you might be wondering why you're here and you might've heard rumours. I'm here to tell you " He paused for a moment "That all of them are true. We are at war."

Shocked senators were talking amongst themselves by the impact of this news.

"I will not lie, this enemy has brought the Q and the other higher beings to their knees. This enemy, you created."

Greg grinned internally as he noticed the colour drain from the faces of the senators.

"As we speak a small portion of our fleet is gathering near the rift to engage the enemy and take control of this side of the rift before their defenses are in place. I've given instructions to the leaders of the Triangle Empire to prepare their fleet and join us in battle. As of this moment the Impossible System is on lockdown."

P90 managed to get free from the guards and started shouting.

"You can't do this!! You can't drag the humans into such a war! They don't stand a chance!"

"What do you think the enemy is doing, P90? His entire fleet consists of lower species that are exterminating the higher species."

"I won't have it."

At that point Chancellor Rassilon entered the Senate and upon hearing of P90's remarks gave the order to arrest P90. Mere moments later P90 had been placed in the holding cell that had once held Mapp.

Back at the Senate the Senators had agreed to give Lord Gregorius wartime powers and priviliges, and thus is went to pass that the Time Lord Empire went to war once more.

=====================

Meanwhile Draygon had arrived close to the rift but was stopped by an unknown barried and had suddenly found herself inside a Tardis commanded by Lord Cassius.

"Lady Draygon, welcome."