The GateWorld Cantina Chronicles

[aretood2]

Jacen finished poring the hot tea for CJ. He now found himself in the middle of something, what it was he was still not sure. And what was happening to him, how he knew Mapp's name eluded him. Every time he heard that name he would envision his lost wife. He would remember the past times of joy, but a lurking dread of fear creeped in as well. Uncertainty of what this joy held, almost as if it foreshadows dark times ahead. 'Last time this happened I found myself fighting a war' he thought to himself.

He grabbed the tea that he finished poring for CJ, her love for the strange drink has always fascinated him. For someone who see's humans as "less" than what one should be, she sure did enjoy a drink that came from the Human home world, or at least the home world of these humans.

Jacen placed the tea on a table near CJ and began to make his way back towards the bar

"Thanks Jacen." CJ said. She didn't know much about Jacen's past, she didn't know where he came from. But she knew that he was faithful to her, however if she should trust him still remains a question deep in her mind. But everyday he proved him self time and time again.

Jacen finally found his place, and wondered exactly what CJ meant by saying that "I've seen things that you could never imagine." He has seen things, maybe not imaginable. But once you see the horrors of war, the mortality of men, everything becomes a thing of the imagination. Perhaps this is what she meant, that everything that had happened to her has brought her both great pain and joy. Maybe this is why her feelings are so conflicted. But what does this have to do with him?

[P-90_177]

Spoiler:

“What are you implying?” demanded Dray cautiously.

“Do you remember after we escaped the Gauntlett’s attack on the rebel fleet, you begged me and to save someone, anybody. You hated the fact nothing could be done to save even one life. And now, you turn your back to it, like ignoring it will make it go away.”

“I know better now…”

“You don’t know any more than you did then, you just process to information differently,” said P-90 patiently. Teaching Dray was like trying to get through to a stubborn child, which he supposed she was in a way. When she still looked at him as if he had suddenly decided to wear a tea cosy on his head, he sighed. Perhaps Greg was punishing him by suggesting he teach Dray. If she was going to be of any help though, she needed to learn the basics.

Draygon watched P-90 with caution. What he accused her of cut her deep, especially after witnessing the murders of the rebel leaders. Was that really what it meant to be a Timelord? To not care when ‘lower beings’ died? She felt uncomfortable. She had strived to be like the Timelords, even before the metacrisis. But the all beings craved power and idolised those that seemed to posses it. She wouldn’t let P-90 know how much his words had hurt her, though he probably already knew exactly how much they had.

"What do you mean by that? Nothing's changed so why would I think any differntly?"

"Really? Are you sure nothing has changed?" he continued, "Look at yourself. You've regenerated in that time. Changed. Your entire appearence has been altered. You even look more Timelord than wraith now."

"But what does that have to do with anything?" she demanded.

"Regeneration doesn't just change you appearence it changes you personality........Think back Dray......aren't you calmer now? Less prone to anger? more ready to confrorm than to rebel as you were all tose years ago before Greg forced your regeneration."

Her mind raced back. He was right. She was still herself yet she had changed. Things had happend over the last few years that she would never have done before.....

"But......you regenerated many times......and you're still the same man."

P-90 laughed grimly, almost out of pity for himself.

"No....." He began to explain, "No I'm not......"

[Draygon]

Spoiler:

"Really? Are you sure nothing has changed?" he continued, "Look at yourself. You've regenerated in that time. Changed. Your entire appearence has been altered. You even look more Timelord than wraith now."

"But what does that have to do with anything?" she demanded.

"Regeneration doesn't just change you appearence it changes you personality........Think back Dray......aren't you calmer now? Less prone to anger? more ready to confrorm than to rebel as you were all tose years ago before Greg forced your regeneration."

Her mind raced back. He was right. She was still herself yet she had changed. Things had happend over the last few years that she would never have done before.....

"But......you regenerated many times......and you're still the same man."

P-90 laughed grimly, almost out of pity for himself.

"No....." He began to explain, "No I'm not......"

Dray looked at him, realising what it meant to be a timelord. To live for so long but never have the guarantee to see the universe through the same eyes or mind that you once did. She couldn't help but think back to the life she might have led as a Wraith Queen, a long lived ruler of a stagnant and dying race. Arrogant, stagnant and resistant of change she thought, guess I do know what it means to be a timelord. Dray looked around the lab once more, at the metallic surfaces and central console. The room felt dead, devoid of the variety that was on offer in the universe. Was this really what she wanted for the rest of her potentially long lives? She'd go mad, or become like those slow brained bureaucrats that seemed to make up the Timelords. She had some fight left in her yet.

"You mentioned learning to fight," Dray said carefully, her eyes still on the room. "Fighting Timelords."

"Yes."

"And I assume you don't want Greg to know that."

"I would have thought that was obvious Dray."

Dray looked back to P-90, yellow eyes burning with defiance.

"Then I'm willing to learn how to fight. I am no one's fool."

[lordofseas]

Los walked among the ruins of the city. Broken pieces of glass and metal reflected light, giving an ethereal ambiance to the carnage. Ahead, ranks of soldiers were standing around a small, flat building. The prison? Los thought. Benson, along with their escort of only four soldiers, excluding the captain, followed. The ranks of the soldiers guarding the prison moved aside, making a small passage to the door. They walked, single file, into the box. The Captain spoke.

"The man, Tael, said he would be in the Warden's office." he said, walking towards the door at the end of the hallway. "They are keeping a few of our men prisoner, along with some civilians. We can't go in, he just asked to meet with you two."

Los nodded thanks for the information. Benson walked up to the door, while Los belted his Ion pistol, and shifting his backpack to his side.

Benson opened the door. Inside, someone sat in a chair, chair facing the window, so Los couldn't see their face. Two guards stood at the side of the chair. The person, presumably Tael, waved a long hand at them. They left, staring down Benson, and attempting to stare down Los as they left. Los snorted, then moved to take the chair at the desk. The chair turned around, and Los jumped up, startled. Benson moved back defensively at the sound of Los' hands slapping the desk.

"YOU?!" Los roared.

(AR/Greg)

Tael opened his mouth, but Los spoke right over the man.

"You ksavek," Los roared, uttering a curse in a different language. "You tricked me!" Benson's head swiveled in confusion.

"Who is this man, Los?" Benson asked, quietly. Los, fuming, turned from Tael to Benson.

"This 'Tael'," Los said, coldly, using his fingers to air-quote the man's name, "worked for me. He was the head of the workers in the building section of the city. His name was 'Karith', then. Why did you bring us here!?" Los roared that last, directed at Tael.

"We don't want to be here. We wish to leave. Already, we have done so. The rebellion is leaving to a planet not on the Stargate network, and will leave this forsaken empire. We rebelled to be free, and now that we are free, we don't want to be on this world anymore. We gained access to the palace, and other major sections of the city to free ourselves."

"How..." Benson gulped. "How many are leaving?" he asked.

"Around 20,000 on New Gallifrey, around 10,000 from other planets." Tael replied. "More from here, because there are far more people here."

"If you leave, will you never bother us again?" Los asked. Tael nodded. "Then take whomever you want, that wants to leave, and get out. I do not want to see you, or your people again." Benson began to glare at Los, but he pointedly ignored it. Tael rose, and walked out of the room. He turned back for a final second.

"You will not see us again." he said promptly, before leaving finally.

Benson rounded on Los. "You can't make descions like that!" he shouted. "We need to both agree on it! You can't just..." Los raised a finger, and Benson tapered off.

"If we didn't let him go, he would have left anyways, and probably took us with him. Come. I need to put some things in motion. There's a fair bit of damage to the city. We need to take a census on who's alive, and bring bodies to a main location to assess their identities. We also need to..." Los went on as he walked out of the prison. Benson followed, nodding occasionally. Los walked over to a non-descript, government building. Department of Sanitation and Public Health, the sign said.

"Why are we here?" Benson asked, stopping before the door. Los looked around, then backed away from the door, motioning Benson away as well, before drawing his Ion Gun. Benson backed away as Los set the Gun to Blast Mode, and fired once upon the door. The door ripped to shards of plastic and metal.

"We are here, because of what's inside." Los said. He walked inside, and pulled out his tablet. He flipped through it, and flipped to the Aurasphere. He beamed it open, and the Aurasphere appeared in the air. Los turned it on, and set it to follow mode. The Aurasphere turned began to emit a hard light, and followed Los. He walked over behind the desks, abandoned in fear of the rebellion. He found the door to the basement, and kicked it open. He walked down the stairs, and saw ahead the vault. He walked over to the side panel, and placed his palm on the genetic lock. Benson, behind him, gasped as the vault opened. Ahead, there was a computer inside, illuminated by the Aurasphere. Los began to type directives into it.

"What are you doing?" Benson asked. "And what is that?"

"It's a computerized program. It controls automated cleaning services. It will take all the bodies to a specified location, and remove all raw materials from the streets, and to some extent, repair the buildings it has blueprints for. You didn't know about it because only me, and the Lord President, Lady Draygon, knew about it." Los purposely pushed a final button on the computer, then shut it off. He placed his hand on the genetic lock again, and the vault began to close on itself.

"Come, the survivors are going to need to come to the Senator's planet with us. They should be getting out from the prison now." Los thought about the numbers for a second. "They have around 50000 cells in that underground complex, and they could fit 10000 more in the corridors. Each cell holds around 10 people...so...510000 people...maybe."

Benson gasped. "What a massacre. And we're just letting those people that did it go." he said harshly, to Los.

"I will do what I must. As I'm sure you will." Los replied.

(AR)

[AtlantisRules!!!]

(AR)

"Your quite right. I will." Benson said, as he reached up to the Aurasphere, then smashed it into Los' head. He turned and ran out closing and locking the doors behind him. "That should slow him down." He kept hurrying until he was out of the building.

A few minutes later he hurried into a Control Room in the Main government Building. "Captain, are there transports in the air?"

"no, sir.." the Captain replied.

"As soon as there are... fire on them." Benson commanded.

"sir?"

"They are traitors who caused everything that was done today, they cannot be allowed to escape."

[lordofseas]

"Your quite right. I will." Benson said, as he reached up to the Aurasphere, then smashed it into Los' head. He turned and ran out closing and locking the doors behind him. "That should slow him down." He kept hurrying until he was out of the building.

A few minutes later he hurried into a Control Room in the Main government Building. "Captain, are there transports in the air?"

"no, sir.." the Captain replied.

"As soon as there are... fire on them." Benson commanded.

"sir?"

"They are traitors who caused everything that was done today, they cannot be allowed to escape."

Los fell to the ground, face scarring against the dirt and rock. He blacked out for a few seconds. He slowly got up. He looked around. The Aurasphere lay shattered, it's delicate framing glittering in the light. He felt the back his head, but felt no shards from the hit.

Benson.

He slowly got up. His knee hurt, so he limped. He walked towards the troops. Shouts and yells came from them. Benson was, according to the sound, attempting to set fire to the ships. It won't work, Los thought. The metallic hulls would practically ignore it. Los found his Ion Gun, switched it to stun mode, and hit Benson from behind. Three times, he hit him, to ensure that he would be down.

"Get everyone off this planet now!!!!" Los roared.

A soldier came up to him. "Sir, we were ordered to.." he began.

"You will do as I say. The military was designed to protect the people. You will protect them by GETTING THEM OUT OF HERE!" he yelled at last. The soldier saluted, then waved his men back. Los turned to the limp body of Benson on the ground. "Now, what to do about you..."

***

Benson awoke. Los loomed over him.

"Where...where am I?" he asked.

"You're on the Beta Site. The citizens and Senators are on the surface."

"W..why are we down here?" he asked.

"You countermanded my orders. In the absence of any real militarisic command, I am in command first. Not you. However, you decided to go against my orders. By law, I could leave you here to die and there would be no other law to stop me." he said, coldly. "However, I find that you are, aside from ignorant, quite capable in politics. So, I will allow you to live." Benson sighed in relief. "I let those people go, because I know every sinle planet in the Stargate system. There are only 3 planets in 3 galaxies that were not seeded with Stargates. It will not take long to search them, and even so, each ship they left on has a unique signature attributed to its powersource. They all can be tracked. I intend on sterelizing the planets they are on."

Benson looked shocked for a moment. "I..understand. I apologize about the Aurasphere."

"I will build another. Come, you need to rest, and I need to check up on something."

Benson ran up the stairs, while Los pulled out some crystals. He stabbed one into the ground, and ran up the slope. The cavern collapsed behind him. Los dialed the gate to a wilderness planet, then stepped through. As he stepped through to the sunny planet, he pulled out his backpack, and using the subspace communicator embedded on his laptop, sent a message to Adaris. Los sat down and waited. Five minutes later, the Stargate opened, and a request popped up onto Los' tablet to open a communcations feed. He accepted, and Adaris popped up onto his screen.

"I'm sending the updates to you now." he said quickly, then pressed a button off screen. A small file appeared on Los' computer. Los saved it, as the Stargate went offline. Los stepped through the Stargate, to the Beta Planet. No one asked where he went. They looked, but he didn't look back. Los found his tent he had requested to be set up earlier, and went inside to inspect the new files.

(AR, please continue "The Morning Later", when we get back to NG.)

[susanne]

Spoiler:

She peered beyond the structure of the half open door that lead to his room. Her eyes transfixes on his form. His breathing was shallow and deep, heart beating quickly, eyes moving rapidly behind the lids. He was dreaming now. in the stage of REM. He would wake up eventually, that was enough for CJ at that point. Still it took all her strength to pull away, knowing that she needed to address her crew and their many questions about what had happened only an hour earlier.

She pulled away from the door and made her way down the halls of her establushment. The first signs of morning trickled in through the window panes, filling the hallways with a sense of wonder, a future that was coming and coming fast. She took a deep breath as she ran down the stairs and into the pub.

Everyone was wide awake and looking at her with questioning eyes. Today she was their captain, it was her responsibility to tell them what to do. Though that had been her job everyday for nearly five years, today was different.

"So." She stated, trying her hardest to remain calm and collected as the images of what she had seen replayed in her mind. "I'm not sure what I saw..."

Everyone sighed, as if letting out all the tension in the room her arrival had caused. Elle was seated on a stool, a cup of coffee hanging limply from her hand. WP stood behind the bar, her arm in a sling, pain written on her face, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. Jacen was already filling a small cup with tea for CJ. Ben was staring her down, face concerned with what he had witnessed and heard spill from CJ's lips only an hour before.

"He's asleep now." CJ muttered, "He'll be better in a matter of days, but beyond that I'm not sure if he'll remember what he's seen, let alone who he is. As owner of this establishment It will be my job to instruct you on how to carry yourselves around him when he wakes."

"And how would that be?" Elle asked, standing.

"Elle, you'll be handling the bar. WP will be keeping an eye on Mapp's vitals.... even if he wakes up monitoring him will be key until we're sure he's fine. Jacen I'm putting you on guard duty, after last night's events people will start asking questions... I need someone who can look out for us." She nodded, thinking she had made the right decision. "Ben, you'll be on clean up and kitchen duty."

"And what will you be doing your majesty?" Elle asked, moving to behind the bar.

CJ smiled, "I'll be the boss, anymore questions?"

"When he wakes up..." Elle stated, her face more serious. "What then?"

CJ laughed, "We let him do what he wants in order to remember. If he wants to order you around, let him. After all he was WP and My boss for years. If it helps him remember what he needs to.. then let it be. Its very important for him to remember so we can figure out what to do from that point and more importantly understand the threat in time."

"What if there is no threat?" Ben asked, his turn to speak.

CJ smiled, "Remember the other day when you showed up? How I told you there would always be another war...? There will always be another war Ben, always be something ominous on the horizon... there is never any rest for us wicked souls."

WP grinned knowingly, having had her share of adventures.

"If you think that whats about to happen will be something you've seen before... forget that. Unimaginable horrors await us in the future... Anyone who isn't prepared to die.... leave now." She stated, "I've seen things that you could never imagine."

The crew remained in their places, ready for what was to come in the near future. None would ever consider how severe the horrors and hardships that would lie in wait for them would be.

(Mapp Susie )

Ya know....for being the glorious rebellion's hideout....this place is BORING.... Everyone had long ago disappeared to do their jobs. Elle did not take boredom kindly, it was something that nagged at her mind to come up with something before she resorted to frying brain cells with TV. The bar was silent and thanks to Ben, sparkling. What else can i do? She thought, idly running a finger around the rim of a glass.

Ok so i got what i wanted....sorta. I may have to keep my snarkiness in check, which is such a shame. I havent had a decent sparring partner in a while. She snorted. Decent? Am i actually growing accustomed to that haughty, conniving little sod? I need to get out more. Im developing Stockholm Syndrome. THAT is unhealthy.

She grinned to herself and grabbed the glass, moving it into its proper place and amongst its comrades. With nothing else to do she decided to peruse the alcoholic beverages on offer. There were the typical earth drinks there, as well as several from other planets and several more that caused a bit of an eyebrow raise. She looked to the left...the doors were empty, as were the right doors.

"Come to mama."

She grabbed a bottle.

---

"That's quite impressive."

"Thanks."

She'd kidnapped Ben to show him a few tricks. Right now she had two expensive bottles in her hands, twirling them around and watching them dance.

"Did you ever enter the barman's games?"

"Barman's games?"

"A couple of people get together to show off their tricks. Its usually held on Pluto..."

"Nah, sounds stupid."

She grabbed the bottles from mid-air and placed them on the bar.

"Ya know....i dont think ive asked....how the hell did you end up in this? You're a nice guy."

((vampyr? anyone? ))

[Vampyr]

Ben nodded, "Yeah, I guess you could say I'm an alright guy." Grabbing himself a seat, Ben motioned for Ellie to do the same. "I'd love to say this is a short story, but there's some exposition that needs taking care of."

"I was part of the rebellion against the Triangle, drone operator aboard one of the larger ships that got taken out during the evac of the Sol system." Pausing a moment to take a breath, Ben continued on, "I was stuck in orbit for a while, don't know how long because the ship's chronometer was dead, along with everyone else aboard."

"I first ran into CJ when what little remained of the ship's sensor net detected activity down on the Earth. I sent a drone down and found, among other things, CJ herself."

"After we'd made it off the planet due to some timely intervention, we parted ways. I had nowhere to go after that, my home system had been sealed off to any incoming or outgoing traffic, so I spent the next five years searching for CJ."

With a wan smile on his face, Ben finished his tale, "How about you? How'd you get here so suddenly and get CJ to spazz out the way she did?"

((Aaaand off to you Susie.))

[P-90_177]

Dray looked at him, realising what it meant to be a timelord. To live for so long but never have the guarantee to see the universe through the same eyes or mind that you once did. She couldn't help but think back to the life she might have led as a Wraith Queen, a long lived ruler of a stagnant and dying race. Arrogant, stagnant and resistant of change she thought, guess I do know what it means to be a timelord. Dray looked around the lab once more, at the metallic surfaces and central console. The room felt dead, devoid of the variety that was on offer in the universe. Was this really what she wanted for the rest of her potentially long lives? She'd go mad, or become like those slow brained bureaucrats that seemed to make up the Timelords. She had some fight left in her yet.

"You mentioned learning to fight," Dray said carefully, her eyes still on the room. "Fighting Timelords."

"Yes."

"And I assume you don't want Greg to know that."

"I would have thought that was obvious Dray."

Dray looked back to P-90, yellow eyes burning with defiance.

"Then I'm willing to learn how to fight. I am no one's fool."

"Excellent!" the Timelord exclaimed, "Then we shall start with this...."

He bounded over to the central console and activated a holographic display that appeared over the top of the device creating an image that filled the room.

"This," he began as he pointed at the image,"is the typical Timelord Cell."

He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and began to indicate certain areas with it. Using it as a pointer as a lecturer would teach a student.

"Notice the double Nuclei of the cell. One is for the purposes of a control centre, whereas the second larger one," he said with a rounding gesture of his pointer around the nucleus, "holds the Timlords genetic memory. You can think of that as a seconday storage of memories. But unlike many forms of genetic memory, the knowledge is not passed on from generation to generation. The genetic material held in this nucelus simply remains within a Timelords body alone."

He turned back to Dray and looked down upon her in some condescending tone that could only come from a teacher towards their pupil.

"Understand everything so far?"

[susanne]

Spoiler:

Ben nodded, "Yeah, I guess you could say I'm an alright guy." Grabbing himself a seat, Ben motioned for Ellie to do the same. "I'd love to say this is a short story, but there's some exposition that needs taking care of."

"I was part of the rebellion against the Triangle, drone operator aboard one of the larger ships that got taken out during the evac of the Sol system." Pausing a moment to take a breath, Ben continued on, "I was stuck in orbit for a while, don't know how long because the ship's chronometer was dead, along with everyone else aboard."

"I first ran into CJ when what little remained of the ship's sensor net detected activity down on the Earth. I sent a drone down and found, among other things, CJ herself."

"After we'd made it off the planet due to some timely intervention, we parted ways. I had nowhere to go after that, my home system had been sealed off to any incoming or outgoing traffic, so I spent the next five years searching for CJ."

With a wan smile on his face, Ben finished his tale, "How about you? How'd you get here so suddenly and get CJ to spazz out the way she did?"

((Aaaand off to you Susie.))

Elle felt sad for Ben, after hearing his story. It sounded bad, living amongst the dead. She wondered how he'd managed to stay sane. She herself had felt the devastation of surviving things others didnt and she wasnt sure if she was screwed in right. Probably not. She conceded.

"Hmm?"

She chuckled on her stool.

"You could say its a talent."

Ben smiled.

"C'mon, you can tell me."

Elle smiled at him. She liked Ben. He wasnt mindless.

"Mapp....crashed into my home on Earth. I rescued him and ended up helping him get here. He's a magnet for trouble."

Elle stood up and moved around to out the kettle on. She froze when she heard what Ben said next.

"Earth wasnt inhabited until recently. What did you do before?"

A cold sweat broke out over her skin and even the relative warmness of the compound felt chilly and dark. She could hear the screaming on the cusp of her hearing. The memories were so intense.

"Elle?"

Her hands shook but she forced herself to twist her mouth into a brittle smile and turned mechanically. Her voice sounded high and distant, even to her.

"Oh i just....survived."

"Earth is an expensive residence Elle."

Her evasive answers werent working. Shoot.

((vamp? ))

[Draygon]

Spoiler:

"Excellent!" the Timelord exclaimed, "Then we shall start with this...."

He bounded over to the central console and activated a holographic display that appeared over the top of the device creating an image that filled the room.

"This," he began as he pointed at the image,"is the typical Timelord Cell."

He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and began to indicate certain areas with it. Using it as a pointer as a lecturer would teach a student.

"Notice the double Nuclei of the cell. One is for the purposes of a control centre, whereas the second larger one," he said with a rounding gesture of his pointer around the nucleus, "holds the Timlords genetic memory. You can think of that as a seconday storage of memories. But unlike many forms of genetic memory, the knowledge is not passed on from generation to generation. The genetic material held in this nucelus simply remains within a Timelords body alone."

He turned back to Dray and looked down upon her in some condescending tone that could only come from a teacher towards their pupil.

"Understand everything so far?"

Dray nodded slowly, still staring at the image. P-90 sighed.

"Shall I use smaller words or do you not understand the concept?"

"Sorry," said Dray, wincing a little. " I do understand it! The second nucleus is what lets a Timelord remember even after they've regenerated, right?"

"Broadly, there's more to it but we'll go with that for now." He went to change the image.

"So when you made Mapp human," interrupted Dray, "you removed that part of his DNA as well. He won't ever remember who or what he was before."

"Weren't you listening at the time?"

"I wasn't really paying attention," she said quietly. "My mind was on other things."

P-90 looked at his erstwhile pupil. Lessons might take some time it seemed....

[Admiral Mappalazarou]

The snow was thick beneath her feet and stifled softly as she marked her footprints along it. She came up to that curve in the landscape, the ridge over which stood the gate. She settled there and stared down the hill to the silver ring as it arched up out of the white earth, dormant, the symbols of Elle’s home world still glimmering from a faint residue of Gallifreyan power. It was a sample model, rushed into creation by Mapp during the last days of his final visit to the colony.

CJ sat at the peak of the slope and rested her chin in her gloves as her thoughts reached through the phantom wormhole and into the glittering upper city plains of City 001. Earth was indeed moving on from its troubled past, but she wondered if all of the social artificiality that the Triangle had introduced over the last five years had damaged the world even more. She remembered standing outside the forgotten library on the ruined city island and being hypnotised by the sight of a small sunflower curling up out of the toxic rubble. Life had already been returning so naturally in the absence of the humans, but they returned and Draygon had ordered them all to speed up the process. She wanted to see the Earth shine again, brighter than it had ever done 50 years before...

She rolled her eyes and fell back on her arms. Ideas flowed in and out of her head like river water, but only one of them made her lean forward again with a sudden and stiffened curiosity. She remembered what she had been told the last time she was on the Earth...

...But you have nothing left to fear anymore. You're the only one who can see the universe for what it is, in its most bland and perfect form. Like us it was born and bred for a purpose, and we're all just a part of it. We're like ocean currents being carried along by its force, but sometimes? Sometimes we battle it out. Sometimes we form waves, and storms, and send them rippling out like tidal waves across the surface of every galaxy.

That time is coming. We're going to have that talk, and then you can make your choice.

‘We never did.’

But the library...

The library is the key.

It was like an alarm had screamed her mind wide open. She never actually sat down with Mapp, and they never actually shared that kind of heart-to-heart. She knew that’s why his return was so crucial to her, deep down. She had been to the library, the ruined library built in the once submerged ruins of an old monastery, probably in what she suspected used to be Eastern Europe. That was the place she found hope again, when she found that book...

...Her book...The GateWorld Cantina; By S.Bresnen...

The GateWorld Cantina...Is it...Was it like some kind of prophecy? Foretold? When I heard Mapp’s voice back then, he told me that the library was fundamental to the future...Or did he mean in the future? Does he mean now? All I found was that dusty old book! Its only importance was in its name, the rest was just her diary. If I told anyone that I found the Cantina in the library, they’d presume I meant the ship, not the book...

....Not the book...

......The library is the key...

....So the Cantina’s on Earth. It would’ve gone into hiding I suspect, away from the forces of the empire....

***

As the morning sunlight dawned over the ice plains of Midna, the disfigured moon gloomed down over the fearful residents of the planet Earth. The last building of the ruined residential block of City 001 collapsed to the metal ground in a deep rise of black smoke and dust, having been pulled at by the emergency services for the last hour. They had received orders only days before that the entire sector was to be flattened and cleaned up, ready for fresh blocks to be installed and new homes to be established.

They just hadn’t expected it to become a slum in the meantime though, and it came to some surprise just how many had been left homeless from the crash. There were people in the streets, their wealth and possessions taken down in flames, their businesses off-world and their thoughts in general disarray. Many reasons had been given for what had happened, and most had settled on the idea that it was an asteroid impact even if there was no basis for that theory and a stunning lack of space debris scattered around. However the victims had chosen to believe it, primarily because the remnants of the sector had become a desolate and well-guarded encampment. The government had claimed the quarantine to have ended, and yet it felt stronger than ever before. If anyone approached the new military gates and asked to leave, they would be escorted back to their tents (or known officially as ‘temporary accommodation’) and ordered to stay. It was like the city had fallen under martial law, and communication with the twin cities on the other continents seemed to be thinning.

There had been rumbles around the slum that something big had happened on New Gallifrey, and that the armies of the Earth had been recalled to deal with an even larger threat. Either that or the Triangle Senate had suddenly decided that Earth was just not worth the hassle and had simply abandoned it to its long-delayed fate. Whatever the reason, everybody on Earth was in the dark about what was happening out in the galaxy...

Well, almost everyone.

There was one creature on the planet Earth who was extremely well tuned to the happenings of the adjacent galaxies, who had the power to flap its ancient wings and fly up and out to somewhere safe and secure, but had astoundingly chosen not to. It had fled after the crash, picking itself up from the rubble; it turned south west to an Atlantic island once known as St Helena which, despite its remoteness from the rest of the world, its city had been reduced to ruins by a relentless storm of orbital bombardment.

The new Triangle had chosen to focus on re-establishing civilisation in the main land masses first and so St Helena had been left to rot and decay off the toxic African coast, a couple hundred miles away from the impenetrable walls of City 001. As several of the skeletal skyscrapers had been knocked down and buried by venomous storms, the brittle infrastructure of an ancient marvel stood tall out of the cold ruin...The library.

Its bent glass roof still lined with the circular iron frame like the summit of the ancient A-Bomb dome of Hiroshima, which was large enough to allow a small cargo ship through...

***

CJ clicked back behind her eyes as if she had just been awoken from a dream. A brail wind of hungry epiphany licked at her back, and she almost slipped as she rose onto her feet.

The Cantina is hiding in the library, She beamed and turned back towards the colony, we have to go back to Earth after all!

As she hurried back, she considered how easy it had been to work things out and focused on keeping herself weary. It wasn’t going to be easy breaking through the defences and quarantines of the new military-ruled City-001, and they’d need a transport to return to the island. She could guide them. She had been there before.

But still, something burnt in the icy caverns at the back of her mind...

...This is all seems a little too simple...

[Commander Jumper]

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

The snow was thick beneath her feet and stifled softly as she marked her footprints along it. She came up to that curve in the landscape, the ridge over which stood the gate. She settled there and stared down the hill to the silver ring as it arched up out of the white earth, dormant, the symbols of Elle’s home world still glimmering from a faint residue of Gallifreyan power. It was a sample model, rushed into creation by Mapp during the last days of his final visit to the colony.

CJ sat at the peak of the slope and rested her chin in her gloves as her thoughts reached through the phantom wormhole and into the glittering upper city plains of City 001. Earth was indeed moving on from its troubled past, but she wondered if all of the social artificiality that the Triangle had introduced over the last five years had damaged the world even more. She remembered standing outside the forgotten library on the ruined city island and being hypnotised by the sight of a small sunflower curling up out of the toxic rubble. Life had already been returning so naturally in the absence of the humans, but they returned and Draygon had ordered them all to speed up the process. She wanted to see the Earth shine again, brighter than it had ever done 50 years before...

She rolled her eyes and fell back on her arms. Ideas flowed in and out of her head like river water, but only one of them made her lean forward again with a sudden and stiffened curiosity. She remembered what she had been told the last time she was on the Earth...

...But you have nothing left to fear anymore. You're the only one who can see the universe for what it is, in its most bland and perfect form. Like us it was born and bred for a purpose, and we're all just a part of it. We're like ocean currents being carried along by its force, but sometimes? Sometimes we battle it out. Sometimes we form waves, and storms, and send them rippling out like tidal waves across the surface of every galaxy.

That time is coming. We're going to have that talk, and then you can make your choice.

‘We never did.’

But the library...

The library is the key.

It was like an alarm had screamed her mind wide open. She never actually sat down with Mapp, and they never actually shared that kind of heart-to-heart. She knew that’s why his return was so crucial to her, deep down. She had been to the library, the ruined library built in the once submerged ruins of an old monastery, probably in what she suspected used to be Eastern Europe. That was the place she found hope again, when she found that book...

...Her book...The GateWorld Cantina; By S.Bresnen...

The GateWorld Cantina...Is it...Was it like some kind of prophecy? Foretold? When I heard Mapp’s voice back then, he told me that the library was fundamental to the future...Or did he mean in the future? Does he mean now? All I found was that dusty old book! Its only importance was in its name, the rest was just her diary. If I told anyone that I found the Cantina in the library, they’d presume I meant the ship, not the book...

....Not the book...

......The library is the key...




***

As the morning sunlight dawned over the ice plains of Midna, the disfigured moon gloomed down over the fearful residents of the planet Earth. The last building of the ruined residential block of City 001 collapsed to the metal ground in a deep rise of black smoke and dust, having been pulled at by the emergency services for the last hour. They had received orders only days before that the entire sector was to be flattened and cleaned up, ready for fresh blocks to be installed and new homes to be established.

They just hadn’t expected it to become a slum in the meantime though, and it came to some surprise just how many had been left homeless from the crash. There were people in the streets, their wealth and possessions taken down in flames, their businesses off-world and their thoughts in general disarray. Many reasons had been given for what had happened, and most had settled on the idea that it was an asteroid impact even if there was no basis for that theory and a stunning lack of space debris scattered around. However the victims had chosen to believe it, primarily because the remnants of the sector had become a desolate and well-guarded encampment. The government had claimed the quarantine to have ended, and yet it felt stronger than ever before. If anyone approached the new military gates and asked to leave, they would be escorted back to their tents (or known officially as ‘temporary accommodation’) and ordered to stay. It was like the city had fallen under martial law, and communication with the twin cities on the other continents seemed to be thinning.

There had been rumbles around the slum that something big had happened on New Gallifrey, and that the armies of the Earth had been recalled to deal with an even larger threat. Either that or the Triangle Senate had suddenly decided that Earth was just not worth the hassle and had simply abandoned it to its long-delayed fate. Whatever the reason, everybody on Earth was in the dark about what was happening out in the galaxy...

Well, almost everyone.

There was one creature on the planet Earth who was extremely well tuned to the happenings of the adjacent galaxies, who had the power to flap its ancient wings and fly up and out to somewhere safe and secure, but had astoundingly chosen not to. It had fled after the crash, picking itself up from the rubble; it turned south west to an Atlantic island once known as St Helena which, despite its remoteness from the rest of the world, its city had been reduced to ruins by a relentless storm of orbital bombardment.

The new Triangle had chosen to focus on re-establishing civilisation in the main land masses first and so St Helena had been left to rot and decay off the toxic African coast, a couple hundred miles away from the impenetrable walls of City 001. As several of the skeletal skyscrapers had been knocked down and buried by venomous storms, the brittle infrastructure of an ancient marvel stood tall out of the cold ruin...The library.

Its bent glass roof still lined with the circular iron frame like the summit of the ancient A-Bomb dome of Hiroshima, which was large enough to allow a small cargo ship through...

***

CJ clicked back behind her eyes as if she had just been awoken from a dream. A brail wind of hungry epiphany licked at her back, and she almost slipped as she rose onto her feet.

The Cantina is hiding in the library, She beamed and turned back towards the colony, we have to go back to Earth after all!

As she hurried back, she considered how easy it had been to work things out and focused on keeping herself weary. It wasn’t going to be easy breaking through the defences and quarantines of the new military-ruled City-001, and they’d need a transport to return to the island. She could guide them. She had been there before.

But still, something burnt in the icy caverns at the back of her mind...

...This is all seems a little too simple...

CJ ran as fast as her body would let her. Her feet leaving small dents in the snow, she moved so fast that she barely touched down on the snow. She slowed to a stop in a flash of an eye to the front of the pub, her heart racing with excitement and adrenaline. she threw open the door, sending an icy chill through the establishment.

Elle and Ben looked at her like she was crazy. Her eyes were wild and echoed strong excitement. She charged towards the two stunned workers, her boots pounding relentlessly on the hardwood floor. She grabbed one of the bottles from Elle and popped it open, taking a dramatic swing from it and slamming it on the counter.

She grinned. "Now that I'm done with the theatrics... I'd like to gather everyone for an important talk."

---
Elle watched as the group assembled around CJ, she was constantly the centre of attention, a fact that Elle had put at her merely being in the game of heroics for quite sometime. CJ took a deep breath and smiled at everyone. "Not sure how to say this with eloquence and dramatics... because I so very much want to... But really that had always been Mapps' forte..."

Elle gave her a look that urged her to continue.

"We need to go back to Earth." CJ stated plainly.

"ARE YOU KIDDING! THAT SUICIDE!" Elle screeched, patrons at the bar turned in Elle's direction causing a flush to form on her face. She brought her voice down a pitch and looked at CJ pointedly. "especially if we go through the gate."

"That's the plan." CJ stated, looking like she had settled on it once and for all.

Elle knew there was little point in arguing with CJ, but she was just as stubborn. "how do you suppose we get through, they have an iris and guards. Its one of the hardest places to get into.... even harder to get out of if you come unannounced from Off planet."

CJ smiled. "That's why we take Mapp's GDO."

Elle looked concerned, she didn't like CJ's reckless plans. "And the guards? CJ I'm pretty sure that since a 'little girl' like myself and a man who could barely remember his name managed to get in and use the gate... they've stepped up security. Plus there was the fat that when he and I escaped there were less than half the regular guards stationed due to his ship thingy crash landing on my house."

CJ nodded, looking like she was thinking seriously. "We get guns."

"GU-" Elle noted her temper again. "guns.... you are aware your guns will do nothing against the New Triangle's weapons right?"

"You aren't going to dissuade me." CJ stated, "I sate before the gate... and my mind was drawn through. I saw your home, your slums, the rubble, the bodies in the street. the sprawling metropolis of city 001. I was pulled beyond your shining barrier. Through the desolation of the world outside... through the toxic ocean... finally to the island where the library is... that is where we'll find our answers."

"In a bunch of old books?" Elle asked, wondering if CJ was serious or just crazy. She settled on a little of both.

CJ nodded, "So my plan is..WP, Ben and I will go through the gate and get what we need."

"Scuse me... yeah grandma." Elle stated, looking very irate. "WP is wounded and what about Mapp. Also.... WHAT THE HELL! IF ANYONE KNOWS EARTH ITS ME!"

CJ smiled, folding her arms. "I knew you'd be eager. Sadly we can't leave till Mapp wakes up... he's the key to getting what I want."

Ell laughed, "What? you need someone to step on so you can reach the high up shelves in your little library?"

CJ snorted, "Not exactly." She smiled at her silent crew. "so who's in?"

[Vampyr]

"Uh, CJ?" Ben asked. "I appreciate the whole gung-ho attitude, but Elle's right- just marching in through the gate like that's just going to get us killed. I'll follow you to Earth if need be, but might I suggest an alternate plan? One that preferably doesn't involve us trying to break into the place like a bunch of commandos?” Ben shook his head, “I don't know what kind of training you've had in your lifetime, or the exact extent of your abilities as a Reaper, but some of us aren't ground pounders and certainly aren't immortal.”

“My proposition is simple: we take my shuttle, Shadow of Departure, to Earth and pose as simple travelers, or even new colonists. I'm hoping by that time, Mapp will have enough of his faculties back to play along with the charade, but we'll have to improvise if he doesn't. That way we don't end up having to drag him through the gate like a lump of rock. I'm assuming we're taking him through with us?”

[Commander Jumper]

"Uh, CJ?" Ben asked. "I appreciate the whole gung-ho attitude, but Elle's right- just marching in through the gate like that's just going to get us killed. I'll follow you to Earth if need be, but might I suggest an alternate plan? One that preferably doesn't involve us trying to break into the place like a bunch of commandos?” Ben shook his head, “I don't know what kind of training you've had in your lifetime, or the exact extent of your abilities as a Reaper, but some of us aren't ground pounders and certainly aren't immortal.”

“My proposition is simple: we take my shuttle, Shadow of Departure, to Earth and pose as simple travelers, or even new colonists. I'm hoping by that time, Mapp will have enough of his faculties back to play along with the charade, but we'll have to improvise if he doesn't. That way we don't end up having to drag him through the gate like a lump of rock. I'm assuming we're taking him through with us?”

CJ looked at Ben square in the eyes, her blue eyes turning to a stern silvery colour as midday sun shone through the windows. "I think that you'll come to know things here soon enough and how they work. I have knowledge far beyond yours. I've reached out into the depths of space and I saw what needs to be done... so I'll tell you this here and now. I am the captain, what I say goes.. no matter how outrageous and terrifying it sounds. Also all unscheduled air crafts that enter the airspace of Earth are shot down or brought in for questioning. Our best shot is to go for the Gate at night when they'll have the least guards. From there Elle will lead us to safety."

Elle smirked in victory.

CJ grinned, "As for Mapp... well we leave when he wakes up. Hopefully a journey back to Earth will jog his memory."