On
the flight back, we finally got the calcs for the amount of mithril we
recovered. 45 trillion credits worth. fwoo. Fuckin hell and all thanks to that
murderous bastard Hail. Seth informs us that he is sure that if HQ heard about
it, neither we nor that mithril would see the light of day, ever. Ambells said
she has a way to hid it and Guil grunted. While
the Commander and that bitch dealt with that issue, we got a bunch of
broadcasts. Propaganda broadcasts from none other than the Sugar Bowl. That
crazy witch is blaming us for what happened there. Man, if she thinks that was
bad, just wait till she sees what the Commander has up his sleeve next. The
local radio is much more glamorous about the fight and how the Last of the Off
Bloods went mental and wrecked the joint. The
battleship is screaming out of here as to not draw any attention. The last
thing those bastards want is for the galaxy to find out about the Chitten and
the slaves in the mines. That Off Blood is going to see to it that this place
burning in the minds of everyone when it comes to slavery. We decide to join
the group of rescue ships, over 78, heading to the mines. Our plan is to merge
with the herd, and when they're busy getting survivors, we just fly casually back
with them, nothing suspicious aboard at all. The
Ambella pleads with Seth to head out to stash the loot while we mingle with the
rescue fleet, taking the pilgrim and disappearing over the horizon. They find
the abandoned facility and meet up with Commander Hail and spend some time (so
much time) getting a site ready. The
rest of us arrive at the mines and fly around as the Chiten and slaves are
fleeing the main entrance and the slavers have all fled or are being picked off
by rescue ships. The human computer begins picking up life signs still
underground. As we approach, Guil then informs us that one of the lifesigns
that aren't doing so well is a Draconin. I stop, to consider this while
Northorn approaches the lip. He then immediately tries to fall down, but Grey
grabs him by the tail, hauling him back up. We
decide to acquire the aid of a nearby goody too-shoes and their equipment.
Negotiations were aggressive but there were no fatalities, just some minor
scrapes. With the winch acquired, They crew straps me in and lowers me down,
accompanied by one of the drones. About
halfway down, I see a green glow, and approaching closer, there's a high elf
with a bunch of draconin, They are obviously overseers and some of the pond scum
that is being executed above. I make a snap decision and realize that I can’t
take on this many at once, and not while tied to a hoist. We
spend a few minutes talking about the reward for their rescue and then I assist
them with teleporting the 300ft back to the surface. Once on the surface the
High Elf states he is a man of position and will not pay any price for our
assistance. As
we speak a pleasure barge appears, and it si completely decked out with guns,
and a massive shield. Out of the ship emerges an elite avian orbital shock
troopers. They are dragoncorps level. All seems bent on death and are welcome
to it. The Avians have already opened fire on the rescue ships and the Pleasure
barge is quickly brought down with the cimbinded fire power of the small fleet
in place here. The
good part being that the rescue ships were ready for a fight and they took that
barge down in a heartbeat. The bad news is that I was the first thing between
the shock troops and the rest of the beings here. I tugged on the line and Grey
mistook my meaning and slid down the rope to join me. Once
the fighting started I could no longer hold back. I drew out The Mark and let
the rage fill me as he helped me whirl my way around. Grey and I stood side by
side, twirling like kites in the sky. The Avains fought hard but had no hope
aginest the two of us. Aloura was called on and she took the souls of those
that could not be saved and their bodies fell limp. The entire fight lasted six
seconds and the bodies were swallowed up by the sand. Two of the Rescue ship were the Titian one and two
that we had meet earlier. I took it upon myself to once again make The
Commanders offer for him. I talked to the old man and he seemed more agreeable this
time. I hope to one day find out what is on that magical drive of The Commander’s,
but until then, I will respect it and fear it’s quotes. After finding some
Mirthril clumps in the sand I offer them to the old man as starting pay and he
agrees. That will really set us up now, the Pilgrim, The Cadet, Titian One and
Two, and Fang and Claw. We are starting our own fleet. It’s going to be hard to
stay inconspicuous with a fully fledged fleet. Seth and Ambella bring the Pilgrim back. Apparently
psychic vision hijinks occur, and I'm not in the visions again. I'm starting to
feel left out, but it's better to just not know what I don't need to know. All
Seth reminds us that we still need to go and get Wolfgang’s blood for the final
part of the collapse of the wards. Guil
then informs us that we're now completely locked out of the transportation
system. Either the transport system is out of order, or they've upped security
a ton. As they're discussing this, Grey gets a call from Tress, asking for a
current location. That's when the titan and the bodyguard teleport to our
location. Typical. Hail
then tells us that he has learned of at least three other teams here, which is
little surprise after running into Armond last night. He also has information
that Horus troops are mining radioactive ceramite, which again we already knew.
He then begins analyzing Seths memories as he states his aura or something is
out of time. I never understand all that bull shit. He completes his scan of
the Commanders brain and then the same with Ambella and myself. Hail is sure
that we have somehow fucked up time and he is sure that this is what he and
Tress have been haing problems with. Then it's a lovely talk about many precogs trying to
cancel out each other in a lovely and irritating way. I miss the days of
straightforward battle, but alas, it will be the time of the precogs. Apparently,
something big is about to happen, and Ambella tells everyone to arm up. The
extraction team is about to be called in. Typically, they aren't ready and want
us to meet them at the Konjar depot, not too far from here. Seth, with the help
of Tress complete the amulets from the mithril, while Ambella learns a neat
trick that lets her draw a weapon out of thin air. (I need it). Now
as if all this shit wasn’t bad enough, now we need to go and meet a huge ass
dragon and convince him to die. It went so well. That was till he said he
didn't recognise Seth with his nose. Typical. Wolfgang
asks Seth if he can reactivate the ward once it is broken. Seth says he needs
help in accomplishing such a feat. Apparently Wolfgang already knows that we
would both break and repair the Peace Rune. Then a bit more about time and
paradoxes, honestly, I would just rather hit my head against a wall. Now we
just have to convince him to to hold off on being the sacrifice till the time
is right. The
traveler then pops in for another chat, is utterly confused about the fact that
we know who he is, and also informs us that Tiamat is now in orbit and is
actually going to be coming here. I feel much better after pissing him off a
little, it's exceptionally stress relieving. He
then tells us about the Shield Maiden, an entity that Tiamat has been
repeatedly bringing back from the dead, and who acts as a guardian for those
who cannot protect themselves. An interesting character indeed. He then
explains some things to Seth, telling him that he is not the right with Time
and will need to wait till he balances out to have more explained to him. As
usual, Seth dismisses him in an aggressive way. He then passes a bag over to Ambella, saying we have
everything we need, telling us weird stuff about our futures (pretty much par
for the course now). Ambella is on overwatch, the rest of us are on personal
security detail. I take up position next to Seth and Grey as he goes arts and
craftsy, I wonder if Grey can be spayed. That's
when tweedle-fluff appears with sir alexander. Convenient. Ambella tries to
convince him that maximum security response needs to be on standby, which
requires far too much convincing, because 'everyone will die' is apparently a
lot of people. Tiamat has landed , it would take her
an hour to get here. Harlad provides us with access to the sight of the
procession on the way over. A few minutes later, we're rudely interrupted by a
bunch of matte black robots dropping down from a hatch above. Ambella nails the
first one through its core, and the second is also quickly dispatched before
they're aware of the resistance. Seeing the gap, Northorn gives me a boost, and
I go flying up, smashing apart the next one, and sparking electrical energy in
a wide arc as a I drop back down in an uncontrolled manner splattering into
floor of the arena far below. Well that would have happened but Ambella did her
Fey steep and grabbed me out of thin air and set me back down on the roof of
the Sugar Bowl. That's when the ritual activates. A massive surge, and
then all the peace wards are knocked out. Guil is ordered to dispatch the
drones to a site alongside the main plaza. Which is where we pop into being,
lined up like a bunch of fucking heroes, we were. Two giant portals open in the
shy where the ward was and a wave of enemies just smash into us, and we wade
right the fuck through the first vanguard. Then we dig in, smashing the enemies
asunder and apart. The
locals begin arriving to sort of help out, sort of die alongside us. Ambella
flinches, and I blur into position right next to her. I tried catching the blow
to head with my hammer but the beast was to strong and his hitting my hammer
just drove the force weapon into Ambella’s skull with a deafening thud. As her
brains and blood blinded me for a few moments I found I was being lashed at by
many different beings. I finally did as he asked and let myself over fully to
The Mark. I was able to get my vision clear just in time to see a giant monster
tear Grey in half. The bastard finally got his death wish and I would be
joining him soon. The tide knocks everyone back, I sprint alongside Seth,
knocking down the beastie that was trying to pounce on him. The others are overwhelmed
as Bjourn simply gives in and lets his explosives talk for him. The explosion
sends me flying into a sales booth and that was the last thing I remember
seeing. Aloura was smiling at me and telling me that my time has
not quite ended yet and that she will collect me soon enough. I died, I was
killed by those damn monsters. I would kill as many demons as I could, if she
would just put me back into the fight. She again told me that my fight was not
over and that soon, I would leave this reality and start a new life. What kind
of god speak bullshit is this? I awaken with Tiamat amongst us, casually causing the
damage to repair itself, both structural and body. I watch in a both horror and
amazement as the wounds throughout my body self heal. She raises the Sheriff
from her knees, appearing to heal her. She finally stops and kneels beside a
body, mangled and torn to strips of mangled leather. She whispers to the mess
of flesh, blood, and bone and Seth reforms and then stands with us all. Once
she finished her cursory examination, she approaches Seth, and begins to talk
to him about his 'curse'. "You are out of place in time and spirit, you
will regain our true self soon." Words that rang after my own god had
basically said the same thing. After a short conversation, she just walks
through Seth, turning into energy and vanishing. The Sheriff greets us, telling
us to keep our weapons hidden, before we're teleported back to our rooms by
Guil. We grab our stuff, and prepare to move out. I'm gonna’ miss the rooms and
the blood. After
assembling the team and all passengers we head out to meet the extraction team.
Wraith actual and the Dcorps pick up the Commander and bodyguard, while having
a very touching moment with Grey, and he gets presents! I want presents. After
they've left, Shepard returns, and 'congratulates' us on avoiding an absolute
catastrophe. Two for Two. We
get two weeks of R&R, and a trip about a pleasure cruise on the way back to
federation space, along with a set of coordinates to head to. Apparently we
need to keep him surprised and other people pissed off.
We
need a shopping trip without the shadow of an apocalypse over us.
