Hmmm... several of these people are known villains from various worlds, Terexaltherin shares with the rest of the group as he observes the group entering. This Jerlanech seems to be the one in charge. Focus fire on them--aim to disable rather than kill, and maybe we can get something out of them. If you guys start it, I'll hold position and see about catching anyone who tries to flee.
Azzim was soaring invisibly near the roof of the warehouse when he watched the group enter the airlock. The moment terex suggested capturing them, Azzim send a quick reply ::Hold on to your hats, gravity is about to get funky, mostly for them!::
Concentrating on the area around them, he whispered a strange word before turning a small loadstone in his hand upside down. There was a flash of radiance around the group of villains who suddenly found themselves hurtling towards the ceiling!
"Understood locking targets, waiting for fire command, note don't be close to them when I fire"
So, a snap and flash and the six visible figures go hurtling up to the corrugated metal ceiling of this storage building - Andreecha lands on her feet along with two of the cyborgs while Jerlanech and the others tumble to ground. All reach for their weapons while Jerlanech, pinned to a florescence fixture, shouts "Wait, Parlay, Parlay, we have deep secrets and we will talk, halt the magic!". The pirates look around ready to fight but are at clearly at a disadvantage and not actually drawing weapons (mostly blasters and laser pistols).
Meanwhile Terex and Snobarny are in close striking range but hidden behind air vents.
Andreecha looks at Arlo and says "Come on, cut us a deal, we gave you one earlier...
"Give me the word and they are red mist"
We don't want you, we want the one who sent you, Terexaltherin speaks to Andreecha alone, staying hidden and keeping his mental tone severe and threatening. How are you contacted? Where do you pick up the parts? Has he told you what his goal is?
Azzim doesn't halt the magic just yet, instead he studies them to see if any of them have a particularly strong reaction, especially if they hide it.
"Answer him truly and I'll let you down. Oh and if you lie, I'll know..." Azzim called to them.
Jerlanech whispers "Hold!" to the others of the band and sits up on the ceiling. "Go you can tell whether I'm lying 'cause I'm not. We all got recruited at The Pillars after some runs of bad luck, worlds destroyed and all that. We were just to deliver goods here on a regular basis. We might have known..." She spits. "Our contact just calls themselves Throat and frightened even me. We pick-up supplies at this system's outer moon. What more do you want to know?" stops. Andreecha is looking carefully but intently at Arlo and Lyra.
The pirates in general have a more cowed look but they're all gripping a piece of the corrugated roof, ready for gravity to re-reverse...
If Azzim thinks Jerlanech is telling the truth, he'll let the others know over the link, and anything he might know about Throat. He also sends, ::Shall we tell them to leave the system?"::
So none of you knew you were working for Fentor Fizzlebrow? Terexaltherin asks, trusting the others to watch their reactions as he 'speaks'. He's continuing to keep himself hidden as he questions the pirates. Not a clue that what you were delivering was probably going to cause chaos and destruction on a wide scale across the multiverse? How did this 'Throat' let you know when another shipment has arrived?
At the mention of Fentor the Jerlanech and Andreecha shudder and the other pirates blank. Jerlanech turns to Terex "Well, you know we're not pretty. We didn't know what this shipment involved but we weren't in a position to be picky. I don't know what Throat is either but he looks a bit like Umbar Hulk but a huge mouth that often open. He is usually waiting on Sarcama Base when we arrive - if he's not, he'll have left more goods". Andreecha interrupts "Throat's real name Morisalin Nofin and he's a greech aligned with some foul force or other... Can you take us into 'protective custody' Arlo?"
Greeches are these things, Terexaltherin shares with the party, sharing some images with them. They were with the undead giant... Levin Munel, I think was the name. Taking them into protective custody sounds like a plan to me, it'd keep them out of things, but we'll want to quickly follow up on this lead, this Morisalin will probably escape.
Jerlanech says "A warning, our ship has probably left without us by now ." Her eyes take a desperate cast, afraid the party will think themselves betrayed "No my doing, our procedures, told you as soon our agreement was clear ... I can guess coordinates if you want to jump aboard but it's dicey. I can give Sarcama's coordinates too, you might be able to outrun them. Your ship looked pretty fast..." Looking at his comrades, "Best drop communicators by now..." and the group hastily remove black rectangles and toss them toward an empty area away from the party as these begin to hiss...
Andreecha interrupts "Throat's real name Morisalin Nofin and he's a greech aligned with some foul force or other... Can you take us into 'protective custody' Arlo?"
The dwarf godling, taken aback by the request, stutters, "Ah. Um. Um. Yes. I suppose."
Looking to Lady Lyra, Arlo shrugged, "It is a legitimate request for aid..?"
How quick can we get these people secured? I don't think they're lying about how fast we're going to have to be about this if we're going to catch their contact.
Lyra, keeping her guns trained on the group of pirate, brusquely says "I can put them in stasis and then the shuttlecraft" turning to the pirates "one false moving...stasis first"
Snobarny looks at the group, shift away from his fierce hybrid form to his usual nebbish self and takes out a couple scrolls. "I keep a supply of these just in case. Unless someone has casting of teleportation prepared, I can help..."
She gets then under ice while the others carry on the investigation
In the bleak metal building that turns out to be a gear warehouse (like half of Madelainreat), as the pirates are being covered with foil and shrink wrap for stasis, Snobarny shakes his head. "A lot of things happening at once here. It makes me wonder what your Gift message could be? Maybe a patch to stop this virus? We know there's a connection... I'm nervous leaving this place but catching the rest of the crew seems necessary. Let's go...
I do have a couple teleporation scrolls too, Terexaltherin states, But you got yours out first, so let's use them. We do need to move quick here, so everyone, gather around! We want to get on that ship before it gets too far!
So, after a bit of consulting and the placing of Andreecha and co into stasis, the party teleports to the small, featureless kiosk that marks the security deport inside entrance. Using hooks previously established in the system, you re-don your light "space suits" and return to the probe. Time total - .0098 solar radians (~7 minutes).
Once again, you behold the wonder of the Madelainreat solar system with it's strange fractal moons sequences extending to winking dwarf stars spread across negative curvature space...
Wasting no time, Lyra lifts the probe up and begins scanning for both Sarcama and the ship containing the remaining pirates... Sarcama is about 23 hours away as the non-euclidean crow flies while the pirates are moving fast, 15 minutes ahead. "I doubt they've figured out all the tricks of this weird local gravity. I think I can and we'll wind-up with a comfortable lead. But some magic aids might be useful" Lyra sends.
"Hmm not sure I'd want to attempt teleportation magic in such a peculiar environment. But I'm sure there's something we can try. Terex lets see if we can come up with something..."
Azzim considered the various magics they had available and, based on what they knew of the celestial mechanics of this area, how =best to give them an advantage.
Maybe if we think of it a little like planes that have subjective gravity? Terexaltherin suggests in response to Azzim.
Let's see... space is a vaccuum on this plane, right? So virtually no friction, so we could think about some spells that push or throw things, too... my telekinesis is too weak to really do much to something this size, though.
Using a variety of dimensional tricks, the party's craft jumps ahead of the pirates and avoids the swirling chains of connected asteroids rotating indirectly around Madelainreat... The lead time currently seems like two and a half rotational radians (about two hours).
"Wow! Great flying!"
So, do we go straight for Sarcama, or do we go for the ship first? I'm inclined to go for Sarcama first, we want to climb the 'chain', not snip off one link.
She pecks her husband on his cheeck,
"Thank you honey I do my best"
Standing back up she looks over at the monitors,
"We have two hours"
With careful and cleaver flight, the probe arrives at Sarcama four hours ahead of the remaining pirates. Snobarny spends much the flight staring out the window, making sketches and typing code into his tablet. [b]"The last time I was here, I wasn't able to record this stunning starscape and I resolved to do that if I ever got a chance.
Skimming low and landing hidden and behind the drop-off zone Andreecha described (an ancient pyramid in the lunar desert), you arrive only five miles from it, hide the small ship under lunar dust and set-up off towards it in one of the probe's ATVs (the moon's atmosphere is too thin for flight). Arriving at the pyramid, as usual Terex and lead the party down a couple hallways and then enter the drop-off room. It is empty but your rogues can hear a lift rising up, seemingly likely to arrive at a hidden door in ten minutes. And you estimate the other pirates could arrives in an hour.
Terexaltherin takes a quick look around.
Well, I don't immediately see any traps, he reports after a bit But we should be careful. We might have been seen on the way in. Still, I think our target is going to show up here, he indicates where the lift seems to be coming up. Time to prepare an ambush for them?
She brings the ship into land, and drops the exit ramp, heading to the Cargo Bay Lyra suits up.
"Clime on Baby, I will have you there in now time."
And with that she takes off.
Soom they get to the ancient pyramid can lands. As they other set off she walks over them, Lucky this pyramid was mide of a grand size, and she was able to follow them down its great hallways.
Always at the back she hovers just behind them.
::Shall we take a look around, and set up a little surprise? I don't want to over do the veiled mindscape idea, but one looking exactly like this but with a few twists could be quite insidious.:: suggested Azzim.
She brings the ship into land, and drops the exit ramp, heading to the Cargo Bay Lyra suits up.
"Clime on Baby, I will have you there in now time."
And with that she takes off.
"You often do", the dwarf smirks.
The "drop-off" room/cavern is huge, 1000'x1000'x40', carved in the ancient limestone of the moon's jutting mountain. The ramp from the surface comes in on one long side and the door to the elevator shaft on the oppoiste. Irregular patches of broken limestone and saw dust on the vast floor area...
As the group investigates, Terex and Snobarny can't see any specific danger but Terex feels instinctively leery of elevator shaft and door and the rogues avoid getting close.
When Azzim shares his idea, Snobarny smiles, "I do love haunting illusions and the like. And I can summon a variety of critters to add to the fun, rats, wolves, Sarvinian air-octopi, and a few other things... Plus man-of-a-thousand-face and all that. Could be fun.
Something subtle enough our quarry doesn't notice until they're too far from safety to retreat? That sounds like a good idea. Let's do it!
She stands still, her massive rail gun on her back. But she was not inactive, putting ser sceners to full range she scans of anything off.
"Scanning"
Azzim inspects the area, aiming to memorize it in detail as he works on his plan.
With words of power the veiled mindscape starts taking shape, and as it does Azzim explains over the link, ::I'm overlaying the mindscape over the real entrance, keeping it faithful. The layout is almost exactly the same, except once you go in a fair bit the exits just don't exist. If somebody reaches out to disbelieve they're touching the real walls. Now the thing is inside they're trapped and we can make all sorts of fun stuff happen if we like. Per the rules of the spell I do have to choose an exit, and I'm going to choose a random camp bed in the corner which they have to go to sleep on to exit. I can guarantee that sleep will be the last thing in their mind however...::
So, Azzim casts his spell and the party waits another five minutes as a small leak in distant part of the huge stone room softly drips... then the lift door opens and a strange creature, apparently the creature known as throat. It is carrying a number of boxes and strange scientific equipment. In appearance, it is a vague humanoid-insect hybrid, the maws and rough head of an umber hulk, a very wide mouth, a thick, jointed neck and a more humanoid body... It puts down the boxes and begins setting up the equipment. And another five minutes and a group of humanoids enter, the remaining pirates and quickly approach the creature (though with a bit of wariness, they are clearly a little afraid of it). "Jerlanech, Andreecha and their landing party failed to return. We left out of fear of discovery.". The thing looks at them "You left because you are cowardly swine like all your kind.... it is absolutely still, thinking "Still it is good you avoided capture. I can consider other zones of Madelainreat
Hidden in the walls of the mindscape, Snobarny seems to summon a number of wolves and rats (also hidden) "Shall I begin our play or does someone feel further inspiration?" His tongue is showing as he stares at the group of pirates...
Arlo steps in front of the group, magical longsword drawn. "Mind yourself."
There is a whining sound from behind `and above Arlo, as slowly the barrel of a very very large rail-gun looms, pointing ominously at the target of his words. The 16' tall Mecha holding it, locks its stance to take the back wash if it fires it.
"Just say when baby"
Wait! Let's let them talk for a little while longer, see if they reveal anything interesting. Wait until they notice the exits have disappeared to jump them.
Azzim agreed with Terrex and watched carefully, hoping to pick up all the subtle nuances of this conversation. He was particularly interested in anything that might shed light on the wider plot.
The exchange between Throat and the remaining pirates continues for a few minutes, The pirates are stoic and amoral, understanding they are expendable but numb to fear and natural survivors. Throat is a superminion, working for whoever pays his price but sickened by more monkey-descended humanoids of the multiverse. For a second, Throat breaths in and Azzim experiences a powerful intuition...
Then, the creature taps the floor and a telescreen rises from the imagined floor - Azzim realizes he needs to fabricate a readout of the entire solar system of Madelainreat on this device to maintain the illusion..
Okay, let's see if we can pull this off, we want to see what he's trying to show them. Let's see, here's what I've learned about the solar system...
The view screen rises, and shows a perfect picture of the starry fractal of planets and asteroids spiraling through hyperbolic gravity that makes up Madelainreat's solar system. Throat stares at the screen focusing on the giant, hollow planet Madelainreat "Fascinating, Port 27 is now open. It's good you arrived here now, partial capture or not. This will us a much direct rout to 'Minty'..." ... and Azzim, having mastered Throats habitual subvocalizations by now, can read "And activate the Blue Matrix, yes...
There was a mental pulse over the shared link as Azzim sent ::Good job Terex! So I uh have a wild eyed theory, I suspect Throat just communicated with an entity, in the Gardens Of Zizvadin, bargaining most likely and I'll bet my last gold piece it's with Fentor... ::
Then on hearing Throat's subvocalization he asked Terex, ::He said activate the Blue Matrix whatever that is...:
Azzim pondered what that might be.
Azzim considers. He could probably name several hundred significant planar phenomena referred as the Blue Matrix in different contexts. But close to Mechanus and related to interplanar meddling of the worst, there is perhaps only one - a rumor, a vague reference in the holy books of worshipers of The God Mischief (in he/she/they're many guises) to a back door planted in planar generation processes of some world close to Mechanus (Madelainreat?), that when triggered could chaos a wide swath of the multiverse...
Lyra is at the ready but waits. The others seem to have found some great leeds
Well, I wish we could get out of them what 'Minty' actually is, but I doubt they'll reveal anything more right now. Knowing it's connected to this Blue Matrix is enough to know we can't let them close to it. Let's go ahead and capture them. Maybe this 'Throat' will be willing to trade more information in exchange for not turning them over to anyone who can pry more out of them...
As the viewscreen goes down, Throat looks around and says "Well, [terrifying Aklo curse]" and again looks around again slowly "OK, I think I know what's happening, 'mindscape', there an exit somewhere, we must proceed systematically, trust nothing but try each thing that might remotely like leaving... doors, of course, but drawers, anything, especially something new..." they begin searching and move in the general direction of the beds...
Azzim sent ::GO! GO! GO!:: over the shared link as he fished out a small section of 18 carat gold chain he'd bought from a jeweller's in Sigil. He held it in his hand and concentrated before uttering a spidery word. The golden links in his hand vanished with a small flash at the exact same moment golden chains of light surrounded Throat, attempting to immobilize him. This was accompanied by the sound of unearthly bells!