Current Mission Time:  Other Mission Info:   New Character Creation Past Mission Logs Hall of Fame! Back Door  - Tactical Center Search Site:  Boolean: ANDOR Case InsensitiveSensitive

After San and Rath return in the sub,  a more detailed investigation of the SuperNode is undertaken, led by Krau.  The group discovers is is connected to hundreds of people, monitoring them, feeding back data and images, and providing direction to them.  An extensive dump of the people and locations is done, and it is discovered that certain Guidors (governmental leaders) and even an RSF attache is under the influence of the machine.  The data is quickly relayed to the RSF, who send out a special force to take over the investigation.  The RSF Colonel appears grateful/amazed that the group has come up with such a prize, and consents to resupplying the Back Door, and to allowing the group to skim some of the holdings from back accounts controlled by Eristicon forces.

Cleanup and evac then begin on  the island.  Krau (not feeling well after Radiation exposure) and Gung Ho (mangled/missing leg) are taken off to the Vember hospital in Evalo with Dr. Watson.   The RSF begins a search and investigation of the undersea complex.  San meanwhile takes the large sub out to Hubiss Flats, a sea-platform city where a contact recommended by Tony Baka is willing to consider buying the ship.  Along the two day trip, San has a peaceful encounter with some of the large undersea denizens of Vember, and manages to avoid a minefield after gettting briefly lost.  He eventually makes it there, and completes the transaction.

Back at the Vember hospital, Gung-Ho comes through treatment with flying colors, but Krau has only partial success and seems more sluggish and weak than ever.  The Vember doctors recommend treatment at a bigger facility, perhaps on Terek.   San returns to Evalo, where the ship has landed for shore leave and resupply.   A shopping expedition into the local Evalo markets ensues, and various weapons/armor are bought.   San visits an exotic dance club to retrieve Orzo, and takes in the sights, to be retrieved later by Rath and a squad of Marines.

The group also gets a lead on an Ibrivian craftsman who can do custom chameleon mods to armor.  They schedule a trip out to Ibrivia, passing over the huge and enigmatic Vaga Tuur construction site.  The armorer takes the orders and delivers as promised several days later.  The group then departs with the crew in the Back Door for Agidda.

Entering Agidda system a week later, the Back Door refuels at the gas giant without incident.  The ship then jumps for Terek / Verdania, also making the journey without any special problems.  Upon arriving in the Terek system however, Gung-Ho notices that his lucky-charm (aka Nexus Cube) is flashing...
 

[ no points awarded ]

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The Back Door approaches Verdania (aka Terek-5), and San is contacted psionically by Tyrone Briggs, a Halo Foundation leader.  He is told that his ship is clear to land, but the crew must remain onboard or else depart and then later have their memories 'modified' by the Halo Foundation.  San initially says that he will keep the crew onboard, and then lands the ship.  Waiting for him is Secorn, who scans the group and then lets them in.  San speaks with the Halo leadership about the offer to let the crew out, but expresses concern given that certain members of his crew (Gung Ho) have a bad reaction to psionics.  He is told that the Foundation can help him with that problem if Gung Ho wishes to be cured.  Rath tactfully puts the hypothetical case in front of Gung-Ho, being careful to avoid mention of any psionic aspect to the treatment.  Gung agrees, and he is brought in for treatment. Celine contacts him in his dreams, and helps him to shed his fear and anger against psis.  Gung wakes up later in a room occupied by only a beautiful woman, who expresses direct interest in him.  Events progress naturally from there.

While on Verdania, the group is invited to a closed-door session where Committee information is exchanged.  Halo offers it's information on the goings on at Terek, while the group gives details on the events on Vember, and recent discoveries regarding Eristicon.  San has a chance to meet Feno once again, and talk with her.  She seems much better, more outgoing, but does not share any particular revelations regarding the future with anyone.

Krau Li also receives treatment from Celine for his injuries, and he is partially restored.  He wakes up unceremoniously later, without the same after-procedure care as Gung.  Something inside him tells him to be jealous, even though he doesn't know why.

Before the evening is over, Krau,San,Rath and Gung-Ho decide to go pay Emmett Brown a visit.  Emmett has been granted a small farm on the outskirts of the Foundation-owned valley, within walking distance over the flat arid terrain.  As they approach, Gung notices that his cube is flashing more erratically.   They enter a large barn which is filled with various 'finds', equipment, machines, junk, fusion power plants.  In the back they find Emmett, hunched over a device featuring a toilet seat wrapped in fine Lanthium windings.  Emmett is excited to see the group, and he is immediately shown the lucky charm cube of Gung Ho.  He says "it makes sense now"! upon seeing this.

Emmett relays a story regarding the Hivers.  He says that the Hiver Advance Physics Topical Club left him with material on the cube, as their captain had now forbid this line of investigation.  Emmett has spent the previous few months trying to glean information from this in order to build his own Fugue Device, and he has had little luck until the past day (which conveniently conincides with the arrival of the Back Door into the system).  Emmett wants to give a demonstration of his device.  He passes out small lanthuim cubes, each exactly 1.0875 inches per side, to everyone.  He says the group should be able to "see outer space" once he powers up his equipment, and allows another cube to go through the toilet-gate.  Gung's necklace flashes urgently as the device powers up.  Before the group can object, Emmett tosses a cube through the seat.  All goes blank..

What the group sees next is a large chamber, with a Hiver floating in the middle of it.  He is the Fugue Master, and the time is apparently during the Eristicon attack on Terek.  The Fugue Master is surprised to see others in the chamber, and says that the Fugue device is malfunctioning.  He says it is due to the Nexus device, and that the group is now "unstuck" in space/time.  He cautions them not to change their "configuration", but says there is little he can do to stop them from drifting.  Soon all goes blank again.

The group reorients themselves and finds they are in a crystal covered cave.  "Curly", the Komar Servant, is brought out.  He informs the group that there has been a time change, and that the year is now  -3500 on the Imperial calendar.  The group hides in the cave as a procession of robed figures approach, bearing a large platter.  The platter is set before a clearing that is surrounded by cubes, similar to Gung Ho's.  The objects in the center can be made out to be devices, similar in description to the strange objects the group has encountered before (the storage device, sphere calling device, komar servant device, etc.)  The leader of the group holds a cube out in front of the ring, and at once the objects in the circle vanish!  The procession then leaves, and as they go, the group can make out markings on their clothing bearing resemblance to those used by the Naasirka Society.  The last to leave the cave is a small boy, who comes in, and steals one of the cubes at the perimeter of the circle.

After they are left alone, the group debates what to do.  After consulting with Curly, they finally settle on a plan to try to get back to where they belong by attempting to activate the circle using their own cube.  They enter the circle and Gung Ho holds out his cube, and the group once again gets a disoriented sensation, this time emerging in a dark vault, filled with objects similar to those on the platter.  Curly is consulted, and he declares the date to be -4045.  The group loots the room, taking several artifacts, along with armor and strange rifles.  As they gather things, they hear someone approach and open the door.  The person begins frantically searching for something on the floor.  Gung-Ho uses a large sphere to knock the man out, who falls to the floor, dropping several cubes.

Explosions can be heard outside, along with screaming.  Gung-Ho takes the man's armor, and an archaic sword.  The circle is once again set using the found cubes, and the group dissapears once again.  They emerge in the middle of a battlefield.  A large moon can be seen overhead, and it appears to be burning and glowing.  Huge landing craft hover above, dropping thousands of seeds into the sky.  Explosions can be heard in the distance, illuminating a ruined city to the south.  Pieces of bodies, and even the wreckage of a large starship can be seen.  The group heads for the relative cover of a large hill, once again consulting Curly.  Curly informs them the date is -5400.  Krau looks at the stars, and estimates the position to be Vland, the Vilani homeworld, based on nearby stellar landmarks.    On the side of a semi-active volcano, the group decides in desparation to use the original cubes they held at the start of their journey to move through time again.  Gung Ho takes out his cube, and holds it in the center of the ring.

All dissapears again, and the group finds themselves in a featureless space.  San begins to hear voices in his head, conversing with each other.  Over time he is able to establish a dialog with them.  They claim to be the Komar, the Ancients who once inhabited the material world, but who have long since left after fighting an epic battle against an enemy known as the Aftakomar, hundreds of thousands of years before the present day.  After taking some time to aquaint themselves with the workings of material beings again, they ask what the group is doing "here".  Krau relates the story of the found artifacts, including the Primary Transport, now being used as a weapon in the material world.  The Komar seem to have little concern for the goings on of the material world, even those events which have been caused due to their technology.  What does appear to concern them is the contact made by the group, and the ramifications the event will have to a long-standing treaty between the Komar and Aftakomar that explicitly forbids contact with the material world.

The Komar appear openly worried about this, at least in their physical manifestation. They relate that the Aftakomar already know of the incident, and are on their way now.  Krau offers to help the Komar by returning their technology to them, if the Komar will help.  The Komar cannot openly offer to help, but agree that it must be done, perhaps to avoid a renewed conflict with the Aftakomar.   After questioning, they also admit that the Aftakomar have similar artifacts they have left behind, but few if any have ever been found, because they exist in material form in the realms of hyperspace (aka jump space).  Krau manipulates the Komar into revealing that Black Sector is a likely location of such devices.   The Komar refuse to allow the group to retain their found artifacts they have brought, except for the Komar Servant, which the Komar allow so as to aid the group in sending back any spheres.    The storage device and sphere the group has are also excluded from confiscation, since they were not brought on the journey.  The group is sent back to "the original departure point", aka Emmetts Lab, without the previously mentioned items, but with everything else, including the strange weapons and armor.

Emmett is puzzled, expressing dissapointment that the experiment "did not work like before".  He apologizes and offers to try again.  The group gives near unanimous opinion that he should look into a new line of study...

[ 2 points awarded ]

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The group begins to wrap things up on Verdania.  Krau goes in for special treatments to deal with his jealousy.  Gung-Ho, who has been thinking his career over, offers his resignation from the Marines, but agrees to stay on with the group in a civilian capacity.  The group gets together and decides to send the malfunctioning sphere in the storage device back through the nexus gateway.  Krau arranges the Lanthium cubes, the device is placed in the center, and Gung-Ho brings out his lucky charm to send the device back to the Komar.

Attention then turns to finding out what the strange rifles brought back from the time travel trip do.  Gung-Ho and San go out into the open fields of Verdania, and set up a firing range.  Danger sense tingling, San backs off until he feels comfortable.  Gung-Ho pulls the trigger, and immediately collapses, blood dripping from his nose.  There is no other apparent effect.  Medics, Psionics, Haz-mat teams are called.  Rath orders San to be  put into a big isolation bubble. San complies, but refuses to give up the rifle.  The doctor scans Gung and finds that he has neural damage, which is also confirmed by Cora.   Gung is taken into the Halo complex to be seen by Celine the next morning.

In a dreamlike state, Gung encounters Celine once again.  Celine says it is fortunate that they were "intimate" recently, because she now has a very good map of his mind.  Gung realizes that his encounter with the cute Halo member was more than it appeared.  Celine restores Gung's mind to more or less it's previous state, and he awakes in a darkened chamber, with an old woman screaming at him.

Krau meanwhile has begun research on the strange sword brought back.  He finds that it is actually a sword of the Sirkakarun, or Star Emporer Family.   It is unclear who it belonged to but it is likely the sword of Aday Akis, son of the Vilani Emporer on Vland during the Consolidation Wars there.  Akis was to defend the capital from the Dagashii, a secessionist warrior caste that eventually conquored the planet.  History also reveals that shortly after the occupation of the capital, it was destroyed in a violent eruption from a nearby volcano, killing defenders and occupiers alike.

San crafts a message to Remmington, acknowledging receipt of his message.   The crew is brought onboard, and the Halo Foundation provides some substitute memories for them, to cover their memories of the actual Halo Foundation.  The main command is spared this deception, and are told that the rest of the crew will believe they had the best shore leave ever.  (This later prompts Orzo to come to the Captain to beg forgiveness for his behavior over the past few days.)

An attempt is made to leave Verdania, but there are some piloting problems, and while the crew is sorting out what went wrong, Tyrone Briggs comes onboard with a message from Celine.  She has granted the group's request for Psi support for their mission to Quaver.  Clara Brown, wife of Emmett will be assigned.  She has Electrokinesis ability, but has not mastered the skills required to fully use it yet.

The ship finally lifts off.  Course is set for the Terek mainworld.  The ship contacts the local authorities, and San is informed that he must meet with the Navy on an urgent matter.  San shows up with his command staff, and meets a stern Admiral Efram Calgary III, in charge of the 29th Cruiser Squadron of the 108th fleet, under Rear Admiral Frank Stanton.  Calgary has received orders from Stanton to detain the Back Door and question the crew regarding the dissapearance of the sphere, (and ship it came in for that matter)  following the jump to Ishimshulgi.  Explanations provided by Max and team were apparently unsatisfactory to the Navy.  He tells the captain to prepare a report for the next day.

The group skulks back to the ship and mulls their options.  They decide to tell most of the truth, except embellishing a bit regarding when the sphere was sent back through the gateway, and also adding that the nexus was consumed in the transfer as well (a fabrication).  The Admiral meanwhile has had the Back Door's logs pulled, and finds the ship has been to Verdania.  After hearing the tale told to him, he requests details on what happened there.   The group offers that the Navy should contact the Halo Foundation, and they can confirm what has been said is true.   Eventually, Tyrone shows up, and meets with the group.  He says that the Halo foundation wishes to help the group get out of their problems, but must not cross the line when it comes to manipulating the Navy, lest the trust between the two groups be broken.    The long and the short of this situation is that Tyrone talks to the Admiral, who eventually consents to releasing the ship and crew.  A report is to be sent to Naval Command on Bastil, and to Max.

The Back Door heads over the civilian highport, where it docks.  Krau has managed to track down the Cheese-Laden Ox, the mysterious ship that has been sending messages addressed to Mr. Ho.  The working plan is to send a reply to the ship from the local public Brubeck's terminal, stating that they are ready to meet to discuss terms.  The group heads out to Brubeck's and sends the message, but Rath notices a man casing the place, watching the group.  They make a quick exit after sending the message, and on the way back, they discover a group of Vargr looking out a nearby window at the Back Door, admiring the ship.  They begin to ask lots of questions about who the captain is, where the other Vargr crew is, what humans are doing there.  Things look like they will pass uneventfully, until Gung-Ho utters the comment that the Vargr crew is not around because they are "having their flea dip".   A knife fight immediately ensues and Gung-Ho gets some minor cuts, but Rath breaks it up with his pistol, and shuts the door.

Arrangements are made to meet Fantow Miller, the originator of the message, at a public location at the Terek downport.  San, Gung-Ho, and Rath head down for the rendezvous, with standard procedures.  Rath remains behind to check things out, Gung-Ho approaches and finds a man, woman, and baby at a table.   The man is nervous and shows the baby to Gung, making it apparent that the "goods" are in fact this child.  Fantow wants an additional one million credits to close the deal, and mentions that they have "already spent 10 million".   Gung-Ho decides to call in for backup, and Rath and he escort the trio, at gunpoint, back to the ship (after using the "committee-get-of-redtape ID" with the RSF port security).   On the ship, Miller and wife are interrogated.  It turns out the child is a powerful Psi with teleport capability, which is evidenced as the child suddenly dissapears from San's hands, reappearing near the woman.  The couple had stolen the child from it's parents on Ghourxa, and were looking to sell it to a man named Thaddius Ho, on the RS Barn Door.   The group calls Tyrone to come and take responsibility for the child, and the RSF is alerted to the scam and take custody of the couple.   The money, excepting about 100,000CR, is apparently all on Ghourxa.   The RSF makes an agreement to share any proceeds from the bust with the rest of the committee, and says it would consider transferring the 100KCR to the group for operational use.

[ 1 point awarded ]

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The next priority for the group is to find Aline, and Krau sends out a copy of Zima in search of her.  This quickly runs into an existing, newer version of the AI software, which identifies itself as Zima M17.  Through this, a note is sent to Catlyn.  Gung Ho wanders around the starport and gets funny looks, and "nice costume" comments.  Puzzled, he investigates, discovering that there is apparently a popular video show called GI Ho, Greatest Terekian Hero! with a protaganist that very much resembles Gung.  He even finds an action figure for the show that looks like him.

Some time later, Krau receives a reply from Catlyn, and a meeting is arranged at her apartment in the city.  San,Krau,Rath and Gung go to meet her.  While taking the elevator up to her floor, San gets a very bad feeling about things.  They decide to go up another floor and avoid getting off on the 8th.  Once on the upper floor, the group is attacked by several men using some sort of neural paralysis weapon.  San and Krau escape, but Rath and Gung are taken prisoner.  They are dragged down the stairs into a waiting limo, and driven off, blindfolded.

San and Krau retreat to a nearby building, and send for help back on the ship.  They scan the sky and ground for signs of someone, but do not find them.   They contact the RSF for help as well, and when they arrive, they search the building, only to find it empty.  It has apparently been set up to look like an occupied apartment building.

Meanwhile, in the basement of some building, Gung and Rath are interrogated. Questions regarding David Remmington and the Naasirka society sleepers the group abducted previously are asked.  This, along with various Vilani decor suggest strongly that the abductors are involved with the Naasirka Society.  Gung is interrogated first, and can truthfully answer he knows nothing about the abduction.  He is taken to some sort of medical lab for further probing.

Rath is brought in, but while waiting, Rath has escaped his restraints and is waiting for a moment to make his move.  In the medical lab, one of the abductors begins to strip Gung down, discovering the ancient Naasirka armor he is wearing under his clothes.  Not willing to take any chances in damaging this, the abductors unwisely release Gung from the table in order to get the armor off.  Gung seizes the moment, punching out one of the guards before the other has time to pull out a stunner.  He then turns and takes the other out.  The lead abductor escapes the room, and heads down the hallway, calling for help.

The call for help is the distraction Rath needs.  He makes his move, and lunges at the surprised guard, taking him out just as the lead abductor enters the room.  The man is surprised to see Rath free as well, but does not have long to consider, as Rath grapples him and restrains the man.  Rath calls to Gung, and the two make their escape, while being pursued by other guards.  They flee out a door, discovering they are on some sort of estate.  Rath takes the lead abductor with him, as Gung remains behind to take out several of the pursuers in an ambush.

Meanwhile, Krau has used Curly as a tracking device, having him locate Gung-Ho's lucky-charm necklace.  The group comandeers an RSF grav vehicle and they speed out to the estate, meeting Rath, Gung, and their abductor-turned-captive on the road.  When they return to safety, they are informed that the estate belongs to their hostage, a Republic Assembly Representative for Dingir,  Eneri Mimrak.  The man is taken aboard the Back Door and interrogated (creatively by Gung)  for information, but utters only "Ma Amriidum ili Karun Ishim", and suddenly begins having seizures.  He is rushed to sick-bay, where the doctor pronounces him dead.  A subsequent examination reveals a nerve poison RSF is reluctant to interfere further by invading the estate.  The body is given to the RSF for handling, and an "accident" is arranged for the body.
 

[ 1 point awarded, 2 for Rath, 3 for "GI Ho" ]

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