While Bluetooth had a certain amount of sympathy... perhaps even empathy... for Toz Raz, it wasn't enough to make him foolish. As Toz Raz slipped ahead, Bluetooth rushed after him somewhat stealthily. He was prepared to dodge an attack by the room's automated defenses should Toz Raz prove duplicitous.

Alas, though the Yag Haz were an intelligent species, Bluetooth couldn't help thinking of them as vermin... useful in their place but sometimes had to be exterminated. If that's what the Yag Haz turned out to be, he would be sad at the waste, but would do it just the same.

Toz Raz had just indicated that Yag Haz eggs had been cryogenically frozen as well. Just how many was he talking about? Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands?

Axander began to follow Toz Raz in, but was stopped for a brief moment by a furred figure slipping ahead. Bluetooth. Probably a good idea, so the almost-Time Lord didn't make any move to stop him. Instead, he just followed behind, leaving the decipede between the group behind and the tiger-person ahead.

"Of course I'm coming. I just don't particularly trust you after your first few attempts at murdering us, that's all." He put the encyclopedia away as he stepped forward, and took no notice of Tarys's departure.

Archives – Tarys:

Hali led Tarys around the corner, where they soon found another row of friezes. And some disturbingly familiar figures – squat, pepperpot-like machines, with eyestalks, weapon-sticks, and plungers had landed on the Yag Haz's world. 'Daleks.' Hali squeaked in horror.  But the Yag Haz word for them was K'lade. The Daleks and the Yag Haz confronted each other, the decipedes rearing to attack. The next panel showed their smoking carapaces on the ground before victorious Daleks. But the survivors dealt with the Daleks with more deference, and all their legs on the ground.

After that, Dalek and Yag Haz worked together. They constructed what Tarys recognised as a Dalek base. In the next, they dug deep, deep into the earth. The following panel was more of a diagram, with a great globe representing the planet. A line from edge to centre showed they'd tunnelled all the way to the core, and installed some kind of engine there. Tarys was reminded uncomfortably of one of the early shots in the Time War, when the Daleks invaded the strategically important planet Earth in its 22nd century, tunnelled to its core, and attempted to install an engine that could allow the entire planet to be piloted for some reason.

And here, they'd already done it.

The next panel showed a complex map of the Milky Way Galaxy, or Mutter's Spiral, its rotation frozen in stone. There was an arcing trajectory following the dark and empty spaces between the spiral arms, linking two spheres, one in motion and marked with Yag Haz glyphs, the other a target, marked by a series of interlocking rings or clock-like gears. A glyph there meant "waiting" or "time".

Then came a complex image depicting two spheres, two whole worlds, crashing together, with courageous and hopeful decipedes dropping off the first, landing on the other, and slaughtering the humanoids they found there. Humanoids with elaborate circular headdresses, being torn down and torn apart with pincer and mandible.

Ortega and Vax were just up ahead, with the professor expounding on the final panel.

Weapons Depot – Axander & Bluetooth:

'I suppose you are right to...' Toz Raz said from the door as Axander followed it into the Weapons Depot.

All around him, Axander saw racks upon racks and vault after vault of weaponry. There were several models of bizarre handguns suited to the pincers of the decipedes. They were many deadly rifles that would fit around their carapaces, and even some that could be mounted on a decipede's back, turning it into a scuttling tank. Bombs of all kinds were stacked and ready. Vials of strange and unnaturally coloured chemicals stood ready on shelves. The vaults no doubt held worse sights.

And, arrayed against one wall, a row of automatic blaster turrets were reactivating, moving stiffly with age and cold, guns raising and tracking Axander and Bluetooth...

'...Because this time I will succeed, Time Lord!' Toz Raz screeched maniacally. Instantly the decipede scuttled away toward the shelves of blasters, no doubt hunting for the ideal weapons with which to destroy the alien enemy.


OOC: You really, literally, walked right into this one, again. :p Toz Raz goes on Movers, Turrets on Fighters.

Archives

Looking at the friezes, Trace studied the panels. "I guess this is bad news then. We're trapped underground, in a frozen city, on some sort of interstellar 'war world' with the last surviving member of a hostile species bent on genocide." He followed as they headed towards the professor.

Archives

Tarys takes a deep breath, steeling herself for whatever fresh nonsense Professor Ortega was about to offer for their consideration.

She glances at Trace without a hint of a smile.  "It happens more often than one would think."

Archives – Tarys, Trace:

Tarys had certainly recognised Gallifrey was the target of this kamikaze planet, but could feel a small amount of relief. If a planet of insanely aggressive decipedes had collided with Gallfrey, well, she probably would have noticed. And this planet would no longer be intact. The attack hadn't happened yet, its timeline was unresolved; there was still time to prevent it. Provided, of course, she could drive a whole planet off course, its controls frozen in ice somewhere.

'...most of the friezes we've seen so far have depicted the past. But we seem to be in the future here. The carvings are somewhat newer and in a different hand, or pincer, if you like. It may be a prophecy, a Ragnarok- or Apocalypse-like event, a final battle between the Yag Haz and these others. We may be seeing their religious beliefs. Quite fascinating...' After his earlier shock and breakdown, Ortega had regained some measure of control and the blinkered attitude he'd made himself notorious for. But there was a quaver in his voice, a wild stare behind his spectacles – it was the tension of a man who'd seen all his plans and works in ruins and was now somewhere past the point of madness, holding on to the one thing keeping him sane: an overwhelming ability to ignore the obvious and shocking truth.

'Sir, those were Daleks. We need to be get out of here. There's something going on back there, there's one of those Yag Haz things outside...' Vax tried to break his professor's fixation, with no effect.

They came to the end of the final battle between good and evil, or rather, limp and helpless Time Lords and all-devouring Yag Haz pulling them limb from limb, and moved onto an almost blank section of wall. '...Ah, now we come to a different style again. See how shallow and hastily carved it is? The fellow must have been in quite a hurry. Hmm, it seems to be the last one...'

Tarys, Trace, and Hali caught up and saw the final few panels. There was another attempt at a space map, only this time a trajectory had come from the clock-face world, one bearing a sigil translating to "Death" (a decipede on its back, legs in the air). It intersected and stopped at the Yag Haz world.

Bizarrely, the final panel then showed an array of crudely scratched stick figures of humanoids with blasters and decipedes. Crowds of humanoids were blasting the decipedes. From one sketch of a decipede, a leg became a long trailing line running down the wall.

On the ground was a discarded chisel. They'd already walked through the ash of the desperate decipede artist.

'One of their tools! A valuable archaeological artefact.'

Since Bluetooth had been anticipating Toz Raz's duplicity (but hoping it wouldn't be so), he was prepared to attack/tackle the decipede to keep it from reaching any of the hand-held weapons. He's using his Quick Reflexes to do that.

Seeing the big guns activating, though, he'll also try to keep Toz Raz between himself and those guns!

19:03, Today: Bluetooth rolled 19 using 2d6+8 ((5,6)). Strength + Unarmed Melee

This is just tackling Toz Raz. Bluetooth isn't yet using his claws; he wont' unless he feels it is the only way to stop the creature.

Axander hadn't been entirely caught off guard, what with having been expecting something like this. Fortunately, everything was exactly as his comrades had explained: dangerous. Handguns? No. Rifles? No. Shell-mounted cannons? Fascinating, but also no. Ah!

"You're a fool, Toz Raz!" He rushed for the rack of bombs and grenades, grabbing one from the array and turning to face his invertebrate enemy.

"Open fire now and we all go up! There are enough explosives here to take out the entire complex, and no one will survive to save your eggs, the future of your people! Assuming those survive the blast, of course. Don't destroy yourself for some misguided revenge on an enemy who isn't even here!" Confident as he may have sounded, Axander's face showed full on fear. He had no idea whether or not Toz Raz would be willing to sacrifice everything for a moment's satisfaction, but it was the only gamble he had.

[Talking and Moving. Spending 1 Story Point to use the Thing The GM Didn't Think Of effect. :P Current StP 10 -> 9 (assuming my count is right, it's been a while). Do I need to roll something, or is the scenario enough to get the intended result?]

OOC: Nah, spending the point should be enough of a mechanical action. Rolling is used the affect the situation, while the SP changes the situation outright.

Weapons Depot – Axander & Bluetooth:

'But you are here, Time Lord!' Toz Raz spat, but it was clear he was thinking worriedly about the results.

So too were the simple electronic brains of the turrets. Some continued to track Axander, but clearly the threat-assessment routines found blasting him and the atomic hand-grenade to be somewhat too much of a risk. At least within the armoury with one of the master species present.

But the others were still tracking Bluetooth, who was still ripe for blasting. They only needed a clear, safe shot. Their barrels uncovered with a rusty click, they emitted a whine as they charged up...

Toz Raz came to a decision. 'There are other weapons here that will put you in your place!' he screeched, then changed direction, scurrying off down the aisle of anti-humanoid poisons. The blue poison, yes...

Then he was tackled against by a tigerish ball of fury. Bluetooth expertly blocked the decipede and snatched his legs, preventing his main grasping pincers from reaching for the phials of poison. 'Unhand me, hairy beast!' [Toz Raz: strength+fighting=10, solid Success for Bluetooth]

The turrets locked on, but couldn't find a clear, safe shot without hitting the Yag Haz.

They'd come to a stand-off.

Bluetooth sits on the creature, shifting his grip to Toz Raz's arms, and bending them into submission, while he pulls out a roll of duck tape and begins taping the creature's many pairs of legs together... and his arms behind his back... if they bend that way.

15:34, Today: Bluetooth rolled 6 using 2d6 ((1,5)). Resourceful Pockets.

Axander needed to be able to move away from the explosives if he was going to get anything done. Those turrets were watching his every move, and he was sure they weren't planning to let him do anything besides vaporize.

"Shut off the weapons, Toz! It's the only way you're going to save your people! Don't tell me you're willing to sacrifice your entire species out of spite!"

[Talking, going to try and Convince him he doesn't have a choice but to comply. Spending one Story Point for +2d6 to the roll.

13:31, Today: Axander rolled 22 using 4d6+6 with rolls of 6,4,4,2.  Presence+Convince +StP.

22, or 24 if I can somehow include Charming.]

Archives

"Professor," Trace said with a hint of concern, "I think the academic research part of this mission is over."

He stepped over, putting himself between the Professor and his newest "archeological discovery". "Between potentially hostile giant alien insects, and being trapped in a frozen and airtight underground city, we should be working on how to get away with what we've learnt before either the natives or the environment kill us."

Weapons Depot – Axander & Bluetooth:

If Axander had known about the planned planetary-scale kamikaze attack, perhaps he would have made a different argument. For a terrifying moment, Toz Raz thought about it, weighing up his options. Nevertheless, he was strictly a "compound eyes on the prize" kind of decipede, and slumped defeated in Bluetooth's arms. Next time...


OOC: Toz fails Disastrously and more-or-less surrenders.
10:09, Today: Toz Raz rolled 12 using 4d6+3 with rolls of 3,2,3,1.  resist: resolve + convince - 2 (LomK) + SP.
Toz has Last of my Kind, which applies a −2 to non-combat actions when reminded of his status and risks to saving his species.

Bluetooth, you didn't roll a double or spend an SP, so Resourceful Pockets doesn't work. In any case, since Toz got a "No, And..." failure, I'll take him being quickly bound as the "And..."

Archives – Tarys, Trace:

Ortega was having none of it. 'Young man, we can't go anywhere until Borys clears the blockage. So we might as well continue our archaeology and learn what we can of the Yag Haz. Now, out of the way and let me see this...' Ortega waved Trace down and out of the way, trying to examine the carvings again. 'What does this death glyph represent, hmm? More apocalyptic imagery, or something real? And where did all these humanoid figures come from, I wonder...'

"That glyph would represent the Memento Mori.  A weapon used against this place by Gallifrey -- by my people, Axander's people, the humanoid forms depicted here, in all likelihood.  Unleashed to ward off a strike by the Yag Haz, at the behest of the Daleks."

Tarys' frown is growing deeper and deeper.  "Trace is quite right.  We need to regroup and focus our efforts on clearing the control systems and trying to understand to what degree the engines put in place here are still operating.  This part, here, represents the future, certainly.  But it is no apocalypse to a myth-cycle, it is a manifesto.  This treasure-house of yours is a weapon, and for all we know, we may be passengers on its trip to its target at this very moment."

Seeing Toz Raz relax in surrender gave Axander a moment of relief, to which he glanced at the automatic weaponry.

"Toz, I swear by the Time Vortex we do not want to be your enemies. All we want is to find out what happened here and prevent it from becoming so much worse. Please, I know things look bad right now, but we're trying to help you. Turn off the weapons. We can find your people a new world, a living one, and you can start over. Your children can have a future. They can be safe."

Archives – Tarys, Trace:

'A memento mori?' Ortega echoed, scoffing at the notion. 'While the death imagery is obvious, we really don't know enough of the Yag Haz artistic tradition to make such a connection. You really mustn't work off guesswork and leaps of imagination, young lady, but rather from close and detailed investi—'

But Vax and Hali ignored their broken professor, facing Tarys as their mentor now. 'What do we need to do?' Hali asked with surprising pluck, if not outright courage. 'And what about that Yag Haz thing outside?' Vax wondered with more caution.

Weapons Depot – Axander & Bluetooth:

Toz Raz glared at Axander, hissing venomously 'Our children can never be safe while aliens live.' Yet he barked a series of commands in the clicking Yag Haz tongue. The turrets whirred and powered down. For the moment, they seemed to be safe...

OOC Bump.

Once he could see the turrets returning to their inactive state, Axander sighed and relaxed. He carefully put the grenade back on the shelf and returned his attention to the others.

"The universe isn't a completely safe place, but you have to learn to trust sometime or there's no future for anyone. Alright. Now we just need to find that anomaly and make sure it doesn't...do anything. Tarys, let's..." And that was about the time he noticed Tarys wasn't present.

"Ah. Okay then. Toz Raz, would you please lead us to where this Memento Mori was first activated? I want to take some scans and see what we can learn."

Weapons Depot – Axander & Bluetooth:

Toz Raz glared venomously at Axander as only a venomous insectoid could. 'Trust will be betrayed.' he clicked bitterly.

'I do not know where the Memento Mori first appeared. None who saw it lived to tell.' the decipede answered with a haunted tone. 'But I have seen where it went. This way.'

Temporal Anomaly – Axander & Bluetooth:

Helpful, for now, Toz Raz left Axander and Bluetooth out of the Weapons Depot and into another, more distant, part of the city, an area recently liberated from the ice.

They passed a shockingly deep pit or well, no doubt the so-called "rocket shaft" on the translated maps and glimpsed only on their surface scans. Peering into its dizzying depths showed it disappeared into infinite blackness, but the walls soon changed from ice to solid stone.

But Toz Raz moved on, to an area that had been most deeply buried in the ice. He pointed a pincer into the ice wall, but it was hard to see what he was indicating. There was a greyish blur deep inside, slowly shifting nevertheless. Any Time Lord worth their degree could tell this was the source of the temporal anomaly. 'For now, it is trapped in the ice. But as you fools melt more of this place, in a day it will be free. Free to kill us all.' Staring intently at the flickering form, they got more glimpses of it: humanoid, clad in a grey coat, humble yet menacing. And the ice was dripping as they watched...

Axander peered through the ice at the shape, stepping closer to try and get a better look. Melting the ice faster would likely be a bad idea, but curiosity had the thought pass through his head. Instead, he slipped out his electronic book and aimed it at the figure, willing it to scan for entries.

"It won't kill us all. I'm more or less sure of it. Mainly because we can't afford to let it. There's much more at stake than our lives. "

[Gonna scan the thing using the Psychic Encyclopedia. Should I make a roll?]

The more Axander stared, the more details he could discern. Or maybe, the more he looked, the more real it became. A man, an old man, a tired drawn face, a shabby gray raincoat, trapped in the ice, and waiting...


OOC: Yes, please. It looks like you roll Awareness for the Scan. You pick the Skill you like: Knowledge or Technology, probably. You can also apply Feel the Turn. Also add +2 because this came from your own Patrex Chapter.

[Well the dice were awful, but I started with a pretty decent bonus.

23:12, Today: Axander rolled 17 using 2d6+12 with rolls of 4,1.  Awa+Tech+Scan+FtT+Patrex.]