Super Smash Quest - Story - Chapter 343: Gerald Wars Pt 2: How NOT to Destroy a Kuja Ship
Date: 6:03:23 PM, November 2nd to 9:35:46 PM, November 2nd, 2006.
Metal Man (GM): Continuationationation
Last we left the Questers, they were in the cafeteria; doors are available in all four directions, and yes, there is a hatch down... but it's sealed.
Gibby: "You think the cafeteria's still open?"
Aetos: "So did we try demolitions?"
Alexia tries to pry the hatch open with TK.
Metal Man (GM): The hatch does not budge.
Julian Sawyer went north already.
Alexia: "Hrm..."
Aetos: "Oh well. Fine." *Goes to Julian.*
Alexia follows the others to the north.
Metal Man (GM): Up north is a massively empty room, with a window overlooking Nintendus.
Gibby is going north apparently.
Metal Man (GM): This is where the bridge WOULD be, had Kuja not demonically moved it somewhere else.
There's a door to the left and to the right of here.
Gibby: "...This area needs more... decor."
Julian Sawyer: "Hmmm..." *South.*
Aetos mutters. .oO(And backwards yet again. We'll never get anywhere.)
Alexia heads west.
Gibby just follows Julian... what else is there to do?
Metal Man (GM): Um. If you could please not split up, it's sort of difficult to start GMing multiple instances on top of one another.
Back South, you're in the cafeteria. Next?
Gibby: "All this walking is building me up an appetite..."
Julian Sawyer: *More South.*
Alexia: "All the food here is probably spoiled by now, Gibbs."
Scott: "There's nothing in there, Gibby. Remember we checked."
Alexia walks south as well.
Scott follows.
Roxy: *Lightly humms after Scott.*
Metal Man (GM): Back into a massive power room; power regulators and such everywhere. The hatch down here is burnt black, but unopened.
Alexia walks over to the hatch and opens it.
Julian Sawyer: *More South.*
Metal Man (GM): The hatch refuses to open. It's sealed shut.
Dragoshi: "..."
Scott and Roxy keep following Julian hoping they'll run into something.
Alexia: "So what are we looking for again?"
*She follows the others.*
Julian Sawyer: "A way in."
Scott: "Pretty much."
Gibby: "The bridge thingy... right?"
Scott: "Yeah."
Dragoshi: "Pretty much."
Metal Man (GM): Down South, you see a variety of... computers. The same type you've seen elsewhere; sturdy, non-user-accessible, and around a hatch which is also sealed.
Gibby: "And yet more computers..."
Julian Sawyer: "Not here..." *More South.*
Alexia: *More Following.*
Scott: "Ugh... can this place get anymore monotonous." *Heads South.*
Dragoshi: *More following as well*"..."
.oO(Bad question Scott, bad question...)
Gibby yawns.
"All this walking, yet not a single bad guy. What's up with that?"
Alexia: "Gibby, Scott, you're both gonna jinx us."
Scott: "It's called ships' runnin' on computers."
Gibby: "Quit being so superstitious."
Scott: "It'd be more interesting than this."
Metal Man (GM): South again, eh?
Gibby: "Besides, I could use a little excitement."
Metal Man (GM): This one's a room full of bunks for soldiers, and empty. There's not even a hatch downwards here.
Julian Sawyer: *Is there a south?*
Scott groans and trudges on.
Dragoshi: "...Please. We're already dealing with unholy deathships. ...Which apparently can survive six of the deathrays."
Julian Sawyer: "Next time, focus yo' shots in one place in tha middle of the ship so we don't have to go huntin' for an access point." *Any more South?*
Scott: "Just because it's got a hard outer shell doesn't mean it doesn't have soft innards." *Smirks* "Ain't that right, Julian?"
Metal Man (GM): Going further south? Lessee.
This room here is generally a large elevator room; except the elevator is gone down below the floor, and a hatch is over it, blocking the way down.
Gibby: "...And more nothingness."
Dragoshi: "And another friggin' hatch"
Julian Sawyer: "God damn hatches... We know they explosion proof, an' psychic proof... what's left?"
Aetos: "Ghost and Air proof?"
Julian Sawyer: "You see the Ghost here? An' go ahead an' try."
Aetos shakes his head and transmutes. He tries to slip through any possibly cracks or crannies.
Metal Man (GM): No such thing.
It appears Gerald saw you coming... or Kuja. Neither are likely to have left obvious holes in their designs.
Julian Sawyer idly checks to see if he has The Businessman on speed-dial...
Aetos: "Didn't think so. Space-technology almost never has any open passages for oxygen... this way they could just gas us out without it leaking to them."
*He reverts to human form.*
Alexia: "So now what?"
Metal Man (GM): You could contact him.
Julian Sawyer phones up the ol' GMa-I mean Businessman. Yeah, that guy.
Gibby: "...Who you calling, Julian?"
Julian Sawyer: "Someone who can help."
Metal Man (GM): A hologram of The Businessman projects from your dex. He seems vaguely annoyed.
The Businessman: "What is it that you need from me now?"
Gibby waves to the businessman.
Julian Sawyer: "Hey, is there any chance I could borrow Vendetta for a lil' bit? We kinda need it to cut through some hatches and save Nintendus... again."
Alexia nudges Gibby and whispers in his ear. "Who is this guy?"
Gibby: "He's The Businessman."
Alexia: "For who? The mob?"
Dragoshi: "..." *Would ask if The Businessman knew anyone capable of fixing the Vendetta machinegun and if it's possible to turn the hand that was turned into stone back to normal, but, yea.*
Gibby: "Nah, think of him as a god-like being... but with a sharp business suit."
The Businessman: "Those hatches, you say? Hm... that will cost you a lot."
Alexia: "I can see that..."
Dragoshi: "...What's the cost?"
Julian Sawyer: *Sigh* "How much..."
The Businessman: "I can only be fair. Safety from Gerald's reign means that one of your foes gets to take over part of the world instead."
Julian Sawyer: "Which one, and which part?"
Alexia: "...EXCUSE ME?"
Gibby: "Could it be, like, a small island or something?"
The Businessman: "That is, I'm afraid, confidential... as many things are in such high-stakes deals."
Alexia: "..."
Dragoshi: "...Huh. From one fire into another. Fun."
Alexia continues looking around for some way to open the hatches.
Gibby: "Well we could just have it be a foe that we beat up all the time. That way it's not really a big deal."
Aetos: "Danish Dan!"
Alexia: "Gibby, said foe instantly wins a piece of Nintendus. That's not good."
Julian Sawyer: "If we don't get this deal, there ain't gonna be a part of Nintendus for the baddie to instantly win."
Gibby: "So when he gets it, we take it back. Right. The world comes first."
Aetos: "Will we know who it is, once he gets control of it?"
Dragoshi: "..." *Just waits.*
The Businessman: "In the end, it is up to you. I have many other deals to do."
Aetos: "I say no."
Gibby: "You say a lot of things..."
Aetos: "Not as much as you."
Julian Sawyer: "Gimme a few minutes here to think things over... Mind if I put you on hold? Mets might want to hear about this."
Gibby: "Yeah, but people love me more for it."
Aetos sighs. "We don't need him, though."
Dragoshi: "...Question. How much would it cost to get this thing fixed?" *Holds up the vendetta machinegun* "...And to get my hand back to normal?" *Points at the hand that's turned to stone.*
Aetos: "The Businessman, that is."
The Businessman: "Hmph." *He crosses his arms; you may put him on hold.*
Julian Sawyer: "It'll be only a few minutes..." *Julian switches over to another channel and calls HQ up.*
Aetos: "Why not just think of some other way in?"
Metal Man (GM): (Dex) "Those ships are getting dangerously close for being stopped. What's going on?"
Gibby: "Well judging from the sound of things, we don't have much time left to figure out another way."
Julian Sawyer: "Mets, we kinda in-between a rock an' a hard place here. We're tryin' to lease Vendetta from The Businessman, but in return a random villain's gonna take over a random part of Nintendus. What you think?"
Aetos: "Well, I wasn't out of ideas, but ok."
Metal Man: "I think if you take that I will have to shoot you. IF it really is that bad, you should ask me, not him. I can attempt to think something up for free instead, although more difficult."
Julian Sawyer: "...A'ight, what you got?"
Gibby: "How -much- more difficult?"
Aetos sits down on the hatch and sighs.
Metal Man: "Well, I can tell you're focusing on hatches... but who said that's the only way down?"
Alexia continues searching for a way to release that hatches. Can I take a 20?
Metal Man: "Anything which goes through the floor or is an inter-ship system could have holes which lead down there."
Julian Sawyer: "We found an elevator, but that's sealed too."
Alexia: "...Metal, how much time do we have left?"
Julian Sawyer: "...Drag! Get the scythe!"
Dragoshi slides out the scythe with his free hand.
Gibby: "Ah yes, good ol' scythe."
Julian Sawyer: "Cut us a hole!"
Dragoshi: "You do know this'll fail, right?" *Tries to cut open a hole.*
Gibby: "It never hurts to try."
Aetos: "Hmm..." .oO(Took them so long to think of my plan...)
"So... I'm betting cutting with that scythe will take a while..."
Alexia: "Metal, how much time do we have?"
Metal Man: "Nine hours and some."
Metal Man (GM): It bounces off of the hatch.
Dragoshi: "...Told you so."
Gibby: "Well so much for that."
Aetos shakes his head.
Gibby: "Do we have anything sharper?"
Metal Man: "I said find an inter-ship system of some sort. No amount of blasting will probably open what was thought to be a popular Quester target when they made this."
Aetos looks to Gibby.
Alexia: "...Guys, there has to be a way to get down. A fire escape, an oxygen hatch, anything."
Aetos: "There's a blade that is rumored to be able to cut through anything... or what Metal and Alexia suggests."
Julian Sawyer: *Can't go any more south?*
Dragoshi: "...And they're prolly' all welded shut, genius."
Alexia: "No. One would be left open in case of an emergency."
Gibby: "Cut through anything... we sure could use that."
Aetos face-palms.
Metal Man (GM): You can go further south.
Julian Sawyer: *More South.*
Dragoshi: "An emergency? On this stupid piece of crap? Really." *Shakes head in disgust and follows.*
Gibby: "Aren't fire escapes usually at the far ends of each floor?"
Metal Man (GM): You reach the back end of the ship; nothing here except various fuel pipes and energy conduits.
Metal Man: (Dex) "Fire escapes... in a ship in the middle of outer space? Nowhere to escape TO, except for perhaps an escape pod."
Gibby shrugs.
Julian Sawyer: *East!*
Gibby: "I'm just throwing ideas."
Aetos goes too.
Alexia follows the others, out of ideas.
Gibby goes East then.
Alexia: "...But what about if they had to dock in an emergency?"
Metal Man (GM): Eastwards is more pipes and doors; doesn't go further south, but it is mildly interesting.
Julian Sawyer: *Northward.*
Alexia: *Followward.*
Dragoshi: *Youknowwhati'mgonnadoward.*
Gibby is northed.
Metal Man (GM): Going north? You find yourself in a wide-open room with lockers. Open lockers. And more doors.
Julian Sawyer: *Northward.*
Alexia: *Followward.*
Gibby takes a look at some of the opened lockers. Maybe there are useful items inside!
Alexia: "What I would give for a map right now..."
Metal Man (GM): Nope. Empty.
Gibby: "Aw poo..."
*He moves on then.*
Metal Man (GM): Going North, you find the same four-door layout, and some huge data conduits in pipes going up, down, and sideways here.
Aetos: "Stop."
Julian Sawyer: *How big are the pipes going down?*
Aetos examines the size of these conduits.
Metal Man (GM): They, like several other things you repeatedly walked by, are large enough to fit a human.
Dragoshi: "...Let me guess... Cut em open?"
Julian Sawyer: "Make it so."
Dragoshi makes it so.
Metal Man (GM): You cut them open. They spark, and there is, indeed, a huge mass of wires inside each; however they do lead downwards.
Alexia moves a hand up and attempts to rip the wires out with TK.
Aetos: "So how will we get out, if we go down that?"
Gibby: "I just know I'm going to get electrocuted..."
Alexia: "We don't."
Aetos blinks at Alexia.
"Then why would we go down that?"
Metal Man (GM): The wires fly around, ripped out and strewn about like confetti.
Boy, it's dark in there.
Alexia: "We focus on saving Nintendus from being a crater. Then we go home, celebrate with pizza, and call it a day."
Dragoshi: "...She's being a dolt. We will. It just requires some effort"
Julian Sawyer: "A'ight, everybody in!"'
Dragoshi: "...Aye." *Down we go!*
Alexia flies down the tube.
Aetos nods. "See... it's likely to still be closed off further down... and we wouldn't have the arm-space in order to cut open a hole with a weapon..."
Gibby sighs and leaps down.
Aetos just peaks down it, and will hop in once they get out...
Alexia: "Boy, it's dark down here..."
Metal Man (GM): You begin going down the tube, and discover (gasp) it wasn't meant for people to be in. Thus, it goes down... and down... and down...
Alexia: "Hey, echo."
Metal Man (GM): Now you're falling at high speed, in the darkness, and being bumped around with every turn.
Soon you encounter wires; they rip and mildly zap you and shoot sparks about as you are falling.
Julian Sawyer peering into the pipe, having not jumped in. "...Maybe that wasn't the best idea."
Aetos hears Alexia's echo. "Wow... how far are you guys?..." ;_;
Gibby: "GAH! I knew it! Oh the pain..."
Aetos turns to Julian. "Nope..."
Alexia: "Gibby, I swear, if you say 'whee', you perish."
Dragoshi: "...Why the hell would he say 'whee' at a time like this?"
Gibby: "In... pain... can't... form... complete... sentences..."
Metal Man (GM): *BUMP* *BUMPTHUNK* *THONK* *SLAMM* You fall through a hard, metallic plate, inside some box full of circuitboards, which explode in a bunch of sparks as you crash down, now inside some sort of huge box.
But the best part is: You land all on top of one another.
And now there's a fire inside that there box.
Alexia: *Muffled* "Mrfghrml."
Metal Man (GM): People above the pipe would see the smoke.
Dragoshi: "...Awkward..."
Gibby twitches at the very bottom.
Alexia: "MMMMMGHRHUF!"
Aetos coughs.
Julian Sawyer: "...That ain't good."
Aetos: "Nooo sir..."
Alexia scrambles to get out of the box.
Metal Man (GM): Hmmm... it probably worked, but somehow I think one could have been more careful.
Alexia: "HOT! HOT HOT HOT!"
Metal Man (GM): You attempt to get out of the box. STR check.
Dragoshi tries to get out...
Aetos speedily equips Schnelltot and tries cutting a hole in the floor.
Metal Man (GM): It appears they're all trapped inside the box and on fire.
15 fire damage as you run around, bouncing into one another.
Julian Sawyer: "...Why didn't you say you had that in the FIRST PLACE?!?"
Aetos: "I told you I still had ideas... but noooo..."
Dragoshi: *Let's-a try again.*
Aetos: "You all just ignored me."
Metal Man (GM): *BLAM* You break out of the box, singed, dusty, and covered in wires.
Julian Sawyer grabs Aetos by the shoulders and shakes him "THEN SPEAK UP NEXT TIME! WE TRYIN' TO SAVE THE WORLD! AIN'T NO TIME TO ACT LIKE A SNOT!"
Alexia slaps out the last of the fires.
Metal Man (GM): Hm... this room is odd... why? It's a coolant room... and that was the computer that controlled the coolant...
Aetos: "You're the one bein' a snot. Mr. Ignore everything as we speed aimlessly through a giant ship he knows nothing about'"
Alexia: "Okay... How about let's try a less painful, blistering, zapping route NEXT TIME?"
Metal Man (GM): The room begins filling with greyish-blue liquid.
Dragoshi: "..." *Shakes off any wires* "..."
Gibby: "Quit arguing, it's getting us nowhere."
Metal Man (GM): It's sticky, like antifreeze. And cold.
Alexia: "...Shiz. Run!"
*She glances around for an exit.*
Gibby wipes off some ashes.
Metal Man (GM): The problem is, this room isn't intended to be accessible by people...
Julian Sawyer: "'Cuse me? Did you offer any suggestions? No. All you did was jus' walk along and not say ANYTHIN'!"
Metal Man (GM): So there appears to be nothin' but walls, and a hole in the floor from which coolant is coming in.
And another one... which leads into the reactor.
Hm... I doubt you want to go inside the reactor.
Yet all the coolant is going towards there.
Aetos: "Didn't have a CHANCE to. You just kept on runnin away."
Dragoshi: "...Ah shat." *Uhhh... To anywhere that ISN'T a reactor or certain death?*
Alexia: "...Idea!"
Julian Sawyer: "Next time you got an idea, TELL ME instead'a jus' assumin' 'cause no one asks, no one CARES!"
Alexia looks around for a piece of metal from the computer crash.
Gibby: "Oh dear..."
Metal Man (GM): The only way out, unless you can go through walls, is up those pipes... which are nearly impossible to climb.
Julian Sawyer: "An' news flash: You can walk AN' talk at the same time."
Metal Man (GM): There's a buncha metal plates floating on the antifreeze.
Not enough room to fly in that space.
Alexia grabs a piece of metal and slams it over the hole, then fires a few Heat Beams to solder it down over the hole.
Metal Man (GM): Especially considering it has many abrupt turns and is pitch black.
Aetos examines how much of the floor he's carved so far.
Metal Man (GM): Alexia: STR check, followed by some heat beam attack rolls.
Aetos: Refresh me on how you're attempting to carve the floor.
Julian Sawyer: "Now stop bein' a lil' punk an' cut us a hole. We got a planet to save, no time to hold grudges."
Metal Man (GM): Alexia gets the plate in over the hole; but do the heat beams work? Survey says... yes!
Alexia puts her gun back in its holster.
Metal Man (GM): Ah, yes! The other thing you guys forgot about.
Almost NOTHING can stop Schnelltott, so it just cuts a nice huge hole in the floor.
Alexia: "That should hold it for a bit, but that pressure from the coolant--"
Metal Man (GM): Which leads down to a room full'a computers.
Gibby: "...Now that's what I call a hole."
Aetos nods at Julian, and hops down.
Metal Man (GM): Coolant room people: With that plugged up, you have nowhere to go... really.
Julian Sawyer follows.
Metal Man (GM): Unless you can go through walls.
Aetos: "I hope they aren't still burning alive."
Julian Sawyer: "They'll be fine."
Metal Man (GM): Meanwhile, the coolant in the room catches on fire.
Hm. Perhaps it wasn't a good idea to block the flow.
Alexia: "...My bad."
Metal Man (GM): Speaking of Hey Daze, the burning antifreeze feels much like the stuff that must be there.
Julian Sawyer: *Is there a way west?* "Even if they die, they'll jus' show up next to us down a life."
Aetos looks to see if the pipes are in this room too, ... in case it turned or something and the place the others are in is NOT right below.
Metal Man (GM): As they burn, Julian and Aetos fall right into... a bridge control room.
Aetos: "True." *Forget that.*
Alexia: "GAAAAAAAAH!"
Metal Man (GM): The pipe the others took is embedded in a wall nearby.
They can hear the scream of Alexia through the pipe.
Aetos: "...Heh... Maybe we should help them, though... it still does HURT to die."
Metal Man (GM): Anyway, Aetos and Julian have full-on access to the bridge here.
Alexia: "QUICK! PUT OUT THE FIRE!"
Metal Man (GM): One panel, which you see prominently, says 'COOLANT PUMP 1 IS DAMAGED'
Aetos O.O's.
Metal Man (GM): It then says 'REPAIR? Y/N'
Gibby: "Fire bad!"
Aetos: "Let's see... We don't want to REPAIR the ship, right? We're destroying it."
Alexia tries to pry the metal off.
Metal Man (GM): Some other panels in here. 'Deathray Class I' 'Deathray Class II' 'Deathray Class III' 'Deathzooka Class Deathray' 'Death Egg Class Deathray' 'Deadly Deathray of Deadlier Deadliness'
Julian Sawyer clicks Y.
Alexia: "Guys, before we're burnt into ashes, help me get this off!"
Metal Man (GM): *BLAM* The panel is forced free by the pump going to full power.
Now the flaming mire is moving towards an even hotter place: The main reactor.
And it's sucking all the Questers down there towards it.
The panel says 'Coolant flow repaired; Unknown objects heading towards Reactor'
Alexia: *More exasperated than panicking* "WHAT NOW?!"
Metal Man (GM): 'Danger: Metaphysical Radiation Present in Reactor May Irreversibly Destroy Whatever Goes Near It, Including All These Capital Letters.'
Julian Sawyer: "...That ain't good." *Looks to see if there's a way he can shut off access to the reactor.*
Aetos: "Hrm. Maybe they are bombs. What luck we'd have if the reactor blew up."
Metal Man (GM): There's one. 'Emergency Coolant Evacuation'
It's a big red button.
Julian Sawyer: *does that go out into space?*
Metal Man (GM): Your instincts say yes.
Julian Sawyer: "You wanna press it?"
Metal Man (GM): Where else would you send flaming coolant?
Alexia scrabbles around for a handhold.
Metal Man (GM): Alexia: Search check.
Aetos shrugs. "Well... if the reactor blew, we'd die... so yeah, press it."
Julian Sawyer: "Here goes nothin'." *Julian hits the Big Red Button! And looks for a self-destruct button while he's at it.*
Gibby sticks close by Alex.
Dragoshi tries to as well...
Metal Man (GM): You miss a red handle; the coolant is suddenly evacuated out ANOTHER hole, this one going into space.
Hm... this could send you guys out, too. STR checks.
Alexia: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Metal Man (GM): The control panel has a nice, big, red 'SELF DESTRUCT' button.
Gibby grabs onto a nearby ledge.
Gibby: "GAH! What's the deal here?!"
*He is holding on for dear life.*
Metal Man (GM): Dragoshi (luckily) gets stuck to another ledge... as Alexia is sent into outer space and explodes, surrounded by flaming coolant.
Dragoshi: *Luck prevails! ...Somewhat.*
Metal Man (GM): -1 Life as Alexia respawns right near Gibby and Dragoshi, inside the now-dry coolant tube, and closed 'evacuation route.'
Alexia: *Thinking* "Can this day get any wor--" *ASPLODE.*
Metal Man (GM): Aetos and Julian would have heard the explosion.
Julian Sawyer: "Hmmm..." *Checks how much damage the strongest of these death rays could do to another ship.*
Metal Man (GM): The panel blinks. 'Flaming Coolant Evacuated. Warning: Mild Reactor Overheat. Pump in more Coolant?'
Gibby is -not- a happy camper right now.
Metal Man (GM): It lists the deadliest deathray as being able to blow up entire planets.
Aetos: "...Did you press the self destruct button already? I heard an explosion."
Julian Sawyer: "Nah, not yet... Hey, check this out."
Alexia silently sits down and begins twitching.
Julian Sawyer: *What's the charge time on that baby?*
Aetos: "Huh?"
Metal Man (GM): You also see that the Second Moon and First moon are in range of it.
Alexia: "Flames... decompression... s-s-s-space... bad..."
Metal Man (GM): It is fully charged, currently aimed at Nintendus, and waiting to get in range of it.
Aetos: "Eee... We should fix that."
Alexia is basically having a total mental meltdown.
Julian Sawyer: *How long would it take to charge it up again after use? And can it penetrate the other ship's shields in one hit, or does it just plain pierce?*
Aetos: "We could blow up the First Moon, another ship, or just shut it down..."
Alexia: "..."
Gibby pats Alex on the knee.
Julian Sawyer: "I'm thinkin' option two. We still set on killin' Gerald for good with NOVA, right?"
Alexia breaks down into silent weeping.
Gibby: "Don't worry. We'll get through this."
Metal Man (GM): It has enough power, thanks to whatever that reactor is, to fire it nearly automatically, like a machinegun.
Alexia: "I can't take it anymore..."
Aetos: "Whatever you want."
Metal Man (GM): Which has slowly growing temperatures due to lack of coolant.
Dragoshi bods in agreement with Gibby still neatly stuck to the ledge, not really minding it.
Metal Man (GM): A little window pops up, since you just looked at that deathray. 'Capable of 99.99% atomic destruction of desired target.'
Julian Sawyer: "Man, look at this! We can take out the other 5 ships from HERE!"
Alexia: "All I wanted to do was be a hero and I've been electrocuted, set on fire, blown up, smashed into bits..."
Metal Man (GM): The power... the power! It has enough to instantly destroy anything. Its only limit is range.
Julian Sawyer: "Oh, an' set up some more coolant. We don't want this place to blow up yet."
*Are the other ships in range?*
Aetos: "Hmm..."
Metal Man (GM): Yup.
You could fire faster than they could react.
Alexia: "How is being 15000 years old any good if I get 1000 of them knocked off my life expectancy every single day?"
Julian Sawyer: *Would 5-10 rapid fire shots overheat the reactor?*
Metal Man (GM): You ask that to the console. Being the latest technology, it pops up a holographic answer.
'One shot is the maximum without coolant. Without, up to 10 per minute.'
Alexia eventually just kind of winds down into crying again.
Aetos: "I don't think there IS any more coolant... is there?"
Metal Man (GM): 'In an emergency up to 50 shots maty be made with a following temporary reactor shutdown.'
Dragoshi: *SO glad he's stuck to the ledge*"...Eh."
Julian Sawyer: "Nah, we got all the coolant we need. Speakin' a which..." *Julian hits the button to add more coolant.*
Metal Man (GM): Down in the coolant section, more, and more coolant is pumped in.
Gibby and Dragoshi are above it; Alexia is not. STR check, Alexia.
Alexia: "The bitter worklgmbbbb..."
Dragoshi: "...Yeesh. It's like the universe hates Alexia today..." o_o
Aetos: "Hrm. Isn't the coolant passage still blocked off?"
Gibby: "The universe is a fierce and fickle mistress."
Alexia does the whole hand thing from cartoons with her fingers before drowning.
Metal Man (GM): Alexia is launched into the reactor, which turns her cells into strange antimatter quarks which give off a new, unknown radiation type... before complete annihilation of another life. Alexia reappears, upside-down, hanging from the top of the pipe next to Dragoshi and Gibby. There's still some weird green glow on her face.
Dragoshi: "...Case in point."
Gibby: "Did you have a nice trip?"
Alexia: "...OKAY, I AM *************** AT ***********************************!"
Metal Man (GM): Back in the control room, it says 'Unknown Object annihilated'
Aetos rubs his ears. "Woah... did you just hear a long string of curses?"
Gibby: "Heh..."
Alexia continues swearing for a good twenty seconds straight.
Metal Man (GM): 'Suggestion: Clear Coolant pipes at next docking station'
Dragoshi: "...I didn't know there were swears that long."
Gibby waits until she finishes.
Aetos: "Good idea. Now let's go at those ships!"
Gibby: "...Feeling better?"
Alexia: "****************************************** **!"
Julian Sawyer: "No? Anyway, we got coolant, we got power, let's blow shit up." *Julian sets to targeting the remaining ships.*
Metal Man (GM): It targets them all.
Gibby: "I'll take that as a no."
Alexia takes a few shaky breaths.
Dragoshi: "I'd take that as a no,"
Metal Man (GM): All you need to do is press the magic button.
Gibby: "Alex... do you need a hug?"
Metal Man (GM): Nope.
It's on the First Moon.
Which is also in range.
As is the Second Moon, and a variety of objects near it.
Julian Sawyer: *Do we have a copy of NOVA with us?*
Metal Man (GM): Gunicard is too far away.
Nova is on the Dauntless, within range for you to just download it.
You can thank Garrick for that.
Alexia: "Gibby, tell me something."
Gibby: "Yeah?"
Alexia: "Why am I being persecuted today? Why does the universe loath me?"
Gibby: "I don't question the universe. I just accept it."
Alexia: "And why do I suddenly take comfort in thoughts of Julian and Aetos screaming while being set on fire and stabbed by arrows?"
Gibby: "...I think your second question answers your first."
Dragoshi: "..." *Would answer, but doesn't* .oO(...And, I'm ignored. Frikkin' wonderful)
Julian Sawyer: "We gotta make sure this ship can't be taken over again. Let's load NOVA up into the mainframe so he can guard it while we takin' care a' Gerald. Sound good?"
Alexia tries to get herself down from the pipes.
Gibby: "Don't slip and fall now..."
Dragoshi: "...I don't think that's a good idea, 'Lexi..."
Metal Man (GM): Alexia: You might not want to do that. Coolant below.
Alexia: "But the blood's rushing to my head."
Metal Man (GM): You can flip to a right-side-up position easily, though.
Julian: You merely need to command the console and it will do your bidding.
Also, it's still waiting for you to issue the 'fire' command.
Alexia swings a bit and flips right-side up.
Dragoshi: "...What do we now, though?"
Julian Sawyer: *Alright, we got lazors, we got targets... FIRE! FIRE! YEAH!*
Alexia: "Praying that I don't get atomized again might be nice."
Aetos: "Hrm... You know... I have some doubts about using Nova to infect Gerald... what if they fused together?"
Julian Sawyer: "Ain't gonna happen."
Metal Man (GM): You press the button.
*Click* 'Error; Unknown proxy'
Julian Sawyer: "...WHAT?!?!"
Metal Man (GM): 'Please try again.'
Nothin' else, thankfully. Just an error message.
No.
It's the only one which could kill them before they could fire back.
Alexia silently contemplates the workings of the universe while also trying to figure out a good chip dip recipe.
Julian Sawyer presses the button again...
Metal Man (GM): *Click* 'Error; Unknown proxy'
Dragoshi starts humming the Sonic 2 boss theme.
Metal Man (GM): 'Please try again.'
Aetos mutters.
"How do we fix that?"
Metal Man (GM): It appears to be some security thing. Hm. Nova's good at security things.
Julian Sawyer mutters, exits out the laser-firing menu if he has to, and tries to upload NOVA.
Alexia: "...Well, I'm hanging from pipes, slightly radioactive and very resigned to my fate. Got any playing cards?"
Metal Man (GM): You click the button; the panel starts freaking out.
Aetos twiddles his thumbs. "Everyone loves magical Sawyer..."
Metal Man (GM): The ship suddenly shakes.
Alexia wobbles and swings back to her upside-down position.
Aetos: "The tricks that he does are ever so clever. Look at him now, explodin' a battleship."
Alexia: "Nyaaah! What was that?!"
Dragoshi: "Yikes."
Metal Man (GM): Some... weird... amalgamation appears above the console. It looks like a mix of Gerald and Nova. It speaks with both their voices at once.
Aetos: "Ooooh... Beans lots of beans lots of beans lots of beans...-- er..."
Julian Sawyer: "... GodDAMNIT!"
???: "What is this? What... is this. What... is... this..." *It looks around.* "..." *It looks at one of its hands as the screen glitches.*
Aetos: "Now... this is why I don't give my ideas. No one DOES care."
Julian Sawyer: "What was your idea?!?!"
???: "Space ship... but... how can I destroy myself? Must... destroy... no... save... destroy... save..."
Aetos: "Gerald and Nova would fuse."
Metal Man (GM): *Spark* The ship veers off of course.
Things get odder.
Julian Sawyer: "That ain't an idea! That's a prediction!"
Aetos: "Same thing."
Metal Man (GM): An image of Gerald, apparently from the other 4 ships and the base, appears, looking at the abomination.
Gerald Robotnik Hologram: "Well, well, looks like you're going to be on a grand field trip now. That thing doesn't look like it knows how to control a space ship. I was amused when you voluntarily attacked your own partners with my super-advanced cooling systems."
Aetos: "...Oops."
Alexia scrabbles back to her upright position on the pipes.
Gerald Robotnik Hologram: "But your golden rule doesn't work against machines... logic never fails."
Dragoshi: "..." .oO(I have a feeling someone realized the depths of their cosmic stupidity)
???: "Bzkt... Splort... black... everything is insanity! Eieaaaahhhhh!!!!!"
Metal Man (GM): The ship begins flying... away from Nintendus.
Alexia: "..." -_-' .oO(I have a feeling that Julian and Aetos deserve to die painfully for some reasooOOOOOO--)
Aetos: "Can we try to override it??"
Gerald Robotnik Hologram: "I'm willing to give up one ship just to watch it take you into another dimension."
Metal Man (GM): Aetos: Anything is possible... but you have to try.
Alexia grabs hold the pipes to avoid being flung into a wall.
Julian Sawyer checks to see if HE can do anything, what with his +10 in Computer Use!
Dragoshi: *SO DAMN GLAD HE'S STUCK IN THE LEDGE.*
Gerald Robotnik Hologram: "By the way, don't count on it lasting long once it's done erratically crashing its way to nowhere. Without the uncorrupted operating directives, that reactor is useless."
Metal Man (GM): Julian: Computer use check.
Aetos crosses his fingers .oO(Not the null zone, not the null zone...)
Gerald Robotnik Hologram: "Hm. Oh dear. It is jamming my communications."
Metal Man (GM): His signal begins to fade.
Gerald Robotnik Hologram: "Not even I can help you n--" *SPLOT* *The signal is faded out.*
???: "Blzk. ZORT. Eaaaaargh!!!!"
Julian Sawyer: "This is bad..." *Keeps trying to regain control from Gernova.*
Alexia: "Great. So what'll happen now?"
Metal Man (GM): Julian's attempt brings up a big menu full of corrupted letters.
Alexia sounds oddly calm.
Metal Man (GM): Aetos sees various things, including 'reboot' 'Shutdown' and 'Manual Override'
???: "Control... control... I... come... home... AWAY!"
Aetos: "Oh... well..." *Taps the Manual Override button.*
Metal Man (GM): Alarms go off.
Julian Sawyer: "Aetos! You found anythin'?" *Keeps trying to do SOMETHING.*
Computer: "15 minutes until Hyperspace warp to NGX-3927."
Alexia: "..."
Computer: "Error: Said galaxy does not exist."
Aetos: "Cancel that warp, computer!"
???: "Blaaaab. Erinowqpqox."
Alexia: *Screaming* "I DON'T WANNA DIE!"
Computer: "Overridden. Hyperwarp set to full speed."
Aetos: "I don't think manual override is working! We need to shut down!"
*He pushes the Shut Down button.*
Julian Sawyer closes out that menu and tries more Computer Use checks to regain control of the ship and cancel that warp, seeing as how Aetos hasn't told him of any special buttons yet.
Dragoshi: "...This gets more and more chaotic by the second."
Metal Man (GM): The button clicks idly. Julian brute-force attacks the menus, but they're just not useful anymore.
Aetos tries the reboot button before going to the interface. "Where are the escape pods!?"
???: "So... this is... sentience... I... Genovald... Blk... zot... Erk Stog!"
Julian Sawyer: "We're gonna hafta blow this joint! Aetos, FIND everyone! We gotta get to the Dauntless!"
Alexia continues watching her life flash before her eyes. Hey, there's that time that Zelkfa paid her 50 bucks to eat ten leaves in sixty seconds!
Editor's Note: As the GM, I always am curious what precisely Alexia's true past was. Sort of a shame she never actually talked about it in downtiming sessions rather than mentioning it at random.
Aetos shrugs at the interface and runs to the East back where they fell through the hole. He slices through the piping on this floor now and looks in.
Julian Sawyer does the Self-Destruct button still work?
Metal Man (GM): It does not.
Aetos: You hear the others down in the pipe.
Aetos: "Ugh. You guys are FURTHER down?!"
Alexia: "Aetos?"
Julian Sawyer: "'Least it'll be outta our hair anyway..." *Julian abandons the console and heads for where Aetos is.*
Dragoshi: *Some parts of his life slowly flash by his eyes while some speed past...*"...Not my fault no one ever thinks ahead."
Aetos turns to Julian. "How can we get them down there??"
Alexia: "We're trapped down here! Dragoshi's stuck in a ledge and I'm hanging upside-down in some pipes! Oh, and were you guys doing something involving coolant?"
Julian Sawyer: "...Mosta you can FLY! Get yo' asses up here!"
Alexia: "We're STUCK, you asshole!"
Dragoshi: "...We can just get unstuck, you know that, right?"
Julian Sawyer: "TK yo' way outta it or somethin'! We ain't got time for this!"
Computer: "7 minutes until hyperspace warp." *BLAM* "Unknown reaction in core."
Aetos yells in frustration. "Grah! Can we flush them out into space again? I can sustain them for a small amount of time."
Alexia: "Dragoshi, I have an idea."
Dragoshi: "Alexia died twice, so no."
Julian Sawyer: "The console don't work no more!"
Dragoshi: "...Yeeees?"
Aetos: "I mean... er... Can we flush them into space... like we haven't before? ... Oh... Grr."
Alexia: "Do you think you can catch me if I fall after freeing myself? ...YOU GUYS DID THAT?!"
Aetos: "Julian did!" *Whistle.*
Julian Sawyer: "Look, you get them outta here, I gotta go get the Dauntless ready!" *Julian rushes away, heading up as he needs to via Rocket Boots until he's back at the Dauntless.*
Dragoshi: "...Right. Sure."
Aetos: "No matter. Let's go into space, guys!"
Alexia starts flinging Mindblasts everywhere in a blind rage. She is beyond mad. She is DAMN MAD.
Editor's Note: I don't blame her one bit.
Dragoshi: "...Calm down. ...Wait."
Alexia: "TOUCH ONE BUTTON AND DIE, WINDY!"
Aetos shakes his head and wields Talon. He prods down there to see if the spear can reach far enough for them to grab.
Julian Sawyer dexes everyone as he's making his way back "MOVE IT! If you ain't on the ship 'fore THIS Ship hits hyperspace, I'm leavin' your asses BEHIND!" *End communication.*
Alexia takes a deep breath.
Dragoshi: "Thank you captain fucking obvious. Seriously. Though, anyway..."
Alexia: "Dragoshi, get ready. If I can't focus myself in time to fly, you'll have to catch me."
Metal Man (GM): It seems to go far enough to reach.
Alexia pries the pipes apart with TK.
Aetos: "Can you guys reach the ... What's the noise?"
Computer: "Hm... it appears the dimensional integrity is failing... 2 minutes."
Alexia then quickly focuses the TK on herself and attempts to fly before hitting the coolant.
Julian Sawyer: *Is Julian at the Dauntless by now?*
Dragoshi: "Alexia ripping up the pipes apparently" *Tries to catch Alexia if she fails her flight attempt.*
Metal Man (GM): Julian is by now.
Alexia and the others are now outside of the pipes and at the base of the massive pipe upwards... no way to fly up there, though.
Computer: "Hyperspace warp activated!"
Aetos: "NO!"
Alexia: "WHAT?!"
Julian Sawyer immediately heads into the Dauntless' bridge, getting everything started up and ready for emergency flight like RIGHT NOW.
Metal Man (GM): The entire ship begins to speed up, massively, as Julian gets in the Dauntless just in time for it to be ripped free.
Julian has no other thing to see but the huge white ship vanish into the cosmos, himself alone not trapped on it.
Alexia gets pushed against a wall as the ship speeds up.
Metal Man (GM): Gerald's visage appears on the Dauntless, laughing.
Dragoshi: "..." *Deep sigh.*
Gerald Robotnik Hologram: "Good show... good show... now come and do it again!"
Julian Sawyer: "...FUCK."
Gerald Robotnik Hologram: "Oh, by the way, I've sealed up those pipes you used. You'll have to think of something else next time."
Julian Sawyer blocks Gerald's calls, and tries to phone base home.
Alexia attempts to reach for her Dex to send an SOS.
Metal Man (GM): Alexia: Where you are, there's nobody to receive the SOS.
I'll do a brief pause on the ship group to finish Julian's part for now.
You get a connection to base. Metal responds.
Julian Sawyer: "Mets, I got good news and bad news."
Metal Man: (Dex) "You got rid of that one ship... excellent. ...Where is everybody else?"
Julian Sawyer: "Good: One'a the ships got sent to a dimension that don't exists. Bad:...Everyone else was on it. I dunno what to do Mets. I can't run this ship by myself."
Metal Man: (Dex) "...Well, the ship's autopilot still works. We must stop Gerald, somehow... but sneak attack by that ship's out."
(Dex) "As for the other dimension... even The Void will take a while to figure that out."
The autopilot on the Dauntless lights up.
Julian Sawyer: "Should I just head back to base?"
Metal Man (GM): (Dex) "You're going to have to land on the Second Moon. You're almost out of fuel."
(Dex) "You can help them while I figure out a new plan."
Julian Sawyer: "...A'ight. Julian out." *Julian cuts off the link, and gets up from his chair* "It never fuckin' ends... Computer, set course for the... Second Moon."
Computer: "Affirmative."
Metal Man (GM): The Dauntless limps towards an ongoing fight over there... but our point of interest for now is the white ship.
*The camera flies through several dimensions.*
Alexia: "Guys, I'm sorry. I failed..."
Metal Man (GM): Meanwhile, the white Kuja ship has reached its... unintended? Destination.
It's stopped outside a weird, orange planet, surrounded by a massive asteroid belt.
Alexia peels herself off of the wall.
Metal Man (GM): The Questers are up in the front of the ship (I'm assuming they moved up there in the meantime), seeing this.
Aetos walks over to the controls.
Dragoshi: "..."*Sighs, then keeps his cool* "Eh. Crap like this happens." *Peels himself off the wall as well, and walks over.*
Metal Man (GM): The controls are busted.
Alexia: "...Holy shiz, where are we?"
Metal Man (GM): In addition, the weird fusion has ceased to jabber.
Aetos: "I hate it when I know things."
Metal Man (GM): However, there IS hope... a few smaller fighter craft are docked on this ship.
Alexia doubts that the Dexes have a cross-dimension calling plan...
"At least it's civilized."
Aetos: "So... This ship is out of commission. I don't think we can use it to transport back home."
Alexia: "Terrific."
Aetos: "At least what's civilized?"
Dragoshi: "Magnifico."
Alexia: "The planet."
*She points to the ships.*
Aetos looks at the planet. "How do..."
Metal Man (GM): The ship is actually still workable, however the reactor is at minimal levels, at least until it is given the correct program to operate correctly again.
Alexia: "How common are dimensional portals on Nintendus?"
Aetos: "More than anyone likes you to think... but these were built with awesome dimension-traveling functions. Now... a decision needs to be made..."
Alexia: "Cool, so let's grab a ship and get off of this hellhole planet."
Aetos: "...We're in space right now."
Dragoshi: "...Yep."
Aetos: "Option one is to try to repower this ship so it can get us back home... however that virus vaccine hybrid might only be dormant until the ship regains power... Another option is to go to this planet and go from there."
Alexia: "..."
Metal Man (GM): You're orbiting the planet from outer space; nothing else appears to be here, besides a sun and a vast amount of burnt-out and destroyed planets.
Dragoshi: "...Is there a third option in which we could try and destroy the hybrid? No? Thought so. Not like we'd ever have a damn idea on how that'd work."
Alexia simply stands there for a second, then looks back up at the others.
Aetos: "We could destroy the ship."
Alexia: "...Any spacesuits on this tin can?"
Aetos: "Only me."
Dragoshi: "...And get rid of what little hope we have left?"
Alexia: "Can we get the ship down to the planet, then? Might have a breathable atmosphere."
Aetos: "Only by crashing it."
Alexia: "Well, then that's out of the question... This thing using any power by orbiting?"
Aetos tries any of the communications controls for a minute, just to make sure.
Metal Man (GM): The comms activate. They suddenly light up.
'Unknown Civilization Detected'
Alexia looks over to the comms
"Try to hail them."
Aetos shakes his head, "Hold on. Can we scribe their location?"
Dragoshi: .oO(Hmm... I'm sure I had those altered supersoldier suits I ganked from that old Kuja outpost...)
Metal Man (GM): It shows a vague outline of a city amongst a vast wasteland.
The outline is prosperous.
But also alone, mostly.
Aetos: "It looks like an outpost..."
Dragoshi: "...Yep."
Alexia: "Hail them."
Aetos: "You can try to contact them. I'm going down now."
*He goes to the hangar.*
Metal Man (GM): Three Kuja-class 'Screamer' ships.
Alexia walks over to the comms and attempts to contact the city.
Metal Man (GM): They have a strange similarity to the Solarian ships you saw crashed into the Neo-Earthian outpost.
Alexia: "C'mon, answer..."
Metal Man (GM): The comms beep. An image of a strange being, which is mostly grey, and has a large head, responds back... in weird gibberish.
Aetos scratches 'Molly' on the side of the craft, with chalk, then gets into it.
Alexia: "..."
*She activates the Dex's translator.*
Dragoshi: "..."
Alexia: "Could you repeat that?"
Smash Dex: "Unknown. Unknown. Unknown."
Computer: "Even I can't translate that, and Kuja and Gerald gave me knowledge of all languages ever... in our dimension."
Alexia groans.
Aetos: "Was this like the ship Maxamillion crashed from on Turion?"
Alexia: "Technology is evil..."
Metal Man (GM): It's also like that ship; more advanced, though.
Aetos: It's pretty advanced, and unharmed.
Too bad you didn't find them earlier.
It is clear for launch.
Alexia: "Well, looks like we don't have a choice."
Aetos scans it over with his eyes and tries to turn it on.
Dragoshi: "...Freaking brilliant. I presume they never thought of trying to so otherdimensional language research? Or did they never get around to doing so?"
Metal Man (GM): It turns on. Fully powered by a miniature version of the weird glowing orb the ship used.
Computer: "There are too many dimensions for even Kuja to see."
Metal Man (GM): The weird being speaks again. Also finding it strange an object It uses doesn't seem to work.
Dragoshi: "...Ah. I blame time travel on that."
Aetos then tries to fly out of the ship. If there is no opening, he first looks for a garage-door opener button like control.
Computer: "This may solve some weird mysteries, however I doubt it'll save our world."
Metal Man (GM): Aetos flies out of the ship.
Alexia heads to the hangar, scratches "Model W" on the side and gets into the cockpit.
Metal Man (GM): Alexia: Same easy controls, same setup, it (and one other ship) are ready to go.
Alexia: "Wow. Simple enough for me to use."
Metal Man (GM): Aetos begins to enter the atmosphere, revealing a massive, sandy planet, made up mostly of badlands.
Alexia fires it up and follows Aetos.
Metal Man (GM): Rusted hulks of machinery are thrown about everywhere here, except for one massive, mechanical city.
Aetos: "Sand is no good for a ship... at least the old ones."
*He goes to the outskirt of the city and tries to land near it... despite his lack of piloting skill.*
Metal Man (GM): The ship takes care of that for you.
Alexia swings the ship around to the city and lands.
Metal Man (GM): Alexia lands nearby.
You can just walk into the city.
Aetos: "Apparently the Solarians just let their machines fight for them... Why did they even need operators?"
Alexia hops out of the ship
"Glad we landed safely."
Aetos watches Alexia come and hop out... watching to see if she can breathe.
Metal Man (GM): Alexia would find the air breathable... but extremely dry.
After all, wind eroded some of this here.
Aetos tilts his head at Alexia.
Dragoshi: *Heads to the hangar, and scratches Sanity's Redemption on the last remaining ship, enters it, and follows the others.* .oO(Took me a while to come up with a good name)
Alexia motions to Aetos that it's okay to come out.
Aetos comes out of the ship and goes into the city.
Alexia then heads into the city...
Metal Man (GM): It would, however, cause near-instant dry skin, but not serious, just the same type you'd have if you didn't moisturize your skin ever.
Reaching the city... is weirdness compounded.
Alexia: "..."
Metal Man (GM): You see a buncha... weird gray aliens walking around.
Aetos: "I hope you all know they could think we're hostile."
Metal Man (GM): The type you see in flying saucer movies.
Alexia: "Okay, this is messed up beyond belief."
Dragoshi: *Is prolly on the planet by now?*
Metal Man (GM): They enter and exit... walls. That's right, they walk through what appears to be walls.
Dragoshi catches up.
They also walk up pathways which go vertical.
Aetos: "Wai... Woa... Gah."
Alexia: "..."
Dragoshi: "...Yo."
Metal Man (GM): Also, there are 'walls' on the floor, sides, top, anywhere possible.
Alexia just stands there in silent disbelief.
Metal Man (GM): It's like those crazy staircase paintings.
Dragoshi: "...It's like art in motion"
Alexia: "...I need an aspirin. In the worst possible way."
Metal Man (GM): They move about silently, their gray skin looking smooth so as to retain moisture.
One of them looks at you and walks over.
Dragoshi: "...?"
Metal Man (GM): Without saying anything it takes out what looks like a bizarre tuning fork and pokes Dragoshi in the arm.
Dragoshi: "...Huh?"
Metal Man (GM): It tingles oddly and then burns a little.
The alien then puts the tuning fork away and enters something into a box.
Aetos waves at it.
Dragoshi: "..." *Blinks.*
Aetos: "A scientist?"
Metal Man (GM): It takes out a raygun and fires at Aetos, nearly missing one of his thumbs.
Then it speaks, slowly, through the box.
???: "Do not use the gesture of war at me! I am a learned philosopher! I see you are aliens. Do you want to see our leader?"
Aetos snorts.
Alexia: o_O .oO(Mental note. Waving = obscene gesture...)
Dragoshi: "...Then what would the gesture of saying hello b-...Wait a second. When we tried communicating with one of you... Duh." *Facepalms* "...Oh, not THAT stereotype."
???: "I had to manually extract some Quables in order to create a working software model of your primitive language. As long as you don't need to go between dimensions by self-propelled portals, as I've heard you do, you should be fine."
Dragoshi: "...Ah. Yea... That, was an accident."
???: "We are the Lacent, the survivors of an ancient catastrophe. You are?"
Alexia: "You can blame that on a mission that went horribly wrong..."
???: "Mission? What does that mean?"
Dragoshi: "..." *Merely stands back and lets the others talk.*
Alexia: "Quest. Journey with an objective in mind."
Dragoshi: "A job of sorts that usually entails chaotic events that may or may not lead to successful results."
???: "I am enlightened." *He steps sideways a bit.* "You appear to be lost here. Your psi readings show distress."
Dragoshi: "Usually moreso success than failure."
Alexia: "...You can detect psychic energy?"
???: "We, the Lacent, survived by balancing our emotions. It is, thus, our 'Mission' to balance out the feelings of others. You cannot detect mine?"
Aetos: "That is fascinating..."
???: "Aliens are less advanced than we thought... but that is no matter. Your massive ship, as puny as it is, appears to be broken."
Alexia bites her tongue to avoid a sarcastic response.
???: "My brother, Qu'Did told me you spoke like this. This means you do not belong in this place..."
Alexia: "Yep."
Dragoshi: "...Then again, it appears people complain when we actually DO fai-...Wait, how does your brother know?"
???: "...So I must reconcile the situation. The large ship is on a path to the bright death orb in our sky. That is bad for us all. You tried to use your non-psi communicator."
Dragoshi: "...Bright death orb? You mean the sun?"
???: "He is a Monarch Commandant, controller of interfaces which people talk through. Sun? This, we call bright death orb."
Aetos: "A sun is only when Earth's star is called."
???: "You may know it under our ancient name, 'Laros'."
Alexia: "I can see why, considering how dry this place is..."
Aetos: "Does this planet have a name?"
???: "Our planet is too close to Laros to sustain any other life than our own. The fault of that lies in an old story told too often. This planet is Serak. Yours is... Earth?"
Dragoshi: "...Yea. Then again, being a reptilian creature I'm-Yes. That it is."
Alexia: "Yes."
Aetos: "Erm... MINE is Earth... but we live on Nintendus."
???: "Earth. I must visit sometime." *He holds up a box.* "Hm. Nintendus too? That, too. I shall lead you to a better place to speak. This is meant for common walking."
Metal Man (GM): He walks to the left, and, up a vertical path.
Looks like you may be able to walk on it, too.
Aetos follows him.
Dragoshi: "..." *Tries to do so.*
Metal Man (GM): For some reason, you do not fall when on the path.
You begin to reach a door that is straight up.
Alexia abandons all logic and walks up a vertical surface. Whee.
Metal Man (GM): You make your way into the room, which, weirdly enough, orients itself to be right-side up.
The weird guy sits down in a chair, with a holoprojector in front of him, which he accesses.
???: "If this is true, then we must get your outdated vessel functional. Unfortunately, it uses technology we never used... too dangerous. This is bad... lacking the right program, nothing can control one of those. Only an all-seeing God could make the right algorithms."
Aetos opens his Dex. "Can you help?"
Dragoshi: "..." *Sigh* "It's always something bad..."
???: "We cannot replace the algorithm. We can only disable it, or modify an existing, functional program. Which do you choose? We have replacements, although they are not quite as ideal. Your ship is unnecessarily large."
Aetos: "We really would rather the ship wasn't in our hands anymore anyways."
Dragoshi: "...And screw over out chances at destroying the other ships? What are you, nuts? Or getting back to our own dimension for that matter."
Aetos: "Well then you pick."
???: "We can't send you back ourselves; you have no choice but to use that ship to get back. We can, however, nullify the weaponry and make it a massive bus, of sorts."
"...Assuming it has no self-defense protocols or viruses."
Aetos: "About that... That's kinda how we got here in the first place."
Dragoshi: "...Sadly, that is the case."
Aetos: "An infamous computer virus somehow combined with a computer vaccine and it took control of the ship, sending us here."
???: "...I see. Your cyber-people are the hardest to delete."
Aetos: "...Apparently... this dimension does not exist."
Dragoshi: "...That's... A little odd."
???: "Dimensional transporters set to unexplored locations often say that. Hm... if only we had some sort of functional operating system to use."
"Do your ships have any programming?"
Aetos: "Used to, at least."
Dragoshi: "...Yea. What he said"."
???: "So those ships you landed... you did so manually, or not?"
Aetos: "The smaller ships, they could work on their own."
???: "Hm. They should be usable, then... the only problem is deactivating the virus on the large ship. What sent you here in the first place?"
Dragoshi: "...I believe my associate would know more on that" *Looks at Aetos.*
Aetos: "All I know... is that the virus/vaccine activated the dimension warp function on the ship, really."
???: "...The ship has nontrivial damage. I assume you were in some sort of battle?"
Dragoshi: "...Well, yes. We were planning on destroying several other ships of the same kind..."
???: "And your foe is...?"
Aetos: "Gerald Robotnik."
Dragoshi: "Gerald Robotnik. Or in more proper terms a hologram of him."
???: "I see. Technicians have already modified the data on your ships. If you approve, myself, you people, and the technicians with your ships are prepared to beam aboard the ship and help you make it work again."
Aetos: "His virus was controlling the ships we wanted to destroy, including that one. We were in the middle of doing so, when someone else implanted the vaccine and then we got stuck en route here. That sounds... fine to me."
Dragoshi: "...We could use all the help we can get, so yes, that would be fine."
???: "3... 2... 1..."
Metal Man (GM): *BZOOP* You appear, with the ships, and more aliens, aboard the bridge.
The ships, obviously, on a floor or too above, in the hangar.
???: "Hm... it appears your controls have been... damaged."
Metal Man (GM): ??? walks over and stabs them with one of those weird probes.
It soon lights up with an eerie light.
Ship Operating System: "Gyag! Gahhhh~! Aliens!!!!!!"
Dragoshi: "...May I ask what those a-...Yikes!"
Computer: "Oh dear. It appears it is trying to activate the self destruct."
???: "There is only one way to disable it."
Dragoshi: "Not good, not good! ...Yes?"
???: "I must use one of you as a data device to destroy the operating system."
Dragoshi: "...Uhhh..."
???: "Unfortunately it may also effect your identity. But it's better than this ship exploding."
Aetos face-palms.
Dragoshi: "...Yep." *00ber-facepalms.*
???: "Which one of you... volunteers?"
Aetos steps forward, hoping someone else does too.
Dragoshi steps forward as well.
???: "Only one is needed. Two would merely allow both of you to have identity problems. I shall flip a coin... as you would say."
Metal Man (GM): He projects a weird number thingy, which spins around, before saying....
d2
Erm...
That works too!
Dragoshi: "...?"
Metal Man (GM): It lands on Dragoshi's side.
Before Dragoshi can say anything, he is hit by a massive beam of light, which is the compressed essence of Gerald and Nova together.
Dragoshi: "...Huh."
Aetos steps away.
Metal Man (GM): Then the ship's lights dim, light up... and are back to normal.
However, Dragoshi begins to speak oddly.
Dragoshi: .oO(...Ah hell.) *Well...?*
"Gah. Blargh. Splot. Zzzzztttt!!!" *Grabs Aetos and shakes him.*
???: "...This was not a very... nice... cyber person, I see... hopefully it won't take his mind over completely."
Dragoshi: "We must stop Gerald, Garrick! He's going to destroy Nintendus! Nintendus shall soon be destroyed... and you cannot do anything about it... ha ha ha ha ha..."
"...How 'bout both of you rot in hell?"
"Not if I have anything to say about it?"
"Silence, Quester. Your body is mine now!"
"Quick, Garrick! Activate the force fields!"
Metal Man (GM): Dragoshi's two hands begin fighting one another.
???: "...We shall have to deal with that until we find a target to send those personalities to."
Dragoshi: "...I feel like I've been hit with something a bad memory from 1000 years ago... Sheesh" *Tries to break them away from eachother.*
???: "The ship has been repaired to operable condition."
Metal Man (GM): MNT check, Dragoshi.
You force the hands apart. They make threatening gestures at one another.
Then uncontrollably make talking gestures, like sock-puppets.
Dragoshi: "Nintendus shall be saved... if I can just find where the cameras are on this strange computer. ...Either that or this one bad dream that was the result of not sleeping on end for weeks."
"With a corporeal body, I can once again terrorize the world! For real! Ha ha ha ha haaaa!"
"...Man. So many cans of iced coffee" @_!
???: "The ship has been repaired... we shall send you back now."
Metal Man (GM): Before you can blink, the ship'
Aetos: "...This is funny, though."
Dragoshi: "I think there was one or two mixed with really strong alcohol. Blah."
Metal Man (GM): s hurtling towards Nintendus.
Dragoshi: "I don't mean regular strong, I mean STUPID strong ...Which in itself doesn't make sense"
Metal Man (GM): *PAUSE* As the ship approaches Nintendus... the fight rages on. Will the ship reach in time? What are the aliens up to? Will Dragoshi ever be the same?
Find out, next time! +2000 EXP
Now I, weary, must rest, being sick.
However I have a feeling it amplified my creativity.