Aberrant: Stargate Universe - Land of the Lost (Combat Oriented Mission)

[Mr Fox]

Kyria's last words couldn't have been better chosen. The Jaffa Tolnak visibly puffed up at the subtle challenge. "We will take your tretonin and we will see."

He looked at the head priest, "You rule us no more. You will be wise to be gone and quickly."

Turning back to new comers, "Come I will show you the chambers where they priests keep their secrets."

One of the younger priests looked as if he were going to speak but the leader made a gesture that silenced him. Apparently, the 'leader' among the priests was not the pompous fat one that first spoke but was the short lean fellow with the cold eyes who had spoken later. Rather than speaking to Tolnak he turned to Kyria who was obviously the chief among these new gods. "Very well, you have taken from us that which was our sacred charge, do with it as you wish. We will go to the gate and depart since we will no longer be welcomed here. If you will give us leave."

Without a word or even a backward glance he turned and began to stride away on his short legs, the others priests trailing him. They were silent all the way out of the plaza and toward a group of building beyond.

Tolnak smiled satisfaction watching them depart before turning to the new comers. "You say you are not gods, but you are more powerful than any in the stories, and but even so we will not worship you. We will call you friend instead if you will let us... I have wanted to be free of those leeches since I was a child. You have my thanks."

[Yseult Sierra]

Yseult's uncanny eyes widened at the thought of seeing the secrets the priests had held, plundering their depths. Her lips tightened at as heard Tolnak's thanks, before curving back into a faint smile and giving him a sharp nod.

"We are being very glad to have freed you from the snakes, but we are certainly not gods, nor do we seek your worship. Friends though, those we are accepting freely." Her turquoise gaze followed the departing priests. "The priests, if they are not being accepted her, perhaps they would be willing to join the Free Jaffa elsewhere? They seem not to be inclined to follow false gods themselves."

[Mr Fox]

Tolnak sneered at the mention of the priests. "They speak the words of freedom, but they never knew it in their hearts. They talk of not following false gods but they would have set themselves in their place if they thought they could avoid retribution from Anubis. So instead they set themselves as our masters in the name of maintaining peace among the tribes. All the while they collected tribute in exchange for symbiotes. Their hearts are full of pride, but not pride in freedom shared with brothers, but pride in lording over others. May they fall."

A couple of the other jaffa murmured "All the way down", in response to Tolnaks words. It had the sound of a curse.

Tolnak looked to the group, "So come, I will take you to their strong place where they hoard the treasures of Anubis."

He led the group through the maze of ancient stone building through streets of what once must have been a large and advanced city. After several minutes the group entered another plaza before a massive domed building. Leading the way to a large metal door the group paused before it. It was slightly ajar and obviously stuck in that position and had been for untold years. Two jaffa stood flanking the entrance and saluted Tolnak. A few words in Goa'uld were exchanged then the two grinned in true pleasure and moved aside.

Tolnak addressed the group, "We will go no further. Within you will find their treasure, but beware, many have sought to steal from the Priests over the years, but none have ever succeeded. They have devices of the g... of the Goa'uld that protect their treasures. We will await your return."

[The Red Man]

Dec, the dried blood a crust on his features and clothing, stepped forward and tapped Cam on the shoulder, getting his CO's attention.

"We might be makin' a mistake letting those priests walk off like that after deposing them, sir." He murmured matter-of-factly, his expression grave. "They're in a position to run straight to any hostiles and ambush our ass. Want me to follow them and make sure they actually do go to the gate?"

Though he didn't say it, it was plain enough what the alternative would be if the priests looked as though they were going to attempt a double-cross.

[Ryan Hawke]

Ryan nodded. "Colonel, I think he's got a point. He's the best for this sort of thing, Army Ranger and all. The rest of us can continue on here."

[Mr Fox]

Cam grimaced, "I think you are absolutely right, unfortunately I really need you here. If this place is booby trapped all to hell then your reflexes and particular skills might mean the difference between us alive or dead."

He looked to the rest of the group, "Stay on your toes in here, those Priests gave up way too easy. The whole thing stinks. Kyria, why don't you stay out here, and see if you can't monitor those priests, you can let us know if they are heading off to make trouble. That should give us enough time to prevent them from raising an army or something."

Looking to the group, "Anyone else have a suggestion before we go in?"

[Aradia McConnell]

"You want I should follow 'em or something instead? Or you think I can help out here somehow?"

Aradia glanced towards the direction the priests had disappeared in, and then back towards the "treasury" in front of them. She looked pretty unsure about her ability to help in either situation, but that seemed to be Aradia's permanent state during missions - unsure of her place or relevance, and with a distinct lack of confidence in her ability to actually be of any real assistance. It was only when she had been stalking and spying on Hatchins that she had been truly thankful for her shape-shifting abilities... and espionage didn't seem to be high on the SGU's mission requirement list.

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

"That's a really good idea," Olivia told Cam, offering her support to Aradia's idea. "She can easily follow them and zip back if they don't do what they said they would. That leaves Dec here to cover us."

Olivia seemed relaxed. In a way, this was her new element - dealing with alien cultures and bridging the gaps between their peoples. Turning to the warriors, she said, "Let the way, Free Jaffa." She added a pretty smile, unable to hide the eagerness in her expression.

[Mr Fox]

Cam nodded, "That's a good idea. Go ahead and follow them Aradia, but be careful to keep their distance, these guys had some kind of technology that works despite the suppression field, at least they do in here." He pointed to the building.

"Ok, everyone else lets go. Dec you lead but keep your eyes open."

The big man moved into the interior of the building past the slightly wary Jaffa. To their credit the two men shrank back from Dec only a little as he came close to them. Inside the building was large and open. Or at least this room was. It was all polished stone and blocky but elegant design familiar to those who had studied the Ancients ruins. This 'city' was much better preserved than most of their ruins in the Milky Way. The tall vaulted entry chamber was lit by the light streaming in through the windows which still somehow retained their stained glass and cast multicolored rays across the stone. The way ahead led between massive columns and Dec had no trouble seeing the trip-wire strung between them.

((Everyone please make observation rolls, perc+awareness.))

[Yseult Sierra]

Stepping into the vaulted entry chamber, Yseult's large, turquoise eyes roved over the interior, intuitive senses measuring distances and determining spatial relations between the columns and whatever else lay strewn about. With a wary glance at the Jaffa, she stepped past them, face coolly calm with studious scrutiny for the Ancient building.

Click to reveal.. (Observation)

Perception + Awareness, First Die Mega, Discerning Quality: 7d10.hitsopen(7, 10)= 4 successes

[Ryan Hawke]

Ryan admired the architecture silently, but he too was focused on the traps.

Click to reveal..

Per + Awa 9d10

(07:43:06) ChatBot: (Ryan_Hawke) rolls 9d10 and gets 6,6,5,10,5,4,10,8,10.

reroll for observant quality

(07:43:17) ChatBot: (Ryan_Hawke) rolls 3d10 and gets 7,7,8. 7 successes

[Aradia McConnell]

Aradia nodded, and shifted back to her normal form briefly, allowing the Jaffa a quick glimpse of a stunningly beautiful blonde-streaked brunette, somewhat on the shorter side than the others and dressed in the same camouflage as the rest of her teammates. Then she shifted again, into the shape of a much smaller but fiercer-looking bird of prey, some sort of falcon. Without any hesitation she took off, flying high to avoid being seen for now, and a fairly quick pace to catch up with them.

Click to reveal..

Rolling for Shapeshift, 1st die Mega: 8d10 → [5,5,10,6,1,10,10,10] = 4 suxx. 1 for S/S success (falcon), 1 for size, 1 for flight, 1 for speed)

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2470862/

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

Olivia walked along with a slight spring in her step, her dark eyes raking over every inch of available Ancient beauty. This was why she was out here - to touch the kind of history unavailable on Earth. Back home, only a paleontologist got to touch things this old.

Click to reveal..

Olivia's Perc+Awareness (Mega last two): 2 sux total

1d10=6, 1d10=4, 1d10=5, 1d10=2, 1d10=1, 1d10=6, 1d10=9, 1d10=7, 1d10=1, 1d10=6

Wow... all those shiny dice, all those crappy numbers....

[Mr Fox]

Click to reveal..

(13:30:53) (Fox): Fox rolling for Dec Perc + Awareness (with 2 dice bonus from tactics and background)
(13:30:59) ChatBot: (Fox) rolls 8d10 and gets 7,5,9,9,3,8,8,4.
5 successes

Dec moved forward among the columns down the polished granite hall pointing out various traps before triggering them, or telling the group to avoid them. His and Red's years of dealing with Afgani and other booby traps massively enhanced by his new state made for an easy trip through the building.

As the group made it to what was the center of the building it was obvious that this place must have been impressive beyond words once. A dome at least 200 feet across at it's base rose up to an occulus of some translucent crystal or stone like alabaster but better able to pass light through. Even in it's current state this place could rival anything man had created in it's short history of architecture. One by one the team members became aware of a subtle hum of power like standing near a transformer station back home. There was a slight smell of ozone in the air and while there wasn't an audible hum, there was a 'vibration' in the air that was palpable. Whatever it was seemed to be centered below the occulus in a circle of lighter colored granite in the floor.

[Yseult Sierra]

Yseult's head swiveled smoothly, intense turquoise eyes studying the interior of the ancient building, her intuitive sense of space and dimension extended. The impressive dome over head, standing free of any support bracing, measured exactly two-hundred and twenty-nine feet, precise to more than a sixty-fourth of an inch. A prime number she noted idly.

Her gaze was drawn to the clear occulus, lips slightly down-turned as she compared the circle of light above to the circle of paler granite below. Directly below, to a degree so fine she couldn't detect the variance. Highly improbably for decorative purposes. The minute depression of the center piece, no more than quarter of a millimeter to the rest of the level floor, was obvious to her acute senses, however, especially considering the meticulous accuracy of the rest of the architecture.

"The circle of lighter stone, it does not rest flush with the rest of the ground, which I am believing highly suspect," Yseult warned, though every eye seemed to note... something about the discontinuous piece of stone. "Considering the exactitude of the rest of the architecture, it is not a mistake I believe the designers of this structure would make. Even taking into account the passage of time. It is only neglect that has affected this place, the foundation appears to be a stable as ever."

[Mr Fox]

The circle of stone turned out to be a set of ring transporters. Using his mad computer skills and the ability to 'talk' to alien devices Cam was able to activate the rings and beam everyone into the center of the complex.

Once in the control center of the complex it was almost anti-climatic. Between Livy and Cam they were able to get the device turned off. Unfortunately, there was nothing for the team to scavenge. The emitter that created the anti-technology field was massive and couldn't possibly be moved, it was powered by a unique geothermal vent system that the ancients had tapped into. The one thing that might prove useful were the logs the device kept. It recorded the arrival and crash of every ship over the last several thousand years. There had been a surprising number of them. The planet's surface was practically littered with crashed vessels. Anubis had used the place as both a sanctuary and a spiderweb. In this city on the plateau was the only place on the planet where technology worked because it was the place from which the field was generated and lay beneath it's projector.

After securing the facility and transporting the Stargate to the plateau where it belonged back with it's DHD, the team turned over the planet to a large science team from the SGC.

Kyria was privately scolded by the IOA which meant nothing to her, but was publicly commended for her rescue of the Tok'ra. Everyone else was awarded a service medal for their participation in a combat situation.