Aberrant: Phoenix Rising - Chapter 4: A Saucerful of Secrets

[Courier]

Courier heard the weather change and thought he knew exactly what had happened. Raider had freed KB, and she was pissed, and she was going to take it out on the camp. Abstractly he approved, his only problem with the plan was he was right next to the tallest metal object around.

Courier pushed harder against the rocket... but gave himself only a couple more seconds before it was time to bug out.

(OOC: Doug will push again, but if he doesn't make progress he's going to bug out and fly back below the tree line).

[Gregory]

Things were getting very chaotic. Bodies were flying all over the place and the sky was getting dark and foreboding. A large group of aberrants clusterd by the ship where they had destroyed his construct. Hopefully, someone would deal with that group. If not, Gregory would stop his healing and make another construct. This time, it would be a swarm of stinging bees, that shocked the flesh on contact.

(Q-const w/Immolate (electricity) + agg extra. Other sucesses go to size)

[SalmonMax]

For a moment Calypso stared up at the sky, reveling...then she realized what was happening. Her opponent had either stopped unexpectedly or...more likely...reversed, and started trying to make the same storm she had been.

The result was a gathering tempest that was far beyond anything she alone could have wrought. There was no controlling this storm, no stopping it. She'd expended too much power to even slow it now. No doubt the other had as well.

Calypso looks wildly around as the wind begins to howl through the trees and buildings and the gantry's superstructure creaks ominously above. "We must retreat, friends!" she calls. Where were they?

"Make another doorway! Quickly, before it's too late!"

She ducks down so as not to present too big a target, and tries to find the allies who brought her here.

[Expendable]

Originally Posted By: Dr. Raphael Bradford

Above him with no warning Seven appeared in mid air and crashed through the trees, branches whipping the young novas body as she landed in the forest nearby. She landed hard and lay still, either stunned or unconscious.

Seven held her arms in front of her face as she crashed through the smaller branches, dreading the larger branches to come. And saw it - a big stout branch that caught her, knocking the wind out of her and throwing her to the ground below.

The young nova coughed and wheezed, managing to draw a ragged breath into her burning lungs before passing out.

[jameson (ST)]

The storm was raging out of control; Calypso couldn't help but look on in awe and fear. The quantum forged tempest was beginning to hurl lightening down and the winds where continuing to spiral out of control, debris and parts were being tossed into the whirling maelstrom.

Calypso looked about her and saw Gregory crouched in the shadow of one of the buildings as the wind buffeted the structure. Nearby she also saw Seven lying in the dirt and leaves of the forest floor, unmoving.

Out above the camp Courier "put his back into it" and slammed the rocket with all his strength. The wind and lightening raged about him. He could feel the support structure beginning to weaken but he was exposed, if it weren't for the storm the aberrants below would probably have seen him by now and resumed their attacking. Instead they scattered, the force of the wind and the debris buffeting them.

Deciding that discretion was often the better part of valor Courier reluctantly abandoned the rocket and sped through the storm toward the forest where he hoped his friends would be waiting, and maybe KB with them.

Continuing to spiral out of control the quantum fueled storm lashed out with lightening, wind, and fury. With speed that even a nova eye could not keep up with the rocket was lanced with a half dozen lightening strikes. The electricity played over the surface and shot down the support structure finding home in the soil. Air, superheated to thousands of degrees by the passage of the electric plasma, cooled and coalesced. Thunder pealed and shook the camp to its core. The scaffolding, already weakened by wind, debris, Courier, and the lightening, began to buckle. The force of the thunder was immense and the sound, enough to cover the twisted scream of steel as the rocket fell.

More lightening followed, relentless there was no break, not a moment of respite. The rocket crashed to the ground, its framing twisting under its own weight and the force of the fall. Fuel tanks ruptured and their contents alternately spilled or flashed to vapor.

***

Courier 4 bashing damage

[Courier]

Doug winced as he crashed into a tree, or maybe that was through a tree, he wasn't sure. The wind and rain was really slamming down and he barely heard the rocket crash down. Either he'd loosened it enough for the wind to get it, or the wind had worked on it's own. Maybe it had landed on some aberrants but he wasn't sure and really didn't care at this point. KB was really pulling out all stops, and thinking of pulling out, it was time to get out.

Doug landed, put a tree between him and the camp, and tried to take stock of what was going on,

(To Gregory) *Gregory, I'm right here, where are you? Get the new people {mental impression of the three new novas} and let's pull out. I'm going to shift the link to Raider and see if he has KB, then I'll contact Adam and have him make a gate.*

Doug pauses for Gregory's feedback, then attempts to shift the link to Raider.

(Attempted Link shift and Regen)

[SalmonMax]

Calypso crouches by Seven and picks the girl up before rushing to Gregory and yelling over the fury of the winds.

"We have to get out of here! The storm is feeding on itself! It will get much worse before it gets better! Tell your friends to come and make another doorway!"

[Gregory]

Gregory moves towards the figure that flew through the trees. Upon arrival, he shakes their shoulder in an attempt to rouse. If they awake, he alerts them to the oon to be opening warp. If ot, he communicates through the link to Courier.

*I found one. She is not awake. I think she knocked out. Need help. Cannot lift. In treeline... (gives him location).

[Expendable]

Pain. Seven managed to flutter open her eyes for a moment, getting a confused look at Calypso and Gregory staring at her before she faded out again.

[jameson (ST)]

Courier flew drunkenly toward the tree line. The weather was going from terrible to hellish in short order. Rain and hail flew sideways and battered his body while debris of all sorts buffeted his body. Between the “precipitation” and the dirt and dust Courier could barely see fifty feet in front of him, add to that the wind which constantly altered his course and the going was slow. Eventually, after what seemed and age of being beaten upon, he made the tree line and took refuge in the forest.

Quote:

*I found one. She is not awake. I think she knocked out. Need help. Cannot lift. In treeline...

Courier looked about and got his bearings before heading off toward their insertion point, he attempted to contact Raider via the link, hopefully he and KB were making their way back to the gate location as well.

Calypso scooped Seven up and dumped her over he shoulder. Luckily the other nova was small and light. Unluckily all hell was breaking loose and it was a safe bet that if they didn’t leave soon the forest would cease to provide any worthwhile protection. The young man, she assumed this was the “Gregory” that the others had mentioned, looked like he had been on the receiving end of a bomb. His naked flesh was marked with burns and shrapnel wounds that were steadily closing, he looked tired and he looked like hell.

Quote:

"We have to get out of here! The storm is feeding on itself! It will get much worse before it gets better! Tell your friends to come and make another doorway!"

Calypso then moved further back into the woods, the storm was still growing, it seemed impossible but then she’d never fought for control of the weather with another nova before. The edge of the forest was getting torn up and as she watched some of the smaller trees and shrubs began to lift out of the ground. Behind that deep in the epicenter of the chaos she watched the Rocket topple. Lightening played over the camp tossing chunks of earth into the air where they flew apart.

Gregory somehow heard the twisting of the metal and turned in time to see the rocket come down. He noted with some satisfaction that it crushed much of the nearby buildings and that storm was striking it as though the sky itself had been insulted that James would dare to pierce it in an attempt at the stars.

Suddenly there was a detonation, a flash of light orange and red and white was followed by a concussion that cut through the wind. Gregory was blown back rolling along the forest floor until he struck a tree. Calypso and Seven were tossed forward and sprawled amongst the dirt of the now clean forest floor. Elsewhere Courier stumbled as the concussion hit him, he looked toward the camp and watched as the bloom of fire was torn apart by the storm, not even an explosion of that magnitude could withstand the fury of the elements.

Raider poked his head up above the soil and heaved KB up so that she could breathe, intangibility protected one from so many things but the demands of the biological process could not be altered. He saw the light and heard the blast though he paid the concussion no more attention than he would an exhalation. Ducking below the ground level he continued toward the insertion site and hoped that the rest of the group were ok.

[Gregory]

Another blast slammed into Gregory. He watched the sky and ground, alternate in his field of vision, as he rolled across the forest floor. Moments after he started rolling, he stopped, abruptly, at a tree. It hurt, but thanks to his still active Force Field, he was spared further damage.

He leaned foreward, exhausted and in pain, and looked for the others. Had they also been thrown about? Were they OK? Gregory didn't have time to think about them anymore. It was time for him to find the extracion point and leave...before any other bad things happened.

[SalmonMax]

Calypso grits her teeth and summons what power she has left to try to deflect as much of the rain and wind as she can as she hauls Seven back to the place where the door had first been made.

And may the sea send that the others were going there too...

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: Gregory

*I found one. She is not awake. I think she knocked out. Need help. Cannot lift. In treeline... (gives him location).

Buffied by wind, Courier quickly realizes that it's far more practical for him to go where he thinks Gregory and the others are than to expect them to come to him. Using strength and flight to stay on course, he heads that direction and tries to direct Raider to do so as well.

(If the link is active with Raider) *Let me guess, you're not affected at all by this. Hey listen, if KB is unconscious then she can't hold her breath, come out of the ground more often.*

When he reaches the others Doug will contact Adam and tell him to make a gate on his location, but he'll only go through himself if KB has shown up.

[jameson (ST)]

Courier races through the forest as quickly as he can safely do so. The storm is now whipping at the forest and the leaves, needles, and branches from the forest floor are being sucked into the air into the grasp of the bizzare tornado/hurricane hybrid. He tries his link with Raider hoping to relay their situation.

Quote:

*Let me guess, you're not affected at all by this. Hey listen, if KB is unconscious then she can't hold her breath, come out of the ground more often.*

Coming around a copse of birch whose white bark is being stripped from the pale wood-flesh below Courier spies Calypso struggling through the chaos with Seven thrown over her shoulder.

Mneawhile Gregory is finding the path slow and tortuous, weakened from the explosion and drained of much of his energy reserves he is drunkenly making his way deeper into the forest to the insertion point. The wind and debris buffet him and he does his best to roll with the blows staggering with the wind rather than against it. Out of the corner of his eye he sees Courier flying like a madman between the trees muscling through the din. Gregory then sees that Courier is headed toward the women, Calypso, still carrying Seven, is struggling against the storm on her own.

[Mr Fox]

Raider gladly accepts the link with Courier. "Yeah, I've got KB! I'm am very close to the others now. I've been staying in the ground just in case this turned out to be the shape changer, but I'm pretty sure it's KB. And yeah, I thought of the breathing thing. I'm actually keeping our heads above the surface now since we aren't affected by the storm anyway. It took me a minute to remember she needed to breath since that's something I don't need to worry about. *Courier feels Raider chuckle across the link* So, I'll be back to where everyone is gathered by the time you get here and Adam opens the gate." He moves over the remaining distance to the others as quickly as he can move, but he will remain in the ground with KB until the gate opens.

[Gregory]

It must be one hell of a storm, because even in the forest, he could feel its power. Every few seconds a blast of wind would hit him and send his battered and exhausted body hurtling to the ground. Each time he would rise and head to where the others came through the warp, only to be knocked down again. He hoped to get there before the storm did.

If someone was able to look at his expression however, they would be able to see him smiling, even through the dirt, blood, sweat, and tears.

[Courier]

With Raider's words half the weight of the world left Doug's shoulders, for the first time in days he thought maybe this was going to come out all right.

(To Raider) *Time to go then. I'll contract Adam.*

Courier attempts to contact Adam and if successful sends,

*Raider has KB but she let loose a massive 'boy-am-I-pissed-and-everyone-is-going-to-suffer-for-it' Hurricane and it's still growing. Squid was hurt bad but managed to get out. His ship crashed then exploded. His crew is at ground zero of KB's storm. It's time to leave.*

(OOC: Move to where the others are, contact Adam, continue Regen-ing)

[jameson (ST)]

Courier switches the link to Adam who agrees to open a new portal at the previous location. Scanning around through the wind, trees, and flying debris Courier sees a section of forest floor open downward offering a view of the floor of Raider's garage. Calypso and Gregory also see this and begin to head toward it, struggling against the storm to make the drop point in time.

Raider continues to drag KB behind him and now sees Courier and the others converging on Adam's warp. Redoubling his effort he pull himself and KB up out of the ground and then simply dives into the warp as soon as they can. Gregory, Seven, Calypso and Courier follow in rapid succession and land in a heap on the garage floor.

Above them the storm rages as though it sensed that it's quarry was out of it's reach. The bomb bay doors close and a deafening silence fills the room. Dirt, branches, leaves and papers from within the garage fall to the floor as the wind suddenly stops.

[SalmonMax]

Calypso stays on the floor, gasping for breath and holding onto Seven simply because her arms are too stiff to let go.

Abruptly she starts laughing...starting off with a chuckle and quickly escalating into full blown belly laughs as she manages to release Seven and roll onto her back.

"I think your squidlike friend will have a great deal to do before he can rebuild his little rocket," she manages to say between gales of mirth. "Did you see that storm?! What fury! What power! If only I had brought it alone!"

[Guest Kelly_Bolt]

Phased back into reality Kelly felt the weight of the world once more, the weight of her body and the agonies it presented her, and the weight of several other people in a semi jumbled mass around her. For the first time in what felt like weeks, despite being hardly more than a single week, he mind was empty. She was alone within her body once more. She shuddered and screamed thrashing out from under the others her eyes darted about. On the floor an young nova with a cat's tail lay sprawled, dazed or unconscious next to a bedraggled woman who cackled like a maniac.

She spun and saw a man looming over her, bald with eyes that burned like fires. Kelly shrieked, she reached for the quantum to call forth the power of lightening but found he reserves drained. Her body exhausted and her mind simply unwilling to accept that she was free, Kelly's mind imploded and she collapsed, crying, "Doug... help me ... Doug... help me ..."

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: Dr. Raphael Bradford

Above them the storm rages as though it sensed that it's quarry was out of it's reach. The bomb bay doors close and a deafening silence fills the room. Dirt, branches, leaves and papers from within the garage fall to the floor as the wind suddenly stops.

For a long moment Doug just enjoys the silence. It hadn't gone as well as might have been hoped. Sebastian was missing and so (darn it) was Squidward, but KB was here and Raider was a healer. Physically he personally was feeling a lot better than he should after being blown up by Squidward and then blown down by KB. He'd let that bother him later. Doug got to his feet to move over to Raider and the mass of white hair that he assumed was KB.

Originally Posted By: Lily

Calypso...starts laughing... "Did you see that storm?! What fury! What power! If only I had brought it alone!"

Doug thought, *Huh? She did it? No, she helped?*

Originally Posted By: Kelly_Bolt

She spun and saw a man looming over her, bald with eyes that burned like fires. Kelly shrieked, she reached for the quantum to call forth the power of lightening but found he reserves drained. Her body exhausted and her mind simply unwilling to accept that she was free, Kelly's mind imploded and she collapsed, crying, "Doug ... help me ... Doug ... help me ..."

Doug said back, more loudly and forcefully than was perhaps neccessary,

"Right here!"

Finally reaching her, Doug scooped her up into his arms, held her close for a moment, then out so he could take a good look at her. He said again,

"I'm right here. We're back in Raider's shop."

Doug attempts to shift the link to KB and if successful says gently and with a mental "tone" combining love/worry/relief,

"You're back, you're safe. I, we, got you out. You're back."

[Mr Fox]

After a moment to get his bearings and look around at everyone, Raider will begin moving from person to person healing as needed. He will start with those who seem the most injured and keep going until he either has everyone healed or runs out of juice. "Well, that was rough, but at least we achieved two of the objectives, and the most important of them."

[Gregory]

He wasn't sure how he got there, but he knew he was back at the shop. Someone was laying on his leg, and there was an elbow in his back. He didn't care though, as other parts of him hurt more. So, Gregory just lay there, on the cold concrete floor of the shop, with exhaustion beseiging his consciousness.

A few seconds later, Gregory lost that battle, as darkness overcame him, and he passed out.

[Guest Kelly Bolt]

Originally Posted By: Courier

"I'm right here. We're back in Raider's shop."

Almost immediately KB beings to struggle against Doug, she thrashes about in his grasp, her stength proving inneffective against his quantum strength field. Doug attempts to touch his mind to hers, to reassure her through his telepathic bond but is met instead with a wall of psychic force blocking him.

Realizing that she is not going to be able to break free from Doug's grasp and unwilling to attack him Kelly simply goes limp, a whimper escapes from her limps and softly she can be heard saying, "... please it hurts ... no more ..."

[SalmonMax]

Calypso's mirth finally fades and she extricates herself from the pileup. After a moment's thought, she pulls Seven out as well and gently shakes the girl.

"Hey there. Wake up. Are you all right?"

[Expendable]

"Hey there. Wake up. Are you all right?"

Seven's eyes fluttered open and she stared in confusion at Calypso. There was a strange warmth running through her, especially along her ribs. The pain of crashing through the branches and the explosion was gone.

She nodded and looked around in confusion - last she remembered They were in a forest. Where were they? How long had she been out? She struggled to sit upright.

[Courier]

Doug starts to say,

"KB..."

Then he considers, *Right. The transition here was somewhat jarring. She's really tired, I could just let her sleep. No, I don't want her spending another minute thinking she's a captive.*

Doug mutters, "...deeds, not words..." then glancing at the ceiling, he carries Kelly outside and flies up, and up, and up.

Doug had long lost count of the number of times he and Kelly had flown together. It was at least dozens, and might be getting up into the hundreds. There's nothing quite like it. The freedom, the wonder, it was always both an alien and a liberating experience. If anything could show her that she wasn't still in chains, this was it.

Doug said,

"Look around KB, there's the farms, and the city walls, and if you look behind my place you can see the Mule parked behind it. You're home, we got you out. And if you look West that's the hurricane you left as a gift for Squidward."

[Mr Fox]

After he makes his way among everyone and expends his healing energy, he will help everyone into the dining hall and see about getting some food on the table, because he is sure everyone will be starving after such energy expenditures.

[SalmonMax]

Calypso gets to her feet, a bit unsteadily, and nods with thanks at her healing benefactor.

Noting Seven's confusion, she says, "We are back. They found the girl they wanted, and I brought a storm to wreck their rocket." She smirks. "A storm they will be talking about long after we are all gone."

She claps her hands together and nods. "So! Victory for our side."

[Guest Kelly Bolt]

Kelly struggled weakly in Courier's arms as he flew them up into the sky. Down below the city and surrounding land spread out, a testament to mankind's hardiness juxtiposed with nature's own resilience.

Kelly looks about frantic at first but calming as she realizes she is in the open sky. Far to the west and south they see a dark edge on the horizon, possibly the great storm that destroyed James' camp.

Floating above Newborough, thousands of feet away from any novas, aberrants, or baselines, Kelly finally begins to relax. She puts her head on Courier's chest and her eyes close. Within moments she is asleep, seemingly at peace.

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: Kelly Bolt

Floating above Newborough, thousands of feet away from any novas, aberrants, or baselines, Kelly finally begins to relax. She puts her head on Courier's chest and her eyes close. Within moments she is asleep, seemingly at peace.

For a long moment Doug simply hovers there and smiles at her. He still can't hear her mentally, but he's never actually tried to shift to a sleeping person so it might not be possible. A wayward breeze plays with KB's hair... and Doug frowns. He doesn't feel a breeze...

Doug lets himself drift downward back to the shop. He'll get Raider to give her a shot of healing then worry about other things later.

[jameson (ST)]

A few days later an intense hurricane swept over Newborough on its way north and east. Many of the old timers commented about the odd timing and direction of the storm but little was thought of it by the town as a whole. Calypso helped to move the storm along as quickly as possible but was otherwise unable to affect it. She recognized the quantum signature of the maelstrom as the same storm that destroyed James' base.

Seven and Calypso began to get comfortably with Newborough as the days turned to weeks. Robert and Billy transported to Goodwood so that Robert could live within the anti-quantum field and at least halt the destructive disease which was slowly killing him.

By the end of the month things had returned to normal. The fall continued into winter and the weather got cold. The final harvests came in an the Annual Thanksgiving Faire was staged. The year closed out with a great Nor'easter that dumped nearly four feet of snow over the landscape. And on New Year's Day the citizen's of Newborough looked out onto a world both alien and beautiful. The new fallen snow blanketed everythign in pure white and for a while it was as if the world was new once more....