After safely exiting the space station, leaving it to burn, the Tempus Frigate settled in for some repairs. And, during those repairs, Daisy found something that... shouldn't be there. In fact, a bug. It seemed to be super complex, and upon cracking it open, started to degrade almost immediately. After showing it to the captain, the crew realized that Daneel Kaspar had been tracking them the whole time! Just like Caelie had planned for the crew to disrupt Kaspar, Kaspar had been using Caelie!
With that in mind, the captain proposed one more trip: back to the day she stole the ship.
The space station looked just like it did before - with the addition of a very strange ship. Strangely organic, it's odd shape prompted a memory. Julius had seen this kind of ship before! It held the strange, teleporting aliens the Shifting Horizon had run into - the servants of the Entity.
Caelie's codes were, oddly, not valid; it took some hacking to get in. And indeed, just inside the small space station, the group met four of the self-same aliens! Their technology was a little older, but it was obviously the same species.
After a quick battle, in which the leader was absolutely shredded in the first volley of gunfire, the party mopped up and continued on. Only a single alien escaped. Daisy reached for the strange staff the leader had been carrying, and was zapped with a burst of lightning! After some poking and prodding, Julius recovered the leader's gloves, and handed them off to Samuel, who was able to pick up the staff without any trouble. A little experimenting found that with certain gestures, he was able to use it to see through walls!
Quickly, they made their way to the ship - the earlier version of the ship, that is - and removed the bug. Slipping out, they took out some guards, passed the earlier version of Caelie Kay, and finally reached the exit. And right behind them was a huge, organic, mech. It tossed the crew around a bit, but the heavy gunfire from them began taking its toll. Finally, the mech collapsed, fluids leaking out as it sagged into mush. Daisy, realizing there may still be a driver inside, pulled out her brand new last sword and poked a lovely hole in both the mech, and its driver. Julius and the other pumped a few extra rounds into the mass.
Struggling free, the pilot burst out with a snarl - none other than Daneel Kaspar! And, a burst of gunfire later, little of him remained... and he fell into dust, and vanished.
Back at the Tempus Frigate, the crew reached battle stations as the strange organic ship turned towards them. A salvo of missiles slammed into the ship; a direct hit nearly knocked out one of their lasers, but luckily, no one was injured. After two rounds of firing, the enemy ship suddenly stopped returning fire - or, indeed, moving at all. One of Julius' shots had blasted through the cabin, and neatly decapitated the pilot!
From out of range, the crew watched the younger Tempus Frigate jump out of the system; they returned and grabbed the alien ship, towing it to somewhere a little more private to work on it.
The Captain thanked each one - she knew that AlSec would no longer be able to time travel, and if they were, the Tempus Frigate would be able to stop them. She offered each of them a place - or, if they wanted to go back, then enough information to be able to handle their careers from that point forward.
Daisy, excited as she was with technology, decided to stay, and help the Captain. Julius, along with Samuel Green, asked that they be taken to near the time of the Shifting Horizon, to hopefully recover the crew that went missing. He took the alien ship with him, now in working order.
Henry decided to return home; the captain, with a knowing smile, handed him a small business card. On it was written a name and an address: "Peregrine Cycle, 1313 Warehouse Rd., Boston, MA." When he found the address, he recognized the man inside, as well - a tall, thin man, bald, and with a strange accent. "Ah. Henry. So good to finally meet you. It seems the years ahead will be... fraught with peril, I believe the phrase is. And I hear you have information about a certain upcoming alien crash?"
Amy Wilson returned home as well; after a terrible disaster, she moved to Texas, to assist with the Agency there.
Finally, Charles Greene returned home - to more familiar territory. He kept his laser gun, but under lock and key. He'd only been home for a few days when a tall, thin man with a dark beard and a black stetson knocked on his door. He introduced himself as Andrew Lane, and said the Agency was looking for a few good men to head out west... he had a job in Arizona.
-------
This may be the end of this adventure, but I can assure you that the world isn't through. There are yet more adventures to have here, folks! Keep watching this space!
No comments:
Post a Comment