Seal of Sedna(IC)

[Ari]

GM

Admiral Kalf had stared at Supercape's cheerful visiage rather a while after he had stopped speaking. With a slight effort he removed a large swathe of the frown from his face, enough to push up one of the corners of his mouth at least. It relaxed almost instantly, and once again the mouth opened and the emotionless voice spoke "I appreciate your taste, Supercape. Though I would rather you and your people saw the barbaric splendors of the Star Kahn's first flagship, the vast spherical control rooms of Grue vessels or the continent-sized docking bay of a Preserver derelict we discovered recently in the last few hundred years before judging our own decorations. I also am glad at your..kind words regarding our business. We have few enough friends as it is, and I welcome you and your companions among them" his eyes glinted darkly orange "Though your acceptance comes rather late" bowing to the magnificently-caped academician, the Admiral turned to Quintessence when the enhanced human had addressed him.

"Ah, The first sapient being in our recorded history to have met the Preservers in person! Well well well, a pleasure to meet you..I assume you prefer Quintessence to your given name in the situation? I would as well. Rest assured I am glad to have you all aboard, and I don't begrudge the Freedom League's wish to focus on their home and the constant strife that wracks it" he smiled fully at James, with almost disquieting sincerity and friendliness"The trouble at Z78-I mean, Sedna, is rather beyond our current technology. I'm sure you will be of immeasurable help. Personally I'm betting that the complex's sensors will detect the efect of Preserver technology on you, and might even let you pass deeper in than any of our soldiers have gotten"

[Paragon]

Quintessence is slightly taken aback by how much the Admiral seems to know about him. Somehow the Admiral has learned more about him then any person on Earth has been able to uncover. He must have a sizable amount of resources focused on finding out anything he can about the Preservers and any information that anyone has. He has shown his hand too early though. I now know how much interest he has in me, I best be on my guard Quintessence thinks. Quintessence puts on his best smile to show he is not concerned with the amount of intel they have on him and says Well Admiral I did happen to have the same thought. I might just be an easy solution to the issue we are all having on Sedna. I hope the solution will be as easy as that but somehow I doubt it. In any case you have my assurance to do all I can in order to protect the people of this sector of space from whatever danger lies inside.

[Supercape]

Supercape half-raised an eyebrow at the revelation, and scrutinised Quintescence carefully.

"Very interesting" he commentated. "Potentially very helpful. Or dangerous. But certainly worth knowing. Admiral, from my understanding, Sedna is still a considerable mystery. An unknown. We should, as they say, expect the unexpected...."

Logical contradiction he added to himself, without verbalising his thoughts.

"But forewarned is forearmed. We do, of course, appreciate any information you can give us..."

[Ari]

GM

Bowing slightly to the two, Admiral Kalf turned to Ironclad and Phalanx. "Ah, another scientist and another..'super' is what you call them, right? Glad to know your people have a system like that"

Paying Phalanx not the slightest attention, he addressed Ironclad "I'm glad someone civilized was able to embark on this mission. The citizens Earth usually sends us are either well-meaning yet dull-witted sorts, or else sharp-minded monsters. Hopefully this signals a change of the guard!" he smiled genially, with comparatively little irritation or suspicion.

Turning to the other Lor who had followed(blue-skinned, large eyes, gilled)he said "Please join the aide on the bridge, inform me if there is the lest discrepancy. Here on the frontier we cannot afford mistakes" with a single nod the officer left quietly through the small doors the humans had came through.

Returning to Ironclad Kalf appeared to resume his former speech "Which reminds me, Ironclad: I recently received word that there's been some trouble with that brilliant Archeville fellow. Any truth to him being attacked by a monster in the middle of Freedom City, your world's leading port?"

[Raveled]

Ironclad stood in a ragged line with the other Earth heroes, taking in the Admiral's remarks. Really, for someone who was renowned for not liking Earthlings, he was markedly polite to them -- except for referring to them as 'witnesses' to an 'investigation.' And then his last remark... "Doktor von Archeville recently suffered an attack by a villain who managed to suborn his technologies for the sort of dastardly things villains always do, yes. I wouldn't say that it was his fault, but he did step down as CEO of ArcheTech in apology."

She took a deep breath and continued speaking. "Also. I thank you for recognizing my intelligence and skill. Many people disregard me because of my age. However, I have to correct you on one point. Earth has many great minds that have been to the stars. Daedalus, Archeville himself, and I understand Dark Star was no slouch when it came to the physics that were so important to him. Not to mention my ally Supercape, who is far and away above me when it comes to theoretical maths." It was impossible to see, but underneath the helmet Jessica was breathing hard and had her eyes closed. Social confrontations were not her thing, but she wasn't about to let an alien bad-mouth Earth's heroes, either. "In fact, I'd wager that more often than not, the heroes of Earth that venture out into the stars are quite bright."

[Ari]

GM

There was a long pause while Kalf absorbed this information, his face transitioning from cool annoyance and the casual undertones of insolence that marked his own corruption by office to one of honest surprise and doubt. After appearing to fully mull over and digest this new(to him)fact, he turned partially to Phalanx, saying with a trace of cold embarrassment "I ask your pardon if I have..offended you. I have simply never met any humans besides your immortal inventor or rogue Grue who showed any interest or skill with science. As far as I could tell, none of the rest could have so much as fixed one of their spaceplane's communication systems"

To Ironclad he muttered dourly "Perhaps another thing will be remedied: your kind will speak up before being spoken to. It would be a welcome change if you made your people's skills more rather than less widely-known to us" bowing stiffly(not due to his loose and unrestricted uniform), and marched off back to the bridge to continue the short parade, calling over his shoulder "I'll see you tomorrow on the bridge, after the captain Mirta says whatever she has to say in the Mission Room" resuming his previous stance, he made his rapid way to the blue door, through which he exited after a loud(and rather ceremonial)conference with the two mechanized soldiers standing beside it.

After the completion of the parade, the heroes were quickly escorted further aft of the ship, to the general area where the quarters were put, each of them was given a slim USB-like device that contained a holographic map of the ship, with their quarters marked unmistakably on it. Thus armed, they were given the run of the place until whenever they chose to retire for whatever rest or meditation they wished.

[Raveled]

Ironclad frowned under her armor as Admiral Kalf turned to address Phalanx? She hand't pegged the big man in blue and gold as the science type, but hey! The more, the merrier. She resolved to talk to him about it -- then the admiral handed out the maps and she forgot about everything else. Free run of the ship! she excused herself politely but hasitly and made a beeline for engineering and the egnines. She had to fight against the impules to kick in her thrusters and fly down there.

[Paragon]

When they gave him the map Quintessence started looking for the area they kept their star charts immideatly. He was in SPACE. This was the oppertunity of a lifetime. If I could get a look at their star charts I could get some insights that would alow me to make real strides in understanding the universe. Maybe I could take a find some recources with information about the Preservers. Any knowledge is more then I have now. Quintessence moves off with excitemen and a smile on his face.

[Supercape]

Supercape graciously took the USB device from the admiral.

He paused a while, watching Ironclad and Quintescence scurry off excitedly. He had not the technological skill of Ironclad to be interested in, or indeed understand, the ships engines (other than in a highly theoretical way), and when he could travel the universe, the excitement of this particular quarter of space held no particular attraction.

He tucked the device away and decided to simply head off to his quarters, bidding his companions and the Lor goodbye.

He lay down on his bed, contemplating the events. He had a sneaking suspicion there was more to the whole matter than met the eye, but despite turning it over and stewing on it, he came to the conclusion that there was simply no way of penetrating the matter further until he knew more. Rest assured, his eyes closed, and he decided to take advantage of a sleep, to be better rested.

[Ari]

GM

Ironclad was granted almost unrestricted access to the(surprisingly clean and well-maintained)engineering 'runs' of the Discoverer, those areas being called so because of their being much less centralized than on terrestrial or Khanate vessels, this being(as the chief engineers were happy to divulge)due to occasions in the days of early expansion, the Republic had often found that any kind of centralization seemed to lead inevitably to either crippling of their ships or else factionalism of the crews on the year-long treks to and from star systems. Even the formation of what translated out to 'wagon trains' of convoys that routinely switched out crewmembers had done little to help. The current design, by contrast, kept everyone almost constantly in touch with each other, vastly reducing the risk of mutinous "They don't know what it's like to..."'s. The engineering runs were almost cramped with the rhythmically pulsating tubes, vast banks of heavily-shielded terminals, and sleek cold-fusion reactors to power the myriad of engines spread throughout the ship(centralization of engines had been an enormous problem in the past). Ironclad was alternately given a wide berth, or embraced as a comrade in science seemingly at random, the general opinion of the Earthlings appearing to be highest among the lower ranks. The one thing Ironclad wasn't allowed to investigate was the central data processor, in large part because none of its overseers thought the armored heroine would be quite delicate enough to leave it as pristine as it needed to be when an Admiral was aboard.

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Quintessence had a much quieter time of it, with most of the crew working in the astronomy sections(dotting the 'top' of the ship in small bubbles)carefully avoiding approaching beyond eight feet or so of the enhanced human. Unlike Ironclad's rapport with the engineering crew, the astronomers gave every impression of seeing James as a highly interesting thing, and the ease with which his searches came across information gathered by the Lor about the Preservers was almost uncanny...

Aside from that, his own research proved quite informative. As best as the Lor could tell, the Preservers were quite possibly the first internally-begun civilization in the universe(though they appeared to be younger than the other-worldly races that came before them and left even fewer clues). They had had an incredibly vast domain at one time, with relics of their existence detectable in every arm of the Milky Way, with strong clues that hinted that they may have once dominated territory in other galaxies though no proof of that had yet been found. According to careful examination, the Lor had discovered that all of their disparate kinds were related somehow, and that the Preservers might very well have had a hand(at least)in their origin, and undoubtedly had spread them to their(so far numbered)hundreds of homeworlds. However, so far the original stock that they all came from had evaded discovery, with a dizzying list of potential worlds listed. Earth wasn't on the list, as the humans were officially considered a sub-set of Lor, with a substantial number of arguments made that it was some lost colony or other.

It was a strange sight to see politics and anthropology married so closely to a science like astronomy.

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Supercape's sleep was entirely uneventful, the throbbing of the reactors dotting the ship doing wonderfully to soothe even the most agitated.

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The next 'morning', the four were once again in the Mission Room with Capt. V. Mirta, who was greatly apologetic. "I'm sorry for not warning you beforehand visitors, but I had had a family meeting in the Parade Hall only last week and Admiral Kalf has a penchant for sneaking up on people, otherwise I would have mentioned its garish state" she smiled hopefully "I trust you managed to keep him from ranting?"

[Supercape]

"He was quite reasonable" replied Supercape, honestly. "And he struck me as an astute man. He would probably have to be, to rise to his rank. Even if he did have his prejudices, he restrained them. I can't say he strikes me as a man who is ruled by his passions, or has his judgement unduly clouded".

"On the other hand, there is no reason to confirm any suspicions he has by making a mess of things. I imagine we are close to the site by now?" he asked. He spared a quick glance at the other heroes, assessing their state of readiness, and indeed, tiredness. He hoped they were reasonably well rested at least.

"If so, then the mission proper has begun!"

[Paragon]

I have to admit he was not what I expected from his description. He seemed to to be perfectly cordial to us as a group. He also is very well informed, as I would expect any leader to be allowing powerful people onto his fleet. Now down to business. As Supercape said are we close to our destination? I find myself anxious to see this Preserver base. With that Quintessence looks to the Captain for worn on the mission.

[Raveled]

Ironclad had opted to report to the mission briefing as herself -- that is, as Jessica Parker, the woman under the armor. She hadn't really planned on being out the suit, though, and had not packed any appropriate civilian clothing. A quick conference with the ship's quartermaster, though, had procured for her a tailored suit of some dark-green-almost-black material with a blindingly white blouse underneath. The slippers on her feet were the same white as her shirt, but provided excellent traction. The material felt like silk, breathed like cotton, and seemed spill-proof. A genuine marvel, and a part of the woman's mind was devoted to how she would smuggle it back to Earth.

"The Admiral seemed rather well-informed on Earth heroes," she said, "if rather inexperienced with the breadth of them." She shrugged faintly and sat back in her chair, wondering idly what kind of breakfast the Lor favored. "It's understandable. We're just one planet, after all."

[Ari]

GM

Captain Mirta stared at the four heroes in evident surprise, saying simply "Well..I'm glad to hear it. It's rare that he doesn't end up antagonizing every other creature he meets, must have been in a good mood that day" she speculated, absently tapping a few previously unnoticed buttons on the table that caused a neat black tablet rimmed with some sort of blue field to slide out of it in front of each of the people seated.

Their exits didn't appear to leave even the slimmest gap in the table. Verlee slid a finger down what a looked to be the front, which with a slight sound of humming Lor technology formed an opaque screen, with what at first looked like Venusian continents, but on closer inspection revealed itself to be a menu for food showing Lor salads. Glancing across the table at the other four the Lor captain explained their use "Slide one of your fingers across the tappad and when the screen comes up, announce what kind of food you want it to formulate. We have only a small selection of Earth dishes(a mere 4,677 at last count)programmed into our database, but hopefully there will be something to your liking"

As the meal began, the captain launched into the reason for their being in the Mission Room "We've arrived at Sedna, and are preparing to send you down to investigate the complex. You will descend into it with four of our science officers to help with any interactions you wish to make in the safe-guarded sections. Our sensors have detected some kind of energy..shift in the depths of the complex upon our fleet's arrival, and that it seems we can extend out shields into the first twelve levels or so, a vast improvement. The plan is for you to test the security systems on those levels, see if it's a trap to lure you deeper in by opening one of the doors that are obviously locked. If it is, then we'll have the shields take the brunt of the attack, and if not proceed further in. Each level has between six and ten large rooms the purpose of which we still can't figure out, with several dozen smaller ones that appear to be either living quarters, or if the prison theory is more accurate, cells" as he spoke, the monitors nearby displayed the previously-shown cut-away images of the complex, with an odd yellowy shimmer to the first twelve.

"We have next to no information as to what that thing is, so you'll have to find that out for us" she glanced over at them regretfully "I'm truly sorry about that. We have a record from the gauging equipment the people it killed got, if that helps any"

[Supercape]

GM

" We have a record from the gauging equipment the people it killed got, if that helps any"

"Everything helps" replied Supercape graciously. "Seeing as we have very little information on what lies on Sedna, even the tiniest morsel of information might, quite literally, be life saving..."

He paused a moment, contemplating his own words. They were indeed walking into a possible death trap. He may never see Earth again...

He dispelled those morbid thoughts. His best chance of staying alive was staying focussed. He could sweat the philosophical and personal ramifications for later.

"In the mean time, lets get down there!"

[Raveled]

Jessica made a soft noise of excitement and leaned forward, examining the display. She did as instructed and ended up with a single egg over easy, hash browns, some chilled fruit, a shaker of chili powder, a glass of milk, an empty mug, and a steaming carafe of coffee. She stomach gurgled in anticipation and she grabbed he utensils, cutting into the egg eagerly.

As the briefing proceeded the young woman was speechless, happily masticating her food. When the captain mentioned the odd activity of the ruins, she shot a glance at Paragon. Could it be reacting to his other-worldly physiology? It bore keeping in mind; he could literally be the key to unlocking the entire complex.

By the time Captain Mirta got down to mentioning the failed team, Jessica was pouring herself a mug of coffee. "We'll make sure that they did not die in vain," she said. "Will the current archeological team be staying on Sedna while we investigate?"

[Paragon]

Quintessence played with the menu for a while before settling on a heaping pile of steak and eggs with a cold glass of milk. He looked very content devouring the heaping pile of food.

I do hope that my presence will make our exploration of the facility easier, but I have no idea weather it will make a difference one way or another. For all I know this is a testing facility programed to contain experiments and wil recognize me as something that needs to b contained. I will do my best to unlock the secrets held within this place.

[Ari]

GM

Apparently deeply gratified by the assurance given by the heroes(and that there wasn't any trouble with the meal selection), captain Mirta said with fresh vigor "Thank you all. Ironclad," she added, turning to the technically-adept heroine "The current team will be removed until the complex is guaranteed to be safe. If you wish I'll have the bridge crew set up a link to the Discoverer's sensor array with your armor, Supercape" she turned to the quantum-manipulating academic "I understand you can communicate over vast distances, could you keep in touch with us as you go? That plus your capability to transform matter into alternate states should be invaluable in getting you four through the complex. Paragon," to the enhanced human "For just such a purpose, if I may make a suggestion, please don't tamper with any Preserver technology yourself. It seems to do routine scans of a user's DNA and RNA, it might detect your alterations and attempt to capture you. Phalanx" she said finally to the experienced Claremont graduate "We are detecting some kind of regular energy surge, some sort of Terminus radiation mixed with something else totally unknown to us, it may be that there is a portal to the Terminus down there"

Inclining he head slightly to the humans, the Lor captain declared "That is all I have for you beside the records from the suits of those killed. I will meet you at the Transportation Bay once you have gotten or done what you wish. Seeing as Admiral Kalf is in an uncharacteristically good mood, I shall do my best to capitalize on this and get some much-needed work done" another inclination, and the captain walked out the door and into an abruptly-opening chamber, in which she vanished in a wash of green and blue. The dark room hummed away as per usual.

[Supercape]

"Aye aye Sir!" said Supercape, giving a salute despite himself. Something about the starship made him feel like a sailor.

"I can certainly stay in contact if need be. Just a matter of quantum entanglement. Takes a bit of effort, so I can't keep in contact all the time if I need my mind somewhere else...and of course, Preserver technology can distort time and space locally. Well, if locally is the right word. It's all about nth dimensional parabolic probabilities..."

He stopped himself.

"Well, what I mean is, lets hope there is no interference!" he completed his monologue.

[Paragon]

Well Cthe Captain's advice seems to be good. I will refrain from using any of the items we come across while on the surface unless we learn something that makes it necessary for me to do so. As with anything else it looks lime my unique physology is a mixed blessing. So when do we start this trip of ours. I am ready whenever you are. With that Quintessence looks to the other hereos for their answers.

[Raveled]

"Yes, well. I was more worried about having to protect the archeological team while we explored the ruins." And set off Finagle knew how many traps, she pointedly did not say. They were a stick thrown into a minefield, and the less people around unable to protect themselves when the mines went off, the better. "I wouldn't say no to having my suit linked up to a starship, goodness knows, but I'm just now sure how much use it would be. No offense, but from what you've told us this ship's sensors haven't been very effective at penetrating whatever shielding the site possesses."

When the captain left, Jessica sat back in her chair and sipped at her coffee slowly. "I vote for a chance to let breakfast settle," she pointed out, "as well as a chance to use the restroom. My suit can handle stuff like that, but it's not very comfortable."

[Ari]

GM

Once the heroes had done what they needed to do, had assembled at the transporter bay in the lower recesses of the ship. The short trip was expedited by the intra-ship transporters that took them along with a relaxed and chattering group of engineering crew being sent to investigate some kind of fuel leak, they materialized in the same room they had arrived on the ship in, with a much reduced population than had previously been there. Scarce seconds after the arrival of the four Earth heroes, the transporters labelled "Outgoing Traffic" were filled with a sudden influx of uniformed Lor officers, who didn't waste any time getting off the platforms they had materialized on. With subtle nudges and explanatory coughs, the four were guided onto the appropriate pad, and whisked away into...

...a vast, blank blue corridor lit by long strings of something very like fluorescent bulbs, on top of a transporter platform that had no immediately identifiable source of power, at the apex of a curve in the hall. The air was tinged with grey, and from the way it shifted argued a dusty environment indeed, though it was quite breathable nonetheless. There were no signs at all that anything about the place was interactive. A faint humming could be heard, not like a machine's drone but like a voice attempting to sound out a song. The floor was thick with dust, and the bootprints of the Lor could be clearly seen, most of them wandering in the direction the hum appeared to be coming from.

A soft tone like a pebble tapping against glass sounded, and a translated voice echoed around the facility over some kind of intercom system "Captain Mirta here, our sensors show no sign of harm to any of you in the atmosphere, is that accurate?"

[Supercape]

"Captain Mirta here, our sensors show no sign of harm to any of you in the atmosphere, is that accurate?"

"I presume so" replied Supercape, aloud "...we are in a building, I presume the very target construct. And I presume that is safely on the ground, or in it, rather than free falling through the atmosphere..."

Best not to take anything for granted here..he reminded himself. This whole adventure need careful scientific analysis.

"If you can hear us, speak up. I am not sure how best to communicate. But we are all safe and sound..." his eyes glanced over his comrades as he spoke "...and it looks like we have but one route from here!" he concluded, noting the bootprints trailing off towards the humming sound.

[Raveled]

Ironclad gritted her teeth and waited for her senses to settle from the teleport. It never failed to disorient her, crossing so much distance in the time it took to blink. Logically it was just because surroundings were changing so quickly but was that really all? Maybe it was something in the head, teleportation interfering the electrical/quantum workings of the human mind... Such contemplations served to keep the heroine occupied until she recovered. Looking around the area, she nodded to Supercape. "Systems are at one hundred percent," she said. That sound was getting on her nerves, though. She switched her sensorium over to auditory pick-ups and started analyzing it. The reports hadn't stated anything about weird noises, and anything new was suspicious in this circumstance.

[Paragon]

Looking around at the new surroundings with nothing more then human scences quintessence does not see too much to comment on. This looks a bit underwhelming. I hope it gets better as we move on. Cocking his head to the side trying to listen harder for the source of the background sound, the only uintresting thing in this room, quintessence is unable to find the source of the sound. I have to say I hope this gets more intresting then this. That humming is anoying thoiugh. I wonder if it is coming from the facility or from something the Lor have brought with them? Either way shall we continue down the halway? With that Quintessence starts slowly walking down the halway looking around for anything that stands out.