Earth Victoriana: On Track

[Supercape]

GM

 

The last two cultists started stabbing left and right in a frenzy, a glorious, mad franzy, shouting "Kali!" over and over again. The knife that stabbed Ulysses, who didn't even need to bother trying to avoid the steel, just bent under the pummelling. The youth attacking Synpase just swished the air, left and right, full of anger, but without direction. 

 

The priest of Kali opened his eyes wide, wider than possible, his eyeballs bulging and red, muttering some verse to Kali, some command to obey, to submit, to capitulate...

 

And Ulysses felt the voice, the command, the order, resonate in his head. 

 

"The house of Kali is for us, and us alone!" said the velvet and steel voice of the priest. 

 

"Destroy the West! Destroy every machine, every tool, every cloth, every road, every rail! Only through the purity of the primitive can we find enlightenment!"

[Exaccus]

Ulysses silence is suddenly broken when he feels yet another voice enter his mind and worse yet attempt to usurp his control, his cold silent rage flares white hot in an instant and says in a momentarily calm voice  "You Dare?; FOOL, it is you who is the slave." he growls swatting at the two cultists foolish or possibly drugged enough to stand in his way, almost absentmindedly in the gesture, as if trying to push away a pair of insistent if large dogs though still sending them sailing away into the   "Ruled over by foolish superstition and absurd tradition, you ignorant drug addled SWINE!" he thunders before closing the gap and with a shaking raised arm swipes his backhand against the priests cheek, grimacing even as he begins feeling some strangely quiet contentment in seeing the man silenced.

 

"You and your fear-mongering Ilk will never hold sway over me." he says, more to himself than the unconscious man in laying sprawled before him, before turning to regard singh, eyes wide with worry and rushing over to him, not sure what to do, he refrains from moving him in fear of making the wounds worse, he looks desperately to Synapse, remembering how calm and collected she'd been dealing with Uncle Bob, relating his plea for assistance with his expression.

Edited November 4, 2014 by Exaccus

[Supercape]

GM

 

"My..my...it barely hurts at all..." said Singh to the dagger hilt in his chest. "I feel...almost peaceful..."

 

The drugs that had been burnt at the incense were mercifully pain relieving too. Around the heroes, figures coiled back, staggered away, or simply slept through the mayhem. 

 

"...this...this thuggery will not do!" said Singh, the effort of talking causing more bleeding from the wound in his chest. His breathing was ragged, a sucking sound coming from his sternum. 

 

"You...you...my friends, dear lady, dear sir...you must stop Annie Key...I believe it all now, madam, having seen with mine own eyes. What a story! A story I wish I could have told my grandchildren..." he coughed. 

[Thevshi]

Dee could sense the priest trying to get into Ulysses' head, luckily the powerful gentleman proved more than able to resist the attempts to take over his mind. She was briefly taken aback by his rage against the priest and the cultists, but then they were extremists and more than happy to murder all three of them in their goddess’ name.

So the Englishwoman focused back on Singh, how continued to believe that this was the end for him. "No, I told you, you are not dead yet." Dee stated to Singh as she moved over next to him. "You will have a story to tell your grandchildren, as you ride on your great Indian continental line."

She took a moment to study the injury, and then picked up some nearby cloth which she tore into strips and began wrapping it around the area where the knife was, helping to stop the bleeding and stabilizing the knife somewhat as well.

"That is about all I can do for him." She stated, looking up at Ulysses. "You need to get him to the hospital where we took Bob, them meet me back outside so we can continue on to the place I saw in the priest's mind."

[Supercape]

GM

 

"The great Indian Continental Line..." whispered Singh, his mouth smiling and his eyes happy, lost in the serene moment of imagining it. Even as he did, Ulysses felt another twang...

 

It must be built...

 

With Dee's hands on his chest, she stemmed the bleeding. She remembered some basic anatomy, some basic trauma - a haemothorax, making it difficult to breathe. But with a little poking around and pressure release, she stabilised Singh, although he was far from well. Fortunately the knife punctured a lung, not the heart or the aorta. 

 

"Madam...and Sir...you have saved me, and more than once, I fancy, from my own folly. Please, you see now the madness that seeks to derail us...it must be stopped...."

[Exaccus]

Ulysses silently but surely nods his head and with singh in his arms takes off at top speed for the hospital, taking as much care as he can to avoid opening or agitating the wound without sparing any speed, not caring who sees him doing what as he streaks towards the hospital in quiet reflection. 

 

"There, there, Lad; you'll be back on your feet in no time...just relax and let me and madam synapse clear up this nasty bit of business...you give bob my regards if you see him, wont you?" he says trying to sound like his usual merry self and reassure his injured ally as he hands him over to the hospital staff lingering a few moments more to see him off before heading back towards the opium den, he finds himself halfway out of the doors when the adrenalin finally wears off and his limbs grow heavy from his exertions.

 

<Now is no time to be feeling old and making excuses, Alex...theres work to be done.> he reprimands himself as he grits his teeth and pushes himself through the fatigue and streaks back towards the opium den.

Edited November 5, 2014 by Exaccus

[Supercape]

GM

 

A little while later...

 

With the destination plucked clean from the Priests mind, reaching the cave was not problematic. The trip to the edge of town was filled with beggars, music, peddlers, colours and smells that assaulted the senses in a most wonderful chaos. India, in any dimension, was not a dull destination. 

 

The cave had scratching and etchings around it, subtle chalk symbols dedicated to Kali. But unlike the opium den, this was not so decorated with religious symbolism. It was if religious devotion here was half hearted, a secondary thing. 

 

The cave was located in the slums of the town, just as they gave way to a tiny mountain, or large hill, depending on what you fancied terming it. It looked blasted out rather than natural. 

 

The mood of the slums was less pleasant. Beggars begged with more ferocity, and street vendors pressed their goods into Synapse and Ulysses hands more urgently. The people of the slums did not look well disposed to two foreigners, and well dressed ones...

[Thevshi]

Synapse had waited for Ulysses to return before she started off toward the cave she had pulled out of the priest's mind.  Luckily, she did not have to wait long at all.  The Englishwoman was ready to see this dealt with, and hopefully then be able to find a way to get her, Ulysses and Bob back to their own dimension. 

 

Having spent time in Africa after finishing her degree, she was not unaccustomed to the poor conditions that were present in the slums near the cave.  And while Synapse felt a fair bit of sympathy for those inhabiting these slums, she was currently not in a mood to be as gentle with them she might otherwise.  She still tried to rebuff most with only a stiff dismissal or the like, but for those that were particularly aggressive with their begging or attempts to sell items, she turned them away with a bit of mind control.

 

Soon, they were down at the base of the large hill which held the cave.  <Well, there it is.>  She mentally relayed to Ulysses.  <Given the talents of this mysterious woman, it is safe to assume there will be traps, so we should approach carefully.>

[Exaccus]

Ulysses can't help but feel sad as he walks through the slums; having been on the railway all his life he'd learned to look past the colours and creeds of the service staff and his various firemen firemen and as much as he wanted to he couldn't help but feel great empathy for what he knew in his heart to be his fellow men, opting instead to simply follow synapse with his head bowed ever so slightly in shame.

o

"I'd agree...but let me ask you about this Annie key before we go in....she's a young mixed ethnicity girl right?" he mutters as he examins the half hearted wall scribblings "probably feels like she doesn't belong anywhere when all of a sudden this cult moves in and gives her a place and a purpose...might not be too late to talk her down....so if i freak out like i did back in that opium house and come out swinging and steaming i want you to turn your brain bullets on me before i so much as lay a hand on 'er." he says solemnly.

 

Proceeding to clap his hands together "besides, girls a genius im sure a nice place in the sappers with the good captain would do her a world of good." with a hearty chuckle he gives a slight bow "usualy im for age before beauty but i think it might be best if brains and skill go in before brute force and blind ignorance."

[Thevshi]

Dee listened to Ulysses questions and requests before she responded.  <Well, it is not entirely clear how old this Key is, Singh almost made it sound like the legend had been around for some time.  So we will have to see whether she is beyond reaching or not.  But I won't let you get out of hand.>  She mentally responded. 

 

She then gave a small nod and a smile as he stepped aside to let her lead the way in.  <Well thank you, although I would not say you suffer from blind ignorance.>

 

The young Englishwoman then surrounded herself with her red glowing forcefield of telekinetic energy as she moved forward, her blue eyes scanning the area for any signs of traps or the like.

[Exaccus]

feeling his chest puff up a little with pride at being told he wasn't ignorant Ulysses follows behind at a medium distance, remaining vigilant as possible in doing so for the gleam of brass or the soft click of gears, ready to if need be, intervene if something should go wrong. "maybe she's just taken up the name because of similar circumstances...like Mr ludd or one of them legacies floating around." he muses outloud.

 

<Hope singh and bob are OK; probably gonna have to cut this vacation short..>  he muses to himself, forgetting he's currently in telepathic contact as he trudges along through the cave, <can't go anywhere without stuff like this being sprung on me.>

[Supercape]

GM

 

The Cave was deep, deeper than it should be, and well worn. It was more artificial than natural, carved from pick and shovel and, in all probability, dynamite. 

 

And there, in the centre of the entrance, covered in dust, Synapse could see the mine. A thing of springs and brass plates, of weights and counterweights and copper, and most importantly, bristling with explosives. It was well made, a work of craftsmanship. On closer examination, its genius became more apparent. It was carefully placed and carefully designed - not to cause tremors or a cave in, but to eject shrapnel all around it, enough to shred any soft flesh that stood on it, and probably any one standing next to the poor unfortunate who did so. 

 

Looking around, there were a few tell tale traces of blood. Perhaps one or two souls had fallen foul of the device already. Whilst Ulysses could, in all likelihood, walk over it without a scratch, it was unlikely Synapse would have been so unscathed. 

[Thevshi]

<And we have a mine right there.> Synapse mental relayed to Ulysses as she moved carefully closer to the trap, avoiding the plates that would have set it off. <Shouldn't be a problem to disarm. Don't want to leave this armed behind us.>

The young Englishwoman knelt down and began studying the design of the trap. It was well crafted, but like everything else in this dimension, it was built entirely with mechanical components. It was not too hard for her to find the best means of disabling it so they could safely pass back this way without worrying about it being set off. After disconnecting a few wires, the device was then harmless, at least in terms of being set off just by someone walking over it or its pressure plates.

<Alright, let's move on.>

[Supercape]

GM

 

Annie Key was there, tinkering with what was, in all likelihood, a bomb. 

 

The cave had turned into a tunnel, of sorts, with gas lights dimly lighting the way, alongside candles. It was not long until the cave terminated. There, Annie was playing with this device, and that, all steam powered and full of copper, brass, and iron. Around her, three thugee youths slouched around, smoking pipes, playing cards, and polishing Ms. Key's devices. 

 

As the two heroes approached, Annie Key spun round, pipe in mouth, monocle in eye, and rivet gun in hand, her dress a ragged and anarchic mix of boots and gloves and corset. 

 

"Whatcha dooin' here!" she demanded of the pair. 

[Thevshi]

<Annnd of course she would be all Steampunk.>  Dee mentally relayed to Ulysses as she almost rolled her eyes at the sight of Annie Key.  The young Englishwoman then took a step forward and she spoke out loud in response to Annie's question.  "Annie Key I presume.  We are just a pair of travelers who are here to put an end to your acts of terrorism against the Intercontinental Railway project."

 

Although Dee had a rather good idea how things would unfold, she still felt obligated to give Annie a choice.  "Things would go a lot easier for you and your associates if you just surrendered."

[Supercape]

GM

 

Annie turned back to the clockwork, gently rumbling, device she was tinkering with, speaking to Dee without looking at her. 

 

"What are you? I didn't know the English had women police officers" she said, flatly. 

 

"You sound just like one of those English Imperialists" she added, her own voice a mix of Indian and English heritage, like she was. "And who says I am Annie Key, anyway?" she said as an afterthought. 

 

"I am Annie Key, boys?" she laughed at the three youths who just chuckled, and shook their heads. To the ever observant Dee and Ulysses, the youths made sure their knives were near to them, ready to be unsheathed in an instant. 

 

THE TRACK MUST BE BUILT!

 

Ulysses heard the command, formally a whisper, now a shout, in his head. An unrelenting force, a drive to build, build, build. 

 

Annie looked up at the pair with a smile on her head. 

 

"I'm don't want any trouble. If you are going to arrest me, arrest me..." she smirked. 

[Exaccus]

The moment he set eyes upon the bedraggled woman Ulysses could feel something very very angry thrash inside the very core of his being, something that objected so utterly to her that it blocked out all other sensory input but her, so focused on her smug expression; His own heart began to thunder in his ears, gradually at first but growing louder and louder with each beat till it was nigh unto deafening like the chugging of some monolithic engine.

 

"The track must be built...the track must be built..." he mumbles as his adrenalin begins to build and his chest begins to heave as his tired but sturdy limbs loosen and fill with power like pistons building steam, Visibly shaking with rage and anticipation not quite his own he moves with terrible purpose and inexorable momentum to stand before the object of his ire.

 

"THE TRACK MUST BE BUILT, OVER YOU IF NECESSARY!" He screams at the gathered thugee, the faint sound of some phantasmal train whistle sounding under his voice, he leaps into action, driving his fingers into the stone floor and parting it then with a mighty heave of his arms sending a foot thick slab of stone flipping into the air to shatter upon the roof; Melon sized chunks rain down onto the heads of those bellow it.

Edited November 12, 2014 by Exaccus

[Supercape]

GM

 

The huge lump of rock tumbled like a bowling ball towards the thuggee, who were smashed by it. There was a sickening sound of screams and crushed bones. Fortunately the devastation was heard rather than seen - but still, the raw power of Ulysses was unleashed with his scream, and the power was horrible to witness. 

 

Even Annie Key dropped her jaw at the man throwing his own body weight in rock like he was throwing a cricketball. It was not just surprise on her face, but fear too. She had not expected such an explosion of violence, and not expected its fury. 

 

But she had been prepared. 

 

With a twist of a bolt on the machine she was working on, there was a grumbling noise, and an explosion - of air and gas rather than shrapnel. All of a sudden, an unpleasant acrid smoke filled the cave, making it impossible to see ones hand in front of ones nose. 

[Thevshi]

Dee had frowned slightly as Annie's response, although it was not exactly unexpected. The saboteur was clearly intelligent, given the devices Dee had seen her make, and collected enough to play it cool in this confrontation. "I doubt you would believe me if I told you where I am from." The young Englishwoman had replied. "But as for who I am, I am the one who has been disabling some of the bombs you have left behind, such as the mine near at the cave entrance."

But Dee's retort was suddenly overshadowed, as Ulysses erupted into action, ripping up a huge section of rock and flinging it into the air to send a deadly shower of debris raining down on the Thugee men. Dee was half stunned by the sudden violence, as she looked over at Ulysses. "What the bloody…" Then all was lost in an explosion that quickly filled the room with thick, heavy smoke.

Dee still had her forcefield up, as she backed towards where she remembered the nearest wall, trying to focus on listening for the sounds of anyone moving. Of course, with all the smoke, she was unable to target anyone with her mental powers.

[Supercape]

GM

 

Nothing could be seen, only heard. The sound of an engine rumbling, pouring out smoke. The sounds of hurt and injured Thugee. The sound of Annie Keys rivet gun clicking. The sound of her boots as she stepped towards the two heroes. Not without a pondering caution, but without trepidation. Annie was used to mines and smokes, and operating without her eyes. 

 

Nothing seen, only heard. 

 

And felt. 

 

Synapse felt Annie bump into her, a scuffle of groping hands and shifting weight. 

 

"Oh fiddlesticks!" cursed Annie, before a spinning whirring sound hit the smoky air, and Synapse felt a jolt of electricity shoot through her body...

[Exaccus]

Ulysses moves with almost robotic precision and steely resolve, opening his mouth as wide as it can be forced to and inhaling with all the strength of his lungs, pulling the acrid smoke into his lungs unflinchingly in a whispy vortex of dust and residue, fixing his hard glare upon Annie and moving to stand over her from behind he leans down a little and barely more than a whisper he says "You will not escape me, saboteur...I am the march of progress; Unstoppable and Inevitable." speaking now at a far more sociable volume but with indelible weight and force to these softer words, his slightly glazed over eyes not even registering synapse before him as he draws back for his next blow. "Try as you might to derail me."

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Dont you know who I am?"

 

"I'm Annie Key! I can derail anything!" she said, defiantly, all rags, tags, and punk hair. She would not have looked too out of place in some of the social outlets that Synapse circled. 

 

She backed away, sure footed and careful. Behind Ulysses, the machine she was worked on clanged and ground to a halt, and in a few seconds, was on fire. One could only hope it would not spread to the dynamite stored under moth eaten cloth. 

 

Annie raised her odd pistol, a rivet gun of some sorts, all brass, copper, and steam. With one eye closed, she pressed the trigger and a small spinning bolt of hard steel flew through the air, ready to drill its way into Ulysses...

[Exaccus]

Ulysses hand moves to his breast, his fingers seizing the shallowly embedded rivet by the head and pulling it out with a faint pop, he lets it clatter to the floor. "It is Impressive for you to have harmed this servant, I concede." the dull emotionless voice rings out before closing the distance in a blur of motion grasping her elbows in his hands and pinning her arms to her side before lifting her off the ground  "But now you have confessed yourself Annie key; Justify your actions against me and this dimension's prosperity." he rumbles dangerously as he puts a slight squeeze on the helpless young lady "I may be moved to leniency. you are surprisingly talented." it state matter of factly, setting Ulysses glazed out eyes squarely on her own.

Edited November 21, 2014 by Exaccus

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Prosperity? Prosperity? Man should be free. The nut, the bolt, the spanner, the wrench...these should be the tools of men, rather than men be slave to the tools!" she said, wriggling without the slightest effect. 

 

"What matter prosperity? No, I spit on it! I spit and spit again! India shall be free of the wretched English, Woman shall be free of man! No government! No leader! No army! No sword or musket! Tis the only way to truly live!" she shouted, red cheeked with fury. 

 

"My wretched father cared nothing for my mother, only his precious England, only his precious Empire! He broke her heart and killed her, as surely as he had put knife 'twixt rib! No, 'tis time to break all rules, rend all laws, and tear all chains!" she said, shouting with ferocity and conviction, with little room for debate on the matter. 

[Exaccus]

"your words are weighed Annie Key and I find them lacking." the voice replies as he lifts her further up and over his head "I will now....DO NO MORE!" he errupts in a new voice, eyes streaming with tears "you'll do no more brutality with my hands! I don't care if you're god himself." he shrieks arms shaking with what might seem to be fury or fear but is a struggle to wrest control back from the interloping entity.

 

"Do not interfere." the cold hard reply comes "This matter is not your concern anymore Vessel; you moved too slowly and indecisively you would let her free again to murder and destroy as she would in the name of petty personal vindictiveness, the old and weak who would use this train to journey through this unsafe land as much as the men building it." it bellows in reponse.

 

"I would deal with this matter humanely! Not murder a little girl because she has Opinions!" he answers as he begins to stagger and turn annie key still held aloft over his head "She's lost so much already..." he croaks as the tears stream "I'll not let you take her life as well." and with that last statement full of firm resolve he hurls annie key away from himself, back into the cave and clutching his head begins the struggle for control in ernest. "Synaaapse if you're out there now would be a good time to brain me!" 

 

"DO NOT INTERFERE INTERLOPER."

Edited November 21, 2014 by Exaccus