ic Industrial Strength

[Supercape]

GM

 

Through the mist, the four wolves could be seen now, running and full speed. The sound of splashing through shallow waters. And then, they pounced!

 

The two sailors put their arms up, screaming in fear. These were rabid arctic wolves, full of teeth and sinew, and they did not hold back. Crimson blood flowed as the sailors went down under tooth and claw, the wolves mauling them badly. 

 

Lord Crane ducked, disarmed of his pistol, but pulling out of his belt a bony knife. It was a poor weapon, but it was better than his fists. Before he had a chance to use it, there was another seething invisible pulse from the meteor, for it was now vexed. 

 

The firearms dropped, free from magnetic clutch, and splashed to the water. But now, there was a sickening softening of gravity, the brief feeling of levity, and then a pulse of crushing gravity. Lord Crane stumbled and fell in a suitably ignoble fashion, a small yelp coming from traitorous lips. 

[Exaccus]

Thankful he'd opted to focus on defending himself for now if a little guilty for not actively protecting the men but this was too important to divide his attention over, thowing his physical might and mystical weight into the rushing wave he manages to resist the force of the meteorite's explosive repulsion with gritted teeth.

 

"You can't stop me fiend!" he bellows "I will destroy you! before you can work your wickedness!"

[Supercape]

GM

 

Lord Crane was a bit disorientated, what with being dumped rudely on his posterior. The hot steam and water did not help his disposition. 

 

"I am no fiend! How dare you call me wicked!" he protested. His hands scrabbled around the few inches of hot water until they found his elegant revolver. Frantic, he pulled the trigger. 

 

Fzzz....

 

"Blast! The powder is wet!" he cursed, before squeezing twice more. On the seconds squeeze, a round was released, which fired wildly and richocheted off some distant rock. 

 

And then...

 

The Greenlandic hunter, Midnight Spear, appeared, silent as you like, his spear in hand, studying the situation. He spoke not a word, for none would understand him. But he seemed intent; on what? 

 

And then....

 

"There it is!" declared a Texan voice full of southern twang. The gunslinger appeared on the other side, more noisy but hardly bullish. In his hands, his two revolvers, forged from the same metal as Mr. Hale's sword. They appeared to tremulate, ready to destroy the meteor...

[Exaccus]

Oh god this guy's ego was apparently so large it had developed its own gravity well to pull in insults

 

"not you! the meteor!"

 

With the arrival of Joe powder and Midnight spear however it seemed as though the tables were beginning to turn in his favor

 

"With me Mr Powder!" he bellows as he thunders across the crater towards his errant sword "Let us strike it together, full force!" as he firmly grasps Aldonite by its hilt and hoists it over his head, focusing on marshaling the full destructive power contained within and hoping that his sword and Joe's six shooters had compatable enough enchantments to not only destroy the meteorite outright but also not to create a backlash that would kill everyone in the immediate area.

[Supercape]

GM

 

The wolves pounced, two on Black Knight, biting and clawing. Another pair jumped on Lord Crane, who shook them off with  a tear on his jacket. He snarled his own animal snarl, pulling out a knife and slashing at them, left, right, without cutting, but at least putting up a good fight. 

 

"Right with ya, Pard'ner..." smiled Joe Powder, grimly, and fired both revolvers at the Meteor as the Black Knights sword connected. 

 

For a moment all was still, quite still. 

 

Then the Meteor cracked, not quite in twain, but a formidable acidic dissolution of its strange metal. "Nooo!" cried Lord Crane, in despair, but before he could refine his rage, an almighty blast of green energy hit both Joe Powder and the Black Knight, a strange bolt of horror, a feedback from the damage they had inflicted. 

[Exaccus]

*feels his armour rattling in objection to the terrible power that washes through it, heavy steel plates flapping like the wings of startled birds  against him bruising and pinching at him where it didn't quite fit him, he'd inhereited it of course and he suspected it had been fitted for his father but for him it had gaps and was slightly uncomfortable to wear like that.

 

Stranger Still is the sensation of aldonite being ripped from his hands and in its place joe's pistols appearing, things were getting weird indeed.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"What in the darn darning darnation?!?" swore Joe Powder, looking at the sword in his hands. He was big and strong enough to use it, but...as he put it...

 

"I'm a gunslinger, not a darn meddy h'evil knight!"

 

He started, unsteady and unsure towards the meteor, staggering past the silent and observant Midnight spear, giving a few experimental swings of the sword. 

 

Lord Crane, forgetting the wolves, turned his knife on to the Black Knight, not yet striking, but wild eyed and cunning, his knife poised over head in an exotic fighting style. 

 

"Leave that alone! It is a fortune! A jewel! I must...I mean, the Empire must have it!" he demanded. "I'm warning you....!" he added, his fever overriding his mind, for he had witnessed the power of the Black Knight and now seemed to forget it. 

[Exaccus]

Black knight for once wasn't all that upset with crane and his rambling, he knew what it was like to have a magic sword clawing at ones brain with seductive promises of greatness and prosperity, he'd felt them too, whatever he wanted the whispering rocks promised him, power, fame, wealth arnasaqs love and wellbeing, all laid out in his mind by the twisted swords silver tongue.

 

"Look around you crane, look what this gem of yours has wrought! Invite such venom into the heart of your homeland would you?"

 

he'd never held a gun in his life but the theory was sound enough and perhaps most fortunately these were magical guns, essentially twin aldonites made for his alternate self across the dimensional divide and by luck or skill he managed to aim clearly at the sailors most in need of his aid, perhaps it was simply affinity with the weapons that guided his strikes as magical bullets errupted from the barrels of the weapons like screaming bolts of hellfire blowing bowling ball sized chunks out of the frenzied wolves.

 

"Its all in the wrist Mr Powder, though if you're so inclined head on over and ill swap you back."

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Yer damn right...this thing ain't nothing but a whittle-knife. Darn. I bet it don't even shoot no bullets!" complained Joe Powder. 'Twas not entirely clear how serious he was being. 

 

Lord Crane shook off the wolves at his heels (literally speaking) with a boot to the left and a boot to the right. They snarled and dribbled, but just yapped in frustration. 

 

"I will not be denied, sir!" said Lord Crane, stiffly. "May Vishnu forgive me!"

 

He did not look repentant when he thrust a carefully aimed knife blade into the Black Knights side...

[Exaccus]

the glint of silver in his eye was all it took for his body to reactively move, turning to deflect the apporaching blade with one of the thick plates of metal that made up his pauldron and deflect an otherwise precision aimed blow for the gap in the metal between his curais and his shoulder.

 

He could feel the anger and resentment building up in his mind as the patheticly weak minded crane lashed out at him in the middle of such a cosmically important event.

 

"You'd best pray he does, crane, because I Will Not.."

[Supercape]

GM

 

Lord Crane tried to twist the knife this way and that, trying to seek a chink in the armour. 

 

"Gods curse you, Sir! And me, the fool for bringing you here! I shall sue! Yes, wait till the Old Bailey have you in the docks! Treason, I say! TREASON!"

 

"Oh shut yer mouth, yer damn arristoh-crat!" drawled Joe Powder, the sword in one hand, his whip in the other. "I'd dearly like to spike you with this here knife" he continued, indicating the Black Knight's sword. "But Ah might be cursing me or something if I use it thus how. Don't ya think ahm shure-ly tempted to, though..."

 

Instead he cracked his whip this way and that, with some finesse. The whip clacked at Lord Cranes feet, and he jumped. And yelped. At the same time. 

 

"Haw haw, dance to that tune, yer highness!" laughed Joe Powder. 

[Exaccus]

"get out of my way, you fool, We've got a world to save." he says simply as he brushes past the startled crane and rolling the revolvers back in his hands to bring the handles out like hammers thuds heavily towards the rabid wolves and with vicious intent brings them down atop their skulls with a dull crack that slumps them to the floor.

 

"Now then Mr. Powder i believe these are yours..." he began as the meteor once again thrummed to life and yanked at the weapons in his hands, this time he did not resist, the meteor was still weak and until he could figure out a way to destroy it.

 

There must be something, it it was so damn invincible there's no way my ancestors could've stopped the blighted thing. he thought to himself as he watched the weapons float from his grasp high into the air and suddenly drop back into the crater with a soft clink.

 

"Any ideas Mr Powder? Midnight spear?"

[Supercape]

GM

 

The Midnight Spear seemed as perplexed as anyone, but he was content to watch and see how the drama unfolded. Not that he didn't heft his spear, ready to throw. 

 

Joe let go of the sword, and together with his guns, it sailed into the sky above them. Normally it would be a clear, wonderful sky, but the unnatural humid steam emitted in the crater obscured everything. 

 

Lord Crane laughed, believing himself triumphant now the Black Knight had lost the guns. "Haha! It seems the meteor would rather be put to good use, than be ground down by your infernal weapon!" he said, bringing his knife to bear once more. 

 

The whip of Joe Powder snapped again, knocking the knife to the floor. 

 

"A man ain't his weapon, Sir. No matter if its a gun or a blade. A Man is his heart, and my pard'ner here, he got plenty..."

[Exaccus]

"Ill be taking that, thank you." black knight said as he casually strode over and scooped up the knife from where it landed in the snow, turning it oven in his hands briefly as he admired it.

 

"It's a good knife, well balanced to deliver all that force on the thrust or the swing." he commented as he carried on his way "I believe its suited to throwing too...never been any good at that though myself." he says idly as he stomps on up to the meteorite and raises it high above his head, bringing it down with all the force he can manage into the fracture of their combined strike

 

Goodbye Mr. Burton

[Supercape]

GM

 

The knife fitted into the meteor crack with a fine fit, creaking into the metal inside. There was a liquid green light inside, that throbbed like a heart beat of dire virtue. 

 

"Please, please! This is my fortune!" begged Lord Crane, his hands pressed together. "Please God, give me justice!" he prayed to the skies. 

 

Next to him, the Black Knights might sword thudded to the ground, splitting it, with its handle upwards. 

 

"Aha! Vishnu be praised!" gasped Lord Crane, seizing it by both hands. He hefted it with some difficulty, and raised it to cleave Mr Hale in to. 

 

"Now! Justice be well and truly ser....hmmm...serv.....hmmm....SERVVVVVV!" he screamed, as the sword stayed immobile, refusing to strike. 

 

"It ain't going to be slicin' for any old body, Sir. Not even your high and mightyness!" laughed Joe Powder, as he unloaded both Guns into the meteor with a maniac glee. 

[Exaccus]

It was in a way a little bit saddening to see crane driven to such desperate madness by the the whispering rock even if it was amusing to watch him try to swing aldonite at him, only for the blade to freeze in place with stubborn refusal to strike its inheritor

with its curmudgeonly adherence to the powers that had been bound to it.

 

"Thank you for bringing me my sword, crane." he says as he reaches out to take it in an authoritative manner, but thoroughly underestimating cranes maniacal fever.

 

"Let go of the sword crane before you get hurt."

[Supercape]

GM

 

But alas, the warning was too late. Oh, the lamentations!

 

For the sword crackled with green energy - the same pulsing liquid lightning that lay, veined, throughout the meteor. Lord Crane screamed. There was the smell of burning. His hair stood straight up, and exploded from his scalp, leaving him bald and smoking. Even his eyes lit up with crackling green light. 

 

And then he fell, burned, singed, dying, his heart stopped quite dead, and the still-electric Sword by his smoking body. 

 

Joe Powder gave an almighty grunt, possessed of enough grit to stop screaming, but only by impressive effort. He fell to his knees, dazed, his hands seared, and the two guns falling into the water, still crackling with energy that appeared to fry the water. 

[Exaccus]

He'd seen it coming of course, The meteorite had seethed and grown outraged with cranes repeated failures to kill him and Joe powder, he was surprised he'd been given so many tries, he was either an ideal host for the sword or it had been terrified by the existence of two nemesi appearing at the same time to destroy it and had chosen to depend on the easily manipulated man within its grasp.

 

He couldn't save everyone, some days he was lucky to save anyone given the vast and incomprehensible nature of his enemies and their machinations, subduing with threats those that couldn't be bought with sweet lies of whatever they happened to most desire and killing both when their usefulness had ended.

 

he couldn't help but feel a deep pang of empathy for the smoldering remains that had once been a man, driven by ambition and dreams that had been warped and corrupted by this monstrous meteorite; Anger flooded through his mind like a hot wave as his thoughts and vision focused on it, Mr Powder had been driven to his knees by the desperate attack that had reduced the erstwhile lord to smoldering ruin.

 

It was just him for now, and he needed his sword.

 

Grasping it firmly by the handle as the eldrich energies still dancing along the iron blade grounded themselves in him, his Armour's wards either not triggered or too overwhelmed by the damage they'd already absorbed, he felt his muscles twitch and spasm involuntarily but he kept his grip even as his body burned and his mind ached.

 

it didn't matter, picking up this sword always hurt, just usually in a different way.

 

its weight felt good in his hands as he hoisted it onto his shoulder and began his almost trance like walk towards the meteorite, sparing a glance to ensure Joe and Midnight spear were still breathing as he moved to within striking range of the accursed entity.

 

"What i do now, I do in the name of all the lives it will save, In the name of the life I failed to save and for all Kindred of the earth." he said, perhaps to the meteorite, it gave no response even as he hoisted his sword high over his head and with a guttural roar pain, rage and Adrenalin pulled on the deepest and darkest reserves of the swords dark powers, the blade practically evaporating into a pulsating wound that screeched as it ground and gnashed against the very fabric of reality itself, such terrible energies running amok and clashing against one another blasted the fog from the crater like fog before a gale.

 

"Back to your wretched masters Begone! Wailing and lamenting, whimpering our names!" and with that he brought his monstrous blow to bear with every ounce of physical, mystical and spiritual force he could muster.

 

there was a blinding flash of light where purple black and white green met, the sound of a terrible keening as the meteorite at last crumbled and collapsed into the gaping maw of Aldonite and crushed to atomic nothingness followed by the sensation of falling, the meteorites death throes having unleashed such terrible force back against him that it'd flung him free of his sword and sent his close to 600 lbs (with Armour included) frame smashing against and into the sheer wall of ice at the edge of the crater.

 

The day was saved and with that he finally allowed himself to fall into the blackness of unconsciousness briefly glancing at the shard of meteorite that had penetrated his Armour and indeed his body before succumbing to injury and exhaustion.

[Supercape]

GM

 

And later...

 

Arna gasped with relief when Mr. Hale woke up, putting her hand to her mouth and giving him a hug. And, it should be said, a kiss not completely devoid of amour. Quite the opposite, in fact. 

 

"The American. The Texan. He pulled you out. Stronger than an ox, he was!!" she said, gratefully. Behind her, Joe Powder tipped his hat. He looked pretty singed and beat up, but he was made of stern stuff. His two revolvers sat in his belt. 

 

"Mah pleasure, ma'am. Mah pleasure. Yer boy here, he got the blood of an Ox in him. And ah should know. I seen pur-lenty of his blood. Gotta say it boy-ah, yer got rare grit. And ah don't go sayin' that about any old nobody!" he grinned, a wide grin full of yellow broken teeth and rustic charm. 

 

The sailors had set up a kind of camp by the crater rim, the professor was taking samples, keeping her head down. There were grumbles of discontent about Lord Crane, a wasted expedition, and payment, but they seemed content enough to have their own skin intact. 

[Exaccus]

Blinking Owlishly as his vision swam and his head pounded like a drum he brings his hand to his forehead, pressing his palm  over his brow.

 

"What hit me?" he said rather dizzily as he scrambled to his feet, using the nearby aldonite as a makeshift crutch, its sturdy old iron providing the support necessary to heave himself from where he'd been laid to rest without falling back to the ground as he took stock of events occurring around him, cranes boots poking out from underneath a blanket providing him the sobering return to reality

 

His natural instinct was of course to focus on arna, eyes desperately darting over her for signs of injury but relaxing as they found not a single hair out of place. "I'm glad to see you're Ok." he says softly embracing her firmly but gently with his free arm as he finds Joe Powder in his haze.

 

"Good to see you're still standing as well, Mr. Powder, a fine bit of teamwork that if i do say so myself." eyes darting momentarily back to cranes covered body before returning to meet Joe's "Over all i'd chalk that one down as a success, did you see what became of Midnight spear?"

[Supercape]

GM

 

"The native? Vanished. Never seen someone move so fast without making a sound" answered Joe, scratching his stubble. "Damn hope he never wants to stick that spear in my back. I wouldn't sleep a wink. The way I see it, after speaking to your lady here, he was just checkin' that damned meteor left. Either off his land, or destroyed. I guess we settled the matter for him, and his people" he said with contentment. 

 

"You hit yourself!" explained Arna with a smile "sticking your sword in that meteor. Blew us off our feet even at the crater" she said, nursing a bruise on the back of her head. 

 

"But it seemed to work. Even i can feel there things seem a little less tense in the air. No half mad wolves, anyway. Even if the sailors aren't taking any chances"

 

She frowned slightly, half looking away. 

 

"What about...getting back? Its beautiful here, and its Greenland, my homeland. But its not our universe, is it? Its like a hundred years ago, with everything Jules Verne dreamed of..."

[Exaccus]

"Do you want to go back Arna?" he asked earnestly for the first time in a long time letting his facade of tough-as-nails high adventurer crack.

 

"You're the only person i've got in the universe, if you wanna stay here i'd happily stay here with you..." he assures her as he turns to face her "We could make good for ourselves here, if we wanted." he adds "We could do good." he adds thoughtfully "this place is different than our home, not quite as aware of the impact they're having on the world around them." he began before breaking off with a big dumb grin.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"It would be an adventure" agreed Arna, lost in thought. "I am not sure. If I have you, I would not be lonely, at least. A new world to explore together. Well, not new, at least not exactly. Its like looking in one of those mirrors in a circus. Everything strange. It would certainly give a new perspective on life!" she said, finding the thought more appealing. 

 

"And yet we would leave so much behind too. Friends, family. I would take the plunge into strange waters, but we would be missed, wouldn't we?" she asked. 

 

"What do you want to do? we must both decide, for we would do this together, or not at all..."

[Exaccus]

"I think i would rather prefer to stay here a while, away from the world." he says simply "Something of an extended holiday perhaps?"

 

That was of course, not the only reason, the sword had brought him up to speed with the reality of the situation, they'd been forced through the dimensional barrier during a rare convergence of the planes of existence, blown a hole in it as they'd been shunted through the space inbetween.

 

TIme had passed and the heavens had continued to move and whilst the gap had been originally large enough for an entire planes worth of people to be pushed through it was no dwindling, little more than a crack as the holes rotated out of allignment with each other.

 

It was highly unlikely that He, Arna and the Pilots would be able to pass through completely before it slammed closed and left those mid transit adrift in the gap between worlds.

 

He wanted it to be arna's choice of course, whether they should stay or go, he had few friends, no living relatives to speak of, and thus no attachment to anyone beyond her, he suspected the pilots however had families and friends in abundancence and no place in this strange word.

 

He would tell her of course, but once she'd made her choice, not of whom would sacrifice for whom but of what she wanted truly rather than what she felt was right.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Let's do it then. An extended holiday. Although I don't know what we will do for money. Or food! They use Krone here, Danish money. Or British pounds. The British Empire stretched across the world. Still owns most of the American colonies" she explained, having brushed up on the history of this dimension whilst waiting for her boyfriend to awaken. 

 

"But i don't know much else about this world. It sounds exciting. Antiquated, perhaps, but it has some extraordinary machines too, from the sound of things. But how will we survive? I can translate, I guess. What would you do? Sail the world maybe? We have a ship willing to take us on...?"

 

She remembered something. 

 

"And the pilots? They are recuperating in hospital here. Oh dear! I hope it is of reasonable quality. We need to get them back!"