[Taocow PBEM] Chapter XII - Through The Looking Glass Once Again

[Aaron Clausen]

> > > [Ted]
> > > Ted gets himself and Osiris through the opening as quickly as possible.
> > > [/Ted]

> > [GM]
> > Ted feels nothing as he passes through the gate.  On the other side he
> > first notices that it is considerably cooler, then he notices a boy, no
> > more than ten years old with a dog on a leash, staring wide-eyed at him.
> > The dog begins to bark madly while the boy looks ready to bolt.
> > [/GM]

> [Ted]
> "Nice puppy," Ted says in English, holding with his rifle aloft while
> trying not to lose Osiris. He adds, mostly for the boy's benefit, "We
> are just a couple of travelers. We mean you no harm."
> [/Ted]

[GM]
"What about them?" the boy cries, pointing to the rest of the company
and two rather aggressive-looking Borgs beyond the gate.
[/GM]

> [Alex]
> Preparing to give cover fire, Alex slowly backs through the portal
> [/Alex]

> [Talas]
> Talas adjusts Lady Frost so that she is shielded from oncoming
> fire. Then he grabs the last injured person and moves up to the
> gate. He then puts Lady Frost down and pushes her through the
> gate and then rolls the injured person through. Once done Talas
> draws his rail-gun and begins to lay down suppressive fire until
> the last person is through the gate.
> [/Talas]

[GM]
Alex manages to miss completely, while Talas hits but does
minimal damage to the Borgs.  Still, the two manage to keep the
Borgs from simply rushing down the passage towards the gate.

The Borgs return fire, one missing everyone but managing to
bring down a chunk of the roof into the lava river and spraying
both of them.  The other nearly hits Talas, but with incredible
easy Talas simply moves aside as the flechettes fly harmlessly
into the air behind him.
[/GM]

> [Carlos]
> Carlos grabs the closest body and jump through the gate.
> [/Carlos]

[GM]
With no more bodies to grab, Carlos just leaps through the gate.
Even as Carlos steps through, the gate simply disappears.  There
is no sound from it, and no evidence that it was ever there.  Everyone
is standing in a snow-covered pasture, with cows in the distance
looking dullly at the company.

Lady Frost, back in an element far more to her liking, immediately
feels better.  Wherever they are, it's cooler and there are no
angry gargantuan metal enemies trying to blow their heads off.

After a moment to collect themselves, they look to their injuries.
The only one in very serious condition is Phaeton, and if he looked
bad before, he looks many many times worse now.  His left arm
dangles by little more than sinew, the tattoos that were once so
pronounced little more than dull gray tracings on his skin.  Even
to their untrained eyes, it seems another comrade will soon pass on.
[/GM]

[Phaeton]
Phaeton's eyes open slightly.  "Alex..." he sees so weakly as to
be barely heard.  "Alex...  You must... must make for Rath Iren.
You must stop the demon.  All depends on this.  The Reaver's...
Sword... nearby... it can help."

With that his body stiffens.  He takes one last rattling breath and
then is still.

The boy shakes his head.  "I'm sorry for your friend.  If you want,
I'll take you into town.  The Mayor is going to want to see you
anyways."
[/Phaeton]

-- 
Aaron Clausen   mightymartianca at gmail.com