[Taocow PBEM] Book 3 - Chapter XVII

Fri Nov 6 20:38:57 UTC 2015

>> [GM]
>> Oz fires at the prone Super-Malig [Strike: 16, Damage 60SDC]. While
>> the "exoskeleton" of the Super-malig may have been MDC, the explosive
>> round finds its way into one of the bleeding holes. There's a loud
>> "pop", the creature roars and then falls limp, blackish and bluish
>> fluids flowing from its eyes, ears and nose. What little hold there
>> was left on the ship is gone. The crown slips from the creature's head
>> and starts rolling down the pyramid. The brown loaf-sized growth
>> detaches from the Super-malig and begins to worm its way back up the
>> pyramid at super speed.
>>
>> Meanwhile, on the ground, the three guides that had lead Alex to the
>> surface were picking up any weapons they could find; clubs, pieces of
>> steal and then begin attacking the Maligs. The young boy disappears
>> back the man hole, shouting "I'm going to get some more help!"
>>
>> It's at that point that Ted reaches the top of the pyramid. There
>> before him is a flat plateau about a hundred feet a side. There are
>> perhaps fifty prisoners, all women and mostly human, of which Louissa
>> is one, all chained together with faintly glowing chains of bluish
>> steel. There are several Maligs armed with crude looking guns and
>> neural whips. There are a dozen Maligs in long flowing golden robes
>> uncharacteristically clean for these rather filthy creatures. Above
>> the black hole of the rift begins to widen, and now Ted can fully see
>> that there are stars on the other side of that rift. A little wider
>> and it reveals a "surface" of some kind, a fetid greenish oozing
>> surface that emits foul odors that can now be smelled.
>>
>> And then "it" comes into view. The creature is a great mass of
>> tentacles that seem to be made of the same black rubber that the
>> Super-malig's tissue was made of. The main body comes into view, a
>> horrifying organic tube that looks not unlike the strange brown growth
>> that was on the Super-malig's neck.
>>
>> The Malig "priests" begin chanting "Uzal pah... Uzul pah... Uzul
>> pah..." as the tentacles reach out of the rift, the ends of each
>> tentacle looking like a black fleshy phallus.
>> [/GM]

> [Oz]
> Oz sends out a wide-band radio signal to anyone within range. "We are
> leaving now! Get on the ship if you want to live! Captain, one pass
> near the side of the pyramid where our people are, then out at top
> speed! Guns, do not engage the creature unless we are attacked! We do
> not want to attract its attention!"
> [/Oz]

[GM]
Captain Neeson acknowledges Oz's command, and the ship begins ascending
towards the top of the pyramid.
[/GM]

> [Vesper]
> Vesper feels the rift fully open.
>
> He keeps his eye on the brown thing if it heads towards Ted he opens
> fire on it. He begins a cautious move up the pyramid when he sees Alex
> moving he makes sure to switch to covering her ascent.
> [/Vesper]

[GM]
The brown thing does not appear to be moving towards anyone in particular,
but is rapidly ascending the pyramid, making a straight line for the rift.
[/GM]

> [GM]
> From where Alex is positioned, she can see several normal humans
> flooding into the compound, armed with clubs, chunks of metal,
> whatever they can get their hands on, and attacking the Maligs. The
> humans, who clearly have spent a long time in enslavement, are clearly
> trying to fight for their freedom, but even the Malig's somewhat
> underpowered gear is more than a match, and worse a group of Maligs
> seem to be banding together and preparing for an organized assault by
> their badly under-armed slaves.
>
> There are a couple of Maligs that appear to be giving orders, and
> are in general creating some order among the rather disunited Malig
> ranks. They've already organized about twenty of the Maligs into a
> unit organized enough to take on rebellious slaves. As to the
> Super-Malig, from Alex's position, it looks like it's down, if not
> outright dead.
> [/GM]

> [Alex]
> Alex quickly chooses what appears to be the largest and toughest
> remaining "lesser" Malag and fires a three round burst at it.
> [Strike: 8]
> [/Alex]

[GM]
Alex's shot isn't a particular good one, but the Malig leader is
preoccupied with a bunch of poorly-armed but fairly angry human
slaves, and doesn't see her fire. The shot hits him in the main
body [Damage: 30MD]. The Malig, having no mega-damage protection,
is blown into pieces.

Immediately the human slaves start cheering, and in short order
they have the remaining Maligs on the run, the attempted Malig
rally broken.

A number of humans immediately rally around Alex. "Help us!"
one of them cries. Another shouts "Lead us, Great Lady! Lead us
and our kin out of this place!"

Soon, Alex has a good forty men, women and even a few children
surrounding her, all pleading with her to help them.
[/GM]

> [Vesper]
> How are we going to save all those people he thought as he waited for
> Alex to reach him.
> [/Vesper]

[GM]
Vesper glances back, and sees Alex is still at the base of the pyramid
in a position to offer covering fire. She also seems to be surveying
what looks like a revolt by the humans against the Maligs.
[/GM]

> [Ted]
> The lizard man glances down the line, locating Louissa, and then
> examines the prisoner closest to him. He figures there is no subtle
> way to do this, but decides to act anyway. Raising his sword overhead,
> he swings downward, destroying the link that binds the nearest
> prisoner to her alter.
>
> Without hesitation, he moves one alter closer to Louissa, repeating
> his attack on the chains.
> [/Ted]

[GM]
The chain easily comes apart and Louissa is quickly freed. But she
seems to be under some sort of spell, and looks at, or rather, almost
through Ted. She keeps walking towards the nearest horrifying
phallic tentacle, and says simply "I am a bride."
[/GM]

> [Vesper]
> Vesper gives Ted his lizard man companion cover fire with Alex pump
> pistol.
>
> If he notices the Maligs massing against the mob of humans he will
> try and spare some shots there way to keep a slaughter from happening.
> [/Vesper]

[GM]
The Maligs, including the priests, scream in anger. There are about twelve
Maligs in total, four priests and eight regular Maligs. Several run at Ted,
and Vesper fires [Strike: 10]. The shot hits one of the priests
[Damage: 15MD], blowing the priest into chunks of flesh and blood.

The other "Alter-Ted", suddenly appears over the crest of the pyramid, and
launches at the mob of Malig's with his vibrosword [Strike: 18, Damage:
11MD], cutting one into pieces. The other Maligs change tactics, and
rather than attacking Ted, Vesper or Alter-Ted, begin surrounding some
of the captive women, all of which seem to be under the same spell as
Louissa, and pushing them towards the horrible tentacles.

Above the ley line ship finally reaches the top of the pyramid, although
it is keeping its distance from the rift or the tentacles of this
inter-dimensional horror. Someone on the ship drops a ladder, and shouts
"Sir Osmar commands us to get you out of here, and not to get near that
thing! Hurry up!"
[/GM]

[Alter-Ted]
Alter-Ted looks to Vesper and Ted. "Get Queen Louissa out of here," he
says. "I'll do what I can for the others, but you need to get her out of
here now!"
[/Alter-Ted]

[GM]
One of the Maligs, seeing the ship, pulls out a grenade and throws it up
on to the deck [Strike: 20, Damage: 26MD]. The grenade kills one of
Jacek's men, taking off a part of his unprotected head. Clearly these
Maligs still have some weaponry. But before anyone on the ship can
respond, Oz sees one of those vile tentacles heading straight towards
one of the female crewmembers who oddly simply lowers her arms, drops her
weapon and begins walking towards the railing.
[/GM]

-- 
Aaron Clausen
mightymartianca at gmail.com

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