2014.10.20 - Brainiac's World (Collector of Cities IV)

(Continued directly from the previous scene)

The robots react impassible to Thara's threat, and when the Guardians are onboard the aircraft silently accelerates. There is no sensation of movement inside, but the windows reveal the landscape blurring outside. It is a very fast vehicle, and the technology is impressive even for an expert like Moondragon.

It takes only a few minutes to reach one of the cities, a sprawling metropolis of sky-high crystal towers separated by wide plazas and small parks. The aircraft slows down very quickly and enters one of the buildings through a tunnel that must be millimeters larger than the craft. Seconds later, it stops completely, and a wall opens.

Then there is a flash of light, and the Guardians are teleported away!

Phyla, Heather and Rachel end up in what seems a high-tech office waiting space. There is a floating screen and a few chairs. A mechanical voice states: "the magistrate will see you in 0.0353 planetary rotations, please wait patiently." The screen shows a number in Interlac, Kree and Coluan, in about two seconds it goes down to 0.0352.

Adam and Thara are not here.

"Inform us immediately of the locations of our additional personnel, or we start taking this place apart." Heather offers, calmly, dispassionately but firmly. She's not brooking argument. There are only two options here.

Phyla-Vell doesn't have to add to that; Moondragon got the point across nicely. At some point she's summoned up her Quantum Blade, which takes less effort than most of her conjurings - it's a permanent addition after all - and just holds it while standing behind and to the right of Heather. Waiting.

Even the few minutes they were aboard the aircraft, in transit to the city, gave Rachel a bit of time to recover from the space battle and everything that went with it. She needed those minutes - unlike the others here, she's undergoing a steep learning curve. Even so, her reaction is much the same as her companions' - as soon as she realises that Adam and Thara have gone missing, her expression hardens and a nimbus of telekinetic fire springs up around her. She glances across to Moondragon, silently letting her know that she's ready to back whatever play she makes. "Damn right." That's all she says out loud, but at the same time she's reaching out telepathically, trying to locate their missing members.

The screen flickers at Heather request. A few second pass. Then the mechanical voice intones: "Threat analyzed. Archived. Information access denied. Please, wait patiently." The screen displays 0.0350.

Rachel scan doesn't get out of the room. She can sense Phyla and Heather, but nothing else. There is a very strong psychic screen around the 'waiting area'.

"You will pass our warning along to your Magistrate immediately, or we start taking this place apart. You do not have the authority to deny us access to the knowledge of where our companions are. You have One one-ten-thousdandth of a planetary rotation to deliver that message. This is your last warning." Moondragon offers. She glances at the other two. She is aware this is not going to go well. But she is equally aware that she is not going to tolerate this crap. Enough is enough.

This is where Phyla's Cosmic Awareness falters; if it's not universally-threatening, she gets nothing. Dammit. Instead she remains, standing, waiting. And hoping that her sword looks nice and dangerous enough.

Rachel's expression darkens further as she feels her telepathic probes being blocked. << I can't sense anything outside this room. >> She silently informs both of her companions. << I'm getting a really bad feeling about this. >> She adds, unnecessarily. She's obscurely glad that Moondragon's taken the lead, here. She'd probably have done something drastic already if she'd been left to her own devices. "If their magistrate doesn't clear his schedule, which wall do you want me to go through first?" She doesn't sound at all reticent about trying that.

The screen flickers again. “Request processed. Awaiting response. Please, wait patiently.” The Guardians just crashed against Coluan bureaucracy. As friendly and personable as bureaucracy everywhere else. Also, the screen displays 0.0347. Looks like the Magistrate would arrive in about half an hour.

Moondragon points at the 'left' wall, as she is facing the data screen. "Phyla, cut a slice in that wall. Rachel, tear it open. If necessary, melt it down. They were warned. They're quite capable of building an artificial intelligence which should be able to understand the seriousness of the situation and take appropriate action. Which means they have chosen to ignore us. We will not be ignored. We're leaving."

Phyla-Vell spins the blade in her hand. "About time." She does as requested and speeds towards the wall. It would have to be something truly special to resist her Quantum Blade, so she's not expecting much resistant when she pushes the tip of the blade into the wall and slashes downwards.

Rachel grins as Moondragon takes her offer at face value. She'd been keeping her temper on a tight rein so far and the opportunity to let it out, just a little, is too good to waste. "No problem." Rachel declares confidently, and swivels around to take a couple of steps after Phyla-Vell, leaving her room to work, and then - assuming Phyla's Quantum Blade makes the slightest impression - she'll grab the edges of the slice with telekinetic talons and wrench it apart.

The quantum blade slices the first inch of the wall ease, it is just a silicate polymer and some steel. Underneath, however, there is an inertron wall. Almost as hard as adamantium.

So yes, they are in a jail. It just didn’t look like one.

“Warning: a fine will be charged for destruction of public property according to the law statutes 192:3302:1002. Please, abstain further acts of vandalism. Please, wait patiently.”

Would someone be as obnoxious as to program an A.I. to be a dull bureaucrat? Only in Colu.

"We will not be paying fines. We will be leaving. Your Magistrate can talk to us in the open over the smoking crater of this location. We asked you a reasonable question, you have refused to answer and attempted to be insulting." Moondragon nods to both of the other women. "Tear it down. All of it."

Grump. Phyla has to flex her muscle and pull her sword through the metal. It's a laborous process. She's not encountered its like before; even some of the more durable metals on Earth fall before her blade. "...this is going to take a few minutes," she mutters.

Rachel isn't surprised when the steel and silicate wall facing her is torn back by her telekinesis. She /is/ surprised when what's revealed underneath doesn't suffer the same fate. That surprise flickers across her face, before being replaced by a frown. She's been locked up before, and doesn't like it much. Moondragon's sharp reply on the subject of fines makes her snort. "I couldn't pay a fine out here even if I wanted to." She says under her breath, and glares at the offending wall once more. Her eyes shift from green to blank whiteness, and the flames around her become brighter and more distinct, as she directs her telekinesis against the wall again, feeding more and more power into her abilities.

The screen flickers again, but this time there is the face of an elderly, bald, green skinned woman. "This is Magistrate Zry, I am on route and..." she frowns, seeing the destruction to the wall. "This is a most unreasonable behavior. We are at war and merely taking logical precautions. You people are barbarians. Why... even Khunds would have waited a few hundredths rotation units. Please... stop... oh dear, you are actually damaging the wall... the budget... that is not going to help you hasten our established, civilized legal procedures. I will be there in person in... well, I am going now." So looks like a display of power is going to hasten their established, civilized bureaucracy a little!

It still takes her ten minutes. Probably she was filing a complaint to her immediate superior or something. Then one of the walls retracts, although the Guardians can see a faint forcefield between them and the hall just ahead. The elderly woman is there, looking upset and bitter. "You... you..." she breathes deeply and forces a fake smile to her lips. Super fake. Before she can speak to say something that is likely to make Moondragon even more angry, she is interrupted (which makes the woman even more angry).

"I'll take over this matter, Magistrate Zry."

Another Coluan has arrived. He is far younger, maybe twenty if he was human, tall but stocky, blond hair kept short and arrogant features. "The advisory science council has requested this to be treated as a military issue, not an emigration incident. Here is my authorization." He touches a forearm-mounted pad and then turns to the Guardians. "Welcome to Colu," he says with false cheer, "my name is Vril Dox." He touches the wall and the forcefield comes down.

"Our 'unreasonable behavior' is in response to being separated from our companions, no explanations given even when reasonably requested, and being ignored and placed into a holding cell." Moondragon responds with cold fury as she reaches through the viewscreen in search of the woman who dares be so ... eminently clueless ... about such important matters. "You will respond promptly when addressed with a problem, or you and your 'budget' will suffer the consequences. We are capable of and willing to shatter this entire structure if necessary." Heather does not have a sense of humor. She doesn't do 'amused'. Only vindictive.

Frankly, when the Magistrate arrives to whatever ruin they have wrought, Moondragon is prepared to liquify the woman's mind. She's very angry, and tired of these people messing with her and her team. She doesn't have many friends; offenses to them are treated with much greater severity for this rarity.

"Alright, Vril Dox. I am Moongdragon. This is Quasar, and this is Phoenix. We are members of the Guardians of the Galaxy, as are Thara and Adam, the two your 'emmigration' people sequestered from us and would not tell us where they are or what their status may be. We came here without intending you or your people any harm, though that is fast becoming no longer true." Brutal honesty, thy name is Heather Douglas.

"We came to find out more about Brainiac, who has now stolen a city of great importance from Earth." Moondragon doesn't specify timeframe, since she's not sure which timeframe to use for these people. "We need to know everything you people know about Brainiac's intentions and possible locations in time and space."

It's odd to hear the name Quasar. Few people call her by it. Heather the rarest of all. When their actions produce unexpected results, Phyla desummons her sword, letting it vanishes into the ether. "Answers would be nice," she adds simply, arms crossed. She's not terribly impressed.

Having her behaviour described as 'unreasonable' doesn't make Rachel inclined to stop. If it's gotten them attention from an actual person, rather than some sort of AI, then they must be making progress! "Sorry." She says, under her breath and with a complete lack of sincerity. She might have said more, but Moondragon is taking care of that side of things, eloquently and at length. Rachel figures the best thing she can do is continue to be 'unreasonable' until Moondragon tells her to stop, or they get results.

When they finally get not one, but two visitors, Rachel finally stops her assault on the wall, and turns to face the forcefield. She's still glowing with telekinetic fire. "You owe us that much for shooting us down and locking us up." She puts in after Phyla, sounding equally unimpressed.

Quite the information dump for anyone who is not a tenth level intellect. Dox’ fingers fly to his bracer-pad and he quick reads some holodocuments. “Please, come with me,” away from the Magistrate, it seems. He walks quickly. “It is going to take Zry some time to find out the authorizations I gave her are false. We need to use this time wisely. Understand you are a member of the ‘Homeworlder’ race that has besieged Colu almost since we moved the planet to the Microverse.” He deliberately said Homeworlder, not Earthling or Human. “Clearing you out for leaving the detention center as for the rigid regular procedures would take an absurd amount of time, and I believe we don’t have it.”

But first matters first. He continues, “Looks like the Kryptonian woman has been placed in suspended animation. She threatened with violence and Kryptonians have their own protocols since millennia ago. I will work in the problem. The male was taken to a medlab, he was ‘bleeding’ cosmic energy. I can take you to him.”

The mention to Brainiac brings a flicker of... something into the Coluan’s eyes. “I will give you all the help you need with Brainiac, but first I need your help to save Colu. I fear we are almost out of time.”

Moondragon reaches out to the mind of Vril Dox, as she gestures to the other two to follow. << Keep your senses peeled. I trust no one until given good reason, and getting us away from the bureaucratic nightmare is not good enough reason. Yet. >> she offers both women, as they follow the blonde-haired Coluan.

"We have nothing to do with the fleet attacking you. We did not even know they would be here when we chose to follow you, and they attacked us immediately upon our arrival. We had managed to survive their attacks, until your satellite probes finished off my ship." Yeah. Heather is holding a grudge over that.

"If you want our help saving Colu, we would have to know what threat you're under, from whom, and why. And as ironic as it will sound, we do not have a great deal of time to work with, so expedience is of essence." Moondragon offers. "Depending on the threat, we're likely going to need our Kryptonian back, as well. I don't care how difficult that is, you're going to have to find a way. She's ours, and you can't have her." Heather does not share.

Eyes and ears open and listening. Phyla does look around considerably, taking in everything she can about where they are. She rather liked Moondragon's ship, so while she is annoyed with their attackers that it was lost, she is perhaps not holding the same level of grudge as Moondragon heself is. Now had she lost that little scout ship Mentor occasionally loans out to her... different story. "We should specify our Kryptonian in good health," Phyla butts in.

It seems like they're finally getting answers... but that's not quite enough for Rachel to drop her guard. That has to wait for Moondragon's telepathic message. Then, and only then, does the telekinetic fire around the redhead vanish. She follows as she's bidden, pleased to be out of the cell - but since they're apparently marooned on a seemingly-hostile planet, she's not convinced they're really any freer now - particularly since Dox seems to be admitting he's just broken them out. She's expecting alarms and flashing lights at any moment. "And you'd better let us wake her up." Rachel adds. "If you think we were being 'unreasonable', you don't want to find out what she's going to think about what you've done to her."

"I do believe you aren't part of the feet," replies Vril to Moondragon. He has quite the mind under that green skull. It is as fast as Reed Richards' but the man is ten times more ambitious and dangerously sure of himself. He already knew the Guardians couldn't be part of the invasion fleet. "A cursory exam of your ship reveals it to be from the prime universe." Good news, anti-crash tractor beams brought down the Sensia gently to the surface. On Dox' orders, it is being repaired. "And a detailed genetic scan revealed a genetic drift of at least ten thousand years when compared to Homeworlders. I sent the evidence to the Magistrate office, but it will take a time to process." All of this is interesting, but not relevant.

Onto the relevant part: "The fleet outside is the threat. A few Earth years ago a fleet four times its size attacked the planet. It was repelled, although a few ships got through and caused great damage to several cities. This fleet is smaller, and therefore not considered a threat by the government. The military computers give it nil chance to breach the satellite defenses." A pause. "Foolish stagnant thinking. Colu is under attack by an obviously intelligent, ruthless enemy. They are going to attack and they do not fear the satellite barrier. It is obviously they have a plan. Colu has little beyond the satellites. The cities have very limited defenses, and the planetary army is not large enough to prevent a planetary invasion of well over a million clone soldiers those ships are carrying."

Dox leads them to an elevator-like device, "we will go to the medlab first. It would be quite useful to have a powered Kryptonian to help fight off an invasion, but your friend must have been drained off solar energy already."

"You have yet to explain the relevant parts." Moondragon asserts, firmly. She's not going to continue to be led around by this man's whim much longer. "Did the fleet attack before or after you decided to shrink the planet beyond the Microverse barrier? If after, then why did Colu retreat in the first place? If after, then who led the original assault? What is the intelligence that is after Colu." If necessary, they'll collect Thora and head back to the blue sun to repower her. She's not going to be distracted, nor is she feeling exceptionally tolerant.

<< It is possible he doesn't know the answers, >> Phyla reminds Moondragon gently - telepathically, that is. She doesn't want to speak aloud. Division in the ranks can stay towards the mental side of things. "How have you lasted this long, perhaps, is an important question we'd like the answers too as well."

"And just to recap." Rachel says, her tone that of someone trying to be helpful, her expression anything but. "The fleet out there shot at us, then you shot at us. You haven't done much to show that you're any better than them. And now you want us to fight your war for you, and only then you'll tell us what we need to know to save the lives of the people Brainiac's abducted. If you even know anything. I think..." Rachel looks across at Phyla, then Moondragon, "We'd like some proof that you can deliver before we put our lives on the line for you. Particularly since you don't seem to speak for your people - the ones who locked us up." Rachel has a horrible idea of how this might go, and she wants to make sure she's wrong before they go much further.

Dox nods to the questions, “Colu was moved to the Microverse to hide it from Brainiac,” explains the man. Vril Dox has all the answers! (Or so he thinks). “But the Microverse was not the safe environment the government expected. In fact, all the worlds of the whole dimension are ruled autocratically from the so-called Homeworld. So Colu came under attack rather quickly. Despite this, the parliament and the advisory science council considered that remaining here was less dangerous than returning to the prime universe. The planetary defenses that kept us safe from the Dominion and the Kree Empire have proved adequate, so far. But as you see they are slow to differentiate between enemies and neutral parties. And in truth the Coluans fear Brainiac too much, because it nearly conquered us when it awakened. Now the memories of the war with Brainiac and the fear to create advanced A.I. computers are crippling Colu.”

The Guardians reluctance to help brings a cold smile to his lips, though. “I am the foremost authority in Brainiac of Colu. I have studied for a long time the best ways to deal with It. You see, it was created by my father. Without my help I doubt you can even find it. You already said that is why you came here.”

"Who or what rules this 'Homeworld'?" Moondragon questions, She can sense that Dox believes what he's saying, and she can feel his passionate hatred for Brainiac. But she needs what she needs, and she's not going to just surrender on this point. "And what is it /exactly/ that you want us to do about this? We have no ship. We're stuck here on your planet, and your own planetary forces are going to start objecting to our freedom any moment now. So I think it's time you got us to Adam and Thara and got with the point of exactly what it is you want from us, in exchange for all this wonderful information about Brainiac you're offering." Because otherwise, Moondragon is likely to take her toys - her friends - and move on without this jerk. After all, this was only one option for finding Brainiac, not the only one available.

Well, Phyla could leave. But she wouldn't abandon the others. "If we're going to be helping, we need a way to do it quietly. We can't have yet more people after us once they've noticed we're not being held like good little girls," she notes, frowning. "And frankly, we'll need maps, plans.. I'm not moving around this planet blind."

"Tell us about it." Rachel snorts when Dox mentions the defences' inability to tell friend from foe. Rachel's getting a bit of an evil genius vibe from Dox, who clearly thinks that he's the smartest person in the room. Possibly in ANY room. She has a sinking feeling that despite their objections and attempts at bargaining, they're going to end up helping him because if they don't, they're pretty short on options. And in any case - they need to see Adam and Thara before they can make any final decisions. Rachel lets Moondragon and Phyla handle the bargaining by now, and remains following watchfully, telepathic senses alert.

“The ruler of Homeworld is called Baron Karza. I am quite sure he leads the fleet surrounding Colu. And what we need to do is to bring back Colu to the prime universe,” states Dox simply. See? The best plans are simple. “We have arrived to the medlab,” he adds. Indeed, the doors open to what looks like a very advanced lab. There besides a few robots, there is only one occupant.

Adam is standing near a console, going over what seem a number of holographic displays. He turns to greet Dox and the women, “I have been listening to the conversation. Quite frankly, I would have preferred you left the channel open so I could have joined.” Dox just shrugs. Adam continues, “the cosmic power flows strangely in the Microverse, and my power seems more limited. But I believe I can still bring five persons back to the prime universe if it is necessary. This option is open.” So, what to do now?

"We don't have a way to bring an entire planet out of the Microverse." Moondragon is coldly, almost bitterly honest. "At best, if we're inordinately lucky, we might be able to get ourselves back." Which they'll have to do, if they're to recharge Thora. "So if you have some idea of us managing this, now would be the time to actually share everything you're thinking, without holding back. Otherwise, we'll just say our goodbyes and head back, and you can solve your own problems and we will solve ours." For the record, Moondragon is unamused. And unmoved.

"I suggest answering her honestly," Phyla says. She's still behind Moondragon, and has place one hand on her back. A little supportive gesture. "She's not really happy or in the mood for vagueries." She' also the best one to ascertain Moondragon's mood without having to rely on telepathy or other such things.

When Dox explains, as if it's the easiest thing in the world, exactly what he wants them to do, Rachel gets an incredulous look on her face and opens her mouth to reply - only to close it when Moondragon gets there first, since what she says pretty much covers it from Rachel's point of view. Besides, the doors are opening, to reveal a distinctly not-comatose Adam Warlock. Rachel breaks off from her position in the trio and strides over to join him, relief and annoyance warring on her features. "Adam!" She says, then hesitates. 'You're OK!' isn't really her style, and 'look at the mess you got us into!' is needlessly harsh. "Welcome back to the land of the conscious." She settles on, after a moment, and gives him a crooked smile. And as for the option he offers? Rachel's tempted. But... "We haven't got what we came for, yet." She offers.

“No, I didn’t expect you to have a way to return a planet to Prime Universe,” comments Dox. “But the device we designed to move it to the Microverse still exists, in this very city, as a matter of fact. It can be used to reverse the transition.”

There is a bleep in the device around his wrist. Dox frowns. “The attack has started, not a minute after I calculated, despite the loses of the fleet when you arrived. We are definitely running out of time. I need you because the D-Transition Array is heavily guarded and I have not been able to break the security codes yet. But you have the power to bring me to the control console through the security.”

Adam half-smiles to Rachel, “thank you... I suppose.” Maybe he is somewhat embarrassed to have been the one knocked out by Colu’s defenses, but before he can add anything, he feels something else. “Your defense satellites are not firing, Vril Dox. The planet defense grid is down.”

<< We are being manipulated. >> Moondragon sends to the team, and only the team. She is not pleased. She cannot prove that Dox has managed to interfere with the satellites, but her instincts tell her someone did, and he is right now at the top of her list of suspects, especially since it would suit his ends of pushing and prodding the situation to send them recklessly heading towards the goal he wants to accomplish, without consideration for the consequences. But Heather is no one's puppet. << I do not suggest that we help put Colu back into the prime universe. I think we would be better suited getting their defense grid back online. >> Though she's not feeling too optimistic about that, either.

<< That would probably be the easier task to accomplish, >> agrees Phyla, nodding absently. << But we still need proof. >> Her idea of maintenace is mostly kicking something until it works again, but she can give it a go if she really has to do so.

Rachel's encouraged by Adam's smile, but of course it doesn't last. The supposed enemy is at the gate and it appears to be wide open. << I think you're right. >> Rachel replies telepathically, sounding distinctly unhappy. << Even if we agree, and it works, we're still going to have the people who run THIS planet after us for doing it at all. I don't feel like going back to that cell while Brainiac is still out there. >> Rachel's been looking at Adam while the telepathic conference has been going on, but now she turns back to Dox, folding her arms with a pensive expression. As if she's just thinking of an idea for herself and hasn't been talking behind his back. "Sounds like you need a breathing space." Rachel glances at Phyla, with a quick look of apology for volunteering her. "Why don't Quasar and I try to buy it for you, until you can get the satellites fixed?" At the same time she's offering the suggestion, she's reaching out telepathically again. << Adam? We followed you this far. What do you think? >>

Dox reacts quickly to the announcement, using the lab computers to try to reach the defense grid. But his attempts are rejected by the system. "Hacked... no. Most likely just a betrayal by a high ranking government officer with the codes. Too many knew them."

Moondragon is quite correct to suspect him. The idea of forcing his superiors to move Colu back to the Prime Universe through trickery has been in his mind quite often the past few years. What restrained him, more than the likely loss of civilian lives, was a certain respect for the Microverse's ruler. Dox really believes Karza is too dangerous and didn't dare to give him even a slight opening. Almost as bad as Brainiac, in his opinion. He stands up, "I have no choice, I have to try to pull Colu back to the Prime Universe or die trying. I am happy you feel you can handle nearly ten thousand warships. But I assure you a few dozen defense drones would be easier."

Adam seems thoughtful too. << I think we need Dox knowledge above all. From a cold and logical perspective, we could leave the rest of Colu to its fate and just grab Vril Dox and leave. But there are half a billion innocent people in this world whose lives are in danger. Can you leave them to die, or to live in oppression if we can just shift the planet back to where it should be? >>

Rachel knows when she's being maneuvered into a corner by guilt, and she doesn't like it. That Dox is doing it to her doesn't make her like HIM very much either. But the real problem is... she's a telepath, and she knows he's not lying about the odds, or the likely casualties, for all she knows she's being made to serve his ends. All she can do is silently promise herself that if he turns on them after this is done, she'll make him regret it. Her jaw clenches for a moment as she listens to Adam's thoughts, and she replies shortly, << No. I can't. >>

Taking a breath, Rachel rakes a hand back through her hair before she answers Dox. "All right, we'll play it your way. But we still want our Kryptonian back first."

Dox doesn't want to go retrieve Thara. His argument is that they can't waste time, and time is Coluan lives. And Thara won't have solar charge in her anyway. But Adam is also adamant about going to retrieve her before going to see about that machine. Meanwhile Moondragon and Quasar are going to do what they can to fight off the invading armada. It looks like most of it is coming to this particular city!

By the time they get to the 'special' detention area, they can hear alarms blaring, and the building shakes with explosions. "Mentaire is the capital city, therefore building some local defense here was a priority, but it won't hold more than a few minutes against an armada of that size," explains Dox. He is quickly entering codes into the room computer, and soon a blast door opens, revealing the stasis field that holds Thara. Then the field goes down. Last thing Thara saw was a flash of a teleportation system when the aircraft that brought the guardians to the city landed. Something has happened, though, because her solar batteries are completely exhausted.

"... So the bartender says, 'Gee Fella Why the long face!'" Thara states as she looks around. "Okay, not on the plane anymore. I was in stasis by the looks of it. Who do I have to thank for my sleepless sleep?" The Kryptonian looks just a hair pissed but there is something more on her mind. "So we are still going to get Brainiac right? I have a city I need to rescue."

“I have a planet I need to rescue,” states the blonde Coluan. “You help me with my planet, I’ll help you with your city,” he glares at Adam, “now follow me,” he runs out of the room.

Adam looks at Thara for a second. “Come, Rachel can explain you telepathically the details along the way. We are going to attempt to shift back Colu to the prime universe.”

Since Dox has freed Thara and then - quite literally - run, and Adam doesn't seem inclined to bring her up to speed, that job was going to fall to Rachel even if Adam hadn't dumped it on her. She jerks a thumb at the door that Dox vanished through as she answers Thara. "That'd be his people. We didn't get treated a lot better." Rachel nods towards the door. "Come on. Dropping all this on you when you've just woken up is... well, pretty typical for Adam, I'm getting the feeling, but we don't have a lot of time."

Assuming she can convince Thara to go with her, Rachel begins filling her in - their incarceration, their underhanded release by Dox, the nature of the threat to the planet... and the dubious bargain they've struck with the Coluan.

Thara does go along as she is quite lost. She has literally been taken from one place to another without her knowing it. That is enough to confuse anyone. She responds with thought. ~So this guy is manipulating us to get something he wants in exchange for our freedom? Sounds like blackmail to me.~ She quietly walks behind Rachel. ~There are 2 cities we need to save right?~

<< Between Phyla and me, we'd have gotten out eventually. >> Rachel doesn't sound as confident about that as she might - the cell they were in was proving pretty tough, and getting out of it would have taken long enough for the Coluans to come up with other countermeasures. << But we'd have made a mess doing it. >> That, at least, she is sure of. << This guy has the information we need, or so Adam says, so we're getting something out of the deal. But yeah, it's blackmail. But the stakes are the lives of everyone on this planet. I can't play hardball with that many lives on the line. >>

“He claims to be an expert in Brainiac,” explains Adam, “he will help us, after we save his planet.” It doesn’t sound too bad, does it. Adam has something to add if Rachel keeps the telepathic link. << It makes Dox feel in control if he feels we are in his debt and he is manipulating us to help him. It is quite immature of him, as we would have protected Colu regardless. Just... humor him, please. And Thara, I think the Coluan machines have discharged you of solar energy. Be careful. >>

Thara gets a rather pissed look in her eyes. <> In a bit of anger she takes a swing at the wall and depending on the material either leaves one hell of a dent or breaks through it. <>

Rachel winces a bit as Thara's fury rises. She and the others weren't much more pleased with their treatment, but at least they've had time to get over it somewhat. Thara, not so much. << Bureaucracy, or so they seem to think. Same reason they locked us up. >> Rachel tries to keep things reasonably light, but her mental tone darkens some. << And I wouldn't hold your breath. Dox isn't exactly in authority here. This is more prison break than 'released without charge'. >> Still, Rachel's annoyance over that point is overshadowed by what Thara says /after/ she punches the wall. << Adam? I think you should field that one. >> She tells him, not about to touch that topic herself.

Dox leads the Guardians through a series of secure elevators down into what must be the city sublevels. The building shakes several times, and at one point the lights flicker for a tenth of a second. “Past next section, I don’t have authorization. We will have to fight past security androids, the blast door and a class 10 force-field.”

Sure enough, a security bot appears and points the group with a blaster rifle. “Attention. You are not authorized. Please, raise your hands and identify. At...” Dox grabs the rifle and shots the robot’s head off. “Unfortunately, this was the only one that was programmed to give two warnings before shooting.”

Sure enough, there is a large blast door ahead, and half a dozen armed robots are dropping from the ceiling. They look quite a bit like Brainiac’s terminauts. << Brainiac’s origin story can wait a little more. >> Declares Adam.

Thara hears the sweet melodious sound of these very nasty robots. One look is all it takes to draw a proper comparison. The solar power may have been drained from her but that does not stop another form of energy. There is quite literally fire in Thara's eyes. "There is a LOT of explaining to do!" With a very quick action she disarms Dox, "Just think if you wouldn't have taken my solar energy, I wouldn't be leaving you defenseless!" The gun is beared down and is fired repeatedly with expert marksmanship. "We will be talking when this is through!"

"We wouldn't want it to be /easy/, would we?" Rachel grumbles quietly, under her breath, but despite her complaining she's ready to deal with the first robot - except Dox gets there first. Quick, efficient. Maybe he really can deliver what he's promised... "No problem." Rachel says with utter confidence in response to Dox's warning, before he's having to deal with Thara divesting him of his gun. Rachel takes the opportunity of the momentary distraction to drop a private message into Adam's brain << You're not going to be able to put her off much longer. >> Rachel warns him, before stepping quickly up beside Thara. She might be doing a fine job with her purloined blaster, but there are six of them. And Rachel has talents of her own that are useful in situations like this. Rachel reaches out a hand, and a talon of telekinetic force closes around one of the robots. The first thing she does is smash its head against the ceiling, and then she's using it as a blunt instrument to batter any of its compatriots that Thara hasn't yet perforated.

Vril Dox grunts when Thara takes the blaster rifle from his hands forcefully. “Why... I am a good shot!” He protests, diving for cover when the Kryptonian (and the robots) open fire.

Adam gesticulates, and the robots’ blasts, which they were firing at alarming speed, seem to ‘bend’ and go wild, hitting walls and ceilings and shattering ceramic and metal but missing all living targets. << She should know already this is the world where Brainiac was created. All I hat time to learn from the infirmary computers is that it was a conglomeration of A.I.s that went rogue. >> It is all over in ten seconds, the robots blasted to pieces or smashed.

Thara drops the blaster. The next thing she does is definitely a wicked move. She takes hold of Dox and puts him against the wall. "What is the correlation between this place and Brainiac. I know bots like the ones we just destroyed. Someone had better start talking." She is fuming. "Since I got here, We've been shot at, Imprisoned, I've been stripped of much of my power, and now I am finding out this place has a whole lot to do with the being that not only killed my family, but left my planet to die, then kidnapped 100,000 of us to keep like we were a damn zoo exhibit. Tell me one reason why I shouldn't forget that I am one of the good guys."

Rachel could, possibly, stop Thara from going for Dox. Her powers are fully intact and she's capable of reacting at the speed of thought.

It never even crosses her mind to do so.

Instead, she takes a quick look around at the debris of the robots, making sure none of them still pose any sort of risk, and then she casts her telepathy out, searching for any living minds that might have been alerted by the battle. Only when she's sure that, for a moment at least, she's not going to have to fend off any attackers, does she turn and take a step toward where Thara's interrogating Dox.

Rachel reaches out a hand and puts it on Thara's shoulder. "Because you /are/ one of the good guys. And whatever this guy or others like him have done, their whole planet's not responsible. They need us." With that said, Rachel drops her hand back to her side and turns away again, silently giving notice that whatever Thara decides, Rachel won't step in. "Adam?" She says, nodding toward the blast door. "Can you do something about this, or do you want me to open it?"

Dox acks, breathless, as Thara slams him against a wall, then he glares at her. “Krypton was destroyed? Damnit woman, Colu shifted to the Microverse in what must have seen a century in the Prime Universe. We have no idea of what Brainiac has been doing. But he was created here, and he had our entire technological database when we managed to drive him out Colu. Of course he is using Coluan designs.”

Then he rolls his eyes, “as for your arrival, allow me to remind you that you arrived in an unidentified ship, during wartime, without opening communications. What would have happened if a ship would have approached Krypton under the same circumstances? Of course you got shot down! And then you threatened with destruction when an aircraft was sent to retrieve you. Security protocols for Kryptonians are very strict. They have been for millennia. For obvious reasons. Unhand me!”

Adam leaves Vril Dox to explain himself. He probably deserves some screaming. “No. I think I can open it. Be wary for more defenses beyond.” He puts his hands on the doors and concentrates, then the doors open silently. Twin turrets with blaster cannons raise from the floor. Those are for Rachel to deal with.

Thara maintains her hold on Dox, "You know what else didn't happen? Your people didn't request identification. So I am left to believe your philosophy is shoot first, shoot again, shoot a little more and then ask questions to corpses? Is that how it is!?" She flips out. "And I don't care. At no time did you ask if we were a threat. We did not come to your planet guns blazing. IN fact we landed without weapons. Hell we landed without a ship. I think a simple apology would be a nice gesture but your planet seems to be more important then anyone elses. Do you know what it's like to be shrunk down and stuck in a damn bottle for Rao knows how many years? So the very least you can do is drop the attitude and stay out of my way." She drops him and walks over to the blast door.

Rachel gives a swift nod in answer to Adam's warning. "Got it." She tells him, moving up behind and to one side of him, not so close as to crowd him or get in the way of what he's doing, but close enough that she'll get a good, early view of whatever's on the other side. She can't screen out what's going on behind her, and in truth she doesn't really want to. Thara clearly needs to get this out of her system, and Dox... well, he might not deserve it, but Rachel doesn't like being manipulated. As Thara moves to join her, Rachel glances across and gives her a quick nod, and what looks suspiciously like a small smile. Her attention's back on the door before it begins to move, however, and she reacts as soon as she sees the gun turrets. She's done with subtlety. Her eyes go white-hot as her telekinesis snaps out, seizing the gun barrels and bending them upwards, pointing the muzzles uselessly at the ceiling. "Something like that?" She says to Adam. That done, she walks forward, casting about with her eyes and her powers, searching for more threats.

“You weren’t shot you when you were on the ground, were you?” Dox doesn’t seem apologetic. After all, there were 10,000 hostile ships in orbit. He follows the others and picks one of the blaster rifles along the way. “Ah, nicely done. Now there is just the forcefield.”

The next room is very large, it is also the first place in Colu that looks dusty and even the air feels stale. Too important to send basic cleaning robots, perhaps. There is a building-sized machine and a flickering, greenish force-field around it. “I expect your energy manipulation powers are up to the task, Warlock, that force-field was created to stand high yield anti-matter bombs.”

Adam looks at the energy field and nods. “I will need about ninety seconds.” Dox has to check his wrist computer to know what a ‘second’ is, but he seems satisfied with the answer. Of course about sixty seconds later a small contingent of robots comes from the entrance. But they are not shooting, in fact they seem to come as guards from an elderly Coluan. A frowning elderly Coluan. “Dox, what are you doing here with these aliens?”

"No I was stuck in Stasis!" She snaps back. Her attention shifts to the robots and the elder man. She doesn't say anything at this point. Her stance is one of power. The look in her eyes says she is DEFINITELY not going to be stuck in stasis again.

Rachel sniffs at the air and frowns. The sudden change in the atmosphere has her on edge. The air smells like somewhere that's been locked away on purpose, and that's foreboding enough. It doesn't help her suddenly elevated tension that, once again, she's surrounded by technology that she has no understanding of. Since she can't see a way to be of direct help, she takes Adam's announcement that he needs a minute and a half as an instruction. "You'll get it." She tells him, spinning around and heading back toward the now open blast door. "And we're still supposed to be locked up." Rachel tells Dox helpfully as she passes, on the heels of Thara's words. She's in prime position to block the Coluan and his robots, and casually does so, shifting her weight to one hip and folding her arms. She doesn't need to move to smash his robots up, if it comes to that. "Would you believe, saving your world?" She asks. Assuming Adam's on time, she only needs to keep the newcomer talking for thirty seconds...

Vril Dox seems surprised and confused to see the old man, “Chancellor Gozz, we have to return Colu to...” he frowns and goes silent for a second. “You shouldn’t be here when the city is under attack.” Hesitantly, he raises his rifle to the old man.

Adam keeps a hand on the force-field, he is draining and modifying its energy slowly. But he glances at the newcomer. “Beware, he is not what he seems to be.” Rachel can also feel a... dark cloud, seeping even to the psychic plane. Even the Shadow King wasn’t this bad!

The old Coluan laughs. The laugh turns hollow and cold. “Where else should I be? This portal to other universes is the only thing of value in this insignificant planet.” He changes, growing, becoming black armor with red highlights. “Know, gnats, I am Baron Karza, the master of the Microverse. Surrender now and your deaths will be swift and merciful!”

Thara raises an eyebrow. "Yeah that isn't going to happen." Her body goes into a fighting stance. No powers save for a small amount of super strength, no, weapons, Just like old times. She may not be the powerhouse she normally is but she isn't exactly a baby without them. With a quick motion she darts behind a piece of lab equipment.

Since this is a day for people not being where they're supposed to be, Rachel doesn't pick up on the danger in Dox's confusion. Adam's rather more direct warning cuts through the air at about the same time that she picks up on the negative psionic energy oozing from the figure that confronts them. One mental touch of that power, and Rachel slams psi-shields around her mind, and those of Adam and Thara for good measure too. She's not certain she can protect them all at once, but she's going to try. "Getting that, Adam..." She says under her breath, her casual pose now replaced by a rather more battle-ready one, her fists clenched at her sides, faint trails of telekinetic fire crawling across her form. As Thara gets her witticism in first, despite the situation, a touch of amusement reaches Rachel's eyes. "Haven't you heard? We're the Guardians of the Galaxy. We don't do anything the easy way. We'll take drawn-out and painful. And we'll even share." With that, Rachel cuts loose with a wave of telekinetic force. She'd like to sweep the bad guys back down the corridor and slam the blast door in their faces, but she doubts it'll be that easy.

Vril Dox fires his blaster at Karza, but the energy beams bounce off his armor without any effect. The robots shot back, forcing him to seek cover. “Incredible, those bodyguard bots still think he is Chancellor Gozz!”

“Because he is,” replies Adam. “Your Chancellor is possessed, Dox, I had never seen anything like that Karza creature. He is both psychic and cosmic energy. Yet he was human long ago.” Several of the bots shot at Adam, and instead of dodging or blocking the blasts, he let them hit him and struggles to absorb its energies. Fortunately Rachel TK-wave pushes most of them out of the chamber. But without moving Karza an inch.

The redhead’s display of power, more than her challenge, draws the Baron’s attention. “Interesting, I feel great power in you, girl,” says the armored man. “Although clumsily focused. But you could be a true threat, with a few years of training. Lets prevent those possibilities, won’t we?” He steps forwards, towards Rachel, the red bolts on his upper chest prove to be some kind of energy cannons, and he begins shooting them, each blast stronger than the previous one.

“Starchild, you need to hold him off,” shouts Adam. “Thara, to me, quickly!” He looks at Dox. “I am about to draw all the power of the forcefield to me for an instant, you have to get though when I do it.”

The Kryptonian girl has already launched herself at one of the robots. She is pummeling it with her bare hands until... CRUNCH! She yanks an arm off of it!! Upon hearing Adam she gives him a nod. "Sorry to cut this short but..." With one fast strike she slams the arm into the robot. Relieving it of it's blaster, she darts toward Adam. "Got a toy. What do I need to do once in there!?"

Despite the unpleasant psychic spoor of Karza, which Rachel imagines she can still feel even through her tightly-closed psi-shields, Rachel grins fiercely when the robots go flying back down the corridor - without taking Thara with them, which is more luck than judgment as Rachel hadn't expected the other woman to go straight for hand to hand combat!

That grin of Rachel's dies a bit when she sees that the robots' master is a far more immovable object, a slight frown and drawing together of her brows marring her expression. Even so, she answers the Baron's compliment cockily enough, "You have no idea..." She tells him, and then her brows go up as she's insulted. "You're about to find out I'm a quick study!" She tells him, hotly, but then she's rocked backwards as energy blasts slam into her hastily-raised telekinetic shield. She catches herself after being pushed back only a half-step, but her teeth are gritted as she feeds more power into her shields to fend off the blasts. << Sure, give me the easy job! >> She says into Adam's mind, her psionic voice sounding breathless, and then she goes silent, needing all her power for the battle before her.

As the blasts increase in intensity, Rachel gets the sinking feeling that, sooner or later, she's going to be overwhelmed... and that makes her angry, triggering a core of anger within her. She's not going to let that happen! Digging in, flame blazing around her now as she draws on her full power, she risks a quick diversion of her effort, and slams a telekinetic bolt into the ceiling above the Baron's head. She's hoping for a rain of debris, not because she thinks it'll floor him, but as a distraction - because she's following it with the most tightly-focused TK blast she can muster, right at him.

“Karza is too powerful. Even if I was at my full power and Quasar was here, and even if Moondragon and Rachel could engage him in the psychic plane, I am not sure we could defeat him,” explains Adam. “But a Kryptonian at full power might have a chance. I am going to transform all my remaining power and all the power I can absorb from the forcefield into a massive charge of solar energy and force it into your cells. It is going to be painful for both of us, so brace yourself.”

There is a crackle of energy through the forcefield, Vril Dox jumps through in a flash. Then Adam glows like a mini-sun. First orange, quickly shifting to golden, and then all the way to blinding blue. Cosmic power becoming solar light, and forced into Thara’s body at a supernatural pace, beyond what her cells could usually metabolize. Good thing Kryptonians are susceptible to magic, or this wouldn’t work.

But Adam is right, it hurts like hell. On the other hand, in three seconds Thara feels stronger than she has ever been before. Pretty much burning with energy.

Meanwhile Rachel is doing a good job at drawing Karza’s attention. Having several tons of ceiling fall on him seems to amuse the Microverse tyrant, and he pushes them away with a forcefield and keeps advancing. When he reaches Rachel’s barrier, he punches it once. That is how must feel if the Hulk had punched the shield. “Yes, my dear. Please explain to me so I can have an idea.” Then her blast his him in the center of his chest, and he grunts faintly, taking a step back. “Ah. That /almost/ hurt.” He reaches with an armored gauntlet for Rachel’s neck, when the bright light Adam is creating draws his attention. “What could he possibly expect creating just sunlight, this fool? Wait! The Coluan got inside the forcefield!” That one, at least, seems to break his composure some.

What indeed. Thara takes in as much of the light as she can. There is definitely a fire in her eyes as she soaks up the rays. Did she ever need this. Damn Coluans taking her energy. She didn't have enough courtesy of Red Hulk but they didn't need to take it. A smile arcs her lips. Immediately her mind runs as fast as possible considering weaknesses and planning her next action. Fast, Surprising, and as powerful as possible.

Then, before anyone can blink, she is behind Karza. Idly taps him in the shoulder before unleashing a very powerful very fierce assault onto the microverse villain. If it is not enough she is forcing every bit of energy in her body into this fight. Every trained punch and kick would be enough to shatter large meteors. "Surrender... you... are... out... matched!" she exclaims as she continues her surprise assault.

It's a good thing that Rachel can't hear Adam's summarising the situation they're in for Thara, because it must rate as about the most dispiriting pep-talk ever. Without the benefit of Adam's knowledge, Rachel's left to figure out what she's facing on her own, but she's rapidly coming to the same conclusion - alone, she's overmatched. The fist that smashes into her shield tells her that. Her boots slide back across the floor as her shield buckles, the feedback seeping through, but she just holds it together, refusing to let it splinter, even as she feels blood start to trickle from her nose.

She doesn't dignify his mockery with a reply - mostly because she can't spare the breath or the attention - but when her blast staggers him even a little, her confidence surges back. Breathing hard, she swipes the back of her hand across her mouth, smearing the blood from her nose, and looks daggers at him with her blank, white hot gaze. "Practice makes perfect..." She says, trying to scrape together enough reserves for another TK-bolt - but then his hand is around her throat, and she's being lifted off the floor. Burning with telekinetic power, and she still can't escape his grip. She's seen Jean channel the Phoenix and achieve astonishing things, it kept her alive in space, why won't the firebird help her now?

And then, Rachel gets a reprieve. Thara's there, and as she engages Karza, Rachel's released, falling to her knees in an untidy heap, propping herself up with her hands, gasping for air - but she can't let the Kryptonian fight alone. Rachel's attack isn't as strong or focused as it was before, but she scythes out with her TK anyway, aiming for Karza's knees, anything to knock him off balance and aid Thara.

Adam falls to his knees visibly exhausted when Thara blurs to attack Karza. The Baron is surprised, but he was watching, and not entirely unprepared. “Thara’s punches crash against a forcefield around his armor, but she hits so hard that the armored man is forced to retreat at the quick barrage of devastating blows. The forcefield glows and crackles, threatening to overload when Rachel joins the attack.

"Impossible! You can possibly draw so much power from so little radiation!” Karza form shifts and reshapes, suddenly he is not just a tall man clad in black metal, but a huge armored centaur, mounting two canons at the sides of his body. “No matter. The autopsy of your corpse will tell me what you did, woman. Now die!” The twin canons shot, immediately joined by the canons in his chest. In a second enough power to obliterate a large city is concentrated on Thara.

Thara takes the hit. She winces a litte but she just laughs. "Is that the best you got?!" Her eyes go red. Fiery beams are unleashed at the twin cannons in an attempt at melting them. Then the fight continues. SHe keeps attacking this time going for his legs, after all, a centaur with a broken leg has to be put down right?"

She glances around as she continues to pummel the being. Then she sees it... the robot arm from earlier! She quicky grabs it and begins using it as a club on the centaurish villain's legs. The speed in which the thing is swung breaks the sound barrier giving it a thunderous sound.

To begin with, Rachel's just relieved to be alive and able to breathe! ...and then she sees how much better Thara's doing against the Baron, and her pride suddenly feels well and truly dented. She pushes herself up to her feet not because she's recovered and ready for Round Two, but because her self respect won't let her stay on the floor a moment longer. When she sways a bit, though, blinking away the black spots that suddenly swim in front of her eyes, Rachel's just sensible enough to let her telekinesis take the strain. Lifting off the floor, she hovers swiftly back a couple of paces to ensure she's not caught in the crossfire, then reaches out with her telekinesis, snatching up the rubble and debris she dislodged from the ceiling before. While she's only got two physical hands, her telekinesis gives her access to dozens more. Every single chunk of material she can grab is accelerated to the fastest speed she can generate and flung toward Karza, aiming for those cannons as much as she can, her rate of fire quickly increasing to almost automatic weapons speed as she gets her breath back. It's perhaps not much, but it keeps her in the game while she recovers.

"Bold words, but my armor sensors reveal you are injured," replies the Baron. He shuts up when Thara renews her attack, forcing him back again. For a few seconds he trades blow by blow with Thara. His armor resisting her punches and heat beams. But he is not as fast as her, and Rachel keeps peppering him with tons of debris.

A particularly strong punch makes him lose footing and crash through an inertron wall, when he stands there are hairline fractures in his chest plate. "Bah. I find this physical conflict beneath me. You can't defeat me, I have ten thousand battleships over this city. You have merely delayed me a minute." But with those words, he vanishes.

No, not exactly vanishes, he leaves behind the crumpled form an a elderly Coluan. The old man dressed in tatters and his mind shattered.

Then the forcefield around the machine fades to nothing.

"He won't have a minute," sneers Dox, grinning like the devil. Then he punches a red button.

The transition from the Microverse to the Prime Universe is so much smoother than with Adam's spell. There is just a brief moment of disorientation.

As the entity vanishes and leaves the husk of a man behind, Thara drops to her knees. The energy in her body is all but depleted. Her breathing alone causes her to wince. "Damn I think he cracked one of my ribs. I had to hold it together to finish the fight. You understand right?" She glances upward. "We are going to need a ship I think."

And suddenly... the fight is over? Despite the pummeling Thara was dishing out, Rachel hadn't expected Karza to flee! For a moment or two she remains floating, a dozen or more pieces of debris lazily orbiting her as she searches for Karza with her eyes and mind, and then they all clatter to the floor. A moment later Rachel's boots thump heavily down as well, as she lets go of the telekinetic power that was keeping her in the air. She takes a step toward Thara. "Are you...?" She begins, but Thara's already confirming that she's OK. Well, ish. "I understand that my brain is trying to batter its way out of my skull." She tells the other woman with a crooked smile, then looks over at Dox, and his grin - and wants to groan. She waves a finger at him warningly. "If this is where you double cross us... just don't." Her head turns, looking for Warlock. "Adam? You OK?"

Adam stands up, “yes, the normal flow of cosmic energy is restoring me quickly. I will be fine. We need to search for Karza, he is still a threat.”

That statement wipes the smirk from Vril Dox lips. “That is true. I didn’t expect him to be so... formidable in person.” There is also a fleet of warships outside, and a huge army of clone soldiers!

But as it happens, the fleet and army are no threat. The transition to the Prime Universe had a weird effect in the Microverse natives. They are about 1/10th their normal Microverse size! Even their warships have become much smaller. Apparently Dox expected this, and as he calculated the defense forces of Colu are enough to handle the now diminutive invaders.

And fortunately Karza didn’t make the transition. Or if he did, they can’t find him in Colu. Not even Adam’s spells and cosmic senses, or Rachel telepathic scans can detect him in the area.

Dox doesn’t double cross them. As he promises, he repairs and refits the Sensia, and gives them the equipment to track Brainiac’s ship, passcodes that might work to help them through defenses, and a veritable collection of computer virus that might shut him down, or at least hinder his functions.

Vril Dox is pleased, indeed. Colu is saved. He is the hero of the day. And Colu’s chancellor is incapacitated, so there will be elections soon to choose a new one.