2014.09.27 - The Hidden World (Collector of Cities III)

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Yod-Colu - Deep Space

An Earth-sized planet, Colu seems to be perpetually under a dense cloud cover, the surface invisible from space. Despite the lack of nearby stars, the planet irradiates a faint grey light.

There is only a small number of cities, but those are large, high-tech megapolis made of mile high glass towers that seem to defy gravity and architectonic principles. The rest of the planet seems devoid of people or large animals and abandoned. Except for the large rings of plantations around the cities, those tended by robots.

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Apparently getting to the Microverse is not as easy. No one in Knowhere admits knowing how and some ‘experts’ claim it is just a mythic place. Some say the Imskians knew how to get there, but there is none around right now.

The element in Earth is called the Pym Particle happens to be fairly rare, so getting hold of enough to shrink the whole starship past the Pym Barrier is too much for Knowhere security department budget. Cosmo can’t help. But Adam is quite sure he can break the dimensional barriers using quantum magic, so Moondragon’s starship has been traveling for several days, and now finally approaches Colu’s former solar system. The 4th planet from the star went missing decades ago.

Thara has been minding her business on the ship and not outside it. While the ship was still under the yellow sun of the Sol System, she had remained outside but now, she is simply keeping to herself. Idly she works on her sword, making it sharper and sharper. Right down the molecular level. She does keep close tabs on where everyone is. This way she doesn't go splitting hairs.

Where is Heather Douglas? In the pilot's seat, at least half the time. Otherwise, she spends most of her time in one of the six luxury cabins aboard the Sensia, as they streak through Hyperspace on their way to the previous coordinates of the planet Colu. She's not sure they have to go all the way out there for this to work ... but she's not going to argue. So long as the mental chatter is kept down to a dull roar, she's fine with it. She did volunteer her ship knowing she'd have guests, after all. "Phyla, do you want to pilot for a while?" she queries.

Rachel's been spoiled by instantaneous teleportation via her Passport bracelet /already/. Several days aboard a starship, even one as well appointed as the Sensia, feels slow. And what's worse, for her, is that she doesn't have the scientific background to be very much help. She doesn't even have a sword to sharpen. She's done her best not to get in the way, but she's impatient for something to happen. Emerging from the cabin she snagged when she came aboard, she heads forward. She's going to try very hard not to ask 'are we nearly there yet'. At least, not in so many words.

"If you want a break, I can pilot it," responds the Kree woman. She waits just behind Heather's seat, and when the telepath stands, she slips into place. "I assume you already headed around the Kree patrols I told you about." Not that there's a real chance of being captured while in hyperspace, but one never knows. Better to play it safe. "You should rest a little before we get there," Phyla adds after a moment of thought.

Adam spent most of the time studying the transponder Thara brought from Brainiac ship when she got to Earth. The conclusion is it looks like something from Colu, but it adds modifications and improvements to the basic design using technology from half a dozen planets, including Krypton. So yes, it looks like Brainiac learns and improves his technology with each stolen city.

But now they have entered Colu’s system, he is outside. Standing on the hull of the ship and studying the structure of space with his cosmic senses. “Please, move closer to what should have been Colu’s orbit.” He request through the ship’s comm. channel.

Thara hears that they are close. The blade is promptly sheathed and her gaze shifts to outside of the vessel. "What color is the star here?" She asks curiously. "I should have enough of a charge to last a while under red sunlight. Yellow is prefered... Blue... well... From what I've gathered I will be soaking that up quite alot!"

"I'll meditate here, since apparently we're so close." Heather offers Phyla, as she then settles down in one of the other cockpit seats. "The charts onboard should have the projected previous orbit of Colu. Do we need to adjust in order to put ourselves where the planet would have been when it disappeared? Or where it should be now if it had continued?"

Rachel's steps quicken as she hears Adam's message, and unconsciously she grins a bit to herself. It might only have been a few days, but she's ready for something to happen - and she's not quite the old hand at spacetravel that her companions are, at least not yet. Arriving in the cockpit, Rachel finds an area of wall that doesn't look important to lean against and folds her arms. "I heard Adam, any idea what we should expect?"

Adam has never opened a dimensional portal to the Microverse, and they have very little information about what there is in the Microverse. What could possibly go wrong? “I believe I can see the tear, I will open a gate now. But it is going to take most of my power to move the ship.” Pause, “brace yourselves. We might experience a shift in the... laws of physics.”

Thara cocks her head, "Do you need some help? I can move the ship easy enough." She idly asks. The nice sensations of the local star are definitely giving her a bit of a boot. Not enough to go crazy but enough of one to get her powers where they ought to be.

Phyla-Vell glances to Moondragon's side to see if she heard. If she did not, Phyla will reach over and snap the straps the seats come with. She does that for herself moments later. "Strapped in and ready, Adam. Do whatever you need to do - and I'd stay inside, if I were you," she advises Thara. "Just in case Adam can't bring you along for the ride when you're out there."

A shift in the laws of physics? How's Rachel supposed to brace herself for that? She's about to ask as much when she sees Phyla strapping herself in. Glancing around, she locates an unused seat and follows suit.

Moondragon straps in, and waits. Still meditating, for whatever good it will do.

There are some things that are hard on human minds and senses. Like jumping dimensions without the safety net provided by most spaceships when they travel through Hyperspace. Most teleportation spell-casting provides those too.

There is no safety net this time, because Adam is improvising. So what happens is a mixture of sensations of falling, shrinking and getting electrocuted.

Before the Guardians can truly ‘enjoy’ the full experience, however, the Sensia comes alive, half the control panel goes red with failing systems, and proximity alarms go crazy.

The good news? Colu is up ahead.

The bad news? Roughly 10,000 warships around them, all of them far larger than the Sensia, are turning their weapons on them.

Thara blinks as they go through the wild ride. Upon seeing just what is out there she takes a deep breath. "Ummm, I don't suppose you would mind me going out there now would you?" She is already making towards the air lock to go soak up some weapon fire if needed.

"...And here I was worried about running into a Kree patrol." Phyla, getting over such a /wonderful/ experience of teleporting (ew ow ow ow ow ew ew) is just righting herself when the alarms go off. She shakes her head to ward off the threatening groggy sensations that invariably accompany a horrible teleportation like that - "Heather..." No, that's not going to do. "Every keep strapped in. I'm going to have to pilot this thing a bit less... professionally..."

Rachel's hands grip the armrests of her chair, trying to anchor herself to something solid while everything seems to get turned inside out and upside down all around her. And as for the pain that accompanies the transition? Rachel tastes blood from where she's sunk her teeth into her lip to keep from screaming. When the pain stops, and her surroundings return to their normal state, Rachel gasps, letting out the breath she hadn't realised she was holding. "'Brace yourselves' didn't quite cover it, Adam." Rachel mutters under her breath.

And then there are alarms, and Rachel's head snaps up, instinctively extending her telepathic senses to search for threats. Close in, she picks up her companions, then the silent emptiness of space, and then... "Oh hell." She breathes. "Adam?" She calls through the comlink, not knowing if it's still working. "Do you need me or do you know how to say 'we come in peace' wherever we are now?"

Rachel's already hit the release on her seat restraints when Phyla's good advice is given. And of course she doesn't take it. "Do what you have to, I'll be right back." Rachel doesn't bother running, she flies to the nearest suit locker and begins pulling on a vacuum suit. She'll take being rattled around the ship, she wants to be ready.

As soon as they arrive, Moondragon does her best to shed the echoes of confusion, pain, loss and more from the transition. As the alarms sound, she reaches out to network the minds of everyone together, since communication is going to be key and some folks won't have air to make words. << Everyone get ready. I'll do what I can to make us disappear from their perceptions, but I cannot promise that will work ... or be enough. The ships, I cannot affect. Only the personnel aboard. >> That said, Moondragon stays in meditative focus, as her suit seals around her, and her mind reaches out, out through the cold darkness of the Microverse, connecting with minds ... more minds ... and more minds. And with each mind she connects with, she projects the same thing: they are not there. It's a sensor glitch. And she keeps pushing.

The first blast misses the Sensia by a few yards. The second is barely held by the shields. Those are some powerful guns! The third... there is no third because the gunner believes sincerely it is all a sensor glitch.

But there are dozens of ships close, hundreds of minds. Fortunately they seem human minds, and simple-minded people at all. They are easy to trick. Unfortunately further away other warships are sending messages about the intruding ship and how it must be destroyed. And why the hell it is not being fired upon?!

Another shot. This came from too far, so the discharge is went to wide to cause much damage. Well, wasn’t Adam out there? “Phyla, take us to Colu,” sounds Adam’s voice in the comm. system. “I will help Thara shield the ship, but there are too many... and I sense a powerful entity controlling the fleet.”

Thara is out there already. "I will try to disable some of them. Thank Rao this isn't a red sun system." Her gaze focuses on the ships as she soaks up some weapons fire. As soon as she finds the weapons systems she begins using her heat vision in an attempt to short them out. "I don't wanna hurt these people. I don't think they know what they are doing." She darts towards one of the ships and bends the barrel of one of the weapons in a safer direction. "These guys are relentless!"

"Here we go..." Phyla hits the gas, as it were, to speed to Moondragon's spaceship beyond the assembled... defenders? Blockaders? ... whatever they are. Despite the urgency, she does flick a glance over to Moondragon to make sure her companion's all right, before her gaze returns to the front. She can't help but think if she was out there, she could use her own abilities, but then... who would pilott he ship? She sighs to herself and focuses, dodging around a particularly large vessel. "Any idea who these are?"

Despite the weapons fire and Phyla's enthusiastic piloting, Rachel manages to scramble into her space suit in double quick time - although when Phyla gives the engines a kick it takes a bit of telekinetic compensation to avoid bouncing off the rear bulkhead! Snagging the suit's helmet, she tucks it securely under her arm and is about to head back to the cockpit when Adam's commands come in over the comlink - and she's noticeably left without a job to do. She can /feel/ what Moondragon's doing - and she appreciates the idea - but she's more worried about breaking the other telepath's concentration if she tries to help. Rachel makes a snap decision, and calls over her comlink. "I'm going to try to shore the shields up. Anyone with a better idea, yell!" Rachel wedges herself in a corner, bracing her hands against the walls, and closes her eyes. It's going to take a bigger shield than she's used to, but... pushing out her telekinesis, she envelops the ship in a shielded bubble.

So ... many ... minds. Moondragon is capable of making contact with an entire world's population at once. She has done so before. But it isn't easy, or automatic ... and it is exhausting. For now, all she can do is continue to expand her sphere of influence and control, doing all she can to shield the ship and the people, as Phyla pilots and the others intercept fire she cannot control. Maybe she should invest in stealth systems for the ship at some point?

There is a powerful entity controlling the fleet, said Adam. Moondragon is the second one to notice such entity. A malevolent psychic presence inquiring in the minds she is trying to confuse. But it shies away confrontation with the powerful telepath. Instead a whole wing of ships, dozens of them, hastens after the Sensia, energy canons firing at long range.

Thara manages to damage several of the closes ships, but then she becomes a target, and there is no ‘glitch’ to protect her. Dozens, maybe hundreds of blaster turrets fire at her. Some of the ships are also launching quick fighters. More minds for Moondragon to try to confuse.

There is another impact on the hull, just as Rachel was placing the shield. Close! But now the Sensia is speeding toward Colu, they will be there in a minute. Now, if only they didn’t have a hundred warships chasing them.

Phyla-Vell forces the Sensia into a barrel roll to dodge some incoming fire. Thank goodness for the straps on the chairs in the bridge, right? Mentally she gently supports Moondragon. It's nothing she has to focus on and is just a subtle presence. She otherwise keeps the ship focused on getting to Colu. And dodging warships. Lots of dodging warships. "Almost...!"

Rachel grits her teeth as the hit reverberates through the hull. She doesn't need to know much about starships to realise that taking many more like that would be a bad thing. She's waiting for that next hit to come in - but it doesn't, not before her telekinetic shield is in place. Which is good, because any shots that get past Adam and Thara aren't hitting the hull. And bad, because it feels like her brain's being hit repeatedly by a hammer. Each shot that reaches the ship leaves a flaming, red-gold scar across Rachel's shield, but she's maintaining the barrier - for now at least.

<< The presence ... is retreating. It's trying to hide from me >> Moondragon reports. But she doesn't chase it. Not yet. For now, she keeps doing what she's doing, seeking out all the minds that are seeing them, seeking them and then blurring their presence. Sensor glitch. Mistake. Wait, what's that over there? Anything to get them away before they are destroyed. No one is sucking vacuum today if she can help it.

The blasts from the various ships slam into Thara's nearly invulnerable body. "Damn that hurts!" She states. She continues to take hits. Finally she has had enough. She explodes in a burst of speed. Strategically she puts herself between a pair of the vessels and starts dodging as she can. If everything works out, the ships should wind up shooting each other.

Looks like they are gaining to the warships, the Sensia is faster and Colu is closing quickly. But wait! Here come the fighters, twenty, thirty of them. Their guns are not powerful, but the starship can't take much more.

Then the first of the fighters explodes. Then the second. Thin, high energy laser beams cut them as if they were made of paper. A second later the Sensia is hit. Really hit. And the blast comes from Colu!

The shields blink out in a second, and Rachel telekinesis is the only thing that prevents the whole craft from being torn in two. The hull is still punched through a three yards wide, the vacuum sucking Rachel into space. Almost all important systems are knocked off line, including the main engines. Adam is also hit and torn off the hull.

Ahead of them, Phyla and Moondragon can see a grid of satellites coming to life, flickering in and then back into stealth/invisible just to fire at the fighters and warships behind the Sensia.

There are no minds in those satellites; it must be an automatic defense system. And it is incredibly lethal!

Thara can see how the head warship gets hit several times. Its shields are gone in two hits, and then it is cut to shreds and explodes barely three seconds later.

Oh hell. Phyla pounds once one the console as everything stops responding. "Heather... we have to get out of here!" She wills a small blade of quantum energy into her hand and slices the telepath's safety straps away. Then she's scooping Heather up into her arms and /running/. When she realizes she's soon in a vacuum, she's off the floor of the shuttle and flying, carting the spacesuit-wearing Moondragon out with her. There's a bit of tumbling and moving about as they exit, leaving the freefalling shuttle behind them both.

The hits keep coming, and keeping her shield up isn't getting any easier, but Rachel's doing it. She's keeping the blasts from reaching the hull. Despite the effort she's starting to feel a certain sense of satisfac...

And then something blasts a hole in her telekinetic shield, the Sensia's own shields, and then the hull itself. Rachel almost passes out from the feedback, but she fights her way back up from the darkness - and it's already too late. As her eyes snap open she can see the hull breach from the wrong side, as the explosive decompression sends her tumbling away from the ship. And there, tumbling itself, she just catches sight of her spacesuit's helmet - the faceplate smashed to pieces.

Instantly, Rachel throws up a telekinetic shield, ignoring the way her brain screams at her, still dealing with the aftereffects of having her shield smashed through, but it's already too late. She can protect herself from the debris, but she's got no air - she has only seconds. Even as she arrests her spin, her mind is already starting to swim with the demands of her body to take a breath...

For Moondragon, there is only the realm of the mind. If hunting the pilots won't save them, the least she can do is find It. The presence. The force. The entity that is controlling the fleet. And she hunts for it now, actively. There is no ship to save. The team is as likely dead as not. She certainly cannot affect that outcome. But Phyla is taking care of her body, and that leaves the psion free to worry about something more. Something bigger. Something intangible. But maybe ... just maybe ... something to change the outcome before it's all too late.

The Kryptonian girl watches what is happening. The time to fool around with these yahoos is over. Another burst of speed has Thara tearing through a few ship leaving a good deal of damage. Her goal is to get to the ship and to protect her friends. As soon as she makes her way to the ship. Her gaze shifts to the Satellites. Her vision goes fed and a massive burst of heat is fired at them. "Can anyone hear me? I will do what I can to get us to safety. Hopefully with the ship being shot up they will quit shooting."

The satellite firing and the Sensia being hit and losing power change the priorities of the warships. They try to counter-attack, and several satellites get hit and explode. One of them due to Thara’s heat-vision.

For a few seconds, no one pays attention to the now ship-less Guardians. Moondragon can’t find a trace of the entity, maybe it is hiding. She can sense Rachel’s panic, though. And Adam seems unconscious.

Even with though Rachel has telekinetic shields to help her, Phyla extends her own help. She extends a bubble of quantum energy out, pulling the redhead towards her. Once Rachel joins Phyla and Moondragon, the Kree woman extends the bubble to hold all three of them. It takes her a moment to locate the unconscious Adam too - Moondragon could help telepathically there, as could Rachel - and she'll do the same. Not at the mercy of Colu's gravity this way, but the ships are still there. Lovely.

She's going to die. She's going to die in the wrong dimension, about as far from home as it's possible to get, no-one's ever going to know... and all because Adam was wrong. Rachel's no 'Starchild', she's just...

<< Let go of your fear. >> The voice in Rachel's mind, cutting through her panic, isn't Moondragon's. It doesn't belong to any of her companions. But Rachel's heard it before, and somehow, she's always known it. << Let it go, Rachel. You will not die. I would not allow it. >> As the voice speaks, Rachel finds herself suddenly calm, and knows she's being /made/ to feel that way. Made by something far, far more powerful than she herself is... or maybe she's hallucinating, as her brain dies from lack of oxygen. It doesn't really matter. She's out of time. Rachel gives in, and...

She doesn't die. An aura of telekinetic flame flares up around her, but this time it feels like it's inside her, too. She's unable to begin to explain what just happened to her, but she feels the presence in her mind withdraw, and abruptly she's herself again. Alone, in the middle of a space battle - but then she's not alone. She's being drawn towards the others by Phyla. She reaches out with her mind, sounding shaken but back in control of herself. << Thanks for the assist. I never want to do that again. >> She casts out with her powers for the Adam and Thara. Thara seems OK, but Adam... << I've got Adam, but I think he's unconscious. >> Rachel passes the location to Phyla telepathically.

Moondragon's response? << Close. The damned. Helmet. >> she offers, and reaches out to slap the control that closes the helmet around Rachel's head. She can't find the presence that she needs to find, she can't affect the satellites, and she can't really do much else. So she keeps trying, and keeps failing. Let it not be said she gives up easily.

Thara is still going, She quickly catches up with the others. "Keep your shields up! I'm getting you out of here! " She quickly looks around for Adam. "You said Adam was unconscious where is he? Screw it I will come back for him. Next stop, Colu!" She begins moving get the guardians to safety.

Around the group the space battle rages on. But it becomes obvious quickly the warships are getting the worst out of it. The defense satellites have more powerful weapons, and are invisible most of the time. After losing dozens of warship and hundreds of fighters they start to pull back. And meanwhile Thara and Phyla can carry the others into the atmosphere of Colu without being shot.

Rachel's response to Thara is delivered at the speed of thought. << I know you're fast, but we're not leaving him behind! I can pull him in! I've linked us all up - just make sure no-one shoots us down on the way in! >> Rachel's as good as her word, reaching out telepathically to network the Guardians, even as she focuses in on Adam again and stretches out telekinetically to draw him toward the group. Maneuvering under her own power again, Rachel looks over her shoulder at the approaching planet even as she tugs Adam steadily closer. << I don't have a better idea, but these guys shot us down. Are we sure we know what we're doing? >>

<< We're the Guardians of the Galaxy. We /never/ know what we're doing. >> Moondragon sends. Since she can't find anything with the fleet, she starts reaching out her mind towards the planet. Hey, maybe she can find the murderous bastards controlling those satellites and tell them to push the 'don't shoot at the damned heroes' button.

"I will set us down somewhere quiet. That is fine, I will keep them from shooting him. I'll come back for the ship then!" Thara is stubborn as anything it seems. "Besides, I owe a few of these ships for putting holes in that ship and in us!"

Phyla-Vell carries everyone she managed to grab. << I have no idea, >> she admits to Rachel. << Well, I mean. I know what I'm doing with -- Oh, Pama. Nevermind. >> On her own, with the Quantum Bands, Phyla's not afraid. Having to look after the others puts her in a whole different situation. She smirks at Moondragon;s response, close as it is to her own.

There are minds down in Colu, yes. A few high concentrations of thoughts in what must be a handful of massive cities. As the Guardians get through the cloud cover, they finally spot the surface of the planet. Surprisingly enough, the clouds do provide pretty good illumination; making up for the fact there is no star near the planet.

There is a city in the horizon, maybe a hundred miles away, and a couple aircraft are moving towards them at alarming speed.

And then one of the jewels in Phyla's bracers blinks out, going black.

Rachel's telepathic snort comes clearly over the link. Moondragon's opinion on the subject was just too perfect. << That's what I thought. Just checking. >> Thara, though, still sounds worryingly keen - but then Rachel's well aware she can take care of herself. << All right, but watch your back! >> Rachel tells her, pulling Adam the rest of the way to join them. She looks him over, concerned, attempting a swift mental probe. << Adam? Now would be a good time to wake up! >> She doesn't have time for much more than that, before she's throwing another telekinetic shield up to guard them from any unpleasant effects of entering the atmosphere. As they descend, the view's quite something - but all Rachel really notices are the aircraft. She looks quickly between Phyla and Moondragon. << Round two? >> She asks, even as she tries to scan the aircraft for hostile intent.

Thara launches into space to get the ship back... and check the status of the battle... if it isn't done yet, it will be soon enough.

Moondragon's mind reaches out to the pilots of those craft. << Do not fire. Repeat, do not fire. Please don't make me send an angry Kryptonian after you. >>

The airships slow down as they come closer. There is no attack, but there is no minds on them Rachel or Moondragon can sense either. Robot craft on the shape of open barges. And a mechanical voice that annoaunces: "Please, come on board and identify. This is a government craft in a humanitarian mission. Please, abstain hostile actions. Your safety has been guaranteed under Coluan law."

Rachel looks between Moondragon and Thara (she looks toward Adam, too, but she's not getting a lot of sense out of him at the moment). << First they shoot us down and now they want to pick us up? Why am I not feeling reassured? >> Rachel's pretty confident that, even lugging an unconscious Adam Warlock, any one of them could take out those two airships. But what then? Rachel /doesn't/ like the idea of going meekly along, but she's self aware enough to know she doesn't always make the best choices.

<< All board who're going aboard. >> Moondragon sends, as she gestures Phyla towards one of the craft. << We need answers. They have them. Let's go. >>

Thara returns and lands before climbing into the ship. "If they cause trouble we will have a new ship for ya." She glares at the automaton. "Wouldn't be the first ones I've scrapped in recent memory.