The NEW Vanguard TEAM UP! Haunt Issue #13 with special guest star Steeplejack!

With powerful leg muscles or 'spring heeled boots' that no ordinary human being could match, the heroic pair from the future leapt at the mass of Roman soldiers!

Their target - the shrouded 'Druid' in the middle of the mass, seemed to be standing there impassive... until Carter and Starkey appeared in his/her/it's eyeline!

With an inhuman shriek audible over the roar of the Romans as they first surged forward, then paused to look up and gape and the clatter of weapons as they fell from some nerveless hands, the shrouded mysterious figure ... turned tail and started to run!

Carter and Starkey landed in the midst of the Romans who recovered their senses enough to raise weapons and shields, and close in...

Except... the pair bounded off again!

=========

What happened before...

<Ensure the grail reaches its destination. Once there the King of the once and future, Arthur Pendragon, will not be able to retrieve it. The history of this land will be irrevocably changed forever and it shall remained divided. Enough for us to easily conquer it in the future.>

<yes great one. You do me an honour to huge to give words to.>

<Indeed. The honour is great, and the penalty for failure is greater still. If you... ANY of you fail, your podlings shall be rounded up and eradicated from the pool. Failure must not become a stain that marks the line permanently. When we conquered your world, like countless worlds before it, we made a choice. Purge it clean or use the resources on it. Every failure makes us reconsider our decision to spare the world from cleansing fire.>

The dozen bowed heads dare not nod or answer back.

<Now go. Remember where these people are. They are chaotic, violent, without culture or learning. Your mission is to ensure they stay that way. Beware lest your failure secure the fate of your own world, many light decades away.>

Now...

This felt wrong. It was some genetic flaw in his makeup but X473GN (OOC Translated from the original alien tongue) knew that meddling with time was wrong. Some had scoffed and he had been less vocal since some of his pod mates had more loudly expressed their concerns. Now the overseers watched like spanhawks over a dying Octovore. His part in the mission had been simple. March into a Roman settlement, take control of the commanders and have them take their foot soldiers to a village to exterminate two of the people there. Adult Males, but the Overseer had said they were time displaced and unpredictable.

He had obeyed - of course - he'd seen what happened to V882HF when she had suggested the whole mission was folly and the 'space gods' would exact their wrath on the ADVENT coalition for their meddling. He'd never seen her again.

Now the two humans had evaded capture and were less than a days travel to catch the Grail. A cup. A symbol, as it were. Yet there were energy readings from it that suggested it had been carved from Sipstrassi. Stone from the stars it translated as. Weak though it was the stone could be used to alter matter and more besides, in the right hands. In the wrong hands it could kill, wreak havoc. Their mission hadn't been to take it back to their time but to bury it where no mortal would find it and prevent the line of King Arthur from achieving his true destiny.

SPLAT!

A muddied Carter and Starkey landed twenty feet in front of the alien. He shrieked again and looked back. The Romans were... too far away. He could fight, use his mental powers to ... to what? Control this pair? These men were as far beyond an ordinary human as the Overseer was to him, and the Old Ones over the overseer. He might be able to control or influence one, possibly both, but not for long. They were fast too and closed in on him causing him to back up! He'd have to relinquish control of the Romans and ...

Then an idea formed. Doomed to failure no doubt, but an idea nonetheless.

Struggling to find words that fit around the tongue, the alien drew his hood back, revealing his true nature.

"I surrender" he said, in a strange accented voice.

John Carter froze up and blinked.

"I beg your pardon but did you just say you Surrender? And in a language I understand," he asked as he halts his attack.

DavidMcMahon wrote:John Carter froze up and blinked.

"I beg your pardon but did you just say you Surrender?  And in a language I understand," he asked as he halts his attack.

Not normally being the one to ask questions first, Starkey was somewhat taken aback. "You look like a sneaky customer, some kind of mind trick, we've had enough of that so you'd best be telling the truth, or else you get a load of whatever this is!" He said waving the unsophisticated "rocket propulsion gun" he had somehow caused to come into being moments earlier. He hoped he was making all the right noises, not being as physically threatening as Carter, he wasn't sure waving his new device was giving him much credence either, so he puffed his chest out in what he hoped was a little more threateningly, for effect.

Sj

"I have... learned how your minds work when forming thoughts and pictures into words. It is inefficient but has a charm that others of my species do not appreciate." said the Alien. "Excuse me."

It stepped aside prompting Carter and Starkey to raise their weapons and gestured at the oncoming Roman mob... who slowed their run and looked about.

Even though Starkey, Carter and the Alien were stood only twenty feet or so in front of the lead Romans, they stared and looked around as if they weren't there!

After a few moments a disgruntled officer turned his men around and they trotted back to where the Commander was stood. He seemed to be having trouble focusing.

"They will not see or hear us." said the Alien creature.

It turned back to Starkey and Carter. "I am a Sectoid. Once, my world was like yours. The Elders came with their species from dozens of world and conquered us. They took us from the hive mind and made sure we served them or our world would be purged."

It continued. "They seek to gather components of each species to create the ultimate body for them to inhabit. This world is different from all others they have encountered. The diversity of people, the mutations, have troubled and enthralled them. They cannot easily defeat you and so we are transported back in time to ..." it paused, looking for the word "Cheat."

"By altering the past Advent will no longer face certain key individuals in the future. They are flawed in their thinking though. There are powers in the universe greater than the Elders. They see this planet in the void and they sense the maelstrom of tampered time lines and possible paradoxes that affect not only here but the universe as a whole. The powers are not pleased. Advent seek to conquer this world and take the best from it. The old powers? The Celestials? They seek to eradicate it."

"It is wrong. My life is already forefeit for my failure to kill you, but you are too strong willed for my powers to easily work upon you. I am using this opportunity to warn you. Because of ADVENT's meddling, the Earth is in danger of total eradication! Don't let your world become like mine!" it said. Only with the last statement did Carter and Starkey realise the creature was speaking in their minds and hadn't moved it's mouth!

"So how many are in this time," John Carter asks. "Where are they located? And more importantly, what will you do now?"

In answer to Carter's question, the alien spoke up. "There are a small group in this time. The energy and resources required to send every member of the ADVENT strike team to a specific period is... considerable. Thousands of my brethren died to send me." the creature says, without emotion.

"They have secured the device you know as 'The Holy Grail', the cup used by Joseph of Arimathea and later transported across the world to this dark land." the Sectoid explained. "We have tried to analyse it but the cup is beyond our ability to understand with the limited scientific devices we have at hand. Even ADVENT must avoid where it can to upset the natural flow of time. A misstep here, there, and the situation for ADVENT might be worse than it is now. They move from world to world seeking the answer to some question I know nothing of, enslaving races and using them as cannon fodder. Up till now. The power and diversity of this world in the future is more than they can easily conquer. Only the laws and controlling of public opinion prevents your superhumans from taking direct action against ADVENT. They recognise this might be a long campaign - unless they can sever the life lines of those they consider the biggest threats."

In other words kill them before they were ever born!

"As for me? The others expect me to report your deaths. I am tired of death. I have come to this world and experienced beauty, vibrant life, compassion, joy and wonder. To see it crushed under the heel of the ADVENT elders like countless worlds before me? No I say. They will kill me but others think like I do. If you wish to recover the Grail and send it to it's correct resting place at Castle Corbenic the party transporting it is a day north of here. I will return to the future to tell them I have failed."

Admin wrote:"As for me? The others expect me to report your deaths. I am tired of death. I have come to this world and experienced beauty, vibrant life, compassion, joy and wonder. To see it crushed under the heel of the ADVENT elders like countless worlds before me? No I say. They will kill me but others think like I do. If you wish to recover the Grail and send it to it's correct resting place at Castle Corbenic the party transporting it is a day north of here. I will return to the future to tell them I have failed."

Starkey listened trying to discern if the creature was trying to stall for time and pull a fast one. Wait, if all you say is true, you've taken a huge risk telling us this, and betraying your former masters. If you go back and report failure, sure you will die. But what about your world, your people? Will your death not also cause them to be hurt as a lesson to others? Is there a way that, if these things are going to happen you could make it worthwhile? After all, if Advent hasn't even got to your world at this point in our timeline, perhaps you being here even helping us might stop them ever getting to your world in the future. In any case, it's got to be worth a try, if your gonna die, die with your boots on- my ole grandpa said.

Sj

"Starkey is correct," John Carter put in, "No sense in dying for no reason. Better to join us and try to correct the timeline. Maybe it will wind up protecting your planet in the long run, having Advent never arrive there? I do not really understand time travel and how it can affect everything but maybe?"

The Alien considered. "I was part of the hive mind of my species. ADVENT interrupted that process, dragged me from it along with millions of others and transported me across the universe, going from world to world."

"We regenerate via a series of ingested nutritional supplements and reconnecting to the hive mind. On one such re-connection I received rogue thoughts from another Sectoid in the pod. They had discovered that this 'Earth' had many beautiful things and planted the seed to discover for myself. The rogue mind was torn from the pod and destroyed. By returning to the future and interfacing with the hive mind once more I can plant that seed in others before they tear me from the connection and have me destroyed."

"I have no choice. My species requires connection to recharge our mental abilities. Also without the replenishment we become insane and murderous, reverting to a state where we turned on each other and reason was lost to us." the creature said in the minds of the two heroes.

"Our mental powers are weak individually but within us all resides the ability to... improve, to ... transcend. The Elders seek a method of defining which of us have that ability and how to draw it out. Once they have done that the rest of my species will not be required."

"The party carrying the grail includes two mutons, another sectoid and a shapeless. A shape shifter. The sectoid may be a 'transcended'. I cannot concoct to it without fear of my thoughts being discovered and my life being terminated before I can reconnect to the pod."

"Now you must go. I wish you good travels and hope you can spare the fate my world, and countless others, suffered."

Admin wrote:"Now you must go. I wish you good travels and hope you can spare the fate my world, and countless others, suffered."

Starkey nodded in stoic agreement, "Then your return is not in vain. And perhaps in planting a beautiful thought in others, for what but beauty inspires us towards nobler ends, you may yet save your people from within, if not without. Godspeed"

Turning away, he wasn't one for goodbyes, Starkey gazed in the direction their party was heading. It had been a long and arduous journey so far, but finally, their quarry was within sight.

Sj

John Carter nods, having nothing to add.

"Then we shall be on our way before the Romans decide that while they are here they might as well try to take us."

The pair of heroes bounded across the fields and hopped from rock to rock, sparing a moment to glance back at the Sectoid.

It was gone!

With a glance at each other they turned and headed north.

=========

The village was burnt out. The heat from the ruins suggested it happened only a few hours ago.

Bodies lay strewn all over. Men, women, children. Even the animals. The wounds were cauterised holes in some, precise and cruel. In others it looked like some kind of ... flame thrower... had been used.

The pair stood amongst the ashes and tried to guess what had happened. The warlike Britons had challenged the small party of strange travellers who dared transgress into their lands without permission and things had escalated rapidly.

With disastrous consequences!

Crafting a compass seemingly from a puddle and a twig, Starkey was sombre as he muttered "North. That way."

The pair forged on.

=========

The rain had been falling steadily and the forest gave some respite.

The gloom had settled again on this misty land, so different from Starkey's time. So wild, overgrown, unspoilt. Mysterious. Dangerous. Deadly.

Starkey had to stop more than Carter so was feeling the pace somewhat. Still, they were within grasp of their prize. They just needed to wrest it from murderous aliens who fought they could kill and burn their way across the land.

Carter boiled with an inner anger. The warriors of that tribe had been compelled to defend what was theirs. Driven to defend their loved ones, their homes, all they owned.

They had died knowing they had failed, but to Carter there was no shame in that - despite knowing it was hopeless in the first few moments they had held the line, tried to protect their village, and died in the face of alien futuristic technology. Wiped out. An entire village of a hundred or more souls who would never laugh, cry, sing, dance, farm, craft or grow.

The pair crept through the forest, wet and tired and mindful of tripping over in the near darkness. Then they paused.

There. Several hundred feet away in the forest, mostly obscured by trees, a fire burning. Sat around it, several figures eating.

Starkey and Carter had found their foes. They were outnumbered, outgunned and only had one shot at this. Charging in might catch them by surprise at first but unless they could smash the aliens down in the first few moments they'd be in big trouble...

Admin wrote:There. Several hundred feet away in the forest, mostly obscured by trees, a fire burning. Sat around it, several figures eating.

Starkey and Carter had found their foes. They were outnumbered, outgunned and only had one shot at this. Charging in might catch them by surprise at first but unless they could smash the aliens down in the first few moments they'd be in big trouble...

Looking intently at what could be discerned Starkey whispered to Carter, "I'm not liking the odds much, do you think they've got a lookout or do we chance to creep in closer to get a look-see? If only the count were here, he'd have no trouble getting in close and unseen. What do you think is our play here?"

Sj

"Can you make something to blind them," John Carter asks. "A blinding light? Some sort of pepper thrown into their eyes? A blinding gas? [JC wouldn't know about mustard gas, about 20 years too early] And can you see the Grail? If we knew which one carried it, once they are blind, we could take that one down and flee with it."

Starkey was about to answer when a strong, cold hand closed around the lower half of his face and a voice hissed in his ear "be careful vot you vish for young man. You might just get it."

Carter spun and saw Baron Alucard - Count Dracula - stood behind Starkey and restraining the inventor! For a moment in the darkness Carter could have sworn the Baron had blood red eyes and his fangs bared, but the moment passed and the baron released Starkey with a 'Shhhh!' motion with his finger as he moved to the side and crouched, looking into the distance at the fire.

Starkey could feel his heart near bursting from his chest but had the presence of mind not to cry out and alert the enemy! How had the Count moved so silently, without either of them being able to see or hear him?

It didn't matter, he supposed, so there was still a chill running down his spine!

"There vill be no more were-wolves. The Druid who summoned them is... indisposed. Permanently." said the Baron, touching a finger to the side of his mouth to wipe a drop of dark liquid that stained it.

"I hung beck ven you encountered the Roman forces. No use in all of us meeting a grisly end. I expected to hef to rescue you, or at least avenge your deaths. Instead, you escaped certain death and I took ze opportunity to regain ze trail and follow the enemy here." he whispered. "Ve must beware. Some of them have tremendous physical attributes that dwarf even my own, with speed and strength I would not hef thought possible. The smaller ones possess the ability to influence the mind. I am... not lacking in that department myself, and I can recognise at least an equal when I see it."

"Plus, they have the advantage of numbers and weapons that you, Mr Starkey, might be impressed to behold. To the likes of me and Carter, zey may as well be crafted of magic."

"Zey hef the Grail. Even now it is taking the greatest effort of will not to flee, and we are... some several hundred yards away. You cannot know the pain I endured. It is a matter of personal honour to see this task through otherwise every instinct in me screams to flee!" his eyes narrowed. "Yet I am here. I am fed, and for the moment strong of body and mind. The blood of conquerors runs through me and I am not easily cowed even by this... artifact." he hissed.

"I would suggest... a distraction. Divide them, then strike at those who guard the grail. Once divided perhaps I and Carter can cull them from the herd. Use their fear against them. Strike them down. Let the others know their last moments are upon them. If we secure the ... nnnnggh ... Grail I will not be able to approach unless you, Starkey, can craft some item to block it's infernal power."

Interesting the choice of words from a man for whom the word 'infernal' appeared to have been created...

Admin wrote:Interesting the choice of words from a man for whom the word 'infernal' appeared to have been created...

Taking a moment to compose himself and allow his heartbeat to become less erratic as so not to speak with any obvious tremor in his voice, Starkey took a moment to consider the Count's words. "A distraction you say...hmm"

Starkey rummaged amongst the stuff he had and gathered what instinctively he knew might help him. Flashbangs, pretty fires and sounds that is what he needed something that the count and he could set off whilst Carter stole into the camp and took the opportunity to wrest the grail from those who had it. He made no mention of crafting anything to help dim its power. For if it could be dimmed who knew what the count would do to them?

OOC: So if I can make things that will lure out the guards and those too difficult to tackle head-on. I suggest the count keeps them interested, that way he can maintain a 'safe' distance from the grail, whilst Carter goes in from another side. I'll do my best to head in around the brutes and see if I can add any assistance to Carter when I can circle around sufficient for me to approach having lured away from the others.

Sj

John looks on, interested to see what Starkey will make.

Starkey strokes the whiskers on his chin as he thinks...

He looks about and picks things up from the forest floor. A piece of bark, some large broad leaves, twigs, some stones, vines...

Baron Alucard hisses "We are wasting time. NOW is the time to strike! if we tarry they will..." He pauses as Starkey holds what appears to be a cone to his mouth, wide end flaring outwards. "What?" splutters the Vampire.

"What indeed?" says Starkey voice behind Alucards' ear! The Baron spun in a crouching stance, ready to fight and rend his way free of a trap!

Carter raised an eyebrow. Starkey had - somehow - created some kind of cone/funnel that projected his voice from wherever he wanted it to come from!

He watched as Starkey moved behind a tree then put the cone to his mouth. The Baron glanced at Carter and pointed to the left - he would go left - and he expected Carter to go right...

Starkey watched as Carter went... but couldn't see Alucard...

OOC You have options. in the case of who you would like to distract and in what direction. Left=Alucard (Dracula) Right=Carter.

There are:

Two Mutons (physically powerful, tough and with laser weapons!)
Sectoid (physically weak, mental powers)
Shapeless (currently in the form of a Roman legionary, but physically powerful and deadly. Able to change shape).

You don't know who is carrying the grail, but it will be in the group somewhere. Dave E/Starkey, you'll need to distract an alien to the left or the right or if you come up with something really smart might be able to split them all up. Your 'super ventriloquism' power (as used by the pre crisis Superman of old) allows you to project your voice or try to imitate a different sound.

Admin wrote:You don't know who is carrying the grail, but it will be in the group somewhere. Dave E/Starkey, you'll need to distract an alien to the left or the right or if you come up with something really smart might be able to split them all up. Your 'super ventriloquism' power (as used by the pre-crisis Superman of old) allows you to project your voice or try to imitate a different sound.[/i][/color]

OOC: Smart will have to wait, if I don't answer now I don't know when I next will get a chance over the weekend as it's going to be busy.

Starkey moved forward to where he thought he could sufficiently plant himself so that he could see the creatures ahead but not so close that he would be discovered easily. Looking to his left and then his right, he had to wonder at this. If he drew the enemies to himself then perhaps Carter could get the grail, then again, maybe not. It all depended on what or rather who went where and if the other two could manage to defeat these foes.

Starkey spoke into the mouthpiece first toward the left. "Now be quiet, if we get the tribesmen to come from the other side we can get them by surprise. What do you mean the men want to rush in and attack, go tell them to lay low till I get closer to see what is going on!"

Then moving toward the other direction, he spoke in what he hoped sounded like a passable version of Carter..."Bah, I am fed up with all this talk, I want action. Am I not a warrior of Mars did I not command the burly brutes of Cytotec. These tribesmen many though there are, brave though they are undisciplined and ill-trained. My only hope is that they are sufficiently cowered by my leadership and charisma that they do as I tell them when we chance upon our enemy."

Starkey continued in this vein, making it look as if both sides had clearly far more men and were a much greater threat and therefore overconfident in their oncoming approach. He tried to be subtle not raising his voice too much, but enough for 'their words' to be heard in the came as intended.

Sj

Carter's target is the sectoid. Mental powers suck when you aren't the one who has them. He dealt with or will deal with them on Barsoom depending on where we are on his timeline.

so, Leap and Slash.

Starkey saw the aliens start, spinning about and reaching for weapons!

There were two large (like 7 foot tall) muscled creatures with bulky looking weapons that glowed in the darkness. Dangerous looking weapons!



They seemed to be listening, heads slightly tipped as the others, the smaller Sectoids, spun about.



Suddenly the 'Roman Legionary' pulsed, shuddered, shook and twisted into...



That creature roared and set off to the (OOC 1-3 left Alucard 4-6 right Carter Roll(1d6)+0: 6,+0 Total:6 Right) along with a Muton! A muton and a Sectoid moved into the trees to the left where Baron Alucard (Dracula) was presumably waiting!

That left a single sectoid in the clearing!

Did that have the grail?

Dracula/Alucard was the real ace in the hole they had to detect the grail bu this close it took all the ancient vampire's considerable will to stop himself from running away!

Carter dashed through the forest and waited, like a hunter. Sure enough Starkey was somehow able to throw his voice and draw those monstrosities away! That said... he saw the Legionnaire change into... who knew what! A glance at his sword and at the size of that thing - it had to be nigh on ten feet tall - and he suspected he'd need a bigger sword, or an axe normally used to fell trees!

OOC Carter can stand his ground and try to ambush the sizeable pair or make his way around. Starkey is looking at the camp from a hundred or so feet away and the Sectoid is on it's own. There are some cloth sacks on the ground near the fire. Dracula is in the woods to the left somewhere...

Admin wrote:OOC Carter can stand his ground and try to ambush the sizeable pair or make his way around. Starkey is looking at the camp from a hundred or so feet away and the Sectoid is on it's own. There are some cloth sacks on the ground near the fire. Dracula is in the woods to the left somewhere...

Starkey gathered up his bits and sought to make some sort of weapon, he wondered how close he could get before the creature was aware of him. He had to be careful after all that shape-changing thingy might have the grail submerged into his considerable being. Starkey wondered how they were also able to remain in its presence without being affected but then he thought, "Magic!!!" or at least that was his explanation for every gap in his considerable knowledge.

Moving forward careful to make use of the available light and not to step where he might inadvertently give his position away, he crept forward.

OOC: OK so I am moving forward and hope that I might either make sure of my earlier weapon or make a new one to take down the enemy before I get too close and he attacks me!

Sj

Cater is going for the single sectoid. He can get other weapons after he deals with that one.

Starkey had several choices of weapons, being able to form a sharp sword or crossbow perhaps if he felt capable with his aim.

Meanwhile John Carter (of Mars) had the same idea about going for the sectoid!

He ran through the trees, jumping where he could and using cover as effectively as possible as he made his way around. The bulky aliens were not caring much how noisy they were and sounded like a pair of bull elephants having a disagreement!

Closer now Starkey crouched in bushes to assess his target. he had

OOC pick one from the list

A spear - to thrust up close or throw (reasonable damage up close, slightly less at range)
A sword, use up close and personal (most damage up close)
A crossbow - to fire projectiles from range. Does less damage than the others but can be used from longer range.

Carter crouched. He was around fifty feet away from the fire and the creature with its back to him. He could leap from here with one deadly strike it hack it down!

OOC I think you can see what might happen here. Starkey on one side, Carter the other and the Alien smack bang in the middle...

Admin wrote:Carter crouched. He was around fifty feet away from the fire and the creature with its back to him. He could leap from here with one deadly strike it hack it down!

OOC I think you can see what might happen here. Starkey on one side, Carter the other and the Alien smack bang in the middle...

Starkey was aware that his friend and companion was out there, and though he didn't trust this alien further than he could throw it. He was aware that he didn't want to fire projectiles at it from a distance and cause any possible friendly fire. Or more likely just miss anyway. He was a scientist, not a warrior after all. But this was war and this was where he was.

So a spear it was, close but not too close, just in case, the Alien might have some nasty personal habits Starkey wasn't too fond of getting up close and personal as would be the case with a sword. So he decided to craft a spear, nothing too fancy, it just had to have an effective business end and the right grip to help get the job done.

Then it was a question of closing the distance, whilst listening for their other foes, blundering about. The moment the noise stopped then he'd be concerned.

Sj