CD Issue 14: Daddy Issues
General Summary
"This is the Terminal City Security Forces, we have the building surrounded. We have reports of criminal activity on sovereign Deyan ground and we have been asked to intervene. Come out peacefully and surrender yourselves into custody."
We open with the Dissidents trapped in the Deyan Embassy to the Covenant. Aliena cradled the dead body of her cousin, Dorelan Mags, in her arms. It was clear she was being framed for murder by unknown forces.
The dissidents quibbled for a bit about what to do.
The voice outside changed to that of Triss Salinger, the General of the TCSF. She said that she knew about the events in regards to the death of Revenant, and wanted to help Paladin out. Paladin tried to buy them some time. Triss told him that the Deyans had a warship in orbit, and they wanted Maggie brought in. The Covenant wanted the aliens gone. She had no choice. Paladin tried to talk her into alternatives, but she hung up.
Aliena considered turning herself in, but decided that would be a good idea since the TCSF stated they would just turn her over to her people. Paladin considered turning himself in, but decided it was pointless if they would just turn Aliena over to the Deyan forces.
Malware did a quick scan to reveal that the police had used two metas, Baliff and Bloodhound, to entrap them in the building and lock in their locations. A golden cage of metaforce locked them in, blocking all portals. Malware used her drones to delay the metas while Siren used her magical might to punch a hole through the cage. They escaped to the Mirador to regroup and make a plan.
At the Mirador, Paladin decided to call Shadowpack for help. She said that she was there to rescue them, and apparently something had called her to the Embassy to rescue them. Shadowpack was with Sid, who apparently had a cloaked ship. Maggie knew she needed Nummy Boars if she was to face Sid again (see CD 5 for Nummy Boar action.)
Paladin knew that Shadowpack had a shared love of rooftop brooding, so he chose a meeting place they were both familiar with. Malware's drones arrived first with the Nummi Boars. The cloaked rebellion ship arrived second, confused to only find a bag of candy. Siren then portaled the group to the site and they boarded the cloaked ship.
On the ship, they met Clockwork, a resistance fighter and technological genius. Malware could not maintain their cool around her. (Seriously, it was embarassing.) Also onboard were Sidney Strand and Shadowpack.
The ship was fulled out with Knightfall gear, which Richie did not like at all. Clockwork revealed that she built stuff for Knightfall to help his personal war, and Sid revealed that he bankrolled the antihero. Richie was all out of sorts at this new information, and did not like trafficking with people who were accessories to murder.
There were harsh words amongst the group. The group decided they needed a sidebar, and Clockwork took them to the crew quarters. They decided they needed to call Aliena's father Guerdon Mags, who was a significant player in the Deyan government. The normal means of communicating with Deya was down, most likely shut down by the same forces who were after Aliena. Malware and Siren concocted a way for Aliena to communicate with Deya, opening a technologically enhanced portal to call through.
Guerdon was upset to hear from Maggie for fear she would be caught. He told her of the Suneaters, a fanatical sect of Deya who utilized superweapons to perform preemptory genocide against threats to the Deyan people. He explained that Maggie had some impurities in her genetics which the Suneaters had a problem with, and they were using this to damage the Mags politically.
While Guerdon was ashamed he had failed to protect Aliena, he did not seem to have a problem with the aggressive genocidal techniques his people used at a whim. Maggie did have a problem. Maggie hung up on him.
There was more hand wringing. Sid said some mean things to Paladin. Malware punched him in the nose, and later kicked him the balls (or maybe it was the other way around.) Nobody had a problem with that. Aliena freaked out about shapeshifters hunting her. Paladin managed to calm her down.
Eventually someone thought to ask what the resistance why they had rescued them with what appeared to be a cloaked Covenant ship. Sid told them that a Covenant satellite had crashed out in the Rustbucket, and that they would like the Dissidents to retrieve it for them. The TCSF and the Deyans would likely not think to look for them outside the city.
Clockwork was into going with them, which pleased Malware greatly. Sid said he wasn't willing to go out there, and wouldn't let Clockwork go citing the fact that she was the only one could keep the ship in action, which he maintained was his ship. Shadowpack said she couldn't leave the city. In fact, as they left the city boundries she teleported away.
The team reluctantly agreed to go along. As the ship passed over the Dirth and into the DMZ, Malware noticed something on their hud. A strange message appeared saying 'I am sorry'.
The lights went out on the Artemis, and the ship plummeted from the sky.
Rewards Granted
Aliena unlocked her moment of truth
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