Week 7 - Much Ado about Twain

Twain saw one of the K'ias Sanguine Lords set up and speak in a monotone voice.

"You have two options, the first is you and your crew voluntarily come with us, where you will be turned over to Su Maehlfor questioning. Your second option, if you refuse the first, is to be killed, a piece of you taken, and locked so you cannot be revived, and turned over to Admiral Layne Yr for questioning. Our commander, Ryuk, wishes you to know that whatever you face under Maehl, it would be far worse to have Admiral Yr find out the truth from you. IF you take the first option, you will be not harmed by Ryuk or his mean while you are under his care"

It took Twain about 30 seconds to process the Sanguine Lord's proclamation and the possible ramifications of them being on Kyrpos at this sensitive time. If this situation was not handled delicately a new war could be started and many beings killed, including himself. Sighing with regret and looking at the ruined hulk of his Trident, Twain gave in to the realization that no research would happen today. But at least he would get to see a Sanguine Lord up close and possibly live to tell the tale. How many people could say that? Twain carefully considered his options and realized that the only option open to him was diplomacy. Carefully turning on his emergency beacon and using sub vocal commands to tune his communications suite to the TNI emergency com channel, Twain activated his armors external microphones and video recording equipment. Even if they killed him here at least the crew on his Capital Ship the River Boat would know his last location and who it was that took him.

"Ummm, excuse me? Did I hear correctly that you work for Ryuk? Is this the same Ryuk who has a casino and tried to join the IRLC?" Twain asked as politely as he could while trying to find a spot on the island where he was far enough away from both the lava and horrifically mutated K'ias to make a dodge if it became necessary. "I am a former and hopefully future member of the IRLC and was quite shocked when Ryuk's application was denied."

Twain continued, "I'm not certain why you're here to be honest or why you destroyed my ship without warning. Thankfully it was a merchant vessel and not an EEF or IR ship because that would have certainly touched off a major incident. Could you ask Ryuk to either come here so we can continue to have this conversation in person or can one of you provide some way for the two of us to communicate?"

Feeling his stomach tighten Twain delivered the kicker. "Please keep in mind that the Hive Queen surely already knows that you are here and what you have done. While everyone in the Polar Expanse knows of the nigh unstoppable powers of the Sanguine Lords they also know that the Quall do not take incursions into their territory lightly nor do they look kindly upon those who would molest business men who were just dropping off product samples when attacked. While I am not savvy to the thoughts and motivations of Hive Queens I can tell you this much, there is almost certainly a massive Quall force on its way here right now. I expect that if they don't find me here alive and unharmed they will have some hard questions for Ryuk and anyone who gets in between them and him."

The Lords move to surround and apprehend Twain, and they inform him "You were given two choices, make your choice or we will choose for you. Do not try and insult Ryuk by trying to entice him with things you do not understand. Ryuk only wanted to join the IRLC to aid the expansion of his business, and you are involved in the attack on the one person from the IRLC that was willing to help. Your words are hollow."

The Lords move to apprehend Twain by surrounding him and restraining his limbs, being careful of whatever he is playing with on his arm.

The second the Sanguine Lords made the move to corral him in and abduct him Twain hit the 1st of 4 pre-programmed strobe patterns his armor was capable of and then activated it's cloaking capabilities while the Sanguine Lords were stunned. Knowing that he only had seconds Twain threw himself between the two K'ias who were having the most problems recovering from the strobes.

Once out of the ring of still stunned Sanguine Lords, Twain took a second to reflect... HELL FUCK YEAH SCIENCE!!! If beings as improbable and advanced as a Sanguine Lord could be stunned by flashing lights then there was hope for beings who didn't need to constantly rely on overkill. Immediately after that thought the next was: 'wait, did they just say that a member of the IRLC was just attacked?'

Twain knew that given the ambient heat and constant noise of Kryptos his armor's cloaking capabilities would keep him hidden for now but he still had to last long enough for rescue to come. Rescue. Hmmm... There was only one other being that Twain had met in all of his travels who had the same menace and reputation as the Sanguine Lords and Twain knew just how to contact him. Reaching into an armored pouch at his hip Twain pulled out the ear of the being called The Scalpel. A favor was owed.

Placing the ear next to his helmet Twain whispered "Scalpel, if you can hear this I need your help about 2 minutes ago." Following the quiet plea Twain returned his attention to the silver monstrosities that were just now beginning to shake off the effects of a very low level strobe.

Quickly readjusting his suits internal BN Device for a tighter band but normal sound, Twain pointed his hand at the wreckage of his ship, flipped his com mic to the BN Device's input and spoke. "I'm sorry about that but we're really not done here. You seem to think that I had something to do with an attack on one of the members of the IRLC. I can assure you that I did not. I was here to give a sample of TNI's newest products to those Earther Tech's and that was all. Given how technomantically advanced you are I'm sure you have voice analyzing capabilities. I will give you 3 true statements and then 3 false statements to analyze against my telling you that neither I, nor any of my people took part in any attacks that have taken place against any members of the IRLC since TNI lost it's license."

Twain, conscious of the stunned and angered looks of the Sanguine Lords kept moving all the while keeping the BN Device focused on the wreckage of his ship, using it's twisted hull to reverberate and cause odd echos making his position impossible to correlate.

"Are you ready for the 3 true statements? Here they are in no particular order! My name is Twain, I am a citizen of Refuge and have worked for the EEF. I am a curious sort and an inventor. By being here and attempting to abduct me you will very likely start a war with the Quall and the EEF. Ok, those were the 3 absolutely true statements, now for the 3 absolutely false ones. The Quall like uninvited guests. I am not actually an Earther but am instead a pod person who wants to eat your souls. I am a teapot, short and stout, here is my handle, here is my spout." Twain realized that he had actually sung the last sentence to the tune of the old Earther nursery rhyme and felt a little embarrassed.

"Ok guys, there you have them. 3 absolutely truthful statements and 3 absolutely false statements. So now when I say: neither I nor any TNI personnel took part in any attacks on any of the IRLC members since TNI lost its license, you know it's true. Now, please pass that on to Ryuk."

One of the Lords States
"If you are innocent of wrong doing, then Maehl will quickly determine that, then release you. It would also benefit you as the energy bridge that was created lead right to where you are at. If you come, you can clear you name completely, and not have anything to worry others believing you where a part of this. If you really want to be part of the IRLC again, then this will aid you, as your word will have value in conducting transactions. The more you run here, the more your word is going to be distrusted by your peers."

Twain chuckled to himself, the attack couldn't have happened to a more deserving person.

"So it was Maehl that was attacked? I take it that he survived since you want to take me to him. Ask him or his security team if any immutables were involved. At this point in time TNI only employs immutables and I am an immutable."

Seeing the blank look on the Sanguine Lords faces Twain continued, "you have Unity Uplinks I trust, have Ryuk or whoever is with Maehl ask him or check the security cameras I'm sure the guy has set up everywhere. By the way how's that statement analysis going? The idea that I would submit myself to Maehl's questioning is outrageous. I don't trust him and I know for a fact that he doesn't trust me. In fact the only member of the IRLC that I do trust is Blackheart and even he is a bit ambiguous at times. Have you been keeping track of how much time has passed since you attacked those RedFist Commandos? My chronometer says it's been about 5 minutes. I'm guessing that you have about 2 more to check with your boss and then depart peacefully before the Quall get here."

Checking his armor's internal communications suite Twain saw the "go ahead" light blinking. The River Boat had his beacon, was receiving his transmission and had hopefully called in some sort of back up.

Turning his attention back to the Sanguine Lords he could see their silver bodies starting to ripple and realized that pushing a deadline might not have been the best of ideas. Then he noticed the rippling again and had an idea.

Meanwhile, moving as though controlled by someone else, Twains hands readied 2 more EMP grenades and switched his regular clip for an extended mag of zela tipped rounds.

As he did a huge Da’uhnb appeared in full power armor with a huge reactor on his back. At his side were four Kasanthian Necro-Adepts who leapt off and began assembling something.

At the same time a freighter landed and 9 Horned Dog Cultists began walking down the ramp of the Starfreighter.

Out in the distance a huge Quall Army was moving toward this position.

Inspector Noorish smiled as things seemed to be working out quite well. His team had to do very little actually they cordoned off the area and passed along a message to the Hive Mind about them inviting someone to talk to them. He heard that the Hive Mind had sent some kind of priest or something, oh well doesn’t matter much, his job was just to try to make sure that this island didn’t turn into a fire fight. Looking at those Sanguine Lords if a fight started then they wouldn’t be able to do much. It was a bit later that he was informed via the Hive Mind that negotiations turned out well and the witnesses would be moving on to a different location.

Then over the Hive Mind he received warning that Twain was wiring the island to blow and that he should quickly convert the dead Red Fist Commandos and withdraw. He also received a request from the envoy which brought a smile to his face. The Horned Dogs quickly converted the commandos, sadly the armor itself was non salvageable.

The Quall and the other Horned Dogs returned to the ship while Inspector Noorish and Father Inido began to walk toward the Sanguine Lords when they were intercepted seemingly by Ryuk himself.

At the edge of the island appeared a pair of Da'uhnb they began scanning the island and the threats there.
They watched as a strange set of events played out.

What appeared to be Leftenant Ryuk appeared in a cloud of black flames. As Ryuk walked up to Father Inigo, he greets him from the distance. As Ryuk walks up the trail of black flames follow his foot steps. He sticks out his hand to shake, Father Inigo stares at it for a second, then offers his hand.

"Ryuk" shakes it once, then deftly pulls out his knife and cuts off Father Inigo's right hand.

Father Inigo grabs the stump of his hand, as he starts to believe that this is where he dies.

The cultists with him moved forward, but stopped when the Sanguine Lord behind "Ryuk" takes a step forward. Inigo's eyes widening as he starts to stumble backwards, and "Ryuk" steps forward pinning Inigo's foot to the ground with his own. "Ryuk" grabs the left hand, taking a few attempts to cut of this hands, as the blood has made everything slippery. As Inigo's second hand hits the ground, "Ryuk" grabs the father's smock, and cuts off a piece. The Father falls to the ground, looking up, he sees "Ryuk" cleaning his knife. "Ryuk" inspects the knife, noting it is clean puts it away, and creates a small fireball in his left hand.

Father Inigo thinks "This is the Treachery of the TRILAT, they never will accept a peaceful solution" as he prepares to die.

"Ryuk" kneels down grasping on of the stumps and shoves the fireball along the wound. The scent of burning flesh permutes the air, as "Ryuk" cauterizes the other stump. "Ryuk" grabs Father Inigo's chin and says "Let this be a reminder to you that when you represent a group, you are always speaking for the group you represent.".

"Ryuk" grabs both of Father Inigo's hands and walks back through the shadows with the Sanguine Lords protecting his slow and deliberate walk.

Meanwhile on the planet Refuge

Jeremiah sat in the C&C bunker beneath Chooru and had to admit he was shocked. It looked like the situation on krypos was actually going to work out without anyone getting killed. The amount of fire power in the area, the close proximity of hostile groups and the fact that it was Ryuk's people doing the talking with Twain had left him positive it was going to end in violence. The whole thing seemed like something of a misunderstanding to him. He knew Twain and his history well enough to know that if he'd wanted Meahle hurt or dead he was more than capable of doing it himself and more importantly he wouldn't be stupid enough to hang around waiting in the same place the hired help was going to escape to. Exactly what he was doing on krypos to begin with however was something that Jeremiah was going to be sure to discuss with him.

Still first they had to be sure Twain made it back safe before that talk could happen. Now that Celyse was involved he felt confident that wouldn't be a problem. It never hurt to be sure though. He looked over his shoulder and found Jeffers standing just far enough away that normal conversation wouldn't reach him but close enough that he could react quickly to anything Jeremiah asked him for. Jeffers walked over as soon as he noticed Jeremiah looking toward him. "Sir?"

"Call up the cloning plant in Saragosa. Send them Twain's genetic sample and memory scan and have them warm up a tube just in case."

Five minutes earlier on Kyrpos

Back on Kyrpos, Twain had been moving around the island cloaked. He didn't know that one of the Sanguine Lords in cloud form could feel him move around the island. He didn't know that the Da'uhnb watched him through Grey Scanners. Twain as usual was too focused on his technology to actually see the situation he had created for himself.

Twain was a busy little bee. He had been hyper as a child, almost spastic as a youth and barely contained as a teenager. Although he still only had 19 summers under his belt Twain was no longer a teenager, looking for action on the streets of Dumbar. No, as his Grand Uncle would say Twain had been in the shit. He had killed more beings that he was comfortable with, held leyas user friends as they lay dying in his arms with no possibility of being healed.

Twain had helped W wage guerrilla warfare across the Norther Kingdoms saving many innocent people while hunting and killing beings very much like the one who had sent the Sanguine Lords to Kryptos. Twain had even taken part in the death of Falos. How many beings could say that they had help to kill a god? He had befriended Time shredders, assassins, ascended beings and the wielder of Daemonsbane. Time after time death had come looking for Twain Terranovsky and he had smiled back. This time would be no different.

While meditating on this, Twain had kept up an incessant banter using the wrecked hull of his shuttle to bounce his amplified voice around the island, all the while setting layers upon layers of traps and bombs. During the Border Wars he had learned every possibly useful skill he could to stay alive, one of these just so happened to be how to improvise explosives. With each new circuit around the island Twain added another little piece to his exploding puzzle.

Ryuk was now talking about amicably ending this... standoff, but was still insisting that he had to be questioned. Hmmm, who would he like to meet? Twain had never been to Fort Lendill so that could be cool. He trusted Jeremiah and knew that Celyse would be honorable to a fault. Blackheart wanted his research so he could be a good choice. Better to let Ryuk think that he was making the choice, was it really lying to say that he had no prior dealings with Celyse? Did meeting on a beach for what could have quite possibly been the most boring afternoon of his life qualify?

By the time he was done speaking to Ryuk, Twain had completed what could quite possibly be called a masterwork of improvised explosive engineering. Using some spare tech bits and pieces he usually carried, his shotgun, several different kinds of shells, 2 remote detonators, a pistol, several grenades, the still full fuel cells from the wrecked shuttle, a battery and about 300 kilograms of 'foam filled magna rail rounds Twain had turned the island into an IED.

The remote detonators were hooked up to two different dead man's switches in Twain's armor. One connected to his armor's internal med-suite so that if his heart stopped or he left the remotes' broadcast range BOOM. The other was connected to a physical trigger he was holding with his left hand. If Twain were to let go of it BOOM.

Part of the remote detonator assembly that was attached to the wreck was Twain's personal shotgun (all Terranovsky's carry one), it's trigger assembly activated but held in place by an electromagnet. If the detonator were to be activated the magnet would shut off and the chambered plasma round would set off the explosives BOOM. If Twain had to detonate an EMP grenade the magnet would shut off and the chambered plasma round would set off the explosives BOOM.

Finally finished buzzing around the island Twain took a moment to admire what he had done so far. He had found out that Sanguine Lords could be baffled or possibly even flummoxed. He had evaded capture. He had forced a member of the TRILAT to actually talk before shooting. Lastly, he had insured that his work would not fall into anyone's hands the second he left the island.

It's amazing what one motivated Earther can do.

Yet again he had no clue that one of the Sanguine Lords had descended around him, and the ONLY thing that kept him alive was the deal brokered through Zaodonai Celyse.

As the first of the gates was opened that would lead to the Energy Bridge to Zaodonai's keep on the plane of Awareness, Twain should have realized the problem. If he stepped through the energy bridge he would be out of range, on another dimension and the explosives would go Boom. Now he stood there, wondering if he should make a run for the gate as the Uthvelor Soldiers stepped through to escort them.

His eyes kept moving towards the Huge hulking Wormhole Weapon that stood a few feet away and glared at Twain. If he stepped through the bomb would go off, he reminded himself.

That was the moment a pair of Da'uhnb appeared on either side of Twain and stunned him with a Grey Sonic weapon. At the time they didn't know about the deadman's switch or the wave of lava that struck them from behind. At that moment the bomb went off. The chain reaction set off the Wormhole Weapon's nuclear generator and Zero Point Drive.

Then there was darkness.

At the far End of Time Captain Orig pulled the bomb shrapnel out of his scalp.

Now he was pissed at this stupid little Earther who was causing an intergalactic interdimensional incident. Bombs really? thought Orig, when a Wormhole weapon was standing five feet from you?

And the reports were already filtering back from all the Scanners they had used on the island. Ten Da'uhnb had been lost in the explosion and the lava wave.
The entire dimension of Kyrpos had been destroyed by the Wormhole weapon. The deathtoll was countless.
The reality had torn itself apart soon after.
In one step Twain Terranovsky had won the battle for Warmonger.

Orig transported close where he needed to be. Then he went further back on purpose.

As he scouted the island from afar he could see the Blackheart Mantas where they hid under the lava, never able to fire their weapons due to the wave which would do their job for them. He could see the many threats on the island including the Wormhole Weapon.

Orig watched as the "Ryuk" who appeared was none other than Jorvin Dulk one of Ryuk's few non-uplinked servants. Captain Orig dropped down his Scanner, Visor and Temporal A.I. which translated the image for him. This Jorvin Dulk had an internal Quall Larvae, a Quall N'drone servant how droll. It seemed Ryuk didn't know who was working under him. This imposter wasn't the only imposter. The "Father Inido" he tortured was also a fake, another Cultist in disguise.

Orig realized it was all a show for Ryuk who was probably watching through the uplinks of nearby Sanguine Lords.

Orig signaled to a platoon of Da'uhnb who quickly teleported in halfway through Twain's attempts to rig the ship to blow. They stunned him, and began a rapid series of teleports.

As the flash of blue spread, all the others quickly realized something had happened. Twain, his ship, and all sign that they had been there was gone. The only thing that was obvious to both sides of the fight, was that someone else, a Time Shredder had stepped in.

Twain was not so lucky. He spent two years unconscious, as the Da'uhnb made backup copies of him. They sent one of them fully armed and armored to Zaodonai Celyse's castle.

The original Twain, sans the gear that was now all with his clone, awoke to find himself in a plain white coverall. He was in an office. An office he swore he had seen through a camera while hacking a few months ago.

Maehl's office had been rebuilt. The furniture is back to where it was, the place is clean, there is now a second plant in the office, as well as a secondary Leyas Scanner, and small ambient lights that do no allow shadows larger than a small animal.

Su Maehl had a pitcher of water, several glasses, and some small snacks.

Su sat at his desk, happy he managed to clear up the whole matter with his hands and was looking forward to the rescue of this Twain fellow so that he can question the boy thoroughly. At least Ryuk had told him it was just a boy. Who knows, Maehl thought, as long as I get some answers it doesn't matter who or how old this person is.

What greeted Su Maehl's eyes was no boy. He was a young man, a dangerous young man, a dangerous young man who had eyes that said he had no qualms about killing.

Across from Su stood Captain Orig.

The brutal looking Da'uhnb Captain spoke first, "Thank you for killing my brother Da'uhnb, Twain Terranovsky.
You started an interdimensional incident. I will say this, you have been scanned for all toys, all communicators all spygear. You are alone and you are at our mercy. Your friends have received a clone of you, that has no memory of you being here instead. There will be no one who comes to save you from here."

Important In Game Notes

LT Ryuk does not know Dulk is a Horned Dog, he thinks his plan went according to plan and that Father Inido is maimed.

NO ONE knows about the Twain switch done by the Da'uhnb.

Two threads will be created

1- for the discussion between Orig, Maehl and Twain

2-for the inquest carried out by Zaodonai Celyse which is open to all involved in this mission.

For future Incharacter communications, Twain can only use info gained by the Twain in Celyse's Keep.

Rewards will be given out AFTER discussion occurrs for this Event. Both Celyse's inquest and Su Maehl's interrogation must be completed.

The two threads are

https://darkrefuge.forumotion.com/t681-in-the-office-of-su-maehl-time-unknown-week-7-8#4337

https://darkrefuge.forumotion.com/t680-in-the-keep-of-celyse-warchief-of-the-uthvelor-week-7-8#4336