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Shadows of Archon (part 5) - Forgotten Realms
Posted By: Wado<wyamauchi@msn.com>
Date: 14 August 2002, 10:03 am
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"This is insider reporting from the desolated Reach system where we have been detained by rebel Covenant forces. Sub-commander, why are we being detained? What is going on here? The people have a right to know."
Sub-commander replies, "Put that transmitter away, don't you know that this is a combat zone?"
"Get your hands off me, I have rights. You can't... (ssssszzzzz)"
[Transmission dead.]
That's how it started. It looked to be the end of an era and the beginning of something... well something different; we really didn't know what it was, but it was different that's for sure.
A beautiful lady reporter dressed in blue combat armor arrived on the outskirts of base camp. She resembled a human woman but with slightly pointed ears. We didn't know anything else about this reporter from CBN except that she was transmitting on a strange set of frequencies that made the Portal of the Old Ones resonate with each syllable she spoke.
It was not an accident she was here. She explained that she was a Dark Archon - one of many that parted from the ways of the Archonians long ago and now travel the universe using the portals.
Three years ago she was trapped on this side of the portal when Terran and Covenant forces took over the area and started a shadow-self war. She escaped the planet and found work as a reporter for CBN; they didn't ask too many questions so long as she delivered the insider reports.
She has been chasing our group for weeks now trying to get the inside story. Having finally caught up with us, she was overjoyed to find out that the shadow-self war had ended. Now she can finally return to portal travelling.
Her name is Catsandravalahundra, but we just call her Cat. That's short for catastrophe, because after she arrived all hell broke lose.
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In the enormous chamber of the portal, small arms fire rings loudly. Spewing forth from the mystical energies of the portal come Sporms -- Armored spheres with many deadly segmented tentacles. They stalk portal travelers for their masters -- a mysterious race of phantom-like creatures that pre-date the forerunners.
Commander Thom, our mighty Covenant hero, shouts orders over the com to his troops as he slashes at tentacles with his energy sword. John, our mighty Terran Spartan, is at his side firing a CER; a hybrid weapon combining a Terran shotgun with a Covenant plasma rifle.
Grunt in background, "They've cut off the exits. They're everywhere. Not again, aaaggh."
Thom, "What are these things John?"
John, "No idea but they seem to be homing in on Cat."
Cat, "They're after me; I need to get to the portal to shut it down."
"aaagggh!" Another of Thom's grunts goes down. Sporm tentacles penetrate his armor as easily as S2 AM Sniper Rifle rounds through a tin can. The tentacle segments vibrate quickly making a high-pitched buzzing sound. It doesn't take much imagination to see that the insides of the grunt have been blended into a nice blue paste.
Thom, "John how about making some shadow-selves to help us out."
John, "I tried, it's not working."
Thom, "Sub-commander Zax, your call."
Zax, "Alright, alpha and beta concentrate fire right down the center. Clear a path for Cat. Everyone else, cover fire."
As alpha and beta squads move forward in a tight wedge formation, shots firing away, Sub-commander Zax sees everything in slow motion. Small arms fire blasts through the Sporm tentacles but nothing penetrates the hard armored center. For each tentacle blasted off, a new one grows back almost immediately. Zax sees John move away from the battle, to the rear. Zax shouts coward and nearly guns down the Spartan with his fuel rod cannon, but at the last moment he sees a Sporm moving quickly at Cat and fires on it. The green firebolt blows the Sporm back 10 meters; severed tentacles go everywhere. The Sporm quickly recovers and with newly grown tentacles it lunges forward. Boom! Once again Zax hits it dead center with a green firebolt.
Alpha and beta squads reach the portal with Cat close behind. She leaps into the air, does two forward full-twist flips and lands with her legs doing the splits. She reaches up to the portal to pull out a large translucent blue key, but before she can grab it, more Sporms come out of the portal and entangle her in tentacles.
The Sporms have trouble penetrating the Archonian armor but the Sporms know what to do. They wrap their tentacles tightly around Cat -- Squeezing the life out of her while other tentacles very slowly begin to penetrate the armor like hot coals on a block of ice.
As the Sporms begin to move back into the portal, taking Cat with them, a strong wind blows from the far end of the chamber -- the sound of thrusters can be heard. John has turned his Terran Long Sword fighter around to face the portal. Its modified weapons and shields array pulsates with a blue aura. The entire ship becomes a living weapon. A single bluish-white bolt fires, instantly converting the closest Sporm to energy. As it explodes into nothingness, a chain reaction ensues that destroys all the Sporms.
Cat crawls to the portal and removes the key -- The portal shuts down.
[Fade to black.]
Without the energy of portal, the enormous chamber is dark save for a few maintenance lights. Our heroes meet to make plans.
With a sultry voice, Cat speaks, "This is a true Flux key from the days of the Old Ones. One turn opens the portal for outgoing travel. A second turn opens the portal for two-way travel. A third turn allows the creation of shadow-selves and time travel. If you have a fake Flux key, the third turn will suck you up into nowhere space."
John interjects, "Why can't I just go back in time and, well fix things, make things better?"
Cat replies with a glint in her eyes as she sizes up the Spartan, "First we don't dare turn on the portal with Sporms around even with big strong warriors like yourself around. Other than that, there are a few rules constraining portals." Cat then turns slightly toward Commander Thom and looks at him in a seductive way.
Cortana, her holographic image burning very brightly at the moment, says, "Catsandravalahundra, you've caused nothing but trouble since you arrived. Can you speak directly and not waste our time with unimportant things? Tell us these rules if you know what they are."
Cat rolls her eyes back and looks at the ceiling, sighs, then focuses on Cortana. Cat speaks in a harsher voice, "Little woman, all is important if you take the time to see the value in it. If I thought any differently, I wouldn't have spent all these years interacting with primitives. It's these little games that keep us empathic, mindful of the feelings of others -- it keeps us alive on the inside. You should know your own fate as an AI, without these feelings, in a few thousand years of existence you could become a compassionless machine; making heartless decisions based on pure logic and self-preservation. Any human part of you will be long dead -- logically removed like an unneeded appendage under a surgeon's scalpel."
A bit of silence, then Cat continues, "Yes I know some rules, maybe these are all the rules, but I doubt it. The Old Ones did believe in symmetry and keeping things simple but simple for them is a paradox for us. Better the Archon ways, symmetry of sorts like snowflakes we are, the same but infinitely different. That is digression, here is the straight and narrow:"
1. Shadow-selves cannot operate a portal, only true-selves can.
2. Only shadow-selves can travel through time.
3. Before you can send a shadow-self back in time, a shadow-self from the future must direct you to do so.
4. Before you can send a shadow-self forward in time, a shadow-self from the past must direct you to do so.
"Rules 3 and 4 make no sense because they are paradoxes. How can the first shadow-self be sent through time? This is our paradox, but the Old Ones somehow figured out how to do it. However, it is obvious that they couldn't time travel well enough to save themselves from doom. Any more questions?"
"Yes, I have a question," Sub-commander Zax says. "What is this nowhere space?"
Cat looks at Zax, anger on his face, sadness in her heart, "I see you have lost someone close into nowhere space. Nowhere space is one of the forgotten realms, nether here nor there -- It exists in between, but never seen. I know nothing, but I do know who might."
John speaks, "The Lady knows."
Thom slaps his hands together, "Of course the Lady knows, but how did you know John? I didn't know that Terrans knew anything about Nomdians."
Cat replies, "He doesn't know, the sleeper within awakes for a time. I was blind to this before, it is the path of the Dark Archon to be blind of the old ways. Then if you are a sleeper John, this Cortana must be, your highness, forgive me."
Cortana speaking like a true Archon says, "It's about time you showed be proper respect, there is power in my name; the blood of your queen in my veins."
Thom and the other Covenant look around with confused looks on their faces, except for Science Officer Noc who is busy doing something on a programming pad. Noc says, "Blood in the veins of an AI, fascinating, highly improbable, but still fascinating."
Thom rubs his face with his hands and in an exasperated voice says, "Brain overload, you've completely lost me. I'm sure there's a story you can tell me about all of this, am I right? Nevertheless, I like the plan to go see the Lady. There's nothing else for us here; we can't use the portal with those Sporms lurking about on the other side. Sub-commander, you're in charge of the preparations, we leave in 6 hours."
Everyone starts to go back to duty. Sub-commander Zax sees that Science Officer Noc has left his programming pad behind. As Zax picks up the pad to hand it to Noc, he accidentally turns on a function. A small holographic image of Noc appears and starts dancing to the beat of a song, the lyrics go, "Cortana, Cortana, she's so fine she blows my mind." And a chorus of dancing Spartans goes, "Womanly figure, we really dig her."
Noc's face turns blue with embarrassment.
Many of the Covenant roll on the ground laughing.
John and Cortana have smiles on their faces.
Thom skips away humming the tune, reflecting on his days of stardom.
[Fade to black with hysterical laughter in the background.]
-- Next, The Lady --
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