Zippy Zip-A-Long

[Maharg67]

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-46-

THE ADVENTURES OF TIMESAGE COSMOS AND COMPANY

PROFESSOR COSMOS ON THE HUNT AGAIN

 

They found the TimeMaster's TARDIS in a basement chamber below the warehouse that was much older than the warehouse itself. It was disguised as a crate much like other wooden crates in the chamber but it was wrapped in a webwork of glittering energy beams. This was not the work of the TimeMaster for it would drew attention to the TM-TARDIS and also because the technologies locked the TARDIS into a prison. The technologies were very advanced but were of neither the TimeLords or the StarLords.

 

Very close to the TM-TARDIS was a dead clone of the TimeMaster. The handsome young man did not look like the TimeLord as Professor Cosmos remembered him but that meant little with TimeLords, especially those as old and as powerful as the TimeMaster and himself. He wore typical Docklander middle class supervisor type gear and clutched in his hand was an American made revolver-pistol, a big one that any cowboy or cowgirl would be proud to be seen with. He had been killed by something that left a burned hole, narrow but deep, into his chest. The man had a false identity with well forged documentation, some shillings and pennies in coins, some business cards, a railway ticket for Portsmith and even a book of matches from a seedy music hall, the kind that no families or children normally went to.

 

The other crates contained electromechanical machinery of the finest quality made in the British Empire and Francogermanic Empire along with copper piping, coils of electrical sealed electrical cable, tools and related items. It seemed to be all intended for some kind of construction job. Yet there were odd items like toys, books, canned food, canned condensed milk, double wrapped sacks of flour, musical play record disks, cutlery, some painted landscapes on wooden framed stretched canvas and even some dentistry tools. It all became property of Torchwood to use as Torchwood saw fit.

 

Professor Cosmos knew enough not to try to free the TimeMaster's TARDIS for it was booby-trapped in various ways by the same entities that had wrapped the time-space device in the energy webbing. Yet he began the task of analysing the energy webbing in order to discover what had created it. Others assisted him as much as they could including both his daughter and the people from Torchwood. He only came up with an inkling but that clue was very disturbing in its implications.

 

-CONTINUED-

Edited October 1, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

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-47-

THE ADVENTURES OF TIMESAGE COSMOS AND COMPANY

PROFESSOR COSMOS ON THE HUNT AGAIN

 

Surillin and human technological exchanges continued. Embassies were opened, ceremonies undertaken, limited wargames carried out and surillin submersibles began to patrol the oceans and seas seeking the zylons. They found nothing conclusive. They did make bried contact with the infamous Captain Nemo and his great, powerful submarine the Nautilus, It turned out that Captain Nemo had long ceased attacking ships of the world except for whaling ships for he loved the whales and saw no need for them to die except in small numbers at the hands of native peoples; even there he tended to bribe or otherwise try to convince the people to find food in some other way. Professor Cosmos began to take steps to make contact with Captain Nemo, sensing that here was a very brilliant mind way ahead of his time, perhaps even his species.

 

Professor Quatermass was another brilliant mind that he heard of, a man who was away doing some research in Ancient Egypt when the attack on London had begun but who was trying to make it back to London both to assist and with some interesting news of his own.

 

In Africa the legendery Quatermain, a hunter and explorer with some mythic qualities, was reported to have defeated a large force of surillins using more canniness and knowledge of Africa than anything else. Of course the native peoples had helped greatly in the victory as had the British Sandcoats, a special force of soldiers trained to fight in arid or semi-arid conditions, along with some French Legionaries.

 

Stories came to fore of the Invisible Man having caused trouble for the invading surillins but nobody had seen him around, so the story was not confirmed.

 

Ninacos went to the British Museum to do research in the big library there, often pretending to skim through large volumes as she absorbed their contents. She toured the museum and was amazed by the great treasures there and by the often foolish interpretations made of them and their meanings. When she found the great, thick armoured doors and armed guards cutting off a whole wing, she had no luck at all in convincing the museum to tell her what was in that place.

 

Tinacos went through the city with Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, searching for more clues, for more ideas, of what was really happening.

 

On Mars, Ginacos continued to travel with the mighty fleet from the Citystate of Helium that was part of a far larger force attacking one Aquatic Martian domecity after another. Yet the tripocs kept leaving as green cometships exploded up into the sky and headed towards Earth but, now, also towards Venus. It seems the Auqatic Martians had changed plans. Roughly a third would stay to fight for the underseas of Mars while one third invaded Earth and another third invaded Venus.

 

Professor Cosmos managed to get the TimeMaster's TARDIS into a captive field projected out from the CosmosTARDIS but he failed to better understand or undermine the alien technology that wrapped it though he did keep trying.

 

 

 

 

 

-CONTINUED-

Edited October 3, 2010 by Maharg67

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-48-

THE ADVENTURES OF TIMESAGE COSMOS AND COMPANY

PROFESSOR COSMOS ON THE HUNT AGAIN

 

Airships were not replaced but soon newer, more efficient aeroships were being built by the British in the industrial cities of Northern England and Scotland. These used mysterious Lgas to rise and could carry much more weight for their size than airships, could go up and down quicker, could fly quicker and could go into low orbit into the vacuum of space. Armoured, beweaponed versions of aeroships came first except for some exploration types with less weapons meant to go up into low orbit, into the fringes of space. Surillins took their few spaceships and skyships out of deep storage and launched them with human assistance.

 

The search for the zylons continued.

 

The aquatic dinosaur people, the aquatins, first appeared like angular dolphins with heads and arms. They had strange underground cities at the bottom of the oceans, though not at greater depths, and they met first the surillins and then the humans.

 

As new, cleaner, more efficient forms of burning coal came to be known, plans came for replacing the big old power stations. Construction began at once on the new London Clean Coal Power Station.

 

Humans found that they had to compromise with the returning peoples of Earth and while some grudgingly accepted this, some fought it. The British, the USA, the Francogermanic Empire grudgingly accepted it, for example, but the Zaztec Empire at began attacking newcomers who came into their territories. So it was they who were first attacked by the zylons in bizarre but powerful living ships that could swim or fly swiftly. The fighting became savage as the Zaztecs responded in their airships and steam-sail vessels. Soon the Zaztecs were in trouble as the zylons began to burn and pound their temple-cities to the ground. Reluctantly, the US and the British went to the rescue for the Zaztecs were not greatly loved with their bloody rituals of human sacrifice though such had been greatly decreased in number over the decades and only volunteers were used who were dying anyway; the deaths were also quick and painless.

 

The green comet-ships still sped towards the Earth and now also towards Venus.

 

-CONTINUED-

Edited October 6, 2010 by Maharg67

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-4-

THE ADVENTURES OF HERCULINE

IMPERIAL PRISON

 

The group hurried through the largely deserted chambers and hallways of the area beneath the prison. The Emperor muttered something to himself about launching a major project to investigate these levels and then to put them to good, positive use. Only Herculine picked it up, thanks to her enhanced hearing, and she detected an undertone of doubt. Just what was hidden in this area beneath the Imperial Prison that could disturb even a man like him?

 

They came across neatly stacked boxes of heavy, ornate wood that were oddly decorated with mildly disturbing symbols. The Emperor frowned hard at the sight of them and muttered to himself. "Those should have been destroyed a long time ago. Perhaps it is time to make necromancy illegal in the Empire once and for all."

 

Necromancy illegal? The idea was an amazing one and it would make the decision of the Mages Guild to ban necromancy from their ranks seem small in comparison. A delegation of powerful necromancers had gone to the Emperor and had demanded that he make the Mages Guild reinstate all necromancers. The Emperor did not react kindly to being demanded at in this fashion and had the Blades cut off the head of the foolish, arrogant man doing all of the ranting. It was said that the secretive Necromancers Guild arose days after that and from the start saw the Emperor as an enemy but only one of a long list of such; Herculine was on that list.

 

Herculine managed to catch up to the Emperor with out seeming to mean to do so. Then she spoke quietly to him. "The True Dragonblood runs in us both, Your Magesty, and the power of it grows in both of us as the Empire is threatened. The growing use of necromancy in Tamriel over the last centuries has helped to cause the many problems now plaguing the Empire and the rest of Tamriel. The use of necromancy by the Empire itself has greatly stregthened this process. Yet I do not think that the Necromancers Guild itself would have the courage to attack you as is happening today."

 

The Emperor sort of smiled at Herculine. "Yes, the True Dragonblood does flow in you but, happily, you will make no claim on the DragonThrone."

 

"None, Your Magesty." Herculine nodded as she said this. "Perhaps today you need to be seen to die but you will not die. I feel that the conspiracy against you involves at least some highly placed and powerful individuals that you normally would trust with out question."

 

"You think my false death might draw them out, make them overconfident." The Emperor nodded even as he drew out his longsword. "Enemies come and we must fight."

 

Mythic Dawn Followers appeared in red robes and, as daedric mages, either shot fireballs or spark-bolts from their dominant hands or summoned up special daedric armour and weapons. The armour and weapons were in many ways like the magical devices of the Blades and other Imperial Defence Forces though in appearance quite different. Blades and MythicDawn warriors were soon fighting in brutal, merciless combat. Herculine deflected the magical attacks of mythic-mages and hurled them back at their casters, killing all three. The mythic-mages summoned up scamps and clannfears, dangerous lesser daedra that attacked the Blades. In turn Herculine summoned small elementals that attacked them and the battle broadened across the chamber.

 

-CONTINUED-

Edited October 7, 2010 by Maharg67

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-5-

THE ADVENTURES OF HERCULINE

IMPERIAL PRISON

 

They repulsed the first attack of the Mythic Dawn and kept ahead of the undead that were following them, though not by far. It helped that they had a good map of the UnderPrison levels. They kept moving steadily until it was the Emperor who stopped them at a line up three vertical, bulky coffin like structures. From each of these the Emperor used a magical ring to activate and bring forth a fleshgolem, hulking and powerful. Herculine was not sure how she felt about the use of fleshgolems and other such entities; they were not of the undead but were somewhere between living and the undead. What would one call them, the unliving? Somehow it was no surprise when the Emperor again paused the group and each of the fleshgolems ended up carrying a large, heavy chest that seemed to be just right for them to use. Clearly all of this was part of a plan that had been made a long time ago.

 

Just what did Emperor Uriel Septum VII know and what was he up to?

 

The Emperor spoke to Herculine as they kept moving. "I must ascend this day either through death or other means but I will remain, in a special way, to assist the Empire for years to come. In truth I am dying and thus must admit to you a great secret. All the Emperors and Empresses that have ruled for the Third Age have been but one entity. Each rebirth has been done via special means but no longer can I do this. No, it is time for a new linage of Emperors and Empresses to begin. Yet there is a problem. As long as the lineage lasted, in the open or in secret, the Dragonfires were strengthened and they never went out fully. The moment of my death or ascension through other means, the Dragonfires will go out and the great magical barriers between us and the Daedric home realms will cease to exist."

 

There were two moons in the sky and three elemental mystical spheres of special realms. One such sphere realm was Oblivionarta, the Realms of Oblivion. Mehrunes Dagon ruled oppressively one of those Realms of Oblivion, being the Deadlands. There were Sixteen Daedric Princesses (some being Princesses) that were known and knowing worshipped on Tamriel but there had always been speculation that this way of seeing the Daedric Gods was not accurate, that the greater daedra pushed this story for their own reasons. Mehrunes Dagon had attempted to invade Tamriel before and had failed. None were truly sure why he seemed so intent on conquering the super continent. Certainly the lesser and mediate deadra did not know and the greater daedra, including the gods and goddesses, would not speak of such matters.

 

She nodded. "Mehrunes Dagon will attempt to invade again. He needs to place three small, two mediate and then one grand Oblivion Gate in one fairly small area to bring through any real sized army to Tamriel but he could have already set out a target. His forces could only invade in this manner one place on Tamriel at a time. Because of ancient and deeply emplaced magical defences in all of the Imperial Cities, the Oblivion Gates can not be opened directly into any of them but they could be made to appear just outside the walls of any city."

 

Baurus, who had caught up, frowned. "Why Cyrodiil? He might attack another of the Provinces."

 

The Emperor frowned. "The Cyrodilin Empire is becoming an Empire in name only. Slowly and steadily our grip on the other Provinces has been weakening. Many of our Legions and other forces are tied up in other Provinces in foolish actions that will do little to prolong the life of the Empire. Only three of the Twelve Legions are actually in Cyrodiil at this time and there is much pressure of the various Imperial Commercial Guilds and Provisional Governors to send even those out of the Motherland. If Mehrunes Dagon attacks Cyrodiil, though it is the heart of the Empire, it will be in many ways the easiest target for him to strike at in all of Tamriel."

 

The idea made just too much sense and yet Herculine found herself coming up with some odd but useful ideas even as the group continued to flee through the Imperial UnderPrison.

 

-CONTINUED-

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-6-

THE ADVENTURES OF HERCULINE

IMPERIAL PRISON

 

The group came upon the left overs of a savage battle between Mythic Dawn Followers and some kind of cult necromancers. Mythic Dawn would have summoned up lesser daedra and the necromancers would have summoned up zombies and perhaps even skeletars, animated skeletal warriors wrapped in the soft flickering fields of maintaining and protecting energies of undeath. Herculine sensed that there had been a couple of zombiezaes there, a deadlier version of the normal shambling zombies, that moved faster and which could climb. What had not died or been sent back to their realms, being unsommed somehow, had retreated.

 

The three zombiezae came first, skittering and running, mouths open to show yellow fangs and hands reaching out with long claws that were once normal fingernails. The Blades aimed and fired magic and arrows. Herculine hurled an anti-undeath sphere that exploded between two zombiezaes, hurling them stunned to the floor so the Blades could kill them with arrows or more direct magic. The Emperor cut off the head of the third zombiezae himself, moving fast and agile with well trained grace.

 

Then came a small horde of zombies and fewer skeletars in armour and with weapons. With them came four necromancers and now Herculine knew they were of the Undeath Guild that was far darker and more extreme than was the Necromancers Guild, which was saying a good deal. Herculine summoned special elementals of solar light and living light, sending them at the enemy and then she was herself attacking. She moved with a great deal of skill and experience, slicing, stabbing, blocking, deflecting as she cut through the lesser undead coming towards her.

 

Then she cut off the head of a necromancer, a woman showing the grey, dry pallid skin and loss of hair that necromancers often suffered that often made them look older than they actually were. Even as the necromancer died, many summons lesser undead vanished away and the attacking group became less powerful.

 

Then the necromancers and their monsters were falling back but unfortunately some Blades were dead or wounded, which meant a chance of undeathly infection. She healed the Blades of any possible curse of undeath but now the group was slowed for they would not leave their dead to be turned into zombies or worse and the sick could not fight as well as they formerly did. They continued through the levels of the UnderPrison.

 

-CONTINUED-

Edited October 8, 2010 by Maharg67

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